Cerca:upper class

In the late '70s Wild Fire was one of the more popular groups in Trinidad. Formed by Oliver “Stompy” Chapman back in 1962 the group was originally named the Sparks. By the disco era Wild Fire were the house band at night clubs like Disco Tracks and the Upper Level. The group was very influenced by disco, especially the famous British group, Hot Chocolate known for the classic disco hit ”You Sexy Thing.” Hot Chocolate’s chief songwriter, Tony Wilson was originally a Trinidadian native and also great friends with Oliver Chapman. The opening track on this compilation is "Try Making Love", a floor-filling track written by Tony Wilson in 1977 and recorded at Coral Sound Studio in Port of Spain. It was there that Oliver Chapman laid down the unforgettable bass line, solidifying its status as a surefire hit. The infectious tune held steady at the number one slot for six weeks in Trinidad and eventually climbed to the top of the charts in Barbados. Recorded at KH Studios, “Living On A String” with its unique disco synth sound by keyboard player Calvin Duncan was about the hard living of one trying to survive as a musician and hoping to one day partake in the material strappings of fame. “The Rebels” was more about the political struggle for the young in the country at the time. There was a lot of corruption in the government and a lot of young people out of work. The song called to stand up and rebel against the regime. And years later in 1990 it did happen when the Muslim group Jamaat al Muslimeen stormed the Red House (Trinidad’s Parliament House) and took cabinet members hostage. Wild Fire would go on to tour the Caribbean extensively including stops in Barbados, Antigua, St. Thomas and Guadeloupe. The group had a massive local hit with their track “Say A Little Prayer.” The group would disband in 1985 and Oliver Chapman would move to America. Wild Fire - Dance Hits is a collection of Wild Fire's more dance friendly material.

VINYL COLOUR IS SNOW WHITE! As a founding member of Bauhaus, David J helped spearhead the post-punk scene of the early ‘80’s with a string of innovative work, including Bauhaus’ defining moment, a bona fide classic and feasibly the pinnacle of the entire goth scene: the nine minute plus epic slab of industrial dub “Bela Lugosi’s Dead,” featuring David’s lyrics and bass guitar work. Bauhaus propelled to the upper echelons of the UK charts before reaching their zenith in the summer of ’83 and imploding – shattering into fragments of individual talent. This implosion gave rise to David's wide-ranging solo career. The first of Bauhaus’ members to actively release music outside of the band, David went on to put out solo work and collaborations with various authors, poets and infamous indies such as 4AD. In 1985, David regrouped with two former Bauhaus members to form the hugely successful Love and Rockets. Since then, David has continued to produce his trademark brand of deeply heartfelt and darkly sophisticated music. Highlights of What The Patrons Heard include a timely rendition of Neil Young’s “Vampire Blues” delivered with penetrating intensity; “Gimme Some Truth,” which brings new urgency and potency to the John Lennon classic; and “Lay Over And Lay,” which delivers folk-punk that only musicians from the British Isles can get right.

Transversales Disques proudly presents Ahmad Jamal Trio, Live in Paris 1971. Never heard before ORTF recordings performed live at studio 104, Maison de la Radio, Paris. This is the first official release with the full permission and cooperation of the National Audiovisual Institute (INA) coming in a Deluxe Edition - Classic Tip-On Jacket. Including exclusive pictures. Mastered from the original master tapes.

« While be-bop musicians practise one-upmanship in terms of speed, Ahmad Jamal develops a crystal-clear touch and praises silence: "I was an angel among devils! The boppers made notes explode. I let them resonate until the end of their lives".
A reputation as an artist on the fringes perhaps explains this lack of fame he suffered at one time. But despite the great whirlwind that is his life, Ahmad Jamal declares that he is searching for peace: "The quest is that of musical and internal peace. I cannot acknowledge that I am at peace, it would be dangerous to show it. A man at peace with himself doesn't say so".

If you cannot say it, you can hear it, especially during his first concert in Paris in a trio. Here we are transported to the upper echelons of the art of the trio: the master of the piano, in studio 104 of Broadcasting House, is surrounded by brilliant accomplices, Jamil Nasser on double bass and Frank Gant on drums... » (Jérôme Badini, France Musique).

By 1974, the Alice Cooper group had risen to the upper echelon of rock stardom.. and then, parted ways. In October 2015, over 40 years later, record store owner and superfan Chris Penn convinced the original line- up to reunite for a very special performance at his record store Good Records in Dallas, Texas.

Alice Cooper (vocals), Michael Bruce (guitar), Dennis Dunaway (bass) and Neal Smith (drums) were joined on stage by Alice's current guitarist Ryan Roxie (standing in for the late Glen Buxton). A packed audience, believing they had come to Good Records for Dennis Dunaway's 'Snakes! Guillotines! Electric Chairs!' book signing, were surprised to bear witness to a full-blown happening.

