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Following the reissue last year of Fairuz's classic 1979 album "Wahdon", Wewantsounds pursue their exploration of great Lebanese music with the reissue of Fairuz's highly sought-after LP "Maarifti Feek," released in 1987. Recorded in Beirut around 1983-84, the album features the Diva's superb voice combined with Ziad Rahbani's jazz and funk orchestration, making it one of the most in-demand albums on the Arabic funk scene. The release will coincide with "Arab Divas," a major exhibition set in the prestigious Institut du Monde Arabe (IMA) in Paris, celebrating the greatest singers from the Arab World and starting 13 May 2020. One of the greatest singers of the Middle East, Fairuz started her career in Lebanon in the 50s and quickly established herself as the most renowned Diva in the Arabic world, playing the most prestigious venues in the world. At the end of the 70s, Fairuz was at a turning point both professionally and personally. Her Husband Assi Rahbani, who, with his brother Elias, had penned her biggest successes, has suffered a stroke a few years earlier. This setback ultimately led to both the demise of their marriage and the end of their professionnal partnership. Enters Ziad Rahbani, Fairuz and Assi's son, a young musician, playwright and producer who had cut his teeth writing a handful of Fairuz's song - including her 1973 hit "Sa'alouni El Nas" - at just seventeen. Ziad Rahbani swiftly took over from his father and uncle as the singer's musical director and composer and this fruitful association, which started in 1979 with the album "Wahdon," broke many new grounds for Fairuz with funkier rhythms and edgier lyrics. It was recorded at the same time as Rahbani's own 12 inch "Abu Ali" which became a sought-after disco classic in its own right. The association between the two continued with a second album, "Maarifti Feek" ("Our Encounter"), recorded between 1983 and 84 in Beirut but only released in 1987. The album was another groundbreaking mix of influences ranging from the traditional arrangements of "Oudak Rannan" and "Ma Kdirt Nseet" to the brazilan flavour of "Version 1" via the synth funk of "Ouverture 83" and its follow up "Reprise 83". Also featured on the album is a beautiful remake of Joaquin Rodrigo's "Concerto de Aranjuez" in the form of a tribute to the lebanese capital, "Li Beirut." This blend of Oriental grooves with jazz and funk orchestrations by Ziad Rahbani is a unique document of Fairuz's career development in the 80s and explains why "Maarifti Feek" is such a sought after album on the DJ and collector circuits which Wewantsounds is delighted to reissue for the first time since the album first came out.

Sasu Ripatti's complete "Dancefloor Classics" series. Music for imaginary dancefloors, released on Ripatti's own label Rajaton.

”Look up, into the light” she said, while the camera shutter clicked. ”Like this? Does it look holy?” His neck felt stiff. Her reply: ”Yes, just like that. What do you mean holy? Like religious? ”No, more like trying to look very far, somewhere beyond what we can see.” ”Okay, stand still, I’m going to come close to you now. The light hits your face great.” click, click, click.
He noticed her fingernails. They were not polished. Natural. Even somewhat rugged, as if something wore out the fingers slightly. What had these hands held besides the camera? What made the edges of her fingernails drift off?
He thought it’s weird to look straight into the camera. The photographer had closed her left eye, the one not looking into the lens. Then it opened, she looked up, perusing the surroundings, then she closed her eye again, then looked up, closed, looking up, very quickly. It all seemed very professional. Maybe she calculated the light, making sure it’s close to perfect. ”What will these photos look like?” – the thought popped into his head briefly. It was liberating to think it wouldn’t matter.
”What’s that song playing?” he asked. ”Wait a sec, Ol’ Dirty Bastard?” she replied. ”Oh yeah, right. But the sample?” ”Hey, could you look up again, like that. No, lower.”
New directions: ”Look out from the window, turn left.” ”My left or yours?” ”Yours, I always try to think from the direction of my model.” How professional! This is a good shoot, so natural. Should I worry about how the photos look like? No, I don’t want to. His thoughts bounced around. What would the story be like? It’s a big newspaper, everyone will read it. Maybe someone drinks coffee and eats a stroopwafel while they do it. Will they place the waffle on top of the mug for a brief while, so that it gets hot and the syrup melts a little? Then it feels wet, and you can bend the cookie.
She broke his train of thought off midway through: ”Now turn right, but look left, and slightly up, but don’t turn your face right.” ”Umm, like this? Sounds like a set of pilates instructions.” she laughed ”You do pilates?” ”Yeah, it’s hard sometimes. Have you tried?” ”No”, she said. ”I’m not good for sports that are done in groups.” ”Yeah, but in pilates you can just be inside your mind, drowning in your private thoughts.”
”What are you thinking in pilates?” she asked, taking more photos. ”Well, mostly just which way is right. And which left.” click, click.

Q&A with Sasu Ripatti:

1) Tell us something about the EP series ”Dancefloor Classics”, what’s the idea and what can we expect?

I’ve been slowly writing these sort of dance music pieces and finally curated them together for a conceptual release. I like to create music for a dancefloor that exists only in my imagination and doesn’t try to suck up to the standardized reality.

2) Your vinyl format is 10” which is quite special (as opposed to LP / 12”). Why did you choose it?

It’s my favourite format, absolutely. The size is perfect, and you can make it sound really good @ 45 rpm. And you still can make great artwork.

3) You seem interested in sampling/repurposing, what does it mean to you as an artist to approach something already existing from a new angle? How does the source material inform you about the approach to take?

I guess i could flip it around and just say I’ve outgrown synths or electronic sounds to a great extend, and having gotten rid off all my synths already good while ago I’ve used samples as my main source material a lot. It’s obvious on this series that i’ve sampled existing music, but I also sample instruments and things in the studio and resample my own library that I have built over the years, it’s quite large. To me the end result matters, not so much how I get there. Once I have something on my keyboard and play around, it’s all an instrument, though with sampling other music it becomes a really interesting and complex one as you’re possibly playing rhythm, but also harmonic content and maybe hooks or whatever, all at once.
I never sample premeditadedly, like listening to records and looking for that mindblowing 3 sec part. I just throw the cards in the air and see what lands where, just full intuition and hopefully zero mind involved, playing tons of stuff, trying things, just recording hours of stuff. Then comes the interesting part to listen to hours of mostly crazy stuff and finding that mindblowing 3 sec part.

4) What is your relationship with the dancefloor (conceptually and/or in experiences / as a performer)?

Very complicated. I have never really felt comfortable on a dancefloor but have always wanted to. There’s something in club music, in theory, that really speaks to me. It has never really materialized for me – speaking mainly from a performer’s point of view who goes to check on a dancefloor for a moment after a concert. I never have DJ’d or felt much interest towards it. But again, I love the idea and concept of DJing. As well as producing music for imaginary DJs. Lately, as in the past 10+ years, I haven’t even performed in any sort of club spaces. So my relationship to the dancefloor is quite removed and reduced, but there’s quite a bit of passion and interest left.

All tracks composed and produced by Sasu Ripatti.
Artwork & photography by Marc Hohmann.
Mastering by Stephan Mathieu for Schwebung Mastering.
Vinyl cut by SST Brueggemann.
Publishing by WARP Music Ltd.

Impossible to find in the wild, KPM's Image is exactly that; this record paints extraordinary, hyper-vivid scenes with music, in the way only the library greats can. Originally released in 1974, Image is an absolutely stunning listen from start to finish, and arguably the most wanted KPM grail that's still not been reissued - until now! Just too good…

Worth the price of admission alone, and likely the reason you're all already drooling about this release, the mellow, dramatic beat of "Image", Brian Bennett's opener and title track, is a Jaylib-sampled firecracker. A reflective, scenic underscore which grows to full orchestra and ends as it begins - it's just beautiful. Next up, swoon to "The Little Orphan" by Neil Richardson featuring strings and harp. It's a deeply emotive, sweeping orchestral piece. Just straight gorgeous. It's followed by "Paradise Island", a lush, horizontal Balearic gem courtesy of Gordon Rees and David Gold; it'll send you into a blissful reverie with its elegant strings and gentle drums. From the same pair, "Forbidden Fruit" is, again, string-drenched but the strings are more insistent, stabbing even, and, with drums and Blaxploitation guitars high up in the mix, it's definitely a funkier proposition. "The Enchantress", again a Rees-Gold special, is a slower, groovy, synthy wonder. Closing out the A-Side, "Phenomena" is a mysterious gem, a Gold solo effort set at a breezier tempo with propulsive percussion and head nod, fast-paced breaks with ace keys.

Flip over for "Infinite Expanse", John Scott's dramatic panorama adorned with proud, triumphant horns. Scott's "Static Objects" paints patient, pastoral scenes; there's a serenity and stillness to the proceedings. Next up, Be With favourite John Fiddy delivers shifting shapes and patterns with his wonderful "Metamorphosis", all wah wah, harps, dramatic percussion and strings. It's by turns billowy and blasting. "Cubist Pictures" follows, Neil Richardson's brilliant nebulous, fragmentary piece. Better yet, Richardson's gorgeous, beatless "Analysis" follows, and it's an orchestral beauty featuring cello, harps and woodwind. It's no exaggeration to describe this as transcendental. His "Crystal Ball" presents more static scenes with cello, twinkling percussion and strings, before Steve Gray's fantastically-titled softly-ace "Gliding Through Clouds" closes out this remarkable set.

As with all of our KPM re-issues, the audio for Image comes from the original analogue tapes and has been remastered for vinyl by Be With regular Simon Francis. And as usual, the sleeve reproduction duties were handed over to Richard Robinson, the current custodian of KPM’s brand identity.

Good things take time. What’s 17 years? Not even a quarter of Keith Richards! 17 years lay between Heiko Voss’ debut album “Call Me Killer” and the incredible follow-up “3:30 Minutes To Live”, which saw the light of day in 2022 on Michael Mayer’s “other label” IMARA. There are serious voices saying that the 80s were only really complete with the release of this album. Now it took the blink of an eye of a year for the remixes to be finished. And they turned out so well that Michael Mayer from KOMPAKT licensed the “3 Remixes for Heiko Voss” without further ado.

Running back guru GERD JANSON was an early adopter of the album. Highly motivated, he twirls “Follow Your Line” rhythmically somehow in the direction of Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill”. How did he do that? Never mind. It grooves like crazy and keeps even larger floors moving.

ADA, the Hamburg grand dame of techno pop, has taken on the in tongue speaking funk banger “Talking Man” and dipped it in fairy dust. The result is probably the most sensational, soulful club track ever. Honestly.

The package is rounded off with a powerful Dub Version of “Follow Your Line” by the IMARA and KOMPAKT boss himself. Because he can do it.

Open your heart, let the remixes in.

Gut Ding will Weile haben. Was sind schon 17 Jahre? Nicht mal ein Viertel Keith Richards! 17 Jahre lagen zwischen Heiko Voss’ Debutalbum “Call Me Killer” und dem unglaublichen Nachfolger “3:30 Minutes To Live”, der 2022 auf Michael Mayers “anderem Label” IMARA das Licht derWelt erblickte. Es gibt ernstzunehmende Stimmen, die besagen, dass die 80er Jahre eigentlich erst mit der Veröffentlichung dieses Albums vollendet waren. Nun hat es einen kurzen Wimpernschlag von einem Jahr gedauert, bis die Remixe fertig waren. Und die sind so gut geworden, dass Michael Mayer von KOMPAKT die “3 Remixe für Heiko Voss” kurzerhand lizenziert hat.

Ein “early adopter” des Albums war Running Back Obermotz GERD JANSON. Top motiviert zwirbelt er “Follow Your Line” rhythmisch irgendwie in Richtung Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill”. Wie hat er das nur gemacht? Egal. Es groovt wie Bolle und hält auch größere Floors in Bewegung.

ADA, die Hamburger Grand Dame des Techno Pop hat sich des in Zungen sprechenden Funk Kloppers “Talking Man” angenommen und ihn ordentlich in Feenstaub getunkt. Dabei entstand der wohl sensationellste, soulfulste Club Track ever. Ehrlich.

