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Willy Lubisi better known by his stage name "SculpturedMusic" is a DJ & Producer who hails from Spruitview, situated in the east of Gauteng. He has 3 Albums. 2018 Saw SculpturedMusic evolve with times with his Smash Hits "OverFlow. Sing My Blues and who can forget "SadToThink" rumbled the house music dance floor across SA, which saw him take "Best Producer of 2019 at Dance Music South Afrika". Tokzen Records is going to release two projects on vinyl from SculpturedMusic thus far, and the projects are : East Blues E.P, Tell The Grooves while we at Tokzen Records are planning on release more projects from this outstanding artist.

The brand new single from The Delines - whom will be releasing their new LP next Feb 2022 - much of which is inspired by Amy Boone and Willy Vlautin's shared love of Tony Joe White. Little Earl will be the lead track for the new album and Myrna and McCaughey will be exclusive to this single on physical formats. Recorded with longtime producer John Askew in Portland over 2019/2020 just before Covid hit. It features the classic line up of the band whom gave the world 'The Imperial' lp which was number 1 for two weeks on the official Americana charts with Amy Boone (vocals), Willy Vlautin (guitar/songwriting), Sean Oldham (drums), Freddy Trujillo (bass) plus the amazing arrangements by Cory Gray (keys and horns).

Who better to help you celebrate that most wonderful time of the year than holiday favorites Bad Religion? Tackling eight chestnuts in their classic punk rock style. From "White Christmas" with its nod to pioneers The Ramones, to the glorious choirboy intro to "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing," Christmas Songs is the record you need to get your holiday household's toes tapping. Limited pressing - 1000 units worldwide, for the first time on green and yellow vinyl.

Chìsake Algonquin: to chant; to conjure; to cast a spell; this generally involves a shake-house, or shaking tent, in which the conjurer goes into a trance; the conjurer then has an out-of-body experience, going into the future to predict coming events, or into the past; as well as going into any locality in the universe to seek out someone or something generally practiced for ancestral divination.

The unaccompanied flute pieces within this album are adaptations of Anishinaabeg shaking tent chants. The Anishinaabeg also known as Anishinaabe are a group of culturally related Indigenous peoples that reside in areas now called Canada and the United States. They include the Odawa, Saulteaux, Ojibwe (including Mississaugas), Potawatomi, Oji-Cree and Algonquin peoples. The word Anishinaabeg translates to "people from whence lowered". The Anishinaabeg origin myths describe their people originating by divine breath.

The shaking tent or conjuring lodge was the setting for a divinatory rite performed by specially trained shamans otherwise known as Chìsakewininì. During the shaking tent ceremony the Chìsakewininì would construct a special cylindrical framework typically of birch or spruce uprights planted in the ground with respective wood hoops to bind it together. This created a tensile structure of which birch bark, deer skin, or cloth was used as a covering. Rattles of caribou and deer hooves, or cups of lead shot, were tied to the frame. The floor was usually softened with freshly cut spruce boughs. The vertical axis of the shaking tent represents the realm of mediating beings, while the horizontal axis the earth or world of humans. The Chìsakewininì would enter the shaking tent at night and once inside would not be visible from onlookers. The singing of chants and drumming would summon the Chìsakewininì's spirit helpers, whose arrival was signified by animal cries and erratic tent shaking. During this transcendent state, the Chìsakewininì could dispatch these spirit helpers or Manidò to distant regions to answer questions from the onlookers about the most auspicious places to hunt, the well-being of a distant relative, and what would happen in the future.

The chants were usually sung using vocables before, during, and after the Chìsakewininì entered the shaking tent. Like many other similar divination ceremonies, singular or collective, the opening chants begin lyrically. They gradually turn to more reductive abstract structures midway and then end in lyrical chants. This symbolizes the performer and listener leaving the external literal world, entering a more abstract state of mind, and then returning. Traditionally all songs were carved on birch bark for record-keeping with mnemonic pictographs or other marks for future use. Tally mark clustering, sometimes used for song-keeping throughout the Anishinaabeg, is used for this album's track titles and numerical sequence.

The album intro begins with the shaking of a necklace of otter penis bone, fish spine, bear teeth, elk teeth and deer hide, gifted from Algonquin Elder Ajawajawesi. It is meant to focus the listener's attention before the flute pieces begin. The warble or multi-phonic oscillation prevalent in the middle tracks traditionally represented the "throat rattling" vocalization of the tonic note or sometimes known as the horizon of which the melody floats off of. Due to the repetition of multi-phonic oscillation the performer will breathe erratically creating an altered state correlating with the Chìsakewininì ceremonial actions. All songs are repeated seven times to signify the seven sacred directions: east, south, west, north, above/sky, below/earth, and center.

For nearly two decades, four-time GRAMMY® Award-winning multi-instrumentalist, bandleader, producer, arranger, and songwriter Michael League has been an innovative force in modern music, whose grass-roots approach to the industry has made an imprint across multiple continents and genres. Known best as the leader of the instrumental ensemble Snarky Puppy, League has performed thousands of shows, released dozens of studio and live albums, and garnered accolades from the New York Times, Downbeat, Jazz Times, and Rolling Stone, among many others. The busy artist is also a founding member of the GRAMMY®-nominated supergroup Bokanté and oversees GroundUP Music—a fiercely independent label which he established in 2012. As a versatile producer and songwriter, League has collaborated with a broad spectrum of artists, including David Crosby, Esperanza Spaulding, Kirk Franklin, Joe Walsh, Daedelus, and Terence Blanchard. Throughout his many ventures, however, League has always felt most comfortable within a collaborative setting, whether he’s bringing musicians together from across the globe, planning the latest edition of the GroundUP Music Festival, or writing one-on-one with a partner. While the notion of a solo record first took shape in 2015, League’s demanding schedule always prevented him from pursuing it in earnest. And then, in March 2020, the world went into lockdown amid the COVID-19 pandemic. With tours canceled, studios shuttered, and projects on hold indefinitely, League finally had the time to make this record—titled So Many Me. Yet, lyrically and musically, his first solo album was a very different project—and process—than what he had initially envisioned five years earlier.

Ever-evolving Australian outfit The Possé debut on cult deep house label Pulp with Moods & Vibrations. Their fresh new four-tracker includes a remix from Space Ghost.

Andrew Elston and Ross Ferraro are the core members of The Possé, but the group often expands or contracts with various other musicians. Since 2017 they have released on the likes of Plastic World, Ken Oath Records and Kolour LTD, and bring plenty of Southern Hemisphere heat to all their productions.

'Parting' opens up with plenty of soulful Detroit house flavours. The dusty drums get you in the groove while subtle acid and silky pads bring a feel-good, sun-kissed vibe. Remixer Space Ghost is Sudi Wachspress, a real album specialist who has released on Tartelet and Apron Records. He has a uniquely lo-fi house sound that draws on funk
and soul. This remix is a late-night jam with gorgeous trumpet motifs and scuffed-up drum patterns all finished off with warming sunset chords.

Then comes 'In Focus', a brilliantly loose and jazzed-up jam. The skipping drums are run through with playful keys and humid chords that cannot fail to bring the party. 'Prime Mover' is a little more direct and dynamic but no less heartfelt, with more expressive melodies and infectious drums. A liquid Mix of 'Prime Mover' layers in fatter bass and more crisp percussion to take you to another level. Moods & Vibrations is an EP of rich, musical house grooves that are overflowing with soul.

