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Multi Talented Sheba Q debuts on Over/Shadow with 2 tracks that highlight her unique style and sound. Asterix has been doing the rounds for a while after being made with Nectax and Sovereign projects Margarets vocal skills with Outrage on the buttons.....and to top it all off we have a Dub one Remix!!!!

Mit ,A Constant Charade" nimmt der Künstler und Produzent Elujay aus Oakland die Maske von seinem facettenreichen, genreübergreifenden Schaffen ab. ,Einer der talentiertesten Singer-Songwriter der Bay Area" (Hypebeast) gibt sein Solo-Debüt beim kunstorientierten Indie-Label drink sum wtr mit einer risikofreudigen LP, die auf fast ein Jahrzehnt einzigartiger Arbeit in der zeitgenössischen Pop-Landschaft folgt. Er sieht seinen Stil als eine Fusion unerwarteter Einflüsse: R&B gemischt mit Rhythmen aus Yacht Rock, Sophisti-Pop, Dancehall, Al Jeel, Lovers Rock und den Klängen seiner trinidadischen Wurzeln. ,A Constant Charade" ist eine dynamische Sammlung, die von Verletzlichkeit und Ehrgeiz geprägt ist. Die Themen berühren soziale Signale, Verhaltensmuster und die Art und Weise, wie wir uns anderen gegenüber verhalten, ,einfach beobachten, wie ich mich fühle, wenn ich unter Menschen bin", sagt er. "Ob ich nun den Code wechsle oder mich anders verhalte ... wir alle tun das, es ist eine Farce." Mit seinem charakteristischen Gesang und den bisher stärksten Arrangements, zusammen mit einer Reihe von Mitwirkenden und Co-Produzenten, durchbricht Elujay die Spielchen, um echt zu sein. Aufgenommen an verschiedenen Orten über einen Zeitraum von drei Jahren, krönt "A Constant Charade" ein bahnbrechendes Jahr 2025, das mit der zweiten Folge von GEMS IN THE CORNERSTORE von JEMS! begann, seinem von dsw unter Vertrag genommenen Projekt mit J. Robb. Wie GEMS lehnt sich das neue Album stärker an den Einflüssen karibischer Musik und Leftfield-Elektronik an, von Dance bis Ambient und einem Dutzend Stilrichtungen dazwischen. ,Ich denke, es ist wichtig, einfach zu erkennen, dass diese Leute, mit denen man zusammenarbeitet, den neuen Sounds, die man entdeckt, eine gewisse Glaubwürdigkeit verleihen", sagt Elujay. Er schreibt einen Großteil der nostalgischen Qualität von "A Constant Charade" Nicholas Creus zu: ,Er ist Jazzgitarrist und ein großer Fan von The Police und Yacht Rock, er ist einfach überall auf diesem Album zu finden." Ebenso wie den langjährigen Mitstreitern Martin Rodrigues, Jaden Wiggins und Ben Yasemsky, die Elujay seit seiner Kindheit kennt. ,Benji ist einfach ein stiller Killer, ein großartiger Gitarrist, Produzent und Finisher, der immer in letzter Minute alles aufräumt." Wenn es um die Zusammenarbeit mit anderen geht, ,habe ich kein Ego, es geht nur darum, dass die beste Idee gewinnt. Letztendlich geht es um die Menschen, wir wollen einfach nur die bestmögliche Musik machen."

Back In Stock!

Grammy Award winner Louie Vega has the unique ability to spotlight and highlight the most essential elements of classic dance tracks and remix and recreate them to create something just as powerful for today’s audiences. Currently in the midst of putting the finishing touches on his forthcoming album, Expansions In The NYC, Louie took some extra time to gather together the original members of the seminal New York – based disco funk band Unlimited Touch and collaborate with them at Log Cabin Studio in Manhattan and his own Daddy’s Workshop Studio in New Jersey to produce the 2020 edition of “I Hear Music In The Streets.”

Unlimited Touch consists of Audrey Wheeler (lead singer), Phil Hamilton, Tony Cintron, Sandy Anderson (RIP), Stephanie James and Lenny Underwood. “I Hear Music In The Streets” was originally released on legendary imprint Prelude Records in 1981.

