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Boogie Legs Black Vinyl Edition

Release: 1984 / US – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Rare South African Afro-Fusion from 1984 First vinyl reissue Since 1990 First ever release outside of the African Continent Comes With Double-Sided Insert 180g Clear vinyl limited to 100 copies / Stimela were a popular and successful South African Afro-fusion outfit led by guitarist, vocalist, songwriter, producer and arranger Ray Phiri. The band was formed under the name ‘The Cannibals’ during the 1970s when Phiri got together with drummer Isaac Mtshali, keyboard player Thabo Lloyd Lelosa and bass player Jabu Sibumbe. They initially started out as instrumentalists, but later evolved to Afro-fusion when they joined forces with vocalist Jacob “Mparanyana” Radebe in 1975. The story of ‘The Cannibals’ ends when Radebe died in 1978 but the ‘Stimela’ story was only just beginning.

In 1979, after a life-changing experience in Mozambique (where they were stranded for three months) the bandmembers had to sell all their belongings to take a train home. This trip was a watershed moment as it was here where they conceived the new name for the band: The Zulu word for “locomotive-train” Stimela.

Stimela would soon become little short of an institution in their home country of South Africa. With soulful tunes and gripping lyrics, the band has recorded platinum-winning albums such as Fire, Passion and Ecstasy, Shadows, Fear and Pain & Look Listen and Decide. In addition to recording their own material, the group supplied instrumental accompaniment on albums by a lengthy list of legendary artists. Stimela would go on to gain global fame after being featured on Paul Simon’s iconic 1986 ‘Graceland’ album and the mega tour that followed.

Ray Phiri would enter into many successful collaborations with major acts and artists such as Harari, Joan Baez, Willie Nelson and Manu Dibango. In 2017 he was diagnosed with lung cancer and died at the age of 70. Phiri has received many awards in recognition for his contribution in the music industry, one of these is the Order of Ikhamanga awarded to him by the South African president. This was to honor his sterling contribution to the South African music industry and the successful use of arts as an instrument of social transformation.

Stimela is the tale of a South African band who have battled their way through dark days to take their rightful place in the forefront of the South African apartheid-era music invasion. One of their most memorable tracks “Whispers in the Deep” was even restricted from being broadcasted by the old South African Broadcasting Corporation.

On the album we are presenting you today (Fire, Passion and Ecstasy from 1984) the unique sounds of Ray Phiri’s Stimela are fully showcased. Expect infectious hypnotic build-up grooves, cinematic lowdown jazz-funk, Afro-soul, delightful reggae, gospel influences and funky synth-boogie sounds…all with a touch of early eighties new wave and hints of Island disco mixed with sensual bubblegum pop. It comes as no surprise that the album has now become a sought-after item due to its addictive and original-sounding nature, a must-have for any self-respecting record digger!

These recordings completely encapsulate Stimela’s fusion style. They managed to craft a modern South African sound that continues to influence SA musicians to this day. Never in a rush, yet always with a sense of purpose and direction – like the steam train after which they took their name.

Tidal Waves Music now proudly presents the first reissue of this fantastic Afro-fusion classic since 1990 (originally released in 1984 on Gallo Records) & this is also the first time the album is getting a release outside of the African continent. This rare record (original copies tend to go for large amounts on the secondary market) is now finally back available as a limited 180g vinyl edition (limited to 500 copies) complete with the original artwork. Also included is a double-sided insert containing rare pictures of the band.

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Jake Sollo

LP | 1980 | US | Reissue (Tidal Waves Music)

26,99 €*

Boogie Legs Yellow Vinyl Edition

Release: 1980 / US – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Jake Sollo (Born in Nigeria as Nkem Okonkwo) started his career in the 1960s as a member of The Hykkers, a popular band that drew large audiences across the country (even during the turmoil of the Biafra civil war). After The Hykkers disbanded, Jake joined the Aba-based super-group The Funkees…a musical outfit turned into instant superstars due to the State Broadcasting Service's heavy rotation of their demo tracks. The Funkees became a phenomenon that spread across the country fast (and eventually to England where they were championed by the legendary John Peel). By 1976, due to creative and personal tensions, The Funkees slowly started disintegrating. Jake Sollo was soon offered the golden opportunity to join the ‘crème de la crème’ of Afro-rock groups: Osibisa. Jake’s distinctive rhythm guitar graced their hits, but his tenure with them was short-lived…in 1977, Sollo and two other members left the band because of financial disagreements.

Jake Sollo quickly moved on and did just fine after his experiences with said bands…he got steady work as a session musician and became a hot producer in the London scene. Eventually, that chapter came to a close as well (with budgets and visas to record in the UK becoming increasingly scarce at this point). Jake returned to Nigeria where he started recording and producing albums, during this period he became the MOST in-demand producer in Nigeria.

Sollo’s specialty was bouncy ‘high-gloss’ boogie (though he occasionally produced artists in other genres as well). Regardless of which style he was working in, a ‘Jake Sollo production’ was always instantly recognizable and his records’ main sonic signature was probably the distinct sound of the Prophet "V" synthesizer (a hot piece of hardware that was transforming music in Europe and America). Rumor has it that Sollo owned one of the two only Prophet synthesizers present on the African continent (the other one belonging to William Onyeabor). Without exaggeration and according to his peers…Jake was the hottest and most prolific music producer in Nigeria between the late 1970s and mid 1980s.

Next to his productions for other artists and major labels like EMI & Polydor, Jake Sollo would go on to record a total of three astonishing albums: ‘Coming Home’ (1977), ‘Show Me How’ (1979) and ‘Boogie Legs’ (1980). Boogie Legs would be Sollo’s final album, his career was cut short when he tragically died in a car accident in 1985…depriving the world of what no doubt would have been decades of more innovative and creative music.

On Boogie Legs, the listener is treated to Jake Sollo’s trademark sound with touches of pop, plenty of African groove disco, moments of psychedelic reggae, chattering guitars, mad synth skills and fat angular basslines … all bound together with Jakes distinctive guitar playing and smooth production. A triumphant album that combined the raw power from his roots with the slick tricks he learned in London. Also featured on these recordings are some ‘all-star’ guest appearances by musicians from the likes of Trevor Murrell (Kim Wilde, Sade) and Ray Carless (Maxi Priest, Adele).

Boogie Legs is a sexy monster of an album that shows off Jake Sollo as the multi-instrumentalist extraordinaire and Apostle of Nigerian music he was…the sound of an artist at the height of his power, with a career that came to an untimely end…but leaving us with a BIG legacy.

Tidal Waves Music now proudly presents the first ever vinyl reissue of Jake Sollo’s ‘Boogie Legs’ album (originally released in 1980 on Taretone). This rare Nigerian record (original copies tend to go for large amounts on the secondary market) is now finally back available as a limited vinyl edition (500 copies) complete with the original artwork.

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Jake Sollo

LP | 1980 | US | Reissue (Tidal Waves Music)

24,29 €* 26,99 € -10%

Spark Vinyl Me, Please Edition

Release: 1980 / US – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Limited to 100 copies.

Shake your ya-ya! Jake Sollo (Born in Nigeria as Nkem Okonkwo) started his career in the 1960s as a member of The Hykkers, a popular band that drew large audiences across the country (even during the turmoil of the Biafra civil war). After The Hykkers disbanded, Jake joined the Aba-based super-group The Funkees…a musical outfit turned into instant superstars due to the State Broadcasting Service's heavy rotation of their demo tracks. The Funkees became a phenomenon that spread across the country fast (and eventually to England where they were championed by the legendary John Peel). By 1976, due to creative and personal tensions, The Funkees slowly started disintegrating. Jake Sollo was soon offered the golden opportunity to join the ‘crème de la crème’ of Afro-rock groups: Osibisa. Jake’s distinctive rhythm guitar graced their hits, but his tenure with them was short-lived…in 1977, Sollo and two other members left the band because of financial disagreements.

Jake Sollo quickly moved on and did just fine after his experiences with said bands…he got steady work as a session musician and became a hot producer in the London scene. Eventually, that chapter came to a close as well (with budgets and visas to record in the UK becoming increasingly scarce at this point). Jake returned to Nigeria where he started recording and producing albums, during this period he became the MOST in-demand producer in Nigeria.

Sollo’s specialty was bouncy ‘high-gloss’ boogie (though he occasionally produced artists in other genres as well). Regardless of which style he was working in, a ‘Jake Sollo production’ was always instantly recognizable and his records’ main sonic signature was probably the distinct sound of the Prophet "V" synthesizer (a hot piece of hardware that was transforming music in Europe and America). Rumor has it that Sollo owned one of the two only Prophet synthesizers present on the African continent (the other one belonging to William Onyeabor). Without exaggeration and according to his peers…Jake was the hottest and most prolific music producer in Nigeria between the late 1970s and mid 1980s.

Next to his productions for other artists and major labels like EMI & Polydor, Jake Sollo would go on to record a total of three astonishing albums: ‘Coming Home’ (1977), ‘Show Me How’ (1979) and ‘Boogie Legs’ (1980). Boogie Legs would be Sollo’s final album, his career was cut short when he tragically died in a car accident in 1985…depriving the world of what no doubt would have been decades of more innovative and creative music.

On Boogie Legs, the listener is treated to Jake Sollo’s trademark sound with touches of pop, plenty of African groove disco, moments of psychedelic reggae, chattering guitars, mad synth skills and fat angular basslines … all bound together with Jakes distinctive guitar playing and smooth production. A triumphant album that combined the raw power from his roots with the slick tricks he learned in London. Also featured on these recordings are some ‘all-star’ guest appearances by musicians from the likes of Trevor Murrell (Kim Wilde, Sade) and Ray Carless (Maxi Priest, Adele).

Boogie Legs is a sexy monster of an album that shows off Jake Sollo as the multi-instrumentalist extraordinaire and Apostle of Nigerian music he was…the sound of an artist at the height of his power, with a career that came to an untimely end…but leaving us with a BIG legacy.

Tidal Waves Music now proudly presents the first ever vinyl reissue of Jake Sollo’s ‘Boogie Legs’ album (originally released in 1980 on Taretone). This rare Nigerian record (original copies tend to go for large amounts on the secondary market) is now finally back available as a limited vinyl edition (500 copies) complete with the original artwork. Limited to 100 copies 180g YELLOW VINYL (available exclusively from HHV RECORDS).

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Whitney

LP | 2022 | US | Original (Vinyl Me, Please)

33,99 €*

Cosmic Renaissance (Gianluca Petrella)

Release: 2022 / US – Original

Genre: Rock & Indie

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Why you'll love it...
Julien Ehrlich and Max Kakacek could hear the staggering differences in the songs they were writing for their third album as Whitney, SPARK—the buoyant drum loops, the effortless falsetto hooks, the coruscant keyboard lines. They suddenly sounded like a band reimagined, their once-ramshackle folk-pop now brimming with unprecedented gusto and sheen. But could they see it, too?

So in the ad hoc studio the Chicago duo built in the living room of their rented Portland bungalow, a shared 2020 escape hatch amid breakups and lockdowns, Julien and Max decided to find out. Somewhere between midnight and dawn every night, their brains refracted by the late hour and light psychedelics, they’d play their latest creations while a hardware store disco ball spun overhead and slowed-down music videos from megastars spooled silently on YouTube. Did their own pop songs—so much more immediate and modern than their hazy origins—fit such big-budget reels? “We’d come to the conclusion we weren’t going to be filming Super 8 videos to this stuff anymore,” Julien remembers with a grin. “How about something more hi-fi, cinematic?” When the footage and the tunes linked, Julien and Max knew they had done it, that they’d finally found Whitney’s sound.

SPARK reintroduces Whitney as a contemporary syndicate of classic pop, its dozen imaginative and endearing tracks wrapping fetching melodies around paisley-print Dilla beats and luxuriant electronics. What’s more, Whitney reduces three years of extreme emotional highs and lows into 38 brisk but deep minutes, each of these 12 tracks a singable lesson in what it is they (and, really, we) have all survived. The recalcitrant ennui of opener “NOTHING REMAINS,” the devastating loss of “TERMINAL,” the sun-streaked renewal of “REAL LOVE”: However surprising it may sound, SPARK is less a radical reinvention for Whitney than an honest accounting of how it feels when you move out of your past and into your present, when you take the next steps of your lives and careers at once and without apology. SPARK maintains the warmth and ease of Whitney’s early work; these songs glow with the newness of now.

Listen closely, and you’ll notice frequent references to smoke and fire throughout SPARK, itself a double entendre for inspiring something new or burning down the old. Max and Julien were indeed in Portland for the Fall of 2020, when smoke from nearby fires choked the city at record levels. It was terrifying and tragic, but they pressed on. “We found a way to live while the world was burning/Real life was caving in,” Julien sings almost merrily during “BACK THEN,” an anthem for finding out what’s on the other side of hardship.

In these dire days, scientists speak increasingly of serotiny, an evolutionary miracle that causes some trees to release seeds only amid a season of fire. That is how SPARK often feels—Whitney’s circumstances were so fraught on so many levels that they hung “the past…out to dry” and began again, finding a fresh version of themselves, their relationship, and their band after the blaze. Max and Julien are back in Chicago now, sharing a cozy walkup with a little studio, where they’re already building songs for the next Whitney album. They’re both in happy romances, too. Now that they let the past burn, everything is new for Max and Julien. SPARK is not only Whitney’s best album; it is an inspiring testament to perseverance and renewal, to best friends trusting each another enough to carry one another to the other side of this season of woe.

Limited to 1,000 copies, the VMP exclusive edition of Whitney's SPARK is available on Cloudy Clear & Purple Cornetto vinyl. The record is pressed at GZ Vinyl and will arrive in a single direct-to-board, foil stamped and hand-numbered jacket.

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Universal Message

LP | 2023 | EU | Original (Schema)

20,99 €*

LP | 1980 | Reissue (Be With)

Release: 2023 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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After reuniting Cosmic Renaissance and releasing the album “Universal Language” (sclp/cd513) in 2022, Gianluca Petrella returns to the future jazz scene 2023 as a protagonist with a new five-track EP, “Universal Message”, again on Schema Records label, keeping the wind section of the original record unchanged. Among the most versatile musicians around today, Gianluca here evolves his style into new forms of afro-jazz futurism with three revisitations in electronic-jazz dance key of “Universal Language” and “Connection”, as well as two previously unreleased tunes, the title-track and “Mutation”, for a final result that is greater than the sum of its parts. And there is no better description of this music than a complete and total immersion in its sonic waves!

Universal Message (2023) After reuniting the Cosmic Renaissance project and releasing the album “Universal Language” (sclp/cd513) in 2022, Gianluca Petrella returns to the future jazz scene 2023 as a protagonist with a new five-track EP, “Universal Message”, again on Schema Records label, keeping the wind section of the original record unchanged. In the wake of the full-length that preceded it, “Universal Message” starts from jazz to reach, with incredible spontaneity and naturalness, new heights and musical genres. In fact, Gianluca Petrella is one of the most versatile musicians around today: instinctively aiming at new mu¬sical perspectives, here he evolves his style into new forms of afro-jazz futurism, abandoning the band concept towards an electronic aesthetic with a profound spiritual concept. The project, derived in part from the previous one, includes three revis¬itations in electronic jazz-dance key of “Universal Language” and “Con¬nection”, as well as two previously unreleased tunes, the title-track and “Mutation”. While the former is an excellent compendium of the sound spectrum offered by Cosmic Renaissance, “Mutation” is a suspended and rarefied track that combines ambient, reverberations of tribal per¬cussion and echoes of futuristic voices and sounds, for a final result that is greater than the sum of its parts. And there is no better description of this music than a complete and total immersion in its sonic waves! - - - Dopo aver riunito il progetto Cosmic Renaissance e pubblicato nel 2022 l’album “Universal Language” (sclp/cd513), Gianluca Petrella torna ad essere protagonista della scena future jazz 2023 grazie a un nuovo EP di cinque tracce, “Universal Message”, sempre su etichetta Schema Records, mantenendo inalterata la sezione fiati del disco originale. Sulla scia del full-length che lo ha preceduto, “Universal Message” parte dal jazz per raggiungere, con una spontaneità e naturalezza incredi¬bili, nuove vette e generi musicali. Gianluca Petrella infatti è oggi tra i musicisti più versatili in circolazione: istintivamente rivolto verso nuove prospettive musicali, evolve qui il proprio stile in nuove forme di afro-jazz futurism abbandonando il concetto di band verso un’estetica elettronica dal profondo concept spirituale. Il progetto, derivato in parte dal precedente, comprende tre rivisitazioni in chiave electronic jazz-dance dei brani “Universal Language” e “Con¬nection”, oltre a due inediti, la title-track e “Mutation”: mentre la prima costituisce un eccellente compendio dello spettro sonoro offerto da Cosmic Renaissance, “Mutation” è un brano sospeso e rarefatto che unisce ambient, riverberi di percussioni tribali ed echi di voci e suoni futuristici, per un risultato finale superiore alla somma delle singole parti. E non c’è descrizione migliore di questa musica di un’immersione com¬pleta e totalizzante nelle sue onde sonore!

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Bobby Caldwell

Cat In The Hat

29,99 €*

2LP | 2023 | UK | Original (Cambria Instruments)

Release: 1980 / Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Bobby Caldwell's second album, Cat In The Hat, from 1980, is one of his greatest moments and another masterwork of soulful sophistication. Featuring the eternal "Open Your Eyes", brilliantly sampled by J Dilla for Common's "The Light", it's about as essential as records get. Like its eponymous predecessor, it's been out of print for far too long. To finally release the hugely-anticipated reissue is one of our sincerely proudest moments.

Whilst Ned Doheny is known in Japan as "Mr California", native New Yorker Bobby Caldwell has always been "Mr AOR" to his Far-Eastern friends. His distinct charm is an irresistible blend of soul, jazz, and pop influences. He possessed phenomenal songwriting prowess, smooth vocal performances, was both a great soul guitarist and dextrous keyboard player and known for genius chord progressions. It all added up to a multi-layered brilliance entering the studio, and the singular sound he landed on was laced with soulful, sweeping strings and funky horns, touching lightly on disco, while allowing his supple voice to carry the stunning tracks he'd crafted.

