Organic Grooves Sale 192 Items

The release comes on 180g vinyl. Brazilian singer, guitarist, teacher and composer Célia recorded four self-titled albums for Continental between 1971 and 1977, 'Amor' in 1982 plus several more before.This, her first self-titled LP from 1970, feature arrangements by Rogério Duprat, Pocho Perez, Arthur Verocai & José Briamonte.

Polysom Brazil vinyl LP repress import, released in 1973. Crazy stuff! This record is incredible, with a mix of amazing songs that piece together hard percussion, spare production and some of the strangest vocals ever recorded in Brazil.

Wewantsounds continues its collaboration with Bob Shad's venerable jazz label Mainstream Records, and present a selection of 12 turntable-friendly tracks recorded between 1971 and 1975 and showcasing the label's superb blend of Spiritual Jazz, Funk and Soul by the likes of Buddy Terry, Sarah Vaughan, LaMont Johnson and Johnny Coles. Most of the tracks are released on vinyl for the first time since their original release in the early 70s. The 2-lp set comes with gatefold sleeve featuring never-seen photos from the Mainstream vaults and new liner notes by UK journalist Paul Bowler. Mainstream Records is one of the key independent jazz labels of the early 70s, together with Flying Dutchman, Strata East, CTI and Black Jazz. Founded by legendary label man Bob Shad (who had been head of A&R at Mercury Records and set EmArcy in the 50s), the label concentrated on Psychedelia in the 60s before switching back to Shad's jazz roots in the early 70s, signing a new crop of jazzmen fed on John Coltrane and Miles' electric experiments. Thus was born the cult Mainstream "300 series" with its distinctive artwork and outstanding music from which this selection is largely drawn. ?Giving their chance to many young jazz players and a few old friends, Shad recorded some of the most exciting jazz of the early 70s, mixing spiritual influences with funk and soul. It is interesting to note the Mainstream sessions included many of the hottest session players of that time such as Ron Carter, Eddie Henderson, Airto, Mtume, Earl Palmer, Mickey Roker, Merl Saunders, Cedar Walton to name but a few. ?Shad also had a long-standing association with jazz Divas showcased here with the opening track by Sarah Vaughan, a funkyfied version of Marvin Gaye's 'Inner City Blues' recorded the same year as the original in 1971. ?Mainstream Funk also includes a selection of superb tracks by young turks who'd cut their teeth as sidemen for Blue Note and Prestige in the late 60s and were given a chance to record their own music on Mainstream. Buddy Terry's 'Quiet Afternoon', Dave Hubbard's 'Family Affair' and LaMont Johnson's 'M'Bassa' are prime examples showcasing the label's desire to give these talented newcomers a chance to shine. ?Seasoned musicians from the Be Bop scene were also welcome, such as trumpetists Blue Mitchell - who'd released a string of great albums for Riverside and Blue Note in the late 50s and 60s - and Johnny Coles who'd played with Gil Evans (he's on a few Evans-produced Miles albums including 'Sketches of Spain'), Charles Mingus and Herbie Hancock. ?Shad also released pure soul music on the label such as Sugar Billy's "Super Duper Love" which was released on his Fast Track sub-label in 1974, arranged by Jimmy Roach and featuring Marcus Belgrave in the line-up. Mainstream Records has a lot more exciting music in the vaults and Mainstream Funk is just the tip of the iceberg serving as a timely reminder that Bob Shad's taste as a producer and A&R man was one of the finest on the scene.

Limited Turquoise/ Yellow &White Splatter Color Vinyl For National Album Day 2021 - Celebrating Women In Music. 1500 Units for UK. Nina Simone’s story from the late sixties to the nineties can be told through her legendary performances in Montreux. Taking to the Montreux stage for the first time on 16 June 1968 for the festival’s second edition, Simone built a lasting relationship with Montreux Jazz Festival and its Creator and Founder Claude Nobs, which uniqueness, trust and electricity can be clearly felt on the recordings. Simone’s multi-faceted and radical story is laid bare on ‘Nina Simone: The Montreux Years’. From Nina’s glorious and emotional 1968 performance to her fiery and unpredictable concert in 1976, one of the festival’s most remarkable performances ever witnessed, the collection includes recordings from all of her five legendary Montreux concerts – 1968, 1976, 1981, 1987 and 1990.

