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When The One ''O'' Ones originally released Radio Cosmo Disco back in 1977 it was confined to 7'', which is no place for such majestic cosmic groove exploration. Now Best Record are continuing their quest to repress every hidden gem of Italian dance music and beyond, and they're doing ''Radio Cosmo 101'' the right way. The full ''Disco Version'' of the track gets to stretch out on a full 12'' side, and does so in a dreamy haze of feel good funk. You can still hear the radio edit on the flip, and the original instrumental jam is included for those who want to drift away on those sumptuous tones of the backing track.

Espen Eriksen – piano Lars Tormod Jenset – bass Andreas Bye – drums Andy Sheppard – saxophone. The combination of Espen Eriksen Trio and UK saxophone giant Andy Sheppard is truly a match made in jazz heaven, and in the words of Andy: “I knew from the first time I heard the trio play that I would fit right in. I loved the melodic sense and vibe and was thrilled when I was invited to guest with the trio in London in 2016”. The common conclusion drawn in reviews of their first album Perfectly Unhappy five years ago was simply “more, please”, and now we are delighted to introduce As Good As It Gets, the quite brilliant follow-up. The two album titles aptly indicate a subtle change in mood, and it´s fair to say that the new album finds the trio slightly more lively and sunny in parts, still highly melodic and lyrical, often with a typically Nordic melancholic signature (check the Grieg nod in album closer Drifting Clouds). Eriksen is a master of catchy tunes and when Sheppard adds his inimitable playing to the trio´s minimalistic approach, magic is created. Espen Eriksen Trio was formed in 2007 and released their debut album in 2010. As Good As It Gets is their seventh album, all on Rune Grammofon. They have toured on four continents, becoming an increasingly popular concert attraction in several countries. Eriksen´s background is ranging from jazz to pop music and the church organ, while Jenset lived and worked as a musician in Copenhagen for seven years before relocating to Norway. Andreas Bye is one of Norway´s most requested drummers in jazz and pop and has played with Bugge Wesseltoft, John Scofield, Joshua Redman, Dhafer Yousef, Nils Petter Molvær and many others. With a career spanning over four decades, working together with the likes of George Russell, Gil Evans, Carla Bley, Steve Swallow and numerous others, Andy Sheppard is truly one of Europe’s leading saxophonists. As a leader he has recorded for labels like Antilles, Verve, Blue Note and lately four albums for ECM.

Rejoice Indie poppers, punks and pop kids - Sealed Records in conjunction with the band and BBC release all 14 tracks Dolly Mixture recorded for the BBC. You no longer have to listen to bad YouTube uploads… here are all the tracks remastered from original sources, and as an added treat featuring John Peel introducing them and three jingles the band recorded for Kid Jensen. The first session was recorded for John Peel in August 1979 and features the unreleased 'Dolly Mixture Theme Song’ which the band used to start gigs with and a super strong cover of Goffin and King’s ‘The Locomotion’. Four already Dolly Mixture classics from the time were also recorded including 'Dream Come True’, 'He’s So Frisky’, 'New Look Baby’ and 'Ernie Ball’. You can hear the excitement and joy and the sounds are so well recorded at it was Maida Vale Studios with top notch studio equipment and production. The next session from September 82 was recorded for Kid Jensen and shows a slighty more mature band, but the tracks are just as instant and lovable. These tracks have a more 60’s girl group sound but with more energy. Most people will know the tracks from the Demonstration Tapes album but these versions are better recorded and show the band moving forward. The last session from October 1983 was for Kid Jensen and again shows a band evolving but still with tunes that over forty years later are still loved and adored. All in all 14 perfectly rounded pop nuggets wrapped in a beautiful designed sleeve and poster by Paul Kelly

Rob Mello really needs no introduction, but you're getting one anyway.

Rob has been instrumental in putting UK House music on the map since the early 90's. Numerous legendary projects and collaborations, including the enormous Disco Elements series with Zaki Dee, Reel Houze & the exceptional, way-ahead-of-their-time psychedelic Disco / House jams via Sensory Productions, not forgetting his later, superb work for Classic.

Oh and did we forget Black Science Orchestra ?
Yeah, he was there too.

We helped out with some of Rob's early noughties DISCO45 releases (still sound absolutely amazing)
As well as the slo-mo sleaze (and a secret weapon) of Beulah Heights.

So what do we have here ?

Rob revives his No Ears moniker for a duo of perfectly crafted dancefloor delights.
Pieced together with diligence and more than a little trademark Mello funk, this is up there with his best work.

House hero, master craftsman and absolute gentleman.
Get on it !

After an international tour, the multi-instrumentalist FKJ presents his new 6-tracker jazz EP : Ylang Ylang

Produced in an intimate context, the project, both bright and melancholic, is a real journey within the artist's time capsule.

Its numerous instruments - often accompanied by warm choruses - between apotheosis and rhythmic lull, tell the different parts of his life. Story of musical and familial love, loneliness and passing time, this project spotlights his name, coming from a soothing local flower.

Full of influences, there is Bas - the first rapper signed on Dreamville, label created by J.Cole - on the single "Risk", which deals with similar themes. French Kiwi Juice introduces us to a sweet orchestral ballad. Finally, between gratitude and lightness, he states "I am still the same".

2023 Repress

First time on vinyl. 'Environments' is generally regarded as 'the great lost album' by The Future Sound Of London. It has taken on almost mythical status with the group's fan base. 'Environments' was due for release much sooner after the 1993 release of the UK Top 10 album hit 'Lifeforms', and only now is it being released - back on the group's original home, Jumpin' and Pumpin' Records.
This release also comes after the recent success of the Archive series which has so far sold over 20,000 units across the different volumes and still climbing.

To re-cap, Brian Dougans and Garry Cobain began their musical partnership and friendship in Manchester, England in the mid 1980s whilst the two were studying at Manchester University. Dougans had already been making electronic music for some time when they first began working in various local clubs. In 1988, Brian embarked on a project for the Stakker graphics company. The result was Stakker Humanoid.
In the following three years the pair produced music under a variety of aliases, followed by the breakthrough classic ambient dub track Papua New Guinea in 1992, which was also the first release under the Future Sound of London moniker.

Stix Records, a sub-label of Favorite Recordings, proudly presents Disco Reggae Vol. 5, pursuing the highly acclaimed series started 10 years ago.

Birth land of the Reggae music, Jamaica has also always been fed by Soul, Funk, R&B and Pop music from the US scene, delivering some of the best covers anyone could think of. With it’s Disco Reggae series, Stix Records therefore simply carried on this tradition, offering new versions of classic songs from a wide spectrum of musical styles.

