Pop & Rock News

Chancha Via Circuito - Remixes is a new compilation from the Argentine producer Chancha Via Circuito, who has been a key player in the Latin electronic music scene. The album brings together some of his top remixes from the past 11 years, now available for the first time on vinyl. This is Chancha's first physical release since his 2022 album La Estrella, and it features remixes with artists like El Búho, Nickodemus, Fuel Fandango, and Lagartijeando.

Chancha is known for blending cumbia with electronic sounds, a style he pioneered in Buenos Aires' vibrant digital cumbia parties. His music often mixes South American folk influences with environmental sounds. Over the years, he's built a global following, performing in cities like London, New York, Paris, Berlin, Sydney, and São Paulo, where he's played at some of the biggest clubs and festivals.

Wewantsounds is delighted to continue its Algerian music reissue program with the release of Freh Khodja's sought-after 1975 LP, Ken Andy Habib. Recorded in Paris with Les Flammes, a group of immigrant musicians, the album is now reissued for the first time. Selected by Paris-based DJ Cheb Gero, who recently compiled the Sweet Rebels Rai set and curated the Abranis LP release for Wewantsounds, Ken Andi Habib is a masterful blend of Arabic music, jazz, Carribean/Latin grooves and funk. Featuring original artwork, audio remastered by Colorsound Studio, and a two-page insert with new liner notes (French/English) by Algerian journalist Rabah Mezouane.

Their first full length LP, Khana Bierbood are a fresh Thai band with their hearts in a lot of musical places. . Produced by Go Kurosawa (Kikagaku Moyo) in Tsubame studio in Tokyo.Starting track Rustic Song, from the jet sound at beginning, you will realize that you arrived in Thailand. Followed by Track 2 Starshine, you can find surf vibe but it’s different than the West coast surf music. The topnotch is the B1 track Badtrip where you can hear lo-fi garage with heavy doomy fuzz jam part. For fans of Oh Sees, La Luz, or Thai’s morlam music. Khana Bierbood (translated as Strange Brew in Thai), formed in 2012, in Bangsaen Beach in Thailand. After hours of jamming together they started create their unique sound influenced by 60’s surf music, 70’s garage rock with Thai traditional music. Current line up is: GOB Yutthana -Vox,Guitar, JAY Rathchanon-Bass,Backing vocal, OHM Chanutpong – Drums, Peep Sirimit -Percussions, Keys, and MO kittinan- Guitar.

Kikagaku Moyo 1st self-titled album reissue. Originally released by Cosmic Eye Records in Sep 2013. Kikagaku Moyo's debut album exerts an elemental power. Enlivening their sound with sitars, percussive drums, theremins, wind instruments and ethereal vocals, the band manages to sound powerfully spacious and lazily serene all at once. Their songs can be light as air, or heavy as earth. comes with digital download

Many evolve out of intense experiences of engagement with the natural world. The album’s first track, “Can You Imagine Nothing?” was written over a night spent jamming on a suspended footbridge in remote mountains. As the song progressed the bridge began to sway, making band members feel as though they were floating weightless in midair.

Recorded live in one session at age 18, this album helped launch Tania Maria's career as an acclaimed Brazilian jazz artist, celebrated for her virtuoso combination of piano and vocals. Produced by Romeo Nunes (Meirelles e Os Copa 5, Rio 65 Trio, Elis Regina, Elza Soares), the album features the pioneering Edison Machado, who transformed samba and was instrumental in the development of Bossa Nova through his groundbreaking "samba no prato" (samba on the cymbals) technique. His work helped shape the sounds of Jobim, Getz, and Milton Nascimento. On guitar is the legendary Neco, who played on over 500 albums. Initially self-taught, he later studied under maestros Guerra Peixe and Moacir Santos. He collaborated with icons like Elis Regina and Chico Buarque, and was a member of Os Ipanemas, Os Catedráticos, and Os Gatos. His solo work includes Velvet Bossa Nova (1966), which became an acid jazz favorite. The album features compositions by Caetano Veloso and Marcos Valle,alongside early samba classics.

Blending Brazilian rhythms with elements of samba, bossanova, and jazz fusion,it captures the early development of Tania Maria's signature style. Born in São Luís, Brazil in 1948,Tania Maria began playing piano at age seven. She learned samba, jazz, and chorinho through her father's weekend jam sessions. Leading her own band by age13, she performed across the region while collecting records from influential artists. Though she earned a law degree and started a family,her passion for musicu ltimately won out—she left law to pursue music full-time.

Mit seinem ersten Full Length Album "Ruinenkampf" begibt sich Das Kinn auf einen musikalischen Parforceritt durch die Ruinen unserer Zeit. Mittels Kickbox Phonetik und Elektronik Armada führt es uns durch eindringliche Klanglandschaften irgendwo zwischen DAF, den Kosmischen Kurieren und Frankfurter Bahnhofsviertel. Beats auf Anschlag. Knochen klappern. Die Orgel leiert. Warme Synthlines, gespielt von kalten Händen. Ein Saxophon sinniert über das Danach. Hymnen für den Abriss. Musik zum feierlichen Untergang. Toben Piel geht gern auf Friedhöfe. Orte der Ruhe und Idylle. Abstand finden, Vergänglichkeit erahnen. Das Danach als konkreten Ort erkunden. Auch sein Debut-Album "Ruinenkampf" stammt aus diesem Mindset. Dort geht er in Distanz, um dann mit Anlauf auf den Punkt zu kommen. Nach Ruhe und Idylle klingt das nicht. Kassettenszene, 80er Jahre, Stakkatogesang, Synths zwischen DAF und den Kosmischen Kurieren. Ästhetik des Untergrunds. Reißende Melodieströme, Raffinesse, unentwegt pendelnd zwischen Hymne und Abriss. Dieser krasse, erhobene Kraftgesang. Acht Stücke Zuhören, ohne eine Sekunde des Abdriftens. Wie geht das? Wie erschafft man so etwas? Nun, der Mit-40er aus FFM, jung geblieben und hungrig, hat eben gut gelernt: Bei Antitainment (2005-2010), danach zusammen mit der großen Charlotte Simon bei les trucs, im Kontext seines Kassettenlabels MMODEMM, aber auch als Musiker für diverse Theaterbühnen. Zum ersten Mal hat er mit DAS KINN nun das Gefühl, Musik im Sinne einer Selbstbefreiung hervorgebracht zu haben. Vielleicht liegt das am Alter. Da, wo er zuvor oft verkopfte, die Kontrolle suchte, Dinge zerdachte, nicht aufhören konnte im Sinne eines Perfektionismus, hat er sich diesmal ein loses Konzept grundiert, um dieser Selbsterkenntnis entgegenzutreten: Schnelligkeit. Fokus. Abschluss, Absprung. Nicht in Abwertung seines bisherigen Werkes - sondern vielmehr im Sinne einer Geistesgegenwärtigkeit, diese Erfahrungen walten zu lassen, ohne sich ihrer bewusst zu sein. Es ist ihm äußerst gut gelungen!

New material by Sandy B! South African Kwaito inspired music on this one....check out "Qhum Qhaks" which is a favorite here...

Sandile Bhengu comes from Durban, South Africa, where he in the middle of the 90's released his debut kwaito album Amajovi Jovi under the moniker Sandy B. During the following decades he would move actively within the local music scene and touch a variety of genres including afro-pop, deep house, R'n'B and Soul.

In the mid 2010's around 20 years since its release crate diggers and DJ's across Europe and North America started dropping tracks from Amajovi Jovi. In late 2017 the album was reissued on Canadian label, Invisible City Editions giving a new lease of life to a forgotten classic and giving this once little known artist an international reputation.

Following the successful re-issue of the 1995-album Sandy B returns to the forefront of music with original material 24 years later in the form of Qhum Qhaks.

Qhum Qhaks comes from a close collaboration between Sandy and Danish DJ and collector Simon Lundsgaard a.k.a Simone Ahà. All songs were recorded in Sandy's home studio to stick close to the ethics and production techniques of the 1995 classic. The material that emerged from this experimental process between the two of them captures the spirit of old school kwaito from the 90's.

Vumbuka Records was founded by Sandile Bhengu & Simon Lundsgaard in 2019 especially for the release of Qhum Qhaks.
The vinyl release of Qhum Qhaks contains seven original tracks and a download code with three extra bonus tracks.

Die Grammy-Nominierte Singer-Songwriterin Jessie Reyez veröffentlicht ihr drittes Studioalbum „PAID IN
MEMORIES“, welches mit ihrer einzigartigen Mischung aus R&B, Soul & zeitgenössischem Pop überzeugt.
Mit den Vorboten des Albums „RIDIN“ Ft. Lil Wayne, „JUST LIKE THAT“ Ft. Ari Lennox & „GOLIATH“
liefert uns Jessie die für sie typischen furchtlosen Lyrics und fesselt ihre Zuhörenden mit ihrer gefühlvollen
Stimme. Die gebürtige Kanadierin arbeitete in der Vergangenheit bereits mit internationalen Größen, wie
Calvin Harris („Hard To Love“), Dua Lipa („One Kiss“) und Sam Smith („Perfect“) zusammen. Ihr Debü-
talbum „Before Love Came To Kill Us“ erreichte kürzlich sogar den Gold Status bei der Recording Industry
Association of America (RIAA).
„PAID IN MEMORIES“ ist auf CD und Vinyl erhältlich.

Die irische Musikerin Maria Somerville kündigt ihr zweites Album "Luster" für den 25. April an. Es ist zugleich ihr Debüt bei 4AD. Mit dem Announcement erscheint die Single "Garden". Der Track taucht ihre sirenenhaften Vocals in einen Sound aus schwirrendem Feedback, luftiger Percussion und nostalgischen Gitarren, der Erinnerungen an die klassische 4AD-Phase heraufbeschwört. Bereits im letzten Jahr war der hypnotische Shoegaze-Track "Projections" erschienen, mit dem Somerville eine erste Spur in Richtung des Sounds ihres kommenden Albums gelegt hatte. Somerville wuchs im ländlichen County Galway an der bergigen und rauen irischen Westküste auf. Sie zog später nach Dublin, wo sie an ihrem Signature-Sound arbeitete: atmosphärischem Dreampop, der von der Landschaft ihrer Jugend geprägt bleibt. Die ätherischen Gitarrenklänge, spärlichen Rhythmen und elektronischen Ambient-Sounds hielt sie erstmals auf dem 2019 selbst veröffentlichten Album "All My People" fest, einem Werk, das knietief in Nostalgie und Sehnsucht watet. Erst als sie nach Connemara zurückkehrte, in ein Haus nicht weit von dem, in dem sie aufwuchs - und von wo aus man einen der größten Seen des Landes, den Lough Corrib, überblicken konnte - begann Somerville mit der Arbeit an Musik, die schließlich zum neuen Album "Luster" werden sollte. Während ihr DIY-Debüt Erinnerungen und Melancholie in nebligen Slowcore hüllte, zeigen die zwölf neuen Tracks eine Künstlerin, die sich des Weges, den sie eingeschlagen hat, viel sicherer ist. "I can see more clearly than I could before. I know now what"s true for me", singt sie passend in "Trip". Gestärkt durch die neue, alte Umgebung und ermutigt durch ihre Community, entwickelte Somerville wieder kreative Energien. Der Boden erwies sich im wahrsten Sinne als fruchtbar, als sie in lockeren Wohnzimmer-Sessions erste Demos aufnahm, die später u. a. mit J. Colleran und Ian Lynch (Lankum) ausgearbeitet und schließlich vom New Yorker Engineer Gabriel Schuman (Oneohtrix Point Never, Princess Nokia, David Byrne) gemixt wurden. Eine gewisse Popularität erreichte Somerville auch durch ihre "Early Bird Show" auf NTS Radio, wo sie seit 2021 zwei Mal die Woche ein Morgenprogramm hostet, in dem sie Musik zwischen Shoegaze und traditionellem irischen Folk vorstellt. Im selben Jahr unterschrieb sie ihren Vertrag bei 4AD, wo sie bislang zwei Compilation-Beiträge veröffentlichte und mit ihren Labelmates Dry Cleaning auf Tour ging. 2025 wird sie mit Band Shows auf der ganzen Welt spielen, darunter auch Konzerte in Deutschland.

