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Australia-born Los Angeles-based artist Luke C. presents ‘T.O.M.B.’, his debut solo release on his newly minted label Velvet Bikini.

The seven-track album is a gauzy, starry-eyed style of ambient electronics, embedded with melancholia and a touch of otherworldly psychedelia. A soundtrack to a generation lost, endlessly searching the streets of a sun-drenched, neon-lit city. ‘T.O.M.B.’ will be pressed on limited-edition vinyl.

The bulk of T.O.M.B. was recorded at Luke C.’s home studio in LA over the last 12 months and put together with various sources—MicroKorg, voice, sampled records, treated field recordings, resampled synths—to create the noir-ish atmosphere present across the LP, one that takes the listener through the depths of the psyche and the neon-lit corners of the city in which it was recorded.

Iranian-American artist Kamran Sadeghi mastered the entirety of the LP, known for his recent album on Richard Chartier’s LINE imprint and his work as a key member of Soundwalk Collective.

A new album by legendary Estonian pianist Tõnu Naissoo, accompanied by his new group Tõnu Naissoo Electric Trio !

Accompanied by his synthesizers and two of the best Estonian jazz musicians, bassist Mihkel Mälgand and drummer Ahto Abner, Tõnu Naissoo began recording his album “Different Directions” in the autumn of 2019 at the legendary Linnahall studio that he had booked for that purpose several years in advance. The new tracks he composed for the album flow from jazz-rock to smooth jazz, lingering briefly on the frequency of free jazz.
The popular Estonian jazz pianist Tõnu Naissoo was born in Tallinn, Estonia in 1951. His father Uno Naissoo was a renowned composer and an organizer of jazz festivals, who encouraged Tõnu to take an interest in jazz and improvisation. By the age of 15 he had already begun participating in local jazz orchestra. He performed first time with his trio and presented his jazz music compositions at the international Tallinn Jazz Festival of 1967 in Tallinn. The next year he was given an opportunity to record his own album. Since then he has dedicated himself to jazz music and recorded around 30 albums that have been released in Estonia, Japan and Russia. Most of his earliest recordings have been reissued in recent years.
“Different Directions” feels like Tõnu Naissoo’s ’missing piece’ album from the 1980s. It will be a worthy addition to Tõnu Naissoo’s and Frotee’s discography.

Re-mastering by: Ray Staff at Air Mastering, Lyndhurst Hall, London

Charles Tolliver / Music Inc ‘Live In Tokyo 1973’ 180g Vinyl (Pure Pleasure) 5/5

It’s incredible to witness this resurgence of Strata-East’s recordings over the last few years – an appreciation for the label’s ground-breaking approach to music-making, backed by a phenomenal catalogue, continues to attract listeners both new as well as its devoted faithful once again giving rise to its revered and cult-like status. The label’s return to prominence and its subsequent reintroduction to new audiences has been aided, in no small part, by reissues like these – Pure Pleasure as a prime example of a label that lovingly curates these treasured releases, repackaging them for vinyl enthusiasts the world over.

There’s certainly a keen eye that goes into the joyous task of plunging through the Strata-East vaults and although Charles Tolliver and Music Inc’s ‘Live in Tokyo 1973’ isn’t as forgotten a treasure as previous Pure Pleasure reissues of projects like Stanley Cowell’s ‘Such Great Friends’ may be, it’s no less of an incredible project to revisit in this way.

Recorded 7th December 1973, the fifth album by trumpeter Charles Tolliver and his quartet of musicians comprising Music Inc performed a 50-minute set in Tokyo’s Yubinchokin Hall. The performance was initially released through Strata-East the following year and would even be revisited a further time by Mosaic Records in 2005 as part of a three-disc box set – all of this a true testament to the masters of the craft gracing the stage on this night.

Despite the slew of releases with Music Inc, Tolliver boasts an incredible resume that has seen him perform alongside luminaries including Horace Silver, Andrew Hill, Roy Ayers, Gary Bartz amongst others. Born in Jacksonville, Florida, and raised in New York from the age of 10 years old, Tolliver’s inspired contributions to jazz couldn’t be celebrated enough – from his innumerable successes as a musician in his own right to his achievements as co-founder of Strata along with Stanley Cowell. Despite neither having any formal or business training, Tolliver and Cowell’s pioneering efforts positioned them as beacons for being an independent, black-owned success story.

With the Music Inc quartet comprised of bassist Clint Houston, drummer Clifford Barbaro and Stanley Cowell on piano, Tolliver and company present a set of five compositions including tracks from the pen of the trumpeter himself (‘Drought’ and ‘Stretch’) as well as a heralded rendition of ‘Round Midnight’ initially composed by Thelonious Monk. Kicking the project off with the exquisite slow build of ‘Drought’ which starts with Tolliver’s trumpet holding court on centre stage while the glorious crescendo builds around him. ‘Stretch’ eschews in another high-energy number before making way to the sublime lament of ‘Truth’.

‘Live in Tokyo 1973’ is certainly a project that has been afforded its due reverence over the years but once again, an exceptional performance from Charles Tolliver and Music Inc benefits from an unrivalled presentation at the hands of Pure Pleasure. By Imran Mirza/ukvibe.org - est.1993

The long-awaited reissue of this rare Eastern and psychedelic Jazz LP by the famous Hungarian guitarist, originally
released in 1968. For the first time and as extended Edition with four bonus tracks: radio version from 1968/69 7”
singles 7”. Deluxe 6-sided Digipak CD with 20 page booklet and Gatefold Vinyl comes with long, exclusively written
inner notes by the famous researcher and biographer Douglas Payne.
“The performances on this LP have a restrained, introspective quality. Szabo’s work is lyrical, rather economical, and
somewhat angular, and his tone is warm and glowing.” – Harvey Pekar, DownBeat
“Gabor Szabo is at the musical zenith of his career. This album could rank as his best to date.” - Billboard
“But for sheer lyrical beauty, few players are in Szabo’s class. His startling use of dissonance is a delight, too, and
time and again he will alter a final phrase just slightly, totally reorienting a familiar tune.” – Alan Heineman, DownBeat
“This is definitely one of my ‘go to’ Gabor albums.” Mike Stax, Ugly Things
"Gabor Szabo’s Bacchanal documents one of the earliest and finest examples of what was then known as “jazz rock.”
Years before this new jazz style evolved – or devolved, according to some – into “fusion,” jazz rock was mostly
fashioned by younger jazz players whose ears were open to the emerging sounds coming out of rock and roll,
especially those of the Beatles and, later, Jimi Hendrix. " - Douglas Payne
After recording four albums for Impulse in 1967, the distinctive guitarist Gabor Szabo cut three strongest records for
the Skye label in 1968-1969: "1969", "Dreams" and "Bacchanal" all of them became a legendary classic. This time
EBALUNGA!!! are rediscovers "Bacchanal". Szabo's regular group of the era is heard on record for the last time:
guitarist Jimmy Stewart, bassist Louis Kabok, drummer Jim Keltner and percussionist Hal Gordon. With the exception
of two Szabo originals, the material is comprised of current pop tunes including two songs by Donovan, "Love Is Blue,"
"The Look of Love" and "Theme from the Valley of the Dolls."
Gabor Szabo was one of the most original guitarists to emerge in the 1960s, mixing his Hungarian folk music heritage
with a deep love of jazz and creating a distinctive, largely self-taught sound.
Born in Budapest, on March 8, 1936, Szabo was inspired by a Roy Rogers cowboy movie to begin playing guitar when
he was 14 and often played in dinner clubs and covert jam sessions while still living in his hometown. He escaped
from his country at age 20 on the eve of the Communist uprising and eventually made his way to America, settling
with his family in California.
He attended Berklee College (1958-1960) and in 1961 joined Chico Hamilton's innovative quintet featuring Charles
Lloyd. Urged by Hamilton, Szabo crafted a most distinctive sound; as agile on intricate, nearly-free runs as he was
able to sound inspired during melodic passages. Szabo left the Hamilton group in 1965 to leave his mark on the popjazz of the Gary McFarland quintet and the energy music of Charles Lloyd's fiery and underrated quartet featuring Ron
Carter and Tony Williams.Szabo initiated a solo career in 1966, recording the exceptional album, Spellbinder, which yielded many inspired
moments and "Gypsy Queen," the song Santana turned into a huge hit in 1970. Szabo formed an innovative quintet
(1967-1969) featuring the brilliant, classically trained guitarist Jimmy Stewart and recorded many notable albums
during the late '60s. The emergence of rock music (especially George Harrison, Eric Clapton, and Jimi Hendrix) found
Szabo experimenting with feedback and more commercially oriented forms of jazz.
During the '70s, Szabo regularly performed along the West Coast, hypnotizing audiences with his enchanting,
spellbinding style. From 1970, he locked into a commercial groove, even though records like Mizrab occasionally
revealed his seamless jazz, pop, Gypsy, Indian, and Asian fusions. Szabo had revisited his homeland several times
during the '70s, finding opportunities to perform brilliantly with native talents. He was hospitalized during his final visit
and died in 1982, just short of his 46th birthday.