On this 5th edition, the list extend to famous name such as The Undertones, Bobby Caldwell, Cerrone, Patti LaBelle, or Ray Parker Jr. to name a few. At the control to tailor these hits with new and exclusive Reggae suits, you’ll find the best producers from the Stix’ roster like Soul Sugar aka Booker Gee, Taggy Matcher, Simon Nyabinghi, or Mato.

Together they signed again a perfect soundtrack to extend your summer and fill your playlists, whether to light the dancefloors or just sip a nice cocktail facing the Negril’s sunset!

High-octane tour-de-force by legendary post-punk group, INU. Widely considered in Japan to be one of the all-time greatest punk records, 1981's Don’t Eat Food! remains shockingly unknown to the rest of the world. Led by literate but unhinged Machida Machizo, a magnetic stage presence who sang in a thick Osaka dialect that sounded like nothing else at the time, INU took Japan by storm in the late '70s with their powerful and often belligerent live show. Their membership changed frequently but INU's final lineup -- the group that recorded Don't Eat Food! -- was sharp as a knife, and the band's airtight debut still wows forty years later.

It's hard to describe INU's unique sound in comparison to other bands, but maybe imagine a more fidgety Richard Hell & The Voidoids jamming with PiL? Better yet, just listen for yourself.

This first-ever fully-licensed edition has been remastered from the original tapes and cut by Kevin Gray and includes an 8-page booklet with never-before-seen photos, lyrics in English and Japanese, and liner notes by Syojiro Ishibashi in English and Japanese.

'Capital Punishment is the debut studio album by Puerto Rican rapper Big Pun, released by RCA Records, Loud Records and Fat Joe's Terror Squad Productions. Released on April 28, 1998, it is the only album released during his lifetime and was regarded as "super groundbreaking" upon release. The album peaked at number five on the Billboard 200 charts and number one on the Top R&B Albums chart for two weeks. It was nominated for Best Rap Album at the 1999 Grammy Awards. Ltd double Black LP Vinyl

Zum 25-jährigen Jubiläum von Big Puns legendärem Debütalbum "Capital Punishment" erscheint diese 2xLP-Edition auf schwarzem Vinyl. Das ursprünglich 1998 veröffentlichte Album etablierte Big Pun als einen der begabtesten Songschreiber in der Geschichte des Hip-Hop und zeigt seinen unglaublichen Flow und seinen brillanten Wortwitz. Durch die Zusammenarbeit mit Hip-Hop Schwergewichten wie Fat Joe, Inspectah Deck und Busta Rhymes enthält "Capital Punishment" einige der kultigsten Hip-Hop Tracks, darunter "I'm Not A Player", "Twinz (Deep Cover 98)" und "You Came Up".

Acclaimed NY-based singer songwriter Jordan Lee aka Mutual
Benefit announces ‘Growing At The Edges’, on Transgressive
Records, his first record since 2019.
 ‘Growing at the Edges’ is sonically expansive, artfully blending
genres from country to classical with the help of multifaceted
co-producer Gabriel Birnbaum (Wilder Maker) and critically
acclaimed string arranger Concetta Abbate. The band,
alongside Lee and Birnbaum, was made up of Wilder Maker
members Sean Mullins (Andy Shauf) and Nick Jost (Baroness)
and features help from Jonnie Baker of Florist and Eva
Goodman of Nighttime among others.
 “I approached ‘Growing at the Edges’ as an act of worldbuilding. It was a place we visited often over the past 5 years
collaging and sonically redecorating until it reflected the joy and
the pain of being human in a universe that will always be
changing. I wanted to make music that could simultaneously
mourn versions of the past but still find hope in the seedlings
which could, perhaps, bloom into better futures” - Jordan Lee
 The album cover is a purposefully ‘unfinished’ weaving by fibre
artist Natalie Phillips.
 “I had this theme for ‘Growing at the Edges’ where I was
thinking about the first little life forms that pop up after
something natural like winter or less natural like a disaster and
kind of channeling their spirit for the art and music. That got me
imagining one of Natalie’s beautiful weavings but in-process
with stray yarn and loom still visible. Incomplete yet still
beautiful. I couldn’t be happier with how it turned out.”
 Mutual Benefit’s live shows are known for their rotating cast of
wide-ranging musicians leading to inspired interpretations of the
extensive catalogue on notable stages like MoMA’s sculpture
garden or UK’s Green Man Festival as well as the occasional
surprise park or basement show at home in Brooklyn.
 Throughout the years Mutual Benefit has been in Album Of The
Year lists among Pitchfork and Stereogum, as well as Folk
Musician Of The Year by New York’s Village Voice.

In 1964 Dave Davies of the Kinks singlehandedly made rock history when he sliced his little green Elpico amp speaker with a razor blade. Little did he know he was creating the 1st heavy metal guitar tone and riff in rock n roll, which he played on his band The Kinks' worldwide hit 'You Really Got Me.' Nearly fifty years after influencing generations of guitarists Dave continues to rock and tour. His 2013 return to the U.S. to support the album I Will Be Me was a triumph both creatively and spiritually as he found new inspiration for his soon to be follow up album, the highly acclaimed, Rippin Up Time. Released in 2014, Dave embarked on yet another U.S. tour to support it. He was joined by Jonathan Lea on guitar, Tom Currier on bass and keyboards and legendary drummer Dennis Diken of the Smithereens. The tour swept through venues in Milwaukee, Chicago, New Jersey, NYC and many more. Jim Sclavunos played drums for one gig in Bethlehem, PA. On every date Dave Davies and band played a highly charged set of solo album favorites, Kinks classics and new tracks. At the City Winery NYC on November 24 and 25, 2014 Dave and band put on an amazing concert to an audience of new and longtime Kinks fans, music industry stars and legends. They delivered two exhilarating nights of performances that rocked and ripped up the city's nightlife.

Limited Black & White Swirl Vinyl. On December 29, 2012, three songs into Chastity Belt's first KEXP in-studio, something extraordinary happened: they shared "Black Sail" with the world. That year, I'd seen Chastity Belt play countless basement, bar, and DIY shows all over Seattle, but nothing could've prepared me for how my friends turned patience and quiet observation into something so affecting and effortlessly cool. Ten years later, "Black Sail" isn't just a fan favorite - it's practically a statement of purpose for the great albums that followed. But before those records, there was No Regerts: the sound of four friends evolving from a party band into a "real" one (whatever that means) in real-time. They're above it all on "Seattle Party," "Happiness," and "Evil," but remain the sirens of Whitman College's cursed frat houses - see the explosive choruses of "James Dean," "Healthy Punk," and "Pussy Weed Beer." When No Regerts came out in the summer of 2013, Seattle - and the world at large - took notice. I still hear these songs in surprising places, and they still surprise me - just as they did a decade ago. If you missed out the first time, this is your second chance.

