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BLUE & WHITE COLOUR IN COLOUR VINYL

In the culinary arts, it’s easy to overcomplicate the final product. Theme, presentation, texture…they’re important but should work to complement the raison d'etre of any food. At the end of cooking a dish, it should taste good and feed people. Some dishes, like barbeque or provoleta, resist the tendency towards hollow showmanship. One of their expressions can be more or less aesthetic, but the first purpose is to be simple and tasteful. Argentinian provoleta goes so far as to blur the line between ingredient and dish. It relies on the inherent flavor of provolone being heated at the right speed for the perfect amount of time. You can add garlic or chives or red pepper to the slice, but ultimately they serve to bring out an essence that’s already there.

Los Angeles’ Cousin Feo has developed his rapping acumen in the five years since releasing Provoleta, but returning to the project today shows that he always had the penmanship, grit and delivery that christens an emcee worthy of remembrance. Like the bubbles rising up in the appetizer that is the album’s namesake, Feo showed that true profundity is found in the simple gestures.

Since dropping the project in 2019, Cousin Feo has expanded his vision of a world where hip-hop and football, two proletarian art forms, mingle in creative and compelling ways. He has collaborated across multiple continents, chronicled football histories, aided in canonizing legends, kept the flames high in age-old rivalries and constantly forced his audience to search for the last time they heard bars this hard. In anyone else’s hands it would be too great a task.

The maturity he showed on Provoleta wasn’t nascent, it was an inherent quality forcing itself to the surface. The songs refract his experience as a working class Angeleno through the archetypes of Argentinian football legends. The kernel that unites the two worlds is hustle. When Feo was coming up, missteps had greater consequences than crashing out in the group stage and street deals had the weight of a Boca-River Plate match.

Each track uses slightly different ingredients to let Feo’s underlying talent shine. “Maradona” feels salvific, fitting for a football legend canonized from the Andes to the Alps and a Los Angeles rapper looking to inspire similar hope in the neighborhoods that raised him. On “Di Stefano” Feo massages the instrumental with the same composure of the late forward, until he pierces through the headphones like one of Di Stefano’s arrows. It’s also refreshing to hear a song celebrating Messi before his meme-ification, focusing on the universal truths contained in his footballing talent instead of using number 10 as a stand-in to make a point in a fruitless argument. And he still finds space to show deference to Batistuta, Kempes and other members of the Argentinian pantheon who’ve been erased from the popular imagination by the national team's contemporary success.

Real ones know that true players, true rappers, and true artists will always stand the attacks of time and consensus. In Provoleta’s first verse, Cousin Feo says he moves with the hand of God. Maybe one day he’ll tell the whole truth and let us know how he was able to wrestle the pen away too. Limited edition of 300 hand-numbered copies.

Taking place in the Paras district, Cangallo province, in the Ayacucho region of the Central-South Sierra of Peru - this is a recording of a ritual held on February 5th 2020 for the one year anniversary of the death of Mrs. Sofía Miranda de Bellido, recorded by her grandson Hánkel Bellido.

At noon the coffin of "Mamay Sofía" was presented, so that her relatives could say goodbye for the last time. Following tributes from family members, these songs dedicated to her life and her passing were sung.

The townspeople were notified of the events by the sound of bells that produce a peculiar and powerful sound, and that can be heard in the other nearby towns of Paras. It is said that these bells were greased with human fat, and brought from the Cerro de Pasco region during colonial times. The bells must be played all morning until the change of mourning takes place.

At midnight the songs of the Almakunapaq (also known as San Gregorios) mass began. These are unique to the Andean peoples - a fusion of Andean and Christian syncretic traditions - and are said to help the dead to enter the eternal Kingdom.

It was 4am when the change of mourning took place, and in accordance with traditions, the friends & family announce the presence of harp and violin players, to liven up the proceedings with songs of joy and merriment until the next day.

"Mamay Sofia, manan wañukunkichu, kawsakuchkankim sunquykupi; sichus qunqarusqaykiku, chaymi ichaqa wañukunki!"

"I have not died, I will die on the day that you forget me!"

Our latest Holy Grail reissue is this private press spiritual jazz gem out of California from Rickey Kelly and his vibes & marimba. Features Diane Reeves (vocals) & Adele Sebastian (flute)!

