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Incl. Remixes by Red Axes, Roman Flügel & Abe Duque

What does it mean to exist in sound?

It does not begin with a beat, but with a choice. With the moment when someone decides not merely to inhabit the space, but to shape it – and in doing so, makes themselves visible.

Roman Flügel stands as a constant in the background. Not as an authority, but as a collective consciousness. Since the 1990s, he has moved through club music like a seeker, never content with the first answer. House, techno, experimentation – these are not genres, but states of being. His remix thinks, hesitates, opens, strikes like a surging acid wave, warping reality and demanding true presence.

New York taught him that club music is never neutral. It is body, friction, attitude. Abe Duque’s remix carries a strangely enchanting relentlessness, a resistance to smoothness – as if the dancefloor were a place where freedom is not claimed, but fought for.

Red Axes do not enter this space; they conjure it. Their sound is raw, repetitive, circular, as if deliberately refusing linearity. House, dub, and acid elements become material for a movement that is more trance than structure. Their remix does not ask where it is going; it asks why one should ever stand still.

And then there is Tim Paris. Not at the center, but as a narrator. As someone who knows that the voice is an attitude. “That Boy” is not a pose, but a mirror, ironic, direct, vulnerable. Paris moves between new wave house and club, always aware that identity is never fixed, but formed in the moment.

This remix record is not a gathering of names. It is a situation, four perspectives on the same question:

What does it mean to exist in sound?

Yet sound alone does not tell the full story: like music, the visual is a space to be shaped, felt, and deciphered. The cover of Tim Paris feat. Foremost Poets – That Boy, created by Konstantin Fürchtegott Kipfmüller, a visual artist at the Hochschule für Gestaltung in Offenbach under Heiner Blum, embodies this principle. Drawing inspiration from the urban environment, Kipfmüller transforms traces of decay, weather, and time into abstract narratives that, like the music of Tim Paris, Roman Flügel, Abe Duque and Red Axes, unfold meaning layer by layer. The result is no mere adornment, but a mirror of the sonic landscape: every line, every surface an echo of the question of what it means to exist – fully, in the moment, in sound.

Clock Poets returns with Get Down, the seventh release on the label and a floor-focused statement from Spanish producer Baltazar, based in Palma de Mallorca and founder of the Sapernika platform. Known for selecting and developing distinct, groove-centred voices from the underground, Clock Poets hands the reins to an artist who understands hypnosis, repetition and tension as tools rather than effects.

The A-side, “Get Down”, is a pumping minimal cut shaped by slightly tribal percussion loops and a locked-in groove that builds momentum through subtle shifts rather than overt peaks. Hypnotic male vocal samples circle like a mantra, weaving ritual into rhythm as the track steadily tightens its grip on the floor. On “Try On Trust Me”, the formula expands: a female vocal, washed in reverb and echo, floats between melodic textures and soft pads, creating a more spacious, emotive framework while maintaining the same disciplined drive and forward motion. Closing the record, “On My Way” dives deeper — a stripped-back 4/4 minimal construction infused with Arabic and double harmonic scale influences. Spatial, meditative and profoundly hypnotic, it stretches time and space, offering a moment of emotional suspension within the dancefloor continuum.

With Get Down, Baltazar doesn’t chase trends — he commits to groove, sophisticated repetition and unique atmospheres. In doing so, he both reinforces Clock Poets’ sonic identity and injects it with a fresh, trance-like intensity, proving once again the label’s consistency without predictability.

Spanish imprint Clock Poets returns with its sixth release, a nicely curated three-track V.A. that brings together Dan Andrei, Root, and label founders Marco and Javier (Clock Poets). Aptly titled Surrealism, the EP explores different shades of minimal techno and micro-house, offering a dynamic range of textures and grooves.

Dan Andrei sets the tone with 'Si Un Ecou' (A1), a stripped-back, bass-heavy roller with a raw, hypnotic energy. Laced with eerie, Hitchcockian tension, the track simmers with understated menace until a burst of heavily modulated synth chords cuts through the groove like a sudden flash of light — turning the mood on its head. Subtle yet striking creative decisions like these highlight Andrei's refined sonic evolution. On (A2), Root's 'Apophis' is a swing-heavy slice of classic micro-house. Shuffling drum patterns dart unpredictably, locking the dancefloor into a stealthy groove while growling synth textures add an air of mystique and atmospheric tension. A nod to the golden era of the genre, yet firmly grounded in the present.

Clock Poets close the EP with 'Galaxy' (B1), a sprawling 14-minute live-recorded behemoth, through microscopic sound design and intricate rhythm programming. Filtered, syncopated drum patterns weave through evolving bass stabs and delicate melodic fragments, crafting a hypnotic groove that pulls listeners deeper with every loop.

"Surrealism" is a carefully balanced record with a range of moods and styles for the lovers of thoughtful minimal dance music, and yet another compelling addition to the Clock Poets catalogue — refined and immersive.

The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology Vinyl
35 Tracks including 4 acoustic bonus songs
Never-Before-Seen 12” x 12” Poster
4 Marbled Translucent vinyl discs

Depiction of this product is a digital rendering and for illustrative purposes only. Actual product detailing may vary. Please note due to the custom manufacture process, each vinyl unit may be slightly different in coloration.

Cosa Vostra proudly presents the debut release of Arnic's alias: Dead Poets Society. Used by the spanish producer for Bandcamp tracks only, we are now delighted to release Dead Poets Society’s first record, and what a start!

With DPS, Arnic unleashes his darker side, leaning to a more electro-oriented sound. Rolling basslines, hypnotic chords and masterful work on the vocals create a heady groove that will leave no dancefloor unmoved. Long live DPS!

4/5 REVIEW IN SHINDIG! ''Incorporating afrobeat and a more spiritual sound in amongst its heavy beats and super-tight musicianship''

As pioneers in the burgeoning modern funk scene of the '90s The Poets of Rhythm created new standards, transcending the parameters lesser groups were defined by. With Discern / Define the Poets took their brand of classic funk to the next level by blending elements of rock, psychedelia, afro-beat, jazz and heavy, heavy drums to create a wholly original brand of transcendent, funky soul.

Anyone who has tried to cop an OG in the last twenty years knows how difficult of a task that has proven to be - not necessarily due to rarity, but more to the fact that people simply DO NOT get rid of this album. It's a testament to the fact that Discern / Define has no shelf life. It's a bonafide classic that any discerning funk and soul fan must have in their collection. Now sporting a deluxe gatefold jacket with reimagined artwork, it is an honor to get these back on the shelves of a record shop near you. Cop one today!

"They have the unique power of being able to depart from tradition in order to bring advancement music and unsuspecting listeners, yet still please the purists with home-cooked "Funk-of-Ages" values"
- Lyrics Born

Corona Vinyl, Limited to 1000 copies. To celebrate the 20th anniversary of their album Carnival of Rust, Poets of the Fall will release a special new vinyl edition of the record. The anniversary pressing features a previously unreleased single, "Black Waters", presented as a final added chapter to the album's story. Unearthed from the original recording sessions and completed in the present day, the track feels less like an outtake and more like a voice that finally found its moment. The anniversary vinyl will also feature a newly edited cover design, offering the audience a fresh visual take on the classic record.

Only The Poets melden sich mit „And I’d Do It Again“ zurück, einem mitreißenden Album, das uns daran
erinnert, warum sie eine der vielversprechendsten neuen Popbands Großbritanniens sind. In 14 brillant
produzierten Songs beschäftigen sich die Bandmitglieder Tommy Longhurst, Andrew Burge, Clem Cherry
und Marcus Yates mit Themen wie Liebeskummer, Eifersucht, Reue und Hoffnung.
„Wir sind einfach so stolz auf dieses Album“, sagt Longhurst. „Es ist die bisher beste Darstellung unserer
Band – es steckt viel Selbstreflexion, Wachstum und Entdeckungen darin.“ Das Album enthält alle herausragenden Singles – „I Keep On Messing It Up“, „You Hate
That I’m In Love“, „Emotionally Hungover“ und „Saké“. Produziert wurde es von den Bandmitgliedern
Cherry und Yates zusammen mit DanDlion, gemischt von Lee Smith und gemastert von der Branchenlegende Chris Gehringer.

For the first time on vinyl! The third Poets Of The Fall album (2008) and the first one that has been procuded in the bands own professional studio and not in Markus Kaarlonen's living room. It was certified gold two weeks after its release.

The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology Vinyl
35 Tracks including 4 acoustic bonus songs
Never-Before-Seen 12” x 12” Poster
4 Marbled Translucent vinyl discs

Depiction of this product is a digital rendering and for illustrative purposes only. Actual product detailing may vary. Please note due to the custom manufacture process, each vinyl unit may be slightly different in coloration.

The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology Vinyl
35 Tracks including 4 acoustic bonus songs
Never-Before-Seen 12” x 12” Poster
4 Marbled Translucent vinyl discs

Depiction of this product is a digital rendering and for illustrative purposes only. Actual product detailing may vary. Please note due to the custom manufacture process, each vinyl unit may be slightly different in coloration.

2019 feiert das Blue-Note-Label seinen 80. Geburtstag. Unter den Aktivitäten des Jahres findet sich
auch eine für Vinyl-Fans besonders interessante: die "Tone Poet Audiophile Vinyl Reissue Series".
Man nennt ihn den 'Klangpoeten': Joe Harley, Mitbegründer und Koproduzent des renommierten
amerikanischen Vinyl-Labels und Mail-Orders 'Music Matters'. Zum Jubiläum wurde er jetzt von Blue
Note beauftragt, ausgesuchte Alben für eine exklusiven LP-Edition zusammenstellen. Diese rein
analogen Reissues werden von den originalen Masterbändern von Kevin Gray (Cohearent Audio) neu
gemastert und bei Record Technology Incorporated (RTI) in 180g-Vinyl gepresst. Die Originalcover
werden als hochwertige, schwere Tip-on-Sleeves faksimiliert. Zu den von Joe Harley handverlesenen
Aufnahmen werden für ihre Aufnahmequalität berühmte Blue-Note-Klassiker, aber auch
herausragende aktuelle Einspielungen gehören.
Die ersten beiden Alben der Serie sind besondere "Blue-Note-Leckerli": Wayne Shorters 'Etcetera'
und Chick Coreas 'Now He Sings, Now He Sobs'.
Ausstattung: 180g-Pressung, neues Remaster von den Analogbändern, keine digitalen
Fertigungsschritte, schwere Tip-on-Hüllen

"This is the time that we, who have benefitted from the Last Poets shouldbe able to say, 'it's the Last Poets. It's them we should be honouring, because we did not honour them for so many years_"

KRS One wasn't just addressing the hip hop fraternity when he uttered
those words by way of introducing the video for Invocation - a poem
written thirty years ago, around the time of the Last Poets' last significant comeback. He was speaking to everyone who's been affected by the word, sound and power issuing from the most revolutionary poetry ever witnessed, and that the Last Poets had introduced to the world outside of Harlem at the dawn of the seventies.

