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- 180 GRAM AUDIOPHILE VINYL
- FEATURING GIN-GO-LO-BA' (DRUMS OF PASSION), AKIWOWO' (CHANT TO THE TRAINMAN) AND MORE

Drums of Passion was the first album released by Babatunde Olatunji (1927-2003) in 1960.

Olatunji was a drummer, social activist and musician, born in Ajindo, Nigeria. In this album he has recaptured some of his early impressions in his drum beats and giving them new zest. The African drum rhythms are not only musical melodies and songs but also ways of communication. For instance, the first track Akiwowo' was the name of a train conductor who shouted his humorous cry against the fading rhythm of the freight train. Baba Jinde' is a dance play and the title track Gin-Go-Lo-Ba' was sampled by many contemporary artists (Santana and Fatboy Slim amongst others) and covered in 1979 by latin jazz/percussionist Candido for his disco chart smash Jingo'.

Drums of Passion is mainly a danceable album and often cited as one of the first African albums recorded in (then called) stereophonic sound in the United States in 1960.

Very limited run of 100 white labels with brand new joints from the Wonderwheel crew celebrating cross cultural vibes from the Caribbean to Africa & the global Carnival spirit inside the dance. "Back It Up" from Thornato is a massive West African Dancehall jam featuring Ghanian singer Zongo Abongo, followed up by a brand new one from Nickodemus & famed NYC MC/Singer Jahdan Blakkamore going in deep on a dancehall meets house inna Congolese style on "Living Your Dreams". On the flip, Los Angeles producer Yukicito flips another forthcoming Thornato track "Chaka Chaka" featuring Sierra Leone's Bajah (of the Dry Eye Crew), giving it a heavy & funky remix for the dancefloor. Lastly, Montreal's Poirier comes through with a reversionining of his hit song "Sowia" released last year on Wonderwheel, mashing it up with the Malay Way Riddim - one of the biggest sounds on Soca dancefloors worldwide recently.

Inspired by a longstanding respect for the pioneering sounds of Cluster, Neu!, Harmonia & John Foxx, the legendary K. Leimer fuses tape loops, Moog tones and a variety of real and imagined instruments into an immersive journey brimming with electronic emotion throughout this homage, 'Mitteltöner.'

A key figure in America's musical avant garde, Leimer's experiments with tape manipulation, fractal loops and textured ambience have been well documented in recent times, with RVNG and VOD both offering excellent and exhaustive retrospectives of the artist's seventies and eighties output. Tracing Leimer's discography from 1979's 'Translucent: / Memory' to 1983's 'Installation View', via the dislocated rhythms of the Savant project, these archival releases detail a move from the pastoral synthesis of kosmische into more angular, experimental territories. Simultaneously looking to the past and the future, this Origin Peoples release is both a return to Leimer's earliest stylistic explorations, and his first vinyl release of original work in twenty five years.

Oddly for such a sonic outlier, 'Mitteltöner' (midrange to non teutophones) takes its conceptual cues from the idea that the midrange contains all the core information. Over ten tracks, Leimer employs subtlety and skill to navigate the emotional depth of the kosmische genre while maintaining the focus and detail which has remained constant in his work.

Opener 'Dunne Luft' owes as much to post rock as krautrock, evolving from chiming harmonics and understated rhythms into an optimistic roar of motorik percussion and towering guitars. From there, 'Webermelodie' dives into crystalline calm, tracing delicate arps around a processed groove before 'Anode' sends us skywards, drifting through glistening piano refrains and hypnotic sequences. Te dramatic 'As Long Ago As This' glides through a deserted city of metal and glass leaving the measured ambience of 'Entferntemusik ' to close out the side in a swell of static.

Leimer shifts tone as we move onto the flip, segueing the stomping, cybernetic Sturm Und Drang of 'German Defaults' into the propulsive electronics of 'London Interiors', a dynamic sample-topped suite in the tradition of Bill Nelson. The addition of graceful piano motifs and swathes of hazy synthesis lends a tranquillity to the pulsating bass of 'Auf Einem Fahrrad', while 'SHM' marries soothing melody and crunching rhythm into a thoroughly medicated experience. Finally, 'Café Florian' pays homage to Schneider or Fricke with a euphoric fusion of metallic percussion and esoteric energies.

Far from a simple homage to the electronic idols of his youth, 'Mitteltöner' finds K. Leimer reimagining their nuanced sonic framework through a lifetime of musical experience and experimentation.

For the first time ever, the ive's brothers cult debut album is reissued, here in remastered format. Spread across 13 folk electro-acoustic pieces, an english love ode mixed with a melonconic darkness that transcends any simple happy-hippy pigeon-holing to offer much more.

