Cerca:re king

First time vinyl reissue, expanded and deluxe double gatefold 140g double vinyl, remastered audio with restored artwork and fresh liners written by Paul Hillery (Folk Funk & Trippy Troubadours)
Alan James Eastwood's glorious Seeds is a certified folk-funk lost-classic.

But who was Alan James Eastwood? He had never hit the big time and commercial success eluded him. By the mid-1970s, his musical career was pretty much over and he was almost unknown except among deep heads, amongst whom he would gain cult status.

Original copies of the 1971 vinyl release of Seeds exchange hands for high sums, if you can find one. This expanded 2LP contains an extra record, collecting 9 rare non-album singles and is presented in a gatefold sleeve complete with freshly commissioned liner notes courtesy of Paul Hillery (Folk Funk & Trippy Troubadours).

With the long overdue deluxe reissue of this prized artefact, we hope to finally shine a light on the unheralded genius of Alan James Eastwood. RIYL Nick Drake, Rodriguez, Richie Havens.

Alan James ‘Bugsy’ Eastwood was a renowned musician and singer who came to prominence in the late 1960s with The Exception, an unsung but excellent band from Birmingham. The Exception released many singles, the first featuring friend Robert Plant on tambourine, before an album, The Exceptional Exception. However, by this time, Bugsy was feeling constrained and restless; he left the band within weeks of the release.

Having vanished from the scene, he was honing a deeper, introspective edge to his songwriting. His demos found their way to the sound engineer and producer Mike Cooper at Pan Music Studios in Denmark Street. Loving what he heard, Eastwood soon entered a recording session with Cooper. The session was just Alan, his guitar and harmonica and - by all accounts - it was remarkable. With the songs, the voice and such an exceptional talent, it was hard to go wrong. Says Mike: "We had John Hawkins do the big string arrangements and Richard Hewson arranged the string quartet. We overdubbed the orchestrations on Alan's original session recordings, adding Chris Karan on tabla and various percussion. We considered re-recording the vocals but found that the magic on that original session was so exceptional overdubbing would not be as good as the atmospheric 'live' performance."

Mike and Alan viewed each track as a different entity, giving the album a diverse sonic palette. Assessing each song individually, they decided which would be suitable for each arranger. Top-flight session musicians were added to the roster to complete the sound, with Byron Lye Fook (father of musician Omar) on drums, bassist Mike Ward, Brian Pickles on marimba and jazz drummer Chris Karan on tabla and percussion. Recorded in a matter of days in Pan's small 8-track studio, they carefully added overdubs, rhythm sections and four string sessions arranged by Hawkins, with Hewson's arrangements recorded at Trident Studios.

Seeds was Alan James Eastwood's debut solo album – indeed, his only solo album - and was originally issued on President in 1971. It melded Eastwood’s impressive rock sensibilities with a folk thread to superb effect. His arresting voice - its deep, rough-hewn soulfulness - coupled with gorgeous string-drenched backing, make this a phenomenal listen. It really is a great 70s singer-songwriter record - with touches of acid-folk and folk-funk throughout.

It opens with "She's Getting Married In August", a mellow tune with Richard Hewson's strings arranged around Alan's straightforward guitar structure. Up next, the joyous, sun-dappled guitar and strings workout "Evenin' Rain" glides by before the fragile, accordion-enhanced "Les Papillons" breezes out of the speakers. The bluesy "Zeena" follows, featuring vocals and acoustic guitar and showcasing Eastwood's effortless harmonica. Starting out as a ballad, "Virgin Morn" builds with soaring strings and gospel-tinged backing vocals from Marilyn Powell and jazz singer Josephine Stahl. The A-side closes with the title track, "Seeds". With a chugging mid-tempo beat, soulful vocals and a beautiful Bacharach-esque string arrangement, it truly is stop-you-in-your-tracks spectacular.

Side B opens with "Crystal Blue", gilded by Lye Fook's marimba, lush gospel-esque backing vocals and handclaps. Eastwood's acoustic guitar begins "Lady Carole", which starts as a bluesy ballad and builds with more string arrangement, lifting the track to another height. A towering highlight of epic proportions, "Lotus Child" is a true masterpiece of arrangement. It opens with simple yet stunning do-do-dah vocal harmonies blended with John Hawkins's strings, bass lines and rhythmic beats, forming a vibe very much in conversation with the sounds coming from LA's Laurel Canyon. Next up, the heartwarming "Last Prayer", dedicated to Alan's first and last love, contains a melancholic vocal with a wistful string-drenched arrangement that would sit comfortably in a Federico Fellini score. Bringing the album to a close, "Hymn For Today" is a melodic raga with tabla, strings and a soft-psych feel. Eastwood's prophetic whisper - "I am real. At last, I am real" - profoundly hits home.

