Buscar:session

The story of the invention of the term, 'deepfunk' is probably only known among fans and practitioners of this niche-genre. In short, it all started in the 1990s when DJs like Keb Darge, Mark 'Snowboy' Cotgrove and others began spinning obscure and feral Funk 45 RPM singles from local American bands, ostensibly generating another sub-category branch off of the mighty Northern Soul tree. The dance-club phenomenon inevitably spilled over to contemporary groups on the funk scene which immediately tried to record their music the way their idols did. The 'rare groove' and 'acid jazz' movements had run their course and there was a concerted effort to reinstate primitive idiomatic styles and techniques into the music, most notably by 90s funk collective The Poets of Rhythm. As more years passed by the number of bands steadily increased (although in tiny numbers, compared to the mainstream market). Almost every country had a representative with the majority of them coming from the United Kingdom. The deepfunk sound was still a niche, however a very few bands made it onto the mainstream charts, most notably Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings.

At the height of the retro-soul movement a questionable development took place. As more bands arrived on the scene, the production became more and more polished and pop-ish. Some of that squeaky-clean tidiness began to creep into the recordings, encouraged in part by the signature sounds of the digital recording technology available at that time. Some bands even tried to jump onto the possibility of promoting their music as 'deepfunk' although they were actually playing slick, funky pop music. This way some people who thought they were listening to raw, energetic funk actually felt quite ambushed when hit with real deepfunk. In fact, a certain percentage of funk music produced within the past 20 years does not deserve to be described as 'deepfunk' at all. Fortunately there were (and are) some pleasant exceptions which did not just imitate but actually rendered amazing funk music just like some of the finest funk combos of the 1960s and 70s.

One of those creative minds is without a doubt Joel Ricci aka Lucky Brown. Originally from Seattle, Washington, USA, he has enriched the deepfunk community since the mid-2000s with his stellar abilities. He is not only an amazing musician playing multiple instruments, but also a brilliant composer, arranger, and producer too. But for us here at Tramp he is much more, a close friend and remarkable human being. Whenever we were struggling, whether with the label or in private life, Joel and his musical work helped us to overcome everything and to keep going our path.

So here we are in 2023. The songs you are listening to right now are the complete Space Dream collection, split into two parts, representing the two living-room recording sessions from which his 2011 Tramp Records debut was compiled. Each fully remastered album contains unreleased material and comes with brand new, beautifully reimagined artwork by Ricci himself, housed in an authentic 1960s tip-on cover. A first class product from a first class musician for the discerning funk enthusiast.

The elusive Hackney basement dweller Alpha Delta colloquially known as Alpha D drops his debutsingle “The Moat” as the very first 12” output on the mysterious new hybrid Berlin++Sydney based label Delphic Iris Records. The headline single inspired by a faithful rave session in Croatia whereAlpha D was simultaneously emotionally touched, scarred and sonically pummelled by kick drums ata wild and stormy Dimensions Festival.
This dark techno beast was the aggressive, distorted acid offspring of that faithful night ravingbetween the mud and tears of the crowd at the formidable Moat stage at Punta Christo. His OG Mixis classic 132bpm heavy pounding acid techno at its moodiest. In the Remix department we have support from the entire Delphic Iris Records crew on this one. Afitting introduction to the labels sound. Sydney based Drox of Analog Cabin fame has a low end electro bass bin rattler for us that delvesinto melancholic and psychedelic 303 territory, deep, minimal and functional a perfect mid setgroover in our opinion. Critical Automator takes us on a deep and elegant techno journey transcending both murky seasand lush hazy skies in his dub mix. Definitely dialled back from the OG mix but there is no shortage ofkick drum energy in this one. 16 Faces cooks up complex drum work and funk driven baselines in a hybrid 146 bpm number that’sa just a touch rave, grime and idm in his 5am mix. The off beat stabs and euphoric strings areplentiful, more than enough to get your through any wobbly kneed sunrise.

Mit elf bisher unveröffentlichten BBC-Session-Aufnahmen und allen fünf Songs der ersten beiden Creation Records-Singles fängt 'Reverberations (Travelling In Time)' perfekt ein, was viele für eine entscheidende Ära einer der wichtigsten britischen Gruppen halten, die eine ganze Reihe von aufstrebenden Bands beeinflusste, allen voran The Stone Roses. Es ist eine Sammlung, die einen Schnappschuss der jugendlichen Unschuld und ungezügelten Leidenschaft bietet, die ihre frühen zweiminütigen Indie-Pop-Abenteuer kennzeichneten.