Right from the off, it's easy to tell that Cat In The Hat is a deeply special record. It's fantastically produced and incredibly well-rounded, carving its own lane with deep soul, warm jazz and a stunning vocal delivery that really helped Bobby reach out to some big new audiences at the time. Goosebumps at the ready for the rolling power-piano funk of "Coming Down From Love", opening up the album with a track as good as anything Steely Dan or The Doobies ever crafted, with a vocal performance from the heavens. Pumping AOR wonder "Wrong Or Right" is up there with the slick, classy rhythms of prime Ned Doheny whilst the cool, skipping soul of guitar-drenched "To Know What You've Got" is a funky ballad par excellence, with elemental traces of "What A Fool Believes". No bad thing. Closing out Side A, the folk-funk of "You Promised Me" is a bright, soulful strut with a wonderful vocal coda that just builds. Sensational.

The delicate bounce and falsetto self-harmonising of "It's Over" offers a truly delightful introduction to Side B, and serves as a great precursor to what follows. Bobby's dynamite "Open Your Eyes" is likely the reason you're all here. As if he needed it, the eternal J Dilla further immortalised Caldwell in the hip-hop canon with his production of Common’s epochal “The Light,” which heavily samples the magical “Open Your Eyes.” On a post paying tribute to Bobby in March 2023, Questlove claimed that he "got word Brother Bobby loved it". Bobby's original has seen new life even more recently from the likes of Dwele and Kendrick Lamar and deservingly so, as its insistent drums and staccato piano created a modern-soul classic. You'd think that would be hard to follow, wouldn't you? Not so, when you're Bobby Caldwell. Indeed, the horn-drenched stepper "Mother Of Creation" is absolutely ace, and, whisper it, possibly the album's finest track, all funky piano and guitars with horn lines to die for. Exquisite ballad "I Don't Want To Lose Your Love" rounds out the album beautifully.

Bobby sadly passed away on 23rd March 2023, after a long struggle with mitochondrial damage and oxidative stress, due to an adverse effect from a fluoroquinolone antibiotic. The reissue of Cat In The Hat will be available on vinyl across the globe, ensuring that fans of his incomparable talent - and soul music enthusiasts worldwide - can radiate in the deep beauty of this seminal album. Meticulously remastered and cut by both Simon Francis and Cicely Balston respectively, it has been pressed to the highest possibly quality at Record Industry in Holland.

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Nathan Fake

Crystal Vision

39,99 €*

2LP | 2023 | Original (Survival Tactics)

Release: 2023 / UK – Original

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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On April 7th electronic luminary Nathan Fake presents the new longplayer ‘Crystal Vision’ on his own Cambria Instruments imprint, which features collaborations with Clark and Wizard Apprentice.

This is music for music’s sake – recorded without angles, agendas and themes – so Fake was free to simply continue honing his craft and express himself non-literally. Aptly titled, there’s a clarity of execution and ambition, and a peak effectiveness to the record that just sounds right.

Continuing to set a personal bar higher and topping his own best, the mark of master craftsperson is everywhere, but that doesn’t mean it’s polished; There’s plenty of rawness evident, with spiky sonics keeping ears on high alert – full of endorphin-flooded rave energy.

Following a short, scene-setting ‘Arrival’ – a simple major chord arpeggio played on a Jupiter 6 which sounds like curtains opening at dawn, things begin apace with ‘The Grass’, which hurtles like a precision-tuned bullet train through Arctic tundra. The undulating effect of compression is emphasised by the classic techno trope where 2 rhythms jar yet interlock, creating an exquisitely disorientating strobe-like flutter. On the track’s guest, Fake comments, “I fell in love with Wizard Apprentice's ‘I Am Invisible’ and felt our musical styles were similar. Their vocals are smooth and clear and sharp at the same time. They’re like a calm within the storm.”

Inspired by Italo disco but sounding wholly alien and futuristic, ‘Vimana’’s fizzing buzzsaw arpeggiated bassline, popping snares and bright whirling melody are equally an electro trance melange, with an effervescent major chord Arp that kicks in midway.

Reminiscent of what used to be called ‘funky techno’ but with sparklier sounds, ‘Boss Core’ blinds like sunshine bouncing off ice. Using his trusty Boss Dr550 drum machine, and inspired by Autechre's ‘Vose In’, the track peaks by reaching that melancholic/euphoric axis for which he is loved.

With chugging slow breakbeats not a million miles from Board Of Canada or trip hop, ‘Crystal Vision’ rolls along, with the melody opening up, revealing more hidden notes as it progresses, building into a fractal, kaleidoscopic mosaic.

An emotional outpouring with serotonin surging through the circuitry, classic breakbeats and layers of lazers, ‘Bibled’ has all the hallmarks of a classic. This is a bonafide festival-set closing, hugging-your-mates, moment – or, with its guitar solo, “a power ballad” – as Nathan calls it.

A minimalistic moment of calm midway through the album, ‘CMD’’s gently comforting dreamscape is conjured with FM stacked and detuned sine waves which are left to breathe, whilst the chunky Chicagoan house jack of ‘Hawk’ brings to mind classic Relief records, but even more detuned and wibbly, and laden with synths.

As the title suggests, ‘Amen 96’ is in Fake’s own words, “me having a go at jungle. I grew up listening to it, and I remember as a teenager it sounded like the most intense and otherworldly music ever. It still does. This track is an experiment to see how my melodic style works against amen breaks”. Closer to the braindance end of the spectrum than ‘proper’ jungle (and all the more interesting for it), Fake channels the spirit of Squarepusher but makes it his own, brimming with melodious twinkle.

A collaboration with Nathan’s close friend and genuine musical hero Clark. ‘Outsider’ finds this dream team alchemising pure gold that’s bigger than the sum of their parts. Skittering, intense, far-reaching end epic, the pair close proceedings on a grandly dramatic note. In 2020 Nathan released the album ‘Blizzards’, which was described by The Quietus as “his best work”, and “his best LP yet” yet by Resident Advisor. The equally well received ‘Blizzards Remixes’ EP which featured Afrodeutsche and Irene Dresel followed in 2021, as did a nationwide UK tour.

An in-demand remixer, Fake has added his magic to tracks by Radiohead, Clark, Perc, Jon Hopkins, GoGo Penguin, Dominik Eulberg, Christian Löffler and Damian Lazarus, working for labels including Ninja Tune, Domino, Warp, Blue Note and Kompakt.

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Tal Fussman

The Fine Line In Between

24,99 €*

12" | 1982 | EU | Reissue (Be With)

Release: 2023 / Original

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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Fresh off a few top-of-the-range hors d'oeuvres to whet our appetite, Tal Fussman resurfaces on his dedicated imprint Survival Tactics with his longed-for debut album, 'The Fine Line In Between'. Right on the brink of even bigger things, as attested by the inclusion of his track 'It Was Misunderstood' on Dixon's seminal Innervisions mixing series, 'Secret Weapons 14', a contribution to the label's compilation 'Secret Weapons Part 15' a few months ago, and making it into Frankey & Sandrino's BBC 1 Essential Mix back in 2022, it's safe to say the Tel-Aviv-born, Berlin-based producer has been on a roll as of late, and 'The Fine Line In Between' is the fruit of all these years spent honing his skills and vision through some of the finest labels and stages out there. Kit up for a fascinating ride across Fussman's hypnotic headspace, the ideal liaison between hi-NRG floor potential and proper funky mischief.
Collated from beats recorded about a year ago, the idea for 'The Fine Line In Between' was, in Fussman's own words, to unfold as a "rollercoaster of emotions, happy, sad, angry, hopeful". Soaked in the Prophet 6's extra-terrestrial envelopes, the opening track 'No Return' is a highly cinematic escape from our earthly here and now, and a most meditation-compatible asset at that. Injecting some breaksy rhythm into its mechanisms, the title-track serves up a masterly built and deployed piece of floor-ready abstraction, suited for either after-daydreaming in the backroom or soundtracking your next sunset whirl on the autobahn. Back to a more hip-swaying, Latin-infused techno vibe, 'A Subtle Change' blends in the suave funk of dubbed-out Chicagoan classics with that of a samba-like chugging tempo, easing us into its warm and sensuous world in the most languid fashion. Making dazzling use of the Moog Sub Phatty's analogue grit and all-around incisiveness, 'Move Your Hips' draws a flock of oh-so-buoyant Rhodes stabs and has them flinging in all directions as a hi-intensity jack ensures maximal traction from the dancers. Hard-boiled boogie, set to no-surrender mode.
Lacking no oomph nor swing, 'Get By' goes from deep the dub techno spectrum's lower end, up sample-heavy disco house's most exhilarating heights, perfect for when the DJ needs that energetic offload but also requires some fiery syncopations to ignite the dance floor. More in the Moroder-esque vein of EBM you'd see being played over images of Ryan Gosling going pedal to the metal in Drive, 'Talk To Me' fires off an avalanche of sizzling arpeggios and menacing vocals, cooking the crowd up until a midway drop that shall obliterate any remnants of inhibition amongst the ravers. Birdsongs and tribal drums are on the menu of 'Back Up', a proper smashing bit of Afro-funk assault, flush with the blazing conga lines, chopped-up vox and that unrelenting bassy earworm going wild. A cannibal rite turned electrokinetic Rave-God worshipping. Thunderous and built for big-room get down, 'Cycler' finds Fussman at his most corrosive and combative, whereas 'Funktown' explores the more squelchy, unabashedly acid-friendly facet of the Israeli producer's all-embracing approach. Note, that second half of the track is bespoke gym workout material. Stretch your body and feel the gain.
A compelling mix of faux-organic lushness and surgical whoosh-step, 'Unconditional' melds high-voltage UK bass and garage alongside near-abstract electronica escapology, beautifully mingling the potent nature of intricate drum programming and ethereal flights of its endless textured pads. Pure peak-time business, 'I Will' is atomic energy stacked in a marble-sized core, highly volatile and bound to devastate any outdoor rave or club basement it may come into contact with. 'The Chamber (Outro)' rounds off the journey as it started, moving upstream onto the path of serenity, like the calm after and before the storm. Glimmering harps and warped chords entangle in a moving symphony of sorts, melancholic yet evocative of a spaciousness and freedom Fussman holds onto as its magnetic North.

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Swamp Children

Taste What's Rhythm

19,99 €*

12" | 2022 | CA | Original (Telephone Explosion)

Release: 1982 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Manchester's Avant-Jazzy-Funk outfit Swamp Children were enviably eclectic and Taste What's Rhythm is their mini masterpiece. Flitting gracefully through a feast of genres with consummate ease, the band were almost indefinable and, accordingly, nigh-on impossible to market. So whilst this cult EP, originally out in 1982 on Factory Benelux, remains in demand for those in the know, it has also glided under the radar of many otherwise clued-up heads for over 40 years. If you don't know, get to know...

The Taste Whats Rhythm EP was originally released in 1982 on Factory Benelux (an informal partnership between the legendary Manchester-based Factory Records and Belgium-based Les Disques du Crépuscule). With it's kaleidoscopic brightness, silky panache and superb execution, it remains one of the most startling documents of a remarkable time and place.

The EP opens with the oh-so-Balearic title track. "Taste Whats Rhythm" gently unfolds with a Spanish guitar, hazy, drifting vocals and sun-bleached Latin percussion. After this most sumptuous of intros, the tempo is raised, the rhythms grow in complexity as horns jostle amidst the restrained chaos quite wonderfully. And then it winds down again. Proper fluctuating rhythms and tempos throughout. I guess that was the point - taste the variety!

“You’ve Got Me Beat” is a *perfect* piece of post-punk pop-jazz. A mysterious, after dark jazz-dancer, the aching vocals serve as a touching, tender resignation to love. A guitar hook which seems to elegantly reference The Blackbyrds' "Rock Creek Park" and a flowing pulse from New York's No Wave scene. It still sounds so fresh all the years later.

Closing out this most perfect of EPs, the twisted synths and nimble rhythms of bass-heavy roller "Softly Saying Goodbye" combine to create a super-slinky gem; Brit-Funk of the highest order.

Swamp Children formed in Manchester in 1980, around core members Ann Quigley (vocals), Tony Quigley (bass, metalaphone, percussion), John Kirkham (electric & acoustic guitars, metalaphone, percussion), Ceri Evans (keyboards, bass, percussion, background vocals), Cliff Saffer (saxaphone, clarine) and Martin Moscrop (drums, percussion, trumpet). They initially practised at a rehearsal space shared with fellow post-punk funkers A Certain Ratio and Joy Division/New Order. Young and relatively inexperienced upon getting together, the ages of Swamp Children's members ranged from just 16 to 19. Talk about the brilliance of youth.

From the outset, Swamp Children shared DNA with A Certain Ratio. Martin Moscrop was a founder member of Ratio, while Ann provided artwork for them. Although the close association with ACR led some to assume that Swamp Children were simply a splinter group, the new band pursued a more overt latin and jazz tinged direction, at the same time adopting a post-punk attitude towards making music, influenced by the records they were listening to at the time: Miles Davis, Brazilian jazz fusion and heavy funk dancefloor sides.

The band made their live debut at Manchester's infamous Beach Club in May 1980. Thanks to a double-booking blunder another support band turned up and were turned away, having travelled all the way from Dublin for a string of British dates. The name of the unlucky band was U2...

With arrangements that emphasised Tony Quigley’s darkly-coloured basslines (and Ann Quigley’s impressionistic vocals as another instrument in the mix) Swamp Children possessed an easygoing grace and a bubbling energy which indicated that the band's true strength was as an ensemble. The band’s musical sophistication (a fusion of funk, jazz, and bossa nova) would prove to be a strong influence on later UK acts like Sade. Indeed, Swamp Children themselves later mutated into the more known and acclaimed latin jazz outfit Kalima.

Working directly with James Nice, custodian of Factory Benelux, means that the audio for this re-issue of the classic EP comes from the original tapes. Cut at 45 RPM and released in the house Be With disco sleeve, we’ve made sure this record is well up to the job of having a permanent place in every DJ’s bag. As far as we’re concerned, this is essential stuff.

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Jane Inc.

Faster Than I Can Take

21,99 €*

Release: 2022 / CA – Original

Genre: Pop

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"Feels like I'm made of glass," Carlyn Bezic sings over a tumbling, harmonic guitar riff on "Pummelled Into Sand," the closing song of Faster Than I Can Take. "Like I could cut you, or you could break me in half." It's a double-edged statement about the power that comes from inhabiting your vulnerability, a complicated truth expressed so beautifully it seems almost simple.

Making the impossible look easy has always been Bezic's musical M.O. Faster Than I Can Take is her sophomore album as Jane Inc., a solo project forged after years of building her bona fides in the Toronto music scene with groups like U.S. Girls, Darlene Shrugg and acclaimed dance-pop duo Ice Cream. Pitchfork called Jane Inc's first album, 2020's Number One, "dazzling... [Bezic] proves herself a musical Swiss Army knife, capable of anything and revelling in her multiplicity." On Faster Than I Can Take, she uses all the tools at her disposal - a Prince-like ability to shred harmonic guitar riffs over deep, danceable grooves, an eagerness to experiment with form, and lyricism that seamlessly links the personal and the political - to focus the multifaceted energy of Number One into something completely singular. A disco-inflected, danceable meditation on the permeable boundaries between our interior and exterior worlds, Faster Than I Can Take is an album that you can listen to at a party or alone in your apartment - but no matter where you listen, it will make you dance.

On lead single "Contortionists," Bezic's voice floats over a landscape of spare, warping synths and ethereal backing vocals from Dorothea Paas (U.S. Girls, Badge Epoque Ensemble), seeming at first to sketch out a familiar pandemic scene: "The laws of time have changed / months pass in minutes, hours feel like days." But as the melody begins to swirl and bend back over itself, a deeper theme creeps in. “At first I thought I was making a record about time," Bezic explains, "but I was actually making a record about how, in moments of intense anxiety, you're living in the past, present and future at the same time. A million moments existing at once, real and imagined." By the time the song drops into a ticking groove, you know exactly what she means.

Many of the songs on Faster Than I Can Take work this way - taking concepts that feel intimately interior and expanding them into something universal. Songs like the moody, bass-heavy title track, or the bright, searing "Pummelled Into Sand," where a Hendrix-like guitar solo runs under Bezic's voice like a third rail, deal with what Bezic calls "the pain of change and growth." "Human Being" and "Dancing With You" (whose bridge features the catchiest meditation break you've ever heard in a dance-pop song), explore the psychedelic melding of individual and collective worlds that can come from fantasizing about performance while alone in your house, or connecting to a group of strangers through your computer screen.

In "An Ordinary Thing," Bezic contemplates the complexities of wanting to create anything - art, or even a family - against the backdrop of the Anthropocene. "Someone please take this from me / this feeling, this need," she sings, the tension audible in her voice. But in the next track, the irresistibly danceable "2120," that anxiety turns into powerful resolve: "I'll pour my grief into this plastic crucible / Forge a new infinite fuel made of anger, and hope, and refusal," she sings against a driving, determined beat.

That determination is what makes Faster Than I Can Take unlike anything else you've heard this year - a work of art that refuses to either wallow in the difficulties of contemporary life or ignore them in favour of escapist fantasy. As Jane Inc., Bezic takes on the complexities of living in the world - alone, and with others - with playfulness, honesty, openness and love, and turns all that complication into something that will move you.

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2LP | 2021 | EU | Original (New Interplanetary Melodies / Kuro Jam)

Kimera Mendax Volume 2

31,99 €*

Are We Ever Leaving Here?

Release: 2021 / EU – Original

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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After the success of volume 1 (2020), the label run by Simona Faraone and the Roman collective Kuro Jam relaunch with Kimera Mendax Volume 2 Double EP, a limited edition double colored vinyl (300 copies) that consolidates the “disco-graphic” collaboration between the two realities (nim / Kuro Jam Recordings).

The record accompanies the release of the final chapter of the homonymous cyberpunk comics saga and represents its original soundtrack.

Kimera Mendax is the title of the debut graphic novel of the team Kuro Jam, composed by the artists Enrico Carnevale (Inkiostro, Markosia), Mattia De Iulis (Marvel), Giulia D'Ottavi(Manfont), Stefano Garau (Editions Glénat, Mondadori), and by the screenwriter Gianluca Pernafelli.

The comic tells the story of a group of rebels who, from the underground of an esoteric Rome of the future (2048), struggle to neutralize the KX bio-operative system, a sort of invasive and all-encompassing social network, to which humanity is connected through robotic appendages. Vinyl records are the instrument of struggle for the “disconnected”: they try using music to awaken the natural human vibrations, atrophied by the massive use of technology. The final battle is a spectacular and liberating “sonic tsunami” in the heart of the Eternal City, a journey for the eyes... and the ears!

On the pages of the two volumes, there are tributes and quotes to Gurdjieff, Aphex Twin, Giordano Bruno, Lory D, and the underground rave culture of the early 90s, with a particular reference to the London scene.