Featuring rare and previously unreleased material from Claude Nobs’ private collection, Nina Simone devotees worldwide will be thrilled by the inclusion of the powerful I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free, poignant and fearless Four Women and Simone’s hauntingly beautiful performance of Ne Me Quitte Pas. A spine-tingling version of Janis Ian’s searing and potent Stars, which Simone covered for the very first time during her 1976 Montreux performance, sits alongside her bold and electrifying re-imagine of Bob Marley’s ballad No Women No Cry in 1990. The collection closes with the encore of Nina Simone’s final Montreux Jazz Festival concert and one of Simone’s most-loved and best-known recordings, the exuberant My Baby Just Cares For Me, showcasing the deep and multidimensional facets of Simone’s life and music.

Record and cover are close to NM.
Includes OBI and insert.

Xrcd

Sacd

It's September 1981 and it's matter of weeks away from the release of 'I'M A RAINBOW', the second album Donna Summer had recorded for Geffen Records, which had also been produced by Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte. At the time that the album was being recorded, the musical landscape had changed and production techniques were developing further. Geffen also wanted a more R&B-influenced album, despite the album having a more R&B feel than 'The Wanderer' had done. The songs and their lyrical content were very strong and Donna's voice had never sounded better, which was always a tough comparison against previous albums. A decision was taken by the label to withdraw 'I'M A RAINBOW' just prior to its release. David Geffen then brought-in Quincy Jones to produce the next new album; 1982's 'Donna Summer'. 'I'M A RAINBOW' was eventually issued in 1996, as an 18-track CD, without the usual fanfare that heralded a 'new' Donna Summer album. A few tracks were familiar to Donna and non-Donna fans, as they had been released in the early 1980s; 'Highway Runner' ("Fast Times At Ridgemont High" OST) and 'Romeo' ("Flashdance" OST). "Flashdance" also included the ballad 'Lady, Lady, Lady' which was performed by original Brooklyn Dreams singer Joe "Bean" Esposito, who appears on the duet 'I Believe (In You)'. Fast-forward 40 years and 'I'M A RAINBOW' receives a fresh coat of paint, giving credence to the songs' great lyrics and compositions that they richly deserved at the time. 'I'M A RAINBOW - RECOVERED & RECOLOURED' has been slimmed-down to a compact 10-track album and completely re-imagined by a host of international producers, from North AND South America, Europe and Scandinavia. Junior Vasquez, Le Flex, Figo Sound, Jean Tonique, Ladies On Mars and Oliver Nelson - who has just signed to Atlantic Records - have all added their touch. The album now has a thread running through it, with a sequence that sees the album open with the beautiful title track and builds throughout the album through soul and dance, ending with the high-octane 'girl power' statement track, 'Leave Me Alone [Ladies On Mars 'Independence' Remix]'. The lead single, 'I Believe (In You) [Figo Sound Version]', is released 25th June and it starts the four-month pre-release campaign, up until the album's release. This 2LP format also includes two radio edits and three extended mixes.

140g cardinal red vinyl (exclusive)

- Gatefold sleeve
- Printed inner sleeve
- Black printed jute bag
- Arlo Park's friendship bracelet
- A2 poster
- A5 print (exclusively signed)

Watarase" is one of jazz pianist Fumio Itabashi's most famous compositions from the 1980s. This compilation is a collection of previously unreleased versions of the song and takes that were released only as independent recordings and were not widely known. Minoru Wakasugi, one of the pioneers of the Japanese jazz scene, compiled this unknown take on "Watarase," now in the limelight of jazz fans around the world, from the contemporary perspective. Composed by Fumio Itabashi in the early 80's, the beautiful melody of this song is reminiscent of the music of Pharaoh Sanders, Ahmad Jamal, and Dollar Brand, or even surpassing them, it is a superb and super spiritual jazz anthem of Wamono Jazz. When this song was first released, it gradually gained popularity in the jazz scene, and it was a popular song in the scene. This album looks back over 40 years of history and carefully selects "Watarase" to be heard today. We can enjoy a fragment of his life here as he continues to express the ultimate in the art of jazz with all his might.

This intimate center stage recording from Bubba's Jazz Restaurant in 1980 is a potent reminder of how good Ahmad Jamal’s live performances could be.
Bubba’s Jazz Restaurant was considered one of the most famous jazz clubs in the world, with its performance roster presenting the Who’s Who of the jazz world.
Jamal sadly passed away in 2023. He was a luminary in the world of jazz; his distinct style marrying the elegance of classical music with the improvisational spirit of jazz.
Teamed up with bassist Sabu Adeyola and drummer Payton Crossley, the trio interprets an exciting array of standards including "Waltz for Debbie" and "Autumn in New York."
Complete with extended liner notes, this reissue comes available in two vinyl colour variations - standard black, and opaque amber.

