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Mr Bongo proudly presents an official reissue of an iconic, exploratory album by Indian maestro of the sitar, Ananda Shankar, aptly titled 'Ananda Shankar And His Music'.

Released on His Master's Voice in 1976, the album is a sublime collage of sitar-funk, traditional Indian classical music and psychedelic grooves, from the Indian sitarist, composer and musician. Nephew to India’s legendary sitar virtuoso Ravi Shankar, Ananda’s musical family and upbringing led to a deep respect and love of the wealth of music that emanated from his birthplace. His travels to the west coast of America in the late ‘60s though, saw Shankar immersed in the full swing of psychedelic rock. The collision of these two musical worlds with a whole range of other Eastern and Western influences on 'Ananda Shankar And His Music', is a truly entrancing combination.

First big in the UK in the mid-‘90s jazz/rare groove club scene, when it was unearthed by adventurous DJs and crate diggers, the sensational Indian-funk tracks 'Streets Of Calcutta' and 'Dancing Drums' became firm dancefloor favourites. The mixture of drum-heavy funk with Indian music and psychedelia is the perfect melting pot. Flavourful and balanced, it still feels fresh and exciting 40 years on.

Like a fine wine, this album keeps getting better with age and once-overlooked tracks are now seen in a new light. Aside from the main 'club' cuts that many have praised and loved, 'The River' is a part blissed-out, Balearic gem, part cosmic wild west soundtrack, that would provide the perfect complement to any sunset session. Elsewhere, 'Dawn' is a spiritual and meditative journey into Indian classical music, with ‘Cyrus’ floating you away to heavenly heights. On a different tip, 'Back Home' fuses styles and themes via an organ and Moog-infused, tripped-out excursion, whilst 'Renunciation' hits with a psych-rock sentiment to its sitar-soaked grooves.

A beautiful time capsule of Eastern culture meets Western influence, where experimentation and intrigue produced a fusion of sounds that still sound as vibrant and alluring as they have ever been.

Juyungo Afro-Indigenous Music From The North-Western Andes Hjrlp089 2LP £16

‘Since the 16th century, the Ecuadorian province of Esmeraldas has been home to a unique Afro-Indigenous culture originating in the integration of the Indigenous Chachi and Nigua peoples with African Maroon communities. Juyungo documents significant Esmeraldan artists and bands playing the Afro-Ecuadorian folklore of the province, as well as including some older field recordings. Based mostly on the marimba, whose origins lie partly in the African balafon, partly in Indigenous percussion instruments, the music is laced with call and response chants, ambient insect and bird noise, the filigree finger-styles of the Andean guitar tradition and the panpipes of the mountains. This is resonant insider roots music at its headiest — the mystic revelation of Esmeraldas, gully deep and lustral.’ - Francis Gooding, The Wire.

The fifth in our series of LPs compiling classic music from Ecuador. Customary Honest Jons runnings: a beautiful gatefold sleeve; superior pressing, with vivid, intimate sound; full-size, sixteen-page booklet, in colour throughout, with detailed, fascinating, bi-lingual notes, and stunning photographs.

The music is transfixing, magical; not like anything else. From start to finish, this album is continuously, profoundly immersive; a kind of journeying, trippy meditation about slavery and cultural resistance, identity and mix, places and spaces, futures and pasts. It’s inscrutable to net-surfing, algorithms, Shuffle. But for a taste try the insurgent marimba roller Agua Largo, jet-propelled by Rosa Huila’s rapturous blend of African spiritualist and Christian chant. ‘Healing music,’ Zakia called it on Gilles Peterson’s BBC show recently. And the ravishing pasillo Kasilla Shungulla — ‘calm your heart’ in the Quichua language — a duet between the Peruvian master-guitarist Raúl García Zárate and viola da gamba by Juan Luis Restrepo from Medellin, recorded in a baroque church in Buzbanza, Colombia.

Maalem Houssam Guinia Dead of Night

Hmrlp035 LP £12 Allah Allah Daym Molana Jangari Jahwari Bouri Bouriama Ya Jowadi Samaoui Matinba Mosawiyin (Souiri)

"Raw, deep and spiritual Gnawa music from Morocco to carry you through the night...

Recorded in a single late night session in a house in Casablanca, using a Tascam field recorder and 2 microphones, Dead of Night is the incredible new solo album from Maalem Houssam Guinia, the son of Maalem Mahmoud Guinia, and one of Morocco's most exciting young Gnawa masters.

The album was recorded live on the night of 3rd January 2022 in a relaxed session that lasted into the early hours of the next morning, and it captures Houssam at his most natural, singing and playing the Gnawa songs that have been with him since his birth, completely solo and free without percussion or backing vocals. Houssam described the album as containing the songs he knows best as these were the pieces his father would play and sing late into the night in their home when he was an infant.

What you'll hear on Dead of Night is raw, deep Gnawa music in its purest form played by a young Maalem who has been immersed in the culture his whole life and is a master of his craft. The whole performance has been beautifully and sympathetically captured by bassist and producer Karl-Erik Enkelman."

Voice & Guimbri by Maalem Houssam Guinia. Recording & Production by Karl-Erik Enkelmann. Mastering by Julian Tardo. Photography by Bader Naggay. Design by Marc Teare.

With thanks to Hamza Guinia, Khalil Mounji, Karl-Erik Enkelmann & Karl Jonas Winqvist.

Strange Power!, the fifth record from Durham, NC-based songwriter and poet Anne Malin Ringwalt, emerges from the darkest waters of the self into a world remade. Releasing inconjunction with her second book of poetry, What Floods (Inside the Castle, Oct. 2024), Strange Power! overflows with Ringwalt's teeming and sensuous personal symbolry: glowing lilacs andgentle queens, dolphins wild and girls who grew up brave _ T.S. Eliot sung by Cat Power, backedby Mount Eerie. She sings: "I rose up from water."Ringwalt writes and performs with the authority of a lifetime spent harnessing the alchemy of storytelling; her belief in the power of words to heal and transform is palpable in each achingly- delivered lyric. Made amidst profound inner and outer change, Strange Power! also sees Ringwalttaking up the role of self-producer for the first time, mirroring and supporting the record's Orphic quest by gathering contributions from a coterie of friends wielding an electric range ofAmerican instruments. Violins, vibraphones, drum machines, electric guitars dappled with springreverb, wind-blown shells, and a host of other numinous sounds form an unfurling and shadowy world which was then carefully honed during the mixing process (shepherded by MichaelCormier-O'Leary and Lucas Knapp) _ settling the final record in an eerie meridian betweenspareness and verdancy.The result is a beguiling and darkly blooming realm: the sound of a personal cosmos beingremade, piece by piece. Ringwalt is at the height of her spirit as both songwriter-poet and singer, her willowy voice by turns conjuring and keening as she reckons with her deep past and thestories told since. Opening track "The Pines" sets the stage for a record of truly life-long scope: "I was a child, now Ihold her / I was asleep for many years." Some songs, like the gorgeous "North Carolina" and "TheSaint," were written as early as 2013 but, Ringwalt says, "insisted upon being remembered" as therecord took shape; in its final form, they serve as inc...

