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Impex has always had a special place in their hearts for Shoji Yokouchi’s Greensleeves. Standards, original tunes, and traditional pieces (like the title track), are interpreted in unexpectedly funky, soulful ways. The master guitarist is given immeasurable support by organist Yuri Tashiro. Her playing is alternately moody and spry, fiery and funky. Impex’s vinyl reissue preserves the original’s clear, exacting sound (check out the bass on Tashiro’s organ!) while improving surface noise and presentation. This rare gem of Tee Fujii’s repertoire is yet another entertaining listen for Three Blind Mice fans from their friends at Impex Records!



"I cannot understand how Chris Bellman got 100% of the dynamics, power, subterranean deep powerful bass, delicate guitar, bass riffs, and drums all on a 33 RPM release without the instruments colliding into one another. I am shocked by the RTI pressing of such utter quiet and explosive punch... harmonics and layered realistic textures lived in the room as the needle found its groove. Imaging is pin-point stable and precise, and dynamics never overload."

"If this is not the ultimate audiophile demonstration LP released this year, then none will be released. I dare you to stop listening to this LP once the first cut has commenced! With mostly standards jazzed up for the brilliant musicians to love to play, I was constantly tapping my toes and reminiscing on when I first heard a certain melody. What great fun!"

" ...Packaged by Impex in slick classy gloss and full color, Greensleeves is a high-quality production for a top jazz collection. Prediction: this release will triple in price! For those smart enough to buy multiple copies and put extras away, a bonus awaits them! This is the best audiophile system demonstration LP I have heard in ages, and a must-own. Thank you Impex! Greensleeves receives my highest BUY recommendation!" - Robert H. Levi

It’s safe to assume no one in the audience at Carnegie Hall on March 30, 1974 anticipated what Miles Davis would play at the concert documented on Dark Magus: Live at Carnegie Hall. Recorded near the tail end of his electric period, the double album remains the darkest, most ferocious statement of Davis’ career — a visionary effort that foresaw developments in jungle, noise-rock, funk, and drum ‘n’ bass.

Initially issued in Japan in 1977, Dark Magus waited two decades for U.S. release. Now, more than 50 years after Davis and his ensemble blew minds at the famous New York venue, it gets its first-ever domestic issue on vinyl — and on a definitive-sounding pressing at that.

Mastered at Mobile Fidelity's California studio, housed in a Stoughton gatefold jacket, and pressed at Fidelity Record Pressing, this numbered-edition 180g 33RPM 2LP set of Dark Magus invites you to pull up a seat and wrap your head around an exhilarating performance that simultaneously functions as an audition, experiment, release, and magnificent explosion of jazz-rock fusion. We hope your turntable and speakers are up to the challenge.

This collectible reissue presents the improvisational magic that unfolded onstage — the skronking tonalities, wah-wah-pedal bluster, acid-washed effects, furious drumming, run-the-voodoo-down grooves, menacing riffs, crashing cymbals —with incredible detail, color, and pace. It also captures the band’s unbelievable energy, rendering both instruments and on-the-fly changes with revealing depth, definition, and dynamics. At its core, MoFi’s audiophile set takes you deep into the boundless mystery, promise, and uncertainty of Davis and company’s efforts like never before.

The story behind Dark Magus is nearly as unbelievable as the spur-of-the-moment compositions that resulted when Davis brought drummer Al Foster, bassist Michael Henderson, percussionist James Mtume, horn virtuoso Dave Liebman, and guitarists Pete Cosey and Reggie Lucas together, and, in a new twist for the concert’s second half, added guitarist Dominique Gaumont and tenor saxophonist Azar Lawrence to mix. That the latter two instrumentalists had never seen each other until that night adds to Davis’ legend — and penchant for bold, unorthodox moves.

Ditto Davis’ own actions that spring evening, which reportedly included showing up to the show an hour late and taking the stage with his back facing the crowd. The strategy worked. Davis inspired the group to play in a bold manner that few, if any, had heard before. Dark Magus is a rhythmic bonanza. Rooted in Afro-centrist techniques, avante-garde sensibilities, and exploratory moods, the songs eschew set arrangements and solos, and, for the most part, melodic devices.

For Davis, Dark Magus represented a personal triumph amid a period marked by health issues, addictions, and critical decline. The latter slight would be corrected, but not until decades later when Dark Magus saw Stateside release in 1997 via a CD reissue. Of course, the free-form patterns, unpredictable passages, dense structures, and distorted blues that course through the songs — titled after Swahili numerals — are not for everyone. And certainly not for the fainthearted. Though Dark Magus contains majestic moments marked by quiet restraint and something on the level of balladry, its rich and radical concoction of tormented thwacks, thumps, cracks, clatters, wails, bleeps, burbles, stomps, and enigmatic beats remains its adventurous heart and soul.

