For our 7th release on Nocturbulous Records, the great Jacky Meurisse, make us the honor of working again with us with 4 lost treasures, previously unreleased on vinyl.
Typical Jacky’s dark and gloomy sounds, but more electronic and dancefloor oriented than his regular SA42 material.
'Give Me The Strength To Be Me' is the exclusive single for Lovemonk by Soulnaturals, featuring London singer Chalibrann. This stunning track fuses all the power and beauty of gospel and soul music with exquisite arrangements that take Soulnaturals to spiritual heights, akin to contemporary artists such as Michael Kiwanuka and Sault.
Soulnaturals is the London-based project of songwriter, producer and band leader Tony Cannam, who collaborates with outstanding guest singers and musicians on high-quality soul/R&B music which has received rave reviews from Blues & Soul, Craig Charles Funk & Soul Show, Jazz FM, Andy Peebles at Smooth FM, Solar Radio, Clash Magazine and London Live TV, among others. Cannam is influenced by the rich heritage of 60s and 70s US soul/funk artists and arrangers such as Norman Whitfield, Curtis Mayfield, Stevie Wonder and Quincy Jones.
Soulnaturals released their debut album, "Love Says Yes!", in 2017 as part of Record Store Day, receiving strong critical acclaim and a nod as contender for album of the year from UK Vibe. Their second album, "Parlo Discoteca", came out in October 2023 on their own label, British Soul Standard.
A command across genres has distinguished Yasushi Ide’s work as a DJ and producer since emerging from the multiscene spawning big bang that was Tokyo’s highly influential club milieu of the 1980s. His productions draw variously from hip-hop, dub, house, punk, jazz dance, exotica and electronic music - and at their most expressive, synthesize sensibilities within a single track. The respect Ide’s earned is well evident in the impressive roll call of collaborators he’s accrued over the years - Masters At Work, Tom Verlaine, Don Letts, James Chance, DJ Krush, Pharaoh Sanders, U-ROY, and Bongo Herman, just to name a legendary few.
Now available for worldwide distribution from Love Injection Records in both digital and 7-inch 45 vinyl formats, the Yasushi Ide “A Place In the Sun (Kaoru Inoue Remix)” is paired with the equally gorgeous “A Place In the Sun (Dub).” On the former, Inoue’s treatment largely strips away the track’s beats, anchoring it to a subtle percussion pulse that emphasizes the composition’s irresistible melodic qualities. The latter finds Yoko Ota at the controls restoring and pushing reverb-soaked drums to the forefront of the mix, accentuating Ide’s affection for the sound system aesthetic while exercising just the right amount of spacial arrangement flourishes to inject some brawn amidst the beauty.
These serendipitously rediscovered renditions of a back catalog deep cut are just the latest examples of Yasushi Ide’s artistic reach. In addition to recording such acclaimed albums as 2020’s Cosmic Suite and its 2022 sequel (for which Love Injection has remixed a track), his work has spanned music supervision of some 200+ compilations for major labels, artist management, his Grand Gallery shop/gallery proprietorship, and books showcasing the depth of his archival sensibilities, including vintage t-shirt and ephemera curation. Perhaps most inspiring, however, is that Ide is still winning new appreciators and collaborators in unexpected ways four decades into a revered career that continues to evolve and expand.
Jimmy Whoo and Muddy Monk have definitely never left each other's side. Since their first - and divine, like the title of the song - collaboration in the summer of 2019, the French producer and the Swiss singer have enjoyed meeting up in the studio to compose four-handed. Their budding friendship has quickly developed into a lasting artistic bond. There's an instant chemistry between them in their joint compositions. After once again inviting Muddy Monk on the track Aqua from his Motel Music trilogy, Jimmy Whoo has come up with a more developed collaboration for a fascinating EP, To the Moon, which will brighten up the autumn.
Gathered in the Ciel Rouge Studio in Paris, the two acolytes bring their instruments and machines, a priori to compose instrumentals, and we know their affinity for contemplative, floating and addictive music. When we work together, we produce sounds that have a common touch," explain Jimmy Whoo and Muddy Monk. We share the same taste for freedom, travel, dreams and the desire to ride in music". As always between them, their circumstantial meeting leads to a healthy emulation, an obvious magnetism. There's a clear cinematic quality to the heady melodies and harmonic patterns, reminiscent of some of the big names in dreamy electronica (Boards of Canada) or retro-futurist pop (Air).
