Suche:tim story

A record to be enjoyed to its very last second AM Jazz is set to place this songwriter where he just might, finally, receive the recognition he deserves; from unsung hero to a truly worthy candidate for being called up to join the City of Manchester’s ranks of great musical icons. Whether you prefer to know him as Mr. Roberts or simply call him Al, it’s time to become acquainted with the real Jim Noir.

Tossing his bowler onto the hat stand and sliding on his slippers, AM Jazz sees ‘Jim’ putting his feet up whilst Alan Roberts takes the lead. A creative masterpiece for the record player and the mantlepiece, it’s a multi-layered album that features close friends including those dearly departed, and is his truest record to date, by a songwriter painting his own hypnotic Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.

“I haven’t 'felt' like Jim Noir for a long time. I’m not sure I ever did; it was a construct of other people’s imaginations,” reveals Al. “AM Jazz is definitely the kind of music I make generally. It harks back to when I started making music years ago and didn’t worry about capturing a particular style. It will be nice to show people more of that.

It's the best album I've written; real hypnotic minimalism, the good stuff!” 15 years since he recorded the first ever 'Jim Noir' EP, AM
Jazz is the record all Noirheads won’t be surprised Al had inside him.

Letting the Beatlesesque stylings of his most recent album Finnish Line be (5 years ago no less), AM Jazz suits the Noir repertoire of his catalogue so far and is another homegrown offering which sees the Daveyhulme composer tinkering in his suburban Manchester studio once more, with the magic of his computer work sorcery, analog and tape recordings.

“For this I went back to the slightly more haphazard way I wrote my first album, Tower Of Love, wherein I’d use things in front of me, or a bit wrong like headphones for a microphone, to make the most Hi-Fi Lo-fi album ever.”

Whilst a brief disappearance of Jim’s online persona may have provoked bleak theories as to his whereabouts, Al had little time for digital distraction. Whilst writing and creating with friends, he has worked on electronic pet project, FAX with former Alfie guitarist, Ian Smith, and the vintage analogue house meets electro sound of his own solo EP Granada Personnel Recovery, as well as producing local band, Shaking Chainsor, and helping long-time musical colleague, Aidan Smith with his long-awaited 'The Planets' project; “I’ve been writing in dribs and drabs when I feel like it,” Al says. “I used to write all day everyday but it’s a lot harder now I’m (feeling) over 100 years old.” Never not sonically exploring or being inspired by the sounds around him, there was even a red-carpet moment when he appeared as a film premier guest after a couple of his songs were selected for the OST of director Jason Wingard’s film Eaten By Lions.

Performing all AM Jazz’s instrumental parts himself but also, at the right moment, bringing in present and past pals along the way, sexy lounge song, ‘Hexagons’ features 'Phil Anderson' and Mark Williamson singing and playing “legendary OTT guitar solo” respectively. Meanwhile the orchestration of ‘Peppergone’ waltzes like a beautifully romantic ode to Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata – a tribute to dearly departed best friend 'Batfinks' who originally wrote the chords in his song 'Peppercorn.' “I hope he doesn’t think it’s shit,” Al jests. Listen closely and you may even find a few unsuspecting celebrity guest appearances as, perhaps, it could be the very first album to feature soundbites of podcasts sneaking onto the recordings. “I will have a podcast on if I’m recording; Adam Buxton, Athletico Mince, Frank Skinner or Richard Herring… I’m sure some mics will have picked them up, like in the old Tower of Love days,” he says referring to his breakout debut.

Culled from around 50 tunes AM Jazz moves like the time of the day, from dawn to night, stirring from the pop of ‘Good Mood’ and ‘Upside Down’s Beta Band groove. “As the album was playing, I imagined this smoky backstreet with all those neon signs outside clubs at about 4am,” Al says. Mellow ‘TOL Circle’ is like Percy Faith’s Theme From A Summer Place synthesized, capturing the style of TV library music or movie soundtrack obscurity that has always stirred Al’s curiosity, and the album plunges into a vast chasm of instrumental exploration with ‘Mystermoods,’ visiting Japan’s funky synth whiz duo Testpattern and Hakabashi Sakamoto. Darkening and deepening in intensity, ‘Eggshell’ is like an undiscovered gem from Angelo Badalamenti’s cutting room floor, the Panda Bear shimmer of ‘Lander’ is where blissful positivity and sadness meet, about another of his friends who left the world too young. “By the album’s close, its nearly time to let go and enter the ether,” he says of the album’s story. “Like one would do when they take their final sigh on this earth.”

Since relocating from Amsterdam to Bergen on the Netherlands’ north west coast, Tom Trago has gone back to basics. Every day he jams out tracks in his home studio using a small selection of electronic instruments, drum computers and effects units, a process that allows him to quickly capture ideas, emotions and the intense moments he experiences while making music.

It’s these diverse and sometimes surprising musical moments that will be showcased on Trago’s new DIY record label, Jong Nederland. The imprint is named after the building where he now lives and works, an historic and storied place that has been home to artists of all descriptions since the 1960s. Each vinyl release will feature tracks made by Trago using his improvised, straight-to-tape technique, packaged in handcrafted sleeves illustrated by internationally renowned Dutch artist – and fellow Bergen resident – Pieter Bijwaard.

The Jong Nederland story begins with two tracks of undulating, slowly shifting dancefloor voodoo rich in crunchy drum machine hits, lilting electronic melodies and instinctive dancefloor warmth. On the A-side you’ll find “Whisper”, a hypnotic but fluid affair where hushed melodies tumble down over off-kilter polyrhythmic machine drums, spaced out effects and bubbly, ever-changing analogue electronics.

B-side “Belltower” sees Trago up the tempo a little and bounce us towards the farthest reaches of the galaxy. Utilizing a rubbery rhythm track full of sturdy but supple kick-drums and hissing cymbals, Trago layers up fizzing synthesizer lines, poignant minor key chords, wiggling acid-style motifs and starburst electronics to fire the synapses and stir the senses. Like its’ A-side companion, “Belltower” gently twists and turns throughout, reflecting the real time, hands-on changes made by its creator during the spontaneous sessions that led to its creation.

Havazelet's story is both fascinating and mysterious. She was born in Aden, Yemen, in 1936 as Havazelet Damari, she immigrated to Israel when she was 8 years old and grew up in the disadvantaged Ezra neighborhood, in south Tel Aviv. Havazelet discovered her love for singing when she was a teen, when she would sing at feasts and family events. At one of these events she was discovered by an impresario who decided to take her under his wing.

He asked her to change her family name from Damari to Ron, as there was already a young singer called Shoshana Damari in Israel, who was becoming quite popular. In March 1960 Havazelet Ron's only Israeli album, "The Music of the Desert" was released, produced by the "Makolit" label, featuring Yemenite folk songs. Both songs on this 7" are from that album. The identity of the promoter, the album's recording date and location, and the identity of the musicians, could not be found.The album was ahead of it's time in that it introduced an innovative sound, comprised of drums, electric guitar and an organ, making it one of the first albums in Israel to record this type of composition.

... However, it confused the Israeli audience of the time: The vocals were in Yemeni-Arabic, preventing it from being played on the radio, which mainly played Hebrew music, moreover, it was too innovative and far from traditional music for the Yemenite scene. The album fell between the cracks and her big breakthrough to mainstream did not happen.

Following the album's failure, Havazelet left Israel in 1963 and went to Germany, where she performed in festivals, TV shows and recorded several more albums. All of this was made possible by her unique singing talent in five languages - Hebrew, Yemeni-Arabic, German, English and Yiddish, her impressive appearance and remarkable stage charisma. The European audience enjoyed the original music she produced and her Yemenite-style cover versions of Hebrew songs.

In 1968 Havazelet married and a year later retired from the music scene. In 1980 she returned to Israel but she left again four years later, this time to Los Angeles, where she worked as a kindergarten teacher. Havazelet Ron passed away in Los Angeles, in 2013, after a long battle with cancer. In Israel, her name is almost unknown among music lovers in general and among record collectors in particular.

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.

“Please Wait“ (Ta-ku & matt mcwaters) releasing their EP „Black & White“ featuring soon to be mega star Masego and others via 823 & Jakarta Records. After releasing last year’s very successful tribute-record “25 Nights for Nujabes” (almost 13 mio. plays on Spotify to this day), Perth-based artist Ta-ku finally returns with brand new music!

... Please Wait is the culmination of numerous online exchanges and years of sharing voice memos, stems, musical ideas & TikTok links between Ta-ku and Canadian producer matt mcwaters. Their cathartic approach to this body of work has been more about self-expression than anything else and has culminated in an EP that covers a range of issues and experiences from different times in their lives.

While the 1st single features Jamaican-American multi-talent Masego and will also have a video, the 2nd single features up & coming singer/songwriter Alayna. Ta-ku’s 823 label represents the appreciation for the people/ideas/places that inspire and push us forward.

The artwork is shot by the artists themselves and each release has an accompanying photo zine that acts as a visual story to compliment the music being showcased.

'Agartha Stories' is a record we were looking forward to release for quite some time. Hailing from the Venice area in Italy, Bruscagin & Visnadi are representing a specific sound from that region, a certain type of melodic techno but with its very own sound design we have rarely heard before. Hear the interesting story behind it. As half forgotten legends from ancient civilisations like Celts, Aztecs, Vikings and Incas say, there is a mythical place located in the centre of our planet. This enchanted place is called Agartha and only accessible through hidden gateways under different places on our Earth's surface, like the Pyramid of Giza, Mato Grosso or Mount Epomeo. Agartha is populated by an ancient civilization that survived Atlantis. What diversifies these inhabitants from our society is the respect and the love they feel for the nature and the fundamental elements that are substantial for the progress of human beings. Following their 'Indian Stories' release on Lost & Found, Bruscagin & Visnadi dedicate their second episode of the saga to the mysterious civilization of Agartha
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Musique de film imaginé (music for film imagined) is a soundtrack that pays homage to the great European film directors of the late 50's and 60's, such as François Truffaut & Jean-Luc Godard (to name but two), created by Anton Newcombe on behalf of the Brian Jonestown Massacre for an imaginary French film. Guests on this daring symphonic experience are French chanteuse and multi-instrumentalist SoKo and Italian actress, singer and director Asia Argento. SoKo is signed to Because Music and her track 'We Might Be Dead by Tomorrow' was featured in the viral video 'First Kiss', which has garnered over 63 million views and debuted at number 9 in the Billboard Hot 100 last year. Asia Argento, who has starred in music videos for Marilyn Manson, Placebo and Tim Burgess, recently wrote the storyline for ASAP Rocky's music video and short film 'Phoenix', which has had over 5.5 million hits. Both vocal performances are in French. Anton Newcombe recorded Musique de film imaginé in Berlin in August 2014, after a successful European tour for the Brian Jonestown Massacre.

On The Corner provide the first taste of a landmark recording that the label embarked upon two years ago on the East African island archipelago of Zanzibar.

Pete On the Corner was consulting for the ambitious permaculture development of Fumba Town. The story of Siti Binti Saad, the mother of Taarab is rooted in Fumba. Pete joined the dots to shine new light on the pioneering life of Siti Binti Saad as the innovative town development took shape and looked to connect with the Island's unique history at the centre of the Swahili world.

Whilst steering a recording project that would celebrate Siti Binti Saad's legacy, Pete brought in producer Sam Jones and the pair met with filmmaker Andy Jones (who documented the life and work of the legendary Bi Kidude) who revealed that Siti Binti Saad had a great grand-daughter, Siti Muharam who led a very private life but had a 'golden voice'. With music director Matona on board the scene was set to go beyond celebrating the singular legacy of a Swahili pioneer and find a new hero.

Siti Muharam has a golden timbre and on this 7" we get the first taste of her debut LP that will represent her great grandmother's legacy for the next generations.

Local Talk is back again with a fantastic album from Soulphiction who gets deep, down and dirty with this bumping selection of timeless house tracks across 3 pieces of beautifully packaged vinyl...

Dusty grooves and soulful emotion form the foundation of this release, which also takes influence from Jazz, Hip Hop and Afrobeat.

Soulphiction aka Michel Baumann is one of Germany's most respected artists who is also known under the equally successful and iconic alias Jackmate.
This is the third time Soulphiction has featured on Local Talk including his recent single "Beehive". Other labels to have featured Soulphiction tracks and remixes include Lumberjacks in Hell, Rebirth, Pampa and Philpot Records.

A master of both mood and texture, this release showcases the studio wizardry of a true sound-smith.
Chunky percussion with shuffling rhythms form the backbone of the grooves, which are fleshed out with intricate melodies and funky basslines that move mind, body and soul.

Like the tracklist of a J Dilla mixtape, this album flows with a purposeful care combined with a storytelling blend of emotions rarely heard in a house music long player.

Executed to perfect precision, this album is an instant classic and a must-have for home listening along with a club setting.

Any jazz lover will tell you that one of the main considerations in their appreciation of jazz is spontaneity, and the freedom it gives to improvise. In jazz, freedom is everything.

Here we have a record that was recorded simply because some musicians met in the studio one day in 1996. They were not under instruction, they had no plans. What they had was the presence of mind to make music with one another, free to collaborate and spontaneously create new sounds.

Drummer Harbans Srih tells us about 'Short story from Tabla, Drums & Trumpet': "We were tracking some funky jazz with a full band.
All left at the end except for Pandit and myself. As there was a bit of time left I said to Pandit to have some fun tracking tabla and drums. Engineer pressed the record button and off we went without any prior rehearsal. This take is the result. Colin had turned up, took one listen and said he'd like to play trumpet on it. Again without any particular discussion he went in and recorded this take, resulting in this fusion of Indo-Jazz."

... And then in 2003, 'Oye Maia' came about: "We met at the recording studio one afternoon. I had an idea of recording an Indian themed track and had brought along a kalimba. I showed it to Shanti who started to play it. It was suggested that he recorded a 2 bar loop while Pandit and I performed alongside. Shanti then improvised on trumpet utilising Indian phrasing. The track was named after his daughter Maia, and translated it means 'Listen Maia'."

I remember the first time I read W.E.B. DuBois eclectic masterpiece The Souls of Black Folk. The way in which this Weberian scholar flowed from personal account to prose to sociological analysis to music and even political intervention has had a lasting impact on my own work as a cultural anthropologist. It made me understand that as scholars we must use different means in order to give expression to the totality of the lived experience: There is only so much in an academic text.

The experience of alienation has always been at the heart of my scholarly and artistic practice. I have used academic writing, lecturing, theatre performance and electronic improvisation to understand and represent it as a theoretical concept, postcolonial condition and lived experience. I believe, some issues need to be told like a story, some analyzed in most abstract terms and others need to be sung like a gospel. The medium changes the message.

