Suche:mcl

As a true cultural flagship medium, Arte expands its Arte Concert music offer with the 3 first volumes of its new vinyl collection ! A selection of Jazz, Soul & Electro Crème de la crème of ARTE TV

It’s a beautiful phenomenon,” says Trampled by Turtles’ Dave Simonett, before adding with characteristic sincerity: “Everybody should see it." Simonett is talking about alpenglow, the natural event that washes mountains on the horizon in smoldering red and pink light, just before the sun sets or rises. It’s a harbinger of change––the space between new and old. It’s also the name of Trampled by Turtles’ new album, the band’s tenth. “My favorite part about making music is making records,” says Simonett. “I’m really excited about this one.” Produced by Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy, Alpenglow offers resounding proof that the beloved six-piece from Minnesota remain uncontested champs of understated virtuosity, literary songwriting, and a joyful hodgepodge of folk heart, rock-and-roll muscle, and string-band zen. Almost 20 years after first getting together, Trampled – that’s lead singer and songwriter Dave Simonett, bassist Tim Saxhaug, banjo player Dave Carroll, mandolinist Erik Berry, fiddle player Ryan Young, and cellist Eamonn McLain – also keep finding new ways to surprise us and one another. While many of the songs on Alpenglow grapple with change, none try to offer answers. Nothing’s neat and tidy. Instead, Trampled find endearing ways to sit in the tension, hope, and sense of loss that transitions and hard questions create. Then, just by expressing what’s there, the music offers comfort.

Tommy McLain, one of the founding fathers of the swamp pop genre,
returns with his first new album in over 40 years: I Ran Down Every Dream
Produced by fellow Lil' Band O' Gold member CC Adcock, the album features
contributions from legendary artists who cite Tommy as a major influence,
including Elvis Costello, Nick Lowe, Van Dyke Parks and Augie Meyers. At 82
years young, Tommy has finally released the album of his career. Ranging from
the Americana roots sound of "Somebody" and "Livin' on the Losin' End" to
stripped- back, introspective renditions of early Tommy hits like "No Tomorrows
Now" and "Before I Grow Too Old," Tommy McLain cements himself as one of the
few living legends from the 1960s who is still putting out new music and touring
around the world. A beautiful look at a songwriter who (a half- century later) is
finally receiving his due.

4-time GRAMMY-winning producer Larry Klein, who produced Herbie Hancock’s GRAMMY Album of the Year winning release River: The Joni Letters, has assembled another extraordinary star-studded project with Here It Is: A Tribute to Leonard Cohen. This heartfelt tribute to Klein’s dear friend, the legendary singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen, presents stunning renditions of his profound songs by an impressive and eclectic line-up of guest vocalists including James Taylor, Iggy Pop, Mavis Staples, Norah Jones, Gregory Porter, Peter Gabriel, Nathaniel Rateliff, David Gray, Sarah McLachlan, and Luciana Souza. The backing band is no less impressive featuring a remarkable quintet of modern jazz talent including guitarist Bill Frisell, saxophonist Immanuel Wilkins, pianist Kevin Hays, bassist Scott Colley, and drummer Nate Smith.

The long awaited debut album from ROE – winner of Northern Irish Music Prize’s Best Emerging Artist. Recorded and Produced by Tommy McLaughlin (Villaghers/SOAK) in the wilds of Donegal in 2021, ‘That’s When The Panic Sets In’ is truly vibrant release, with rich contrast between ROE’s introspective anxieties and the colourful palette that she’s thrown across them. Hear the development and evolution of an artist and their style in real time over the course of 12 joyous, introspective and beautiful tracks.

The Chicago group, which features Elijah McLaughlin on 12 and 6 string guitars, Joel Styzens on hammered dulcimer, and Jason Toth on upright bass, blends elements of American primitivism guitar styles, with free jazz and modern classical music together into something daringly original and stunningly beautiful. -Record Crates United. If there was a silver lining to the cloud of uncertainty that was life during the early days of the pandemic, it was that all of the isolation provided a clear break from the entrenched routines of day to day life. This respite allowed me to see in sharp contrast all of the things that were important in my life, and all of the things that were trivial, and thus expendable. It was during this time that I began to write in earnest for this 2nd Elijah McLaughlin Ensemble record. Over the course of a year, I would bring my new compositions to my collaborators (Jason Toth and Joel Styzens), and usually after a very limited number of rehearsals we would enter the studio at the Fine Arts Building in Chicago and record the songs on an old Tascam ½” tape machine. There were four such studio sessions, in which all recorded material was culled down to these 9 songs. We recorded the material with a strong improvisational approach, and a couple of these songs are essentially first takes. I am very proud of the material on this album, and the energy we captured in the studio. I am glad to partner with Tompkins Square in sharing this album with the world.

Sounding simultaneously from the past, the present, and the future, the debut album 'MLDE' by Marxist Love Disco Ensemble seeks to eradicate both the trite from disco and the sobriety from political music. Half poetic, half tongue-in-cheek, this stunning compact eight-track album is influenced by Eastern European and Mediterranean 70s disco records. In the words of band member Paolo, ''it was written in response to hearing 'I love America' by Patrick Juvet. The song prompted the question: why does disco, a genre originally created by oppressed minorities, eventually become synonymous with American capitalist excess?" MLDE seeks to break this connection.

Merging disco, post-disco 80s pop, and boogie into the fold, 'MLDE' was recorded using only analogue instruments, giving it warmth and space. Recorded on cassette, ¼ and ½ inch tape, this gives moments of lo-fi abstraction between the beats of an aggressive, tight drum kit. Instruments used for this recording range from saxophone, trumpet, harpsichord, guitar, and rare analogue synthesisers. The bass sound is shaped by early 80s boogie records, whilst the influence of artists such as Hamlet Minassian can be heard in some of MLDE's more driving-disco outings, such as 'Hues of Red'. In the tradition of Soviet vocal group records, which the band has studied, some songs are sung by a vocal quartet in homage to this tradition.

Tracks such as '1905' and 'Brumaire' have a greater pop aesthetic, with Paolo's vocal style on these more pop-driven songs evoking early 80s bands such as Orange Juice and Chas Jankel.

The format and message of pop and disco are commonly viewed just to entertain and move bodies around a dancefloor; however, lyrically, the subjects range from dialectical and historical materialism, class struggle, Marxist theory and praxis, as well as the concept of Marxist disco music.

Adding the icing to the cake, mastering don Joker aka Liam McLean dusted the album with his magic, giving the songs space where the room is needed, as well as the kick and punch demanded by the modern dancefloor.

Yes, this is a press release, and they are always full of hype, but we were blown away when we heard this album, and we hope it enriches you too.

Sounding simultaneously from the past, the present, and the future, the debut album 'MLDE' by Marxist Love Disco Ensemble seeks to eradicate both the trite from disco and the sobriety from political music. Half poetic, half tongue-in-cheek, this stunning compact eight-track album is influenced by Eastern European and Mediterranean 70s disco records. In the words of band member Paolo, ''it was written in response to hearing 'I love America' by Patrick Juvet. The song prompted the question: why does disco, a genre originally created by oppressed minorities, eventually become synonymous with American capitalist excess?" MLDE seeks to break this connection.