Abgerundet wird das Paket mit einer kräftigen Dub Version von “Follow Your Line” vom IMARA bzw. KOMPAKT Boss selbst. Weil er’s kann.

Herzklappen auf, Remixe rein.

The Vampisoul chicas are back. And for the third time. And, although collectors and connoisseurs have never stopped playing the songs by these Spanish female singers, here they are again, sounding as vibrant as they did half a century ago. Because these children of their times, the musical decades of the 60s and 70s covered by this compilation, boldly ventured into the limited spaces of freedom open to female artists back then. And they did so with attitude, in search of the right repertoire, proudly presenting new, daring personal projects often breaking away from the demure tone adopted by mainstream local female singers. And they were canny about it too. Realizing that the censors working back would just listen to the song that the record company flagged up as the listening target on the A side and not bother to flip the single over, they recorded many of their racier songs on the B side. That exciting dark side of singles, which have long tempted collectors. Lacking the freedom and visibility enjoyed today, these daring records by these female singers went as far as they could and a few managed to go beyond. The songs on this compilation tell everyday stories, narrating small socio-musical conquests revolving round the enduring theme of young love. Sass, sex, boy-girl rivalry, the defense of liberating women's fashion and, saying what women think loud and clear, all characterize these grooves. Performed in a variety of musical styles ranging from ye-yé, twist, disco, beat, popcorn, flamenco pop to Northern Soul, and, even more surprisingly, sung in an everyday, natural and self-assured tone that must have ruffled some feathers. As in previous volumes of "¡Chicas!", this third compilation includes female singers from outside Spain but whose career, their decision to sing in Spanish or their long tours and local stays, and occasionally permanent residence, meant their albums were created, recorded or produced here in Spain. It's a winning proposition for everyone. Take the band Los Bravos, four of the singers that passed through the ranks of this quintessentially Spanish group were foreigners. It's part of our open-door policy. Spain is different. In every sense. But let's get down to the serious stuff and the ritual: vinyl on the turntable and needle poised ready to play. Third volume of Vampis' ¡Chicas! series, an irresistible collection of ye-yé, twist, disco, beat, popcorn, flamenco pop and even Northern Soul! From the early 60s and in the middle of a difficult political and social context, Spanish female singers - and those who moved to Spain - disregarded conventions and overcame all barriers to be part of a music movement that shook the Spanish society of the period. Many of the 24 tracks are reissued for the first time, including very hard-to-find records. It includes extensive notes by Vicente Fabuel featuring all the original record sleeves and artist photos.

Immerse yourself in the musical universe of ONE PIECE MOVIES - BEST SELECTION! Enjoy over 70 minutes of music from the One Piece films for the first time on vinyl, taking you on a journey through the adventures of the famous Straw Hat crew.

Fully licensed.

Luffy, a mischievous boy, dreams of becoming the king of the pirates by finding the "One Piece", a fabulous and mysterious treasure. But, inadvertently, Luffy one day swallowed a "magical devil fruit" that turned him into a rubber man. Since then, he is able to contort his elastic body in all directions, but he has lost the ability to swim, the height for a pirate! Over the course of ever more incredible adventures and chance encounters, Luffy will gradually compose his crew and multiply friendships with the peoples he discovers, while facing formidable enemies.

Kohei Tanaka worked on the composition and arrangement of this album.

When it comes to wild men of rock, they didn’t come any wilder than Newcastle’s Animals and their larger-than-life frontman Eric Burdon. His distinctive rasp was instrumental in taking the group to the top of the transatlantic charts; 1964’s ‘House Of The Rising Sun’ . followed by ‘I’m Crying’, and covers of Nina Simone’s ‘Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood’, Sam Cooke’s ‘Bring It On Home To Me’, and Mann & Weil’s ‘We Gotta Get Out Of This Place’.

Despite splitting from his four bandmates in late 1966 and relocating to the USA, Eric retained the group name and put together a different line-up. These New Animals, turned in some searing Acid-Rock in the shape of ‘Spill The Wine’ and ‘San Franciscan Nights’, the latter a paean to Burdon’s adopted home that made the Top Ten Charts on both sides of the Atlantic.

- New repress Edition - Pressed on Metallic Silver Wax - LP housed in an expanded gatefold jacket - Includes lyric insert and repro archival newspaper fold-out // Reissue of the pioneering group's debut album First Issue. In 1976 Johnny Rotten and the Sex Pistols set the agenda for punk's year zero with 'Anarchy In The UK', a song that summed up the spirit, sound and attitude of the band in one shocking package. Two years later, the Sex Pistols were in tatters, but Rotten was as unsentimental as you'd hope. He reverted to his real name - John Lydon - and set about forming a band whose very identity kicked against press and media manipulation. Featuring bassist Jah Wobble, drummer Jim Walker and guitarist Keith Levene, his new group were Public Image Limited. The public image would be limited. PiL were a very distinct prospect from the Pistols, founded with a greater thought for rhythm, and with a sound that turned the page from snarling punk to a more experimental sound fusing rock, dance, folk, ballet, pop and dub. But that's not to say Lydon's new outfit lacked vitriol. 'Public Image' hits out against the notorious British tabloid press, who never gave Lydon an easy ride, and against his own Sex Pistols public image - "You only saw me for the clothes I wore". The debut single (and the album that followed) operated as a theme song and a manifesto: "_my entrance/My own creation/My grand finale/My goodbye," as the lyrics had it. It is, essentially, the sound of four people letting loose in a studio - and not caring what anyone else thought.

Recorded in an abandoned water tank in rural northwest Colorado and inspired by Muriel Rukeyser’s circa-1935 poem of the same name, violinist Leslee Smucker explores the range and saturation of intense natural reverb on Breathing Landscape. The artist pushes her instrument to the limit –by turns percussive, sweeping, and scraping– and, on several tracks, utilizes her own voice as well, resulting in an album that combines breathtaking beauty and visceral texture. Leaning into the meditative quality being present in one moment can provide, this is music you can feel on your skin, calling out from our decomposing modernity into the indifferent sky above. Conjuring deep time but captured in one day, the album is simultaneously immediate and vaporous, primeval-sounding yet unapologetically modern. When you travel out of the mountains down into the rangelands of what we know today as western Colorado, the horizon opens up to reveal an ancient and scarred land. Cell phone coverage is spotty at best and towns are sparse. Time escapes our efforts to contain it and is instead etched into the hot, dry canyons. Approaching The Tank, outside the settlement of Rangely, oil pumps work ceaselessly on the other side of the gravel road, extracting a grim future. Inside The Tank it is 20 degrees warmer than outside, a zone of strange harmonics, exchanges of sound and stillness, and explorations of landscapes both exterior and interior. In what she describes as a "sauna of sound", Smucker "was transported by the reverberation to another realm. Birds and trucks passed outside, while the wind was an integral part to the sound making

To coincide with The Courettes' first US tour, Damaged Goods put out this special compilation album. Boom! Dynamite includes singles, deep cuts from their studio albums, with B-sides and rarities thrown in for good measure! First pressing on orange vinyl is limited to 1000 copies only! The Courettes are two souls in love with each other and in love with rock 'n' roll. They've been touring nonstop throughout Europe since 2015, bringing their "perfect blend of garage rock, '60s Girl Group, Wall of Sound, surf music and doo wop" to the delight of any audience even remotely interested in rock 'n' roll. Expect excitement, danger, sweat, explosive performances, and most importantly, GREAT tunes! The "hardest working band in showbiz" now venture further away - After visiting the Land of the Rising Sun in 2022, The Courettes are thrilled to tour the USA for the first time in 2023. Described as "The Ronettes meet The Ramones at a wild party at Gold Star Studios echo chamber", The Courettes have released four fantastic albums on the legendary label Damaged Goods Records, each one praised by magazines such as MOJO and Shindig!, most notably the Back In Mono album in 2021, a true milestone in their career. This new compilation, Boom! Dynamite, released exclusively for the US market, guides you through their albums from the very beginning, from the early raw power garage rock onto their present Spector/Levine Wall of Sound Gold Star sound, made using complex recording techniques at StarrSound Studios in Denmark with top producer Soren Christensen and mixing genius Seiki Sato from Japan. Featuring Brazilian Flavia Couri on guitars and vocals, and Danish Martin Couri on drums, The Courettes were born international. For them there are no nations or borders. Their mission is to connect, cherish, and inspire rock 'n' roll souls around the world, including now, in the USA. The Courettes are pure dynamite! Turn up the volume and fuzz out! BOOM!

Story Of Collapsed Dimention unfold in 4 tracks multi-genres musical accompaniment and 12 frame comics, as artwork. The EP symbolizes a journey of personal transformation, the courage to confront the unknown and fight against circumstances and suffering. In order to become something new, we need to give up what we are now.

The tracks span across various styles, including funky house with a live-band feel, featuring infectious rhythms and vibrant instrumentation. There is a breakbeat track infused with a groovy bassline seized from NBA Live 95 on Sega Genesis, accompanied by turntablism hard drops and scratchy sounds that add an edgy and gritty vibe.

B-side explores psychedelic frequency modulations of polyharmonic intertwined with jungle-oriented breaks, creating a mesmerizing fusion of intricate melodies and rhythmic complexity. Finally, the EP concludes with an electro banger that has been accidentally reinvented with its captivating energy and a profound message.

Overall, the EP showcases a diverse and dynamic musical journey through these genres, offering a rich and immersive listening experience or valuable universal DJ-tool.

The artwork features hand-drawn comics by the talented artist Larisa Shalyapina, script and production by CDA.

The unique texture, blurriness, and overall quality of the illustration are meticulously preserved through a process of manual assembly and duplication, resulting in a visually captivating and tactile experience.

Used gear: Roland MC-808, Roland MC-505, Moog Subphatty, Waldorf Wave XT, MAM33, Volca FM, Volca Bass, Tascam Midistudio 644, Jomox t-resonator II, Boss Digital Delay, Teletron SAQ-206B Amp, KME Sound GBA 80 Bassbox, Culture vulture distortion, Distress compressors. DAW Ableton.

conceptualization:

Tracks are written during frequent relocations, capturing experienced moments and raw emotions. As the physical changes in our living environment are comparable to the collisions and evolving paths within the domain of knowledge reflected in the trials of spiritual awakening.

In Berlin, a city of expats, it has a special relevance to people who came here to find themselves. It also resonates with those who have been brought here by circumstances.

Record id released with all Ukrainian brothers and sisters in heart.

While we find comfort in our safe spaces, it is inevitable that some stress will eventually provoke us to take action. We may long for that period of comfort and feel a sense of anger or sadness for what once was. Once the truth is revealed, much like the unveiling of light, there is no turning back — a path to enlightenment shall be accepted.

Within the EP, each track serves as a chapter for this path.

A1

First track encapsulates escapism by chasing a feel-good sense in the run from responsibilities into fantasy-land. In the moment of careless life in careless time, where the future is sacrificed in the name of immediate pleasure.

A2

Robotboy incorporates a superficial state of mind with a reactive personality rooted in a narcissistic ego, dishonestly denying the righteous path. Subconscious struggle from hedonistic lifestyle with no relief.

B1

A deeply intimate and personal, embodied introspective sentiment kept hidden from the world, revealing when we’re alone and usually stifled with distraction and entertainment. Nostalgic feeling of loss follows us during the abandonment of a beloved place. Overwhelming weight of regret in presents.

B2

Taking action of the first step makes us unstoppable and disclosure of knowledge leads to destruction of the illusory world. Finding out the truth, same as seeing the light, excludes the retreat into darkness. As comprehension is the way to enlightenment.

