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With four albums already behind them, Sababa 5 have earned global support, from Songlines magazine and BBC Radio 6 Music tastemakers including Gilles Peterson, Jamz Supernova and Iggy Pop to France’s FIP Radio and Radio Nova, for their unique blend of traditional Middle Eastern celebration music with psychedelic grooves, funk, jazz, rock, and international vocal collaborations spanning Japan to India. The Paris-based group have taken this sound to stages across Europe, including Reeperbahn Festival and Dresden’s Super Fest.

Ça Va Ça Va is the band’s hafla album – a return to the wedding and event celebration music that first shaped Sababa 5. Recorded in Paris, it draws directly from the sounds of hafla – the joyful, communal music heard at Middle Eastern weddings, parties and festive gatherings – with a sprinkling of influences from the wider Mediterranean. The group utilise their classic combination of electric guitar, bass, drums, organ, and synths to transform these ideas into vibrant melodies, dance-ready rhythms, and a spirit of abundance and
togetherness.
Opening track “Bienvenue” sets the tone with a mysterious, longing guitar solo before bursting into an irresistible rhythm and jubilant guitar motif. It flows seamlessly into “Allô”, straight into wedding-riot territory – a fast-rising instrumental that showers the dancefloor with energy as it builds around a hypnotic, arpeggio-driven riff. The album is almost entirely original material, with two key exceptions: “Ypárcho” (I Exist), a beautiful instrumental journey inspired by a classic Greek song traditionally performed by Stelios Kazantzidis, and “Asunsan”, an instrumental flip of the much-loved Sababa 5 collaboration “Nasnusa” with Yurika Hanashima. Another impressive step in the Sababa 5 story, Ça Va Ça Va captures both joy and longing – the unmistakable warmth of Eastern Mediterranean celebration and the band’s surf-rock edge – sounding more confident, spirited and deeply rooted than ever.

600% Dynamite is the critically acclaimed Soul Jazz Records compilation series of Jamaican music, praised for its eclectic selection of upbeat reggae, ska, soul, rocksteady, dancehall, funk and dub satisfying both connoisseurs and newcomers alike.Originally released in 2003 this album has been out of print for nearly 20 years making it one of the most-collectible of Soul Jazz Records" Dynamite! Series. This is the first ever Color Vinyl edition of this classic album.Party classics and non-stop reggae anthems such as Tenor Saw"s "Golden Hen", The Uniques "Queen Majesty", Johnny Osbourne"s "Buddy Bye" and many more, 600% Dynamite is an addictive mix of well-known classics and rarities.Classic artists such as Dennis Brown, Johnny Osbourne, I Roy, Yabby You and Tenor Saw which feature alongside classic and rare tracks by lesser known artists such as Tall T and The Touchers, Prince Mohammed and more.

Die neue EP der irischen Songwriterin Lisa O"Neill besteht aus sechs Songs, darunter die eindringliche Version von Bob Dylans "All The Tired Horses", die Lisa für die Schlussszene der letzten Folge von Peaky Blinders aufgenommen hat, sowie "Homeless In The Thousands (Dublin in the Digital Age)" mit Peter Doherty, das bereits im Januar dieses Jahres als eigenständige Single veröffentlicht wurde. Es ist nicht das erste Mal, dass O"Neill über soziale Ungerechtigkeiten in Zeiten des Wandels schreibt. Lieder wie "Rock the Machine" über Arbeitslosigkeit in den Dubliner Docklands, "When Cash Was King" über den Übergang zu einer bargeldlosen Gesellschaft und "Violet Gibson" über die Irin, die 1926 versuchte, Mussolini zu ermorden - dieses neue Lied entstand als Reaktion auf das wachsende Problem der Obdachlosigkeit in Dublin und Irland. Ergänzt wird die EP durch einen neuen Song und den aktuellen Live-Favoriten "Mother Jones" über die irische Aktivistin Mary G. Harris Jones, die nach Amerika auswanderte und dort als Gewerkschaftsorganisatorin tätig war. Im Jahr 1902 wurde sie als "die gefährlichste Frau Amerikas" bezeichnet, nachdem sie Bergarbeiter gegen die Minenbesitzer mobilisiert hatte - ein Engagement, das direkt zur Einführung der ersten US-Gesetze gegen Kinderarbeit führte. Abgerundet wird die EP durch eine eindrucksvolle Version des zur Jahreszeit passenden "The Bleak Midwinter" sowie eine bewegende Rezitation des Gedichts "Autumn 1915" von James Stevens.