The historic reunion show including all-time classics such as "No More Mr. Nice Guy", "I'm Eighteen" and "School's Out" is now becoming available for the very first time worldwide. Luckily the event was documented. "Live From The Astroturf, Alice Cooper" (edited and directed by Steven Gaddis) toured the world to the acclaim of music fans and rock journalists alike. The documentary won multiple
awards for its coverage of the historic event. Now all Alice Cooper fans and rock music lovers across the globe can enjoy this movie as it's included as a video bonus to this live album.

Limited Edition, Numbered, Curacao coloured Vinyl & DVD.

By 1974, the Alice Cooper group had risen to the upper echelon of rock
stardom..
and then, parted ways. In October 2015, over 40 years later, record store owner
and superfan Chris Penn convinced the original line- up to reunite for a very
special performance at his record store Good Records in Dallas, Texas.
Alice Cooper (vocals), Michael Bruce (guitar), Dennis Dunaway (bass) and Neal
Smith (drums) were joined on stage by Alice's current guitarist Ryan Roxie
(standing in for the late Glen Buxton). A packed audience, believing they had
come to Good Records for Dennis Dunaway's 'Snakes! Guillotines! Electric Chairs!'
book signing, were surprised to bear witness to a full-blown happening.
The historic reunion show including all-time classics such as "No More Mr. Nice
Guy", "I'm Eighteen" and "School's Out" is now becoming available for the very first
time worldwide. Luckily the event was documented. "Live From The Astroturf,
Alice Cooper" (edited and directed by Steven Gaddis) toured the world to the
acclaim of music fans and rock journalists alike. The documentary won multiple
awards for its coverage of the historic event. Now all Alice Cooper fans and rock
music lovers across the globe can enjoy this movie as it's included as a video
bonus to this live album.
Limited Edition, Numbered, Curacao coloured Vinyl & DVD.

Vessels promise an escape from responsibilities towards the landscape, they facilitate our avoidance of conscientiously feeling our attachment to the mainland. The visual nothingness of deep water and clean horizons fools the brain and delivers a treacherous feeling of independence.

We ignore the truths expressed by landscapes, so we mould them into urban projects for our strange desires. We clean up the irrationalities by which nature constructs itself. Then we look up to the skies, where the abstractions we have to draw in our minds should reside and inspire us.

We peer into the various shades of blue above the waters, the emptiness guarantees possibilities of our abstractions becoming realities. The apathetic stare into neat, straight horizons transforms our ancestral landscape into dirt and danger, when looking back to it.

To be on a ship under quarantine, is an upside down experience, for the promised escape has turned into a forced paralysis. The Lima flag (? - ? ?, in morse code), presented on the outer sleeve of this record, indirectly demands of all passengers to stay aboard and contemplate their escape from the land they now desire to return to.

These four piano pieces could be considered as a classical sonata (allegroadagio-scherzo-rondo). In a recital they are accompanied by four video pieces by artist Karl Van Welden. We picked the videos out of his extensive archive, choosing images intuitively while listening to the piano music. The theme of ships relating to quarantine thus came unannounced but of course, we were in the middle of the pandemic at the time.

Solastalgia was already waiting as a title for the new album before march 2020. I first came across the word in Underland, a book by Robert Macfarlane (2019). He defines the word as "The unhappiness of people whose landscapes are being transformed about them by forces beyond their control". These forces and this unhappiness are, I believe, what constitutes the modern human. Solastalgia, about the music We haven't found them yet, the words to talk to each other about the worrying signs of climate change. Feeling worried when walking on autumn leaves in the beginning of August should be completely normal. But how do we communicate about it? We don't want to be just the next hysterical doomer.

With this music I try to focus on the climate pain itself, gently inviting the listener to investigate their latent feelings of unease and growing concerns about the environment. As in real life, we circumvent the real issues because they are just too big, there are no words, no expressions yet.

This album tries, in four different attempts, to carve out a path towards communicating about a deeper pain that eventually will connect us all. My general method is to start with a comforting melody, full of fake nostalgia, which, after changing gear to autodestruct mode, morphs into a painful question mark.

The first part sets off with an idyllic melody, accompanied by repeated notes, as a far, muted echo of an alarm. The melody starts to explain itself painfully into a dissonant whirlwind in the high register, sounding not unlike Ravel's Gaspard de la Nuit bravura. In the second piece a warm Beatles like melody (And I love her) gets confronted with the weird hippie mantra of a later Lennon song War is over, if you want it. Sentences get reduced to syllables and result in lonely notes that crash and shiver under the burden of too much meaning. Like Shostakovich's latest work, the Sonata for viola and piano.