Wewantsounds continues its extensive Meiko Kaji reissue program - in partnership with Teichiku Records and Kaji herself - with the release of Yadokari, her third album from 1973. This marks the first time the album has been reissued on vinyl, featuring its original artwork and newly remastered audio. Renowned for her iconic 1970s films (Lady Snowblood, the Stray Cat Rock series) and admired by Quentin Tarantino, Meiko Kaji also released a string of outstanding albums on Teichiku, blending Japanese pop with cinematic grooves. Yadokari, is reissued here with its original deluxe gatefold sleeve andOBI plus a two-page insert featuring new liner notes by Hashim Kotaro Bharoocha. As a special bonus, this edition includes a 7" EP single featuring Shura No Hana, famously featured on the Kill Bill soundtrack.

37 years after the release of her multi-million selling debut album "Ancient Heart" Tanita Tikaram will release the sequel entitled "LIAR (Love Isn"t A Right)". The long-awaited new album reveals the emotional and societal differences between the woman Tanita was at just 18 when she made "Ancient Heart" to the woman she is today, taking in four decades of life experience. Her first album in almost a decade, "LIAR (Love Isn"t A Right)" is an album of haunting beauty and exquisite musicianship underplaying her unique voice that tells a masterful story of emotional, political and personal truths. When it was released in 1988, the multi-million selling "Ancient Heart" was the story of an uncertain 18-year-old brown gay woman living in middle England feeling like a stranger in her own home. Almost 40 years later that same woman, now feeling like a stranger in her own country as politics and society become more divisive. "LIAR (Love Is A Right)" is a full circle moment: a comment on community and its importance for all our futures and the perfect accompaniment to her classic breakthrough.

4XLP. Hardcover slipcase box. Liner notes from Soichi Terada, Colour: translucent red, clear, blue, and yellow vinyl

It has been 25 years since the release of Saru Get You (サルゲッチュ), known stateside and in the UK as Ape Escape. Ape Escape marked a significant milestone for the PlayStation, as it was the first game to require use of the PlayStation's DualShock (analog) controller. In Ape Escape, the use of the analogue sticks goes beyond camera rotation and acts as an extension of Kakeru's (Spike's) own character, controlling his many gadgets like the stun club, time net, and sky flyer. It's a unique form of control that, really, didn't become popularized until the release of the Nintendo Wii. It feels like a distinctly Japanese design, the sort of off-the-wall design that is either embraced or rejected on a global scale. In Ape Escape's case, the mechanic caught on.

Ape Escape is fast, frantic, and—at times—downright frustrating. Pipo monkeys dash, taunt, and swim away from your advances. They ride water monsters, fly UFOs, and even shoot uzis! Whether it's Kakeru, his friends, or the monkeys themselves, the characters are always running across the levels. This mad dash is enhanced by the game's soundtrack, composed by legendary composer Soichi Terada. As he recalls, the director of the production said, "Spike and his friends always have the image of running." In response, Terada happily produced fast songs with an average speed of over 170bpm. The resulting gameplay and audio is a match made in heaven.

Ape Escape is the first game soundtrack Mr. Terada ever created. The producers of the game heard one of his singles, "Sumo Jungle," and thought his frenetic drum-and-bass (Jungle) would be perfect for the game. The marriage of Ape Escape's charming overworld and Soichi's upbeat compositions is nothing short
of sublime. Especially now, it is difficult to separate the mischievous Pipos and fast-paced action from Soichi Terada's silky smooth synthesizer and heart-pounding bass. Earlier this year (2024), Soichi Terada's Ape Escape work was celebrated by the six-track EP Apes in the Net, which includes music from Ape Escape 1 and 3 (Terada did not compose the series' second installment). The label, Rush Hour Music, has prestigiously championed almost all of Soichi Terada's music, especially his (specifically non-VGM) house, jungle, and drum and bass releases (Sounds from the Far East, Asakusa Light, and more).
Before Apes in the Net, Terada's Ape Escape music was only available on CD, released in Japan around 2010. This release featured reconstructed tracks created by Mr. Terada himself, identical to the music arrangements featured in the game. The biggest difference, of course, was that they were of higher fidelity than was originally available on the PS1 disk format. Completing all of the aforementioned releases is this box set, released by Far East Recording in partnership with Cartridge Thunder and officially licensed by Sony Computer Entertainment. This box set release includes four LPs, housed individually by a hardcover slipcase. This box set includes every song from Ape Escape 1, except those available on Apes in the Net. This box set release also includes one bonus song, previously unreleased anywhere else (including the game itself!).

The music on this box set was meticulously mastered by Justin Perkins of Mystery Room Mastering. Using Mr. Terada's premastered source files, the music was completely and specifically mastered for vinyl. Rounding out the audio is absolutely stunning artwork created by Gobo3D. CT worked with Gobo to recreate some of Ape Escape's most iconic characters, referencing the original Japanese guidebook and other promotional materials. The result is visually delicious 300dpi artwork that takes you straight back to 1999. As uber-fans of the original PlayStation game, Cartridge Thunder and Far East Recording are proud to celebrate Soichi Terada's music and pay our respects to such a legendary PlayStation franchise—on the original hardware's 30th anniversary no less! It's with a happy heart, then, that Far East Recording and CT present to you Soichi Terada's Ape Escape Originape Soundtracks in a Box.

Please note: due to licensing exclusivity, this release does not include tracks previously released on Apes in the Net

Upit Sarimanah's self-titled album is here, a captivating collection of songs that reimagined what Sundanese music really means. Originally released by Mesra Records, it finally got repressed by LaMunai Records after out of circulation for decades. Born Suryamah on April 16, 1928, in Sadang, Purwakarta, Upit Sarimanah was a famous Indonesian singer, particularly known for her traditional Sundanese songs in the 1950s. She was a prominent figure at RRI Jakarta from 1950 to 1984 and also led the Gamelan Siliwangi.

Using mostly sounds recorded at Altacura (the high stone of concepcion in Chile) itself, the EP transforms the energies of its spirits into an EP of psychedelic downbeat tableaus featuring rich sound design, driving percussions, conjuring vocals, and gritty basses :

'Allkun', which means "hear" in Mapudungun language, is a tribute to the voices of the birds that inhabit this area.

In 'Tierra Santa' guest vocalist Natalia Clavier joins the trio for a psychedelic dance around the rock.

On the flipside, Argentinian producer Uji increases the tempo of 'Allkun', and turns the original into a dry and percussive club version.

'Cirros' is the perfect tune for a beach club sunset, taking us up to the most recondite skies where we dance the day away with the Altacura spirits.

Wewantsounds is delighted to continue its Algerian music reissue program with the release of Les Abranis' coveted 1983 LP, Album No. 1. Originally recorded in Paris and privately pressed by the group, the album is now being reissued for the first time. Curated by Cheb Gero, who recently compiled the Sweet Rebels Rai set for Wewantsounds, Album No. 1 is a masterful blend of Kabyle grooves, funk, and hints of reggae. Also known as Id Ed Was, the album is reissued with its original artwork, remastered audio by Colorsound Studio in Paris, and a two-page insert with new liner notes (in French and English) by journalist Rabah Mezouane.

Death Is Not The End release a second part collecting pre-partition film music, compiled by Gary Sullivan of Bodega Pop.

As the 1940s began, South Asian cinema entered a transformative phase. Playback singing, still a new idea in the previous decade, quickly became standard practice. Actors no longer had to sing, and singers no longer had to act, opening the door to a wave of dedicated vocal talent that redefined the sound of the industry.

Voices like Noor Jehan, Shamshad Begum, and Suraiya rose to prominence, becoming household names across the subcontinent. Behind them, composers like Naushad, Anil Biswas, and Ghulam Haider were expanding the sonic palette of film music, blending ragas with Western orchestration, folk tunes with jazz-era instrumentation. Harmoniums, sarangis, violins, accordions, and clarinets filled out increasingly complex arrangements, while ghazals and qawwalis continued to influence mood and structure.

Although the post-Partition years are often considered to be Bollywood's "Golden Age," thanks to filmmakers like Raj Kapoor, Bimal Roy, and Guru Dutt, the music started its peak just before the divide. By 1947, Naushad and others were producing some of the most emotionally rich and musically intricate work in the industry's history, compositions that would prove challenging to surpass in the decades that followed.

Yet this high point came during a time of immense upheaval. The Second World War, the Bengal famine, and the crumbling of colonial rule all loomed large. Film songs often reflected the uncertainty, sometimes mournful, sometimes romantic, sometimes defiant. And when the Partition finally came, it fractured the world that had created this music. Artists became refugees, studios were split, and careers were thrown into flux. Noor Jehan, who would go on to become Pakistan's most iconic singer, recorded many of her most beloved songs in Bombay. Khursheed, another major star, faded from public life after migrating. K.L. Saigal, a towering figure of the 1930s and '40s, died in Lahore just months before the split.

This collection spans those final years before Partition, a time of creative flowering and looming catastrophe. Like Part 1, these songs were sourced from immigrant-run music shops in New York and New Jersey. They are fragments of a vanishing world, each one a snapshot of the art, longing, and resilience that defined this extraordinary era.

Brandneue Interpretationen des Future Sound Of London-Klassikers "Papua New Guinea", der durch seine raffinierten Wendungen immer wieder zu Neuinterpretationen anregt, diesmal von FSOL selbst unter ihrem YAGE-Moniker.

Ambre Ciel is a composer, violinist, pianist and singer who hails from Montreal, Canada and is a purveyor of dreamy, expansive, spacious pop music that draws influence from the contemporary classical influenced artists such as Agnes Obel, Patrick Watson, Sufjan Stevens and Thom Yorke. As well as the impressionist world of Debussy and American minimalists such as Phillip Glass and Steve Reich and in addition mentions "music that breathes" from such artists as Gyoa Valtysdottir, JFDR, or the collaborative work of Jónsi and Alex Somers.

The Nigerian princesses of afro-funk arrived on the international scene with 1976’s Danger and never looked back. Produced by multi-instrumentalist Adeniyi “Biddy” Wright, the six-song LP is a low-slung affair, awash in dreamy psychedelic guitar, crisp hi-hat shuffles, and telepathic harmony vocals from twins Taiwo and Kehinde. This 2025 remaster is housed in a deluxe tip-on jacket and includes lyrics in both Yorurban and English. Danger, danger, danger please come on back.

The Rising Wave marks the debut collaboration between singer-songwriter Marlene Ribeiro (of psychedelic band GNOD) and electronic producer Shackleton under the name Light Space Modulator. The album will be released via AD 93.