Japan has produced some exceptionally talented jazz drummers and among them is Tatsuya Nakamura, who joins the BBE Music J Jazz Masterclass Series with his album ‘Locus’ from 1984, a session covering several bases, from heavy percussive samba to meditative avant-ambient. This is the album’s first ever reissue, although a track from ‘Locus’, ‘¼ Samba’, was included on J Jazz vol. 3. Nakamura began his drumming career as a teenager, inspired after seeing the documentary film “Jazz on A Summer’s Day” and listening to his idols Art Blakey and Miles Davis. By his early twenties, Nakamura was working with such luminaries as free jazz guitarist Masayuki Takayanagi, pianist Masaru Imada and band leader & composer Mitsuaki Kanno. In the mid-70s, like several other Japanese jazz players, Nakamura decided to make the move to New York where he studied drumming with Roy Haynes, and performed with members of the AACM and players from the loft and free jazz scenes including Richard Davis, George Adams, John Hicks, and Pharaoh Sanders. Returning to Japan, Nakamura continued playing as leader of his Japanese band The Jazz Fellows and in 1979, he went into the studio as leader for the classic “Where Is The Quarter” session featuring Masaru Imada, Hideto Kanai and Kenji Mori. This session includes the original percussion heavy version of ‘¼ Samba’ and was followed by a period back in NYC during which he recorded the funky/free session ‘Rip Off’ in 1980. 1984 saw Nakamura working as leader of a heavy-duty fusion septet and in February of that year he led them in a performance at Audio Technica Hall. The album ‘Locus’ on Sea Horse Records is the label’s one and only release. On ‘Locus’, Nakamura is joined by a stellar line-up. On trumpet is Shinobu Fujimoto and he’s joined by seasoned bass player Hideto Kanai (1931 -2011) who began playing in the mid-1950s, appearing on King Recs All-Star Jazz Series before going on to be a regular fixture on the legendary Three Blind Mice (TBM) label, backing many of its leading artists. He even released his own album on TBM, ‘Ode to Birds’ in 1975. On guitar is Kazumasa Akiyama. Born in Tokyo in 1955, he taught himself guitar at 10 years old and was influenced initially by The Beatles and Ray Charles, and later Jimi Hendrix, Cream, Chicago Blues, and jazz. When he was a student, he got a chance to appear on Sadao Watanabe's radio program ‘My Dear Life’, which led him to join the Isao Suzuki Group and Mikio Masuda Group. Akiyama released his first leader album ‘Dig My Style’ in 1978 and is still an active musician. On keys is the incredible Jun Fukamachi (1946-2010). Born in Harajuku, Tokyo, Fukamachi started playing the piano at the age of three, showing an extraordinary talent, recognised as a child prodigy. He became a professional musician while still in school and released his first album ‘Portrait of a Young Man’ on Polydor in 1971.

Guy Pedersen, French jazz-soul-funk double-bass player extraordinaire, recorded Contrebasses in 1970 for Tele Music. It's one of the most outstanding - yet puzzlingly slept-on - releases in the library's catalogue. Forget library, this is basically a sublime, straight-up moody jazz record with monster breaks. It's brimming with sensational psychedelic/jazzy bass-heavy moments throughout; it's absolute gold.

"Indian Pop Bass" contains a deep, abstract breakbeat that intersects with a bassline that loops as if it sinks into the swaying, heavy, slow drums. The mysterious, deliberate "Prélude À Une Angoisse" is an eerie, magical number with ace effects whilst "Patio Bass" is a breezy deep jazz knockout with fantastic drums and a sashaying melody. "Tension Nerveuse" creates an atmosphere that's exactly as the title suggests, full of genuine suspense, rumbling percussion and deep drama jazz. "Amour, Délices Et Contrebasse" is a touch lightweight so you're advised to head to the much darker, peculiar funk of "Percussion Bass", bursting with imaginative sounds and effects. "Obsession Diabolique" closes out the A Side, with a funky walking bassline and sparkling percussion battling against droning strings to create a uniquely unsettling, beatless track.

Enlivening the B-Side immediately is the fantastic, propulsive funky-jazz of "Les Copains De La Basse". "Doucement La Basse" is largely forgettable but "Bass Session" is a blazing psych-jazz-rock burner. Absolutely thrilling. Equally, "Bass After Love" is devastatingly psychy, funky and unique. "Ballade Pour Une Basse" is a classic funky French jazz piece with an infectious bass melody that seems to anticipate "Before The Night Is Over", the Joe Simon track that Outkast sampled for "So Fresh, So Clean".

The audio for Contrebasses has been remastered by Be With regular Simon Francis, ensuring this release sounds better than ever. Cicely Balston's expert skills have made sure nothing is lost in the cut whilst the original, iconic Tele Music house sleeve has been restored here at Be With HQ as the finishing touch to this long overdue re-issue.

Rare Montreux festival sessions from 1982.
Live Album by Detroit/Tribe Jazz Icon Reggie Fields.
Featuring an All-Star Line-up.
First ever vinyl reissue.
180g BLACK vinyl limited to 500 copies (w/obi strip) . Non-Returnable.



The Real ShooBeeDoo (AKA Reggie Fields) has always been a consistent name on the Detroit jazz scene … Fields who played with Pharoah Sanders while he was living in Motor City, worked with Sun Ra in the late 1970s and early 80s and who was also a close associate of the Afro-centric TRIBE label and artist collective, leaving his marks on a few essential TRIBE sessions such as Phil Ranelin’s “The Time Is Now!” as well as Ranelin & Wendell Harrison’s masterpiece “A Message From The Tribe”. It was Wendell Harrison who gave Fields the chance to record his landmark solo album (Reminiscing from 1981) to be released on his Wenha imprint. Reggie chose to record under his moniker “The Real ShooBeeDoo” because he built a rock-solid reputation as an internationally acclaimed performer under that name.



In 1982 he embarked on a European tour and performed at various clubs in countries such as Germany, Holland, Belgium, Italy, Switzerland, Luxemburg, France and Norway. This ecstatic touring vibe can later be heard on his fantastic ‘‘Live at Montreux Jazz Festival, 1982” album (simply called ‘Good To Go’).



