Search:the special

Regarded as one of London's "leading disco labels" The Disco Express is one of the most consistent and influential forces in the modern nu-disco scene.

A record label, international event series and DJ collective, TDE is dedicated to original, soul-infused house and disco music. With a global family of artists, the label blends vintage warmth with modern energy to honour the past whilst envisioning the future.

TDE100 is a 15 track compilation that distills the label's essence. Packed with fresh originals and hand-picked gems, the compilation blends funk, soul, nu-disco, house, and electronica. Crafted to move seamlessly from peak-time dance floors to laid-back Sunday listening, it's both timeless and forward-thinking.

Pressed across 2 X LP’s in a Gatefold Sleeve featuring John Morales / Derrick Carter & Inaya day.

This is original house & disco for 21st century dance floors and this train ain't slowing down anytime soon…

Heutzutage ist beinahe vergessen, dass im letzten Jahrhundert Jazzaufnahmen auch auf 45er-Singles erschienen, nicht zuletzt, um damit die populären Jukeboxen zu bestücken. Diese streng limitierte Sonderausgabe der Blue Note Tone Poet Serie versammelt alle Singles, mit denen Tenorsaxofonist Ike Quebec ab
1959 ein überwältigendes Comeback bei Blue Note Records feierte. Mit ihnen knüpfte Quebec an seine
Erfolge der Mittvierziger Jahre an, als er sich bei Blue Note den Ruf erwarb, der ”König der Jukebox-Hits”
zu sein.
Ausstattung LP: Das 3-LP-Set ist wie immer bei der Tone Poet Serie von Joe Harley produziert und
von Kevin Gray komplett analog und direkt von Rudy Van Gelders Original-Masterbändern geschnitten
worden. Die bei RTI auf 180-g-Vinyl gepressten LPs werden in einem luxuriösen Dreifach-Gatefold verpackt, das zudem ein Booklet mit unveröffentlichten Fotos von Francis Wolff und einem ausführlichen
Essay von Loren Schoenberg enthält.
Ausstattung CD: Doppel-CD in Jewelbox, Booklet mit gleichem Inhalt wie o.g

Special Groove Records is proud to present, on the occasion of their 40th Anniversary, two new italo disco versions expertly produced by Walter and Ansrea Bassani and featuring the stunning vocals of Silvia Fuse’.

Vinyl pressed in just 200 copies with dual color crystal orange and crystal blue print.

"The Word II," which gained instant worldwide recognition after being sampled by Mac DeMarco in "Chamber of Reflection" and by Travis Scott and Quavo's unit HUNCHO JACK in "How U Feel." Shigeo Seikito 's seminal work, which includes that track, will be reissued on colored vinyl. It's the most widely listened-to electone piece in the world, drawing attention from a diverse range of audiences including hip-hop, Balearic, and dream pop enthusiasts.

Since 1972, the group has remained quintessential bearers of the tradition, releasing
nearly two dozen albums that cast a wide net for inspiration and repertoire. Remains
to Be Scene is no exception, delivering stirring takes on bluegrass standards and
providing their signature interpretations on deep cuts from the likes of The Kinks, Bob
Dylan, and Jim Croce. The album is the first to be released since the passing of
founding member and trailblazing banjo player Ben Eldridge, who contributes
impassioned liner notes to the release. Beneath the album's title lies a plain truth:
more than fifty years in, The Seldom Scene are looking ever forward.
Original Seldom Scene are Bluegrass Hall of Fame inductees
"It goes without saying (but I'll say it anyway), the Seldom Scene is one of the most
influential and durable bands in modern bluegrass history." - Bluegrass Unlimited

Time for the second release in our series with the super OG, Mr. Bobby Aitken. Bobby and his band the Carib Beats produced a whole lot of stuff for release thru WIRL back in the late '60s. One of the best is this great rocksteady adaptation of Curtis’ classic “Keep On Pushing”, with Lloyd (Robinson) and Glen (Brown) on vocals. On the flip side of this is one of the rarest Carib Beats tunes, titled “Soul Special.” This is a cool instrumental with some charming flute playing (we love flute!), only ever released as the flip of “Crying Time” (still available), a brutally rare 45 that only exists in tiny numbers as a UK test pressing, never making it to full release.

Neuauflage in transparent blauem Doppel-Vinyl.