Exile On Mainstream Records presents Troubadour, the intimate new album from nomadic German singer/songwriter CONNY OCHS.Since 2010, CONNY OCHS has been capturing the hearts and minds of curious music fans around the globe through his expressive and emotive songcraft. Through eight full-length releases - including two collaborative albums with Scott "Wino" Weinrich of Saint Vitus, The Obsessed, and more, and not to mention his work in Trialogos and other projects - OCHS has expanded his sound from stripped-down singer/songwriter anthems based almost entir...

The work of GMM carries the echo of folk wedding melodies inspired by Oskar Kolberg"s collections, interpreted in modern arrangements with electrifying sound.The trio, consisting of Michal Górczynski, Michal Marecki and Patryk "TikTak" Matela, explores the roots of the Mazovian tradition, translating them into the language of contemporary music. Oskar Kolberg"s descriptions and a collection of melodies specific to the Polish region of Mazovia give the GMM band a foundation for creative existence in this old world and transferring it to the modern world.The freshly recorded album opens the traditional wedding gates in an unexpected way, where folk nostalgia meets contemporary avant-garde. The contrabass clarinet weaves deep, warm sounds into the compositions, adding them mystery, while the spinet boldly carries a note of baroque sophistication, creating a pleasantly contrasting texture. The modernity of synthesizers and dynamic beatbox balancing between stillness and dense, dirty tones, gives the whole mix a modern touch.In this characteristic journey full of rhythmic complexity and harmonic discoveries, you will find depth, a cynical smile and plenty of room for your own reflections.

~~~From Mississippi and Olvido Records~~~~~~Steel-string guitar and vocals by the great Giorgos Katsaros,a mythic figure of Greek rembetiko.Our obsession with underground Greek music continues with 10 ultra-rare recordings of heartbreak and vice from rembetiko legend Giorgos Katsaros. Katsaros, who by some accounts lived to be over 100 years old, carried the old songs of Greece to the Diaspora in the United States, bridging centuries of music in one storied lifetime.Born in 1901 on the Greek island of Amorgos, Katsaros' was enchanted with the songs he picked up as a kid in the streets of Piraeus and Athens. Encouraged by his grandfather, an amateur singer, Katsaros developed a style that mirrored his upbringing - centuries-old Asia Minor songs, island rhythms of his homeland, well-known Athenian songs of the time, and anonymous `rebetiko' songs.Katsaros' songbook was vast, but he was most drawn to the street life and music of the manges of early 20th-century Greece: outcasts who dealt with the indignities of an unstable economy and an inauspicious future with the old standbys: wine, hash, and dancing.These ten tracks are remastered from Katsaros's 64 surviving early recordings, many rarely heard since their original release. Hypnotic melodies plucked over repeating thumbed basslines back his deep, mournful voice.Katsaros brought this nostalgic late-night music to smoke-filled rooms of Greek exiles in Chicago, Philly, and New York, where he emigrated in 1917. He continued to travel the country and play until his music was supplanted by more modern styles in the 1950s. He retired to the town of Tarpon Springs, FL, famous for its Greek sponge fishers, til a late-in-life revival brought him back to Greece for a few massive concerts and national accolades in the 1990s.Like many great artists, Katsaros carefully curated his own mythic backstory over the decades. He sometimes claimed he was born in 1888, making him 109 on his passing, and conflicting accounts of his birth and travels cir...

~~~From Mississippi and Olvido Records~~~~~~Steel-string guitar and vocals by the great Giorgos Katsaros,a mythic figure of Greek rembetiko.Our obsession with underground Greek music continues with 10 ultra-rare recordings of heartbreak and vice from rembetiko legend Giorgos Katsaros. Katsaros, who by some accounts lived to be over 100 years old, carried the old songs of Greece to the Diaspora in the United States, bridging centuries of music in one storied lifetime.Born in 1901 on the Greek island of Amorgos, Katsaros' was enchanted with the songs he picked up as a kid in the streets of Piraeus and Athens. Encouraged by his grandfather, an amateur singer, Katsaros developed a style that mirrored his upbringing - centuries-old Asia Minor songs, island rhythms of his homeland, well-known Athenian songs of the time, and anonymous `rebetiko' songs.Katsaros' songbook was vast, but he was most drawn to the street life and music of the manges of early 20th-century Greece: outcasts who dealt with the indignities of an unstable economy and an inauspicious future with the old standbys: wine, hash, and dancing.These ten tracks are remastered from Katsaros's 64 surviving early recordings, many rarely heard since their original release. Hypnotic melodies plucked over repeating thumbed basslines back his deep, mournful voice.Katsaros brought this nostalgic late-night music to smoke-filled rooms of Greek exiles in Chicago, Philly, and New York, where he emigrated in 1917. He continued to travel the country and play until his music was supplanted by more modern styles in the 1950s. He retired to the town of Tarpon Springs, FL, famous for its Greek sponge fishers, til a late-in-life revival brought him back to Greece for a few massive concerts and national accolades in the 1990s.Like many great artists, Katsaros carefully curated his own mythic backstory over the decades. He sometimes claimed he was born in 1888, making him 109 on his passing, and conflicting accounts of his birth and travels cir...

Triple vinyl LP pressing. Odies But Goodies is the ultimate collection from 7-time and current Academy of Country Music and 6-time and reigning Country Music Association Group of the Year, Old Dominion. Thirty-one songs spanning the #1s, fan favorites and album cuts that have come to define the band songwriters Matthew Ramsey, Trevor Rosen, Brad Tursi, Geoff Sprung and Whit Sellers built taking their friendship on the road in a van for the sake of playing live in front of people who just wanted to come out and love the music. What began as a labor of fun turned into one of the most impactful country bands of the 21st Century. Headlining major arena tours and the biggest festivals, Old Dominion represents a space where people make the best of what is, find positivity in the low moments and exult in the wins. Real life songs for real life moments, full stop. To celebrate, they've gathered into one place all of the songs that define this no bad vibes group of musicians - "I Was On A Boat That Day," "Break Up With Him," "Some for Another Time," "Hotel Key," "Written In The Sand," "Memory Lane," as well as beloved deep tracks "Nowhere Fast," "Hawaii," "Fast Horses" and "Still Writing Songs." They've also added their take on Johnny Lee's #1 "Lookin' for Love" from the film "Urban Cowboy" and the brand new "Coming Home."

The Buffalo sacrifice is a significant ritual among the Bahnar people, an ethnic group residing in the Central Highlands of Vietnam. It symbolizes a connection to ancestral spirits and the natural world. Prior to the sacrifice, the community gathers to prepare offerings and adorn the buffalo with symbolic decorations. The ceremony typically involves prayers, chants, and dances led by village elders. The sacrifice is performed with reverence and gratitude, honoring the buffalo's sacrifice for the well-being of the community. It's believed to ensure fertility, protection, and prosperity for the village. The ritual underscores the Bahnar people's deep-rooted spiritual beliefs and their harmonious relationship with nature. After the sacrifice, the buffalo's meat is shared among the villagers in a communal feast, fostering unity and solidarity within the community. This tradition serves as a cultural cornerstone, preserving the Bahnar's heritage and spiritual practices for generations. Recorded in the village of Plei Hven (Vietnam) in 2019 by Vincenzo Della Ratta, this unique album offers a deep immersion in this ancestral ceremony.

