Buscar:the deli

An exciting new collaboration between New Mastersounds Hammond organist and Madrid based guitarist Lucas De Mulder plus drummer Luke Flowers (Cinematic Orchestra). Recorded at Joe's home studio on his cherished C3 Hammond (where The New Mastersounds' latest album "Old School" was recorded Galáctico will delight vintage jazz-funk fans with nods to Jimmy Mcgriff, Dr Lonnie Smith,George Benson etc etc. Joe and Lucas worked together on Lucas's album "Feel the spirit" in 2019 on Color Red label based in Denver.
The trio will be launching the record at the Saint Paul Soul Jazz festival in the south of France on 7th July and continue to play a series of other fgigs through-out the summer
The album starts with the frenetic James Brown groove of Double Take - a catch jazz guitar head that builds moving up in key to a frenetic hammond solo punctuated by The Haggis Horns.
Track 2 is the Meters-esque "Hey!" The only English language vocal track on the record and at that only one word
Next up is "El Gato" featuring Sam Bell on Congas and Atholl Ransome and Malcolm Strachan from the Haggis Horns a latin four to the floor vibe with solos traded throughout
Guinnee Drop is a swaggering funk jam with Luke Flowers funk drums breaks a feature
The only cover on the album is Sixto Rodriguez' Sugarman - Lucas and Joe were both inspired by his story and loved the song so much it had to go on the album with a mellow instrumental twist
The title track "Galáctico" is has funky soundtrack tune - the horns are back and take the track out with some blistering solos
"Retiro" inspired by the park near Lucas's pad in Madrid is a laid back boogaloo vibe and has Sam Bell on Congas and an upright piano solo from Tatton
"Dame Lo Que Tienes" - The first single from Joe Tatton's second album "Give me what you got!"- led by a funky guitar riff followed by a cutting hammond melody - a little "Meters, Booker T, The Crusaders "!
"Moonbow" a hypnotic slower tune with a nod to Khurangbin
The final track on the album is "Lost on You" A Breezy George Benson nod along
Out on vinyl, CD and digital on 5th July !

Past collaborators of Decosimo include indie/folk artists Jake Xerxes Fussell, Wye Oak, and Hiss Golden Messenger. Past collaborators of Schrey include experimental/sound artists Alvin Lucier, Gordon Mumma and Yasunao Tone. In April 2021, Joseph Decosimo, Luke Richardson, and Cleek Schrey three of the most compelling interpreters in the American traditional music scene gathered at a cabin in Tennessee to explore their collective repertoire of Old-time fiddle and banjo tunes, gleaned from visits with older players, field recordings, and vintage 78s. Working with fiddle, hardanger d’amore (a fiddle with sympathetic strings), banjos, and a 19th-century pump organ, the trio captured both the sonic details of their instruments and a generous musical interplay rooted in a dozen years of collaboration. Their debut album, Beehive Cathedral, presents resonant, thoughtful, and expansive explorations of Appalachian and American music. The results showcase deep Details study and enveloping, exhilarating performances. A rich vein of stories and relationships to people and places underpin Beehive Cathedral. Much of the album draws on Decosimo’s experiences learning the music of Tennessee’s Cumberland Plateau, where he grew up and worked as a folklorist. A key source of inspiration was fiddler Clyde Davenport (1921-2020), “Clyde was a social and musical trickster who knew hundreds of old tunes and had an uncanny ability to recall each piece in exquisite detail,” says Decosimo. “During my visits, he’d play breathtaking local pieces from his father Will, who was born in 1868. His father had learned some of them from a neighbor who was born in 1829.” "This record expresses some of what we hear in Southern traditional music: the ring of the strings, the buzz of the tunings, the hum of the organ,” explains Schrey. Spending time listening to old recordings and imagining how those sounds were made has made the trio keenly interested in the relationship between physical motion and sound in their source material. The result is a dense layering of sounds and interaction. Of this sonic interplay, Irish fiddle luminary Martin Hayes observes, “The sound of a beehive conveys the idea of a unified harmonious soundscape which is how this recording sounds. Beehive Cathedral is a sonic delight, a beautiful blend of Old-time soundscapes and more. This is a hypnotic recording that is grounded, subtle and refined

2024 Repress

Niandra LaDes And Usually Just A T-Shirt is the first solo record by John Frusciante. Between 1990 and 1992 the guitarist made a series of 4-track recordings, which at the time were not intended for commercial release. After leaving the band Red Hot Chili Peppers in 1992, Frusciante was encouraged by friends to release the material that he wrote in his spare time during the Blood Sugar Sex Magik sessions.

Originally released on Rick Rubin's American Recordings label in 1994, Niandra LaDes is a mystifying work of tortured beauty. Frusciante plays various acoustic and electric guitars, experimenting with layers of vocals, piano and reverse tape effects. Channeling the ghosts of Syd Barrett and Skip Spence, his lyrics are at once utterly personal and willfully opaque.

Frusciante's rapidfire, angular playing shows how key he was in the Chili Peppers' evolution away from their funk-rock roots. His cover of "Big Takeover" perfectly deconstructs the Bad Brains original with laid-back tempo, twelve-string guitar and a fierce handle on melody.

The album's second part - thirteen untitled tracks that Frusciante defines as one complete piece, Usually Just A T-Shirt - contains several instrumentals featuring his signature guitar style. Sparse phrasing, delicate counterpoint and ethereal textures recall Neu/Harmonia's Michael Rother or The Durutti Column's Vini Reilly.

On the front cover, Frusciante appears in 1920s drag - a nod to Marcel Duchamp's alter-ego Rrose Sélavy - which comes from Toni Oswald's film Desert in the Shape.

This first-time vinyl release has been carefully remastered and approved by the artist. The double LP set is packaged with gatefold jacket and printed inner sleeves.

My Dinosaur Life is the fourth studio album by the American rock band Motion City Soundtrack. Produced by Mark Hoppus (bassist Blink-182), the album was released on January 19, 2010, by Columbia Records. The album's theme largely centers on growing older; its lyricism, written by Pierre, concerns such subjects as relationships, drug abuse, and procrastination. Musically, the album retains the band's sound with less of an emphasis on the Moog synthesizer. Drummer Tony Thaxton broke his arm prior to recording, which led the band to use a drum machine on early recordings. The album's music is inspired by post-hardcore music; Pierre cited Archers of Loaf, Fugazi, and Dinosaur Jr. as inspirations for the album's sound. Their only major-label release, My Dinosaur Life was well received by music critics. The album represented their highest peak position in the U.S., charting at #15 on the Billboard 200. My Dinosaur Life is available as a limited edition of 1000 numbered copies on purple & red marbled vinyl and includes a printed innersleeve.

There's not much to add, two of the greatest Heavy Psych bands of the scene join the forces to give birth to an incredible Split Album. Packed with 32 minutes of the highest quality heavy rock you can find out there; a joint venture which can happen only once every 100 years!! Heavy Psych king-pioneers Nebula bring to life three brand new songs, recorded expressly for this incredible project. Three new gems which follow their latest "Holy Shit" and "Transmission_." Black Rainbows add in three songs of their own, handpicked from the recording session of their latest success "Superskull", released back in 2023. Delivering two Stoner in-your-face Heavy Fuzz pieces and one Heavy Space tune to celebrate this awesome collaboration!! The cover art pairs perfectly with the vision and vibe of the album and is credited to the mighty Simon Berndt.

Yellow vinyl, limited to 400 copies. There's not much to add, two of the greatest Heavy Psych bands of the scene join the forces to give birth to an incredible Split Album. Packed with 32 minutes of the highest quality heavy rock you can find out there; a joint venture which can happen only once every 100 years!! Heavy Psych king-pioneers Nebula bring to life three brand new songs, recorded expressly for this incredible project. Three new gems which follow their latest "Holy Shit" and "Transmission_." Black Rainbows add in three songs of their own, handpicked from the recording session of their latest success "Superskull", released back in 2023. Delivering two Stoner in-your-face Heavy Fuzz pieces and one Heavy Space tune to celebrate this awesome collaboration!! The cover art pairs perfectly with the vision and vibe of the album and is credited to the mighty Simon Berndt.

Oliver Leiths von der Kritik gefeierte Kammeroper "Last Days", basierend auf dem Gus Van Sants Kultfilm "Last Days", feierte im Oktober 2022 in einer ausverkauften Aufführungsreihe im Londoner Royal Opera House Premiere. Mit der bewährten Starbesetzung in ihren ursprünglichen Rollen entstand nun diese 90-minütige Studioaufnahme, auf der das 12-köpfige Ensemble unter der Leitung von Jack Sheen den Anker von Leiths straff ausgearbeiteter und zutiefst fantasievoller Partitur darstellt.

- "Oliver Leith's score is a sonic tapestry interweaving delicate instrumental effects, 'found' sounds, and a cappella vocal timbres." - The Independent
- "Leith's score, brilliantly rendered by 12 Ensemble under Jack Sheen, is starkly original." - Bachtrack
- "Jack Sheen conducted the slick 12 Ensemble… balancing the push-pull sternness and rapture of a score that surely has a real future ahead." - Opera

The 12-track project delivers more of the signature no-gimmick, undeniably Country sound fans have come to know, love and obsess over from the star and includes his current Top 20-and-climbing single with his former tourmate on “Different ‘Round Here (featuring Luke Combs).” The music and lyrics, both heavily influenced by blue-collar roots, small town life and slower way of life, exemplify Green’s homage to his experiences, beliefs, passions and love of family. The title bares its name from a poignant track on the album, “My Last Rodeo,” which Green wrote solo following one of the final conversations he had with his late Grandaddy Buford Green near the end of his life. Buford was the brains behind converting Riley’s great-grandparents' home into the Golden Saw Music Hall and is credited for Riley’s musical appreciation, education and inspiration, while his Granddaddy Lyndon can be attributed for Riley’s love of the outdoors.

2024 Repress

More great new music from Soul:r's home city of Manchester. Chimpo is a local legend. He's been on the underground scene for years, dj'ing and producing his homemade blend of multi genre bass infused electronic music. Known also for his unique microphone skills, Chimpo's delivery style and wit is something to behold. This Ep showcases all of what chimpo has to offer. A release that will stand out for being different and yet totally devastating on the dane floor. The vinyl release contains a huge remix of the title track, "Frontline", by Calibre that utilises Fox's vocal and flips the sound back to the days of jungle techno. Add also the deadly production unit of Dub Phizix and Skeptical on lead track "Buzzin" and you have a package that we at Soul:r are very proud of indeed.

Lightnin’ Hopkins is widely considered one of the great popular architects of the blues style that came be known as “country blues” and which proved to be huge influence on the future development of Rock ‘n’ Roll. “Mojo Hand” was one of Hopkins‘ signature tunes. Mixing his own style with Louisiana Creole and voodoo culture, the song ripples with an occult energy.This album, recorded for Fire Records, is especially interesting because it casts Hopkins in a more R&B-flavored environment. This obvious effort to get a hit takes for some excellent blues; moody and powerful performances play throughout. The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings wrote that "Lightnin' is focused and businesslike and delivers a strong and varied sequence of songs; the bassist and drummer unobtrusive but very much there”.

Limitierte Pink-Vinyl-Auflage des 2022er Samplers der irischen Garage-Noise-Shooting-Stars SPRINTS mit 10 Tracks ihrer Frühphase, darunter der Debütsingle "The Cheek" und dem Fanfavoriten "Manifesto" aus der gleichnamigen EP. "The Back Catalogue" markiert das Ende eines Kapitels und den Beginn des nächsten. Es zeichnet den Aufstieg der Band von der Gründung 2019 bis heute nach und nimmt die Zuhörer mit auf eine Reise durch die Höhen und Tiefen von Hochgefühl und Angst. Angetrieben von Erfahrung, schwierigem politischem Klima und sozialer und wirtschaftlicher Unsicherheit ist ihre Musik ehrlich, oft politisch aufgeladen und authentisch.

After her debut album “OUCH” on 10K in late 2022, the Brooklyn native returns with her most polished work to date and presents her latest project titled “Wooden Floors”.

Inspired among other things by a scene in the 80's movie "Risky Business"; she treats each song as a journal entry where she depicts her life in New York and touches on various subjects like love, family, personal achievements, morals and future goals.
Delivering an array of multiple flows and emotions on groovy beats; she stands out from other mcs with her sweet voice tone, raw style and poignant lyrics.

