Cruel Summer’s sound evokes the dazed, fuzzed-out, swirling noise of the late 1980s UK sound while still sticking to their pop roots--they’ve aptly been crowned San Francisco’s “jangle darlings.” Their first full-length album “Ivy” is forthcoming from Sacramento’s art/vinyl imprint Mt. St. Mtn. Following their 2013 ST/EP (Mt. St. Mtn.,) they released the sold-out lathe-cut 7” for “Leeches,” accompanied by a video. In 2016 Cruel Summer released “Around You, Around Me,” recorded for L.A.’s Part Time Punks, the 7” B-side features a moody cover of Pylon’s “Crazy.” Mastered by Kramer (Galaxie 500 and Low). “Ivy” is the long-awaited, first full-length album from this quartet, who have become a mainstay in the San Francisco and Oakland club scene. Recorded at Santo Studio in Oakland, California by Jason Kick (Sonny & the Sunsets, Once and Future Band, Mild High Club, Maus Haus), the record is a love poem to San Francisco, with all its changes and disappointments. "Bands have begun to push the boundaries of genre in a unique and satisfying way, and San Francisco’s Cruel Summer is a prime example. They are a group of voyagers into this uncharted territory, and their album Ivy is a joyful, dreamy blend of everything you might love about shoegaze and everything you thought shoegaze could never be... Cruel Summer is proof that shoegaze is alive and well, at least in San Francisco. The band is doing some creative, compelling work with a genre that is so often elusive - besides being an interesting act of musicianship, Ivy is also simply a joy to experience from beginning to end. If you need further convincing, take a listen to Ivy and let it take you somewhere warmer."
OVERVIEW: After a five-year hiatus encompassing the birth of a son, a third coast to west coast and back to the third coast move, and an ongoing global pandemic – Chris Bathgate returns with ‘The Significance of Peaches’.
On this, his 6th full-length album, the NPR & BBC-lauded artist is found ruminating on time spent living in the National Forests of Michigan while homeless, his emergence into fatherhood, and yes, the significance a certain stone fruit has played throughout his life.
Sonically, ‘The Significance of Peaches’ leans heavily on the structural support of parlor organ and Bathgate’s signature multi-tracked percussion – surprisingly sparse use of guitar and strings sheathed in the middle - his haunted vocals perched atop it all.
Stunning second album from Royal Headache and 2015's underground pop sensation. Royal Headache's follow-up, retains that swagger, pop hooks and grace but adds extra romance and instant appeal. The amount of emotion and range of Shogun's vocals and the whip-smart counterpoint provided by the band - drummer Shortty, guitarist Law, and bassist Joe - present a dash through decades of pop history, recombining not just the music but all of the feelings of pain and joy elicited from audiences, supercharged and ready to explode once more. Shogun's voice and lyrics aren't so much a secret weapon in Royal Headache's arsenal as they are the front line, happiness and hurt soaring above the songs, driving home all the feelings within. For fans of the Buzzcocks, The Strokes first album, Marked Men and The Undertones.
Limited edition box set, which includes the complete original LP - 180g vinyl - gatefold sleeve, an 80-page book 'The Making of Chet Baker Sings' by Brian Morton and the complete CD with bonus tracks
The unforgettable 'Chet Baker Sings' put Baker on the map not just as a brilliant trumpeter, but also a talented vocalist. The album was a revelation at the time and won Baker new fame and a new audience, which was less familiar with jazz than with pop music. The reasons are quite clear; Chet's voice is tender and beautiful, and at the same time his phrasing always swings and surprises.
The initial 1954 release was a 10" LP (Pacific Jazz LP11) which contained just eight tracks, reappearing in 1956 as a 12" LP (World Pacific PJ-1222) with additional tracks from the same session.
This wonderful definitive edition puts together: the original 12" LP 'Chet Baker Sings' in a 180-gram virgin vinyl gatefold edition illustrated with William Claxton photos from the sessions; the complete CD containing the same album plus six bonus tracks; an 80- page fully illustrated hardcover book on which writer Brian Morton explores the genesis of the iconic album. The book also includes a
specially written essay by bassist Riccardo Del Fra, speaking about his experiences playing with Chet, as well as dozens of classic, rare and never before published photos by such important jazz photographers as William Claxton, among many others.
Eli 'Paperboy' Reed pays homage to country legend Merle Haggard by
putting a soulful spin on some classic tunes
Recorded in Brooklyn with longtime collaborator Vince Chiarito (Black Pumas, Charles Bradley), Reed taps into all the heartache of Haggard's iconic catalog and channels it into explosive, high-octane performances that blur the lines of genre, geography, and race to reveal the common, distinctly American threads tying hem all together.
On their bold and brilliant debut album 'Unsoothing Interior', Stockholm's
Vero reflect the nature of life itself
Their songs prioritise feeling over perfectionism ' what feels, or sounds, best '
creating a record that tumbles through its contents with a sense of
unpredictability, excitement and curiosity. It's an album full of raw guitar riffs that
spin and swirl and fizz, and evoke the spirit of artists like Sonic Youth, Garbage
and Pixies. The record, out May 6th via PNKSLM Recordings (ShitKid, Les Big
Byrd, Holy etc.), is a document of the three musicians' own experiences, injected
with a natural urgency that comes from both the reality in the songs and writing
and recording them in a studio paid for by the hour. For its listeners, it acts less
as a roadmap through the turbulence and more as a confidante to share the highs
and lows, drama and desire with, encompassing everything from sex, friendship
and figuring out exactly who you are
Stunning debut release from RAFRAM aka Irdial legend Ramjac Corporation and the Toronto legend (& honorary Glaswegian) Raf Reza.
