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Gianni Brezzo (213k Monthly Listeners on Spotify), the jazz affiliated band / studio project led by Cologne-based producer maestro Marvin Horsch, has a diverse musical profile that is reflected both in his genre-hopping as well as his creative output. Along with producing for Cologne bands like Keshavara, Woman and Xul Zolar, Gianni has released a number of EP and LP’s since 2017, including 2021’s “The Awakening” which featured vocal appearances from Berlin/Tel Aviv based singer / producer J.Lamotta and soul singer Otis Junior from Louisville, Kentucky. Gianni’s 2022 LP “Tutto Passa,” released on Jakarta Records, was a meditation around Marvin’s relationship to Italian culture, accompanied by research into Italian composers of the 60’s / 70’s such as Piero Umiliani, Stelvio Cipriani and Armando Trovajoli to more recent work by Sven Wunder. This was quicklya followed up with EP “Amoria,” an extension of the themes grown from “Tutto Passa,” along with the groovy baroque-jazz of LP “Soundscapes Vol. 1 – Music for Harlequins.” Gianni’s tracks have consistently placed on Editorial Playlists including Spotify’s “State Of Jazz” (908k Likes), “Lounge Jazz” (75k Likes) “Jazz-Funk” (316k Likes) and more, and most recently was synced in an episode of Gossip Girl for HBO US. Gianni Brezzo’s new project, “Filigrani” is a testament to the continued sonic growth and experimentation that pushes the music to new heights. The tracks, meticulously crafted, were born live in the studio, capturing the raw energy and creativity of Brezzo's jazz-driven genius. "Filigrani" introduces a unique fusion, seamlessly blending jazz progressions with touches of ambient electronics. Brezzo weaves a tapestry of sound, inviting listeners into a world where guitar melodies intertwine with subtle drum beats, dreamy harps, and the enchanting whispers of saxophones and flutes. The result? A groovedriven masterpiece that expands the boundaries of sonic artistry. The single and LP artworks by the esteemed Jason Jagel (MF DOOM, Madlib, JJ Whitefield) provide the perfect accompaniment to Gianni’s ever shifting grooves. The albums lead single is eponymous “Filigrani” due out Wednesday, November 22nd with LP pre-order announcement the following Friday, December 1st. This is to capitalize both on Gianni’s upcoming festival appearance at Linecheck in Milan on November 22nd and Bandcamp Friday on December 1st. With a guitar + drum progression that will have you swaying along, the track ebbs and flows as if your ears are gently skiing down fresh sonic powder. Recorded live in studio, the tracks lush horns and tranquil synth pads slide to and fro, combining the best of Khruangbin-style acoustics w/ Gianni’s unparalleled creativity. 2nd single is the lush, late-night vibes of “Milan Nights” out December 13th. Perfect for cozy evenings around the fire and slow dances with that special someone, the tracks harp, guitar, saxophone and slow, yet light and driving drums are a perfect groove to fall into the holiday vibe with. All you need is snow. Focus track is the effortlessly smooth, soulful jazz-funk piece, “Dreams of Sudden Clarity.” Certified 100% fresh, it’s a perfect way to kick off the year. The progression gives you a euphoric, elated feeling, like you’re finally arrived at that special place you never knew existed, but were always meant to find. Promotion will be handled via the label and artist profiles, along with further promotion by external agencies within Italy where Gianni has upcoming live events.

Producer / composer / multi-instrumentalist Angel Marcloid records music under the moniker Fire-Toolz. Though Marcloid’s output emerges in a litany of aliases and projects — from the jazz fusion / new age of Nonlocal Forecast to the vaporous nostalgia of MindSpring Memories — the Fire-Toolz catalog remains the central focus of the prolific artist’s musical universe and a home for Marcloid’s most ambitious work.

"I am upset because I see something that is not there.", the fifth Fire-Toolz album to join the Hausu Mountain catalog since 2017, follows 2021’s sprawling double-album Eternal Home and 2022’s self-released EP I will not use the body’s eyes today. I am upset… offers listeners a prismatic cross-section of juxtaposed genres and compositional contortions to explore, maintaining Fire-Toolz’s signature density and complexity while tightening the scope of Marcloid’s experimentation into the project’s most focused song cycle to date.