Merging disco, post-disco 80s pop, and boogie into the fold, 'MLDE' was recorded using only analogue instruments, giving it warmth and space. Recorded on cassette, ¼ and ½ inch tape, this gives moments of lo-fi abstraction between the beats of an aggressive, tight drum kit. Instruments used for this recording range from saxophone, trumpet, harpsichord, guitar, and rare analogue synthesisers. The bass sound is shaped by early 80s boogie records, whilst the influence of artists such as Hamlet Minassian can be heard in some of MLDE's more driving-disco outings, such as 'Hues of Red'. In the tradition of Soviet vocal group records, which the band has studied, some songs are sung by a vocal quartet in homage to this tradition.

Tracks such as '1905' and 'Brumaire' have a greater pop aesthetic, with Paolo's vocal style on these more pop-driven songs evoking early 80s bands such as Orange Juice and Chas Jankel.

The format and message of pop and disco are commonly viewed just to entertain and move bodies around a dancefloor; however, lyrically, the subjects range from dialectical and historical materialism, class struggle, Marxist theory and praxis, as well as the concept of Marxist disco music.

Adding the icing to the cake, mastering don Joker aka Liam McLean dusted the album with his magic, giving the songs space where the room is needed, as well as the kick and punch demanded by the modern dancefloor.

Yes, this is a press release, and they are always full of hype, but we were blown away when we heard this album, and we hope it enriches you too.

Emily Fairlight is a New Zealand songwriter with a rare talent for capturing the bare essence of stories and moods, combining beautifully honest lyrics with heartfelt melodies. The prevalence of acoustic guitar and intimate sharing of lived experience through song hint at folk music - or, as Fairlight self-deprecatingly calls it, “doom-folk”. Her powerful quivering vibrato and stark, haunting vocal tone are teak-hard yet soft as crushed velvet and have elicited comparisons to PJ Harvey, Bridget St John, Natalie Merchant and Cat Power, all musicians with distinctive voices and a lyrical talent for conjuring a kind of experiential realism. Sun Casts a Shadow is a stripped-down, timeless blend of Fairlight and McLeod’s songs, voices and guitars. Fairlight’s material carries the weight of experience, with McLeod’s harmony vocals and guitar adding colours from The Shifting Sands’ South Pacific Cosmic Rock palette to these vignettes of heartbreak and hope, while Fairlight’s voice brings character and a spectral quality to The Shifting Sands’ songs. With a pandemic devastating the international tour-scape in 2020, Emily's prolific writing continued back in NZ and another album has been recorded, showcasing a broader sonic palette and the continued maturing of Emily's songcraft. In the way that In The Pines marked a kind of unpressured bookend to the Triffids’ auspicious beginnings, before they took their next, bold, step, Sun Casts a Shadow is a quietly intriguing bridge between Fairlight’s past and future; a chapter in a story with many more to come

A partner album to the previous Miles release "Decoy," this album released in 1985 is also produced by Miles and loaded with the synths of Robert Irving. This LP has some surprising new looks at pop tunes by Micheal Jackson and Cyndi Lauper and also features the return of John McLaughlin on guitar, and a guest performance from Sting. This is the final installment of the prolific and brilliant collaboration between Miles and Columbia Records. Also featured on this album are Al Foster, Kenny Garret, and Daryl Jones.

Bis ins Jahr 1973 reicht die Historie von Mass zurück, als Günther V. Radny (das V. steht für Viktor) mit Sänger Josef Hartl, Gitarrist Walter Speck und dem Schweizer Drummer Charles Frey (heute als Akron bekannter Autor) die Formation Black Mass startete. Nachdem Speck wegen psychischer Probleme mit tödlichen Folgen ausfiel, ersetzte ihn der Saarbrücker Gitarrist Gerd Schneider, der zuvor mit ScorpionsSchlagzeuger Hermann Erbel alias Herman Rarebell bei RS Rindfleisch gespielt hatte. Schneider musste allerdings nach einem Jahr wegen massiver Drogenprobleme wieder gehen und wurde durch den englischen Gitarristen Mick Thackeray (The Merseys), der in der Schweiz mit den Slaves und Countdowns, und in München mit Abi Ofarim spielte, ersetzt. Zur gleichen Zeit ersetzte Johannes Eder, von der englischen Band I Drive kommend, Drummer Frey, der sich laut Radny „auf den Büchertrip“ begeben hatte. Zudem wurde der Bandname auf Mass verkürzt. In dieser Besetzung nahm MASS im April 1975 im Studio 7o in München mit Dave Siddle am Mischpult,
der unter anderem mit den Beatles, Jimy Hendrix, Jeff Beck, Animals und Deep Purple arbeitete ein Album auf. Aufgrund der Drogenprobleme von Sänger Josef Hartl wurde dieses Album nie veröffentlicht. Leider sind diese Bänder bis heute verschollen. Doch damit nicht genug der unruhigen Zeiten: Ein Jahr später mussten Hartl (Drogenprobleme, verstorben 1998) und Thackeray (übermäßiger Alkoholkonsum), gehen. Mit dem aus Berlin gekommenen Detlef „Dave“ Schreiber als neuem Gitarristen war die Formation als Trio 1976 erst einmal stabilisiert. 1977 entstand das Album „Back To The Music“, welches bei United Artists Records (Hawkwind, ELO, Don
McLean) erschien.

In Folge wurden Mass als teils boogieorientierte Hardrockgruppe, anschließend als Heavy Metal Band bekannt und genießen heute ähnlich wie Accept, Scorpions, Trance oder Fargo Pionierstatus. Nach einer zeitweisen Umbenennung in Monsters kehrte Bandboss Günther V Radny kürzlich mit Mass zurück und lieferte eine gefeierte Reunion-CD. Die Band wurde auch kürzlich von Golden Core/ZYX geehrt, da je ein Track von Mass und Monsters auf der Compilation „Sound & ActionGerman Hardrock & Heavy Metal Rarities Vol. 1“ zu finden ist. Im Zuge dieses Kontaktes kam es zu der längst überfälligen Idee, das Debütalbum von Mass erstmals auf CD (und erneut auf Vinyl) zu bieten.

