Suche:mad sin

Joe Lewandowski started his career by mixing in NYC raves and parties. Back in France, he became resident of Parisian club Garage. He also made a name of himself as a producer by releasing promising EPs that combined house with jazz, afro and italo disco, to create his own musical identity. With this new opus “Egosexual” for Skylax records, Joe Lewandowski confirms his talent by delivering a banger EP that mixes Soulful vocals (He invites the incredible singer Tyve on ‘Egotrippin’ ) with killer grooves and vintage synths to offer modern house anthems. Vinyl ONLY.



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Soul Jazz Records continues its journey into the world of Afro-Caribbean roots music with this album of newly recorded music of Gwo Ka music recorded and produced by Soul Jazz Records on the island of Guadeloupe, French West Indies.

Gwo Ka music is a fantastic fusion of African-­derived musical form ( call and response), with vocal styles that draw upon the equally powerful French chanson singers to create a truly unique combination.

Tradition Ka, made up of some of the island’s finest singers and master drummers, is part of a powerful network of politicised Gwo Ka groups on the island – upholding the traditions and cultural importance of Gwo Ka as part of a larger process of defining the identity of Guadeloupe and its culture.

This album is newly studio recorded in Pointe-­A-­Pitre, Guadeloupe by Soul Jazz Records. Like the cult music of Haiti’s Vodou and Cuba’s Santeria or the roots music of Belize’s Garifuna (all of which Soul Jazz have also released), Gwo Ka is the musical and cultural product of the region’s African ancestry, forcibly brought to the Caribbean through slavery.

Gwo Ka exists only in Guadeloupe, a very different island from much of the Caribbean, in that it remains a ‘department’ of its original colonial master, France. Here, the currency is the Euro and the baker sells croissant and café au lait.

This constant ‘European-­ising’ of the island means that Gwo Ka plays a fundamental and important role in the defining of Guadeloupean identity. As an African-­derived music, its position as a counter-­balance to French influence means that the definition of how and what Gwo Ka represents is also in a constant state of flux.

These new recordings show how Gwo Ka is both a modern Caribbean music form and one firmly rooted in ancestral history.

Over the last 20 years Soul Jazz Records have been documenting and presenting the often hidden histories and deep musical worlds of Cuba, Haiti, Jamaica, Belize, Trinidad, the Bahamas and more. This documentation encompasses reissuing lost recordings, such as the mighty Studio One catalogue of reggae, producing films/dvds (such as the 3-­hour documentary Mirror To The Soul in conjunction with British Pathé, and Dub Echoes), books (check the forthcoming photography book on the Caribbean 90 Degrees of Shade, with text by Paul Gilroy, and Kanaval) as well as travelling to the region to produce new recordings.

Like many an influential album in rock history, the cultural significance of Happy Monday' Bummed was apparent to precious few listeners upon it's first release on 5 November 1988.
Within a decade or two, Bummed would be hailed as one of the best records of the '80s, often by the self-same publications that had slated it back in the day - a harbinger of the seismic shift about to take place in British popular music, away from the squeaky-clean, corporately ordained pop-radio fodder which had increasingly dominated the charts since punk, and back towards the more aggressive, unruly and experience-hungry urges which had always pulsed through rock 'n' roll.

With artwork lovingly replicated by original Manchester designers Central Station Design, this album is on vinyl for the first time since it's original release. Featured the singles "Wrote For Luck" and "Lazyitis - One Armed Boxer"

Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches was Happy Mondays commercial peak, both a No. 4 victory and a benchmark album in history. That year the Mondays made a generation feel like the freaks were winning again, the dreamers and schemers hurtling in from the shadows to park themselves, like grin-faced goblins, in the daylight glare of the mainstream. Artwork lovingly replicated by original Manchester designers Central Station Design. Featured the singles "Step On", "Kinky Afro" and "Loose Fit".

From the cosmic creative musical mind of Swiss/Catalan studio whizz, Zeleste Nightclub engineer, video nasty film composer, occasional Jaume Sisa (Muìsica Dispersa) collaborator and future electronic music therapy pioneer J. M. Pagaìn comes the synth-ridden, vocoder-loaded 1984 sci-funk soundtrack to Barcelona’s daytime TV response to the universal E.T. phenomena. Get ready to meet your new alieniìgena amic and the unidentified flying object of thousands of Catalonian kids’ affections through the 1980's as Finders Keepers present Pagaìn’s lost lunar modular synth score to ‘Kiu I Els Seus Amics’ (Kiu And Friends aka Kiu Is Your Friend).