Duane Pitre returns to Imprec with Omniscient Voices, an articulate, intense and emotionally resonant set of five pieces for justly tuned piano and electronics.

Omniscient Voices is a uniquely distinct work that follows Pitre's trilogy of releases which culminated with 2015’s Bayou Electric and included the critically acclaimed Feel Free (2012) and Bridges (2013) albums. Where those albums were rooted in long form pieces, Omniscient Voices is a collection of shorter pieces, offering more harmonic variety than previous works, with a unique sound and feel that is still unmistakably the work of Duane Pitre.

In 2019, after a five year period where Pitre did not focus on outward facing music, but instead on his own personal practice, a small idea in the form of a question came to him: would the combination of his latest computer- and electronic-based experiments, used in conjunction with justly tuned piano, produce interesting results; simply put, would it “work”? Concurrently, Pitre was studying a handful of Morton Feldman scores for their focus on tonal clusters, reading a book on Arvo Pärt’s life and work, and contemplating the pulse-based rhythms of Steve Reich and Phillip Glass.

In 2020, with no intention of making a new album, the composer tried to answer this question. The results would spawn five pieces that would become Omniscient Voices. On this new work, Pitre finds himself giving equal priority to both piano and electronics, utilizing his Max/MSP-based generative network to real-time convert precomposed piano motifs, into data, which is then used to communicate with two polyphonic, microtonal hardware synthesizers whose patches Pitre authored; this process generates the electronic component of the album. Pitre also utilizes controlled improvisation to interact with the piano-reactive electronics in a spontaneous and inspired manner, going back and forth between these two pianistic approaches. In all, this approach creates a “musical feedback loop” of sorts.

Despite Omniscient Voices being the culmination of 15 years of hard work and inspiration, this beautiful album somehow materialized in a natural, intuitive and effortless way (like any artist's best work.)

Artist's statement: “When making the pieces that would become Omniscient Voices, I often viewed the piano as human action, a single note becoming a single gesture that has the potential to change the electronic environment, the electronics becoming the environment surrounding that human in the natural world, who then has the power to change their actions based on their surroundings. All actions have consequences. The interconnectedness of everything. Single actions making waves of change.”

RIYL: Arvo Pärt, Morton Feldman, Steve Reich, Phillip Glass
Mastered and cut by Golden and pressed at RTI for maximum fidelity.

The End Of The Affair is a 1999 romantic drama film written and directed by Neil Jordan. The screenplay stars Ralph Fiennes, Julianne Moore and Stephen Rea. It was based on the 1951 homonymous novel by British author Graham Green. The story is set in London during and just after World War II and is about a flourishing extramarital love affair between Maurice (Fiennes) and Sarah (Moore).

The score was composed and conducted by Michael Nyman, one of Britain’s most innovative and celebrated composers who is best known for his efforts for The Piano (1993) and Gattaca (1997). Dominated by the 24 violin players in the Michael Nyman Orchestra, his compositions perfectly reflect the full emotional range of Jordan’s film.

For the very first time, the Original Soundtrack of The End Of The Affair is available on vinyl. The record is available as a limited edition of 1000 individually numbered copies on flaming coloured vinyl and includes an insert.

"Everyone has their own memories and associations with the great songs of the classic films of the 80s and 90s! AT THE MOVIES put the Corona-related time in quarantine to good use and put their soft spot into action, creating unique new interpretations of these classic Soundtrack hymns. The initial spark for this project was ignited by Chris Laney (PRETTY MAIDS), who chatted about the idea with his musician colleagues Allan Sørensen (PRETTY MAIDS, ROYAL HUNT) and Morten Sandager (PRETTY MAIDS, MERCENARY) as well as Björn ""Speed"" Strid (THE NIGHT FLIGHT ORCHESTRA, SOILWORK) and AT THE MOVIES was born. Metal-Heavyweights such as Pontus Norgren (HAMERFALL), Pontus Egberg (KING DIAMOND, WOLF) and Linnéa Vikström Egg (KAMELOT, THERION) as well as illustrious guests such as Ronnie Atkins (PRETTY MAIDS), Jacob Hansen (producer of VOLBEAT, PRIMAL FEAR) and Bruce Kulick (ex-KISS) completed the project, from which the albums ""The Soundtrack Of Your Life"" with Vol.1 (eighties) and Vol.2 (nineties) emerged. Featured are evergreens such “No Easy Way Out”, “Maniac”, “St. Elmo's Fire "", ""The Power Of Love "", ""The Heat Is On"", ""The Neverending Story"", ""The One And Only "", ""(I Just) Died In Your Arms"", ""(You Drive Me) Crazy"", ""Heaven Is A Place On Earth "", ""Crush "", ""I've Been Thinking About You"" and ""Venus""- all catchy tunes that you know and love, in a new, exciting and fascinating metal outfit. "

Punchline: Enjoy this first single "Waiting For A Star To Fall" from swedish allstar band AT THE MOVIES, doing unique cover versions of their favourite movie songs. Taken from their upcoming album "The Soundtrack of Your Life - Vol. 2" and with members from Pretty Maids, HammerFall, King Diamond, The Nightflight Orchestra, Therion and more! 1. SINGLE - 12.11.21 „Waiting for a star to fall“ 2. SINGLE - 19.11.21 „Last Christmas“ 3. SINGLE - 10.12. „(I Just) Died In Your Arms“ 07.01.22 on album release day): - „Heaven Is A Place On Earth“ FOCUS TRACK: „(I Just) Died In Your Arms“ "Everyone has their own memories and associations with the great songs of the classic films of the 80s and 90s! AT THE MOVIES put the Corona-related time in quarantine to good use and put their soft spot into action, creating unique new interpretations of these classic Soundtrack hymns. The initial spark for this project was ignited by Chris Laney (PRETTY MAIDS), who chatted about the idea with his musician colleagues Allan Sørensen (PRETTY MAIDS, ROYAL HUNT) and Morten Sandager (PRETTY MAIDS, MERCENARY) as well as Björn ""Speed"" Strid (THE NIGHT FLIGHT ORCHESTRA, SOILWORK) and AT THE MOVIES was born. Metal-Heavyweights such as Pontus Norgren (HAMERFALL), Pontus Egberg (KING DIAMOND, WOLF) and Linnéa Vikström Egg (KAMELOT, THERION) as well as illustrious guests such as Ronnie Atkins (PRETTY MAIDS), Jacob Hansen (producer of VOLBEAT, PRIMAL FEAR) and Bruce Kulick (ex-KISS) completed the project, from which the albums ""The Soundtrack Of Your Life"" with Vol.1 (eighties) and Vol.2 (nineties) emerged. Featured are evergreens such “No Easy Way Out”, “Maniac”, “St. Elmo's Fire "", ""The Power Of Love "", ""The Heat Is On"", ""The Neverending Story"", ""The One And Only "", ""(I Just) Died In Your Arms"", ""(You Drive Me) Crazy"", ""Heaven Is A Place On Earth "", ""Crush "", ""I've Been Thinking About You"" and ""Venus""- all catchy tunes that you know and love, in a new, exciting and fascinating metal outfit. "