Presenting the third thematic volume on the “Aquapelagos" series - a collection of split LPs where selected artists offer their own take into water surrounded cultures and communities. After the initial release of the Anthology compilation Aquapelago in 2022 (Discrepant ,Crep91) and the split LP Atlantico by Lagoss & Banha da Cobra (Keroxen, Krxn027) as well as the direct collaboration LP Índico by Mike Cooper & Pierre Bastien we proudly introduce an the third volume in the series in the shape of no other than two inspiring artists, Vica Pacheco and Pak Yan Lau. Two different sound journeys inspired by the majestic and peaceful Pacific Ocean, the vastest, largest and deepest ocean of our planet. Vica Pacheco’s composition takes a calm meditation approach where water flutes and synths brush shoulders to cre-ate a ever expanding mind journey whereas Pak Yan Lau’s ambitions Neo classical piece, The Ocean in Us, talks about that grand overwhelming feeling, that vast space deep under, on the bottom of the Pacific. Both compositions were recorded and created with the particular wet acoustics of the Tank in Santa Cruz de Tenerife in mind. From Philip Hayward and Matt Hill’s liner notes: ‘’The Pacific is a complex space, comprising a third of the Earth’s surface. A cascade of islands runs along its eastern flank, down from the Kamchatka peninsula, through Japan, Taiwan, The Philippines, Melanesia and on to Australasia. In its watery heart the islands of Micronesia and Polynesia stretch across huge distances, north-east to the Hawaiian archipelago, south east to Rapa Nui and south west to Aotearoa and Chatham island. Closer to the shores of the Amer-icas lie Tierra del Fuego, the Galapagos Islands, Haida Gwaii and the Aleutians. This is a space that resists easy char-acterisation. The Pacific laps the shores of Japan and Chile, the beaches of Australia’s East Coast and the cold, damp coasts of British Colombia and Alaska alike. Indeed, the space is so vast that it is a world in itself and one rarely navi-gated in its entirety. In this manner, strands of genres and the songs that reflect them are components in an intricate mesh of associations.‘’ Philip Hayward and Matt Hill, April 2022

Born in 1989 in Bamako, Mali, Nfaly Diakité is a member of the Donsow, Bambara animist hunters from the Mandé region. Tribute to Toumani Koné' is Nfaly Diakité's first solo album, recorded in Bamako in June 2020. With this album, Nfaly wishes to pay tribute to the storyteller and poet Toumani Koné, who throughout his long career as a Donso has been a symbol of courage and honesty. The nine tracks on this solo album leave no room for hesitation. Three instruments (donso ngoni, voice and keregne) transport us into another dimension without ever tiring us. The rhythm is accurate and precise, creating a deep, melodious trance. All the power of a music that belongs not to a single musician, but to a long cultural tradition of which he is the spokesman, is expressed here. The young Nfaly alone succeeds in drawing us into this world without feeling the weight of tradition, only the liberation of a music that sounds all the more contemporary. This album is to be listened to in its entirety as one tight journey between repeated formulas, highlights and moments of rest within the same relentless rhythm.

Why you'll love it...
These are stories without redemption, without a cheerful twist or upbeat perspective. If country music so often pulls from the blues’ signature blend of pathos and humor, For My Broken Heart doesn’t shy from expressing heartfelt, deep sadness without an easy antidote. It’s most potent on the album’s closer, ‘’If I Had Only Known'' — a song so gutting McEntire has rarely performed it live. In the studio, she could barely get through it. The understandable emotion in her usually strong, unwavering voice is audible throughout; there are shakes that don’t sound intentional, words that trail off instead of being hit with her typical punch. It is a song seemingly written for the occasion, one that might have sounded maudlin without the simple arrangement and the raw emotion that Reba put into it.

First LP release of Osamu Okuno's 2003 masterpiece "Utauhito," featuring Takeshi Shibuya, Hiroshi Funato, Ren Takada, Kanji Nakao, and Takero Sekijima. Kyoto singer-songwriter Osamu Okuno was rediscovered by the younger generation during the rock boom of the time with the first CD release of "Osamu Okuno" in 2000 and his first new album in 10 years, "Kaerou." Made in 2003, this is a miraculous album, with deep shadows and youthful songs riding on the ambience-filled playing of Takeshi Shibuya, Hiroshi Funato, Ren Takada, Kanji Nakao, and Takero Sekijima.

MAY is a double-LP collection of recordings made between 2020–2023 by Arianne Churchman & Benedict Drew (ac&bd), whose ongoing series channels, inhabits and transmogrifies the vast corpus of traditional English folksong celebrating the most fertile of months. An auditory tapestry, MAY employs at its base a flank of analog synthesizers, field recordings and Churchman’s layered vocals, each combining to form a beautifully dizzy sonic collage that often spirals out across long durations into hypnotic rhythms and jubilant melodies. Both multi-disciplinary artists with roots in the English countryside and a fascination with folklore, Ac&bd tap into the multifarious manifestations of folk music across eras throughout the British isles, pushing it towards a new, noisy din with their experimental approach. This might represent a further dimension of “British visionary music” as described by Rob Young in his pivotal Electric Eden book. Perhaps an Electronic Eden? Opening track “The Cuckoo” begins with an atmosphere reminiscent of the more pastoral moments of Broadcast before devolving into a trance-like wall of noise, binaural beats and whispered incantations. “The Green Bushes” sets Churchman’s multi-tracked vocal harmonies atop a pulsing, single-chord foundation. MAY’s varied reference points include Anne Briggs, The Copper Family, Cyril Poacher, Steeleye Span and Shirley Collins, to name just a few. Originally released digitally by Drew’s Thanet Tape Centre label, new Pennsylvania label Love’s Devotee presents the first vinyl release of Ac&bd’s MAY, with tracks reedited and reconfigured by the artists especially for this compilation. Mastered for vinyl by Giuseppe IELASI—whose credits include releases by Alvin Curran, Catherine Christer Hennix and Charlemagne Palestine—MAY brings Ac&bd’s music out of the digital realm and into a physical release truly worthy of deep reverberation throughout your abode. Limited to 350 copies.

The album's theme is "the cycle of life." It evokes the sensation of sinking deep into the ocean, yet being surrounded by gentle bubbles of kindness rising from the seabed. This grand epic of drone and ambient folk has been hailed as a masterpiece. Some magazines have even compared it to the great works of Brian Eno and Ryuichi Sakamoto. It appeals to fans of drone and ambient music, such as those by Grouper and Andrew Chalk, as well as acid and loner folk enthusiasts. This 2024 release is now set for an eagerly awaited vinyl record release. The vinyl version, like the CD and digital release, features original designs by Mugi Hashimoto, inspired by the theme of "the cycle of life." We hope listeners will discover new aspects of this work through the physical medium.

Vanishing Twin’s expansive and magical psychedelic epic with lyrics adapted from A.E. Housman’s 1922 poem, ‘Tell Me Not Here, It Needs Not Saying’ was initially commissioned by The Quietus for Sound + Vision subscribers before being released as part of state51's ongoing Singularity series. Here it's presented in transparent vinyl, over two sides.

