Cerca:the move

Revision of new beats on the horizon
Every 20 years or so, certain musical movements come full circle. Young musicians are inspired by genres dating back two decades, channelling them through their modern sensibility. The legendary J Dilla’s Donuts album was released in 2006 and instantly marked a starting point for the work of musicians worldwide, laying the foundations especially for the beat scene in Los Angeles. A whole young generation of musicians brought up on the new, instrumental and abstract hip-hop has carried jazz into a new era. The four London-based musicians who make up Uniri have gone one step further by abandoning the idea of a jazz band and "bedroom production" in favour of collective composing, creating a new look at the new-beat aesthetics, framing it as a road novel set in an unspecified time and space.

Uniri translates as ‘one unified dream’ and is the key driving motto of the project conceived by Chiminyo (Cykada, Maisha), the band's founder and head honcho. The project materialised in his private studio, where he invited fellow jazz musicians Amane Tsuganami (Jorja Smith, Maisha), Al Macsween (Nubya Garcia, Gary Bartz, Kefaya) and Luke Wynter (Nubyan Twist, Golden Mean) to spontaneously compose together. Hence, despite this being the band's first album, it wouldn't be right to call them rookies. The result of Uniri's collaborative work is the psychedelic, rhythmic album Infinite Reflections, packed with cosmic and warm synths, which neatly balances hip-hop beat and jazz composition. It's safe to say this music is even more appealing when played live, although it's equally suited to the club dancefloor.

UK Jazz has become a permanent fixture in the London landscape, but also across Europe and the US. Today, the musicians who shape the new wave of jazz are drawing on more and more genres, reducing solo improvisation for the benefit of composition and increasingly drawing on influences from the beat scene. Among such formations are the British NOK Cultural Ensemble, the Polish Błoto, the Belgian ECHT!, and the Dutch Comité Hypnotisé. Uniri is part of this emerging yet already international trend, creating an entirely fresh aesthetic that echoes artists such as Flying Lotus, Samiyam, Dorian Concept, Ras G and Nosaj Things oriented around the Californian 'new beats generation' scene.

The title Infinite Reflections alludes to a phenomenon observable on the open sea or during intercontinental flights. Gazing at the horizon blurs the boundary between the ocean and the sky, forming an infinite palette of blue shades. This inspiration sparked an elusive musical narrative, navigating between a sea voyage and an astral journey, destination unknown.

Monika Enterprise welcomes a new act to her roster with Berlin based experimental pop duo Post Neo releasing their new EP. Individually known as Nicole Luján and Pauline Weh, both musicians pursued their own solo projects before forming the duo Post Neo. On “Alles Immer Wieder” they combine as more than the sum of their parts to produce 5 songs of dark and powerful experimental avant- pop which is released as an exclusive 10” vinyl.

Pauline and Nicole met making music in Berlin during the summer of 2019 and kept collaborating online, until Nicole moved to Berlin in 2022. The musicians' different musical backgrounds result in diverse intuitions which complement each other perfectly when producing tracks together - Nicole was more into synthesis and electronic music production in Mexico City while Pauline received a classical piano education in Munich before she started doing electronic music.

In 2022 they released their first EP, «do you?», which consists of five tracks that were composed and produced as an inter-continental project between Berlin and Mexico City. In autumn of that year Post Neo received a residency at Sternhagen Gut from Musicboard Berlin where they caught the ear of monika head Gudrun Gut who was so taken with their compelling mix of techno beats and dreamy melancholic atmospheres she immediately signed them to her label.

The EP’s opening and title track “Alles Immer Wieder” (trans. Everything again and again) is a reflection on repetition and monotony as transcendence in the form of sleep, dreams, work and other daily cycles. The rhythmic juxtapositions and tempo shifts make for a captivating opening track. “Ganz Schön Was Los” (trans. A lot happening) has a proper synthwave electro pop vibe while the vocals lend a little light hearted humanity to the otherwise calculated computer music aesthetic. With its fusion of synthesizers and drum machines track B1 “Die Verwirrung” (trans. The confusion) brings a sense of melancholic doom. The flow of B2 “Wenn Wir Wüssten” (trans. If we knew what would happen) is a future-focused reflection on the unidirectional movement of time's arrow. Sampled harmonies and instrumental breakdowns make it possibly the most emotive track on the EP. And the record comes to a close with “Dreh dich” (trans. Turn around) which lures us in with delicate vocals before menacing synthesizer sounds blast us into oblivion. It is an invitation to turn the record over and start listening from the beginning again.