In continuity with the EP KM vol.1, eight Italian musicians with different sensibilities were involved to make their interpretation and sound reinforcement of the story. This time the tracklist is truly cinematic, spanning across the four sides of the two colored vinyl records - on the labels, we find the two alchemical principles of Salt and Sulfur, in addition to Mercury that was used for the label of the first EP - flowing in 8 acts without solution of continuity, enriched by a Prelude and 4 Interludes that draw on the noises, music, and voices of the city of Rome.

The A Side begins with the Prelude, where a robotic voice introduces us to the KX bio-operating system, but it's silenced by strange disturbing frequencies: the “antisystem” sonic journey can begin. The first track of the disc is Massimo Amato's rarefied and dreamy “Later That Night”, followed by the dissonant “Antimente” by visual artist Tiziano Lucci, preceded by the screech of seagulls flying over the city of Rome in the first Interlude.

The B Side opens with a track by Milan based producer Giona Vinti (Hyena), inspired by one of the key characters from the comic: “Talamo, o la Memoria”. The second Interlude transports us into the electro-futurist dimension of T / Error with the solid “kx2048”. The third Interlude closes the side with the announcements -partly sampled, partly reconstructed - of the roman subway, imagining that in 2048 there will be alternative routes, passing through the Colosseum station.

The C Side explodes with the massive “Cyb(Moth)er” by Mattia Trani, with his electro-alias 051 Destroyer, who gives us an electro-techno pearl with drexciyane shades inspired by the character of Falena. MA Spaventi dedicates his liquid and melancholic "Tevere (Somewhere in Rome)” to the river, an emblem of the Roman metropolis, which incorporates recordings of the tenuous city watercourse.

In the D Side, we reach the emotional climax of the soundtrack. The brothers Fabrizio and Marco D'Arcangelo, masters of the IDM / Braindance scene, are inspired by the epic and kaleidoscopic battle of the latest comic strips for their glowing "Dive Reverse Universe Edit". The fourth Interlude is dominated by the distant melody of an accordion - the magic touch, here as in the oud of Interlude II, is provided by Greek musician Maria Arampatzi - which anticipates the theme of the only proper "song" of the record, "Orizzonti Perfetti". The song, co-produced with Halfcastle and masterfully interpreted by the powerful and unmistakable voice of NicoNote, lends the definitive missing piece to an articulated, complex, ambitious..., and a little crazy musical and visual project: the first original soundtrack of a graphic novel!

The record is a new, colorful, unmissable collector's art object, made precious by the gatefold cover signed by international star Elena Casagrande, Marvel and DC Comics designer - 2021 Eisner Award winner for her “Black Widow”! - and conceived as a maxi comic composed of boards signed by the artists of the Kuro Jam collective.

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Loz Goddard

12" | 2023 | EU | Original (Oath)

16,99 €*

A Trip To Bolgatanga Glow In The Dark Vinyl Edition

Release: 2023 / EU – Original

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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On his second excursion for Oath, Manchester-based producer Loz Goddard continues to nurture the clubby side of his sound with a razor-sharp and bombastic EP that contains all you could ever wish for when it comes to breaks, euphoria, and sonic depth….

As a producer, Loz has operated under a number of guises, but one thing has always remained – his elegant and inspired application of melody. His early career was marked by a number of superb releases on labels such as Church, Tusk Wax, Apparel and many more, all of which highlighted a deep affection for groove, tone and atmosphere. The music largely operated within the realms of Deep House – at times spilling over into Nu-Disco – but there was always a little bit of shine on each EP that pointed to other spheres of influence, and it was these references points that made Loz Goddard’s music feel broad, considered and introspective. The music appealed on many levels and provided plenty of worlds and spaces in which listeners could get deeply involved within, and this journey is filled with beautifully polished gems that can be held and admired in your hands time and time again.

A two-year break from releases resulted in the release of ‘Ballon Tree Road’, his debut LP and first release on Oath, and to say the record was a step forward would be an enormous understatement. Here Loz Goddard set down a marker of things to come, as he drew from the melodic outlays that were a cornerstone of his discography to date and permeated these through a spectrum of styles and rhythms that represent everything good about a dance music record. You had the quiet moments, the heart-felt moments, the pure and powerful moments, with Loz exploring everything from Breaks to Ambient, Broken Beat to House, and even some D’n’B thrown in for good measure. This was a marker if there ever was one, and it firmly established Loz’s second era phase, one where his abilities were given space to shine on a much broader scale.

‘Are We Ever Leaving Here?’ builds upon the energies found within his debut LP, providing a bitesize experience that aims itself directly at the dance floor – but listening at home provides a lot of scope for inward escapism. The EP presents three original cuts, of which the title track gets things going – a deep set, resonating chord gets things going, which fans out to include additions to the sequence, and before long the breaks come into play, achieving lift-off and welcoming you firmly into the experience. ‘Parallaxing’ really evokes that firm set 90s Techno sound, with a hard-as-nails rhythm section (with hats aplenty) providing a basis for acid lines, swelling backroom chords and gorgeous interplays between synth lines – the way in which this song peaks is utterly glorious. ‘Space Nugz’ takes things down a notch, but keeps things heavy yet delicate. The beat here is cavernous, diving deep down within the strata along with the bass line that keeps proceedings ticking over. The melodic top layer is spacey, drifting between the ethereal and the real, enticing the listener to leave this plane and pursue a new life in another galaxy.

To round off the experience, there are two remixes from Casa Voyager head OCB, and Bristol-based producer Boulderhead, and they do not disappoint. OCB puts his spin on the title track, and the BPM gets pushed to its max, with the vibe pulled apart and rebuilt as a heads-down, floor-smashing proggy roller. Boulderhead focuses on ‘Space Nugz’, and here the groove is once again flipped on its head, with the remix pushing into the realms of dreamy chuggy techno, with the melodies filling up the spaces so beautifully.

Loz Goddard started something beautiful with his debut LP, and saw his sonics reach new heights and touch new depths. This EP keeps the flames burning bright, with expertly crafted dynamics and his signature melodic abilities on full display, with the two remixes adding much to the experience. As a mini-experience, it’s hard to beat, and it only sets the heart racing for what might come next – for the meanwhile, Oath are incredibly proud to facilitate this beautiful new experience from Loz Goddard, and its one hopefully to be enjoyed at a few spots this summer…..

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African Head Charge

LP | 2023 | EU | Original (On-U Sound)

34,99 €*

A Trip To Bolgatanga Black Vinyl Edition

Release: 2023 / EU – Original

Genre: Reggae & Dancehall

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African Head Charge return to On-U Sound with their first new album in twelve years. Titled A Trip To Bolgatanga, the recordings are led by founder member Bonjo Iyabinghi Noah, with close friend and co-conspirator Adrian Sherwood once again at the controls. A Trip to Bolgatanga is a stunning return, bringing together the talents of two masters who, after a hiatus, have created a rich album brimming with ideas and executed with finesse.

Commenting on the gap between records, Bonjo says: “In the twelve years that have passed, I have been spending time with my family in Ghana, but I was still creating things. I still have a lot of things to let off, you know what I mean? At this time in my life I want to work, but I want to enjoy time with my family as well. When I’m enjoying myself, I’m also creating, because when you’re happy it helps you to be more creative, and the greatest happiness is to be with your family.”

Although there are sounds on this album which recall previous African Head Charge classics such as My Life In A Hole In The Ground and Songs Of Praise, it would be wrong to assume that their music is not still evolving. The master percussionist adds: “All the drumming and the chanting, it took a while to do. I’m always meeting drummers, all over Ghana. The Fante, the Akim, the Ga, the Bolgatanga, all the tribes, and they all have their different drums. I try to learn as much as I can, and put it all together. It’s like cooking, when you’re blending all of the elements, like yam, banana, pumpkin, and the end taste, that’s where it matters. That’s how I look at music. Throw a lot of things together, and then you taste it and say, “Yeah man, that tastes good. Yeah man, that sounds good.” That’s what African Head Charge is all about, those different combinations, and then bringing it to Adrian, who helps to make it another thing again.”

Producer Adrian Sherwood concurs: “It’s always a case of getting all the right ingredients sorted for Head Charge, and then having some fun with overdubs and mixing and getting it completely perfect. We always work well together, but I think on this one we have the greatest result."

The group have been active for over four decades, and this album sees other members of the musical entity’s extended family come back to the fray. Multi-instrumentalist Skip McDonald and fellow Tackhead co-conspirator Doug Wimbish contribute to a variety of tracks. Drummer Perry Melius, whose involvement in the project dates back to the early `90s, adds a righteous rhythmic heft to a trio of tunes. In addition there are a number of notable fresh recruits. The horns and reeds of Paul Booth, Richard Roswell, and David Fullwood; Ras Manlenzi and Samuel Bergliter on keys; Vince Black on guitar. There’s additional percussion from Shadu Rock Adu, Mensa Aka, Akanuoe Angela, and Emmanuel Okine, strings from Ivan “Celloman” Hussey, plus the voice of the mighty Ghetto Priest. Very special guest, and one of Ghana’s foremost kologo players, King Ayisoba also provides vocals, and demonstrates his dexterity on the traditional two-stringed lute.

Where previous albums have been a melting pot of global influences, on their new LP African Head Charge have but one place in mind. A Trip To Bolgatanga is a musical journey to Bonjo’s current hometown in north Ghana. A psychedelic travelogue across the landscape featuring their trademark hand percussion and group chanting augmented with rumbling bass, mutated horns, dubbed out effects, wild wah-wah, haunted voodoo dancehall, synthetic swells, disco congas, tumbling layers of electronic effects, blues-inflected woodwind, and funky organ. As with every On-U Sound production, each repeated listen reveals fresh detail, and its power won’t be really understood until heard on a big system, when it’ll reduce all competition to rubble.

- Specs Glow In The Dark 12" Vinyl in polylined inner sleeve in 3mm spine sleeve with 12” poster insert and download code

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African Head Charge

LP | 2023 | EU | Original (On-U Sound)

31,99 €*

12" | 2023 | UK | Original (Lovemonk)

Release: 2023 / EU – Original

Genre: Reggae & Dancehall

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African Head Charge return to On-U Sound with their first new album in twelve years. Titled A Trip To Bolgatanga, the recordings are led by founder member Bonjo Iyabinghi Noah, with close friend and co-conspirator Adrian Sherwood once again at the controls. A Trip to Bolgatanga is a stunning return, bringing together the talents of two masters who, after a hiatus, have created a rich album brimming with ideas and executed with finesse.

Commenting on the gap between records, Bonjo says: “In the twelve years that have passed, I have been spending time with my family in Ghana, but I was still creating things. I still have a lot of things to let off, you know what I mean? At this time in my life I want to work, but I want to enjoy time with my family as well. When I’m enjoying myself, I’m also creating, because when you’re happy it helps you to be more creative, and the greatest happiness is to be with your family.”

Although there are sounds on this album which recall previous African Head Charge classics such as My Life In A Hole In The Ground and Songs Of Praise, it would be wrong to assume that their music is not still evolving. The master percussionist adds: “All the drumming and the chanting, it took a while to do. I’m always meeting drummers, all over Ghana. The Fante, the Akim, the Ga, the Bolgatanga, all the tribes, and they all have their different drums. I try to learn as much as I can, and put it all together. It’s like cooking, when you’re blending all of the elements, like yam, banana, pumpkin, and the end taste, that’s where it matters. That’s how I look at music. Throw a lot of things together, and then you taste it and say, “Yeah man, that tastes good. Yeah man, that sounds good.” That’s what African Head Charge is all about, those different combinations, and then bringing it to Adrian, who helps to make it another thing again.”

Producer Adrian Sherwood concurs: “It’s always a case of getting all the right ingredients sorted for Head Charge, and then having some fun with overdubs and mixing and getting it completely perfect. We always work well together, but I think on this one we have the greatest result."

The group have been active for over four decades, and this album sees other members of the musical entity’s extended family come back to the fray. Multi-instrumentalist Skip McDonald and fellow Tackhead co-conspirator Doug Wimbish contribute to a variety of tracks. Drummer Perry Melius, whose involvement in the project dates back to the early `90s, adds a righteous rhythmic heft to a trio of tunes. In addition there are a number of notable fresh recruits. The horns and reeds of Paul Booth, Richard Roswell, and David Fullwood; Ras Manlenzi and Samuel Bergliter on keys; Vince Black on guitar. There’s additional percussion from Shadu Rock Adu, Mensa Aka, Akanuoe Angela, and Emmanuel Okine, strings from Ivan “Celloman” Hussey, plus the voice of the mighty Ghetto Priest. Very special guest, and one of Ghana’s foremost kologo players, King Ayisoba also provides vocals, and demonstrates his dexterity on the traditional two-stringed lute.

Where previous albums have been a melting pot of global influences, on their new LP African Head Charge have but one place in mind. A Trip To Bolgatanga is a musical journey to Bonjo’s current hometown in north Ghana. A psychedelic travelogue across the landscape featuring their trademark hand percussion and group chanting augmented with rumbling bass, mutated horns, dubbed out effects, wild wah-wah, haunted voodoo dancehall, synthetic swells, disco congas, tumbling layers of electronic effects, blues-inflected woodwind, and funky organ. As with every On-U Sound production, each repeated listen reveals fresh detail, and its power won’t be really understood until heard on a big system, when it’ll reduce all competition to rubble.

- Specs Black 12" Vinyl in polylined inner sleeve in 3mm spine sleeve with 12” poster insert and download code

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Gecko Turner

Somebody From Badajoz

23,99 €*

12" | 2022 | EU | Original (Heavenly Sweetness)

Release: 2023 / UK – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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With his new album, Gecko Turner confirms that he is a standout artist in the global groove scene, a must for the outernational sounds aficionados.

Somebody From Badajoz is the fifth studio album in his much lauded discography and his first in seven years, eagerly anticipated by both his fans and himself: "this business of dedicating yourself to music and making songs... it's a long game."

With the release of his first two, remarkable, albums, Guapapasea! (2003) and Chandalismo Ilustrado (2006), Gecko started cultivating what one astute journalist defined as Afro-maduran soul—the "maduran" bit referencing Extremadura, a region in central-western Spain.

Badajoz, Gecko's birthplace, is the biggest city in the area, on the border with Portugal, by the Guadiana River. It is a place that oozes history, where there is constant movement at the border, and people's character is friendly and open-minded with foreign habits.

Gecko's Afro-maduran soul isbuilt on Afro-American music and drenched in Brazilian, African, Latin American and Jamaican sounds. There are also echoes of a youth marked in equal parts by our man's admiration for the Beatles and the flamenco that could be heard everywhere in Badajoz in the seventies. It makes for a singular sound and a musical language of its own—spicy, succulent, full of nuances, but with a very personal flavour.

The album opens with the Nigerian talking drums of Twenty-twenty Vision, (neo) soul in a magical falsetto, carried by a sumptuous orchestral arrangement with a cinematic flavour: "I'd been thinking about doing something called 'Twenty-twenty Vision' for some time, making a play on words with the vision we have of the world after the year 2020 and the medical expression, which, in ophthalmological terms, means 'normal or complete vision.' Beyond that particular song, I think that's the mood of the album: a look at society in the twenties of the 21st century and the feelings and demons it produces."

It's followed by De Balde, a very special song born from a posthumously discovered lyric by the great writer Carlos Lencero, a regular collaborator of Camarón, Pata Negra, and Remedios Amaya, and also from Badajoz. While conceived as a fandango, Gecko has moulded it into his sound in such a seamless way it now seems as if the words could only have been written to be embraced by the percussion, brass, and backing vocals heard on the album. It's the only lyric on Somebody From Badajoz not written by Turner, still it sits rather comfortably with the rest, sharing the same emotivity and sensitivity, as well as the trademark humour and irony.

Other tracks see more protagonism for the rhythm.The beat-driven Ain't No Fun Preachin' to the Choir features Gecko's vocals walking the thin line between singing and talking over a phenomenal afro-disco-funk-infused trailblazer. In Am I Sad? it's impossible to not bob your head to the queen of Papatosina's mongrel rhythm, as close to the banks of the Guadiana river as it is to the shores of the Mississippi. Qué Siesta Tan Buena, He Babeao Y To! is an ode to the snooze in true Afro-Maduran fashion. And in Come And Try, the Caribbean influence is evident—lovers' rock that invites you to dance in good company.

In these songs, and throughout the album, for that matter, the musicians accompanying Gecko, who himself plays many of the instruments as well, shine brightly. All hailing from Extremadura, Javi Mojave (percussion), Álvaro Fdez 'Dr. Robelto' (bass), and Rafa Prieto (guitar) have been carrying him with delicate forcefulness since he started out as a solo artist. At the same time, the wonderful and essential voices of Deborah Ayo, Astrid Jones, Fani Ela Nsue, and Miriam Solís give the album a sunny variety of colours. And there are many more—a sensational group of musicians contributes dazzling harmonic bursts to many of the songs. The palette of sounds is very diverse and rich in textures and nuances, including, for example, the ngoni, bells, and various repurposed kitchen utensils.

The groove is always around, moving between the magical border sound of Everybody Knows Somebody From Badajoz and Little Dose, the silky soul of The Sibariteo Appreciation Society, and the exultant celebration of End Of The World (which surprisingly sees Gecko turning to the occasional use of autotune), a piece that could be used for the final credits of a Monty Python film and, in fact, closes the album.

Gecko Turner has done it again with Somebody From Badajoz, looking to the future without losing sight of the roots. In times of upheaval all over the globe, when people are looking for purity, he delivers a formidable piece of work: risky, optimistic in spite of everything, and with a decidedly bastard sound. Let's rejoice.

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David Walters

Bow Down EP Remixes

18,99 €*

LP | 1993 | UK | Reissue (Mute)

Release: 2022 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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David Walters is an explorer. Not just one of those who show off on the screen. Like his Grandfather, David has not hesitated to cross seas or oceans to fulfil his desires fit. His mother's father left the Caribbean island of St Kitts for New York and started a family in London with a woman he met on the boat. David, on the other hand, travelled from his home in Marseille to Sheffield, London and Manchester to record this EP and to give a new twist to his career by musically extending the link that binds him to his grandfather, and more generally to his ancestors. "In Africa and its diasporas, as in the world for those who know how to see them, the elders are always at our side", he says in a soft voice.
"Music comes first".