Heavyweight 180g LP with tip-on sleeve, individually numbered 1-1000, card enclosed for liner notes & audio download

"Rickey, I know these are your friends, the guys you went to school with, but if you wanna record an album, you record with musicians who have been playing their whole life; whatever you write, they'll put their whole life into it. You play with your friends; they may not even play in tune."

These are the words of Slave guitarist Kevin Johnson, and they were to change the course of young Rickey Kelly's life.

It was 1978, and music student Kelly had approached Johnson with a tape of rough demos of some songs he'd written. A San Francisco native, Kelly had recently moved the short distance south to study music at LA City College in East Hollywood. He was a member of E.W. Wainwright Jr.'s African Roots of Jazz, and was spending up to 10 hours a day in practice on both vibes and marimba. He also played with Horace Tapscott, and had his own band made up of fellow students, but it was his ambition to make an album that led to the conversation with Johnson. It was a turning point in his education, and a decision was looming.

The next thing Johnson said was "You call the best jazz musicians. How'd you like to play with Billy Higgins?", a line that would seal it for anyone; for a youngster like Rickey just starting out in the business, you just don't turn down the opportunity to play with the likes of highly accomplished musicians, especially those of the calibre of legendary jazz drummer Billy Higgins.

Some calls were made and the date was set to record at Studio Masters on Beverly Blvd, a studio set up just a few years previous in 1973, owned and operated by Dot Records founder Randy Wood with his son John. Some of the other music professionals set to record with Kelley that day were flautist Adele Sebastian, bass player Tony Dumas, saxophonist Charles Owens and vocalist Diane Reeves, none of whom had previously played with Kelly before.

Kelly was impressed with the studio, with the gold records displayed on the walls and the famous musicians hanging out. 'It took a lot of humility for me to record with them, I mean I was nobody, nothing, and for not a lot of money either' remembers Rickey in a later interview with Calvin Lincoln, 'It taught me a lot, to practice hard, and study for the rest of your life, to give your all, and there's a lot of all to give'.

As the recording session took place, John Wood was listening in. He was impressed. Kelly didn't have the funds to manufacture and release the album himself, so Wood suggested it was pressed up on his in-house studio label, Los Angeles Phonograph Records, and thus the LP 'My Kind of Music' was released early in 1979. The album also saw a subsequent pressing soon afterwards on Dennis Sullivan's New Note label.

Kelly remains humble and proud of his debut album to this day. 'I was still a beginner' he says, 'These masters walked in, smiling, and gave me something worth gold'.

Welcome to the mind-expanding 1968 jazz recording of Bill Plummer and The Cosmic Brotherhood—where Eastern and psychedelic influences meld together to produce one of the trippiest jazz albums on Impulse Records. This LP is a much-sought-after sonic travelogue, with the pop-psych spoken-word sitar freakout of “Journey To The East” to Bill Plummer’s swinging, rapid fire/cool jazz compositions, to his covers that go straight to the heart of any 60’s genre-crossing jazz fans. Featuring an incredible who's who of the high-caliber talent bubbling over in the Los Angeles music scene at the time: Carol Kaye (legendary bass player of The Wrecking Crew), Maurice Miller (drummer in The Jazz Corps), Dennis Budimir (guitarist with Chico Hamilton Quintet, Ravi Shankar & Frank Zappa), Mike Lang (Piano with Flamin’ Groovies & Hal Blaine), Tom Scott (Saxophone with Gabor Szabo & Thelonious Monk), Ray Neopolitan (Bass for The Doors & Leonard Cohen), Milt Holland (Percussionist with The Wrecking Crew &
Captain Beefheart), Bill Goodwin (Drums for Mose Allison & Tom Waits).
Housed in a beautiful gatefold sleeve with iconic liner notes by Frank Kofsky, who comes out swinging hard in favor of the album, while shaking the dust off any jazz snobs left in the '60s who still were not ready to embrace the future of jazz. Produced by Bob Thiele who produced everyone from John
Coltrane, Art Blakey to Charles Mingus, this sonic rarity is yet another impressive vinyl reissue from the folks at Jackpot Records.

The second volume in a survey of the modern jazz & hard-bop scenes that emerged in the new cultural melting pot of post war London, with recordings from the end of the 1940s through to the early 1960s.

Featuring representations from players whose roots lay in the East-End's jewish community alongside a wealth of talent of Caribbean and African descent playing and recording in post war London during this period.