Emotional Rescue is delighted to announce welcoming the enigmatic, electo-acoustic duo Woo to the roster. Consisting of brothers Mark and Clive Ives, Woo will be releasing no less
than three albums with the label, Whichever Way You Are Going being the first.
Hard to catagorise, their personal folktronica is the result of Mark's melodic guitar, clavinet, bass and vocals running through Clive's array of synthesisers. filters and effects, creating
something unique and sadly still, an largely unknown genius.
Described as sounding like the music the Durutti Column would of made with Penguin Cafe Orchestra if produced by Brian Eno, Woo have recorded over 1,500 tracks, however here for
the first time is the remastered reissue of their cult and cryptically titled debut album.
With percussion that echoes elements of Kosmiche's rolling rhythms, the subtle and often brooding textures and moods hint at fully formed songs that are in reality a series of instrumental vignettes which together create a cinematic whole.
More than simple ambient minimalism, the liquid sounds seep in to your brain to offer a particular take of the English new age meditative mindset - the green and pleasant land maybe but with a twist of darkness not expected across 13 laconic pieces.
Released on both screen printed vinyl and CD, Whichever Way will be followed by what could be their masterpiece, Into The Heart Of Love. Previously only available on cassette this will
be a collectors dream, while an in production third album promises further intrigue, bringing together the Ives brothers and fellow space travellers the Seahawks. Close your eyes.

- Team Dreams' is the collaborative album of Sin Fang, Sóley and Örvar Smárason of múm and FM Belfast. It combines the individual strengths of three acclaimed musicians, blends folk sensibilities with futuristic pop beats. It's an emotive ocean of sound, melodies and miniature stories that gently washes over you. And it's easily one of the best albums the three Reykjavík artists have been involved in.

A first-ever collection of the highly sought after and largely previously unheard recordings of the one of Turkish pop and rocks best kept secrets - featuring the two rare has hen's teeth 1 Numara 7' singles (which fetch in excessive of £200 on certain internet auction sites) - including a previously unreleased extended version of Evren The missing component in the history of Turkish pop and one of the earliest exponents of Turkish electronic music alongside Ilhan Mimaroglu and Bülent Arel, Gökçen Kaynatan electrified the rock and roll scene of the late 50s/early 60s - sending teenagers wild with his custom built guitars and back lines - helping charge the climate for the birth of Anatolian rock. Then, from the sanctuary of his private studio, he revolutionised the industry with his pioneering use of electronics whilst hanging the sonic wallpaper in the living rooms of an entire generation of telly addicts as in house composer of choice for Turkey's first national television channel TRT 1. Despite having a modest discography of only four 7' singles to his name his influence is a major current that flows through over 50 years of Turkish pop culture. Compiled with unparalleled access to his private studio vault, Finders Keepers proudly presents the first-ever collection of Gökçen Kaynatan's pioneering early electronic works. Featuring a selection of his experimental pop and rock recordings dating from as early as the 1968 it features both of the highly sought after 1 Numara singles - including a never before heard extended version of Evren - as well as previously unheard archive material and songs recorded for and broadcast exclusively on TRT 1 - most of them never to be repeated. In helping Gökçen end his self-imposed 44-year exile from the record industry we can now share with you the first of these important recordings from a genuine maverick who helped shape the face of modern Turkish music, as well as shedding some light on the rise of one of Anatolian rock and pops must fruitful and experimental periods that began with the arrival (and subsequent explosion) of domestic synthesisers on the Turkish scene.

The first and only licensed reissue of this rare 1979 two disc set rescued from obscurity by Chris Veltri (Groove Merchant Records, SF) back in 2004. Few have heard it till now. T.J. recorded these four tracks in the South Bay, solo-style after stints in Bay Area bands The Mysterious Minds and Dawn & The Sunsets.
This release contains two 12 inch discs with four side-long tracks housed in a beautiful '70s style matte tip-on gatefold jacket. Disc one plays at 33 1/3 rpm and disc two at 45 rpm. A download card is included.

Mix righteous fuzz guitar, bad-ass keyboards and ecstatic African rhythms and what have you got Celebration by Aktion - a slab of of heavy Afro-funk-pysch-rock from the hardest working band in 70s Nigeria. Aktion had a residency at the Lido Night Club and Restaurant in Warri but toured constantly. Drummer Ben Alaka and Bass player Renny Pearl Nwosa created a bedrock of hardcore rhythm that allowed the rest of the band to cut loose and follow their own groove. Celebration, their second album, sees Aktion at the height of their powers. Ben Alaka had claimed his crown as the best drummer in the country (Proof: the intro to 'Centepede'), keyboardist Zeaky George has got his freak on (have a listen to 'We're Laughing') and Jimi Lee's searing guitar breaks were leaving scorch marks across every track ('Celebration', 'Groove The Funk', take your pick.) Sadly, Celebration was also their last album. Renny and Lemmy left to form The Stormmers. Jimmi Lee hooked up with Mona Finnih and discovered disco. But Celebration remains a psych rock monster - and a funky, fuzz-filled tribute to Nigeria's rocking east.

- Peter Moore

Camarão - The Imaginary Soundtrack to a Brazilian Western Movie 1964 - 1974
In 1960 we received an invitation to play in Recife, a wonderful, exciting and dangerous place, often described as a social jungle'.

The Forró party took place at Caxangá´s neighbourhood theatre, on the first floor, with its high ceilings, wooden floors and balconies, the place was perfect for these kinds of events. When all the windows were wide open, there would be a wonderful breeze during the hot tropical evenings.

Since everyone was looking for amusement, the place was packed on weekends. People from all corners of society would arrive nicely dressed, animated and chatting loudly over the sound of clinking glasses.