300 copies only, full printed sleeves plus riso insert.
Orphic Apparition is a new label born out of a transatlantic meeting of minds. Facilitated by a long, hedonistic party in one of present-day London’s ‘meanwhile use’ venues Grow Tottenham, Canadian producer Raf Reza and British acid house luminary Paul Chivers spent a precious day in the studio to record a 3 hour straight to DAT session before Reza's return to Canada. The result of this spontaneous yet intuitive collaboration blurs the lines between Chiver’s long-standing Ramjac Corporation alias and Reza’s genre-spanning approach to dub, breaks and house styles. Part of the early 90s rave scene and an important member of the blueprint-setting Irdial label, Ramjac locks heads with the self-professed ‘lazy music guy from Toronto’ to adapt their studio session into five separate mixdowns.
‘In The Grow’ begins with a bouncy, cut-up sounding Errorsmith-esque rhythm, the recurring fright night melody that distinguishes the record coming in all quick and powerful. The A2 ‘Rotten Mix’ offers a more traditional house approach in its composition, with dub FX and a nice DJ friendly outro. On the final uptempo choice the pair opt for a head-scrambling electro take. Choose your fighter! The ‘Swampy Dub’ on the flip really dismantles everything we’ve heard prior, slo-mo drums allowing a much different DJ experience and altering the freaky synthetic propulsion into an almost modern classical sound. A little like Paul Dresher’s eternal ‘Channels Passing’ (tip). Combined with the other edits this version almost becomes a totally different track. The final ‘Rootless Dub’ gives its clues in the title, removing all the tough drum sounds and allowing for an ambient decompression.
Orphic Apparition will return soon.
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Giacomo D’Attorre – lead singer of Clever Square – has been through a lot of late. With his band. In his personal life. Even just with the state of the world. This fire has fuelled Clever Square’s new record Secret Alliance, eleven tracks that explore feelings of frustration, disillusionment, and disconnection, and chronicle what it’s like to be swept along by a world that “gets noisier everyday”. The record was inspired by a creeping realisation; of coming change, and a sense that D’Attorre was “losing contact with who I was before, for the good and the bad.” New needs and desires surfaced; old ones disappeared. Thus he began writing around ideas of rethinking yourself, and “acquiring a new conscience of mutation”. The darker realms of science fiction informed much of D’Attorre’s thinking here; Philip K Dick, Ray Bradbury – ‘Mr. & Mrs. K’ was inspired by The Martian Chronicles – and Flannery O’Connor, whose The Violent Bear It Away proved particularly inspiring. All of this is perfectly framed by Clever Square’s shuffling, quirky indie, and cute melodies. Soft and worn around the edges, like the perfect flannel shirt, there’s a gentle, shambling quality to the music; “blue collar”, D’Attorre calls it. Guitar lines gently bloom, Fender Rhodes organ is sprinkled throughout, and the acoustic strumming sounds easy and unhurried. From the relaxed bustle and acoustic picking of ‘Hail The Proper Karl’, to the joyous, bouncy ‘Little Flaws’; from the stripped back melancholy of ‘Obsolete Epsilons’ to the arena-ready vibes of indie classic ‘Golden Wires’, D’Attorre has crafted a spell-binding, mesmerizing set of songs that delight on first listen and reward deeper inspection. “It’s a hymn to privacy, to the joys of secrecy, and solitude,” he says of Secret Alliance. That he wraps such heartfelt, profound topics in gloriously laid-back indie adds to the charm, and cements Clever Square’s status as one of Italy’s finest contemporary bands. The world might seem increasingly complex and be spinning ever faster, but Secret Alliance slows it down just enough to savour the scenery and think about charting a path back to something a little more manageable.
There is never any doubt that soul is in the house, when you hear the poetic guitar and organ licks from Cold Diamond & Mink starting to twirl together, and out of nowhere Carlton Jumel Smith steps effortlessly inside the groove. "Heaven In My Arms" is the second in line of Carlton's new trio of singles on Timmion, and what a treat it is: deep as Mississippi mud, light as a feather.
This time our trans-Atlantic tag team delivers a melodic beat ballad of the highest order, which should sweep fans of lowrider soul off their wheels. Spanish Harlem-bred Carlton has been steadily churning out gems since meeting the Timmion folks some years back and shows no signs of stopping yet. This is a love song with plenty of heart to give everybody. Just take it all in, and enjoy the instrumental on the flipside while you're at it.
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Taken from, Hard Up, the acclaimed 10th studio album from the Melbourne Soul / Funk trailblazers, "Nothing I Wanna Know About" is a crisp funk number with Kylie Auldist delivering her reliably storming vocals plus an absolutely killer percussion breakdown.
Motown styled soul swinger "Bad Line" makes its first viyl appearance on the flip after being released on the expanded Deluxe digital edition of Hard Up in late 2021.
This black vinyl 7" is packaged in a specially designed printed Bamboos logo sleeve.
Both tracks have been supported by Craig Charles on BBC.