"Tales Of Mystery And Imagination Edgar Allan Poe" is re-issued in a variety of different formats including as a 180g Heavyweight half-speed remastered Clear Vinyl LP. The Alan Parsons Project debut studio album was originally released in June 1976. The lyrical and musical themes of the album are retellings of horror stories and poetry by Edgar Allan Poe. The album was a worldwide hit selling almost a million copies and achieving platinum status in a number of territories including Germany and Canada. Featuring a half speed remaster by Miles Showell at Abbey Road Studio. Printed insert contains a sleevenote featuring quotes from Alan Parsons and Eric Woolfson.

‘Diré’, Idrissa Soumaoro new album, comes as a surprise to Malian and international audiences. Composer, singer, guitarist and master of the kamalen n’goni Idrissa Soumaoro presents here a beautiful collection of songs on his third album, Diré, named in honor of the town where he met his wife and where his first daughter, who is no longer with us, was born.
In 1971, after his studies at the INA in Bamako, Idrissa was transferred to Diré to teach music at the lPEG (Pedagogical Institute of General Education). He was 22 years old when he arrived in Diré. Idrissa has always been nostalgic for this beautiful place in the 333 Saints of Timbuktu region. As Idrissa sings in ‘Diré taga’ (Going to Diré), the track that opens the album, the city evokes deep emotions for the artist, as if it were a long-lost friend or lover. Celebrating the memory of the city of Diré leads the artist to retrace stories and lived situations that marked and animated him in years gone by: ‘I really miss the people, the colleagues, the friends and that period. Despite the time that has flown by, I would ardently wish to see Diré again’. Today, at the difficult time Mali is experiencing, remembering the city of Diré in the 1970s also means for the artist not giving up hope for peace: ‘The memory of Diré, a beautiful town in northern Mali, strengthens my hope for peace, union and real independence for the happiness of my people’; as he sings in ‘Sababou’, ‘Without hope, there is no life. Together we will succeed’.
The ten highly original compositions of the album are strongly based upon traditional music of Mali, but Idrissa’s life experiences, travels, education, collaborations and personal musical career have led him to compose and perform music with other influences. As Idrissa quotes: ‘My inspiration generally comes from the donso n'goni, a Bambara instrument played by and for hunters throughout Mali. This is a pentatonic instrument, similar to the blues exported to the USA by black African slaves. I've also spent so much time playing a variety of music that my music also reflects rumba, salsa (as well as Bamanan blues and a few derivatives: jazz, country, soul, rhythm and blues) etc. I have looked for and hope to have found my own form of expression from these influences’.
Throughout the album, his strong, clear voice sings in French, Bambara and English. It rides seamlessly upon a complex rhythmic sea of distinctly West African stringed instrumentation and percussion with accents of flute and balafon. There are keyboards in a few songs, but these, happily, do not dominate the music as we hear so often in today’s music. This album presents the music of a mature artist who has ‘been there, done that’ and returned to celebrate his country, his roots and his dreams in a flawlessly produced collection of songs of love, reassurance, fatherly advice and hope.
The album already has a long history: it was initiated in 2012 by Marc-Antoine ‘Marko’ Moreau, former producer and manager of Amadou and Mariam. Moreau had plans to produce the album and invited Idrissa Soumaoro to start recording in Manjul's studio in Bamako. When Moreau suddenly passed away, work on the album was still missing. The pandemic still added time for the production to continue. With the help of Climax Orchestra, arrangements and orchestrations were finalized in France. At the artist's behest, 'Diré' will finally be presented to the public by Mieruba, the independent label based in Ségou, the home of the blues in Mali. 'Let's stand together so that Mali can flourish': from conception to production and distribution, this is the message that 'Diré' carries.

Kumachan Seal: solo project of Japanese vocalist / songwriter / producer Sairi Ojima, who has been playing in numerous indie bands, including Neco Nemuru, since her teens. She began her solo career in 2013, and released her first cassette in 2017. This EM Records release is her first CD/LP album, with all compositions by Ojima, who co-produced the album. Each of the eleven songs reveals beguiling layers of detailed and surprising sounds, with Ojima's DIY sonic core embroidered by vibrant and colorful beats and guitar from EM artist Le Makeup and the quintessential ambient-pop synths and keyboards of fellow EM-er Takao. Le Makeup mixed ten of the eleven songs, with Takao mixing "China Sandwich". The heart of Ojima's musical identity is her clear, aque- ous voice; apart from one instrumental, all the tracks here feature that mellifluous voice, but in an interesting twist, only half the songs have lyrics, with the remainder employing her wordless voice as melodic and textural elements. Although Kumachan Seal can be heard as a sort of bedroom pop filtered through ambient music and the new-age revival, listeners will note that the final two songs, "Atsumono" and "Tiny Cell", are respectively a slightly skewed four-on-the-floor track and a lightly skanking Doo-wop- flavored confection, slightly reminiscent of the UK's Brenda Ray. This album, full of Ojima's calm and cool observation of the world, is available on CD, LP and DL, and includes an English lyric sheet.

Multi Culti World Records venture deeper into the new new age with the release of 'Ocean of Beauty - Meditations for Synthesizer and Bansuri Flute,' a collaboration between California-based artist/DJ Earthtones and Indian classical musician Sheela Bringi. Earthtones, fresh off his genre-defying debut album on Wonderwheel, here dives into the deep end of the ocean of ambient. With music that traverses cultures,he’s known for bridging influences from Cumbia to hip hop and house music. Here he presents his most consciousness-expanding work yet, no doubt influenced by his involvement in Ojai new age culture,years living in ashrams, practicing Shaktism,+ spending as much time curating sounds suitable foraural healing and meditation as for dance-floors. He’s found a perfect muse in Boulder-based Sheela Bringi, whose virtuosity in Indian classical music sets the tone of the record with her bansuri (Indianbamboo flute) & harp, blending traditional instrumentation with more contemporary influences. Bringi was a direct disciple of bansuri master GSSachdev, and represents a devotional musical lineage. She has released two solo albums, 'Shakti Sutra' and 'Incantations,' and her work has been featured on over 50 world and ambient records, plus publicly on outlets from NPR to NBC News, & more. 'Ocean of Beauty' is the English translation of an ancient Sanskrit text devoted to the divine mother, the Sri Saundarya Lahari, The song titles are taken from verses in that text, and the album is in fact a dedication to the goddess Lalita Devi. It creates a serene, meditative space which seamlessly blends traditions; synth-driven ragas with a spirit of tranquility that nurtures Multi Culti’s philosophical bent towards ‘music without borders.’

Der Titel "Amour Colère" - also "Liebe, Zorn" - lässt bereits anklingen, dass Nicholas Michaux auf seiner Platte versucht, mal mehr, mal weniger Gegensätzliches miteinander zu verknüpfen. Einen ersten Hinweis darauf liefert bereits die Trackliste: Französische und englische Songs stehen hier gleichberechtigt nebeneinander. Tatsächlich sieht sich Nicolas Michaux selbst auch in der Tradition des französischen Chansons, die er in seinen Songs mit Anleihen aus der amerikanischen Songwriter-Szene, ein bisschen Classic Rock und New Wave verwebt. Wer bei dem Albumtitel allerdings kitschige Liebesschnulzen oder donnernde Wutausbrüche erwartet, wird von Nicolas Michaux' Stil positiv überrascht sein: Liebe und Zorn beschreiben eher die Stimmung seiner Texte. In seiner Musik schlägt er einen meist nachdenklichen, manchmal schwermütigen, in jedem Fall sehr persönlichen Ton an. Seine Lieder sind einfach gebaut, aber nicht seicht; harmonisch-gefühlvoll, aber nie sentimental. Sein Fokus auf das Wesentliche lässt das Album zeitlos und gleichzeitig modern wirken. Vor mehr als vier Jahren hat der belgische Künstler Nicholas Michaux die öffentliche Bühne betreten. Mit seinem Debütalbum setzte er damals ein musikalisches Ausrufezeichen und gewann viele Kritiker für sich. Nun veröffentlicht der Singer-Songwriter aus Lüttich seine zweite LP und liefert damit ein kleines Füllhorn voller verträumt-melancholischer Songs. Mit seinen Songs lässt Nicolas Michaux die Klassiker des Chansons einmal mehr aufleben und gibt ihnen mit rockigen Akzenten neues Leben, ohne dabei zu aufdringlich zu wirken. Besonders gut eignet sich die CD damit für einen lauen Frühherbstabend, um sich gemütlich zurückzulehnen, zu träumen und still zu genießen.

The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology Vinyl
35 Tracks including 4 acoustic bonus songs
Never-Before-Seen 12” x 12” Poster
4 Marbled Translucent vinyl discs

Depiction of this product is a digital rendering and for illustrative purposes only. Actual product detailing may vary. Please note due to the custom manufacture process, each vinyl unit may be slightly different in coloration.

The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology Vinyl
35 Tracks including 4 acoustic bonus songs
Never-Before-Seen 12” x 12” Poster
4 Marbled Translucent vinyl discs

Depiction of this product is a digital rendering and for illustrative purposes only. Actual product detailing may vary. Please note due to the custom manufacture process, each vinyl unit may be slightly different in coloration.

Soul Media, led by Jiro Inagaki, played a part in the development of jazz rock in Japan. This work, "Memory Lane" recorded in 1980, was the final work under the same name. Inagaki said about this work, "We tried to create this work while predicting the fate of fusion music" and it is true that the sound is completely different from ordinary fusion. The mellow and emotional "Memory Lane" the stormy and refreshing "I Will Give You Samba" and the groovy and edgy "Take My Hand". The sound that was created with his ally Norio Maeda, which looks , is of an extraordinary level of perfection in the songs, arrangements, and performances. It is a masterpiece that is still vivid and fresh when listened to today.

text by Yusuke Ogawa (UNIVERSOUNDS/DEEP JAZZ REALITY)

Leila Gamal’s ‘Abaleeh Abalingi’

At the height of Pan-Arabism, when the United Arab Republic fused Egypt and Syria in a fleeting but bold experiment, a new wave of popular music was emerging—vibrant, infectious, and universally danceable. Among its lesser-known stars was actress Leila Gamal, whose voice—delicate yet rich with longing—embodied the golden era of Egyptian cinema. Born in Alexandria to Syrian roots, Gamal’s vocals were a magnetic blend of sweetness and passion, with a timeless allure that echoed the silver-screen sweethearts of her time.

Abaleeh Abalingi pulses with the hypnotic drive of funky organ riffs, reminiscent of the blind visionary Ammar El Sheriyi, creating a sound both cinematic and undeniably catchy. The delicate lyrics by Khairi Fouad place the track firmly in the lineage of the Middle East’s most iconic pop divas, from Angham to Nawal El-Zoughbi who he subsequently wrote for. This reissue, lovingly remastered, brings this long-lost gem back to life, where it belongs—spinning on turntables, teasing dance floors, and transporting listeners to Egypt in the late sixties.


Adel Osman’s “Oriental Eyes”

Oriental Eyes captures the essence of the 60s Egyptian Franco-Arab movement, blending Western (often jazz) influences with Arabic melodies to mesh mystique with sensuality. Osman’s commanding yet delicate vocals deliver the bilingual lyrics with captivating sincerity, his voice effortlessly gliding over the swells of the arrangement. The trumpet, possibly connecting him to Zaki Osman of Salah Ragab’s legendary Cairo Jazz Band, adds a layer of flair, enriching the track’s Tarantino-esque eclecticism. Now remastered, ‘Oriental Eyes’ is not only a nostalgic gem but a timeless reminder of the boundary-defying spirit that defined the 1960s musical landscape.

