Limited edition classic LP, reissued on 180g vinyl, audiophile pressing
One of the best albums by the ill-fated trio of Bill Evans with bassist Scott LaFaro and drummer Paul Motian.
Penguin Guide To Jazz review:
"All the Vanguard music is informed by an extra sense of discovery, as ifthe musicians were suddenly aware of what they were on to and werecelebrating the achievement.
This is music which continues to provokemarvel and endless
study." - Richard Cook & Brian Morton
coloured 2x12"[35,08 €]
Preservation Act 1 is a concept album and the 12th studio LP by The Kinks, originally released on RCA on 16 November 1973.
Preservation is the bands most ambitious project - a rock opera that uses the charming, small-town nostalgia of Village Green as a template to draw the entirety of society and how it works.
Epic opener ‘Morning Song’ sets the scene and mood for the record, followed by a classic sounding Dave Davies’ riff, ‘Daylight’, which echoes themes and sounds tones of one their most recognisable and highly acclaimed albums, ‘The Village Green Preservation Society’.
Standout tracks are the endearingly lazy ‘Sitting in the Midday Sun’ and the beautiful ‘Sweet Lady Genevieve’ – both strong contenders for overlooked Ray Davies masterpieces.
A critically acclaimed album, reviewed by Rolling Stone at the time as "A highly listenable, enjoyable album".
This release is a faithful reproduction of the original 1973 album, on heavyweight 180g vinyl. A must-have for any Kinks fan and its first vinyl re-press, apart from a limited edition 2008 US edition, since the original 1973 LP release.
Originally reissued as part of the Promise Kept: The Complete Artist House Recordings boxed set, now available separately LP contains the original 5 tracks – CD/Digital include an additional 3 bonus tracks Remastered by Grammy® winner Michael Graves, with vinyl cut by Jeff Powell Producer John Snyder had always wanted to record Pepper and booked him into a week at the Village Vanguard in New York. At the time, Pepper was under contract to Contemporary Records and label head, Les Koenig, decided he would record the gigs, quashing any notion Snyder had of doing the same. However, Art promised Snyder that he’d record an album for Snyder’s label, Artists House, at some point down the road. Together they wound up making four. Here again on vinyl, CD & Digital are the original albums drawn from these sessions, lovingly recreated in their original form, remastered by Grammy® winner Michael Graves and recut by Jeff Powell. So In Love (originally issued in 1980) features Pepper’s takes on classics from Thelonious Monk, Cole Porter, and Hoagy Carmichael, plus a pair of originals including “Blues For Blanche.” The CD and Digital add three bonus performances from the sessions. The AllMusic review by Scott Yanow noted: "Pepper is in excellent form throughout the album, giving these songs heart-wrenching interpretations". “John and Art both kept their promises. John brought Art into the wider world; he put him on the road. Just as he said he would, he brought him to New York and to the Village Vanguard, got his picture in the papers, got him on the radio. From Art, John got his dearest wish. He made these recordings.” —Laurie Pepper
[f] 6. Yesterdays (Take 2) [Bonus Track]
[g] 7. Landscape [Bonus Track]
[h] 8. Straight, No Chaser (Take 4) [Bonus Track]
In the mid-'60s, Albert Ayler found himself at the center of major transformations within jazz. On his albums for ESP-Disk', his delivery was radically aggressive and his tone blistering – aiming for something beyond the New Thing. His music would be further energized when (at the behest of John Coltrane) Bob Thiele signed him to Impulse! As Ayler told The Plain Dealer at the time, "It's not about notes anymore. It's a sound – a feeling. The approach we're taking will discontinue the use of the word 'jazz.'"
In Greenwich Village, Ayler's first LP on Impulse!, perfectly captures the Cleveland-born saxophonist's radiant intensity. Sourced from a pair of live engagements – February '67 at the Village Theatre on New York's Lower East Side and December '66 at the Village Vanguard – these recordings show an improved clarity in production and performance.
