Cerca:no artists

After five solid years on the road, SANTROFI is now ready to release some fresh material. co-produced and mixed by four-time Grammy Award winner Jerry Boys (REM, Ali Farka Toure, Buena Vista Social Club, Orchestra Baobab, Kronos Quartet). Led by producer-bassist Kojo Ofori, SANTROFI unites 8 of Accra"s most gifted musicians with a passion for both vintage highlife grooves and a hip hop sensibility. Members of the band have played with leading Ghanaian artists including Ebo Taylor, Pat Thomas, Ambolley, AK Yeboah and highlife pioneer AB Crentsil with whom they recorded just before he passed away - watch out for that!

Like a passenger riding shotgun on a road trip, The Villagers Companion offers its own unique perspective and story to tell. Featuring tracks recorded alongside last year’s acclaimed villagers, TVC captures the miles between the start and destination—the faded gas station pit stops, the plastic saint statue stuck to the dashboard for safe travels or luck. It embodies the essence of the journey without the burden of driving—the experience of the ride itself.

The album takes us through the heart of Califone’s magic: reverb-drenched piano chords, electronic whirs, and layers of experimental noise. Guided by Tim Rutili’s abstract, fragmented lyrics—both strange and familiar—delivered through his warm, well-worn vocals, it creates an experience as evocative as it is haunting. Often passing through what seem to be the spaces between radio frequencies, the stations never meant to be heard. Crackles of static, feedback loops, and fleeting signals bloom into meditative moments, with each sound given space to breathe, unravel, and shimmer in slow decay. The result resonates deeply, transforming what might be noise into something profound, hypnotic, and totally immersive.

As with villagers, Rutili and company continue to explore what it means to get lost while surrounded by modern technology. Like a ghost in a machine or a whispered prayer stuck in a telephone line, Califone adds soul—be it damned or saved. And they do so with the kind of transformative magic granted perhaps only to artists a quarter of a century into their craft. The kind that turns a photograph into a tableau, or any darkened space with a microphone into a makeshift confessional. A song into a hymn, and a hymn into a soundtrack to a life.

Like a passenger riding shotgun on a road trip, The Villagers Companion offers its own unique perspective and story to tell. Featuring tracks recorded alongside last year’s acclaimed villagers, TVC captures the miles between the start and destination—the faded gas station pit stops, the plastic saint statue stuck to the dashboard for safe travels or luck. It embodies the essence of the journey without the burden of driving—the experience of the ride itself.

The album takes us through the heart of Califone’s magic: reverb-drenched piano chords, electronic whirs, and layers of experimental noise. Guided by Tim Rutili’s abstract, fragmented lyrics—both strange and familiar—delivered through his warm, well-worn vocals, it creates an experience as evocative as it is haunting. Often passing through what seem to be the spaces between radio frequencies, the stations never meant to be heard. Crackles of static, feedback loops, and fleeting signals bloom into meditative moments, with each sound given space to breathe, unravel, and shimmer in slow decay. The result resonates deeply, transforming what might be noise into something profound, hypnotic, and totally immersive.

As with villagers, Rutili and company continue to explore what it means to get lost while surrounded by modern technology. Like a ghost in a machine or a whispered prayer stuck in a telephone line, Califone adds soul—be it damned or saved. And they do so with the kind of transformative magic granted perhaps only to artists a quarter of a century into their craft. The kind that turns a photograph into a tableau, or any darkened space with a microphone into a makeshift confessional. A song into a hymn, and a hymn into a soundtrack to a life.

Do Your Own Dance! VARIOUS ARTISTS
Chic’s Nile Rogers is lauded as an international star and the recently departed Patrick Adams is acknowledged as one of the most important pioneers of disco music, but behind them were an army of lesser-known musicians, producers, and arrangers including one of the founding-fathers of New York Dance, the enigma Lonnie Johnson.
Scorpgemi Records and Lonnie Johnson, the man behind the label, will be unknown to most, but he was an important figure at the birth of dance music. His label featured work by several leading voices of the New York scene and provided one of New York’s most instantly recognisable dance music records— “Keep In Touch (Body To Body)”—one of the greatest club cuts ever.. But Johnson himself leaves hardly a trace, a behind-the-scenes person, and a friend of Patrick Adams who is only known to those who study the small print on record labels.
So, Lonnie Joel Johnson proves to be both highly influential, and almost completely elusive. A backroom person, who created an anthem across the Atlantic from his home base in New York. A man who was instrumental in the development of Patrick Adams’ career from producer of vocal groups to the go-to producer for dancefloor gold. Yet, for all this there are no biographical details, no interviews and almost nothing left behind except for a small but fantastic catalogue of music.
The first ever curated works of the Broadway based Scorpgemi label Produced by Lonnie Johnson, one of the founding-fathers of New York Dance Dancefloor Gold from the enigma that is Lonnie Joel Johnson, the man behind the career of the legendary Patrick Adams.