Beneath the steel strings and steely demeanor exemplifying the spirit of bluegrass lies the heart of a wanderer: the heartbroken rambler looking for the next big break and the next story to tell. The Po’ Rambin’ Boys’ Wanderers Like Me is a quintessential bluegrass record, full of melodies that burst with energy and emotion and music driven by melancholy but refusing to succumb to it. They confront their losses with original songs that resonate poignantly across the hills and hollers where bluegrass was born. For The Po’ Ramblin’ Boys wandering is anything but aimless: they ramble not to escape the past but to experience the future.

Join Us on a Journey Through Hedonistic Disco Escapades With Our 7th Label Release by HOLDTight. For This Release, HOLDTight Delved Deep Into His Vinyl Treasure Trove, Unearthing Disco Funk, Folk, and Soul Gems, Which He Has Breathed New Life into.
On Side A1, We Present "Disco Ladies," a Mellifluous Disco Track Overflowing With Positive Vibes That will Enrapture Your Very Soul. on A2, Prepare for "Everytime," a Slow-Burning Soul Rework Infused With an Irresistible Swing. on Side B1, We Invite You to "Reach Out" to a Disco Funk Sensation Tailor-Made for Dance Floors and Sheer Pleasure. Lastly, on B2, "Cool Lady" Awaits, a Hypnotic Folk Masterpiece destined to Transport You to Uncharted Musical horizons.
This Release, as Always, Is a True Gem for Collectors and Avid Vinyl Enthusiasts. Dig Deep and Embrace the Allure of HOLDTight's Sonic Treasures....

“Soundway presents a collection of 18 burger highlife, electronic afrobeat and reggae tracks, featuring rarities from legends including Pat Thomas, Rex Gyamfi and Gyedu-Blay Ambolley and deep cuts from lesser known artists like Abdul Raheem, Starlite and The Godfathers. Includes extended liner notes, original covers and never- before-seen photos.”

Please inform your stores of this announcement, and share the news far and wide.

New Zealand juggernaut Fat Freddy’s Drop return with a new studio album, ‘Special Edition Part 1’, due for digital release on 15th November, with 2LP Vinyl and CD following up on 10th January. The 45rpm vinyl edition is produced with
a different track order across four sides and promises to deliver super fat loud audio.

Part 1 of a double album, ‘Special Edition Part 1’, comprises of six tracks of which ‘Raleigh Twenty’, ‘Trickle Down’ and
‘Six-Eight Instrumental’ were written and recorded undercover at the band’s Wellington studio, BAYS, while the other
tracks; ‘Special Edition, ‘Kamo Kamo’, and ‘OneFourteen’, have all been developed and evolved from the band’s celebrated live jam sessions, whilst on the road in front of audiences worldwide.
Supremely crafted at Freddy’s own BAYS studio in hometown Wellington, the deep musical and rich vocal layers reflect
Freddy’s inspiration from the black music lexicon and is a response to the crowd energy at their world dominating live
shows.

‘Special Edition Part 1’ is the first release of a long envisaged double album project with separate chapters. The next
journey, Part 2 will be released in 2020 after stringent road-testing with audiences over 35 shows across New Zealand, UK and Europe celebrating the release of the Part 1. These upcoming live performances will allow the band to fully explore new song-writing technology and give rise to a slamming Part 2. The new album follows on from 2015’s ‘BAYS’ LP, which saw support from Financial Times, Resident Advisor, Dummy, the DJ Mag and Clash-acclaimed ‘Blackbird,’ second album ‘Dr Boondigga and the Big BW’ - which gained rave reviews by The Guardian and BBC Music - and the band’s record breaking debut album ‘Based on a True Story’, which went nine times platinum and remained in New Zealand’s top 40 charts for over two years after its release in
2005.
The album cover artwork is by Wellington artist Otis Chamberlain, a continuing evolution from his creation for the its first single ‘Trickle Down’, a work that's morphed from digital cover art to the band’s massive summer tour backdrop and the recently released late-night buttery steppers ‘Kamo Kamo’. Fat Freddy’s Drop have been performing and recording together for more than 15 years, establishing themselves as one of New Zealand's most internationally successful acts. Considered one of the best live experiences in the world, they will embark on their biggest European and UK tour since they sold out a double hitter at London’s 02 Academy Brixton in 2018. Including an already sold out show in Dublin, the band will headline Cardiff’s Motorpoint Arena on 29th April 2020, Liverpool’s Invisible Wind Factory on 30th April, returning back to London’s Alexandra Palace on 1st May – the palace was the scene of two triumphant sold out headline concerts in 2014 and 2017 - before heading north to Glasgow’s Barrowland on 3rd May.