From the same intergalactic phenomenon that brought such delights as Turkey’s exploito cash-in ‘Badi’ or South Africa’s lo-rent homage ‘Nukie’ to our unregulated small screens and the same craze which filled international airwaves with the likes of Extra T’S electro smash single ‘E.T. Boogie’ or the million selling Columbian ‘Cumbia De E.T. El Extraterrestre’ smash hit... not to mention a wide range of unofficial theme-tune cover versions from Holland, Austria, France and Germany (lest we forget an inspired late period Lee Scratch Perry Album).

In 1982 the diaspora from Steven Spielberg’s small fictional mid-American neighbourhood that played host to everyone’s favourite torch fingered, three toed, Skittle-scoffing space goblin touched virtually every family home in every major city resulting in one of the biggest cinematic merchandise phenomenas of the 21 st Century, resulting in an unexpected high-demand / short-supply play-off in which bootleggers, copyists and counterfeiters rose to the challenge like never before.

When Spielberg regrettably told interviewers that he had no intention of making a sequel to ‘E.T. The Extra Terrestria’ it instantly became open-season for the imitators... but way before somebody squeezed-out ‘Mac & Me’, ‘ALF’ and ‘The Purple People Eater’, a team of kid’s TV executives in Catalunya were ready to fill the widening gap in the market without haste. Created in 1983 by Luna Films and Televisioì de Catalunya (TV3) and screened exclusively in Catalunya, ‘Kiu I Els Seus Amics’ was one of the first E.T. ‘tributes’ to make it out of the gate and with a crew of five individual directors and writers to ensure that the five episode, one-off series hit the wave of phone-home-fever, Kiu has since remained a short but sweet micro- memory in the hearts of an entire generation of Catalonian cosmonauts.

This special Finders Keepers edition comes complete with all of Pagaìn’s cosmic synthesiser soundscapes fully intact (barring striking comparisons with the likes of Tangerine Dream, John Carpenter, Vangelis and the soundtrack music of Suzanne Ciani), as well as some rare, unreleased, incidental TV edits. The bulk of this LP is made up of tracks taken from the rare full-length album, which was released after the TV programme had already been aired and coincided with sales of jigsaws and rubberised play figures in an attempt to catch-up with the unexpected mega-success of the show, needless to say, with a short promotional window, the LP (and cassette edition) did not benefit a re-press and with most copies sold to children, few vinyl pressings have escaped repeat needle scratches and decorated sleeves.

For The Geek and VRV, everything is a matter of time. Since they first met six years ago, the two beatmakers have been broadcasting their music to the four corners of the world, and their collaboration is as strong as ever after the years. Vanguards of the French instrumental hip-hop scene, they’re coming out today with their first album, Time Machine, a synthesis of the sounds and the ideas they’ve been working on from the very beginning of their careers. A trip back through time, as its name suggests, demonstrating the range of sound possibilities that they created in previous projects and on their international tours.

The release of their hit “It’s Because” in 2013 launched them on the scene as French producers who managed to break into the United States, with sampling as their musical base. Closer to home, the Coachella, Osheaga, and Solidays music festivals were won over by the pair’s complementarity, which made the success of their BTOS beat tapes and their EPs, Electric City and Origami.

But since everything is a matter of time, it was sometimes necessary to just let things go, take a break and think things over before coming back even stronger. A year and a half ago, The Geek and VRV started to slow things down, in order to take a step back and concentrate on this new album. With one overriding idea: to explore different eras and time periods, and transpose them into our modernity. Each track is associated with a pivotal year in music. With “Paris Jazz Club 1920”, the first single on the album, we're plunged into the cozy atmosphere of the cabarets, featuring the virtuoso Montreal pianist Anomalie. A meeting made possible thanks to the famous beatmaker Gramatik, who was a fundamental inspiration for their music, and who is also present on the album, as well as the flagship producers Fakear and Møme.

On Time Machine, The Geek and VRV have turned on their time machine to bring us to the year of James Brown’s birth, and find the unstoppable groove of “Get Funky 1933”. Always with hip hop in sight. The explosion of disco inspired them to record “Roller Disco Party 1980”, and the film Back to the Future was behind “Time Machine 1985”. The mixing of different time periods means that the styles, genres and atmospheres are channeled to perfection. The Geek and VRV have been preparing for this trip for five years now. With Time Machine, the time has come for them to begin their exploration, and to take us along for the ride.