‘Insides is a cracking album of shifting ambient moods, riding on the cusp of technology without forgetting emotive credence’ 9/10 FUTURE MUSIC
Originally released in 2009 Insides is Jon’s third solo album and will be made available from the 18th December 2020 on the Just Music label, following on from his first two Just Music albums, Opalescent and Contact Note. It paved the way for both Immunity (his hypnotic breakthrough solo album) and Diamond Mine (his collaboration with King Creosote) which attracted Mercury nominations and for his recently released fifth solo artist album, Singularity.
The epic Light Through The Veins from Insides, which bookends Coldplay’s Viva La Vida album, is always a crowd favourite and is played by Jon as one of the closing tracks at almost all of his venue and festival shows. Small Memory, also from Insides has been streamed almost 57 million times on Spotify alone where Jon has 355, 462 followers and nearly 2 million monthly listeners.
Cited by The New Yorker as “One of the most celebrated electronic musicians of his generation”, electronic artist, producer and composer Jon Hopkins has forged a reputation for music that marries the dance floor to the devotional, and for live performances that are visceral, generous and charged with a rapt, sensuous beauty.
Jon has remixed artists as diverse as Flume, David Lynch, Moderat, Disclosure, Four Tet, Wild Beasts and Purity Ring. Other projects include collaborations with Natasha Khan of Bat For Lashes and Bonobo, as well as productions for London Grammar and Coldplay. His film credits include his Ivor Novello nominated score for the indie sci-fi classic Monsters, The Lovely Bones (scored with Brian Eno and Leo Abrahams), How I Live Now, Uwantme2killhim? and Rob and Vanentyna in Scotland. He also scored the National Theatre Live production of Hamlet and his work has appeared in many films and adverts.
‘Lilting piano and strings give way to industrial glitch with a calculated force, shifting the mood from tranquillity to terror’ 7/10 CLASH
‘Hopkins is a conjurer, an illusionist, symbolically combining imagery and sounds that shouldn’t work together, creating new dimensions of listening’ KRUGER

Mantar erreichten mit ihrem letzten Album Pain Is Forever... (2022) Platz 2 in den Offiziellen Deutschen Charts!- Year End "Best" Listen: Metal Hammer Deutschland, LAWeekly (US), Exclaim (CA), Terrorizer (UK)- Vorgestellt auf: All New Metal/Black & Dark Metal/The Pit/Metal Planet (SPOTIFY), Breaking Metal/New Music Daily/Optimus Metallum/Breaking Hard Rock (APPLE MUSIC)- Mantar hat 8,5 Millionen Streams auf Spotify erreicht- Massive Underground-Fangemeinde in Europa und Nordamerika, die auf einem jahrzehntelangen DIY-Ansatz und ausgedehnten Tourneen beruht- Vergangene Festivalauftritte: Hellfest, Download, Full Force, Oya Festival, Getaway Rock, Roadburn, The Fest (US), Wacken, Maryland DeathfestCharts (Pain is Forever...):Germany:#2 Official German Album ChartsAustria:#69 Official Album ChartsSwitzerland: #45 Official Album ChartsUS Billboard:#60 Current Hard Music Album#84 Top New ArtistsQuotes for Pain Is Forever and This Is The End (old):- Album of the Month - Metal Hammer (GER)"So präsentiert sich das räudige Doom-Duo auf PAIN IS FOREVER AND THIS IS THE END in Bestform. 'Art Is Hard', das wussten bereits die Indie-Rocker Cursive. Aber Mantar sind härter." - 6/7pts - Metal Hammer (GER)- Album of the Month - Metal.de (GER)- "Pain Is Forever.. skillfully keeps the balance between brute destructive fury and dense atmosphere in widescreen format with real underground hit potential." - 8.5/10 pts Rock Hard (GER)"So hält "Pain Is Forever..." gekonnt die Waage zwischen brachialer Zerstörungswut und dichter Atmosphäre im Breitwandformat und hat oftmals echtes Underground-Hitpotenzial zu bieten." - 8.5/10pts Rock Hard (GER)- "The blackened doom punk duo's biggest rock moment to date is not a betrayal, but an accomplishment" - Visions (GER)"Der bislang größte Rock-Moment des Blackened-Doom-Punk-Duos ist also kein Verrat, sondern eine Vollendung" - Visions (GER)- "A tremendous hit rate, as if we were not dealing with a regular longplayer, but with a "Best-of MANTAR". Very Strong!" - 8.5/10 pts Deaf Forever (GER)"Und so kann man "Pain Is Forever And This Is The End" eine enorme Trefferquote attestieren, so als ob man es nicht mit einem regulären Longplayer, sondern mit einer "Best-of MANTAR" zu tun hätte. Stark!" - 8.5/10 pts Deaf Forever (GER)"- "Compact and to the point interpretation of Black'n'Roll, which can not only split your skull, but also animate you to headbang and even sing along." - 9/10 pts Powermetal.de (GER)"Ein weiterer Volltreffer aus dem Hause MANTAR!" - 9/10 pts - Powermetal.de (GER) - "Auf dem neuen Album haben MANTAR nichts an Angriffslust und brachialer Wirkung verloren, ihr Repertoire jedoch eindrucksvoll erweitert, sind gewachsen und zu etwas in seiner grundlegenden Ehrlichkeit und massiven Härte unfassbar Schönem geworden, ohne auf ihren urgewaltigen Sound zu verzichten. " - 10/10 pts - Slam (AT/GER)- "Thicker grooves, anthemic refrains, head nodding rhythms and a greater exploitation of the fist-in-the-air-ology school of song writing." - 8/10 pts - Metal Injection (USA)- "...their latest studio album may be their best yet... a burning Molotov cocktail of black metal, sludgy hardcore and classic metal hooks..." - Decibel (USA)- "...they've made the album of their career so far; so buckle up and get ready for forty minutes of blackened punk that'll give you the kick up the ass you've been waiting for." - Distorted Sound (USA)- "I love how far my mind roams while listening to the same album on the repeat; the more I spin "Pain Is Forever And This Is The End", the more things I discover, driving me deeper into MANTAR's moving sand." - 10/10pts - Metal Kaoz (USA)- "Pain Is Forever... clearly takes some inspiration from their recent album of Grunge, Punk, and Riot Grrl covers by elevating this aspect of their sound a little more too, without dulling the unapologetically in-your-face edge of the music." - No Clean Singing (USA)

