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James Morrison"s new album Fight Another Day is born of difficult times and heavy emotions but one that, ultimately, leans into the light and joy and hope. Written after a period of reflection and therapy, the songs deal with his own struggles, childhood, and personal battles, with Morrison saying, "Every day being a bit of a battle. Trying to eke the light out after what felt like darkness for ages." From the defiant title track to the soul-baring Something I Can"t Forget and the feelgood New Day, the album captures a wide emotional spectrum. "I"m really proud of the album in terms of the creative, sonic elements and how I dealt with truthful stuff," he says, "but also... it"s an album of songs that hopefully make you feel better and make you nod your head and stamp your feet and singalong."

James Morrison"s new album Fight Another Day is born of difficult times and heavy emotions but one that, ultimately, leans into the light and joy and hope. Written after a period of reflection and therapy, the songs deal with his own struggles, childhood, and personal battles, with Morrison saying, "Every day being a bit of a battle. Trying to eke the light out after what felt like darkness for ages." From the defiant title track to the soul-baring Something I Can"t Forget and the feelgood New Day, the album captures a wide emotional spectrum. "I"m really proud of the album in terms of the creative, sonic elements and how I dealt with truthful stuff," he says, "but also... it"s an album of songs that hopefully make you feel better and make you nod your head and stamp your feet and singalong."

Ramirez returns with THA PLAYA$ MANUAL II, the long-awaited sequel to his cult classic that helped solidify his place as one of underground rap’s most distinctive voices. Steeped in Southern-fried funk, Bay Area swagger, and Memphis-style menace, this new chapter finds Ramirez sharper, smoother, and more seasoned—delivering game like a streetwise sage with a gold grill grin.

Where the original Playa$ Manual was gritty and raw, THA PLAYA$ MANUAL II sounds like a player who's leveled up. The beats knock harder, the flows glide slicker, and the game is deeper. Ramirez weaves tales of betrayal, come-ups, late-night drives, and cold-hearted reality with the same charismatic cool that made him a standout in the $uicideboy$-adjacent G59 movement—but this time with a more refined, cinematic approach.

From trunk-rattling bangers to syrupy smooth cuts that soundtrack late-night escapades, THA PLAYA$ MANUAL II feels like a ride through Ramirez’s world with tinted windows up and the bass on max. It’s a record for the hustlers, the heartbreakers, the loners, and the legends in the making.

This is more than a sequel—it’s a statement: the playa’s still active, and the manual’s been updated.

"I stood on top of the mountain and looked out over the landscape. It was so beautiful that my chest hurt. The light vibrated, time stood still, and the contours dissolved for a moment. Everything had changed; I felt it then. I took their little hands so as not to lose contact with the ground. Then we ran down the mountain, scraping our knees. Still, we didn't make it. You had already put away all the nautical charts, loosened the moorings and steered out among the skerries. Mum stood waving from the jetty. You were alone, you wanted it that way. It was to be just you in the boat this time. I called out to you. I think you heard me and felt less lonely. We couldn't carry each other anymore, no matter how hard we tried. We washed our wounds on the shore and scattered tears and rose petals in the bay. The children laughed and searched for treasures under water. We called to them that it was time to come up. They were cold, and we hugged them to warmth. One ran ahead, the other up on our shoulders. Up the mountain, our mountain."

In 2020 Anna Högberg put her widely celebrated band Anna Högberg Attack on hold, retraining as a nurse whilst continuing a solo practice and playing in other groups. With Ensamseglaren she makes a spectacular return with her own ensemble — this time a double sextet — performing an album length suite of new music written in dedication to her late father — the titular ‘ensamseglaren’ pictured on the LP cover as a young boy.

 (ensam in Swedish can mean both alone and lonely, seglaren = the sailor).

Shot through with renewed energy and a brutally affective emotional punch, Högberg’s formal experimentation opens up vibrant possibilities for the assembled musicians to let loose with some of their wildest and most ecstatic playing on record.

