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The Best of The Wailers’ was the debut album proper by Bob Marley & The Wailers, recorded for Leslie Kong - Jamaica’s most successful record producer of all time. These tapes were restored by Nick Robbins in London and assessed against all previous ‘The Best of The Wailers’ releases on vinyl.

Another sad example of how unfair the music business can be. According to some sources, in June 1990, just a few weeks before Enigma's hugely successful track "Sadeness (Part I)" was released, Hartmut Gawehn (one half of Sloopey G.) brought a demo tape of „Domine“ to Virgin Records in Munich. The demo was quite well received, generating a great deal of interest on behalf of Virgin's A&R department. Interestingly enough, Michael Cretu of Enigma happened to have a music publishing company in the same building, just one floor above Virgin. Shortly thereafter, Enigma's "Sadeness (Part I)" was released, bearing a shamelessly striking resemblance. This "coincidence" led the production team at FURORE Studio in Düsseldorf into a long and complicated legal battle over their intellectual property, which dragged on for years — but with little success for the pioneers of this sound.
Here you can listen to the original tracks of the DOMINE production, along with a previously unreleased track from the same era. Downtempo breakbeat/house rhythms combined with religious samples and vocals — a sound that was very much ahead of its time. Get closer to God and to the truth behind the sound that helped sell so much perfume during the 90s. Must have for any true early house aficionado.

“Friends, they are my ticket out of this place I am in… feels like nothing more than a dirt bike vacation stop between Phoenix and San Diego.” Dirt Bike Vacation—for Worried Songs Records—explores the sonic world of the late amateur guitar player, Charles ‘Poppy Bob’ Walker, through a captivating set of instrumental songs made in the mid-1980s. Recorded on a single-track, Marantz field recorder, the project is a transportive document of Walker’s days spent as a meatpacking employee in Yuma, Arizona and the dailiness of that existence: driving to work, sitting in his backyard, walking around drunkenly, unwinding on the couch with a friend. These sketches, showing an experimental tendency, are surprisingly ahead of their time; some exhibit ad hoc tape delay (“Granite Bluffs,” “Goodbye YMCA”), while others make use of primitive overdubbing (“Continuation to Moon Doctor”). Not dissimilar to works such as Bruce Langhorne’s The Hired Hand soundtrack, Walker’s guitar playing is melodic, texturally rich and beautifully sober. On a musical tour from Nashville to Los Angeles, musician-archivist, Cameron Knowler, uncovered these songs from a series of dusty cassette tapes housed at a branch of the Yuma County Library. Originally tipped off by cryptic metadata entries found through an online finding aid, Knowler requested a sound sample and was immediately drawn in by their eerie, yet hopeful nature: “I didn’t care what they sounded like at first, but once I heard just a few seconds, I had to find out everything I could about Charles, who he was, and if he was still alive.” As it turns out, the two had miraculously crossed paths over 20 years prior when Cameron was a young boy accompanying his mother, a gem trader, on a biyearly sojourn to Quartzsite, a town 80 miles north of Yuma: “Charles, sitting down and smoking in a recliner, withdrawn, held what I now understand to be a mid-1990s Martin D-28 guitar. Unlike other old-timers, his instrument was sharply tuned and had a nice sound, even to my young and uncalibrated ears. Though his left hand showed signs of highly developed arthritis, his musical ideas were animated by a palpably deep understanding of fretboard anatomy, arrangement and harmony.” Sorting through the index cards associated with these tapes, Knowler was able to gain a detailed sense of most recording’s provenance, whereabouts and time: Walker’s Datsun pickup truck chugging along boiling hot Interstate 80, the Marine Corps Air Station parking lot, the Eastern Wetlands on the banks of the Colorado River, a fishing trip to Martinez Lake. Trying to reduce the amount of his own subjectivities coloring the work, Cameron constructed titles and track sequences by borrowing information gleaned from Charles’ handwritten notes: “I tried to organize everything by time of day, giving the listener the sense of how a Yuma day might sound and feel like, and each song title—even the record itself—is borrowed from his own words.” This proved no small task, as many notecards had to be deciphered and then coupled with their native tapes which needed extensive restoration treatments. The result is a project very much out of the blue, and one that is intensely personal to Knowler, having grown up in the same town under similar circumstances. “It feels like a part of my own journey as a guitarist reckoning with the defining marks of a gothic border town,” he remarks. “At the time I would’ve met Walker, I didn’t have much outside influence, but he has been in there all the while.” In their current form, the tracks combine to create a sonic journey that boldly contributes to the traditions of acoustic guitar soli, archival digs and field recordings all the same; most importantly, it is a creative document which shows a day-in-the-life of a man grappling with the human experience under a ubiquitous Yuma sun.

Following his debut album Bisou Genou, released in October 2021, Frise Lumière are preparing the release of his second album Ambo (Experimental, minimalism, Noise Jazz, Avantgarde) for October 2024.Ambo is the outcome of numerous interactions from the past and present, affirming and advancing the research of his prepared bass's acoustic possibilities. His use of broomsticks, mallets, and drumsticks enhances his rhythmic playing. Whether he plays his instrument more conventionally or flat on his lap. A method that is already audible in a few of the tracks on his first LP

Minimal wave legend Das Ding is back on Electronic Emergencies after 10 years with a stunning selection of archival tracks from retrieved tape recordings. In the early eighties, Danny Bosten got together with his friends after school in his bedroom studio, somewhere in the bleak Dutch countryside. They experimented with cheap analogue gear and made music to kill time. The sound is raunchy and slightly experimental, but already unmistakable Das Ding. New wave, early EBM and proto techno are found this album, pressed on clear vinyl. To preserve the original atmosphere and sound, the tapes received the Ruud Lekx mastering treatment.