The descending melody of Bach's Erbarme dich, Mein Gott is echoed in the upper and lower voicings of the third piece, juxtaposed to a typical, threatening Ennio Morricone Western dotted rhythm accompaniment. This rhythm eventually evolves into citing the 1972 Captain Beefheart early ecological warning song Blabber and Smoke (there's a big pane/pain in your window, it's gonna hang you all,... dangle you all). Towards the middle of the piece, the music explodes and the three layers get dispersed all over the keyboard in a virtuosic maelstrom towards another painful question mark. The bitter answer is going back to business with a barely noticeable citation of the first notes of the RZA's Liquid Swords album.

The final piece is some kind of mantra, the same 7/4 pulse all throughout the piece. The dampers of all A's and B's on the keyboard are released by the middle pedal, thus sustaining an ever present resonance. Melodic cells alternate in shifting quantifications with small, bell like percussive cluster playing. While composing this piece an image crept up: walking out of the church on Sunday morning, tolling bells enthusiastically moderating the churchgoers' small talk in the local dialect. Apparently I have tried to evoke this kind of conversation, but injecting it with fictitious alarming conversation topics, the contemporary.

Frederik Croene (August '22)

First thought, best thought. Until the next thought: a guiding principle for No Age in the 16ish years they've been around. Constantly responding to their own streams of consciousness with reductive flexibility, they've taken the basic duo of guitar and drums with vocals WAY farther than anyone listening in halcyon Weirdo Rippers days could have guessed. Expounding on those larval possibilities, they've zig-zagged in serpentine precision, in and out of the teeth of the wringer - ranging outside and back in again, as befits the present thought. And now, six albums into it, these principles have led them to make People Helping People. Composed in their studio of ten years in the "pre pandemic" times, then an eviction from said space, and finished deep in the midst at their new basecamp: Randy's Garage. It starts with an instrumental, too. First counter-intuition, best counter intuition! Nearly five minutes prelude Dean's debut vocal interjection - a zoom in from the upper atmosphere, Randy's guitar clouds pulsing with radiation, paced by spare, percussive accents. When the first song with singing ("Compact Flashes") bounces in on an insane synthetic beat, the only recognizable sound of No Age is a sputtering of enchanted clicks and creaks - muted guitar strings and drumkit rattlings that cycle for a full minute before voice song and snare fall into place. This is the sound of People Helping People: No Age, deep in the lab, scraping available nuclii together to see what new compound they find next. Erasing the starting points, reordering the pieces and beginning anew. It's an everyday mindset - and as the first No Age album recorded entirely by No Agee, People Helping People is a broadcast of entirely lived-in proportions. Side one ricochets expertly back and forth between magisterial instrumentals and sing-song forms cut up on the mixing desk, as with the undeniable hitness of "Plastic (You Want It)", winningly rewired to MIDI-mangled beat squelches. They don't really land on a straight up punk-style riff until it's almost time to flip the side, and even once they've got off on a run of rockers on side B, their aesthetic choices continuously reframe the norms, enhancing their inherent power. People Helping People finds their disparate desires operating in perfect sync; prolegomenic weirdness fused immaculately to classic rock propulsion, transforming the energy pouring out from their hands and feet with electronics. Dean's lyrics are like pieces taken off the belt at the factory and put together into a John Chamberlin-esque sculpture, meant to sit out in the rain. Randy's guitars, collaged into arrangements that reflect, again, boundless curiosity and exquisite restraint. This is People Helping People: unpretentious, suspicious, inviting, confident, left field. The most accurate display of the No Age ethos put to record. Yet!

Freestyle's run of reissues continues with the sought-after 1983 UK electro-funk of State of Grace's Touching the Times getting a freshly remastered 12" cut!

State of Grace were a trio formed at the start of the 80s, releasing a handful of singles between 1981 and '84. As SoG's David Inglesfield recalls, "in early 1982 we recorded 4-track demos of 'That's When We'll Be Free', 'Touching the Times' and a third song. When we played them to Mike Collier, who'd released our first single for his Flamingo label, he offered us a contract on the spot and licensed the finished tracks to for release on the PRT label"

Having released 'That's When We'll Be Free' in late 1982, 'Touching the Times' landed on 12" and 7" formats in early summer 1983. "For the demos, we'd used a TR-808 for the drums, and we kept the 808 for the final version of 'That's When We'll Be Free'", Inglesfield continues, "but for the full version of 'Touching the Times' we decided to use a Linn LM-1 for the drums. The keyboard sounds were from a Roland Jupiter 8, Roland SH-2 and Fender Rhodes"

Touching the Times was recorded at The Bridge studio near Putney Bridge, then mixed at The Sound Suite in Camden. "At the time, we were into the Sloane Ranger upper-class English look" says Inglesfield "and for the photo shoot for the original picture sleeve, we wanted an aristocratic type interior, and Broughton Castle in Oxfordshire was selected for this purpose."

The updated centre label image on our reissue shows State of Grace's Adrian & Pat Thomas, and David Inglesfield, in the Camden Mews outside The Sound Suite - located just a short walk from Freestyle's home in Kentish Town.

