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Bread & Souls is a new project dreamt up by Italian entrepreneur and music lover Franco Fusari. Franco invited Mark de Clive-Lowe on board to direct and produce an album of collaborations with some of our favorite artists including the likes of Bembé Segué, Vanessa Freeman, Paul Randolph, Rich Medina, Tommaso Cappellato and more...

Presenting Chapter 4! Working On It (here’s the original - you heard the remix on Chapter 3), a mid tempo bossa-inspired track features the wordsmithery of Philadelphia’s Rich Medina speaking on the idiosyncrasies and journey of life, joined by Bembe Segue. Together features Vanessa Freeman on vocals - previously heard in remix form on Chapter 2 - a timelessly uplifting soulful house excursion. Domu returns to the project with a second remix of Little Did I Know - this time flipping it for the broken beat dancefloor in classic Domu style, and we wrap up with Neroli’s Volcov remixing Anybody Out There for the 4/4 lovers.

Releasing as a vinyl 45, Bad Night is the lead offering from The Cromagnon Band's new album Mode. This is the band's second LP and the first of theirs to be released on BBE Music. Mode itself is an album of cinematic and psychedelic dark Funk tinged and tinted with Nordic psych/jazz, classical, boom-bap Hip-Hop breaks and riff heavy rock. Bad Night is backed with Quadrant, a stand alone track that won't be on the album, thus making the vinyl single release a unique addition to the music lover's record collection. That said, these are are two tracks which give both a genuine flavour of the forthcoming album as well as the band's own musical influences and heritage as instrumentalists and producers. The Cromagnon Band's recording technique of taking breaks, riffs and melodies from favourite tracks and then improvising from there with completely live jam sessions in the studio allows them to record in their distinct and trademark 'reverse engineering' style. The trio of Drummer Tom Watt, Bassist Lenny Walker and multi-instrumentalist Bert Page work by making music as a team, playing for hours and united by a love of Hip-Hop breaks and psychedelic Jazz/Rock/Funk and classical music. They choose to record only instrumentals which allows space for Bert to weave intricate soundscape with Fender Rhodes, Moog, Sax and Clarinet over the beats and breaks they have written from their improvised jams. Bad Night b/w Quadrant are the lead releases from The Cromagnon Band's new album Mode. They will be released as a 7" vinyl and digitally.

Expansion’s most successful and longest running compilation series returns with its 2020 collection. It’s the 20th Anniversary edition. The concept remains, the tracks better than ever, fifteen must-have modern soul room gems telling the story of the past 12 months. Tracks here have topped UK soul charts including many that have not been available in all formats. Participants this year include Charlie Wilson (biggest dancefloor spin before lockdown), Tower of Power, Will Downing, Randy Hall, JB Rose The Weather Girls, and Sam Wills all prolific on soul radio through the summer with other artists delivering signature songs of 2020. Then there’s the biggest revival track of the year from Johnny Baker, “It’s Your Night”, the 300 copy limited edition 7” pressing now exchanging hands upwards of £50 a copy.

"Early Doors documents many of my travels, interactions and celebrates the wonderful connections I've made through music since 2007. From Glasgow to São Paulo and back again, many of the tracks included have been in my life for years at this point and remain obsessions. Some were lying unheard on hard drives, others tucked away in a corner of the internet. They’ve all reached my attention through a combination of lasting friendships, chance encounters and staying curious. After appearing on the occasional mix over the years, it's a real buzz to share them with you now in a more formal format. Musically you’ll find synths, dub, gay electronics, self taught piano compositions, improvised jams and intriguing covers." Andrew Thomson

"This is a live album that was taken from the tour for YTILAER. Songs tend to mutate after they"ve been recorded. These songs were mutating faster than usual. Like whatever happened to Bruce Banner in the lab - I knew these songs were about to get superpowers. As far as I was concerned, this change needed to be documented. The best thing about documenting something is that it gives the creator permission to move on should they wish to move on. I usually prefer to move on. These songs were recorded in Chicago, America"s heart. And at one of the best clubs in the country - I try to only work with venues that are not entangled with LiveNation/Ticketmaster. Thalia Hall, baby. Stay free. The date was mid-point in the tour, so I knew we"d be as hot as we were going to get. Not too green, not too brown. There was the thought, "let"s take this op to make it something special." So we took advantage of Chicago"s easily accessible players - we got Nick Mazzarella to add alto sax to one song, and from the opening band, Pascal Kerong"A to sing on a song, and Nathaniel Ballinger on piano on one song - and I couldn"t pass up the opportunity to invite Joshua Abrams and Lisa Alvarado to play on "Natural Information." The hardest part of making the record was cutting songs out - it could have been a triple album. But I don"t know, maybe the show should have been this short?" - Bill Callahan