Weymouth punk band Weatherstate are back with a bang in 2021. Since releasing their debut album ‘Born A Cynic’ via Failure By Design Records in 2019, the band have been busy playing gigs (both IRL when that was allowed and on the internet when it was necessary) and continually working on new music. Their hooky, melodic riffs, 90s throwback feel with a modern twist and hard-working DIY ethic caught the attention of awesome independent label Rude Records, who are set to release the band’s second album in 2021. Led by vocalist and guitarist Harry Hoskins, Weatherstate’s line-up is completed by guitarist Callan Milward, Joe Hogan on bass and drummer Toby Wrobel. They’ve risen to the challenges that COVID has posed and, whilst the pandemic threw a bit of a spanner in the works, the band have been working with Four Year Strong’s Alan Day to produce new songs with them, albeit remotely. “I feel Alan really taught us a lot about how to approach a song and see the potential in having an open mind on songwriting,” enthuses Callan about the process and connection. “We really wanted to level up and evolve as a band. I feel the first single we’re releasing - ‘Hangar’ - is evidence of that. He's a super talented dude and has great vision in the potential of new music.” “It goes without saying but doing everything remotely has been a massive challenge and an interesting obstacle to overcome,” continues Callan. “Especially for us, as we have been pretty traditionalist when it comes to writing. I feel we handled it in the best way we could, considering the international side of things too. With pre-production, we had to have some late nights because of the time-zone differences. Neil Kennedy at The Ranch really nailed the engineering and Alan smashed the mix over in the States. All I can say is that you can work miracles over Zoom these days.”

"Blossoms fourth studio album Ribbon Around The Bomb, is released on the 29th April. The band have also shared the title track from the album and its accompanying video, directed by Edwin Burdis, Arctic Monkeys’ Creative Director, who worked on the band’s Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino and AM albums.

Ribbon Around The Bomb is the first new music from Blossoms since their ‘vibrant single’ (NME) Care For, which was released in 2021. Care For gained great support from radio, with the track being playlisted and made the ‘Hottest Record’ by Radio 1, as well as getting on the B-List with Radio 2. The track was also added to key streaming playlists, including Spotify’s ‘New Music Friday’, ‘All New All Now’ and ‘The Indie List’. Standard CD, Limited Edition Deluxe CD - 2CD including Live From Sefton 2nd CD. Spined outersleeve, 24-page booklet, sticker. 2CD Live At Sefton Park, Limited Edition Standard vinyl"

HIGHLIGHTS: Let yourself go with the overwhelming musical output of Argentina's very own Melopea Discos, in a selection of songs that explore fusion with an air of mystery and a side of exquisite sensitivity across 11 carefully curated leftfield synth pop, experimental folk and ambient tracks. "Viento Sur" has been compiled by Argentine DJs and collectors Bárbara Salazar and Alejandro Cohen (dublab) based in Buenos Aires and Los Angeles respectively. Most of the songs are reissued here for the first time and many of them were previously unavailable on vinyl. Includes a 4-page insert with liner notes and photos. Remastered sound. Further Info: Viento Sur. Experimental Music & Fusion Music from Argentina. A Retrospective from Melopea Discos. Following the success of our 2020 release "América Invertida" (VAMPI 205), a fascinating survey of Uruguay's lesser-covered '80s endeavours in new wave pop, jazz-fusion, ambient folk and electronics, it's now time to cross to the other side of Rio de la Plata and let yourself go with the overwhelming musical output of Argentina's very own Melopea Discos. Born partly out of necessity and partly by a twist of fate, Melopea is a record label from Argentina created at the end of the 80s as a vehicle for the creative curiosity of its founder, Litto Nebbia, to document music not supported by the music industry. The songs that form "Viento Sur" do not provide a comprehensive vision of the different styles of the label but rather an approach to its more experimental side. This compilation puts together a selection of songs that explore fusion with an air of mystery and a side of exquisite sensitivity across 11 carefully curated tracks. From the southernmost latitudes of the American continent, "Viento Sur" brings soft and warm atmospheres that intermingle with more earthly pulses; sounds that reflect the beauty and richness of Argentina, from the jungle to the pampas, the subtlety of the forest, and the effervescence of the Río de la Plata and its neighboring candombe. "Viento Sur" has been compiled by Argentine DJs and collectors Bárbara Salazar and Alejandro Cohen (dublab) based in Buenos Aires and Los Angeles respectively. This release is presented with obi strip and a 4-page insert including liner notes and photos. Most of the tracks are reissued here for the first time and many of them were previously unavailable on vinyl. Remastered sound.

Marta Sanchez's creative voice is strikingly original - circling rhythms,
elaborate forms and criss-crossing counterpoint distinguishes her sonic signature on the crowded New York contemporary music scene

Following three critically acclaimed quintet releases, the Madrid- born pianistcomposer presents 'SAAM (Spanish American Art Museum)' on Whirlwind Recordings, an album driven by emotional candour and boundary- pushing compositions. A talented cast realises her knotty, technical writing - frontline partners Alex Lore and Roman Filiu meet Sanchez, Rashaan Carter and Allan Mednard on backline duties.'SAAM' riffs on the Smithsonian American Art Museum, on an album that's an exhibition of Sanchez's life in musical form: "It's made up of all the elements of society from both countries Spain and America that impact my life and make me who I am." Matters internal and external are realised in musical expositions of complex feelings. The pieces took shape in lockdown, as Sanchez exchanged fortnightly composition tasks with a pen- pal.

"Those compositions express all the phases I was going through at that time. I was reflecting super deeply on what's important, and how we might give some sense to life."

Kenny Lynch was a popular singer, songwriter, actor and all-round entertainer. A self-styled “black cockney”, Kenny was one of the few people of Caribbean origin prominent in the British entertainment industry during the ‘60s and ‘70s.

During his musical career, Kenny released a number of Top 10 singles, including a version of ‘Up on the Roof’ (1962), competing with the original by the Drifters. He composed and co-wrote songs recorded by Dusty Springfield, Cilla Black, the Drifters and the Everly Brothers. He also worked briefly as a songwriter at the Brill Building in New York.

Whilst probably best known as a prolific Pop Crooner during the earlier part of his acting and musical career, we must not forget his stomping disco success of the early eighties, released under British-borne Satril Records. “Half The Day’s Gone, and We Haven’t Earne’d a Penny” was a milestone moment for British Disco. Produced by Kenny himself at Satril Studios, London 1983, this record still encompasses that organic late-70s disco sound, with true instrumentation and minimalist electronic synth elements.

This is the album’s first ever repress since 1983 and has been remastered in high-definition from the original analogue tapes. Pressed on heavyweight 180g vinyl, this is one not to be missed. Limited to 500 copies only.

