quête:old year

Rare 1986 Funk/Soul From Alabama.

Originally released as a private pressed cassette tape only.

First Time On Vinyl.

Released in collaboration with the Numero Group.

180g BLACK vinyl limited to 500 copies w/obi strip. Non-Returnable.

Armed with little more than his Peavey T-60 guitar and a Jumbo Fuzz pedal, Errol Stubbs and his bar-band cohorts cranked out a self-released tape of funked-up disco soul in 1986. With no label or distribution to speak of, Errol would simply put on his best suit and sell the cassettes by hand. The tape languished into obscurity…until now!

The story of Errol Stubbs begins in Birmingham, Alabama in 1959. The youngest of five, he was surrounded by music as a child–his aunt taught piano at Daniel Payne College while his older brother, Avery Beavers, was an accomplished jazz trumpeter. Under the guidance of Avery, Errol started playing trumpet at the age of nine, though he gravitated toward songwriting and quickly picked up the guitar. Inspired by blues greats the likes of Albert King, Buddy Guy, and Little Milton, 12-year-old Errol began mimicking the sounds that filled southern airwaves. As a teenager, he played at barbecues, fish fries, and dive bars across the Magic City. After a brief stint at Jefferson State studying music, Errol’s passion for songwriting beckoned him away from the classroom.

Stubbs bounced around bar bands before settling on a live lineup and saving enough dough to take his vision to the recording studio. Over the course of two days, his well-rehearsed band recorded Turning it Out mostly live to tape at the Sound Of Birmingham Studio. Located on Birmingham’s east side, the state-of-the-art studio kept the lights on by recording commercial jingles but was more than happy to open their doors to local talent.

Taking notes from guitar god Ernie Isley and funk legend Rick James, the resulting recordings are drenched in cosmic phaser-fuzz guitar work, slapping bass lines, and sexual disco innuendos. Big brother Avery lends a hand on Clavinet for “Sweat,” while studio owner/engineer Don Mosley adds a tasteful dose of Moog synthesizer across a handful of cuts.

Soon after the Sound Of Birmingham sessions, Errol released the private pressed EP “Dancin’ Fancy,” b/w “Spaced Out On Your Love,” the latter of which was featured on Numero Group’s 2019 compilation Visible and Invisible Persons Distributed In Space.

The seven-song cassette Turning It Out was sold in local record stores and from night club stages, but only a few copies made their way out of Birmingham.

Trout Mask Replica is a touchstone in the history of recorded music. The mix of dada absurdist blues and previously unexplored experimental avenues has long been praised as one of the greatest albums of all time. As so eloquently put by John Peel, "If there has been anything in the history of popular music which could be described as a work of art in a way that people who are involved in other areas of art would understand, then Trout Mask Replica is probably that work.” In full partnership with the Zappa Family Trust and to celebrate the relaunch of the seminal Bizarre label imprint, Third Man Records is proud to announce Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band's Trout Mask Replica. Out of print on vinyl for nearly ten years, this remaster was helmed by industry legend Bob Ludwig and cut by the estimable Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering. Utilizing crystalline-quality safety masters kept in the Zappa family vault for decades by the trustworthy Joe Travers, the audio here is positively glorious. Every last skronk breathes full life into the room. Every twisted guitar figure uncurls onto paths previously unpaved. Every last bark and howl shines resolute through the vast emptiness of your mind. Previous countless Trout Mask Replica repressings used scans of scans of scans of the cover image, but the original Cal Schenkel cover photo has been tracked down and reproduced here at its clearest — its resolution from the original release in 1969. If you’ve only ever seen a jpg online or fuzzy, smeared-looking CD issues from the 90’s, be prepared to be wowed by the fully engaging spectrum this iconic image casts. This 2xLP is pressed on heavyweight 180-gram black vinyl for that full-on frenetic feeling.

Third Man Records is delighted to present Michael Kiwanuka's contribution to the TMR Blue Series of releases. Kiwanuka, a 25 year-old UK native of Ugandan heritage, was raised in north London where he split his time between session work and local gigs. Along the way, having found footing as a solo artist, he was signed to Communion Records, then Polydor, and has since performed throughout Europe and North America too—touring in direct support of Adele. He made his way through Nashville this past summer with just enough pause and aplomb to commit these morsels to tape. The A-side "You've Got Nothing to Lose" is an original composition, featuring The Buzzards' Dominic Davis on upright bass and Cory Younts on piano, joined also by fellow balladeer Lillie Mae Rische on fiddle. Their contributions transform his work into a stone-cold groove with almost orchestral underpinnings, making it a fitting extension of their previous Blue Series. PRODUCED by Jack White (not collaborated with, so please fight your every urge to put "collaborator" in your headline!), the single also features a chilling rendition of Townes Van Zandt's infamous "Waitin' 'Round to Die" on the B-side, the perfect compliment to the timbre and mood of the A-side.

After taking time out from working together to focus on separate musical projects, maverick composer Alan Roberts (Jim Noir) and crowd-rousing vocalist Leonore Wheatley (International Teachers of Pop / The Soundcarriers) have re-joined forces to introduce Co-Pilot. Each the other’s wing person, they’re plotting an escape through Manchester’s claustrophobic grey skies with the pencil case colour of a hand-sewn multi-coloured primary school patchwork quilt. “We are both the creators in charge of navigating Co-Pilot’s overall sound which changes from track to track,” Leonore hints at what to expect. “There are about 6 different genres on one album, it's a pick n mix record!”


Happy in the haze of many boozy hours the album was recorded over just a few months whilst holed up and hanging out in Al’s city centre Dookstereo studio. The former Mill allowed the pair to relax, laugh and create without constraint. Armed with their original demos and vocal recordings from Al’s flat, they’d nip by the offie to pick up some Dutch courage before setting to work: building arrangements from a drum beat and basic chord pattern, the pair were so in tune they rarely spoke, allowing only the music to lead the way. “We’d communicate through nods of agreement or grimaces of dismay,” Leonore recalls. “Using the instruments with Al in production mode, we let the sound dictate the process whilst being drunk enough to follow it.”
The sound of life coming full circle after honing their separate crafts, Leonore had previously played keys and vocals in Jim Noir’s live band before moving on to front International Teachers of Pop for two critically lauded albums of joyous dancefloor filling bangers - their self-titled debut (2019) and Pop Gossip (2020). During that time Al would further expand Jim Noir’s universe with AM Jazz, which was celebrated as the no.1 album in Piccadilly Records’ ‘End of Year Review’ (2020), followed by the Deep View Blue E.P. (2021) cementing his status as one of Manchester’s finest songwriters.
As Leonore added her vocal magic to Al’s early demos of what would eventually become Co-Pilot’s ‘Spring Beach’ and a crooked original version of closing track ‘Corner House’, the vibe was prophetic “like the ending of Grease as Danny and Sandy take flight through the clouds”, letting their imaginations fly. The songs were the catalyst to spark a new phase of the pair working together, picking up where they left off. “From messing about with sounds during rehearsals in the very beginning it was always clear we liked the combination of sounds we made,” Leonore recalls.
Powered by a ‘try anything’ approach, Co-Pilot blends the musical DNA of what you’ve come to expect from each of the pair’s previous flight paths. “Whatever is switched on or nearby gets used. There's no 'correct' for us. If it sounds good, record it,” Al tells. United through typically turbulent wonky pop and lurking samples, whether culled from 70s TV themes or recreations of past and found sounds (see Al’s 60s tropicalia guitar on ‘Brick’, or the innocent ‘Swim to Sweden’ which opens with an ice cream van jingle Al recorded from his bedroom window) their process offers up a bucket load of Easter eggs. The album even features snippets from dearly departed pal Batfinks whilst ‘Motosaka’ is perhaps the most expensive 2-minutes on the album, featuring a Columbia Records Japan-cleared sample of Ryuichi Sakamoto’s ‘Thousand Knives’. Its synth squelches and Tom Tom Club funk also received the blessing of Haroumi Hosono, Godfather of Japanese Electronica, who agreed to being sampled in an original version of the song. “We just kept listening back and hitting gold,” Al recalls. “I was thinking ‘yeah, not sure what this is but I like it! We were buzzing with what we had made.”
But the sound wouldn’t come without self-imposed instrumental challenges. Thanks to an old mellotron sample on ‘Move To It,’ the moog riff and nautical accordion breaks on ‘Swim To Sweden’ and the 6/8 and 7/8 jaunt of ‘Brick’, time signatures were lovingly skewed to create Co-Pilot’s unique mood. “It was a bastard getting the drums right,” Leonore reveals, “but I like the wonkiness”. Levelling up through the lyrics, the words of smoky and evocative ‘She Walks In Beauty’ are based on a Lord Byron poem, with the sentiment of remembering Leonore’s late grandparents. “I wanted to see how much I could get away with just singing on one note, and how I could harmonically change everything else around it vocally,” she says. Elsewhere ‘Can You See’ was written from the perspective of a concerned sister to a brother which tells of keeping someone safe. “The lyrics are quite metaphorical about day-to-day happenings, people loved and lost. Others are rhythmic nonsense! It’s up to the listener to figure out what’s true.”
It’s clear from Al’s productive production techniques and Leonore’s knack for vocals and lyricism, Co-Pilot’s course is engineered by two aeronautically adept sonic storytellers. “We share a pretty similar sense of humour,” Al tells, “It is funny listening to this quite serious album but knowing we were giggling as we recorded it all. It’s been great to have another brain to bounce off.” Their destination might be unknown, but the clouds are about to part for a sound that is light years ahead. “You'll like at least one song,” Leonore suggests, “and hopefully them all.”

*REISSUED ON LIMITED EDITION BLUE VINYL*

London-based electronic songwriter Ryan Lee West aka Rival Consoles to release his most personal work to date in the form of a mini-album titled ‘Night Melody’ through Erased Tapes on 5th August 2016. During the release of his acclaimed full-length album ‘Howl’ and heavy touring in late 2015, Ryan came out of a 13-year long relationship and found himself making music throughout the winter months. The result of his efforts is a 34-minute, 6-track mini album ‘Night Melody’, born out of and shaped by long hours working into the night. It’s nocturnal in sound; mysterious in the way that the early hours so often are.

“I found myself, in a silent home, with the days getting dark very early. I’ve never before in my life been affected by the lack of light so much. I just remember it always being night time. I would either make music into the night, go out drinking with friends, or go to parties and dance into the early hours, every day, week after week, month after month, until eventually the days became brighter again.” The opening statement ‘Pattern of the North’ starts off with a collage of spliced synth melodies, inspired by anxiety that accompanies going home for Christmas. It’s followed by ‘Johannesburg’, an early sketch gradually filled out during his tour in South Africa.


“After playing it around some of the cities, I got a lot of inspiration to bring it to life and push it into something that really moves me. I think this is one of my most colourful pieces of music, with its driving rhythm and almost a homage to Terry Riley’s ‘In C’ towards the end, with a build of very simple, hypnotic parts. I especially love that for over five minutes the piece is tied to just one note. This makes the ending very dramatic, because all of a sudden there is this harmonic change.” ‘Lone’ started life around the time Ryan was working on his ‘Sonne’ EP in 2014. It’s the result of constant adjustments to find the perfect balance of fragility and assurance. As everything on the album, it’s a carefully considered, emotionally mature piece. “I think, as I get older, I need music to represent something and not just sound interesting, though of course the two are connected.” The closing statement ‘What Sorrow’ is a fitting end to the album, building from gentle melancholia to a joyous crescendo. It’s a sensibility that’s central to the record; joy and sorrow both find their counterpoints.


“This record is very personal to me and I hope it offers something for other people, as it helped me to make it and to listen to it. Almost every synth line was recorded intuitively, without perfection but with a lot of intention and expression. I’m not interested in making something sad or making something happy. I want music to be bittersweet, to be more complex, like life – containing moments of vibrant colour and hope, as much as darkness and sadness.” This summer will see Ryan follow on from his recent North American Tour with the appearance at many festivals including Lovebox, Secret Garden Party, La Route Du Rock, Sea Change and Tale of Us-curated Afterlife party at Space, Ibiza.

THE LEGENDARY 1980 ALBUM REMASTERED FROM THE ORIGINAL TAPES.
• 2LP SET WITH 12” X 12” BOOKLET.
• INLCUDES THE PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED ‘COMS 1-3 RDX SUITE’ (TAKEN FROM THE ‘COMMERCIAL
ALBUM’ MULTITRACK TAPES).
• PRODUCED WITH THE RESIDENTS AND THE CRYPTIC CORPORATION.
• THE SEVENTH IN A SERIES OF VINYL RE-ISSUES OF THE RESIDENTS’ CLASSIC 70S ALBUMS.
Formed in the early 1970s, The Residents have now been charting a unique path through the
musical landscape for 50 years. In celebration of that remarkable and unlikely anniversary, we
present an expanded vinyl edition of the classic 1980 LP ‘Commercial Album’.
Following almost a decade spent attempting to redefine what pop music could be, but with zero
hit singles to show for it, The Residents finally caved and produced their own pop music album as
the 80s dawned. But rather than have each song repeat the same minute of music three times as
per the traditional pop format, The Residents produced no less than 40 one-minute pop
masterpieces, and invited the listener to do the repeating bit themselves if they felt the need.
The resulting ‘Commercial Album’ both showcased the incredible depth of the group’s musical
palette and proved definitively that they could easily be as big as The Beatles if they wanted to.
Probably bigger, actually.
Featuring a breathless collage of toe-tappers, memorable melodies, instrumental experiments
and guest performers (Fred Frith, Chris Cutler and XTC’s Andy Partridge among them), the
record has since acquired legendary status among both fans and confused onlookers alike.
Alongside the original album, this 2LP edition presents the ‘COMS 1-3 RDX Suite’ – a brand new
interpretation of (almost) the entire album, produced by the group using the original multi-track
tapes – and a brand new sleevenote essay shedding new light on the album’s production.
‘Commercial Album’ is the latest in The Residents’ extensive ongoing pREServed series – expect
more throughout 2023 and 2024. Possibly even 2025 too, the way things are going.

Swami John Reis celebrates his 100th year in rock ’n’ roll with a brand new band and record! “Ride The Wild Night” is neither completely similar nor dissimilar to his previous bands (Hot Snakes, Night Marchers, The Sultans, Rocket From The Crypt, Drive Like Jehu, etc).

Yet the sound is immediately familiar and assuring (like an old friend you lost touch with that comes back into your life only to ask to borrow money).

The music is an amalgam of ’60s folk-punk, ’70s punk-punk and pre-Vietnam War rock ’n’ roll, filtered through the Reis’ unregistered, trademark sensibilities. “I wanted to celebrate some of my favorite rock n roll in its transitional periods. Flaming Groovies, Paul Revere and the Raiders, The Kinks, The Saints and others created some of the most exciting recordings while also connecting the musical past to its future. That really appeals to me”.

Although titled a “solo” record it is predominantly in name only. The record is built on stentorian bedrock of savage drumming by J. Sinclair K. of Hot Snakes and the pounding acoustic piano of Joe Guevara. Also adding their expertise to the mix is Chris Prescott (Pinback) Gar Wood (Hot Snakes), Glen Galloway (Truman’s Water), Jacob Turnbloom (Mrs. Magician) and Jordan Clark (PLOSIVS). With this backing, Swami John Reis finalizes it with his throaty basso and weaponizes the files with roaring electric guitars, rapid acoustic guitar strum and bass.

Hear his defiant, croak-howl in what might be his most autobiographical work yet. “All of these stories are real. They just might not be completely true.” Reis adds, ”The words come from what I overhear through my fence, what I see across the street, pictures I see in my head, experiences that I can’t forget or am grateful to remember.” If there is a loose theme throughout the record he offers, “Musically and lyrically there is a motivation to surrender to a restless and impulsive spirit that can only be satisfied by breaking things. Creating rubble for better or worse. “

Music critics and fans alike have long referred to Reis’s signature voice as “The Velvet Yawn” and never has that description been more apt. “Ride The Wild Night” was recorded by Reis at City Of Refuge (Night Marchers, Black Lips, The Spits) and mixed by Ben Moore (Hot Snakes, Diamanda Galas) at Singing Serpent.