Growing up in the Bronx, from an early age Louie had an affinity and love for all the various musical genres that were bubbling up in New York during that era defining creative period. It is that passion that has stayed with him during a career that has brought him Grammy’s, several worldwide hit records, and a status as one of the world’s most sought after DJs. It was especially fulfilling for Louie to work with the original members of Unlimited Touch, He quickly realized that their talents were still as strong as ever as they performed musical and vocal elements from the original song, and that they had the vision to see how the song could be re-energized by having Louie add his unique production elements to this seminal tune.

Louie is in the midst of an especially prolific and productive period. In 2016 he released the Grammy nominated Louie Vega Starring….XXVIII full length album; 2018 saw the release of the widely acclaimed and chart topping NYC Disco 2 X CD and 4 X vinyl album on Nervous Records. Known universally as “The Maestro” due to the standards of excellence he maintains in his productions, DJ Performances and live appearances with his Elements of Life Band, Louie Vega is now ready to unleash another gem to add to one of the music industry’s most remarkable body of work.

Footnotes is proud to announce the release of Twenty, a set of 4 EPs that showcase the fresh talents of Channell, Noppo & Bazil, Zar and Viiah — each contributing a distinct flavour to the project's flow.

The 12" sampler contains one track from each EP on a project that bridges the soulful side of Drum & Bass.

‘Butter’ is 10-tracks of intricately crafted modern soul from CHERISE and testament to CHERISE’s ability for creating gorgeous, honeyed Wonky Soul that’s the perfect soundtrack for chilled evenings in company of Steve Lacy, Moses Sumney, and Tierra Whack.

Showcasing CHERISE’s passion for collaboration, the project features rising artists Frida Touray and Meduulla and follows CHERISE’s acclaimed debut album ‘Calling’ - a sonic homage to her elders who journeyed to England as part of the Windrush generation.

A truly multi-faceted artist, CHERISE is fast proving herself to be one of the most fiercely talented young musicians in the UK. Her effortless, irresistible vocals, alongside her honest, soulful songwriting manage to be simultaneously both contemporary and timeless. In everything, she’s guided by knowing who she came from, who she is, and what she has to say. Now with ‘Butter’, CHERISE embraces her impulses and redefines what it means to be a modern day Soul artist.

Stil vor Talent marks the completion of its anniversary remix series with '20 Years Stil vor Talent Remixed'.
The release unites the entire collection of reinterpretations created throughout the year, celebrating the legacy of the label's catalogue and the many artists who have shaped its sound.

From Kaufmann (DE)'s driving take on 'Der Mückenschwarm' to Atric's & Frida Darko's signature interpretation of 'Bones', the compilation spans a wide spectrum of modern house, indie dance and techno. Hidden Empire, Andhim, Gerd Janson and many more contribute their own perspectives, linking past and present in bold and colourful ways. To twenty years of creativity, community and constant evolution.

Four Framed Music is back with their second label release, featuring the talented Buenos Aires-based Colombian producer Diego Ruiz, also known as DFRA.

The EP, titled ‘Soul to Soul’, showcases four exceptional house tracks that beautifully blend DFRA’s own unique sound with strong influences from Detroit and Chicago house music of the 90s and early 2000s. His production skills are on full display throughout the EP, as he expertly weaves together a diverse range of musical styles to create a truly captivating and one-of-a-kind listening experience.

Get ready to be transported on a musical journey that is sure to move your soul as DFRA’s infectious beats and grooves take over.

2026 Repress

Flickering in ultraviolet, there is an elusive place where blue pill meets red, ups become downs, and day merges with night. Those liminal spaces where anything is possible is where you’ll find Nightbus and their hypnotic debut album Passenger. Doom, uncertainty, and opportunity lurk in the shadowy corners of their murky existence with stops at disassociation, co-dependency, and addiction before reaching its final destination - a glimmer of hope.

The in-between of Nightbus’ own Gotham lies where Manchester’s city pulse meets Stockport’s outer realm. An audio-visual entity formed among a musical family of friends, freaks, and foes in messy mills and after hours on dancefloors alike, their sound bleeds from tension where collective creative forces are bound together and collide with the fallout of being torn apart. Before even playing a show, their So Young released single ‘Mirrors’ – a knowing nod of respect to some well-known gloomy Northerners - may have made old school indie heads shimmy at shows in Salford’s The White Hotel but also signalled the duo’s knack for offering listeners a Bandersnatch approach to hitchhiking their own personal Nightbus in whatever direction they choose to take. “Everyone can have their moment with our songs; the music is our response to who we are as young people, living in the city full of this energy right now,” they say.