Perhaps more than any previous Fire-Toolz album, I am upset... presents some form of pop music, carried in Marcloid’s passages of clean vocals, in the bright synth tones that animate its tracks, in the yearning saxophone lines that pour into view and whisk the narrative onto a new path. The format of a one-person “band” carries a different weight in a landscape of solo artists crafting modernist productions that don’t allude in the slightest to various twentieth-century rock-related traditions. Fire-Toolz exists on both sides of this divide. The music of Fire-Toolz draws energy on a moment-to-moment basis from the constant fluctuation between seemingly disparate styles, yet Marcloid repeatedly pulls off the impossible feat of making chaotic deviations and improbable jump-cuts between ideas sound holistic, as if such compositional gambits were already logical to begin with. Bursts of harsh textural noise cut into drifts of new age synth bliss, while screamo verses bookend passages of hyper-technical jazz fusion.

Change Everything is an apposite title for this album, the first since Waking
Hours, their breakthrough record which had appeared in 1989. Starting off as a
janglesome Scottish indie group, Del Amitri had developed into a west- coast
influenced leftfield pop act, and now with the wind of success in their hair (after
the protracted build of Waking Hours), the group – Justin Currie, Iain Harvie,
David Cummings, Andy Alston and Brian McDermott – paired up with producer Gil
Norton and crafted a handsome rock album to capitalise on their success.
It's a varied, expansive selection. Ballads are represented by the delightful First
Rule Of Love and Be My Downfall, but it is the uptempo numbers that shine,
typified by Change Everything's lead single, Always The Last To Know, a No 11 hit
in the UK and a No 30 stateside. All 12 tracks emphasise just how important Del
Amitri were to 'the other 90s': straightforward, intelligent music, away from the
headline fads

The legendary British artist’s first full-length collection in over five years, SHUFFLEMANIA!
has already been hailed on both sides of the Atlantic as one of the finest releases in his
inimitable canon. The album includes such new Hitchcockian favorites as “The Shuffle Man”
and “The Raging Muse,” both joined by official animated videos streaming now at YouTube.
Recorded in locations around the world over the pandemic era, SHUFFLEMANIA! offers up
ten gloriously ingenious new Robyn Hitchcock songs in just under 40 minutes - a “proper
pop album” as nature intended.
“Robyn Hitchcock’s first album since 2017 is thronged with actual humans - among them
Johnny Marr, Soft Boys compadres Kimberley Rew and Morris Windsor, Sean Ono Lennon
and Brendan Benson. None of them crowd out Hitchcock’s distinctive songwriting though,
nor his undimmed ability to reach through the existential murk and grasp a revelation or
two.” – MOJO

LTD gold vinyl. Back On Black re-package and re-issue "A Holocaust in Your Head", the debut album by crust punk veterans Extreme Noise Terror - on gold vinyl! Never was a band and its first album both so suitably named as EXTREME NOISE TERROR and their seminal debut full-length, 1989's "A Holocaust in Your Head". Simply put, this is one of the key releases of both the crust-punk and grindcore genres, redefining British music's known limits of sonic extremity with its remorseless aggression, blinding speed, and none-more-raw recording.

Waxwork Records is proud to release NO ONE WILL SAVE YOU Original Motion Picture Soundtrack by Joseph Trapanese. From 20th Century Studios,

No One Will Save You is a captivating sci-fi psychological thriller introducing Brynn Adams (Kaitlyn Dever), a creative and talented young woman who’s been

alienated from her community. Lonely but ever hopeful, Brynn finds solace within the walls of the home where she grew up, until she’s awakened one night

by strange noises from decidedly unearthly intruders. What follows is an action-packed face-off between Brynn and a host of extraterrestrial beings

who threaten her future while forcing her to deal with her past.



Waxwork Records is proud to release NO ONE WILL SAVE YOU as a deluxe LP featuring 180 gram Blue & White swirl colored vinyl, heavyweight packaging, matte satin coating to finish.

EP compilation of essential UK house cuts recorded between 1987 - 1990. TIP!


Before British house and techno found its’ distinctive groove at the turn of the 1990s, one act led the way: Bang The Party, a trio who emerged from London’s vibrant underground party scene in the mid 1980s and proved, beyond any doubt, that UK producers could make music every bit as magical as the pioneering productions put forward by their counterparts in Chicago, Detroit and New York.

