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Soul Music legend Candi Staton returns to her down-home Alabama roots on her 32nd album, Back to My Roots. The twelve-track Americana set features an array of Staton-penned originals and some well-chosen covers.

"These songs represent my roots," Staton adds as she reflects on her many trials and triumphs. "Even the new songs on some level represent something I've experienced and that's what real soul music is about." Back to My Roots was produced by Staton with her second eldest son, Marcus Williams, a professional drummer who has toured with the likes of Peabo Bryson, Isaac Hayes, and Tyler Perry. They brought in Mark Nevers of Lambchop fame, who produced three of Staton’s prior Americana albums for Honest Jon’s and Thirty Tigers, to sweeten certain tracks. “Some of the first songs I ever heard were songs like `Peace in the Valley’ and `It’s Gonna Rain,’” says Staton. “The new songs or cover songs are tracks that remind me of that era when I was growing up as a child and evolving as a young woman. That’s why I named the album Back to My Roots because I’m going back to the roots that made me who I am.”

Staton received the Americana Music Association UK’s highest honour, the International Lifetime Achievement Award, at the UK Americana Music Awards ceremony at Hackney Church in London last year for her southern soul work that stretches from her 1969 Muscle Shoals hits to her more recent collaborations with the likes of Americana kings Jason Isbell and John Paul White.
The album opens with a mid-tempo Bonnie Raitt-styled contemporary blues “I Missed the Target Again” that finds Harry Connick Jr.’s longtime guitarist Jonathan DuBose Jr. (aka the Prophesying Guitarist) showing off his skills that set the tone for the song and the album.

Staton’s older sister, Maggie Staton Peebles (who alongside Staton was a member of the Jewel Gospel Trio in the 1950s), joins her for two duets. The first, “It’s Gonna Rain,” features just a drum, steel guitar and vocals. “My mother used to sing that song to us all the time when I was a child,” Staton recalls. “It’s a really soulful kind of song I wanted to revisit.” They then take turns leading Thomas Dorsey 1939 gem “There Will Be Peace in the Valley” that Elvis Presley popularized in the 1950s.

“Hang on in There” is a new, mid-tempo song that has an old school gospel flavour and features vocals from veteran bluesman, Larry McCray.
While in Europe in 2023 for her farewell concert tour that took her to the Glastonbury Festival and Love Supreme, Staton and her British band, PUSH, went into a London studio to record a new version of The Rolling Stones’ 1972 gem, “Shine A Light.” “I love the way that came out,” Staton says. “We put a big choir on it and put our own twist on it.”
From there, Staton revives another Thomas Dorsey classic, “The Lord Will Make a Way Somehow,” with a bluesy vibe. When Al Green started recording gospel in the early 1980s, he re-introduced this song into the culture.

“God’s Gonna Use Me Anyway” is a new mid-tempo blues with subtle Caribbean influences.

The mood takes a turn on “1963.” It’s a poignant, spoken-word reflection on September 15, 1963, when four black girls were killed in the Birmingham Church bombing. “I was in the city that day and I remember the chaos and horror after the bombing,” Staton recalls. “Just thinking of how racism and hatred caused those men to kill those girls was so emotional for me that I could only do it in one take.”

It's a perfect segue into "Reach Down and Touch Heaven," a haunting, plea for divine intervention into the affairs of mankind. "That's straight Baptist," she says. "I used to be a church pianist back in the 1960s. I've never played piano on one of my records before so that's a unique song for me because I’m finally playing on one of my records. The message of that song is about the homeless. It came to me when a homeless person on the street asked me for $5. When God touches your heart to help somebody else that’s heaven to God’s hears. So, when we reach into our purse or wallet to help someone, we’re touching heaven."

Staton offers love as an antidote to hate on the bouncy, Motown-styled, “Love Breakthrough.”

Her publicist brought Aaron Frazer & the Flying Stars of Brooklyn NY’s 2017 cut “My God Has a Telephone” to Staton’s attention. She shifts the track from a retro 1960s groove to more of a 1980s Malaco Records arrangement, a subtle but distinct variation. Staton brought in her longtime friend and STAX Records legend, William Bell (“I Forgot to Be Your Lover” and “Trying to Love Two”), to add raspy seasoning to the track.

The album closes with the wistful, “In God’s Hands We Rest Untroubled,” that was originally written and recorded by the late country star, Lari White, who died in 2017 at the age of 52. “Lari sent me that song to consider at least ten years ago and I always loved it,” Staton says. “The record label didn’t want it on the album or something, so I just held it.”
Staton says, “I grew up hearing a lot of these old songs when they were new songs. I toured with the Jewel Gospel Trio in the 1950s and we got to know people like Mahalia Jackson, Sam Cooke and others who sang these types of songs. So, I’m sort of paying tribute to them and the influence they had on me by refreshing these songs and making new songs in the old style.”’

Celebrated drummer, bandleader, and composer Cindy Blackman Santana has been a force to be reckoned with since her 1987 debut album, Arcane, featuring jazz legends Wallace Roney, Joe Henderson, Kenny Garrett, and Buster Williams. Fast forward to 2026, and Cindy commands that same power with her new album, Coherence: a once-in-a-lifetime musical journey combining jazz, rock, fusion, and spirituality, featuring special guests John McLaughlin and Carlos Santana. Buckle up for a masterclass in modern music from one of the most electrifying drummers to ever do it.

'Where the Smoke Goes captures the conscious and unconscious of Johnny Coley in duet between 2020-2024 AD. Alabama-born, Marseille-based artist Turner Williams Jr. wraps a selection of his dear friend Johnny’s penultimate compositions in arresting tone poems.
'The music buzzes and hums with distant trains, trembling strings, and lapping water, haloing our protagonist in a humid glow as he considers whether horses can live to 70 years old, cigarettes potent enough to knock you on your ass, and orchids facing the wrath of winter storms.
'This work began in the first Covid spring, as Johnny's advancing multiple sclerosis gave way to a permanent domestic confinement and a final period of prolific creativity. Johnny braved the toxic gales of social media to share his thriving poetry and visual art practice and to keep in touch with friends like Turner, who had recently moved abroad. For the first time, Johnny recorded himself, sending Turner fresh poems, day and night.
'Taking cues from late era Coil and the operas of Robert Ashley, Turner approached these recordings both as language and pure sound, arranging accompanying mosaics that emerge as much from Johnny’s unseen text as his mercurial drawl. Tracks draw from Turner’s solo practice as well as sessions including Henry Birdsey of Old Saw, members of the French underground (Manoir Molle, Loto Retina, Mona Assayag) and close Birmingham collaborators (Jasper Lee, Jimmy Griffin, Ladonna Smith). The voice is parsed and played as an instrument and each poem becomes a score.
'There is Johnny’s poetry and Johnny’s voice. These are two independent yet interwoven instruments. For Turner, Johnny's vocabulary, cadence, and timbre carry all of the contradictions that he writes about. His work is a dialogue of rich contradictions. "He plays with Southern American vernacular speech in his poetry while embodying it with his speech, creating a zone of emotional frisson. He loved combining opposites. Rough yet soft was one of his favourite descriptors", Turner recalls, "That was Johnny. ” Upon hearing the completed record, Johnny likened it to "a beautiful wood box, that when you open it there are fabrics shot through with silk threads and sharp fall woods smells - supporting and decorating the poems that fall out of them. ”
'This record captures something unconscious, atmospheric, and gives it unexpected materiality. Smoke that you can feel like grass under your feet. Stars that you can touch like a lover. Meeting for the final time in the summer or 2025, the time for words had passed so they just held hands and listened to the album opener Stargazer in silence as Johnny drifted off to sleep.'

Neuauflage des Calexico-Albums "Carried To Dust" von 2008 auf schwarzem Vinyl, inkl. Victor Jaras "Hands" und "Two Silver Trees".

Das 1962 erschienene ”Big Band Bossa Nova” ist Teil einer ganzen Reihe brasilianisch geprägter Alben
von Stan Getz (1962 ”Jazz Samba”, 1963 ”Jazz Samba Encore!”, 1964 ”Getz/Gilberto”), wobei er auf
dem von Creed Taylor produzierten und von Gary McFarland arrangierten und dirigierte Album mit der
Einbettung seines Tenorsaxofons in Big-Band-Arrangements überraschte. Für die Session verbanden Stan
Getz und Gitarrist Jim Hall, Trompeter Doc Severinsen, Bassist Tommy Williams und Schlagzeuger Johnny
Rae die Rhythmen von Samba und Bossa Nova mit packenden, kraftvollen orchestralen Arrangements.
Das Repertoire greift auf brasilianische Kompositionen zurück, wie Luiz Bonfás ”Manhã de Carnaval” oder
Antônio Carlos Jobim und Vinícius de Moraes’ ”Chega de Saudade”, sowie auf Material von McFarland
(”Balanço no Samba” oder ”Street Dance”) und mehr

Originally released in 2008. Although this album invites aesthetic comparisons to works by the likes of Philip Jeck, William Basinski, and Janek Schaefer – draped as it is in an obfuscating, soupy crackle – there’s a very specific conceptual agenda at work here.