"This is an album to treasure - it'll surprise you at every turn" Joel McIver (Record
Collector) One of the most influential bands to emerge from the UK's festival
scene, the Ozrics layer ambient & ethereal landscapes with freeform dub trips,
incredible rave grooves & psychedelic progressive rock. It's an open exploration
of music & the soul. For over 30 years, the Ozrics have experienced the
vicissitudes of the rock & roll life. The band has flourished through a number of
line- up changes, spawned several side projects, created their own record label,
scored a hit record & sold over a million albums world-wide. And yet, the basic
motivation behind the band's existence has never wavered.Their signature blend
of hippy aesthetics & raver electronics with spiraling guitars, textured waves of
keyboard & midi samplers & super- groovy bass & drum rhythms continue to
delight fans across the world to this day.Originally released in September 1999,
'Waterfall Cities' was a giant leap forward for the band, taking a more obvious
step into electronica, whilst still managing to retain their unique sound. An
explosion of keyboards, acid squelches & blistering guitar passages, the musical
& technical brilliance of the Ozrics comes to the fore in strange & unexpected
ways on this album.'Waterfall Cities' - Remastered by Ed Wynne & available on
Double LP via Kscope.

An autumnal treasure, East Village’s Drop Out has spent the past thirty years finding new ears to bewitch and new hearts to melt. The only album from this British four-piece, recorded and released in the early nineties, it’s long been considered one of the hidden jewels of its time, and is talked of with hushed reverence by people who know. Bob Stanley of Saint Etienne once called it “an elegy for a particular brand of eighties guitar music, sweet minor chords and Dylanesque lyrics”, which captures what makes it so special; in summarising its era, though, it also effortlessly transcends it.

Like all great guitar gangs, East Village fell together as a four-piece; having relocated from High Wycombe to London in mid ‘80s, brothers Martin and Paul Kelly on bass and guitar, set on forming a group together, were joined by John Wood (guitar) and Spencer Smith (drums). Wood and the Kellys shared writing and vocal duties; it was an ideal combination, and one of the many charms of East Village is their various song writing voices, a tip of the hat, seemingly, to the 60s folk-rock groups who influenced them.

Originally influenced by garage-rock and freakbeat, the band eventually came through via the same scene as groups like Felt, The Go-Betweens, The Weather Prophets, and Primal Scream. They’d formed as Episode Four, releasing an EP, Strike Up Matches, in 1986, which has gone on to become one of most sought after releases of the C86 era. Their first two singles as East Village, ‘Cubans In The Bluefields’ (1987) and ‘Back Between Places’ (1988), were released on Jeff Barrett’s Sub Aqua label.

When it came time to record Drop Out, East Village found a supporter in Bob Stanley, who bankrolled the album sessions until Barrett re-signed the band to his new imprint Heavenly Recordings in 1990. The album that took shape is dusky, heartfelt, lamplit, full of chiming minor chords, close harmonies, rattling organs, all buoyed by a rhythm section that moves as one, steady and elegant. There’s melancholy here, certainly, on songs like ‘What Kind Of Friend Is This’, but also pleasure and freedom, on ‘When I Wake Tomorrow’ and ‘Silver Train’. The group were obsessed with Dylan’s Eat The Document at the time, and the album’s rich with references to the film; Drop Out’s character is also somehow close to the thin wild mercury sound of Blonde On Blonde, and the lambent light of the Byrds’ Notorious Byrd Brothers.

In one of life’s gentler surprises, ‘Silver Train’ became an unexpected radio hit in Australia when released there as a single in 1993. The story of East Village seems marked by such unexpected turns and surprising events. None was more surprising for their fans at the time, though, than their onstage split in 1991, leaving an unreleased album in the can. Encouraged by Jeff Barrett the band revisited the tapes two years on and while mixing the album for its posthumous release in 1993 invited Debsey Wykes (Dolly Mixture, Coming Up Roses, Saint Etienne, Birdie) to sing the quietly devastating album closer, “Everybody Knows”, a perfect, sad-eyed sign-off.

Listening now to Drop Out, its timelessness is clear. It could have been recorded by young folk-pop hopefuls in the late sixties, taking their shot at the big time; but it could just as easily have been recorded yesterday, by a group that’s both reverent to music’s past, but forward looking in spirit and temperament. It’s that kind of album. Drop Out’s pop poetry is fully formed, with a singular charm that takes in wistfulness, romance, and good times, and a clutch of deeply moving songs that are overflowing with melody and gracefulness. It’s pretty much everything you’d want from a guitar pop record.

It's also an album that’s slowly accrued its own legend. From its stunning cover art, photographed by Juergen Teller originally for a Katherine Hammett campaign, to the ten perfectly formed songs within, Drop Out’s significance in the scheme of things is such that, a decade ago, it was given a rare 10/10 rating in Uncut magazine, who called the album “the lost classic of its era”. Drop Out comes round every decade or so, each edition introducing new fans to its understated beauty, and this latest reissue is its most elegant and deluxe yet.

The 30th anniversary edition of Drop Out lands in two formats: an LP with tip-on style jacket and four-page insert, designed to partner with the 2019 vinyl reissue of their singles and rarities compilation, Hot Rod Hotel; and a double CD, featuring an extra disc compiling the group’s early singles and alternative versions. This CD edition previously has only been available in Japan, though it now features a new, superior mix of their second single, ‘Back Between Places’. Both feature new, typically eloquent liner notes from writer Jon Savage.

The members of East Village have all gone on to do inspired things: Martin Kelly joined Jeff Barrett at Heavenly and has managed label mainstays Saint Etienne since 1993; Paul Kelly formed Birdie with Debsey Wykes, and is now a renowned film director and graphic designer; both Paul and Spencer Smith played in Saint Etienne’s live band; John Wood moved to China to teach, and released a lovely, understated folk album, Quiet Storm, in Japan in 2006. But with the hazy perfection of Drop Out, they’ve all already etched their names in the firmament.

In the 1970s, Robert Cahen turned to the burgeoning field of video art, where he became a pioneering artist. He was originally trained in musique concrète, his creative background, and joined the Groupe de Recherches Musicales in 1972. The pieces on this record were composed in the GRM studios between 1971 and 1974. They testify to a lively inspiration and imagination combined with a precocious formal mastery that already carries the seeds of later developments, which the artist cleverly and inventively deployed in the field of visual arts. (François Bonnet, Paris, 2022)

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«La nef des fous» (1974), 12’00

There are pieces of music whose title is obviously a mere label given afterwards to a finished product. And others, on the contrary, which develop in spiral around a bundle of images and impressions condensed into a few words. This is the case indeed with La nef des fous. However, this work by Robert Cahen oddly wraps itself around its title, with bends, breaks, and an impetus driven further every time to close a new circle, for such is the very essence of the spiral. This, at least, is the way I perceive the form of the work, with its theme-chorus which, in part one, both ponctuates and disrupts the emerging musical curve in various ways and at irregular intervals, as well as its broader and more open second part, which closes with a recollection of the beginning of the work. The challenge of a musical form justified by the topic it illustrates, right down to its gaps, its wanderings and its twists, and which would confer upon it the necessity of a profound logic, that of insanity, is the challenge attempted by Robert Cahen. In such a genre as tape music, so careful with respect to form, one can appreciate its audacity. La nef des fous, or Unity through heterogeneity, or Each to their own madness, but all in the same boat. This means that if we can listen to each of these sound characters, “broken chants”, which create the work for themselves, through the singularity of their delirium, we can also, from one to the other, trace the continuous chanting of a music that is inherently and spontaneously poetic, a music that carries “the unconscious under its skin” (Christiane Sacco). (Michel Chion, January 1976)

«Masques 2» (1973), 08’34

Concert version (for tape only) of an audiovisual work entitled Masques, in which the faces of old dolls and «masks», filmed during the Basel Carnival, were projected in 16mm. Masques 2 is a metaphorical version of Masques in which music is featured in its arcane musicality.
Through its concrete and suggestive music Masques 2 aims to bring to light hidden memories, buried within us, thus enabling an awakening, the resurgence of events from our own history. (R. C.)

«Plurielles» (1971), 08’35

Premiered at the Paris Biennale, 24 September 1971. Suite based on the score of a TV film directed by Sophie Talmon.

«Persona» (1971), 08’34

Premiered at the Paris Biennale, 24 September 1971.

«Passé composé» (1971), 05’29

Der 1997 erschienene Hip-Hop-Klassiker von Busta Rhymes, der Ende letzten Jahres sein 25-jähriges Jubiläum feierte, wird noch in diesem Jahr im Rahmen der Warner HIP-HOP AT FIFTY Feier veröffentlicht.

Das mit Platin ausgezeichnete Album enthält die kolossalen Hits "Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Can See" und "Dangerous", sowie Fan-Favoriten wie "Rhymes Galore" und "Turn It Up". Das Album erscheint in einer limitierten Silber-Vinyl-Doppel-LP und ist mit Sicherheit eine tolle Ergänzung für die Sammlung eines jeden Hip-Hop-Heads.

Analogue Productions (Atlantic 75 Series)
Celebrating the 75th Anniversary of Atlantic Records!
Hello, I Must Be Going! — Phil Collins' second solo studio album
Featuring "You Can't Hurry Love" and "I Cannot Believe It's True"
180-gram 45 RPM double LP release
Mastered by Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering and cut to lacquer from a 1/4" EQ'd Dolby tape copy of the original master tape
Pressed at Quality Record Pressings and RTI
Tip-on old style gatefold double pocket jackets with film lamination by Stoughton Printing



On his first solo album, 1981's Face Value, Genesis drummer-singer Phil Collins showed that he wasn't about to be left behind in the mire of classical-rock sludge. That LP boasted shorter songs and demonstrated that Collins had a true pop sensibility. Hello, I Must Be Going! continues that trend, with some familiar patterns emerging, wrote Rolling Stone's John Milward.

"First, there are the dramatic rock dirges that use drums as a lead instrument; 'I Don't Care Anymore,' with Collins' one-man band playing alongside Daryl Stuermer's atmospheric guitars, wins in this category. Then there are the buttery ballads, of which "Don't Let Him Steal Your Heart Away" is the best by virtue of a Beatles-like melody that buoys Collins' anonymously sweet voice. Both of these styles were already Genesis staples; it was Collins' uptempo soul tunes on Face Value and Genesis' Abacab that surprised old fans and found new ones. 'I Cannot Believe It's True,' with Earth, Wind and Fire's Phoenix Horns casting out clean lines, clobbers the other soul contenders on Hello, I Must Be Going!, especially his remake of the Supremes' 'You Can't Hurry Love.' Collins took the golden-oldie route on that song and the result isn't soulful, it's superfluous. Despite its trend-bucking boast of an 8-track recording, the album's rich luster is of the old classical-rock school. In fact, the LP sounds like stripped-down Genesis, ornamental but not too ostentatious. — John Milward, Rolling Stone (3 Stars)."

This Analogue Productions (Atlantic Series) reissue of Hello, I Must Be Going! has the essential elements that make it a standout for your collection. First, we turned to Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering to cut lacquers from a 1/4" EQ'd Dolby tape copy of the original master. Pressing on 180-gram vinyl is by Quality Record Pressings and RTI, and the album is housed in tip-on old style gatefold double pocket jackets with film lamination by Stoughton Printing.

Hello, I Must Be Going! was a triple-platinum-selling hit in the U.S. for Collins in the 1980s and it stayed on the U.K. album charts for more than a year, peaking at No. 2. For the fans it is a drummer's album, a record that expresses rage and desperation as well as loneliness and longing. Not an album for every day, but one that really speaks to you when you need it, wrote Martin Klinkhardt, in a review for genesis

The official new edition from this rare and great Afrobeat & Soukous masterpiece from Nigeria !

"Vibro Success Intercontinental Orchestra was an extraordinary group from the Central African Republic, founded by the sax player Rodolphe 'Beckers' Bekpa, also known as Master Békers, in the late 60's. The band achieved surprising domestic success after Beckers introduced the first drums to the Congolese Rumba rhythm. His innovation proved to be wildly popular so they were hired as the resident band of “ciel d’Afrique au Km5”, a night club in Bangui. The club was renowned as the temple of the Olympic Réal football team's fans and that visibility propelled them into becoming the official national orchestra.