By the time long-running DJs and party promoters Kid Batchelor and Leslie Lawrence joined forces with trained engineer Keith Franklin at legendary North-West London reggae studio Addis Ababa in 1987, they’d spent years as DIY dance music activists in Britain’s capital city. They channelled these experiences and their love of imported house and techno sounds into a new project, Bang The Party, in the process becoming the first British act to appear on Transmat, a reflection of the quality and authenticity of their music.

The latest Rush Hour Reissue Series release offers a snapshot of some of the numerous gems nestled in the Bang The Party catalogue, delivering a much-deserved celebration of one of Britain’s most significant early acid house collectives. It features four fully remastered cuts recorded and released between 1987 and 1990 – on-point and far-sighted club workouts that sound as fresh and timeless now as they did when Britain was sweltering under its infamous ‘second summer of love’.

Fittingly, the EP begins with ‘I Feel Good All Over’, the group’s ground-breaking debut single. Dedicated to their home city and one of the earliest UK interpretations of house music, the track exists in the grey area between Chicago house and New York ‘garage house’ – all jaunty organ stabs, jacking Windy City beats, restless bass and soulful vocalizations. ‘Jacques Theme’, which follows, originally nestled on the B-side of that single release. An early, acid-flecked expression of hip-house with a British twist, breakdance-friendly bongo patterns and a dose of Larry Heard-inspired deep house dreaminess, the track remains an under-appreciated classic whose rap verses reflect the popularity of hip-hop in London at the time.

1988’s ‘Release Your Body’, Bang The Party’s most celebrated early release, was reissued in the United States by Transmat, reflecting the strong working relationship between Derrick May and Kool Kat Records’ Neil Rushton. A hypnotising affair propelled forwards by sweat-soaked drum machine beats, jacking fills and an addictive bassline, the track offers another near perfect distillation of the band’s Black American musical influences while delivering something genuinely new and fresh.

Rounding off the EP is a choice cut from Bang The Party’s sought after 1990 album Back To Prison. Doused in the star-lit synth sounds of the Motor City with jaunty organ stabs inspired by the kind of New Jersey jams championed at East Orange institution Club Zanzibar, ‘Let It Rip’ is a superb slice of deep house soul featuring a lead vocal every bit as emotive as anything laid down by Robert Owens. Like the rest of Bang The Party’s output, it has stood the time better than anything laid down by their London contemporaries.

Following their contribution to the 2022 International Women’s Day compilation, and a co-production credit on “Dreaming is Essential” by Byron Yeates, Eoin DJ drops their first release on Radiant Records, Total Body. The 4-track EP is replete with mind-bending, lustrous tracks waiting to be spun out to sweatbox dancefloors.

“Total Body” invites movement from its first seconds. Layers and layers of snares, shakers and rhythmic synth stabs build tension before the pulse of a rolling bassline cements the elements into a cohesive hard house groove. Fragments and chops of sensx’s vocals wrap in and around the sonic field, leaving wisps of reverb and echo in their wake before repeating the track’s Total Body mantra in the breakdown. The result is a lushly-scored density of sound, with a relentless stomp that never feels overcrowded or too heavy.

Angel D’lite’s remix takes a more skeletal approach to “Total Body”: a snare and clap march beneath chiming vocal stabs, rumbling low end and rolling breakbeats, flipping the original into a modern bass-heavy hybrid number. The rhythmic synth from the original, reversed and efex’d, ushers us in, and then out of the track, around extra bass stabs and pitch shifted “Total Body” chops.

On the B side, “Ultra Soft” lifts off with a firm kick and a rolling 3-note bassline. Despite the title, the track hits harder than “Total Body” and sings with Eoin DJ signatures: swirling funnels of processed vocals, rich, ear-itching textures, stripped back percussion and rave-ready samples are sprinkled with 303s, to create a track that sits comfortably with both classic trance and techno and contemporary “Progressive” dance music.

The EP’s closer, a remix of “Ultra Soft” by Byron Yeates, compresses the astrally-inclined scale of the original track into shining slices of sound. A playful, chiming melody starts off the track alongside the kick, working through precise grooves, knife-sharp snares, a throbbing bass and chopped-up, smokey vocals. The result: 6 minutes of total embodiment from the Radiant Records boss.

Grey Marbled Vinyl

The official re-release of the scarce DJ classic. Ralf Nowy produced this unique mix of Krautrock, Space Disco and proto Techno vibes in Berlin in 1980. The collaboration featuring also famous German star producer Jack White and Tom Müller aswell Vicky Brown from UK as singer who worked together also with bands as for example Pink Floyd, Roger Waters, Cerrone and Bryan Ferry.