It was on Guts' advice that David Walters changed his working habits. He and the French producer/beatmaker and DJ know each other well. "He offered to accompany me artistically on my new album, to be my third eye, or my third ear," says David. "He is someone I respect for his work, his discretion and his questioning, his desire to never repeat himself" he explains. "We often exchange ideas. We don't necessarily always agree, but whatever we think of each other, it's the music that comes first.” So when Guts told him about Tom Excell, David went for it. He headed for Sheffield where Excell, the producer, guitarist and percussionist had his own studio. The contact was direct. "We took the instruments and played like children", remembers David, still under the spell of the encounter. "Tom is part of the new English scene that combines jazz, soul, hip-hop and world grooves. He’s associated, as a musician, producer and remixer with Nubiyan Twist, Onipa, K.O.G., Me & My Friends and so many others. He has the freshness of the English sound. I like his approach. Over there, people have grown up with The Beatles, The Specials, Depeche Mode, The Clash or Apache Indian playing in the background in supermarkets. They have a different musical culture, a different musical culture that is part of the décor regardless of the genre, and that's a game changer," David says excitedly. "If people like it, they make room for you right away. I'm a fan".

"More personal and more open"
In three sessions at Tom Excell and David built these 4 tracks. “No One” which opens this E.P., was the first to be finalised. As always with David, everything is played - the Rhodes as well as the percussion, the bass as well as the drums - before being sampled. Even the electronic rhythms are sampled on the hi-hat or cymbal. Hence this organic sound. ”No One is a word of advice, an incitement to trust yourself, to listen to no one but your own instinct. This is something the singer already defended more than fifteen years ago on “Awa” the song that gave its name to his first album. "No One” is now more peaceful and serene than “Awa” was," he says. “Bow Down”, initiated with the Lyon-based producer Patchworks, is reinvented here in a lighter version. ‘It's a nod to New Orleans and the Afro-descendants, those men and women who kept their heads up despite slavery and mistreatment," says David, who recorded and produced the Nola is Calling project (2019) in a colonial house in New Orleans he transformed into a studio. The expression "Bow Down" is both a tribute to the Amerindians who came to the aid of African slaves and an affirmation of strength and resilience. Hurricane Kathrina is still on everyone's mind. As David explains, “Yemaja is the Cuban goddess of the sea. In Africa, she is called Yemoja”. There is no doubt that the sea is David's element. “The sea acts on me like a sort of great "reset". It's a place where you can also lose yourself," he says. “Baby Love”, the last track, echoes “Baby Go” from the album
Nocturne (2021), an opus recorded with cellist Vincent Segal, kora master Ballaké Sissoko and percussionist Roger Raspail. "In the end, these four tracks (+ a disco edit of “No One” by the American producer Captain Planet) are put together like a rebus, to tell a story that makes sense to me: Nobody is going to fall apart, thanks to Yemaja", David sums up with a warmth and smile in his voice.
David Walters is a true explorer, and doesn't intend to stop there. Future sessions are already scheduled in Tom Excell's studio in order to finalise a full length album which is due to be released early in 2023.

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Inspiral Carpets

Devil Hopping

30,99 €*

LP | 2003 | Reissue (Be With)

Release: 1993 / UK – Reissue

Genre: Rock & Indie

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Limited to 500 copies with obi strip. P-funk classic from 1978. Solo Album By Parliament/Funkadelic co-founder Fuzzy Haskins. Featuring a Tom Moulton Mixed Track. First ever vinyl reissue. Comes with insert/liner notes, A co-founder of the P-Funk movement, Clarence Eugene 'Fuzzy' Haskins was born in West Virginia in 1941 and started as a singer in the doo-wop vocal group The Parliaments, led by George Clinton in the late 1950s. He was a founding member of the groundbreaking and influential 1970s funk bands Parliament-funkadelic. Fuzzy Haskins toured and appeared on P-Funk albums as a singer, and occasionally as a guitarist, throughout the 1970s. He is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, inducted in 1997.

Despite the success of Mothership Connection, Fuzzy Haskins was growing frustrated that his songs were no longer being featured on albums by Funkadelic and Parliament. He also watched as Bootsy Collins, a relative newcomer to the family, embarked upon a solo career. This added to Haskins’ frustration and at the height of P-Funk's popularity, Fuzzy left the ensemble to pursue a solo career.

Fuzzy Haskins released two landmark solo albums on Westbound Records: ‘A Whole Nother Thang’ in 1976 and ‘Radio Active’ in 1978. With his brand of earthy & heavyweight funk, Fuzzy Haskins’ solo works fits right in with many of the other great P-Funk side projects and was sampled by renowned artists and acts from the likes of Prince, The Prodigy, N.W.A and Fatboy Slim.

On the album we are presenting you today (Radio Active from 1978) you’ll find eight sublime tracks written (or co-written) by Mr. Haskins himself and recorded by Richard Becker at the legendary PAC 3 Recording Studios in Dearborn, Michigan where classic albums from Norman Feels and Dennis Coffey were born. One of the tracks (Woman) was personally mixed for the album by Tom Moulton (the originator of musical revolutions like ‘the remix’, ‘the breakdown section’ and the ‘12inch single vinyl format’).

Fuzzy switched between drums and guitar, while taking charge of the lead vocals and production, he was accompanied in the studio by an all-star musician line-up of P-Funk family members such as Jerome ‘Bigfoot’ Brailey (drums), Cordell ‘Boogie’ Mossom (bass), Gary Shider & Michael Hampton (guitars), Glen Goins (piano, drums & guitar)…and of course the fantastic Mr. Bernie Worrell on keyboards. Besides these Parliament/Funkadelic alumni, also present on the recordings are Bruce Nazarian (The Temptations) on Moog and Jazz pianist Gary Schunk (known for his collaborations with Marcus Belgrave & Wendell Harrison).

The result of all this musicianship was a record that oozed quality. Despite the quality of the music (and just like with ‘A Whole Nother Thang’) the album didn’t sell the vast quantities that were projected and didn’t reach the audience it deserved.

‘Radio Active’ is filled with keyboard-driven spacey funk, sharp hooks, popping bass-lines, JB styled soulful (yet sexy) vocals, a hint of disco, fantastic guitar build-ups and breaks that make you shake…a true gem that deserves a place in your record collection (mint vinyl copies are hard to find and pricey these days). If you are a Funkateer…this one’s for you!

Tidal Waves Music now proudly presents the First ever vinyl reissue of ‘Radio Active’ since 1978 (the year the record was originally released on Westbound Records).

This unique album comes as a deluxe 180g vinyl edition (strictly limited to 500 copies) with obi strip and features the original artwork created by virtuoso Ronald Edwards (known for his graphic work with Parliament-Funkadelic, Bootsy Collins, Fred Wesley, George Clinton, Maceo Parker, Bernie Worrell, Fishbone…and countless others). To top it all off, this release also includes an insert featuring the original liner notes written in 1994 by renowned author and producer Rob Bowman (Otis Redding, Isaac Hayes, Marvin Gaye) who reflects on Fuzzy Haskins’ two solo albums. Released exclusively for Record Store Day 2022 (UK & Europe) and available in participating stores on April 23, 2022. This Rsd22 release is not available to stores located in the US. There will be a regular North American edition for this album coming out as well in May!

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Parsley Sound

Parsley Sounds

29,99 €*

LP | 2021 | EU | Original (Strut)

Release: 2003 / Reissue

Genre: Rock & Indie

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Parsley Sounds was the glorious debut album for Mo Wax by Parsley Sound. The album was one of the iconic label’s final releases before it closed in 2003 and locating a clean copy has been extremely tricky of late, unless you're flush enough to drop 150 notes on it. Mercifully, the Be With reissue, put together with invaluable assistance from the group, should remedy this situation. It's a lo-fi, bass-heavy, blunted beat treat, warped with heat haze and dreamy soft-psych and has been criminally under-heard for far too long.

As with most cult-like records, Parsley Sounds has many influential fans, far and wide. From Four Tet and Caribou to NTS's modern day breakfast hero Flo Dill, its reputation has only grown in stature. At the time, the notoriously hard-to-please Pitchfork garlanded it with a scarcely achievable 8.8 whilst, just recently, the Numero Group's Rob Sevier described it as a "visionary bit of proto-Salvia Palth (or Steve Lacy)" via a Ghostly International missive.

Parsley Sound comprised super-talented duo Preston Mead and Dan Sargassa. They released an early single (the perfect "Twilight Mushrooms", featured here) on Warp Records as Slum, before signing to Mo Wax. Hidden behind a wall of sound - fuzzy layers of beats, bleeps and symphonic synths - they were convinced they made mainstream pop music. And, in many respects, Parsley Sounds really is a beautiful pop album. It overflows with memorable, gorgeous melodies and inspired songcraft. As the contemporaneous Pitchfork review correctly had it: "Parsley Sounds is one of those rare records that manage to sound modest while frequently pushing the sonic envelope."

Killer opener "Ease Yourself And Glide" is a thing of aching, soft-psych, wonky beat-beauty. A melodic masterpiece, part Crosby, Stills & Nash, part proto-Koushik, it presents a melancholy falsetto, surging bass and blunted lead guitar. As it climaxes, gorgeous strings are ushered in to see us out. Sublime. "Twilight Mushrooms" is up next and it's an acid-drenched, strung-out acoustic-led campfire wonder. Amid layers of tape-hiss and beautiful, sun-dappled strings, its understated vocal track provides a haze of wistful innocence.

The breezy "Spring's Near" is a krautrock-inspired chiming instrumental of heavenly excellence, its warm, skipping, motorik groove and dreamy synths completely infectious. Another total highlight, the technicolour "Yo Yo" initially presents itself as a more abstract, bleepy offering but as it organically swells into ever more beautiful places, with the addition of a choppy insistent drum loop, flute bursts, horns and sweeping strings, it puts one in mind of early Manitoba and Four Tet releases. Shimmering, blissed-out greatness.

The celestial harmonies and glistening harps of the wonderfully beatless, serenely sullen "Ocean House" are very much in conversation with late-60s meditative psych whilst, closing out Side A, the jaw-dropping, lushly experimental effort "Find The Heat" comes on like Arthur Russell meets Brian Wilson. Yep, *that* good.

Side B opens with the warped, bleepy "Stevie", a brief but beautifully wonky, soulful and intricate instrumental. The more upfront vocals that propel the fuzzy "Platonic Rate" have a refreshing swagger to them, the heavy bass and neck-snapping in-the-red beats too much for any system to deal with whilst the guitars and strings have a sweeping, cinematic feel which just beguiles. The slow, urbane soul of "Candlemice" will stop you in your tracks, no matter what you're doing. It carries a delicate sadness, as does much of the album in that classic "down lifting" style we so love here at Be With.

The fuzzing, buzzing "Templechurchmansions" is a searing, soulful dubwise detonation. Heavily stoned with slow-burning jazzy snatches and a tense, moody atmosphere, it's a Tricky-adjacent gem. The album rounds out brilliantly with the ominous instrumental "Neon Breeze" before giving way to the propulsive, almost incongruous punk-funk / disco-dub of secret "untitled" track "Caution", a scratchy, smacked-out groove-fuelled workout with a female vocal dripping with 'tude. Just sensational.

Under the watchful eye - and attentive ears! - of Parsley Sound themselves, the audio for Parsley Sounds has been carefully mastered by Be With regular Simon Francis, with a few much needed tweaks here and there, according to the artist's wishes. Cicely Balston's expert skills have made sure nothing is lost in the cut whilst the records have been pressed to the highest possible standard at the always stellar Record Industry in Holland.

Preston and Dan always thought the colours on the first vinyl pressing looked a bit "washed out" vis-a-vis the original artwork which was way more vibrant. We feel we've got it popping back to the original intention with the restoration work here at Be With HQ. So with the audio and artwork now approaching completeness after 20 years, this long overdue re-issue could be considered its definitive vinyl release.

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Electric Jalaba

El Hal / The Feeling

23,99 €*

12" | 2021 | UK | Original (Wah Wah 45s)

Release: 2021 / EU – Original

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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El Hal / The Feeling by Electric Jalaba

Share / Embed Wishlist supported by Thom D thumbnail David Wagstaff thumbnail dickbonham thumbnail kosmicanimal thumbnail Michael Anthony thumbnail Samuel Vonäsch thumbnail Sarapuaj thumbnail eddystone thumbnail albondiga thumbnail wfryco thumbnail Jason Boon thumbnail Dietmar Petschl thumbnail zrankfappa thumbnail npmarsden thumbnail calico jack thumbnail duncanamhp thumbnail Pedb thumbnail Daniel Patrick thumbnail mongeese thumbnail almo182 thumbnail silentlistener thumbnail Fulan 00:00 / 04:50 Digital Album Streaming + Download Pre-order of El Hal / The Feeling. You get 3 tracks now (streaming via the free Bandcamp app and also available as a high-quality download in MP3, Flac and more), plus the complete album the moment it’s released. releases March 19, 2021 Pre-order Digital Album €11 EUR or more Send as Gift El Hal / The Feeling (lp) Record/Vinyl + Digital Album package image Includes digital pre-order of El Hal / The Feeling. You get 3 tracks now (streaming via the free Bandcamp app and also available as a high-quality download in MP3, Flac and more), plus the complete album the moment it’s released. digital album releases March 19, 2021 item ships out within 3 days Pre-order Record/Vinyl €18 EUR Send as Gift El Hal / The Feeling (cd) Compact Disc (cd) + Digital Album package image Includes digital pre-order of El Hal / The Feeling. You get 3 tracks now (streaming via the free Bandcamp app and also available as a high-quality download in MP3, Flac and more), plus the complete album the moment it’s released. digital album releases March 19, 2021 item ships out within 3 days Pre-order Compact Disc €12 EUR or more Send as Gift 1. Tora Tora 2. Cubaili Ba 03:50 3. Agia Hausa 4. Daimla 03:56 video 5. Fulan 04:50 6. Shabakru 7. Briando 8. Tugra 9. Hindewu 10. Lagmami about Electric Jalaba comprises six accomplished musicians with an empathy that feels telepathic and a groove that immerses. In Arabic, the mother tongue of Moroccan-born singer and guimbri player Simo Lagnawi, a leading practitioner of Gnawa music in Britain, they call this indefinable quality, “El Hal” – “The feeling”. “It’s the feeling that comes when we’re playing and totally forgetting where we are,” says producer and bassist Olly Keen. “The feeling of being grabbed by the music and lost in the groove.”

El Hal is the new third album from Electric Jalaba and their first release in five years. It’s a multi-faceted work that finds the band tighter than ever, deploying a vast cache of influences across nine tracks improvised and developed in their south London studio then deftly produced by Keen. Some tracks pay homage to the origins of Gnawa music, whose repertoire of Arabic-language praise songs contains remnants of West African dialects – Bambara from Mali, Fulani and Hausa from the Sahel region – that point to a centuries-old migration.

“The trance-inducing effect of Gnawa was what hit us first. It was visceral, heart stopping,” continues Olly, whose siblings – producer/keys player Henry Keen, guitarist/ multi-instrumentalist Nathaniel Keen and singer/multi-instrumentalist Barnaby Keen – make up Electric Jalaba alongside revered Anglo-Italian kit drummer Dave De Rose and Simo on vocals, krakeb and guimbri. “Simo selected the chant from the traditional song suites and, as a band, we extended these short pieces of ceremonial music and experimented with sound and structure,” explains Olly.

Tracks include the funky single ‘Cubaili Ba’ featuring the disco-fied patterns of a Juno synth and the drumming of De Rose; ‘Agia Hausa’ is a multi-layered wig-out that partly takes its inspiration from Senegal’s fiercely percussive mbalax rhythms and ‘Daimla’ is a gloriously dubby ode to Allah and iconic maalems including the late Mahmoud Guinea. “There’s a very strong rhythmic element within the band but because of our different perspectives but the melodic components are really unique as well,” says Henry. That feeling of being outside of yourself but totally within yourself at the same time… That’s what all of us, collectively, are striving for.”

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SAM

American Cars

15,99 €*

12" | 2020 | EU | Original (La Casa Tropical)

Release: 2021 / UK – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves, Electronic & Dance

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Wah Wah 45s make a welcome return to the world of re-issues. Having started out over two decades ago releasing dance floor funk from Benny Poole, Cheyenne Fowler and The Googie Rene Combo, and later re-releasing obscure Kompa-funk from Haitian pianist Henri Pierre Noel, they now turn their attention to an overlooked early 90s acoustic soul gem.
About thirty years ago, music teacher and budding producer Alex Boyesen found himself working as part of the Haringey Music Workshop - a community programme and outreach project funded by the local council in Haringey, North London (coincidentally the area in which the Wah Wah head office is now based!).
"Anyone could come and get lessons for free - ranging from piano, sax, guitar, drums, bass, singing and workshops including choral, jazz band and more." Alex Boyesen
It was during that time that Alex came across a young Sam Edwards.
"One day I went into one of the rehearsal rooms and there, by herself, was this girl playing a piano and singing. It was the most incredible voice I had ever heard."
Before long, the pair were playing all over London as a duo with Alex on guitar and Sam on vocals.
"Sam had never had professional training, she was simply an utter natural."
The Haringey Music workshop was connected with other projects in the borough, in particular a community project called the Selby Centre. Here they ran training programs for young people and one of these was a music business course. The idea was that they found an artist, recorded them and then promoted them. One way or the other they ended up picking Alex and Sam to be on their roster.
"My good friend Nixon Rosembert was brought in to oversee the recordings and they hired the Islington Music Workshop to do the recording. We got musicians from the Haringey Music Workshop to play on the sessions and spent a day recording two songs -American CarsandLife. The training workshop had created a label called Progression Music and out the record went."
Three decades later and out of the blue Alex started to get interest again in the record he'd almost forgotten about all those years ago. It had become something of a sought after gem on Discogs, and there seemed to be an interest in that 'acoustic soul' sound once again.
"I got three people asking if they could re-release it and finally here we are with Wah Wah 45s doing the business after all these years."
It was Hospital Records and Wah Wah 45s founder, Chris Goss, who first brought the idea of releasing this record to the table.
"This is a really special record for me, picked up 30 years ago, from a young James Lavelle at Honest Jon's in Ladbroke Grove. Sam Edwards would go on to perform and write songs with North London's Izit, the acid jazz collective fronted by Tony Colman - with whom I have built a music company, these past 25 years. Alex Boyeson worked with Tony at the Haringey Arts Project, who produced a one-off vinyl release of Alex's two compositions back in 1991. Thanks to Alex and Tony, we have been able to clean-up the original audio, uncover photos and lyric sheets to present, with real love and affection, these two lost gems from a bygone era." Chris Goss, Feb 2021.
The project was then expanded by Dom Servini, who got heavy disco legend Ashley Beedle and co-label owner and erstwhile producer Adam Scrimshire in to take on remix duties.
"When approached by Dom Servini to reworkAmerican CarsI had no idea about the history of the original song. After a good listen myself and studio partner Darren Morris set to work and all I can say that it was a lovely experience keeping the vibe of the original but giving it a spaced out feel in true Afrikanz On Marz fashion." Ashley Beedle, Feb 2021.
"Remixing without multi-tracks always brings a bunch of challenges, getting the balance between the bass and drums in the original and what you want to do with your own version. The song really dictates certain things to you.
But it was such a pleasure to explore that with this beautiful song and vocal performance. So many ways to approach it. I just wanted to draw out more of the melancholy in the original and make it an absorbing experience." Adam Scrimshire, Feb 2021.
Perhaps the last word should be given to Alex himself, who's very much enjoying the new lease of life that his music with Sam is getting.
"As I write this we are trying to locate her, she's somewhere singing something, that's all she ever did. Thanks for being part of my life Sam and I am so glad that this small bit of that time is being remembered." Alex Boyesen, Feb 2021.