Primal and enigmatic, fierce and jagged, forceful and revolutionary, jolting and terrifying, Dark Magus seemingly attacks from any and all directions. Turn it up loud and let the prophetic brilliance of this inimitable and relentlessly funky album wash over you.

Pressed at Quality Record Pressings. Tip-on old style gatefold double pocket jacket by Stoughton Printing

Fragile was Yes' breakthrough album, propelling them in a matter of weeks from a cult act to an international phenomenon. Not coincidentally, it also marked the point where all of the elements of the music (and more) that would define the group's success for more than a decade fell into place fully formed, writes AllMusic, giving Fragile a 5-Star rating.

Propelled by the timeless hit "Roundabout," Yes' fourth album, Fragile, became an instant classic and is undoubtedly one of prog-rock's finest moments. It was the first Yes record to feature Rick Wakeman on keyboards and the first to display the inimitable artwork of Roger Dean. Here's the ultimate way to enjoy one of Yes's most popular and enjoyable albums.

This Analogue Productions (Atlantic Series) reissue of Fragile is a standout for your collection. First, we turned to Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering to cut lacquers from the original master tape. Pressing on 180-gram vinyl is by Quality Record Pressings, and the album is housed in a tip-on old style gatefold double pocket jacket by Stoughton Printing.

Dream on, on to the Heart of the Sunrise!

Picking up where "Máquina de Vénus" (Blacksea Não Maya) left off, this is now 100% DJ Kolt at the controls. Slow, grinding power tools working their way across the complex web of ideas the producer lays down. Truly a next level thing, taking elements from recognized styles such as tarraxo, EDM, even trap, bending their accepted signifiers to suit his own creative mind instead of the crowd pleasing monster that constantly haunts Dance Music. Here we find a wonderful, twisted approach to the dancefloor, one heavy on brain activity, fantastically moody, showcasing music that we long ago quit trying to define.

"Despertar" (again) changes the game, adding secret doors and pathways previously unheard and unthought of. This right here is the mark of a unique producer. You'll have a hard time trying to compare Kolt with any other artist on Príncipe, much less on the outside world. A keen sense of groove filters through all tracks, the dance is never forgotten but you know there are certain demands - you can't just expect a straight line to "a good night out", there's an effort required, you'll have to reach out as well so you can let loose and connect with the universal Master Plan.

The album is all made up of liquid transitions as much as rock-hard foundations, perfectly capable of being explicit when honouring the roots but so committed to a new stance that one may feel thrown off balance by the sheer genius of

Unfamous prose Australian songwriter Jakson is one of the most satirist corrosive artist from our era. Originally a painter, he describe our 21st century world with a sad reality. In a kind of nonchalant spoken word. Accompanied with guitar, bass and drums, his musicians friends are truly deserving that realistic observation of that world going up in flame in a noisy folk mood.

On their spellbinding sophomore album, "Whispers in the Speech Machine," the young Ohio siblings from The Laughing Chimes fully embrace their Southern Gothic influences, cannily balancing the light of their infectious pop with the shadow of their rust belt environs. While attending an afterschool music program at their local opera house, Evan and his brother Quinn began recording The Laughing Chimes' debut album "In This Town," released in 2020. A string of well-received digital singles and a cassette EP for Slumberland followed, dazzling savvy pop fans with their Paisley Underground-inflected jangle that owes as much to the Flying Nun sound as it does to 80s Athens, GA.

The eight assured songs of "Whispers in the Speech Machine" prove The Laughing Chimes deserve the attention and accolades, while their approaches to songwriting and sonic aesthetics continue to evolve. "Southeast Ohio is the foothills of Appalachia, so it has this indescribable mood and atmosphere to it," guitarist/vocalist Evan Seurkamp told The Big Takeover. "Sometimes there's a haunting weight of decay you want to escape, but at the same time there is some sort of strange romanticism surrounding ghost towns. We've tried to channel those moods to add more regional flavor into our sound."

Navigare Audio proudly presents the long awaited remix-bundle of Ness' classic LP "Flesh Of The Gods". Two years in the making we will start 2025 with a big cosmic bang!

A-side kicks off with a Hydrous remix that is staying true to the original in intensity and groove, but adds an extra layer of that unmistakeable eerie atmosphere that has become his signature.

A2 showcases why Dino Sabatini is such a revered artist within our community. Although subtle in it's movements, there's an undeniable depth and power to be found here - and although seemingly Ambient to some, expect to hear fragments of this piece in many DJ sessions in the upcoming year.

