Here In, Absence" ("Here, In Absence" for the book) is the result of the dialogue between the Finnish photographer Mikael Siirilä and the music artists The Humble Bee & Offthesky initiated by IIKKI, between March 2023 and January 2024.
After a first release in 2019 on IIKKI ("All Other Voices Gone, Only Yours Remains"), a second one in 2020 on LAAPS ("We Were The Hum Of Dreams"), Craig Tattersall (The Humble Bee) and Jason Corder (Offthesky) come back with a third stunning out-of-time beauty, paired with the Mikael Siirilä photography works.
Craig Tattersall is a former member of The Remote Viewer and Famous Boyfriend bandmate Andrew Johnson. Tattersall's music can be found these days more often under his alias The Humble Bee; as a founder member of The Boats; and in his collaborative works with the likes of Bill Seaman in The Seaman And The Tattered Sail. He has run the wonderful label Cotton Goods from 2008 to 2015 and since 2009 he has recorded 16 solo albums on his moniker The Humble Bee and almost the same under his name on some collaborations.
Jason Corder is experimental-ambient multimedia artist based in Denver, CO. He has been producing music, video art, audio software, and the occasional interactive sound sculpture, for over 20 years. He teaches private courses on generative music and occasionally lectures on various sound design topics at Denver University. He currently is the Audio Director at the Denver based videogame studio Dire Wolf. Over the years, he has worked with labels such as Home Normal, 12k's term, Facture, LAAPS and more. Over the years he has performed at Mutek, Decibel, Communikey and other festivals, sharing the bill with likeminded artists Pole, Matmos, William Basinski, and more.
Mikael Siirilä: "I am a darkroom artist (b. 1978) based in Helsinki, Finland. My small individual photographs examine the themes of absence, presence and outsiderhood. My characters appear immersed in their inner worlds and moments of being: simultaneously absent and intensely present. The pictures also reveal the outsider’s gaze, lost in observation and reflection. My pictures are true observations captured with minimal interaction with the subjects. Their origin is in the act of looking, and they feel causally connected to the world. The craft of printmaking is inseparable from my artistic expression. I work solely with black & white film and the darkroom. The slow, contemplative process lends the pictures a calmness. I make physical pictures I want to stare at, feel and become lost in. Again and again."
Fine Art Book, Ltd. to 500 copies:
Hardcover book printed on Munken Lynx 150g/m2 // 80 pages, 18cm x 24cm, 51 photos // Logo and slot embossed // Selective UV varnish // Visible seam and cutting cover pages // Hand-numbered, hand-stamped.
Suche:name one
If I Could Only Remember My Name was the debut solo record from David Crosby. Recorded in 1970 after the passing of his girlfriend Christine and released in February of 1971, the album explores themes including loss and disorientation. The album features a who's who of contributors from the San Francisco Bay area including Paul Kantner and Grace Slick of Jefferson Airplane, Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead, and Santana, and his cohort from Los Angeles including Graham Nash, Neil Young, and Joni Mitchell.
The album has attained a cult status throughout the last 50 years, hailed for its spooky, psychedelic, and truly unique sounds.
AllMusic gave the album 4.5 stars, with reviewer Stanton Swihart writing: "With his ringing, velvety voice — the epitome of hippie crooning — and inspired songwriting, he turns If I Could Only Remember My Name into a one-shot wonder of dreamy but ominous California ambience."
All the hallmarks of a top-notch Analogue Productions reissue are here for you to savor: Mastered directly from the original master tape by Bernie Grundman and cut at 45 RPM. Pressed on 180-gram vinyl at Quality Record Pressings, and housed in tip-on old style gatefold double pocket jackets with film lamination by Stoughton Printing.
Casino Classix is one of several aliases for legendary minimal man Baby Ford. Here it is also the name of a four-track EP that finds the long time UK underground operative working alongside fellow British techno luminary Mark Broom on a quartet of devastating cuts. 'Ringer' opens up with some dark and nimble baselines darting about beneath a dense layer of percussion and FX. 'Hoppa' is then a more precise and minimalist cut with wonky bass snaking down low beneath the icy hi-hats and jumbled toms. There is a warm dub depth to 'Hot Pot' to kick off the flip and 'Beach Club' shuts down with a restless mix of synth daubs and deft percussion over an ice cold groove.
When not knocking it out of the park with his garage alias Instinct, James Burnham is somehow also managing to find time to revert to his original Burnski moniker and the minimal and tech sounds with which he first made his name. On this latest 12" via his own Constant Sound label, 'Boom' is a rude boy jam for sure - the filthy bass and low-end wobble are accompanied by ragga vocals up top.