Micheal “Eyedea” Larsen and Gregory “DJ Abilities” Keltgen first met in the mid-90s and soon began a working relationship that would play a prominent role in the burgeoning Indie-Rap movement of the time. After numerous successes across nearly every notable MC or DJ battle of the late ‘90s and early ‘00s, including HBO’s Blaze Battle, the Rocksteady Anniversary, Scribble Jam, the DMC’s and more, they had already cemented their legacies both as individuals in the battle scene and as the dynamic duo, Eyedea & Abilities, for their live performances and showmanship. However, determined not to be dismissed as one-dimensional, they set out to prove they were to be taken just as seriously at writing and recording. Together, they developed a near symbiotic creative union that produced three albums—First Born; E&A; and By The Throat—before Eyedea tragically passed away in 2010, at the age of 28.

The release of their debut album, First Born, had revealed their talents to be much more versatile and expansive than previously expected. The boastful arrogance and punchlines that had become synonymous with battling were notably scarce on the album. Eyedea chose to tackle subjects that were more conceptual and philosophical in nature, focusing on matters of reality and altered states of perception while pushing his urgent, dense delivery into darker, more abstract terrain. Meanwhile, DJ Abilities was able to craft worlds of depth and emotion, pairing hauntingly suspenseful beats with meticulous turntablism. The resulting album was rich in ambition, ideas and humanity. First Born came at the forefront of an exciting new era of underground hip-hop, delivering messages that emphasized questions over answers, ambiguity over certainty, and self-expression over exploitation, to an audience that was eager to expand their horizons beyond the commercial programming and clichés of the time.

Acclaimed saxophonist, producer and composer Yasuaki Shimizu will release Kiren, his unreleased album from 1984, on the Palto Flats record label on February 25, 2022.

Liner notes by music historian Chee Shimizu, and credits in both Japanese and English.

By the early 1980s Yasuaki Shimizu had established himself on the Japanese new wave scene, producing many important experimental pop records and releasing several albums as the bandleader of
Mariah. Following the release of his widely regarded solo classic Kakashi, from 1982, and the otherworldly Utakata No Hibi, by Mariah in 1983, he went into the studio the following year with frequent
collaborators, producer Aki Ikuta and Morio Watanabe (bassist of Mariah), to record a mystifying collection of experimental dance music. Utilizing cutting-edge technology and studio trickery, Kiren
showcases Shimizu's trademark playfulness, marrying richly layered production techniques to off-kilter, sometimes traditional sounding rhythms and melodies. Portending his work with the Saxophonettes as well as forecasting trends in techno, new wave, and futuristic rhythmic music, this formerly lost album represents an important period of Shimizu's artistic expression, an artist at his peak, while successfully exploring the intersections of fusion, synthpop, new wave, and jazz.

As Chee Shimizu (no relation) writes in the liner notes, Kiren, and his concurrent release Latin were “born out of a free environment of collaboration that existed between Yasuaki and Aki Ikuta ... (exemplifying) his most energetic works.” In listening to Kiren, we might share with Yasuaki Shimizu the joy and excitement of experimentalism and movement that went into the making of this album, now released for the first time many years later.

Debut full length album on the Valley of Search label by Mexican born, New York-based vibraphonist, marimbist, improviser and composer Patricia Brennan. The twelve original instrumentals that make up the album were composed and performed solo by Brennan on vibraphone and marimba. Employing unusual performance techniques and occasional electronics, many of the compositions were borne from improvisations created live in the studio at the time of recording. At times exploring silence and space, stillness and patience the album investigates new sonic territories with an endless sense of curiosity. "This album is a personal statement not only as a vibraphonist but also as an improviser and composer," says Brennan. "From bowing and bending pitch, to the use of extended effects via guitar pedals, this album reflects my vision for the vibraphone and the potential of all the possible ways it can be played. I wanted to not only incorporate all those techniques in the compositions but also wanted them to become part of my general improvisatory language." Patricia has performed with many renown musicians including singer and composer Meredith Monk and Theo Bleckmann, saxophonists Jon Irabagon and Scott Robinson, trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire, drummer Marcus Gilmore, guitarist Mary Halvorson and many others. She has performed in venues such as Newport Jazz Festival, SF JAZZ, and Carnegie Hall, as well as international venues such as Wiener Konzerthaus in Vienna, Austria, Alte Oper in Frankfurt, Germany, Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City and Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

In 2022, Soom T is back with her new studio album "Good" entirely self-produced through her own label Renegade Masters.

In this new reggae-dub album, the result of ten years of writing, composition and production, the Scottish MC blends the studio recordings of her musicians, The Stone Monks, with digital productions from various composers. From this multitude of musicians and producers, an original sound is born at the crossroads of reggae, dub and jazz, even sometimes pop.

The tracks "Big Bad World", "Yes My People", "Born Free", "My Struggle", "Your Time" and "My Shelter" composed by the French producer Kiko, bring a distinctive digital sound to an important part of the album. While "Don't Stand for Dis" and "Steps" are signed by London dub legend Gaudi and pay homage to the early hours of dub music with great echoes and reverberations in the purest tradition of the style . "One Real Friend" composed by Alex Dupuis of Flash Hit Records brings a welcome swing and jazz touch.

“World We Live In”, “Our Day”, “I Wanna Live”, “Get the Fruit” and “One More Tune” were composed and recorded in Paris over several years with The Stone Monks, under the supervision of Xavier Waks. He also mixed the entire album in his 31DB studio before passing it on to Simon Capony for mastering at Basalte Studio.

As usual, Soom T continues to denounce nowadays political and social issues, all with a spiritual approach, an inimitable style and an incisive flow of her own. If she deplores the dark sides of our time in songs like "Big Bad World", she also tries to find a ray of hope with tracks carrying positive messages, sometimes very melodic, such as "Don't Stand for Dis ”, or catchy, like“ Yes My People ”. "I Wanna Live" and its heady guitar riff, "Our Day" with its bright major chords or even "Amazing Graces" pour a flood of optimism amidst much heavier themes.

On the cover of "Good" we find a portrait of Soom T, a microphone in her hand, designed by the French street artist specialized in 3D, Nikita.

Get ready for a unique musical journey in search of all that is good in this world with "Good", the long awaited new album from Soom T aka the “The Raggamuffin Queen”!

Jacob Gorensteyn is an Israeli saxophonist and producer. Born in the USSR in 1980, his family emigrated to Israel when he was a child, with Jacob picking up the saxophone soon after. A long time member and one of the creative forces behind the well-known Israeli brass band Marsh Dondurma, he co-produced all seven of the band's albums, as well as a solo effort that was released locally in 2006. Over the years Jacob became well known in the Israeli music scene both as a potent multi-genre session player and a mixing engineer and music producer, lending his sound to many recordings over the last 20 years. His main focus in his solo work is funky jazz music, being influenced by soul, R&B and funk music, mostly from the 60s and 70s.

Wooden House is one funky record. It began, as many records did at the time, with a recording session arranged to not feel as useless during the early days of the pandemic, at a time when planned gigs and sessions were falling like dominoes, and most, if not all, working musicians across the globe were in a state of mild shock watching their creative outlets, as well as their livelihoods, crumble away. Jacob assembled a group of friends – all powerhouse musicians, and all some of the most favorite people in the world for him to play with – into a recording studio. Just before the pandemic, Jacob moved away from the city into a little wooden house in a village located in the picturesque Yehuda mountains near Jerusalem. The new location prompted some creative juices in the form of a string of funky tunes, written in his new project studio on the 2nd floor of that very Wooden House. Three of those were the tunes he brought into the studio that day. None of the musicians assembled, including Jacob, knew what the music they came out with would end up sounding like. The music was worked out during the session and then swiftly recorded, all of it live, all of it energetic and groovy. Two more similar sessions followed in the following months, often being rescheduled because of lockdowns. What came out became "Wooden House", a funky, brass-heavy instrumental album, a fun, instant mood improver. Put it on and groove with us.The album was recorded in 2020.

If your inspiration is Herbie Hancock's "Head Hunter", or any of The Meters or The Apples albums – This one is for you.

Repress!
R.A. The Rugged Man is one of the most fascinating figures in hip-hop history. His career spans decades, and defies simple narratives. The Rugged Man has been an up-and-coming star, an industry outcast banished and forgotten, an underground cult hero, an independent success story, and an influential master of the art form.