Wie Reckoning ist auch Dead Set ein Live-Album, das
während der ausgedehnten Aufenthalte der Dead's in San
Francisco und New York im Herbst 1980 aufgenommen
wurde. Es wurde auf analogem 32-Spur-Band
aufgezeichnet und klingt so großartig wie damals im
Warfield und in der Radio City Music Hall, als die Musik
live gespielt wurde. Gefüllt mit zahllosen Grateful
Dead-Klassikern, von denen die meisten noch nie auf
einem Live-Album der Band erschienen sind, darunter
neuere Songs wie "Feel Like A Stranger" und "Little Red
Rooster", Klassiker der 1970er Jahre wie "Samson and
Delilah", "Fire On The Mountain", "Franklin's Tower" und
"Passenger" sowie ein Trio von American Beauty-Songs
aus dem Jahr 1970, "Candyman", "Friend Of The Devil"
und "Brokedown Palace".
- David Lemieux, Grateful Dead Legacy Manager und
Audioarchivar

Slip this delirious disc out of the lime/slime green sleeve and you're up close and personal with the new chapter in the TD saga.
A dance floor triptych of such seismic scale that the crew spent two years trying to wrangle the tracks on wax, finally finding a plant with the power to press them up.

Sprawling across the A-side is the devastating 'Doner Summer', an instrumental extension of some lost Munich disco masquerading as an Anatolian excursion. Ditching the vocals and cutting the kase, the crew lay down a galloping groove topped with Turkish licks and disco strings, take us into the psychedelic swirl of a tumbling drum breakdown before hitting the big red button marked banger for a searing second half. Firing up the hardware, TD blast this one further into the Phuture, dropping technoid sequences, nagging 303 and Cowley-style FX fuckery for a full on club assault.

In the alternate B-side universe, Hans Zimmer lost his dread note and Denis Villeneuve was forced to turn to Talking Drums for the Dune soundtrack. They obliged with the sci-fi rai of 'Chaba Ranks', reshaping an Algerian OG with a dancehall kick, off beat vamps and star-crossed synths, then letting loose with a heavy bass tone.
|In time honoured fashion, the team also drop a dub version, cutting out the vocals and focussing on those additional elements for the wildly cosmic 'Chaba Skanks'.

Now who's getting the spice in?

Limited Press - Numbered Insert - Drum Fun Guaranteed !

Two brand new tracks by The Courettes on RED coloured vinyl. The A-side will also feature on the band's next album! The B-side exclusive to this release! Both tracks feature guest vocals by La La Brooks of The Crystals! 'California' is a song we wrote on our first tour in California last year. We wanted to bring all the sunshine and some psychedelic vibes from The Byrds, the Laurel Canyon, and tons of 12-string guitars to our songwriting. But somehow the lyrics kept some black clouds. It talks about traveling and leaving your loved ones behind. Any musician on the road can relate to this. Although you can have a great time around the world, you're always missing someone. Home is really where your love is. We are very proud of this track, and on top of it we have a guest vocalist. The legendary singer La La Brooks - yes, from The Crystals, the lead voice on the classic 'Da Doo Ron Ron', one of our favourite Phil Spector produced songs of all time. To have La La singing with us is an absolute delight and honour. It's so surreal that we haven't even realised it has really happened! For the mixing our producer Soren Christensen has teamed up with the fantastic Darian Sahanaja (who produced and mixed no less than Brian Wilson's SMiLE album) to enlighten even more the Californian good vibrations. So open up your windows, let the sunshine in and play this one to the max!

Introducing NICE002 "Shoreline Circuitry" EP, the second release from All Nice Records, featuring the Portuguese producer Lake Haze. This EP will take you on a journey through pulsating house tracks, driven by 707 toms and hypnotic acid lines. "Dune District" kicks off with uplifting house vibes, distorted pads, and infectious rhythms. "Voltage Vortex" follows, offering a chill house groove with a heavy Chicago-inspired bassline. On the B-side, "Shoreline Circuitry" delivers rhythmic intensity with 707 toms and obscure acid lines. Closing the EP is "Electribe Echoes," a mesmerising track showcasing Lake Haze's sound mastery.

Island Boogie arrives four years after Meecham’s previous full-length, Music Not Safari, and sees the veteran producer deliver his most ‘personal’ set yet – a collection of kaleidoscopic, cosmic-leaning, dub disco-influenced neo-boogie excursions inspired by his love of the custom-built soundsystem at Rotation Garden Party, an annual micro-festival founded by a group of friends including his former Chicken Lips production partner Dean Meredith. It's fitting, then, that the EP begins with a superb interpretation of ‘'Dévoilez-Vous’ by T-Kutt, AKA Meredith and long-term studio partner Ben Shenton. The pair’s ‘AM FM Club Mix’ sits somewhere between classic Prelude-style electrofunk, NYC proto-house and early British interpretations of American house music. Séverine Mouletin’s chopped-up improvised vocals weave in and out of sun-bright keyboard riffs, colourful synthesiser motifs, heady synth-strings, D-Train style synth-bass and delay-laden machine drums. It’s a superb re-imagination of one of the album’s most stellar moments.

The EP’s other headline-grabbing remix comes courtesy of Leng co-founder Paul Murphy AKA Mudd. He reworks title track ‘Island Boogie’, teasing out the spacey synths and languid jazz-funk grooves of Meecham’s original mix and dialling them up to the max. The resultant revision sparkles with crunchy clavinet licks, mazy synth and electric piano solos, and spacey chords rising above a mid-tempo dancefloor groove. To complete a strong package, Meecham adds two dubs in his distinctively stripped-back, tape echo-heavy style. He first takes on EP title track ‘Dévoilez-Vous’, wrapping vintage drum machine hits in oodles of space echo and dub delay while devoting more time and space to the killer bassline, Rupert Brown’s infectious hand percussion, and Mouletin’s vocalisations.

To round off the EP, he dubs out album epic ‘La Cassette’, another collaboration with Mouletin that also features additional percussion by Brown. Like the original synth-powered dancefloor dubs of the early-to-mid-80s that have long been an inspiration, Meecham’s ‘La Cassette’ dub features key musical elements – many drenched in trippy effects – popping in and out of the mix, while his sturdy drums and memorable bassline spar with Brown’s percussion below.

"Two-pronged, remix attacks don't come much more exciting and potent than this... as here - thanks to our good friends at Nervous NYC - we're beyond hyped to bring you the legendary Masters At Work and Dave Lee on one single, fully weaponised package.

Putting their own, inimitable spins on Louie Vega's ˙Music Is My Life˙ - which features the unique talents of Unlimited Touch - we're treated to a pair of wonderfully complimentary, but no less idiosyncratic re-rubs from these two stalwarts of the scene.

With a production hand and artistic touch like no other - Masters At Work lead the way here, with their main remix. Characterised by that trademark looseness and deliciously warm, organic approach - their rework is awash with woozy psychedelia and layered so expertly, that getting lost in the music is both gloriously simple and an absolute pleasure. But no true Vega & Dope remix suite, would be complete without a bonafide Dub version. And for ˙Music Is My Life˙ - this sees the dynamite duo take proceedings down a distinctly more mesmeric and mood-laden path… one where the vocal is instead used as a powerful rhythmic weapon, and the star of the show, is a surreptitiously morphing and shape-shifting, delicately acid-laced synth lead.

Next up - having recently switched his attentions to productions under his own namesake - is Z Records' head honcho, Dave Lee. Snapping into life with its crisp and punchy drum work - what Lee's remix does share with that of the Masters is in the over-arching, tripped-out haze which douses proceedings. However - where his remix opts to stick its head well and truly above the parapit, is in it stylistic flavouring. As when it comes to slicing that genre cake, so to split the worlds of Disco and House perfectly down the middle - there's simply no one who does it finer.”

We are continuing our record series with the fourth edition and are proudly welcoming Matthias Schildger to the family. Together with Rupert Hartick, the two Dudes joined forces for a powerful EP, delivering a curation of four beautiful tracks in different flavours and moods for the floor.

Expect two catchy pieces by Matthias under two of his well known aliases, as well as two decent works by Rupert.

Tune in and get yourself a copy!

After an early start in doo-wop fronting the Parliaments, George Clinton helmed Funkadelic and Parliament, related hard funk projects at the border of the form’s acceptability, employing crazed concepts, outrageous costumes, and drug-addled references to outer space. During the 80s and 90s, Clinton kept the fires burning with his P-Funk Allstars, a cosmic sloppy affair whose live shows continued to push the boundaries, as heard on this riotous live set delivered in Chicago, with extended jams on favourites such as ‘Mothership Connection (Star Child),’ ‘Give Up The Funk (Tear The Roof Off The Sucker)’ and ‘Make My Funk The P-Funk,’ as well as the bluesy lament of ‘Pepe The Pill Popper.’ Dynamite!

2024 Repress

Favorite Recordings presents Remixes by Voilaaa, a new EP built with exclusive versions of some of its biggest hits. Known for its Afro-Disco sound and strong dancefloor-friendly festive bangers, these new mixes bring another light to the successful project of Bruno "Patchworks" Hovart.

On A Side, Voilaaa asked famous Brooklyn-based producer and remixer JKriv (Razor-N-Tape) to provide even more club energy to "Ku La Foon (feat. Lass)”, originally released on Voilaaa's third and last album. The result is a powerful bomb that won't give any rest to the crowd.

The tracklist goes on with "Ben Bene La (feat. Lass)” reworked by Patchworks himself in a very Latin way, taking inspiration from the NY scene and its dancers, "Spanish Harlem" and Mongo Santamaria. You've got to play it loud and we're pretty sure you'll see some special moves on the dancefloor.

On B side, you'll hear another Patchworks remix, this time with probably one of Voilaaa's biggest hits, "Spies Are Watching Me (feat Sir Jean)”. In the footsteps of Moodymann, Masters At Work or the UK Garage scene, Patchworks delivers here some of his classic house music energy. You may know he started his career with house music: he transformed this anthem into a proper deep house cut with the same passion!

Finally, Voilaaa remixed himself! Working on "Tu Mens Devant Moi (feat. Ramatou Traore)”, Voilaaa carries the arrangement closer to the Angolese and Cape Verdean sound, reminding also the sound of Super Mama Djombo from Guinea Bissau. A tropical cut that will bring more and more sunshine to the club.

Hard-rocking Brooklyn trio Sir Lord Baltimore’s highly sought-after debut album is a legendary precursor of the heavy metal genre, a 1971 Creem review of the disc perhaps the first to ever use the term. The group benefited from the songwriting and production team of Mike Appel and Jim Cretecos, Appel the future manger of Bruce Springsteen and Cretecos already heady from success with The Partridge Family; recorded at Vantone Studios in New Jersey, it
was mixed to fine effect by Eddie Kramer at Electric Ladyland, fresh from his work with Jimi Hendrix. Guitarist Louis Dambra co- arranged the material with Appel and Cretecos; he had earlier played in garage band The Koala as Louis Caine, and here his screeching guitar
is a major draw, backed by plodding bass from Gary Justin, as front man John Garner shrieks his vocals while pounding furious drumbeats. Aside from a tough cover of Ray Charles’ “I Got A Woman” and a track inspired by Yeats’ poem “Lake Isle Of Innersfree,” the album features heavily-stoned acid rock originals, delivered the Sir Lord Baltimore way.

The Belgian producer delivers emotion driven melodic soundscapes across three originals.

DIM KELLY returns to Lee Burridge’s All Day I Dream imprint to release his three track Homily EP. On the heels of three acclaimed EPs released on the label - Nocturna Animal in 2021, Mangrove in 2022, and Pianologic in 2023, in 2024 DIM KELLY is back once again, delivering his signature melodic sensibilities that have become a consistent fixture of the All Day I Dream catalog. When DIM KELLY recently performed at the All Day I Dream of Summer Shimmer party at the Brooklyn Mirage on June 2, unreleased tracks played from the Homily EP created some of the most unforgettable moments of the show.

Multifaceted San Francisco psyche-delic band It’s A Beautiful Day drew on aspects of folk, classical, jazz and world music, their outstanding differences driven by the lead vocalist and violinist David LaFlamme, his keyboardist wife Linda, and harmony singer Patti Santos. This engaging compilation joins the anthem ‘White Bird’ and the spirited ‘Hot Summer Day’ with ‘Don And Dewey’ (based on ‘Wring That Neck’ by Deep Purple, who nicked one of their musical themes for the intro to ‘Child In Time’), plus the previously unreleased ‘Summer Blues’ and ‘You Are The Sun’ – this stunner’s a must for all It’s A Beautiful Day fans!

Mixing the theatrical, the operatic and the ghoulish, Screamin’ Jay Hawkins was a one-off whose shocking stage tactics helped him find initially fame in the mid-1950s. Recorded in Nashville in 1973 and his sole offering for local label Hot Line, A Portrait Of A Man And His Woman is Hawkins at his most accessible; the title track’s haunting delivery and a remake of calling card ‘I’ve Put A Spell On You’ balanced by bright takes of ‘Itty Bitty Pretty One’ and Conway Twitty’s ‘It’s Only Make Believe,’ with plenty of grunts, shouts and animalistic interjections beneath Hawkins’ operatic and gospel-tinged vibrato. Hawkins fans, take note!