Kicking off the extra disc is the sparsely funky and country-tinged "Boston", released as the flip to the astonishing "Seeds". Next up are the two tracks that comprised Alan’s debut solo 7" single from 1968. The laconic, Bobby Charles-esque "Blackbird Charlie" evidences a real depth and charm in Eastwood's songwriting whilst the starkly brilliant flip, "My Sun", was a horizontal, atmospheric folk-tinged soundtracky precursor to his later work on Seeds.

In 1972, two further standalone singles followed. The first was the evergreen flute-driven folk-funk bomb, "Closer To The Truth", backed by the funky blues of "Strange News". The second, a deeply moving Havens-inspired "Moonchild" - rightly fawned over to this day - was flipped with "Red Shoe Truckin'", a groove-infused track. Eastwood also paired up with Marilyn Powell for a single produced by Powell's partner, Mike Cooper. Under the name Eastwood & Powell, they released their staggering rendition of "Beautiful", a rock-blues-pop song arranged by Ivor Raymonde and written by Carole King. Over on the flip, a funky Eastwood original "Opal Blue Sunday" lurked. This is not to be overlooked.

Over the years, Alan remained active on the music scene, but problems with alcohol and health complications from diabetes severely impacted his career. He spent his latter years living in London until his untimely death from heart failure on 25 October 2007, just one day before his 62nd birthday and without his music having received the real acclaim it so dearly deserved.

This deluxe reissue, spellbinding from beginning to end, should hopefully go some way to rectifying this tragic fact. Mastering for this special double vinyl edition was overseen by Be With regular Simon Francis and it was cut by the esteemed Cicely Balston at Abbey Road Studios to be pressed in the Netherlands by Record Industry. The original artwork has been lovingly brought back to life at Be With HQ, with the addition of passionately written liner notes specially for this landmark reissue by none other than Paul Hillery.

Skkkrt! Step Ball Chain is officially running redlights and disregarding road rules with Anderson in the driver’s seat. The US born, Berlin based producer and deejay offers up Cut The Breaks, a 5 track EP bursting at the seams with ruff, tuff and techy freakouts, never neglecting the groove. Transcending genre, the low key king of the underground reaches into new realms sprinkling in electro, tech house and bouncy techno with a nod and a wink to hip hop.

Sleek & sexy; the opening title track is as fresh as it gets, a soldering of prize elements from different electronic ecosystems. Whiplash drums and vocal chops that weave their way through the record, also cropping and popping up on the B Side. Pedal to the metal for Giving it All and Visconti Bounce; playfully traversing dancefloors with tongue & cheek turboness and rhythmic exploration that will drive you wild. Smell the rubber burn for STEP15; let Anderson strap you in and take the wheel.

King Street Sounds are back again with their fourth installment in the King Street Sounds Sampler Series. This release unearths four classics from house music heroes such as DJ Romain, Mike Delgado, Dennis Ferrer, 95 North, Sabrynaah Pope and Louie Vega.

The EP kicks off with DJ Romain’s “All Day, All Night”. Originally released on “Nite Grooves” in 1996, a perfect example of New York house with a memorable vocal sure to keep you hooked hopefully all day and all night.

Next up is Mike Delgado with “Get Ready”. This track is a certified dancefloor filler, with those fast hitting highs and catchy keys. It is definitely a secret weapon that any DJ should use in case of an emergency.

Flipping over to the B side, Dennis Ferrer is returning once again in this series with “Dem People Go (DF's Kicked Out Mix)” Featuring Bola Belo. This Tribal House classic emulates being in the sun for the listeners, effortlessly bringing that block-party vibe.

Rounding off the EP is 95 North featuring Sabrynaah Pope with “Hold On” (Louie’s MAW Club). An already great track by its lonesome, but with house music icon Louie Vega’s magical touch it makes it a must have for any DJ who wants to get the dancefloor bumping.

King Street sounds have done it again! All killer and no filler.

DJ Support: Melvo, Dr Packer, Kevin Yost, Birdee, DJ Meme, DJ Meme, Saison, Derrick McKenzie.

Next up on Sultra Records is a standout double A-side release from label head Michael Gray and Italian soulful house stalwart Antonello Ferrari.
This package delivers two quality soulful house cuts, each receiving fresh remix treatment.

On the A-side, "Season High" gets a pair of reworks — first from rising talent Charlie Price, followed by a groove-laden interpretation from Risk Assessment, the alias of seasoned UK DJ/producer Glyne Braithwaite.
Flipping over, "Music of Life" by Antonello Ferrari takes center stage. A respected DJ/producer since 1990 and head of Sunflowermusic Records, Ferrari’s past work includes releases on D-Vision, UMM Italy, and current contributions to labels like Z Records, King Street Sounds, Quantize Recordings, and Purple Music.

Michael Gray steps in with a slick remix of "Music of Life", and the package wraps up in style with the string laden and emotive Love Family Tribute Mix.
A must-have for fans of quality soulful and vocal house.