"21" is the well-crafted, sharp and original first album by the duo HILA, composed by American cellist Artyom Manukyan (who already worked with Kamasi Washington, Daedalus, Flying Lotus, Run DMC, Gretchen Parlato, Raphael Saadiq, Clive Lowe Mark...) and french producer Dawatile.

The combination of jazz, Los Angeles beat-scene and the vibrations of 80s and 90s Soviet Armenia make it a striking and unprecedented fusion. These kind of nostalgic and unconventional references forcefully shake the codes of mainstream culture to create a sincere, raw and intimate expression.

"HILA" was born from a spontaneous and intense creative impulse between Artyom Manukyan, a Los Angeles-based Armenian celloist and his partner in crime, David Kiledjian aka Dawatile, a French multi-instrumentist of Armenian descent. This project is proving to be a true master stroke given that it only took 21 days for the duo to make it a reality.

"HILA" was made in less a moon cycle but captivates and electrifies audiences upon its first outings. "H.I.L.A" colors the warmth of the Californian "High" with Armenian vibes. The artists chose this name for their creation since both have a close and valuable connection to these locales. This journey began in 2007, on the day Dawatile went to Yerevan, the capital of this small country in the Caucasus mountain to realize a first fusion project centered around local folkloric music genres.

There he was introduced to local musicians including the Armenian Navy Band, one of the country's foremost groups in which Artyom played the bass and cello. In this context, he also met many musicians such as Tigran Hamasyan and Norayr Kartashyan. This will be the beginning of connections between Lyon, Yerevan and Los Angeles. The following year, the two artists will be be seen performing next to Taylor Mc Ferrin at the Jazz à Vienne festival. More recently, they partnered up again when the cellist, who had freshly relocated in California, invited Dawatile to produce his album. As soon as the studio’s threshold was crossed, they decided to postpone this record and create a joint project: Hay (as the Armenians call themselves) / High In Los Angeles. HILA was born at the end of these 21 days of intense creation. The association of Artyom Manukyan and Dawatile is the combination of two visions, two versions of Armenia, two personalities, the reunion of the Eastern and Western blocs.

One grew up nurtured by the sounds of hip-hop and jazz in Europe and the other by art music and Russian-influenced 1980s Armenian folkloric music before moving to L. A., Ca. The cornerstone of it all, the glue that unites everything : Armenia and music. They generate a new identity synthesizing two perceptions, their complicity transcending these cultural discrepencies. To achieve this, they will scour through images of Artyom’s childhood, within the popular culture of Soviet Armenia. Together, they revisit this decidedly retro vibe, based on the work of Caucasian groups inspired by African American music. This background is rehashed and fused with ancestral Armenian sounds. The DNA of the album "21" is molded by these dear influences.

We can also hear the ancestral sounds of Armenia, a country at the edges of both Europe and Asia. The presence on two tracks of Armenian music Master Norayr Kartashyan, infuses the languor of past melodies and traditions. These purposeful anachronistic sounds offer a fantastic depth to this powerful opus. Listening to the album, one can appreciate the successful fusion of styles and influences. Those combinations, however, manage to preserve individual identities only to enhance the art through an adamant musical dialogue.

Being driven by the urge to transpose Armenian musical traditions into a unique universe, the daring artists, offer an innovative combination by blending, for the first time, these ancestral sounds with the world of Los Angeles beat-scene and jazz. An invention largely fueled by the magic strings of Artyom and maestro Miguel Atwood-Ferguson, a pillar of the genre in Los Angeles combined. These associations resonate with a triumphant equilibrium. HILA is musical uncharted territory in which Artyom's cello strings intertwine to ignite the harmonies of keyboards, the machines, the vocals and electronic layers Dawatile pieced together. HILA plays the soundtrack of an adventure set between Armenia around the end of the Soviet era and a mysterious near future.

Artyom Manukyan grew up in Armenia in the 90s. At the time, he studied Russian classical music while learning jazz with assistance by his father, a music journalist. Being an unconditional music lover, he went on to sharpen his skills at the prestigious Berkelee College of Music. Subsequently, he’s been lucky enough to travel the world touring with numerous acts and mainly with the Armenian Navy Band. The group has fostered alacritous success honored by a BBC Award as a crowning achievement. He moved on 10 years ago and made his way to L.A. with his cello on his back. In the City of Angels, he quickly became a popular figure of the jazz and hip-hop scenes thanks to his first album "Citizen". He’s accompanied prestigious musicians such as Kamasi Washington, Melody Gardot, Daedalus, Flying Lotus, Run DMC, Gretchen Parlato, Raphael Saadiq, Clive Lowe Mark, or Vulfpeck. He released his solo album on the cello, "Alone" in October 2019.