'Toxic' is a more straight-up tech pumper with slinky hi-hat designs, smart filters and bass-driven drums. As always with this powerhouse, the subtle production details really elevate this one into a standout cut.
Acclaimed Japan “minyo footwork” duo WaqWaq Kingdom - aka Shigeru Ishihara (DJ Scotch Egg / Seefeel) and Kiki Hitomi (ex-King Midas Sound) - return with feverishly joyous new album Hot Pot Totto, a bubbling hot pot of dance music that responds to ecological anxiety.
“Two words are conjoined: hot pot and ottotto,” vocalist Kiki Hitomi tells us. “Ottotto is the Japanese equivalent of “oops”, or said when someone nearly falls over but manages to get their balance back: “it was dangerous but now we are safe!” Combined with the heady brew of their musical styles (“like a psychedelic Nabe hot pot: melting traditional Japanese Minyo with Jamaican dancehall, footwork, dub, techno, tribal polyrhythms and Super Nintendo soundtracks”), producer Shige Ishihara’s time in East Africa working with local musicians, and the dayglo hallucinogen of the duo’s visual aesthetic, WaqWaq Kingdom’s thumping, thrilling, irresistible third release is a unique ride.
Thematically - despite its ostensibly celebratory impact - Hot Pot Totto addresses the world’s grave ecological state. “Now our earth is on the way to catastrophe, as global warming becomes a serious problem through humanity’s fault. We are on the edge,” Hitomi writes. “We need to get back on the right track.” The ottotto of the album title refers to this experience - the need to get back on track. However, this is not lamenting music: it is fiercely defiant, full of colour and rapture, maintaining an optimism that we can.
Opening single “Hakke Yoi” ties treated voice, a floor-shaking beat, and a dizzying, transforming colour palette to a heart-quickening BPM. The track is named after the traditional cry of a sumo wrestling match, shouted by the referee to maintain tempo, commonly translated as “put some spirit into it!” The lyrics refer to humanity’s sacrifice of our planet for our own material gains. Later, key track “Buri Buri” features Ugandan experimental dance producer Catu Diosis and centres around the lyric “Turn disaster to our advantage / good fortune and happiness will come to those who smile,” offering not regret but encouragement and empowerment with its neon alien sonics and relentless vibrancy.
Kiki Hitomi was formerly a member of Ninja Tune / Hyperdub’s King Midas Sound (along with The Bug and Roger Robinson), and co-founded iconic Japanese dubstep-noise duo Dokkebi Q. She is also a celebrated illustrator and designer, having created artwork for countless record sleeves (including this one) and brands. Shigeru Ishihara - aka DJ Scotch Egg - has been orbiting the dance music galaxy for over a decade, releasing radiantly unpredictable solo records through Lightning Bolt’s Load Records, as a member of Warp Records’ legendary Seefeel, and performing with both projects across the world. He recently undertook a residency at the Nyege Nyege Villa in Uganda, working with Phantom Limb alumnus MC Yallah. More recently, Ishihara has been releasing music under the guise of Scotch Rolex, collaborating with the likes of Shackleton, Swordman Kitala, Lord Spikeheart and more.
Hot Pot Totto is WaqWaq Kingdom’s third release for Phantom Limb, following the rapturously received album Essaka Hoisa in 2019 and follow-up EP Dokkoisho in 2020. The band recently performed at the label’s sold out 5th anniversary event in London, setting an ecstatic venue alight with energy.
f B1 Buri Buri feat. Catu Diosis
Jesse James returns to the Soul Junction roster with a new 45 that features his own unique interpretation of a classic song that is backed with one of the more popular songs from his 1990 “Looking Back” album now brought to you for the first time as a 45 release.
Beginning with the A-side, “Everybody’s Talking At Me” which is Jesse’s unique cover of the folk rock singer Fred Neil’s penned song “Everybody’s Talkin’”. Which although recorded by Neil originally, was made internationally famous by Harry Nilsson when used as part of the theme score for the acclaimed United Artists 1969 film “Midnight Cowboy”. The song has been much covered in the style of a ballad but Jesse’s version recorded under the production skills of close friend Willie Hoskins (Wilhos Productions and Boola Boola Records) is a great up-tempo piano driven version of the song. “Everybody’s Talking At Me” is yet another find from the unissued tapes from the self- financed sessions that Jesse recorded at the Searra Sound Studios in Berkley C.A during 1971 that also has brought us SJ543 “(The Girl In) Clinton Park” and SJ544 “If A Man Ever Loved A Woman (Baby I Love You)”.