In the 1950s and 60s, the blues was the dominant form of Black vernacular music throughout Texas and the surrounding areas In segregated neighborhoods, community members gathered in saloons, dancehalls, and each other's homes to hear their neighbors sing their stories of sorrow, heartbreak, jubilation, and triumph. Robert "Mack" McCormick, an academically untrained but fanatical devotee of the blues, stepped into this world and became one of its most devout advocates and documentarians. By photographing Black and Latino Texans and their neighborhoods, as well as recording and interviewing musicians, many of whom never stepped foot into a proper recording studio, McCormick endeared and eventually embedded himself into these communities. By the time he died in 2015, McCormick had amassed a collection of 590 reels of sound recordings and 165 boxes of manuscripts, original interviews and research notes, thousands of photographs and negatives, playbills, and posters. Because McCormick never published or released most of these materials, his collection became a thing of legend and intense speculation among scholars, blues aficionados, and musicians alike. 'Playing for the Man at the Door..' is the first compilation of music drawn from this fabled collection, which indelibly documents a pivotal moment in African American history. It features never- before- heard performances not only from musicians who became icons in their own right, including Lightnin' Hopkins and Mance Lipscomb, but also, crucially, performers whose names may be unfamiliar to even the most devoted blues fans and scholars. Newly mastered recordings and accompanying photographs bring to life many of these forgotten figures: offering insight into their lives and illuminating in new, enlightening ways their joys and anguish, deep social connections, distinctive voices, and cultural networks. The collection spans gospel, ragtime, country blues dirges, the unclassifiable music of George "Bongo Joe" Coleman, and more, showing that no community, no matter how tight knit, is monolithic. Accompanying the music is a 128- page book, which contains breathtaking photographs by McCormick and his associates, as well as contextual essays by producers Jeff Place and John Troutman on McCormick's life, and by musicians Mark Puryear and Dom Flemons on some of the marginalized communities throughout "Greater Texas" to which McCormick devoted his life's work.

Funky riffs and jazz arrangements written and performed by her children and their
band Don't Fight the Feeling underpin Fabio's poetry, giving her words gravity. "I
feel that these poems represent the epitome of my experimenting with the
integration of music and poetry in a Black idiom taken from the rich source of
inspiration welling from the Black experience here in America," explains Fabio in
the album's liner notes.
Often referred to as the "mother of Black studies," Fabio is recognized for her
contributions to founding the West Coast Black Arts Movement and for helping to
establish Black Studies as an academic discipline. As a poet, performer, scholar,
educator, and cultural critic, she published countless poetry collections, wrote for
local and national publications, including Black World and Black Scholar, and
recorded four albums with Folkways.

Known for her contributions to the Black Arts Movement of the 1970s,
Sarah Webster Fabio published a plethora of poetry collections and
works of cultural criticism
Together to the Tune of Coltrane's "Equinox" is her fourth and final record for
Folkways, and sees her vivid language and distinctive voice becoming enmeshed
with a dynamic backdrop of exploratory jazz. Fabio pays homage to Black jazz
and blues musicians Duke Ellington, Bessie Smith, Billie Holiday, and John
Coltrane. Fabio's "Together" is set to the tune of Coltrane's "Equinox," in which her
words "compose the air."
Often referred to as the "mother of Black studies," Fabio is recognized for her
contributions to founding the West Coast Black Arts Movement and for helping to
establish Black Studies as an academic discipline. As a poet, performer, scholar,
educator, and cultural critic, she published countless poetry collections and
works of cultural criticism, wrote for local and national publications, including
Black World and Black Scholar, and recorded four albums with Folkways.

On this new album The World and All That It Holds he performs original compositions and traditional songs in Bosnian and Sephardic Ladino with breathtaking emotion and conviction. Created as a musical companion to Bosnian-American author Aleksandar Hemon's epic novel of the same name, the songs tell stories of love and loss, hardship and perseverance. Imamovic's music invokes the spirit of the cultural melting pot that is Sarajevo, his lifelong home, reflecting sevdah's rich historical influences while invigorating its future.