Hailing from Ancaster, Ontario, Carl Didur has been an enigmatic fixture of Toronto’s underground music community for close to two decades. Originally traversing the Golden Horseshoe with The Battleship, Ethel, a band which sprung from his first outfit CEDRUMATIC, Didur soon moved to Toronto. Throughout the mid-2000’s he could be spotted playing his trademark ace-tone organ as a member of No Dynamics and Rozasia in the city’s crammed rogue venues, such as The Bagel and the infamous and transient Extermination Music Night. During these years The Battleship, Ethel continued to tour, often performing as backup band for Damo Suzuki, while at other shows inviting Dave Byers (Simply Saucer) and Bob Bryden (Spirit Of Christmas) to perform alongside the band. Perhaps the most enduring legacy of "The Battleship, Ethel", which dissolved in 2009, is that it laid the creative foundation for Carl and bandmate Michael McLean's next project, the prolific, studio focused, Zacht Automaat. As Zacht Automaat released music at a frantic pace, Carl continued to collaborate with members of a tight-knit group of Toronto’s downtown scene including touring with U.S. Girls and Slim Twig, performing and recording with Colin Fisher as Fake Humans, guesting on Absolutely Free’s Currency EP and producing New Fries’ most recent album The Idea of Us. Throughout the last decade Didur’s purely solo output has served to document his unimpeachably singular approach to music making. I Cannot See You Too Well (2011), Nothing is the Secret to Anything (2014) and Is It Yesterday? (2020) all released on cassette were followed by a digital album of gentle minimalism called Natural Feelings Vol I (2020). His solo shows consist of multiple tape machines running loops through various analog devices (a Certified Electronics Technician Didur now spends his non-piano playing hours of the day repairing all manner of tape echoes and synthesizers) or solo Wurlitzer electric piano improvisations, his performances gracing both stage and gallery. With his latest release Maybe Next Time, Didur further establishes himself as a singular artist with a unique methodology honed from years of music-making and listening. The album’s compositions swing from lush Axelrod-ish affairs filled with Mellotron strings to the album’s spiritual jazz influenced centerpiece The River Meets The Sea. “I was inspired by Eno's Here Come the Warm Jets, Crazy Horse but only when they are sad, Alice Coltrane, Jessica Pratt, McDonald and Giles, and so many others…” states Didur. Infused with a melancholic tone throughout, tracks such as Close My Eyes and Autumn’s Here invoke cinematic memories with tape echo and reverb applying a softened focus to the proceedings. Carl explains the context for the tone and the setting for the record’s gestation: “Maybe Next Time is a record I made after the world lost a sweet person that many in our community loved. Unlike most of my albums this one never seeks to shock or surprise you. It is about sadness, confusion, dissolution, transformation and ultimately a deeply forgiving sense of love. It is a concept record about being a human being!”

Jazz writer Walter Kolovsky has said that Friday Night In San Francisco "may be the most influential of all acoustic guitar albums." LPs of it have been a demonstration staple on turntables around the world for over 40 years. To celebrate the lasting impact of this singular album and the legendary concert that it represents, Impex Records is proud to announce the long-awaited follow up: Saturday Night In San Francisco.

Working with hours of original 16-track live session tapes, Al Di Meola and his team have brilliantly curated this musical tour-de-force, bringing to life for the first time on LP, SACD-Hybrid and CD the explosively virtuosic final performance of Di Meola, John McLaughlin, and Paco De Lucia at the Warfield Theater in San Francisco, December 6, 1980. In the exclusive essay by music historian Charles L. Granata, Di Meola says of that final night: "It's exciting because the audience was right there with us, savoring every single note of music. And, we were ripping. It was crazy good!"

Impex worked carefully with Di Meola, mixing engineer Roy Hendrickson (SPIN Studio), and mastering engineer Bernie Grundman to recreate the magic of Friday Night In San Francisco so these never-before-released solos and trios burst out of your system with striking clarity, dynamics and technical brilliance. "Crazy good," indeed.

Tim Pinch

Musicians

Al Di Meola guitar

John McLaughlin guitar

Paco De Lucia guitar

Selections

Jazz writer Walter Kolovsky has said that Friday Night In San Francisco "may be the most influential of all acoustic guitar albums." LPs of it have been a demonstration staple on turntables around the world for over 40 years. To celebrate the lasting impact of this singular album and the legendary concert that it represents, Impex Records is proud to announce the long-awaited follow up: Saturday Night In San Francisco.

Working with hours of original 16-track live session tapes, Al Di Meola and his team have brilliantly curated this musical tour-de-force, bringing to life for the first time on LP, SACD-Hybrid and CD the explosively virtuosic final performance of Di Meola, John McLaughlin, and Paco De Lucia at the Warfield Theater in San Francisco, December 6, 1980. In the exclusive essay by music historian Charles L. Granata, Di Meola says of that final night: "It's exciting because the audience was right there with us, savoring every single note of music. And, we were ripping. It was crazy good!"

Impex worked carefully with Di Meola, mixing engineer Roy Hendrickson (SPIN Studio), and mastering engineer Bernie Grundman to recreate the magic of Friday Night In San Francisco so these never-before-released solos and trios burst out of your system with striking clarity, dynamics and technical brilliance. "Crazy good," indeed.

Tim Pinch

Musicians

Al Di Meola guitar

John McLaughlin guitar

Paco De Lucia guitar

Selections

The Meltdown present their second LP ‘It’s A Long Road’, a wistful and uplifting journey through dusty, countrified soul music and tender, reflective songwriting. Led by vocalist, keyboard player and producer Simon Burke, the band is understated but deft throughout, letting the songs and Simon’s golden voice do the heavy lifting. The band stick to a sonic palette reminiscent of golden era Southern soul studios from Memphis to Muscle Shoals and in that tradition there’s as much as country-soul and blues in the mix as there is soul and funk. Of particular interest to fans of Durand Jones and the Indications, Lee Fields and Tedeschi Trucks, The album starts on the cruisy but quietly anthemic Tell You Not To Worry and picks up for the rolling triplet feel of River, featuring a blazing saxophone solo from Meltdown co-founder Lachlan McLean. Standout guest slots from Emma Donovan on the title track and Liz Stringer on Not The Only Love give the album additional emotional and musical depth. There’s a broad range of vocal and instrumental stylings, but always within the boundaries of tasteful understatement with subtle-yet-lush production that straddles the line of soul, blues and country-soul. Simon’s voice ranges from falsetto to full voiced occasionally touching that gritty goodness and guitarist Tom Martin (The Putbacks) gets crunchy but never screamy. It’s a deceptively simple record, beautifully put together by a very experienced band and the quality shines through. sou

‘Mehldau can truly translate his thoughts and feelings into complex and lasting music. He is one of those people whose brain and fingers and musical ability is all one beautiful entity.’ – Jamie Cullum

Nonesuch Records releases Brad Mehldau’s Jacob’s Ladder on 2 x 140g black vinyl on June 17th . The album features new music that reflects on scripture and the search for God through music inspired by the prog rock Mehldau loved as a young adolescent, which was his gateway to the fusion that eventually led to his discovery of jazz. Featured musicians on the album include Mehldau’s label mates Chris Thile and Cécile McLorin Salvant, as well as Mark Guiliana, Becca Stevens, Joel Frahm, and others. The album’s first single, ‘maybe as his skies are wide’, builds off an interpolation of one portion of Rush’s classic ‘Tom Sawyer’.

