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Earning early support from BBC Radio 6 Music and BBC Introducing Sussex, Soft Top have been marked as a compelling new voice. Across the full span of 'Gathering Dust', Goodall utilises the ensemble's orchestral breadth to transform the album's concept into a vivid, widescreen dreamscape. While the subject matter flows between heavy themes, the arrangements remain lush and buoyant, ensuring the record never sinks into melodrama. 'Gathering Dust' is a strange, shimmering beauty; pairing the harmonic complexity of 70s jazz-pop with a raw, modern vulnerability that feels strikingly personal.

Soul Jazz Records’ ‘Calypso – Musical Poetry in the Caribbean’ was first issued in 2014 and has been out of print for nearly 10 years. On its release ‘Calypso’ was voted one of the year’s best 50 reissues in Rolling Stone magazine and received glowing reviews in Pitchfork, The Guardian, Songlines and many more. This new edition has been fully remastered and comes as a one-off limited-edition double vinyl pressing on translucent green vinyl, complete with bespoke inners featuring extensive sleevenotes, notes on all the artists and songs featured, and original artwork and photography. The album is also available in a new card-edition CD package, also with complete notes and text.

Featuring Lord Kitchener, The Mighty Viper, Count Zebra, Lord Flea, Lord Hummingbird, King Fighter, Lord Growler, Lord Byron, Lord Ivanhoe and other members of Calypso’s aristocracy and aristocrats, the album features the music of Calypso in its many styles. Calypso is one of the most exciting and enduring forms of musical expression that first emerged at the beginning of the 20th century – swinging, persuasive rhythms, brilliantly expressive melodies, and lyrics of great humour, wisdom and wit. Here you will find music from Trinidad, birthplace of Calypso, other Caribbean islands including Jamaica and the Bahamas, as well as sounds from the style’s subsequent onwards journey including Britain, Panama and the United States. Calypsonian songs play out a role in society similar to the storytelling Griots of West Africa (and the corresponding music of Kaiso); with their own tales about popular and incredible news items, modern life, local politics all mixed up with sexual innuendo, one-upmanship, comedy and more. At its source, Calypso is intricately and inextricably bound to the social history of Trinidad and its myriad of traditions, beliefs, folklore and fables. As the music spread around the world, both from the diaspora of many of its performers as well as its commercial success, the subjects of songs similarly took on local topics.The most notable singer of Calypso in England was the Trinidadian Lord Kitchener, who came to Britain in 1948 on HMS Empire Windrush, along with fellow Calypsonians Lord Beginner and Lord Woodbine.

First time reissue of JP / US free jazz rarity.

The 1970s were Marion Brown’s most searching decade, a period during which he sought to move beyond the free jazz of the previous era and find more personal approaches to structuring improvisation and composition. After leaving New York for Europe in 1967, Brown began reshaping his music into what he described as “a more deliberate kind of music that had more structure to it,” pacing it so that moods and modes could develop over time. Albums such as In Sommerhausen, Afternoon of a Georgia Faun, Geechee Recollections, and Sweet Earth Flying trace this evolution: rhythmic structures moved to the foreground, harmony receded, and composition became a matter of orchestrating interlocking rhythmic parts as one would polyphonic lines.

Released in 1976, Awofofora is an overlooked but crucial entry in that sequence. At the time, its use of funk and reggae beats, electric guitars, and grooves drawn from contemporary Black popular music led some to misread it as a jazz-rock detour. In retrospect, it is entirely consistent with Brown’s methodology. As he admired in the Art Ensemble of Chicago, the stimulus comes from within the community. Here Brown filters Afro-Caribbean rhythms and funk through his own sensibility, abstracting their structural qualities rather than adopting surface style.

“La Placita,” making its first recorded appearance, layers distinct rhythmic phrases in a manner reminiscent of African drum ensembles, over which Brown and trumpeter Ambrose Jackson spin extended improvisations. The standard “Flamingo” is reshaped through diasporic rhythm and lyrical soloing, while “Pepi’s Tempo” and “Mangoes” harness crisp funk and reggae grooves to generate what Brown called a “manifestation of community” through collective improvisation. Even the overdubbed solo feature “And Then They Danced” reflects his structural thinking, ingeniously re-voicing a duet composition for two alto saxophones performed by one player.

This was the only recording by a short-lived band that briefly polarized audiences during festival appearances in 1976. Yet Brown consistently sought unity across change: different sounds, same principles — rhythm as structure, melody as architecture, collective improvisation, and above all, the primacy of tone. Awofofora stands not as a departure, but as a vivid synthesis of the elements he had been refining since the late 1960s, its grooves and golden alto lines conveying a sound drawn, in his words, “from life and from the world of experience.”

"All the tracks on this release come from a live concert at Sharmanka, a beautiful and unique museum of kinetic sculptures in Glasgow, and throughout the record, the sounds of the sculptures moving and emitting noises are incorporated into the music performed. The four pieces presented are entirely improvised. There was no discussion beforehand of what instruments or what approach would be taken, and each piece evolved as a musical negotiation as the performers individually made choices about what instruments to play and how to support and meet each other within the unfolding musical narrative. While Macdonald and Ferlaino both share a lifetime of work with their chosen primary instrument, the saxophone, they also share a passion for exploring other instruments and objects for their sonic and socio-creative potential. This record foregrounds both these aspects of their work: they use saxophones, but also incorporate bells, toys, bagpipes, accordions, percussion instruments and voice.
"Raymond MacDonald is a saxophonist and composer with an extensive career in music, cross-disciplinary arts and academia. He has played on and released over 100 albums, toured and broadcast worldwide and has composed music for film, television, theatre, radio and art installations. He is a founding member of the Glasgow Improvisers Orchestra, and his work is informed by a view of improvisation as a social, collaborative, and uniquely creative process that provides opportunities to develop new ways of engaging musically.
"Christian Ferlaino is an Italian saxophonist, bagpipe player, improviser, composer and ethnomusicologist. He composes for ensembles of improvisers, both from the jazz and improvised music scene, as well as for contemporary music ensembles. His work explores the relationships between composition and improvisation, and the expressive potential of improvised music. His musical research also focuses on creatively engaging with the sonic and musical realm of Calabria, with special attention to its performing techniques and approach to sound and music generation."

Moving Images is a collaborative album by composers Frank Maston and Greg Foat, and marks the inaugural release on Magic Hollow, the new imprint founded by Daniel O'Sullivan. Rooted firmly in the tradition of classic library music, the album draws from the deep, elegant end of the form: vintage keyboards, analogue synthesis, drum machines, and melodic economy, realised with clarity, warmth, and restraint. Recorded in February 2025 at Ritmo Studios in Leysin, Switzerland, high in the Alps, Moving Images unfolds as a suite of finely balanced cues, defined by restraint, texture, and a discerning sense of tone.Swiss bassist Elie Ghersinu features prominently throughout the album, his rich and fluid bass tone providing a continuous anchor. The record draws inspiration from the golden age of European library music, channeling the spirit of De Wolfe and Bruton releases such as Alan Hawkshaw's Frontiers Of Science, the Push Button albums by Karl Jenkins and Mike Ratledge, Edmondo Giuliani's refined orchestrations, and Alessandro Alessandroni's Romance and Drama for Coloursound. Rather than pastiche, Moving Images internalises the discipline and elegance of these recordings, translating their grammar into a contemporary context. Maston Frank Maston's work occupies a space where pop sophistication, orchestral writing, and library traditions intersect. His seminal album Tulips established a distinctive voice defined by melodic confidence and meticulous arrangement, while Panorama, composed for the KPM library, placed him firmly within the lineage of modern composers revitalising the classic library form.Maston's music is characterized by melodic generosity and meticulous arrangement, resulting in work that is elegant, florid, and richly detailed. Greg Foat Greg Foat is a central figure in the contemporary resurgence of library-influenced music, known for his prolific output and deep engagement with the form. A virtuoso pianist, his work bridges jazz, soundtrack composition, and classic library aesthetics, often favouring analogue warmth, strong melodic identities, and ensemble interplay. Foat approaches library music as both a craft and a living language, practical, expressive, and open ended. Moving Images Together, Maston and Foat treat Moving Images as a shared vocabulary rather than a showcase. The album prioritises mood, utility, and suggestion, music designed to serve images and narratives while remaining richly satisfying in isolation. Magic Hollow Magic Hollow is a London based record label founded by composer Daniel O'Sullivan. The imprint is dedicated to contemporary works that engage with library music as a creative practice rather than a fixed genre.Magic Hollow represents a parallel compositional practice in which the sonic self-portrait gives way to openness, economy, and concision.