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The Bees

Mamezala / Never Give Up

16,99 €*

Release: 2020 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves, Electronic & Dance

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The Bees are a textbook case of the chew and spit cycle that was the late 80’s South African music industry. Although their unknown story is likely unique, it is just as likely that it is no different to that of many other young artists who dreamed of getting their music heard at the time. By 1988, the independent record label was no longer as uncommon as it had been at the beginning of the decade. As the 80s went on, more seasoned A&R reps and Producers that had gained experience and connections from their work under major labels would be trying to cash in on a market they helped create. Without the need of big rooms or expensive recording equipment, the digital advancements allowed many Producers to open or work in smaller studios and promote unknown artists under their own imprints. They would then have their catalogs marketed and distributed by the same major labels they had been working for just years prior. This would open up the possibility of a new era of stars as potential talent no longer had to be pitched to major labels in hopes of them taking a chance on a new signee over their already established artists. With the market growing and a struggle to keep up with the demand for new sounds this agreement would allow the major labels to put new emerging artists or groups on their catalog with little investment and high reward if it happened to be a hit. ON Records was just one of the independent players at the time. Ronnie Robot had just signed the unlikely trio The Bees in hopes of adding a hit group to his label roster that consisted of solo acts. Despite the debut’s fresh house inspired sound, it failed to catch on was outsold by the bubblegum disco the label was known for. Over the years unsold back stock and promos would build up with the distributor. Luckily this allowed sealed copies from the label’s catalog to survive into the 90s when the distributor’s stock was unloaded and picked up by legendary Johannesburg jazz shop Kohinoor. Here sealed copies of the Bees first attempt sat under appreciated for over 20 years before becoming a hot title after they started circulating online and became club staples. This is how the first album of an unknown group with no success was able to become a collectors item and earn a reissue over 25 years later. With their first record behind them The Bees were ready move forward and get back into the studio. A suggestion from producers had the trio change camps and go work with the newly formed Creative Sound Recordings, the label that promised “Music for the Future” and ended up being an essential studio in the early years of Kwaito. They would work with producer Chris Ghelakis and guitarist George Vardas, while a young Marvin Moses sat behind the desk. Musically the sophomore album was as good as a follow up as you could get. Building on the first album, Mashonisa delivers catchy melodies backed by heavy drum programming that would score points with any Pantsula. The Black Box inspired “ Never Give Up” was one of two tracks chosen to be pressed as the promo for the album, hoping to trick listeners with their catchy version of the hit( A year later the label would release their first volume of Black Box covers sang by neo soul diva BB, it would be a great seller). The label printed up an unknown amount of these in a last attempt to push the release in Shabeens and on Radio. The cheaper route of flooding the market with promo copies would only pay off 25 years later when unplayed copies started being rediscovered and had survived the years in a quantity that original run of the full album could not. Once again it was clear that with no mainstream appeal, the quality of the music on its own was not enough to garner any success at the time. The album flopped worse than their first and failed to make it past it’s initial run, making it one of the harder titles to get from the CSR catalog. Mashonisa would be the last attempt from the Bees. They would disappear from the scene as quickly as they appeared. Of the three members it is only known that lead Singer Solomon Phiri continued in music fronting a wave dance group before he mysteriously vanished in 1993, never to be heard from again. Through a combination of luck and circumstance the group, which is unknown in South Africa to even the most plugged in musicians, producers and radio hosts of the time, managed to finally get some of the recognition they deserved 30 years later. Unfortunately this small blip of fame would happen with none of the band members present to give their side of the story, or even aware of how their two albums became popular enough to be printed on different continents in a new millennia. The Bees suffered the same fate as countless other artists of the time, who thanks to emerging independent labels and willing producers were given an opportunity to have a short career, only to be replaced by the meat grinder of the music industry when they failed to produce a hit.

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Keep Walkin': Singles, Demos & Rarities 1965-1978 8-Track Cartridge

8Track | 2023 | US | Original (Light In The Attic)

34,09 €* 61,99 € -45%

Release: 2023 / US – Original

Genre: Rock & Indie

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8-Track available on Pink, Yellow, Blue or White (Randomly selected). Due to limited capacity the full track-list is not included on the 8-Track Definitive collection of Nancy's rare singles, demos and previously unreleased cuts. Includes 3 previously unreleased tracks, plus 3 tracks making their vinyl debut. Deep booklet includes new Q&As with Nancy & Don Randi (The Wrecking Crew) - both conducted by Grammy®-nominated co-producer Hunter Lea Plus never-before-seen photos from Nancy Sinatra’s personal archive. Features audio freshly remastered from the original analog tapes by Grammy®-nominated engineer John Baldwin. Vinyl pressed at RTI. Double LP housed in a gatefold jacket with 24-page book Light in the Attic continues to celebrate the influential career of singer, actress, activist, and icon *Nancy Sinatra* with a captivating new collection, Keep Walkin’: Singles, Demos & Rarities 1965-1978. Exploring the lesser-known gems from Sinatra’s rich catalog through 25 B-sides, rare singles, covers, demos, and previously-unreleased recordings, Keep Walkin’ was remastered by the *Grammy®-nominated engineer John Baldwin* and available in a variety of formats, including vinyl, CD, 8-track, and digital. The 2LP set, pressed at Record Technology, Inc. (rti), is presented in an expanded gatefold jacket and accompanied by a 24-page booklet featuring an array of photos from the artist’s personal collection, as well as a new in-depth Q&A with Sinatra, conducted by the reissue’s Grammy®-nominated co-producer, Hunter Lea. The booklet also contains a fascinating interview with keyboardist Don Randi (The Wrecking Crew), who recently spoke to Lea about his hit-filled career and his 50 years of work with Nancy. Keep Walkin’: Singles, Demos & Rarities 1965-1978 serves as a companion to the widely-acclaimed 2021 career-spanning retrospective, Start Walkin’ 1965-1976, and marks the latest release in LITA’s ongoing Nancy Sinatra Archival Series, a partnership with the legendary artist, which honors her musical legacy through lovingly curated reissues (including her 1966 debut, Boots and the 1968 classic, Nancy & Lee), limited-edition merch, and other special releases. In 1965, 25-year-old Nancy Sinatra scored her first No.1 hit with “These Boots are Made for Walkin’,” a bold anthem for female empowerment. Brazen, sassy, and utterly infectious, it was a reintroduction of sorts for the eldest daughter of Frank Sinatra, who had been struggling to find a spotlight of her own amid a changing musical landscape. Suddenly, audiences who had initially brushed off Sinatra as too demure or out-of-touch were paying attention. Written and produced by Oklahoma-born songsmith Lee Hazlewood (with swaggering instrumentals, courtesy of Billy Strange and The Wrecking Crew), the song launched the singer’s career, as well as one of music’s most unlikely, yet compelling, creative partnerships. Over the next decade, Sinatra continued to notch multiple hits on both sides of the Atlantic, including “Sugar Town,” “How Does That Grab You, Darlin?,” and a haunting rendition of the Sonny Bono-penned “Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down).” The singer also paired up with Hazlewood for a series of popular duets (“Summer Wine,” “Jackson,”* and *“Some Velvet Morning”) and collaborative albums. In between best-selling LPs like Boots (1966), How Does That Grab You (1966), and Nancy & Lee (1968), Sinatra performed the theme song to the 1967 James Bond film, You Only Live Twice, and collaborated with her father on the global chart-topper, “Somethin’ Stupid.” While these career landmarks are well-documented in the annals of pop culture history, however, much of Sinatra’s catalog remains sorely overlooked. As Keep Walkin’ co-producer Hunter Lea explains, “With the changing taste of the record-buying public in the late 1960s and the counterculture taking over, artists like Nancy Sinatra weren’t in the mainstream as they once were.” Despite that fact, “[Sinatra] kept working, recording, and performing at a voracious pace.” Lea continues, “This compilation is a celebration of some of the many glorious recordings that may have been overlooked, forgotten, or never even released at the time. The obscurity of some of these recordings doesn’t mask the genius, brilliance, and effort that went into them; on the contrary, it’s incredible to learn that some of the lost gems are just as rich as the national treasures.” Among the highlights is the spritely opener “The City Never Sleeps at Night,” which served as the B-Side to “These Boots Were Made for Walkin’.” Overshadowed by the colossal success of its A-side, it’s no surprise that the cinematic tune never had its proper due. Yet, Lea reveals, Hazlewood initially intended to make it the focus single. Another long-lost B-side is “The Last of the Secret Agents?,” which was paired with the Top 10 hit, “How Does That Grab You, Darlin’?” The playful song, written by Hazlewood, served as the theme to the 1966 comedy of the same name, in which Sinatra co-starred alongside Marty Allen and Steve Rossi. Keep Walkin’ also features several choice A-sides that were never included on albums and were overlooked for one reason or another. Among them is 1966’s “In Our Time,” a rebellious anthem for ‘60s youth, which references drug culture and women’s liberation, among other topics. Speaking to the Hazlewood-penned track, Sinatra recalls, “That was a fun song. Lee was starting to do his ‘anti’ stuff. He was cynical and it showed in his writing at some point.” But, despite the themes of the song, Nancy laments that she was never embraced by the counterculture. “[drugs] knocked me out of the picture completely. I was so far removed from the hip people in those days. I think they probably made fun of my stuff.” Another stylistic departure for both artists is “Love Eyes,” a bluesy, soulful single from 1966. The song, Nancy shares, is “one of my favorites. I think what helped Lee’s writing at that point was the bigger sound.… I really love it. I think it holds up to this day.” She adds that her dreamy vocal performance was inspired by early female R&B stars like Ruth Brown and LaVern Baker. The collection also features several outstanding covers, including a previously-unreleased rendition of the Barry Mann/Cynthia Weil classic, “I Just Can’t Help Believing” (a hit for both B.J. Thomas and Elvis Presley). This 1978 recording, reimagined as a duet, marked one of Sinatra’s brief reunions with Hazlewood, following his abrupt move to Sweden not long after 1972’s Nancy & Lee Again. Another choice track finds Nancy interpreting Neil Diamond’s “Glory Road.” Released as a single in 1971, it features one of the singer’s most cherished vocal performances. “After I worked on my voice and improved as a performer and as a singer, I embraced Neil Diamond. Anything I did by Neil Diamond, to me, is my best work.” Nancy also looks back fondly on her moving rendition of Bill Withers’ “Ain’t No Sunshine," released in 1973 as the B-side to “Sugar Me.” The recording (which features particularly lush orchestral arrangements by Billy Strange) reunited Nancy with another close collaborator, Jimmy Bowen, who produced the singer in the early ‘60s and later introduced her to Hazlewood. “I love Jimmy,” she declares. “The records we did early on…had a depth to them that I appreciated. He heard me and saw me in a different light; he saw me as a much more serious performer, which I appreciated.” Listeners will also be delighted to hear a pair of previously-unreleased demos: “Something Pretty” (the 1968 country hit, made famous by Wynn Stewart) and the theme to the 1965 Richard Rogers/Stephen Sondheim musical, Do I Hear a Waltz?, both of which were intended for a self-described “disco” record. Despite the two catchy takes featured on Keep Walkin’, Sinatra calls the shelved album “A disaster. I called it the disco fiasco!” Offering additional insight into Sinatra’s career is music director, songwriter, and keyboardist, Don Randi. A member of the hallowed *Wrecking Crew* collective, Randi was one of the most prolific session musicians of the ‘60s and ‘70s with hundreds of credits to his name, including The Beach Boys’ “Good Vibrations,” Linda Ronstadt’s “Different Drum,” and “These Boots are Made For Walkin’” – his first recording with Sinatra. For the next fifty years, he would be a fixture at her sessions and live shows. He also appears on nearly every track in this collection. Speaking to Lea, Randi delves deep into his time with Sinatra, with a palpable admiration for the singer. *“She was easy to work with,”* he shares. “She was always wonderful to musicians; nobody even comes close.” The keyboardist, who met Sinatra through Hazlewood, also recalls the magic of that partnership. “I always liked working with Nancy & Lee. They had something very special that they could get out of each other. It was a good team.” He continues, “Sinatra stood up for herself [around Lee]…He could be so cantankerous…but that’s Lee…. [Nancy] saw through it. She was so lovely and helpful to him a number of times when he really needed someone to talk to.” That said, Randi also appreciates the power of Sinatra’s solo performances. “I never thought she really needed [Hazlewood},”* he reveals. “I thought her shows were just as well with everybody else; they were excellent.” After stepping back from the industry in the ‘70s to focus on her young family, Sinatra returned to the spotlight in the mid-90s, releasing a string of new albums, including the star-studded Nancy Sinatra, which paired the artist with some of her biggest fans, including Morrissey, U2, Calexico, and Sonic Youth. Since then, Nancy’s legacy has only continued to grow. In more recent years, her impact has been recognized by the likes of Pitchfork, NPR, and Rolling Stone, while in 2020, “Boots” was inducted into the Grammy® Hall of Fame*. Today, Sinatra remains a force in the industry, as new generations discover her influential catalog, which boasts nearly 20 studio albums and dozens of charting singles.

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Keep Walkin': Singles, Demos & Rarities 1965-1978 Blue Vinyl Edition

2LP | 2023 | US | Original (Light In The Attic)