Both sets feature two basses (including Alan Silva and Henry Grimes) which allowed the ensemble to go in different harmonic directions while maintaining an organic unity. Of particular interest are "For John Coltrane," a tribute to Ayler's mentor who would pass later that year, and "Truth Is Marching In" where trumpeter Donald Ayler joins his brother to celebrate and ultimately deconstruct several jazz traditions to stunning effect.
Vibrant in sound and vision, Albert Ayler's In Greenwich Village is a landmark statement in free jazz and a career high-point for this truly original artist. Superior Viaduct is honored to present this classic album on vinyl for the first time domestically in 30 years.
A wild and funky collection of Afro grooves that was ahead of its time in 1977 and has become a collector’s item in recent years, especially due to the growing international interest in Colombian picó sound system culture. Fruko and his studio bands Wganda Kenya and Kammpala Grupo treat us to a diverse set of African and Caribbean styles, laced with crazy synths, psychedelic guitar and infectious pan-African polyrhythms. By the time Discos Fuentes released the album “Wganda Kenya Kammpala Grupo” in 1977, Wganda Kenya’s discography was expanding with many 45 singles and appearances in various artists collections. The group’s 1975 debut record “África 5.000” was a full length LP in the U.S. and a various artists compilation in Colombia, which was followed by the self-titled long player the following year. However, Kammpala Grupo, which shared the album’s title and was credited to three songs on the record, had never appeared before, yet was basically the same studio group as Wganda Kenya. Most likely the creation of this short-lived studio band was just a ploy by the label to make it seem like there were more groups playing the type of exotic afro tracks favored by the picotero DJs of Colombia’s Caribbean coast (especially in Barranquilla and Cartagena). 1974 Discos Fuentes’ management had sent musician, band leader and producer Julio Ernesto “Fruko” Estrada to the coast on an A&R mission to discover what people were dancing to in the verbenas (communal open air neighborhood parties) run by the owners of picó sound systems (decorated mobile DJ rigs). Always game for an adventure, Fruko was tasked with bringing some popular examples of these esoteric, hard-to-find African, French and Dutch Antillean records back to Medellín to serve as inspiration (or to outright copy) so that the label could enter into the growing regional market and spread its popularity to the interior of Colombia and other Latin American countries via its own studio creation, Wganda Kenya. Fuentes was always returning to exploit the rich African-rooted culture of the coast as it had with the cumbia and other regional genres before, so in a way it was not surprising that they were attuned to this particular niche phenomenon from a marginalized sector of the population. The most popular genres with the champeta dancers in the 70’s and 80’s were styles like Congolese rumba, highlife, afrobeat, juju, mbaqanga and soukous as well as the music of Haiti, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Curaçao and Dominica, all of which were fiercely guarded by the DJs who had managed to acquire them often through extreme means of travel, barter and intense digging. The record kicks off with the joyful ‘El Gallo Africano’ which features exquisite interplay between Sepúlveda’s highlife style guitar and an authentic-sounding African style saxophone, perhaps played by Carlos Piña. In reality it was ‘Go Call Police Chief’ by prolific Nigerian highlife guitarist Chief Oliver Sunday Akanite, aka Oliver De Coque. Next up is Kammpala Grupo’s ‘La Yuca Rayá’ (‘Grated Yuca’), written by Isaac Villanueva in a style he termed son haitiano which sounds much more like Zimbabwe Shona mbira music. Wganda Kenya’s ‘Caimito’ (star apple, a type of tropical fruit), on the other hand, is actually a cover of a relatively well-known Haitian merengue song. Kammpala Grupo then takes us from the French Antilles to the multi-cultural discotheques of Paris, where a cover version of Black Soul’s Afro-boogie anthem ‘Black Soul Music’ is retooled and renamed ‘King Kong’, perhaps in a nod to the 1976 remake of the monster flick of the same name. Side two introduces us to the infectious merengue rebita of Angola via ‘La riphyta’ with “Paparí”, aka Mariano Sepúlveda, doing the vocals and faithfully replicating the Angolan guitar style. ‘La Trompeta Loca’ (‘The Crazy Trumpet’), probably the nuttiest track on the album, is an ingenious cover of ‘Ye Gbawa Oo Baba (Tribute To Nigeria)’ by Joe Mensah of Ghana. As with all their covers of African tunes, this rendition tightens up the original with some pop sheen, more consistent drumming and higher production values, remaking it into a powerful slow-burning dance floor filler. This is followed by one of the most powerfully original songs to come out of the entire Wganda Kenya project, Mike Char’s reggae anthem ‘El Nativo’ with Joe Arroyo on vocals. The record ends on a more authentically Caribbean sounding note with the instrumental ‘El testamento’, a cheerful islands banger with bright brass, syncopated calypso beats and chunky cuatro guitar (or ukulele). The original was in the mento genre and titled ‘Sweet meat’, written and recorded by Jamaican trumpeter Bobby Ellis. First time reissue. 180g vinyl.