As the meteoric rise of reggae began to captivate listeners around the globe in the 1970s, innovative artist Augustus Pablo emerged as vital creative force pushing the genre forward. An important figure in the Jamaican music scene during this remarkable era, Pablo was not only a skilled musician but an influential producer who shaped the sound of countless classic recordings. While his instrumental work and legendary dubs remain essential, Pablo was also responsible for iconic vocal tracks from a wide range of local talent, many of which were released on his own label Rockers. Now, Nature Sounds is proud to present Rockers United!, a collection of classic and rare vocal selections from the Rockers archives, all produced by Augustus Pablo. Deeply rooted in hypnotic, bass-heavy instrumentation, the album features remastered audio transferred from the original master tapes, with vocals by Jacob Miller, Delroy Williams, Hugh Mundell, Tetrak, Junior Delgado, Earl Sixteen, Spliffy Dan and more.

Bait kicks off their 2026 release schedule hot and heavy with a split EP from Andy Martin and Christian Coiffure. With both producers coming through with the next generation of artists exploring the dub-tech connection, the EP starts with two tracks from Mexican-Jamaican artist Andy Martin with the murky 'Waterhouse' and the hypnotic stepper 'The Ark'. On the other side, French producer Christian Coiffure lands with two sleazy minimal-tech tracks nodding to the early 2000s with 'Lure' and 'Decoy'.

If you’ve been following the wanderings of prolific psychedelic magicians Elkhorn, you might be surprised that Elkhorn guitarist Drew Gardner’s solo LP Wave Field is the most out and out “rock” record on VHF in many years. Working here in a small group with excellent players Tom Malach (guitar), Andy Cush (bass), and Ryan Jewel (drums), Gardner cuts loose on a set of propulsive and swinging material that allows him to greatly expand his sound into unexpected areas. “Rhizoid” starts with a sneaky groove riding the nimble bass and drums of Cush and Jewel before a leap into the ripping Sonic Youth/NEU! hybrid of “Space Ray.” “Shadow Casting Grass” brings things back down to end the side with some Elkhorn-adjacent gentle guitar weave backed again by the sly rhythm section. “Wave Field” kicks off side 2 with an extended buzzy guitar raga with Cush’s melodic and fat bass providing jammy counterpoint. The epic “Mayan Bees” closes the LP with an extended workout on another extremely fine drum and bass ostinato, a hypnotic minor key riff that slow builds over 10+ minutes.

Juegos Nocturnos is the new project from two essential musicians of the '80s Spanish scene, coming from iconic bands like Décima Víctima and P.V.P. In this new musical venture, they deliver nine guitar-centered, refined pop-rock songs that reflect influences developed over 40+ years, recorded between 2020 and 2022. Jesús Amodia (guitar, vocals, programming, and keyboards) was a founding member of the punk-rock group P.V.P., a band often compared to The Clash and other British acts of the era thanks to their blend of punk energy with Jamaican influenced sounds. The project also features Per Mertanen (bass), member of cult band Décima Víctima, known for crafting a very distinctive sound with echoes of Joy Division, The Cure, and other British post-punk groups. Now united in this new musical adventure called Juegos Nocturnos, they present nine guitar-driven, sophisticated pop rock tracks that showcase influences shaped over more than four decades of musical career, recorded between 2020 and 2022.

Tori thanks: Mark & Tash, Mom, Dad & all the family, Irene. Mollie & Dave Ward & Arminda & Beene. Johnnie & Chelsea, Ahmet, Val, Ron, Craig. Vicky, Patti, Linda, Sharon, Laura, Andrea, Kris, Bonnie, Lee Anne, Danny, Jason, Rick, Steve, Andi, Bob, Nikke, Fran and all at Atlantic, Christian. Elyse, Matthew, Peter, Carla, Stella, Nisha & all at East West, Carol Kinzel at CAA, Mike Dewdney at ITB, Dave Brock at Rima Travel UK, Mog at Warners UK, Richard Bates, Tim Shaxon at HHB, Tony Larkin at TI. Audio, Steve Trim at Stirling Syco, John & Heather & all at SSE, Jason Ogarro at Macwarehouse, Neil at Neve, Su & Bruce at Digidesign US. John Philip Shenale - vintage keyboard finder, James Naylor at Corney & Barrow and a special thanks to David Slade. Hugs to Lesley Chilkes, Cim Mahoney & Bernice Brobbery - The Glam Squad. The Bude Contingent: Cliff "The Fish' Bowden, Super Debs & Adam at Martian, Thea & Dana, Hayley & Emily, Ros, The Falcon Hotel, Mick & Pearl and Phil and Jody, Stolichnaya & Van Nelle. And finally to all the musicians.