After the Bend is the second album from Louisville based Flanger Magazine, and the follow up to FM’s 2018 debut, Breslin. Whereas Breslin was the solo creation of Christopher Bush, an album noted for “an astute synthesis of ‘library music’ and solo acoustic guitar,” and “a seamless blend into the uncluttered and airier side of classic 1970’s giallo,” After the Bend is an ensemble affair. An ecosystem, a perfect mutualism bodies forth—of strings, outdoor recordings, electronics, reeds, and percussion—featuring new FM players Anna Krippenstapel (Frekons (Freakwater + Mekons), The Other Years), Jim Marlowe (Equipment Pointed Ankh, Tropical Trash, Sapat), Eric Lanham and Benjamin Zoeller (both from Caboladies). The various combos perform with both a distinguished efficacy and unhurried Sunday drift—charged and beautiful, pulsating and pleasing. The production is subtle and tasteful. Mutating past the old saws of bounded individualism, a strange form of tentacular life accrues, cyborgian-fungral-tangles of the more-than-human variety.

Robert Beatty’s cover art of otherworldly and interconnected river-scape gradients, coupled with song titles like “Reservoir,” “Falls Fountain Removed,” and “Sympathies for the River,” cue and clue the listener toward a river as a singular multitude analogue for the album. Interstitial gaps, clearings and openings give rise and merge into an accumulated flow from the tributaries of spirited improvisational performance, palimpsestic song cycles, and high fidelity studio production. The composite sound-image of After the Bend refuses to put both oars down into any one of the eddies of the folk, sound, chamber, electronic, or jazz idioms, and instead glides along the currents found within the slipstreams between.

Gathering samples, a River Doctor Limnologist inspecting the properties of After the Bend might note the specter of Leroy Jenkin’s free-violin heat-light deepin the water’s thermal stratification. Or mortgage the late-Maestro’s time with Gruppo di Improvvisazione Nuova Consonanza to pay down the growing river heat budget. Or take one’s dirty buckets to the banks of the 19th laundromat where Walt Dickerson plays his vibraphone parts from Divine Gemini with dowsing rods. Or excavate the bedrock in the drainage basin, noting skeletal remains of a Shostakovich string quartet attempting to tune up a Kentucky Fiddle’s subsequent influence on the chemical composition of the water. Or consult the historical revisionist reenactment troupe’s episode of Fishing with John (Fahey) in which Codona, The Sea Ensemble and Nuno Canavarro guest host as their fleet of paddle boats churn river water into a regal lager, and all the fish get drunk in their quest for the leaner enamel Hosianna Mantra GPS coordinates of the Fattened Herb.

Bush and Marlowe recorded and produced the album at End of an Ear Studios, located in the Portland neighborhood, in the west end of the city of Louisville, bordering the Ohio River, between Kentucky’s Upper South and the Indiana’s Midwest, during the first year of the global pandemic, amidst the planet’s sixth great extinction event. As good a time to be alive as any other. (by Kris Abplanalp)

The 1959 courtroom crime drama classic Anatomy of a Murder, directed by Otto Preminger, is based on the best-selling homonymous novel written by Michigan Supreme Court Justice John D. Voelker under the pen name Robert Traver. The film was one of the first mainstream Hollywood films to address sex and rape in graphic terms.

Its score is composed by Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn. It won three Grammy Awards - Best Performance by a Dance Band, Best Musical Composition First Recorded and Released in 1959, and Best Sound Track Album.

Anatomy Of A Murder is available on black vinyl.

"As one of the instigators of the UK 2-Step sound that paved the way for the seminal movements in Dubstep and Grime, Zed Bias, aka Maddslinky, is a true pioneer and stands as one the Godfathers of the UK Bass scene. With a prolific career spanning more than two decades, we’re honoured to welcome him into the Unchained family with his debut release on the label.

His powerful 4-track EP echoes both cutting edge modern electronic as well as the nostalgia of UK dance history. All tracks wander into upper BPM territory and sonically span very wide ground; whether this be “Beijing”, a track sure to carve itself a place in classic anthem history; or “Doen�a Tropical”, a tune which draws new broken-beat boundaries around the 160bpm ethos.

Two tracks feature collaborations with Strategy and Bugz In the Attic’s G Force - both music defining legends in their own right.

Spanning both the Drum’N’Bass universe and thought-provoking left-field bass, we hope this fresh release has you covered from club to couch."

Strut presents the 1973 Egyptian jazz classic, 'Egypt Strut' by Salah Ragab and Cairo Jazz Band. The vinyl album is released in its original Prism Music Unit artwork.

