Cerca:own this

Berlin techno luminary Jamaica Suk announces her most ambitious project yet: Uncertain Landscape.

This 17-track, 4x 12” vinyl release on her acclaimed Gradient label will be released in four installments from Autumn to Winter 2020 and brings together a host of diverse techno talent. She will release a DJ mix featuring all 17 tracks to complete the series accompanied by a film from Anthony Vouardoux. The project is made up of a wishlist of names whose music she has been heavily supporting in her sets over the last few years. “I wrote specific producers inquiring for tracks that would be fitting to the label and also fit the DJ mix that I’m recording from these tunes. I’m looking to promote music that shares the same vision as I do.”

It marks the first original releases on Gradient from producers other than herself, which is a change of tact from her original plan for her imprint. “Initially I wanted to only release my music on Gradient including remixes - but it doesn’t make sense as there’s so much inspiration out there. By expanding the label’s network we create our own tribe.”

Jittery rhythms with a touch of ‘Spastik’ about them propel BNJMN’s ‘Abyssal Surge’ into life, with a big riverbed sound abounding as the track builds through haunting sustained tones and glitching mechanics.

Arthur Kimskii thundering ‘Natasha’ pummels from the first moment, with shuddering sub bass carving its way through the sound field as hypnotic bleeps pulse in the distance. Rapid-fire. Filtering percussive waves accentuate the bassline’s incessant 16ths rhythms, all the while the resonant kicks hammering away beneath.

Wrong Assessment’s ‘The Eight’ is a dissonant avalanche of warped textures, where grunting synth thrusts rub up against industrious pulses and chattering hi-hat patterns weave in and out of the mix. Stuttering bass and cymbal rides complete the urgent feel.

Introspective respite comes from Electro Indigo’s ‘Volcanite’, a stirring piece of broken beat experimentation where graceful pads slide hauntingly over taut kick and bass patterns and beautiful ghostly analog synth notes.

Look out for parts 2-4 coming soon and special audio + visual showcases.

VENT’s 21st release, a remix EP edition of 120 copies all hand numbered with a risograph printed cover, sees the collaborative works of 2019’s Kına LP by MAYa & Tolga Baklacioglu (VENT017) being reinterpreted through the lens of four prolific remixers. Each has brought their own perspectives and experiences to the table, challenging and redefining the original versions in their own way. Palestinian producer Muqata’a, for instance, has taken the track “Jyoti”, a track dedicated to Jyoti Sing, who was gang raped and murdered in India, reconstructing it so as to emphasize the continuous violence against women, whereas Martial Canterel has universalized the notions of yearning for a homeland in his remix. As a release featuring a broad range of bold and uncompromising remixes in different styles, the themes of nostalgia and yearning helps each remix highlight the qualities of the others. As keys to decrypt each remix more carefully, the artists have provided their brief comments, below:

Silent Servant (legendary dj/producer):

"I tried to give this remix a different approach than what has been my usual. Something based on perceived nostalgia but mixed in a modern way. I wanted it to feel like a lost RMX for the Hacienda from 1984 but hit in a modern club standard.”

Martial Canterel (cult poster boy for 21st century minimal synth):

"In approaching the work of my very dear and old friend, Maya, and her collaborator, Tolga Baklacioglu I wanted to situate differently the atmosphere and longing, to word it entirely otherwise. I wanted to dramatize this yearning for home and homeland, what the Welsh call Hiraeth. I want to place her plaintive strivings for home and tranquility in a festival of upbeat rhythms and releases."

Muqata’a (Palestinian beatmaker):

"It was very interesting remixing this powerful piece, working with the concept and different elements of the track, 'Jyoti', creating a more loop-based structure in an attempt to represent repeated violence against women."

Decimus (uncompromising esoteric artist):

"What I find amazing about the original version of this track is how colossally monolithic it is. It shifts and morphs over its 13 minutes but it never relents in its intensity and density. It feels epic and gigantic. I chose it to remix because I saw it as a challenge to carve something quieter and perhaps more narrative, in form, out of it while trying to stay true to the intensity of the original."

Prolific American artist Jon Hester returns to Rekids for the first instalment of his new album, ‘Converge’, this September.

Jon Hester grew up in the Midwest US, living in Chicago and Minneapolis while taking musical cues from Detroit. Initially he was a dancer, and later transitioned to the decks with a refined understanding of what it takes to move a club. He progressed to hosting his own events, holding residencies, and working at a record shop, and now brings his physical rhythms and adventurous drums to his productions, with output on respected labels such as Transmat, Deeply Rooted, Dystopian, Klockworks, and LET Recordings, not to mention multiple appearances on Rekids.

Continuing to show fine form on his debut album, Hester now serves up eight of his signature house and techno fusions with plenty of his trademark directness across four sides of vinyl. The superb 'Sending Signals' opens the album with scene-setting synth modulations full of sci-fi atmosphere. It's the calm before the storm as 'Metropolitan' then immediately sets off on a cantering groove that is eventually run through with busy, jazzy piano keys that bring the soul.

'Haze' has excellently taught kick drums with hypnotic synth tones adding colour, and features Hester on saxophone. When 'Rain' comes, things grow darker and more menacing, with shakers and urgent stabs keeping you moving at a slick pace.

The second half of this compelling record features the loopy punches and pulses of the super smooth 'Dreamstate', beautifully cosmic and widescreen techno of 'Free' and pensive but urgent deep electro of standout cut 'Flex.' Last of all, 'Equinox' is lit up with distant chords which bring a far-sighted gaze to the rolling, robust kicks.

So much legendary hip-hop begins with a misunderstanding. You might not realise it on first or even hundredth listen, but ‘Insane in the Brain’ is a diss track. What has become one of the hip-hop’s most iconic party anthems, and one of Cypress Hill’s biggest hits, started out with them taking offence at Chubb Rock.
He’d flipped some of their lyrics on his own ‘Yabba Dabba Doo’ song in 1992 and the group didn’t like it. While B-Real’s lyrical attack on Chubb is subtle and almost subliminal, Sen Dog spends most of his verse making fat jokes at Chubb’s expense.
It’s a little known beef, hidden beneath the vast success of this single in 1993, with it reaching number one in the US rap charts and proving a pop hit worldwide too. At this stage, the group’s producer DJ Muggs had perfected an idiosyncratic sound all of his own, lending it to tracks for the likes of House of Pain and Funkdoobiest.

Here he melds samples from Sly and the Family Stone and The Youngbloods with a beat lifted from George Semper’s instrumental cover of ‘Get out my life, woman’. Those subtle songs are alchemised into a boot-stomping head-nodder that transcended hip-hop to become a festival favourite, a rise that ended in Ned Flanders delivering the line, “this may sound just a teensy bit insane in the old membrane, Homer,” in The Simpsons.

The only official 7” of this was released in the Philippines, and fetches prices in the hundreds of pounds – this reissue puts a hip-hop classic in crate-friendly form.

Official Mr Bongo coloured vinyl re-issue for Record Store Day 2020

Asha's debut self-titled album is a wonderful fusion of jazz, soul, blues, and disco. It includes an outstanding cover version of J.J. Cale's ‘Right Down Here’; a track which Asha has made very much her own by flipping it into a deep-funk groove with sultry ethereal vocals and a drumbeat almost ready-made for samplers of the future.

The record was produced in the UK by Del Newman, who had worked with Carly Simon, Cat Stevens, and Elton John to name a few. It was released on London CBS records in 1973. Shortly after the release of the record, Asha (who was born in Mumbai), was banned by the Home Office from working in the UK for a period of time due to visa issues. These obstacles along with problems with her recording contract did not hold her back. Asha moved on and continued her musical journey elsewhere. This resulted in further astounding creative works that Mr Bongo will also be presenting soon.