Whilst reverb hefty melodies and dread-filled loops embody isolation from writing at each of their home studio set-ups, magic happens in the ether across 90s trip-hop, indie sleaze and electronica; Jake’s production layers Olive’s pop sentimentality with drums and samples whilst tales of a cast of faceless characters place Olive as puppet master; her severed self’s perspective manipulating their stringed limbs at arm’s length to see how their stories play out when scenes reflecting her own lie close to the bone. “It’s a bit fucked; like having this out of body experience with a made-up movie running through my head,” she says. “As I write I can see they’re all from a similar world, but they allow me to explore different feelings without giving away part of myself.”

Recorded at The Nave in Leeds with producer-engineer Alex Greaves (Heavy Lungs, Working Men’s Club), surprise and danger lies in every crevice. Brooding whispers turn to chants on 6-minute opus ‘Host.’ Improvised when performed live, its immersive shift in tempo leads to hefty dub courtesy of Jake’s pedals. Even then, you won’t know shit’s hit the fan until its mid-point reveal when ominous bass blasts a thunderous soundtrack as its protagonist defiantly walks away after committing the perfect crime. “It makes you wait, and more songs should have sirens,” Olive grins.

Leaning deeper into alter-egos via the video game-psychological horror of a Silent Hill dystopia, the band’s Fight Club moment ‘Angles Mortz’ turns its literal translation of death angles on its head as it reflects upon kink and internalised shame reincarnated as pride. Elsewhere the ice cool ‘Landslide’ is a Requiem for a Dream about the addiction of being in a band; ‘The Void’ explores co-dependency and estranged relationships; and carefully selected samples revive house track ‘Just A Kid’ from the band’s early incarnation. Passenger’s every direction is to face challenges head on. “That is what’s so great about horror; you can see through predictable patterns so when the unexpected occurs it's more realistic and uncomfortable… I want to own the dark stuff!”

As for Passenger’s first single, the pulsating ‘Ascension’ is a spiralling deep dive into death, suicide, and legacy around who or what we leave behind. A noughties club banger by way of NYC beats - ergonomically designed for those who like to stay out a little too often and too late - it throbs like a house party’s partition wall as the literal levelling up undergoes a neon transformation; blue glitching to pink, diffusing the white construct of the Nightbus Matrix. “It really does feel like the end of something and was purposely written that way,” they say, “the ascension is like a firework going off!”

With wheels in motion, Nightbus has become a movement surpassing sonic realms. Between shows from Porto to Brighton taking in The Great Escape, Rotterdam’s Left Of The Dial and Paris’ Supersonic; DJing; remixing; guesting (BDRMM’s Microtonic album); and even enlisting talented like-minds to craft a 3-part queer coming-of-age music video series which ties in with a new ‘hyperpop’ phase in the evolution of their popular Nightbus Soundsystem club night, heads are now being turned from sports brands to high-end fashion designers. “There are things we can’t reveal just yet,” tells Olive, “but we’re excited about the direction this beast we’ve created is heading.” As the album philosophises and asks one ultimate question; what does it truly mean to be ‘Passenger’? Nightbus may not claim to offer a definitive answer, but it might make you feel a bit better about those demons.

Disco Mind Records impressed everyone with its first EP and now it deals with the pressure of coming back with a second in fine fashion. This one is perfect for warm days and summer nights as it offers four high-impact and gloriously feel-good Brazilian and disco edits all pulled off to perfection. New young talent Brother Julian kicks off with a peak time and groovy burner, then disco don Romand Truth goes a little more deep and smooth with his seductive sound. Delfonic offers the percussive Latin grooves of 'Nada is Going to Change' and 'Grito de Guerra' is another upbeat open-air rhythm.

Hidde Van Wee hails from the Netherlands and is an emerging house talent who does it all from electro to minimal, always with a future-facing outlook. After outings on PIV and Heavy House Society, he lands here on Ebullience with four stylish and fresh house sounds. 'Seduction' is sleek and synoptic with cosmic pads and space-tech energy, 'Use Me' layers heartfelt chords onto crispy and softer-edged drums with a balmy mix of bass and pads. The flip brings the bouncy tech of 'Another Day,' and 'Dig This' shuts down with some moody bass but radiant synth smears that hark back to early Gs like Danny Howells.