“Good To Go” which we are proudly presenting you today features 10 tracks consisting of smooth Jazz-rumbas, French avant-garde jazz vocalizations, bass lines that can blow through walls as if they were made from paper, foot stomping rhythmic beats, lyrics that are pure poetry and ecstatic beats that took the crowd on a musical trip that ended in them raving for more. Playing before a large and enthusiastic crowd, Reggie’s spiritual cosmic free-flowing rhythms took the audience by storm…and the stakes were high because the bill was pretty impressive, he shared the stage with some of the biggest names in the genre (the festival bill also included Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie and Sonny Rollins).



Also…a quick closer look at the cast of all-star players featured on the album is most likely to be enough to get an impression that this is a very special record. Detroit preferred pianist Earl Van Riper brings his rich musical experience to the table that he perfected during his collaborations with Marcus Belgrave, Eddy ‘Cleanhead’ Vinson, Dinah Washington, Wes Montgomery and countless others. On the tenor saxophone we have Robert Barnes known for his work with Donald Bird…and last but not least we have Tani Tabbal on drums who is famous for his performances and recordings with Roscoe Mitchell and Sun Ra!



All of the above makes this rare album a total must-have that just begs for a prominent place in your record collection.



Tracklist:

Jumping With The Bellboy , Dark Eyes , Qu'est Ceque C’est , Do You Call that Friendship , Oo Shoobee Doo , Crazy She Calls Me , Have You Met Miss Jones , Ye Brac Hareesee , Hit That Jive Jack , Too Late Now

In the late '70s, The Avengers established themselves as one of the US's preeminent punk bands. Fusing incisive guitar hooks, explosive rhythms and adolescent venom, the group forged some of the most in-your-face songs of the era. Their live shows were legendary, playing up and down the West Coast and even blowing Sex Pistols off the stage at the latter's final performance.

As Byron Coley writes in the liner notes, "Of the best bands of San Francisco's first wave in 1977, The Avengers were by far the coolest and youngest sounding. They roared without irony, as though this were indeed Year Zero (and, for a moment, it was) with history being overwritten by the new. The honesty of their belief was carried by their sound. And it was convincing!"

Originally released in 1983, four years after the band's dissolution, The Avengers' self-titled LP is often referred to as "The Pink Album" for its magenta-hued cover design. Frontwoman Penelope Houston's iconic voice and razor-sharp lyrics resonate on anthems "We Are The One" and "The American In Me," while penetrating ballads like "Corpus Christi" reveal a truly out-of-body euphony.

The Pink Album remains The Avengers' definitive statement - collecting their classic Dangerhouse EP, sessions recorded with the Pistols' Steve Jones and a half-dozen revelatory demos. While much has been written about The Avengers in the past three decades, rock critic Greil Marcus puts it succinctly, "The word I always come back to is mystical, and that remains almost theirs alone."

RYUICHI SAKAMOTO'S LANDMARK 1981 ALBUM REISSUED FOR THE FIRST TIME IN DECADES OUTSIDE OF JAPAN. THE ALBUM WILL BE REISSUED IN ITS RARE JAPANESE EDITION TOGETHER WITH A 2-LP LIMITED EDITION FEATURING THE ALBUM PLUS A 2ND LP FEATURING ITS NEVER-RELEASED FULL INSTRUMENTAL MIX, ALL REMASTERED BY BERNIE GRUNDMAN.