For this special RSD special edition we have pressed on sky blue vinyl to bring out the colours of Asha's stunning dress that she wears for the cover portrait.

The long-awaited follow up to 2016’s “Hi Vibe” EP, *GCR010# is the code that dumps our inner-space cadets from their deep space stasis and back into our timeline. Hot off the data logger, “Dream Running” – five robust runtimes of creamy electro-ambience and bubbled-over balearica, equally suited to inter-dimensional cryosleep and share house kick ons, coded by hand and compiled with love by Long Body. Defrost your own frozen dreams with this study for guitar and synthesizer in the enduring tradition of Andrew Duffield (Round The Twist) and hot-wire your waking reality today!

It's been three years since the last vinyl by Ntogn was unveiled and now we're glad to share with you the result of his venture through the recent winter.

'Smedjan' is inspired by the dwarven craftsmanship of Norse mythology. It is made completely with organic sounds gathered from, and recorded in, the forests of Bålsta which is rich with northern heritage. Everything you hear is either processed textures of birch wood blocks, layers of a custom made Ukrainian artisan mouth harp or the artist's own voice.

There is no synthesis in this record. The kick drums are made by hitting these pieces of wood against each other with contact microphones. Bass layers are extracted from bark scraping against bark. Hi hats are crafted by recorded fire of the same wood logs burning and ambiance is built from the forests where the trees grew and from the woodshed where the artist chopped the wood during winter to keep his cabin warm. The rhythms and sounds in this shed is what inspired the making of this record.

By shaping these sounds of wood and metal Ntogn strives to create a sonic experience that connects the listener to the old Norse stories of the dwarven craftsmanship of Svartalfheim. It is they who made the famous trinkets and weapons that empower the gods of Asgård through stories of trickery and despair which has later inspired tales and literature for over a thousand years.

The record has been distilled from material that was meant to become a two-hour live set specifically made for Mo:dem festival which was unfortunately cancelled due to the corona pandemic. It was also the foundation of the artist's thesis at the university of sound design where he made a study of the effects of organic sound on an electronic expression such as techno music.

It will be released digitally and as a 200 copy limited edition black vinyl adorned with an artwork drawn by the artist's partner Gabriella Holmström using the ashes of the same birch wood blocks that was used to make the sonic content.

The record has received early support from Francois X, Takaaki Itoh, Abstract Division, BLNDR and Rambadu to name a few.

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

Ntogn en'togg-n is a conceptual electro-acoustic project developed by Hypnus Records' founder and sound design graduate Michel Iseneld (b. 1988, Sweden). It aims to breath life into a fascination for magic with the use of contemporary and classic sound design techniques. This has resulted in what Resident Advisor's William Lynch describes as 'fierce, artistic techno that sounds like little else out there' and a discography ranging from earth-shattering techno to dark, throbbing ambient excursions.

After spending nearly three years in isolation, deeply lost in literature on history, philosophy, occultism and epic fairy-tales; Michel developed an inner world which eventually found an outlet through the means of music in 2013. By the use of field recordings and various samplings of his voice and surroundings, something peculiar sprouted as his inner images started to manifest and mature into an organic sound inspired by the emerging hypnotic deep techno scene.

Today, all music is released on his own imprint Tome in order to preserve the projects' artistic freedom and originality. After two years of sound design studies at the university and a new-found passion for modular synthesis; there's plenty of music in store aimed to satiate the curious minds.

Cogitate is the first release from NYC local Promoter and an invitation to gaze inward and sit with sound. Borne of hours lost in loops, Promoter calls forth deep, dubby bass rumble, off-kilter rhythms and murky atmospherics, relishing in repetition and evolving subliminally but surely. Disorienting, engaging and engulfing, Cogitate is the 4th release on NYC-based Patience, catching you off guard then inviting you in.

Cogitate offers two cuts from the same cloth - one locked into the grid, the other drifting far above it. Both begin with shards of static cascading over submerged synth stabs - on Cogitate 1.1 a bassline bubbles up from below before a kick drum sneaks in and drops anchor, driving forward a slice of sparse zero gravity dub techno for a zonked out dancefloor in a dream. Cogitate 2.0 offers a pared back version of 1.1, slowed down and stripped of the rhythm section. A gentle brain scrub or a cascade of mind tricks depending on your headspace. Is the sequence evolving or is your perspective on it shifting? Does this sound like something I know or nothing at all? Has this been going for 3 minutes or 3 hours? Is this climax sublime or simply creepy?

Whatever it is, Promoter presents an opportunity to let the mind wander, and offers proof that repetition invites participation. Both cuts simmer in ambiguous emotion, never spelling out what to feel but allowing the listener to be their own trip commander.

Promoter is a new project from a life-long NYC resident, most recently releasing a couple of 12”s under the Image Man moniker, who for the most part would prefer that the music is received on it’s own terms, with a mind wide open.

Cogitate 1.1 was mixed by Mood Hut mixologist CZ Wang. Both tracks were mastered by M. Geddes Gengras.

Following this release will be an extremely limited cassette of material recorded in the same time and (head)space. Keep an ear to the ground for that one.

Patience is an outlet for exploring further beyond the break than usual. Inspired by the music perpetually on rotation at HQ – with E2-E4 representing the format’s high tide mark – each release will be one artist’s deep dive down one inspirational wormhole spread across two sides of vinyl, or two side-long sojourns making full use of a round 12” piece of plastic. Set and forget, zone out to tune in.

Introducing the first release on MARICAS Records from the Barcelona queer collective. After three years of living the Maricas techno-pervy-loving lifestyle and spreading their message of freedom and love in their hometown and beyond, it was time to share the music they love and live by. With their very own imprint, they strive to lift up and showcase their family of queer artists and spread their sound to parties and after parties all around the world.

The first EP is delivered by none other than resident and co-founders ISAbella. She makes her debut with a solid five tracker, which bounces between house and breaks, all with a touch of old school. Hard-hitting drums and crispy perc are blended with just the right amount of dirty Rave and Electro flavours.

The A side kicks off with the dance-floor-banger Extrema, a driving house weapon rich in synth textures and stabs. Each layer takes its turn to be heard over the fat bass line, before combining into a dense melodic texture at the climax. This is sure to crush any dance floor.

Side B features Contacto, which perfectly encapsulates the Maricas sound. Deep, dreamy layers of atmosphere and the ethereal, euphoric melodies floating above are driven forward by a crunchy breaks riff and an airy but tough four to the floor kick.

PRESSED ON ECO-FRIENDLY VINYL AT THE GREENEST PRESSING PLANT IN THE WORLD

The ends of days are ones with which Damian Lazarus is familiar, but, much like his biblical namesake, he too, has come back from the brink and risen to fight on, his career is interwoven with themes of survival and re-birth. Fittingly then, his second solo album does not wallow in our current dark times but charts a path of hope. Flourish, offers a glimpse of a new world worth living in and surviving for.

Flourish takes us through the many lives of Damian Lazarus, who, as he has grown older, and traversed the globe, has come to more deeply examine the role the dance floor plays in his own life and that of others. With parties cancelled, it would have been easy to wallow, but instead urgency took hold, and isolated Italian countryside Damian took the space to tackle the larger questions he has been grappling with for years.

As anyone who has watched Lazarus DJ can attest, his inspirations are deep and varied, criss-crossing show tunes, drum n bass, jazz, electro, soul, house, techno and everything in-between. This album reflects his immersion in a multitude of scenes over the years, from the early days of London drum n bass, to his role as a figurehead in the electroclash scene, and of course the significant impact his Crosstown Rebels label has had on contemporary underground house and techno. Flourish is far from a box of functional DJ tools, in the same way as Damian’s debut album Smoke The Monster Out or the more worldly outings in his brace of albums with the Ancient Moons. It’s a personal, brave and varied body of work. It’s also the work of an artist who has grown over the ten years since his last solo album. Lazarus plays with nuances of texture, tempo and style to create a rich and dense album that takes us on an odyssey that is at times both dark and uplifting. Vocals of his own cast an intimate shadow over the album with those of his sole collaborator Jem Cooke offering a soothing balance amidst the madness.

