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· First release of the Jagjaguwar 25th anniversary celebration happening in 2021. · Features production and composition accompaniment from Bon Iver, Mary Lattimore, Angel Bat Dawid, Gia Margaret, and Sam Gendel. · Limited edition Opaque Green vinyl. Over the last 12 years, Ross Gay's poems have given us indelible images and phrases of radical empathy and unabated gratitude; about community, collaboration, connectedness and hard work. They have crept into our hearts and made a home of all of us. And so we are launching our 25th Anniversary celebration with `Dilate Your Heart', our first spoken word album since titan Robert Creeley's self-titled release twenty years ago. "Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude" is given a gorgeous, slowly creeping bed of vines by Bon Iver, as Gay's unadorned voices speaks a lifetimes of Thank You's. On "Burial," harpist and composer Mary Lattimore's lunar landscape follows Gay's voice into space, telling of our endless energy exchange with nature. Chicago's Angel Bat Dawid dances with the frenetic, joyous scene Gay leads us through on "To the Fig Tree on 9th and Christian," in which a group of Philadelphia strangers scramble together to harvest the fruit of the titular urban fig tree. Songwriter Gia Margaret provides a mystical, amniotic environment for Gay's "Poem To My Child If Ever You Shall Be," a love letter to an imagined future child, treating Gay's voice like a message in a bottle to a far off idea made only of love and potential. Sam Gendel, a secret weapon collaborator, affects Gay's voice on "Sorrow Is Not My Name" to something glassy and almost singsongy. Throughout, Gay recites his poems with bright aliveness, his voice as warm and easy when he speaks about death as when he speaks about mercy, or love.

KingUnderground releases Other Mirror’s debut record. The album is mixed by legendary engineer ‘No Sleep’ Nigel, who has worked with a plethora of the UK Hip-Hop scene since the late ‘80s.
Other Mirror are James Tilley, Amelie Chevalier and Jonny Cuba. The 3 formed the band in 2018. They had talked for many years about starting a project together and after several years of pursuing their own creative endeavors, the school friends found themselves reunited and finally creating music with one another. Although the Self Titled LP is Other Mirror’s band debut, they’re far from newcomers. Jonny Cuba has been an active musician since the late 90s, with other collaborative highlights including The Herbaliser, Mike James Kirkland, and production for legendary British Library labels KPM, Bruton, and Cavendish. Tilley has had multiple releases with his first band, Fabric, from the early, to late 90s, and has collaborations with DJ Food, and recording sessions with John Peel. Chevalier is an accomplished vocal coach, dancer, and choreographer with various session work, including live shows at Glastonbury Festival, and Bestival. Rounding out the trio with her mystical vocal delivery and groovy bass lines.

The results of the band’s initial collaborations feel reminiscent of a Quintin Taratino movie, cinematic and groovy in nature. Other Mirror are particularly drawn to the power of music within film and TV. It’s ability to support and affect the narrative is similar to how the band taps into direct emotions.

“The music can be partially improvised with unexpected sections. Like films are made in the edit, we follow a similar approach when we are composing.” - Amelie Chevalier

The Other Mirror debut reflects the bands long standing rapport together. It often feels like there is a conversation happening within the music between the old friends. Their unconventional approach to composing adds a familiar flavor in each track on their self-titled LP.

The Copenhagen-based, Scottish-born composer Clarissa Connelly’s music is evocative of the whimsical and almost child-like, tainted by an undercurrent of dark sensuality, disquietude and existential dread. Characterized by complex arrangements, big compounded chords, as well as a broad array of instruments, effects and sounds, her songs orient the listener towards utopian beauty that lie somewhere between the baroque and the primordial. With an experimental approach to vocal techniques, her voice can manifest benevolent fay-like creatures as easily as banshees and maleficent spirits singing melodies that retain the accessibility typically associated with pop-music. The compositions are lyrically and aesthetically grounded in Celtic folklore and Scandinavian vitalism. The threshold between the mundane and the fantastical are accentuated in her work, in such a way that the pursuit for – and the ability to recognize – real beauty in the world become anchored in the realm of work, everyday anxiety, motivation, human brilliance and failure.