JULIAN JONAH featuring MARVA KING - BETTER MAKE ROOM FOR LOVE (FULL LENGTH & 7 INCH VERSIONS)

IZIPHO SOUL is thrilled to announce that producer extraordinaire JULIAN JONAH has a new creation - featuring on vocals, the marvellous MARVA KING. To have an artist of this magnitude is a massive coup - we are truly blessed.

The enchanting soulful boogie production of BETTER MAKE ROOM FOR LOVE is permeated with real instruments - lush strings, infectious bass guitar riffs, synths, horns and combined with Marva King’s soulful vocals - it’s a perfect concoction!

MIKE & Tony Seltzer präsentieren das Doppelvinyl ihres zweiteiligen Albums "Pinball". Das Original aus 2024 wurde von Fans und Kritik begeistert aufgenommen, war es doch etwas Neues, MIKE in dieser Direktheit rappen zu hören. Dieses Neue ersetzt MIKE auf "Pinball II" mit verfeinertem Songwriting und einigen der besten und energiegeladensten Raps seiner Karriere. Tonys Produktion klingt dabei kraftvoller und mutiger als je zuvor. Nach zwei Kollaborationen haben die beiden Künstler eine gemeinsame Chemie gefunden und schaffen ein Projekt, das vielleicht MIKEs zugänglichstes ist, das gleichzeitig aber die Essenz bewahrt, die ihn bis hierher gebracht hat. Zu den Gastfeatures und Kollabos beider Teile gehören Earl Sweatshirt, Clams Casino, Jay Critch, Akachi (Chief Keef-Produzent), Lunchbox, Sideshow, Niontay und viele mehr.

Jüngstes Lob für Pinball II:
* "Der Rapper und der Produzent aus Brooklyn haben sich für eine energiegeladene Fortsetzung des letztjährigen Pinball wiedervereint. Es ist eine leichter verdauliche Version von MIKE, die sich dennoch authentisch anfühlt." – Pitchfork 8.1
* "Der immer produktivere Rapper aus Brooklyn liefert eine Reihe Trap-beeinflusster Tracks, die es schaffen, alle Genre-Schubladen zu sprengen, in die man ihn stecken könnte." – Rolling Stone****
* "Rap-Fans auf der ganzen Welt sollten dankbar sein, dass MIKE sich entschieden hat, mit Tony Seltzer zusammenzuarbeiten." – The FADER

Paul Weller meldet sich mit Find El Dorado zurück – einem neuen, sehr persönlichen Album voller Neuinterpretationen, das am 25. Juli erscheint. Inspiriert von einer lebenslangen Leidenschaft fürs Musikhören greift Weller auf Songs zurück, die ihn schon seit Jahren begleiten – nun gedacht, neu gehört, neu gefühlt. „Das sind Lieder, die ich schon lange mit mir herumtrage“, sagt er. „Im Laufe der Zeit haben sie sich verändert. Und jetzt schien mir die Zeit gekommen, sie mit anderen zu teilen.“
Die Veröffentlichung markiert gleichzeitig ein neues Kapitel in Wellers beeindruckender Karriere. Als prägende Figur der britischen Musik – mit rund 11 Millionen verkauften Alben allein in Großbritannien – kehrt Weller zu Parlophone Records zurück, dem Label, das seine von der Kritik gefeierten Alben zwischen 2015 und 2019 betreut hat.


Find El Dorado ist weit mehr als ein klassisches Coveralbum – es ist eine emotionale Landkarte seiner musikalischen DNA. Von der sanften Melancholie in Ray Davies’ „Nobody’s Fool“ bis zum flirrenden Schmerz von „El Dorado“: Diese Songs haben Wellers Innenleben geformt – und finden nun ihren Weg zurück nach außen. Mit intimen Arrangements und starken Kollaborationen – darunter Hannah Peel, Declan O’Rourke, Robert Plant, Seckou Keita, Amelia Coburn und Noel Gallagher – öffnet Weller die Tür zu seiner ganz persönlichen Songwelt.

Veteran Japanese electronic music producer, AKIO NAGASE, a leading player in the Kansai underground music scene since the late 1990s teams up with Yukino Inamine, a gifted and young female singer from Okinawa who magically mixes traditional Ryukyu (Okinawa) folk songs with her sanshin (Okinawan Shamisen) playing into the modern age, to create this wonderful collaborative album, Yugafu ai KAJI. This album is set to be released on GLOCAL RECORDS, a record store/ record label run by Genta Minowa, an ex-staff at the record store, Disc Shop Zero in Shimokitazawa, Tokyo and who still continues to introduce a great selection of dubby, club music from his HQ in Harajuku.

AKIO NAGASE regularly organised parties at his own venue, as well as ran a record store of the same name while actively being part of the Kansai scene at legendary clubs such as Tsuru no Ma, Sound Channel, etc., the best of what was offered in the Kansai underground dance scene in the 2000s.