Part of the success of »Persistent Repetition of Phrases« comes from the attention it pays to the function of »the loop«, not only as a narrative ordering system in modern music, but as a means by which the brain itself recalls and interprets information; it’s as old as recorded sound itself, but in this context the repetition of small shards of auditory information becomes an elegy to fading memory and the worn-out synapses of old age. The track titles offer signposts through Kirby’s labyrinth of faulty remembrances, pointing their way towards the peculiarities dictating the manner by which the mind stores and attempts to recover information: »Lacunar Amnesia« references a condition that leaves a specific event absent from the sufferer’s memory, and Kirby’s music sounds suitably stuck on a prelude to something that never happens.

Bathed in gusts of crackle, the piece gets stuck on what might be a start of something, but we never get to hear what. Many of the pieces refer to different ways the memory might find itself caught in a holding pattern: »Von Restorff Effect«, »Rosy Retrospection«, and the title track itself are all suggestive of reliving a single event or point in time – here, both music and memory are united by the notion of »glitch«, whereby a fault or fissure causes the replaying of the same pocket of data over and over again, but what distinguishes Kirby from so many other musicians operating within the field of loops and broken recordings is the unnerving, ghostly sentimentality that courses through this process. »Long Term (remote)« is particularly explicit in its reaching back through the first half of the 20th century, exhuming snatches of music hall romance, now warped into a sinister new form by the erosions of time. It’s like watching John Carpenter’s »The Fog« only to find that instead of vengeful phantoms emerging from the mist, it’s The Glenn Miller Band. Which is infinitely more disturbing. More eerie still is the detachment from authorship endemic to this sound – at no point do you really sense the presence of a composer’s hand; this album just... is. A remarkable thing that only seems to have improved with age (which is either highly appropriate or highly inappropriate, I can’t quite decide which), »Persistent Repetition of Phrases« is an even better fit on vinyl, a medium which itself wears and fades just as the memory does.

Parisian label Chuwanaga announces the upcoming release of Inner Circle Vol. 1, the first installment in a series of house music releases bringing together artists from the label’s close circle. Available on limited 12" vinyl (300 copies) and digital.

The VA opens with “We All Got To Feel” by Argentine producer J. Koen (Nervous Records / Nite Grooves), a track that encapsulates the essence of deep house. Classy, colorful stabs, refined melodies, and a warm, funky bassline come together in a club-ready cut. It's exactly what you expect when you need a track that delivers — just drop it.

It is followed by “Sunny California” from French producer Kaffe Crème (Floors Records), an ode to the sun — both a celebration and a form of incantation recalling the spiritual energy of Ron Trent and Joe Claussell. The track builds toward a break filled with deep, jazz-inflected harmonies before returning with an electrifying melody carried by layered percussion, leading to an emotional climax.

On the flip side, “It’s A Feeling (House Music)” by the French duo Milk & Honey (Chuwanaga) draws clear inspiration from the Chicago lineage, in the vein of Boo Williams. A looping bassline, deep silky chords, and steady drums create a hypnotic, flowing texture with a myriad of ear candy. It's a feeling, it's a vibe!

The record closes with “The Gatekeeper” by French producers Saint-James (Chuwanaga) & KX9000 (Pont-Neuf Records), a track influenced by the London boogie sound and its broken beat scene. Fans of Dego and Kaidi Tatham will recognize its syncopated grooves and percussive depth, bridging house and broken beat aesthetics.

HARTHBALL are an avant/noise/rock wrecking ball of a band from Nanaimo, Canada. Rooted in total improvisation, free expression, and a deeply psychedelic sensibility, EarthBall operate on pure instinct.
They hurtle onwards in a combustion of spontaneous composition, shooting from the hip, as they fall out of the sky ablaze. The group encompasses Isabel Ford (vocals, bass), John Brennan (drums, percussion), Jeremy Van Wyke (vocals, guitar, trumpet), Kellan Maclaughlin (guitar, talkbox), and Liam Murphy (saxophone). Each member brings a rich and varied musical history, with past and present projects including Shearing Pinx, Plan Your Future, Kamikaze Nurse, Eschatons, and Psychedelic Dirt. Collectively and individually, they have collaborated with artists such as Deerhoof, Raven Chacon, Chris Corsano, and William Hooker, deepening the band’s exploratory reach and collective language.
Since forming in 2021, EarthBall have released six cassettes and three fervently received LPs on Upset The Rhythm, including November’s widely acclaimed Outside Over There. Their latest release, Actual Earth Music - Volume 3 & 4, follows the first instalment in the series and captures two mind-quaking highlights from last winter’s European tour. This is EarthBall plunging to full fathom five, transforming into something rich and strange - channeling the fleeting moment as it fractures, erupts, and dissolves into the unknown.
Side A captures a thumping performance at Cave12 in Geneva. Frazzled from a white-knuckle alpine descent, the group settles into a hypnotic sprawl, stretching time and form across a colossal 53-minute set (with the first 22 minutes presented on the LP; the full performance appears on the CD edition). The Cave12 recording is a study in tension and release; ruminative, volatile, and barely contained. Drums stumble and surge, saxophone howls cut through the air, and Ford and Van Wyke’s voices briefly pull together the circle twice, before the tumult lapses into a spinning maelstrom.
Side B meanwhile presents a scorched excerpt from EarthBall’s crushing performance at Le Guess Who? Festival. As Van Wyke reflects: “Having the most excellent Dwarfs of East Agouza play before us only heightened our intention to bring the noise. Listening back, the thing that strikes me most is how we truly were operating in the ever-elusive but always sought-after ‘group mind’. Ninety-degree changes are super tight. Izzy and I are finishing each other’s sentences. Liam’s horn is cradling our outer and inner space. Kellan’s talk box rains down like the voice of a reawakened spirit, and all this havoc is safely stowed in the rumbling ox-cart of John’s solid drumming”.
Actual Earth Music - Volume 3 & 4 marks another ascent in EarthBall’s ever-expanding, totemic discography, an ecstatic storm of raw immediacy and unfiltered expression.

Born in Philadelphia in 1943, Barron's journey through the jazz world reads like a tour of its greatest innovators: early work with James Moody, Roy Haynes, and a formative tenure in Dizzy Gillespie's quintet set the stage for a career defined by sophistication, depth, and unmistakable melodic clarity.

Through the 1960s and '70s, Barron became a sought-after collaborator, performing with Freddie Hubbard, Jimmy Owens, Yusef Lateef, Milt Jackson, Jimmy Heath, and Stan Getz. His role in the celebrated ensemble Sphere, alongside Buster Williams, Ben Riley, and Charlie Rouse, further cemented his reputation as a musician equally rooted in bebop tradition and forward-looking modernism.

The CJP Band return to Supa Jams with two more tracks for your listening and dancing pleasure.

First up 'We Must Believe' channels disco (not) disco vibrations on a strings for days sea of spiritual spaceways. Soaring skyward on Boogie driven basslines and roaring sax solos.

This fresh cut nods to the psychedelic soul vocals of Rotary Connection, Idris Muhammad and The 5th Dimension, Carrying a powerful spiritual message of unity and transformation.

On the flip, Charles Earland 1976 jazz funk classic 'Let The Music Play' gets the CJP cover treatment.

A raw, Driving dancefloor burner, Powered by heavyweight drums, Deep Fender precision basslines, Flamboyant Brazilian percussion and crazy guitar and sax solos. Featuring Hannah Williams on guest vocals.

Hand Stamped Sleeve

Limited Pressing

Don't Sleep!

Ryo Fukui, who passed away in 2016 after releasing only five albums, recorded this fourth work in 1999. Featuring bassist Lyle Atkinson and drummer Leroy Williams—the longtime rhythm section of Barry Harris this New York-recorded album captures the full appeal of Fukui as a bebop pianist. Centered around standards, the track selection, structure, and of course the performances all radiate intent and vitality. His assured and weighty touch, the firm yet elastic swing, and the emotion and lyricism that permeate his dynamic phrasing everything here conveys Fukui’s breath, will, and presence in vivid form. The re-performance of his signature piece “Mellow Dream” is also a welcome highlight.

Born in Jamaica to a Cuban mother and Panamanian father, Norman began his singing career at the Apollo Theatre in New York. After moving to Los Angeles in the early 1970s, he joined the Delfonics 30 years ago, performing alongside legends like William "Poogie" Hart and Major Harris.