Now, R.A. The Rugged Man is back with ""All My Heroes Are Dead"", a brand new album that stands as his best work to date. “So many of the greats are gone, and the legends who made it out alive are cast aside,” R.A. explains. “Society left our heroes and their culture for dead. We have to dig that greatness out of its grave, and bring it back with an angry vengeance.” "All My Heroes Are Dead" features an all-star lineup of hip-hop heavyweights, including Atmosphere, Chuck D, Ghostface Killah, Immortal Technique, Vinnie Paz, Ice T, M.O.P., Kool G Rap, Brand Nubian, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Chris Rivers, Onyx, Inspectah Deck, A-F-R-O, Masta Killa, and more.

Analog Africa delves deep into the scene of the Mexican's sonideros (sound-system operators) to present the "Rebajada" movement they've created using locally made pitch controls, speakers and sound effects.

"In 2010, I had asked Eamon Ore-Giron - aka DJ Lengua - if he would be interested in compiling a Latin project for Analog Africa, and if so, if he had a theme in mind. He replied, “Have you ever heard of rebajada?“ The question mark above my head, together with the wall of China, must have been the only other object visible from out of space because Eamon, probably noticing I got paralysed, continued, “Rebajada in Spanish means “to reduce, to lower”. It’s basically Mexican sonideros (soundsystem operators) slowing down the beat of a Cumbia to create a much more tangible music to dance to. I’ll send you a mix I made last year and let me know what you think.“ And so he did.

That mix was called Rebajada Mota Mix and I began listening to it on a loop. Although I was not immediately hooked it was intriguing from the get-go, and so I kept listening until magic began unfolding. Slowed down music allows you enough time to hear right through it, revealing itself in ways I had rarely experienced before. Everything became more transparent and I was noticing sounds normally only perceptible by bats. A near psychedelic experience. That mysterious mix included a few Ecuadorian songs by Junior y su Equipo - aka Polibio Mayorga (a cult figure in the sonidero scene), a couple of Mexican tunes, one Colombian, and various Peruvian songs, undoubtedly the driving force behind this project.

The sonidero who brought Peruvian and Ecuadorian music to Mexico was the legendary Pablo Perea from Sonido Arco-Iris, and although his fingerprints are all over the compilation Saturno 2000, this selection of songs in rebajada is exclusive to DJ Lengua. With the exception of a few classics from Polibio Mayorga and La Sampuesana – the queen of all rebajadas – most of these songs were probably never performed as such before, let alone released.

So how did rebajada come to be? In a nutshell; Rebajada started with two families of brothers – the Pereas and the Ortegas – who travelled all over Latin America and returned to Mexico with heavy loads of records which they would sell to the various sonideros always on the lookout for new tunes. Colombian beats especially seemed to fit almost perfectly with the Mexican dance steps – but they were just a bit too fast. As a result some sonideros began experimenting with equipment, and Marco Antonio Cedillo of Sonido Imperial created a revolutionary pitching system that could slow records down to an extent other players could only dream about. And so rebajada was born . . . or so we thought.

At the same time in north of the country, in Monterrey, sonidero Gabriel Dueñez almost got electrocuted by a short circuit that nearly set his record player on fire. As a result the platter started spinning in slow motion for the rest of the party, turning Cumbia into a different affair altogether. The youngsters went crazy for it and started harassing the sonidero with requests to record cassettes for them. Reluctant at first, Dueñez finally began recording a series of pirated cassettes called “Rebajada” which included mainly Colombian cumbia and porro in slow-mo exclusively. Those tapes took the city by storm and turned rebajada into a celebrated and defiant movement of the youth.

Of course it would not be a Mexican urban legend if it didn’t include dramaturgical elements, and so for nearly 30 years, until this day and probably for ever, both cities have been arguing and claiming ownership the creation of rebajada for themselves. But sonidera Joyce Musicolor, who never has time for such trivial arguments, got straight to the point: “Rebajada, and the equipment to perform it, is from here Mexico City but it was Monterrey that popularised it.“

Swedish sibling-duo Trummor & Orgel returns with new album Longevity – an album which clearly displays the two brothers to not be gearing down despite seven full-length prequels

Still energetic, curious and with a large portion of melodic groove they are still mesmerizing us the same way thousands of concert attendees have already had the pleasure to experience over the past one and a half decade. Born from a close- to- telepathic interaction, Longevity leads you through nine tracks underlining the wide musicality we have learnt to expect from the brothers: commencing with the gloomy Astral, followed by the intense beat piece Glow – Flatten the curve could be the soundtrack to your daydreams, and the ending organ ooze of Crystal leaves no-one untouched. The analogue feel is draped in a veil of electronica, but it’s familiarly dynamic, lively and present.

2 rare historical recordings (1983 and 1986) originally released as single sides and gathered here for the first time.

"Conductor might be my favourite composition and Life And Death Of Pboc might be my most sincere. Conductor was my first composed piece with no obvious reference points ... Life And Death Of Pboc was the second. These two compositions gave me the title Godfather of Dark Ambient."

Carl Michael von Hausswolff, born in 1956 in Linköping, Sweden, lives and works in Stockholm. Since the end of the 70s, von Hausswolff has worked as a composer using recording technology as his main instrument and as a visual artist using light projections, film/video and still photography as well as other media. He has exhibited at dOCUMENTA (Kassel), the biennials in Venice, Moscow, Liverpool, Istanbul, Sarajevo etc and in Copenhagen, Stockholm, Nicosia, Kaliningrad, Tokyo, London, New York, Philadelphia etc. His music has been played in festivals such as Sonar (Barcelona), CTM (Berlin), L'audible (Paris), el niche Aural (Mexico City), MUTEK, (Montreal) etc. and release works on LP/CD/DL by labels like Erototox (Ashevile), Sub Rosa (Brussels), Touch (London), Pomperipossa (Göteborg) and iDeal (Göteborg). He recently curated the 2nd part the sound-installation FREQ_OUT named freq_wave in co-operation with TBA21-Academy and collaborates with artist Leif Elggren, EVP re-searcher Michael Esposito, composers Hans-Joachim Roedelius, Mark Fell, Jim O'Rourke, author Leslie Winer and as Dark Morph (with Jónsi of Sigur Rós). He has also collaborated with Pan sonic, The Hafler Trio, Freddie Wadling and Erik Pauser (as PHAUSS).

Even in trying times, “there is no love without electricity.” Electricity is the fourth and most progressive album from Ibibio Sound Machine, and like all good Afrofuturist stories, it begins with an existential crisis. “It’s darker than anything we’ve done previously,” says Eno Williams, the group’s singer. “That’s because it grew out of the turbulence of the past year. It inhabits an edgier world.”

Electricity was produced by the Grammy Award and Mercury Prize nominated British synthpop group Hot Chip, a collaboration born out of mutual admiration watching each other on festival stages, as well as a shared love of Francis Bebey and Giorgio Moroder. The fruits of their labor reveal a gleaming, supercharged, Afrofuturist blinder. Electricity is the first album Ibibio Sound Machine have made with external producers since the group’s formation in London in 2013 by Williams and saxophonist Max Grunhard. True, 2017’s Uyai featured mixdown guests including Dan Leavers, aka Danalogue, the keyboard jedi in future-jazz trio The Comet Is Coming, but Hot Chip and Ibibio Sound Machine worked together more deeply throughout the process, collaborating fully. Along the way, the team conjured a kaleidoscope of delights that include resonances of Jonzun Crew, Grace Jones, William Onyeabor, Tom Tom Club, Kae Tempest, Keith LeBlanc, The J.B.’s, Jon Hassell’s “Fourth World,” and Bootsy Collins.

The hook of opener “Protection From Evil” has Williams wielding a massive synth line from Hot Chip’s Al Doyle like a spiritual shield against unspecified, malign forces unspecified because Williams is speaking in tongues. Her lyrics are onomatopoeic: their meaning is defined in her energetic delivery. As Electricity takes off, so do Williams’ words towards a brighter future, alternating between English and Ibibio, sometimes within verses, and propelled by Joseph Amoako’s unabating afrobeat. She digs into this sentiment further on single “All That You Want,” coolly assuring her romantic interest while also requesting reciprocity. Meanwhile, Scott Baylis’ playful Juno synth guides the listener’s feet along the dancefloor.