Wewantsounds is proud to announce the reissue of Ryuichi Sakamoto's third solo album "Hidari Ude No Yume" (Left Handed Dream), originally released in 1981 on the Alfa label. Save for a small-scale Dutch vinyl release in 1981, it is the first time the album's original Japanese edition is released outside of Japan (the European release on Epic Records included significantly different tracks and mixes). Newly remastered from the original tapes by renowned engineer Bernie Grundman, this LP edition comes with original artwork featuring a striking cover shot by famous photographer Masayoshi Sukita (sourced from the original negative), OBI strip and 4-page insert with new introduction by journalist Anton Spice. The album will also be released as a 2-LP limited edition gatefold including the album's full instrumental mix.
Ryuichi Sakamoto's third album, "Hidari Ude No Yume" was recorded at the legendary Alfa Studio 'A' in Tokyo during the Summer of 1981. it came after "B-2 Unit" in 1980 and his debut album "Thousand Knives Of" in 1978, the very year Sakamoto was invited by Haruomi Hosono to join Yellow Magic Orchestra alongside Yukihiro Takahashi. In the process, they became global stars as the group rewrote the rules of electronic pop and toured around the world, yet Sakamoto was keen to remain active as a solo artist.
?In 1981, the musician decided to record an album rooted in Pop, following "B-2 Unit" which had a more of an experimental edge and his landmark electro debut from 1978. For this new album entitled "Hidari Ude No Yume," Sakamoto invited British producer Robin Scott, who had had huge hit with 'Pop Muzik,' to co-produce. They entered the Alfa studio in July 1981, accompanied by a handful of musicians. These included his fellow YMO musicians Haruomi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi, keyboard programmer extraordinaire Hideki Matsutake who'd been on Sakamoto's first two albums and became YMO's unofficial fourth member, violinist Kaoru Sato, saxophonist Satoshi Nakamura and American guitarist Adrian Belew who'd played with David Bowie, The Talking Heads' "Remain In Light" and more recently, Tom Tom Club’s debut (co-writing 'Genius Of Love').
?Together, they created a fascinating mix of pop, ambient and electronic music with elements of avant garde and traditional Japanese music, the whole firmly rooted in a solid groove. Sakamoto wanted to give the album a spontaneous feel and decided to let ideas flow and evolve organically during the sessions as musicians would develop them together. From the funk of 'Relâché' to the new wave feel of 'Venezia' and the ambient minimalism of 'Slat Dance,' the album is remarkably consistent while displaying a wealth of global influences as shown by the diversity of instruments featured on the credits: Marimba, didgeridu, traditional Japanese instruments such as the Sho and Hichiriki flutes.
?The album was released in Japan in 1981 and Epic Records picked it up for Europe a year later but decided to release it in a significantly altered version. The sequencing was completely reshuffled and two tracks, 'Saru No Ie' and 'Living In The Dark' were completely dropped while three others, ‘Relâché’, ‘Tell 'em To Me’, ‘Venezia’ were heavily remodelled with english lyrics and became 'Just About Enough', 'Once In A Lifetime' and 'The Left Bank'. Last but not least, a new English-sung track, 'The Arrangement,' was added, making the album nine tracks instead of ten for the Japanese edition.
Altogether this International version called "Left-Handed Dream" was a very different album from the Japanese one and although both were successful at the time and further established Ryuichi Sakamoto as a global solo artist, the Japanese edition of "Hidari Ude No Yume" remains largely unknown to international ears.
Wewantsounds is now delighted to release this original Japanese edition for the first time in decades as a single LP together with a 2-LP limited-edition set adding, as a bonus, its fascinating instrumental mix, discovered in the label's vaults a few years ago (Note that 'The Garden Of Poppies', 'Slat Dance' and 'Saru No Ie' are instrumentals but for the consistency of the album we kept them on the Instrumental Mix). "Hidari Ude No Yume" is an essential album in Ryuichi Sakamoto's rich discography. It is now available in its purest original Japanese form.

Funkiwala Records presents CUBANGLA - the sixth album by London fusionistas LoKkhi TeRra.
Following on from their hugely successful collaboration with UK afro-beat ambassador Dele Sosimi on 2018's "Cubafrobeat"(mixing afrobeat and Cuban Rumba/Timba), this album sees them return to their Bangla-Afro- Latin-Jazz-Roots.
8 tracks of 21st century London groove – from Sufi Samba to Baul Blues to Bengali folk-Son to Bangla Roots Reggae to London Descargas - recorded in between tours, sessions and collaborations – a true celebration of traditions taking on new forms as they travel and co-exist. In these divided times, their collective musical journey has never been so relevant.

Background
Kishon Khan's Lokkhi Terra have been blending the musical traditions that surround them in London, for many years now.
"Stunning Headliners... A majestic multi-cultural blend of sounds... effortlessly builds bridges between rolling Indian raga rhythms, Afro-Cuban grooves, Acid Jazz/funk and free flowing improvisation" (Timeout London).

The band is composed of musicians who take seriously the different languages of the different genres they mix. Each in their own right play with calibre purist outfits. Members have collaborated with the likes of Hugh Masekela, Tony Allen, Ibrahim Ferrer, Johnny Clarke, Orlando Poleo, Africa Express, Jazz Jamaica, Ska Cubano, Giles Peterson's Havana Cultura, Kyle Eastwood, Bellowhead, Akram Khan to name a very few.
The tracks on this album were gigged for a number of years before being recorded, with the exception of the last 2 tracks which were recorded in 2015 just before performing at Womad and Songlines Encounters.
With CUBANGLA the band has come round full circle – a journey that started a decade ago with their debut No Visa Required (2010). An urban London view on the musical world.

Nonesuch releases Sorry I Haven’t Called, the new album by Vagabon, the moniker of Lætitia Tamko. Co-produced by Tamko and Rostam (Vampire Weekend, Haim, Clairo), it finds Tamko reinventing herself once again and features the most playful and adventurous music of her career, as evidenced by its lead track and opening song ‘Can I Talk My Shit?’. Vagabon has also announced an autumn tour that includes a headline run in the US, as well as European dates with Weyes Blood.



“I didn’t feel like being introspective,” says Tamko of her new album. “I just wanted to have fun.” Following her intimate 2017 debut Infinite Worlds, the New York artist favoured expansive and evocative electronic textures in her breakthrough 2019 self-titled follow-up. But her latest album feels like a wholly new era for Tamko, one that’s transformational and uncompromising. Across 12 vibrant tracks she wrote and produced primarily in Germany, she channels dance music and effervescent pop through her own confident sensibilities. These conversational songs are alive and unselfconscious, a document of an artist fully embracing her vision and reclaiming her joy.



The first words she sings on the album are, “Can I talk my shit? / I got way too high for this.” It’s a statement of purpose for the rest of the album that this is an unapologetic artist. “This whole record is how I talk to my friends and how to talk to my lovers,” says Tamko. “I think honesty and conversational songwriting can become poetry. There’s beauty in plainly speaking without metaphors and without flowery imagery.”



