Hip-Hop Vinyl New Releases - News

Space Disco is a new label basically focused of high quality edits of space-funk-disco and
rare groove tunes. On side A we have two hot edits by DJ ROCCA (never released on vinyl),
the frst one is a new edit of the super-disco-funk 'Groove It To Your Body' originally
released in 1982, while the second one is a power-boogie tune, 'Be Mine Tonight'
originally released by the Jammers. On side B we fnd the great Loft Classic 'Love Money'
under a new killer unreleased edit made by MOPLEN.

LP Limited to 1000 copies. Original atwork by Kevin Lyons, Screen-printed chipboard jackets by AntiDesigns. Following their deft handling of musics from Eastern and Northern Africa alongside Western psychedelia, jazz and funk on Unstraight Ahead, Karl Hector & The Malcouns are back with an vinyl-only LP - the fourth in a series that included Tamanrasset, Ngugna Yeti Fofa and Coomassi - that represents the band's completion of a cycle of musical forms from around the world, and combines European, African, Middle Eastern and American styles into something new, and of course, pretty damn groovy. '...simultaneously loose-limbed and rigorous, generating a joy tempered by humid paranoia. It's party music that sets you on edge-and it's crucial.'

Wonderful re issue of Leroy Burgess (collaborator with Patrick Adams amongst many others) single "Heartbreaker / Stranger".
This single originally released in 1983, his second ever production, showcases his wonderful production and vocal talents on this boogie classic.
Shep Pettibone supplies both mixes on this extended 12" from the Salsoul vaults.

First discovered by Kutmah back in the golden era of Myspace, Zackey's signature Force Funk Sound' swiftly grabbed the attention of a number of formidable producers. As these tunes were scattered across various labels, finding their homes on their respective collaborator's projects, ZFF continued to hone his style, delving deeper into the psychedelic future funk realm of which he has created for himself.

4 track limited 12" from the Cosmic Chronic camp - arranged and performed by Mickey de Grand IV and Eric Hernandez !

Ebo Taylor is one of Ghana's fnest producer/arrangers. Taylor
was heavily infuental in the unique sound that emerged from the country in the 70's; a combinaton of traditonal Ghanaian with Af-
ro-beat, jazz, and funk rhythms.He worked with bands including Stargazers Band, Broadway Dance Band, Black Star Highlife Band (with Teddy Osei and Sol Amarfo who later joined Osibisa), Apagya Show Band and fellow musicians C.K. Mann, Gyedu-Blay Ambolley and the legendary Pat Thomas.2016 see's Ebo celebrate his 80th birthday - stll touring! - and we are very proud to release two of his stand-out, classic albums - MY LOVE AND MUSIC and TWER NYAME, following on from the EBO TAYLOR
and CONFLICT re-issues.TWER NYAME (Trust in God') was originally released in 1978 on Philips-West African-Records. Classic highlife sounds; uptempo grooves, vocals, tons of percussion, guitar, horns and organ lines.
Featuring the stand-out Atwer Abroba'.

Ebo Taylor is one of Ghana's fnest producer/arrangers. Taylor was heavily infuental in the unique sound that emerged from the country in the 70's; a combinaton of traditonal Ghanaian with Af-
ro-beat, jazz, and funk rhythms.
He worked with bands including Stargazers Band, Broadway Dance Band, Black Star Highlife Band (with Teddy Osei and Sol Amarfo who later joined Osibisa), Apagya Show Band and fellow musicians C.K. Mann, Gyedu-Blay Ambolley and the legendary Pat Thomas.
2016 see's Ebo celebrate his 80th birthday - stll touring! - and we are very proud to release two of his stand-out, classic albums - MY LOVE AND MUSIC and TWER NYAME, following on from the EBO TAYLORand CONFLICT re-issues.
MY LOVE AND MUSIC was originally released in 1975 on Gapophone Records, George Prah's label, hailing from Ghana. Only available in very limited quantty (reportedly 500 copies) due to the musical.

Pretty much one year ago we elated critics, reviewers, and music lovers with an album by the name of Praise Poems. 12 months later we are proud to introduce you to the third volume in this already highly acclaimed series. What Warmth was to the first and Abraham Battat was to the second volume, Feather is their counterpart on Praise Poems 3 (PP3).

When we stumbled across Be Real we immediately knew that this tune was going to be the opener for PP3. Thanks to this wonderful composition we were motivated like in the early days of the label. However we were aware of the fact that we would have to do justice to the above demands, moreover, efforts had to be made to leave our fans (once again) through and through speechless.

And this is what we did. In the same category of Feather's pure beauty are selections by Scott Cunningham, Wanda Stafford, and Toby Cooper. But there is much more to discover. Actually, there is something for everyone. Fans of mid '70s jazz-funk ala Herbie Hancock will be thrilled to hear The Rosewood Trio's West 15th Street Strut or Geoff Tyus' Mt. Vernon Avenue. Vocal jazz aficionados will pick either Shebbi Smart's amazing Love Is Like The First Day Of Spring or Jennie Misty's exotic venture Nature Boy as their albums favourite. And who else could complete the selection better than Abraham Battat. We've rarely heard a vocal jazz tune as melancholy, heavy & downright sinister as this.