With forthcoming album The Voyager, Connelly sets out to not only to study the relationship between nature and music, but also its relationship with time. She says: “I’ve always been especially excited about times in the north before Christianity came, and how the Pagan culture and Christianity became intertwined in people through rituals and formations in the landscape - burial mounds, passage graves, dolmens, etc.” She continues: “In some way, it’s very difficult to translate nature into an understandable movement of change. Looking at a mountain I often view a still picture of time – a moment right now – but sometimes, I can look at the mountain and see millions of years of change and movement. I believe that this point of view can be assisted by art and music. In a landscape ornamented with ruined Viking fortresses or ancient burial mounds, I find that I, for whatever reason, seem to be able to perceive time and comprehend history (the history of nature and culture) as a series of changes in a more salient way.”It is here that The Voyager derives so much of its power. It roots itself in history, mythology, capable of intertwining and unravelling both past and present. Songs such as Holler and The Hills Are Crying – opening and closing tracks on the album, respectively – conjure images of these ancient Danish sites, offering something more than just a fluid, long-forgotten way, and instead a tangible reverie that can educate, engage and thrill in equal measure. Connelly explains: “I have the idea, that the mystical and fantastical nature of these olden barrows and ruins can kindle a more dynamic and historically informed perspective. I think that an understanding of time as a movement is articulated when looking at the landscape in this way and can maybe bring us out of our little bell jar, and into a greater experience of life as a whole.”

The Voyager is released in conjunction with an app Vandringen (released 27 september 2020), conceived and created by Clarissa Connelly - along with the contributions of 21 other Danish musicians, painters, sculptures, performers - which highlights special ancient Danish locations, not viewable on Google Maps. These locations are presented with local knowledge and a number of them are interpreted for the modern day by the creatives involved. Connelly concludes: “I am very eager to write music that sounds like something that is happening now but has also happened a very long time ago. I have always found it fascinating to view history through changes in the landscapes around us, and therefore I started created this app and wrote this album.”

On "Neon Genesis: Soul Into Matter²" Meemo Comma (a.k.a. Lara Rix-Martin) takes Kabbalistic text and Jewish prayer and guides them through twinkling ambient synths, breakbeats and cranking industrial noise, full of strange wonder and drama. You can hear soft synths transmuted into choirs of seraphim and moments of occulted dancefloor rapture, from Aramaic chanting and ravey breakbeats to readings from the Zohar. It is quite beautiful at times. Jewish mysticism is at the root of Western esoteric beliefs and therefore has formed the structure of many films and books that explore the question of humanity. Inspired by the visuals of Evangelion and nineties anime soundtracks such as Ghost In The Shell (and its later Stand Alone Complex series), the new Meemo Comma album is a soundtrack to an imaginary anime that, like its real counterparts (e.g. Full Metal Alchemist), takes the beautiful parts of Kabbalah and sets them to science fiction stories. When asked about the themes that inform her new album, Lara Rix-Martin says "Judaism is filled with many tales and teachings that prevail in science fiction to this day - whether consciously or not. Sci-Fi is the genre best equipped to explore the immensity and challenges of human experience. Something that Judaism has also been attempting for over three thousand years." "I watched Ghost in the Shell when I was 14 and it was so striking, visually and sonically. The soundtrack has acted as a backdrop to explore my Jewish identity. I have been reading the Talmud since last year, discovering a deeper love for Jewish stories and teachings. There are some beautiful, hopeful ideas in Kabbalah too, which were a central inspiration to this album such as the idea that the first human was non-gendered and just this form made up from the qualities of HaShem (God) who performed 'Tzimtzum', contracted their form using their Ein Sof (eternal light) to create 'Adam Kadmon' whose form split into all human souls." Lara playfully subheads her album: "In the year 5781 humanity is ever closer to becoming a singular consciousness. A team of humans are forming an android, Adam Kadmon (CODENAME: UNIT KADMON). First, humans have to gain higher consciousness guided by the Sefirot." While you don't have to know about these influences to enjoy the music, it stands true that the intention is an irreverent love letter to the way grand myths are birthed into the future through new forms, retaining their beauty and elegance.

