HHV Exclusives 120 Items

HHV, Piano Piano and Sven Wunder team up to bring you this white vinyl edition of three albums only available at HHV. The color was picked by the artist. Each album is limited to 300 copies and numbered.

HHV Exclusive edition on white wax, limited to 80 copies worldwide.

Original masters licensed by King Records Japan. Includes OBI and insert. 'Innocent Canon' is one of the hopelessly obscure Japanese underground albums that few people know about. It is a kind of unreleased delirious groovadelic soundtrack played by an acid-soaked Japanese big band with powerful drumming, heavy jazz fumes and delirious organ/guitar lines and luminary narration.Inomata was a well-known jazz musician at the time, but like many of his contemporaries, he went off the deep end with psychedelic music between 1970-1972. Upon the release of the record in 1970 there was a great debate among Japanese journalists who tried to catalog a genre to the record. The attempt was in vain. They couldn't figure out what it was. Rock? Jazz? They had to accept that you couldn't always label everything. Takesi Inomata & Sound Limited produce music that has nothing to do with stereotypical genres; they play to bring to life an expression of modern sensibility. The title of the album, "Innocent Canon," is particularly intriguing to analyze in relation to this concept of the fluidity of music. The same can be said of Kano Tenmei, a talented photographer and DJ, who participated in the sessions with the role of a narrator who improvises aloud, and it doesn't matter if you don't understand everything he says; what matters is being able to fit into this complex emotional quest. Sound Limited consists of 10 members, but this number varies often; Inomata always leaves the door open to anyone who wants to join the band founded on a very loose philosophy. The recording process took only 24 hours. Inomata eventually declared, "we managed to create something exciting and interesting (in such a short time)." The album opens with an acidic "Introduction," played with organ, guitar, bass and drums. It is followed by "Funeral," a flute-dominated track over an organ carpet; it is dedicated to Janis Joplin. In a triumph of brass riffs, guitar, sax and drums solos, Kano Tenmei screams "No, No..." in "Rebellion"; a psychedelic funk shake over 7 minutes long. "Toy" is reminiscent of samba, with prominent horns and an electric piano solo. "Melancholy" follows a sick guitar riff over a cha-cha rhythm, with piccolo, sax and organ solos. This is followed by the long "Lonesome" introduced by sitar. The beginning and end of the song are breathtaking, as is the schizophrenic middle section. Closing is the short "Return," a folk ballad with acoustic guitar, whistles, piano and recorders. It is fair to say that this improvisational session produced outstanding results. The artwork is original features some very strange erotic sketches.

HHV Exclusive edition on red wax, limited to 100 copies.

The Awakening were one of the greatest bands in early '70s jazz blending Spiritual and soul. They combined veterans of Chicago’s R&B sessions and jazz players affiliated with the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians and were the only "group" on the legendary Black Jazz Records roster. This album includes the most representative tunes from their only two albums released in 1972/1973.

Limited edition of 300 copies, exclusively available at HHV!

Following his debut EP ‘En clair-obscur’ and a series of singles earlier this year cementing his place as a rising name in the world of cinematic soul & funk, Hamburg’s finest cinematic soul artist ‘The Offline’ announces his debut album 'La couleur de la mer'.

Reminiscent of film scores from the 60s and 70s, The Offline worked with co-producer Tim Liztenberger to channel the influence of film composers such as Francois de Roubaix and Brian Bennet, creating his own soundtrack on ‘La couleur de la mer’. Inducing images of manorial, fog-swept villas at the sea's edge, silhouetted sailing boats and cigar-chomping villains attempting to thwart the mission of an imaginary hero, the record is a masterfully composed sonic journey. Experimenting with themes and atypical song structures, the music moves from dramatic cues to fragile romanticism. It incorporates psychedelic spaciness, retro soul and hip-hop sensibilities informed by The Offline’s extensive record collection and crate-digger status.