We are absolute fans of Powel's work, no doubt, but what he have done for his frst vinyl in Seven Villas is something else, he goes beyond boundaries.
These four original tracks have no gendre, and this is something realy special. Powel always delivers the finest electronica, his album in All Day I Dream proves the techno craftsman he is.
Please take your time to listen to this excellent songs, and discover all the hidden details and messaged thay have, this is pure magic.
Egyptian-Australian DJ/producer moktar announces his second boundary-pushing five track EP, ‘Immigrant’. An expressive and considered journey that combines his Middle Eastern heritage and influential club sounds in one.
‘Immigrant’ sees moktar continue to bring traditional Arabic instrumentation into the club by weaving samples like polyrhythmic drumming and the Arabic Oud into experimental club music which has captured the attention of many tastemakers. Giant Swan, Anz, Tash LC, Raji Rags, Jamie XX, Bonobo, Groove Armada, Hudson Mohawke, Mary Anne Hobbs and Jamz Supernova all championed his highly favoured self-titled EP in 2021, which topped the Australian community radio charts as a number #1 most played alongside the global support it received. The release represented re-learning the value of his Egyptian heritage following racism and stereotyping growing up. ‘Immigrant’ expands on the story.
Debut single ‘Immigrant’ was released in September and served as a backdrop for moktar to air the stories of many as well as his own, told through a chopped vocal sample of Arsenal Football Club’s host and hype man, Frimpon. ‘North Africa’ and ‘Al-Duqqi’ are a homage to moktar’s roots. ‘Crossroads’ represents his need to push himself and grow in life and music, and ‘Send it’ (a term in Australia that means you're about to do something wild) also aims to represent Middle Eastern communities in Bankstown, Sydney.
moktar explains - “Through Immigrant I wanted to highlight the struggle many people all over the world go through to be accepted, while representing the community in Egypt, North Africa and Australia. Fusing Middle Eastern sounds into sounds into my music has been a big part of helping me become proud of who I am. I feel passionate about bringing these sounds to a wider audience in the hope it helps others in the identity struggle feel a sense of pride too”
The EP falls just as moktar’s highly anticipated debut EU tour comes to a close, playing b2b with DJ Plead at Phonox for Yung Singh, Adaptations Festival, Repercussions Festival, Werkhaus Festival, b2b with Mr Scruff at Field Day, Lost Village, Amsterdam for ADE with Kode 9, Rex Club in Paris, and Takseer festival Berlin.
Naarm alchemists Sleep D's revelatory new synthetic 'Electronic Arts' is ready for circulation.
Having released 4 EPs of mind-altering club tackle since 2019's 'Rebel Force', the duo overcome second album syndrome, boiling down their chaos with a more developed sense of songwriting. Never banging one drum, 'Electronic Arts' mirrors the anything goes mania of their DJ sets, tactfully shifting through different sounds and styles. Tempos intensify and decelerate, at times pushing the threshold to 150 bpm from docile canine dreamscapes to full tilt Space Invaders in AR mind games.