Marking twenty years since South African producer and DJ Esa Williams left Cape Town, Dala What We Must is a deeply personal and expansive debut LP, an exploration of movement, memory, and sound shaped by two decades of creative evolution. Co-created with collaborator and multi-instrumentalist Robin G. Breeze, the album deftly combines field recordings, layered instrumentation, and emotionally resonant compositions into a nuanced, globally influenced body of work. It also stands as Esa’s most collaborative release to date, featuring contributions from musicians across London, Oaxaca, Nairobi, and Cape Town, each adding their own creative energy to a project built on openness, trust, and shared experience. The album draws inspiration from Esa’s recent ventures into documentary scoring and soundtracking, with projects like Cursed (Audible) and The Invisible Hand teaching him to listen differently, to honour space, to serve the story. That sensibility permeates the album, resulting in music that breathes, lingers, and listens as much as it speaks.

The title, Dala What We Must, is a South African call to action: a reminder to do what’s necessary, even in uncertainty. Finalised in the months leading up to Esa’s transition into fatherhood, the record carries a sense of grounding, care, and quiet transformation. Dala What We Must is a sonic reflection of journey and community, a deeply collaborative project rooted in connection and guided by intention.

Terumasa Hino’s brilliant New York session, which drew attention for its thrilling collaboration with former members of the Miles Davis Group, is set to be reissued as the sixth title in the "Spin This Now!" series. Featuring Terumasa Hino on trumpet, John Scofield on guitar, Ron Carter on bass, and Tony Williams on drums. Recorded in New York City on May 7, 1977.

Soul Jazz Records’ ‘Calypso – Musical Poetry in the Caribbean’ was first issued in 2014 and has been out of print for nearly 10 years. On its release ‘Calypso’ was voted one of the year’s best 50 reissues in Rolling Stone magazine and received glowing reviews in Pitchfork, The Guardian, Songlines and many more. This new edition has been fully remastered and comes as a one-off limited-edition double vinyl pressing on translucent green vinyl, complete with bespoke inners featuring extensive sleevenotes, notes on all the artists and songs featured, and original artwork and photography. The album is also available in a new card-edition CD package, also with complete notes and text.

Featuring Lord Kitchener, The Mighty Viper, Count Zebra, Lord Flea, Lord Hummingbird, King Fighter, Lord Growler, Lord Byron, Lord Ivanhoe and other members of Calypso’s aristocracy and aristocrats, the album features the music of Calypso in its many styles. Calypso is one of the most exciting and enduring forms of musical expression that first emerged at the beginning of the 20th century – swinging, persuasive rhythms, brilliantly expressive melodies, and lyrics of great humour, wisdom and wit. Here you will find music from Trinidad, birthplace of Calypso, other Caribbean islands including Jamaica and the Bahamas, as well as sounds from the style’s subsequent onwards journey including Britain, Panama and the United States. Calypsonian songs play out a role in society similar to the storytelling Griots of West Africa (and the corresponding music of Kaiso); with their own tales about popular and incredible news items, modern life, local politics all mixed up with sexual innuendo, one-upmanship, comedy and more. At its source, Calypso is intricately and inextricably bound to the social history of Trinidad and its myriad of traditions, beliefs, folklore and fables. As the music spread around the world, both from the diaspora of many of its performers as well as its commercial success, the subjects of songs similarly took on local topics.The most notable singer of Calypso in England was the Trinidadian Lord Kitchener, who came to Britain in 1948 on HMS Empire Windrush, along with fellow Calypsonians Lord Beginner and Lord Woodbine.

Few artists arrive as compellingly yet elusively as did Stuart Moxham upon the startling debut of Young Marble Giant's sole studio album, Colossal Youth. Initial excitement was thrust upon the young Alison Statton, who sang songs written by Stuart with a couple of exceptions. The unaffected tone of her voice was in steep contrast to the typical goings-on in that still quite punky time, but it was what she sang that fully sold it. Moxham's lyrics were both intensely personal and woefully oblique. There seemed to be a sort of story in there. Confusingly, that story often felt like it was Alison's rather than the fellow who'd penned it. The unexpected miracle a deal with Rough Trade and the album's subsequent success had the band stymied for a second act and it wasn't long before the group disintegrated, although circumstances often brought members and a few of their peers - among them Debbie Pritchard, Spike Williams, and a third Moxham brother, Drew. - Phil Moxham was the band's bassist - together in odd combinations and pairings. None of the three YMG members have been especially prolific, but it's Stuart's career that has seemed the least straightforward, as if he'd wondered, "What to do when your debut is a nearly perfect artefact?" In the case of his first "solo" full-length in thirty years, Stuart took the unusual step of entering an alien studio with American producer Dave Trumfio (who's also the leader of Pulsars and bassist for Mekons) and allowing him to decide what tracks (of a large number submitted by Stuart) to record, and how they'd be orchestrated. Or not. In this case - save for the writing and composing - it's really Dave's album as much as Stuart's. The tracks went with Dave back to LA, where they were mixed, a few parts added (including subtle backing vocals from the incredible Linda Smith) . . . then later unmixed and reworked by John Henderson and Roni Ayala back in Valencia. Both versions will be made available, and both have a compelling cohesion missing from some of Stuart's work since YMG. Stuart's minimalism is quite intact, the range of emotions quite wide. There are few artists operating today like Stuart Moxham, a composer of the upper echelon of innate talent who combines avant-garde ideas with deceptively forthright personal lyrics, solid hooks, ambience and vaguely off-centre instrumentation which defies the casual marketplace as confoundingly as it ever did to the underground, whatever that is these days. His songs have been admired and / covered by everyone from Lush to Kurt Cobain, adaptations in Japanese and even a French-language hit by Etienne Daho, adaptations by Hole, Galaxie 500, Magnetic Fields, Belle And Sebastian and many others - but a new Stuart Moxham album is a special kind of joy.

After years out of print, we are pleased to present this much-needed vinyl reissue of an essential album in Roy Ayers’ career. Pressed on 180g vinyl.



In the early 1970s, Roy Ayers formed his own band: Roy Ayers Ubiquity. Its lineup included artists well known to funk and soul fans such as Bernard Purdie, James Mason, and Edwin Birdsong.



This 1973 album presents Roy Ayers in the midst of a creative evolution toward a sound increasingly influenced by soul and funk, moving beyond the early phase of his musical career, which was more rooted in orthodox jazz.

On “Red Black & Green”, he teams up with highly accomplished collaborators such as keyboardist Harry Whitaker, arranger and producer William S. Fischer, and Strata-East musicians Charles Tolliver and Sonny Fortune. Here, however, the latter two do not venture into the spiritual jazz sounds so characteristic of their own recordings; instead, together they embrace a sophisticated funk groove where Ayers showcases his extraordinary vibraphone talent.

The album includes outstanding versions of ‘Ain’t No Sunshine’ and ‘Day Dreaming,’ as well as original compositions such as ‘Cocoa Butter,’ ‘Rhythms of Your Mind,’ and the superb title track, ‘Red Black & Green.’

Soul Jazz Records celebrate 25 years of working in partnership with Studio One with brand new editions of FIVE of their bestselling CLASSIC Studio One collections all released on limitededition one-off pressing coloured double vinyl. Also available in new limited-edition card wallet CD editions. The new edition featured albums are Studio One Funk, Studio One Dub, Studio One Ska, Studio One Roots and Studio One Classics. Studio One Roots set the standard for Soul Jazz Records’ long-standing series and features many of the classic artists from Clement 'Sir Coxsone’ Dodd’s mighty roster of reggae. This album includes Freddie McGregor, Willie Williams, Cornell Campbell, Alton Ellis, Devon Russell alongside some of the defining in-house groups of Jamaican reggae history - The Sound Dimension, Brentford All-Stars, The Skatalites, New Establishment and more. The album is filled with a mixture of seminal cuts and super-rarities from the vast vaults of 13 Brentford Road.

Stand-out tracks include Alton Ellis’s ‘Blackish White’, a surreal and powerful Afro-centric dream, Count Ossie’s Rastafarian drummers’ genre-defying interpretation of Booker T and The MGs ‘Meditation’, Willie Williams aweinspiring versioning of the Skatalites' seminal Rastafari anthem ‘Addis Ababa’ and many, many more. Original sleevenotes by Lloyd Bradley (author of When Reggae Was King), compiled by Mark Ainley (Honest Jons), high-quality Soul Jazz mastering, wicked images of Count Ossie and the Mystic Revelation of Rastafari on the cover, and a rare image of Clement Dodd and musicians inside the studio at Studio One on the full colour inner sleeves. “There isn't a weak number across these 16 tracks, from the Gaylads’ ode to ‘Africa’ and Devon Russell's version of the heavyweight ‘Drum Song’ rhythm, to stunning instrumentals such as Jackie Mittoo and the Cyclones with nyahbinghi drummer Count Ossie on ‘Meditation’, Lenny Hibbert’s sparkling vibe work over Mittoo's ‘Ghetto Organ’ and The Sound Dimension’s ‘Congo Rock.” Pitchfork “The music of this compilation is of a rare, rare beauty and is essential to anyone's reggae collection.” All Music

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom original motion picture soundtrack, now available on orange vinyl, featuring original music composed and conducted by John Williams.