The drowsiest and earliest inklings of the slowcore movement can be traced to Codeine’s 1991 debut. Combining the Louisville scene’s relaxed tempo with doom metal’s distorted slurry, the album is a
depressing masterpiece of hushed vocals, noisy guitar and punishing drums.

The drowsiest and earliest inklings of the slowcore movement can be traced to Codeine’s 1991 debut. Combining the Louisville scene’s relaxed tempo with doom metal’s distorted slurry, the album is a
depressing masterpiece of hushed vocals, noisy guitar and punishing drums.

* Debut LP from NYC Garage Rockers * Produced by Nick Zinner from Yeah Yeah Yeahs! Miranda and The Beat are a Rock and Roll band, with all that the term might entail. Drawing from the traditional rock music, as performed by the likes of The Dirt Bombs, The B-52's, MC5, and Ronnie Spector, Miranda and The Beat operate from a clear eyed appreciation of the greats and a healthy, barn-burning disregard for tropes or traditionalist limitations. Garage, soul, punk, classic rock_ pick your poison; the band has plenty to spare. Arriving in New York City in 2018, the band have, through songwriting and performance, proved themselves to be both an essential spark and spearhead to a scene of new blood rockers bringing a much needed renewal of energy to the New York City (garage, rock, whatever) scene. Originally a duo of 21 year old guitarist/vocalist Miranda Zipse and 21 year old drummer Kim "The Beat" Sollecito, the pair quickly added a full band of Kate Gutwald on bass and Dylan Fernadez on organ and soon became known for their tireless, wheel-on-fire live sets driven by Miranda's captivating stage presence, vocal prowess, and her pyrotechnic (but never indulgent!), melodically slashing guitar work. Their live reputation (and a reputation for being neither pushovers nor scumbags) led to collaborations with such childhood idols as The Mystery Lights and Nick Zinner of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Soon there was the release of their 7" single Such A Fool, on Jack White's Third Man Records and an extensive North American tour supporting The King Khan and BBQ show. One pandemic later, between days/nights spent sweating out piss, vinegar, and trackloads of tears in the studio, and a rigorous, borderline ridiculous, rehearsal schedule, Miranda and The Beat are, at this juncture, practically monstrous in both sound and vision, and ready to meet the world.

Bush Tetras have made punk music at the fringes for over four decades. Flashes of reggae, bursts of noise, guitars that rattle, shake and snake, born out of a gutter behind CBGBs. Over the years they have respawned time and time again, contorting their sound, tweaking the vision, remaining singular and indispensable. In the late 2010s the group-Pat Place, Cynthia Sley, and Dee Pop-reformed again, releasing an EP, Take the Fall, in 2018. It was their first offering of new music in over a decade. A few years later in, 2021, they released a career spanning box set called Rhythm and Paranoia. The New York Times called the box set an artifact that "proves for decades that Bush Tetras continued to evolve in surprising yet intuitive directions." Around the same time, the band began working on a full length record, writing sessions during the pandemic over Zoom. Right before the release of the box set, beloved drummer Dee Pop passed away. Determined to complete the record to honor his memory, the Tetras went into the studio to finish what they'd started, once the timing was right. They brought in a new drummer, Sonic Youth's Steve Shelley, who also served as producer. Enter They Live in My Head. The band's 3rd official LP (a misleading fact when viewed along - side a catalog as expansive as it is influential), They Live in My Head is a collection of songs that sometimes reflect on the past and sometimes reckon with our current reality. From "Ghosts of People," on which Pat Place's legendary guitar meanders through closed doors and portals, to the scorching "2020 Vision," a matter- of-fact call to arms to get on the streets and get something done, the album addresses new and old, in both abstract and specific terms. But whether they're looking forward or backward, Bush Tetras have always been a political band, a band that calls out all kinds of bullshit. And, in that sense, They Live in My Head is absolutely no exception.

Bush Tetras have made punk music at the fringes for over four decades. Flashes of reggae, bursts of noise, guitars that rattle, shake and snake, born out of a gutter behind CBGBs. Over the years they have respawned time and time again, contorting their sound, tweaking the vision, remaining singular and indispensable. In the late 2010s the group-Pat Place, Cynthia Sley, and Dee Pop-reformed again, releasing an EP, Take the Fall, in 2018. It was their first offering of new music in over a decade. A few years later in, 2021, they released a career spanning box set called Rhythm and Paranoia. The New York Times called the box set an artifact that "proves for decades that Bush Tetras continued to evolve in surprising yet intuitive directions." Around the same time, the band began working on a full length record, writing sessions during the pandemic over Zoom. Right before the release of the box set, beloved drummer Dee Pop passed away. Determined to complete the record to honor his memory, the Tetras went into the studio to finish what they'd started, once the timing was right. They brought in a new drummer, Sonic Youth's Steve Shelley, who also served as producer. Enter They Live in My Head. The band's 3rd official LP (a misleading fact when viewed along - side a catalog as expansive as it is influential), They Live in My Head is a collection of songs that sometimes reflect on the past and sometimes reckon with our current reality. From "Ghosts of People," on which Pat Place's legendary guitar meanders through closed doors and portals, to the scorching "2020 Vision," a matter- of-fact call to arms to get on the streets and get something done, the album addresses new and old, in both abstract and specific terms. But whether they're looking forward or backward, Bush Tetras have always been a political band, a band that calls out all kinds of bullshit. And, in that sense, They Live in My Head is absolutely no exception.

Colloboh (a portmanteau of Collins Oboh) is a Nigerian-born, Los Angeles-based experimental producer and composer who has spent the past several years cultivating genre-spanning modular wizardry. A self-taught synthesist, Colloboh’s DIY recording diaries (still archived on Instagram) quickly amassed a dedicated online following, eventually catching the eye of Leaving Records founder, MatthewDavid, who wasted no time tapping the then-twenty-six-year-old to perform at the monthly Leaving showcase, Listen to Music Outside In The Daylight Under a Tree. In 2021, Colloboh permanently relocated to Los Angeles from Baltimore, dedicating himself to music full-time, and quickly becoming a fixture of the city’s vibrant experimental scene. Whereas Colloboh’s debut EP Entity Relation (released that same year) dove headlong into club beats, Saana Sahel, out May 5th 2023 on Leaving Records, showcases the breadth of the fledgeling composer’s ambitions. The EP’s title, Saana Sahel, refers to a land of Colloboh’s pure imagining—an untouched utopia spanning lush coastlines and sweeping deserts. Beginning with the stately “Acid Sunrise” (like a Phillip Glass rave comedown), the EP functions as an atlas of sorts, mapping the region’s varied environments and moods. And varied indeed—across these six tracks there lie ecstatic jazz freakouts, samba shuffles, guest vocals from (seemingly) the very Seraphim, and interpolations of Debussy and Gabriel Faure. The breadth of sounds conjured here is a testament not only to Colloboh’s eclectic roster of influences, but also the period of deep and challenging personal growth that immediately preceded the EP’s composition. The construction of Saana Sahel (both the imagined locale and the release) served as a spiritual lode star, a place to which Colloboh could retreat for energetic restoration. Ever-generous, Colloboh has charted these expeditions for us in song, and now we may all draw sustenance and inspiration from the wellsprings of this rich land.

Prince’s debut album, released in April 1978, marked the arrival of a heavyweight talent on the music scene. At just 18 years old, Prince Rogers Nelson wrote, performed, arranged and produced the entire album (with the exception of a co-write on single “Soft And Wet”).

-15 year anniversary and first time on vinyl with brand new artwork, including previously unseen pieces from the Tame One archive.

-Remixed and remastered audio for a fresh listening experience. -Featuring guest appearances from Sean Price and Del Tha Funky Homosapien - One half of legendary graffiti rap group The Artifacts. -140 gram black vinyl, matte flood jacket with spot uv, 12x12 double sided insert with black poly lined inner sleeves. Rough, rugged and raw. Nothing better describes one's listening experience when they first heard Tame One & Parallel Thoughts, “Ol Jersey Bastard”. It was 15 years ago when Tame One came to "The Paradigm", the recording studio of Freehold's own Parallel Thought. One session turned into two, then quickly turned into three, resulting in a twice-weekly recording ritual that spanned three years. This ritual would give birth not only to this album, but three (Acid Tab Vocab & Parallel Uni-Verses w/ Del Tha Funky Homosapien) instilling a lifelong creative partnership. But let's focus on "Ol Jersey Bastard," Tame One's homage to the almighty and original OL Dirty Bastard. It was not the cleanest record to listen to, but it was true to Tame One's style and vision. He was not constrained by working with a group or having to answer to a label. As a side note, Amalgam Digital, the joke of a label who originally released this album wouldn't let us follow through with our original artwork concept. So the new cover and layout created by close friend Michael Interrante is Tame’s original concept. We also were able to include original scans of unseen artwork, tags & lyrics from Tames archive. This was unfiltered raw hip-hop, showcasing Tame One's unparalleled ability on the mic. Sometimes that called for no hook or maybe a 54 bar verse, traditional song structures were out the window. That being said, coming back to this album all these years later as producers, we wanted to elevate the album's listening experience. We cleaned up the mixes, so you might notice Tame sounds a little clearer, or those beats might knock a bit louder. It was what was needed to further elevate the music while not compromising our and Tame’s vision. Further demonstrating that music is a living, breathing piece of art. Always able to evolve. We hope you enjoy it!

Ced Gee & Kool Keith, both members of the legendary Ultramagnetic MC's, regroup for a new Ultramagnetic MC's record. The resurgence of classic Hip hop moves strong into 2022 with new release from Ultramagnetic MC's "Kool Keith x Ced Gee." Arising from the Boogie Down Bronx in the mid-'80s as a far-flung hip hop trio with a heap of new ideas to try out, Ultramagnetics Kool Keith, Ced Gee, and DJ Moe Love occupy something of a singular place in the old-school pantheon. Combining funk-heavy tracks with jeep-rocking beats and obscure lyrical references, Ultramagnetic MCs have a list of firsts to their credit: the first rap group to employ a sampler as an instrument, the first to feature extensive use of live instrumentation, the first to feature a former psychiatric patient (Kool Keith) on the mic. Early singles like "Something Else" and "Space Groove" were block-party staples and created waves in the underground, eventually landing the group on the disco-dominated Next Plateau label, where they released their underappreciated debut. The following years found the group shuffling from label to label, releasing albums on Mercury and Wild Pitch before splitting to pursue various projects. This special event will feature Kool Keith and Ced Gee performing classic Ultramagnetic MCs songs and sharing stories and history about the making of their iconoclastic catalogue.

First impressions matter. Especially on a debut album. Time and attention-strapped listeners size up an artist within a song or two, then move on or delve in further. Fortunately, it only takes Margo Price about twenty-eight seconds to convince you that you’re hearing the arrival of a singular new talent. “Hands of Time,” the opener on Midwest Farmer’s Daughter, is an invitation, a mission statement and a starkly poetic summary of the 32-year old singer’s life, all in one knockout, self-penned punch. Easing in over a groove of sidestick, bass and atmospheric guitar, Price sings, “When I rolled out of town on the unpaved road, I was fifty-seven dollars from bein’ broke . . .” It has the feel of the first line of a great novel or opening scene in a classic film. There’s an expectancy, a brewing excitement. And as the song builds, strings rising around her, Price recalls hardships and heartaches – the loss of her family’s farm, the death of her child, problems with men and the bottle. There is no self-pity or over-emoting. Her voice has that alluring mix of vulnerability and resilience that was once the province of Loretta and Dolly. It is a tour-de-force performance that is vivid, deeply moving and all true. From the honky tonk comeuppance of “About To Find Out,” to the rockabilly-charged “This Town Gets Around” to the weekend twang of “Hurtin’ (On The Bottle)”, Price adds fresh twists to classic Nashville country, with a sound that could’ve made hits in any decade. Meanwhile, the hard-hitting blues grooves of “Four Years of Chances” and “Tennessee Song” push the boundaries further west to Memphis (the album was recorded at the legendary Sun Studio). • Hometown: Nashville • Recorded at Sun Studios

After the release of "3.3 magnitude" and the remixes of the single "1.3 HDG" unveiled last February, H3 Records continues its musical exploration between rap and electronic music with a new release, "Music 4 Tesla".

This time, rapper Kaba joins forces with producer Hyas and unveils a slender and festive 6-track track, true to the label's identity.

Hyas started producing music in 2017 and released his first projects completely independently. Today, he has more than twenty releases on labels such as 99CTS and Casa Voyager. The Lyon native, resident of Le Sucre and Rinse FM, has a string of dates and festivals in France and abroad and founded his own label Bardouin Music in 2020.

For his part, Kaba has released three singles this year, including two featuring Karmen (formerly Tortoz) and Samy Ceezy, and a 10-track "Long Story Short", a joint project with the young beatmaker Keno.

The connection between the two artists was very natural: the rapper's ambitions and Hyas' influences complemented each other and led to a first draft of tracks, convincing enough to form the basis of a joint project. With influences from UK Garage, Acid House, Ghetto House and 2step, "Music 4 Tesla" is a high-flying, catchy, danceable, warm and sunny project. Throughout the tracks, Kaba borrows incisive old school flows (like on "4daMob") but also "DMV" (overlap flows where the phrases overlap like on "Original G") and enriches the musical universe of the project, which carries in it this fever of H3 Records' sounds.

Between pervasive house influences and bouncy bass, borrowed from funk sounds, "Music 4 Tesla" depicts throughout its 20 minutes a captivating gradation of festive ambiences, and proves again that the marriage of rap and house is definitely made to last.

NSRTAPE005Promo - Memories Mixtape Live in Hoorn, 1995.Never Sleeps charity tape series returns with hardcore legend DJ Promo and this one is straight from the heart.Recorded in Hoorn in the summer of 1995, it circumnavigates the youthful punk testosterone fueled teenage years of this legendary selector and features quickfire vinyl only blends + rare Gabber from that era.50 tapes are beautifully hand wrapped after printing on old 90's Dutch rave magazines pages and lovingly filled with a limited edition posterAll proceeds go to child cancer foundation Kika -kika.nl

Sometime in 1984, San Diego native Anthony "Antone" Williams found himself sitting alone at Pure Sound Studios, tinkering around with a drum machine. Eventually he landed on a "sinister groove" which would lay the propulsive foundation for his hauntingly melodic tour de force, "Windows of My Mind." Released the following year as a seven-inch single on his own Unity Records label, the song features Antone's otherworldly production. Some have referred to the result as "post punk soul," but we'll let you be the judge.

Coming up in San Diego in the Seventies, part of an extensive musical family, Antone's creative fuse was lit by the sounds of Stevie Wonder, Earth Wind & Fire, and the Jackson 5.. At the age of 13, he was performing in area clubs, making a name for himself. By age 22, he had opened his own recording studio, Pure Sound. The influence of Sly and the Family Stone was decisive for Antone, who took to wearing a star-shaped gold necklace, not unlike the one famously worn by Stone on his epochal 1975 LP High on You.

"Windows of My Mind" was Antone & The Underworld's sole release. Limited to 500 copies and handed out as a promotional tool for a purported album of the same name, the single didn't get much traction. (A story as old as time.) Perhaps the music was ahead of its time and Antone's visionary message will finally sink in 2023. "I didn't want to make a song like Shake Your Booty", he says now. And yet we think that this long-lost record with its "sinister groove" is eminently danceable, almost 40 years later. We challenge you to take a listen to this home-grown 1985 7", remastered directly from the original tape, and make an assessment of your own.

Analog Africa is back with another of its eye-opening and mind-altering trips into musical wonderment here as the 20+ year-old label digs deep into the Andean city of Quito. It's the Ecuadorian capital and home to the music which maykes up this vital collection and which owes so much to Polibio Mayorga.

