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From Dreams To Dust, the latest studio album by The Felice Brothers was recorded in the fall of 2020 in an old one room church in Harlemville, NY - Produced by The Felice Brothers and mixed by Mike Mogis

The record ranges over a variety of topics and themes, including isolation, the world of dreams and delusions, environmental collapse, and the inward and outward chaos of modern life.

Merit Hemmingson is an 81-year-old matriarch, composer, organist and singer from Jämtland

She has devoted her life to exploring and constructing her own musical landscape, which bends and challenges genres in ways that have often created swells. Since the 1960s, her personal expression has created a unique space in Swedish music history where jazz, groove rock and folk music meet. Throughout her career Merit has moved forward with a strong sense of self and sensitivity to music and she has collaborated with both The Ark and Beppe Wolgers, played on major jazz stages in New York and over the years toured around Sweden and also in Norway. Her long experience invites you to a rare artistic depth, which winds down through narrow caves and out into magnificent saltwater cathedrals.

Featuring musicians like Loney Dear, Martin Hederos and Mattias Bjäred (Soundtrack of our lives), Sara Parkman and many more.

Eyedress' fourth album 'Mulholland Drive' is the latest evolution of the
Filipino musician's unique sound
Following his 2020 breakthrough 'Let's Skip To The Wedding', which introduced
global hits 'Jealous' and 'Romantic Lover', the new record features collaborations
with some of his favourite artists - King Krule, Dam-FunK, Triathalon, Vex Ruffin
and more, while staying true to his vision."This album is about loving yourself and
your life" Eyedress.
Album art by Brain Dead.
Recent Eyedress highlights:
'Jealous' hit 240M streams across platforms.
'Romantic Lover' hit 60M streams across platforms.
#14 Rolling Stone's 'Trending 25' for 'Romantic Lover'.
#19 Rolling Stone's 'Breakthrough 25', featuring "the fastest-rising artists of the
month".
Radio support from from Phil Taggart on BBC R1, Jamz Supernova on 1Xtra,
Steve Lamacq Tom Ravenscroft & Gilles Peterson on 6Music, and BBC Asian
Network.
Press support from Pitchfork, Hypebeast, DIY, Dummy, FADER, Alternative Press,
Pigeons and Planes, and Crack.

2022 180g vinyl repress of 'Flight to Denmark', the best-selling SteepleChase album by legendary US pianist Duke Jordan Charlie Parker's favourite pianist and the composer of the famous "Jordu", Duke Jordan (b. April 1, 1922 in New York) ended his five-year seclusion from the jazz scene when he was invited to play and record in Denmark in 1973. This first recording by Jordan for SteepleChase turned out to be an enormous success which brought Jordan back in the spotlight. "I am convinced that this is Duke Jordan's finest record." - Jazz Journal

"A totally captivating listening experience." - Billboard
"Flight to Denmark is an essential album for anyone who enjoys substantial piano music." - Coda
Personnel: Duke Jordan (piano), Mads Vinding (bass), Ed Thigpen (drums).

To emerge from a global pandemic with a renewed sense of situational awareness, hard won insight, and a new album is the kind of move we've come to expect from THRICE over the last twenty years

With Horizons/East, Dustin Kensrue and his bandmates address, with candor and courage, the fragile and awkward arrangements that pass for civilization, while inviting us to dwell more knowingly within our own lives. Without surrendering any of the energy and hard edge of their previous albums, they've given us a profoundly meditative work which serves as a musical summons to everyday attentiveness.Since forming THRICE with guitarist Teppei Teranishi, bassist Eddie Breckenridge, and drummer Riley Breckenridge in 1998, Kensrue has never been one to back down from a mental fight. This mood is set by the opening synthdriven number "Color of the Sky," which sounds well- suited to accompany the closing credits of the Stranger Things season finale. Think Flying Lotus giving way to Elbow and setting the listener down in a new dimension. A self-recorded effort, Horizons/ East conveys a palpable sense of danger, determination, and possibility.

Possessing one of the most distinctive and recognizable voices on the planet, former Men at Work frontman Colin Hay faces down struggle, loss and the existential questions about mortality on 'Now And Evermore', his first collection of new material since the 2016 release of Fierce Mercy

Written and recorded in Hay's adopted hometown of Los Angeles and at Compass Sound Studio in Nashville, the collection is a defiantly joyful celebration of life and love, one that insists on finding silver linings and reasons to smile through the challenges of recent times. That's not to say the record deludes itself about the realities of our modern world, but rather that it consistently chooses to respond to pain with beauty and doubt with wonder. The music on the new album
brims with fanciful melodies and lush orchestration. Hay's performances are likewise animated and full of life, drawing on vintage pop charm, pub rock muscle, and folk sincerity to forge a sound that's at once playful and profound, clever and compassionate, whimsical and earnest.

Single LP w/ printed inner sleeve + DL. Sophomore solo album from Emma Ruth Rundle, (Marriages (Lead Vocals/Guitar) and Red Sparowes (Guitar)). “…a sophomore effort of Cat Power-like tenderness and PJ Harvey-level intensity” The Fader / "...a sort of old-souled wisdom, conjuring the vastness of a sea." – Pitchfork // Emma Ruth Rundle’s 2nd solo album, Marked for Death, mines feelings of loss, defeat, heartache and self-destructiveness to emerge with the most honest and compelling accomplishment of an already prolific career. She shapes vast, evocative landscapes of sound, combining them with lyrics of devastating candor. Self-determination and resiliency, disguised in this case as coming to terms with overwhelming defeat, are key aspects of her personality. Transforming pain into works of great beauty makes her the compelling artist she is. A more adventurous production than her solo debut Some Heavy Ocean (2014, Sargent House), the eight compositions on Marked for Death, helmed by engineer/co-producer Sonny DiPerri, emphasize dynamics and vocal melodies, variable tuning, and a dense layering and texturing of guitars. Nevertheless, fear and self-doubt linger in the shadows of Rundle’s mind, providing an incessant counterpoint to her ambitious talent and sultry, albeit de-emphasized, allure. Exemplified by the candid, unglamorous cover portrait, Marked For Death takes a persuasive argument for its creator’s utter helplessness in the shadow of defeat. And through a potent dose of dark, hypnotic rock every bit as satisfying as her work with Marriages and Red Sparowes, Marked for Death’s most resonant element is Emma Ruth Rundle herself, settling in to her role as singer/songwriter. Her rich voice, alternately jostled and cradled by the sounds conjured from her guitar, feels more present, perhaps even more deliberate, than ever before. // UK publicity Silver PR - Early press support/features already confirmed with Pitchfork, The Fader, The Independent, Interview, VISIONS, Music Radar, New Noise, BBC and MUCH more tbc.

Very limited double black vinyl, Download Card Included. No returns. This is for Indies Only. Seminal post–hardcore band Girls Against Boys are celebrating the 25th anniversary of the 1996 release of their critically acclaimed album House of GVSB with a double vinyl reissue of the album. Packaged in a full-color gatefold jacket, side A and B are the original album remastered by Bob Weston (Shellac). Side C and D feature odds and ends from the band’s 90s era work including sought-after b-sides, singles, compilation tracks, and one previously unreleased recording. Beginning February 4, 2022, GvsB will embark on their first tour since 2013. The band will be playing songs from across their entire catalog with stops in Chicago, Los Angeles, Washington, DC, and Seattle, among other cities. European dates to be announced soon. “the great ’90s post-hardcore thud-masters” Stereogum // “A pathbreaking hard-rock opus that plays like one long money shot” SPIN #5 Top Album of the Year

Very limited new repress coming, note new price. It’s unusual for an act to hit its peak after four decades. Yet here it is. The band’s climb to become Britain’s most dazzling live band - shows are played at full energy without the breaks lesser combos need to breathe, drink or chatter – was unexpected, and public awakening to their humour, skill and brilliance demands revision of post-punk history. The Nightingales emerge as the industrious ant to their peers’ workshy grasshopper personae, appearing victoriously at the finish line to puzzled realisations that they’d ever even been in the race. The Nightingales have notoriously had a new label for each new album, a fact which might reasonably call for consumer caution, but they don’t fit in with anything like a scene, they speak their own musical language, and while they bust out slogans about being “slightly superior to others of their ilk” . . . the truth is, they have no ilk. Faust’s Hans-Joachim Irmler adds keyboards and The Lovely Eggs’ Holly Blackwell’s languid voice features on one song, but the album’s real shock is that the band has now gelled to an unspoken, nearly psychic interplay. Captain Beefheart, one of Robert Lloyd’s musical heroes, is best known for the difficult-but-classic Trout Mask Replica, and like that album, this one contains nary a ‘hit’, yet here every song sticks in the brain and grooves . . . outclassing Beefheart’s masterpiece with its effortless charm. John Peel noted, “Their performances will serve to confirm their excellence when we are far enough distanced from the 1980s to look at the period rationally and other, infinitely better known, bands stand revealed as charlatans". It’s doubtful he would have bothered with such a pre-emptive defence if he’d been able to witness the explosive growth of the band during their second incarnation. Perish The Thought will be promoted by a far-flung tour, from Scotland to Serbia, with some dates already sold out. Guest supports include Stewart Lee, The Wolfhounds and Near Jazz Experience. Several videos for songs from the album were made.