Stonie Blue and Stephen Carmona come from house music's true school and combine here for a set of timeless, tough, but emotive jams steeped in Midwest magic. 'Joyful Noise' is a playful tease that rides mid-tempo kicks but is buzzing with little synth details that want you to go faster. 'Embrace The Night' is moody, smoky late-night house swing, 'Max Potential' has analogue drums coated in dust with plenty of room left for the sparse chords to make an impact way beyond their minimal design. 'Stone' ramps up a gear with more dense grooves and 'About Time' is all about pinging kicks and fuzzy pads as conscious spoken words bring the mental heat.

We are excited to announce the third release in the series of illustrated reissues.

This vinyl edition of 50 Words for Snow is available to preorder now as a double album on 180g vinyl.

Illustrated by Timorous Beasties and designed by Fish People.

Double album in gatefold sleeve. Metallic belly band with embossed text. Poly sleeve and stickers. Printed at Pozzoli.

Pressed on black vinyl at Record Industry from new lacquers cut by Bernie Grundman of the 2018 remasters by Kate and James Guthrie.

Peter Tosh war ein Reggae-Multi-Instrumentalist aus Jamaika, der zusammen mit Bunny Wailer und natürlich Bob Marley zu den Gründern der legendären Band The Wailers gehörte. »Equal Rights« ist sein zweites Studioalbum und dasjenige, das ihn an die Spitze des Reggae katapultierte und ihn als potenziellen Rivalen von Marley etablierte. Das ist zwar nicht ganz gelungen, aber »Equal Rights« ist immer noch eines der einflussreichsten Reggae-Alben aller Zeiten.

Tosh war ein großer Verfechter der Menschenrechte und das spiegelt sich auch in der Tracklist wider. Natürlich gibt es eine Version von »Get Up, Stand Up«, die zusammen mit Bob Marley geschrieben wurde, aber »I Am That I Am«, »Downpressor Man« (eine Version von Sinnerman, die durch Nina Simone berühmt wurde), »Stepping Razor« und »Apartheid« wurden alle zu eigenständigen Menschenrechtshymnen. 1987 wurde Tosh bei einem Raubüberfall getötet und ließ Reggae-Fans auf der ganzen Welt mit der Frage zurück, was hätte sein können.

»Equal Rights« ist als erweiterte 2LP-Edition mit einer Bonus-Disc erhältlich, die seltene und unveröffentlichte Songs enthält, die bisher nur auf »Dubplates« erhältlich waren. Diese definitive Version eines Reggae-Evergreens ist in einer Deluxe-Hülle mit Leinenfinish und einem 4-seitigen Booklet verpackt und in einer limitierten Auflage von 3000 einzeln nummerierten Exemplaren auf orangefarbenem Vinyl erhältlich.

Peter Tosh war ein Reggae-Multi-Instrumentalist aus Jamaika, der zusammen mit Bunny Wailer und natürlich Bob Marley zu den Gründern der legendären Band The Wailers gehörte. »Equal Rights« ist sein zweites Studioalbum und dasjenige, das ihn an die Spitze des Reggae katapultierte und ihn als potenziellen Rivalen von Marley etablierte. Das ist zwar nicht ganz gelungen, aber »Equal Rights« ist immer noch eines der einflussreichsten Reggae-Alben aller Zeiten.

Tosh war ein großer Verfechter der Menschenrechte und das spiegelt sich auch in der Tracklist wider. Natürlich gibt es eine Version von »Get Up, Stand Up«, die zusammen mit Bob Marley geschrieben wurde, aber »I Am That I Am«, »Downpressor Man« (eine Version von Sinnerman, die durch Nina Simone berühmt wurde), »Stepping Razor« und »Apartheid« wurden alle zu eigenständigen Menschenrechtshymnen. 1987 wurde Tosh bei einem Raubüberfall getötet und ließ Reggae-Fans auf der ganzen Welt mit der Frage zurück, was hätte sein können.