Imagine deserted volcanic wasteland, freezing winds and the all-embracing darkness of the longest winters on this planet: The obvious inspiration for rather vicious and somber tunes for lonely evening hours that the biggest part of Iceland’s heavy music scene is known for. Who would even dare to think of tales about brave warriors and mystical creatures coming from such an island? Power metal seemed like a fairytale until 2017 when Reykjavík based sextet POWER PALADIN (originally founded as PALADIN) rose in quest of carrying out their uplifting tunes and finally proving everyone wrong. On an island known for its musical doom and gloom, they are the midnight sun. “Iceland has such a great representation of extreme metal. We didn’t feel we had much to add to that scene so why shouldn’t we do the complete opposite?” the band recall their origins. A truly wise decision! Their first live performances and demo releases were of such good reception that they were booked for Iceland’s main underground festivals, Eistnaflug and Norðanpaunk, and subsequently played at one of the country’s biggest music events, Iceland Airwaves, in 2019. Highly praised as a “standout” act by The Reykjavík Grapevine, POWER PALADIN kept crafting material at Windfyre Studios, composing their 9-track strong debut album titled »With The Magic Of Windfyre Steel«. The opus is a historical landmark for both the group and Atomic Fire Records, being the label’s first full-length release since its recent founding. “We actually started to write some of these tunes in the very beginning of our band history and captured them over the course of about two years at various places: at Ingi’s bedroom, at Atli and Bjarni’s workplace, at a cabin outside Reykjavik etc.”, POWER PALADIN say about their approach to songwriting and recording. And while self-producing such a splendid album has been no easy quest, it almost reads like a part from Joseph Campbell’s »The Hero’s Journey«:“So we went through a whole lot of trials, but that’s why we’re even happier and prouder of this record now!” Mixed by Haukur Hannes at Mastertape Studios (AUÐN, DYNFARI etc.) and mastered by Frank de Jong at Hal5 Studio (BLEEDING GODS etc.),
” they explain. The group’s love for fantasy games and books from authors such as Brandon Sanderson and Joe Abercrombie doesn’t remain unnoticed either: James Child (Astral Clock Tower Studios) translated that inspiration into the album’s adventurous artwork. »With The Magic Of Windfyre Steel« gets the listener's attention immediately. Air guitar-provoking lead single 'Kraven The Hunter‘, a track that’s frequently been aired via Iceland’s radio stations prior to the album’s release, peaking at position #1 of X-977’s chart, sets the right tone for this 51-minute venturesome ride. A ride that ranges from songs in the vein of the opening track like 'Creatures Of The Night' to rather aggressive bangers such as the second single 'Righteous Fury' and 'Ride The Distant Storm'. In the end, critics might say that “only a ballad is missing” to deliver all ingredients for a great heavy metal album. But does a power metal saga whose first chapter has just been written need one at all? Well, we will find out in chapter 2...

Imagine deserted volcanic wasteland, freezing winds and the all-embracing darkness of the longest winters on this planet: The obvious inspiration for rather vicious and somber tunes for lonely evening hours that the biggest part of Iceland’s heavy music scene is known for. Who would even dare to think of tales about brave warriors and mystical creatures coming from such an island? Power metal seemed like a fairytale until 2017 when Reykjavík based sextet POWER PALADIN (originally founded as PALADIN) rose in quest of carrying out their uplifting tunes and finally proving everyone wrong. On an island known for its musical doom and gloom, they are the midnight sun. “Iceland has such a great representation of extreme metal. We didn’t feel we had much to add to that scene so why shouldn’t we do the complete opposite?” the band recall their origins. A truly wise decision! Their first live performances and demo releases were of such good reception that they were booked for Iceland’s main underground festivals, Eistnaflug and Norðanpaunk, and subsequently played at one of the country’s biggest music events, Iceland Airwaves, in 2019. Highly praised as a “standout” act by The Reykjavík Grapevine, POWER PALADIN kept crafting material at Windfyre Studios, composing their 9-track strong debut album titled »With The Magic Of Windfyre Steel«. The opus is a historical landmark for both the group and Atomic Fire Records, being the label’s first full-length release since its recent founding. “We actually started to write some of these tunes in the very beginning of our band history and captured them over the course of about two years at various places: at Ingi’s bedroom, at Atli and Bjarni’s workplace, at a cabin outside Reykjavik etc.”, POWER PALADIN say about their approach to songwriting and recording. And while self-producing such a splendid album has been no easy quest, it almost reads like a part from Joseph Campbell’s »The Hero’s Journey«:“So we went through a whole lot of trials, but that’s why we’re even happier and prouder of this record now!” Mixed by Haukur Hannes at Mastertape Studios (AUÐN, DYNFARI etc.) and mastered by Frank de Jong at Hal5 Studio (BLEEDING GODS etc.),
” they explain. The group’s love for fantasy games and books from authors such as Brandon Sanderson and Joe Abercrombie doesn’t remain unnoticed either: James Child (Astral Clock Tower Studios) translated that inspiration into the album’s adventurous artwork. »With The Magic Of Windfyre Steel« gets the listener's attention immediately. Air guitar-provoking lead single 'Kraven The Hunter‘, a track that’s frequently been aired via Iceland’s radio stations prior to the album’s release, peaking at position #1 of X-977’s chart, sets the right tone for this 51-minute venturesome ride. A ride that ranges from songs in the vein of the opening track like 'Creatures Of The Night' to rather aggressive bangers such as the second single 'Righteous Fury' and 'Ride The Distant Storm'. In the end, critics might say that “only a ballad is missing” to deliver all ingredients for a great heavy metal album. But does a power metal saga whose first chapter has just been written need one at all? Well, we will find out in chapter 2...

Imagine deserted volcanic wasteland, freezing winds and the all-embracing darkness of the longest winters on this planet: The obvious inspiration for rather vicious and somber tunes for lonely evening hours that the biggest part of Iceland’s heavy music scene is known for. Who would even dare to think of tales about brave warriors and mystical creatures coming from such an island? Power metal seemed like a fairytale until 2017 when Reykjavík based sextet POWER PALADIN (originally founded as PALADIN) rose in quest of carrying out their uplifting tunes and finally proving everyone wrong. On an island known for its musical doom and gloom, they are the midnight sun. “Iceland has such a great representation of extreme metal. We didn’t feel we had much to add to that scene so why shouldn’t we do the complete opposite?” the band recall their origins. A truly wise decision! Their first live performances and demo releases were of such good reception that they were booked for Iceland’s main underground festivals, Eistnaflug and Norðanpaunk, and subsequently played at one of the country’s biggest music events, Iceland Airwaves, in 2019. Highly praised as a “standout” act by The Reykjavík Grapevine, POWER PALADIN kept crafting material at Windfyre Studios, composing their 9-track strong debut album titled »With The Magic Of Windfyre Steel«. The opus is a historical landmark for both the group and Atomic Fire Records, being the label’s first full-length release since its recent founding. “We actually started to write some of these tunes in the very beginning of our band history and captured them over the course of about two years at various places: at Ingi’s bedroom, at Atli and Bjarni’s workplace, at a cabin outside Reykjavik etc.”, POWER PALADIN say about their approach to songwriting and recording. And while self-producing such a splendid album has been no easy quest, it almost reads like a part from Joseph Campbell’s »The Hero’s Journey«:“So we went through a whole lot of trials, but that’s why we’re even happier and prouder of this record now!” Mixed by Haukur Hannes at Mastertape Studios (AUÐN, DYNFARI etc.) and mastered by Frank de Jong at Hal5 Studio (BLEEDING GODS etc.),
” they explain. The group’s love for fantasy games and books from authors such as Brandon Sanderson and Joe Abercrombie doesn’t remain unnoticed either: James Child (Astral Clock Tower Studios) translated that inspiration into the album’s adventurous artwork. »With The Magic Of Windfyre Steel« gets the listener's attention immediately. Air guitar-provoking lead single 'Kraven The Hunter‘, a track that’s frequently been aired via Iceland’s radio stations prior to the album’s release, peaking at position #1 of X-977’s chart, sets the right tone for this 51-minute venturesome ride. A ride that ranges from songs in the vein of the opening track like 'Creatures Of The Night' to rather aggressive bangers such as the second single 'Righteous Fury' and 'Ride The Distant Storm'. In the end, critics might say that “only a ballad is missing” to deliver all ingredients for a great heavy metal album. But does a power metal saga whose first chapter has just been written need one at all? Well, we will find out in chapter 2...