Damian’s work reminds us that however taxing the journeys there are always moments of beauty to be found.

"I am sitting in a garden, I haven't left the property in weeks, someone is dropping off food once a week. I haven't seen a human being in ages, I feel like a reverse Schroedinger cat - do I exist when nobody sees me? I must be somewhere in France but I don't remember. I have lost my consciousness again. When I wake up I hear a broken record looping somewhere in the mansion. A washed-out opera. Behind the trees I see the dilapidated hermaphrodite sculpture in a field of verdant nettles and fern. I hear gunshots far afield, aeroplanes in the sky, sirens on the main road.
When unconscious I dreamt of sitting on the Concorde observing the scarab blue ocean and iridescent clouds from above, an erstwhile receding memory. Sometimes I hear the organ of the nearby Renaissance Cathedral merging with the Russian Church bells.
I am hallucinating again. Someone's humming in the kitchen? Singing? A Radio? I overhear two young women talking about art galleries in the neighbour's garden. Bees attack, again…..again and again. The hairspray finally intoxicates them. An amphoric japanese voice is whispering in my head saying I will die soon. Someone (something?) bangs on the vases. The fountain's water turns dark red.
Fleur calls and says mum died. The funeral will be televised on tuesday. We opt for the synthetic choir for the service. The call is suddenly interrupted. Mold is slowly taking over the house.
I go back inside."

Une Fille Pétrifiée is the debut album of new Black To Comm related entity Mouchoir Ètanche (after one recent 12" on Richter's own Dekorder label). Combining real and fake acoustic instrumentation, sampling, field recordings and excessive yet inaudible post production this is another sublime and ethereal statement. Influences are ranging from (French) Classical & Opera to the anecdotical compositions of Luc Ferrari, Chinese Opera, Chanson, Sacred Music / Church Music, JG Ballard and Surrealism.

Marc Richter records as Black To Comm for Thrill Jockey, Type and Dekorder and as Jemh Circs for his own Cellule 75 imprint. He also produces soundtracks and acousmatic multichannel installations for institutions such as INA GRM Paris, ZKM Karlsruhe and Kunstverein Hamburg.

A dramatic, string-drenched epic, James Ralph Bailey’s Just Me ’N’ You has been a sought-after soul masterpiece for decades. A lush suite of beautiful songs, it was conceived as a concept album; a sophisticated paean to love.

Originally released by MAM Records in 1974, Just Me ’N’ You is a breathtaking jazzy soul album. It’s similar in style to Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On - particularly the performances, orchestrations and chord progressions - but dealing with a different universal subject matter. If What’s Going On was about romance instead of politics, it would sound like this.

Fans of Marvin, Leon Ware, Donny Hathaway, Leroy Hutson and Willie Hutch will love this record. Not as well known - this is definitely an underrated gem - the work of James Ralph Bailey is no less mind-blowing. It’s got to be one of the best soul albums of all time.

The original productions were made on a basic home tape machine and enhanced with strings, rhythmic overdubs and a variety of other instrumentation. These are beautiful arrangements of strings and jazzy horns. Rhythm guitars and bouncy bass serve as the groove foundation, congas provide a Latin feel whilst the vibraphone and harmonica add colour. And then of course there’s JR’s voice.

His style recalls Hathaway, with a delivery akin to Marvin at the time. As he scats and sings, accompanying himself in sweet harmonies, there is still a rawness of pain and longing in his voice, the rawness familiar to all deep soul.

As an album, Just Me ’N’ You is no mere collection of songs. The tender, smooth tunes flow perfectly together into a fluid, single artistic statement. This is one where it’s hard to pick out any standouts. You may have heard the soaring title track before, maybe on Gilles Peterson’s Digs America compilation. The opening track “After Hours” sounds as fresh now as it ever was and segues beautifully into the majestic “Heaven On Earth”. Recorded by Hathaway the previous year, Bailey’s original of “Love Love Love” is incredible and arguably the definitive version. The powerful, dreamy, sax-and-harmony-laced “All Strung Out Over You” has echoes of the Chi-Lites, it’s that good. Goosebumps. And we could go on.

Mastered by Simon Francis, cut by Pete Norman and pressed at Record Industry, this Be With edition of Just Me ’N’ You sounds every bit as brilliant as it should. A joyous celebration of love, this album is perfect in every way. If you don’t already own a copy then now is the time.

Caiphus Semenya, AKA Mr Letta Mbulu, is a South African legend, and Listen To The Wind, his iconic debut album, is simply a superb modern-soul/boogie album. It’s also incredibly rare, especially in good condition, so Be With is delighted to present this reissue.

Now a revered composer, musician, and arranger, Caiphus left apartheid South Africa in the 60s for self-imposed exile in Southern California together with his wife, Letta Mbulu. Settling in Los Angeles he started working with the likes of Hugh Masekela and Miriam Makeba and other exiled and semi-exiled South african artists, as well as, of course, his wife Letta.

Caiphus also found himself working with and composing for a broad range of jazz and pop artists, including Lou Rawls, Nina Simone and Cannonball Adderley. His facility with both jazz and African forms served him well. His LA stay was also the beginning of an ongoing collaboration with Quincy Jones, the fruits of which can be tasted in Caiphus’s African compositions for the scores to Roots and Spielberg’s adaptation of The Color Purple.

Given his decades of work behind the scenes, it’s no surprise that it took until 1982 for Caiphus to get around to putting out the first album of his own. But all that experience shows. Listen To The Wind is a deeply impressive synthesis of early 80s US production and instrumentation together with his traditional South African musical roots.

It’s stylistically diverse but the ingredients are never diluted. There are elements of boogie, soul, funk and jazz, all shot through with pan-African flavour, and moving effortlessly from uptempo floor fillers to more meditative, slower soulful tracks. Produced by Caiphus himself, he makes full use of a stellar line up of session musicians including Nathan East, Michael Stanton, Sonny Burke and Paulinho DaCosta. And of course, there are Letta’s show-stopping vocals. To our ears, Listen To The Wind is just one big party, and lord knows we need that more than ever right now.

Opener “Angelina” is one of Caiphus’s most beloved tracks at Be With HQ. It’s a breezy, feel-good SA boogie-funk classic. Harmonic and horn heavy, it sounds as fresh today as it would’ve done in the early 80s. If this one doesn’t make you move, you may need your pulse taking. The drum breakdown alone, a little over halfway through, is sensational.

It’s followed by the gentle reggae lilt of “Play With Fire”. A real melodic slo-mo delight, carried by the tropical vibes and, above all else, by the extraordinary performance of Caiphus himself and his backing singers.

Closing out side one, the spectacular “Umoya” is driven by triumphant horns and slick bass. With its proto-Graceland vibes, we reckon Paul Simon must’ve been listening. Hard. Caiphus trades verses with the unmistakable tones of Letta, and it sounds divine. Yes, it’s as good as anything on Letta’s canonical In The Music… The Village Never Ends. A wide-eyed wonder, made for unity and togetherness, it’s all infectious, smiling faces for nearly nine minutes. But never mind nine, we could party to this for ninety minutes and “Umoya” would leave us re-energised for ninety more.

Elegantly firing up side two is perhaps the album’s best known track. “Without You” is a heavenly slice of modern soul, an end-of-nighter to end them all. Smooth strutting, disco-fied funk with that unmistakably South African sound, it’s just sublime, with those lyrics that keep coming back to smiling faces and community, “without You the sun won’t shine”. Big with the likes of Rush Hour’s Antal, this is aural perfection.