Pernambuco´s Cachaça, considered by many, especially by the locals, to be the best in the country, had started flowing generously and the popular sugar cane based alcohol lives up to its reputation.

We always had a few shots to warm up before performing and by the time the place was packed we were already in a very good mood.

Our local cachaça had loosened the bodies and minds of everyone in the room, people started to pair off and twirl around to the sound of forró music, smiling and sliding their feet off the floor - a reflex picked up from dancing in rural villages to avoid kicking up the dust'.

Initially the music by The Knob, The Finger & The It was conceived as some sort of ritual background ambient during extensive electroacoustic picnics by the river or in the fields. In the course of these sessions, The Knob, The Finger & The It make use of battery powered miniature electronics, DIY synths and acoustic bricolage, which mingle with the sounds of the open space: some wind, a crackling campfire, a train passing by over a bridge nearby...
However, local weather conditions as well as annually recurring festivities made The Knob, The Finger & The It escape to their inside homes now and again, where they started to explore the miraculous possibilities of modern studio technique.
Two tracks on this album - F. F. Erde and Grasebene 3, were taped live outside, and no posterior changes were made. All other pieces were recorded in the studio.
Astro Camping is based on recordings from 2012-2016. The first 50 copies come with an interstellar gimmick. The Knob, The Finger & The It are: Tobias Grewenig, Andreas Oskar Hirsch, Volker Hennes.
Cover photographs by Andreas Oskar Hirsch.

Strut present the debut compilation from SOFRITO, one of the UK's leading tropical music collectives.

Comprising DJs Hugo Mendez and Frankie Francis alongside The Mighty Crime Minister, Sofrito has consistently combined the serious vinyl hunter's ear for amazing records with the know-how to throw a great party, rocking dancefloors worldwide since their inception in 2005 with a mixture of vintage tropical grooves and exclusive dubplate edits.

From their legendary Tropical Warehouse events in East London to the clubs and bars of Brooklyn, from beach parties in Greece to festivals and clubs across Europe including WOMAD and the Worldwide Festival, Sofrito has now become an international proposition. Over the years the club has also attracted a string of A-list guests for live performances including Manu Dibango, Poets Of Rhythm, Souljazz Orchestra and Quantic.

The club's graphics by artist Lewis Heriz have become a vital part of its identity, with each event accompanied by unique hand-drawn poster art, each now a classic in its own right. Running alongside their events, their Sofrito Specials 12' imprint has made available exclusive edits of impossible-to-find rarities aimed strictly at the dancefloor.

For their debut compilation, Sofrito bring together 15 dynamite tropical grooves old and new ranging from raw cumbia, heavy Congolese soukous, bassline calypso and cosmic highlife. Highlights include an exclusive cumbia by Quantic, 'Cumbia Mochilla', a new edit of a rare Victor Uwaifo disco cut and firing Carnival jams from old-timers Roaring Lion and Mighty Shadow. This isn't about 'world music', this is some of the best dance music ever made.

Bringing together two of the biggest Mardi Gras Indian crews — the 9th Ward Hunter Gang and the Black Eagles Gang. Heavy percussion and chanting. Fab.

The drums smack. The bass is too loud. Liberia, Ghana, all the way across to Uganda. 1970's tinpot dictatorships birth colourful sounds. Magnetic tape, Linn drums and Bucket Brigade delay units confuse the mix. Sub-cultural colonialism to destroy the dance. Still, it sounds good. And it looks nice. Nice sleeve art. Move along. Move along....

Following on from the success of their first EP and its subsequent remix project on Wah Wah 45s, South London Afro-dub warriors Soothayers deliver the first offering from their forthcoming album, Tradition, to be released in June.

"Dis Cant be right, Dat can't be right" is the chorus response on new single, Dis & Dat. So, how long is this song you might wonder as in 2018 there seems to be so many things that sit at odds with each other that verses could go on for an eternity. However, Soothsayers list of issues is succinct - Dis & Dat is not a lesson in politics or socio-economics, but rather a song aimed at bringing us together and something we could all sing if No. 45 (we can't say his name) ever dares to visit our shores, or at any event where a current Government minister is the main attraction.

Quotes from two Jamaican greats - "Sharpen the small axe, cut the big tree, the hotter the battle, the sweeter the victory" - reignite hope in the power of human action and resistance via some uplifting big Afro grooves, Soothsayers style.

Remixes on this vibrant new singles come from erstwhile Fila Brazillia legend Steve Cobby who comes up with a trademark mid-tempo four-to-the-floor dub-infused stomper, while young gun and rising star, Ben Hauke, conjures up a foot friendly, percussive broken latin gem a la 4-Hero that's already doing lots of business on the dance floor.

Dis & Dat is released on February 9th both digitally and on hand-stamped 12", limited to just 100 copies, also featuring the SMBD Warrior Dub of Blinded Souls, on vinyl for the very first time.

Previous radio support comes from Tom Ravenscroft, Huey Morgan and Craig Charles on BBC 6Music, as well as David Rodigan and Jazzie B.

Soothsayers will be celebrating this release with a unique full live show at The Jazz Café in London on Friday February 9th, alongside sets from Ben Romans-Hopcraft (of Childhood fame) and Miles Wu-Lu, the twin sons of frontman Robin Hopcraft.