OK, it’s taken us to get to our 11th release for some filthy organ funk to grace the label, and who better than The King Rooster.
Hailing from London, The King Rooster are a heavy funk quartet consisting of Ian Stevens on bass, Mark Claydon on drums (both
from another heavy funk band - The Getup), Sam Montero on keys and James Forster on guitar.
Collectively the band have played, recorded and shared stages with the likes of Sir Joe Quaterman, JTQ, Gizelle Smith, Reuben
Wilson, Speedometer Pee Wee Ellis and many more.
The band have released a clutch of heavy duty organ funk 45s on various labels over the last few years (Our Label, FNR, Dinked,
Burning Soul) and a spectacular LP, also on Dinked. But it was when we heard ‘Snitchin’, Stitchin’ & Bitchin’ on Funk Night Records
that we decided 45 Live needed some Rooster funk on the label!
It is entirely evident that the guys all have a deep love for raw funk, that gritty, slightly shambolic garage sound, punchy instrumentals
designed to hit you in the gut, pure soul from the pure funk perspective. It’s all about the ‘nasty face’!
Here we have 2 hard hitting organ screamers kicking off with ‘Snake Bait’ on the A side, a raucous 144bpm dancefloor burner.
Scratchy guitar, thumping bass and manic drums underpin a swirling and ever building Hammond Organ into a firey crescendo.
Whilst over on the B ‘Stickin’ it’ takes some cues from The Meters sound with its trance like organ riffs and bluesy flavour. It’s a raw
mid-tempo head nodder which, like the A side, keeps building and building into such a cookin’ groove.

Since '66, when the British singer- songwriter emerged as the voice of his
generation with the seminal Family band, through every twist of his four-decade
solo career, Chappo's output has defied music industry protocol, challenged
genre, and held up a mirror to the times. "I've never stopped writing," he reflects,
"and with Life In The Pond, I felt the need to hear what I'd put down in music."
Released in 2021 on Ruf Records and Chappo Music, Life In The Pond draws a
line under a period in which the 79-year-old had been absent from the studio but
privately prolific. Twelve years since 2009's acclaimed rarities collection Hide Go
Seek, "A true lionheart still roars," raved The Mirror, Life In The Pond reconnects
the veteran with faces from his past – including ex-Family multi-instrumentalist
John 'Poli' Palmer as co-writer and producer while taking the pulse of modern life.
"Mostly it's anger at politicians that's kept me fired up," says Chapman of the
lyrics.
As for the music, Life In The Pond connects the dots between Chapman's
founding influences. "It's about nostalgia for the different musical styles that
influenced my life. American rock from the '50s to now. British R'n'B from the '60s,
like Georgie Fame, the Stones, Zoot Money. Folk, Blues, Motown, Stax, Blue Note
jazz, Classical, Americana, and Country. A whole mess of influences…" More than
four decades later, Life In The Pond ties all those threads together, finding
Chapman's voice in vintage form and his musical radar more receptive than ever,
on a tracklisting that roams from hypnotic seven-minute epic "Nightmare #5" to
"Rabbit Got The Gun's" dystopian soul-funk.
The world has turned a few times since '66, but Roger Chapman still has
something to say – and with Life In The Pond, his voice as an artist is more vital
than ever. "I'm very pleased and grateful that Poli gave me the opportunity," he
says, "because I think we came up with the goods on this album."

Legacy recorded very few songs under the guidance of Don Davis. The only two
songs to be released were: "I Must Confess" and "Believe In Yourself" on Tortoise
International Records.
The other 2 songs on the same master tape were "Boy, You've Been Acting
Strange" and "Celebrate (Legacy To The Bone)"
After several conversations with Eddie Watkins who wrote all the songs he agreed to
license the tracks to Soul-Direction for a 7" Vinyl Release

After the huge success of their last album ‘The Wild Root’ Alan Evans Trio (Ae3) returns with a brand new album release - ‘Elephant Head’. Elephant Head is an epic instrumental album of cinematic funk, in the pocket grooves, and infectious melodies. The album as a whole evokes a classic groovy vintage movie soundtrack. It also features virtuoso playing from all three band members. The band features Alan Evans of Soulive, Danny Mayer and Kris Yunker.

It’s likely that Dave East was both ready and willing to lock in for a full-length Harry Fraud produced album well before he heard Fraud’s work with Jim Jones (The Fraud Department) and Benny the Butcher (The Plugs I Met 2). But it’s just as likely that the synergy and flawless execution of those projects couldn’t have hurt East’s inclination. Fraud shows up for East on HOFFA the same way he did for Jones and Benny, finding a sturdy balance between moody synth lines, obscure rock samples, and ’90s-hip-hop drum patterns to act as an idyllic backdrop for East’s hand-to-hand street-life memories, basketball references, and straight-faced acknowledgment of the way drugs have affected his own family. Fellow barsmiths Jim Jones, G Herbo, Benny the Butcher, and Curren$y round out the features, but longtime Dave East fans might be most excited to hear a new verse from Kiing Shooter, the Queens-hailing Dave East associate who passed away in 2020 following complications from COVID-19.

Few artists are storytellers as deft and disarmingly observational as Andy Shauf. The Toronto-based, Saskatchewan-raised musician's songs unfold like short fiction: they're densely layered with colorful characters and a rich emotional depth. Like he's done throughout his career, Shauf wrote, performed, arranged, and produced every song on his new album Wilds at his studio space in the west end of Toronto. Over the course of a year-and-a-half, Shauf had written more than 50 songs, and pared down this massive body of work, into a single album's worth of material, which became 2020's highly acclaimed The Neon Skyline album. These songs focused on a theme by intertwining the individual characters stories of a group of friends who gathered for one night at the same local bar. Wilds includes songs from those same writing sessions, that did not fit into the Skyline storyline and had their own singular iden?tity apart from that album, though he does revisit with his old friends Judy and Jeremy in this outing.