Very limited new repress coming, note new price. An air of the unsettled is a staple of Robert Lloyd’s career, from The Prefects’s dank dexterity and jittery paranoia of the first Nightingales’ release, Idiot Strength, onward through four decades of top-notch recordings. If the unique persona of Lloyd and crew always came across on their ten albums and countless line-ups, it was largely as an acquired taste of the musical cognoscenti. Labels good and bad seemed to feel, at one point or another, a public duty and a point of pride to release a Nightingales album before returning to the business of business. Four Against Fate is remarkable. It’s the work of what’s now the band’s longest-serving line-up. The instrumental precision of any version of Nightingales has been one of the band’s defining hallmarks, but the psychic interplay of a group can take a few albums to kick in with full majesty - here’s proof of that. The rhythm section of Fliss and Andi functions now on a purely intuitive level. Jim’s work now ranks with that of any guitarist in modern ‘rock’ music, not just in originality, but also across an egalitarian mass of inspiration. Each member sings. Although Robert’s voice functions as the band’s superego, Fliss takes lead in several songs. Few bands today sound as much like a single unit as do Nightingales, but this group has the bonus of a distinct and credible musical language, exemplified by The Desperate Quartet, which comes across as both a medieval war march and the anthem of looming apocalypse. When at the song’s halfway point, American classical musician Clara Kebabian’s violin and Mark Bedford’s (of Madness) double bass overtake the Robert, Fliss, Jim and Andi, it’s a jawdropper of such intense perversity that it alone defies the listener to not play the album again from the start. Not that this album lacks ‘hits’ - The Top Shelf, Everything Everywhere All Of The Time, Devil’s Due and The Other Side are stunners. Robert claims Four Against Fate is the first of his album on which he skips no tracks on playback! Finally, the world has awakened to one of British music’s last treasures. After forty years of new labels, this is the first time Nightingales have released an album on the same label as their last full-length.

Debut Wipers album. Mastered by Greg Sage. Now available on cassette for the first time on Jackpot Records. Full of desperation and yearning, the LP has stood as a blueprint for wretched youth for over 25 years. In the early 1990s "Is This Real?" was given mainstream attention when Nirvana covered two tracks off the record and Cobain announced it was one of the primary influences on his group

It begins with a rustle of noise, equally reminiscent of distorted factory noise and a cassette recording of cathedral bells unspooling, before a near-robotic beat and stuttering bassline enter the fray. Initially, you could be forgiven for thinking you’ve stumbled across the lost tapes of Joy Division’s early Warsaw incarnation, but the atonal blast of strafing guitars fading in and out soon make you realise this is a very different proposition. This is The Drin, and ‘Engines Sing for the Pale Moon’ is their debut album. It’s also one of the best things you’ll hear all year. Helmed by Dylan McCartney, drummer of the rock band Vacation, The Drin originally released this album as a hyper-limited cassette via Future Shock. It’s as much of a departure from McCartney’s usual output as it is for Drunken Sailor Records; songs don’t so much explode out of the gate as drift towards you like a creeping fog that turns your skin inside-out and leaves you sloshing organs all across the carpet. Second track ‘Guillotine Blade’ shows the pieces all coming together, a dubbed-out riot of claustrophobic noise that feels like Pere Ubu trapped in a cupboard one minute, and ‘Warm Jets’-era Eno trying on Bauhaus’ trenchcoats the next. Meanwhile, ‘Down Her Cheek A Party Tear’ unfolds across jittering, skittering rustles of drums and an undulating bassline, making you wonder why post-millennial post-punk so often settles for dickheads shouting non-sequiturs over landfill indie, when it could be entering these dark, unsettling territories instead. The Drin like to get weird. The Drin like to get wild. The Drin rarely cut loose, but that’s because the trip is already intense and haunting enough without things getting raucous in here as well. Hey kids, turn off those shite band name redacted records and get into this; you deserve so much better, and better’s right here. Fall into it, immerse yourself and step forward into a brave new world. I love this record

For fans of - St. Paul & The Broken Bones, Mayor Hawthorn, Nathaniel Ratelif. Oliver James is a time capsule. Raised in a family of musicians and a man who has been performing live since he was a child, Oliver comes to his love of soul music in a most honest and authentic way. Growing up listening to gospel, blues, and R&B from the classic early Stax era, his influences as a musician, songwriter, and producer are clear. After a stint working as a songwriter for Rick Hall, Mr. James is now set to start his own career. Producing, editing, mixing, and performing completely to tape, Oliver makes his mark with his debut single "One And Only" on Colemine Records

American blackened Electro-Industrial Act 6th Circle is back with new LP "The Idle Construct", another masterful forty-minute crucible of insurgent post-industrial darkness laced with haunting atmospheres and seismic, disorienting beats. Officially licensed from Sonic Groove Records, "The Idle Construct" is 6th Circle's most tenebrous and atmospheric release to date, seeing its first ever proper release on a physical format worldwide via Sentient Ruin as a limited edition black vinyl pressing, after its initial and so far digital-only release in 2021. "The Idle Construct" sees 6th Circle further evolve and deconstruct its dark sonic canvas, pushing its foreboding atmospheres and anachronistic grooves deeper into lightless realms, and taking the listener further into a dark future dystopia of bitter disillusionment and grim alienation. The dark flame of defining acts like Skinny Puppy, Front Line Assembly, and :Wumpscut:, burns more vigorously than ever within these ten caustic tracks of industrial insurrection, but what defines 6th Circle's unrivaled approach to the craft is not so much its masterful evocation of an unrivaled past glory, rather the fearless exploration of its still unaccomplished and uncharted possibilities in the present. Facing us is a dark electro-industrial beast levitating from the void and pulsing with the wrath of a dark age lurking ahead. A work which projects the genre into the future with spasms of sheer experimentalism and exploration, fusing themes and visions of the occult, magick, evil, darkness, political unrest, violence, chaos and the supernatural into a monstrous synthetic labyrinth of sound

Wretched, bleak, hopeless and incredibly dark. Canadian dark hardcore crust bruisers Dark Circles and American black sludge destroyers Abstracter bring forth waves upon waves of utter misery and horror on this crushing 12" split. Dark Circles' stark, rabid and virulently embittered dark hardcore is a firestorm of crust punk, grindcore and black metal that marvelously brings together the best and most confrontational elements of bands like Catharsis, Gehenna, Cursed, The Secret, etc. On the other hand Abstracter's bleak and hallucinatory side fuses doom, crust, drone and black metal to incarnate a staggering twenty minutes of total and horrific devastation, yielding a similar sonic hell as seen in dark and miserable slower bands like Triptykon, Primitive Man, Coffinworm, Indian, etc

Mimms is an American R&B artist and a pioneer of the early ”soul” sound. He is best known for his 1963 R&B #1 hit “Cry Baby” famously covered by Janis Joplin. It was also a favourite live track of U.K. rockers Led Zepplin.

Our chosen A-side was originally released in the U.S. on United Artists in 1965 to absolutley no acclaim at the time. It was also released in the U.K. coupled with the hit “I’ll Take Good Care Of You” but still failed to make the charts and remains rare to this day. Our B-side, “As Long As I Have You” was only released on 45 in France and is incredibly rare (note: the U.K. release on United Artists in 1967 is a “live” version). As with the aforementioned “Cry Baby”, “As Long As I Have You” was also a favourite of Led Zepplin and they performed a 15-minute version on their International tours.

Allison was best known as one of the members of the great Funk band "TSU Toronadoes", who was the creator of the million seller, "Tighten Up" while backing Archie Bell & The Drells on Ovide & Atlantic an many more.

Allison has also written some amazing songs such as, I Still Love You, The Goose, Only Inside, Work on it, to name a few.
However, when the band "TSU Tornados" split in 1971, "Allison Lewis" went on to form "South Funk Blvd" with two other members Jerry Jenkins, Nelson Mills.

They recorded a well known rare single with his band "South Funk Blvd" called "Skying High Getting Off On Your Loving" & "Be Together" on Captain Funk Records. The rest of the band attempted to continue playing under the name "TSU Tornadoes".

While sailing safe towards the glorious shores of release number 60 across the whole catalogue, we are proud to present you a previously unissued alternate take of the immense recording that saw the light on Brute in 1967, and earned a well deserved induction in the hall of fame of the greatest rare soul records of all times by becoming a steady classic at all major worldwide soul events starting from Stafford.

Big Joe Williams is seen by many as the ultimate incarnation of the Delta Country Blues player, and several of his songs have become standards in the Blues canon. Known for being rough on his guitars, it's one of the reasons for the ongoing tinkering that led to the construction of his first nine string instrument. This fine studio album was released in 1962 on the Folkways Label after being recorded the year before. It contains King Highway Blues, a slow and at times almost spoken track. Where as Somebody's Been Foolin' is fairly driven along by Ransom Knowling's Bass. In 1968 Downbeat Magazine, simply stated that "Big Joe Williams' Blues is a beautiful experience". Listen to this album and you'll agree.

This compilation album collects Decca tracks from
1942 onwards and covers Jordan's golden period;
featuring 11 Number 1's and 5 charting in the top 10.
Louis Jordan has left a real lasting legacy, as without
his ground breaking musical journey in the 40's & 50's,
we can genuinely say that none of the music we knew
and loved thereafter may have happened. Can't say
that about many artists, can you?

His first single Come On, Let’s Go was recorded in July 1958 at Studio B of the Gold Star Recording Studios. Phil Spector was also recording To Know Him Is To Love Him with the Teddy Bears, and dropped by Studio B to say hello to Ritchie. Released a couple of weeks later, Ritchie’s debut quickly became a number one in Los Angeles. The record went on to be named ‘Pick Of The Week’ in September’s issue of Billboard, soon reaching #42 on the national charts. Valens’ follow-up was Donna, which went to #2 on the charts in January 1959. Not only was the record a hit, it was almost eclipsed when radio DJs discovered the Bside, La Bamba, which Valens described as “an old Mexican folk song they play at weddings”.

This also became a hit, though it only reached #22 – although when La Bamba, the 1987 biopic of Valens was released, the title song went to Number One. From this point on Valens spent most of his time touring the West Coast and beyond, and also managed time for several TV shows and a movie appearance in Go, Johnny Go! So put this record on right now. Let’s go!