After exiting Buster Summers Express, Leeds-based songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Derek Noy formed Jan Dukes De Grey with woodwinds player, Michael Bairstow, soon opening for Pink Floyd and the Who, though LPs Sorcerer and acid folk masterpiece Mice And Rats In The Loft sold poorly. After line-up changes, in 1977, Noy assembled a new crew for Strange Terrain, cut at Brittania Row with Roger Waters co-producing, but the album’s curious mix of post-prog, acid rock and punk was deemed unsuitable for release until 2010! This edition comprises the complete original LP, just as delivered at its time of recording. Essential!

The adventurous singer, guitarist and music journalist Mick Farren launched his solo career after being sacked by his fellow Deviants, the protopunk band he fronted from 1967-69. Suffering from depression and other mental health issues, Farren teamed up with an all-star cast, including members of Quartermass and ex-Tyrannosauros Rex honcho Steve Peregrin Took for debut opus Mona The Carnivorous Circus, mixing hard rock, spoken word, spaced-out interludes, radio cut-ups and garage rock, rendering a work as compelling as it is hard to classify. Strange, delightful and a favourite of Julian Cope, this is an aural journey to savour.

"I wish I could turn or turn back" "Sometimes it’s hard to resist the feeling that there was a crucial turn in life out of which everything else flowed. Maybe in our more reasonable frames of mind we can dismiss that thought and take our plans and intentions very seriously. But, there’s often a lurking conviction that, like the oak from the acorn or the movie from its opening scene, it is already all there. In the first moment of Relics of Our Life, anything could happen, anything could come next. But as the suspense is broken with the first notes, the world of the record springs up as both an internal experience and a landscape of which we will learn something, but definitely not everything. The songs induce a swimming sense of cycling repetition and variation where shifting details tilt the ground under us. The round and round doesn’t make us dizzy; like breathing the right way, it makes us both heavier and higher. "Pawliczek’s songs can be located in the company of the greats of Flying Nun Records – maybe the delicacy of The Great Unwashed with the heavy heart of The Verlaines and smartness of The Chills. But, ultimately, his interests are elsewhere – a heart-break song over an earthly lover feels like only the tipping point for longing and devotion that outstrips the personal. In this sense, Popul Vuh for their hymnal geometry and switched-on Palestrina, and Terry Riley for cosmic elation come to mind. The songs have sweeping and cinematic proportions and depths of field constrained by a pop economy love of leanness. "But who’s supplicating whom here? The songs’ devotional quality is not upward to the sacred or even outward to the profane. It’s more like a magnetism between its elements – sounds, voices and rhythms. The track No Talk intones “why don’t you talk to me?” over a driving guitar and one feels visited by some kind of archaic god on whom the tables have been turned, finding himself jealous of our thousand little thoughts. The record finishes with his distorted lilting dance, trying to seduce us with some red red wine that is no one’s blood, but everyone’s favorite drug." -- Karina Gill (Cindy, Flowertown) 2024

“Let us advance our mortal bodies up Where hearts and minds will go Let’s walk, let’s roll.” So sings Madeleine Peyroux on the upbeat title track of her captivating tenth album, Let’s Walk, the acclaimed singer-songwriter’s most assured, courageous work to date. Powered by the distinctive, honeyed croon that delivered her from the Paris streets to concert halls, these ten unabashedly personal songs, all co-written by the versatile Peyroux, deftly interweave jazz, folk, and chamber pop, with themes ranging from the confessional to the political, from whimsy to yearning. In every note, Peyroux digs deep, rendering this exquisite work with the disarming grace and gravitas of an artist in peak form. Let’s Walk was a long time coming, but well worth the wait. Following Peyroux’s 2018 album, Anthem, the enforced isolation of the global pandemic made any real-time community gathering impossible. From a creative standpoint, however, Covid offered Peyroux a silver lining: she seized the opportunity to hunker down with longtime collaborator, multi-instrumentalist Jon Herington (Steely Dan, Lucy Kaplansky). The pair reflected on the seismic era at hand and wrote and re-wrote in what Peyroux calls “a shadow of reckoning.” When multi-Emmy-and-Grammy-winning producer Elliott Scheiner (Fleetwood Mac, The Eagles) heard a sampling of the new material, including “Let’s Walk,” he mandated “no covers” for the album. The longtime studio veteran knew the time was ripe to highlight Peyroux’s incisive, often topical lyrics meshed with Herington’s ear for melody and arrangements.

An exercise in control of auditory limitations and possibilities, GAEL redefines techno production with their comprehension of cold atmospherics and meticulous world building. Exemplified in their first solo EP ‘Frozen White Horse’ released on BITE Records, fervent, hurtling drums are underpinned by hopeful euphorics and circulating, breathy cybernetics. A culmination of sophisticated sonic dialects reared from the intersections of soundscaping and electronic music, the berlin-based DJ/Producer from Dagestan (by-way-of Kyiv and Odesa) commits their practice to the inclusivity of borderless, capricious and emotive dance- floor synergy. This energy was previously captured on BITE last year with their appearances on the Shedding Skin VA and The Soft Moon’s Exister Remixed. GAEL’s harmonic and organic approach to techno production echoes the heartbeat of dancefloor resistance,captivating audiences across venues from Berlin’s Berghain to Kyiv’s ∄ as a resident at the queer event series XITb. Delivering thunderous feeling through experimental sounds and masterful pacing, the 4-track-EP blurs the margins of moody techno exploration with remarkable attitude and a foreboding sense of uphill struggle. For the opening title track, a procession of stacked chords,synths and snares are met with a cyclone of galloping percussion building to maximum intensity until dispersing into echoey chimes. As the listener is able to catch their breath, the second track ‘prpttcxsstnc’ reignites - this time with trepidatious yet ethereal vibration, as the track continues to inject GAEL’s post-punk style of galvanised energy, rich layered drums maintain the undercurrent of resolute chaos into the following track ‘there is nothing left’. Sombre track titles are off-set by triumphant vigour for the third instalment, pushing through gale force drums and the clanging zaps and bleeps of electronic debris. Concluding with the final cacophony of collaged beats and drums, bellowing siren-like cold wails meld with GAEL’s calamity crescendo of crashing cymbals, the procession of rapturous drums slipping into a distant echo of warped hollow gleams.

Soul Direction are pleased to announce a new member of the Family “Contempo Soul” series. This label will showcase more contemporary sounding soul from independent artists. Our first offering in conjunction with Kevin Edwards III, and with the help of Dave Thorley. The Keved Project (Feat. Delbert Nelson) – “Life Has Been a Thief” / “Spread Love” – SDCO-1001. Edwards was born in Hamtramck, Michigan in 1959. As a young boy listening to Jimi Hendrix play guitar on Band of Gypsies, he knew he wanted to be a guitar player. By 16 Edwards, was playing in a high school band and at local cabarets. In 1979 Edwards played with Sons, a local jazz band. The group played Top 40s in local venues and eventually opened for the nationally renowned group, Brainstorm, which recorded on the CBS label. Sons and Brainstorm merged in 1980. When Brainstorm broke up in the early '80s Edwards freelanced with several local groups. His career took a turn in 1984 when he began writing and recording his own music. Edwards drew from his experiences and the R & B and jazz classics he'd grown up listening to as his inspiration for writing. Two years later in 1986, Edwards expanded his skills even further when he started producing young local talent. He and a partner produced Rhapsody, a rap group that released several singles on the Giant Record Label. The year 1998 saw the beginning of a new era for Edwards when he and long-time friends Darryl Lee and Greg Nance formed Ground Level. Ground Level enjoyed tremendous success, opening for the Isley Brothers, LL Cool J, Roy Ayers, Ronnie Laws and the funk group Slave. The band received accolades and grew in popularity. In 2003 the band changed its name to Level Rizon, signifying its new status and the fact that they are no longer at "ground level." Level Rizon took a year off of performing to produce That Vibe. With That Vibe Edwards feels he has started a whole new genre of music he calls "NuUrban Soul." He describes NuUrban Soul as a unique blend of jazz-fusion and R & B that has not failed to delight audiences of all walks of life. Kevin has performed with the late Michael Henderson (R/B recording artist known for You are my Starship, Sending a Valentine, Wide Receiver) in 2014. Kevin has also has a certificate in Audio Engineering from the Recording Institute of Detroit, Associates of Science in Electrical Engineering Technology from Lawrence Technological University, and Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering Technology from ITT Tech. Kevin built, and operates his own recording studio, and is continuously writing and recording new music..

Seven years after its last LP, the Del McCoury Band returns to take on the challenge with Songs of Love and Life. A glorious 13-song collection, the album follows 2021’s celebrated release, Almost Proud, and once again features Del touching down on a diverse set of tracks--vintage and contemporary--as he and his crackerjack Band nod to icons Kenny Rogers, Roy Orbison, and Elvis Presley, as well as welcome next-generation talent, Molly Tuttle, to the party.

Produced by Del and his son, Ronnie, Songs of Love and Life showcases one of the greatest storytellers in music, delivering another rousing assembly of absorbing, compelling, and unforgettable tales.

Still, even among the pantheon of music’s finest artists, Del McCoury stands uniquely apart. From the nascent sound of bluegrass that charmed hardscrabble hillbilly honkytonks, rural schoolhouse stages, and the crowning glory of the Grand Ole Opry to the present-day culture-buzz of viral reels and digital streams, from Bill Monroe to Billy Strings, it is Del who’s the living link. And, like any genuine national treasure, the gifts keep coming.

With beauty and precision, Del and the boys bring home another endearing album of traditional bluegrass music. Brimming with hot licks, classic songcraft, and Del’s matchless vocal delivery, the Del McCoury Band and its latest, Songs of Love and Life, once again raise the gold-bar standard of bluegrass yet another notch. This is a baker’s dozen from a bushel; the best songs Del’s selected from the bounty to meet his latest challenge. “I get a big feeling of accomplishment when I get a new record out,” says the 85-year-old legend. “I never get tired of it.”"

Gambian kora virtuoso Dawda Jobarteh and Danish master drummer Stefan Pasborg join forces to release their exhilarating live album, "Live In Turku"Turku". A captivating fusion of traditional West African sounds and contemporary improvisation. Jobarteh was born and raised in Brikama, Gambia into a musical legacy - his uncle and grandfather before him are recognized as great masters of the kora. Initially learning calabash and all other kinds of percussion at the feet of his uncle, it wasn t until Dawda s travels to Denmark that he picked up the 2121-stringed kora. He s since gone on to tour worldwide with the famous Pierre Dorge & New Jungle Orchestra and release five albums under his own name to rave reviews from leading magazines such as Songlines. Stefan Pasborg, godson and protege of famous Danish drummer Alex Riel, is a world class drummer with a deep understanding of African music few western musicians possess, evidenced by his many collaborations with the likes of Morocco s Majid Bekkas and their joint project Magic Spirit Quartet, as well as Danish trio Ibrahim Electric. Drawing on their rich musical backgrounds and extensive experience, Jobarteh and Pasborg deliver an electrifying performance that transcends borders and genres. Recorded during a mesmerizing live set at a festival in Turku, Finland in April of 2023, the album captures the essence of their collaborative spirit and explorative energy. A followup to their landmark 2016 release "DUO"", at the heart of "Live In lies a deep connection between two extraordinary musicians. Jobarteh brings his soul soul-stirring melodies and innovative approach to the traditional instrument - going electric and drawing from the explosive energy of Jimi Hendrix in jangling improvisations soaked in psychedelic futurism. Meanwhile, Pasborg, renowned for his dynamic drumming style and eclectic musical palette sits somewhere between Art Blakey, Mitch Mitchell and John Bonham, providing a rhythmic foundation that propels the music to new heights. The album"s repertoire spans a diverse range of influences, from traditional West African rhythms to contemporary jazz and beyond. Tracks such as " first recorded in 1979 by a band of Ornette Coleman alumni, pay homage to the Jazz s origins in African music, while originals like "Communication of a Kind" showcase the duo"s improvisational prowess and boundless creativity.