The story of Sorry I Haven’t Called started in grief after Tamko’s best friend died in 2021. This devastating and unexpected loss unmoored Tamko but also gave her a newfound clarity. “The things that I thought I cared about, I no longer cared about,” she says. “I had a realization that I need to make sure to feel everything that comes my way.” She decided to sell her things and move to a small lakeside village a few hours north of Hamburg in northern Germany to process everything. “There's no linear path to grief, and everyone handles it differently, but uprooting my life just felt like exactly what I had to do,” says Tamko. “I needed a place to think and go through my discomfort privately but to also explore the newness and urgency I was feeling in my life.” In the village, her phone didn’t work and there were no close grocery stores or restaurants, so she spent her time alone working on music.



Despite the palpable absence in her life, her new songs were her most disarming and ebullient yet. The first one she wrote was ‘Carpenter’, a mesmerizing track anchored by a tangible bass groove, where she sings, “I wasn’t ready to move on out / but I'm more ready now.” It’s a fully-realised track and feels like the culmination of her catalogue so far. “A lot of the music that I was making there had nothing to do with my grief at all,” says Tamko. “Once I gave myself permission to make a record that's full of life and energy, I realized that’s the point of this album. In the midst of going through all of these tough things, it became a record because of the vitality that these songs had.” For Tamko, there’s power in pursuing happiness.



While writing in Germany, Tamko nurtured her love for dance music and let it seep into her new songs. “The only things that were giving me access to a feeling were dance music and going to a rave in an extremely dark club where if I wanted to cry, I could do it and be around other people,” she says.



After a few months in Germany that included marathon writing sessions and a whirlwind romance, Tamko decided to stay with friends in Los Angeles and finish her record. She enlisted co-producer Rostam to help her unify her vision.



Sorry I Haven’t Called is a warm and resilient album about embracing the ecstatic moments wherever you can by knowing how you love and how you mourn. It’s an album born of both communal dancefloor revelations and the clarifying peace from solitude, an emotional rebirth as well as an artistic one. “This record feels like what I've been working towards,” says Tamko. “When I think of this album, I think of playfulness. It's completely euphoric. It's because things were dark that this record is so full of life and energy. It’s a reaction to what I was experiencing at the time, not a document of it.”

Woods are in bloom again, inviting you to disappear into a new spectrum of colors and sounds and dreams on Perennial. Formed in Brooklyn in 2004, Woods have matured into a true independent institution, above and below the root, reliably emerging every few years with new music that grows towards the latest sky. Operating the Woodsist label since 2006 and curating the beloved homespun Woodsist Festival for the musical universe they’ve built, Perennial is the sound of a band on the edge of their 20th anniversary and still finding bold new ways to sound like (and challenge) themselves. Perennial grew from a bed of guitar/keyboard/drum loops by Woods head-in-chief Jeremy Earl, a form of winter night meditation that evolved into an unexplored mode of collaborative songwriting. With Earl’s starting points, he and bandmates Jarvis Taveniere and John Andrews convened, first at Earl’s house in New York, then at Panoramic House studio in Stinson Beach, California, site of sessions for 2020’s Strange To Explain. With a view of the sparkling Pacific and tape rolling, they began to build, jamming over the loops, switching instruments, and developing a few dozen building blocks. The album’s resulting 11 songs, 4 of them instrumental, are in the classic Woods mode--shimmering, familiar, fractionally unsettling--but with the half-invisible infinity boxes of Earl’s loops burbling beneath each like a mysterious underground source. From source to seed to bloom, each loop unfolds into something unpredictable, from the jeweled pop of the aching “Little Black Flowers” to the ecstatic starlit freak-beat of “Another Side.” They are blossomings both far-out and comforting, like the Mellotronic cloud-hopping of “Between the Past,” or sometimes just plain comforting, like the widescreen snowglobe fantasia of the instrumental “White Winter Melody,” touched by Connor Gallaher’s pedal steel. Woods have long used the studio as a place of songwriting, naming 2007’s At Rear House after their shared dwelling and recording space. But Perennial also carries with it an even longer view of Woods. Emerging from the process alongside the music was Earl’s reflection that “perennial plants and flowers are nature’s loops,” an idea rolling under the album’s lyrics like the loops themselves. It certainly applies to the band, too, who have quietly tended to a long, committed project of being a band in the weird-ass 21st century, both individually and communally. Though separated by coasts, the communal sprit carries through Earl, Taveniere, and Andrews’ collaboration, a living embodiment of the freedoms rediscovered every time a new collectively created piece of music emerges. For nearly two decades, Woods have survived subgenres, anchored in the fertile soil below hashtags like lo-fi and freak-folk and psychedelic and indie, and built a shared history that’s something to marvel at. As the flagship band for Woodsist, they’ve accumulated a striking extended family of collaborators (and Woods alum) that have made the label one of the most dependable imprints in the kaleidoscopic low-key underground. It’s a glow that’s transferred whole to the blissed-out Woodsist Fests held in Accord, New York in recent years, which have folded in a wide range of diverse sounds, from the the jazz cosmoverse of the Sun Ra Arkestra and adventurous legends Yo La Tengo, to a hard-to-even-count family tree of contemporaries, like Kevin Morby (who served a few tours of duty as Woods bassist) and Kurt Vile (who released his 2009 debut on Woodsist), a living community in sound. Perennial carries all of this, shaped by decades, but made in the moment, and here right now. The smell of the flowers doesn’t remain, but sometimes the flowers do. Jesse Jarnow Recorded and mixed by Jarvis Taveniere at Panoramic House in Stinson Beach, CA with additional recording at The Ship in Los Angeles, CA and Cottekill Bird Sanctuary in Stone Ridge, NY. Produced by Jarvis Taveniere and Jeremy Earl. Mastered by Timothy Stollenwerk at Stereophonic Mastering in Portland, OR. Jeremy Earl - vocals, guitars, drums, percussion, sk-5, mellotron, vibraphone, autoharp, loops Jarvis Taveniere - guitar, bass, upright bass, hammond, vocals John Andrews - piano, organs, mellotron, drums, vocals Connor Gallaher - Pedal Steel Kyle Forester - sax, wurlitzer