In this sense, I guess, I’m a singing cultural anthropologist.

For some time now I have been engaged in the use of dystopian themes and sounds to paint a sonic picture of structural racism and whiteness of our present. But recently I have grown weary of this Ballardian idea of Future Now and the resulting phantasmagorian aesthetics myself and others have been invested in. The widespread availability of Digital Audio Workstations, sequencers, loopers and delay pedals has lead us into a futuristic cul de sac best described by Mark Fisher as the very absence of future.

Likewise, I am most skeptical of the “naturalist” countermovement, the return of folk. Especially in Germany, I am convinced there is no such thing as an innocent or progressive folk musical expression as it is always connected to the idea of the homeland (“Heimat”) which in turn produces the colony. It seems to me, the current zeitgeist is stuck between a “museum of a dystopian future” and a “museum of an idealized past”, but I wanted to sing about the present.

So, I involuntarily returned to pop music in its two-folded meaning of something popular and addressing not an essentialist notion of “Volk” or its woke cousin “communities”, but society as a whole.

I entered the studio just with a few lo-fi sounding melodies and rhythms from my circuit bent CASIO synthesizer. I had no clue what the finished product would sound like. But as soon as Markus started drumming, in a way strangely reminding me of CAN’s Ethnographic Forgery Series, my uptight sounds were suddenly embedded within a warmer global sound spectrum. The alien at home and abroad and the strange overlapped: We were seeing one and the same sound differently but were gently held together by Tobias’ producing.

Making music is about building coalitions. It’s about suggesting an articulation of styles, sounds and people, that hasn’t materialized, yet, but may help us in the current crisis: I wanted Amon Düül II to send their drug induced archangel thunderbird to rescue the refugees, that had tried to escape the police by climbing up a tree in Munich in 2016. I wanted Sun Ra to taunt far-right protesters in Chemnitz in 2018. And I wanted to mourn the loss of a former kebab shop cum discotheque that served as proof that there is such a thing as a minoritarian universalism.

SCHLAND IS THE PLACE FOR ME is a pop album featuring songs of alienation, not only as a tragic experience, but as a pop-cultural promise. Maybe Bill Callahan sung it best, “I am Star Wars today, I am no longer English grey”. I want those who suffer from alienation to stand in alliance with those who seek alienation, and vice-versa. A coalition, that tolerates the possibility that we are moved by the same groove for contrary reasons.

Fehler Kuti
Munich, Autumn 2019

Music by Julian Warner, Markus Acher & Tobias Siegert
Saxophone on RINDERMARKT by Franz Brunner
Trombone on RINDERMARKT and IL by Matthias Götz
Recorded and mixed by Tobias Siegert in Munich.
SONTAGSFAVORIT mixed by Dario Albiez in Dusseldorf.
Mastered by Duphonic in Augsburg.
Artwork by Atelier Grande, Munich.

My Music is a stellar spiritual soul / jazz-funk gem, recorded by keyboardist-singer Samuel Jonathan Johnson in 1978. The epitome of a cult classic, it didn't do much upon its release but steadily found an audience over the decades that followed. It eventually worked its way into the culture, and latterly the wantlists, of wave after wave of soul aficionados.

This is music that shares the jazzy R&B DNA of contemporaries like Roy Ayers and is an intoxicating blend of mellow moments and more groove-heavy tracks. Spacey keys and lush production give it a luxurious, enveloping warmth.

My Music opens with the gorgeous title track: an indulgent slow jam opus. Introducing us to Johnson’s compelling musical vision, it features a rich mélange of production techniques. Dripping in strings, horns, backing singers, popping funk bass lines and swooshing synth waves, it’s an unusually structured cosmic two stepper that has an irrepressible groove. Accordingly, it’s been a favourite with the diggers and it was sampled by The Alchemist for Jadakiss’s “We Gonna Make It” (and it was also used on Ras Kass’s “Home Sweet Home”… but that’s a story for another time).

The up-tempo “Sweet Love” bubbles over with joy, its uplifting lyrics backed by infectious bass and jazzy Fender Rhodes lines. It follows a cover of “What the World Need’s Now Is Love”, taken at a funereal pace that transforms it into a heartfelt plea for love and understanding. Essential in these dark days.

After a full-minute-long opening of lush cinematic strings and horns, “Because I Love You” makes space for Samuel’s voice, accompanied by some keys and just a sprinkle of guitar. It builds back up and then mellows its way out to a jazz lounge finish (in all the right ways). The feel-good ebullience of the Stevie Wonder-esque “It Ain’t Easy” closes out the LP’s first side.

The second side bursts open with the heavy bounce and disco-funk basslines of “You”, a slightly off-beat string-laden dancer with insistent horns and a piano-assisted groove. Next up is “Just Us”, a legendary steppers track that could be heard oozing out of deep soul radios and funk sound systems back in the late 80s.

“Yesterdays and Tomorrow” is a moving original ballad that is followed by an exquisite high-stepping paean to mom in the form of “Thank You Mother Dear”. The thumping easy-glide of “Reason For The Reason” brings the album to a close.

Respectfully mastered by Simon Francis and cut by the master Pete Norman, this reissue of Samuel Jonathan Johnson’s sole LP sounds as sumptuous as that scarlet gown on the front cover. The sleeve artwork was lovingly restored by the Be With team. My Music is a luxurious and rare collection of songs that now has an opportunity to reach beyond its cult audience.

On the hunt for timelessness we travel far and wide and realise only the wisest and stupidest of men never change. Brilliance borders lunacy. Extreme wisdom and extreme stupidity are the same. When u know everything u know nothing. Just as minus infinity reaches plus infinity and forms a circle. Just as extreme right wing and extreme left wing are basically the same but arrived from a different angle. Extremely bad taste becomes good, and extremely good taste is contrived. The truth is in the middle (yes i have come at an age where i can say that) so we have to embrace change to be the only constant. Everything and everyone always changes. So what does it mean “to be timeless”?

A very special thanks to Efdemin.
The story goes like this:
He gave us the strong winds remix. We told him its a bomb. We also said its a little sad maybe perhaps that it contains so little of the original. “Oh let me try something” was his answer. And the very next day we got sent the good winds mix. Of course we asked if we could include both mixes. How could we choose?

The soundtrack for Quentin Tarantino’s heavily anticipated music laden film Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood, personally curated by Tarantino himself, the soundtrack is a love letter to the music of 1960s era Hollywood. The Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood soundtrack features over 20 standout tracks from artists such as Paul Revere & The Raiders, Deep Purple, and Neil Diamond, as well as vintage radio advertisements, creating a true time capsule of a golden era of filmmaking.

Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood visits 1969 Los Angeles, where everything is changing, as TV star Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his longtime stunt double Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt) make their way around an industry they hardly recognize anymore. The ninth film from the writer/director features a large ensemble cast and multiple storylines in atribute to the final moments of Hollywood’s golden age. Written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. Produced by David Heyman, Shannon McIntosh and Quentin Tarantino. Georgia Kacandes, YU Dong and Jeffrey Chan serve as executive producers. The film also stars Margot Robbie as Sharon Tate plus Al Pacino, Emile Hirsch, Timothy Olyphant, Dakota Fanning, Bruce Dern, Lena Dunham and more.

Recital publish the newest record by Canadian composer Sarah Davachi. Currently working on her PhD in Musicology at UCLA, her trajectory has been unorthodox. Hailing from Calgary, Alberta, which, if you've never been there, doesn't really scream "Avant-Garde" (Calgary is the rodeo capital of the world). From a young age, Sarah was a driven pianist (and figure-skater, although that's a story for a different time). It is important and interesting that she chose to study esoteric music; as Sarah could have easily been a cowgirl or a concert pianist had her ingrained love of synthesis and sonic phenomenology not taken the wheel.

Sarah is a considered person. I find few people that have the diligence and resolve to take their time with music... especially in a live context. I respect that about her. The first time I saw Sarah perform, I presumptuously told her that her music reminded me of my favorite Mirror albums (the exceptional project of Andrew Chalk and Christoph Heemann). Sarah was not familiar with Mirror, so the compliment was initially lost on her. Years back I was in the same situation when a review compared my music to Andrew Chalk, who was unknown to me at the time. So I felt a kinship in our magnetic drift towards unspoken and clustered beauty.

Let Night Come On Bells End The Day follows the release of her "sound-wheel" LP All My Circles Run, which examines the isolation of different instruments. Let Night Come On..., recorded mainly with a Mellotron and electronic organ, feels like a return to the nest. Burrowed in the studio, Davachi was the only performer on this album. She both splays her compositional architecture and re-contextualizes the essence of her early output. She chiseled careful and shadowed hymns; anchors of emotion.

Two pillars of this album are "Mordents", which to my ears drops hints of her love for Progressive rock music - and "Buhrstone," comparable to a sombre funeral march of piano and flutes. These two examine punctuations of early music, gently plucking melodies and movements. The three other compositions are tonal works, blowing slow jets of lapping harmonics.

Writing this description now, I find it hard to separate "At Hand" from filmmaker Paul Clipson, who made a melancholic film for this piece of Sarah's. A fitting title for Sarah and Paul's relationship - frequently working in orbit of each other, meticulous and tactile. I cherish this track as a memory of Paul.

This is a lovely album to fill an evening living room with. A blanket, a cup of wine, a dim bulb, a wide window.

Three beautiful photo-prints by Davachi are included with Let Night Come On Bells End The Day. Frames are not included.

- Sean McCann

"Kiska" is the lead single off Kedr's sophomore release, Your Need. The album is a celebration of life and rebirth. It's about a fighter's spirit, and if you will, a little audacity and courage. DJ'ing and early forms of dance music inspired a furious burst of creative energy after months of melancholy, sadness and reflection to record the album in only a matter of weeks. After her breakout album, Ariadna, which put her on the forefront of Russia's burgeoning electronic scene, Kedr felt lost with her identity and was searching for the direction of her next chapter. For a while she felt trapped by her own image and needed quite some time to resolve this internal dissonance - to grow, to evolve. DJ'ing was the main catalyst to pull her out of this rut. The art form shifted her inspiration to mainly old school styles of dance music: ghetto, house, breakbeat and UK garage. For the prior year and a half she was listening to ambient, kraut-rock and more experimental genres - one can hear the brighter, more energetic influence of early electronic music in the songs on Your Need. One day she was talking with her friend Flaty (Zhenya), a very talented artist from St. Petersburg who's signed to the GOST ZVUK label, and they decided to do a single together. He came to visit her in Moscow, but they ended up spending 10 whole days writing music together, from dawn to dusk. They vibed off each other's musical ideas perfectly and understood each other even without speaking. Zhenyais a beatmaster and pays attention to even the smallest details of a track. He brought incredible richness to the composition and Kedr considers him her teacher in this area. Kedr was in charge of the melodies and vibe of the tracks, and the vocal elements. Your Need is like a chapter of life. It's a story that illustrates different scenarios and moods that our mythical hero experiences, living in an urban jungle. From lost love to a bad trip on the dance floor, from euphoria to deep introspection. Our hero sometimes feels bold, lost or devastated, but also tender and full, like all of us at some point in life. The ending is joyful and bright. The last song gives hope and faith that a new day will come and wash away the old. You can feel like new every day. Your Need reflects an array of genres and a mix of cultures - a harmonious combination of differences. Everything Kedr loves about ghetto music, in the traditions of house, dub, breakbeat, 90s electronic music and modern sounds - she's embraced and expressed it all throughout. Your Need is Kedr's ode to music from different eras and changing periods.

Mythology for the posthuman age. From "The New Kind" to "Posthuman Wonderland", Simon Grab's album "Posthuman Species" is a sonic journey through an astonishing land of fragile feedbacks, pulsating drones and opulent outbursts of noise.

Recorded on a no-input-mixing setup consisting of low frequency oscillators, filters, analogue effects and a mixer patched with itself, the album sneaks up on dub and leftfield electronica from the side. Over time, the self-oscillating setup falls in and out of tune with itself, emphasising its transient nature. The album is a work of science fiction, telling the story of a time when "The New Kind" shapes its own wonderland.

Swiss sound artist and musician Simon Grab explores new grounds by negating assumed borders. In his recent work, he focuses on reduction, and the peculiarity of self-referential systems.
The album "Posthuman Species" follows his recent EP "Extinction" on -OUS. His "Diamonds EP" in collaboration with Togolese rapper Yao Bobby and Asian Dub Foundation's Dhangsha releases on Bristol's LavaLava Records in September 2019. Simon Grab's recent works includes "Hirnmusik 1 & 2", in which he dives deep into musical imagery by transferring his sonic ideas directly from his brain to vinyl.

The vinyl LP comes with a printed inner sleeve designed by Hammer and a download card that includes the digital only tracks "Transformation" and "Posthuman Wonderland".

It’s been a busy eight months since Dampé’s debut on Dirt Crew Recordings. That time has seen the producer hold down monthly slots on Rinse FM, contribute a downtempo electronica/jazz edit to the S3A ‘Pages Remixes” EP as well as open big rooms for the likes of Surgeon and Blawan.

The intervening months have also seen the producer set up camp in the Rhythm Section studio in South East London, and the result of new access to studio gear can be heard all across ‘Garden’. Compared to the debut ‘Peach Shuffle’ this is a far more machine-led and darker listening experience. Snatches of acoustic instruments and space remain, but it’s never long before the disembodied vocals and oversaturated classic drum kits return reminding you this is music best enjoyed in the club.

‘A Basement, 10 Years Ago’ started just there. A bass line dimly recalled from a long-lost 6am jam is sequenced on a weighty analogue keyboard, while syrupy R&B vocals dance around mbira and gangsa, all slowly building and building together. ‘727 and Arp Breaks’ is a love letter to two of the producer’s favourite instruments from the studio. A TR-727 and an Arp Odyssey collide across dubbed out stabs to form some very rolling breaks.
Sunday Night Machines’ sees Dampé tame the box-of-physics that is the Arp Odyssey again with a sprawling meditation on two repeating arpeggios.

‘Garden’ is the one for the dancers. Four variations play with the same melodic theme in distinct sections, with the second variation being the deepest and most floor-ready the whole record gets. ‘France’ is a warped dub-come-hip hop beat that manages to conjure both Lil Jon and Yusef Lateef. We approached Liverpool’s finest ASOK (Lobster Theremin, M>O>S Delsin) for remix duties and to close out the record with a twisted bang. He turned in a propelling weapon that brings a whole new texture to the track listing. It’s very 90’s, very ravey and very raw, in a true IDM style.

With this eclectic mix of sounds we are entering another chapter of the Dirt Crew story and we hope you dig it as much as we do!