Lenticular Sleeve / White Vinyl. When Jack Tatum began work on Life of Pause, his third full-length to date, he had lofty ambitions: Don't just write another album; create another world. One with enough detail and texture and dimension that a listener could step inside, explore, and inhabit it as they see fit. "I desperately wanted for this to be the kind of record that would displace me," he says. "I'm terrified by the idea of being any one thing, or being of any one genre. And whether or not I accomplish that, I know that my only hope of getting there is to constantly reinvent. That reinvention doesn't need to be drastic, but every new record has to have its own identity, and it has to have a separate set of goals from what came before." What came before: a rightfully acclaimed, much beloved display of singular pop craftsmanship. Tatum's dreamy, unexpected 2010 debut, Gemini, was written while he was still a student at Virginia Tech University. Its equally disarming follow-up, 2012's Nocturne, marked the first time he'd been able to bring his bedroom recordings into a studio, to be performed and fully realized with the help of other musicians. There has been a set of wonderfully expansive EPs in between_each hinting at new directions and punctuating previous ideas_but with Life of Pause, Tatum delivers what he describes as his most "honest" and "mature" work yet, an exquisitely arranged and beautifully recorded collection of songs that marry the immediate with the indefinable. "I allowed myself to go down every route I could imagine even if it ended up not working for me," he says. "I owe it to myself to take as many risks as possible. Songs are songs and you have to allow yourself to be open to everything." After a prolonged period of writing and experimentation, recording took place over several weeks in both Los Angeles and Stockholm, with producer Thom Monahan (Devendra Banhart, Beachwood Sparks) helping Tatum in his search for a more natural and organically textured sound. In Sweden, in a studio once owned by ABBA, they enlisted Peter, Bjorn and John drummer John Ericsson and fellow Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra veteran Pelle Jacobsson, to contribute drums and marimba. In California, at Monahan's home, Tatum collaborated with Medicine guitarist Brad Laner and a crew of saxophonists. From the hypnotic polyrhythms of "Reichpop" to the sugary howl of "Japanese Alice" to the hallucinogenic R&B of "A Woman's Wisdom," the result is a complete, fully immersive listening environment. "I just kept things really simple, writing as ideas came to me," he says. "There's definitely a different kind of `self' in the picture this time around. There's no real love lost, it's much more a record of coming to terms and defining what it is that you have_your place, your relationships. I view every record as an opportunity to write better songs. At the end of the day it still sounds like me, just new."

Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders' score to the zom-rom-com Warm Bodies faced a tall order: their music had to balance genuinely scary moments, romantic moments, bits of comic relief, and convey the quiet despair of a post-apocalyptic world. The duo delivers on all counts: highlights include the quirky, wittily named "Music for Airports," the strangely poignant "Zombie Bros," tense cues such as "Run for It," and hopeful tracks like "I Wanna Hold Your Hand." Elsewhere, "Admission to Dream" and "Looking for Julie/Balcony Serenade" add more depth and atmosphere to the proceedings . Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders have collaborated in creating numerous soundtracks, including that of The Hurt Locker, for which they received an Oscar nomination for the best soundtrack in 2010.

Look through the lens of Tom Mansi & The Icebreakers and what will you see? A passion for the blues and raw rock ’n’ roll manifested in a band who have been playing together for the last 26 years. Full to the brim of delicious grooves and swirling sounds, the Icebreakers have reignited their burners and brandished us with a hot new release — their first on Lunaria Records. The band pride themselves on delivering outstanding live performances, and their ability to recreate this in the studio. Eyeball follows their celebrated album, ‘Rock ’n’ Roll On Bones’ and pays homage to the band’s rock ’n’ roll and blues roots

Formed by drummer Bill Curtis in 1970 the Fatback Band signed to Perception Records who issued this debut album in America in 1972.

Recorded at Blue Rock Studio in New York, “Let’s Do It Again” featuring the soon to be patented Fatback sound, the album included originals like ‘Street Dance’ – that became a Billboard R&B hit in 1973 – ‘Free Form’, ‘Take A Ride (On The Soul Train)’ , ‘Give Me One More Chance’, ‘Goin’ To See My Baby’ and the title track. There were also cover versions of Jimmy Webb’s ‘Wichita Lineman’, David Gates ‘Baby I’m A Want You’ and the evergreen ‘Green Green Grass Of Home’.

“Let’s Do It Again” has been out of print for many years and Ace are delighted to be reissuing it on vinyl – with the full cooperation of Fatback founder Bill Curtis.

Following a 21-year hiatus since their last album release, UK-industrial-metal pioneers KILL II THIS return with a new album, Variant. KILL II THIS guitarist Mark Mynett spoke about the album title and artwork: "We originally had a much more complicated title for the album but the Variant title came about during the Covid lockdown period. It also echoes previous KILL II THIS album titles, especially 'Deviate,' and the roman numeral V signifies that this is the fifth album. The artwork was created by Andy Pilkington at Very Metal Art and we are delighted with what he has come up with. There are some really clever touches and the detail is incredible. We've recorded a very strong album with Variant and it needed powerful artwork to match."

For catalog number 003, '...is serving' presents CRYME's 'The BACKROOM Ep', a powerful three-tracker of Hardgroove-infused Fast House oscillating between dubby hypnosis andbuoyant ecstasy.

'Back2Room' envelopes the listener in the intimacy of backroomoblivion. An infectious bassline and whispered mantra set todeep chords and a compact beat conjure the perspiring intensityof endless nights and mornings.

'Bring Me' infuses CRYME's aesthetic with layers of up-tempofunk, thrumming chord hits, and soulful vocal chops. Playful andevolving, 'Bring Me' is an airy power trip of 90s House nostalgia.

The "BACK ROOM" EP
Merging 808 Electro and London Grime with G-Houseundercurrents, 'London Boy' reimagines a genre-bending batteryof block party energy in the club setting.

With 'The BACKROOM Ep', CRYME delivers a playful and deepbrand of Fast House with an eclectic array of influences. An up-tempo tour de force of warehouse euphoria is served.

Grandeza, the debut album by Sao Paulo’s Sessa, points to new, subtle directions for modern Brazilian music – a deep, minimalist, almost insinuated use of the rich textures that define the songwriting history of Brazil, one which Sessa now joins among its most promising new voices. His songs are sung in Portuguese, with visceral, sensual lyrics in the vein of Caetano Veloso, and the melodic flourishes of Tom Jobim and Arthur Verocai.

However, the music gets a deliberate minimalist treatment rarely found in contemporary Brazilian music, more reminiscent of the bareness of Leonard Cohen, with touches of tropicalia, psychedelia, and the mystic jazz of Moondog and Pharoah Sanders. Recorded in various locations between São Paulo and New York City.

Die US Metal-Legende Warlord wurde im Jahre 1981 von Mark Zonder und William J. Tsamis gegründet. Ein Jahr später, 1982, erschien der Song "Lucifer's Hammer" (basierend auf einem Roman von Larry Niven und Jerry Pournelle) auf der prestigeträchtigen Compilation "Metal Massacre II". Als Resultat unterzeichneten Warlord einen Kontrakt bei Metal Blade Records und nahmen ihre erste Mini-LP auf. "Deliver Us" erblickte 1983 das Licht der Welt und gilt heute als Blaupause des "Epic Metal" (zusammen mit Manilla Road, Cirith Ungol und Brocas Helm gelten Warlord als Erfinder jenes Stils). Nach zwischenzeitlicher Auflösung erschien im Jahre 2002 das starke Comeback-Album "Rising Out Of The Ashes", erst elf Jahre später gefolgt von "The Holy Empire". "The Holy Empire" sollte das letzte Warlord-Studioalbum mit neuem Songmaterial bleiben, denn Bandgründer William J. Tsamis verstarb am 13. Mai 2021 im Alter von nur 60 Jahren. Allerdings erschien danach noch ein weiteres Warlord-Album, nämlich "The Hunt For Damien" im Jahre 2015. Darauf zu hören ist als Sänger Nicholas Leptos (u.a. auch bei Astronomikon, Prodigal Earth, Gangland und Diphteria tätig). Das jetzt erscheinende "Free Spirit Soar", welches auch zwei überarbeitete Nummern von Lordian Guard enthält, ist ein Tribut von Sänger Giles Lavery an das musikalische Erbe von Bill Tsamis. Er wird dabei unterstützt von Mark Zonder (Drums), Jimmy Waldo (Keyboards/Synthesizer), Phillip Bynoe (Bass) sowie Eric Juris (Gitarre). Alle Songs wurden zwischen März und September 2023 aufgenommen.

Giles Lavery, der auch als Produzent fungierte, erklärt die Entstehungsgeschichte des Albums im Detail: "Unser erklärtes Ziel als Band war es, diese Musik für Bill fertigstellen. Und das vorliegende Material erschien uns ohne Frage stark genug, um uns dazu zu inspirieren. Bill ist bei allen Gitarrenparts zu hören, bei denen es uns möglich war, sie von den ursprünglichen Demo-Recordings zu isolieren - ganz so wie die verbliebenen Beatles die Stimme von John Lennon vom einem alten Demo-Tape zu retten in der Lage waren. Der Großteil der Gitarrenpassagen auf "Free Spirit Soar" wird zwar von Eric gespielt, aber die gesamte Musik stammt aus der Feder von Bill. Und wir haben uns wirklich sehr darum bemüht, seine Arrangements möglichst originalgetreu umzusetzen."

Line-up: Giles Lavery - vocals Eric Juris - guitars Philip Bynoe - bass Jimmy Waldo - keys Mark Zonder - drums

Die US Metal-Legende Warlord wurde im Jahre 1981 von Mark Zonder und William J. Tsamis gegründet. Ein Jahr später, 1982, erschien der Song "Lucifer's Hammer" (basierend auf einem Roman von Larry Niven und Jerry Pournelle) auf der prestigeträchtigen Compilation "Metal Massacre II". Als Resultat unterzeichneten Warlord einen Kontrakt bei Metal Blade Records und nahmen ihre erste Mini-LP auf. "Deliver Us" erblickte 1983 das Licht der Welt und gilt heute als Blaupause des "Epic Metal" (zusammen mit Manilla Road, Cirith Ungol und Brocas Helm gelten Warlord als Erfinder jenes Stils). Nach zwischenzeitlicher Auflösung erschien im Jahre 2002 das starke Comeback-Album "Rising Out Of The Ashes", erst elf Jahre später gefolgt von "The Holy Empire". "The Holy Empire" sollte das letzte Warlord-Studioalbum mit neuem Songmaterial bleiben, denn Bandgründer William J. Tsamis verstarb am 13. Mai 2021 im Alter von nur 60 Jahren. Allerdings erschien danach noch ein weiteres Warlord-Album, nämlich "The Hunt For Damien" im Jahre 2015. Darauf zu hören ist als Sänger Nicholas Leptos (u.a. auch bei Astronomikon, Prodigal Earth, Gangland und Diphteria tätig). Das jetzt erscheinende "Free Spirit Soar", welches auch zwei überarbeitete Nummern von Lordian Guard enthält, ist ein Tribut von Sänger Giles Lavery an das musikalische Erbe von Bill Tsamis. Er wird dabei unterstützt von Mark Zonder (Drums), Jimmy Waldo (Keyboards/Synthesizer), Phillip Bynoe (Bass) sowie Eric Juris (Gitarre). Alle Songs wurden zwischen März und September 2023 aufgenommen.

Giles Lavery, der auch als Produzent fungierte, erklärt die Entstehungsgeschichte des Albums im Detail: "Unser erklärtes Ziel als Band war es, diese Musik für Bill fertigstellen. Und das vorliegende Material erschien uns ohne Frage stark genug, um uns dazu zu inspirieren. Bill ist bei allen Gitarrenparts zu hören, bei denen es uns möglich war, sie von den ursprünglichen Demo-Recordings zu isolieren - ganz so wie die verbliebenen Beatles die Stimme von John Lennon vom einem alten Demo-Tape zu retten in der Lage waren. Der Großteil der Gitarrenpassagen auf "Free Spirit Soar" wird zwar von Eric gespielt, aber die gesamte Musik stammt aus der Feder von Bill. Und wir haben uns wirklich sehr darum bemüht, seine Arrangements möglichst originalgetreu umzusetzen."

Line-up: Giles Lavery - vocals Eric Juris - guitars Philip Bynoe - bass Jimmy Waldo - keys Mark Zonder - drums

On The Sport of Love, seasoned collaborators Asma Maroof, Patrick Belaga and Tapiwa Svosve consider the language, competition and contradiction of modern romance: its yearning, incomprehensible vastness and the inevitable darkness and fleeting fragility. For the trio, love is the emotion that propels all of us whether we acknowledge it or not, and its expression can be realized in many forms.

Joanna Gemma Auguri releases her new album "Hiraeth" on 28th June via Duchess Box Records Joanna Gemma Auguri is a Berlin musician, songwriter and actress. In the various stages ofher musical solo and band projects, she incorporates influences from folk, ambient andavant-garde music.Being five years old she escaped with her parents from Poland, which was under martial law,and had to learn at an early age what uprooting means. This experience is reflected in her music as an expression of personal sadness, compassion, but also despair about the state of the world.2021 she released her solo debut "11" on her own label Lavender Music. It was mainly characterized by accordion, zitherand her vocals. Her new album "Hiraeth" was recorded at Candy Bomber Studios in Berlin by Ingo Krauss, with a large number of musicians. Besides choir, double bass, lap steel guitar, drums, cello, horns , different organs and keyboards her original instruments accordion and zither still shine through from time to time. Joanna's voice sits unmistakable on top of the majestic,nearly monumental compositions which despite their richness always stay basic and delicate. "Hiraeth" is an untranslatable Welsh word that describes the longing for a home, a place or a feeling that no longer exists or never existed.The album will be released June 2024 on Duchess Box from Berlin.