2024 Repress

All in that stark contrast between ethereal spaciousness and steely, martial rhythms out the industrial spectrum, 'Far Field' takes us on a voyage across the board, from breaks-heavy machine stunts to washed-out tapestries, via EBM-laced detours and junglistic maneuvers. Investigating the nexus zone between dance functionality and limitless escapology, it extrapolates both artists' blends to further immersive, hypnotic effect. Taking over the A side, .VRIL gets the ball rolling with 'Lost Together', which sets the tone on a low-slung, nostalgia-drenched note; combining the syncopated swagger of downtempo techno with ambient-oid stasis and static-filled opacity. Like watching an all-metal sun sinking past the blazing skyline. Revving up the engines, 'Fnord' feat. RAeYN conjures up a way more muscular arsenal of big-room-ready wares, from aggro snare salvos to anthemic synth kinetics, through that replicant-hunting kinda vibe. One to have the Saturn rings go hula hoop, with all woofers and brains in the vicinity melting in XTC. Shutting the A side off, 'We Believe' returns to a lighter, more vaporous mindset but sure implements that signature heavy swing of .VRIL, flush with textured kicks and FX-soaked arps. True monster prog swell. Flip it over and there's HVL dishing out a textbook example of his vortical electronic furls with the title-track, 'Far Field' - an oneiric drift that slowly rises from its heavy-lidded slumber, ascending towards bleepin' n bloopin' experimental effervescence as bars fly by. A number bound to hack your body and mind into two distinct facets, and while one dances its way frantically across the ever buzzing space/time continuum, the other shall reach a state of healing calm and transcending ubiquity. Smoothly shuttling us off to the upper layers of the ionosphere, 'Lancet Mxi' clenches it on a trippy note, taxiing us midway zero-G UK bass territories and eerie ambient abstraction. HVL's total, widescreen vision at its most unhindered, all set at expanding your mind to yet uncharted horizons of sound and closing the gap between two distant, estranged galaxies. A fractured headspace to both dance and dream to. *Dressed in a fine piece of artwork courtesy of Daniel M. Diaz, 'RYCL021' comes pressed on 180g audiophile black vinyl for optimal playing and listening experience.

2024 Repress
The Aggrovators were one of Jamaica’s finest session bands, many of the tracks you know and love from the 70’s Reggae scene probably featured this group of musicians in some shape or form.
The band were put together by Bunny’Striker’Lee , one of Jamaica’s formidable producers, who with no studio of his own had to rely on buying studio time from the existing establishments, such as Randy’s Studio or Channel 1.
The updating of Studio 1 classic’s which in some cases were reworkings of American R&B tunes was common practice. The rhythms were much loved favourites and with the added incentive that the musicians knew the tracks inside out.
This set of dubs are straight from the master tapes of such sessions orchestrated by the man Bunny Lee himself, no one knew better…you can’t keep a good tune down never mind a great one..
So sit back and enjoy The Aggrovators in fine Studio 1 style….RESPECT

Distangled brings you another gem of a re-issue. Barfly, a one-off by Wringler, is a little known and obscure Dutch release from the mid 90's and changes for quite some $ among those who know. Six cleverly produced house and techno tracks, raw and sometimes even with a hint of disco too. Including 3 previously unreleased tracks found on the original session tapes. Big tip!

It's a pleasure, a labour of love and a yearly highlight to present a new volume of the Mr Bongo Record Club series. In this collection, we have curated new finds alongside old, treasured tracks that hold a special place in our hearts, selecting music inspiring us from the Brazilian, Latin, soul, disco, gospel, cosmic, dancehall and downtempo genres. We have chosen a diverse array of artists, including Os Panteras from Brazil, stomping underground disco by Claude Jay, the Danish soul sounds of Gitte & Inger and the gospel excellence of Truth & Devotion, to name a few.

Most of the selections in this volume are older vintage productions, however, there is one very special contemporary production, recorded exclusively for Mr Bongo Record Club 7. For ‘Spring Has Sprung’, we linked three of our cherished musical family together; the legendary cult artist Asha Puthli, the wonderous band SOYUZ and Swedish maestro Sven Wunder. The result, as you’d expect, is completely breathtaking.

Reflecting on Volume 7, it now feels like a record comprised of two themes. Firstly, we have gone quite heavy on the Brazilian selections. This saw us searching further afield and digging into other areas of the endlessly rich Brazilian musical tapestry. The reflection of a more folk / Afro-Brazilian sound than presented in previous volumes in the series, can be heard in the songs of As Sublimes, Romeu Fernandes and Conjunto de Percussão Dora Pinto. The second theme is a representation of the tracks that we have been playing in our club DJ sets and are aimed more at the dancefloor. Disco tracks such as 'Come Inside' by The Shades of Love and The Duncans' 'Too Damn Hot' have been firmly tested favourites in recent years.

We hope these songs, by the sensational artists on display, inspire you as much as they do us. Music is the gift that keeps giving and there is so much more to learn, find, and share.

Masterminded by the prolific collaborators The Fattoruso Brothers, Airto Moreira, and Hermeto Pascoal, Opa’s Goldenwings a latin-jazz-fusion extravaganza that weaves a sonic world that lives at the intersection of lush three-part vocal harmonies, tender flute solos, pulsating percussions, and robust synth textures. Reissued on vinyl for the first time in 50 years as part of Jazz Dispensary’s Top Shelf series, the album was cut from the original analog tapes by Kevin Gray, pressed on 180-gram vinyl at RTI, and packaged in a gatefold tip-on jacket.