MidnightRoba is the solo project of vocalist, songwriter and producer Roba El-Essawy. The voice of Attica Blues (Mo Wax 1997, Sony 2000), Raise A Symphony is MidnightRoba's second solo album. Her first album, Golden Seams, very much rooted in jazz, received support, airplay and features from DJs such as Gilles Peterson (BBC Radio 6), Tony Minvielle and China Moses (Jazz FM), Robert Elms (BBC London Live) and Kevin Le Gendre on J to Z (BBC Radio 3). Single releases from this second album have been played by Gilles Peterson (WorldWideFM & BBC Radio 6), Kate Hutchinson (Soho Radio), Marshmello (NTS), Rob Luis (Tru Thoughts), Kev Beadle, Patrick Steele, DJ Amazon, and more.

'Raise A Symphony' is music of our time. A 15-track electronic offering, it comments on topics ranging from colonialism to complicity of silence; from compromised politicians to the power of protest and gratitude to those on the frontlines of change; from displacement and sea migration to the desire to protect our loved ones and the need for kindness; to have faith in the future and the importance of searching for joy in the meantime. The self-produced album 'Raise A Symphony' sees contributions from Saul Williams, Deschanel Gordon, Michael King and Tony Kofi, amongst others. The album title takes it's name from Martin Luther King's 'I Have A Dream' speech where King calls for the nation to rise to gather together and form a 'beautiful symphony of brotherhood'.

"..in Raise A Symphony, Midnight Roba has transmuted talent into something more powerful, where bridges built from her exquisite, unique harmonies, soaring songs and percussive productions allow competing emotions to co-exist and feed into each other. This album itself is a form of community; voices in unison, reaching outwards and offering restoration and upliftment throughout this remarkable work of love and fury." Emma Warren



a 01: Joy (Reprise) [feat. Deschanel Gordon]

ugne&maria is a collaboration between Marija Rasa Kudabaite and Ugnė Vyliaudaite, both residing in Belgium. Their musical style is characterised by a multilayered, down-tempo, yet danceable approach, incorporating violin, synthesizers and sampling techniques.

We were completely blown away by the duo’s live performance at Meakusma Festival in August 2024. It was one of those rare moments when time seemed to stand still: the music, the atmosphere and the audience merged into a single warm, smooth and radiant aura of positive energy and vibes. This experience made us want to share such exceptional talent on Hands in the Dark and we are over the moon to announce the release of ugne&maria’s new album ‘Zotasphere’, dropping on 16th January 2026.

The 8 songs featured on the record came together slowly, bit by bit. Diary-like, each track reflects on different moments and life events that have followed ugne&maria over the past couple of years. Layers of sound and layers of memory are interlaced into the album, an embodiment of all that feels distant, yet still present. Most of the tracks move around a steady, unhurried pulse, never faster than 120 bpm. Some tracks even ended up being intentionally slowed down, as if the music itself wished to breathe more, mirroring life’s natural pace, with elements stretching, shifting and decelerating. Focused on bass and rhythm, influenced by the depth and warmth of classic house and low-end music, ugne&maria let the sounds drift elsewhere. The violin became a voice, the voice became a texture.

DJ Support - Alan Fitzpatrick, Ben Sims, Colin Dale, Dave Clarke, DJ Bone, Doc Scott, Dustin Zahn, Ellen Allien, Fear-E, Fixon, Gary Beck, James Ruskin, Laurent Garnier, Luke Slater, Misstress Barbara, Radio Slave, Rebecca Delle Piane, Remy Unger, Rodhad, Scuba, The Advent & Truncate

Hardgroove returns with three powerful new remixes from rising Greek talent ANNE, who twists label boss Sim’s Snapshot ‘99 into a trio of peak-time weapons. Marking her third release on the legendary label, ANNE builds on acclaimed work for Out Of Place, Soma, and Hardgroove sister label Symbolism, seeing her in heavy demand with a packed 2025 touring schedule across the EU and beyond.

Westside Cowboy return with their new EP ‘So Much Country Till’ We Get There”, released January 16th via their new label home Adventure Recordings. With their particular blend of self-titled ‘Britainicana’ the Manchester-based four piece have been heralded as one of the best live bands in the country, winning Glastonbury’s Emerging Talent Competition, and appearing as a regular fixture on the BBC Radio 6 Music playlist.