Electricity is a deep and seamless realization of Williams’ and Grunhard’s ambitious founding manifesto to combine the singularly rhythmic character of the Ibibio language which Williams spoke growing up in Nigeria with a range of traditional West African music and more modern electronic sounds. While the band enjoys veering further into electronic territory with the help of mutuals like Hot Chip, Grunhard emphasizes, “For us, it’s not just a matter of embracing new technology. What’s key is to keep the music grounded in African roots.” Ibibio Sound Machine best exemplify this on Electricity’s “Freedom.” That track was inspired by the water-drumming rhythms of Cameroon’s Baka women, which in turn fueled its lyrics, which in turn prompted Hot Chip and Ibibio Sound Machine to layer joyfully kinetic electronic counterparts on top in the studio. As the track culminates with the mantra of “rage, hope, cope, soul,” it’s clear that Ibibio Sound Machine have channelled, harnessed, and distilled these words as guiding principles, both for the album and for the turbulent world that awaits it.

Emerging when humanity needs him most, and currently adopting the body of a 60 odd-year old carpenter with a penchant for animation and Red Stripe; Terry Perace teams up with Red Laser's own Pharaoh Brunson to form a new perpetual EP series.
The Peraceamid project begins with EP 1. 4 x Hyper-ancient, super-hi-tek audio tools for us Earth dwellers to utilise, corrupting RL's standard "Manctalo" vigour with abandan.

(A1 - Terry Perace - Trip Pop 2020)
Perace himself, ditching the Carpenter attire and hardwiring himself straight into basic circuitry, conjures up skeletal, repetitive reduxes, born outta the oldest primordial gloop, churning together into embryonic life form rhythms that have now existed since the earliest signals of dual-cell organisms on our planet.

(A2 - Kid Machine S.D.M (Terry Perace's InSlaved mix)
Terry sparkles his Martian magic across Kid Machine's S.D.M from the 2020 'Magico' LP. An already high Manctalo watermark now given further accreditation by the highest Elders of Ancient Egypt which Terry confers with on the regular. Welcome to the top of the pyramid gee!

(B1 - Marcus Paulson - Wrecked in Utrecht)
The elusive Marcus Paulson we so far know very little about other than that he's an unconfirmed UFO enthusiast from Warrington...Terry received 'Wrecked In Utrecht' when he accidentally plugged a random USB drive into his earhole (he's not that up on our basic tech yet) in Pharaoh's studio at Hidden. An otherworldly Manctalo vortex and a holographic, plasma-soaked acid track designed to provide a cross-planetary bridge to raves and free parties on Cygnus.

(B2 - Ste Spandex - Examples of You)
Terry's been warmly applying his cosmic voodoo on Red Laser veteran Ste Spandex, nudging him further into the inter dimensional discipline of sonic energy manipulation, the fruits of which are a hyper-driven re-vamp of a '98, Earth-based club classic which he blasts into 5D thru the galvanised circuitry of his palladium-boosted studio.

Licensed and published by Red Laser Records here on Earth. First volume in a perpetual series...

The start of the new "Live At Fabrik Hamburg" series on Jazzline in
cooperation with the legendary venue and NDR Kultur - is this previously
unreleased concert from jazz greats Freddie Hubbard and McCoy Tyner
from 1986
It will be released as a double CD in a three-part digipak and as a triple LP in a
triple gatefold cover that includes detailed Liner notes by Michael Laages. In the
Altonaer Fabrik in 1986, the master trumpeter Freddie Hubbard was a guest in the
trio of one of the most important pianists of contemporary jazz: McCoy Tyner,
whose extremely powerful attack always added percussive power of the most
energetic kind to his virtuoso playing.
McCoy Tyner died in March 2020, the recording from 1986 (he was 58 years old
at the time) show him at the height of the unmistakable jazz expression that
defined him. His piano and the enormous radiance of the Hubbard trumpet (born
in the same year as Tyner in 1938, but died in 2008) are the outstanding
protagonists. But the recording also features bassist Avery Sharpe, born in 1954
and with excellent acoustic and electrical credentials, as well as Louis Hayes, still
today the most indestructible of all modern drummers at well over 80 years of
age. Together they refine the nine titles of this two- hour concert on this truly
remarkable evening of music!

Tubby did three original dub albums, “Dub From The Roots, “The Roots Of Dub” and the third is “Brass Rockers” with Tommy McCook ’pon the flying cymbals. Where he mixed it with the horn going in and out in a dub way and one named “Shalom Dub” you can call Tubby’s too because he mixed the versions as they were off the forty fives.

King Tubby and Producer Bunny “Striker” Lee are intertwined in the birth of Dub Music. After discovering a mistake that made a “serious joke” (more of which later…) they went on to release the first pressings of this new musical genre namely “Dub Music”. Tubby’s vast knowledge of electronics and Bunny’s vast catalogue of rhythms would lay the foundations of what today is taken as a standard…. The Remix / Version cuts to an existing vocal tune.

Osborne “King Tubby” Ruddock was born in Kingston, Jamaican the 28th January 1941 and grew up in the High Holborn Street area of downtown Kingston. He studied electronics at Kingston’s National Technical College and also on two correspondence courses from the USA. When he had qualified, Tubby began repairing radios and other electrical appliances in a shack in the back yard of his mother’s home. His work in the early days included winding transformers and building amplifiers for Kingston’s Sound Systems. Tubby built his first Sound System in 1957 playing jazz and Rhythm and Blues at local weddings and birthday parties His reputation as a man who knew and understood both electronics and music grew steadily and as the sixties drew to a close. Tubby purchased his own basic two track equipment. He installed this alongside his dub cutting machine, a homemade mixing console and his impressive collection of Jazz albums in the back bedroom of his home at 18 Dromilly Avenue which he christened his music room.

Dynamic Sounds upgraded to sixteen track recording in 1972 and Tubby purchased, again with the help of a deal brokered by Bunny Lee. The old four track equipment and the MCI console from their Studio B. The four tracks now gave him far wider scope to work with and he began to create a new musical form where the bass and drum parts were brought up while the faders allowed Tubby to ease the vocal and rhythm in and out of the mix. It was only a matter of time before Tubby’s dub plate experiments began to make it on to vinyl and the first ever long playing King Tubby releases would feature a collection of his mixes to a selection of Striker’s rhythms. So please sit back and enjoy this historic set of sounds. Lovingly restored and with a few extra gems added to the CD editions. These releases were the first to carry the name of King Tubby and the first to credit the great musicians that contributed so much to the rhythms that made these albums possible.

Hope you enjoy the set……

Dark Green 12" Vinyl Limited to 1000 Vinyl Includes Exclusive bonus track 'Restless'

“The things you hear when you’re alone. Walking through Mount Royal or other wooded areas you might notice a branch break. As much as I value my alone time and the subtle things you can pick up around and within yourself in those moments, a certain loneliness and anxiety permeates the quiet at some point. The past couple years created ample opportunity for that anxiety and loneliness to stretch its legs and make itself comfortable. This record was born out of weeks of willing a form of peace and inspiration into my surroundings. A large part of that came from working with Leanne Macomber on some vocals. Through a desire to form new connections and throw more humanity into the work. We made a variety of song sketches that I mostly reworked into the final recordings here. We spoke a lot about where our heads were at, certain key phrases, triggers and emotions. Joel Ford, whom I worked on Dawn Chorus with, mixed the record and helped me wrangle a few cats to get this across the finish line. Restless at home in Canada, feeling the restlessness of all my friends and loved ones I kept in touch with as much as possible, trying to make something that made the quiet a bit more peaceful."

Joe Tatton, keyboard player with UK/US funk/soul jazz kings The New Mastersounds, releases this new 7 inch single in March 2022 and this time there is a lovely double A-side 7" physical vinyl option. Two tracks that showcase Joe's skills as a pianist and vocalist and confirm his talent for writing quality original compositions.

