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Native North America Volume 1: Aboriginal Folk, Rock And Country 1966-1985

2CD | 2014 | US | Reissue (Light In The Attic)

23,99 €*

Plastic Ono Band Deluxe Edition

Release: 2014 / US – Reissue

Genre: Rock & Indie

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2016 Grammys Best Historical Album Nominee
34 tracks newly re-mastered
Deluxe 3xLP set includes 60-page book housed in a “Tip-On” slipcase with three “Tip-On” jackets
Both 2xCD and 3xLP editions include comprehensive liner notes, artist interviews, unseen archival photos, and lyrics (with translations)
Vinyl pressed at RTI
Liner notes by Kevin “Sipreano” Howes

Largely unheard, criminally undocumented, but at their core, utterly revolutionary, the recordings of the diverse North American Aboriginal community will finally take their rightful place in our collective history in the form of Native North America (Vol. 1): Aboriginal Folk, Rock, and Country 1966–1985. An anthology of music that was once near-extinct and off-the-grid is now available for all to hear, in what is, without a doubt, Light In The Attic’s most ambitious and historically significant project in the label’s 12-year journey.

Native North America (Vol. 1) features music from the Indigenous peoples of Canada and the northern United States, recorded in the turbulent decades between 1966 to 1985. It represents the fusion of shifting global popular culture and a reawakening of Aboriginal spirituality and expression. The majority of this material has been widely unavailable for decades, hindered by lack of distribution or industry support and by limited mass media coverage, until now. You’ll hear Arctic garage rock from the Nunavik region of northern Quebec, melancholy Yup’ik folk from Alaska, and hushed country blues from the Wagmatcook First Nation reserve in Nova Scotia. You’ll hear echoes of Neil Young, Velvet Underground, Leonard Cohen, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Johnny Cash, and more among the songs, but injected with Native consciousness, storytelling, poetry, history, and ceremony.

The stories behind the music presented on Native North America (Vol. 1) range from standard rock-and-roll dreams to transcendental epiphanies. They have been collected with love and respect by Vancouver-based record archaeologist and curator Kevin “Sipreano” Howes in a 15-year quest to unearth the history that falls between the notes of this unique music. Tirelessly, Howes scoured obscure, remote areas for the original vinyl recordings and the artists who made them, going so far as to send messages in Inuktitut over community radio airwaves in hopes that these lost cultural heroes would resurface.

With cooperation and guidance from the artists, producers, family members, and behind the scenes players, Native North America (Vol. 1) sheds real light on the painful struggles and deep traditions of the greater Indigenous community and the significance of its music. The songs speak of joy and spirituality, but also tell of real tragedy and strife, like that of Algonquin/Mohawk artist Willy Mitchell, whose music career was sparked by a bullet to the head from the gun of a trigger-happy police officer, or those of Inuk singer-songwriter Willie Thrasher, who was robbed of his family and traditional Inuit culture by the residential school system.

Considering the financially motivated destruction of our environment, the conservative political landscape, and corporate bottom-line dominance, it’s bittersweet to report that the revolutionary songs featured on Native North America hold as much meaning today as when they were originally recorded. Dedicated to legendary Métis singer-songwriter and poet Willie Dunn, featured on the anthology but who sadly passed away during its making, Native North America (Vol. 1) is only the beginning. A companion set featuring a crucial selection of folk, rock, and country from the United States’ Lower 48 and Mexico is currently in production.

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John Lennon

2LP | 1970 | EU | Reissue (Universal)

42,99 €*

Release: 1970 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Rock & Indie

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Plastic Ono Band was the debut solo album by John Lennon. Released on December 11th 1970, John and Yoko had started writing and demoing at Abbey Road (emi Studios) in the summer, with recording sessions during September/October

After the break-up of The Beatles that year, John and Yoko embarked on a period of self-reflection and experimentation, with the results that the songs and sessions for Plastic Ono Band were heavily influenced by his immersion in Arthur Janov’s primal therapy. John was able to find emotional depth and honesty within himself that few artists had ever done before, with John saying to Rolling Stone “now I write all about me and that’s why I like it. It’s me.” . The result is perhaps the most honest and emotionally raw album that anyone has ever released, let alone someone who was one of the four most famous musicians on the planet. With a small core band comprised of just Ringo Starr on drums and old friend Klaus Voorman on bass, co-produced by Phil Spector, the album peaked at 8 in the UK charts and 6 in the USA. It has come to be regarded by many as John’s finest solo work and has continued to grow in stature and reverence and has often featured in various Best Of lists through the years since. Not only does this album feature some of John’s best-loved and most impactful songs – Mother, Working Class Hero, Isolation, God – but this new set also includes the singles Give Peace A Chance, Cold Turkey and the classic Instant Karma! (We All Shine On).

Released on the same day was Yoko Ono’s Plastic Ono Band album, the couple regarding the release as a pair of albums rather than two entirely separate projects, albeit of course it not achieving the same sort of coverage or chart success as John’s.

Coming as this does hot on the heels of last year’s much loved and well-reviewed “Gimme Some Truth” set and “Imagine” before that, the audio has been completely remixed from the original studio tapes as part of the ongoing John Lennon Ultimate Mix series. The aim for this mix process is to achieve three things: to remain faithful and respectful to the original recordings; to ensure that the sound is sonically clearer overall and to increase the clarity of John’s vocals. As Yoko says, “it’s about John” and this new mix shows that it is his voice that brings the biggest emotional impact of the album.

This multi-format release included a Cd/bd Super Deluxe Box with 130 page book featuring many exclusive and new photos, track-by-track notes in the words of John and Yoko, lots of tape boxes and full breakdown and descriptions of the audio content. As well as the new Ultimate Mix, we have 5 further CD discs, each focusing on different and new aspects ,including: original outtakes, demos, Elements Mixes (focusing on individual aspects of the songs to reveal unheard elements), Evolution Mixes (the story of each song from demo to complete recording), Raw Mixes (unadorned studio takes that place you inside the room almost sitting alongside the band) and a further disc of studio Jams. There are two Blu-ray Audio discs that feature hi-res stereo (192/24) versions of all the above as well as surround mixes in 5.1 and Dolby Atmos. Further material only available on BD includes the Yoko Ono Band/Plastic Ono Band Live Sessions from the original recording sessions and featuring Ringo Starr and Klaus Voorman.

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Boogie Angst Edition Three Vinyl Sampler

12" | 2020 | EU | Original (Boogie Angst)

18,99 €*

2LP | 2020 | EU | Original (L.I.E.S.)

Release: 2020 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Ending the season on a breezy note, our new VA 'Boogie Angst, Edition Three' delivers the ideal wares for a buoyant last stretch to an otherwise trying year. Spanning a brightly hued kaleidoscope of pop-infused house and mellifluous boogie, Edition Three pushes forth a selection of our choicest grooves from the past year as well as a batch of unheard and exclusive gems to keep you in the warmest, most positive mindset for the winter to come. Through fifteen cuts covering a wide but cohesive spectrum of balmy sonics, the compilation once again offers a much spitting image of what the label's been up to in recent times. High Høøps playful revamp of Secret Rendezvous' fresher-than-fresh RnB joint 'Back In The Day' sets the tone right away, followed closely by Moods & Two Another's lush coastal disco number 'Control' and Snacks & Eric Biddines neo-big band style house treat 'All Night' - a singular chunk of ballroom bop tinged with soulful blues tropes and Caribbean melodic accents, sure to have the dancers jiving without further ado. Here comes Inkswel's synth-splattered mix of 8-bit pixelation and Run DMC-esque hip-hop 'Too Late' (ft. Stan Smith) and Saux's dream folk excursion 'You're Not Wrong'. A highlight of the package and mesmerizing piece of wistful, kosmische-laced disco, Kraak & Smaak 'Centro De Placer' ushers us in a realm of velveteen ingenuousness and sun-streaked utopianism, steering us away from the tar-scented gloom of soulless metropolises into an all engulfing prism of hope, love and grace. Utrecht-based vibist Feiertag punches the clock with 'Encino Boogie' - a four minute-odd slab of buoyant funk sprinkled with laid-back house tropes and brass-heavy, loungey dub tonalities, perfect for drawing out the pleasure of dreamlike summer boogie sessions. Clear your mind and shuffle your feet to that solar-powered mix of fevered drums, slap bass and sensually aqueous groove. Next, Kraak & Smaak's add their easily identifiable, almost Beck-ian spin to Jean Tonique's lysergic pop hit-en-puissance 'Too Bad' whilst Bondax lo-slung remix of Moods' sense-awakening soul tune 'Slow Down' (ft. Damon Trueitt) eases you into a place of inviting suavity. Inkswel's funky robot chugger 'The People' (ft. Dave Aju) picks up the torch next, followed by Flevans, your go-to man for proper electroid floor traction. The UK-based producer has you covered with 'Everything I See' - a surefire, bass-driven roller inbound for severe club impact with its infectious mix of fiery riffs, mangled female vox slivers and racing groove. Next, Secret Rendezvous' sun-beamy ballad 'Your Love' takes us on a gently bouncy, romantic ride. Last but not least, Vhyce's smooth hybrid of synth-strewn RnB and lo-velocity funk 'Lose Our Minds' (ft. Yves Paquet), David Harks' metronomic disco-pop anthem 'Twice' and Saux's sleek-textured synthpop exponent 'Night Is All There Is' round off the package on a typically smooth and vibrant sentimental touch. For the wax heads out there, a limited 9-track vinyl sampler will be issued alongside the digital compilation, featuring some of the tracks on the album + a few alternative versions, and furthermore a vinyl exclusive of Kraak & Smaak's remix of Izo FitzRoy's 'When The Wires are Down', initially released only digitally via Jalapeño Records.

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Teste

Graphic Depictions

22,49 €* 29,99 € -25%

CD | 2018 | US | Original (Transistor Sound)

Release: 2020 / EU – Original

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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The cult techno outfit "Teste" digs up and re-transmits sonic archives forming a new 2xlp for L.I.E.S. Full story below.....Artwork licensed from legendary NYC street photographer Richard Sandler in appropriate fashion....lp comes with a giant newsprint poster as well. Teste was still-born by the mid-90’s and with the ensuing Ptsd I had become a Shut IN working on the Amiga Computer for Audio and Video and completely immersed in grisly, depraved art-house cinema. This release pays homage to that time in NYC when I frequented Mondo Kims daily to rent the trashiest films I could find. Things like Richard Kern’s “Fingered”, Nick Zedds’s “They Eat Scum”, Makavejev “Sweet Movie”, Merhige “Begotten” all the classicks! The 42nd Street Mind forever! In retrospect I can’t believe they gave me a membership card! Wish I still had it! Micro Budget, Discontinued Formats. All of the tracks on this release are sourced from decaying tapes (vhs, 4-track, DAT, MD) some of which were encoded to early digital formats to add another layer of artefacts and grit. I can emphatically proclaim these ideas have taken three decades to come to fruition at my present Partner in Teste (Goner) Berlin Facility. One chapter closes and another unfolds! One day it’s 1992 playing absurd Teste gigs in a Sports Bar (Tailgate Charlie’s!) in scenic Hammer Onterrible opening up for Lil’ Ed and the Blues Imperials! You could just feel the love in that room! Referred to as the “Toilet Incident” by unsuspecting attendees. From that debacle another unfolded in an infamous “final” appearance at the Pure Party in Glasgow Barrowlands 1994 -which proved an unceremonious demise to the first incarnation of Teste… Details like most things from that era are foggy… No insta stories or tweets! Just instant cameras that didn’t always make it out of the rave! After the Teste fallout then embarking on another Techno adventure for an extended stint in NYC from ’95-97. This proved a pivotal time to say the least. Huren becoming a solo entity and the lasting shockwaves with Zhark which was a New York label in those days. Also in retrospect I can say I experienced the end of the NYC of old right when the “NO Dancing” by-laws were coming in. R.I.P Strange?, Sonic Groove (Manhattan),Liquid Sky/Temple, Save The Robots, Soundlab, Tunnel, Twilo, Limelight and others that slip the memory banks… All I knew of NYC when I got off that Greyhound the first time in Port Authority in 95 after an 11 hour drive was from movies. I thought the city was like what I had seen in Abel Ferrara films “Driller Killer”, “King of New York’ “Bad Lieutenant” or the Schoolly D, or Wu-Tang Clan videos! Turns out I wasn’t too far off in a way as this was the era of the Club Kids depravity. Upon reflection my formative clubbing years had an element of Crime in them as I’ve been in the proximity of two very well known serial killers. First in the 80’s when I attended a club Paul Bernardo used to Frequent in Ontario and later on the Limelight NYC with Michael Alig. Definitely casts a sinister tinge to some of the memories. Curious coincidence the party I performed at in NYC was called Killer… And I myself was almost murdered in 2012 but that’s another story…

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Con Brio

Explorer

15,99 €*

PT01 Scratch x 7" Control Vinyl (Pair) HHV Bundle

Release: 2018 / US – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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There’s a moment before each Con Brio show — before the backflips, the guitar solos, the buoyant horn lines over bass, drum and synth — when all seven band members come in for a huddle. It's a way to say grace; an acknowledgment of live music as a team sport; a moment of stillness before they explode. "Let's work," they say, their heads bowed together. And then they do.

Named for an Italian musical direction meaning "with spirit," Con Brio is a San Francisco Bay Area band that plays soul, psych-rock and R&B as fresh and freethinking as the place they call home. With charismatic singer Ziek McCarter bringing "the dance moves, splits and all, of James Brown" (KQED) and a band that "comes across like a party punk version of Sly and the Family Stone" (Consequence of Sound), Con Brio is known to convert anyone who sees their electric live show.

Founded in 2013 by veteran players with vastly different musical backgrounds*, the band quickly became a favorite up and down the West Coast, then across the U.S., and then overseas in places like Japan and the Netherlands.

Explorer, out on July 6th, both builds on the success of Paradise and serves as a travelogue of sorts — a reflection on the two years of nearly nonstop touring that followed their first record's success.

Having proved themselves on an international stage, Con Brio breaks new ground on Explorer, expanding beyond raw energy and retro sounds toward a more contemporary, layered production style, all delivered with road-tested confidence. On "I Wanna" — a lusty, mischievous ode to the art of catching a stranger's eye across a crowded club — McCarter pours his voice, richer than ever, over a thick, irresistibly danceable rhythm from Jonathan Kirchner (bass) and Andrew Laubacher (drums).

"Body Language" slows that theme to a simmer, with a nimble, lyrical horn line from Marcus Stephens (saxophone) and Brendan Liu (trumpet) front and center. Songs like "United State of Mind" and "Royal Rage," meanwhile, reflect on America's current moment, urging strength and perspective in the face of cynicism and apathy. Over a cheerful guitar lick from Andrews, the former track sings the praises of travel, the ways it can make the world feel bigger and smaller all at once — and how sometimes you have to leave home to see it with fresh eyes. "Rage" is a rally cry, a call to resistance, with Laubacher's kick drum leading the march: "Feeling the world pulling apart, where is the we in who we are?" asks McCarter. "When will it end, where do we start?"

Then there's Con Brio's tendency to upend expectations: they've never been afraid of a little genre-bending. "Heart Shaped Box" began as a fun cover the band arranged on a whim on a rare day off on tour; within weeks it became one of the most exciting moments in the band's live show. On the record, it's a playful yet potent tribute, served surprisingly well by horns and a smart, slinky synth line from Patrick Glynn.

Ultimately, Explorer is a leap for Con Brio in more ways than one. It's a big record, with plenty of joy, a few growing pains, and more questions than answers. What does it mean to be an American band traveling the world in the year 2018 with a message of hope and tolerance? The record sounds, unsurprisingly, like a band on the verge. Wherever Explorer takes them, they go with open eyes. They're ready to huddle up, take the stage, and get to work — where they've found that, night after night, the things that divide us don't stand a chance on the dance floor.

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Numark x Serato

144,00 €*

Still Dreamin' Wild: The Lost Recordings 1979-81

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The New Era of Scratch
It’s a new era for DJs! With the PT01 Scratch portable turntable, you can scratch and cut—anywhere. Built with Numark’s exclusive Adjustable Scratch Switch™, PT01 Scratch enables you to grab your favorite scratch record (not included) and perform any turntablist scratch routine, whether you have access to AC wall power or you’re outdoors with your friends.

While keeping FRESH with a dope paint job, PT01 Scratch is designed for any DJ that is passionate for the art of turntablism and enjoy digging for vinyl records.

Transform, Cut, and Scratch
Yes! There’s an Adjustable Scratch Switch™ that gives you the perfect way to scratch, plus it’s adjustable for either right-handed or left-handed scratching styles. You can simply unscrew the scratch switch and adjust it to your style. Our scratch and slide switch performs longer than ordinary sliders, plus, unlike others, it’s user-replaceable, so the action never stops! PT01 Scratch comes equipped with a red slip-mat to perform light to heavy-handed scratches with your scratch records.

Battle anybody—we don’t care who you tell!
Connect your phone or any audio source to play a background beat through the 1/8” stereo input and scratch along to the beat. Increase the volume with the gain control and play it loud and strong on the built-in speaker. You can also connect PT01 Scratch to other equipment via the RCA stereo outputs or use the headphone output for private listening.

Record digitally to your laptop
In addition to scratching and having fun, you also have the capability to record your vinyl digitally via USB to your laptop (with free downloadable software).

Portability and Battery
PT01 Scratch plugs into a wall outlet (AC wall adapter included) and it also runs on batteries. It’s enclosed in a hard case for protection and has a sleek red handle to carry it anywhere.

FEATURES:

• Built-in adjustable Scratch Slide Switch
• User-replaceable scratch slide-switch keeps the action going
• Protective dust cover and integrated carrying handle
• Wall-powered with included AC adapter or six batteries(not included)
• Built-in speaker
• Cartridge included
• Removable slip-mat
• Class-compliant USB connection for PC recording
• 33 1/3, 45 and 78 RPM settings
• RCA line and headphone outputs
• 1/8" Aux input with adjustable volume
Aufgrund der überwältigenden Nachfrage aus der Serato Community hat Serato die neue Performance-Serie 7" Control Vinyl released. Diese Control Vinyl wird als Pärchen in der beliebtesten Farbe schwarz ausgeliefert und beinhaltet auf beiden Seiten das neuste Serato NoiseMap Control Signal in einer neu gemasterten Form. Dieses Signal ist nun 6dB lauter als zuvor, was ein deutlich präziseres Tracking und angenehmeres Vinyl-Feeling zur Folge hat.

Features

• 2x 7“ Control Vinyl (CV 2.5) in schwarz
• Control Vinyl zur Steuerung der Serato DJ und Serato Scratch Live Software
• A-Seite und B-Seite mit 4 Min. Control Signal
• Das bewährte Serato NoiseMap Control Signal, remastered und 6dB lauter als bisherige Control Vinyls
• „Vinyl Select“ Funktion ermöglicht das Steuern der MP3 Files in der Library
• Durchgehendes Steuersignal auf der Control Vinyl erlaubt ein problemloses exaktes Scratchen und mixen
• Innovatives Positionierungssystem für ein schnelles und genaues Positionieren der Nadel (Needle Droping)
• Sichtbare in Minuten unterteilte Zeitmarkierungen auf der Control Vinyl

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Donnie & Joe Emerson

LP | 2014 | US | Original (Light In The Attic)

Chris Corsano & Bill Orcutt

Release: 2014 / US – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Some people have to wait for fame; some people wait even longer than most. Donnie and Joe Emerson are in a league of their own.

As teenagers in Fruitland, Washington in the late ‘70s, the farming brothers dreamed of being heard. The synthesizers were sometimes crude and the 8-track recorder had its limitations, but the brothers aimed at nothing short of perfection in their home studio on the farm. They titled their 1979 debut Dreamin' Wild, and, as multi-instrumentalist Donnie later admitted, “Joe and I basically lived the dream of the title of the album.” The same goes for their parents who heavily believed in their sons' musical dreams, taking out a second mortgage on the farm and investing $100,000 in a dream that refused to die. But their privately funded, private press record sank without trace, the family lost most of their 1,600 acre farm, and as Joe focused on the family farming business, Donnie focused on his solo career.

As for Dreamin' Wild, things began to change three decades later, when record collector Jack Fleischer bought a copy of the album for $5 at a Spokane thrift shop. Something about the brothers' smiles, bouffant hair, and matching white jumpsuits gave him a good feeling. Fleischer's blogging about the album brought it to the attention of cult musician Ariel Pink, who recorded his own version of standout track “Baby.” Eventually re-released on Light In The Attic and widely available for the first time, the album chimed louder a lifetime after its conception: Pitchfork described it as a “a godlike symphony to teen hood.” The New York Times flew out to the family farm, while Jimmy Fallon took to Twitter to proclaim his love for the duo.

But Dreamin' Wild does not tell the full story. In a relatively short span of time (just two and half years) the boys put close to 70 songs down on tape, all recorded at that magical home studio on the farm. A dozen of them are included here on Still Dreamin' Wild: The Lost Recordings 1979-81 and ready to be enjoyed for the first time ever. With a familiar blend of FM rock, power pop, and new wave, these 12 tracks cover the entirety of that fruitful period, stretching from the second song Donnie ever recorded (“Everybody Knows It”) – to tracks documenting his temporary move to L.A. in 1981.

Donnie's life story is in these songs. Where Dreamin' Wild captures the teenage experience, Still Dreamin' Wild tells a broader story, one in which teenage dreams turn to painful yearning. So where the Beach Boys indebted “Ooh Baby Yeah” is inspired by a teenage girlfriend, “Big Money” shows the emergence of a naive political awareness. Later, 1981's “One True Love” captures the sound of what Donnie described as “the city as imagined from the farm,” and the epic closing track, “Don't Disguise The Way You Feel” found Donnie after high school, feeling stifled and frustrated in the isolation of the countryside and mourning the loss of his friend and occasional backing vocalist Dwayne. It is, quite simply, heartbreaking.

The long-belated success of Dreamin' Wild has given the Emerson brothere, still close and still the heart of a loving family, a new lease of life. They've finally taken their music on the road, performing at Seattle's Showbox followed by New York's Mercury Lounge. Still Dreamin' Wild proves that the album wasn't a fluke, and that Donnie's songwriting is as consistent as it is rare. All this time later, we finally have the pleasure of hearing the brothers' music. And the good news? They've still got the jumpsuits.

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Made Out Of Sound

LP | 2021 | US | Reissue (Palilalia)

It's True What They Say? Yellow Vinyl Edition

Release: 2021 / US – Reissue

Genre: Rock & Indie

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Received an 8.1 rating from Pitchfork. "Sadly, many will hear Chris Corsano & Bill Orcutt's latest LP, Made Out of Sound, as 'not-jazz,' though it would be more aptly described as 'not-not-jazz.' In a better world, it would warrant above-the-fold reviews in Downbeat, or an appearance on David Sanborn's late-night show (if someone would only give it back to him). More likely, we can hope for a haiku review on Byron Coley's Twitter timeline to sufficiently connect the various improvised terrains trodden by this long-time duo—but if you've been able to listen past the overmodulated icepick fidelity of Harry Pussy, it should surprise you not an iota that Orcutt's style is rooted as much in the fractal melodies of Trane and Taylor as it is in Delta syrup or Tin Pan Alley glitz. As for Corsano, well, it may seem daft to call this particular record 'jazz' (because duh, it has a drummer), but to me Corsano is beyond jazz, almost beyond music, his ambidextrous, octopoid technique grappling many stylistic levers and spraying a torrent of light from every direction. Corsano's ferocity has elevated many 'mere' improv records to transcendence, but here he's crafted his polyrhythms within more narrative channels, bringing to mind his 'mannered' playing in the lamented Flower-Corsano duo. It's not 'groove' playing precisely, but it follows many grooves simultaneously, much like Orcutt's own melodic musings—which is why they're so naturally lock-in-key here. Which maybe makes it all the more surprising that Made Out of Sound was in fact recorded in different rooms on different coasts at different times, and stitched together by Orcutt on his desktop. Corsano recorded the drums in Ithaca, NY, and (as Orcutt states), 'I didn't edit them at all. I overdubbed two guitar tracks, panned left/right. I'd listen to the drums a couple times, pick a tuning, then improvise a part, thinking of the first track as backing and the second as the 'lead', though those are pretty fluid terms. I was watching the waveforms as I was recording, so I could see when a crescendo was coming or when to bring it down.' Fluidity ties the tracks together. With a little more groove and a little less around-the-beat maneuvering, one could almost hear the boiling harmonic layers as Miles-oid in 'Man Carrying Thing,' but with new-found Sharrockian modalities, Corsano accentuating the tumbling nature of the falling notes. The Sharrock vein continues with 'How to Cook a Wolf,' its Blind Willie-esque melodic simplicity and repetition extrapolated 360-style in a repetitive descending riff that falls into Cippolina-isms (by way of Verlaine ) until the end crashes upon the shore. Much like Orcutt's last solo album, Odds Against Tomorrow, there's a gentler, almost pastoral flow to some tracks ('Some Tennessee Jar,' 'A Port in Air,' 'Thirteen Ways of Looking') that calls to mind the mixolydian swamplands of Lonnie Liston Smith—but unlike Odds , other tracks ('The Thing Itself') smash that same lyricism into overdriven, multi-dimensional melodic clumps that push several vector envelopes at once in an Interstellar Space vein. With the help of Corsano, Orcutt has managed to slither even further out of the noise/improv pigeonhole lazy listeners/writers keep trying to shove him into. Looking at the back cover of Made Out of Sound , we should not see Orcutt hurling a guitar into the air with post-punk bravado, Corsano toiling behind him in the engine room—we should witness an instrument levitating from his hands, rising on invisible major-key tendrils of melody, fired by percussion, spiraling into an invisible event horizon..."—Tom Carter

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Sarah/Shaun

12" | 2024 | UK | Original (Hobbes Music)

12" | 2024 | UK | Original (Hobbes Music)

Release: 2024 / UK – Original

Genre: Pop

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Preorder shipping from 2024-11-08

It’s True What They Say is the debut EP from Edinburgh-based, husband-and-wife duo Sarah/Shaun (pronounced simply Sarah Shaun), aka Sarah and Shaun McLachlan (pronounced “McLochlin”).

“Sarah and I both have a love for nostalgia,” explains Shaun. “We watched that amazing old 80’s Sci-Fi, (John) Carpenter movie, Starman, a few months back. Myself and my brother David used to watch it all the time. We must have been, roughly, 5-7 at the time. I remember loving the movie but the end, you know, with the beautiful, atmospheric, synth ending, I love that particular moment the most - best part of the movie, you know, when he goes home… It’s heartbreaking but stunning, all the same. It’s the music that moves you most… It did when I was 5 and it still does to this day. It must have had some form of a (much deeper) impact on me.”

The duo narrates stories across themes of love, hope, family, friends, dreams and sadness - the good that comes with the bad in everyday life, not just on a personal scale but within a community as well.

“Starbed is the first song I have ever written and just came out of the blue really, with Shaun playing a melody and me singing along,” says Sarah. “It’s simple and just about two people in love. Love songs are always the best songs, after all… Music has been a big part of my life from a young age. I was unwillingly dragged to piano and violin lessons, which I’m thankful for now! I’d say the first band I really became obsessed with growing up were the Beatles, and on the back of that a lot of 60s music and fashion. From then on, I had a love for music.”

“Shaun definitely opened my ears to a lot of sounds and got me thinking about soundtracks and all the noises that can be made,” she goes on. “We love just spending time experimenting in the house with instruments, pedals etc and Ali is a real magician to work with, too…”

The recordings took place over the summers of 2022 and 2023, with fellow Delta Mainline member Ali Chisholm (aka Jaguar Eyes) plus long-term friend and collaborator Gavin King. Further collaboration then came via the ‘net from the (international) likes of Chris Dixie Darley (Father John Misty), Darren Coghill (Neon Waltz) and Daniel Land (The Modern Painters), among others (see a full list of credits below).

Both Sarah and Shaun have a love for uber-soundtrack producers such as Hanz Zimmer, Max Richter, Cliff Martinez plus live acts such as Beach House, Spiritualized, M83, Suicide, Moby and OMD (to name a few). Shaun also credits the work of Kyle Dixon & Michael Stein (from Survive) on the Stranger Things score… “Even a moment in a movie, whether it be just 30 seconds during a particular scene, it grips you,” he says. But there’s something much deeper at play as well. “Music is a healer,” he goes on, “and I write from my own perspective but more so for others. Once I've done my bit, it doesn't belong to me any longer. It belongs to whoever wants it or needs it.”

The result is a cinematic, synth-wavey, dream poppy and downright beguilingly beautiful body of work. And they’re just getting started…

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Sarah/Shaun

It's True What They Say?

14,99 €* 19,99 € -25%

LP | 2016 | EU | Reissue (Analog Africa)

Release: 2024 / UK – Original

Genre: Pop

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Bitori

Legend Of Funaná /

Ash Ra Tempel Remastered By Manuel Göttsching

Release: 2016 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Analog Africa No. 21 „bitori“ - Legend Of Funaná (The Forbidden Music of The Cape Verde Islands) - In 1997, a quiet, unassuming man of 59 years old named Victor Tavares - better know as Bitori - walks into a studio for the very first time to record a masterpiece which many Cabo Verdean consider to be the best Funaná album ever made.

Bitoris musical adventure had begun long before this point. It was 1954 when he embarked on a journey across the seas to the island of Sao Tomé & Principe. The young man´s hope was to return to Cabo Verde with an accordion.

Following two years of hard labour Bitori had succeeded in saving enough money to acquire what was to become his most valued possession, his cherished instrument. The two month journey back to Santiago, his island of birth, proved time enough to master it. Self taught, Bitori developed his own style, an infectious blaze, that quickly caught the attention of the older generation. Before long Bitori was being asked to share his musical talents, igniting the local festivities around Praia with his music.

But not everybody welcomed the rural accordion-based sound. Perceived as a symbol of the struggle for Cape Verdean independence and frowned upon as music of uneducated peasants, Funaná was prohibited by the Portuguese colonial rulers. Performing it in public or in urban centres had serious consequences - often jail time and torture awaited musicians that were “caught in the act”. In light of such persecution the genre of Funaná began to slowly disappear.

In 1975 Cabo Verde achieved independence from Portuguese colonial rule. Along with Cabo Verde’s independence came a lifting of the ban placed on Funaná. The musical repercussions in Cabo Verde were plenty - many upcoming artists embraced Funaná, translating and adapting its musical form in new ways. It was not to be until the mid-1990’s, however, that Funaná in its traditional form was actually recorded.

It was a young singer from Tarafal, Chando Graciosa, who was to play a key role in this event. Upon hearing Bitori, Graciosa immediately felt drawn to Bitori's unique playing style - a raw and passionate sound accompanied by honest lyrics that reflected the harsh reality of the Cabo Verdean working class. He eagerly approached Bitori suggesting they join forces and travel overseas with the objective of taking Funaná beyond its rural roots. The two of them, with others in tow, achieved their goal and travelled to Europe, introducing a receptive European audience to the vibrant energy of Funaná. Eventually Bitori returned to his beloved Cabo Verde. Graciosa opted to settle in Rotterdam in order to pursue his career - he vowed, however, to bring Bitori across to Holland at a later date to record an album.

In 1997 the time was ripe to immortalise the sound Bitori had shaped over a time span of four decades. Built around a formidable rhythm section, formed of drummer Grace Evora and bass player Danilo Tavares, "Bitori Nha Bibinha" was recorded. The recording catapulted Chando Graciosa to stardom, making him Cabo Verde´s No.1 interpreter of Funaná.

The success in Cabo Verde was phenomenal and Funaná rapidly gained the recognition it deserved, especially in urban dance clubs. Bitori´s songs quickly became standards - classics known and loved throughout the country. The musical success, however, was solely limited to the Cabo Verdean islands - until now!

Analog Africa is proud to contribute to the worldwide promotion of Funaná - the once forbidden sound of the Cabo Verde archipelago - by releasing a worldwide re-issue of Bitori and Chando Graciosa´s legendary recording. The release will herald Bitori´s first European tour taking place during the summer of 2016. Watch this space! And listen!

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Ash Ra Tempel

CD | 1971 | EU | Reissue (MG.Art)

23,99 €*

CD | 2024 | US | Original (Big Crown)

Release: 1971 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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Ash Ra Tempel is the eponymous debut studio album by the Krautrock band Ash Ra Tempel.
It features guitarist Manuel Göttsching with drummer Klaus Schulze and bassist Hartmut Enke.
Engineered by Conny Plank it was recorded in March 1971 and released in June 1971 on Ohr Records.

Much has been written about the record and band.

Having finished a first musical chapter with their Steeple Chase Bluesband and still at very young age of only 17 and 18 years old Manuel Göttsching and Hartmut Enke met Klaus Schulze. Together they started to write and and compose what, to many,
became one the holy grails of Psychedelic Rock and early Electronic Music -
the German variant which was later also named "Krautrock":

Ash Ra Tempel´s self-titled first album "Ash Ra Tempel".

"The trio of Klaus Schulze, Manuel Göttsching and Hartmut Enke decided to abandon conventional composition and song writing, in favour of free-form improvising and developing a new musical language. As such, they became notorious for jams that could exceed 30 minutes." Says Discogs. "Some of these recordings can be found on Manuel Göttsching´s "The Private Tapes" releases", which will be re-released on MG.ART as well, following this edition.

"Krautrocksampler" author Julian Cope mentioned it to be "… one of the greatest rock 'n' roll LPs ever made." (Julian Cope Presents Head Heritage | Unsung | Reviews | Ash Ra Tempel - Ash Ra Tempel". 15 March 2000.)

AllMusic called the album "both astonishingly prescient and just flat out good, a logical extension of the space-jam-freakout ethos into rarified realms."

Here we would like the Band to be heard, for what can easily be said as the first time in 50+ years, with the exception of some early Journalists for whom the young Manuel Göttsching wrote a statement of intent (the original text can be found inside this edition) as following:

"Our musical concept is based on a combination of blues rock and delicate collages of electronic sound. These two elements should remain inseparable. And in their complex unity, the different musical philosophies of each musician find a common sweet spot. Our music is a permanently impulsive experience left to develop as it will, starting from a common fixed point of departure. This is where the difficulty of the music begins: No standardized formulation of our music can and should be possible. Only the constant reaction within the band can determine the musical result. And this requires constant listening with full concentration on the part of the creators. The idea of a particular musician will be - if flexible enough - absorbed by the others, transposed to their own instrument, and reflected back into the music as an individual contribution. This reciprocity within the band is then transferred over to the audience. And this process means that their reaction is not only a contribution to the end result; it actually makes them jointly responsible for the creation of the final musical product.
…
On our album, the track "Amboss" represents the first layer. Conventional instruments communicate familiar music which is in part expanded through electronic means. In the second track of the album - "Traummaschine" - the actual basic sound approach is dissolved into an electronic Nirvana which no longer allows the concrete identification of actual instruments. Innocent, virgin listening, free from any and every association, can finally begin - and the music can be absorbed and processed free from the limitations of categorization. That is the purpose of our music: To convey freedom without any predetermined criteria or traditions.