“Ziph’inkomo” is a soul-soothing, swooning epic. Gently building throughout, its final few minutes are genuinely stirring as the backing vocals and instrumentation swell. Jaw-dropping. The irresistible groove of frantic, percussive workout “Gumba Boogie” closes out what must surely be one of the greatest artistic statements of the 1980s. If his friend Quincy wasn’t feverishly taking notes for Thriller, then you could’ve fooled us.

With Simon Francis handling the mastering of this Be With edition, you know it sounds as fantastic as ever. The cover art, as breezy as the music, has been faithfully restored. All that’s missing is you.

We Release Jazz is delighted to announce the official reissue of Ryo Fukui’s final album, the very personal contemporary jazz offering, A Letter from Slowboat, sourced from the original masters and available on limited edition 180 gram vinyl mastered at half speed for full audiophile sound, as well as on digipack CD.
Known for his miraculous albums Scenery (1976) and Mellow Dream (1977), legendary Hokkaido pianist Ryo Fukui, with the help of his wife Yasuko, opened his very own jazz club in Sapporo in 1995, Slowboat. This is where Ryo Fukui spent the latter half of his career, playing again and again, welcoming peers for unforgettable sessions, and perfecting the craft he lived for: jazz.

A Letter from Slowboat is a poetic, soulful, and honest love letter to Hokkaido, to Fukui’s jazz club, and to endless hours of practicing artistry in a place called home. Backed by longtime collaborators Takumi Awaya on bass, and Ittetsu Takemura on drums, Ryo Fukui flows through classics and originals with natural class, fluidity and absolute precision, expressing a smooth balance between skills and heart. Slowboat, full of breathtaking solos and exquisite moments of clarity, is another crucial piece in the career of one of the most fascinating jazzmen to ever grace the piano. It was released in 2016, sadly the year Ryo Fukui passed away, leaving behind a legacy of works that is sure to captivate jazz lovers for generations to come, and Slowboat, where the magic still happens to this day.

This is reissued in conjunction with Ryo Fukui’s Ryo Fukui in New York (1999), also available via We Release Jazz.

Barcelona to Brooklyn via UK: following two very special releases from Beartrax, for their third release (and second of 2020) hot new NYC label Melodize welcome one of Spain’s most consistent electronic ambassadors, Factor City co-boss Undo, and Cin Cin bossman Fort Romeau for remix duties.

Hot on the heels of his stunning ‘Dark Woods’ EP earlier this summer, Undo comes packing some stunning electronic tackle. Sitting somewhere between Border Community and Underworld, both cuts are lavishly layered as myriad synths bubble and ripple away in their own little co-existing worlds.

Baggy, charming and just nicely off-grid, both sides of the coin can be flipped; those looking for a darker jam will be all over ‘Sixty Days’, a powerful cut where the basses melt into swaggering loose kicks. Need things even darker? Then jump on Fort Romeau’s remix where the kicks are cemented into place with a stark acidic twist.

Meanwhile those of us hungrier for more of a cosmic head trip will find serious pots of gold at the end of the rainbow that is ‘Just One Day’. A twinkling, shimmering odyssey, tracks like these don’t come round all that often. Melodize realise total bliss once again.

With Dead Planet Oliveri has taken a band once considered a side project and turned it into a full-fledged rock and roll powerhouse. As has been his trademark when he had written songs with Kyuss or QOTSA, this album just oozes with punk rock ethos. Combined with the stoner rock influences that he helped create, this album is a study in excess and self-indulgence. And that is exactly what makes it so damn good. - Ed Thompson

This classic album, released in July 1972 on the back of three chart-topping T.Rex LPs – provides a perfect snapshot of the era the press dubbed ‘T. Rextasy’ and is proof of Bolan’s extraordinary and enduring appeal across the generations.

The Slider contained two UK Number 1 hit singles, Telegram Sam and Metal Guru and the first to bear the T. Rex Wax Co imprint, a seal of approval from EMI Records, who felt Bolan sufficiently important to warrant having his own record label. This edition features the complete album remastered by producer Tony Visconti and Ted Jensen.

When Upset The Rhythm released Normil Hawaiians’ lost album ‘Return Of The Ranters’ back in 2015, the band members got back in touch with each other after a 30 year break and starting playing music together again. Out of this the group played a launch show for the album and followed that up with more concerts, including an appearance at Supernormal, a residency at the Edinburgh Festival, gigs at Cafe OTO and supporting Richard Dawson in London too. They even recently toured Greece in support of having all three of their renowned exploratory post-punk albums finally back in print.

Throughout this time, Normil Hawaiians revisited their original songs for these live performances. However for a group always so interested in evolving their sound and seeking nuance, it comes as no surprise that they shirked the idea of a faithful retread of old material in favour of reimagining their songs. The group experimented by pushing their songs into new inventive dimensions, still progressive at heart, but now imbued with a cosmic uncanny. A cinematic, even pastoral approach that was always quietly present has come to the fore. The quaint weirdness of folk song, the humanity of communal practice and the group’s ecological mindedness have all found a place in Normil Hawaiians’ current sound world. With this conducive atmosphere brewing, the band’s first new songs in decades started to emerge.
Being far-flung across the UK, the Family Hawaii encamped to Tayinloan, a small village on the west coast of the Kintyre peninsula in Scotland with the intention of recording new music. They set up their own studio in an isolated, windswept house overlooking the sea and started the tape rolling. Noel Blanden from the band explains how the spirit of the location was such an inspiration to the group during this initial recording session: “Our time immersed in the place and the unique energy it generated in us allowed us to write ‘In The Stone’. It goes right back to our first album, this need to document experience before it passes over and eludes us. We were grabbing at the musical ether and letting it shape itself through the band.” From loose, improvised sessions and reflective periods of listening in Tayinloan, Normil Hawaiians captured the moment. ‘In The Stone’ is a motorik thrill of distorted guitars, locked rhythms and morphic resonance. Guy Smith is joined by Zinta Egle on vocals, skilfully sharing lyrics informed by Alan Garner and Nigel Kneale’s ideas around recurring events being linked to place and historical artefact;  a kind of residual haunting known as ‘Stone Tape’ theory. In keeping with the context of the song, sounds from several previous live recordings of the track were woven into its present being. Flipside ‘Where is Living?’ is a decidedly more delicate affair of questioning lyrics and eerie traces, droning strings and impressions smudged. This resultant 7” is a tantalising glimpse of Normil Hawaiians now, an echo from the past, an echo from the future.

After the launch of his very own label LTF Records earlier in April, Franky Rizardo is presenting his second release ‘Polaris EP’, four tracks that capture the unique rollercoaster of emotions that the last few months have been:

“Polaris was made the day after the announcement of the lockdown measures in the Netherlands. The gravity of the situation started to settle in and for me it meant that my summer agenda had been cancelled. The feeling of trying to accept this fact and keeping my spirits up evolved into this track. Which is uplifting but hits the feels as well.”

Polaris reflects the melancholy over a lost summer, but channels POSITIVITY and determination to make the best out of the situation.

As one of the Netherlands finest house music exports Franky Rizardo has been making and playing music for most of his life. With the global Corona pandemic, he, as well as the industry as a whole, is looking towards an uncertain future when it comes to performances, clubbing and coming together on the dancefloor. However, Franky is keeping his spirits up and continues to focus on his own output and creativity through his newly founded label LTF Records.

In times of social distancing, he is connecting with his fans through live streams such as De Marktkantine, Verknipt and Straf_Werk, as well as at the first social distancing gigs (with COVID-19 safety rules) such as Thuishaven (Amsterdam) and Kiesgrube (Duisburg).

In tough and uncertain times like these, Polaris EP comes as a message of positivity and inspiration, to light up peoples’ days and remind them that regardless of the situation now, there’s a silver lining.