The Sha La Das are Bill Schalda and his talented sons Paul, Will and Carmine, originating from Staten Island, NY.
Your Picture, the Sha La Das’ second album and the first release on producer Tom Brenneck's own label, Diamond West Records, is yet another singular testament to the stirring power of blood harmony and a celebration of the enduring love story between Bill and the family matriarch, Linda.
Traces of old memories flicker through Your Picture. Bill’s classic songwriting and lush vocal arrangements get whirled into new territory, updating doo-wop with the bottom-heavy groove and swirling pop of Brenneck’s lean, spacious production. “We brought in some psychedelic sounds and drew inspiration from deep soul records to the Beatles and Beach Boys alike,” Brenneck says.
Love radiates throughout Your Picture, flowing out from the shimmering melodies Bill and his sons produce. Bill Schalda and sons are living their musical dream—Your Picture is the proof.

2026 Repress

The clergy is pleased to introduce you to a new initiate: Birds ov Paradise. This highly anticipated Hypnus debut comes split into three separate EP's which will be released one each full moon starting October.

Some of you may be acquainted with the music of Birds ov Paradise already as he's put out two stellar records on Jens and Aniara Recordings in 2016-2017, as well as making a contribution to our podcast series The Memoir where his sound was put on a grand display. Those of you who are new to the fantastic dream world of this very talented artist will quickly get lost in the flowing rhythms that drives his magical deep techno sound.

Early support from Etapp Kyle, Ness, Slam, Iori, Refracted, Svreca, Cio D'Or and Dorisburg to name a few.

We hope that you enjoy the trip into the Bayou.

2026 repress

The clergy is pleased to introduce you to a new initiate: Birds ov Paradise. This highly anticipated Hypnus debut comes split into three separate EP's which will be released one each full moon starting October.

Some of you may be acquainted with the music of Birds ov Paradise already as he's put out two stellar records on Jens and Aniara Recordings in 2016-2017, as well as making a contribution to our podcast series The Memoir where his sound was put on a grand display. Those of you who are new to the fantastic dream world of this very talented artist will quickly get lost in the flowing rhythms that drives his magical deep techno sound.

Early support from Etapp Kyle, Ness, Slam, Iori, Refracted, Svreca, Cio D'Or and Dorisburg to name a few.

"“Back of My Mind” represents a bold, inward journey—a turning point in his evolving artistry. Gone is any trace of uncertainty: instead, Drew channels a quiet confidence, and understated shift in his music style while sharpening his sense of self and sound with remarkable clarity. As a testament to his growing talent, Drew played almost every instrument on the album, giving each track a deeply personal and authentic feel.

With a debut for the ages, Drew Pulliam is about to make his mark on the music scene as a triple threat – singer, songwriter and instrumentalist. Pulliam said, “I feel like this album is finally approaching what I hear as my sound. I just hope I’m on the right path
because it’s the only one I know.”"

Swan Song

The vinyl LP at the heart of this éthiopiques 31 tracks 2 to 11 was one of the very last vinyl records ever released in Ethiopia. But above all it represents, we felt, the absolute masterpiece of the Ethiopian Groove – the Swan Song of Swinging Addis. The album leaves a clear idea for posterity of the level of sophistication and mastery that modern Ethiopian music had achieved, before being crushed under the Stalino-military heel of the Derg – as the bloody revolution that was unfolding came to be called.

Ethiopia1976.

The Revolution that broke out in February 1974 rolled on in a ruthless march. The whole of Ethiopian society was utterly stunned. The bouquets of flowers handed joyfully to the first tanks of the coup d'état were to wilt very rapidly. From September 1976 to February 1978, 18 months of Red Terror (the name given by the junta itself) spilled blood throughout the country. This fratricidal conflict took its heaviest toll among students and youth. The shift from feudalism to a cruel and primitive Stalinism left the country's citizens deeply traumatised, and snuffed out any pretence of activism, whatever the sector of society. This ice age was to last for seventeen long years.

ሙሉቀን፡መለሰ Mulukèn Mellèssè Muluqän Mälläsä

It was three tracks by Muluken that served as the opener for éthiopiques-1 more than 25 years ago. Seven more tracks appeared on éthiopiques-3 and 13, all accompanied by The Equators, which was soon to become the Dahlak Band.