"Timeline" is Joe's spotlight on today's social media obsessed society delivered in the style of his musical hero Mose Allison. The latter was the legendary Mississippi born/New York based jazz/blues musician and singer whose wry and intelligent lyrics married to amazing original music shone a light on society and the world from the mid-1950s until his death in 2015. Mose was a huge influence on musicians like Georgie Fame, Van Morrison and Ben Sidran and was and still is one of Joe Tatton's favourite musicians of all time. This song is the title track for Joe's debut solo album due for release later this year on Rodina Music.

"Stomp" is a slow bluesy instrumental funk burner that has a New Orleans swagger about it and features Joe's grand piano solo followed by JTQ band member Gareth Lockrane cutting loose on the flute. If you like music by Allen Toussaint, Ramsay Lewis and Herbie Mann, you'll be feeling this one.

Joe Tatton has been a member of The New Mastersounds now for 16 years now and has recorded over a dozen albums and many singles with them playing organ, piano and keyboard. Annually, he tours 8-9 months a year with the band, mainly in the USA but also across Europe and Japan too. Prior to joining The New Mastersounds, Joe held down the keyboard role with UK jazz-funk kings The Haggis Horns appearing on their first two albums "Hot Damn!" and "Keep On Movin". He's also featured on piano/keyboards on the worldwide hit single "Put Your Records On" by Corinne Bailey Rae.

Over the years he has played live sets with Maceo Parker and Fred Wesley as well as Art Neville, George Porter Jr and Zigaboo Modeliste of The Meters. He's always maintained his own trio under his own name as a side project, releasing singles and EPs via ATA Records (UK) and Color Red Music (USA).
A few years ago, he needed to find the time and place to record them. So in 2020, between New Mastersounds gigs, he managed to book a few days at a studio near Nashville USA, "The Rockhouse", run by Grammy winning engineer Kevin Mckendree. He hooked up with a couple of Nashville session musicians, Steve Mackie (double bass - longtime Dolly Parton bassist) and Kenneth Blevins (drums), and put down all his original songs and also a cover of Mose Allison's "Ever since the world ended", the first single released last year

Now comes the second double A-side single and a further taste of what's in store from Joe and the band later this year when the "Timeline" album drops later in the year. However this time, there's a lovely little black vinyl offering for all the record lovers out there. Just a small first pressing which will no doubt sell out very quickly so people need to jump on it super fast. Once they're gone, they're gone.
"Time line / Stomp" double A-Side single by the Joe Tatton Trio. Released worldwide on Rodina Music - March 31st March 31st 2022.

Planet Mu presents ‘ADDLE’ – Bogdan Raczynski’s first album of new music in 15 years. Marking a change from the high-octane jungle tekno braindance for which he is most commonly known, here we find the Polish American musician in a more melodic and zen-like place of peace, which is ergonomic and decluttered, whilst also bittersweet and tinged with melancholy. ‘ADDLE’ is closest in spirit to 2001’s tender ‘myloveilove’, or the light-hearted ditties of this year’s ‘BANANS’ EP, but is also a markedly new milestone. A robust and bottom-heavy rhythm section juxtaposes with sad electronic tear jerkers, at points laced with the soft cooing wail of his vocals, which are loaded with a haunting, heavy and almost wounded emotion. Bogdan comments “Calm is great. You need to take a breather in the eye of the storm now and then. But the real growth happens in turbulence, when your feelings oscillate in and out of sync. It’s not dry land you’re after. You’re trying to build a new island while on a piddly raft. Beleaguered and weary you lay the foundation with your bare hands while the rain lashes your back; a new place for you and yours to moor yourself to until the next storm hits. ‘ADDLE’ is about that storm, its adjacent periphery, and what you look like, in and out, when you set foot. As space and time push against you, that process of adapting becomes an anchor. Among that state of being addled, out of flow, seemingly untethered, there is beauty.”

Although less unhinged and riotous than some of his previous work, ‘ADDLE’ is no less impactful. Lean, punchy and purposeful, this seemingly simple combination of beats and melody belies a razor sharp skill, which bursts with verve and virtuosity. Across its eight unique and moving tracks the listener experiences tenderness, feelings somewhere between unease and comfort, and a sense of reflection, with Bogdan seemingly gazing at twinkling stars, but with his view distorted by welling-up. Sonically, spaces range from razor-sharp choppage, juddering heavyweight head-nodders, bit-crushed siren squall and something akin to Philip Glass’ ‘Candyman’ score played through a high-tech-fairy-tale music box. There’s also a warming, life-affirming moment as close to deep house as Bogdan will ever comfortably get, neck-snapping metallic percussion, Casiotone on steroids and reverberant warehouse throb. Booming drum machines are a prominent factor too – reminiscent of early hip hop instrumentals – but spirited off somewhere, lost in purgatory. Bogdan Raczynski (born 1977) is a Polish-American electronic musician. Raczynski’s work draws inspiration from the chaotic breakbeats of jungle and hardcore rave as well as traditional Polish music and other sources. He has collaborated with Bjork, remixed Autechre, CLPNG and Jonsi from Sigur Ross, and toured with Aphex Twin, who commented how “his records are so underrated.” Bogdan was also a roster mainstay of Richard James’s seminal Rephlex label, with additional releases on Warp, Ghostly, Disciples and Unknown to the Unknown. A keen proponent of tech, he created a sample pack using pollution and recently collaborated with Polyend on a custom made banana-themed tracker.

LTE presents its debut release titled Long Term Evolution, a 6-track compilation bringing together pieces from six artists from around the world. Music we fell in love with, sounds we find appealing, paths to explore. Between now and then.

LTE is a newly-born music label from Prague. Its goal is to build a platform for local and foreign musicians, producers and sound artists. Label's focus lies on contemporary electronic music and a wide spectrum of genres. Learning, trying and experimenting. Putting love, time and effort.

Bad times, good timing.

Haze - released via Ki Records - is Greek producer and composer, Hior Chronik's latest creation. Aligning with his previous critically acclaimed album, Descent, Haze creates an electro-ambient world which accentuates modern classical minimalism. It is an album which deeply embodies tranquility, fulfilment and meaningful connection, aspirations born out of Hior Chronik's past in Athens, and realised by his relocation near to a forest in Berlin, where he can truly feel at-home, surrounded by the awe-inspiring beauty of nature. Through 15 tracks, Hior Chronik guides his listeners in an immersive journey which features magical soundscapes built using DX7 and Roland synthesizers, beats from the Lofi drum machine and Volca samples. Inspired by the best of his previous work in moody electro soundscapes, alongside his own history as a listener and lover of early 90's electronic music, artists like, Lali Puna, Solvent and Remote Viewer, this album demonstrates a new dimension to Hior Chronik's artistry which exudes light optimism.

Cassandra Jenkins' An Overview on Phenomenal Nature emerged from the blue earlier this year. With pandemic unknowns and political upheaval leaving most at frayed ends, the New York-born musician’s assuring voice and expansive fresh take on songwriting created a much needed reflective space for listeners worldwide. As 2021 comes to a close, Jenkins revisits those flowing textures and refrains with (An Overview On) An Overview On Phenomenal Nature, a collection of previously unreleased sonic sketches, initial run-throughs, demos, and sound recordings from the cutting room floor that provided the scaffolding for what became one of this year’s most critically acclaimed albums.

When Jenkins visited Josh Kaufman’s studio this summer, they opened up their original sessions to uncover the ideas that were shed in the creative process. The new collection, (An Overview On) An Overview On Phenomenal Nature, isn’t merely a retrospective; it acts as a clear-eyed addendum as well as a compelling origin story, coming to life as a subconscious companion to the original album.

