About a hundred kilometers south-west of Bamako, on the left bank of the Niger River, the Malian village of Kela is known to be home to a large community of griot musicians (jeliw) mostly belonging to the Diabaté family. Their art is recognised throughout West Africa and many griots come from all over the world to stay there, sometimes for several years, in the hope of becoming immersed in it. The six pieces for voice accompanied by guitar or traditional koni lutes were recorded in 1978 (tracks 3 to 6) and in 2019 (tracks 1 to 3), in the same traditional dwelling, which still serves as a "studio". The accompanying booklet contains the testimonies of several important musicians who took part in the recording, and evoke key elements of their universe
Points of interests
- For the fans of the traditional repertoires of Mali's famous griot musicians.
- For music lovers who love the voices accompanied by the guitar and the traditional lutes of the griots.
- Recordings made 40 years apart in the same "studio": a dwelling located in the village of Kela (Mali), from where famous lineages of griots originate.
- Original sound archive on magnetic tapes, digitised and restored in 2019.
- Fourteen colour photographs, taken in 1978 and 2019 at the same time as the sound recordings.
Transparent Red Vinyls
"Iza jinjô ni… Shôbu!” Be prepared for the battle!
Wayô Records and SNK Corporation are pleased to announce their first collaboration project! For the coming of the new Samurai Shodown game from the legendary fighting game series, we are proud to present the international release of its soundtrack in both CD and Vinyl formats!
With its beautiful Japanese instruments, the music of Samurai Shodown (2019) combines the power of modern times with the spirit from the roots of the series, performed by the best traditional Japanese players, including the legendary HIDE×HIDE duo! This soundtrack features the theme song Revive the Soul and each of the character themes, for a total of two hours of epic music!
The original soundtrack on Vinyl includes 19 tracks on two 180g LP red-marbled discs in separate sleeve into a gatefold package.
Red Vinyl
Part of The Optic Sevens 3.0 Reissue Series . Limited to 800 copies worldwide. Pressed on Red Vinyl Printed inner sleeve. Includes postcard and poster
Glasgow based The Clouds only single was originally released in 1988 on Subway and became an indie top 20 hit. This version is pressed on Red vinyl with inner sleeve. Includes all 3 tracks from the 12”.
Eternal Tears of Sorrow's long career kicked off with the more thrash metalish debut album in 1997, but it was on the 1998 follow-up Vilda Mánnu ("Wild Moon" in the Sami language of indigenous Lapplandish people) that the band really carved their own niche amid the crowded metal scene. Hailing from Finnish Lappland, ETOS are best known for well-crafted, fierce but melancholic melodic death metal with symphonic overtones, of which this album, their Spinefarm Records debut, is a prime example. This pressing comes in a gatefold sleeve and has been carefully remastered for vinyl.
Wild Pink’s last album, 2018’s Yolk In The Fur, concluded with a song about the strange sense of relief that comes with “letting go of youth.” Frontman John Ross, then in his early thirties, was singing from a place of newfound comfort and wisdom, but it ended with a repetition of the line, “I don’t know what happens next.” The song, titled “All Some Frenchman’s Joke”, is a beautifully concise rendering of a universal milestone: leveling up from the wide-eyed naivety and self-destructive routines of our youth, only to realize that we’re as unprepared for the future as we were for the past. On Wild Pink’s third album and first for Royal Mountain Records, A Billion Little Lights, Ross explores that dichotomy of finally achieving emotional security—of accepting the love and peace he deprived himself of in his twenties—while also feeling existentially smaller and more directionless than ever before. The record is a two-pronged triumph: an extraordinary reflection on the human condition presented through the sharpest, grandest, and most captivating songs Wild Pink have ever composed. The band, which is rounded out by bassist T.C. Brownell and drummer Dan Keegan, formed in New York City in 2015 and put out a handful of EP’s before releasing their critically acclaimed self-titled debut in 2017. It was a sophisticated showing for a band’s first album, but it was the striking maturation of Yolk In The Fur that established Wild Pink’s unique sound: a glistening variety of pastoral indie-rock akin to The War On Drugs, Death Cab For Cutie, and Kurt Vile, but informed by classic American rock poets like Bruce Springsteen and Tom Petty.