With Gregor Huebner (violin, electronics) and Veit Huebner (bass, electronics), a vibrant musical dialogue unfolds between two brothers. Using loop stations and live effects, the acclaimed jazz musicians create layered, almost orchestral soundscapes—both transparent and powerful, energetic yet deeply poetic. Their music thrives in the moment: lines are looped, transformed, and reshaped into virtuosic improvisations. Jazz blends with classical influences, grooves meet sonic experimentation, and delicate chamber-like passages erupt into dynamic outbursts. Original compositions, jazz standards, and newly interpreted classical works sound intimate yet powerful in the duo format. Known as two-thirds of the trio Berta Epple, the Huebner brothers now present themselves for the first time as a pure duo. The result is a distilled artistic essence of more than four decades of shared and individual stage experience, with electronics serving not as an effect but as a third musical voice.

the producer, multi-instrumentalist, DJ and record collector Gabriel Cyr AKA Teleseen releases 5th album 'The Emotional Life of Savages' via French imprint Goldmin Music.

African rhythms, Latin heat and otherworldly electronics collide like neurons, processed through a New York state of mind. The pancontinental sounds are mirrored in his own life, which has oscillated back and forth between various countries.

A jazz background combined with a love for house and techno are ingrained in the grooves. Also key is the samba, baile funk and MPB that inspired him while living in Rio de Janeiro, plus the sounds he reabsorbed on returning to NYC's club scene.

This wide range of influences spanning the global underground coalesces into a rich, vital and coherent whole. Warm and soulful, but also evoking an intoxicating, heady atmosphere, the hypnotic and ultra-rhythmic tracks subtly shift and build to fever pitch, due primarily to deft polyrhythmic drums and percussion - both played and sequenced.

"Working on this record I finally found myself able to manifest a certain sound I'd been hearing in my head for years, combining the rhythmic intensity of afro-house and afro-Brazilian music with the more cosmic sounds of Detroit and deep house", explains Cyr on his musical vision.

The gentle sundowner glow of 'Myrtle Avenue' with its textured synth waves and wandering Parrish-esque keys acts as a precursor to the potent nocturnal adventure to follow: 'Espelhos' captures a similar essence to Black Science Orchestra's classic 'Save Us (The Jam)', before the heat goes up and heads go down for the eastern-tinged, autotune-laden fire of 'Khalil'.

The album then intensifies further still on the percussion-heavy, big bottomed cosmic throb of 'Jaguar', whilst Brazilian flavour meets tech house rush on 'Fundos', before the party reaches its feverish close on the wiggling batucada- meets-tribal-house of 'Temporada De Seca'.

Born in the north eastern United States, as an adult Cyr has always been nomadic. He has sought to live and immerse himself in other cultures and absorb their sounds, but eventually always succumbs to the Big Apple's magnetic pull. Back home, a key inspirational catalyst for the album was the Brooklyn-based party Africainoir, where he's a resident DJ.

Alongside cutting his teeth producing illbient/hip hop and working as an engineer, he ran his own studio for period, before starting his own label Percepts, on which to release his dub techno style debut. He has since released on 100% Silk, Boomarm Nation and Feel Up Records, and now 'The Emotional Life Of Savages' marks Teleseen's first album for Goldmin.

First Word Records is extremely proud to welcome back Kaidi Tatham, with a brand new 12-track album entitled 'Don't Rush The Process'.

This is Kaidi's 4th solo album under his own name, following on from 'An Insight To All Minds' (2021), 'It's A World Before You' (2018), and 'In Search Of Hope' (re-pressed in 2020), all released on First Word, along with several EPs from 2017 onwards.

To bring you up to speed, Kaidi Tatham is a legendary multi-instrumentalist born in the Midlands and based in Belfast. Once dubbed "the UK's Herbie Hancock" by Benji B, he's a virtuoso on the keys and a true innovator in sound production as one of the original creators of the Broken Beat sound. Over the years his musical prowess has blessed numerous projects, recently with the likes of DJ Jazzy Jeff, Andrew Ashong and with longtime accomplice, Dego. This in addition to session and remix work for artists such as Mulatu Astatke, Slum Village, Marcos Valle, Amy Winehouse, Soul II Soul, Nubya Garcia, Rosie Frater-Taylor and Leroy Burgess, along with First Word label mates Eric Lau, Children of Zeus, Allysha Joy and Darkhouse Family. Kaidi is also a revered DJ known for rocking parties globally, whilst his solo catalogue spans tons of EPs and releases for labels such as Dego's 2000 Black, Alex Nut's Eglo Records and Theo Parrish's Sound Signature.

This new album 'Don't Rush The Process' opens with an intro of sweet strings on 'Mystery Solved', ahead of lead title track, which is on a mid-tempo boom bap vibe, before switching to a more uptempo boogie vein, with the assistance of The Easy Access Orchestra, who also appear on 'We Chillin' Out', which is on a similar boogie tip. 'All I Need' is some gospel flavoured hip hop, whilst 'Knocknee Donkey' steps things up in a jazz-funk fashion. The second half of the album takes on a very Brazilian flavoured stance, with a set of delicious latin flavoured grooves on 'Any Flavour', 'Runnin' Tru', 'What A Dream' and 'Sooretama', the latter featuring the additional prowess of pianist Robert Mitchell. There's a touch more of the hip hop beats thrown in via 'Funky Fool' and the album closes out in inimitable Kaidi style with a short message: 'Mind Yourself'.

A hugely prolific artist, here he adds to an already impressive catalogue, a body of work that falls within the cracks of jazz and dance music, exemplifying modern British black brilliance; uncompromising, innovative, groundbreaking, intricately sophisticated and deeply funky. His fanbase expands on every release and it's no surprise that that fanbase includes a diverse set of peers such as Madlib ("ahead of his time"), Gilles Peterson ("a key part of an entire movement"), K15 ("a limitless source of inspiration") and Kyle Hall.

'Don't Rush The Process' is released on vinyl & digital worldwide, July 2022 via First Word Records.

Death Is Not The End collaborate with Uzbek label Maqom Soul to deliver an LP counterpart to last year's mixtape of the same title, compiling specially picked & fully licensed individual belters from the ex-soviet studios of Central Asian republics between 1978 and 1989 - incl. Uzbek, Tajik, Kurdish & Uyghur artists pulling traditional folk motifs together with pop & rock and psych elements.

"These recordings do not form a smooth or coherent history. They feel more like a sequence of discoveries made at different moments and in different circumstances. Songs and instrumental pieces that once lived inside specific contexts radio broadcasts, philharmonic programs, touring routes now sit side by side, revealing hidden connections as well as clear fractures between them.

Nasiba Abdullaeva appears here as a voice from the end of an era. Trained within a conservatory system, she worked inside the format of the Soviet pop song while filling it with melodic logic that did not come from Moscow or Leningrad. Her voice is soft and sustained, shaped by Eastern melisma, and it never functions as decoration. Even in tightly structured songs there is a sense of resistance, an effort to preserve a musical language rooted in Uzbek tradition rather than fully adapted to an all Union standard.

The ensemble Sintez, later renamed Navo, represents a different path. Beginning as a student rock group, the band was gradually absorbed into the official VIA system with all its limitations and compromises. Yet it was precisely within those boundaries that Sintez and Navo developed a recognizable sound. Electric guitars and jazz rock harmonies do not overpower the folk material but remain in tension with it. Their recordings feel like negotiations between what the musicians wanted to play and what they were allowed to perform.

The Tajik ensemble Gulshan reflects an institutional approach carried to a high professional level. Formed under television and radio structures, the group treated folk material almost as a written score. Carefully constructed arrangements, close attention to orchestration, and restrained use of pop techniques define their sound. There is less spontaneity here, but a strong sense of discipline and structure, where national melody becomes part of a carefully controlled sonic framework.

Koma Wetan occupies a very different space. Formed in the 1970s, this Kurdish rock group approached poetry and folklore as tools of cultural assertion. Their psychedelic rock never feels like a stylistic borrowing. Instead it functions as a contemporary vessel for language and themes that might otherwise have remained unheard. Even today these recordings sound fragile and stubborn at the same time.

The Uyghur ensemble Yashlik, closely connected to a musical drama theatre, operated somewhere between stage performance and popular music. Their songs are built on folk melodies but shaped for wide audiences. What emerges is a constant attempt to preserve the recognizability of Uyghur musical identity without freezing it in a folkloric frame. Yashlik's music exists in a state of balance between representation and development.

Digging Central Asia does not attempt to establish hierarchies or offer a single wayof listening. Names and dates matter less than the sound itself. Tape noise, abrupt transitions, and unexpected timbres remain part of the material rather than flaws to be corrected. This music existed at the crossroads of multiple routes geographic, cultural, and ideological. Heard today in a new context, it no longer feels peripheral. Instead it stands as a reminder that the history of popular music is far more fragmented, layered, and polyphonic than it is usually allowed to be."

Concert at Prades-le-Lez marks the origins of the Intercommunal Free Dance Music Orchestra. In 1974, François Tusques and his companions (Michel Marre, Jo Maka, Adolf Winkler and Guem), in the spirit of Don Cherry or Chris McGregor, playfully dismantle all borders and all styles of creative music.

On this first volume, the Intercommunal takes its audience from New Orleans to Brittany and on to North Africa. The journey was bold, without a doubt—and its memory remains unforgettable.

“The music that we make is primarily meant to be listened to live,” warned a leaflet from the Intercommunal Free Dance Music Orchestra. This is precisely why the (restored!) reissue of the two volumes of Concert at Prades-le-Lez, recorded on January 25 and 26, 1974 by François Tusques and his comrades, is such an important event.