Killah Priest’s Mystery Channel EP is his first release on 600 Block Records after his acclaimed features on Pugs Atomz’ Test Drive LP in 2022. The EP, coming on limited edition vinyl, features two original productions from Tusk57, an amazing Tall Black Guy Productions remix, and instrumentals of all three tracks. Tall Black Guy’s remix of Mystery Channel is a soulful jazzy take on the EP’s namesake, bringing his signature style to his first collaboration with 600 Block Records. From humble origins in Detroit, raised on a healthy diet of Motown, Jazz and early Hip Hop...Tall Black Guy has become a standard bearer for the current hip hop beats scene. Through a steady stream of productions filled with incredibly clever sample flips and deft production chops, he has won fans across the world, including Gilles Peterson, Lefto, Jazzy Jeff, Questlove and countless others. Killah Priest made his first appearances on such Wu-Tang side and solo projects as Gravediggaz’ 6 Feet Deep, Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s Return to the 36 Chambers, and Genius/GZA’s seminal Liquid Swords. His contributions to those releases especially Liquid Swords’ “B.1.B.L.E. (Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth),” essentially a Priest solo track paved the way for the release of the MC's acclaimed debut album, 1998's Heavy Mental, and a lengthy and respected career in the hip-hop underground. In addition to his prolific solo work, he was an integral member of the groups Sunz of Man, the HRSMEN (aka the Four Horsemen), and Black Market Militia. About Tuskb 7 - A musician turned producer, Tusk57 brings a live feel to recording sessions and is most at home leading a band in front of a live audience. He is a multi-instrumentalist songwriter who has released multiple records under many other stage names in various genres, garnering critical acclaim including a Billboard hit. He is how based in LA and is using this moniker to develop a signature textured sound for hip hop and soulful music.

Woods are in bloom again, inviting you to disappear into a new spectrum of colors and sounds and dreams on Perennial. Formed in Brooklyn in 2004, Woods have matured into a true independent institution, above and below the root, reliably emerging every few years with new music that grows towards the latest sky. Operating the Woodsist label since 2006 and curating the beloved homespun Woodsist Festival for the musical universe they’ve built, Perennial is the sound of a band on the edge of their 20th anniversary and still finding bold new ways to sound like (and challenge) themselves. Perennial grew from a bed of guitar/keyboard/drum loops by Woods head-in-chief Jeremy Earl, a form of winter night meditation that evolved into an unexplored mode of collaborative songwriting. With Earl’s starting points, he and bandmates Jarvis Taveniere and John Andrews convened, first at Earl’s house in New York, then at Panoramic House studio in Stinson Beach, California, site of sessions for 2020’s Strange To Explain. With a view of the sparkling Pacific and tape rolling, they began to build, jamming over the loops, switching instruments, and developing a few dozen building blocks. The album’s resulting 11 songs, 4 of them instrumental, are in the classic Woods mode--shimmering, familiar, fractionally unsettling--but with the half-invisible infinity boxes of Earl’s loops burbling beneath each like a mysterious underground source. From source to seed to bloom, each loop unfolds into something unpredictable, from the jeweled pop of the aching “Little Black Flowers” to the ecstatic starlit freak-beat of “Another Side.” They are blossomings both far-out and comforting, like the Mellotronic cloud-hopping of “Between the Past,” or sometimes just plain comforting, like the widescreen snowglobe fantasia of the instrumental “White Winter Melody,” touched by Connor Gallaher’s pedal steel. Woods have long used the studio as a place of songwriting, naming 2007’s At Rear House after their shared dwelling and recording space. But Perennial also carries with it an even longer view of Woods. Emerging from the process alongside the music was Earl’s reflection that “perennial plants and flowers are nature’s loops,” an idea rolling under the album’s lyrics like the loops themselves. It certainly applies to the band, too, who have quietly tended to a long, committed project of being a band in the weird-ass 21st century, both individually and communally. Though separated by coasts, the communal sprit carries through Earl, Taveniere, and Andrews’ collaboration, a living embodiment of the freedoms rediscovered every time a new collectively created piece of music emerges. For nearly two decades, Woods have survived subgenres, anchored in the fertile soil below hashtags like lo-fi and freak-folk and psychedelic and indie, and built a shared history that’s something to marvel at. As the flagship band for Woodsist, they’ve accumulated a striking extended family of collaborators (and Woods alum) that have made the label one of the most dependable imprints in the kaleidoscopic low-key underground. It’s a glow that’s transferred whole to the blissed-out Woodsist Fests held in Accord, New York in recent years, which have folded in a wide range of diverse sounds, from the the jazz cosmoverse of the Sun Ra Arkestra and adventurous legends Yo La Tengo, to a hard-to-even-count family tree of contemporaries, like Kevin Morby (who served a few tours of duty as Woods bassist) and Kurt Vile (who released his 2009 debut on Woodsist), a living community in sound. Perennial carries all of this, shaped by decades, but made in the moment, and here right now. The smell of the flowers doesn’t remain, but sometimes the flowers do. Jesse Jarnow Recorded and mixed by Jarvis Taveniere at Panoramic House in Stinson Beach, CA with additional recording at The Ship in Los Angeles, CA and Cottekill Bird Sanctuary in Stone Ridge, NY. Produced by Jarvis Taveniere and Jeremy Earl. Mastered by Timothy Stollenwerk at Stereophonic Mastering in Portland, OR. Jeremy Earl - vocals, guitars, drums, percussion, sk-5, mellotron, vibraphone, autoharp, loops Jarvis Taveniere - guitar, bass, upright bass, hammond, vocals John Andrews - piano, organs, mellotron, drums, vocals Connor Gallaher - Pedal Steel Kyle Forester - sax, wurlitzer