In 2018 the two remaining Last Poets, Abiodun Oyewole and Umar Bin
Hassan, embarked on another memorable return with an album -
Understand What Black Is - that earned favourable comparison with theirseminal works of the past, whilst showcasing their undimmed passion andlyrical brilliance in an entirely new setting - that of reggae music. Trackslike Rain Of Terror ("America is a terrorist") and How Many Bullets demonstrated that they'd lost none of their fire or anger, and their essential raison d'etre remained the same.

"The Last Poets' mission was to pull the people out of the rubble o f their lives," wrote their biographer Kim Green. "They knew, deep down that poetry could save the people - that if black people could see and hear themselves and their struggles through the spoken word, they would be moved to change."

Several years later and the follow-up is now with us. The project started when Tony Allen, the Nigerian master drummer whose unique polyrhythms had driven much of Fela Kuti's best work, dropped by Prince Fatty's Brighton studio and laid down a selection of drum patterns to die for. That was back in 2019, but then the pandemic struck. Once it had passed, the label booked a studio in Brooklyn, where the two Poets voiced four tracks apiece and breathed fresh energy, fire and outrage into some of the most enduring landmarks of their career. Abiodun, who was one of the original Last Poets who'd gathered in East Harlem's Mount Morris Park to celebrate Malcolm X's birthday in May 1968, chose four poems that first appeared on the group's 1970 debut album, called simply The Last Poets. He'd written When The Revolution Comes aged twenty, whilst living in Jamaica, Queens. "We were getting ready for a revolution," he told Green. "There wasn't any question about whether there was going to be one or not. The truth was many of us still saw ourselves as "niggers" and slaves. This was a mindset that had to change if there was ever to be Black Power." He and writer Amiri Baraka were deep in conversation one day when Baraka became distracted by a pretty girl walking by. "You're a gash man," Abiodun told him. The poem inspired by that incident, Gash Man, is revisited on the new album, and exposes the heartless nature of sexual acts shorn of intimacy or affection. "Instead of the vagina being the entrance to heaven," he says, "it too often becomes a gash, an injury, a wound_" Two Little Boys meanwhile, was inspired after seeing two young boys aged around 11 or 12 "stuffing chicken and cornbread down their tasteless mouths, trying to revive shrinking lungs and a wasted mind." They'd walked into Sylvia's soul food restaurant in Harlem, ordered big meals, then bolted them down and run out the door. No one chased after them, knowing that they probably hadn't eaten in days. Fifty years later and children are still going hungry in major cities across America and elsewhere. Abiodun's poem hasn't lost any relevance at all, and neither has New York, New York, The Big Apple. "Although this was written in 1968, New York hasn't changed a bit," he admits, except "today, people just mistake her sickness for fashion." Umar is originally from Akron, Ohio, but had arrived in Harlem in early 1969 after seeing Abiodun and the other Last Poets at a Black Arts Festival in Cleveland. That's where he first witnessed what Amiri Baraka once called "the rhythmic animation of word, poem, image as word- music" - a creative force that redefined the concept of performance poetry and stripped it bare until it became a howl of rage, hurt and anger, saved from destruction by mockery and love for humanity. When Umar's father, who was a musician, was jailed for armed robbery he took to the streets from an early age where he shined shoes and raised whatever money he could to help feed his eight brothers and sisters. By the time he saw the Last Poets he'd joined the Black United Front and was ready to join the struggle. Once in Harlem, Abiodun asked him what he'd learnt in the few weeks since he'd got there. "Niggers are scared of revolution," Umar replied. "Write it down" urged Abiodun. That poem still gives off searing heat more than fifty years later. In Umar's own words, "it became a prayer, a call to arms, a spiritual pond to bathe and cleanse in because niggers are not just vile and disgusting and shiftless. Niggers are human beings lost in someone else's system of values and morals." And there you have it. It's not just race or religion that hold us back, but an economic system that keeps millions in poverty and living in fear - a system born from political choice and that's now become so entrenched, so bloated on its own success that it's put mankind in mortal danger. It was many black people's acceptance of the status quo that inspired Just Because, which like Niggers Are Scared Of Revolution, was included on that seminal first album. Along with their revolutionary rhetoric, it was the Last Poets' use of the "n word" that proved so shocking, but it would be wrong to suggest that they reclaimed it, since it never belonged to black people in the first place. There's never any hiding place when it comes to the Last Poets. They use words like weapons, and that force all who listen to decide who they are and where they stand. Umar's two remaining tracks find him revisiting poems first unleashed on the Poets' second album This Is Madness! Abiodun had left for North Carolina by then where he became more deeply enmeshed in revolutionary activities and spent almost four years in jail for armed robbery after attempting to seize funds related to the Klu Klux Klan. Meanwhile, the 21 year old Umar was squatting in Brooklyn and had developed close ties with the Dar-ul Islam Movement. A longing for purity and time-honoured spiritual values underpins Related to What, whilst This Is Madness is a call for freedom "by any means necessary," and that paints a feverish landscape peopled by prominent black leaders but that quickly descends into chaos. "All my dreams have been turned into psychedelic nightmares," he wails, over a groove now powered by Tony Allen's ferocious drumming. Those sessions lasted just two days, and we can only imagine the atmosphere in that room as the hip hop godfathers exchanged the conga drums of Harlem for the explosive sounds of authentic Afrobeat. Once they'd finished, the recordings and momentum returned to Prince Fatty's studio, since relocated from Brighton to SE London. This was stage three of the project, and who better to fill out the rhythm tracks than two key musicians from Seun Anikulapo Kuti's band Egypt 80? Enter guitarist Akinola Adio Oyebola and bassist Kunle Justice, who upon hearing Allen's trademark grooves exclaimed, "oh, the Father_ we are home!" Such joy and enthusiasm resulted in the perfect fusion of Nigerian Afrobeat and revolutionary poetry, but the vision for the album wasn't yet complete. He wanted to create a new kind of soundscape - one that reunited the Poets with the progressive jazz movement they'd once shared with musicians like Sun Ra and Pharoah Sanders. It was at that point they recruited exciting jazz talents based in the UK like Joe Armon Jones from Mercury Prize winners Ezra Collective, also widely acclaimed producer/remixer and keyboard player Kaidi Tatham, who's been likened to Herbie Hancock, and British jazz legend Courtney Pine, whose genius on the saxophone and influence on the UK's now vibrant jazz scene is beyond question. The instrumental tracks on Africanism are in many ways as revelatory and exciting as the Last Poets' own. It's important to remember that the kaleidoscope of styles and influences we're presented with here aren't the result of sampling but were played "live" by musicians responding to sounds made by other musicians. That's where the magic comes from, aided by Prince Fatty's peerless mixing which allows us to hear everything with such clarity. Music fans today have grown accustomed to listening to all kinds of different genres. Their tastes have never been so broad or all- encompassing, and so the music on this new Last Poets' album is as groundbreaking as their lyrics, and perfectly suited to the era that we're now living in. John Masouri

Nach ihrem im Jahr 2022 erschienenen Album “Midnights“ veröffentlicht Taylor Swift mit „The Tortured Poets Department“ jetzt ihr 11tes Studioalbum. Bereits im letzten Jahr hat sie die Neuaufnahmen (Taylor’s Version) ihrer Alben „Speak Now“ und „1989“ mit ihren Fans geteilt. Die 14-fache Grammy-Gewinnerin hat ihr neues Album "The Tortured Poets Department" angekündigt, während sie bei der Grammy-Verleihung den Preis für das beste Pop-Gesangsalbum entgegennahm. Sie bezeichnet das Album “The Tortured Poets Department“ als ihren “Rettungsanker“, der sie daran erinnert hat, warum das Songwriting für sie so wichtig ist. Swift arbeitet seit über zwei Jahren an dem Album, in dem sie ihre einzigartigen Fähigkeiten zum Songwriting und Storytelling unter Beweis stellt. Sie sagte selbst über das Album während ihrer Show in Melbourne: "I've never had an album where I needed songwriting more than I needed it on 'Tortured Poets." Das Album besteht aus 16 Tracks + Bonus Track “The Manuscript” und ist erhältlich als CD und Ivory Doppelvinyl.

Yellow vinyl. Ten years ago, the album, Jealous Gods, made a lasting impact on the international music scene. Now, in celebration of its anniversary, this classic is being reissued on vinyl! This special edition is not only a tribute to the band's incredible fans, or the album itself, but also includes an exclusive bonus track: a studio-live version of one of the Poets' most beloved songs, Daze. Get your copy and join us in celebrating a decade of this soulful, unforgettable music.