»Equal Rights« ist als erweiterte 2LP-Edition mit einer Bonus-Disc erhältlich, die seltene und unveröffentlichte Songs enthält, die bisher nur auf »Dubplates« erhältlich waren. Diese definitive Version eines Reggae-Evergreens ist in einer Deluxe-Hülle mit Leinenfinish und einem 4-seitigen Booklet verpackt und in einer limitierten Auflage von 3000 einzeln nummerierten Exemplaren auf orangefarbenem Vinyl erhältlich.

“Tubby did three original dub albums, ‘Dub From The Roots’. ‘The Roots of Dub’ and the third is ‘Brass Rockers’ with Tommy McCook ‘pon the flying cymbals. Where he mixed it with the horn going in and out in a dub way and one named ‘Shalom Dub’ you can call Tubby’s too because he mixed the versions as they were off forty fives’’

Bunny ‘Striker’ Lee

King Tubby and Producer Bunny ‘Striker’ Lee are intertwined in the birth of Dub Music. After discovering a mistake that made a ‘serious joke’ (more of which later...) they went on to release the first pressings of this new musical genre namely ‘Dub Music’. Tubby’s vast knowledge of electronics and Bunny’s vast catalogue of rhythms would lay the foundations of what today is taken as a standard... the Remix / Version cuts to an existing vocal tune.

Osbourne ‘King Tubby’ Ruddock was born in Kingston, Jamaica on 28th January 1941 and grew up in the High Holborn Street area of downtown Kingston. He studied electronics at Kingston’s National Technical College and also on two correspondence courses from the U.S.A... When he had qualified Tubby began repairing radios and other electrical appliances in a shack in the back yard of his mother’s home. His work in the early days included winding transformers and building amplifiers for Kingston’s Sound Systems. Tubby built his first Sound System in 1957 playing jazz and Rhythm & Blues at local weddings and birthday parties. His reputation as a man who knew and understood both electronics and music grew steadily and as the sixties drew to a close. Tubby
purchased his own basic two track equipment. He installed this alongside his dub cutting machine, a home-made mixing console, and his impressive collection of jazz albums in the back bedroom of his home at 18 Dromilly Avenue which he christened his music room.

Tubby and Striker were at Treasure Isle Studio’s one day while Ruddy from Spanish Town was working with the engineer Byron Smith....

“Tubby and myself was talking when Ruddy was cutting some dub but Smithy (engineer) made a mistake through we were talking and forgot to put in the voice. It was two track recording in those days. Ruddy said ‘No Man! Make it stay! and so they cut the rhythm. When I went over to Ruddy’s that Saturday night a dance was in progress and when they played the vocal to the tune... then he said we’re going to play ‘Part Two’. They never called it ‘Version’..and then he played the rhythm track. The song was a catchy song and everybody started to sing along and the deejay started to toast so everything went down well. On Monday morning I went up and I said ‘Tubbs the mistake we made was a serious joke.It mash up Spanish Town! The people went wild. So you have to start to do that now ‘cause when the man put on the ‘Part Two’ everyone start singing this song. It played about twenty times. I said you try Tubbs!’...Well the next Saturday night now when Tubby strung up down the farm U Roy said he’s going to play ‘Part Two’ but Tubby did it different now. He started with the voice then dropped it out and let the rhythm run and then he brought in the voice in the middle and from there Tubby started to get really popular.’’
Bunny ‘Striker’ Lee

Dynamic Sounds upgraded to sixteen track recording in 1972 and Tubby purchased, again with the help of a deal brokered by Bunny Lee. The old four track equipment and the MCI console from their Studio B. The four tracks now gave him far wider scope to work with and he began to create a new musical form where the bass and drum parts were brought up while the faders allowed Tubby to ease the vocal and rhythm in and out of the mix. It was only a matter of time before Tubby’s dub plate experiments began to make it on to vinyl and the first ever long-playing King Tubby releases would feature a collection of his mixes to a selection of Strikers rhythms. So please sit back and enjoy this historic set of sounds. Lovingly restored and with a few extra gems added to the CD Editions. These releases were the first to carry the name of King Tubby and the first to credit the great musicians that contributed so much to the rhythms that made these albums possible.