This collection is drawn from throughout the 60's, though it does not
entirely fit the commonly held belief that Northern Soul records are all
ultra-rarities, because half of the tracks here actually were major hits in the US, and four of them were top twenty entries! Included among the twelve artists are people who maintained long careers, some who had great success as writers, and one who went on to have a major No 1 in the seventies. We finish with Charles Sheffield (aka Mad Dog or Prince Charles) and his 1961 gem It’s Your Voodoo Working. A well known track among some classic hits and some perhaps lesser known songs, which is the nature of this must-have collection.

In the galaxy of popular music, Elvis Presley can lay claim to his very own constellation. It is not just the global record sales he accumulated, or the No. 1 hits from all over the world - nor even the songs made famous from his film career...It is simply that it is now impossible to imagine the world of music without 'The King'. Some forty years on from his untimely death, his enduring legacy still
prevails. A musical debt acknowledged by Bob Dylan, The Beatles and Rolling Stones.

In 1955 Connie Francis recorded a set of demos which were turned down by nearly every record label around. Skilled in mimicking contemporary femal vocalists, she had yet to develop a distinctive style of her own. Eventually, MGM Records offered her a contract and with inspiration from her father, she recorded Who's Sorry Now. The track was singled out in 58 by Dick Clark who played it on his American Bandstand show. By April it had reached #1 in the UK, and #4 in the US charts. Her career went on to flourish when the songwriters Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield penned Stupid Cupid which again topped the UK charts at #1. She would go on to rack-up a further seven Top 40 hits before the end of the decade while managing to fit in the recording of an Italian songs album at the iconic Abbey Road Studios in London.

Old friends John Cravache and I:Cube teamed up to release Chimère Fm’s debut album on Versatile records.

Endless improvised studio sessions seamlessly blending electronic synthesis and post dada cinematics.

Dreamy synth funk rubs against pagan rhythms and minimalist electronic drones.

This album will take you to soundwave paradise.
Chimère Fm is an imaginary radio station broadcasting its stellar weirdness live from Paris !

When producer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Diogo Strausz arrived in France for the first time, he already had an impressive CV. First, as part of the duo Balako, his music was released on Razor-N-Tape, Barefoot Beats and Greco-Roman after gaining the attention of Joe Goddard of Hot Chip. His tracks also have been played by Gilles Peterson on BBC 6. He also produced Brazilian indie artists such as Castello Branco and Alice Caymmi and remixed a track by Brazilian legend Gal Costa. Arrived in France, it is by signing the co-production of the disc "Les Bruits de la Ville" of Voyou or tracks for Julia Jean-Baptiste that he drew attention.

Freshly signed on Goutte d'Or Records, affiliated label of Cracki Records, to whom we can thank for Agar Agar, Saint DX or Alma Elste, Diogo Strausz will present his first EP Flight of Sagittarius in April 2022. Flight of Sagittarius is both retro and current. Between the old school boogie of Marcos Valle and the jazz funk of Azymuth but also the sunny groove of Nu Genea or the electro-funk productions of Guts.

The 13th edition of Batov Records’ essential Middle Eastern Groove 45s series showcases the irresistible Mediterranean psych sound of Les Dynamites, backed with a heavyweight dub by Israeli digging & beats pioneers, Radio Trip, as they pay homage to the 70s band Lehakat Tzliley Ha’oud.

Three fun, disco sample lead tracks from ex Southsea resident Sopp and a slammin’ remix by Inverness producer Mark Mackenzie

Sopp has been building his way into the scene since 2015. His sets blend a mix of highly energetic, bass heavy rhythms with disco inflections and odes to classic 90’s and 00’s rave scene. So far having released on Chequered Wax, QRUK, Moodygurl and TheBasement Discos. Each of his productions showing a different aspect of his behind the decks personality.

Radio play from the likes of Jamie Jones, Sarah Story, Shadow Child & Jaguar.

Selected DJ Feedback:

Jamie Jones - Digging it.

PEZNT - Whole EP is dope but I think Take Me will work for every true underground head. Great job!

Piem - Dope!!!!

Hifi Sean - This E.P is hotness !

Nathalie Capello - groooooveeeeeyy. Nice!

The Magician - I like "Living" a lot as well
Robert Owens - Cool tracks

Inland Knights - great versions....

Chrissy - nice one!

Raphael Hofman - just awesome!

Ramon Tapia - Dope pack right hurrrr!!

Ammo Avenue - wicked cuts! Take me is my fav

Mirko Paoloni - super bomb!

Round Table knights – Coolio

Oliver Dollar - nice one!

‘Aloha Got Soul’ encompasses a vibrant era of contemporary music made in Hawai’i during the 1970s to the mid-1980s as jazz, rock, funk, disco and R&B co-existed alongside Hawaiian folk music. Hawai’i’s identity had undergone huge change: statehood into America in ‘59 and the Vietnam War were the backdrop as Hawai’i’s youth found inspiration in a new wave of international music led initially by The Beatles and Stones and, later, by US R&B bands like Earth Wind & Fire and Tower Of Power. Garage bands flourished during the ‘60s and, by the ‘70s, live music was at its peak. Waikiki was filled with clubs: The Point After, Infinity’s, Hawaiian Hut, Spats and more.
For the ‘70s generation of artists, some came through the talent contest ‘Home Grown’ and its accompanying compilation LP. In 1978, Hawaiian was made the official state language and a huge movement arose to revive hula and traditional music. Steve & Teresa’s ‘Kaho’olawe Song’ longs for an island long gone: the US military had used Kaho’olawe as a bombing range since Pearl Harbor. Nohelani Cypriano sang about the once sleepy town of Kailua, now a popular tourist destination: “Kailua needs no high-rise with her blue skies, not for our eyes. Can you realize?” Leading Hawaiian artists like Aura, Mike Lundy and keyboardist Kirk Thompson’s Lemuria took time in high quality facilities like Broad Recording Studio to make albums. Others grabbed studio time when they could: Tender Leaf’s Murray Compoc worked for the city bus by day and recorded an album during night sessions. Other albums were spontaneous. In 1983, Steve Maii & Teresa Bright recorded an acoustic set in just 3 hours after being invited to a studio following a gig.

For the artists of the ‘70s, the climate for music changed rapidly during the mid-‘80s as DJ culture grew and live venues shut down. Hawai’i’s R&B era shone brightly and relatively briefly but, despite brilliant musicians, regular gigs and LP releases, most of the music barely made it to the mainland. Thanks largely to Aloha Got Soul’s Roger Bong, a new interest in this fertile era of Hawaiian music has grown, culminating in this compilation of overlooked gems. ‘Aloha Got Soul’ is compiled and annotated by Bong and features rare photos and original artwork.

Rudolf Abramov hit all Optimo Music's buttons at once. Drums, energy, songs, instrumentals, super production, Post Punk echoing, dance floor destroying, home listening friendly, and completely unique.

Who are they and what are they about? Read on...

Rudolf Abramov is a duo based in Berlin. They seem to open a door to unexpected musical encounters. It's an almost impossible task to sum up their sound in a comprehensible way, but in their own words their music is 'a response to a seemingly endless conflict about disgust, acceptance and love.' Since the duo likes to invite other musicians and fellow humans to add to their pieces, this often creates another layer to their unexpected musical encounters.

"Losing Perspective" is the result of a journey that began with a week-long recording session outside the city. Back in Berlin the skeletons of the track gradually grew in flesh, experience and emotion, describing this time in a vibrant and ever-changing city; a city where the faded colours sometimes seem more appealing than the unifying glow of the new.

In order to preserve for ourselves the conflicting colours in their fantastic disharmony, we have therefore watched the pieces change rather than moving them in a particular direction. The result is a number of tracks with different facets that derive from different moods and voices, indulging in diversity.

At the end of this process, we look back at this colourful collage and connect our own very personal history with it and both resolve in harmony. When asking the cat from our studio’s courtyard for example, she said that "Losing Perspective" was about stray tomcats who have lost their old home port to a newfangled establishment wandering randomly through the days in search of songbirds, distraction and rest. And we feel like she kinda has a point there.

The Ninth Wave's upcoming second album Heavy Like A Headache arrives off the back of a sold-out UK tour toward the end of 2021 and Scottish Album Of The Year nominations for their Faris Badwan (The Horrors)-produced EP 'Happy Days!' and their critically acclaimed 2019 debut full-length Infancy. Produced by the band themselves and mixed by Max Heyes (Massive Attack, Doves, Primal Scream), Heavy Like A Headache explores feelings of grief, anxiety, anger and loneliness, and represents the 4-piece's most triumphant and diverse body of work to date. Celebrating honesty and real life, The Ninth Wave want their listeners to find comfort in their music. They want their fans to feel safe; to be confident in who they are, and to know they're not alone.

The band will play three album celebration shows in Manchester, London and Glasgow around album release. Recent singles have received multiple spins from Radio 1's Jack Saunders, 6 Music and an addition in NME's A-list, coverage in key publications such as Wonderland, The Line of Best Fit, DIY and more. 'What Makes You a Man' will be featured in the upcoming series of Netflix's Umbrella Academy. Their releases have seen countless editorial support from Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer and Amazon Music, including Spotify's New Music Friday, The Indie List, The Other List, All New Rock, Melomania and Scotify playlist additions.

The Ninth Wave's upcoming second album Heavy Like A Headache arrives off the back of a sold-out UK tour toward the end of 2021 and Scottish Album Of The Year nominations for their Faris Badwan (The Horrors)-produced EP 'Happy Days!' and their critically acclaimed 2019 debut full-length Infancy. Produced by the band themselves and mixed by Max Heyes (Massive Attack, Doves, Primal Scream), Heavy Like A Headache explores feelings of grief, anxiety, anger and loneliness, and represents the 4-piece's most triumphant and diverse body of work to date. Celebrating honesty and real life, The Ninth Wave want their listeners to find comfort in their music. They want their fans to feel safe; to be confident in who they are, and to know they're not alone.