“Ever since I was a child, I was fascinated by the soundtracks from the 60s and 70s, and I always wanted to make an album in the film score direction. I wrote about 30 demos, kicked half of it and stuck to the ones that felt right in the dramaturgical structure of the ‘movie'. Interestingly the main theme was set early on while writing the album, which made the writing process much easier.”

Aptly named, ‘Thème de la couleur de la mer’ opens proceedings, establishing the core motifs of the record. Haunting flutes and xylophones lead the way into Khruangbin-esque guitar lines, which sit against a hip-hop canvas that returns on boom-bap head boppers like ‘Quelque chose reste’. Retro soul revival takes precedence on deep cuts like ‘Un bout de chemin’, with wah-gated guitars interacting with emotive cello lines and symphonic string & horn sections.

The Offline came to life when composer and photographer Felix Müller travelled the Atlantic coastline in the south of France with his analogue camera, capturing beach life on film. After coming back to Hamburg, he started writing songs as the sonic counterpart to the analogue visuals. His Debut EP ‘En Clair-Obscur’ includes five tracks that capture the essence of his journey and the feeling of a cool summer soundtrack.

Limited to 300 copies, only available at HHV! ‘Les Cigales’ takes its’ sonic cues from the structure of film and TV music from the 1960s and 70s, channelling the influence of film composers such as Francois de Roubaix and David Axelrod, whilst also sitting somewhere between the washed out, sun-soaked sonics of Surprise Chef and Robohands. As the EP unwinds, its narrative reflects a love story, full of longing, melancholy and drama, connecting with the story of Gyptis and Protis – the founding myth of Marseilles – whose love broke convention and welcomed the arrival of foreign people on French soil.

The project follows The Offline’s debut album ‘La couleur de la mer’, released in November 2023, which saw him create his own soundtrack to a film yet to be made. Inducing images of manorial, fog- swept villas at the seas edge, silhouetted sailing boats and cigar-chomping villains attempting to thwart the mission of an imaginary hero, the record is a masterfully composed sonic journey. ‘Les Cigales’ sees him continue to build upon a distinctive sound that moves from dramatic cues to fragile romanticism, incorporating psychedelic spaciness, retro soul and hip-hop sensibilities informed by his extensive record collection.

Collaborations From the New Berlin Jazz Underground, recorded live at Badehaus Berlin, The 2xLP gatefold vinyl will be exclusively available in a limited edition of 200 copies through HHV as part or their “Summer Of Jazz” campaign.

The Shades Of Oshu event series grew out of a need to create a platform for the re-emerging post-Covid Berlin music scene, to showcase new talent from both the international and local multi cultural creative community, fostering dialogue and collaboration. A joint venture between Oshu Records and Badehaus Berlin, under the curation of Szabolcs Bognár and Katerina “Temkina” Stanislevikj the series combined improvised music performances with special guests, producer showcases and DJ sets with the aim of providing a platform for emerging musical expressions. Every performance you hear on this record was captured between September 2021 and July 2022 during the series. With post production and editing handled by Szabolcs Bognár, the project features artists such as the Moses Yoofee Trio, Àbáse, Wayne Snow, Zeitgeist Freedom Energy Exchange, Magro, K’boko, Dumama, Ori Jacobson, Kechou, King Owusu and Aduni from the Berlin scene as well as international projects Jazzbois, SunMa (Budapest), Alexander Flood (Australia) or Thamsanqa Vuthela (South Africa).

This edition is limited to 500 copies worldwide and is only available at HHV. Following the highly acclaimed first volume in the series, Japanese jazz expert Yusuke Ogawa continues the WaJazz exploration with another essential collection of music that contains something uniquely Japanese — focusing this time on the King Records catalog. Featuring timeless music by Isao Suzuki, Toshiaki Yokota, Akira Miyazawa, Takeru Muraoka, Yasuaki Shimizu, Masahiko Togashi, George Otsuka, and more!