Rarity and quality go hand in hand on each of our releases, and PP3 does not make an exception. Even more important is whether a song has been compiled yet. In this case, all but one of them have yet to be compiled elsewhere. The Praise Poems series remains an attempt at a faithful snapshot of this revolutionary music before it began it's inevitable backslide into the bourgeois excesses of the jazz-fusion genre.

Pretty much one year ago we elated critics, reviewers, and music lovers with an album by the name of Praise Poems. 12 months later we are proud to introduce you to the third volume in this already highly acclaimed series. What Warmth was to the first and Abraham Battat was to the second volume, Feather is their counterpart on Praise Poems 3 (PP3).

When we stumbled across Be Real we immediately knew that this tune was going to be the opener for PP3. Thanks to this wonderful composition we were motivated like in the early days of the label. However we were aware of the fact that we would have to do justice to the above demands, moreover, efforts had to be made to leave our fans (once again) through and through speechless.

And this is what we did. In the same category of Feather's pure beauty are selections by Scott Cunningham, Wanda Stafford, and Toby Cooper. But there is much more to discover. Actually, there is something for everyone. Fans of mid '70s jazz-funk ala Herbie Hancock will be thrilled to hear The Rosewood Trio's West 15th Street Strut or Geoff Tyus' Mt. Vernon Avenue. Vocal jazz aficionados will pick either Shebbi Smart's amazing Love Is Like The First Day Of Spring or Jennie Misty's exotic venture Nature Boy as their albums favourite. And who else could complete the selection better than Abraham Battat. We've rarely heard a vocal jazz tune as melancholy, heavy & downright sinister as this.

Rarity and quality go hand in hand on each of our releases, and PP3 does not make an exception. Even more important is whether a song has been compiled yet. In this case, all but one of them have yet to be compiled elsewhere. The Praise Poems series remains an attempt at a faithful snapshot of this revolutionary music before it began it's inevitable backslide into the bourgeois excesses of the jazz-fusion genre.

Each 3 x CD package will be full of lovingly re-mastered original 12' mixes as selected by Bill. These will include many tracks which have never made it
to CD before and you can be sure that a variety of 'secret weapons' will emerge from each of these packages! All notes and scans will be included in a
16 page colour booklet which fits beautifully within the 3CD superior digipack. The usual Harmless PR and Radio operation will support all Sources
releases.
The seventh release in the Sources series switches over to DJ International records from Chicago - probably THE classiest of the early Chicago House
Music labels. Not only did the label have an award-winning name but the quality of its releases over the early years of House music, speak for themselves.
DJ International also had several of the biggest early commercial successes with legendary tracks like Farley Jackmaster Funk's 'Love Can't Turn Around',
J.M. Silk's 'Music Is The Key', Joe Smooth's 'The Promised Land' and Sterling Void's 'It's Alright' among many others.
Additionally DJ International has now turned into one of the most collectible labels for enthusiasts of the REAL House music sound of Chicago and this
package includes many of the super-collectible rarities like Sterling Void's 'Don't Wanna Go', Rocky Jones's 'The Choice Of A New Generation', The
Children's 'Freedom' and Fingers Inc's 'Mystery Of Love' and 'A Path' amongst others.
As with all Sources releases, 'Sources: The DJ International Records Anthology' has been lovingly compiled using the best mixes as chosen by Bill
Brewster and lovingly re-mastered to make these slices of 1980s dance music history sound the best they've ever sounded. If you're into original authentic
House Music direct from one of the richest sources, then look no further. 'Sources: The DJ International Records Anthology' is a must for any serious
House music collection.

The house band at Memphis' legendary Stax Records, Booker T & The MG's played on some of the most legendary and unforgettable soul recordings in history. Released originally in 1962, Green Onions' title track is arguably the most recognizable piece of instrumental pop and soul ever to be released, an absolute stone classic of a jam, with Booker T's organ at the fore. In addition to being a classic group, Booker T & The MG's were one of the first soul and rock groups to have both white and black members, and understandably their music is often affiliated with the civil rights movement that was going on all around them in the American south of the 1960s. Essential American originals from Booker T & The MG's.

This is one of the most famous live recordings of all-time, nearly all teenagers from the post-war boom, from California to Maine and beyond had this one on the stereo at parties. From the classic MC introduction ("ARE YOU READY FOR STAR TIME") to the JB's final note, this is a soul and R&B album without equal. The Hardest Working Man In Show Business, Mr. Dynamite himself, the legendary James Brown is at the top of his game, a powerful performance that's been beloved for over 50 years and will be beloved for hundreds more.