. By his early 20s, Kurious was already an in-demand voice on the mic. His 1994 major label debut album, A Constipated Monkey, is a classic of its style, marked by heavy beats and nimble rhymes that are razor-sharp yet frequently hilarious. Despite being hailed as one of hip-hop's most compelling lyricists, he didn't release another solo IP for the rest of that decade, but he continued to be sought after. Rap fans the world over know him for his verse on "?," one of the standout songs from his longtime friend and collaborator MF DOOM's heralded Operation: Doomsday. As he prepares for the release of his new album, Majician-the nickname his peers blessed him with a generation ago-Kurious is well on his way to establishing the legacy he's long deserved. The LP, which was executive produced by MF DOOM before his passing, is a mesmerizing blend of technical wizardry and personal introspection. Take "Eye of Horus," where the pulsing drums convey an urgency that borders on panic; Kurious weaves a complex tapestry of history and insight, but does so while ducking through and under each pocket in the beat. Produced in its entirety by Mono En Stereo, Majician is filled with songs like "Eye of Horus," which dance on the line between confession and confrontation. "Separation Anxiety" is a personal bloodletting in the form of lyrical exercise; "Par For the Course," which features the elusive Mr. Fantastik, makes drum breaks from the early Reagan era sound totally revitalized. Through the radical amount of work Kurious put into the writing and recording of this material, he's removed all ambiguity from the question of whether he can stand as one of the premier MCs of his time.

The origins of Oreo Jones forthcoming third studio album, to be released September 20th, 2024, started in 2019 while on an extended trip to Antananarivo, Madagascar supported by an Andy Warhol Foundation grant. The myriad sights and sounds of this journey greatly inform the sonic tapestry of this new album.Jones teamed up with indie producer Ben Lumsdaine (Durand Jones/Wishy/Varsity/Barrie) to build songs from the ground up sending demos back and forth from across the country. Jones also recruited composer and vocalist Hanna Benn to add heavenly harmonies sprinkled throughout the album. The result is a sound that is intentional and immediate, earthly and ethereal. Each song is a chapter in a narrative crafted with purpose.Emotionally, the album emerges from a place of much needed rest and peace. During the recording process, Jones' uncle passed away unexpectedly. Over the past few years, he has found himself processing grief and loss within his immediate family of elders. Nephew is an ode to celebrate the ancestors who shaped the artist he is today.

Back in print! Dead Moon's final album remastered with VERY radically improved sound and reissued here for the first time ever. 'Dead Ahead' is filled with all time great rockers and ballads. Some of the legendary band's heaviest work. The world's greatest rock band's swan song is not wasted - dark corridors are explored and conquered. Remastered from the original tapes with amazing new dynamics and the murk reduced to the noise layer it was meant to be.

MOMO. releases his 7th album Gira, on Batov Records bringing together some very special musicians and guests from London"s bustling and hustling jazz community, with fellow Brazilian artists, recorded and cut to tape at East London"s Total Refreshment Center.

If you prefer things sweet and concise, here is all you need to know about Morphena and Narciss and their Lingua Erotica release on Running Back: a project of passion made while living across the globe thousands of miles apart from each other while falling in love, sensuality, tenderness, longing, authenticity.
Making waves on the festival and club circuit and meticulous productions like Forbidden Fruit or the Immer Remix for Running Back, Narciss found the perfect partnership with Morphena and their multitalented artistry between DJing, music making and vocal work.
Informed and inspired by a mutual enthusiasm for Italo blueprints, new romantic mannerisms, synth pop poetry and an uncanny knack for subtle and yearning dance floor euphoria (see Paradise and the club version of Per Aspera Ad Astra for further proof). it works like a mix tape or love letter to the listener or any of their adored ones. While the obvious club cuts Mi Amor and Fleeing Into You are sandwiched between the ambience of Per Aspera Ad Astra and Cocoon Cracking, one cannot help to be mesmerized by the coherence and monolithic magnetism of Lingua Erotica.
Captivating, catchy and confident. Here’s to many more.

Aus den Tiefen von Post Punk, Cold Wave und Dancefloor meldet sich Levin Goes Lightly mit neuem Album zurück: Numb ist der Titel des mittlerweile fünften Longplayerst. In den für ihn so charakteristischen schrägen Bildern erzählt Levin Goes Lightly von toxischen Beziehungen, dunklen Lebensabschnitten und der großen Liebe. Der melodische Gesang wechselt zwischen Deutsch und Englisch, das musikalische Grundgerüst sind treibende, elektronische Beats, kühle Synthesizer, und gleichzeitig warme Orgeltöne und wavige Gitarrenparts. Im Song "Headbanging" fragt er "Is it beautiful when it"s sad? / Ist es so schön, weil es so traurig ist?" - und liefert doch selbst den Beweis, dass bittersüße Traurigkeit schön und trotzdem sehr tanzbar sein kann. Die Songs handeln von tief im Meer lebenden Liebenden (oder Seeungeheuern?), die gemeinsam nur zum Licht streben oder die so lange in die Sonne blicken, bis sich ihnen ein gemeinsamer Fleck ins Auge einbrennt - "damit man sich an diesem Fleck für immer erkennt". Darüber, dass man einsehen muss, dass man selbst das Chaos ist, auch wenn man noch so sehr dagegen ankämpft und über Hände, die nur dann nicht taub sind, wenn sie den andern berühren. Engel, die doch nur schrecklich sind und sich auflösen im Rausch. Levin Goes Lightlys Musik ist sophisticated und treibend, seine Auftritte immer schweißtriefend und glamourös. Bei einigen Songs denkt man an die frühen New Order, Boy Harsher oder Grauzone und an die Wärme von Beach House. Das Songwriting ist wie bei den vorherigen Alben geprägt von musikalischer Vielseitigkeit und tiefgründigen, aber auch merkwürdigen Texten. Mit seinen melancholischen Melodien, oft begleitet von kraftvollen Beats, gelingt es ihm tiefe Emotionen einzuweben. Über fünf Alben hat er seinen Sound weiterentwickelt: Vom Lo-Fi zu Postpunk, von Englisch zu Deutsch und wieder zurück. "Numb" ergänzt seinen musikalischen Kosmos um Stücke, die sich nun wieder eher beim düsteren Dance- und Electronic-Sound eines John Maus ansiedeln. Die von ihm entworfenen Klangwelten sind dabei immer treibend und hypnotisch - eine Art Cold Wave, bei dem einem warm ums Herz wird.

The Elton Dean Sessions by Supersister, released 18 October 2024, includes the following tracks: "Drum Intro", "Soft Sister Part 2 (Improvisation #3 )", "Soft Sister Part 3 ( Improvisation #5)", "Babylon" and more.

