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Mercurial bassist and bandleader Charles Mingus was signed to Columbia Records for the briefest of time during 1959. His Columbia recordings, however, remain some of the most inspired, mood-jumping jazz in history. The flowing sadness of "Goodbye Porkpie Hat" rings like a funeral chorus that pitches headlong into a celebration of Lester Young's life and improvising flexibility, rather than his death. And there's the funky furnace blast of "Boogie Stop Shuffle" , which reaches its glory with Booker Ervin's Texas tenor sax, wrapped tight in bluesy tone. With the index of emotions captured, these songs nail why Mingus is possibly the most relevant jazzer for the '90s generation. He swings and shouts and hollers and somersaults. His tunes either induce foot-stomping with their intensity or reach for poignant yearning with their lyrical tapestry of orchestral colors. --Andrew Bartlett

We’ll get to the vocal content in a second, but first it’s time to acknowledge what a patchwork tapestry of genius ‘Peace is not the word to play’ is in terms of production. Large Professor being a prodigy on the SP-1200 is well established, but the way he flips parts of MFSB’s ‘TLC’ and Milly and Silly’s obscure ‘Gettin’ Down for Xmas’ with a sprinkling of Lyn Collins here establishes his credentials in the top tier.

Lyrically, it’s a tour de force, with Main Source taking exception with the misuse of the word ‘peace’ by the hip-hop fraternity. With even the most homicidal of gangster rappers dropping it at the end of tracks at the time, time was overdue for some regulation.

The album version makes its point pithily in a single verse, while the remix, included on the flip of this first ever 7” release, expands on the topic with new verses and some new samples too. It’s a welcome reminder of the time when remixes were remixes – not just the identical track with the latest hot rappers joining in.
Most of all, Main Source once again walk the fine line between lyrical lecture and head-nodding banger – the rare example of a track with a point to make that can still fill a dancefloor and get necks snapping.

• Samples MFSB’s ‘TLC’; Milly and Silly’s obscure ‘Gettin’ Down for Xmas’ and Lyn Collins

• First ever 7” release of the Remix

Harry Bertoia's Glowing Sounds LP contains three versions of the same composition, each transferred at different tape speeds in accordance with the artist's instructions. This is the third LP to be released from Bertoia's extensive tape archive and it's the first, of many, to be released using instructions left behind by the artist himself.

Bertoia wrote the concept for this Glowing Sounds LP on a note in 1975 and slipped it into the master tape case where it sat unread for 45 years. The idea was simple, transfer the original recording at its original speed and two slower speeds. Bertoia noticed that the results, however, were profound.

Recorded on January 20, 1975 using two large gongs, Glowing Sounds is one of the most powerfully minimal recordings yet discovered in Bertoia's collection. The artist's note left with the tape indicated that it was recorded at a speed of 15 IPS (inches per second) but slowing it down to speeds of 7.5 IPS and 3.25 IPS were quite effective for enhanced playback. Side A features the original 15 IPS recording and the 50% slower 7.5 IPS recording. Side B features a 20 minute, ultra-slow version at 3.25 IPS.

Long, deep drones and powerful overtones define the sound of this recording. Comparison of the three speeds provides a revealing magnification of Bertoia's gongs, overtones and the artist's inventive approach to performance, composition and recording.

Bio:
Harry Bertoia first gained some artistic visibility in the early 1940s, then came into prominence with his sculptural, ergonomic chairs, produced by Knoll Furniture beginning in 1952, which quickly became classics of modernist furniture. Inspired by the resonant sounds emanating from metals as he worked them and encouraged by his brother Oreste, whose passion was music, Harry restored a fieldstone "Pennsylvania Dutch" barn as the home for this experiment in sounding sculptures which he had begun in the late 1950s. Bertoia was an obsessive composer and relentless experimenter, often working late into the night and accumulating hundreds of tapes of his best performances; Oreste, too, would explore and record the sculptures' sounds during his annual visits to his brother's home in rural Pennsylvania.

Harry Bertoia's recently dismantled Sonambient barn collection was an attentive listener's paradise full of warm, expressive instruments that were gorgeous visually and audibly. Nothing could prepare you, even on return visits, for the overwhelming experience of entering the spacious wood and plaster interior where gongs, some of them giant, hung among the ranks of standing sculptures of various metals. Over nearly twenty years of adding, culling and rearranging, Bertoia carefully selected nearly 100 harmonious pieces ranging in height from under a foot to more than fifteen feet. He considered this barn a full experience, sights and sounds comprising not a collection of works, but one piece unto itself. It was here, deep in the woods, that his Sonambient recording work took place.

Learning by experimentation was common for Bertoia and he mastered the art of tape recording, turning the Sonambient barn into a sound studio with four overhead microphones hanging from the rafters in a square formation. He would experiment with overdubbing by performing along to previous recordings, sometimes backwards, constantly improving his methods while also honing his performance skills. Bertoia was a careful editor of his own work and only chosen recordings remained, each with a date and carefully considered observations written on a note included with each tape. Through these pieces of paper a the artist's logic can be uncovered, a careful approach to composition, ideas, feelings and forms. The story of Sonambient barn collection will slowly be told through the release of recordings from the archive as well as installations and performances built from Bertoia's own recordings, lectures and a book.

DeWolff return with their new album, Wolffpack, released on 5th February 2021 via Mascot Records.

DeWolff, the kaleidoscopic warriors were not long into their 2019 Tascam Tapes European Tour when the Covid19 pandemic broke and they, like so many others, had to turn back and head home. They started working on the new album Wolffpack.

The album kicks off with the first song they finished, the soulful psychedelic funk of "Yes You Do," featuring Ian Peres and longtime friend of the band, Judy Blank. "We wrote it in a Zoom meeting!" Pablo says. "Treasure City Moonchild," struts in with a funky swagger and Piso's trademark swirling Hammond, with Dawn Brothers' Levis Vis providing some Bass juice. "Do Me," includes Theo Lawrence on vocals and is through the eyes of an anti-hero who realizes he isn't worthy of the woman of his dreams, and dates back to 2019 and the Next of Kin live show. "I consider this the best song I ever wrote, so I couldn't stand the idea that it was only used for those Next of Kin shows and then never again! That's why I brought it to DeWolff, but it needed some rearranging," he says. Another song from the Next of Kin sessions was "Sweet Loretta" and features Dawn Brothers' Stefan Wolfs and Darilyn's Diwa Meijman. "Loretta is the protagonist's childhood sweetheart. She has a rich dad, but he's really conservative, and so she can only inherit his money if she marries a man. But she's lesbian. So, the protagonist, who's also out for this old guy's money, suggests they play pretend and marry so they can split the money."