1970 marked beginning of the band's international fame . Their fame spread beyond national borders until they became so popular that invitations began to arrive from nearby countries like Cameroon and Chad, the former of which the band would then tour that same year. The success of their performances prompted a further tour in 1972. According to Rodolphe Bépka, the audience enthusiasm Vibro encountered was bewildering. "We filled the old military stadium in Yaoundé in 1970, in 1972 the new Amadou Haïdjo stadium ... We are running with great success in the cities.” Their popularity was also growing in Chad, where they would tour several times through the early and mid 70's.

Towards the end of 1976, Vibro Success decided to take their music global and introduce Central African music to listeners worldwide. It worked. The turning point came in Nigeria. There the group achieved extraordinary success, with live performances followed by contracts with local labels like Scottie and Ben/Clover resulting in hit releases. Most of their LP's were originally released on this later label, Ben Limited, owned by Ben Okonkwo.

Ben, also known as Clover Sounds, brought a great number of the biggest bands from the country to market, bands like The Apostles, Akwassa,The Doves, Aktion, The Visitors, Mansion, Folk 77 and many others. Nearly all those groups started their recording careers in the label's studios based in the commercial heart of Aba, Abia State, one of Southeastern Nigeria’s largest cities. Aba at that time was a flourishing city, an important crossroads of people and culture with an intensive and active and cutting edge live music and nightlife.

But after that golden era the group began to lose its popularity. In the 1980's they returned to Bangui and resumed their old-time gigs in dance halls there - only to realize that their music didn't have the appeal it used to. Making matters worse, the domestic economic downturn accelerated, forcing the orchestra to slowly end its activities . Vibro Succès Intercontinental Orchestra disappeared at the end of the 80s and most of its members died in the 90s.

We discovered this LP during our first trip to Nigeria in 2016. While traveling in the east to meet up with a musician, we stopped for a night in a village. As often happens in Nigeria, information has a way of traveling fast. The news that a couple of white guys looking for records had arrived in the village the day before spread like light. When we awoke, we found a couple of elderly music lovers in the hall of our hotel with a little pile of records for sale. The nice cover of the “Drunkard” album was right on top!

At first we thought it was just another really good soukous album made by Vibro Success but after we heard “Drunkard” - we knew we had stumbled onto something very special. That was the “easy” part. Soon after, we had the idea of reissuing this LP and that was a bit harder. There were no credits on the cover and not much information about Vibro Succès. We started to ask to our friends to ask around, see if somebody knew them or the producer. That's when sadly we discovered that Ben Okonkwo had passed. So with no leads to follow and seemingly without any possibility of making progress on the matter, we "gave up" and returned to Italy.

A couple years later, in the summer of 2019, we found ourselves again in Aba. This time we had the chance to meet Nnamdi Okonkwo, the eldest son of the late Ben Okonkwo. After Nnamdi's mother and family agreed, he was glad to cooperate with us for the re-release of this special album."

Repress!

For those who know, Bambooman is one of the most sought-after, probing, and distinctive voices in UK electronic music right now.

The Yorkshire-born producer's catalogue builds into an aural mosaic, comprising everything from scrunched up hip-hop to techno deviance, all delivered with an impish sense of individuality.
'Whispers' certainly resonates. It's a lengthy, bucolic work, an album of great breadth but also one of sustained mood – think those hazy summer evenings when shadows stretch out across the road, and autumn lingers around the corner.

This new album has a dusty, organic, and decidedly personal feel, much more at home with Jon Hassel's 'fourth world' aesthetic than the club.

The results are also imbued with an incredible sense of mystery, with Bambooman's productions frequently being shot through with a hallucinatory sense of the uncanny. Entirely self-composed, 'Whispers' utilises "lots of field recordings that I've collected over the last few years, while within the tracks you can find lots of the instruments, percussion, bells and whistles that have been gathered throughout my life."

In certain ways 'Whispers' is entirely autobiographical: Bambooman reaches back to his varied alter egos, to the ambient releases, art commissions, and soundtrack projects that litter his discography. The cover art was even pieced together by Oliver Pitt – of Glasgow group Golden Teacher – who was an early ally in the producer's sonic quest.

Stylistically 'Whispers' veers from avant hip-hop of Flying Lotus to the theoried composition of Terry Riley, from the future-forward percussive energy of Battles to the ever-evolving electronics of Mark Pritchard. It's a record marks by a fiercely independent spirit, but also by a close-knit cast of collaborators.

King Kashmere takes a starring turn, following the pair's collision on the recent 'SUPERGOD' EP.

Each vocal is recorded, chopped up and then spliced across the album, with Elsa Hewitt also making a number of appearances and re-appearances.
credits

#40 ON ROLLING STONE'S 500 GREATEST ALBUMS OF ALL TIME: ANTICIPATES LATE 1960S TURBULENCE VIA PROPHETIC SONGS AND DARK THEMES
1/4" / 15 IPS analogue master to DSD 256 to analogue console to lathe



Any discussion about the finest psychedelic rock record ever recorded is incomplete if it doesn't grant consideration to Love's Forever Changes. Ranked by Rolling Stone as the 40th greatest album ever made, and named by Mojo the second-greatest psychedelic set in history, the effort is an internationally recognized seminal work of art. Transcending language and convention, its magnitude and magnificence need to be heard again and again. For here is an effort whose mind-boggling acoustic complexities and kaleidoscopic nuances are tailored for high-fidelity playback.

Nearly unlimited headroom, vast instrumental separation, transparent clarity, artifact-free atmospherics, and faithful balances appear out of jet-black backgrounds. Turn it up as loud as you want; the sole limitation will be your system's potential.

Commercially ignored upon release in November 1967, Forever Changes confronts the alienation, paranoia, violence, and strife that would soon plague the countercultural movement and send the Summer of Love into a tailspin. Apart from its lyrical themes and prescient malaise, the record's enduring nature equally owes to intertwined arrangements sewn together with Latin guitar-picked lines, finessed folk harmonies, mariachi-inspired horn charts, and subdued strings.

The seemingly opposing combination – ominous, dark reflections situated amidst lush, light melodic beds – affords Forever Changes a distinguished tension of claustrophobia and openness, dourness and ecstasy, ugliness and elegance enjoyed by no other record in the rock canon. Much of the contrast owes to leader Arthur Lee's mental state and pertinent observations. Lee, whose suppressed romanticism often surfaces even amidst the blackest shadows and most cynical moments, believed he would soon die, and hence channeled everything from lasting hopes to acid-addled decay to the chilling testimony of a Vietnam veteran in his narratives.

Alternatively sad and beautiful, the album-opening and flamenco-inspired "Alone Again Or" establishes the mood for what follows. Vocals overlap and soar; tempos rise and fall; surrealism trades places with reality.Forever Changes thrives both because of and in spite of a surfeit of labyrinthine chords and difficult notes that never repeat. Its ambitious construction almost forced the already fractured band to cede responsibilities to session musicians, which appear on two tracks. The quintet's resolve to not only complete the album, but to do so with such poignancy and curiosity, further enhances Forever Changes' standing.

No wonder that, in the twilight of his troubled career, Lee performed the record in its entirely during concerts met with overwhelming critical acclaim. It was, and will always be, a personal manifesto of timeless relevance and appeal.

Telephone Explosion proudly presents the self-titled debut LP from Toronto’s UH HUH, out physically and digitally on April 14, 2023. The album features eight tracks of dub-damaged art rock which conjure a potent vision of spaced-out 1980s post-punks feeding their angular rhythms and bass-heavy grooves through layer upon layer of grime-spattered spring reverb.

There is a palpable sense of discovery and exploration throughout UH HUH’s 37 heady minutes. Elastic basslines and serpentine guitar phrases throb and glide, cutting through dubwise reverberations like hands moving through an opaque cloud of reefer smoke.

Formerly known as Teenanger, the reconfigured (and reinvigorated) group’s newfound sense of sonic identity is put on display the moment the door kicks open. The percolating spaciousness of opener “Somewhere Beyond” is followed by the cyclical grooves of “Redemption Pause.” Vocalists Christopher Swimmings and Melissa Ball each take respective turns at lead vocal duties, showcasing their contrasting yet complimentary styles.

“Babylon”, a slab of overcast, loping funk features both singers on the same track, alternating between Swimmings’ stoned syncopation and Ball’s saccharine melancholy. This juxtaposition leans against a backdrop of reverb-soaked drums, watery guitar chords and rippling trumpet.

The slinking, fractured grooves of “Rain (In The Afternoon)” and “Citrus Song” call to mind the deranged minimal dub-wave of Naffi or Vivien Goldman. Both songs feature lyrical content heavily inspired by the Florida swamplands, although the aural landscape on these tracks is decidedly more brutalist than Boca Raton. Two of the songs included here are reworkings of previously released Teenanger numbers. “Blinds Drawn” is reduced to its core elements of bottom-heavy rhythm, spliced guitar shanks and Swimmings’ murmured ruminations. “Good, You”, on the other hand, is completely re-imagined as a blissed-out melt of opiated bossa nova.

After countless hours of experimentation during the album’s recording sessions at Toronto’s Studio Z, the band decided to send their drum machines, snare drums and percussion through an obscure 1960’s Japanese Guyatone guitar amp with a notoriously ecstatic spring reverb sound. The result was immediately inspiring.

The dank, busted and clanking tones produced by the Guyatone evoke a muggy, humid atmosphere that mimics the photo on UH HUH’s cover. The process of re-amping is literally the means through which UH HUH found the sound of this record. UH HUH is a record that asks more questions than it does provide answers. This is searching music that requires that the listener lean into it, the more time you spend in between the beats, bars, notes contained within, the more vivid the picture becomes.

Gonzalez Smith's debut album: "Roll Up A Song" is an album of classic popular songs with music by Jay Gonzalez and lyrics by Pete Smith. Best known as the guitarist/keyboardist for rockers Drive-By Truckers, Jay's musical tastes range from 'baroque' to 'A.M. Gold' and 'power' pop. His collaborations include local pop legends The Possibilities, power pop stalwart Scott McCaughey (The Young Fresh Fellows), and performances with Chris Stamey of The dB's and Bill Berry of R.E.M. Pete Smith, acclaimed lyricist, made waves with his contributions to the legendary jazz composer Gary McFarland's album "Butterscotch Rum". His journey led him to comedy writing for Adult Swim's animated shows. Classic pop composer Brent Cash's exceptional string arrangements elevate the album's depth and emotion, enriching Gonzalez and Smith's melodies and lyrics. Jay Gonzalez and Pete Smith are like a modern day Bacharach/David, if Burt spent his nights tearing it up with one of the best live rock bands in America, and Hal was a writer for Space Ghost Coast to Coast and The Brak Show. Their debut album as Gonzalez Smith, "Roll Up a Song," is a seamless fusion of power pop, piano ballads, bossa nova, and pure spun sugar confection. Jay brings the same multi-instrumental compositional skills found on his first three solo albums, and Pete pens lyrics by turns honest, romantic, arch and comedic, sometimes in the same verse. The results are so stellar, it's a shock to find out that the Drive-By Truckers guitarist/keyboardist and the Adult Swim comedy scribe haven't been writing together for decades. Arriving in December 2023, via Bobo Integral Records, "Roll Up A Song" transcends eras and genres. It's a harmonious journey, uniting melodies and lyrics into a timeless masterpiece. Get set to roll up the music, immersing in captivating soundscapes.