Largely built on road tested material from their live performances, the album is a tangible Butter Sessions gathering, busting out the gate with Martian rave initiation Planet Waves, Outdoor System's polyrhythmic beatdown and the Orb-like hero dose affirmations of Sunrise In The Crater (I Exist). While 'Electronic Arts' is otherwise a self-dependent effort, Punch Drunk is brewed ever more potent by the hypnagogic vocals and lucid trumpet cycles of former futsal team member YL Hooi. Their unified energy incidentally manifests a profound matrix of ambient techno, motorik, Don Cherry and Everything But the Girl.
Also touching on apocalyptic doof and minimal, the album is not exclusively peak time with Maryos Syawish and Corey Kikos' specialty curveballs also playing their part. From Village To Empire finds the duo rooting down in Syawish's heritage with a tapestry of purposefully deployed Iraqi and Syrian ethnographic samples and field recordings, dubbed within range of Muslimgauze and On-U Sound. As minimal techno finale Textile trails off into footsteps wandering back to base camp with a satisfied exhale, one wonders where Sleep D's existential pathfinding could possibly take us next?
Since the release of Surprise Chef's 2022 album, Education & Recreation, they have been touring across the US, Europe, and Australia selling out shows and cementing themselves as a force to be reckoned with. Releasing three albums and a string of successful 7" singles since 2019, their output is nothing short of prolific and they show no signs of slowing down with the announcement of their new Friendship EP. Friendship is a six song 12" EP recorded during the Education & Recreation sessions that stands as "a humble monument to the most crucial principle of our band: that the love we share for one another is, at all times, the most important thing".
Surprise Chef holed up for a marathon of a recording session and laid down more tracks than would fit on an album. Here now, we dig in the vault from those sessions and share some absolute gems. The EP opens with "Rosemary Hemphill", a nod to David Axelrod that takes the listener through a myriad of musical changes and moods in proper cinematic soul fashion.
"Friendship Theme" is a bouncy and energetic number with an infectious and driving clavinet topline that is sure to move dancefloors around the globe. "Over The Moon" is pure mood music that puts Surprise Chef's restraint and tasteful use of space front and center while "Spiky Boi" is a frantic upbeat number drenched in percussion and keyboards.
SC have a heavy touring schedule for the rest of 2023 and will be finishing up the recording of their next album which is due out in 2024 in between runs. UK shows: May 29 Pink Room - Manchester, May 30 Village Underground – London. Also Available From Surprise Chef: Money Music 7", Education & Recreation LP / CD, Velodrome7”
In the five years since Creep Show’s acclaimed Mr Dynamite album was released it’s fair to say that we’ve all been through a fair bit. Sitting here, in 2023, things don’t seem to be getting any better. There’s the cost of living crisis and political meltdowns; we're in deep water with global warming and to top it all there’s a war on our doorstep.
Back in 2018 everything seemed less complicated. Sure, there was stuff to get riled about, but we knew nothing about what was to come. Mr Dynamite was a fairground ride into the dark corners of a world that was on the brink of being blitzed in a blender. It was a record teetering on the edge. Five years down the line you’d expect the follow-up, Yawning Abyss, would double-down and bring the white-knuckled, teeth-gritted fury of the last five years to the boil. And yet….
A quick recap? No problem. Wrangler + John Grant = Creep Show. And Creep Show? “A band of musical misfits who have found a voice or two”, says Wrangler’s Ben “Benge” Edwards, whose Bond villain studio on the edge of a moorland is Creep Show Grand Central as well as home to an analogue synth arsenal that could sink ships.