First official reissue ever! Nigeria had an utterly strong popular music scene in the 1970s, Afro Beat' and Afro Funk' were the hottest musical creations of the day and garage rock oriented bands like OFEGE or funky monsters AKWASSA were at the forefront of the movement. I deliberately call it their second album despite three albums that were released under the monicker HEADS FUNK BAND with exactly the same line up as AKWASSA from 1975 to 1978. However, the main difference between In the groove' and the earlier records is a more slick and polished feeling and a strong reggae element. Next to this, there are definitely a few more up to date disco funk influences that outweigh the classic raw streetfunk we could find on the predecessors of In the groove'. So the development in sound and style is obvious. 'In the Groove' has a more easy, more relaxed feeling. The atmosphere is bright and certainly reaches out for a wider audience. AKWASSA were stars in their palce. In the groove' was a perfect album that would appeal to each and every fan of funky music. All the members of AKWASSA stayed with music after the band dissolved in the late 70s, some of them until recent years, others straight up into the 80s or 90s. Even though this important Nigerian band called out it's quit somewhen, they left a rich legacy of music! Colorful and inspiring this album is made to last forever due to the memorable hooks and harmonies. While collectors spend 1.000 EUR for original copies, an official reissue of this monster rarity was overdue and Afro Funk lovers around the world will leap for joy as nearly all tunes could be played in a row to set the dancefloor ablaze!

Jex Opolis is back on Good Timin' (his first solo release since 2014!) with four new cuts, showcasing his eclectic and melodic take on music!

After many hours I spent among high society buggers at clean mansion parties lately it is time to go back to the streets and crawl through some nasty gin palaces for the real stuff, the dirty, the hot blooded and unrestrained grooves and striking melodies. And so we end up in some hell hole of a backstreet barroom where half dressed beauties dance around the rods and a mean looking bunch of black guys in shiny outfits lounge around the stage and play some steamy and ever pulsating soul and funk with enough dirt beneath the fingernails to prove their ghetto origins. And when I open my eyes again I am here in my comfort zone, the living room of my apartment and I listen to some vinyl turning on my turntable but still shiver from the experience I made in my dream. What is this all about Oliver Sain (1932 - 2003) was a bandleader extraordinaire and brought his crew to play at highest levels while still retaining an honest feeling. Most songs on this first album of his group come as instrumentals with the occasional commanding shout by the master himself and you will for sure recognize a few fairly popular melodies and indeed, there are adaptions of classics like 'Georgia' and the 'Harlem nocturne' played with an enormous dedication which of course goes for all the performances here. Oliver Sain and his band do not just play down their tunes, they live out each note with the fire burning within their hearts. Especially the expressive saxophone playing will leave you as a listener floored. Eruptive lines that could come straight from the vaults of the great late John Coltrane meet a rather relaxed and laid back funk sound, can you dig it There is steam heat and sheer love pouring from these well executed compositions and adaptions. Prices for originals of this rare vinyl go up to 180 Euros, so we can shiver with anticipation to get our hand on the beautiful Funky Planet reissue quite soon. Black music aficionados with a special fondness for 60s and 70s stuff will feel like a child in a sweets shop. It's all good and groovy here.

Ooouh yeah, this is an easy one. The group comes from Brazil, the album has been originally released in 1978 at a preliminary height of the disco movement, there is a beautiful black woman surrounded by a shiny atmosphere and with a fluffy white afro wig on her head smiling at you from the cover. You can imagine that this is hot blooded, steamy disco funk with slick production, striking, yet gentle lead vocal lines, whipping brass arrangements and a mood of nothing but pure joy. The whole experience is rather polished and aims at a typical disco audience but all participating musicians are top players and they interact so tightly that the result is an irresistible permanent groove that will capture your soul and leaves you breathless on the dancefloor when the record is over. The arrangements are complex and thick with layers shifted upon layers of all kinds of instruments like electric piano, synthesizers, brass instruments, sexy wah wah guitars. The funk influence from the early years is still present when this music was performed and even lived in dirty backstreet clubs in some suspicious parts of the big US cities. This album heats you up with an extra dose of physical energy and a sexualizing swing that originates from the band's Brazilian pedigree. Even the more moderate ballads will tickle your senses with a highly captivating feeling for simmering grooves and soft arrangements that are like a musical canopy bed with a beautiful nude lady waiting for you. Well, you see, I get utterly sexualized by this sweet soul music and all the hot funk eruptions here despite or maybe even because the lush and slick sound. If you love this aspect of black music from the 70s with an extra Latin touch, this is yours and will stay forever. For fans of Donna Summer, AIR, WAR and THE TEMPTATIONS.