Bread & Souls is a new project dreamt up by Italian entrepreneur and music lover Franco Fusari. Franco invited Mark de Clive-Lowe on board to direct and produce an album of collaborations with some of our favorite artists including the likes of Bembé Segué, Vanessa Freeman, Paul Randolph, Rich Medina, Tommaso Cappellato and more.
Chapter 2 EP continues with more future classics, kicking off with the jazz dancefloor workout Never Gonna Leave featuring the Queen of Broken Beat Bembé Segué on vocals and shredding sax solos courtesy Teodross Avery. In classic soulful broken beat fashion, Bembe reunites again with Vanessa Freeman for Technicolor Sunshine – drenched in MdCL’s signature production sound. Two remixes complete this installment with Mr Scruff and Kaidi Tatham’s downtempo reworking Anybody Out There (check out the original version on Chapter 1) and Italy’s G&D coming through

In 1969, singer and police lieutenant Pedro Gregorio López started recording a series of instrumental tracks and songs on the MAG record label in Peru, ranging from guaracha to cumbia, all cooked with musical eclecticism and simmered to appeal to a wide audience. Many of these musical ingredients combined on the 1971 album entitled "Cocinando", in reference to the similarities between Peruvian cooking and tropical music. López began his career as a singer and orchestra conductor many years earlier, when he joined the backing singers for Lucho Macedo's Sonora. After completing his police training, he adopted the stage name Martín López, in order to preserve the anonymity his job required. Between 1969 and 1971 Martín López y sus Estrellas recorded all the tracks comprised on this album, including salsa, guarachas, rumbas, chichas and boleros, proving their knowledge and mastery of the tropical music lexicon. It is not surprising since the orchestra was made up of the most talented label’s session stars: including the double bassist Joe di Roma, singer Pablo Villanueva "Melcochita", percussionists Ñiko Estrada and Coco Lagos, and trumpeter Tito Chicoma. "Cocinando" is an epic historical treasure that captures the explosive impact of the tropical music movement on Peruvian culture.

Rance Allen churned that rhythm smack between gospel music and soul. Rance brought the fire, his every performance a dedicated reach beyond expectations. It's like he lived in a realm above ours, and his performances were a ladder from our plane to his, an invitation to step up, step out, be good, do right, dance while doing it, jive and smile. And praise the Lord.
Rance sang about Jesus Christ, even when he didn't mention him. His music was an invitation to groove along, but it was also a stepping stone to church. He focused not on the fire and brimstone but on building community, helping those in need, a church of embrace.
His two brothers were his band, along with Stax guests. On "Everybody's Talkin'" you can hear disco coming around the corner and also the influence of Isaac Hayes. "You Need A Friend Like Mine" builds on the Staple Singers' "If You're Ready (Come Go With Me)", and it features some of Rance's finest falsetto, up there with Rev. Claude Jeter and Al Green.
Rance moves your spirit.

Now-Again Records presents catalog-wide reissues of Latin music propellant Joe Bataan’s legendary Ghetto Records. Next up in the series - La Fantastica. This brash, big band Latin orchestra from Brooklyn debuted on Ghetto Records with an underground Salsa album which also contains the beguiling, English-language Psychedelic Soul of "Latin Blues." Ghetto Records was Joe Bataan’s way to get over on “The Man” and out of the ‘hood, a bold move by an artist looking for independence and creative control in an industry that had exploited his talents and treated him like chattel. As Bataan puts it today, “Ghetto Records was part of my journey, a stepping stone to everything else that I’ve done. I learned enough that it enabled me to get out of the box with my thinking, it showed me how to deal with adversity.” Like many dreams and schemes born of the street, this one was audacious, perhaps even reckless to a fault. Hatched from desperation yet full of hope Ghetto Records came crashing down shortly after its inception. The seven albums in its discography languished out of print - until now. These are the definitive reissues of these albums, licensed from Joe Bataan, with his oversight and input into a 16 page oversize book by Pablo Yglesias that details Bataan’s larger-than-imagination life and his little Latin label that could.