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If you were to ask for a defining Habibi Funk track, there are a few that come to mind: from Fadoul’s “Sid Redad,” Dalton’s “Soul Brother” to Ahmed Malek’s “Omar Gatlato.” However, none are as widely connected with us at this point as Hamid Al Shaeri’s “Ayonha.” We heard the track for the first time when we were working on selecting tracks for your first compilation and we instantly loved it. We obviously had heard of Hamid El Shaeri’s music before, but only material from his Al Jeel phase when he was already the full-blown
superstar he is now.

Listening to his releases from the early 1980’s opened a whole new door for us. At the time, Hamid had just left Libya to pursue his career in Egypt via a detour in London, where he recorded his
first album. Hamid’s distinct sound of the sound is quintessentially reliant on heavy synths and so it was particularly important to purchase these synths in a timely manner. “Whenever a new one synthesizer would come out, we would have to buy it immediately, otherwise someone else would get their hands on that sound.” London also played an important role for Hamid as a musical epicenter.

He fondly reminisces about the many live shows he attended there, including some of the biggest international musicians like Freddie Mercury and Michael Jackson. After returning to Cairo where he also recorded his following albums, he connected with SLAM! for the
release of his debut, laying the foundation of a collaboration that lasted for 5 albums. Luckily, we were able to connect with Hamid through our friend Youssra El Hawary, whose extensive network has opened many doors for us within the Egyptian music scene. We met Hamid for the first time probably in 2016 at his office / rehearsal studio in the outskirts Cairo. We were expecting a larger-than-life
character in-line with his status as a certified superstar, yet the actual person turned out to be very approachable and super easy to connect with. He liked the idea of an effort to amplify his early works again,
which, when originally released, were far from an economic success.

While he was down to assist with an interview and his blessing for the project he also told us that for any license we needed to speak with the original label SLAM! who released these songs, still held the rights and also remained in business over the decades though they didn’t actively release any new music. Hany Sabet had started SLAM! records in the early 1980s and focused on cassette tape releases, the
format that expedited the success of a new generation of record labels in Egypt. By the mid 1980’s, SLAM! had become one of the most successful and economically dominant record labels in Egypt, with Hamid El Shaeri being just one of their key artists, alongside Mohamed Mounir, Hanan, Hakim, Mustafa Amar and many more. Luckily, Hany Sabet turned out to be a friend of our colleague Malak Makar’s father, which probably helped to warm him to the idea of licen- sing “Ayonha” to this - in the scale of his world - tiny label
from Germany. Eventually “Ayonha” ended up becoming a widely successful release and either Hany or we brought up the idea of a full album dedicated to Hamid El Shaeri’s work on SLAM!.


"Maktoub Aleina” is the first single and will be released January 14th. Following the massive success of "Ayonha,” “Maktoub Aleina” is another mid-tempo groover with a beautiful, synth-forward melody, that brings together a lovely combination of soul, disco and Arabic pop music of the highest order, giving a taste of full album. The second single, “Yekfini Nesma Sotak” will be released January 28th and combines Hamid’s unique formula of soul and pop, held together by a catchy synth melody. “Yekfini Nesma Sotak” picks up the
pace a bit, making the uplifting mood of the track even more powerful. Third single, arriving February 11th, is “Dari Demou’ek,” one of the stand out tracks of Hamid’s early recordings done for SLAM! in the early 1980s. Dominated by a disco infused bassline, the track offers a lot of space of the funky production to shine while Hamid inserts his vocals at all the right moments. A masterpiece of disco touched by Arabic pop music.

Full album arrives February 25th. This release is dedicated to Hany Sabet, the founder of SLAM! and his wife Rosemary Jane Sabet (who
took the photos we used for the cover and the booklet), who sadly passed away during the time it took us to prepare the release.
Vinyl comes with an extensive booklet with an interview with Hamid as well as unseen photos

Hania Rani announces her new album, Ghosts, bringing her songwriting and beautiful vocals to the fore and featuring special guests Patrick Watson, Olafur Arnalds and Duncan Bellamy (Portico Quartet). Ghosts will be released via Gondwana Records, followed by Hania"s most monumental tour to date, with shows in the EU, US and Canada. Ghosts is the sound of an ever-evolving artist and, just as the album"s title suggests she passes repeatedly and gracefully between musical worlds: as composer, singer, songwriter, and producer. This album builds on Rani"s earlier successes Esja and Home with an expanded yet still minimal setup of piano, keyboards, synths (most importantly her Prophet) and features more of her mysterious, bewitching voice. Its spirit is warm, beckoning one into an ambitious double album that unfolds at an exquisite pace, informed by her revelatory, exploratory live performances. Ghosts is also an album of collaborations as Rani is joined by Patrick Watson, who breathes unearthly life into the ethereal "Dancing with Ghosts". "Whispering House"is written and recorded with her friend, Olafur Arnalds and casts a peaceful, ineluctable spell; and Portico Quartet"s Duncan Bellamy contributes vital loops to "Don"t Break My Heart" and "Thin Line".

STONEMILLER INC. spielen ehrlichen und kompromisslosen Hard Rock!

Freut euch auf ein Feuerwerk an mächtigen Gitarrenriffs, eingängigen und stadiontauglichen Melodien mit hohem Wiedererkennungswert, einer donnernden Rhythmusfraktion, sowie der einzigartigen und unverwechselbaren Stimme von Sänger Francis Soto!
STONEMILLER INC. transportieren den Hard-Rock-Sound der 80er Jahre mit ihrem eigenen, unverwechselbaren Stil in das neue Jahrtausend: Ehrlich, bodenständig und kompromisslos.
Diese Songs haben ihren ganz eigenen Charme und werden euch mit Sicherheit in ihren Bann ziehen!

Reissue des in Paris aufgenommenen und im Disco-Jahr 1978 erschienenen Albums 'Sun Explosion' von Manu Dibango. Die LP umfasst 4 Titel mit einer Länge von jeweils 7-9 min und einer Vielzahl von Stilen, von lässigem Reggae-Jazz und traditionellem Afro-Funk-Jazz bis zu vom Disco-Sound inspirierten, episch-funky Strings, lebhaften Bläsern und funky Xylophon-Klängen. Ein Album, das im heutigen Musikklima überraschend zu Hause zu sein scheint.