First takes of “New Bikini” and “Hailey” are born from opposite starting points; while “New Bikini” began as an airy alto meander, “Hailey”’s origins lie in an upbeat dance track. On “Crosshairs (Interlude),” Jenkins’ pitched vocal delivers a straight monotone, recasting the format as poetry with music highlighting her words, and “Ambiguous Norway (Instrumental)” lifts the ambient nature of the mournful song into glimmering waves. The demo version of “Michelangelo” contains alternate lyrics “I’m Michelangelo, a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle,” a lost contrast to the later verse where Jenkins’ likens herself to the sculptor. On “Hard Drive (Security Guard),” we join Jenkins as she listens to a passionate museum guard whose promised “overview” of the exhibit on view builds into a monologue of observations on art, politics, feminism and the human condition. This candid interaction evolved into the cornerstone and title of Jenkins’ album.

Before they decided to make an album together, Jenkins brought Kaufman a song called “American Spirits.”The dusky ballad takes us to the Texas plains via a voicemail from the payphone of a county jail (“Miss Cassandra”). Cassandra sings, “Time here burns through the sunsets / Like you and a pack of American Spirits” over warm instrumentation with a vocal delivery that reinforces Jenkins’ unwavering tenderness towards her subjects.

(An Overview On) An Overview On Phenomenal Nature bookends Cassandra Jenkins' musical output this year with nuance, coloring in the corners, and giving us another window into her ever-expanding world of chance encounters, experiences, and sonic textures. They glimmer like the sun’s changing patterns on the wall as a new day gets going.

24 Songs. A new project from The Wedding Present. A new 7” single every month throughout 2022. 24 Songs sees David Gedge writing with legendary Sleeper guitarist Jon Stewart for the first time, and a more perfect union could not have been predicted. The notion of a monthly 7” single is not new to The Wedding Present, but 24 Songs shows us that even classic concepts can be reinvented. The series also continues the band’s association with photographer Jessica McMillan, who has created stunning images and films as a visual accompaniment to the recordings.Explaining 24 Songs, David Gedge said: “In 1991, The Wedding Present were rehearsing in a studio in Yorkshire when we hit upon an idea that immediately thrilled us all. Our bass player Keith Gregory had been a member of the ‘Sub Pop Singles Club’ - a service that allowed subscribers to receive 7”s released by that Seattle label on a monthly basis. Keith wondered if we, as a band, could attempt a similar thing. In that instant, The Wedding Present’s Hit Parade series was born and, during 1992, we managed to release a brand new 7” single each and every month. “The Hit Parade went on to become something of a significant milestone in the history of the band and it’s a project about which I’m often asked. As its thirtieth anniversary approached, I began to wonder if we should celebrate it in some way. A ‘Hit Parade Part 2’ didn’t feel quite right, though. Then, someone said to me: “Other bands have released music in similar ways but there has been nothing like the Hit Parade.” And they were right! A 7” single a month seems, somehow, very ‘Wedding Present’. So, inspired by that little idea from three decades ago, we’ve embarked on this new project, 24 Songs. “Even though The Wedding Present have never been known for taking the easy route, the idea of recording 24 tracks and releasing them in this way could seem daunting to any band. However, I’ve been inspired by the music that has been written since Jon and Melanie joined the group. The thought of celebrating this exciting new line-up with an exciting new series has motivated us all… and I suppose we also didn’t want any of these songs to be hidden away in the middle of an album!”

Repressed! When asked at the time about what to expect from this collaboration with Edo G, the legend Masta Ace fired back without hesitation: “People are gonna be surprised when they hear the mixture of styles. We both have a different approach. It’s like the old Reeses commercial... Ya got peanut butter walking down the street. Coming from the other direction is chocolate. Someone trips and blam, a peanut butter cup was born. Something new and amazing was created that no one had ever thought of!” When one thinks of Boston and New York, the first thing that comes to mind is the infamous Red Sox/Yankees rivalry. But this time when Boston met New York, it was a collaborative effort to bring the world one of the tightest Hip Hop efforts of 2009. Two of the game’s most exceptionally creative and well-rounded artists, Edo. G and Masta Ace brought the two cities together with Arts & Entertainment. Like their home cities, these artists have a long history and have influenced the world. Hailing from Brownsville, Brooklyn, Masta Ace got his proper introduction setting off the quintessential Juice Crew posse cut, “The Symphony.” Not long after, Edo G’s debut Life Of A Kid In The Ghetto and it’s lead single “I Got To Have It” went to the top of the Billboard Rap Singles chart with heavy rotation on Yo! MTV Raps. Both Ace and Edo have continued to stay relevant, drop albums, tour the globe, and influence up and coming artists everywhere. Joining the duo on Arts & Entertainment was a notable list of prominent artists from NYC and the Bean including Posdnuos of De La Soul, Large Professor, DJ Spinna, KRS-One, Marsha Ambrosius, Mr. Lif, Akrobatik, Chester French, Double O of Kidz in the Hall, M Phases, and more. The album continues to be a fan favorite to this day, especially the never-gets-old cuts “Little Young” and “Dancin’ Like A White Girl,” and this re-issue is sure to be well received once again.

Werewolf Hair is the work of Andy Godwin, guitar player and amateur pedal steel guitar player. Born in Ann Arbor, Michigan and currently based in Virginia, he came up playing bass in punk bands at local venues and basement shows.

The music of Werewolf Hair is wide reaching and genre-hopping in the best possible way. This is explained in his musical upbringing.

Werewolf Hair is the work of Andy Godwin, guitar player and amateur pedal steel guitar player. Born in Ann Arbor, Michigan and currently based in Virginia, he came up playing bass in punk bands at local venues and basement shows.

The music of Werewolf Hair is wide reaching and genre-hopping in the best possible way. This is explained in his musical upbringing.

"Absence of the loved one is a theme running through both films, but during the creative process we never discuss with the Havels the themes, symptoms or attributes of the characters. We do not specify any meanings. Our collaboration is intuitive, based on interconnectedness. We neither explain things to each other nor analyse. From the outset we have a common goal: to quieten the viewers’ perception, to attune them to certain vibrations by visual, musical and acoustic repetitions, thus enabling them to focus on every tiny detail, every subtle aesthetic quality, so that by the end of the film they have a sense of reconciliation. In fact it is a state similar to meditation or prayer. The aim is being shown Mercy. Each time, the linking of the filmed images with Irena and Vojtech’s music has uncovered a new quality that we have named: a commentary on eternity. Characters cease to be determined by their senses, psychological motivations, or the times they live in. They find liberation in the stream of eternal time." /Václav Kadrnka

"We would like to thank all our friends, sound engineers and musicians. The main thanks go to director Václav Kadrnka, his family and all his collaborators for the precious opportunity to assist them in creating both films. We have worked on our music for the film Saving One Who Was Dead for three years. We met with Václav, discussed the screenplay while it was being born and many other things. We have gradually prepared several working versions that included compositions for piano, Indonesian gamelan, gongs, Tibetan bowls, bells and mini-bells. Yet, step by step, we made it simpler and simpler and eventually only kept violas da gamba, organ and chanting. Everything else was redundant. We made most of the recordings of the compositions for viola da gamba in a church in Prague. The composition for organ was recorded in Milan where we performed a concert shortly before the pandemic arrived in December 2019. We tried to record it in various churches in Bohemia but it was not until the church in Milan that we found the best sounding organ.

As for Little Crusader, we recorded the music for the film after it was completed. We had several versions and used the piano version for this album. Together with Václav, we searched for instruments that would work the best for this Medieval story. Eventually, we opted for harmonium with simple chanting which accompanies the character little boy Jenik. Violas da gamba intertwine, move close and then apart from each other the same way as paths of little boy Jenik and his father who is searching for him. Simple chanting and Tibetan bowl accompany scenes with little boy Jenik’s mother who awaits them at home. Trombone and saxophone are like metal swords and the knights’ armor. Violoncello and viola da gamba walk in the rhythm of horse’s hooves, in the rhythm of heartbeat of both the horse and his rider – a father searching for his lost son."
/ Irena and Vojtěch Havlovi

A globetrotter in the most pure and respectful sense, away from the trappings of neo-colonialist ventures and predatory tourism, Discrepant head honcho Gonçalo F. Cardoso returns to his Island impression series to offers us another glimpse of his deep, abstract impressions of (an)other island.