Inspired by a concert in Cairo by Randy Weston in 1967 encouraging Pan African unity, drummer Ragab, Eduard “Edu” Vizvari, a Czech jazz musician, and Hartmut Geerken of Goethe Institut vowed to create Egypt's first jazz big band. Following the Arab-Israeli war, Ragab became a Major in the Egyptian army and had unparalleled access to the military's 3000 musicians spanning Upper and Lower Egypt, along with a wide range of instruments. Part of the barracks were christened the Jazz House and, following a crash course in jazz history by Geerken, the Cairo Jazz Band was born, playing their first concert at Ewart Memorial Hall at the American University in 1969. Further inspired by Sun Ra & His Arkestra's first visit to Egypt in 1971, Ragab recorded an album for the Egyptian Ministry Of Culture a year later, entitled ‘Egyptian Jazz’, later released as 'Egypt Strut', a perfect fusion of jazz with Arabic modes with tracks referencing Islamic festivals, Egyptian landmarks and friends and family dear to Ragab. The
Wire’s Francis Gooding summarises the album as “esoteric African American Egyptianism and radically spiritualised modal jazz taken up by
Ragab as the tool for a form of mystical Egyptian nationalism – a triumphalist military jazz, angled in Ra-like fashion towards the Gods of the New Kingdom.” The vinyl album is released in its original Prism Music Unit artwork and is packaged with the original house bag designs. CD version includes extra unreleased tracks and a 24 page booklet featuring unseen photos and extensive liner notes by Francis Gooding (The Wire)

Orange Vinyl

Casey Spillman returns to LOCUS with his four-track ‘Summer Dreaming’ EP.

A favourite amongst the FUSE family and an artist who embodies the label’s sound and mentality throughout his productions and sets, London’s Casey Spillman continues to grow and evolve as one of the hottest talents within the capital. After his ‘Bit More Raggo’ EP on LOCUS in 2020 provided four heavy slabs of dancefloor ammunition for the likes of Skream, Samuel Deep and Varhat, he returns to close October with a quartet of fresh cuts across his ‘Summer Dreaming’ EP.

‘Get Upper’ sees Spillman opt for a powerful combination of warping bass licks, infectious vocals and sturdy kicks, while ‘I Know’ offers up a restless bass-heavy shuffle beneath dubby textures as moody harmonies contrast against evolving leads. The B-Side houses title track ‘Summer Dreaming’, delivering swinging percussion beneath glitchy electronics and trippy atmospherics, before closing with an ode to FUSE’s original home of 93 Feet East across ‘Good Morning Ninety Free’ – a classy cut weaving dusty deep chords amongst taut drums and sweeping synths.

Hier kommt das zweite Album der "Schnöselpunks" Wiener Zucker. Mit Hilfe von Paul Gallister als Produzent wurde ein weiterer Schritt in Richtung Headliner Konzert im Happel Oval gemacht. Üppig gezuckert sind in Österreich nicht nur Mehlspeisen. Auch Menschen und deren Sprache triefen bittersüß aus dem Schmelztiegel glorreich vergangener Tage. Eliten feiern fröhliche Urständ. Den Moment zu leben, heißt für einen Kahlenberger gepflegt auf das morgen zu defäkieren. Ob nun subtile Reichenkritik oder genußvolles Eintauchen in die Leichtigkeit des Seins der Upper-Class. Auch das zweite Kahlenberg Album wird diese Frage nicht erschöpfend beantworten. Zu vielschichtig bricht das Licht der einzelnen Zeilen. Der Wiener Zucker ganz offensichtlich aus purem Kristall.

Hier kommt das zweite Album der "Schnöselpunks" Wiener Zucker. Mit Hilfe von Paul Gallister als Produzent wurde ein weiterer Schritt in Richtung Headliner Konzert im Happel Oval gemacht. Üppig gezuckert sind in Österreich nicht nur Mehlspeisen. Auch Menschen und deren Sprache triefen bittersüß aus dem Schmelztiegel glorreich vergangener Tage. Eliten feiern fröhliche Urständ. Den Moment zu leben, heißt für einen Kahlenberger gepflegt auf das morgen zu defäkieren. Ob nun subtile Reichenkritik oder genußvolles Eintauchen in die Leichtigkeit des Seins der Upper-Class. Auch das zweite Kahlenberg Album wird diese Frage nicht erschöpfend beantworten. Zu vielschichtig bricht das Licht der einzelnen Zeilen. Der Wiener Zucker ganz offensichtlich aus purem Kristall.

Two more stormers from Deptford Northern Soul
Club. Floor fillers primed for the DJs returning to
the club circuit.
Featuring The Soul Stirrers’ funky, backbeatthumping classic ‘Don’t You Worry’, with gorgeous
harmonies and a tortured lead vocal.
A gem filled with the kind of soulful positivity we
need right now. In every sense, an upbeat classic
that fetches around £200 on 7” on the original
Checker imprint out of Chess back in 1969.
Backed with The Spinners’ ‘Memories Of Her Love
Keep Haunting Me’, an essential piece of lost
Tamla Motown from the late 1960s that’s never
been officially released as a single before.
Powered by that Motown slap drum sound and a
conga player on uppers, it’s a stomping tale of love
lost with a super Motown production and a great
horn break.
Both mastered from the original sound source for
maximum soul sound.