Given the ongoing war efforts against Israel, this record wasn’t pressed by Sono Cairo till much later in 1975 once Egypt had recaptured the Sinai and restored national pride. Sono Cairo (Sawt el-Qahira) was the first Arab-owned and by far the largest record label in the Middle East, amassing an unmatched catalogue of music. With exclusive rights over much of Umm Kulthum’s works, Sono Cairo played a crucial role in disseminating the sounds of Arab Nationalism and projecting Egypt’s soft power across the region.

Muhammad Al-Najjar
London, April 2025

credits
Audio restoration and vinyl mastering: Colin Young
Lacquer cut: Timmion cutting lab
Sleeve and label artwork: Grotezk Studio
Under License of Sono Cairo

Maggid Tewfik – Mazzika Nicab Parts 1 & 2:

Released in 1973, Mazzika Nicab by Egyptian film director and iconic figure Maggid Tewfik is a trippy instrumental journey into the experimental realms of baladi music. Known for his prolific career as a director and DOP in over 30 Coptic films, Tewfik’s composition, split in two parts, presents a moody yet undeniably cheeky tune that is unlike anything found in Egyptian music over the ages.

The track is a hypnotic blend of Eastern rhythms and Latin grooves, featuring an early drum machine that guides the track through its jubilant and stormy atmosphere. This mechanical beat is paired with funky garage sounds, creating a psychedelic fusion that evokes images of an epic cinematic score, where belly dance meets the raw energy of late-60s experimental rock. Belly-dance sci-fi perhaps..?

Muhammad Al-Najjar
London, April 2025

credits
Audio restoration and vinyl mastering: Colin Young
Lacquer cut: Timmion cutting lab
Sleeve and label artwork: Grotezk Studio
Under License of Sono Cairo

Georgette Sayegh & Melhem Barakat – Belghi Kull Mawaidi & Instrumental:

Finally, hopping across from Egypt to Lebanon for this infectious number, Georgette Sayegh delivers what some consider her magnum opus in a captivating duet together with Melhem Barakat, and on the flipside a stripped-down instrumental version that’s equally catchy.

Georgette Sayegh is a legendary Lebanese singer and actress known for her tender and dulcet voice that echoed the grace and beauty of the inimitable Fairuz yet carried its own unique warmth. Her passion for collecting vinyl at an early age formed her eclectic musical palette, and she eventually caught the eyes of the Rahbani brothers and played the lead role in a monthly play written by Fairuz’s son, Ziad. Georgette’s household classic "Yay Yay Ya Nassini” shot her to stardom across the Arab world in the 1970’s, and till this day carries the exact same nostalgia of a Lebanese summertime anthem – flirtatious, jolly, and unfettered. In Belghi Kull Mawaidi (I cancel all my appointments), Sayegh’s voice entwines with compatriot and fellow household staple, Melhem Barakat in an emotional display of longing and depth - her voice delicate yet powerful, effortlessly blending with Barakat's commanding baritone.

The instrumental version on the flipside (surprisingly a stereo mix) reveals a highly catchy arrangement that is lush and emotive, driven by strings that glide smoothly through the melody, while brass instruments add a touch of drama. The rhythm section, punctuated by a steady percussion, anchors the track, allowing the interplay of instruments to build a sense of urgency and longing, accurately reflecting the struggles and emotional resilience that defined Sayegh’s own life.

This reissue, remastered with painstaking care, brings both versions of Belghi Kull Mawaidi back to life, making it an essential addition to any avid listener, DJ or collector’s shelf. It captures the timeless beauty of two of Lebanon's most cherished musical icons, their voices and instruments merging to create a track that resonates through the ages.

Muhammad Al-Najjar
London, April 2025

credits
Audio restoration and vinyl mastering: Colin Young
Lacquer cut: Timmion cutting lab
Sleeve and label artwork: Grotezk Studio
Under License of Voix de L'Orient

Eko, or Eko Roosevelt, is a Cameroonian composer, pianist & vocalist. He was born in Kribi in 1946, the son of a local Tribal Chief. Eko developed his love for music at church, later pursuing his growing passionwith music studies abroad, first in Dakar and then in Paris. After concluding his studies in France he went on to a recording career and between 1975 - 1982 released a number of full-length LPs, 7" singles and albums on cassette, before returning to Kribi to take over the role of Tribal Chief from his father, a role he holds to this day.

While the name "Eko" may not be immediately familiar to all, his music will be well known to many, from the DJs to the dancers, the heads to the home listeners. Evergreen classics like “Kilimandjaro My Home”, have remained a mainstay in the record bags & USB crates of disco jocks since its release in the late 70s, while numerous of his other crossover Afro-disco gems have been bootlegged, edited and remixed by a seemingly endless number of both greater & lesser-known producers who have all paid tribute to his work. Eko Roosevelt’s position in the ranks of Cameroon’s great musicians cannot be overstated. As a composer, songwriter, pianist and singer he has influenced generations of musicians both in Cameroon and France and further abroad, while he has written & arranged for many of the Cameroonian musical community.

Here Canopy, with the benediction of Eko himself, officially reissues two of his works that have not been rereleased since their first outings. Stylistically the two songs straddle the line between Afro-disco, funk and pop, with a slightly Balearic, almost AOR sensibility.

“Phone Me Tonight” is taken from a 7” record that has barely resurfaced since it was self-released in 1981 on the “Eko Music’ imprint. The song is an uplifting opus that demonstrates Eko’s deftness for creating catchy songs that succeed in their songwriting prowess and melody crafting, both on and off the dance floor. It is a stripped back composition that employs the key elements to great effect. The groovy bass line is underpinned by a tight Afro-disco beat as Eko’s unmistakeable voice draws us in and with a masterful use of repetition and hooks, creates a song that feels familiar from the outset, while being brand new to almost all listeners. As the song develops, the synth lines lift the song higher and higher, culminating in a euphoric transcendence perfect for elevating the mood of any dancefloor.

“Take Me As I am Now”, is sourced from Eko’s first album, “Nalandi” which originally came out in 1975 on Dragon Phenix. Here we have another fine example of Eko’s ability to hone compositions that blend thelines between pop song writing and more loopy dance floor orientated structures. The vocal hook repeats throughout the song, with only minor variations, making the song feel comfortingly familiar from its early bars. An instantly appealing bass line sets the stage for the sleek guitars and taut horn arrangements. The end result is a feel-good balance of melody and groove that makes for a timeless feel with a positive message!"

Over the last ten years, Brazil’s Millos Kaiser has cultivated a reputation as a top-ranking selector passionate about bringing his home country’s underappreciated music to the world. After starting as a punk and indie musician in Niterói, Rio de Janeiro, he turned his hand to DJing in the late 2000s and relocated to Sāo Paulo. There, he spent the 2010s rocking city squares, warehouse parties and street parties with DJ Trepanado in the Selvagem duo before cofounding the celebrated Selva Discos label in 2017.

Since 2019, Millos’s focus has shifted to his solo DJ career and ventures as an edit maker, reissue compilation curator, audiophile bar co-owner, and now producer. Planet Trip Records has been very good friends with Millos for a long time and is very pleased to present his first original release, the Te Quero Perto (I Want You Close) EP, available in vinyl and digital formats.

Assembled like a DJ-friendly 12” for late 20th-century nightclub specialists, Te Quero Perto kicks off with Millos’ original ‘club mix’ and an accompanying ‘instrumental’ version (digital.only). Driven by an uptempo machine beat straight out of the mid-'80s, rave pianos, 303 acid bass, and an explosive Brazilian pop vocal sung by Juju Bonjour, it’s an absolute belter of a tune and a masterclass in in-period styling.

Elsewhere on the EP, Millos’s European friends Lipelis & Orion Agassi turn in an equally belting Latin Freestyle remix in vocal, dub and instrumental mixes (instrumental is digital only). Rounding things out, fellow Rio de Janeiro producer Paco Cabana throws the tune into a cocktail shaker before pouring a sunkissed, percussion-heavy reimagining for us to sip on. Front to back, it’s an all-killer, no-filler debut from a generational talent.

Due to popular demand... Les Disques bongo Joe are releasing a brand new 7"" of Nusantara Beat featuring the previously-released-digital-only single Mang Becak and a new killer track! For their third collaboration with Bongo Joe, the Amsterdam-based band reinvents two gems of Indonesian music on this 7"". Through these tracks, Nusantara Beat fuses traditional sounds with modernity, breathing new life into timeless classics.

Jetzt wieder erhältlich: Das erste & meistverkaufte Album (weltweit) von D.J. Bobo aus dem Jahr 1993, mit den Tophits: „Somebody Dance With Me“, „Everybody Keep On Dancin“ und „Take Control“. Das einzige Album mit den „Original Hits“.

**RSD 2025** - Record Store Day exclusive pressing comes on Blue vinyl with heavyweight sleeve

Seminal album from cult Ghanaian musician Alhaji K. Frimpong, recorded in 1976 and considered to be one of the best highlife albums ever recorded.

Features the masterpiece Kyenkyen Bi Adi M’awu (come back my love) - universally known in Ghana, covered and sampled by artists such as Chronnix, Gnarls Barkley and many more.

Backed by Vis a Vis - one of the most influential bands to come out of the Ghana Highlife / Afro Rock movement.

Unique avant garde sound that blends traditional highlife percussion and horns with synthesizers

Original copies of the album are extremely rare. The album was reissued in limited quantities in 2011 and has been unavailable since - even reissue copies sell for high prices on the second hand market.

"For Japanese people, min'yo is both the closest, and most distant, folk music" explains band-leader Katsumi Tanaka. "We may not feel it in our daily, urban lives, yet the melodies, the style of singing and the rhythm of the taiko drums are engrained in our DNA".

Initially indifferent to min'yo, a tragic event in recent Japanese history set Tanaka on his current path: "Following the Tohoku earthquake of 2011, I reflected on my life, work and identity. A fan of world music, I began searching for Japanese roots music I could identify with. Discovering mid-late 20th century acts like Hibari Misora, Chiemi Eri and the Tokyo Cuban Boys, I was captivated by their eccentric arrangements and how they mixed min'yo with latin and jazz music."

Lead singer Freddie Tsukamoto fell for min'yo after hearing a song from his hometown on a TV competition whilst in a restaurant. It was a revelation – until then he had been an aspiring jazz singer yet was uncomfortable singing in English. The restaurateur told him a min'yo teacher was his neighbour and the two connected. Tanaka and Freddie formed Minyo Crusaders in 2011 in Fussa, a city where the US military Yokota Air Base is located, in western Tokyo.

Recruiting other local musicians versed in afro and latin rhythms, they began hosting jam sessions at the Banana House, a building that was previously part of the military base and that used to house US soldiers. The band started recording their music, and their debut album "Echoes Of Japan" was released in 2017. It received huge acclaim in Japan and abroad, and was also released by British label Mais Um in 2019. Several European tours followed, as well as some US and South America gigs.

In this second opus, the Minyo Crusaders take us on a trip to Japanese folk songs fused with latin rhythms. Their unique arrangements breathe new life to classics like Kiso Bushi, Sado Okesa or Soran Bushi, among many other min'yo songs from all over Japan that were originally performed by Japanese fishermen, coal miners and sumo wrestlers hundreds of years ago. The magical groove created here proves once again that the Minyo Crusaders are one of the most dynamic representatives of the current Japanese world music scene. Yoi Yoi, Enjoy!

Tim Maia‘s, “Racional, Vol. 1“, is a studio album of the brazilian musician, written during Maia‘s involvement with the Cultura Racional sect. With a very warm blend of funk and soul, the famous singer achieved one of his best releases ever.