This is Vice Beats’ full-length tribute to legendary Jay Dee called “Dilla: The Timeless Tribute” where he is using Miguel Atwood-Fergusson’s Mochilla tribute “Suite For Ma Dukes” as the foundation. 14 tracks full of harmonies that are connected to one of the greatest. Features Greg Blackman, Audessey (of Soundsci), J-Dubble, Brotherman and many more. Tip!
Repress
Arnaud le Texier (Cocoon Records): "Top quality! Really nice.." 10/10
Cio D'Or (Telrae): "An amazing double Vinyl of different interpretations from some music friends in techno for Hypnus! Thank you!" 9/10
David Att (ATT Series): "SUPER VARIOS ARTIST. THANKS: D" 10/10
Deepbass (Informa Records): "Great remix package here! Will be using most of them, a true showcase of the love for Hypnus" 10/10
Etapp Kyle (Klockworks): "Edit Select and Mike Parker are winners!" 8/10
Exium (PoleGroup): "Great stuff, thanks!" 8/10
Francois X (Dement3d): "Perfect Package of Remix!" 10/10
I/Y: "wow.. really good.. too many of them to choose one favourite" 10/10
Kwartz (Shapeless Records): "Congratulations for this great work, I love every song of the release" 10/10
Mattias Fridell (Gynoid): "This is a very solid compilation congrats." 8/10
MTD (Sonntag Morgen): "AMAZING release! hard to choose a favorite..." 10/10
Mod21 (Prologue): "No words for this release.. Hypnus is flying high!!" 10/10
Nima Khak (H-Productions): "Great bits! The Ness mix is outstanding, but a lot of great stuff in this package! Will play for sure!" 9/10
Nobody Home (Home Records): "Very nice release with many of my favorite musicians! Thank you very much :-)" 8/10
Reggy van Oers (Affin): "Some crazy stuff in here! love it!" 9/10
Samuli Kemppi (M_REC Ltd.): "Fan boy likes. Brilliant release. Full support." 10/10
Svreca (Semantica Records): "Excellent release. Full support." 8/10
Takaaki Itoh (Phobiq): "what a great trks. im sure to play all of them. full support!" 10/10
Terence Fixmer (CLR): "Top release, difficult to choose a favourite here...all are nice." 10/10
The Noisemaker (Par Recordings): "Hypnus is going to be one of the best label on earth! full support! all tracks have his own personality and are well designed.. top for opening a djset" 10/10
Tommy Four Seven (Stroboscopic Artefacts): "Big!" 8/10
Also supported by:
Dimi Angelis, Unam Zetineb, Antonio de Angelis, Artefakt, DARS, Gianluca Meloni, Jonas Kopp, Hector Oaks, Juho Kahilainen, Vilix, Eric Cloutier, Brendon Moeller (Echologist), Iori, Jose Pouj, VSK, AnD, Rasmus Hedlund, Victor Martinez, Antonio Vazquez, BLNDR, Luigi Tozzi and many more.
- The Premiere Vinyl Release of the Soundtrack - 180 Gram Black and White Swirled Colored Vinyl - Old Style Tip-On Gatefold Jackets with Satin Coating - Artwork by Phantom City Creative - 12"x12" Booklet - Scoring Session Photography - Liner Notes // Waxwork Records is proud to announce THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN Original Motion Picture Soundtrack with music by Franz Waxman. In celebration of the film's 85th Anniversary, we are thrilled to present the premiere vinyl release of the film's music as a deluxe album featuring re-mastered audio, new artwork, and likeness approvals from famed actress Elsa Lanchester's estate. THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN is a 1935 horror movie directed by James Whale and starring Boris Karloff & Elsa Lanchester. It is the first sequel to the 1931 film FRANKENSTEIN and widely regarded as one of the greatest sequels in cinematic history. The film has been praised as Whale's masterpiece. In 1998, it was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the United States National Film Registry, having been deemed "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant". Sourced from the original master acetates housed in the composer's archives at Syracuse University and original masters from Universal, the album has been meticulously restored and re-mastered. Working closely with Universal Pictures, this historic release marks the very first time the original film music has been made available on vinyl. The album features new artwork by Phantom City Creative, a 12"x12" booklet including artwork and original scoring session photography, and liner notes by album producer and restoration engineer Mike Matessino.