Vanishing Twin fly deeper into their sonic universe, blending elements from an improvisational session, raw recordings of the natural world, and early 20th century poetry to create sublime, cosmic pop.

This twenty-minute piece has embellishments of sparkling synth and lyrical vignettes that are reminiscent of English folk melodies.

Outernational pop group Derya Yildirim & Grup Simsek unveil the second and final part of their double album "Dost 1&2". Once again, their subtle and groovy Anatolian psych folk sound matches the powerful quality of the songs often led by Yildirim"s sublime vocals and baglama (Turkish lute). With "Dost 2", the band have broadened their songwriting horizons and refined their idiosyncratic arrangement skills.Most of "Dost 2""s material was composed by the band, with two notable tracks composed by guitarist flautist Antonin Voyant whose melodic work brings the music to an unnostalgic, yet deep and meaningful place. The lyrics were penned by Derya Yildirim in collaboration with Berlin based writer Duygu Agal, adding another string to Grup Simsek"s bow.

Outernational pop group Derya Yildirim & Grup Simsek unveil the second and final part of their double album "Dost 1&2". Once again, their subtle and groovy Anatolian psych folk sound matches the powerful quality of the songs often led by Yildirim"s sublime vocals and baglama (Turkish lute). With "Dost 2", the band have broadened their songwriting horizons and refined their idiosyncratic arrangement skills.Most of "Dost 2""s material was composed by the band, with two notable tracks composed by guitarist flautist Antonin Voyant whose melodic work brings the music to an unnostalgic, yet deep and meaningful place. The lyrics were penned by Derya Yildirim in collaboration with Berlin based writer Duygu Agal, adding another string to Grup Simsek"s bow.

This is the first vinyl issue of Temple IV, arguably Roy Montgomery’s finest solo album, originally released in 1996 on CD. The original album has been enhanced with two newer tracks that constitute side four of the album. Montgomery states: “The two new tracks recorded in 2018 were about asking the question “Can you step into the same river twice?” Heraclitus said you cannot. I say you can…”

From the original press release:

Few recording artists have aligned the quantity and quality of their releases as well as New Zealand singer /guitarist Roy Montgomery has in 1995. Beginning with kranky’s release of the soundtrack for an imaginary film That That Is...Is(Not) by Montgomery’s duo Dissolve early in the year, a series of superb albums and singles have been issued by a variety of labels across the world. Each one of them is a must have. Most recently, the Drunken Fish label released a collection of pastoral drones entitled Scenes From The South Island, singles have appeared on the Roof Bolt and gyttja labels, and further singles are scheduled with Ajax, Siltbreeze and others.

Temple IV is the first solo recording by Roy Montgomery on kranky. The album was recorded by Montgomery on a four-track tape deck and then thickened up with monophonic moog. The tracks on the album are thick with interwoven guitar lines and moog drone, inspired by the Guatemalan rain forests and the mysterious ruins of the temple and ruins Montgomery visited there.

Roy Montgomery spent the past year in New York, Chicago and London before returning to New Zealand. While in the UK he played live with Flying Saucer Attack and collaborated with spoken word performer Kirk Lake. A brief tour across the United States in September saw him performing before enraptured audiences in New York, Boston, Chicago, Detroit and Los Angeles.

The long overdue recognition of Roy Montgomery as a crucial figure in New Zealand’s musical history as a member of The Pin Group, Shallows and Dadamah, is now augmented by his new recordings. Temple IV will serve to extend and deepen that appreciation.

Kora’s most innovative modern exponent bathes in communion with a re-imagined classical guitar, unveiling a new and previously unsuspected musical universe. In a meeting between instruments, not traditions, these maestros emerge from quite different and distant musical worlds. Ballaké Sissoko’s kora tradition and lineage traverse the once powerful West African empire known as Kaabu. South African Derek Gripper’s roots are in European classical guitar but infused with a unique jeli music mastery that takes guitar’s modern history in a captivating new direction.

But we are not hearing these traditions in dialogue: these masters meet on the sonic groundings of the kora, instrument of the griots, resonant vessel of the sacred and profane, sound carrier of history and wisdom. Through two decades of commitment and study, it is to this terrain that Gripper brings his guitar to meet its multi-stringed cousin.

The two men do not share a spoken language, but if it is true that music speaks universally, then they were already involved in profound dialogue long before they met for the series of London concerts which yielded this recording session – a session which matches deep communion with sparkling improvisation, which pushes a living tradition into brand new sonic spaces, and opens a live and direct channel of communication between kora and guitar. In the complex web of theme and variations spun by Sissoko’s twenty-two strings and Gripper’s six, a new African string theory is elaborated.

“Musically we tested each other,” says Sissoko, explaining that the most magical aspect of their encounters are spontaneity. “We have the mastery of our instruments, the technique and a good ear. Derek is very curious, that’s very important.”

“He’s just such a good listener,” says Gripper about Sissoko. “It’s not what he plays, it’s how he plays it. He’s an amazing interpreter, the prime master of timbre.”

Recording by Taylor Pollock at Platoon Studios, London. Mixed, edited and produced by Derek Gripper. Mastered by Murray Anderson at Milestone Studios, Cape Town. Produced for vinyl by Chris Albertyn and Matt Temple at Matsuli Music. Mastered for vinyl and lacquers cut by Frank Merritt at The Carvery, London. Vinyl pressed at Pallas GmbH, Germany. Sleeve notes by Francis Gooding, French translation by Paulo Goncalves. Cover design by Toby Attwell at Twoshoes, Cape Town.

"Imagine: It’s sometime in the back half of the 19th century, America. You’re sitting in the parlor of your mansion, or in the only room of your shack; things are dusty and smell like sweat and hair, no matter how wealthy you may be. You don’t own a phonograph, and you don’t know who Tony Hawk is, but you have an inkling of how good the word 'shred' is going to feel when it enters the local slang. Suddenly, a tall, elegant figure with beautifully maintained fingernails emerges from some corner of the room, carrying a guitar. He says in a soft voice, 'I have a transmission for you, from the coming few centuries. Would you like to hear it? I figured you wouldn’t have a dongle, so I brought my guitar.'

You may be apprehensive, but you shouldn’t be. Shane happens to be an internationally renowned virtuoso of the guitar. Specifically, he’s the kind of virtuoso who is as deep on style as he is on technique. His technical prowess is almost maddeningly complete; aiming paradoxically for the yards-long target called “breadth” he’s somehow hit all of it, 500 arrows piercing every pore of the landscape. He has that much technique not for the sake of guitar worship but to best bring the music forth clearly and in his own hand, like a pearl formed in a specific sea. I know this because I’ve sat next to him in multiple countries and American states and seen him deliver transmissions of that extreme honesty, with that extreme capability.