Thank you for your attention."
(Taken from the original A-R-T Bio 1970)

Hartmut Enke, Manuel Göttsching and Klaus Schulze aka. Ash Ra Tempel travelled to Hamburg in March 1971 to record their debut, with assistance of another Icon, legendary engineer Conny Plank.
The rest is history.

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Brainstory

Sounds Good

16,99 €*

Tape | 2024 | US | Original (Big Crown)

Release: 2024 / US – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Big Crown Records is proud to present Brainstory's sophomore full-length album Sounds Good. Based in L.A. but hailing from the Inland Empire's own Rialto, California, two-thirds of Brainstory, Kevin and Tony Martin are brothers by blood, while Eric Hagstrom is a brother through their music and long term friendship. Since they started the band they have constantly faced situations that forced them to rise to the occasion. They got signed to Big Crown Records, they stepped up their game. Covid happened, they learned to record themselves. They started touring a ton sharing the stage with the likes of Lady Wray and they got their live show super tight. All of this time spent grinding and growing has certainly paid off. The path to take their art to the next level is clearer than ever, and once again, they are here for it. If there is one thing that is abundantly clear on Sounds Good, it's that Brainstory has leveled up. Part of this evolution is undoubtedly attributed to having access to and working constantly in their own studio in Long Beach. Another major factor is that their brotherhood has expanded. "I've been playing music with my brother all my life and now with Eric for a long time," Tony tells us. "Leon, though, is like another brother I've just met." Leon Michels, Big Crown's co-owner, produced this record and applied his unmistakable golden touch in crucial ways. The other member of the extended Brainstory brotherhood whose contributions were essential to the album, is studio engineer legend Jens Jungkurth who controls the tones and textures of the music. "That's what you're hearing, our connection, the fun moments, the little details," Kevin describes. "This record isn't half what it is without them_and it made us want to match that effort," and match that effort they did. Album opener "Nobody But You" is an uplifting, dance ¬oor burner, that shows off a new side of Brainstory's range. Drummer Eric Hagstrom's crushing back beat lays the foundation for an inspirational feel good banger that manages to take the uncomfortable truth that "nobody will save you but you" and turn it into pure blissful motivation. "Peach Optimo" is a laid back half time tune that blends the bounce of Down South Hip-Hop with California G funk and Jazz. They once again show off their B said ballad talents with "Gift Of Life" but this time taking the genre to a new place with lyrics about existentialism and a track that is drop dead gorgeous, haunting, and profound all at once. "NyNy" is an homage to Kev and Tony's recently deceased grandfather while "Too Yung" is a show stopping, deeply personal, stripped down number about being introduced to alcohol at a young age. They put another hit on the boards with "Hanging On," a Latin / Psychedelic Soul inspired banger featuring Claire Cottrill on background vocals while "XFaded" addresses the all too common vicious cycle of smoking and drinking too much over a trippy shuf¬e. "It's been four years since our last full length record, and with everything that's happened since, it's like we've been catching up to ourselves." That's one way to describe change: catching up to oneself. Each member of Brainstory has gone through shifts, both personally and musically, and all of that threads through Sounds Good. It's easy to say that the music industry can be short on lasting, genuine relationships. However, for Brainstory, from day one it's been about standing by each other, for each other.

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Brainstory

Sounds Good

13,99 €*

Sounds Good Black Vinyl Edition

Release: 2024 / US – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Brainstory

LP | 2024 | US | Original (Big Crown)

J. Mcfarlane Reality Guest

Release: 2024 / US – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Whoopee

LP | 2024 | Original (Night School)

Recorded In Miami 1989-1991

Release: 2024 / Original

Genre: Rock & Indie

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From out of nowhere - if nowhere is the febrile, warped and twilit imagination of Julia McFarlane - comes Whoopee, the second album by J.McFarlane’s Reality Guest. Whoopee is an esoteric, kaleidoscopic movie in music form directed by Julia McFarlane and co-conspirator Thomas Kernot. Full of life, breakbeats and smokey vignettes on the fragile nature of interpersonal relationships, Whoopee is a stylistic evolution from everything McFarlane has done before. Surreal, beautiful in parts and replete with the aching wisdom McFarlane’s songwriting has always promised, this Reality Guest pulls back the curtain on a whole scene of naked truth. Recorded in Melbourne in bursts since the release of 2019’s Ta Da, Whoopee features a new sound palette and band member in Kernot. The duo dive deep into electronic pop tropes, mining digital synths, samples, breakbeats and deep bass grooves, largely dispensing with live instrumentation. If Ta Da took twists and turns with your expectations, offering a Dada-ist, monochromatic take on pop music, Whoopee is McFarlane’s subterranean love-sick pinks, reds, greens, purples and blues. Becoming something of a tradition, the album starts with an instrumental intro pilfered from a 90s’ spy film or cinema intro music, puffing up the listener for the heart-squeezing bathos of Full Stops. Over a bleary backdrop of walking bass lines, jazz- inflected keys and smoked-out atmosphere, McFarlane’s poetry narrates the fragile state of a relationship: “You put a full stop where I thought there’d be a comma, I want the story to continue even with all the drama.” Over a palpable pain, the narrator is revelling in the drama of a relationship, addicted to tumult and heightened emotion. On Sensory, a space age bachelor lounge pad ballad, the converse state of the previous song is explored, here the narrator is battling the numbness of being out of the drama, stuck in a sensory-deprivation tank, anaesthesized and battling to emerge from the fog. Wrong Planet explores an otherworldly pop music, hewing a bright hook out of a sense of confusion. A bona-fide, sing-along chorus bursts out of the narrator musing on the absurdity of existing in this reality. It speaks of one of Julia McFarlane’s main talents, her knack of inspecting human relationships and states with a clear perspective, like an alien visiting Earth and realising everything we are is really, really strange. Whoopee is both more accessible than previous Reality Guest work and somehow more obfuscated. Where the production on Ta Da was dry, sharp and strange, this Reality Guest is blurred, almost smeared with the effluvium of 90s+00s culture and existence. Through it all, it’s hard to deny the undeniable pull of the songs. Precious Boy carries on the lounge theme with a whole sampler of cut up sounds fading in and out of the haze as McFarlane’s voice is right up to the speaker cooing and free- associating, maybe in love or maybe in confusion... maybe they’re the same thing? Sometimes the listener is invited to just bathe in the tone of the vocal, as on Apocalypse, where the texture and timbre of the vocal is luxurious, bathing in piano tinkles and double bass throb. On lead single Slinky, a cut up beat reminiscent of Washingtonian Go-Go drum patterns leads, the song slipping through your fingers, elusive and presenting sound as pure pleasure. Closer Caviar jumps back into the broken breakbeats of a surreal funk, fuelled by the sensory pleasure of the music, a hedonistic whirl in rapture, the narrator now living life to the fullest in all its giddy heights and deep troughs. This is the album’s main character fully-actualised and in the terrible, beautiful moment.

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Watt

LP | 2023 | US | Original (Palilalia)

37,99 €*

Waillee Waillee (with slightly Damaged Cover)

Release: 2023 / US – Original

Genre: Rock & Indie

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I was hanging out with Bill Orcutt at the 930 Club nearly 30 years ago, watching a famous post-rock band (who shall remain nameless, but whose moniker contained two-and-a-half times more articles and conjunctions than nouns) when he said: 'This band is like my band in college—all major 7th and 9th chords.' I relate this to emphasize that in the case of Bill Orcutt and Harry Pussy, the seemingly untutored ooze of 'Please Don't Come Back From the Moon' and 'Girl With Frog' had its genesis in something far more Apollonian than is usually understood. It's debatable whether or not Watt, the duo of Orcutt and drummer Tim Koffley featured on Recorded in Miami, is the above referenced grad-school band. Watt is not resplendent with jazz chords, but it's certainly more tutored, offering a mannered link between the contemporaneous Thunders-esque punk of Orcutt's Trash Monkeys and Harry Pussy's mayhem. The continuity with Harry Pussy is more than temporal. Recorded in Miami is Orcutt's first use of the four-string guitar, and Harry Pussy claimed the same amp and drum kit. The resemblance more or less ends there. To further put Recorded in Miami—made on Orcutt's Walkman, Rat Bastard's North Miami studio, and South Miami's Natural Sound (total bill $289)—into context, consider the fecundity of the underground music world as the '80s rolled into the '90s. It's hard to relate to those who missed it, but it was a time when post-hardcore hadn't quite given way to the bloat of grunge, when the Minutemen held sway (for the moment) over Led Zeppelin. The indie world was ruled by an ever-propagating compost heap of jagged guitar bands like Tful282, Truman's Water, and (to crank it back a couple years) Phantom Tollbooth. And in some ways (although Orcutt swears Watt's prime influences were James Blood Ulmer and Fred Frith's Massacre ), this record seems very much cut from that decade-ending cloth, seemingly only one vocal overdub away from a Homestead catalog number. Track after track (mostly titled after episodes of Art Clokey's slyly Buddhist TV masterwork, Gumby), Recorded in Miami 's tracks spill over with right angles, rockist tropes, and verse / chorus structures, from the Minutemen oid funk of 'Band Contest' to the stroked Moore-Ranaldo-isms of 'The Young and the Decoding.' Yet Orcutt's fretboard-spanning angular melodic runs are right up front in the latter, and the final two tracks introduce a bit of the explosive chaos that would follow when Adris finally claimed the drum kit. Consider 'Wattstock,' where Koffley forms the bedrock for an extended Orcutt hotbox of instantly-composed harmolodics. Or 'God Are You There, It's Me, Watt,' where we can hear the spontaneous vocal bursts (the only vocals on the album) that would re-emerge on Orcutt's early solo records. Watt began to crumble when Koffley, as drummers will do, yearned for rhythmic grids of increasing complexity, while Orcutt instead wanted to 'smoke more pot and improvise.' For a few records with Harry Pussy, Orcutt would get his wish (though some of the structuralism of Watt would creep into later records). But we shouldn't regard Recorded in Miami as mere transitional scraps of juvenalia, or stunt-rock delivered for the mere thrill of pulling it off. Rather, it's an early, major piece of the unfolding and complex puzzle of Orcutt's music. A foundation. And without the earth beneath our feet, how can we ever reach the sky?"—Tom Carter

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Dorothy Carter

LP | 2023 | EU | Original (Putojefe)

8: Kindred Spirits - Live From Lobero

Release: 2023 / EU – Original

Genre: Rock & Indie

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Last copies of the record come with minor corner bumps or sight seamsplits. We're therefore selling them at reduced pricing.

Reverse board tip on with silver pantone print. The first ever reissue of Dorothy Carter's 1978 folk/psych/drone masterpiece. A truly unique album in Dorothy's catalog of otherwise traditional psaltery folk music, Waillee Waillee's essence sits in the confluence of Dorothy's mastery of the dulcimer; its shimmering notes fully enmeshed with the tremulous, cavernous drones of Bob Rutman's bowed steel cello. The core of this album, Dorothy's only with a full band, lies in the contradiction of traditional psych-folk idioms and the minimal avant-garde, referencing Henry Flynt and Laraaji as much as Karen Dalton. This LP version includes 12 page booklet with unpublished manuscripts, drawings, photographs, and songbooks of the songs from the album, as well as extended liner notes from friends and family of Dorothy Carter, including notable musicians such as Laraaji, Bob Rutman, and Alexander Hacke (of Einstürzende Neubauten). Drops soon - a joint release between Palto Flats & Putojefe Records.

Dorothy Carter was many things - a virtuoso player, storyteller, historian of Celtic and Appalachian folk music, avid lifelong busker, avant-garde musician, and itinerant troubadour, laying a framework for music that existed both within and outside of standard folk idioms - never better represented than on her 1978 masterwork, Waillee Waillee. Underscored by Bob Rutman’s cavernous bowing of the steel cello, the richness of Waillee Waillee’s sound produces an album unlike any other in her discography. In particular, its two side-ending pieces, “Summer Rhapsody” and “Tree of Life,’’ glide with the shimmering filigree of hammered dulcimer and Dorothy Carter’s ephemeral voice floating over Rutman’s droning buzz of the steel cello. The elements of these two tracks suggest something akin to a transcendental Appalachian raga or whirling cosmic folk music, an effortless combination that serves to add additional substance to the remaining tracks on the album.

The title track is one of her most enduring compositions, often performed in stripped down versions throughout her career, and one of her sole recordings featuring a full band, with the contrapuntal interplay of tremulous flute, vibrating steel cello, bass and drums. Lyrically and tonally, her voice would never sound as stirring and refi ned as on this, her most outwardly accessible song.

She counted musical colleagues as diverse as Constance Demby, Einstürzende Neubauten and Laraaji, as well as her lifelong artistic partner and friend Bob Rutman, whose imprint is felt throughout the grooves of this record. The master tapes for this recording were fortuitously discovered in Rutman’s Berlin studio, many, many years later. As recounted in Laraaji’s contribution to the liner notes, Dorothy was “someone who really influenced my early zither exploration and vocabulary and inspired my shift toward hammered zither performance and recording,” after encountering him busking on the sidewalk one day in the 1970s. Later, when living in Berlin in the early 1990s, Dorothy would begin work on manuscripts detailing the history of the dulcimer family and providing extensive sheet music, selected material of which is reproduced in the twelve page booklet included with this release. Dorothy would find later success touring and performing in the late 90s with the ensemble Mediæval Bæbes, which she led with British musician Katherine Blake, playing a prominent role on their first four albums.

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Charles Lloyd

2LP+DVD | 2020 | EU | Original (Blue Note)

Straight From The Decks Volume 3 HHV x Guts Exclusive Yellow Vinyl Edition

Release: 2020 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Charles Lloyd has played the 150-year-old adobe theater in downtown Santa Barbara more often than any other venue, and more often than any other performer. Knowing that Marian Anderson sang there on February 14, 1940 makes it a sacred space for him. In the concert film you can see him bobbing with pleasure beneath his pointy, indigo knit cap, curly white hair, and long goatee. He beams at his neighbors, places the palms of his hands together and pulls them against his black sweater and golden tenor saxophone in the traditional Buddhist greeting. “I always get nervous before I go on,” Lloyd confesses, “but once I get on, Dorothy [Darr] has to come and drag me off. It seems that once I’m on stage I get met by the spirits. I enter the now. Sometimes Prez and Bird will stop by and say, ‘Hi, Charles.’”

A birthday is a door between the past and the future, and this concert reflected that truth. Representing the future were 34-year-old pianist Gerald Clayton, who performs regularly with Lloyd, and 31-year-old guitarist Julian Lage, who had performed with him when he was 12-years-old. Representing the past was 74-year-old organist and fellow Memphis native Booker T. Jones, who had never played with Lloyd at all. This was a one-of-a-kind line-up for a one-of-a-kind ritual.

“I’ve known Julian since he was 12,” Lloyd says. “He’s from the Healdsburg area, and Jessica Felix, who runs the jazz festival there, asked if Julian could play with us during the festival in 2000. Billy Higgins and John Abercrombie were in the group. I knew she wouldn’t ask if he didn’t have something special, so we let him play, and he had something; he had big ears. We’re all seekers in life; we all get the rays of the sun, but some get a stronger dose. A lot of young geniuses flame out and no one remembers their names. But so far, Julian’s balanced: grounded but at the same time ecstatic. Even though he’s the future, he knows the past.”

“Gerald was often back stage when I was touring with the New Quartet. In 2013 when Jason’s other duties became overwhelming, I decided to try out Gerald. His father and uncle are great musicians,” Lloyd says, referring to bassist John and saxophonist Jeff of the Clayton Brothers, “so he comes from something deep. You can hear it when he plays.”

Jones was still in junior high when Lloyd was graduating from high school, so they didn’t know each other when they were both growing up in Memphis. But they both shared the city’s rich cultural heritage, and when they ran into each other at the 2014 Monterey Jazz Festival, they promised to play together at some point. This birthday party was the perfect excuse.

“Memphis was such a rich environment,” Lloyd recalls. “It was like New York City, only with biscuits and gravy. There was an intelligentsia that inspired me to always be a learner. New York was 1300 miles away, and Chicago 450 miles away, but we were on the river, so musicians were always coming through. These out-of-town guys would play the Peabody Hotel and then they’d come over to the joints in our neighborhood to play with us, and we’d put a hurt on them. We didn’t tap dance or do anything for the man. We had our own culture and we knew it was inspired. We knew nothing of the lamb tongues and the gold mines, and I’m so thankful; we were doing it for the music.”

Don Was first made his name as co-leader and bassist of the 1980s funk-rock band Was (Not Was) and went on to produce albums for the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Brian Wilson, Bonnie Raitt, Lucinda Williams, Jason Moran and many more. In 2012, he became president of Blue Note Records and immediately set out to bring his hero Lloyd to the label. By 2015, he had succeeded in his quest and a magnificent series of albums has followed: Wild Man Dance, I Long To See You, Passin’ Thru, and Vanished Gardens.

Harland anchors every project that Lloyd pursues these days—Sangam, the Marvels, the New Quartet—and Rogers is present in every group but the bass-less Sangam. “Eric and Reuben put a magic carpet under me,” Lloyd exclaims, “and I can travel wherever I want to go. They want to be there, and they know that to be there they have to spread their wings in any situation. When we take that journey together; that’s communal living at its highest. Music is not for sleepwalking; it’s for wakefulness. Reuben and Eric understand. My music dances on a lot of shores, and they have the ability to be in the now with all of it.”

The Lobero set list docked at many of those shores. The evening began with the title track from Lloyd’s first album for Atlantic Records, 1966’s Dream Weaver. This infectious reverie begins with breathy exhalations and ends the same way 20 minutes later, but in between, Lloyd’s tenor saxophone attacks the theme with an increasingly edgy fearlessness—and Lage and Clayton follow his example.

“‘Dream Weaver’ is sacred ground to me,” Lloyd says. “That record was fresh and crazily beautiful. It has withstood the passage of the ages. I started playing it again and found new ways of expressing the truth. There are some notes on the saxophone I didn’t have as a young man. They aren’t on the horn; they’re in between the cracks. I’m not denying the young Charles, but as my character becomes whole, the music gets better.” If that tune reached back to the beginnings of Lloyd’s career, the next three came from his much-lauded resurgence in the 1990s through the 2010s on ECM. “Requiem,” which first appeared on 1992’s Notes from Big Sur, used patient tempos and pointillist solos by the tenor saxophone, piano, guitar and acoustic bass to create a mood that fits the title.

The Mexican folk song “La Llorona” from 2010’s Mirror (and 2016’s I Long To See You) opens with a piano solo that slowly builds from quiet to majestic and closes with a tenor solo that manages to always reference the melody as it’s sprinting through the octaves. That segues into “Part 5, Ruminations” from 2017’s Passin’ Thru, which begins with a meditative, free-floating consideration of the harmony before cohering into a more definite theme that inspires a stabbing guitar solo, a classically flavored piano solo, a rumbling drum solo and a low-register tenor saxophone solo.

The second set found Clayton sitting out until the encores. Rogers switched from acoustic to electric bass, and Was sat in for two numbers on acoustic bass. Jones contributed two compositions: the premiere of his birthday card “Song for Charles,” and his 1962 hit as leader of Booker T. & the MGs, “Green Onions.” Two Lloyd compositions from the 1960s, “Island Blues” and “Sombrero Sam,” joined the old hymn “Abide with Me” and the American folk tune “Shenandoah.” For the encore, Clayton rejoined the band to play Lloyd’s “Forest Flower” and Billy Preston’s 1974 hit single, “You Are So Beautiful.”

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Guts

2LP | 2023 | EU | Original (Heavenly Sweetness)

LP | 2021 | UK | Original (Forever Living Originals)

Release: 2023 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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This Edition is limited to 500 copies and shared with Guts. 350 are available via HHV and 150 via Guts.

"All DJs have their own way of building their set. Some pick records entirely on the spur of the moment and trust their instincts, others write down a precise list on a piece of paper and never stray from it; the set is a kitchen where the DJ is the Chef. It doesn't matter how it’s done, as long as it's done properly and enjoyed by everyone, that's what matters the most.

I think I'm combining these two methods when building my set, except that instead of a meal, I'm talking about a story. A story that crosses styles, countries, atmospheres, and that I tell in a different way every night. With, however, a method that I respect.

Between the new stuff I get from the labels, the stuff that friends and fans send me, and what I dig myself, I have enough to make a different set from A to Z, every night! However, before these treats can delight the dancefloor, each of them has to go through a quite precise process.

The first step is to digitalize my tracks in high quality. I can play several dates in a week, so carrying boxes of records to places that are sometimes far apart is out of the question. The WAV format has become my best friend. With it, I can edit some tracks, cut parts or lengthen others. Sometimes, an interminable intro is not necessary, while a furious break needs to repeat itself a bit longer.

Then, the second step consists in classifying the tracks by genre and origin. A real library is thus created where each title has its own place. Accessible (almost) without searching. I know all too well the experience of getting lost in one's own collection, trying to read the spines, pulling out a record halfway from its shelf only to put it back in it immediately. No, that's not the one... where did I put that other one then?...

From these folders I then draw the titles which will be part of the third stage: the selection for the DJ set. Nothing is set in stone, tracks come and go on a regular basis. I have year-round squatters as well as residents passing through for a few weeks. Or days. It is from there that I begin to elaborate the story that I will be telling for three or four hours.

The beginning of the set is always the same. Welcoming the dancers gently. Letting them take their marks with a musical apéritif of tracks at 80/90 BPM, something that many DJs don’t do or no longer do.

The end is always the same. Parting with the dancers gently. Letting them go down peacefully. Their evening with me is over, but it is perhaps another one, more intimate, that will be starting for them.

In between these two moments, it’s all about the story itself, with its cumbia, reggae, hip hop, lusophone music, funk, soul-jazz twists... A rich story which tells itself in the mood of the moment and back on the dance floor. Depending on the general atmosphere, the rise in musical power can start after an hour and thirty minutes of preliminaries, or it can happen only after 45 minutes. The climax is reached with the Afro-house part, a furious passage that makes overexcited music from Zimbabwe and punk music from South Africa confront each other along a total experimentation with tracks so disturbing that they put the dancers' legs out of sync. This represents a moment of rupture in the narrative, its only purpose being to help reconnect with the dance floor as soon as it is over and to re-launch the story with even greater interest.

Those who have already come to see my DJ set know this: each of my stories is unique.

I hope you’ll enjoy the one I’m telling you in this third volume.

Pura Vida

Guts"

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Sault

NINE

Release: 2021 / UK – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Sault returns with a new album featuring Michael Ofo and Little Simz. NINE will be limited to a short press run of 16,000 units, never to be re-issued again!

Sault - Nine is the fifth studio album by the mysterious collective Sault, released in June 2021. Like their previous albums, Nine arrived with little prior notice or traditional promotion.
Nine continues Sault's tradition of blending genres like soul, R&B, funk, Afrobeat, and post-punk, but it has a darker, grittier, and more confrontational tone than its predecessors. The album delves deeply into themes of trauma, mental health, inner-city struggles, violence, and survival, with a particular focus on life in Black urban environments.

The sound of the album reflects this shift in tone, with raw, minimalist production that pairs heavy basslines and hypnotic rhythms with layered vocals, spoken word segments, and atmospheric soundscapes. The music feels urgent, intense, and emotionally charged, offering a stark contrast to the more celebratory tone of Untitled (Rise).

Key Themes: Nine paints vivid portraits of life in marginalized communities, particularly in cities like London, where systemic inequality, violence, and hardship are everyday realities for many. The album’s title, Nine, is believed to refer to Nine Elms, an area of London, although it could also symbolize the "nine lives" concept, reflecting the resilience and survival instincts of those in tough environments.

The album tackles a range of topics, including:

Trauma – Several tracks reflect on the lasting impact of violence, poverty, and systemic oppression on mental health.
Community – There’s a strong focus on community dynamics, exploring both the unity and tensions within these spaces.
Resilience and Survival – Like much of Sault’s work, Nine reflects the endurance and strength required to navigate difficult environments.
Key Tracks:

"London Gangs" – A hard-hitting track with a pulsating, tense rhythm, addressing gang culture, violence, and the survival mentality of growing up in tough urban environments.
"You from London" – Featuring British rapper Little Simz, this track offers a sharp, introspective look at identity and the contradictions of growing up in a city like London, where cultural pride and struggle are deeply intertwined.
"Fear" – This song explores the psychological impact of fear, particularly how it’s experienced by people living in environments shaped by violence and deprivation.
"Bitter Streets" – A slower, more reflective track that focuses on the emotional toll of life on the streets, with a hauntingly beautiful melody that contrasts with the bleakness of its subject matter.
"Alcohol" – A deeply personal track, this one touches on themes of addiction, self-destruction, and the attempts to cope with life’s hardships through substance abuse.
Spoken Word and Storytelling: Nine incorporates spoken word interludes that add to its storytelling dimension. These segments often feature reflections on life in inner-city London, painting vivid images of the struggles and dynamics in urban spaces. The storytelling aspect makes the album feel more documentary-like, giving it a raw and real-life feel.

Production and Collective Identity: As with all Sault projects, the production on Nine is minimalistic yet impactful, with tight, looped rhythms, bass-heavy grooves, and layered vocals. The collective continues to maintain their air of mystery, avoiding traditional credits and public appearances. Producer Inflo is believed to be a central figure behind the sound, with vocal contributions from Cleo Sol, Kid Sister, and others, although these aren’t always confirmed.

Nine was well-received by critics, who appreciated its raw honesty and the way it dealt with heavy topics. It was seen as a necessary exploration of trauma, violence, and mental health in marginalized communities, delivered with Sault's trademark blend of musical innovation and emotional depth.

In sum, Nine stands out as one of Sault’s most emotionally intense and thematically challenging albums, offering a stark but poignant look at survival, trauma, and community in urban environments.

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Forever & Ever Clear Orange Vinyl Edition

LP | 2024 | US | Original (Big Crown)

Drone Logic - 10th Anniversary Edition White Vinyl Edition

Release: 2024 / US – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Big Crown Records is proud to present Forever & Ever, the debut album from Thee Heart Tones. Hailing from Hawthorne, California, Thee Heart Tones are both carrying on a tradition and pushing the boundaries with their music. Lead singer Jazmine Alvarado is just 19 years old and the oldest member of the group, Jorge Rodriguez is 21, but one listen to their record and it becomes blatantly apparent they are a talent well beyond their years. Thee Heart Tones are Jazmine on vocals, Ricky Cerezo on keys and organ, Jorge on drums, Jeffrey Romero on bass, Peter Chagolla on lead guitar, and Walter Morales on rhythm guitar. As the story goes, "one day I got a DM from Ricky Cerezo asking if I wanted to write a song for his new (then unnamed) band," Jazmine says. "I knew his drummer and the other boys from middle school, so they were familiar faces. They sent me an mp3 of an instrumental they'd written and told me they wanted lyrics, so I wrote some and sent it to them." That song ended up being "Don't Take Me as a Fool," a downbeat, minor key ballad on which Jazmine's sultry, pitch-perfect vocals soar, and which is now destined for their debut album. Ricky went home to play "Don't Take Me As a Fool", recorded as a voice note on his phone, to his dad. "I was hesitant. Dad knew this music better than anyone; he grew up with it. But he grabbed my phone and held it to his ear. His approval meant a lot to me. But he had the same reaction Jorge and I did when we fi¬rst heard Jazmine sing. `This is going to be a hit,' he told me. `You guys have something really special here'." It was that same recording that caught the ears of Leon Michels and Danny Akalepse of Big Crown Records, who both heard the potential in the group immediately. After they signed to the label, Leon flew out to Los Angeles to record their debut album with Tommy Brenneck at Tommy's Diamond West studio. They knocked out 14 songs in fi¬ve days, capturing the charm of teenage soul and mixing it with their seasoned production prowess and the result is a modern classic Soul album. Album opener and title track "Forever & Ever" is an infectious two-stepper that instantly lifts your mood while heavy duty B side ballads like "Should I Call You Tonight", "Cry My Tears Away", and "It's Time" hold court with the genre's classics. They pick up the pace and ¬fill the dancefloor with "Need Something More" as Jazmine matter of factly sets the record straight on a Northern Soul styled track. They cover the Alvaro Carrillo penned classic "Sabor A Mi" to great effect, doing it justice and putting their version right up there with the best of them. Another standout is their version of The Vanguards classic "Somebody Please" which they change the tone of and take to a different level. The punching drums of "No Longer Mine" juxtapose Jazmine's honeyed vocals and wind up with the gritty energy of a mid-90s hip hop sample. Forever & Ever is both a testament to their unmistakable musical chemistry and talent. Their intentions as a band are testament to their collective character. Choosing to cover "Sabor A Mi" "allows us to let our audience know we go back to our roots," Jazmine says. "Growing up in LA, you get influenced by the city, the artwork, the music," Ricky says. "Dad didn't own a lowrider car, but other members of our family did. Impalas. El Caminos. We were influenced by the culture, particularly Chicano culture. And oldies and soul music played a big part." The style. The culture. The nod to the past. "That's what we're going for. We want to connect young Chicanos with their heritage. And we want to unite people _ old and young."

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Daniel Avery

2LP | 2023 | Original (Because Music)

40,99 €*

2LP | 2019 | EU | Reissue (Moabit Musik)

Release: 2023 / Original

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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BIOG FROM 2013
The 12 track album was written and produced since the turn of 2013 and mixed with Erol Alkan at 'The Phantasy Sound', the label's own studio in London. A difficult trick to master but like Carl Craig's 'More Songs About Food And Revolutionary Art', Plastikman's 'Consumed' or more recently the work of Four Tet, the album works as a cohesive whole rather than a disparate collection of tracks. Innovative and forward thinking, Drone Logic manages to draw influences from beyond the dancefloor via My Bloody Valentine, NEU! and Chris Carter while still having the techno pulse to scale the walls of any club. The wide array of plaudits and early adopters of Avery's music is proof of this, ranging from acid house legends like The Chemical Brothers, Andrew Weatherall and Richie Hawtin to the best of the new breed in Maya Jane Coles, James Holden and Factory Floor.
Firmly established as one of the UK's most exciting new DJ / producers having cut his teeth in Weatherall's Shoreditch studio bunker, Drone Logic follows up Avery's universally acclaimed mix CD for London clubbing institution Fabric where he remains a resident, recent remixes for Primal Scream, The Horrors & Django Django and last year's Need Electric and Water Jump EPs on Alkan's Phantasy label. This summer sees him play at Bestival, Festival No.6 and the Green Man festival.

"The one thing I knew was that I wanted this record to be a trip. All my favourite artists and DJs, they take the audience with them when they play; people lock into their world for a few hours and can't easily step out again. You're with them for the ride. When I go out, I want to give myself up to music. That was the idea for the album."
If the main motivation whilst making Drone Logic was to take the listener on a hi-fidelity trip for the duration of his debut album, then Daniel Avery has emphatically succeeded. From Water Jump's hypnotic pulse and punch through to the crystalline click of closer Knowing We'll Be Here via the title track's elemental acid swirl and New Energy's take on Neon Lights relocated to a post-midnight cab ride through London, Avery's debut pushes and pulls at the senses and blurs the boundaries between dancefloor and home listening experience. Thoroughly modern, utterly 'now', it's a record that justifies Andrew Weatherall's selection of Avery as 'one to watch' in Time Out - adding that he that made "gimmick-free machine-funk of the highest order". Drone Logic is indeed that: an album confident enough to sit comfortably next to the genre's classics.
"Although I wanted to make something very current, something that could only have been made in 2013 - I found myself going back to records like the Chemical Brothers' Surrender and Dig Your Own Hole as well as albums by Four Tet and Underworld. Records with a real dynamic; records that take you with them. None of those albums sound like 'computer music'. That was definitely something I wanted to avoid. I wanted the album to have a real life to it; it needed to be much more than just a bloke in a bedroom on a laptop making tracks."
Sonically, Drone Logic doesn't really fit expected templates of what a dance record in 2013 should sound like. There are no set piece vocals; when voices emerge on tracks, they are invariably disembodied, odd. And as distortion whips across techno-based backing tracks, it splices modern club music with the kind of sounds that forward thinking guitar bands might conjure up. The result is wholly compelling, gloriously transcendent and, yes, trippy. And much like Avery's lauded FABRICLIVE 66 compilation, Drone Logic follows the path of a precision DJ set.

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Malaria

Compiles 2.0

Release: 2019 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Pop

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January 1981 found Gudrun Gut and Bettina Koster in Christopher Franke’s Berlin-Spandau Studio recording their first Malaria! EP (Zensor Records). Christine Hahn of The Static with Glenn Branca and Barbara Ess, joined in from New York, and Manon P. Duursma fresh from Nina Hagen’s O.U.T. project and Susanne Kuhnke completed the Line-Up.

Malaria! started touring intensively soon after the release of their 12”, commencing with a concert with New Order at Brussel’s Ancienne Belgique, and going on from there to concerts with Siouxsie and the Banshees, Birthday Party, The Slits, The AuPairs, Raincoats, Nina Hagen, John Cale, Einstuerzende Neubauten. They played venues as diverse as the Mudd Club, Peppermint Lounge and Studio 54 in New York, the Documenta in Kassel, the Bat Cave in London, Les Bains Douche in Paris, Milky Way and Paradiso in Amsterdam, ICA in London, the Piazza Santa Maria Novella in Florence and Markthalle in Hamburg and naturally, again and again, at the So36 in Berlin.

While touring, Malaria! used their time off to record in Studios in New York, London, Brussels, New Orleans, and in Berlin (How Do You Like My New Dog? 7”, Weisses Wasser 12”, New York Passage 12”, Revisited MC, Emotion Album). At the BBC studios in London Maida Vale Malaria recorded an Kit Jensen and a John Peel Session.

Malaria! took a break in 1984 - Bettina and Christine re-located to New York, and Gudrun and Manon stayed in Berlin to form, with Beate Bartel, Matador, but not before they recorded their Mini-Album, Beat the Distance. 1992 Gudrun, Bettina, Christine, and Manon met up in New Orleans with Jim Thirlwell (Foetus) to record Elation 12”. Elation was followed by Cheerio, Album, which again was recorded in Berlin.

Chicks on Speed did their own version of Malaria’s song, Kaltes Klares Wasser in 2001, and the Remix went into the German Top 10.

Malaria has been an instrumental part of Berlin Music History, as recently presented at the „Zurück zum Beton“ at Düsseldorf’s Kunstakademie, Kunsthalle Wien „Punk!“, „Geniale Dilletanten“ Goethe Institut, and in B-Movie.