This spirited 1961 live date for Pacific Jazz captured Kenny Dorham leading a quintet with Jackie McLean, Walter Bishop Jr., Leroy Vinnegar, and Art Taylor at The Jazz Workshop in San Francisco. The band is firing on all cylinders throughout this set featuring four standards bookended by two Dorham originals. This stereo Tone Poet Vinyl Edition was produced by Joe Harley, mastered by Kevin Gray from the original analog master tapes, pressed on 180g vinyl at RTI, and packaged in a deluxe tip-on jacket.

Celebrating its 60th anniversary, this rare concert recording sees an official vinyl reissue, pressed on smoke effect vinyl.
The concert is notable, in that it formed part of the famous American Folk-Blues Tour, a touring music festival that played at venues across
Europe annually from 1962 to 1970. A showcase for American blues talent, Wolf’s performances in Europe added fuel to the burgeoning British Blues explosion.
Joined by a host of blues veterans including Willie Dixon, this record will form an exciting addition to the discography of any blues aficionados.

In 1975, the lead album "Fragment" by the acclaimed UK jazz pianist John Taylor, which was previously only released on cassette tape and hailed as a gem of UK jazz, is now being remastered and released for the first time on 2LP, following its immediate sellout upon its limited CD release in 2022!! The original recordings released on cassette tape serve as highlights of performances by John Taylor and a group of elite musicians, including Kenny Wheeler, with whom Taylor has collaborated since his debut album "Pause, And Think Again". These recordings represent the finest moments of British jazz in the 1970s, serving as a documentary of that era's musical excellence.

Forget the magician! Featuring Michael Orr front and center in all of his 70s slickness : Love Will Rise!

Best known for his work with soul diva FAY, as well as his iconic, and incredibly rare 1976 album Spread Love (see above), Michael Orr’s talents seem immeasurable. Backed by his hometown band, Book of Life, the two combine in a funky explosion the likes of which hasn’t been seen since! Crate diggers will recognize the name of album closer “Spread Love” from Orr's 1976 album of the same name, yet this is a somehow even funkier recording of the same tune, with a leaner groove and harder beat. Danceable funk has always been Orr's speciality, but he seems to turn the dial up to 11 with this interpretation.

The other side of the Michael Orr coin is title track “Love Will Rise”. With smooth grooves, gentle drumming, and the ever present baritone of Michael Orr himself, the song is a relaxed affair, calling to mind the preacher-esque photo of Orr on the cover. As slick and soulful as it is, the grooves remain unparalleled, unifying the album in a strangely poetic way. Don’t miss Michael Orr and The Book of Life’s Love Will Rise, available on limited edition vinyl with a Japanese obi-strip attached!

* Originally released in 1980 * New remastering * Japanese Obi-strip A Man For All Reasons' is classic album by American jazz keyboardist Hilton Felton released through his own label in 1980, and it is acclaimed not only for its musical reputation but also as an important work featured by many DJs and vinyl collectors in the rare groove culture since the 1990s. It is still a rare groove classic. P-vine Japan is pleased to announce the reissue of this masterpiece, featuring the superb jazz funk 'Bee Bop Boogie,' still considered a rare groove classic, with the latest re-mastering!

Betty Davis was a musical maverick with vision. Image, substance, sex, and grit combined with a badass band that could deliver the funk bed backbone to the sultry music between the sheets. After cutting two notorious discs for the Just Sunshine label (Betty Davis and They Say I’m Different), and Nasty Gal for Island Records, Davis went to work on her most personal and expressive record yet. After capturing 10 hard-hitting tracks in 1976 at the remote Studio In The Country (Louisiana), a creative difference with her then label caused the platter to be unexpectedly shelved. Davis would cut one final album and soon retreat from the music business, completely disappearing from the public eye.

Is It Love Or Desire is a little-known gem in the Davis catalog. Mastered from the original tapes, and untouched for over 30 years, this release features detailed liner notes, the originally intended artwork housed in a lavishly packaged digipak, rare photos, archival material, and recent interviews with Davis and her skin-tight band Funk House.