Remastered vinyl of the original album which came out on CD only in 2005. Limited to 200 copies on classic black vinyl. This is an album that’s as alive as any could be. Indeed, far from sounding like the last desperate set of half-baked ideas from a once vital band (hello Oasis?) Artists Cannibals Poets Thieves is more like a debut album from a bunch of teenage upstarts: free from cynicism, fired with worldly wonder and chock full of ideas. This is certainly a different outfit from that of 1998, when they first wowed us (via John Peel, naturally) with the utterly essential sprawling noise that was The Things We Make. Long since stripped down by a series of resignations from a five strong collective to a taut three piece featuring founding members Chris Olley, James Flower and Chris Davis, the music has simplified considerably. Gone are the soundscapes of old, and in their place we have a series of sharp basslines, swirling keyboards, cutting guitar lines and the passionate hollering of frontman Olley. Opener All I Really Want From You Is Love is a perfect introduction to proceedings – a truly wonderfully distorted slab of indie rock, recalling early Jesus And Mary Chain in both its fuzz and, crucially, its wonderfully crafted tune. Next, Nowhere To Go But Home sounds like New Order if they’d emerged from Detroit in 1966. Tonight (I Wanna Make It Out) follows likewise with the best bassline Peter Hook never plucked. Throughout, Six By Seven manage to sound so natural, so refreshing free of the flab and introspection that a band on its last legs would usually succumb to. And whilst the momentum is momentarily lost as the drum machine makes an appearance to fashion the Suicide-esque trawl of Stara Paris Rescued Me, it’s not long before Just Get It Down muscles things back on course with a whispered Olley diatribe perched on top of more raw cacophony, before we reach the bitter end via the Depeche Mode-on-smack You Know I Feel Alright Now. Tracklisting:

Nach ihrem im Jahr 2022 erschienenen Album “Midnights“ veröffentlicht Taylor Swift mit „The Tortured Poets Department“ jetzt ihr 11tes Studioalbum. Bereits im letzten Jahr hat sie die Neuaufnahmen (Taylor’s Version) ihrer Alben „Speak Now“ und „1989“ mit ihren Fans geteilt. Die 14-fache Grammy-Gewinnerin hat ihr neues Album "The Tortured Poets Department" angekündigt, während sie bei der Grammy-Verleihung den Preis für das beste Pop-Gesangsalbum entgegennahm. Sie bezeichnet das Album “The Tortured Poets Department“ als ihren “Rettungsanker“, der sie daran erinnert hat, warum das Songwriting für sie so wichtig ist. Swift arbeitet seit über zwei Jahren an dem Album, in dem sie ihre einzigartigen Fähigkeiten zum Songwriting und Storytelling unter Beweis stellt. Sie sagte selbst über das Album während ihrer Show in Melbourne: "I've never had an album where I needed songwriting more than I needed it on 'Tortured Poets." Das Album besteht aus 16 Tracks + Bonus Track “The Manuscript” und ist erhältlich als CD und Ivory Doppelvinyl.

Foundation Music is proud to present ‘The Flowers EP’ by Foremost Poets aka Johnny Dangerous. Back in the news after being featured on the Grammy winning Alien Superstar from Beyonce’s latest album - but for those that know - he has never gone away as he is always on someone’s dance floor.

Foremost Poets productions and his vocals are simply devastating and label head, Ross Allen, has been a fan since he first heard the Nu Groove classic ‘Reason’s to Be Dismal’ on the reworked Richard Long Edition. It was a record that blew him away then and now, recently played by Pete Tong on Radio One, with Sven Vath including it on his anniversary compilation too. Ross signed this record when he hooked up with Johnny in New York 3 years, but wanted to wait until the time was right. That time is now.

‘Flowers In the Attic’ is no normal dance record, clocking in at thirteen minutes. It’s an epic Johnny D production, falling into that place where funk and house come together in the most magical, danceable way. It’s long but enticing, taking you through different phases and surprises you as it sucks you in, twists you up, and pulls you out.

‘Escape From Dubai’ is almost trance like but with that New York lean that keeps it very much on the right side of the Foundation Music fence. Full of funk, it has a deepness that builds and swells into an epic journey that takes you to another dimension.

The broken beat of ‘Don’t Shut Your Eyes’ closes out and is another piece of New York/ New Jersey up-tempo funk, syncopated and grooving with a repetitive hook, that goes deep via its Hammond organ solo and jazzy vocal.

Release date Jan 9th 2023
This incredible trio of poets, were not only musicians but Civil Rights Activists, rising up in the early 1960’s. They formed the group whilst in prison where they began performing the “spoken word” to rhythm and percussion. The last poets where born! None of this prolific music has been issued as a 7” before, great music for all good music lovers

A - “It’s a trip” - Vocal ACID JAZZ / dance gem!
Killer Track. Percussive vocals; addictive and funky. Acid jazz club classic. Dare you to keep up. Once you start, you can’t stop dancing. Such vibes. Environmental and racism-alerts messages chorused as early as 1977. You gotta listen to the words. Zeitgeist extraordinaire.

B - “Blessed are those who struggle” - Exclusive 7” cut for this vinyl release. The super funky drums of Mr Bernard Purdie, one of the best drummers in the World, if I may say so myself. Stunning.

This incredible trio of poets, were not only musicians but Civil Rights Activists, rising up in the early 1960’s. They formed the group whilst in prison where they began performing the “spoken word” to rhythm and percussion. The last poets where born! None of this prolific music has been issued as a 7” before, great music for all good music lovers

A - “It’s a trip” - Vocal ACID JAZZ / dance gem!
Killer Track. Percussive vocals; addictive and funky. Acid jazz club classic. Dare you to keep up. Once you start, you can’t stop dancing. Such vibes. Environmental and racism-alerts messages chorused as early as 1977. You gotta listen to the words. Zeitgeist extraordinaire.

B - “Blessed are those who struggle” - Exclusive 7” cut for this vinyl release. The super funky drums of Mr Bernard Purdie, one of the best drummers in the World, if I may say so myself. Stunning.

Sleepers Poets Scientists is an Umbrella for female composers and music producers. Vol. 2 compiles 8 Georgian composers: Anushka Chkheidze, Natalie Beridze, sTia, Tamo Nasidze, Tamta Gqarliani, ELY ANN, Nasi Chavchavadze and Nina Simonishvili, all of whom are CES graduates of Music Production course led by Natalie Beridze, one of the most successful Georgian producers on the scene of Georgian electronic music.

The retro cover is a nod to the famous group shot from the 1927 Solvay conference, which brought together physicists like Albert Einstein, Erwin Schrödinger, Marie Curie, and others. With this in mind, the name Sleepers, Poets, Scientists rings like a call to action for today's brightest minds, to wake up and save our chaotic, troubled world.

Poets of the Fall are back and announce their greatly anticipated 9th studio album "Ghostlight", out worldwide April 29th. Poets of the Fall is a Finnish rock band from Helsinki founded in 2003. With their previous eight studio albums, they've gained several #1 spots on the charts, performed worldwide to an enthusiastically loyal fanbase and have become one of the most internationally successful bands from Finland. Their music videos have been viewed hundreds of millions of times on YouTube, and their songs are streamed over two million plays per month on Spotify alone. The first Single Requiem for My Harlequin can be described as a massive power-drama that hurls you into a dizzying carnival ride, a thick Metallic Power-ballad full of of crunchy guitars, big symphonic arrangements and the silky-smooth golden vocals the band is famous for.

soft cell classic on raggae, great

The batucada-influenced tune "Favela Gyal" is a hot dancehall riddim with U.K. MC Coppa (who has played alongside the likes of Roni Size & Dynamite, Adam F, Marcus Intalex, the G-Stone posse and many others).

Jazz Against The Machine's (JATM) cool jazz covers of 90s indierock were essentials for those in the know: virtuosity and curiosities! Franksen's remixes take the souls of Loser (Beck), Under The Bridge (Red Hot Chili Peppers) and Come As Your Are (Nirvana) to a new future. Adding much extra love and detail: Vocals, dubs, deep beats n bass propel the songs to cosy or swinging heights. In jazzhouse manner, in soulful downtempo or grooving hiphop… give 'em some love!

Franksen delivers a mere lexicon of roots n traces. A wide range of clubculture scultpured his unique style over 25 years: djing, producing and hosting public dj radioshow "hr Clubnight". From Downtempo to Dub, Disco to Deephouse or Reggae to HipHop, Breaks and more.

SLEEPERS POETS SCIENTISTS is the compilation of 9 female Georgian artists. It showcases works by Natalie Beridze's students at the CES (Creative Education Studio), where Beridze teaches song-writing and music production. Natalie Beridze is an international well-established artist with releases on Max Ernst, Laboratory Instinct, and Monika Enterprise, through live performances, theatre and movie soundtrack works, as a member of artists collective Goslab, and collaborations with Ryuichi Sakamoto, Thomas Brinkmann, Gudrun Gut, Nikakoi – to name but a few. "This compilation is the backbone of what I try to persuade as a lecturer and as a person, who endlessly loves the music-making process. "Sleepers, Poets, Scientists " is the embodiment of intelligent, benevolent, dedicated, talented and beautiful women, who I believe have a bright future as female composers in Georgia and this album is a significant step towards it."

The retro cover is a nod to the famous group shot from the 1927 Solvay conference, which brought together physicists like Albert Einstein, Erwin Schrödinger, Marie Curie, and others. With this in mind, the name Sleepers, Poets, Scientists rings like a call to action for today's brightest minds, to wake up and save our chaotic, troubled world.

Last year saw The Last Poets celebrate their 50-year anniversary with the righteous, politically-charged poetic record, "Understand What Black Is". Now to continue the party, Brighton production-maestro Prince Fatty has reworked the album with a fresh twist and blend of smooth, dub-delights. Set to land on the 29th March, the revolution marches on - this is "Understand What Dub Is".

After Prince Fatty's involvement in the production of the original project, he was the perfect person to help update the record with five decades of experience for a new audience to enjoy. The ten tracks of "Understand What Black Is" depict a relevant, historical philosophy of identity and race that has followed The Poets over the last 50 years. Since the origins of the civil rights movements back in the late 60's, Abiodun Oyewole and Umar Bin Hassan (two of the longest-standing group members) have provided social commentaries and a voice to African-American consciousness that has now been heard on a global scale.

Their raps, exploitations and insights quickly evolved into the origins of hip-hop in Harlem, New York back in 1968, and now in 2019 they continue to voice their dedication to the cause with the backing of slick rock-steady infused beats to keep things moving. Having had their work sampled by the likes of NWA, Dr Dre, Kanye West, Snoop Dogg and countless others is just a testament to the timeless sounds and prophecy they have created, and now Prince Fatty has stepped up to put his stamp on it.