They sweep through disco on "Half Your Love," swamp rock on "Bona Fide" and take on sci-fi and the Old Testament on "RU My Savior." Their tour buddies The Grand East show up on "Roll Up the Rise." Written in the first days of quarantine, it's about the end of the quarantine - told from a future perspective. "Lady J," came after Pablo watched the documentary "13th." "I was quite shaken up by it," he admits. "The lyrics are based on the idea that Lady Justice seems to have a scale that doesn't measure the "weight" of your crime but the tone of your skin. She is supposed to be blindfolded, but the people who act in "her" name aren't blind at all: they discriminate between white and black."

The album ends with the forlorn "Hope Train." Based on the Pulitzer prize-winning novel by Colson Whitehead about two slaves in the US during the 19th century, who make a bid for freedom from their Georgia plantation. "I found it really hard to envision the world in which it takes place," he says. The band used a 1970s Fisher-Price Toy cassette recorder in the intro, "We wanted to see if we could somehow approach the sound of those very early country blues recordings, like the ones by Blind Willie Johnson.”

Marc Bolan’s passions included the blues, soul, rock ‘n’ roll, hard rock and disco-soul, and his intent to explore these genres are all visited on this collection of classic album tracks and singles. His influences – Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton/Cream and Bob Dylan are all apparent amongst the material on Shadowhead, but the music here is unique.
Bolan’s creative fire produced a phenomenal catalogue of work: the material on this album was recorded over five
years (1972 – 1976), in seven studios, in five countries.
This record provides insights into Bolan’s creative process whilst keeping the essence of the music in its classic
form. Shadowhead showcases the development of tracks such as Precious Star and Groove A Little, and a track that
made its public debut on the CD release, Blues Jam (Dreamy Lady Session). Other tracks reveal many of the
instruments and sounds from the master tapes to enable the working processes to be more clearly understood.
This release marks the first time that this collection has been issued on vinyl.

a 1. Midnight [master version]
[b] 2. Rapids [working version]
[c] 3. Hang-Ups [master version]
[d] 4. Do You Wanna Dance [master version]
[e] 5. Baby Boomerang [master version]
[f] 6. Truck On (Tyke) [master version]
[g] 7. Blues Jam [Dreamy Lady Session] [jam]
[h] 8. London Boys [master version]
[i] 1. Lady [master version]
[j] 2. Buick Mackane [master version]
[k] 3. Stand By Me [working version]
[l] 4. Precious Star [working version]
[m] 5. Fast Blues (Easy Action) [master version]
[n] 6. Dreamy Lady [master version]
[working version]

Craft Recordings is pleased to reissue four classic, remastered titles from legendary jazz artist Chet Baker. Set for release on March 5th and available for pre-order now, the albums comprise Baker’s entire output as a leader for the renowned jazz label Riverside—all recorded and released between 1958 and 1959: (Chet Baker Sings) It Could Happen to You, Chet Baker in New York, Chet and Chet Baker Plays the Best of Lerner and Loewe. The recordings, which feature such icons as Bill Evans, Johnny Griffin and Kenny Burrell, have all been cut from their original analog master tapes by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio and pressed on 180-gram vinyl at RTI. Each title will also be available on March 5th across digital platforms in hi-res 192/24 and 96/24 formats.

Craft Recordings is pleased to reissue four classic, remastered titles from legendary jazz artist Chet Baker. Set for release on March 5th and available for pre-order now, the albums comprise Baker’s entire output as a leader for the renowned jazz label Riverside—all recorded and released between 1958 and 1959: (Chet Baker Sings) It Could Happen to You, Chet Baker in New York, Chet and Chet Baker Plays the Best of Lerner and Loewe. The recordings, which feature such icons as Bill Evans, Johnny Griffin and Kenny Burrell, have all been cut from their original analog master tapes by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio and pressed on 180-gram vinyl at RTI. Each title will also be available on March 5th across digital platforms in hi-res 192/24 and 96/24 formats.

Craft Recordings is pleased to reissue four classic, remastered titles from legendary jazz artist Chet Baker. Set for release on March 5th and available for pre-order now, the albums comprise Baker’s entire output as a leader for the renowned jazz label Riverside—all recorded and released between 1958 and 1959: (Chet Baker Sings) It Could Happen to You, Chet Baker in New York, Chet and Chet Baker Plays the Best of Lerner and Loewe. The recordings, which feature such icons as Bill Evans, Johnny Griffin and Kenny Burrell, have all been cut from their original analog master tapes by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio and pressed on 180-gram vinyl at RTI. Each title will also be available on March 5th across digital platforms in hi-res 192/24 and 96/24 formats.

Being as LSD was first developed in a laboratory in Basel, it is perhaps no coincidence that one of the most far out albums of all time was made by this Swiss band (no small feat, given the competition!). Braintickets 1971 debut, Cottonwoodhill, begins normally enough with two fine psychedelic/Krautrock-influenced tracks, but the remainder of the album plays like an acid trip with a soundtrack, dominated by Joel Vandroogenbroecks endless droning organ, a variety of musique concrète-type sound effects and vocalist Dawn Muirs trippy vocals. The album, banned in several countries, even came with this self-imposed warning: After Listening to this Record, your friends may not know you anymore. / Only listen to this once a day, your brain might be destroyed!. Gatefold sleeve. Fully remastered from the original master tapes!