FTB’s Iconic 1972 'Made In Japan' album finally reissued on vinyl!

Regarded as one of the boldest new rock bands of its time, Flower Travelin' Band (FTB) delivers a masterpiece with this album, exploring every imaginable avenue and showcasing the band's inherent charm. Notably, it marks their first recording venture in Canada. In our efforts to remain faithful to the original release, we've painstakingly selected materials for the reissue that closely resemble the original cardboard jacket.

These two Leon Thomas cuts have become increasingly sought after by DJs in recent years. So, we’re delighted to pair both full-length versions on this 33rpm 7”.

For his 1973 Flying Dutchman LP “Full Circle” Thomas teamed up with top New York session players like Pee Wee Ellis, Joe Farrell and Neal Creque. The latter composed the apocalyptic funky jazz of ‘It’s My Life I’m Fighting For’. Running for ten minutes it’s a classic.

Thomas and Creque also wrote the dramatic five minute long ‘Shape Your Mind To Die’ which, fuelled by Pee Wee Ellis’ amazing soprano saxophone, appeared on Thomas’ previous album “Blues And The Soulful Truth” in 1972.

With an ageless magnificence and rich musical imagination, Mastodon unleash Leviathan, an unabated testimonial to the band's earthshaking ability to rock. Their thundering musical muscle, talent and vast sea of ideas triumphantly unite on Leviathan, delivering heavy, organic music that melds exhilarating ambitiousness with a well-honed accessibility.

ChôKô Enûma composition is a 170 BPM sweet captivating sparkling acid Hardtek tune exploring sweetness : Instead of getting more and more violent, it goes more and more Trance with its evolution... Rare kind of tune !

Statek composition is a roaring threatening acid tribal track, mental stable secret weapon.

This time again, Cult Collective deliver a super sound :
Mastered by StefanZMK
Cut by Simon Davey at The Exchange.
Visuals by Collision.
Pressed at records Industry.

Skylax Records Is Overjoyed to Introduce the Exceptionally Talented Irish Producer, Hammer, to Its Esteemed Roster. This Rising Star, First Brought to the Forefront by the Influential Bicep Crew, Has Been Making Waves in the Electronic Music Scene With Numerous EPs Released on Renowned Labels Such as Optimo Music, Sulta Select, Shall Not Fade, And, of Course, Feel My Bicep, Among Others. Hammer's Distinctive Style Has Gained Him a Dedicated Following Within the Leftfield and Italo-Disco Communities, and His Upcoming 12-Inch Release Is Poised to Set Dance Floors Ablaze. the Ep Kicks Off With "Swerve," a Track That Effortlessly Channels the Pure Essence of Bicep's Iconic Style. the Rich, Immersive Soundscapes and Dynamic Composition Capture the Spirit of the Duo's Renowned Productions, Delivering a Nod to the Genre's Roots While Propelling It Forward. Next Up, We Encounter "Swivel," a Genuine Italo-Disco Gem. With Its Lush, Retro-Infused Synths and Irresistible Basslines, This Track Pays Homage to the Italo-Disco Era That Continues to Influence and Inspire Contemporary Electronic Music. "Swivel" Is a Sonic Time Capsule, Transporting Listeners to the Heyday of This Beloved Genre. Flipping Over to the B-Side, We Have the Outstanding "Tbilisi," a Probable Tribute to the Vibrant and Ever-Evolving Electronic Music Scene in the Bustling City of Tbilisi, Georgia. Hammer Masterfully Crafts a Sonic Narrative That Captures the Essence of the Scene, Incorporating Elements of Techno, House, and the Avant-Garde. This Track Is a Testament to Hammer's Versatility and Ability to Seamlessly Navigate Different Musical Landscapes. the Ep Reaches Its Conclusion With "Push Repeat" Takes Center Stage. This Electrifying Track Promises to Be a Sensation on the Most Discerning Dance Floors, With Its Driving Beats, Infectious Melodies, and Undeniable Energy. Hammer's Mastery of Groove and Rhythm Is on Full Display in This Opening Number, Setting the Tone for What's to Come. in Sum, Hammer's Upcoming Release on Skylax Records Is Nothing Short of a Masterstroke. It Not Only Solidifies His Position as a Standout Talent in the Electronic Music Realm but Also Highlights Skylax's Commitment to Delivering Innovative and Genre-Defying Sounds to Discerning Listeners. This Ep Is Poised to Become an Essential Addition to the Collections of Music Aficionados and a Testament to the Ever-Evolving and Boundary-Pushing Nature of the Contemporary Electronic Music Landscape. Get Ready to Embark on a Sonic Journey Through the Mind of Hammer, and Experience the Future of Dance Music....

Hailing from France with Moluccan roots and now based in Amsterdam, Pala.G effortlessly blends global musical influences into his own unique sound, moving free like the waves that guided his ancestors halfway across the globe. Now with his debut on Jiwa Jiwa Records.

In SOMETIMES Pala.G infuses contemporary R&B with psych elements, delivering hazy vocals, and introspective lyrics wrapped in feel-good melodies, leaving you grasping for the repeat button on this soul not soul anthem that's an earworm for every season.

DON'T ASK !!! offers an off-kilter slow jam experience like no other, with sparse drums, smooth guitar licks, and distorted vocals creating a hypnotic atmosphere for your mind to wander.

The record comes in a hand stamped sleeve in different colors,representing the Moluccan sea, its beaches, and jungles, and the blood and spirit of their ancestors.

What might appear to be the most unlikely collaboration of 2024 proves also to be one of the most invigorating listens of the year! Shackleton & Six Organs of Admittance are in full aural/metaphysical alignment in their mutual effort to become Jinxed By Being. On first listen, it becomes immediately clear that this fusion of Shackleton"s bass heavy cosmic dread and Six Organs" ritual folksong makes total sense. Longtime listeners know that both Shackleton and Six Organs of Admittance have been unafraid to pursue their muse into any and all encroaching depth of darkness or outer boundary of potential dissonance - in fact, that has always been their default mode, finding more of resonance way out there in the process. They also share that ol" maverick psychedelic ritual transcendental music vibe, don"t they? And a fascination with repetition and cycles. And a mutual inspiration drawn from alternative tunings and literature...all this considered, it"s been basically inevitable that Ben Chasny and Sam Shackleton would work together. It took a while for them to find each other-and once they did, it was almost eerie, how preordained it felt. When the music started coming, though-that"s when it got really eerie. The mood rises from the music like smoke, a sure signal of total integration. Jinxed by Being finds Shackleton & Six Organs of Admittance delighting in their synthesis. Reveling in the unique sonic textures found in the collage, they launch small details that unfold into a massive space and often multiply into lines of dimensional space, crossing the stereo spectrum with enervating motility. Here lies all the proof you need against the danger of categorizing by perceived genre rather than intention-encounters like Shackleton & Six Organs of Admittance might never have found the linear space in which they sit next to each other, beyond alphabets and other institutional organizing principles. Rearrange your libraries-or you might miss getting Jinxed By Being.

Gottwood Festival's imprint Gottwax returns for its eighth installment. At the controls of this release is the London-based duo 'Make A Dance,' whose playful, party-driven sound has been making waves in the underground since their inception. Delivering a lively four-track EP, which includes two originals and two reworks, all of which are club-ready and certainly have 'The dance in mind.' This is going to make it into a lot of DJs' bags this summer and is not one to be missed."

Kicking things off on the A-side is 'Pocket Beagle,' a playful track that exudes energy with its infectious bassline groove and unforgettable vocal. Make A Dance showcases their slick production abilities and sense of humour with this track, which is sure to be a staple at many parties this summer. Moving to the A2, 'Pocket Beagle (Acid Dub)' is the duo's club-ready reimagining of the A1, injecting some serious attitude and character with its acid-infused bassline and metallic top line.

Onto the B-side, we've got 'Woof Doof.' This track is a real groover, with a lively bass and catchy melody. It's a solid addition to any DJ's arsenal and one you can expect to hear at many parties this year.Closing out the EP is 'Woof Doof (Hardcore Labrador Mix),' the duo's haunting rework that cleverly rethinks the B1 but takes you on a deeper journey. With its heavy drum groove, swelling sound effects, and that catchy top line, this track is tailor-made for those late-night dance floors.

We're excited to welcome Make A Dance to the Gottwax family and share the 'Woof Doof' EP with you.

Vertigini is the alias of a prodigious talent. To date, Arthur Mukharlyamov’s infectious hooks have only been available digitally. Bordello A Parigi are more than excited to give this analogue alchemist his full vinyl debut. Four tracks make up the aptly named Thunder. The title piece rumbles from speaker cones, thick banks of bass and crisp rhythms crack before smooth strings give way to flashes of melodic radiance. Inspiration lies in the heavens with this EP, he’s leaving the bonds of earth for “Galaxy Funk”. Textured percussion is cut with acid grooves while generous breaks fuel this expedition. A fierce arpeggiator immediately ignites the flip, lancing beats pierce this burbling bulwark as honeyed notes melt in the muscled sweetness of “Final Space”. The journey back to Earth is imminent, but not without one final fun-filled flurry. Rich drum patterns are the foundation for the sticky groove of “Space Trip”. Vocals echo skyward while Vertigini weaves a dancefloor delight to ease re-entry to reality.

Wewantsounds is delighted to announce the reissue of Norio Maeda's cult classic "Rock Communication Yagibushi" released in Japan in 1970. The album has since become a Japanese Jazz Funk cornerstone and is now highly sought-after on the international DJ scene. The album reinterprets 14 traditional Japanese folk songs into jaw-dropping Jazz Funk instrumentals featuring killer arrangements by Maeda that would fit perfectly between David Axelrod and Lalo Schifrin. One of the most prolific Nippon arrangers, Norio Maeda on a par with Yuji Ohno and Kentaro Haneda and this album has long been on many collectors' wantlist. "Rock Communication Yagibushi" is reissued internationally for the first time, with newly remastered audio, original gatefold artwork and new liner notes by Paul Bowler

"Barcelona-based street-techno artist Christiane delivers six tracks of anxious and grinding techno sound, infused with early gabber influences and shades of Nitzer-Ebb and early EBM.

Cherry-picking the hardest vibes of early Detroit techno, Christiane blends them with abstract gabber synth sounds, squelchy 303 basslines, and dark ambient breakdowns.

This EP serves as a platform for the artist to express both rage and dreams, pressure and release, embodying an involuntary exercise in reconciliation."

Are you ready to FUNK OFF? … we give a funk because WE ARE FREAKADELIC! we consider ourselves not just as a band but a label concept, hitting hard and nasty on our debut 12*inch release! providing moogy synth and talkbox action – performed by ROBOTRON … along with sexy italo-disco*isch vocal cheesiness – delivered by songwriter and female vocalist ANNA. it’s time for FREAKADELIC! … comitting pure electro-funk*ed street sounds out of the FREAKTOWN! be fast on the first rush of our motherfunking FREAKADELIC 1989 seduction – limited to 222 sexy covered 12*inches on black and yellow marbled vinyl. MAY THE FUNK BE WITH YOU!

Released in 1999 on Taylor Deupree’s 12k label, »optimal.lp« was the debut album by Dan Abrams under his Shuttle358 moniker. For its 25th anniversary, Keplar presents it on vinyl for the first time with three previously unreleased tracks—the digital version also includes a alternative version of »Tank«—as well as a new artwork recreated by Daniel Castrejón and a remaster by Andreas LUPO Lubich based on the original pre-masters that were been restored and cleaned up for the reissue project by Abrams. »optimal.lp« was inspired by the rich tradition of ambient music and the rhythmic complexity of 1990s electronica while also sharing many traits with the then-emerging clicks’n’cuts movement, making it a true sui generis piece of work—both informed by tradition and visionary, idiosyncratic and seminal for many artists after him.

Abrams developed an interest in ambient music when he was still a child, scouring through cassette tapes of environmental sounds, new age music, and world percussion. Discovering Brian Eno’s »Thursday Afternoon« as a young teenager marked a turning point for him. »It gave me the idea that ambient music could be an intentional creative act, that tone itself is a legitimate form of expression,« he says today. During the 1990s, he increasingly immersed himself in the electronica scene and the output of labels such as Instinct, where Deupree worked as an Art Director and released his first records as Human Mesh Dance. Abrams found a home on 12k after sending Deupree a demo tape that would later evolve into »optimal.lp,« released as the label’s fifth catalogue number.