Post Neo’s music is steeped in minimalism: at once managing to be hugely expressive and evocative while still retaining a sense of privacy and mystery for the listener to decrypt. Like all great pop music their songs are musically captivating while also conveying a strong message. As their band name suggests, Post Neo are essentially futuristic and with live shows at some of Berlin’s hottest underground venues under their belt as well as in their hometowns of Munich and Mexico City, plus the release of „Alles Immer Wieder“ in 2024, great things are in store for the electronic pop duo.

The latest in a prolific string of solo and collaborative releases by James Rushford, Turzets collects a pair of new works primarily created and recorded last year while the Australian composer-performer was in residence at La Becque, an art center on Lake Geneva in Switzerland. The side-length piece "Fallaway Whisk" explores hesitation in its many forms_reticence of speech, sonic restraint_using live, abstracted translations of text from English to German against a lush and swelling soundscape. On the flip side, "Quire" is a work in ten movements influenced by the composer's study of late medieval repertoire on portative organ, weaving the instrument's woodsy interlocking melodies with angelic Yamaha CS-80 synth sweeps and stuttering glitches. The combined effort is somewhat a departure for Rushford, working in traces of Klaus Schulze, concrete poetry, and ars subtilior into a precise and ever-unfolding tapestry. Rushford's work draws from a wide range of collagist and improvisatory musical languages, staking out an idiosyncratic stylistic space that has been variously described as "electro-acoustic experimentation with a beating heart" (Boomkat) and "haunted Jacobean ASMR" (The Wire). Investigating the creases, cracks, and folds in traditions ranging from early music to New Age, Rushford's work subtly exaggerates seemingly liminal aspects such as atmosphere and the bodily presence of the performer until these take on a weight equal to musical elements such as pitch, rhythm, and timbre. In recent years, Rushford's solo work has been guided by his theorization of sonic images, particularly the shadow, which has inspired pieces as diverse as an hour-long companion to Federico Mompou's 1959-67 piano cycle Música Callada (2016) and a sumptuous translation of the play of light across flat surfaces into synthetic sound (The Lake from the Louvers, Shelter Press, 2021). His long-standing performance practice for piano, portative organ, synthesizers, and electroacoustic devices, is constantly infused with a delicacy of touch and a harmonic sensibility in which unorthodox tunings coexist with influences from fin de siècle Impressionism, the twentieth century avant-garde, and popular musical structures. He has worked with a vast range artists including Klaus Lang, Annea Lockwood, David Behrman, Tashi Wada, Haroon Mirza, Dennis Cooper, Ora Clementi, crys cole, Oren Ambarchi, Kassel Jaeger, Will Guthrie, and Graham Lambkin. He has performed as Golden Fur (with Sam Dunscombe and Judith Hamann) and Food Court (with Joe Talia and Francis Plagne).

Just when you thought you had Kasper Bjørke figured out he comes back with another great musical surprise. His new album Puzzles, which will be released April 5th on hfn music, follows two recent collaborative EPs on Live at Robert Johnson and Mule Musiq as well as his second Kasper Bjørke Quartet neoclassical/ambient album Mother on Kompakt.
Puzzles is Kasper’s love letter to the sound of early 2000s New York - merged with his Scandinavian sense of producing songs that goes beyond conventional club music; combining disco tinged instrumentations mixed with elements of 80s funk, jazz and contemporary pop songwriting, creating something familiar yet, something very fresh and innovative at the same time.
The album includes collaborations with a wide range of musicians and vocalists. From California based indie-disco troubadour Woolfy (DFA, Rong, Permanent Vacation etc.) to the Icelandic dream-folk trio Systur aka Sísý Ey (who also featured on Kasper’s 2014 single Apart, where the Michael Mayer remix became a timeless club anthem), as well as other longtime collaborators and artist friends: Toby Ernest, Jacob Bellens, WhoMadeWho’s Tomas Høffding on bass, Posh Isolation affiliate Frederik Valentin on guitar and the young, rising jazz star Oilly Wallace on saxophone and flute. Essentially, the majority of Puzzles is played and recorded live, including the drums by Rasmus Littauer (School of X, MØ). Many of the songs emerged from chord progressions written during studio sessions between Kasper and Toby - which Kasper then produced into a colourful and effective album, rooted in an expressive live feeling far from programmed patterns.
Puzzles is a new step for Kasper as a producer and artist, showcasing his ability to move and flow freely between genres and expressions, however still deeply rooted in his love and affection for the classic disco groove - which is only natural after more than two decades as an active DJ.
Another piece has been added to the musical puzzle of Kasper Bjørke