Mehldau explains, “We are born close to God, and as we mature, we invariably move further and further away from Him on account of our ego. Jacob’s Ladder begins at that place closer to God with the voice of child, and then moves into the world of action. God is always there, but in our discovery and conquest, and all the joys and sorrows they bring, we may lose sight of him. He sets a ladder before us though, like in Jacob’s dream, and we climb towards him, to find reconciliation with ourselves, to stitch up all those worldly wounds and finally heal. The record ends with my vision of heaven – once again as a child, His child, in eternal grace, in ecstasy.

“The musical conduit on the record is prog,” Mehldau continues. “Prog – progressive rock – was the music of my childhood, before I discovered jazz. It matched the fantasy and science fiction books I read from C.S. Lewis, Madeleine L’Engle and others at that time, aged ten through twelve. It was my gateway to the fusion of Miles Davis, Weather Report, Mahavishnu Orchestra and other groups, which in turn was the gateway to more jazz. Jazz shared with prog a broader expressive scope and larger-scale ambitions than the rock music I had known already.

“The prog from Rush, Gentle Giant, and Emerson, Lake and Palmer here only hints at the genre’s conceptual, compositional and emotional range. These bands and others have continued to influence newer groups that bring prog impulses into the arena of hard rock and screaming math metal, like Periphery, whose music is included here, and also inspired the screaming vocals on ‘Herr und Knecht.’ I tried to avoid a direct tribute approach to all the songs, and opted in some cases for excerpts, or reworking of themes.”

Although Brad Mehldau is best known as a jazz composer and improviser, he has made several albums that fall outside of the mainstream jazz genre, including his 2001 Largo, produced by Jon Brion. Wide-ranging in texture and big in scale, it features woodwind or brass ensembles are on several tracks, as well as a heavy emphasis on powerful drums. In 2010, Nonesuch released his second collaboration with Brion, Highway Rider, which includes performances by Mehldau’s trio – drummer Jeff Ballard and bassist Larry Grenadier – as well as drummer Matt Chamberlain, saxophonist Joshua Redman, and a chamber orchestra led by Dan Coleman. Mehldau also orchestrated and arranged the album’s fifteen pieces for the ensemble.

Mehldau’s 2014 collaboration with Mark Guiliana, Mehliana: Taming the Dragon featured Mehldau on Fender Rhodes and synthesizers and Guiliana on drums and effects, playing twelve original tunes – six by the duo and six by Mehldau. His 2019 album Finding Gabriel featured performances by him on piano, synthesizers, percussion, and Fender Rhodes, as well as vocals. Guest musicians included Ambrose Akinmusire, Sara Caswell, Kurt Elling, Joel Frahm, Mark Guiliana, Gabriel Kahane, and Becca Stevens, among others.

Soul Jazz Records follows up one its most popular Studio One releases with a brand new selection of rare and classic releases by women in reggae. Featuring legendary artists such as Marcia Griffiths, Rita Marley and Hortense Ellis (with a guest appearance by her brother Alton), alongside a host of rarities from lesser known names such as Nina Soul, Nana Mclean, Denise Darlington, Myrna Hague and also Doreen Schaeffer, a vocalist who was a founding member of The Skatalites.

There are notable covers (from Tyrone Davis’ soul classic Can I Change My Mind to the Band’s 60s psychedelic classic Turn Turn Turn in a rub-a-dub style!). Doreen Schaeffer reversions Alton Ellis’s seminal I’m Still in Love with You, Nina Soul reversions the slack rocksteady anthem Barb Wire. A number of these tracks are almost impossible to find and many have never been issued ever since their initial release.

The music on the album is of course 100% killer and features backing from all of the seminal groups at 13 Brentford Road including The Skatalites, Sound Dimension, Soul Brothers and the Brentford All Stars, and ranges from ska, rocksteady, roots, lovers and more from the 60s, 70s and 80s. All produced by Clement ‘Sir Coxsone’ Dodd at Studio One Records, the number one sound in reggae music.
The album is released on Soul Jazz Records as a double-vinyl with gatefold sleeve, download code, the CD comes in slipcase and both come with extensive sleevenotes.

The English new wave band Bow Wow Wow was created by Malcolm McLaren in 1980. McLaren was an impresario and best known as the manager of the New York Dolls and the Sex Pistols. He recruited members of Adam and the Ants to support the 13 year old vocalist Annabella Lwin. A year after, they released their debut album on RCA Records, titled See Jungle! See Jungle! Go Join Your Gang Yeah, City All Over! Go Ape Crazy! In support of the album, the band opened for The Pretenders and The Police in the US, in Europe for Queen and in Japan for Madness. Vive Le Rock named it one of the 50 greatest new wave albums and the featured single “Go Wild In The Country” was their first UK top 10 hit single.

The cover photograph depicts the band recreating Édouard Manet’s Le Déjeuner sur l’herbe, on which the 14-year-old Annabella posed nude. It caused quite an outrage, but the initiated Scotland Yard investigation led nowhere eventually.

See Jungle! See Jungle! Go Join Your Gang Yeah! CityAll Over! GoApe Crazy! is available as a limited edition of 2000 individually numbered copies on green & yellow marbled vinyl.

 With their new album, If I Never Know You Like This Again, SOAK has
finally shaken the hangover of their starry debut ‘Before We Forgot How
To Dream’, and the pressures that came with it, hiding in the wings of
their ambitious follow up album, ‘Grim Town’.
 Having come up through BBC Introducing at the tender age of 15, before
signing to Rough Trade Records, as well as winning the RTE Choice
Music Prize and The Northern Irish Music Prize, in addition to being the
youngest ever Mercury Prize nominee, SOAK has again and again been
described as “the voice of a generation.”
 Showing, from a young age, an intensely artistic awareness of the poetry
of memory, Bridie Monds-Watson, aka SOAK, would incessantly
photograph and video everything, documenting and organising the
material so it was always there for them to revisit. “I always want to
remember exactly how I felt at a certain moment.” Now, at 25, SOAK’s
third album, ‘If I Never Know You Like This Again', is naturally made up
of what Bridie intimately calls ‘song-memories’.
 Working closely with Tommy McLaughlin (Villagers), with whom Bridie
has been collaborating with since the age of 15, and armed with
influences from Pavement to Radiohead to Broken Social Scene, they
wrote most of the album together before recording it with the rest of the
band in Attica Studios, Donegal.
 Throughout the album SOAK pushes and pulls at melodies, but never
milks their brilliance. Bridie masterfully glides their vocal melody slightly
off-kilter above excitable compressed high hats and flourishing guitar
lines. With the new direction of a grungier, more lo-fi production, the
swooning guitars are given a contemporary pop edge, reflected in the
rich and robust musicality of songs like ‘Bleach’, ‘Last July’ and ‘Pretzel’.
 There’s a constant pulsating beat at the album’s centre, propelling it
towards a kind of dewy happiness, like the end credits of a 90s comingof-age film. Bridie’s lyrics move through the songs almost as effortlessly
and they sing them, and the songs when read, read like poetry.
 With this album Bridie is, as the title suggests, freezing time in the
pursuit of truth: capturing their life into existence. In the world of ‘If I
Never Know You Like This Again’, a life is lived only because it's
remembered.