Abrams was still in college when he started experimenting with a sound module, his laptop and a mixer as well as a MIDI card and a small controller. »Each note was composed in MIDI and played back when I was ready to record,« he explains his working process at the time. »The tracks could be replayed, but the sound interactions with glitches and noise would be a little different each time. I decided to base the concept of the album on these interactions.« Each piece started with a single sound or tone that, as Abrams puts it, already contained the entire composition: »I let these interactions guide me, and tried to complement them as I added sounds. It’s a conversation of sorts with the medium.«

While refining this technique that he would go on to use on every album until 2004’s »Chessa,« reissued by Keplar in 2021, he also used the first-ever Native Instrument product, the Generator soft synth, to write the record’s title track—possibly making it the first album on which it was being used. »optimal.lp« is marked by this curious interplay of cutting-edge technology, the limitations with which every college student with a small budget is faced, and boundless creativity. »I’ve talked with other artists about how we feel about our early work,« Abrams says today. »We all agreed that there were elements that remain a part of us in a timeless way, despite our techniques—or lack thereof—at the time. ›optimal.lp‹ has a lot of things that will always be with me, that are me. I think I left some clues in there for my future self.«

This sense of timelessness remains tangible after a quarter of a century after the album’s original CD release and is even being expanded upon by the vinyl reissue, which is complemented by three pieces that were made while Abrams was working on the album. The digital release even features an entirely new take on the original album’s final piece, »Tank.« While Abrams let one of the masters go through his customised reverb unit when preparing the reissue, he started recording the results of this accidental dialogue between past and present. It’s a fitting tribute to an album whose delicate circular rhythms, rich textures, and ethereal melodies are precisely so exhilarating because their interplay seems to suspend the passing of time altogether.

In April 2022, Aurora read a letter that changed her life. The letter was co-authored by indigenous activists entitled "WE ARE THE EARTH" and called for a revolution as a collective response to global warming - to "heal the land". They described a connection to the land "through our hearts" and the earth as "the heart that beats within us". The letter prompted Aurora to ask herself: what happened to the heart? She then began to study books on human anatomy to understand when and why Western culture lost sight of the deeper purpose of our most vital organ.

"WHAT HAPPENED TO THE HEART?" is a journey from weakness to strength, from self-destruction to self-healing. It is a touching and introspective musical journey that explores the loss of spiritual connection in modern society, the healing power of vulnerability and the call for change through reuniting the heart with politics and personal growth.

*REMASTERED ROUGH TRADE 4 TRACK E.P LIMITED TO JUST 500 COPIES*

Everything on “Up Home!” is bigger, richer; the guitars are huge, as though they’re being played through the clouds, massive gusts of blue-green noise that move across the stereo spectrum like weather systems. “Baby Milk Snatcher” is built around face-flattening dub bass, with glinting piano and shards of guitar ricocheting through the song. “W.O.G.S.” is delirious to the point of expiration; “One Way Mirror” is their attempt at weird, lopsided ‘anti-funk’, the song’s melody crushed by avalanches of six-string interference. And the closing “Up” is AR Kane’s masterpiece, a disembodied thud pulsing at its heart as a six-note guitar melody spirals ever onward, Ayuli’s voice lost in its own reverie, hymning escapism via references to Jamaican political activist Marcus Garvey’s ‘black star line’.
• Jon Dale, lead review in Uncut Magazine
who grew up together in Stratford, East London. From the off the pair were outsiders in the culturally mixed (cockney/Irish/West Indian/Asian) milieu of the East End, with Alex and Rudy’s folks first generation immigrants from Nigeria and Malawi, respectively. The two of them quickly developed and fostered an innate and near-telepathic mutual understanding forged in musical, literary and
artistic exploration. Like a lot of second-generation immigrants, they were ferocious autodidacts in all kinds of areas, especially around music and literature. Diving deep into the music of afro-futurist luminaries such as Sun Ra, Miles Davis, Lee Perry and Hendrix, as well as devouring the explorations of lysergic noise and feedback from contemporaries like Sonic Youth and Butthole Surfers, they also thoroughly immersed themselves in the alternate literary realities of sci-fi and ancient history (the fascination with the arcane that gave the band their name), all to feed their voracious cultural thirsts and intellectual curiosity.

It was seeing the Cocteau Twins performing on Channel 4 show the Tube that spurred A.R. Kane into being - “They had no drummer. They used tapes and technology and Liz Fraser looked completely otherworldly with those big eyes. And the noise coming out of Robin’s guitar! That was the ‘Fuck! We could do that!
The duo debuted with the astonishing ‘When You’re Sad’ single for One Little Indian in
1986. Immediately dubbed a ‘black Jesus & Mary Chain’ by a press unsure of WHERE to put a black band clearly immersed in feedback and noise, what was immediately apparent for listeners was just how much more was going on here – a tapping of dub’s stealth and guile, a resonant umbilicus back to fusion and jazz, the music less a conjuration of past highs than a re-summoning of lost spirits.

The run of singles and EPs that followed picked up increasingly rapt reviews in the press, but it was the ‘Up Home EP’ released in 1988 on their new home, Rough Trade that really suggested something immense was about to break. SimonReynolds noted the EP was: Their most concentrated slab of iridescent awesomeness and a true pinnacle of an era that abounded with astounding
landmarks of guitar-reinvention, A.R. Kane at their most elixir-like.

If anything, the remastered ‘Up Home’ is even more dazzling, even more startling than it was when it first emerged, and listening now you again wonder not just about how many bands christened ‘shoegaze’ tried to emulate it, but how all of them fell so far short of its lambent, pellucid wonder. This
remains intrinsically experimental music but with none of the frowning orthodoxy those words imply. A.R. Kane, thanks to that second generation auto-didacticism were always supremely aware about the interstices of music and magic, but at the same time gloriously free in the way they explored that connection within their own sound, fascinated always with the creation of ‘perfect mistakes’ and the possibilities inherent in informed play.

After releasing “Columbo No.5” last September, the band went into the infamous Tunbridge Wells Forum to record their debut album. Having never recorded a debut album before, perhaps the idea of nailing it in 5 days may have been optimistic but with the budget blown and the studio engineer committed to other work for the rest of the year the band were left scratching their heads.

They knew a local bee keeper was the mother of a producer who was raised on metal but recently had engineering credits with artists such as Stefflon Don, Stormzy and Skepta...
..... A call was made, and Jake Jones delivered!

Wytch Pycknyck are LOUD yet maintain a trashy garage feel. Off the blocks with Rawkuss, almost distort with the guitar cacophony hitting the redlight in parts, and ending with Frostbite a spoken word / rap intro metamorphosis into a space rock psychedelic wig out with bassist Ewan Fitzgerald’s passion for analogue synths coming to the fore.

Sometimes the guitars shred and sometimes the bass takes pole position. Two and half minute thrash-outs sit shoulder to shoulder with nine-minute psych monsters AND it all makes sense.

Outrageous white label manoeuvres from Manchester mates AR & BS, transporting a Yacht legend to the furthest reaches of the cosmos. Psychedelic sprawl, robo-drama, AOR emotion - this disc's got it all !

AR extends, expands and excels on his A-side epic, delivering a dance floor journey which moves from weirdo wonk to the hands-in-the-air heaven in a transformative ten minutes. The loose and lysergic groove of the intro builds into a How Shroom Is Now wall of sound, takes a detour into heavy hip hop headnod and settles into vocal sincerity, all before dropping that HUGE chorus. Festival tested and club ready - everyone say Armen!

On the flipside, we catch up with Stockport staple BS, who puts down the Pet Nat, swaps the grape vape for a gary and gets stuck into a serious slice of cosmic chug.

Slo-mo and sleazy, this arpeggiator heavy heater sees a crooning 80's vocal surf a mechanical groove purpose made for backwards dancers and eyeball lickers. The combination of wild emoting and synthetic drama is pretty much everything, but just wait for that breakdown.

Double A-side coz you gotta double drop your GARIES!

Inspired by the strong storytelling sensibilities of 60s folk icons and making a sound that sits her snugly alongside the likes of Aldous Harding, Julia Jacklin and Waxahatchee.

Written after a relationship’s end, Rowena Wise’s Senseless Acts of Beauty is a stunning and searingly honest record.

A new yet accomplished artist, Rowena grew up in the Western Australian surf town of Margaret River perfoming in her family’s folk band. Now grown up and living in Melbourne, her electric solo live performances of recent years has seen a real word of mouth build around her.

A songwriter inspired by the strong storytelling sensibilities of 60s folk icons, Senseless Acts of Beauty delivers on the promise hinted at by her live show. Full of emotional depth, its ten tracks offer heady ruminations on love, loss, and alienation. And by electing to record them all live in the room, often in one take, the kinks and blemishes add weight to the lived experience of Rowena’s lyrics.

Black Truffle is thrilled to present the first vinyl reissue of David Rosenboom’s unique Future Travel, originally released on the short-lived Detroit label Street Records in 1981 and here presented in an expanded edition with an additional LP of wild, previously unheard live and studio material from the same period.

Future Travel emerged from the confluence of two important streams in Rosenboom’s work at this time. First, his exploration of ‘propositional music’, defined as ‘complete cognitive models of music’ that start from the radical question, ‘What is music?’ In this case, the music belongs to the universe of Rosenboom’s In the Beginning (1978-1981), in which proportional relationships determine the material available to the composer in all musical parameters (harmonic relationships, melodic shapes, rhythmic subdivisions, dynamics, and so on). Second, the work documents a key moment in Rosenboom’s long collaboration with synthesizer pioneer Don Buchla. Having played a role in developing concepts for some of the modules of the Buchla 300 Series Electric Music Box (an innovative analogue modular system controlled by micro-processors), Rosenboom went on to write the software for Buchla’s hybrid analogue-digital keyboard synthesiser, the Touché, the instrument heard most prominently here.

In a way that no purely analogue synthesizer could, the 300 Series and Touché allowed Rosenboom to work with the In the Beginning algorithms in real time, the synthesizers becoming ‘intelligent instruments’ that actively collaborate with the performer. Developing the open structures of the electronic pieces from In the Beginning, Future Travel explored the possibilities of simply ‘playing the system’, recording live at Francis Ford Coppola’s Zoetrope studio in San Francisco. Working from loose sketches, Rosenboom added acoustic instruments to the electronic sounds and, on some pieces, the processed voice of Jacqueline Humbert. Like Rosenboom’s collaboration with Humbert on the abstracted synth-chanson of Daytime Viewing, this music set out deliberately to challenge the ‘stratified and illusorily coagulated identities in the musical culture of the time,’ refusing distinctions between ‘serious’ and popular music. But where Daytime Viewing achieves this in part through genre references, Future Travel is bracingly sui generis, existing in a unique universe where radical formalisation à la Xenakis spontaneously gives rise to expressive jazz harmonies and old-timey folk melodies.

The crystalline quality of many of the Touché sounds gives Future Travel a sparkling, immediately enticing surface, its layers of shifting ostinato patterns pulsating outside conventional meter, rippling like waves on the surface of water. On opener ‘Station Oaxaca’, ping-ponging synth arpeggios and hand percussion accompany a sentimental violin melody, abruptly overtaken by layered keyboard runs, before the entry of tinkling marimba-like sounds reframe the scene as sci-fi Martin Denny exotica. ‘Time Arroyo’ begins as an austere study in staccato synth sounds in multiple overlapping tempi, reminiscent of Ligeti’s famous ‘clock’ rhythmic effects. Before long, it opens up into a melodic passage with the gentle heroism of classic Roedelius, which proves to be only a brief interlude before the layers of rhythmically distinct synthesiser patterns begin to build and accelerate into an increasingly dense cacophony. The wildest twists and turns are saved for the epic closer ‘Nova Wind’, where the arrangement focuses on Rosenboom’s virtuoso piano playing, perfectly embodying the project’s radical disregard of stylistic orthodoxies as he moves from hyperactive pointillistic flurries to a kind of space-age gospel.

At several points throughout the record, the distinctive voice of Jacqueline Humbert is heard reading passages from the text component of In the Beginning, a dialogue between The Double (an embodiment of humanity’s timeless desire to replicate itself in spiritual and technological copies) and two Spirit Characters. Fittingly, as all are conceived as embodiments of a future form of techno-human collective consciousness, distinctions between the three characters are not immediately evident in Humbert’s delivery, just as the music blurs the boundaries between intelligent computing and human spontaneity. Adorned with a striking retro-futurist cover (and here accompanied by extensive new liner notes and archival images), Future Travel is a time capsule of radical imaginings at the birth of our digital age, reminding us of utopian possibilities of which our own present seems so often to fall short.

Verrazzano continues with the second issue in our summer EP series! This time Type-303 is really ”Lost In Paradise” with this four-track EP to suit all sophisticated tastes.