In 1971, after recording a series of albums that would leave a lasting mark on French jazz (Free Jazz, of course, with Michel Portal, François Jeanneau, Bernard Vitet, Beb Guérin and Charles Saudrais, but also Le Nouveau Jazz with Barney Wilen, or the solo Piano Dazibao), François Tusques founded the Intercommunal—a grouping whose very name called for the fraternization of the various communities making up the country: Our music will help, we hope, to resolve the contradictions that exist between workers be longing to different communities, by breaking down various forms of national chauvinism, and more particularly the chauvinism of certain French people toward the cultures of Third World countries… Long live the friendship between the peoples of the whole world!

Among the great records made by the Intercommunal Free Dance Music Orchestra, the two volumes of Concert at Prades-le-Lez come first, before L’Inter Communal, Vol. 4, Le Musichien, and Après la marée noire (four titles already reissued by Souffle Continu). François Tusques and his companions (Michel Marre and Jo Maka on saxophones, Adolf Winkler on trombone, and Guem on percussion) performed on January 25 and 26, 1974 at the Moulin de Prades-le-Lez, a few kilometers from Montpellier. It was thus in the southern region of Occitanie that the first echoes of this musical vision of a borderless brotherhood were recorded.

“We’re not among the Colonels,” the Intercommunal reassures us right away, performing a stride piano tune carried by African winds that the audience cannot resist for long. The energy is already striking and it never lets up throughout these two recordings, from start to finish: jazz, blues, traditional music, minimalism, even funk… The musicians of the Intercommunal have heard a lot of great music and now delight in reinventing it by mixing it all together.

“We want the song form to take its place as a weapon in the struggle against capitalist exploitation and all those who oppress us morally and materially,” declared an Intercommunal leaflet, quoting Jean-Baptiste Clément, author of the lyrics to “Le Temps des cerises.” The struggle was therefore serious—but it did not prevent François Tusques and his group from waging it in a festive spirit: each piece on Concert at Prades-le- Lez sends out a call for love and fraternity. Fifty years later, the message remains as relevant as ever—and once again, it is François Tusques who makes it heard.

Naive Melodies is a bold and visionary tribute to the music of Talking Heads, reinterpreted through the lens of Black musical innovation. Curated by Drew McFadden — the creative mind behind BBE’s acclaimed Modern Love (David Bowie tribute album) — this new collection dives deep into the Afro-diasporic rhythms and experimental soul roots that helped shape Talking Heads’ unmistakable New Wave sound. Inspired by artists like Fela Kuti, Parliament, and Al Green — whose influences loomed large in the band’s rhythmic DNA — Naive Melodies shines a light on the Black music traditions that underpinned their artistry. Far from a conventional tribute, Naive Melodies reframes the band’s catalog through the voices and visions of a new generation of genre-defying artists. These interpretations illuminate the foundational grooves and sonic textures that fueled Talking Heads’ rhythm-forward aesthetic, bringing them full circle with authenticity. “With Naive Melodies, I wanted to spotlight the deep and often overlooked influence of Black music on the sound of Talking Heads, drawing from the rhythmic foundations of Afro-diasporic traditions, soul, gospel, Latin, and spiritual jazz. This project is a chance to reimagine Talking Heads’ legacy through the lens of the very innovations that helped shape it, bringing those influences to the forefront through the voices of today’s most forward-thinking artists.” — Drew McFadden The album features a globally minded lineup, including Liv.e, Bilal, Rogê, Miguel Atwood-Ferguson, Aja Monet, Georgia Anne Muldrow, Theo Croker, Kenny Dope, Rosie Lowe, Pachyman, W.I.T.C.H., and more — spanning Afrobeat, jazz, soul, funk, gospel, dub, electronica, orchestral, and Latin styles. It reflects not only the boundary-pushing ethos of Talking Heads, but also the influence of Black music as a cultural force that helped shape it. This is not just a tribute album — it’s a recontextualization. A cultural conversation. A rhythmic reawakening.

First time reissue of JP free jazz rarity, pre-Seikatsu Kōjyō Iinkai group.

The single album self-released by the quartet Shūdan Sokai in 1977 is one of the most vital documents of mid-seventies Japanese free jazz, documenting Tokyo’s free scene at the precise moment when it began to shift to a handful of tiny venues on the western fringes of the city. In Free Jazz in Japan, Teruto Soejima identifies the extant venue Aketa no Mise in Nishi-Ogikubo as the pioneer of this decamping from the centre: a cramped basement beneath a rice shop, seating just 20 people. Musician-run, operated on a shoestring, these spaces offered a vital site for community, creativity, and a small measure of financial independence — “even though it was in a basement, in spirit it was a loft.”

Among the most active of the new venues was Alone in Hachiōji, nearly an hour from Shinjuku, in a district shaped by universities, lower rents, and a thriving counterculture. Originally opened in 1973 as a jazu kissa, Alone was unusually spacious and equipped with a stage, grand piano, and drum kit. Around 1974, Junji Mori and Yasuhiro Sakakibara began working there, booking free jazz players on weekends and establishing the venue as a crucial hub. Mori recalls early appearances by figures including Kazutoki Umezu, Toshinori Kondo, and others who would define the scene.

In early 1976, Umezu and pianist Yoriyuki Harada — recently returned from New York’s loft jazz environment, where they had played with musicians such as David Murray and William Parker — formed Shūdan Sokai with Mori and drummer Takashi Kikuchi. The name, meaning “mass evacuation,” pointed to their self-chosen exile in Hachiōji. With Alone as their home base, the quartet developed a music characterized by an infectious sense of enjoyment and a willingness to integrate free jazz with elements of song structure. Harada switched between piano and bass; the group experimented with rap-like vocal pieces, jabbering nursery rhymes over bass rhythms.

They returned to Alone on December 24 to record Sono zen’ya (Eve), releasing it on their own Des Chonboo Records, partially funded by advertisements from local businesses printed on the rear cover. The closing “Ballad for Seshiru,” dedicated to Harada’s newborn son, unfolds over a delicate piano melody that moves into emphatic chords as intertwining alto lines rise and spiral.

Alone closed in September 1977, and Shūdan Sokai soon dissolved, later morphing into the expanded Seikatsu Kōjyō Iinkai Orchestra. What remains is a recording rooted in a specific place and moment: a fiercely independent scene sustained by small rooms, close listening, and collective commitment.

Malta’s Human Safari returns to R&S Records, building on the momentum of his 2023 debut ‘Sax Paradiso’, with another EP of fast, physical club music on ‘Children Of The Sea’.

Propulsive opener ‘Children Of The Sea’, balances tensile strings and frenzied percussion fused around a high-tempo techno framework. ‘Jazz Affair’ follows suit but shifts the mood inward, pairing feverish, hypnotic drum programming with expressive instrumentation - layering drifting piano chords, fragile pads and a winding bassline that lends the track a kinetic pull.

‘Turbulence At The Orchestra’ draws from the raw spirit of ’90s warehouse techno, weaving in the sounds of sensationalist news reports on illegal raves of the time and overall diving into darker territory, led by a foreboding, spiralling 303 line and punctuated with dramatic horn flares.. Closing track ‘Lido’ locks into another deep, rolling groove, with pulsing low-end, reverberant horns and skittering, Latin and jazz-tinged rhythmic details threading through the mix.

‘Children Of The Sea’ by Human Safari is available on R&S Records from 13th March 2026.

DJ Support: Garnier, Opolopo, Worldwide FM, Marcia Carr, Bill Brewster, Timeout Moscow, Craig Smith, Delfonic, Tony Nwachukwu, Marcel Dettmann, DJ Rocca, Shuya Okino, Borrowed Identity, Titonton Duvante, Alex Attias, Rainer Truby, Sol Power All-Stars, Kyri R2, Robert Luis, Severino Panzetta, Lars Behrenroth, Kassian, Alkalino, Getdown Edits, Moodymanc, Gerd, Lea Lisa, Young Pulse, Mark de Clive-Lowe, Mark Grusane, Alex Barck….

International dance music heavyweight, producer and DJ Alexander Lay-Far returns with a powerful new chapter - Lay-Far Dance Orchestra (LFDO) - a fully-fledged live band project that reconnects him with his jazz-funk and fusion DNA while pushing dance music forward with unmistakable groove, musicianship and emotional weight. Formed in early 2024, LFDO is no nostalgia exercise. With Lay-Far at the helm as bassist, bandleader, composer, arranger and sound engineer, the orchestra has already been turning heads with explosive live performances, reinventing classic Lay-Far cuts, and now unveil their first album “Skybreak” with all new and original material written and produced by Lay-Far together with his bandmates and star guests, including Lipelis, Antoha MC and Seven Davis Jr. This work shows the departure from the predominantly electronic sound of Lay-Far's previous solo albums in favour of live instrumentation recorded to analogue tape and effortlessly bridging the gap between Jazz, Library Music, Disco-Funk, House, Broken Beat and Drum’n’Bass. “Skybreak” is dynamic, passionate, spiritual, cinematic, playful, heartfelt, life-affirming, dreamy and deeply romantic. Ultimately, there’s something profoundly romantic in recording and releasing such music in this day and age!