This version of The Elton Dean Sessions comes as a 1xLP in a(n) Gatefold Sleeve packaging.

The Midnight Rock label was home to some of the greatest productions of the era, and like any smart Jamaican producer, label owner Nkrumah Jah Thomas worked his rhythms hard, using them to create scores of records by dozens of artists. Sometimes the tracks that he created were released, but still more languished in the vaults. Caught on multi-track tape, but never released.

That was the fate of a session that he recorded with Sugar Minott. The singer - known in the UK for his monster hit ‘Good Thing Going’ - had made his name in the vocal group The African Brothers, before working as a soloist for Coxsone Dodd at Studio One. For the Acid Jazz distributed Roots Records, Thomas has worked hard in creating sharp new mixes for this single - a plea against gun violence as apt today as when it was put down on tape - the first fruits of that work.

A fantastic Radics rhythm with an exceptional vocal and brand-new dub by Jah Thomas and Rory on the flip. Adorned with the classic Midnight Rock label.

15 years onwards from the original release in October 2009, "This Is …" by Gizelle Smith & The Mighty Mocambos remains a classic in its genre. Upfront, raw and melodic, this super sister funk album has not aged at all. Now, in 2024, it is time for a proper re-release with unreleased bonus tracks, rare remixes and a limited edition double vinyl album. Welcome to the deluxe version of "This Is …" by Gizelle Smith & The Mighty Mocambos.

Read here what the original release sheet said about the album:

"Strong album – packs a serious punch" Craig Charles Funk and Soul Show, BBC 6 Music

"A breath of fresh air" Keb Darge

"Really amazing stuff, full of killers" Nick / Record Kicks

"Definitely recommended" Peter Wermelinger, Funky & Groovy Music Records Lexicon

"What a fantastic album – this is proper funk" Tobias Kirmayer, Tramp Records

Ever since their first collaboration on the "Mocambo Funk Forty Fives" compilation, things have gained momentum for Gizelle Smith, the "Golden Girl of Funk", and the much respected Hamburg-based label and live band The Mighty Mocambos. Their first single "Working Woman" became an overnight smash and a prime-time club favourite of funk & soul DJs from all over the world. Initially released on the Finnish private press label Old Capital, producer legend and Grammy nominee Kenny Dope (Masters at Work, Bucketheads) picked up and remixed the song for his own label Kay Dee Records. Gizelle Smith & Mocambo now step up with a full-length album of bonafide sister funk. In the days of digital recording and Pro Tools editing, they show true exception to modern techniques and create their highly regarded, unique and raw soul sound, by making use of simple dynamic microphones and reel-to-reel tape machines. In a genre which is often littered with overused clichés of the past, the charismatic Gizelle Smith adds a lot of her own flavour rather than slavishly copying icons of bygone decades. The result is a refreshing alternative to post-millenium plastic pop without being a mere retro rip-off. From the heavy and determined "Gonna Get You" to vulnerable, gospel-tinged laments such as "Coffee High", "This Is Gizelle Smith & The Mighty Mocambos" is just as deeply rooted in the music from the golden era of soul as it is a modern masterpiece in its own right. Blazing horns, soulful guitars, driving drums and basslines combined with Gizelle's gripping and powerful voice all weave together to create a long player that is varied and coherent at the same time.

*Full colour artwork coming soon, this is a digitally generated mock-up. Comes in a risograph sleeve featuring liner notes and original Saturn artwork. *

Recorded at the Choreographers’ Workshop in New York, 1963, Waaghals Records presents two songs from Sun Ra’s Continuation sessions on vinyl for the first time. Known for its lo-fi recording quality coupled with heavy use of echo and reverberation, the material recorded at the Choreographers’ Workshop holds a special place within the Sun Ra catalogue. This unique blend of avant-garde jazz and bold production methods is described as “low-budget musique concrete” by Sun Ra biographer John F. Szwed.

Taken from the 1970 Saturn album Continuation, side a features the complete unedited version of New Planet. A bouncy Ra track that somehow ends up in a sound-bath of low, throbbing frequencies and echoes. The b side, Meteor Shower, remained unreleased until 2014, making its first official appearance on vinyl here. The opening trumpet salvo warms us up for a micro trip through the vast cosmos, with more echoed percussion and a beautifully bowed bass solo. It is no surprise that in recent years this particular piece has been sampled, most recently by RP BOO and Armand Hammer.

Tape transfers and audio restoration by Michael D. Anderson and Irwin Chusid of the Sun Ra Archive.

A 2024 edition of Terry Riley's »Descending Moonshine Dervishes,« originally recorded live in Berlin in 1975 and released by Kuckuck in 1982. This will be the first time the remastered album has been available since 2016.

Using just intonation and a modified organ, Riley conjures forth a rich and layered sound that challenges the Western ear, reflecting his associations with Indian classical singer Pandit Pran Nath and La Monte Young, whose Well Tuned Piano was well underway. »Descending Moonshine Dervishes« is a virtuosic and kaleidoscopic performance, standing as one of the finest works of a revolutionary composer and musician at the height of his powers.

»Descending Moonshine Dervishes« dates from 1975 and it belongs to a larger Dervish series of compositions whose origins predate Riley’s two signature works of minimalism, »In C« (1968) and »A Rainbow In Curved Air« (1969)… the piece is structured around just intonation, which stretches the listening experience into new areas. Played on a Yamaha organ with a bit of tape delay that allows Riley to duet with himself, the music of »Descending Moonshine Dervishes« is an ear expansion that goes through skittering arpeggios and long, droning notes that indicate something of the many levels that it operates on. – Louise Gray, The Wire Magazine (March 2017)

California composer Terry Riley launched what is now known as the Minimalist movement with his revolutionary classic 'In C' in 1964. This seminal work provided a new concept in musical form based on interlocking repetitive patterns. It's impact was to change the course of 20th century music and it's influence has been heard in the works of prominent composers such as Steve Reich, Philip Glass and John Adams and in the music of rock groups such as The Who, The Soft Machine, Tangerine Dream, and many others. His hypnotic, multi-layered, polymetric, brightly orchestrated eastern flavored improvisations and compositions set the stage for the prevailing interest in a new tonality. Riley has worked with Kronos Quartet, La Monte Young, members of Fluxus, Chet Baker, Pandit Pran Nath, his son Gyan Riley, choreographer Anna Halperin, and many others over the years.