Here John Cohen, Mike Seeger, and Tracy Schwartz provide backing for Cousin Emmy, the skilled banjo player, fiddler, and singer, whose legacy as a country music pioneer is cemented in the memories of those who heard her animated performances onstage and on the radio. This album contains some of her only recorded material, including several of her own compositions along with selections of old-time and bluegrass repertoire.

Repress!

2 LP Set, coloured Vinyl

Music: Calibre / Mastered: Keith Tenniswood / Sleeve Drawing: Craig Richards / Vinyl: 180 Gram

- 2022 repress -

2022 repress

After the release of their highly successful self-titled album in summer 2021 (#1 in Germany and Spain etc.), HELLOWEEN -- one of the most respectable German metal exports and pioneers of German melodic speed metal -- are finally bringing their new anthems to the packed arenas, leading them all around the globe with their »United Forces« tour. The creators of the albums »Keeper Of The Seven Keys, Pt. I & II« (87‘/88‘), which are considered to be among the most successful German metal records of all time and are reckoned internationally as absolute milestones of power metal, haven’t only cemented but even expanded their status as giants of the scene. Caused by the pumpkinheads‘ aforementioned triumphant wave of success, the group’s back catalogue albums are also more in demand than ever which is why Atomic Fire are now set to release a series of brand new vinyl editions including the following hot HELLOWEEN records: »The Dark Ride« (2000), »Rabbit Don’t Come Easy« (2003), »Keeper Of The Seven Keys - The Legacy« (2005), »Gambling With The Devil« (2007), »Straight Out Of Hell« (2013), »My God-Given Right« (2015), and last but not least their latest offering »Helloween« (2021).

Jake Blount and his collaborators embody a group of Black climate refugees as
they perform a religious service, invoking spirituals that are age- old even now,
familiar in their content but extraordinary in their presentation. These songs,
which have seen Black Americans through countless struggles, bind this future
community together and their shared past; beauty and power held in song
through centuries of devastation, heartbreak, and loss.
Uncut Album of the Month - review and Q&A - out now
"'The New Faith' doesn't pretend to be a prophecy or some kind of survival
manual. It is, instead, a celebration of the inherent power of community and
music's ability to connect and resonate through the ages, created by someone
fast becoming one of the most important young voices in modern American Folk
Music." - Uncut
Songlines feature - considering for a cover
The Guardian feature
BBC Radio 2 Folk Show - interview
FRUK Artist of The Month

Calibre's new album - Double Bend. Nine tracks pressed over three pieces of 180 gram vinyl with artwork by Craig Richards.

Special Edition Double Vinyl LP - Pressed at Optimal

Manchester based trumpeter, composer, arranger and band-leader Matthew Halsall is one of the rising stars of the UK jazz scene. His unique sound was brilliantly described as "Rain-streaked spiritual jazz from Manchester" by the Independent On Sunday and as a label-boss he has nurtured the careers of Mammal Hands and GoGo Penguin via his Gondwana Records imprint, while his own recordings have explored modal and spiritual jazz, string-laden minimalism and hard-bop. ON THE GO was Halsall's 2011 breakthrough disc, drawing inspiration from the late 60s hard-bop sounds of Max Roach and Art Blakey as well as the Strata-East and Black Jazz labels. it's Halsall's punchiest recording and won Jazz Album Of The Year at Gilles Peterson's Worldwide Awards while the tracks Music For A Dancing Mind and Song For Charlie have proved amongst Halsall's most requested compositions.

Re-mixed and re-mastered at Gondwana's home from home, 80 Hertz studios in Manchester and reissued here due to popular demand, ON THE GO appears here in an extended format that adds three new tracks alongside the original album and appears on vinyl for the first time. Halsall explains the decision to reissue On The Go,

"I have always loved this album, and when fans kept asking me for a vinyl version I decided to make a special edition release, so I remixed and remastered the whole album with George Atkins at 80 Hertz Studios and in the process decided to include three bonus tracks that were recorded around the same time and took inspiration from one of my favourite jazz records, Miles Davis's Lift To The Scaffold "

'After 20 years of absence THE THE celebrated their comeback with a glorious UK and US Tour in 2018, topped by a sold-out performance at the Royal Albert Hall in London, the so called “Comeback Special”. What started as an unforgettable live experience now turns into something even bigger as THE THE announce their new live album and make the whole comeback experience available to fans worldwide. Available as 2CD Digipak, 2CD Mediabook, 3LP Black Vinyl, Limited 3LP Crystal Clear Vinyl, Blu-ray, and DVD formats.LIMITED NUMBERS. ALLOCATION SHARED OUT WHEN ALL ORDERS IN AT 12PM DEADLINE.