The album received great media support across Europe and the UK with glowing reviews in print such as Rockerilla (4 page feature), Rumore, Blow Up (ITA) Stadtkinder, Na Dann (GER), Soul Bag (FRA), Jazzism (4 page feature) (HOL). Radio support from FIP, France Inter, C-Lab Radio, Radio Galere, RDWA, Radio Krimi, Canal B, Radio Capital(FRA),
Radio Popolare, Radio Citta Fujiko, Contatto Radio, Radio Regione 100, Radio Start, Radio Per Passione, Radio Base, RKO (ITA), Radio 3, Saltamontes,Sateli 3 & Sonideros, EITB, Enlace Funk, Onda Local Andalucia, Radio Catalunya (SPA), Deutschlandfunk Kultur, Ego FM, Byte FM, UKW, Radio X (GER)
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A 303 release is like an anniversary release :)
Yellow coloured vinyls, printed gategold sleeves, evolutive constructions from sweet Techno to hard Acidcore... This is a superb production... Shadowing the things even more.
ENJOY !
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Just over a decade ago, Japanese indie-pop duo Tenniscoats recorded »Papa's Ear« (2012) and »Tan-Tan Therapy« (2007), two albums made with musical and production help from Swedish post-rock/folk trio Tape. Originally released on Häpna, they are beautiful documents of the exploratory music made by a close-knit collective of musicians, fully at ease with each other, playing songs written by Tenniscoats and arranging them in gentle and generous ways. Released during a particularly productive time for Tenniscoats – during the late ‘00s and early ‘10s, they would also collaborate with Jad Fair, The Pastels, Secai and Pastacas – they have, however, never been available on vinyl. In collaboration with Alien Transistor, Morr Music is now reissuing these albums both digitally and on double vinyl, with extra tracks.
This reissue mini-series starts with »Papa’s Ear«. The second album from this expanded line-up of Tenniscoats, you can hear the musicians are immediately comfortable in each other’s presence, and they’ve almost intuitively understood what they can offer to one another. Saya and Ueno of Tenniscoats bring their magical, gentle folk-pop sensibility, and their winning way with straightforward, yet lush melodies. Johan Berthling, along with fellow Tape member Tomas Hallonsten, plus guests Fredrik Ljungkvist, Lars Skoglund, Andreas Söderstrom and Andreas Werlin, all generous and creative presences in the Swedish jazz underground, shades in the songs with endlessly inventive arrangements, highlighting the warmth and curiosity at the core of the Tenniscoats’ aesthetic – sometimes taking the songs in unexpected directions, other times pillowing the melodies with the softest of brushstrokes and the kindest of tones.
»Papa’s Ear« includes some of Tenniscoats’ most memorable songs. »Papaya« is a lustrous dreamland of a song, with the Swedish musicians singing ‘pa-pa-ya’ as an enchanted tattoo, while Saya’s piano and melodica clank and huff out, further expanding the song’s horizon. It’s followed by the spindly and mysterious »Sappolondon«, where drums and double-bass shuffle and pulse under weeping accordion and bittersweet clarinet. Saya’s voice sighs into the frame while the musicians breathe lungfuls of sweet drones and flick glittering countermelodies across the song’s surface. It reminds a little of the wild kindness of Movietone, or the regal charm of Carla Bley’s compositions.
Elsewhere, you can hear Tape and their friends embracing the freedom offered by the songs of Tenniscoats: see, for example, the glistening electronics in »På floden«, like a keyboard conducting a music box on a distant planet; or the descending phrase for winds on »Sabaku«, dovetailing beautifully into a creek of moon-lit texturology. The double-LP ends with two extra tracks, drawn from the 2008 Tenniscoats/Tape split single, also released by Häpna., »Lutie Lutie« is a sweet delight, driven by a clacking drum machine, the Tenniscoats duo joined by Hallonsten on glockenspiel and synthesizer, and special guest, Japanese indie-pop legend Kazumi Nikaido, as choir. »Come Maddalena« rounds off the set, a brooding cover of an Ennio Morricone tune, the music by Tape, the vocals by Tenniscoats and Nikaido. Open-hearted and full of puckish spirit, »Papa’s Ear« is an album of great tenderness and warm friendship.
Cologne-based, multi-instrumentalist and creative jazz powerhouse
Gianni Brezzo presents his full-length LP “Tutto Passa,” arriving via
Berlin’s Jakarta Records May 5th.
Gianni Brezzo is the jazz affiliated band / studio project headed by
Cologne-based producer & creative maestro Marvin Horsch, whose diverse musical profile is reflected both in his scene-hopping as well as his creative output. Besides producing cologne bands like Keshavara, Woman and Xul Zolar, Gianni has released a number of EP and LP’s since 2017, culminating most recently with “The Awakening” EP in 2021 on Jakarta Records. While Gianni’s works are usually instrumental only, “The Awakening” featured vocal appearances from Berlin/Tel Aviv based singer / producer J.Lamotta and soul singer Otis Junior from Louisville, Kentucky. Gianni’s tracks have consistently placed on Editorial Lists including Spotify’s “State Of Jazz” and “Café / Croissant”, and most recently was synced in an episode of Gossip Girl for HBO US.
Gianni’s new LP, “Tutto Passa” is a meditation around Marvin’s relationship to Italian culture, accompanied by research into Italian composers of the 60’s / 70’s such as Piero Umiliani, Stelvio Cipriani, Piero Piccioni and Armando Trovajoli to more recent work by Sven Wunder. Sonically rich, the album rides a sonic wave similar to some Matthew Halsall, Surprise Chef, El Michels Affair and BadBadNotGood all rolled into one beautifully luscious work. Jakarta is ecstatic to share such a career-defining work, arriving May 6th, 2022.
