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ATA's newest release comes from The Yorkshire Film & Television Orchestra and features the vocal talents of Bugalu Foundation & Mind On Fire vocalist Martin Connor. This cover of the Georgie Fame classic "Somebody Stole My Thunder" features a powerhouse vocal performance from Martin Connor alongside the heavyweight big band brass sound of the Yorkshire Film & Television Orchestra's 10 piece horn section. This 7" single is backed with Rachel Modest's debut recording for the label, her intense vocal rendition of the Ben E King classic "I Who Have Nothing". Both tracks feature the trademark elements of the ATA sound: Big brass arrangements sit alongside the propulsive rhythm section, perfectly supporting both singers incredible performances.

Originally appearing as part of ATA Records free download series "Hard Work, No Pay" these 2 tracks have been sought after on vinyl for some time after garnering radio play and positive responses from BBC6 Music's Craig Charles Funk & Soul Show and the Huey Morgan show.

The Yorkshire Film And Television Orchestra is the brainchild of ATA founders Neil Innes & Pete Williams and multi-instrumentalist/arranger Steve Parry, who was approached by Neil & Pete in 2014 to provide the horn arrangements and brass performances for a then untitled British library style track intended for release as a 45. That track went on to become the track "Hawkshaw Philly" and features on the compilation "Early Works: Funk, Soul & Afro Rarities From The Archives" released earlier this year. Their shared love of huge big band arrangements and British library music ensured future collaborations, notably on this year's "ATA Records: The Library Archive Vol. 1".

Martin Connor is a well known face to anyone familiar with the Mancherster music scene and has spent 10 years as part of the Manchester collective "Mind On Fire" before providing vocals for the Latin-Funk band Bugalu Foundation (Legere Recordings).

Sheffield born,Rachel Modest developed her unique vocal ability within the churches and gospel choirs of her local community. Now based in Leeds she has developed a powerful and soulful vocal style that takes inspiration from artists such as Madeleine Bell, Dee Dee Warwick, and Dusty Springfield. Her debut for the label was this cover of the Ben E King classic "I, Who Have Nothing", which was later followed by an appearance on the debut 45 by The Magnificent Tape Band "Patterns in My Mind"and her own solo 45 "I Try/Forbidden Love", as well as collaborating with The Magnificent Tape Band on their debut LP "The Subtle Art Of Distraction" all of which received radio support from the likes of Gilles Peterson (BBC6 Music), Huey Morgan (BBC6 Music/Radio 2) and Lauren Laverne (BBC6 Music).

Rian Treanor returns to Planet Mu for his raw and energetic second album "File Under UK Metaplasm". The enigmatic, sweaty energy of Tanzanian singeli and Chicago footwork are juxtaposed with slick, high-def bass weight which sits at the centre of the album. Opening track 'Hypnic Jerks' is the perfect example of this, with crinkled percussive loops cut through by machine-gun kicks and acidic wobbles. Elsewhere, 'Vacuum Angle' takes Sheffield's Warp-ed legacy and brings it crashing into the future, with rhythms collapsing into static and noise but never deconstructing or losing the flow. 'Debouncing' meanwhile folds gliding square synths into rattling dancehall kicks, joining the dots between SND, Equiknoxx and Wiley with a neon Sharpie. "It's using all those formulaic dance structures but just slightly mangled or messed up," he says. "I'm still focused on making dance music for clubs, but how far can you push that before it's just no."

Soul Development AKA Deka Selector is a DJ and music producer from Barcelona. He started playing vinyl and performing as a DJ in Ibiza from 2002 at Warhol Club, Diosa Discotheque and Tira Pallá Bar, and also played twice at international festivals like Sziget Festival in Budapest.

Nowadays he is focused in music production, composing his own music with rhythm machines and synthesizers. His first release was in 2016 called "Poker Hat", and "Roots" in 2017. Now, under the label Sounds Of Mass Distraction (SOMD) Soul Development is about to release his first vinyl EP in September 2020, "Treballa Dorm Consumeix".

"Treballa dorm consumeix" is the new artwork of "soul development" who, at this time, edits as an EP on vinyl format as also on the current streaming nets. The title disc mentions and actually criticizes, the consume urban society where the majority population in the world live.

The author, Javier Ortega Cejas, pretends to generate consciousness about our fail system where we walk: every day, we awake and go to our job posts to spend a huge part of our daily time to generate incomes to later on, spend and spend in objects, sometimes, not really needed. If so, eat, we need to eat, sometimes we get satisfaction just purchasing and purchasing objects totally superfluous. Do not lie to ourselves, to buy, generates satisfaction, but maybe, at a high cost: our health, physical and mental.

As Dalai Lama said with his own words, that, resumed would be: "occidental man spends its health to get money, later on, spends its money to get again health, and lives the present thinking so much on the future that finally, lives like it wouldn't never die, and dies as it wouldn't never have lived".

Bleep deep warm house w/s spoken words. Blue ambient intelligent techno on the flip side.Vinyl only

Trouble, the aptly named new album on Goner Records, is a confident and joy-filled statement delivering the good-news gospel message unapologetically through music influenced by Ray Charles, Junior Kimbrough, Bill Withers and of course, his father.

Recorded at legendary Royal Studios in Memphis by Lawrence “Boo” Mitchell (Al Green, Solomon Burke, John Mayer, Buddy Guy, Mark Ronson & Bruno Mars, North Mississippi Allstars), Trouble is the culmination of everything in Rev. Wilkins’s remarkable life, his regional history, his family music history. And in a world once again riven with discord and division, like the Memphis of Wilkins’ youth in the 1960’s, Trouble delivers passionate and confident musical performances with a message of hope that meets our present moment equal to the best music from that earlier era.