Dawatile is a bold producer and multi-instrumentist as well as a passionate and resolute musician molded by jazz. As a versatile artist, he handles and juggles the saxophone, the keys, the bass and composition. Simultaneously, Dawatile produces cross-over projects and soundtracks for the movie industry. He, as well, has had the opportunity to be a part of many tours, including with his electro hip-hop band, Fowatile and more recently with the "Future Kreyol" trio, Dowdelin. Being the ever workaholic, he has under his belt a string of prestigious collaborations with the likes of Talib Kweli, Foreign Beggars, Roy Ayers, Tigran Hamasyan, Mathieu Boogaerts, Voodoo Game and Piers Faccini. His taste for developing new musical recipes and his know-how in production make him a much sought-after album producer. In concert, the HILA duo offers a sober, precise and rhythmic performance. "21" is an aerial and lively album taking the audience on an at times joyous and sometimes melancholic dreamlike journey. The magic of "HILA" operates at the speed of light and positions it already as an avoidable group.

Edinburgh born Chris Braun, otherwise known as Duellist, is set to drop a hard-hitting new release on the immersive Wunderblock’s sub label Folgsamkeitfaktor, in partnership with Berlin-based Ready Made Distribution. Duellist has already surpassed a dedicated following with his forward-thinking industrial sound.

Known for breaking boundaries within the techno sphere, the primarily industrial and EBM influenced Folgsamkeitfaktor choose wisely with Duellist as the deliverer on their third release, a swarming industrial 7" EP titled Hereditary.

The Original Mix ‘Hereditary’ is energetic from the start, real industrial techno to sink your teeth into, the producer clearly pulling some unique textures from his love of grunge and metal. Truly powerful, the track takes you into another dimension from it's smoky beginning until locking you into a frenzy of kick drums and pounding bass.

The track is given an atmospheric remix by fellow friend and producer Swarm Intelligence, lowering the BPM and increasing the distortion on this dark and tense banger of a remix.

Not to be missed among the industrial underworld, the handle-with-care EP will be delivered on 27th of January; via Folgsamkeitfaktor.

Chicago-born pianist/composer Herbie Hancock had already
made his mark when, in 1962, he recorded ‘Takin’ Off’ for the
Blue Note label; it was his first under his own name. At only
twenty-two years of age, the company offered him a solo contract
which would allow him to record a number of rightly revered
albums throughout the Sixties. The release of ‘Takin’ Off’ almost
immediately singled out Hancock as one to watch, the hard-bop
message delivered in striking fashion by the leader and his
sidemen. Incidentally, trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, only a couple
of years Hancock’s senior, already had a couple of albums under
his belt for Blue Note, and these were as well received as the
pianist’s own debut disc would be.

Repress

Be With Records present the hugely anticipated first ever vinyl release of r'n'b star Cassie's seductive debut. A late-night classic of chilly electro-soul, the self-titled album has influenced many in the dance music fraternity since its original CD-only appearance back in 2006. Particularly revered by Jamie xx, Four Tet, Hot Chip and Tri Angle Records, the r'n'b cognoscenti went into overdrive when rumours of this release first leaked.

Perhaps most famously, it features the slick summer smash "Me&U" which reached No.6 in the UK charts and topped the US equivalent. Yet the remaining 10 tracks serve to create a "minimalist r'n'b" masterpiece; the intricate and space-filled arrangements are laced with sinister synth bleeps that wouldn't have been out of place on an early 90s Warp record. The dark, hypnotic high ends coupled with Cassie's ice-queen delivery made this stand out from the tired crowd of mainstream r'n'b at the time. It still sounds wholly and eerily unique.

Like all Be With releases, this record is officially licensed and has been cut by Frank Arkwright at the legendary Abbey Road Studios. Pressed on audiophile 180gram vinyl - befitting the heaviness of the music contained within - it also features the original artwork set elegantly within its 12"x12" borders.

It’s that time of the year again: we’re finishing our 6th year of Heist Recordings with our annual potpourri of remixes with this
year’s artists on ‘The Round up part VI’. This year, we’ve got a few really cool newcomers on the label like Demuir, Perdu and
Makèz, as well as label mainstays Fouk and yours truly delivering a great collection of remixes.

