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Introducing Self Portrait, the latest chapter from the endlessly inventive one-man force Ryan Adams — a brand‐new, 24-track album that brings together fresh, unheard originals alongside spellbinding reinterpretations of classics by R.E.M., New Order and more.Capturing restless creativity and emotional depth across the two dozen songs, this bold collection once again proves why Ryan Adams is one of the most distinctive voices in modern music. Self Portrait shows Adams at his finest – poignant, unpredictable and sonically rich. For long-time fans, it’s another essential chapter in a prolific career, for newcomers, it is the perfect entry point into the world of Ryan Adams. This project isn’t just another album from Ryan Adams—it’s a dual‐mission: hear where he’s been, and where he’s going.

When you listen to birds, they usually talk about food, sex/family, or anxiety. If they knew about the true nature of humanity's cruel and exploitative relationship with birds, they would be discussing rebellion. Humanity's current trajectory about birds is to cause the extinction of one-third of all bird species by the end of this century.

This record crystallises the borders between memory, beauty, and anxiety. At the core is an amalgam of all the birds we have met and heard, their sounds synthesised from a blend of memories. Esthetically it simulates the qualities of bird sounds, hitting similar frequential sweet spots. There is a great variety of birds captured here, from high to low frequencies, from solo voices to groups, from birds standing on their own to complex world-building, where the bird voices are part of an ecosystem, becoming one of the instruments.

You could stop there, enjoying this record on a musical level, but it invites us to do one step further, to consider reconfiguring our relationship with the Earth and its inhabitants. To question our impact, and to ask why we need synthetic bird music. Is it just a visionary endeavour or is it because we are failing at fostering a world in which organic birds and other creatures can thrive?

32 artists from the whole world, including our favourite artists from Eastern Europe, have contributed to this compilation both with new and previously released music. Their music is ordered from dawn to dusk and into the night. For many of the artists it's their first time on mappa, but some have previously released an album with us.

In 1999, on December 23 to be precise, the electronic music landscape changed forever. On that day, the now legendary Icelandic band múm released their debut album “Yesterday Was Dramatic – Today Is OK”. The thing is though, back in the day, hardly anybody realized. It was Christmas after all, people were busy with potentially more important things and didn’t pay attention to some kids selling records on Reykjavík’s high street. Little did those shoppers know.

Thankfully, those 10 tracks weren’t overlooked for long. On the contrary: the album went on to become one of the most influential building blocks of what back then was called electronica and today is considered an art form playing a crucial and important role in shaping and defining the rich electronic music culture of the 21st century. Now, 20 years after the record dropped onto planet Earth, Morr Music is re-issuing the remastered album with its original artwork, adding newly commissioned re-works: A note-for-note representation of “Smell Memory“ by Kronos Quartet (with additional drums by múm’s Samuli Kosminen), a gentle reinterpretation of “Random Summer” by acclaimed pianist and composer Hauschka and an otherworldly new version of “Ballad Of The Broken String” recorded by label mate Sóley. Additionally, four remixes produced in the early 2000s are made available for the first time ever on vinyl here.

In 1999, electronic music was in full bloom. The dance floors were thriving worldwide.Yet the concept of using electronic sounds in acoustic-based productions (or vice versa) was still in its infancy. Many producers were trying, most of them failed. The results felt often forced, fabricated, unimaginative, random and forgettable. New ideas require new mindsets after all. With “Yesterday Was Dramatic – Today Is OK”, múm established a new approach in music production. Instead of setting a fixed agenda and working with a distinct hierarchy for their sonic palette, Gyða Valtýsdóttir, Kristín Anna Valtýsdóttir, Gunnar Örn Tynes and Örvar Smárason let each instrument and sound source be true to itself, creating an ever-evolving universe of sonic bliss. Listening to the album in 2019 still makes every music lover’s heart jump. Combining Drill-and-Bass-inspired beat-chopping, future-informed DSP-programming, ethereal vocal work, indie rock’s boominess, folk music’s soulful brittleness and a lofty feeling for melody and arrangement, the album is a rare example of musical transcendence and remains impossible to categorize.