Biba Kopf 2019 The theme song for that great German road movie yet to be made, Malaria!’s 1981 single “How Do You Like My New Dog?” etched the E into the motion music of their soon-come debut album Emotion with its trail-out line “Immer vorwärts, nie zurück...”. Always forward, never back: from West Berlin to London, Paris, New York and Tokyo... from here, there and everywhere to eternity, the Autobahn goes on forever, with Malaria! at the wheel, spinning new moves from timelines crossed in records and songs right on the money evoking Zarah Leander, fighting the power, staring down Death, and a whole lot more. In all, one merry hell of a ride, and on the evidence of Compiled 2.0, it’s not over yet.

Mark Reeder 2019 "Even today, their originality in everything from sound to style, has proven just how relevant Malaria! are. In my opinion, their music has stood the test of time. To me, Emotion sounds as good today as it did when it was first released and it was a pleasure to revisit it. They might not have had any zillion selling albums, and their image might have been copied, while their sound could never be. They remain exclusively unique and their influence and legacy will reach far into the future. This band is both an inspiration and a statement and they prove what five very creative girls can achieve, if given the right support to allow them to evolve, and it is exactly that, which has made Malaria! Germany’s most successful and renowned, all-girl band...“

Diedrich Diederichsen 1991 "...Malaria! put across so many clear, manifest, attractive, certain, muscular, and harsh symbols, just as they refused - defying the customs intrinsic to these symbols and the worlds in which they circulate - to weave all these things into a readable, reproducible and manageable, generic text..."

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Forever & Ever Black Vinyl Edition

LP | 2024 | US | Original (Big Crown)

LP | 1975 | UK | Reissue (Be With)

Release: 2024 / US – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Cedar Walton

Mobius

Portable BT Cassette Player + RTM Tape C60 (HHV Bundle)

Release: 1975 / UK – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Don't judge a book by its cover. Judge a record by its cover.

And, perhaps, its title.

Cedar Walton's Mobius is as outrageously, disorientatingly brilliant as the stunning jacket design, featuring the legendary jazz pianist morphing into a mobius strip, set against a beautiful sky filled with cumulus clouds. A proper jazz-funk fusion slapfest, Mobius is a stellar electric set from - essentially - one *hell* of a SUPERBAND.

Yes, in addition to Walton's Fender Rhodes wizardry, Mobius is elevated by Ryo Kawasaki's stinging electric guitar, pristinely clear vocals by Adrienne Albert and Lani Groves, rootsy percussion by Ray Mantilla and Omar Clay, alto and baritone from Charles Davis, trumpet from Roy Burrowes, Gordon Edwards on bass and Frank Foster's tenor sax. Oh and did we mention STEVE GADD ON DRUMS?!?!

Gem after gem of looping, bliss-inducing gold, it's an incredibly revelatory album. It presents a thrilling synthesis of R&B, funk, blues and hard bop (with a hint of rock), all driven by an idiosyncratic electronic keyboard. Walton, a giant in the jazz world, got quite the workout every time he played, from piano to arp synthesizer to clarinet to electric piano to mini-moog and back again.

Mobius was Cedar Walton's debut for RCA in 1975. The versatile artist confirmed his abilities as a player, composer, interpreter and arranger with this stunning record, and his own bright compositions offered a springboard for the improvisations of the different soloists. Coltrane's "Blue Trane" is the first classic to be given the funkafied Mobius treatment, Ryo Kawasaki let loose all over neck-snapping Gadd-drum gold before the horns take a fiery turn and subsequently give way to Cedar's virtuosity. A sparkling b-boy break version of Thelonious Monk's "Off Minor" (featuring an absolutely *fire* solo from Walton) really sets proceedings alight. Of the three original pieces, the shuffling, percussive power of "Soho" is just absolutely mind bending Latin-influenced jazzy soul whilst the mellow vibes of "The Maestro" bring elegant, sumptuous soul. And then there's the effortlessly funky "Road Island Red". Just too, too good.

Cedar Walton was born in Dallas, Texas, on January 17, 1934 and began his professional career in 1959 when he began touring for several years with the J.J. Johnson Quintet. He later joined the Art Farmer-Benny Golson Jazztet and then Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. Pretty solid credentials, right? While based in New York City, Cedar played with such luminaries as Donald Byrd, Eddie Harris, Blue Mitchell, Kenny Dorham, Lee Morgan, Freddie Hubbard, Jimmy Heath and Milt Jackson. Without question, he was one of the most complete and gifted musicians of his time and Mobius provides proof of that. The fresh, danceable tracks, all firmly rooted in the living tradition of blues and gospel, are skilfully presented by a master who enjoyed keeping abreast of contemporary tastes and was always keen to renew his language.

As the album notes state: “Mobius, which is the theoretical shape of the infinite universe, makes use of the most modern recording techniques and synthesizers. We mastered and mixed so that it’s hotter than the competition, which should help radio play and in-store demonstration.” Indeed. Mobius is really gorgeous mid-70s fusion, ranging from the funky to the ecstatic. It's an absolute MONSTER that will completely blow you away; and, yes, it's as wild and hypnotic as the cover. The audio for Mobius has been carefully remastered by Be With regular Simon Francis, ensuring it sounds better than ever. 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 Record Industry in Holland. The original, iconic sleeve has been restored here at Be With HQ as the finishing touch to this long overdue re-issue.

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We Are Rewind x RTM

154,99 €*

CD | 2024 | EU | Original (Kompakt)

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We Are Rewind x RTM - Portable BT Cassette Player + RTM Tape C60 (HHV Bundle)
The Bundle contains 1x We Are Rewind Portable BT Cassette Player (Keith Grey) and 1x RTM Tape C60.

We Are Rewind Portable BT Cassette Player (Keith Grey)

(Re)discover all the pleasure of analog sound with our modernized cassette players: Serge, Keith and Kurt.

Like the old-school cassette players, our players have fast forward/rewind buttons, a headphone output, a volume control and an audio input so you can create your own mixtapes.

But because you have to keep up with the times, we've added a few modern touches.

First, we've replaced the batteries with a rechargeable lithium battery that provides up to 12 hours of continuous playback. It's more practical and environmentally friendly. We also built in a Bluetooth 5.1 connection so you can connect the player to your headphones or wireless speaker in seconds. It may not sound like much, but it's a world first!

On the audio side, our engineers worked hard to optimize the mechanism to be as close as possible to the best of the time. And the result is there. Today, you won't find better on the new market!

Finally, we paid special attention to the design and materials used. As for the very first Sony Walkman, the TPS-l2, we avoided plastic and preferred an aluminum case for a "cool touch" and a real quality feeling. The result is a cassette player with a sober and elegant design, which will last in time. The kind of object that one would almost want to display on a shelf in the living room.

So, ready to rewind?

Available in 3 colors: Orange (SERGE), Blue (KURT) and Grey (KEITH).

Specifications:
• Compatible with compact audio cassettes, all Types I to IV
• 2-track stereo playback
• Frequency response: 30Hz - 12500Hz with Type I cassette
• Signal-to-noise ratio: 50dB
• Distortion: 0,3% typ.
• Wow & Flutter: 0,2% typ.
• Headphones output power: 2x2mW into 32 ohms
• Bluetooth 5.1 (headphones and speakers compatible)
• Not compatible with earbuds
• Stereo recording via 3,5mm RCA jack
• Input level 50mVrms to 200mVrms typ.
• Frequency response: 30Hz - 10000Hz with Type I cassette
• Signal-to-noise ratio: 45dB
• Distortion: 1% typ.
• Built-in Lithium-Ion rechargeable battery
• Nominal voltage 3,7V
• Nominal capacity 2000mAh
• Battery life: approx. 10 to 12 hours
• Dimensions: 140,8 x 88,8 x 33,5mm
• Weight: approx. 404g

RTM Tape C60

RTM is proud to continue pushing the boundaries of analogue recording through audio cassettes. The C60 & C90 series is based on the legendary Studio Master tape formula (SM900). The series enables users to record and playback audio at the highest level.

• BLANK CASSETTES
• TYPE ONE: FERRIC OXIDE
• LOW NOISE
• NORMAL BIAS
• LEGENDARY FORMULA
• HIGH QUALITY 5 SCREW SHELL WITH BRIDGE
• MINIMAL PRINT-THROUGH
• PRODUCED FROM 2018 ONWARDS
• MADE IN FRANCE

60 min audio cassette based on legendary SM900 formula

Features:
• Width: 3,81mm
• Length: 87.5m
• Recording time: 60min max
• Clear 5-screws tabs-in cassette, with black bridge
• Base film: Polyester
• Base film thickness: 12 µm
• Coating thickness: 4,7 µm
• Total thickness: 16,7 µm
• Coercivity: 370 Oe
• Saturation retentivity: 1480 G
• Oxide: Fe2O3

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Michael Mayer

The Floor Is Lava

14,99 €*

I Will Make A Baby In This Damn Economy Colored Vinyl Edition

Release: 2024 / EU – Original

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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Michael Mayer albums don’t come round too often, which is one of many reasons why his fourth collection, The Floor Is Lava, is a genuine event. It’s been eight years since his last one, the collaborative & released on !K7; its predecessors, Mantasy (2012) and Touch (2004), took their sweet time, too. It’s no real surprise, given the many hats Mayer wears – globetrotting DJ, revered remixer, inveterate collaborator, and boss of both Kompakt and Imara – that his solo productions are relatively sparing. But this also speaks to their quality: Mayer’s name on a record sleeve is a sign of quality, of music that’s both looking to the future and calling back to the past, that balances the imperatives of the dancefloor and the loungeroom, that’s as exploratory as it is functional.

On The Floor Is Lava, Mayer seems to be taking the temperature of both the music that surrounds him (past and present), and the ideas of the industry he works within. There’s that iconic album title, for a start. “The album’s mindset,” he says, reflecting on those four words together. For Mayer, it’s partly a critique of the way the industry boxes in both producer and listener, focuses them on genre, on market, on the next new thing: “Being a free minded spirit that transcends genres has become an uphill battle.” A battle worth fighting, though, and with The Floor Is Lava, the result is an album that’s varied, quixotic, idiosyncratic, charming, and deeply, addictively listenable.

Throughout, Mayer finds thrills in exploration and juxtaposition, allowing unexpected things to blossom and giving them their life, their platform, throwing the listener exciting curveballs: “It’s a DJ album by a DJ that’s easily bored.” Either easily bored, or endlessly curious, The Floor Is Lava is rich with ideas. It opens with “The Problem”, which looks back to look forward, embracing the rickety way early house productions threw samples together with gleeful abandon. Mayer mentions Pal Joey, and the scene around Rockers Hi-Fi and their Different Drummer imprint, as reference points, and you can hear that freewheeling spirit throughout.

It’s followed by “Vagus”, a slinky, sensual minimal house number that Mayer describes as his “musical catnip”. The flow of these two opening cuts defines the dynamic of The Floor Is Lava, defining the dialectical drive at its core: thesis and antithesis leads to synthesis, but with a welcome prickliness that means you’re always excited, always engaged. It’s also productive in the way it derives energy from rubbing genres and sounds against each other, in unexpected ways, for maximum musical frisson. There’s psychedelic techno on “Feuerstuhl”, more minimal techno with “Ardor” (Mayer mentions ‘Immer 1’ era 90s minimal as inspiration), slippery, Shepard-tone breakbeat through “Sycophant”, a lovely, lush vocal turn on the poppy “The Solution”.

The album closes with the melancholy “Süßer Schlaf”, where Mayer sets a poem by Goethe to one of his most haunted, moving pieces of music yet, in an abstract tribute to a lost friend. It’s one of the most affecting moments on The Floor Is Lava. There’s also an update on 2020’s wild Brainwave Technology EP, with the surrealist glitter-stomp of “Brainwave 2.0” (check out those handclaps!),where Mayer’s thinking about the socio-political precipice of the now: “I’m reading with great interest about this whole complex of how humanity is about to cross so many lines and the implications that the resulting financial and educational inequality will bring.”

That’s The Floor Is Lava: then and now, brainwaves and nerve structures, problems and solutions, genres on fire; the real, the unreal, and the surreal. An album for the easily bored and the endlessly curious. Mayer has the last word, telling us all you need to know about the album’s spirit: “Burning for the cause, being zealous, being addicted to the heat of the night, the exuberant powers of music.”

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Fat Tony & Taydex

LP | 2023 | UK | Original (Carpark)

LP | UK | Reissue (Otoroku)

Release: 2023 / UK – Original

Genre: Hip Hop

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With I Will Make a Baby in this Damn Economy, Fat Tony embodies the kind of quixotic figure he would rap about; a singular entity who’s motivated, confident, and hungry; a perpetual-motion-machine locked in a staring contest with his country. It’s the latest album in his catalog produced entirely by L.A-based producer Taydex since 2020’s Wake Up. Later that same year Fat Tony released Exotica, and ever since he’s demonstrated he is in his own lane as a professional rapper with the mind of a magician, as quick to conjure an image as pull it out from under you, deftly manoeuvring through so many details and references a listener feels as if they have witnessed the work of an illusionist. He paints these canvases inside of songs that rarely spill past three minutes; they’re pocket-sized diaries replete with acute observations, character studies, microdoses of storytelling, and single-minded ruminations on a topic that bud, blossom, and fade before too long. Fat Tony & Taydex’s I Will Make a Baby in this Damn Economy cements Tony’s status as someone whose albums are not so much lyrically-lyrical as they are picaresque.

As with any Fat Tony project, the bars are tight as ever, but are so fluid for the 34-year-old it’s almost easy to take for granted the details, warmth, and humanity inside his free-associative tales of day-one friends who’ve passed, edgelord grifters who want to spit game, and nights on ketamine. Taydex’s production sprints through disparate yet simpatico styles, dipping its toes into Pi’erre Bourne-esque bass (see lead single “Spectacular”), house (“Loosen Up”), and even hyperpop. Meditations on loss and grief are woven throughout, but Tony throws a few curveballs as well: Consider “Alexis,” which sweetly reflects on a long-term platonic friendship. Taydex finds a Teddy Riley-indebted New Jack Swing groove just deep enough for the feeling to land and underlines the song’s sincere candor. This is the appeal of Fat Tony writ-large: his boisterous voice and genial personality invite you to the party, then you stick around to hear what he’s saying, which is frequently more introspective and complex than one assumes.

Written and recorded in Taydex’s new studio in North Hollywood, Tony says, “We had much more freedom and flexibility in making this album and you can hear it. It felt like a family project.” If the album is comfortable and loose, it is also dense and substantial. The album’s final two tracks contextualize the immediacy of what came before it—the mezcal with ices drank, Paul Wall swangin’ through to drop knowledge, the Polaris Prize-winning rapper Cadence Weapon providing a vibe check. “Make a Baby” accounts for Tony who’s seen everything, and knows he’s met the one to be a father with, and yet chooses to take his time to get it done. Taydex’s beat recalls turn-of-the-century R&B and the millennial promise of an endless good time. Sombre closer “Jasper, TX” is Tony coming to grips with the story of James Byrd, Jr., a Black man from East Texas dragged to his death by three white supremacists in 1998. These songs are not only trademarks of Tony’s fastidious rapping—they are deeply personal examples of his approach to artistry and life itself, where every decision is made in the shadow of history.

It’s here the mission statement of I Will Make a Baby in this Damn Economy comes into focus—you get the sense he means it, he’s ready for it, he’ll fight for it. He’s waiting to take the world at its word.

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Blue Notes

For Johnny

LP | 2022 | EU | Original (Alien Transistor)

Release: UK – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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The first vinyl reissue of Blue Notes for Johnny - a defining statement by one of the greatest ensembles in the history of jazz. Recorded in mid-1987 by Blue Notes - then reduced to the trio of Dudu Pukwana on alto sax, Louis Moholo-Moholo on drums and Chris McGregor on piano - it encounters the band 25 years after their founding embarking on an inward meditation through collective music making dedicated to Johnny Dyani, their former bandmate and friend.

Blue Notes were founded in Cape Town in 1962, and stand among the most important ensembles in the history of jazz. Artistically brilliant and groundbreaking - gathering, within a few short years, a devoted following that included Don Cherry, Steve Lacy, Abdullah Ibrahim, Dexter Gordon, Kenny Drew, Keith Tippett, Evan Parker, John Stevens and numerous others - they were also the first widely visible multiracial band in South Africa.

As a mixed race band under apartheid, this group of friends and like-minded artists - Chris McGregor, Mongezi Feza, Dudu Pukwana, Nikele Moyake, Johnny Dyani and Louis Moholo-Moholo - existed within a context that viewed their mere existence as a dangerous and subversive act. In 1964 they joined an exodus of musicians leaving for Europe and eventually settled in London the following year. Sadly, not long after arriving and facing continued economic peril, the group buckled. Johnny Dyani left to join Don Cherry’s band. Moholo-Moholo and Dyani followed suit and joined Steve Lacy on tour, and the remaining members morphed into a number of ensembles that eventually grew to become Chris McGregor's Brotherhood Of Breath.

Following the death of Mongezi Feza in 1975 the remaining members of the group had come back together to record Blue Notes For Mongezi, reigniting a sporadic period of activity over the coming years. Following the untimely passing of Johnny Dyani in late 1986, the last three members of the original line-up - McGregor, Pukwana and Moholo-Moholo - reformed to pay tribute to yet another of their fallen brothers. Blue Notes for Johnny, the group’s second musical memorial to a band member, incorporates a considerably broader range of touchstone and practices than its predecessor, nodding toward the band’s foundations in be-bop and post-bop without abandoning where they had journeyed along the way. Internalising equal elements of hard-bop, modalism, and free improvisation, it is a startling creative statement, imbued with a tension that renders an equally radical and sophisticated challenge; a furious tide - slow in pace and it slow to reveal itself - masquerading in gentler forms. A celebration and a memorial. Joyous and tragic. A real time resurrection of personal experience, Blue Notes for Johnny dodges, dances, and transforms across its two sides, refusing to be nailed down. As the trio pushes against each other, bristling tonal and rhythmic collisions leave the impression that something is bound to explode, without ever fully letting go.

Blue Notes for Johnny’s memorialisation is unwittingly doubled by capturing the final time that the Blue Notes would come together in the studio. Both Dudu Pukwana and Chris McGregor would pass away three years later in 1990, leaving Moholo-Moholo - who continues to carve a groundbreaking trajectory across the world of jazz - as the last surviving member. The album remains as a journey between an imaged future and the beginning of it all. Six friends meeting and communing through sound. Six friends who had triumphed against the odds, becoming some of the greatest creative voices of their generation. Six friends who were five, then four, and then three, before they were done. Friends who never failed, in whatever form, to come together and play. It is a story begun 60 years ago that remains just as prescient today.

This 2022 re-issue has been made with permission and in association with Ogun records. Transferred from the original masters and featuring an exact reproduction of the original artwork. Remastered by Giuseppe Ilelasi and packaged in a high gloss sleeve.

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Fuchs

19,99 €*

Hello, We Love You! The Big Beat EPs

Release: 2022 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Fuchs is a band that never was. It vanished as quickly as it appeared in the picture, much like the animal that can be seen on this album and after whom it was named. In 2005, Kante singer and guitarist Peter Thiessen travelled to Weilheim to visit Markus and Micha Acher in their studio, where they were joined, among others, by Notwist-affiliated musicians like Cico Beck, Robert Klinger, Carl Oesterhelt and Stefan Schreiber. Spirits were high, but schedules were full: after a week of improvised sessions, everyone went their own way. The recordings gathered dust until Markus Acher found them again in 2021 while cleaning out his studio. After carefully re-evaluating the rough mixes, the musicians decided to finally release them. The resulting album comprises six tracks that musically draw on jazz, aesthetically lean on dub techniques and ideologically pick up on krautrock: there’s no solos to be heard on this record, just a few equally skilled and open-minded musicians listening to each other carefully, providing each other with space in which to unfold. »Fuchs« is a document of egos dissolving in a collective spirit. Thiessen and the Acher brothers met in the 1990s and bonded not only over their shared background in hardcore music and the DIY ethos in which it was rooted, but also over their love for jazz. »If you look at those two things combined, you will eventually become convinced that you don’t have to be formally trained to make music that at least resembles jazz«, says Thiessen today. He invited Micha Acher to join his band Kante on flügelhorn in 2004 for a tour that saw the expanded group play unusual encores after the official concert was over. »Micha had taught us some dixie pieces, so night after night we would play a freestyle dixieland ska set in front of the remaining audience!« Naturally, the Acher brothers didn’t have to ask twice when they invited him for a visit in Weilheim to further explore their mutual interests in a studio setting. »I got on my way immediately and took two or three loose ideas, a tape echo and a guitar on whose headplate you could create fantastic sounds with me«, says Thiessen. Between immersing themselves in books by the photographer Leonore Mau, cooking together and drinking the occasional fruit schnapps, the trio went into the studio. Says Thiessen, »Micha brought his flügelhorn and some wonderful ideas with him, Markus an Indian harmonium and a plan, Carl Oesterhelt came with a glockenspiel and a Chinese zither and a bunch of amazing jazz musicians joined in, too.« He considers the resulting recording sessions to be a kind of attempt at musically translating their conversations during those days. They discussed different approaches to jazz, whether sampling and musical miscitations can unlock ecstatic potentials and the possible parallels between syncretistic religions and pop music. »There’s traces of glossolalia, it's like a blurry séance«, adds Thiessen in regard to the sessions. It is especially this spirit that managed to live on even though the recordings themselves were abandoned. »What we all liked most when listening back to the recordings is probably their marginal and fragmentary character, the empty spaces—the moments in which the virtuoso solo never comes, in which the centre remains empty.« The six pieces on »Fuchs« are chock-full of exactly these moments. When at one instant, the players seem to disperse and improvise freely, they always meet again on common ground a short time later, continuing on their way together. There are no conventions or even previous agreements that guide them, just a shared will to explore a vast range of curious sounds and unusual rhythms together as a truly unified constellation of very different musicians. Fuchs is a band that never was. Its ideas still reverberate vividly even 17 years later.

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The Delmonas

10" | 2021 | UK | Original (Big Beat)

22,99 €*

2LP | 2024 | EU | Original (Kompakt)

Release: 2021 / UK – Original

Genre: Rock & Indie

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The tracks from the group’s two 1984 EPs together on a swanky 10-inch vinyl LP. Inner bag features liner notes by Kris Needs incorporating new interviews with all three Delmonas and a series of great photos by Eugene Doyen.

Sarah Crouch, Hilary Wilkins and Louise Baker started singing together as a unique spark of spontaneous magic inextricably linked to their boyfriends in the Milkshakes, then rocking a garage-punk antidote to shiny synth-pop and brash chart stars with a direct lifeline back to rock’n’roll’s original simplicity and wildness. After Billy Childish and Bruce Brand formed the Pop Rivets in 1978, the guys hooked up with Micky Hampshire and Russell Wilkins to found the Milkshakes. Sarah shared a student house with boyfriend Micky plus Billy. After she and Hilary, then dating Russell, sang backing vocals on the Milkshakes’ rollicking Beatles-translated take on the Shirelles’ ‘Boys’, Louise’s arrival turned them into a girl group pretty much by accident.

“I loved the music the Milkshakes were playing,” Louise recalls. “Loved the small, intimate venues and most of the bands that played with them, especially the Prisoners. I’d gone with the Milkshakes to Belgium and was somehow persuaded to get up on stage and sing something. Next thing I knew, there was some kind of plan to get the three of us in the studio.” At first the three girls were called the Milk-boilers, renaming themselves the Delmonas by the time Ace Records’ Roger Armstrong and Ted Carroll suggested recording the EPs that furnish this collection. “I think we were asked to each think of three songs and turn up,” says Louise. “I mostly listened to music from the 60s: lots of girl groups, Irma Thomas, Dusty Springfield, Bo Diddley, Velvet Underground, Kinks. Bruce had the best record collection; Mel Tormé was in there somewhere and one of my faves. Sarah came up with doing the Doors cover.”

‘Comin’ Home Baby’ was written as an instrumental before Bob Dorough added lyrics and Mel Tormé recorded it in 1962. The Delmonas’ finger-clicking, noir-dynamic version kicked off their first EP with authentic-sounding 60s production resonance, iced with mysterioso organ. The Cookies scored a hit with Goffin & King’s ‘Chains’ in 1962, the Beatles’ version providing the Hamburg Star-Club template for the Delmonas’ energised rendition. The first EP, “The Delmonas Volume 1”, rounded off with two songs from the Childish-Hampshire songwriting partnership: ‘Woa’ Now’ and ‘He Tells Me He Loves Me’, the latter recalling the New York Dolls covering the Shangri-Las’ ‘Give Him A Great Big Kiss’, mainly because it has similar chords.

“The Delmonas Volume 2” opened with Sarah’s idea of covering the Doors’ hit. “We thought, ‘How would the Kinks have played it?’” she affirms. ‘Hello, I Love You’ had got the Doors into hot water with the Kinks’ publishers for its resemblance to ‘All Day And All Of The Night’. The Delmonas home in and highlight that similarity, adding bonkers psychedelic drop and evocative new coda. Their surf-tinged version of the Milkshakes’ ‘I’m The One For You’ is followed by the swampy screaming of ‘Peter Gunn Locomotion’, a cover of a 1963 single by Freddie Starr in his pre-stand-up comedian days as singer with the Midnighters. The set closed with the sultry organ-led vamp of the Milkshakes’ ‘I Want You’, the nearest the Delmonas get to the slowies Sarah helpfully points out they referred to as “shag songs”.

All these tracks would re-appear on their “Dangerous Charms” album, along with out-takes and recordings from a BBC session, before the original trio splintered, leaving Sarah and Hilary to return for further adventures as Ludella Black and Ida Red. The eight tracks here capture a moment when three fun-loving friends got to live out some musical fantasies and had a blast doing it. 37 years later, it sounds just as contagious.

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Michael Mayer

The Floor Is Lava

27,99 €*

LP | 2024 | EU | Original (Alien Transistor)

Release: 2024 / EU – Original

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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Preorder shipping from 2024-11-08

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o'summer vacation

Electronic Eye

Release: 2024 / EU – Original

Genre: Rock & Indie

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Readers of encyclopedic tomes are obviously familiar with exploding animals – there are numerous reports of torn-apart toads (even in Hamburg, Germany!), actual ants exploding altruistically – but humans that decide to jointly detonate, and with no harm done, that’s rare: Kobe’s own o'summer vacation are unique (and volatile) like that, and they’re back to light the fuse for the second time, presenting 13 more musical quarter sticks that have already blown up venues in Europe and Japan.

“Keep it lean, keep it mean,” they say, and that’s what this band loves to take to the extreme: breakneck concision and collective combustion meet freeform noise punk hazards on o'summer vacation's second (not quite) full-length – as the Kobe-based three-piece’s “Electronic Eye” is set to arrive on October 11, 2024. Following a bunch of trips to Berlin, Munich etc., the Japanese fire starters have found a new home with Alien Transistor, and it’s the perfect launch pad for their latest set of guitarless pyrotechnics. Going right for max q (maximum dynamic pressure), “Electronic Eye” is (unlike those Starships) actually supposed to explode right after lift-off ;)

Even though there have been some line-up changes since the group recorded its sophomore album, the energy caught by producer Shinji Masuko (dmbq, Boredoms) is still unmatched: a very physical and hard-knocking barrage of mosh-inducing madness that leaves you speechless + inevitably twitching towards the pit. Mastering was done by Masaki Oshima aka Watchman (Melt-Banana).

Opening with sizzling hi-hats and heavy ripples of breathless bass, singer Ami presents a non-sequitur kind of lullaby over the math rock-style interlocutions of “宿痾 (Shuku - A)” – which at 6+ minutes makes up more than a quarter of the album. A shapeshifting frenzy of voice (Ami), unbridled, pedal-powered bassline insanity (Mikkki, formerly Mikiiiii), and hot-blooded drums (Manu, meanwhile replaced by Karry), the album features mosh-inducing blows (previously released “Luna,” “Anti Christ 大体 Super Star”), 30-sec mini noise punk anthems (“竦(shou)”, “Days Go By Fast”), and continues to surf at breakneck pace up and down scales (“@ The”), which often feels like catharsis served with a hammer (“Ultra”). Whereas some tracks are bigger more song-y than others (“Song#2,” that full-throttle “Poodle”), “Vs I” is on time like Tierra Whack (exactly 60 seconds of pick-grinding action), and “Rage” indeed feels like Zack is about to join the party – only to see Ami wipe the floor with pure onomatopoetic fire. Finally, “Aloooooone” and “Humming” (that opening lilt!) are sure going to be live favorites, shifting up and down via hardcore speeds and various break-downs.

Quite hotheaded and terminating things on a high note, o'summer vacation point out that the quick-fire lyrics of their “songs have no meaning. It’s called onomatopoeia in English. Ami, our vocalist, does not like to communicate her thoughts through her music.” Although she considers her contribution “a part of the instrumentation,” they still have strong messages and concerns (unrest, discontent, willingness to shake, wake up, enliven anyone near the audible bomb crater): “That doesn’t mean we don’t have a point of view, but we choose to express ourselves through sound rather than words. Generally, but not exclusively, we are anti-racism, anti-war, gender-free, angry at the companies we work for and their bosses, etc., which are very common sentiments held by so-called rock bands.”

It’s only three ingredients, just like sonic gunpowder: bass, drums, voice – but they tend to explode a few bars into each new track. In a perfect world, there’d be giant colorful clouds of dust gracing the sky over each venue they descend upon.

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Marshall

Major V

109,99 €*

Portable BT Cassette Player + RTM Tape C60 (HHV Bundle)

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From the explosive Marshall signature sound to the everlasting design, every detail of these headphones has been painstakingly refined. Featuring 100+ hours of wireless playtime combined with a rugged and foldable design, Major V is best paired with your next great adventure.

MAJOR V KEY FEATURES:
• Marshall signature sound
• 100+ hours of wireless playtime
• Rugged and foldable design
• Customisable M-button
• Wireless charging
• Bluetooth LE Audio-ready

MARSHALL SIGNATURE SOUND
We’ve fine-tuned the Marshall signature sound you know and love with custom-tuned dynamic drivers, and reduced distortion meaning you can hear your music with absolute clarity.

100+ HOURS OF WIRELESS PLAYTIME
Packing 100+ hours of wireless playtime, you can be gone for days and never be left without a soundtrack. Major V can be charged using the quick charge option, so you’ll dive back into the session in no time.

RUGGED AND FOLDABLE DESIGN
It takes a lot to wear Major V down thanks to its rugged design. These headphones are also foldable so that you can easily pack them away and be gone for days.

CUSTOMISABLE M-BUTTON
Instantly access your favourite features thanks to Major V’s M-button and the Marshall Bluetooth app. Just press the M-script logo to open the Spotify Tap default function, your EQ settings or voice assistant.

WIRELESS CHARGING
Wireless charging means it’s simple to give Major V a boost when needed. Just rest your headphones on a charging pad and you’re good to go. Major V can also be recharged using a USB-C charging cable included in the box.

BLUETOOTH LE AUDIO-READY
Major V is geared up for Bluetooth LE Audio. This future-proof technology will deliver superior sound quality and open a new world of audio sharing possibilities with Auracast™.

MAKING THINGS LAST LONGER
The in-app battery preservation feature enables you to reduce how quickly your battery ages, so you can get more out of your headphones for longer. 86% of the plastic in Major V is recycled*, made from preloved products including used electronic devices and CDs, extending the lifecycle of these discarded items.
*33% of the product consists of plastic of which 86% is GRS certified post-consumer recycled plastic. Percentage breakdown is based on weight and excludes any plastic that can be found in electronical components due to the lack of detailed material knowledge in every component.

PRODUCT DETAILS:

AUDIO SPECIFICATION:
• DRIVER TYPE: DYNAMIC
• DRIVER SENSITIVITY: 106 DB SPL (100MV @ 1KHZ)
• DRIVER IMPEDANCE: 32 Ω
• FREQUENCY RANGE: 20-20,000 HZ
• DRIVERS: 40 MM

BATTERY:
• PLAY TIME: 100+ HOURS OF WIRELESS PLAYTIME
• BATTERY PRESERVATION: YES
• WIRELESS CHARGING: YES
• QUICK CHARGING: 15 MINUTES CHARGING GIVES 15 HOURS OF WIRELESS PLAYTIME
• CHARGING TIME: 3 HOURS TO FULL RECHARGE

CONTROLS AND CONNECTIVITY:
• WIRELESS CONNECTIVITY: BLUETOOTH 5.3
• WIRED CONNECTIVITY: 3.5 MM INPUT/OUTPUT
• CONNECTIVITY: BLUETOOTH + WIRE
• BLUETOOTH RANGE: 10 M / 30 FT
• CUSTOMISE SOUND: YES
• CONTROLS: CONTROL KNOB, M-BUTTON
• VOICE COMMAND: NO
• CODECS: SBC + MPEG-2 AAC + LC3
• MICROPHONE & REMOTE: YES
• ACTIVE NOISE CANCELLATION: NO

COMPATIBLE APPS:
• APPS: MARSHALL BLUETOOTH APP

PHYSICAL UNIT:
• WEIGHT: 186 G / 6.56 OZ
• WATER RESISTANCE: NO
• COLORWAYS: BLACK
• COLLAPSIBLE: YES
• HEADPHONE TYPE: ON-EAR

INCLUDED IN THE BOX / BOX CONTENTS:
• MAJOR V HEADPHONES
• 3.5 MM AUDIO CORD
• USER MANUAL AND LEGAL AND SAFETY INFORMATION
• USB-C CHARGING CABLE

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We Are Rewind x RTM

154,99 €*

Portable BT Cassette Player + RTM Tape C60 (HHV Bundle)

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We Are Rewind x RTM - Portable BT Cassette Player + RTM Tape C60 (HHV Bundle)
The Bundle contains 1x We Are Rewind Portable BT Cassette Player (Serge Orange) and 1x RTM Tape C60.

We Are Rewind Portable BT Cassette Player (Serge Orange)

(Re)discover all the pleasure of analog sound with our modernized cassette players: Serge, Keith and Kurt.

Like the old-school cassette players, our players have fast forward/rewind buttons, a headphone output, a volume control and an audio input so you can create your own mixtapes.

But because you have to keep up with the times, we've added a few modern touches.

First, we've replaced the batteries with a rechargeable lithium battery that provides up to 12 hours of continuous playback. It's more practical and environmentally friendly. We also built in a Bluetooth 5.1 connection so you can connect the player to your headphones or wireless speaker in seconds. It may not sound like much, but it's a world first!

On the audio side, our engineers worked hard to optimize the mechanism to be as close as possible to the best of the time. And the result is there. Today, you won't find better on the new market!