A real soul gem from 1970 on the James Brown affiliated Deluxe label, the first and only album by this mysterious singer: Marie Queenie Lyons.
It is perhaps apropos that Queenie Marie Lyons’s best known song is titled ‘See And Don’t See.’ For all the acclaim that song has accrued, and all the times it has been compiled, reissued and, yes, bootlegged — for all the times it has been seen — Queenie herself has somehow remained unseen. How did a singer from Ashtabula, Ohio record one of the great female-led soul albums and then simply fall off the map, never to record or perform again? Queenie was a natural performer and a gifted singer. At the age of fifteen, she was doing three shows a week at a local venue. In early 1962, Queenie moved to Queens and was soon playing gigs across the city — an early engagement was with Gene Krupa at the famous Metropole Café in Times Square — as well as touring with established acts like Fats Domino and Ray Charles. The following year, Queenie made her debut recording, for a subsidiary of RCA called Groove, credited to an entirely fictitious “Shelley Shoop and the Shakers.” It remained Queenie’s only presence on wax until early 1968, when a Nashville-based label called Sims gave her her first accurately attributed single, “A Minute Of His Goodtime / Good Soul Lovin’.” Although the 45 is now a highly collectible part of the Northern Soul and Lowrider Oldies pantheons, it made no impact at the time, as Sims was focused on more typical Nashville sounds. A few months later Queenie was back in New York City, performing R&B and pop covers with her band when a man passed her his business card at a performance. The card read James Brown Enterprises. James Brown “was my idol,” she says, and someone whose business acumen and stage presence she strove to emulate. Although Queenie ended up on tour with James Brown for only a month or so, when the group reached Cincinnati in mid-’68 she entered the King Records studio there to record what would become the
album you hold in your hands. The songs were a combination of covers, some of which she’d been doing in her live shows, like ‘Fever’ and ‘Try Me,’ and originals written by producer Henry Glover and pianist Don Pullen, who was the bandleader on the session. The album opener, ‘See And Don’t See,’ was also recorded by the veteran R&B singer Maxine Brown, but Queenie’s version blows hers away. “Soul Fever” is a supremely funky and soulful affair, with Queenie’s powerful and captivating voice magnetically attractive, with an urgency that is impossible to ignore. ‘Your Thing Ain’t No Good Without My Thing,’ ‘Your Key Don’t Fit It Anymore,’ and ‘I Don’t Want Nobody To Have It But You’ are as funky and soulful as the best of Tina Turner and Aretha — a statement not to be made lightly!
The album was critically acclaimed — the October 10, 1970, issue of Billboard listed it as their sole “four star” pick in the Soul category — but perhaps due to the tumult at Starday-King, whose stewardship had turned over several times in only a few years, it never seemed to be able to break through to a larger audience.

Repress of Hey Colossus' twelfth studio album from 2019 on a limited coloured edition to mark the bands 20th anniversary. This edition is on transparent lime w/ marbles smoke effect and limited to 200 copies. Genre: Alternative / Noise Rock Hey Colossus are one of Europe's great live bands. Since 2003 the 6-piece has been driving around the continent with their "pirate ship" backline of broken amps and triple-guitar drang, elevating audiences in every type of venue imaginable; a doctor's waiting room in Salford, an industrial unit in Liege and a vast field next to a river in Portugal. Four Bibles is their twelfth studio album and the first to be released by London label Alter. Recorded by Ben Turner at Space Wolf Studios in Somerset, it's their most direct album yet and follows a well-documented trajectory of evolution that began (in the truest sense) with 2011's RRR for Riot Season and continued across three albums for Rocket Recordings. Lead vocalist Paul Sykes sounds more in focus than before, dialling down the effects and using reverb / delay to carry his lyrics rather than smother. The band has also fine-tuned to leave some room for extra depth. Piano, electronics and violin (by Daniel O'Sullivan of This is not This Heat / Grumbling Fur) all find a way in amongst a familiar mesh of interlacing guitars, wrapped round a taut rhythm section. Like every other Hey Colossus record before, the line-up has altered and the sounds reflect this. From the weight of "Memory Gore", to the subtlety and swag of "It's a Low", via the sonic extremes of "Palm Hex/Arndale Chins" this is exactly as the band are live; raging & rail-roading but somehow in control. Grooves for those who want to dance or for those who want to hug a wall and nod...bleak dystopian imagery submerged in relentless rhythms and low-end rattle. The songs breath life and soul - Hey Colossus have never sounded fresher or more on point.

Van Halen did more than announce to the world the earthshaking arrival of a revolutionary guitarist. Performed by an enterprising California quartet that took its name from two of its principal members, the 1978 debut ripped headlines away from punk, injected fresh energy into a then-moribund rock 'n' roll scene, reimagined how heavy music and throwback pop could coexist, and invited everyone to experience the top-down pleasures of a beach-front Saturday night every day of the week no matter where they lived. Painstakingly restored by Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab, and the first of a multi-album series in an exciting partnership between the famous reissue label and Van Halen, Van Halen delivers feel-good thrills and hormonally charged desires like never before.

Limited to 12,000 numbered copies, pressed on dead-quiet MoFi SuperVinyl at RTI, and mastered from the original analogue master tapes, Mobile Fidelity's ultra-hi-fi UltraDisc One-Step 180g 45RPM 2LP collector's edition pays tribute to the record's merit and allows fans to experience Van Halen's original blend of raw power, Hollywood flair, and vaudeville fun for generations to come. Playing with reference-setting sonics that elevate a 10-times-platinum landmark whose importance cannot be quantitatively measured, this definitive version provides a clear, clean, transparent, balanced, and turn-the-volume-up-to-11 view of an album that birthed entirely new styles. Since MoFi's unique SuperVinyl compound allows you to crank the decibels to your wildest desires without risking noise-floor interference, prepare to not only hear but feel Van Halen in your chest, no fifth-row concert seat necessary.

The premium packaging and gorgeous presentation of the UD1S Van Halen pressing befit its extremely select status. Housed in a deluxe box, it features special foil-stamped jackets and faithful-to-the-original graphics that illuminate the splendor of the recording. No expense has been spared. Aurally and visually, this UD1S reissue exists as a curatorial artefact meant to be preserved, touched, and examined. It is made for discerning listeners that prize sound quality and production, and who desire to fully immerse themselves in the art – and everything involved with the album, from the iconic cover art to the meticulous finishes and, yes, of course, Eddie Van Halen's pioneering fretwork and his brother Alex's double-bass percussion.

Indeed, could a piece of music that transformed how countless guitarists approached their instrument be more fittingly named than "Eruption"? Likely not, and in just 102 seconds, Eddie Van Halen rewrote, reimagined, and reconfigured a vocabulary last significantly updated a decade earlier by fellow six-string wizard Jimi Hendrix. Akin to the Washington State legend, Eddie Van Halen developed his own techniques and tones all the while making his seismic accomplishments seem effortless. Devoid of the pretence, ego, and showiness that infected many of his imitators, the Dutch native sticks to a straightforward approach that underlines the authority, prowess, and visionary scope of his playing and then-unheard-of finger-tapping skills. Throughout Van Halen, he establishes himself as an instant idol – a savant whose otherworldly combination of breadth, poise, feel, speed, force, and melody seems beamed in from another galaxy.

As does nearly every song on the record, whose cohesiveness and dynamic put into perspective the advanced chemistry and one-for-all spirit the youthful band had out of the gates. Having paid its dues for years in bars and clubs – going as far as recording a 24-track demo for Kiss bassist Gene Simmons at Village Recorders only to be spurned by management companies that felt its music wouldn't go anywhere – Van Halen finally got a deserved break when Warner Bros. executives signed the group in 1977. The subsequent recording sessions further testify on behalf of the band's synergy and alignment. Completed in just a few weeks with producer Ted Templeman, Van Halen was primarily cut live in the studio with minimal overdubs and edits. The explosiveness, energy, and electricity remain definitive, and as heard on this UD1S set, put the group on a private stage – humming amplifiers, Frankenstrat guitar, bright spotlights, sweaty headbands, and then some.

Van Halen yielded just one hit in the form of a Top 40 single (a breathless cover of the Kinks' "You Really Got Me") but practically every song on the revered LP has become a staple. Named the 202nd Greatest Album of All Time by Rolling Stone and considered by countless experts as one of the best debuts in history, the record displays what can happen with four distinct talents gel and strive for the same purposes. In Van Halen's case, the latter almost always involved partying, freedom, sex, and, in the immortal words of singer David Lee Roth, living "life like there's no tomorrow." The celebration manifests from the opening notes of the strutting "Runnin' with the Devil" – announced with the blare of droning car horns, Michael Anthony's robust bass line, and Alex Van Halen's thumping drumming – and continues through the conclusion of the white-hot "On Fire," goosed by Eddie Van Halen's race-track-ready lines, Roth's flamboyant deliveries, and the rhythm section's cat-like pounce.

Picking out individual highlights on Van Halen is akin to trying to count all the stars in a clear nighttime desert sky: There are far too many to identify, once you see one you notice another dozen you didn't spot before, and the cluster is best enjoyed as a whole. What's evident over repeat listens is the sheer diversity, a fact that's often overlooked: The high harmonies and background funk of "Jamie's Cryin'"; the insistent cane-and-a-tophat shuffle and doo-wop shoo-bop vocal break on "I'm the One"; the throwback acoustic blues that spreads into fast-paced, single-entendre wildfire on the Roth-led standout interpretation of John Brim's "Ice Cream Man." Like the man says, on Van Halen, all the flavours are guaranteed to satisfy.

More About Mobile Fidelity UltraDisc One-Step and Why It Is Superior


Instead of utilizing the industry-standard three-step lacquer process, Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab's new UltraDisc One-Step (UD1S) uses only one step, bypassing two processes of generational loss. While three-step processing is designed for optimum yield and efficiency, UD1S is created for the ultimate in sound quality. Just as Mobile Fidelity pioneered the UHQR (Ultra High-Quality Record) with JVC in the 1980s, UD1S again represents another state-of-the-art advance in the record-manufacturing process. MFSL engineers begin with the original master recordings, painstakingly transfer them to DSD 256, and meticulously cut a set of lacquers. These lacquers are used to create a very fragile, pristine UD1S stamper called a "convert." Delicate "converts" are then formed into the actual record stampers, producing a final product that literally and figuratively brings you closer to the music. By skipping the additional steps of pulling another positive and an additional negative, as done in the three-step process used in standard pressings, UD1S produces a final LP with the lowest noise floor possible today. The removal of the additional two steps of generational loss in the plating process reveals tremendous amounts of extra musical detail and dynamics, which are otherwise lost due to the standard copying process. Every conceivable aspect of vinyl production is optimized to produce the most perfect record album available today.

MoFi SuperVinyl


Developed by NEOTECH and RTI, MoFi SuperVinyl is the most exacting-to-specification vinyl compound ever devised. Analogue lovers have never seen (or heard) anything like it. Extraordinarily expensive and extremely painstaking to produce, the special proprietary compound addresses two specific areas of improvement: noise floor reduction and enhanced groove definition. The vinyl composition features a new carbonless dye (hold the disc up to the light and see) and produces the world's quietest surfaces. This high-definition formula also allows for the creation of cleaner grooves that are indistinguishable from the original lacquer. MoFi SuperVinyl provides the closest approximation of what the label's engineers hear in the mastering lab.

KID FRANCESCOLI, leader of the French Riviera Touch is back with the stellar album SUNSET BLUE out Sept 22nd 2023.

After a first sold-out world tour (over 200 concerts in Europe, USA, Asia...), and successful hits such as Nopalitos, Blow Up or Moon (now certified diamond, with more than 200 millions streams), the Marseille-based producer, crooner and multi-instrumentalist, Mathieu Hocine, is eager to share his most accomplished LP ever. This fine collection of soulful songs honor his Mediterranean roots, with elegant and pop melodies. His most recent success and the creation of his first original soundtrack with AZURO, installed him as one of the best French songwriters of his generation, with a unique signature sound.

"I live in Marseille, I spent my childhood in Corsica, I have Algerian origins, my first vacations with friends were in Barcelona, vacations with my first girlfriend in Roma,... Then, I had the chance to perform in Morocco, Greece, Turkey and Egypt: each time I spent time in the Mediterranean region, the people I met there made me feel like I was part of the same country. This shared multiculturalism is really comforting, it has its own poetry and strength, bringing uniqueness and empathy to the people. It is essential for me. I love my city: it’s the perfect place to feel good with sun, sea, family, friendships, love... It gets me emotional, bringing tears with a smile".