He spent much of his musical career trying to - and succeeding in - modernise the ancient rhythms of his region, namely Huaynito, Sanjuanito and Albazo. He did so with cutting-edge - at the time - electronic equipment and a trusty Moog and the result of his effort was that he is now regarded as a pioneer of tropical psychedelia. Dig in deep to hear how that happened across these superb 16 sounds.

Radio Slave teams up with Michael Love Michael and returns to his roots with ‘Can’t Get You’ this July.

Radio Slave revisits Kylie Minogue’s ‘Can’t Get You Out Of My Head’, the track that originally launched his production career in 2001, with US-based writer, editor, and musician Michael Love Michael on vocals.
“When I got the call that Pete Tong was going to play my re-edit of ‘Can’t Get You Of My Head’, I had to quickly invent a name for the project, literally on the spot just a few hours before Pete went live on BBC Radio One. On that night, the Radio Slave name was born.

It was never officially released, but I did get a copy of the stems and was invited to sit in the studio with the writer Rob Davis for the making of the infamous ‘Blue Monday’ mashup, which Kylie would go onto perform at the Brit Awards in 2002. It was an exciting time in my career, and this song would be the beginning of a project that’s now over 20 years old” - Radio Slave

The refreshed packaged comes with a variety of club-ready mixes, paying homage to the origins of Matt Edwards’ longest running project while looking firmly into the future. Michael Love Michael’s enthralling vocal performance takes centre stage across the mixes, while variations in Radio Slave’s impeccable production inject undeniable groove and propulsive energy throughout.

In 1983 there came a sound from the depths of the Brazilian rainforest that was primal, ground-breaking, and completely ahead of its time. The roaring of amplifiers and the beating of drums was the sound of Max and Iggor Cavalera creating their debut cult-classics 'MORBID VISIONS' and 'BESTIAL DEVASTATION', and now it seems that after many years, the Cavalera brothers will be returning to their raw upstarts with a full re-recording of these beloved yet obscure albums.
When 'MORBID VISIONS' and 'BESTIAL DEVASTATION" were first spawned it was done in ramshackle conditions in Belo Horizonte, where the duo grew up. Max and Iggor were 14 and 13 years old during the original recording, and they had all the tenacity and energy of a pack of wild dogs. Only, their sound was not quite refined at that time, their adolescence bled through on those early records. It is well known that Max's guitars were completely out of tune on those sessions, and Iggor's drums often swung around tempos crazily. There's an air of youth and passion that could only be achieved by two teenagers that wanted to shock the world. Four decades later and it is plain to see that they certainly did gather the world's attention.
Despite the production being rough around the edges and the band still carving out their direction, there was a noticeable level of craftsmanship to the song structures and a clear indication that given their desire to thrash like maniacs, these kids from Brazil were going to tear the place up night after night. These albums still hold a dark, mystic and at times eerie quality to them that many have come to love over the years. For some, the music does not have to be delivered with perfect technical precision, the spastic live delivery is something to be cherished, and even with their guitars out of tune, they played like the gates of hell were opening. The crossroads of a shamanistic spiritual summoning at a back-alley metal show in downtown Belo Horizonte.
It is a task of heavy magnitude to try and cross the gap between the accomplished artists that they are today to the scrappy boys that they were when they first wrote these songs, but the duo have executed the performances flawlessly. The perfect bridge between the unbridled energy of the original sessions and the high-quality sound of a 21st century production. It is truly astounding to hear Max once again growl like a monster during "Troops Of Doom" and riff at insane speeds through "War" and "Crucifixion". Iggor's barbaric drumming on "Anti-Christ" is like the galloping hooves of a death-rider. Accompanied by bassist Igor Amadeus Cavalera (HEALING MAGIC, GO AHEAD AND DIE) and lead guitarist Daniel Gonzales (POSSESSED, GRUESOME) the quartet is a force to be reckoned with.
How this re-recording attained such a familiar tenacity is almost a mystery, like some spell that brought these albums back from the grave. Within the first few beats you can hear that the Cavalera’s have lost no momentum, attacking the songs at maximum speed and ferocity. In fact, it seems that the brothers have only empowered their connection through music over the decades. You can feel the spark that those two create, a dynamic sound rich with subtleties and ear-grabbing hooks. As Iggor counts in each song with his drumsticks, and Max's guitar feedbacks loudly as he approaches the microphone, there is palpable apprehension. It is apparent that when these two icons get together to play, they are going to electrify the room with their presence.
Few have had the incredible careers that Max and Iggor have achieved through their music. Even fewer had faith in the young boys that wrote 'MORBID VISIONS' and "BESTIAL DEVASTATION' all those years ago. Yet here they still stand ripping through their earliest works with decades of experience under their belts. For them, it is a breath of fresh air to finally give these songs the desired production that they deserve. They both feel that the fans also deserve a fresh look at these albums, a chance to appreciate them in a completely new light.
From start to finish 'MORBID VISIONS" and "BESTIAL DEVASTATION" are a torrential whirlwind of riffs, beats, and screams. A blast from the past that is sure to take every last listener back to the raucous live shows of the eighties.
Mysterious clouds form above an old cathedral, the summoning of dark magic is upon us, and the troops of doom march forth to announce the arrival of 'CAVALERA'!

This new album compiles several songs made in the years following Black To Comm's classic "Alphabet 1968" album. Originally released on the seminal Type label in 2009 (and to be reissued on Cellule 75 this year) "Alphabet 1968" combined the sound of vintage shellac and vinyl loops with broken electronics and field recordings, the press release mentioning disparate influences "ranging from Moondog to Basic Channel by way of Bernard Herrmann". In a beautiful one-page review in The Wire magazine (later reprinted in his book Ghosts Of My Life) Mark Fisher compared Richter's music to JF Sebastian’s miniature automata in Blade Runner ("with their bizarre mixture of the clockwork and the computerised, the antique and the ultramodern, the playful and the sinister"), ETA Hoffmann's inventor-magicians and Auguste Villiers de l'Isle-Adam's 1886 tale of Thomas Edison's (fictitious) construction of an artificial human.

Now titled "Coh Bâle" (inspired by a strange dream) these recordings were supposed to become a follow-up to said album but for reasons unknown it never materialized and the album seemed forever lost. At the time Richter started to dive deeper into several strains of (so-called) world music aka the folk music of Southeast Asia and Eastern Europe as well as liturgical and medieval music, the Kraut-Electronica of Harmonia and several certain Mediterranean experimentalists from the 1980's who started to merge their mostly electronic and field recording based compositions with traditional musics from all over the world by way of new sampling technology.

Many of the songs for the album were recorded while travelling and at various residencies around Europe: a detuned piano in a Thessaloniki basement (Richter played at a children's birthday party there), vintage synthesizers in the GRM studios in Paris, decaying acoustic instruments found in an old Black Forest mansion, childrens' voices at a workshop in Karlsruhe's ZKM Institute; then mixed on headphones in the ICE trains running between these places and his hometown Hamburg.

"Coh Bâle" is taking inspirations from old Nonesuch Explorer and Ocora LP's, Crammed Records, 80s Mediterranean Ambient (Nuno Canavarro, Roberto Musci) combined with the DIY spirit of Deux Filles and Flaming Tunes and the playfulness of Asa Chang & Junray. The songs are both mysterious and transparent, intricate and frugal, vibrant and patient. One of the album's unexpected climaxes is a gorgeous (artificial) berimbau version of the Welsh traditional "Iechyd o Gylch".

No two songs feature the same instrumentation and many acoustic sources (pianos, flutes, wood percussion, viola, tablas, autoharp) were disassembled and later coalesced into new configurations or used as virtual instruments; later combined with samples, field recordings, electronics and (on a few tracks) autotuned vocals reminding of recent works by the likes of Claire Rousay or More Eaze.

We had to wait for a worldwide pandemic for Richter to dig deep into the vaults and finally bring these recordings to light. This is the 2nd release from his archives after the "Diode, Triode" LP which presented Musique Concrète/Acousmatic recordings made at INA/GRM and ZKM. Another massive Double-CD (MM∞XX Vol. 1 & 2) was released last year featuring collaborations with 33 artists such as Andrew Pekler, Richard Youngs, Eric Chenaux, Maja Ratkje, Radwan Ghazi Moumneh of Jerusalem In my Heart, GRM boss François Bonnet (Kassel Jaeger), Felix Kubin, Timo van Luijk (In Camera, Af Ursin), Luke Fowler and many others, showing Richter's versatility and his willingness to reinvent himself for every new release.

Marc Richter is widely known under his Black To Comm moniker, having released (at least) 12 albums under this alias in the last 20 years. He is currently signed to the Thrill Jockey label. Richter composes soundtracks for film and has worked with visual artists such as Mike Kelley and Ho Tzu Nyen. He also records as Jemh Circs and Mouchoir Étanche for his own Cellule 75 label (named in tribute to the late Luc Ferrari).

S Transporter is Izaak S and Ryan Spencer, a pan-American duo of exact origins unknown. With roots spanning from Detroit to San Francisco, the project is somewhere around four years old, though no one remembers exactly when it started. The songs were initially demoed in Ryan's bedroom and promptly forgotten about in the chaotic whirl of both members’ efforts in other music projects, DJing, and party-throwing ventures until Ryan played them at his weekly, Monday Is The New Monday (co-founded with PGS' Ben & Zach). Immediately, the songs burst with new life into our ears, and we excitedly requested to hear more. In a tale every creative can relate to, Ryan simply didn't know if they were any good. We found them extraordinary.

What followed were several months of additional recording sessions in a collective effort to finalize the tracks, done at Ryan's apartment in Southwest Detroit, Izaak's in SF, and the Portage Garage in Hamtramck. Bay area DIY underground luminary Anya Ghiorzi joined the group and contributed her vocal talents to the songs, which began to exhibit a sound representative of the genre-collisions featured at MITNM– from krautrock and boogie to trance, acid, and house– in a way other PGS releases have hinted at, but have not fully expressed until now.

S Transporter is the name of the EP, the project, and all four songs. A maximalist sound with a minimalist presentation, naming the songs - so many years after their inception - would, perhaps, take away from the feeling that struck all three of us the first time we heard them on a club-grade sound system.

Izaak S and Anya Ghiorzi are San Francisco residents, musicians, and DJs in the Loveshadow dance collective.

Ryan Spencer is a Detroit resident, DJ, co-founder of Monday Is The New Monday, and is a member of Freakish Pleasures.

"S Transporter 1"
Uptempo, backspin-laden electro/acid with a winding 303 bassline that reveals itself slowly over the pulsing breakbeat backbone. Immersive, haunting and enchanting.

"S Transporter 2"
Downtempo electro. Slap bass. Heavy boogie. Sensual vocals reminiscent of early Chris N Cosey carry you through this industrial funk heater. Heavy synth lines and rhythmic grooving guitar that is club-ready for dance floors of all kinds.

"S Transporter 3"
A fast paced, percussion forward adventure with balaphone melodies and bending synth pads. Spoken words guide the journey, arriving at a movement inducing Juno ascension that dances into a calm end.

"S Transporter 4"
Encompassing the seemingly disjointed, individualistic styles of S Transporter 1-3, ‘4’ combines elements of the entire release into one final gesture. ‘4’ could be Byrne/Eno ("Regiment"), but it's something else - the product of decades of dance music history, distilled by two musicians & DJs into one song.

credits
releases July 19, 2019

PGS 010
S Transporter
"S Transporter"
EP

2015-2019
Written, Mixed and Produced by Izaak S & Ryan Spencer
Vocals by Anya
Bass on “2” by Lucas De Leon Turner
Percussion & additional production on "3" by Shigeto
Percussion on “3” by Julian Spradlin

Mastered by Josh Bonati at Bonati Mastering
Recorded at Izaak's apartment in San Francisco, Ryan's apartment in Southwest Detroit and the Portage Garage
Records Pressed at Archer Record Pressing, Detroit, MI
Design by Will
MMXVIX

GRAMMY NOMINATED AFRO-FUSION SINGER, SONGWRITER, AND PERFORMING ARTISTE The Nigerian singer-songwriter, Burna Boy, was born Damini Ogulu on the 2nd of July, 1991 in Port Harcourt city, Nigeria to Bosede and Samuel Ogulu and he is the only son and eldest of three children.

He started producing music when he was ten years old. After graduating from college, Burna relocated to London to attend university. After two years, he dropped out and moved back to Nigeria to pursue his passion. Coming from a family where music was loved but where a greater premium was placed on education, he spent most of his summer holidays in the UK and in language immersion summer camps in France, Togo and Cote d'Ivoire, before finally moving to the UK where he picked up the Brixton Patois accents which have become a signature in his music.

Young Damini attended Montessori International primary school in Port Harcourt (1993-2002) and Corona Secondary School, Lagos (2002-2008). It has always been music for Burna Boy as observed by his mum when he was still a teenager. She recounts that he was always hanging around his Grandfather, listening to classical music; little wonder his role model later became the man his grandfather managed, Fela Anikulapo Kuti.

His quest for knowledge took him outside the shores of Nigeria to the United Kingdom to study Media Technology at the University of Sussex (2008–2009) and Oxford Brookes University (2009–2010) to study Media Communications and Culture.

Thereafter, he did a one-year internship with Rhythm 93.7 FM Port Harcourt before officially launching his professional music career when he was signed on to Aristocrat records - prompting a permanent relocation to Lagos.

Burna Boy has released a series of EPs, singles, mixtapes, and albums including 2018’s extraordinary “Outside”. The award-winning collection led to Burna’s U.S breakthrough, debuting at #3 on Billboard’s “Reggae Albums” chart, which was partly fueled by the blockbuster single/video, “Ye”. His most recent album, “African Giant”, released in July 2019 has garnered praise from both Nigerian and international media.

Furthermore, the “African Giant” album got nominated for the 62nd Annual Grammy Award in the Best World Album category. Burna is among the contemporary African music’s brightest stars and also the pioneer of an enigmatic genre he simply dubs “Afro-fusion”. The gifted singer-songwriter got featured on American songstress Beyonce's curated Lion King soundtrack, “The Gift”. He also recently took home the 2019 BET Best International Act Award and 2019 MTV Europe Music Award for “Best African Act”.

Five years after the release of ‘Luyando’, Zimbabwe’s most celebrated music export returns with their long-awaited follow-up album ‘Tusona: Tracings in the Sand’. The six musicians from Victoria Falls are refining their unique sound: infectious Afro grooves deeply connected to Zimbabwe’s cultural DNA. ‘Tusana’ is their most danceable album to date, a DIY production recorded in Zimbabwe. It features horns by Ghanaian highlife outfit Santrofi.

Every Sunday, there is a gathering in the sweltering heat on grounds of an old local beer hall in the Chinotimba township in Mosi-o-Tunya (Victoria Falls). Entertainment is provided by various traditional groups including the Luvale Makisi masquerade. It is a day full of singing, drumming, dancing and storytelling. Mokoomba’s lead vocalist Mathias Muzaza can often be found here singing with a voice both soaring and vulnerable. In the course of the afternoon the other band members - guitarist Trustworth Samende, bass player Abundance Mutori, keyboard player Phathisani Moyo, percussionist Miti Mugande and drummer Ndaba Coster Moyo - often join in with singing. The drum driven song “Bakalubale” featured on their new album invites you to this gathering.

Mokoomba recorded ‘Tusona: Tracings in the Sand’, the follow-up album to ‘Luyando’ (2017, Outhere), in Zimbabwe during the pandemic. Instead of working with outside producers like Manou Gallo or Steve Dyer as they have in the past, this album was entirely recorded in a DIY fashion by Mokoomba. The collective from Zimbabwe put in all the experiences made over the previous years and have forged their music into a unique Zimbabwean sound. On popular demand from their fans in Zimbabwe they have even re-recorded three songs from their last more acoustic album ‘Luyando’ turning them into dancehall bangers (featured on the CD and digital versions of the album). In short, this album is more Mokoomba than any of the ones before.