Demon Records is proud to present a new series of vinyl reissues from American singer-songwriter Black Francis / Frank Black
“Salutations from the Twilight Zone, and if you think I mean the 1960s sci fi television program you are correct;
I am quite literally inside of a 1960s sci fi television program. And in that context Demon have allowed
me to correct certain anachronisms in my published works and are releasing some for the first time on vinyl
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyvinyl_chloride).” - Black Francis
• First released in 2000, Oddballs is a compilation of remixed rarities and B-sides recorded between 1994 and 1997.
• Black Francis explains the album was given the title as “they're ODDBALLS. There was once a time when even I was asked to
provide additional content for auxiliary releases of main published works. It was great. They didn't care what the new content was
they just needed it. Yesterday. So awesome. I get to go back into the studio and obsess a little more with no one to bother me,
except by then the bank was mostly blown so we did not have a lot of TIME. Well, sometimes, fuck time.”
• Long out of print, this new vinyl reissue is pressed on 140g silver vinyl, housed in a printed inner sleeve.
Signed to Parisian label N F rmat! (home to Oumou Sangar , Blick Bassy & M lissa Laveaux), Soweto-based 4 piece band Urban Village present their debut album, ‘Udondolo’.
Marrying the day-to-day experiences of black South Africans with ebullient elements from traditional Zulu music, Urban Village is the alias of four experimental musicians all born & raised in the township of Soweto at the tail end of apartheid.
Urban Village release music under a name which specifically references the blend of cultures, music & rites which were assimilated into the now 1 million strong population of Soweto, when black South Africans from multiple provinces were brought to the area during the establishment of apartheid, under strict segregation from Johannesburg’s white suburbs.
Born for the most part in the last years of apartheid, whilst growing up the band plunged happily into house and dance music that turned the page of a heavy past. Guitarist Lerato came across older Zulu musicians and their style of maskandi playing. Lerato has since mixed styles from homelands and rural areas, sharpened in club jam sessions (where he went on to meet Tubatsi and form Urban Village) during which spoken word, hip-hop and jazz rub shoulders freely.
‘Udondolo’ - partially recorded at legendary Downtown Studios in the heart of Johannesburg and at Figure of 8 studios in the leafy suburbs of Randburg, - is a journey through all the colours of Soweto. This is where it draws its consistency, strength & identity. That of Soweto itself - a dormitory town designed to
monitor those who were sent there, it has become a laboratory of music where the hopes of an entire people resonate, even today.
Nonesuch releases a remastered, special edition of the 2005 record Our New Orleans for the first time on vinyl. The two-LP set, also available digitally, includes five previously unreleased tracks: ‘Do You Know What It Means’, by Davell Crawford; ‘Let's Work Together’, by Buckwheat Zydeco and Ry Cooder; ‘Crescent City Serenade’, by Dr. Michael White; ‘Walking By the River’, by Dr. John; and ‘Do You Know What It Means’, by The Wardell Quezergue Orchestra featuring Donald Harrison.
The $1.5 million raised from the 2005 release went toward providing housing in partnership with low-income musicians and others through the New Orleans Habitat Musicians’ Village, a concept that was developed by New Orleans Area Habitat for Humanity, working with Branford Marsalis and Harry Connick, Jr. Habitat–built homes in the village now provide musicians and others of modest means the opportunity to buy decent, affordable housing. The centerpiece of the village is the Ellis Marsalis Center for Music, dedicated to celebrating the music and musicians of New Orleans and to the education and development of homeowners and others who live nearby.
For Our New Orleans, many of the Crescent City’s best-known musicians recorded songs that are integral to their lives and that express their feelings about the city and the trauma of Katrina. The album was made swiftly and simply, over the course of a month, in one-day sessions across the country. Nick Spitzer, host of public radio’s New Orleans–based American Routes, contributed liner notes to the record, as did Pulitzer Prize–winning author Richard Ford, also a Crescent City resident. Other producers who made enormous contributions include Mark Bingham, Ry Cooder, Joel and Adam Dorn, Steve Epstein, Joe Henry, Doug Petty, Matt Sakakeeny, and Hal Willner.