"On Tour" - Delaney Bramlett (g, voc); Bonnie Bramlett, Rita Coolidge (voc); Eric Clapton, Dave Mason (g); Bobby Keys (sax); Jim Price (tb); B. Whitlock (org, voc); Carl Radle (b); Tex Johnson (bgo, cga); Jim Gordon (dr)

This 42-minute-long live album, which was recorded in December 1969 in Croydon, England and was awarded 5 stars by the magazine Rolling Stone, is not only the culmination of Delaney & Bonnie’s creative output, but also marks their connection to the further careers of Eric Clapton and George Harrison. On this particular tour Clapton plays the same mixture of country music, blues and gospel that were to hallmark his own early solo appearances from 1970. He rose to the occasion with consistently brilliant virtuosity; the highlights are a dizzying solo in "I Don’t Want To Discuss It", a lengthy 'Slowhand' passage in "Only You Know And I Know", and a dry fervent introduction to the wonderfully balanced "Coming Home". Vocally Delaney & Bonnie were never better than on this live set, and the 11-piece band sounds musically more close-knit than many a quartet of the times, regardless of whether they are playing a lengthy blues number or a medley of Little Richard songs. It is certainly no coincidence that the band featured here would become Clapton’s own choice for his first solo LP, or that the kernel of this group – Bobby Whitlock, Carl Radle and Jim Gordon – would metamorphose into Derek and the Dominos, or that the bulk of the band would constitute the group that would perform with George Harrison in "All Things Must Pass" and The Concert For Bangladesh, except that their playing (not to mention the recording) is better here. Half the musicians on this record attained near-superstar status less than one year later, and although their fame was fairly short-lived, this is certainly justified, as you will ascertain when you listen to this live performance.

This Speakers Corner LP was remastered using pure analogue components only, from the master tapes through to the cutting head. More information under pure-analogue.

All royalties and mechanical rights have been paid.

Recording: December 1969 live at Fairfield Halls, Croydon (UK), by Andy Johns and Glyn Johns

Production: Delaney Bramlett and Jimmy Miller

"Don't Turn Me From Your Door" - John Lee Hooker (g, voc), Earl Hooker, Eddie Kirkland (g), a.o

John Lee Hooker is not only a mystery but also an interesting man to study. Some, like the author Jacques Demêtre called the musician from Mississippi »the most raw and African of all blues players from a musical point of view«, while the critic Net Hentoff was awestruck by Hooker’s unfiltered power of expression that could scare the pants off a listener taken unawares. The numbers on this LP bear witness to the fact that Hooker’s musical language could stir one’s emotions deeply, even without the meaty 'boom boom'. Each title is like a raw diamond, which is intentionally uncut and is to be perceived with directness. With a stutter and a slur in his speech, the singer declaims his song over a twangy guitar, which is driven along by the rhythmic meter. A final farewell is taken sluggishly and sullenly in the forthright text of "You Lost A Good Man", and even a song without words ("Misbelieving Baby") ponders a question in a purely instrumental monologue. Apart from a dash of boogie ("Pouring Down Rain") Hooker avoids all manner of sweet sounds and harmonies. He remains austerely raw, mercilessly honest, occasionally unforgiving and denies all thoughts of any kind regarding going 'back to the roots'. This sound IS the root of it all.

This Speakers Corner LP was remastered using pure analogue components only, from the master tapes through to the cutting head. More information under pure-analogue.

All royalties and mechanical rights have been paid.

Recording: 1953 in Cincinnati (OH) and July 1961 in Miami (FL)

Production: Henry Stone

Sonor Music Editions presents the first commercial release on vinyl (shortly followed by a CD edition) of Ennio Morricone's soundtrack to the film "I DUE EVASI DI SING SING" from 1964, directed by the legendary Lucio Fulci and starring the famed Italian comedy characters Franco Franchi and Ciccio Ingrassia. A bit away from what would have been his 92° birthday, the label presents a pseudo unreleased gem by the greatest all-time composer at the beginning of his career. This stunning recovery was possible thanks to the work of the producer Lorenzo Fabrizi (head of Sonor Music Editions) and the collaboration of Claudio Fuiano and Daniel Winkler, two significant connoisseurs in the field and maestro Morricone's discography. The album was originally released on an impossible-to-find promo-only library release in the late '60s with different titles, due to that the score remained concealed until now. With the recoup of the original MONO tapes Sonor was able to work with the original soundtrack sequence adding two bonus tracks from the original sessions. The music enhances the stories of two sloppy thiefs (Franchi and Ingrassia) in the styles of orchestral Jazz and Bossa Nova, with more sweet and cheerful themes built around the bewitching character of Gloria Paul.

"New York, N.Y. is a high point in the work of leading jazz composer and arranger George Russell. Russell was an early advocate for Modal Jazz and the conceptualizer of the influential Lydian Chromatic Concept of Tonal Organization. For this 1959 Decca classic, Russell assembled an all-star orchestra, including John Coltrane, Bill Evans (a frequent Russell collaborator), Art Farmer, Bob Brookmeyer and Milt Hinton, among others. Singer Jon Hendricks provided beatnik-style, stream-of-consciousness narrations that opened and closed this landmark album.
Verve’s Acoustic Sounds Series features transfers from analog tapes and remastered 180-gram vinyl in deluxe gatefold packaging."

Today Margot share new single Walk With Me via Full Time Hobby. The Peckham band ended 2019 supporting Swimming Tapes on their U.K. as well as releasing their debut EP earlier this year. New single Walk With Me is a song about empathy, depression and the power of talking. All channelled by frontman Alex Hannaway's pastel vocal hues and searingly honest delivery. Walk With Me works as a conversation between someone experiencing a depressive episode and another trying to understand. "It’s about listening, friendship, understanding, I’ve had experiences where friends, family members have been patient, they’ve been persistent and caring, and it’s this that has really helped me in my life" explains Hannaway. In addition to the official video, the band have also shared a 'Karaoke Video' for the single. "We've been using home karaoke sessions to blow off steam during the lockdown period. Often feeling confined, bored, angry, frustrated; the elation and release of belting out familiar songs in our living room felt cathartic. So it felt perfect for the video, capturing not only the isolation of lockdown but also the communal, spirited moments too" explain Margot. Margot comprises of five friends who moved from the suburbs of south London to Peckham after finishing University. In two separate bands at the time, drunken nights out discussing the merits of a merger evolved into the first few rehearsals. It went well - Margot formed in 2018 and released a steady stream of singles across the year. The band employ a DIY ethic, self-producing their recordings in their home studio. After ending 2019 supporting Swimming Tapes on their UK tour, the band released their debut EP in February 2020 and are set to support Dana Gavanski on her upcoming tour in March 2021. Margot's nuanced blend of dream-pop, neo-psychedelia and jangle-guitar create a propulsive, cruising feel reminiscent of Real Estate or War on Drugs. Expect to hear more from them in 2020.

Following DJ LOSERs output on labels like VEYL, PUPPY TAPES or Clan Destine Records is Stealth Hope. A blend of various styles and genres, Stealth Hope showcases the wide range and potential of the Greek artist who is destined for big things to come.