Black vinyl edition. Available for the first time ever on vinyl, cassette tape and digital, the reissue features fully remastered tracks and new artwork along with a 12“ size insert, 2x12“ size poster, sticker and DL-Card. Vocalist Chaka Malik and guitarist Chris Traynor met in the New York hardcore band Burn and began playing together as early as 1992. With an early version of Orange 9mm, the duo released a live EP in 1993. The recording earned the band a contract with East West, and after picking up bassist David Gentile and drummer Matthew Cross, Orange 9mm began recording. Driver Not Included was released in 1994, and the band spent time touring with Helmet before signing with Atlantic the following year. Gentile left later in 1995 and was replaced by Taylor McLam just after recording ended for Tragic, with production by Barkmarket's David Sardy. Tragic was released in 1996; it would be three years before Orange 9mm issued a follow-up, which bore the title of Pretend I'm Human.

Ex-We Are The Physics and current Slime City vocalist Michael M returns with a brand new album of irreverent lo-fi garage punk bangers

Short, fast, pointed anecdotes crammed into just over 30 minutes (so it's eligible for a Scottish Album of the Year Award) for fans of Weezer, Art Brut, Mike Krol, Half Man Half Biscuit, Mclusky, Jay Reatard. Includes download code and videos for each song.A scathing but reflective attack on the internet's Balloon Guy? 10003;The existential crisis of finding out how old the boy from the Sixth Sense is? A Shangri-Las inspired tragedy-pop song about an old crisp packet?Nu Metal, but polite?


Pressed on a totally randomly assigned Eco Colour Vinyl!

Limited to 750 copies.
Pressed on Red Vinyl.
Includes postcard and poster.
Article 58, named after the Soviet classification for counter-revolutionaries, were formed in Scotland by Gerri McLaughlin (vocals), Douglas MacIntyre (guitars) and Ewan MacLennan (bass), with Stephen Lironi (drums) on these recordings. The group existed for a short period of time, burning brightly before burning out.
A single, ‘Event To Come’, was produced by Postcard Records’ Alan Horne and Malcolm Ross and released on Josef K manager Allan Campbell’s Rational label.
Article 58 were the opening group on many bills in Scotland, including support slots circa 1981 with A Certain Ratio, Scars, Josef K, Delmontes, Bauhaus, Restricted Code, among others.
Josef K invited Article 58 to support them on some dates in England to promote their only album, ’The Only Fun In Town’, after which Article 58 recorded tracks for an as-yet unreleased album. One track, ‘Reflection’, did surface on a cassette/ zine product (‘Irrational’) released by Rational Records. However the teenage tension and strain of all that accompanies being in a group proved too much and Article 58 split up at the end of 1981.
‘Event To Come’ was to be the only single released by Article 58. The B side, ‘Icon’, is a previously unreleased recording. Both tracks are presented in a brand new sleeve designed by The Creeping Bent Organisation for release on the Optic Nerve label.

REPRESS

Freda Payne’s two-step classic rare groove “Tell Me Please” gets it’s long overdue first release on 7” single. Since first recorded and released in 1978 it has remained only as an album track from Freda’s “Supernatural High” LP that year. This Skip Scarborough composed song also featured on Expansion’s ‘Skip Scarborough Songbook’ but a 7” edition has never appeared before. It is accompanied by a Pam Sawyer/Marilyn McLeod song

“I Get High (On Your Memory)” produced by Tony Camillo. Originals of this on Capitol Records from 1977 exchange hands for small fortunes making both these songs on one 7” single an essential purchase. Both high quality definitive luxury soul.

Back in the late 80s label owner Olivier Ducret entered 11 Wardour Street in London, home of the mighty Brain Club, a gallery · club · bar owned by Sean McLusky and Mark Wigan, where many (acid) house and techno visionaries played their early live on Thursday night to less than 50 people, that was quite intimate: Orbital, Simon Lovejoy, Mr Monday, If?, Doi-Oing, Nexus 21, Funtopia, Hi-Ryze, Adamski, 808 State, Ultramarine and of course, Mixmaster Morris's Irresistible Force and Irdial's RAMJAC Corporation. The energy and the creativity was incredible, at its peak, everything was fresh, innocent, naïve, new and oh so exciting. Boundaries in genre did not exist, and everyone was welcome aboard, no superstar, no business, just pure great fun. The crowd was eclectic, you could bump into Mark Moore or Neneh Cherry while the oung guns Andrew Weatherall or Steve Bicknell were spinning. This is most possibly where it all started for me & the label and this unique recording captures it all like no other, like a time capsule, impressively, and amazingly, a classic slice of British rave history unearthed via Switzerland. Just close your eyes and go back to the phuture.

This album deservedly acquired 'cult status' thanks perhaps to the blend of material and happy assurance of all the soloists. Art Farmer for example is melodic and tuneful on Cool Struttin', helped by Sonny's sympathetic yet urgent chordal backing. The same applies to Jackie McLean, a loyal devotee of Charlie Parker but blessed with his own style. The pianist's solos have finger bustin' moments when the keys seem melded into one homogenous mass. But Sonny also displayed his expertise as a tasteful stylist with a unique approach much admired by Bill Evans. The musicians assembled for this session were produced by Blue Note Records supremo Alfred Lion, and would have been familiar to Clark, on this occasion cast in the role of Leader. Sonny was one of the Jazz label's house pianists called on to back the likes of John Coltrane, Kenny Burrell and Hank Mobley.

Bristol based band Cousin Kula announce their debut album Double Dinners. With co-signs from the likes of BADBADNOTGOOD and newly signed to Rhythm Section, Cousin Kula have created their own musical universe of otherworldly pop serenity with vastly distinct, but complementary elements: “the possibilities of jazz, the emphatic energy of club culture, and the sonic tapestries of psychedelia” CLASH Magazine remark.

Living and recording together, nestled in the sun-drenched hills on the outskirts of Bristol, Cousin Kula are masters of their craft, and also of restraint; widely regarded by their fans for their superior live show. Having performed live in various bands for the past 10 years since their early teens, not being able to hit the stage during lockdown took its toll on these musicians. Ever resourceful, however, Cousin Kula began a series of their own home-made live sessions, which lead in turn to a Boiler Room Session and further a request from XL signees BADBADNOTGOOD to record a live adaptation of their new single.

Now, Cousin Kula flutter into the collective consciousness with a timeless slice of psychedelic soul on debut album Double Dinners. The latest band to emerge out of the buoyant Bristol music scene,
they have stripped back all excess baggage for their most accomplished recordings to date. Existing on a similar plane to contemporaries such as Connan Mockasin, Mildlife, Toro Y Moi, Mac DeMarco and HOMESHAKE, the band caught the attention of renowned tastemaker Bradley Zero with their 'Casa Kula Cassette' EP at the end of 2020, with the Rhythm Section founder swiftly taking the 5 piece under his wing, with him commenting:

“The band balance an outsider approach with more hooks than you can shake a stick at... the result being a gently beguiling sound that effortlessly draws you in, revealing more character with each listen.”