To call the Reverend John Wilkins a national treasure would not be an overstatement.  He is the son of pre-war blues/folk-revival legend Reverend Robert Wilkins and he leads one of the most exciting and uplifting musical acts on the blues and gospel circuit today. His multiracial, multi-generational band blends soul, southern gospel and hill country rhythm, into a sound that has the infectious drive of hill country blues with the emotional heights of a summer tent revival.

Following in the footsteps of his famous father Rev. Robert Wilkins, a blues-singer turned preacher who went from the juke joint to the pulpit, the life of Rev. John Wilkins took a similar path, echoing the story of the elder Wilkins’ most famous song, “Prodigal Son.”

But in 2020 John Wilkins’ life has been closer to a different iconic bible character, Lazarus, as he has miraculously risen after surviving a month-long stay in intensive care battling Covid19 in a Memphis hospital. As Rev. Wilkins sings on the closing track of his forthcoming album, “I’ve come through the storm and rain, I’ve come through the storm and rain, and I made it!”

And there is much to celebrate with this resurrection.

Infernal Sounds welcome back the heavyweight Von D, as he delivers the gargantuan three-track Hunedoara EP, fresh off the back of his debut release on Deep Medi. Spanning way back to 004 on the label in which he made his debut on Infernal Sounds with two tracks 'Cross Of Hendaye' & 'Finis Gloriae Mundi', he drives a different style and reflection on this endeavour. The title-track 'Hunedoara' is the crowd pleaser - hitting you with the heavyweight stomping war chant, whereas both 'Akasha' and the textural 'Layers' on the B-side are melody centered and display the more playful side to the French producers repertoire. Having already received the backing from the likes of Truth, DJ Squarewave, and many other reputable artists in the scene, this is a plate that's armed for the dance or for playing at home.

Based on the book by Diana Wynne Jones

The Wizard Howl and the Fire Demon, published by Tokuma Shoten

Written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki

The world which Director Hayao Miyazaki imagined was recorded by Joe Hisaishi with Czech Philharmonic in Prague. Mastered at Abbey Road Studios in London.

Hotspring presents the LP ‘Obit For Sunshade’ on Mood Hut Records.

Obit For Sunshade is digital technology half buried in the soil, transparent emotion in the intertidal zone; ferns growing by night out of a 4x4 flatbed. Brought to you by Scott Gailey.

Future classics for your listening pleasure on the Berlin based Platte International. Amsterdam producer Moor steps up with four warm dub-techno groovers.

Berlin techno luminary Jamaica Suk announces her most ambitious project yet: Uncertain Landscape.

This 17-track, 4x 12” vinyl release on her acclaimed Gradient label will be released in four installments from Autumn to Winter 2020 and brings together a host of diverse techno talent. She will release a DJ mix featuring all 17 tracks to complete the series accompanied by a film from Anthony Vouardoux. The project is made up of a wishlist of names whose music she has been heavily supporting in her sets over the last few years. “I wrote specific producers inquiring for tracks that would be fitting to the label and also fit the DJ mix that I’m recording from these tunes. I’m looking to promote music that shares the same vision as I do.”

It marks the first original releases on Gradient from producers other than herself, which is a change of tact from her original plan for her imprint. “Initially I wanted to only release my music on Gradient including remixes - but it doesn’t make sense as there’s so much inspiration out there. By expanding the label’s network we create our own tribe.”

Jittery rhythms with a touch of ‘Spastik’ about them propel BNJMN’s ‘Abyssal Surge’ into life, with a big riverbed sound abounding as the track builds through haunting sustained tones and glitching mechanics.

Arthur Kimskii thundering ‘Natasha’ pummels from the first moment, with shuddering sub bass carving its way through the sound field as hypnotic bleeps pulse in the distance. Rapid-fire. Filtering percussive waves accentuate the bassline’s incessant 16ths rhythms, all the while the resonant kicks hammering away beneath.

Wrong Assessment’s ‘The Eight’ is a dissonant avalanche of warped textures, where grunting synth thrusts rub up against industrious pulses and chattering hi-hat patterns weave in and out of the mix. Stuttering bass and cymbal rides complete the urgent feel.

Introspective respite comes from Electro Indigo’s ‘Volcanite’, a stirring piece of broken beat experimentation where graceful pads slide hauntingly over taut kick and bass patterns and beautiful ghostly analog synth notes.

Look out for parts 2-4 coming soon and special audio + visual showcases.

Alexis Cabrera debuts on FUSE sister imprint Infuse as he releases his four-track ‘Acidity’ EP.

Argentinian born, Berlin-based producer and live act Alexis Cabrera has emerged as one of South America’s finest electronic music exports with a string of stand-out releases via the likes of Raum…Musik, Moscow, Yaji and Salty Nuts over the past few years alone. A co-founder of Fun Records alongside fellow Argentian Barem, Cabrera’s sophisticated, groove-heavy sound combined with his impressive live performances have seen him take to world renowned venues such as Watergate, Tresor and Hoppetosse in his adopted hometown, and September now welcomes another ‘feather in his cap’ as he makes his debut on FUSE sister imprint Infuse to deliver his four-track ‘Acidity’ EP.

Taking cues from its title, lead cut ‘Acidity’ unveils a bubbling acid-driven production guided by sweeping synths and slick drum licks, whilst ‘Bulevardò’ journeys through warping electronics, shuffling percussion and off-kilter vocal murmurs to offer up a twisting, hypnotic ride. Next up, ‘Tocado’ introduces an infectious medley of organic drums, resonant bass melodies and icy hats, before closing proceedings via the jazzy chords and funk-heavy bass licks of the infectious ‘Esa Vaina’.