Prince Fatty's ever-reliable work gives "Understand What Black Is" another lease of life as he maintains an undeniably slick groove throughout. Both therapeutic and warm, the soulful rhythms of "Understand What Dub Is" provide the perfect platform for The Last Poets to delve into everything from Trump's inauguration, nods to Biggie Smalls and respect to Prince. The calm, collective and downright thought-provoking words go hand-in-hand with the roots-driven reggae medleys with ease - this is dub in its rawest form.

Not only do these songs explore personal struggles and individual endeavours, they also represent a collective of deprived aspects of humanity and socialism, that perhaps now need to be pointed out more than ever. Although there is a variation of sound, the overlying topics remain a constant - it is time to "Understand What Black Is" once more.

Hot On The Heels Of The First New Album From The Last Poets In Over 20 Years, The Title Track "understand What Black Is" Gets The Remix Treatment From Digital Mystikz, Dmz And Deep Medi Legend "mala" And Uk Dance Music Innovators And Legends "dego And Kaidi Tatham".

On The 50th Anniversary Of The Band's Inception At An Event In Harlem, Ny To Commemorate Malcolm X's Birthday On 19 May 1968, Influential Spoken Word Artists, Poets And Commentators The Last Poets Are Set To Make A Glorious And Relevant Return With Their First Album In Over 20 Years, 'understand What Black Is'.

Produced By Ben Lamdin (nostaglia 77) And Brighton Legend Prince Fatty, Whose Speciality Is Traditional Reggae And Dub Production's, 'understand What Black Is' Is A Ten-track Album Which Speaks Of A Revolutionary Struggle Defined By Both Race And Identity, That Has Never Sounded More Relevant. Released On Studio Rockers, There Will Also Be An Accompanying Single Featuring Remixes Of The Title Track "understand What Black Is" By Mala (south London Collective Digital Mystikz) And Uk Dance Music Innovators Dego And Kaidi.

Since The Initial Line-up Of Dahveed Nelson, Gylan Kain And Felipe Luciano Formed In East Harlem's Marcus Garvey Park, The Last Poets Have Produced Under Various Guises Over The Subsequent Years. However, It Was Their Seminal Output, Namely 1970's 'the Last Poets' Under Both Umar Bin Hassan And Abiodun Oyewole That Secured Their Legacy, Becoming One Of The Most Important Influences In Early Hip Hop.

Throughout The Last 20 Years, The Band Have Remained Largely On Hiatus. But Their Influence Could Still Be Felt With Their Tracks Being Sampled By The Notorious B.i.g, Nwa, A Tribe Called Quest, Dr.dre And Snoop Dogg. Umar Has Recorded Various Solo Albums And Featured On Common And Kanye West's Grammy Nominated 'the Corner'. Abiodun Appeared On The Red Hot Organization's Album, Stolen Moments Which Was Named "album Of The Year" By Time. He Also Conducts Weekly Open House Poetry Readings, Where He Constructively Critiques Upcoming Poets, Helping To Nurture Them. He Has Also Conducted Classes At Columbia University, Where He Teaches Creative Writing.

The Inauguration Of Donald Trump As Us President In 2016 Inspired Hassan And Oyewole To Resurrect The Group To Create A Brand New Record, Modern And Edgy, And Deeply Relevant And Reflective Of Our Times.

Tracks On 'understand What Black Is' Include 'how Many Bullets', Which Bridles With Defiance As Oyewole Works Through A Litany Of Injustices Suffered By Black People In The Us: " You've Tried

To Blow My Brains Out With Bigotry, Chopped Off My Wings, So I Couldn't Fly Free, And Dared Me To Be Me, Took My Drum, Broke My Hands, Yanked My Roots Right Up Out Of The Land, And Riddled My Soul With Jesus" 'what I Want To See' Describes A Utopia - A Refuge From Hurt And Those Who'd Make "our Vision Blurred, And Our Faith Obscure", Whilst The Title Track 'understand What Black Is' Aims To Transcend Ethnicity: "understand What Black Is....it's The Source From Which All Things Come...black Is A Hero, Not A Villain."

The Album Even Takes Reference From Prince's 2003 Album Of Instrumentals, 'news', Which Hassan Drew Comparisons From With His Own Childhood Experiences: "that Poem Took Me About A Year To Write....i Just Kept Writing And Writing But Not Getting Too Far And Then I Heard That Album And The Musicianship Was Amazing. I Was Left Wondering If It Was Jazz, Classical, Rock Or Maybe Something New But All Those Images That I Write About Came To Me From Listening To That Album. I Loved Prince In That Movie Purple Rain Because My Father Was A Talented Musician But He Was Into Brutalising Mama At Times And In The Movie There's A Jerome And My Name Is Jerome, So It Was Like He Was Telling My Life Story As Well."

The Album Acts As A Body Of Work Between Individual Members Each Speaking Of Their Own Personal Journeys, But Feeding Into The Much Larger Narrative Of Struggle And Oppression, Alongside A Fervent Hunger For Social Change. These Are Struggles And Tests Of Personal Resolve That Have Directly Shaped And Moulded The Bands' Unique Sound Over The Course Of An Impressive 50 Years, And Their Powerful And Influential Commentary Remains As Relevant As Ever.

2025 Repress


Australian music devotees András and Instant Peterson hold a candle to overlooked avant-pop and electronic works by antipodean artists and outsiders working through the 80s and 90s. Through co-presenting weekly radio show Strange Holiday, the duo slowly upturned their locale for inspiration - archives, country bookstores, private collections and convenience stores, searching for a place to anchor their own identities in the oceans of the island continent. The 10 tracks acknowledge a minor history, passed on via a network of friends, friends of friends, the libraries of radio station 3RRR and more often than not, the artists themselves. Renowned mixed media artist Maria Kozic enters with the mysterious downbeat of Trust Me, her husband Philip Brophy responsible for digital and analogue sonic construction. A recurring character in András and Instant Peterson's investigations, Brophy reappears with a score piece from his divisive feature film Salt, Saliva, Sperm and Sweat, recorded as (pronounced 'Tch Tch Tch"). Other links are thread under the surface. Melbourne inner north experimentalist David Chesworth explores his Australiana songcraft leading Whadya Want. The short lived project also featured Philip Jackson, whose husband-wife duo The Couch is restored from Fast Forward's dance issue - a pioneering cassette fanzine published by early-80s 3RRR personality Bruce Milne.

Limited edition 8 track double 12" featuring some of the best tracks from now out of print MEMBERS ONLY 12" singles plus some tracks never released on vinyl previously. Tracks compiled from cassettes and overdubbed by ANNE CLARK, FGTH, BANANARAMA, LAST POETS and more. Hand stamped white labels.

Corps Perdu emerges from Lamin Fofana’s ongoing practice of creating immersive and multisensory sound environments, informed and inspired by the historically rich texts of scholars and poets working in the tradition of Black Studies. The words of W.E.B. Du Bois, Sylvia Wynter, Dionne Brand, Fred Moten, Édouard Glissant, Suzanne Césaire and Aimé Césaire are transmuted and circulated as sound, offered to listeners through radio, live events, albums and installations. Fofana honours his sources with an audible historical awareness, yet his sounds always simultaneously open out into the turbulent uncertainties of the present.
The music we hear on the album Corps Perdu was previewed within a series of collective reading and listening sessions carried out in Paris, Barcelona, Tunis and New York City, where voices from the audience read aloud fragments from a body of texts Fofana had selected. The spontaneous unfolding of close reading and listening, mixed live by Fofana in these collective listening experiences, speaks to the open-ended quality of Corps Perdu. The album, now published, is but one iteration of this ongoing inquiry into the relationship between sound and text.
Corps Perdu presents an introspective journey with no return, and as such is full of omens of all kinds. Across ten tracks Lamin Fofana creates a sibling or companion to the transformation he initiated in his previous album Works in Metal, building a narrative that takes us into Krakatoa prior to its eruption, and lets us listen to Césaire’s ‘flying seed dreaming very loudly’. The album’s track titles and narrative arc hum in and out and alongside Césaire’s poetry, mainly Césaire’s 1950 collection Corps Perdu, in which the ten poems are accompanied by engravings by Picasso merging fragments of bodies and plants—a collaboration that emerged from their first encounter two years earlier, at the Communist-led World Congress of Intellectuals for Peace, in Wroclaw, Poland.
The music on Corps Perdu labours intuitive hand-held melodies through dense processing. There are many rhythms throughout, though these never surrender to the density of the dancefloor grooves we’ve heard Fofana craft on previous albums (think of the ‘Obscure Light’ pair from Works in Metal for example). Instead, Fofana gently releases the clenched hands Césaire’s Corps Perdu begins with: ‘Among me, from myself, to myself, outside any constellation, clenched in my hands only, the rare hiccup of an ultimate raving spasm, keep vibrating word’. The album carries through sound the scattering and liquid fragmentation that shape the desperate metamorphosis of a ‘lost body’.

Ursprünglich 1968 in New York auf Barakas eigenem Label Jihad veröffentlicht, ist "Black And Beautiful Soul And Madness" ein leidenschaftliches Zeitdokument der 1960er Jahre. Man könnte es leicht für eine verschollene Veröffentlichung von ESP-DISK halten, fügt es sich doch nahtlos zwischen Sun Ra, The Fugs und Albert Ayler ein. Die Band nutzte ihre Stimmen auf vielfältige Weise: mal singend im Stil von Doo-Wop und Soul, mal rappend im Stil der Last Poets, und oft auch beides gleichzeitig. Emotional fesselnd und von enormer Kraft, wird dieses Werk nun erstmals wieder auf Vinyl zugänglich.

Dub-Stuy continues its one-riddim series with Punchliner riddim, an original production crafted by DJ Madd, returning on beatmaking duty since his 2021 relick of the classic Answer Riddim. Driven by syncopated rhythms and a rolling bassline, this new addition to the series provides the perfect backdrop for three standout cuts from an international cast of vocalists.

The late Nazamba offers "Thief," a powerful social commentary in the tradition of dub poets like Linton Kwesi Johnson. UK-based Ras Demo showcases his versatility with "Lyrical Designer," while Spanish vocalist Lasai unleashes rub-a-dub energy on "The Punchliner." An instrumental version is also included.