Nonesuch’s parent company – Warner Records, part of the Warner Music Group – donated all production costs for Our New Orleans as part of the Group’s larger efforts on behalf of hurricane victims on the Gulf Coast. Many others involved in creating the album also generously donated their time and services.
Nonesuch President David Bither recalls, “What was most remarkable to me was the immediate response of the musicians. Many were in New Orleans when Katrina struck. Many lost everything they owned including even the musical instruments that are their livelihood. Yet they responded within days to the question of whether they might participate in this project. The emotion and the power of Our New Orleans come both from their anguish and from their incredible generosity.”
And the label’s Chairman Emeritus Bob Hurwitz said, “When we pick up a CD booklet, we usually skip over the page that says, ‘Special thanks to…’, but in the case of Our New Orleans, it is, after the listing of the musician’s names, the most important part of this package. Everyone wanted to help – studios that insisted on contributing free time, caterers, photographers and videographers, instrument rentals, producers, engineers – every step down the line, people gave, not only their profits, but absorbed all of their costs. It was an incredible outpouring of generosity.”
“Our New Orleans is a testament to the power of music to heal and provide a sense of community,” said Marguerite Oestreicher, Executive Director of New Orleans Area Habitat for Humanity. “Musicians helped the city heal after Hurricane Katrina, and Musicians’ Village helped them come home. We’re grateful to Nonesuch and everyone who worked on this album. This year has brought new challenges to everyone, but especially to our culture-bearers. This re-release could not be more timely.”
"Over the years, I have had the absolute pleasure of meeting countless wonderful people in every corner of this beautiful planet, and a lot of times these music enthusiasts have expressed a very similar-sounding story. That our presence – whether it be via a studio recording or our ferocious show – is capable of transporting them to a better place and washing away all earthly worries. Doesn't this sound amazing – especially during these challenging times?"
This gentle voice belongs to the vocalist-guitarist Jonne Järvelä, who happens to be the creative force behind the unique Finnish ensemble KORPIKLAANI. Having experienced multiple triumphant years within the inner circle of folk-influenced heavy metal, Jonne now acknowledges his position as one of the most recognisable artists ever coming from the land of a hundred thousand lakes.
KORPIKLAANI – preceded by Jonne's own project SHAMAANI DUO (1993-1997) and the band SHAMAN (1997-2003) – was founded somewhere deep in the primeval northern forests in 2003. Ten celebrated studio albums, numerous world tours and hundreds of millions of digital streams alongside multiple other releases, have established KORPIKLAANI’s status as one of the leaders of innovative heavy music. For their diehard legion of fans, they are known as Folk Metal Superstars.
"I have always been fascinated by ancient Lappish/Samish culture and the infectious melodies of aged folk songs. However, that's only one side of the coin as I have loved rip-roaring metal since I was a frantic kid looking for some rebellious sounds. My butt was kicked by the likes of MOTÖRHEAD, IRON MAIDEN and JUDAS PRIEST", says Jonne.
"Since the early 2000s, KORPIKLAANI has combined these elements as we have tirelessly attempted to pump new life into the ancient tales of joy and heartbreak, and added the enormous energy of current heavy metal into that folk metal melting pot.We have always been on a mission to create something new and unprecedented."
Here and now, KORPIKLAANI’s fearless journey continues on – and this time, the journey is powered by rather serious subject matter. Their eleventh full-length studio record "Jylhä" (which has no direct translation but can be described as majestic, or wild and rugged in a beautiful way) brings all the well-known and essential ingredients to the table: heavy-duty guitar riffing, rhythmic folk melodies and more.
What about the tales of the wilderness then? The fascinating and miscellaneous tales have always been a crucial part of KORPIKLAANI’s journey within the realms of unspoiled Finnish nature, ancient Scandinavian myths, shamanistic voyages and beyond. "Did I already mention that "Jylhä" offers some new angles?", the singer/guitarist laughs. "Well, lyrically, there are definitely some previously unknown passages – such as fables connected to the infamous Lake Bodom murders in Southern Finland in early 1960s."
KORPIKLAANI’s long-time lyricist Tuomas Keskimäki – the renowned Finnish poet and author, comments: "When I am coming up with narratives, interesting wordplays and other ideas for KORPIKLAANI, I often feel like I am diving into some absorbing fantasy world. I would describe this state of mind as some kind of a deep trance", says Keskimäki.