Massachusetts hardcore band Defeater have announced their new self-titled album. Defeater will be released May 10 on Epitaph. This is Defeater's fifth full-length release and their first in 4 years. The first new single, "Mothers' Sons" features blistering guitars that take the song into something chaotic and beautiful. Defeater was produced with Will Yip (Quicksand, La Dispute, Blacklisted, Ms. Lauryn Hill) whose enthusiasm and talent pushed the songs to their fullest potential. Defeater showcases the band at their most devastating and sonically arresting to date. It is as pummeling as it is atmospheric. Yet it's been a long journey to where the band is now. Years of touring took their toll on the friends that make up the current lineup of Derek Archambault (vocals), Jake Woodruff (guitar), Adam Crowe (guitar), Mike Poulin (bass) and Joe Longobardi (drums). Health, substance abuse issues, and ejecting a longtime member had made a touring hiatus necessary. After a few months at home, working and decompressing, the fire to write a new record caught everyone in a major way. The result of time off and the band's renewed energy, Defeater has created their most organic batch of songs yet. And in Defeater fashion, the instrumentation is complimented by a narrative approach. Archambault explores his own "Glass family" (an homage to the J.D. Salinger characters) from new perspectives.

Rough Signal Records featured talented Italian female MC/Singer of Marina P.
As the backing and solo horn , her name is HAYAMI from ORESKABAND who is working as Japanese female ska band “ORESKABAND”.

Soul4Real bring you the last 45 in their trio of previously unreleased Jimmy Gresham Playground Studios recordings from the mid-70’s; a perfect tribute to a great but under-recognized.
“A Million Things” has been a huge collaborative effort, meticulously pieced together in 2020 from an unfinished vocal track. Jimmy’s trademark rich, velvet voice, imbued with soul and inflected with a large pinch of southern grit, has been complemented perfectly by the addition of multitalented Marc Franklin’s evocative vibes, horn and string arrangements. Clayton Lancaster laid down the gorgeous, choppy guitar licks which drive the whole mid-tempo groove, and the absolute pinnacle is formed by the glorious, soaring backing vocals of Jimmy’s sister, Mary.
A recording that sounds as though everybody had been in that same Florida studio in the mid-70’s, bouncing off each other’s talent, on a day when they could feel the electricity in the air and they knew something special had been created.
Flip it over to find Jimmy in a more down-home style on "No Way to Stop It", a worthy track getting its first release on vinyl thanks to the efforts of the Soul4Real team.

Part of the joy of collecting soul music is searching for and discovering lesser known gems. Phoenix, AZ, might not be known as one of the main American cities for black music despite spawning artists such as Dyke & the Blazers and Eddie & Ernie, but the city holds a cult status among rare soul collectors thanks to the small output of labels like Artco, OK&T, Poorman’s and Raina.
One of the state’s well kept secrets is Bobby Barnes, who had a small number of 45 releases on local labels. All strong tracks which really deserved wider recognition than they got.
The 14th S4R release contains two previously unissued songs, from 1977 and 1984 respectively, recorded for the Raina label with Lawrence Carroll producing and arranging.
”Super High On Your Love” is in my opinion his best song - a super soulful floater type of modern soul dancer. The flip is an alternative, extended version of “I’ve Had My Share”, to my ears superior to the original with a sparser backing and keyboards replacing the guitar. Two truly sublime sides!

Soul music changes just like the weather. Different styles, rhythms and dances have been emerging over the years, making the genre so exciting and assorted. For almost a decade, in the post-disco era, synths and drum machines ruled the day, but by the mid 90s a group of new artists were turning their attention to the golden age of soul music.
One of those names was Adriana Evans, whose debut album from 1996 surprised soul fans around the world. Adriana boasts a solid musical background and this can be heard on the record. Her mom was the jazz singer Mary Stallings and she was also the goddaughter of Pharoah Sanders, so she has been surrounded by music since childhood.
Both choices here are taken from that outstanding album. "Looking For Your Love" is a beautiful mid-tempo tune which could have been recorded by The Emotions or Phyllis Hyman. On the reverse, "I'll Be There" is a sublime piano and flute-led ballad in the vein of Minnie Ripperton.

Twang, Hmmm, click, thunk.



When XTC finally downed guitars after the recording and release of “Wasp Star”, their last album to date, one of Andy’s ideas about what to do next, was to become a songwriter in the traditional sense, writing songs for others…



It was something he had been asked to do throughout the XTC years, but never had the time.



Songs were written. Songs were sent. Sometimes speculatively, often specifically requested, many tailor-made for an artist's requirements, but then choppy waters could still lay ahead. Even where everyone seemed to think that newly written song A would be wonderful if recorded by singer B, whose manager C had initiated the request via music publisher D for album E on record label F…



Well, you begin to see the potential problems of such an approach – almost a quarter of the way through the alphabet and not a note recorded beyond Andy's original demo. That’s without detailing the sort of horrendous politics that makes a fresh batch of alphabet spaghetti of any of the above as they interact.



Still, songs are like children. A songwriter gives birth to them, feeds them, watches them grow before sending them out into the world. So it’s unfair to abandon them as orphans just because their first experience outdoors might be a traumatic one of being cold shouldered.

As a loving parent, Andy brought them all back together, re-Andy-fied them and buffed them up in his home studio, et voila! Here is the first selection of song siblings that resulted from all of this work, four brothers and sisters, happily reunited and presented as a family group aural snapshot for your entertainment and delight.



The story has a happy ending after all. It is almost as if The Sound of Music, had been set in Swindon.



If only we all failed so well…

The latest thrilling incarnation of master rock'n'roll storyteller Tex Perkins (The Cruel Sea, Beasts of Bourbon, Thug, Tex Deadly and the Dum Dums, Tex, Don et Charlie.) and the Fat Rubber Band began with a rare vinyl copy of Link Wray's Beans and Fatback album, recorded in 1971. Perkins and his respected musician, songwriter, producer and bandmate Matt Walker share a mutual admiration of the American electric guitar innovator, whose iconic power chords in his signature 50s rock'n'roll instrumentals, had a profound influence on the evolution of rock guitar. The Fat Rubber Band is borned with this rare vinyl, the pair have enjoyed countless musical conversations over the decade while hanging out backstage and on the road. Walker offered the debut album's opening track, the wide-screen drama of "Pay The Devil's Due". Perkins responded with the plaintive blues of "My Philosophy". Walker replied with the album's fuzz driven debut single "Danger Has Been Kind" and Perkins countered with the glacially-paced, intimate "Poor Simple Minded Fool". The pair road-tested their works in progress as a duo before enlisting bassist Steve Hadley, drummer Roger Bergodaz and Evan Richards on percussion to complete the Fat Rubber Band line-up to record the album's ten tracks at Walker's Stovepipe Studios in Victoria's Dandenong Ranges. "At Matt's studio - you open the door to the studio and nature floods in," Perkins says. "We wanted it to sound rural, to feel the dirt and the grass and the leaves." Even after all these decades, when you think you know that gravelly baritone inside out, Perkins finds new emotional tones in the service of the Fat Rubber Band's songs vivid narratives, with their characters wrestling, but sometimes dancing, with the tougher, darker qualities of the human condition. This is truly existential blues. Bubbling underneath those upfront vocals and raw harmonies are intricately entwined guitar conversations and unexpected percussive flourishes. "Another aspect that we wanted was for the sound to be sometimes a collision and sometimes a marriage of acoustic and electric instruments. We wanted that tension between mandolins and bouzoukis meeting fuzz guitars." "We also considered percussion to be a vital element of the sound we were going for; we noticed in the recordings we loved from the 50s and 60s that often the tambourine hit, or the maracas, or whatever percussion, was right up there in the mix, right next to the vocal," Perkins says.

