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In 1981, London-based E.G. Records released the debut album from a young Ghanaian group called Edikanfo. Edikanfo quickly rose to international notoriety following the release of “The Pace Setters” because of the infectious, forward-looking highlife meets afro-funk synthesis the band committed to tape. But the album also caught an additional wind of publicity due to its producer, the already legendary British musician and sound conceptualist Brian Eno. During that time, Eno was researching and openly propagating West African musics. He often mentioned his love of Fela Kuti and called his own rhythm-driven experiments the search for a “vision of a psychedelic Africa.” He had recently been collaborating with The Talking Heads on their Avant-funk masterpiece “Remain in Light” and with The Talking Heads frontman David Byrne on “My Life in the Bush of Ghosts,” an album which foretold the sort of cross-pollination and global music interconnectivity that today we take for granted. Eno and Edikanfo’s work together at Studio One in Accra (Ghana) was yet another inspired morphing of soundworlds and processes and a significant touchstone for both artists. As Brian Eno recently noted: “the actual recording sessions were joyful - the band played with such verve that you couldn't resist.”



But just when the sky seemed the limit for Edikanfo, the coup d’état in Ghana on the last day of 1981, tragically put the brakes on the band’s quickly developing fortunes. For years after that, the country endured enforced curfews at night, which of course ultimately gutted the live music scene in Accra and elsewhere. Because of this and other financial setbacks, the band ceased activity and its members spread out in exile, all over the world. It clearly seemed as though the story of Edikanfo, one of Ghana’s greatest bands of that era, had come to a premature end.



Now, almost four decades later, Edikanfo has returned. And with its surviving members gearing up to reissue and tour their classic 1981 album, “The Pace Setters,” the band is once again excitedly pointed towards the future.

Wildflower (Leon Brichard, Tom Skinner, Idris Rahman) continue to explore areas of groove-based improvised jazz on their 2nd album. Taking a slightly freer approach to the writing process, simple but effective melodies and bass motifs are explored to to create fully realised pieces with dynamic extremes that bring a full range of emotion. Recorded over a two day session at Fishmarket Studios in London, the band sounds relaxed and at ease, giving space to explore intricate improvised interplay and dialogue fully whilst at the same time building to fiery powerful climaxes and emotional peaks. Skinner is on fire here whilst Rahman and Brichard trade riffs and push the harmonic and rhythmic boundaries. Rahman’s use of clarinet and bamboo flute plus additional layers of woodwinds, Skinner’s unique approach to stripped-down use of his very personalised kit, and Brichard’s use of both acoustic and electric basses make for a sonic landscape that is both unique and highly approachable. Touching on heavy spiritual vibes whilst taking in dark alternative grooves and delicate folk-like tunes, the overall sound remains instantly accessible



Sax, Flutes and Clarinet: Idris Rahman
Electric and Double Bass: Leon Brichard
Drums: Tom Skinner

Bristol-based multi-instrumentalist producer Memotone returns to Diskotopia for the stunning full-length LP Invisible Cities, undoubtedly his most accomplished work to date, effortlessly joining the dots between Martin Denny, Yasuaki Shimizu, Nurse With Wound, and Mark Isham…

Memotone is the principal alias for Bristol-based multi-instrumentalist, composer, and producer William Yates. As a solo artist, he has released on labels such as Black Acre, Bedouin, Project Mooncircle, and Brownswood either as Memotone or under his other alias Halfnelson. In addition to doing composition work for film and television, he works as a session musician for the likes of Dmitry Evgrafov, Connie Constance, and Phaeleh. He's also part of the Avon Terror Corps project helmed by Bokeh Versions, Giant Swan. Noods et al., and is a member of ATC-affiliated Pheasantry Society. His music has been championed on the radio, a key influential medium for Yates growing up, by the likes of Gilles Peterson, Mary Anne Hobbs, Tom Ravenscroft, Nick Luscombe, and more.