57,99 €*

Release: 2023 / US – Original

Genre: Rock & Indie

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Definitive collection of Nancy's rare singles, demos and previously unreleased cuts. Includes 3 previously unreleased tracks, plus 3 tracks making their vinyl debut. Deep booklet includes new Q&As with Nancy & Don Randi (The Wrecking Crew) - both conducted by Grammy®-nominated co-producer Hunter Lea Plus never-before-seen photos from Nancy Sinatra’s personal archive. Features audio freshly remastered from the original analog tapes by Grammy®-nominated engineer John Baldwin. Vinyl pressed at RTI. Double LP housed in a gatefold jacket with 24-page book Light in the Attic continues to celebrate the influential career of singer, actress, activist, and icon *Nancy Sinatra* with a captivating new collection, Keep Walkin’: Singles, Demos & Rarities 1965-1978. Exploring the lesser-known gems from Sinatra’s rich catalog through 25 B-sides, rare singles, covers, demos, and previously-unreleased recordings, Keep Walkin’ was remastered by the *Grammy®-nominated engineer John Baldwin* and available in a variety of formats, including vinyl, CD, 8-track, and digital. The 2LP set, pressed at Record Technology, Inc. (rti), is presented in an expanded gatefold jacket and accompanied by a 24-page booklet featuring an array of photos from the artist’s personal collection, as well as a new in-depth Q&A with Sinatra, conducted by the reissue’s Grammy®-nominated co-producer, Hunter Lea. The booklet also contains a fascinating interview with keyboardist Don Randi (The Wrecking Crew), who recently spoke to Lea about his hit-filled career and his 50 years of work with Nancy. Keep Walkin’: Singles, Demos & Rarities 1965-1978 serves as a companion to the widely-acclaimed 2021 career-spanning retrospective, Start Walkin’ 1965-1976, and marks the latest release in LITA’s ongoing Nancy Sinatra Archival Series, a partnership with the legendary artist, which honors her musical legacy through lovingly curated reissues (including her 1966 debut, Boots and the 1968 classic, Nancy & Lee), limited-edition merch, and other special releases. In 1965, 25-year-old Nancy Sinatra scored her first No.1 hit with “These Boots are Made for Walkin’,” a bold anthem for female empowerment. Brazen, sassy, and utterly infectious, it was a reintroduction of sorts for the eldest daughter of Frank Sinatra, who had been struggling to find a spotlight of her own amid a changing musical landscape. Suddenly, audiences who had initially brushed off Sinatra as too demure or out-of-touch were paying attention. Written and produced by Oklahoma-born songsmith Lee Hazlewood (with swaggering instrumentals, courtesy of Billy Strange and The Wrecking Crew), the song launched the singer’s career, as well as one of music’s most unlikely, yet compelling, creative partnerships. Over the next decade, Sinatra continued to notch multiple hits on both sides of the Atlantic, including “Sugar Town,” “How Does That Grab You, Darlin?,” and a haunting rendition of the Sonny Bono-penned “Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down).” The singer also paired up with Hazlewood for a series of popular duets (“Summer Wine,” “Jackson,”* and *“Some Velvet Morning”) and collaborative albums. In between best-selling LPs like Boots (1966), How Does That Grab You (1966), and Nancy & Lee (1968), Sinatra performed the theme song to the 1967 James Bond film, You Only Live Twice, and collaborated with her father on the global chart-topper, “Somethin’ Stupid.” While these career landmarks are well-documented in the annals of pop culture history, however, much of Sinatra’s catalog remains sorely overlooked. As Keep Walkin’ co-producer Hunter Lea explains, “With the changing taste of the record-buying public in the late 1960s and the counterculture taking over, artists like Nancy Sinatra weren’t in the mainstream as they once were.” Despite that fact, “[Sinatra] kept working, recording, and performing at a voracious pace.” Lea continues, “This compilation is a celebration of some of the many glorious recordings that may have been overlooked, forgotten, or never even released at the time. The obscurity of some of these recordings doesn’t mask the genius, brilliance, and effort that went into them; on the contrary, it’s incredible to learn that some of the lost gems are just as rich as the national treasures.” Among the highlights is the spritely opener “The City Never Sleeps at Night,” which served as the B-Side to “These Boots Were Made for Walkin’.” Overshadowed by the colossal success of its A-side, it’s no surprise that the cinematic tune never had its proper due. Yet, Lea reveals, Hazlewood initially intended to make it the focus single. Another long-lost B-side is “The Last of the Secret Agents?,” which was paired with the Top 10 hit, “How Does That Grab You, Darlin’?” The playful song, written by Hazlewood, served as the theme to the 1966 comedy of the same name, in which Sinatra co-starred alongside Marty Allen and Steve Rossi. Keep Walkin’ also features several choice A-sides that were never included on albums and were overlooked for one reason or another. Among them is 1966’s “In Our Time,” a rebellious anthem for ‘60s youth, which references drug culture and women’s liberation, among other topics. Speaking to the Hazlewood-penned track, Sinatra recalls, “That was a fun song. Lee was starting to do his ‘anti’ stuff. He was cynical and it showed in his writing at some point.” But, despite the themes of the song, Nancy laments that she was never embraced by the counterculture. “[drugs] knocked me out of the picture completely. I was so far removed from the hip people in those days. I think they probably made fun of my stuff.” Another stylistic departure for both artists is “Love Eyes,” a bluesy, soulful single from 1966. The song, Nancy shares, is “one of my favorites. I think what helped Lee’s writing at that point was the bigger sound.… I really love it. I think it holds up to this day.” She adds that her dreamy vocal performance was inspired by early female R&B stars like Ruth Brown and LaVern Baker. The collection also features several outstanding covers, including a previously-unreleased rendition of the Barry Mann/Cynthia Weil classic, “I Just Can’t Help Believing” (a hit for both B.J. Thomas and Elvis Presley). This 1978 recording, reimagined as a duet, marked one of Sinatra’s brief reunions with Hazlewood, following his abrupt move to Sweden not long after 1972’s Nancy & Lee Again. Another choice track finds Nancy interpreting Neil Diamond’s “Glory Road.” Released as a single in 1971, it features one of the singer’s most cherished vocal performances. “After I worked on my voice and improved as a performer and as a singer, I embraced Neil Diamond. Anything I did by Neil Diamond, to me, is my best work.” Nancy also looks back fondly on her moving rendition of Bill Withers’ “Ain’t No Sunshine," released in 1973 as the B-side to “Sugar Me.” The recording (which features particularly lush orchestral arrangements by Billy Strange) reunited Nancy with another close collaborator, Jimmy Bowen, who produced the singer in the early ‘60s and later introduced her to Hazlewood. “I love Jimmy,” she declares. “The records we did early on…had a depth to them that I appreciated. He heard me and saw me in a different light; he saw me as a much more serious performer, which I appreciated.” Listeners will also be delighted to hear a pair of previously-unreleased demos: “Something Pretty” (the 1968 country hit, made famous by Wynn Stewart) and the theme to the 1965 Richard Rogers/Stephen Sondheim musical, Do I Hear a Waltz?, both of which were intended for a self-described “disco” record. Despite the two catchy takes featured on Keep Walkin’, Sinatra calls the shelved album “A disaster. I called it the disco fiasco!” Offering additional insight into Sinatra’s career is music director, songwriter, and keyboardist, Don Randi. A member of the hallowed *Wrecking Crew* collective, Randi was one of the most prolific session musicians of the ‘60s and ‘70s with hundreds of credits to his name, including The Beach Boys’ “Good Vibrations,” Linda Ronstadt’s “Different Drum,” and “These Boots are Made For Walkin’” – his first recording with Sinatra. For the next fifty years, he would be a fixture at her sessions and live shows. He also appears on nearly every track in this collection. Speaking to Lea, Randi delves deep into his time with Sinatra, with a palpable admiration for the singer. *“She was easy to work with,”* he shares. “She was always wonderful to musicians; nobody even comes close.” The keyboardist, who met Sinatra through Hazlewood, also recalls the magic of that partnership. “I always liked working with Nancy & Lee. They had something very special that they could get out of each other. It was a good team.” He continues, “Sinatra stood up for herself [around Lee]…He could be so cantankerous…but that’s Lee…. [Nancy] saw through it. She was so lovely and helpful to him a number of times when he really needed someone to talk to.” That said, Randi also appreciates the power of Sinatra’s solo performances. “I never thought she really needed [Hazlewood},”* he reveals. “I thought her shows were just as well with everybody else; they were excellent.” After stepping back from the industry in the ‘70s to focus on her young family, Sinatra returned to the spotlight in the mid-90s, releasing a string of new albums, including the star-studded Nancy Sinatra, which paired the artist with some of her biggest fans, including Morrissey, U2, Calexico, and Sonic Youth. Since then, Nancy’s legacy has only continued to grow. In more recent years, her impact has been recognized by the likes of Pitchfork, NPR, and Rolling Stone, while in 2020, “Boots” was inducted into the Grammy® Hall of Fame*. Today, Sinatra remains a force in the industry, as new generations discover her influential catalog, which boasts nearly 20 studio albums and dozens of charting singles.

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Keep Walkin': Singles, Demos & Rarities 1965-1978 Yellow Vinyl Edition

2LP | 2023 | US | Original (Light In The Attic)

55,09 €* 57,99 € -5%

Release: 2023 / US – Original

Genre: Rock & Indie

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Keep Walkin': Singles, Demos & Rarities 1965-1978 Black Vinyl Edition

2LP | 2023 | US | Original (Light In The Attic)

51,99 €*

LP | 2023 | UK | Original (Lrk)

Release: 2023 / US – Original

Genre: Rock & Indie

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Aphrose

Roses

23,99 €*

Release: 2023 / UK – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Aphrose reveals her sophomore album, 'Roses,' a captivating amalgamation of Neo-Soul and R&B, delving into the wellspring of ancestral strength and love.

Hailing from Toronto, Canada, Aphrose, also known as Joanna Mohammed, unveils her sophomore album, establishing her as one of Toronto's best-kept musical treasures. Known for her commanding vocal prowess within her hometown, this gifted songwriter and vocalist is rapidly garnering global acclaim and accolades from both fans and music critics alike. Signed to independent Soul label LRK Records, 'Roses' remains firmly rooted in Aphrose's signature style characterized by resounding R&B vocals. However, it also embraces a softer, more introspective aura that brilliantly showcases her remarkable versatility in navigating diverse genres, moods, and musical approaches with remarkable finesse.

This album offers a little something for everyone, catering to enthusiasts of Neo-soul, traditional Soul, Hip Hop, and R&B. Produced by her longtime friends/collaborators at SafeSpaceship Music (Scott McCannell, Chino De Villa, Ben Macdonald), the album serves as a compelling testament to the collective creativity of Aphrose and this exceptional production trio, delivering a kaleidoscope of soundscapes, textures, rhythms, and grooves. 'Roses' weaves together both lighthearted and profound elements as Aphrose explores her life journey, delving into her familial past and present, grappling with the challenges of new motherhood, and contemplating her relationships with herself, her partner, and her friends. Across the 35-minute LP, Aphrose draws inspiration from Neo-soul icons like Jill Scott and Erykah Badu, pays homage to Soul legends such as Aretha Franklin and MJ, and infuses contemporary R&B influences from artists like Frank Ocean, SiR, and SZA. The result is a sound that distinctly bears the 'Aphrose sound,' reflecting her deep admiration for her inspirations while imparting a refreshing twist to familiar genres.

The album commences with its title track, 'Roses,' which was released as a single on August 25th. This song sets the stage, invoking the strength of Aphrose's ancestors, particularly her late Grandmother Rose. Following suit is 'YaYa,' also released as a single on July 7th. This buoyant dance track whisks listeners back to the disco era of the late 70s and early 80s. The album's third track, 'Heavenly Father,' offers a brief interlude featuring a recording of Aphrose's Grandmother Rose engaged in prayer, setting the tone for the subsequent track, 'In The Time Of Sorrow.' This contemplative, chill piece captures Aphrose's musings on navigating a world often shrouded in fakery, while craving authenticity. 'Honey (Don't) Come Back' seamlessly transitions between two distinct musical personalities, commencing with a deep, almost Trap-like bass/drum beat before transforming into a spirited Funk/Soul jam—an anthem of empowerment encouraging the listener to leave a situationship that is no longer working. 'What You Don't See' strips the production down to its core, as Aphrose and guitarist/co-writer Heather Crawford craft an intimate ode to a friendship's sad ending.

The B-side opens with the evocative 'Weapons,' featuring a five-person choir including LRK label-mate Claire Davis, Nevon Sinclair (Daniel Caesar and Loony), Kyla Charter (Aysanabee and Alessia Cara), Lydia Persaud, and Marla Walters. The track is adorned with a stirring string arrangement courtesy of Jessica Deutsch. 'Chop The Cake' acts as a breather, interlude-style, easing the intensity. 'Soft Nuclear' channels the spirit of the early 2000s R&B movement, bearing traces of influence from Lucy Pearl. 'Good Love,' released as the first single off this body of work on May 19th, transports listeners to the 70s with its soulful resonance, drawing inspiration from the likes of Michael Jackson and Teddy Pendergrass. 'Higher' stands as Aphrose's tribute to Prince, capturing the essence of his music within its hook and production. The album's culmination arrives with 'ZAG,' an acronym derived from Aphrose's daughter's name, commencing with the sound of her daughter's heartbeat in-utero from a sonogram taken when Aphrose was pregnant. This heartfelt composition serves as a dedication to her daughter and all parents navigating the rollercoaster of parenthood, emphasizing the imperative of nurturing love to shape the future.
'Roses' stands as Aphrose's homage to her history—her Grandma Rose and the ancestral trailblazers who paved her path to the present life she enjoys; her current experiences—her self-discovery, her relationships with her partner and friends; and her aspirations for the future—her daughter and the generations to come. This album crystallizes these temporal dimensions, prompting introspection, celebration, laughter, and tears. 'Roses' is a musical odyssey that scrutinizes the multifaceted beauty of existence, inviting listeners to partake in this thing called life.

The radio world has taken notice of Aphrose's talent, with national Radio Capital's Italy Massimo Oldani spinning her latest single "YaYa" for the entire month of July on his show "Vibe." And both singles getting to number 10 in the UK soul chart.Additionally, Aphrose has received national radio play on renowned stations such as BBC in the UK, Rtve in Spain, and Radio France FIP.
Aphrose has also made CBC's Top 100 finalist list for their Searchlight competition.

Huey Morgan played "YaYa" the second track off the album on his BBC radio six show

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Dynam'hit Europop Version Française 1990-1995

LP | 2021 | EU | Original (Born Bad)

21,99 €*

Dust: Recordings 1980-1984

Release: 2021 / EU – Original

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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France, 1990. Fun Radio, NRJ, Skyrock set a new pace, and their crushing hegemony irrevocably marks the end of the free radio utopia. The giants become vital in the hit industry and carry on fuelling France’s greatest invention: la variété. A quintessentially French version of British dance pop with a very specific tang to it, too coy to emulate trendy clubs’ and rave parties’ music, europop cautiously tests the waters of what will soon turn into a tsunami : house music. Is house the soundtrack of the 90s? In Europe, it gave steam to comeback bands just as much as to the most memorable formations of the decade, while in France it paved the way for the global success of French Touch. “Real” house music emerges in early 80’s Chicago (where the Warehouse club, which allegedly gave its name to the genre, closes down in 1983). England’s acid house and Belgium’s new beat, its European offshoots, fed the cravings of tabloids in 1988 and 1989. The house music we’re interested in though, the type bound to soon overwhelm European charts, is already pretty far away from the afro-american music born in Chicago. So far away it inherited a new name: dance music. Just like it had been the case with disco a few years back, house and techno aren’t exactly in the good books – acid house and new beat even less so. And it’s precisely the genre’s mainstream iteration this compilation focuses on; the house en français, which strives to get on board the running train in 1990. The house which sports the all-over jean look, bandana, cap, chewing gum, peugeot 205 complete with snazzy beats on the radio. The big deal big fuss type, miles away from the original, underground house. It might not have been born in the nineties, but that’s clearly when house music became mainstream. What underpins house music might even be what is to define the decade to come: jingles and pin’s, megaclubs and clips. That and the hits. Very soon house is everywhere: on the air of the big radio stations and on TV, creeping in as far as kids’ programs. The French may not even notice, but they’re all listening to it. Meanwhile, music producers smell the gravy and, willy-nilly with the earnest, enlightened amateurs, propose their very own club versions, cross breeding French variété and house. The result: a chart and club ready ersatz that is to quickly seduce young audiences. Hits, that’s what we want – or tubes for the French, like in House Tube, one of the landmarks of this compilation. The tracklist, like the soundtrack to a club night that never happened, fictitiously reconstructs the fleeting moment when house made its arrival in France, bridging the gap between variété and eurodance. House quiproquo House music barges in like a UFO on European land. With the arrival of this repetitive, yet transgressive music, tabloids freak out, while widespread incomprehension over the genre inspires dubious misconceptions. The media are happy to suckle on the music’s popularity, though well hidden behind the veil of decorum: NRJ airs a remake of a famous new beat track, Rock To The Beat, in which, however, “ecstasy” is swapped for “fantasy”. Dechavanne, thoughtful as usual, calls fans junkies and nazis on his tv show, Ciel Mon Mardi – though the show’s theme song is nothing else than a house track. The footage became a classic, and the comments, sampled by producers, provided the vocals for a flagship new beat track (Dr. Smiley – L’Echo Dechavanne). The Dechavanne episode is representative of the general confusion surrounding this barbarian music; skepticism remained high, even (if not more so?) in the musical world. In fact, it’s the subject of the unequivocal House Tube: “House tube, bouse tube ; on n’aime pas vraiment le house tube House soupe, bouse soupe ; on n’aime pas vraiment le house soupe” That is: “House hits, house shit; we don’t really dig house hits House soup, shit soup; we don’t really dig house soup” The success of house music inspired many exasperated reactions, just like House Tube (the B-side of a deodorant ad’s theme). Laurent Castellvi, surprised that the joke-track he composed at the time still sparked interest, told us: “At the beginning of the nineties, house was all over the radio. It annoyed me a little that most tracks were based on the same two chords. House Tube is a joke, it’s me sitting at the piano playing two chords. And that’s what the lyrics say.” On the other hand and following up with the next track, Fred de Fred was clearly in the know. The Frenchman had moved to the epicentre of the English commotion, Sheffield, a few years prior to the arrival of house. That’s where Warp (Autechre, Aphex Twin) originated – and at the time Warp still went by the name FON, Fred already hung around in their studios. Robert Gordon, Fred’s pal and co-founder of the label, signs the remix of one of his 1989 tracks, Sous Sous. In 1991, he composes a record of songs, and when it comes to pairing a suitable club remix single, Fred knows what’s up. Je T’Aime En Amour, sleek rock, mutates into a syncretism of french chanson and nearly rave breakbeat (here provided in its “2020” version). Fred de Fred is exemplary of the variété-club crossover driving this record; his career started within the collective ZNR, he crossed paths with the likes of Alain Bashung and then the Stone Roses, was close to Warp, and ended up signing a record on Barclay. Studio sharks Electronic musicians are often referred to as “producers”. This emanates from the delimitation of roles in the making of recorded music, traditionally assigned as singer, songwriter and producer. The latter takes care of the recording per se; that is, he manages the project, rents the studio, hires the musicians (known as requins de studio – studio sharks – for accumulating studio sessions) and cashes in at the end. The artist in electronic music is the producer alone, who essentially combines all roles at once: totally autonomous in his home studio, he can do without musicians or singers. The moment we’re interested in is this transitory period in which the two types of producers coexist. On the one hand, the new producers, like Fred Rister with Everybody Dancing, who recorded in a shack on a 4-track recorder, according to the sound engineer. On the other, the revival of old brigade producers, always on the lookout for a hot deal. The producer behind Près De Toi is of the latter type – pursuing a long musical career though quick to forget Claire-An (and so did posterity). New beat’s heritage isn’t negligible : its pioneers fashioned the “new generation” producer formula, a one-man-band in his machine-filled home studio. They’re also the first to churn out major hits, hitting the floor of a few Belgian clubs and eventually making it to the European top 50. What seems like mad creative abundance (hundreds of tracks between 1987 and 1989) is in fact the work of a handful of Belgian producers, barely ten, hidden behind multiple aliases. Among them, Marc Neuttiens, Jack Mauer and Fabian Van Messen, who often work as a trio and produce some of the genre’s most iconic tracks. In the midst of which On Se Calme, produced under the name Bassline Boys, sampling none other than Christophe Dechavanne. It’s no coincidence then that Anne Zamberlan should knock on their door with in mind the idea of an antidrug track. She wants to make noise, they know how to make a hit. And the track has it all: proto-acid gimmicks, big beat, house piano, verses rapped with a hiphouse flow… It might have been great, but even a Virgin Megastore ad she appeared in two years later got her more success. À la folie, je danse This tale is also the one of the pioneers who brought house music to France, first on the radio, well before rave parties or Laurent Garnier’s nights in Paris. As soon as the early eighties, Robert Levy Provençal plays the edits of the young Dimitri from Paris on the airwaves of Radio 7. At the time they’re unusual: like one would use samples in hip hop, Dimitri loops soul, funk and disco tracks, creating extended mixes. He breaks down tracks, reducing them to a gimmick or a bass line, thus creating easy-to-mix tools for DJs and bringing them closer to the sounds of house and techno music. He soon becomes resident DJ on NRJ and hosts the popular show Hot Mix. Like his colleague RLP, Dimitri proposes a trailblazing selection, blending together French news and the odd new sound from the States. At the turn of the nineties, when europop wants in at the club, only these influencers master the dance side of things. There’s RLP, Bibi Fricotin, Dom T… And Dimitri, who becomes the assigned variété remixer, adapting dozens of songs that were never meant to make it into a club. The general tendency however is less to official remixes than to bootlegs: a “pirate”, unauthorised and often private remix – just like Jacques Dutronc’s Opium, stretched out into a nearly 7-minute-long mix. The nineties also set the stage for the first TV stars, the ones who become famous without anyone really knowing why. Take, say, Jordy, four years old. The kid, in his diapers, sings along a New York style, house piano production and somehow makes it to the top 50’s number 1. For years, Jordy plays out the role of the child star and demonstrates that dance music is a perfectly profitable affair: it fuels the radios turned juggernauts, and lands on TV, seeping through music programs… In 1989, Vincent Lagaf (a famous french TV host) dives in with Bo Le Lavabo. The pitch is simple: the TV host adapts a track well known overseas, Lil Louis’ French Kiss (without any direct reference), simply adding lyrics taken from a sketch. He’s rather clear on his intentions (“Well, that’s just how you make it to the top 50”) and has no mercy for a musical genre he clearly understands nothing about (“See? Easy.”). Single night stars The club is a democratic place where anyone can be a star for a night (a nineties remix of Andy Warhol’s famous saying, meaning to imply: never has fame been so near, yet so far). The ghost of stardom haunts all of these forgotten tracks… This is particularly true in the case of Techno 90, Fred Rister’s first band. The DJ hailing from Northern France takes part in the short-lived though seminal Maxximum radio and mixes everywhere on both sides of the Belgian border, quickly becoming a local celebrity. At the turn of the century, he starts collaborating with David Guetta – another DJ, slightly better known than Rister and a rising star of the Parisian club scene. Together they eventually co-sign a few global hits: Love Is Gone, When Love Takes Over, I Gotta Feeling. This tale is the story of French variété’s unforeseen encounter with the avant-garde, of DJs who rose to the status of pop stars and others who descended deep into the rave party scene. It’s all of these oddities our compilation seeks to recount, like a wacky TV show featuring anonymous stars, forgotten ghosts of a decade bygone (Jacques Dutronc, Jean-Francois Maurice) or yet to come (David Guetta), inspired though unlucky blokes plus a girl band. And somewhere in the shambles, the tracklist of our compilation, the B-side of dance music’s official story – what could have been France’s alternative hit machine.