Moods & Grooves Records proudly announces Turn-A-Round, the long-awaited return of D. Wynn & The R-Tyme Production. Marking his first release since 2002 on KMS Records, D. Wynn reconnects with the deeply soulful Detroit sound that defined his earlier work—timeless, emotive, and built for the dancefloor.

At the center of the release is “Love Ain’t Easy”, a heartfelt, soul-driven track featuring vocals from Record Time favorite Lavell Williams. The song carries special significance as Williams’ final known musical recording prior to his passing in 2018, giving the record both emotional weight and historical importance. The EP also includes “Use Me (U Turn Remix)”, a fresh take on R-Tyme’s most recognized work—previously reimagined by Carl Craig—alongside “Funk N The Drums,” a raw, percussion-heavy cut driven by deep funk and rhythmic intensity.

A foundational figure in Detroit’s electronic music movement, D. Wynn was instrumental in shaping the culture as part of the legendary Music Institute era, alongside pioneers such as Derrick May, Alton Miller, and Chez Damier. As one half of R-Tyme with Derrick May, he helped deliver seminal recordings including “Use Me” and “Illusion/R-Theme” on Transmat, leaving a lasting imprint on the global electronic music landscape.

This is more than a comeback. It’s a continuation of a legacy.

Full colour sleeve with rare use of the Italian only movie artwork.

A few years ago I issued the soundtrack to Virgin Witch, the score to an underground 1971
kinky British London / posh stately home horror that seemed more like an excuse to show as
many racy cars and devilish nude scenes as possible. This fleapit film was written by Hazel
Adair - the writer of legendary long-running TV series Crossroads, and her business partner at
the time Ken Walton (yes, the wrestling commentator). Virgin Witch was cheap and successful
enough to allow the whole team another go at the sexploitation game through their newly
formed production company Pyramid Films. Sex Clinic was the quick follow up; I say Sex Clinic,
the initial cinematic title was Clinic Xclusive, which was also called With These Hands, which
was also called La Masseuse Perverse. This film also came out in 1971 and they used the
musical services of Ted Dicks once again. Dicks had originally met Adair in 1960 through a cast
member performing in his first musical, Look Who’s Here.

If you are not aware of the great Ted Dicks, his quick bio reads as follows: born London 1928,
was educated through both grammar and art school and after National Service flirted with both
art and music. He worked with a series of very talented song writers - including Barry Cryer -
finally sparking properly with writer Myles Rudge. Together “Dicks and Rudge” had a hit with
their musical And Another Thing which starred Lionel Blair and Bernard Cribbins. Their talents
were spotted by producer George Martin and they followed this show success up with a series
of truly classic novelty pop chart hits, again with Cribbins - “Hole In The Ground” and “Right Said
Fred”. If you are not aware of the classic A Combination Of Cribbins LP they wrote, go and find
it. It includes “Gossip Calypso”, a triumph of novelty song writing that somehow manages to
squeeze in the lyric “Oxy-aceteline welder”, and is possibly the only song ever to do so. They
wrote further hits (winning an Ivor Novello for “A Windmill In Old Amsterdam”) and were in
constant demand throughout the 1960s and 1970s, working with artists such as Petula Clark,
Matt Munro, Bruce Forsyth, Topol and Kenneth Williams.

By the late 1960s Ted had also penned a handful of instrumental library cues including the
classic “Busy Boy” for the Standard Library company that got picked up as the theme for the
brilliant TV kids fantasy show Catweazle in 1970. It’s a light, kooky, hummable tune that lodged
its way deep in the mind of any child under 12 over the following decade.

When I first got the reels for Sex Clinic I’m not sure what I was sonically expecting - much of
Dicks’ music blends musical hall with jazz and some brilliant novelty - and maybe I was also
imagining a different kind of film to the one that was actually made. Turns out Sex Clinic is more
like a sleazy drama than an erotic adventure - I’ve read reviews that call it “nothing more than a
naked Crossroads”. Even knowing this I had no idea what the music was going to sound like. So
I was thrilled when it was almost the musical opposite of what I imagined. We have here a great,
easy jazz score. Not a proggy, wild or free jazz score, this is lightish, vibes-led, bluesy and really
charming, which gets slightly more lively when the naked pool party sequence kicks off, and
drifts effortlessly into more seductive midnight moods as and when required. And having now
seen the film, musically it’s unusually at odds with the on screen nudity, blackmail and revenge.

But like most of Ted’s work, the music sticks in your mind. Unlike the film. Which I suggest you
try and avoid unless you like watching plump randy middle aged men with terrible hair pursue
women half their age.

TRACKLISTING: There were no notes or titles to any of the cues on the reels. So I have just simply labeled the sides as per the reels that came in:

,Paradessence", das dritte Album von Visible Cloaks, ist ein Werk der Entstehung und Illusion. Die vierzehn Songs des Albums verschieben, heben und schimmern vor einem schwach leuchtenden Hintergrund der Nacht, einem höhlenartigen Raum, der durch spärliche hyperreale Darstellungen der natürlichen Welt geformt wird. Die Arrangements sind gleichzeitig grandios und zerbrechlich, sowohl eine Umkehrung als auch eine Kulmination dessen, was zuvor kam, und so abenteuerlich wie alles, was sie bisher produziert haben. Seit ihrer Umwandlung von Cloaks zu Visible Cloaks im Jahr 2014 haben Spencer Doran und Ryan Carlile eine komplexe Matrix gegensätzlicher Konzepte entworfen: organisch und künstlich, zufällig und bewusst, authentisch und repliziert. Der Albumtitel, der aus dem satirischen Portmanteau des Autors Alex Shakar aus ,paradox" und ,essence" stammt, spiegelt diese Spannungen direkt wider: Die Paradessence von Konsumgütern ist der ,schismatische Kern", der ihre Attraktivität ausmacht (in Shakars Beispiel ist Kaffee begehrt, weil er gleichzeitig entspannend und anregend wirkt). Der Balanceakt von Paradessence verleiht diesen Spannungen eine größere Dringlichkeit, da das Leben im 21. Jahrhundert durch eben diese Spannungen neu geordnet wird. Stille ist ein wichtiger Charakter in Paradessence, der nicht nur in der Gestaltung des Klangs zu spüren ist, sondern auch in dem Druck, den er auf alles und alles, was entsteht, ausübt. Die Gruppe ließ sich vom Konzept des ,positiven Raums" des Architekturtheoretikers Christopher Alexander beeinflussen, einer Idee, dass der Form der Leere um ein Objekt herum die gleiche Aufmerksamkeit geschenkt werden kann wie der Konstruktion des Objekts selbst. Wir hören, wie Klänge ihre eigene Stille in sich tragen, zwischen Existenz und Nicht-Existenz oszillieren und wie Mikroorganismen Lebenszyklen durchlaufen. Die Instrumente, die Paradessence untermauern, haben etwas Kollektives an sich. Sie bewegen sich wie eine Herde, so wie wenn der Wind über ein Feld voller Blätter weht und die Luft in der Abwesenheit von Bewegung sichtbar wird; mehrere Arten leben in derselben Melodie zusammen, treten hervor, ziehen sich zurück und verwandeln sich im Laufe von mehreren Minuten. ,Anstatt Stücke zu schaffen, die horizontal als Umgebungen funktionieren", sagt Doran, ,wollten wir sie als lebendes Material konzipieren, das sich im Raum verändert und ständig im Fluss ist." Die Songformen entfernen sich von der Atmosphäre und tendieren zur reinen Abstraktion. Utopismus schwebt am Rande; eine Beziehung zu imaginären Zukünften, die weder naiv, zynisch noch nostalgisch ist. Die Welt, die Visible Cloaks im Laufe der Zeit aufgebaut haben, wird oft von Mitwirkenden physisch umgesetzt, von denen eine vertraute Besetzung für Paradessence zurückkehrt. Motion Graphics (Joe Williams) ist auf ,synthetic woodwinds" zu hören und hat das Album mitgemischt, wobei er ihm mit seinem charakteristischen Glanz Kontur verliehen hat. Die miteinander verbundenen Stücke ,Shapes" und ,Thinking" wurden zusammen mit den Innovatoren der Umweltmusik Yoshio Ojima und Satsuki Shibano entwickelt, die auch mit dem Duo an der generationsübergreifenden FRKWYS-Kollaboration serenitatem gearbeitet haben. Das letztere Stück enthält einen von Ojima verfassten gesprochenen Text, der von Shibano auf Japanisch und von der Komponistin und langjährigen Freundin Félicia Atkinson auf Französisch gelesen wird. Das Componium Ensemble, Dorans Projekt für ,unbestimmte Kammermusik" mit selbstspielenden Software-Instrumenten, bildet die Grundlage für ,System" in einem Moment von Pessoa-scher Heteronymie. Auf dem Album ist auch Ioana Selaru zu hören, eine rumänische Komponistin und Violinistin, die ,Intarsia" mit ihrer Stimme und ihrem Streicherspiel bereichert. Doran beschreibt ihre Zusammenarbeit als ,eine Übung in illusorischer Präsenz", die sie gemeinsam aus ,der Idee entwickelt haben, ihr reales Instrumentenspiel virtuellen Instrumenten gegenüberzustellen, um die Grenzen zwischen synthetischen Streichinstrumenten und denen, die in der Realität existieren, zu verwischen". Selarus energiegeladene Darbietung in ,Intarsia" ist ein deutlicher Beweis für den dramatischen Kern von Paradessence: ein dringliches skulpturales Unterfangen, ein Instrument und eine menschliche Stimme, moduliert von einem Meer synthetischen Wachstums. Doran beschreibt, wie für ihn ,dieses Verschieben zwischen dem Realen und dem Virtuellen etwas ganz anderes einfängt, etwas Seltsames und Unbeschreibliches, das ein fester Bestandteil des Lebens in der digitalen Moderne ist, sowohl online als auch im realen Leben". Es ist elektronische Musik, die nicht nur durch ihre wechselnden Formen eine abstrakte Darstellung unserer aktuellen Traumrealität heraufbeschwört, sondern auch imaginäre Räume schafft, die emotional nuanciert sind und zu Momenten der Anmut führen.