Drawing from Bristol's own sonic history, from the late 80s to the present, as well as the writing of Italo Calvino, Yates has put together 10 tracks on Invisible Cities that sit somewhere between neo-classical, ambient, fourth-world exotica, and post-krautrock. The mix of different timbres of live string and wind instruments, astute synthesizer touches, and skittish drum machine strokes creates an organic and ethereal energy deftly manipulated into a delicately interwoven narrative through Yates's production prowess. Already garnered support from the music press and radio DJs, the album will strongly appeal to a wide range of music lovers and fans of Ryuichi Sakamoto, Dorothy Ashby, Alberto Iglesias, Labradford, Delia Derbyshire, Peverelist, Toshifumi Hinata and more…

A Unique EP of remixes from Kniteforce Head Honcho, Dj Luna-C. Each remix is firmly based in the vibes of the old skool, with the rolling basslines and touch of madness that is expected when Luna-C gets in the studio. The tracks were all chosen based on their ability to be folded into something both new and old, and then refashioned into something very different from the source material.
The result is a cohesive mess, an orderly panic, and a clash of harmony, and all the expected trademarks of a prime Kniteforce EP.

Club/DJ Support - Billy Bunter, the Fat Controller, Glowkid, Slipmatt, Dj Jedi, Dj Luna-C, Dj Brisk, Clayfighter, Jimni Cricket, Bustin, Sc@r, Doughboy, Saiyan, Dave Skywalker, Ponder ...and many others.

We’ve been waiting a while for this one… Dark Sky return after a brief hiatus with this incredible EP featuring band of the moment Afriquoi. Many of you will already know one particular tune here: ‘Cold Harbour’ used by Bonobo on his Fabric mix compilation back in January. This gem is now backed with three more blissful, vital fusions. All created with different members of the deeply-rooted London-based live band.


‘Valmer’ sets the tone with its chimes, bells and chants, featuring the drumming of percussionist Andre Marmot aka Minioca. It's measured, restrained and impossible not to get goosebumps to, a near-spiritual experience the deeper you get into the groove. Elsewhere ‘Love Walk’ takes a much more subdued sojourn into the cosmic dusk. Mid tempo and much more focused on the rich layers of atmospherics than the beats, this will disarm a crowd at 50 paces. Next our minds are altered by eight-minute synth-striking mystique marathon ‘Cambia’ featuring the Kora playing of Jally Kebba Susso. Finally, ‘Cold Harbour’, one of the highlights from Bonobo’s evergreen mix from the London club institution, the combination of those rattled strings, pregnant bass staccatos, rolling percussion and deep undulating bass make it one of the most versatile and touching tracks Dark Sky have given us so far. And that’s saying something.


Breaking the Dark Sky silence that’s been almost two years, the ‘Clod Harbour’ EP opens up a whole new page in the London act’s legacy. And there’s plenty more to come. Watch this space...

Out September 6th on Dischord Records, Anthropocosmic Nest is the second full-length by Washington, D.C.’s The Messthetics, who are Anthony Pirog, Joe Lally, and Brendan Canty.
Formed in 2016 the Messthetics are Anthony Pirog, Joe Lally, and Brendan Canty. Pirog is a jazz and experimental guitarist based in Washington, D.C. One half of the duo Janel & Anthony, he also performs regularly with Low Ways Quartet and James Brandon Lewis. Canty and Lally were the rhythm section of the band Fugazi from its inception in 1987 to its period of hiatus in 2002.
Since then, Canty has remained active as a documen- tary filmmaker, producer, and composer, and released a music as a member of the band Deathfix. Lally has re- leased three solo albums and toured extensively with a frequently-rotating cast of musicians.
Recorded at the band’s practice space throughout 2019, it’s an album that more perfectly captures the trio’s current live dynamic, complete with improvisational tangents, playful experimentation, and cathartic sprawl.
When The Messthetics recorded their debut album in 2017, the trio had only done a handful of shows and had yet to fully find its footing on stage. In a way, those compositions were a template for the band that Pirog, Lally, and Canty hoped would come into being through subsequent work on the road.
Since then, The Messthetics have played upwards of 200 shows across the US, Europe and Asia. Their dialog as a performing unit has necessarily focused and intensified. As a result, Anthropocosmic Nest offers a more var- ied vision of the band. It’s the loudest the trio has ever been and also the quietest.

Inner atmos and next time – rain into rivers, rivers to rain.

Sequence is subjective, irrelevant – it’s where we stand. Out of order, we dissolve and reform, coming together to come undone. There is no first, no now, no next – just precision points in the wide deep sky.