Go to Item

22 Beaches

LP | 2024 | UK | Original (Seated)

21,99 €*

Release: 2024 / UK – Original

Genre: Rock & Indie, Electronic & Dance

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Glasgow based Seated Records return with more 1980s Scottish Post-Punk / New Wave material. In this 8-track mini compilation the label introduces the work of Stirling band 22 Beaches, offering a deep dive into music recorded between 1980-1984 - the majority of which has never seen the light of day! 22 Beaches formed in Stirling in the late 1970s as an evolution of the short lived group ‘Alone at Last’ - drummer Fred Parson’s and guitarist Stephen Hunter being the two who spanned the divide. Out of the six members of 22 Beaches, many were school friends, and the rest naturally fell together. The band toured extensively and played at a truly diverse set of venues across the UK: from a local swimming pool boiler room, to small nightclubs and university parties, to several fundraisers for the miners strike. Maybe most notably of all, drummer Fred Parsons described playing at what he calls “the Grangemouth International”, organised by local promoter Brian Guthrie and which featured an all-star lineup of 22 Beaches, The Exploited and the first incarnation of The Cocteau Twins. A coach was hired to ship the audience to Grangemouth from Stirling, the cost of which was included in the ticket. The gig then paused halfway through for a 'help yourself' buffet. Young promoters take heed. This is how it's done! Over the course of the 80s the band released music on three different, and now sought after, various artists compilation cassettes. “What Day Is It?” and “Sadie When She Died” were released on a compilation of local Stirling artists 'The A.N.K.L.E File'. The track from which the current record takes its namesake - “Dust” - was initially released on a compilation-tape for the fanzine 'Another Spark'. And ‘‘Zoo” (also featured on this record) was first released on Glasgow label Pleasantly Surprised via compilation, 'An Hour Of Eloquent Sounds', where 22 Beaches rubbed shoulders with early music from Scottish names Primal Scream, Cocteau Twins, The Wake and Sunset Gun. Unfortunately, 22 Beaches never met the same level of commercial success as these others and decided to retire the project in 1984 - leaving their recordings and demos to gather dust (hehe)…until now! This compilation, “Dust: recordings 1980-1984” follows the band's journey and the changes in their sound over the years. It moves from the raw, punk energy of early DIY recordings through to the A Certain Ratio style Balearica of their later pieces. The record's opener and title track “Dust” is perhaps the most shining example of the latter. Characterised by the plenitude of sonic space in the mix, “Dust” has an almost dub sensibility that is communicated through centrality of Parsons’ drums, McChord’s percussion, and Fildes’ Bass while the harmonising vocals of Sharkey and McGregor chant over the top to give the track its distinctive psychedelic edge. This is an atmosphere only exacerbated by the lofi quality of the recording which sits the vocals in the same aural realm as much 1960s psych-folk. On “Cartoon Boy”, the band strips things down further. A droning bass line persists through the tape fuzz and is accompanied by the sounds of a sole looping guitar chord sequence and McGregor and Sharkey’s vocals - respectively and carefully dancing around one another before harmonising in the most beautiful way. The result is a haunting and abstract Marine Girls style heartbreaker. ‘That Girl’ again delivers a dub adjacent rhythm section similar to that of “Dust”. However, on this instance crisp guitar chords, a distant, phased organ and blue-eyed soul vocal delivery, produce a track that could easily have been a lost Orange Juice recording from their sessions with Dennis Bovel. On “Somebody Got It Wrong” and “One Of Us” the band employ a more macro approach where a jangling guitar with an almost highlife-influenced tone, vocal ad-libs and syncopated percussion give the music a Talking Heads-esque swagger. Taken together these tracks illustrate a clear trajectory in the band's sound, moving from from the high energy no-wave quality of early recordings towards a more dub influenced, and stripped-back sound - a sonic trajectory followed by so many bands of the time, not least those emerging from the diaspora of Manchester’s Factory Records. On “Breathing’’ we hear the beginning of this transition, with the strong influence of the oddball NYC disco styles of Was (Not Was) and ZE records. All of this is meshed together with the residual punk rock energy of 1980s UK. This combination is employed to excellent effect with the addition of the distinctly Scottish (and what the band confirmed to me to be spontaneous) vocal delivery of: “Do you love me? Do you want me?” “Aye!” “Do you love me? Do you need me?” “Naw!”. On the record’s closing tracks, “Zoo” and “Talent Show”, we hear early examples of the band’s work, playing with their rawest all-in-one-take live energy where Hunter’s spiralling guitar riffs and McGregor's distorted vocal exclamations lead the charge. The band recalls that these initial-forays did not always translate so well into multitrack recording and overdubbing: “the deconstruction took away some of the band's natural feel”. On “Talent Show” the record ends with Sharkey delivering an almost unintelligible spoken word section over the top of the track, making for one final, disorientating, almost manic slice of post-punk. These tracks from 1980-1984 chart the progress of a unique contribution to the world of Scottish Post-Punk and New Wave, encapsulating not only the musical trajectory of 22 Beaches but also echoing the broader sonic landscape of 1980s UK, a testament to the adaptability and creativity of the UK’s underground music of the time.

Go to Item

Be With 10 Years : Joyride + Labour Of Love

LP | 2024 | EU | Original (Be With)

59,99 €*

Empty Country II Pink Vinyl Edition

Release: 2024 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Housed together in a stunning 380gsm board slipcase with a matt laminate soft touch finish and a UV spot varnish on the beloved Be With logo, we proudly present the Be With 10 Years record and book package.

Record contains 10 exclusive never-before-on-vinyl tracks from 10 Be With family members. 310mm square softcover book printed on a 350gsm woodfree uncoated board. Book block printed on 120gsm Dadong Lucky Bird woodfree uncoated paper. 140gram vinyl with a 380gsm jacket. 1000 copies only for the world, no repress!

THE RECORD: JOYRIDE

10 tracks for 10 Years of Be With from 10 of our favourite artists we've ever worked with over the past decade. As a happily "all over the place" label, the music, accordingly, had to be varied in vibe and style.

We start with a gorgeous acoustic folk track from Thomas Almqvist. I first heard this when our dear friend Andre Allday - who first suggested and then facilitated the Nyanser reissue - played it during our release party for the record at the amazing Hosoi in Stockholm. As something to grab your attention from the off, it's a pretty good opener, I reckon - it'll stop you in your tracks.

We move into an almost totally "lost" Lewis Taylor track, known to and beloved by only his hardest of hardcore fans. Before now, it has only ever seen the light of day on some obscure late 90s CD of "lullabies" compiled by Joan Armatrading. Us neither!

Mic Murphy from Sass/The Mighty Soulmates/The System (!!!) allowed us to use an unreleased track from his mysterious late 90s period. He sent over 7 stunning tracks and, over breakfast one winter morning with my two sons, Rocco and Bruno, the 3 of us selected the track that made us bounce the most while chomping on our cereal.

In deep fall of 2023, myself and Steven (The Funky Paramedic™) had the great pleasure of visiting Tony Henry, leader of the legendary Manchester 80s soul-funk act 52nd Street (those who "put the dance into Factory") to speak some more about a forthcoming retrospective that's been in the works for 5 years now. Fear not - it's coming! Anyway, we went into Tony's amazing studio and he played us the track you hear, here. A demo originally meant for Phyllis Hyman (I mean, come on!), he's very kindly let us use it for this record. A thousand thank yous. It's sensational.

Side A closes out with an elegant exclusive from our favourite Japanese duo, Coastlines, a tropical jazz-funk-fusion track that only they can so effortlessly craft. Sublime.

Side B opens with another total exclusive, and the title track of this compilation. "Joyride" is like some kind of swinging, G-Funk library from the Californian master of modern cinematic soul - Maston. We love everything about this dude. Speaking of California, next up is possibly the coolest ex-pat Manc in all of the Golden State.

Kenny Dickenson's instant classic "Stupid Rain" knocked me out the first time I heard it. The way it starts as a beautifully ornate ambient piece before introducing the barest of pulses to then segue into a full slo-mo cosmic chugger just gets me every time. Man's a genius.

Our great friends from Wilco, Pat and John, comprise The Autumn Defense. Two of the nicest humans in the game and "Bluebirds Fall" is chiming folk-rock at its finest. What they do best and, beyond a tiny-run CD EP decades ago, this is the only way to own this majestic stunner.

Stimulator Jones is a Stones Throw artist who we've loved ever since the epochal "Soon Never Comes" graced our ears. We're putting out his archive beats and when I asked if he had anything fresh that hadn't yet found a home, he sent over a modern / spiritual jazz movement that just blew me away. It's here.

We round out the compilation with a staccato funk-rock track from a Prince alumnus, the one and only Andre Cymone. If this track isn't blasting from radio stations from Dublab to Gilles to NTS then there's no justice in the world.

Of course, as is our way, none of these tracks have ever appeared on vinyl before. This is the only way to own them on wax. Pretty cool. As ever, all we ever want to hear is music with soul and personality. And that's what's contained here. We think we've nailed it. We think you'll like it too.

THE BOOK: LABOUR OF LOVE

Created in conjunction with the editor and design team behind Disco Pogo, Labour Of Love is our first ever book and serves as a brilliantly rich and varied document of Be With's first 10 years. It surveys our entire catalogue with the artwork for every single release faithfully reproduced in full colour accompanied by Rob's inimitable reviews.

The book contains fresh, exclusive interviews with Ned Doheny, Leon Ware, Lewis Taylor, Tommy Guerrero, Wally Badarou, Steve Moore, Pete Fowler, Kimiko Kasai, Tony Henry (52nd Street), The Autumn Defense, Coastlines and The Mighty Soulmates.

There's also fantastic contributions from a whole host of well regarded fans of the label. We have Gilles Peterson on Ned, Trevor Jackson on Nucleus, Efficient Space on Steve Hiett and the joy of collaboration in a competitive industry, Bill Brewster on Marti Caine, Balearic Mike on Kylie and Lou Hayter on her beloved Air.

We explore the development of the Be With logo and also take an insider's look at the journey of a typical Be With record; from the mastering stage with Simon Francis, cutting it up with Cicely Balston, the artwork ordeals with Chris Stevenson, pressing matters with Record Industry, slinging product with ace distributors Word And Sound, stocking product with our favourite London record shop When Spaceships Appear and even packing records for direct orders with our very own Funky Paramedic.

There's also an irreverent look at the legendary Reissue Request Line over on Facebook, with many hints at things to come.

Beautifully designed and printed, the book is a large format (310mm square) softcover gem, printed on a 350gsm woodfree uncoated board. It's been block printed on 120gsm Dadong Lucky Bird woodfree uncoated paper. It's housed in a stunning 380gsm board slipcase with a matt laminate soft touch finish and a UV spot varnish on the beloved Be With full colour logo.

Go to Item

Empty Country

2LP | 2023 | UK | Original (Tough Love)

31,99 €*

LP | 2022 | EU | Original (Human Sounds)

Release: 2023 / UK – Original

Genre: Rock & Indie

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As the front person of celebrated indie band Cymbals Eat Guitars, guitarist and singer Joseph D’Agostino spent over a decade setting autobiographical, emotionally vivid lyrics against a backdrop of soaring and compositionally ambitious rock. After four critically acclaimed LPs that solidified D’Agostino’s reputation as a gifted songwriter, he chose to break from his long-term band and debut a new project: Empty Country. On 2020’s self-titled debut, D’Agostino’s storytelling lens shifted away from personal narrative and toward fiction; psychopaths, apparitions and deplorables populated a bleak and uncanny parallel version of American dystopia. Empty Country’s sprawling and sonically adventurous arrangements—filled out by collaborating musicians including Rachel and Zoë Browne (Field Mouse), Kyle Gillbride (Swearin’), Zena Kay (Angel Olsen), and former CEG drummer Charlotte Anne Dole—ranged from luminous jangle-pop to scorching emo-punk to narcotized Americana. Though the pandemic curtailed planned touring, a seven-piece iteration of the band played one packed Brooklyn show in May 2022, supported by Charles Bissell (The Wrens) and Field Mouse; Empty Country also backed Bissell on several classics from The Meadowlands. “It was a wonderful return to live music for all of us,” says D’Agostino. “So many folks reached out to me and told me how Empty Country offered them comfort during those first several months of being stuck inside. I’m happy that it came out and connected with some people and that I was able to establish this universe I could continue to build on.”

Empty Country II, the project’s second full-length, is a thrilling expansion of that world. D’Agostino pushed himself to new places as a songwriter, crafting a collection of short stories set to music that grapple with the biggest questions now hanging over America—gun violence, the addiction epidemic, and generational hopelessness among them. In 2020, he’d moved from Philadelphia to small-town New England to be closer to family, and his new locale, coupled with the dread of lockdown, inspired him to return to the haunted world from the first LP. “It’s pretty jarring to leave a city—where you can safely assume you’re aligned with your neighbors on many political and social issues—for somewhere more rural and conservative,” says D’Agostino, noting the Trump flags and Blue Lives Matter hood wraps that dot his new dirt road residence. Across the new album’s nine tracks, D’Agostino introduces us to a bevy of characters: three generations of West Virginia clairvoyants, crushed by the weight of their secret knowledge; a group of drag queens and misfits in early ‘80s New York City; a pill mill doctor’s daughter who dabbles in necromancy; a convicted killer; a bullied kid injured and alone in the forest as night falls. Through the stories of these characters, Empty Country II delivers an engaging and deeply moving rumination on time, family, and the disintegration of America.

Despite the stoicism of its storytelling, Empty Country II cuts the darkness with beauty, humor, and an earnest belief in the transcendent power of rock music. It was recorded over two weeks at Fidelitorium, the renowned studio in Kernersville, NC, belonging to R.E.M. producer Mitch Easter. Legendary recording engineer John Agnello, whose previous collaborations with Cymbals Eat Guitars resulted in their 2014 high-water mark, Lose, brought his trademark clarity and nuance to the process, helping Empty Country II crackle with a vital energy that imbues these stories with genuine lifeforce. Dole returned on drums for the record, her virtuosic performances lending raw power and immediacy; her twin brother Patrick joined on bass, his decades of experience uplifting the songs with subtle melodicism and formidable technicality. The group's chemistry and deep personal history are palpable, allowing them to approach the record’s complex story with subtlety and dynamism. “Mitch has collected an astounding array of weird mics, amplifiers, and oddball orchestral instruments: organs, Buddhist temple bells, bar chimes, tubular bells,” enthuses D’Agostino about the studio. “FLA,” a gripping portrait of a queer tour boat pilot in the Florida Keys pining for their absent lover, was arranged from the ground so the group could incorporate Easter’s timpani. D’Agostino considers it a high point of his lengthy discography and lauds that song’s harmonica solo as “my favorite 30 seconds of music that I’ve ever been a part of.”

Empty Country II also features some of D’Agostino’s most danceable songs—like “David,” a tribute to D’Agostino’s late friend David Berman. Featuring a lyrical tapestry of Silver Jews references and surreally beautiful images, head-nodding Philly soul grooves collapse into cosmic freeform jazz-inspired sections, ornamented with inventive hand percussion, marimba flourishes, and toe-tapping piano chords. “Recite a poem as the day vibrates,” D’Agostino sings. “I finally wrote this song for you / But I don’t know who I’d show it to.” It’s a paraphrase of W.S. Merwin’s famed short poem “Elegy”, written after the passing of his own mentor, John Berryman. On “Bootsie,” a runaway girl from West Virginia explores the crumbling, glorious 1980s New York City of Paris is Burning, finding community in a scene of drag queens who offer her a new way of thinking about what makes America—and rock music—great. Based on his own mother’s experiences at the height of the Aids epidemic, the song has deep personal meaning to D’Agostino. “The men you thought were brave / are arrogant and depraved,” he sings against the damaged disco beats of the Dole siblings’ rhythm section. Inverting the chorus of the Talking Heads’ “Heaven,” the lyrics of “Bootsie” celebrate the underdogs and misfits: “Hell is the place where everything happens / The band’s playing all the songs ever written at once / Shape the chaos, make your little story / Baby, this life’s perfect purgatory.”

Though Empty Country II is a record about the forces that drive Americans apart, it’s also imbued with empathic love and an understanding of what binds people to family and country—in spite of the darknesses we encounter. The concept of a Great American Rock Album might scan as outdated in 2023, but with this sprawling and uncompromising epic, D’Agostino and Empty Country shatter ambivalence and confront the horrors with a community-minded sense of cautious optimism. “We may be staring into an abyss,” says D’Agostino. “But we’re all staring together.”

Go to Item

Tahiti 80

Here With You

20,99 €*

LP | 2024 | UK | Original (Drowned By Locals)

Release: 2022 / EU – Original

Genre: Pop

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In March 2020, Tahiti 80 had a plan to start recording their new album in the studio. That plan, of course, along with everything else in the world, got derailed. But the five-piece group was resilient and resourceful. They quickly shifted to a socially distanced plan B that included file swapping and virtual sessions, all refereed by producer Julien Vignon. The result, due for release in March 2022, is the buoyant Here With You, a collection of eleven upbeat songs that unfold like a prescription for a post-pandemic panacea.