Finally, we paid special attention to the design and materials used. As for the very first Sony Walkman, the TPS-l2, we avoided plastic and preferred an aluminum case for a "cool touch" and a real quality feeling. The result is a cassette player with a sober and elegant design, which will last in time. The kind of object that one would almost want to display on a shelf in the living room.

So, ready to rewind?

Available in 3 colors: Orange (SERGE), Blue (KURT) and Grey (KEITH).

Specifications:
• Compatible with compact audio cassettes, all Types I to IV
• 2-track stereo playback
• Frequency response: 30Hz - 12500Hz with Type I cassette
• Signal-to-noise ratio: 50dB
• Distortion: 0,3% typ.
• Wow & Flutter: 0,2% typ.
• Headphones output power: 2x2mW into 32 ohms
• Bluetooth 5.1 (headphones and speakers compatible)
• Not compatible with earbuds
• Stereo recording via 3,5mm RCA jack
• Input level 50mVrms to 200mVrms typ.
• Frequency response: 30Hz - 10000Hz with Type I cassette
• Signal-to-noise ratio: 45dB
• Distortion: 1% typ.
• Built-in Lithium-Ion rechargeable battery
• Nominal voltage 3,7V
• Nominal capacity 2000mAh
• Battery life: approx. 10 to 12 hours
• Dimensions: 140,8 x 88,8 x 33,5mm
• Weight: approx. 404g

RTM Tape C60

RTM is proud to continue pushing the boundaries of analogue recording through audio cassettes. The C60 & C90 series is based on the legendary Studio Master tape formula (SM900). The series enables users to record and playback audio at the highest level.

• BLANK CASSETTES
• TYPE ONE: FERRIC OXIDE
• LOW NOISE
• NORMAL BIAS
• LEGENDARY FORMULA
• HIGH QUALITY 5 SCREW SHELL WITH BRIDGE
• MINIMAL PRINT-THROUGH
• PRODUCED FROM 2018 ONWARDS
• MADE IN FRANCE

60 min audio cassette based on legendary SM900 formula

Features:
• Width: 3,81mm
• Length: 87.5m
• Recording time: 60min max
• Clear 5-screws tabs-in cassette, with black bridge
• Base film: Polyester
• Base film thickness: 12 µm
• Coating thickness: 4,7 µm
• Total thickness: 16,7 µm
• Coercivity: 370 Oe
• Saturation retentivity: 1480 G
• Oxide: Fe2O3

Go to Item

We Are Rewind x RTM

154,99 €*

Tape | 2024 | US | Original (Sub Pop)

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We Are Rewind x RTM - Portable BT Cassette Player + RTM Tape C60 (HHV Bundle)
The Bundle contains 1x We Are Rewind Portable BT Cassette Player (Kurt Blue) and 1x RTM Tape C60.

We Are Rewind Portable BT Cassette Player (Kurt Blue)

(Re)discover all the pleasure of analog sound with our modernized cassette players: Serge, Keith and Kurt.

Like the old-school cassette players, our players have fast forward/rewind buttons, a headphone output, a volume control and an audio input so you can create your own mixtapes.

But because you have to keep up with the times, we've added a few modern touches.

First, we've replaced the batteries with a rechargeable lithium battery that provides up to 12 hours of continuous playback. It's more practical and environmentally friendly. We also built in a Bluetooth 5.1 connection so you can connect the player to your headphones or wireless speaker in seconds. It may not sound like much, but it's a world first!

On the audio side, our engineers worked hard to optimize the mechanism to be as close as possible to the best of the time. And the result is there. Today, you won't find better on the new market!

Finally, we paid special attention to the design and materials used. As for the very first Sony Walkman, the TPS-l2, we avoided plastic and preferred an aluminum case for a "cool touch" and a real quality feeling. The result is a cassette player with a sober and elegant design, which will last in time. The kind of object that one would almost want to display on a shelf in the living room.

So, ready to rewind?

Available in 3 colors: Orange (SERGE), Blue (KURT) and Grey (KEITH).

Specifications:
• Compatible with compact audio cassettes, all Types I to IV
• 2-track stereo playback
• Frequency response: 30Hz - 12500Hz with Type I cassette
• Signal-to-noise ratio: 50dB
• Distortion: 0,3% typ.
• Wow & Flutter: 0,2% typ.
• Headphones output power: 2x2mW into 32 ohms
• Bluetooth 5.1 (headphones and speakers compatible)
• Not compatible with earbuds
• Stereo recording via 3,5mm RCA jack
• Input level 50mVrms to 200mVrms typ.
• Frequency response: 30Hz - 10000Hz with Type I cassette
• Signal-to-noise ratio: 45dB
• Distortion: 1% typ.
• Built-in Lithium-Ion rechargeable battery
• Nominal voltage 3,7V
• Nominal capacity 2000mAh
• Battery life: approx. 10 to 12 hours
• Dimensions: 140,8 x 88,8 x 33,5mm
• Weight: approx. 404g

RTM Tape C60

RTM is proud to continue pushing the boundaries of analogue recording through audio cassettes. The C60 & C90 series is based on the legendary Studio Master tape formula (SM900). The series enables users to record and playback audio at the highest level.

• BLANK CASSETTES
• TYPE ONE: FERRIC OXIDE
• LOW NOISE
• NORMAL BIAS
• LEGENDARY FORMULA
• HIGH QUALITY 5 SCREW SHELL WITH BRIDGE
• MINIMAL PRINT-THROUGH
• PRODUCED FROM 2018 ONWARDS
• MADE IN FRANCE

60 min audio cassette based on legendary SM900 formula

Features:
• Width: 3,81mm
• Length: 87.5m
• Recording time: 60min max
• Clear 5-screws tabs-in cassette, with black bridge
• Base film: Polyester
• Base film thickness: 12 µm
• Coating thickness: 4,7 µm
• Total thickness: 16,7 µm
• Coercivity: 370 Oe
• Saturation retentivity: 1480 G
• Oxide: Fe2O3

Go to Item

J Mascis

What Do We Do Now

14,99 €*

What Do We Do Now Black Vinyl Edition

Release: 2024 / US – Original

Genre: Rock & Indie

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What Do We Do Now is the fifth solo studio LP recorded by J Mascis since 1996. This is obviously not a very aggressive release schedule, but when you figure in the live albums, guest spots, and records done with his various other bands (Dinosaur Jr., The Fog, Heavy Blanket, Witch, Sweet Apple, and so on), well, to paraphrase Lou Reed, "J's week beats your year." What Do We Do Now began to come together during the waning days of the Pandemic. Utilizing his own Bisquiteen Studio, J started working on writing a series of tunes on acoustic with a different dynamic than the stuff he creates for Dino. "When I'm writing for the band," he says, "I'm always trying to think of doing things Lou and Murph would fit into. For myself, I'm thinking more about what I can do with just an acoustic guitar, even for the leads. Of course, this time, I added full drums and electric leads, although the rhythm parts are still all acoustic. Usually, I try to do the solo stuff more simply so I can play it by myself, but I really wanted to add the drums. Once that started, everything else just fell into place. So it ended up sounding a lot more like a band record. I dunno why I did that exactly, but it's just what happened." Two guest musicians are playing this time out; Western Mass local Ken Mauri (of the B52s) plays piano on several tracks. Since J himself has some experience with keys, when asked why he needed a hired gun, he says, "Ken is great, and he plays all the keys. I tried playing some keyboards on the first Fog album, but I'm really only comfortable playing the white notes, so it's kind of limiting. [laughs] Nowadays, I could just turn the pitch on a mini Mellotron to play different sounds, but black keys just seem hard. For whatever reason, I just like banging on the white ones. Seems like it's harder to figure out how to stretch your fingers around the other ones." Mauri has no such qualms and plays all the keys very damn well. He sounds especially great on "I Can't Find You," where he is Jack Nitzsche to J's Neil Young, creating one of the album's loveliest tunes. The other guest musician, Matthew "Doc" Dunn, is also prominent on this track. Dunn's steel guitar manages to both widen and soften the musical edges of the music, giving it a full classicist profile. Dunn is an Ontario-based polymath who J met through Matt Valentine. After J played on Doc's great 2022 Sub Pop single, "Your Feel," he figured it was time for payback. Both Dunn and Mauri add beautifully to the songs here, helping to transform them from acoustic sketches into full-blown post-core power ballads. What Do We Do Now is the finest set of solo tunes J has yet penned, and the way they're presented is just about perfect. Asked if he would be touring to support the album, J says he'll be doing some weekend dates, but he probably won't be putting a band together. And I'm sure these songs will sound great solo and acoustic, but the arrangements on this album are truly great and put a cool, different spin on Mascis' instantly Recognizable approach to making music. So, what do we do now? Not sure. But apparently, what J does is to make one of his most killer records ever. Hats off to him. - Byron Coley

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J Mascis

LP | 2024 | US | Original (Sub Pop)

Straight From The Decks Volume 3

Release: 2024 / US – Original

Genre: Rock & Indie

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Guts

CD | 2023 | EU | Original (Heavenly Sweetness)

17,99 €*

LP | 2023 | EU | Original (Isle Of Jura)

Release: 2023 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Preorder shipping from 2024-11-22

All DJs have their own way of building their set. Some pick records entirely on the spur of the moment and trust their instincts, others write down a precise list on a piece of paper and never stray from it; the set is a kitchen where the DJ is the Chef. It doesn't matter how it’s done, as long as it's done properly and enjoyed by everyone, that's what matters the most.

I think I'm combining these two methods when building my set, except that instead of a meal, I'm talking about a story. A story that crosses styles, countries, atmospheres, and that I tell in a different way every night. With, however, a method that I respect.

Between the new stuff I get from the labels, the stuff that friends and fans send me, and what I dig myself, I have enough to make a different set from A to Z, every night! However, before these treats can delight the dancefloor, each of them has to go through a quite precise process.

The first step is to digitalize my tracks in high quality. I can play several dates in a week, so carrying boxes of records to places that are sometimes far apart is out of the question. The WAV format has become my best friend. With it, I can edit some tracks, cut parts or lengthen others. Sometimes, an interminable intro is not necessary, while a furious break needs to repeat itself a bit longer.

Then, the second step consists in classifying the tracks by genre and origin. A real library is thus created where each title has its own place. Accessible (almost) without searching. I know all too well the experience of getting lost in one's own collection, trying to read the spines, pulling out a record halfway from its shelf only to put it back in it immediately. No, that's not the one... where did I put that other one then?...

From these folders I then draw the titles which will be part of the third stage: the selection for the DJ set. Nothing is set in stone, tracks come and go on a regular basis. I have year-round squatters as well as residents passing through for a few weeks. Or days. It is from there that I begin to elaborate the story that I will be telling for three or four hours.

The beginning of the set is always the same. Welcoming the dancers gently. Letting them take their marks with a musical aperitif of tracks at 80/90 BPM, something that many DJs don’t do or no longer do.

The end is always the same. Parting with the dancers gently. Letting them go down peacefully. Their evening with me is over, but it is perhaps another one, more intimate, that will be starting for them.

In between these two moments, it’s all about the story itself, with its cumbia, reggae, hip hop, lusophone music, funk, soul-jazz twists... A rich story which tells itself in the mood of the moment and back on the dance floor. Depending on the general atmosphere, the rise in musical power can start after an hour and thirty minutes of preliminaries, or it can happen only after 45 minutes. The climax is reached with the Afro-house part, a furious passage that makes overexcited music from Zimbabwe and punk music from South Africa confront each other along a total experimentation with tracks so disturbing that they put the dancers' legs out of sync. This represents a moment of rupture in the narrative, its only purpose being to help reconnect with the dance floor as soon as it is over and to re-launch the story with even greater interest.

Those who have already come to see my DJ set know this: each of my stories is unique.

I hope you’ll enjoy the one I’m telling you in this third volume.

Pura Vida

Guts

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Ambient Warrior

25,99 €*

LP | 2023 | EU | Original (Glossy Mistakes)

Release: 2023 / EU – Original

Genre: Reggae & Dancehall

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180 Gram Vinyl Following the success of the 2021 reissue of Ambient Warrior’s cult classic Dub Journey's (1995), Isle of Jura is pleased to present their unreleased second album, II. Born from the same oceanside fusion of instrumental dub, reggae, bossa nova and tango music that made Dub Journey's so distinctive and memorable, II is an equally sublime collection of eleven unheard tracks from the brilliant minds of Ronnie Lion and Andrea Terrano.

Evoking the delights of white sands, palm trees and sunsets, all set against clear waters and endless blue skies, Dub Journey’s and II document the golden moment when Ambient Warrior came together during the mid-90s to create some of the most Balearic Dub ever made. “Music is the greatest traveler, isn’t it?” says Ronnie. “It gets to places the actual artists can’t even get to really.”

The son of an orphaned Jamaican jazz trumpet player and professional boxer who enlisted in the military after stowing away on a boat to London, Ronnie grew up between Germany, Singapore and the UK before becoming a working musician in his mid-teens. A bass player by trade, he honed his skills playing in a series of soul, jazz-funk, blues, rock and reggae bands that performed throughout the UK.

By the time Ambient Warrior released Dub Journey’s, Ronnie and his business partner Ras Joseph were running the Lion Inc. recording studio and record label in Brixton, London. Having set up distribution arrangements with Roots Records (uk) and Semaphore (deu/nl), they recorded and released a series of singles, compilations and solo albums from a who’s who of roots reggae artists, including Twinkle Brothers, Delroy Washington, Michael Prophet, Alton Ellis, Little Roy, and Ronnie’s own band The Amharic. “Lion was a regular port of call for visiting Jamaican artists,” reflects Ronnie. “When you were in London, it was on the route.”

An accomplished guitarist, producer and recording engineer from Trieste, Italy, Andrea grew up listening to Russian folk, Klezmer and the Italian harmony tradition in a Sicilian-Ukrainian family. After completing compulsory Italian military service, he moved to London to continue studying music. One night, he turned up at Lion Inc. and approached them about running audio engineering classes from the studio.

In Andrea, Ronnie found a collaborator who shared his desire to create borderless music that reflected the diversity of their backgrounds. “I wanted to do something that had no boundaries,” Ronnie explains. “If you’re working on a roots album, it has to sound a certain way, but with Ambient, especially in the nineties, it was just a license to let off. You could do whatever you wanted to do.” “It was a melting pot of influences like London itself,” adds Andrea.

Although they wrote most of II at the same time as they were recording Dub Journey’s, it took them several years to finish off the album. “Things never got done quickly,” Ronnie remembers. By the time it was complete, Roots Records had gone out of business, leaving Lion Inc. without UK distribution. Not long after, their Brixton studio flooded, bringing the label to a close.

These days, Andrea continues to work as a session guitarist, recording engineer and producer in London. Over the last two decades, he has collaborated regularly with Basement Jaxx and released several solo albums. Ronnie, on the other hand, lives on a boat equipped with an onboard studio, where he has recorded a series of oceanic dub albums off the British coast. Twenty-eight years after the release of Dub Journey’s, he recently started working on demos for a third Ambient Warrior album he hopes to record with Andrea in the not-so-distant future.

Artwork By Bradley Pinkerton.

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Genji Sawai

Sowaka

34,99 €*

Release: 2023 / EU – Original

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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* First official and remastered reissue
* Featuring Midori Takada and Bill Laswell
* Sought after cult Nippon avant-garde album * Includes liner notes

Genji Sawai’s classic LP “Sowaka”, featuring Midori Takada and Bill Laswell, reissued for the very first time. Sowaka, recorded in 1984, displayed an innovative sound that went beyond genre – mixing dub, world, jazz, electro, hip-hop and avant-garde. A perfect match of some of the most experimental artists of that time resulting in an extremely sought after and singular piece of music of the golden Japanese era. A talented crossover. In 1984, working with Bill Laswell, Michael Beinhorn and Midori Takada would be unlike working with anyone else Genji Sawai had before, pulling him out of the J-jazz experimental scene he was based on. Rather than work off written music, they’d build songs like cooks. Genji might supply the ingredients, perhaps the tonal choices – sax, FM synths, drum machines, and Bill would task himself to do the “cooking”, creating the overall image of the song. It’s the use of imagery to have a conversation with each other, musically, that just felt so different to Genji. Unlike the other musicians who contributed to Sowaka, musicians of impressive, rarefied technique like Midori Takada, Shuichi “Ponta” Murakami, and Kazuhiko Shibayama, notation or sheet music wasn’t a part of Genji’s vocabulary with Bill. With him, drawings were how songs were built from the ether. Whatever image a demo conjured up – that’s where the song had to go. You hear it on songs like “Hikobae” that predicted the chopped and screwed sound that would revolutionize hip-hop years later. On this track what started with a mental picture, of some kind of tree shoot, metastasizes a vision full of no-wave sax skronk dosed with pointillistic dub affectations. Although, Sowaka wasn’t tied inherently to it’s original meaning – the final utterance from the Buddhist Heart Sūtra – it’s philosophical meaning wasn’t too divorced from the true meaning (or at least, his truest meaning) Genji placed on it here: getting things done. Simply put, all his high-minded ideas wouldn’t have come to fruition unless all involved put some serious work into getting the project over the finish line. In five cracking days the album was put on tape and was then jettisoned off to NYC for Bill to put its final touches. What’s fascinating about Sowaka, or at least what will make it so, is just how it perfectly captures a certain atmosphere, somewhat alien to overground Japanese music at the time. Forget about a starry-eyed, futuristic, technopolis. The Japan heard in songs like “1969 (The Real)” is found in its iconic back alleys and constantly changing cityscape. It would use hip-hop, jazz, folk, and world music, to drop its sonic graffiti. That pull of “tradition” trying to co-exist with increasingly hypermodern ideas is palpably heard in music defined by its mix of organic and synthetic instruments paired with hard-nosed melodies. Genji’s Japan, as heard in Sowaka, pulls no punches, it wants you right in the middle of that public maelstrom. It wants you to sonically be there. Behind the mysterious chopped-and-screwed-with jazz of songs like “Hikobae” or the no-wave, nu wave-fried jazz of the titular track, there was a new kind of fusion being presented. Moving beyond world music, there was territory to be uncovered that was even more unplaceable. Somewhere, between the mind, body, and spirit, closer to one’s neck and booty, was this music urging you to simply move elsewhere, further, until you’re closer to where Genji’s music would land. Somewhere between history and his story, there’s still room to rewrite our story by absorbing this spectacular music that remains completely, forever, out of time.

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Network Remixes Volume 1 Sampler

2LP | 2023 | UK | Original (Network)

33,99 €*

LP | 2022 | UK | Reissue (Otoroku)

Release: 2023 / UK – Original

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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The Art and Soul of Network is well and truly captured on this beautiful collection.

Fittingly for a remix selection, Network’s iconic artwork is reconstructed by Trevor Jackson, the designer of those original graphics. He has lovingly reworked the maverick indie house label’s distinctive branding for this 2 x 12 double album selection which rewinds to some of Network’s finest moments.

Network was based in Birmingham but as this release demonstrates had an international outlook and an alchemist touch for joining together disparate talents which lent itself well to the world of remixology.

Dave Lee’s remix,when he was working under his Joey Negro pseudonym, of The Reese Project’s awesome Direct Me is arguably his finest ever work. The original track fused Detroit electronica with the Motor City’s ever present Soul Music stirrings. Dave simply made the superlative perfect . The result was not only an iconic Network release but one of House Music’s greatest recordings.

There was possibly no better example of Network’s deft touch when it came to selecting unlikely combinations of people to work together than Day By Day. . Andrew Pearce, a raw but incredibly gifted 18 years gospel singer, was plucked of the streets of Wolverhampton and promptly despatched to Detroit where producer Kevin Saunderson and songwriter Ann Saunderson gave him the complete Reese Project template on the mesmerising Day By Day. Then Chez Damier & Ron Trent were drafted in to create their Urban Sound Gallery masterpiece of a remix. It truly is a gem.

Ann Saunderson is also central to Surreal’s hypnotic Happiness, not only as songwriter but as the vocalist too. Network then did their “let’s try this” thing by letting loose Italian house godfathers The Fathers Of Sound on the track parts. They threw down and created a progressive (but dreamy) house anthem that is to this day massively in demand.

Slo Moshun’s game changer (House slows down into Hip Hop then ramps up back into House) Bells Of New York was produced by Mark Archer & Danny Taurus.It became huge literally overnight. Various attempts to remix it were tried but in the end it was back to Mark who demonstrated that sometimes the original creator of a track is best able to re-imagine it by coming up with his much loved Beefy Bells remix.

Inner City’s stark and brutal Ahnonghay saw Kevin Saunderson going back to his Detroit Techno roots. Fittingly it was one of the UK’s disciples of that innovative Belleville Three era,Dave Clarke, who supplied the awesome remix contained here.

Rhythmatic’s Mark Gamble created a British Bleep House anthem with the sledgehammer Demonz. The original won the support of John Peel with repeated BBC Radio plays underlining incessant club plays. Again it’s the original artist who does that remix thing best with Mark’s Sequel mix managing to improv his classic original.

Neal Howard’s Indulge was the debut Network release. His music sounded like it was from another planet and he was hailed as Chicago’s answer to Detroit genius Derrick May..Here we present Derrick’s Mayday remix of To Be Or Not To Be which was the flip to Indulge. This was Network’s debut release, and it is hard to imagine a label having a more euphoric greeting card.

The album concludes with a remix of a track recorded at a live concert in 1989.. To be clear THE Track that defined that year’s Acid House cultural revolution. Derrick May brought along Carl Craig to perform with him as Rhythim Is Rhyhim when invited to support Inner City at London’s Town And Country Club . Luckily Kool Kat - the predecessor to Network - recorded for posterity an historic rendition of Strings Of Life. Roll on a few years and Network went into the vaults and asked Ashley Beedle to work on the tape. He completely remoulded it and conjured up a new incarnation of Strings Of Life.

Network - we coninue…

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Blue Notes

For Mongezi

LP | 2022 | EU | Original (Glossy Mistakes)

Release: 2022 / UK – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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The first vinyl reissue of Blue Notes for Mongezi, one of the most passionate celebrations of a life in music ever laid to tape. Recorded in late 1975 by Blue Notes, then reduced to a quartet - Dudu Pukwana on alto sax, whistle, percussion, and vocals, Johnny Dyani on bass, bells and vocals, Louis Moholo-Moholo on drums, percussion and vocals, and Chris McGregor on piano and percussion - and issued the following year by Ogun, the album is a kairos; the first commercial release by one of free jazz’s seminal ensembles, captured them 13 years after their founding - at the height of their powers - delivering an explosive dirge dedicated to Mongezi Feza, their former bandmate and friend.

Blue Notes were founded in Cape Town in 1962 and stand among the most important ensembles in the history of jazz. Artistically brilliant and groundbreaking - gathering, within a few short years, a devoted following that included Don Cherry, Steve Lacy, Abdullah Ibrahim, Dexter Gordon, Kenny Drew, Keith Tippett, Evan Parker, John Stevens, and numerous others - they were also the first widely visible multiracial band in South Africa. As a mixed race band under South African apartheid; this group of friends and like-minded artists - Chris McGregor, Mongezi Feza, Dudu Pukwana, Nikele Moyake, Johnny Dyani and Louis Moholo-Moholo - existed within a context that viewed their mere existence as a dangerous and subversive act. In 1964, as the pressure mounted, they joined an exodus of musicians leaving for Europe, eventually settling in London during the following year. Sadly, not long aer arriving and facing continued economic peril, the group buckled. Johnny Dyani le to join Don Cherry’s band. Moholo-Moholo and Dyani followed suit and joined Steve Lacy on tour, and the remaining members morphed into a number of ensembles that eventually grew to become Chris McGregor's Brotherhood Of Breath.

In late 1975 however, Mongezi Feza - in the midst of a fruitful period collaborating with Dudu Pukwana, Johnny Dyani, and Okay Temiz - suddenly passed away at the age of thirty from pneumonia. Nine days later, on the 23rd December, following the memorial service to their friend, Pukwana, Dyani, McGregor, and Moholo-Moholo gathered in a rehearsal room in London and set out to play. Fittingly, no discussion took place before or during the session. The music was left to say it all.

The resulting double LP coalesced into four long-form movements that occupy a side each, collectively unleashing an onslaught of free jazz fire, fluidly covering a remarkable range of moods and tactical approaches across its length. For anyone encountering the Blue Notes for the first time, the album must have felt like being blindsided by a brick, adding a profound sense of credence to Moholo-Moholo’s belief that free improvisation was intrinsically linked to the Pan-African temperament. In the band’s hands, the idiom sounds like nothing else and exactly as it should. A frenzied funeral dirge, a cry, and catharsis, the record rises and falls between playful and joyous movements of deconstructed song, rhythmic and vocal tribalism, and churning, instrumental free expression. It indicates not only a possible future for musical expression - as all truly avant-garde music does - but also the very roots of music itself, illuminating, through abstraction, the far-flung, ancient roots currently carried by the New Orleans”first line” march to the grave. It is a decidedly African vision of free jazz, coalescing as a collective expression of celebration and loss on a cold London day. It is a masterpiece unfolding in real time - out on a limb and laden with risk - created by four of the most talented voices the idiom has known.

This 2022 re-issue has been made with permission and in association with Ogun records. Transferred from the original masters and featuring an exact reproduction of the original artwork. Remastered by Giuseppe Ilelasi and packaged in a high gloss sleeve. Produced by Keith Beal and Chris McGregor.

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Danny Scott Lane

Wave To Mikey

LP | 2022 | CA | Original (Telephone Explosion)

Release: 2022 / EU – Original

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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Wave to Mikey, the fourth album from the Los Angeles-based actor, musician and photographer Danny Lane is a nocturnal, neon-lit ode to the friendships that shape us. “I made this album for my friend Mikey from back home,” Danny explains. “We were pretty much inseparable for a large part of our lives, and our musical and social minds were always in sync in a special way. Then with age, we drifted apart, especially since I moved to Los Angeles. This album is just a little wave hello to an old friend and a kindred spirit.”

Equal parts avant-garde composition, instrumental city-pop, ambient, Kankyō Ongaku (environmental music) and Fourth World music, Wave to Mikey is an impressionistic and reflective cycle of eleven richly detailed memory portraits. Throughout the album, the influence of Jon Hassell, Arthur Russell, Hiroshi Yoshimura and Yellow Magic Orchestra hangs in the air like late-night mist, adding character but never overshadowing the rhythmic ambience of Danny’s musical visions.

Wave To Mikey began as a series of sketches on analog synthesisers, guitar, sample and found percussion sketches, initially recorded in Danny’s home studio. Once he’d located the vibe, Danny called on his friends E Talley II, Solange collaborator John Carroll Kirby and Destroyer session musician Joseph Shabason, who respectively added flute, spiritual synth textures and saxophone to the record.

For Glossy Mistakes founder Mario G.R., who originally discovered Danny through his photography, Wave To Mikey captures a vivid feeling of melancholy and peace. “He's able to encapsulate emotions in a very straightforward way, either in his portrait or songs,” Mario says. “I think that's a kind of virtue or skill given to talented artists, no matter the field.”

Born and raised in Staten Island, New York, Danny began playing music with his friends when he was thirteen, before putting that passion on pause to study Fine Arts (Theatre) at Rider University in Lawrence Township in pursuit of an acting career. Acting led him to photography, after playing a photographer in a film, he was inspired to pursue the medium. Danny began shooting photos on film for magazines and lifestyle brands, spent a stint living in New York’s Chinatown neighbourhood, and eventually relocated to Los Angeles in 2017.

Four years ago, Danny started recording and releasing music under his own name, leading to the trilogy of releases that preceded Wave To Mikey, How To Empty A Cup (2019), Memory Record (2019) and Caput (2021). Over the course of these releases, he’s revealed himself to be a sophisticated composer and producer with a studied ear from years spent digging through record bins for ambient, experimental, new age, jazz and electronica records from around the globe, with a particular emphasis on Japan.

“Music is something that’s always been involuntary for me,” Danny reflects. “It’s unconditional, always there. It’s something I just have to do. I’ve taken breaks and it’s always gloomy when I’m not playing. I just want to get better and better and understand more and more.”

Here at Glossy Mistakes, Wave To Mikey marks our second contemporary album release, following on from Evenings by Japanese composer Metoronori. We’re proud to be able to present Danny, Metoronori and other modern musicians' work alongside reissues of classic works from Stevia aka Susumu Yokota, Akira Ito, Yuji Toriyama & Ken Morimura, and Takashi Kokubo.

Mastered by Damian Schwartz, Wave To Mikey will be released on Vinyl LP Glossy Mistakes on June 27 2022. Besides the regular black vinyl, a limited clear vinyl will be available in an edition of 100 copies. Both editions come packaged with original cover art photography shot by Danny.

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Eucalyptus

Moves

21,99 €*

Shadow Dancing Clear Vinyl Edition

Release: 2022 / CA – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Moves is their sixth release, and somewhat of a milestone. In addition to it being the octet's most psychedelic and arrestingly soulful release thus far, it's also their longest—their first, in fact, to cross into bonafide full-length territory. They're marking the occasion by joining the roster of Toronto favourite Telephone Explosion Records.

Touted as “innately personal” by DownBeat Magazine, Brodie West's unique vision has been nourished by a bafflingly diverse array of sources. Meeting the legendary Dutch drummer Han Bennink in 2000 at age 24 not only sparked an ongoing creative partnership (including two records), but also led him in a number of other fruitful directions. Bennink was the connection to exploratory punks The Ex, who brought West aboard for their collaboration with Ethiopian saxophonist Getatchew Mekurya, which produced recordings and tours worldwide.

Where the Brodie West Quintet (Astral Spirits, Ansible Editions) trades in clever jazz asymmetry and his duo Ways is a stark and focussed exploration of rhythm, Eucalyptus is where this eclecticism is most audible. The band simmers with polyrhythmic percussion, laid-back jazz sweetness, various strains of psychedelic wonk, and subtle tropical aromas from dub on “Rose Manor,” named after the retirement home of his musical grandmother Lorna (ever a source of inspiration for West) to Bossa Nova, as heard on “It's In A Move.” Its streaks of free-form bedlam and pure sonic texture keep listeners poised for perplexity and cheerful volatility.

Moves manages to approximate the playful, intoxicating warmth the band conjures in their beloved local live appearances. Eucalyptus has made a tradition out of mounting month-long residencies at Hirut, a cozy east-end eatery that serves delicious Ethiopian cuisine. Hirut even gets a nod in the credits. Perhaps it's because this record's subtle whimsy and inviting disarray draws so much from the spirit of those evenings.

A large part of this odd concoction's success comes down to West's co-conspirators, a veritable who's who of Toronto's underground music community. Trumpet player Nicole Rampersaud, who has since relocated to Fredericton, New Brunswick, has sculpted her unique tone as composer-in-residence at Halifax's Everyseeker Festival and in collaborations with the likes of Rakalam Bob Moses, Anthony Braxton, Joe Morris and Telephone Explosion's own Joseph Shabason. Ryan Driver (clavinet) has cut a series of gorgeous song records for Tin Angel Records, and collaborated with Eric Chenaux (Constellation) in various projects, while leading a number of his own imaginative outfits. Michael Smith (bass) plays with Toronto psychonauts the Cosmic Range and has toured and recorded with Mv+ee, Sandro Perri plus countless others. Fellow Perri collaborator, percussionist Blake Howard brings the palpable joy of his playing to collaborations with Marker Starling, Little Annie, and the surrealist mischief of GUH. 2021 saw Nick Fraser (drums) leading a disc on Hat-Hut's Ezzthetics imprint. It follows a string of other celebrated recordings with international out-jazz heavyweights like Tony Malaby and Kris Davis for Clean Feed, Astral Spirits and more. In addition to pursuing his delicate solo song work, drummer Evan Cartwright plays in both of West's other projects, and has performed and recorded with Tasseomancy, The Weather Station, US Girls, Badge Époque and Andy Shauf.

Another exciting development unveiled on Moves is the presence of guitarist Kurt Newman, who replaces longtime member Alex Lukashevsky. Newman's whirling treatments and colorful array of tones figure prominently into the ensemble's new and disorienting sound. Newman was the co-founder of premiere Austin improv festival No Idea alongside Chris Cogburn. A ceaseless collaborator who's worked with the likes of Sarah Hennies, Tetuzi Akiyama, Mats Gustafsson, he also leads his own projects such as Country Phasers and the Nashville Minimalism Unit.

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Azar Lawrence

LP | 1985 | US | Reissue (Tidal Waves Music)

Shadow Dancing Black Vinyl Edition

Release: 1985 / US – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Saxophonist Azar Lawrence (born 1952) needs little introduction, as a young musical prodigy he was lovingly tutored by his mother, who taught music and led their church choir. At age 5, he played violin in the Los Angeles Junior Symphony, then viola, but his ears were turned to the saxophone at age 13. Azar spent his teen years immersed in jazz at the home of his best friend, none other than the late Reggie Golson, son of the great composer/arranger/saxophonist, Bennie Golson. From then on it was jazz, jazz and more jazz!

Azar Lawrence began his jazz career at the renowned Dorsey High School Jazz Workshop. After high school he played in Horace Tapscott's ‘Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra’ and started performing in the Los Angeles club circuit. He soon found himself playing with the Ike & Tina Turner band, the Watts 103rd Street Band and War. At the age of 19, Azar joined John Coltrane’s drummer Elvin Jones for over 3 years before being invited by McCoy Tyner to join his quartet (an alchemy that lasted for 5 exuberant years). During his tenure with Tyner, he also recorded with Miles Davis on the album Dark Magus at the famed Carnegie Hall.

Upon leaving Tyner, Azar Lawrence recorded his own projects on Prestige Records, including Bridge Into The New Age (1974), Summer Solstice (1975) and People Moving (1976). After these three albums it would take over a decade before Mr. Lawrence would record another solo album (Shadow Dancing, released in 1985). Azar went on to record/write and perform with luminaries such as Freddie Hubbard, Busta Rhymes, Roberta Flack, The Headhunters and Mulatu Astatke. His sensational collaborations of the period included writing and performing on Earth Wind & Fire’s highly acclaimed platinum album, Powerlight, and on Marvin Gaye’s Grammy award winning, Hear My Dear. Azar Lawrence’s work was sampled by renowned artists/acts from the likes of Madlib, Cypress Hill…and many others.

In the early 2000s, Lawrence surged back onto the jazz scene and continues to electrify audiences with outstanding original compositions and chart hitting albums. His band, The Azar Lawrence Experience (tale) appears with as many as eight musicians who sizzle to the sounds of Azar's powerful compositions, as well as songs from the Coltrane songbook. To this day Tale dedicates itself to sharing a lifetime of Azar Lawrence’s music, art and spirituality with global audiences.