Högberg’s contention with grief leans into collective joy as method of mourning — the big band as extended family; where bonds are made through a shared experience of being together. Where everyone gets to be themselves without expectations of who they should be or what they can do. It’s a radical commitment to care — of her self and others — that animates and unifies this suite of music’s radical dynamics and variations in colour: from whisper-quiet textural intensity to harrowing distortion and double drum chaos; raucous and solemn song.

"Throughout history, humans have had different images of the transition between life and death. Imagine standing on the seashore on a summer evening and seeing a beautiful vessel being prepared for departure. The sails are hoisted. The evening breeze comes, the sails fill and the boat glides out onto the open sea. You follow it with your eyes as it heads towards the sunset. It gets smaller and smaller, until it finally disappears as a tiny dot on the horizon. Then you hear someone next to you say, ‘Now they have left us.’ Left us for what? The fact that they got smaller and smaller and finally disappeared is only how we see it. In reality, they are just as big and beautiful as when they were here, lying on the beach by our side. Just as you hear that voice say ‘Now they have left us’, there may be someone on another beach who sees them appear on the horizon, someone waiting to welcome them when they reaches their new port."

DEADLETTER frontman Zac Lawrence’s latest solo venture hones in on the songwriter’s love of the contemporary folk scene of the 60s. Though not necessarily a conventional “Folk” sound, the acoustic guitar led songs intertwine the singer’s passion for lyricism and literacy with heart-string tugging melodies and arrangements. With the first single from this project expected in the summer of 2025, he brings a new band together made up of Misty Miller on vocal duties, Blossom Caldarone (English Teacher) on Cello, and Nathan Pigott (also of DEADLETTER) on clarinet. Antithetical to what we know from him as the frontman of the aforementioned, expect laid back, fingerpicked numbers that take you anywhere from Hamburg’s most gruesome hotel, to him imagining himself as a fifty something looking back on a life that he didn’t live in the way that was intended.

There’s a lot for MAYDAY PARADE to celebrate these days. The T allahassee, Florida-formed quintet recently
wrapped a career-defining tour marking two decades together, one that saw more than 70,000 fans pack sold-out venues to celebrate their storied catalog. They performed a triumphant main-stage set at the 30th anniversary of the V ans W arped T our, a full-circle moment for a band that made their name selling self-released CDs in those same sweltering parking lots nearly 20 years ago. Their landmark debut LP, A Lesson In Romantics, turned 18, still beloved for its iconic singles like the platinum-certified “Jamie All Over” and gold-certified “Miserable At Best.” And the group released Sweet, the first in a self-released three-album series that reaffirmed just how vital and creatively energized Mayday Parade still remains. Now, on Sad, the second installment in that trilogy, the band continue diving deeper into the emotional nuance that’s defined their most captivating albums, blending aching sentimentality with melodic urgency as only they can. Once again produced by longtime collaborators Zack Odom and Kenneth Mount, Sad sees Mayday Parade stripping back some of the tempo that colored Sweet in favor of more deliberate grooves, more introspection, and a sharpened focus on mood and space.

A Milan-born multi-instrumentalist of Venetian heritage, Alberto Baldan Bembo was a gifted vibraphonist, organist, pianist, arranger, and composer whose work bridged jazz, pop, and film music. By the early 1960s, he was performing with Italy’s leading ensembles, including I Menestrelli del Jazz and Bruno De Filippi’s group, and soon became an in-demand session musician. For several years, he toured with the legendary Mina, providing the piano and organ backbone to her live shows—a role that sharpened the cinematic sensibility and refined musicianship that would later define his soundtrack work. In the years to come, he would be celebrated for his scores to films such as L’Amica Di Mia Madre (1975) and Lingua Argento (1976), earning a place alongside Piero Umiliani, Alessandro Alessandroni, Berto Pisano, and other luminaries of Italy’s golden age of soundtrack and library music.