After passionately collecting the sounds and lives inhabiting the main Island of Zanzibar, Unguja, released through Edições CN back in 2018, Cardoso now dwells into the Malaysian heartbeat of the Borneo forest through Island recordings made during a trip in 2016. Assembled in situ with meticulous craft from portable recorders, samplers and battery powered synths, these nice recollections conjure the spirits that lurk behind the inhabitable and the communal that are as much part of a personal memoir as an impressionistic portrait open to new meanings. Focused compositions that flow organically, bending the environment in & out of shape into a new dreamlike exotica with plenty of breathing room for every detail, silence and movement to surface.

A particular moment suspended in time, haunted perpetually by its bygone existence. Something no postcard or photograph could ever, ever come even close to.

Rock Steady Cool is another fine collection of Rocksteady hits. The ‘Cool’ subtitle could not be more relevant to an album, as around 1966, an extreme heatwave hit the Jamaican island. This would not stop the all night dances from going ahead but the jerky Ska Rhythms proved too strenuous of an activity to partake in, so a new slower beat to suit this extreme weather had to be found and the ever resourceful music entrepreneurs came up with the slower paced beat and Rocksteady was born.

This two-year Rocksteady period ran until 1968 and would see some of the power escape from the big three producers, Clement ‘Coxone’ Dodd, Prince Buster and Duke Reid. It was time to make room for a new wave of up-and-coming producers that also had something to offer the people. Such names as Joel Gibson (Joe Gibbs), Sonia Pottinger, Derrick Harriott and most prolific of them all, Mr Bunny Lee would step forward and add some new musical touches to the island.

Rocksteady was an inspirational and somewhat overlooked sound that provided us with some outstanding music. So, sit back and enjoy some Rocksteady straight from the dances of Jamaica.

Hope You enjoy the set….

EVEN THE CHIMERA is the debut album by Wild Terrier Orchestra, a new project by Dimitris Papadatos, aka Jay Glass Dubs, based on interchangeability and open improvisation. A newer, freer incarnation of Papadatos’ creative intent, the project acts more like an open container of disparate and idiosyncratic contributions from a mutable cast of musicians and artists. Often times not provided according to a pre-planned structure, these contributions are actually more likely to arrive in the form of free improvisations, unconnected musical segments and fragmented splinters of sound. This allows Papadatos to aggregate all the constituent parts according to an intuitive process that bridges between the detailed craft of electronic music production and surrealist techniques such as the Cadavre Exquis and the Cut-Up. It’s both a harmonization of contrasting tones and a research for commonality within difference, although none of the wild terriers are ever nearly tamed. Unsurprisingly, the main inspiration for this new chapter came from a a pinnacle of avantgarde literature: poet Andreas Embirikos’, considered Greece’s first surrealist and all-out paradoxical figure. Specifically, this release is guided and instigated by his poem OKTANA, in which Embirikos inscribes a manifesto for a hedonistic utopia years ahead of any accelerationist theories, bursting with contradicting presences and mutating identities. Written in the aftermath of the Greek civil war, the poem calls for a time of eternal poetry and spiritual intoxication that can only be reached through a painful process of violent deconstruction. Thus, EVEN THE CHIMERA was born: a culmination of Papadatos’ decades long research on traditional Greek and Byzantine music, free jazz and free improvisation. Firmly spread between two side-long tracks, the contributions of American singer and musician Cruel Diagonals on vocal duties as well as Greek artist and musician Fotini Korre on ney suggest the existence of a filament that connects the west and the east through the creation of ‘’possible musics’’. This happens in accordance to Papadatos’ practice of a counterfactual approach to the process of what music history dictates. It is also directly shaped by the musician’s frequent dwellings in the isle of Cyprus, a land in which the clash of worlds and culture has often taken both violent and beautiful shapes. The long drones, acoustic ghosts and unbalanced choirs that form the album seem to call from the Mediterranean itself, not only from its history but also from its possible futures and unreal narrations, invoking it as a nexus of diversity and possibility.

For more than a decade now, Fleck E.S.C. has marked himself out as one of the most playful and prolific producers in the electro game. Across dozens of releases for labels including Bass Agenda and Science Cult, the France-born, Japan-based artist has made his name through a production style which balances limber beats with exploratory textural work.

Fleck E.S.C. debuted on Central Processing Unit in 2018 with the Discrete Opinion EP. Now, after stopping by the Sheffield label last year on a Silicon Scally remix job, Fleck E.S.C. delivers his second EP for CPU in the form of Rough Silk. The record's intriguing title proves an apt introduction to this four-track affair. These cuts are at once sleek and abrasive, anchored by robotechnic machine-funk grooves yet also full of strange, shifting shapes.

The opening title-track expertly sets out Rough Silk's stall. Heralded by gurgling synths and all manner of whirring percussive tones, 'Rough Silk' blossoms around the minute mark with the introduction of a wickedly buoyant lead synth. This is music at once visceral and full of mystery, the sound of wending through the back alleys, and the feeling carries through to the following cut 'Hat in the Cat' - as the synth pads spool out overhead, the machine-funk snap of the beat has an almost aquatic quality that links it back to Drexciya.

Much like 'Rough Silk', the record's first B-side 'Faking Sweet' also shifts gears. The opening strains of the track seem to be preparing for another insistent, expansive broken-beat pulse, but it stiffens its neck around ninety seconds in. Programmed drums whirr around a jittery machine-gun bass while discordant synths pull at the edges of the track, all of which brings a strong dystopian energy that increases further as the percussion sounds become increasingly bug-eyed.

After so much excitement, 'Digger Play' closes out the EP with a softer touch. There's still plenty of low-slung bounce to the beat, but the track runs a little slower, and there's a warm wistfulness in the synths which gives 'Digger Play' a painterly, almost poetic feel. However, while it may take its foot off the gas, the production here is as deft as it is everywhere else on Rough Silk.

With new EP Rough Silk, electro whizz Fleck E.S.C. brings the sort of casual mastery to proceedings that has characterised his career to date.

RIYL: Silicon Scally, Jensen Interceptor, Annie Hall

Repress

dark red marbled vinyl

The Factory hereby presents to you its first release: The Factory 001.

A compilation album which features the likes of artists such as Legowelt, Kypski, Regularfantasy, Klangstof & many more. The aim of The Factory is to bring new and established electronic artists together by giving them a platform and full creative control. All contributions are one of a kind and genres range from IDM, lo-fi house to techno.

The first 250 vinyls are numbered and will include a zine that features drawings, photography and poetry by art squad Rots, Zefanya Anindjola, Cathelijne van der Korput and Nina de Koning.

Born out of an impromptu post-pub jam session in Margate, the 5-piece group Pigeon swoops onto the scene with their blistering debut EP Yagana.

As the tracks cross effortlessly between Afro-disco, grunge, no wave and jazz, the cohesive symbiotic relationship of the band members is obvious from the start. The powerful vocals of Guinean singer Falle Nioke are complemented by a wealth of talent from Graham Godfrey on drums, Steve Pringle on keys, Tom Dream on guitar and Josh Ludlow on bass.

Having moved to the UK from West Africa in 2018, Falle Nioke has recently been in the spotlight following recent collaborations with Ghost Culture which were supported by indie radio and BBC 6 Music playlisters. On Yagana, he continues to sing in a multitude of languages, but this time shifts towards a more organic musical direction, showcasing his incredible versatility as a vocalist.
This new path can be attributed to the pedigree of the rest of the group – including veteran musicians Steve Pringle and Graham Godfrey who are key members of Michael Kiwanuka’s band, Godfrey also performing with Little Simz, Cleo Sol and SAULT, among others.
The Yagana EP is an emotionally-charged offering, exploring themes of ust, saudade, homesickness, and hope for peace. The title track ‘Yagana’ translates to “it’s been a while”, and though its up-tempo disco rhythm and wild synth solos lend a cheerful disposition, the lyrics describe a melancholic yearning for Africa.

Recorded in a single weekend, Pigeon’s Yagana EP is a clear testament to each member’s skilfulness and varied experiences, creating a fullyfledged being that is greater than the sum of its parts. With an opening hand like this, we await with bated breath to see what more the humble Pigeon can bring to the world.