“Take Flight (Part 1)” is opening the album with style. It takes us on a beautifully orchestrated journey, blending the sensuality of Library Music with high-octane Jazz-Funk and raw b-boy breaks, propelled by breathtaking flute and Rhodes solos of Timur Nekrasov and Maxim Glonti. This aural symbiosis of “beauty and the beats” will become more and more prominent as the album unfolds.



It’s time for “Aquarius Love” created with the inimitable artist and vocalist Seven Davis Jr. (Secret Angels, Ninja Tune). In this composition cinematic soul and heavy jazz meet the restless energy of live drum & bass with deep and heartfelt vocals - timeless sound combined with a timeless message about love and life!



Next is “Head In The Clouds” - a theme for an imaginary rom-com, an ode to all the dreamers - sweet, light, naive and heartwarming. Space-Disco-Funk at its best!

“Where You From” is a fiery Soulful House number with heavy Afro-Latin influences recorded in collaboration with Lipelis. It’s full of Sun, joy and passion. Its irresistible rhythm is emphasised by funky octave bass, wah-wah guitar, catchy piano riffs, guitar solo by Lipelis and seemingly light conscious message delivered by Lay-Far and Maryag. Summer is here!

Now the album takes an unexpected twist in the form of “The Harp of Boom” which at first glance appears to be a classic-sounding Boom-Bap banger. Yes, It’s loud, raw, and gritty, yet it gradually evolves into something delicately-touching and deeply-soulful thanks to a memorable flute melody and lush string arrangement. Definitely recorded with tongue in cheek.


Next is “Feel The Moment” a remarkable collaboration with one of the most recognisable and distinctive Russian artists, singer, trumpeter and cultural icon Antoha MC. It’s a feel-good song, hopeful, life-affirming and bittersweet. A stylish excursion into Brit-Funk and Soviet Jazz-Fusion sound, drawing inspiration from the likes of Atmosfear, Light Of The World or Soviet Jazz bands like Allegro and Arsenal, but reimagining the influences through the modern West London broken beat lens.


The spectacular music journey continuous with “Take Flight (Part 2)” - it’s all about the deep infectious jazz-funk groove, heavy beats, rolling percussion and the glory of the soloing instruments - saxophone and flute by Timur Nekrasov, demonstrating the wide range of emotions from thoughtful and lyrical to restless and borderline vicious. One for freestyle dancing!

As the album draws to an end a vibrant musical triptych “Soul Constant” awaits, mixing together the deep and sensual mood of spiritual jazz with heavy syncopated drum’n’bass rhythms by Michail Fotchenkov, lush orchestration, expressive saxophone solos and the ending which can simply be described as “aural bliss”. It’s breath-taking!

A pleasant bonus is the exclusive version of “Where You From” by Lipelis himself, who is taking it into dub territories, further enhancing the rhythm section and enriching the song with his trademark playful synth flourishes and dreamy guitar solos for maximum effect (and appeal).

The album “Skybreak” by Lay-Far Dance Orchestra is the work of real artistry and craftsmanship with timeless sound that’s not only deeply-rooted but also forward-thinking.

This new volume in the “City Music Tokyo” series, curated by Kunimond Takiguchi (Ryusenkei), focuses on Jazz Funk. From among crossover, Japanese jazz,
and soundtrack works released by Nippon Columbia, Takiguchi has carefully selected urban and sophisticated tracks that resonate with his musical sensibility.

Each piece carries a faint scent of the Showa era, evoking words like “night,” “drive,” “dandyism,” “car chase,” “city,” “hard-boiled,” and “man and woman.”

Selected, supervised, and annotated by Kunimond Takiguchi (Ryusenkei).

Hidden away amidst the bustle of Rio de Janeiro’s Catete neighbourhood is a small alleyway behind a cast iron gate. At its end is Bairro Saavedra, the courtyard surrounded by Neo-colonial houses where Brazilian guitar virtuoso Fabiano do Nascimento spent much of his childhood. Built in 1928, this secluded neighbourhood with its wooden shutters, tiled floors and tranquil benches, provides the inspiration for the title of Do Nascimento’s new album VILA, a collaborative project with a sixteen piece orchestra led by trombonist and arranger Vittor Santos.

Recorded between Rio de Janeiro and Los Angeles, VILA is grand, tender, warm, playful and nostalgic. On this stunningly ambitious work, the delicate compositions led by Nascimento's guitar, which sits central in the mix, are surrounded by Santos’ breathtaking orchestral arrangements which swirl in all directions: complimenting, questioning, responding; in constant conversation.

Like the eclecticism of the architecture Do Nascimento grew up surrounded by, his music straddles many worlds at once. He is known as a Brazilian acoustic guitar master and as such has collaborated with Arthur Verocai, Airto Moreira and Itibere Zwarg. But equally at home in Los Angeles's jazz and experimental music scenes, Do Nascimento is also known for his work with artists like Sam Gendel and Carlos Nino.

Vittor Santos is an arranger and Trombonist who has worked extensively with many of the greats of Brazilian music, including João Donato, Marcos Valle, Toninho Horta, and Elza Soares.

=====================================
Credits:

Fabiano do Nascimento – 6, 7 and soprano guitars.
All orchestral arrangements and production by Vitor Santos.
Recorded at Electro-Sound studio, Los Angeles and Estúdio Fibra, Rio de Janeiro
Engineered by Jason Hiller and Garbiel Lucchini
Mastered by Mike Bozzi

Oboe – Francisco Gonçalves
Contrabaixo – Rodrigo Villa
Drums – Márcio Bahia
Violino - Ricardo Amado
Violino – Thiago Teixeira
Violin – Daniel Albuquerque
Violin – Márcio Sanches
Viola – Ivan Zandonade
Viola – Dhyan Toffolo
Cello - Hugo Pilger
Cello – Janaína Salles
Double Bass – Rômulo Gomes
Clarinet – José Batista
French Horn – Philip Doyle
Trombones - Vittor Santos
Violin – Daniel Guedes

With `The devil's door' And Also The Trees, one true original Post-Punk/New Wave band, presents a quiet storm of an album. At times filmic, poetic and intense with an undercurrent of dark psychedelia. It completes a trilogy of works `The Bone Carver', `Mother-of-pearl Moon' and now `The devil's door' created by the current line-up. Here there are signature `And also the trees' poetic lyrics, orchestral guitar and soundtrack influenced songs inspired by newsreel, oil paintings and folklore. But with this work we have the addition of some surprising instruments that skew the album towards a world where John Barry meets Bela Bartok. And also the trees (AATT) formed during the original post-punk era in rural Worcestershire, an environment that has provided a constant inspiration to a group whose music has often explored the dark underbelly as well as the beauty of the British countryside. They are renowned for their captivating live performances, a unique style of mandolin-like electric guitar, evocative lyrics and dark jazz rhythms - not to mention a creative independence fiercely preserved for over four decades. Back then AATT immediately caught the attention of Robert Smith of The Cure, who invited them to tour with his group on several occasions. Smith was also involved with their early recordings alongside his bandmate Lol Tolhurst, who produced their first records. This longterm friendship and mutual respect was further solidified when AATT were invited to perform at the Robert Smith curated 2018 Meltdown festival in London. This July AATT appear as The Cure's special guests at the Nimes festival. Founded by singer Simon Jones and his guitarist brother Justin, AATT have maintained a continuous presence on the post-punk, and alternative rock scenes worldwide, with a solid fanbase e.g. in Germany.

Wewantsounds is delighted to announce the reissue of Music By Lee Mason, the cult classic from the Chappell Recorded Music Library, originally released in the UK in 1971. Credited to Lee Mason & His Orchestra, the album is in fact the work of renowned British composer and arranger Pete Moore - best known for producing the iconic "Asteroid" theme in 1968 for the Pearl & Dean cinema advertising company. One of the funkiest library albums of its era, blending cinematic tension, funky grooves, and jazzy undertones, Music By Lee Mason features the track "Shady Blues," famously sampled by Madlib. Newly remastered and featuring liner notes by Kevin Le Gendre, this long-overdue reissue brings a lost classic back to vinyl for the first time since 1971.

We Jazz Records kicks off their new series of archival 7" releases with Esa Pethman "In Belgium 1967" released 23 September 2022. The two-tracker is licensed from the Belgian VRT radio archives and both of the pieces are previously unreleased. Finnish jazz legend Pethman, heard here on alto flute and tenor sax, joins forces with European jazz greats such as Heinz Bigler, Uffe Karskov and Jean Fanis. This is a small but valuable piece of unheard European jazz history from the early heyday of modern jazz. The physical release is a quality "inside-out"-styled EP with 3mm spine and small center hole on the 45rpm vinyl.

An excerpt from the liner notes by Mikko Mattlar:

"Esa Pethman (b. 1938) was one of the key figures of modern Finnish jazz in the 1960s. His album The Modern Sound Of Finland was the first Finnish modern jazz album and his composition "The Flame" a true modern Fenno-jazz evergreen.