,Paradessence", das dritte Album von Visible Cloaks, ist ein Werk der Entstehung und Illusion. Die vierzehn Songs des Albums verschieben, heben und schimmern vor einem schwach leuchtenden Hintergrund der Nacht, einem höhlenartigen Raum, der durch spärliche hyperreale Darstellungen der natürlichen Welt geformt wird. Die Arrangements sind gleichzeitig grandios und zerbrechlich, sowohl eine Umkehrung als auch eine Kulmination dessen, was zuvor kam, und so abenteuerlich wie alles, was sie bisher produziert haben. Seit ihrer Umwandlung von Cloaks zu Visible Cloaks im Jahr 2014 haben Spencer Doran und Ryan Carlile eine komplexe Matrix gegensätzlicher Konzepte entworfen: organisch und künstlich, zufällig und bewusst, authentisch und repliziert. Der Albumtitel, der aus dem satirischen Portmanteau des Autors Alex Shakar aus ,paradox" und ,essence" stammt, spiegelt diese Spannungen direkt wider: Die Paradessence von Konsumgütern ist der ,schismatische Kern", der ihre Attraktivität ausmacht (in Shakars Beispiel ist Kaffee begehrt, weil er gleichzeitig entspannend und anregend wirkt). Der Balanceakt von Paradessence verleiht diesen Spannungen eine größere Dringlichkeit, da das Leben im 21. Jahrhundert durch eben diese Spannungen neu geordnet wird. Stille ist ein wichtiger Charakter in Paradessence, der nicht nur in der Gestaltung des Klangs zu spüren ist, sondern auch in dem Druck, den er auf alles und alles, was entsteht, ausübt. Die Gruppe ließ sich vom Konzept des ,positiven Raums" des Architekturtheoretikers Christopher Alexander beeinflussen, einer Idee, dass der Form der Leere um ein Objekt herum die gleiche Aufmerksamkeit geschenkt werden kann wie der Konstruktion des Objekts selbst. Wir hören, wie Klänge ihre eigene Stille in sich tragen, zwischen Existenz und Nicht-Existenz oszillieren und wie Mikroorganismen Lebenszyklen durchlaufen. Die Instrumente, die Paradessence untermauern, haben etwas Kollektives an sich. Sie bewegen sich wie eine Herde, so wie wenn der Wind über ein Feld voller Blätter weht und die Luft in der Abwesenheit von Bewegung sichtbar wird; mehrere Arten leben in derselben Melodie zusammen, treten hervor, ziehen sich zurück und verwandeln sich im Laufe von mehreren Minuten. ,Anstatt Stücke zu schaffen, die horizontal als Umgebungen funktionieren", sagt Doran, ,wollten wir sie als lebendes Material konzipieren, das sich im Raum verändert und ständig im Fluss ist." Die Songformen entfernen sich von der Atmosphäre und tendieren zur reinen Abstraktion. Utopismus schwebt am Rande; eine Beziehung zu imaginären Zukünften, die weder naiv, zynisch noch nostalgisch ist. Die Welt, die Visible Cloaks im Laufe der Zeit aufgebaut haben, wird oft von Mitwirkenden physisch umgesetzt, von denen eine vertraute Besetzung für Paradessence zurückkehrt. Motion Graphics (Joe Williams) ist auf ,synthetic woodwinds" zu hören und hat das Album mitgemischt, wobei er ihm mit seinem charakteristischen Glanz Kontur verliehen hat. Die miteinander verbundenen Stücke ,Shapes" und ,Thinking" wurden zusammen mit den Innovatoren der Umweltmusik Yoshio Ojima und Satsuki Shibano entwickelt, die auch mit dem Duo an der generationsübergreifenden FRKWYS-Kollaboration serenitatem gearbeitet haben. Das letztere Stück enthält einen von Ojima verfassten gesprochenen Text, der von Shibano auf Japanisch und von der Komponistin und langjährigen Freundin Félicia Atkinson auf Französisch gelesen wird. Das Componium Ensemble, Dorans Projekt für ,unbestimmte Kammermusik" mit selbstspielenden Software-Instrumenten, bildet die Grundlage für ,System" in einem Moment von Pessoa-scher Heteronymie. Auf dem Album ist auch Ioana Selaru zu hören, eine rumänische Komponistin und Violinistin, die ,Intarsia" mit ihrer Stimme und ihrem Streicherspiel bereichert. Doran beschreibt ihre Zusammenarbeit als ,eine Übung in illusorischer Präsenz", die sie gemeinsam aus ,der Idee entwickelt haben, ihr reales Instrumentenspiel virtuellen Instrumenten gegenüberzustellen, um die Grenzen zwischen synthetischen Streichinstrumenten und denen, die in der Realität existieren, zu verwischen". Selarus energiegeladene Darbietung in ,Intarsia" ist ein deutlicher Beweis für den dramatischen Kern von Paradessence: ein dringliches skulpturales Unterfangen, ein Instrument und eine menschliche Stimme, moduliert von einem Meer synthetischen Wachstums. Doran beschreibt, wie für ihn ,dieses Verschieben zwischen dem Realen und dem Virtuellen etwas ganz anderes einfängt, etwas Seltsames und Unbeschreibliches, das ein fester Bestandteil des Lebens in der digitalen Moderne ist, sowohl online als auch im realen Leben". Es ist elektronische Musik, die nicht nur durch ihre wechselnden Formen eine abstrakte Darstellung unserer aktuellen Traumrealität heraufbeschwört, sondern auch imaginäre Räume schafft, die emotional nuanciert sind und zu Momenten der Anmut führen.

Sixteen killer 70s reggae funk and soul cuts from the likes of John Holt, Lee Perry, Cornel Campbell, The Cimarons, The Chosen Few and more featuring superb reggae takes on songs by artists including The Jackson 5, William DeVaughn, Diana Ross and The Supremes, War, The Temptations, Roberta Flack, The Stylistics and others!

Well-documented is the influence of American black music on Jamaican styles of the 1960s – from the birth of ska music, when The Skatalites ska-ified the jump-up southern USA rhythm and blues music of Rosco Gordon, Louis Jordan and Fats Domino, through to the creation of rocksteady when Jamaican artists like The Techniques, The Paragons, Alton Ellis and The Melodians turned to the slower rhythms and soulful harmonies of groups such as The Impressions and The Drifters for inspiration. 

Less-well established is that in the 1970s Jamaicans didn’t (shock!) stop listening to American black music styles, with many 70s reggae artists as invested in soul, funk and the proto-disco sounds of Philadelphia, as was the case with rhythm and blues in the previous decade. In the 1970s, while Jamaica promoted its own roots reggae styles around the world, powerhouse USA soul labels such as Motown, Philadelphia International and Stax Records were at the same time all popular on the island.
This interaction between American and Jamaican music was not limited to Jamaica. In Britain, first-generation Caribbean-émigré children in the 1960s and early 70s grew up with an equal love of both soul and reggae, which manifested itself in the home-grown arrival of lovers rock in the mid-1970s.
Soul Jazz Records’ new ‘Reggae Island Soul’ tells this story of how soul and funk-infused reggae in the 1970s united the sounds of Jamaica, USA and the UK into a highly addictive cultural hybrid of styles.