Reggae music in many ways reminds us of America’s Motown records. The music comes out of its stable fast and furious we tend to know the songs, the artists, the
studio but who? are the players. The unsung heroes that in many cases, cut most of our favourite tracks One such band this applies to in the Reggae field is the Soul Syndicate Band.

Each Jamaican record producer would have their favourite set of musicians they would use, availability permitting. Although several musicians crossed over into different named bands. For example, a set of players working with Producer Bunny 'Striker' Lee would go under the guise of The Aggrovators. The same group working with Producer Joe Gibbs would work under the name The Professionals. Soul Syndicate were the band of choice for Producer Niney the Observer, who used them for his own recordings and when you put that aside the other artists Niney produced, Dennis Brown, Max Romeo, Michael Rose, I Roy, The Ethiopians, Barry Brown, Gregory Issacs and Freddie McGregor.  To name a few and not necessary all, you begin to see the amount of material this set of musicians played on.

Built around the rhythm section of Calton 'Santa' Davis and George 'Fully' Fullwood, drums and bass respectfully. They were usually accompanied by Earl 'Chinna' Smith, Tony Chin on guitars, Keith Sterling, Gladstone 'Gladdy' Anderstone, Bernard 'Touter' Harvey, organ/keyboards and Noel 'Skully' Simms, percussion. Niney's tracks tended to be rhythm heavy and thus Sound System favourites.But when brass was needed/called for ,this was provided by the likes of Tommy McCook, Bobby Ellis, Felix ' Deadley Headley' Bennett. Niney not having a studio of his own at the time used most of Kingston's studios, again availability and money providing. But most of these cuts
selected for this release were cut at Channel 1 and a few exceptions at Randy's Studio 17 and at Joe Gibbs studio at Burns Avenue.

Niney also worked closely with King Tubby on his dub plates, so tracks after the recording sessions were taken to King Tubbys for reconstruction and sometimes
re-voicing over an existing rhythm. These were then used as version sides to the vocal cuts, but most importantly used to nice up the dances, being played out on King Tubbys Hometown Hi-Fi Sound System. We have pulled together a selection of such dub plate specials cut by the Soul Syndicate band for this release. Dub sides that emphasise how well the band worked together, and with Niney at the reigns and the added bonus of some Tubby magic sprinkled on top. Please see our Niney the Observer at King Tubbys 1973-1975 (JRO11) for further examples of this work.

We at Jamaican Recordings hope we are not alone in saluting the musicians, that played such a big part in producing many of our favourite Reggae Sounds. Having released titles by The Revolutionaries (JR003), The Aggrovators (JR005), Sly and Robbie (JR006), we are now pleased to release a selection of rare Dub cuts by another one of Jamaica's finest, the Soul Syndicate band to our catalogue...

Respect Jah Floyd.

Minority Records is releasing a unique boxset Politique du silence with three early albums from Sylvain Chauveau, French composer of minimalist neoclassical music.
“When I made my first albums as a composer, I was obsessed with minimalism, and this quote from the film director Robert Bresson summed up my state of mind. I set myself three principles: 1) Use silence as a starting point, 2) Only add sound when it's absolutely essential, 3) Don't imitate the Anglo-Saxon musicians I admired, but draw on the musical culture of my country, France which lead me to listen intensively to Satie, Debussy and Ravel.” Chauveau explains the background to his work.

The collection Politique du silence contains the recordings of Des plumes dans la tête (2004), Un autre Décembre (2003) and Nocturne impalpable (2001) on coloured 180 gram vinyls. The cover features artwork by French photographer Valéry Lorenzo.

“When I discovered the simple and powerful black and white pictures by Valéry Lorenzo, in the 90s, I immediately fell in love with them. We became good friends and since then I ask him to let me use one of his photos for most of my album covers, or to make my portrait for press shots. It has become a real collaboration, music and images, for more than 25 years. It was then logical to ask him again for the cover of this boxset, like a gentle reflection on my piano and strings era. It's a true honour for me to see my early music recollected, repackaged, remastered after all this time. Which gives me hope that this music, in which I've put all my soul and heart during the years 2001 to 2003, is maybe not forgotten yet.” Chauveau himself adds of his collaboration with Valéry Lorenzo.
Nocturne impalpable and Un autre Décembre were re-issued by Minority Records in 2014 and 2015 and both titles completely sold out. This year’s release also includes the album Des plumes dans la tête in its world premiere on vinyl.