Another bang, another – it’s the reading which is important. Repeating in parallel, the natural loop is healing; repair, resonance, return. We live in a fragment; soft light and clouds drift like dreams into memory, showing movement in the mirror.

“Here the performer becomes free like the playful clouds high above the world of pain, suffering, happiness, ecstasy, disappointment, greed and ambition of human life”

In this present, we are touched to have unreleased business from Memphis. In unlocking the stoic DAT tapes we open a direct channel from 1993 to this now; three tracks which are meditative, essential rhythm with direct, organic charge. It’s Dream Night Dance Music and Osram 509, with RHK, En-Trance, and Microgravity.

More poetry in remembering our first release was also Memphis. Big complex loops and inner paths. Who’s been here before? All of us, one of us, none of us.

Strut presents an all-time classic of South African music, the definitive remastered edition of Miriam Makeba’s ‘Pata Pata’, her first album recorded for Reprise in 1966.
The album marked a significant international breakthrough for Makeba. Moving to the US after the anti-apartheid film ‘Come Back, Africa’ gained international attention and staying there in exile, she quickly built her career in New York during
the ‘60s, mentored by Harry Belafonte. Signing with Reprise after a period with RCA, she returned to one of her older songs: “I wrote ‘Pata Pata’ back in 1956, back in South Africa,” remembered Makeba in her autobiography. “It was a fun little song and I was thinking of a dance that we do at home (“pata” means ‘touch” in Zulu and Xhosa).” Originally a hit in South Africa with her early vocal harmony group the Skylarks, the new recording, produced by Jerry Ragovoy, brought a lighter uptempo R’nB arrangement, adding some English lyrics. “It was my first truly big seller. All of
a sudden, people who never knew I had been in America since 1959 were asking me to be on their television shows and play at their concert halls during 1967. In the discotheques, they invented a new dance called the ‘Pata Pata’ where couples dance
apart and then reach out and touch each other. I went to Argentina for a concert and, across South America, they are singing my song.” The track peaked on the Billboard Hot 100 at no. 12 and the album. Other songs In the album included a version of the traditional Xhosa classic, ‘Click Song Number One’ (‘Qongqothwane’), the atmospheric ‘West Wind’, later famously
covered by her friend Nina Simone, and a version of Tilahun Gessesse’s ‘Yetentu Tizaleny’ which Makeba learned on a trip to Addis to perform for Haile Selassie at the Organisation Of African Unity. Mastered by The Carvery from the original reel to reel tapes, ‘Pata Pata’ is released in its mono and stereo versions for the first time. Physical formats feature brand new sleeve notes alongside rare photos from the time of recording and session details.
The album is released on 6th September on 2LP, 1CD, streaming and digital

The Summer sun is shining. New possibilities and a new signing for FireScope. Miles Atmospheric aka Miles Sagnia is a U.K. producer whose absorbing compositions have garnered him with releases on A.R.T., Finale Sessions and his own Atmospheric Existence Recordings.

Four works make up Sky Healer. As with all Miles Atmospheric’s productions, there is a liberated and untethered touch to the entire quartet. From a steady kick and rusted clank, “Exoplanetology” sets sail. The track soars on rising strings, muffled samples feeding back indecipherable messages to terra firma. Bright bars introduce “Our Future”, notes shimmering in their radiance as dew drop splashes of percussion form. Xylophonic keys, energetic drums and silken tones coalesce to create the aquatic journey that is the “Waters of Life” before “See The Light.” Snapping drums from the bedrock from which a plethora of tones and textures grow. Sweetened lines ascend to bring perfect balance to this superb finale.

With Sky Healer, Miles Atmospheric accomplishes a very difficult feat. Not only has the British musician produced a body of techno that is organic and unencumbered but also, he has sculpted soundscapes to escape to.