Wrangler have known each other for a while. Tunng’s electronics wizard Phil Winter and Cabaret Voltaire’s trailblazing, pioneering frontman Stephen Mallinder go way back, while Phil and Benge crossed paths in the 21st century when they seemed to be increasingly in the same venues at the same times. Meanwhile, Mal had been living in Australia since the mid-90s and when, in 2007, he returned to the UK his old pal Phil suggested he meet Benge and the three of them immediately began working together.
Wrangler collectively bumped into Grant at their soundcheck for Sheffield’s Sensoria Festival in 2014 where they were playing with Carter Tutti. A friendship blossomed and when they were invited to perform together for Rough Trade’s 40th anniversary show at London’s Barbican in 2016, well, they jumped at the chance... and Creep Show was born.
Let’s talk about the new album... What is the ‘Yawning Abyss’? You might well ask. According to Mal, it’s “a cosmic event horizon that I can see from my attic window when stand on a chair”. Yeah. Thanks.
“On this album”, offers Benge, feet firmly on the floor, “Wrangler wrangled some vintage synths, mostly Roland, Moog, and the ‘Crystal Machine’ - then John Grant joined in the fun at Memetune Studios where lots of musical experiments were carried out. Then Mal and John ran off to Iceland with the master tapes and recorded a load of madcap vocals. Back at Memetune, me and Phil were left to try and make sense of it all. Which wasn’t hard because what they did in Iceland was totally magnificent.”
Which kind of brings us back to where we began. You’d imagine ‘Yawning Abyss’ would be blowing steam out of its furious ears. Mr Dynamite but kicking a wasps nest. Repeatedly. And yet…
Opener ‘The Bellows’ comes on like a modular ‘Radio Ga Ga’, the singalong ‘Moneyback’ (“You want your money back? / I didn’t think so”) sounds like Godley & Creme’s ‘Snack Attack’ meets Prince Charles And The City Beat Band (“Pennies, pounds, dollar bills, signed agreements, death wills”). ‘Yahtzee!’ is an unhinged electro breakdance party in four minutes and nine seconds.
Where Mr Dynamite was menace, a mélange of mangled voices, with Grant and Mallinder being heavily treated, pitched up or down, rendering their contributions largely indistinguishable, Yawning Abyss takes a more direct approach. You hesitate to say feelgood, but there’s a skip in the step here for sure.
The title track plays John Grant’s vocal straight. Completely. It’s good, so very good. Like ‘Axel F’ covered by Vangelis. The delicious shimmering synths of ‘Bungalow’ also plays those Grant pipes with a straight bat. ‘Matinee’ delves into darker, very funky territory. With Mal upfront it comes on like ‘The Crackdown’. Choice lyric: “You are starting to breakdown / And it’s so fun for me to see / You should have thought of that / You should have come prepared / You can see what’s happening and you look a little scared”.
So, you know, not all feelgood. But it does feel good. It’s probably best to draw your own conclusions... This is Creep Show after all.