Charlie Parr’s album, ‘Last of the Better Days Ahead’, is a collection of
powerful new songs about how one looks back on a life lived, as well as
forward on what’s still to come.
Its spare production foregrounds Parr’s poetic lyricism, his expressive, gritty
voice ringing clear over deft acoustic guitar playing that references folk and
blues motifs in Parr’s own exploratory, idiosyncratic style.
When it comes to what it all means, Parr says it best: “Last of the Better Days
Ahead is a way for me to refer to the times I’m living in. I’m getting on in years,
experiencing a shift in perspective that was once described by my mom as ‘a
time when we turn from gazing into the future to gazing back at the past, as
if we’re adrift in the current, slowly turning around.’ Some songs came from
meditations on the fact that the portion of our brain devoted to memory is also
the portion responsible for imagination, and what that entails for the collected
experiences that we refer to as our lives.
Other songs are cultivated primarily from the imagination, but also contain
memories of what may be a real landscape, or at least one inspired by vivid dreaming. The album represents one full rotation of the boat in which we
are adrift looking ahead for a last look at the better days to come, then being
turned around to see the leading edge of the past as it fades into the foggy
dreamscape of our real and imagined histories.”
“Like John Hartford jamming with St Francis of Assisi, Parr strikes a fine balance between immense generosity toward humanity and barely contained
outrage towards humanity’s tendency towards coldness and conformity.” 8/10
Uncut
“Hypnotic stories of low-key endurance and universal questions, like Raymond
Carver’s fiction set to a louch, crystal-clear soundtrack” **** Mojo

Bunny Lee's tiptop productions reissued in finest quality by Dub Store Records.

‘A Mind of Your Own’ is the debut release from The Bright Siders, the duo of acclaimed songwriter and musician Kristin Andreassen and NYC child psychiatrist Kari Groff, MD. Brimming with uplifting and empowering songs, the album invites its listeners to think deeply on feelings and emotions that come with growing up, while focusing on resilience and mindset.
Along with a slew of all-star guests including Ed Helms, The War and Treaty, Oh Pep!, The Hokes (a.k.a. Punch Brothers), Gaby Moreno, and more, The Bright Siders bring profound sensitivity and vivacity to songs about friendship, bullying, anger, acceptance of others, and coping with sadness and change.
This music is sure to spark meaningful conversations and bring families closer as they explore the beauty and complexity of their emotional lives together.

Following on from the success of Demon Records’ sold out ‘Special Stuff’ box set, we present the original Christmas Special, available for the first time individually on vinyl. “Yule Never Leave” first aired on the 27th December 2000, and is presented on 180g “Snow Slash”
vinyl, telling the story of Vicar Bernice three unwelcome guests, and is detained from watching the boxing by stories of voodoo spells, German vampires, ancient curses and monkey balls. The Christmas special is presented in a gatefold set with unique artwork from horror maestro Graham Humphreys.

New Zealand juggernaut Fat Freddy’s Drop return with a new studio album, ‘Special Edition Part 1’, due for digital release on 15th November, with 2LP Vinyl and CD following up on 10th January. The 45rpm vinyl edition is produced with
a different track order across four sides and promises to deliver super fat loud audio.

Part 1 of a double album, ‘Special Edition Part 1’, comprises of six tracks of which ‘Raleigh Twenty’, ‘Trickle Down’ and
‘Six-Eight Instrumental’ were written and recorded undercover at the band’s Wellington studio, BAYS, while the other
tracks; ‘Special Edition, ‘Kamo Kamo’, and ‘OneFourteen’, have all been developed and evolved from the band’s celebrated live jam sessions, whilst on the road in front of audiences worldwide.
Supremely crafted at Freddy’s own BAYS studio in hometown Wellington, the deep musical and rich vocal layers reflect
Freddy’s inspiration from the black music lexicon and is a response to the crowd energy at their world dominating live
shows.