On the album Shadow Dancing (released in 1985), which we are proudly presenting you today, you can hear the musical versatility only an artist like Azar Lawrence can deliver. Next to his trademark jazz sound, this album is filled with funk, soul and boogie influences. If you’re looking for THE perfect mix of synth filled boogie & jazz-funk where the Sax takes the center stage…then this is a highly recommended gem for your record collection (and a must-have for seekers of rare grooves).

Also featured on these recordings are some serious all-star guest musicians from the likes of Oren Waters (Herbie Hancock, Curtis Mayfield), Roy Galloway (Jimmy Cliff, Gladys Knight), Fred Johnson (The Temptations, George Clinton), James Gadson (Bill Withers, Quincy Jones), Leo Nocentelli (The Meters, Maceo Parker), Marlo Henderson (Gil Scott-Heron, Ahmad Jamal), Denzil Miller (Kurtis Blow, Diana Ross) and Eddie Brown (Stevie Wonder, Dennis Coffey).

Tidal Waves Music now proudly presents the First ever vinyl reissue of this fantastic album (originally released in 1985 on Riza Records). 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 (500 copies) complete with the original artwork.

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Azar Lawrence

LP | 1985 | US | Reissue (Tidal Waves Music)

19,99 €*

LP | 2021 | US | Original (Trouble In Mind)

Release: 1985 / US – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Nightshift

Zoe Black Vinyl Edition

21,99 €*

LP | 2019 | US | Original (Crane City Music)

Release: 2021 / US – Original

Genre: Rock & Indie

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The band that became Nightshift formed in 2019 in the ecosystem of Glasgow's current indie scene. The city's fertile & creative group of musicians have been committed to pushing the boundaries of and blurring the lines between DIY, punk, experimentalism and indie pop for decades now; a home to bands like Shopping, Vital Idles, Current Affairs, Still House Plants, and Happy Meals as well as forebears like Orange Juice, Teenage Fanclub and Yummy Fur. Nightshift slot right in with all mentioned, featuring members from current indie stalwarts Spinning Coin, 2 Ply and Robert Sotelo. Initially formed by guitarist David Campbell and bassist Andrew Doig as a "No Wave/No New York/ early Sonic Youth/This Heat-esque" group, the addition of Eothen Stern (keyboards/vocals) and Chris White (drums) instantaneously transformed their approach (guitarist/vocalist/clarinetist Georgia Harris joined as the band was writing "Zöe"). The band self-released a full-length tape on Cusp Recordings in early 2020, laying the foundation of their sound; hypnotic, melodic, understated indie post-punk with hooks that stick around long after you've heard them. "Zöe" is the band's newest effort, and first for Trouble In Mind. Unlike the band's previous album, the songs on "Zöe" weren't conceived live in the band's practice space, but rather pieced together and recorded remotely during quarantine lockdown, with each member composing or improvising their parts in homes/home studios, layering ideas over loops someone made and passing it on. The isolation actually allowed for an openness and creativity to flow and many of the songs took on radically different forms from when they were originally envisioned. Vocalist & primary lyricist Eothen Stern says "The process of writing these songs separately during lockdown was a kind of exquisite corpse - I liked this gesticulation of reaching out to one another and responding. Building up the next layer and passing it on." Stern says "poetic restraints" to writing & Eno's Oblique Strategies concepts were on their mind when composing the words to the songs on "Zöe" and lists the influence of author Rosi Bradiotti's book "The Posthuman". "Zöe" means "live drive", derived from the word conatus. Bradiotti defines conatus as "an effort or striving, endeavour, impulse, inclination, tendency, undertaking, serving is an innate inclination of a thing to continue to exist and enhance itself." and Stern views it as "...a kind of feminist re-claiming of communal public, anti- privatisation, looking to strive for social and environmental justice. Zöe kind of became a character of striving for me when writing.". "Zöe" kicks off with "Piece Together", a hypnotic song anchored by the band's chanted vocals and serpentine guitar licks. "Spraypaint the Bridge" showcases Harris' clarinet in an unexpected & delightful melodic shift during the song's anti-chorus. Elsewhere tunes like the swooning "Infinity Winner" and "Outta Space"s minimalist, slinky rhythm swirl in a late-night vibe, while "Make Kin" ruminates on "Looking to kinship as a way of engaging with entangled environmental and reproductive issues... how a band is a bond" and lurches forward with kinetic guitar strangling and staccato rhythmic percussion from White and Doig. "Power Cut" is the album's centerpiece, kicking off side two and lures the listener into its world over it's 7-minute runtime. Lulling them into involuntary movement with its waves of melodic harmonies, synth drones and metronomic pulse, until they all come crashing down in the song's dissonant midsection. The band acknowledges the whiffs of nostalgia prevalent in "Zöe"s songs (the title track in particular), and the nature of writing and recording the album is soaked in the self-work, reflection and reevaluations involved not only personally but creatively in each member's lives. Consequently, the album becomes a collection of sketches of hope, growth, awareness of the power of the world and the power of self, kith, kinship, friendship, resistance, and possibility.

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Gifted Gab

Cause & Effect

Numark x Jesse Dean Designs

Release: 2019 / US – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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* The brand new record from Seattle’s own “Queen of Rap,” Gifted Gab
* Two distinct hip-hop sounds: An A-side of hard-hitting gangsta murder rap, with sweet R&B on the flip
* Pressed on clear red vinyl and limited to 1,000 individually numbered copies
* Cover design painted by Gifted Gab herself
* Specially mastered for vinyl by Adam Straney Fresh off a year playing the top music festivals in America--Austin City Limits, Bumbershoot, Heiro Day, House of Creatives and Music Tastes Good--Seattle's own "Queen of Rap," Gifted Gab, has dropped her latest project, "Cause & Effect."

It fittingly arrives on national weed holiday 4/20 and opens with a warning to stay away from that poor quality bam. This record is a premium strain ten-track opus, with no features, and one lone producer, Antwon Vinson. Spark your best blunt and play it loud, ‘cause this chronically high sound is gonna trip you out.

“Cause & Effect” shines a light on both sides of Gifted Gab’s singular style, mixing complexity with wit, confidence with seduction, bars-upon-bars with R&B melodies. Half of the album is hard-hitting gangsta murder music, while the flip side is effortlessly smooth, "for the after-party, the kickback. When you finally got the one you’ve been vibing with all night up close and personal," as DJ Mike Ramos describes in the liner notes.

This is uncompromising, in-your-face music free of bullshit. Gifted Gab's lyrical dexterity and street-smart prowess marries the '90s hip-hop sounds of female emcees Queen Latifah, MC Lyte and Bahamadia with Bay Area legends like Mac Dre and E-40. Fans familiar with her unrestrained rap style, wall-to-wall classicist flow and combative, codeine-dipped blunts, may be surprised on the B-side by singing and harmonies that even your mother might approve of. The entire album features a fresh sound supported by real ass musicians: Max Watters on guitar, Andrew Imanaka on bass, Medearis Dixon on keys and sax, DJ Vega on the Technics, and Antwon Vinson conducting the crew. And not only can the multi-talented Gifted Gab rap your ass off and sing sweetly, but the cover art is also an original painting by the artist herself.

Two singles from the album, “Eye on Em” and “That Way” are part of a Spring 2019 North America-wide college radio campaign mounted by Airplay Junkie radio promotions.

Seattle underground hip-hop label Crane City Music is proud to release a special, limited-edition vinyl version of "Cause & Effect" on transparent red vinyl. The record is the color of blood and love, both appropriate analogies for its twin sides. The vinyl edition is has been specially mastered by Adam Straney, has liner notes from DJ Mike Ramos and is limited to 1,000 numbered copies. (The record will be distributed worldwide by Light In The Attic.) Grab one before they're gone for good. The music is also available online on all major streaming services (iTunes, Google Play, etc.)

Gabrielle "Gifted Gab" Kadushin was born and raised in Seattle, WA's Central District. She's shared stages with DJ Quik, Rakim, Cam'ron, Slick Rick, Method Man, and Lupe Fiasco, and received accolades from hip-hop heavyweights XXL, VH1, and Dope. TIME magazine counts her amongst the top seven female rappers in America right now. In 2016, she curated & headlined her own eight-city tour. Her collaboration with Blimes Brixton, “Come Correct,” received viral attention and over 15 million video views. And let's not forget her stature as first lady amongst the many men in the Moor Gang, Seattle’s answer to the Wu-Tang Clan crew.

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PT01 Scratch x JDDX2RS-A Fader (HHV Bundle)

199,99 €*

Numark x Jesse Dean Designs

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The New Era of Scratch
It’s a new era for DJs! With the PT01 Scratch portable turntable, you can scratch and cut—anywhere. Built with Numark’s exclusive Adjustable Scratch Switch™, PT01 Scratch enables you to grab your favorite scratch record (not included) and perform any turntablist scratch routine, whether you have access to AC wall power or you’re outdoors with your friends.

While keeping FRESH with a dope paint job, PT01 Scratch is designed for any DJ that is passionate for the art of turntablism and enjoy digging for vinyl records.

Transform, Cut, and Scratch
Yes! There’s an Adjustable Scratch Switch™ that gives you the perfect way to scratch, plus it’s adjustable for either right-handed or left-handed scratching styles. You can simply unscrew the scratch switch and adjust it to your style. Our scratch and slide switch performs longer than ordinary sliders, plus, unlike others, it’s user-replaceable, so the action never stops! PT01 Scratch comes equipped with a red slip-mat to perform light to heavy-handed scratches with your scratch records.

Battle anybody—we don’t care who you tell!
Connect your phone or any audio source to play a background beat through the 1/8” stereo input and scratch along to the beat. Increase the volume with the gain control and play it loud and strong on the built-in speaker. You can also connect PT01 Scratch to other equipment via the RCA stereo outputs or use the headphone output for private listening.

Record digitally to your laptop
In addition to scratching and having fun, you also have the capability to record your vinyl digitally via USB to your laptop (with free downloadable software).

Portability and Battery
PT01 Scratch plugs into a wall outlet (AC wall adapter included) and it also runs on batteries. It’s enclosed in a hard case for protection and has a sleek red handle to carry it anywhere.

FEATURES:

• Built-in adjustable Scratch Slide Switch
• User-replaceable scratch slide-switch keeps the action going
• Protective dust cover and integrated carrying handle
• Wall-powered with included AC adapter or six batteries(not included)
• Built-in speaker
• Cartridge included
• Removable slip-mat
• Class-compliant USB connection for PC recording
• 33 1/3, 45 and 78 RPM settings
• RCA line and headphone outputs
• 1/8" Aux input with adjustable volume

The JDDX2RS-A PT01SCRATCH Scratch Fader is a creation of Jesse Dean Designs. This Fader is a
direct replacement for the factory switch. It’s dual rail slide contact-less element gives it durability for an
aggressive environment. This long-lasting fader has no audio bleed thanks to its magnetic sensors
and circuitry. There is virtually no cleaning needed with this contact-less element. Here are the main
features of the JDDX2RS-A Pt01Scratch Fader:
Magnetic Sensor Contact-less Circuitry
Two Side Cut-in Adjustment
Dual Rail Slider for Stability and Smooth Action
Full Size Fader Knob (COOLOR CAPS), Feels Like a Full Size Mixer when Scratching.
Easy Installation with No Soldering Required!
Using highest quality components and relentless testing, we designed this Fader for the Artist that requires
the best from their gear. We feel that this Fader will keep the artist innovating and excelling in their art form.

Installation Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5b0QzA9ZxE&feature=youtu.be

PLEASE NOTE: THE WARRANTY FOR YOUR PT01 SCRATCH PORTABLE TURNTABLE IS NO LONGER VALID ONCE INSTALLING THE JDDX2RS-A.

Go to Item

PT01 Scratch x JDDX2RS-A Fader (HHV Bundle)

199,99 €*

Numark x Jesse Dean Designs

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

The New Era of Scratch
It’s a new era for DJs! With the PT01 Scratch portable turntable, you can scratch and cut—anywhere. Built with Numark’s exclusive Adjustable Scratch Switch™, PT01 Scratch enables you to grab your favorite scratch record (not included) and perform any turntablist scratch routine, whether you have access to AC wall power or you’re outdoors with your friends.

While keeping FRESH with a dope paint job, PT01 Scratch is designed for any DJ that is passionate for the art of turntablism and enjoy digging for vinyl records.

Transform, Cut, and Scratch
Yes! There’s an Adjustable Scratch Switch™ that gives you the perfect way to scratch, plus it’s adjustable for either right-handed or left-handed scratching styles. You can simply unscrew the scratch switch and adjust it to your style. Our scratch and slide switch performs longer than ordinary sliders, plus, unlike others, it’s user-replaceable, so the action never stops! PT01 Scratch comes equipped with a red slip-mat to perform light to heavy-handed scratches with your scratch records.

Battle anybody—we don’t care who you tell!
Connect your phone or any audio source to play a background beat through the 1/8” stereo input and scratch along to the beat. Increase the volume with the gain control and play it loud and strong on the built-in speaker. You can also connect PT01 Scratch to other equipment via the RCA stereo outputs or use the headphone output for private listening.

Record digitally to your laptop
In addition to scratching and having fun, you also have the capability to record your vinyl digitally via USB to your laptop (with free downloadable software).

Portability and Battery
PT01 Scratch plugs into a wall outlet (AC wall adapter included) and it also runs on batteries. It’s enclosed in a hard case for protection and has a sleek red handle to carry it anywhere.

FEATURES:

• Built-in adjustable Scratch Slide Switch
• User-replaceable scratch slide-switch keeps the action going
• Protective dust cover and integrated carrying handle
• Wall-powered with included AC adapter or six batteries(not included)
• Built-in speaker
• Cartridge included
• Removable slip-mat
• Class-compliant USB connection for PC recording
• 33 1/3, 45 and 78 RPM settings
• RCA line and headphone outputs
• 1/8" Aux input with adjustable volume

The JDDX2RS-A PT01SCRATCH Scratch Fader is a creation of Jesse Dean Designs. This Fader is a
direct replacement for the factory switch. It’s dual rail slide contact-less element gives it durability for an
aggressive environment. This long-lasting fader has no audio bleed thanks to its magnetic sensors
and circuitry. There is virtually no cleaning needed with this contact-less element. Here are the main
features of the JDDX2RS-A Pt01Scratch Fader:
Magnetic Sensor Contact-less Circuitry
Two Side Cut-in Adjustment
Dual Rail Slider for Stability and Smooth Action
Full Size Fader Knob (COOLOR CAPS), Feels Like a Full Size Mixer when Scratching.
Easy Installation with No Soldering Required!
Using highest quality components and relentless testing, we designed this Fader for the Artist that requires
the best from their gear. We feel that this Fader will keep the artist innovating and excelling in their art form.

Installation Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5b0QzA9ZxE&feature=youtu.be

PLEASE NOTE: THE WARRANTY FOR YOUR PT01 SCRATCH PORTABLE TURNTABLE IS NO LONGER VALID ONCE INSTALLING THE JDDX2RS-A.

Go to Item

PT01 Scratch x JDDX2RS-A Fader (HHV Bundle)

199,99 €*

LP | 2023 | EU | Original (Isle Of Jura)

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

The New Era of Scratch
It’s a new era for DJs! With the PT01 Scratch portable turntable, you can scratch and cut—anywhere. Built with Numark’s exclusive Adjustable Scratch Switch™, PT01 Scratch enables you to grab your favorite scratch record (not included) and perform any turntablist scratch routine, whether you have access to AC wall power or you’re outdoors with your friends.

While keeping FRESH with a dope paint job, PT01 Scratch is designed for any DJ that is passionate for the art of turntablism and enjoy digging for vinyl records.

Transform, Cut, and Scratch
Yes! There’s an Adjustable Scratch Switch™ that gives you the perfect way to scratch, plus it’s adjustable for either right-handed or left-handed scratching styles. You can simply unscrew the scratch switch and adjust it to your style. Our scratch and slide switch performs longer than ordinary sliders, plus, unlike others, it’s user-replaceable, so the action never stops! PT01 Scratch comes equipped with a red slip-mat to perform light to heavy-handed scratches with your scratch records.

Battle anybody—we don’t care who you tell!
Connect your phone or any audio source to play a background beat through the 1/8” stereo input and scratch along to the beat. Increase the volume with the gain control and play it loud and strong on the built-in speaker. You can also connect PT01 Scratch to other equipment via the RCA stereo outputs or use the headphone output for private listening.

Record digitally to your laptop
In addition to scratching and having fun, you also have the capability to record your vinyl digitally via USB to your laptop (with free downloadable software).

Portability and Battery
PT01 Scratch plugs into a wall outlet (AC wall adapter included) and it also runs on batteries. It’s enclosed in a hard case for protection and has a sleek red handle to carry it anywhere.

FEATURES:

• Built-in adjustable Scratch Slide Switch
• User-replaceable scratch slide-switch keeps the action going
• Protective dust cover and integrated carrying handle
• Wall-powered with included AC adapter or six batteries(not included)
• Built-in speaker
• Cartridge included
• Removable slip-mat
• Class-compliant USB connection for PC recording
• 33 1/3, 45 and 78 RPM settings
• RCA line and headphone outputs
• 1/8" Aux input with adjustable volume

The JDDX2RS-A PT01SCRATCH Scratch Fader is a creation of Jesse Dean Designs. This Fader is a
direct replacement for the factory switch. It’s dual rail slide contact-less element gives it durability for an
aggressive environment. This long-lasting fader has no audio bleed thanks to its magnetic sensors
and circuitry. There is virtually no cleaning needed with this contact-less element. Here are the main
features of the JDDX2RS-A Pt01Scratch Fader:
Magnetic Sensor Contact-less Circuitry
Two Side Cut-in Adjustment
Dual Rail Slider for Stability and Smooth Action
Full Size Fader Knob (COOLOR CAPS), Feels Like a Full Size Mixer when Scratching.
Easy Installation with No Soldering Required!
Using highest quality components and relentless testing, we designed this Fader for the Artist that requires
the best from their gear. We feel that this Fader will keep the artist innovating and excelling in their art form.

Installation Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5b0QzA9ZxE&feature=youtu.be

PLEASE NOTE: THE WARRANTY FOR YOUR PT01 SCRATCH PORTABLE TURNTABLE IS NO LONGER VALID ONCE INSTALLING THE JDDX2RS-A.

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Ambient Warrior

Release: 2023 / EU – Original

Genre: Reggae & Dancehall

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Used Vinyl

Medium: Near Mint, Cover: Near Mint

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CD | 2024 | US | Original (Big Crown)

Forever & Ever

13,99 €*

Release: 2024 / US – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Preorder shipping from 2024-11-01

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Tape | 2024 | US | Original (Big Crown)

Forever & Ever

13,99 €*

LP | 2024 | CA | Original (Constellation)

Release: 2024 / US – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Kee Avil

Spine

What Do We Do Now Pink Vinyl Edition

Release: 2024 / CA – Original

Genre: Rock & Indie, Electronic & Dance

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The follow-up to Kee Avil's acclaimed 2022 debut Crease: "A stunning debut" (The Quietus); "A whiplash style of uninhibited exploration" (The Wire); "Kee Avil's debut is a force" (Foxy Digitalis); "A work of Frankensteinian wonder" (Electronic Sound); "A tightly coiled, finely wrought vision of avant-pop" (Exclaim); "A debut of fiendish creativity" (Bandcamp Album Of The Day / Albums Of The Year) Kee Avil's music is both adventurous and intimate, intellectually challenging and emotionally resonant. The Montréal guitarist and producer's 2022 debut LP Crease garnered plaudits from outlets like The Wire, The Quietus, Mojo and Foxy Digitalis, picking up a Canadian Juno Award nomination and Bandcamp Album Of The Day and Albums Of The Year along the way. Its intricate construction, unnerving atmospheres, and knife-edge take on avant-pop prompted comparisons to early PJ Harvey, This Heat, and Gazelle Twin. A remix EP with work by claire rousay, Ami Dang, Cecile Believe, and Pelada brought collaborative perspectives to four Crease tracks, offering new pathways within those songs. With Spine, Kee Avil strips back her heavily textured compositions, opening up a much rawer sound. She calls it folk… and while traditionalists might scoff, this is urgent music that reflects the precarity of modern life, as well as the jarring mixture of electronic and real-world interactions that have become the fabric of our day-to-day experiences. There's a hypnotic post-punk somnambulance to it all, using the repetition and fracturing of melodic phrases interwoven with delicate electronics to create curious and persistent hooks. While not a concept album, themes of time's passage, remembrance, and decay crop up across multiple tracks. Each track intentionally only has four elements - guitar, electronics, and two other instruments, with Kee's voice and guitar pushed to the front. Within this minimalist framework, the juxtaposition of beauty and discomfort that is key to the Kee Avil sound stands out in skin-prickling relief. "We're shaped by many versions of ourselves," says Avil. "I was looking back at these versions of myself and what could have been, what didn't end up being and what did end up being, and going back like that through time. Seeing the future, the past." Spine was written in Kee Avil's home studio after a lapse in writing while touring Crease and working on other projects. She is a well-known and respected member of the Montréal experimental scene, and formerly ran Concrete Sound Studio with Zach Scholes, who continues to work with her as a producer on Spine. Compared to the three years that went into making her debut, Spine emerged in a matter of months - a process that may also be a factor in its intensity and sharpness: "This record was much harder, like it was really discovering everything from scratch." In her desire to not simply replicate or extend the sound of Crease, she felt she had to rip up the rule book, write in a different way, and pare back songs against her usual instincts. Sometimes, when we work against our ingrained habits, we get to the core of who we really are. Spine is an exercise in that process. Without over-intellectualizing or being didactic, it hits immediately and emotionally, especially if you are a person who has spent much time in the process of self-examination. Kee's voice hisses, whispers, and chants; her guitar bends and rings; electronics skitter and crackle; violin creaks like a door in the wind. There is something so evocative about the atmospheres she creates that it's easy to overlay one's own feelings onto her work, but to do that wholly would be to overlook one of the most important things about Spine: Kee Avil's clear and thoughtful vision. This isn't just the next step forward in her artistic trajectory; it's a stunner of a record that stands on its own, a bracing and thrilling listen that has much to reveal about the contradictions inherent in being human. - jj skolnik

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J Mascis

LP | 2024 | US | Original (Sub Pop)

30,99 €*

In Anderem Licht HHV Exclusive Pink Vinyl Edition

Release: 2024 / US – Original

Genre: Rock & Indie

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Barbara Morgenstern

2LP | 2024 | EU | Original (Staatsakt)

LP | 1972 | Reissue (Be With)

Release: 2024 / EU – Original

Genre: Pop

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Limited edition, 100 copies. exclusively at HHV

More than five years after "Unschuld & Verwüstung", Barbara Morgenstern returns with a new album in January 2024. It's called "In anderem Licht" and was recorded by Guy Sternberg at the legendary Hansa Studios in Berlin.

The chamber music double album tells of the impending climate catastrophe, the necessity of social transformation processes and the hope of liberation from the state of general paralysis: "Everything can be different", says the album opener "Die Wand" (The Wall) or in the song that gives the album its title: "Everything will hopefully be as it always has been, only in a different light" and finally: "Except the old world!". What reads somewhat didactically on paper is translated into mostly small miniatures on "In anderem Licht", from which Barbara Morgenstern and her ensemble create dramatic arcs of tension and surprising twists and turns. Strings, saxophone, double bass and drums follow Morgenstern's grand piano playing with impressive swarm intelligence. "I look around for alliances", she sings and states - struggling to find the right metaphors: "Time heals more than a thousand words". So she takes all the time in the world in her music, although she is unmistakably aware of the urgency of the questions and paradoxes raised in her songs.

In times of fiercely contested attention economies and clickbait logics that seem to permeate all areas of life, passing and emerging every second, this hour of music spread over 11 tracks is like a balm. A tender manifesto of change.

"Because I don't tell the joke to myself, but to you and me and then we're here", she sings in "Der Witz" and in the loop the music circles, like a bee that wants to settle tenderly on a flower, around a more pleasant now-state of the world, a space of possibility. Before the whole thing flies around our ears in the end and her ensemble makes the melancholy melodic arcs seem bigger and bigger with each round until they appear to us in a completely different light! When Barbara Morgenstern sings "This place will stay when we go, this place will never be the same again" in "Dein Name", it sounds as if she wants to conjure up the world for us. Or free us from a curse. "I always thought connection mattered, love for the cause, for the rest of the world!" she finally sings in "Die Liebe zur Sache", and wonders whether that still counts at all in the world out there. A justified question! Barbara Morgenstern has been one of the most independent musicians in Germany for over 20 years. From the Berlin living room scene of the 90s to the latest award-winning theatre productions with Rimini Protokoll, she has always followed her inner voice in her unbroken belief in the magic of music. John Cale, Mark Hollis, Hans Unstern, Robert Wyatt or Björk come to mind as possible kindred spirits: a certain oddness, paired with great virtuosity and a penchant for a certain minimalism, which can always be big and epic. For the moment. With this wonderfully enraptured, somnambulistic album, we can only wish Barbara Morgenstern and her courageous ensemble that they will play the big stages with it. Because as the song "Zwischen den Stühlen" (Between the Chairs) says so beautifully: "Leave me in peace, it's no use to me. I want to get out of here, between the chairs!". A documentary film by Berlin filmmaker Sabine Herpich, who has accompanied Barbara Morgenstern over the last few years and which traces the story of the creation of this extraordinary album, will also be released in 2024. The video for the first single "In anderem Licht" already shows footage from it, so this is more of a film trailer than a video. Incidentally, the cover motif of the album dates back to 1829 and was painted by Barbara Morgenstern's great-great-great-grandfather Friedrich Preller the Elder.

"In anderem Licht" will be released on 26.01.2024 via Staatsakt on LP/CD/Digital.

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Pierre-Alain Dahan

Continental Pop Sound

27,99 €*

Straight From The Decks Volume 3 Black Vinyl Edition

Release: 1972 / Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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A Tele Music CLASSIC from 1972, Pierre-Alain Dahan's Continental Pop Sound is of those library albums with something for everyone. Breaks? Check. Fuzz guitar? Check. Slower, jazzy stuff? Double check. It's a stunning collection of psychedelic rock, soulful funk and retro pop stylings that's currently going for over £200 on Discogs. And with good reason. French drummer, percussionist and composer Pierre-Alain Dahan was a key member of the legendary Arpadys, Disco & Co, Voyage, Tumblack (with Wally Badarou and Sauveur Mallia) and Jef Gilson Septet. So, you know this Be With reissue is nailed on essential.

Skip the by-numbers opener "Rock Extra" and head straight to the deeeeeep, minimalist groove of "Slowrama", a humid masterclass in low-slung, creeping crime funk with weighty breaks and beefy bass complimented by hypnotic wah-wah and warm electric piano. Sensational. It was sampled by Prince Po in 2004 for his "Love Thang" track. The galloping "Latin Pop Sound" is a percussive, Santana-esque tour de force featuring fantastic guitar shreds over a bassline to die for. "Morning Melody" is a lightweight amble whereas the brief but deliciously psych-rock heavy "Islam Blues" is a must for your mixes when requiring short segue tracks. The A-Side closes out with "Phasing Drums N° 1, 2 & 3", all completely ace. For us, N° 3 is the pick of the bunch, with particularly slooooow and deliberate drums underpinned by a droning, sinister organ. Hip-hop, before hip-hop, no less.

The genuine monster "Pacific Rock" blasts out the gate to usher in Side B, a thrilling and unrelenting pop-rock instrumental that really drives. "Quasimodo Pop" contains great slow mo funk breaks and scratchy guitars that alternate with pretty heavy riffing to create a compelling base track. "Carmel Beach" is as beautiful as the location it's named after, as insouciant guitars glide over super slo-mo beats and dramatic organ before it breaks down to a laconic, reflective electric piano showcase. Sumptuous. "Auto Moto Rallye" is a brief driving funk gem, as you might expect, complete with revved up guitars tuned and played to emulate the irresistible sound of growling race cars.

The upbeat, piano-led rock stomper "V.S.O.P Rock" is all well and good but, what you might really be here for is the trio of tracks that ensure the LP ends on an almighty high. The three most famous tracks “Rythmiques 1, 2 & 3” all come complete with *ultra*-dope breaks. N° 2 is probably our favourite, with the shuffling bassline and breaks combo augmented by the wonderful cowbell. Though on any other day, it could be N° 3! This album is often considered as the “baby brother” to Tele Music's Rythmiques, and this triptych is all the proof you need. Outstanding.

One of the very best French drummers ever, Pierre-Alain Dahan began his career at the Blue Note in Paris with Sonny Stitt, Dexter Gordon and Daniel Humair. Some start, eh?! He also participated in the recording of Serge Gainsbourg's cult album 'La Ballade de Melody Nelson' before going on to make countless KILLER library funk records and be a key member in the legendary Arpadys, Disco & Co, Voyage, Tumblack (with Wally Badarou, Sauveur Mallia et al), Jef Gilson Septet (alongside Henri Texier) and many more. Some pedigree.

The audio for Continental Pop Sound has been remastered by Be With regular Simon Francis, ensuring this release sounds better than ever. Cicely Balston's expert skills have made sure nothing is lost in the cut whilst the original, iconic Tele Music house sleeve has been restored here at Be With HQ as the finishing touch to this long overdue re-issue.

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Guts

2LP | 2023 | EU | Original (Heavenly Sweetness)

LP | 2024 | EU | Original (Music With Soul)

Release: 2023 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Conjunto Papa Upa

Fruta Madura

27,54 €* 28,99 € -5%

Somewhere In The Stars Cherry Vinyl Record Store Day 2024 Edition

Release: 2024 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Imagine a Latin remake of Back to the Future. The mad scientist is Arsenio Rodriguez (the godfather of salsa) and the young student who travels through time with him is Eblis Alvarez (Meridian Brothers). This album can only be described as the perfect soundtrack for that movie that never was.

After the massive buzz generated by his first solo album, Mentallogenic, Alex Figueira got back in the studio to work in a more collective fashion this time, carefully assembling the second album of his largest project to date, Conjunto Papa Upa; a team of 6 musicians, spanning 3 generations of some of the best talent in the Latin and avant-garde scenes.

In an era where tropical music is dominated by purely electronic and rhythmically uniform sounds, the ten songs encompassed in “Fruta Madura” (“Ripe Fruit”) wander through the most diverse tempos, rhythms, and motifs effortlessly. A real breath of fresh air that gracefully incorporates soul, funk, jazz, psychedelia, and electronics into a solid tropical, irresistibly polyrhythmic foundation, without ever succumbing to the many genre clichés.

The distinctive production and catchy songwriting of Figueira shine in a very distinctive light on this second full-length. Living up to his reputation (Miles Cleret, founder of Soundway Records, called him “one of the scene's truly authentic and eccentric producers”), he takes the opportunity to show he’s not afraid to keep walking his own path.

Taking the band for a wild ride through the traditions of Africa, America, and the Caribbean; contrasting them with a ridiculously wide plethora of vintage, contemporary, and futuristic sounds, and pivoting on the exuberant musicality displayed by his musicians; the result leaves no doubt: this album is destined to be considered a future classic of the exciting tropical psychedelic music of the 21st century.

Addressing the most diverse themes in this new collection of songs, things take on a much more mature tone, as the title clearly suggests.

The opening track “El segundo es más sabroso” (“The second one is tastier”) sets the tone in the most assertive way imaginable, with the band boldly declaring, through multiple metaphorical references (laid upon a crazy mix of Dominican merengue, Detroit techno, classic and free jazz, dub, and electro), that the bar will be set higher with this second album.

The remaining compositions touch upon the most diverse subjects, with a fair dose of humor, sarcasm, and postmodern “magic realism”. “El Algoritmo” (The Algorithm) is a parranda-cumbia hybrid (for lack of a specific term) about the omnipresence of technology in our lives. The sophisticated Latin soul of the titling track “Fruta Madura” makes a case for the beauty of the maturity process. Some key philosophical teachings of Marcus Aurelius (the role of causality, the impositions of “the logos” and the importance of self-control) get a twisted cumbia treatment on “Reos del Deseo” (Prisoners of Desire). “No le pongas Coca-Cola” (“Don’t put Coca Cola in it”) shows us the most satirical side of the band, accusing those who mix Coca Cola with Rum of committing "sacrilege", on a powerful base of Dem Bow (the grandfather of Reggaeton), intertwined with touches of soul, salsa, and Cuban comparsa.

"Háblame Claro" (“Talk to me clearly”) is a story of heartbreak that evokes in its first part the spirit of the erotic salsa of the 80s (a subgenre deeply despised by purists), and after an unexpected samba interlude, leads to the hardest salsa of the 70s (a subgenre adored by purists), to end up in the surprising form of pure Afro-Cuban ceremonial music.

“Tu mamá tenía razón” ("Your Mom Was Right") is an attempt to exalt the spirit of the Latin American soap opera in the key of “acid bachata”, to recount a real-life case, witnessed by the band on countless occasions: the partying woman who arrives at the show accompanied by her bitter husband, who obviously does not like to dance. A very cheeky song to talk about the very serious and pertinent topic of female empowerment.

“La misma vaina” (“The same thing”) with its indescribable blend of bantú, candomblé, and Mozambique rhythms with abstract synthesizers, is an ode to adventure in favor of the aversion to taking risks and seeking predictability.

“Amigas picadas” (“Salty friends”) is another humorous song recounting another real-life case witnessed by the band on countless occasions: a love encounter sabotaged by the girlfriend's friends, who all happen to fancy the same guy. A jazzy take on the ancient Dominican rhythm of pambiche (grandfather of merengue), with generous psychedelic touches, resembling the classy late 60s releases of Guadeloupe's legendary producer / label owner Henri Debs.

“Vinimos a hablar” (“We came to talk”) takes sarcasm to the highest level, to ridicule the absurdity (also experienced by the band firsthand) seen in live music venues where people pay a ticket to go and have conversations that could be carried out much better on any bar, where no band is playing. The music alternates between a delicate melody with loose, sparse percussion and a full-on, pumping Angolan semba, with a techno kick drum included; bringing things to an apotheotic grooving finale, where the peculiar swing of Venezuelan calypso from the Callao region is thrown on top of all the precedent elements; closing the album in the most uplifting, “end of the carnival parade” feel.

The artwork is a delicate and impactful oil painting by Colombian artist Kevin Simón Mancera, who has collaborated many times with the label before (“Maracas, tambourines and other hellish things” tape and the Lola’s Dice LP).