Four Flies' new record series, ITALIAN LIBRARY SONGBOOK - Masters of Cinematic Music Reimagined into Song, hopes to build a bridge between the modern and the contemporary. Producers and songwriters from today's music scene put their spin on hidden tracks and outtakes from the catalogues of Italian soundtrack maestros, reimagining them into new, previously unheard songs poised between pop and club culture – a sound nestled somewhere in between Balearic, downtempo, and organic grooves.

Volume I focuses on Alessandro Alessandroni, a composer whose trajectory is emblematic with respect to Four Flies' journey as a label and publisher. Despite being best known in his lifetime for his unmistakable whistle in Ennio Morricone's soundtracks for Sergio Leone's spaghetti westerns, Alessandroni was way more than that. He was a refined composer and multi-instrumentalist, and one always ahead of his time. Partly thanks to Four Flies and its contribution to the rediscovery of the Maestro with releases such as the EP "Afro Discoteca" and the compilation album "Lost & Found", this has become unquestionably clear in the past few years, which have seen his name climb to the top of collectors' want lists and gain recognition in the international music industry.

This release goes back to one of Alessandroni's lesser known film scores, Sangue di sbirro (written for Alfonso Brescia's 1976 poliziottesco Cop's Blood), where he created his own version of the soul-infused jazz-funk music typically found in 70s Blaxploitation movies.

More specifically, Neapolitan producer pAd and London singer-songwriter Jessica Duncan reimagine the original "Philadelphia", which appears on Side B and whose title clearly refers to the city that, back in the 70s, saw the birth of (mellow) disco. The result of their collaboration is "Do You Wanna Get Close?" on Side A, a downtempo, jazz-funk and Balearic gem pervaded by warm, sexy and elegant pop-soul vibes that make it a perfect club track to enjoy the night until the early hours of the morning.

To ensure maximum audio quality, the mastering was done by Fabrizio De Carolis at his Reference Mastering studio in Rome's Prati neighborhood (the same neighborhood that was once the epicenter of Roman library music) while the vinyl cut at the The Carvery, the multiple Grammy-nominated London studio behind some of the best organic grooves records of the past decade. The result is a deep, full, rich and three-dimensional sound that enhances the beauty of both tracks.

The series and volume artwork is by graphic designer and calligrapher Luca Barcellona, an artist used to working with analog tools such as ink, brushes and pencils. He drew inspiration from the world of literature, imagining each release as one of the volumes in an elegantly bound classics book series - an analogy that reminds us of the tactile element that makes vinyl records so unique and precious, while also suggesting the cultural value of a music that aims to connect the legacy of the past and the creativity of the present.

The Artists Formerly Known As The Connection Machine (Utrecht, Netherlands) go raw and mean on this one! If the underground The Hague-style from the 90s is your thing, this 12" is your cup of tea. 4 hectic 808/303 trax, all mixed in a dirty way, with loadsa fx on the 303.

The Connection Machine/Cray Emoticon is the multi-talented duo of Natasja Hagemeier and Jeroen Brandjes, who debuted on U-TRAX in 1993 with their instant classic and much sought after 'The Dreamtec Album' (catalogue no: 3 UTR UMM 1). They went on to create another epic release called 'The Black Hole EP' on U-TRAX (catalogue no: 5 UTR UMM 2), but not after they presented 'Bitflower', a true work of art on Planet E from Detroit. Later they released the CD album 'Painless' on Down Low Music and in more recent years two 12"s (shared with The Lost Trax) and an album on Tabernacle Records from the UK.

The title track is originally meant as a replacement for the original game music of level 9 of the 2nd episode (E2L9) of the computer game Doom. The artists thought the original score wasn't doing right to the intensity of the game and made their own apocalyptic soundtrack. 'Gnawing The Heart' already proved its usefulness on many a dancefloor, whilst 'Choice Chip' will satisfy the ultimate speed freaks amongst you. If you're not into drugs or mushrooms, 'I Wish My Zapper Was A Gun' can deliver you the same effects: it's a psychedelic space-acid trip, built around a sample of the sitcom 'Neighbours'.

You can't get wrong with this vintage and merciless dance floor material from the mid-nineties.

Original release date: October 1995.

The sixth release on Phoq U Phonogrammen, the sordid and rash U-TRAX sublabel, may be from its least known artist, but it is our personal favorite Phoq U release. The style can perhaps best be described as acid funk. Though the drums and bass lines generally are rather tight, all tracks have these quirky synth lines that give them a rather funky, dark 'cyborg feel'.
Lynx is Reyer Caderius van Veen - and he didn't chose that name himself. Reyer is from Groningen, the mayor city in the most northern region of The Netherlands. It's a vibrant student town, with lots of music going on.

In the 90s, Reyer participated in a techno-foundation, together with Thee J. Johanz (Ballyhoo Records) and Johan Sagel, who released a 12" as Jo-I on U-TRAX in 1995. Together with Johan, Reyer also formed a band called L.A.P. 01 (Live Acid Performance), which released a 12", a 10" and a remix on Jan Liefhebber's Highland Beats and a track on Ballyhoo Records (BALL 100).
Harsh starts off with some terribly hard and high tones, that sound like a nuclear plant is going to melt down. The ferocious bassdrum and grunting acid bass line add to the uncomfortable mood.
What makes us really happy is Sex On Jupiter. It's a rushed track that completely opens up around the 1:20 mark with a desolate, yet funky sawtooth 303 bassline.

On the flipside, Changes brings a nice pumping rhythm combined with a rolling bassline with all sorts of disturbing sounds on top.
The EP closes off with another highlight of darkness: Dark Mission. The track has a lovely flow, but really starts to space you out as soon as a hoarse sounding pulsating synth spreads it wings across the deliciously bubbling 303.
To be short: this is an uncomfortable record, and we love it!

Original release date: August 1996.

Domino are immensely proud to announce the signing of my bloody
valentine, with new physical editions of the band’s seminal catalogue
being made available. ‘Isn’t Anything’ and ‘loveless’ have been
mastered fully analogue for deluxe LPs and also mastered from new
hi-res uncompressed digital sources for standard LPs, with each
being made available widely for the first time ever. Fully analogue
cuts of ‘m b v’ will also be available on deluxe and standard LPs
globally for the first time.
my bloody valentine, the quartet of Bilinda Butcher, Kevin Shields,
Deb Googe and Colm Ó Cíosóig, are widely revered as one of the
most ground-breaking and influential groups of the past forty years.
During an era in which guitar bands denoted, at best, a retroclassicism, not only did my bloody valentine sound unlike any of their
contemporaries, the band achieved the rare feat of sounding like the
future.
Re-emerging in 2013, after two full decades in relative hiding, my
bloody valentine’s third album, ‘m b v’, is by turns their most
experimental record but also their most melodic and immediate; proof
real of their unerring desire for re-invention. Continuing to push
boundaries of both music and genre, ‘m b v’ is an album of
astonishing music, some of which could lay claim to being of a type
never been made before. Otherworldly, intimate and a visceral listen,
‘m b v’ is a startling and beautiful metamorphosis of what was known
of the my bloody valentine sound, pushing the boundaries of genre
unlike any other band. The album’s closer, ‘wonder 2’, is an example
of this, seeing Shields meld hypnotic guitar with drum & bass to
astonishing result.