Nurtured on 90s alternative indie, lucky break's music melds the emotional directness of Fiona Apple, the wide-eyed warmth of Bedouine and the Americana-leaning alt rock of Lucinda Williams. Fans of Alvvays, Hole, Phoebe Bridgers and The Breeders will find familiar touchstones here. lucky break is a hand-drawn cartoon character and a girl with a guitar, an ever-expanding container for the feelings that come with making art. She can be very sad and very joyful, living somewhere between worlds. On her debut for Fire Records, made it!, lucky break builds a new world for her character to inhabit. made it! collects songs written between the ages of 19 and 23, documenting the uncertainty of early adulthood, the end of a first major relationship and the process of learning to stand up for yourself. Tracks like "Crush" pair sharp lyrical insight with big drums and crisp bass, while "Head Down" uses bright, dreamy guitars to explore themes of politics, consumer culture and moral complacency. Confessional, direct and emotionally precise, lucky break's songwriting is matched by a versatile and expressive vocal performance that shifts across moods and styles throughout the record. Produced with Elliott Woodbridge in Burbank, made it! is a playful, self-assured debut from a young artist who has already found her voice and is stepping confidently into a bright future. Digisleeve-CD and coloured Vinyl-LP w/ dlc available!

Nurtured on 90s alternative indie, lucky break's music melds the emotional directness of Fiona Apple, the wide-eyed warmth of Bedouine and the Americana-leaning alt rock of Lucinda Williams. Fans of Alvvays, Hole, Phoebe Bridgers and The Breeders will find familiar touchstones here. lucky break is a hand-drawn cartoon character and a girl with a guitar, an ever-expanding container for the feelings that come with making art. She can be very sad and very joyful, living somewhere between worlds. On her debut for Fire Records, made it!, lucky break builds a new world for her character to inhabit. made it! collects songs written between the ages of 19 and 23, documenting the uncertainty of early adulthood, the end of a first major relationship and the process of learning to stand up for yourself. Tracks like "Crush" pair sharp lyrical insight with big drums and crisp bass, while "Head Down" uses bright, dreamy guitars to explore themes of politics, consumer culture and moral complacency. Confessional, direct and emotionally precise, lucky break's songwriting is matched by a versatile and expressive vocal performance that shifts across moods and styles throughout the record. Produced with Elliott Woodbridge in Burbank, made it! is a playful, self-assured debut from a young artist who has already found her voice and is stepping confidently into a bright future. Digisleeve-CD and coloured Vinyl-LP w/ dlc available!

Tomorrows Wish were a group from Atlanta Georgia that consisted of vocalist Lester Carr & backed by Mary Spencer & Kimberlyn Williams.

With the help of Manny & Emandolynn Music Soul Direction bring you these 2 tracks mastered from almost lost tapes and present them to you on 7” vinyl for the very first time.

Eight men pick up shiny brass instruments, lock into an unspoken groove and rotate genres like your favorite playlist shifting from jazz and R&B to hip-hop, pop and beyond with fire, focus and fluidity. New Orleans-bred staple The Soul Rebels expand musical boundaries with an unwavering commitment to originality. Far more than augmentation and accompaniment, the octet—Julian Gosin trumpet, MC, Marcus Hubbard [trumpet], Lumar LeBlanc III [snare drum], Derrick Moss [bass drum], Corey Peyton [trombone, MC], Erion Williams [saxophone], Paul Robertson [trombone] and Manuel Perkins Jr. [sousaphone]—pioneer the integration of their chosen instrumentation.

Featuring Special Guests: Sean Carey, Dee-1, Alfred Banks, Emeril Lagasse, Trombone Shorty, Kermit Ruffins, Mia X, DJ Jubilee, Cheeky Blakk, Tonya Boyd-Cannon, New Orleans Citywide Youth Choir, Jaelyn Langston, Wild Wayne, Kango Slim, PJ Morton, Big Freedia, Denisia, Branford Marsalis, Brandee Younger, KES, Kayla Jasmine, Matisyahu, Robert Glasper, Fabriq, Tarriona "Tank" Ball

Oceanine, Jolanda Moletta’s third album and her first for Beacon Sound, is a powerful and ethereal statement of artistic community. Expanding on her previous work, each track represents a collaboration with a different female vocalist, with the foundational elements being generated entirely by her own voice. By turns haunting, enchanting, and inspiring, you won’t want to come up for air once you’ve been pulled under. Representing a
musical practice that is distinctly feminist, this is an album with a longer view in mind, to an age when the altars were to goddesses and women were centered as powerful beings representing the earth’s cycles of regeneration and renewal. Oceanine then, in all its beauty, can be viewed as an album of survival. It is deeply transportive, accessing something that lies within all of us. As the late, great Lithuanian folklorist and archaeologist Marija Gimbutas noted, “We must refocus our collective memory. The necessity for this has never been greater as we discover that the path of 'progress' is extinguishing the very conditions for life on earth.”

Jolanda Moletta is a multimedia artist and one-woman electronic choir. She creates wordless compositions through extended vocal techniques, integrating wearable-controlled live processing, alongside symbolic visuals. Moletta considers her performances to be a collective ritual and creates her Sonic & Visual Spells following the cycles of nature and the moon. Jolanda's 2022 critically acclaimed album Nine Spells was released on the Ambientologist label, followed by Night Caves on Whitelabrecs in 2025. Moletta’s artistic practice is a radical and spiritual journey through sound art, ritual, and the symbolic archaeology of the feminine.

Oceanine is inspired by sirens, water nymphs, and the timeless call of the sea. At its core lies Jolanda’s deep, lifelong connection to the Mediterranean Sea and to the ancient and modern myths and folklore that have emerged from its waters. Growing up by the Mar Ligure, Jolanda was surrounded by stories carried by salt, wind, and waves: legends of sirens, echoes of ancient voices, and the sea as both origin and oracle. This intimate relationship with the Mediterranean is not merely a backdrop, but a living source that shapes Oceanine’s emotional, symbolic, and sonic world.

Each track features a different female vocalist, creating a rich tapestry of voices, styles, and perspectives. This artistic choice not only broadens the album’s sonic palette, but also deepens its narrative core: celebrating the power, beauty, and mystique of feminine energy through myth, history, and sound.

The entire album is built exclusively from the human voice, processed and layered, yet always remaining voice, and nothing else. For each piece, Jolanda invited every vocalist involved to contribute a raw stem: a short, unedited melodic fragment of just a few seconds, inspired by the album’s themes. These intimate vocal seeds became the foundation of each track: the guest artists’ voices appear as brief, melodic stems, while the entire surrounding “orchestral” fabric is created solely from Jolanda’s own layered and processed voice. In this way, Jolanda’s voice becomes the Ocean itself, embracing, absorbing, and carrying the sirens’ calls within a vast, immersive soundscape. Every song is a unique expression of the feminine experience, revealing its depth, complexity, and emotional range, echoing the call of the sea and the many faces of the siren archetype.

The figure of the siren has transformed across centuries. In myths of Ancient Greece and Rome, sirens were hybrid beings, part woman, part bird, whose irresistible songs lured sailors to their doom. During the Middle Ages, the image shifted toward the half-woman, half-fish figure, often associated with temptation and danger. Historically, the voice of women has often been feared. Sirens were considered harbingers of misfortune not simply because they seduced or destroyed, but because they were powerful liminal beings.

In Ancient Greek, sirens functioned as psychopomps: figures who existed between worlds and guided souls, especially between life and death. Their songs were believed to carry forbidden knowledge, including prophetic insight and the ability to reveal truths about fate and the future. The danger of the sirens lay in what they revealed: knowledge that humans were not meant, or ready, to hear.

Oceanine confronts this legacy head-on. The voices heard throughout the album are not merely beautiful: they are dark and luminous, wild and enchanting, magical, soothing, dreamy, and at times fractured or distorted. They whisper, lament, beckon, and enchant. Like sirens, they skim the surface of the water and sink into its depths, hovering on the edge between tenderness and danger, vulnerability and power. They rise toward the sky, dissolve into mist, and return as echoes charged with raw, elemental emotion: voices that seduce, warn, mourn, and remember. They refuse to be reduced to decoration.

Alongside the album’s release in May, Oceanine will also unfold as a visual and performative work through a short art film. The film includes a live session recorded inside a sea cave facing the Mar Ligure, the very coastline where Jolanda spent her childhood, dreaming of sirens and listening to the sea as if it were speaking directly to her. This site-specific performance reconnects the music to its place of origin, allowing the voice to resonate within stone, water, and air, and transforming the cave into both a sanctuary and a threshold between myth and reality.

What if the sirens’ songs were considered dangerous because they carried another truth, an ancient truth long forgotten?

Oceanine embraces the idea that we are still deeply woven into myth. Though we may see ourselves as rational and modern beings, our world is saturated with ancient symbols and archetypes, often distorted, simplified, or stripped of their original meaning. And if those symbols are allowed to shift, if the mirror once held by the siren becomes an invitation to look beyond appearances and into what has been obscured, then we may finally uncover a deeper truth and reclaim the voice that was always ours.