Who might be Rick Mason that his inner dimension is so utterly interesting people pay about 800 US$ for the sole record he and his band RARE FEELINGS produced in 1977 Well, we will now find out. He turns all of his interior inside out and gets you folks into a state of trance listening and dancing to his raging funk'n'soul music. Organ, bass guitar, rhythm guitar, drums and percussions build a simmering fundament for the eruptive yet sophisticated performance of the brass section and when the jazzy flute sets in you will go crazy. And this is indeed a classic of electric jazz spiced up with the hypnotizing groove of the seventies funk from the darker corners of the city. While this album starts quite smoothly with a steady groove and straight melodies, the second song already shows the true inner dimension of Rick Mason, a constant changing in between twisted jazzy rhythms and wide open soul harmonies that float gently down your spine. The interplay of all instruments with Mason's mumbling voice singing on top is just magical. We drift further along into soft passages and get irritated by strange, yet beautiful aspects of the compositions for a second. That must be the progressive aspect of everything he keeps within. Well, all these little twists and turns make this an ever growing and ever captivating album. What message might then hide behind a quirky title like 'Funk ain't being funky' A stretched out trigger finger towards all who just pretend being Rick Mason and his RARE FEELINGS show 'em how. The particular tune is a prototypical funk groover with killer electric piano lines and an ear blowing brass section. Once more he mumbles in a quite unique way upon the solid basement the instruments build just for him. And while we listen we realize that even Sly Stone and his band would be proud of these brass lines. Rick Mason has certainly the guts to go for a gentle funk ballad to melt every woman's heart and still retain the honest and earthy feeling a great funk band should play its music with. Now I can understand why collectors of outstanding underground funk gems spend a month's salary on such an album and I cry out of joy that this kick ass groove beast got finally reissued. A number like "Metamorphosis funk" with swirling organs, flutes and rhythm guitars raging upon a wall of groove has been even scarce in the 70s when this music was all new and hot. And if you go further and experience the wild and totally unleashed lead guitar spitting out flashes of melodies you will certainly agree with me. And this is just one highlight among others. "The inner dimensions of Rick Mason" might have been a bit too far out for the average mainstream consumer but those enlightened spirits who know how to deal with dark and mysterious progressive funk and lighter tunes that caress your ears and soul will enjoy this album for a helluva life time.

Songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer, orchestra leader, digital mixologist, and filmmaker: Kutiman's job description changes by the day. He's been dubbed the prestigious title of being a 'psychedelic funk architect' -- A title Kutiman truly lives up to. But while he may be too modest to agree, everything the talented musician does comes under one general description: pioneer.
Many know Kutiman for his tremendous and innovative YouTube mash-up project, ThruYOU, while others may recognize him for his 2007 acclaimed jazz/funk self-titled debut album, or from his honorable mention in TIME Magazine's 50 best inventions of 2009. This recognition has led to Kutiman performing at YouTube's launch exhibition at The Guggenheim museum in New York City, and to a second ThruYOU series in 2014. Over the past few years, Kutiman has travelled to Krakow, Jerusalem, Tokyo, Riga, and New York, to create original audio/visual montages of each city's atmosphere. More recently, Kutiman been working with The British Council on a musically, culturally, and technologically progressive online music series called Mix The City which showcases Tel Aviv's musical soundscape.
Above all, Kutiman is a unique, soulful and organic musician who enjoys creating music under a wide range of styles.
The celebration of Kutiman's new label Siyal will be kicked off with the release of the limited edition vinyl Space Cassava, a two track mini-album showcasing Kutiman's take on free jazz, complemented with a modern twist. The theme of space, colour, and time honour the fathers of spiritual jazz, bringing out Kutiman's abilities as a musician and composer. Space Cassava creates a new domain in which music has no borders, and is free to react in new and surprising ways.
Kutiman's highly anticipated sophomore album, '6AM' will serve as the official launch for Siyal, and is due to be released in October.
One thing that unites all of Kutiman's projects is that uncommon, low-key inventiveness that is responsible for making him a significant name on the world stage. Kutiman is involved with every step of the creative process, from playing and recording multiple instruments, designing original cover art, to last legs of production.
Google described Kutiman's work with the paraphrase 'the future is a glorious mess.' And boy, were they right.

We invite you to listen to Space Cassava and to experience Kutiman's interstellar vision.

After waiting 3 long years, and finally getting the multi track session to do a b side, I'm proud to present The Star Blazers cover version of the masterpiece " danger zone " which was originally done my Midnight Express. Many should be familiar with Detroit producer Recloose, while back in New Zealand he assembled a band who called them selves Star Blazers ( an ode to the 70s legendary japanimation series and a big hit on Boston's tv38.. Indeed Recloose is from Massachusetts ) and they recorded a few cover tunes. Upon hearing this I knew it was special. While most modern covers miss the mark, purely emulating and sounding like a cheap imitation, leaving me wanting to just play the original... They flip the tempo, swing and vibe, straight up owning this and making it their own.