350gsm Sleeve with selected UV High Gloss Varnish, Liner Notes by Midori Takada and Gareth Quinn Redmond, Sticker

"Conceptually derived from the work of Japanese minimalist composer Satoshi Ashikawa, I have composed an album which hopes to engage, enrich and reflect the listener's surroundings, an Environmental Music." - Gareth Quinn Redmond

Working with Still Way as a base for inspiration, Gareth Quinn Redmond takes Ashikawa's meditative sound designs to more dramatic and lyrical landscapes, gracefully instilling his personal touch into the master's melodic patterns and presenting six pieces which blend and reflect the modern listener's ever changing environment. As Midori Takada explains in the liner notes, "Even though Gareth is deeply influenced by Still Way, he looks above, toward the air and the sky. He pays respect to Ashikawa's approach, but adds bold elements from another dimension…Satoshi Ashikawa aspired to crystallize the sound structure of nature that exists in the environment. Gareth tries to capture what flourishes out of it."

Laistigh den Ghleo is released in conjunction with Satoshi Ashikawa's Still Way (Wave Notation 2) reissue on WRWTFWW Records.

A mythical and misplaced masterpiece of lost soft rock and acidic folk funk by a one-hit wonderer lost in the wilderness for four decades. From the producer of Margo Guryan, writer behind Wool, Gerry Mulligan collaborator, Tarantino soundtracker and Wendy & Bonnie confidant, Paint A Lady now emerges from folkloric obscurity, to bring a wash of soft psychedelic colour to your vinyl collection and quench the repeat requests of a thirsty new found audience waiting for the rain.

Within certain record collecting circles, especially those who gather under the umbrella that covers fragile niches like 'acid folk' and 'soft rock', it's difficult to imagine a time when the legendary Susan Christie album didn't exist. When Finders Keepers Records first shared the unheard 60's songs like Paint A Lady, For The Love Of A Soldier and Echoes In Your Mind with a wide-eyed audience thirsty for organic soul and festival friendly acoustic funk, Susan's new found fan base instantly felt like they had known these songs all of their lives, and with a single needle drop we saw the birth of what could rightfully be described as an 'instant classic'. Which is why it's hard to believe that the music on this lost 60s acetate was only pressed 12 years ago. As our lucky seventh release in an international discography that now surpasses the 100 mark (and one of a small clutch of English language recordings on the label) Paint A Lady has slowly become one of our most requested re-releases, and with this 2018 edition it is technically accurate to say that this pressing is the first-ever reissue of this elusive and essential LP.

The oft over used term mythical applies to this album on many levels. Perhaps it's the woozy nostalgia found within the pop craft of Paint A Lady that has led to false rumours that original 1960's copies used to exist on the collectors market, or the bizarre claim that songs like the head-nodding title track, and the acid-drenched sound effects on Yesterday Where's My Mind were just a product of a contemporary studio band trying to create a fake folk funk red herring. As a result Susan Christie and her producer and husband of 40 years, John Hill have happily taken the repeat phrase 'unbelievable' as a compliment to their songwriting skills and foresight. In all fairness, with a decade to ponder, the original 1969 song titles alone do seem custom-built for the nostalgia market... No One Can Hear You Cry might lament the unrequited yearning for a record deal which never quite followed Susan's won one-hit wonder novelty hit I Love Onions; similarly When Love Comes might allude to the subsequent 35 year wait for the right label to eventually come along. Echoes In Your Mind and the aforementioned Yesterday... could easily allude to the haunting melodies that sat in the can on John Hill's studio shelf while his projects for Margo Guryan, Wool and Pacific Gas & Electric sat proudly in record racks before benefitting successful French cover versions or making their way on to Quentin Tarantino soundtracks. The track Paint A lady itself, complete with it's future-proofed sample-worthy rhythm section, seems like the perfect title for a mock rock pseudo psych contender - at which point you eventually step back and see the bigger picture. These guys were simply one drop too far ahead of their time; a family force of experimental pop perfection that late 60's America simply wasn't ready for. It is just over 12 years since champion record rustler Keith D'Arcy (who you'll meet on the inside sleeve) stumbled upon one of the original acetates that led to the final release of Paint A Lady, and it's almost a longer 50 years since Susan and John added their final touches to these recordings which tragically went into hibernation for over four decades.

Whether this album has been on your wish-list for what seems like a lifetime, or you are taking a plunge into this deep puddle for the first time, when the needle drops on the first track you'll find that Susan Christie, John Hill and Finders Keepers have been saving up for a very rainy day.

2018 played host to a bumper crop of sounds from some of Philly's grittiest, including Great Circles mainstays M//R and Chaperone. To close out the year that was, we are pleased to present Heckadecimal's 'Murder Tape.'