Many of the ideas formulated and recorded for the album quickly became an integral part of the canonical self-conception musicians around the world were and still are aspiring to. How these ideas really came about, though, is not known – the dynamics, the struggles, the qualms, the sudden realization of having achieved something which might actually stick. Maybe that is a good thing. Örvar Smárason remembers that most of the album “was recorded in a tiny, sweaty room in the summer of 1999 with carpenters banging nails around us, but sometimes we put on headphones so we couldn’t hear them.” It is a good thing they did. As is often the case with classics, all one can do is listen closely and let the magic sink in – again and again.

RASTER MEDIA 30 YEARS ANNIVERSARY EDITION REPRESS / 180 G VINYL
Ich bin meine Maschine features remixes by Boys Noize, Function and AtomTM himself.
to underline this tryptic statement (and to demonstrate the diversity) of one of atom™'s compositions that appeared on his 2013 'HD' album, raster-noton now releases a vinyl ep featuring remixes by boys noize, function and atom™ himself. 'ich bin meine maschine', in an elaborate manner, illustrates uwe schmidt´s main musical concern - the exploration of electronics in pop music. inspired by a statement of the cybernetician heinz von foerster, atom™ constructed/generated a message that is playing around with a widely-cited kraftwerk quotation, turning 'ich bin eine maschine' into 'ich bin meine maschine' (i am my machine). besides the album version of 'ich bin meine machine,' the ep features some dominantly techno infuenced versions that perfectly connect the pop attitude of 'HD' with dancefoor functionality. the boys noize remix shows off alexander ridha´s deft skills for translating atom™´s futuristic pop into his own rough and driving electronic language. on the other hand, atom™'s 'linear remix' breaks down the original structure of the song and turns it into a reduced and much straighter, forward looking composition. function - one of techno's true underground heroes - provides a remix that is breathing the air of solid and hypnotic club music, in which just the essential elements are streamlined and ondensed into perfection. all 3 remixers adapt the track to their particular universe. by doing so, they prepare the 12' vinyl for its fnal destination - the club.

Very limited repress. Buy or cry!

Opening the release we have one of the most interesting, boundary-pushing artists - Bawrut, who twists Burning Up into outer space. Never one to shy away from a bit of high drama in his tracks, he squeezes every ounce of the original through his sonic mangle resulting in a bass bin wobbling slice of intergalactic house music which confidently stands out in the crowd. Next up, and in perfect contrast, we have UK producer Telfort flipping Becoming Cyclonic on its head. He has well and truly stamped his mark with a fresh sound which takes influence from golden era 90’s deep house but adds a solid, bass-heavy Detroit edge.

He delivers a moody, late-night excursion dripping with fat strings, crisp hats and chiming arps. Flipping over you have the master of deep, iconic and prolific UK producer Charles Webster, who pushes Burning Up to a new sonic level. A sublime rework which is unmistakably his sound, cerebral and dark yet also uplifting, warm and enveloping.

Inspired by the soundtrack from the motion picture American Graffiti, this 3LP collection captures the sound of late night cruising, jukebox romance and early rock ’n’ roll rebellion. Spanning doo wop, rockabilly and classic pop, the set brings together era defining hits from the mid 1950s to early 1960s, featuring timeless favourites by Chuck Berry, The Beach Boys, Dion, Little Richard, Sam Cooke, The Platters and many more. Pressed across three vividly coloured vinyl records, red, blue and yellow, this set is both a nostalgic listening experience and a striking collector’s piece, celebrating the golden age of American rock and pop in authentic style.