There's a mystical place in the heart of Rotterdam, oddly tucked in between the corporate buildings. Bright light boards and red velvet carpets, it's a small cinema that still breaths its old-school grandeur. That's where the Cinerama Adventures project was born, lead by its staff supervisor DJ Overdose. The result are two tracks that go from modern flavored freestyle to sleazy darkroom experiments, both accompanied by the instrumental versions.

Exploring machine funk, the true hedoni$t returns.
Absolution, one's senses rational is to find happiness.
Intrinsically seeking doctrine, a philosophy for pleasure.
Through liberty and triumph, vice weeps before joy.
This primitive. Our delinquent hero. Who will never cease.
Libertine. Utilitary. Wildness. Embrace the Mystery.

This limited vinyl-only and single-sided 12" gem of a jam by Tetzlaff, an originally well-kept secret Rico Puestel project from 1995, had it coming for over 20 years now...

The mystical inscription "Angliziskuss" appeared on the original audio tape cassette as well as the magnetic tape that carried several drum machine and bass guitar recordings from the mid and late 1990s until the early 2000s - totally forgotten until they emerged in 2011 when everything slowly started coming together.

"Angliziskuss" is a combination of the German word for "Anglicism" (vocabulary borrowed from English from another language) and "kiss", like one language kisses the other one throughout some kind of symbiotic and overriding act.

That initial naming gave a deeper meaning to the whole development of the production and triggered the gathering of all creative amendments to the track over the years that led to one final and closing addition to it about seven years ago: The dynamic meeting of an infamous, emotionally charged English vocal snippet and its more rational counterpoint German translation, delivering a subtle tension overall and within.

All embedded into one charming housier journey of over 14 minutes, the „Angliziskuss“ establishes an unique recipe of balearic-like piano playings, a disco-and-funk-styled live bass guitar theme, both futuristic and nostalgic synth lines based on one unadulterated 1980s drum machine foundation.

The original cast recording from Tina - The Tina Turner Musical (Original London Cast Recording).

La Morte Viene Dallo Spazio (Death Comes From Space)’s name is taken from an a late 50s Italian sci-fi b-movie, and this ensemble’s cinematic odyssey of sound is like Argento, Fulci and Bava taking acid with Magma and Jodorowsky. A solid departure from anything you will be listening to right now, La Morte Viene Dallo Spazio’s free-form journeys leave you in unknown astral territory and bake your brain. Composed of an open gathering of players, the Italian quintet combines flavours of Middle Eastern scales, droning theremin and guitars. Their flute-player’s frantic, progressive and abstract elements tear open the cosmic gates like Jethro Tull in a Giallo nightmare. The first album, ‘Sky Over Giza’, released in 2018, was a synth laden soundscape full of ancient mysticism and alien apparitions which gained them a rabid following in their home country of Italy and beyond. La Morte Viene Dallo Spazio’s second album on Svart Records; ‘Trivial Visions’, is a wholly unique experience. An enthralling listen in a confluence of sound and ritual atmospheres that craft a both vibrant and hypnotic effect with nods to black metal and extreme ends of the sound spectrum. This vivid, dreamy and cosmic material will transfer the listener to vast sonic dimensions where one could easily lose the way back to reality. Is this Jazz, Stoner-Rock, Psych-Rock or Progressive Rock? This is La Morte DalloS pazio and they’re in a universe of their own. Start receiving your deathly visions when the new album drops via Svart Records on the 26th of March 2021.

Swiss avant-garde metal titans Schammasch have stunned metal audiences worldwide with their spellbinding mixture of dark atmospherics, forward-thinking black metal, doom and Hermetic mysticism. Entitled 'Triangle,' the new effort is a bold triple album balancing three distinct musical movements in 100 minutes .