Oceanine is not just an album. It is a reclamation, a spell, and a call from the depths.

Matias Aguayo drops debut single on Rekids‘El Internet’ is a prelude to the Coméme founder’ upcoming album on the label. Chile’s Matias Aguayo debuts on Rekids with ‘El Internet’, the first single of his upcoming album on Radio Slave’s acclaimed label. Coméme co-founder Aguayo’s ‘El Internet’ is a dancefloor-tested, pumping and uptempo track with personal, intimate vocals phoning in.

“El Internet” tells about walking through the city in hot summer nights looking for the perfect dancefloor and about moments in life where you feel (musical) freedom and change, revolutions in music and dreams in community, about YouTube, MySpace, Fotolog and about people who dance in their houses, yards and on the streets to primitive, raw, and direct music (like the rhythm of the track itself).” - Matias Aguayo

Chilean-born musician and DJ Matias Aguayo has been active for three decades, co-founding the Cómeme label in 2009 and releasing work on the likes of Kompakt, Pschent, Hard Fist, and Permanent Vacation. Beyond music, he has organised underground parties and led social projects, including a theatre production at Le Châtelet in Paris.

Radio Slave’s Rekids was founded in 2006 and has since spawned successful offshoots with the Techno-focused Rekids Special Projects in 2017 and its newest sublabel, REK’D, in 2024. With Matt Edwards as the sole A&R, Rekids has been crucial in developing early artist careers and has become a haven for established acts operating in House and adjacent genres, having recently featured the likes of Hilit Kolet, William Kiss, Tal Fussman, Tiger Stripes, Harry Rimero, The Hacker, Sean Johnston, and many more.

Buster Williams is a man with a strong sense of purpose and a very clear sense of his musical direction. He is also a musician of prodigious gifts - which is implicit in the fact that his years of professional bass playing have included work with Miles Davis, Dexter Gordon, Sonny Rollins, Art Blakey, Sarah Vaughan, Nancy Wilson, Betty Carter, Freddie Hubbard, Herbie Hancock, Chet Baker, Woody Shaw and McCoy Tyner. He is unquestionably one of the giants of the double bass, and his status is a product not only of his natural aptitude, but also of his natural attitude - because Buster Williams is a man who believes in setting himself the highest creative goals. Williams composed five of the seven pieces and wrote all the arrangements. To bring the music to life he had the services of some most distinguished associates. It would be redundant to recite the credentials of Herbie Hancock , Wayne Shorter and Al Foster. This is a most refreshing and exhilarating album to which Buster Williams has brought a high level of creativity and total integrity.

Cathartic avant-rock, literate DIY folk & experimental composition exploring displacement, love, climate change, belonging & the places we call home - RIYL Jim O’Rourke, Richard Youngs, This Heat, Richard Dawson, Flying Nun. ‘Real Home’ is the new album by the Manchester-born, London-based artist Kiran Leonard. His sixth album proper (not including innumerable tour-only CD-Rs and short-run cassettes), since his precocious debut in 2013, ‘Real Home’ finds Leonard invigorated by inspiration and experience, making passionate, literate, and mercurial music that explores displacement, love, memory, climate change, connections to home and more. Encompassing songs recorded after moving to South London, ‘Real Home’ reflects on ideas of belonging and domesticity through folkloric, stream-of-consciousness songwriting. Across nine tracks, Leonard traces lived impressions of the household and the city, expressing sentiments of dislocation, alienation and stasis, but contentment too. Infusing the avant-rock effervescence, terraced dynamics and visionary lyricism of his music with what he defines as a greater sense of openness, Leonard is as versatile, fervent and imaginative as ever on ‘Real Home’, yet his music is somehow more intimate, affecting, and acutely expressive. Shaped by dual considerations of simplicity and formalism, ‘Real Home’ is by turns beautiful, allusive, and ruminative, an album on which Leonard considers what his songs have resembled in the past and what they mean now. In recent years, Leonard has crafted eloquent chamber music inspired by the likes of James Joyce and Clarice Lispector (‘Derevaun Seraun’), responded to contemporary politics and communication breakdown in the digital age (‘Western Culture’), and compiled solo works and ensemble recordings for a longform ode to Jonas Mekas and to one of Leonard’s enduring themes; home (‘Trespass On Foot’). On ‘Real Home’, Leonard reiterates this abiding thematic focus yet ascends to new, different heights, in music of cathartic delicacy and dissonance where all the myriad dimensions of his work to date seem to crystallize. There are sinuous songs about struggle and defying the pace of city life through drift and diversion (‘Pass Between Houses’), stirring songs of intense feeling and crescendo, described as a form of speculative detective fiction (‘Theatre for Change’). There are touching solo piano ballads (the title track), symbolic contentions with carbon capture and climate change (‘Utopia of Bog’), modes of experimental minimalism (‘Void Attentive’), and other profuse feats of compositional range, embroidered with wild tendrils of narrative and lyrical depth. A record to pore over, and get lost in. Exemplifying the vast aesthetic scope of Leonard’s music, lead single ‘My Love, Let’s Take The Stage Tonight’ is inspired by country lodestar Hank Williams, Russian poetry and a late period love poem by William Carlos Williams. Yet for Leonard, the song signals a sense of accessible materiality, and is the product of a more linear approach to writing songs: “My imitation of the great Hank Williams, in spirit if not in substance…This is one of the best efforts on Real Home at a song-as-object. Looking at it now I realise I was trying to write a song that made itself known as a song to the listener, and I wonder whether that’s crucial if you want a song to transcend its context. And that this is either accomplished through a total openness – by being inviting, by laying the tricks of the song out plain to see, as Williams and his many ghostwriters did so well – or by adopting a knowing aloofness, positioning oneself against the listener but letting it be known that that’s what it’s doing. In this song I try both, but mostly the former: as in, I wanted to write a song where every line follows on from the next.” Imbuing the endlessly elaborate and inventive qualities of his music with a newfound streak of candid, clear-cut melodicism, Leonard has reached a special place in his artistry, on a record that feels familial, and expresses closeness. Assembled with affiliates including Lauren Auder, Otto Willberg, Jasper Llewellyn (caroline), Tom Hardwick-Allan (Shovel Dance Collective), Magda McLean (caroline, The Umlauts), Alex Mckenzie (caroline, Shovel Dance Collective), Isabelle Thorn (Dear Laika) & more, the recording process had a significant influence on the subject matter of ‘Real Home’, in sessions defined by close-knit camaraderie and artistic eccentricity: “The theme of the home obviously recurs throughout the record; the album was mostly recorded in domestic spaces with friends, and the name of the album is Real Home. I like the qualifier ‘real’, like you’re getting past the cloak of the word and towards the thing-itself…also nearly all the percussion in this record was recorded on items from my dad’s shed (jam jars, sandpaper, blocks of wood, etc). Real home record!” ‘Real Home’, like anything by Kiran Leonard, is a record of dazzling multiplicity. Yet it’s a companionable prospect with a central premise; a collection of songs where listeners old and new can find a home. An album led by a scene; of Leonard standing at the threshold, ready to welcome you inside. “Exceptional songs that linger” - The Guardian // “An autodidact of amazing talent & energy” – Pitchfork // “A ridiculous amount of talent…confrontational, celebratory, provocative or perverse – he manages all of these emotions & more” - The Quietus /

Regarded as one of the most significant and influential musicians of the 20th century, Hank Williams recorded 55 singles that reached the top 10 of the Billboard Country & Western Best Sellers chart, five of which were released posthumously, and twelve of which reached #1. After a life of alcoholism and substance abuse, Hank Williams died on New Year’s Day 1953 at the age of 29 in the back seat of a car, while going to perform a concert in Canton, Ohio. His songs have been covered by hundreds of artists and he influenced the careers of such stars as Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley, Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, and the Rolling Stones. Presented here are his 22 greatest hits. 22 TRACKS - 180-GRAM VIRGIN VINYL - SPECIAL GATEFOLD - LIMITED EDITION

Das Debütalbum von My New Band Believe entstand unter ungewöhnlichen Umständen: Während eines Aufenthalts in einem chinesischen Hotel fühlte sich Cameron Picton plötzlich krank. In seinem delirierenden Zustand entstanden Bilder und Textfragmente, aus denen später Songs wurden - darunter auch der Ausdruck "My New Band Believe", der zum Projekt- und Albumnamen wurde. Picton empfindet den Titel zugleich als kitschig und brillant: eine bewusste Wiedervorstellung, ein Neuanfang, der zwischen Ich-Bezug und kollektivem Anspruch oszilliert. Als Bassist und zweiter Frontmann von black midi war Picton Teil einer Band, die für komplexe Strukturen und kontrolliertes Chaos stand. Nach deren Auflösung 2023 begann er ohne festen Plan mit Studioarbeiten. Aus dieser offenen Phase heraus formierte sich My New Band Believe, unterstützt von Musiker:innen wie Kiran Leonard, Caius Williams, Steve Noble, Andrew Cheetham und Mitgliedern von caroline. Das Album bewegt sich assoziativ durch unterschiedliche emotionale Ebenen. Klanglich setzt es überwiegend auf akustische Arrangements statt auf elektronische Effekte, bleibt dabei jedoch dynamisch. Einflüsse wie Bert Jansch oder Judee Sill sind spürbar. Songs wie "Actress" oder "Opposite Teacher" verbinden Zurückhaltung mit plötzlichen Ausbrüchen. "Target Practice" verwandelt Vigilantismus in eine theatralische Mitsing-Hymne, während "One Night" und "Heart of Darkness" intime, suchende Figuren zeigen. Picton gelingt es, diffuse Ängste in eindringliche, mehrdeutige Popmusik zu übersetzen.