(Ranking) Barnabas ist einer der vielen unbesungenen Helden des jamaikanischen Dub. Er arbeitete in den legendären Channel One Studios, dem Hotspot der Studioszene Jamaikas in den 1970ern, u.a. an Eek-a-Mouse' Klassiker "Wah Do Dem". Nachts griff er zum Mikro und legte zu selbst aufgenommenen Riddims auf. Obwohl an unzähligen Dubplatten beteiligt, wurde nur "The Cold Crusher" unter seinem Namen veröffentlicht. Barnabas' einzige LP erschien in US-Miniauflage, wurde nie neu aufgelegt und entwickelte sich zur begehrten Rarität. Das italienische Reissue-Label JAMDUNG legt sie nun nach 50 Jahren neu auf. Von Dubplates & Mastering Berlin aufwendig restauriert, enthält sie neue detaillierte Linernotes der beiden renommierten Reggae-Autoren Helmut Philipps und David Katz (Lee Perry-Biograf), die hier erstmals zusammenarbeiten. Stanley "Barnabas" Bryan erlebte die Wiederveröffentlichung seines Albums nicht mehr. Er verstarb am 18. August 2025 im Alter von 65 Jahren während der Arbeiten zu dieser Neuauflage, die unerwartet zu seinem musikalischen Vermächtnis wurde.

If there is a year zero for the introduction of reggae music to Japan, you’d be forgiven for thinking it was 1979 when Bob Marley and the Wailers toured the country, trailed by an entourage of journalists, photographers and fans ready to spread the message of the music into all corners of Japanese society.

But the story of Japanese reggae is not a linear one, and the music that is collected on Tokyo Riddim 1976-1985 captures the moment J-reggae entered the broader public consciousness, merging commercial city pop style with an infectious backbeat, that has drawn comparisons with the emergence of Lovers Rock in the UK.

Rather than look directly to Jamaica, many producers and artists in Japan were inspired instead by the more approachable sounds of The Police and UB40, their reggae fix arriving pre-filtered through the lens of new wave pop from the UK. Playful and groovy, these album deep cuts have been overlooked for too long.

Among them are Miki Hirayama, the idol singer who borrowed the bassline from Bob Marley’s Natural Mystic on ‘Denshi Lenzi’, Chu Kosaka, who headed to Hawaii to cut the Jimmy Cliff-inspired ‘Music’ and Marlene, the Philippine songstress whose cover of Roberta Flack’s ‘Hittin’ Me Wear It Hurts’ owed much to her producer’s obsession with Sly & Robbie’s Compass Point sound.

Then there was Izumi “Mimi” Kobayashi, who enlisted the Babylon Warriors to perform on a dubbed-out version of her own track ‘Lazy Love’, the city pop-meets-new wave reggae sound of Miharu Koshi’s ‘Coffee Break’, Junko Yagami’s anti-apartheid deep cut ‘Johannesburg’ and Lily, whose ‘Tenkini Naare’ was produced by Ryuichi Sakamoto and closes out the compilation with a flourish.

While these stories may not always conform to neat narratives, they do provide a more accurate reflection of the indirect ways in which styles infiltrate one another and, in their naivety, have the potential to create something beautifully strange and entirely new. Previously only available in Japan, the tracks on this compilation are a testament to that curious alchemy.

Tokyo Riddim 1976-1985 is released on vinyl and as a full album download (no streaming), featuring original artwork by Japanese Fukuoka-based artist Noncheleee, whose cover pays homage to the iconic dancehall album art of Wilfred Limonious.

Released on 1st September, Tokyo Riddim 1976-1985 is part of Time Capsule's Nippon Series, a loose series of compilations exploring different musical scenes from Japan between the 1960s and 2010s.

We are super excited to have the legend that is DJ Seduction on Vinyl Fanatiks. We have managed to secure his Obscure Records releases for repress, so make sure you check for the other release if you are buying this one.

This listing is for DJ Seduction - Feel So Good / Solid Bass.

Do I need to say much about Seduction really... part of the scene since the start and still banging out the tunes. You all know how influential he was to the direction of the music we love.

We are super excited to have the legend that is DJ Seduction on Vinyl Fanatiks. We have managed to secure his Obscure Records releases for repress, so make sure you check for the other release if you are buying this one.

This listing is for DJ Seduction - Pure Delight / Tonight.

Do I need to say much about Seduction really... part of the scene since the start and still banging out the tunes. You all know how influential he was to the direction of the music we love.