Sun Milk was recorded in two months, a much quicker process than the three years spent on their previous release, Flowers. The band recorded the album at the Pharmacy, Vroom’s home studio in Toronto, located above an actual pharmacy. It was the first album to be recorded after Little Kid solidified their live lineup, with Boothby, Vroom, and Germain having played together for over two years. Every song except “Like a Movie” began as a full-band live take, with overdubs performed democratically, with both Boothby and Germain layering guitars. It was also the first record to feature Lunn’s vocals, who joined the band shortly after the album’s release.

The result is a deeply affecting document of personal crisis, mirroring the dramatic changes in Boothby’s life—a breakup, living alone for the first time, beginning a new career. The lyrics have less Christian content and more personal overtones than other Little Kid records. “It was a relief when these songs came out,” says Boothby, “processing recent changes in my life, trying to take ownership of my identity and choices.” This lends a confessional warmth to the songs, a feeling of reconnecting with an old friend, sharing stories. Highlights include the off-kilter opening track “The Fourth” and the lovely, meandering “Ugly Moon.” The centerpiece of the album is “Slow Death in a Warm Bed.” A meditation on why people stay in flawed relationships, the song builds in calming repetitions until the guitars explode in the last minute, climaxing in a full-fledged distorted freakout. It’s one of the most beautiful and harrowing songs in Little Kid’s catalog.

The drifting, gentle “Dim Light Coming Down” features some of Boothby’s best lyrics. The narrator describes a person seeing “the likeness” of their own dead father “floating high above the road,” a mystical encounter rendered in the most plainspoken of terms. But Boothby quickly undercuts the moment: “But you'd been drinking when you saw him/And your mind was moving slow/Like your ears were full of cotton/So what he said you'll never know.” It’s a thwarted encounter that becomes more powerful for that very fact. Just before the song reaches its slow-building climax, Boothby sings, “Coming down/There’s a bright light/A gentle sound/Opening wide.” The transcendence does finally arrive, but it’s in the coming down, the hangover, the regular life that comes after the big moment. There's little wonder why it's become a live staple for the band.

The record is a high point in a remarkably consistent career. Looking back at Sun Milk, Boothby believes it’s one of the strongest in Little Kid’s oeuvre. “It’s probably my favorite,” says Boothby. “In general, I love slow songs, and this album is full of them. I like the structure of seven long songs—can’t think of too many albums with only seven songs. It gives the album an interesting flow.”

Having shone his light over the damp canals of Gothenburg for at least a decade, Paradise City Jams is the first album proper from Johannes Brander and his Skogar project, as well as his first release on Stockholm’s Studio Barnhus label. This highly anticipated record is the crown jewel of all those strangely glimmering shards scattered via the barely existent Native Parts imprint over the last 10 years, as well as numerous live performances around town. Though rooted in the mid-00's neo cassette underground, this debut album bares little resemblance to the hypnagogic era, the mostly guitar-driven tracks evoking a longing for something that has never actually existed, in contrast to yer standard nostalgic exercises. A Malmsteeninan approach to the riff is soaked in a peculiar strain of melancholia, accompanied by mesmerizing synths and bad-ass percussion. As a
visual artist, Brander works with returning images of feverish jungle scenes, often incorporating Vodou mysticism and tribal settings. These images are always present in the mysterious musical world of Skogar, painting pictures of a parallel universe far away from those Gothenburg canals. Well worth the wait! Recorded in Gothenburg, Brännö and Hawaii between 2017 and 2020, mastered for vinyl by Viktor Ottosson.

A quick, spontané voyage to the French Riviera ca. 1968, good times long before things went south, Organi’s “Parlez-vous Français?” is a woozy, tripping, soothing sojourn: DIY dream pop, hazy psychedelia, blurred-but-steady beats dripping down the golden boulevard, complete with mystical chants, a dash of half-remembered Franglais that goes down like some vintage eau-de-vie. There’s a fine massage waiting behind those venetian blinds. Pay half an hour, you’ll be relaxed and revived after 22 minutes. Très irrésistible when streamed, Organi’s haunting, hard-boiled French lesson is even better with that classique vinyl crackle in the mix.