One of the most pivotal figures in the history of Malian music is Sorry Bamba. His work spans five decades and his music bridges the gap between Mali's cultural traditions and new the music which arose from the musical cross overs which occurred in Mali's post-Colonial period. Bamba was born in 1938 in Mopti. This is dissected by both the Niger and Bani rivers and known for its rich cultural diversity. Bamba's father was a distinguished veteran of Emperor Samory Toure's military and a nobleman in Malian society, however, this meant young Sorry was forbidden to make music, as under the nation's caste system, music was an art form reserved for the Griots.

At the age of 10, Sorry's parents died and in traumatic times that followed the young teen found solace in music. He first taught himself to play am African six-holed flute. As he progressed he began to absorbed the rich tapestry of music of his surroundings, traditional Malian music, highlife from Ghana, local accordion master Toumani Toure, European singers and musicians. In 1957 Sorry formed his first band, Group Goumbe, named after a popular Ivory Coast dance style. In 1960 Mali gained independence from France, Bamba and his group benefited from a new openness toward local music on the state-run radio network Radio Mali. Sorry then went on to form two award-winning, further collectives Bani Jazz and later the Kanaga Orchestra. They fused Latin jazz, Western R&B, Psychedelic and funk, and traditional Malian styles made them a favourite in Mali and beyond.

REPRESS ALERT! Spearheaded by Stuart Leath, Emotional Rescue is a label committed to unearthing forgotten gems and giving them the exposure they richly deserve, with all releases officially licensed by the artist and remastered in full. This 12" sees two classic tracks by the world music collective Suns of Arqa take pride of place. Incorporating elements of raga and dub, "Brujo Magic" is a much more straightforward dancefloor number than its description would suggest, with its rolling bassline and vocoder effects fusing irresistibly with its psyche-rock styles. On the B-Side, "Ananta Snake Dance" combines traditional Indian percussion and harmonium with conventional drumming to create something completely unique. A strong start to what will no doubt be an indispensable label.

This record, and the full 2XLP that will follow it, are dedicated to and inspired by events in 2015 & 2016, which saw the spectre of global crisis come knocking at Europe's doorstep.

During this time, more than a million migrants and refugees fled their homes in the Middle East, Northern Africa, sub-Saharan Africa and other conflict ravaged areas in search of a better life. For many, hopes of a future for themselves and their families lay in continental Europe.

While the reasons for such displacement, on a scale unseen in almost a century, are many, so are the reasons for Europe being seen as the ideal destination. The relative peace and calm of the continent and the prospect of building prosperous lives in Western Europe was enough to mobilize multitudes to embark on the treacherous journey to Europe.

One of the most well-trodden paths on this journey was the Balkan route, a trail leading through Turkey, Greece, and the former Yugoslavia. This route was not without its dangers, and the dreams of many were dashed by impassible security fences and discordant EU politics, as one by one they were turned away at borders, or worse, forcibly returned to their countries of origin.

Europa is the first single that represents the seed of discontent, from which the 2XLP grew. It was recorded during long jam sessions in Belgrade as the media spotlight started to dim. The city became the purgatorial destination for a large number of migrants, whose journeys had been cut short and this record reflects the atmosphere of disillusionment and uncertainty about the future, which descended on the Serbian capital.

Blurt are perhaps the act who have played live at Optimo more than any other. Active for close to 40 years they are one of the UK's all time great acts, phenomenal live and on record and supremely underrated.
Blurt mainman Ted Milton is a living legend. Now in his 70s but more vibrant on stage than most artists 50 years his junior, he is a man of many talents; artist, poet, musician, performer....
In 1984 he released a solo 12'; 'Love Is Like A Violence', a no doubt accidental dancefloor gem completely out of kilter with any other music of the era that now makes total sense in 2017. Dubbed-out stabs, programmed rhythm, trademark sax squeals and a more subdued than normal vocal that is strangely reminiscent of Vincent Price. Thee definition of a cult classic and much in demand, side A of this 12' presents the A and B side (the equally outre 'It's Only Recently That Stalins Have Begun To Roost') of this mighty 12' on one side of vinyl.
'The Ruminant Plinth' is but one of multiple classic tracks in the Blurt catalogue and is a long, long time personal favourite that takes pride of place of the other side. Tribal hypno rhythms, chicken wire guitar, sax and Milton's voice on fire, this was a genuine party starter on the Optimo dance floor on Sunday nights Glasgow. So louche it should probably be banned.
12' vinyl release in full picture sleeve designed by Glasgow artist Andrew Beltran.

Delroy Wilson, one of Jamaica's best loved vocalists, got his start with Coxsone Dodd's Studio One label, scoring his first hit when he was just 15 years old! His career soon took off and Wilson spent most of the following two decades producing hits for Dodd, as well as Sonia Pottinger, and Bunny Lee. These six tracks, recorded at Channel One and produced by Gussie Clarke, feature the unbeatable drums and bass of Sly And Robbie.