Nocturne Impalpable is a world of minimalism, abstraction, and contemporary rendition of classical music with variations for the piano, clarinet, strings, and accordion which are often compared to the compositions of composers Harold Budd and Claude Debussy. Here, Chauveau partially reveals his versatility as a composer by connecting electronic elements, noises, and ambient planes with monumental strings and piano preludes. The
album of piano variations Un autre Décembre is interspersed with field recordings and electronic noises. The inspiration for the recording of the album and for its name was the song Jaurès by the Belgian singer and composer Jacques Brel. This song tells the story of the grandparents’ generation who toiled in the mines. “Comfort and health won’t protect our generation from sadness and discontent. We also live through winter times, even if these are slightly warmer due to the current climate.” An album of 20 short instrumental sketches with several delicate intermezzos for the piano, string quartet, and the clarinet, Des plumes dans la tête, was composed for the eponymous film by director Thomas de Thier.
Sylvain Chauveau was born in 1971 in the French town of Bayonne and currently lives in Barcelona. His extensive discography of mainly meditative neo-classical recordings for the music labels FatCat, Sub Rosa, Sonic Pieces, and Flau is enriched by several collaborations and his participation in the Ensemble 0, Arca, and On projects. Chauveau has also composed many film soundtracks as well as music for the theatre. He has presented his works in Prague several times, most recently in the spring of 2024 at the Spectaculare festival. His compositions get tens of millions of streams on streaming services, and he’s been called the French king of minimalism.

Mint Condition - A brand new record label focussed on excavating the outer fringes of classic House and Techno. Unreleased mixes, classics and overlooked gems mined from the last 20+ of contemporary dance music are the order of the day. From Chicago, Detroit and New York to London and beyond, Mint Condition have got their expert digging hats on to bring you exclusive heat and those rarer than rare jams that have been on your wants list for years! Dig in....
The word 'classic' get's bandied around a lot when talking about certain records, artists, labels etc but rarely is it truly justified. In the case of the monumental slab of NYC deepness that is 'I'll Be Your Friend' we feel the tag is genuinely justified. Originally released in 1991 on the RCA label the track has been one of house music's most enduring anthems. Literally one of the deepest tracks out there, it's combination of Owen's vocals paired with the stellar production techniques of Def Mix's David Morales (and THOSE drums) is such a heady combination that the record crossed over so many scenes and to this day remains an evergreen staple in DJ's of all persuasions bags. Featured here we have all the original mixes (with the exception of the shorter radio edit) in their original forms. The record sounds as fresh as it ever did, the sort of track that never dates and will always fit into a set, the very definition of a classic.
Legitimately re-released with the full involvement of RCA records for 2017 and remastered from the original sources specially for Mint Condition by London's very own Curvepusher. 100% legit, licensed and released. Dug, remastered, repackaged and brought to you by the caring folks at your new favourite reissue label - Mint Condition!.

cLOUDDEAD's debut album, compiling six 10" EPs that appeared between 2000-2001, is aurally dense and obscured. A sprawling mass of miniature beat-suites and Dadaist lyrics, this strange and beautiful 3xLP would influence a myriad of sub-genres (cloud rap, hauntology, lo-fi hip-hop, etc.) in the two decades since its initial release.

Only the three members of cLOUDDEAD – Why?, Doseone and Odd Nosdam – can speak to the group's origins, but in the context of underground hip-hop towards the end of the 20th century, their arrival makes perfect sense. Cincinnati had a vital scene; home to Scribble Jam, an annual confluence of MCs, DJs, B-boys and graffiti artists. While the trio soon relocated to the Bay Area where they co-founded the Anticon collective, their Midwestern roots – in ramshackle basements of off-campus hovels, as the "cerberus of Southern Ohio" – would remain the atomic heart of their early recordings.

As Chris Martins writes in the liner notes, "The only reason we know their names today is because of how loudly and curiously they aired their insularity. They rewrote the entire world as they knew it through their own fucked perspective, and when those mysterious 10-inches started popping up in record shops, it wasn't just a puzzle to investigate: there seemed to be a whole cosmology hidden in those grooves."