A long awaited new start for the Italian-born, Berlin based DJ & producer Bertrand. is set to be marked on 7th of June along with a 12′ vinyl only release on Future Déjà Vu. ”Bohr Model” summons new horizons in Bertrand.’s sound with an abundance of heady uppers & forward pushing dance anthems. The techno-electro mini-album is his first EP since 2019 and boldly highlights an advancement of Bertrand.’s production style and refined musical visions. The diverse take on captivating club tracks demolish the conventional means of dance music creating an audible narrative right at the intersection of edge-cutting sound and classical dancefloor weaponry.

Flat Worms on 45! These two tracks charge forth in perfect accord with the increased speed of the format. Culled from their sessions at Electrical Audio for the just-released ‘Antarctica’, this is the upper-cut to follow the album’s gut-punch, a classic knockout move.
The dance called ‘The Guest’ is a bit like The Twist but with more writhing involved. There’s horror there so it’s earned writhing on your part. For this song, Flat Worms take a DEVO-esque view, looking passively upon the actions of the real people. It’s pretty scary.
‘Circle’ belongs to that tradition of 45 tracks that may or may not allude to the 45 itself. “Find the circle! Find the center!” might serve as both timely
polemic and shameless self-promotion. Or maybe not. One thing that’s not ambiguous is the acidglazed lead guitar that hovers like a neon apparition above the thrashing rhythm section. It’s
definitively eerie.
‘Antarctica’ was a life sentence. This double-A-side
45 is the emphatic exclamation point that follows.

Modern sounds for the 21st century featuring modal, progressive and esoteric contemporary jazz from the UK, Spain, Netherlands, Finland, USA, Belgium, Canada, South Africa, Sweden, Germany & Italy.

The first 12 volumes of our hugely popular Spiritual Jazz series have unearthed a wealth of historic recordings in the genre, collating a variety of works from the '50s to the '80s by artists from all around the world.

And so, with Volume 13, we turn our attention to what's happening NOW.

Over the course of 24 tracks and spanning 2 x 2LPs, we present an overview of the contemporary exponents of Spiritual Jazz; musicians who are intent on bringing something personal to the table, as much as they recognize the importance of those who have paved the way for them. We feature music recorded within the past 20 years and from 15 different countries, including modern classics from veterans Steve Reid and Idris Ackamoor, providing a vital link between the past masters and the enlightened new generation.

It's pioneers such as John Coltrane, Sun Ra, Pharoah Sanders et al, with their innovations in reaching another plane of consciousness that was and remains uppermost in the minds of exponents of Spiritual Jazz. Fittingly, several of the artists featured on this compilation, such as Cat Toren and David Boykin, are practitioners of the art of music therapy and sound healing, and have absolute conviction in the role of song as solace. The pioneers may no longer be with us, but their saintly selves loom large, shining a light in the darkness, inspiring many a brave new disciple today, as this album will testify: the new wave of jazz is gathering pace and still sounds fresh, vibrant and as relevant as ever.

Modern sounds for the 21st century featuring modal, progressive and esoteric contemporary jazz from the UK, Spain, Netherlands, Finland, USA, Belgium, Canada, South Africa, Sweden, Germany & Italy.

The first 12 volumes of our hugely popular Spiritual Jazz series have unearthed a wealth of historic recordings in the genre, collating a variety of works from the '50s to the '80s by artists from all around the world.

And so, with Volume 13, we turn our attention to what's happening NOW.

Over the course of 24 tracks and spanning 2 x 2LPs, we present an overview of the contemporary exponents of Spiritual Jazz; musicians who are intent on bringing something personal to the table, as much as they recognize the importance of those who have paved the way for them. We feature music recorded within the past 20 years and from 15 different countries, including modern classics from veterans Steve Reid and Idris Ackamoor, providing a vital link between the past masters and the enlightened new generation.

It's pioneers such as John Coltrane, Sun Ra, Pharoah Sanders et al, with their innovations in reaching another plane of consciousness that was and remains uppermost in the minds of exponents of Spiritual Jazz. Fittingly, several of the artists featured on this compilation, such as Cat Toren and David Boykin, are practitioners of the art of music therapy and sound healing, and have absolute conviction in the role of song as solace. The pioneers may no longer be with us, but their saintly selves loom large, shining a light in the darkness, inspiring many a brave new disciple today, as this album will testify: the new wave of jazz is gathering pace and still sounds fresh, vibrant and as relevant as ever.

Available as 2 x 2LP sets each with gatefold sleeves, extensive liners, download card & pics inside.