A Minneapolis-based producer and acid auteur, Heckadecimal has been a fixture within the vibrant Midwestern electronic music community for nearly 20 years. Founder of the legendary 'Anti-human' events and co-curator of the ever-prolific Always Human Tapes imprint - alongside Ryan Wurst and Peter Lansky - Heckadecimal's reputation is one of unrelenting creativity and tireless advocacy for sonic experimentation. His work has found its way to light via a slew of pseudonyms and stage monikers, including The Worm, noface and Wonder Sirens.

In short - Heckadecimal lives and breathes the sonic matter that he leaves pouring out of studio monitors, busted bar systems and finely tuned rave stacks, wherever his travels take him.
Live performance lies at the core of Heckadecimal's practice. When he stormed through Inciting HQ in Philly earlier this summer, he took command over an arsenal of hardware that reminded us of how Octave One or Shawn Rudiman might show up. These were machines that he had lived with; touched with custom modifications, hand-drawn stickers and pockmarks incurred in battle, one got the sense that the gear was a personal extension of the artist.

Perhaps it's a bit maudlin, but we feel a certain kinship with this project. Indeed, these tracks at times feel very much of a piece with the gnarled tonalities in which our stable typically traffics; all low-slung riddims that reach at equal lengths towards mutated IDM aesthetics and post-Packard Plant techno extrusions. These are future perfect grooves that glide along under the vast Midwestern sky, providing a fertile communication conduit with the City of Brotherly Love.

Give thanks for acid. Great Circles will see you in the New Year..

2018 played host to a bumper crop of sounds from some of Philly's grittiest, including Great Circles mainstays M//R and Chaperone. To close out the year that was, we are pleased to present Heckadecimal's 'Murder Tape.'

A Minneapolis-based producer and acid auteur, Heckadecimal has been a fixture within the vibrant Midwestern electronic music community for nearly 20 years. Founder of the legendary 'Anti-human' events and co-curator of the ever-prolific Always Human Tapes imprint - alongside Ryan Wurst and Peter Lansky - Heckadecimal's reputation is one of unrelenting creativity and tireless advocacy for sonic experimentation. His work has found its way to light via a slew of pseudonyms and stage monikers, including The Worm, noface and Wonder Sirens.

In short - Heckadecimal lives and breathes the sonic matter that he leaves pouring out of studio monitors, busted bar systems and finely tuned rave stacks, wherever his travels take him.

Live performance lies at the core of Heckadecimal's practice. When he stormed through Inciting HQ in Philly earlier this summer, he took command over an arsenal of hardware that reminded us of how Octave One or Shawn Rudiman might show up. These were machines that he had lived with; touched with custom modifications, hand-drawn stickers and pockmarks incurred in battle, one got the sense that the gear was a personal extension of the artist.

Perhaps it's a bit maudlin, but we feel a certain kinship with this project. Indeed, these tracks at times feel very much of a piece with the gnarled tonalities in which our stable typically traffics; all low-slung riddims that reach at equal lengths towards mutated IDM aesthetics and post-Packard Plant techno extrusions. These are future perfect grooves that glide along under the vast Midwestern sky, providing a fertile communication conduit with the City of Brotherly Love.

Give thanks for acid. Great Circles will see you in the New Year..

Here's one for all the hardcore Disco and Soul lovers out there, one of the finest and rarest manifestations of the legendary writing, arranging and production team of Randy Muller and Jeff Lane (Skyy, BT Express, Brass Construction, Aquarian Dream, Spiders Webb and many more!). First appearing as a 'Columbia Records Disco Series' promo 12" in 1976 this is a wondrous example of that mid to late 70's uptempo Soul sound morphing into Disco, and boy are we glad it did! Drenched in pure Philly vibes 'I'm Ready To Give Up My Life' is a real beauty, clocking in at over 9 mins of pure dance-floor joy with soaring strings and a driving rhythm. Pure class all the way and one for the aficionados for sure. Beautiful Soul music that will certainly deliver the goods in the club indeed. As per the original 1976 promo release this 12" features the same program on both sides.

This underground Disco classic has been legally reissued by Above Board distribution in conjunction with the legal rights holders - Sony Music Entertainment. This high quality repress features original Columbia white label Disco 12" artwork and has been remastered from Sony's original sources by Optimum Mastering, Bristol UK.