2024 repress.

The fourth release of Selva Discos is one that has been bursting audiences into flames for a good while. Barbatuques, a well-known Brazilian group of body percussionists, adapted "Baiana´" back in 2005 (first released on the "O Seguinte E´ Esse" album) and since then it became a staple of their concerts, getting crazy reactions from the children to the elder, being featured on soundtracks and sampled by trap duo Tropkillaz. The original is a modern folk song from Bahia composed by Maria do Carmo Barbosa, but it was the mouth harp sound and the stomping beat on the Barbatuques' arrangement that imprinted its trademark sound - like the first lightning strikes before the storm. A couple of years ago, Jan Schulte, the german producer known for his taste for tropical drums (and also for using a few different aliases), heard the song and decided to add an extra punch to it for his DJ sets: more drums, taken from a library record of "drumdrops" (hence the title). In his appearance at 2017's Dekmantel Boiler Room stage as Bufiman, he dropped it to the crowd's awe, and it's been like that wherever its played - believe it, it's been tested all around. So now for the first time "Baiana´" is issued on vinyl. It marks the second volume of the BRASINGLES series, a new series on Selva Discos dedicated to releasing loud 12" singles with the original song on the A side and a rework on the B side, to please both the DJ and the listener.

This 45 comprises two killer pop dancers with plenty of psych fuzz guitars, punchy horns and funky beats: the in-demand Christie Laume's mod anthem 'Rouge-Rouge' and Marta Kubisova's 'Tak Dej Se K Nám A Projdem Sv?t' a glorious LP-only song that has never available on a 45 before. Sister-in-law of Edith Piaf (who introduced her to the music business), Christie Laume became a ye-ye style singer in '60s France. Her mod anthem 'Rouge, Rouge' (1967) is a great song that never fails in making the dance floor shake, taken from a very rare and in-demand E.P. On the flipside we can find Marta Kubisová, one of the most popular singers in the Czech Republic in the '60s. Her 'Tak Dej Se K Nám A Projdem Sv?t' is a glorious LP-only song from 1969 that has never available on a 45 before. Expect heavy basslines, punchy horns and fuzzy guitars. Both songs are officially reissued here on a 45 for the first time.

Following the contemplative explorations of previous works in the series and hot on the heels of the beautiful Cosmos from E Ruscha, Stella Z's "Figs" emerges as a delicate meditation on growth, patience, and the hidden life of fruit.

Recorded in London yet deeply inspired by distant memories from China, the album is a musical documentary that explores the fig—a plant with a profound personal significance to Stella. "The fig tree was the big, generous presence in our old home, feeding my family and neighbours every summer," Stella shares. "When we moved to an apartment, we thought we had lost the fig tree. But my mum took a cutting and planted it at our new place. To our surprise, a small fig tree started growing again, as if it had never left."

Early support from Vladimir Ivkovic, DJ Harvey, Jaye Ward, Laurent Garnier.

Derya Yildirim ist so vieles: Begnadete Sängerin, Baglama-Virtuosin, Underground-Star, Botschafterin des reichen musikalischen Erbes in der Türkei, Erneuerin und Bewahrerin dieser Musiktradition und einfach eine verdammt gute Interpretin. Sie hat Groove, sie ist mit der Anadolu-Soul-Band Grup Simsek genauso großartig wie mit dem Kammermusik-Orchester Ensemble Resonanz. Sie bringt den Saal zum Toben, egal ob es die Elbphilharmonie oder ein kleiner Club ist. Gemeinsam mit dem französischen Keyboarder und Produzenten Graham Mushnik hat sie ein Kinderalbum gemacht: Hey Dostum, Çak! übersetzt: "Give me five!" Was für eine tolle Idee! Viele der Lieder kennt die Hamburgerin Derya Yildirim aus ihrer Kindheit: Es sind Wiegenlieder, Volkslieder, die ihr Vater auf der Baglama gespielt, oder die sie im Türkischunterricht gesungen hat, die auf Kassetten ihrer Großeltern zu hören waren, oder die der Baglama Lehrer ihr beigebracht, der sie und andere türkischsprachige Kids im Stadtteilladen in Hamburg-Veddel unterrichtet hat.

The Endless Coloured Ways is a collection of songs by legendary singer/ songwriter, Nick Drake, performed and recorded by over 30 incredible artists from a range of different backgrounds, genres, age groups and audiences. From Fontaines D.C to Guy Garvey, and Aurora to Feist, each artist has offered their own incredible take on a timeless classic. - First in a collection of five 7" singles - - Limited stock - - Gatefold lancing sleeve -

Japanese free jazz legend Akira Sakata and Greek avant-garde guitarist Giotis Damianidis present Adyton, their first-ever duo recording. Having collaborated since 2018, the two musicians have developed an intuitive and electrifying musical dialogue, culminating in this live performance at Haekem, Brussels—the final concert of a two-week tour with Entasis in September 2023.

Sakata, who turned 80 on February 21st, 2024, delivers his signature fiery alto saxophone, evocative clarinet, expressive voice, and resonant bells, while Damianidis expands the sonic spectrum with textural guitar and effects, weaving a dynamic interplay between structure and chaos.

Titled after the "Adyton"—the innermost, most sacred part of an ancient temple—this album invites listeners into a raw, unfiltered space of musical exploration, where spontaneous energy and deep-rooted tradition converge. A testament to Sakata’s lifelong commitment to improvisation and Damianidis’ boundary-pushing approach to guitar, Adyton is a powerful, transcendental journey into the unknown.

Issam Hajali is most known as the singer and composer of the Lebanese band Ferkat Al Ard. While they recorded 3 albums only their classic „Oghneya“ saw a vinyl release and is highly sought after in the Lebanese record collector scene (A copy changed hands in Beirut this year for 5000 USD). Before the band came together, he recorded this debut album in Paris in 1977 . This rare album fuses jazz and folk with Arabic and Iranian influences into unique beauty. It was only released in a limited run of 75 cassette tapes and is now officially licensed and reissued by Berlin based Habibi Funk Records.

Belgian musician and filmmaker Jef Mertens has been an active force in the experimental music and film scene for nearly two decades. Known for his documentaries on artists like Sonic Youth and Borbetomagus, as well as his work with the now-defunct Dadaist Tapes label, Mertens continues to push the boundaries of sound exploration. His previous solo works include NO MATHEMATICS, released on KRAAK/Feeding Tube Records.

With Orchid Alto, Mertens dedicates himself to the taishogoto, a Japanese stringed instrument that became a new focal point in his sonic explorations. Initially drawn to its unique tonal qualities, he approached the instrument with an open-ended curiosity, using it as a means to reshape his musical language. The transition to taishogoto marked a shift away from guitar-based compositions, offering a fresh perspective on texture and resonance. Through these explorations, Orchid Alto serves as a blueprint for new sonic possibilities.

A bold and immersive sonic journey, Orchid Alto merges traditional resonance with modern experimentalism, further shaping Mertens' artistic voice—one influenced by artists like Michael Flowers, Turner Williams Jr., and Bill Nace.

Completely unknown album by Salah Ragab's Cairo Jazz Band vocalist Maha, recorded in Cairo in 1979. Features productions by Hany Shenoda of Al Massrieen. Maha’s “Orkos,” originally released on cassette, is one of these standout musical diamonds that combines Jazz and Egyptian vocal traditions with Funk, Latin and Soul. Out via Habibi Funk October 10th.

Maha’s “Orkos” immediately catches your ear as a unique album. A strong and energetic voice, equally grounded in jazz as well as Egyptian vocal traditions, Maha sings over instrumentals that offer a wide palette of influences, sonically emblematic of the cultural changes that were occurring in the country. The album features rich compositions and productions by renown Egyptian musician Hany Shenoda, who’s group, Al Massrieen, Habibi Funk worked with in 2017 (the release led to sync placements in Hulu’s “Ramy” TV Series).

At the time of its release, however, the “Orkos” cassette quickly faded away among the growing number of releases populating the Egyptian musical soundscape. For more than 40 years, it sat in near obscurity before being given new life in the form of a properly licensed vinyl release. Habibi Funk and Disco Arabesquo are honored to play a part in sharing Maha’s story. Below is a bit more context around the release as well as the campaign schedule.

The arrival of the cassette brought a seismic shift in how music was produced and consumed around the world. Smaller bands and labels were able to release music without the logistical and financial barrier present in vinyl manufacturing. At the same time, in Egypt, a new crop of musicians and composers made their way into the scene, seeking to bring something fresh to what was perceived as the widely monophonic musical traditions of Egypt. Hany Shenoda, Mohamed Mounir, Magdy El Hossainy, Omar Korshid, Salah Ragab and Hamid El Shaeri are some names that come to mind. Many built their sounds combining their own musical upbringing with influences coming from the outside. The success of these projects varied widely, but for each there were numerous lesser-known bands and singers. Many of these often-short-lived projects would release their music on cassettes on tiny labels only to fade into the musical ether.

Maha’s “Orkos” album fits this category. Put out in a small run of cassettes, it’s fair to say that the singer’s sole recording outing was not a financial success when it was originally released by Egyptian label Sout El Hob in 1979. While it may not have found an engaged and open-eared audience upon its release, the first few bars of the album indicate this is a special, timeless album that transcends the musical boundaries that many artists were seeking to break through at the time.

From the funk sounds of “Law Laffeina El Ard” (Single 1, out September 1 with Pre-Order announcement); the moody, mellow sounds of “Kabl Ma Nessallem We Nemshy” (Single 2, out September 23) or “We Mesheet;” to excursions into Latin sounds in the title track “Orkos,” and disco with “Ana Gaya” (Album Focus Track, out October 10) the album is an amalgamation of genres that stands out from the immense creativity present in Egypt at the time.

We connected Maha in late 2021 and she was clearly surprised to have someone call about music she recorded more than 40 years ago. She also seemed interested in the idea in bringing her music back to people’s attention. A few weeks later we were speaking with our friend Moataz, who runs the Disco Arabesquo project and showed him this great new album we found and to our surprise he knew the album, having found a copy of it a year or two before, in Cairo. It was then obvious to team up for a collaboration for this project. You can find Moataz’s story about Maha and her music, as well as extensive interviews with Maha herself, in the booklet accompanying the release.

As always, both vinyl and CD come with an extensive booklet featuring interviews with Maha as well as unseen photos.