Following the cinematic title skit with its bass loop appendix, Oakland-based producer and multi-instrumentalist Mike Walti (and his songwriting partner Maryam) aka Organi invites singer Jessica Bailiff along for the majestic entrée, an interpretation of Philamore Lincoln’s 1970 tune “The North Wind Blew South” (doesn’t it always?), adding anticon. heavyweights Jel and Odd Nosdam on synths and bass for à la mode enhancements and additional bric-à- brac.

Whereas the theme tune “Organi” comes with big drums, big organ, seductive overtones, pure hypnosis, “Whispers” is the soundtrack to some kind of psychedelic campfire tableau vivant: all brumeux, hazy, with spare guitar, Gauloises or Gitanes dangling, a glass of Bordeaux waiting on the dusty old amp, and featuring guest vocalists Yea-Ming Chen & Susy Borhan. It gets even more Parisienne after that: a French woman just knows how to look classic, even when all she’s got is some attitude, a ramshackle tambourine, a craving for old Sukia weirdness and those budget-couture “4 Dolla Jeans”...

Clearly in love with analog equipment, Organi turn The Vaselines’ “Slushy” into a slow- moving, bottomless lullaby – “... you'll never miss what you never had” –, and the femme fatale minimalism of “Stay The Night” is too magnétique and alluring: A fuckin’ sexy chanson, très léger and yet such a hard-knockin’ head-nod anthem, it’ll make you stay for sure, hungry for la petite mort.

Before the expansive denouement – a bank robbery in style: with bangs and a bucket bag (“Danger Walked In”) – the session gets super loose on “The Getaway,” head scarves and berets shimmering in the cabriolet, and featuring Jena Ezzadine on vocals & Headnodic on bass.

Mike Walti aka Organi is an Oakland-based musician and producer. A third generation Bay Area native, Walti has been running wyldwood Studios in Oakland CA for 10+ years (recording artists like Why?, Latyrx, Del, Dan The Automator, and Big Freedia, to name but a few). A longtime friend of Odd Nosdam, he loves to work with analog equipment (“We just love us some analog!” “Just listen to those relays purr...”). Recorded and mixed by Mike Walti at wyldwood, and mastered by Odd Nosdam.

Following highly praised releases by Hermeto Pascoal & Grupo, Leonardo Marques, Xenia Franca and Moons, 180g and the legendary Disk Union continue to explore the best of today's Brazilian music scene with this wonderful psychedelic and funky pop album by Rio de Janeiro's Gus Levy: Magia Magia.


The mystical universe of Magia Magia reflects influences from the samba rock of Jorge Ben, the romantic grooves of Djavan and the psychedelic pop of Connan Mockasin and Negro Léo. The lyrics and sensations suggest a new way of seeing the reality of the world and relationships: union, spirituality, magic, complicity, happiness, courage, love, fraternity, dilemmas and contradictions lead the poetical subject of Magia Magia. Inspired by a conception of the universe ruled by feminine entities, Gus Levy brings with Magia Magia a masterpiece of modern Brazilian psychedelic and funky pop, with exquisite artwork by Fernanda Varella.

A composer and multi-instrumentalist from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Gus Levy has been gaining more and more attention on the Brazilian music scene during the last few years. He is also a producer at Rio de Janeiro's Estúdio Carolina studios, a member of the band "Os Dentes" for more than 10 years, and the guitarist of choice for artists like Antonio Neves, Filipe Marones and João Werneck.

Star Composer of the 1960s (Les Tontons Flingueurs, Fantômas, Angélique marquise des anges), Michel Magne was caught in 1974 in the bankruptcy of his recording studio in Hérouville. He then launches to the lyricist Boris Bergman: “Nothing works, let’s make a great religious record!”