The first track, Hédètch alu, also the very first piece that Muluken ever recorded, left audiences both unsettled and amazed. Reflecting the singer's extremely young age (he was just 17 at the time), this angelic voice mystified many, who thought they were in fact listening to a feminine voice. He was not yet 22 when he released his last vinyl record in 1976 with Kaifa Records (KF 39LP), one of the very last to be issued in Ethiopia, before the cassette tape became the dominant medium for music distribution – and before the new revolutionary regime put a stop to all independent musical life, via an unspeakable barrage of prohibitions and other persecutions.

Mulu qèn, literally, “A well filled day”. This tender maternal intention wasn't enough to ward off the cruelty of fate. His mother's premature death drove Muluken to leave his native Godjam, in northeast Ethiopia, to live with an uncle in Addis Ababa. Born Muluken Tamer, he took his uncle's last name – Mèllèssè.

The spelling Muluken appeared in his administrative records. Transcription of Amharic to the Latin alphabet, both in Ethiopia and for scholars, gives rise to controversies and quibbles that can never be neatly settled. French allows for a closer approximation of the original pronunciation, thanks to its battery of accent marks, confusing as they may be to anglophones.

Between rather accommodating administrative record-keepers and the various versions that pop up in interviews given by the artist, Muluken's year of birth oscillates between 1953 and 1955…

1954? One thing is certain: the artist's talent made itself known very early indeed, because he got his start in 1966-67, at the age of 13 or 14. Photos from the period attest to his extreme youth. It's a strange sort of initiation for a very young teenager to become a sensation in the heart of Addis's nightlife at the time, Woubé Bèrèha – the Wilds of Woubé. And what's more, in the club of the Queen of the Night, the Godjamé Assègèdètch Alamrèw herself, the very same that was portrayed by Sebhat Guèbrè-Egziabhér in his novel-memoir Les Nuits d’Addis Abeba2… The legendary female club owner who is remembered to this day by the capital's ageing boomers.

Muluken first tried his hand at the drums, before he grabbed the microphone. He emigrated briefly to the Zula Club, across the street from the old Addis Post Office, one of the ground-breaking bars of the burgeoning musical scene, before joining the Second Police Band in 1968, for around three years. He spent a few months with the short-lived Blue Nile Band founded by saxophonist Besrat Tammènè. As the musical scene grew increasingly successful, and pulled slowly but decisively away from its institutional ties, Muluken released his first 45rpm single in February 1972 (Amha Records AE 440). It was included in two LP Ethiopian Hit Parade compilation albums in September of the same year. All in all, Muluken released eight two-track 45s and the same number of original cassette tapes between February 1972 and 1984, the year that he departed for permanent exile in the USA. After converting to Pentecostalism in 1980, Muluken gradually abandoned all secular musical activity. In 1985, at the end of a concert in Philadelphia, he decided to quit concerts and recording for good. Mèlakè Gèbré, the historic bass player from the Walias band who was playing with him that night, recalls that everything appeared so irredeemably diabolical in Muluken's eyes, that it was to be the end of his contribution to Ethiopian Groove.

The end of the story, the beginning of a legend.

Dahlak Band, forgotten by History

Aside from his personal history and vocal talents, it must be remembered that Muluken Mèllèssè was one of the biggest names in the musical innovations that marked the end of the imperial period. These éthiopiques aim to convince those who are just discovering this hidden gem... As for Ethiopians themselves, they are to this day captivated by this singular and atypical figure in the Abyssinian pop landscape – even though he withdrew from public life some 40 years ago. Incorrigible devotees of poetic twists, of more or less hidden meanings, Ethiopians appreciate above all the care Muluken took in choosing his lyrics and the writers who penned them, such as Feqerte Haylou, Alemtsehay Wodajo and, here, Shewalul Mengistu (1944-1977). Love songs, written by women, a far cry from the conventional drivel that pleases sappy sentimentalists.