The band will play three album celebration shows in Manchester, London and Glasgow around album release. Recent singles have received multiple spins from Radio 1's Jack Saunders, 6 Music and an addition in NME's A-list, coverage in key publications such as Wonderland, The Line of Best Fit, DIY and more. 'What Makes You a Man' will be featured in the upcoming series of Netflix's Umbrella Academy. Their releases have seen countless editorial support from Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer and Amazon Music, including Spotify's New Music Friday, The Indie List, The Other List, All New Rock, Melomania and Scotify playlist additions.

The Brkn Record is a new project led and produced by Jake Ferguson, the co-founder and bass player for the UK's foundational deep jazz outfit the Heliocentrics. With fellow Heliocentrics co-founder and legendary drummer Malcolm Catto, Ferguson has been a regular collaborator with globally recognised artists including Archie Shepp, Mulatu Astatke, Melvin Van Peebles, Orlando Julius and many others. The Architecture of Oppression Part 1 represents Ferguson's debut as a bandleader and orchestrator, and manifests as a committed and soulful response to ongoing and systemic anti-black racism, social oppression and state violence both at home in London and across the globe. Combining poetry, testimony and song with rich and cinematic backdrops, Ferguson has produced a sui generis sound that conjures flavours of Arthur Verocai, Ennio Morricone, classic library productions, Madlib-style deep-jazz beat science, and psychedelic soul. With bandmate Malcolm Catto on drums, Ferguson draws on their long years of collaborative experience in the Heliocentrics to build an album of striking texture and depth.

The Brkn Record is a new project led and produced by Jake Ferguson, the co-founder and bass player for the UK's foundational deep jazz outfit the Heliocentrics. With fellow Heliocentrics co-founder and legendary drummer Malcolm Catto, Ferguson has been a regular collaborator with globally recognised artists including Archie Shepp, Mulatu Astatke, Melvin Van Peebles, Orlando Julius and many others. The Architecture of Oppression Part 1 represents Ferguson's debut as a bandleader and orchestrator, and manifests as a committed and soulful response to ongoing and systemic anti-black racism, social oppression and state violence both at home in London and across the globe. Combining poetry, testimony and song with rich and cinematic backdrops, Ferguson has produced a sui generis sound that conjures flavours of Arthur Verocai, Ennio Morricone, classic library productions, Madlib-style deep-jazz beat science, and psychedelic soul. With bandmate Malcolm Catto on drums, Ferguson draws on their long years of collaborative experience in the Heliocentrics to build an album of striking texture and depth.

Ltd to 100 copies

Yearly compilation album RADAR by KEROXEN, introducing the second volume in the series of themed based albums showcasing the talents and misfortunes of carefully selected musicians/bands based in the Canary Islands.

Where Radar Vol.1 (KXN012, 2020) focused its sights on rock oriented music, Vol.2 looks at the more experimental, free flowing side of electronic and sample based music, also Made in Tenerife this last year (2021).

The format stays the same as Vol.1: 4 different artists are invited to contribute 2 tracks, no rules other than do their own thing. The result being an extraordinary amalgamation of various genres and styles of the electronic music cannon including: smoky dub beats by King L. Man, tropical casiotone divagations by Usted, inverted & polyrhythmic workouts from the Tupperwear duo, ultra precise dub-tech-2step edits by Postman and organic psychedelics by freak trio Lagoss.

Yet another crucial document from a region you usually do not associate with forward thinking music, more than a simple compilation, RADAR 2 unveils the thin veil of new and uncompromising music being produced in and around the orbit of the Keroxen Collective.

It seems the Atlantic isolation works as a catalyser here, judging from the copious amount of different and challenging music we’ve been seeing from this corner of the world over the last few years. We invite you to dive with us, in the wild remote tropical waters of RADAR vol.2.

Remastered vinyl reissues of the two essential albums by Turkish folk singer Tülay German, starting with the self-titled release (1980) and followed by "Hommage to Nazım Hikmet" (1982) in early 2022.

Referring heavily on turkish poets and the tradition of aşıks (singer-poets and wandering bards) these two albums represent unique and modern interpretations of turkish folk songs unmatched to this day. A matured artist with full conviction at the height of her powers!
Back in the 60s Tülay German (*1935 in Istanbul, Turkey) shook the turkish music landscape with several 7" records. Most notably her first 7" record "Burçak Tarlası" (1964) is now considered the cornerstone of what was to become the Anadolu Rock/ Pop movement and underlines her rebellious nature and sense of justice.
But due to the increasing repression Tülay German and her lifelong partner and intellectual impetus Erdem Buri decided to leave Turkey a few years later. In fact, an impending prison sentence for Erdem Buri for translating Hegel's "Dialectic and Science of Logic" and
Plekhanov's "Fundamental Problems of Marxism" led the couple to emigrate to France.

In France Tülay German signs a major contract with Philips resulting in many 7" releases sung in french under her french moniker Toulaϊ. In the long run Tülay German doesn't feel quite comfortable with this major deal. And thus, despite the success and recognition she had
gained, she decides to quit the contract with Philips!
Later on she signs to independent world-music label Arion to pursue her actual artistic goals more in line with her origin and temperament. Back to her mother tongue, Tülay German records above mentioned albums for Arion under full artistic freedom, the only full-lenghths
in her 20+ years career. Alongside with double-bass virtuoso and turkophil François Rabbath (*1931 in Aleppo, Syria) the albums consist of aşık traditionals and intonated poems mainly
by Nazım Hikmet. Her passionate voice and the restrained arrangements of François Rabbath turn these centuries old melodies and poems into glowing manifestos for love and
justice. The fruitful collaboration of these artists-in-exile adds significantly to the rich heritage of turkish folk music.

The self-titled debut, which was awarded with the prestigious "Grand Prix du Disque" of Académie Charles Cros in 1981, is now seeing a vinyl reissue after 40 years.
Tülay German ended her musical career in 1987 and after the death of Erdem Buri in 1993 she retired from public life completely, leading a quiet life in Paris where she still lives to this day. In 2021 Tülay German was awarded with the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts, Turkey.

At the beginning of the eighties reggae music became increasingly in tune with what was happening in Kingston’s dance halls… probably more so than at any time since the sound system operators had started to make their own shuffle and boogie recordings in the late fifties. The international audience and the critics were too busy looking for a new Bob Marley to appreciate what was happening downtown and failed to acknowledge that this was a return to the real, raw roots of the music. Brash, confident, young record producers who were totally in tune with the youth audience stepped forward and seized the moment…

Oswald ‘Ossie’ Thomas began his apprenticeship in the music business at the age of fourteen and served his time as a record salesman for Bunny ‘Striker’ Lee and Winston ‘Niney The Observer’ Holness before moving on to Miss Sonia Pottinger’s Tip Top Records.

“I ended up working in three record stores on Orange Street from 1976 to 1981… Yeah man! Me deh ‘pon me bicycle till I buy my motorcycle! Them days records were coming out left, right and centre… every day!” Ossie Thomas

It was during his time with Miss Pottinger that Ossie began to produce records for himself and in 1979 Ossie and Phillip Morgan began the Black Solidarity label based deep in the Kingston ghetto on Delamere Avenue. Phillip initially inspired Ossie to start the label and soon Triston Palma, Phillip Frazer and “a youth named Gary Robertson” joined in although Gary later left for Canada.

The Soul Syndicate rehearsed in the Delamere Avenue area and Tony Chin gave Ossie a cut of a rhythm that he used for Triston Palma’s ‘A Class Girl’… the label’s inaugural release. The record was a sizeable success and paved the way for hit after hit after hit on Black Solidarity. Ossie worked with just about everybody who was anybody during this critical period of the music’s development including vocalists Robert Ffrench, Little John, Sugar Minott, Frankie Paul and most notably Triston Palma.

“But Delamere must be considered as a music street sheltering as it does such artists as Junior Byles, Don Angelo, Triston Palma, Phillip Frazer and producer Ossie of the Black Solidarity label…” Beth Lesser
And the man who had made his name in the business selling other people’s records now became one of the most important and influential record producers of the era.
With grateful thanks to: Paul Coote, Nick Hodgson & Hasse Huss

A harrowing classic, Billie Holiday's personal favorite among her '50s albums captures the singer 17 months before her death, her once honeyed voice, scarred and weakened from punishing life, its ravages highlighted by the 1958 session's crisp sonics and the contrasting "satin" of Ray Ellis' sleek string arrangements. Yet it is that very contrast that explains the power of these performances: In revisiting its torchy standards, Holiday reduces them to their core of pain and longing, transforming "I'm a Fool to Want You," "You Don't Know What Love Is," and "You've Changed" into naked declarations as mesmerizing and unsettling as a horrific accident. Any postrocker that presumes pop standards and string sections automatically translate to "easy listening" hasn't listened to this. This 1997 version adds unreleased takes and a beautiful 20-bit digital transfer to extract every shivering pang of Holiday's music. --Sam Sutherland