The result will be a mystical-psychedelic bombshell, where Magne amalgamates Jewish, Arad and African music with pop rhythms. A year after their collaboration on Roger Vadim’s Don Juan 73, Bergman offers him texts that function like a modern tale, carried by the abrasive voice of New York bluesman Artie Kaplan, creator of the smashing Bensonhorst Blues. Released in indifference in late 74, Moshe Mouse Crucifixion is resurrected today, remastered up close. Its modernity is more contemporary than ever. “All the current


mergers, from north to south, east to west, already seem to be present” confirms Boris Bergman. Moshe Mouse Crucifixion is more than an album, it’s the missing link in French pop.

Eine neu überarbeitete ”Island Years”-Auflage des klassischen Bob-Marley-Boxsets, zum ersten Mal auch auf Vinyl. Mit Marleys vielen Klassikern von ”Concrete Jungle” über ”Redemption Song” bis hin zu seltenen 12”-Mixen, B-Seiten, jamaikanischen Singles und Alternates. ”Songs Of Freedom: The Island Years” erscheint als 6LP-Set.

Das 6LP-Set auf schwarzem Standard-Vinyl (180 g) enthält ein 20-seitiges Booklet mit seltenen Fotos,
mehreren Essays und Titelinformationen.

In 2015, London fusionistas Lokkhi Terra put on a show at Womad and Songlines Encounters festival, where they collaborated withe folk legends from Bangladesh - The Shikor Bangladesh All Stars". The music was based on countless rooftop jams helb back in Dhaka, where Lokkhi Terra had been touring regularly from 2009.

The second in the series of collaborations, this EP takes the iistener back to the beginning, capturing the first musical meetings between both bands. The period when long term Lokkhi Terra collaborator and Dhol Maestro Nazrul Islam (based in Dhaka), introduced his musical inner circle to the visiting Lokkhi Terra musicians. Friendships were forged, and musical conversations were explored. One singer stood out in particular - Dewan Baby Akthar.

Featuring songs by the great Bangladeshi mystics Baul Lalon Shai and Baul Abdul Karim.

"from London's global melting pot Lokkhi Terra joined Bangladeshi musicinas of Shikor for an unlikely but successful fusion that matched Asian influences with Cuban Jazz" The Guardian

180g Vinyl

Until Now, Jilala has been a much sought-after phantom in relation to their better-known musical and spiritual contemporaries, The Master Musicians of Jajouka. Culled from three and a half hours of 1965 recordings by writers/artists/poets Brion Gysin and Paul Bowles, the first batch of Jilala recordings were released on a 1965 LP that was scarce even upon its initial release. The second batch of Recordings, which this LP has drawn from, came in the form of a CD by Baraka Foundation in 1998, which is also now long out of print. The Jilala brotherhood -- like the better-known Jajouka culture -- has pre-Islamic roots in Sufi mysticism that span across northern Africa from Morocco to India. Jilala shares the kinds of small, portable instruments historically favored by nomadic cultures. Even among the more ardent aficianados of "world music" these recordings have seldom been heard. In the original liner notes Ira Cohen provides a breakdown of the Jilala ensemble: "The instruments used are the shebaba, a long transversal cane flute, which leads the way; the bendir, a handheld drum resembling a tambourine without cymbals; and the karkabat which is a double castanet made of metal. On this record there are usually three flutes, six drums and one pair of castanets." In conjunction with the qraqaba -- an iron analog to the wooden castanets featured heavily in the Flamenco music of the Roma people that also flourished over the centuries mere miles to the north in southern Spain. These bendir drums provide a range very similar to that covered in contemporary popular music by the bass drum, snare, and cymbals that make up standard drum kit. The Trance-inducing grooves were major influences on such bands as Led Zeppelin, Agitation Free, Can and the Rolling Stones. The collective rhythms are often reminiscent early hip hop. oFirst time these tracks appear on vinyl - Pressed on 180 Gram Black Vinyl o Recorded by Brion Gysin & Paul Bowles in Morocco 1965 o Limited Edition of 300 Copies - DMM: Direct Metal Mastering o New Liner Notes by Peter Wetherbee o Contains insert of original liner notes from 1965 Jilala LP o Long out of print in any format for over 20 years.