"As a whole textual piece, "Jylhä" is rather widespread. For example, there are stories about the fragility of life, revealed by using nature metaphors. ‘Miero’ is one of these tales: after all, it's a fact that the lifetime of a human being is just one blink of an eye compared to the eternal aeons of the cosmos."
"On the darker side, there are several murder songs - I wasn't really planning these rather untraditional lyrics, they just happened... One of these is ‘Kiuru’, and that story is inspired by a famous Finnish double homicide case, which took place in the small village of Tulilahti in 1959. In these lyrics, the character called Kiuru – Skylark in English – acts as eyewitness and a prophet, but at the same time, this creature also functions as an allegory of many things... All in all, I am really happy with the lyrics and all these new themes!"
When asked about his current sentiment regarding the new KORPIKLAANI opus "Jylhä", the commander of the forest clan sighs and smiles. "Using "Jylhä" as our solid steppingstone, we are able to reach completely new heights. For me, it's crystal clear that KORPIKLANI has never been better."
It is a fitting album for our dark times, summed up well by the song ‘Huolettomat’ (The Careless). It talks about living in the present moment, alongside a story of joy and celebration. Today is today, tomorrow is uncertain.
Malian music is arguably deeper, more sophisticated and lyrical than any other form of African music. Those of us deeply entranced by Malian culture, and, in particular, the immense hypnotic beauty of Malian music, have put together a selection of songs from across the country.
Compiled by Vik Sohonie & Dave 'Mr Bongo’ Buttle, the story of this release began in 2015 when Dave happened upon the Soul Bonanza blog. A treasure chest of rare finds from around the world! One mix in particular stood out and totally enthralled Dave - le monde à change: a tribute to mali 1970 - 1991. He already knew of Malian legends such as the Rail Band, Salif Keita, & Les Ambassadeurs du Motel de Bamako, but this mix was something else! Deep & culled from the collections of some of the heaviest African music collectors in the world; legends like Vik Sohonie, Hidehito Morimoto, Philippe Noel, Gregoire Villanova, and Rickard Masip. Dave immediately contacted Vik and a journey of discovery tracking down the rights-holders began. He also turned to the font of Malian music knowledge; Florent Mazzoleni. Florent has written the definitive book about Malian music – 'Musiques modernes et traditionnelles du Mali’. He proposed some incredible tracks to include and provided the back bone of the sleeve notes and photos that are used in the album. No Malian album would be complete without a striking front cover photo, and ours is sourced from the late great Malian photographer Malick Sidibé.
On this album you will find well-known artists sitting next to rarer discoveries. The Rail Band, who are one of the best known of all the big bands in Mali, gave us the stars Mory Kanté and Salif Keita. Les Amabassedeurs du Motel de Bamako were another big act that had Idrissa Soumaoro, Kanté Manfila, and for a while Salif Keita in their ranks. Sometimes Salif would play in both bands in one night, quite a feat considering the bands were fierce rivals. As an albino Salif has had to face considerable prejudice from society, focusing on his musical career to help overcome this.
A major discovery on the album has been Idrissa Soumaoro et L'Eclipse de L’Ija. L'Eclipse de l'Institut des Jeunes Aveugles was a Blind teenagers institute and their record was produced by the German association that took care of blind Malian teenagers in Bamako. It was never properly released commercially and was the first recordings by the legends of Malian music Idrissa Soumaoro, Amadou Bagayoko and Mariam Doumbia. Amadou & Mariam later got married and became household stars, including making an album with Manu Chao.
This album is a concerted global effort to showcase the most vital cornerstone of Malian culture in an attempt to preserve its reputation in the face of its current, grim reality. We hope our highlights of Mali's rich history of musical innovation will serve as a starting point for reclaiming an image tainted by unnecessary conflict. May peace and music return to Mali soon.
Velvet Season & the Hearts of Gold is the musical adventures of Gerry Rooney & Joel Martin. They have a rich musical history with Gerry Black Cock Records & Joel Quiet Village.