Recorded in 1991 by the quintet of vocalist Billie Ray Martin and Birmingham-based electronic musicians Brian Nordhoff, Joe Stevens, Les Fleming and Roberto Cimarosti, Electribal Soul was conceived as the sequel to the band’s 1990 debut album, Electribal Memories.
Electribal Memories had yielded the hits ‘Talking With Myself’ and ‘Tell Me When The Fever Ended’ and pushed Electribe 101 to the forefront of a crossover electronic scene that fused dance music with pop savvy. They were snapped up by Phonogram, managed by Tom Watkins and hailed as “the next band to meet the Queen” by i-D. The band took the coveted support slot for Depeche Mode on their epochal World Violation tour and supported Erasure at Milton Keynes Bowl. Seen as the next big thing, everything pointed toward enduring critical success for Electribe 101, and the band settled into putting their second album together.
“There was a degree of confidence among us when we came to write the second album,” recalls Billie Ray Martin. “To me, the songs we put down sound like some of our finest moments.” More immediately lush and warm than the dancefloor-friendly structures of Electribal Memories, the clue to the sound of Electribal Soul lies in the second word in its title: soul. Songs like the aching sensuality of opening track ‘Insatiable Love’ or the emboldened defiance of ‘Moving Downtown’ showcase Billie Ray Martin’s distinctive vocal range as it moves from haunting quiet to dramatic, euphoric rapture. Lyrics from ‘Moving Downtown’ had found their way into ‘Pimps, Pushers, Prostitutes’ by S’Express, and the song would appear as ‘Running Around Town’ on Martin’s 1996 solo album. The strikingproduction on the version of the song presented on Electribal Soul suggests classic late sixties soul influences, such as those of legendary Motown producer Norman Whitfield, with the long shadow cast by Kraftwerk never being far away.
‘Deadline For My Memories’, the song that provided the title for Martin’s first solo album, was originally intended for the second Electribe 101 album. Its lyrics document a sense of freedom and liberation from the darkness of a bad relationship, accompanied by jazzy piano and organ sounds over a quiet rhythm and discrete electronics. In contrast, ‘A Sigh Won’t Do’ finds Martin in soothing vocal mode, despite its devastating message about the final ending of a strained relationship, her lyrics framed by restrained and subtle beats and sounds.
To spend time with Martin’s voice on Electribal Soul is to find yourself moved deep into the ordinarily impenetrable emotional corners of your own psyche. “I was into big ballads at the time and listening to all kinds of US and UK singers, and I was also young enough to want to prove myself as a belter of ballads,” explains Martin of the classic soul edge the album showcased.
Electribal Soul heads into darker territory with ‘Hands Up And Amen’. Originally written by Martin in Berlin in the period before moving to London and forming Electribe 101, the song was then perfected and enhanced by the band’s production nous. ‘Hands Up And Amen’ savagely documents the mugging of a woman in Queens, NY at gunpoint, only to resolve itself with a middle section that nods reverently toward gospel tradition. The song coalesces around a regimented break and burbling synths, finally ending with layers of urgent synth sounds.
Meanwhile, a cover of Throbbing Gristle’s ‘Persuasion’ takes us into a seedy world of sexual coercion and creepy infatuation, predating Martin’s chilling version of the track with progressive house unit Spooky two years later. Supported by a minimal, nagging rhythm and barely-fluctuating sounds, Electribe 101’s take on ‘Persuasion’ makes for uneasy listening, even though Martin manages to inject a sort of twisted sympathy for the protagonist as the song progresses.
That Electribe 101 were as comfortable offering complicated, nuanced tracks like ‘Persuasion’ alongside pop house bangers like ‘Space Oasis’ – written by Billie Ray Martin with Martin King before Electribe 101 was formed – is testament to the way the band wove their way effortlessly through electronic music reference points. Framed by light, jazzy piano melodies and string sounds, the energy of ‘Space Oasis’ soars so high that it could easily reach the moon, while highlighting how well-suited Martin’s voice has always been to club music. We hear the same reminder of her dance music credentials on ‘True Memories Of My World’, finding her describing a Hollywood actress who reflects on being used by directors to sell her ‘tears’.
Hooking up with the Birmingham-based Nordhoff, Stevens, Fleming and Cimarosti after placing a Melody Maker ad in 1988 (“Soul rebel seeks musicians – genius only”), it was clear that Martin had found a group that recognised the unique power and importance of her voice. Having worked with genres as diverse as reggae, rock and R&B, the four producers proved to be perfect collaborators, presenting carefully-sculpted backdrops that emphasised the towering emotional dexterity of her voice.
“Listening back to these tracks now, I was reminded of what a bunch of great musicians they were,” says Martin. “They had a rule that if a part still sounded good after a day or two then it could stay. If it bothered the vocals, it would go.” Even more so than on Electribal Memories, Electribal Soul places Martin at the captivating centre of these pieces, surrounding her voice with everything from dubby rhythms to chunky R&B beats to nascent trip hop breaks; wiry, acid-hued synths uncoil gently without ever dominating, while horn samples and lush, disco-inflected strings provide a rich, naturalistic accompaniment for Martin’s emotional outpourings.
The band finished mixing the album at London’s Olympic Studios in 1991. They were assisted by Apollo 440’s Howard Gray on production duties for ‘Deadline For My Memories’, ‘Insatiable Love’ and ‘Space Oasis’, with Gray supported by talented engineer Al Stone. Pre-release promo tapes were issued and an enthusiastic energy started to build around the band’s anticipated second album.
It was not meant to be. Against a backdrop of a worsening relationship with Tom Watkins, and a disinterested Phonogram, instead of receiving a positive reaction to the new tracks, Electribe 101 were swiftly dropped by their label. Electribal Soul languished, unreleased, and the band yielded to pressures that had been building and split up. After collaborating with Spooky and The Grid, Billie Ray Martin went on to release her seminal debut solo album in 1996, with it securing the era-defining hit ‘Your Loving Arms’, while the other group members continued to work together as The Groove Corporation.
Thirty years after the songs were recorded, we’re now finally able to hear what the second and final chapter of Electribe 101’s story sounded like. Electribal Soul shows that the band had really only just got started when they dropped their first album in 1990. Heard only by a select and privileged few, what followed elevated the band’s music to a completely new level, making Electribal Soul musical buried treasure of the most precious and rare variety.
Electribal Soul will be released on LP, CD and digital formats on 18th February 2022 through Electribal Records. The physical formats include extensive liner notes from Billie Ray Martin, and the album sleeve features unseen archive photographs by Lewis Mulatero from the original 1990 sessions with the band that were never used in the sleeve designs for Electribal Memories.

Tape

Certain Sound Records and DJ Chud are proud to release the first in a series of DJ mixtapes from the World-Famous Steel Devils Turntablist Crew.

DJ Chud comes with a brand-new mixtape. Opening up for a series of tapes from The World-Famous Steel Devils.

Featuring forthcoming music from Certain Sound artists & friends including Deeflux & Miracle, Louie G, Barry Manalog, Luther Andross and of course CHUD.

Slabs of funk, heavy drums and some hidden rarities from the vaults of this fine turntablist wrap what could be a modern classic (if you can call tapes modern)

* Strictly limited-edition 2x12” vinyl in full colour sleeve. Includes card to download full album in WAV format.
* ‘Strange Days’ the debut album from one of the standout Drum & Bass acts of recent years, due for release on the legendary V Recordings on 3rd December 2021.
* Features collaborations with Serum, Makoto, MC Fats, Lorna King, 2shy MC, Cleveland Watkiss, Blak, Riya, A Little Sound, Elipsa & T.R.A.C.
* With support already secured from the likes of Shy FX, Bryan Gee, Fabio & Grooverider, Rene LaVice, Hybrid Minds, Serum, Randall and with a growing international fanbase at their back, Paul T & Edward Oberon's new album 'Strange Days' is set to be one of 2021's defining drum & bass releases.
* Their recent run of singles, including two Beatport number ones and collaborations with vocal talents like Cleveland Watkiss, MC Fats, A Little Sound & Lorna Kings have given us a flavour of this monumental project. An eclectic array of influences from jazz to jump up have been filtered through the unique musical perspective of this duo to bring us something that we've never quite heard before.
* Drum & bass has the capacity to deliver, on the one hand, soulfully emotive musicality and, on the other, sheer rave-inflaming filth. Paul T & Edward Oberon, however, have consistently performed the alchemical magic of bringing together both the music and the mayhem without compromising either.
* But of course they have. Paul and Edward have years of experience creating music for some of the most prestigious labels in the scene and drawing from a myriad of influences. Individually, they have credits stretching back decades, and, as a combo, they've been dusting dances around the world since 2011.
* Having won an army of new-gen fans with anthems like 'Stomp', 'Look for the Light' and the absolutely huge scene smashing Serum-collab 'Moon in Your Eyes', these veteran artists have wasted no time in stepping things up to even greater heights as they gear up to drop their album.
* Balancing vibes and viciousness, 'Strange Days' lays out the definitive manifesto for Paul T & Edward Oberon's dirty soul sound. Operating as both a self-contained audio journey and a collection of rave-ready deejay weapons, this LP is a piece of work that demands your attention!

Rock Steady Cool is another fine collection of Rocksteady hits. The ‘Cool’ subtitle could not be more relevant to an album, as around 1966, an extreme heatwave hit the Jamaican island. This would not stop the all night dances from going ahead but the jerky Ska Rhythms proved too strenuous of an activity to partake in, so a new slower beat to suit this extreme weather had to be found and the ever resourceful music entrepreneurs came up with the slower paced beat and Rocksteady was born.

This two-year Rocksteady period ran until 1968 and would see some of the power escape from the big three producers, Clement ‘Coxone’ Dodd, Prince Buster and Duke Reid. It was time to make room for a new wave of up-and-coming producers that also had something to offer the people. Such names as Joel Gibson (Joe Gibbs), Sonia Pottinger, Derrick Harriott and most prolific of them all, Mr Bunny Lee would step forward and add some new musical touches to the island.

Rocksteady was an inspirational and somewhat overlooked sound that provided us with some outstanding music. So, sit back and enjoy some Rocksteady straight from the dances of Jamaica.

Hope You enjoy the set….

Les Disques du Crepuscule present a new, remastered vinyl edition of Quart de Tour, Mon Amour, the highly collectible debut album by enigmatic Belgian duo Piscine et Charles, originally released by the label in 1984.

This remastered 2021 reissue retains the original cover art, as well as adding text and previously unseen images from the Piscine et Charles archive, plus a digital copy (MP3). A limited edition of 500 copies only has been pressed on turquoise vinyl.