Limited edition (200 copies of orange transparent and 100 of yellow vinyl records with postcards-photos from Ms. Gia's family album)

Lua Preta is an Angolan/Polish duo consisting of vocalist/MC Ms. Gia of Angolan descent and experienced Polish DJ and producer Mentalcut. Together they bring the frenetic mixture of modern electronic music and African genres characteristic not only to Ms. Gia's native Angola but also to the whole continent - including kuduro, afrohouse, gqom and more.

'Polaquinha Preta' is a brand new EP by Lua Preta. With the music produced by Polish producer Mentalcut and vocals from Angolan Ms. Gia the release tells the story about Gia's childhood in Poland of the 80s and 90s and how she was seen as a foreign both here and back in Angola.

There are interesting guests on the record:

B4mba – Paris-based artist with roots in Senegal and Spain who raps both in French and Spanish. He's an author of the 'Baile Punk' EP in which he blends Latin American music with avant-garde electronic sound.

Isilda Viegas – Ms. Gia's mother hailing from Sao Tome e Principe. On the 'Polaquinha Preta' EP she's featured on 'Noemia' where she sings in forro language – a creole language native to her homeland. During colonial times Portuguese banned people from using forro. Currently only around 70 000 people use it.

Rafael Aragon – French DJ, producer and musician who has become one of the key players on the European global bass scene throughout the past ten years. In his music he relates to all the continents but especially to South America and Africa where his ancestors come from.





d B2 Noemia (Rafael Aragon Remix) feat. Isilda Viegas

In late 1997, unsigned Melbourne producer Castel won a competition at a local club. The prize was certainly sought-after: a CD single release on leading local label DanceNet. That EP, “Estrel”, subsequently appeared in stores in 1998, but within two years Castel had packed away his Atari-ST, sold off his hardware and quit music for good.

Thanks to Echovolt Records, Castel’s story now has a happier ending. 22 years after it was recorded, the unfeasibly gorgeous “Estrel” is finally appearing on vinyl alongside original bonus cut “Me & You” and a trio of similarly impressive unreleased productions from the period.

“Estrel” is positivity personified – a melodious, morning-fresh blast of deep electro bliss rich in bustling drums, tuneful IDM style lead lines and darting, psychedelic electronics. It’s joined on side A by “Me & You”, a pitched-down chunk of hazy ‘90s electronica that wouldn’t have sounded out of place on one of Warp Records’ legendary Artificial Intelligence compilations.

On side B, Castel opens up his archive of unreleased recordings for the very first time. The rush-inducing, bass-heavy swirl of “Safer Somewhere” – one of the last tracks he ever recorded and reminiscent of some B12 recordings from the period – is followed by the intergalactic ambient brilliance of “Latch” and the lilting, sun-bright bliss of breakbeat-driven shuffler “16/11/1998”, whose combination of weighty bottom-end and layered electronics neatly sums up the unheralded qualities of Castel’s previously forgotten work.

Carla dal Forno announces her second full-length album, Look Up Sharp , on her own Kallista records.

Dal Forno beckons a bold new era in her peerless output pushing her dub-damaged DIY dispatches to the limits of flawless dream-pop. In a transformative move towards crystal clear vocals and sharpened production, Look Up Sharp is an evolutionary leap from the thick fog and pastoral stillness of her Blackest Ever Black missives, You Know What It’s Like (2016) and The Garden EP (2017). Three years since her plain-speaking debut album, the Melbourne-via-Berlin artist finds herself absorbed in London’s sprawling mess. The small-town dreams and inertia that preoccupied dal Forno’s first album have dissolved into the chaotic city, its shifting identities, far-flung surroundings and blank faces. Look Up Sharp is the story of this life in flux, longing for intimacy, falling short and embracing the unfamiliar. Dal Forno connects with kindred spirits and finds refuge in darkened alleys, secret gardens and wherever else she dares to look.

In her own territory between plaintive pop, folk and post-punk dal Forno conjures the ghosts of AC Marias, Virginia Astley and Broadcast through her brushwork of art-damaged fx and spectral atmospheres. The first half of the record is filled with dubbed-out humid bass lines, which tether stoned hazes of psychedelic synth work as on ‘Took A Long Time’ and ‘No Trace.’ These are contrasted with songs like ‘I’m Conscious and ‘So Much better’ that channel the lilting power of YMG and are clear sequels-in-waiting to dead-eyed classics like ‘Fast Moving Cars.’

The B-side begins with the feverish bass and meandering melody of ‘Don’t Follow Me,’ which takes The Cure’s ‘A Forest’ as its conceptual springboard. It’s the clearest lyrical example since ‘The Garden’ of dal Forno’s unmatched ability to unpick the masculine void of post-punk and new wave nostalgia to reflect contemporary nuance. Look Up Sharp reaches its satisfying conclusion with ‘Push On’ - dal Forno’s most explicit foray into an undiscovered trip hop universe between Massive Attack and Tracey Thorn. The album’s last gasp finds personal validation in fragility: ‘I push on / I’m the Place I’m Going,’ a self discovery lifted by reverberant broken beats and glass-blown vocals.

Adding further depth to Look Up Sharp are the instrumentals, which flow seamlessly between the vocal-led pieces. ‘Hype Sleep’ and ‘Heart of Hearts’ drink from the same stream as The Flying Lizard’s dubbed-out madness and the vivid purple sunsets of Eno’s Another Green World. While ‘Creep Out of Bed’ and ‘Leaving for Japan’ funnel the fourth-world psychedelia of Cyclobe’s industrial-folk into the vortex of Nico’s The Marble Index.

Conceived as a whole, Look Up Sharp is a singular prism in which light, sound and concept bend at all angles. A deeply personal but infinitely relatable album its many surfaces are complex but authentic, enduring but imperfect, hard-edged but delicate. A diamond. Look up sharp or you’ll miss it.

In a world awash with negativity and fear, you are invited to climb aboard the Mocambo mothership where all colours and creeds are celebrated. The Mighty Mocambos have returned - stronger, tighter and hungrier than ever.
Carrying blistering funk lines in their fingers and worldly influences in their hearts, the unique and distinctive Mocambo sound is not one to be confused with retro bands trying to recapture an era. Eschewing traditional recording methods, this DIY crew are
committed to driving forwards, and 2066 sees them at the height of their powers, broadcasting a call for unity.
After reaching new audiences worldwide and earning critical praise for their two long players on Brooklyn's Big Crown Records in their tropical guise as Bacao Rhythm & Steel Band, the band have reassembled and refocused in their original form, the workhorses behind dozens of 45s on the Mocambo label and beyond. Crossing generations, this album introduces some of the world's youngest funk talent to step up and rub shoulders with soul and rap legends, soul sisters, an elder statesman composer/arranger and a brand new emerging artist out of New York.
___ As with all Mocambo releases, the two sides of the record have been meticulously sequenced by the
band. Side A welcomes us aboard with joyous instrumental stomper Preaching To The Choir, and a call to build bridges from Mocambo chanteuse and percussionist Nichola Richards, duetting with emerging raptalent,NewYorkMCJSwiss.B-girlsandb-boysarecalledtothedancefloorasS uperstradaand Concrete Stardust commence, all buzzing synth lines and relentless drums. New Jersey legend and Big Crown associate Mr Lee Fields is guest of honour for Where Do We Go From Here before a horn workout brings us to a close with Macumba. It's time for a breather.
The B side kicks off with the grand return of the Golden Girl of Funk, Gizelle Smith, a sister who's been busy taking on the world. Composer and presenter Peter Thomas narrates a Return To Space to mark the centenary of the debut of his score to sci-fi show Space Patrol, which first broadcast in 1966. We're back down to Earth and the mean streets for the furious drums and car chase workout of Golden Shadow. Today slows down the pace for a reflective ballad with Nichola front and centre - and here's the next generation: the Mocambo Kidz sing along to their parents' instrumentation for Here We Go, a new kids' block party anthem... with no sleep 'til bedtime. The album closer makes it clear that the Mocambos are nowhere near powering down as Ice T and Charlie F unk bring their A-game for an old school attack which, since you're up bouncing anyway, gives you no excuse not to flip the LP and drop the needle right back on to Side A. Onwards!
___ A summation of their journey so far and a celebration in anticipation of what's to come, the album is set
to take its place in a legacy of open minded, organically recorded music, showering listeners with the crew's maze of tantalising sounds pulled from funk, Afro, hip hop with cinematic composition and storytelling.
Agent J












l 12 Bounce That Ass (RMX) feat. Ice-T & Charlie Funk

There Existed An Addiction To Blood" ist das insgesamt vierte Album von Clipping und ihr drittes für Sub Pop. Es ist der Nachfolger des von Kritikern und Publikum gleichermaßen gefeiertes Album ,Splendor And Misery" aus dem Jahr 2016. ,There Existed An Addiction To Blood" enthält die Singles ,Nothing Is Safe", ,Blood Of The Fang" und ,La Mala Ordina" (Feat. Benny The Butcher, Elcamino, The Rita), die von Clipping produziert, von Steve Kaplan gemischt und von Dave Cooley bei Elysium Masters in Los Angeles gemastert wurden. Das Album enthält auch Gastbeiträge von Ed Balloon, La Chat, Counterfeit Madison und Pedestrian Deposit. ,There Existed An Addiction To Blood" ist Clippings Interpretation eines neuen Rap-Splitter-Genres unter Zuhilfenahme ihrer einzigartigen Lupe. Clipping wenden sich auf dem neuen Werk intensiv dem Horrorcore zu, eines bewusst absurden und kreativ bedeutsamen Subgenres, das Mitte der 90er Jahre blühte. Einige der bemerkenswertesten Pioniere hießen Brotha Lynch Hung und Gravediggaz, aber es umfasst auch bahnbrechende Werke der Geto Boys, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony und die nahezu vollständigen Veröffentlichungen des klassischen ,Memphis cassette tape rap". Der wahrscheinlich subversivste und experimentellste Rap hat sich oft als ,Alternative" zu konventionellen Sounds präsentiert, aber Clipping verzerren das Ganze respektvoll in neue Konstellationen. ,There Existed An Addiction To Blood" absorbiert die hyper-gewaltigen Horror-Symboliken der Murder Dog-Ära, stellt sie aber in einem neuen Licht dar: immer noch dunkel getönt und düster, aber in einem seltsameren und lebendigeren Farbton. Wenn der traditionelle Horrorcore mit ,Blacula", dem populären Blaxploitationsfilm-Klassiker aus den frühen 70er Jahren, verwandt war, so ist das neue Output von Clipping analog zu ,Ganja & Hess", dem blutrünstigen Kultklassiker von 1973, der als unbesungenes Wahrzeichen des schwarzen Independent-Kinos gilt, dessen Score von Sam Waymon, Clipping als Inspiration zum Titel des Albums diente und auch Samples auf dem Track ,Blood Of The Fang" lieferte.ENG The science-fiction visionary Octavia Butler once declared that "there is nothing new under the sun, but there are new suns." The aphorism could apply to any art form where the basic contours are fixed, but the appetite for innovation remains infinite. Enter Clipping, flash fiction genre masters in a hip-hop world firmly rooted in memoir. If first person confessionals historically reign, the mid-city Los Angeles trio of rapper Daveed Diggs and producers William Hutson and Jonathan Snipes have spent the last half-decade terraforming their own patch of soil, replete with conceptual labyrinths and industrial chaos. They have conjured a mutant emanation of the future, built at odd angles atop the hallowed foundation of the past. Their third album for Sub Pop, There Existed an Addiction to Blood, finds them interpreting another rap splinter sect through their singular lens. This is Clipping's transmutation of horrorcore, a purposefully absurdist sub-genre that flourished in the mid-90s. If some of its most notable pioneers included Brotha Lynch Hung and Gravediggaz, it also encompasses seminal works from the Geto Boys, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, and the near-entirety of classic Memphis cassette tape rap. The most subversive and experimental rap has often presented itself as an "alternative" to conventional sounds, but Clipping respectfully warp them into new constellations. There Existed an Addiction to Blood absorbs the hyper-violent horror tropes of the Murder Dog era, but re-imagines them in a new light: still darkly-tinted and somber, but in a weirder and more vivid hue. The album contains interludes with hissing recordings of demonic invasions, and guest appearances from Griselda Gang's Benny the Butcher and Hypnotize Minds horror queen La Chat. Other tracks feature contributions from noise music legends The Rita and Pedestrian Deposit. It all ends with "Piano Burning," a performance of a piece written by the avant-garde composer Annea Lockwood. Yes, it is the sound of a piano burning. There Existed an Addiction to Blood fits neatly into the broader scope of the band's career, which has seen them expand from insular experimentalists into globally recognized artists. Since the release of their first album in 2013, Diggs has won a Tony and a Grammy (both for his acting/rapping work as Thomas Jefferson and Marquis de Lafayette in Hamilton), as well as co-written and starred in 2018's critically hailed Blindspotting, while Snipes and Hutson have scored numerous films and television shows. Clipping's last album, the 2016 afro-futurist dystopian space opus Splendor & Misery was recently named one of Pitchfork's Best Industrial Albums of All-Time. Commissioned for an episode of This American Life, their 2017 single "The Deep" became the inspiration for a novel of the same name, written by Rivers Solomon and published by Saga Press. But their latest masterwork embodies what the band had been building towards - a work that finds them without peer. This is experimental hip-hop built to bang in a post-apocalyptic club bursting with radiation. It's horrorcore that soaks up past blood and replants it into a different organism, undead but dangerously alive. It is a new sun, blindingly bright and built to burn your retinas.

“This is my 1st solo rocket.
Tracks presented here were matured at the museum for few years and actually some of them came to
me at my very first attempt on solo music, being myself only involved with bands till then.
Everything was recorded at home exposed to machines i didn't know, using older and newer gear. At
some point midi samples were also used, taking advantage of my computer promises #anythingoes.
Turns out that cold meat lights no fire so attached to this music are ghosts of my life transcribing their
emotions into techno. First half of this rocket is more on a negative tip, the second half is more
positive, like we all should take it. Either way you should listen to both sides cause they complement
each other, so try to relax and enjoy the ride, or get off your ass and jam…"
Tiago’s (LUX/DFA) seminal solo album.

Picnic Record's founder Captn K is back and while he was gone he got a 909, "What are you gonna do with your 909 Captn K?" – "Try doing a bit of house I guess." So with this release the West Australian producer lends his unique style to a bit of 90s inspired house.

Sometimes you just gotta get it off your chest, and with the world the way it is there's a fair bit to get angry about. On R U COOL? Captn K shakes his fist at the sky and gets old school with his 909 and trusty bass synth to let it all out. A rant filled bad-ass-belter that cranks you up and kicks out the bad vibes. It's funny but relatable. It's simple but it's big! Included is a dub version for the club when you want the wriggle without the rant.