Gatefold 180g heavy double vinyl LP, reverse board print. Comes with extensive track-by-track liner notes by Yusuke Ogawa.
All tracks licensed by King Record Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan.
Mastering and lacquer cut by Jukka Sarapää at Timmion Cutting Lab, Helsinki, Finland.
Artwork by Nker.

TEXT:

“It is my great pleasure to introduce you to the second volume of the “Japanese Jazz Spectacle” series. Following the first compilation which focused on recordings from the Nippon Columbia catalog, this time we are digging into the King Records archives. It is almost impossible to capture the whole picture of Wa-Jazz in a couple of compilation albums since it is such a broad and deep genre, however, by extracting tracks from the Nippon Columbia and King Records collections - both labels having an extensive archive of jazz music - we may be able to glimpse a part of its allure and essence. This time again, I have made the music selection with this idea in mind. The music in this compilation was recorded between 1962 and 1985 and is a brief history of Japanese jazz on King Records. Listening is believing, so I hope these tracks will capture your heart and that you will enjoy the charms of Japanese jazz.” - Yusuke Ogawa

Yusuke Ogawa has been running the Universounds store in Tokyo since 2001, specializing in jazz and second-hand, rare, and collector records. He is also a reissue supervisor, label manager, DJ, and music writer. Known for his vast musical knowledge, eye for detail, and archival skills, Ogawa has worked on more than 250 reissues and compilations – including the highly praised Deep Jazz Reality and Project Re:Vinyl series. He is the co-author of the Wa-Jazz Disc Guide and the Independent Black Jazz of America books.

After many years working as a buyer for several record stores, DJ Chintam opened his own Blow Up shop in 2018 in Tokyo’s Shibuya district. A member of the Dayjam Crew and a specialist of soul, funk, rare groove and disco music, Chintam is also an expert of the home-brewed Wamono grooves. He supervised and wrote the legendary Wamono A to Z records guide book together with DJ Yoshizawa Dynamite.

For this brand new chapter in the highly acclaimed Wamono series, our man Chintam goes digging into the vaults of one of the most revered Japanese labels: Trio Records. Established in 1969 by audio manufacturer Trio Electronics, now known as Kenwood, the label - and its subsidiaries such as Showboat and Trash - released high quality music spanning a large variety of genres including rock, jazz, fusion, soundtracks and popular songs, until its end in 1984. Through the eight tracks selected here, Chintam unearths some dope drum breaks, heavy bass lines and funky horns, for an essential selection of jazz funk fusion and rare groove vibes produced on Trio between 1973 and 1981.

Put the needle on the record, turn up the volume and dig right now into the Wamono sound - the cream of the Japanese jazz, funk, soul, rare groove and boogie music developed throughout the years since the sixties in Japan! 180g heavy vinyl pressing, reverse board jacket.

● Fully licensed Trio Records masters.

● Mastering and lacquer cut by Jukka Sarapää at Timmion Cutting Lab, Helsinki, Finland.

● Signature artwork by Yoxxx.

Limited edition of 300 copies! Numbered by hand. Active as a professional DJ in Japan since the late eighties, DJ Yoshizawa Dynamite is also a renowned remixer, compiler and producer. An avid record collector and an expert of the Wamono style, Yoshizawa published the Wamono A to Z records guide book in 2015 which instantly sold-out. The book unveiled a myriad of beautiful and rare records from a highly prolific, but still then unknown, Japanese groove scene. After many years working as a record buyer for several stores, DJ Chintam opened his own Blow Up shop in 2018 in Tokyo’s Shibuya district. A member of the Dayjam Crew and a specialist of soul, funk, rare groove and disco music, Chintam is also an expert of the home-brewed Wamono grooves. He supervised and wrote the Wamono A to Z records guide book together with Yoshizawa. For this third chapter of the acclaimed Wamono series, Yoshizawa and Chintam unheart some of the best and rarest light mellow funk tunes and disco boogie bangers produced in Japan between 1978 and 1988. Put the needle on the record, turn up the volume and dig right now into the Wamono sound - the cream of the Japanese jazz, funk, soul, rare groove and disco music developed throughout the years since the end of the sixties in Japan!