With his new musical gem, Mathieu Hocine unveils 11 elegant tunes of his finest craft: sunbathed French Touch (Run Run, 1986), romantic chillwave (Corsica), uplifting synthpop (You Are Everywhere, Like Magic), electronic-soul (Casino Soul), cinematic disco (Solaris), cosmic R&B (Sweet and Sour, Take Time), … Everything is in this record.

For the first time ever, Kid Francescoli paid tribute to his mixed origins with his collaboration with world-renowned lute and mandolin player Hakim Hamadouche (Rachid Taha, Patti Smith, Brian Eno, Tricky...), whom added Algerian patterns to the introspectives songs Drift in Blue and The Morning After.

"My ambition is to create pictures in people's heads with music, to transport them instantly into a movie"

SUNSET BLUE is an instant-crush album: crystal-clear, strong, personal but universal at the same time.

It's an ecstatic soundtrack for this moment when time is suspended, the golden hour when everything seems possible. It feels like Love is in the air, you're living your best life and you're at the right place at the right time. This album embodies this magic moment where we would like to last forever… Like an epiphany, Kid Francescoli's new album is a moment of pure pleasure, a soothing way to escape reality.

"I see myself as a melodist.I would like my music to feel like velvet. There's something cinematic, classy about it, and yet comforting. It's very simple, popular and synonym of love and passion"

His friend French 79 co-produced the album, while the american rapper Bamby H2O brought his NYC swag (on Sweet & Sour), Stan Neff (Polo & Pan, Kungs, Christine and the Queens...) took care of the mix and Alex Gopher (Daft Punk, The Blaze, Bon Entendeur...) added a final touch of magic when mastering. Nicolas Despis (known for his work with Etienne Daho, Hoshi, Juliette Armanet... and many famous French rappers) later joined this dream-team to craft custom-made artworks. SUNSET BLUE is a deeply personal quest, a human adventure for Mathieu Hocine (whom explores his maghrebian origins, his feminine side, his subconscious space, ...). It's a male's work, but don't get it wrong, this LP would be nothing without women’s touch : Julietta (on Run Run and Take Time), Sarah Gaugler from Turbo Goth (on You Are Everywhere and Like Magic), and iOni (on Drift in Blue).

“Music has this magical power to broaden your vision of the world. It's fascinating because, like dreams, it's the kind of irrational things science can't explain and that makes life exciting."

Planets aligned perfectly on this project and thanks to this five-star cast of collaborators, Kid Francescoli achieved his personal holy grail : he orchestrated a great 21st century pop-music album.SUNSET BLUE is a new turning point between organic and electronic, both a mediterranean travel and a Californian dream, a bridge between Ennio Morriconne and modern electronic music.

Also, while it might be called SUNSET BLUE in honor of the sea and the Portuguese / Brazilian concept called “saudade”, but it is a really optimistic album, whose true colors would rather be "yellow-orange-red" in nod to the sun.

Created in the midst of the world tour, SUNSET BLUE is a direct result of the lives’ energy and fans’ joyful vibes: going back in the studio after smiling, singing and dancing with people all around the world inevitably gave Kid Francescoli the desire to retranscribe this ecstatic feeling in music. This album is a sensitive experience, from sunrise to sunset, from first track to last one. It’s an exploration of an everlasting summer, reaching its climax in the very final seconds of the track Corsica, making us want to press play and dive into this jewel all over again.

A beautiful cosmic trip, whether you like to stay in bed cocooning, to travel far, far away or to dance ‘till dawn, to catch the first rays of light.

Make sure to catch Kid Francescoli on his next world tour to have a good time.

With its tenth record from Fortunato Durutti Marinetti, Quindi continues to celebrate songwriting and storytelling framed by curious musicality. In keeping with the label's trajectory to date, this is an album which draws on a universal human sentimentality and presents it with an uncommon flair. In the case of Toronto-based Daniel Colussi, the man behind Eight Waves In Search Of An Ocean, his melancholic poetry cuts through with a clarity which calls to mind all-time greats from Anette Peacock through to Lou Reed and Leonard Cohen.
Turin-born Colussi has drifted through various bands, guises and styles over the past 20 years, but since settling into Fortunato Durutti Marinetti as a vehicle for his songs, he's found a strong expressive impetus which transcends genre to become entirely hinged on the power of his words and melodies. The first album under this alias was a 2020 cassette album, Desire, later pressed on vinyl due to demand in tandem with the release of 2022's Memory's Fool. On each record, Colussi has found distinct arrangements of players to set the mood, ranging from gently lilting art and folk rock through to orchestrated balladry, but Eight Waves In Search Of An Ocean widens the palette of Fortunato Durutti Marinetti to create an album in which each song feels like a tale unto itself.
Colussi's renewed approach is instantly apparent as album opener 'Lightning On A Sunny Day' unfurls, informed greatly by producer Sandro Perri's input pursuing a hybrid electro-organic sound. The addition of drum machines and synths to the musical palette bring with them the strong connotations of pop while the sax and violin sounds similarly smooth and silky, and one can't help but think of John Martyn's slide into the digital sound of Sapphire or Kraftwerk's bittersweet synthetic tenderness.
Within this sound, there's still space for the energy to fluctuate according to the whims of songs. 'The Flowers' turns inward with a soft-touch composition as delicate as the petals Colussi describes falling to the floor. 'Misfit Streams' and first single 'Clerk Of Oblivion' savour the fluid, luxuriant tone of fretless bass with all the 80s connotations intact. Colussi remains the central focus whatever happens around him, in possession of the kind of unforced charisma which drives a song deep into the listener's heart. It's at once entirely his own style and yet comforting and familiar. The lyrics might sweep you into the singer's inner world, similarly to the experience listening to late 60s Tim Buckley, or you might well inhale the mellow jazziness of the harmonic movement like you would Joni Mitchell on Hejira.
The emotional direction of each track is never linear - 'Smash Your Head Against The Wall' snarls its rhythm section before the strings sow their aching beauty to cool the song's temper, winding up as a track of distinct halves jabbing at each other. "I Need You More' leaves space for spiralling flute solos and strangely stiff, militaristic drum rolls in the midst of a sweet, slightly sad synth ballad, the final wave receding back into the tidal undulations of Colussi's unique exploration of his muse.
The artist himself dubs his musical expression as "poetic jazz rock" with a sideways glance - it's not exactly poetry, far from trad jazz and it doesn't really rock, yet the tag feels uncannily like it fits, just like the curious music it's used to describe.

Sourced from the Original Master Tapes and Presented in Audiophile Sound for the First Time: Mobile Fidelity’s Numbered-Edition 180g SuperVinyl LP Plays with Riveting Detail
Three decades before he released The Philosophy of Modern Song — an insightful book devoted to 66 tunes that both impacted his career and the music world at large — Bob Dylan issued Good As I Been to You. The under-heralded 1992 album, Dylan’s first solo acoustic album in nearly 30 years and first all-covers effort in nearly 20 years, can be seen as a prophetic prelude to what has become the Nobel Laureate’s celebrated late-career arc. It’s also an absorbing continuation of the custom Dylan has embraced since he first picked up a guitar.


Sourced from the original master tapes, pressed at RTI, and housed in a Stoughton jacket, Mobile Fidelity's numbered-edition 180g SuperVinyl LP of Good As I Been to You reveals the immediacy, detail, and stripped-down nature of recording sessions that took place in Dylan’s garage studio in California. Simple, raw, and unplugged, the record presents Dylan in peak form — and showcases a diversity of vocal phrasing, soulful chording, harmonica accents, and close-up ambience that on this reissue emerge like never before. As the first-ever audiophile edition of this almost-lost classic, this LP also benefits from SuperVinyl’s extraordinary properties: a nearly inaudible noise floor, superb groove definition, and dead-quiet surfaces among them.

Recorded and mixed by Micajah Ryan, and supervised by Debbie Gold, Good As I Been to You took shape at Dylan’s home shortly after the singer-songwriter completed sessions in Chicago with a full band. Unaccompanied, he again gravitated to existing works — in this case, traditional folk music — and, with Gold serving as a trusted advisor, performed the songs in multiple keys and tempos until he arrived at what he desired. That careful, determined albeit loose, organic approach emanates from this reissue, on which each note, movement, and space come across more directly, fully, and immediately than on the original formats. It helps draw a through-line to Another Side of Bob Dylan (1964) as well as the similarly themed follow-up, World Gone Wrong (1993) and immersive old-world storytelling of Tempest (2012) and Rough and Rowdy Ways (2020).

Well before Dylan made those renowned 21st century LPs, however, he needed to find a way out of a funk that — save for his 1989 collaboration with Daniel Lanois, Oh Mercy — followed him for years. As author Clinton Heylin reported Dylan admitting in 1997: “My influences have not changed — and any time they have done, the music goes off to a wrong place. That’s why I recorded two LPs of old songs, so I could personally get back to the music that’s true for me.”

Truth: Few, if any, concepts better encapsulate Good As I Been to You. It resonates with the same originality, honesty, resolve, and age- and time-defying relevance as the seminal Anthology of American Folk Music that fired Dylan’s imagination as a kid in small-town Minnesota and, later, per Greil Marcus’ That Old Weird America book, informed Dylan and the Band’s Basement Tapes sessions. This record also contains the type of music Dylan was playing during his acoustic sets at his period Never Ending Tour shows; within a year of the record’s release, Dylan would play half the album’s songs live.

As for those songs: Rife with strange mystery, common circumstance, and epic adventure, the stories appeal to our base instincts. Their themes — jealousy, temptation, sacrifice, love, revenge, identity, opportunity — operate on a fundamentally human level immune to trends, generations, or eras. They’re ancient and modern, serious and comical, open and disguised, simple and multi-layered. They talk of vengeance and justice (“Frankie & Albert”; “Jim Jones”), romance and tenderness (“Tomorrow Night,” “Froggie Went a Courtin’”), the troubled and trouble-free (“Hard Times,” “Sittin’ on Top of the World”). They lend voice to lovers scorned and freed (“Blackjack Davey”), the used and users (“Diamond Joe”), the powerful and powerless (“Arthur McBride,” “Canadee-I-O”), the followed and followers (“Little Maggie”). And akin to much of Dylan’s finest output, things are not always what they appear to be.

Spanning country, folk, sea shanty, bluegrass, and blues motifs, Good As I Been to You re-confirms Dylan’s position as an elite interpreter and sculptor — not of just structure but emotion. Dylan delivers the tunes as if he’s known them forever. He plays with a subtle sense of mischievousness and retains a largely upbeat demeanour; his eyes seemingly twinkle as he sings and picks. His guitar serves as the guidepost for shuffles, boogies, ballads, and mess-arounds while his innate feel for each specific arrangement and melody helps inform pacing, tone, attack.

Like a great author, he understands the importance of adhering to concision, luring an audience, holding their attention, and maximizing the impact of details, actions, and unexpected turns. Though already coarse and ragged, his voice feels ideal for the subject matter and his phrasing — from the clever ways he stretches syllables to underline meanings on the surprise twists of “Canadee-I-O” to the sheer delight he gets from singing “rowdy-dow-dow” on the protest song “Arthur McBride” — outstanding.

Despite producing countless 7” scratch records and being the host of the DMC World Championships online Portablist battle since it’s inception, turns out that Woody’s been saying the word ‘portablism’ wrong the whole time! Referring to the genre as ‘Poor-tablism’. But let’s face it, if you choose ’scratch DJ’ as a career path, the odds are that it’s a pretty accurate description!

This record switches up the predictable format of the traditional 7” skip-proof’ scratch tool. Each track contains 1 scratch sound that repeats every rotation (making it fully skip-proof) with the other samples in the phrase repeated every 2 rotations (allowing for more variation in the samples). Side A is arranged at 100 bpm whilst Side B is arranged at 133 bpm, each side contains 6 different tracks and end with a full scratch sentence.