Io E Mara is the soundtrack to a film that was never made. Originally released on the CGD label in 1969, this debut album from the brilliant Maestro Baldan Bembo is a sophisticated concept-album tracing 24 hours in the life of two young lovers. Told entirely through music, the record unfolds as a continuous suite of ten tracks, where cinematic lounge, bossa, and jazz flavors mingle to create a dreamlike atmosphere. Baldan Bembo’s signature piano and organ are masterfully complemented by Mara’s ethereal vocals, while immersive soundscapes of crashing waves, seagulls, and rain showers enhance the feeling of a deeply personal and intimate journey. A cast of exceptional musicians brings this vision to life, including Bruno De Filippi on electric guitar and sitar, Carlo Milano on electric bass, Rolando Ceragioli on drums, and Pasquale Liguori on sound effects. This singular work not only showcases the burgeoning talent of a future soundtrack master but also features the original pop art front cover by Italian cult illustrator Guido Crepax.

Void King from Indianapolis return with a newchapter in their heavy journey. ‘The HiddenHymnal’ is their most powerful and emotionalrelease to date, offering a deep and immersiveexperience meant to be heard from beginning toend.
Blending stoner rock, doom metal and alternativerock influences, the band deliver massive riffs,haunting melodies and a strong sense ofatmosphere.
After more than a decade in the undergroundscene, Void King continue to evolve their soundwith confidence and depth.
Each track on this album is part of a larger story,with moods that shift from crushing intensity toreflective calm.
This is a record made for those who enjoy musicthat feels heavy in both sound and emotion.
A must for anyone into slow, atmosphericheaviness and concept albums with real emotionalweight.
For fans of YOB, Crowbar, Alice In Chains, Gozu,Boris, Electric Wizard, Goatsnake, High On Fire,Lord Dying, Sleep, The Obsessed, Pallbearer,Monolord.
Now available on gold coloured vinyl.

Living in the present is an album built around the work of American minimalist poet, Robert Lax (1915-2000) who is widely praised for his artistic concept of reduction, in which a pause becomes as important as the things said.

The album brings together the sound of Robert Lax reading his poetry, narrative field recordings by Nicolas Humbert and subtle yet imaginative timbres by Carina Khorkhordina (trumpet) and Miki Yui (electronics) who is also behind the final mixing of the album.

Living in the present is drawing from an archive of audio recordings originally made by film maker Nicolas Humbert while shooting a film on Robert Lax entitled Why Should I Buy A Bed When All That I Want Is Sleep?, ( Nicolas Humbert and Werner Penzel, Germany, 1999) The film was made on the Greek island of Patmos where Lax has lived withdrawn for 3 decades.

More than 25 years after the premiere of Why Should I Buy A Bed When All That I Want Is Sleep?, Humbert, Khorkhordina and Yui are revisiting the original audio material and patiently open worlds within worlds, pointing to new harmonic textures and isolating timbres, synchronizing different layers of time and traces of various locations into a new composition in its own right.

In some ways this album feels like an expansion of the work Humbert and Penzel did with Lax across six years, between 1993 and 1999, where they developed a unique intimacy in their textual-visual collaboration. On two long pieces, for each side of the album, “Where do i begin” and “One moment passes, another comes on” respectively – Yui’s electronics and Khorkhordina’s trumpet interweave beautifully with Humbert’s field recordings, in a manner that shadows the reflective reduction of Lax’s poetry. Indeed, it's no surprise that Lax’s poetry draws musicians into its orbit; it offers the curious a welcoming reduction in which only individual words and syllables represent the essence of language.

Lax’s poetry is notable for its qualities of near-stillness and its capacity to pause the reader’s thought, asking them to hold the sensuality of language for an extended, quietly revelatory moment. His readings on this album share a similar cadence, interested in settling with syllables, with single or several words, for an extended time.