As an artist, he released his own productions out of labels such as Sound Channel and RUDIMENTS run by Minowa. His album, Make Dub was released in 2003 out of the label, Sound Channel featured an innovative, techno meets dancehall track, Dance Hall King which connected techno, acid house with reggae and dub. This album is an undiscovered gem whose sound still emulates freshness and originality today (my wish is for it to be reissued on vinyl!) After a brief hiatus of releasing music, he released the EP, Delusion out of Chillmountain Records, a label run by his friend, Ground in 2018 and at his own leisurely pace, he has been slowly but surely releasing material that oozes originality, expressed through a robust acid sound and a variety of elements such as afro and Ryukyu folk music that is then incorporated into the medium of dub. Recently, he has also started to gain international attention by releasing original material and remixes out of labels such as the UK label, Emotional Especial, etc.

For this album, NAGASE teams up with Yukino Inamine who brings her own distinctive singing and sanshin playing magic into this collaboration and they fuse electronic music sounds with Ryukyu folk songs to create this wonderfully imaginative album that has no precedence or equal. Apart from the song, Ishikawa Koiuta, all other songs are covers of Ryukyu folk standards that were handpicked by NAGASE from the repertoire of songs that Inamine regularly performs live. They met up when NAGASE was commissioned to remix one of her original compositions, Miyagi Kaigan that was released in 2023 and that evolved into a collaboration with a concept that mixed Inamine singing Ryukyu folk standards with a backing tracks produced by NAGASE. Whenever she went to the the Kansai area, she would work on the basic track material created by NAGASE at the dub master of Osaka, Soulfire’s studio, HAV who would then additionally edit her takes to create the finishing tracks.

This album, Yugafu ai KAJI opens with Shirahamabushi, a track that slowly builds with an interesting mix of slow acid techno and sanshin and then moves onto the easy-going electro dub of Tinsagu nu hana (it is actually a cover of the track of the same title that first appeared in the label sampler, Comuni ó n Especial that was released on Emotional Especial. NAGASE initially wanted to feature Inamine on vocals for this track but due to scheduling issues, it did not happen but with good fortune, the new version of this track is now included in this album). A side closes with the optimistic Balearic sounds of Tsuki nu Kaisha that converges immaculately with slow-mo steppers. It is also worth noting that the person who introduced NAGASE to Inamine was the Okinawa dub master, HARIKUYAMAKU. They met at a concert held by both him & Yukino Inamine hosted by BUN BUN THE MC at the venue, RAGGA CHANNEL. From this encounter, this album came into fruition and they also asked HARIKUYAMAKU to produce an earthy, traditional rootsy, dub version of Tsuki nu Kaisha that is included as the 3rd track on the B Side.

Ashimizubushi, the track that magically blends old school Chicago house ala TRAX with Ryukyu folk music starts off the B side and it carries on to an uplifting track with a Skaouse (ska + house) feel, Hounen Ondo. Inserted after HARIKUYAMAKU’s dub of Tsuki nu Kaisha, this album closes out with the song, ‘Ishikawa Koi Uta’, the only song written by Inamine who said that she wrote it after falling in love with chill-out music. It is an ambient dub track with a collage like flavour, reminiscent of early The Orb (remixed by Mad Professor) and the latter half of the track finishes off with a message presented by Masao Itokazu (her uncle) who received tutelage from the prior owner of her sanshin that Inamine plays, Moritomo Inamine (her grandfather).

Incidentally, the album title, YUGAFU ai Kaji is derived from an auspicious word from Okinawa, Yugafu which means fruitful year, happiness, prosperity and ai (indigo) is a word that Yukino found inspiration few years ago (she wears a Okinawan indigo clothing called kinonuno in the front cover of this album).

The unique indigo colouring produced by nature overlaps with the unique charm of the human personality, and she wanted to present that current along with the music so the name was integrated to ‘indigo wind’, and the two were connected to form the album title, ‘YUGAFU ai Kaji’.

The photo of the front cover was taken by a young, Uchinaanunishie—- (meaning a boy from Okinawa) 17 year old photographer named Ratio and the designer of this album is Anmonaito who is a childhood friend of Inamine who also did the artwork for her album, Miyagi Kaigan. And the mastering and cutting of this album was done by Rei Taguchi.

The cosmology existing in Yukino Inamine’s singing is fully amplified by AKIO NAGASE’s spacey, abundant with many ideas, dance machine beat~ambient music and all of these elements are organically linked by the adhesive effect of dub.