Another single from the previously unreleased 1984 Aurra tapes !
Slave founding member Steve Washington brings the boogie-funk this time with hard-hitting beats and lush synth chords along with Bride of Funkenstein Sheila Brody & Chaka Khan's brother Mark Stevens on vocals

Can We Melt The Ice is one of those mystery records that collectors love so dearly. Very little is known about it, other than that it appeared on Plush Records sometime around 1982 or '83. It was written and produced by Chicago producer Morris J Williams, whose sweet vocal provides a vocal point for the track's sensual boogie vibes - all lilting horns, subtle synthesizers and shuffling grooves. Brilliantly, this reissue from Finland's constantly on-point Traveller Records also boasts a previously unreleased longer version, which naturally extends the track's wonderful instrumentation in all the right places. Recommended.

New Zackey Force Funk on Hit+Run, including productions from Egyptian Lover, Brian Ellis and Tom Noble! The wax is all colored SILVER and housed in a silver metallic ink hand-screenprinted jacket by Hit+Run featuring artwork by UK graffiti legend SheOne. Check!!




D 04. ON THE 1 [ft. Egyptian Lover & Brian Ellis] (Produced by Brian Ellis)

This collection gathers together the entire album that made up 'Gee Whiz' in 1961 and the various singles Carla
(and her father Rufus, in some instances) recorded either side of that release. As will be quite plainly heard, while
'Gee Whiz' pursued several other musical paths, the singles were almost entirely R&B-based. And while Carla may
have had to abdicate her throne of Queen of Soul to Aretha Franklin, she is more than worthy of her other moniker,
the Queen of Memphis Soul.

A helluva groover from funky 1976, soulful, smooth and sexy. Original copies fetch prices of 700 and more US $ and people go crazy for it. So this screams for a fine reissue and here we go. Well, with the second tune TOMORROW'S PEOPLE seem to love the gentle side of soul and funk and therefore play a fairly relaxed type of music that fits well with a gala dinner with your love in your most expensive and exclusive evening dress on while the first tune is a moody soul anthem that puts you in a floating state of mind. Next one to enter the scenery is a hot blooded funk explosion with a massive wave of rhythms dragging you out to the dancefloor to shake your hips and booty like a maniac. Great organ carpets fill all the gaps in between the hypnotizing drum and percussion patterns, pulsating bass lines and repetitive clean wah wah guitars. It gets relaxed and utterly sweet once again with the next song in line that puts the typical 50s love ballad into a classy and slick pop sound garment that was on top at the time this album was produced. And on we groove with the beat that heats you up through and through down to your bare bones. A cool warming up for the b side of this lost gem of funk and soul music, the lengthy title track which starts in a dreamy and gentle way and suddenly turns into a hot blooded funk that goes on and on for about twenty minutes with some of the most enchanting synthesizer lines ever heard in the 70s dance music field. The bass guitar pumps through your blood system and if you do not sweat your spirit out spinning this tune you should consult your otologist. Folks, this is as stimulating as music could be and comes close to the most enchanting tunes that ever hit the dancefloors back in the day. The tight and simmering performance here is so much over the top. Can it become any better All lovers of mid seventies black music that is definitely pre but also proto disco should lay their hands on this gem. Oh, TOMORROW'S PEOPLE also know to take out the pace and psyche out a bit to make you get some fresh air to breathe and dance a bit closer with your love. And be sure, all they do is done with love. What a haunting piece of music.

Wood, Brass & Steel "Always There" is a party jam; a secret weapon that had every deep house DJ & crate digger bugging out. Seaquence "Disco Thing" is a lost private modern boogie/soul record from San Diego. Nice & tight for the floor.

Frank Cunimondo Trio still hits it w/"Feeling Good" on the A, jazz, house & hip hop heads all dig it. Etta James "In The Basement" will always start the party, pure soul, the funky smell, and the sweaty groove

New Zackey Force Funk on Hit+Run, including productions from Egyptian Lover, Brian Ellis and Tom Noble! The wax is all colored SILVER and housed in a silver metallic ink hand-screenprinted jacket by Hit+Run featuring artwork by UK graffiti legend SheOne. Check!!

* Remastered from the original tapes
* Essay by 'Punk Professor' Vivien Goldman, interviewing key players
* CD includes full album plus 6 bonus tracks



By the time bohemian singer/poet/artist Lizzy Mercier Descloux recorded her fifth album, 1988's Suspense, she'd enjoyed a recording career that was as far from the clichés of music lore as is possible, flitting between genres, continents and collaborators, enjoying great success and equally great failure and even stealing the final breaths of master trumpeter Chet Baker for 1986's One For The Soul. When she came to make Suspense - reissued here as the final album in our series - she was, for the first time, working without her longtime muse, partner and manager Michel Esteban, with whom she'd first moved from their native France to New York, where it all began.