Das Debütalbum von My New Band Believe entstand unter ungewöhnlichen Umständen: Während eines Aufenthalts in einem chinesischen Hotel fühlte sich Cameron Picton plötzlich krank. In seinem delirierenden Zustand entstanden Bilder und Textfragmente, aus denen später Songs wurden - darunter auch der Ausdruck "My New Band Believe", der zum Projekt- und Albumnamen wurde. Picton empfindet den Titel zugleich als kitschig und brillant: eine bewusste Wiedervorstellung, ein Neuanfang, der zwischen Ich-Bezug und kollektivem Anspruch oszilliert. Als Bassist und zweiter Frontmann von black midi war Picton Teil einer Band, die für komplexe Strukturen und kontrolliertes Chaos stand. Nach deren Auflösung 2023 begann er ohne festen Plan mit Studioarbeiten. Aus dieser offenen Phase heraus formierte sich My New Band Believe, unterstützt von Musiker:innen wie Kiran Leonard, Caius Williams, Steve Noble, Andrew Cheetham und Mitgliedern von caroline. Das Album bewegt sich assoziativ durch unterschiedliche emotionale Ebenen. Klanglich setzt es überwiegend auf akustische Arrangements statt auf elektronische Effekte, bleibt dabei jedoch dynamisch. Einflüsse wie Bert Jansch oder Judee Sill sind spürbar. Songs wie "Actress" oder "Opposite Teacher" verbinden Zurückhaltung mit plötzlichen Ausbrüchen. "Target Practice" verwandelt Vigilantismus in eine theatralische Mitsing-Hymne, während "One Night" und "Heart of Darkness" intime, suchende Figuren zeigen. Picton gelingt es, diffuse Ängste in eindringliche, mehrdeutige Popmusik zu übersetzen.

GOLLIWOG is billy woods' first album in two years, preceded by 2023's Maps, his second collaboration with producer Kenny Segal. That nimble travelogue has little in common with woods' newest work, despite the fact that Segal shows up a couple times in the credits. GOLLIWOG is a haunting collection that weaves horror, humor, surrealism and Afropessimism into a cinematic tapestry, aided and abetted by a murderer's row of producers. African zombies, time traveling trap cars, malevolent ragdolls and a dying Frantz Fanon are just a few of the revelers in woods' danse macabre. GOLLIWOG features production from The Alchemist, Kenny Segal, EL-P, Conductor Williams, Preservation, Messiah Musik, Sadhugold, Ant (Atmosphere), Shabaka Hutchings, Steel Tipped Dove, DJ Haram, Willie Green, Jeff Markey, Saint Abdullah, and LA-based experimental jazz trio Human Error Club. Meanwhile, woods is joined on the mic by Backwoodz labelmates ELUCID and Cavalier, along with rappers Bruiser Wolf, Despot, Al.Divino, and singer-songwriter Yolanda Watson. GOLLIWOG is another triumph in the woods oeuvre, as layered and compelling as anything he has ever done. A black carnival pitched in a muddy field overnight, empty rides whirring and clattering in the dark.

The album opens with the ominous guitar-driven Hollow Sky, accompanied by its haunting music video's verdant vistas. The song, with Iceglass ghostly vocals, shimmers with that sounds like an Omnichord flittering like sonic firefly lights and brooding bass. This perfectly scores the less traveled wanderings through the dark wooden path of Dante's perdition, leading to the titular well that graces the album cover. The Crater opens with an unsettling riff and bass, with low, repetitive frequencies on the synth create a sense of unease. Here, Iceglass recounts a fatalistic requiem for the king of romance that is cataclysmic and leaves a scar upon the earth. With Fall Industrial Wall, once again, Iceglass channels a silky and Nico-like emotive deadpan; against a dirgelike melody backed by minimal synth, bass, and drum. Almost medieval and plaintive, with its folk droning horns, deep and shallow in their resonance. This song is anachronistic, setting the scene of ruins centuries-old with crumbling edifices strewn about like memories lost in time. With the poetic lyrics of The Chamber do we find the eponymous abyss. Here, dualities are laid bare; besides love, there is heartbreak, and without this sorrow, what meaning would there be to love if one knows not what it is to lose? This song encapsulates the idea that love is heartbreak, and love lost is reaching the deepest chamber of the heart. This is carried through a sombre horn, minimalist drum machine, and deliberate bassline overlaid with Iceglass german and english lyrics. The Well is led in with a softly distorted bassline overlaid with eerie banshee howls give way to Iceglass otherworld vocal refrain, echoing through time as if emanating from a hole in the ground, and encircling that hole is a garden of woe and despair. The sinfully seductive song The Moor features a captivating SAX SOLO courtesy of Perseas; a welcome shift in tone, juxtaposed well with the intensity of Iceglass tenebrous vocal purr. This hitherto unexplored foray into dark sensuality takes the song into sordid mid 80s territory, bringing to mind a dusky drive along a serpentine road, with equally haunting instrumentations straddling time with icy fire. Broken Characters is an acoustic folk interlude featuring Selofan's Dimitris Pavlidis on guitar. Here we find a more gentle approach with its earnest and romantic lyrics. The song's melodic hook is a soft caress along with the forlorn horn elements highlighting Iceglass at her most Nico-sounding vocal yet, singing the sorrowful truth that most artists are indeed broken characters. Chimerical opens with dirgelike synth organs. The chill of winter has befallen the lamentations sung by Iceglass carried by haunting chord progressions and minimal percussion, plaintively beseeching the song's subject to remain elusive, idealistic, and a dreamer. After an album highlighting more Jill than Jack, our male protagonist finally makes his ascent in the sonorous and breathtaking Dark Hill, a masterful march of sweeping synth horns, and trepidatious drum machine with William Maybelline's bellowing voice cracking like thunder, rattling the atmosphere like his heart against his ribs. Spirals swirls in a cautionary knell of cathedral-esque droning synth dirge, with Icarian lyrics shining like a sombre ray of hope; like the sun's rays creeping into the darkest of places. The song, minimalist in its tight percussion, echoes with the solace of Larissa Iceglass vocal litany; invoking elements of the supernatural, almost like a Casio preset sequenced to the beating of an angel's wings.

Dudley Perkins, aka Declaime, is a visionary wordsmith and sonic architect who has been a pivotal figure in the underground hip-hop scene since the mid-90s. Renowned for his introspective lyricism, intricate rhyme patterns, and innovative production techniques, he has consistently pushed the boundaries of the genre. Declaime's music is a fusion of soulful samples, jazzy undertones, and raw, unfiltered emotion.

His ability to seamlessly blend intricate beats with thought-provoking verses has earned him a dedicated following and critical acclaim. Throughout his career, Declaime has collaborated with a diverse range of artists, including Madlib, Oh No, Georgia Anne Muldrow, Flying Lotus, knxwledge, Aloe Blacc, Kankick, Saul Williams, Latoya Williams, Hudson Mohawk, Casual and many other notable names. His solo projects and collaborative efforts have left an enduring impact on the hip-hop landscape, inspiring countless artists and shaping the sound of future generations.Dudley has unveiled his latest 9-track album titled "Flatulent," set to be released on the esteemed Urbnet label. The album, produced by German beat maker and producer Der Brxwnsxn, highlights Declaime's signature blend of intricate rhythms, haunting samples, and ethereal melodies.

“If I never make it home, thank you for everything.” — “Ten Years” It’s hard to believe twenty years have passed since The Academy Is… released their breakthrough debut Almost Here, a record that quietly shaped an underground era. In the years since, the band grew up, lived full lives, and ultimately found their way back. Almost There serves as a conceptual companion to their debut, reexamining the past from the present with clarity, reflection, and experience. “Almost Here was about leaving home,” William Beckett reflects. “This album is about finding your way back.” The songs capture the bittersweet truth that time moves fast, carrying a quiet urgency to chase what matters before it slips away.