The EP starts off with label heads Detroit Swindle giving their high-energy take on Fouk’s ‘Need my Space’. They’ve chosen for
a stabby club version of the more introverted original, with different layers of synths building up alongside a pumping drum track
and a punchy Moog bassline. Check the break for a nice dreamy broken beat section before the track comes back into full
dancefloor madness.

Makèz have only just released their well-received debut EP and now they’re flanking Detroit Swindle on the A-side with their
remix of Perdu’s hit ‘Sacramento’. They replace the broken beat vibe of the original and instead go for a 4x4 track with a driving
bassline, warm pads and subtle placement of Perdu’s original elements.

On the B-side, we have Fouk reinterpreting Demuir’s take on Detroit Techno with their remix of ‘3nity returneth’. Their version is
a tom-heavy high-energy club track with a strong nod to the past, whilst still keeping that strong Fouk signature intact. They
mangle the vocal sample in a drunk and twisted break before setting the track back on fire with an extra acid line for good
measure.

The B2 goes to Perdu’s dreamy slow burning remix of Detroit Swindle’s classic house bomb ‘Music for clubs’. His version takes
the tempo down and dials the dreamy level up a notch. A mellow but punchy acid line and worldly synth hits give this remix it’s
cool twist and it’s a great showcase of Perdu’s view on the broad world of house music.

This year’s Round up finishes with Demuir’s trippy ‘playboy edit’ of ‘Random Visits’ by Makèz. He takes the vocal sample and
layers it behind a haunting string, dreamy keys and a steady groove. It’s got a funky vibe where Demuir’s knack for a good
groove fits perfectly with the fresh original.

The Round up is a special moment for us each year and we’re excited to share these reinterpretations of another year’s worth of
house from the world of Heist Recordings with you.

Yours Sincerely, Lars & Maarten.

Concealed within the eclipse, Overdue presents a new black-label 12" series - symbolic of its sinister auditory contents.

Further proof of their unbridled dedication to sound system music and commitment to quality, the Belgian Dubstep imprint unravels
it's fifth physical release. Based in Denver, its newest signee by the name of Ghast returns to the spotlight, following up on heavyweight releases on prominent labels such as Encrypted and Gradient Audio.

The talented American artist sets the stage with two unruly armaments, alongside murderous remixes by Denmark's bass music stalwart RDG as well as the label operators themselves, Substrada & Caba.

Starting the engines, 'Mothership' immerses the stage in flickering echoes and haunting wails - the air bustling with anticipation. Eerily disfigured, granular reverberations materialize amid a pressurized and truly outlandish soundscape, barren at its core. Heading into the second section with renewed vigour, no dance floor remains unscathed in the ensuing aftermath.

The subsequent doomsday scenario, as engineered by Substrada & Caba, strips the ship to its bare essentials - laced with trippy drum instrumentations and the psychedelic foley samples. The meticulous flow presents itself in a bleak dungeon style - hoodlum vocal fragments rounding off the resulting low-frequency inferno.

Flipping the record to its equally profound B-Side, 'Vehement Mess' unhinges another portal into madness - dance floor upheaval guaranteed. Showing no signs of mercy, the infernal armagedon proves to be emblematic for Ghast's dystopian sound design. Profusely industrial and with clinical efficiency, hitting all the right frequencies as the second wave ignites but all available power reserves.

Finishing off any remaining survivors with his irreproachable signature style, RDG's remix marches onwards with unrestrained might in a four-to-the-floor fashion - super-charged, galvanizing the rave in a no-holds-barred shutdown.

Alex Bradley's new reissue division at Utopia Records recovers the early works of Gianni Gebbia, a saxophonist and composer from Palermo, Sicily whose highly sought-after debut LP from 1987 is remastered with added unreleased material and updated art work by Gebbia himself.
A minimal and contemporary jazz album of the highest order, its beautiful sound, sentimental electronics and use of synthesisers - that were a precursor to the house and dance music scene of the early 90's - has made the album endure the years that have passed.

It will be sure to be a valuable addition to your home listening collection with stand out tracks like Cud evoking visions of a Sicilian beach stroll and the intense and brooding 'Vedersi Passare le Cose Attorno' with its Juno chords transports you to a Detroit night club in 1992 counterbalanced by Gebbia's soft saxophonic embrace...

The self taught Gebbia's works touches on the avant-garde whilst maintaining a musicality and fluidity with his technique of circular breathing adding an extra element to his playing, the ability to create Reichian like minimalism with a single breath whilst maintaining melodic structure.
The multi solo album artist is noted recently for working on the music score of Heiner Goebbels' music performance piece 'Everything that happened and would happen' at the Manchester international festival and for his curating of the "Anassimandro Festival of Music and Philosophy" in his home city of Palermo of which Bradley hosted last years after party.