Sheila was reborn in Detroit as one of George Clinton's fiercely funky Brides of Funkenstein. More than simple sex appeal and sass, Sheila sang on the seminalNever Buy Texas from a Cowboyas well as P-Funk hits like "Atomic Dog," making a name for herself alongside P-Funk collective greats. After this mothership connection, Sheila toured with Rick James in 1981 as an original Mary Jane Girl, wrote for Clinton's solo records in the mid '80s and even made a soul connection with Bruce Willis -- who inspired the singer to do her own thing. She then departed the P-Funk stratosphere for another planetary dimension, recording with Aurra, Civil Attack and Public Enemy.

"Attitude" and "Keep On Doing" presents Sheila doing what she does best raw funk and soul

Sheila in featured article: Wax Poetics issue #2 (due out in September)

Member of Brides Of Funkenstein, Parliament/Funkadelic, George Clinton, Aurra, Civil Attack

Limited pressing of 300 copies

45rpm 7" record in Silk-Screened Jacket

Bathurst is pleased to announce the debut album 'All One' by The Motion Orchestra.

The group formed in 2017 in Hamburg as a studio project and outlet for lead writer and bandleader - David Hanke (Keno, Renegades Of Jazz) to explore his Neo-Classical and Jazz sensibilities in a new setting.

Comprising of the US-based Andy Sells on Drums, with Germans Alexander Bednasch on Double-Bass, Mark Matthes on Violins, and David Hanke on electronics and production, as well as a one-off guest appearance from other long term Hanke collaborators - Tristan de Liege on clarinet (for the track 'Maylight'), David Nesselhauf on electronics (for the track 'All One') and Ingo Möll on additional Bass (for the track 'Everything We Are').

Strangely, when considering the intimacy of the album the group has never actually fully met in person, with live recordings taking place over 4 years across studios in Seattle, Los Angeles and Hamburg. With Hanke and Matthes contributing the majority of the writing and arranging, the wonderful musicianship of the group as a whole is obvious to hear in the record, which expertly showcases the performers rare understanding of musical space and compositional balance, yet still allowing for flashes of individual brilliance.

As the first tracks were arranged it became clear that The Motion Orchestra occupy a musical space that sits aside from their obvious stylistic influences, instead bearing a compositional style that deftly fuses the orchestral and electronic worlds more akin to that of modern cinematic composition than most commercial releases. Matthes' lush string arrangements are a beauty to behold, layered elegantly upon the muscular and oftentimes swinging rhythm section low end, all the while Hanke's cerebral sound design and production elements interplay with all throughout, providing an eclectic array of wonderful foils and musical partners to the palette.

With only a small clutch of singles and tracks being released so far they have already turned the heads of Huey Morgan on BBC 6Music and Bandcamp Weekly, as well as closing in on 500,000 streams on Spotify. Exploring themes as time and space, transience, life and death – their music is delightfully relevant, timeless and contemplative in comparison to much of today's disposable music culture.

''All One' is a collection inspired by the notion that everything comes from the same source, the same starting point. And throughout its play time it builds out this concept from the reserved, poignant strings and ambience beginnings of opener 'From Dust', through to the delicate pitter-patter rhythm and memorable melodies of 'Threadspin', before picking up in tempo and dynamics ahead of the epic penultimate track - Sonorous' and its piano chord harmonics, tasteful bass notes, and swirling jazz drum patterns. Indeed by the last notes of title track 'All One' there is a real sense of having mentally journeyed some distance to arrive exactly where you are for the listener. It's a truly atmospheric audio experience that is constantly engaging and inspiring both feelings and thought throughout.

Perhaps the mastermind of the project - David Hanke, sums it up best himself:

"It begins where it ends. Turning these subjects into sounds, creating an emotional sound journey with a deeper note is the idea."

Habibi Funk presents a selection of works by Algerian-born, Amazigh artist Majid Soula. Majid’s music blends the best of Arab-disco, highlife and groovy funk into something wholly unique.

Born in Kabylie, Algeria - a place that remains fundamental to his career - Majid Soula is a self-made musician, artist and producer. With no formal music education, Majid’s tenacity has led to a career that is still blossoming. His synths, driving drums, guitar & strong lyrics make a unique sound. A strong proponent for the rights of the Amazigh, he has a band that to this day plays shows, most linked to cultural events of the Amazigh diaspora in France, as well as in Belgium, Russia the UK and Sweden. He was part of a new wave of widely popular and successful Kabyle artists in the 1980s, such as Ait Menguellet, Lounès Matoub, Takfarinas, Idir and many more.

Habibi Funk as a label is dedicated to re-releasing music from “The Arab World”, but this release shows how reductive this term can be, as the countries from North Africa and West Asia being summarized under this term include a vast number of languages and identities. Obviously, headlines sometimes come with limited space, and one can’t avoid using terms that paint a half-finished picture. That being the case, however, we are even more happy that Majid Soula liked our idea to work on a release of a selection of his music with us. The tracks here are incredible and need to be introduced to a new generation of listeners.

For Majid Soula music is more than just entertainment. He considers himself an activist through music, and foremost a “chanteur engagé”, as he says of himself: „I take my inspiration from the daily life of my people and I share all their aspirations, mainly the official recognition of Tamazight as a language, culture and identity.”

He still works on new music in his small home studio in Belleville and occasionally plays concerts for the Amazigh community of the city.
We sincerely hope that for you reading this and listening to Majid’s album, his music will have the same revelatory feeling it had on us, and that this will be part of a momentum that will allow Majid to keep on working, playing, and sharing his message for many years to come.

60 million streams after their 2nd opus Running To The Moon, the duo's 3rd album, War Is Over, is a dive into 70's funk and soul with the same will to get the essential: the beauty of the melodies and the implacable groove. The Hip-Hop instrumentals on which singers and MCs seem to have more fun than ever, serve as a link to the whole.

Recorded mainly in Bordeaux, this new opus marks a turning point in the group's production method. The brass section present on the Running To The Moon tour was involved in the composition and thus brings a more organic touch to the sound of the album.

As usual, the duo has surrounded themselves with a horde of cult singers and MCs: R.A The Rugged Man, Pav4n & Illaman, Yoshi Di Original, Blake Worrell, MysDiggi or the young hopeful Yudimah (Fair 2020 winner) and the Englishman C.W Jones.

War is Over sounds like a declaration of love to black American music, from Early Jazz to Hip Hop, via Soul and Funk.

Dear listeners, here's the next episode of the Hamburg Spinners story: "Der Magische Kraken" ("The Magic Octopus")

This time Hamburg Spinners left their home port for an underwater expedition to the open ocean diving for unheard tunes, finger snappers and floaters. Always in danger of encountering the Magic Octopus, a voracious entity who feeds on harmonies, rhythms and breaks -in a word the whole arsenal any musician is lost without and damned to drown in a sea of deadly silence and endless darkness... Listen yourself, enter a different world and witness how the Hamburg Spinners are getting carried away and drawn into the depths. A 20.000-mile plunge into the sea. Honestly! Had you ever thought that one can sink this low?

"Der Magische Kraken" is the sophomore album of the Hamburg Spinners, a contemporary soul, mod-jazz and R&B outfit based in Hamburg. Their sound blends floating Hammond organ lines, kinetic, driving grooves, funky breaks, and slicing, economic improvisation. The quartet features Carsten Meyer on Hammond B-3, Dennis Rux on guitar, David Nesselhauf on bass, and Lucas Kochbeck on drums. It was cut live on two weekends in April 2021 in Hamburg's Yeah!-Yeah!-Yeah!-Studios. The chemistry was right and in a truly democratic process ideas were fleshed out, arrangements were done on the spot. A will to collective playing whilst always sticking to the rudimentary basics was in the air. Thus the music could spread out like the arms of an octopus. And though there are limits on the sound of the Hammond organ quartet creativity can burst out & find its way to overcome the limits. Reminiscences of down-to-the-bone songs by Timmy Thomas or Phoenix might come to one's mind when listening to the new Hamburg Spinners album.