MAGNOLIA PARK, the Florida based genre-bending alternative rock band who play more than 200 shows a year, are releasing their third album, entitled HALLOWEEN MIXTAPE II. The band"s following has grown substantially in the past year (with over 710k TikTok followers/63M views, 187k Instagram followers), as they move from opening slots on tours with everyone from Sum 41 to Simple Plan, to sold out headline tours and top slots at festivals including When We Were Young (LV /Oct 23), Reading / Leeds Festival 2023 (UK). It"s no secret that Epitaph Records has been the breeding ground for some of the most legendary bands in existence and MAGNOLIA PARK carry on in that tradition. Since forming in Orlando, Florida, in 2019, the five-piece act-vocalist Joshua Roberts, guitarists Tristan Torres and Freddie Criales, drummer Joe Horsham and keyboardist Vincent Ernst-have released two albums, three EPs, and a handful of singles, bringing their upbeat brand of alt-rock to the masses. While MAGNOLIA PARK"s music is at times lighthearted, the ethnically diverse band are also serious about spreading a message of inclusivity and inspiring other kids like them to start bands as a form of creative expression. "Our goal when we"re together is to make sure the next generation doesn"t have to face as much racial backlash for being a rock band," Torres explains. "In the industry, people look at us a certain way and try to impose things on us-and we want to make sure the next generation of rock bands don"t have to go through what we"ve been through."

FYEAR is a Montréal-based ensemble led by composer Jason Sharp and poet/writer Kaie Kellough that fuses spoken word into genre-bending compositions for electronics, two voices, two drummers, and processed saxophone, pedal steel guitar, and violins. FYEAR incorporates drone, out-jazz, post-classical, ambient metal, avant-rock, and modular synthesis in a sonic and stylistic palette the opposite of collage or pastiche: the FYEAR ensemble integrates a unique and unified sound/aesthetic while traversing adventurous and variegated terrain. Kellough’s poetic materiality conveys acute political-existential themes, alternating between declarative, meditative, and cut-up/semiotic manifestations. This self-titled debut album is a supremely innovative 40-minute multi-movement work; an ardent mission statement that mines the interzone where Saul Williams, Moor Mother/Irreversible Entanglements, Shabazz Palaces, Zulu, Angel Bat Dawid, Damon Locks/Black Monument Ensemble, Shabaka Hutchings, and Matana Roberts are all iconoclastic neighbours. FYEAR melds improvisation and composition, traditional notation and graphic scoring, electronic and acoustic instrumentation, lucid recitation and abstract vocalization, balancing intensive structure with an expansive sense of exploration. Through several years of collaboration, development, workshops, commissions and performances conducted by Sharp and Kellough, their wordsound practice has culminated in this nine-piece group which also features poet/writer/activist Tawhida Tanya Evanson (present director of the Banff Centre Spoken Word program) violinists Josh Zubot and Jesse Zubot (Tanya Tagaq, Darius Jones, Joshua Hyslop), pedal steel player Joe Grass (Tim Hecker, Patrick Watson), drummers Stefan Schneider (Bell Orchestre) and Tommy Crane (The Mingus Big Band, Aaron Parks), with live visual typographics from Kevin Yuen-Kit Lo, who also designs the album art. Propelled by the vocal interactions of Kellough and Evanson, FYEAR interrogates our present and future post-capitalist polycrisis, invoking collective anxieties, emotions, and critiques. FYEAR re-poetizes our constructed, manipulated social/conceptual realities, re-inscribing questions about the future by setting them to a wildly dynamic and evocative temporal soundtrack: Who does it belong to? How will it be shared? How do we project a collective future into the contested challenges of climate change, global migration, wealth gaps, safety/precarity, identity/affinity, segmentation / segregation, all our seemingly irreconcilable histories and forward visions for the world we dream to inhabit