Ultimately, Living in the present unfolds with unforced grace and poetics – one moment passes, then another comes on. (Jon Dale)

The Alien Dub Orchestra is ragtag collective of Bavarian musicians, featuring members of The Notwist and G.Rag y los hermanos Patchekos. The cohort formed around the idea of performing the standards of the fabled Breadminster Songbook, aka the back-catalogue of lone dubman Elijah Minnelli. Minnelli is known for constructing wheezy, forlorn odes to his hometown, both as highly sought-after self-released 7" singles, and a critically-acclaimed debut album, ‘Perpetual Musket’ for FatCat Records, lauded by the likes of The Guardian, The Wire, and The Quietus. ‘The Alien Dub Orchestra: Plays the Breadminster Songbook’ finds group covering Minnelli’s cumbia-infused dub reggae with full band, playing an eclectic array of instruments including: guiro, accordion, melodica, sousaphone, trumpet and assorted percussion.

The tale begins in 2022, when Minnelli was invited to lend his unique dubbing style to a pair of remixes for The Notwist, and what followed was an ever-flourishing relationship between the Breadminster native and the wider Munich scene. The seeds of the Alien Dub Orchestra were sown during a support gig for The Notwist, where assorted musicians joined Minnelli for a encore, reinterpreting one of his dub remixes across woodwind, brass and assorted percussion.

“The idea of real, competent professionals playing something you’ve muddled together on a computer in a damp basement is quite overwhelming,” reflects Minnelli on the process, “hearing them interpret and improve these melodies is a real joy and privilege.”

Despite the non-traditional origins of the source material, the inherent musicality of Minnelli’s songwriting shines through across his releases, and this creative kinship is what attracted the Orchestra to reimagining his work. The first live collaboration led to recording sessions and further gigs, with the Orchestra building a full set of Minnelli’s music.

The resulting album puts forward the strongest case yet of the shared musical throughline between the acts, where cumbia, dub and folk sensibilities coalesce to something all together unique. The tracks are wrought new, with melodies fleshed out and broader instrumentation expanding the sonic possibilities of the compositions. The tactility of the tracks is perhaps best demonstrated on the gorgeous ‘Vine and Fig Tree’, with it’s layed vocals and expressive bassline returning as a cavorting sousaphone line. Elsewhere, fan favourite ‘SLATS’ sounds as if it was simply written to be performed this way.

To further instill the cylindrical nature of these collaborations, the entire second half of the album is made up of dub versions of the Orchestra’s renditions. For these dubs, Minnelli is joined by Raimund Wong, who had caught his ear with his ambitious live sets, a daisy chain of tape machines and FX pedals. Again, despite their differing creative processes, the two bonded over a shared love of dub music. Each dub was a one-take, with Minnelli riding the faders and Wong’s filters and FX supplying a sound that doesn’t seek to imitate dub, so much as it tries to be it’s own chaotic self. The droning, psychedelic hypnosis of ‘Pundit Dub’ stretches the material to a whole new realm that feels outside of anything else Minnelli has produced before, an ode to the benefits of recycling sound if ever there was one. The whole second half is a perfect closing note to an album that is undoubtedly a love letter to folk tradition, dub ideology and, most importantly, the joy of uninhibited collaboration.

​Elijah Minnelli - voc, guiro, percussion
Philip Gross - accordion, melodica
Theresa Loibl - clarinet, melodica
Cico Beck - electronics, keyboards
Sascha Schwegeler - congas, steel drum, percussion
Micha Acher - sousaphone, trumpet
Markus Acher - drums, voc
Dub mixes performed live by Elijah Minnelli & Raimund Wong at Breadminster County Council Studios

A stunning re-envisaging of Sade ‘Cherish The Day’ in a upfront reggae style from singer Sailor Jane. It is produced by the great Michael Goldwasser. A side mixed by the maestro mixer Gregory Morris, the B side features a magnificent dub piece from Jallanzo The Dub Wizard.

The release comes on a criss 7inch housed in a beautiful picture sleeve designed by Madein876 Productions / Streets of Jamaica & formatted by Classic Blends.

Sailor Jane is out of Florida but has spent a lot of time in Jamaica honing her skills as a singer and musician. This track is taken from her album of Sade covers which is certainly worth checking out called No Ordinary Dub.