Like Derek Bailey’s 'Ballads,' this record brings you into the room and the breath of a true musician whose mastery does not overshadow his appreciation of the music that inspired it. The title, 'Repertoire,' underscores the beautiful songs he chose to perform, all standards of 20th century musical excellence. The in-time persistence of his blues-walked 'Lonely Woman.' The grand registral descent he performs on 'Pithecanthropus Erectus,' like a rare document of the trip down from Everest. Dig how 'Better Get Hit in Your Soul,' emphasizes the folk blues water coursing through Mingus’s Ellingtonia, how Aphex Twin’s 'Avril 14' and the Minutemen’s 'Cohesion' sound so much older than Cage’s 'Totem Ancestors.' 'Repertoire' puts forth the idea that time is arrangement: time and arrangement are each only as successful as they are faithful to their origins and expansive in their style.

Again, lest you fear the alien smoothness some associate with the concept 'virtuoso,' remember here we’re dealing with a time- traveler. His virtuosity is home grown, born of human work rather than some abstract or divine touch; the aim is not to go beyond the realm of human technical possibility but to expand it in the direction of human, meaning, timely. This guy can play anything, and for you, for this record, which sounds intimate and as present as a transmission from a time-traveler, he chooses to."—Wendy Eisenberg

Member of the Bill Orcutt Quartet and Tzadik Recording Artist

Solo guitar arrangements of various jazz /avant garde/electronic/etc. tunes.

Edition of 500 copies.

Mayday is the third LP by Montreal-based artist, Myriam Gendron. It follows her earlier, critically acclaimed albums, Not So Deep As A Well (2014) and Ma délire - Songs of love, lost & found (2021). Myriam began exploring the complex folk traditions of Quebec (and beyond), with Ma délire, which combines traditional and original songs with arrangements that make space for avant-garde musical interludes by such folks as guitarist Bill Nace (Body/Head) and renowned jazz percussionist Chris Corsano.Mayday presents an even more syncretic fusion of the elements Myriam uses to create her sound. Most of the songs are original, sung in both English and French, and they blend traditional and avant elements with abandon. She is often accompanied on this album by the guitarist Marisa Anderson and drummer Jim White (Dirty Three, Xylouris White), whose work provides a quietly aggressive sort of free-rock base. Additional players include Montreal bassist Cédric Dind-Lavoie, Bill Nace and saxophonist Zoh Amba. Mayday is a thoroughly thrilling effort that manages to create new vistas of sound while maintaining a feel that is both intimate and familiar. The music here certainly possesses a richly serious tone, but Myriam Gendron (like Leonard Cohen) is able to infuse her darkness with a subtle, powerful light that reminds us that even the most pitch-black night is but a transitional state. Beautiful work.

Mayday is the third LP by Montreal-based artist, Myriam Gendron. It follows her earlier, critically acclaimed albums, Not So Deep As A Well (2014) and Ma délire - Songs of love, lost & found (2021). Myriam began exploring the complex folk traditions of Quebec (and beyond), with Ma délire, which combines traditional and original songs with arrangements that make space for avant-garde musical interludes by such folks as guitarist Bill Nace (Body/Head) and renowned jazz percussionist Chris Corsano.Mayday presents an even more syncretic fusion of the elements Myriam uses to create her sound. Most of the songs are original, sung in both English and French, and they blend traditional and avant elements with abandon. She is often accompanied on this album by the guitarist Marisa Anderson and drummer Jim White (Dirty Three, Xylouris White), whose work provides a quietly aggressive sort of free-rock base. Additional players include Montreal bassist Cédric Dind-Lavoie, Bill Nace and saxophonist Zoh Amba. Mayday is a thoroughly thrilling effort that manages to create new vistas of sound while maintaining a feel that is both intimate and familiar. The music here certainly possesses a richly serious tone, but Myriam Gendron (like Leonard Cohen) is able to infuse her darkness with a subtle, powerful light that reminds us that even the most pitch-black night is but a transitional state. Beautiful work.

More Than Words Can Tell is the new duets album from Victoria Liedtke and Jason Ringenberg. The project sees the duo deep dive into the early songwriting partnership of Dolly Parton and Porter Wagoner, cherry-picking musical gems and little heard tracks from their expansive back catalogue. Coined the “Godfather of Americana” by Mojo magazine, the former Jason and The Scorchers frontman Jason Ringenberg was awarded a ‘Lifetime Achievement Award for Performance’ by the Americana Music Association in 2009 and was intrigued when Liedtke approached him with the project idea. As Ringenberg states, “When Victoria contacted me about being the ‘Porter’ in this project, I was super excited. The Dolly-Porter duets are some of the finest duets ever recorded in country music history. I am a huge fan of them. Once we dove into the project, I was supremely impressed by the production ethic and creative ambition that Victoria brought to the table. She didn’t slavishly copy the originals. In fact, she and her team created entirely new interpretations of those classic songs.” Victoria and Jason recorded the album at Vale Studios in Worcester, UK in the Summer of 2022 with a predominantly UK based band. The band features CJ Hillman on electric guitar and slide guitar (Billy Bragg/Yola), John Parker on double bass (Nizlopi), Lewis ‘Burner’ Pugh on acoustic guitar and Tim Protey-Jones on drums (First Time Flyers) as well as a plethora of guest musicians throughout. Originally from Oklahoma, Victoria moved to the UK eight years ago and now resides in the Yorkshire Dales. “What made this project so fun was being able to bring together these incredible UK musicians that come from the worlds of Americana, Country, Folk and Pop and inject these 50 year old classic American country songs into this musical melting pot.” Liedtke continues "Both Jason and I don’t traditionally sit in that world either, so all of that combined has resulted in a colourful and beautiful collection of songs.” The album was produced By Victoria Liedtke, co-produced by Elliot Vaughan and mixed by Liedtke & Vaughan. More Than Words Can Tell is due for release on April 5th.

Our fifth chapter is the one where we seek, savor, and settle. The muse found us in the depths of raising children, nurturing relationships, surviving a world-changing virus, bidding farewell, shifting our mindsets, and discovering a sense of peace heretofore unseen. Our third decade of life has proven to be one of routine, rest, and realization, and these songs are about the lessons we’ve learned. We’ve learned to be space-holders and defenders of the people we hold close. We’ve learned from deep, steady love in various forms. We’ve learned to let go of people and perceptions and priorities that just didn’t make the cut as we weighed what is right and important and worth keeping. We’ve learned how all the things we’ve always treasured continue to withstand the pressure of time. If you notice an upward trend to the mood and emotions, you’re on target-we have found calm waters, for now. - The Secret Sisters (2023)

A collection of mind blowing songs from Hindi films 1958-1984. 12 musical gems from the Bollywood vaults with a wide variety of styles thrown in the mix, from the classic to the rare, a must! An astonishing overview of the magnificent musical talents populating Bollywood films. With a predilection for movies with a strong musical backbone where songs and musical numbers play a pivotal role, the Hindi cinema boom gave birth to a strong and creative music industry where composers, musicians, musical directors, conductors, producers, singing actors, and playback singers (singers who provide vocals for the musical parts of roles played by actors or actresses) found a perfect place to develop their careers. A sample of those incredible talents is included in this compilation, the ideal point to start digging deeper into the lush garden of musical delights that is Bollywood

Suffolk-based singer songwriter James Varda’s fourth and final album before his death from a long battle with cancer in 2015, Chance And Time, set for a vinyl only reissue on Unspun Heroes is an astonishing aural document of a creative, forward -thinking musician coming to terms with a life slowly evaporating away. There is hubris, melancholy and an undeniable weight of sadness in these ten songs but, miraculously, there is also a stoic realisation and acceptance from Varda that is both heart-wrenching and deeply affecting. On Chance And Time Varda reconnects the human spirit to the land, a heavy, fearful heart to an optimistic soul, and in a beautiful poetic flourish gives a real tangible sense of loving and hope to his family and friends offering genuine reassurance and even, at times, a green light for celebration.