A duo comprising Dominique Outers and Luc Raemdonck, Piscine et Charles taped their debut album at Daylight Studio in Brussels with engineer Didier de Roos (Univers Zero, Tideline), along with several guest musicians and classical singer Lucie Grauman. A concept album of sorts, Quart de Tour, Mon Amour (which translates as Quarter Turn, My Love) combines literary lyrics with music described as a ‘neat fusion of coldwave, electronics and lounge-jazz, predating acid-jazz by about five years and conjuring impressive atmospheres.’

Despite failing to reach a wide audience at the time, the album has since become a sought-after collector’s item, with the title track recently appearing on acclaimed anthology set Uneven Paths: Deviant Pop From Europe on Dutch label Music From Memory. ‘A very unique sound, Piscine et Charles explore a poetic, romantic and enigmatic musical realm where synth-pop meets jazz and spoken word.’

Grey Marbled Vinyl

Dread Recordings is very happy to announce the release of ‘The Dark Soldier Remixes. We have two absolute first class retakes of the legendary ‘The Dark Soldier’. Both Critical Impact and Alcemist have outdone themselves with these gems.

A globetrotter in the most pure and respectful sense, away from the trappings of neo-colonialist ventures and predatory tourism, Discrepant head honcho Gonçalo F. Cardoso returns to his Island impression series to offers us another glimpse of his deep, abstract impressions of (an)other island.

After passionately collecting the sounds and lives inhabiting the main Island of Zanzibar, Unguja, released through Edições CN back in 2018, Cardoso now dwells into the Malaysian heartbeat of the Borneo forest through Island recordings made during a trip in 2016. Assembled in situ with meticulous craft from portable recorders, samplers and battery powered synths, these nice recollections conjure the spirits that lurk behind the inhabitable and the communal that are as much part of a personal memoir as an impressionistic portrait open to new meanings. Focused compositions that flow organically, bending the environment in & out of shape into a new dreamlike exotica with plenty of breathing room for every detail, silence and movement to surface.

A particular moment suspended in time, haunted perpetually by its bygone existence. Something no postcard or photograph could ever, ever come even close to.

First Word Records is very proud to welcome back Don Leisure, with a brand new 25-track album 'Shaboo Strikes Back'.

Five years have passed since the first 'Shaboo' album was released. A collection of beats and pieces that documented the road trip of Don's youth - hip hop music interspersed with Asian radio station jingles of old, dedicated to Bollywood actor, Nasser 'Shaboo' Bharwani - Don Leisure's late uncle.

This album was heralded as "the best album of its kind since J Dilla's 'Donuts'" and deemed "unmissable" by the folks at Piccadilly Records. It also had strong support from BBC 6 Music's Tom Ravenscroft ("very, very good this indeed"), Huey Morgan ("my beat of the week"), Worldwide FM's Lefto ("defo down with this"), Rob Da Bank ("this is wicked") and the likes of Mathieu Schreyer (KCRW, LA), Alex Ruder (KEXP, Seattle), Kid Fonque (5FM, South Africa), Om Unit, Jon1st, Mr Thing, Rob Luis (Tru Thoughts), Dom Servini (Wah Wah 45s), Tim Parker (NTS) and tons more from across the globe.

Don Leisure is a DJ and producer based in Cardiff, Wales, sometimes known as one half of Darkhouse Family, along with Earl Jeffers. He's been a prolific beat-maker for many years, releasing under a variety of monikers for labels such as Metalheadz, International Anthem, Fat City, Izwid, Earnest Endeavours and Group BraCil. His most recent release was a remix for Gruff Rhys, which was released on Rough Trade.

In 2020 he was nominated for the Welsh Music Prize for his 'Steel Zakusi' project, and has dropped several releases for First Word, including the acclaimed 2019 'Halal Cool J' album and various Darkhouse Family projects, including collabs with artists as diverse as Charlotte Church, Om'Mas Keith and Children of Zeus's Tyler Daley, additionally to remixes from DJ Spinna and label-mate, Kaidi Tatham. As a DJ he has provided mixes for BBC 6 Music, NTS, Rinse FM, Solid Steel and Boxout FM in India, as well as performing at The Jazz Cafe, Fabric and on Boiler Room.

'Shaboo Strikes Back' is a much-awaited sequel to the 2017 smash, and again features a modest 25 tracks. Psychedelic fuzzy samples and phat beats aplenty, Don Leisure once again takes us on a far-out trip across soundscapes. A real tapestry of flavours, from jazz to reggae, and from the soulful to the spiritual, this time round he's invited a few special guests to join him on his travels - most notably Welsh legend Gruff Rhys provides the vocals on 'Neon Drizzle (Hotel Shaboo)', whilst acclaimed multi-instrumentalist Angel Bat Dawid and Jazzman-signed harpist Amanda Whiting lend their talents to 'All Praises Due'. There is even a special cameo appearance from his young daughter, (aka Shaboo's great-niece!), Naima, on 'Naima's Dream'.

Once again, this is a journey into sound.

'Shaboo Strikes Back' is released on vinyl & digital by First Word Records, March 2022.

Dedicated to Nasser 'Shaboo' Bharwan
























x 24: Neon Drizzle (Hotel Shaboo) feat. Gruff Rhys

Following their critically acclaimed 2016 debut album, ‘Borderlands’, (nominated for ‘Best Album’ in DJ Mag’s annual awards), Conduct’s highly-anticipated second major work drops in 2017 via Blu Mar Ten Music.

‘Oma' is an immense LP, taking its sonic cues from 'Borderlands' while expanding them into far wilder territories. Organic clashes with electronic in a whirlpool of tribal head banging, fragile introspection and beautiful sonic architecture. Skittering rhythms, rock solid basses, angelic vocals and heartbreaking instrumentation are guaranteed to make 'Oma' one of the most notable drum & bass albums of 2017 and Conduct one of its prominent acts.

Striving to show the world what can be achieved at 170 beats per minute, Conduct’s palette is a dramatic juxtaposition between electronic and acoustic instrumentation, with a cinematic approach to composition influenced by the likes of Hans Zimmer and Jesper Kyd. While it’s common for drum & bass producers to concentrate on dance-floor impact, Conduct‘s primary focus is the evocation of an emotional response in the listener, creating a body of work that lasts far beyond the club.

Shit And Shine is back on home turf with Riot Season again for another festering collection of filth and ooze.
Raw . Brutal . Live sludge.
Recorded in Austin, Texas bedrooms and kitchens during shitty lockdown.
It’s fucking HEAVY!

Picture vinyl

Lee Burridges’ All Day I Dream Presents Jim Rider’s Fantastic New EP, The Final Straw

The UK-Producer Revives the Labels’ Heavier Melodic Sensibilities Across 4-Originals

The title track opens an EP led by intention, accenting a time in the producer’s life where he was disillusioned with his day job and intent on pursuing music full time once again. “The Final Straw'' includes a romantic, husky narrative delivered by Namibian vocalist “Black Soda” (AKA Annely Ickua). Here we find him pulling from his musical upbringing - melodic elements afforded to him by his Mother, a folk musician and singer, and his focus on percussion fueled by his background as a drummer.

“Rascals” is a follow up to “Fools” from Jim’s 2021 Beatport category #1 EP “Popcorn & Politics”. It pays homage to the classic 1950s American TV show “Little Rascals” with eccentric keys and playful percussion alongside dazzling, eccentric elements from keys to tropical-inspired marimbas. “Los Que Caen,” as the name suggests, is inspired by Rider’s love of latin music and percussion and includes a heavy bass guitar riff, bouncy synths and a harp-led rhythm section. EP closer “The Cypriot” blends lead flute lines with plucky synths and a driving bassline while sporadic haunting vocal ad-libs and delayed keys add decoration to the track.

Social Distortion's third eponymous album from 1990 turned out to be their best-known work and would come to spawn the most hits, with singles 'Ball And Chain', 'Story Of My Life' and the Johnny Cash cover 'Ring Of Fire'. It mixed Punk with Rockabilly, Blues & Country, and split the difference between Rockabilly and Ramones-style Punk. It is albums like this that prove why Social Distortion was able to survive the demise of the LA Hardcore scene with flair and come out on top!

Judee Sill was an American singer and songwriter. She released two albums and partially completed a third album before her death in 1979. Sill encountered Graham Nash and David Crosby and toured with them for a time as their opening act, a year before the release of her debut album. She was hired by the Turtles to write songs, on which a few of them appeared on her debut album, such as 'Lady-O'. Two of Sill's biggest influences were Bach and Ray Charles.

Judee Sill's eponymous debut album of the same name was originally released in late 1971. Backing musicians include John Beck and Jim Pons from the Leaves. The majority of the album was produced by Henry Lewy, noted for his work with Joni Mitchell throughout the 70s. Graham Nash handled the duties for the single 'Jesus Was a Cross Maker' with his production designed to aim for radio airplay before the release of the album. Judee Sill featured Sill's voice in multiple overdubs, often in a four-part chorale or fugue. The songs are delivered in an acoustic style on guitar and, for 'Jesus was a Cross Maker' and 'Enchanted Sky Machines,' on piano. The songs on the album feature elements of folk, country, and gospel, but also strong classical influences.

Phantasy are proud to present the vinyl re-issue of Mystery Jets’ seminal 2008 album ’Twenty One’. Produced by Erol Alkan, the beloved LP includes hit singles ‘Young Love’ and ’Two Doors Down'.

The LP is available to pre-order now on deluxe coloured vinyl. The deluxe edition features a bonus disc of previously unreleased demos and rare B-sides.

“Of all the messages we’ve received from our fans over the intervening years, the single question that has come up more than any other, is ‘When will Twenty One will be released on vinyl again?’. Much to our frustration, our response has never been anything more than a helpless, resounding shrug. That is, until now.