On the album Mokoomba are singing about love, loss, courage in a changing society. The first single “Nzara Hapana” means “no money” in Shona. The song talks about a man who wants to ensure the future of his wife and family and is trying to protect them against the greed of his relatives. The danceable up-tempo song “Nyansola” praises the goddess of harvest and asks her for rain. “Makisi” is sung in Luvale. It celebrates the beauty of the initiation ceremony for which the whole community comes together. “Manina” is a song about losing a loved one. It was written during the pandemic and features the young singer Ulethu from Harare. Mokoomba sing in many different local languages. Their songs are in Tonga, Luvale, Shona, Nyanja and even Lingala used in “Makolo” when they team up with Congolese singer Desolo B. (The album also features horns by Nobert Wonkyi Arthur (trumpet), Bernard Gyamfi (trombone) and Emmanuel Arthur (sax) from Ghanaian highlife outfit Santrofi.)

The title of the album is a nod towards their immense respect for tradition. ‘Tusona’ refers to an ancient system of signs and symbols, drawn in the sand and used for instruction during initiation ceremonies by the Luvale in Southern Africa. Another important part of the Mukanda initiation ceremony is the incredible Makisi masquerade. Since 2008 the Makisi dances are on the UNESCO list of intangible heritage. The Makisi are masked characters, representing the spirit of deceased ancestors. During the yearly initiation ceremony the Makisi return to the living world to teach the young children to become responsible adults among the Lubale people of Southern Africa. In the last decade the interest - especially among the young people – has faded and the Makisi dances have nearly died out.

“Our inspiration comes from these gatherings”, Trustworth Samende explains, “from listening to and playing pure traditional music with everyone in the township. We then add influences from music that we listened to in our homes growing up and the sounds we experience travelling around the world.” It is the connection with the cultures around them that gives Mokoomba’s music its spiritual power. When you hear Mathias Muzaza singing and you watch closely, you will see the music carrying him away to a different sphere, a place where he is singing with the ancestors. Only a split second later though Trust Samende’s sparkling guitar riffs kick in, blending Congolese influences from neighbouring Kasai with Zamrock and Mbira inspired Chimurenga music, making you want to hit the dancefloor. It is this unique blend of local musical styles with contemporary dance music that is at the heart of Mokoomba’s music. The strong reference to tradition is also reflected in the cover illustration by young Zimbabwean visual artist Lomedy Mhako.

It has been nearly 10 years since this young energetic band from Zimbabwe has exploded onto the international music scene. Since then they have shared their music with fans all over the world: Mokoomba have performed in over 40 countries, rocking audiences in places like Roskilde festival (Denmark), WOMAD festival (UK), Sziget festival (Hungary), SXSW (USA), Apollo Theatre (New York) to name but a few.

Like anywhere in the world Africa’s musical output has become more and more producer based. Mokoomba are the living proof that Africa’s great guitar band heritage is well alive and ready to set any dancefloor on fire. Most important though is that deep below the surface of Mokoomba’s sound - flowing like the Zambezi River - you can still hear the heartbeat and the rhythm of a community connected by its music. Like ‘Tusona’, it is a source of rejuvenation, resilience and strength in these changing times. May the tracings in the sand not fade.

orbit is the electronic project of 28 year old producer and songwriter Marcel Heym. With a soundscape marked by a blend of raw acoustic guitars and atmospheric synth leads, orbit combines imagery of life in the countryside with an immersive dream world. After releasing three EPs since 2020 and having an international Hit with his track “Perspectives” as well as several live shows and a Support Tour through Europe with Parra for Cuva, orbit announces his upcoming EP for April ‘23 alongside a special concert in the Berlin Zeiss Planetarium. The new EP is moving a newly dark sphere into the artist’s universe - a powerful piece of gloomy, vast synthie soundscapes, orbit’s characteristic hazy vocals and soft acoustic guitars.

Multi-platinum-selling pop-rock band, 5 Seconds of Summer, will release their live album The Feeling of Falling Upwards – Live from The Royal Albert Hall digitally on April 14. Physical formats of the album will be available on July 14.

The tracks are taken from the band’s 2022 one-of-a-kind performance “The Feeling of Falling Upwards” at the world-famous Royal Albert Hall in London, a venue the band busked outside of when they moved to the UK to write for their very first album 10 years ago. The performance included reimagined versions of songs from their 11-year catalog and brand-new songs from their critically acclaimed fifth studio album 5SOS5, accompanied by a 12-piece string orchestra and a 12-member gospel choir.

“’The Feeling of Falling Upwards’ is simply supposed to describe to you the feeling that we have experienced together, the feeling of taking a leap of faith on such a fickle thing like music,” expressed vocalist and drummer Ashton Irwin on stage at Royal Albert Hall, “And sharing this experience together year after year, season after season of our lives.”

Lendas is the Brazilian guitarist Fabiano do Nascimento’s fifth album for Now-Again Records. Like his previous albums Prelúdio and Ykytu, Lendas features do Nascimento’s compositions, this time with orchestral arrangements by Vittor Santos and also special participation by Arthur Verocai. Vittor Santos is a composer, arranger, trombonist and music producer from Rio de Janeiro, who has worked in Brazilian music for over thirty years. Do Nascimento and Santos met in Rio in 2017 during the recording of Do Nascimento’s hero, and 70s and 80s Brasilian guitar catalyst Carioca Freitas album Aquarelas. The two bonded over a mutual appreciation for Do Nascimento’s uncle Lúcio and the Bossa Nova star Leny Andrade, both of whom largely influenced Do Nascimento’s musical foundation. In Santos, Do Nascimento found an arranger who was sensitive enough in his orchestrations that he could create an orchestral dialogue between stacks of strings and Do Nascimento’s plaintive plucking. It was only natural to invite the highest regarded, now legendary, 1970s Brasilian arranger, Arthur Verocai, to contribute. Verocai, who had worked with Do Nascimento on his forays in Los Angeles, was pleased to participate. In this way, the circle of old and new, so crucial in Do Nascimento’s work, comes together and flows outwards. “Lendas” translates from Portuguese as "legends,” but the literal translation itself doesn’t describe this album. With Lendas, Do Nascimento recalls memories from places that no longer exist; from fever dreams in the Amazon; from parts of the world we might never see or engage, but can imagine through music. Fabiano Do Nascimento’s Brazilian guitar meets a full orchestra arranged by Vittor Santos and with special participation by Arthur Verocai and his string quartet. Lush yet lively, standing alongside Jorge Ben’s work with Verocai, and Tom Jobim and Baden Powell’s work with Vinicius de Moraes..

The drowsiest and earliest inklings of the slowcore movement can be traced to Codeine's 1991 debut. Combining the Louisville scene's relaxed tempo with doom metal's distorted slurry, the album is a depressing masterpiece of hushed vocals, noisy guitar, and punishing drums. Remastered from the original analog tapes and recreated in painstaking detail, Frigid Stars LP is the NYC trio's fuzziest and most affecting work. "A deft musical approximation of the sound of water turning to ice, the guitars are so weighed down with distortion that they struggle to march from one chord to the next." _ Pitchfork

Heat Death Vinyl is Clear w/ Black Splatter. The drowsiest and earliest inklings of the slowcore movement can be traced to Codeine's 1991 debut. Combining the Louisville scene's relaxed tempo with doom metal's distorted slurry, the album is a depressing masterpiece of hushed vocals, noisy guitar, and punishing drums. Remastered from the original analog tapes and recreated in painstaking detail, Frigid Stars LP is the NYC trio's fuzziest and most affecting work. "A deft musical approximation of the sound of water turning to ice, the guitars are so weighed down with distortion that they struggle to march from one chord to the next." _ Pitchfork

JEROME BRAILEY funk drummer and former member of George Clinton’s PARLIAMENT FUNKADELIC is most famous for co-writing PARLIAMENT’s 1976 gold hit single “Give Up The Funk (Tear The Roof Of The Sucker)". But thanks to poor management, in 1978 he and several other members mutinied and left the group.

That same year Jerome gathered his own crew, dubbed them MUTINY, and issued two classic funk albums on Columbia Records: “Mutiny On The Mamaship” (1979) and “Funk Plus The One” (1980). A third album entitled “Black Hat Daddy & The Silver Comb Gang” was scheduled for release on Jerome’s own label J.Romeo in 1981 but, due to unforeseen circumstances never saw an official release, although a handful of tracks were included on MUTINY’s 1983 album “A Night Out With The Boys”.

So now, Jerome Brailey & Regrooved Records proudly presents the original mixes and line-up for the true 3rd and unreleased MUTINY album “Black Hat Daddy & The Silver Comb Gang”.

Bonus 7' - Black Hat Daddy & The Silver Comb Gang by Child Support Instrumental

JEROME BRAILEY funk drummer and former member of George Clinton’s PARLIAMENT FUNKADELIC is most famous for co-writing PARLIAMENT’s 1976 gold hit single “Give Up The Funk (Tear The Roof Of The Sucker)". But thanks to poor management, in 1978 he and several other members mutinied and left the group.

That same year Jerome gathered his own crew, dubbed them MUTINY, and issued two classic funk albums on Columbia Records: “Mutiny On The Mamaship” (1979) and “Funk Plus The One” (1980). A third album entitled “Black Hat Daddy & The Silver Comb Gang” was scheduled for release on Jerome’s own label J.Romeo in 1981 but, due to unforeseen circumstances never saw an official release, although a handful of tracks were included on MUTINY’s 1983 album “A Night Out With The Boys”.

So now, Jerome Brailey & Regrooved Records proudly presents the original mixes and line-up for the true 3rd and unreleased MUTINY album “Black Hat Daddy & The Silver Comb Gang”.

Bonus 7' - Black Hat Daddy & The Silver Comb Gang by Child Support Instrumental

JEROME BRAILEY funk drummer and former member of George Clinton’s PARLIAMENT FUNKADELIC is most famous for co-writing PARLIAMENT’s 1976 gold hit single “Give Up The Funk (Tear The Roof Of The Sucker)". But thanks to poor management, in 1978 he and several other members mutinied and left the group.

That same year Jerome gathered his own crew, dubbed them MUTINY, and issued two classic funk albums on Columbia Records: “Mutiny On The Mamaship” (1979) and “Funk Plus The One” (1980). A third album entitled “Black Hat Daddy & The Silver Comb Gang” was scheduled for release on Jerome’s own label J.Romeo in 1981 but, due to unforeseen circumstances never saw an official release, although a handful of tracks were included on MUTINY’s 1983 album “A Night Out With The Boys”.

So now, Jerome Brailey & Regrooved Records proudly presents the original mixes and line-up for the true 3rd and unreleased MUTINY album “Black Hat Daddy & The Silver Comb Gang”.

Sophistication is a very apt description of both the music and the performing artist that is Bill Albright (real name Anthony Bills). Born in 1961 and raised in Baltimore, MD. Albright received a vocational as well as an associates degree in Electrical Engineering and Technology during 1981 the same year as he was blessed with the birth of his son Anthony Jr. From 1982 through to 1985 Bill had moved to New York City to model professionally for several major retail corporations such as Macy’s and Bloomingdales making good use of 170 pounds, six feet tall frame and handsome photogenic looks, while still finding time to hone his singing, songwriting and studio engineering skills through attending art Composers Theatre. His musical management and composing skills were to continue upon his return to his native Baltimore in 1986 as the prelude to him joining the national fundraising touring team for The United Negro College Fund in conjunction with the National Basket Ball Association (NBA) Slam Dunk Contests. Interacting with such celebrity players as Magic Johnson, Arsenio Hall, Spike Lee and Robert Townsend and Atlanta Hawks team mates Spud Webb and Dominique Wilkins.



Through his travels during 1989 Albright decided to settle in Atlanta, GA, making it his home to this present day. Once settled he founded his own cleaning business ‘All Bright Cleaning Services Inc’ built on good old-fashioned ethics of hard work and a strong determination to succeed, the exact same traits that he would later display in his future musical journey. While providing his cleaning services to major commercial companies, home, office and car detailing Albright found the time to continue pursuing his musical ambitions with a strong emphasis on live and recorded performances. In 1993 Albright formed ‘Bill Albright Productions Inc’ working with the late Keith “Keecho” Rawls the former Keyboardist and Musical Director for Peabo Bryson. Albright’s work has often been likened to Peabo’s for obvious reasons as well as Luther Vandross and Johnny Gill, He also draws inspiration from the stars of his youth Nat King Cole, The Isley Brothers, Frankie Beverley and Marvin Gaye amongst others. Albrights productions while being contemporary still retain an old school leaning which widens his appeal to a broader audience. Feeling that the time wasn’t right to release his material Albright continued with his successful cleaning business and live performances, that was until 2022 when he released the first of his productions (as a download only) the stylish “Sitting By The Phone” which gives more than a passing nod to Billy Stewart’s timeless classic “Sitting In The Park” but recorded in Albright’s own unique way. Albright’s second and forthcoming release is the more contemporary mid-tempo mover “In The Middle Of The Night” (only available as a download in the United States) but is due for a simultaneous vinyl 45 release in the UK paired with the aforementioned “Sitting By The Phone” as Soul Junction’s next 45 outing.

In addition to his day job transforming pop music with his own records, as well as those of Gastr del Sol, Loose Fur and Sonic Youth over the past few decades, Jim O"Rourke has been contracted for several dozen film scores over the years as well. It makes sense - his abilities as an improviser, composer and producer allow him to interpret cinematic moments with a unique understanding for their construction and how they work. It doesn"t hurt that Jim"s a well-versed cineaste, a complete and total fan of watching films, which has given him a preternatural understanding of the role of music in movies. What doesn"t make sense is how Hands That Bind is the first film soundtrack of Jim"s to ever receive worldwide release! He"s worked with filmmakers of international repute, like Olivier Assayas, Allison Anders, Werner Herzog and Kôji Wakamatsu! He served as music consultant on Richard Linklater"s 2003 laff-fest, School of Rock! He"s played in ensembles of award-winning documentaries and films alike! Throw the guy an internationally-promoted soundtrack LP every more often, why doncha? It was left to the "suits" of Drag City Records to innovate, once again, by taking a leap on an O"Rourke work. Made for an indie film that"s been seen by festival audiences and not enough others, the soundtrack for Hands That Bind is a moody, atmospheric delight. Jim"s roots in composition via tape-editing have evolved into a sophisticated assembly of found-and-processed sounds that achieve highly musical, near-orchestral majesty as they hang in the very air of the drama that unfolds in Kyle Armstrong"s Hands That Bind. Described as a "slow-burn prairie gothic drama" set in the farmland of Canada"s Alberta province, and starring Paul Sparks, Susan Kent, Landon Liboiron, Nicholas Campbell, Will Oldham, and Bruce Dern, Hands That Bind is a spellbinding trip to the existential bone of rural working life in North America. As conflict rises over the hard-worked patches of land that provide a mere and mean existence, a desperate air settles in, as a series of mysterious, often supernatural occurrences rock the small community. O"Rourke"s vaporous, serpentine musical backdrops and atmospheres reflect the obsessions and distractions of the film"s principles; moods of all sorts seen or otherwise implied. Additionally, the music highlights cinematographer Mike McLaughlin"s closely observed accounting of the farmers" environment, as well as the striking widescreen images of the big sky country with unnerving flair. For fans of Jim"s ongoing steamroom series as well as collectors of soundtracks, Hands That Bind will provide hours of engrossing listening. And if you get a chance, see the movie projected in a movie house, please - farmers aren"t the only ones struggling these days!