Of the four tracks on the EP, To the Moon and So Close to You sound like potential singles on first listen. Muddy Monk must have written a few lyrics on these instrumental tracks, and you'll immediately recognise his free-spirited style ("Walking on the moon/Let me please come home", co-written with Jimmy Whoo on vocals) and pensive style ("Perdu en terre étrangère/J'éliminais quelques doutes"). Mixed by Stéphane 'Alf' Briat and illustrated by a graphic cover by 22note, this EP brings together two talents for a superb musical journey from the earth to the moon.
Paul C returns to Hot Creations as he serves up his first solo material for the label with his bumping three-track ‘Let The Bass Kik’ EP.
A mainstay within the Italian house landscape for over two decades, DJ/producer and label owner Paul C has delivered quality house records via a wealth of top-tier imprints while featuring at key clubs across Europe and beyond. Having made his debut on the label back in 2013 with his bustling collaboration ‘Get This!’, with 2015’s follow-up ‘Pinball’ also proving to be a favourite for many, he now returns to Hot Creations as he delivers three impressive tracks across his ‘Let The Bass Kik’ EP.
Opening the package is title track ‘Let The Bass Kik’, a vibrant, energy-charged effort loaded with slinking basslines, hooky samples and sweeping synths to provide a peak time cut made for bustling dancefloors. Next, ‘Can U Dance’ keeps things moving as sweeping electronics and soaring leads are guided by slick metallic drums, before ‘Red Green Yellow’ closes the show as sharp percussion arrangements meet echoed vocals and rich melodies.
Sweden’s Peder Mannerfelt returns to Voam with “The Benefits of Living in a Hole”, his third EP for the label.
Lee Jeffries Brings Northern Soul Holy Grail 7” to life in live form with the Unsung Wonders playing live and recorded onto 2 inch tape with no editing to give you stunning versions of these northern soul treasures.
The Album was recorded back in 2016 in Leicester with Lee's dad Steve Jeffries, one of the world's leading Northern Soul’s rare record dealers.
Lee's good friend & now pressing manager at Sonic Wax Pressing Manager Adam Bucanan also was involved in the producing and mentoring the young band to deliver these stunning records.
With 50 years of Northern Soul Wigan Casino in 2023 it's great to see new Northern Soul music is being made.
The Rice N Peas is the alternative ego to The Unsung Wonders and give a stunning Lovers Rock / Reggae take on these holy grail tracks.
Repress!
'You got the stuff' is not 'Lovely day' - that much is true. This one's a wigged out, extended, trip into deep space from 1978 that is truly baffling.
Of course, it features Bill singing for the first half of the track but then all of a sudden we're launched into a cosmic wormhole as everything just falls back and the track is stripped of any earthly qualities. People find themselves asking 'this...... this is Bill Withers' as lazer guided synths and rock solid drums pull us into the sonic vortex. Truly amazing. Obviously a nugget like this has not gone unnoticed and has been edited and chopped and sampled deftly by the more sarcastic, left-field oriented crate diggers out there but it has never been reissued legitimately - Until now!
A hugely sought after and collectible gem right here, backed with the wistful slow jam 'Look To Each Other For Love' as per the original 1978 Columbia promo 12" version. This left-field, cosmic classic has been legally reissued by Above Board distribution in conjunction with the legal rights holders - Sony Music Entertainment. This high quality repress features original Columbia pink label Disco 12" artwork and has been remastered from Sony's original sources by Optimum Mastering, Bristol UK.
Hailing from Richmond, VA, Heartracer makes anthemic synthpop, combining modern production techniques with classic pop songwriting. Inspired by ’80s icons such as Duran Duran, a-ha, Peter Gabriel, The Outfield, and Springsteen, Heartracer’s sound is a nostalgic mix of dreamy synths, melodic guitars, and swooning vocals.
On their new album The Feel, the band channels all of that inspiration and filters it through a fresh lens; the result is a retro-inspired modern pop masterpiece. Midnight Mannequin Records is proud to present Heartracer’s The Feel on deluxe white vinyl, complete with OBI strip.
Noise pollution results when man does not listen carefully. Noises are the sounds we have learned to ignore. Which sounds do we want to preserve, encourage, multiply?
When we know this, the boring or destructive sounds will be conspicuous enough and we will know why we must eliminate them. Only a total appreciation of the acoustic environmentcan give us the resources for improving the orchestration of the world soundscape.