Exotica, ye-yé cumbia, guaracha infused twist, rock’n roll mambo, Spanish rumba, boogaloo beat, tropical garage and other unexpected bastard genres are featured in this festive compilation of bizarre hits taken from the glorious catalog of records released during the 60s and 70s on the Peruvian label Discos MAG. Some clearly unite genres, others are projects with creative names, but all are bold musical initiatives that got and will always get people onto the dance floor. “Sabroso Go Go” brings together fourteen musical mixes created in the recording studios of Manuel Antonio Guerrero (MAG), in which music directors combine rhythm with alchemy in a quest to find the philosopher's stone of the dance. Exotica, ye-yé cumbia, guaracha infused twist, rock’n roll mambo, Spanish rumba, boogaloo beat, tropical garage and other unexpected bastard genres are featured in this festive compilation. Although this compilation begins in 1957, experiments like this (some more memorable than others) were not new in Peru. The songs on this album were however much more successful hybrids. Some clearly unite genres, others are projects with creative names, but all are bold musical initiatives that got and will always get people onto the dance floor. At the end of the fifties, rock music shook the foundations of Peru, and orchestras rushed to cover hit songs and explore the possibilities of mixing them with tropical music. Lucho Macedo's orchestra took up the mantle and reinterpreted a well-known guaracha by Celia Cruz ('Rock and Roll') in mambo style, renaming it 'Rock and roll Mambo'. 'Maestro de Rock and Roll', a hit by the Cuban Conjunto Casino, received similar treatment. Another mix in this vein is the rock tune 'El Rock de los Chinos' by the Mexican Manolo Muñoz (author of 'Speedy González') recorded by the Chilean Choche Mérida for MAG in 1961. The following year, Chubby Checker’s 'The Twist' hit the scene and was immediately fused with guaracha by maestro Nelson Ferreyra. A legendary MAG musician, Carlos Pickling, composed 'La Charanga del Espacio' in 1963. The space sounds are produced by Pickling and his inseparable Hammond. He himself is the one who leads the orchestra that accompanies Benny Del Solar, Lita Branda and Pablo "Melcochita" Villanueva in the tropicalized version of Spanish Rumba, when the beats of the Iberian rumba were still exotic in South America. Around that time, the Chilean Willy Marambio was already living in Lima. In the track included on this album, the go-go style showcases his virtuosity on the trumpet. Another outstanding trumpet player, Roberto "Tito" Chicoma from Chiclayo, played as a session musician with MAG from 1959. A few years later, he became one of the most popular Colombian cumbia players, a talent he demonstrates in the song on this compilation, which blends the fun of go-go with yé-yé beats. 'Batijugando' was a hit from Mexico and was played in all the rhythms played across the Hispanic world since 1967. Inspired by the "Batman" series, it was performed at MAG by the Betico Salas orchestra, with vocals by the Panamanian lady crooner Nallye Fernández. 'Computador Electrónico' is another surprise on this album, performed by Panamanian vocalist Patty Pastel, it is the only known version in Spanish of 'Der Computer Nr. 3', originally sung in German by France Gall. Two other songs feature Edgar Zamudio. The versatility of Zamudio y Los Vikingos (originally a Chilean group) is demonstrated in the guitar-heavy song composed specifically for the late sixties skate fashion ('Go Go en Patines') and in his idiosyncratic protest song ('Día de Pago') performed in beat style. In the mid-seventies, Los Kintos, led by guitarist Francisco Acosta, developed different harmonic ideas in an instrumental track that veers from boogaloo to salsa, the fashionable rhythm of the day. Finally, in 1976, when the bumping hips dance craze swept the continent, Manuel Guerrero was quick to jump onto the bandwagon, composing a Bump song, together with his son Carlos. The Italian musician based in Lima, Luciano Luciani performed the song 'A Bailar Bump' backed by his band of local musicians Los Mulatos.
The debut album from London's finest, Hak Baker - 'Worlds End FM' represents the war in Hak's mind, the culture war on the streets of London and the individual battles of his community - from his mother to his brother to his best friends. In a year that will see Hak perform alongside Pete Doherty at The Royal Albert Hall, Jamie T at Finsbury Park & his own headline UK & Germany tours, the campaign has already garnered support from Rolling Stone, NME, Clara Amfo, Steve Lamacq, Jamz Supernova & partnerships with Dr Martens, Fred Perry, Fender, FIFA & Hugo Boss to name a few. Previous highlights include performing on Later with Jools, Glastonbury 2022 (Other Stage), the first artist ever to play at the BBC's new Eastbank site, selling out two Village Underground shows & been championed by the likes of Clara Amfo, Jack Saunders, Sian Eleri, Tom Ravenscroft, Jo Whiley, Huw Stephens & Charlie Sloth.
Matt Berry’s second album for Acid Jazz was the astounding ‘Kill The Wolf’. Building on and expanding on the sound of his label debut, it mixed baroque folk with psychedelia.
Containing the well-received single ‘Medicine’, the ruralistic ‘Gather Up’, as featured in ‘What We Do In The Shadows’, and the nine minute ‘Solstice’, as championed by BBC Radio 6 Music.