Pethman was born in Kuusankoski, 135 kilometres from Helsinki in the Kymenlaakso area. The jazz scene was active even though it was an area of rural landscapes and paper mills. Pethman discovered jazz when he heard a Charlie Parker record being played at a local music shop in the late 1940s. Following Parker, bebop became his favourite style of jazz.

Young Pethman played flute and saxophone in local bands who accompanied schlager singers. They played tangos and waltzes for dancers, but usually started a typical dance event with an hour of jazz. In 1959 Pethman moved to Helsinki to study music at the Sibelius Academy. Back then it was a strictly classical music academy, but Pethman later described the studies as crucial for his development and career. He quickly made his way to studio sessions and into the best orchestras in Helsinki.

As a student of composition, Pethman also began writing his own music. "The Flame" was a melody he just got on his mind one night, and he decided to write it down. The catchy composition was released as a 7" single in 1964, a year before Pethman's debut album. Both records stand as benchmarks for modern Finnish jazz. The album consisted entirely of Pethman's compositions, not versions of jazz standards like a lot of the Finnish jazz released until then.

In the mid 1960s, Finnish jazz was also taking its first international steps. Pethman's quintet took part in the first Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland in June 1967. At the Montreux jazz band competition, the quintet came in fourth of the twelve contestants. Despite not winning the competition, the band got an honourable mention, and Pethman was now recognized outside Finland.

In December 1967 Pethman travelled to Brussels. His visit was organised by the national Finnish broadcasting company Yleisradio and their jazz program producer Matti Konttinen. Konttinen was supposed to go to Brussels with Pethman, but the musician ended up traveling alone.

In the Decca recording studios Pethman played two songs. He recorded a version of his most famous composition "The Flame", where he played the alto flute and was accompanied by Belgian musicians. On Swiss saxophonist Heinz Bigler's composition "Like Steel", Pethman played the tenor saxophone. The band was now more international, consisting of Bigler, the Italian Francesco Santucci, the Dane Uffe Karskov, a Belgian rhythm section and Pethman. After 55 years, Pethman still remembers Bigler's remarkable skills as a saxophonist.

The two-day visit included the recording session, a dinner and a concert. Pethman and the other non-Belgian musicians came to Brussels mainly to play at a jazz concert organised by the European Broadcasting Union EBU. They played at the studio first, and the concert was held the following day. Pethman and all the other soloists played as members of an international big band. The studio and live session were produced by the Belgian Radio and Television jazz section leader Elias Gistelinck."

"Brooklyn-based pianist Eva Novoa returns with The Freedom Suite: Novoa / Carter / Mela Trio, Vol. 2 — the second radiant release from her compelling trio with saxophone icon Daniel Carter and celebrated drummer Francisco Mela. This marks Novoa’s sixth album with 577 Records. The trio first came together live in 2021, followed by a series of performances, including appearances in Cambridge (Boston) and later at the Brooklyn edition of the NY Forward Festival.
"The Freedom Suite is an homage to jazz titan Duke Ellington — particularly his masterful big band suites and legendary orchestra featuring Johnny Hodges and other luminaries who helped define an era of jazz greatness. In contrast, Novoa presents her Suite in a more intimate format: the piano trio. The album comprises twelve pieces — mostly brief — with a few extended tracks such as Free to Be Free and Cyborgs.
"For this recording, Novoa also steps in as a vocalist on several tracks, including Mainstream Media, Big Grande, Global, Free to Be Free, Dream, and Cyborgs. These pieces often feature a vocal dialogue between Novoa and Mela, whose expressive, word-infused style draws from rich Cuban traditions.
'Words are powerful,' says Novoa. 'They define who we are, where we come from, and who we hope to become. Without words, there is no conversation — and without conversation, there is no real sense of time, space, or connection.'
The Freedom Suite emerged from deep philosophical and creative conversations — spoken, written, and improvised — between Novoa, Carter, and Mela. In the studio, Novoa introduced printed texts that served as thematic foundations for spontaneous, in-the-moment musical interpretation. The result is an urgent and organic interplay, where instruments speak to one another in a language as fluid as it is fearless.
"Standout track Cyborgs begins with Novoa’s percussive piano, exemplifying the trio’s dynamic, conversational energy. Creative Destruction features Novoa on electric harpsichord in a wild, electric exchange. While Free to Be Free stands out as the album’s leading single, it also captures the essence and message of the entire Suite.
"Recorded in 2021 at New York City’s legendary Sear Sound Studio, the album captures a creative explosion of sound and spirit. Novoa dazzles on piano, Fender Rhodes, electric harpsichord, Chinese gongs — even whistle — showcasing her expansive sonic palette. Together, the trio embodies the power of free improvisation and emotional storytelling.
"Originally from Barcelona, Spain, Eva Novoa has been cultivating her distinctive voice since childhood. Now a staple of the New York creative music scene, she has performed across the globe and collaborated with some of the most adventurous voices in jazz and beyond."

We Jazz Records is delighted to present the first ever vinyl release for two modern classic tracks by Swedish organist Eric Malmberg. Originally released in 2007 by the label Häpna on Malmberg's second solo album "Verklighet & Beat", the pair of tunes herein serve as proof of Malmberg's remarkable artistic vision, echoing both the pure pastoral beauty and the irresistible groove of his work. This release, part of the ongoing 7" series by We Jazz Records, follows the label's Artistic Director Matti Nives's 10+ years of obsession with the aforementioned Malmberg album after an initial chance encounter with the side A track on a WIRE Magazine compilation in 2007.

"Eric Malmberg's music is a small miracle. I don't want to call him a genius, because I don't want to jinx him. But I will say that he's a complete original, in addition to being a vastly talented musician. I will also say that his recordings and the two performances that I saw by Sagor & Swing merit a place on a short list of most enjoyed musical experiences of the last half decade. I could bleat about the quality of the work, but "most enjoyed" to me carries the stronger charge." – David Grubbs, New York, March 2007

"A special mention needs to go out to the phenomenal and totally bonkers 'Till minne av Lilly Lindström' a track which starts with a clean break, builds into dancefloor abusing Hammond-hammering mayhem and then ends up with lush string orchestrations and disco-lite sweeps. Insane and more enjoyable than you could possibly imagine - an album to totally lose yourself in, and one for anyone looking for something just that little different. Huge recommendation." – Boomkat

“The GRILL will fucking rule things…” – Backengrillen’s debut album out in January "Backengrillen's music is a paean to chaos and destruction. The basic idea is to take a death/doom metal, or noiserock riff and play it until it loses meaning and then break it apart like a ravenous cat would a tiny forest mouse. It's filled to the brim with the self-hatred endemic to the province of Västerbotten from whence the member’s hail. The record was written on a Thursday during their first ever rehearsal, performed live on a Friday and recorded on a Saturday, so what you're hearing is raw, stupid, gut instinct music played by seasoned purveyors of hardcore punk, metal, free jazz, noise et cetera. Record no 2 is in the making, less stupid, more ugly. Stay tuned and fuck the pigs." - Backengrillen, November 2025 Backengrillen is a new ensemble with their roots in HC, punk, noise and free Jazz. All members from Umeå, with roots in the original version of Refused – and one with starting points in the jazz-rock ensemble Nirvana (1980). With a solid and yet varied background in the creativities of Refused, TEXT, INVSN, Fire Orchestra, The International Noise Conspiracy, The End, Serpent, The Thing, Final Exit and other classic jazz combos we will now start our journey of 4 colliding locomotives, creating a new form of beauty and energy. Antifascist, antiracists free form death – jazz – in the memory of Lars Lystedt – Backengrillen arrives with new perspectives on jazz. And punk. In-your-face HC jazz inspired by The Cramps, Little Richard, Albert Ayler, Polly Bradfield, Entombed, John Zorn, Misfits, Stooges, Lars Gullin, Can and much more. Backengrillen’s self-titled debut album is out on January 23rd, 2026 on vinyl, CD, and digitally on Bandcamp via Svart Records. Backengrillen Dennis Lyxzén – vocal and effects Mats Gustafsson – saxophones, flutes and live electronics Magnus Flagge – bass David Sandström – drums and electronics