The albums 1st single, “Il Sole” will be released Wednesday, March 2nd with the LP pre-order announcement that Friday, March 4th to capitalize on Bandcamp Friday. The track is a perfect sonic voyage that encapsulates the growth of Gianni’s sound and gives a sonic peak into the LP. Subtle, yet lush layers of synths, horns, keys and strong, beat-driven percussion all ebb and flow together, bringing to mind the finest Library Themes of Umiliani, Sven Wunder, Janko Nilovic and others. Visualizer accompaniments for all singles provided by Robert Winter and his DIE OTTOS crew that perfectly captures the sonic mood.
The LP’s 2nd single, “Capture This,” will be released March 30th and is a splash of pure, groovy, jazz-funk. Instantly catchy, the track will have you imagining yourself in a movie that perfectly captures the musical themes: playful flutes, crisp, fluid guitar riffs, heart-pulling strings, all held together by a strong, swingin’ drum groove.
The third single is the stunning, swirling, thematic track “Rising Of My
Mind.” Careful layers of harmonized brass, flutes, percussion ebb & flow, bubbling up to the acoustic surface like sonic ripples effortlessly bursting from Gianni’s auditory palette. Only reaching the tracks full crescendo more than 2 minutes in, “Rising Of My Mind” is on that finest jazz tip, raising Gianni’s musical caliber into the skies.
Focus track is the effortlessly smooth, soulful jazz-funk piece, “Torino.” Certified fresh, the progression gives you that euphoric, elated feeling, like you’re finally arrived at that special place you never knew existed, but were always meant to find.
“Tutto Passa” is a project with a variety of moods ranging from Arthur
Verocai and David Axelrod inspired arrangements to lush, thematic jazz progressions with a swingin’ percussive edge. It’s a timeless release, one that would sit just as well in 1972 as it does in 2022, and one that, as Gianni says:
“…reflects exactly the feeling I had last year when I was in Italy with my own family. As a musician, I was looking for the challenge of a more orchestral approach on this album, which I hoped to achieve with my arsenal from the Cologne jazz scene and the support of musicians from around the world.”
Besides online promotion from the label and artist profiles, the album will further be promoted by external agencies within the US, UK & Italy
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Famed free jazz concert registration of an early New Direction for the Art performance. Recorded in 1971. Old-style Gatefold LP, with rare photographs & extensive liner notes by Alan Cummings.
The performance by Takayanagi Masayuki New Direction for the Art at the Gen’yasai festival on August 14, 1971 was an intense, bruising collision between the radical, anti-establishment politics of the period in Japan and the febrile avant-garde music that had begun to emerge a few years before. The ferocious performance that you can hear here was received with outright hostility by the audience, who responded first with catcalls and later with showers of debris that were hurled at the performers. Takayanagi though described the group’s performance to jazz magazine Swing Journal as a success, “an authentic and realistic depiction of the situation”.
In 1962, Takayanagi, bassist Kanai Hideto and painter Kageyama Isamu went on to form an AACM-style musicians’ collective called the New Century Music Research Institute. Every Friday, members gathered at Gin-Paris, a chanson bar in the fashionable Ginza district of Tokyo, to push the outer limits of jazz creativity.
But the pivotal moment for his music was the creation a new trio version of his New Directions group in August 1969, with the free bassist Yoshizawa Motoharu and a young drummer Toyozumi (Sabu) Yoshisaburō. Experiments eventually led to the creation of two basic frameworks for improvisation that Takayagi referred to as Mass Projection and Gradually Projection.
“La Grima” (tears), the piece that was played at the Gen’yasai festival, is a mass projection and listening to it, you can get a clear sense of what Takayanagi was aiming at. Mass projection involves a dense, speedy and chaotic colouring in of space that destroys the listener’s perception of time, and thus of musical development.
The ferocity of the performance of “La Grima” at the Gen’yasai Festival in Sanrizuka on August 14, 1971 was consciously grounded by Takayanagi in a particular historical moment, ripe with conflict and violence. A month after the festival, on September 16, three policemen would die during struggles at the site. This was the context that the three-day Gen’yasai Festival existed within. The line-up reflected the radical politics of the movement, with leading free jazz musicians like Takayanagi, Abe Kaoru, and Takagi Mototeru appearing alongside radical ur-punkers Zuno Keisatsu, heavy electric blues bands like Blues Creation, and Haino Keiji’s scream-jazz unit Lost Aaraaff.
New Direction for the Arts trio topped the bill on the opening day, playing an aggressive, uncompromising “mass projection” set of polyphonic improvisation. Alongside drummer Hiroshi Yamazaki and saxophonist Kenji Mori, Takayanagi soloed hard and continuously for forty minutes. This was performance as precisely calibrated metaphor: three musicians responding to the demands of the moment with instinctive force and fury, untethered by rules, leaderless yet not rudderless (the direction part of the group’s name was no accident). The piece was entitled La Grima – tears - and the fusion between the palpable anger of the performance and hopeless sadness of its title were also perfectly apt for the situation. This was a fight that the state was always going to win. Yet, by all accounts, the band’s set went down like a fart at a funeral. The band were showered with catcalls and debris throughout, and by chants of “go home” when the music finally came to an end.