Overflowing with musical ideas and topical lyrics that sound just as relevant today as they did when they were initially released, Prince’s iconic double album Sign O’ The Times captured the artist in a period of complete reinvention. The final 16-track album included just some of the countless songs Prince recorded in the prolific period of 1985-1987, which saw the dissolution of his band The Revolution, the construction of his innovative recording complex, Paisley Park, and the creation (and ultimate abandonment) of the albums Dream Factory, Camille, and Crystal Ball.

This September 25, The Prince Estate, in partnership with Warner Records/Rhino UK, will reissue Sign O’ The Times. This 4LP Deluxe Edition will feature the classic album remastered for the very first time by Prince’s original mastering engineer Bernie Grundman, along with single mixes and edits released in the period the album was released.

Rickard Jäverlings music can deservedly be described as playful and searching but for that sake not fumbling or too loose around the edges. On Album 4, the second album release from Jäverling on Höga Nord Rekords, he dwells more in dub than on his prior album release, and Jäverlings skillful songwriting is carried smoothly by the soft and fluffy production: the rhythm section sounds as if resting upon a sun warm bed of moss and elements flows in and out of the production like a freshly rippling stream of water deep in the summer forest. Echoes shoots through the pines, the hills and the valleys and makes the album a premium dub experience which dominates large parts of the album.

Aside the obvious references to nature that comes in mind listening to Jäverlings music, this album is more than a romantic view on the Swedish wilderness. It flirts, like all quality dub from the seventies and eighties with science fiction and space with broad synthesizer sweeps and delay drenched clouds like imploding and exploding stars somewhere in the outskirts of the Milky way, spreading dust over the Swedish forest. On the final three tracks, Ganjaman_72 takes the album out of the galaxy with spaced out-remixes on some of the songs.

With his feet steadily grounded in jamaican music tradition whit a non sentimental and curious view on production, Rickard Jäverling have together with Johan Holmegård (Dungen, Goran Kajfes), Andreas Söderström (ASS, Goran Kajfes) och Ganjaman_72 created the natural follow up to Album 3.

This record is about absence. Absence of change, of better days, of delights and pleasures that are still to be invented. Longing for better times, missing something that hasn’t happened yet but needs to come, being nostalgic of the future like a cold empty bed longs for warm bodies. Cause the present is resisting, holding on to the comfortable violence of the status quo, closing the castle’s gates ; trying to keep its land, its power and its crown. We can already feel the breeze of the unknown, the urge of better times slowly unfolding, the flames getting stronger.But we’re not there yet. The road will be long and exhausting. I feel like I have been waiting for you in this cold empty bed for a hundred years already and I can’t wait to set it on fire.
Known for his dilapidated vocal electronica and releases on Jealous God, Blackest Ever Black and L.I.E.S.,
December returns to Veyl with ‘A Hundred Years Without You’,

Short repress of the beuns HS 01

MST 09 repress 1 one track... A big classic is back on the decks !

Melodious hardfloor and hardtek. Banging and exciting. Notice a Rap 2 min long tune for the B3.

It's been three years since the last vinyl by Ntogn was unveiled and now we're glad to share with you the result of his venture through the recent winter.

'Smedjan' is inspired by the dwarven craftsmanship of Norse mythology. It is made completely with organic sounds gathered from, and recorded in, the forests of Bålsta which is rich with northern heritage. Everything you hear is either processed textures of birch wood blocks, layers of a custom made Ukrainian artisan mouth harp or the artist's own voice.

There is no synthesis in this record. The kick drums are made by hitting these pieces of wood against each other with contact microphones. Bass layers are extracted from bark scraping against bark. Hi hats are crafted by recorded fire of the same wood logs burning and ambiance is built from the forests where the trees grew and from the woodshed where the artist chopped the wood during winter to keep his cabin warm. The rhythms and sounds in this shed is what inspired the making of this record.

By shaping these sounds of wood and metal Ntogn strives to create a sonic experience that connects the listener to the old Norse stories of the dwarven craftsmanship of Svartalfheim. It is they who made the famous trinkets and weapons that empower the gods of Asgård through stories of trickery and despair which has later inspired tales and literature for over a thousand years.

The record has been distilled from material that was meant to become a two-hour live set specifically made for Mo:dem festival which was unfortunately cancelled due to the corona pandemic. It was also the foundation of the artist's thesis at the university of sound design where he made a study of the effects of organic sound on an electronic expression such as techno music.

It will be released digitally and as a 200 copy limited edition black vinyl adorned with an artwork drawn by the artist's partner Gabriella Holmström using the ashes of the same birch wood blocks that was used to make the sonic content.

The record has received early support from Francois X, Takaaki Itoh, Abstract Division, BLNDR and Rambadu to name a few.

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

Ntogn en'togg-n is a conceptual electro-acoustic project developed by Hypnus Records' founder and sound design graduate Michel Iseneld (b. 1988, Sweden). It aims to breath life into a fascination for magic with the use of contemporary and classic sound design techniques. This has resulted in what Resident Advisor's William Lynch describes as 'fierce, artistic techno that sounds like little else out there' and a discography ranging from earth-shattering techno to dark, throbbing ambient excursions.

After spending nearly three years in isolation, deeply lost in literature on history, philosophy, occultism and epic fairy-tales; Michel developed an inner world which eventually found an outlet through the means of music in 2013. By the use of field recordings and various samplings of his voice and surroundings, something peculiar sprouted as his inner images started to manifest and mature into an organic sound inspired by the emerging hypnotic deep techno scene.

Today, all music is released on his own imprint Tome in order to preserve the projects' artistic freedom and originality. After two years of sound design studies at the university and a new-found passion for modular synthesis; there's plenty of music in store aimed to satiate the curious minds.