Following releases on Sähkö Recordings and The Trilogy Tapes, "Fever of the World" is the Soda Gong debut by Memotone, the nom de plume of UK-based multi-instrumentalist Will Yates. As a collection, it is both intimate and expansive, like the feeling of gathering one's thoughts before setting off on a long journey or committing to an irrevocable course of action. Throughout, Yates' talents as both player and sound designer are on full display, as are the sonic signatures that have come to characterize the Memotone catalog: low-lit, ECM-inflected noir; evasive and evolving loop-based accretions; and mellifluous mosaics of keys, guitar, reeds, and percussion. It is patient and focused music, built around production techniques and compositional ideas that have been perfected both in studio and in live performance over a period of several years. "Catherine, On Fire" sets the scene, one of two languid, longform selections, and develops slowly from a spare, harmonic-laden guitar loop into a bed of rippling textural ambience and woozy clarinet filigree. Later, "The Bus" and "When the Bakery Has What You Want and It's Cheap" conjure images of rain-streaked windows, fanciful baked confections, and grey skies broken finally by sunlight. Warm, generous, and comfortable in its own skin, this is music that reminds us that when it feels easy to resign ourselves to world weariness, we should pause for a moment and listen to the rustle of the leaves. The wind knows not to linger.

After four tape editions on Seil Records, Sofie Birch's 2019 debut record "Planetes" is finally available on vinyl featuring new artwork and a beautiful analog remastering.

Sofie creates dream-like, elegant ambient music with an emphasis on exploration and wonder. Her distinctive organic and melodic sound is shaped by improvising with analog synthesizers, acoustic instruments, and field recordings. Repetitiveness is clinically avoided with harmonic progressions that resolve all tension brilliantly. Planetes was described as a beautiful sound universe where the atmospheric sound surfaces and textures gently and elegantly take the listener to new places all the time by Danish experimental music media Passive Aggressive.

For this record's 5th anniversary, apart from the regular vinyl edition, there are two special editions. The first one comes in translucent blue vinyl and includes a limited edition K7 inspired by 70’s yoga tapes. It contains a 20-minute guided meditation on one side and two beautiful unreleased tracks on the other. The second special edition comes in yellow vinyl and includes an inner sleeve with stickers so that you can create your own cover/ constellation for the record.

Sofie's own words about the release:

“It's a dream coming true to see my debut release Planetes coming out on vinyl for its 5th anniversary! Planetes means “a wanderer” in Greek, and I love how this word describes the wandering of celestial bodies, and how we humans wander through life both on a physical and spiritual plane. Wandering is being alive. Wandering is moving, and everything is always moving and changing. Shifting and transforming. The music was created with recordings from a pilgrim trip in Italy with my mom on a little cassette recorder and the music evolved from synth improvisations and the discovery of trusting sound as it is and creating music from immediacy rather than concept.”

The highly anticipated follow-up to Thee Sacred Souls's breakout 2022 self-titled debut, Got A Story To Tell, features 12 all original new songs, a soaring statement of exquisite craftsmanship from this young band from San Diego whose story grows bigger by the day. Recorded and produced by Gabriel Roth at Penrose Recorders, in Daptone’s Riverside, CA studio, and written in the throes of supporting their 2022 album, which was met with significant excitement and major touring that brought them across the world. What swirls together on Got A Story To Tell is an appreciation of decades of soul music, and beyond - a sound and feel that is timeless, lived in, and very much in the now. Album opener “Lucid Girl” champions independent women, set to some of the toughest sounding drums and bass the band has yet to put to tape. “Waiting On The Right Time” slinks with a touch of slow-burning psychedelia. A plea for empathy punctuates “One and the Same,” with Lane singing: “We’re one and the same, I feel one day / We learn to live with each other / In love, not fear / Just for a moment, why can’t we be together.” “On My Mind” is a sweeping orchestration, with Lane navigating the complexities of finding happiness while balancing the good with the bad. The album is punctuated with strings and squelching guitar, trundling piano, pops of conga, horns - it makes for a thrilling, layered listen that rewards with multiple spins.

blue marbled vinyl

Nuron continues his journey on De:tuned with another selection of unearthed DAT tape gems! Nurmad Jusat aka Nuron / Fugue moved to the UK in the mid 80s. Soon after he went to his first warehouse party. A real eye-opening experience that inspired Nurmad to produce his own music. The first wave of early house and techno records from Chicago and Detroit influenced an entire generation. Nuron became one of the originators of the UK emotive techno sound with his unique and distinctive style. Fast forward a couple of years to when this compilation of archived DAT tape material was recorded. In the late 90s Nurmad was living back in Malaysia. House music was just starting to be played in the underground clubs over there. It was a great time and the vibe was very much like when Nuron went to raves in the UK in 1989-1990. House music all night long!
Al White created all the graphic work. Mastered by Matt Colton at Metropolis. A separate digital release will also be available at the usual digital shops. Stay tuned!

'Star People,' the blistering 1983 album from Miles Davis, is the VMP Classics Record of the Month for November 2022. It's here on 180g black audiophile vinyl pressed at RTI with AAA lacquers cut from tapes by Ryan Smith at Sterling Sound.