After their epic run with Channel One beginning in the mid 1970's, the Mighty Diamonds moved to producer Gussie Clarke for a string of albums starting in 1979 and running thru the 1980s. Among the many many great tunes from this run, the title track of their 1982 album "The Roots Is There" is simply one of the Diamond's best ever, and probably the most lyrically militant tune they ever made. This tune was never released as a single at the time, though new mixes were released as a single in 2017. But prior to the release of the album back in the day, this song was played on dubplate in a raw mix without the horns and added percussion that made it onto the final album mix. This raw vocal cut, followed by a raw instrumental version, changes the whole tone of the tune and brings it into another level of militancy right up there with the hardest stuff you can name, even in an era filled with so many extra tough stepping classics. Rather than remaster from an old dubplate, for this 45 we had producer Gussie Clarke and Music Works' close associate engineer Curtis Lynch go back to the original tapes, and with an original dubplate as reference, perfectly recreate the original raw cut, now released in pristine tape quality. Again we present this release on Music Works' original early 1980s dubplate label design, just like the original slate would have been adorned with. If you only know the sweet harmony side of the Diamonds, give this one a try to see their other tuff side, and listen to the lyrics, as relevant to the struggles of right now as they were in 1982.

Incredibly deep and beautiful release! Fans of Omakase or Berg Audio watch out!

For our Arepas001, we are plating up some heat - straight from South America.

Erwin serving some tasty Arepas with Infinite Fries on the side. Heavy, soulful, and made to move you.

Cool it down with a swirl of blueberry cream - Yummy! Finish strong: Aguardiente with lime, your liquid encore. No skips, no fillers. Just pure flavor. Beats & Treats.

Guitar Solos is the debut solo album of British guitarist, composer, and improviser Fred Frith. It was recorded while Frith was still a member of the English experimental rock group Henry Cow and was released originally in October 1974. Voted one of the best albums of 1974 by NME critics it also attracted the attention of Brian Eno, resulting in Frith playing guitar on two of Eno‘s albums. Frith‘s never tiring spirit in creating and performing music has made him one of the most notable and creative guitar players and musicians in the scene of improvised and composed music. For the anniversary of this release we have encouraged Frith to arrange a set up similar to what he used 50 years ago to record an album of new compositions which will accompany the original record.

Miami's MIA made her debut for MANGO HILL records in 2020 with the heart- shaped "SOMETHING 'BOUT YOUR LOVE". The out of print "LOVE ME RIGHT" is now back available thanks to STAR CREATURE. "Bedroom meets dancefloor tough but tender gangster groove". B/w "CREATURES OF THE NIGHT".

Clement "Minkie" Moore's introduction to the music business came via his friend the great deejay U Roy. Back in the mid 1970s, Minkie and U Roy were both living in the Tower Hill area of Kingston, and U Roy was resident deejay on King Tubby's sound system. Minkie followed his friend and the sound, and occasionally U Roy let him hold the mic and deejay on Tubby's set. U Roy encouraged Minkie to take music more seriously, and with that encouragement, his first record "Wickedness" was made. Minkie got a cut of a rhythm from his friend the late Sydney Wilson, and voiced and mixed the rugged deejay tune "Wickedness" at King Tubby's studio. Sydney had earlier voiced this rhythm as a tune called "Why Do I Cry", but alongside "Wickedness", voiced it again with a new vocal called "Time Has Gone". In fact that tune and "Wickedness" share the same dub version. Clement continued to move in the music scene, next recording for Harry J's Jaywax label in 1979 with a tune called "Jah Is Real", as a duo named UNI-TONE along with his friend Denzil. Then in 1980, Clement revisited the great rhythm of "Wickedness", deciding to this time sing rather than deejay on the rhythm. He returned to Harry J studio, adding some choice new instrumental overdubs on the rhythm for this new cut, "Every Time I Do My Thing." In the decades since, astute roots collectors have honed in on this excellent rhythm and its several cuts, not least of all this pair of them by Mr. Clement "Minkie" Moore. It should be noted that in the manner of the day, other associates of Tubby's studio, Prophets Yabby You and Alric Forbes, also utilized this rhythm. Minkie's musical journey continued thru the 1980s, when he linked with American group Lambsbread, writing and performing on their second album which was recorded at Channel 1 in early 1987. In the 1990's Clement returned to self-production on his Allah label, in addition to cutting a 45 for Chinna Smith's High Times label. Nowadays Clement is still going strong, occasionally dropping new music like "Greedy", recorded at Bravo's Small World studio in downtown Kingston.