The pressure was on to repeat the success of 'Mais Où Sont Passées Les Gazelles', a smash hit in France, and Descloux's label were keen to make a conventional artist of her, pairing her with John Brand, an in-vogue producer with a style geared to a big, shiny 1980s chart sound—an approach Lizzy had never experienced before, nor intended to. Recorded in Oxfordshire and Wales, it features songs recorded in both French and English, with lyrics by Mark Cunningham, the trumpet player of the avant-garde band MARS, and James Reyne, the Australian artist who co-wrote much of One For The Soul.



In Vivien Goldman's new liner notes, Esteban notes that Suspense sounds "less Lizzy than the other records, less open," but in splitting herself into two - English and Francophone - the album has two personalities too; oddly, it shines a light on the real Descloux that her cultural experiments never did.



Though the initial aim was to make a folky, acoustic album, the pop sound suited the singer, and 'A Room In New York' is as fine and sparky as AOR gets. But when early single 'Gueule D'Amour/Cry of Love' stiffed, EMI lost confidence and buried the LP. Bound by her contract to the label, Descloux moved away from music and focused on painting. She eventually settled in Corsica, the French island, where she died, aged 48, of cancer. Descloux's musical career ended, therefore, with the aptly titled Suspense. It was only a matter of time before this furiously creative artist's work was re-evaluated, and with these deluxe reissues, that time is now.

* Remastered from the original tapes
* Essay by 'Punk Professor' Vivien Goldman, interviewing key players
* LP Includes download card for full album + 2 bonus tracks

By the time poet, singer-songwriter, and artist Lizzy Mercier Descloux recorded 1984's Zulu Rock, she'd marked herself out as both a globe trotter with more passport stamps than Tintin and a musical innovator whose loose, arty spirit could be applied to styles as varied as no wave, Bavarian oompa and Soweto jive. She'd also established a tight-knit threesome with muse/former lover Michel Esteban and producer/on-off lover Adam Kidron, who all reunited to follow Zulu Rock - a surprise hit in her native France - with something that, once again, represented a complete about-turn.

The location, this time, was Rio De Janeiro, a suitably exotic location to follow their sojourn in Soweto given that Brazil had recently emerged from twenty years of dictatorship. But unlike Zulu Rock's broad appropriation of the local sound, One For The Soul borrows very liberally from Brazilian culture. The aim, says Kidron, was to "reimagine the blues", but Lizzy's musical essence was in flux. 'A Word Is A Wah" meshes reggae with her beloved accordion, 'Women Don't Like Me' is wild, new wave pop, and she even wanders into soul territory, with whispery lounge versions of Al Green's 'Simply Beautiful'. Most notable is the album's foray into jazz, and the fact that Chet Baker, the master jazz trumpeter, blew his last on 'Fog Horn Blues' and the sensuous 'Off Off Pleasure'.

Rio was to be the last great hurrah of Lizzy and Michel's global recording adventures, and although work proceeded apace, the experience was often quite tense. "The sessions were tough work,' says Kidron, in the new liner notes by Vivien Goldman accompanying this deluxe reissue. 'Lizzy never quite got singing, no matter how much she drank, and no matter how hard she tried. Chet was very much at the drug-ravaged end of his life and had very little stamina or dexterity left... but there is a deep, sad, lyrical tone to his performances on the album.'

So fraught were the sessions, it's a miracle that such a cohesive, sparky record emerged. The record-buying public did not agree, and as the album crashed and burned, so did the relationship between its three heroes. Lizzy was, for the first time, about to take on the world alone - and there was but one album left in her.

* Remastered from the original tapes
* Essay by 'Punk Professor' Vivien Goldman, interviewing key players
* CD includes full album plus 2 bonus tracks

By the time poet, singer-songwriter, and artist Lizzy Mercier Descloux recorded 1984's Zulu Rock, she'd marked herself out as both a globe trotter with more passport stamps than Tintin and a musical innovator whose loose, arty spirit could be applied to styles as varied as no wave, Bavarian oompa and Soweto jive. She'd also established a tight-knit threesome with muse/former lover Michel Esteban and producer/on-off lover Adam Kidron, who all reunited to follow Zulu Rock - a surprise hit in her native France - with something that, once again, represented a complete about-turn.



The location, this time, was Rio De Janeiro, a suitably exotic location to follow their sojourn in Soweto given that Brazil had recently emerged from twenty years of dictatorship. But unlike Zulu Rock's broad appropriation of the local sound, One For The Soul borrows very liberally from Brazilian culture. The aim, says Kidron, was to "reimagine the blues", but Lizzy's musical essence was in flux. 'A Word Is A Wah" meshes reggae with her beloved accordion, 'Women Don't Like Me' is wild, new wave pop, and she even wanders into soul territory, with whispery lounge versions of Al Green's 'Simply Beautiful'. Most notable is the album's foray into jazz, and the fact that Chet Baker, the master jazz trumpeter, blew his last on 'Fog Horn Blues' and the sensuous 'Off Off Pleasure'.