Hany Mehanna, beloved musician and composer of the greatest artists from the Arab world such as Oum Kalthoum and Abdel Halim Hafez, shows himself from a more experimental side on his solo albums. Originally released in 1973, 'The Miracles of the Seven Dances' is a pure work of genius: hypnotic organ grooves, psychedelic guitars, mystic strings and haunting percussion. Belly dance as good as it gets! High quality pressing. Artwork and label design by Pieter Heytens

'Afro Rock Vol. 1' is one of the most important compilations of heavy original '70s Afro funk and soul to be released in recent years. Originally surfacing on Duncan Brooker's indie Kona label in early 2001, the album single-handedly kick-started the thirst among jazz, funk and soul fans and 'diggers' to rediscover lost music from Africa made during the '60s and '70s from a time when many countries were gaining independence and celebrating a Pan-African identity within their music. The album was one of the first to reach a far different audience to the traditional 'world music' market and spawned many further projects and labels in its wake. A year later, the 'Nigeria 70' compilation surfaced on Strut and labels like Soundway and Analog Africa would continue to unearth amazing lost gems from the Motherland.The album is testament to the determined work of Brooker following several research trips, especially to East Africa - Kenya and Zaire. It brought to light East Africa's finest funk band, Air Fiesta Matata, led by the recently deceased Steele Beautttah, 'The Nigerian James Brown' Geraldo Pino from Port Harcourt in Nigeria, and the storming Afro jam 'Yuda' by Dackin Dackino, a previously unreleased gem from Zaire discovered on a discarded reel. The album has remained influential since its release with tracks appearing on other Afro compilations and on TV and the big screen - Jingo's 'Fever' featured in Kevin McDonald's 2006 hit film, 'Last King Of Scotland'.Out of print since 2015, the album is being reissued on Strut in its original form with the extra dynamite unreleased psychedelic cut by Kenya's Ishmael Jingo, 'Keep On Holding On' taken from the original master tape. The package features the original sleeve notes by Duncan Brooker along with new additional notes providing further background to the album and tracks.

New and unknown Sent In Sound gets into the trendy spirit of selecting choice tracks and committing them to a 12" piece of wax.
The tracks take on a sky ward direction on newly christened Point Loma (US).

If you're one of the extinct deejays who play 8 hour plus sets, start your journey before spreading your wings on the next booking with Doving on side A by Benaji Lattu. Settle into the booth, hit the loo and sequence the next movement while the lengthy and heavenly track serves its purpose, a convocation for the ceremony ahead, while blessing the entering congregation.

You'll have the perfect tune to bring the room back down gently to reality at night's end with Skylover Tea by Tinopiras on side B.
It's the fragrant sandalwood for the glowing sangha as it exits the guru temple also known as your party.

Years after, finally the triple alliance of Gerald Toto, Richard Bona and Lokua Kanza returns with a new album Bondeko', the belated followup to their acclaimed magical collaboration on 2004's Toto Bona Lokua.

Bondeko' picks up where Toto Bona Lokua left off, yet more nuanced and finely detailed, marinated in the wisdom and experience of their individual musical adventures during the intervening years.

Crafted but without artifice, virtuosic yet spontaneous, it's a record which is both playful and profound. Sensual melodies and fluid, swaying rhythms overlap, as roots intersect and three distinctive musical personalities melt into

one, their voices combining as felicitously as the exquisite harmonies of Crosby, Stills and Nash or the unique vocal layerings of Bobby McFerrin. All three drink from the profound wellspring of Africa but represent different musical streams

and tributaries of its mighty river. Toto, Bona and Kanza sound like they were born to play together. A summit meeting in which a shared sense of freedom and adventure shines out like a beacon. A trinity of voices entwined as one,

multi-faceted and yet with a united vision. Friendship. Fraternity. Bondeko.

Press:

Online reviews on: El Tino Blog, Body Space, Skope Mag, Conversation about

Her, Joy of Violent Movement, Spin In Still, Aupium, the Music Site.

DJ Legend U Roy / Features The Wild Bunch, Kofi,Sister Audrey and Sandra Cross / Mad Professor Produced.

Recorded in London and Los Angeles this ARIWA release breaths some fresh air into the ever wonderful DJ Reggae sound created by DJ legend U Roy. Cuts like 'True Born African' and 'Ghetto Youth' have a fresh feel to them as U Roy lays

it down in his inevitable wild stylee! U Roy aka Ewart Beckford toasting career started in the early 1960's where he hadDJ stints with some impressive sound systems like Dickie Wongs Sound System, Sir Coxone Dodds Sound System

where he worked along side DJ legend King Stitt aka The Ugly One before moving onto King Tubbys Hometown Hi Fi System. Early singles produced by the likes of Keith Hudson and Duke Reid saw U Roy make the mark and he

became one of the top toasters. 1975 saw the relese of the classic Dread In Babylon LP which concreted his status as a true talent. True Born African once again sees U Roy deliver a striking DJ album with Mad Professors production

and guidence. Album features The Robotiks, The Wild Bunch, Sandra Cross and Kofi.

"After a concert of Kenyan singer Ogoya Nengo in Berlin in 2015 in a pleasant conversation Guillermo Lares told me about his father, Oswaldo Lares, a studied architect who, parallel with his professional activity, began to make field recordings of the traditional and indigenous Venezuelan music from the early 1960s onwards up until today.

His search and fascination for finding the musical roots of his country led Oswaldo Lares to visit the rural villages outside Caracas, investigating the many and varied musical cultures of the region and the complex relationship between Venezuelan folk music and its various origins, including the African (mu´sica afrodescendiente).