While the b-side, features the much, admired modern soul favourite “You’re More Than A Friend Of Mine” which first gained a release on the 1990 ‘Looking Back’ album (Gunsmoke Records). “You’re More Than A Friend Of Mine” was up to that point a previously unissued mid 70’s recording produced by the late song writer /producer Ron Carson. Carson the original owner of the San Francisco Soul Clock Records label remains highly respected for his work with the hit group, ‘The Whispers’ (both on Soul Clock and some of their later Janus recordings). Carson had produced and co-wrote Jesse’s 1975, 20th Century Records release “If You Want A Love Affair/I Never Meant To Love Her” now regarded worldwide as Jesse’s signature song. Carson had a follow up release in the can, which never came to fruition due to Jesse and 20th Century parting company for the second time. Carson by then had moved on and was heavily involved in the production of the Janus distributed blackploitation album “Black Fist” for Happy Fox records. “Black Fist” was a various artists compilation which also featured the Jesse James composition “The Same Thing Happens (Part1 & 2)”. The shelved, proposed 20th Century follow up release would have been “Your More Than A Friend of Mine/I Don’t Want It To End” recorded during 1976. Carson had pitched the idea of a song in a similar vein to the Jackson Sisters 1973 Prophesy Records release “(Why Can’t We Be) More Than Friends” to the songs original songwriting team William Peele Jr and Warren Sams. They duly obliged, coming up with the aforementioned “Your More Than A Friend Of Mine”. Warren Sams along with his half-sister Christine Adams Tripp and their friend Rachel Sanders were none other than the respected vocal trio “Water & Power” who recorded the acclaimed 1975 album of the same name for Fantasy Records and a solitary 45 “Mr Weatherman/If You Don’t Want Me”.
- A1: Theo Beckford – Easy Snapping
- A2: The Skatalites – Guns Of Navarone
- A3: Delroy Wilson – Dancing Mood
- A4: Michigan And Smiley – Nice Up The Dance
- B1: Heptones – Baby
- B2: The Abyssinians – Declaration Of Rights
- B3: Alton Ellis – I'm Still In Love With You
- B4: Tommy Mccook – Tunnel One
- C1: Sugar Minott – Jah Jah Children
- C2: The Skatalites – Man In The Street
- C3: Dub Specialist – Banana Walk
- C4: Dennis Alcapone – Run Run
- D1: Larry Marshall – Nanny Goat
- D2: Brentford Allstars – Throw Me Corn
- D3: Lone Ranger – Love Bump
- D4: Jackie Mittoo – Freak Out
Soul Jazz Records’ feature-length documentary/CD/Book ‘Studio One Story’ is being re-released on 1 August 2011, and is also available for the first time as a stand alone DVD. The DVD is being issued as a prelude to the forthcoming deluxe-hardback book ‘Original Cover Art of Studio One Records’ released this autumn by Soul Jazz Records as well as a new Studio One album compilation on Soul Jazz to coincide with the new book.
Studio One Story is a documentary this is both a staggering slice of musical history and a definitive guide to Studio One, Jamaica’s greatest ever record company, and its legendary founder, Clement ‘Coxsone’ Dodd. ‘Studio One Story’ was filmed in 2002, two years before the death of the legendary Clement ‘Sir Coxsone’ Dodd, a man famously reticent of being interviewed - until the making of this film. Described by Chris Blackwell as the Motown of Jamaica, or ‘The University of Reggae’, Studio One is where the careers of literally hundreds of reggae artists began: Bob Marley and the Wailers, Alton Ellis, The Heptones, Ken Boothe, The Skatalites, Burning Spear and Sugar Minott, to name but a few! Studio One is the ‘foundation’ label of Jamaican Reggae and Clement ‘Sir Coxsone’ Dodd is seen by many as its father.
One and a half years in the making, Studio One Story is a truly unique documentary in which the late Clement Dodd gave unprecedented personal access to tell the previously untold story of how he and the many artists and musicians at Studio One literally shaped the rise of Reggae music from the 1950s onwards through to the late 1970s. This is the true story of reggae music and its Jamaican roots told from the inside: From the rise of Kington’s sound systems in the 1940s and 1950s, through to the evolution of a Jamaican music industry (and Studio One’s dominance) in the 1960s and the worldwide success of reggae in the 1970s.
The 4 hour documentary (including over an hour of extras) was filmed on location in Kingston, Jamaica and features interviews with Horace Andy, Alton Ellis, Ken Boothe, Sugar Minott, Denis Alcapone, The Ethiopians, Sylvan Morris, Johnny Moore, Lone Ranger, King Stitt and many others. The DVD also includes rare footage of The Skatalites, Jackie Mittoo, Count Ossie, Marcia Griffiths and others. As well as the stand-alone DVD, Soul Jazz Records are reissuing the original (DVD +CD+Book) original box set.