The Mapendo album of the Mighty Cavaliers, up to today, has been shrouded in mystery. If you look at the original cover of this very rare Kenyan funk-infused album all you will find are the names of the engineer and the producer, as EMI Kenya omitted the names of the musicians and the songwriters. Digging deeper a rather sinister story of deceit develops whereby Mapendo becomes symbolic for all what was wrong about the Kenyan record industry in the 1970s, and the music industry in Africa as a whole. As this maltreatment of artists proved endemic throughout the continent, although little talked about.

One of the three surviving members of the Mighty Cavaliers, bass player Bonnie Wanda - who started his career in 1971 with Gloria Africana - vividly remembers participating in the recording of the two albums the band made in 1976 and 1977 - Fisherman and Mapendo - and how they, especially on the last album, got short-changed by shrewd record label executives. In the 1960s it was mostly Indian and European record bosses that called the shots and usually gave musicians the chance of a one-off payment for their session time and recorded songs or wait for - hopefully - a generous royalty check. In most cases records didn't sell more than a thousand copies with an occasional hit selling in the tens of thousands, so musicians were reluctant to register themselves with the Music Copyright Society of Kenya. Although without doing so one couldn't receive royalties.

'For two years the Mighty Cavaliers performed five nights a week at the Starlight Club for five hour sets.

The re-release of Mapendo, the first of the German Want Some Records label, is another exciting puzzle piece in the tapestry of groovy Kenyan music. It proves that there are still great gems out there to be re-discovered for audiences worldwide.

Text written by Michiel van Oosterhout

This Album is dedicated to the musicians
Bonnie Wanda, Rashid Salim, Vuli Yeni, Juma Waweru Njuguna and Athmani 'guitar boy'."

Limited Loser Edition on Mustard Yellow vinyl. In 1988 Mudhoney released their debut 7" single, "Touch Me I'm Sick," and it rapidly became the defining anthem of the Seattle scene that, shortly thereafter, took the world by storm. Punk? Garage? G****e? Who cares when it rips this much! The B side, "Sweet Young Thing Ain't Sweet No More," ain't no slouch, either. Later in 1988, the band followed up with Superfuzz Bigmuff, a six-song EP so overflowing with chaotic rock energy it warped thousands of minds, and inspired countless guitarists to immediately search for the titular fuzz pedals. In the words of Dynamite Hemmorage's Jay Hinman: "My feeling - and I know I'm not alone in this one - is that for all the play and worldwide attention several Seattle-area bands got during the 1988-92 period, at the end of the day (and even at the time), there was Mudhoney - and then there was everybody else. To me, you, and most everyone who was paying close attention to underground rock music during those years, Mudhoney still sound like the undisputed kingpins of roaring, surging, fuzzed-out, punk rock music. These first recordings were so life-affirming upon their release, connecting everything great about the sixties (biker movies, fuzzboxes, old guitars, three-minute songs) with the frothing, punk rock of the early 80s, that a whole new style of music was born. They called it grunge, but to me it was amped-up, clear-the-room, ramalama rock that exploded like Nagasaki live, and it was about as joyous and as fun a noise as anyone'd heard in years." These 2023 colored-vinyl editions of the two releases celebrate the 35th anniversary of Mudhoney's opening salvos, and we couldn't be more excited to have them back in print.

Alien Transistor is proud to announce a reissue of Such December, the fourth album by Japanese indie folk-pop artist, Gratin Carnival. Listeners might already know Gratin Carnival from their appearance on the Alien Parade Japan compilation of indie pop groups working with brass and woodwind; compiled by Markus Acher of The Notwist and Saya of Tenniscoats, it introduced this beautiful genre to the wider world. Gratin Carnival’s “Just Watching” was one of the many highlights of that compilation, and its gentle bossa-folk glide reappears on Such December.

Originally released in 2020, Such December captures beautifully the happy-sad charm of Gratin Carnival. The project of Koreyuki Mitsunaga, Gratin Carnival started in 2011; Mitsunaga had been home recording for some time and decided on the name as an umbrella for his music-making. Mitsunaga’s main instruments are guitar, which he uses to great effect throughout, his gorgeous acoustic playing reminiscent of players like Ueno Takashi of Tenniscoats or João Gilberto, and alto saxophone and clarinet. Those three instruments make up the core of Gratin Carnival’s sound, along with Mitsunaga’s charmingly doleful singing.

Recording at his parents’ home, with a four-track cassette recorder and a MacBook, Mitsunaga created Such December during 2020, though the songs on it stretch back to 2016. The closing “On The Train” was the first song written for the album – “a song about a small trip,” Mitsunaga recalls – and from there, he built a beautiful collection of songs that sit together perfectly. There’s great clarity in Mitsunaga’s writing, with nothing extraneous getting in the way of the lucid arrangements and gorgeous melodies; there’s something of chamber jazz about it at times, so it’s no surprise that Mitsunaga shares his love of Benny Goodman’s small group playing.

He's also a fan of Japanese folk artists like Kenji Endo and Kyouzou Nishioka, and grew up listening to Japanese popular music, The Beatles, and The Carpenters. You can hear trace elements of all this in Such December, in the clear-headedness of the melodic decisions made by Mitsunaga, and the quiet charm of the song’s gentle arrangements. They take on different shapes live, too, where Mitsunaga often invites other musicians to join in – his live band currently includes Masafumi Ezaki (trumpet), Nahoko Kamei (bass clarinet, piano, keyboards) and Tadashi Yonago (trombone, self-made instruments).

As with plenty of musicians from the Japanese underground, Mitsunaga is involved in other music, too – he’s been working with The Otoasobi Project, which performs music in collaboration with individuals with learning disabilities, and their families; and he’s also involved in improvised music. With Such December, though, you get to hear Mitsunaga’s music at its most personal and individual, ten songs of still, gorgeously poised indie folk-pop, where the swooning clang of six strings meets the breathy bliss of woodwind and brass.