On the flip we got Tonite We Flying, a sexy piano driven builder that launches into a vocal filled disco/house track. Amazing husky vocals from Captn k's mate, Britt Bro tell the story of a night out and the desire to be free. Chugging piano n bass, juicy synth swells n sweeps and funky percussion get jiggy with their long time pals, 909 kicks n claps! Together it creates an uplifting energy filled anthem that makes you want to soar into the night!

Let you ears and sub be the judge, chances are you'll find a place for this one in the crate at your next party.

Director Amanda Kramer’s prompts for composer Ben Babbitt’s soundtrack to her enigmatic film Paris Window read like magnetic fridge poetry – “warped ambient bumper muzak tension” – but the results skew closer to some hypnagogic contemporary noir: lulling, low-lit, and laced with lingering dread. Electronics, strings, and percussion swoon and seethe in heady mirages of dreams and delirium, romance and menace. The narrative it accompanies is equally opaque and out of time: two eccentric siblings psychologically unravel through divergent fixations, one obsessed with the hypnotic infomercials of a mysterious self-help institute while the other falls in love with an ambiguous doppelganger.
Babbitt’s background scoring experiential video games (Kentucky Route Zero) and collaborating with exploratory songwriters (Angel Olsen, Weyes Blood, Eartheater) is evident in his versatility and finesse, flowing fluidly between minimal and maximal modes. Like all dynamic film music, the pieces weave a story of their own. Serene synthetic swells decay into murmuring television static and eerie vocal fragments; close-mic’d drones turn acidic then claustrophobic, mirroring sleep paralysis transformed into panic. Babbitt builds a window into a surreal world, seen through shadows and smeared, street-lit glass.

Pregnant Void returns with another of their deeply involving and thought-provoking albums, this time from Berlin based sound designer and live-performer Francesco Devincenti.

Devincenti has been making music all of his life and quickly established himself back home in Northern Italy. To further his talents he headed to Berlin to study at the S.A.E. Institute and soon went on to a job at Analogcut mastering studio. As such he is a sound design wizard with an exceptional ear for detail and someone who can get real meaning and soul of out the machines he often solders together himself. He is part of a couple of live hardware duos - MORK and TDV - and always fuses ambient, techno, distorted grooves, jungle beats and dub moods into his immersive recordings.

This new album draws on ten years of life experiences and uses music as a way of telling his own autobiographical story. "With the album I try to explain what I have inside in a way I cannot using only simple verbal communication: those moments of Brutal Reality where you lose something very important and cannot fully express yourself." Though always obsessed with finding his own musical voice, Devincenti is also inspired by studio masters like King Tubby, Adrian Sherwood and Mark Ernestus. His experimental music follows no existing path and is made on modular systems that result in unpredictable and unconventional ambience and rhythms. A number of collaborations add more flavours to this most rich and rewarding album, including friend Hi.Mo, label boss Simone Gatto and vocalist Alice Lobo.

Brutal Reality is filled with truly freeform electronic music - sounds without borders, but with very real narrative and an absorbing sense of emotion that makes it a moving listen in more ways than one.

Over the years Kid Loco has become a reference in the French electronic music landscape. Firstly, known for being an activist in the French underground music scene, he cofounded Bondage Records in 1982. With Bondage Records, he introduced several bands to the French alternative music scene like Bérurier Noir, Ludwig Von 88 or Washington Dead Cats. Alongside his activity of label manager, he composed and released under the name of Kid Bravo, an experimental music at the crossroads of rock and electronic. Astonished by the beginnings of the instrumental hip-hop of DJ Shadows, Jean-Yves Prieur aka Kid Loco experimented new ways of composing music with the sample technic in his own studio near Orly. This new musical adventure led to the birth of a mini album Blues Project released in 1996 on Yellow Productions.

Exploring further his own psychedelic universe, he released his first album A Grand Love Story in 1997 under the name of Kid Loco. Acclaimed both by the French and international music review, “A Grand Love Story” established itself as an iconic album of the trip-hop and electronic music scene. During the two years following its release, Kid Loco continued to invent his own musical universe nurtured by multiples influences. In 1999, he released Jesus Life For Children Under 12 Inches, an album featuring thirty remixes he composed for French and international artists (Pulp, Talvin Singh etc.) as well as his mixed compilation for the famous DJ KICKS collection released on the German electronic music label, !K7.

After a first European tour, Kid Loco returned to his studio, nicknamed “The Lafayette Velvet Basement” and composed his second album Kill Your Darlings released in 2001. Compared to his previous compositions, Kill Your Darlings features more tracks without sampled vocals. Eager to explore new musical horizons, Kid Loco produced in 2004 the original soundtrack of the American movie The Graffiti Artist directed by James Bolton (Narrative Feature Sound Award – Austin Film Festival 2003). Cruising to new musical galaxies, Kid Loco continued to compose and released the album Party Animals & Disco Biscuits in 2009 followed in 2011 by the album Confessions Of A Belladonna Eater. In addition of his albums, Kid Loco continued to experiment with the production of compilations celebrating the trip-hop music with “Trip-Hop Classics” released in 2010 followed by a second opus released in 2013 on Wagram Music.

2019 marks the return of Kid Loco with his track Here Comes The Munchies selected in the original soundtrack of the show Vernon Subutex (Canal +), the vinyl reedition of his cult album A Grand Love Story and for the first time the digital release of the album Confessions Of A Belladonna Eater with exclusive remixes.

Sometimes in soul music history it has seemed that record producers couldn't get enough of a certain backing track, churning out singles after another, chasing for a hit that never came. The latter doesn't really apply to Pratt & Moody's "Lost Lost Lost", which just recently broke 1 million Youtube plays. While stacking up fame in the lowrider soul scene, this beat ballad also caught the ear of the West Coast record collector and dj Mike Noriega, who decided to write fresh lyrics to accompany its instrumental.

"Wondering" that came as a result was brought to life by the singer and industry insider Gerald McCauley, who turned his soul inside out for the performance. In the past McCauley has worked as a musician, A&R man for example in a project involving George Benson and Al Jarreau and even produced a book and documentary on the history of the Fender Rhodes electric piano. Here he slips comfortably into the Cold Diamond & Mink groove, squeezing every drop of heartache on tape.

This version continues the story of "Lost Lost Lost" so gracefully that one can only wonder, if there are more to come. Who will be the next poor soul to sink into this deceivingly blissful bed of roses, filled with piano, drums and slide guitar?

Suha's "Hora EP" consists of organic bodies composed by an electronic mind.
On his first release on The Magic Movement, the emerging electronic musician from Istanbul imagines a three-track story: The mythical figures - Hermes and Hezarfen - are in search of a unified space named Hora above variant timelines.

Under the arabesque shadow of occidental chords and oriental strings, the EPs multi-layered tracks take you on a cosmic flight: Folkloric dance elements build up progressively over a driving rhythm while Suha's ethereal vocals flow alongside old chants. Massive brass and gritty 70's synths accompany ancestral lyrics that herald of unknown realities soon to be realised.

The EP is produced and mixed by label head-honcho Noema, whose magical touch reflects through well-thought arrangements of Suha's compositions and their powerful sound.
In this EP, you'll be witnessing a harmonic gathering of two figures on the obscure mountain of Hora.

Elf Jahre nach ihrem letzten Kollaborationsalbum "Inlandish" veröffentlichten Hans-Joachim Roedelius, deutscher Experimental-Musiker und Krautrock-Legende (Cluster, Harmonia), und Tim Story, US-amerikanischer Neoklassik- und Ambient-Komponist, ihr neues Werk "Lunz3", angelehnt an ihr gleichnamiges Werk aus 2002. Das Ergebnis ist eine facettenreiche Exkursion im Spannungsfeld zwischen Electronica, Neoklassik, Ambient und Drone.

R&S present the eponymous, debut, full length album transmission from Lost Souls Of Saturn.
Epic in scope, time and space, this multidimensional mind trip is for fans of Mark Leckey's 'Fiorucci Made Me Hardcore', David Morales' Red Zone dubs, Don Cherry's 'Organic Music Society', The Orb's 'Ultraworld' and KLF's 'Space' and much more besides.
This ambient house masterpiece combines flavours gathered from across the galaxy, stewing them up into a delicious primordial soup. Old sci-fi soundtracks, acid, free jazz, avant garde, musique concrete, world music and more all whirl around an underground-dance-music axis.
Primarily LSOS are Seth Troxler and Phil Moffa, plus further opaque participants congregating to combine music, imagery, and storytelling into an inextricably linked whole, all wrapped-up in a philosophy of their own making.

Jatinder Singh Durhailay and David Edren released Tea Notes as a cassette back in April of 2018. London-based Jatinder Singh Durhailay is a painter and student of Indian Classical music. He has trained in both the sitar and the Hindi singing technique, Dhrupad. He also plays two traditional Sikh instruments; the bowed, stringed Dilruba and Taus. Poetic Pastel Press issued his solo debut, The Last Ballad Of Mardana, in 2017. David Edren`s expertise lies with machines and modular synthesis. His Kosmische and New Age-Inspired electronics have featured on numerous cassettes, and compilations, produced for imprints from the current Belgian underground, such as Jj Funhouse, Social Harmony, and Ultra Eczema. These recordings appearing, since the turn of the millennium, either under his own name, or the moniker DSR Lines. Jatinder and David’s collaboration, Tea Notes, is a celebration, a meditation, on both the beverage, and the communal time shared imbibing. The coming together to partake in its ritual. Each of the six tracks represents a different infusion. The opening piece is a tribute to semi-oxidised Oolong, from China`s Wuyi Mountains, with hammered dulcimer-like glissando. Gongs shimmering, gently crashing, as if signaling a change in the weather. A calm of thin, stretched synths and Ai angels introduces Tulsi from India. The Holy Basil of Hinduism, used in the worship of Vishnu, Krishna, and Rama. A traditional herb of Ayurveda and Siddha medicine. Automated arpeggiated sequences raising a vibrating wall of hallucinatory sound. Pairing swooning strings with a racing robot heart. Ceylon is a modern twist on the classical raga. Serving to tell the story of a tea smuggled into Sri Lanka in the 19th century. Plants stolen from South West China, where the brew had been enjoyed since the days of the Shang Dynasty (1766 to 1122 BC). The contraband founding fresh industry in its new home when the indigenous coffee crops failed. Muted organ and sleepy, treated sine wave microtones describe Kava, the Polynesian fireweed root, whose extract serves as both sedative and euphoriant.Shincha are the first young leaves of the season. Picked in Southern Japan and steamed to prevent oxidization, retain their flavour and green / gold colour. Their musical counterpart finds Edren establishing an ecclesiastical drone, while Durhailay`s strings chart an ancient romantic ache. Sonic stars shine. Singing out to the infinite, the universe, before dissolving into knots of Radiophonic Workshop noise.Melodies treated with subtle sustain and delay denote Pu-Ehr, from the Yunnan province. The only truly fermented black tea - made distinctive by the action of bacteria, moulds, and yeasts. Its musical themes hovering in the vapour trails, the atmospheres, they themselves create. Spiraling, soaring, reaching for the heavens, while pretty music box glitches - tiny chimes turned in on themselves. Catching, reflecting, like light at play on fresh running water. (words: Robert Harris)

* The original sister label to Ram Records from the old Ram HQ studio in Essex, Liftin Spirit Records now celebrates it’s 25th year with a special ‘RELOADED’ limited vinyl series of remastered classics, alongside rare and previously unreleased tracks since the beginning in1992.

* DATs from artists such as Andy C, Ant Miles, Shimon, Joint Venture, Flatliner, Interrogator and Red One have been located in the archives. Also from the Ram & Liftin HQ came tracks for the Deep Seven label in 1993 and all these rare DAT masters have been located and now re-cut by Simon, the original Ram & Liftin vinyl masterer at ‘The Exchange’. Initially, Deep Seven remasters will present on a printed white label and unreleased tracks will have a black label.
* The year is 1994 and the awesome combination of Flatliner & Ant Miles gave life to the infamous tracks ‘The Big Bang’ / ‘No Boundaries’. Release no 9 on RAM records tore up sound systems at every Rave in the country. A follow up was on the cards and ‘Flatline’ was born. Put to one side to make way for the Big Bang/No Boundaries remixes, somehow it never resurfaced again... until now!
* A similar story evolved for the A side ‘Just Stop’. A track made in the latter part of 1995, Flatliner comes with yet another amen monster, but this time taking things on more of a rolling Drum & Bass vibe. A golden nugget to own on vinyl for any true Jungle/Drum & Bass fan.

FILE UNDER: jazz, modal jazz, spiritual jazz
- 2xLP gatefold- 180g pressing- free download card

With 20 years passing since his first foray into recorded jazz, Nat Birchall now ranks as one of the premier saxophonists of his generation. With several highly acclaimed albums in the locker, he now returns with his most ambitious project yet – a tribute to the legend that is Yusef Lateef.

"The Storyteller - A Musical Tribute to Yusef Lateef"

"When Jazzman Gerald first mentioned to me the idea of doing an album as a tribute to the jazz giant Dr Yusef A. Lateef, my first thought was "Where on earth do I start?" Lateef was such a colossus of music, and his scope so broad, that I couldn't hope to begin to cover his musical universe. He was a master of the tenor saxophone, a master of the flute, a master ballad player, a master blues player. Not to mention his skills as a composer and arranger and of course his exploration and use of musical methodology and instruments from all over the world."

"I've always been a great admirer of Lateef, and the challenge was intriguing, so I decided to give it go. We interpreted some of his own compositions (Brother John, Morning & Ching Miau) as well as some compositions by others that he made his own by careful arrangement and interpretation (Love Theme from Spartacus, Ringo Oiwake). I also wrote some original songs that, while certainly not written in his style, might be said to fall into his very broad approach to music making."

"I also wanted to utilise as many different instruments as possible, something I hadn't explored too much until this album. So it was a nice opportunity to finally get around to playing some of the many small instruments I've collected over the years; the Turkish zurna, the mbira from Zimbabwe, the balaphon from Mali and the arghul from Egypt. We have also tried to use varied time signatures in the music, so we have songs in 3/4, 5/4 and 7/4 time, as well as the standard 4/4."

"Ultimately the best music tells a story to the listener and takes them to places they might not have imagined themselves. Yusef Lateef certainly did that, and as such was a master storyteller."

Nat Birchall

TALKING OF POST-TECH DIALECTICS,
THIS IS A TRIBUTE TO THE CYBERPUNK.

The mother of technology collapses. Ten fragments of her soul are spread in cyberspace. The last encoder composes the pieces to a manifest. A poem that is a call for the distortion of the artificial.