On to the B-side, where Argentinian native Vladw take on "Transilient". Soundtracking the first rays of the day, this is for the reflective hours, meditative, breezy, while keeping the moody atmosphere of the original.

B2 brings up the intensity with Kalumet's take on "Nobody Knows The Way". With a bass section that would've made Paps proud this is an uncompromising banger for a The Dome-session at 3am.

As a finale we've invited the highly talented Mikkel Rev from the Oslo-based Ute.-crew. Like us, Mikkel and Ute. are not ashamed of their love for true, deep Trance music. On the contrary, Mikkel's remix of "Like A Plucked Flower" oozes confidence in it's celebratory and life-affirming drive.

Say It Loud Records has the honor of presenting the reissue of the Catalan monkfish masterpiece Variacions en fu-remoll de la 5ª simfonia inèdita de Roger Linn. Extraño Weys it has been the most elusive group on the scene. But the hit on the table that they made 6 years ago in an exclusive 10” and that has become a collector’s item is back in the form of a reissue!

An elegant 12” vinyl with two bonus tracks never before released on plastic, the delicious “Jade” by the crazy Gordo del Puru and “Say it Extraño” with the North American MC Akua Naru. A title that is a tribute to the creator of the first MPCs, the key piece on which the productions of the album are built by Viktor Pizza. It is precisely these productions that show the solidity of the project. With an exquisite work of the sampler and an infinite number of references on vinyl, VP has built a storyline that modulates atmospheres and moods over 6 tracks where the two main mc’s, Sir JKLZ1 and Patxi Vazili, draw their obsessions.

Following their collaboration on 2021"s Oscar winning Drive My Car, Eiko Ishibashi & filmmaker Ryusuke Hamaguchi up the ante with a deeply inspired synergistic exchange: music for images, visuals for sounds. Eiko"s score initiated the project that has become his celebrated new film (Best Picture - BFI London Film Fest, Asian Film Awards, Silver Lion - Venice Film Fest, Best Score - Asia Film Awards). Eiko"s compositions are scored for violin, cello, guitar, drums and keyboards. Her longtime partner Jim O"Rourke played the guitar and mixed and mastered the recordings when they were done, eliciting further the necessary nuances of atmosphere and mood that one would expect in one film, much less two!

Paris-based talent Manda Moor arrives on Hot Creations for the first time this May with the three-track The Climax EP, continuing a standout 2022 for the Danish-Filipino artist.

Rustling with tribal undertones and a rolling four-four groove, The Climax instantly transports us to the dancefloor and beyond. Jungle-like melodies live beside infectious lyrical samples before the minimal-sounds of Sandy Groove soon arrive, as fast-paced drums drift beneath a pummelling bassline throughout. Besame rounds things off, ratcheting up the tempo with bell-like percussion and driving kick-hat combos, forming an upbeat, club-ready cut.

Manda Moor has fast-become an esteemed force in contemporary house circles. Racking up acclaimed releases on labels such as Kaluki, Tamango and DJ Pierre’s Afro Acid, her MOOD EDITS series - in conjunction with Sirus Hood - has garnered support from true industry heavyweights, including Pete Tong, The Martinez Brothers and Loco Dice to name a few. Each edition of MOOD EDITS has reached the number one spot on Bandcamp’s House / Deep House / Minimal chart, proof of Manda’s keen ear for production, whilst her club and festival sets include performances at Amnesia, The BPM Festival, Elrow and many more besides.

Crossroads production team continue the collaboration with the rising italian soul singer "Cler" here performing two classics from different eras:
On side A we find a fresh new version of "Don't Lose The Magic", a soulful-dance classic written by Shawn Christopher, here covered with a more uptempo r&b mood. On the back side the young singer shows her vocal skills on the super classic "Georgy Porgy", which here finds a super warm nu-soul groove.

This is one of the most ambitious 7"s we've ever come across - it is an EP with 11 'tracks' that all play out like a beat tape with interludes crafted by SNDTRAK. It has everything a good beat tape should have - dusty drums, ill samples and a rich sense of soul and storytelling. It moves at pace through the different moods and grounds with gorgeous pianos, sunny vocals, lush strings and mellifluous melodies all grabbing your attention at various points as it plays out. A wonderful and cultural trip through sound.

Moar & DJ Vince are "The Beatmatics"
After a very nice 1st volume on tape only, the beatmaking duet is back with a new volume feat beats jazzy & deep, 90s remixes, samples tools and scratch tool!
For sure put it on the turntable and feel the boom bap vibe with their vintage samplers collection !