The first track hitting your nerves is ”Acid Disco Time”. Have you ever wondered how it feels to go to a disco with a slight ”acidy” taste in your mouth and realize that something is familiar, but at the same time, somehow… out of place? You hear a Seinfeld bass slapping a classic groove, then a bubbling energy starts rising under the surface and now your armpits sweat in your blazer! Add some glitter dust shimmering in smoke, and the whole thing goes off to a spacey gallop! Is this now so-called ”Cosmic-Business” dance music?

The story continues with ”Lost In Paradise”, and takes us to the deep end of turquoise-colored waters. If you found a seashell from the beach and listened to its stories carefully, could you handle the tempting whispers of mermaids, and resist the melodies from those happy days of ancient Minoan Paradise? To get a taste of such delights, this track delivers a glimpse!

How do our ancestors teach us lessons long after their earthly existence? By roaming the Earth in cosmic fashion, of course!

”Spirit Dance”, with its ethereal flute and otherworldly harmonies puts the listener in a place where one is the question mark and the answer too… Deep? It should be.

When the spirits have done their hypnotic dance and the dizziness has vanished, it is time to wander on a field and look at some beautiful ”Wild Horses”. Basking in the evening dawn, you appreciate that some energies are not fully tamed, but are glorious as wild beings and should be kept as such. It’s the same with music, nurture the wild sides of sounds and energies!

"In partnership with WaterTower Music, Waxwork Records is thrilled to release GODZILLA x KONG: THE NEW EMPIRE Original Motion Picture Soundtrack by Tom Holkenborg! The epic monster-battle continues with an all-new adventure that pits the almighty Kong and the fearsome Godzilla against a colossal undiscovered threat hidden within our world. Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) features 23 new tracks created for the film by Grammy-nominated composer Tom Holkenborg, aka Junkie XL (Mad Max: Fury Road, Deadpool, Zack Snyder’s Justice League) as well as composer Antonio Di lorio. Composer, Tom Holkenborg says, “I’m a huge Godzilla and Kong fan, and loved working with director Adam Wingard on 2021's GODZILLA VS. KONG, so returning to these monsters to score their biggest adventure yet was a dream come true. These are two of the most enduring names in Hollywood and Adam has done an amazing job implementing his vision for these icons. I was also delighted to be able to name Antonio Di Iorio, an incredibly talented composer, who has worked with me for many years, as my co-composer on this movie. I couldn’t be more enthusiastic to continue my adventures with Adam and expand our creative relationship in the Monsterverse.” Waxwork Records is excited to present GODZILLA x KONG: THE NEW EMPIRE as a deluxe double LP featuring the original soundtrack by Tom Holkenborg pressed to 180 Gram colored vinyl, housed in heavyweight gatefold jackets with matte satin coating, a 12x12 heavyweight art print insert, and design and layout by Matt Needle."

Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire by Tom Holkenborg & Antonio Di Iorio, released 21 June 2024, includes the following tracks: "Monarch Base - Red Dream", "Leaving Colosseum - New Dossier", "Friendship", "Approaching the Lake" and more.
This version of Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire comes as a 2xLP in a(n) Gatefold Sleeve packaging. This release comes with (a) Insert(s).

The vinyl is pressed as a swirl splatter, neon & pink & blue etc. disc. Another vinyl is pressed as a swirl splatter, neon & pink & blue etc. disc.

For the third label’s release, Clouzer returns to Distant Gaze with “Call of the Abyss,” a six-track EP featuring three originals alongside three remixes from acclaimed artists Damon Jee, Zakmina, and Berlin’s emerging talent, Zee Mon.

At the helm of the EP is Clouzer’s captivating journey, “Voices from the Abyss,” extraterrestrial echoes and pulsating broken beats, embarking on an exploration into the depths of the unknown. The EP’s second track emerges as a powerful stage presence, guided by the haunting vocals of Valentin Henning. Blurred and delayed textures immersing the listener in a mind-altering experience. Pulsating rave energy of “Perpetual” fuses cosmic elements, broken beats, and dark disco bassline, embodying Clouzer’s distinctive sonic identity.

Adding to the EP’s allure are three remixes, each offering a unique interpretation. Zee Mon’s rendition of “Perpetual” channels darkwave energy, infusing the track with an irresistible pulse, a primetime banger on vibing dance-floor. Damon Jee’s remix of “Stalactites” delivers his trademark full-throttle dance-floor oriented dark disco, elevating the EP to the next level of intensity. Finally, Zakmina’s broken beat journey serves as a beautiful sublime culmination of the EP, evoking the feeling of a perfect closing track for an enchanting morning DJ set.

Hailing from the always-vibrant Polish black metal scene, THROAT are miasmic morbidity personified. While so many of their domestic contemporaries honor the paradigmatic sounds of the Temple of the Fullmoon, THROAT instead mine a wider, wilder style of black metal that looks both east and south. Theirs is a clanging, crunching sound that various ly nods to Necromantia, Mortuary Drape, Hungary's Tormentor, early Samael, and fellow Polish iconoclasts Cultes des Ghoules: catacombed, ancient, unsettling.

To date, THROAT released the debut demo New Flesh Nectar in 2020 on the esteemed Fallen Temple label, and now conspire with PRIMITIVE REACTION to add that portentous recording with a new EP titled Blood Exaltation. Totaling four tracks in 33 minutes, the Blood Exaltation collection stands as a terrifying testament to THROAT's eldritch black metal horror: a bridge from the past to the present, scorched by fires unknown but reeking of delirium-inducing sulfur all the same. The potency of the two-song Blood Exaltation EP presents the trio in their current sonic incarnation, more gutted and (s-l-o-w-l-y) grinding, a protracted spelunk among shape shifting landscapes whereby throat, strings, and skin chafe together in a vulgar manner. The earlier New Flesh Nectar demo displays THROAT at

their most atmospheric; partially due to the distant recording, partially due to more wide- open spaces they were sowing, the two songs on this introductory recording nevertheless

retain a palpitating creepiness, particularly when they drop the tempo down to a tribal trudge - an element they'd explore further on this collection's namesake recording. Shed thy skin for this Blood Exaltation!"

Introducing Jahnah Camille (pronounced Hannah), a young artist emerging from the DIY scene of Birmingham, Alabama. Camille's songs capture the rollercoaster of teenage angst, heartbreak and introspection over a well-made bed of driving guitars and catchy, compact melodies. A five-track EP infused with anxiety and grit, i tried to freeze light, but only remember a girl, is a shining introductory project smoothed over by Camille's sugar-sweet voice and cutting lyricism. Much of the EP's songs were written and recorded while Camille was still in high school, taking trips back and forth from Atlanta to record. In the time following, Camille dug into the local DIY scene, steadily gaining an impressive resume of opening slots as she cut her teeth supporting acts like Clairo, Soccer Mommy, Cryogeyser and Wednesday as they came through town. Now 19 years old, Camille delivers an excellent snapshot of those uncertain and wildly hopeful late teen years. i tried to freeze light captures Camille approaching heartbreak and self-perception from a variety of angles-each track playing slightly with genre and cadence and infused with influence from her musical heroes, like Liz Phair and Fiona Apple. The EP pulls at a range of alternative rock and pop threads, there's the 90s alternative rock opener "flesh" and the country-gaze-tinged "roadkill." Camille then softens on the swooning synth-layered ode to love lost, "elliot," before relaxing into a folksy, acoustic "paper doll."I wanna talk and not spill out carnival sounds" Camille confides on closer "carnival sounds"--a track that illuminates the singer's art-pop influences and knack for revealing tender and at times searing admissions through her lyricism. While misunderstandings color the emotional sentiment of the EP, Camille's artistry and expression come through clear as day on i tried to freeze light, presenting her as a promising young voice with real talent and a hunger for musical experimentation.

Digipak w/ 12-pg booklet + sticker. Darwin is back! Follow-up to the critically acclaimed epic albums "Origin of Species" ('A prog rock masterpiece' - Classic Rock Magazine) and "A Frozen War" ('A rock tour de force with melody, shredding, and orchestral flourishes' - Prog Rock UK) Darwin, whose production is masterfully driven by Simon Phillips, expands on their trademark sound - adding new levels of depth and melody. The album features a stellar lineup of musicians. Bass sensation Mohini Dey joins the band, bringing her sophisticated and punchy low-end sound. Guitar maestro Greg Howe delivers some of his best playing to date across the album, which also features a beautiful solo appearance by Andy Timmons. Derek Sherinian and Julian Pollack (J3PO) add their keyboard wizardry across the tracks. Vocalist Matt Bissonette provides a rich harmony-filled performance across the various songs. Released on CD, including a special album cover sticker in the package

• The Funk & Soul Sessions was recorded live at the iconic Abbey Road Studios. Originally recorded exclusively for Abbey Road Masters label as two library albums exclusively for TV and Film, the label decided to press just 250 copies for fans and collectors.

* Speedometer also celebrate their 25th anniversary and so this limited edition LP showcases their classic soul sound on side A featuring the powerhouse vocals of SheZar and Angelo Starr. On B side Speedometer deliver their signature sound of hard hitting heavy funk played live as an 8 piece band

EB-REX, a Berlin-based Techno label founded by Estella Boersma in 2024, stands as a testament to versatility and artistic freedom. Drawing inspiration from the halcyon days of old-school rave and the relentless drive of Techno's present, each release embodies a synthesis of the past and the future. The debut release, EB001, encapsulates this fusion, delivering a driving Techno experience infused with old school Acid.

After 33 long years, the world's first Hiphop band has returned with a brand new full length album.
Daddy-O, MC Delite, Wise, Bobby Simmons and Prince Paul are back in force with "Here We Go Again,"
a 12 track audio odyssey that brings a little of everything to the table but is still undeniably Hiphop.
Includes special guest appearances by Ruste Juxx, Lillo Thomas, Smoothe Da Hustler and more.

Opening a window into her memories, Luna’s sophomore LP promises all the polish of her previous work while demonstrating a deliberate and intimate lyricism. A collection of songs exploring love, loss, grief,
realization, recovery, and remembering, these guitar-driven ilhouettes mark the start of a new era for Shadows. Shapeshifting for us, she trades sparkling electro pop for emotive indie rock. Limited
Transparent Ruby Red Vinyl

Available on ltd edition transparent purple vinyl.

We are delighted to bring you Alber Jupiters incredible 2nd album ‘Puis vient la nuit”!! 

Founded in Rennes in 2017, instrumental bass-drums two-piece ALBER JUPITER draw inspiration from Berlin’s 70s krautrock scene and Godspeed You! Black Emperor’s hallucinatory post-rock to craft a unique soundscape. Their motorik rhythm wanders between plaintive delays and intergalactic reverbs. Magic happens immediately! 

Following the release of their stunning debut album We Are All Floating In Space’, the band took advantage of the forced covid break tocompose and record a second album which sees them pursuing their psychedelic exploration. A looper, a few pedals and the journey becomes limitless! The bass morphs into guitars, trippy violins, screams, ethereal or distorted layers. The synths are also part of the adventure, completing the already rich sonic spectrum and propelling the band into new territories. 

The five-track EP features three original productions by SALOME and two remixes by Manni Dee and Umwelt, ready to short-circuit your system.SALOME masterfully blends delicate melodies with thunderous breakbeats, mirroring the tumultuous nature of love. «Hacker» (A1) pulsates with the mantra «You hacked my mind,» a stark reminder that falling head over heels often means surrendering control. «Romance Malfunction» (A2) paints a vivid picture of the exhilarating highs and crashing lows of a rollercoaster relationship, ultimately leading to the introspective «Love Leaked» (A3).Seeking diverse interpretations, SALOME enlisted two of her most admired artists, Manni Dee (B1) and Umwelt (B2), to deliver their unique takes on «Hacker,» further enriching the emotional landscape of the eponymous EP.

Recorded in 1968 and intended as a tribute to her late husband, Alice Coltrane is supported in her first solo outing by Pharoah Sanders, Jimmy Garrison and Rashied Ali — all members of John Coltrane’s last quintet. While initial reviews to the album were lukewarm upon release, looking at it in the context of her larger body of work, A Monastic Trio serves as a delightful foreshadowing of what was to come.

This Verve By Request title is pressed on 180-gram vinyl at Third Man in Detroit.

repressed !

Kavinsky’s ‘Odd look’ is one of those songs which will haunt you for a long time after hearing them, one of Kavinsky’s acclaimed ‘Outrun’ highlights for sure.

The deep, raw and soulful instrumental brings a cinematic sound which has the power to litterally put you in a virtual movie just listening to music ! And SebastiAn’s vocal part on top is a unique rendering, somewhere between Stevie Wonder and HAL.