Hier hatten sich die Klänge aus dem nahen Mali und Guinea mit den lokalen Stilen vermischt und eine reiche Musikszene hervorgebracht: Bands wie Bembeya Jazz, Super Djata Band und andere Mandingue-Giganten gehörten zu den Bestsellern der Region. Leon Keïta, eine feste Größe in der malischen Musikszene, wurde 1947 in Conakry an der Atlantikküste von Guinea geboren. Leon half bei der Gründung der legendären Rail-Band, die zu einer gefeierten Stütze des Nachtlebens in Bamako wurde und die internationalen Karrieren von Salif Keita, Mory Kanté u.v.a. begründete. Leon selbst schloss sich Les Ambassadeurs Internationaux an, mit denen er durch Westafrika tourte, bevor er sich der Arbeit an seinen eigenen Kompositionen zuwandte. Als Leon bereit war, ins Aufnahmestudio zu gehen, lud er seine Freunde von Les Ambassadeurs Internationaux ein, ihm als Begleitband zu dienen; aus dieser Zusammenarbeit gingen zwei Platten hervor, die beide 1978 auf dem Label Papa Disco veröffentlicht wurden. Ein Jahr später veröffentlichte Leon "Rythmes et Mélodies du Mali", das er gemeinsam mit seinem Bruder Germain geschrieben hatte und das vom großartigen Orchestre Black Santiago begleitet wurde. Obwohl Leon nicht viele Soloaufnahmen gemacht hat, erwecken seine Lieder weiterhin die Verehrung aller, die das Glück haben, sie zu hören. In den letzten Jahren wurde der Song "Dalaka" von Carlos Estrada, dem Betreiber des Soundsystems in Barranquilla, wiederentdeckt und wurde zu einem unerwarteten Hit an der kolumbianischen Karibikküste. Zwölf Jahre nach der Veröffentlichung der von der Kritik hochgelobten Bambara Mystic Soul Compilation taucht diese neue Zusammenstellung erneut tief in die Mandingue-Kultur ein, die während Leon Keïtas legendären Sessions Ende der 70er Jahre aufgenommen wurden.

Jacob Bellens’ new solo Off My Meds took shape over two turbulent years in Jacob’s life. Several major life events happened back to back in a very short time, and it ended up breaking him down to a point of total exhaustion. The energy needed to uphold the outer self we all need to function was no longer there, and his inner actual beliefs and values began to show themselves one by one, which was not pretty to look at. Change was inevitable, simply because the price of not changing would be much higher in the long term.

The album is a pop-poem about accepting the premise of the life given to you. It is an ode to the perils of modern existence and our birthgiven right to love, laugh and cry, whatever hand we may have been dealt to begin with. Lyrically it is centered around self care and the courage to love someone and be loved in return. About taking responsibility for everything in your life instead of using your life history as an excuse for not living, no matter how tragic or unique your situation might be or seem to yourself.
Musically it draws upon an eclectic mix of influences and genres, while still maintaining a distinct underlying red thread throughout the album. It is a melancholic funk hybrid with a positive DNA, and though it sounds like pop music in the best sense of the word, it doesn’t quite look and feel like pop music. It is rather a collection of sounds and feelings put into words that are deeply personal - but personal for all.

Tim Allhoffs musikalischer Mix vereint klassische Eleganz à la Bach und Edvard Grieg, mitreißende Singer-Songwriter-Essenz, beruhigenden Jazz und neu interpretierte Pop-Cover. Das Album „Silence Is Something You Can Actually Hear" lädt dazu ein, innezuhalten, zu atmen und sich der berührenden Musik hinzugeben. Die Kooperation mit dem Morphing Chamber Orchestra und dem Signum Saxophone Quartet bereichert die Reise. Besonders beeindruckend ist Tim Allhoffs Eigenkomposition „KANON" mit verzaubernden Saxophonharmonien.

Inspiriert von Haruki Murakami, verkörpert der Titel des Albums die Essenz und entführt in ein Reich langsamer Zeit und tröstender unausgesprochener Noten. Dies ist mehr als ein Album - eine 50-minütige Ruheoase, in der Musik zum Flüstern des Herzens wird. Die Stille spricht hier.

The 1990 debut album from Pale Saints, The Comforts of Madness, is an outstanding record that owed as much to post-punk and L.A."s Paisley Underground scene than it did to shoegaze. The Sunday Times called it "an unintended indie manifesto: music that is at once wayward and concise, dissonant and beautiful." Shortly after its release and in need of a second live guitarist, Lush founding member Meriel Barham joined the Leeds trio of Ian Masters, Graeme Naysmith and Chris Cooper, bringing a new dynamic to the band. Having previously worked well with producer Hugh Jones (Echo & The Bunnyman, Modern English, The Sound), he did a brilliant job recording their second album, In Ribbons (1992), despite some studio tensions. Brooklyn Vegan said in a recent celebration of the album that it was the "push and pull between Masters" outsider tendencies and (the rest"s) commercial interests that makes In Ribbons so good. If some of the wild, ragged edges of Comforts of Madness have been smoothed off, the album makes up for it with scope and beauty. And there"s still no shortage of weird." Missing its original release date last year due to Covid delays and a production plant in meltdown, In Ribbons is finally getting the 30th Anniversary celebration it deserves with a special double LP / CD release - the first disc being the UK version of the album, the second a bonus disc of never before heard demos (including their first attempt at Slapp Happy"s "Blue Flower" and Ian"s 4 track recording of "Kinky Love") and two brass band versions by The Tintwistle Band.

The 1990 debut album from Pale Saints, The Comforts of Madness, is an outstanding record that owed as much to post-punk and L.A."s Paisley Underground scene than it did to shoegaze. The Sunday Times called it "an unintended indie manifesto: music that is at once wayward and concise, dissonant and beautiful." Shortly after its release and in need of a second live guitarist, Lush founding member Meriel Barham joined the Leeds trio of Ian Masters, Graeme Naysmith and Chris Cooper, bringing a new dynamic to the band. Having previously worked well with producer Hugh Jones (Echo & The Bunnyman, Modern English, The Sound), he did a brilliant job recording their second album, In Ribbons (1992), despite some studio tensions. Brooklyn Vegan said in a recent celebration of the album that it was the "push and pull between Masters" outsider tendencies and (the rest"s) commercial interests that makes In Ribbons so good. If some of the wild, ragged edges of Comforts of Madness have been smoothed off, the album makes up for it with scope and beauty. And there"s still no shortage of weird." Missing its original release date last year due to Covid delays and a production plant in meltdown, In Ribbons is finally getting the 30th Anniversary celebration it deserves with a special double LP / CD release - the first disc being the UK version of the album, the second a bonus disc of never before heard demos (including their first attempt at Slapp Happy"s "Blue Flower" and Ian"s 4 track recording of "Kinky Love") and two brass band versions by The Tintwistle Band.

Erste Vinylreissue eines Harold Budd-Klassikers, der ursprünglich 1988 erschien. 'The White Arcades' wurde teilweise im Studio der Cocteau Twins aufgenommen und mit Hilfe von Robin Guthrie und Brian Eno produziert. Die ungezwungene Mischung aus glitzernden Synthesizern, klaren Klaviertönen, nebligen Texturen und Raum ergibt ein wunderschönes, kontemplatives Ganzes.