Aldo Tamborrelli – ‘Voices’ (VSHOG Special Version)
VSHOG present their official special version of this highly desirable hidden treasure of hypnotic electronic sleaze excavated from the cult soundtrack to a 1983 Italian ‘Apocalypse Now’ cash-in, and transform it into an 8 minute erogenous bump n’ grind trip to the twilight zone torture garden, cruising leather boys & fetish girls looking for Love in all the wrong places !
‘Voices’ is a narcotic synthesised masterpiece of body music to completely immerse your dark desires on the dancefloor. A dark risqué world of crisp chugging drum machines, mesmerising warm bass pulses, and the erotic wails of seductive screams in the night !
Stefano Torossi – ‘Having Fun’ (VSHOG Special Version)
The VSHOG version of 'Having Fun', from Stefano Torossi's 1974 album 'Feelings' (a holy grail of Italian library music) is an uplifting lush orchestral string laden funky breakbeat feel-good track to raise your vibrations!
Opening with a chunky stripped down drum & bass intro, the strings entice you further in & then the Disco Funk Psyche guitar riff really lifts the track to the sweet spot & you are completely hooked! A beautiful piece of music for all occasions - Balearic Sunsets/Sunrise, Disco dancing, B-Boys and Hip-Hop heads, Jazz Dancers & library music connoisseurs!
Another fantastic offering from the VSHOG Special Version series of releases.
“The Vale” is in immersive electronic album of dark soundtrack work. It’s the first of several Everyday Dust releases scheduled for Castles in Space in 2021.
Everyday Dust is RJ McConnell. Based in Scotland, RJ ditched piano lessons when he realised I had no interest in being an instrumentalist. Instead he wanted to create his own musical works from the ground up. He goes on, “I was much happier working my way through music theory books on my own and applying my learning to my own music. We had a little home studio when I was a child. My Dad was also a musician and was involved in local amateur theatre where he prepared and operated all the sound cues on reel to reel tape. So from an early age I was messing around with tape machines, making tape loops and recording music. For years I tried to make the most interesting tones I could from a Yamaha home keyboard by passing it through my Dad’s guitar pedals, or recording to tape and playing it back at different speeds etc. My first proper synth was the Roland SH101.” He went on to study music and sound for theatre and worked for many years as a theatre composer before branching into larger events and eventually film and documentary work.
The Vale story starts in 2018. RJ again, “I was brought in as composer for an independent horror short that was being filmed in Istanbul. The film was a vampire movie, very atmospheric and beautifully shot. I was aware of being a Scottish composer on a Turkish film and therefore didn’t want to attempt in any way to make anything that sounded traditionally Turkish. I wanted to represent the idea of these ancient beings who had existed in one of the oldest cities in the world for centuries. I wondered how I could imply this “ancient” world with the instruments I had to hand. I recorded various old metal whistles, which were slowed right down to become eerie arcane horn blasts that sounded like they had come from another time. I also recorded lots of melodica, which was again slowed down to sound like wheezing old harmonium drones. I spent another day recording inside an old piano, plucking individual strings and also hammering them percussively with wooden beaters. Using synthesizers and effects as the “glue” to bring these sounds together I started to work on the cues for the film. I had scored most of the film by the time I heard it was being cancelled. The concept and story had been taken over by a streaming site who wanted to make it into a series - with a drastically different tone and style.
“Later that same year I had worked on a project that incorporated the folklore of a celtic water sprite who kept the waterfalls and streams running smoothly so they could turn the mills of the local village. In return the villagers would bring the water sprite bannocks (Scottish flatbreads) each day. I started to daydream about a darker, Lovecraftian twist on this story. Some Ancient One dwelling in the forests and controlling the water - the very life essence of the village - in return for offerings of the soul. The concept was filed away in the back of my mind for some months.
“The following year I was on a flight to visit my friend in Bodrum. He had been the producer and editor on the original disbanded Vampire film, and I found myself thinking about the project again. I wondered if the sound cue files were still on my laptop, which they were. It had been a year since I’d even heard them. Hearing the eldritch folk-tinged sounds of the whistles and plucked strings my mind instantly returned to the idea of the Lovecraftian folk horror story. I started jotting down notes and musical ideas and by the time I landed in Bodrum I already had the album title - The Vale. Having the album concept and prototype ideas to work with was a huge head start in making the album. Although all of the original cues were so dramatically developed and transformed that they really just served as the initial clay on the wheel.