‘Special Edition Part 1’ is the first release of a long envisaged double album project with separate chapters. The next
journey, Part 2 will be released in 2020 after stringent road-testing with audiences over 35 shows across New Zealand, UK and Europe celebrating the release of the Part 1. These upcoming live performances will allow the band to fully explore new song-writing technology and give rise to a slamming Part 2. The new album follows on from 2015’s ‘BAYS’ LP, which saw support from Financial Times, Resident Advisor, Dummy, the DJ Mag and Clash-acclaimed ‘Blackbird,’ second album ‘Dr Boondigga and the Big BW’ - which gained rave reviews by The Guardian and BBC Music - and the band’s record breaking debut album ‘Based on a True Story’, which went nine times platinum and remained in New Zealand’s top 40 charts for over two years after its release in
2005.
The album cover artwork is by Wellington artist Otis Chamberlain, a continuing evolution from his creation for the its first single ‘Trickle Down’, a work that's morphed from digital cover art to the band’s massive summer tour backdrop and the recently released late-night buttery steppers ‘Kamo Kamo’. Fat Freddy’s Drop have been performing and recording together for more than 15 years, establishing themselves as one of New Zealand's most internationally successful acts. Considered one of the best live experiences in the world, they will embark on their biggest European and UK tour since they sold out a double hitter at London’s 02 Academy Brixton in 2018. Including an already sold out show in Dublin, the band will headline Cardiff’s Motorpoint Arena on 29th April 2020, Liverpool’s Invisible Wind Factory on 30th April, returning back to London’s Alexandra Palace on 1st May – the palace was the scene of two triumphant sold out headline concerts in 2014 and 2017 - before heading north to Glasgow’s Barrowland on 3rd May.

As the liner notes in this special Anniversary Edition of DUB SIDE OF THE MOON begin: This is the reggae record that changed it all. Some day music histortians may look back and divide a time in reggae before Dub Side and after. Celebrate a decade plus of this timeless and ingenious musical experiment with this release, which includes two new bonus tracks (including a new version of 'Breathe' that features Rebelution's Eric Rachmany along with Metric Man, Ruff Scott and Sluggy Ranks), new artwork, and a 12 page booklet that tells the history of the project and catches fans up on what the people involved have been up to in the years since.

New Calibre 4 track EP on Craig Richards' The Nothing Special Label, that plays with Breakbeat Garage, House and Dubstep..

Yuji Ohno is a Japanese jazz musician born in 1941. He's principally known for his musical scoring of Japanese anime-television series, of which Lupin III and the feature film The Castle of Cagliostro are his most well known works. Ohno is also well-known as a member of a jazz trio with bassist Miroslav Vitous and drummer Lenny White. The tracks collected here for Lupin The Third: TV Special are oozing with seventies cool, exemplified by opener 'Theme From Lupin III': the snares shuffle, the pianos tease and the upright bass walks with all the swagger of a French master thief. Great funky tunes from the Japanese jazz master!

Somewhere between extraterrestrial techno and intergalactic disco lies Oli Silva. A waveform of multi-dimensional energy filled with analog heart and electric soul.
His first outing finds him land his spaceship directly on Craig Richards' The Nothing Special, with the genre bending Unlikely Punctuality EP.

'Sometimes life can kick you in the nads,' says Dominick Martin (aka Calibre). 'When life does do that, I need to make music like this. With its tones of hope and gospel-level layers of self-recorded vocals. Raw, uplifting, soulfull... Even to the most ardent of Calibre follower, ' Grow' sounds like nothing else he's done before. Yet it's not actually on the album it gave a name to. Partly because its ultimately positive veneer (even though it was written in the midst of two toxic relationships - one personal, one with the bottle) doesn't quite complement the deeper, more contemplative aesthetic of the album. But also because this is the start of a whole new story for Calibre...

'A part of Dominick is a poet and a part of him is a man who's lived through Northern Ireland at its worst,' observes Craig Richards . 'There's a gentleness and a tension to him and his past and his experiences. Somewhere in that middle ground is his music.'

Taken from a interview by Dave Jenkins for DJ Magazine.