Joe Bataan's extensive discography was expanded in 2022 with the release of some old recordings from the King of Latin Soul that had never been previously published. After the success of his album "Riot!" (1968), Bataan had easy access to a studio whenever inspiration struck to record a new song sketch or even a complete track. Sometimes, he would finish the recording entirely and offer it in its final version to Fania for release. This usually worked, although on some occasions, the song was rejected. In the case of 'Drug Story,' the track was recorded without a clear final purpose, even though Bataan hoped it would become part of an album. When the Fania executives heard the result, they immediately rejected it, thinking it promoted drug use. The tapes were filed away and lost in oblivion until they ended up in a thrift store in New York. From there, they were rescued by a Latin music specialist and later sold, eventually making their way to the Vampisoul archives. The song was finally released in its entirety in 2022 on the LP "Drug Story" by Now Again. It features a long, slow vocal intro that evolves into a more uptempo track with two very distinct parts, to the point that it almost feels like two different songs. It transports us to the best moment of Joe Bataan's career, with all of his classic ingredients, delivering a track as good as his most famous songs. Bataan himself takes on the lead vocals and piano, Bobby Rodríguez handles the flute, sax, and bass, Pete 'Choki' Quintero plays the drums, and William Howes Jr. plays the electric guitar with wah-wah effects. Vampisoul strongly believes that the song deserved to be released as a single as well, and that its structure was perfect for each side to have a separate identity. So here it is, for the first time on a 45, 'Drug Story,', parts one & two, the long lost track by Joe Bataan. Pure Latin soul, recorded at the peak of the artist's career!

STRANGER STILL was Julian Cator (guitar), Paul Cator (piano, organ, synthesizer), Tim Warnes (bass), Frank Warnes (vocals, drums) and Ian Johnson (vocals, drums) from King’s Lynn, Norfolk, UK. The two sets of Cator and Warnes siblings had been playing together in bands since 1974, with Ian joining in 1979, and with their musical style evolving from glam influenced rock to punk/new wave (punk came late to Norfolk) and finally post-punk, influenced by Ultravox!, Magazine, Joy Division, Bauhaus and Killing Joke. Their first gig together was in September 1979 with John Peel being in the audience. The Solitude/Survivor single was recorded in July 1981, released in November and sold well locally. John Peel played Solitude, between singles by Winston and Screen 3. When Julian left in autumn 1981 the others continued, later changing their name to Nothing Sacred. Ex-members have since played in a number of other bands, most notably Paul and Tim in Shine!, and Julian and Paul in Ivy.

Solitude opens in a perfect analogue way with a ‚primitive’ rhythm machine pattern and a dark synth sound fading in. We shall be glad for the band’s move towards electronics while knowing „given the negative reaction we got from some of the local bands when we got the synth a Moog Satellite“, quoting Julian. When the real drums, guitar, bass and vocals also come in, you’re in for one of the most perfect post-punk songs, yet playful but ultimately bleak. “And then I can feel nothing more. Alone again, with no sensation.“ Survivor is more uptempo and bass-driven, reminiscent of early Death In June (who came later though). Lyrics like “4 minute warning warning – the sound of today. Our new dream world – Enola Gay.“ set the mood there.

The band composed a dozen of songs, demos to get gigs, which were unfortunately never recorded properly in a studio. So these are demos or rehearsal tracks, never released to the public and presented here for the first time ever as an additional 15 tracks download-only (due to the poor sound quality). You’ll find fantastic tracks like Brave New Berlin or Cardiac Arrest, which is reminiscent of Death In June’s In The Nighttime, and then, there is a demo of Solitude too!

Here’s to a piece of post-punk history!

Breakbeat Paradise Recordings is proud to introduce Miles Kings & The Foolish Knights with the super positive anthem "A Good Day" with a top class remix from our very own Jayl Funk.

Toxic Funk Vol. 19 is all about the uplifting vibes of this original track perfectly written and played with groovy drums, lovely piano line, backing vocals that brings goosebumps and the powerful voice of Miles King.

On the flip side Jayl Funk picks up the tempo and bring the Good Day to the dancefloor with his straight up funky beats and grooves.

Breakbeat Paradise Recordings – consistent and always reliable to delivering you the funkiest beat and breaks out there. Look out for more coming soon…

2026 Repress


Chicago's Peven Everett has long had a cult following for his own unique, live take on House music. The co-producer and vocalist of Gabriel, which was not only one of the most legendary soulful house tracks of the 90’s but also helped define the two step/garage sound. In 2002 he released 'I Can't Believe I Loved Her' on King Street Sounds offshoot label, Nite Grooves, a soulful piece lamenting a love that went wrong. The track was a worldwide hit and quickly earned itself classic status amongst DJ’s and dancers alike. Both the Original and Calypso Mix are featured on this special charity reissue with all proceeds from this release being donated to Peven’s GoFundMe to help with his lung cancer treatment. Essential!

On Friday 25th March Parlophone Records release “Remixes” on double CD and triple vinyl LP. The album is an updated version of the 2020 Digital compilation of the same name, featuring mixes that were originally released between 1991 and 2021.

Alongside Kraftwerk’s own remixes, the album includes some of the world’s biggest DJs and Producers, including François Kervorkian, Orbital, Underground Resistance, DJ Rolando, Alex Gopher + Étienne de Crécy, William Orbit and Hot Chip.