The year being 2021, and all the band being firm believers in the powers of numerology, we felt there would be no better time of telling you that for the first time since its release, Twenty One will finally be available to own on vinyl again. As well as reissuing the original album, we have also dug through the archives and compiled a special selection of never-heard-before outtakes, demos and rarities from that era to accompany the deluxe version of the album.

We are delighted to be reissuing the record via Phantasy, the label founded by Erol Alkan, who produced Twenty One and mentored us to make an album we’re still immensely proud of. This is the record you have been asking for, and the one we always wanted you to hear.

Phantasy are proud to present the vinyl re-issue of Mystery Jets’ seminal 2008 album ’Twenty One’. Produced by Erol Alkan, the beloved LP includes hit singles ‘Young Love’ and ’Two Doors Down'.

The LP reissue is available to pre-order now!

“Of all the messages we’ve received from our fans over the intervening years, the single question that has come up more than any other, is ‘When will Twenty One will be released on vinyl again?’. Much to our frustration, our response has never been anything more than a helpless, resounding shrug. That is, until now.

The year being 2021, and all the band being firm believers in the powers of numerology, we felt there would be no better time of telling you that for the first time since its release, Twenty One will finally be available to own on vinyl again. As well as reissuing the original album, we have also dug through the archives and compiled a special selection of never-heard-before outtakes, demos and rarities from that era to accompany the deluxe version of the album.

We are delighted to be reissuing the record via Phantasy, the label founded by Erol Alkan, who produced Twenty One and mentored us to make an album we’re still immensely proud of. This is the record you have been asking for, and the one we always wanted you to hear.

France pianist Vanessa Wagner continues her exploration of the minimalist repertoire by introducing her audience to pieces, many rare or unpublished, by acclaimed composers, young pianists, and genre-bending personalities from the ambient and electronic scenes. In France or even Europe, Vanessa Wagner is practically the only "classical" pianist to tackle this contemporary and timeless repertoire. Study of The Invisible features interpretations of pieces by a spectrum of composers that includes Suzanne Ciani, Harold Budd, David Lang, Bryce Dessner and Phillip Glass.

Described by Le Monde as ‘the most delightfully singular pianist of her generation’, and by Libération as ‘one of the most curious and captivating pianists on the French scene, Vanessa Wagner is able to balance parallel careers. As well as performing a classic solo, chamber and concert repertoire on stages all over the world, through her output on InFiné she is continuously exploring paths that are equally personal, but perhaps more intimate. Study Of The Invisible sees her breaking new ground in a musical tradition, in a way that no other ‘classical’ pianist in France and Europe currently does. Often described as ‘minimalist’, it’s a musical tradition that covers a multitude of singular styles and musical personalities and that spans generations.

Study Of The Invisible seeks out the mysterious world that lives behind the score, the imperceptible links that unite these silences and harmonies, but also the inner resources that this music can bring to light. With this record and this journey, whose apparent melancholy ultimately proves to be powerfully comforting, Vanessa Wagner continues to give a new scale to a music which proves to be above all radiant and luminous.

*are Vinyl exclusive tracks

23H23 is back in town... a superb Crystal Distorsion tune... One of the rare of a kind... Full out love of a music style creator... and all the other tunes trying, tiding and overfooding for more : Ixindamix in her funky live exercise... always surprised me and I luv that sound... Kindaz and his style too... Gravos bugging the tribe for more experimental groove : big 3rd type encounter ! Attention the extract we builded up does not show the end of the tune .. but finally you get 3 minutes of a round confortable kick... ahaha big I say again... 25D, Redge, Assolm System, Gravos... some other 23 heads of all kind will joice you up to the nirvana of the magic clock ! 23H23 of march or november 2023 !... ouuups... 2022 !

Triple album, Gatefold sleeve, LTD edition. WaveBNDR is the AKA name for Collision from Cult Collective / OBS:C UR, an artist organising parties , booking, Labels, and making music... Hyperactive man, secret raver of a kind... With this first full vinyl album designed by Artcoton through the time too, he offers 12 tunes in a Raving style 150/160 BPM, progressives and acid-dark, melodious or sobre... A music for hangars, dirty clubs and Bunkers.... and open air when the sun rises !

Sublime funky jazz album by Harold Vick under the Sir Edward name - first time reissue from the 1973 edition on Funky Drummer Bernard Purdies short lived Encounter Label !

One of the great unsung saxophone hero's: Harold Vick worked as a sideman with Hammond Legends Jack McDuff, Jimmy McGriff, Big John Patton, and Larry Young. He played on and off with Walter Bishop, Jr. and also worked with Philly Joe Jones, Howard McGhee, Donald Byrd and Ray Charles and appeared with Dizzy Gillespie, King Curtis, and from 1970 to 1974 with Aretha Franklin. He played in Jack DeJohnette's jazz-rock band Compost from 1971 to 1973,recording with them in 1972 which is about the same time as this recording and that is probably the reason it is under the pseudonym of "Sir Edward". Add to that an absolutely top notch band, including bassist Wilbur "Bad" Bascomb, Jumma Santos on percussion and the mellow vibes of Omar Clay and this is a must have soulful jazz outing.

The music is a funky mix of some of the big Soul tunes of the day, with versions of Donny Hathaway and The Stylistics and a nod to the CTI stylings of the day with a get down version of "People Make The World Go Round".

Green Vinyl

"CCR - Club Culture Rarities" the new record label exclusively dedicated to re-prints of cult and rare 12” taken form Expanded Music’s labels.

The 5th release on "CCR - Club Culture Rarities" FUNKY IS ON of Funky Family originally released on THIRD LABEL in 1984


Another hot mix for most sofisticate Italo Disco Lovers.
Funky is On by Funky Family, was never a popular commercial hit, but more an high valued rarity. Produced by Nicola Nicolosi from Nicolosi Family this tune represents a real example of proto-house. Since it first release in 1984, it became a Chicago classic and always an hot mix for most sophisticated Italo Disco Lovers.


Ask for it and stay tuned.

Equal parts Sheffield bleep, fractal IDM and interstellar ambience, Hyper Nu Age Tekno sees Taro Nohara (aka Yakenohara) plotting a star map on a faded rave flyer. Let the billionaires blast into orbit while you explore your inner space with Growing Bin.

From the LP's earliest moments, the whomping subs and crystalline chimes of "Space Debris", it's clear that we're a long way from Hamburg. Taro pilots this craft on a deep space exploration way beyond the run out groove, to a place where heartening chords herald a twin sunrise and any broadcasts are lost in translation. The polyrhythmic pulse of "Ill Ell" follows, its concentric chimes and rapid fire kicks summoning the teknoguild to a watery altar in the engineering department. Sticking with interstellar mysticism but taking a turn for the transcendent, "Baker Baker Paradox" spins Reich-ian repetition into a graphene gossamer embellished with chrome, crystal and shoegaze shimmer.
The B-side begins on the observation deck, bathing in the beauty of "Celestial Harmonia"'s sci-fi exotica, before the entheogenic "Use Your Head" prompts a delirious dash to the holodeck. Laying serene pads over a techy 4/4, Taro turns out the most danceable and dreamy track on the LP. As ambient chords ring out into the aether and rhythmic pulses shift out of phase, "Airplane Without People" is the loading screen for your virtual fantasy, soon rendered through the woody percussion and spheric bass of "Music For Psychic Liberation". Leave your body behind as you pick mushrooms in a CGI forest.

Ahead of the release of his much awaited debut album « blablablue » , Belgian singer-songwriter Delv!s just shares a new single, the dreamy “Human Trumpet”.

It’s no secret that Belgium owes much of its cultural prestige to its vibrant music scene. Lately, with much of the attention turned to Flanders, the Flemish side of the country is playing host to many exciting, genre-bending projects, including a tremendously innovative rap scene and a lively pool of electro bands walking in the footsteps of pioneers such as Soulwax: A tradition that Delv!s, one of the country’s most exciting newcomers to the soul, blues, disco-funk and pop genres, is set on honouring.

Delv!s is now ready to introduce “blablablue" to the world: a soul album infused with electro, funk and rock sounds, blended with a score of field recording samples; twelve tracks all penned by himself, unveiling a whirlwind of emotions that fuel the singer’s unique voice. The nostalgic brass arrangements and vintage-sounding harmonies may evoke Billie Holiday, Nina Simone or even James Brown at times, but “blablablue” nevertheless triumphs as a current and socially relevant record thanks to its topical commentary and diverse influences. Addressing many of the great issues plaguing the world today, including the sense of urban solitude, this is the first offering by a great artist, a sensitive soul also fluent in the language of love. Something to reflect on, unite us and even comfort us at times when we need it the most.

Gondwana Records sign LA bassist and composer Seth Ford-Young's Phi-Psonics project and announce a remastered deluxe-edition of The Cradle featuring bonus material

Phi-Psonics is a meditative, immersive instrumental group from Los Angeles, led by bassist Seth Ford-Young and featuring Sylvain Carton on woodwinds, Mitchell Yoshida on electric piano, and Josh Collazo on drums. Their deeply soulfulmusic draws on jazz and classical influences together with Ford-Young's own musical experiences, relationships, and his introduction to spirituality, yoga and philosophy at a young age, to create something uniquely its own. Phi-Psonics' name and ultimate aim is to find 'Phi' – the golden mean – in art, nature and self. Ford-Young explains:

"It's a bit of a cliché, but music saved my life many times and instilled in me a belief in the great power of healing through art. It is my hope and intention that this music provides healing to someone somewhere."