Nonesuch Records releases Ghost Song, the label debut of singer/songwriter Cécile McLorin Salvant. Ghost Song features a diverse mix of seven originals and five interpretations on the themes of ghosts, nostalgia, and yearning. Salvant says, “It’s unlike anything I’ve done before – it’s getting closer to reflecting my personality as an eclectic curator. I’m embracing my weirdness!” Cécile McLorin Salvant plays at Cadogan Hall on November 16 as part of the EFG London Jazz Festival, four shows at SFJAZZ in February, and two nights featuring the music of Ghost Song at Jazz at Lincoln Center in May. Salvant says of the title track, out now, “What if the love has gone, the love has left you and you have the emotions around that, and you’re still going through them, still engaging with the ghost of that love?” She continues, “Some songs are so painful to come out but this one came out pretty quickly. I’ve had some loss the last couple of years: my grandmother, the drummer in my band Lawrence Leathers.”



Ghost Song opens and ends with a sean-nós (traditional Irish unaccompanied vocal style) performance by Salvant, recorded in a church. On track one, she transitions into Kate Bush’s 1978 classic ‘Wuthering Heights’. Salvant says of the song, “Wuthering Heights is a book that really struck me to my core as I was making this album, during the pandemic. And the best interpretation of the novel is Kate Bush’s song.” She continues, “It’s the most classic ghost story. I decided I wanted to do an album called Ghost Song, and I knew that one had to be on it. Then I had the idea to mix it in with the sean-nós ‘Cúirt Bhaile Nua’, which binds it to the traditional ‘Unquiet Grave’, the last track on the album. The ghost is not haunting me; now I am haunting the ghost. They parallel each other so well and they’re such different time periods. I wanted the album to be a circle, with the sean-nós reference at the beginning and at the end. So it is the first track but it’s also the last track and it’s also the middle track, which is how I listen to music, walking around my neighborhood, on a plane, travelling somewhere, putting stuff on repeat.” “All the songs on the album kind of mirror each other. I tried to create this strange symmetry. So as you go in from both ends, the songs are sort of matched together,” Salvant says. “‘I Lost my Mind’ is the center of the Russian doll. I wrote that in the middle of the pandemic. There were nights when I wanted to just scream. It was this deeper part of me saying, ‘It’s OK if this sounds completely crazy, OK to just go with the completely crazy thing and not worry if people think you have lost your mind for doing it.’



“The bands also mirror each other from top to bottom. In terms of the instrumentation, everything,” Salvant explains. “That’s why the songs are there in that relationship: they match each other, they’re like fraternal twins, or one is the evil twin of the other. I, as the living, am visited by the ghost, and then I go visit the ghost in turn. I am haunting the ghost and annoying the ghost, which is saying, ‘Get out of here and go live.’” Of the sonic variety on Ghost Song, Salvant says, “Texture is a big part of how I sing, having multiple textures in one song. It’s almost a compulsion. I can’t allow myself to stay in one texture. The instrumentation creates that but the recording process as well. It’s something I like, even when I’m eating. You want the creamy and chewy and crunchy at the same time. Warm and cold.”



Cécile McLorin Salvant, a 2020 MacArthur Fellow and three-time Grammy Award winner, is a singer and composer bringing historical perspective, a renewed sense of drama, and an enlightened musical understanding to both jazz standards and her own original compositions. Classically trained, steeped in jazz, blues, and folk, and drawing from musical theater and vaudeville, Salvant embraces a wide-ranging repertoire that broadens the possibilities for live performance. Salvant’s performances range from spare duets for voice and piano to instrumental trios to orchestral ensembles. Her unreleased work Ogresse is an ambitious long-form song cycle based on oral fairy tales from the nineteenth century that explores the nature of freedom and desire in a racialized, patriarchal world. Salvant studied at the Université Pierre Mendès-France. She has performed at national and international venues and festivals such as the Newport Jazz Festival, the Monterey Jazz Festival, the Village Vanguard, and the Kennedy Center. Salvant is also a visual artist.

A 'best-of' collection that focuses on the band's post-reformation catalogue from 2003-2007. All music digitally remastered. All music appearing on vinyl for the first time. All tracks completely remixed by acclaimed producer Paul Tipler

Possibly one of the greatest pop-rock bands of all time, Derry's The Undertones have roots that go back 45 years to the 1977 punk explosion when they were beloved and championed by BBC DJ John Peel. Their reputation as recording artists and a brilliant live act has carried them through the recent two decades since they reformed in 1999 with new singer Paul McLoone. Dig What You Need collects the best of their two reformation albums, 2003's Get What You Need and 2007's Dig Yourself Deep. Both albums have been digitally remastered and both are being released for the first time on vinyl. In addition, all tracks have been remixed by producer Paul Tipler (Stereolab, Elastica, Idlewild, Placebo, Julian Cope, The House Of Love).

Er hat Alben von Paul McCartney, Jesus & The Mary Chain oder Reggae-Legenden wie Toots und The Maytals produziert. War Gründungsmitglied von Killing Joke, jonglierte mit Ambient und Acid House wechselte zum Mainstream von Crowded House oder Britpop von The Verve. Er war auch Mitglied von The Orb, Brilliant und Blue Pearl, spielte Bass für Kate Bush und remixte U2, Siouxsie & The Banshees, De La Soul, A Guy Called Gerald, Malcolm McLaren oder Marc Almond. Er beeinflusst bis heute Generationen von Produzenten und Musikern und ist ohne Zweifel eine der anpassungsfähigsten und vielfältigsten Musikfiguren der Moderne.

Youths mit Spannung erwartetes Debüt-Soloalbum 'Spinning Wheel', geschrieben, aufgenommen und selbst produziert in Spanien und London, enthält elf brandneue Songs, darunter die gleichnamige Lead-Single, auf der auch Simon Tong (Gitarre) und Samantha Marais (Backing Vocals) zu hören sind. Nachdem er den größten Teil der letzten vierzig Jahre damit verbracht hatte, für andere Künstler zu schreiben und zu produzieren, war es an der Zeit, sich auf seine eigene Soloarbeit zu konzentrieren.

MOMENTS LIKE THESE, THE NEW ALBUM FROM SUBWAY SECT, PRODUCED BY MICK JONES AND FEATURING THE 1981 SUBWAY SECT LINE-UP, VIC GODARD WITH SEAN MCLUSKY, CHRIS BOSTOCK, JOHNNY BRITTON, & DC COLLARD and guest appearances by MICK JONES, PETE WILLIAMS, TERRY EDWARDS and SIMON RIVERS. Sukhdev Sandhu runs a publishing imprint Texte und Töne in New York.