Each side of the album represents one of those elusive 10-inches, each embodying a universe unto itself. Opening salvo "Apt. A" and "And All You Can Do Is Laugh" are perhaps most emblematic of the cLOUDDEAD experience. Why? and Dose create a new language through boundless non-sequiturs, sing-song non-choruses and call-and-response hooks, while Nosdam's dexterous production shifts from crackling ambience of Flying Saucer Attack to tight Ohio Players drum breaks and oblique film samples.

Taken all together, cLOUDDEAD is an original interpretation of hip-hop in the surreal Y2K glow – a bizarre meeting point between William Basinski's Disintegration Loops and MF DOOM's Operation: Doomsday. All it took was a Dr. Sample SP-202, Tascam cassette eight-track and cheap RadioShack mic. There's truly nothing like it.

This edition has been faithfully restored by Nosdam. European exclusive version comes on clear vinyl, incl. fold-out poster and liner notes insert.

When you listen to birds, they usually talk about food, sex/family, or anxiety. If they knew about the true nature of humanity's cruel and exploitative relationship with birds, they would be discussing rebellion. Humanity's current trajectory about birds is to cause the extinction of one-third of all bird species by the end of this century.

This record crystallises the borders between memory, beauty, and anxiety. At the core is an amalgam of all the birds we have met and heard, their sounds synthesised from a blend of memories. Esthetically it simulates the qualities of bird sounds, hitting similar frequential sweet spots. There is a great variety of birds captured here, from high to low frequencies, from solo voices to groups, from birds standing on their own to complex world-building, where the bird voices are part of an ecosystem, becoming one of the instruments.

You could stop there, enjoying this record on a musical level, but it invites us to do one step further, to consider reconfiguring our relationship with the Earth and its inhabitants. To question our impact, and to ask why we need synthetic bird music. Is it just a visionary endeavour or is it because we are failing at fostering a world in which organic birds and other creatures can thrive?

32 artists from the whole world, including our favourite artists from Eastern Europe, have contributed to this compilation both with new and previously released music. Their music is ordered from dawn to dusk and into the night. For many of the artists it's their first time on mappa, but some have previously released an album with us.

If there is a year zero for the introduction of reggae music to Japan, you’d be forgiven for thinking it was 1979 when Bob Marley and the Wailers toured the country, trailed by an entourage of journalists, photographers and fans ready to spread the message of the music into all corners of Japanese society.

But the story of Japanese reggae is not a linear one, and the music that is collected on Tokyo Riddim 1976-1985 captures the moment J-reggae entered the broader public consciousness, merging commercial city pop style with an infectious backbeat, that has drawn comparisons with the emergence of Lovers Rock in the UK.

Rather than look directly to Jamaica, many producers and artists in Japan were inspired instead by the more approachable sounds of The Police and UB40, their reggae fix arriving pre-filtered through the lens of new wave pop from the UK. Playful and groovy, these album deep cuts have been overlooked for too long.

Among them are Miki Hirayama, the idol singer who borrowed the bassline from Bob Marley’s Natural Mystic on ‘Denshi Lenzi’, Chu Kosaka, who headed to Hawaii to cut the Jimmy Cliff-inspired ‘Music’ and Marlene, the Philippine songstress whose cover of Roberta Flack’s ‘Hittin’ Me Wear It Hurts’ owed much to her producer’s obsession with Sly & Robbie’s Compass Point sound.

Then there was Izumi “Mimi” Kobayashi, who enlisted the Babylon Warriors to perform on a dubbed-out version of her own track ‘Lazy Love’, the city pop-meets-new wave reggae sound of Miharu Koshi’s ‘Coffee Break’, Junko Yagami’s anti-apartheid deep cut ‘Johannesburg’ and Lily, whose ‘Tenkini Naare’ was produced by Ryuichi Sakamoto and closes out the compilation with a flourish.

While these stories may not always conform to neat narratives, they do provide a more accurate reflection of the indirect ways in which styles infiltrate one another and, in their naivety, have the potential to create something beautifully strange and entirely new. Previously only available in Japan, the tracks on this compilation are a testament to that curious alchemy.

Tokyo Riddim 1976-1985 is released on vinyl and as a full album download (no streaming), featuring original artwork by Japanese Fukuoka-based artist Noncheleee, whose cover pays homage to the iconic dancehall album art of Wilfred Limonious.

Released on 1st September, Tokyo Riddim 1976-1985 is part of Time Capsule's Nippon Series, a loose series of compilations exploring different musical scenes from Japan between the 1960s and 2010s.