Carrying a certain air of mystique, that same sense of a ‘other worldliness’ if you will of say a Karen Dalton or a Jeff Buckley, Varda’s delivery and tone carries huge emotional weight here and an unique ability to add an honest perspective and warmth to the starkest of realities. The hard hitting impact of the opening tracks is blunt and sharply defined. There is pain, hardship, and fear wrapped in these tales - ‘The Doctor Spoke, Two Hearts Broke” - made all the more hitting as this is a real life journey in the here and now being catalogued. As we move towards the second half of the record there is something even deeper and truly incredible at play. Varda’s whole demeanor is one of understanding and acceptance - hear the celebratory shamanic vibe of the extraordinary ‘Pass It On’ and the poignantly reflective, chokingly sad finale ‘We Won’t Dream’ - bringing to an end a record that will leave a mark on everyone who hears it. Real art is both timeless and omnipresent, these songs from James Varda will hang in

the air forever and be there for those who look to find understanding, joy and a sense of hope. Chance And Time is both an extraordinary record and poignant study of life and living, of death and what comes after.

James Varda released four albums between 1988 and his death in 2015. A fledgling career beginning on the singer-songwriting folk scene where his arrival was met with both curiosity and critical acclaim as was his debut, the John Leckie produced Hunger. Any momentum was lost however as it would be ten years before the next, In The Valley was met with a ruffle of applause. Cancer took hold of the troubadour and for a number of years Varda lived life and wrote songs until The River And The Stars appeared like a phoenix from the flames as he began to wrestle with the realities of his situation. It’s a record that beautifully lays the ground for this his masterpiece that was to follow.

Unspun Heroes, a new label set up by Simon White, has the sole purpose of finding and reissuing albums that he considers both undervalued and seemingly ignored. All releases will be on vinyl only complete with Obi strip and extensive liner notes. Each will be individually numbered and limited.

Tired Girls is the third full-length studio album by Bay Area singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Anna Hillburg. Co-produced and recorded with Jason Quever of the Papercuts, the pair created an album for lovers of finely crafted and supremely catchy chamber pop.

As always, Hillburg’s voice takes center stage, but for Tired Girls she made a conscious choice to dig deeper into her trumpet skills and make more elaborate horn arrangements than her previous records. Lyrically, Hillburg dives into what it is to be a contemporary woman, and how one perseveres, finds inspiration, creates, loves, and lives.

Recorded throughout 2022 at Quever’s studio, the two built dreamy soundscapes with long-time collaborators Logan Kroeber on drums (The Dodos), Josh Miller on bass (Chime School, Extra Classic), and Yea Ming Chen on keys.

The entire record has a real “Ladies, trust your gut” feeling, unsurprisingly, as Hillburg says she tends to write songs about “the reality of womanhood and feminism but ya know, why not make that a little ‘dancey’?” As a collection, Tired Girls marks her arrival as an artist who has hit their stride. Each track shows her talent and progression as a songwriter and performer.

“The first full length LP by Joshua Massad and Dylan Aycock. Massad is a tabla player living in India and studying under Zakir Hussain. Massad and Aycock came together in Tulsa to record live at the legendary Church Studio which was founded by Leon Russell in the ’70s. Over a few nights they captured some moments in the studio before it came under new ownership and just before Joshua moved to India.

“Aycock improvising on 12-string with Massad accompanying tabla and sitar. A flowing river of sound, a meeting of the minds. The little touches that Dylan’s brother Jesse Aycock adds (bits of synth) really sweeten the deal as well. Track two recorded in Leon Russell’s legendary Church Studio.” —Aquarium Drunkyard

“Track one is an improvisation recorded at the home of Joshua Massad’s friend who he was house sitting for and invited me to come play. When I showed up the door was open and he was deep in practice so no words were spoken. I set up a mic and just started playing. We played for forty-five minutes straight and the twenty mins of the first track was culled from that moment. We clicked immediately and that was the first time we ever played together. Joshua is studying and teaching in India now where he’s been since 2019.”

—Dylan Golden Aycock

The birth of Japan’s nascent acid folk scene was rooted in the messy and invigorating political climate of the late 1960s. It is a story of Dadaists, communists, pharmacists and cult leaders, led by a young generation of upstart students, artists and dreamers hellbent on turning their world upside down.

Born on the campuses of Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka, and centred around newly formed independent label and left-wing stronghold URC, this uniquely Japanese form of folk expression provided an outlet for musicians who were tired of aping Western sounds and instead found ways to sing in Japanese and integrate traditional forms in new ways.

At the forefront of this movement was Yellow Magic Orchestra’s Haroumi Hosono, a polymath innovator whose band Happy End released the first Japanese language rock album, and whose influence would go on to be felt across Japanese music for decades. Alongside, and informed by the Kansai scene’s Takashi Nishioka and Happy End collaborator Ken Narita, they experimented with cadences and accents of the Japanese language to open the door for others to experiment with their own forms of psychedelic folk too.

Some, like Nishioka, were more inspired by Dadaism than drugs, while others, like Kazuhisa Okubo, would ultimately find work as a chemist, having founded two further folk groups that flirted with varying levels of success. Obstinately uncommercial, relentlessly creative, the music featured on Time Capsule’s Nippon Acid Folk represents a broad church of influences.

Perhaps the wildest addition to this congregation however was Hiroki Tamaki, a classically-trained violinist and committed iconoclast, whose synth-prog odysseys hinted at his obsession with the divine. Subsumed by the teachings of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, he penned an album in praise of the infamous religious leader of which two superbly mind-bending tracks are featured on this compilation.

Charting the decade from 1970 to 1980 as the dreams of political and spiritual liberation seeded in the ‘60s turned to dust, Nippon Acid Folk surveys a little explored corner of Japanese music history, but one which ultimately laid the foundations for an independent music industry, launching the careers of Hosono and others in the process.

Nippon Acid Folk 1970-1980 is pressed on 12” vinyl and represents the start of Time Capsule’s deep dive into Japan’s rich history of folk and psychedelic soul music.

Death Is Not The End presents a limited LP pressing of their collection of haunted, brooding flamenco recordings taken from the early 1900s through to the late 1930s. Focussing in on the cante jondo (or "deep song") style, seen as the original manifestation of flamenco singing - from which other elements emerged, such as dancing and playing - this survey captures and documents tracks from the form's earliest recorded stars.

The group Tigadrine - which carries the soul of the desert where it goes - releases its first album Tizana, in the continuity of its EP Dahamis. The group deals through its songs with various universal subjects, such as love, loyalty, attachment to the customs and deep traditions of the desert and history.Musically, this album is a sublime blend of the musical heritage of southern Morocco, with its traditional rhythms and melodies, and modern Rock/funk techniques and rhythms.Tazana is, to conclude, a rich and eclectic work, both in terms of texts and music.