“After a banner year that witnessed Lafawndah release her first album Ancestor Boy, the debut of her soundsystem Fara Fara, and further incursions into film, contemporary art and fashion, the ceaseless artist returns with another plot twist: The Fifth Season.

Inspired by her encounter with author NK Jemisin’s Broken Earth trilogy, Lafawndah both pays homage to and extends further the elemental, emotionally charged myths of Jemisin’s books. These are stories where a broken heart can tear apart a continent. In contrast to the precision- tuned industrial productions of Ancestor Boy, The Fifth Season breathes a different kind of volatility. Inviting a new degree of spontaneity and freedom into her process, Lafawndah’s collaborators - Theon Cross (tuba), Nathaniel Cross (trombone), Valentina Magaletti (percussions), and Nick Weiss (keyboards) - encircle her confrontational character studies with iridescent, cinematic chamber-bass moves.

These are torch songs for when it rains ash, creation ballads for when the earth turns inside out. Ghosts of Art Ensemble of Chicago and Rahsaan Roland Kirk color the air, yet Lafawndah’s mastery of pop songcraft, vocal production and razor-honed clarity of purpose cut through. In addition to the Lafawndah originals, The Fifth Season features interpretations of hybrid-folk godfather Beverly Glenn Copeland’s “Don’t Despair” and acid-impressionist prodigy Lili Boulanger’s “Old Buddhist Prayer.” Album highlight “You, at the End” deploys a poem by poet-performer Kae Tempest to aching, rift-tearing ends, and french dream-trap wraith Lala &ce features on “Le Malentendu”.

The Fifth Season anchors Lafawndah as a descendent of forebearers Brigitte Fontaine and Scott Walker - a born theatric whose acid humor warps the sub-continental undertow of her emotive storytelling. Lafawndah’s elementalism on The Fifth Season finds her imagination more agile than ever, and recent live shows have evinced a drive to push these compositions further out, deeper, and more aflame.”

Shift Imprint gives a warm welcome to one of the best producers and DJs ever to come out of the UK, nothing more, nothing less than Mr. Allen Aubrey!
The sixth cut of the label is composed by four original tracks fueled by dark, noisy, foggy, groovy, distorted jazzy and funky vibes, accurately named as the “Sleeze Funk EP”, no other title could do the job better.
So, here’s an invitation to transcend the mundane and expand your thoughts deep into the raw sound of the British maestro, Aubrey.

Bridging the link between the drummer's hometown in Montana and the love of african rhythms, Beat Bronco Organ Trio offer us this sublime, lilting instrumental full of precussive warmth and mid-tempo syncopations.

This 2-part song is not featured on their recent Road Trip LP, but following hot on the theme of musical travellings. Departing from the land of the shining mountains and heading across continents to the sound of the twangy, rolling guitar, parts 1 & 2 are a delightful yet raw aural journey carried out across a live, 4-track tape machine.

Totally analog and fresh, as we often wish music could be.

Mysterious and masked techno talent Paul Villard unveils more of his musical weaponry on the Lone Romantic label this August.

Nothing is known about this artist but from the fact that, “strange and unusual superhuman powers and abilities” came to him after a “gamma accident.” He has released on Blind Allies and Applied Research, remixed Carl Finlow and is a producer with a cinematic electro sound.

Futuristic opener 'Side Effects’ is a bumping electro cut with a stuttering drum pattern and squelchy synth funk from another planet. ‘Submarine Limousine’ keeps up the cyborg styles with a crisp electro groove that is run through by sci-fi vocals and effects, while ’Fluid Dynamics’ is all watery synth droplets and fractured vocals panning about the mix. Taught bass stabs keep you on your toes and make for an otherwordly robot disco vibe.

The second half of this well-crafted EP starts with the glowing pads and creepy atmospheres of
‘Bioluminescence’, a classic Drexcyian electro jam that charges hard and deep into the cosmos. ‘Neon Death’ is an explosion of coruscated synth lines and bumping bass, tripped out machine sounds and warped electro-techno before closer ‘C.A.R.R.I.O.N.’ zones you out with intense ambient pads and modulated synths that are restless and paranoid.

With this majestic EP, Paul Villard paints and vivid picture of some distant interplanetary world.

Caiphus Semenya, AKA Mr Letta Mbulu, is a South African legend and Streams Today… Rivers Tomorrow, his second solo LP, is perfect. A ten out-of ten album if ever we heard one. It’s also incredibly rare, especially in good condition, so Be With is delighted to present this reissue.

Now a revered composer, musician, and arranger, Caiphus left apartheid South Africa in the 60s for self-imposed exile in Southern California together with his wife, Letta Mbulu. Settling in Los Angeles he started working with the likes of Hugh Masekela and Miriam Makeba and other exiled and semi-exiled South african artists, as well as, of course, his wife Letta.

Caiphus also found himself working with and composing for a broad range of jazz and pop artists, including Lou Rawls, Nina Simone and Cannonball Adderley. His facility with both jazz and African forms served him well. His LA stay also the beginning of an ongoing collaboration with Quincy Jones, the fruits of which can be tasted in Caiphus’s African compositions for the scores to Roots and Spielberg’s adaptation of The Color Purple.

Originally released in 1984, Streams Today… Rivers Tomorrow is not just a musical masterpiece, it is also the soundtrack to the life of many South Africans - both then and now. Fusing the US-heavy sounds of boogie, disco and funk with Afrobeat and traditional African elements, it’s truly a spectacular listen. Jabu Nkosi handles keyboards on the album, with synths by Caiphus and Craig Harris. Sipho Gumede is on bass and Condry Ziqubu is on guitars.