Jackie Mittoo, organ and piano maestro, was also one of the founding members of Jamaica's top session band The Skatalites. Musical arranger for Studio One he provided the backbone to so many of Jamaica's finest tunes. The invention of Ska music and the sounds that rode through the Rocksteady and Reggae period all carry his stamp. Whether it be in his various incarnations, the aforementioned Skatalites, The Soul Brothers, Soul Vendors and the Sound Dimension or under his own name, his distinctive organ and piano sound and musical arrangements have all played a major part in Jamaica's musical history.

Jackie Mittoo (born 1948, Kingston, Jamaica) began playing musical instruments at a very early age. Taught piano by his grandmother he was performing live by the age of 10 and recording by the age of 15. Two Kingston bands that he played with the Rivals and the Sheiks brought him to the attention of Studio One's founder Coxsone Dodd. Who at the time was putting a group of musicians together to be his studio band. Impressed by his skills on both the organ and the piano, Jackie was asked to join in what would become Jamaica's foremost band The Skatalites. The fellow band members were Lloyd Brevett (bass), Lloyd Knibbs (drums), Don Drummond (trombone), Tommy McCook, Roland Alphonso and Lester Sterling (Sax), Johnny Moore (trumpet), Jah Jerry (guitar) and Mr Mittoo (piano). This line up ruled the Jamaican scene between 1964 - 1965 as well as inventing the Ska sound, they also performed the backing duties for the other top labels of the time including Duke Reid's Treasure Isle and Justin Yap's Top Deck label.

1965 saw The Skatalites disband and Jackie Mittoo move on to his next musical project The Soul Brothers. Formed with fellow Skatalite Roland Alphonso, this band would back all the hits coming out of Studio One for the next three years with Jackie Mittoo working as band leader and musical arranger. Around this time Jackie also had his own single released, a Ska underground classic called 'Got My Bugaloo'. Rare, as it also features Jackie in the unusual role for him, as lead singer!!!!.

1966 saw the Ska sound evolve into Rocksteady, again with Jackie's band at the helm, and his first hit single the Rocksteady cut 'Ram Jam'. The success of which would lead to a solo career and album releases under his own name such as 'Now', 'Macka Fat', 'Evening Time', 'In London' and 'Keep on Dancing', to name but a few. In1967 the hits at Studio One were still flowing when The Soul Brothers morphed into The Soul Venders and began backing such luminaries as Ken Boothe, Alton Ellis, Delroy Wilson, The Heptones, The Cables, The Wailers and many other of the labels solo artists.

By 1968 Jamaican music was ready for another change and Rocksteady rolled into a slower groove soon to be called Reggae. Jackie Mittoo would be at the forefront with his latest band The Sound Dimension. A line up that included Leroy Sibbles (bass), Roland Alphonso and Cedric Brooks (saxophone), Eric Frater and Ernest Ranglin (guitar) and Bunny Williams (drums). Being the house band at Studio One they backed all the leading names of the time, John Holt, Horace Andy and Alton Ellis, all of Studio One's output carried his sound.

Jackie Mittoo emigrated in the late 60's to Canada, but travelled to Jamaica and London to record with many of the big new names, who were trying to redress Studio One's supremacy and needed his magic touch. Such Producers as Bunny Lee used Jackie Mittoo on many of his sessions, Sugar Minott among others were always glad of his services.

We have captured some fine 1970's cuts that feature Jackies numerous talents, showing his ability to embellish tracks with a feel that few could better, Musical arranger, band leader all round studio ace. We hope you enjoy the set and I'm sure you'll agree with us Jackie Mittoo does indeed Ride On.........