The vast amount of music documents in the form of sound recordings, photographs and videos accompanied by notes and studies reflect the scope of this entirely self- taught sound engineer's work and represent a passionate documentary, making his work today one of the most comprehensive and systematic that has ever been assembled by a single person in Venezuela. Oswaldo Lares as an ethnomusicologist remained an amateur in the most direct meaning of the word: amare. Whereas most studied ethnomusicologists travel around the world to explore far away continents and foreign cultures, Oswaldo began to devote much of his spare time to the generally overlooked folk traditions that existed right in his very neighbourhood.

Currently Guillermo Lares has started to promote his father's work through the Achivolares Foundation, turning it into a living archive that preserves an essential part of Venezuelan musical memory. It is a pleasure and honor of our label TAL to support the invaluable work of Oswaldo and Guillermo Lares with this album."

Gili Yalos selbstbetiteltes Album verbindet verschiedene Facetten äthiopischer Musik mit James Brown und Mulatu Astatke, Soul und Funk der Siebziger, Psychedelia und Ethio-Jazz. Die Songs werden von einnehmenden Rhythmen getragen. Groove, Beat und Flow vermischen sich mit einem großen Schatz
betörender Melodien und den Lyrics, die Yalo mit seiner einzigartigen Stimme auf Englisch und Amharisch
vorträgt. Für dieses wirklich außergewöhnliche Ergebnis arbeitete Yalo mit den Produzenten Beno Hendler
(Balkan Beat Box) und Uri Brauner Kinrot (Boom Pam, Ouzo Bazooka) sowie vielen talentierten Musikern aus
der quirligen Musikszene von Tel Aviv zusammen. Zwei Jahre hat Yalo an den Songs geschrieben, getrieben
von dem Wunsch, seine Wurzeln und Vergangenheit im Hier und Jetzt zu verankern. Damit gleicht "Gili Yalo"
der kreativen Aufarbeitung seiner eigenen Biografie. Und die ist nicht ohne: In der geheimen Operation
Moses floh er mit einer Gruppe äthiopischer Juden 1984 während der Hungerkatastrophe im Sudan zu Fuß in
Flüchtlingscamps, durch die Wüste hin zum gelobten Land. Dabei sang er für seine Familie. Es war die
Musik, die ihnen die Kraft gab, weiterzugehen.

2 track Single from Super Black released by Firehouse/Dub Store Records

The electronic rumba combo commanded by DJ Txarly Brown finalizes the release of his third album. 'X Peteneras' is a new twist in the spanish flamenco rumba experimentation of the Achilifunk saga that began with the album compilation book 'Achilifunk' (Lovemonk, 2007) in which the influence of soul and funk was documented in the Catalan rumba from the 60s and 70s. Then came the remix disc 'Más Achilifunk' (Lovemonk, 2009) and the creation of the Achilifunk Band, with the collaboration of the OJO del Taller de Músics, and together they gave birth to the album 'Gitano Real' '(Lovemonk, 2011) and a presentation tour that brought Txarly's fusion theories to the stage. Later the big band was reduced to the quartet Achilifunk Sound System, with which it has already edited 'Robot Caló' (PPF, 2015) and 'Disco Jondo' (PPF, 2016). Along the way Txarly had time to edit the graphic bible of the spanish Rumba legacy 'Achilibook' (Milenio, 2013) and now the time has come to make a new turn in his evolutionary theories. For his new album he has recruited the young MC El Gordo del Puro (from the mining town of Súria, Barcelona), a kind of Albert Pla rapper tracker follower of the Achilifunk saga, which has provided a new discourse to the combo. A new discourse, needless to say, politically incorrect, away from general complacency and willing to awaken the critical thinking of the listeners.

If in the two previous albums the repertoire came from versions of classics of rumba and funk and we found a very strong cast of collaborators that go from Peret to Chacho passing through Ramonet, Chipén, Ximenis, Lady Gipsy, Ro, Paco Mantecao, Garbanzo, El Coleta or the Japanese vocal trio Zukunasisters, in 'X Peteneras' there is no version and the only artist in collaboration is the unrivaled presence of El Gordo del Puro. A new work that includes 10 songs, all original, that have been built on distorted samplers of old rumba and flamenco loops or, directly, they have improvised in the studio based on totally crazy ideas. In spite of everything, 100% of the material has been sewn and cooked by the producers Miguelito Superstar (Fundación Tony Manero) and Jack Chakataga under the tutelage of Txarly Brown. The result is a strange disc, unequal, lame, mutant, alien, disproportionate, hurtful, absurd and bastard. Yes, especially bastard, taking into account that El Gordo del Puro has invented a repertoire of lyrics that speak of current events from an insulting prism, without complexes or conditioning. What he calls rap junkie rumbero. If it was already difficult to rape on electronic rumba, pretending that you do smoked crack still complicates the thing. Inspired by the rumbero rap of Yumitus or Lain, regardless of the gypsy trap, the wild way was undoubtedly the yonkorap.