IF YOU ARE ORDERING THIS PLEASE CHECK IF YOU NEED NTSC (AMERICA, JAPAN, ETC) OR PAL (EUROPE, AUSTRALIA, ETC).
THE DVD HAS FRENCH AND ENGLISH SUBTITLES.
NB.MP3 Release is for the audio CD only.
REVIEWS ‘Studio One was Jamaica’s Motown. This documentary brings it brilliantly to life.’ The Telegraph ‘The history of Clement ‘Coxsone’ Dodd’s legendary Jamaica studio is fantastically told through interviews, copious amounts of music and historical footage and more.’ Uncut ‘Studio One Story is no mere historical document; it is a map that will lead you directly to a massive seam, endlessly mineable, of musical gold’ The Observer ‘A fascinating documentary’ The Telegraph ‘Compulsive viewing for anyone with an interest in Reggae’ The Wire
Hi-NRG synth pioneer Patrick Cowley moved away from his usual robotic steeliness on 1982’s “Primitive World,” drawing instead on the groove rock of early 1970s gay discos. It’s a percussion track influenced by Baba- tunde Olatunji’s 1959 hit “Jin-Go-Lo-Ba,” made more famous by Santana’s 1969 cover. Cowley updated the sound for the 1980s with electronics and drum machines but kept the playful attitude of the original. Two choirs of voices chant back and forth to each other, giving Cowley a chance to include many of his friends from the San Francisco dance music community.
This has been DJ Hifi Sean’s year, with a best-selling album with David McAlmont , count- less live gigs and high-profile remixes to his name. His interpretation of Cowley’s “Primitive World” can be counted among his best, bringing an intense TB-303 acid house vibe that perfectly complements Cowley’s weird electronic blips and bleeps. The effect is a disorienting mix of psychedelic 70’s groove, 80s synth pop, and 90s tacky house vibes. “Primitive World,” is one of the brilliant standouts on Cowley’s final record, Mind Warp, the so-called “death album” written as his health was rapidly sinking. Hifi Sean’s new remixes pay tribute to Cowley’s genius while fusing the track even more strongly to dance music’s electronic future.
Reggae and Jamaican music have long embraced a symbiotic relationship with the movies. Rooting back to the island's golden era, countless arrangements have either been direct covers, or inspired by, the musicality and mood found in both cinema and television. These reinterpretations would become part of the backbone of the instrumental sound that accompanied the Jamaican record industry's acceleration from the mid-60s and beyond. Talented young musicians, rising from Alpha Boys School and the early studios of Coxsone, Duke Reid and others, found a showcase for their unique playing style on hundreds of different recordings, while appealing to the country's own love affair with Westerns, James Bond canon, and other rebellious themes and motifs that were projected from Hollywood during this time.
In this same tradition, in a new interval, arrives the debut release of Anant Pradhan and Larry McDonald, the latter a master percussionist with direct participation in some of Jamaica's earliest recordings. McDonald, although often uncredited, was a legitimate influence in helping to bridge the Afro-Caribbean sound from calypso into ska and later reggae with his iconic style on hand drums and percussion. A kindred spirit of McDonald, despite 50 years separating them, Anant Pradhan is a bonafide member of the next generation. Although this is his first "solo" record, the talented saxophonist has already played on dozens of incredible sessions for the likes of Victor Axelrod, The Inversions, Andy Bassford, Channel Tubes, Ralph Weeks and Combo Lulo. As an official member of the current touring group of the legendary Skatalites, Pradhan has honed his musicianship under some of the greats of reggae music. His particular soulful, instrumental arrangements are an homage to that influential era of Jamaican music. Pradhan and his band's performance retain the skill and innovation of the old vanguard, and like the generations before, capture a magic that may only be possible when cinema goes reggae.
A cult favorite from A Nightmare Before Christmas, Danny Elfman's "Sally's Song" was immortalized in Tim Burton's 1993 classic stop-motion film. It's immediately recognizable in all its haunting charm, and now, Pradhan and McDonald have managed to transform it into an irrefutable reggae classic, reinvented with its melancholic lead sax and bombastic percussion. The prolific Henry Mancini is already entrenched in the Jamaican canon, yet nobody has knowingly attempted to recreate one of his most magical numbers, "Meglio Stasera" aka "It Had Better Be Tonight," that of the riveting one-take scene in 1963's The Pink Panther. The galloping percussion of the original is transposed through a cloud of smoke, slow and low in a roots style at the hands of McDonald. Pradhan's sax leads the way over the locked-in rhythm section, both deep and cheeky all at once. These first two productions of Anant Pradhan and Larry McDonald are a deserving entry into the canon of reggae covers, and are equally adept to be heard on the screen and or at the dance alike.