'Drummer Roy Haynes swings as the leader of this 1962 Impulse! session, featuring A-list jazzmen Roland Kirk (multiple instruments including stritch and nose flute!), Tommy Flanagan (piano) and Henry Grimes (bass). Verve’s Acoustic Sounds Series features transfers from analog tapes and remastered 180-gram vinyl in deluxe gatefold packaging.

These 10-songs were recorded and mixed by Craig Bowen at Baltimore’s A.C.R. Studios but never released. After the session the band decided to continue writing new songs. Six of these songs were re-recorded at Inner Eat Studios and released on Necrophones, while four others remained unreleased, until now. Released in 2012.

2023 Repress

CELESTE have been breaking the outer boundaries of heavy music for over fifteen years. When they first evolved from the Lyon hardcore punk scene, they were absolutely brutal and entirely unique, delivering extremity on their own terms that they pushed further and further with each successive album. “We just wanted to get darker and more violent,” says drummer Antoine Royer, until 2017’s Infidèle(s) saw the incorporation of a more melodic streak. Their most focussed record yet, it was tremendously received, critically adored, and backed with the band’s biggest shows to date.

Its follow-up was always going to be something radical. Even by their own inordinately high standards, however, new record Assassine(s) is one hell of a step forward. Even if this album still contains cyclonic walls of guitar, of battering rhythm, and passages of blissful, rushing release. it’s unlike anything the band have ever released; embracing a modern and forward-thinking production, they're just as complex but more direct, diverse and accessible than before. “Our leitmotif here was to open our minds,” says guitarist Sébastien Ducotté. “We made a real effort to think outside of our box.”

During lockdown CELESTE’s members were forced to each write individually. “We each went further into our personal, inner views of what the songs were,” says bassist and vocalist Johan Girardeau. When eventually they began sessions under producer Chris Edrich, it was gruelling. “We ended up exhausted, physically and mentally” says Johan. “There was no break in two weeks. We didn’t see the sun at all during that time. Every night we were so tired that we didn’t enjoy being together as much as we’re used to.” Nevertheless, in the same way the hardships of isolation led to richer and more complex songwriting, it’s that relentlessness that led to the record’s razor-sharp edges.

Above all else, CELESTE are innovators. Whether by pioneering French avant-garde metal when they formed at the turn of the millennium, by making their boldest leaps despite being seven albums deep into their career, or using two years away from live shows to tightly finetune their stagecraft, they refuse at all costs to rest on their laurels. There can be consequences to this instinct – fans of the band’s older work might be thrown off by their constant shifts of pace – but they’re throwing caution to the wind. A bit of backlash “would be a good thing, because it would mean that we’ve really changed,” says Guillaume . “It's not disrespectful, it's just that we never made music to please people, but just to enjoy what we're doing.” In the end, CELESTE are a band so forward-thinking that they can only be judged on the strength of their latest work. And when it comes to a record as bold as Assassine(s), they’ve hit a whole new peak entirely.

Tasty Treats Records is happy to present another great artists: Shaka.
Title track is a pure dancefloor track with nice strings,organ solo and with the piano chord with lot of old school house influences.
B side is a totally different kind of song influenced by jazz and latin music with a groovy percussion session,a fat bassline and soulful vibrations.

This is the first ever solo album from the legendary cult singer Attila Csihar, known for his work in Mayhem, SUNN O))), Plasma Pool and Tormentor. For this album Attila traveled to the Monolith of Baalbek archeological site in Lebanon and conducted two sessions. The first was an all night session situated directly across from the massive trillion stones of the Temple of Jupiter. For the second session he recorded directly on one of the 900 tons trillions a few km from the temple site. A work in progress for ten years, I am deeply honoured to have the chance to present Attila's work on Ideologic Organ. He has continued to be an inspiration of what is possible to surprise and develop within the extreme sides of music, in a radical and intelligent way. To say he has been a fundamental inspiration of art music creation is an understatement.