The record combines freshly dug and unused samples with original vocal recordings from UK rap legend MC Mercury of the group Gunshot alongside DC born MC and longtime collaborator BluRum 13.

‘The Poortablist’ is pressed on Gold vinyl with full colour picture sleeve illustrated by Woody himself.

• Produced by 2x World Champion DJ Woody

• 12 unique scratch phrases and full sentences

• Features original samples from MC Mercury and Blu Rum 13

• Perfect go-to record for any portablist jam or 7” DJ set.

• Artwork by DJ Woody

• Gold vinyl

To celebrate the 25th anniversary of LA the Darkman’s Heist of the Century LP, Coalmine Records has partnered up with the Brooklyn native for a special edition vinyl reissue, marking the first time that the record’s been repressed since its original release. This album is widely regarded as one of the strongest and most underrated releases from a Wu-Tang Clan affiliate, and it’s easy to understand why once you hear its dynamic 18 tracks. The Killer Bee embodies the raw spirit of the Wu while adding his own signature gritty flavor throughout Heist of the Century. He shines whether he’s spitting solo on standouts like “Shine,” “Street Life,” and the title track, and when he’s joined by rap heavyweights like Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Havoc, and Masta Killah. Rae actually delivers two show-stopping guest performances on”Az the World Turns” and “Spring Water.” The production lineup is just as serious, which boasts credits from the likes of RZA, DJ Muggs, Havoc, 4th Disciple, as well as Carlos “Six July” Broady who produced 10 tracks among others. Whether you were there day one, only started diving into the Wu’s vast discography recently, or somewhere in between, you’d be hard-pressed to find a better representation of their sound than Heist of the Century. “Heist of the Century undeniably continues in the vein of the surrealistic, orchestral sound that branded the Wu-Tang Clan as one of the most revolutionary hip-hop groups of the decade.” MTV.

For the better part of the last 15 years, the duo of Max Dameron (guit/vox) and Sam Ford (drums/vox) have been too weird and too wild for this lame-ass planet. After enjoying vagabond stints living in Portland, Los Angeles, and Brooklyn, they now call Detroit home. Here they rebuild, out of the scraps and wreckage of the 21st century, something which casts aside any rules or adherence to banal tropes. Specializing in the unexpected, Max and Sam have wrought an individual sound that’s as much post-Melvins sludge punk as it is futurist prog metal. Their forthcoming self-titled debut, recorded in 2022 at High-Bias in Detroit, puts on display the fruits of their metamorphosis. From the soaring triumphal fuzz of “Uncanny Valley” or the sweep and thrust of “House of Butterflies” their craft is precise, they’re just making up their own shapes to sculpt. Times change and artists mature: now under the name PSYCHIC TRASH, Ford and Dameron come to Riding Easy Records as veterans turning a fresh page, reinvigorated at the prospect of forging a new path and the beneficiaries of about a decade and a half’s slog through the underground. Psychic Trash’s self-titled debut is unmistakably uncompromising, a little theatrical, intermittently manic, and deceptively broad in style for just how much punk rests beneath.

Repress!

Clear Vinyl

Three songs taken from Chip Wickham's spiritual jazz album Blue to Red get reshaped by Photay, Medlar, and Chip Wickham himself. The result is a lush ep, every bit as good as the combination of a wonderful original track and an uber-talented remixer could be.

Photay has deconstructed the peaceful Blue to Red to turn it into a bomb—a storming dance track that keeps the spiritual vibe intact. The extra beatless version soothes your ear while creating a certain sense of anticipation.

The original version of Interstellar blends fusion jazz with the sound of West London's seminal broken beat scene. Medlar has plucked the track apart, then rebuilt it by adding some extra perc and synth sounds to the bass-driven beats. The result is some deep and heavy and funky business.

And finally, Chip recovered a take of wonderful astral slow jam The Cosmos that didn't make it onto the album, one with no drums, and cooked up a roomy cosmic dub, full-on Space Echo.

It will be out in a limited transparent vinyl 12"

"Detroit Stories" is the name of this cool social project happening in Motorcity, USA, aka Detroit. It's a rad way to capture and show off the history and present of the city and its peeps. They're doing it by interviewing OG residents and immigrants from way back, the ones who lived through all the ups and downs of the Motor City. You've got stories of good times, hard work, opportunities, but also struggles, violence, and social movements that shaped Detroit's rise and slow fall. This city's always had a lot to offer in terms of music, culture, and beyond.

And guess what? DJ and producer Luca Fronza gets in on the action, finding some of those interview podcasts. He's turning their stories, the vocals, and speeches into some killer beats, with the distinctive motorcity raw house touch that we absolutely love here at Flexi. And to top it off, you've got a remix by the master himself, Prins Thomas! It's gonna be lit!
All tracks (except B2) produced and composed by Luca Fronza Remix of “Gipsy” is by Prins Thomas

2023 Repress!
Since 2009’s critically acclaimed Machine Dreams they have not sat still, touring the globe and making some high profile friends along the way.
No one in their right mind would have expected the future of soul music to come from Gothenburg, Sweden. But there it is in the dreamy, rhythmical, shifting, moody rainbow creature that is Little Dragon. It is easy to see why some of the world’s top musical luminaries are falling over themselves to work with them. Stylishly seductive in their own right, their 2007 selftitled debut was filled with classy songwriting and cool production, with the stunning track ‘Twice’ getting played on Grey’s Anatomy and countless adverts since it’s release. Machine Dreams showed a bouncier side, as they flexed their dancing nous and came up with an album that would turn Prince’s head.
Damon Albarn invited them to collaborate on two tracks for last year’s Gorillaz record Plastic Beach, which became album highlights for the critics with Pitchfork describing the songs ‘Empire Ants’ and ‘To Binge’ as “two of the most arresting things here; they’re airy, elusive and amazingly beautiful”.
Little Dragon started 2011 with a headlining tour of the U.S. and a performance on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon in March, thanks to a recommendation from super-fan Questlove of The Roots. In May, the band appeared on the track ‘Just Don’t’ from Raphael Saadiq’s Stone Rollin’, a record some are already calling the album of the year. Then Big Boi and DJ Shadow called to invite the group to work on new music.

Red Vinyl

For the first time in their diverse second act, they allow themselves to be a rock band, freed of adornment and embellishment. As much as Carlson’s guitar has always been the focal point of EARTH’s music, it’s been surrounded by consistently diverse instrumentation. Here the dialog between Carlson and Davies drumming remains pivotal, underpinned by the sympathetic bass of Bill Herzog (Sunn O))), Joel RL Phelps, Jesse Sykes and the Sweet Hereafter) and thickened by additional layers of guitar from Brett Netson (Built To Spill, Caustic Resin) and Jodie Cox (Narrows). Perhaps the largest left turn on Primitive And Deadly, though, is the prominence of guest vocalists Mark Lanegan and Rabia Shaheen Qazi (Rose Windows) who transform the traditionally free ranging meditations of EARTH into something approaching traditional pop structures.
On “Rooks Across the Gates,” a song stylistically the closest to the folk inspired modality of Angels Of Darkness, Carlson stretches out into some of his most lyrical playing to date, creating an almost symbiotic relationship between his performance and the vocals of old friend Mark Lanegan. “From the Zodiacal Light,” meanwhile, takes the late 60s San Franciscan/freaked-out jazz-rock transcendence of The Bees Made Honey In The Lion’s Skull and quickly re-appropriates that sound into a musky torch song for the witching hour.
This contradictive tension between a band pushing itself ever-forward whilst surveying their history is reflected in the albums twin recording locales. The foundation of the record was laid in the mystic desert highlands of Joshua Tree, California where EARTH recorded hour after hour of meditations on each track's central theme at Rancho de la Luna. Upon returning to Seattle these were edited, arranged and expanded upon at Avast with the help of long-term collaborator Randall Dunn (who was previously at the helm for the Hex, The Bees Made Honey In The Lion's Skull and Hibernaculum sessions).

Double Vinyl : full set of the finale concert of their 1985 'Kick Over Apartheid!' tour + BBC broadcast tracks from their 1986 concert at the Town And Country Club. 2 x 140 grs Black LP , 25 tracks. Printed inners. introduction by Redskins founding member Martin Hewes + liner notes.

SHORT INFOS
In the mid '80s, in the midst and direct aftermath of the era defining Miner's Strike, the Redskins, as political activists, delivered their electrifying and radical Socialist Workers Party missives and broadsides through the ministry of their music - a unique post-punk rock/soul hybrid that gained their lead singer, Chris Dean, the sobriquet 'Tamla Motormouth'.

The Redskins were taking a stand for the working man and by standing up, they stood out - and never so forcefully as in the live arena! With their stellar musicianship and crack brass section honed through a never ending whorl of 'fighting fund' benefit gigs, they were the furious flames that kept the anti-Thatcher fires of dissent burning throughout those challenging years marked by her seeming unassailability.

'These Furious Flames!' is a 25 track documentation of the energy, commitment and drive of the Redskins as that campaigning live act. Issued in 2xCD capacity wallet, double vinyl and digital editions, each format couples together a recording of the full set of the finale concert of their 1985 'Kick Over Apartheid!' tour - including guest appearances from Jerry Dammers and Billy Bragg - with the BBC broadcast tracks from their 1986 concert at the Town And Country Club.

The double CD edition comes with a 40 page booklet that compiles new and period quotes by band members Martin Hewes, Chris Dean, Paul Hookham and Kevin Robertson as well as thoughts by an array of associates and celebrity fans including poet Atilla The Stockbroker, Billy Bragg, Colin Revolting, their studio album producers Pat Foley & Chris Silagyi and DJ Gary Crowley. The booklet also contains gig reviews, photographs and a condensed digest of media quotes about the band.

The double vinyl LP format has printed inner bags replete with evocative archive photographs and a written introduction by Redskins founding member Martin Hewes, with whose co-operation and input this celebratory release has been curated.

ARTIST OVERVIEW Mixing warm acoustic tones and strong vocals with heavy emo elements, the band launched several DIY tours, quickly developing a national presence. Signing with Boston indie Topshelf Records, they released their debut album, “The Earth Pushed Back" and in 2014, Have Mercy signed with vaunted indie Hopeless Records, which released their second LP, “A Place of Our Own”, later that year. Working with producers Paul Leavitt (All Time Low) and Brian McTernan (Thrice), Swindle and a rotating crew recorded the band’s Hopeless follow-up, “Make the Best of It”, which was released in early 2017. Have Mercy returned with “The Love Life” in 2019, which charted Swindle’s tumultuous personal life over the previous three years. The band came back in August 2022 with a self-tiled EP, released via Zodhiac Records, which caught the attention of Brooklyn Vegan, FLOOD Magazine, The Noise, and more. In september 2022 they shared an unreleased B-Side from their 2012 EP, My Oldest Friend, titled "Seventeen" via Rude Records. BAND MEMBERS Andrew Johnson // Guitar, Backing Vocals Brian Swindle // Lead Vocals, Guitar, Keyboard Nick Woolford // Bass, Backing Vocals TOURING HISTORY Since 2012, Have Mercy has toured both nationally and internationally with such acts as Taking Back Sunday, Motion City Soundtrack, Senses Fail, Mayday Parade, The Maine, The Wonder Years, Turnover, Real Friends and Neck Deep

Diffrent Music roars back into action after an extended hiatus to raise a couple of young giraffes with the electrifying new compilation, ‘Revolution Of The Giraffe’ LP.

Launched in 2010 with the aim of bringing something new to a drum & bass scene that had become overly formulaic, the label has continuously pushed in new directions, often incubated tomorrow’s stars, and evolved beyond even that original grand ideal. ‘Revolution Of The Giraffe’ unleashes 17 tracks of bleeding-edge electronic music, proving that after 13 years, Diffrent still sounds like nothing else.