“The GRILL will fucking rule things…” – Backengrillen’s debut album out in January "Backengrillen's music is a paean to chaos and destruction. The basic idea is to take a death/doom metal, or noiserock riff and play it until it loses meaning and then break it apart like a ravenous cat would a tiny forest mouse. It's filled to the brim with the self-hatred endemic to the province of Västerbotten from whence the member’s hail. The record was written on a Thursday during their first ever rehearsal, performed live on a Friday and recorded on a Saturday, so what you're hearing is raw, stupid, gut instinct music played by seasoned purveyors of hardcore punk, metal, free jazz, noise et cetera. Record no 2 is in the making, less stupid, more ugly. Stay tuned and fuck the pigs." - Backengrillen, November 2025 Backengrillen is a new ensemble with their roots in HC, punk, noise and free Jazz. All members from Umeå, with roots in the original version of Refused – and one with starting points in the jazz-rock ensemble Nirvana (1980). With a solid and yet varied background in the creativities of Refused, TEXT, INVSN, Fire Orchestra, The International Noise Conspiracy, The End, Serpent, The Thing, Final Exit and other classic jazz combos we will now start our journey of 4 colliding locomotives, creating a new form of beauty and energy. Antifascist, antiracists free form death – jazz – in the memory of Lars Lystedt – Backengrillen arrives with new perspectives on jazz. And punk. In-your-face HC jazz inspired by The Cramps, Little Richard, Albert Ayler, Polly Bradfield, Entombed, John Zorn, Misfits, Stooges, Lars Gullin, Can and much more. Backengrillen’s self-titled debut album is out on January 23rd, 2026 on vinyl, CD, and digitally on Bandcamp via Svart Records. Backengrillen Dennis Lyxzén – vocal and effects Mats Gustafsson – saxophones, flutes and live electronics Magnus Flagge – bass David Sandström – drums and electronics

Naive Melodies is a bold and visionary tribute to the music of Talking Heads, reinterpreted through the lens of Black musical innovation. Curated by Drew McFadden — the creative mind behind BBE’s acclaimed Modern Love (David Bowie tribute album) — this new collection dives deep into the Afro-diasporic rhythms and experimental soul roots that helped shape Talking Heads’ unmistakable New Wave sound. Inspired by artists like Fela Kuti, Parliament, and Al Green — whose influences loomed large in the band’s rhythmic DNA — Naive Melodies shines a light on the Black music traditions that underpinned their artistry. Far from a conventional tribute, Naive Melodies reframes the band’s catalog through the voices and visions of a new generation of genre-defying artists. These interpretations illuminate the foundational grooves and sonic textures that fueled Talking Heads’ rhythm-forward aesthetic, bringing them full circle with authenticity. “With Naive Melodies, I wanted to spotlight the deep and often overlooked influence of Black music on the sound of Talking Heads, drawing from the rhythmic foundations of Afro-diasporic traditions, soul, gospel, Latin, and spiritual jazz. This project is a chance to reimagine Talking Heads’ legacy through the lens of the very innovations that helped shape it, bringing those influences to the forefront through the voices of today’s most forward-thinking artists.” — Drew McFadden The album features a globally minded lineup, including Liv.e, Bilal, Rogê, Miguel Atwood-Ferguson, Aja Monet, Georgia Anne Muldrow, Theo Croker, Kenny Dope, Rosie Lowe, Pachyman, W.I.T.C.H., and more — spanning Afrobeat, jazz, soul, funk, gospel, dub, electronica, orchestral, and Latin styles. It reflects not only the boundary-pushing ethos of Talking Heads, but also the influence of Black music as a cultural force that helped shape it. This is not just a tribute album — it’s a recontextualization. A cultural conversation. A rhythmic reawakening.

'The World in Air Quotes' is a genre-shifting style-melting kaleidoscope of art-rock, jazz, techno, folk & industrial. The God In Hackney sound like very little else from the early 2020's and whilst 'The World In Air Quotes' innovative progenitors are manifold - Eno, Coil, The Durutti Column, 1980s ECM jazz to name a few - it sounds beholden to none of them.

The God In Hackney's first album 'Cave Moderne' was Andrew Weatherall's album of the year for NTS Radio.

The God In Hackney's second LP, 'Small Country Eclipse', was album of 2020 for critic Sukhdev Sandhu of The Colloquium for Unpopular Culture: "Mordant music: stuttering, dread, black humour. A record that felt truly independent, beholden to no genre, out of step with all centres and signposted nodes."


'The World In Air Quotes' is The God In Hackney's 3rd album and their most musically emotive and lyrically inventive to date. It's an album that resonates with feelings about climate change, isolation, extinction, the social impact of technology, the flattening of history—and illuminates the darkness with imaginative rhythm, melody, noise & poetry. Songs range from widescreen, anthemic rock, to strange intricately arranged jazz-influenced songs, to abstract, textural electronic pieces. There's a strain of dark and surreal comedy too that runs through the lyrics and some of the choices the band makes in their sounds and arrangements.

The core God in Hackney quartet of Andy Cooke, Dan Fox, Ashley Marlowe and Nathaniel Mellors has expanded to include American multi-instrumentalists and composers Eve Essex (Eve Essex & The Fabulous Truth, Das Audit, Peter Gordon & Love of Life Orchestra, Peter Zummo, Liturgy) and Kelly Pratt (Father John Misty, David Byrne/St Vincent, Beirut, and Lonnie Holley among many others), signalling a new and ambitious direction for the band.

The album cover features original artwork by Iranian-American artist Tala Madani, recently the subject of a career survey exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles.

Advertising:

The Wire, Maggot Brain

Reviews & features:

Maggot Brain - forthcoming feature

Hi-Fi+ Magazine - album review in April 2023 issue

Dereck Higgins (You Tube review)

Sonosphere - interview / feature

Weirdo Shrine - interview

It's Psychedelic Baby - interview

Spettacolo (Italy) - feature.

Ghettoblaster Magtazine (USA) - feature

Airplay:

Gilles Peterson - BBC Radio 6 Music

Steve Lamacq - BBC Radio 6 Music

Dublab - playlisted & featured in Dublab Recommends (Los Angeles)

Cian Ó Cíobháin - RTE Raidió na Gaeltachta (Ireland)

WFMU - playlisted

Resonance FM - The Wire presents Adventures In Sound & Music

Human Pleasure Radio (New Zealand)

Pete Wiggs & James Papademetie - The Seance (Repeater Radio, Sine FM & others)

Peter Hollo's Utility Fog - FBI Radio (Australia)

Jonathan Lethem & Sam Sousa on Radio Free Aftermath (KSP Claremont 88.7)

Life Elsewhere

WRPB Princeton

In Memory of John Peel

Mike Watt's Watt from Pedro Show

Rich musical history of Yugoslavia reveals a long-lasting love for the music of Latin America.
Entwined in Afro-Cuban rhythms, ballrooms were shakin', swayin' and swingin', gathering musicians who were heavily into jazz bands and orchestras, most notably in Ljubljana, Zagreb, and Belgrade. Jazz could be heard on the streets of Split way back in 1919 when dancing became a symbol of freedom. Radio was the most loved household item, newest sheet music was in demand and collecting records was hip like today. In the aftermath of Second World War, jazz went underground but little by little, things changed and Ella, Satchmo, Dizzy and Miles came to visit, among others. Music festivals shaped the music for entertainment and variety of popular styles showed influences from all over the world. In the early sixties, one particular rhythm crashed on the coast of the Adriatic Sea: the rhythm of bossa nova!

In the whirlwind of various musical styles, Latin American music still played important part of the scene in the early sixties Yugoslavia. Beguine, tango, rhumba, samba, calypso, mambo and cha-cha-cha all found their place on the festivals inspired by famous Sanremo, festival of Italian popular song that largely shaped the musical taste of Europe. It was the era of instrumental rock, R & B and rock'n'roll - sounds of "imperialist America" now played freely on imported and hand-made electric guitars. While dancing halls had been turning into concert venues, bossa nova has come! Eydie Gorme with Blame It on the Bossa Nova and Paul Anka with Eso Besso (That Kiss!) tried to make us learn some new dance moves but it was Joao Gilberto's gentle singing and his new way of playing samba songs, along with Tom Jobim's modern dissonant harmonies and poetry of Vinicius de Moraes that created the magic. When American alto saxophonist and flautist Bud Shank visited Zagreb and Ljubljana in 1963 (with Boško Petrović in his quintet) "it was the first time we heard bossa nova!" remembers Stjepan Braco Fučkar. Jugoton, the biggest record company in Yugoslavia, released 4-track EP Bossa Nova by Bogdan Dimitrijević and his ensemble that same year! While not being fully accepted or understood completely, the archives of Jugoton reveal to us various interpretations of this new trend from their vast catalogue.

Vinyl reissue of the most acclaimed album by Brazil's legendary female vocal quartet, this LP captures the group at their creative peak, featuring sophisticated arrangements by Edu Lobo and Luiz Eça (Tamba Trio), A post-bossa gem filled with stunning vocal harmonies. Originally released in 1972 on the Odeon label, Quarteto Em Cy stands as a high-water mark in the group's prolific discography-and a hidden gem for collectors of Brazilian vinyl. Known for their intricate vocal harmonies and deep roots in the bossa nova movement, the quartet ventures into post-bossa territory here, where sophistication meets groove in all the right ways. Arrangements by Edu Lobo and Luiz Eça (of Tamba Trio) lend the album a richly layered sound-elegant, jazzy, and emotionally resonant-while the group's harmonies remain as mesmerizing as ever. It's a masterclass in vocal interplay and tasteful orchestration, with an unmistakable Brazilian soul running through every track. Highlights include their stunning interpretation of Milton Nascimento's 'Tudo Que Você Podia Ser,' along with deep cuts like 'Quando o Carnaval Chegar,' 'Canto de Obá,' and 'Cantoria.' These recordings capture a moment when the group, already respected collaborators of Vinícius de Moraes, Jobim, and Chico Buarque, hit a new creative stride. A MPB landmark and long out of print, often cited as QEC finest work, this self-titled LP has become a sought-after piece among collectors of MPB, bossa, and 70s harmony pop. For those drawn to groups like The Free Design or The Mamas & The Papas-but with a distinctly Brazilian elegance-this album offers a rare and rewarding listen. Reissue on 180g vinyl.