Never bootlegged, never released, never heard until now, the secret story of this lost album will finally enter the history books and cement this bold soul sisters contributions to music and popular culture. Its time to get down…

Long live Betty Davis!

Edition of 500 copies, includes a 24-page booklet printed with silver ink on Fedrigoni Ultra Black paper.

Born Herman Poole Blount in Alabama during 1914, Sun Ra first emerged on the Chicago jazz scene during the late 1940s. One of the great avant-garde composers of his generation - leading the way on piano, organ, and (eventually) synthesizer - beginning in the mid-1950s and lasting until his death in 1993, led the Arkestra, a band through which a near countless number of important artists passed and collaborated with, and many remained for the duration of their careers, notably Marshall Allen, John Gilmore and June Tyson. Known for their wild costumes and theatrics, Ra’s eccentric image and claims that he was from Saturn was deeply political, imagining an alternate social order, history, and future for African Americans that rests as a pioneering force in the Afro-Futurist movement.

While Sun Ra and his Arkestra can best be located within the broader movements of avant-garde jazz - particularly as innovators of free and spiritual jazz in their evolving forms - the composer was notoriously hard to pin down on creative terms. He was a visionary titan whose work traversed nearly half of the 20th Century, continuously pushing the idiom of jazz at every turn, ingesting and incorporating the entire history African American music - the blues, R&B, soul, gospel, ragtime, hot jazz, swing, bebop, free jazz, and fusion, etc. - into his work, without any division or hierarchy, producing roughly 100 full lengths bear his name, beginning with 1957’s “Jazz By Sun Ra Vol.1”, and stretching well beyond his death in 1993. Despite how much was captured and released, remarkably, rare and previously unheard recordings continue to emerge and amaze.

Recorded live at Teatro Giulio Cesare on March 28, 1980, comprising an astounding 27 compositions, including the highly celebrated “Astro Black”, “Mr. Mystery”, “Romance of Two Planets”, “Space Is the Place”, “We Travel the Spaceways”, and “Calling Planet Earth”, over six vinyl sides. High among the greatest live gigs by the Arkestra captured on tape, carefully mastered by Matt Bordin at Outside Inside Studio, “Live in Rome 1980” is a near perfect snapshot of the band’s versatility and range, including many of their most notably and famous songs, as well as striking renditions of the Horace Henderson penned Benny Goodman number “Big John’s Special”, Fletcher Henderson’s “Yeah Man!”, and "Limehouse Blues”, displaying Ra’s willingness to address and rework the entire, diverse history of jazz in a single go.

Heard in its totality, perhaps what makes “Live in Rome 1980” most striking is the way in which the concert plays out. Roughly the first half encounters the band locked in some of the most out-there, free jazz fire that can be imagined, weaving a startling sense of interplay and furious energy into a brilliant tapestry of writhing sonority, the likes of which were only really achieved by this band. The second half, with only moments of exception that return to the furious energy of the first, is very different affair, easy toward the vocal standards, led by June Tyson’s vocals and the joyous collective chanting of the band, for which they have become so widely celebrated, threading the sounds of off-kilter big band swing with heavy grooves and imagines of outer space.

Recorded live at Teatro Giulio Cesare on March 28, 1980. Sun Ra: Piano, Keyboards, Vocals. Noel Scott: Alto Saxophone, Baritone Saxophone, Percussion. Marshall Allen: Alto Saxophone, Flute, Oboe. Danny Ray Thompson: Baritone Saxophone, Flute. Chris Henderson, Eric “Samurai” Walker: Drums. Kenny Williams: Tenor Saxophone, Baritone Saxophone, Percussion. John Gilmore: Tenor Saxophone, Percussion. Michael Ray: Trumpet. June Tyson: Vocals. Mastered by Matt Bordin at Outside Inside Studio. Lacquer cut by Daniel Krieger at SST, Frankfurt am Main. All pictures by Paolo Ferraresi (Milano, Teatro Orfeo, March 26, 1980). All compositions by Sun Ra © Enterplanetary Koncepts (bmi) except where otherwise stated. Released under license from Sun Ra LLC.