Weißes Vinyl, limitiert auf 300 Exemplare. Unwiederbringlich dem Credo ,born too late" verfallen, loten Traum in ihrer Musik die technischen Grenzen des Zeitreisens neu aus und kreieren dabei einen naiven Gegenentwurf zum Hier und Jetzt in oszillierendem Technicolor. Der Sound des Trios entfacht Reminiszenzen an die Ursprünge von Psychedelia, Acid Rock und Glam, getragen von einem eskapistischen Tunnelblick auf längst vergangene Dekaden des bewusstseinserweiternden Hedonismus. Die ersten Aufnahmen der Band weckten prompt das Interesse des kalifornischen, in Los Angeles ansässigen Psychedelic-Connaisseur-Labels Hypnotic Bridge, welches Anfang 2024 zwei Traum-Songs auf 7" Vinyl veröffentlichte und dazu schrieb: ,Traum präsentieren eine Ode an den mystischen Rausch eines Technicolor-Traums. Aufgeladen durch Vintage-Tape Echos und Ausbrüche von Fuzz-Gitarren, sind ihre Songs dazu gemacht, sich tief in die Doppelhelix-Matrix von mehrfach gespiegelten Gedankenströmen zu winden." Das renomierte englische Musikmagazin ,Shindig!" schrieb dazu: ,Das Debütalbum der drei deutschen Musiker von Traum lässt keinen Zweifel daran, wo ihr Herz schlägt. (...) Der Gesang ist verträumt und distanziert, die Gitarren schlängelnd und kurvenreich." und zog zahlreiche Vergleiche zu obskuren Vertretern des Psychedelic-Pop der späten 1960er Jahre in Großbritannien wie Fire, Tintern Abbey, The Smoke, u.ä. Im Frühjahr 2024 begab sich die Band erneut ins eigene Studio um vier weitere Stücke aufzunehmen, die von Frontmann Helen Lichter komplett analog abgemischt wurden und mit ihrem puristisch verträumten Sound nahtlos an die Erstveröffentlichung anschließen.

Zum 20-jährigen Jubiläum erscheint das Debüt-Album einer der erfolgreichsten Indie-Pop- Bands der 00er Jahre erstmals auch auf Vinyl. 2004 waren Schubladen noch wichtig. Popmusik war noch nicht dieses eklektizistische, sich aus universell verfügbaren, entkontextualisierten Quellen speisende Internet-Monster. Wer also beispielsweise deutschsprachigen Gitarrenpop spielte, musste sich positionieren: Bewegte man sich eher in der diskursverliebten, kopflastigen Tradition der Hamburger Schule und hoffte auf "Indie-Credibilität"? Oder wollte man Teil der immer größer werdenden Deutschpop-Industrie werden, vornehmlich repräsentiert von "female fronted" Bands wie Mia, Juli oder Silbermond (nicht zu vergessen die stets gut gelaunten Jungs von von Sportfreunde Stiller), die - mal mit eher studentisch-intellektueller Grundierung, mal mit eindeutig schlagerhafter Geste - das Gefühlige in den Focus rückten. Es gab aber auch Acts, die sich nicht entscheiden wollten. Auf der Insel hatten es die Bands der Britpop-Welle schließlich vorgemacht. Hier ging es mit cooler Haltung, jeder Menge Subversion, aber eben auch goldenen Melodien und echten "Hits" in höchste Popstar-Gefilde. Wieso nicht auch in Deutschland Anspruch, Originalität und Gefälligkeit miteinander in Einklang bringen? Hier kommen nun also Anajo ins Spiel, eine 1999 gegründete Band aus dem provinziellen Augsburg, die 2004 mit ihrem Debüt-Album "Nah bei mir" genau diesen Sprung zwischen die Stühle wagte - und dafür mit sehr viel Liebe bedacht wurde, auch wenn die Indiepolizei nicht immer einverstanden war. "Nah bei mir" ist eine durch und durch leichte Platte, die mit catchy Sounds und Melodien bisweilen gewichtige Themen verhandelt: Überwindung tiefer Trauer ("Der Vorhang geht auf"), Entfremdung ("Einmal noch schlafen"), bittere Enttäuschung ("Die Tränen sind immer noch meine") - immer aber präsentiert mit einem süffisanten Lächeln auf den Lippen. Als wahre Meister beweisen sich Anajo auf dem Album in der schwierigen Disziplin der unblöden Partysongs: Auch nach 20 Jahren überkommt einen beim Hören so skurril-absurder Feger wie "Monika Tanzband", "Honigmelone" oder "Ich hol dich hier raus" noch diese unbändige, mitreißende Freude.

"The BBC Collection’ is an all-encompassing collection of the many recorded performances of Rory Gallagher at the BBC. Featuring eighteen CDs worth of radio concerts and sessions from 1971 to 1986, roughly 75% of this material has not been officially released before. Also included is two Blu Ray discs of BBC TV concerts and studio performances from 1973 to 1984, all of which has not been officially released previously.
Amassed from the BBC archives and Rory Gallagher’s own transcription discs and off-air cassette recordings, the boxset spans 16 years of his career (1971-1986), taking in highlights such as the 1977 dual television and radio broadcast Sight & Sound concert, Rory’s headlining set at the Reading Festival in 1980 to the emotional ‘At Midnight’ concert live from the Ulster Hall in Belfast, 1984.
A ‘best of’ from this collection will be available on 2CD and 3LP, titled “The Best of Rory Gallagher at the BBC”
These releases celebrate the importance of the artist Rory Gallagher, who was possibly the most recorded musician of the 1970s by the BBC.
“(‘Tore Down’) That was the first song I ever heard played…It’s a BBC recording of Rory Gallagher playing at the Paris Theatre in London in July 1972. And I was in the audience, aged 15, and those opening bars were enough to make me realise that this was something I wanted to do again and again… ‘Tore Down’ was my introduction to live, loud, amplified blues and when Gallagher had finished, my 15-year-old self could not contain his excitement. He ran down to the front to shake Rory’s hand…When the BBC did eventually broadcast the concert, I taped it by leaning the microphone from my clunky cassette recorder against the speaker of our old transistor radio and I listened to that tape over and over again” Nick Hornby, Author"

2LP, Black Vinyl; The Monkees Take The Helm for their Billboard Chart Topping Third Album! The double platinum Original Album was Mastered From Tape by Kevin Gray. Second LP of Bonus Rarities from the Sessions Notes by The Monkees Scholar/Producer Andrew Sandoval