Analogue Productions (Atlantic 75 Series) Celebrating the 75th Anniversary of Atlantic Records! Rolling Stone list of 500 Greatest Albums 265/500 for 2012 180-gram 45 RPM double LP Pressed at Quality Record Pressings Tip-on old style gatefold double pocket jacket by Stoughton Printing The Genius of Ray Charles, his sixth studio album, released in 1959 by Atlantic Records, eschewed the the soul sound of his 1950s recordings, which fused jazz, gospel, and blues, for swinging pop with big band arrangements.

Charles is joined bymany ringers from the Count Basie and Duke Ellington bands for the first half of this program, featuring Charles belting out six songs arranged by Quincy Jones. "Let the Good Times Roll" and "Deed I Do" are highlights, and there are solos by tenorman David "Fathead" Newman, trumpeter Marcus Belgrave, and (on "Two Years of Torture") tenor Paul Gonsalves. The remaining six numbers are ballads, with Charles backed by a string orchestra arranged by Ralph Burns (including "Come Rain or Come Shine" and "Don't Let the Sun Catch You Cryin'"). Charles' voice is heard throughout in peak form, giving soul to even the veteran standards. Pressed on 180-gram vinyl at Quality Record Pressings, and housed in a tip-on old style gatefold double pocket jacket by Stoughton Printing.

The roots of African music are always open to new possibilities. This is revealed in the music of this unprecedented quartet. Alongside the Malian singer Rokia Traore', Mamah Diabate, Malian griot and djeli ngoni player, has been playing for several years with Stefano Pilia (Afterhours, Massimo Volume). Now, their path intertwines with the artistic and human partnership between Jabel Kanuteh, Gambian griot and kora virtuoso, and percussionist Marco Zanotti(Classical Afrobeat Orchestra, Cucoma Combo). The union of these two pairs develops unusual geographies and architectures, where dual African and Italian identities merge into one universal sensibility. The predominant Malian and Gambian modes chase each other, but all is fused into a broader rhythm factory or embellished by more abstract and liquid experimental digressions. The curiosity and pliability of the individual musicians search for a language that is both current and contemporary, always poised between ancient and modern, landscape and narrative, with jazz, rock and folk influences.

CHILD OF PANOPTES channels the psychedelic spirit of the late '60s and early '70s, blending British freakbeat, popsike, and American garage-psych rock Following their stunning debut album "Child of Panoptes" and their first 7" single "Walk With Me", their brand-new release "Down" offers two dark psychedelic tracks wrapped in a brilliant and truly "eye-catching" cover design. The title track "Down" features the legendary Frank Durban (LES PLAYBOYS) on bass guitar and French drummer Daniel Aprosio. This rockin' tune is infused with cool vocals, a wild Hammond organ, and a trippy vibe. The B- side, "Magic Mirror" , pays homage to APHRODITE'S CHILD, with instrumental orchestration performed by LE CHIFFRE ORGAN- IZATION, including drummer Alexandre Besson's effortlessly cool vocals. CHILD OF PANOPTES delivers a perfect blend of late '60s psychedelia and jazzy, Hammond-driven '60s garage rock, all with a modern twist that is sure to blow your mind!

Vinyl gatefold jacket includes a 12x12 insert reproduction of the original LP jacket art.Recorded in 1956 and released in 1957, Supersonic Jazz is arguably the first long-playing album by Sun Ra and His Arkestra on his Saturn label. However, it was not recorded as a debut. Rather, the album was assembled from tapes recorded during a number of sessions at two Chicago studios (RCA Victor and Balkan), and several tracks had been released as singles before their inclusion on this album. (Sunny's first fully realized commercial album was 1957's Jazz by Sun Ra, produced by Tom Wilson on his short lived/soon to be defunct Transition label.) Prior to these sessions, Sunny was still arranging for the Red Saunders Orchestra and singer Joe Williams, in addition to arranging for and coaching doo-wop ensembles. As Sunny's ambitions achieved liftoff, the Arkestra coalesced, began building a repertoire (mostly of Ra's originals), and making forays into studios. Deciding it was time for commercial releases, Sunny and business partner Alton Abraham launched Saturn (sometimes called El Saturn) as a record company in 1956. As a first offering, Supersonic Jazz is a pinnacle Sun Ra release. While reflecting many prevailing bebop, Latin, and R&B conventions of the mid-1950s, it's evident that Sun Ra's musical voice and vision were starting to propel him away from the jazz mainstream. Biographer John Szwed finds on these recordings "characteristics which seemed alien to swing, bebop, or the new, more soulful and hard-edged music which was coming to be called hard bop."

MOb return this November with their second album on Veego Records, continuing the adventurous journey they began with their 2023 debut MOb 1. Hailed by the press as one of the boldest and freshest statements in the Greek scene, their first record moved seamlessly between jazz, punk, and electronic forms, creating a sound often described as “an entire orchestra played by just three musicians.”

On their new release, Marios Valinakis (saxophone, effects, synthesizers), Alexandros Delis (bass, double bass), and Panagiotis Kostopoulos (drums) construct an even more intricate and ambitious sonic universe. The compositions range from the explosive energy of “Tipping Point” and the dark atmospheres of “Utu and Sin”, to the radical reimagining of Wayne Shorter’s “Fall” and the polyphonic outburst of “The Listener”, featuring the Kos Choir.

Guest appearances further expand the palette: Phillip “Felipe MC” Manev lends his voice to “Tipping Point” and “Encounters”, while Angelos Polychronou enriches “Encounters” and “The Listener” with his percussions.

The album was produced and recorded by MOb themselves, with Bruno Ellingham handling mixing and mastering for most tracks, while “Utu and Sin” was mixed by Malcolm Catto at the Quatermass Sound Lab. The cover artwork is designed by Apostolos Mitrelis, and the back cover features a photograph by Maciej Moskwa.

If MOb 1 revealed a band capable of fusing free improvisation with rhythm-driven “bangers” that reached audiences beyond Greece, the new album confirms their evolution: more intense, more diverse, and more imaginative. With one foot rooted in tradition and the other firmly in the present, MOb deliver a work that breaks boundaries and builds bridges across genres and audiences, solidifying their reputation as one of the most exciting groups in today’s Greek music scene.

From out of the dark, sparks of feedback birdsong signal a return to the singular sonic environments of Rafael Toral"s sound-world. A year after Spectral Evolution, his acclaimed album of electric guitar conceptions, comes the companion work Traveling Light. Sharpening his focus around a set of jazz standards, his move from abstract form to solid song elicits glints from beyond time and space, crafting a unique listening lens for deep listeners. In the early years of his practice, Toral used the guitar as a generator to create discreet texture and droning tones. Later, he abandoned the guitar entirely, focusing on self-made electronics to render his music with a post-free jazz perspective. For the music of Spectral Evolution and Traveling Light, Toral has combined his methodologies: radically expanding the space within their harmonies with his self-made machines, while engaging directly with his instrument and the chords of the material. In addition to Toral"s proxy orchestra of guitars, sine wave, feedback and bass guitar, Traveling Light features the sounds of clarinetist José Bruno Parrinha, tenor saxophonist Rodrigo Amado, flügelhorn player Yaw Tembe, flautist Clara Saleiro, who each guest on one song. In every contour of Traveling Light"s path - arrangement, improvisation and production - the spring of the old pours through the new in an unstoppable flow. The result is a listening experience of these standards that remains "in the tradition", even as the elongated harmonies seem to alter time such that, as Toral notes, "the chords become events on their own."

As genre conventions continue to morph and blur, there's a wealth of stunning
new music being made wherever groups of musicians have the imagination
and ingenuity to transcend the old boundaries and just play whatever comes
naturally
Sun Speak are such a group and their album Probiotic Orchestrations is full of music
that's urgent, powerful, accessible and humorous, pulling together sounds and
textures from the worlds of rock, jazz, electronica, Americana and the outer reaches of
progressive music into compelling whole. Guitarist Matt Gold and drummer Nate
Friedman first came together as Sun Speak ten years ago amid the white heat of the
Chicago experimental scene, where they'd worked with such luminaries as Makaya
McCraven and Patricia Barber.
On this, their sixth release, they continue to develop their own distinctive sonic world
with the aid of fellow Chicagoan Daniel Pierson who joined as engineer/ sound
sculptor and now increasingly takes a collaborative role as a third member of the
band on keyboards. Now the trio are dispersed and live in different corners of the USA,
but in 2024 they came together in a remote seaside cabin in New Hampshire, writing
and recording every day in an intense undisturbed whirlwind of creativity. Probiotic
Orchestrations is the result - a dazzling mix of improvisation and composition,
exploring rhythm, colour and texture with the directness of rock and the fearless
improvisatory flair of jazz.
Available on heavyweight black vinyl + 6-panel digipak CD editions.