The Afro-Cuban grooves of “Mamase” open the record. Continuing where Listen To The Wind left off, this is another horn-heavy call-and-response ode to a positive life. Life as an invitation to party, to take part, to “get involved”. But only if you’re willing to let in the transcendent power of music. “There’s gonna be a Mardi Gras, there’s gonna be a carnival; there’s gonna be a jamboree, there’s gonna be a bacchanal”. Who can resist that? Vibrations everywhere.

It’s followed by the joy of “Aida”. Gleeful, dayglow keys and synths *just* on the right side of mid-80s sleaze are accompanied by a killer bassline, slick, skipping drums and proud horns. Infectious funk.

The tempo is taken down a few notches for the powerful “Nomalanga” and the lamentations of a heartbroken man who must leave his wife Nomalanga and their children to join the fight against apartheid. It’s an emotional song, no question, but it doesn’t bring you down. The uplifting music and optimistic vocal delivery from Caiphus and his backing singers in the second half offer hope.

Breezy drums and contemplative keys act as a backdrop for the stunning backing vocal harmonies in the intro of “Moshanyana”. This gives way to stuttering beats, a bassline to die for and Caiphus giving it his all, over guitars, marimba and synth strings. Another slo-mo winner.

Side two opens with “Dial Your Number”, an uptempo English-language boogie-funk workout, complete with mid-song cutaway to a random telephone call. Whether or not this propels the song into “key track” status, we’ll let you decide.

What’s not up for debate is the brilliance of “Matswale”. This was a hit in South Africa in the mid-80s and you can still hear why. It might just be our favourite Caiphus hit. Wow. This is some damn fine breezy, beautiful, emotional pop. The restrained playing, the guitar licks and the gentle keys are out of this world. The beats? Thundering, direct and slick. The singing? It’ll give you goosebumps. As for the sentiment? This is Caiphus singing to his in-laws about their daughter’s adultery, begging them to intervene and help him save his marriage. Not your typical pop single story-telling!

The ferocious “Ndi-Kulindile” closes the set with a nod to the coming sound of the States. The hard-edged, electro-influenced drum patterns and bouncing, elastic bassline are something of a departure from the album’s predominant sound, yet one wonderful constant, Caiphus’s exceptional delivery and his sparring with his backing vocalists, is satisfyingly present and warmly deployed.

With Simon Francis handling the mastering of this Be With edition, you know it sounds as fantastic as ever. The stunning sleeve has been restored, with its painting of a dream-like cosmic vista, as a lone figure takes in a scene that’s part distant planet, part urban sprawl. One listen and you’ll be transported.


Caiphus Semenya, AKA Mr Letta Mbulu, is a South African legend and Streams Today… Rivers Tomorrow, his second solo LP, is perfect. A ten out-of ten album if ever we heard one. It’s also incredibly rare, especially in good condition, so Be With is delighted to present this reissue.

Originally released in 1984, Streams Today… Rivers Tomorrow is not just a musical masterpiece, it is also the soundtrack to the life of many South Africans - both then and now. Fusing the US-heavy sounds of boogie, disco and funk with Afrobeat and traditional African elements, it’s truly a spectacular listen. Jabu Nkosi handles keyboards on the album, with synths by Caiphus and Craig Harris. Sipho Gumede is on bass and Condry Ziqubu is on guitars.

One listen and you’ll be transported.

A dramatic, string-drenched epic, James Ralph Bailey’s Just Me ’N’ You has been a sought-after soul masterpiece for decades. A lush suite of beautiful songs, it was conceived as a concept album; a sophisticated paean to love.

Originally released by MAM Records in 1974, Just Me ’N’ You is a breathtaking jazzy soul album. It’s similar in style to Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On - particularly the performances, orchestrations and chord progressions - but dealing with a different universal subject matter. If What’s Going On was about romance instead of politics, it would sound like this.

Fans of Marvin, Leon Ware, Donny Hathaway, Leroy Hutson and Willie Hutch will love this record. Not as well known - this is definitely an underrated gem - the work of James Ralph Bailey is no less mind-blowing. It’s got to be one of the best soul albums of all time.

The original productions were made on a basic home tape machine and enhanced with strings, rhythmic overdubs and a variety of other instrumentation. These are beautiful arrangements of strings and jazzy horns. Rhythm guitars and bouncy bass serve as the groove foundation, congas provide a Latin feel whilst the vibraphone and harmonica add colour. And then of course there’s JR’s voice.

His style recalls Hathaway, with a delivery akin to Marvin at the time. As he scats and sings, accompanying himself in sweet harmonies, there is still a rawness of pain and longing in his voice, the rawness familiar to all deep soul.

As an album, Just Me ’N’ You is no mere collection of songs. The tender, smooth tunes flow perfectly together into a fluid, single artistic statement. This is one where it’s hard to pick out any standouts. You may have heard the soaring title track before, maybe on Gilles Peterson’s Digs America compilation. The opening track “After Hours” sounds as fresh now as it ever was and segues beautifully into the majestic “Heaven On Earth”. Recorded by Hathaway the previous year, Bailey’s original of “Love Love Love” is incredible and arguably the definitive version. The powerful, dreamy, sax-and-harmony-laced “All Strung Out Over You” has echoes of the Chi-Lites, it’s that good. Goosebumps. And we could go on.

Mastered by Simon Francis, cut by Pete Norman and pressed at Record Industry, this Be With edition of Just Me ’N’ You sounds every bit as brilliant as it should. A joyous celebration of love, this album is perfect in every way. If you don’t already own a copy then now is the time.

A 38 minutes exorcism, dionysac sexyness fueled with romanticism, made of mechanical incantations mixed with spectral vocals of forgotten imaginary tribes, words from a physicist (Incomprehensible Image), and mystical breathings… To remind you that music is demanding your soul and body, fully.