Bogotá-based Colombian composer Eblis Álvarez, known as Meridian Brothers, has been concocting a unique blend of psychedelic sounds since 1998. With his latest project, "Mi Latinoamérica Sufre," Álvarez explores the untapped potential of the electric guitar in a tropical Latin context. Drawing inspiration from African highlife and soukous traditions, Álvarez crafts a fearless sonic experiment infused with invention, playfulness, and emotion. Unlike typical tropical guitar records, this album eschews distortion and clichés, opting for a pure, clean approach. Through intricate compositions blending cumbia, champeta, soukous, Brazilian tropicalia, and underground psychedelic rock, Álvarez pays homage to the golden era of Congolese rumba, Ghanaian highlife, and Nigerian afrobeat.

"Mi Latinoamérica Sufre" delves into the ego trip, presenting a humorous yet introspective journey of self-discovery and identity. The central character, Junior Maximiliano the Third, navigates through the complexities of self-discovery using psychedelic substances, political philosophy, and folklore. As he grapples with nostalgia, paranoia, and shared suffering, Álvarez showcases his vocal prowess, creating a sonic theater of the mind. Accompanied by visual narratives from Colombian artist Mateo Rivano, the album portrays various psychological states of disorientation, self-pity, enlightenment, and optimism. "Mi Latinoamérica Sufre" emerges as a worthy and innovative addition to the concept album tradition, offering a distinctive blend of bitter-sweet flavors inspired by Latinoamérica.

Rag’n’Bone Man is ready to accept joy into his life. Born Rory Charles Graham, the Sussex-born singer known for his gravelly blues vocals, took the world by storm with his debut album ‘Human’ in 2016. Now multi award-winning, the British vocalist is embracing newfound balance, returning to his creative foundations while building anew.

It’s the most vital chapter to date in one of British music’s defining stories. A truth-telling voice that has framed an era, Rag’n’Bone Man’s success speaks for itself: his debut album ‘Human’ went platinum four times over in the UK and multi-platinum in a further twenty-seven countries - becoming the fastest selling male debut album that decade. While his latest release ‘Life By Misadventure’ debuted at #1 and spent seven weeks in the Top 10, making it the fastest-selling album by a solo artist in 2021. With over nine-billion worldwide streams (and counting) over his entire catalogue, Rag’n’Bone Man is a voice that can be heard across the globe. Now he’s ready to eclipse this: assured, and built with love, his uplifting new album “What Do You Believe In?” finds the multi award-winning British artist (with three BRITs, two MTV Europe awards, and an Ivor Novello to his name) facing the future with passionate excitement.

‘What Do You Believe In?’ is anchored in the blossoming of confidence and the enduring support network he finds in family life. It’s taken time, but Rag’n’Bone Man is in a secure, loving place - and he wants to share that feeling. The period surrounding second album, 2021’s ‘Life By Misadventure’, was marked by self-doubt, with troubles weighing down on the singer’s shoulders – but then things changed - As a result, new album ‘What Do You Believe In?’ has a bold, yet radiant touch.

With the pairing of the poignant and ubiquitous themes and the sonic brightness of both 00s hip-hop and the youthful memories they prompt, the release of the albums title track ‘What Do You Believe In?’ sets the tone for the for the thrilling musical journey Rag’s is preparing to take fans on.

A hypnotic melodica-led instrumental from singer, composer and
multi-instrumentalist G.T. Moore who first recorded the track at Harry J's Studio in
Jamaica in 1980. This later cut was originally released under G.T's `The
Outsider' guise for Rej Forte's Jah Works label back in 1991 appearing on the
long-deleted album 'The Outsider Meets The Hi-Tech Roots Dynamics at Channel One UK'.
*Now appearing on 45 for the first time backed with a dub version from the deepest vaults..

German beat music at its best! For the first time on 45!
A-side is Funk
B-side is Garage-Psych-Rock
Limited to 300 copies.