However, looking back at the event in the year-end issue of Japan’s leading jazz magazine, Swing Journal, Takayanagi was surprisingly upbeat: New Directions brought a solid political consciousness to our performance and succeeded in an authentic and realistic depiction of the situation. But journalism revealed its superficiality in its inability to penetrate the core of the music. I don’t know much about anyone else, but we at least left behind a competent record.
It’s a fascinating statement in many ways. Perhaps on one-hand it can be read as stubborn, solipsistic and self-justifying, yet in conjunction with his statement in 1971 there are points that guide us towards an understanding of just what Takayanagi intended with his performance at the festival. As Kitazato Yoshiyuki has argued, it becomes an almost religious act, directed at the earth deities of the land. A union of anger, sorrow and malevolence that can be placed nowhere effective, all it can do is find expression and channeling. The forcible land seizures at Narita, the eviction of farmers from land that had been in families for generations, the destruction of communities: none of this can be prevented, not least by an artistic action. All that can be done is an attempt to mark the land itself, to soak it with the combined force of emotions and the volume of the performances, to bury something there that cannot be drowned out, even by the coming roar of jet engines.
Das vierte Album von Stephen McBean’s Nebenprojekt von Black Mountain. Die Bandbesetzung wechselt stetig und beinhaltet Mitglieder von Redd Kross, Melvins, Godspeed You Black Emperor, Dead Meadow und Brian Jonestown Massacre.
Das vierte Album von Stephen McBean’s Nebenprojekt von Black Mountain. Die Bandbesetzung wechselt stetig und beinhaltet Mitglieder von Redd Kross, Melvins, Godspeed You Black Emperor, Dead Meadow und Brian Jonestown Massacre.
No time to waste: nine months after Tim Vanhamel released 'Dubs Pour Oh La La', his debut album under the moniker Comité Hypnotisé, the Millionaire frontman presents already the second album 'Hiking The Trails Of Mount Muzak'.
Hardly leaving any traces of the dubbed out vibe which marked the first record, Tim expands his Comité Hypnotisé universe to a surprising next level on this second album: exploring a place where James Last, Wu-Tang Clan and Dj Shadow are cooking up a Thai meal in a Peruvian restaurant overlooking the breathtaking peaks of Mount Muzak.
Ney flutes tumbling backwards over the edge of easy listening in opener 'Rise Of The Equinoxians', lurking for feel good vibes in 'Red Wolf Riddim' and breezing in to new dimensions in 'Zing Zoing' on the A-side while the Comité enters the chambers of the 70's 'Disco Skank' and rides an untamed dragon towards the scorching sun in search of a flame-bringing beat in 'The Dragon Rider' on the flipside.
Protean producer Jaymie Silk returns to Shall Not Fade with an intensely club-driven LP. On "The Rise & Fall Of Jaymie Silk & Rave Culture" a range of vocal samples tell a story over assertive rhythms that switch rapidly so that hard-hitting acid becomes breaks before melting into sleazy, low-end bass techno. Strap in!
It"s not easy to anticipate how any release from the Paris-based Jaymie Silk will sound. A self-proclaimed musical nomad and a real jack-of-all-trades, his artistic identity is defined by its undefinability. With this release - a follow-up from "The Legend of Jack Johnson" EP released on Shall Not Fade last year - Jaymie references the kaleidoscope of sounds which inspired him to make music in the first place.
Sampling an iconic Malcolm X speech, the force of which is bolstered by giant synth swells and clattering percussion, "Freedom For Everybody" places the album in the context of diaspora and resistance - themes that run ever-present through Jaymie's music. With "The Heat", he pays tribute to late '80s dance music, with a classic Lyn Collins drum break sample and diva-esque vocals. The hard-hitting acid-tinged techno of "Start Swinging" sees the album at its most assertive before "Bad B" takes things camper with deep bass pulses and
pitched-shifted vocals which affirm "I'm a bad bitch, yeah you heard about me". "Cats Love Drums" offers another direction completely with polyrhythmic percussion and real meow's before the two closing tracks leave a taste of sentimentality, with a major-key vocal melody and a giddy 150BPM pulse ("Waiting For The Day") and an intimate slow burner ("Take Time To Breathe").
The Rise & Fall Of Jaymie Silk & Rave Culture LP drops 6th May via Shall Not Fade.
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Belgium, not the first place you'd think of when it comes to Latin or Afro funk. Yet one of the greatest records to blend both styles came from the small northern European country, masterminded by Nico Gomez and his Afro Percussion Inc.
Ritual was originally released in 1971 on the Dutch label Omega International (Gomez was born in Holland before moving to Belgium in the late 40s) and is being reissued by Mr Bongo in 2013, bringing its blazing funk grooves to both new ears and those already tuned in to this masterpiece's legacy.
Across its 11 tracks Ritual delivers the kind of production, arrangement and musicianship that rightfully belong in a dictionary next to the definition of professional. Gomez' band was tight and they knew it, showing it off on their covers of Perez Prado's 'Caballo Negro' and 'Lupita' by injecting the originals with a deep funk that blends both Afro and Latin influences. On 'Samba De Una Nota So' and 'El Condor Pasa', another pair of covers, they switch to soulful downtempo with mesmerising ease. The title cut remains one of the album's highlights, a devastating dancefloor groove with horns to match that has aged beautifully and was heavily sampled by Liquid People for 'The Dragon'. 'Pa! Pa! Pa! Pa!' adds touches of rock with fuzzy guitars for one of the album's headier experiences.