NEW REPRESS IN HARD CARDBOARD SLEEVE + OBI + INSERT WITH LINER NOTES
+ RESEALABLE OUTER SLEEVE.

Killer unreleased US album from 1972. Originally from Louisville, KY, Leslie’s Motel line-up included several members from The Oxfords as well as Blues Project drummer Roy Blumenfeld. They played explosive, bluesy hard-rock with powerful vocals and stunning guitar / organ, in the same vein as early Allman Brothers or Ten Years After.



Remastered sound from the original master tapes, insert with liner notes and rare pictures.

NEP was a loose multimedia collective formed in 1982 Zagreb, ex-Yugoslavia. The founder Dejan Krsic collaborated with various artists in a quest of re-thinking the stale concepts of art history, position of the author and the barriers between pop and elitist high culture. Heavily influenced by Walter Benjamin and Andy Warhol in theory and Brian Eno and Kraftwerk in music, Krsic created NEP as an umbrella term (meaning Nova Evropa or New Europe) of diverse rule-breaking activities, covering graphic design, music, photography, video, news-media and theoretical work. Musically NEP focused on experiments in ambient and tape-music, self-released and hard to find compilation tapes like "The Cassette Played Poptones" (1988). Deeply immersed in pop-culture, politics and art theory Krsic's search for perfect pop music with cutting critical edge peaked in 1989, the year 'Decadance' track was conceived in studio. Fox & His Friends published the single in 2017 with Snuffo Remix on B-side. It received rave reviews in music press like MixMag and DJ Mag and it is still played on dance-floors around the world. But the story around the NEP is musically (as well as artistically) much wider: for the first time Fox & His Friends team compiles best cuts from unreleased and rare NEP tapes, covering the period from 1985 to 1989 on POP NOT POP abum. Dejan Krsic is now famous graphic designer and art historian in Croatia. Other collaborators include Laibach and Borghesia photographer Jane Stravs, artist and TV director Gordana Brzovic, Jovan Culibrk, now Bishop at The Serbian Orthodox Church and Anja Rupel, singer of cult Yugoslavian synth-pop group Videosex as well as the other members of Videosex, Iztok Turk and Janez Krizaj who produced some of the tracks. Other collaborators were talented producers Robert Logozar and Davor Daga Devcic, singers Linda Cooper, Natalija, Alexx Kovacs... The list of collaborations is long. Some of the memorable moments on POP NOT POP album are early demo version of Decadance 'How Do I Dance To This Music?' with blue movies samples and drum machine experiments like early Cabaret Voltaire, then Krsic's reinterpretation of legendary Kraftwerk's Trans Europe Express anthem as 'Transcendance', or 'Radical Chic', where Dejan himself and Anja Rupel from Videosex make lovely couple of dandy-esque fashionistas, singing chart-friendly radio synthpop tune that contrasts the A-side (The 'NOT POP' side) - full of experiments, dark wave and industrial nods to Test Department and Cabs. B-side is 'THE POP' side that will surprise most of the NEP followers from their early experimental cassette days. Sunny, danceable, joyfull pop that reveals the many faces of NEP. As Kraftwerk today is more of a concept than a band, NEP does the same by re-writing its products (musical, graphical, theoretical, activist) and constantly puts them in permanent state of change or re-mix. In the future, only NEP logo will be enough to consider something an art piece, and NEP will be everybody who wants to, as their Art Manifest claims. Until that day comes, 'POP NOT POP' is a document of how the vivid and creative were art-scenes in socialist Yugoslavia. Some of the graphic work, cut-ups from theory and Manifesto are also included on this LP, designed by Dejan Krsic aka NEP himself. This release is made from the original master tapes and published for the first time on vinyl.

The Master Scratch Band was first break-dance / hip-hop / electro funk band in Yugoslavia in 1984. The band members were Zoran Vracevic, Zoran Jevtic and Milutin Stoisiljevic, previously known as Data and Sizike. Jugoton, the biggest label in Yugoslavia, published Data 7'' and MSB's 'Degout' 12'' with limited edition cassette containing two bonus tracks. Impossible to find on the collectors market, Fox & His Friends team in collaboration with Jugoton / Croatia Records is releasing a full, complete version of the rare "The Breakwar" tape, with tracks "Tonight" and "Pocket" never pressed on vinyl. All tracks are sourced from original studio tapes. With the kind help of Zoran Vracevic on credit list and liner notes, this is now the ultimate Master Scratch Band album, released originally in a year 1984 when break-dance was in the peak of its popularity in Yugoslavia. While Data was synthpop, Sizike mellow synth-disco recorded in private studio, this release is pure breaks and hip-hop electro, done old-school way in one of the best studios in Yugoslavia, Enco Lesic's 'Druga maca' in Belgrade. MSB used impressive electronic gear and were helped by huge list of famous musicians and guests: Duca Markovic from hit-show 'Hit meseca' (Yugoslavian Top Of The Pops); Japanac on bass, Max Vincent of Max & Intro on synths, Dudu Vudu from Du-Du-A, Goranka Matic as photographer and many more. MSB sampling technique and choices are unique: from obscure industrial records to freestyle; from found-sounds to cut-up breaks and even real prank-calls. This is document of time that still sounds fresh and needs to find it's new, young audience of hip-hop history researchers, break-dancers, b-boys, b-girls and DJ's. When you know that it's produced in 1984 Yugoslavia, far away, but actually, so close to its USA & EU brothers and sisters, it's even more mind-boggling. Thanks to Fox & His Friends and Jugoton CR collaboration, this gem is waiting for your freezes, footwork and electric boogie moves. ----- Equipment used: Commodore 64 Computer, Roland MC-4B Microcomposer, Prophet Pro-One, RSF Cobol II Expander, Korg Mono-Poly Synthesizer, PPG Wave 2.3 Synthesizer, PPG Waveterm Computer, Boss DE-200 Digital Delay, Drumtraks Digital Drum Machine, Roland TR-808 Rhythm Composer, Electro Harmonix Vocoder, Linn Drum MKII, Juno 60, SH-101, SVC-350, VP-330 Vocoders, Polysix & MS10, Simmons drum module.