After a two year wait, we proudly present Deepseries 1.3, the latest installment in our Deep compilation series featuring friends and family of the label. This atmospheric EP showcases the distinct sounds of Deeptrax, bringing together a curated selection of tracks that define the label's sonic universe.

Caim kicks off the journey with an unreleased gem, a calm and atmospheric track with a punchy kick. It sets the stage for an immersive experience, inviting listeners into its ethereal embrace.

Returning to Deeptrax, Mathijs Smit delivers a bass-heavy, emotionally charged track. A sonic return to familiar grounds, his contribution reflects the label's commitment to captivating, bass-driven soundscapes.

Joey Anderson makes a poignant return with a deep, emotionally layered track where instruments guide, inform, and inspire. His unique ability to infuse depth and emotion shines through in this standout contribution.

Rich P & Lee join forces for another V.A. installment, presenting a melodic house journey filled with dub chords. A perfect blend of melody and rhythm, their track is a testament to their signature sound.

Closing the EP is Pim Holthof's debut on Deeptrax with an atmospheric minimal house track. His contribution adds a distinctive touch to Deepseries 1.3, showcasing the label's dedication to sonic exploration.

Deepseries 1.3 is a culmination of artistry, emotion, and sonic innovation. Join us in this exploration of electronic music, where each track is a unique thread in the rich tapestry of Deeptrax Records. Welcome to Deepseries 1.3 - where the journey never ends.

"Ultra-textured arrangements that radiate quiet power, locking listeners into a distorted landscape before evaporating without any fanfare."
Resident Advisor

"Both reflective and rapturous...focuses on altering the DNA of traditional Japanese instruments and building something new from it, without losing the essence."
Bandcamp Daily Acclaimed Japanese musician 99LETTERS joins Phantom Limb for new album Zigoku / 地獄, seamlessly processing traditional Japanese instrumentation into pitch-black techno and quasi-industrial sound design.

“This album is made with the theme of human death,” 99LETTERS (Osaka producer Takahiro Kinoshita) writes of Zigoku / 地獄 Eng: hell, his first album for Phantom Limb. “Even if I eventually end up in hell when I die, it might be a more peaceful place than I had imagined. The whole album may represent the world of death that I desire.”

Though the music of Zigoku / 地獄 is ostensibly programmed with dark, disorientating, disturbing sound design, 99LETTERS continues his now-characteristic practice of sampling, processing and disguising traditional Japanese instrumentation to develop a sound world both organic and unsettling. The very real presence of beauty, culture, and folklore remains throughout the record, in attendance as a kind of heaven to offset the willful hell of Kinoshita’s craft.

Appropriately - and in his typically cryptic language - Kinoshita speaks of human interference with reality and morality as key themes of the album: “Everyone has a good and bad person within them, which can be deceived by misinformation and superstition. The bad side can be ferocious and can easily hurt people. Sometimes I think that the present age is a complicated and difficult era to live in, and that this era may be hell.”

Stolen Body is delighted to be working with Bristol progressive psych and jazz legends The Brackish for their fifth album ‘Donor Zone’. Attempting to capture our live sound and intensity, Donor Zone was recorded live at gig volume without the tyranny of headphones. The album kicks off with an ADHD epic ' Willox for a new Age' , apocalyptic coda morphing into the fuzz bass drone of 'Donor Zone'. Forboding chord sequences set up ' J und J' before a gargantuan riff drops, motorik middle section developing into a highly satisfying ripping fuzz guitar finish. Last tune BUABB has the faved Tortoise/ beefheart stylings around a Kraut- inspired improv section. The single 'J und J' draws the listener in to a false sense of uneasy security with it's pensive and motorik sections before it's gargantuan riff payoff. The track shifts dynamically back to it's uneasy base, developing into an extremely satisfying and belligerent ripping fuzz guitar ending.

Four dazzling, extended engagements with mbalax master-drumming.


The contribution from Holy Tongue is chase-the-devil steppers — thumping, clangorous, reverberating — super-charged with energy and atmosphere. From the off drummer Valentina Magaletti detonates a hard rain of small bombs, rounds of fire, ticking fuses. Musical co-ordinates are somewhere between classic On-U Sound crew like African Head Charge, The Mothmen, and Creation Rebel, and the experimental funk of the Pop Group and 23 Skidoo, at their funkiest. Thrillingly, the two dubs are increasingly deranged.