Made in partnership with the Barbican to coincide with the exhibition Postwar Modern: New Art in Britain 1945-1965.

“The Repertoire” LP, the debut album from LA based artist Cousin Feo (Death At The Derby) officially comes to vinyl May 10th. The project was originally released in September of last year & is the first installment on his own indie imprint, Alumni Records. The album is entirely produced by the beat making French assassin Keor Meteor & furthermore establishes their connection from Mid City 2 Marseille.

Truly a unique body of work, this personal piece plays like a graphic novel in the form of rhyme, a short film on wax with cinematic word play & story telling fit for a classic film. A 27 minute audio experience, each joint layered into the next, thus creating a collage of moments & life experiences lived by him & his loved ones. It’s like mixing the heralded French film “La Haine” with scenes from “Training Day” & “The Professional” & setting it all in South Central LA.

More known & recognized for his famed footy themed projects like “Provoleta” & “Choripán” & creating “Death At The Derby”, Cousin Feo laces us with a more traditional sounding rap album, stepping outside the 20 yard box & showcasing the skill set extends beyond his niche artistry and sound. Tap in.

Limited edition of 400 hand-numbered copies.

“The Repertoire” LP, the debut album from LA based artist Cousin Feo (Death At The Derby) officially comes to vinyl May 10th. The project was originally released in September of last year & is the first installment on his own indie imprint, Alumni Records. The album is entirely produced by the beat making French assassin Keor Meteor & furthermore establishes their connection from Mid City 2 Marseille.

Truly a unique body of work, this personal piece plays like a graphic novel in the form of rhyme, a short film on wax with cinematic word play & story telling fit for a classic film. A 27 minute audio experience, each joint layered into the next, thus creating a collage of moments & life experiences lived by him & his loved ones. It’s like mixing the heralded French film “La Haine” with scenes from “Training Day” & “The Professional” & setting it all in South Central LA.

More known & recognized for his famed footy themed projects like “Provoleta” & “Choripán” & creating “Death At The Derby”, Cousin Feo laces us with a more traditional sounding rap album, stepping outside the 20 yard box & showcasing the skill set extends beyond his niche artistry and sound. Tap in.

Limited edition of 400 hand-numbered copies.

Blue Vinyl

After a three year hiatus, the rap trident known as Death At The Derby is back with another full LP, this time entirely produced by Toronto based producer Finn. An 11 track project, “Capitano” is themed behind some of the games most respected & legendary captains to rock the honorary armband.

Inspired by their previous 2020 release “Ballon D’Or”, this latest LP is both the first official drop, yet second installment to their newest series entitled Club & Country. With the third & final season of their celebrates derby series around the way, this record is the next phase in their wave of worldwide work.

Cuts provided by their resident DJ, DJ Dubplates, the project is both a rare & raw blend of potent underground production, cultured sound bites, top flight lyricism & love for the beautiful game. Whether El Salvador, Romania, North Ireland or Argentina, the roster is monster. Centered around a tracklist aligned by the player’s actual jersey numbers, this collection of stars shine bright as any constellation.

Cello player and electronic artist Martina Bertoni returns with her 2nd album for Karl: Hypnagogia delivers six new, masterfully crafted tracks between experimental ambient, drone and modern composition.

Cellist and composer Martina Bertoni started playing the cello at a very young age. Classically trained, her career further developed around experimental and film music, for which her cello has been featured in numerous records, works and soundtracks for films and series. After two EPs and her debut full length All The Ghosts Are Gone (2020), Bertoni joined the Karl roster where she released Music For Empty Flats in January 2021 to critical acclaim (a.o. one of the Top Ten drone albums of 2021).

On her new album Hypnagogia she continues to explore the sonic possibilities of her cello which she uses as primary source for composition and sound processing through reverbs, feedbacks and sub-bass frequencies, thus crafting sonic sculptures, rich of atmospheres and frictions, fed by ambient as much as drone and modern composition.

In the words of Martina Bertoni:
"The six tracks that constitute Hypnagogia have been written during 2021 and partially inspired by the reading of Stanislaw Lem's book Solaris. The title refers to a transitional state of consciousness from wakefulness to sleep, during which one might experience sensorial hallucinations and lucid dreaming, and can tap into the pristine structures of the subconscious. Hypnagogia portraits an imaginary cosmic journey of the Self that crash ends into a blinding sun."