Core artists from the label’s distinguished history bring their expertise, such as drum & bass mainstay Arkaik and sound architect Fearful, who team up with label boss Dexta for the MC GQ-sampling ‘Old Skool’ — a new track with a classic Diffrent sound. And there are numerous debuts: A.Fruit reworks an all-time Diffrent classic, ‘Boxgroove’ by Dexta & Hyroglifics, into a glitchy halftime stomper; none60 bosses Silent Dust turn Dexta’s ‘SE4’ into a rebellious dancefloor juggernaut; and the mysterious Gaunt’s ‘Firefloor’ becomes locked ‘n’ loaded rave artillery in the hands of Pepsi Slammer.

Label stalwart Mauoq puts his signature psychedelic future dub spin on ‘Departed’ by Cuelock, who in turn delivers the ice-cold, grime-indebted ‘Pages Of Snow’. Lakeway conjures the epic ‘Even Though’, nearly eight minutes of ecstatic, spell-binding, hyper-rave wonder. Dexta goes solo with squelchy techno jungle stormer ‘Giraffes On Acid’. Even Sense MC makes an… appearance.

New-gen Diffrent acts are in fine form too. The inimitable BrandNewTrumpets opens the album alongside Macc; ‘We Are The Tightrope Walkers’ is a powerful spoken word piece that erupts into a hail of punishing breaks. No Nation, Sheba Q and BK Balance, meanwhile, turn out explosive, hi-tek junglism on ‘Too Late’. From Diffrent’s industrial-toned sister label Are We Really Alone? (A.W.R.A.), Amir De Bois joins forces with Fearful for the paranoid, jittering ‘73’; Tokyo’s Itti summons thunderous bass on the ritualistic ‘Rumbling’; and Croatian artist Spaj.A.S.E.’s competition-winning, mind-mashing remix of the first ever Diffrent release, ‘Everyones Mad’ by Chills, finally sees the light of day.

Always looking to the future, Diffrent also welcomes modern jungle visionary Eusebeia, who puts his ethereal touch to Crypticz’s ‘Could Have Been’, and Stateside up-and-comers Illexandra & TGRbass, who deliver the supercharged, elastic bounce of ‘Swampy Swami’.
Closing out with one from deep within the vaults, ‘Aftaparty’ is Beezy and MNTX’s ode to seeing where the night takes you. It’s a fitting note to end on, as a new era of Diffrent Music begins. Where will it take you? Join us on the ride and find out.

"I've loved every moment of the label so far: the fast-paced release schedules, the slow years, the podcasts, albums, singles, EPs, parties, etc. This compilation album signposts where we are at — a bunch of classic Diffrent artists, a load of new faces, and a few remixes thrown in for good measure. Each tune stands alone, but stands tall next to each of its siblings. I hope you all enjoy it as much as we have! The revolution is here, join the revolution!"
- Dexta

Powerhouse R&B/Soul vocalist and Canadian Idol finalist. Gary Beals, is thrilled to be releasing his new album, The Melody Within. The Melody within is a musical journey that unfolds across two sides, much like a story that reveals new layers with each turn. The album is more than just a collection of songs; it's an emotional guide that beckons us to explore the depths of our own feelings and explores navigating emotions, self discovery, and nostalgia through soulful melodies. "This album serves as the aftermath to my previous album, "Bleed My Truth". It's a continuation of my musical journey, a fusion of soulful melodies and diverse influences that mirror both my personal and artistic evolution," said Gary Beals. "Each song is a chapter, a piece of my heart and soul, inviting listeners into my world of emotions, experiences and connection. It uncovers the melody that resides within. The anticipation is building as I look forward to sharing this collection of new music, and I hope it resonates deeply, offering a meaningful and memorable musical experience enriched with a multitude of emotions." With this new body of work, Gary had the opportunity to work with two talented primary producers,Beatchild (Drake, Justin Nozuka, Glen Lewis) and Myles "Losh'' Schwartz (Allan Rayman, Tobi, The Game, Pretty Lights). Additional production credits on the album include, Chris Guirguis, Frizzy Astro (Raz Fresco, Daniel Son), Jordan "Tempo" Farmer, Kobebeats (Rodwave, Kcamp, Sevyn),Sid Aakowa, Ty Danelley (Popcaan, Tory Lanez, Pressa) and Warren Williams, who all helped to shape the makings of the album while maintaining a consistent synergy. Side A of the album draws inspiration from the likes of Al Green, Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, Marvin Gaye, and James Brown, and pays homage to artists who have played an integral part in shaping Gary's musical roots. This side includes Gary's previously released singles, "Good People, Good Vibes" and "All of Me," and the album's title track "The Melody Within," that commends the process of self-discovery and introspection. Also included is the album's 5th single, "Self Revolution," which will be released on October 27th along with the official music video. On Side B, you'll encounter a fusion of R&B and pop elements while still staying true to the album's soulful essence. Included on this side, is Gary's third single "I Like That," featuring JRDN and KAYO ,and the new single "How Do I Say (I Love You)," released September 22nd. "How Do I Say (I Love You)" dives into the inner conflict of conveying affection, showing vulnerability, and the bravery needed to expose one's heart to someone else. About Gary Beals: Two decades ago, Gary embarked on his musical journey when he, a small-town kid from Nova Scotia (now calling Toronto home), made a remarkable entrance onto the national stage as a part of Canada's inaugural season of Canadian Idol. This month marks the 20th anniversary of the finale where Gary was crowned as the "runner up" on the show. The experience ignited a transformative period of self-reflection and discovery that propelled Gary toward personal growth, shaping his life and musical career in lasting ways.

Fast forward through three albums and twenty years, Gary's work and talent have made a remarkable impact and received widespread critical acclaim. Among his accomplishments are debuting in the top 10 of the Canadian sales chart, being nominated for a JUNO Award for "Best R&B/Soul Recording," winning an East Coast Music Award and seven African Nova Scotia Music Awards, as well as scoring nominations for an Urban Music Award and a Canadian Radio Music Award. These accomplishments led to his home province's Premier officially designating November 22nd as Gary Beals Day in acknowledgment of his achievements.

With his return, Gary is poised to make a positive impact on the ever-expanding global community as he prepares to release his new album The Melody Within. The album will stand as a tribute to the strength that resides within all of us and a reminder that true fulfillment comes not just from achieving goals, but from discovering the intricate beauty that lies within our own hearts and souls.

Craig Charles is a big supporter of Gary Beals and spun his single 'All Of Me' for three weeks in a row on his Funk and Soul Show on BBC Radio Six

Rekids welcomes HUD with the ‘Sugar’ single, remixed by Mark Broom and DJ Deep.

Unearthed by Radio Slave via a 2022 Ricardo Villalobos set, UK artist HUD lands on the celebrated Rekids imprint with ‘Sugar’, alongside remixes from scene legends Mark Broom and DJ Deep.

HUD’s ‘Sugar’ is a high-energy breakbeat track assured to set the dancefloor alight on every occasion, rife with lush piano melodies, a driving bassline and a cheeky, earworm vocal. Reimagining the track first is Rekids regular Mark Broom, infusing ‘Sugar’ with a dose of his mutated battle breaks, turning up the flange on the drums and amplifying its gorgeous piano top-line. This is before DJ Deep closes the record with a big party anthem remix, complete with tripped-out vocal chops and infectious techno rhythm.

ME LOST ME led by Newcastle-based artist Jayne Dent announces a new album RPG via Upset The Rhythm on 7th July, and is touring across the UK including support dates with Pigs x7. RPG (recorded in Blank Studios with Sam Grant of Pigs x7) is ME LOST ME’s fourth outing as a collective, having transitioned from an ambitious solo project in 2017, Jayne now regularly collaborating with acclaimed North-East jazz musicians Faye MacCalman and John Pope.
ME LOST ME delights in experimenting with songwriting and storytelling, creating a beguiling mix of soaring vocals and atmospheric electronics that playfully weave together disparate genres, drawing influence from folk, art pop, noise, ambient and improvised music. Hauntological in part, RPG is concerned with tales and with time - are we running out of it? Does insomnia cause a time loop? Do the pressures of masculinity prevent progress? Jayne Dent asks these questions and more on RPG, her homage to worldbuilding and the story as an artform, calling back to those oral traditions around a campfire, as well as modern day video games - bringing folk music into the present day as she does so.
ME LOST ME presents sound reaching in opposite directions, straddling time towards the archaic and timeless traditions of folktales, and towards the possible and potential futures of pastoral Britain and the world at large. Part speculation, part reminiscence, what results on the new album RPG is music that sounds ultimately displaced and yet omnipresent, adjacent to a hapless Vonnegut hero whose life is scattered throughout time and history, but full of wonder and curiosity rather than fear.
On track “The Oldest Trees Hold The Earth”, we see time stretched out between the branches of impossibly old beings in the woods. This track was co-written in Aarhus, Denmark with fellow Newcastle folk musician (with Danish heritage) Ditte Elly. The pair wordlessly passed a sheet of paper between each other to write the lyrics, inspired by Højbjerg and Mosegård, the woods they were sitting in. “How long should I wait/Before the moss grows?/On my skin, on my outstretched arms,” the lyrics are sung in a round, the close harmonies delicate and detailed.

A central thesis of this album is the joy of creation, something which is paid homage to in the album’s final track, “Science And Art” (Not because we need it to last/just because we needed to make it - so we invented the words/this language). It is also reflected in the definition that Jayne gives for “folk” itself. She comments, “To me, folk is quite an expansive idea. I think of it as creative work that's often made ad-hoc, with things that are at hand and more often than not it's born of a DIY ethos. It is songs and stories of the people, as in the traditional sense, but also creative coding, game design etc. Whatever outlet someone has for their creative expression could be described as folk. It's the things we make because humans need to make things, and the stories we tell about ourselves and the world around us.”
Crucially, on latest album RPG, Dent expands her songwriting and looks towards the unreal locations of worldbuilding in video games for inspiration. She comments, “I think the main similarity is the importance of a song's setting/environment to inform its narrative and textures, I'm often most inspired when out walking in the natural landscape, in cities and travelling to places I've never been before - the environment I'm in really impacts the work I make. While writing this album, however, I found myself inspired by imaginary landscapes, those in video games, paintings, etc. I was writing stories into these unreal locations instead. Even the songs inspired by real places, like The Oldest Trees Hold the Earth, have a very surreal quality to them in the songs, like they're being warped and turned into something not of this world. I think that's the main difference for me in terms of the thematic content and inspiration behind this album - I've been getting more and more interested in balancing surreal and fantastical environmental elements with ordinary and everyday settings.”
RPG upends the concept of the eternal return - we may be in the midst of inevitable repetition, but we tell stories whilst awaiting the passage of time.
"Being familiar with, and a fan of Jayne's earlier work, it was great to get the opportunity to work with her on the production of her new record. I had in mind a sense of what the record might be, but what came of the sessions, led by the vision Jayne had for the record, totally exceeded my expectations. As far as albums go, it has a breadth of writing and a sonic depth that made it a truly brilliant record. Having Jayne join us on a leg of the Pigs x7 tour in April is going to be ace. The creative nature, the sincerity and bold strokes of ME LOST ME put it in that space outside of any genre pigeonholes, and between our two sets I imagine the audience is going to have a proper sonic bath..."
Sam Grant, Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs, 2023
“The music of Me Lost Me is beguiling, idiosyncratic and cinematic - or should that be video-game-omatic? This suite of songscapes often hits the sweet spot between ancient and modern with its masterful blend of stark folk, neon electronic burbling and unusual arrangements. Jayne's singing is refreshingly straightforward and nuanced - it's exquisite! - and perfectly punctures the nebulae of synths and brass which billow around the old wooden frames of the songs. Whilst listening I had images in my mind of what Northumberland might look like through the eyes of Simon Stalenhag - foggy moors, a robot looking across the sea to Lindisfarne, twinkling lights on metal towers.... that sort of thing. It's a really great album.”
Richard Dawson, 2023