Avid Habibi Funk listeners may be familiar with Libyan composer / producer Najib Alhoush, who’s track “Ya Aen Daly” - the Bee Gee’s “Stayin Alive” cover - was included in our second compilation. While the original track never excited us, Najib’s version managed to strip it from its pop approach that had taken over disco during the genre`s peak. At that time, disco tracks mostly were aiming to appeal to the widest audience possible. Najib had turned the original track into something different and very unique. Upon further research we found that Najib was actually the singer and founder of The Free Music band alongside Fakhreddin, Salim Jibreel, Abdulrazzak ‘Kit-Kat’, Mukhtar Wanis and Mohameed Al Rakibi.
Initially, we only licensed Najib Alhoush’s “Ya Aen Daly” from Yousef Alhoush, Najib’s son, who was pleased to hear that there was interest in his father’s music form someone abroad. In the process of exchanging and learning about Najib’s music and career, our understanding was that The Free Music only recorded the one album. This couldn’t be further from the truth, in fact, there were ten albums produced by the group, all impressively coherent with a clear influence from disco, soul, funk and reggae.
The Free Music album was probably the longest it ever took us to gather information, photos and musical source material in a good enough quality to be reissued. This is largely due to the complicated political situation in Libya, compounded by the fact that Libya is still largely cut off from international payment systems, so getting an advance payment to the right person can be a process that takes weeks. The same goes for getting master tapes to a studio abroad and afterwards back to Libya.
When we look for music that works under the umbrella of Habibi Funk, we often come across albums where bands experimented with influences from Soul, Jazz, Funk, Disco and more, usually on a single track or two but then they often go down to a different path for the rest of the album. This was not the case for The Free Music. All their albums are fully dedicated to their unique blend of Disco, Reggae and Funk and it feels that when we made the selection for this album, we could have chosen a completely different number of tracks and the album would be been equally strong.
The lead-off single is the stupendously groovy “Ana Qalbi Ehtar” out February 3rd along with LP pre-order to capitalize on Bandcamp Friday. From the outset, the rhythmic strumming of the funkified guitars give way to the galloping drums and bass, opening up to anthemic vocals and rounding out with a blistering guitar solo, a certified disco-funk classic through-andthrough.
Second single, out February 17th is the disco slammer “Hawelt Nensa Ghalaak.” Guitars, harmonized horns, synths and bouncing bass and drums collide w/ spaced out vox to make the track a dancefloor sureshot for any party.
Third single is “Mathasebnish,” out March 3rd, a pure disco-funk slammer if there ever was one – with stabbing horns, funky bass riffs, a riding rhythm guitar and anthemic vocals, rounded out with stunning flute and guitar solos – the track will surely be on repeat along with the arrival of warmer weather.
Album focus track “Men Awel Marra” is another standout disco-infused tune, showcasing the immense creativity out of Najib and The Free Music. This past summer we finally had the opportunity to get together with Yousef face-to-face at a coffee shop in Istanbul’s central Istiklal road together with our friend Anas El Horani. Yousef told us the whole story of how his father got into music, the start of the band and his father’s continued conflicts with the Gaddafi regime that probably kept his career from becoming even bigger. As always, both vinyl and CD come with an extensive booklet featuring background on The Free Music and Najib Alhoush, including words from Najib’s son, Yousef, as well as unseen photos, cassettes and more.

"Quique" von Seefeel erschien 1993 auf dem Label Too Pure und verschmolz Elemente von Shoegaze, Ambient und elektronischer Musik zu einem innovativen und genreübergreifenden Sound. Die komplexen Texturen, pulsierenden Rhythmen und ätherischen Melodien des Albums sorgen für ein intensives Hörerlebnis, wobei Titel wie "Climactic Phase #3" und "Industrious" den bahnbrechenden Ansatz der Band verdeutlichen. Mark Cliffords aufwändige Produktion, kombiniert mit Sarah Peacocks zartem Gesang, schafft eine traumhafte Atmosphäre. "Quique" war ein Wegbereiter für die Verschmelzung von organischen und digitalen Klangwelten. Das am 28. März erscheinende, komplett neu gemasterte Reissue ist als Doppel-CD in der erweiterten "Redux" Version mit 9 Bonus Tracks sowie neuem Artwork und als Doppel-Vinyl in der ursprünglichen Länge und dem originalen Artwork erhältlich.

The UK's renowned jazz-funk outfit Speedometer spawns a new single here that takes the form of a bunch of classy covers, all taken from their recent third album Four Flights Up. The A-side offers a refined version of 'Am I Your Woman?', plus a take on the Chi-Lites' classic 'Are You My Woman (Tell Me So)' with Ria Currie's standout vocals lodging deep in your soul. This one was inspired by a night spent dancing at a club in Osaka during their 2005 Japan tour and arms with a smooth groove. On the B-side, they do a fine job of 'Nam M'Yoho Ren'Ge Kyo,' originally by the Night Blooming Jazzmen, by delivering a tight, funky groove with exceptional horn and drum arrangements.

Carrying on a string of stunning archival releases from major figures of Indian classical tradition (including releases from members of the Dagar family and Amelia Cuni), Black Truffle is pleased to announce an unheard recording from tabla master Kamalesh Maitra (1924-2005). For over fifty years, Maitra devoted himself to the rare tabla tarang, a set of between ten and sixteen hand drums tuned to the notes of the raga to be performed. While the tabla tarang has its origins in the late 19th century, Maitra was the first to recognise its potential as a solo concert instrument, using the set of tuned drums to perform full-length raags. Seated behind a semi-circular array of drums, Maitra produced stunning waves of melodic improvisation enlivened with the rhythmic invention of a master percussionist.

Across his career, Maitra performed in ensembles led by Ravi Shankar, collaborated with George Harrison, and led his own East-West fusion group, the Ragatala Ensemble. However, it is in the solo setting that his remarkable artistry and the otherworldly timbral qualities of the tabla tarang are most strikingly on display. Recorded during the same 1985 Berlin sessions that produced Maitra’s self-released solo LP Tabla Tarang: Ragas on Drums, on Raag Kirwani on Tabla Tarang we are treated to Maitra stretching out for over forty minutes on the late night Raag Kirwani, accompanied by Laura Patchen on tabla and Mila Morgenstern and Marina Kitsos on tanpura. The performance begins with the traditional free-floating exposition section, where Maitra’s spacious melodic improvisation at times almost resembles a plucked string instrument (like the sarod, which Maitra also played). For the listener unaccustomed to the tabla tarang, the sound of these microtonally inflected melodic patterns played on drums has a magic quality. As Maitra begins to imply the rhythmic cycles more strongly, Patchen joins on tabla, beginning half an hour of rhythmic-melodic exploration, where virtuosity sits side by side with delicacy and meditative attention. Accompanied by beautiful archival images and extensive liner notes from Laura Patchen, for many listeners Raag Kirwani on Tabla Tarang will be the perfect introduction to the magical world of Kamalesh Maitra, released to coincide with the hundredth anniversary of the master musician’s birth.

Carrying on from recent archival releases from masters of Indian classical tradition such as Kamalesh Maitra and the Dagar Brothers, Black Truffle is pleased to present a previously unheard recording of a concert by Pakistani vocalist Salamat Ali Khan. Born to a musician family in Hoshiarpur in the northwestern state of Punjab, Khan moved with his family to Lahore in Pakistan after the 1947 partition of India, becoming a child musical prodigy. Khan was a master of the kyhal form of Hindustani classical vocal music, a style integrating influences from Middle Eastern musical traditions that gives the singer a great deal of improvisational freedom. Travelling widely across the globe from the 1960s until his death in 2001, Khan approached ragas performed in the kyhal style as expressive forums for risk-taking improvisation, enlivened by ceaseless ornamental invention.

This remarkable recording was captured by Michael Hönig (of krautrock legends Agitation Free) in concert at Berlin’s Neue Nationalgalerie as part of the MetaMusik festival in 1974 (which also featured Nico, Tangerine Dream, and Roberto Laneri’s Prima Materia, among many others). Khan, who is also heard accompanying himself on a specially tuned alpine zither (in place of the traditional swarmandal, an Indian style of zither), is joined by Shaukat Hussein Khan on tabla and Hussein Bux Khan on harmonium. The lack of a familiar underlying tanpura drone gives this performance a weightless, floating quality, with all three of the musicians playing masterfully with the interaction between silence and the pulse propelling each section of the raag.

As Khan explains in his opening remarks, this performance of the rainy season Raag Megh is divided into three parts, each with its own tempo and rhythmic scheme (tala). The opening vilambit, in a twelve-beat tala, stretches out for over twenty minutes, lingering for a long time in a space of meditative calm, Khan lightly strumming the zither while exploring the lower end of his range in languorously extended notes. Virtuoso tabla interjections at first barely state the tempo, and the interplay between musicians is so spacious that we hear scraps of audience noise and the squeak of the harmonium’s mechanism in between the notes. Gradually picking up rhythmic definition and melodic complexity, after around fifteen minutes the music builds dramatically, with Khan letting out emotive yelps and swooping scalar shapes ranging across his full vocal range. This flows seamlessly into the following jhaptal, at a faster tempo in ten beats, which then makes way for the concluding teental, very fast in sixteen beats, which becomes a frantic improvisational exchange of daring rhythmic disruptions from the tabla, flowing harmonium melodies, and a stunning variety of vocal approaches from Khan, ranging from rapid-fire staccato consonants to guttural growls.

Accompanied by stunning black and white concert photographs, the LP also contains a moving and entertaining recollection from acclaimed German musicologist Peter Pannke, looking back on his experience assisting Khan and his musicians in Berlin at the Metamusik festival (including a mouth-watering description of a feast cooked by the maestro himself). As Pannke describes in his account of attending the concert, the beauty and spiritual intensity of this music leaves the listener speechless.

After a long time waiting Sono Rhizmo is returning with two brandnew songs to Resense.

Dua Lipa veröffentlicht zum bevorstehenden 5-jährigen Jubiläum ihres mit einem GRAMMY Award ausgezeichneten und mit Platin zertifizierten zweiten Studioalbum Future Nostalgia eine 3LP Special-Edition.
Gepresst auf einer gelben Splatter-Vinyl und zwei schwarzen Vinyl, enthält das 3-LP-Set die 11 OriginalTracks des Albums sowie die Deluxe Moonlight Edition und das Remix-Album Club Future Nostalgia.

Record includes 2 page insert and download

Flipping rhythms from Guadeloupe, Cuba, Senegal and Puerto Rico, Time Capsule founder Kay Suzuki releases an acid-soaked collection of remixes that transcends time and space.

From the blacked-out basement of Plastic People to the psychedelic dancefloor of Beauty and the Beat, Kay Suzuki’s musical world has been shaped by some of London’s most iconic sound systems. High quality audio, he says, can open portals to new universes. Rhythm is time made plastic and beauty is the space between the beats.

Spanning over fifteen years of music from the prolific DJ, producer, Time Capsule label boss and one time Brilliant Corners sushi chef, this collection of remixes is the logical conclusion of Kay Suzuki’s musical thinking. Drawn to unique percussive or syncopated rhythms, he describes remixes as conversations between the original artist’s sense of time and his own. Weaving broken beat, house and dub influences into rhythms from across the Black Atlantic, these four tracks find each other kinship on the dance floor.

The A-side begins with a dubbed-out rework of the Gwoka celebration rhythm ‘A Ka Titine’ by Guadeloupe’s Gaoulé Mizik that was originally released by Beauty and the Beat in 2022. Layering electronic flares, dub sirens and space echo reverb across the shuffling toumblak beat, Suzuki leans into the track’s creole heritage, turning the track into a sought-after dancefloor jam, played by everyone from Colleen Cosmo Murphy and John Gomez to Yu-Su and Bradley Zero.

Skipping to Puerto Rico, Broki’s ‘Es Que Lo Es’ emerged from a collaboration between Bugz in the Attic’s Afronaut and Seiji and local musicians. Here Suzuki reworks the Afro-Latin percussion into a subtle bruk, conjuring a third space between London and San Juan that remains both of and outside the era in which it was made.

Blackbush Orchestra’s ‘Sortez, Les Filles!’ opens the B-side, taking apart the original and kneading the Senegalese percussion into a chugging Balearic house track, buoyant and full of life. Also first released by Beauty and the Beat, the track features new synth and structural elements that bring out the innate dancefloor potential beneath the surface of the original.