After 25 years of living his dream as one of hip hop’s most respected producers, Hi-Tek is digging back into his roots with a brand new trio of instrumental vinyl LPs. “Werk Road (1997 MPC 60)” is the third volume of the series, each featuring a selection of restored and remastered beats, carefully chosen from an archive of DAT tapes. These LPs manage to both provide a window into Tek’s development and to shine light on the work of an already enormously talented musician whose beats would’ve sounded right at home on classic releases from the mid-1990s.
1997 is when the name Hi-Tek began to develop a global buzz, largely due to the combustible indie-rap scene. He’d moved on from the now-shuttered Beatbox Studios in his hometown of Cincinnati and began building his first proper home studio in his new apartment on Werk Road. With a borrowed Akai MPC 60 drum machine as the foundation, he began churning out beats at a more prolific rate than ever.
In addition to placements on debut LPs by Mood and Royal Flush, Tek would make his name in 1997 as one-half of the duo Reflection Eternal with Brooklyn MC Talib Kweli. Their Rawkus Records debut 12” “Fortified Live” was an instant smash, and it quickly placed him at the top of the class of up-and-coming beatmakers. His unique balance of bassline-driven grooves behind soulful samples would eventually lead him to be in high demand for artists across the spectrum of the genre, and in short time he was producing for Common, Snoop Dogg, Raphael Saadiq, Dr. Dre, 50 Cent, and others from all over the country.
The work featured on “Werk Road (1997 MPC 60)” reveals an artist who would not only become one of the most respected producers in rap, but one of the cultural ambassadors of his home city of Cincinnati for over 25 years. In 2022, Hi-Tek was inducted into the Cincinnati Black Music Walk of Fame alongside luminaries like The Isley Brothers, Bootsy Collins and Midnight Star, and remains the most successful hip hop artist that the city has ever produced.
It’s a family affair. One formed almost thirty years ago, back in the mid-nineties, when the pair joined seminal French jazz combo Olympic Grammofon. For twenty-four years they have worked together as Bumcello, each complementing the other, echoing polar opposites. The Boom in Bumcello is none other than Cyril Atef, incisive drummer, relentlessly pushing beats towards new horizons. The Cello is Vincent Ségal, cellist without blinkers and extraordinary musical alchemist. Since 1999, these two die-hard music fans, coming together for mercurial results, have released one record after the other whilst conquering the hearts of their live audiences, old regulars as well as new recruits. We have all been seduced by the way their music leapfrogs categories - these two experts are much more interested in kindred spirits than pigeonholing, and this very spirit is celebrated on more than one track of this ninth record, whose concept is original to say the least.
Everything began with an idea by Cyril Atef - a soundtrack based upon drawings penned by Marin, Vincent’s son, architect and visual artist. The musicians involved then coached their reaction to these images on a score, and the pair were charged with collating and adjusting the results. These thirteen ink drawings, in a heroic fantasy vein, constituted a matrix which was then to serve as a guide, like a roadmap through a singular and multi-faceted labyrinth. The key to this sonic fresco is in Bumcello’s image – an eclectic aesthetic twinned with a great sense of contrast. Herein lies the trademark of this entity animated by the gift of musical ubiquity, gorged on scales and rhythms, capable of a slap as much as a gentle caress. From classical music to electronics, from improvised music to sophisti-pop, everything is allowed with no preconceived ideas. They can even reclaim the traditions of others, all the better to propel them towards new horizons - this is how the very history of music has always panned out.
If you listen between the lines and look at the details, more than one piece bears witness to the moments and individuals that have impacted the criss-crossing lives of Vincent and Cyril. The track Crash is the perfect excuse to create a Jamaican-style jam with New York inflections, and we can see, in capital letters, the name Hilaire Penda, playing alongside Bumcello at the Apollo Theater in the associated drawing. This bass player from Cameroon, who died on 5th November 2018, was more than just a friend for the two Frenchmen. He was one of the family. Similarly, they give a nod to another Cameroonian, and another departed friend - singer of rock band les Têtes brûlées, Zanzibar, through the vocals of fellow countryman Zanzi. The ghost of Rémi Kolpa Kopul, emblematic voice of Radio Nova, haunts the margins of Spark Av, in a vocal sample with a smattering of effects. As for I Remember Tim, it directly honours the memory of Timothy Jerome Parker, aka The Gift Of Gab, another friend who left us in 2021. Tim is depicted in a drawing with the docks of Oakland in the background, and it’s his alter ego within Blackalicious, Chief Xcel, who remotely added his signature to the track, notably by adding the words of Lateef The Truthspeaker to brass and woodwind sounds.