Terry Gross is an engrossing trio composed of guitarist Phil Manley (Trans Am), bassist Donny Newenhouse, and drummer Phil Becker. The trio are also connected as owners and engineers at Bay Area recording spot El Studio, where they began improvising together as a way to test the boundaries and gear of the studio. Their loose, organic chemistry burgeoned into a deep camaraderie and a sound both expansive and exacting. The three experienced musicians crafted their first fulllength album through the pure joy of playing together with no expectations. With the tapes rolling on their rehearsals, the band captures the exuberance of live performance and elevates those recordings through a deft use of the studio as their collective instrument. On their debut LP Soft Opening, Terry Gross channels their cosmic powers and considerable chops into a gleefully mesmerizing odyssey fit for an arena. Soft Opening took shape over the course of 2016-2019, with Terry Gross writing and refining their songs. "Space Voyage Mission" and "Worm Gear" parallel one another as sinuous jams that pulse with adamantine fervor. Each mountainous epic churns spellbinding repetition and simplicity into dizzying gallops that take hairpin turns into sinewy riffing and elysian vocal melodies. Phil Manley's guitar takes on a constellation of tones across "Space Voyage Mission" with drifting delays soaring over the Newenhouse and Becker's driving rhythm section which all succumb to frothing overdrives that spin the song into entirely new pastures. The hypnotic throb of "Worm Gear" grows all the more enchanting as Newenhouse and Becker add subtle shifts to the single-chord barrage. "Specificity (Or What Have You)" contrasts these two in its more traditionally pop-oriented structure while retaining its predecessors wide-eyed energy and delves further into the album's lightheartedyet-earnest take on sci-fi tropes from space and time travel to the singularity. As Terry Gross, Phil Manley, Donny Newenhouse, and Phil Becker are sonic scientists traversing the borderlands of rock. Soft Opening captures the simple joy of a no-holds-barred trio in stunning detail, transporting the listener into the splendor and freedom of rock.

Ecstatic Meditations’, the follow up to 2016’s acclaimed debut solo outing ‘Interludes’, features six beautifully crafted new tracks leading with an edit of the 20 minute album opener and lead track ‘Journey In Ecstasy’. An adventurous deep listening experience, the new collection was recorded, mixed and mastered by Furse at his electronic studio on the Margate coast.
A sonic tapestry of sound that takes inspiration from the likes of Alice Coltrane, Laraaji, Eno and Steve Reich together with a new found appreciation for Japanese environmental music composers such as Akira Ito and Yasauki Shizimu. The result is an intense yet playfully refreshing take on ambient and electronic music.

The thirteen song album has been remastered at the hallowed Abbey Road Studios in London from the original 1/4’ analog master tapes, and the vinyl processed with a new half speed lacquer cut to ensure the highest quality audio possible.
The bonus LP is a collection of outtakes of nearly every album track, including never before heard pre-production demo recordings, alternate mixes and arrangements, live material, an Archers of Loaf cover, as well as a newly recorded version of the album track ‘Caretaker’ which was recorded in 2019 on the literal last night in the house Stevenson grew up in, ten years after the song was originally written there.
The album features liner note essays written by musicians Julien Baker and Lucy Dacus who drew early inspiration for their own music and songwriting from the album. Also contributing liner notes are Pitchfork, NPR and Stereogum writer Nina Corcoran, as well Packaging: LP Deluxe edition, stoughton tip-on jacket gatefold w/ download card

The next one, Relaxer!

Climate of Fear follows up Soft Boi’s debut LP with a mammoth drop: 12 tapes ripped straight from the first two years of Berlin parties. Released one per month, the series moves from Izabel’s shivering chug through Nkisi’s deadly anarcho-gabber psychedelia, Polar Inertia’s sleek techno throb and DJ Python & Mad Miran’s impromptu closing b2b.

Relaxer tosses his hat in the ring for Climate's fifth installment with a mini-album of studio works. "Hedonic Fatigue" opens with the delirious 20 minute "Fatigue Suite," a white knuckle slow dive that will leave you gasping. Rippers "Upstairs & Inside" and "Strictly II" are counterbalanced with the languid "World Pulse" and misty "Jim's Day." Come sway in the breeze, right on the edge of violence. Out Dec 2020.

Elena Colombi
Polar Inertia
Nkisi
Bruce
Relaxer
Bambounou
Shanti Celeste
Karen Gwyer
Vladimir Ivkovic
Izabel
Terekke
Mad Miran b2b DJ Python

DAUW present the release of What the Fog, the second album of David Allred & Peter Broderick. The album is a follow-up of their first full-length LP Find the Ways, which was released through Erased Tapes in 2017.

The music itself was originally composed as a soundtrack for an 11-hours slow motion journey in the Louvre museum in Paris. The title, #monalisa, can be interpreted as a new way of perceiving art through technology and social media such as Twitter or Instagram. The movie is directed by Jennifer Anderson and Vernon Lott and tries to make us more aware of the presence of technology in our lives as well as the way we experience an exhibition or art itself. The album is a 42-minutes extraction of the 11-hours journey they went through. Each track is built in a way that makes it possible for the listener to travel from one place to the other, as if you were walking in the museum yourself. In that way, the record can even be perceived as a music documentary.

Being completely instrumental, What the Fog distinguishes itself from their first album in which the voices of both artists held a central place. Nevertheless, in line with an earlier observation from Clash Magazine, the music still combines minimalism and serenity to construct intense pieces of music.

“It presents a moment of calm that uses sparsity to create something quietly intense.” (Clash Magazine on their debut album)

Born in Maine, raised in Oregon, Peter Broderick learned to play several instruments such as piano, banjo and violin. In 2007 he joined the Danish ensemble Efterklang on their tour and had numerous collaborations with artists such as Machinefabriek and Nils Frahm. His most recent release Blackberry was released this August through Erased Tapes. It marked his first vocal album in 5 years and once again showed the variety in his ever growing repertoire.

In a relatively short period of time, Portland-based musician and multi-instrumentalist David Allred showed his songwriting capabilities through several releases on Oscarson and Erased Tapes. Besides his own music, he played as a session musician for several artists and ensembles such as Heather Woods Broderick, Masayoshi Fujita and The Beacon Sound Choir. His most recent album Felt the Transition sees the light late December 2020 through Erased Tapes.

Remastered by Bob Weston, ‘Mountains’ comes back to us as a gold foil-embossed gatefold double LP and includes the previously unreleased original takes of ‘Return to Pirates’, ‘Poison Moon’ and ‘Killed by the Telephone’, which were delivered along with the original master tapes 20 years ago but were omitted from the final album.