"For the final part of SchleiBen 5 - 8, Emotional Response welcomes two Scottish based artists to close out the series. In Jon Keliehor you have a world and music traveler with history from psychedelic rock to fourth world exposure, alongside one of the best electronic producers of the last decade, Lord Of The Isles. As the drummer of West Coast folk rock / psychedelic band The Daily Flash, Keleihor spent much of the mid-60 based in and out of Seattle and Los Angles, playing alongside the likes of Jefferson Airplane, Cream and The Doors, before an increasing interest in meditation and philosophies outside of the 'rock' realm led him to England in the early 70s where he become involved in dance theatre. Teaching Advanced Rhythmic Music Studies at the London Contemporary Dance School, his music composition style became influenced by his studies of world music. Finally settling in Glasgow for over 20 years, while running the Luminous Music label and Gamelan Naga Mas, his earlier recordings for labels like Indipop, Touch and Bruton have seen a recent revival, with music appearing recently on contemporaries Optimo Music and Invisible Inc. The wonderful recordings included here span over 3 decades, from sessions at the Luminous Studio at The Diorama Theatre, London in the early 80s, through to recent field-work based recordings in the Cairngorms. Reconfigured and updated, a common thread appears through the pieces - a sense of longing and appreciation - as Jon's knowledge of outer-national instrumentation alongside equally extensive travels around the globe gives the recordings a seamless blend of organic craft. The tonal consonances within unlikely combinations of instruments, with tuned glasses (tarang), tabla, jaw harps, clay flutes and ocarinas, Chinese instruments that include Xiao-Bo and Xiao-Ping, large Noah bells, small and larges gongs all employed, the recordings have been reconstructed, edited and updated via sampling and digital processing. Featuring the playing of John "Jhalib" Millar - the extraordinarily gifted musician and tabla player - who has appeared with an EP on sister label, Emotional Rescue (ERC029), sadly recently deceased, the contribution acts as a tribute and more. To close, the music of Lord Of The Isles is an excellent companion to Jon's work. Neil McDonald's list of club-based releases on labels CockTail D'Amor, Ene, Firecracker, Permanent Vacation, ESP Institute and Phonica is comprehensive and exemplary, however within his productions has often been an other-worldly element, a space between the beats and occasional fully ambient pieces. Approached originally for series one of SchleiBen, the 7 pieces included were worth the wait, a journey in themselves and the perfect completion. Spanning almost 5 years, the majority were written during an extended exile in the Cairngorms. The lifting, ethereal, but melodic nature of the music fits that aesthetic. Blue skies, snow, long walks, space to think, but with a longing and appreciation of family and friends. The solitary nature found in SchleiBen 8 and the geographical incidence of both artist's recordings including sessions in the Scottish Highlands fits the series ideals and is a nice closure. Enjoy and listen. "

Picture Vinyl

* BCee's 'Northpoint' LP gets the remix treatment from the big dogs.
* LSB puts his touch to 'Surfacing' and take things deep, turning what was an amen tear out into something beautiful.
* Lenzman strips back 'Black Sky' and turns it into a piano roller that liquid lovers are going to go mad for.
* New kid on the block Monty demonstrates his production skills and shows us exactly why Alix Perez snapped him up for 1985 music.
* As if that's not already enough, Bladerunner, Seba and Anile all join the party, all in all making this one heaven of a remix package.
* Support from all the big dogs, a few cats and a chicken.