The ultimate pressings of the Beach Boys discography from Analogue Productions!
Original mono mix produced by Brian Wilson
One of 10 titles featuring 33 1/3 mono and stereo remastered editions: Surfin' USA, Surfer Girl, Little Deuce Coupe, Shut Down Vol. 2, All Summer Long, Today!, Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!), Beach Boys Party!, Pet Sounds and Smiley Smile
Mastered by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio, most from the original master tapes or best sources available
Lacquer plating by Gary Salstrom and 180-gram vinyl pressing by Quality Record Pressings!

"It was Pet Sounds that blew me out of the water…I love the album so much. I've just bought my kids each a copy of it for their education in life. I figure no one is educated musically 'til they've heard that album." – Paul McCartney

"All of us, Ginger (Baker), Jack (Bruce), and I consider Pet Sounds to be one of the greatest pop LPs to ever be released. It encompasses everything that's ever knocked me out and rolled it all into one." – Eric Clapton

"For those in search of an original mono in pursuit of sonic quality, search no more. This Analogue Productions pressing is now the definitive pressing and the one we chose to feature at our Classic Album Sundays events to honour the 50th anniversary of Pet Sounds, an album that helped change the course of pop music." — Colleen ‘Cosmo' Murphy, Classic Album Sundays

"Overall though, this new reissue is the best sounding of all. The bottom end has more weight and solidity and the instrumental separation and front to back layering is nothing short of astonishing compared to the pleasing mush offered up by other editions. ... Pet Sounds belongs in every serious rock record collection and if you're going to have but one version this one from Analogue Productions is the one to have." — Music = 11/11; Sound = 11/11 - Michael Fremer, AnalogPlanet Read the whole review here.

"What I can say is that Kevin Gray has been able to extract every last bit of information from whatever tape is in the box, and present it in a way that is pleasing and natural to the ear. ... in my opinion, the Analogue Productions pressings are now THE definitive issue of each Beach Boys album, and will be my reference copies until if and when something better comes along — which may be never." — Lee Dempsey, Endless Summer Quarterly, Summer 2015 Edition

To meet the standards of Analogue Productions, our Beach Boys album reissues had a mission to achieve: Present the band's music the way that Brian Wilson — famed co-founder, songwriter and arranger — intended. Mono mixes created under Wilson’s supervision were how the surf rockin’ California crew rose to fame! And we’ve got ‘em!

For the early part of the Beach Boys' career, all of their singles were mixed and mastered and released only in the mono format — they didn't release a single in stereo until 1968. In those days, hits were made on AM radio in mono. And the mono of those times worked well for Wilson, who suffers from partial deafness. In fact, for their first 13 albums, Wilson originally turned in all the final mixed Beach Boy albums to Capitol Records only in mono. The mono mixes were where Wilson paid intense attention, and the dedication paid off!

We’ve taken 10 of the most classic, best-sounding Beach Boy titles ever and restored them to their mono glory!

But there’s no disputing that the close harmonies and one-of-a-kind rhythms of hits like “Surfer Girl,” “In My Room,” “Little Deuce Coupe” and more lend themselves naturally to stereo. So we’ve got your 2-channel needs covered with prime stereo mix versions as well.

Mastered by Kevin Gray, most from the original master tapes, and plated and pressed by Quality Record Pressings, the finest LP pressing facility in the world, these are awesome recordings to experience. And the look of each album befits its sonic superiority! Presented in "old school" Stoughton tip-on jackets, these time honoured favourites shine brighter than the originals!

Pet Sounds is famous for its use of multiple layers of unorthodox instrumentation as well as other cutting edge audio techniques for its time. It's considered the best Beach Boys album, and one of the best of the 1960s. The group here reached a whole new level in terms of both composition and production, layering tracks upon tracks of vocals and instruments to create a richly symphonic sound.

Conventional keyboards and guitars were combined with exotic touches of orchestrated strings, bicycle bells, buzzing organs, harpsichords, flutes, Theremin, Hawaiian-sounding string instruments, Coca-Cola cans, barking dogs, and more. It wouldn't have been a classic without great songs, and this has some of the group's most stunning melodies, as well as lyrical themes which evoke both the intensity of newly born love affairs and the disappointment of failed romance (add in some general statements about loss of innocence and modern-day confusion as well). The spiritual quality of the material is enhanced by some of the most gorgeous upper-register male vocals (especially by Brian and Carl Wilson) ever heard on a rock record. "Wouldn't It Be Nice," "God Only Knows," "Caroline No," and "Sloop John B" (the last of which wasn't originally intended to go on the album) are the well-known hits, but equally worthy are such cuts as "You Still Believe in Me," "Don't Talk," "I Know There's an Answer," and "I Just Wasn't Made for These Times." It's often said that this is more of a Brian Wilson album than a Beach Boys recording (session musicians played most of the parts), but it should be noted that the harmonies are pure Beach Boys (and some of their best).