Mantar erreichten mit ihrem letzten Album Pain Is Forever... (2022) Platz 2 in den Offiziellen Deutschen Charts!- Year End "Best" Listen: Metal Hammer Deutschland, LAWeekly (US), Exclaim (CA), Terrorizer (UK)- Vorgestellt auf: All New Metal/Black & Dark Metal/The Pit/Metal Planet (SPOTIFY), Breaking Metal/New Music Daily/Optimus Metallum/Breaking Hard Rock (APPLE MUSIC)- Mantar hat 8,5 Millionen Streams auf Spotify erreicht- Massive Underground-Fangemeinde in Europa und Nordamerika, die auf einem jahrzehntelangen DIY-Ansatz und ausgedehnten Tourneen beruht- Vergangene Festivalauftritte: Hellfest, Download, Full Force, Oya Festival, Getaway Rock, Roadburn, The Fest (US), Wacken, Maryland DeathfestCharts (Pain is Forever...):Germany:#2 Official German Album ChartsAustria:#69 Official Album ChartsSwitzerland: #45 Official Album ChartsUS Billboard:#60 Current Hard Music Album#84 Top New ArtistsQuotes for Pain Is Forever and This Is The End (old):- Album of the Month - Metal Hammer (GER)"So präsentiert sich das räudige Doom-Duo auf PAIN IS FOREVER AND THIS IS THE END in Bestform. 'Art Is Hard', das wussten bereits die Indie-Rocker Cursive. Aber Mantar sind härter." - 6/7pts - Metal Hammer (GER)- Album of the Month - Metal.de (GER)- "Pain Is Forever.. skillfully keeps the balance between brute destructive fury and dense atmosphere in widescreen format with real underground hit potential." - 8.5/10 pts Rock Hard (GER)"So hält "Pain Is Forever..." gekonnt die Waage zwischen brachialer Zerstörungswut und dichter Atmosphäre im Breitwandformat und hat oftmals echtes Underground-Hitpotenzial zu bieten." - 8.5/10pts Rock Hard (GER)- "The blackened doom punk duo's biggest rock moment to date is not a betrayal, but an accomplishment" - Visions (GER)"Der bislang größte Rock-Moment des Blackened-Doom-Punk-Duos ist also kein Verrat, sondern eine Vollendung" - Visions (GER)- "A tremendous hit rate, as if we were not dealing with a regular longplayer, but with a "Best-of MANTAR". Very Strong!" - 8.5/10 pts Deaf Forever (GER)"Und so kann man "Pain Is Forever And This Is The End" eine enorme Trefferquote attestieren, so als ob man es nicht mit einem regulären Longplayer, sondern mit einer "Best-of MANTAR" zu tun hätte. Stark!" - 8.5/10 pts Deaf Forever (GER)"- "Compact and to the point interpretation of Black'n'Roll, which can not only split your skull, but also animate you to headbang and even sing along." - 9/10 pts Powermetal.de (GER)"Ein weiterer Volltreffer aus dem Hause MANTAR!" - 9/10 pts - Powermetal.de (GER) - "Auf dem neuen Album haben MANTAR nichts an Angriffslust und brachialer Wirkung verloren, ihr Repertoire jedoch eindrucksvoll erweitert, sind gewachsen und zu etwas in seiner grundlegenden Ehrlichkeit und massiven Härte unfassbar Schönem geworden, ohne auf ihren urgewaltigen Sound zu verzichten. " - 10/10 pts - Slam (AT/GER)- "Thicker grooves, anthemic refrains, head nodding rhythms and a greater exploitation of the fist-in-the-air-ology school of song writing." - 8/10 pts - Metal Injection (USA)- "...their latest studio album may be their best yet... a burning Molotov cocktail of black metal, sludgy hardcore and classic metal hooks..." - Decibel (USA)- "...they've made the album of their career so far; so buckle up and get ready for forty minutes of blackened punk that'll give you the kick up the ass you've been waiting for." - Distorted Sound (USA)- "I love how far my mind roams while listening to the same album on the repeat; the more I spin "Pain Is Forever And This Is The End", the more things I discover, driving me deeper into MANTAR's moving sand." - 10/10pts - Metal Kaoz (USA)- "Pain Is Forever... clearly takes some inspiration from their recent album of Grunge, Punk, and Riot Grrl covers by elevating this aspect of their sound a little more too, without dulling the unapologetically in-your-face edge of the music." - No Clean Singing (USA)