ORDH's debut, "Blind In Abyssal Realms", sets out to redefine what the term 'progressive death metal' truly means. But before ORDH, there was BARISHI. When their bass player threw in the towel to pursue other interests in life, guitarist and vocalist Graham Brooks, "looking for a fresh start", decided the time had come to finally dwell in his favorite genre: death metal. But not just any kind of death metal_ Having drafted BARISHI drummer Dylan Blake, with whom Graham has been playing since he was twelve years old, and Josh Smith from KIEFCATCHER on bass, the trio then spent a few gruelling years working on their debut, with Graham writing most of the music and ironing the songs out with Dylan and Josh. Having toured with COME TO GRIEF when BARISHI was still around, Graham and the latter's singer Jonathan Hébert had hit it off really well, so when the time came to find a vocalist, Jonathan was called upon, "right on time to jump straight into the recording and writing process, as most of the music was ready to go".

Winnies Welt war nicht immer einfach. Manche sagen, er hätte berühmt werden können, aber es gab Probleme. Er hatte kurz Erfolg, aber das Leben kam ihm dazwischen. ,Manche Leute kümmern sich zu sehr. Ich glaube, das nennt man Liebe." Also lag es an Winston Hightower, die Chance zu ergreifen, sie festzuhalten und sich Gehör zu verschaffen. Ein Mann, der den Sound des amerikanischen Lofi liebt. Was befindet sich im Aschenbecher von Winston Hightowers "Day in the Life"? 14 Songs, die einem wehmütigen Herzen eine unbeschwerte Tarnung verleihen - es strahlt durch und durch. 33 RPM. Ein Pianist, der kein Klavier spielen kann und seine Melodien auf der Gitarre transponiert. Angenehme Klänge, überlagert von Gesprächen mit sich selbst. Was sieht dieser Ohio Player, wenn er in den Spiegel schaut? Nudge Squidfish? Daniel Johnson? Studio One Oldies Comps? Nach über 126 Songs auf Band sind wir immer noch dabei, das herauszufinden.

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.

Crypt of the Wizard is proud to make available two legendary underground albums by Slutet on vinyl and digital formats.
Slutet originated in Uppsala well over a decade ago, first emerging as a loose idea around 2010. The original cluster of strangely like minded individuals - Dingir, Ryttersson, J.P., Sviatopolk, were equally set on starting a cult as they were a band, the former emerging as a loose collective known as The End Commune, while the latter eventually began rehearsing together as Slutet on September 1, 2013.
From this constellation three notorious demo tapes sprung which were self-released in very limited numbers, and only available by trading bodily fluids, blood, and/or hair for the cassettes. “A very loose guess but we made probably around 20-30 hand-drawn/custom demo tapes of the first three releases. We got blood and hair from many places, actually the very first offering was from INDONESIA. Slovakia, Germany, USA, Argentina, Norway, Canada, Finland followed.... if my memory serves..... hazy years indeed”
J.P. left early 2015. Later that year, after trying the band as a bass-drum-vocals outfit for a while, Fjalar joined on guitar. This is the classic constellation. Dingir, Ryttersson, Fjalar, Sviatopolk. The same troupe playing to this very day.
Following on from the compilation Slutet began work on their next offering entitled Jihad. While the departure of J.P. left them temporarily without a guitarist, a chance meeting with Fjalar at a rave ushered in a new era for the band. “I met the drummer and the bass player at a psytrance rave in the forest. I didn’t have any band and I wanted to play music and I saw this fucking weirdo with long dreads and a Hellhammer shirt and I just went up to talk to him”.
After Fjalar joined the rather chaotic fray, songwriting duties were spread out more broadly and Jihad was rehearsed and recorded in a haze. First released as a cassette by Manifest Of Hate Creations, and later on vinyl in an edition of 100 by Goatowarex the release quickly sold out and became as legendary, and as incredibly difficult to obtain as the previous releases. “It has got some psychedelic improvs, some very unorthodox and quite genius vocal work, some electronic undertones, some noisy ambience, a message of existentialism; all this wrapped up in some sloppy but very authentic and intense black metal-ish music.”
“After the vinyl compilation was out (early 2015) we felt probably a bit directionless, and, having parted ways with a befriended and talented guitar player, we felt maybe a bit morally weakened to continue. First, for a year almost, we toiled on without the 6-strings and rehearsed quite lengthy material for a proposed upcoming LP. However, that material never surfaced. Then we got a new guitar player (Fjalar) and created and recorded this mess”.
It is with great pride that we make these albums available to a general audience and in a wider pressing without need for bloodshed.