The first release on the brand new DigBig Records comes from prolific Swedish composer, producer and DJ Joey FDH. In Level 7, Joey steps away from the harder electro beats she's known for and goes inward to explore the depths and corners of her own shadow through four slow burners. The EP rides a soft yet sinister groove with two acidic workouts on the A side - the beautifully atmospheric Acid Girl and the cosmic-dreamy eponymous Level 7. B side morphs effortlessly onto heavier but just as funky vibes with Shadow Play that slaps in the face with infectious breaks and the hypnotically thumping Shift Shaper. Spending over a decade in Berlin honing her signature dark sound, Joey FDH has recently returned to her homeland to find new inspiration in the forests and mo
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A survey of the modern jazz & hard-bop scenes that emerged in the new cultural melting pot of post war London, with recordings from the end of the 1940s through to the early 1960s.
Featuring representations from players whose roots lay in the East-End's jewish community, such as Ronnie Scott, Vic Ash & Harry Klein, alongside a wealth of talent of Caribbean and African descent playing and recording in post war London during this period, incl. Dizzy Reece, Wilton Gaynair, Joe Harriott, Shake Keane & Ginger Johnson.
Made in partnership with the Barbican to coincide with the exhibition Postwar Modern: New Art in Britain 1945-1965.
“Radiate Like This” - Warpaint’s much anticipated new record, not to mention their first in almost 6 years - arrives with its own very modern mythology intact, continuing the strange, brilliant, beautiful story of the band and quite neatly picking up where “Heads Up” left off. It’s an album that pulsates with ideas, energy and- most crucially – gorgeous melodies. Listen on in wonder. Pres includes Total Guitar - 3 page feature - April 2022 issue , Dork - 4 star album review. The band will have a UK tour in May. Available formats include releases on Black LP.
2LP in gatefold sleeve.With this new project drummer and percussionist Karen Willems - who in the past played with Yuko, Zita Swoon Group, Jan Swerts and many others - is combining improvisation, ambient/drones, exotic folk tones and trance.
Having scooped the prestigious Record Store Day Unsigned 2020 award, her debut album 'In The Blue Corner' was released as a limited edition run on turquoise sparkle vinyl in November 2021. Now available on a full digital and physical release including a new vinyl pressing on dusk blue coloured vinyl. "Loving this. Really cool voice_ love the voice!" Craig Charles (6Music) // "The most original sound. Like Little Richard, Mark Ronson, Nina Simone and Nick Cave all got locked in a New Orleans speakeasy" Record Store Day Unsigned Panel 2020 // "Wow, I mean what's not to like about that? That is sensational! How groovy is that?! Mark Radcliffe, BBC 6Music // "What a voice!" Robert Elms, BBC London // "Her voice is stunning, powerful and unique, and her stage presence hits the back of the room at any venue she plays" DJ Anne Frankenstein, Jazz FM // Included in Craig Charles' Funk and Soul 'Ones to Watch 2022' list. From London via Lagos, charismatic chanteuse Sister Cookie will take you on an eclectic excursion into the roots & fruits of black music. Old sounds, new tricks. Sensuous, seductive and moody. As well as possessing a distinctive voice that's tender and sweet when it needs to be, she's a composer and self-taught pianist who writes honest and raw songs about pain, heartbreak, suffering - all that bad (meaning-good) stuff. A mainstay on the vintage Soul & R'n'R circuit since 2015 with slots at Wilderness, Latitude, Red Rooster, Port Elliot and more under her belt - as well as touring across Europe with her band - Sister Cookie has so far been supported by Craig Charles, Mark Radcliffe & Cerys Matthews at 6Music, Robert Elms on BBC London plus plays on Resonance, Jazz FM and Amazing Radio. Craig Charles is a big supporter on BBC 6 Music and has played current single 'Ain't No Good (But It's Good Enough For Me)' several times. Steve Lamacq and Lauren Laverne have also given the track multiple plays. The track has also been playlisted at Jazz FM. Singles from the album have been played many times across European radio stations including France Culture, Rock Radio (Greece), Radio Nova (Portugal), Mach 5 (Italy), HR Radio Sijeme (Croatia). She's performed at some of the UK's most esteemed venues including the 100 Club and Union Chapel, The Round Chapel and has enjoyed a number of stints as a guest vocalist with The Soulful Orchestra, Jim Jones & The Righteous Mind, Future Shape Of Sound & MFC Chicken. Sister Cookie Is going to be part of the judging panel for Record Store Day Unsigned competition in April, the competition she won in 2020.
"This area of the throat," says Chelsea Jade, resting three fingers roughly where her neck meets her chest. "It's particularly soft, and it's connected ... it's halfway between the heart and the mouth. And that's an interesting place of vulnerability." Soft Spot, the Los Angeles-based New Zealand artist's second album, dwells somewhere between feeling and expression, certainty and doubt. It ventures beyond the exploration of delusions of grandeur that formed the focus of the critically acclaimed Personal Best (2018), and simultaneously promotes and undermines romance, specifically, in a more solemn way. "Less glib," offers Jade, who has opened for Lorde and Cat Power among others. Still deliciously glib in places: "Give your worst my best," she sings on the wryly antagonizing, bass-heavy "Tantrum in Duet." Soft Spot's big pop tracks go hard on the interpersonal, physical and amorous, inviting the listener to entertain flirtation, lust, sex, even the experience, rare during its recording in 2020, of being in a room with more than three other people.