SACRED COWBOYS are a moody hard rock band with a dry sense of humor. They started playing in murky Melbourne dive bars in 1982 attracting a rabid following. With the release of their iconic first single, Nothing Grows in Texas, they were catapulted to national TV notoriety on Countdown, Australia's version of Top of the Pops. 2025 saw founders Garry Gray and Mark Ferrie enlist Timothy Deane, Anthony Paine, and Damian Fitzgerald. You will soon be holding in your hands the new album, 'In the Manifesto.' 'In the Manifesto' was mastered by Mikey Young, who worked on the last six Mark Lanegan records and plays in Eddie Current Suppression Ring. All new songs are written by Garry and the band. 'In the Manifesto' shows the Sacred Cowboys do not indulge in one musical style. It's a complex, atmospheric soundtrack with Gray's uber cool delivery over sometimes sparse, sometimes weaving guitars and rich harmonies. Channeling a Sonic Youth ethos and grinding the gears in the engine room of the Cosmos Factory, 'In the Manifesto' is as wide and expansive as the Australian desert skies. Radio 3CR's Paul 'Dr Gonzo' Elliott got a sneak preview and says. "Garry Gray returns with Sacred Cowboys and a brand-new album . a 12-track tour de force titled, 'In the Manifesto'. The Sacred Cowboys have performed intense live shows and transported that energy and mood onto this new album, 'In the Manifesto.' It is all killer and a tour de force. Garnering the attention of Andrew McGee at Torn & Frayed Records, Australia and combining with French allies Seb Blanchais and Romain Michon at BEAST Records, France, the rest is about to become history.

Straight into 2026 with a new slab of heavyweight DUB in a sound system style. Two new tracks, one side featuring uplifting vocals from Nia Songbird, the other side is classic Vibronics style undiluted instrumental dub. This one one for all lovers of Iration Steppas, OBF, Channel One and all the Bass-heavy sound systems out there.
This release is pressed on 10” vinyl and presented in a full-colour printed SCOOPS label sleeve, making it a collector’s item as much as a sound system weapon.

Vibronics is one of the most established names in UK Dub/Reggae music achieving millions of views on YouTube, millions of Spotify streams and many tens of thousands of vinyl record sales. Collaborators include Michael prophet, Macka B, Iration Steppas, Soom T, Aba-Shanti and more.
Nia Songbird is a Leicester born UK vocalist, a rising star known for her work with Vibronics as well as the likes of OBF, Mr.Zebre and a host of worldwide Dub producers.

We Mean It, Man! If you're receiving this message, you are a writerly/music/culture person who wants to know more about the new Gogol Bordello album the band just unleashed. It's called We Mean It, Man! And it's out on February 13, 2026 via Casa Gogol Records. Gogol frontman and spiritual figurehead Eugene Hutz calls it the band's "post punk revenge." It's a fitting description. We Mean It, Man! #was co-produced by Nick Launay, whose 40+ year run of musical partners reads like the Great Canon of avant-teasing rock: Idles, Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds, Public Image Limited, Gang Of Four, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs (he did the one with "Heads Will Roll" on it. Dude is the Quincy Jones of the underground). And Adam "Atom" Greenspan (Nick Cave, Idles, Refused, Amyl and The Sniffers).

All football teams for some reason or other adopt a song and make it their own. In many ways to sing along to or chant over, as their team roll out onto the football pitch. Mal-one a big fan of the instrumental track, likes the way they can set and capture the mood. He has adapted one of his tunes ‘Rude Boy Shuffle’ to help push up West London’s finest team ‘Queens Park Rangers’. In true reggae style he has added the version dub excursion to its B-Side, for further
enhancement. We hope this reggae inspired ditty hits the mark and hopefully the back of the net.

APORIAMOR noun 1. The death of love’s contradiction.
| “Embody APORIAMOR”

Etymology
aporia-: an irresolvable internal contradiction or logical disjunction in a text, argument, or theory. from Greek aporos ‘impassable’, from a- ‘without’ + poros ‘passage’
-amor: love. Sentimiento intenso del ser humano que, partiendo de su propia insuficiencia, necesita y busca el encuentro y unión con otro ser. Del latín amor.
-mor: latin for death.

APORIAMOR explores the affective ontological and organic processes of love and lust in the turmoil of an urban existence, through the female lens. It expresses the process of strengthening through heartbreak in its various forms.