Rabo & Snob explore the forgotten jams from the outer limits of their city Tel Aviv's music scene in the 1980's on this super fine EP.

While the sounds of new wave and synth wave mainly dominated in the clubs of the city at that time, some artists also experimented with Italo music.

On this EP Rabo & Snob pay tribute to those early pioneers of a new and different Disco-inspired electronic sound, and sprinkle some of their own magic dust upon it to make it both interesting and fresh.

Enjoy the trip.

LIMITED COKE BOTTLE CLEAR VINYL + DL.

The lead-off and title track of Brock Van Wey's 38th bvdub album Wrath and Apathy establishes itself with a noir hued Rhodes piano and idly lurching beats that provide an intoxicating beginning, which is, fittingly obstructed by a resonant synth-line that paces the song to new heights.
Van Wey's fans have come to covet the ebb and flow between such sprawlingly emotive passages, and Wrath and Apathy has these in mass.
It takes its time, like most of Van Wey's works, to get where it's going, and his musi- cal style to the already initiated is that of intently watching the ocean waves, with each wave bringing its own unique shape, texture, and in this case, aural reward.
Wrath and Apathy is loosely based on the events of Haruki Murakami's novel Kafka on the Shore. Like most of Van Wey's recent n5MD works, comes in the form of four spaciously captivating and deeply immersive long-form journeys.

For anyone who can remember, Arca's &&&&& was a moment. Its 25-minute stretch of coiling, contorted grime and glitch; dub and hip hop dropped with the buzz of an impending co-production credit on Kanye West's Yeezus in 2013. It included cuts of sound and beats that were too weird for that pop project, while becoming a piece of experimental art that what would come to define what is by now broadly known as a `post-club' sound. It's music that is as visceral as it is experimental; made as much for the mind, as it is for the body. Released with no warning seven years ago, &&&&& became a bridge between Alejandra Ghersi's time partying and collaborating with her queer peers, while still living in New York to the next stage of her career releasing on Mute in London. She'd go from making beats for rapper Mykki Blanco and fashion label Hood By Air, posting lurching bass reworkings of pop hits on YouTube, and producing her first fluid mixtapes with DIS Magazine, to finishing off this seminal mixtape on the synths in Daniel Miller's studio. After dropping three impressive EPs the year before, &&&&& marked a transition. Continuations and extrapolations of material from Stretch 1 and Stretch 2 appeared in the mangled RnB sampling of "Century" and Arca's signature vocal layering in the pitched flow of "Waste". Along with the fluttering, muted heartbeat of "Obelisk", and the lumbering piano chords of "Mother", fourteen sonic sketches were elegantly woven together into a single, downloadable whole. As Alejandra's course turned toward moving to Europe from the United States, &&&&& became a remarkable challenge to the form of the mixtape, which was a relatively new trend taking hold of the online-oriented underground at the turn of the 2010s. But where many, if not most mixtapes where treated simply as a showcase of individual tracks presaging a more `official' release to come, &&&&& was a complete piece in its own right. "I wanted to make something that was my best work," Alejandra says about a record that has stood the test of time, "I listen to it very fondly today." This reissue of Arca's 2013 debut mixtape &&&&& features an etching on side B of the vinyl.

Having previously brought together world-renowned Theremin soloist Carolina Eyck and electronic producer Eversines for a specially commissioned collaborative mini album, yeyeh founder Pieter Jansen has now conjured up another unlikely but inspired joint album, this time featuring award-winning free-jazz vocalist Greetje Bijma and leftfield house, techno and ambient producer Oceanic.

The project has its roots in a chance meeting between Jansen and Bijma, a legendary figure on the Dutch jazz scene who in 1990 became the first woman to win the country’s top jazz accolade, the VPRO/Boy Edgar award. Apart from having previously worked with the likes of Anna Homler (aka Breadwoman), Jasper van ’t Hof, Han Bennink, Louis Andriessen and Willem Breuker and her own solo projects, she’s in a league of her own.

Jansen is a big fan of Bijma’s 1996 heavily electronic collaboration with Jasper van’t Hof and Pierre Favre, Freezing Screens, and was with the friend who first introduced him to it when he bumped into Bijma.
Excited to meet someone who had made one of his favourite records, Jansen took the opportunity to ask Bijma if she would be interested in working with young electronic music producers. To Jansen’s delight, Bijma quickly agreed.

Weeks later, Bijma stepped into the studio with Oceanic, a rising star of the Dutch electronic underground whose releases as Oceanic for Nous’klaer Audio and BAKK Plafond revolve around mechanical rhythms, opaque ambient textures, minimalist melodic movements and effervescent electronics. The pair quickly connected on an emotional and musical level, with Bijma taking her cues from Oceanic’s electronic sounds and rhythms, and Oceanic drawing inspiration from Bijma’s dexterous, mind- bending and otherworldly vocalizations.

After two hugely productive days, the cross-generational duo had completed a couple of mesmerizing songs – breathlessly haunting album opener “Swallow a Party” and chilly ambient closer “A Window Drifting” – and recorded several hours or improvisations that Oceanic later edited, layered-up and re-modelled.

The results are little less than spellbinding. The range and versatility of Bijma’s vocalizations is breathtaking, while Oceanic’s music – which cleverly incorporates the free-jazz singer’s vocal notes, tones and proclamations – swings between becalmed beauty and breathless intensity.

Some of the set’s most striking moments are those where Oceanic re-contextualizes Bijma’s varied vocal sounds with the dancefloor in mind. On the pulsating “Technicolour Memories”, up-tempo “Step Snakes” and hypnotic “Never Done”, Bijma’s scat outbursts not only ride Oceanic’s rhythms, but also form part of the densely layered percussion tracks beneath.

Like the release’s more downtempo and ethereal moments, these hybrid organic- synthetic compositions defy easy categorization, offering a unique brand of alien electronic/acoustic musical fusion that lingers long in the memory.

F.S.Blumm is a man most might not know. He ́s no pop artist, and not overtly experimental either. But somehow with In Sight he has done the impossible: put his own sound in that perfect middle point, leaving his voice behind to deep-dive into some truly memorable, fully composed pieces.
In Sight is the kind of record you can put on at first crack of dawn, to enjoy its beautiful instrumental varieties during morning routine, while equally fitting as a listening experience towards the darker time of day, in the background or as highly rewarding deep listening experience. It ́s the kind of album that would be great to encounter played in a tiny Japanese jazz bar on a vintage, top notch speaker system together with a handful of local oddities. It sounds incredibly well produced and is full of beautiful, heart-warming, melancholic moments performed on everything from guitars to percussion, vibraphone, strings, piano and who knows what else. Frank shines on this record. He has created quietly composed pieces for moments one could only wish were real.
As often with F.S.Blumm ́s music, it ́s hard to pin down where to categorize it. He might be best known as frequent collaborator of Nils Frahm. Together they made three great duo albums for Sonic Pieces previously. Although this is far from his first solo album, it is his first for the label, and after listening to it on repeat for some time, we can only say that this is Frank on his finest, creating some of the most thought provoking instrumental music you can find in these parts of the world.

The MINDFULNESS HIPERNORMALISATION album itself marks a new turn in Eduardo's work, breaking away from any musical style or stereotype and always trying to seeking freedom of expression,marked also by a strong connotation of voluntary ostracism.A new stage in which Eduardo uses this double vinyl like a tool to mark a distance with the current international scene and also support the Adam Curtis theories shown on his acclamed documentary "The HiperNormalisation" 2016 . The album show influences that goes from romantic ambient melodies to the most complex and experimental electronica,also including easy listening techno where it is difficult to differentiate the line between techno and ambient.

Francois Kervorkian,DJ and official engineer of albums belonging to Depeche Mode or Kraftwerk, gives support to this great work of Eduardo which will remain in the near future and without any doubt as a cult album.