Limited edition of 300 copies! Numbered by hand. J Following the highly acclaimed Volume I, dig further into the Wamono sound - the cream of the Japanese jazz, funk, soul, rare groove and disco music developed throughout the years since the end of the sixties in Japan!

Fully licensed Nippon Columbia and Victor Japan masters available for the first time outside of Japan, featuring rarities from Jiro Inagaki & Soul Media, Hiroshi Sato, Bread & Butter, Hatsumi Shibata, Fujio Tokita and more! Tracks selection by Japanese super diggers and Wamono specialists DJ Yoshizawa Dynamite and Chintam Mastered and cut at Timmion Cutting Lab Artwork by Yoxxx (Tokyo) 180g heavy vinyl pressing, reverse board jacket

Active as a professional DJ in Japan since the late eighties, DJ Yoshizawa Dynamite is also a renowned remixer, compiler and producer. An avid record collector and an expert of the Wamono style, Yoshizawa published the Wamono A to Z records guide book in 2015 which instantly sold-out. The book unveiled a myriad of beautiful and rare records from a highly prolific, but still then unknown, Japanese groove scene. After many years working as a record buyer for several stores, DJ Chintam opened his own Blow Up shop in 2018 in Tokyo’s Shibuya district. A member of the Dayjam Crew and a specialist of soul, funk, rare groove and disco music, Chintam is also an expert of the home-brewed Wamono grooves. He supervised and wrote the Wamono A to Z records guide book together with Yoshizawa In this second volume of the acclaimed Wamono series, Yoshizawa and Chintam dig into some of the best and rarest funky tunes produced in Japan during the seventies. Put the needle on the record, turn up the volume and dig right now into the Wamono sound - the cream of the Japanese jazz, funk, soul, rare groove and disco music developed throughout the years since the end of the sixties in Japan!

Limited edition of 300 copies! Numbered by hand.
Japanese Jazz-Funk & Rare Groove 1968-1980 (Selected by DJ Yoshizawa Dynamite & Chintam) Active as a professional DJ in Japan since the late eighties, DJ Yoshizawa Dynamite is also a renowned remixer, compiler and producer. An avid record collector and an expert of the Wamono style, Yoshizawa published the Wamono A to Z records guide book in 2015 which instantly sold-out. The book unveiled a myriad of beautiful and rare records from a highly prolific, but still then unknown, Japanese groove scene. After many years working as a record buyer for several stores, DJ Chintam opened his own Blow Up shop in 2018 in Tokyo’s Shibuya district. A member of the Dayjam Crew and a specialist of soul, funk, rare groove and disco music, Chintam is also an expert of the home-brewed Wamono grooves. He supervised and wrote the Wamono A to Z records guide book together with Yoshizawa. With this first volume of the Wamono series, our two DJs here guide you through some of the best and rarest jazz funk and rare groove tunes produced in Japan between 1968 and 1980. Put the needle on the record, turn up the volume and dig right now into the Wamono sound - the cream of the Japanese funk, soul, rare groove and disco music developed throughout the years since the end of the sixties in Japan!

Limited edition of 1000 copies, exclusively available at HHV!

Multi-instrumentalist and visionary artist Yussef Dayes is set to release his highly anticipated debut solo studio album ‘Black Classical Music’, on the 8th September 2023. ‘Black Classical Music’ is a 19-track record taking listeners through a looking glass into the exalted artist’s past and present whilst exploring themes of home and family. The album draws influence from his musical heroes Miles Davis & Rahsaan Roland Kirk and Yussef’s extensive travel around the globe that has deepened his study of rhythm. Honourable features on “Black Classical Music” - Chronixx, Jamilah Barry, Tom Misch, Shabaka Hutchings, Miles James, Sheila Maurice Grey, Nathaniel Cross, Theon Cross and the Chineke! Orchestra, plus Venna, Rocco Palladino, Charlie Stacey & Elijah Fox.