Manifest is an album, in which CORIN synthesizes the reconciliation of the dystopian and utopian. It is a story of manipulated time that exists out of instrumental and vocal proportions.

CORIN's debut on Bedouin Records will be released in late June. The LP includes 10 tracks.

Label boss Von D on DOR005

Here's a little story about this release on my label Dubs Galore:
"When Muttley sent me this tune I though to myself: "Wow what a nice classic from the golden Dubstep Era", so I asked him when this was released - assuming it was, and he said it never was released. I immediately signed it, knowing it's such a great and timeless tune. I asked Quasar for a remix and here we are now, Dubs Galore 005 coming in STRONG!"

Albert’s Favourites co-founder Adam Scrimshire is set to release his fourth album 'Listeners'. Musically, 'Listeners' draws from Scrimshire's passion for jazz, soul and electronic music of all styles; from an energetic combination of Afrobeat and garage on 'Won't Get Better', to the lushly orchestrated neo-soul of 'Thru You', and the harmonious jazz experimentations of 'I Never'. The album features a host of esteemed guest vocalists and musicians telling their own personal stories, including Georgia Anne Muldrow, Emma-Jean Thackray, Joshua Idehen, Madison McFerrin, Chip Wickham, and James Alexander Bright.

"With this album I wanted to get a more focused sound after six years of relearning and development in the studio. But I also struggled to find my own words, to speak about where I/we are now. So I allowed my collaborators total freedom to tell their own story and as they came back to me, they were telling the same stories I wanted to. It's resulted in some deeply personal confessional pieces: mourning family, collapsing relationships, extremes of self doubt and analysis, trying to balance public and inner persona, and a reminder that life in all forms is important.

It’s called 'Listeners' as I am a listener here, I feel like I've been given these very personal experiences to care for. Listeners because, the travesty of the last few years is that we stopped listening to each other, everyone is shouting at each other and no one is learning. And Listeners because I hope I've made something that is for other people more than I have before. I've tried to craft something warmer and more enjoyable, made for those who give me their time in listening to my music."
- Adam Scrimshire

Since joining the Wah Wah 45s label in 2007, Scrimshire has released three albums of experimental cinematic jazz, and electronic sounds. Following his 2009 debut ‘Along Came The Devil One Night’, his second album ‘The Hollow’ (2011) was a BBC 6 Music Album of the Week, with Gilles Peterson calling it “A late contender for album of the year”.

In the time since the release of his last album ‘Bight’ (“An eclectic range of influences ranging from disco to fusion to more contemporary electronic styles” XLR8R) in 2013, Adam has worked with long-time musical accomplice Dave Koor on new project Modified Man, and launched Albert’s Favourites releasing projects by The Expansions, Hector Plimmer and Jonny Drop. He has continued to gain radio and DJ support for his successful “Scrimshire Edits” series and has produced and mixed records for artist including Stac, Daudi Matsiko, Bastien Keb, Ronin Arkestra, Jonny Drop. He has also continued to develop the Wah Wah 45s label, where he is now a co-owner and director.

Preceded by singles 'Thru You' featuring Georgia Anne Muldrow and 'Life Is Valuable' featuring James Alexander Bright; 'Listeners' is set for release on LP and digital formats via Albert’s Favourites on 19th July 2019.

DJ Support / Press:

Huey Morgan (BBC Radio 6 Music)

Jamie Cullum support on BBC Radio 2

Jamz Supernova on BBC Radio 1Xtra

Thru You Premiered By Mary Anne Hobbs on BBC 6 Music “So Beautiful

In the early eighties, Edmond Mondésir, professor of philosophy and Léon Bertide, trade unionist, founded the Bèlènou group. They were actors of the great agricultural strike of 1974, which resulted in the death of two workers (Ilmany and Marie-Louise) and left many wounded. Activists of the patriotic movement Asé Pléré An Nou Lité (Stop crying, Fight), they were part of the identity and the cultural affirmation la revendication identitaire et culturelle of the time. Like the Guadeloupean musician Gérard Lockel and his work on the Gwo Ka, they put the Bèlè, in its traditional form, back in the spotlight during Swaré Bèlè (Bèlè nights).Minimalist and spiritual, a true rural ancestral art from Martinique, the Bèlè combines dance and music from responsorial monodies, which is a choir that responds to the lead singer (Respondè / La vwa dèyè), on codified drum rhythms and ti-bwa (2 sticks that hit the back of the drum or a piece of bamboo). It comes in a series of collective choreographies, working up into the trance. The texts are simple, short and tell the story of everyday life and struggle. While preserving the emotion and the drum’s central place, the fundamental contribution of Bèlènou is to keep the traditional form of Bèlè while adding a modern instrumentation: bass, guitar, saxophone, drums...
Emosyon Tambou-a (Emotion of the Drum) was released in 1990. This third opus of the band expands the musical spectrum in harmonies, arrangements and influences to create a contemporary music anchored in the Bèlè matrix, while keeping the beat, the energy and ancestral roots of music. Bèlènou adapts some classic rhythms: Bélya, Gran Bèlè, Bèlè Pitjé or Ting-Bang rewritten here for an orchestra.With the appearance of long couplets and a complex harmonization of the choruses, Bèlènou's music brings a form of modernity, it opens notably to jazz territory as well as to other forms of music and grooves. Also, Bèlènou leaves the musicians with space for improvisation: not only on the saxophone or the guitar, but also with the drums (cleverly adaptating traditional rhythms to the drums).

The texts sung in Creole are of a social nature, appealing to the solidarity and self-denial of the people (Bélya pou péyi-a, Tout pèp-la sanblé), to the struggle for political emancipation towards a new democracy (Wi ny ké rivé, Ni dé jou, Démokrasi); land protection (Sové tè-a); finally, to the vitality of the Bèlè culture ... (Emosyon Tambou-a, Dansé Ting-Bang)...Culture participates, according to the expression of Aimé Césaire, as "Miraculous Weapons". Bèlènou sings a project of a new and united society. A precursor group, experimental in the its early years, Bèlènou reconciles with talent tradition, modernity and cultural identity.

Lovely crafted tip-on sleeve. Remastered. 700 copies

When the Tramp Records crew read the internet-sweeping spam/story of Nigerian Astronaut and Air Force pilot Abacha Tunde, they knew that they had to spring into action to help this unfortunate fella out. Dr. Bakare Tunde, the cousin of Abacha Tunde explained the situation as follows: "My cousin was the first African in space when he made a secret flight to the Skylab Space Station in 1979, shortly before it crashed to Earth. 19 years later he was on his second spaceflight, this time to a secret Moon Base located on the far side of the Moon. In 1999 his crew members returned to earth, but his place was taken up by return cargo. There have been occasional supply flights to keep him going since that time. Although he is in good humor, he wants to come home, now, after 20 years in space."

After this hilarious story the idea of a compilation album was born - and "Trip To The Moon" is the result. The goal to raise three million dollars to cover the cost of Abacha Tunde's return flight may never be achieved. Nevertheless, a 41 year experience in the music business is the basis for a fantabulous track listing of 11 amazing and highly underrated Rare Grooves about the Moon!

The Swinging Astronauts open the set, followed by La La Wilson's equally great rhythm & blues rocker "The Moon Man Is Back". With The Moon-Dawgs, this album makes a slight turn into the 1960s garage rock era while Hase Cäsar (backed by none other than the famous Ingfried Hoffmann and his orchestra!) contributes one of two songs of german origin. Now it's time for some funk: Rev. Jamel & Bob Johnson's "Walking On The Moon (Men Are Starving)" criticizes the US government for spending millions of dollars for their space program instead of supporting their own people. "Mars in 75" is deepfunk at its best although some may lament the lack of production. Sidney Ownen's breakbeat-laden "Sputnik" is sought after in collector's circles and needs no justification as to why it is included on this album. Ernest & D.L. Rocco's "Moon Child" is our personal favourite, closely followed by the hypnotic groove of "Mondgesicht" by legendary german saxophonist Ambros Seelos. Scott Cunningham's name should ring a bell as he was featured on several Tramp compilations over the past few years. Finally, the album closes with a psychedelic folk track titled "Voyage To The Moon".

Tramp Records is absolutely convinced that this album will surely be the best way to shorten the wait for Abacha until a rescue space mission finally brings our African soul brother back home.

Key selling points:

- deluxe gatefold LP with detailed liner notes and unseen photographs
- the vinyl LP comes with a full album download code
- most of the songs appear on a 12" album for the very first-time

Season Four of Outlander continues the story of time-travel 1960’s Claire Fraser and her 18th century husband Jamie Fraser as they try to make a home for themselves in the rough and dangerous ‘New World’ of America. The score to the series is composed by American film and television composer Bear McCreary (The Walking Dead, Cloverfield, Black Sails). The settings of the series were a challenge for the composer, because each culture and geographical location offers other potential musical influences for the score. The score supports all these different locations and he even used the banjo this time. As it was one of the most exhilarating creative challenges of his career you’ll hear the integration of both bagpipes, fierce Afro-Cuban polyrhythms and French baroque ornaments. Above all the typical folk music will set the tone for all the settings in the movie.

Outlander Season 4 is available as a limited edition of 500 individually numbered copies on coloured (gold & black mixed) vinyl. The package contains an insert.

Reed Records presents the fifth single from Mohawkestra ‘Mo Heavy’ b/w ‘Buffalo Bill’ available on 7” vinyl

Mo Heavy is the first Mohawkestra single to feature one of their original compositions as the A Side and it’s a belter! Replete with the signature Mohawkestra heavy organ working alongside driving guitar chops and the percussion gets plenty of time to shine.

As the a-side is a Mohawkestra original on this one the B-Side is ‘Buffalo Bill’ which is a rather unique funk fuelled take of ‘The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill’ from The Beatles’ White Album. The hint of the title and the melody are the only similarities though as Mohawkestra take the groove far out into the Funk spectrum and stripped back to raw elements.

Available on 7” vinyl

The fifth and final Mohawkestra 45 in this series for Reed, and for this final donut they have gone into the realms of soundtracks vibes, a lost 70s cop show theme immediately comes to mind. This is a wide open joint, a spaced-out arrangement with super tough drums n' bongo breaks that keeps building into a killer jerkin' funk burner, just needs a cop car's siren wailing at the end! Special mention to Joe Wilkins for the raw as **** guitar riffs, heavy stuff. All in all a wicked and furious 45 for B-Boys & B-Girls.

A heavy new compilation from Brownswood shines a light on the independent underground in Melbourne, where a close-knit collection of artists have taken cues from soul, jazz and club culture to carve out a fresh Melbournian sound. Featuring nine different groups, many of them sharing members and studios, the record surveys the musical contours of this bubbling scene, nodding to house, broken beat, samba, p-funk and soul.



Recorded over a week at The Grove, a fabled house-cum-studio in the North Melbourne suburb of Coburg, it’s home to the record’s engineer, Nick Herrera, and two members of Hiatus Kaiyote, the city’s breakout gangster-soul dons with whom many of the record’s personnel have collaborated. Silentjay was musical director, the Rhythm Section-affiliated multi-instrumentalist and producer (who’s played with Joey Bada$$ and Flying Lotus) marshalling together the album’s different players, many of them part of influential collectives 30/70 and Mandarin Dreams.



Nurtured in the city’s collaborative, close-knit confines, the scene has been bubbling up under the radar of Australian music institutions, in the garages and makeshift studios of Melbourne’s suburban sprawl. Sunny Side Up is a colourful portrait of the scene’s potential, exploring the story behind this flourishing period and shining light on some of its most compelling figures.

It had taken him almost three years to record, but in 1985 Jake Hottell finally finished his debut solo album, Break The Chains. Inspired by his opposition to fracking, anger at government corruption and a series of profound spiritual experiences, a hundred copies of the album were pressed and given away to radio stations, friends and local business interests in Hottell’s home state of New Mexico.



The album would have remained an obscure footnote in musical history had it not been for the efforts of DJs Danny McLewin and Jeremy Spellacey. Between them, they tracked down Hottell to hear his story, offering the former electronics engineer and Nashville-based music producer the chance to get his music to a whole new audience. Now, some 34 years after the private press edition was produced, Spacetalk is giving Break The Chains a full release for the very first time. Hottell began recording the album in 1982 after reading Your Body’s Many Cries For Water, a best-selling book by Dr Fereydoon Batmanghelidj about the health benefits of clean, purified water. Remembering the poisonous, methane-laden water that came out of his mother’s taps in the 1970s – a by-product of extensive fracking activity in the area around the family farm – Hottell wanted to create a set of tracks that registered his concerns, reflected his recent spiritual experiences (many of which he still finds it difficult to discuss today) and offered a meditative listening experience.



The resultant set is suitably cosmic and emotive, with Hottell cannily fusing gentle drum machine rhythms and dreamy synthesizer motifs – influenced, he says, by a love of the contemporaneous new age output of former jazz label Windham Hill Records – with his own glistening guitar passages, which sit somewhere between the homespun riffs of country music and the classical guitar solos that have long been a sonic staple of Spanish styles such as Flamenco. Many of the tracks have stories attached. “Horizon” features a profound spoken word vocal from local man Darald McCabe – whose homemade purified water helped Hottell recover from serious illness – while “El Rio dos les Delores” was composed after discovering that fracking was taking place on a local Native American reservation. “The Truth Is All I Want”, meanwhile, reflects Hottell’s growing exasperation at the extent of corporate greed and government corruption in the United States.



This new edition of Break The Chains has been painstakingly re-mastered from the original master tapes, while extensive new liner notes shed light on the remarkable musical and personal experiences that inspired Hottell to create an obscure, overlooked classic.

It is well known that talent never guarantees any success in the music industry. This sentence summarizes the story of The 9th Creation, one of the best soul, funk, disco and boogie band to make it out of Stockton, CA.

Founded by J.D. and A.D Burrise in 1970, the 9th Creation went on for almost two decades and released 3 albums and half a dozen singles that regularly flirted with the US Charts, getting them featured on Soul Train in 1975 and allowing them to tour North America and Japan a few times over. 9th Creation regularly shared the bill with Irma Thomas, James Brown, The Whispers, The Sylvers, The Main Ingredient, Con Funk Shun and many others.

The music that J.D, A.D Burrise and their 10-12 band members created was a perfect combination of West Coast raw soul, disco and funk that resulted in a religious fan following across the globe.
To this day, The 9th Creation has been sampled by Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth, Artifacts, Quasimoto, 3rd Bass, Basement Jaxx and many others.

9th Creation was undoubtedly one of the greatest funk band of the Seventies.