Zuerst veröffentlicht im Jahr 2013 feiert 'Kill The Wolf' seinen 10. Geburstag. Auf seinem zweiten Album führt Matt Berry seine progressive Musik mit 70-Jahre-Pop und psychedelischen Experimente fort und etabliert sich mit einem von der Kritik gefeierten Werk weiter als Musiker.
Anlässlich des zehnjährigen Jubiläums des Albums sind Deluxeversionen von Tracks erhältlich - in einigen Formaten zum allerersten Mal. Die Doppel-LP im Gatefold-Format enthält das Originalalbum auf der LP und das gesamte exklusive Material auf einer zweiten LP.
2X12 VINYL[35,25 €]
Blue Version[18,28 €]
Orange Version[18,28 €]
Magenta version[35,50 €]
3 Feet High and Rising is the debut studio album by hip hop trio De La Soul and was released on March 3, 1989
It marked the first of three full- length collaborations with producer Prince Paul, which would become the critical and commercial peak of both parties. Critically, as well as commercially, the album was a success. It contains the singles, "Me Myself and I", "The Magic Number", "Buddy", and "Eye Know".
The album title came from the Johnny Cash song "Five Feet High and Rising". It is listed on Rolling Stone's 200 Essential Rock Records and The Source's 100 Best Rap Albums. When Village Voice held its annual Pazz & Jop Critics Poll for 1989, 3 Feet High and Rising was ranked #1. It was also listed on the Rolling Stone's
The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Released amid the 1989 boom in gangsta rap, which gravitated towards hardcore, confrontational, violent lyrics, De La Soul's uniquely positive style made them an oddity beginning with the first single, "Me, Myself and I". Their positivity meant many observers labeled them a 'hippie' group, based on their declaration of the 'D.A.I.S.Y. Age' (Da. Inner. Soul. Yall).
Sampling artists as diverse as Hall & Oates, Steely Dan and The Turtles, 3 Feet High and Rising is often viewed as the stylistic beginning of 1990s alternative hip hop (and especially jazz rap).
Svart Records are ecstatic to present the first ever vinyl edition of the Mad Juana debut album Skin Of My Teeth. Limited to 500 copies and including a bonus CD with 5 home demos. Mad Juana were Sam Yaffa (Hanoi Rocks) and Karmen Guy, and Skin Of My Teeth will see the light of day for the first time since 1997. After the years spent as the bassist for Hanoi Rocks and Demolition 23, Yaffa began to search for new musical enthusiasm by exploring a wide range of different genres of music, while learning to play numerous new instruments. Mad Juana allowed him to step outside his comfort zone and redefine himself as a musician. “Re-mastered, the record will get a new life in the spring of 2023. The album that was created 27 years ago is still one of my favorite records. Written and created with my ex-wife Karmen Guy, the album is an inspired celebration of limitless musical joy, which combines rock'n'roll, punk, experimental music, a little bit of ethno and whatever came to our minds in the creative process" says Yaffa. Mad Juana's Skin of My Teeth was born in two countries and broke musical boundaries. “The album was first recorded at our home studio in the small Mallorcan village of Montuiri in Spain and finished at the late Hombre Laitinen's studio in Tikkurila, Finland. The album that also featured the percussion maestro, Affe Forsman was a turning point for me personally in creating music and my approach to it. All the rules and habits of making music learned previously were tossed aside, and a door to a new musical world was kicked wide open with a big boot", Yaffa describes the making of the album and continues excitedly, ”Re-mastered and with Svart's great album packaging, the album will hopefully reach the ears and eyes of those who might not have even known about its existence. I'm going to blast the vinyl to 11 as soon as I get my hands on it!".