The undisputed king of Disco House Purple Disco Machine returns to his club roots with retro-inspired release ‘Ghost Town’ ft. Rertosonix. Fresh off reworking the Hurts classic ‘Wonderful Life’ and delivering a huge remix for ‘Born Again’ (Lisa ft. Doja Cat & RAYE), the Dresden-born producer is once again ready to conquer the dancefloor with his signature sound. Tailor-made for that insatiable desire to dance, it’s a release engineered for movement, locking straight into the pulse of late-night energy and crowd euphoria. As such, the track is unsurprisingly becoming a favourite in Purple Disco Machine’s sets already, where dates in Mexico, the USA, and Spain have left the dancefloors anything but a ‘Ghost Town’. Armed with a dancefloor weapon, Purple Disco Machine drops the release early for DJs on Beatport.

A master of channelling the nostalgia of dance music’s beginnings and blending it with a modern-day flair, Purple Disco Machine has expertly crafted a record reminiscent of throwback disco cuts. The soulful vocals come courtesy of Retrosonix, successful songwriters who have come together to specialise in retro disco vocals that ingeniously feel straight from the archives. You’ll be sonically transported back to a time when disco was heard on every corner. Tactfully letting the powerful hooks and provocative lyricism lead the rhythm for the tune, Purple Disco Machine’s iconic groove-driven beats and mesmerising synths lay the foundation for a dancefloor classic. Crafting breakdowns dripping with funk, the disco maestro builds to a crescendo that will undoubtedly be a crowd pleaser for his many shows in 2025.

On the release, Purple Disco Machine said: “While a number of my recent records have referenced the more electronic 80s disco sound, I never lost the love for the classic funky disco of the 70s - which in many ways was the original blueprint - and so it has been equally inspiring and enjoyable to work with this palette again. I'm hoping that the listeners are as haunted (in a good way…) by Ghost Town as I am !”

Toy Tonics ITALOMANIA Vol. 3 is a compilation dedicated to NEW ITALIAN DISCO. (Not Italo Disco.) 14 young contemporary Italian producers made new organic disco, indie dance, pop house tracks with Italian vocals. Everything on this compilation has been produced in 2024. Fresh dance music by Italian artists Paul Older, Riva Starr, Valentino Vivace, Sam Ruffillo & Fimiani, Kymono, Mille Punti, Mind Enterprises, Bruno Belissimo and legendary cosmic disco pioneer Daniele Baldelli + french italo hitmakers Dov'e Liana. The ITALOMANIA compilation was initiated by Toy Tonics boss Kapote. Italo-German producer, DJ, keyboarder and head of Toy Tonics and Gomma records. ITALOAMNIA is a MANIFESTO to show the status of Italian Disco of today. Kapote invited the most relevant Italian producers to make new tracks with Italian vocals and show different styles of modern Italian disco with Italian vocals.

Italian Disco is not Italo Disco. The last years the trashy pop music of the 1980’s called Italo Disco (with English lyrics) had a big revival. But this compilation is about something else: It’s about this Italian Disco. Because the popularity of good Italian pop music is rising all over the world. And Toy Tonics want to show a new way to combine Italianity with dance culture. Its funny that also in France, Swiss and Germany there are new artists singing in Italian. Let’s not forget: The culture of party, dancing, show bizness and pop music would be unimaginable without the heritage and creativity that Italians contributed Italy is not just the country of good food, beaches and high fashion, but it’s also the original country of dance music. Since the ancient roman times the Italians have been the kings of entertainment. And if it comes to music; The DISCO wave of the 1970ies and the Pop music of the 1980ies has been co-created by Italians (and Italoamericans in New York).

Support from: Dino Lenny, Sabo, 1979, Alex Neri, Cioz, Just Her, Lonya, Hyenah, Nhar, Don Diablo, Luke Garcia, Underspreche, Francesco Chiocci, Adriatique

Undiscovered Recordings is a London- and Naples-based independent record label founded in 1994. Showcasing new and exciting production talent, Undiscovered was founded by a crack team of music industry experts, the two Angelos, Doug and Mario, in the midst of the dance music movement of the 1990s.

The Angelos met while working at UMM and Flying Records. Founding Undiscovered allowed them to move
away from the traditional dance music of the time and to highlight lesser-known artists and styles. Angelo
Tardio, in-house A&R, capitalised on his trail-blazing career as a DJ, as the founder of iconic label U.M.M., and his production career as Kwanzaa Posse, where he collaborated with huge talents such as Mano Negra, Manu Chao, King Chango, MC Solaar and Les Negresses Vertes, to name just a few. Doug Osborne, British DJ & Producer and co-founder. Angelo Bernardo brought his years of experience in the music industry to take over the business side of the company, and Mario Nicoletti came on board as a true living musical encyclopaedia and expert. Alberto Faggiana joined in 1998 to contribute his industry know-how to curate the legal and administrative aspects. And so the Undiscovered team was complete.