The record is completed by a newly recorded orchestral version of ‘Valley of One Thousand Perfumes’ produced by composer Joe Wong (Russian Doll, Midnight Gospel) and mixed by Dave Fridmann.

At the turn of the Century, Timony (Ex Hex, Wild Flag, Hammered Hulls) was already a celebrated presence in American underground music - a fixture of D.C. and Boston rock ’n’ roll via her work in Autoclave and Helium respectively. By 1998, though, Helium was drawing to a close and Timony was feeling uncertain about the future. “I had never been good at the rock ‘n’ roll business, and making a living from being in a band just didn't seem like it was in the realm of possibility for me,” she writes. “I just knew I wanted to make another record because that was the part of being in a band that I liked the most.”

While Joe Henderson seemed to arrive fully formed on his auspicious 1963 debut Page One, the album was really a showcase for the transcendent collaboration between the tenor saxophonist and trumpeter Kenny Dorham who would form a potent frontline team on numerous mid-60s Blue Note classics.

Page One opens with a pair of indelible Dorham compositions (“Blue Bossa” and “La Mesha”), with the balance of the six-song set penned by Henderson including his enduring theme “Recorda-Me.” Dazzling performances by pianist McCoy Tyner, bassist Butch Warren, and drummer Pete La Roca further elevate this album making it one of the crown jewels of the Blue Note catalog.

This Blue Note Classic Vinyl Edition is all-analog, mastered by Kevin Gray from the original master tapes, and pressed on 180g vinyl at Optimal.

BLIXA SOUNDS is releasing a Special Edition of Miami, the classic 1982 album by punk rock legends The Gun Club.
This Special Edition not only features a remastered version of the original classic album, but also includes a 2nd disc featuring the Miami demos. The 2LP set features a 2nd LP of demos of the 12 songs on the album and the 2CD set features a 2nd CD of the complete 18 song demos.
This classic 1982 album has been digitally re-mastered and comes in beautiful gatefold packaging with extensive liner notes and archival photos and other collectable images.
The Gun Club recorded a few albums after Miami, but this one with the original band is the one that is considered their masterpiece!
Classic 2nd Gun Club album with a complete 2nd CD & LP of the Miami demos, never before released.
Digitally re-mastered from the original tapes.
2CD & 2LP collections come in high quality gatefold packaging that includes extensive liner notes and archival photos and images.

Strut present the first ever international reissue of one of the most sought-after albums from the Black Fire catalogue, Lon Moshe & Southern Freedom Arkestra's life-affirming 'Love Is Where The Spirit Lies' from 1977. This first international reissue of the album features new sleeve notes including interviews and commentary by Lon Moshe, Plunky Branch and band members with original illustrated artwork by Mary E. Greer. Audio was remastered from original tapes by The Carvery. "Lon was creating his own path in his music life at this time," remembers Black Fire's Plunky Branch. "We had met in San Francisco and he had become an original member of JuJu during the early '70s. He then wanted to pursue his own music, primarily in jazz; he was an avant-gardist and loved Tribe, Strata-East and Sun Ra." For his Love Is Where The Spirit Lies album, Moshe drew from musicians within the Black Fire stable. Oneness Of Juju's Jackie Eka-Ete sang and helped to write songs and members of Southern Energy Ensemble contributed, including their bandleader Marvin Daniels. "The band name, Southern Freedom Arkestra, was a proud declaration that this music was from the U.S. South," continues Branch.

In 2011 composer Ramin Djawadi was first asked to score a new TV series called Game of Thrones. In its first season much of the music was written for a small string ensemble, and filled out with synthetic pads and percussion. Over the course of the next six seasons the music budget got bigger and bigger to match the ever-increasing viewing figures the show was enjoying. This release celebrates the rich tapestry of music over the six series with the full firepower of an 80-piece symphony orchestra and choir.

Game of Thrones really is a television phenomenon. HBO's epic small screen adaptation of George R.R. Martin's series of fantasy tomes continues to draw in record audiences around the world and shows no signs of slowing down. Indeed some 8.9m people tuned in to the Season Six finale in the US and with repeats, recordings and on-demand viewings taken into consideration, it is estimated that Game of Thrones enjoys an average of 23m viewers per instalment. With a whopping thirty-eight Emmy Awards (and counting), this series remains the darling of prime-time pay TV.

With so much music created for the sixty episodes so far broadcast, this album can of course only take in so much. The particular cues and themes it does highlight, though, lend themselves beautifully to this symphonic re-imagining.

Barang Bang Records Archive Series vol. 1

Previously unreleased recordings
Compiled by Gianmarco Liguori

Bernie McGann - alto sax
Kim Paterson - trumpet
Bobby Gebert - piano (side A)
Andy Brown – bass
George Neidorf – drums

Recorded by Trevor Graham in Sydney, Australia (copyright 1966)

There is no more engaging nor distinctive alto saxophone sound on the planet than McGann’s.
Sydney Morning Herald

McGann takes the language of Bebop then bends and stretches it to fit the contours of his own remarkable im-agination.
The Wire

Bernie McGann’s sound is exciting and physical, as heated as any post-coltrane modernist.
Downbeat

A lost treasure of Antipodean jazz

This compilation documents part of an exciting period in Australasian jazz. Recorded in Sydney, 1966, we can hear Bernie McGann was already one of the great Australian jazz stylists. At the time, the only publicly available recording he made was two tracks on the Jazz Australia compilation (1967) (CBS BP 233450).

Two years earlier, McGann was living in Auckland, New Zealand (1963-64). It was here that he worked regular-ly with Kim Paterson, Andy Brown and pianist Dave MacRae, and the basis of this band came into being.

‘Lazy Days’, ‘Chuggin’, and ‘Sky’ were salvaged from a cassette in Kim Paterson’s collection, one of the few remaining copies. Originally intended for a radio broadcast, the master tapes were reportedly destroyed after the session.

‘Rhythm-a-Ning’ and ‘When Will The Blues Leave?’ were taped by Trevor Graham at the Wayside Chapel in King’s Cross. Graham was a Sydney music journalist and ally of the avant garde, with the foresight to capture some of what was happening at the time.

This album is also notable for a rare appearance by the mysterious American drummer George Neidorf (mis-spelt as ‘Neidori’ in the liner notes on the first Soft Machine album), an early influence on drummer Robert Wyatt.