Originally from Washington DC area, Ford-Young moved to California in the early 90s and fell in love with the deep sounds of the upright bass and the music of Charles Mingus, John and Alice Coltrane, and Duke Ellington along with Bach, Chopin, Pärt, and Satie. He immersed himself deeply in music and keen to learn combinedintense personal study with collaborations, tours, and recordings with artists such as Tom Waits, Beats Antique, and John Vanderslice. In 2010 he moved from the San-Francisco Bay area to the Los Angeles hills and continued his explorations. But great music is rarely just about music and Ford-Young's meditative, soulful music draws on more than just the twin wellsprings of jazz and classical music:

"My mother was a yoga teacher from the early 70's until recently and taught me yoga and meditation at an early age, my stepfather is an Aikido instructor and student of the teachings of Gurdjieff. Those were all early areas of study that I came back to many times throughout my life. Phi-Psonics has been a project that unapologetically synthesizes some of these ideas into our music".

It's this mixture of influences, musical and extramusical, that gives the music of Phi-Psonics it's immersive quality and quiet power. Revealingly the music that would becomeThe Cradle, wasn't written specifically for an album, originally Ford-Young was just writing down what was coming through. As time went by and the album began to take shape, the world situation seemed to be getting darker and his compositions aim to offer hope as a response to the negative influences that abound today. Remarkably for such a beautiful sounding record, it was recorded at the composer's home, rather than in a studio, but the relaxed nature of this process gives the music an airy lightness that propels the music to some magical spaces.

Originally self-released on vinyl in a limited run just as the world went into lockdown, The Cradle reached Matthew Halsall (founder of Gondwana Records) when he aws looking for music for his Worldwide FM show and he was blown away, hearing a kindred spirit at work. Halsall explains:

"Phi-Psonics make beautiful, humble and honest music, it's not showy, but it has a deep vibe that will elevate your mind and soul if you let it. When we heard The Cradle we reached out and are really super delighted to welcome Seth and his band to our label". Whereas for Ford Young: "Connecting with Matthew and the Gondwana records family has been a light in the darkness of the last years - to have my music make connections even as we are more isolated."

Ford-Young is currently putting the finishing touches to the second Phi-Psonics record, but aware that only a select few had heard The Cradle, let alone had the chance to buy a copy, and entranced by its deceptive simplicity and elevating energy, Halsall suggested that Gondwana present the album as a remastered 'deluxe edition' with an extended running time featuring extra tracks and new artwork from Daniel Halsall.

The Cradle starts with First Step, perfectly setting the tone for the whole album, it is a beautiful, soulful slice of musical calm gently propelled by Ford-Young's resonant bass and elevated by sublime flute and Wurlitzer electric piano solos. The seductive title track The Cradle was written way back in 2011 during a time of great personal change that led the composer to a feeling of newness and nurture. The magical, winsome Desert Ride is inspired by many rides through the grandly cinematic Mojave Desert. You can experience how incredibly full of life it's harsh landscape is if you slow down to its tempo. The gentle, sublime Mama is a tribute to mothers of all kinds, beautiful and heroic. Drum Talk was largely improvised, Ford-Young and the band agreed on a topic and recorded their conversation. Choosing their notes based on how Josh's drums were tuned. Like Glass is named for the special properties of Glass. Like some music, glass is delicate, yet has structure. The first of the two bonus tracks Still Dancing was written during the early days of 2020 in response to the challenges we all were facing then. It's a reminder that the figurative dance continues and that real dancing is essential. And the second, The Searcher, also written as a response to 2020, is a gently hypnotic song about the introspection and growth that can spring from a difficult situation.

This then is The Cradle, a quiet self-contained masterpiece, life-affirming and elevating in equal measure and the first offering from a wonderful new voice in spiritual jazz and the latest members of the global Gondwana Records family.

Some sonic communities grow even in isolation, in the lonely obsessive moments in the studio as time melts away. Deep inside the Detroit Underground nests a Berlin underground, chasing those resonant shared sounds. DU Berlin draws together some of that love felt through music in the German capital. It’s not the wild city of reunification or *Berlin Calling* or tourist-style movies or the easyJet set. This is the side of the city that endlessly romances machines for the sheer joy of it, as The Allegorist titles her track, “until dawn.” And with some big names and emerging, ranging from mainstays to veteran agitators, the Berlin DU crew have telegraphed each other through productions and mutual inspiration. The results vibrate and rumble with sympathetic frequencies, but never limited to grayscale or dithered palettes.

DESIGN: Neubau Berlin.

Once again... Acid, this time again with a very rave to transcore sound... at a more Hardtek speed...

MAD STUFF !

A masterful mix of timeless American soul with vintage 1970s African samples in a most rewarding way – musical traveler Eamon teams with production duo Likeminds for No Matter The Season, his second album for Now-Again. “I’ve been singing since I was a tike, promoters used to call me ‘the boy wonder’, but with this record it felt new, almost like I was singing every note as if my life depended on it,” says Eamon from his home in Southern California, a far cry from his native Staten Island, New York City. But you wouldn’t know his birthplace from the way he sings, especially on No Matter The Season, where Eamon put a new spin on vintage samples from the Now-Again catalog, crafting beats from various African rhythms such as Amanaz’s Zamrock, the Hygrades Nigerian funk, and Ayalew Mesfin’s Ethiopian tezetas. Shortly after the release of his last Now-Again project, Captive Thoughts, he began working with the production duo on two original compositions that appear on No Matter The Season. But as time went on, he came upon the idea of completing the album by sending the duo samples from the Now-Again catalog to work with. Which were expanded upon with a multitude of live instruments. “There was something special about combing through the African records at Now-Again,” Eamon reflects. “I had never heard the variety of funk and soul that existed in places like Lagos and Addis Ababa, it was like a history lesson in Rhythm & Blues. I was hearing the godfathers of the movement here in the US. I wanted to pay my respect to that lineage. Since singing in my father’s doo-wop group as a kid, I’ve always used music from the past to create and express something new in the present. But to be able to do that across continents and get back to the roots…that was really impactful for me.” Likeminds, helmed by Chris Soper and Jesse Singer, two East Coast transplants to LA who are as comfortable chopping up samples on an MPC as they are playing classic instruments, using vintage microphones, or recording to tape, offer up what could be described as a West Coast spin on the revivalist soul sound championed by Daptone Records. “For sure, the album is soaked in an old school feel, but to still tap into the depths of my soul today is always the end goal,” Eamon states. All but two tracks are based on Now-Again samples, using the classic rhythms as accompaniment to showcase Eamon’s emotional singing style that is still as honest and raw as when he was a 16, singing about heartbreak. The end result, No Matter the Season, is a celebration of the musical relationship between Africa and America and the thrilling soul music that relationship has spawned since the 60s and 70s. “My hope is people know that I’m not leaving anything on the table in this chapter of my career,” Eamon reflects. “Only thing I can do is pour my heart out on every single line. Even though I’m writing and screaming to the heavens about my joy, my pain, my love…these are songs for everyone, everywhere, anytime. You’re gonna walk away feeling something. This is why I titled the album No Matter The Season.”

1971 and Black America was luxuriating in the soft soul
of the O’Jays, the Temptations had just left behind their
flirtation with psychedelia, James Brown was
explaining Soul Power, Sly & the Family Stone were
having a Family Affair, and Marvin Gaye was asking
‘What’s Going On’.

• In their own inimitable way, Funkadelic were laying
down their own statement about the ecology of the
planet in the opening of lead and title track ‘Maggot
Brain’, turning it into an elegy for the Earth in the
ensuing heart-wrenching extended Eddie Hazel guitar
solo – one of the most radical records of the period.

• The album also spawned two Top 50 singles with the
usual Funkadelic wry observational humour of ‘You
And Your Folks, Me And My Folks’ and ‘Can You Get To
That’. And just in case you think things have
normalised, the set closes with nine minutes of the
chaotic sound collage ‘Wars Of Armageddon’.

• This 50th anniversary edition includes a second 12”
with two versions of the title track. Side A features the
live version from Meadowbrook from the same year that
the studio album came out. Jump forward 46 years to
the “Reworked by Detroiters” release and side B has
the BMG Dub, showing the enduring quality of one of
the great guitar records of all time.

• This issue is mastered from fresh transfers of the tape.

• Facsimile gatefold sleeve

Pressed on a blue and black marbled 140g vinyl with a Tétraèdre personalized label
Made in France and very qualitative vinyl

Perfect Location Records in close collaboration with Cherushii’s family is proud to present Nobody’s Fool, Starlight Express, and Manic on vinyl for the first time as 3 EPs. Originally released by Cherushii on her Bandcamp in 2015 and 2016, these 3 EPs encompass the radiant love, fluent creativity, and unapologetic joviality of not only the musical world of Cherushii, but also the person behind the music.

The hand-drawn artwork, which has become iconically synonymous with the Cherushii sound, are original creations by Cherushii’s sister, Sabrina Fox. With this reissue, we offer a continuation of the same visual candy with a new front cover by Sabrina: the nudibranch pattern. Chosen by Sabrina after a dream visitation, the nudibranch is a curious, resilient creature which harnesses its profound coloration to flourish in the oceanic infinity. It can only do so, however, once it sheds its shell.

Inside of 3 EPs you will find the original covers belonging to Nobody’s Fool, Starlight Express, and Manic as gloss sleeves for the respective EP.

3 EPs also features some of Cherushii’s talented friends and mentors, from her production with Golden Donna, lyrics by her longtime friend Kara Marie, and an appearance by her childhood music teacher Marcia Miget, to remixes by 100% SILK all-stars Bobby Browser and Magic Touch.

It is our hope that this vinyl reissue, with its beautiful, large gloss prints of Sabrina’s artwork, will further disseminate the legacy of Cherushii while contributing to the posthumous archive of a musical mastermind, viciously devoted and missed friend, and beloved sister.

In loving memory of Chelsea Faith 1983-2016









i F1 Manic (Magic Touch Mix feat. Colored Craig) Vinyl Edit









i F1 Manic (Magic Touch Mix feat. Colored Craig) Vinyl Edit