A live act renowned for their free improvised performances, BIOS have markedly changed their approach since the debut release Fluorescent Minerals five years ago. To serve as a reliable basis for improvisation, the duo began to play with prearranged themes. Far from being limiting, on Powers of Ten these foundations become structures that are as full of change as they are playful. A single track can seem like a medley moving through sections of drama // reverie // fun without dwelling too long on either so as not to be at the expense of the whole. Fractured yet coherent, these emotions are professed in utmost seriousness and also half in jest.

Powers of Ten also marks a change in sound >> a new prominence given to rhythm and melody. Both members of BIOS claim not to listen to dance music much, but incidentally what they achieve on their new record is a kind of evermoving anxious dub. Its energy endures even after the rhythms and motifs dissolve in distant soundscapes, so that those too seem genuinely kinetic.

If the listener decides to follow this movement, they will be led on a journey into the record, framed and imagined as a quest through parallel variations of one environment. Powers of Ten is a decidedly adventurous album >> a spatial and hypnotic work of music composed by graphic designer Jozef Tušan and visual artist Boris Sirka, and the eighth release by the label Weltschmerzen.

'Mei Semones' sweetly evocative blend of jazz, bossa nova and math-y indie rock is notonly a way for her to find solace in her favorite genres, but is an intuitive means ofcatharsis. "Blending everything that I like together and trying to make something new -that's what feels most natural to me," says the 23-year-old Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter and guitarist. "It's what feels most true to who I am as an artist." Plinking guitar tones and asymmetrical time signatures exemplify her forays intoangular indie rock more now than ever before, especially on her debut Bayonet Recordssingle "Wakare no Kotoba"_its wide-interval arpeggios in odd meters being some ofthe most technically difficult guitar work Mei has ever implemented in her songwriting.Translated to "parting words'' in English, the self-described "anti-love song" serves as afarewell to a toxic friendship, complete with orchestral swells and crashing guitars. Originally from Ann Arbor, Michigan, Semones began playing music at a young age,starting out on piano at age four before moving to electric guitar at age eleven. Afterplaying jazz guitar in high school, she went on to study guitar performance with a jazzfocus at Berklee College of Music. College is where she met her current bandmates,including string players Noah Leong and Claudius Agrippa, whose respective viola andviolin add softness and multidimensionality to Mei's intricate guitar work. After releasinga slew of singles and an EP in 2022, coinciding with her move to New York City, Mei andher band have since gone on to collaborate with post-bossa balladeer John Roseboroand embark on their first-ever tour with the melodic rock outfit Raavi. Semones chronicles infatuation, devotion, and vulnerability in her songs, complete withsweeping strings, virtuosic guitar-playing and heartfelt lyrics sung in both English andJapanese, that have all become part of her sonic trademark: ornately catchy, genre-fusing compositions serving as the backdrop to tender lyrics touching on theuniversalities of human emotion.

11:68PM returns to What If It Works with a 4-track EP dubbed wide screen narrow mind.

You were handed a myriad of tools before, but these are designed as perception devices discerning between simulation and reality. Even if you can't tell the difference you might sense it. Confront yourself with what you are handed, a sonic cross section of sun drenched synth contours and sub surface movements. This is a real-time report on inner screen time, carved out of the depths of the human mind.

11:68PM's second runny faced outing on What If It Works is pure technology for a reality that does not yet exist, you must decide for yourself how to proceed.

repress !