Back in December 2016, Jeshi fell asleep whilst driving home from a party at 5am, and he crashed into a park car, only to be woken up by the airbag exploding in his face. This is the inspiration for album two. The new album is a statement of waking up and levelling up from the last period of his life. This is a new era, and full of energy.

SHORT BIOG

Jeshi doesn't run away from fire; he runs with it. The East London artist is on a quest to feel alive in every sense. To him, feeling alive means being present in each experience, no matter how challenging. For Jeshi - who has spent the last few years establishing himself as one of the most exciting voices of his generation - this is what life and art are all about. Chaos, then, is not something to shy away from, but where great ideas are born.
Jeshi's electrifying second album, AIRBAG WOKE ME UP is a collection of moment-capturing songs built to ignite reactions and start conversations. His scene-stealing jaunts to stages worldwide clearly influence its live-wire sound, as Jeshi and his cohorts smash through moods and tempos like kids let loose on funfair dodgems. "I want to make things that have intent and feel like statements," Jeshi declares. His versatile voice is the conductive thread that pulls everything together. "On Universal Credit, my voice was used in one way, whereas on this it's used in ten ways," he notes.
AIRBAG WOKE ME UP is an exploration into what happens when you emerge from tough times, and how they encourage you to view the world a little differently. It's bolder in ambition and built from renewed energy. Chaotic, but in the very best way. "In my head, this is the real arrival chapter," states Jeshi. "The 'I am here, I've arrived' moment."

Straight from the bustling scene of Brussels comes Nous'klaer Audio's latest signing: an effervescent debut album by the young Belgian-Japanese producer, live-performer, pianist and DJ Gaiko. Gaiko (real name Kaito) bursts onto the scene with a nine-track full-length album that highlights the rich and diverse output of this emerging talent. His first offering spans left-field electronics, IDM and DnB, blending intricate drum-programming with lush synths and contemporary, contrasting piano pieces. The long player has been shaped into a push-and-pull dynamic of tempo and mood, a flow of quests that gradually grow into their entirety. From atmospheric textures to tight, propulsive beats, Gaiko builds layers that ripple into each subsequent track. This contrasting yet complementary energy flows from the tender "Millennium" into the unassuming highs of "Setagaya," while the floating electronica of IDM-leaning tracks "Subdued" and "Ever's Lullaby" build up to standout tracks "Martyr" and "Crush." Gaiko's self-titled debut balances euphoria with introspection through an unusually sophisticated playfulness, a rare quality that makes this vivid young artist all the more promising. The 180g vinyl comes in a heavyweight sleeve with artwork by Loe Duval (aka Barwouf) and includes a download card.

"When it travels, the voice is a double agent, a trickster, or a dubious guru, but when it pauses for a recording, it's historical, capturing a mood or an emotion for all time. I didn't expect that I would hardly recognize the people who made Salt — myself and Hessel Veldman — a year and a half after recording it, but this is where I find myself now, so I'll say a few words about this temporary prosopagnosia.

Twelve years ago, when I moved to the Netherlands from Japan, I made a piece called How to Lose Your Voice. It was a YouTube hit because people wanted to learn how to actually lose their voices, though I doubt they found what they were looking for in the video. But I mention it because it's like a diary for me: my voice simply isn't the same now as it was then.

I wonder where my voice has gone.

I just listened to a radio interview with a woman who had her larynx removed.

About fifteen minutes after listening to her new voice, altered by the use of a voice prosthesis to make her audible, the interviewer played a recording of her pre-surgery voice. Of course, I was curious to hear it, and although it was immediately obvious that the gentle ease of her first voice was gone, this new voice, with its raw, gravelly sound, was even more intriguing because of its determined power to express that which needed to be expressed.

When Hessel and I first listened to the Salt in its entirety, I said in astonishment, "who wrote this?"
Marianna Maruyama, sure, but this artist goes by more than one name. Many voices spoke through me in this album. You might even recognize one of them as yours."

Theresa Stroetges returns to Karaoke Kalk with her second album for the Berlin-based label, her fifth solo full-length with her Golden Diskó Ship project in total. Having released records with the Indian-German band project Hotel Kali as well as Painting, a group dedicated to audio-visual concepts, »Oval Sun Patch« sees her embrace influences from club culture, advanced electronic music, and pop more firmly than ever before. Over the past 15 years, Golden Diskó Ship has served a vessel with which the Berlin-based multi-instrumentalist has traversed a variety of genres and circumnavigated all conventions in the process. With »Oval Sun Patch,« Stroetges again sets sail into unknown waters with what is perhaps her catchiest album so far—beat-driven, playful, atmospheric, and at times thoroughly anthemic. This is the sound of Golden Diskó Ship moving forward.