Celebrating 20 years of Frank Turner’s solo debut EP ‘Campfire Punkrock’, Xtra Mile Recordings are excited to release a special anniversary extended edition of the seminal release. Featuring the original EP with two added songs (The Real Damage and The Ballad Of Me & My Friends, both of which were included on the US version in 2007), plus 7 further live tracks recorded from Frank’s 50th solo gig in London 2006 - taking listeners right back to where it all began at the very early days of Frank’s incredible solo career. The 12” LP features new reworked artwork with shiny gold campfire on matt black cover plus coloured vinyl.

The original EP was recorded by Frank's guitarist Ben Lloyd at the Oxford home of Turner's bass player Tarrant Anderson and mixed by Tristan Ivemy. If features fan favourites ‘Nashville Tennessee’, ‘The Real Damage’ and ‘Ballad Of Me And My Friends’. Throughout April, Frank will tour UK performing tracks from Campfire Punkrock and the early years of his solo career. All dates are sold out including two nights at London’s Scala.

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.”

Classic album by Dinah Washington, one of America's most versatile singers of the 1950's who moved effortlessly between pop to gospel to jazz to blues. She teamed with the great Quincy Jones , For Those in Love is an essential album for any collection. Dinah Washington (1924-1963) recorded many albums for EmArcy Records and during the period 1954 to 1961 she worked with Quincy Jones, including the release presented here, For Those in Love, which was the first of their recorded collaborations. Featuring three brilliant small group sessions, taped on three consecutive days in March of 1955, the arrangements were by Jones, who also conducted the band and played a trumpet solo on 'Ask a Woman Who Knows'. The group of heavyweight players includes such stars as Clark Terry, Jimmy Cleveland, Paul Quinichette, Cecil Payne, Wynton Kelly, and Jimmy Cobb.

n the late 1950's Norman Granz produced several studio sessions where he paired Gerry Mulligan with some of the most important saxophonists of the day, including Ben Webster, Stan Getz, and alto player Johnny Hodges as heard on this exemplary 1959 session Gerry Mulligan meets Johnny Hodges. includes the bonus tracks 'My Funny Valentine' 'Festive Minor'

We've got a bit of an obsession with Hozan Yamamoto here at Mr Bongo! A legend of Japanese jazz, he is rightly regarded as a true master and was recognised as a "living national treasure" by the Japanese government in 2002. Over five decades he pushed the genre into new directions, absorbing fusion, funk, spiritual jazz and many other sounds, resulting in a discography studded with gems of rare beauty. Exploring his back catalogue has taken us on an engrossing journey that now sees us reissuing another work from this ground-breaking musician.

Though not translating perfectly into English 'Akuma Ga Kitarite Fue Wo Fuku', (kitarite has not been a modern expression in Japanese) roughly means 'The Devil Comes Playing The Flute' / 'The Devil Is Coming While Blowing The Whistle' or 'Devils Flute’. It is the original soundtrack to Kôsei Saitô’s 1979 mystery and suspense movie, ‘Devil’s Flute’. The film is based on a story by the famous author, Seishi Yokomizo, and is centred around a much-loved fictional Japanese detective, Kosuke Kindaichi. A Japanese Sherlock Holmes that has been popular for generations.

Hozan Yamamoto was invited to compose the soundtrack directly by the producer of the film, Haruki Kadokawa. Mr Kadokawa also hired keyboard player and producer Yu Imai as assistant producer on the project, resulting in a stunning cosmic, breaks and beats-laden, funk, disco soundtrack extravaganza.

When it comes to the soundtrack and the technology of the time, Hozan Yamamoto and Yu Imai got inventive, tripped out, funked up, and experimented, creating a quirky soundtrack masterpiece that needed to be heard more outside of Japan. Differing from the more traditional Japanese music orientation of some of his other albums such as 'Beautiful Bamboo-Flute' (also released on Mr Bongo) the album showcases a number of genres, from lush atmospheric incidental music to disco and funk grooves, experimental nuggets, drum and flute workouts, to neo-classical and more.

A special record that showcases the further depths of this wonderful musician's talents.