Past Due Records is proud to officially reissue the 9th Creation's essential full lengths and singles, carefully remastered and all in their original artworks. 'Mellow Music' is the most sought after 7' from 9th Creation. This single marks the band's new direction and was announcing an album that remained unreleased (more on that later). This single is a boogie funk gem and both tracks are pure monsters of heavy bass, synth, horns and massive vocals. A must have that'

Velvet May returns on “ Tears On Waves” with the 4-
tracker EP “Unknown Bodies”.
This time he is joined by the live duo Years of Denial
and the northern-irish artist Autumns who delivered
their own interpretation and vision of the tracks in the B
side.
"Unknown Bodies" tell us a story, a contorted story of
lust and infernal gazes, yet divine that spread infamy
and glory, grief and bliss. A story of lost inhibitions and
sensations. A story of burning breasts. Now is the time
when each flower fades away like incense and sounds
and scents turn in the evening air.
“Bodies entwined 
Hearts resounding 
The shivers of sweat 
Coming and going”
The artist wants to show something. A natural desire
which finds its fulfillment in the body, but that instantaneously dies at the end of the sensations.
Sensations too much strong to last so much time. That’s
exactly why he doesn’t never renounce to let go his
inhibitions completely, having fear to be burnt, devoured
and thrown in the deep end.
On the B side, the original tracks find a completely
different vision, but especially a new light, leading the
listener to a different path of the same perverse and
twisted nature.
Years of Denial is the alter-face of French musician/DJ/
producer Jerome Tcherneyan and Czech performance
artist/DJ Barkosina Hanusova. With the use of hardware
combined with vocals and a plethora of dub devices,
YOD are re-visiting the dark corner of Post Punk,
Industrial music movement and rave culture. Its remix
fully distorts the mood, introducing a new color and
identity, juxtaposing acid sounds and sharp groove
elements. The vocal has a new touch, and processed in
another way, drags everything to it creating a vortex.
Autumns is the solo project of Christian Donaghey, from
Derry, Northern Ireland, an outlet for electronic post-
punk with a lethal pulse. He delivered a train-shaped
remix, making the bass line a key element for the whole
track and finding the perfect “carpet” where to express in
a powerful and straight groove, based on his beloved
Roland 707.
Label copy-credits
Written, produced and performed by Andrea Davide

Founded by Larry Akles in 1971 in Fayetteville, North Carolina, The Chocolate Buttermilk Band, has been one of the busiest and most successful cover and backing bands in the Southern United States for the last 5 decades.
While they’re little known outside the region, their handful of singles from the early 1980s are, for record collectors, among the best and most desirable in Modern Soul and Boogie Funk.

Jerome Derradji & Past Due Records are proud to present “Head Games (The Story of Larry Akles & CBM Records)”. Released on a DLP / CD with printed inner sleeves (or booklet) that include never seen before pictures of the band and a story written by Jacob Arnold. Artwork is by the mighty Al Kent. As a companion to the compilation we are also reissuing the incredibly rare and sought after “Head Games” 7” with a picture sleeve.

This compilation includes every song released by the Chocolate Buttermilk Band, remastered and reissued for the first time.

Needless to say, this is an essential release for fans of Boogie, Soul and Funk as the Chocolate Buttermilk Band releases are known to fetch thousands in the collectors market.

In Larry Akles own words, “This girl in Atlanta told me one time, she said ‘Larry, I heard on the radio that Chocolate Buttermilk was going to be on the show, and I told my girlfriend, Oh, it’s gonna be onnnn if Chocolate Buttermilk on there, ’cause whoever come behind them, they got to go!’” He continues, “When we hit the stage, boy it’d be some fire. We wouldn’t have to get warmed up. We’d start off hot!”

Following the reissue of ZiadRahbani's "Abu Ali" album, Wewantsounds is pursue its exploration of great Lebanese music with the reissue of "Wahdon," released in 1978 by legendary Middle Eastern diva Fairuz and recorded during the Abu Ali sessions and including the Lebanese dancefloor cult classic “Al Bostah“. 1978 is a turning point for the Lebanese Diva. The 70s had seen her rise as an international star, playing sold out concerts in the US and in Europe, and appearing on national TV in France. She had had a long-lasting artistic collaboration with her husband AssiRahbani and his brother Elias (aka The Rahbani Brothers) who, together, had penned most of the singer's classics. In 1978, Assi who had suffered a brain haemorrhage in 1972 got weaker and the collaboration finally ended (together with their personal relationship). Their 22 year old son Ziad took over Fairuz's musical reins and set to work on their first album together, "Wahdon" ("Alone"), serving as her mother's producer, composer and musicaldirector. Wahdon typifies this key moment in Fairuz's career when she switched from traditional to more modern arrangements. The first side of the album encapsulates the more traditional side of the singer with such mesmerising songs as "Habaitak Ta Neseet Al Naoum" ("I loved you so much i forgot to sleep") or "Ana Indi Haneen" ("I'm Nostalgic"), filled with gorgeous arabic strings and percussion. The Second side though is a whole different affair. Recorded in Athens at the EMI Greece studio at the same time as the Abu Ali sessions, the two long tracksbrings a hipper, contemporary funk and disco feel that has made the album such a collector's item with DJs and diggers around the world. Clocking at almost nine minutes "Al Bostah" ("The Bus") tells the story a woman in love remembering a bus journey with her lover under a scorching heat, enhanced by an hypnotic uptempofunkified disco beat, while "Wahdon" brings a slower and jazzier underlay to Fairuz's superb singing. These tracks shocked some of the diva's fans at the time but they've since passed the test of time and have become highly sought after. Whadon has since become both aclassic Fairuz album and a cult ZiadRahbani production that Wewantsounds isdelighted to bring to a wider audience for the first time.

After presenting Detroit Swindle’s sophomore album High Life in 2018, we felt it was the right time to serve you up a tasty selection of remixes from all over the world and all over the sound palette. We’ve got some dub and boogie from Australia and the Netherlands, classic deephouse from Detroit, dark and dreamy deephouse from the UK and some high energy house from Germany. This set of remixes comes from 5 artists we hold in high regard and have made a serious impact on their part of the scene; some recently and some already a long time ago.

We invited Dutch techno -plot twist alert!- legend Steve Rachmad to come up with a re-interpretation of ‘Yes, no, maybe (feat. Tom Misch)’. His Sterac Electronics remix actually has nothing to do with techno but is an uplifting modern boogie version of the already funky original. Glimmering electronics, some added harmonics and a tight 80’s groove is what this version is all about.

The A2 is reserved for Cinthie, who took the high energy afro funk track ‘Call of the wild (feat. Jungle by Night)’ and turned it into a full on house frenzy with solo’s all around and a groove that just keeps on going and going.

The A side is completed with a remix by Jura Soundsystem, who has impressed many of us with his balaeric influenced synth-boogie, and dub on his own label ‘Isle of Jura’. Here, he chose to remix ‘High life (feat. Lorenz Rhode)’ and has done an excellent job in re-imagining the track into a tamed down, dreamy dub.

On the flip, there’s Matt Karmil’s take on one of the album’s beatless tracks ‘Ketama gold’. He goes in deep with some dusty drums and an arrangement that keeps on building and building, keeping the chord sequence from the track’s outro as a main loop and adding subtle FX, toms and acid hits and a final delivery where electronic cowbells up the energy level by a notch or two.

We finish off the compilation with a moody deephouse re-interpretation of ‘Ex machina’ by Detroit legend Gari Romalis. The twisted machine funk of the original is craftfully replaced by a dusty house loop, dreamy pads and smart usage of the original’s drum effects to build momentum.

This remix package brings a lovely new chapter into the story of ‘High Life’ and we hope you’ll enjoy these reworks as much as we do.
Yours Sincerely,

Maarten & Lars.

rendon Moeller is an artist that needs no introduction. The South African born living in the US, like few of his generation constantly challenges himself with new concepts and ideas, has incorporated techno, dub, jazz, ambient, sound design, to his works throughout the years. Never chased the limelight, but instead the work, one idea after the next, one project after the other, restless. He has collaborated with labels like Echocord, Third Ear, Electric Deluxe, Prologue, Mord to name some. "Materialize" is his first work for Vibrant Music.
From his early days in various bands in the 80's and 90's, Brendon liked indie, shoegaze, ambient, moody, cinematic scapes.
With Materialize he came full circle, reaching out to his early influences, but with the knowledge and experience of many years of exploration of modular synths, to create a concept space that feels intimate, and at the same time vivid evoking visual imaging.
It explores the time space through a minimalist, stoic approach.
It tells the story of how we are all linked into this tree of music we call electronic music, wherever each one is coming from.
A celebration of life through the mind of one of today's scholars of electronic music.
A liberation from the strictness of tempo and metronomes, to reach to a more creative state.
Vibrant Music continuous the quest, to bring to you unique collaborations and sides of artists that we like.

repressed !

SNTS presents the last part of his double trilogy, this time called SCENE III. SNTS wanted to obtain a different view of one of the tracks of this release, and, in order to achieve that, he introduced a big star of the techno scene to this story, that artist is SHIFTED. Anonymity remains the centerpiece of SNTS. To convey feelings and sensations without a face reference or a name is the key point of this mysterious artist. This time the titles of the tracks refer to dates. You may never discover what events those dates belong to, but perhaps we can decipher something through sounds and their path. 20.01.1944 It reminds us of a battle in an eerie and desolate terrain in which each sound makes you move, observing what is happening around you. 20.01.1944 The version from SHIFTED is the story told from the outside of the bipolar world where is SNTS. 07.09.1981 It is a step in the course of a life that accompanies an atmosphere that breathes, but is not noticeable by other senses. 15.04.1946 Destruction, desolation and despair is reflected in this track. It definitely meets all the conditions to describe SNTS' sound.

Played & Supported by:
Planetary Assault Systems, Paula Temple, Svreca, Takaaki Itoh, James Ruskin, Tommy Four Seven, Ryuj Takeuchi, Giorgio Gligli, Speedy J, Ancient Methods, Terence Fixmer, Cio D'or , Eomac, Milton Bradley, Samuli Kemppi, Dj Emerson, Chris Liebing, Par Grindvik, Ø Phase, Kr!z Token, Zadig, Marcel Dettmann, Answer Code Request, Slam, Norman Nodge, Dave Miller, Deepbass, Nihad Tule, Truncate, Dj Hyperactive, Angel Molina, Ben Gibson, Juho Kusti, Claudio PRC, Bas Mooy, J. Tijn, Manni Dee, Donor, Rebekah, Go Hiyama, Francois X, Adriana Lopez, Electric Indigo, Bleak, Inigo Kennedy, Pfirter, Alex.Do, Eric Cloutier.

Leipzig’s Dj Balduin has been a staff favourite for some time as we are avid fans of his GLYK imprint, and in particular his debut EP “Vvigmara”. Dj Balduin proclaims to enjoy producing music that creates “states of hypnosis with an occasional, gentle “hands-up-face-slap” every now and then” which perfectly sums up “Lost Cat” - his first release for KOMPAKT.

“E.W.B.A” came to Dj Balduin while having a shower, so chances are high we have this summer’s rain dance anthem on our hands as it has all the right elements - a classic rave synth meets an infectious open snare to break through the beat.

The kick drum thud of “Sheee” seems to be all too menacing at first, but surprisingly learns how to open itself into a gorgeously seductive uplifting house tune.

This story ends with the perfect set closer; “Lost Cat And An Untied Shoe” brings that beat back with soaring synths and a playful natural bass line that adds just the slightest edge of funk to carry the crowd home at the end of the night.
Leipzigs DJ Balduin und besonders seine Debüt-EP „Vvigmara“ trendet, seitdem wir sein GLYK-Label kennen, unter den Mitarbeitern von Kompakt. Laut eigenen Angaben genieße es DJ Balduin, Musik zu produzieren, die seine Zuhörer in den „Zustand der Hypnose versetzt und gleichzeitig mit gelegentlichen zarten Schlägen ins Gesicht wachhält“, was auf „Lost Cat“ – sein erstes Release auf Kompakt – auch geschieht.

„E.W.B.A“ kam DJ Balduin unter der Dusche, die Chancen stehen also hoch, dass wir hier eine Hymne für diejenigen Raves haben, die unter kräftigen Sommergewittern stattfinden werden – die richtigen Zutaten sind alle da: klassische Rave-Hooks, ansteckende Snaredrums, die hervorbrechen aus dem Bass.

Der Schlag der Bassdrum von „Sheee“ scheint zunächst bedrohlich, lernt aber überraschender Weise sich selbst zu wandeln hin zu einem prachtvoll verführerischen House-Stück. Die Geschichte endet mit dem aller besten letzten Stück: „Lost Cat And An Untied Show“ bringt den Beat zurück zusammen mit aufsteigenden Synths und einer verspielten, natürlichen Bassline, die einen Funken Funk hinzufügt, um die Dancer nach Hause zu begleiten in der Nacht.

Pre-Order. Releases June 21.

Unsurprisingly for a creator as prolific as Muslimgauze’s Bryn Jones was, when he was asked for a contribution for any sort of group project, he would tend to provide more options than necessary. In the case of longtime label Staalplaat’s 1996 compilation Sonderangebot, where Jones would find himself in the company of everyone from Charlemagne Palestine to Reptilicus, the selected track was the characteristically headspinning “Kaliskinazure”, nine minutes of insistent digital percussion bouncing the listener back and forth between samples of wailing women’s voices and a trebly, blurry little whirr that traces the percussion. It’s distinctive enough even among the vast Muslimgauze corpus, but as the continued excavation of DATs Jones submitted to his labels continues, sure enough there’s more to that track’s story, too.

An extended “Kaliskinazure” makes up the second of four tracks on Babylon Is Iraq, although it’s been lost to the mists of time whether an outside editor excised the more drifting, less needling coda that makes up the extra six minutes found here, or whether Jones simply submitted both versions of the track at different times. This more complete version of “Kaliskinazure” is surrounded by shorter tracks, with the opening “Kaliskinazure — Momada” sounding not very much like either track it references (instead being a barely-there wisp of far-away sampled wind instruments and what sounds like treated cymbal sounds) and the title track constantly coming to a full, roiling digital boil. The lengthy “Momada” closes out the album with a different, more tersely internal arrangement surrounding the same percussion pattern that will be familiar to any Sonderangebot fans, although the way the quieter atmosphere transforms the feeling of that rhythm indicates once more than Jones’ way of reconfiguring his pieces over and over was perhaps more purposive and even more effective than he’s sometimes given credit for. The result is a fascinating expansion on one of Muslimgauze’s strongest stand-alone moments.