“When lockdown in France happened, we said, 'We're not going to stay at home not doing anything,'” says singer-guitarist Xavier Boyer. “And our new plan became a hopeful thing, waking up every morning and seeing what the other guys had worked on. It wasn't always easy, but this new method allowed a freer approach where we could really go all the way with an idea without being influenced by each other’s suggestions. It must've been overwhelming for Julien, who ended up selecting all our arrangements. But he stayed positive all the way through.”

To help stay inspired and focused during their time in isolation, the band created a mood board, with the centerpiece a photo of an early '90s rave in the UK.

Boyer says, “Whenever you see pictures from this era, people seem very innocent. There are no cell phones and everybody is in to what they are experiencing. We kept that picture in mind as a kind of mantra that would help everyone feel connected to this idea of people celebrating, gathering and just having fun. We were missing the connection with people, and thought it would be great if we could create music that would inspire that kind of emotion.”

Indeed, the songs on Here With You are brimming the feeling of communion that we've all been missing over the past two years. It's there in the catchy opener Lost in the Sound, which walks the walk with Chic guitar flicks, urban nightfall sparkles and an inviting chorus (“Your heart grooves like a thousand 808s on the right time”). It's there in the Jackson 5-style syncopated bounce of “Vintage Creem,” the lush, dreamy “Breakfast in L.A.” and the panoramic sweep of “UFO.” And it's there in the first single “Hot,” which matches an irresistible groove with a neon-lit, percolating arrangement that evokes the disco clubs of 1979.

What's remarkable is that though Tahiti 80 displays a clear affection for sounds of the past, from bubble gum to '70s soul, they never trade in mere pastiche. Their take is more a slightly warped and playful carnival mirror mash-up of classic pop styles, given depth through Boyer's hang-gliding, coolly emotive vocals and lyrics that often rub against the euphoric grain of the music.

“I like to think of songs as a three-minute drama,” says Boyer. “This concept of drama definitely adds different levels to our music. There's the melody, the lyrics, then the production that can maybe emphasize or counterbalance the interaction between the yin and yang in a song.

“There's a difference between the very upbeat, sunshine-y soft rock and the lyrics, even on our past albums,” he continues. “Not dark, but a little more melancholy, and also looking for some kind of motivation, talking to yourself. Like with a lot of Motown songs, you get that feeling where you body’s dancing while your mind’s reflecting, reminiscing.”

That alluring blend of happy-sad has been a signature part of the Tahiti 80 sound from the time Boyer and bassist Pedro Resende formed the group in 1993, as students at the University of Rouen. Taking their name from a souvenir t-shirt given to Boyer's father in 1980, the duo recruited guitarist Mederic Gontier in 1994, and with the addition of drummer Sylvain Marchand a year later, the lineup was complete. The foursome released a self-produced and self-financed EP, 20 Minutes, in 1996, which resulted a record deal with French label Atmospheriques in 1998. Their full-length debut Puzzle, produced with Ivy's Andy Chase and mixed by Tore Johansson, went gold and featured the international hit “Heartbeat” that established the band throughout Europe and Asia.

In the years since, Tahiti 80 – with the additions of Raphaël Léger on drums and Hadrien Grange on keys - has released eight acclaimed albums. The band has fused what Mojo called a “glorious entente of old and new technology” (including singles like “Yellow Butterfly,” “1000 Times,” “Sound Museum,” “Crush!” and “Big Day,” which was featured on a Fifa video game soundtrack), while collaborating with such producers and arrangers as Richard Swift, Tony Lash and Richard Anthony Hewson, who famously arranged The Beatles' “Long and Winding Road.” Boyer has also put out two solo albums, the first under the anagram Axe Riverboy and the second under his name. In 2019, the band released Fear of an Acoustic Planet, a stripped-down reimagining of some of their best-loved tracks from the previous twenty years. It served not only as a look back but a reminder of their formidable songwriting skills.

Boyer is definitely a student of the timeless three-minute pop song format pioneered by '60s artists like The Beatles and The Beach Boys. He says, “I see it as kind of a frame for a painting. Most of the songs on this album, I wrote a verse, pre-chorus and chorus. There aren't many middle eights. I wanted it to be very concise. I feel like people have less attention. There's so much music. It's too easy to switch off or skip to another track, so I want to hook the listener. The three-minute song is kind of an easy code to crack, but at the same time you have to figure out a new way to tell the stories that we've heard before.”

And the stories on Here With You are very much about the longing for connection. Of the album title, Boyer says, “In the world right now, that can mean a lot of different things. Like missing our fans, missing going to concerts. In a way, it can be a statement of what happened last year, and a wish of 'I want to be here with you again.' It's our ninth album. We've had some had some very open, conceptual titles like Puzzle, Activity Center. Sometimes they were more specific like Fosbury orWallpaper for the Soul. Here with You, seems more personal, more engaging in terms of relationships. When I suggested that title, everyone in the band said, 'Yeah, that's it.'”

Until Tahiti 80 can resume a full tour schedule, Boyer says he hopes the new record will make that personal connection. “If I see from the point of view as a music fan, sometimes I see albums I like as companions throughout my life. So if we can be a part of people's existence, even if it's a song that reminds them of the time they were driving with the windows open and it was sunny. Or a sad song that resonates with them after a breakup. That's what we're all looking for when we're making music. You do this very personal thing and you want it to touch as many people as possible.”

A1. Tahiti 80 - Lost In The Sound A2. Tahiti 80 - Vintage Creem A3. Tahiti 80 - Telling Myself A4. Tahiti 80 - Hot A5. Tahiti 80 - Breakfast In LA

B1. Tahiti 80 - Cameo B2. Tahiti 80 - UFO B3. Tahiti 80 - Riddles & Rhymes B4. Tahiti 80 - Zoo B5. Tahiti 80 - Wicked Wicked B6. Tahiti 80 - Let's Get Started

Go to Item

Rathauz

Ciccio Bomba Cannoniere

13,99 €*

Release: 2024 / UK – Original

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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ciccio bomba cannoniere (chunky monkey)
Is the sound weapon of the A-zienda rthz, illustrated by the render called M.E.R.I.C.O.O. (Erect, rechargeable intelligent machine with organic dog) This project of a definitive media A-ssailant presents all the necessary elements for the domination of social hierarchies:
trace of a human face for identification
a stalker server for omnipresence in digital field
a system of locomotion for moving in any field
a genetically modified dog for keeping counterfeiters away
comfy clothes and an M60 around the neck
The name derives from an A-ncestor rthz called Merico. Police officer who in the late 1800s left a tavern and rode on the back of his mule Cina with the objective of stopping a train so that he could light his cigar. And this happened. Merico was then tried and dishonourably discharged.
- rathauz, translated from Italian -
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"*warning In my research for this piece I downloaded an app I found buried in the press release, drove around an airfield as a wolfman with a rifle, then unlocked a wrestling concept album on Youtube by jumping towards the light, became a subscriber for 20 Euros a year to get access to exclusive content and almost bought 5 grams of dirt harvested from the area surrounding the Rathauz studio.*

ciccio bomba cannoniere is a gateway drug, a gateway into the cybernetic multimedia cvlt of Rathauz.
And while a physical release might run counter to the insanely futuristic drive of the Rathauz, it's probably the album of the year so buckle up.

For the uninitiated the A side might play out like merely the best goddam side of actually fun techno you've heard in 2020s. Rollicking acidic galompers. Tbh most techno can get in the bin these days but this swinging evil continuum championed by Acidic Male / Giant Swan / Missterspoon is more than right by us. Rathauz add internet dial up noises, reggaeton shuffle, distorted screams and frayed EBM arps into this heady heady mix, showing they're about twice as interesting as the top 10 techno on Bandcamp already. Seriously RA would be creaming themselves to hit the recommend button if they could grow a spine in the office between them.

But Then side B gets rolling with boom baps and distorted guitars in a kinda frat-trap circle pit. This is the sound online Rathauz disciples know and love; electro-punk-trap-pop twisted genius. Their scifi vision and demented humour reminds us most closely of our beloved Kinlaw & Franco Franco if Franco had spent more time living in Milanese squats. Policepunk=S.W.A.T. is classic anarcho scuzz hxc on speed and trap and.....maybe Show Me The Body albums and not enough sleep. Venetia-monitor rips off the riff to Smells Like Teen Spirit in glorious Midi chaos. TLC is the most fun you can have in 2 minutes.

After listening we have only one question: Where ARE THE Techno Punx Making Actual Fucking Punk EH? And why not do it on the same album?

Cos you are never gonna get to crowdsurf at Tresor, kid. The bouncers will make you disappear and you Will miss your flight back to Kansas.

God bless Drowned By Locals.
Vinyl with printed sleeve (with the best art you've probably ever seen)."

- Miles Opland, Rwdfwd -
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A-Biography (translated from Italian)
RAT is the surname Hauz is the survival place, we make house music in the municipality of the web like the pharmaceutical industry.

Rathauz is the A-zienda or company that produces perceptible frequencies from its works in reinforced concrete located in a farming plot forever ploughed and fertilised, the whole area surrounded by barbed wire. You can visit the works through A-ndroid A-pplication A-zugo ( play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rthz.Azugo&gl=IT&fbclid=IwAR3VKIQzcLIoipGeeEBpGkE6vJg0NXC6MGe9_Ev6X5aRFi_W2gp8xN_n7iE ). Its workers have been embedded into the factory's walls and their names disappear absorbed in the structure. When they A-ppear they always wear their A-gro wear; wrestler shirts (emblems of expository hyperreality). In their productions they insert their singular individuality and relativistic abilities merging into a single quantum machine. They are the perfect emblem of the band: two brothers who share blood (a-), surname (Rat) and produce frequencies made at home (house music) but are almost always in conflict. Often during the A-ssembling of the frequencies they A-ttack each other as was reconstructed in WRESTLA-live, each product is then a derivation of a complex human skimming. Rathauz is focused A-utonomously on the primary sector, secondary, tertiary everything in the quaternary. They sow, grow, distil, peddle and often are the first consumers of the complexity of the material, creating their own A-utarchic world. They compete with other international labels but while those are associations made of many identities with different styles (the many Artists), Rathauz is the assembly of any frequential style recast by a single unique A-rtistic individualism, which has to overcome such role becoming the inhumane machine that produces and exports. The A-zienda only exists in relation to the A-utoproduction of the media, everything is developed only by the two laboratories. Both have productive activities in full with their identifiable subjective relativisms and these are not secondary but coexistent with the A-zienda A-ctivity. While the single A-'s (both laboratories with their own identities) work in a global context, Rathauz is simultaneously and exclusively dedicated to the cultural, media and technological development of the Italian state. This doesn't mean productions are inferior or superior but of a certain quality that differs from the products of individuals. The themes of both representatives in their individualistic projects are the visions of two Europeans squashed by imported capitalism and globalisation while Rathauz gathers the traditions and cultural movements of a particular region of Italy, Veneto, under the influence and the techniques of an imported capitalism and globalisation. Either when displaying their individual identities and when they act as the A-zienda, they confront a global context, but if they happen to emerge with their individualism of relative beings on the sea of international connection, the A-zienda is always the maker of a locally defined product, precise and calculated, which does not deny the inspiration but refines it to the limits of incomprehensible complexity. The A-zienda is a company that produces product (a metaphor for the identity of any artist under a label) but ultimately being the A-rtist as well, there are no thematic links or expressive limits, that is within the view of Italian cultural implantation in many demographic A-spects. The name Rathauz is the union of two concepts rat and hauz as A-forementioned, and yet the Anglosaxon A-nti-Italian sound that emerges recalls the great capitalist Corporations. Before launching the project Rathauz we had to clear the road as Rat-truppen. We fought club after club, we broke moulds with too-powerful basses, moshing where it was previously culturally inadmissible (only white shirts). With our dj-sets we imported the sound textures that later became the culture that "A-cquired value". Rathauz and many like it. As we moved from record to record many evenings a week we continued to produce a sound material yet to be emitted and which later contributed to lay the groundwork for the stable A-zienda. The first A-bsolute A-lbum we produced was in *2003 "Music Fear" (both laboratories had 8 and 12 years respectively) and this was the real starting point seeped in electronic textures, house and Drum'nBass and you can hear a first example of modern Base Trap, where we created a rap beat with a horror sample and used a distorted kick.
P.S.:
Usually as in the case of track 3030 (which deserves pages of in-depth A-nalysis), the sound is not only the basis but it is linked to the themes of production and later happened to become a sound standard as in the case of hdma where the distorted bass we came up with was an emulation of the stereo system at maximum volume of A- friend's car.

Original text by rathauz:
ciccio bomba cannoniere
È l'arma sonora dell'A-zienda rthz, illustrata con il render di M.E.R.I.C.C.O. (Macchina, eretta, ricaricabile, intelligente con cane organico). Questo progetto di definitivo A-ssaltatore mediatico presenta tutti gli elementi necessari alla dominazione delle gerarchie sociali:

parvenza di viso umano per l'identificazione

Uno stalker server per l'onnipresenza su campo digitale

Un sitema di locomozione per muoversi su ogni campo

Un cane geneticamente modificato per non lasciare avvicinare alteratori

Abiti comodi e al collo un M60

Il nome deriva da un A-ntenato rthz chiamato Merico. Carabiniere che a fine '800 uscì dall'osteria e salì in groppa della sua cavalla Cina con l'obbiettivo di fermare un treno per farsi accendere un sigaro. E ciò avvenne. Merico fu poi processato e congedato con disonore.

A-biography
"Ing: RAT is the surname Hauz is the survival place, we make house music in the municipio della rete like the industrie farmaceutiche."
Rathauz è l'A-zienda che produce frequenze percepibili dal suo stabilimento in cemento armato situato in un campo agricolo perennemente arato e concimato, tutta l'area è circondata da filo
spinato. E' possibile visitare lo stabilimento tramite l'A-pplicazione per Android A-zugo (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rthz.Azugo&gl=IT&fbclid=IwAR3VKIQzcLIoipGeeEBpGkE6vJg0NXC6MGe9_Ev6X5aRFi_W2gp8xN_n7iE). I lavoratori sono stati inglobati
nelle pareti della fabbrica e i loro nomi singoli scompaiono assorbiti dalla struttura. QuandoA-ppaiono indossano sempre la loro divisaAziendale; maglie di wrestler (emblema dell'iperrealtà espositiva). Nelle produzioni inseriscono le loro singole individualità e le loro relativistiche abilità fondendosi in un unica macchina quantica. Sono l'emblema perfetto della band: due fratelli che condividono sangue (a-), cognome (Rat) e producono frequenze fatte in casa (house music) ma sono quasi sempre in contrasto. Spesso durante l'A-ssemblamento frequenziale fannoA-botte come è stato ricostruito in WRESTLA-live, ogni prodotto è quindi derivazione di una complessa scrematura umana. Rathauz si occupa in modoA-utonomo del settore primario, secondario, terziario tutto nel quaternario. Coltivano, lavorano, raffinano, smerciano e spesso ne sono i primi fruitori data la complessità del materiale, creando il loro mondoA-parte. Competono con le altre etichette internazionali ma mentre esse sono associazioni con all'interno più identità con diversi stili separati tra loro ( i vari Artisti), Rathauz è l'assemblamento di qualsiasi stile frequenziale rielaborato da un solo ed unico individualismoA-rtista, che deve superare tale ruolo diventando anche l'inumana macchina che produce ed esporta. L'A-zienda esiste solo in base all'A-utoproduzione dei media, tutto viene svolto solo dai due lavoratori. Essi hanno entrambi attività produttive in proprio con i i loro relativismi soggettivi identificabili e tali non sono secondarie ma coesistenti all'A-ttività A-ziendale. Mentre i singoliA-( i due lavoratori con le proprie identità) lavorano in contesto globale, rathauz è parallelamente e prettamente dedito allo sviluppo culturale, mediatico e tecnologico dello stato Italiano. Ciò non significa che le produzioni siano inferiori o superiori ma di un certo tipo di qualità che risulta differente dai prodotti dei singoli. Le tematiche dei due esponenti nei loro individualistici progetti sono la visione di due europei pressati da un capitalismo e un globalizzazione importata mentre Rathauz raccoglie le tradizioni i movimenti culturali di una determinata regione d'Italia, Veneto, sotto l'influsso e le tecniche di un capitalismo e una globalizzazione importata. Sia quando hanno le loro identità singole che quando sono l'A-zienda si confrontano con un contesto globale ma se in un caso emergono con il loro individualismo di essere relativo a galla nel mare della connessione internazionale, l'A-zienda è sempre fautrice di un prodotto localmente definito, preciso e calcolato che non nega l'ispirazione ma la raffina a limiti di incomprensibile complessità. L'Azienda è un'azienda che produce prodotti (metafora dell'identità di qualsiasi artista in una etichetta) ma essendo comunque direttamente anche l'A-rtista non vi sono vincoli di tematiche o limiti espressivi, sempre però nell'ottica dell'implentazione culturale italiana in variAspetti demografici. Il nome Rathauz é unione di due concetti rat e hauz come giàA-ffermato prima, tuttavia il suono AnglosassoneA-ntItaliano che emerge richiama le grandi Corporation capitalistiche. Prima di avviare il progetto Rathauz Abbiamo dovuto spianare la strada come Rattruppen. Abbiamo combattuto club per club, rotto impianti per via di bassi troppo potenti, pogato in luoghi dove prima era culturalmente inammissibile (solo camicie bianche). Con i nostri dj-set abbiamo importato le sonorità che poi sono divenute la cultura che ha potuto "Apprezzare" Rathauz e vari simili. Mentre ci muovevamo di disco in disco facendo varie serate ogni settimana continuavamo a produrre materiale sonoro tutt'ora non rilasciato che ha contribuito poi a fornire le fondamenta dallo stabileA-ziendale. Il primoA-lbum inA-ssoluto che abbiamo prodotto è stato nel *2003 "Music Fear" (i due lavoratori avevano rispettivamente 8 e 12 anni) ed è stato il primo vero punto di partenza in quanto in mezzo a sonorità elettroniche, house e Drum'nBass si può ascoltare un primo esempio di Base Trap moderna, dove abbiamo creato un beat rap con un campionamento horror e usato kick distorti.
P.S:
Spesso come nel caso della traccia 3030 (che meriterebbe pagine diApprofondimento), il suono non è solo base ma legato alle tematiche della produzione e poi casualmente diviene culturalmente uno standard sonoro come nel caso hdma dove il basso distorto che abbiamo ideato era un'emulazione delle stereo a volume estremo dell'auto di un nostroA-mico.

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