'Obwohl ihre Aura ätherisch und weltfremd ist, ist Buddhas Musik tatsächlich eine beispielhafte Form von menschlich nützlicher Musik. Wenn die alltäglichen Dringlichkeiten des Lebens oder der Unsinn unserer politischen Kultur einen aus der Fassung bringen, was heutzutage so gut wie jeden Tag der Fall ist, kann man diese Musik auflegen und ihre Stille und Anmut in sich aufnehmen. Seine Platten sind genau die Art von Musik, die man bei einem Trauerfall spielen würde, um Ruhe und Trost zu finden - oder bei einer Trauerfeier, bei der jemand zur letzten Ruhe gebettet wird. Harold Budd klingt wie der Himmel auf Erden.' - Simon Reynolds

Ltd. Auflage auf transparentem Vinyl im Gatefold mit Archivmaterial - Harold Budd im Interview mit Carl Stone - plus Download-Code.

Quartabê’s identity was built upon the metaphor of the classroom: the group sees itself as a school class, which chooses its own teachers from among great masters of Brazilian music. Assuming that the learning and creative processes have in common experimentation and play, the quartet is characterized by its bold versions coupled with irreverent performance.


In addition woto its sound, marked by the group’s various music references - from the São Paulo avant-garde movement to the free improvisation, passing through pop and electronic music - Quartabê also stands out for the formation composed mostly of women who, besides instrumentalists are also arrangers, composers, singers and improvisers - which is unusual in Brazil and it has high political relevance in a music scene where positions of creation and power are still held disproportionately by men. The band started its studies by recording a first album about the work of maestro Moacir Santos, “Lição # 1: Moacir” (2015). After performing this show in Brazil and Europe, the group took a break to record ‘Depê’ (2017), also dedicated to the oeuvre of Santos. In 2018 Quartabê released their third album, starting new studies: “Lição # 2: Dorival”, which was released by the Natura Musical / label RISCO

Baby Queen veröffentlicht ihr Debütalbum „Quarter Life Crisis“.

Das Album stellt für die leidenschaftliche Künstlerin ein Zeichen ihrer Reise als Künstlerin dar. Mit ihrem „Bedroom-Pop“ Sound begeistert die gebürtige Südafrikanerin, welche 2016 nach London zog, Fans auf der ganzen Welt. Ihren Durchbruch schaffte die talentierte Sängerin mit der Netflix Serie „Heartstopper“ für welche sie den Titelsong „Colors Of You“ schrieb. Des Weiteren wurden in der erfolgreichen Serie ihre Hits wie „Want Me“ & „Dover Beach“ aufgenommen. Baby Queen kreiert ihren eigenen Stil in dem sie Pop Sounds mit einer punkigen Aggression kombiniert.

Das Album ist als CD und Vinyl erhältlich.

Sechs lange Jahre mussten Fans auf ein neues Album der amerikanischen Metal-Band Prong warten. Die Gründe: die Pandemie mit all ihren Unsicherheiten und Verwerfungen, aber auch erfreuliche Ereignisse im Privatleben von Sänger und Gitarrist Tommy Victor.

Doch nun sind Prong zurück, und zwar mit einem wahren Paukenschlag: ‚State Of Emergency‘ ist das erhofft fesselnde Werk geworden, mit der gewohnt unbändigen Energie einer Gruppe, die bereits seit Mitte der Achtziger an vorderster Front agiert. Und mit einem Ideenreichtum, wie er typischer für diese Band kaum sein könnte: „Es ist ein echtes Prong-Album. Es ignoriert nicht nur jedes Genre, sondern auch das, was heutzutage da draußen vor sich geht“, umreißt Bandgründer Victor die stilistische Ausrichtung der elf Songs.

Über seinen künstlerischen Ansatz sagt er: „Ich mag alle Arten von Musik. Diese Platte passt dazu, da sie viele Facetten abdeckt.

Gleichzeitig ist ‚State Of Emergency‘ sehr gitarrenorientiert und ein gutes Beispiel für meinen Stil aus Punk, Metal, Post-Punk-Lärm, etwas Doom, Blues und Thrash, mit einem ziemlich geradlinigen Gesang. Insgesamt herrscht auf dem Album ein aggressives Ostküsten-Flair.“

Zudem gibt es im August und November große Europatourneen.

Colbie Caillat ist eine meisterhafte Geschichtenerzählerin, deren luftige Folk-Pop-Songs aus SoCal sich mit schimmernden Country Songs vermischen, die sowohl den Schmerz des Endes als auch die Hoffnung auf das, was kommt, wenn man mutig genug ist, seinem wilden Herzen zu folgen, verkörpern.

Auf ihrer musikalischen Reise und beim Experimentieren mit neuen Klängen hat Caillat einen Moment in ihrem Leben in einem Lied festgehalten. Die in Kalifornien aufgewachsene und in Nashville lebende Sängerin singt voller Dankbarkeit dafür, dass sie diese Liebe kennengelernt hat und so viele Lektionen gelernt und die Freuden auf ihrem Weg geteilt zu haben. "Die Liebe, die ihr geteilt habt, sollte nicht verschwendet werden:
Ihr helft euch gegenseitig zu wachsen und ein weiserer und weiterentwickelter Mensch. Wir mussten zusammen sein, um zu werden, was wir heute sind, auch wenn wir nicht zusammen enden.

Neil Gust und Elliott Smith kamen im Sommer 1991 gemeinsam nach Portland, OR, um mit dem Schlagzeuger/Produzenten Tony Lash eine neue Band zu gründen. Innerhalb eines Jahres, nachdem sie den Bassisten Brandt Peterson am Bass kennengelernt hatten, spielten sie an der gesamten Westküste und nahmen Dutzende von Songs für ihre erste LP auf. Sechs dieser Stücke wurden auf der Kassette "The Music of Heatmiser" veröffentlicht, die bei Konzerten und in örtlichen Plattenläden verkauft und an Plattenlabels verteilt wurde. Der Sound der Band hat sich im Laufe von 3 LPs stark verändert, aber das hier ist Heatmiser direkt "in your face".

Neu, energiegeladen, aufgeregt, sich schnell durch die Stile bewegend, total kaputt und auf jede erdenkliche Weise funktionierend.