ZENA, the contemporary ethio-jazz duo from London comprised of producer, keyboardist

and synth player Yohan Kebede and bassist/producer Menelik, have announced the forthcoming release of their debut EP ‘TEMESGEN’; is a six-track aural odyssey that balances uncompromising experimentation with a deep sense of home, comfort, and exploration. In accordance with the duo’s mission, the project is seeking to redefine and reimagine Ethiopian music for a new generation.

Speaking on the inspiration behind the EP’s title, Yohan said: “‘TEMESGEN’ means “Thank God” in Amharic, and for me, I never heard my mother receive good news without saying it aloud. After the first couple gigs we did as ZENA, we saw how people reacted to our music and how it resonated with them. It spurred in us a feeling of overwhelming gratitude, after which the EP kind of named itself”

Born out of a mutual love and respect for the music of their shared Ethiopian heritage, ZENA are charting a new endeavour where Ethiopian musical traditions meet the future. Building upon the roots and foundations laid by legendary Ethiopian musicians Haliu Mergia, Alemayehu Eshete and Mulatu Astatke, ZENA fuses the haunting spirituality and earthiness of the ethio-jazz tradition with a modernity, sensuality and sense of disruption that is distinctly London.

Following three sold-out London headline shows, plus appearances at We Out Here Festival and on NTS Radio, ZENA arrive on Brownswood Recordings with a bold debut that’s equally at home across jazz-minded selectors and leftfield crate-diggers. The duo’s momentum is fuelled by Yohan Kebede’s landmark year with Kokoroko; from the release of Tuff Times Never Last to an NPR Tiny Desk, a North American tour, and their biggest headline show yet at O2 Academy Brixton, alongside Menelik’s quietly formidable reputation in London’s inner circle, shaped by time on the road and in the studio with Muva Of Earth and Bill Laurance.






d B1 IT'S YOU (ANTE NEH) ft. Meron T




d B1 IT'S YOU (ANTE NEH) ft. Meron T




[d] B1 IT'S YOU (ANTE NEH) [ft. Meron T]

Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of Jennifer Warnes' Pop Classic on Crystal Clear Green Vinyl!
All-Tube Mastering by Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering from the Original Master Analog Tapes on 180 Gram Vinyl!
One-Time Pressing of 3,000 Individually Numbered Copies!
New Inner Sleeve and LP Labels!
Pressed at RTI!

Impex Records is celebrating the 30th Anniversary of The Hunter with a one-time, individually-numbered pressing of 3,000 in crystal clear green vinyl! Jennifer Warnes’ acclaimed follow-up to Famous Blue Raincoat features a Grammy-nominated recording by Elliot Scheiner and all-tube mastering by Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering using Jennifer’s personal original analogue master tapes.

‘The Hunter’ was released five years after her breakthrough with ‘Famous Blue Raincoat’. A TOP 100 LP when first released in 1992, The Hunter’s audiophile credibility is best summed up by Elliot Scheiner’s Grammy-nominated recording and mix. It contains the charting single “Rock You Gently,” a sonically dense yet expansive cover of The Waterboy’s classic “The Whole of the Moon,” a soulful Jennifer Warnes/Leonard Cohen composition “Way Down Deep,” Todd Rundgren’s “Pretending to Care” and even a Donald Fagen tune (“Big Noise, New York”). She owns every tune here, backed by a-list session players who ground the songs with solid and unobtrusive authority, letting Jennifer’s peerless interpretive skills bring the soul of every lyric to the forefront. Ms. Warnes uses her voice to serve the lyrics, allowing the song to return the favour.

“The follow-up to Warnes’ FBR offers crisp percussion cues, solid bass throughout – but especially during “Way Down Deep” – and a surprise chamber quartet on the title track” – Neil Gader, TAS Guide to Audiophile Demo Disc

Arista (now Sony/BMG) never released The Hunter on vinyl in the U.S. A regular-weight LP floated around Europe for a while but is not noted for exceptional sound or quiet vinyl.

“Remastered by Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering, the sonics are luscious. Warnes has always had an audiophile’s ear and was hands-on with this effort–one of the last from now-defunct Cisco Records. It soars effortlessly, restoring warmth and delicacy and easily besting the earth-bound but otherwise excellent CD. It’s an example of both an artist in full charge of her powers, and analogue art its very best.” – Greg Cahill, The Absolute Sound