The birth of rock steady portrayed in a consummate collection from the vaults of Federal Records

Most of them drawn directly from Ken Khouri's master tapes this miscellany of cool rock steady includes marvellous music from the originator of the genre, the one and only Lynn Taitt, alongside an array of Jamaica's greatest singers and vocal harmony group

American rhythm & blues fervour, boosted by a multitude of sound systems playing 78rpm records on increasingly larger sets, gripped Jamaica from the late forties onwards but, towards the end of the decade, the American audience began to move towards a somewhat softer sound. The driving rhythm & blues discs became increasingly hard to find and the more progressive Jamaican sound system operators, realising that they now needed to make their own music, turned to Kingston's jazz and big band musicians to record one off custom cut discs. These were not initially intended for commercial release but designed solely for sound system play on acetate or 'dub plates' as they would later be termed. These 'specials' soon began to eclipse the popularity of American rhythm & blues and the demand for their locally produced music proved so great that the sound system operators began to release their music commercially on vinyl and became record producers. Clement Coxsone' Dodd, Duke Reid 'The Trojan' and Prince Buster, who operated his Voice Of The People Sound System, were among the first to establish themselves in this new role and the nascent Jamaican recording industry now went into overdrive.

In 1954 Ken Khouri had numbered among the first far sighted entrepreneurs to produce mento records with local musicians (mento is Jamaica's original indigenous music) before progressing to opening Jamaica's first record manufacturing plant. Three years later he moved his operation to Foreshore Road (later renamed Marcus Garvey Drive) where, with the assistance of the inestimable Graeme Goodall, he updated and upgraded his recording studio. The importance of this enterprising move was critical to the development of Jamaican music and its influence both profound and far reaching.

"It was Ken Khouri's Federal Recording Studio, the womb that gave birth to the talented writers, artists and musicians that gave Jamaica its musical identity." Prince Buster

Federal Records was not only the place for the sound system men to record their music but it was also where they had their records manufactured and, consequently, the company enjoyed a near total monopoly on recording and record pressing in Kingston. In 1963 Ken Khouri sold his one track board to Clement 'Coxsone' Dodd, who established Studio One, and Ken imported the first stereo equipment to Jamaica and Federal began making stereo records. The following year WIRL (West Indies Records Limited) opened but the competition served to drive the company on to higher heights. Ken Khouri continued to work on his own productions and, in 1966, the seven inch release of Hopeton Lewis' 'Take It Easy', recorded under the guidance of Trinidadian guitarist Lynn Taitt, ushered in the rock steady era.

These two essential albums showcase a stunning selection of well known hits, and not so well known rarities, from the vast Federal catalogue. All tracks have been transferred direct from the master tapes and assembled with the invaluable assistance of Ken Khouri's son, Paul Khouri, who generously gave Dub Store unlimited access to the Federal tape vaults. The extensive liner notes feature extracts from extensive interviews with Paul Khouri whose knowledgeable recollections of working on Marcus Garvey Drive, not only as a producer but as an engineer and musician, are illuminating and educational. Both sets present an insight into the birth and growth of Federal Records and the Jamaican recording industry and are essential to an understanding of the real roots of reggae music.

* 50th anniversary reissue of the ground-breaking set, originally released on Charisma in 1974.
* A record that at the time straddled the world between `Pub Rock’ scene and the then seemingly new sound of reggae music, at least to UK years.
* Released hot-on-the-heels of the Wailers’ `Catch a Fire’ and `Burnin’’ when “reggae fever” was starting to take root in the UK.
* G.T. Moore had previously been part of the legendary folk group Heron, before becoming the first white musician to make any serious attempt to make authentic reggae.
* The eponymously titled debut set from the Reggae Guitars featured session musician John `Rabbit’ (who has worked with Wailers, Free and The Who) and was mixed by Tom Platt who engineered the `Catch a Fire’ album.
* The set mostly consists of originals with the exception of covers of tracks by Bob Dylan, Heptones and Diana Ross.

2024 Repress

Brazil-born, Barcelona-based DJ and producer ANNA has garnered international accolades from Mixmag, BBC Radio 1 and others with recent releases on the likes of Diynamic and Turbo Recordings. But her skill set reaches far beyond the studio realm as 2017 marked her busiest year to date. Beyond a whirlwind of festival appearances (including Movement and Awakenings), ANNA had the opportunity to perform at iconic clubs such as
DC-10 and Fabric.