Since relocating from Amsterdam to Bergen on the Netherlands’ north west coast, Tom Trago has gone back to basics. Every day he jams out tracks in his home studio using a small selection of electronic instruments, drum computers and effects units, a process that allows him to quickly capture ideas, emotions and the intense moments he experiences while making music.

It’s these diverse and sometimes surprising musical moments that will be showcased on Trago’s new DIY record label, Jong Nederland. The imprint is named after the building where he now lives and works, an historic and storied place that has been home to artists of all descriptions since the 1960s. Each vinyl release will feature tracks made by Trago using his improvised, straight-to-tape technique, packaged in handcrafted sleeves illustrated by internationally renowned Dutch artist – and fellow Bergen resident – Pieter Bijwaard.

The Jong Nederland story begins with two tracks of undulating, slowly shifting dancefloor voodoo rich in crunchy drum machine hits, lilting electronic melodies and instinctive dancefloor warmth. On the A-side you’ll find “Whisper”, a hypnotic but fluid affair where hushed melodies tumble down over off-kilter polyrhythmic machine drums, spaced out effects and bubbly, ever-changing analogue electronics.

B-side “Belltower” sees Trago up the tempo a little and bounce us towards the farthest reaches of the galaxy. Utilizing a rubbery rhythm track full of sturdy but supple kick-drums and hissing cymbals, Trago layers up fizzing synthesizer lines, poignant minor key chords, wiggling acid-style motifs and starburst electronics to fire the synapses and stir the senses. Like its’ A-side companion, “Belltower” gently twists and turns throughout, reflecting the real time, hands-on changes made by its creator during the spontaneous sessions that led to its creation.

Visible Spectrum is the newly launched creative playground of Yuri Boselie, also known as Cinnaman. Since donning the Cinnaman alias nearly two decades ago, he’s become a well known figure of the Amsterdam nightlife scene with long running residencies at the city's most lauded clubbing institutions like Club 11, Trouw and most recently De School. Next to his DJ sets, he's made early moves in label curation with A&R work for Rush Hour and Kindred Spirits offshoot Nod Navigators, and with his own Beat Dimensions compilations in the late 00s. With Visible Spectrum — defined as the electromagnetic frequencies visible by the human eye — a new chapter is born. It is an outlet for electronic music in the widest sense. Each sleeve will have its own unique screen printed artwork by Marilyn Sonneveld.

The first EP comes from Mor Elian, the Berlin based artist and owner of the Fever AM label. Here she offers the loose and hypnotic rhythms of 'Clairvoyant Frog' which is deep and atmospheric, like some sort of primordial techno soup. 'Shoshana's Roses' then picks up the pace with layers of rumbling drums, wooden hits and snaking synths taking you into a steamy, humid jungle before closer 'Planet Kismet' is a much quicker and more urgent bit of enchanting break-beat techno with pummeling minimal drums and warped synths and perc getting you under their sci-fi spell. A fascinating first outing that sets a high standard from the off.

Black Truffle is pleased to present Realejo, the first vinyl release from Brazilian sound artist and composer Manuel Pessoa de Lima. Having composed works for diverse contexts including cinema, contemporary dance, theatre and television, Lima’s live appearances often take the form of self-reflexive lecture performances that combine electro-acoustic sound, red light, video and spoken text, moving unpredictably from the hilarious to the distressing.

Realejo consists of two side-long pieces of highly idiosyncratic electro-acoustic collage, beginning with recordings Lima made of himself playing the organ in the Schloss Solitude Chapel in Stuttgart. Exploring the peculiarities of the instrument’s mechanics, Lima made hours of recordings with the organ stops half-way open, moving from haunting gliding tones to oddly tuned fair-ground melodies reminiscent of the record’s namesake realejo, a hand-cranked organ traditionally found in Brazil as the musical accompaniment to the work of fortune-telling parrots.

To these organ sounds, Lima added recordings of a security guard made in São Paulo: ‘Just before coming to Stuttgart, I started making field recordings of a security guard in São Paulo. It's something pretty common in residential areas: they sit in a chair with a whistle, and use that to signal when people arrive, leave or pass by in the street. This particular security guard, Miguel Viana, works on the same street my parents live, and where I had my childhood, and he has worked there since I was a small child. He has watched the street at night, from 8PM to 6AM, every single day, except Sundays, for over 30 years’.