‘Galdre Visions’ is Leaving Records supergroup Galdre Visions’s debut release. Inspired by Celtic mysticism, outer space and New Age both classical and modern, ‘Galdre Visions’ is a document of the exploratory, healing power of music.
Galdre Visions are comprised of Olive Ardizoni (Green-House), South Asian-American sitarist Ami Dang, Diva Dompé of Yialmelic Frequencies and harpist Nailah Hunter. These four artists were drawn together during the pandemic to remotely create collaborative music reflecting global uncertainty.
‘Galdre Visions’ is a reflective, ambient journey with airy vocal harmonies and layers of field recordings, harps and slow-burning ambient chords.
The record is housed in a tip-on jacket with microtene inner sleeves and played at 45 RPM.
For fans of Laraaji, Mort Garson, Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith, Huerco S., Emily A. Sprague, Ana Roxanne, Christina Vantzou.

It’s hard not to notice such an unforgettable sleeve, and if the music it protects is half as memorable as the artwork, you know you just have to hear it. We don’t think you’ll be disappointed because yes, this is the majestic 1971 album Un Muñeco De Madera, courtesy of the shadowy Sola, and it sounds exactly as you’d want it to. Originally released on RCA in Mexico, it’s kaleidoscopic Acapulcan-funk.

The album’s endless grooves are propelled by softly rocking, quasi-library funk breaks. Vocally, Sola is in step with the 60s French pop-chanteuse style, but of course her lyrics are delivered in sensuous Spanish. Her voice is beautiful. Pillowy soft and tender, it can suddenly explode in mystical anger. These are ten tracks of moody, mysterious vibes that stir the spirit and sooth the soul.

The LP was written, arranged and directed by prolific Spanish composer Manuel Alejandro, the man behind an incredible number of now classic Latin love songs from the 60s, 70s and 80s. As for Sola herself, next to nothing is known about the Mexican singer except the occasional whisper heard in only the darkest corners of the annals of music history. It’s said that upon growing disillusioned with the music industry she ended up in a convent of Carmelite Sisters. Fitting perhaps, given that Un Muñeco De Madera is a spiritual wonder of a record.

Much-loved single and title-track “Un Muñeco De Madera” opens the album. It introduces us to Sola’s sparkling Latin-funk, bursting with swaggering grooves sewn by tight drums, sweeping strings and lush keys. It’s followed by the serene but melancholic bossa groove of “Oye Mamá, Oye Papá” and the strings and guitar of “He Bajado Al Infierno” that hold up vocals reaching for an eternal truth. With full-on soundtracky feels, the rolling keys underpinning the Morricone-esque soundscape of “En Ellos Creo” will give you goosebumps. The gorgeous “Soy Rebelde” (“I’m Rebellious”), sets its gentle, piano-led delivery in delicate contrast to the lyrical sentiment.

Perhaps Sola’s most well-known track, the exotic bossa of “Tabu, Tabu”, is a formidable groove. Elegant bongos, prominent bass, delicate acoustics and a persistent flute blend with Sola’s unique voice; sinuous, sassy and forceful at the same time. The stunning “La Última Palabra”, while not literally the album’s last word, is nevertheless a stirring statement of strutting Latin soul, with more musical ideas packed into this one song than the entirety of most long-players.

If you hadn’t decided already, the final two tracks that are the funk-fuelled “Bada-Bada-Ba” and the horn-heavy percussive masterclass “Únete A Mi” will leave you in no doubt that this is one very special record.

Mastered with great respect by Simon Francis, cut by the master Pete Norman and with that sleeve lovingly restored by the Be With team, this re-issue ensures that Un Muñeco De Madera now sounds, looks and feels as beautiful as it deserves to.
: Un Muñeco De Madera (LP)