Recorded in 1995 and 1996, mostly in John Fahey"s room at a Salem, Oregon boardinghouse, the performances on Proofs and Refutations prefigure the ornery turn of the page that marked Fahey"s final years, drawing another enigmatic rabbit from his seemingly bottomless musical hat. Cloaked in the language of dogma - what is he proving? refuting? - this is Fahey dancing a jig in the Duchampian gap, jester cap bells a-jingling. True believers? He"s got something for you: an uncompromising vision that you can sneer at ("guy can"t play anymore and refuses to concede!") or embrace as evidence of his genius ("the reinventor does it again!"). Skeptics? He"s there with you, too: sending up the fallacy of certitudes altogether. Institutions, systems, accepted wisdoms. Heroes. Alternative facts, indeed. Right out of the gate, Fahey re-materializes before us, somewhere between Oracle of Delphi and Clown Prince at Olympus. Mounting a thundering dialectic from on high, "All the Rains" resembles nothing else in his extensive discography - betraying roots in everything from Dada to Episcopal liturgical chant - and contains nary a plucked guitar note. You can"t fool him! When the lap steel of yore appears on "F for Fake," it serves more as soundbed for an extended sequence of vocal improvisations, running the gamut from wordless Bashoian caterwauling to free-form (but decidedly fake) Tuvan, even revealing a burnished falsetto in the process. Fahey takes on a different kind of provocation in the two acoustic guitar-based tracks closing Side 1 - "Morning" parts 1 and 2 - the first of 4 recordings in this session that have him wrestling with the ghost of Skip James, perhaps Fahey"s effort to wrench the "bitter, hateful old creep" (his words) back into the grave. Anchoring Side 2 is the two-part "Evening, Not Night," the second half of his extended cathexis on James (and the latter"s avowed castration complex - another story for another day, perhaps). Bit of a chill in the air - where"s the impish Fahey from earlier? Unmistakably working through some psychic wounds here, we might think: the unheimlich rendered in glistening viscera. Or is he playing with our notions of authenticity, of his reputation as troubadour of raw emotional states, a pilgrim of the ominous, the simmering unconscious? These cards are kept decidedly close to the vest. The opening and closing pieces again feature Fahey"s guitar as drone soundbed - employing distortion, oscillation, and an altogether absurd quotient of reverb to create texture and harmonics that are - if we wanna go there - not dissimilar to the sustained tonic clusters of Tibetan singing bowls, the hurdy gurdy, Hindustani classical music, or La Monte freaking Young. Portions of this material appeared on obscure late "90s vinyl in the 7" or double-78 rpm format, but as a "session" it has lain dormant more than a quarter century now. Taken together, we can now see these tracks as secret blueprints to latter-day Fahey provocations, several years prior to records like 1997"s City of Refuge and Womblife.

For their fourth album, »Bear In Town«, indie avant-pop supergroup Spirit Fest made a virtue of distance, with group members split across Europe, and recording sessions taking place after a brief 2021 tour of Europe. It’s an object lesson in perseverance and commitment, as the music here is some of Spirit Fest’s most moving yet. The six songs on this album illuminate different aspects of the transnational quintet’s character – lovely, heart-rending pop songs; melancholy chants; the joys of simple repetition – with the group’s guitar pop tended by gentle flourishes of piano and electronics.

Some of those flourishes were spirited onto »Bear In Town« across the waves, with Mat Fowler (Bons, Jam Money) contributing from Britain, while the body of the music was recorded in a small apartment studio in Munich by the other members of Spirit Fest: Saya and Ueno (Tenniscoats), Markus Acher (The Notwist) and Cico Beck (Joasinho, Aloa Input). »Bear In Town« is concise and powerful, the infectious joy of the spirit communicated, beautifully, by melodies that balance the heartfelt with the melancholy. Reflecting on those sessions, Acher says, »I think the album captures how well we played together at that time.« It’s all the more impressive given this material was put down live in the studio, with a few vocal overdubs. The depth of feeling at the core of Spirit Fest’s music is evident from the opening notes of »Bear In Town«.

»Kou-Kou Land«, the first song on the album, recalls several earlier Tenniscoats songs, like »Baibaba Bimba«, in the way the musicians weave gentle complexity around a simple, repeated chant; the stop-start structure of »Kou-Kou Land« builds anticipation, while Saya’s simple melody is lovely, delivered in an absent-minded hum that’s deeply affecting. »Lost & Found« revolves around a delightful descending chord change that breaks up the swaying, folksy verses, gorgeous electronic whirrs and purring winds floating through the song. The following »In Our House« possesses such sweet sadness, it’s one of Spirit Fest’s most moving songs yet.

»Like A Plane« repurposes a song that Markus Acher originally wrote and recorded for his solo EP of the same title, released on a 2022 10-inch single on Morr Music. The original was a gentle, introverted lament, but the version on »Bear In Town« has a widescreen tenderness, its melancholy framed by raindrop piano. The album concludes with two moments of playful splendour, the bossa-inflected »Hill Blo«, and the driving title track, both led by Saya, who is in stunning voice on this album; on »Bear In Town«, her awestruck wonder perfectly captures the sense of possibility in the song’s capacious chords. Like the rest of the album, it’s full of kindness, rich with psych-pop splendour… a balm for troubled times.