“The Soul Of Tommy Youngblood” 1970 Kent LP had many fine tracks, especially ‘Tobacco Road North’ though it was not attributed to the rightful writer, Jimmy Radcliffe, at the time. The music has been sampled for various hip-hop adaptations, including one by Ghostface Killah of the Wu-Tang Clan, but the original stands on its own and deserves a 7” format.
The Other Brothers ‘Nobody But Me’ is another UK Kent exclusive that sold out on its first Kent Select press and is still highly sought-after and now very expensive.
Prophecy, whose previous releases were received to great acclaim, returns with a new EP produced by the label head honcho Elias the Prophet. This time treating you to four original tracks and a stunning remix by Tensal:
"Creatures" could be described as a walk through the forest, but it's getting dark and thousands of eyes are watching you as you get lost in the thick undergrowth. As panic sets in and dark thoughts take over, you start running towards an uncertain fate!
On his remix of "Creatures", the one and only Tensal has masterfully blended powerful beats, eerie voices and pads from the original with his own frenetic synths, creating absolute chaos and madness!
More uneasy vibes with "Exorcism", as supernatural synth layers and Gregorian chants ride above hard percussion, if Satanists listened to techno (some probably do), this would be their jam!
The Keeper is an ideal dj tool, with its broken beat and ferocious FX it creates an unstoppable momentum that will destroy dance floors!
As a finishing touch, "Crime scene" paints a bleak picture of a dystopian future, warping FX and synths to infinity and beyond.
In apartheid-era South Africa, gospel music provided solace and served as a tool for covert communication to circumvent the censorship of the settler regime. By the 2010s, South African gospel, deeply ingrained in the soul of Soweto, assumed a new role—as a heartfelt cry against persistent failures and shortcomings, a cry mourning a South Africa that never materialized.
A new South Africa needed a new gospel sound.
In 2016, nine young men from different parts of Diepkloof, a celebrated neighbourhood brimming with talent within Soweto's sprawling township, came together to form the sound of a new South Africa under the name Diepkloof United Voice.
Diepkloof United Voice's music has gone viral multiple times on TikTok, YouTube, and Facebook, garnering between 60,000 to 2 million views. The comments section displays flag emojis from Brazil to India, showcasing the global reach of their music.
This album was recorded on site in Soweto, in an abandoned classroom of Lebowa Elementary School in Diepkloof Zone 3, where the choir rehearsed for years. Amid rolling blackouts, Diepkloof United Voice poured their heart, soul, and vocal chords into their debut record, combining classic South Africa gospel, Soweto's own kasi soul, American blues, and Zulu flavor, to present the contemporary gospel sound of a changing South Africa.
The promise of a new South Africa might finally be realized, as Diepkloof United Voice guarantees the country's future is guided by the truth, uttered with each gasp of breath from their inimitable voices.
Sometimes you just stumble upon some music randomly, fall in love with it and you quickly look to grab a copy, but only a CD was ever released of it.
So after playing it digitally for quite a while now, it was the right decision to get it pressed on Vinyl, as some of you out there prefer that format.
Here we are, after more than 2 years preparing it, finally the Vinyl release of FC Europe is ready!
A joint project made by Andy Rantzen, Anthony Maher and S. Correa, first saw the daylight back in 1999 on Air Recording Australia.
From housey tracks to the finest breaks and hints of Drum & Bass, this Album has everything for everyone out there, must have record in every collection.
ECHOES OF GLORY return with its second instalment – after the widely received ISSUE ONE – ISSUE TWO see’s SEAN JOHNSTON’S Hardway Brothers guise and GRANT DELL’S Masonic Noodles moniker, meet in fine style. Sean, known for his lengthy residency with the much-missed ANDREW WEATHERALL at A LOVE FROM OUT OF SPACE has also successfully transferred this innate understanding of a dancefloor into studio alchemy. The Hardway brothers mix of ESCAPE ON THE MIDNIGHT EXPRESS has all the hallmarks of being a ALFOS classic, a real - lights off – smoke machine on - ready for a heady dubby trip across the dance floor. The Masonic noodles mix takes it down a notch with bubbly acid undertones and good use of the samples, taken from Giorgio Moroder’s score of the classic Midnight express Film. Heavy Heavy stuff ! Only 300 pressed on this vinyl only outing.