The poignant sounds of the security guard’s whistles punctuate Lima’s electro-acoustic environment, which also includes raw digital synthesis, recordings of his friends’ infant child, audio lifted from Youtube, and, on the LP’s second side, elements taken from an earlier work, ‘36 English to Portuguese Lessons’. Finely chiselled from dozens of hours of source material into a detail-rich, mercurial structure, Realejo is alternately jarring and seductive, introducing listeners to a young composer with a powerfully individual voice.

Dick Verdult, a.k.a Dick el Demasiado is the Philip K. Dick of multi-disciplinary art, the Moby Dick of “cumbia lunática”, and the Charles Dickens of literature and experimental cinema. He first fell in love with cumbia when he heard his nursemaid singing the classic “La pollera colorá”. From this moment on, he adopted the genre and reinvented it, in a perpetual degeneration called Cumbia Lunática, twisting up the elements of traditional cumbia, the “cumbia of the mucamas”, to create an anarchotropical vertebral rhythm, one which supports every moving part.

Celulitis Illuminati is the powerful debut of the anarchotropical gentleman knight of the abstract, Dick el Demasiado, eight dangerous tracks recorded for the first time on vinyl, songs that, upon listening, will liposuck all that grotesque accumulation of adipose tissue out of buttocks and brain. They interweave an amalgam of South American folklore and the cables of electronic music, the plugged-in Ranqueles indians, as in “Asi Que Los Que Sí” (“So That Those Who Yes”) on Side A, surrealist and lugubrious beats, poetry made song and “the dead man’s drool is good for painting watercolors”, as he sings in “Búho Sin Un Ratón” (“Owl With No Mouse”).Euphony that will abduct you away to a viscous street party with “Son Cosas De Hoy” (“They’re Things For Today”) and to an eclectic and excessive dimension with “pero bien bweno” (“but very proper”).

Side B is pure dynamite: “Mecha flan” (“Pudding Fuse”), “Sábado cultural” (“Cultural Saturday”) and “En la jeta” (“In the face”) represent the perfect blend of Lucho Argain (La Sonora Dinamita) and Muslimgauze (Bryn Jones). On top of this, the album includes an as-yet unheard gem, “Llama Mi Abogado” (“Call My Lawyer”), produced by Dick himself and Manuel Schaller, the telepathic mage of the Theremin. When the Dutchman stepped off the boat and onto the block, as well as offering us the TV set, the sculpture of a deranged English woman who devours islands like they were sandwiches, the synthesizer, the sound effect, the African drum, the maraca, the indigenous whistle, he obtained for us the song and the stanza, he provided us with the language and the poetry, the truthful, the epic of the ugly. Cellulite for mortals, cumbia lunática for the enlightened ones! Alfredo Padilla (Trans. Komurki)

Pacific Express emerged from Cape Town, South Africa in the 1970s. The band were from the so called "Coloured" community and were ground breakers in both musical and political arenas. The founder members Paul Abrahams (Bass), Jack Momple (Drums) and Issy Ariefdien (Guitar) were joined by Chris Schilder (Piano), Vic Higgins (Pecussion), Barney Rachabane (Alto Sax), Stompie Manana (Trumpet) and Zayn Adams & Kitty Tshikana on vocals for their second album "On Time" in 1978.

On several occasions the group fell foul of Apartheid laws and discrimination by the state broadcaster, SABC. On one occasion they were asked to leave the stage of an international tour by Australian act John Paul Young, because the law forbade racially mixed performers on the same stage. The promoter, management and band members all resisted and once he incident made the Australian newspapers the authorities had little choice and turned a blind eye.

And so to the music. The most important thing. The LP opens up with the slick jazz-boogie funk of "We Got A Good Thing Going On", a perfect vehicle for the vocals of Zayn and the statement-of-intent, on-point musicianship of the band.

"I Hear Music" is the first of three smooth sweet string-laden ballads to feature on the LP. The majority of the songs on the LP were written by keyboard player Chris Schilder. As well as high-craft songwriting Chris also contributes layers of effortless musicality with his Rhodes and piano. "Good Old Days" (the only cover on the LP) is next and its smooth-rock grooves swing effortlessly to the fore. The A-Side of the vinyl closes with the instrumental jazz funk of "Saturday Night".

The flip side of the album opens with the bands biggest commercial success. A sweet soul ballad penned "Give a Little Love". Stepping outside their usual sound. This hit however was not without controversy as the video was removed from the TV airways after the South Africa Broadcasting Corp realised that the group were of mixed race, which was against rules for so called local artists in public performance at the time.