This passion for the dancefloor was fuelled by a youth spent in the DJ booth of her father's night club - and it now leads to her first outing with Kompakt:
SPEICHER 101 carries the DNA of both the studio head and the club dweller, crafting two propulsive, massive belters out of simple, but effective ingredients. HIDDEN BEAUTIES dominates the A-side with raw bass power and sizzling drops of acid, while the flipside brings you THE DANSANT, one of these spiralling minimalistic techno bangers that just seem to grow indefinitely. The release is also a personal milestone for ANNA, as Kompakt's records have always been a staple in her sets: I have so many
records from Kompakt, I've had them since I started, and even though I played so many different styles through the years, I can safely say that Kompakt has always been in my crate.' Her very own release on the label, however, seemed like a distant dream', she says. Turns out it wasn't that distant after all - thanks to her knack for seriously catchy techno with a punch, nurtured by hard work and persistent focus. A perfect fit for Speicher.

Originally released on Milestone in 1969, the hard-bop cult classic Power to the People finds legendary saxophone virtuoso Joe Henderson soaring in the intersection of thematic development and ecstatically pure sound, joined by a titanic rhythm section featuring Mike Lawrence, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter and Jack DeJohnette. This Jazz Dispensary reissue was mastered from the original analogue tapes by Kevin Gray, pressed on 180-gram vinyl at RTI, and comes packaged in a gatefold tip-on jacket. US import.

The identity of Deep Drive comes in large part from the way Zummo moves through the world. Using his smartphone, he records daily fragments: of daydreams and conversations, signage and slogans, moments that that strike him as insightful, odd, amusing, thereby creating a sonic collage of rhythms, melodies and voices. His deep baritone is imbued with laconic humour, and Deep Drive's track titles riff off his messaging. "Prepare For Docking" refers to the Staten Island ferry and the spectacle of humdrum city movements, but also suggests the nautical deep or even extraterrestrial life, with otherworldliness woven deep into the sound. "It's not a recital," says Zummo, of this way of working, "it's a movie." Deep Drive, then, is an album about the totality of the artistic process, seen from a generous and honest vantage point. The record was recorded in Copenhagen alongside Mabe Fratti, Sebastian K, Peter Broderick and Joseph Carvell

The 8-member strong brass band from the windy streets of Amsterdam are back with their fifth studio effort reflecting on their over a decade-long career of bringing the best that instrumental brass music has to offer. With their newest album, they claim their righteous throne as stalwarts of the new European wave of brass bands making waves on the continent.

Containing 9 tracks of top-notch quality brass music from a collective of musicians, friends, and renegades that pursue a quest of innovating of what we know instrumental brass music to be. Gallowstreet is considered a reference point for the (future) sound of European brass bands that mix a multitude of styles into a new sound, whilst simultaneously (re)anchoring the notion of brass bands in its counter-cultural and communal roots. Distinct from its American counterpart, whilst paying homage to the legacy

Janis Joplin wouldn't be denied on Pearl. The powerhouse vocalist had kicked her addictions, teamed with a stupendous band, and partnered with a producer that knew how to best showcase her voice on record. She came to the sessions with an armload of astonishing songs, and a burst of creative energy that mirrored her rejuvenated emotional state and undeniable spirit. You can hear it on every note of the 1971 record. Ranked #135 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list, Pearl sold more than four million copies and stands as the first female rock superstar's definitive studio work.

Mastered from the original master tapes, cut at 45RPM, and pressed on dead-quiet vinyl at RTI, the iconic audiophile label's reissue takes Joplin and Co.'s stupendous performances to newly transcendent levels. Boasting a fidelity that further magnifies the singer's passion and producer Paul A. Rothchild's clear production, this pressing benefits from increased spaciousness, dynamics, and openness afforded by the wider grooves. Joplin's husky, strong, and penetrating singing has never sounded so vibrant or made deeper connections. Warm, organic, and free of any artificial ceilings, this version lets you step into Sunset Sound Recorders with the performers, such is the degree of realism and authenticity. Indeed, few, if any words, describe Joplin better than "authentic," and her spirit comes to life on this 2LP set in positively transcendent fashion. Like its headliner, this pressing leaves it all on the floor.