The LP, the imprint's first, is also the first-ever Subway Sect record to come out in the States. (Perhaps unsurprisingly: they did have a song called U.S. Cunts!) It's been produced by Mick Jones of The Clash. (A White Riot '77 reunion of sorts.) ‘There’s a certain element of unspoiltness about the whole thing and that’s what really appealed to me about it.’
Mick Jones MOJO ‘This is Vic reflecting on a lifetime in the music business. It sounds like a record that he had to make and is perfect for now. When I was a kid, I used to make up my fantasy punk band with members from different bands and they almost always
contained Vic Godard and Mick Jones. The songs are as good as it
gets and with Mick Jones producing and playing piano, what more do
you need?’ Jim Reid, Jesus and Mary Chain ‘The Subway Sect story is one of the strangest, and therefore one of the best. Vic Godard indicated ways that pop should go. He dropped hints, left clues. It is all there.’ Kevin Pearce ‘Vic's always walked his own path. He's a model of independence.

No wonder that he's recorded for some of the best UK independents
(Rough Trade, el, Postcard). Years ago, when I was writing a book
about nocturnal London, he took me on a postal round with him, all
the while telling me funny stories about some of the prog rock
aristos whose mail he delivered, and enthusing about the latest hip
hop and bhangra he was listening to.

Asked by Time Out to write an essay about my favourite Londoner, I wrote it about Vic. Now, in summer 2021, I'm very happy to help release Moments Like These. It's about thinking back and thinking forward, about walking your own path. It's got soul, swagger and swing. Vic Godard: always onward!’ Sukhdev Sandhu ‘It was an accident really as Sukhdev wanted to put What's the Matter Boy out until I told him I'd just recorded a new LP. I'd been in discussions with loads of record labels but they all wanted to get my back catalogue digital rights and weren't into the idea of putting out a new LP. I thought it was on course to be my 2nd lost album until the phone calls with Sukhdev.’ Vic

The innovative hard bop of Jackie McLean began to evolve and take on a harder edge as the early-1960s progressed. Inspired by Ornette Coleman, the alto saxophonist began to venture gradually into the realm of the avant-garde, but on his own terms, never fully relinquishing a grounding in a soulful sense swing and chordal structures.With his 1963 album Destination… Out! he created a masterpiece of inside-out jazz with a unique quintet featuring Grachan Moncur III on trombone, Bobby Hutcherson on vibraphone, Larry Ridley on bass, and Roy Hayes on drums. This Blue Note Classic Vinyl Edition is all-analog, mastered by Kevin Gray from the original master tapes, and pressed on 180g vinyl at Optimal.

Marshall McLuhan’s famous edict ‘the medium is the message’ has never been more apt than with regard to modern remix culture. Although the idea of the remix goes way back to the Jamaican dub pioneers and New York disco remixers of the 1970s, the form didn’t truly come into its own until the acid house explosion of the 1980s, when remixers’ credentials often subsumed — and sometimes surpassed — the original source material. Some, among them our lost friend Andrew Weatherall, used remixing as a springboard into multiple other directions, and became auteurs in their own right.

Forged in the white-hot heat of post-acid house Britain, these Heavenly remixes are perfectly weighted with respect and irreverence, the remixer in each case carefully chosen to add heft to the song (as on Al Breadwinner’s dubwise reworking of Mattiel’s ’Guns of Brixton’— the pairing more a game of chess than a best-of-three arm wrestle).

Although Heavenly was founded in the wake of huge upheavals in electronic music, it was still imbued with its own curious parallel life. I’ve always thought of Heavenly as one of the UK’s alt-pop labels; a place where brilliant pop bands live and record, if the general public would only realise. Some of them have ended up in the real, actual charts (Saint Etienne, Doves), but that’s missing the point about Heavenly, who are, like Factory and Fast Product before them, pop music’s conscience.

There is no sense of order to this compilation and we make no apologies. It’s the Heavenly way. Think of it as a present from Loki, the Norse god of mischief. You’ll find a smattering of older tracks: album openers Saint Etienne are taken on a Poseidon Adventure with Underworld, who inject ‘Cool Kids of Death’ with typically manic energy. Elsewhere, ’90s Brum duo Mother add dancefloor pzazz to Espiritu’s innate glamour on an all-funked-up reworking of ‘Los Americanos’, and Mark Lusardi’s remix of Moonflowers’ ‘Get Higher’ is an early Heavenly classic.

On ‘Terracotta Warrior’, a perfect, psyched-out, Mancunian union is created betwixt Jimi Goodwin and Andy Votel, whilst Goodwin cohort Simon Aldred, in his Cherry Ghost guise, receives a proper Tamla-Motowning from Richard Norris (aka Time & Space Machine) on an inspired cover of Cece Peniston’s glam-house hit, ‘Finally’.

There are several of Heavenly’s current darlings here too. One of the most exciting young British prospects, Yorkshire’s Working Men’s Club, effectively remix themselves, as Minsky Rock — WMC’s Syd Minsky-Sargeant and producer Ross Orton — cleave ‘X’ into a riotous industrial racket. Jagwar Ma’s Jono Ma takes the Kraftwerkian leitmotif on ‘Automatic’ and drives the Australian jazz-funkers Mildlife down an electro-convulsive psychedelic tunnel (thankfully no-one was harmed during the making of this remix); Sheffield’s DJ Parrot and Jarvis Cocker deliver one of the outstanding remixes of 2018, turning Baxter Dury’s ‘Miami’ into a lovelorn minor opera; and, making its first appearance on vinyl, David Holmes’ Unloved project is taken on a panoramic Welsh waltz thanks to Gwenno.


There may well be no rhyme, nor reason, to how these compilations have been put together, beyond the fact that they are assembled with love, an innate understanding of the power of great pop music, and a skilled marriage of song and remixer — but does one really need anything more than that for an album to make sense? I’d suggest not.

NOW Music is delighted to introduce our new sub-brand ‘NOW Presents…’. This new series starts with ‘NOW Presents… The 1970s’, the first-ever NOW vinyl boxset featuring 5 LPs uniquely designed to reflect the era.

The boxset is a musical time capsule of the decade that saw so many different genres find chart success. Across its 74 tracks over 10 sides of vinyl, the massive hits sit alongside enduring classics from each year. The set not only includes 5 beautifully designed front covers on the individual albums (that slot into a rigid slip case), but also features track by track annotations with chart positions and facts about the artists and songs.

Each year, 1970-1979 is presented as 1 side of each LP… Kicking off with the iconic ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’ by Simon & Garfunkel from the biggest selling album of the year, and of the decade. 1970 also includes Motown classics from Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, and the debut hit ‘I Want You Back’ from the Jackson 5.

1971 includes the seminal ‘What’s Going On’ from Marvin Gaye, alongside Elton John’s breakthrough – the timeless ‘Your Song’, Rod Stewart’s breakthrough ‘Maggie May’, and The Who’s defining rock anthem ‘Baba O’Riley’.

The charts in 1972 began to reflect the popularity of ‘Glam Rock’ – and ‘Virginia Plain’ by Roxy Music, and ‘Metal Guru’ by T. Rex are included, as is the David Bowie-produced ‘Perfect Day’ from Lou Reed.