Adjusting the same wavelengths as her superb Workaround LP, Beatrice Dillon plays spaced-out, abstract synth-work against the bodily physicality of the ancient, shifting mbalax rhythms. The music is poised, mindful, tentative; but also limber, fleet, and magical.

Phantasmagorical and efflorescent, Lamin Fofana’s one-two is simply stunning. Both excursions are wide-open, beautiful, epic, and propulsive — the first mix is banging and headlong, the second more syncopated and serpentine — teeming with freshly sublime, funkdafied updates on Jon Hassell’s Fourth World possible musics.

The two parts of LABOUR’s Etu Keur Gui engage the same sequence of drum patterns (called bakks) from different perspectives. The duo performed portions of this piece at the opening ceremony of the Dakar Biennial in 2022, at the Grand National Theater, with thirty sabar players from the family of Doudou Ndiaye Rose. This Wolof phrase for the inner-court of a home — a meeting-place — doubles here as a metaphor for inner space on a metaphysical level; and Pan Sonic, Muslimgauze, Zoviet France, early Shackleton… all ghost across the threshold.

Ow yeah just after the great party last weekend now its time to officially release this vinyl!

Samosa Records quickly follows up the first volume of Afrikano treats with Volume 2; a veritable melting pot of Afro beats and rhythms packed in to an exceptional four tracker.

Kicking the EP off on the A-side is Vincent Galgo and J’ngolo. This hypnotic Afro sizzler takes full advantage of the effortless bass, congo beats, African horns and (subtle) funky guitar. Add the mesmerising chanting and you have a perfect ‘Bunny Chow’ of a tune that will tantalise the tastebuds for a long time after the music has stopped. Second helpings? Why not?

A2 unleashes ‘Zaire’ by the supremely talented Matalo! Dark and broody beats take centre stage with this one, as you’re slowly enveloped in a ritual you never knew you were part of but now you can’t help sway with the rest of the worshippers. ‘Zaire’ is one of those rare tracks that you feel could create fire if you let it. With sweeping synths, tribal chanting and a detached sense of being, this monster lives under your bed and waits for lights out. Beware!

On the B-side Leslie Lello ups the tempo with ‘Alcyone’. Solid, punchy bass, driving guitar and gorgeous piano riff and vocal combine with a synth lead you absolutely need in your life. The track morphs and transforms into a full-on (almost housey) stomper; nailing its tribal colours to the mast with intent. A real beast of a tune.

Closing this superbly diverse EP is label boss De Gama and ‘E.T.A’. You know De Gama doesn’t mess about. You know De Gama wants to hit you with all he has and with ‘E.T.A’ he unleashes his ‘inner Chief. Indigenous beats pound, roll and build up to a Ramkie guitar infused chorus that’s as joyful, uplifting and inspiring as the dawn itself. A genuine, incredible slice of Afrikano from a master of the genre.

Afrikano Vol. 2 proves once again that Samosa Records know this genre like no other label out there. If this isn’t in your record box on release day, then we simply can’t be friends.

Prince Fatty's 'Mercedes Benz' with Shniece and Horseman is a rub-a-dub version of a 1970s hit from Janice Joplin that now gets a very special and very limited edition pressing courtesy of Lovedub Limited. The A-side kicks off with the spine-tingling and epic original vocal before disappearing into a world of reverb.

At that point the dubby low end arrives and brings a different vibe to the stunning vocals but one that really makes a mark next to new bars from Horseman, police sirens and funky riffs. It's a tough sound system groove that is backed with a fine version and has been a firm fixture of Prince Fatty's record box for a while now.

The official new edition from this rare and great Afrobeat & Soukous masterpiece from Nigeria !

"Vibro Success Intercontinental Orchestra was an extraordinary group from the Central African Republic, founded by the sax player Rodolphe 'Beckers' Bekpa, also known as Master Békers, in the late 60's. The band achieved surprising domestic success after Beckers introduced the first drums to the Congolese Rumba rhythm. His innovation proved to be wildly popular so they were hired as the resident band of “ciel d’Afrique au Km5”, a night club in Bangui. The club was renowned as the temple of the Olympic Réal football team's fans and that visibility propelled them into becoming the official national orchestra.