With her debut EP The Art of the Concrete, elsas knew that by giving that name to a record which was ironically expansive and experimental, she would be calling for a distilled and clearer path further down the line. This is what she’s been incorporating into the sonic world of this new EP, APORIAMOR, signifying the birth of a more matured and distilled version of herself as an artist.

With APORIAMOR (“the death of love’s contradiction”) elsas conveys a personal process of healing in the romantic space. Through different experiences of heartbreak, elsas builds a language - a coping mechanism attached to its subsequent artistic expression – that isn’t founded on hardness or a closing-off, but instead, on a playful but profound reckoning, and learning of self-worth.

APORIAMOR embraces the complexities of being a lover-girl: of moving through life with an open heart. It celebrates the clarity, sweet hindsight, and detachment that come from processing emotion. APORIAMOR is both an affirmation and a release.

elsas makes canonical blends with a forward boundary-bending vision. Her sound in this record is naturally referential of both her Mediterranean heritage and UK alternative music — intrinsic parts of her lived experience. She has had the opportunity to collaborate with artists she deeply admires, each exchange enriching her creative world.

The experience of working hand-in-hand with Sampha for the last 3 years and ongoingly has been a core of her evolution as an artist. She has also collaborated in many forms with artists like Florence + the Machine, Little Simz, Jordan Rakei, Jockstrap, Obongjayar, Black Country New Road, Genevieve Artadi (KNOWER) and Duval Timothy. Additionally, her ongoing work with the Idrîsî Ensemble, of which she is a core member, continues to inform her artistic depth.

The making of this largely self-produced record unfolded over four years — “it’s a well-kneaded dough,” she says. These songs evolved through exposure to multiple environments: from early writing sessions in her childhood home in the Spanish countryside, to stages across the U.S. while on tour supporting Sampha.

Experimentation and modulation are an intrinsic part of elsas’ method, conceiving songs as organisms that respond to their surroundings. Collaborators on this collection of songs include Shrink, Will Lister, Gabriel Gifford, Ethan P. Flynn and more. The record was mixed by David Wrench (a long-time supporter of elsas’) and Nathan Boddy, and mastered by Matt Colton.

With APORIAMOR, elsas creates a visual world from the fabulation of the past, as an act of playful historical revisionism in which she embeds herself as both subject and storyteller. The songs function like an archive of her experiences across various years, each one unearthed and presented as some sort of archaeological artifact. Through this body of work, elsas begins to conceptualize herself as a legacy artist: one who honors the archive of her own becoming while emerging as a distinct and resonant voice in today’s musical landscape.

“The blueprint was simple: Hot Chocolate rhythms, George Murray bass lines, classical music instruments with pop sensibilities. We, the architects, however, were complicated.” Paul Simpson, 2025 Needle Mythology, the label founded by music writer, author and broadcaster Pete Paphides, is thrilled to announce the release of the much-mythologised ‘lost’ album by CARE – the group made up of IAN BROUDIE and PAUL SIMPSON Prior to forming Care, Ian and Paul had been very active in the Liverpool post-punk scene. Ian played alongside Holly Johnson, Jayne Casey, Budgie and Bill Drummond in Big In Japan, before joining the Original Mirrors. He also produced several early records by Echo and the Bunnymen, most notably the albums Crocodiles and Porcupine. Paul had played with school friend and future Bunnyman Will Sergeant in Industrial Domestic and the founding line-up of The Teardrop Explodes, before going on to form The Wild Swans. CARE were brought together late in 1982 by mutual friend Will Sergeant, when Paul was looking for someone to play a guitar part for a new song he had written. Ian obliged and asked him to return the favour by singing on one of his songs Tall Ships. When Bunnymen manager Bill Drummond heard the result, now retitled My Boyish Days (Drink To Me), he secured the pair a deal with Arista on the back of it. Care would go on to release three acclaimed singles over the course of a twelve-month period between 1983 and 1984 – My Boyish Days (Drink To Me), Flaming Sword and Whatever Possessed You – before Simpson, still struggling to come to terms with the break-up of his previous band decided not to continue. Although top 40 success eluded Care in the UK, the group quickly found an adoring fanbase in the Philippines, where all three singles became huge hits. Love Crowns and Crucifies marks the first vinyl release of the previously unheard songs gathered together on 1997’s Diamonds and Emeralds CD. Working closely with Paul Simpson and with the approval of Ian Broudie, Needle Mythology has been given access to the original quarter-inch tapes which housed everything that Broudie and Simpson recorded together.