A master irritator, disclosing this talent all the way, down to every chosen title, for the album itself and all of its components (would you put Milk in Water ?). As repetitive or minimalist music may already make some of you feel nervous, it seems more accurate to talk here about primitive music – notwithstanding a non violent anarchism. But those are only words and vain attempts to attach TLT to a region or a family. Neither the burden of classical European music legacy, which eventually lead to pop music, seemed to interfere with his wild mind, and if it is no surprising to hear Bach in German electronic music, there is here a clear statement that you are out of this sirupy prison…

For D.W. is a sorcerer. He’s been empirically learning the speaking of trance with years of touring and experimenting with all kinds of audience and venues, from clubs to museums, from Mongolia to Brazil, from his performances with his bands Kreidler or Toresch to solo ones, sustained by a steady limited set up, as the one used when he’s recording : one MPC, rudimentary synths, few effects and a mixer. No sound engineer on stage as only he knows his secret language… Raw dubmaking, leaning towards hip hop, indubitably underlining here a significant distanciation from his previous industrial inspirations. The bewitchment of this record is operating with no warning from the very first seconds until the last epiphany of Sales Pitch.

He is using his knowledge of techno, psychedelism (Inverted Sea), UK bass (Jumping Dead Leafs), only to bring you out of it. We all tend to be slaves, without even being conscious about it, and a balance must be existing between being a slave and showing off. Mr. Weinrich’s answer is unsettling because it is an utter call to this balance, in our world of black and white and political correctness. There is no morality in music… Don’t expect anything else than an unaccountable liberating immediate experience. Don’t expect any kind of music because you are already in the past or the future… From his recording technique mainly relying on one takes, his adoration of mistakes and jeopardy, to the core essence of repetitive music, it is all here about being in the present. No ears no glasses.

Summer is here and whilst no-one will be flying to the Copacabana Beach anytime soon, we can travel there with our ears. Jim Dunloop transports us to the storied city of Rio with latin guitar licks, warm bass lines and vocals as sweet as Brigadeiro. A summertime sure shot. Side B sees Mr Dun-loop link up with Berlin stalwart GRZLY Adams to provide a lovely slice of Boom Bap that’ll make you stone crazy. The Beat is sweet as a nut(s). The wah-wah guitar and breezy vocal have definite-ly got that funk.

Triangulating a slinky signal to a square mile off the Swan River, Glowing Pin bring us ‘Pentagon Palette’, a master blast of frequency adjusted house, swamp stomp and chakra charmers from Australian newcomer Jonus Eric.

Though opening brace ‘The Cult’ and ‘Collect’ made first contact back in 2014, a loose connection between Perth and Hamburg hindered progress before ‘Mirrors’, ‘Emulator’ and ‘Waterfall’ walked across the web in 2019 to round out a dope debut release from this house auteur. Specialising in mind altering sound design and melodic flair, Jonus generates a neon swamp on ‘The Cult’, serving up a psychoactive roller caked in radioactive fuzz and insectile fizz. Thick bass swells and circular marimba make for a hypnotic rhythm, while a shapeshifting vocal and moody keyboard riff drag us back towards terra firma. The paradisiac refrain of ‘Collect’ soon sounds out through the jungle with a euphoric haze,

its sub-tickling bass and acid gurgle riding hyperactive drum programming as the track warps in the humidity. Soaked in serotonin and brisk at 137 BPM, ‘Mirrors’ burns off the mist to offer an airy update on the French Touch template. Though frazzled circuitry and dislocated vox serve this one with a twist, the chiming pianos and bouncy beat are still best enjoyed in a Golf GTI in the summertime. Jonus reaches for the lasers via the restless rhythm and rave sirens of ‘Emulator’, a fresh take on the funky house of the late nineties updated with unexpected breaks, squealing feedback and treated vocals usually found on a Four Set banger.

Next it’s off to the chillout room for ‘Waterfalls’, a fourth-world tone poem describing crystal caves, undiscovered wildlife and a holographic waterfall. Ditching the doof, and letting those colours tesselate, Jonus offers a +2 bump to your mana, before the post punk bassline, growling EBM vocal and off key organs of ‘YR Mind’ combine for a confrontational bonus track, only available in digital format.

A trippy machine for some, a warmchine for others... I.N.D. Melodies melt down in a perfect way with the 1NC1N ones. Both are very into thins kind of classical background... With I.N.D maybe we have a bit more of beat experimentations, kind of a light kicker, maybe less technoid, what 1NC1N totally capture for a better dancefloor effect. Superb tune motivating and clearly.. again... thanks for the visual !

JETZT GEHT’S AB ist das Debütalbum der HipHop Formation DIE FANTASTISCHEN VIER und wurde am 27.08.1991 veröffentlicht.

Im Dezember 1988 kehrten Smudo und Thomas D, die Teil der größtenteils auf Englisch rappenden Combo The Terminal Team waren, von einem gemeinsamen Aufenthalt in den USA zurück, wo sie auch einige Auftritte absolviert hatten. Während ihre englischsprachigen Texte weitgehend belächelt worden waren, hatten sie für die deutschsprachigen Raps Anerkennung erhalten. Nach ihrer Rückkehr schlugen sie DJ Hausmarke und And.Ypsilon, die ebenfalls Mitglieder des Terminal Teams waren, daher vor, dass sie fortan konsequent als deutschsprachige Band auftreten sollten, was auf Zustimmung stieß.

Smudo hierzu:
„Ab diesem Moment übersetzten wir alles. Wirklich alles. Wir sagten nicht mehr „scratchen“, sondern „Platten kratzen“. Unsere Musik hieß natürlich nicht mehr Rap, sondern Sprechgesang. Es war eine Mission. Es diente unserer Selbstfindung.“
Bereits 1990 hatten Die Fantastischen Vier mit dieser neuen Ausrichtung einen Ruf als gute Liveband erlangt. 1991 schließlich folgte der Plattenvertrag.