Clement "Minkie" Moore's introduction to the music business came via his friend the great deejay U Roy. Back in the mid 1970s, Minkie and U Roy were both living in the Tower Hill area of Kingston, and U Roy was resident deejay on King Tubby's sound system. Minkie followed his friend and the sound, and occasionally U Roy let him hold the mic and deejay on Tubby's set. U Roy encouraged Minkie to take music more seriously, and with that encouragement, his first record "Wickedness" was made. Minkie got a cut of a rhythm from his friend the late Sydney Wilson, and voiced and mixed the rugged deejay tune "Wickedness" at King Tubby's studio. Sydney had earlier voiced this rhythm as a tune called "Why Do I Cry", but alongside "Wickedness", voiced it again with a new vocal called "Time Has Gone". In fact that tune and "Wickedness" share the same dub version. Clement continued to move in the music scene, next recording for Harry J's Jaywax label in 1979 with a tune called "Jah Is Real", as a duo named UNI-TONE along with his friend Denzil. Then in 1980, Clement revisited the great rhythm of "Wickedness", deciding to this time sing rather than deejay on the rhythm. He returned to Harry J studio, adding some choice new instrumental overdubs on the rhythm for this new cut, "Every Time I Do My Thing." In the decades since, astute roots collectors have honed in on this excellent rhythm and its several cuts, not least of all this pair of them by Mr. Clement "Minkie" Moore. It should be noted that in the manner of the day, other associates of Tubby's studio, Prophets Yabby You and Alric Forbes, also utilized this rhythm. Minkie's musical journey continued thru the 1980s, when he linked with American group Lambsbread, writing and performing on their second album which was recorded at Channel 1 in early 1987. In the 1990's Clement returned to self-production on his Allah label, in addition to cutting a 45 for Chinna Smith's High Times label. Nowadays Clement is still going strong, occasionally dropping new music like "Greedy", recorded at Bravo's Small World studio in downtown Kingston.

GAISTER (Olivia Salvadori, Akihide Monna and Coby Sey) release their self-titled LP.

The record captures the embodiment of an encounter, one moment of the trio’s ongoing relationship as artists who communicate with each other through sound, voice and music.
After orbiting in the same circles at each other's shows around 2016 in London, Sey and Salvadori eventually crossed paths. In 2017 Sey joined Salvadori’s artistic collective Tutto Questo Sentire on a residency in Capalbio, the southernmost part of Tuscany, Italy, and started working together. Down the line the pair ended up joining with Akihide Monna (of Bo Ningen), performing together in 2019 at Camden Art Centre on Cork Street in London.

When the trio come together something new is created, brought out after laying dormant, like an Icelandic Geysir. The setting of this particular encounter amongst the trio is essential in the album’s sonic palette, process and emotion. The album was recorded in Iceland at
Greenhouse Studios, where the trio formalised a set of intuitions; how nature can provide a guideline in the choices of the instruments, their materials and related rhythms; reflections on the voice as a sculptural element, pure sound and words.

As Akihide has said of the experience during their short and intense recording period: “The sound spontaneously spun out as if we were pulling at each other's hearts and minds with a strange internal connection and sensation. Something pure was brought out.”