Born in Zary and currently based in Poznan, Julia Rover is a singer, songwriter, and DJ. She has been active on the music scene for several years. She has recorded several tracks, performed numerous concerts, and collaborated on productions with other artists. All this inevitably led to what has just happened-her debut EP.
"Co z Toba" ("What's happening with you?" ) is the first entirely new and original (no samples!;) release in the label's catalog, simultaneously inaugurating the series The Very Polish Originals.
This record tells a story on multiple levels. The lyrics reflect tales of relationships. Of emotions. Of questions. Of dilemmas. Of disappointments. Of hopes. Of cold breakups and passionate reunions. The musical layer is also a kind of storytelling, only expressed through different means. Each track musically corresponds with the lyrics, the singing style, and the interpretation.The music complements the lyrics, embedding them in a mood-appropriate "setting."
The EP opener "Co z Tob??" moves within the climate of coldwave basslines. After that comes "Sen" (Dream), veering into territories closer to '80s synth-pop. As it fades, we catch our "Oddech" (Breath) at a slower tempo reminiscent of italo or rather neo-italo styles. We remain 3-4 decades behind. However, this journey does not feel regressive. Instead, it's reinterpretative. Constantly immersed in the DNA of the label, which has been bringing the best of musical history to light for years. The fourth and final track on the record slows down almost into a dark, psychedelic, leftfield ballad, slowly floating towards the '90s. It carries.
And that's almost everything. But it's worth getting here. Because at the end, as a sort of postscript, the title track "Co z Tob??" reappears in a danceable version. So, as it began, so it ends. Just more acid-like.

Tesfa Williams celebrates his personal ancestry and the diversity of black electronic music with a name change on his Heist Recordings debut.

First things first. T. Williams is now Tesfa Williams. And although the dot is gone after the T, by taking that away, the artist openend up a whole world of meaning, personal storytelling and recognition of his roots.

“Originally when I started "T.Williams" it felt like my African first name Tesfa wouldn't be welcomed in the scene. Something I've experienced in general from school, college, work etc….. I grew up in a Rastafarian family with Carribean heritage and my parents decided to give me and my siblings African names to connect us to our African ancestry. I now feel like I’m ready to embrace this part of me as an artist and share it with the world.”

Tesfa Williams is an artist with a long history in UK club music. Long before his critically acclaimed debut album in 2024 ‘Raves of future past’, he was knee-deep in the UK grime scene and throughout the years, he has built a strong reputation in UK funky, soulful house and Garage with remixes of Latch for Disclosure and Sam Smith (yes, that track), bumping originals on Strictly Rhythm, Local Action with Julio Bashmore, and much more. On his debut for Heist, we see the artist dig deep into his black roots and deliver an EP that celebrates his eclectic sound with 4 originals full of high notes.

The ’Beyond today’ EP kicks off with ‘Moments Ahead’, a classic filter-house jam with lovely soulful chops and the perfect amount of grit. It’s the type of funky, peak-time house track that will ignite any dancefloor with its irresistible groove. ‘Get it together’ sees the artists layer some classic R&B vocals over an infectious warehouse groove. It’s the kind of track that’ll grab anyone’s attention on a first listen. The breakbeat loop in the background gives the percussion its dry immediacy and the sparse melodic hits and irresistible vocal chops turn this track into an absolute dancefloor monster.

On the flip, the London producer merges his love for soulful house with contemporary electronics on ‘Brighter life’. There’s something deliciously breezy about this song, where the vocals, chord hits, sweeps, and hits deliver a groove that’s laidback and powerful at the same time. The electronic parts of this track are cleverly laid out to contrast the syrupy sweet vocal and underline the class of the artist’s ability to effortlessly blend genres.

The EP closes with ‘Futures’, a bottom-heavy late-night burner much in the style of Dam Swindle’s 2023 Heist outing ‘Soul’s lament’ or the percussive goodness of Alma Negra tracks such as ‘Conversation’. There’s a nice blend of trippy electronics and driving Rhodes hits, which makes this a track perfect for those moments you simply want to go deep, heads-down, and feel the music.

With ‘Beyond Today’, Tesfa Williams has written a piece of music that pays homage to so many of the genres that have influenced him as well as to his black roots. ‘Beyond Today’ is a contemporary club record that oozes positive energy just the way we like it and we can’t wait to play this one out to all of you.

Enjoy the music and get ready to dance!