Muluken is equally acclaimed for his perfectionism when it came to music, the opposite of the overly casual approach that is all too common. He remained a faithful partner of musicians who came from a lineage that borrowed from several inventive and pioneering bands (Venus, Equators, Dahlak). Amongst them were certain artists who began their musical lives with Nersès Nalbandian at the Haile Sellassie Theatre and who come of age in around 1973 – at just the wrong time, you might say. Among them were the pillars Shimèlis Bèyènè (trumpet), Dawit Yifru (keyboards) and Tilayé Gèbrè (sax & flute). Most notably Tilayé Gèbrè, certainly one of the most important musicians, composers and arrangers of his generation, of the end of the imperial era, and of the early years of the Derg.

It was only in 1981 that a miraculous opportunity arose for Tilayé to escape the Stalinist paradise of the dictator Menguistou Haylè-Maryam. Once again it was Amha Eshèté (1946-2021) who provided a solution. The spirited and courageous producer, who had been in exile in Washington since 1975, succeeded, thanks to his incredible perseverence, in bringing the Walias Band to the USA. It was, in fact an extended Walias Band comprising ten musicians3, six of whom chose to slip away after a few concerts and the recording of an LP (The Best of Walias, WRS 100). Tilayé Gèbrè was one of these. He has been living in the USA ever since. There he joined the then-nascent Ethiopian diaspora, which lived largely unto itself, and was making only very modest headway in the American musical market. It seems unfair that Tilayé Gèbrè and the Dahlak Band were not able to benefit earlier from the public recognition that they do deserve.

A similar draining away of the top-rate talents would lead to the reorganization of the major groups of the “Derg Time”. The remaining artists spread themselves around between Ibex Band (renamed Roha Band), Ethio Star Band and a remodeled Walias Band. That spelled the end of the Dahlak Band.

With this record, produced by the essential Ali Abdella Kaifa a.k.a. Ali Tango, we can appreciate everything that the Derg not only destroyed, but also prevented from flourishing. This gem of Ethiopian-style afrobeat came out in 1976 (and, by way of a parenthesis, before the FESTAC 1977 in Lagos, which was attended by an impressive delegation of Ethiopian musicians — although Fela was already personna non grata in his own country). Despite everything that might distinguish this ethio-groove from Fela’s music – no colonial axe to grind, no question of political confrontation with the authorities, no claims to negritude or Africanism for the Ethiopian musicians, and less extrovertion! –, this LP fits beautifully into the saga of intense and electrified soul of the new “African” groove that Fela and Manu Dibango embodied so well from that point onwards.

In restoring this record to its place in the afrobeat epic, it can be seen that, if nothing else, the timeline bestows a legitimate pedigree and a historical primacy to works that had no international impact when they were originally released.

Warning! Masterpiece!

London based experimental producer and composer "Leifur James" announces his return with news of a six date EU tour and the release ‘Wise Old Man’. The first single taken from his highly anticipated second album ‘Angel in Disguise’, which is due for release on the
24th April 2020 via "Night Time Stories" - Sister label to the coveted ‘LateNightTales’.

Driving, melancholic electronica, ‘Wise Old Man’ is a nod to what can be expected of James’ second album, Angel In Disguise, showcasing a more experimental side to his production. Traversing through musicality, progressive synths and introspection, this first single unveils the producer’s distinct sound with disorientated vocals; speaking of the interplay between reason and emotion, the lyrics repeat “Wise old man in my brain, soul bursting through my veins”, opening the gates to this captivating electronically steered opus.

This news comes after an incredible few years for the artist. In 2018 saw James release his esteemed debut album A Louder Silence on Night Time Stories and follow up remix EP that championed upcoming electronic talent including Bruce, FaltyDL and Whities producer, Coby Sey, on rework duties; projects which captured the attention of key tastemakers including Resident Advisor, Pitchfork, Mixmag, Electronic Sound and Future Music UK.

An aesthetically driven artist dedicated to marrying powerful visual backdrops with sonic explorations, James teamed up with Hungarian director, Balázs Simon; producing the critically acclaimed, ‘Wurlitzer’ project which saw widespread support from the likes of Boiler Room, CLASH, Directors’ Notes, Motionographer, the UK and Berlin Music Video Awards, the London Short Film Festival, Dublin International Film Festival and more.

Angel In Disguise promises to explore the themes of love and loss through a masterful blend of harmonic vocals from James himself, nuanced electronic soundscapes and vibrant percussion -
punctuated by bespoke visuals, directed by Balázs Simon.

This exciting project is expected to make waves and see James
step up, exhibiting his discerning ear and painstakingly honed production craft on aseminal label.