The final track on the collection heads back to the Caribbean and the island of Cuba, where Sunlightsquare a.k.a. Claudio Passavanti worked with vocalist Rene Alvarez and expert in Afro-Cuban percussion, Giovanni Imparato, on ‘Oyelo’. Here, Suzuki strips out the kick completely, leaving an implied rhythm which he calls an “imaginary four-to-the-floor” - a groove that is felt rather than heard, leaving the listener floating in another universe entirely.

During a month living with the Wampís in the Amazon Rainforest, Aboutface and the Wampís community collaboratively captured field recordings, music instrumentation and traditional Wampis Nampets – ancient songs sung from the perspective of animals living in their rainforest environment.

These recordings then informed 4 improvised performances to articulate the story of the 4 Nampet songs from within each animal's habitat, to depict nature and culture as inseparable, and to propose that humanity is not exclusive to humans but a multinaturalist characteristic available to all living organisms.

This is the first project of its kind in Wampís history and contains sound recordings of biodiversity that no longer exist due to deforestation.

Indigenous-managed Amazonian rainforests sequester around 340 million tonnes of CO₂ each year—equivalent to the UK’s annual fossil fuel emissions. In stark contrast, non-Indigenous-controlled forests have become sources of carbon emissions, therefore accelerating our global climate crises. Among the vital custodians of these precious ecosystems are the Wampís people, who protect 1.3 m ha of precious rainforest territory currently being decimated by mining for gold. This devastating practice is currently decimating Wampís territory, destroying their river habitats, leaving toxic methylmercury pollution that strips all biodiversity, contaminates the food chain, and causes widespread harm.

100% of all sales revenues from this release will directly go to the Wampís to protect their rainforest territory, to fund Wampís-led eco-initiatives against illegal mining, alongside ways to preserve Wampís cultural heritage– embedded in their songs, art and crafts, central to their conservation of their territory called The Iña Wampisti Nunke: A system of life that encompasses reciprocal relationships between humans, plants, animals, and spirits, central to the harmony of all its multi-dimensional ecology– which they term Tarimat Pujut.

For more project information, a short essay is provided alongside a nonstop-listening version of the album as part of the free Bandcamp download with every LP.


Credits

Nampet songs
Kutir, Wancha and Pinchichi by Elizabeth Huampankit Najamtai.
Manchi by Fernando Ijisam Tsakim.

Acoustic Percussion by Wampís band Guayabita
Fernando Ijisam Tsakim, Edilberto Ijisam Tello, Larry Tello Huampankit, Jose Luis Cahuata Pipa, Tedy Tello Cahuata, Heyner Tello Cahuata, Eli Artista Antonio, Never Tello Huampankit

Violin by Taro.

Peruvian bamboo quena, classical flute, acoustic guitar, electronics, composition and arrangement by Aboutface.

Original portrait painting of Fernando Ijisam Tsakim by Nyran Loomcal.
All other artworks, analogue photography and design by Aboutface.

Rainforest field recordings identified and collected by The Wampís of Guayabal and Aboutface.

Mit "Glory" veröffentlicht Mike Hadreas aka Perfume Genius sein siebtes Studioalbum. Zusammen mit seinem Partner Alan Wyffels und Produzent Blake Mills ist eine Platte entstanden, die nach außen hin strahlt, in seinen makabren Bildern und seinem aufgewühlten Innern aber das Tor in eine Welt von Entfremdung, Sehnsucht und Verlangen aufmacht. Es ist der Konflikt zwischen dem Außen und dem Innen, der Hadreas beschäftigt, der Widerspruch zwischen einem künstlerischen Leben in der Öffentlichkeit und dem Wunsch nach Isolation. In seinen Charakterskizzen betrachtet der US-Künstler mit der Sorgfalt eines Schriftstellers Szenen von Freundschaft, Verlangen und Intimität durch eine queere Prima, während er sich musikalisch geöffnet und in seinem Songwriting-Prozess mehr Raum für Gruppendynamik gelassen hat: "Es ist auf eine Weise kollaborativ, die es besser macht", so Hadreas, "aber auch beängstigender - es fühlt sich verletzlicher an". Dass Glory dennoch ein zutiefst persönliches Album geworden ist, liegt auch daran, dass Hadreas seine eigenen Ängste vor dem Hintergrund der Entwicklung einer den Zeitgeist durchdringenden, allgemeinen Paranoia reflektiert. Mit seinen fein gesponnenen Tracks wirkt "Glory" beizeiten wie eine Kollektion neuer Standards für queere Romantiker und alte Seelen im Tumult der Gegenwart.

We Release Jazz is ecstatic (purrrr!) to announce the official reissue of Hiroshi Suzuki’s glorious jazz-fusion-funk Holy Grail Cat (originally released in 1976), sourced from the original masters and available on limited edition 180 gram vinyl mastered at half speed for full audiophile sound, as well as on digipack CD. Both versions come with liner notes by Teruo Isono.

Cat was recorded in October 1975 at at Nippon Columbia Studio, while Hiroshi Suzuki was visiting his home country of Japan after moving to Las Vegas in 1971 to play with Buddy Rich and perfect his craft. Back on his old stomping grounds, the man known as Neko (Cat) immediately reunited with his dear friends for an epic two day session of groove magic. The chemistry was still intact. The skills and style had grown.

The result, Cat, is a smooth masterpiece, a deep and soulful affair where stunning trombone solos by Hiroshi Suzuki flirt with Takeru Muraoka’s heavenly saxophone and the sensual rhythm section of Hiromasa Suzuki (keyboards), Kunimitsu Inaba (bass), and Akira Ishikawa (drums).

Celebrated in jazz collectors circles, in the lofi beat scene, and among music diggers around the world, Cat has become one of the most sought-after Japanese jazz albums of all time and, much like Ryo Fukui’s Scenery, has fascinated old and young generations alike.

Have you ever wondered what might happen when you collide Mighty Ryeders' timeless rare-groove classic 'Evil Vibrations' and De La Soul's iconic hip-hop jam 'A Roller Skating Jam Named 'Saturdays'' into one new tune? Well, wonder now more, because that's exactly what Groove-Diggers have done here. This fresh version blends the sampled parts of 'Evil Vibrations' with De La Soul's raps and vocals while Japanese hip-hop group FNCY have added their own new mic work into the mix as a way of paying tribute to De La Soul's original hit. Also included is a Japanese cover of 'Evil Vibrations' by Taiwanese jazz and neo-soul singer 9m88 which brings a whole different respective. A fun and sure-to-be effective package.

Have you ever wondered what might happen when you collide Mighty Ryeders' timeless rare-groove classic 'Evil Vibrations' and De La Soul's iconic hip-hop jam 'A Roller Skating Jam Named 'Saturdays'' into one new tune? Well, wonder now more, because that's exactly what Groove-Diggers have done here. This fresh version blends the sampled parts of 'Evil Vibrations' with De La Soul's raps and vocals while Japanese hip-hop group FNCY have added their own new mic work into the mix as a way of paying tribute to De La Soul's original hit. Also included is a Japanese cover of 'Evil Vibrations' by Taiwanese jazz and neo-soul singer 9m88 which brings a whole different respective. A fun and sure-to-be effective package.

Dutch club jazz band New Cool Collective returns with a tasty 7" featuring two cinema classics. On the A-side, they serve up their own fresh and super funky cover of 'Enter the Dragon,' the iconic theme associated with Bruce Lee and his martial arts masterpiece of the same name. The B-side features their take on 'Misirlou' which is a legendary surf rock track by Dick Dale & The Del-Tones that was made world famous when it was used as the theme from Quentin Taranto's chef d'ouevre, Pulp Fiction. This double-sider is standout for its nostalgic movie associations but also on a purely musical level it oozes class.

Kaum ein Ereignis hat die deutsche Gesellschaft im noch jungen Jahr 2024 so sehr bewegt, wie der Tod von Fußballlegende und Sportikone Franz Beckenbauer. Als einer der größten Namen ging „Der Kaiser“,
wie er oft genannt wird, sowohl als Spieler als auch später als Trainer und Funktionär in die weltweite Fußballgeschichte ein.

Unvergessen sind, im Angesicht seiner außergewöhnlich erfolgreichen Karriere, aber nicht nur seine Leistungen und Erfolge auf dem Platz oder seine Einflüsse als Funktionär, sondern auch im Bereich der Musik hinterließ Franz Beckenbauer seine Abdrücke in der deutschen Kulturlandschaft.

All diese Umstände ergeben in Summe eine regelrechte Aufforderung zur Neuauflage von Franz Beckenbauers größten Hits, oder besser gesagt: ”Des Kaisers schönste Lieder”. So lautet nämlich auch der
offzielle Titel der neuen 10“-Vinyl, die alle alten Titel aus der Zusammenarbeit mit dem Polydor-Label enthalten und pünktlich zum Fußball-Highlight des Jahres erscheinen wird. Universal Music wird diese feine Schatztruhe an Liedern zudem auch erstmals digital veröffentlichen und für Streaming verfügbar machen.

Die strikt auf 1.000 Stück limitierte Edition in transparentem 10”-Vinyl wird am 14.06.2024 erscheinen.

Limited Edition Three Blind Mice Premium Re-issue Collection
180g vinyl LP with obi and insert
Remastered and cut by Bernie Grundman
Pressed and printed in Japan
Orig. Rel.:1970

This is the first album by Takao Uematsu, who played in the George Otsuka Group.
His blackness of blowing, spirit and technique, which are directly descended from Joe Henderson, set him apart from other Japanese players.

Budabeats Records turned 15 this year, to celebrate the occasion label bosses Dj Gandharva and Von Yodi hand picked 14 songs from artists belonging to the extended Budabeats family. If you are familiar with the the label you may alraedy know that they really do not care about genre limits, and as you would expect, Waves of Budabeats is a prime example of this attitude. The double LP includes mellow but tight dowmtempo tunes by WaTa and Kobza Vajk (remixed by BéTé), midtempo weirdness by Mytron, mature hip-hop by Son of Sam, vintage Japanese pop sounds by Erik Sumo and the Fox Fairies, dreamy and straighter dancefloor material by Oneeyedman, M.W.D and the Chillum Trio, weird electronics by Kovacs The Hun, and, of course, the obligatory jazz and funk delivered by Dokkerman and The Turkeying Fellaz and The Premecz Organ Trio. The vinyl compilation is limited to 300 copies, most of the songs have not been released before on any format, but all of them are pressed on vinyl for the first time.

Spirituelle Musik mit tiefer Resonanz, übertragen durch Klavier, Orgel und Harmonium von der geliebten Komponistin und äthiopischen orthodoxen Nonne Emahoy Tsege Mariam Gebru. "Church of Kidane Mehret" versammelt das gesamte musikalische Werk von Emahoys gleichnamigem Privatpress-Album von 1972 sowie zwei zusätzliche unveröffentlichte Klavieraufnahmen mit Emahoys ,Äthiopischer Kirchenmusik". Die Aufnahmen entstanden in Kirchen in ganz Jerusalem. Zum ersten Mal hören wir Emahoy auf dem Harmonium und der massiven, dröhnenden Pfeifenorgel, neben einigen ihrer bewegendsten Klavierstücke. Bei ,Ave Maria" hallt ihr läutendes Klavier gegen alte Steinmauern. Ihre vertrauten melodischen Linien erhalten eine neue Resonanz, wenn sie in ,Spring Ode - Meskerem" durch das Harmonium gespielt werden. Zwei überragende Orgelstücke bilden die B-Seite, die Emahoys klassische europäische Ausbildung mit ihrem lebenslangen Studium der äthiopischer religiöser Musik kombinieren. Nirgendwo ist Emahoys einzigartige Kombination von Einflüssen deutlicher als bei ,Essay on Mahlet", einem meditativen Dauerbrenner, in dem Emahoy die freien Verse der orthodoxen Liturgie Note für Note auf dem Klavier interpretiert. Dieses aufschlussreiche Stück stammt, neben der dramatischen Klavierkomposition ,The Storm", von einem anderen selbstveröffentlichten Album, "Der Sang Des Meeres" von 1963. Eines der einzigen bekannten Exemplare wurde vor dem Müll gerettet und von einer Mitschwester aus Emahoys Kloster am Rande von Emahoys Beerdigung im März 2023 an Mississippi Records weitergegeben.