180 Gram Audiophile Vinyl, Numbered Limited-Edition

Record Store Day 2021 Drop 2 release limited to 3000 copies. 17 distinguished artists come together in tribute to one of the most influential musicians behind soul and political conscious African-American music. On vinyl for the first time. This 2LP Record Store Day exclusive is pressed on custom Light Blue and Gre

Black Editions presents Mass Hysterism in Another Situation remastered and cut to double 45rpm 12" vinyl. Mass Hysterism in Another Situation captures Masayuki Takayanagi's New Direction Unit in its final incarnation, at an apex in its development; it also finds Takayanagi, one of Japan's great iconoclastic artists, at a moment of crucial artistic transformation. Recorded in August 1983 as part of his "Another Situation" concert series, the album features one of the last performances of Takayanagi's revolutionary and perhaps most famously violent piece, "Mass Projection." By this date, New Direction's line up had been distilled to a compact, searingly hot trio of Takayanagi joined on electric guitar by Akira Iijima and Hiroshi Yamazaki on drums/percussion. Over the course of 40 minutes, the group sustains an uninterrupted, highly charged attack propelled with unrelenting energy. The music is rife with noise and dissonance intruding from both sides; a vortex of sound and fury that begins to slip from even the expansive bounds of free jazz into something almost purely electronic. The trio would perform only four more times, completing the "Another Situation" series with its 24th edition in November 1984. Eleven months later Takayanagi would debut an entirely new modality, one he called "Action Direct." It completely transformed his approach to guitar and sound in general by embracing an entirely abstract, solo noise music projected through massive, complex sound systems of his own design. Mass Hysterism is perhaps the most powerful link in this part of Takayanagi's history—a perfect realization and farewell to one of his greatest forms en route to territories even further afield and radical. Pressed to high quality vinyl at RTI. Housed in a heavy tip-on gatefold jacket with Pantone spot colors, spot ink pigment foil on gloss film laminate finish as well as printed inner sleeves. Featuring photographs by Tatsuo Minami and newly translated notes by Takayanagi scholar Yoshiyuki Kitazato . Deluxe double LP gatefold.

200g 1LP

Sun Ra Arkestra, Live in Japan! Recorded at Shinjuku Pit Inn on August 8, 1988, this recording has undergone fresh remastering from the master tape, marking the first reissue in 36 years!!

The discovery of Tomasz Stańko's archive recordings from 50 years ago at Radio Bremen demonstrated the dynamic development of this shrouded in mystery quintet, which was a blank spot in the history of Polish jazz. Released by Astigmatic Records, the album turned out to be a surprise and a huge musical treat for many fans who no longer remember such a fiery period in the career of the outstanding trumpeter. The record received much critical acclaim and sold out in a blink, and Jazz Forum magazine recognised Wooden Music I as the historic album of the year. Now the time has come for the 2nd and final installment of wooden music.

It takes more than one album to fully illustrate the evolution of the band with which Tomasz Stańko, as its leader, recorded Music for K, one of the most important albums in Polish jazz. It is the early 1970s, Zbigniew Seifert gives up the saxophone in favour of the violin, so the band's sound becomes more 'wooden', and around this expression Stańko builds the foundations of a philosophy, which he wrote down on four small sheets of paper, still kept by Bronisław Suchanek, the quintet's bass player: We seek to create the kind of music that, while operating with all the elements of the most genuine jazz, attempts to look at it from a different angle, from a different mental plane. We do not experiment with the material, but with the form. For the form does not have to be a logical and strict construction of the entire piece, it can be free, improvised while playing, resulting from the mood, or atmosphere existing at a given moment, or random things, creating with their free fluidity that specific "magical mood". This, of course, excludes compositions in the traditional sense - Tomasz Stańko wrote at the time.

Wooden Music is therefore like a postcard - not so much of a specific gig, but of the entire period of the quintet's activity. It opens with compositions featured on Jazzmessage from Poland. Wooden Music I recorded in Bremen on 15 June 1972 is its peak - when the band plays free, vigorous music, but more sensitively planned, as the group is more in-tune after hours of joint stage encounters. Wooden Music II, recorded in Hamburg on 9 November 1972, is the conclusion of their vision of free-jazz - the final phase where composed pieces ("Calme" and "6 & 8") begin to emerge from wild improvisation. Some of these would, a few months later, find their way onto an iconic piece in Tomasz Stańko's discography - the Purple Sun album (e.g. "Flute's Ballad")... but with a slightly different line-up. When the band decides to wrap up, they are at the peak of their form, each feeling the need to develop on their own. They know when to step off the stage. They are invincible.