These are the only additions to Bumcello’s original nucleus, all the better to create a genuine musical concoction where Vincent Taurelle is in charge of production and mixing sessions recorded live and direct. He is also invited for a twinkle on the keys (piano, synths, Wurlitzer, organ), on a handful of tracks. Already at the commands of previous opus Monster Talk, always taking care over the slightest detail, the one that makes all the difference, this pianist is now also part of the family. “Everything he brings is perfect, whether added though slight touches or through very important choices”, say the two members of a combo which today, appears to us under the guise of a trio, adding an extra dimension to a far-reaching mix, in the image of the veiled or more explicit tributes making up the cornerstones of this release.
Booker, a drawing where we see the musicians enter a club, honours James Booker, great pianist from New Orleans who has always fascinated Vincent, in a genre that is off-beat and gender defying. Her Story was created by Cyril in support of the Iranian women’s movement. Aysyen Kampe evokes, even in the original drawing, a tradition that remains impactful for Bumcello – Haitian mysticism, and Ouï Khouïette Ouï conjures up the beats of the Allaoui, a war dance from Western Algeria, one they have taken part in in the past with the help of Cheikha Rabia. They deliver a metal version, original and surprising, especially as Marin Ségal’s drawing features the Nicholas Brothers, those iconic dancers of the 30s jazz scene!
Resolutely hard to pin down, Bumcello’s beats can initially take on the structure of disjointed house, though Sangre begins like a film soundtrack, “in a Mexican style” adds Vincent, who was at the origin of this track. A delicate alap on the cello can open up onto afrobeat rhythms, a well-pitched voice can enchant, like on the amazing The City Has Eyes which has everything of a hummable pop hit. Emblematic of this manner of encompassing all music without being exclusive, Le Grand Sommeil, a direct reference to the Howard Hawks movie inspired by Raymond Chandler, a precursor of David Lynch, begins nice and smooth but ends on a wild tempo, on a drum’n’bass tip, as in the good old days of Cithéa, when this Party story began in the other century.
“I’ve been wanting to make a record like this for a long time. The band, Franny and I produced it ourselves in my living room with no adults present. It’s all acoustic, not an electric lick on the album…banjos and mandos and string basses and stripped-down drums. I put a ton of work into the tunes and I’m pretty proud of this batch. Had a little help from my old co-writing pal Jaida Dreyer on a couple, also wrote a good one with my screenwriter buddy, Brian Koppelman. Lots of gambling songs and lots of minor keys. And my band guys absolutely killed it too, they’re all badasses. I’m dedicating the record to my old compadre, Ian Tyson, who passed away a few months back. I’ve named the album for him as well. ‘El Viejo’, or ‘the old one’ is what our mutual friend Tom Russell took to calling him in later years. The title track is a pretty special one for us. We had a blast making this thing, and we hope you enjoy it too.” - Corb Lund
- The Black Angels' classic sophomore album - Special color edition pressed on Metallic Silver Wax. - Triple LP housed in a Stoughton tri-fold gatefold jacket // "The Black Angels bring the aura of mid-1966 the drilling guitars of early Velvet Underground shows, the raga inflections of late-show Fillmore jams, the acid-prayer stomp of Austin avatars the 13th Floor Elevators everywhere they go, including the levitations on their second album, Directions to See a Ghost. Mid-Eighties echoes of Spacemen 3 and the Jesus and Mary Chain also roll through the scoured-guitar sustain and Alex Maas' rocker-monk incantations. But he knows what time it is. 'You say the Beatles stopped the war," Maas sings in `Never/Ever.' `They might've helped to find a cure/But it's still not over.' Even so, this medicine works wonders." - David Fricke, Rolling Stone Last time we met The Black Angels, they were staring into the desert sun somewhere outside of Austin, Texas. Two years later, night has fallen and the spirits have come out. It's time for The Black Angels to provide Directions On How To See A Ghost. If you're familiar with Passover, the band's 2006 debut, you'll know that The Black Angels's music alone is enough to invoke spirits. There's a name for the band's sound; they call it `hypno-drone 'n roll'. It's the sound of long nights on peyote, of dreams of a new world order, and of half-invented memories of the seamy side of '60s psychedelia. While the Iraq war is still a major influence on the band's lyrics, there are new forces at work here, including Eugene Zamyatin's dystopian novel We and in Christian Bland's words "psychic information from the past and future." See, The Black Angels really are in contact with ghosts. "Civil War battlefields are prime spots for seeing ghosts," says Bland. "One time at Kennesaw mountain in Georgia, I was climbing the mountain in the middle of June and it must have been close to 100 degrees, but in this one