2024 Repress

Dark Entries is honored to finally present the first ever official vinyl reissue of Space Museum by Solid Space. Solid Space was the British duo of Dan Goldstein (keyboards, vocals) and Matthew 'Maf' Vosburgh (guitar, bass, keyboards, vocals) formed in 1980. Dan and Matthew met at the age of 11 while attending school in north London. In late 1978 at at the age of 14, they formed Exhibit 'A' with Paul Platypus' and Andrew Lunchbox' Bynghall. They recorded two EPs in 1979 and 1980, self-released on Irrelevant Wombat Records and appeared on 'The Thing From The Crypt' compilation. After the dissolution of the group, Mathew started taking his guitar over to Dan's house where he'd play his Casio MT-30 and they would record songs. Eventually a second hand drum machine and Wasp synthesizer were acquired from classified ads in Melody Maker and the Solid Space sound was born. By this time they were just turning 18 and finally found the freedom to make the music they'd had in their heads. Over the course of the next two years the band assembled eleven bedroom recordings that would become one of the most cherished DIY obscurities of its kind. Their debut album 'Space Museum' was released in 1982 on cassette by In Phaze Records. All of the songs were mixed by label boss Pat Bermingham on 8-track tape at The Shed, in Ilford, which was literally a garden shed. The band's music and lyrics were heavily indebted to science fiction, in particular the 1960s television series Doctor Who. 'Space Museum' is an unveiling of atmospheric, minimalist post punk supported by bright melodies. The music combines drum machines and synths with acoustic guitar and toy drums whilst also experimenting with samples between tracks. Lyrics deal with space travel and a general sense of dejection. Representing a bubbling spirit within the underground, they foreshadowed an entire world of independent music which would emerge across the 80's and well into the 90's. For this reissue we've included two bonus tracks from the band's archive, Platform 6' originally released on the B-side of the second single by Exhibit 'A', this song features only Dan and Matthew and is the first Solid Space track ever recorded. Tutti Lo Sanno' is a cover of In Phaze label mates Marine Girls, though the lyrics have been changed to suit the gender of the new singer.Each song has been carefully remastered for vinyl by George Horn at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley. The record is sleeved in a replica of the cassette artwork featuring the Cybermen and Jamie from the Doctor Who episode "The Wheel in Space". Every copy includes a double sided 11x11 insert with lyrics, notes and never before seen photographs of the band taken by Maf as well as a postcard featuring an original advert for the cassette.

Comforter2's 2023 tape album gets the remix treatment! By none other than Peach, Alex Kassian, Downstairs J and RDS.

"A landmark in 80s experimental ambient music - previously tape-only, here released for the first time on vinyl, spread across a double LP with five additional tracks, four of which were previously unreleased. Remote Dreaming has been freshly remastered and includes an insert with photos and liner notes.

Dark Entries summons Philadelphia synthesizer scribes The Ghostwriters to rouse their ambient masterwork Remote Dreaming. The late Buchla maestro Charles Cohen and multi-instrumentalist Jeff Cain joined up in 1971 to craft electroacoustic chaos as Anomali, later renaming themselves The Ghostwriters.

Their collaborations with choreographers and visual media artists led to their singular style, straddling improvisation and composition, the oneiric and the immediate. Following their debut album, Objects in Mirrors Are Closer Than They Appear, they were approached by ambient outlet Mu-Pysch. Remote Dreaming would take shape in various studios over nine months. Jeff Cain's instruments on this project included electric and acoustic pianos, the Juno 106 synthesizer, and a Mirage sampler, while Charles Cohen used his signature Buchla 200 Series Electronic Musical Instrument. A stark departure from the tightly wound first LP, Remote Dreaming shows the duo unfurling with soothing pianos and psychoacoustic textures, its somnambulant drones just skirting the edges of the uncanny. Although ignored in its time, Remote Dreaming is now heralded as a landmark in 80s experimental ambient music.

Proceeds will be donated to SOSA (Safe from Online Sex Abuse), a nonprofit that combats online child sex abuse and trafficking"

Starting us off is Panda Bear, who adds his trademark falsetto vocals and shuffling percussion, sweetening Eric’s black coffee beats. DFA’s own sonic collagist Larry Gus blends Eric’s mumbled vocals with bright percussion and a vocoded male choir, among many other audio dalliances.

Meanwhile, Hyperdub’s Fhloston Paradigm (AKA King Britt) takes aim with his laser cannons, firing volleys at unrelenting waves of marching alien armies, before being swallowed up in a solar flare. Finally, Anthony Naples (Text Records, Trilogy Tapes) brings it back to the club with snaps, claps, and hi-hats, but it sounds like you left ‘em out in the rear window of your car on a sunny day. You know what we mean.

Longtime enthusiasts of ambient music have much to celebrate as Rafael Anton Irisarri's cherished out-of-print cassette, "Midnight Colours," returns in a meticulously remastered edition and makes its inaugural debut on vinyl. The significance of this album's announcement is accentuated by its historical resonance, coinciding with the same day in 1952 when the world bore witness to the first-ever test of the hydrogen bomb.

"Midnight Colours" is far more than a mere album; it's an exploration of the enigmatic relationship between humanity and time. Conceived as a sonic interpretation of the Doomsday Clock, which symbolizes the world's existential vulnerabilities, Irisarri's work beckons listeners to contemplate the gravity of our existence and the delicate balance that envelops it.

"I wanted to capture the essence of humanity's relationship with time, both the anxiety and the serene beauty that coexists within the shadows of the night," explains Irisarri. "The vinyl format adds a tactile dimension to the experience, inviting listeners to physically engage with the music."

Known for his contributions to the ambient and electronic music genres, Irisarri often explores themes of introspection, nostalgia, and the interplay between sound and emotion.