Rio was to be the last great hurrah of Lizzy and Michel's global recording adventures, and although work proceeded apace, the experience was often quite tense. "The sessions were tough work,' says Kidron, in the new liner notes by Vivien Goldman accompanying this deluxe reissue. 'Lizzy never quite got singing, no matter how much she drank, and no matter how hard she tried. Chet was very much at the drug-ravaged end of his life and had very little stamina or dexterity left... but there is a deep, sad, lyrical tone to his performances on the album.'



So fraught were the sessions, it's a miracle that such a cohesive, sparky record emerged. The record-buying public did not agree, and as the album crashed and burned, so did the relationship between its three heroes. Lizzy was, for the first time, about to take on the world alone - and there was but one album left in her.

* Remastered from the original tapes
* Essay by 'Punk Professor' Vivien Goldman, interviewing key players
* CD includes full album plus 5 bonus tracks
In the course of three albums, Lizzy Mercier Descloux, the rogue poet, artist, and singer-songwriter, travelled on a musical voyage from Manhattan (1979 debut Press Color) to The Bahamas (1981 follow-up Mambo Nassau) and apartheid South Africa (1984's Zulu Rock) - a controversial cultural boycott in protest of the nation's racially divided society.



One place Descloux had never visited was the pop charts, but that changed when 'Mais Où Sont Passées Les Gazelles (Where Have The Gazelles Gone)' - a reworking of a South African Shangaan disco hit - went all the way to the top spot in her native France, giving her a platform and a profile in the land she'd fled many years before. Recorded at Satbel Studios in Johannesburg, the album followed what her mentor Michel Esteban describes as "an extraordinary adventure" through eastern Africa following the footsteps of 19th century poet Rimbaud through Sudan, Ethiopia, the East Coast.



A socially conscious person, Descloux wanted to use her music to draw some attention to the situation in South Africa, even obliquely, but there were musical motivations too - she was tapping into a hot and little-heard dance music in the aforementioned Shangaan disco, Soweto jive and mbaqanga, the style Malcolm McLaren had mined for his mash-up hit "Duck Rock" a year before.



The music of South Africa seduced, subsumed, and molded Lizzy, who sounds surer and more swinging than ever before throughout Zulu Rock, but credit must also go to British producer Adam Kidron, then best known for his work with Scritti Politti, who joined Esteban and Descloux for the entire African journey. Lizzy and Adam's was a battle of wills from the start, but his insistence on getting Lizzy to sing in a more conventional, tuneful way resulted in an emotional, ambitious, creative power struggle that delivered arguably her best vocals yet.



In Vivien Goldman's new liner notes for this reissue, Kidron says: 'My first impression of Lizzy was that she couldn't sing but that she had that crazy Madonna, Neneh Cherry, Nina Hagen attitude thing going on and a magical way with words — a marketer's gift for getting to the essence of a feeling or idea.' And for once, on this album, the marketing did itself.

* Remastered from the original tapes
* Essay by 'Punk Professor' Vivien Goldman, interviewing key players
* LP Includes download card for full album + 6 bonus tracks

After 1979's Press Color - reissued by Light In The Attic - Lizzy Mercier Descloux went tropical. Mambo Nassau, released in 1981 on Philips Records, saw the vagabond Parisian poet, artist and musician decamp from New York to the Bahamas with her manager and sometime lover, Michel Esteban.

The effect on her music was not as expected. Press Color had been an album of dissonant, distorted disco influenced by the New York no wave scene, but Chris Blackwell's Compass Point Studios provided a hermetically sealed environment into which the island's relaxed atmosphere did not seep. Instead, music from within those four walls - made by Tom Tom Club and Grace Jones - had the effect of a feedback loop. The album, meanwhile, reflected the growing confidence of Descloux as a musician, an increasing interest in African music and the input of two new collaborators: synthesizer innovator Wally Badarou and Jamaican engineer Steve Stanley, the album's de facto producer.

'Since 1975, we had spent seven years in New York and it felt like the end of a cycle,' says Esteban, who co-founded ZE Records, on which label Descloux's first album was released. 'We wanted to get out of Manhattan and move towards Africa. We needed new adventures and change. Mambo Nassau was our next stage.'

Mambo Nassau's skip through styles is like a tour of Lizzy's musical DNA, embracing not just mutant funk, disco and punk but a pastiche of Bavarian oompa music ('Milk Sheik') and even cocktail jazz chanson ('Les Baisers D'Amants"), a duet with DJ Philippe Krootchey.

Mambo Nassau did speak to the mavericks enamored of Lizzy's free spirit but it did not sell well. "We never were commercial," notes Esteban. The album is presented now with bonus tracks including "Mister Soweto", "Corpo Molli Pau Duro" and a cover of Bob Marley's 'Sun Is Shining', all of which were intended to help score a record deal that would allow her to record in Soweto, South Africa. It worked. With the follow-up, Zulu Rock, on the horizon, Descloux's African adventure was only just beginning...