Lars & Maarten

2023 was a whirlwind year for Oracle Sisters. The trio—Julia Johansen, Chris Willatt, and Lewis Lazar—followed the release of their debut album Hydranism with a globe-spanning tour that captivated fans and critics alike. From the highways between Knoxville and Nashville to sold-out clubs in rain-soaked Seattle, and festival stages across the UK, they logged countless hours on the road. Their journey was a tapestry of exhaustion and exhilaration, falling apart, brawls and disputes, love and acceptance. By the year’s end, just two days before Christmas, they found themselves in Tokyo, reflecting on the fleeting nature of time and the fragments of inspiration gathered along the way. It was there the seeds for their next album, Divinations, began to sprout. Composing as a true trio for the first time, Oracle Sisters pieced together sketches formed during stolen moments on tour. These fragments coalesced into Divinations, an album shaped by the band’s nomadic existence. The recording sessions spanned cozy Parisian studios, a barn in northern France, and the storied Valentine Studios in Los Angeles. Their creative process embraced experimentation—swapping primary instruments, playing with toy drum machines, and crafting melodies on quirky tools like the OP-1 and a baby Casio keyboard. This spirit of discovery lent the album a sense of spontaneity and wonder. At its core, Divinations channels mysticism and timeless storytelling. The band’s songwriting draws on diverse influences, from the surrealist poetry of Baudelaire and Rimbaud to the introspective philosophies of Carl Jung. Musically, echoes of Talking Heads, Air, and Leonard Cohen resonate throughout the album and tracks like “Riverside” delve into existential questions— “How far are you going? Is it more than money can buy?” Elsewhere on the album “Marseille,” born in the city that gave the song its name, kicks off as a trance with lyrics that play between the sincere and desperate self-help affirmations, we give ourselves while trying to find a bridge between our individual lives and a universal feeling. Lead-single “Alouette” is Oracle Sisters at their most direct; propelled by a driving bassline and exuberant strings, the track summons the sound of 80’s, 90’s, and early 2000’s rock n roll as they sing about “getting out of dodge, finding a pirate ship and sailing home.” Inspired by the book Caliban and the Witch, “Blue Left Hand” is a lyrical tapestry weaving together history, philosophy, and cultural critique. The lyrics, “It’s in the harbor of every page / It’s in the corner of the playwright’s stage / And every player and every fake / And every witch that we burned at the stake,” reflect on the forces that shaped the capitalist society we know today. Across Divinations’ 11 tracks it’s not only geographic boundaries that were crossed but also the boundaries of time and circumstance. While their work may not consciously reflect specific worldly events, they seek to embrace the universal and offer a space for healing. “Good music would make sense to a farmer in 17th century France as it would to a pastry chef in Slovenia in the 21st century,” shares Lazar. “It’s not written for any temporal powers that be. It’s about expressing our common humanity and taking it from there.” This intuitive approach fuels Oracle Sisters creative process - whether composing in a frozen French farmhouse or performing live with an ever-expanding lineup of collaborators, the band remains committed to exploring the unknown. Through Divinations, they hope to leave listeners feeling transcendent, levitating on waves of intuition and discovery.

It's another 45 Rocafort treatment!

"If There's a Will, There's a Way" was written by Don Covay and Donny Hathaway and released in 1972 on the American Janus Records label. Covay, a key figure in the 1960s and 1970s soul scene, was known for his gritty voice and songwriting for artists like Aretha Franklin and Wilson Pickett. Hathaway, on the other hand, was an influential soul singer, composer, and pianist often celebrated for his collaborations with Roberta Flack. This song blends both of their distinct styles: Covay's raw, Southern soul vibe and Hathaway's sophisticated, jazz-influenced arrangements. Like Donny Hathaway's live album released that same year in 1972, this track grabs you from the very first notes. A classic soul groove, with a powerful vocal delivery!

Notably, this track was later sampled by Pete Rock in his remix of "Lots of Lovin'" with C.L. Smooth, bringing the soulful essence of the original into the realm of 90s hip-hop.

On the b-side, another track from the fantastic Janus Records catalogue. Harvey Mandel's "Baby Batter," originally released in 1971 is a blend of funky blues and psychedelic rock vibes representing another popular genre from the early 70's in the USA. Mandel's signature guitar work shines throughout the track and the drum break in the introduction will please the hip-hop heads and 45 DJs out there.

Blue Valentine Vinyl. Sometime in 2005, a lone box of master tapes escaped an estate sale and made its way through a network of collectors, record dealers, and "junkers" into the hands of leading Ohio soul expert Dante Carfagna, who linked them to Columbus, Ohio's mysterious Prix label (See: Eccentric Soul: The Prix Label). A bit of research turned up Prix proprietor George Beter, who identified most of the unlabeled material. All it took was an endless series of phone calls and letters and two fields trips in Columbus. But one complete mystery wended its way onto our final Prix compilation. "You and Me," a simple but irrepressible demo credited only to Penny & the Quarters, was found tacked onto a mixed studio reel. Our survey of every willing lifer left on the Columbus soul scene, including retired DJs, producers, and important local artists, produced not so much as a glimmer of recognition at the name Penny & the Quarters. Though we loved the song from the first play, it may've ended up a bit buried on our original compilation, as #18 of 19 tracks.Four years later, Eccentric Soul: The Prix Label hadn't exactly become a huge seller, although listeners had repeatedly told us that the unfiltered studio demos that fill out the record's back half were true diamonds in the rough. But neither Penny nor her Quarters had appeared to claim credit for their efforts. Then, completely out of left field, we heard from respected screen actor and avowed Numero fan Ryan Gosling that Penny's piercing bit of stripped down doo-wop was being considered for inclusion in Derek Cianfrance's indie-weeper film Blue Valentine. What we didn't know was that "You and Me" had won a major role in what became an indie circuit hit, and that Penny & the Quarters would instantly assume the role of world's most famous unknown doo-wop group.Every week is a slow news week in Columbus, Ohio, and early January 2011 found the city recovering from the thrill of elevating Ted Williams_the formerly homeless guy with the awesome voice for radio_into a national news sensation. But both major daily newspapers in town, as well as the city's alternative weekly, also ran stories about how a lost and unknown Columbus soul group had become the musical centerpiece of a film already garnering Oscar buzz. That mainstream spotlight aimed at Blue Valentine and Penny & the Quarters did the trick: we finally made contact with the widow of Jay Robinson, lead Quarters' singer and songwriter. Robinson, it turned out, had also been the leader of Columbus doo-wop pioneers The Supremes (later known as "The Columbus Supremes," for reasons which should be obvious). Jay Robinson never did give up on the dream of writing a hit record; even so, the posthumous realization of his dream is cold comfort for his widow and daughter. With their blessings, we returned to those estate sale masters and pulled down another neglected track ("You Are Giving Me Some Other Love") from the still-unknown Penny and her now-partly-known Quarters. "You and Me" is a song that could not be suppressed: not when Prix failed to release it; not when Penny & the Quarters were forgotten; not when Numero stuck it at the bitter end of a much overlooked compilation. Its evolution from estate sale trash to silver-screen gold has finally returned it to big-hole 45, where it probably should have lived all along.