Recorded in 2017, when the Clock was at 2½ minutes-to-midnight (and at the time, the second-closest to midnight since the Clock's inception in 1947), "Midnight Colours" permeates with the melancholy of memories resurfacing as one approaches the end of life: the regrets, the closure, the uncertainties, the anxieties.

Originally released as a limited tape on the beloved Atlanta-based label Geographic North, "Midnight Colours" swiftly garnered praise and acclaim within the ambient music sphere. Now, with this newly remastered edition on his own Black Knoll imprint, fans, both longstanding and newfound, can rediscover the album's captivating beauty in unprecedented clarity and depth.

"I've wanted to release 'Midnight Colours' on vinyl since it first came out, and I'm thrilled to finally be able to. The remastering process, brilliantly done by Stephan Mathieu, has breathed new life into the work, and I'm eager for listeners to experience it in this format."

The reissue of "Midnight Colours" features band-new artwork and design by the renowned Mexican visual artist Daniel Castrejón. A frequent collaborator and friend of Irisarri, Castrejón's imagery impeccably complements the album's mood and themes, extending a compelling invitation for listeners to explore its aural world visually.

This landmark release serves as a testament not only to Irisarri's enduring impact on the ambient music genre but also as a long-awaited gift to those who have patiently anticipated the album's vinyl debut.

You may not have heard of Long Beach O.G. Greg Royal aka Pür Royale, but you're definitely familiar with his work. With a resume of remix, production, engineering, and editing work ranging from Dr Dre's "The Chronic" to Bobby Brown's "My Prerogative", to the dub version of Patrice Rushen's "Feels So Real", Greg left an indelible mark on contemporary black music from the mid-80's to mid-90s.

In 1993 however, a one off 100 copy house 12" self titled as "Royal Phenomena" on the surface didn't seem to quite fit with the more traditional hip-hop and r&b output of his extensive discography. I only found out it existed through connecting with another unsung west coast pioneer, Aaron Paar, for Must Have's 2016 Teflon Dons compilation. Greg is credited as a mixing and recording engineer on practically every release on Aaron's own consistently excellent label Worldship. After listening to Aaron tell his story, it was clear Greg's studio experience and mentorship were key elements in the development of Aaron's signature tough SP-1200 house sound. "Royal Phenomena" remains an elusive connecting point for LA hip-hop and underground deep house, and Greg and Aaron remain friends and frequent collaborators.

Aaron put me in touch with Greg, who miraculously kept his original DAT tape recordings of these unique house excursions and was happy to finally share them with a wider audience. Blending hip-hop production techniques, west coast Latin sleaze, midwestern minimalism, and a dash of UK bleep, the LA underground house sound remains singular.

This tape contains a recording of a live of NPLGNN recorded at Human Razzmatazz (Barcelona) on March 2023.Everything you hear it comes from two Korg Electribe EMX1 +Pioneer DJM900 NXS + Traktor.

To describe the sound it makes sense to bring back what was thepress release of “Sigma/Tau” the first record of NPLGNN releasedin 2014 on Where To Now? (RIP): “NPLGNN creates a less pampered style of body music, stripping away the usual signifiers such as melodies and basslines to create something more utilitarian, brutal and pure.

This is the pre-babel language of dance music - it's cadences are rhythmic and its meaning is comprehensible to all on an innate, primal level.”Ten years later this tape makes those words still remarkable to describe the sound of the Neapolitan head. Among a bunch of unreleased sounds you can go through all the NPLGNN recent records for LavaLava, Youth, Hundebiss and its own lathe cuts series dubbed here and there with vocal cuts intersections.

Coming off like the rude son of early ‘00s breakcore heroes, quotingthe Manchester Boomy heads, NPLGNN delivers a 45 mins mutant soundsystem recording. It's acid dancehall punk, amorphed ragga riddimz, or whatever you want to call it. 100% dancefloor melting .Ask Aphex Twin for a couple of IDs

Speckled Dragon Egg Color Vinyl. Being Dead knows how to make an entrance - within the first several seconds of EELS, the duo's new record, the bright, hard-strummed guitar line on "Godzilla Rises" conjures cinematic immediacy, a creature emerging from the depths of the ocean in campy, freaky stop motion, fittingly so. Being Dead's records are mosaics, technicolor incantations, each song its own self-contained little universe. And while the dreamlike EELS probes further into the depths of the duo Being Dead's psyche, it is, most importantly, in the year of our lord 2024, a 16-track record that is genuinely unpredictable from one track to the next: a joyous and unexpected trip helmed by two true-blue freak bitch besties holed up in a lil' house in the heart of Austin, Texas. They decamped to Los Angeles for two weeks to record with GRAMMY-winning producer John Congleton, writing songs for the record until days before they left. The radical shift in process was welcome - a good balance and a challenge, Congleton helping them find new ways to work and helping peel back the layers on the core of their songwriting. Being Dead has grown from a duo to a trio live, including bassist Ricky Motto (who is immortalized finally on record here, particularly in the giggles on "Rock n' Roll Hurts") The resulting EELS is a darker record, tapped more into the devilishness within, but it's also a more raucous, rougher ride sonically. There's heartbreak, excitement, enchantment, dancing - we move through it all at a high-octane pace. Falcon Bitch and Smoofy never want to do the same thing twice on any song, and they don't. From the pummeling garage rock distortion of "Firefighters" to "Dragons II," which appears in its demo form taped on a hand recorder, it's unexpected but intuitive, and, most importantly, singularly Being Dead. Like its animal namesake suggests, the songs on EELS are malleable, the record like slithering through murky waters or strange half dreams, mysterious and beautiful in how it moves, reflective in a wavering sheen. Dipping into each song feels like uncovering a new cavern, plunging into depths unknown but fully open to what will be revealed. On the album artwork, an illustration by the artist Julia Soboleva, there are some weird disparate spectral creatures, a stark glimmer against a cloudy darkness. It's a fitting encapsulation of Being Dead, exuding a welcoming, playful energy even if something foreboding lurks just beyond the pale - more out of frame that's left to uncover, no path unexplored, strange and beautiful in the light.