more talking all that jazz, more high aiming music by fumio itabashi: mule musiq is ready to release another record by the legendary japanese jazz pianist, born in ashikaga, tochigi in the year 1949.
this time his first solo record ever: the heavy jazzing 'nature', which has never been reissued on vinyl since its birth in 1979. it has been recorded at nippon columbia 1st studio, tokyo from march 13 to 15 in the year of its release.
it features itabashi making feverish love with the piano and sharing the studio with the great bass players hideaki mochizuki and koichi yamazaki, drummers kenichi kameyama and ryojiro furusawa, soprano saxophonist yoshio otomo and vibraphone wizard hiroshi hatsuyama.
they all joined him to perform his very own songs, composed by itabashi himself and produced by ryonosuke honmura, who also produced japanese jazz heroes like saxophonist keizo inoue during his career.
but enough background information. what counts is sound. it is fresh, propulsive, twitchy and melodi-ous from the first to the last tone. sometimes the instrumentalists play a classic solo in an overall deep modal jazz atmosphere that seems to be made for cats that love the good old stars and inventors - from john coltrane to mile davis, from thelonious monk to art blakey.
'nature' also shows how deep itabashi studied the history of the genre, while keeping his very own vision of jazz alive. the man that made his professional debut as a member of the sadao watanabe quintet in 1971 and that also was a member of the elvin jones jazz machine world tour from 1985 to 1987, plays the piano in all tempos: nervous high-flying quick, deeply blue blues style slow.
besides the traditional jazz flavours, you get a feeling of mind-expanding spiritual jazz, that grand mas-ters like pharaoh sanders or gary bartz turned into a sacred music genre. a master-class record in ravishing big city jazz music, adventurous, sometimes meditative, sometimes faster than the speed of light, always grooving with a bright, pure-toned sensibility and deeply soulful melodic imaginations.
it extends the jazz history with a fine balance between tradition and innovation. and it stays infectious all the time while sounding surprisingly fresh due to a lot of thrilling musical spontaneity that touches profoundly even though all notes have been written down by fumio itabashi before he and his combat-ants entered the studio.
and maybe that's the mystery of these timeless five at times epic recordings: all notes been written on paper but each musician had the freedom to dance with them in his very own unique way. so, turn the volume loud and get ready to be steamrolled by fumio itabashi's 'nature', an inebriant album that is talking all that jazz deeply!

It's just over 3 years since we launched the Africa Seven label in Paris and London. Our first release back then (Airways One) is still our best seller and had to be repressed 4 times so far. Forty or so releases later it is time to take to the clouds again. Being the unimaginative bunch we are, the fourth installment of our African sky filled musical cornucopia is called African Airways Four (Disco Funk Touchdown - 1976 - 1983). This time around all tunes have the Disco flavour. As ever it's all about the music... the skies are wide and funky and the air is filled with musical goodness. Your flight is about to leave.

Your flight opens with a punchy disco funk assault from Paris based Cameroonian Tala AM. Here with his drive bass and guitar funk riff 1981 stomper "Get Up Tchmassi". Next up and staying with the Cameroonian connection is Eko with "Bowaa Mba Ngebe". The lyrics talk of accomplishing the things in life for your family and yourself. The sweeping strings and gloriously uplifting music matching the sentiments of the words perfectly. Uta Bella began singing in the 60's and by the time disco hit in the 70's she was already established a singer in her native Cameroon, here the locked on groove of "Nassa Nassa" is a perfect snapshot of the sound and the African disco times.

Charly Kingson (cousin of Manu Dibango) is next with his "Nimele Bolo". Recorded in Germany with the cream of Munich's session musicians the bass synth is out in force on this one. Punchy brass, rock solid grooves and jazzy Rhodes add all the right ingredients for a fine disco synth excursion. Next is the musical heavyweight from Cameroon cousin Manu with his 1978 Disco, jazz funk masterpiece "Sun Explosion".

Side two opens with a blast of Elvis Kemayo and his piano and guitar funk bomb "Biram". Next Momo Joseph gives us "Africain". Best known in France as an actor, this disco funk groover was released on his self pressed LP "War For Ground" in 1983. A true gem indeed. Nigerian, ex Funkees member Jake Sollo is next with "Tinni Yanana". Recorded in the UK in 83 its slick and smooth with a hint of "at the car wash" groove. Pierre Didy Tchakounte follows on with his soul funk 'golden years' style groover "Soul Magabe". Produced by one of our favourite Parisian producers Slim Pezin. We close off our journey with the tribal chant disco-funk special from the Monstars "Funny Saga".