1970 marked beginning of the band's international fame . Their fame spread beyond national borders until they became so popular that invitations began to arrive from nearby countries like Cameroon and Chad, the former of which the band would then tour that same year. The success of their performances prompted a further tour in 1972. According to Rodolphe Bépka, the audience enthusiasm Vibro encountered was bewildering. "We filled the old military stadium in Yaoundé in 1970, in 1972 the new Amadou Haïdjo stadium ... We are running with great success in the cities.” Their popularity was also growing in Chad, where they would tour several times through the early and mid 70's.

Towards the end of 1976, Vibro Success decided to take their music global and introduce Central African music to listeners worldwide. It worked. The turning point came in Nigeria. There the group achieved extraordinary success, with live performances followed by contracts with local labels like Scottie and Ben/Clover resulting in hit releases. Most of their LP's were originally released on this later label, Ben Limited, owned by Ben Okonkwo.

Ben, also known as Clover Sounds, brought a great number of the biggest bands from the country to market, bands like The Apostles, Akwassa,The Doves, Aktion, The Visitors, Mansion, Folk 77 and many others. Nearly all those groups started their recording careers in the label's studios based in the commercial heart of Aba, Abia State, one of Southeastern Nigeria’s largest cities. Aba at that time was a flourishing city, an important crossroads of people and culture with an intensive and active and cutting edge live music and nightlife.

But after that golden era the group began to lose its popularity. In the 1980's they returned to Bangui and resumed their old-time gigs in dance halls there - only to realize that their music didn't have the appeal it used to. Making matters worse, the domestic economic downturn accelerated, forcing the orchestra to slowly end its activities . Vibro Succès Intercontinental Orchestra disappeared at the end of the 80s and most of its members died in the 90s.

We discovered this LP during our first trip to Nigeria in 2016. While traveling in the east to meet up with a musician, we stopped for a night in a village. As often happens in Nigeria, information has a way of traveling fast. The news that a couple of white guys looking for records had arrived in the village the day before spread like light. When we awoke, we found a couple of elderly music lovers in the hall of our hotel with a little pile of records for sale. The nice cover of the “Drunkard” album was right on top!

At first we thought it was just another really good soukous album made by Vibro Success but after we heard “Drunkard” - we knew we had stumbled onto something very special. That was the “easy” part. Soon after, we had the idea of reissuing this LP and that was a bit harder. There were no credits on the cover and not much information about Vibro Succès. We started to ask to our friends to ask around, see if somebody knew them or the producer. That's when sadly we discovered that Ben Okonkwo had passed. So with no leads to follow and seemingly without any possibility of making progress on the matter, we "gave up" and returned to Italy.

A couple years later, in the summer of 2019, we found ourselves again in Aba. This time we had the chance to meet Nnamdi Okonkwo, the eldest son of the late Ben Okonkwo. After Nnamdi's mother and family agreed, he was glad to cooperate with us for the re-release of this special album."

Trailblazing instrumental synth pop experiments created to soundtrack Japan’s booming 1980s cartoon and comic industries. The brightly futuristic instrumentals on this collection reflect the mindset of composers and musicians who believed in a technological future where everything was possible.

In the late 1980s Japan experienced a brief but heady period where societal changes combined with new-found wealth to open up a world of possibilities. A huge influx of cash - artificially created by slashed interest rates after an agreement with the US to weaken the dollar relative to the yen - resulted in the inflation of real estate and stock market at a rapid pace. While the economic bubble it created was unprecedented and impossible to sustain, for a while money was in plentiful supply.

The musical genre City Pop reflected the aspirations of the country’s booming leisure class. Video games flourished with Nintendo's 1983 launch of their Family Computer (or FamiCom). Studio Ghibli was founded 1985 to later became one of the most famous and respected animation studios in the world, and Anime and Manga were established as major forms of entertainment for all generations of the Japanese public.

Music was no mere footnote to the anime and manga boom: the two forms of media often went hand in hand, and not simply through the presence of background melodies. With generous budgets available, even two-dimensional static manga comics could be released with an accompanying soundtrack of original music known as an ‘Image Album’.

Composer and arranger Kazuhiko Izu was one such beneficiary of this open budget approach. Written to accompany artist Katsuhiro Otomo’s manga comic Domu, the composer and arranger took advantage of the world-leading (and wallet-busting) Japanese synthesiser technology available at King Records’ fully equipped studio. Featured on this compilation, A3: Act 2 Scene 26 reflected the story’s sci fi themes with a blazingly futuristic yet warmly funky slice of synth pop that presents a joyful celebration of synthesisers and their seemingly endless possibilities.