The different seeds that have been planted throughout the life of Croatian Amor come to bloom on 'All In The Same Breath,' affirming an equilibrium that's all its own. Spiralling through the half-light electronics are gentle bumps and breaks that are layered into moments of elevation. A coarse edge remains just an arm's length away, but there is an unmistakable element of celebration throughout the album's 10 tracks. As the syncopated terrains ring out, their perpetual rhythmic motions call a medley of human voices that speak in security. They sing to everyone just as they sing to themselves. In the years since the seminal Croatian Amor album 'Love Means Taking Action' Loke Rahbek has strode a twofold path. There are the delicate, meditative compositions that he has made with Frederik Valentin; setting acoustic instrumentation against affecting digital treatments, each of their collaborative albums are an exercise in the magnificence of subtle restraint. And with the sharpest of turns you'll find Rahbek's parallel universe of rave-shocked rhythms and kinetic helixes that eddy through genre and tempo with few constraints. Collaborations with Varg²™ have yielded the wildest of this, and remain ongoing, yet the traces were already apparent across much of the previous Croatian Amor album 'Isa' with its treated vocalizations and cascading rhythmic mechanics. 'All In The Same Breath,' arrives as a steady handed synthesis of these divergent instincts. Elaborating the distinct techniques and themes that form the wistful essence of the project, the album's quiet composure is a sign that these familiarities have been set adrift to settle into their own private ecosystem.Small vessels travel in a perfect array. Light following shadows, following light. Every movement a signal, every second is camouflage. 'All In The Same Breath' is perhaps more than anything an invitation to be open to wonder.

Lina & Gwen Wayne have become notorious for their techno sets throughout Germany and Europe, maneuvering from insider to headliner depending on the premises. We are pleased to announce their first EP "Genug gelabert" will be released on 4th September 2020 via Hold Your Ground on 12" vinyl and digitally.

Worm & brutal, like falling face first onto the concrete floor on a warm summer night, is the first track "Palaber" by Lina & Gwen Wayne. For six minutes, the ground feels like the sky, lying feels like falling, dancing feels like breathing and beyond your immediate surrounding there is nothing. This is techno and for the moment these two producers from Hamburg and Berlin are your new horizon.

The two DJs started producing together in late 2019, with their no frills & dark, but fun style translating effortlessly into their own productions. "Genug gelabert" ist the title of their first EP, meaning Enough said, and we are gonna keep it at that. Come marvel at the beautiful brutalism. Incl. Remixes by Moog Conspiracy and Innacircle & Metatext.

Vital Sales Points:
DJ promo by Cutthenoize, German print & online by Audiolith Inhouse, UK/international online

in a trio of records by Andrew Wasylyk which unearth and reshape the landscape of Eastern Scotland as shimmering and inventive instrumental music.

Where Themes for Buildings and Spaces (2017) toured the architecture and industry of Dundee, evoking a place caught between decay and regrowth, the Scottish Album of the Year Award shortlisted The Paralian (2019) explored the littoral exchanges between sea and shore on the North Sea coastline.! !

Fugitive Light And Themes Of Consolation carries a trace of this arc on a return upriver, drifting back inland along the River Tay's inner estuary: a record of the low light on winter fields, empty suburban streets at dawn, the deep clear waters of the quarry excavated to build the city.

Ten songs circling landscapes for meaning, channelling half-heard melodies and misremembered memories; caught somewhere between settling down and setting out towards the shining levels of the estuary and beyond.! ! The record is threaded with the influences of people, place and musical lineages – David Axelrod, John Barry, Virginia Astley, Mark Hollis, Alice Coltrane – yet as with all of Andrew's solo work it has a deft, clear voice all of its own. Recorded between Summer 2019 and January 2020, Fugitive Light…

displays his talent as a multi-instrumentalist and composer: all hushed drum grooves, rolling waves of plucked acoustic guitar, cascading upright piano, Bob James-inspired Fender Rhodes, rippling clàrsach harp, and ECM-worthy electric guitar motifs. As on The Paralian, string arrangements are by fellow Tayside musician Pete Harvey, known for his work with King Creosote, Modern Studies and The National Theatre of Scotland.! !

Ed Wizard & Disco Double Dee channel that summer sun into this soulful house, Balearic and disco laced four tracker on their own label, Editorial, complete with a slice of Cody Currie remix brilliance.

Kicking things off, Cody Currie takes to remixing ‘Spirit Power’ with those tantalising Rhodes keys and skipping percussion laid behind a pensive female vocal. String laden, and deftly sampled Balearic beats then ease your mind via ‘Slo Fusion’.

On the flip, two sun-kissed disco cuts ‘Summer Love’ and ‘Aruban Nights’, the former a hazy warmup groover and the latter a mid-tempo flex, dripping in funk.

Abstrakt Sonance makes his return to Aufect for the labels's first 12" release in a decade! Enlisting the likes of Crowell and legendary Grime MC, Killa P on the title cut "New Style", together they deliver a smackdown with a skippy Grime-Dubstep hybrid banger in a mood fitting for the status quo.

Label owners Greazus step up to flip "New Style" with a remix leaning heavy on 808's and an infectiously animated piano-esque hook.

"Lay It On" turns up the vibes and dips into R&B vocals chops and loose drums that seem to be melting into each other.

Fans of deep, heavy Dubstep will love "Squad Up". This one is meant to push soundsystems - minimal dubby chords, deep dubs, rolling drums, nuff said.

Black Truffle is very proud to present Peaks by Australian cellist Judith Hamann, her debut release of electro-acoustic music. Known mostly for her live performance work with composers including Sarah Hennies, Yvette Janine Jackson, Alvin Lucier, Tashi Wada, and La Monte Young, here she steps away from the cello, moving into an intimate dreamscape woven from recordings gathered over years of itinerant touring.

Peaks is a work in two distinct parts, crossfading between different landscapes and apertures; from rooftop to church, from stasis to flares of momentary romanticism. Peaks considers summits as being both above and below, reframing the idea of apex from a more intimate perspective. Hamann considers how our domestic and personal geographies might form their own apogees, meridians, or nadirs.

Assembled in 2019 while an artist in residence in Krems, Austria, Peaks begins with Hamann’s more familiar cello but soon unravels into resonant electronic interiors; Southern California nightscapes heard through windows, San Francisco bathroom fans, snatches of recordings of friends, hand organs, and engines. signal/centinela draws primarily on recordings from Hamann’s time living in San Diego, and carries with it a certain sense of nostalgia in the sense of homesickness, longing, and displacement of distance and time. Side B is composed from recordings gathered on a different continent, Europe, weaving piano with recordings of sleep, breath, church organ, and the act of climbing. under/over emerges as it recedes, overlapping moments of arrival to create another kind of ‘spire’ in the sense of spir (breath). Peaks, with its omission of any recordings from Hamann’s home of Australia, hints at how the very construction of home itself, might be restless, untethered, changeable, and malleable.

On Peaks, Hamann interrogates tropes of ambient concrète musics, intentionally pivoting formally around material which teeters on the edge of cliche. This exploration asks whether familiar frames of harmony, field recordings and narrative trajectories can excavate new territories, or be ruptured. Peaks untangles a very personal sense of tension between beauty and shame in experimental music: treating lushness and harmony as possessing potentially muscular musical properties that might wrestle with or construct senses of belonging and home.