This is a journey into sound. A series of journeys across the globe, in-fact. This time with Don Leisure from Darkhouse Family. Let us tell you a story. Firstly, we first need to answer a question. Who is Shaboo

It began in Africa. Nasser Barwani was the son of Shabudin. At the age of 15, Nasser (Don's Uncle) left Kenya and hitch-hiked his way to London. Nasser entered the movie business, occasionally finding himself in front of the camera, acting in Bollywood films. It was then that Nasser changed his surname to adopt a screen name - Shaboo.

According to Don, "Shaboo was the most colourful character in my family. I have fond memories of him playing tabla at family parties. When I was about 17, I was on a journey with my Uncle. Whilst Shaboo drove me around, he was playing the steering wheel as if it were a tabla. It was then I nervously asked "do you think, one day, I'd be able to make music too...". Shaboo was so furious he nearly crashed the car, slamming his hand hard against the wheel. He screamed "OF COURSE YOU WILL!! IT IS IN YOUR BLOOOOOD!!!"...

A week later, inspired by the creative energy of my Uncle, I acquired some music software, and began an all new journey. A journey through the beats..."

Long family car journeys were a constant in Don Leisure's life growing up. "We'd take frequent trips from Wales to London to visit family in the late 80s / early 90s. There I'd mainline into my cousin's record collections, and make full use of the signal radiance to the M4, searching the airwaves for pirate radio stations. However, I wasn't the only one to make use of this. Every trip, my parents would routinely tune their dial into Sunrise Radio - the only Asian radio station around back then.

The soundtrack of these road trips were somewhat unique. Whilst I tried to learn the lyrics to 90s hip hop songs taped off my cousins, my Mum would constantly interrupt, interspersing my boom bap with bonkers Indian radio ads. And here we have the premise of this album. An attempt to recreate this sonic mix, with sounds pulled in from dusty crates and breaks dug from all over the globe."

25 instrumental Hip Hop tracks, linked together in a truly unique style and fashion, this is much more than a beat tape. This is a journey into sound. For real.

Dedicated to Nasser 'Shaboo' Bharwani.

collecting orders for repress ... !

First official vinyl reissue of original cassette 'Fondation - Le Vaisseau Blanc'.

Fantastic cosmic, space, ambient and experimental music from mysterious French duo Annanka Raghel and Ivan Coaquette (formerly of Spacecraft and Musica Elettronica Viva). Originally released in 1983 as a limited edition cassette of only 500 copies on Camouflage label; this ranks up there with anything by Ash Ra Tempel, Agitation Free, Heldon or Richard Pinhas. Incredibly evocative and highly recommended.
Historic moment - a lost piece of the puzzle of the wondrous french avant-garde. This official reissue comes in a double album gatefold sleeve with archives from Ivan Coaquette collages. Limited to 500 copies.

Bonus : comes also with an insert with trippy photo by France Annanka Raghel herself and brief description of Fondation band.

Known in the record collecting world as an incredibly rare album with just a handful of known copies, we present for the first time the full length album reissue of the 'Two Sisters From Bagdad' album as performed by La Vice & Co.

Originally intended to be sold alongside performances of LaVice Hendrick's ambitious but ill-fated musical theatre production, the album's scarcity was swiftly ensured as 'Two Sisters From Bagdad' ran for just 2 weeks at Detroit's Bethel A.M.E. church amid poor attendances due to scant promotion. With only a handful of copies sold in that brief window, many of the remaining copies were subsequently destroyed in a basement flood, meaning that until now few people have ever heard the album in its entirety.

A varied set of jazz and gospel infused funky soul, 'Two Sisters From Bagdad' was composed and orchestrated by two precocious young talents, E.J. Garrison and Rhodia McAdoo. It's an album full of surprises, and is notorious for the heavy funk workout 'Though's Were The Days' (sic). Not only have we unearthed and faithfully reissued this true obscurity as the 26th part of our ongoing 'Holy Grail' series, but through interviews with Garrison and McAdoo themselves we have also uncovered the beguiling back story to the music, the play and the life and times of its original creator, the late LaVice Hendricks. As always the detail is revealed for the first time in our extensive new sleeve notes, and all because We Dig Deeper!

Ernie Hawks' debut album "Scorpio Man" is nearly here, and about to be released during the first quarter of 2018. The way will be paved with a fresh 7" single that lifts the gritty jazz funk of "Scorpio Walk" from the album on the A side and pairs it up with the mystic groover "Message of Love", a non-LP track only available on this release.

As the track to start up the upcoming album, "Scorpio Walk" rushes on like a manic villain from an art house spy film. A groove made of a murmuring fuzz bass and a surf guitar is suddenly released into heavenly choruses, where the man of the hour lifts the ambiance with a series of lyrical flute solos.

"Message of Love" sounds like an homage to the gently pulsing library music funk from the mid 1970's. Ernie's flute lead is accompanied by bubbling Fender Rhodes, which carries the track forwards like a shy cousin of Michel Sardaby's "Welcome New Warmth". Seductive male vocal wailing haunts in the background, while the track proceeds without haste in its realm of lost budget X-rated movie soundtracks.

Re-issue by Mr Bongo as part of its 'Classic African Recordings' series.