Never change a winning team: Meyer's soulful organ sound is buoyed by Rux's warm and gripping guitar sound, Nesselhauf's dynamic bass lines and Kochbeck's tight in-the-pocket drumming.

By the time of their second album, 1989’s ‘Unfinished Business’, EPMD were firmly cemented in the rap stratosphere. With one certified classic album under their belts, they proved they were no one-hit wonders, with the sequel possibly even better. A concise 12 tracker once again produced by the artists themselves, it saw them adhering to the ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ maxim, while going somewhat ‘bigger’.
In other words, guests started to appear – not just on the records, but in the videos – and marketing budgets were higher. None of which watered down their sound. In fact, this is the ultimate EPMD record: a beat that’s simple but perfect, and two top-of-their-game MC’s going back and forth. But the appearance of NWA in the video for ‘The Big Payback’ hints at their reputation at the time – and at the cordial relations between coasts before the deadly beef that was to come.

‘Payback’ takes both its title and core sample from James Brown’s ‘The Payback’ from 1973, and then weaves two more JB elements with it, including the addictive stabs from ‘Baby, Here I Come’. It’s a golden track from the golden age.

The B-side is another gem from the same album, and only released before on 7” in a very rare, limited pressing. ‘So Wat Cha Sayin’ was the album’s lead single, and shows EPMD’s wide sampling palette. There’s bits of BT Express, a whole lot of Funkadelic and, brilliantly, some drums lifted from Soul II Soul’s gem from just the year before, ‘Fairplay’. Lyrically, it’s just all about threats to sucker’s MC’s – what else do you want from EPMD?


• A certified Hip Hop classic.

• Samples James Brown’s ‘The Payback’ from 1973.

Marshall McLuhan’s famous edict ‘the medium is the message’ has never been more apt than with regard to modern remix culture. Although the idea of the remix goes way back to the Jamaican dub pioneers and New York disco remixers of the 1970s, the form didn’t truly come into its own until the acid house explosion of the 1980s, when remixers’ credentials often subsumed — and sometimes surpassed — the original source material. Some, among them our lost friend Andrew Weatherall, used remixing as a springboard into multiple other directions, and became auteurs in their own right.

Forged in the white-hot heat of post-acid house Britain, these Heavenly remixes are perfectly weighted with respect and irreverence, the remixer in each case carefully chosen to add heft to the song (as on Al Breadwinner’s dubwise reworking of Mattiel’s ’Guns of Brixton’— the pairing more a game of chess than a best-of-three arm wrestle).

Although Heavenly was founded in the wake of huge upheavals in electronic music, it was still imbued with its own curious parallel life. I’ve always thought of Heavenly as one of the UK’s alt-pop labels; a place where brilliant pop bands live and record, if the general public would only realise. Some of them have ended up in the real, actual charts (Saint Etienne, Doves), but that’s missing the point about Heavenly, who are, like Factory and Fast Product before them, pop music’s conscience.

There is no sense of order to this compilation and we make no apologies. It’s the Heavenly way. Think of it as a present from Loki, the Norse god of mischief. You’ll find a smattering of older tracks: album openers Saint Etienne are taken on a Poseidon Adventure with Underworld, who inject ‘Cool Kids of Death’ with typically manic energy. Elsewhere, ’90s Brum duo Mother add dancefloor pzazz to Espiritu’s innate glamour on an all-funked-up reworking of ‘Los Americanos’, and Mark Lusardi’s remix of Moonflowers’ ‘Get Higher’ is an early Heavenly classic.

On ‘Terracotta Warrior’, a perfect, psyched-out, Mancunian union is created betwixt Jimi Goodwin and Andy Votel, whilst Goodwin cohort Simon Aldred, in his Cherry Ghost guise, receives a proper Tamla-Motowning from Richard Norris (aka Time & Space Machine) on an inspired cover of Cece Peniston’s glam-house hit, ‘Finally’.

There are several of Heavenly’s current darlings here too. One of the most exciting young British prospects, Yorkshire’s Working Men’s Club, effectively remix themselves, as Minsky Rock — WMC’s Syd Minsky-Sargeant and producer Ross Orton — cleave ‘X’ into a riotous industrial racket. Jagwar Ma’s Jono Ma takes the Kraftwerkian leitmotif on ‘Automatic’ and drives the Australian jazz-funkers Mildlife down an electro-convulsive psychedelic tunnel (thankfully no-one was harmed during the making of this remix); Sheffield’s DJ Parrot and Jarvis Cocker deliver one of the outstanding remixes of 2018, turning Baxter Dury’s ‘Miami’ into a lovelorn minor opera; and, making its first appearance on vinyl, David Holmes’ Unloved project is taken on a panoramic Welsh waltz thanks to Gwenno.


There may well be no rhyme, nor reason, to how these compilations have been put together, beyond the fact that they are assembled with love, an innate understanding of the power of great pop music, and a skilled marriage of song and remixer — but does one really need anything more than that for an album to make sense? I’d suggest not.

It is with great joy that we present the Mr Bongo edition of Marcos Valle's 1983 self-titled masterpiece. A pure vintage that features the ultimate Brazilian-boogie cult-classic ‘Estrelar’ and iconic 80s cover art that sees a gloriously sun-drenched Marcos dressed in a pink v-neck t-shirt surrounded by a generous selection of deadly-looking neon cocktails.

The album was produced by the legendary Lincoln Olivetti and Marcos' brother Paulo Sérgio Valle. It showcases a real who's who of Brazilian music at the time, with stellar performances from vocalists and musicians such as Rosana, Serginho Do Trombone, Robson Jorge and Oberdan Magalhães to name but a few. This was Marcos’ second album, after having moved back to Brazil from his time living in Los Angeles, and that US influence is evident through its prominent boogie, soul and funk sounds. It also features collaborations with the US singer-songwriter, composer, pianist, keyboardist, and record producer, Leon Ware, who co-penned three tracks including 'Estrelar'. To complete the album there are tracks such as 'Fogo Do Sol', which is pure AOR / Balaeric vibes, and tracks that are more MPB and pop-inspired, making a well-balanced track list for both home-listening pleasure and dancefloor business.

What could we do to give one of Marcos' most celebrated albums the treatment it deserved and produce the most definitive re-issue possible? The answer was to enlist the services of Miles Showell, Abbey Road Studios Mastering and lacquer-cutting engineer and all-around audio-magician, to cut a special half-speed master edition. Miles had previously worked his half-speed magic on our Arthur Verocai album re-issue, and once again we are totally blown away by the richness which Miles has brought out in his mastering technique. He has enhanced the listening experience and taken this wonderful album to another level.

To celebrate the release we have pressed up several vinyl versions; both standard master, and Miles' half-speed mastering editions on Black vinyl, alongside special limited edition Rose and Mint-Green coloured vinyl variants that were inspired by the audacious-looking cocktails on the cover - sheer 80s excess!