This is the 1973 solo album by Ghanaian percussionist Anthony Kwaku Bah, who was given the nickname „Reebop“ by American
jazz legend Dizzie Gillespie. He passed away early at the age of 39 in Stockholm in 1983, but before made himself a name for his
works with UK 70s rock heroes TRAFFIC and German Krautrockers CAN, amongst others. If you might expect here the prototypical
Afro Beat and Afro Rock you mostly know from British bands, you will be surprised that this is only one part of the deal. Yes, there
are African elements to be found, buried somewhere in this boiling cauldron where polyrhythmic grooves are the base for jazz
improvisations by the brass section, that range from naughty swing and bebop, to freaked out free jazz and enchanting soul jazz
the way it was popular in the late 60s. The arrangements are utterly lush with so much going on here in every aspect that you
would get lost if there was no trace of melody to be discovered, but there they are and they tell you fantastic stories of exotic
places that only exist in your wildest dreams. Kwaku Bah’s rhythm patterns grab you by the horns and pull you into a world of
their own. Hypnotical, irresistible, hot and vivid. The tunes combine jazz, soul, funk and each one is constructed like a self –
contained story. One could imagine these tunes being used as library music for 70s movies from action to romance. All pieces
though are characterized by the constantly pulsating rhythm. To avoid drifting into the field of insubstantial disco dance music,
the performances witnessed here were executed with the highest possible emotional intensity and dedication. Lay back, close
your eyes and float away on a raft of sound upon the wild river of grooves and melodies. Some haunting Exotica jazz passages
with a typical „jungle“ feel get thrown in for the good measure. There are even vocals in an African language hard to identify,
which create and even more mysterious atmosphere. This is just an introduction part of another powerful speed funk groover but
the vocals stay and make this a clear standout track. Saxophone and guitars seem to have a duel here. You will not sit still while
having this tune „Iphonohimine“ coming down on you like a thunderstorm. Blues, Afro Beat, Psychedelic Rock, Funk, it can all be
found in here and the band goes wild into an everlasting improvisation that deprives you of your breath. Can this record get even better? Do not ask, just enjoy what comes next. If you think that some melodies by the giant brass section sound a bit too catchy
just reach out beyond these harmony lines and find yourself in a thicket of grooves, pulsations, bits and pieces of melody with a
dense, sultry atmosphere. Some smaller parts might make you think of cruise ship big bands and white suits, but everybody will
soon drop these and dance in their underwear for the hot blooded power funk base of the tune called „Africa“, which will take
over one’s soul and set it on fire. So clean, so nice and so filthy and dangerous at the same time, this album is a masterpiece of it’s
style. The exciting and very sensual funk rock of „Lovin‘ you baby“ with crazy fuzz guitars and a dark and haunting approach is
another reason to kneel down when you put this record onto your turntable. Great clean lead guitars give it a latin garage rock
edge Carlos Santana would commit serious crimes for. If you love bands like OSIBISA, Eric Burden & WAR, GINGER BAKER
AIRFORCE, SANTANA, Miles Davis, all around 1969 to 1973, this is what you always wanted to listen to. Grab your copy now.

We're glad to be back with our latest reissue, a couple undercover soul gems from the Midwest originally self-released in 1984: LaVerne Washington's "The Promise" and "I Found What I've Been Searching For".

LaVerne has dedicated her life to the arts in every possible way. As an artist herself but also behind the scenes, helping and supporting her contemporaries fulfil their callings. Charlie Parker, Count Basie, Ella Fitzgerald, Mary Lou Williams - LaVerne grew up in Kansas City listening to the all time jazz greats, and soon discovered she was blessed with a keen sense for playing music by ear, playing the piano to what she would hear on the radio. In her teens whilst the 60s transitioned to the 70s' disco and funk era, LaVerne was there to witness it all, and she would go on to study music at the Charlie Parker Academy where she was inspired to become an entertainer.

At Langston University, LaVerne kept studying music where her career blossomed, founding and touring the US with the gospel group "Emery Shaw and the Voices of Praise", singing in several college bands and with her choir "The Voices Of Bethel". LaVerne would go on to perform notably with her bands "LaVerne Washington and Rococo" and the "LaVerne Washington Quartet", and record several songs in KC including "The Promise" and "I Found What I've Been Searching For" in 1984 before moving to Washington DC.

In DC, LaVerne was offered a position as a Program specialist with the National Endowment For The Arts where she started supporting other artists through her work. Over the next couple decades, LaVerne became an associate producer for the Rhythm and Blues Foundation and the Pioneer Awards Ceremonies held in New York, Philadelphia and Los Angeles, which saw the likes of Prince, Aretha Franklin and Jerry Butler attending among others. She has also managed and was mentored by DeeDee Sharp and consulted with artists including Bonnie Raitt (who acted as a mentor to Laverne as well), Kim Weston, Kathy Sledge (SisterSledge), Smokey Robinson and G.C Cameron (Spinners). During that time, LaVerne has kept singing, on her own and as a backing vocalist for DeeDee Sharp and Freda Payne and has never stopped her lifelong dedication to music and the Arts.

The Promise original 7" was LaVerne's last recording in Kansas City before her move to DC and the beginning of her involvement behind the scenes. Channelling her gospel roots - with impeccable arrangement, a contagious drum machine led rhythm section, soaring vocals and relatable lyrics, "The Promise" is guaranteed to bring back smiles to dancefloors and living rooms alike! "I Found What I've Been Searching For" on the flip is a beautiful soul ballad which really showcases the strength and emotion in LaVerne's voice.

Back again in it's original 7" format, we've had the audio transferred and restored from the original 24 track tape provided by LaVerne, and got the recordings re-mixed for the best possible sound! Floating Points behind the mixing desk for this new iteration of a lost classic, comes with a 14"x14" poster of the original picture

It is possible that a deeply fickle Bryn Jones, who was never happy with remixes of Muslimgauze music apart from his own, might be with this one.
Extreme, an earlier Muslimgauze label, had a long history of remixing the material Bryn sent to them and this was the main reason for the artist to move to the staalplaat label.

It’s an interesting coincidence that Extreme hired Anders Peterson to remaster Muslimgauze for them. In the process of listening to masters and studying the music, the idea of a remix or ‘rework’ seemed an intuitive next step, reflects Peterson, “The remixes are based on various material from about 6 DAT tapes. I did not choose any specific tracks, rather sections and parts of all the recordings on those tapes. I did not seek to do a remix, it just grew up of that remastering project. I think I could not find any artist in any genre, anywhere, that would be more interesting to rework / remix than Muslimgauze, so I definitely feel very honored having been able to record these remixes.”

Musically, this release falls in line with the more deep spiritual, meditative, abstract side of Muslimgauze, which is often overlooked. The music remains timeless, the production as crisp as ever. Those familiar with the Muslimgauze oeuvre know this music is more than just a series of infectious rhythmic works. Rather a historical document, a musical commentary on the tumultuous times that inspired it; a reflection on the Iran/Iraq war, Operation Desert Storm, the Soviet invasion of and retreat from Afghanistan and the first Intifada. Anders Peterson brings the music of Muslimgauze and successfully found new ways to reveal the artistries from one of the 20th century’s more intriguing artists. Through circumstance, Staalplaat is to ensure that the remix project sees the light of day, now available on the evidently timeless medium of a vinyl record.”

The Danish label/imprint arbitrary announces the release of Framework 3 (arbitrary11) by Mads Emil Nielsen. Framework 3 is the latest instalment in Nielsen’s sequence of graphic scores and recordings. The series includes the Danish composer’s own subjective translations of visual materials and sound pieces accompanied by visual notations.

On this release he collaborates with Katja Gretzinger and Nicola Ratti. Published as a limited edition art print folder, Framework 3 consists of risographed scores and recordings on 10” vinyl and CD – with recordings by Nielsen, along with graphic scores by Gretzinger and contributions by Ratti.

Raised in a family of architects Nielsen has for several years been occupied with the question of “how do you intuitively sonify an image?” along with the complementary processes of translating sounds and music into illustrations and scores. In early 2019, he produced various drawings and sound pieces which formed the starting point for the three tracks on this 10” vinyl EP. The audio is derived from synthesizer recordings and basic electronic sound sources (sine waves, feedback, noise) and percussive loops combined with recordings made in the studios at EMS (Elektronmusikstudion, Stockholm).