Tomasz Stańko Quintet was one of the most outstanding European free jazz ensembles of its time. The Polish musicians, plus a plethora of individuals such as Brötzmann, Mangelsdorff, Schlippenbach, Vesala or Surman, contributed to a movement which, while co-operating with the American avant-garde, had its own specificity and its own unique audience. Polish jazzmen, newcomers from behind the Iron Curtain, were seen as carrying a message of freedom to the countries of the region. It took many years for this message to come true. Today, European jazz seems to be far more erudite, emotionally restrained, intellectual, seeking links with contemporary avant-garde and ethno music. It's all very beautiful, but sometimes one would like to discard all of this extra wrapping and bring out the essence of jazz - the synergic energy and striving for the limits of expression, even if it poses the risk of a musical explosion - Tomasz Szachowski states in Jazz Forum. Therefore, it is time to see if we are dealing with explosive material in the case of the second installment of wooden music.

Thus, the Wooden Music series culminates with its second part coming from the archives of NDR radio, which recorded the footage in a small club in Hamburg called Jazzhouse. This time, the additional stem-mastering was done by Marcin Cichy, who perfected the sound on the album even more. The infallible Matt Colton is once again responsible for the half-speed cut of the vinyl matrix. Wooden Music II will be released on Astigmatic Records in digital, CD and LP versions, as well as in a limited edition on purple vinyl, with a B2-size poster designed by Natalia Łabędź. The premiere of the album will take place on 27 October, and pre-orders for the disc will start on 6 October 2023.

Without a pandemic, you’d now be listening to an album wholly recorded in Cuba with local musicians. Back in 2020, everything was organised, so that in May 2021 we could get started. Yet, the sanitary measures proved to be a fierce adversary, so rather than giving up entirely we decamped to Dakar in October the same year – a compromise that ended up being a positive event in itself.
Cuba has a long African history. Under mass enslavement and the Transatlantic trade, Africans were forced from their homelands, against their will, taking their music along with them. Merging throughout the centuries, taking on European influences, led to the birth of a distinctive Afro-Cuban musical tradition. Highly percussive, brass-based, simmering, full of danceable rhythms. The spirit etched into thousands of recordings, forever turning towards Africa. The departure point here is not to keep things the same. Rather, a return to the source enacts a loop – much the same as those providing the foundations for hip-hop beats.
The flame when it’s re-lit illuminates everything. Thanks to the Senegalese musicians in Dakar, the Cubans who crossed the Atlantic to join us and my usual family of musicians, this music – a cross-section of covers and original compositions - exists as a homage to Afro-Cuban music. Made in Africa, in Senegal. Three worlds, three languages, three colours. Recorded over 17 days, non-stop, germinating the seed born in Cuba at the end of 2020 so that the most beautiful fruits might be cultivated in Dakar, 2022.
When the world doesn’t seem big enough, we look up to the sky where even the blackness is lit up, where those I loved who are now gone shine as stars, shining as brightly as all the others. Each time I think I’m not going to make it; I recall the star of my mother. Then the path becomes clear.
Pandemic, visa problems, cultural clashes, bank transfers that didn’t go through, a fractured foot – this project sometimes felt like a series of accumulated challenges. The only thing linking us, a shared love for the music, each of us invoking our personal star and all that we have overcome.
In this way, the music is born as a call to our stars.

Another one from P-vine's new series called "Spin The Blues" is here! This is the first album by Smokey Wilson, a tough and gutsy blues singer and guitarist based on the West Coast. Wild, droning vocals that sound like a mix between Howlin' Wolf and Elmore James, and a groove with a messy funky blues beat. From funk blues to shuffles and slow blues, you'll be blown away by the energy and crispness! A masterpiece with a rush of energy that is even exhilarating. P-vine is reissuing on vinyl this intensely funky modern blues masterpiece, originally released by the prestigious Modern/Kent Records in 1977 on their sub label Big Town, with an iconic Japanese obi!

The first Funkgus album, with its enigmatic toxic blue jacket design and rare groove elements that will appeal to any perceptive vinyl collector. Several cover songs are played on the album, including an upbeat, passionate version of the funk classic 'Memphis Soul Stew', familiar from King Curtis's version, which is a great achievement. A supremely psychedelic and funky double-sider is available with iconic Japanese obi-strip!

Strut introduces a new special edition repress of the influential first volume of "Disco Not Disco", compiled by Dave Lee and Sean P, pressed on translucent yellow vinyl 3LP as part of the label"s 25th Anniversary.