Centripetal Force is excited to announce It Is Solved By Walking, the second solo release from pedal steel guitarist Luke Schneider. Luke Schneider is a pedal steel guitarist based in Nashville. An Ohio native, Schneider moved to Tennessee to go to college with dreams of becoming a folk-rock stylist but has recently found his place in the landscape of New Age and pastoral Americana. His well-received debut solo album, Altar of Harmony (Third Man Records), is a collection of ambient compositions created entirely by pedal steel. His work on It Is Solved By Walking continues the recent experimental elevation of the pedal-steel guitar and delves deeper into the worlds of ambient sounds and moods. Like Altar of Harmony, the inspiration for this new collection of songs is rooted in Schneider's daily meditation practices, as well as his own spiritual journey. The album reflects his deepened understanding of how sound can help listeners transcend their current space and guide them in directing their energies inward. There is a sharpened focus to the songwriting on It Is Solved by Walking, a move that unclouds the troubled eye and opens the doors of clarity. Where Schneider's initial works were offered at the altar, his space for inner contemplation, these compositions mark a step in Schneider's spiritual journey that sees him ready to direct his energies in more outward directions. He has done the hard work of examining his inner self and is now prepared to share his message with others. It Is Solved by Walking is an invitation to listeners to join him on the journey towards a better world, a stronger community, and the universal truths we all seek. Amongst others, Luke Schneider has performed and collaborated with William Tyler, Margo Price, Orville Peck, Peter One, Kyle Hamlett Duo, and Nashville Ambient Ensemble.

Although only 23 years old, Liam Grant's become a leading force in a much needed third wave revival of American Primitive music. The path was paved from the blues by Fahey, Basho, Kottke and so on, followed with a second coming heralded by folks like Jones, Rose, Basho-Junghans and others. Despite his age, Liam's the very definition of "an old soul" and while he draws on a wide variety of contemporary influences, he also channels a comprehensive history of the blues as well as a deeper energy that informs both his playing and songwriting. Features contributions from Mike Gangloff of Pelt, Grayson McGuire, and Ethan WL.

A Great Miracle: Jeremiah Lockwood’s Guitar Soli Chanukah Album, a solo guitar tribute to the holiday, is now available on Reboot Records. With heartfelt appreciation of the 1968 classic The New Possibility: John Fahey’s Guitar Soli Christmas Record, Jeremiah Lockwood has sweetly crafted eight songs, one for each night of Chanukah, to celebrate the dancing candlelight with his new, blues-inspired takes on the most beloved melodies of the holiday’s canon. Lockwood’s career has followed a unique path, with deep musical inspiration coming from two mentors. His grandfather Cantor Jacob Konigsberg (1921-2007) infused in him the melodies of the Jewish liturgy, with Lockwood performing in his choir. Lockwood credits his career as a guitarist to a decade-long apprenticeship with the legendary blues musician Carolina Slim, aka Elijah Staley (1926-2014), who passed down to Lockwood the Piedmont blues tradition of Brownie McGhee and Buddy Moss. Lockwood also leads the band Sway Machinery, which features Jordan McLean of Antibalis and at one point Brian Chase of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. The Great Miracle is the ultimate realization of both sides of Lockwood’s learning, as he translates the major Chanukkah melodies into a blues language, through his fingers and the strings of his Gibson guitar.

Folk duo lilo's ascent continues with second EP, I Don’t Like My Chances On The Outside. Having met at school aged 11, Christie Gardner and Helen Dixon’s friendship runs over a decade deep. Starting out with homespun recordings and YouTube covers, by the time they moved to London in their late-teens, they had an unshakeable creative bond that forms an incredible bedrock for them to flourish from. Their exceptional debut EP Sleep Country (Practise Music) came out in late-2021. Taking cues from alt-folk and classic country, it showed a maturity and dexterity that belied their years. As Loud & Quiet said of the band in a recent interview, "what sets them apart from their contemporaries is a real understanding of Americana-influenced folk’s lineage as a genre. Think Emmylou Harris’ soul bearing and the pitchperfect vocal glide of Karen Carpenter." New EP, I Don’t Like My Chances On The Outside, is a truly brilliant follow-up that underscores that we're no longing talking about promise with this duo. Working with producer friend Joseph Futák, they're now firmly in their stride, deftly counterbalancing delicate moments and harmony-led pop highs across a full-bodied band sound. Their lyrics speak for their generation too, encapsulating the panic, anxiety and love of twenty-somethings at a time of great uncertainty; from single 'Settled' where the financial realities of needing to move back in with your parents to the sheer relief of ending a relationship on 'I Don't Love You Anymore' and 'Just A Thought's failing attempts to pull a friend away from a bad person ("It's your hill to die on," they warn), nothing is off the plate.

Most of Gen X-ers who grew up in the mid-1980s Indonesia must have seen Soedjarwoto Soemarsono, known with his nom de guerre “Gombloh” performing on a state-run television station, playing some of his biggest hits from that era, pop gems like “Kugadaikan Cintaku (I Pawn Off My Love)”, “Setengah Gila (Half-Crazy).”

But of course, it is not fair to judge Gombloh only from these hits. Dig deeper and you will find buried treasure in his early stuff from Indra Records, and there are many of them.

His album with the band Lemon Tree’s Anno ‘69 (yes, that’s the name of the band) is all remarkable, but what he did for Chandra Records was no less spectacular. How can you go wrong with songs like “Kebyar-Kebyar”, the unofficial national anthem for Indonesia, dan “Berita Cuaca” one of the better epic songs in a catalogue full of epochal songs? These were all long out of print and in our journey to source the original master for these albums we met Bob Djumara of Nirwana Records, the Surabaya, East Java-based label which broke Gombloh into the mainstream in the mid-1980s. Almost all albums Gombloh recorded for his early labels, Indra Records and Chandra Records were critically acclaimed, but commercially they bombed, big time. Nirwana Records came up with an ingenious plan. What if they recorded Gombloh performing live and release it as is. After all, the first song in Gombloh debut record Nadia & Atmospheer is him strumming on his guitar backed by the cheering of a crowd, who could be heard going wild when he hurled that epithet “bastard” at the end of the song

The end result is a brilliant recording which despite being recorded live the sound quality so pristine leading many to doubt the claim of being live. Regardless, Nirwana shipped a decent number of units and Gombloh could buy his first car, a Katana Jeep, with money from the royalty.

One of the best things about Live Gila is its perfect sequencing, beginning with Gombloh’s social commentary on the rich’s debauched lifestyle of preying on young boys and girls, one of the most popular subjects allowed by the censoring machine of the New Order authoritarian government. The second song “Untuk Persada” is a soaring ode to the nation. For this song, Gombloh could be heard drawing his inspiration from The Police, which was undoubtedly popular in the early 1980s, even in a faraway port city like Surabaya.

Listening to this record as a whole (we omitted the last song from the original master tape “Bagimu Negeri” which sounds too jingoistic), we could not help but point to some of similarities it has with Bob Dylan’s Blood on the Tracks. Not a single composition in this record sound indigenous (the Malay-influenced rock of Panbers or Koes Plus come to mind); they all sound modern and effortlessly catchy, and had it not been for the language, this album could be mistaken for a musical output from someone growing up in Laurel Canyon or Southern France.