The Weeknd was invited to sing on the song by Kavinsky himself. As a big fan of his singing skills, the zombie wanted him to give his song the real soul touch that he’d had in mind for ages. His performance reminds of Michael Jackson, a fast and swinging vocal line, extremely addictive !



A-Trak who has been Kavinsky’s pal for years now delivers a banging remix with bass & drums and a beautiful & strange vocal hook. The kind of tune that can be played in a NYC hip hop party, as well as in a techno warehouse in Berlin with the same effect : arms up ! A-Track rules it as always.



Midnight Juggernauts have taken the spacey-progressive path for their approach towards ‘Odd Look’. Trancey sounds built around those Scarface-like choirs surround you and bring you back to the early 9O’s chill out era, It’s emotional music, as on their recently released ‘Uncanny Valley’ album.



Prince 85 is the newcomer of this selection of X-tra strong producers. His new-hip hop sound fits Kavinsky’s moods perfectly, adding a brilliant re-cut work and some exquisite additional keyboards. Real drinving music, that’s the deal.



Surkin has the recipe for producing absolute club anthems, his re-do of Kavinsky’s tune is one more proof of his skills. Sirens, brilliantly produced vocal excerpts and his signature synth sounds alltogether create a happy and hysteric mood that one could imagine create club riots !

Radioactive Man & Ben Pest deliver their 2nd EP on Asking For Trouble.

4 Trax of ravey acid vibes for the dirty dancefloor. Both have been doing their own live sets across the planet, the trax reflect this in the way these were built. Contrary to the EP title, you do actually want this in your house.

Artwork By Lung.

Continually in a state of evolution with a future-focused vision, yet ensuring the signature sound that has defined the label and event series for over a decade remains at its core, Enzo Siragusa’s FUSE imprint is once again keeping things moving with new ventures, projects and concepts.

Having previously introduced the label’s collaborative X Series in addition to the launch of sister imprint LOCUS, summer brings a new project for 2024 as the label now presents its new vinyl-focused VA, welcoming four label debuts for the first instalment of the project. First up is Amstedam-based Nachtbraker, whose classy house sound has welcomed releases via Aus Music and Peach Discs, amongst many. His contribution, ‘Banda’, is deep and trippy, balancing light and dark moments via a warping bassline, sweeping pads and slinking drums.

Next, Phone Traxxx member and live wizard Rob Amboule makes his debut on the label following his appearance for the collective’s 15th birthday at fabric. Playful and vibrant, with wicked acid-dipped and funk-fuelled bass licks, ‘Capnhat’ perfectly showcases his sound as he delivers another gem.

On the flip, Melbourne-born, Berlin-based Reflex Blue lands fresh from his second EP on Gene On Earth’s The Sound Of Limousine imprint with the glitchy yet smooth ‘Life’s A Bleep’ - combining spacey tones, skippy drums and sporadic bleeps and lasers. To close, Un_Mute resident Mario Liberti harnesses influences from a classic to deliver a heady dancefloor anthem, fusing hooky vocal samples, murky low-ends and those iconic synth stabs.

In the history of Black American soul music many recording artists have been called “Legends” some deservedly and perhaps some not so deserving of this current over used accolade? I might be a tad biased here, perhaps? but in my book one James Howard McCelland a.k.a Jesse James has surely earned the right to be called a “Legend” this octogenarian performer has weathered many storms and shifts in musical trends and styles over the years but like the trouper that he is albeit in lower keys these days he still manages time and time again to come up with the goods! “Back On Top Again” is Jesse James latest production album, a project filled with recent and current recordings in a southern soul style that has likened in passing by several respected soul scribes to the Malaco Sound I’ll let the record buying public make their own minds up on that one, I’m sure veteran DJ Bob Jones won’t mind me using his quote below:

The album also features two of Jesse’s friend’s with Donnie McKisic providing the rapping and additional backing vocals on the upbeat “I Lost My Baby On Face Book” and Shirley Diamond who you may recall from Soul Junction’s recent 45 release “You Don’t Know Who You Sleeping With” (SJ1021) returning with another excellent Diamond & James duet “Another Love Lay Over” as a further foot note the featured song “I’d Be A Fool 2 Fool Around On You” is an excellent cover version of what was a previously unissued Harvey Scales song until Soul Junction released it as the flipside their thirteenth 45 single release way back in 2011.

Album Sleeve Notes:

At the dawn of the 1960’s a young aspiring soul singer from Richmond, California by the name of James H. McClelland was honing his performing skills in several local nightclubs. At one particular show the compere struggled to pronounce the young performer’s surname and to hide his embarrassment he hurriedly introduced him as ‘Jesse James’, which became Jesse’s Stage name to the present day.

Jesse’s big break came through his aunt who at that time just happened to be dating West Coast Blues and R&B Legend Jimmy McCracklin. The aunt suggested to McCracklin the he should take a listen to her talented nephew, suitably impressed McCracklin produced Jesse on a song he’d written “I Will Go” for the local Shirley label. The release is credited to Jesse James & The Royal Aces a bunch of local musicians that Jesse had grown up with which included Slyvester Stewart a.k.a Mr “Dance To The Music” himself Sly Stone” on guitar. “I Will Go” was quite a popular record locally and led to a further four Jesse James releases on Shirley culminating in Jesse’s most sought-after record the delightful “Are You Gonna Leave Me”in 1966. The following year Jesse recorded the minor hit “Believe In Me Baby” released by the local ‘Hit’ label before being picked up by 20th Century for national distribution. While signed to 20th Century Jesse recorded a self-titled album and three other 45 singles before leaving the label.

Following a solitary 45 release for the Uni Label in 1969 Jesse formed his own Production and Publishing company ‘South Richmond Music’ releasing 45’s on his own label logo’s Zea and Zay before returning to 20th Century for a second time during 1974, releasing two 45 singles of which the sublime “If You Want A Love Affair” reaching #92 in the Billboard R&B charts in 1975, a song that would later receive worldwide acclaimed and is now regarded as Jesse’s signature tune. Ron Carson had been the producer on the later 20th Century releases and it was he that placed one of Jesse’s songs “The Same Thing Happens” on the Happy Fox label’s blaxploitation album “Black Fist”.

Into the 1980’s Jesse leased some of his songs for release on the Atlanta Georgia, Midtown label, a solitary release on the Moonlite Hope Music label (a lead single for a proposed album that never materialised) followed before Jesse joined Max Kidd’s Washington based TTED label. The TTED imprint was to yield Jesse’s biggest hit record “I Can Do Bad By Myself” reaching #61 in the R&B Charts. Following TTED Jesse formed Gunsmoke records releasing “Love On The Side” in 1988, from there on Jesse has continued to regularly release numerous studio albums though the 90’s into the new millennium and on to the present day.

Now well into his seventh decade as a performer this most resilient and enduring performer, has never been one to let the grass grow under his feet. He still performs live shows and is actively writing, producing and recording fresh new material. Soul Junction have now gathered together some of Jesse’s most recent and new recordings to form this album project which is aptly titled “Back On Top Again” Ride on Jesse James!

Pål Waaktaar-Savoy has explained that much of the atmosphere and the lyrical themes of Savoy’s seventh album “Under” are drawn from his move with his fellow songwriter and wife Lauren Savoy to Los Angeles, where they found themselves surrounded by loneliness.

Waaktaar-Savoy is one of the most prolific and impressive songwriters of the twentieth century and beyond, and having been working at the very top of the music industry for as long as he has, it is no surprise that the record is well-crafted. The production is good, with careful arrangements and instrumentation. Every instrument’s voice is given room and there is space in the mix. Only occasionally does this slip over into over-production, as with the treated strings on the opening track “Lonely Surfer” or the treatment of Lauren’s vocals, which sound overly processed.

It is also true that the record exhibits a fair measure of melancholy. The chords and melody lines are dark in places, and there is a hint of sadness in the lyrics, many of which have a retrospective quality, describing moments in the past. However, beyond this, the understated feel of the record is just that – understated. Many of songs feel a few RPM too slow and the delivery of the vocal lines too underplayed to give them any emotional authority. At times, it also seems like the arrangement has to step in to bolster the songwriting or lyrics, by filling space with strings or brass, or the counterpoint of the instrumentation on “Camden Palace Chronicles” which distracts from some fairly mediocre words. It is important to emphasise that this is a joint songwriting exercise for Pål and Lauren, so we should not compare the output to the work of a-ha, but still, the themes lean in the direction of suburban banality, far from Pål’s more oblique or allegorical writing.

There are other moments of real quality beyond the production and arrangement. The title track has an excellent Bowie-esque chorus (and there are echoes of his work and sound throughout, along with Beatles and Beck), “The Life and Times of a Wannabe” has some first-rate guitar work on it, edgy riffs and some good textures. Likewise, “Coming Down”, which also exemplifies Frode Unneland’s drumming on the record, which is generally prominent in the mix, and with good reason, as it carries the record along well.

Session Victim need little by way of introduction having been releasing on Delusions consistently for the last 10 years and becoming the undisputed poster boys for the label in the process. Despite their regular appearance however, it’s always a real treat to announce a new record from the German duo and we have to say, the Screen Off EP may well find them in their finest form to date! Coming hot off their latest downtempo LP entitled Low Key, Low Pressure for Night Time Stories, you can tell Hauke and Matthias were ready to take things back to the dance-floor and have delivered an EP which looks set to become a future classic and no doubt big in the box of discerning DJ’s the world over.

Screen Off is really it’s own thing, living somewhere on the long and winding road between the Bar Kays and the Bad Brains, suffice to say that what it lacks in easily definable attributes it makes up for in sheer energy and raw attitude. Hauke and Matthias re-invite Jamaican poet and vocalist Ras Stimulant, who contemplates our screen addictions and urges us to disconnect and be present in the moment. Matthias’ rolling bassline provides the backbone, whilst hints of crunchy Moog and chopped guitar samples all bring a sense of urgency to the track.

Light The Way acts as an antidote, bringing a sense of calm melancholia in contrast to the title track’s low-end, funked-up fervour. A soft focus and almost distant drum groove draws us in whilst arpeggiating synths add a sense of optimism, reinforcing the tracks title.

Closing out the release we have Session Victim’s studio partner, good friend and all-round top producer Iron Curtis in for a remix of Light The Way. Johannes takes an interesting approach for his Illuminati interpretation, enhancing the breakbeat feel and mixing up chopped samples with classic 808 drums. A muscular bassline adds extra weight to his remix but without losing the subtle musicality and positive vibe of the original.

Being the vinyl purists they are, Session Victim and Iron Curtis top up the physical 12“ EP with the exclusive Screen Off Acapella and an additional Iron Curtis Remix Reprise.

Having plied his trade around the world for more than three decades, German guitarist, bandleader and musical explorer Jan Whitefield has always instilled in his craft a natural aesthetic of authenticity, a key component which has seen him amass a sizeable and varied catalogue of material which has remained timeless where some of his contemporaries have faded away.

In the early 90s, as various UK bands were signed up by sizeable labels and enjoyed even mainstream chart success in the Acid Jazz and rare groove boom, Jan and his brother Max formed the Poets Of Rhythm, self-releasing their own uncompromisingly hard-edged take on 70s street funk on the then completely unfashionable 7" single format, forerunning the Deep Funk scene by almost a decade. 30 years on, in spite of a legion of retro-focused bands having followed in their wake, few have yet to come close to matching the energy and spirit of those early Poets 45s.

Since then, Jan has applied himself to all manner of new incarnations and innovative side-projects, releasing further funk surveys as the Whitefield Brothers before leading his own band under the pseudonym Karl Hector, with releases on labels such as Stones Throw, Daptone, Ninja Tune, Mo'Wax, Strut and more. An avid music lover, explorer and record collector extraordinaire, Whitefield's music has effortlessly absorbed his expanding interests along the way, particularly drawing influence from Ethiopian Jazz and West African funk and highlife, as well as Kraut-rock and ambient via his Rodinia alter-ego.

More recently, Whitefield has begun to venture into the astral planes of what's now commonly referred to as 'spiritual jazz', and this is very much where we find him manifesting on 'The Infinity Of Nothingness'. A set of mature, delicate and meditative orchestrations, like much of Whitefield's best work the album is studiously true to its key influences - and in this instance the twin figureheads of Sun Ra and Pharoah Sanders are particularly preeminent - but also completely avoids falling into a trap of mere tribute or facsimile. With subtle yet diverse accents of Hip Hop, Library and the Avant Garde appearing wholly unobtrusively, the album is unified by a marked trance-like feel, beginning with the sparse, processional opener 'Nothingness' through to the 3 part 'Infinity Suite' of 'Time', 'Space' and 'Energy'.

As he did as a schoolboy with the Poets of Rhythm, with 'The Infinity Of Nothingness' Whitefield achieves that exceptionally rare feat of creating music that is not only worthy of sitting alongside that of his overarching influences, but will also stand up with it against the tests of time.