Long before streaming services, podcasts, or even the compact disc, there was Tellus—a radically ambitious publication that imagined recorded sound as an exhibition space. Founded in 1983 in downtown New York, Tellus transformed the humble audio cassette into a magazine, commissioning and publishing new works by musicians, composers, visual artists, poets, writers, choreographers, and performers who were reshaping the boundaries of contemporary art. Each issue invited listeners into a world where no wave, industrial music, spoken word, Fluxus performance, electroacoustic composition, downtown pop, conceptual art, and avant-garde experimentation could coexist on equal footing. More than forty years later, Earth Libraries proudly presents TELLUS: The Audio Cassette Magazine Anthology Vol. 1, the first comprehensive anthology devoted to the groundbreaking publication. The story of Tellus begins, fittingly, at the Rum Runner Bar on Canal Street. There, in 1983, visual artist Joseph Nechvatal, curator Claudia Gould, and composer Carol Parkinson conceived an entirely new kind of publication. Portable cassette players were transforming how people experienced music, and the trio saw an opportunity to use the cassette itself as a curatorial medium—one capable of circulating work that traditional record labels, galleries, and magazines simply couldn't accommodate. Early recordings by Sonic Youth and Liquid Liquid sit alongside works by James Tenney, George Brecht, Takehisa Kosugi, Carol Parkinson, Y Pants, Live Skull, Shelley Hirsch, Lenny Pickett, Paul Dresher, Gregory Whitehead, and dozens of other artists whose work helped define one of the most fertile creative communities of the era. For Earth Libraries, restoring Tellus represents a continuation of the label's commitment to preserving overlooked musical histories. Working from the original cassette masters, every recording on TELLUS: The Audio Cassette Magazine Anthology Vol. 1 has been carefully restored and newly mast

WRWTFWW Records is very happy to announce the release of Renga, the new collaborative album from Gak Sato and Tadahiko Yokogawa - available on limited edition LP (300 copies worldwide !) housed in a heavyweight sleeve with inside out print of a beautiful artwork by Aoi Huber Kono.
Renga (??, linked poem) is a genre of Japanese collaborative poetry in which alternating stanzas, or ku (?), of 5-7-5 and 7-7 morae (sound units or syllables per line) are linked in succession by multiple poets.
Inspired by the traditional Japanese poetic form of linked verses, Renga unfolds as a fluid 10-track journey spanning ambient, jazz, breakbeats, electronica, environmental music, techno, cinematic, library music, and musique concrète. Much like its literary namesake, the album is built on intuition and shared momentum, each piece emerging from what came before while opening new paths forward. Beats appear, disappear, then reassemble, while textures shift between organic warmth and electronic abstraction. The result is music that resists fixed categorization, existing somewhere between known subgenres and free-form exploration.
The album's visual counterpart, created by Aoi Huber Kono, mirrors the sensibility of the music. It's elegant, modern, and quietly expressive, extending the idea of linked forms from sound into image.
Points of interest
- For fans of ambient, experimental electronic music, jazz-inflected compositions, breakbeats, techno, cinematic soundtracks, library music, musique concrète, genre-blurring sonic exploration, linked verses, and dark blue.
- A unique collaboration between Gak Sato and Tadahiko Yokogawa, inspired by the Japanese poetic form of linked verses.
- Presented on limited edition LP housed in a heavyweight sleeve, edition of 300 copies.
- Artwork by acclaimed visual artist Aoi Huber Kono, extending the album's concept of interconnection across disciplines.

Black Truffle is pleased to present Radis, the first recording by the Oslo-based trio of Andrea Giordano (voice and organetto), Kalle Moberg (accordion) and Jo David Meyer Lysne (guitar and snare drum). Now based in Norway, Giordano is a native of Cuneo, in the Piedmont region in the north-west of Italy and her exploration of the Piedmontese language provides the starting point and conceptual anchor of the trio improvisations heard on Radis, which make use of the words of 20th century Piedmontese poets Nino Costa, Bianca Dorato and Oreste Gallina. As the musicians explain, the project is an attempt to preserve the beauty and singularity of a language at risk of extinction.

Fittingly, the first sound we hear on the opening piece ‘Fiorìa’ is Giordano’s unaccompanied voice. She sings a poem from Oreste Gallina as a kind of floating cadenza, the accompanying silence sensitizing the listener to the pellucid quality of Giordano’s voice and the unique sound of the Piedmontese language. The voice dies away and into the silence swells a single tone, sounded by Moberg’s accordion and—special guest on this opening piece—the alto saxophone of Mario Gabola. Extended techniques and preparations create unexpected timbres from the acoustic instruments: Gabola’s saxophone is augmented with tin cans and springs and Moberg’s unorthodox techniques allow the accordion to generate wheezing, buzzing textures and patterns of microtonal beating. Giordano’s voice returns, picking up the thread of the languorous opening melody, coexisting for a while with the shifting drone before the piece takes an unexpected yet organic left-turn into a delicate saxophone solo of sorts.

Recorded in several locations across Italy and Norway over the course of three years, Radis documents an ensemble who have developed both a distinctive sound-world and a remarkably sensitive group dynamic. Moving from folkish duets between accordion and Giordano’s organetto (the small accordion used in Italian folk music) to episodes of metallic guitar scraping from Meyer Lysne, the music is both quietly contemplative and gently chaotic. Ensemble roles shift with disarming ease. If on ‘Profij dëspers’ Meyer Lysne’s prepared guitar adds a haywire noise element to a lyrical episode of organetto and accordion, the next piece, ‘D’antorn a lor’, is grounded in chiming guitar chords of stunning beauty; once Giordano’s joins, the result calls up the most spacious moments of Maria Monti’s Il Bestiario. Throughout the seven pieces, the trio explore countless possibilities of group interaction and the margin between conventional euphony and pure abstraction: at times the voice floats against silence or seems almost disconnected from the gentle clatter of the instruments (sometimes reminiscent of Nikiforas Rotas’ haunting settings of Cavafy), while at other points the instruments touch on conventional harmonic accompaniment. What is perhaps most striking of all is the way that voice and instruments relate to each other, the extended technique reframing the voice as a kind of abstract sound object, while the melodic beauty of Giordano’s voice lends a contemplative, almost melancholic air to the wheezing and scraping of accordion and guitar.

Captured in gorgeously intimate recordings, Jim O’Rourke’s careful and beautifully spacious mix highlights the wealth of textural detail in each element. Accompanied by notes, session photos and the text of the Piedmontese poems, Radis is a work of stunning beauty that demonstrates the vitality of exploratory music in Norway today.

A cafe in Paris, a cocktail lounge in Palm Springs, a beachside bar in Rio De Janeiro, a lokanta in Istanbul. Jill Barber’s French repertoire is played around the world and has earned her a following that transcends language barriers. Her music has become the soundtrack to an experience. It is a surprising achievement for an anglophone artist who only began her affair with the French language in her late twenties, following a moment during the Montreal Jazz Festival, where she sang a few notes of French to an enraptured crowd. Inspired by their reaction, Jill enrolled herself in an immersive French school in the South of France, eventually emerging with her own recordings of the songs and poets that inspired her most: Piaf, Gainsbourg, Aznavour. The album "Chansons" was released in 2013 and has since become Jill's most globally successful record to date, having been streamed over 120 million times - with more than 35 million listens in the past year alone. A full decade later, Jill has reunited with Grammy Award-nominated producer Drew Jurecka and the musicians that accompanied her on "Chansons" to produce "ENCORE!", its long-awaited sequel. "ENCORE!" is a delightfully arranged and lushly orchestrated album, featuring all new interpretations of classic songs by Edith Piaf, Charles Trenet, Blossom Dearie, Django Reinhardt, Robert Charlebois, Josephine Baker, and Barbara. “For me, singing in French is an embodied, sensual experience… it’s a new language in which to explore and express myself artistically- and be vulnerable.” The French have a saying for a particularly pleasurable sensation that is so unique, it’s difficult to put into words- when Jill Barber sings in French, there is a pleasing quality, a “Je ne sais quoi” that is hard to describe, but easy to enjoy. And now she’s done it again - ENCORE!

Secrets of the Beehive ist das vierte Studioalbum von David Sylvian, erschienen am 19. Oktober 1987 in Europa und den USA (Japan-Release: 21. November 1987). Das Album erreichte Platz 37 der UK Album Charts und gilt als eine seiner atmosphärischsten Arbeiten.

Diese Neuauflage erscheint als Corona Yellow Opaque Black Vinyl und nutzt die neueste Remaster-Version.

Call Sender is the collaborative brainchild that unites the talents of Paul Elliott, a versatile multi-instrumentalist, composer, producer, and recording engineer from Suffolk/UK and Michael Reed, a multi-talented instrumentalist, recording engineer, and drummer residing in the Bay Area/USA. Despite working together for the past four years, the pair are yet to meet in person!

After connecting on social media over their love of drum breaks and vintage reverbs Elliott and Reed fostered their creative partnership by bouncing recordings back and forth via email and this virtual collaboration resulted in their first album, the jazz-funk inspired “Lost To The Storm” (Tru Thoughts, 2023). With four singles from the album gaining radio play and becoming a favourite for tastemakers and DJs, the pair began work on the follow up “Golden Langur”. With this new record, the aim was to retain their signature Call Sender sound, a heady mix of B-movie soundtracks, classic library music and psychedelic funk and soul, but also introduce elements of lo-fi soul as well as collaborating with some of their talented friends as featured artists.

These features include fantastic instrumental contributions from the incomparable funkmaster Shawn Lee (Ping Pong Orchestra/Young Gun Silver Fox) on “Brainforests” and the legendary JJ Whitefield (Poets Of Rhythm/Whitefield Brothers) who kicks ass in two tempos on “Two Tails”. Not to mention the silky-smooth vocals from the Bay Area’s Andre Cruz, vocal duet from Lucid Paradise that is reminiscent of Gil Scott Heron and Paul Elliott’s seven year old son Buddy drops a vocal on the future B-boy classic “Rainbow”. Together Call Sender has an old-school vintage foundation with a modern perspective. Influenced by iconic acts such as Klaus Weiss, Miles Davis and Nino Nardini and with a hip and funky sonic aesthetic, Call Sender’s music is nostalgic without being pastiche, has a sense of travelling at its core, having been recorded in different parts of the globe, while never hesitating on the direction of the music.