Heavyweight Black Vinyl / Original glued prints on Thick Cardboard 700 gram / 2 Separated parts hand-glued / Glossy lamination / PVC outer sleeve / Insert with 10 pages Booklet 30 x 30 cm printed on Gmund Colro Felt Red Purplea d 90 Gram Favini papers with detailed interview between Tony Higgins and Mustafa's family (his sisters and children are all musicians), as well as an insight into the recording of the album with Gregory Bufford, the drummer for the session, lyrics and exclusive pictures.


Colored Vinyl Details:
Heavyweight "A side - B side solid purple + transparent blue" vinyl / Original glued prints on Thick Cardboard 700 gram / 2 Separated parts hand-glued / Glossy lamination / PVC outer sleeve / Insert with 10 pages Booklet 30 x 30 cm printed on Gmund Colro Felt Red Purplea d 90 Gram Favini papers with detailed interview between Tony Higgins and Mustafa's family (his sisters and children are all musicians), as well as an insight into the recording of the album with Gregory Bufford, the drummer for the session, lyrics and exclusive pictures.

Peronnel:
Mustafa Abdul Rahman - Tenor Saxophone, Percussion, Producer
Ahmed Abdullah - Trumpet
Malachi Thompson - Drums
Gregory Bufford - Bass
Richard Radu Williams - Piano
Rafik Abdur Rahim
Tony Smith - Guitar
Larry Banks - Synthesizer
Khalil Abdullah - Congas
Babafumi Akunyon - Percussions
Odell Grier Backing Vocals – Fred Harley, Hilda "Asia" Richbow , Linda Hall

Notes:
In the course of our deep research, we sometimes discover a hidden thread that unites musicians, songwriters, artists, and poets linked by music. Mustafa's 'Polygamy' is no exception. Apart from the music - the main reason we decided to work on this first ever re-press, a jewel at the crossroads between jazz funk, spiritual jazz and proto rap - are the many other things that make Mustafa an intriguing and fascinating character. For starters, he was a childhood friend of the Ayler brothers with whom he played in different formations. He also played with other beloved figures such as Noah Howard and Charles Tyler, on a still unreleased album recorded for Amiri Baraka's Jihad label, and worked with The Legendary Master Brotherhood and Steve Reid. This and much more will be revealed in a detailed interview between Tony Higgins and Mustafa's family (his sisters and children are all musicians), as well as an insight into the recording of the album with Gregory Bufford, the drummer for the session.

Needle Mythology, the label founded by music writer, author and broadcaster Pete Paphides, is thrilled to announce the release of SENSITIVE the first ever vinyl anthology to cover the indiepop scene of the 1980s. SENSITIVE features 30 songs in total by artists who defined the indiepop aesthetic, among them The Jesus & Mary Chain, The Sea Urchins, Primal Scream, The Pastels, Talulah Gosh, Orange Juice, The Field Mice, The Primitives, The Wedding Present, Miaow, Razorcuts, Dolly Mixture, The Bodines, Shop Assistants, The Soup Dragons, The Loft, The Chills, That Petrol Emotion and The Railway Children. SENSITIVE takes its name from the single released by The Field Mice, and marks the first time that The Field Mice have allowed one of their songs to be used on a compilation released by any label other than Sarah Records, who released all their records at the time. Also features on SENSITIVE is Dying Day from Orange Juice’s hugely influential debut album You Can’t Hide Your Love Forever – marking the only time that Edwyn Collins and his wife and manager Grace Maxwell have given permission for an Orange Juice song to be featured on an anthology. Many of the records featured on SENSITIVE have become highly sought-after collectors’ items since their original release. The Sea Urchins’ Pristine Christine changes hands for up to £400. Original mint copies of April Showers’ only single Abandon Ship command up to £380. If you were to try and individually buy all the records featuring the songs on SENSITIVE, you can expect to pay something around £1150. SENSITIVE features 10,000 words of extensive track-by-track notes and an essay by Pete Paphides, who was and remains an avid proponent of the indiepop scene that this collection chronicles. All the songs on SENSITIVE have been newly mastered at Abbey Road by Miles Showell. SENSITIVE will be released on double LP and double CD Needle Mythology Records.