The audio material was translated by graphic designer Katja Gretzinger into a series of visual notations made while listening to the music. Gretzinger developed various symbols, forms and structures, such as points, bars, 3D balls, irregular patterns / “swarms” and regular patterns (vertical hatchings). These were combined with found image materials and cut-outs from old prints and layered with large geometric forms, which define the individual character of each of the three parts. The resulting 18-page graphic score is included in the release in the form of risograph printed sheets.

Nielsen then invited musician Nicola Ratti, who is also trained as an architect, to create sonic re-interpretations of the graphic score. Ratti reinterpreted the imagery as a selection of sound elements positioned in a three-dimensional area; which he visualized as the space between the composer / artist, Ratti himself and the loudspeakers. These recordings are included on the CD.

1, 2, 3 written & produced by Mads Emil Nielsen, Copenhagen / Berlin, 2019 / 2020 (reworked and combined with a live recording from Standards, Milan, September 2019). Recording by + thanks to URSSS. CD: 1, 2, 3 written & produced by Nicola Ratti, Milan, 2020.
Scores by Katja Gretzinger. Artwork/design (packaging, discs, text) by Mads Emil Nielsen.

Fabe makes his highly anticipated debut on FUSE this August as he unveils his four-track vinyl sampler from his sophomore album, ‘Four Point Island’.

A key figure within Mannheim’s blossoming scene and a core member of the city’s well-respected BE9 collective, DJ, producer and label boss Fabe has quickly forged his position as an artist of note within the house and minimal landscape. Featuring as a regular for both Cocoon and FUSE/Infuse across their worldwide events and labels, whilst also launching his own imprint Salty Nuts, the multi-faceted talent has carved out a trademark sound palette combining groove-heavy bassline with elements of classic house, forceful techno, forming a unique, high-energy style which is now instantly recognisable as his own across the scene today. Following on from the release of his
debut album ‘Water Tower’ in 2019, late-summer welcomes the release of his second long-player project as he debuts on FUSE to deliver ‘Four Point Island’ – becoming only the second artist to release an album on the label after founder Enzo Siragusa.

Duke about this EP: Ironically one of my very first records was a disco sample in 1990 taken from Queen Samantha. I don’t know exactly what inspired me, but likely coming from the Hip Hop world where everything was looped and sampled brought me to doing the same for house and therefore the disco, funk etc samples for the house stuff. The first techdisco EP was done in 1995. I think there may have been a handful of other house records out that sampled disco tracks at the time. Harvey Mason’s Groovin you comes to mind. Sneak also had done a few, but maybe Pal Joey was one of the originals too that used loops, particularly Dance by Earth People. Joey also came from the Hip Hop world so we likely were inspired by the same style of loops.
The main concept was the idea of fusion. I was heavily into fusion jazz in the early 90s and that is really what spawned the techdisco and techfunk series. A mix between genres that hadn’t really been done before. Not saying I was the first, but I did my best to create a new and distich style.
I did everything myself when it comes to the techdisco series. In 1996 I traveled a lot DJing, in the states but mostly in Europe. I didn’t have time for a resicency at that time like I had prior to me being full time DJ/producer/label owner. I did do some remixes back then, but maybe not as many as I would have thought. Perhaps because people looked at me as having my own label and doing my own thing.

Linda “Babe” Majika’s insanely brilliant Don’t Treat Me So Bad is a tight six tracks of blistering electro-flavoured bubblegum and synth-drizzled solar-powered machine-funk. It has become increasingly hard to find, with copies currently moving for over £200. But this is definitely a case of eye-watering price equalling heart-thumping quality.

Once of the Hot Soul Singers, Don’t Treat Me So Bad was Linda’s debut LP as a solo artist. It was produced by Ace Mbuyisa of boogie-funk maestros Freeway and was originally released on Umkhonto Records in South Africa in 1988.

The enormous “Let’s Make A Deal” is probably the best known track here, and it’s definitely the best one if you ask us. Linda’s vocals drip with attitude over warm, breezy synths and an urgent, edgy electro beat to create a timeless club-ready bomb that sounds as fresh as ever. But the rest of the album is far from filler.

Opening track “Kunzima (Tabalaza Mjita)” instantly brings the sunshine vibes, strutting out the gate with that unmistakable South African steppers groove. It’s a deceptively simple song, with multiple instrumental elements arriving and taking leave with admirable restraint.

“It’s Our Home” is a powerful showcase for Linda’s vocals, enhanced by some life-affirming call and response backing vocals throughout. In fact they’re a joyous presence on the whole album. The insistent pipes and swirling, bubbling synths of title track “Don’t Treat Me So Bad” follow. A spacious proto-piano house banger that closes out the first side in phenomenal fashion.

Arriving as track two on the second side, “Unga B’Omthemba Umuntu” has the unenviable task of following the huge “Let’s Make A Deal”. It does the job with class, bringing the tempo down to a mid-paced tropical bounce with lilting harmonies and welcome traces of hi-life guitar. Wonderful stuff. “Playboy” is is another unbeatable head-nod groover rounds out the set wonderfully. That bassline high in the mix is to die for, and the chorus will make any dancefloor smile.

As ever, Simon Francis on mastering duties elevates this release, adding heft and elegance in all the right places with his customary deft touch. The memorable cover art, in which Linda appears straight out of the 1950s with her polka dot skirt and butter-wouldn't-melt pose, has been faithfully restored. But don’t let the innocent styling fool you - Don’t Treat Me So Bad is the work of one badass woman who can hold her own, and then some.

Just in time for summer! Some serious heat from the darkest corners of the TK Disco vaults, dug up, re-mastered and brought back to life for your listening and dancing pleasure!
To say Trama's sole LP is a rarity is an understatement! Released on TK offshoot CAT Records in 1977 it's swaggering street-funk attitude, tight ass rhythm section, blistering arrangements and stellar vocal performances from a young Donna Allen has left beat digging, Soul, Boogie and Disco freaks hot under the collar for over 3 decades!
Often selling on-line for tidy sums (£250 +) this LP is a true gem, now is your chance to own a %100 legit, TK Disco sanctioned, vinyl copy of this killer Soul LP. Re-issued just the way it originally came out in 1977, no tricks. Essential!

Seeing himself as a social commentator, Coops continuously draws inspiration from everything around him and is feeling more inspired than ever. Having signed to the label in 2018 he has already released 2 poignant albums and continues to create at rapid speed.

The 8-track project - which was made in just 4 studio sessions - is unlike Coops’ usual 14+ track albums both he and his fans have become used to. Coops turned the album around in record time to ensure his music was released during this unparalleled time in history. The homegrown beats come from his close friend and long term collaborator Talos who has produced almost all his beats to date.

In the opening track, ‘ Boom Biddy Bye’ Coops doesn’t waste a second in putting his fellow rappers through their paces. A block rapper with no one to please but himself, Coops professes that he barely listens to what other rappers release to ensure they don’t infiltrate and influence his own music. Highly appropriate for these times, title track ‘ Crimes Against Creation ’ is the stand out voice of this generation and his message to the world. ‘W arped perception, thwart connections, they force perfection, then claim the antidotes an injection...’ plays out and we begin to appreciate how the current situation is playing heavily on his mind. As the album progresses we get to see all sides of Coops’ personality with ‘Piss Poor’ reminding us of the raw gritty London lifestyle from which he has risen from, whilst ‘Profile’ demonstrates his softer more promiscuous side as well as touching on themes of fatherhood and online relationships.
Coops’ musical entry point begun by making music with his friends, but it wasn’t until he really looked at himself and the world around him when he decided he needed to go it alone, opening his mind and his solo stream of creativity which hasn’t stopped since. A self-proclaimed hermit he embodies the essence of a true artist and only finds comfort in doing what he loves, not what he is told.