"I cant believe its true" is a great uplifting Modern Soul tune produced, written and published by Gospel music veteran and Coconut record label owner Pastor Dr. Arris D. Wheaton from Dallas, Texas. He's now 77 years old, still kicking and licensing his stuff to respectful little labels like Stream Records. Counting on the vocals of Bobby Patterson’s of Pama and Jetstar labels fame, “I can’t believe it’s true” is a dancefloor destroyer of the highest order with perfect hooks and a production that still leaves you wondering why in the world these guys didn’t become acclaimed music stars as they sure deserved. Creators’ formation included Bobby Patterson (vocals), Andrew Jones (Guitar and background vocals), Timothy McNealy (Tambourine, Trombone, Organ and vocals), Ronnie Brewster (Drums), Robert (bobby) Simpson (Sax, Vocals and Band Leader), Billy ‘Sweet ‘Pea Thomas (Trumpet) and Michael Fugett (Bass and background vocals)

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame® inductees, Songwriters Hall of Fame inductees, and GRAMMY® Award-winning music legends The Isley Brothers proudly present their anxiously awaited new album, Make Me Say It Again, Girl. It marks the duo’s first full-length LP since 2006 and thirty-first original album overall. They originally set the stage for the record with a recreation of The Isley Brothers classic 1975 love ballad, “Make Me Say It Again, Girl,” joined by none other than Beyoncé. It recently catapulted to #1 on the Billboard Adult R&B Airplay Chart, standing out as their first #1 since “Contagious.” It incited a flurry of critical applause from the likes of The FADER and Vulture who proclaimed, “For this one, Bey is out of Club Renaissance, trading lines with Isley over a smooth, polished track.” Make Me Say It Again, Girl THE ALBUM places the pair’s classic sound in the spotlight for a whole new era. Whether it be the cinematic scope of “Long Voyage Home” or R&B escapism of “Disappear,” they lean into the hallmarks of their signature style with undeniable energy. They’ve also brought a few friends—both old and new—along for the ride. El Debarge and Earth, Wind & Fire team up with The Isley Brothers for the generational banger “There’ll Never Be,” while Rick Ross flexes with pure lyrical fire during “Biggest Bosses.” Elsewhere, Quavo and Takeoff ignite the irresistible and infectious “Keys To My Mind.” After more than 60 years of creating massive hits, The Isley Brothers continue to produce timeless and impactful music showing why they are international treasures who are firmly woven into the fabric of our culture.

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame® inductees, Songwriters Hall of Fame inductees, and GRAMMY® Award-winning music legends The Isley Brothers proudly present their anxiously awaited new album, Make Me Say It Again, Girl. It marks the duo’s first full-length LP since 2006 and thirty-first original album overall. They originally set the stage for the record with a recreation of The Isley Brothers classic 1975 love ballad, “Make Me Say It Again, Girl,” joined by none other than Beyoncé. It recently catapulted to #1 on the Billboard Adult R&B Airplay Chart, standing out as their first #1 since “Contagious.” It incited a flurry of critical applause from the likes of The FADER and Vulture who proclaimed, “For this one, Bey is out of Club Renaissance, trading lines with Isley over a smooth, polished track.” Make Me Say It Again, Girl THE ALBUM places the pair’s classic sound in the spotlight for a whole new era. Whether it be the cinematic scope of “Long Voyage Home” or R&B escapism of “Disappear,” they lean into the hallmarks of their signature style with undeniable energy. They’ve also brought a few friends—both old and new—along for the ride. El Debarge and Earth, Wind & Fire team up with The Isley Brothers for the generational banger “There’ll Never Be,” while Rick Ross flexes with pure lyrical fire during “Biggest Bosses.” Elsewhere, Quavo and Takeoff ignite the irresistible and infectious “Keys To My Mind.” After more than 60 years of creating massive hits, The Isley Brothers continue to produce timeless and impactful music showing why they are international treasures who are firmly woven into the fabric of our culture.

Salt Peter, by Ruby (AKA Lesley Rankine), was originally released in 1995 to critical acclaim under the trip-hop and electronica tags,

quickly becoming the soundtrack to many a student, clubber and vinyl junkie’s life.



Roll on 25 years to find Rankine & her brother, Scott Firth (bassist with PIL) in Covid lockdown together following the death of their mother. What else would they do but make some music?



So, while noodling around with some ideas one night, Rankine remade one of her old Salt Peter songs and was so pleased with the result she decided to do the whole album.



Rather than simply remixing or remastering the original album she decided to rebuild it from the ground up with completely new production, arrangements and vocals.

With Scott’s additional production, engineering and mixing, Salt Peter 25 is a completely different album from the original, but still with Rankine’s distinctive vocals

and her ear for the quirky and the dark. With densely textured sounds and uncompromising arrangements, Salt Peter has matured into an exciting new and unique animal.



Salt Peter 25 is a deeply personal album, created during a very difficult time and so the cover, fittingly, features a striking photo of Lesley and Scotts’ mother,

as well as other family photos, again echoing the aesthetics of the original album.



Now released on delicious orange double vinyl with a beautiful gatefold sleeve, featuring additional art by Toronto based designer, Henry Faber.

'Dream From The Deep Well' is the new album from celebrated Irish singer songwriter Brigid Mae Power. Recognised as a purveyor of dreamier pop with folky leanings, this new album is a departure; a unique marriage of traditional stylings and very modern melodies; a breath-taking soundtrack which underpins her gorgeous vocal. Filled with personal tales of offspring and grandparents, the lovelorn and the lost, it's the essence of re-imagined folk music, from the traditional intro and outro that act as bookends. It's folk music, but not as we know it. In these ever-confusing and often annoying times, Brigid brings us modern folk for modern folk, with her evocative vocal, doubling back on itself with strings, steel guitar, horns and mellotron adding to its baroque loveliness. It's waving back at her rootsy past, daubing new colours on a much-loved canvas. 'Dream From The Deep Well' is a new visionary beginning from a gifted songwriter. Elsewhere, there's the lovelorn longing of her version of Tim Buckley's 'I Must Have Been Blind', alongside a moving tribute to the late Ashling Murphy, a 23-year-old Irish primary school teacher and traditional Irish musician who was attacked and killed while jogging along the Grand Canal just outside Tullamore, County Offaly. It's a harrowing story, delivered with overwhelming compassion. In the best tradition of old school folk music, it opens up a pressing issue to a wider audience. It's an album that's politically primed and socially aware; a broadside for us all, this is Brigid Mae Power's most complete album yet. "Her haunting voice, an instrument that raises the everyday to a near-mystical realm." The Guardian. "The Irish singer-songwriter flits between past and present; between traditional and modern forms; between the heaven in her voice and the earthbound epiphanies of her words." Pitchfork

A kind of hush pervades throughout Standards Vol VI, the latest release by The National Jazz Trio of Scotland, the ironically named project helmed by Falkirk’s musical polymath, Bill Wells, that is neither a trio, nor a jazz band. If this collection of ten covers probably comes closest to the latter in its late night renditions of actual standards, the presence of long-term NJToS member and collaborator Aby Vulliamy as the record’s lone vocalist adds to its solitary air. This follows Standards Vol IV (2018), which featured fellow NJToS co-founder Kate Sugden as primary vocalist, while Gerard Black, a member of the group since 2016, took centre stage in similar fashion on Standards Vol V (2019). Wells has long been a fan of Vulliamy, both of her work as a viola player with numerous collaborators, and as a singer.

Vulliamy played viola on Everything’s Getting Older, Wells’ 2011 collaboration with Arab Strap vocalist Aidan Moffat. Wells went on to play melodica on Vulliamy’s solo record, Spin Cycle, released on Karaoke Kalk in 2018. With the intent of producing the saddest heartbreak record ever made, Wells sourced a back catalogue of miniature epics, reinterpreting each tale of everyday yearning to make a canon of melancholy loungecore designed for nights in alone, if not always lonely. Beyond the concept of isolation behind Standards Vol VI, practical concerns added to the affair, with Wells recording backing tracks at home in Glasgow, while Vulliamy added her voice from her home in Yorkshire. The result on Standards Vol VI is a thing of quiet beauty that sees Wells and Vulliamy reimagine a panoply of pop classics in their own aloof sounding image.

Shades of Margo Guryan and Claudine Longet abound in Vulliamy’s delivery over Wells’ woozy, low-slung guitar and piano, with samples culled from a session with Teenage Fanclub’s Norman Blake. Little electronic percussive clicks and hisses lend things an even more otherworldly air on a record bookended by opener, Donovan’s proto hippy classic, Catch the Wind, and Dixieland miniature, Careless Love. The eight points in between take in a first half led by The Beatles’ normally jaunty We Can Work it Out, flipping the loveable mop-tops’ perky optimism for something more soul searching. This is followed by I Wish You Love, Albert Beach’s English language version of French songwriter Charles Trenet’s evergreen, Que reste-t-il de nos amours. The Bee Gees lost classic, To Love Somebody, is up next, with more impossible to answer questions coming in Why Can’t I?

The latter is a Rodgers and Hart composition that first appeared in the duo’s 1930 Broadway musical, Spring is Here, in which the show’s two heroines commiserate each other over their shared loneliness. Wells stumbled on the song in a tatty Rodgers and Hart songbook, which, like its subjects, had been left on the shelf before he and Vulliamy brought it in from the cold. The second half of Standards Vol VI leads with Matchmaker, Matchmaker, Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick’s much covered evocation of a pre dating app era from their 1964 hit musical, Fiddler on the Roof. This is followed by Billy Rose and Dave Dreyer’s showbiz staple (with Al Jolson also taking a credit), Me and My Shadow. While made famous by showbiz double acts ranging from Frank and Sammy to Robbie and Jonathan, here it flies decidedly solo. Johnny Mercer and Hoagy Carmichael’s Skylark comes next, a song inspired by Mercer’s yearning for Judy Garland. We hear ya, bub. The most downbeat take on Bacharach and David’s The Look of Love you’re ever likely to hear comes next, ushering in the short farewell of Careless Love, before the lights are turned out forever. Yeah, well. Whatever gets you through the night…

Lucinda Williams’ music has gotten her through her darkest days. It’s been that way since growing up amid family chaos in the Deep South, as she recounts in her candid new memoir, Don’t Tell Anybody the Secrets I told You. Over the past two years, it’s been the force driving her recovery from a debilitating stroke she suffered on November 17, 2020, at age 67. Her masterful, multi-Grammy-winning songwriting has never deserted her. To wit, her stunning, sixteenth studio album, Stories from a Rock n Roll Heart, brims over with some of the best work of her career. And though Williams can no longer play her beloved guitar – a constant companion since age 12 – her distinctive vocals sound better than ever. The band rocks out on the album’s jubilant opening track, “Let’s Get the Band Back Together,” which features a gang of background singers, including Margo Price and Buddy Miller. Inspired by “that need for community after all the isolation of the pandemic,” Williams offers, the song is “about getting old friends together again who’d drifted apart.” Price also joins her on the bluesy protest, “This Is Not My Town.” The evocative “New York Comeback” also includes guest vocalists – Bruce Springsteen and Patti Scialfa. A Lucinda Williams fan, Springsteen had joined her onstage in London a few years back, and he and Scialfa had wanted to contribute to a Williams album for a while. With Reese Wynans on B3 and the Pettibone-Mathis guitar attack, the musical setting perfectly matches the theme of “Comeback,” as well as on the catchy story-song “Rock N’ Roll Heart,” to which Springsteen and Scialfa also contributed vocals. Says Williams, “Having Bruce and Patti on these songs feels really great. It’s just so cool!” As she promises on the powerful last track of Stories from a Rock n Roll Heart–one of the best albums of her career–Lucinda Williams is “never gonna fade away.”

Repress coming!

A year on from 'Good Evening', the critically acclaimed collaborative album with Verb T & his
stellar contribution to Ocean Wisdom's UK TOP 40 'Wizville' album, producer Pitch 92 is
ready to show off his new works to the world, as he enters a new stage in his career and begins
to spread his wings as a solo artist. Known for his soulful sound, inspired by the likes of
Madlib, Pete Rock & J Dilla, Pitch 92 has carved out his own unique style and pulled out all the
stops for his debut release on High Focus Records.
Entitled 'Lost In Space', this new EP is a perfectly balanced mix of vocal and instrumental
tracks showcasing the raw talent of the Manchester based producer. Pitch 92 has assembled a
healthy roster of artists to work alongside, ranging from UK Hip Hop royalty to up & coming US
artists as well as accomplished musicians.
Spanning from UK Hip Hop favourites such as Jehst & Verb T, to new faces such as K S R ,
Sparkz and Doctor Outer as well as hooking up with Sony Music's Ashely Henry, one of the
UK's most accomplished jazz pianists as heard on 'One Handed' - Pitch 92, armed with his
trusty MPC, expertly provides the perfect backdrop to accommodate each of his guests, as well
as putting forward instrumentals that stand out as masterpieces in their own right, Pitch 92
applies finesse and the ability of a veteran producer, despite only being 26 years old - One
listen of lead single 'Lost In Space' featuring Jehst and Confucius MC is all you need to
confirm that we are indeed listening to a master at work.
In short, 'Lost In Space' is a production masterclass and serves as the perfect introduction to
the Pitch 92 sound, of which you will be hearing more and more, guaranteed.

Niemand hätte im Jahr 2023 damit gerechnet, dass beim Keep It True Festival die ganze Halle den Refrain von „Somewhere Up In The Mountains“, die heute sehr rare Single aus dem Jahr 1981, mitsingt und dann auch noch ein neues, quasi erstes Album erscheint! Gute Zeiten für NWOBHM Fans!

MARQUIS DE SADE aus London wurden 1979 gegründet neben der heute unbezahlbaren 7“ Single „Somewhere Up In The Mountains/Black Angel“ gab es 1981 auch noch ein Tape mit vier Songs. Bassist Pete Gordelier ging in Folge zu Angel Witch und ist auf diversen Alben zu hören. Keyboarder San Remo startete 1982 mit Sanctus, deren gesammelte Werke (zwei Tapes) 2015 bei High Roller veröffentlicht wurden.

2005 wurden die Aufnahmen von MARQUIS DE SADE (Single und Tape) als Bootleg veröffentlicht. High Roller Records folgten schließlich 2012 mit einer offiziellen Version auf CD und LP. 2015 coverten Roxxcalibur den Song „Somewhere Up In The Mountains“ auf ihrem dritten, erfolgreichen Album „Gems Of The NWOBHM“ und verhalfen dem Titel zu zusätzlicher Popularität. Diese Umstände führten schließlich 2019 zur Reunion von MARQUIS DE SADE, nach einem Todesfall nun zu fünft mit drei Originalmitgliedern. Alte und
neue Ideen wurden ausgearbeitet und man nahm nach all den Jahren endlich das erste Album „Chapter II“ auf. Zeitgleich konnte man nach Corona die ersten erfolgreichen Clubshows spielen und schließlich, im April 2023, der Ritterschlag auf dem renommierten Szenefestival Keep It True bei Tauberbischofsheim.

„Chapter II“ ist nicht nur ein Fest für NWOBHM Fans und Liebhabern von britischem Heavyrock im Allgemeinen, sondern weist auch epische und pompöse Elemente der Marke Magnum auf. Die natürlich gehaltene Produktion, getrennt für CD und Vinyl gemastert, sorgt für ein authentisches und dennoch druckvolles Hörerlebnis.

Nobody would have expected in 2023 that at the „Keep It True Festival“ the whole hall sings along the chorus of „Somewhere Up In The Mountains“, the now very rare single from 1981, and then also a new, practically first album is released! Good times for NWOBHM fans!

MARQUIS DE SADE from London were founded in 1979 and besides the today priceless 7“ single „Somewhere Up In The Mountains/Black Angel“ there was also a tape with four songs in 1981. Bassist Pete Gordelier subsequently joined Angel Witch and can be heard on several albums. Keyboardist San Remo started Sanctus in 1982, whose collected works (two tapes) were released by High Roller in 2015.
In 2005, the recordings of MARQUIS DE SADE (single and tape) were released as a bootleg. High Roller Records finally followed up in 2012 with an official version on CD and LP. In 2015, Roxxcalibur covered the song „Somewhere Up In The Mountains“ on their third successful album „Gems Of The NWOBHM“ and helped the track gain additional popularity.