What the experts are saying:

“Alex (Figueira) dove into this work with a brutal cohesion between lyrics and synths. Timbre poetry, sound poetry (you name it). And that, superimposed on his always impeccable percussive base, confirms the title of “avant-garde visionary of our beautiful Latin music”". Eblis Alvarez (meridian Brothers) “Papa Upa's infectious quirkiness is a balm against boredom. A mature album, but without an expiration date”. Gladys Palmera

“Here there is a lot of strength, drum, cadence and psychedelia, lost dance rhythms, united in an intercontinental Latin/African/and Caribbean journey, a unique winning combination that we could consider the new “Ritmo Figueira”. Discodelic

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Cam & Bert Richard

LP | 2024 | US | Original (Delmore)

23,99 €* 31,99 € -25%

Nancy & Lee Again Clear W/ Black White Vinyl Edition

Release: 2024 / US – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Previously Unreleased Recording Limited to 1200 copies on transparent cherry vinyl Tipon jacket, Download code, Insert featuring LP sized original art by Grungie O'Muck Includes the original recording of Richard Tucker's, "Are You Leaving For The Country", later covered by Karen Dalton,and the only song cowritten by Karen & Richard, "Sleeping In The Garden" "Richard, Cam & Bert seem to have grasped The Great Harmony. That is, ensemble singing that is at once sweet, precise, funky and a bit sardonic..." Mike Jahn / New York Times (1970)

"For a few years in the late sixties and early seventies Richard Cam & Bert ruled MacDougal St. walking a fine line between the increasingly commercialized demands created by groups like Crosby Stills and Nash and the fierce integrity of earlier folk performers, the generation to which Richard belonged. They managed this with great aplomb, producing original tunes of great integrity and obvious folkloric origins, as well as those which expressed the anarchic omnipresent psychedelia of the moment. They also never abandoned the idea of including some traditional material in their performances. But for the usual random application of luck they could have been very big." Grungie O’Muck / Artist, Bluesman, Cover artist for their first album and contributor to this one.

Richard Tucker, Campbell Bruce, and Bert Lee coalesced as a trio in the spring of 1968, and by the end of that year had become regular performers at fabled Greenwich Village nightspots The Gaslight, The Bag I’m In, Cafe Feenjon, among others. But mostly they were street singers, busking regularly in Central Park. Their only LP, Limited Edition, was released in 1970, and sold mainly at gigs and on the street. Somewhere in The Stars compiles earlier, previously unreleased recordings, when all three members were signed with PeerSouthern Music publishers as writers and began using their studio to make demos and experiment musically. Beautifully recorded by house engineer Charlie Mack (supervised by Jimmy Ienner), the demos capture a back room casualness and rustic, homespun quality. For me, listening to their songs and harmonies is like entering a world you always hoped existed but had never experienced.

Some of the songs were rerecorded the following year for Limited Edition, but many are heard here for the first time. Among them is the original demo for Richard Tucker's song, "Are You Leaving For The Country", which Karen Dalton covered on her seminal 1971 release, In My Own Time. Richard and Karen were husband and wife for much of the 1960s, performing as a duo (initially as a trio with Tim Hardin), and navigating their time on the Village scene while alternating living in a small mining town outside Boulder, Co. before splitting up in 1967. Also making its debut, is the only song Richard and Karen ever wrote together, the haunting "Sleeping In The Garden". Also contains two epic songs by Cam ("One Of These First Nights", and "Stockholm") not on their LP, but staples of their live performances, and noted in a gig review by The New York Times, and in a column by future A&R hero, Karin Berg, who was an early champion. Another rarity is the only cover of "Sweet Mama" by Fred Neil we’ve ever heard.

Campell Bruce came to New York in 1967 as lead singer with a band from Washington, DC, The Natty Bumpo. They’d recently signed a record deal with Phillips, but were falling apart. Cam landed in the Village with an acoustic guitar and first started playing and singing in the basket houses, and shortly thereafter at The Gaslight, as the "Cam Bruce Trio” (which included Collin Walcott). After opening for Mose Allison, Cam's hero, the trio went their separate ways, and Cam returned to regular solo gigs at The Flamenco, and the basket houses on Bleecker. Richard and Cam met up on that scene and quickly found a musical kinship as well as becoming best pals.

Bert Lee arrived in New York as a runaway the following winter, and began playing and sleeping wherever he could. His sometime accompanist, Ron Price, introduced Bert to Richard and Cam just as Bert’s own songs were garnering attention from publishers. According to Bert, “I arrived on the New York scene during a time of great change, and it was the notion of change that influenced me. All around me I saw there were two sorts of songwriters, on the one hand dedicated to the traditions that had inspired them, folk, jazz, the American songbook. On the other hand were songwriters influenced by the wave of experimentation that The Beatles were the perfect example of. Mixing genres, writing lyrics that weren't just about ordinary love and loss.

Richard Tucker was a country blues player, with a relaxed and melodic approach to the craft. Cam wrote something more akin to soul songs, with a hint of jazz in the changes. I was writing tunes that sometimes drew on classical structures with a tendency toward what I suppose would be known as progrock. But I was rather adamant about not being pinned down stylistically, and so I would write, for example, a song based on some complex classical chord structure, and then go right ahead and write a simple folk song, like Evelyn. Our band was popular locally, and it was this variety that made it distinct.”

Delmore is excited to present this unearthed treasure, fifteen years in the making. In the words of Richard Tucker, "Tap on your knee, roll on the floor; if you aint free, what's it all for?"

"The trio's singing, playing, and writing have all withstood the test of time. Believe me, because I was there. In 1969 R,C&B, myself, Charles John Quarto, David Bromberg, Ron Price, and Keith Sykes were just a few of that year's crop of songslingers. We were young turks back then, out on the prowl in New York's Greenwich Village for record deals, gigs, and beautiful young women to sleep with and maybe even write a song about. I've lost the names and numbers of those lovelies and I'm not sure what happened to Ron Price, but Richard, Cam, and Bert are back! Loudon Wainwright lll

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Nancy Sinatra

LP | 1972 | US | Reissue (Light In The Attic)

37,99 €*

LP | 2024 | EU | Original (Road Trip / Lawson Entertainment, Inc.)

Release: 1972 / US – Reissue

Genre: Rock & Indie

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Yahho

Yahho No Tanoshimikata

30,99 €*

Release: 2024 / EU – Original

Genre: Pop

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Preorder shipping from 2024-11-29

"Limited to 300 copies. Okayama's 8-bit hardcore punk band Yahho has released their 1LP, 45rpm, 39-track ""Yahho no Tanoshimikata"" on analog!

Okayama's Yahho, who has played numerous legendary live shows at the All Senses Festival hosted by Juusangetsu/GEZAN, Meteo Night hosted by Less Than TV, and more, will release their first album "" Yahho no Tanoshimikata "" (4-disc set: 3 CDs + 1 DVD)in August 2023. Despite not being distributed nationwide, they sold hundreds of copies through their own live merchandise and their own online shop. And one year after the release, "" Yahho no Tanoshimikata "" is finally being released on analog for nationwide distribution! The vinyl version also includes two new songs not yet released on CD! Limited to 300 copies pressed, so hurry up! ----------------------------------------------------------- We have received comments from everyone regarding the release of the vinyl version of YAHHO's "" Yahho no Tanoshimikata ""! ----------------------------------------------------------- (Yahho) That's why it's fun, and that's why it's lonely. (Together with someone) That's why it's fun, and that's why it's lonely.

Asano (wetnap, GAME&chips) ----------------------------------------------------------- My image of Yahho is him stumbling around on his own over 8-bit sounds, and he's also a friend who often invites me out. He recently performed overseas. I think he's an artist who doesn't fit into a box. It's great to archive his work! He makes me feel free. Yahho of the World

Moto Kawabe ----------------------------------------------------------- The first album by Yahho, the greatest punk rocker born at Kurashiki University of Science and the Arts, has finally been released on vinyl. Yahho is here to rewrite and update the view of Japanese punk history!

Kawakami Konosuke (Author of ""Punk no Keifugaku"") ----------------------------------------------------------- On ""How to Enjoy Yahho"" Hey, Yahho! Isn't this first album packed with the romanticism of Yahho, music, and love for friends? While laughing, I read the lyrics and it hits me hard, and there are various gradations of blue. Seriously, no matter what mood I'm in, Yahho always responds with the best Yahho at that time. He'll be stupid with me and get depressed with me. Yahho's Yahho is bottomless! Infinite! Look, just saying Yahho makes me feel like I'm floating. Then I hear Yahho! from far away. After that, I can jump really high. It's a dream to have this sound source become a record! Come a little closer, Yahho! Please keep shouting and letting us hear it to each other. I love you forever!

THE Guays Captain Ryosuke ----------------------------------------------------------- He may look ordinary, but he's a weirdo. I love Shintaro's way of life.

Goto(MASTERPEACE) ----------------------------------------------------------- Yahho Analog Record Release! I was asked to comment, but when I hear Yahho, it's just a nightmare.

Contrary to Hamai's appearance, Yahho's charm is its over-the-top performance and sound, but when they visited Miyazaki Prefecture on a live tour, this caused a disaster, and they were banned from both the live house they performed at and the bar where they had their after-party. Rumors about their performance and sound spread to the Chamber of Commerce, and they were banned from all live houses and bars in Miyazaki Prefecture, and on top of that, all the bands they played with that night were also banned, which was a nightmare-like bonus. The rumor spread like wildfire among the prefecture's residents, and if a hiker shouts ""Yahho"" at the top of a mountain, they are looked at with disdain and spat on, and they can't stand it anymore and rush down the mountain... It has developed into a situation like this.

Yahho, congratulations on the release of the analog record!

Hiroaki Sakai ----------------------------------------------------------- 「Don't Forget Youth Memories,Forever.」

Boredom is the reason why I'm constantly irritated. Boredom is also the reason why I'm constantly spacing out.

Of course, boredom is also the reason why any mathematical formula, no matter how important, slips in one ear and out the other. That winter when I was 16 years old. I wanted something to destroy the saturated negative emotions. And I found it. It was undoubtedly the music of ""Yahho"".

Loud 8-bit sound and booming guitar. Screaming vocals writhing on the rough waves of that sound. In ""Extra Yahho"", the 8-bit sound is transformed into a hardcore band sound, with blast beats and screaming vocals exploding. What follows are unique raps and acoustic pop masterpieces. A fast-paced legend of 47 songs and 40 minutes. (*These comments are based on the CD version. The LP version contains 39 songs.) From the day I pressed the play button on my player, ""Yahho"" music became a part of my life.

When I listen to ""Yahho"" music, I feel the urge to scream. I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels that way. ""Ya-ho"" shouts out the boredom and frustration we've been holding inside, using it as a springboard. The poetic, yet endlessly straightforward lyrics really bring that home.

I pack all my boredom and endlessly overflowing frustration into a backpack and start running. I don't need to decide where to go. Just look ahead. This album gives me the push I need. I hate it. No, I'm totally against it. It's okay if you're bad at it, just keep going. I'm convinced that becoming an adult isn't that hard. "" Yahho no Tanoshimikata"" taught me everything.

It was a winter when I was 16, not sure if I was an adult or a child. Alone in my messy room, I pumped my fist into the air and said, ""I hope this album will help me become an adult.""

Shokudou (door TO Door) ----------------------------------------------------------- Hitting your forehead on the strap. Earphones and sighs leaking out as the train moves slowly. The music that plays when you take that first step to transfer from one crowded train to the next.

Nishioka (Peoples) ----------------------------------------------------------- How to enjoy Yahho I said out loud, ""This is the ultimate Famicom hardcore punk!!!!!!!!!!!!!!""＼(^o^)／ I love how the song ends so quickly＼(^o^)／ I love how it's gentle and tenacious＼(^o^)／ More than anything, I love how it's fun＼(^o^)／ In the end, I was lucky to be able to listen to a variety of music＼(^o^)／

Nozawa Dive Kinshi (Niji no Tasogare) ----------------------------------------------------------- For the vinyl release of Yahho's ""How to Enjoy Yahho"", I asked people around Yahho who are close to me and have always looked after me for comments, and they all replied promptly and readily agreed, which really made me realize how charming Yahho is and how charismatic he is as an artist. *From the beginning, Yahho said he felt bad about asking for comments from everyone, so I took the initiative and did it on my own.

It wasn't easy to get to the point where we decided to release it, but I was driven by a mysterious sense of mission that even Yahho himself probably didn't want, that made me reach this project. Yahho released a CD last year and sold hundreds of copies individually without national distribution, so I took a selfish action that even he didn't want at all, in order to put him in a more interesting situation. Yahho has already established a solid position in the underground, but we approached Yahho with the idea of releasing this album with the sole desire that more people listen to their music, that they come to their live shows and get excited and laugh, and that we want them to become a part of everyone's lives.

This is a wonderful album that you should listen to and experience for yourself if something isn't going right every day and you're struggling and wondering if things are okay. Once you've listened to it, all that's left to do is gather in the mosh pit at the live venue.

Thank you Yahho!

Hiracchi (manga Shock) ----------------------------------------------------------- I think if you listen to this album on vinyl you'll want to run out the door as fast as you can. Awesome!! Mikuru (ANORAK!) ----------------------------------------------------------- To Hamai Congratulations on the release! The three of us used to go to coffee shops together Do you remember? Don't you remember? I hope we can go again someday

Y.I.M. Omiru Asu chan ----------------------------------------------------------- That packs a punch!

Watson (Dotsuitarunen) -----------------------------------------------------------"

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Technics

SA-C600

999,00 €*

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Premium Class Network CD Receiver

Introducing the Network CD Receiver SA-C600—your ultimate gateway to a universe of music experiences, all wrapped up in a single, sleek device. Say hello to seamless integration of your favourite music sources, from cherished vinyl and classic CDs to the latest radio hits and limitless streaming options, while experiencing the pinnacle of audio excellence.

Elevate your listening journey to new heights with the SA-C600, meticulously crafted by the masters of sound engineering at Technics. Immerse yourself in a luxurious sonic landscape where every note, every beat, resonates with unparalleled clarity and richness.

Full Digital Amplifier
The SA-C600 boasts a fully digital amplifier and transmission system, ensuring minimal outside noise interference for accurate signal transmission. Enjoy high-quality digital audio with the smooth texture of analog recordings.

Designed for Sophisticated Music Listening Experience
To keep things visually cohesive, the SA-C600 borrows style elements from Technics turntables, including colour, texture, and dimensions, giving the system a sleek and unified look. Plus, the aluminium top panel houses a convenient CD player with a manually operated lid, adding both practicality and a touch of elegance to the setup.

Twin Power Supply Circuit System
The SA-C600 boosts amplifier performance with a separate power supply exclusively for its circuits, ensuring stable power to two independent transformers. Additionally, the optimized wiring minimises noise for exceptional sound quality.

Built-in Phono Equaliser compatible with MM Cartridge
The SA-C600's built-in phono equaliser is specifically designed for MM cartridges, giving you better performance. It runs on its own power supply circuit, separate from the control circuit, which helps reduce background noise for clearer sound. In addition, its shielded construction keeps out external noise, so your music gets amplified without losing any quality.

Space Tune™
The Space Tune feature—an innovation that customizes your sound experience to fit any space, ensures incredible music no matter where you're listening. Whether you're using the user-friendly Technics Audio Centre app, or selecting from one of the four presets directly on the main unit—Free, Wall, Corner, or Shelf—you can tailor the sound to perfectly suit your acoustic surroundings.* Available for iOS devices only

Compatible with a variety of music sources
The SA-C600 supports a variety of music sources including CD, radio, phono input, optical digital input (including TVs), coaxial digital input, USB input, and more.

Enjoy high-quality sound wirelessly
The SA-C600 can playback high-resolution music wirelessly. It supports not only Bluetooth® and AirPlay 2, but also Spotify Connect®, TIDAL, Amazon Music, and more, and comes with Chromecast built-in™.

Compatible with MQA
The SA-C600 supports MQA and can playback MQA-CD and MQA files downloaded from music streaming services with outstanding sound quality.

Specs:
• JENO Engine (Jitter Elimination and Noise-shaping Optimisation)
• Twin Power Supply Circuit System
• Clean Powered Clock Generator
• Built-in Phono Equaliser compatible with MM Cartridge
• Space Tune™
• Supports a Wide Range of Music Content

Technical Data:
• Output Power: 60 W + 60 W (1 kHz, T.H.D. 1.0%, 4Ω, 20 kHz LPF)
• Load Impedance: 4Ω - 16Ω
• Frequency Response:
- PHONO (MM): 20 Hz - 20 kHz (RIAA DEVIATION ±1dB, 8Ω)
- LINE: 20 Hz - 80 kHz (-3dB, 8Ω)
- DIGITAL: 20 Hz - 90 kHz (-3dB, 8Ω)

• Input Sensitivity / Input Impedance
- PHONO (MM): 2.5 mV / 47 kΩ
- LINE: 200 mV / 22 kΩ
• Analogue Input Terminal:
- LINE x 1
- PHONO (MM) x1

• Digital Input Terminal:
- Optical digital x 1
- Coaxial digital x 1
- USB-A x 1
- USB-B x 1 (PC)

• Analogue Output Terminal: Sub Woofer x 1
• Headphone Output: Yes, Stereo Φ3.5 mm
• Disc Compatibility: Audio CD, CD-R/CD-RW (CD-DA, Discs recorded and finalized on recording devices)

• USB-A
iPod/iPhone/iPad: No
Support Codec:
- WAV: Yes (32, 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96, 176.4, 192, 352.8, 384 kHz / 16, 24, 32 bit)
- FLAC: Yes (32, 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96, 176.4, 192, 352.8, 384 kHz / 16, 24 bit)
- DSD: Yes (2.8 MHz, 5.6 MHz, 11.2 MHz)
- AIFF: Yes (32, 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96, 176.4, 192, 352.8, 384 kHz / 16, 24, 32 bit)
- ALAC: Yes (32, 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96, 176.4, 192, 352.8, 384 kHz / 16, 24 bit)
- AAC: Yes (32, 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96 kHz/16-320 kbps)
- MP3: Yes (32, 44.1, 48 kHz / 16-320 kbps)

• PC(USB-B)
USB Audio Class Specification:
- USB 2.0 high-speed
- USB Audio Class 2.0, Asynchronous mode
Support Codec:
- LPCM Yes (32, 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96, 176.4, 192 kHz / 16, 24 bit)
- DSD Yes (2.8 MHz, 5.6 MHz)
DSD control mode: ASIO Native mode, DoP mode

• MQA Decorder: Yes

• LAN(DMR):
- WAV: Yes (32, 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96, 176.4, 192, 352.8, 384 kHz / 16, 24, 32 bit)
- FLAC: Yes (32, 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96, 176.4, 192, 352.8, 384 kHz / 16, 24 bit)
- DSD: Yes (2.8 MHz, 5.6 MHz, 11.2 MHz)
- AIFF: Yes (32, 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96, 176.4, 192, 352.8, 384 kHz / 16, 24, 32 bit)
- ALAC: Yes (32, 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96, 176.4, 192, 352.8, 384 kHz / 16, 24 bit)
- AAC: Yes (32, 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96 kHz/16-320 kbps)
- MP3: Yes (32, 44.1, 48 kHz / 16-320 kbps)

• Ethernet Interface: LAN (100 Base-TX / 10 Base-T)

• Wi-Fi:
- IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac
- 2.4 GHz / 5 GHz Band

• Chromecast built-in: Yes
• AirPlay 2: Yes
• Bluetooth® (Support codec): Yes (AAC, SBC)
• Tuner: DAB / DAB+ / FM
• Power Supply: AC 220 V - 240 V, 50/60 Hz
• Power Consumption: 46 W
• Dimensions (W x H x D): 340 mm x 94 mm x 341 mm
• Weight: Approx. 4.8 kg
• Accessories: AC Cord, DAB Indoor Antena, Remote Control, Batteries for Remote Control, Owner's Manual

Go to Item

Technics

SA-C600

999,00 €*

Add to Cart Coming Soon Sold out Currently not available Not Enough Coins

Go to Item

Technics

SA-C600

999,00 €*

Aurelia Golden Vinyl Edition

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Deary

LP | 2024 | UK | Original (Sonic Cathedral)

22,99 €*

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

Release: 2024 / UK – Original

Genre: Rock & Indie

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Just under a year after their acclaimed self-titled debut, dreampop duo deary release a brand new six-track EP – Aurelia – via Sonic Cathedral on November 1.

It includes the singles ‘The Moth’, ‘Selene’ and ‘The Drift’ and features Slowdive drummer Simon Scott playing on three songs. It will be available on three different vinyl variants, a CD with three bonus tracks and digitally.

It’s a stunning record, which displays a new-found maturity in terms of production as well as musically and lyrically. The band – singer Rebecca ‘Dottie’ Cockram and guitarist/producer Ben Easton – have had to grow up in public since the release of their debut single at the start of 2023, supporting legends such as Slowdive and Cranes and TikTok sensations like Wisp along the way.

An aurelian is a rare old term for a lepidopterist – someone who studies and collects moths – derived from the Latin aurelia, meaning chrysalis. The perfect title for an EP which is based around the theme of metamorphosis and change.

“It leans on the natural world, the human body, the earth and sky as well as human emotion,” says Ben of how the EP represents physical and metaphysical growth. “Change can be daunting but equally exciting, which is something we’ve come to learn.”

“While writing the EP, I found a letter I had written to myself when I was 22,” adds Dottie. “I was fresh out of university and had moved back in with my parents as Covid was in full force. I was uninspired and lost and reaching out to my future self for some hope. It was a physical representation of what can happen in a few years; how much can change and how you never know what’s coming next.

“I found it interesting that – at the age of 26 – here I was looking back to my younger self for hope or just some comfort in the fact that things will and do move on. It was important to me to bring both of these versions of myself into the new songs.”

“Personally, I had noticed a change in myself; a new level of social anxiety, a strange disassociation to things that once brought me joy as well as negative repetitions in my daily life,” reveals Ben. “I began the year sober which allowed me to finish the writing process as a letter of care to my own mental health. There are motifs throughout the EP – for example the riffs in ‘The Moth’ and ‘The Drift’ being reminiscent of each other – which are like musical reflections of these repeated cycles.”

It’s musically where the change deary have undergone is most obvious. ‘The Moth’ mixes howling guitars atop a strident breakbeat making it more Curve than Cocteaus; ‘Selene’ is a slow-building wall of noise; ‘The Drift’ combines a perfect pop melody with an incredible sense of urgency. These three singles are balanced by the brief but beautiful ‘Where You Are’ which leads into the Portishead-style trip-hop of ‘Dream Of Me’. The title track has been a staple of their live sets for about a year as ‘Can’t Sleep Tonight’, but its mix of The Cure circa Disintegration and Mezzanine Massive Attack has grown and evolved so much that they renamed it ‘Aurelia’ as the embodiment of the change they have been through.

“We’ve allowed deary to naturally grow over the past year, we didn’t want to force it to take a certain shape or sound,” explains Dottie of the duo’s slow and steady approach. “A lot of the last EP was written by sending ideas back and forth over WhatsApp, but this time we were able to sit in the same room and I think that really shows. We know each other a lot better now as we have experienced this journey together and that benefits the writing process as we are more open with each other and can be vulnerable.”

“Aurelia definitely feels a lot more collaborative, more personal and more fully realised than the first EP,” concludes Ben. “It feels like a real document of what has been a very important time in both of our lives. Ironically, the band has changed and matured even more since the recording, so we’re both excited to document the next stage.”

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Nathan Fake

Crystal Vision

39,99 €*

Fly By Night Record Store Day 2023 Edition

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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Wendell Harrison

LP | 1990 | US | Reissue (Tidal Waves Music)

22,49 €* 29,99 € -25%

LP | 2020 | EU | Original (Warner)

Release: 1990 / US – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Record Store Day 2023 first time on vinyl release limited to 500 copies on 180g vinyl. Rare 1990 Detroit Jazz Album by Tribe Founder Wendell Harrison

Wendell Harrison was born in Detroit in 1942 where he began formal jazz studies for piano, clarinet and tenor saxophone. At 14, while still in high school, Harrison started performing & recording professionally with artists such as Marvin Gaye, Grant Green, Sun Ra, Hank Crawford … and many others.

In 1971, Harrison began teaching music at Metro Arts (a multi-arts complex for youth) where he also connected with Marcus Belgrave, Harold McKinney and Phil Ranelin…soon after they formed the (now legendary) Afro-centric Tribe record label and artist collective. Tribe used the Metro Arts complex as a vehicle to convey a growing black political consciousness. Wendell Harrison also published the very popular Tribe magazine, a publication dedicated to local and national social and political issues, as well as featuring artistic contributions such as poetry and visual pieces.

In 1978 Harrison and McKinney co-founded Rebirth, a non-profit jazz performance and education organization, in which many notable jazz artists have participated. Around the same time Wendell Harrison also created the Wenha record label and publishing company, which released many of his (now classic) recordings as well as those of other artists, such as Phil Ranelin, Doug Hammond and Reggie Fields (The Real ShooBeeDoo).

In the early 1990s, Wendell Harrison was awarded the title of “Jazz Master” by Arts Midwest. This distinction led Harrison to collaborate with fellow honorees and gave him the chance to tour throughout the United States, Middle East and Africa. Even to this day Wendell Harrison's recordings for the Tribe, Wenha and Rebirth labels have a large worldwide fanbase.

It is on Wehha in 1990 that Harrison released (and self-produced) the opus: ‘Fly By Night’ which we are proudly presenting you today. ‘Fly By Night’ is a monster of an album featuring an all-star line-up that includes Doug Hammond (Mingus, Lonnie Liston Smith) on drums, Kirk Lightsey (Chet Baker, Calvin Keys) on piano, Cecil McBee (John Hicks, Pharoah Sanders, Alice Coltrane) on bass, Jaribu Shahid (Sun Ra) on contrabass and Pamela Wise (Tribe) on Piano. Harrison is killing it here with this selected ensemble (guys he grew up with in Detroit in the late 50’s, when hard bop was the thing and Miles and Coltrane were the heroes of the day). This group of talented veterans are taking this classic album to unseen heights.

On ‘Fly By Night’ the gloves come off…no more jazzy-funk or poppy-jazz. Wendell picks up his tenor for one tune but the remainder of the sessions he performs on clarinet. Wendell’s mastery coaxes the sweet piquant sound of the instrument and as it re-emerges in the contemporary jazz scene. The eight handpicked tunes demonstrate the fertile new directions Wendell Harrison has been working on, combing standards with a fresh new approach.

On these amazing recordings (recorded at the Rebirth Studios in Detroit) the listener is invited to experience a synthesis of what has been and what is now. The record shows Wendell’s trademark proficiency. All of the above makes this incredible record both timeless and as relevant today as it was back when it was initially released.

Tidal Waves Music now proudly presents ‘Fly By Night’ for the First Time on vinyl (the album was only released as a limited compact disc back in the early nineties). This unique record comes as a deluxe 180g vinyl edition (strictly limited to 500 copies) with obi strip. This vinyl edition also features the original painted front cover artwork by Virgil Grady (known for his work with Tribe records) and back photography by acclaimed Detroit scene photographer & author Barbara Barefield, whose work has appeared in many renowned publications such as The New York Times, LA Times, People magazine and countless others. Released exclusively for Record Store Day (uk/europe) 2023 and available in participating stores on April 22, 2023.

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Lianne La Havas

LP | 2023 | EU | Original (Be With)

Release: 2020 / EU – Original

Genre: Pop

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South London’s Lianne La Havas re-entered our musical consciousness at the end of February with her emotionally stirring soul-gem ‘Bittersweet’. This came in conjunction with an Annie Mac Hottest Record, a mind-blowing live show at the Barbican with the BBC Symphony Orchestra & Jules Buckley and an incredible Colors session – all of which helped put Lianne firmly back on the cultural map for 2020.

‘Lianne La Havas’, Lianne’s third album and her first in five years and is an album of startling beauty and insight—made entirely on her own terms which has been quite a journey. In one sense, geographically: La Havas spent a lot of time moving back and forth between the UK and the States working on writing and exploring her own identity. As a result, ‘Lianne La Havas’ feels spacious and luminous. Its sunbaked sounds recall, in places, the Brazilian singer, songwriter, and guitarist Milton Nascimento (on “Seven Times”). You might also hear the curveball chords of Joni Mitchell and Jaco Pastorious’s jazz explorations (“Green Papaya”), or the puttering drums and inviting warmth of golden-era Al Green (“Read My Mind”). And throughout the record, there’s a sense of empowerment that has its roots in the crisp ‘90s R&B of Destiny’s Child.

‘Lianne La Havas is ten songs that span the arc of a love relationship. The album’s opener, ‘Bittersweet’ functions as a kind of an overture, setting out what follows, before the giddy, love-struck rush of ‘Read My Mind’. If these first few songs suggest a flower opening its petals, that’s no coincidence: “What plays a big role in the album is the idea of the life cycle of plants and nature—equating this journey with a seasonal thing that blooms, thrives, goes away, and comes back even stronger,” La Havas says. Over the five years it took for the album to come together, she found herself watching the changing foliage outside her window in south London, struck by how she was growing and changing herself—not always comfortably. “A flower has to dry up and die in order to be reborn,” she says. “You have to get to the rock bottom to rebuild yourself.”

After relentless touring and promoting of her first two albums as well as personal and emotional events in her life, it was becoming increasingly difficult to find time, inspiration and confidence to get back in the studio for a follow up. As it came about, the recording process of album number three began in earnest by accident; returning from a glorious, sunny Glastonbury festival performance in June 2019, La Havas and her core band decided to see if they could nail their lithe live version of Radiohead’s ‘Weird Fishes’ in the studio. “I had the most wonderful, nourishing experience recording that,” she says, “And that’s where I decided: the rest of the album needs to be like this. It’s got to be my band, and I’ve got to do it in London, whenever people have time.” By October, she had all ten songs, and by December, everything was recorded—mainly in London, and also in Bath and New York. In keeping with the album’s intimate feel, everyone who contributed to the record is a trusted collaborator, including long-term songwriting ally Matt Hales, co-producer Beni Giles, and guest co-producer Mura Masa.

The confidence that La Havas has cultivated, both personally and creatively, is audible in the fact that ‘Lianne La Havas’ is a record that feels utterly real—a living, breathing thing. It hasn’t been polished to a squeak in favor of a “clean” recording; La Havas followed her gut on this album, going with what feels good.

Beauty never really goes by the book, and ‘Lianne La Havas’ is a breathtaking example of this. Now thirty years old, she is excited about playing these powerful songs live. “The best part is that I own them, and really believe in them,” she says. “And, you know, it’s me. So I can’t be afraid of doing what I do, and being who I am.”

‘Lianne La Havas’—an exquisite, rich, and tender expression of love, loss, and rebirth that marks a new era for the British artist.

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Lovelock

Washington Park

27,99 €*

LP | 2023 | EU | Original (Far Out)

Release: 2023 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Steve Moore's Lovelock is back with Washington Park, a gorgeous suite of instrumental lounge music that can only be described as synth exotica. A real departure for Steve, this is a more mellow, soothing sound and can be regarded as Lovelock's response to these dystopian times.

New York-based multi-instrumentalist/producer/film composer Steve Moore is probably best known for his synthesizer and bass guitar work as Zombi, together with Anthony Paterra. Yet his Lovelock alias has been quietly blowing minds and warming hearts for a decade plus now. His latest effort, Washington Park, was not initially meant to be a Lovelock album. But Steve was posting little snippets of his work on Instagram and people started asking him: "is this new Lovelock?" It was at this point that Steve had an epiphany, of sorts. "It occurred to me that Lovelock can be whatever I want it to be. So yeah, maybe this new lounge/exotica record is, in fact, Lovelock."

Washington Park creeped out in a very low-key, early lockdown fashion and there wasn't much of a reaction. Says Steve, "I just self-released it and all my usual suspects were down with it, but it didn't really make it outside of my own circle." Yet many of the Balearic heads in Europe were indeed on it and Be With were most certainly listening. So, when we struck a deal to do the vinyl version of Burning Feeling, we couldn't resist asking about Washington Park.

Gentle opener "It Means Love" grooves along in the laconic style, conjuring carousel innocence and complimented by dreamy, spiritual sax and syrupy synth strings over a digi-soul beats. Title-track "Washington Park" glides smoothly in much the same vein, almost like a slightly more acidic, squelchier version of the preceding track with more insistent organ. Swoon. Closing out Side A, steady ambient gem "We'll See" is all gorgeous, soft pads with plaintive guitar and organ giving way to soaring digital strings over that metronomic drum machine soul.

Flip for the eerily brilliant "Seduction", a track which starts like a minimalist slice of Tommy Guerrero-esque guitar and drum machine soul but soon takes on a more menacing bent as Steve leans into his long-held predilection for horror by creating a slow-mo haunted house jam. The tempo (and temperature) rises with "Center Square", a Latin rhythm section and a sensual sax rubbing up against hot and heavy organ and string action. Steamy! To round things off, the ominous creeping groove of "Rhythm 77" feels like exotica-in-excelsis.

Washington Park was recorded over the first few months of the pandemic, during the spring of 2020, against the backdrop of his kids being out of school which meant daily walks and bike rides through Washington Park in Albany. It was during these moments of family activity and gentle movements, trying to make sense of the chaos engulfing his world, that Steve formed the ideas that led to this album. To make it manifest, he used all his old Roland beat boxes (CR-78, Rhythm 77 and Rhythm 330, Rhythm Arranger) plus a Chamberlin Rhythmate for all the percussion. Basslines were usually performed with his Moog Source or Minitaur and for pads and brass he used his Sequential Prophet 600 and Roland Juno 60. Strings came via a variety of old stringers - Korg Polysix, Elka Rhapsody, Crumar Orchestrator and Solina String Ensemble - and he also used his Fender Strat and Yamaha Custom saxophone.

Steve is a huge fan of exotica and that's clearly where this album is coming from. The likes of Martin Denny, Les Baxter and Henry Mancini can all be discerned here. As Steve explained, "I spent a lot of time listening to that stuff in the 90s and I figured it was time to let those influences show." You're going to be glad he did.

Mastering for the Washington Park vinyl edition was overseen by Be With regular Simon Francis before being cut by Cicely Blaston of Alchemy Mastering at AIR Studios and pressed in the Netherlands by Record Industry.

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Grupo Um

Starting Point

Release: 2023 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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In 1975, under the oppressive air of military dictatorship in Brazil, brothers Lelo and Zé Eduardo Nazario invited bassist Zeca Assumpção to join their musical experiments in a basement under Sao Paulo’s Teodoro Sampaio Street. As teenagers, the trio had already been playing together in Hermeto Pascoal’s Grupo, alongside guitarist Toninho Horta and saxophonist Nivaldo Ornelas, and it was while working together under Hermeto’s direction that the Paulista rhythm section (as they were then known) began to realise their own potential.

With many nightclubs and venues closed in the mid-70s and government censors dictating the output of radio, TV and art galleries, many Brazilian artists fled during the years of dictatorship. But underground, Grupo Um were fusing avant garde ideals with contemporary jazz and Afro Brazilian rhythm; making phenomenally free and expressive music - in stark contrast to the sterile, conservative conditions being imposed above ground.