“The blueprint was simple: Hot Chocolate rhythms, George Murray bass lines, classical music instruments with pop sensibilities. We, the architects, however, were complicated.” Paul Simpson, 2025 Needle Mythology, the label founded by music writer, author and broadcaster Pete Paphides, is thrilled to announce the release of the much-mythologised ‘lost’ album by CARE – the group made up of IAN BROUDIE and PAUL SIMPSON Prior to forming Care, Ian and Paul had been very active in the Liverpool post-punk scene. Ian played alongside Holly Johnson, Jayne Casey, Budgie and Bill Drummond in Big In Japan, before joining the Original Mirrors. He also produced several early records by Echo and the Bunnymen, most notably the albums Crocodiles and Porcupine. Paul had played with school friend and future Bunnyman Will Sergeant in Industrial Domestic and the founding line-up of The Teardrop Explodes, before going on to form The Wild Swans. CARE were brought together late in 1982 by mutual friend Will Sergeant, when Paul was looking for someone to play a guitar part for a new song he had written. Ian obliged and asked him to return the favour by singing on one of his songs Tall Ships. When Bunnymen manager Bill Drummond heard the result, now retitled My Boyish Days (Drink To Me), he secured the pair a deal with Arista on the back of it. Care would go on to release three acclaimed singles over the course of a twelve-month period between 1983 and 1984 – My Boyish Days (Drink To Me), Flaming Sword and Whatever Possessed You – before Simpson, still struggling to come to terms with the break-up of his previous band decided not to continue. Although top 40 success eluded Care in the UK, the group quickly found an adoring fanbase in the Philippines, where all three singles became huge hits. Love Crowns and Crucifies marks the first vinyl release of the previously unheard songs gathered together on 1997’s Diamonds and Emeralds CD. Working closely with Paul Simpson and with the approval of Ian Broudie, Needle Mythology has been given access to the original quarter-inch tapes which housed everything that Broudie and Simpson recorded together.

BBE Music’s acclaimed J Jazz Masterclass returns with its 20th release, a super rare private press from one of the more laudable female jazz figures of Japan, saxophonist and composer Sachi Hayasaka, together with her band, Stir Up! Released in 1988 on the private label Mobys, Free Fight was Hayasaka’s debut album and announced the arrival of an essential and primal force onto the Japanese jazz scene. Part free jazz, part post-bop, and part heavy groove, Free Fight is one of the most varied yet engaging albums BBE Music has reissued in the J Jazz Masterclass Series, showcasing Hayasaka’s inventive and muscular playing as well as her highly original and surprising compositional powers. Given the album’s eclectic yet cohesive sound, it’s no surprise that it originally found a home at Mobys, the label established by esteemed jazz critic and promoter Teruto Soejima. Mobys only issued a handful of albums from some of the leading free and open players including J Jazz Masterclass alumnus, pianist Aki Takase, as well as free jazz guitar icon Masayuki Takayanagi, and free jazz figureheads Itaru Oki and the great Masahiko Satoh. Born in Tokyo in 1960, Hayasaka took lessons from saxophonist and recording artist Toki Hidefumi and fully immersed herself in the jazz life, working part-time at various jazz kissas including Peter-Cat, a kissa managed by novelist Haruki Murakami. She has performed regularly across Japan at venues like the famous Pit Inn and formed a strong alliance with the classic Tokyo jazz kissa Paper Moon, which continues to this day. Heavily influenced by players such as Roland Kirk, David Murray and Ornette Coleman, Hayasaka has played with free jazz legend Yosuke Yamashita and performed around the world (as well as up Mount Fuji!). In the late 1980s she moved to New York for several years and worked with notable musicians including drummer Pheeroan akLaff and pianist Cliff Korman. She has recorded a number of albums to her name for Japanese jazz labels such as Three Blind Mice and Kitty as well as leading European imprints such as Enja.