While Joplin's electrifying vocal prowess is universally lauded – she's recognized as the greatest white female blues singer the world has ever seen – her mix of compassion, confidence, and charm play as large a role in attracting listeners and keeping them ensnared more than four decades after her tragic death. And on Pearl, she burrows into deeper stylistic veins, teasing out sides of her persona and craft she'd never previously displayed. Her signature desperation, sadness, and vulnerability remain – the harrowing, lonely wail that begins her soul-ravishing take on Jerry Ragovoy's "Cry Baby," underlined with a Wall of Sound-like piano accompaniment, could only come from a person severely scarred by loss and disappointment – yet Joplin also reveals a sense of humour and beatnik innocence that helped propel the album to the top of the charts for nine straight weeks.

Playfully introduced as "a song of great social and political import," the acapella "Mercedes Benz" reflects Joplin's throaty timbre as well as her enhanced, sunnier mood. Similarly, her definitive read of Kris Kristofferson's "Me and Bobby McGee" signals a laidback demeanour and a move into country strains, with the delivery as natural, carefree, and loving as any in the rock canon. As she does throughout the record, Joplin invests her all in the narrative so that there's no line between the performer and the song. She makes everything on Pearl feel autobiographical, and by extension, gut-wrenchingly honest, and devastatingly intimate. Joplin achieved these feats often during her brief career, yet there are differences on Pearl, chiefly among them her balance of impeccable timing and raw emotion. Heart-aching anthems such as "A Woman Left Lonely" offer both grit and control, subtlety and attack, resulting in cathartic releases distinguished with originality, personality, and instinctual passion.

Pearl remains Joplin's finest hour, with credit also owed to the Full Tilt Boogie Band – the only group she ever considered to be her own – as well as the Doors alum that sat behind the boards. Joplin and Rothchild both admitted to sharing a common bond and understanding, with the latter inheriting the role of teacher and Joplin, a willing student ready to discover how she could use her voice in new, more expressive ways. The fruits of the pair's labours fill Pearl, be it the guardedly optimistic "Get It While You Can" or assertive, fleet-footed "Move Over."

Experienced in the new light brought to fore by this definitive Mobile Fidelity edition, Joplin's swan song is no longer about a masterpiece that its creator never lived to see finished. Rather, it's about a once-in-a-lifetime vocalist realizing mammoth potential and wringing passion out of every note. It's not a tragedy, but a triumph. Get it while you can.

Out of print as a stand-alone release for decades since its original 1974 issue. Produced by George Harrison, Shankar Family & Friends is an almost-forgotten masterwork – an emotional and sonic pact between two like-minded souls to both advance their spiritually minded bond and unite musical styles, cultures, and sounds in wondrous fashion Contributions from Ringo Starr, David Bromberg, Billy Preston, Nicky Hopkins, Jim Keltner, Klaus Voorman, and a host of virtuosic Indian musicians add to a diverse album that melds Eastern and Western traditions; encompasses jazz, funk, bhajan, Indian, and pop; and represents the spirit and breadth of Harrison's Dark Horse Records imprint.

Memorable contributions from an A-list of American and English musicians — Ringo Starr (drums), David Bromberg (electric guitar), Billy Preston (organ), Nicky Hopkins (piano), Jim Keltner (drums), Klaus Voorman (bass), Robert Margouleff (Moog), Malcolm Cecil (Moog), Tom Scott (saxophone) included — add to the richness of a set that melds Eastern and Western traditions. These “names” mesh with a host of Indian virtuosos — Alla Rakha, Ashish Khan, Kamala Chakravarty, Hariprasad Chaurasia included — who turn Shankar Family & Friends into a journey laced with percussive, string, and vocal components that aren’t soon forgotten.

Throughout, Shankar Family & Friends remains true to its title — a mesmerizing record named to reflect the group participation approach of its creators. The idea started when Shankar told Harrison about a ballet he wrote. The Beatle, who first met Shankar in June 1966 — roughly a year after Harrison became interested in Indian music after overhearing it in a restaurant while filming Help! — immediately was convinced they needed to record it. Harrison’s staunch admiration of Shankar and serious approach to Eastern styles are reflected throughout the album.