particular spot it was very cold. The hairs on my neck stood up and I knew something strange was happening. Then the wind whispered something like `retreat,' and I did. I later learned that the spot where I was on the battlefield was known as `the dead angle', the place where the fiercest fighting took place. The confederates ended up retreating from the mountain towards Peachtree Creek." The Black Angels formed in Austin, Texas, in 2004, comprising from six people (now five) from very different backgrounds. Singer/vocalist Christian Bland is the son of a Presbyterian Pastor and was raised in a devoutly religious household. Bassist / guitarist Nate Ryan was born on a cult compound and drummer Stephanie Bailey claims she's a descendent of Davy Crocket. She and Alex Maas (vocals/guitar) believe a little girl in a red linen dress haunts the group's home. The band released Passover in 2006 to critical acclaim for both the album and the song "The First Vietnamese War". Most of all, Passover established The Black Angels as a band with brains, balls and a strong message. And this time around, the message is there to read in a 16-page booklet that comes with the album. "Our central theme is that people need to open up their minds and let everything come through, and to learn from past mistakes," says Christian. "Only then will we understand the reality of this world and progress beyond where we are now as humans. We've built upon that theme with Directions to See a Ghost. We want people to study the booklet we are providing with the album in hopes that they will be able to relate each song to something in their life." _"War is Peace. Freedom is Slavery. Ignorance is Strength. Keep Music Evil."_
Introducing the anticipated 7" re-release of the Equasions single 'It's So Hard To Say "So Long"' & 'World Of Lonliness'. A timeless soul/funk single recorded in San Antonio in 1971, revered by sweet soul collectors internationally, has now become available for the first time in over 50 years through Symphonical Records, in partnership with band leader/songwriter, Robert Williams.
This limited repress is a testament to the sound of San Antonio. The Equasions were immersed in the city's defining impression, performing alongside other local acts Royal Jestors, Sunny & The Sunliners, The Primes, Joe Jama plus many more, all of whom worked to carve out the Alamo sound, one that resonates continues to inspire today.
The 5-piece vocal group, led by Robert Williams, consisted of Vernon Shannon, James Hartfield, Ricky Cotton, and Lamar Sumter. Brackenridge High School graduates, the group were formerly known as 'The Volumes', with their first single being released on Manny Guerra's imprint, 'Garu'. Two years later, the group switched members and formed their new name, recording their single at Joey Internationals studio.
Robert remarks that both songs were written as a universal message; for no one in particular but everyone can relate to. 'It's So Hard To Say "So Long"', is a poignant sentiment to lost love, yet hope created through beautiful harmonies, whereas 'World Of Lonliness' is a psychedelic reflection of society of the era, which Robert mentions remains true today.
- A1: Bob Porter - Chiang Mai
- A2: Jordan Stevy - No Thoroughfare
- A3: René Costy - Strange Dream
- A4: Stern Selection - Imagination
- A5: Leonard D Messina - Osmoses
- B1: Jordan Stevy - By Pass
- B2: Stern Selection - Black World
- B3: Jacques Siroul - Space Shuttle Jazz
- B4: René Costy - Crystal Waltz
- B5: Jordan Stevy - Pink Donkey Pop
- B6: Bob Porter - Chief Of Freen Bean
Sdban Records continues its reissues of the legendary library series 'A Special Radio - TV Record' with Selection 23, releasing a variety of notable tracks from the 70s library label together on a physical compilation for the first time. With this release, the label continues the vinyl reissues of the Belgian imprint 'Selection Records,' featuring tracks originally released between 1976 and 1981.
Essentially, the tracks take you through a cinematic musical landscapewhere funk and soul merge with a hint of jazz, always evoking a sense of familiarity.
One name that immediately springs to mind is René Costy. From this virtuoso and insatiable artist, the compilation 'Expectancy' was previously released. With 'Strange Dream' and 'Crystal Waltz,' he shows once again that he was not only a versatile composer but also a curious jazz cat. With 'Space Shuttle Jazz', pianist and harmonica Jacques Siroul shows his fascination for synthesizers. Which, as a composer, earned him an unofficial title as an expert in music on demand. This, and much more, make Selection 23 a must-have for fans of previous compilations like Beat Action, Funky Chicken, and Funky Chimes!
Blessings of the Highest Order compiles all of Thou's Nirvana covers, originally recorded and released piecemeal on various EPs, splits, and tributes from 2009 - 2018. The songs feature guest appearances from Emily McWilliams (Silver Godling), Melissa Guion (MJ Guider), Rebecca Levy (Turboslut), Isidore Grisoli (High), and Jennifer Murphy (that one Thou tote). The record features artwork by New Orleans' underground, BDSM, xerox freakaleek "Trashboy.