These circumstances finally led to the reunion of MARQUIS DE SADE in 2019, now with five original members after a death. Old and new ideas were worked out and they finally recorded the first album „Chapter II“ after all these years. At the same time they were able to play the first successful club shows after Corona and finally, in April 2023, the accolade at the renowned scene festival Keep It True near Tauberbischofsheim.

„Chapter II“ is not only a feast for NWOBHM fans and lovers of British heavy rock in general, but also features epic and pompous elements of the Magnum brand. The naturally kept production, mastered separately for CD and vinyl, makes for an authentic yet powerful listening experience.

Lewis II was the follow up to Lewis Taylor's epochal, self-titled debut album. It was initially released in 2000 and this double LP release, its first ever vinyl edition, has been heavily anticipated for nearly a quarter of a century. It's often years before most listeners catch up with an album's breathtaking vision and devastating execution, and so it has proved with Lewis II; it stands up exceptionally well today.

After Island rejected Lewis Taylor's second release (later released as The Lost Album), he returned to the studio to record Lewis II. Less esoteric than Lewis Taylor, Lewis II is a more polished, sophisticated funk and mature uptempo soul than the dark psych-soul of his debut. The production, whilst slicker, is a bit tougher, with more crisp, R&B-flavoured grooves and head-nod beats and more bass pumping up his voice. The vocal intensity present on album number one doesn't abate. Indeed, as Lewis himself noted, "my voice is better on Lewis II and the vocals are high in the mix."

The moody funk of "Party" sounds like a mad blend of Riot-era Sly Stone and Brian Wilson. It rides a stuttering drum machine groove with acapella harmony vocals arriving halfway through to stay for the duration. "My Aching Heart", with its clean, slick, late 90s R&B drums, could surely have been a single. Perhaps Lewis's idiosyncratic melodies would've been too challenging for the charts. Lewis *had hoped* "You Make Me Wanna" would be a single but the dank, organ-drenched groove, coupled with the growling eroticism of Lewis's vocals would've, again, made this beyond the pale for most mainstream music fans. Somewhat incongruous acidic synths and bleeps give way to a laconic summertime groove on breezy highlight "The Way You Done Me", all funky acoustic guitars and stunning, good-time vocals. Sumptuous ballad "Satisfied", a real fan favourite, marries unusual instrumentation with classic soul-ballad structure and closes with a monster guitar solo which almost out-Princes Prince in its gritty melodicism, set against sweeping strings of real majesty. Prog-Funk-Rock!

The dubbed-out, spaced-out "Never Gonna Be My Woman" is the closest the album comes to classic D’Angeloesque neo-soul, with echoes of the esoteric funk featured across Maxwell's contemporaneous Embrya. But what follows is on some next level business. As Lewis's biggest fan, Geoffrey Scull, noted, "the "I'm On The Floor" / "Lewis II" / "Into You" song cycle stacks up against any other consecutive 15 minutes of recorded music, ever!" And who are we to argue with that? These could've been hits for Justin Timberlake during his fascinating Timbaland-collaborating days, such is the sonic and textural pop experimentation at play here. The extraordinary title track sounds like an outtake from Marvin Gaye’s Trouble Man and spends its last third as a searingly dark piano-led psychedelic-guitar-crunching soul instrumental. Just astounding. And then. AND THEN! The way it segues into, er, "Into You" is just straight up genius. Goosebumps galore on this one, no words can describe its celestial brilliance. Just kick back and be beguiled by the "Let me come on over again" refrain that ornately adorns its sensational coda. Phew.

The swoonsome, lovelorn ballad "Blue Eyes", apparently written in the spirit of Marvin’s "Vulnerable", is a lush, slow swinger with some gorgeous noir touches. To close, Lewis completely retools Jeff Buckley’s beloved, beautiful "Everybody Here Wants You" and, while talking some liberties, even manages to surpass the original. Yes, really! With soaring, fiery vocals set against icy piano and psychedelic guitars, Lewis recasts Buckley's effort as dramatic, ethereal soul.

When it came to translating the original CD booklet into a 12 inch LP sleeve, thanks to some suggestions from Cally Callomon (head of Island’s art department, who designed all the sleeves for Lewis’s two Island albums and their singles) and his trusting us with his “Lewis Taylor” folder full of various negatives, test prints and whatever else he was able to salvage from the old Island art department, we’ve gotten pretty close to what the original LP sleeve would’ve looked like if it existed. Simon Francis’s vinyl mastering, presents the eleven tracks over a double LP so, as ever, the record sounds outstandingly good. The records have been cut by Cicely Balston at Air Studios and pressed at Record Industry.

Marc Richter aka Black To Comm released his debut record 20 years ago. In 2023 he is still busy releasing music under various disguises and is currently signed to the Thrill Jockey label. To celebrate this anniversary his own Cellule 75 label is re-releasing some classic out-of-print vinyl albums that originally came out on the defunct Type and De Stijl labels. The LP will feature a full-colour printed inner sleeve exclusive to this edition.

In 2009 the Type Recordings label run by John Twells had just released seminal records by Grouper, Jóhann Jóhannsson and Yellow Swans when they signed Richter and put out his breakthrough Alphabet 1968 album. The LP sold out within two weeks, receiving a glowing full-page review in The Wire Magazine by the late Mark Fisher (later reprinted in his book Ghosts Of My Life), was selected for Boomkat's Top 10 releases of the year (alongside debut albums by Leyland Kirby, Demdike Stare and Oneohtrix Point Never) and was greeted with universal praise in the underground blog network as well as established magazines such as The New Yorker and Pitchfork.

The music itself played with the notion of nostalgia without being nostalgic itself. It's the sound of half-remembered dreams, a surreal distorted vision of the past, an aural polaroid of long forgotten musics, a ghostly voice from a non-existent era.

From the original Type one-sheet:
"The mission statement for Alphabet 1968 was to write an album of "songs" for want of a better word. Short tracks which represented genre points, the milestones which stuck in Richter's mind when he thought back to his favorite records. What we arrive at is a breathtaking 10-track album which, over the course of 45 minutes, explores world music, techno, noise, avant-garde, ambient music and even exotica. Each track is linked with a loose thread of radio static or environmental sound, dragging you through the album, as if tuning in to a stray broadcast or a particularly adventurous mix. Richter has pieced the album together from hours of recordings made at his studio with home made gamelan, small instruments and loops gathered from a collection of ancient vinyl and 78 records. The scope of the album is admirable, but ignoring this, it is simply a shockingly arresting collection of experimental oddities, with references ranging from Moondog to Basic Channel by way of Bernard Herrmann. It's not hard to fall in love with Alphabet 1968, far harder would be to place exactly where the record should fit into your collection."

Mark Fisher in The Wire:
"But what if we were to take Richter's provocation seriously - what would a song without a singer be like? What would it be like, that is to say, if objects themselves could sing? It’s a question that connects fairy tales with cybernetics, and listening to Alphabet 1968, I’m reminded of a filmic space in which magic and mechanism meet: JF Sebastian’s apartment in Blade Runner. The tracks on the LP are crafted with the same minute attention to detail that the genetic designer and toymaker brought to his miniature automata, with their bizarre mixture of the clockwork and the computerised, the antique and the ultramodern, the playful and the sinister. Richter’s musical pieces have been built from similarly heterogeneous materials - record crackle, shortwave radio, glockenspiels, all manner of samples, mostly of acoustic instruments. ….. JF Sebastian's apartment was itself an update of older spaces in which science and sorcery co-existed: the workshops of ETA Hoffmann's inventor-magicians, or of Pinocchio's creator, Geppetto. I think, too, of Auguste Villiers de l'Isle-Adam's astonishing 1886 tale The Future Eve in which Edison, using the expertise he has recently acquired from inventing the phonograph, sets himself the task of constructing an artificial woman. But if there are songs here, they are sung by the gramophone and other recording and playback machines. Richter so successfully effaces himself as author that it is as if he has snuck into a room and recorded the objects as they played (to) themselves. Rather than simply automating his music, as in the case of Pierre Bastien and his mechanical machines, Richter makes us feel that he has merely recorded the unlife of objects. ….. Indeed, the impression of things winding down is persistent on Alphabet 1968. Entropy has not been excluded from Richter's enchanted soundworld. It feels as if the magic is always about to wear off, that the enchanted objects will slip back into the inanimate again at any moment."

Before there was Saturday Night Fever there was underground disco. DJs across America went out and found the music to play; dancers went out and found the clubs. At this point, in the early seventies, the disco was the venue and not a genre of music.

By the time Nik Cohn’s short story Tribal Rites of the New Saturday Night was published by New York magazine in June 1976, disco was the biggest genre of music on the charts and was about to get bigger still, becoming an all-enveloping cultural phenomenon. Cohn sold the film rights to Robert Stigwood, and his classic club yarn became Saturday Night Fever.

“Tribal Rites Of The New Saturday Night” is the soundtrack to Cohn’s story, where disco began; a 1975 score for the underground clubs of Brooklyn and Queens that played R&B, soul and Latin beats to people who lived for the weekend.

Bob Stanley has put this collection together, sourcing what was actually played in Brooklyn discos in 1974 and 1975. Only a few specific records were mentioned in Cohn’s feature, but two of them – Ben E King’s ‘Supernatural Thing Part 1’ and Harold Melvin’s ‘Wake Up Everybody’ - were cosmically great and both are included here, alongside underground favourites like Moment Of Truth’s Four Tops-like ‘Helplessly’ and Gloria Scott’s Barry White-produced modern soul classic ‘Just As Long As We’re Together’. Ivano Fossati’s incredible ‘Night Of The Wolf’ has fans in northern soul, disco and prog circles.

Without Cohn’s original story, it’s quite possible that disco would have remained an underground phenomenon – “Tribal Rites Of The New Saturday Night” paints a scene in full flower. Saturday Night Fever would eventually, if unintentionally, wreck the underground nature of this scene, and clubs like Studio 54 would destroy the democracy of the party, but for two or three years the scene was largely undocumented and magical. This album is the sound of disco before it was captured.

The Junkyard 2 came into fruition when it was released in May of last year, as an intimate collection of what she considered her best material. Scott has been taking piano lessons since she was eight years old growing up in California, and that instrumental talent is one of the most striking elements on the record. The songs reckoned with touchy subjects -- emotional labor, insecurity, healthcare -- with razor-sharp wit and care. Even if it was recorded poorly, the brilliance of the writing and performance still resonated. After that, she realized she had to do better, and so she unveiled Public Void in September. She ditched the piano, played with software, and gave her music a texture that was bolder, weirder, and catchier. Together, the two projects and Scott’s other singles have combined to amass 87.8 million on-demand U.S. streams, according to MRC data. The landscape of TikTok is cluttered, and hits are ephemeral, but Scott’s strike a unique chord and her image is constantly growing. When asked if she considers that music will be her full time job, she pauses, reluctant to think too far ahead. “I think, for the near future, yes,” she ultimately answers. “I’m definitely not leaving college for it. But the next couple of years are locked in.” As of April 2022, “Rät” is now a gold single. The album has streamed over 350M times in under 2 years.

The Junkyard 2 came into fruition when it was released in May of last year, as an intimate collection of what she considered her best material. Scott has been taking piano lessons since she was eight years old growing up in California, and that instrumental talent is one of the most striking elements on the record. The songs reckoned with touchy subjects -- emotional labor, insecurity, healthcare -- with razor-sharp wit and care. Even if it was recorded poorly, the brilliance of the writing and performance still resonated. After that, she realized she had to do better, and so she unveiled Public Void in September. She ditched the piano, played with software, and gave her music a texture that was bolder, weirder, and catchier. Together, the two projects and Scott’s other singles have combined to amass 150 million on-demand U.S. streams, according to MRC data. The landscape of TikTok is cluttered, and hits are ephemeral, but Scott’s strike a unique chord and her image is constantly growing. When asked if she considers that music will be her full time job, she pauses, reluctant to think too far ahead. “I think, for the near future, yes,” she ultimately answers. “I’m definitely not leaving college for it. But the next couple of years are locked in.”

Richie Culver had been waiting his whole life to record I was born by the sea. His debut album immediately and messily inscribed the artist into the canon of outsider music and experimental electronics, serving both as an arresting statement of intent and a painful reckoning with the difficult path that lead up to it, stealing one last glance back at a place he always knew he had to escape. Between grim lamentations, faded memories and anxiety attacks, all told with searing honesty and disarming openness, I was born by the sea excavates a space for hope, finding Culver digging through Humberside silt to find a world weary optimism, the raw material from which his visual and sound art is shaped. For this collection of expansions and inversions, Culver invites a collection of kindred spirits, contemporary inspirations and old heroes to wade into the salt water of his formative years spent living for impromptu raves and afterparties, connecting vivid memories of his birth place of Withernsea to artists hailing from as nearby as Preston and Bridlington, further afield, from Manchester and London, Berlin and Paris, before returning back to Hull, to where it all began.

For some, responding to I was born by the sea means diving even deeper into the record’s furthest reaches. Space Afrika clear away the pummelling loops of noise from ‘It’s hard to get to know you,’ revealing a cool and cavernous expanse in its wake. Distant chatter, previously heard as though through thin, plasterboard walls, now echoes from outside the maddening claustrophobia of the original’s Sisyphean sonics, illuminated as a dense storm cloud suspended amidst a more open scene, washed clean by a lighter rain, allowing the tender heart of the track to beat clear. London producer MOBBS stretches out ‘Pigeon Flesh’ into an epic, 10-minute, cold-sweat spiral, strung-out tension wrung from disconnected phone tones twisted in unexpected directions, snatches of Culver’s voice turned inside-out and deep fried bass threatening to tip the track over into oblivion, the build-and-release of a nervous breakdown experienced in real time. In an act of subversive self-reflection, Morgane Polanski switches one kind of ennui for another in her adaption of ‘I was born by the sea,’ swapping the sea for the city, English seaside towns in January for summer evenings in Paris and flashing lighthouses and sparkling oil rigs for the Eiffel Tower and the traffic around L’Arc de Triomphe. Even Culver finds time to revisit ‘Dream About Yourself,’ a track taken from his EP Post Traumatic Fantasy, breathing new words into its glacial drift, the half-remembered testimony of a shut-in: Woke up in the evening / Pray for me / Don’t trust anyone / Pray for algorithm. Reframed in a more melancholy light, the track’s reverberant keys even more clearly evoke a mournful nostalgia, fresh pain felt in old wounds.

Others find a parallel universe in Culver’s visceral world building. Rainy Miller flips the script with a scorched, avant-drill rework of ‘Daytime TV’, threading puncturing hi-hats and queasy low-end surge through the track’s steady ambient cascade, invoking the irresistible Preston beat magic of Miller’s own essential debut album, Desquamation. Aho Ssan melts away the crystalline textures of ‘Love Like an Abscess’ with the ominous crackle of a nascent fire, building through swathes of organic Max/MSP squelch and brittle, nails-down-chalkboard scrape, swelling and metastasising the original to spill over Culver’s desperate hymn to corporeal desire, at once flesh and not. Teresa Winter transports us an hour up the coast from Withernsea to her native Bridlington, replacing the sea wall of synthesis on ‘Nervous Energy’ with muffled ASMR murk and fever dream whispers, transforming Culver’s unflinching observations into a haunting call-and-response, filling in the blanks with her own eerie utterances, a fleeting conversation with a ghost. In a touching victory lap, Fila Brazillia, eccentric stalwarts of beloved ‘90s trip hop imprint Pork Recordings, whose performances at Hull institution The Lamp convinced a young Culver of the necessity to make his mark on club culture, resurface for their first remix in 20 years. Steve Cobby and David McSherry lead a low-slung, heartfelt stroll back through a suite of tracks from I was born by the sea, tracing a full circle saunter from Culver’s origins to his current musical practice, the sounds of his present repurposed by the sound of his youth. In a gesture that reflects the emotional complexity of the project, Fila Brazillia find joy at the end of Culver’s troubled reflection, picking out an undeniable groove in the stasis of feeling trapped in your hometown. Underlining Hull’s vital musical legacy, from Baby Mammoth to Throbbing Gristle, Cobby and McSherry demonstrate that, though there are certainly storms, by the sea there is also sun and through the fog, if you listen, you can hear a singular sound, a sound now carried by Richie Culver.