Back in the day, when he was the drummer for Poni Hoax, Vincent Taeger would sing in French whatever came to his mind backstage after concerts, just for fun, to amuse his friend the late Nicolas Ker. Since then, time has flown by, undoubtedly bringing its share of ups and downs. Nonetheless, today, this artist with a long career is finally releasing his debut album as a singer, OK Crooner. It's indeed an album for a singer, but also one for a musician. For this part, Taeger doesn't come alone; he brings along the Jazz Kamasutra, a sexy sextet that knows how to play everything and will later accompany him on stage. To get to this point, Vincent Taeger had to stop playing around with big names like Air, Damon Albarn, Justice, Lenny Kravitz, Skepta, Tony Allen, Oumou Sangaré, Jeff Mills, Archie Shepp, Sampa the Great, Andrea Laszlo de Simone... More than half of the major artists with whom he once collaborated, contributing to their albums or simply laying down a drum, bass, or any other heavy instrument line. Before OK Crooner, he also transformed into Tiger Tigre. This roaring alias was used for a first solo album, instrumental and so deep that one might have thought the ghost of François de Roubaix had taken shape. But that was before, before this exceptional musician decided to dive into the vast ocean of French variety to give a sequel, a culmination to this project. During COVID, Vincent Taeger started frantically listening to Souchon, Chamfort, Gotainer, and Christophe. Inspired by his elders, while not renouncing his attachment to the meticulous arrangements reminiscent of Alain Goraguer's soundtracks, he picked up a pen to jot down snippets of songs to accompany his increasingly sophisticated compositions. And the worst part is that he enjoyed it! Coming from rap, he has a knack for punchlines. Throughout the album, he delivers just as many harsh or soft words as good ones, alternating between risqué humor, Gaulish wit, and poetry. Partially recorded at Studio Ferber, but mainly at home with his partner, known by the alias La Plongée, who co-produced the album for the occasion, OK Crooner is a key album in Vincent Taeger's discography. Besides being the one where he finally unveils his voice to the public, without pretense as it is prominently featured and minimally, if at all, retouched, Taeger also offers music that suits him perfectly. Sharp yet accessible, jazz, pop, baroque, classical, modern, and resolutely marked by Tony Allen's legacy, which he daringly mixes with Beethoven in the Fifth Symphony. His alter ego, Vincent Taurelle, with whom he has produced many albums, took care of mixing this one.

Music Brokers’ exploration into legendary Progressive Rock keeps expanding now on vinyl format. We return to the rock sub-genre that combined complex arrangements and improvisation with fantasy aesthetics and lyrics. Krau- trock & Progressive: The Definitive Era digs deep into some of its lesser known artists like Hammer, Harmonia, One, and Agitation Free and combines them with many of the most essential names of the ‘60s and ‘70s like East Of Eden, Mogul Trash, Egg, La Dusselford and Beggars Opera. With fantastic artwork and remastered sound, Krautrock & Progressive: The Definitive Era is another essential addition to your collection on vinyl format; and remember that the album is not available on streaming platforms!

Sometime in 2005, a lone box of master tapes escaped an estate sale and made its way through a network of collectors, record dealers, and “junkers” into the hands of leading Ohio soul expert Dante Carfagna, who linked them to Columbus, Ohio’s mysterious Prix label (See: Eccentric Soul: The Prix Label). A bit of research turned up Prix proprietor George Beter, who identified most of the unlabelled material. All it took was an endless series of phone calls and letters and two fields trips in Columbus. But one complete mystery wended its way onto our final Prix compilation. “You and Me,” a simple but irrepressible demo credited only to Penny & the Quarters, was found tacked onto a mixed studio reel. Our survey of every willing lifer left on the Columbus soul scene, including retired DJs, producers, and important local artists, produced not so much as a glimmer of recognition at the name Penny & the Quarters. Though we loved the song from the first play, it may’ve ended up a bit buried on our original compilation, as #18 of 19 tracks.

Sometime in 2005, a lone box of master tapes escaped an estate sale and made its way through a network of collectors, record dealers, and “junkers” into the hands of leading Ohio soul expert Dante Carfagna, who linked them to Columbus, Ohio’s mysterious Prix label (See: Eccentric Soul: The Prix Label). A bit of research turned up Prix proprietor George Beter, who identified most of the unlabelled material. All it took was an endless series of phone calls and letters and two fields trips in Columbus. But one complete mystery wended its way onto our final Prix compilation. “You and Me,” a simple but irrepressible demo credited only to Penny & the Quarters, was found tacked onto a mixed studio reel. Our survey of every willing lifer left on the Columbus soul scene, including retired DJs, producers, and important local artists, produced not so much as a glimmer of recognition at the name Penny & the Quarters. Though we loved the song from the first play, it may’ve ended up a bit buried on our original compilation, as #18 of 19 tracks.