There are only limited copies of vinyl records in the second-hand market today available for Gombloh music, if at all. For his ardent fans, they have to scavenge for old cassettes to continue to be able to enjoy his music and have to pay top dollar for that. In Indonesia, where he was a superstar in the early 1980s, Gombloh was largely forgotten. With this project, we can only hope that the time is ripe for Gombloh to reemerge and now, more than ever, his music could speak to a bigger audience.

Gombloh’s forgotten masterpiece

What if you have Brian Wilson and Bruce Springsteen rolled into one? And what if he came of age as an poor buskers in in Surabaya, Indonesia, but then summoned enough strength to record six albums that flew in the face of everyone in the country’s rock scene back in the early 1980s?

Genius, be they Brian Wilson or Soedjarwoto “Soemarsono” Gombloh, don’t conform to rules written for us mere mortals. They have their own way of doing things and in the case of Gombloh, writing music, conducting recording session and spending cash from his music, must be conducted on his own terms and his terms only. Studio time was expensive back in the early 1980s, yet Gombloh could be three-hour late for his session, and while engineers, session musicians and producers were jittery about the prospect of another botched session, Gombloh took his time for a nap before the recording begun.

Yet, some of his greatest works came into being in the wake of this napping session. Recording session for Sekar Mayang is no exception, despite the fact there’s foreboding sense of doom with Gombloh being unsure about the possibility of selling enough units to help his label break even. This is, after all, this is his last record with his band Lemon Tree’s. No one knew that Gombloh was operating with all his cylinders running and what came out of this Indra Record session, in the waning days of 1980, were some of the best compositions ever committed to magnetic tapes (to wax, if now you’re holding this on vinyl).

This is Gombloh at the peak of his creative genius. You can argue that his debut album Nadia & Atmospheer (what’s with the spelling mistake?) is the most sprawling and complex album (both sonically and thematically), but Sekar Mayang certainly had the best songs and I can make the argument that this album’s 10 songs are strong contenders for biggest hits in blues, country, psychedelic rock charts. “Prahoro & Prahoro” is one of those impossible song which appears to have sprung from a bottomless well of inspiration, encompassing King Crimson’s sprawling epic, Deep Purple’s deepest blues and Genesis’ most progressive tendencies. Or “Sekaring Jagat”, which begins as Lennon-McCartney lullaby before launching a thousand ships traveling to the end of the rainbow with children choir singing heavenly melodies backed by droning harpsichord and synclavier, while a buzzing Hammond B3 tightly locks with Gombloh’s guitar strumming.

For many of his fans, Gombloh is known as generous man of the people. A Robin Hood type if you please. He spent his royalty checks to buy foods for beggars and buskers and dish out some more to buy undergarments for Surabaya’s prostitutes. In Sekar Mayang, Gombloh went full Springsteen mode in “Mitra Becakan,” a social commentary that cut so deep you can end up with tears in your eyes and lump in your throat (even if you don’t understand any of its Javanese language lyrics). This is one the most devastating social commentary ever recorded for a pop song, and even if you discount the greatness of its musical composition, you chalk this up as a great social-realism poetry. His years of hanging out with pedicab drivers, street vendors and street-bound prostitutes certainly gave him enough insight into their (in)human condition.

Yet, a record this stellar was largely forgotten. First, this record was a flop upon its release in 1981. Indra Records reportedly only did one pressing on cassette tape and be done with it. For those who were lucky enough to have come across one of songs from this album on the radio were likely growing up in East Java, where Gombloh had a massive cult following early in the 1980s. Nothing was heard from this record again.

There were only a handful of cassette tapes from the first pressing found on second-hand market and I recently stumbled upon one online with a price tag of Rp 50 million (US$3,500). It’s no longer available now.

In Sekar Mayang, Gombloh harbours an obsession for a long-lost utopia, Java’s distant past, where farmers have their barn full of rice and corn, where blacksmith working around the clock making tools and children singing and dancing in their seminaries. Or the fact that he opens the song with stanza from Serat Weddhatama, arguably the most monumental poem in neo-classic Javanese literature, could be his pledge of allegiance. The question for him is should a modern-day Indonesia, rife with poverty, corruption and environmental degradation not be an anathema to that utopia?

In the end, you don’t need to be someone fluent in Javanese to enjoy this majestic record. And if this record turns out to be the last in Elevation Records catalogue and we shut down this label tomorrow, we will be very happy. Mission accomplished!

Platform 23 reunites once more with Vox Man Records to dig deep into their archives and shine a new light on. In the past they have done some mega well loved Alternative Funk compilations which got the label off to a fine start and now they dig into an array of cult cassette releases to bring us treasure from Audiologie N-4 - The Independant Psychedelic Trip and Audiologie 5 et 6 - Ethniques Urbaines. This is music from the avant-garde and post punk scenes that draws on wave, spoken word, dark dub and industrial for its eerie yet alluring charms, all with a real edge. Ethnic, idiosyncratic and psyched out, this is another great overview.

Tired Girls is the third full-length studio album by Bay Area singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Anna Hillburg. Co-produced and recorded with Jason Quever of the Papercuts, the pair created an album for lovers of finely crafted and supremely catchy chamber pop.

As always, Hillburg’s voice takes center stage, but for Tired Girls she made a conscious choice to dig deeper into her trumpet skills and make more elaborate horn arrangements than her previous records. Lyrically, Hillburg dives into what it is to be a contemporary woman, and how one perseveres, finds inspiration, creates, loves, and lives.

Recorded throughout 2022 at Quever’s studio, the two built dreamy soundscapes with long-time collaborators Logan Kroeber on drums (The Dodos), Josh Miller on bass (Chime School, Extra Classic), and Yea Ming Chen on keys.

The entire record has a real “Ladies, trust your gut” feeling, unsurprisingly, as Hillburg says she tends to write songs about “the reality of womanhood and feminism but ya know, why not make that a little ‘dancey’?” As a collection, Tired Girls marks her arrival as an artist who has hit their stride. Each track shows her talent and progression as a songwriter and performer.

“I’m still learning how to experience joy, how to be free, how to be comfortable in my own skin,” says Jaime Wyatt. “A lot of us grow up feeling like we have to hide who we are just to be accepted, but that comes from a place of fear and judgment. I wrote these songs as a way of letting go of all that, as permission to feel good.” Feel Good, Wyatt’s extraordinary new album, is more than just a permission slip, though: it’s an invitation. Recorded with Black Pumas’ Adrian Quesada, the record is bold and ecstatic, built on tight, intoxicating grooves that belie the songs’ substantial emotional stakes. Wyatt’s writing is raw and intuitive here, tapping into the deep recesses of her subconscious as she reckons with grief and growth, and her delivery is visceral to match, cutting straight to the bone with equal parts sensitivity and swagger. Taken as a whole, the collection stands as a radical act of creative liberation from an artist already known for pushing limits, a genre-defying work of healing and self-love that tips its cap to everything from Al Green and Otis Redding to Waylon Jennings and Bobbie Gentry in its relentless pursuit of peace and pleasure.