White Vinyl
Blessings of the Highest Order compiles all of Thou's Nirvana covers, originally recorded and released piecemeal on various EPs, splits, and tributes from 2009 - 2018. The songs feature guest appearances from Emily McWilliams (Silver Godling), Melissa Guion (MJ Guider), Rebecca Levy (Turboslut), Isidore Grisoli (High), and Jennifer Murphy (that one Thou tote). The record features artwork by New Orleans' underground, BDSM, xerox freakaleek "Trashboy.
Auf dem fünften Band dieser Motörhead-Konzert-Reihe
nehmen wir Sie mit in die spirituelle Heimat des britischen
Hardrocks - Donington - um Ihnen das donnernde
Live-Set der Band vom legendären Download Festival im
Juni 2008 zu präsentieren. Feat. Phil Campbell und
Mikkey Dee sowie einem Gastauftritt von Würzel bei Ace
of Spades/Overkill ist dies eine willkommene Ergänzung
zu dieser faszinierenden Sammlung von
Motörhead-Live-Auftritten und ein Muss für alle Fans, egal
ob komplett oder neu. Erhältlich als Doppel-LP im
Gatefold Sleeve in gelbem Vinyl.
Since 2015, Berlin’s Cuntroaches have defiled countless venues across Europe and the UK, playing festivals and touring relentlessly. The trio’s influences range widely from metal to punk to hardcore to experimental noise. They aim to create a hybrid sonic experience within a dense wall of sound (often combined with some form of performative mischief - if they’re in the mood). Audiences have been subjected to spewing beer bra harnesses, diaper outfits, empty pet food containers or witnessed band members performing from inside of a trash bag. They’ve thrown a lot of trash on a lot of people. "Cuntroaches - a name inexplicably unused throughout the history of bands, orchestras... any grouping of people really...
As it is, the mantle’s (finally) been taken up by two women and a bloke making ferociously warped hardcore-flecked no wave. Mutating waves of feedback intoxicate and induce hangovers all at once, while David Hantelius gets a frankly obscene sound out of his bass - and the vocals - reverbed to an absurd degree - approach black metal levels of demonic witchery. As with New York’s no wave OGs, what it is definitely not is inept pissing around, ‘noise for noise’s sake’ - no matter how blown-out and violent Cuntroaches get, their interplay is lithe, their arrangements measured." - The Quietus “I want to make something clear: at this very moment, I think that Germany’s CUNTROACHES are the most important and life-affirming band on the planet. Period. The first demo blew me away, but this one... FUCK ME. Somehow they have become more in control and more chaotic at the same time, and the intensity borders on bleak / black metal darknes. I simply do not understand how this music exists, and how it can be so good... eternal hails.” - Maximum Rocknroll
Returned to us from early 90s Japan are the holy holy sounds of Ghost. Their collective, clearly inspired by various forms of transcendental music throughout history, created a new syncretic psychedelia with these albums, mixing the texture and vibe of multinational forms of traditional music, with strummed antique stringed instruments and the haunting wail of a recorder on top of their heavy beats and guitars. The considerable depth of this approach was explored through 2014 over another five Ghost LPs, as well as the further explorations to the present day of leader Masaki Batoh, as a solo artist and with The Silence, Damon & Naomi, Helena Espvall and most recently, nehan. These first three Ghost titles were originally released by P.S.F. on CD in 1990, 1992 and 1994, respectively, radiating enigma and energy in palpable waves with their original sound. After the acclaim that greeted Drag City"s 1996 US release of Lama Rabi Rabi, we quickly reissued all three on vinyl - and they quickly went out of print! At which point, Ghost had Snuffbox Immanence and Free Tibet ready to go. And then, Hypnotic Underworld. And then, and then . . . . Now, it"s been 25 years since they were last offered on vinyl. In the twenty-year sweep of Ghost history, these first three releases qualify as primitive early Ghost - sort of like a German Os Mutantes (or perhaps a Brazilian Amon Düül). The subterranean presence of a diversity of progressive/avant classic rock influences (Pink Floyd, Incredible String Band, Captain Beefheart, Scott Walker, Led Zeppelin, Popol Vuh, Third Ear Band, to name but a few) provokes further synthesis, making for an entirely new meditation on the traditional order of psychedelic music. The first two studio albums, each one an iteration of Ghost"s unique lysergic folk music, were followed by the monolithic "live in various places" happening of Temple Stone, which raised the trippiness levels considerably. But this was only the end of the beginning . . .




