Limited repress!

What is it about New York City, that concrete jungle that continually inspires the creative spirit? From Warhol’s Factory to Larry Levan’s Paradise Garage to David Mancuso’s Loft, collectives that celebrate and nurture unfettered, organic artistry have been absolutely intrinsic to the story of this sprawling metropolis. Its latest chapter is being written at the hands of ‘The Maestro’, Grammy Award winner Louie Vega and his Expansions NYC parties, the sound documented in his latest album Expansions In The NYC (Nervous Records).

Starting in February 2019 in Manhattan and Brooklyn venues, Vega’s Expansions NYC parties have their origin not in his revered prowess as a DJ but rather his whole-hearted appreciation of the different elements of the dance floor surrounding him: the dancers, the musicians who bring their instruments to join him ad-hoc on the night, the small, dedicated crowd of clubbers whose ears to the ground keep them informed on the underground party information. The events included 6-hour DJ Sets with Louie under his select curation, and would usually end with 3 AM jam sessions involving keyboardists, guitar players and poets all performing in front of a jam packed crowd. In just a few short years the Expansions NYC events have evolved into an NYC-clubland institution, an intimate celebration of house, funk, disco, afro, R&B and more.

As with his parties, so goes his album. The collective vibe that forms the beating heart of Expansions NYC parties is absolutely front and centre in Expansions In The NYC, Vega drawing in one of the most comprehensive lists of collaborators in recent memory. House heavyweights Honey Dijon, Joe Claussell, Moodymann, Kerri Chandler and Anané rub up against legendary vocalists Bernard Fowler, Cindy Mizelle, Lisa Fischer, Audrey Wheeler and Tony Momrelle. Gospel royalty BeBe Winans and Debbie Winans, pop icon Robyn and rising star Karen Harding sit alongside disco-era champions Unlimited Touch, Cuban jazz pianist Axel Tosca, Nico Vega, Two Soul Fusion with Josh Milan and Vega and underground legend DJ Spinna. At the centre of it all, fingerprint on every beat, touch on every groove, sits a master at work, weaving the individual threads into a rich dance music tapestry.

"In the past few years I’ve found new inspiration both from the musicians I’m working with and the audiences coming to see me at my DJ shows,” Vega says. “So for me this album represents new beginnings, bringing together a beautiful mosaic of artistic perspectives to express musically what we call Expansions In The NYC."

At its heart, Expansions In The NYC is a love letter to New York, as much as melting pot as the city it represents, the scope of its line-up possible only because of the influence and reverence of Vega the artist, the DJ, the producer, the curator. In creating this album, Louie Vega has once again utterly enriched the lives and libraries of music lovers the world over, far beyond the hustling streets of NYC that have so indelibly left their mark on his work.

DJ Haram's debut album “Beside Myself” is about the survival of the spirit in day to day struggle. Following on from her collaboration with Moor Mother as 700 Bliss on “Nothing to Declare”, here she is joined by a swarm of collaborators, collectively navigating pain and rage, and in occasional moments of joyful respite, mocking the strife. Haram describes herself as a “multidisciplinary propagandist, contemporary anti-authoritarian Arab, gendered labor class, god fearing atheist” who makes “anti-format, audio propaganda, anti-lifestyle, immersive sonics”. Her music attests to this, as she brings in friends and collaborators, from MC's Armand Hammer, Bbymutha, SHA RAY, Moor Mother, and Dakn, through to co-producers August Fanon, Egyptian producer El Kontessa, and Jersey Club producer Kay Drizz, trumpeter Aquiles Navarro, and guitarist Abdul Hakim Bilal. It's immediately identifiable as her work, but simultaneously unclassifiable, finding equal space in its dusty live production for Jersey Club, punk noise, Central Asian and Middle Eastern Percussion, synths, 808's and lurking, rumbling bass. Often central to this is her own performance of unflinching sorrowful verses, comparable to the poets Audrey Lorde or Ai in tone and Kim Gordon in context, examining the material and the abstract in equal measure. Her grungy futurism offers no easy resolutions, yet the drama and catharsis it presents is rarely so defiantly delivered.

When you’re running a label, a demo occasionally comes across your desk that makes you reconsider everything you thought your label was all about. For Balmat, such was the case with this stunning album from Stephen Vitiello, Brendan Canty, and Hahn Rowe. It sounds like nothing we’ve released so far—and that very otherness opened up a whole new world of possibilities for us.

Fans of ambient, experimental electronic music, and sound art will be familiar with Vitiello, a New York native, long based in Virginia, who has collaborated with a cross-generational list of greats: Taylor Deupree, Steve Roden, Lawrence English, Tetsu Inoue, Nam June Paik, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Pauline Oliveros, and many more. On labels like 12k, Room40, and Sub Rosa, he has explored a wide range of minimalism, microsound, lowercase, ambient, improv, and other styles. But this album is something different. It may begin in ambient-adjacent territory, but it quickly veers off, and it just keeps zigzagging, taking on elements of krautrock, post-punk, dub, and the groove-heavy interplay of groups like Natural Information Society and 75 Dollar Bill.

This stylistic turn is thanks in large part to Vitiello’s choice of collaborators. “We’re coming from three different schools,” Vitiello says: “sound art, art rock, and punk rock.”

Active since the early 1980s, Rowe—a violinist, guitarist, and producer/engineer—has played with, or manned the boards for, a frankly jaw-dropping list of musicians: Herbie Hancock, Gil Scott-Heron, the Last Poets, Roy Ayers, John Zorn, Glenn Branca, Swans, Live Skull, Brian Eno, David Byrne, Anohni, R.E.M., Yoko Ono, and many more. But he might be most closely associated with Hugo Largo, a one-of-a-kind New York quartet—two basses, vocals, and Rowe’s violin—that in the late 1980s helped lay the groundwork for what would eventually become known as post-rock.

Canty, of course, is the legendary drummer of Fugazi, the visionary DC post-hardcore group, as well as Rites of Spring before them, and, currently, the Messthetics, a Dischord-signed instrumental trio with guitarist Anthony Pirog and Fugazi bassist Joe Lally.

Vitiello’s trio first collaborated on First, a 17-minute piece released on the Longform Editions label in 2023. Second picks up where the freeform drift of First left off, channeling the trio’s exploratory energies into more intentionally structured tracks and—in a real first for Balmat—some almost shockingly muscular grooves. “Sometimes my projects are more conceptually driven,” Vitiello says, “but I think this was more musically geared. I just wanted to open up the references and bring in an incredible drummer, bring in some melodies, and I’m sort of the center.” But his collaborators, he stresses, are “vastly creative in making anything I might suggest better.”

Like its predecessor, Second took shape in phases, shifting between improvisation and collage. Vitiello laid down the skeleton of the music at home, sketching out initial ideas on Rhodes keyboard and acoustic and electric guitar; he then fed the parts through samplers and his modular system, recording 10- or 20-minute jams. Once he had edited them into more structured forms, he hit the studio with Canty, who added not just drums but also bass and piano; finally, Vitiello took the results of those sessions to Rowe, who played violin, viola, electric bass, and 12-string acoustic and bowed electric guitar, and assisted in some of the final structuring and mixdown.

A few more surprises along the way: Reanimator’s Don Godwin, the studio engineer where Vitiello recorded with Canty, contributed what he calls “resonant dustpan”; and none other than Animal Collective’s Geologist, who just happened to be in the studio that day, sits in on hurdy gurdy on “Mrphgtrs1,” the album’s gorgeous, stunningly atmospheric drone closer. “I love these chance encounters,” Vitiello says. “Somebody I admire, a group I admire—that was an unexpected gift.”

An unexpected gift is a great way of describing Second as a whole: three veteran musicians venturing outside their usual zones and finding a new collaborative language together. The results can’t be neatly slotted into any given genre; they belong not to any given category, but to the spirit of conversation itself.

Heavyweight Black Vinyl / Original glued prints on Thick Cardboard 700 gram / 2 Separated parts hand-glued / Glossy lamination / PVC outer sleeve / Insert with 10 pages Booklet 30 x 30 cm printed on Gmund Colro Felt Red Purplea d 90 Gram Favini papers with detailed interview between Tony Higgins and Mustafa's family (his sisters and children are all musicians), as well as an insight into the recording of the album with Gregory Bufford, the drummer for the session, lyrics and exclusive pictures.


Colored Vinyl Details:
Heavyweight "A side - B side solid purple + transparent blue" vinyl / Original glued prints on Thick Cardboard 700 gram / 2 Separated parts hand-glued / Glossy lamination / PVC outer sleeve / Insert with 10 pages Booklet 30 x 30 cm printed on Gmund Colro Felt Red Purplea d 90 Gram Favini papers with detailed interview between Tony Higgins and Mustafa's family (his sisters and children are all musicians), as well as an insight into the recording of the album with Gregory Bufford, the drummer for the session, lyrics and exclusive pictures.

Peronnel:
Mustafa Abdul Rahman - Tenor Saxophone, Percussion, Producer
Ahmed Abdullah - Trumpet
Malachi Thompson - Drums
Gregory Bufford - Bass
Richard Radu Williams - Piano
Rafik Abdur Rahim
Tony Smith - Guitar
Larry Banks - Synthesizer
Khalil Abdullah - Congas
Babafumi Akunyon - Percussions
Odell Grier Backing Vocals – Fred Harley, Hilda "Asia" Richbow , Linda Hall

Notes:
In the course of our deep research, we sometimes discover a hidden thread that unites musicians, songwriters, artists, and poets linked by music. Mustafa's 'Polygamy' is no exception. Apart from the music - the main reason we decided to work on this first ever re-press, a jewel at the crossroads between jazz funk, spiritual jazz and proto rap - are the many other things that make Mustafa an intriguing and fascinating character. For starters, he was a childhood friend of the Ayler brothers with whom he played in different formations. He also played with other beloved figures such as Noah Howard and Charles Tyler, on a still unreleased album recorded for Amiri Baraka's Jihad label, and worked with The Legendary Master Brotherhood and Steve Reid. This and much more will be revealed in a detailed interview between Tony Higgins and Mustafa's family (his sisters and children are all musicians), as well as an insight into the recording of the album with Gregory Bufford, the drummer for the session.