“I used a Doepfer A100 modular synth to create the animalistic yelps, conches and horns that were improvised over the original cues as a response to the arcane “folk” world of the acoustic instruments. This half-acoustic half-modular landscape was the sonic scene-setter I needed to move onto the composition and musical journey of the album. I composed and developed most of the musical parts on an Oberheim Matrix 6 synthesizer. However all the percussion, rhythmic sequences and ornamental synth sounds were created from improvised modular sessions multitrack recorded. A lot of editing later, the soundtrack to the movie in my mind was finally there.
Cobalt Chapel release ‘Orange Synthetic’, the follow-up to their much lauded self-titled debut album and its companion piece ‘Variants’. ‘Orange Synthetic’ is an exploration of the epic county they call home, Yorkshire. Written during this tumultuous turn of the decade, it is inspired by the humanity, anecdotes and folklore of the region, and the surrounding landscape.
The album delves into stories which exist at the edge of history and myth: the drowning of a village under Lake Semerwater, the mystery of the lost geodesic domes of RAF Fylingdales, the fate of John Hotham of Hull, beheaded for treason during the English Civil War, a psychedelic folk song about an infamous Cragg Vale farmer killed in a fight over a flock of sheep, the cry of Skylarks over Erringden Moor.
The album’s name stems from a line in the title track, telling the story of the fateful Yorkshire Folk, Blues & Jazz Festival in Krumlin, fifty years ago. Hit by a violent storm, it resulted in the devastation of the site, near-deaths from exposure and the promoter being found wandering the moors, days later.
Cobalt Chapel’s atmospheric style remains distinctively their own, through Cecilia Fage’s crisp English vocals and choral arrangements, and Jarrod Gosling’s use of organs such as the Vox Continental, Philicorda, and the USSR-era Elektronika Organ. These are the foundations of their rich, experimental yet melodic sound, and this album sees them expand on it with the addition of mandolin, guitars, and drawing on Cecilia’s classical background, with clarinets and recorders.
Nach Crazy Rhythms Of Mata Hari, Shake Your Bones, dem Cool Cat Club und Born To Hula! Folgt nun der 5. Teil der DJ-Set Serie auf Stag-O-Lee. Wie auch bei den Vorgängern handelt es sich hier um einen auf 80 Minuten eingedampftes DJ-Set von einem verdienten Recken der Zunft - Keb Darge. Gaz Mayall folgt direkt mit Volume 6. Linernotes: Rockabilly didn't cross my world until the early nineteen eighties at a Dirtbox weekender in Bournemouth, until then I was a pure northern soul boy. I didn't really get stuck into collecting the stuff until a decade later, but when I did what a wonderful world of tunes opened up to me, and I went wild on it. I was very lucky to be doing a record stall in Camden market at the time just across from Boz Boorer and Neil Scott's stall. They along with other serious collectors Dave Vickers, Barney Koumis, Cosmic Keith, Jim Fox, Dave Crozier, and many others taught me all I needed to know. I only ever made one great rockabilly discovery which none of them knew, "Little Bit Lonesome" by Charles Ross, but I was happy enough buying all their recommendations as they were all new and exciting for me. I have done several rockabilly comps before, but sadly the Philippines typhoon in 2013 destroyed my village and forced me to sell the bulk of my collection. Here are some of my favourites that I never got round to putting out before that happened. Two of the aforementioned collectors are no longer with us. I therefore dedicate this comp to Dave Vickers and Cosmic Keith who both had a huge influence on my life and my musical taste.
Transversales Disques is very glad to announce the release of the never released before piece Un Monde Lacéré by electroacoustic music pioneer Pierre Henry. This piece is a special tribute to Jacques Villeglé and his work. It is the world opening performance of this
opus, recorded in studio Son/Ré. Pierre Henry was born in 1927 In Paris. He started studying music as early as the age of seven. In 1944, guided by Olivier Messiaen, he imagined and started composing music for the future. His meeting with Pierre Schaeffer was crucial for his creation. Inventing new technical composition processes which in time have become widely used on a large scale, he has constantly given this music a far reaching power no one expected at the start. He
has also invented his own sound, as easily distinguishable as the sound of the most famous jazz musician.