Just like Hermeto Pascoal’s Viajando Com O Som from the following year, Starting Point was recorded over two days at Vice-Versa Studios, by revered engineer Renato Viola. The studio was one of the best in Sao Paulo and musicians communicated with engineers through cameras and a monitor, allowing the group complete immersion in the process. They also made use of the studio’s hemispherical tiled room, which served as an acoustic reverberation chamber.

The album begins with Zé Eduardo Nazario’s thunderous drum solo on “Porão da Teodoro”, before clearing the clouds with the lone Berimbau which opens “Onze Por Oito”. Built around a hypnotic electric bass line, heady Fender Rhodes improvisations, and more rip-roaring drums, it’s a rapturous, electrifying freak-jam in 11/8.

Like some invertebrate deep-sea curiosity, the free-form “Organica” is made up of Lelo Nazario’s playfully eerie prepared piano, with Zé Eduardo’s percussion flurries darting around Assumpçao’s double bass. The equally non-conformist, percussion-only piece “Jardim Candida” features many of Zé Eduardo’s home-made instruments, including a long saw blade played with vibraphone sticks and violin bow. While working with Hermeto, Zé Eduardo famously built his own all-in-one percussion set-up known as the “Barraca de Percussão” (Percussion Tent) - the first of its kind in Brazil, which he would also use on Hermeto Pascoal’s Viajando Com O Som and throughout his career.

“Suite Orquidea Negra'' (Black Orchid Suite) was written by Lelo Nazario as the score for an imaginary movie - the story of a rare, black orchid which produced a substance meant to cure all diseases, but which had mysteriously disappeared from the laboratory… “As a screenplay it’s not very good” reflects Lelo in jest, “but the music ended up being very interesting, the way its parts are chained to one another carries a little of the mystery I imagined for the movie.”

The album closes with the triumphant “Cortejo dos Reis Negros” (Procession of Black Kings) - a groovy variation on the Maracatu rhythm, with a two-note bassline underpinning piano improvisations, exultant wordless vocals, cuicas, slide-whistles and a very special guest appearance from Zé’s dog Bolinha.

Starting Point was to mark the inception of one of Brazil’s most daring instrumental groups. Their debut now sits in the lofty echelon of otherworldly 70s Brazilian music, alongside the likes of Marcos Resende & Index’s self-titled debut, Cesar Mariano & Cia’s Sao Paulo Brasil, Azymuth’s debut and indeed Hermeto Pascoal’s Viajando Com O Som. But just like all of those titles, which were either shelved or largely ignored at the time, Grupo Um - so radically ahead of their time - struggled to find a label to release their debut album. So Lelo kept the tapes safe in his archives, which is where they sat for almost half a century. Finally, almost fifty years later, this mesmerising piece of history is here, and it was only the beginning...

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Fusion Global Sounds 1970-1983

CD | 2022 | EU | Original (Favorite)

15,99 €*

4LP | 2024 | EU | Original (Fjaak)

Release: 2022 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Favorite Recordings and Charles Maurice proudly present a brand new compilation series: Fusion Global Sounds. 9 rare and hidden tracks produced between 1970 and 1983 in various parts of the world. As a fine collector of Jazz-Funk and Fusion for many years, Charles Maurice selected some of his favorite forgotten productions, as he previously did for the AOR Global Sounds, French and Brazilian Disco Boogie Sounds compilations series. This time, recordings come from Sweden, Switzerland, South Africa, New Zealand, Uruguay, Spain and France, from artists and bands mostly known in their local scenes. You'll hear here the best elements of the Fusion and Jazz-Funk genre: breezy vocal arrangements reminding Flora Purim in Return To Forever or George Duke's albums, sweet and virtuosic Fender Rhodes (kind of common thread of the comp), melodic spiral-shaped fuzzy synthesizers leads, or irresistible basslines, altogether bringing a unique groove to life. "Buster" is taken from the first and only album of the Swedish band, Sundance. The band from Gothenburg was formed around US trumpet player Stephen Frankevich (notably playing with Mahavishnu Orchestra) after he moved to Sweden. Cosmic, with razor-sharp rhythms, it naturally brings you to the second title, "Hello Mr. Ancuvis" by Renato Anselmi. One of the key players of the Swiss Jazz scene during the sixties and the seventies, Renato also had the chance to play with Harvey Mason or Alphonso Johnson. Funky, jazzy but still a bit breezy, here again sweet vocals nicely blend with uptempo Rhodes part. Also included is another title from Renato Anselmi, "Quiet Fire", a mellow Rhodes-driven ballad with funky accents, wide strings and guitar arrangements. "Tropical Island" by Zane Cronje, a South-African composer and arranger, was initially a track from a music library catalogue: dreamy, soaked in thorough synthesizers, we're only attached to the earth by the Guiro groove. You'll also hear this cosmic vibe in "Astral Dance" by French-American drummer and Jazz musician/composer Daniel Bechet, taken from Songs To My Father LP, dedicated to his father the famous Sax/Clarinet player Sydney Bechet. In this 4 minutes dope jam, keys, guitar and percussion will elevate your mind to another level of consciousness: deep! The 1860 Band was hailing from Wellington, New Zealand, playing mostly in bars, cafes and pubs - their name is taken from a tavern where they had an extended afternoon residency keeping the clients entertained. Their sole LP, now rare and sought-after, was a nice mix of Jazz-Funk and Disco grooves. Their amazing and groovy cover of "Keep That Same Old Feeling" by The Crusaders, brings the best of their playing. Otroshakers was formed around Hugo and Osvaldo Fattoruso, as a tribute project to their former band Los Shakers, some sort of copycat band of The Beatles with great success in Latin America. Listening to "Siempre Tu", you can almost hear The Beatles' psychedelic vocal of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Later joining Ringo Thielmann in the US, they formed the band OPA together, after having recorded for Airto's seminal album Fingers. Blending Jazz, South-American musical elements and Funk, their fusion quickly gained the respect of the NY musical scene. "Despertar" by Spanish drummer, singer and actor Pedro Ruy-Blas, is taken from Luna Llena, his great first Jazz-Funk album. The track is a funky piece with wah-wah expressive Rhodes, ending with a beautiful flute solo. "Prologue" by Dutch-French pianist Majoie Hajary (sometimes called the "Hindu pianist"), can be found on La Passion Selon Judas, a very unique religious album blending her own style with Psych, Funk and Jazz elements. Surely we could continue detailing stories of all these gems, but we guess that the best way to learn more about them, is to listen to Fusion Global Sounds, fully remastered from originals and whether your preference is for vinyl or CD formats.

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Fjaak

Fjaak The System

67,99 €*

Release: 2024 / EU – Original

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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FJAAK returns to their own imprint with a third album. 23 multi facetted tracks (incl. collaborations with Modeselektor and Skee Mask) spread across 4 discs and an extensive booklet! Fuelled by the Berlin-based duo's love of club music in all its forms 'FJAAK THE SYSTEM' is FJAAK's most definitive album to date, a winding sonic odyssey that surveys the rave landscape, dipping between frantic euphoria and deep contemplation. Featuring sizzling collaborations with Modeselektor, Skee Mask, Red Eye and J.Manuel, the album draws a bold line under FJAAK's 15 years of mischief and mayhem, pulling together 23 tracks (culled from over 300, no less) that truly reflect the duo's boundless enthusiasm for the dancefloor. Grazing UK breakbeat, techno, 2-step, d'n'b, jungle, trip-hop and ambient, these elasticated, hybrid bangers paint a vivid picture of FJAAK's utopian club ideal, a place where genre boundaries evaporate and only the groove remains. Since graduating in audio engineering in the early 2010s, FJAAK have been challenging the logic of a maddeningly conservative club scene with their hardware only live shows, DJ sets a myriad of record releases. In 2019 they launched the label and platform Spandau20 with a steady flow of records and a mixtape series featuring new talent and established artists. With their rebellious attitude and notoriously energetic live sets, the duo have brought back a crucial lost ingredient to the rave: playfulness. And if their well-loved albums 'FJAAK', released on Modeselektor's Monkeytown imprint, and 'Havel' set the scene, 'FJAAK THE SYSTEM' rises above and beyond expectations, creating a new benchmark. It's not just blood, sweat and tears either, FJAAK's advanced technical knowhow and love of synthesizers and drum machines helps them formulate a sound that's conscious of dance music history, but focused on a brighter, more equitable future. Their second single 'And You Feel' is an emotional rollercoaster combining UK breakbeat with a dubstep-influenced bassline wobler and alluring vocals, emulating the moment the mind becomes a tranquil void through the crescendo of adrenaline like a strain of physical exertion. This is reflected on their new music video which shows an unexpected "rage room" scene. As for the rest of the album, fittingly, the album opens with 'Unity', a brief cry from FJAAK that urges listeners to overcome their prejudices and focus on the music itself. Then we're thrown right into 'And You Feel', a searing blend of nostalgic pads, snatched diva vocals and factory-strength breaks. A conscious balancing act between tranquility and rushing adrenaline, it's one of the album's most unashamedly emotional moments. And by the time we reach 'Redemption', dynamism takes hold completely: ear-pummeling drums feed the soundsystem, and squelchy, acidic TB-303s twist into peak time. For FJAAK, it's a track that confronts the harsh reality of a music industry that's not always kind to artists, highlighting the relentless struggles in a furious rush of pneumatic kicks and a merciless synth throb. The mood shifts into intricate dark territory when they team up with Modeselektor on 'Horsepower', a track that captures the giddiness of their studio sessions. A rush of stepped breaks, lysergic pads and untamed glitches, it's a trip towards ecstasy that's a testament to the four producers' mastery over their craft. And on the energetic 'Mechanic Love', FJAAK examine the relationship between humans and technology wondering what impact an augmented reality might have on intimacy and companionship. Using wailing, timestretched voices and pounding kicks, they blur the boundaries between the organic and the mechanical, whisking their sonics into a passionate fervor. Elsewhere, they pause for breath on the blissed-out, aquatic 'Glove Box', and enlist Munich's Skee Mask on the electro-tinged 'Black Ice', bringing in FJAAK's former member J.Manuel to slow down gritty breaks into a contemplative whirl on 'Wind Mill Hill'. 'FJAAK THE SYSTEM' is a rich, diverse statement from a duo who aren't willing to rest on their laurels. While FJAAK always have one eye trained on the dancefloor, the other is always looking further inside. Written and produced by Felix Wagner & Aaron Robig as FJAAK. Mixed by FJAAK.

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Ortofon

2M Red Premounted

159,00 €*

Fly By Night White Vinyl Edition

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Step into the music with the 2M Red
With the 2M Red you will hear the music come to life on its own terms. It is like taking a step into music itself. This is our entry-level cartridge in the series, but what an entry.

Featues:
The 2M Red features a tipped Elliptical diamond and split pole pins with a copper wire.
The engine provides an increased output of 5.5 mV and an optimized sound reproduction and a high level of sonic accuracy.

Designed for easy mounting of the cartridge, and for the weight and size to fit the most common turntables on the market today. The 2M Series provides excellent compatibility when used in an assortment of playback systems and with a wide variety of phono preamps.

2M Red delivers an open, dynamic sound with a slight touch of warmth.

2M Red Technical data:
• Output voltage at 1000 Hz, 5cm/sec. - 5.5 mV
• Channel balance at 1 kHz - 1.5 dB
• Channel separation at 1 kHz - 22 dB
• Channel separation at 15 kHz - 15 dB
• Frequency response - 20-20.000 Hz + 3 / - 1 dB
• Tracking ability at 315Hz at recommended tracking force - 70 µm
• Compliance, dynamic, lateral - 20 µm/mN
• Stylus type - Elliptical
• Stylus tip radius - r/R 8/18 µm
• Tracking force range - 1.6-2.0 g (16-20 mN)
• Tracking force, recommended - 1.8 g (18 mN)
• Tracking angle - 20°
• Internal impedance, DC resistance - 1.3 kOhm
• Internal inductance - 700 mH
• Recommended load resistance - 47 kOhm
• Recommended load capacitance - 150-300 pF
• Cartridge colour, body/stylus - Black/Red
• 2M standard and 2M Verso cartridges weight - 7.2 g
• Premounted cartridge weight - 16.7 g
• Replacement stylus unit - 2M Red (interchangeable with 2M Blue and 2M Silver)

Stylus lifetime: with proper care we find that up to 1000 hours is possible without degradation of performance.

2M Series styli interchangeability:
The 2M Series' engines, coils and magnets configurations are not identical: Red and Blue are identical, so are the Bronze and Black and so are the true mono variants 2M Mono and 2M 78. Likewise, 2M series styli are interchangeable within the below combinations:
- 2M Red, 2M Blue and 2M Silver
- 2M Bronze, 2M Black and 2M Black LVB 250
- 2M Mono and 2M 78

Compatibility with Rega brand TT/TA:
REGA brand cartridges’ height from stylus tip to the top cartridge mounting surface is lower than standard. Therefore you would need spacers to ensure the correct set-up of the Ortofon cartridge.
Adjusting the height of your Rega tonearm is easy with Acoustic Signature's Spacer Set. It allows you to adjust the height from 0.5 mm to 3.5 mm in precise steps of 0.5 mm - without removing the tone arm. Simply loosen the screws, insert the AS-spacer, then lock the screws back down, and you're tonearm is ready to play.
3.2 - 4 mm spacers should be enough for 2M cartridge.

With the 2M Premounted, it’s never been easier to experience.
The 2M Premounted is a practical and elegant solution for our customers who wish direct and easy mounting and replacement on their S-shaped tonearm. The quality of the SH-4 headshell is sturdy and rigid, yet the design emphasizes a slim and delicate form factor. The strong, lightweight headshell has an ergonomic design with a long finger lift that is easy to pick up.

Features:
- Premounted on our popular SH-4 Black headshell.
- Easy and direct mount on S-shaped tonearms with universal mount.
- Correct Baerwald alignment with tonearms with universal mount.

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Wendell Harrison

LP | 1990 | US | Reissue (Tidal Waves Music)

19,99 €*

So Many Other Realities Exist Simultaneously

Release: 1990 / US – Reissue

Genre: Organic Grooves

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* North American White Vinyl Edition * Limited 180g White Vinyl Edition (500 copies) with obi strip * Rare 1990 Detroit Jazz Album by Tribe Founder Wendell Harrison * First Time ON Vinyl
Wendell Harrison was born in Detroit in 1942 where he began formal jazz studies for piano, clarinet and tenor saxophone. At 14, while still in high school, Harrison started performing & recording professionally with artists such as Marvin Gaye, Grant Green, Sun Ra, Hank Crawford … and many others. In 1971, Harrison began teaching music at Metro Arts (a multi-arts complex for youth) where he also connected with Marcus Belgrave, Harold McKinney and Phil Ranelin…soon after they formed the (now legendary) Afro-centric Tribe record label and artist collective. Tribe used the Metro Arts complex as a vehicle to convey a growing black political consciousness. Wendell Harrison also published the very popular Tribe magazine, a publication dedicated to local and national social and political issues, as well as featuring artistic contributions such as poetry and visual pieces. In 1978 Harrison and McKinney co-founded Rebirth, a non-profit jazz performance and education organization, in which many notable jazz artists have participated. Around the same time Wendell Harrison also created the Wenha record label and publishing company, which released many of his (now classic) recordings as well as those of other artists, such as Phil Ranelin, Doug Hammond and Reggie Fields (The Real ShooBeeDoo). In the early 1990s, Wendell Harrison was awarded the title of “Jazz Master” by Arts Midwest. This distinction led Harrison to collaborate with fellow honorees and gave him the chance to tour throughout the United States, Middle East and Africa. Even to this day Wendell Harrison's recordings for the Tribe, Wenha and Rebirth labels have a large worldwide fanbase. It is on Wehha in 1990 that Harrison released (and self-produced) the opus: ‘Fly By Night’ which we are proudly presenting you today. ‘Fly By Night’ is a monster of an album featuring an all-star line-up that includes Doug Hammond (Mingus, Lonnie Liston Smith) on drums, Kirk Lightsey (Chet Baker, Calvin Keys) on piano, Cecil McBee (John Hicks, Pharoah Sanders, Alice Coltrane) on bass, Jaribu Shahid (Sun Ra) on contrabass and Pamela Wise (Tribe) on Piano. Harrison is killing it here with this selected ensemble (guys he grew up with in Detroit in the late 50’s, when hard bop was the thing and Miles and Coltrane were the heroes of the day). This group of talented veterans are taking this classic album to unseen heights. On ‘Fly By Night’ the gloves come off…no more jazzy-funk or poppy-jazz. Wendell picks up his tenor for one tune but the remainder of the sessions he performs on clarinet. Wendell’s mastery coaxes the sweet piquant sound of the instrument and as it re-emerges in the contemporary jazz scene. The eight handpicked tunes demonstrate the fertile new directions Wendell Harrison has been working on, combing standards with a fresh new approach. On these amazing recordings (recorded at the Rebirth Studios in Detroit) the listener is invited to experience a synthesis of what has been and what is now. The record shows Wendell’s trademark proficiency. All of the above makes this incredible record both timeless and as relevant today as it was back when it was initially released. Tidal Waves Music now proudly presents ‘Fly By Night’ for the First Time on vinyl (the album was only released as a limited compact disc back in the early nineties). This unique record comes as a deluxe 180g White North American vinyl edition (strictly limited to 500 copies) with obi strip. This vinyl edition also features the original painted front cover artwork by Virgil Grady (known for his work with Tribe records) and back photography by acclaimed Detroit scene photographer & author Barbara Barefield, whose work has appeared in many renowned publications such as The New York Times, LA Times, People magazine and countless others.

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Atmosphere

CD | 2023 | US | Original (Rhymesayers)

16,99 €*

Instant House (Joe Claussell)

Release: 2023 / US – Original

Genre: Hip Hop

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In their 25-plus years as a duo, Atmosphere's rapper Slug and producer Ant have built a legacy that is embedded in the fabric of underground hip-hop. Rising in the ranks of Minneapolis, their debut album, Overcast! was released in 1997. Presented as a flurry of vignettes, and paired with an unending touring schedule, the album was a springboard from which the group was able to become a fixture in the midwest music scene. It wasn't long before their songwriting evolved from telling inventive third-person tales to delivering introspective first-person eviscerations, and by the early 2000's Slug would jokingly birth the phrase "emo rap" in an interview before publications began running with the genre tag to describe them and others. In the decades since their debut, Atmosphere has maintained a course of rigorous output, releasing over two dozen studio albums, EP's and collaborative side projects in as many years. The venerated duo have built a legacy out of bringing honesty, humility and vulnerability to the forefront of their music. Slug has proven masterful at storytelling and writing compelling narratives, leaving a trail of his own influence while paying homage to the rappers and songwriters that helped shape him. Meanwhile, Ant has skillfully molded the soundtracks with inspiration from soul, funk, rock, reggae, and the wizardry of hip-hop's pioneering DJ's and producers, creating his own trademark sounds and providing the pulse for songs about life, love, stress and setbacks. At its essence, Atmosphere has been a musical shepherd, guiding generations of listeners through this thing called life. Their newest album, 2023's So Many Other Realities Exist Simultaneously, captures perhaps some of Atmosphere's most personal work to date. The odyssey opens with a gentler approach than recent works, with the lead-off track "Okay" seemingly focused on comforting and reassuring the listener. As Slug raps over one of the most twinkling productions Ant has ever released, the song lays the groundwork for an album-length exercise in fumbling consciousness. Yet, as gently as the album begins, there's an unmistakable sense of unease from the outset that continues to evolve throughout the project, as Slug and Ant weave the listener through indistinct themes of insomnia and woe. From the subtle panic at the heart of songs like "Dotted Lines" to the overt anxiety of songs like "In My Head," the unease across tracks is unmistakable. Yet, as the tears might begin to well, they find resolve again through songs like "Still Life," whose hopeful outlook undercuts the tensity of the album. All the while, the rhythms on So Many Other Realities are some of the most inventive of Atmosphere's career. Ant's playful percussion on "In My Head" acts as a nice counterweight to the roiling writing, while the drum patterns on "Holding My Breath" and "Bigger Pictures" allow Slug to play with his flow to emphasize the anxiety driving the record. Where previous records in this most recent act of Atmosphere's career have been focused on emphasizing the parts of life that carry the most meaning_family, brotherhood, purpose_So Many Other Realities is an almost unnerving excavation of paranoia inspired by the general malaise of a pandemic weary society full of civil unrest. The tension in these songs is palpable, but the album's mere presence is a testament to the hope that has to underpin even the most stressed out epiphanies. The greatest risk Atmosphere has continued to take across their career is that of being vulnerable and unafraid. The world has inconceivably changed since Slug and Ant entered into the underground hip-hop scene, but despite the seismic shifts in music and culture, they've held strong to a foundation rooted in sly innovation and truth. The duo's relentless release & touring schedules only tell a piece of the story, but spending time with their records_whether you're a new fan or a longstanding listener_reveals a pair of friends who love to create and live for unabashed self-expression. Their bare reflections on life and the mundane traumas and joys that make living worthwhile are a gift, and that is Atmosphere's legacy in and of itself. If the music stopped tomorrow, the duo would go down as two quiet titans who changed the course of everyman rap forever.

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Lost Horizons

12" | 1993 | EU | Reissue (Isle Of Jura)

13,59 €* 15,99 € -15%

Can I Hear The Sound Of A Falling Branch

Release: 1993 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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Before he co-founded the legendary Sunday afternoon event Body & Soul with fellow New York DJs Danny Krivit and Francois Kevorkian in 1996, Joaquin "Joe" Claussell was the driving force behind Instant House, an eclectic production outift who released a series of uplifting deep house records, several of which were spun by David Mancuso at the 90s iteration of his influential Loft parties.

In 1993, Instant House released their deepest single, Lost Horizons, through Jungle Sounds Recordings. The A-side, ‘Lost Horizons (The Mind Travel Saturday Night Sunday Morning Mix)’ is a seventeen-minute and twenty-second sojourn into the vibrant club sounds of early 90s NYC. Driven by a Latin-accented man-machine beat that marches into infinity, it comes backed by two shorter mixes, ‘Lost Horizons’ and ‘Lost Horizons (Percussion Bonus)’. Twenty-nine years later, Isle of Jura presents an official vinyl and digital reissue of this slow-burning deep cut.

The Instant House story begins in the late 80s at Dance Tracks, an East Village record store established by the businessman, DJ, and graphic designer Stan Hatzakis. Patronised by New York trendsetters like Frankie Knuckles and Larry Levan, Dance Tracks was considered one of the world's best underground dance music retailers.

During the winter of 1991, Stan got together with one of his best customers, Tony Confusione, to make music. A wall street guy by day and a keyboardist by night, Tony was also a serious DJ. Not long after their first recording sessions, they invited another Dance Tracks fixture, Joaquin "Joe" Claussell, to join them in Tony’s state-of-the-art home studio in Long Island. He brought a vibrant, percussive edge to the sample-based tracks Stan and Tony were cooking up. Emboldened, the three DJs began recording together as Instant House. That year, they released the Dance Trax EP.

In 1992, after Instant House had dropped two certified classics, 'Over' and 'Awade', for Jungle Sounds Records, Stan exited the group and sold Dance Tracks to Joe and his business partner, Stefan Prescott. Following Stan's departure, Joe and Tony headed into the studio for a special recording session. “I just remember how powerful the connection was while we were making that record,” explains Joe, recalling the creation of ‘Lost Horizons (The Mind Travel Saturday Night Sunday Morning Mix)’. “It was a very spiritual encounter in the studio.”

While laying out the drum patterns, sound effects, and arrangement, Joe explained the vibe to Tony, who played the lush cosmic chords and an effortless keyboard saxophone line over the top. “That was Tony completely feeling himself,” Joe reflects. “He performed majestically.”

After the release of the Lost Horizons 12”, Joe received a phone call from Cisco International Corp. A plane flight later, he was sitting in their label offices in Tokyo, talking to a senior record executive who wanted to introduce Lost Horizons to Japan. “What they were primarily doing at the time was pressing classical records - we’re talking thousand dollar plus classical reissues - and they wanted to license and distribute Lost Horizons,” Joe remembers. Three years later, Joe and Tony released 'Asking Forgiveness', their final 12” as Instant House, before parting ways with full hearts.

In the context of his career as a DJ, remixer, and producer, Joe is known for long songs and compositions. As Lost Horizons illustrates, he’s carried that impulse with him since his foundational days. “When I produce, I don’t believe in the beginning or endpoint of anything,” Joe explains. “I really despise the rules. To me, that’s not true to the art of creation. I just believe there is a flow in creation. When we were making music in the 90s, we were restricted by format, but that record could have gone on forever.”

The 12” is housed in a full sleeve jacket by Bradley Pinkerton based on the original release design.

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Alex The Fairy

Tape | 2022 | UK | Original (The Tapeworm)

12,99 €*

Release: 2022 / UK – Original

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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Alex the Fairy is an artist based in Berlin producing music with an emphasis on electronic and concrete methods. Alex the Fairy is also part of the 3Ddancer trio, a live act focusing on improvisation and expression using electronics.

Alex The Fairy writes: "I had sent The Tapeworm tracks before, but I was being difficult so was asked to send a new bunch, with a deadline. I sent the new bunch, a fairly odd collection expecting perhaps some of them to be combined with the older stuff but not seeing any coherence in them. I figured The Tapeworm would find at least something. To my surprise the suggestion that came back was exclusively the tracks I had sent the second time, and, re-listening through the tracks in this new order after returning from a Christmas dinner lying on the floor of my nephews bedroom gave them a completely new context. Despite them being quite varied in terms of age (one had been flung together a few days earlier on the train while another was approaching Schulreife) they seemed to meld together in such a way that I hardly recognised them…

Last year my grandmother died. My last grandparent. I had put off seeing her during corona, as I thought it best not to put her at risk and had almost left to visit her days before her death but had delayed my departure because of a medical appointment. My failure to her weighs heavy on my mind - fates grimacing grin: too little, too late. The approaching march of death, one generation closer was a confrontation I wasn't prepared for.

While clearing out her flat in the following weeks I had kept some of my grandfathers cassettes, live recordings of jazz greats, Pink Floyd, Sade and some classical among them, none originals, several presumably from the radio e.g. a church organ rendition of Bach. At the time I wasn't sure why I was hanging on to them, other than the urge to hoard, and that it felt wrong not at least to keep some. Half a year later, half way through mixing this cassette, suffering from my first bout of Covid, I had the insatiable urge to hook up the cassette player I had received from my grandfather after his death around nineteen years earlier and had been dragging along with me since. I stuck a cassette in only to immediately return to the safety of my covers. I began to work my way into what I had saved, hearing the fruits of my grandfathers labour decades before. It felt like quite an intimate interaction with someone I had long lost contact to/was long gone. Quite a wonderful thing, these time traveling cassettes.

I returned to the tracks to mix them shortly before my corona/cassette experience, with a new mixing console at hand. I had been looking for one for several years, but nothing had ever clicked, until I found this old broadcast desk 30 minutes from my place (it also coincided with a payment from a job the sum of which matched the price identically… fates return). Installing became a massive hassle and I doubted my decision continuously, but the further it was implemented the more it made sense. The first track I recorded with the mixer is on this cassette. Shortly before the mixing I was introduced to an Effektgerät by a friend, Rapha. Another good friend Art lent me their one, and I ended up using copious amounts of it throughout mixing, alongside my usual space creators. All the tracks on this release were mixed again on this mixer and are in a sense all a bit of a dub of the originals. I wouldn't have worked this way without the mixer, and the effect gave me a dimension I hadn't had before, so, from a technical perspective, the mixer and this effect define this release, giving it a coherence, at least for me. Emotionally of course the chaos and turbulence of the preceding year and my newfound appreciation for the medium give it a meaning I will struggle to formulate." – Alex The Fairy, Berlin, 9 May 2022

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Fusion Global Sounds 1970-1983

LP | 2022 | EU | Original (Favorite)

The Plain Truth Colored Vinyl Edition

Release: 2022 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Favorite Recordings and Charles Maurice proudly present a brand new compilation series: Fusion Global Sounds.

9 rare and hidden tracks produced between 1970 and 1983 in various parts of the world. As a fine collector of Jazz-Funk and Fusion for many years, Charles Maurice selected some of his favorite forgotten productions, as he previously did for the AOR Global Sounds, French and Brazilian Disco Boogie Sounds compilations series. This time, recordings come from Sweden, Switzerland, South Africa, New Zealand, Uruguay, Spain and France, from artists and bands mostly known in their local scenes. You'll hear here the best elements of the Fusion and Jazz-Funk genre: breezy vocal arrangements reminding Flora Purim in Return To Forever or George Duke's albums, sweet and virtuosic Fender Rhodes (kind of common thread of the comp), melodic spiral-shaped fuzzy synthesizers leads, or irresistible basslines, altogether bringing a unique groove to life. "Buster" is taken from the first and only album of the Swedish band, Sundance. The band from Gothenburg was formed around US trumpet player Stephen Frankevich (notably playing with Mahavishnu Orchestra) after he moved to Sweden. Cosmic, with razor-sharp rhythms, it naturally brings you to the second title, "Hello Mr. Ancuvis" by Renato Anselmi. One of the key players of the Swiss Jazz scene during the sixties and the seventies, Renato also had the chance to play with Harvey Mason or Alphonso Johnson. Funky, jazzy but still a bit breezy, here again sweet vocals nicely blend with uptempo Rhodes part. Also included is another title from Renato Anselmi, "Quiet Fire", a mellow Rhodes-driven ballad with funky accents, wide strings and guitar arrangements. "Tropical Island" by Zane Cronje, a South-African composer and arranger, was initially a track from a music library catalogue: dreamy, soaked in thorough synthesizers, we're only attached to the earth by the Guiro groove. You'll also hear this cosmic vibe in "Astral Dance" by French-American drummer and Jazz musician/composer Daniel Bechet, taken from Songs To My Father LP, dedicated to his father the famous Sax/Clarinet player Sydney Bechet. In this 4 minutes dope jam, keys, guitar and percussion will elevate your mind to another level of consciousness: deep! The 1860 Band was hailing from Wellington, New Zealand, playing mostly in bars, cafes and pubs - their name is taken from a tavern where they had an extended afternoon residency keeping the clients entertained. Their sole LP, now rare and sought-after, was a nice mix of Jazz-Funk and Disco grooves. Their amazing and groovy cover of "Keep That Same Old Feeling" by The Crusaders, brings the best of their playing. Otroshakers was formed around Hugo and Osvaldo Fattoruso, as a tribute project to their former band Los Shakers, some sort of copycat band of The Beatles with great success in Latin America. Listening to "Siempre Tu", you can almost hear The Beatles' psychedelic vocal of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Later joining Ringo Thielmann in the US, they formed the band OPA together, after having recorded for Airto's seminal album Fingers. Blending Jazz, South-American musical elements and Funk, their fusion quickly gained the respect of the NY musical scene. "Despertar" by Spanish drummer, singer and actor Pedro Ruy-Blas, is taken from Luna Llena, his great first Jazz-Funk album. The track is a funky piece with wah-wah expressive Rhodes, ending with a beautiful flute solo. "Prologue" by Dutch-French pianist Majoie Hajary (sometimes called the "Hindu pianist"), can be found on La Passion Selon Judas, a very unique religious album blending her own style with Psych, Funk and Jazz elements. Surely we could continue detailing stories of all these gems, but we guess that the best way to learn more about them, is to listen to Fusion Global Sounds, fully remastered from originals and whether your preference is for vinyl or CD formats.

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Maurizio Bianchi

LP | 1983 | EU | Reissue (Verlag System)

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

Release: 1983 / EU – Reissue

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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Postfaction OF THE Plain Truth When in the cold spring of 1983, I set about decomposing these elegiac synthetic - concrete suites, my decadent vision of life was taking a brighter turn, and in fact the atmospheres that pervade the whole work, enriched by the emotional notes of a keyboard of violins, reflect my thirst for visceral eternity. The title therefore, “The Plain Truth”, follows my research directed towards the infinity of the human soul, one step away from spiritual truth, for the benefit of the loyal supporters of the plain electro-neuronal sound. (M.B., August 2021)

When I started my record label Broken Flag in 1982, one of the people I really wanted to work with was Maurizio Bianchi. His album “Symphony for a Genocide” was such a haunting, evocative record that I needed to get in contact with the man who made it. We made contact and remained regularly writing letters to each other, mine in my unintelligible scrawl, his in his red ink on photocopy paper. He was massively prolific and I soon became a distributor for his fantastic early albums like “Regel”, “Mectpyo Bacterium”, “Mörder Unter Uns/Neuro Habitat”, “Menses”, “Endometrio”, “Carcinosi”, “Das Testament” and “Armaghedon”, albums I still love to this day. He kindly contributed tracks to Broken Flag compilations as well. Releasing an album by him was always going to be high on my list of priorities and when he agreed I was overjoyed. He said he wanted a colour cover and I was running the label on a shoestring budget but I wanted him to be happy so I agreed. He sent me two polaroid photographs which we had blown up to cover size and are the pictures on the front and back cover that you see today. He wanted to release records as Maurizio Bianchi in the future rather than just as M.B and asked for the name on the cover to read “M.B. = Maurizio Bianchi”. Although the record has the catalogue number Bfv3, it was actually the second vinyl record I put out because once I heard it, I didn’t want to wait for the first Ramleh album (bfv2) to be ready. I had been slightly apprehensive about what the record would sound like because just before he sent it, he told me that he had become a Jehovah’s Witness and seemed to be going through a very happy life-changing experience. He was in a relationship with the “T.D.” of the second side track “T.D. 56”, so I thought maybe the music would be too light sounding or upbeat and when I heard it, it certainly wasn’t what I was expecting but it was stunningly beautiful but still with some of the sadder, ominous melodies I loved so much. My fears were unfounded. It was a classic. Still one of my favourites to this day. I’m very proud of it. I get a co-production and co-direction credit on the sleeve but in reality all I did was provide the money and arrange for the record to go into production. I had no influence on the music itself or the cover pictures. Maurizio has made so many records that it’s easy to get lost knowing where to start but I think this album is a good entry point and is one of his very best along with “Mörder Unter Uns”, “Regel”, “Menses” or “Symphony for a Genocide”, although you can’t go too far wrong with any of his wonderful music. As I sit here listening to it again it takes me back to 38 years ago when I first heard it and knew that I was going to be lucky enough to release a classic for the ages. Just 500 vinyl records exist from that original Broken Flag release. They are out there somewhere except for the one I have right here which will be with me until I die. It’s great that it’s coming out on vinyl again and I hope if you’re hearing it for the first time you adore it like I do. “To all the redeemed people”. (Gary Mundy, August 2021)

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Jane Inc.