Kan Ogasawara was another composer who made early mastery of the litany of synthesisers, drum machines and sequencers that had become available. Two tracks written to accompany the 1985 period manga Yume No Ishibumi are featured here; Honowo’s experimental electronic textures add spice to a jaunty electro pop melody that recalls the Rah band’s 1983 hit Messages From Stars; the jazz-tinged Utage rounds out Ogasawara’s shimmering synth textures with beautifully crafted backing from legendary musicians Yuji Toriyama (guitar), Pecker (percussion) and Jun Fukamachi (piano).

Before becoming one of the pioneers of Japanese Kankyo Ongaku (Ambient Music), Takashi Kokubo worked on the proto techno track Kiki (Jungle At Night). It was put together for the 1984 anime film Shonen Keniya (Kenya Boy) using some of the most expensive music technologies available at the time. This Africa-Inspired dance track offers a contemporary parallel to the early techno music that young Detroit based producers were then creating using cheap Japanese Roland drum machines and synthesisers.

This is the first compilation of Japanese anime and manga soundtracks curated by Kay Suzuki and Rintaro Sekizuka from Vinyl Delivery Service (a Tokyo based online record shop which also operates in East London's renowned wine and hifi shop Idle Moments). With a cover by artist Kazuki Takakura and two pages of liner notes, this vinyl only compilation of music never before released outside of Japan, captures a vital aural snapshot of an era whose forward-thinking sounds went hand in hand with cutting edge technology.

The Church’s Starfish is a dreamy, atmospheric masterpiece, guitar-driven alt-rock before alt-rock was a term. It includes the timeless smash hit “Under the Milky Way,” and “Reptile,” both First Wave staples.

Intervention's 2X 180-Gram LP, Artist-Approved Expanded Edition is 18-tracks total, including 8 amazing bonus tracks that were not on the original LP. These bonus tracks kick off with wonderful acoustic versions of “Under the Milky Way” and “Antenna.” The other tracks are so strong that it’s very apparent that Starfish could have been a potent double LP.

Starfish is 100% Analogue Mastered with the original repertoire cut directly from THE Original Master Tapes by Ryan K. Smith at Sterling Sound. Intervention's cut expands the original 10-song repertoire to three vinyl sides opening up the already massive soundstage and presenting this amazing recording with FULL bass extension and dynamic power. All of the 8 bonus tracks are 100% Analog Mastered from separate tape reels assembled by Ryan K. Smith.

The 180-gram LPs are ultra-quiet, pressed at boutique press, RTI in Camarillo, CA. Intervention replaces its stampers every 500 copies so every pressing is is a hot stamper.

Starfish’s album art was lovingly restored by Intervention's Art Director Tom Vadakan, and the original inner sleeve here is printed as the interior of a gorgeous gatefold jacket. The jacket is an “Old Style” gatefold made by wizards at Stoughton printing in LA. It's printed on heavy stock and film-laminated for superior colour depth, beauty and durability. The centre labels are printed by Dorado.



Mastering Notes
Starfish is 100% Analog Mastered from THE Original Master Tapes by Ryan K. Smith at Sterling Sound. Intervention's cut expands the original 10-song repertoire to three vinyl sides for maximum bass and dynamics. Even the bonus tracks were mastered 100% Analogue from tapes assembled by Ryan K. Smith.

All the music from the iconic Mr Benn cartoons, available for the only time. Recorded in two sessions - Olympic Studios in 1969, and Gateway Studios in 2004. All the music was written by Duncan Lamont, and featured some iconic session musicians including

Kenny Wheeler, Ray Swinfield and Duncan Lamont himself. Ray Swinfield used the same instruments as he used on The Beatles Penny Lane on these recordings. Mr Benn has an enduring popularity, and was shown on The BBC every year from 1971 - 1999, then on Nick Jnr till 2010. The sessions have ben fully remastered, and sound fabulous! It was due to Nick Jnr that a 14th Mr Benn cartoon was made, and the second session features re-working of some of the original tunes as well as lots of new tunes for Gladiator.

The packaging features an insert with Mr Benn dressed in all his adventure outfits, and a game to match all the souvenirs to each adventure. Not to be missed. A must for everybody that grew up with Mr Benn. All the sleeve notes have been written by The Mr Benn cartoon producer Clive Juster, and are full of insights from the recording sessions.