2023 re-issue of Nai Palm (of Hiatus Kaiyote)’s debut solo album.

Lost soul phenomenon Lewis Taylor's Numb finally arrives on double vinyl! One of UK soul’s most fascinating artists, most enigmatic figures and most under-appreciated talents, Andrew Lewis Taylor is a prodigious multi-instrumentalist and eclectic polymath. He enjoys a fiercely loyal following which, over the years, has included celebrity champions like Bowie, Elton and D'Angelo. Numb is Taylor's sixth album, initially released on his own label Slow Reality (an anagram of his name) and licensed to Be With for this long-awaited physical edition. It captures Taylor's wholly unique, intoxicating take on lush, late-night psychedelic soul music.

Lewis wrote and recorded these 10 brand new tracks after a 17 year break from making music, although the album came together over a two-year period. The years away have done nothing to dull Taylor's unique musical vision. He still astounds. The lyrical themes, however, have shifted. Understandably, more than a decade and a half of soul searching and unflinching self-examination cannot fail to influence this most honest of songwriters, and boy does it show. Numb marks a return to the darker, more mysterious side of his output: "Brian Wilson-channels-Smokey Robinson atmospheres", as Mojo put it recently.

After playing a rapturously received gig at the Bowery Ballroom in NYC in 2006, Lewis unceremoniously walked away from music and disappeared completely. An interview in 2016 shed light on some of the reasons for Taylor’s withdrawal from the business, but there was no hint of a return anytime soon. Then in June 2021, news emerged out of the blue that he was readying new music alongside Sabina Smyth with whom he had worked first time around.

On Numb, Lewis deftly balances stark, soul-bearing lyrics with moody mid-tempo pop-soul sheen. He deals candidly with depression, mental turmoil, even thoughts of suicide - clearly more personal than Taylor's earlier songs. The music is rich, warm and layered, with infectious melodies and hooks that stick with you. A true grower of an LP, it really does reward repeated listens. As Jim Irvin in Mojo reflected, "despite the depths these plumb, it's a curiously uplifting experience, unfurling like a concept album about life's challenges with an optimistic beauty at its heart."

Triumphant dubwise horns ring out yet, almost instantly, “Final Hour” takes on a dark, downbeat vibe. With lyrics that confront (and, seemingly, confound) death head-on, Lewis ensures the groove is still there, the beats still swing and your head still nods, strings glissade. Woven around delicate yet insistent piano and subtle strings over a killer bassline, the title track “Numb” is a good example of the lyrical themes throughout the album. As Taylor reflects, "So removed I feel no pain / And for all I know I could be having the time of my life" with a coda that feels very much in conversation with Brian Wilson's finest harmonies. "Feels So Good" is sophisticated 90s-sounding soul of the highest order. The music and vocals feel simultaneously optimistic and despondent. Downlifting. A neat trick, and one Lewis has been so adept at over the years. "Apathy" is a mini-epic, a symphonic-soul gem which builds and glides and, eventually, soars. “Worried Mind" is another slow-builder, creeping out the gate in a sketchy, discordant fashion before climbing to half-crescendo but never quite breaking free of its disorientating restraint.

The brighter "Please" presents a more hopeful mood, with the refrain "I still believe" ringing out as Lewis harmonises with himself. "Brave Heart" quietly struts from step one, as Lewis's falsetto swaggers over a downtempo backdrop with ace echoey drums, beautiful strings and serene electric guitar. Closing out Side C, "Is It Cool" answers its own (non-) question with a spellbinding five and a half minutes of swoonsome deep soul that oscillates between a restrained, barely-there backdrop and a lushly full musical accompaniment of acoustic and electric guitar and organ over bass and slick drums. The penultimate track "Nearer" is a magical, soul-stirring ballad in which Lewis sings of reaching a sweet salvation and achieving a peace of mind. If the hairs on the back of your neck aren't standing up by the midway point, you might need to check your pulse. Album closer and true tear-jerker "Being Broken" places Lewis's gorgeous voice high in the mix and the wordless falsetto and melodies invite you to ponder what Pet Sounds might sound like if it were refashioned as a dubby 21st Century electronic soul album. Astonishing.

Simon Francis’s vinyl mastering spreads out the ten tracks over a double LP so, as ever, nothing is compromised. And as usual, the records have been cut by Cicely Balston at Air Studios and pressed at Record Industry. Turn it up and let the Lewis Taylor sound envelop you.