The Altons return with two awe-inspiring sides of soulful excellence. Bryan Ponce's delicate, plaintive vocal, this time accompanied by the sweet, rich timbre of Adriana Flores make for two earnest duets that exude palpable chemistry. On "Tangled Up" the pair sing of a love affair that has run its course but (against their better judgement) lingers in the form of late night entanglements and dream-induced longing - imprisoning the lovers on a carousel of heartache and despair. "Soon Enough" is a gorgeously sparse ballad rife with melancholic guitar, percolating percussion and a groove that will have you swaying side to side with the one you love.
Re-release of Swedish Lustre's second album "A Glimpse of Glory" on CD and coloured vinyl. Long-since sold out and highly sought after - this classic is being treated to a proper packaging. The new cover artwork comes courtesy of Joan Llopis Doménech, the Valencian illustrator who made the amazing piece that adorns the "Night Spirit" re-issue from 2021.
Lustre is one of Nordvis' oldest and still-running collaborations. We discovered this band with "Night Spirit", and so had high expectations when "A Glimpse of Glory" came out in 2010. For anyone who appreciated the debut, this was a treat. Filled to the brim with the same atmosphere-driven lo-fi black metal as the first: the sound which has now become characteristic for Lustre. Majestic soundscapes built on hypnosis-inducing repetition, tastefully curated with various theatrical elements in the form of nature samples.
Sound Like: Summoning, Caladan Brood, Stellardrone, Carbon Based Lifeforms, Midnight Odyssey, Dead Can Dance
Spirituality, love, healing and the power of the spirit are themes that have been running through the music of Welsh artist Bryde for years. On "Still", she devotes herself to them again on a deeper level. So here she takes on the different ways of loving. The way we see love or fall in love is changing rapidly. On "Still" Bryde illuminates online vs. real life dating, as well as self-love and rom-com inspired swoons. An album that will keep us busy.
Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga is a 2020 American musical comedy film directed by David Dobkin and written by Will Ferrell and Andrew Steele. The film follows Icelandic singers Lars Erickssong and Sigrit Ericksdóttir (Ferrell and Rachel McAdams) as they are given the chance to represent their country at the Eurovision Song Contest. Pierce Brosnan, Dan Stevens, and Demi Lovato also star.
“Volcano Man” was the first song released from the album and features vocals from Will Ferrell and Swedish singer Molly Sandén (credited as My Marianne). Towards the middle of the film, as the characters of Lars and Sigrit get fully immersed in the Eurovision magic, the audience is treated to a “Song-A-Long”, producers mash-up iconic pop classics into a celebratory party anthem. Cher transitions into Madonna, which transitions into homages to the aforementioned ABBA and Celine Dion, capped off with a little from The Black Eyed Peas. The cherries on top are vocal cameos from Eurovision champions: Conchita, Netta, Jamala, Loreen, and Alexander Rybak. The album also features the cult hit “Jaja Ding Dong”.
The soundtrack has been nominated for Best Compilation Soundtrack For Visual Media at the upcoming 63rd Annual Grammy Awards.
Eurovision Song Contest: The Story Of Fire Saga is available as a limited edition of 1000 individually numbered copies on “Lion Of Love” pink coloured vinyl. The package includes a 4-page booklet and printed innersleeve with movie stills.
After John Squire left The Stone Roses, he formed The Seahorses in
1996 together with Stuart Fletcher, Chris Helme and Andy Watts. The year after they released their debut album Do It Yourself, which was produced by Tony Visconti. Visconti had his first hit with T. Rex’ “Ride A White Swan” and was involved in many David Bowie productions.
The album was well received and entered the UK Album Charts at
#2 and received a Platinum status. It featured three popular singles: “Love Is The Law”, “Blinded By The Sun” and “Love Me And Leave Me”. The latter was Liam Gallagher’s first song writing credit. Their success resulted in support slots with The Rolling Stones, U2 and Oasis. Unfortunately, The Seahorses aborded the recordings of their follow-up album to split up due to musical differences.
Do It Yourself is celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2022 and includes an insert.
Deluxe Reissue of "House With No Home" - Pressed on Clear Blue with
Gray Streaks Colour Vinyl with bonus 7" included
The cover of House with No Home, the second full- length album from Horse
Feathers, a dusty west coast folk duo comprised of Justin Ringle and Peter
Broderick, depicts a wintry farm dusted with snow It's an image that's easily
conjured throughout each of the 11 songs that make up Home, a subtle, nuanced,
and quietly noble collection of Americana-kissed alternative folk that echoes the
work of Bonnie "Prince" Billy, James Yorkston, Iron & Wine, and Bon Iver. Ringle,
who blends Richard Buckner's soft, serpentine delivery with Andrew Bird's "I can't
open my mouth all the way" mumble populates his songs with the kind of
woodsy, heart and soul-broken characters that one would expect to find lurking
between the pines on a frosty Oregon morning in February, but it's Broderick who
provides the chill. His string arrangements are grandiose in their simplicity and
busy without ever interfering with Ringle's poignant, icy prose. From the heady
opener "Curs in the Weeds" to the surging, banjo-led "Working Poor," the two carve
up each track like master craftsman, finding the perfect middle ground between
the sparse, reverb- laden landscapes of the Great Lake Swimmers and the
orchestral, aching beauty of Hem. This deluxe reissue includes a bonus 7" with a
2021 reworking of 'Curs In The Weeds' with a full band as well as 2 songs from a
radio session recorded during the European tour for the original album release.