Emmanuel Mario returns to Karaoke Kalk with his third album under his Astrobal moniker for the Berlin-based imprint. »L’uomo e la natura« (»Man and Nature«) sees the prolific drummer and producer, who has worked with artists such as Laetitia Sadier and label mate Pink Shabab, take a different musical route than before. The French electronic music composer pays homage to the spirit of library music while also making concessions to different strains of pop and even classical music. With only two of the ten songs putting words to the music, »L’uomo e la natura« is a masterful exercise in the evocation of atmospheres: expressing much while saying very little outright—show, don’t tell.

The album was born out of a desire to push the envelope. »I wanted to make music that was both pop and ambitious in its chord progressions as well as surprising in its construction,« explains the Paris-based artist. Taking inspiration from library music artists such as Alessandro Alessandroni or Bruno Nicolai as well as the more cosmic strains of electronic instrumental music, he strove »to create a soundtrack that would immediately bring to mind outer space.« The first of the three singles released ahead of the full album, »L’abeille pourpre,« captures this spirit with funky rhythms and an overjoyed interplay of different melodies, all tied together by wordless yet terminally catchy vocals.

The second single, »Miami 2064,« traverses through many different moods in its six-minute run-time: Starting off as neo-noir synth-wave piece, it then proceeds to pay its dues to the masters of the cosmic music tradition such as Tangerine Dream or, of course, Jean-Michel Jarre before slowly descending back to Earth with guitars and dreamy synthetic vocals, playfully punctuated by a plethora of wistful melodies. It is the perfect encapsulation of the open-ended approach Mario follows throughout the entire album, taking full creative licence in regards to songwriting and arrangements. »I wanted to surprise myself,« he shrugs. He succeeded.

»L’uomo e la natura« rewards multiple listens not only emotionally, but also intellectually. »I also wanted to talk about politics and ecology, because it’s impossible not to,« Mario notes. Some of the track titles express this more openly than others and the two title tracks sung by Mario and Nina Savary use French and Italian lyrics, respectively. However, as a whole the album leaves things open to interpretation. Does »The End of Capitalism« sound elegiac or triumphant? And what do you actually make of this musical vision of the Floridian metropolis, whose mere existence is threatened by climate change already today, four decades from now? Mario doesn’t necessarily answer these questions—he doesn’t tell, he shows.

In Todmorden, the oddly-named market border town in West Yorkshire with a habit for embracing the weird and wonderful, a burst of sunshine is a precious thing. Through the thick of Winter, through every season in fact, the town’s folk are used to the wind and rain, fog and mist. As much a part of the town as the trademark deep valley it sits in, here the lay of the land invites the weather in, just as it does the many musicians, artists, and unique characters that have come to call the place home over the centuries.
Bridget Hayden is one such soul who found a home among these hills. The experimental musician, who invites the ghosts in for the classic folk songs that make up her stunning new album, knows only too well about such weather, how rare and treasured the breaks from it are. Her favourite thing to do in the valley, she says, is “to make the most of every tiny minute of sunshine.”
Such aspirations nearly derailed the recording of Cold Blows the Rain, her new eight-song collection released via the Todmorden- based label Basin Rock. Having hired the town’s Oddfellow’s Hall to record these new songs in the late summer of 2022, Hayden says the weather was so good she ended up basking in every second of it, only moving inside to begin recording when the sun was setting, working deep into the night to make up the time.
There’s a good chance, however, that it had to be this way. The songs that make up Cold Blows the Rain are not made for the sunlight. They come, instead, wrapped in mist and coated with drizzle, those elements shaping the album as much as the voice and the instruments held within, as real but ambiguous as the ghosts that linger in the shadows. The sound of the dark valley floor.
Mostly centred around meditative and experimental improvisation, Bridget’s work to-date has seen her spend more than two decades recording and performing on the underground music scene. She’s also toured internationally both as a solo artist and as part of bands such as Schisms and The Telescopes, while working on various side-projects with the likes of Folklore Tapes.
For all of this sonic exploration, so much of her work has been formed around elements of traditional folk aesthetics and, over time, she began to piece together a collection of reinterpreted traditional songs that she absorbed as a child from her mother: through The Dubliners and Muddy Waters, to Bessie Smith and The Leadbelly Songbook. Harvesting her love for Nina Simone, Karen Dalton, Margaret Barry, and more, Bridget takes these traditional songs and transforms them into something uniquely evocative
"It goes back to the womb,” Bridget says of that connection. “I would not call it a memory as it is so deep within my blood and bones. My mum was the source, she sang all the time, as part of life. So it was a very lulling and natural introduction. It seemed common to hear her singing – unbeknownst to her – in time with a raindrop dripping at the window,” Bridget continues. “I’ve always wanted to do a folk record as I love these songs so much. It comes much more naturally to me to sing other people’s words, especially when they’re as beautiful as these old verses.”
Underpinned by waves of analogue reverb, and led by Bridget’s stirring and weather-beaten voice, the songs on Cold Blows the Rain drift and crawl like low heavy clouds on flat-top hills, shaped by the land. The backdrop is equally as arresting, all subtle gloom cast in shadow, a gentle but pronounced swirling of textures, crafted from harmonium and violin courtesy of The Apparitions (Sam Mcloughlin and Dan Bridgewood-Hill).
“The weather speaks the most eloquently about human loss,” Bridget says, articulating such sentiments. “It’s good to feel enveloped by something so much vaster than ourselves. The rain and the tears all become one.”