Indeed, for Harrison, Shankar Family & Friends marks the culmination of a years-long effort to master the sitar, study Hinduism, and incorporate elements such as drones, unusual chords, and expressive picking into his own songs. The seeds of this unique collaboration can be heard in Beatles works such as “Norwegian Wood,” “Love to You,” and “Within You Without You.” Both musicians were also fresh from performing at the 1971 Concert for Bangladesh shows. Yet Shankar Family & Friends remains entirely unique in each visionary artist’s history — and ultimately, led to a collaborative tour Harrison and Shankar staged across North America.

Encompassing jazz, funk, bhajan, Indian, and pop, Shankar Family & Friends is thematically split into halves. Side One reveals Shankar’s uncanny ear for melody — even when applied to Western forms. The lead-off “I Am Missing You,” the first single ever released by Dark Horse Records and reportedly the first pop composition Shankar completed, underscores his skills as a composer and global ambassador. Beautifully sung across three octaves by his sister-in-law, Lakshmi Shankar, the devotional song features multiple drummers and production that mirrors Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound approach. Harrison plays autoharp and guitar; Starr sits in on drums; Scott handles flute and soprano saxophone. It’s the inviting start of a musical adventure teeming with color, majesty, and mysticism.

A second version of the track — designated with a “(Reprise)” tag — appears minutes later. Unfolding in different ways, it follows a folk ballad structure stitched together with Indian instrumentation. Here, according to Shankar, the musicians “attempted to convey the sounds and atmosphere of Vrindavan, the ancient holy place where Krishna grew up.” Both renditions speak to the cross-continental fusion that came so naturally to Harrison and Shankar, whose oversight on the side’s other vocal tracks ensures listeners familiar with Western methods gain easy access to the hypnotic allure of his native country’s music.

Nowhere is this more evident than on Dream, Nightmare & Dawn (Music for a Ballet), the side-long piece that served as the genesis for Shankar Family & Friends. Launched with an airy overture and unfolding across three movements, the mostly wordless suite features everything from call-and-response interplay and classical lyricism to uptempo dance figures, stacked rhythms, and intoxicating grooves. Blurring the lines between contemporary and traditional, and Western and Eastern, the inspirational work is the exclamation point on a record that defined “world music” well before the term became co-opted as a catch-all genre.

Im letzten Jahrzehnt hat die New Yorker Komponistin und Produzentin Kelly Moran ihren Status als bahnbrechende Figur der modernen Musik gefestigt, indem sie die traditionell-klassische Denkrichtung des Klaviers mit einem zeitgenössisch-experimentellen Ansatz herausforderte. Es folgten Kollaborationen mit ähnlich visionären Künstler*innen wie Oneohtrix Point Never, FKA Twigs, Margaret Leng Tan, Kelsey Lu und Yves Tumor. Morans experimentelle Klavierkompositionen, die hypnotisierende Texturen und dramatische Spannungsbögen zaubern, werden regelmäßig in die Klassik-, Avantgarde- und Metal-Jahresbestenlisten aufgenommen, so wie die jüngsten Meisterwerke "Bloodroot" (2017) und "Ultraviolet" (2018), auf denen sie erweiterte Klaviertechniken erforscht, u.a. das von John Cage inspirierte, präparierte Klavier. Kellys neues Album "Moves In The Field" ist eine Reihe von Duetten für sich und das Yamaha Disklavier, einer technologisch fortschrittlichen Version des Pianos. Die eingesetzten Disklaviere sind in der Lage, durch intensive Feinabstimmung und programmierbare Dynamik das menschliche Spiel perfekt nachzubilden und dienen als Kontrast zu Morans Streben nach einem Gleichgewicht zwischen technischer Perfektion und emotionalem Ausdruck in ihren Auftritten und Kompositionen.

Die atemberaubende Orchestermusik der Final Symphony-Konzertprogramme erscheint auf Vinyl. Vol. 1 beinhaltet prächtige Arrangements, symphonische Dichtungen, eine komplette Symphonie und ein stürmische Klavierkonzert, basierend auf unvergesslichen Partituren des Hauptkomponisten Nobuo Uematsu aus der beliebten Videospielserie Final Fantasy, die 1987 begann und bis heute 16 Teile veröffentlichte. Die Aufnahmen erfolgten 2014 in den Abbey Road Studios mit dem London Symphony Orchestra und der Pianistin Katharina Treutler. Schwarzes 180g Triple-Vinyl.