* Remastered from the original tapes
* Essay by 'Punk Professor' Vivien Goldman, interviewing key players
* CD includes full album plus 6 bonus tracks

After 1979's Press Color - reissued by Light In The Attic - Lizzy Mercier Descloux went tropical. Mambo Nassau, released in 1981 on Philips Records, saw the vagabond Parisian poet, artist and musician decamp from New York to the Bahamas with her manager and sometime lover, Michel Esteban.



The effect on her music was not as expected. Press Color had been an album of dissonant, distorted disco influenced by the New York no wave scene, but Chris Blackwell's Compass Point Studios provided a hermetically sealed environment into which the island's relaxed atmosphere did not seep. Instead, music from within those four walls - made by Tom Tom Club and Grace Jones - had the effect of a feedback loop. The album, meanwhile, reflected the growing confidence of Descloux as a musician, an increasing interest in African music and the input of two new collaborators: synthesizer innovator Wally Badarou and Jamaican engineer Steve Stanley, the album's de facto producer.



'Since 1975, we had spent seven years in New York and it felt like the end of a cycle,' says Esteban, who co-founded ZE Records, on which label Descloux's first album was released. 'We wanted to get out of Manhattan and move towards Africa. We needed new adventures and change. Mambo Nassau was our next stage.'



Mambo Nassau's skip through styles is like a tour of Lizzy's musical DNA, embracing not just mutant funk, disco and punk but a pastiche of Bavarian oompa music ('Milk Sheik') and even cocktail jazz chanson ('Les Baisers D'Amants"), a duet with DJ Philippe Krootchey.



Mambo Nassau did speak to the mavericks enamored of Lizzy's free spirit but it did not sell well. "We never were commercial," notes Esteban. The album is presented now with bonus tracks including "Mister Soweto", "Corpo Molli Pau Duro" and a cover of Bob Marley's 'Sun Is Shining', all of which were intended to help score a record deal that would allow her to record in Soweto, South Africa. It worked. With the follow-up, Zulu Rock, on the horizon, Descloux's African adventure was only just beginning...

Taken from the 1972 LP of the same name, It's Just Begun needs no introduction - classic funk, break beat, B-Boy banger which has been sampled to the high heavens and back but you never grow tired of it. Featured here is the LP version with intro. Whether you're an old head looking for fresh new doubles to rock or a part of the new school of diggers you can't go wrong with this 45 - the flipside contains the equally funky Troglodyte which
was also a fave with the producers.

Soul Journey (2003) is the fourth studio album by Gillian Welch. As with all of her previous releases, it is a collaboration with David Rawlings. In their preceding work, Welch and Rawlings had experimented with using only acoustic guitar and banjo as accompaniment. With Soul Journey, they return to the more diverse and modern instrumentation of their early work, employing electric guitar, organ, and drums.

The album uses these musical elements to drive home a living-room, lazy-summertime jam-session feel. The album's opener 'Look at Miss Ohio' evolves into a tough rocker, and the album culminates in the relative cacophony of 'Wrecking Ball'. Between these bookends is a mixed bag of traditional Folk and Blues songs like 'Make Me a Pallet on Your Floor', 'I Had a Real Good Mother and Father', 'Lowlands' and 'No One Knows My Name'.

At the time of release, the album topped the Billboard Top Heatseekers. This album is finally available on vinyl for the first time!

Porfirio Antonio Jiménez Núñez (1928 - 2010) was a Venezuelan bandleader with a Dominican heritage in the field of traditional Latin music like salsa who took a few steps into Western funk and pop music during the 60s and 70s while retaining the obvious elements of a distinctive Latin American sound. His fusion can only be described as an utterly hot and spicy experience just as the title of this 1972 release tells you. Lush brass arrangements, a carpet of poly rhythmical percussion patterns and intriguing melodies hit you directly when you put this nugget onto your turntable and let the needle sink down into the groove. Just in case you are a proud owner of this record since 1972 or have a spare bundle of Dollars in your pocket due to the fact that original copies already fetch prices of 400,00 US$. Well, you have to decide if this collection of salsa funk tunes is worth laying down so many bucks but now that we hold a beautiful reissue in our hands it might be easier to check. I am already out of my head grooving like a maniac through the waves of rhythms and harmonies created by this collective of gifted musicians. Some tunes contain vocals in their native tongue, Latin American Spanish and these are the ones to get pretty close to what SANTANA had done before. Best example is - Oye cómo va' which has been featured on SANTANA's - Abraxas' album two years prior to the release of - Parilla caliente'. All in all this could be watched as a kind of - exploito' album to be sold in the bargain bins of department stores to a rather ingenuous audience craving for some Latin funk and rock pleasure but all in all the performances and sound are so vivid and passionate you will soon forget about the initial purpose of this release and enjoy the rich plate of musical colours Porfi Jiménez and his mates offer.