"Dance" war zum Zeitpunkt der Erstveröffentlichung 1981 Gary Numans fünftes Album. Mit diesem verließ er seine zwar geschätzten, aber künstlerisch dennoch ausgelatschten Synth-Pop-Pfade und öffnete sich für seine Verhältnisse experimentelleren, das heißt dezent jazzigen Einflüssen. Mit von der Partie war bei den Aufnahmen eine prominente Ansammlung internationaler Gaststars: Rob Dean, der Bassist und Saxophonist Mick Karn von Japan, Queen-Drummer Roger Taylor, der Keyboarder Roger Mason von der australischen Band Models sowie Nash the Slash aus Kanada. Ursprünglich erschien "Dance" als einfache Schallplatte, was bei 50 Minuten Laufzeit zu Lasten der Soundqualität ging. Deshalb wurden für die
Wiederveröffentlichung auf violettem Vinyl die neu gemasterten Songs auf zwei LPs verteilt. Abgerundet wird die Gatefold-Edition durch Singles, B-Seiten und noch unveröffentlichte Outtakes.

Born out of the legendary Paradise Bangkok sessions run by DJs Maft Sai and Chris Menist in Thailand, The Paradise Bangkok Molam International Band play vintage molam music from the North-East of Thailand, with a 21st century twist.

The band have just completed a successful 2nd tour of Europe, which included a support slot for Damon Albarn in Berlin, as well as gigs in Germany, France, Switzer- land, Belgium and the Czech Republic.
The album was recorded in Bangkok and mixed by Nick Manasseh in London, who also contributed a masterful dub to the band's debut single 'Roob Lor Pu Thai'.

Chris Menist and Maft Sai are also behind the highly acclaimed 'The Sound of Siam' compilations on Soundway Records, as well as releases for Finders Keepers, Light In The Attic and their own Paradise Bangkok label.

Paradise Bangkok's offshoot label Eastern Connection, in collaboration with Sheba Sound, presents a selection of contemporary recordings from Ethiopia.

The Horn of Africa nation is most often associated with the famous Ethio-Funk sounds produced during the latter years of the Imperial era. But in this defiant culture - Ethiopia was the only African state never to be colonised by Western powers - the golden age for music never ended, despite decades of war and social upheaval.

Ethiopia has over 80 ethnic groups, each with its own deep-rooted language and culture. Contemporary musicians living outside Addis Abeba, the capital, have had few opportunities to record or play their mesmerising sounds for visitors. The scanty material that has been recorded can be found on cassettes, reels and vinyl in dusty corners of forgotten storerooms.

Ethiopia is a vast and mostly rural country, which could be why a collection of this breadth has rarely been achieved. This album is the product of more than six years of road trips, recordings and events. They began capturing sounds in Addis Abeba, but their search took them all over Ethiopia - from the northern rocky expanses of Tigray to the central forested highlands of Oromia to the western sweltering grasslands of Gambella.

So far they have recorded more than 25 groups performing in their own homelands. Their lyrics, melodies and rhythms have evolved over centuries. Most are celebratory songs for weddings and holidays, where people dance, sing and clap to the same beat for hours on end.

The thread binding the album together is the krar - a string instrument like a cross between a guitar and a harp. In live performances the krar is played repetitively, locking down the rhythm, allowing for songs to build along with the festivities. There are distinctive rhythms associated with different groups. This album showcases northern-based rhythms such as the Tigray, Amhara and Gurage beat. The song 'Mal Ameni' distinguishes itself by coming from the Oromo people, who are the largest ethnic group based further south, who also have their own specific rhythm.

Mixed and mastered in the UK by Nick Manasseh.

Boomkat Editions is humbled to offer the first ever vinyl edition of Spellwauerynsherde, a masterpiece from LA-based artist Akira Rabelais. It comprises a suite of seven medieval choral pieces which have been sublimated and recomposed via Rabelais' self-built Argeïphontes Lyre software. The results arguably stand as one of the 21st century's greatest musical enigmas and could be said to presage contemporary obsessions with
processed vocals in a deeply uncanny manner, enduring to resonate with up-to-the-moment music as much as the record's distant roots in the seminal works of 12th century German mystic and composer Hildegard von Bingen, and the writings of John Milton, among others.
Spellwauerynsherde has always been crying out for a vinyl issue and Rabelais has done the piece proud with this sensitive new version allowing its seven parts to gently flow in sequence over both sides, with the added shroud of vinyl infidelity lending a beautifully subtle patina of detachment which perhaps only serves to heighten the paradoxical - both temporal, spatial and timbral - nature of the record's ethereal vestibules and elusive,
illusory sonic spectres.
In remodelling these ancient works of art, Rabelais performs a sort of hypermodern animism on ostensibly dead musical material - dead as in hardly anyone knows or plays them in the modern age - imbuing them with a contemporary relevance through the
process of his bespoke software (which is freely available to download) which serves to faithfully render, open-up new dimensions and plasmic aspects from work which is now
nearly a millennia old - so old you can't even call it classical music!
For us at the least, Spellwauerynsherde has pretty much set a benchmark for experiments with ancient composition and computer music - each immersion in this vinyl is akin to floating thru the mists of time and sends shivers down our spine just even thinking or writing about it, never mind listening.
We practically guarantee that Spellwauerynsherde is one of the most magickal, perplexing and strangely life-giving records that you'll ever hear.