Undiscovered has since moved with the times, from classic dance genres into Balearic chill-out, all the while
maintaining its goals to showcase emerging producers and artists. After a long hiatus, and following a number of forced changes in the company, Undiscovered are back in full force. Kwanzaa Posse achieved success back in the 90's with such hits as "Wicked Funk", "African Vibrations" and "Musika!", all of which attracted collaborations with remixes by Massive Attack, Jam & Spoon, and Ralph Falcon & Oscar Gaetan - aka Murk Boys. Now the production unit responsible for such seminal tracks is back with a magical new track called 'Mali Chant'.

The title says it all - A Cellarful Of Motown! ..A Northern Soul Love Affair.

West Grand has been set up to mine the deep vaults of mighty Motown courtesy of a licence deal with Universal Music.

The first West Grand LP fuses two musical religions, Motown and Northern Soul.

In some ways they are unlikely bedfellows. Motown became known as Hitsville by churning out hit after hit, while Northern Soul passion is fired by a constant search for the unknown and the obscure.
The 16 tracks here - on incredibly the first Motown various artists vinyl album released worldwide for 40 years - join the dots. All of them were recorded in the 1960s. None of them were released at the time, despite being prime examples of the sublime magic conjured up by Berry Gordy’s genius-like team of singers, writers, producers, arrangers and musicians at that tiny little snakepit of a recording studio on West Grand Boulevard in Detroit.

Motown authority Adam White’s album sleeve notes confirm just how productive that studio was. It often ran 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
As a result, lots of the most sublime music ever made was somehow rejected for release. It would have stayed unknown and unloved in tape boxes if it had not been for detective work by Soul aficionados turned detectives. That’s Northern Soul power. Many were DJs and collectors tracking down cassette copies or acetates (some of them found in rubbish skips and about to be destroyed). Others, notably Paul Nixon, the founder of the CD series A Cellarful Of Motown! which inspired this album, badgered the Motown gatekeepers so much they were eventually granted access to the forbidden kingdom.

Over recent years all the tracks contained here have been released—some bootlegged, some on legitimate seven-inch issues, some on CD, one download-only. The album proudly boasts debut vinyl release for some in the collection. All have been remastered and have never sounded better.

As a homage to Motown music makers + Rare Soul fanaticism, WEST GRAND believe we have come up with a classic.

Compiled by Philip King
“And then came the rise of synth pop : blokes with dodgy haircuts hunched over keyboard-operated
machines stuffed with wires and do-it-yourself tone oscillators making sounds like a brood of geese
passing gas in a wind tunnel. Whoopee! This is the way the ‘70s ended : not with a blood-curdling bang
bang but with a cheap, synthesized, emasculating whimper.”
NICK KENT, NME.

All The Young Droids: Junkshop Synth Pop 1978-1985 is a new compilation that charts the
underbelly of the epoch-defining sound of the synthesiser in 80s popular music. Compiled by Philip
King (previously seen compiling All The Young Droogs, Glitterbest and Boobs - The Junkshop
Glam Discotheque), the music here connects the dots between DIY synth enthusiasts grappling with
new, cheap synthesisers at the tail-end of punk and wannabe, jobbing songwriters enthral to the new
music pioneered by Gary Numan, Depeche Mode and Daniel Miller’s Mute Records. Featuring rare
tracks of auto-didactic progressive pop music, proto-techno punk, shoot-for-the-stars-land-in-the-gutter
chart flops and heralded, underground synth classics, School Daze paints a picture of beautiful failure.
Complete with extensive sleeve notes written by King and never before seen imagery, all 24 tracks
were remastered by RPM in-house engineer Simon Murphy, many from vinyl copies due to lost master
tapes. The story told on All The Young Droids is one of the dawning opportunity presented by both the
emergence to the market of cheaper analog synthesisers and the distribution networks plus indie labels
that exploded with the advent of punk music in 1976. While the music that sprouted out all over the
globe in the wake of these factors was decried as fake, plastic, a refutation of punk’s guitar-led
revolution, it’s telling that much of the music on All The Young Droids.. was created in bedrooms,
ramshackle studios and home-made set ups with often borrowed equipment. In the era of record labels
jumping to capitalise on the success of The Sex Pistols, The Clash (both on major labels, of course)
these artists struggled to stand out from a new gold-rush with next to no budget or PR team. With radio
and labels desperate for the new Yazoo, what resulted was a testament to necessity being the mother
of invention.

At the time, the synthesiser was the music of the future, a shiny new machine that could paint like an
orchestra with a single finger and a 4-track. In the hands of Manchester avant-pranksters Gerry & The
Holograms it’s a pulsing, sardonic weapon.. the only instrument on the Messthetics classic lampooning
of New Wave fashion. In Hamburg, a 16 year old Andreas Dorau used it to write and record (with his
female classmates on vocals) a global smash in Fred Vom Jupiter (later licensed to Mute Records).
The hard-to-find English version (Fred From Jupiter, natch) is included here. Many artists with alreadystoried careers caught the bug and recorded synthesiser-fuelled peons to space, computers, the future
and, of course, love-interests. Harry Kakoulli, late of Squeeze, recorded a solo album in 1979 that
included the incredible power-synth-pop smash-that-never-smashed I’m On A Rocket. Similarly, Ian
North of Neo and American Power Pop stalwarts Milk ’n’ Cookies bought a Korg MS20 and used a
tape machine to record We’re Not Lonely, an absolute lost-classic of minimal synth pop. We’re Not
Lonely also features on the Junkshop Synth Pop sampler 7” twinned with John Howard unreleased
track You Will See, released April 12th 2025.