FINALLY BACK IN STOCK ON LP!!! Ozma was recorded soon after Melvins made the move from Washington to San Francisco, and was their first release to include the diminutive yet mighty Lorax (Lori Temple Black) on bass. In fact, the first sound one hears at the album’s opening is Lori standing on her tiptoes to switch on her amp, thereby warning the listener of the onslaught to come. Distorted, down-tuned doom riffs start, stop, lurch sideways with no warning, and seem to end before they start. Buzz Osborne adds extraneous guitar static and vocal squeals. Drummer Dale Crover plays as if he’s inside a barrel going over Niagara Falls; the long, slow fall allows the space between beats to grow and grow until he crashes into the water with the vessel blasting apart in an explosion of drum rolls. The classic Melvins heavy grind is set up and broken up by assorted odd sidetracks: “Revulsion / We Reach” flows forward slower and slower until it eventually melts into a gooey feedback drone. “Raise a Paw” is a superball paddled against one’s head by a grinning village idiot. “Love Thing” enlists in the Kiss Army before getting dishonorably discharged.
Black Vinyl[23,49 €]
Since the release of Surprise Chef's 2022 album, Education & Recreation, they have been touring across the US, Europe, and Australia selling out shows and cementing themselves as a force to be reckoned with. Releasing three albums and a string of successful 7" singles since 2019, their output is nothing short of prolific and they show no signs of slowing down with the announcement of their new Friendship EP. Friendship is a six song 12" EP recorded during the Education & Recreation sessions that stands as "a humble monument to the most crucial principle of our band: that the love we share for one another is, at all times, the most important thing". Surprise Chef holed up for a marathon of a recording session and laid down more tracks than would fit on an album. Here now, we dig in the vault from those sessions and share some absolute gems. The EP opens with "Rosemary Hemphill", a nod to David Axelrod that takes the listener through a myriad of musical changes and moods in proper cinematic soul fashion. "Friendship Theme" is a bouncy and energetic number with an infectious and driving clavinet topline that is sure to move dancefloors around the globe. "Over The Moon" is pure mood music that puts Surprise Chef's restraint and tasteful use of space front and center while "Spiky Boi" is a frantic upbeat number drenched in percussion and keyboards. SC have a heavy touring schedule for the rest of 2023 and will be finishing up the recording of their next album which is due out in 2024 in between runs. UK shows: May 29 Pink Room - Manchester, May 30 Village Underground – London. Also Available From Surprise Chef: Money Music 7", Education & Recreation LP / CD, Velodrome7”
An explorative sonic landscape with the beautifully eclectic sounds of drum and bass at its core, Sustance’s debut album is every bit as thought-out, polished, and innovative as we’ve come to expect from one of drum and bass’ brightest prospects.
Having grown up listening to seminal Shogun albums like Spectrasoul's 'Delay No More' and Icicle's 'Under The Ice', ‘Perceived Connections’ acts as a full circle moment for the producer, who now finds himself following in the footsteps of the artists who profoundly influenced his approach to creating music.
Written between London and Berlin across a twelve-month period, 'Perceived Connections' encapsulates both of the alluring sides of Sustance's sound. In the same fashion that the album's writing process pivoted between two capital cities, Sustance's debut album presents both deep and expressive tracks such as 'I Want You' and 'Sweet Relief', as well as showcasing heavy, sound system-destroying tunes like 'Undercurrent' and 'Ten Ton’.
“The album title comes from the Zen idea that everyone perceives the world through their own perspective. Two people can listen to a record side by side and have totally different experiences. I really liked that idea as music is inherently so subjective. Sustance
Accompanying Sustance on this LP voyage is a plethora of D&B’s hottest talent, with Pola & Bryson, Visages, Flowdan, Strategy, Duskee, T-Man, Catching Cairo & Zara Kershaw all sprinkling their own flavours across the album.
Traversing an array of sounds, styles, and genres throughout, 'Perceived Connections' is nothing short of an exceptional extended body of work from a producer whose razor-tight approach to music has seen him emerge with one of the crispest and most captivating sonic palettes in drum and bass music.