Field recordings of a major artist in strong company – a lost treasure of Antipodean modern jazz.

Without warning, a group of young girls from a remote region of Benin is shaking up the world of garage rock with breathtaking freshness, ingenuity and energy, playing spot-on, loud and clear.

A musician named André Baleguemon decided to form an exclusively female band rooted in the concerns of its time. He puts the spotlight on the guitar, drums and keyboard, instruments he has admired since his childhood, symbols of modernity in this remote region. His observation is simple: “In the North, girls have no room to advance and women are put aside. I simply wanted to show the importance of women in the societies of North Benin by forming a female orchestra “.
On July 25th, 2016, with the support of the city of Natitingou, André launched a press release on Nanto FM offering to help train girls in music for free. A few days later, dozens of aspiring musicians showed up at the Youth Center. “The girls who came didn’t know anything about music. We selected seven girls of the Waama and Nabo ethnic groups from the surrounding villages, some had never even seen these types of instruments before. “
The girls quickly became passionate about their new musical activities, learning how to play drums, guitar, piano and sing vocal harmonies. Their progress was astounding. An intense work of musical training took place, starting with drum workshops, their favorite instrument. Angelique and Urrice on drums and vocals, assisted by Marguerite, the third drummer. Sandrine is on keyboards, as is Grace, who also sings vocals. Julienne is on bass and Anne on guitar.
André’s determination is one of the key elements of this human and artistic success. The girls have already performed dozens of concerts in the region, forging and expanding an already solid repertoire, while attracting an ever-increasing local audience. In addition to musical progress, he has been personally involved with each family, showing them the importance of his project, both musically and humanly and in particular the fact that each girl must remain in school and not be forced into marriage.

At the end of 2018, their encounter with the young French sound engineer Jérémie Verdier accelerated the course of things. On a mission in the region, he called on his Spanish friends Juan Toran and Juan Serra who showed up with their recording equipment in order to record the band’s first songs in the annex of the local museum. Random encounters and fate led Jean-Baptiste Guillot to hear the tapes. He decided to go meet them at the end of 2019. This short but memorable journey sealed the fate of the record you are now holding in your hands.

A Philly groove classic remixed, mastered, and edited specifically for 7” vinyl. The A-side features a remix by New York disco don and re-edit whiz Mike Maurro with the B-side reserved for the original single version, remastered for maximum aural pleasure.

Previously Unreleased material recorded in 1979 at Allen Toussaint's legendary Sea-Saint Recording Studio in New Orleans, LA.

Freaky With You is a Six-and-a-half minute Psychedelic Disco Funk excursion taking you on a wild mojo trip with a four on the floor backbeat and extended conga breakdown peppered with some New Orleans Voodoo that reaches for the Bondye Celestial Heavens.

On the B-Side, Welcome To My World is a Modern Soul Steppers masterpiece. A version was also recorded by Joe Chopper for the Lanor Records label.

James Dumaine remembers the studio session well. After having oral surgery that morning, a grotesque, theatre of the absurd incident followed causing him to bleed onto the microphone as he was singing. That combined with the miscommunication with the audio engineer to watch the volume levels on his new synthesizer: The Engineer decided not to take heed to the warning… Half way into the recording all the band could see from the other side of the glass were heads frantically rushing to the mixing board. The synthesizer levels had caused the monitors in the control room to blow up. Superior Elevation wasn't invited back to record at Sea-Saint. 40 years later, with all that chaos, hoodoo and gris-gris enveloped into the magnetic tape, it magically survived the catastrophic 2005 floods during Hurricane Katrina and ended up in the hands of Mike Nishita along with many other Reel to Reel Tapes of Allen Toussaints' masters of The Meters albums he produced and recorded. It's available now, preserved with Family Groove Records.

Killer tape from YPY, group A, Kohhei Matsuda(Bo Ningen), Kenichi Iwasa + Tot Onyx(group A).

group A's charity compilation series "NO Recording" spotlights on over 1000 unreleased tracks, improv sessions and random recordings from our past. In order to act fast to emergency campaigns, fundraisings and people who are in need of help, the strict "no additional recordings" rule is set and instead we challenge ourselves to cook with what we have in our fridge. Rough edges and unfinishedness are left partially unintentionally; most of the demos and jam sessions were recorded direct to stereo, hence the mixing is limited, and partially intentionally as a part of the process of chance operations (we also just like it rough). This method allows us to break our own preconceptions and discover new comprehensions.

Vol.2 features YPY(goat), Kohhei Matsuda(Bo Ningen), Kenichi Iwasa, Tot Onyx(group A) and group A. This time all of us naturally took a more bricolage way of composing, which gave us a lot of new inspirations and comprehensions. It's going to be limited to 150 cassettes with hand-made covers (incl. digital DL code). This release celebrates 75years anniversary of Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombing and we will donate all the proceeds to ICAN, The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons.

About "NO Recording"

We started this charity compilation series this year in order to keep donating to communities in need of help, while we ourselves are having a financially difficult time due to the cancelation of tours and shows. We don't have money to spare but instead plenty of time. Vol.1 was self-released digitally on our Bandcamp page on Juneteenth, all the proceeds were/are donated to NAACP. Vol.1

Four Flies are proud and honoured to release the first vinyl reissue of Bruno Nicolai's outstanding original score for GEMINUS, a 1969 Italian TV mini-series directed by Luciano Emmer and starring Walter Chiari, Alida Chelli, and Ira von Fürstenberg.

Originally released under Italian label Gemelli, Nicolai's soundtrack has been remastered from the original master tapes and comes in a glossy, tip-on style jacket featuring the restored original cover artwork, as well as extended liner notes by film critics Francesco Cesari and Roberto Curti.

Bruno Nicolai composed and directed an eclectic score that brings together different music genres and influences, from 60s beat, psych, and progrock to baroque and experimental music. He did not hesitate to mix classical forms and structures with new instruments andremarkable, eccentric arrangements.

In 'Giano' (Janus), the interplay between a distorted electric guitar and a hypnotic harpsichord creates a strange, somewhat troubling ambience.

The delicate, celestial voice of Edda Dell'Orso leaves its unique emotional imprint on the most lyricalpiece in the soundtrack, 'Tema Barocco' (Baroque Theme).