VH-1 named Pet Sounds as the No. 3 album in the Top 100 Albums in Rock 'n' Roll History, as judged in a poll of musicians, executives and journalists. It's been ranked No. 1 in several music magazines' lists of the greatest albums of all time, including NME, The Times and Mojo Magazine. It was ranked No. 2 in Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list.

Tim Digby-Bell, Peter Kriek and Ariaan Olieroock are Cubicolor. In 2016 they released their debut album ‘Brainsugar’ via acclaimed independent label Anjunadeep. Accumulating over 40 million streams, the album won praise from Mixmag, Resident Advisor, Consequence of Sound and DJ Mag, who described it as “a startlingly accomplished debut” in their 9/10 review.

Originally an electronic duo comprised of Dutch producers Ariaan and Peter, Cubicolor became a three-piece band with the arrival of British singer-songwriter Tim in 2015, after collaborating on breakthrough single ‘Falling’.

A published poet and playwright, Tim’s musical upbringing was rooted in playing guitar and listening to Nick Drake. Combined with Ariaan’s encyclopedic knowledge of electronic music and Peter’s love of late romantic classical, created what Clash described as “a beautiful, haunting fusion of ideas.” In 2018 the band delivered, and then shelved, their second album…

“It had twelve tracks, a different name, all the artwork was done and a date was set for it to be released. We got home and listened to it, then called each other and decided to drop the whole thing. The next week we went back into the studio and started again.

We loved the record we made but for some reason, it didn't feel right, so we didn't keep anything, we shut ourselves on the boat in Amsterdam where we work and didn't stop until we'd written a new album.” A year after going back to the drawing board, the trio now presents ‘Hardly A Day, Hardly A Night’.

Inspired by the cycles of time, and the cyclical movements of the planets, the new 12 track record weaves together themes of loss, hope, and acceptance. “There were a lot of moments when we weren't sure we'd ever find what it was we were looking for. On the way, we lost friends, lost loves, battled health issues, lost an album, lost each other and came back together again.

It feels like a lifetime has passed but the world keeps spinning and I guess we knew we would eventually find our strength and make the album we wanted to make.” Showcasing their remarkable production techniques and textured sound design throughout the album, Cubicolor continues their unconventional rise to the upper ranks of the electronic music world.

The band will celebrate the album release with a listening event in London in February 2020, before taking their live show to festivals around the world in the summer.

Their 2016 debut album ‘Brainsugar’ picked up wide spread support including backing from BBC Radio 1's Annie Mac, Pete Tong and Phil Taggart, BBC 6 Music's Nemone and Tom Ravenscroft, Joris Voorn, and Kölsch and accumulated over 40M streams. 'Brainsugar' - Press pickup included Mixmag, RA, Thump, Consequence of Sound and the album was given a 9/10 review in DJ Mag.

Cubicolor are Amsterdam based producers Ariaan Olieroock and Peter Kriek, and British singer-songwriter Tim Digby-Bell. They made the album on Peter’s studio boat in Amsterdam. Ariaan built the custom modular synths, mixing desks and speakers that the band use in their studio - every Cubicolor sound is created from scratch.
They also DJ and release music as 16BL on Anjunadeep. one of the labels most loved and legendary acts, responsible for some of the biggest releases in the label's back catalogue.

Molecular Meditation is a bespoke light and sound environment featuring the voice of the Fall's Mark E Smith. Smith is heard making observations on mundane objects, events and a range of meditation techniques basically associating his discontent with an apolitical british upper class. His voice forms the narrative component of an electroacoustic composition by Jan St. Werner placed in a hyper-real scenario evoking a state of transformation and deceleration.

Molecular Meditation premiered at Cornerhouse, Manchester in 2014. This album presents a re-edited and remastered stereo version of the original multi-channel piece. Voice and guitar feedback were recorded at Blueprint Studios Manchester, electronics in Werner's St.udio in Berlin. The B-side consists of unreleased new work partly written around the same time as Molocular Meditation in context of Werner's Fiepblatter Catalogue on Thrill Jockey. Back to Animals is a non-metric rhythmic exercise frantically hybridizing percussive accents with synthesized pulse.

On the Infinite of Universe and Worlds is an electronic opera based on Giordano Bruno's Renaissance writings which Werner was asked to conceptionalize for new music festival Music Nova in Finland. VS Canceled finds Mark E. Smith reading an email from Domino Records explaining their discontinuation of the Von Sudenfed project a band Mark E. Smith had founded with Mouse on Mars' Jan St. Werner and Andi Toma in 2006. Their debut album Tromatic Reflexxions came on Domino out in 2007. The vinyl record, cut with a diamond needle, provides as much acoustic depth as the digital version.

These classic AC/DC albums are made available again, are pressed on quality, 180 gm heavyweight vinyl.
Release date: 14.04.2014
Label: Columbia / Legacy