‘Killing Me Softly With His Song’ – one of the most beautiful songs, and vocals ever from Roberta Flack opens 1973’s side – and is joined by, amongst others, Billy Joel’s signature song ‘Piano Man’ and Bob Dylan’s ‘Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door’.

1974 celebrates Queen having their first Top 5 single with ‘Killer Queen’, and title tracks from two of the decades’ biggest selling albums: Paul McCartney & Wings with ‘Band On The Run’, and ‘Tubular Bells’ from Mike Oldfield.

John Lennon released ‘Imagine’ in 1971 – but it became a UK hit in 1975, and so, starts this side… and finds space for some of the year’s perfect pop from Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel, David Essex, 10cc, and the biggest hit ‘Bye Bye Baby’ from Bay City Rollers, at the peak of their popularity.

ABBA enjoyed 7 UK Number 1’s in the 1970s, and their biggest was the enduringly popular ‘Dancing Queen’ which leads into 1976. Electric Light Orchestra had a huge hit with ‘Livin’ Thing’, as did Thin Lizzy with ‘The Boys Are Back In Town’ – plus Joan Armatrading emerged with ‘Love And Affection’.

1977 saw Fleetwood Mac release their mega-selling album ‘Rumours’, and from it ‘Don’t Stop’ is here, as is Donna Summer’s ‘I Feel Love’ – one of the most influential dance tracks of all time – and one of 1977’s favourite TV stars, David Soul, enjoyed a #1 single with ‘Don’t Give Up On Us’.

With ‘Wuthering Heights’, Kate Bush not only had 4 weeks at number 1 in 1978, but became the first female artist to achieve this with a self-written song. The Jam, The Boomtown Rats and Siouxsie And The Banshees all found consistent success as Punk & New Wave established new chart stars.

1979 concludes the set and opens with the iconic ‘London Calling’ from The Clash, and includes two of the biggest bands of the era, The Police and Blondie. A couple of years later the first video played on MTV would be ‘Video Killed The Radio Star’ from The Buggles – and it’s fitting that this is the final track on the collection, a #1 in late 1979 – it signposted the synth-pop wave that would define the early 80s…. (but that’s a different box set).

All Them Witches are an American rock band from Nashville,
Tennessee. The band consists of drummer Robby Staebler,
vocalist / multi-instrumentalist Charles Michael Parks Jr.,
guitarist Ben McLeod and keyboardist Allan Van Cleave.
 The band’s musical style incorporates elements from multiple
genres, such as hard rock, stoner rock, psychedelia, neopsychedelia, blues, folk and southern rock; however, Julian
Marszalek of The Quietus noted that: “... this isn’t blues of the
‘woke-up-this-morning’ variety but one of malaise, anxiety and
fear brought on a by world seemingly dead set on destruction;
nor is this an escapist variant of psychedelia wherein one form
of reality is jettisoned in favour of another for reasons of cheap
thrills.”

Psychemagik are the renowned duo of Daniel McLewin and Thomas Coveney hailing from the UK, best known for their carefully crafted DJ sets and distinctive edits.

In 2019 they released their long lost LP ‘I Feel How This Night Should Look’ featuring for the most part a collection of unreleased material written and recorded over a decade ago. Two of the tracks had made it out ahead of the album with a life of their own; a self released EP that featured ‘Above the Clouds’ and the 10th Anniversary of Phonica which included ‘Triumph of the Gods’.

Here Psychemagik revisit the latter with brand new remixes from Prins Thomas and Richard Norris. Thomas stays true to form with a percussive, glacial take that vibrates around the existing arrangement composed by Richard Chester at the infamous Air Studios. Whilst Norris ups the psychedelia pulling on Renate Staal Nygard’s stunningly melodic vocal accompaniment.

52 Beats is project initially started on Bandcamp with Snips uploading 1 beat per week over the course of a year with an accompanying behind the scenes video. This is the final release of the entire project as a limited run cassette. Musically Snips stays true to his Hip Hop roots chopping samples and keeping the sound rooted in traditonal Boom Bap which birthed his style

The Fabulous Counts were originally a teenage instrumental group of five musicians, Mose Davis (Organ and Piano), Demetrius ‘Demo’ Gates (Alto Saxophone and vocals), Jim White (Tenor Sax), Andrew T. Gibson (Drums) and Raoul Keith Mangrum (Percussion and Flute) who were later joined by the older, more experience Leroy Emanuel (Guitar and vocals). Emmanuel was invited into the group as it’s band leader by the groups manager Fred McClure, a former Detroit boxing champion who also happened to be the manager of another popular Detroit group the singing Metro’s of the hit recording “Sweetest One” fame and their subsequent respected RCA album of the same name. The Fabulous Counts would often perform at shows as the Metro’s backing band.

The Fabulous Counts first big break came after knocking several Detroit Record labels doors. They were eventually invited in by Ollie McLaughlin’s Moira studio to record, under the tutelage of Popcorn Wylie the one take hit “Jan, Jan (Moira-103). A further two Moira 45’s followed of which “Get Down People/Lunar Funk “(Moira-108) also scored high on the R&B charts. Through a deal arranged by McLaughlin The Counts released their respected “Jan, Jan” album on the Atlantic distributed Cotillion label in 1969. Moving on to Armen Boladian’s Westbound label, during 1970 the group simply changed their name to The Counts and charted with their 1971 “What’s Up Front” Westbound album, also releasing a solitary 45 “Thinking Single/Why Not Start All Over Again”. In 1972 while still part of the Westbound set up The Counts recorded two major label 45’s under the pseudonyms of Bad Smoke “Crawl Ya’ll Part 1&2” (Chess-2124) and Lunar Funk “Mr Penguin Part 1&2” (Bell 45-172), the latter being thier biggest hit. A subsequent move to Atlanta, GA saw The Counts sign with Michael Thevis’s Aware records where they recorded a further two successful albums “Love Sign” (1973) and “Funk Pump” (1975), plus a string of 45’s. In 1976 although officially never breaking up The Counts members went their separate ways to explore different life opportunity’s.



During 1978 and while still in Atlanta Leroy Emanuel borrowed money from his family and reuniting with his fellow Counts, Mose, Demo, and Jimmy Jackson Jr, they, accompanied by a local strings section recorded a session of material that spawned two songs “What’s It All About” and “Motorcity”. Which Leroy later made a deal with Terry Mendelson to release on a 45 on his TM label. The Counts had previously known Mendelson through his brother Bernie at Westbound. The TM 45 made very little noise with many of the copies having mispressed labels. Although later reissued and mistakenly credited as two previously unissued Westbound recordings on several latter Cd compilations it came to light that quite a few avid European soul collectors actually owned copies of this high quality, very elusive and desirable 45! With demand still seemingly high it seems a good time for Soul Junction to reissue it. The A-side, “What’s It All About” features its composer Leroy Emanuel on lead vocals with the other Counts adding to the backing chorus. The flipside of this 45 from the same session is the previously unreleased Mose Davis penned “Watch The Clock” which is more in keeping with the Counts traditional funk groove, enjoy.