We or Us records keeps the promise and comes back with an unique new vinyl. A harmonious fusion of underground house and minimal beats.

The art masters for this 12” are:
A1. The Mole: Crafting intricate rhythms that resonate with the depths of the dance floor.
A2. 3lias Erick Naval Clock Poets*: A collaborative force, weaving poetic melodies into pulsating basslines.
B1. Triptease & Greg Paulus: Their sonic journey invites listeners to explore hidden realms through hypnotic soundscapes.
B2. Fabrizio Siano: A master of subtlety, infusing each track with minimalistic elegance.

Mastered once again by maestro Pheek for an immersive listening experience.

This vinyl promises drag you into the corners of electronic music, where rhythm and soul converge.

Having plied his trade around the world for more than three decades, German guitarist, bandleader and musical explorer Jan Whitefield has always instilled in his craft a natural aesthetic of authenticity, a key component which has seen him amass a sizeable and varied catalogue of material which has remained timeless where some of his contemporaries have faded away.

In the early 90s, as various UK bands were signed up by sizeable labels and enjoyed even mainstream chart success in the Acid Jazz and rare groove boom, Jan and his brother Max formed the Poets Of Rhythm, self-releasing their own uncompromisingly hard-edged take on 70s street funk on the then completely unfashionable 7" single format, forerunning the Deep Funk scene by almost a decade. 30 years on, in spite of a legion of retro-focused bands having followed in their wake, few have yet to come close to matching the energy and spirit of those early Poets 45s.

Since then, Jan has applied himself to all manner of new incarnations and innovative side-projects, releasing further funk surveys as the Whitefield Brothers before leading his own band under the pseudonym Karl Hector, with releases on labels such as Stones Throw, Daptone, Ninja Tune, Mo'Wax, Strut and more. An avid music lover, explorer and record collector extraordinaire, Whitefield's music has effortlessly absorbed his expanding interests along the way, particularly drawing influence from Ethiopian Jazz and West African funk and highlife, as well as Kraut-rock and ambient via his Rodinia alter-ego.

More recently, Whitefield has begun to venture into the astral planes of what's now commonly referred to as 'spiritual jazz', and this is very much where we find him manifesting on 'The Infinity Of Nothingness'. A set of mature, delicate and meditative orchestrations, like much of Whitefield's best work the album is studiously true to its key influences - and in this instance the twin figureheads of Sun Ra and Pharoah Sanders are particularly preeminent - but also completely avoids falling into a trap of mere tribute or facsimile. With subtle yet diverse accents of Hip Hop, Library and the Avant Garde appearing wholly unobtrusively, the album is unified by a marked trance-like feel, beginning with the sparse, processional opener 'Nothingness' through to the 3 part 'Infinity Suite' of 'Time', 'Space' and 'Energy'.

As he did as a schoolboy with the Poets of Rhythm, with 'The Infinity Of Nothingness' Whitefield achieves that exceptionally rare feat of creating music that is not only worthy of sitting alongside that of his overarching influences, but will also stand up with it against the tests of time.

Black Magic Woman, birthed out of the production outfit of Ron Trent featuring Harry Dennis most known for his previous work with Larry Heard. Harry Dennis one of the leading poets to come out of house and contemporary music in the 80's and 90's.

Being on the forefront of songs by storefront groups powered by both Larry Heard and Marshall Jeffereson The IT and Jungle Wonz critically acclaimed dance classics "Donnie" and "Time Marches on" helped revolutionize dance inteligenca world wide . Together with Trent's production they weave a spell with this ode to the power of the feminine form " Black Magic Woman".

Previously released and powering dance floors globally, Sacred Medicine brings you a set of revisions by production and DJ master Joe Jouquin Claussell who's edit and revision has been highly sought after for the past 4 years along with our young and upcoming talent producer and DJ Coflo. By the introduction of Casmena from Ocha records Coflo first approached us with his remix 4 years ago and now under our direction we are putting it to work. These magical forms are now ready for you to explore and generate power into your world.

For this uniquely personal retrospective spread over twelve vinyl discs, Sven Väth takes us back to the early days of his DJ career. On What I Used To Play we meet great pioneers of electronic music, gifted percussionists, obscure wave bands, and innovative producers of a bygone 'new electronic' era. Rough beats and irresistible grooves from the identification stage of house, techno, and acid remind us not just how far electronic music has evolved over the past four decades, but how great it was to dance to EBM, techno, and house for the very first time.

If there is one protagonist of the electronic music scene who has remained curious, innovative and at the very cutting edge of music for over four decades, it's Sven Väth. His multi-layered artist albums and Sound of the Season mix compilations have been defining the genre for over two decades, and even today, he is constantly on the lookout for the next top tune to add to the highlights of his next set. At least, that's the case when he's not producing them himself as an artist or remixer. "Actually, it's always been part of my DNA to think ahead," and nothing had been further from his mind than looking back at his past, but when in spring of 2020 the international DJ circuit had to be scaled down to virtually zero, the 'restless traveler' suddenly had time. Time to stop and reflect on "how it actually was back then, at the very beginning of my career..."

"It was a great trip and with every track, beautiful memories came flooding back".
In the London apartment, he had just moved into, Sven has set up a "little music room", where he cocooned himself for several days, "to look way back for the first time and review my musical journey through the eighties, so to speak."

The interim result was six thematically oriented playlists with a grand total of 120 tracks from 'early 80s' to 'Balearic late 80s', together with excursions into afrobeat, European new wave, and EBM sounds and a few epochal techno/house tracks from the USA in between. From these 'Best of Sven Väth's favorites', the project What I Used To Play crystallized. Sven remembers how the Cocoon team reacted to his proposal: "They found the idea of making a compilation out of it MEGA from the beginning and everyone said 'Sven, go for it', but then, of course, the work really started, namely, to clear the rights and to get clean sounding masters of the up to 40-year-old tracks. There was also disappointment, of course. We couldn't clear certain titles because the rights holders in the USA had fallen out with each other or simply disappeared from the scene. In short, it wasn't easy, but now I can safely say we got the most important tracks."

Finally, after two years of research, curation, design, and administrative fine-tuning, the "little retrospective" from 1981 to 1990 is available. The exquisitely packaged, and three-kilo heavy box set is not only physically impressive, WIUTP is also the definitive record of Sven Väth's musical development. On each of the twenty-four sides of vinyl, you can trace track by track, what influenced him during which phase, and how he took off as a DJ from his parents' Queen's Pub straight into the spotlight at Dorian Gray. There and at Vogue (later OMEN), Sven became the style-defining player in the DJ booth that he still is today.




1981 - 1990: Future Sounds of Now

In the early eighties, the crowd in clubs like Vogue and Dorian Gray danced to what nowadays we call 'dance classics' - mainly disco, funk, soul, and chart pop. It was up to a new generation of DJs, including Sven Väth, the youngest protagonist in the Rhine-Main area at the time, to create their own club-ready music mix. Good new tracks and potential floor-fillers were rarities that had to be sought out and found, in order to prove oneself worthy.
Without MP3s, internet streaming, or other digital download possibilities, music didn't just gravitate to the DJ, instead, it had to be tracked down. In well-stocked record stores in Frankfurt and Wiesbaden or even in Amsterdam, London, or New York, Sven and friends sourced the material for countless magical nights. On WIUTP we can follow Sven's very personal journey through this wild, innovative era in which synth-pop, funk, hip-hop, and disco were successively replaced as 'club music' by house, techno, acid, and breakbeat. By the end of the decade, it was clear to see that these once exotic 'fringe' phenomena would soon become 'mass' phenomena.



Early 80s

Dirty Talk by the Italian-American duo Klein & M.B.O. represents the most innovative phase of the Italo-disco genre in the early eighties like no other track. Mario Boncaldo (I) and Tony Carrasco relied entirely on the original synthetic drum and percussion sounds of the Roland TR-808, coupled with the raunchy vocals of Rossana Casale and guitar accents of Davide Piatto. Of course, other tracks from this period were also influential in style, most notably Unit by Logic System, which worked as the perfect soundtrack to the laser lighting system at the legendary Dorian Gray club. With stomping beats and robotic rap interludes, Bostich by Yello also belongs on Sven's eternal playlist - after all, it caught the attention of Afrikaa Bambaataa, who invited the Swiss duo to perform at the Roxy in New York in 1983.



EBM Wave - Mid 80s

From today's point of view, the almost ten-minute-long, downtempo track Giant by Matt Johnson's band project The The, would probably not be considered an obvious club classic. However, a closer (re)listen reveals the rhythmic intricacies of the percussion overdubs by JG Thirlwell (aka Foetus) on Johnson's composition, and it becomes clear why this exceptional piece of music is one of Sven's absolute favorites. Other classics from this phase include Kaw-Liga by the mysterious The Residents, the hypnotic-synthetic Our Darkness by Anne Clark (and David Harrow), and last but not least, the somber, monotonous anthem Where Are You? by 16Bit, one of Sven Väth's projects together with Michael Münzing, Luca Anzilotti from 1986.



US House - Late 80s

You certainly can't talk about Chicago house without mentioning Frankie Knuckles. The resident DJ at the Warehouse not only gave the name to an entire genre, but also produced epochal floor fillers on the Trax label like the timeless Your Love, sung (and moaned) by Jamie Principle. Acid house protagonists Phuture also hail from Chicago, and on We Are Phuture (also released on Trax) we hear the chirping acid sounds of the legendary Roland TB-303 in full effect. Another featured classic is No UFO's by Detroit's Model 500 aka Juan Atkins, who is rightly considered the 'Godfather of Techno' even if the genre-defining track from 1985 still breathes with the spirit of hip-hop and electro from the first breakdance era.