‘Gaister’ itself is a made up word, sprung from the German ‘Geist’ to mean ‘spirit’, and made into a sound of its own. A purity, spirit and essence is pulled from the trio, in spite of their varying mother tongues (Italian, Japanese and English), musical genres and identities to create something new. Olivia Salvadori’s operatic vocals run free, flowing and moving in
synergy with Monna’s rhythmic drumming. Sey sings freely with Salvadori, their voices braided together like a waterfall.

This flowing nature is reflected in the album itself, its timestamps and scores are marked by encounters rather than tracks themselves. This album can be considered as one constant piece and a journey of its own that is not foreclosed, in keeping with the band’s ethos of
constant conversation and collaboration.
As Sey speaks of the trio’s relationship: “Olivia, Monchan and I had performed live together once before, several years before this song and this album came to be… and yet, we fully trust each other’s intuition when performing and creating music together because of our unified belief in the ability of sound and music to communicate and connect.”
credits
releases November 1, 2024

Olivia Salvadori: voice
Akihide Monna: voice, drums, percussions
Coby Sey: voice, percussions, synths, wurlitzer

Recorded at Greenhouse Studios in Reykjavik, Iceland

Recorded and producer: Sandro Mussida
Sound engineer: Francesco Fabris
Studio assistant: Domiziano Maselli and Jakob Vasak

Mixing engineer: Kristian Craig Robinson at Total Refreshment Centre, London, UK

“New York’s Harlem River Drive is a dividing line, a highway where the rich zip past the poor,” says singer Jimmy Norman. Eddie Palmieri’s Latin-funk band of the same name tackled these hard truths, playing prisons and speaking to the common man. Ultimately, Norman and Palmieri made a powerful socio-political statement that continues to resonate to this day." Pablo Yglesias/Wax Poetics. When initially released in 1971, many critics panned Eddie Palmieri’s album Harlem River Drive. Those critics were wrong. Regardless of critical opinion, the release was not the crossover success Palmieri and Roulette Records had hoped for, at least in the immediate. Over the years the release has developed a following among listeners, DJs, and aficionados of rare-grooves. The record may have been recorded towards the end of the Latin soul era, yet it features that genre's wonderful mix of Puerto Rican soul, Spanish Harlem Latin, and New York funk. Palmieri worked with an incredibly talented crew of Latin and R&B session musicians to create this quintessential New York vibe, a synthesis of funk and Afro-Cuban sounds. Contributors include Victor Venegas from Mongo Santamaria’s band, Palmieri’s brother Charlie, an accomplished musician in his own right, Bruce Fowler who went on to join Frank Zappa’s band, Dick Meza who went on to great things with Tito Puente, Ray Barretto and Celia Cruz, as well as Andy Gonzalez who’s pedigree includes recordings with Barretto, Johnny Pacheco, Willie Colon and even Chico O’Farrill. Also appearing Randy Brecker and one of the all-time greatest of the greats Bernard Purdy. An over-arching theme of Harlem River Drive is the thought that, as Palmieri puts it “The U.S. is richest country, all this immense wealth, side by side with the most intense poverty, racial prejudice; how is that possible?” A question that’s perhaps more even more relevant today than it was in 1971. A question that can be further explored with Get On Down’s reissue of this seminal recording.

Auf ihrem zweiten Album begibt sich die singapurische Dreampop-Band BLUSH auf die Mission, makellosen Pop zu kreieren, der die bittersüßen Momente des Lebens erkundet. Mit komplex komponierten Stücken, die zwischen Traumlandschaften und unberechenbaren Klängen schweben, verwandelt das Quartett Herzschmerz in etwas trügerisch Befriedigendes. Dieses neue Album ist das erste der Band seit ihrem Debüt ,Supercrush" aus dem Jahr 2023 und präsentiert eine verjüngte BLUSH-Besetzung, wobei die Stammmitglieder Soffi Peters (Gesang) und Daniel Pei (Bass) Darell Laser an der Gitarre mit ins Boot holen. Der langjährige vertraute Kollaborateur Jared Lim kehrt als Produzent und Gitarrist zurück.