Limited edition of 500 copies.

Hard Top assembles the previously unreleased 1975 recordings of legendary South African saxophonist Kippie Moketsi (also spelled Moeketsi). The 2LP vinyl edition is presented in a gatefold sleeve featuring artwork by Mafa Ngwenya and comes from As-Shams Archive on the heels of the Tete Mbambisa's previously unreleased African Day album in 2024.

By 1975, at the age of 50, saxophonist Kippie Moketsi had already earned his stripes as a South African jazz figurehead. His tenure with the Jazz Epistles and the cast of the "South African Jazz Opera" King Kong in the late-1950s had not only marked his own rise to fame but also seen him help catalyse the ambitions of a younger generation of iconic artists who would go on to become the defining figures of modern South African jazz. While he didn't enjoy the same international attention as his protégés Miriam Makeba, Hugh Masekela and Abdullah Ibrahim, his humble and challenging career on the local jazz scene until his death in 1983 saw him forge an enduring legacy.

Owing to the efforts of record producer Rashid Vally, Kippie Moketsi's journey through the 1970s is beautifully documented, most notably on the albums Dollar Brand + 3 (1973), Tshona! (1975) and Blue Stompin' (1977), in which he shares the spotlight with Abdullah Ibrahim, Pat Matshikiza and Hal Singer respectively. As a featured performer on Soul of the City's Diagonal Street (1975) and Dennis Maple's Our Boys are Doing It (1977), Moketsi is seen embracing the popular orientations of South African jazz in 1970s but, having come up in the 1940s and 1950s, he never forgot his roots as a dedicated admirer and scholar of traditional American jazz.

While Moketsi did write some memorable compositions, it was in the role of interpreter that he shone most brightly. With its title derived from a good-natured nickname that nodded to Moketsi's elder status by way of his receding hairline, Hard Top is a covers album that looks back in time to the era of rhythm and blues while also indulging 1970s pop and funk with a decidedly South African vibe. Officially joining Kippie Moketsi's catalogue 50 years after it was recorded, Hard Top provides an opportunity to celebrate the multiple dimensions of a South African jazz legend and reflect on the unwavering support of his fan, producer and friend Rashid Vally, who passed away in December 2024.

In the vibrant streets of Tembisa, South Africa, amidst the sprawling urbanity connecting Johannesburg and Pretoria, the story of Moskito began. Formed in 2001 by Mahlubi "Shadow" Radebe and the late Zwelakhe "Malemon" Mtshali, the group first emerged as a powerhouse of pantsula dancers. However, their undeniable passion for music soon led them down a new path_ one that would cement their place in kwaito history. Spending countless hours on the street corners of their township, where they were born and raised, Shadow and Malemon danced and sang with an infectious energy that attracted crowds. It wasn't long before the duo decided to channel their talents into a kwaito group, and after adding friends Patrick Lwane and Menzi Dlodlo, Moskito was born. (Pantsula dancing emerged in the 1950s among Black South Africans in townships and continually evolved until it became intertwined with kwaito music culture. The stylized, rapid foot movements and characteristic low-dancing became associated with kwaito as it took over South African urban culture into the early 2000s.) With limited resources, the group displayed immense creativity, recording demos using two cassette decks and instrumental tracks from other artists. They would rap and sing over an instrumental playing on one deck while the second deck records their performance. Their determination paid off when they submitted their demo to Tammy Music Publishers, who were captivated by Moskito's style. "Kwaito was the thing `in' at the time. If you did music you did kwaito. We wanted to fit in and actually it was easy," says Radebe. "We didn't have engineers in the group, so the first time in a real studio was with Percy and Thami to record Idolar." That same year, the group released their debut album, Idolar, under Tammy Music. The album was an undeniable success reaching gold status selling over 25,000 units and earning them a devoted fan base across South Africa and neighboring countries like Botswana, Swaziland, Namibia and Zimbabwe. Moskito collaborated with industry legends such as Chilly Mthiya Tshabalala, who was known for his work with Thiza and Spoke "H." They drew inspiration from Thami Mdluli a.k.a Professor Rhythm, who had dominated the disco scene back in the 80s and 90s. Mdluli helped with musical arrangements and executive produced the album and signed on producer-engineer Percy Mudau, while Shadow and Malemon took pride in composing most of their songs. Like many of the rising kwaito artists of the time, they didn't have music production or engineering backgrounds so they required support from engineers together their ideas down on tape. They were inspired from South African kwaito icons like Trompies, Mdu, Mandoza, and Arthur Mafokate, alongside international heavyweights like Snoop Doggy Dogg, Dr. Dre, 2Pac, and R. Kelly, Moskito created a sound that was uniquely theirs_a perfect blend of local flavor and global influence.

The Mighty Bop, the group made up of Bob Sinclar and Dj Yellow, is celebrating the 30th anniversary of their first album, "La Vague Sensorielle". This opus, a blend of Acid Jazz and Trip-Hop, has become a benchmark for both musical genres. Rediscover such great tracks as"Freestyle Linguistique Feat. EJM" or "Infrarouge".

Strut introduces the highly anticipated third volume in the Disques Debs International series, diving deeper into the archives of one of the greatest French Caribbean labels, Disques Debs, based in Guadeloupe. Founded by the visionary Henri Debs in the late ‘50s, the label and studio operated for over 50 years, releasing more than 300 7” singles and 200 LPs, making it a cornerstone of Caribbean music history.

By the dawn of the 1980s, Henri Debs had already established himself as a prolific producer, with a record of releases unmatched in Guadeloupe and Martinique. From its humble beginnings with a 2-track tape machine in the back of a clothes shop, Disques Debs evolved into a powerhouse, boasting a state- of-the-art studio in downtown Pointe-à-Pitre, retail shops for records and musical instruments in Guadeloupe, Martinique, and Paris, a nightclub in Gosier, and international distribution deals reaching Europe, the U.S., and South America.

Disques Debs played a pivotal role in shaping modern Caribbean music. The label bridged traditional genres like biguine and gwoka with contemporary styles like cadence, compas, and zouk, the latter becoming a global phenomenon in the 1980s with contributions from iconic acts like Kassav’ and Zouk Machine. The period also saw Disques Debs champion a new generation of artists while maintaining ties with legendary figures from earlier decades.

Volume 3 in this series spotlights one of the label’s most dynamic and influential periods as it expanded its global reach during the 1980s. Across 2 LPs, the release features a curated selection of tracks from the Disques Debs circle, highlighting both emerging talents and established artists who defined the era.

This collection not only celebrates Henri Debs’ unmatched legacy but also offers a snapshot of Caribbean music’s golden age, cementing Disques Debs as a cultural institution.

Originally released on Island Records in September 1998, the soundtrack to the box-office smash film, written and directed by Guy Ritchie, quickly became a must-own album, and is frequently cited as one of the best movie soundtracks of all time.

Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels redefined the British gangster film and established Guy Ritchie as one of the greatest directing and writing talents of his generation. Using a frenetic mixture of filmic styles, humour, violence, breakdown of the fourth wall, narration, and vast amounts of swearing, it is hard to imagine a time when this film and its influence was not around. It made a star of the-then unknown Jason Statham, and, amazingly, hard man footballer Vinnie Jones, who as Big Chris, had several scene-stealing moments. Taking his cue from Quentin Tarantino, who had been meticulously curating his film soundtracks since the early 90s, Ritchie made the music to his film tell its own story, complete with memorable snatches of dialogue between many of the tracks.

It offers a beautifully eclectic selection of songs from the preceding three decades, plus then-current artists providing some of their best material, such as Hundred Mile High City by Ocean Colour Scene or E-Z Rollers' drum'n'bass masterpiece Walk This Land. Of the heritage tracks, Dusty Springfield sings her sultry take on Spooky; James Brown appears twice with The Boss and The Payback; The Stooges with I Wanna Be Your Dog, and two versions of Pete Wingfield's masterful one-hit-wonder 18 With A Bullet; in its 1975 original and a contemporary cover by Lewis Taylor and Carleen Anderson. And this is only half of it.

Mr Bongo proudly presents an official reissue of an iconic, exploratory album by Indian maestro of the sitar, Ananda Shankar, aptly titled 'Ananda Shankar And His Music'.

Released on His Master's Voice in 1976, the album is a sublime collage of sitar-funk, traditional Indian classical music and psychedelic grooves, from the Indian sitarist, composer and musician. Nephew to India’s legendary sitar virtuoso Ravi Shankar, Ananda’s musical family and upbringing led to a deep respect and love of the wealth of music that emanated from his birthplace. His travels to the west coast of America in the late ‘60s though, saw Shankar immersed in the full swing of psychedelic rock. The collision of these two musical worlds with a whole range of other Eastern and Western influences on 'Ananda Shankar And His Music', is a truly entrancing combination.

First big in the UK in the mid-‘90s jazz/rare groove club scene, when it was unearthed by adventurous DJs and crate diggers, the sensational Indian-funk tracks 'Streets Of Calcutta' and 'Dancing Drums' became firm dancefloor favourites. The mixture of drum-heavy funk with Indian music and psychedelia is the perfect melting pot. Flavourful and balanced, it still feels fresh and exciting 40 years on.

Like a fine wine, this album keeps getting better with age and once-overlooked tracks are now seen in a new light. Aside from the main 'club' cuts that many have praised and loved, 'The River' is a part blissed-out, Balearic gem, part cosmic wild west soundtrack, that would provide the perfect complement to any sunset session. Elsewhere, 'Dawn' is a spiritual and meditative journey into Indian classical music, with ‘Cyrus’ floating you away to heavenly heights. On a different tip, 'Back Home' fuses styles and themes via an organ and Moog-infused, tripped-out excursion, whilst 'Renunciation' hits with a psych-rock sentiment to its sitar-soaked grooves.

A beautiful time capsule of Eastern culture meets Western influence, where experimentation and intrigue produced a fusion of sounds that still sound as vibrant and alluring as they have ever been.

"East of Any Place,” out December 1st via Habibi Funk, is a treasure trove of songs we came across alongside Rogér Fakhr's acclaimed 2021 album, "Fine Anyway." These tracks, hidden for decades and only passed between a handful of people, offer a glimpse into Rogér’s musical genius and the vibrant scene of Lebanon during a period marked by civil war and social upheaval. This release serves as a companion to "Fine Anyway," feat studio tracks that didn't make it into the previous album.

Das 2005 erschienene Kultalbum 'Nite Versions' vom belgischen DJ-Brüder-Duo Soulwax ist ein genreverwischendes Wunderwerk, das nahtlos Elemente aus Rock, Electro und Dance verbindet und so ein pulsierendes Erlebnis schafft, das von Anfang bis Ende fesselt. Die neuaufgelegte und limitierte farbige Doppel-LP ist für einen nahtlosen Mix gepresst mit Seite A und C auf LP Nr. 1 und B und D auf LP Nr. 2.