Over the years, Claremont 56 has played host to some memorable collaborative
projects, most notably Bison, an unlikely super-group whose members included
Holgar Czukay, Ursula Kloss, Liquid Liquid’s Sal Principato, Ben Smith and label
boss Paul ‘Mudd’ Murphy. Now Murphy is at the helm of another collaborative
outft, Hillside, whose seductive debut single contains two deliciously pie eyed
instrumental workouts.
Hillside is very much a family affair, with Murphy joining forces with two old
friends: bassist/guitarist Alex Searle and percussionist Patrick Dawes. The trio
has a collaborative history that stretches right back to Murphy’s time in Akwaaba
in the mid nineties. For their debut outing, Hillside has also welcomed a very
special guest musician: award-winning jazz violinist and long-time Bert Jasch
collaborator Mike Piggott.
As opening gambits go, “Hidden Port” is an emphatic statement of intent. The
audio equivalent of sailing slowly around a cluster of sun-baked islands in
search of shelter from an approaching storm, the track sees Searle wrap bluesy,
Peter Green style guitar passages around a shuffing, Latin-tinged groove rich
in Dawes’ distinctive percussion patterns and Murphy’s languid electric piano
and synthesizer lines. As the track progresses, Piggott steps up to make his
mark, with his undulating electric violin lines complimenting Hillside’s impeccable
instrumentation while adding extra emotional weight to proceedings. It’s a
stunning beginning to the Hillside story.
Piggott also makes a big impression on accompanying cut “The King’s Tun”,
delivering fuid and energy-packed solos that weave in and out of a bright
and breezy instrumental track rich in jangling acoustic guitars, subtly spacey
electronics, freside-warm bass and more sparse-but-intricate percussion
courtesy of the effervescent Dawes. Searle’s eyes-closed, rock style guitar solos
cap another memorable excursion from Claremont 56’s latest in-house band.

Influenced by the social and political climate of the modern
world, MOTSA’s debut album, ‘Perspectives’, is inspired by his
acute awareness of modern society’s dependence on
technology and the social media bubble also responsible for
the civic polarisation seen globally. The 11 track album takes
the listener on an emotional journey with dark, yet hopeful,
detailed compositions, each representing their own personal
story. The title “Perspectives” refers to a problem we all face:
differing perspectives of the same situation, which in turn
leads to conflict, be it in personal relationships, families and
even political discussions globally. With individuals and
groups often losing perspective in disagreements, MOTSA’s
debut LP calls for more empathy, highlighting our current
trajectory of an ego-driven society. Encouraging listeners to
spend less time behind computer screens and more time
outside in nature to broaden our horizons and reflect on
human decisions, many of the album’s samples were recorded
from MOTSA’s own environment. Using the sounds of children playing in the sand on a Balearic beach, crickets in the grass,
or the ambient soundscapes of bells recorded from his
father’s apartment in Moscow, the producer also recorded and
sampled his own voice to create distant, choir-like melodies in
many of the tracks. The artist’s signature sound – a soulful yet
driven harmonic blend – continues to propel the multi-talented
artist to the highest acclaim into 2019 and beyond.

'Boomerang' was first recorded in 1979, when the Broomfield Corporate Jam leader was attempting to plot a solo career. It was the first cut Aaron Broomfield recorded under his own name - Initially, at the family band's home studio, Kilimanjaro, and later at professional studios in L.A and Miami - but it was never released.

'I always wanted to be able to share 'Boomerang' with my fans some day - I didn't release it back then because I thought the time wasn't right,' Broomfield explains. 'It was so different to what was considered commercial then and felt ahead of its time.'

Before deciding against releasing it, Broomfield had two test pressings made. It was the accidental discovery of the
one remaining record by digger Arun Brown (the other perished when Broomfield's Kilimanjaro studio was damaged by a fire in 1996) that set in motion the chain of events that finally led to its release.

The jacket boasts a written essay by Broomfield himself, telling the remarkable story behind the song. The wax
features the two versions of Boomerang, of which both were meticulously restored and re-mastered by celebrated
Australian sound engineer, Dan Elleson.

Head to side A for the 'test press' version, a cosmic, starry-eyed chunk of elastic Miami disco-funk where the
Broomfield family's killer instrumentation - all rubbery bass, deep space synths and crunchy Clavinet motifs - arcs
around the sound space like a boomerang in flight. The vocal arrangement, in which Aaron Broomfield's conscious
lyrics come through loud and clear, brings it home. On the flipside, you'll hear how dynamic the band was through the

'Demo Version' - a relaxed, loose and spacey groover that sounds as ahead of its time in 2018 as it would have when it was recorded in 1979.

The story of TodoTodo is one of the most incomprehensible and surprising in the history of Spanish electronic music. Without doubt it is, sadly, also one of the most ephemeral. The curse that has haunted them since their forming in 1980 and during their short year and half of life is already legendary. Domestica Records did justice to the group in 2012 with a comprehensive compilation and this EP joins this initial tribute as it reimagines some of these trailblazers most representative productions: Digital Dancer and Autoga´s.
Almost forty years later, Frigio is bringing some of their music to a fresh audience. Juanpablo with his extended edit of 'Digital Dancer.' A steady kick tethers a tripping mechanical melody, a melody that bubbles and simmers as toms, horns and daring funk collide for this seven minute odyssey into the world of Iberian underground synth. The original version from 81 closes the A, a brief and brilliant piece of proto-techno. The flip is introduced by Catalan Dj, journalist and author of ¡Bacalao! Historia Oral de la Mu´sica de Baile en Valencia, Luis Costa. Costa re-imagines 'Autogas' with his Tool Edit, reshaping the off-kilter keys and future highways and byways of the original. The finale is a true treasure from the annals of time. A live version of 'Autogas' from the legendary Rock'Ola club in Madrid, an unreleased work that is as audacious and bold as it was when it was first performed in 1981.

There are few people across the globe, who will have not been touched by the work of Frankie Knuckles. Forever regarded as ‘The Godfather of House’ for his unrivalled contribution to the house music we know today; what started as an underground movement in Chicago has grown to international heights thanks to Frankie. His records earned him recognition on a global scale, allowing him to work with some of the globes biggest names including the likes of Diana Ross, Whitney Houston and Michael Jackson.

Five years ago, Frankie passed away in Chicago on 31st March 2014 leaving behind one of the greatest house music legacies spanning almost four decades. Now he is commemorated by long time writing and production partner Eric Kupper. Eric, himself a seasoned DJ producer and writer, has worked on over 116 Billboard #1 Dance Records and played a pivotal role in a many of Frankie’s productions. Having both worked together for many years they established themselves at ‘Director’s Cut’ from 2011 and set about producing original releases and remixes based on the classic ‘Def Mix’ sound while sharing equal credits for their creations.

Together they re-produced and re-purpose classic cuts for modern dancefloors, with reworks including tracks from Marshall Jefferson, Ashford & Simpson, Artful & Ridney and The Sunburst Band, alongside Frankie Knuckles originals. These releases have now been brought together by Eric to feature on special album called ‘The Directors Cut Collection’ on SoSure Music. It includes the Director’s Cut reworks of Frankie’s classic cuts such as ‘Your Love’ and ‘Take You There’ with Jamie Principle, alongside Frankie’s first #1 single - ‘The Whistle Song’ on which Eric shares writing credits.

Within a multitude of classic reworks, highlights include a previously unreleased version of Ashford & Simpson’s ‘Bourgie Bourgie’ and a huge Director’s Cut Retro Signature mix of Marshall Jefferson’s 'The House Music Anthem (Move Your Body)' featuring Curtis McClain.

The Director’s Cut Collection is a fitting tribute to commemorate the fifth anniversary of Frankie’s passing whilst giving Eric a platform to tell his side of the creative story. This album is to be released in collaboration with The Frankie Knuckles Foundation who work to continuing Frankie’s legacy well into the future.

Hard Fist comes back stronger than ever with a sixth release, this time from Pletnev with a remix from Sascha Funke.

Extra prolific Russian born Alex Pletnev has been making music under various aliases and in a number of live bands. Now settled in Vilnius he explores stellar chugging rhythms, afro and oriental vibes for labels like Media Fury and Bahnsteig23 and more atmospheric, dark and industrial EPs on Le Temps Perdu records. This new one is “the tale of an imaginary world, a babel myth of when human beings were together as one because they spoke a single language. It is an allusion of No Border movement supporting freedom of mobility and fighting human immigration control.”

This fantastic release is the most club focussed music Pletnev has ever produced with instrumental, heady opener ‘Guest from Bangkok’ really locking you in a groove. Loose percussion and churning drums make for dark disco of the highest order. Then comes ‘Peep of Dawn,’ an almost frightening, long and slow ceremony of menacing electronic music. A voice resonates while powerful bass sends shivers down your spine and the whole atmospheric and absorbing affair really casts a spell.

Excellent punchy guitar riffs and shamanic rhythms on ‘Red Shoes’ reminds you of a run to catch the setting sun. It’s another spellbinding and rock-laced disco track that oozes grit and rawness. With the closing track, BPitch Control man Sascha Funke remixes ‘My Word Against Yours' into a cosmic and jerky affair that alludes to a journey into outer space. It’s sparse and creepy and brilliantly evocative.

Once again here, the Hard Fist label—which has its own residency at Paris’s mighty Rex Club—tells its unique story with forward thinking club music full of a wide array of influences.

'The Loop' is the new LP by Los Angeles based polymath Shafiq Husayn, an epic project which saw its inception in 2012 through a series of studio sessions at Shafiq's home, including collaborations with the likes of Thundercat, Erykah Badu, Flying Lotus, Bilal and Anderson Paak. Amongst a close knit circle of friends and family the golden tones of The Loop were created, deeply rooted in ideas of song, story, history, guidance and spirituality. The album bumps, jumps and jangles through progressions in jazz, hip hop, soul and funk, following on from his debut album 'Shafiq En' A-Free-Ka' and adding further to his rich history of timeless, unique music. On The Loop past, present and future are brought together through a psychedelic concoction of time traveling drum machines, celestial string sections and trails of synthesizer vapour. Inflections of Sly Stone, Pharaoh Sanders and Earth Wind And Fire traverse with Marley Marl and Dilla-esqe drums making for an organic yet LA-trifying experience.

Shafiq has brought together an impressive array of LA's musical royalty, enlisting the likes of Thundercat, Miguel Atwood-Ferguson, Kamasi Washington, Chris 'Daddy' Dave, Eric Rico, Coultrain, Computer Jay, Jimetta Rose, Om'Mas Keith, Kelsey Gonzalez, I-Ced and more to provide the backbone to his recording sessions. Drawing in features from an international cast of performers and artists like Erykah Badu, Robert Glasper, Hiatus Kaiyote, Fatima and Karen Be amongst others. Now complete and finally ready for release in 2019 The Loop is truly something to behold. The records is accompanied by a series of paintings by acclaimed Japanese visual artist Tokio Aoyama, who worked in tandem with Shafiq to create a painting for each song on the record.

French modern-classical quartet astrïd return on May 10th with the first part of a new release entitled A Porthole.

Conceptually the two records work in unison, focusing on portholes into the abyss, with part one delving into the depths of the deep sea. The tracks are named after various strains of seaweed, the artwork depicting dark waves and uncertainty. Part two will follow in a years time and will turn its attention to the night sky and constellations.

A Porthole continues astrïd’s signature style of billowing guitars, strings and woodwind. Each element intertwined with another, linked perfectly together through restrained jazz-tinged percussion. 2017’s highly-acclaimed release ‘Through the Sparkle’ with renowned pianist Rachel Grimes (of Rachels) set the bar extremely high for this release but astrïd have matched the depth, melody and quality of that record here.

Part one of this journey features some sublime compositions with Cyril Secq’s expressive and bold guitar playing carrying the pieces into chamber music territory, joined seamlessly by a variety of other instruments that swell and soar and fit perfectly into the story being told. Everything seems to have its place, nothing is overplayed or out of step here, there is an organic nature to the way this quartet plays and interacts with one another as melodies circle back and fade away in the same beautiful breath.

A Porthole is a deeply charming record, exercising glorious, nuanced refrain and offering a sort of hope rarely found in music these days.

• Aqua blue vinyl - limited to 300 copies w/ download code

• The album was mastered by Harris Newman (Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Tindersticks etc)

• The artwork is extracted from an original one of a kind monotype print by Gizeh overlord Richard Knox.

Last year we welcomed Grup Ses to our sister label Sucata Tapes with "Program #01", a mystically mixed soundtrack of far-out new age and film sountracks from Turkey circa 1986. A new set of Turkish delights were prepared for this year's release. "Deli Divan" it's a two-part record with incredibly crafted beats that tell a different story depending on the version you chose to listen.
A side captivates by its voracity. Hi-tech and fierce beats drop with the sharp voice and flow of Ethnique Punch, delivering 14 - yes, f-o-u-r-t-e-e-n - short and punchy tracks. The diggin' liveliness
of Grup Ses is well present in the samples used, manufacturing beats that serve well the fast paced and nocturnal voice of Ethnique Punch. The first part of "Deli Divan" is pretty much a straight story. A good one.
But then comes the surprise. The other side. The same fourteen tracks without voice, just the beats. And here "Deli Divan" tells a completely different story. It loses the emergency, darkness and
robustness of the A side, specially because the beats float on a limbo without a voice. But that limbo reveals the straight forwardness of the beats created by Grup Ses for this record. There's a hidden narrative here, without the voice the short tracks connect like an outer world radio broadcast.
But there's no narrator. Just time-travelling beats that interlink past, present and future, synthetizing complex ideas in short bursts of 1 or 2 minutes. A Deli-Delight this is.

Zodiak Commune Records presents the second TRIP release called Mist Of Souls. This is a serie pressed on 10 inch containing long, deep and storytelling acid tracks one on each side.
One side is dedicated to Ounts (FR), member of the Fr k6tem and Celestial Bodies collective recordlabel. Lovely ambient break!
The other side you can find the local rarely gifted Lox (FR). Really nice spacetraveling sound on this one!

Ounts L'Ame Hante
When it is time for a soul to move on, it simply needs complete its final task.
After that a portal will appear...and no one knows where it is going.

Lox Nova
We enter to other side of the portal. This is the time a new star is born.
The circle is complete.

Zodiak Commune Records presents the second TRIP release called Mist Of Souls. This is a serie pressed on 10 inch containing long, deep and storytelling acid tracks one on each side.
One side is dedicated to Ounts (FR), member of the Fr k6tem and Celestial Bodies collective recordlabel. Lovely ambient break!
The other side you can find the local rarely gifted Lox (FR). Really nice spacetraveling sound on this one!

Ounts L'Ame Hante
When it is time for a soul to move on, it simply needs complete its final task.
After that a portal will appear...and no one knows where it is going.

Lox Nova
We enter to other side of the portal. This is the time a new star is born.
The circle is complete.