In his own time, in his own tone and in his own company.

‘Win and lose without losing oneself’’ This line from French rapper Oxmo Puccino greatly accompanied David Walters while composing his fourth studio album. Over the eleven tracks on ‘Ti Love’, David took his time to find the right tone and in turn, tell his truth.

‘Ti Love’, is a French-Creole abbreviation for “petite love”, meaning ‘little love’, evoking that sweet fondness found in those small gestures and little acts of kindness.

Think of things like young kids' brotherly love or a stranger lending you a helping hand, while expecting nothing in return. It’s these motions that allow this album to feel full of real life, carried by beating drums that also pull at our heart strings.

Basing himself in a small village in Martinique, where David had not long since scattered the ashes of his late mother, the multi-instrumentalist decided to remain there and let the writing of Ti Love pour out from deep inside him. Taking influence from around the island, the energy from his makeshift studio set up in Fort de France, allowing a resilient yet grieving man to recount, let go and come to terms with his recent loss.

So embracing these new circumstances, on the rugged coastal Caribbean island of Martinique, David took up an artist’s residency in the island’s capital Fort de France, located near the town’s port is the ‘Manoir des Artistes’, a bustling recording studio space. A place where the walls shake as the latest sounds being created are blasted by locals and visitors alike. Most studio doors are wide open; as music here is a huge part of everyday life, feedback from encouraging neighbouring musicians is on hand and welcomed. A contrast to the isolation often assumed with working in more traditional music studios.

It was here in this stimulating environment that David recorded Ti Love’s initial demos.

With his first collaborator onboard, Neeweed, a 25-year-old producer and gospel expert who David met at the Martinique Jazz Festival.

Of the album’s initial versions of the record David recollects: ‘It took me three years to write it, then I rewrote it, reworked it. In the end I'm really glad I stepped back and listened to myself.’ I found a great ally in GUTS, who ended up being the artistic director of the record”

David surrounded himself with the right people who helped him express himself in the best possible way. He called on other friends and musical comrades; album opener and title track, ‘Ti Love’ features the incomparable Fatoumata Diawara (World Circuit Records / Africa Express) and further along additional production came in from; Izem, Art Of Tones, and GUTS himself, who all added just the right amount of ‘little love’ to this

project. Further helping hands came from Californian producer and DJ Captain Planet, who David was introduced to a few years ago. Closer to home, here in Europe, the German producer Bluestaeb appears on two tracks: the very catchy disco funk ‘Mr Maraboo’ and ‘Kite Koule’, the latter being the first single lifted from the album, where David invited Nigerian guitarist Keziah Jones.

Elsewhere on the album, fellow Heavenly Sweetness recording artist Blundetto contributed two tracks; the reggae ‘Voodoo Love’, which is David's tribute to Studio One, and the very sweet and resilient ‘Bon Voyage’, which closes the album... "It's gold, it doesn't need anything changing.” remarked David - ‘Bon Voyage’ is a goodbye to his mother, whose voice called him from the bottom of the sea one night while he was surfing during the full Moon.

Released almost 20 years after his debut album ‘AWA’ released on French imprint Ya Basta, home to Gotan Project and many others, David boasts a long list of radio supporters including; Gilles Peterson, Cerys Matthews and Don Letts at the BBC, while further field Cosmo Radio in Germany, and KCRW in Los Angeles.

On this new record, David has shown sincerity and vulnerability, while still honouring the infectious groove that he is known for the world over. Despite the upsets, a little love can indeed go a long way.

CREDITS:
Produced by Bluestaeb / Blundetto / Captain Planet / Izem / Art of Tones
A&R : Guts
Mixed by Mr Gib @ Onetwopassit
Except "Bon Voyage” and "Voodoo Love" mixed by Jerome “Blackjoy” Carron
Mastered by Benjamin Joubert @ Biduloscope
Art by Elliott Walters