Participant is a record label and creative studio run by William Markarian-Martin and Richie Culver

Welcoming the inimitable DJ and Producer Dan Shake with his forthcoming EP Verde, set for release on May 26 2023.
Renowned for his infectious charm in the booth and an expert ear for funk, soul and disco rarities, the producer who cut teeth making maximum impact dancefloor groovers is now taking an introspective new direction. Dan was inspired after his relocation to Devon from London where a new found feeling of escapism and appreciation for nature allowed him to experiment with his own sound more than before, including using his own vocals at the forefront for the very first time.

Dan Shake (Daniel Rose-Weir) began his notoriety with the Mahogani Music released 3AM Jazz Club / Thinkin’ in 2014, using Moodymann’s seal of approval as a springboard for his ambitions. Even as dancefloor-igniting releases piled up year on year, such as the Ibiza-smashing ‘Claudia’s Trip’, or any number of Shake Tapes white label edits, Shake’s expertise as a DJ began to match his production chops. This makes for two combined sides of what Dan Shake represents: an explosion of colour, variety and flavour, no matter whether he’s jamming on a rotary in the booth, or juicing fresh joy from old samples in the studio. Basements, lofts, tents, festival stages with the production dialled up to 11 – all are welcome opportunities to let loose. But as his sound has evolved and his reputation as a killer DJ has grown, Shake’s love of connecting to the dancers in front of him has remained, well, unshakable.

New Copenhagen, Denmark based imprint Inherent Futurism shines a light on an unsung gemstone from the Detroit Electro genre, Autobot-1000's '3 Dimension Of Space'. Inherent Futurism is a new label coming out of Copenhagen, Denmark and headed up by Morten Kamper, a staple in the Danish electronic music scene who's been involved in it for more than 30 years and nowadays is running the 313vinyl_collective record store in the capital.

Inherent Futurism will focus on a blend of unearthed old records and new material with no real boundaries, just a focus on quality electronic music in all forms with an inclination towards Techno and Electro. To inaugurate the label, Morten will release Autobot-1000's debut album on vinyl for the first time, the project was only out on CD and released in 2001 on Hoodwink Records from North Carolina, US. Run by James B. Boggs who also was executive producer on the album.

Across the '3 Dimensions Of Space' LP, Autobot-1000 treats us to an array of classic Detroit Techno and Electro cuts, fusing an amalgamation of crisp analogue drums, intricately intertwined synth strings, squelchy acid licks and arpeggios alongside silky snaking bass grooves, twinkling chimes and vocoder vocal lines. The entire project embraces and encapsulates the futuristic, spaced out aesthetic synonymous with the Electro sound of its it's time and place, namely Detroit at the turn of the millennium.

In 1990, Eric Clapton performed 18 nights at one of his favorite venues - the famous Royal Albert Hall in London. During the 18 run of shows Clapton performed with three different line-ups: a rock band, a blues band, and an orchestra. Eric returned to the same venue in 1991 with the same three line -ups and played a further 24 shows. The huge undertaking of rehearsing for performances of three distinctly different genres was made even more challenging by the line-up for the rock shows varying from 4, 9 or 13 band members.

Clapton has always played with superlative musicians, and these shows were no exception. The bands included Johnnie Johnson, Jimmie Vaughan, Chuck Leavell, Nathan East, Greg Phillinganes, Steve Ferrone, Ray Cooper, and Jerry Portnoy. Additionally, legendary special guests joined Clapton on stage: Phil Collins in the rock ensemble; Robert Cray, Buddy Guy and Albert Collins for the blues shows.

The Orchestral performances were arranged and conducted by Michael Kamen the highly regarded and successful composer who had worked with Clapton previously (Lethal Weapon, Edge Of Darkness). The set list included the epic 30 minute ‘Concerto For Guitar’ that Kamen composed especially for Clapton - released now for the first time.

Many of the performances in both years were filmed and recorded. The huge volume of audio and film material from the archive has been painstakingly restored and upgraded by Clapton’s team of Simon Climie (audio production and mixing), producer Peter Worsley (Slowhand at 70 and The Lady In The Balcony), and director David Barnard (The Lady In The Balcony).

This remarkable series of shows will finally be given the release that they deserve. A full concert of each genre (Rock, Blues, Orchestral) has been assembled from the hours of material available and will be released on audio (CD, LP, digital) and with an accompanying film on Blu-ray and DVD.

The Clapton classics performed with the rock band include ‘White Room’, ‘Lay Down Sally’, ‘Wonderful Tonight’, ‘Pretending’ and ‘Layla’. The Orchestral show features a stunning version of ‘ Layla’, plus stand-out highlights of ‘Bell Bottom Blues’, ‘Edge Of Darkness’ and ‘Sunshine of Your Love’. Great covers of ‘Cocaine’, ‘I Shot the Sheriff’ and ‘Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door’ also feature. The 14-song Blues set includes standards such as ‘Sweet Home Chicago, ‘Have You Ever Loved A Woman’, and ‘Key To The Highway’.

The limited-edition ‘Definitive 24 Nights’ deluxe box sets include 47 songs and almost 6 hours of music on 6 CDs or 8 LPs and 3 Blu-ray’s.

JAG PANZER not only are one of the most important US Heavy Metal bands, but also one of the first ones. The band was formed in 1981 in Colorado, and released their debut album entitled "Ample Destruction" just 3 years later, in 1984.

Today, almost 40 years later, the album – which already presented the band’s very own and unique style - is known as one of the pillars of American Heavy Metal, and is often referred to as the trailblazer of the Power Metal scene. In the last few decades the Heavy Metal scene was going through ups and downs, and so was the band’s career.

Nevertheless, JAG PANZER managed to release 10 more studio albums, and earned the status of an absolute legend of the genre. Yes, they are being called legends, they are being called veterans – but it absolutely doesn’t mean that the band sounds outdated. Exactly the opposite applies:

Their new concept studio album entitled "The Hallowed" of course includes all trademarks and sounds like a classic JAG PANZER album. But it also includes an impressive dose of energy and high-octane in-your-face attitude that will please both old school die-hard fans and young enthusiasts of the genre alike!

Back in 2018, two mysterious twelve-inch singles appeared in underground record sthops. Credited to Blotter Trax, a previously unknown outfit who cherished “faceless” anonymity, the pleasingly twisted and mind-altering music on show was a mutant form of electronic psychedelia. The included tracks were variously informed by analogue techno, acid, electro and minimal, but inhabited their own clandestine sonic space. These tracks were, we later discovered, lightly edited “straight to tape” jams, crafted on the fly by their creators in one of Berlin’s most admired studios.

By the time Blotter Trax delivered their follow-up on Clone offshoot Frustrated Funk a year later, the secret was out: the project was in fact a collaboration between two storied artists, techno titan Magda – a DJ/producer who should need little introduction – and serial underground aggravator (and man of many aliases) Jay Ahern, sometime Hauntologists member and acid techno royalty thanks to years spent releasing similarly shadowy EPs as T.B Arthur.

In the years that followed, and before the COVID-19 pandemic grounded them in Berlin, the pair took their incendiary, modular-driven live show to esteemed clubland institutions (Fabric included), on an acclaimed tour of Japan, and onto the stages of festivals across Europe.

Four years on from that appearance on Frustrated Funk, Blotter Trax are back in updated and expanded form. Now a trio thanks to the addition of bassist Hannes Strobl, the band is set to release their far-sighted, funk-fuelled debut album, Super Conductor – a pulsating, thrill-in-minute ride includes contributions from a swathe of notable guests (Nina Hynes, Ilhem Khodja and David Moss provided vocals, Shigeru Tanabu played guitar, Matthew Styles mixed the set and old friend John Tejada mastered it).

While rooted in electro and acid, the album is impressively low-slung, stylish and funky, with nods towards Blotter Trax’s mutual love of Arthur Russell, early ‘80s NYC downtown disco, leftfield new-wave pop and flash-fried punk-funk. Released by JD Twitch’s Optimo Music imprint, it charts the ongoing dancefloor evolution of a band whose days of mystery and mischief are now a distant memory.

Pop/rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist Albert Hammond Jr. is the lead & rhythm guitarist and songwriting member of the GRAMMY® and BRIT Awards-winning band The Strokes. He has released 4 solo albums to date, most recently the acclaimed “Francis Trouble” in 2018 which spawned the radio single “Far Away Truths”. In the 4 years, since then, The Strokes released their US Top 10 charting GRAMMY® nominated rock record “The New Abnormal” and toured the world extensively. Albert also began the songwriting process for his 5th solo album “Melodies on Hiatus”, a 19-track album, crafted in a most experimental style. Albert teamed up with his writing partner, Canadian songwriter, and poet Simon Wilcox (whom he never met during the process) and had lengthy conversations via the telephone; Simon would jot down notes from Albert’s stream of consciousness, and draft the lyrics on her typewriter, and drop them into his letterbox! Albert then added the lyrics to the melodies he had already crafted. The songwriting process became a long distant “anonymous love affair of ideas & lyrics.” The album covers themes of childhood, surviving adolescence, adulthood, vulnerability, fame, relationship with self and others, and is Albert’s “deconstructed broken down ego reaction” to “Francis Trouble.” The album also features songs with GoldLink, Matt Helders (of the Arctic Monkeys), Steve Stevens and Rainsford, and was mixed by Tony Hoffer (known for his work with Beck, Air, M83, The Kooks, Fitz and the Tantrums, Metric, Chromeo, etc.) and mastered by Dave Cooley at Elysian Masters (Paramore, Spoon, Tame Impala, Jimmy Eat World, Peanut Butter Wolfe).

In 1990, Eric Clapton performed 18 nights at one of his favorite venues - the famous Royal Albert Hall in London. During the 18 run of shows Clapton performed with three different line-ups: a rock band, a blues band, and an orchestra. Eric returned to the same venue in 1991 with the same three line -ups and played a further 24 shows. The huge undertaking of rehearsing for performances of three distinctly different genres was made even more challenging by the line-up for the rock shows varying from 4, 9 or 13 band members.

Clapton has always played with superlative musicians, and these shows were no exception. The bands included Johnnie Johnson, Jimmie Vaughan, Chuck Leavell, Nathan East, Greg Phillinganes, Steve Ferrone, Ray Cooper, and Jerry Portnoy. Additionally, legendary special guests joined Clapton on stage: Phil Collins in the rock ensemble; Robert Cray, Buddy Guy and Albert Collins for the blues shows.

The Orchestral performances were arranged and conducted by Michael Kamen the highly regarded and successful composer who had worked with Clapton previously (Lethal Weapon, Edge Of Darkness). The set list included the epic 30 minute ‘Concerto For Guitar’ that Kamen composed especially for Clapton - released now for the first time.

Many of the performances in both years were filmed and recorded. The huge volume of audio and film material from the archive has been painstakingly restored and upgraded by Clapton’s team of Simon Climie (audio production and mixing), producer Peter Worsley (Slowhand at 70 and The Lady In The Balcony), and director David Barnard (The Lady In The Balcony).

This remarkable series of shows will finally be given the release that they deserve. A full concert of each genre (Rock, Blues, Orchestral) has been assembled from the hours of material available and will be released on audio (CD, LP, digital) and with an accompanying film on Blu-ray and DVD.

Orchestral show features a stunning version of ‘ Layla’, plus stand-out highlights of ‘Bell Bottom Blues’, ‘Edge Of Darkness’ and ‘Sunshine of Your Love’. Great covers of ‘Cocaine’, ‘I Shot the Sheriff’ and ‘Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door’ also feature.

In 1990, Eric Clapton performed 18 nights at one of his favorite venues - the famous Royal Albert Hall in London. During the 18 run of shows Clapton performed with three different line-ups: a rock band, a blues band, and an orchestra. Eric returned to the same venue in 1991 with the same three line -ups and played a further 24 shows. The huge undertaking of rehearsing for performances of three distinctly different genres was made even more challenging by the line-up for the rock shows varying from 4, 9 or 13 band members.

Clapton has always played with superlative musicians, and these shows were no exception. The bands included Johnnie Johnson, Jimmie Vaughan, Chuck Leavell, Nathan East, Greg Phillinganes, Steve Ferrone, Ray Cooper, and Jerry Portnoy. Additionally, legendary special guests joined Clapton on stage: Phil Collins in the rock ensemble; Robert Cray, Buddy Guy and Albert Collins for the blues shows.

Many of the performances in both years were filmed and recorded. The huge volume of audio and film material from the archive has been painstakingly restored and upgraded by Clapton’s team of Simon Climie (audio production and mixing), producer Peter Worsley (Slowhand at 70 and The Lady In The Balcony), and director David Barnard (The Lady In The Balcony).

This remarkable series of shows will finally be given the release that they deserve. A full concert of each genre (Rock, Blues, Orchestral) has been assembled from the hours of material available and will be released on audio (CD, LP, digital) and with an accompanying film on Blu-ray and DVD.

The Clapton classics performed with the rock band include ‘White Room’, ‘Lay Down Sally’, ‘Wonderful Tonight’, ‘Pretending’ and ‘Layla’

After a year of scheming and crafting, building and destroying, Maisie Peters is ready to share what she’s been conjuring up – her brand new album ‘The Good Witch’, arriving via Gingerbread Man Records/Asylum on June 16th.

Recently heralded by vulnerable lead single, ‘Body Better’, Maisie’s second studio album ‘The Good Witch’, is the official follow-up to her No. 2 BRIT Breakthrough certified debut, ‘You Signed Up For This’, and in many ways the older, wise and scorned counterpart.

Exhibiting a newfound confidence, sharper storytelling and greater artistic ambition, Maisie created ‘The Good Witch’ across London, Suffolk, Stockholm, Bergen and LA, alongside the likes of, Oscar Görres (Taylor Swift, Troye Sivan), Two Inch Punch (Sam Smith, Jessie Ware), Matias Tellez (girl in red), Brad Ellis (Jorja Smith, Little Mix), Joe Rubel (Ed Sheeran, Tom Grennan) and Elvira Anderfjärd (Tove Lo, Katy Perry).

First appearing on TV screens in September 1968, Joe 90 was a unique nine year old boy with the ability to absorb the brain patterns of top experts enabling him to become the most special agent of W.I.N. (World Intelligence Network).
Whilst there are arguably better-known scores amongst Barry Gray's sublime catalogue of work with the Andersons, the composer's work for Joe 90 is in many ways the most consistent and inventive selection he ever wrote.
Developing a theme for the new series was always the musician's starting point, and for Joe 90, the pop charts breezed into Gray's studio, with an opening tune featuring a genuine groove. Mixing Gray's inventive electronics with 60s "surf rock" guitars was an inspired decision. It is no wonder that this piece has gone on to enjoy a second life as a Northern Soul disco floor-filler.

We continue to dig into the archives to unleash the Bonzai sound on to a new generation of fans and stir up cherished memories for those that know. Bonzai Compilation III – Rave Nation first saw the light of day in 1994 on CD and showcased the talents of a fine roster of in-house artists who were churning out hit after hit. Despite only being two years old at the time, Bonzai Records had already taken the electronic dance music world by storm with previous comps proving hugely popular across Europe and continues to do so with enthusiasm to this day. For the vinyl collectors, we’ve selected and remastered 9 tracks off the original release from Aqua Contact, Techno Junkies, 3XXX, Dialectrum, Jones & Stephenson, Airplay, Bountyhunter, Yves Deruyter and B.W.P. Experiments along with a first-time-on-vinyl appearance for Yves Deruyter’s remix of La Sirena by Aqua Contact. This limited 2x12” presented in a gatefold sleeve with original artwork is the perfect curation, providing you with a mighty arsenal of weapons to unleash on the dance floor.