Nora is back! This is a brand-new 2025 EM Records re-pressing of Nora Guthrie's ultra-rare "Emily's Illness", a lost gem of songcraft originally released in 1967, in the same 7-inch vinyl format (b/w "Home Before Dark") as the original. Featuring the radiant vocals of the then-17-year-old daughter of Woody Guthrie, "Emily's Illness" was written by Eric Eisner (The Strangers) and impeccably arranged by Artie Schroeck. A romantic amalgam of psychedelia, pop, and acid-folk, informed by the harmonic and rhythmic subtleties of João Gilberto and jazz. Both songs here are wistfully melodic gems, framed by lovely orchestration.

Sonetos del Amor Oscuro is an ode performed by four enchanted souls who have intertwined their hearts and conjured harmonies and rhythms that wander endlessly among the spellbinding words of a poet from Granada... Federico García Lorca;
He wrung, pushed and vibrated words like tectonic plates, transforming plains into poetic mountain landscapes. He then covered them with a Moorish carpet of snow crystals and had them reflected by the dark locks of hair of a gypsy girl from Albaicín who, with a voice forged in gold and silver, sings her little sister to sleep with a soothing lullaby.

Helena Casella – vocals
Myrddin De Cauter – flamenco guitar
Stijn Kuppens – cello
Stefan Bracaval – flute, bass flute

Helena Casella, the Belgian-Brazilian vocalist with a deep, soft and warm voice, translates her multicultural background and personal thoughts into music in a passionate, soulful and refined way. With her roots in an exceptionally musical family, her music exudes this unique heritage. She effortlessly interweaves genres such as R&B, soul, hip hop and modern jazz, while remaining true to the vibrant sounds of Brazil, an essential part of her roots.
Her debut album was released earlier this year on W.E.R.F. records.

Myrddin De Cauter's music is deeply moving, complex, passionately rhythmic and deeply emotional. He has mastered the compás of flamenco, which gives him the freedom to converse with elements from jazz or classical music. His speed sometimes seems otherworldly, but those who take the time to listen closely to his music will quickly discover an immense world of pure emotion, beauty and tranquillity. After six albums and countless concerts, Myrddin proves that great virtuosos do not necessarily have to come from Spain. At the tender age of eleven, his father taught him to play the clarinet in jazz and gypsy swing style; he became part of the family orchestra and gained his first experiences on stage. A classical melody composed on the guitar prompted him to ask his father to teach him the basics of flamenco guitar. Soon after, Myrddin seemed ready for the real thing and went to Andalusia to learn from Manolo Sanlucar and Gerardo Núñez. This inspired him to compose in his own unique language, deeply rooted in the pure flamenco tradition but enriched by boundless creativity.

Stijn Kuppens is a cellist, composer and producer. In his own genre, which he describes as non-classical cello, he uses the cello in his own unique way. His profound knowledge of the complex history and techniques of the style is clearly audible: Kuppens' mastery of classical music is evident in every note he plays, whether he is performing solo or collaborating with other musicians. His skill as a musician and ambition to explore the boundaries of conventional classical music is evident in his ability to seamlessly blend different genres.

Stefan Bracaval is a classically trained flutist who graduated from the Royal Conservatory of Antwerp. His fascination with the expressive potential of improvisation led him to jazz, where he became a self-taught jazz flutist. Bracaval has collaborated on projects with prominent jazz figures such as Charles Loos, Bert Joris and the Brussels Jazz Orchestra. In addition, he worked as a soloist and arranger with the VRT Radio Choir in 2016. Bracaval leads the Stefan Bracaval QU4RTET, which emphasises the flute as a central jazz instrument and brings new repertoire rooted in jazz traditions.

Live
31/10/2025 – Café Silverio, Gent (BE)
15/01/2026 – Kloosterkapel Diepenbeek (BE)
16/01/2026 – ‘t Ey, Belsele (BE)
17/01/2026 – Sint-Luciakerk (kerkconcerten Merode), Engsbergen (BE)
23/01/2026 – Muziekcentrum Dranouter (BE)

Brixton Heights Records is releasing a new original One Drop track, which is a collaborative effort of the Brixton Heights Crew, Kieko De Stefanis and Gaudi. The riddim is composed by Italian producer Kieko De Stefanis.

The lyrics are a re-adaptation of an old Italian reggae song by the Genoese band Sensasciou, voiced by the legendary Peter Hunnigale.

The track features drum and bass by Mafia and Fluxi, piano by Gaudi, brass by Ital Horns and a set of arches by N. Gatti at the Violin and R. Rassi at the Viola. On Side A you will find the sweet voice of the original Mr Honey Vibes, Peter Hunnigale, one of the most formidable contemporary British Reggae artists who is responsible for the rise and fame of Lovers Reggae in Britain in the 80s and 90s, with his chart-topping tunes and award-winning albums.

On Side B the track Caruggi Jazz is an homage to the Italian alleys of Genoa, where the sound of live musical instruments fuses with the perfume of lovers who exchange effusions protected by the shadows of old buildings, in a seductive harmony which mixes unconditional feelings, warm memories and affectionate hopes for the future.

The tracks were mixed by Gaudi and mastered at Anchor Studios by Augustus "Gussie" Clarke. The final result is a unique production that blends vintage vibes with modern sounds.

Rufus Wainwright's I'm a Stranger Here Myself - Wainwright Does Weill is a compelling tribute album that delves into the rich and complex songbook of German-American composer Kurt Weill. Known for his theatrical flair and vocal prowess, Wainwright brings a unique interpretation to Weill's compositions, which are celebrated for their fusion of classical, cabaret, and jazz elements. Premiering in May 2023 at New York City's Café Carlyle, "Wainwright Does Weill" marked Wainwright's first extensive exploration of Weill's repertoire. Rufus Wainwright’s fascination with Kurt Weill’s music goes back for decades — in his early twenties he wore out the vinyl grooves of Teresa Stratas’ famous Weill album. While Weill‘s musical influence can be heard in Wainwright‘s own songs, he had never dedicated an entire evening to singing the German musician’s songs, until now. With the Pacific Jazz Orchestra under the baton of Chris Walden, he has expanded the orchestral palette for his approach to Kurt Weill.

A new release from Fox & His Friends Records, Chapters (Screen & Stage Dancefloor Jazz from Yugoslavia 1971-1984) by Ozren Depolo brings to light a trove of previously unreleased music spanning more than a decade of his work in film, theater and television. This gatefold audiophile 180g LP, including a 12-page booklet with archival photos and detailed liner notes, offers for the first time a full album composed exclusively of Depolo's own authorship, drawn from master tapes held in private and institutional archives. Mastering and cutting was done by Frank Merritt from The Carvery Ozren Depolo rarely pursued opportunities to record original material, in part due to a general lack of interest among local publishers in jazz discography. Yet he was more than a gifted composer: he was also an accomplished saxophonist, clarinettist, flutist, pianist, arranger and occasionally, a jazz journalist who contributed articles to specialized programs on Radio Zagreb. Depolo also played in international big bands alongside jazz greats such as Clark Terry, Oliver Nelson and Gerry Mulligan, as well as in formations led by Bosko Petrovic, including the Nonconvertible All Stars and the B.P. Convention Big Band. He was a member of ensembles including The Alfi Kabiljo Orchestra, The Dragutin Diklic Ensemble, Jugoslovenska Pop Selekcija, The Stipica Kalogjera Octet, Vaclav Zahradnik & His East All Stars Band and the Zagreb Jazz Quintet. As both composer and arranger, he produced a significant body of work for large jazz orchestras and small ensembles. He was deeply engaged in jazz improvisation and avant-garde classical music, recording numerous chamber pieces for saxophone. A long-standing member of Acezantez, Zagreb's renowned contemporary music ensemble, he also collaborated with international figures such as Ted Curson, John Lewis, Johnny Griffin, Art Farmer, Leo Wright, Art Taylor, Slide Hampton and Lucky Thompson. This selection also includes his collaboration with Igor Savin and jazz vocalist Zdenka Kovacicek who were played on Karl Lagerfeld's fashion shows. The release demonstrates how Depolo was able to shift fluidly between idioms: from driving big-band passages to intimate chamber-like arrangements, from funk-tinged motifs to lyrical, impressionistic soundscapes. This stylistic breadth, always anchored in his deep jazz and funk sensibility, gave his music an adaptability perfectly suited to the hybrid world of stage and screen. The LP highlights that versatility while also presenting the coherence of his artistic voice, one that had gone unrecognized precisely because it was dispersed across so many contexts.

Today, visionary Amsterdam-based ensemble Stargazers announce the release of their self titled debut album via Night Dreamer. Drawing on the spiritual, freedom-driven sound of 60s/70s Black jazz, Stargazers breathes new life into the introspective, quietly crafted and previously hidden musical diary of the ensemble"s orchestrator, saxophonist, flautist and composer, Finn Peters.