Ladies and Gentleman, we have landed at your destination, please remain seated until the aircraft has reached the terminal. We look forward to welcoming you aboard Africa Airways again soon.

the third and final part of the jacob f. desvarieux anthology on endless flight brings two more hot productions of the fabled french zouk veteran with roots in guadeloupe.
the tune 'rifyx' is taken from desvarieux's 1985 album 'oh madiana' and delivers arresting jazz-funk and zouk-suspense enlarged with touching horns, synth-enthusiasm and longing female vocals.
the second song comes from the paris based, west cameroon born singer tala, produced by desvarieux for tala's album 'mother africa' in 1982. also here desvarieux tuned the synthesizers odd and edgy to let them dance with an afro styled rhythm.
above all tala sings sexy with a chorus of girls while percussions go crazy and the sounds of horns are longing for the sky.
on top of everything endless flight asked again the japanese producer kuniyuik to edit a desvarieux track. he chose 'rifyx' and tuned it into an epic soulful eight minutes long dream house
anthem that funks all dancers crazy. hotter than hot stuff here!

2023 Back in stock!


Multi - instrumentalist with rare elegance, FKJ unveils its first album French Kiwi Juice, and invites us in his world.

Tribute to his idols, affirmation of musical maturity, FKJ goes from Jazz to Soul, with his electronic touch that makes his paw incomparable.

A warm, reassuring and sensual universe.

His children’s questions (Why are there boundaries), his joys (Blessed & Joy), his journeys (Go Back Home & Canggu), the Franco-New Zealander delivers himself in an intimate and profound album, with music as an universal language.

An opus to advise to enthusiasts, travelers, dreamers...

Before Bob Marley came on the scene, many in Britain dismissed reggae as either the stuff of one-hit wonders or skinhead
dance music. Now it is recognised as influential style, which has not only sold millions of records worldwide but had a major effect on the mainstream. But only a few of his fans realise the man's recording career was as lengthy as it was: though he died aged just 36 in 1981, he'd been active in the studio since 1962 onwards.Despite some of the tracks featured here would be re-recorded on later albums, these 'prototypes' exhibit a rough-hewn, soulful feeling. We all knew his music was timeless, this was but further proof.

As the first output of our new label we present you RTGD001: the Won't Cry' EP by Matteo Luis & Lo, both part of the fam & currently finishing the last touches of their upcoming debut album. The young cologne natives offer a warming and moony/dreamy/atmospheric work from their archives to start the labels catalogue as smooth as possible. Alongside Matteo's deeply driven signature sound, Lo's lyrics will lead you into a dreamy state with blue pills in backstreets and babies and pigs in the sky. The original was reworked trice by amongst others, friends of the emerging label as well as long time role models of the label heads Marlon Hofffstadt and Goldberg. The former delivers a drifty and impulsive close to the floor interpretation of Won't Cry, whilst buddy Johnjons remix gleams through percussive sequence sounds and a further deep touch. Besides these two auspicious interpretations, no other than Running Back boss Gerd Janson and fellow Philipp Lauer are highlighting their perspective on the title track in appearance of their renowned and outstanding supergroup Tuff City Kids. The duos' outcome is an ingeniously constructed rework of Matteo Luis and Lo's original that never fails to raise euphoria throughout the whole track. Each copy is fully printed with an artwork of Berlin based surrealist Hermann Reimer.

Kavinsky is back with a first and long-awaited album, OutRun, available on February 25th. But before that, here is the first single, ProtoVision!

Red Sky Mix feat. STS (vinyl exclusive)
It was no easy job to tackle this epic instrumental. When he heard Sugar Tongue Slim's version of Nightcall last summer, Kavinsky knew he had found the man who could turn Protovision into gold. After burning up the underground rap scene for several years, STS is now one of the fastest rising artists around. He gave a big blow with this one and literally took Protovision to another dimension.

Boys Noize remix
Berlin's notorious producer put his hands on Protovision and turned it in into a nervous and elegant club hit. Get ready to rave on that sweaty bass and dark beat. 'If it's too loud, you're too old', they said

Blood Orange remix
Between producing tomorrow's pop talents (Solange, Sky Ferreira, Theophilus London) and working on his solo project Blood Orange, England's talent of note Devonté Hynes took the time to add his very own touch to Kavinsky's new release. Giving a fresh and girly feel to the original track, he delightfully transformed it into a groovy pop ballad.

Sébastien Tellier Version (vinyl exclusive)
Taste and simplicity is what it took to Tellier to create this version of Protovision ; highlighting hypnotic strings and heroic guitars, the French maestro offered a timeless reinterpetation of the original.