”Jetzt geht’s ab“ stellte in der deutschen Hip-Hop-Szene, die überwiegend anglophone Texte schrieb, ein Novum dar und schaffte es auf Platz 22 der deutschen Musikcharts.

Ltd. Purple Edition

Out 18th September, ‘What It Is’ is the second LP from Brooklyn- based multi-instrumentalist, composer, arranger and producer Sly5thAve; his first new music since the critically acclaimed project ‘The Invisible Man: An Orchestral Tribute to Dr. Dre’. The recording had been first devised as a benefit concert in LA which was attended by Dr. Dre who took to the stage to express thanks for Sly5thAve’s arrangements. Having spent the past three years performing the project with orchestras around the world, ‘What It Is’ sees Sly5thAve retain the high-quality that fans and critics alike have come to expect from him while stepping out with something considerably different, delving deeper into the worlds of hip hop, jazz and soul. Celebrating not only his own versatile musicianship but that of his collaborators and friends, ‘What It Is’ is a collection of tracks showcasing the best of the multi-faceted musician. A sought-after collaborator himself, Sly5thAve has attained much respect from his work with a host of highly fêted musicians including; Prince (as a member of the New Power Generation Band), Stevie Wonder, Gladys Knight, The Dave Brubeck Quartet, Taylor Swift, Janelle Monáe, Freddie Gibbs and Quantic.

This classic album, released in July 1972 on the back of three chart-topping T.Rex LPs – provides a perfect snapshot of the era the press dubbed ‘T. Rextasy’ and is proof of Bolan’s extraordinary and enduring appeal across the generations.

The Slider contained two UK Number 1 hit singles, Telegram Sam and Metal Guru and the first to bear the T. Rex Wax Co imprint, a seal of approval from EMI Records, who felt Bolan sufficiently important to warrant having his own record label. This edition features the complete album remastered by producer Tony Visconti and Ted Jensen.

Dukes of Chutney, the transcontinental trio of Dustin Lynn, John Paul Jones, and Petra, explore the different spaces and places, between nothingness and nature, that nurture inner and outer peace for their debut full-length Hazel. Cosmic yet intimate, long-gestating and free-flowing, diffuse and centered, Dukes turned toward their immediate sanctum, and a network of friends and colleagues, to realize the vision of Hazel. “Pretty much everything we do is without purpose,” the Dukes admit, in line with their pursuit of joy. But it’s not empty hedonism or passivity at play on Hazel, so much as an expression of freedom. “Why not?” was scribbled on the white frame of the Polaroid documenting their first appearance on Tim Sweeney’s Beats in Space many years ago, and it remains their motto, their mantra.

Tectonic is very proud to welcome Lamont to the team!

Bristol’s bendy-beats whizz kid is mainly known for dropping jaws with his releases on Swamp 81 and it’s various offshoots. This time, he’s been chipping away at 4 fine-cut gem, especially for Tectonic - bringing some darkside vibrations in addition to his usual bounce.

‘Hold Dat’ runs at 135bpm, sitting in-between grime, dubstep and housey/techno/whatever that thing Lamont usually does! Charged with a disgusting, totally greasy bassline, this one drops hard and keeps going - quality moves for (now, mostly imaginary) dancefloors.

‘Push’ takes it down a notch, to 130 for a more heads-y work out, laden with crackling, fizzing sonics - and heavily punctuated by sub bass hits. The energy levels step back a touch, while building intensity.

‘Brain’ sees Lamont working more familiar territories - sending a pounding 4/4 kick drum out to hold together a series of collapsing percussive hits and warping melodies - as a ‘brain’ sample, simply haunts your brain.

The EP closes off with ‘Open Letter’, taking things into a dread-space; dub wise, deep and dangerous. The lurching bass hits take charge and push you through layers of echo’ed hits and micro-melodramas, to round off this great EP in fine style.

Hypnoskull is part of the global anti-music conspiracy networkTM (since 1992). Hypnoskull was created in 1992 as a solo project in order to experiment in the area of electronic noise combined with rhythmical structures. In the first years of its existence, Hypnoskull was releasing cassettes and tracks on international labels in the so-called cassette network, a widely spread network of independent and experimental musicians and artists who expressed themselves throughout limited tape releases often including artworks, ideas, texts. In 1998, hypnoskull signed to the German label ant-zen and up to today he is still releasing his albums on this highly influential record label. That is not a coincidence: ant-zen stands for ‘anti-zensur’ (anti-censorship), one of the main starting points of the provocative hypnoskull project. Patrick Stevens does not limit himself to just producing music as such, albums always include a severe message, a thought-provoking underlying concept text, questions. The main philosophy: ‘the dance floors, the clubs, the festivals,… are staged warzones with a different set of rules – a therapeutic zone where hidden anger and even aggression of both the artists as well as the spectators can be released in a proper, human way. Music as a means to open up the deepest anger inside human beings, letting it out in a way which is not harmful to others. A strange symbiosis between the two worlds Patrick Stevens is a part of: the techno and the industrial scene. Techno being a genre promoting a peaceful yet hedonistic way of life, industrial on the other hand being a highly nihilistic, philosophic but pitch black reflection on society. The mix of both musical as well as content wise elements of these genres result in what hypnoskull is all about. Added to this an explosive mixture of post-war and contemporary western subversive philosophy – in a rather impulsive manner – makes the project what it is today, after 30 years of existence.