THE DEBUT STUDIO ALBUM OF EERIE DEATH/DOOM METAL DEPRAVITY
FROM GREG WILKINSON & CHRIS REIFERT OF US GORELORDS,
AUTOPSY
Static Abyss is the new mouthpiece for a rotten age consisting of the duo of Greg
Wilkinson (Guitars/ bass) & Chris Reifert (drums/ vocals), both members of
legendary American masters of sickness Autopsy, with Greg (also of cult act
Deathgrave) recently welcomed as new bass player for the long-running US act's
next studio opus & beyond.
Static Abyss' debut studio album, 'Labyrinth of Veins', presents an unnerving,
multi-layered eerie concoction of dirty doom & death, including themes exploring
the echoes of insanity manifested through human existence. The result, a sinister
onslaught of at times slow & bludgeoning brutal metal whilst at others whipped
into a storm of chaotic vile hysterics. The spirit of Autopsy is at times present in
the truly titanic riffs swathed in chilling atmospheric guitar leads, whilst Chris'
seemingly bottomless pit of morbid inspiration from the dark & twisted corners of
life permeate the release with his highly distinguishable delivery to further the
descent into madness.
'Labyrinth of Veins' was recorded at Earhammer Studios in Oakland, CA, & Great
American Music Hall, with engineering, mixing & mastering overseen by Greg
himself. Cover art appears courtesy of All Things Rotten.
EXTENSIVE COLLECTION OF SIGH'S EARLY DEMOS, EP's & RARITIES,
PRESENTED ON DOUBLE CD FORMAT - INCLUDES INTERVIEW & LINER
NOTES COURTESY OF MAINMAN MIRAI KAWASHIMA ON THE
FORMATIVE YEARS OF THE JAPANESE LEGENDS.Cult Japanese black
metal legends Sigh formed in 1989/90, featuring mainman Mirai
Kawashima, Satoshi Fujinami & Kazuki Ozeki
Following initial demos, Shinichi Ishikawa was brought into the band, & Kazuki
removed from the line- up. It was following this shift that the band set about
recording the masterpiece debut 'Scorn Defeat' for Euronymous' Deathlike Silence
Productions, going on to become one of the country's greatest & most revered
metal exports. With a journey through the strange & the psychedelic,
incorporating a whole eclectic mix of genre styles & experimentation throughout
their career, Sigh has remained a vital creative force in the avantgarde field.
However, at its core, Sigh has always remained true to its roots of old school
metal. 'Eastern Darkness' contains a comprehensive collection of Sigh's early rare
works showing their swift musical evolution as well as the strong utilisation of
keyboards in their compositional process throughout. The collection includes the
band's legendary demo tapes, 'Desolation', & 'Tragedies', plus their EP's & rarities,
as well as contributions to various compilation releases in the mid 1990's.
Considering Sigh's well- known regard for UK legends Venom throughout their
career, 'Eastern Darkness' also contains the band's own tribute to the 1980's black
metal pioneers, in the form of tribute 'To Hell & Back', originally released on tape
in 1995.
This edition of 'Eastern Darkness' is presented on double disc CD format &
includes a 12- page booklet featuring an interview with Mirai Kawashima about
the early years of the band, along with his recollections of the origins of each title
contained within the release, three decades on from Sigh's formation.
A fantastic compilation of the great Salum Abdallah and Cuban Marimba Band. 12 perfect songs from the stars of the early 60s "muziki wa dansi" (dance music) scene in Tanzania, mixing local music styles with Cuban son, cha cha, and twist. One of the greatest music scenes anywhere, ever, which has been criminally underrepresented in this era of apparently inexhaustable reissues - finally a stellar compilation dedicated to it! Shimmering guitars and driving rumba basslines, horns weaving counterpoint harmonies through the air, irresistible percussion locking it all in, and the heartwarming voice of Salum Abdallah. Music that just feels GOOD. The LP comes in an old style tip-on jacket, with a printed inner sleeve featuring lyrics in Swahili and English.
"Every 4,044 years comet Calanhi enters the inner solar system, returning from its long and silent voyage through the Oort cloud. As it approaches perihelion, billions on Earth gaze into the night sky, transfixed by the celestial spectacle of their lifetime. While solar winds tear at the comet's surface, deep inside the glowing ball of ice, ancient machinery springs to life..." Over the past five years Daniel Lodig and Martin Sovinz aka /DL/MS/ have been continually commuting through the electro singularity, constructing their unique brand of fragile bass music from extradimensional sound salvage, and spreading their frequency patterns via the subspace channels of Frustrated Funk, Pomelo, and TRUST. 'Calanhi' is the Viennese duo's debut album - 12 tracks that combine the eternally fresh aesthetics of Detroit-style electro with a relentless curiosity for rhythmic and harmonic experimentation. Seismic club thumpers like 'Invisible Bits', 'Mountains', and 'Trusted Funk' alternate with moody ambient interludes, boldly constructed beat inventions, and blissfully melodic acid breaks. Two collaborations further switch up the flow: Nigerian artist G.Rizo (Hezekina Pollutina, Deejay Gigolo) drops her cryptic rhymes on 'Divide & Conquer', and Spanish singer Xx Isis xX provides vocals for 'Accelerated Frequency'. Mastered by Keith Tenniswood aka Radiocative Man. Sleeves designed by dextro_org. Vinyl version ships with postcard and Bandcamp download code.
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