The main theme 'Il cielo cade' (The Sky Is Falling) features a luxurious arrangement and stunning orchestration enhanced by enchanting vocal harmonies sung by 'I Cantori Moderni di Alessandroni'.

In other pieces, such as 'Larve' (Larvas), 'Il sognatore' (The Dreamer), 'Eclisse di luna' (Moon Eclipse), 'Visioni' (Visions), 'Catacombe' (Catacombs), and 'Notti romane' (Roman Nights), expressive and experimental solo passages played by instruments such as the vibraphone, sitar, harmonica, or percussions, contribute to the sombre, mysterious atmosphere of the score as a whole.

A Colourful Storm presents a piece of the contemporary Australian underground. Suburban Cracked Collective is the project of Shaun Leacy, a figure with ties to Hour House, Castings and Altered States Tapes but otherwise shrouded in mystery. His private-pressed album, Private Failings was a cult hit of 2019, nabbing the attention of The Trilogy Tapes, Free Form Freakout and the WFMU freaks. Swimming Amongst The Dregs is the follow up and is an unbelievable mesh of concrète, electronics and un-pop overtones. Future classic for those into Dean Blunt, Kallista Kult and the subdued projects of James Ferraro. Edition of 250 with full-colour artwork.

Having previously released a slew of tapes on labels such as Clan Destine Records and Live Adult Entertainment, Penelope’s Fiancé lands on Hypermedium for his vinyl debut. Hailing from Stavroupoli, Thessaloniki, Penelope’s Fiancé has been keeping over the past few years a fast pace of work, constantly producing tracks and releasing new music, having shaped a unique sound that drifts across the borders of lo-fi, post-industrial and fuzzy techno. The Cutting Edge Of A Knife is the culmination of all these previous excursions, a solid display of his ability to craft emotionally intense tracks, merging a ghostly, gloomy grandeur with squelching percussive patterns. Opener ‘Lethe’ emerges from the haze with its cryptic atmosphere, moulded in lethargic drones, scattered vocalisms and sparse yet piercing beats and rhythmic build-ups. A panic-fuelled, 160bpm ravey epic, ‘Futile Endevours’ brandishes an ecstatic, pumelling rhythm over recurring trance- flavored melodic phrases and unnerving vocal samples. ‘I Wasn’t Always There’ is a seductive, dark elegy whose melancholic and lush synth melodies wash over chopping kicks and ice-cold hi-hats. ‘Anxiety’ sounds like a slow techno roller, where frozen metallic percussion meets a cavernous bass, right before the off-kilter, cacophonous buzz of ‘The Lie Closest To The Truth’. Closing track ‘The Cutting Edge Of A Knife’ is an intoxicated oriental-stepper, soaked in vaporous middle-eastern percussion and muezzin-like chants.

‘The Other Side’ sees musical styles woven together into a lyrical tapestry of sound, blending improvisation with co-created original compositions. A truly unique ensemble in compositional process and performance style. On 5th June, Quest Ensemble will release their sophomore album ‘The Other Side’. With nods to influences as broad as the contemporary minimalism of John Adams and Steve Reich, the experimental melancholic textures of Radiohead to the progressive jazz precision of Brad Mehldau, ‘The Other Side’ inhabits its own soundworld somewhere in the gaps between chamber, jazz, folk and contemporary classical music. From the emotive ‘Moments’, the elasticated melodies of ‘Pendulum’, to the fluid lines and compelling urgency of ‘The Boatman’ and ‘Pedal Down’, Quest Ensemble’s compositions fuse layered melodies and rhythmic patterns to create contrapuntal webs of sound. The process involves sharing improvised ideas, building up layers of music on each instrument to create a patchwork of musical themes with a rich vein of surging Reichian rhythms underpinning each. Fusing their backgrounds in western classical, Indian classical, jazz and improvisational technique, Filipe Sousa (piano), Tara Franks (cello) and Preetha Narayanan (violin) are all graduates of the Guildhall School of Music Leadership Programme. In May 2014, Quest Ensemble released their much-lauded debut album ‘Footfall’, a collection of part-composed and part-improvised original compositions, steeped in the sense of place that inspired the sound and imagination of their stories.

Be not afraid! Whether you’re simply sightseeing, enjoying temporary flights of fancy or considering a more permanent relocation, the all-new Spirit World Field Guide offers twenty-one insightful chapters of firsthand know-how into the terrain, wildlife, and social customs of our parallel universe. The narrator’s vast expertise of multiple global entry points and various modes of interdimensional transport informs a rich tapestry of tips, tricks and tools to unfailingly aid in your ultimate survival. If you are among the countless individuals who find themselves feeling both dead and alive at the same time, the information contained within may serve as an invaluable asset to your journey. Godspeed and good luck."

Reissue of Mort Garson’s long-out-of-print soundtrack for the 1970 experimental film Didn’t You Hear?
•One of the first-ever all-electronic film scores
•Remastered from the original master tapes

Six years before the release of his landmark Mother Earth’s Plantasia LP, composer and arranger Mort Garson met experimental film director Skip Sherwood, who was interested in an electronic score for his new movie, Didn’t You Hear? While not much is known now about the exact nature of their collaboration, we have Garson’s magnificent score as a record of those heady, early days after his lifechanging discovery of the Moog synthesizer. Notable for being one of the earliest screen appearances by a young Gary Busey, Didn’t You Hear? also boasts one of the first-ever all-electronic movie scores. Though the score was first released in 1970, it sounds as adventurous and futuristic today as it must have then. Originally available only in the lobby of the theater at screenings of the movie in Seattle, the soundtrack LP went out of print shortly after the film’s release. It has been a sought-after record for collectors of Mort Garson and early electronic music ever since. Sacred Bones is honored to reissue Didn’t You Hear? as it was meant to be heard, taken from the original master tapes and given a pristine remaster by engineer Josh Bonati.

ABOUT MORT GARSON: Morton S. “Mort” Garson was a Canadian-born composer, arranger, songwriter, and pioneer of electronic music. He is best known for his albums in the 1960s and 1970s that were among the first to feature Moog synthesizers. His best known album is Mother Earth’s Plantasia, a 1976 Moog album designed to be played “for plants and the people who love them.” Sacred Bones Records has undertaken the project of giving official, licensed reissues to key releases from Mort Garson’s catalog, with the intention of bringing these bold masterpieces to a 21st century audience.