For anyone who can remember, Arca's &&&&& was a moment. Its 25-minute stretch of coiling, contorted grime and glitch; dub and hip hop dropped with the buzz of an impending co-production credit on Kanye West's Yeezus in 2013. It included cuts of sound and beats that were too weird for that pop project, while becoming a piece of experimental art that what would come to define what is by now broadly known as a `post-club' sound. It's music that is as visceral as it is experimental; made as much for the mind, as it is for the body. Released with no warning seven years ago, &&&&& became a bridge between Alejandra Ghersi's time partying and collaborating with her queer peers, while still living in New York to the next stage of her career releasing on Mute in London. She'd go from making beats for rapper Mykki Blanco and fashion label Hood By Air, posting lurching bass reworkings of pop hits on YouTube, and producing her first fluid mixtapes with DIS Magazine, to finishing off this seminal mixtape on the synths in Daniel Miller's studio. After dropping three impressive EPs the year before, &&&&& marked a transition. Continuations and extrapolations of material from Stretch 1 and Stretch 2 appeared in the mangled RnB sampling of "Century" and Arca's signature vocal layering in the pitched flow of "Waste". Along with the fluttering, muted heartbeat of "Obelisk", and the lumbering piano chords of "Mother", fourteen sonic sketches were elegantly woven together into a single, downloadable whole. As Alejandra's course turned toward moving to Europe from the United States, &&&&& became a remarkable challenge to the form of the mixtape, which was a relatively new trend taking hold of the online-oriented underground at the turn of the 2010s. But where many, if not most mixtapes where treated simply as a showcase of individual tracks presaging a more `official' release to come, &&&&& was a complete piece in its own right. "I wanted to make something that was my best work," Alejandra says about a record that has stood the test of time, "I listen to it very fondly today." This reissue of Arca's 2013 debut mixtape &&&&& features an etching on side B of the vinyl.

- All Songs are New and Exclusive Recordings to this LP and the Movie. The inside of the album features Rare Photos of the Record Session.

Collector first-ever and worldwide release of the original soundtrack of the sumptuous documentary NICE GIRLS DON'T STAY FOR BREAKFAST, (2019) about the legend Robert Mitchum, directed by the famous photographer Bruce Weber (Let's Get Lost about Chet Baker). Soundtrack directed by Bruce Weber, on a 33 rpm with gatefold, mastered by Translab Mastering. Limited to 600 copies.

Vital Sales points

The exclusive release of the sumptuous documentary NICE GIRLS DON'T STAY FOR BREAKFAST, about the film legend Robert Mitchum, immortalized by the eye of phographer Bruce Weber.

Directed by Bruce Weber himself, the soundtrack includes melancholic and jazzy unissued tracks performed by Robert Mitchum, along with the performances of Marianne Faithfull, Rickie Lee Jones and Dr. John.

Score entirely mastered by Translab Mastering.

Sleeves designed by Nathan Kilcer. Printed inner sleeves with stills from Bruce Weber.

Limited edition, 600 copies.

Villete aka Amsterdam based producer Anne Korteweg returns to Scissor and Thread with a brilliant new EP. Her debut 12″ ‘Girl Next Door’ was released on Scissor and Thread in the fall of 2016 and sold out quickly. Now here with the new EP Dawn is Mine, we are treated to seven tracks of understated, floating beauty. On her new release she explores the more abstract sides of electronic music. Using a variety of synthesizers, she creates rich and lush sounding structures that continuously bend and flow loosely. She finds inspiration from listening to Pauline Anna Strom, Takashi Kokubo and Actress. Opener Penrose Stairs sets the tone with gentle arpeggiated synths creating a warm, fuzzy atmosphere - a combination further explored in Midnight Arp later into the mini-album. The title track Dawn Is Mine uncovers a low bass throb mixed with dubbed out effects and textures, while Lilac emits an ethereal, woozy atmosphere, with lush pads, choral textures and blissful melodic motifs. Myst also luxuriates in hazy pads before a slo-mo groove emerges to carry the track towards the edge of the dancefloor. If Myst flirts with the idea of dancing, Show Me dives right in - an exquisite slice of deep, outsider house with a psychedelic twist. Winding the release down with Wild Things - a beat-less vignette of synths engaged in an melodic interplay of chimes and tones.

Oops, sorry, Ghost Wavvves broke the Internet: Here is “Internet Club” his debut full-length album. Part of Monster Jinx since 2015, Red Bull Music Academy in 2016, Ghost Wavvves is now revealing all the secrets of clear and deep web in this work. With features from Tokyo Wanderer, Simpig, No Future and Mike El Nite, “Internet Club” comes up with an exclusive and specially prepared vinyl edition.

In fact, this “club” brings together the best and the worst of the Internet: bots, spam, popup ads, soft(ware)gore, and everything you didn’t even know you could find in the depths of the World Wide Web.
Please check your connection. You are now part of the “Internet Club”. And you already know: what goes to the Internet...stays on the Internet

“Don´t go out there, you might get shot” was the warning from Donna Maya relatives when she visited Detroit two years ago. That makes her even more curious to explore the city. Disturbed by, as well as fascinated from the dystopian state of Detroit she recorded many places that made (industrial) history, including the Ford factory, the world’s tallest, now abandoned central station and the once magnificent Michigan Theater, that was brutally converted into a parking garage. Donna Maya transformed the sound recordings into artificial sound sculptures combined with electronic beats. Every track is dedicated to one of those places and makes it musically alive. With her theremin Donna Maya guides the listener deeply inside. The result of Donna Mayas 6 weeksstay in Detroit is her album “Lost Spaces -> Detroit". “Lost Spaces ? Detroit” is about how to handle crises, how individuals get along with it and the relationship of society to its culture. Donna Maya understands Detroit as a perfect example for what capitalism does when people give up cultural values. With “Lost Spaces ? Detroit” Donna Maya draws a musical picture of how she experienced Detroit that shows that not only a city got lost, but a living space for everyone: Pure urban experimental electronics with theremin.