Was auch immer möglich ist. Es ist Gitarrenrock, mit voller Wucht, durch 100 Watt Marshall-Halfstacks, als Grunge im pazifischen Nordwesten aufkam und die Szene in Portland explodierte.Schnell, tight, laut, lustig.

c Guess You Didn't Love Me Rap [Featuring] – Mos Def

Capra made a name for themselves with the adrenaline jolt that is In Transmission, and return with their riveting sophomore effort Errors. Maintaining all the elements that made their 2021 debut so compelling--raucous energy, frantic riffs, the from-the-gut lyrics and soul-searing delivery of vocalist Crow Lotus—they’ve stepped things up, with stronger songwriting and a determination reach the next level. “We wanted to create something authentic, something real and honest. Nothing more and nothing less,” says Lotus. Adds guitarist Tyler Harper, “I knew that I wanted it to pick up where the first album left off, but that it needed to have an entirely new attitude. If you listen to the last song from In Transmission into the first song on Errors, it’s a continuation. From there the album steers off into a direction that still feels similar, but is new.” Coming primarily from a hardcore background but incorporating elements of metal that complement the overall tone, everything the band do on Errors resonates with emotion; nothing is forced. Kicking off with the vicious “CHSF,” which is pure sonic bile and pounds the listener, they work their way through “Silana,” with its grinding, punishing riff, and the thrashy “Kingslayer.” The LP culminates with the frankly gorgeous “Nora,” showing yet another dimension to their sound. “My main goals going in were to structure the songs to let the vocals shine more often, more breakdowns, and to keep the raw attitude of the first album alive,” says Harper. “This album is a party. A heavy, fast, fun, loud party. The first album was definitely more chaotic but this one brings something to the table for everyone to enjoy.”

Horros, the third album by Finnish sonic voyagers Virta, is issued in September 2023. With Horros, Virta build on and take into new terrain the questing, jazz-tinged electroacoustic adventures of their last album, December 2016’s Hurmos, and its predecessor, their November 2012 debut Tales From Deep Waters. Still recognisable as who they were, the Virta of 2023 now delves further than ever before into their inner world to craft their most affecting, most atmospheric and most cinematic music to date. Even so, Horros does not need to be accompanied by images – it envelops so much that signposts are unnecessary. The music itself is the guide through this sound world. The creators of this environment are Antti Hevosmaa (electronics, flugelhorn, trumpet, vocals), Erik Fräki (electronics, drums, percussion, vocals) and Heikki Selamo (bass, electronics, guitar, lap steel, vocals). Together as Virta – which translates from Finnish as electricity, energy or stream – the trio were acclaimed as a “cornerstone of Finnish experimental music” by Finnish daily by newspaper Savon Sanomat in 2016. Horros will ensure this status becomes the case internationally. Beyond Finland, Virta already have dedicated listeners in Canada, France, Germany, Poland, the United States and the UK. Reflecting on Horros, Antti says “We’ve always made music we want to listen to ourselves. We’ve asked what is the sound we want to listen to? We are digging deeper now, with new elements – more vocals. Lyrics too, which we haven’t done before.” Without sacrificing who they are, Virta now have a wider scope than ever. “A key idea with Virta is to make the music you hear in your head and share it with people,” adds Heikki. “Yes, to share what is in our heads,” agrees Erik. “But also, it becomes live music, that’s the point

Orions Belte has been a steady supplier of groovy, catchy and dreamy instrumental pop since their 2018 debut album Mint. Women is their third studio album, but that doesn’t tell the whole truth when you also count their two live albums with accompanying films, three EP’s and a huge project where each of the members released their own solo album under the Orions Belte moniker. The three musicians rarely sit still, and the inspiration seems to be endless. This is probably also why their music is in such high demand. As usual, all the songwriting and production is done by the band members themselves, and this time they have put a lot of effort into making everything bigger and more powerful than on the previous records. The string arrangements flow easily throughout the record. It almost feels like releasing a million balloons all at once while lying looking at the night sky and dreaming of road trips on bumpy country roads through the Amazon in Brazil. There is always a great span to the Norwegian trio's songs, and on Women we are served noisy guitar riffs on "Silhouettes", cinematic string arrangements on "I Will Always Miss You", irresistible and catchy summer vibes on "Jai Alai", while Louien (Live Solberg) contributes beautiful vocals on the almost mournful "When You're Gone, I'll Be Gone". Matias Tellez is – as expected of an Orions Belte release – involved in the mix, while Ola Kvernberg and Øyvind Torvund have written string arrangements.

Classic Soul album! If this 1972 record for the Paula Records was the sum total of Dallas, Texas soul man, Bobby Patterson’s career, then he would still be a cult figure among R&B fans.

This is a stone soul masterpiece, full of grit and groove with a breathtaking stylistic breadth from funky soul to romantic soul balladry.

Re-issued for the first time on virgin black vinyl

Every soul-searcher needs this one.

Ane Brun hat das Jahr 2023 damit verbracht, die letzten zwei Jahrzehnte ihrer Musik zu rekapitulieren, in denen sie zehn Studioalben aufgenommen, unzählige Konzerte gespielt und sich als eine der beliebtesten Künstlerinnen Skandinaviens etabliert hat. Zum Abschluss dieses feierlichen Kapitels ihrer Karriere startet Brun heute in Helsinki ihre Jubiläumstournee und teilt eine weitere Sammlung mit ihren Fans. "Rarities 2" versammelt 14 Songs aus den Jahren 2007 bis heute, 10 davon bisher komplett unveröffentlicht. Zu den Highlights gehören Bruns Version von ABBAs "SOS", die 2009 live in Stockholm mit Benny Andersson von ABBA höchstselbst am Klavier aufgenommen wurde, und eine neue Version ihrer äußerst beliebten Coverversion von Beyoncés "Halo", die für die Akustikgitarre umgestaltet wurde. Das Album erscheint mit exklusiven neuen Artworks des preisgekrönten schwedischen Illustrators Jesper Waldersten.