"Dream" follows on with the driving jazz rock and travelling keyboard solos. "Reaching Out For Love" is a power-pop boogie groover powered by guest vocalists Erica Lundy and Kitty.

"Say The Last Goodbye" is the last of the trio of ballads. A smooth style moment sounding all the bit like a 70's US TV drama closing theme. The LP features with a funky workout where the band show off their chops and slick level of musicianship.

Besides the success in southern Africa this album became a regional hit as a pirated music cassette in Nigeria. It was also released in France and Japan.

The band would go on to record one further LP in 1979 and a single in 1981. They carried on performing however well pass that. Throughout their years together the band acted as central hub for Jazz musicians within the Cape Town area. Players as Tony Cedras, Jonathan Butler and Alvin Dyers gaining experience alongside established names such as trumpeter Stompie Manana and alto saxman Barney Rachabane.

Here at World Seven we are ever so pleased to be re-releasing what we consider the bands finest album moment.

- non-gatefold sleeve without 7"

Rush Hour announces their second artist compilation Patchwork, curated by one of the label’s most loved family members, Sassy J. The Swiss DJ is the very embodiment of passion and long-standing dedication to the craft of the DJing, but also to the community surrounding the music that she lives and breathes. For the past fourteen years Sassy J has run the Patchwork night in her native Bern and in London, with guests ranging from Theo Parrish and Little Dragon to Floating Points and MF Doom invited to share their respective musical visions. Her collaborative approach stands out in a DJ world that is too often weighted in favour of promoting the individual. This compilation grows out that unique sensitivity, foregrounding a theory of curation that centres on long-term bonds, articulated through Sassy J’s personal relationships with the contributing artists.

Patchwork speaks to the grass roots values that Sassy J espouses, showcasing music by many of the artists that have joined her throughout the years in clubs, on the radio, and at home. It is an expression of Sassy J’s individual musical path that casts its gaze firmly in the future: Patchwork is made up almost entirely of new and unreleased songs that are exclusive to this collection. Patchwork captures a sound that has continued to evolve in its restless search for new musical directions. Across thirteen tracks we find forward thinking electronic music rubbing elbows with cosmic jazz and deep percussion workouts from Brazil and beyond.

There are irresistible calls to the dancefloor: 2000 Black’s UK boogie and the syncopated rhythms of WaH-chU-kU nod to the West London sound, whilst the early rave of Nu Era and Aardvarck’s sub-rattling techno channel the grittier edges of the club experience. We find machine music imbued with humanity in Larry Heard’s deep house classic “Survivor” and in Ron Trent’s WARM project, whose gentle breeze points to a different side of the legendary producer. Patchwork also opens a more immersive listening space in which the radical indie soul of Georgia Anne Muldrow, the ambient spiritual jazz of bandleader Carlos Niño & Friends, and the lament for the Amazon rainforest by Azymuth’s drummer Ivan Conti can channel the overall spirit of group interplay and solidarity. Patchwork also includes Sassy J’s collaboration with veteran producer Alex Attias, marking her own place in a universe that is held together by her singular thread.

"This is the compilation of the year!" - DJ Spinna

TERANGA BEAT proudly presents MAR SECK, a delicate singer and songwriter who marked the history of Senegalese music. TIP!A cross over between Cuban compositions and Senegalese Folklore, his songs gave birth to Salsa-Mbalax, the popular dance music of '70s Senegal that went onto influence a new generation of Senegalese musicians including a young Youssou N'Dour. Featuring 12 tracks recorded over three different sessions, ‘Vagabonde’ focuses on the best of MAR SECK’s career. The first recordings are taken from a raw and unreleased 1969 session at the Dakar National Radio. Recorded with his first group SUPER CAP-VERT from Rufisque, it captures an 18-year old MAR singing the first version of his now famous composition “Vagabonde”. The remaining six tracks from the session includes a beautiful cover of Fonseca’s “Sibouten”. A 1973 live recording is also featured here, made with the STAR BAND de DAKAR in Saint Louis. Previously unreleased, it comes from a time when MAR was establishing his name playing at the legendary Miami Club in Dakar, the “École de Passage” for all great Senegalese musicians. The final two tracks (one of them unreleased) finds MAR accompanied by the most complete band of Senegal, the NUMBER ONE de DAKAR. The 2LP & CD booklet includes photos and liner notes outlining MAR’s career. LP version comes with silk screen print, European 60s style, gatefold sleeve. All tracks are mastered & mixed from the original recording tapes.