Afrobeat

Le Serpent, by Algerian-born Abdelmadjid Guemguem, is a track that sounds completely different from everything else on WIUTP. Made in 1978, it's a monumental, rousing groove created without bass or synths, just with five congas! Even though Guem sadly passed away in 2021, his immortal, acoustic beats are understood all over the world and will continue to enrich many thousands of DJ sets for years to come. Another classic that not only Sven appreciates beyond measure is Hugh Masekela's Don't Go Lose it, Baby. In addition to being one of the most important jazz pioneers, the trumpeter and freedom fighter from Johannesburg was very experimental, integrating electronic sounds into his music in later years, in a similar vein to Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock. Dutch jazz pianist Jasper van't Hof's afrobeat project Pili Pili has also aged well. The trance-like, almost sixteen-minute-long track of the same name, manages to fill a whole side on the seventh of twelve vinyl discs in the WIUTP box.



UK-US-Euro - Late 80s

Time for a change of scene, in the truest sense of the word, and from a musical perspective, this section is like landing on another planet. First up is Andrew Weatherall's classic remix of Primal Scream's Loaded, featuring the iconic Peter Fonda sample (lifted from the 1966 biker film Wild Angels) that came to personify the mood triggered by the British Second Summer of Love in the late eighties: "We wanna be free to do what we wanna do, and we wanna get loaded...". This period also saw the emergence of M/A/R/R/S whose only single, 1987's Pump Up The Volume, became a club classic with support from DJ legend CJ Mackintosh. In this most eclectic of sections, we also encounter New York house and reggae producer Bobby Konders and his seminal Nervous Acid.



Balearic - Late 80s

Those who know him, know that Sven had already lost his heart to the 'magic island' of Ibiza as a teenager, so with that in mind, the WIUTP project couldn't end without a Balearic chapter. Inspired by Manuel Göttsching's E2-E4, the immortal, eponymously titled Sueño Latino belongs in there without question. Equally popular on the island was, and still is Break 4 Love by Raze, which thinking about it, would also fit perfectly into the house chapter. Last, but not least, there's an overdue reunion with Sven Väth himself, in his role as frontman of the successful Frankfurt trio OFF. Together with Michael Münzing and Luca Anzilotti (later of Snap!) this 'Organization For Fun' created the off-the-wall club hit Electric Salsa in 1986 which incidentally turned into an international chart smash, putting Sven in the enviable position of having to decide between pop stardom and a DJ career. Well, we all know how that decision turned out and the rest, as they say, is history. A not insignificant part of his story is What I Used To Play. Enjoy!

The UK Players & Friends Hills and Valleys, Rivers and Streams (A Tribute to Idren Natural) 9 brand new tracks by The UK Players. Voiced by Singers and Poets who knew Idren Natural personally. Recorded and Mixed by Supa Yout’ at Earth Works Studio, Amsterdam. Sleeve artwork and written testimonials from close friends and associates. Idren Natural aka Ras Natural aka InI Oneness, DJ, Singer, Chanter, Musician, was a pivotal player and pillar of UK/European Roots, Reggae, Dub, Sound System Culture. A humble Rastaman who did so much for so many, inasmuch as inspiring, encouraging, and connecting. He selflessly helped those less fortunate than himself. A strong advocate of the culture and philosophy of Rastafari. He was a commanding presence who lit up the stage, giving JAH all the glory. His passing was a great loss to the community. The UK Players Dub Band formed in 1996. They teamed up with Ras Natural/InI Oneness to record their debut 7” single ‘Further’ for Jah Works with Producer Jah Rej. This single gained exposure via Jah Shaka, Abashanti, and King Shiloh Sound Systems, even the famous Radio 1 DJ ‘John Peel’ played it. More recordings with Jah Rej at Seventh Sense Studio led to the debut album ‘Take Heed’. During the halcyon days of InI Oneness & The UK Players (1997-2004) they toured the UK and Europe, clocking up over 250 gigs in that time. Amongst brethren within the Rastafari community, the band became affectionately known as Ras Naturals band. Friends of Natural like Ras Iyah, Tony Roots, Sister Aisha, Wayne McArthur, and Barry Isaacs (among others) performed with them during this time. Members of InI Oneness & The UK Players never split up, throughout the years they branched out into other projects, reconvening for specials and one offs. Following Idren Naturals passing in 2022, the band stepped up to play his memorial show, where the idea formulated of making a tribute album to him. Ben King offered the use of Earth Works studio to help realise the vision. Work began with longtime live sound engineer Supa Yout’ in March 2024. Jah Rej assisted production on a number of these recordings, and sadly passed during the making of it, the last album he worked on. Various vocalists who were close to Natural, submitted vocals across the following year. The album was mixed and dubbed in March ‘25 at Earth Works by Soupa Yout' & Kingsway. Artwork and written memories/testimonials were then assembled. Everyone involved in the creation of this album knew Idren Natural personally. This album shines a spotlight on his spirit. Carrying songs of tribute, and messages for the times. ALPHA DUB: Every time the band played a gig, Natural would insist on starting with a dub. In that tradition, this album is no different. ‘Mandlion’ passing through the studio, headtopped a Melodica cut on it. Dubbed to the max by Supa Yout! NATURAL VIBE: The ‘Forward Fever’ crew from Belgium were one of the first collectives that Natural affiliated with in Europe. Here, Ras Cloud cleverly weaves all of Naturals song titles into the lyrics, creating a song in itself. WORD & FLESH: Fellowdread was born and raised in Kingston, Jamaica. Now living in Bristol, England, residing with Natural in his last days. His Poetry is rich in inflection, knowledge and wisdom, teachings that spark up the divine. ALL ABOUT LOVE: A pause for contemplation, this one stills the listener. Rootsman Rak’s words warn against complacency, and encourages action. A completely (natural) acoustic track featuring the skilled percussionist Jonah Dan. REMEMBER HIM: Inna Dubplate style, Barry Isaacs toasts to Idren in personal remembrance, reminding us all of the man he was. The track also features snippets of a phone call from Naturals oldest friend ‘Fergie Greenspears’ recounting memories. RISE UP RASTA CHILDREN: The legendary Tony Roots, graces the album with his unique delivery. Natural, The Players, and Tony go back a long way. A song of strength to affirm the soul, and rally against Babylon. Livicated to the one (Natural) SONG FOR THE RIVER MAN: During those halcyon days, many stages were shared with Albaroot, whom the band met whilst on tour in Scotland. Clark Innes (lead singer/songwriter) reminisces about the force of nature that was Natural, times shared, and that knowing, to never meet again. ONE STEP AHEAD: An interpretation of the ‘Look Inside’ riddim by Reuben Addis. Built for Sound System, it is the only track on the album that rolls into a dub. Lyrical Benjie literally entered the studio, rode the riddim without hearing it first, cutting his vocal in one take! A message for the times that sends shivers up your spine. THE PRAYER: Iman Onedub AKA Iman Gebre Iyesus, member of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, met Idren Natural at Fairfield House in Bath. Here he seals the album with a recital of the Lord's Prayer in English, with Amharic. His rich textural tones elevated with a one away riddim to carry the listener home.

1982 4-Piece Demo' is the first official, fully-licensed and unreleased material to be released under the name Strawberry Switchblade in 30 years. Since disbanding amid major record label acrimony and personal differences in 1986, the already-cult band have since grown in stature and legend. Trailblazers in many ways, the band's mythology justifiably centers around the charismatic duo of Jill Bryson and Rose McDowall, but that isn't a complete picture. Bryson and McDowall's growing friendship, having met some years earlier on the punk scene, became a creative partnership: Bryson's art school background and McDowall's history in avant-punk group The Poets meant Strawberry Switchblade was a band pitted against many established norms. The band's very first incarnation, an all-female 4 piece, recorded one demo at Glasgow's Hellfire Club and played a handful of gigs. Friends Janice Goodlett and Carole McGowan completed the line up on bass and drums respectively. Strawberry Switchblade would eventually pair down to a duo and go on to chart success but it's in these raw, passionate recordings that the songwriting and vocal elements were being hammered out and explored in real time.


Spanish Song' is a previously unreleased song. With Rose McDowall's instantly recognizable lead vocal dovetailing with Bryson's harmonies and lead guitar, it's the first glimpse at an alternative history of Strawberry Switchblade. This incarnation could easily have been featured on a Nuggets compilation or a precursor to the indie-pop revolution that would take over British bedrooms a couple of years later. "Trees & Flowers" is instantly recognizable, a bona fide classic that would earn the band its first record deal. Here it's given a more forceful rhythm section: Goodlett and McGowan's playing is in fact accomplished and doesn't hint at the bands' youth. "Go Away" would also surface later on the band's debut LP but here it is a moody-garage stomper with a psychedelic, haunting refrain. These 3 songs point to a tantalizing future of the band that was never realized.


Remastered and restored by Sean Pennycook from the original cassette, with artwork based on a single photographic contact sheet (the only visual evidence of the band in this form) and with a booklet of photographs and new text. Pa

Sun Ra is better known to most as a musician than a poet, but he identified equally as both. My Words Are Music provides direct access to the sentiments of a poet who never called Earth home. The spoken word album hosts an inspired array of artists who personally chose their favorite Sun Ra poems to recite. Freed from the page, his poetry acquires an unexpected simplicity and poignance it possessed all along.

This all-star and intergenerational lineup of artists conjure wisdom from his words: spoken word elder Abiodun Oweyole of The Last Poets; rapper, and singer-songwriter Saul Williams; jazz experimentalist Melanie Charles; British-Trinidadian poet, novelist and musician Anthony Joseph; poet Mahogany L. Browne; poet, playwright, and conceptual artist Carl Hancock Rux; musician/digital composer L’Rain; singer, actor, and director Tunde Adibempe of TV on the Radio singer; British DJ and BBC radio host Zakia Sewell; ballistic hip-hop poet Jive Poetic; and longtime members of the Sun Ra Arkestra, Marshall Allen, Knoel Scott, and Tara Middleton.

Punctuated by impish electronic interludes composed and played by Marshall Allen, these voices bless Sun Ra’s poetry with new life My Words Are Music offers the opportunity to follow Sun Ra into a
better future. “Prepare for the journey,” he writes in his poem “The Cosmic Age”, “You have a rendezvous / With the living wisdom.” My Words Are Music is a project developed in conjunction with Living Sky, the all-instrumental Sun Ra Arkestra album released on Omni Sound in 2022