Indonesian trio Grrrl Gang builds on their considerable worldwide buzz with Spunky!, their full-length debut album. Released on 22 September 2023 by Green Island Music in partnership with exclusive licensees Kill Rock Stars (United States), Trapped Animal Records (United Kingdom) and Big Romantic Records (Japan and Taiwan), the album is preceded by its title track and first single dropped on May 30, featured from the same title of the album, 'Spunky!' Spunky! arrives following some major life changes for Angeeta Sentana (vocals, guitar), Akbar Rumandung (bass, vocals), and Edo Alventa (guitar, vocals), including a switch in locale from Yogyakarta, the city where they formed the band while still in college. “This is Grrrl Gang’s first release after we graduated and got day jobs that made us have to move to Jakarta, which is undeniably 180 degrees compared to Jogja,” says Rumandung. “But moving to Jakarta enabled us to work with Lafa on Spunky! from start to finish.” The song itself essentially describes Sentana's experience during a manic episode. “I feel like I’m on top of the world, untouchable. I do things without thinking, always chasing after that feeling of instant gratification. I feel extra confident in myself to a point of grandiose thinking and that I could do anything,” Sentana explains. That would be Lafa Pratomo, the in-demand producer brought in to help shape the ten tracks that make up Spunky! With a resume that includes the likes of the chanteuse Danilla and legendary singer-songwriter Iwan Fals, Pratomo might not seem the obvious choice to take the Grrrl Gang producer’s chair. But according to Rumandung, “In terms of production, this was something new for us by working with someone outside of Grrrl Gang’s comfort zone.” Indeed, Pratomo considerably beefs up Grrrl Gang’s sound particularly Alventa’s guitar tones, Rumandung’s rumbling bass, and touring drummer Muhammad Faiz Abdurrahman’s muscular beats while preserving the band’s signature raucous energy, catchy melodies, and Sentana’s attitude-filled, equal-parts-honey-and-vinegar vocals. The music video for Spunky! premieres on the Grrrl Gang YouTube channel on the same day as the release of the song. The video, directed by Bathroom Girls, is part of a continuous movie, with Spunky! being the second chapter. It tells the story of an introverted girl who goes to a house party to validate herself among her peers. Despite facing challenges to her self-esteem, she manages to overcome her discomfort to survive the night. During the party, she watches Grrrl Gang perform Spunky! and is mesmerized by the confident performance of Angee, the lead singer. The girl imagines herself as Angee, a confident and cool person that she will never be. Hailing from the cultural city of Yogyakarta, Indonesia, Grrrl Gang is a rising force in the independent music scene with their infectious melodies, anthemic songs, and electrifying live performances. The power trio, composed of Angee Sentana on guitar and vocals, Akbar Rumandung on bass, and Edo Alventa on guitar, has been making waves in the Southeast Asian music scene since their formation in 2016. Grrrl Gang's music is a celebration of their collective roots and a testament to the power of pop music to connect people across cultures and borders. Their lyrics touch on themes such as feminism, mental health, and relationships with a raw honesty that speaks to a generation of young listeners. With their infectious energy, socially conscious lyrics, and unique sound, Grrrl Gang is poised to take the global music scene by storm and become a voice for a new generation

Dessa, the rapper, singer, writer, academic, and all-around polymath, who NPR hailed as a “national treasure,” will release her first solo full-length album in five years, Bury the Lede, September 29th, 2023 on Doomtree Records. It’s an eleven-track project of hard-hitting rap verses, big, catchy pop hooks, and a couple melancholic tracks. Dessa (an anthropology and psychology-enthusiast whose 2018 album, Chime, was inspired by neuroscience) conceptualized Bury the Lede as an examination of human nature and mortality. Reflecting on the pleasure-seeking and loss-aversion that define us as a species, the album ultimately endorses a Camus-with-a-lime-twist take on life. “It’s about indulging in a measure of hedonism even as the threat on the horizon mounts … Survival is, at best, indefinite. So maybe get a cocktail with an umbrella in it,” says Dessa.
The new album leans into the light more than past projects–more moments of levity and abandon, more danceable–but it’s still very much a product of Dessa’s lyrical style, writerly and multi-layered, and meticulous.
Executively produced with longtime collaborators and friends Lazerbeak (Doomtree, Lizzo) and Andy Thompson (Taylor Swift, Dan Wilson), Dessa and company’s indie-rock, soul, and Swedish-pop inflected rap on Bury the Lede create an album that’s hard to imagine hearing from anyone else. And, despite the wide range of influences, it’s also one of Dessa’s most cohesive albums to date.

Eric Krasno is a two-time GRAMMY winning guitarist, musician and producer best known for his work with Soulive, Lettuce, Tedeschi Trucks Band & Pretty Lights. Krasno has been nominated for a GRAMMY a total of seven times for Best Blues Album, Best Contemporary Blues, Best R&B, and Best Electronic Album.

Otis McDonald is a producer/multi-instrumentalist best known for his copyright free music released exclusively through the YouTube audio library, amassing over 5 million downloads and over 25 million streams.

Mike Chiavaro is a Brooklyn based electric and upright bass player with an impressive history.

Combined they form King Canyon, blending their unique styles into an infectious groove filled project with healthy doses of R&B/Soul and funk. The vibe will resonate with fans of Khruangbin, Bobby Caldwell, Allman Brothers, Soulive, Lettuce, El Michels Affair, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Menahan Street Band, Durand Jones and the Indications, and Son Little (who's featured on one of the tracks).

In the perfect quarantine story the trio forged a relationship and has yet to meet in person. In April of 2020 in the midst of quarantine, Eric Krasno came across Otis McDonald’s music on Instagram and immediately became a fan. Months later, McDonald who had been working on music with his longtime friend, Mike Chiavaro, enlisted Krasno to add in some guitar to the mix and before they knew it, the trio had an album's worth of material and thus King Canyon was born.

The guys have still yet to meet in person, but despite this, the grooves are insatiable. The writing and feel are unlike any other projects these musicians have been involved with previously.

Never Before Reissued On Vinyl! After the smash success of Deee-lite's debut record World Clique, and their now-iconic dance club hit "Groove Is In The Heart", anticipation was high for a follow-up from the New York-based dance music trio of vocalist Miss Lady Kier, and producers DJ Towa Tei and Super DJ Dmitri.

For their sophomore record Infinity Within, Deee-Lite opted to venture in a different direction of sorts. The club-embracing disco-funk sounds and groovy vibes of World Clique were everpresent, but while that record contained themes of global togetherness, Infinity Within took a more socially aware route, with politically charged themes of environmentalism, (To show their bonafidese, Infinity Within was one of the first titles to be issued in an ecologically friendly Eco-pak.) sexual liberation, voting rights, and critique of the juidicial system.

Taking major inspiration from the ancient Chinese divination text I Ching, Miss Lady Kier would later explain that Infinity Within was a natural progression for the group, not a departure. Elaborating in an interview with Reflex Magazine, she remarked: "The reason why we titled this new album Infinity Within to balance out World Clique’s idea of looking outward and thinking about unity is if you look outward, you should look inward to see what you’re doing as an individual.

Because people seem to be so passive I’d like to see people turn their TV sets off and start protesting." Infinity Within was not the overwhelming commercial success that World Clique was, but it's tracks shined on the Billboard Dance Club charts, with it's lead single "Runaway" reaching #1 on the chart, bolstered by a Gus Van Sant-directed music video.

The record also featured a slew of top-tier collaborators, including Parliament veterans Bernie Worrell, Maceo Parker and Bootsy Collins (Returning from their appearances on World Clique) as well as Bootsy's brother Catfish Collins, legendary house DJ Statoshi Tomiie, and rap verses from Michael Franti, Jamal-Ski, and a pre-"Tennessee" Arrested Development.

Even though critical reaction at the time was cooler than their debut, over the years Infinity Within has been considered an underrated
gem of 90's dance, a classic of early club and house music, and a remarkable follow-up for Deee-Lite.