"kiska" Is The Lead Single Off Kedr's Sophomore Release, Your Need. The Album Is A Celebration Of Life And Rebirth. It's About A Fighter's Spirit, And If You Will, A Little Audacity And Courage. Dj'ing And Early Forms Of Dance Music Inspired A Furious Burst Of Creative Energy After Months Of Melancholy, Sadness And Reflection To Record The Album In Only A Matter Of Weeks. After Her Breakout Album, Ariadna, Which Put Her On The Forefront Of Russia's Burgeoning Electronic Scene, Kedr Felt Lost With Her Identity And Was Searching For The Direction Of Her Next Chapter. For A While She Felt Trapped By Her Own Image And Needed Quite Some Time To Resolve This Internal Dissonance - To Grow, To Evolve. Dj'ing Was The Main Catalyst To Pull Her Out Of This Rut. The Art Form Shifted Her Inspiration To Mainly Old School Styles Of Dance Music: Ghetto, House, Breakbeat And Uk Garage. For The Prior Year And A Half She Was Listening To Ambient, Kraut-rock And More Experimental Genres - One Can Hear The Brighter, More Energetic Influence Of Early Electronic Music In The Songs On Your Need. One Day She Was Talking With Her Friend Flaty (zhenya), A Very Talented Artist From St. Petersburg Who's Signed To The Gost Zvuk Label, And They Decided To Do A Single Together. He Came To Visit Her In Moscow, But They Ended Up Spending 10 Whole Days Writing Music Together, From Dawn To Dusk. They Vibed Off Each Other's Musical Ideas Perfectly And Understood Each Other Even Without Speaking. Zhenyais A Beatmaster And Pays Attention To Even The Smallest Details Of A Track. He Brought Incredible Richness To The Composition And Kedr Considers Him Her Teacher In This Area. Kedr Was In Charge Of The Melodies And Vibe Of The Tracks, And The Vocal Elements. Your Need Is Like A Chapter Of Life. It's A Story That Illustrates Different Scenarios And Moods That Our Mythical Hero Experiences, Living In An Urban Jungle. From Lost Love To A Bad Trip On The Dance Floor, From Euphoria To Deep Introspection. Our Hero Sometimes Feels Bold, Lost Or Devastated, But Also Tender And Full, Like All Of Us At Some Point In Life. The Ending Is Joyful And Bright. The Last Song Gives Hope And Faith That A New Day Will Come And Wash Away The Old. You Can Feel Like New Every Day. Your Need Reflects An Array Of Genres And A Mix Of Cultures - A Harmonious Combination Of Differences. Everything Kedr Loves About Ghetto Music, In The Traditions Of House, Dub, Breakbeat, 90s Electronic Music And Modern Sounds - She's Embraced And Expressed It All Throughout. Your Need Is Kedr's Ode To Music From Different Eras And Changing Periods.

Modular Underground – the new Berlin techno label is pleased to
announce its second release where is focusing again on a unique
sound and strong appearance – this time of already well known from
his industrial and acid techno style – D. Carbone. The second release
with the 4 track EP called ‘Troubles in the White House’ is not only the
usual acid banger, offering a variety of different tracks that at the end
merge in one story to tell -about ambitions and sacrifice within ‘ house’
which artist himself used as a metaphor…

In 1980, the 9th Creation began working on new music at a Modesto studio, South East of Stockton. The studio was suspiciously cheaper than all of its competitors. After recording weeks of material, the band discovered the reason. 'We didn't know that the guys that were running the studio were drug dealers,' A.D. Burrise recalls. 'There was a big raid.' All the studio's master tapes were confiscated by the DEA. J.D Burrise unsuccessfully sued the DEA to recover the tapes but to no avail. Luckily Mike Micenheimer saved cassette mix-downs of some of the group's songs from those sessions. 'A Step Ahead' is the the 9th Creation's lost album. 8 unreleased songs of pure soul, funk, disco and boogie.

We are proud to present this lost album for the first time. The ultra talented Jacob Arnold also wrote the complete story of the band that we are presenting with never seen before pictures.

Finally the CD version includes bonus tracks from the Love Crime 12', the Mellow Music 7' and 3 previously unreleased (rough) demos.

(Because of the source of these recordings, please know that (sadly) some of the songs have drops in stereo and are not 100% audio quality.)

Jaka Forma completes the Seltron 400 trilogy on Warsaw's MOST. The quirky sounds of their previous two releases - Zabawa Trwa and Trans i Bas - have garnered support from music lovers and heavyweight selectors alike (with Helena Hauff, Veronica Vasicka and Marco Passarani among them).

The duo continue to weave their sonic story upping the tempo on the breakbeat-driven roller Kiepska Forma. The track comes with a more contained techno mix as well, entitled Forma Swietna. The b-side carries Jakze Srogo - a firm crowd favorite from the Seltron live show, and a nod of sorts to the sound and times of electroclash, even though we won't argue that the tune is anything but pure Seltron 400.

anded Records is delighted to welcome back the legendary Norm Talley with a very special, limited edition 12″ vinyl masterpiece from one of the originators and true players of the Detroit House music scene! This release, as with all his releases, is written and produced through Norm’s fully analogue set-up. NO computers, NO digital limiters, No gimmicks. Just pure, warm, deep Detroit goodness. LTD edition 180g vinyl.

Bogota Records rings in 2019 and brings long time friend and collaborator, Oslo based producer
REMII, back into the roster, Remii delivers an outstanding release with his two tracks Cruisin' and
Late Night'.

'Cruisin' rides an 80's wave of nostalgia with warm synths and naïve chords plotting the course
ahead, while Late Night' slowly tells you a story on its own, going back to the future.

On the flip side, Bogota boss Ivaylo is on the prowl for House with his interpretation of the original. A
warm bass line, dreamy keys and groovy percussion, take the track into a parallel dimension with his
searching for House' remix.

The now legendary collaboration between producer Terence Fixmer and vocalist Douglas McCarthy continues with a new 4 track E.P. of blistering electronics and intense performance. Long time fans will immediately recognise the strong tradition of EBM that Fixmer/McCarthy have held as their own for 15 years. 'Let It Begin' and 'The Crush' assault the listener with bruising bass lines, heavy insistent drums and mesmorising sound effects. With a Phase Fatale remix bringing a brooding and menacing darkness to any dance floor. The Force Mix of 'The Crush', harks back to the original power, energy and simplicity of how FM fans were first introduced to Terence and Douglas on their 2004 debut album 'Between The Devil'. The brutal love story continues!

Cement returns with its second story - this time delving deeper into the dub techno abyss on the A-side with Montreal veteran Mateo Murphy's banger "Black River". It has peak hour written all over it with its full-on sound and tantilising dub atmosphere; a dark flowing bassline builds into a droney crescendo. Next Sonitus Eco of Silent Season, his label HAAV and the crucial Verdant delivers a coup de grace of dub techno. Stripped back with an effective 808 pattern, his tenacity with pads and atmospheric space echo gives "Ruffcut" its character and leaves you wanting more.
On the flip side, the elusive CMNT returns for another arpeggio-laden journey. With a constant kick and airy hats pattern, occasional stabs, melodic notes and some random human voices give texture to "White Heat".
Finally, label founder Caspian Rabone's electro moniker Fourmatic, drops a spacey electro workout "Ectosketch". Playing with tonal rhythms, the track unveils awkward synth hooks and metallic strings to keep things edgey.

Caetano Veloso's seminal first '68 Tropicalia monster in MONO, must have or what...

First Authorized North American Vinyl Issue of Caetano Veloso Courtesy of Third Man Records!

IN VERY RARE MONO VERSION

Caetano Veloso's self-titled debut solo album is one of the most important and influential Brazilian (and, dare we say, South American) albums of all time. With the release of this seminal album, Veloso would become the leading voice of Tropicália. The songs on this album immediately connected with people. "Alegria, Algeria" was his breakout hit that gained traction as a hymn for liberty advocates, juxtaposing images of Coca Cola, guerrilla groups, bombs and Brigitte Bardot as part of the everyday experience. The album's first song "Tropicália" was an anthem for the whole movement; it's a fragmented allegory, a structure borrowed from friends in the concrete poetry scene, touching on divergent cultural symbols, events, allusions and idioms, nimbly representing and critiquing the many contradictions in the new Brazilian dictatorship.

"Superbacana" (translated as "Supergroovy") follows a hyperbolic superhero's use of technology to fight a gang of cowboys led by the money-hungry Uncle Scrooge, serving as allusions to American imperialism and greed felt in their country, all in the rapid-fire structure of a comic book. The subtext in all these songs, which the dictatorship would not immediately catch, were that these repressed but glaring contradictions, not the bountiful sunny paradise that the military regime was pushing, were the true national identity. Unfortunately, these cleverly veiled jabs in Veloso and his contemporaries' bodies of work gained greater and greater exposure as the movement became more and more popular, leading to the arrest, imprisonment and forced exile of Veloso and many of his cohort. Despite these difficulties, the Tropicalists continued creating in exile, strongly influencing artists both at home and abroad.

This is the first authorized North American vinyl issue of Caetano Veloso. Whether you're a longtime fan or first-time listener, Third Man Records could not be more proud to spread the compelling story of this album, this artist and the Tropicália movement.

Fifth part of the Strata-East Dolphy Series, Glass Bead Games is arguably the crown jewel of the Strata East movement, an amorphous genre that treads an unusual path between post-bop, 70's avant-garde and spiritual jazz, with a groove.

Glass Bead Games is full of revelations at many levels. First, the decade of the 1970s did produce genuinely creative, "human" new music flowing from the jazz mainstream; second, Bill Lee was more than Spike's dad: he was a superlative bassist, a team player of the first order, a powerful catalyst who, if anything, deserves to be better known than his son; third, Billy Higgins was, as so many musicians insist, a once-in-a-lifetime drummer—the bellows inspiriting the collective flame.

Most importantly, Clifford Jordan was an artist of the first order, his playing so effortless and unforced, unselfconscious and focused, mature and wise that, at a time when altissimo fury was all the rage, it's small wonder his authentic voice frequently went unheard. His musical rhetoric is so personally expressive, its substance so compelling, the listener couldn't care less about the extraordinary technique required to convey its captivating message. Compared to some of his more acclaimed peers he's a less aggressive yet paradoxically more directive and shaping influence. The climaxes, rather than spelled out, are merely suggested, registering with deep and lasting impact on the listener. It all comes down to learning the language, those precious little beads. Not every player, including Jordan or the listener, can use it like Shakespeare, but all can learn to read Shakespeare and understand its principles of arbitrariness and serendipity, of invariance and transformation.

Jordan, no less than Shakespeare, requires a like-minded cast of players—in this case four musicians of such redoubtable proficiency that each remains committed to keeping the beads in play. He's not a man content with a mere musical "dialogue" with his fellow musicians nor is he about to take the initiative in pulling his troops up to his level. Instead he begins to tell a musical story that's so compelling his three comrades are inspired equally to contribute to a collaborative narrative. This is brilliant music-making by a Coltrane- influenced successor who feels no obligation to mime the predecessor. It may be the most significant saxophone performance on record since Coltrane and, providing the listener stays with it for any length of time, the most deeply satisfying. Jordan's game—so effortless, unforced, and "level"—erases distinctions between composed and improvised, soloist and ensemble, narrator and narrative, the dancer and the dance. It seems incapable of wearing out its welcome.

By Samuel Chell/All About Jazz

Black Friday LP now made a regular catalogue item. When it comes to authentic, ride-or-die hip-hop, few crews have as much resonance as Mobb Deep. Featuring two double-threat MCs who also produced - Havoc and the sadly-departed Prodigy - the crew changed the hardcore rap game in 1995 with their sophomore classic The Infamous, and went on to rule the dark corners of hip-hop for the second half of the 90s and well into the 2000s. After multiple Mobb Deep platters in the '90s, Prodigy entered the 2000s as a solo artist with force, rolling over a stomping, piano-freaked backdrop laced by producer The Alchemist, with Keep It Thoro.' It has held up over time, proving itself as an anthemic classic that the streets and clubs still respect. Flaunting a smooth-but-menacing flow, Prodigy's no-nonsense lyricism on Keep It Thoro' is prototypical modern age brag rap. Countless MCs have followed his flow, from Fabolous to Joey Bada$$. The song is short and sweet, clocking in at just over 3 minutes. There are no wasted verses, just hardcore rhymes that stay with you. But Thoro' was the tip of the iceberg on what proved to be one of the more coveted rap full-lengths of the era. The album boasted other charting singles, including Rock Dat Shit' and Y.B.E.' (featuring B.G.), but it can be argued that the album's real gems are buried deeper. Genesis,' What U Rep' (featuring Noreaga) and Three' are all sinister yet pensive. Wanna Be Thugs' and Delt With The Bullshit' are strong and evocative Mobb Deep cuts, featuring production and vocals by Havoc. And alongside other standouts, perhaps the deepest cut of all - especially in light of Prodigy's way-too-soon passing due to complications from Sickle Cell Anemia - is You Can Never Feel My Pain,' which details the health issues and challenges this talented MC and producer had been facing his whole life. H.N.I.C. was Prodigy's first solo album, but it is perhaps his best. Among fans he will never be forgotten, for his skills, his storytelling and his no-B.S. approach to the art of MCing.

Acclaimed UK producer, Cella Records label operator, and swiftly aspiring talent Turner has already stirred up the scene with quality shells more than once with his own acclaimed productions, receiving air-play from venerated key figures such as Mala or Youngsta. Laying down the law for its first three releases, it's time to showcase his undoubtedly equally effective A&R skill - welcoming none other than the Rochdale-based artist duo BFM (Bloodklart Fiyah Mandem) to the label roster. Consisting of JFO and Sativa, their collaborative output cuts through the noise - support from the likes of Grime veteran Slimzee and physical releases via Glassy Records and Hooded Up. Now stepping back on the controls to set the new year ablaze in style, BFM delivers a total of four extensively weighty cuts for Cella's fourth vinyl release. As the needle picks up the records' first grooves, 'Magic Carpet' sets path on a ride into a distant and barren territory - at once being enamored by its contemplative atmosphere. Unraveling its dynamic interplay of sound and silence, the authentic old-school instrumentation and lavishly saturated low-frequency surges keep us coming back for more. Catching a swift breath, 'Niyaz' lures us into spheres of droning reverberations - phasing in and out amidst vigorous square-wave leads and meticulously crafted foley effects - conveying its story with full force on a minimal platter. No exception to the rule, 'Shade Riddim' conjures another isomere of their signature ambience - wailing voices, enigmatic strings leading the way through dimly lit, high-pressure alleys. Droning along as conclusive proof of this releases' unquestionable intensity, 'Limitless' wraps up the madness - delivering a fourth, flawlessly executed bass-weight meditation. Timeless music on a twelve-inch platter.