Following up last year’s Acrobatic Thoughts album, Panoram delves even deeper into his own musical universe with Keep Looking Where The Light Comes From. We find the producer in confident form, exploring the fuzzy fringes of beauty and chaos. The result is an album that sounds even more like himself and yet surprising at each turn.
Opening track Feathers sounds like only Panoram can, buzzy arpeggiated distortion takes flight somewhere in the direction of a distant multiverse where Animal Collective and Boards of Canada soundtracked Koyaanisqatsi. But the psychedelic drift is all Panoram’s own, conjuring a stark sense of the uncanny with the repeated phrases. The digital guitar and vocal loops of I Can Only Repeat Your Love are practically on the brink of collapsing in on themselves, to the point where the structure begins to shift like a collapsing monument. Flat Stones nods towards ASMR, as flute and woodwind tones caress the ears and a whispered voice teases out an altered state.
It’s this dreamlike mood that pervades the whole album, a maximal effect that’s wrung from minimalist compositions. The Wide House picks up the baton from Laurie Anderson to trip gently through different states of awareness, while the piano patterns of Blank Sheep float through the synth ambience like ideas entering an empty dream. There Is A Hole Here is another mutant loop that unravels as it proceeds - the rhythms turn into a pulse, and despite what the lyrics say, it does indeed mess around with your brain.
Panoram balances dance tropes, classical composition, ambient drones and a washed out, fuzzy twist on avant garde pop, and manages to transform it all into a uniform whole that fits all those puzzle pieces together. Yet such is the assuredness of Panoram’s production that it sounds effortless. At this point, the music is more like a midwife, manifesting your future self‘s enlightened consciousness with surreal effect.
Guachinche Records is a label that has taken on board the best of the Andalusia and Tenerife breakbeat scenes. Led by the experienced groups Mutantbreakz and Bubble Couple, the label is known for its good taste, variety and good judgement when it comes to selecting the music that makes up its catalogue. All those years experience of broken beats have inevitably led to the release of this brilliant GUACH001 The label first vinyl offering is a compilation album that offers a perfect summation of its essence and quality.
The record opens with a sure-fire hit by the legendary Rasco, who, together with Bubble Couple, has created Old Groove. Featuring piano and the kind of baselines to stick in the memory and make your hair stand on end, it's a track that many of you have been waiting to get hold of in vinyl format. The trip continues in the hands of Suga 7, who offers a true taste of the Canary Islands on his classy track Hideaway, a sheer delight with the high tempos and playful basses so beloved of the Islanders.
We then move on to the B-side, which features an absolute gem of a sound by the duo Mutantbreakz. A musically elaborate track with quality touches and passages of guitar, piano and vocals, it grabs you right from the start of a sonic trip that will prepare you for the final denouement Raverman brings things to a close with the epic Sayonora and a slice of acid electro-trance. This striking ending rounds off the kind of record that doesn't come along every day.
Mastered by Simon Davey at the Exchange Vinyl in London.
Repress!
Tokyo Prose returns to The North Quarter for his first project since his acclaimed 2018 'Wild Grace' LP. Featuring his trademark ‘less is more’ aesthetics, this EP is a refined, confident progression of the Tokyo Prose sound. The title, ’Twelve Tones’, marks the musical intent of the Jazz-influenced project – which, by design, consists of uncompromising instrumentals. The exception that proves the rule is the Satl remix of 'Lift You Up', which features Steo, and closes out another stellar project by the Auckland native.
'Picture of Dub' is Deep & Heavy instrumental dub music inspired by the late 80's/early 90's UK digital sound laid down by Jah Shaka & other producers such as Manasseh, Dread & Fred, Ironworks, Disciples, Alpha & Omega, Jah Works & many others too many to mention...
The Dub Oracle is based in the Netherlands, he composed, played, programmed, arranged, mixed & produced all the music himself......further details still remain mystical..
Repress!
A year after his debut, Raleigh's Echo Brown, returns to The North Quarter for his sophomore EP “Midnight Static”; a 5-track tour-de-force showcasing his maturity as an artist. Echo Brown balances his signature hazy, lo-fi chords and clinical drum programming with weighty bass tones, as Midnight Static moves between lighter and darker moods with elegant ease. Guest appearances are handled by rising Manchester star K S R and The North Quarter boss Lenzman. Echo Brown's talent and growth is on full display on “Midnight Static” and it's become clear that he's an artist with an exciting new voice that needs to be heard.
a a1. Motions ft K S R