We continue to dig into the archives to unleash the Bonzai sound on to a new generation of fans and stir up cherished memories for those that know. Bonzai Compilation III – Rave Nation first saw the light of day in 1994 on CD and showcased the talents of a fine roster of in-house artists who were churning out hit after hit. Despite only being two years old at the time, Bonzai Records had already taken the electronic dance music world by storm with previous comps proving hugely popular across Europe and continues to do so with enthusiasm to this day. For the vinyl collectors, we’ve selected and remastered 9 tracks off the original release from Aqua Contact, Techno Junkies, 3XXX, Dialectrum, Jones & Stephenson, Airplay, Bountyhunter, Yves Deruyter and B.W.P. Experiments along with a first-time-on-vinyl appearance for Yves Deruyter’s remix of La Sirena by Aqua Contact. This limited 2x12” presented in a gatefold sleeve with original artwork is the perfect curation, providing you with a mighty arsenal of weapons to unleash on the dance floor.

Here we‘ve got two tunes that come with a fascinating story. Recorded in the late 70’s, but never released, this music was thought to be lost.But let’s go back to the beginning. Rose was originally a member of family affair called „The Cornelius Brothers and Sister Rose“ heralding from Dania Beach, Florida. The group had early success with a recording contract with United Artists, which produced two albums in 1972 & 73 respectively, plus an extensive number of single release taken from these albums, which included the million seller ‘Too late to turn back now’.

But Rose’s story starts even further back, singing solo and as part of the Gospel Jazz Singers in the late 60’s, with even a solo appearance on The Ed Sullivan TV show. In 1970, at her mother’s request, she returned home to form the family group and to use her contacts in the music industry to move things forward. The group stayed together until 1976. Soon after Rose returned to a solo career, but few further releases appeared. During this time she recorded a number of tracks in Miami at The Music factory with producer Shirley Cowell, who later received a grammy nomination for her work with Lena Horne. Arrangement was done by gold-certified studio veteran Frank Owens. By this time the Disco sound had taken over much of the music industry and these tracks had a Hi-Energy feel that was much in favour at the time. This session produced the titles ‘Here’ and ‘I want you to stay with me’ but no release was forthcoming.

For many years they became almost forgotten, until the next chapter of the story.In 2018 DJ and record collector Dave Thorley saw an old & dusty acetate disc for sale online, credited to Rose Cornelius. When listening to it he realised that this was indeed Sister Rose of the aforementioned group and purchased it, initially with the intention of simply playing it in his DJ sets. Dave offered the disc to his friends of the Disco Bizarre crew from KitKatClub / Berlin for their record label. Rose, in turn, was contacted and she was kind enough to give permission for its release and additional contemporary remixes/ re-edits. Thus New York producer veteran DJ Duke and San Francisco Disco authority Jim Hopkins landed on the bill. You now have the results of this story on Disco Bizarre’s latest release - a story that has spanned fifty plus years. We at Disco Bizarre are excited about the final results and are happy we‘re able to share it with you.

The Acid Series celebrates over 10 years of No Way Back, with music that directly references that experience. This is the third volume in the series, to be followed by BMG & Derek Plaslaiko, and there will be four more after this pair, with records by Tin Man & Ectomorph, Dona, Romans, and Pervocet (Patrick Russell & Jasen Loveland) yet to come. They all arrive in a unique sleeve especially created for this series, inspired by the decorations of NWB. Jordan Zawideh's music perfectly reflects his personal migration from Detroit to Chicago. It somehow combines the raw elegance of a Larry Heard demo (listen to the demos of "A Path" or "Acid Dreams" and cry) with Detroit Techno and an unconscious take on the sonic exploration of Drexciya, showcased in songs like "Magellanic Cloud" and "Trails of Sophia". In Jordan's sound, the raw power of the cassette era of Chicago House combines with a Detroit Acid Dream. His debut record was on K Starke Records in 2014, and while he was working at the store,
the concept for "No One (Jacks The Box)" came together. Kevin Starke proposed a concept for a collaboration, using an old Chicago radio ad, so Jordan borrowed a 303 & 707 from Kevin and some gear from Beau Wanzer, but Kevin never made the session. Ultimately we had master editor Gay Marvine edit this instant lost classic. Jordan has also released on the Nation box set, and is part of the No Way Back family. Jordan lives like a monk, in total dedication to learning his machines and advancing his craft. He is also an accomplished DJ. BMG on his edit of "Magellanic Cloud" - this is my fantasy version of this jam, its so lost in it, like a cool mature Chicago take on Gerald's jam for the Silicon Ghetto series on Accelerate, or Mika Vainio's "Spirality".

U.S legendary producer Debonaire returns to Fdb Records to deliver his third EP to date!!! Thirteen years after “The Rise Of The Bass Planet” on French imprint run by Vstee, one of the Miami Bass pioneers, Claudio Barrella introduces “Badass”, a future classic EP taken from his eponymous album published in 2022 on Debonaire Records Inc.

Fulfilled with timeless electro references, this collection of four untouchable joints pushes once again the boundaries of old-school sound to the next-level. Ode to the glorious days of electrofunk, relentless “He Is The Master” on A side serves up a brilliantly dancefloor Hip-Hop/Electro monster enhanced by a nice flow of cut’n’paste samples featuring Newcleus, Schooly D, Dynamix II, Man Parrish, Cybotron and thousands of other unmissable classics. Here comes an outstanding Time Machine that will definitely break out your linoleum.

Second tune of the opus, slow “Badass Reprise (Wax Version)” signs a hip-rock masterpiece a la Rage Against The Machines characterized by a dirty Californian spirit. Fat!On the flipside, robotic “Computer Program”, written along with his partner in crime DJX aka Maggotron, offers a cutting-edge mayhem bas(s)ed upon crystal clear sororities, some heading vocoder robot lyrics fusing with Sci-Fi tones in the background. Ace!

The Absolute climax of the 12’’, “You Feel Me Now” brings a massive cocktail of beats and low frequencies, injecting serious 80's vibes over frantic scratches and sharp 808 programming.

Packed in a beautiful white sleeve and brilliantly illustrated by DJ and Plastic designer Julien Dumaine, this collectible wax will provide intense cyber vocals and retro flavored electro to your subwoofers! Must have!

If 2021’s “Sometimes I Might Be Introvert” catapulted Simz into the big leagues, crashing into the top 5 of the albums charts, collecting Mercury Music Prize, Mobo, Ivor Novello and Brit Award wins and earning her the biggest live audiences yet in the UK and Europe yet, “NO THANK YOU” is yet another delicious left field turn for 29-year old Simbiatu Ajikawo.

Sleek, succinct and utterly propulsive, it’s Simz’ defiantly punk rock, two fingered salute to conformity and fame, and all the expectations and restrictions that come with. Recorded with her regular collaborator Inflo, this is Simz at her most free, daring and spontaneous.

Percy Sledge’s 1966 worldwide smash “When A Man Loves A Woman” did more to internationally establish southern soul than any record up to that time. The man from Leighton, Alabama subsequently became one of Atlantic’s biggest artists, charting 11 R&B/Pop hits in three years.
Nevertheless, as the 60s drew to a close, Atlantic’s interest in Percy inexplicably dwindled. Very few masters that his producer Quin Ivy sent from Sheffield, Alabama to New York saw contemporaneous release, although some eventually appeared in countries like South Africa, where Percy was revered.
The tracks on this exceptional ‘maxi single’ waited till 2010 to debut digitally. Percy’s terrific take on Aretha’s “Baby, Baby, Baby” dates from August 1969, the others from his penultimate session for Atlantic. Great songs too from Swamp Dogg and the late Gordon Lightfoot; either of which could have given Percy a hit in 1972.
We’ll never know why they weren’t issued then – but let’s be grateful to Soul4Real for making them available on vinyl now…

In the five years since Creep Show’s acclaimed Mr Dynamite album was released it’s fair to say that we’ve all been through a fair bit. Sitting here, in 2023, things don’t seem to be getting any better. There’s the cost of living crisis and political meltdowns; we're in deep water with global warming and to top it all there’s a war on our doorstep.

Back in 2018 everything seemed less complicated. Sure, there was stuff to get riled about, but we knew nothing about what was to come. Mr Dynamite was a fairground ride into the dark corners of a world that was on the brink of being blitzed in a blender. It was a record teetering on the edge. Five years down the line you’d expect the follow-up, Yawning Abyss, would double-down and bring the white-knuckled, teeth-gritted fury of the last five years to the boil. And yet….

A quick recap? No problem. Wrangler + John Grant = Creep Show. And Creep Show? “A band of musical misfits who have found a voice or two”, says Wrangler’s Ben “Benge” Edwards, whose Bond villain studio on the edge of a moorland is Creep Show Grand Central as well as home to an analogue synth arsenal that could sink ships.

Wrangler have known each other for a while. Tunng’s electronics wizard Phil Winter and Cabaret Voltaire’s trailblazing, pioneering frontman Stephen Mallinder go way back, while Phil and Benge crossed paths in the 21st century when they seemed to be increasingly in the same venues at the same times. Meanwhile, Mal had been living in Australia since the mid-90s and when, in 2007, he returned to the UK his old pal Phil suggested he meet Benge and the three of them immediately began working together.

Wrangler collectively bumped into Grant at their soundcheck for Sheffield’s Sensoria Festival in 2014 where they were playing with Carter Tutti. A friendship blossomed and when they were invited to perform together for Rough Trade’s 40th anniversary show at London’s Barbican in 2016, well, they jumped at the chance... and Creep Show was born.

Let’s talk about the new album... What is the ‘Yawning Abyss’? You might well ask. According to Mal, it’s “a cosmic event horizon that I can see from my attic window when stand on a chair”. Yeah. Thanks.

“On this album”, offers Benge, feet firmly on the floor, “Wrangler wrangled some vintage synths, mostly Roland, Moog, and the ‘Crystal Machine’ - then John Grant joined in the fun at Memetune Studios where lots of musical experiments were carried out. Then Mal and John ran off to Iceland with the master tapes and recorded a load of madcap vocals. Back at Memetune, me and Phil were left to try and make sense of it all. Which wasn’t hard because what they did in Iceland was totally magnificent.”

Which kind of brings us back to where we began. You’d imagine ‘Yawning Abyss’ would be blowing steam out of its furious ears. Mr Dynamite but kicking a wasps nest. Repeatedly. And yet…

Opener ‘The Bellows’ comes on like a modular ‘Radio Ga Ga’, the singalong ‘Moneyback’ (“You want your money back? / I didn’t think so”) sounds like Godley & Creme’s ‘Snack Attack’ meets Prince Charles And The City Beat Band (“Pennies, pounds, dollar bills, signed agreements, death wills”). ‘Yahtzee!’ is an unhinged electro breakdance party in four minutes and nine seconds.

Where Mr Dynamite was menace, a mélange of mangled voices, with Grant and Mallinder being heavily treated, pitched up or down, rendering their contributions largely indistinguishable, Yawning Abyss takes a more direct approach. You hesitate to say feelgood, but there’s a skip in the step here for sure.

The title track plays John Grant’s vocal straight. Completely. It’s good, so very good. Like ‘Axel F’ covered by Vangelis. The delicious shimmering synths of ‘Bungalow’ also plays those Grant pipes with a straight bat. ‘Matinee’ delves into darker, very funky territory. With Mal upfront it comes on like ‘The Crackdown’. Choice lyric: “You are starting to breakdown / And it’s so fun for me to see / You should have thought of that / You should have come prepared / You can see what’s happening and you look a little scared”.

So, you know, not all feelgood. But it does feel good. It’s probably best to draw your own conclusions... This is Creep Show after all.

For his third album, 'Love You, Drink Water', Awir Leon opens a more direct and personal window on his music. The album is about inner monsters, the search for meaning, failure and hope. The music he proposes plays with the porosity of the lines, because it is at the same time complex, rich, stripped, raw, without compromise, and without pretense. It wants to express in the most vulnerable way what it means to be alive today.

Often compared to renowned explorers such as James Blake, Frank Ocean or Thom Yorke, Awir has spent the last two years travelling the world as the opening act for another great spirit, French artist Woodkid, on an international tour for his latest album S16. During this tour, Awir decided to write this new album, testing and perfecting the songs in front of a large audience that knew nothing about his music.

It is both this audacity and the constant desire to jump into the void that makes Awir an artist apart.
The seemingly simple title, which sounds like a joke, actually hides something much more vital and human.

"One day my three-year-old niece said goodbye to me with the exact words "I love you, drink water". It came out of nowhere, and I thought it was the most thoughtful thing anyone had ever said to me. It was like an epiphany; it was exactly what I wanted to express through my songs.

For Awir Leon, constant research and sincerity are the main drivers of a music that is undeniably singular and powerful. Music that he shapes and dances gracefully over chasms, as if it were necessary to make failures into new points of escape towards vitality.

Love You, Drink Water is silk sewn in pain, a raw and resilient jewel.

Bedroom pop singer-songwriter Gracie Abrams is seriously on the rise. The California-born 22-year-old is the daughter of director and composer J.J. Abrams (you may have heard of his work) and Katie McGrath, a film and television producer. Produced by Aaron Dessner of The National, Good Riddance, Gracie Abrams’s highly anticipated debut album, will be released February 24 via Interscope & Polydor Records. Includes the powerful new single “Where do we go now?”

Long out-of-print release available digitally for the first time. Extensive notes by a local writer in English and French. Previously unpublished family photos. Urbanized traditional music at a dance-floor-friendly tempo. The very definition of an "Awesome Tape From Africa". Roger Bekono made a deep mark in the contemporary history of Cameroonian music through the four-on-the-floor, ribald intensity of bikutsi. The Ewondo-language dance-pop style that forms an undulating tapestry of interlocking triplet rhythmic interplay came to international prominence in the European "world music" scene as the 90s began. But the relentless sound of bikutsi developed in Yaoundé at the hands of Bekono and many others, as it developed from a village-based singing style performed mostly by women into a cosmopolitan music force that rivaled the popularity of established musics like Congolese rhumba, merengue and makossa. With his unique—some say suave—voice, Bekono contributed much over a period of more than 10 years as part of the evolution of this traditional rhythm-turned-urban dance movement. Bekono worked with legendary producer Mystic Jim, who had built a prolific home studio along with a crack team of musicians. They joined as part of the production of his self-titled album, which became known locally as "Jolie Poupée," the name of the album's lead single and most popular song. For "Jolie Poupée" Mystic Jim programmed the kick or bass drum, adding effects to have a heavier bass. Overall the album represented a new level of finesse and professionalism for his second release. In the middle of 1989, Jolie Poupée was released by the label Inter Diffusion System and aggressively hit the radio, discos and national television. The music video for the title track was on loop on TV. It felt like everyone was talking about it, even artists in adjacent music scenes like makossa. The album came out on vinyl and cassette and remains Bekono's best-selling recording to this day. With Jolie Poupée Bekono finally made an impact outside Cameroon as the record captured listeners in some Central African countries like Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Republic of Congo and Sao Tome & Principe. In these countries, we find the Fang or Mfan people (also known as Ekang), Bantu-speaking ethnic groups that are also found in Cameroon. This umbrella language group includes the language in which bikutsi is mainly sung. Most of Bekono's songs are in French, Ewondo (of which Beti is a dialect) and Pidgin. The four songs on Jolie Poupée are all considered bikutsi classics. On September 15, 2016, Bekono died of a long illness at the age of 62. In the wake of his passing the media published a wave of tributes, thanking him for what he did for Cameroonian music. He was an admired musician, songwriter and guitarist, and some of his old colleagues and some of the new generation of performers showered Bekono with vibrant tributes via social media, many of which noting something to the effect of: "The artist dies but his works remain."