There are plenty of compilation debuts in evidence. Sole Sister were a mysterious trio who were
featured on the Scaling Triangles compilation of female-fronted, queer-adjacent post-punk /
underground music that also featured The Petticoats. Selwin Image were from San Francisco and
featured members of the recently defunct power pop/punk group The Pushups. Their stupidly catchy
The Unknown fizzes with New Wave energy - think XTC to Sparks but remains unreleased until now.
Dream Unit’s A Drop In The Ocean is an early synth wave cut, positively teaming with Joy Division
instrumentation, previously only released on a long-forgotten and super rare, self-released EP.
Incandescent Luminaire’s Famous Names belies an archetypal struggle of a small-town trying to
make it in a cruel industry but is a thrilling New Romantic-Synth Wave cross over with a OMD
gloominess that’s a joy to hear. Feminist Minimal Wave track I Am A Time Bomb by performance artist
Peta Lilly and Michael Chance is a revelation destined for new found cult status. It was released on 7”
and lost until now.

The flipside to the subterranean, never-made-it synth pop mentioned above are the ambitious, even
fruity attempts at success that have a perennial elegance to their confidence. New Jersey-ite Billy
London (real name Ed Barth) tried to cash in on the synth boom with Woman, released by a major
label, a lurching new wave track built on the Louie Louie rhythm and a wonderfully camp Lou Reedstyle sleazy vocal before exploding in the synthesised chorus. The song bombed but with a chorus like
this, you have to wonder why? Ex-Glitter Band member John Springate’s My Life is truly epic, with
doomed chord progressions and massive sounding drums turning into at least 3 different songs in the
course of the track. Before you wonder what’s going on the song resolves with a glorious return to the
main refrain.

The dry-ice-dressed dance floor is well catered for too. Design’s Premonition and Vision’s Lucifer’s
Friend are stone-cold minimal synth bangers, well loved but given a new lease of life here. The
Warlord’s The Ultimate Warlord was released in 1978, a homespun proto Hi NRG banger that was
later re-recorded by The Immortals in Canada who had a club hit with it. One-man- band Disco
Volante’s No Motion was re-issued by Synth wave label Medical in 2012 but makes its first vinyl
compilation appearance here. Close your eyes and you can imagine what Lawrence of Felt would have
sounded like with some cheap Korgs a little earlier in his career. Gibraltar-based trio The Microbes
imagined a computer programming people to dance - how prescient - and ended up with a propulsive,
robo-funk track with splendid rubbery bass playing over a tectonic drum machine. Previously picked up
by Belgian label Stroom TV, Dee Jay Bert & Eagle’s heavily Euro-accented I Am Your Master
demands the listener to “come to paradise!” In a frankly terrifying manner.
All The Young Droids is the first compilation to peel away from the narrative that dour, Minimal Synth
and Cold Wave were the only musical children of the first rush of synth pop. Philip King and School
Daze Records describe a much more complicated world: along with the austere, Brutalist children of
Daniel Miller (who produced Alan Burnham’s Bowie-Low-influenced Science Fiction here) was a
plethora of desperate cash-ins, accidental mainstream hits, ambitious pop dramas and major label
punts that went nowhere. Crucially, the compilation blurs the line between junk and treasure. What if the
two things are interchangeable. What if it’s all science fiction?

The Deku Trio's cozy Legend of Zelda coffeehouse jazz album

Jazz band The Deku Trio is back for an encore in Zelda & Jazz II, an 18-track smooth jazz Legend of Zelda tribute album. Featuring intimate piano, upright bass, and mellow drums, The Deku Trio reimagines the music of The Legend of Zelda with influences ranging from lounging bossa nova to coffeehouse jazz. Zelda & Jazz II features music from across The Legend of Zelda series. Highlights include Nintendo 64 classics Majora's Mask and Ocarina of Time, GameCube releases Twilight Princess and The Wind Waker, hand-held titles Link's Awakening and Spirit Tracks, Skyward Sword for the Wii, and the Super Nintendo's A Link to the Past. This wide-ranging tribute is topped off with artwork and character designs by comic and environmental artist Christian Benavides (League of Legends). The brainchild of Rob Araujo (Chillhop) and Chris Davidson (GameChops), The Deku Trio features rich reharmonizations on piano, gentle drums, and lush upright basslines, with mixes by Curran Sinha in Los Angeles.
The Deku Trio crafts an intimate smooth jazz tribute to the timeless Legend of Zelda series.