A life lived in transit, the vastness of bodies of water and the isolation of islands as well as more generally notions of processes and progress have been recurring motives throughout Stroetges’ previous records and also mark »Oval Sun Patch.« In fact, the foundation for the six pieces was laid when she was working abroad and at times close to the sea. The massive three-part album closer »Earth Before The Space Race« was conceived as a multi-channel audio-visual performance piece during a 2021 residency at Zaratan Arte Contemporânea in Lisbon. The others were written in the following year during two other residencies when Stroetges first spent time in Austria at the sound art festival Klangmanifeste in Lindabrunn and then visited Portugal once more for a stay at Goethe-Institut in Lisbon. With the help of Shelley Barradas, who lent her a guitar, and Julia Klein, who helped her setting up a temporary studio in the Goethe-Institut Portugal’s auditorium, she made the preliminary recordings of what would later become this album.

»Oval Sun Patch«, later refined in Berlin and mixed in close collaboration with London-based engineer Hannes Plattmeier, is a direct result of Stroetges having to work with what was available to her at the time of writing and recording. While her distinct guitar playing—evocative yet funky, complex but catchy—once more features heavily and she uses her voice in manifold ways to sometimes harmonise with herself or creating complex canons as counterpoints to her her own lead vocals, the electronic gear she worked with dominates the album both compositionally and sonically. Stroetges’ music has always displayed a passion for club culture and advanced electronic music, but on »Oval Sun Patch« she proves once and for all how well these influences can be integrated into her unconventional approach to songwriting.

However, the punchy beat and Moroder-like bassline that form the backbone of »Dolphins With Soft Helmets,« the throbbing house and techno grooves underneath »Ephemeral Carnivores« and »Well-Oiled Machine« as well as the jittery IDM rhythms of »Google Your New Name« and her nods to trip-hop with »Tiny Island« do not so much follow established formulas as they use them as a starting point for wild experimentation instead. Stroetges juxtaposes complex rhythms with interlocking melodies and rich harmonies in ways that continue to surprise throughout and still leave enough space for the occasional wistful guitar or vocal passage. Nowhere does this approach feel more epic than on the 12 ½ minutes long »Earth Before The Space Race,« which takes its time to unfold, changing its pace and mood throughout.

»Oval Sun Patch« is an album about change. The lyrics describe constant transformations of sceneries, relationships, physical and emotional states as well as the climate throughout its running time. Stroetges in the meanwhile leads the way as a singer, songwriter and producer who lets her music evolve constantly. This is sound, moving forward.

Bronze, Silver & Brass swing in horns blazing with their electrifying second 7" vinyl single on Timmion Records. "Renard's Groove" and "Brass In Motion" expand the musical range that can be distilled from a brass band mixed with guitar and funky drums. You are in for a cinematic ride through funk, soul, and jazz-inspired terrain. On the A-side, "Renard's Groove" delivers fast-paced, library soundtrack style funk. Driven by a tight guitar riff and solid breakbeat drums, this instrumental gem stages a high-speed chase though the grimy alleyways of a nameless 1970s metropolis. Flipping the record reveals the B-side, "Brass In Motion", a mellow mid-tempo instrumental that once again tips its hat towards the golden age of independent jazz funk. While maintaining the funky soundtrack mood, its lyrical chorus and unhurried pacing make "Brass In Motion" a perfect pairing for the frenetic energy of its counterpart. With their second release, Bronze, Silver & Brass continue offering fresh sounds for those who have an ear for uncomplicated funky instrumentals. The digital package of the group's singles comes with a digital only bonus track "Boondocks", that reveals another sweaty street funk workout for getting your dance on.

One Million Eyes, previously known as Templehof, return with a new album of balearic ambient, previously heard on two excellent releases for A Strangely Isolated Place.

This time appearing on legendary cassette label Constellation Tatsu as part of their fall combo, anyone familiar with their previous work will know what to expect. Dreamy, sun hazed analog synth lines mix with deep fourth world soundscapes that wouldn’t sound out of place on 90s labels such as Pete Namlook’s Fax or Instinct Ambient. The first half of Signal begins slowly, eyes wide shut, with 'Nickel', a slow pulsating jam of chilled out psychedelia. 'Marea' blends organic instrumentation with distant, processed voices. ‘Koala’, the deepest cut on the album, leads to a mood shift in 'Opalescent' that will sound eerily familiar to any Gaussian Curve fans. 'Polaris', 'Solstice' and highlight 'Landscape' close out the album in style.

For fans of anyone from Music From Memory, Jonathan Fitoussi & Ishq, there are few better ways to relive your memories of later summer.