Faster Than I Can Take

21,99 €*

Wallpaper For The Soul Black Vinyl Edition

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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Tahiti 80

2LP | 2021 | EU | Original (Human Sounds)

Wallpaper For The Soul Marbled Vinyl Edition

Release: 2021 / EU – Original

Genre: Electronic & Dance, Pop

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After the worldwide success of their first album Puzzle (1999), which sold over 200,000 copies and went gold in Japan, Xavier Boyer (vocals, guitars), Pedro Resende (bass), Médéric Gontier (guitars) & Sylvain Marchand (drums) reunited with producer Andy Chase to record the follow-up, Wallpaper for the Soul, in New York City. Starting in November 2001 at Stratosphere Sound, the prolific sessions gave birth to twenty tracks, twelve of which appeared on the original tracklist. The eight outtakes were compiled on the mini albums A Piece of Sunshine (2003) & Extra Pieces of Sunshine (2004). This new vinyl edition will be the first time all these songs appear together. Almost 20 years on, Wfts is a tour de force of contemporary songwriting with obvious nods to the past somehow revisited in a timeless fashion. Tahiti 80’s second effort can also be seen as an alternative and more sophisticated snapshot of an era often associated with the rebirth of rock (The White Stripes, The Strokes…). This set of songs also established them as stalwarts of the Post French Touch cannon, showcasing both their ability to write catchy songs and their knack for mélanges & experimentation. 1,000 Times or The Train are unique examples of blue-eyed soul augmented with French flair (« Prefab Sprout as produced by Thomas Bangalter » suggested Uncut which listed Wfts in their Top Ten’s albums of 2003). Listen to Don’t Look Below today, and ask yourself who was mixing Destiny’s Child with My Bloody Valentine in 2001? Delicate numbers like Open Book or live favorite Better Days Will Come both demonstrate T80’s songwriting skills and their innate sense of melancholia. Listening back to Wfts today, one cannot help but think of it as an album recorded in a state-of-the-art fashion. All four members would typically perform together in the same room. Basic takes were printed on a 24-track analog tape machine and then bounced onto a computer for editing. A fine example of this method is the title track itself. Originally written on acoustic guitar, Wallpaper … is the result of three eight minutes synthesizer jams pieced together. The Frenchmen were keen to try out multitude of ideas and had developed a taste for experimentation. The sessions also coincide with a rich outburst of creativity from a band on top of their game after several months of touring around the world. Another typical Wfts characteristic is Richard Hewson’s orchestration. Veteran string arranger, famous for arranging The Beatles’ The Long And Winding Road or writing RAH Band’s ‘80s classic Clouds Across The Moon Hewson gave the songs a sweeping orchestral touch. Strings, Horns & woodwinds were all performed at the now defunct Olympic Studios in London. Urban Soul Orchestra, a 24-piece ensemble who played on Oasis’ or Spice Girls’ hits can be heard on five songs: the opening trilogy Wallpaper…, 1,000 Times and The Other Side, then on the Northern Soul revival Soul Deep and lastly on the album’s closer Memories Of The Past. Rouen’s most famous four-piece, now relocated in a house on France’s North West Coast, in the quiet seaside town of Étretat, added more bells & whistles and resumed production on the songs. With one last transatlantic leap during the summer of 2002, the boys flew to Portland, Oregon to attend the mixing sessions held by sound wizard Tony Lash (Elliott Smith, The Dandy Warhols…). Suggested by Sub Pop’s craftsman Eric Matthews, also a guest on trumpet and keyboards, Lash would later become a major collaborator on Tahiti 80’s subsequent albums. In the meantime, Laurent Fétis, the designer behind Puzzle’s iconic artwork, had started working with artist Elisabeth Arkhipoff on a set of nostalgic photographs transfigured with a soft air-bush technique. Those visuals, like their predecessors, have since become an inseparable companion to Tahiti 80’s music. Many musical fashions and flavors of the month have come and gone, but twenty years after its release, Wfts still sounds fresh and relevant. And always forward-looking, Tahiti 80 is currently wrapping up the recording of their eighth album, to be released in early 2022.

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Tahiti 80

2LP | 2021 | EU | Original (Human Sounds)

Stephan Mathieu & Ekkehard Ehlers

Release: 2021 / EU – Original

Genre: Electronic & Dance, Pop

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Heroin

LP+12" | 2020 | EU | Original (Keplar)

25,99 €*

I Mo Jah / Phillip Fullwood

Release: 2020 / EU – Original

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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Between Christmas 2000 and New Year 2001 producers Ekkehard Ehlers and Stephan Mathieu recorded an album of warm, soft, delicately crackling electronic music in the space of that week. It was christened with the ambivalent title "Heroin" and was released on CD via the label Brombron in 2001 and later in 2003 re-issued on Kit Clayton's Orthlorng Musork on double-LP with remixes the pair had commissioned as expansions. 17 years later Heroin sees its first vinyl release to include all 13 tracks from the original CD track-list on this LP + 12“ set. The centerpiece "Herz" finally receives its long deserved vinyl treatment (side C, at 45rpm) and on the flip side Thomas Brinkmann contributes a mirror in a magnificent remix of that very piece on side D. Ehlers and Mathieu were both highly prolific solo artists during the period 2000-2004, and in just two years after the initial release of "Heroin" each had produced over half a dozen new solo recordings: among them the serial masterpiece Ehlers' "Plays" (Cornelius Cardew, Hurbert Fichte, John Cassavetes, Albert Ayler, Robert Johnson) released as 5 stunning LPs in a series on Staubgold, while Mathieu's 'Full Swing Edits' spread over five 10" records plus his album 'FrequencyLib' on Mille Plateaux, 'Die Entdeckung des Wetters' on Lucky Kitchen and ‘The Sad Mac’ on Atsushi Sasaki’s Headz label were greeted to critical acclaim. Both artists were expanding their conceptual sonic approaches in the glow of developing laptop technologies which would to these times in 2020 seem quite primitive, but these two in that period used the state-of-the-art to aid and abet their conceptual visions, while at times the duo used unorthodox experimentation - yet always had a distinctively melodic and musical form at its heart and soul. Ehlers can be seen as a conceptualist, as a meta-musician who interrogates the mediums and methods of sound production - reflecting on the conditions and possibilities of improvisation (e.g. "Plays Albert Ayler") and exploits ideas of mutation and distortion of popular aesthetics played out within a ghostly form of divine pop beauty in his project März. Mathieu, originally a drummer and co-founder of what has come to be known as the Berlin 'Echtzeitmusik' scene. His approach could be similarly described as working a critical analyst and researcher: Subtly and precisely working in the realm of processing as a method of intervening in melodious/harmonic analog sound sources. Ehlers and Mathieu may not think too much about their singular productions and publications outcomes, but instead concentrate on the process and musical personality that characterizes their gesture- style itself stays in the background - and they usher a music from small minimal sound sources coaching a patient music of slow intervention - much like a refraction of light than a concrete painting or a blurred photograph - beatus accident. And indeed, "Heroin" is an album that embraces the happy accident being made up of reduced, often very catchy and very direct micro hooks which seem laser-guided into a space accepting obvious melodic beauty in what feels like an observation of musics unfolding and revealing it's DNA, embed with for a kind of yearning for innocence and naiveté - as if Satie were on the jukebox in "The Crying of Lot 49". Not to say the music is "reduced", but rather: 'restricted' and born from acceptance of limitations, and the artists allowing the sounds to just "be.." with some incremental degrees of coercion. The album not only sounds like that of 2 producers who are both dreamers and scientists, but that Ehlers and Mathieu chose to work with these means in a dialogue together to reduce pop music to its musical/tonal core, it is not Pop music anymore, rather a ghostly pointilistic itteration of song. "Heroin" is located at this transition, around that point at which tracks, that were or could have become pop compositions, irrevocably slip into a static harmonic nirvana. We are invited to follow the arch of Heroin in a slow-motion morphine musical haze. Heroin sounded timeless when originally released and proof is that it remains so, one wishes that Ehlers and Mathieu would convene again for a week, a month or an entire year to continue this process of slow rumination, picking affectionately over the sounds they both love - and then maybe when everything is condensed, evaporated they would write more songs with those sonic refractive elements that remain.

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Rockers from the Land of Reggae / Words In Dub

2CD | 2018 | EU | Original (Pressure Sounds)

17,99 €*

Infinity Spectrum Transparent Orange & Red Vinyl Edition

Release: 2018 / EU – Original

Genre: Reggae & Dancehall

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The 100th release on Pressure Sounds is the brilliant set of I Mo Jah's ‘Rockers from the Land of Reggae’ and ‘Words in Dub’, as two single vinyl releases, and a double cd. It's surprising that these two albums have not been re-released before, as both albums are seriously sought after. There will be 3 bonus tracks on each of the CDs. The albums come with full sleevenotes with excellent sound quality. The CD pack includes a full package with graphics and the usual high quality annotation and mastering. _____ . ______
Notes for the two albums:

A contemporary of Ras Michael & the Sons of Negus, Eric Donaldson and Freddie McKay, Philip Fullwood started out composing for Studio One and playing percussion for Burning Spear.

Both "Rockers from the Land of Reggae" and "Words in Dub" were backed by Sly & Robbie, Leroy "Horsemouth" Wallace, Clive "Azul" Hunt, Bingy Bunny and Flabba Holt, among others.

The striking sleeve of "Rockers...", in black and white with green handwritten typography, told the story of Jamaica, with Arawaks overseeing the arrival of Christopher Columbus’ ship Santa Maria, whilst between two sound systems the dreads were dancing and smoking a spliff under a tree. The art was drawn by Magnus Johnstone, a painter and deejay who presented the radio show ‘Reggae Mukasa’ on WMBR, and would later become the foremost champion of the burgeoning hip hop scene in Boston.

“When I made "Rockers from the Land of Reggae" I was taking about 500 to Jamaica and I was told I had to have a license to go through the customs. I got fed up and I just leave the album with them. They wanted me to get a license and all them things, and I said ‘Why I want a license to bring my own thing to Jamaica?’. They said no, so I leave them at customs. I don’t know what happened to them. Maybe they sell them. And that was the end of it. I give the rest of them to Chin Randy’s in Jamaica Queens to distribute.”

And so "Rockers from the Land of Reggae" soon vanished into obscurity. By 1983 Phillip Fullwood had settled permanently in the US and virtually retired from music. Over the years, partly fuelled by its extreme rarity, the album’s reputation has grown immensely, and original copies now command a very high price. Phillip is thrilled that this reissue will now expose it to a wider audience.
“Life happen that way. I got kids and grandkids. I’m just a small guy who was with Spear and just tried to do my thing, like everybody else in the entertainment biz. My occupation, my passport you know says entertainer. Wishing a t’ing, yunno.”

"Words in Dub", the highly unique set, released in a stark hand-printed sleeve, comprised self-produced rhythm tracks and some donated by friends, such as ‘Africa Rock’, a dub of ‘See Dem Da’ (Jah Marcus Roots 7”) by Burning Spear, with member Rupert Wellington on lead vocals. The first side also featured dubs of Purple Lights’ ‘Pestilence’, fronted by the singer Bangie, and ‘Revolution’ by Jah Blue & The Originals, who included Winston Rodney’s brother. ‘Reorganize The Race (Marcus Say)’, with its dense layers of digital reverb in the intro, later features singing about ‘weeping and wailing’ also by Jah Blue & The Originals, though the vocal cut was never released. Several rhythms would later get a do-over by Phillip’s American-based group I-Mo-Jah, perhaps the most thrilling being ‘Jah Say Love’, rerecorded by I-Mo-Jah as ‘Peace & Love’. ‘Hotter Fire In Babylon’ is a dub of Burning Spear’s ‘Spear Burning’ (Spear 7”), and the album closes with ‘Bubbling’, a dub of ‘Maybe’ (Yah Congo 12”) recorded by Phillip’s long-time friend Eric Donaldson.

The original recordings were primarily laid at Channel One with Barnabas and Crucial Bunny at the mixing board, with ‘Hotter Fire In Babylon’ recorded at Randy’s by Chin Randy himself, and ‘Bubbling’ at Dynamic Studio. The final dub mixes were done at Channel One and also at the legendary Black Ark by Phillip Fullwood’s own hands.

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Aural Imbalance

2x12" | 2024 | EU | Original (Spatial)

37,99 €*

Release: 2024 / EU – Original

Genre: Electronic & Dance

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Aural Imbalance has enjoyed a colourful and celebrated journey through music over the years, taking in ambient soundscapes, deep house and of course, a pioneering role in atmospheric drum & bass. With Spatial, he has unearthed a pure, varied musical prowess seldom seen, with the ability to control both the lighter aspects of the mix as well as expert breakbeat craft. Infinity Spectrum showcases the breadth of talent Aural Imbalance possesses in one incredible package, not to be missed.

A1 - Aurealis Opening the album with a wonderfully serene track, Aural Imbalance delicately rolls out his trademark smooth ambience with building cymbals and an energetic break merging perfectly in the mix - along with a great, pounding undertone of bass. Riddled with old-school sensibilities, Aurealis layers the building blocks until the track opens up further through a superbly lush breakdown, blooming like a flower in the summer sun before the breaks return.

A2 - Glistening Stars Washing strings and the chitter-chatter of playful effects introduce Glistening Stars, before familiar, crisp old school breaks steal the limelight. A happy earworm melody soon reveals itself, and the breaks are gradually filtered back in following an other amazing breakdown before the melody takes on new life. Packed with detail and soul, this track will repeat on you long after you've moved on.

B1 - Alpha Curious, apprehensive tones punctuate a fascinating intro, with a deep old school bassline creeping out first to greet us, before the hi-hat laden break loses its inhibitions and roams free. Crafting a deliciously textured atmosphere, Aural Imbalance continues to showcase the breadth of his production techniques in his Spatial form, flecking the track with sumptuous melodies to create yet another gem.

B2 - Stargazers This piece opens with a special blend of quiet, epic serenity, evoking hope and wonder as amen cymbal work and a stabbing snare-heavy break pattern rise and fall in the surrounding symphony. The quietly musical bassline plays a key role in the aural world-building here, complementing the breaks it harmonises with superbly. Aural Imbalance allows the composition to breathe and flourish for a superbly executed final act. Delightful.

C1 - Slow Motion Introduced with quietly filtered breaks, Slow Motion dials back the pace with a break pattern which relaxes the snare while still maintaining a playful energy as the kicks and bass bumble along below. A uniquely atmospheric yet eccentric melody takes shape with dreamy pads filling the backdrop, and calming scatterings of echoing effects colliding and combining to generate a blissful collage of sound.

C2 - Apparition Switching up the vibe we have Apparition, which boldly utilises long, tranquil yet purposeful pad work before an immense break pattern riddled with stark snares and a jumpy bassline which rides the smothered kickdrums so well, they appear to be fused as one. The breaks on this are truly special and will move the discerning dancefloor for sure, Aural Imbalance continuing to reveal a never-ending depth to his sound.

D1 - Artificial Satellite Introduced with smooth synths and DJ-friendly hi hats, Artificial Satellite sees Aural Imbalance laying down a fresh showcase of old-school breakbeats, laced with that inimitable Spatial flavour. A swirling low-key sci-fi vibe punctuates the breakdown before the beats re-emerge. A deep, brooding bassline pulses beneath throughout, while the perfectly executed breaks enjoy their final flourish.

D2 - Unknown Forces Finally, up steps Unknown Forces for a blistering finale to the LP. Aural Imbalance is at his amen-editing best here with a truly superb showcase of analogue break patterns to nourish the ears and set pulses racing on the dancefloor. Deep bass elevates the gentle intro before thumping kicks begin an epic workout, chopped to perfection with synths and strings flying gracefully above. We couldn't have a Spatial LP without an amen banger could we? What a way to end

Words by Chris Hayes (Spatial/Red Mist)

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Ortofon

2M Blue Premounted

259,00 €*

The National Jazz Trio Of Scotland

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Next level authenticity with the 2M Blue
The goal for any cartridge should be to reproduce the sound as close to the artists vision as possible, and the 2M blue takes you further on this journey of authenticity. With the 2M Blue, you get serious about listening to vinyl.

Features:
The 2M Blue features a Nude Elliptical diamond and split pole pins with a copper wire.

Designed for easy mounting of the cartridge, and for the weight and size to fit the most common turntables on the market today. The 2M Series provides excellent compatibility when used in an assortment of playback systems and with a wide variety of phono preamps.

The 2M Blue adds more dynamics and resolution, sounds more open and reproduces more details compared to the 2M Red model.

2M Blue Technical data:
• Output voltage at 1000 Hz, 5cm/sec. - 5.5 mV
• Channel balance at 1 kHz - 1.5 dB
• Channel separation at 1 kHz - 25 dB
• Channel separation at 15 kHz - 15 dB
• Frequency response - 20-20.000 Hz + 2 / - 1 dB
• Tracking ability at 315Hz at recommended tracking force - 80 µm
• Compliance, dynamic, lateral - 20 µm/mN
• Stylus type - Nude Elliptical
• Stylus tip radius - r/R 8/18 µm
• Tracking force range - 1.6-2.0 g (16-20 mN)
• Tracking force, recommended - 1.8 g (18 mN)
• Tracking angle - 20°
• Internal impedance, DC resistance - 1.3 kOhm
• Internal inductance - 700 mH
• Recommended load resistance - 47 kOhm
• Recommended load capacitance - 150-300 pF
• Cartridge colour, body/stylus - Black/Blue
• Cartridge weight - 7.2 g
• Premounted cartridge weight - 16.7 g
• Replacement stylus unit - 2M Blue (interchangeable with 2M Red and 2M Silver)

Stylus lifetime: with proper care we find that up to 1000 hours is possible without degradation of performance.

2M Series styli interchangeability:
The 2M Series' engines, coils and magnets configurations are not identical: Red and Blue are identical, so are the Bronze and Black and so are the true mono variants 2M Mono and 2M 78. Likewise, 2M series styli are interchangeable within the below combinations:
- 2M Red, 2M Blue and 2M Silver
- 2M Bronze, 2M Black and 2M Black LVB 250
- 2M Mono and 2M 78

Compatibility with Rega brand TT/TA:
REGA brand cartridges’ height from stylus tip to the top cartridge mounting surface is lower than standard. Therefore you would need spacers to ensure the correct set-up of the Ortofon cartridge.
Adjusting the height of your Rega tonearm is easy with Acoustic Signature's Spacer Set. It allows you to adjust the height from 0.5 mm to 3.5 mm in precise steps of 0.5 mm - without removing the tone arm. Simply loosen the screws, insert the AS-spacer, then lock the screws back down, and you're tonearm is ready to play.
3.2 - 4 mm spacers should be enough for 2M cartridge.

With the 2M Premounted, it’s never been easier to experience
The 2M Premounted is a practical and elegant solution for our customers who wish direct and easy mounting and replacement on their S-shaped tonearm. The quality of the SH-4 headshell is sturdy and rigid, yet the design emphasizes a slim and delicate form factor. The strong, lightweight headshell has an ergonomic design with a long finger lift that is easy to pick up.

Features:
- Premounted on our popular SH-4 Black headshell.
- Easy and direct mount on S-shaped tonearms with universal mount.
- Correct Baerwald alignment with tonearms with universal mount.

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Standards Vol. VI

LP | 2023 | EU | Original (Karaoke Kalk)

25,99 €*

The Complete Palm Recordings 1973-1974

Release: 2023 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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A kind of hush pervades throughout Standards Vol VI, the latest release by The National Jazz Trio of Scotland, the ironically named project helmed by Falkirk’s musical polymath, Bill Wells, that is neither a trio, nor a jazz band. If this collection of ten covers probably comes closest to the latter in its late night renditions of actual standards, the presence of long-term NJToS member and collaborator Aby Vulliamy as the record’s lone vocalist adds to its solitary air. This follows Standards Vol IV (2018), which featured fellow NJToS co-founder Kate Sugden as primary vocalist, while Gerard Black, a member of the group since 2016, took centre stage in similar fashion on Standards Vol V (2019). Wells has long been a fan of Vulliamy, both of her work as a viola player with numerous collaborators, and as a singer.

Vulliamy played viola on Everything’s Getting Older, Wells’ 2011 collaboration with Arab Strap vocalist Aidan Moffat. Wells went on to play melodica on Vulliamy’s solo record, Spin Cycle, released on Karaoke Kalk in 2018. With the intent of producing the saddest heartbreak record ever made, Wells sourced a back catalogue of miniature epics, reinterpreting each tale of everyday yearning to make a canon of melancholy loungecore designed for nights in alone, if not always lonely. Beyond the concept of isolation behind Standards Vol VI, practical concerns added to the affair, with Wells recording backing tracks at home in Glasgow, while Vulliamy added her voice from her home in Yorkshire. The result on Standards Vol VI is a thing of quiet beauty that sees Wells and Vulliamy reimagine a panoply of pop classics in their own aloof sounding image.

Shades of Margo Guryan and Claudine Longet abound in Vulliamy’s delivery over Wells’ woozy, low-slung guitar and piano, with samples culled from a session with Teenage Fanclub’s Norman Blake. Little electronic percussive clicks and hisses lend things an even more otherworldly air on a record bookended by opener, Donovan’s proto hippy classic, Catch the Wind, and Dixieland miniature, Careless Love. The eight points in between take in a first half led by The Beatles’ normally jaunty We Can Work it Out, flipping the loveable mop-tops’ perky optimism for something more soul searching. This is followed by I Wish You Love, Albert Beach’s English language version of French songwriter Charles Trenet’s evergreen, Que reste-t-il de nos amours. The Bee Gees lost classic, To Love Somebody, is up next, with more impossible to answer questions coming in Why Can’t I?

The latter is a Rodgers and Hart composition that first appeared in the duo’s 1930 Broadway musical, Spring is Here, in which the show’s two heroines commiserate each other over their shared loneliness. Wells stumbled on the song in a tatty Rodgers and Hart songbook, which, like its subjects, had been left on the shelf before he and Vulliamy brought it in from the cold. The second half of Standards Vol VI leads with Matchmaker, Matchmaker, Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick’s much covered evocation of a pre dating app era from their 1964 hit musical, Fiddler on the Roof. This is followed by Billy Rose and Dave Dreyer’s showbiz staple (with Al Jolson also taking a credit), Me and My Shadow. While made famous by showbiz double acts ranging from Frank and Sammy to Robbie and Jonathan, here it flies decidedly solo. Johnny Mercer and Hoagy Carmichael’s Skylark comes next, a song inspired by Mercer’s yearning for Judy Garland. We hear ya, bub. The most downbeat take on Bacharach and David’s The Look of Love you’re ever likely to hear comes next, ushering in the short farewell of Careless Love, before the lights are turned out forever. Yeah, well. Whatever gets you through the night…

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Byard Lancaster

Box Set | 2024 | EU | Original (Souffle Continu)

169,99 €*

Release: 2024 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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5lp+12"+7".

Souffle Continu records presents Byard Lancaster – The Complete Palm Recordings 1973-1974, the definitive package of Philadelphia-born jazz wizard Byard Lancaster including his 4 legendary albums released on Jef Gilson’s Palm Records in the 1970s, Us, Mother Africa, Exactement and Funny Funky Rib Crib, along with the first ever standalone edition of Love Always, a fifteen minute modal jazz beauty plus a 20 page booklet with rare photos and in-depth article about Byard Lancaster’s Parisian years by Pierre Crépon.

At the beginning of the 1960s, at the Berklee College of Music, Byard Lancaster met some feisty friends: Sonny Sharrock, Dave Burrell and Ted Daniel. It is easy to see why he rapidly became involved in free jazz. Once he was settled in New York, he appeared on Sunny Murray Quintet, recorded under the leadership of the drum crazy colleague of Albert Ayler.

In 1968, the saxophonist and flutist recorded his first album under his own name: It’s Not Up To Us. The following year he came to Paris in the wake of... Sunny Murray. He would come back to France in 1971 (again with Murray) and in 1973 (without Murray for a change). This is when he met Jef Gilson, the pianist and producer who encouraged him to record under his own name again. On Palm Records (Gilson’s label), he would release four albums: Us, Mother Africa, Exactement and Funny Funky Rib Crib.

“Us”, the first of the four records was recorded on November 24th, 1973 with Sylvin Marc on electric bass (a Fender... Lancaster?) and the evergreen Steve McCall on drums.

On the album, the trio works from the John Coltrane model; free jazz shook up by the timely contributions of the bassist, followed by a mesmerizing atmospheric music. Then, Lancaster delivers a sinuous solo path, which is a reminder of his unique tone. On the album’s companion single, the trio launches into great black music of a different genre which would lead the clairvoyant François Tusques to claim that Byard Lancaster is an “authentic representative of soul/free jazz”, to sum up this is Great Black Music! A few months after recording “Us”, Lancaster recorded “Mother Africa” along with Clint Jackson III, a trumpeter, partner of Khan Jamal or Noah Howard on other recordings.

On march 8th, 1974, Lancaster and Jackson headed up a group composed of Jean-François Catoire (electric and double bass), Keno Speller (percussion) and Jonathan Dickinson (drums). Together, they create an immediate impression. From the first seconds of “We The Blessed”, they develop a free jazz which rapidly abandons any virulence under the effect of blues and soul based interventions. When Gilson’s composition “Mother Africa” begins, listeners are transported into the studio, listening to the musicians setting up: chatting and joking... Then comes the melody: a dozen or so notes of a repeated theme which is accelerated and deformed according to their whims... The jazz played by the association Byard Lancaster / Clint Jackson III is rare: creative AND recreational. “We the blessed”, is apt listening to this again today!

The recording of “Exactement” required two sessions in the studio: February 1st and May 18th 1974 – in between the two dates, Lancaster recorded, alongside Clint Jackson, the excellent Mother Africa.

Two names appear on the cover of “Exactement”: Lancaster (Byard) and Speller (Keno). Byard Lancaster wanted to be precise, moving regularly from one instrument to another: first on piano, which was the first instrument he learned. On “Sweet Evil Miss Kisianga”, his inspiration is first and foremost Coltrane (even if leaning more towards Alice than John), this announces the storm to follow.

It is Lancaster’s horn-playing which really stands out: on alto (the sound of which is transformed by an octavoice on one track, "Dr. Oliver W. Lancaster") or soprano saxophones, as well as on flute or bass clarinet, the musician walks a tightrope making the most of all the risks he takes. Using the full register of his instruments, he has fun with the possibilities.

Then, Lancaster invokes or evokes Ornette Coleman, Eric Dolphy and even Prokofiev, before going into a danse alongside Keno Speller on percussion. Above all, he has a unique sound. Byard Lancaster, on whatever instrument he plays and by continually seeking, always ends up hitting the right note... ends up by playing exactement the note he had to play.

“Funny Funky Rib Crib” is an unforgettable recording (made up of several sessions dating from the middle of 1974) of creative jazz overwhelmed by funk and soul. If Lancaster had already made successful albums in the same genre – notably New Horizons, under the name Sounds Of Liberation which he co-led with Khan Jamal –, this one is an homage to James Brown and Sammy Davis enjoying the company of a host of guests including François Tusques (electric piano), Clint Jackson III (trumpet), François Nyombo (guitar), Joseph Traindl (trombone)...

Funny Funky Rib Crib’s cover is a three-quarter profile portrait of the saxophonist (who can also be heard on flute, piano and even vocals), however, on the record, it is the whole group, inspired and frenetic, that tests the melodies of “Just Test”, “Dogtown” or “Rib Crib” – the two versions of which display leader Lancaster’s art of nuance. On both sides of the album, the group also moves into a calmer groove, infused by blues and soul, “Work And Pray” and “Loving Kindness” are meditative tracks where listeners can lay back and relax before asking for more: Funny Funky Rib Crib!

The magnificent “Love Always” was originally released on the fourth (and last) volume of the Jef Gilson Anthology series released in 1975. Recorded on 8th March 1974, it is a beautiful 15-minute-long modal jazz piece. Four notes from the bass (the relentless Jean-François Catoire, who makes up the rhythm section alongside drummer Jonathan Dickinson and percussionist Keno Speller), and the group is up and running! On piano, Gilson shows the subtle tact of a sideman, leaving the lions’ share of the place to the horns. This allows us to hear the trumpet of Clint Jackson III and the alto (which sometimes sounds almost flute-like) of Byard Lancaster each staking their claim in a long hallucinatory march which moves from moments of direct exaltation to profoundly sensitive collective playing. And if further proof was required of the confidence that Byard Lancaster and Jef Gilson inspire, “Love Always” provides it on this one sided release exclusive to the box set.

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Brown Acid: The Eigtheenth Trip Colored Vinyl Edition

LP | 2024 | US | Original (Riding Easy)

Box | 2022 | US | Original (Nonesuch)

Release: 2024 / US – Original

Genre: Rock & Indie

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if you survived trips 1-17 with one tiny speck of psychedelic sunshine intact, Brown Acid The 18th Trip will be your coming of age nightmare. Vintage underground '70s hard rock, coming at you from bizarre angles, local scene wasteland America when everybody was out for themselves and the drugs went bleak. The guitars kill, the attitude is twisted, even the sex is headed down the wrong road. Real people, no compromise, pure and potent. Get stoked, take the 18th Trip and know that the artists will get paid for pulverizing your soul! "People… are you ready?, 'cause the music now is getting so heavy"… Back Jack out of St. Louis, Missouri in 1974 launch our trip with "Bridge Waters Dynamite". It's an invocation to rock flashing on Mark Farner whooping up a Grand Funk crowd, then getting to the point quickly with berserk guitar assaults. Heavy riff with power chord stalks beneath as you take their advice… get loose and blow up the past. Smokin' Buku Band dropped my jaw with the audacious track "Hot Love" coming on like some fractured fever dream burlesque of Led Zep moves out of Hollywood in 1980. Swooping elongated vocals above, a total Zep chord move at the end of each verse. Writer/producer Steve Shauger aka Shag Stevens gets a brilliantly messed up sound quality here, the ideal polar opposite of slick. The extended guitar break is an epitome of serendipitously crude virtuosity, simply outrageous! Coming at you from way outta left field is "Moby Shark" by Atlantis, a hilarious and strange Baltimore pre-punk vibed dose of D.I.Y. meets hard rock. Lon Talbot is the mastermind, the flip side of this impossibly rare Mekon Records label single was featured in an obscure 1978 B-movie titled "The Alien Factor". Follow the lyrics closely, when the ominous jaws jaws jaws start coming after you you you… the song's big hook is so preposterously catchy the shark attack feels like good news. Inquiring minds should know that the band formerly known as Atlantis can now be found by searching for the Lon Talbot Group! Tommy Stuart and the Rubberband's "Peeking Through Your Window" from 1970 opens with a spooky organ riff, slips into a gushy fuzz/organ groove akin to "Mustache In Your Face” by Pretty. The singer creates downright creepy vibes, a stalker peeking through the girl's mind like a peeping Tom at the window up to no good. The lyrics evoke a disturbing scenario. Tommy Stuart also made a strange LP titled Hound Dog Man in 1977 and some terrific rare garage singles under the names Magnificent Seven and The Omen & Their Love in the mid '60s. Nothing better than an angry two chord guitar attack with cowbell to set the stage for this rant about getting "Ripped Off" by love. Taken from their rare 1977 LP on Dynamite Records, Chicago Triangle was Marvey Esparza, Dave Guereca, Jose 'Tarr' Perez and Robert Aguilera. They unleash such strong brain-scrubbing wah wah frenzy in the guitar break here that it seems to perversely mock it's own intensity! Like I said, Brown Acid the 18th Trip comes at you from all kinds of uncanny angles. Damnation of Adam Blessing out of Cleveland, Ohio unleashed a stone killer psychedelic hard rock classic "Cookbook" in the late '60s, this track "Nightmare" from 1973 has them cooking again at full power. A different singer, name change to Damnation and then Glory, unleashing a deadly dose of dark progressive heavy rock drama peaking when spooky 'oooo-wa-oooo' background vocals emerge during a bizarre spoken bit. It unfolds like a mini-epic and includes some remarkably brutal guitar and turbulent organ, too. "Swing your sword, all aboard… bid farewell to the dreamer" Dalquist exclaims. Cynical view of human nature, idealism is over, war is coming, it always does. Opens with a cold menacing riff and atmosphere reminiscent of "Synthezoid Heartbreak" by Maya. Mournful despondent vocals ride an insistent churning groove, gnarly guitar break moves into free noise territory. This rare track is from a local various artists benefit album titled Kangaroo Jam issued for the Waco Family Abuse Center in Texas circa 1980. The Pawnbrokers "Realize" is prime proto heavy rock emerging out of psychedelic garage roots in 1968 Fargo, North Dakota. Unusual arrangement, terrific sustain guitar tones like on the first Blue Cheer LP, even a rip on Hendrix "Manic Depression" with unison voice and guitar ascent near the end. They made three 45s and were active from '65 to '69. Hats off to Blake English, Kent Richey, Paul Rogne and Steve Harrison, you nailed it in just a hair over two minutes! As pure and creative as the original psychedelic garage hard rock gets. Parchment Farm from Union, Missouri gigged with the likes of ZZ Top and Foghat back in the day and unleashed the amazing "Songs Of The Dead" in 1971. Primitive riff/chord pattern dosed with some funky prog moves, sky turning black, 'is this heaven or hell' type disoriented confusion… may as well grab your guitar and sing songs to the dead. Robert 'Ace' Williams on bass, Paul Cockrum on guitar, Gary Reed on keys and Micky Waterman on drums, replacing Mike Dulany (R.I.P.) Cool that they use the Blue Cheer misspelling from Vincebus Eruptum for the band name! Ominous organ, thick minimalist fuzz riff, funky psychedelic wah wah flashes and freaky sex combine in one twisted dance titled "Rockin' Chair" by Brothers Of The Ghetto. Out of Chicago in 1975 with some Santana atmospherics and a delicious fuzz wah screamin' guitar break, the groove is highlighted by an off the wall vocal which sounds eerily detached in a subtly sleazy way. Rene Maxwell is the writer of this hard-rock boogie-down hybrid straight out of the twilight zone. It was issued on Ghetto, a subsidiary of the peculiar Kiderian label that released the Creme Soda LP. Now that your head is totally skewered, go Back Jack and play side one again! (Words by Paul Major)

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John Adams

Collected Works

130,89 €* 153,99 € -15%

2LP | 2023 | UK | Reissue (Pressure Sound)

Release: 2022 / US – Original

Genre: Classical Music

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The forty-disc box set features recordings spanning more than four decades of the composer’s career with the label. The release includes two extensive booklets containing new essays and notes by Timo Andres, Julia Bullock, Robert Hurwitz, Nico Muhly, and Jake Wilder-Smith. This will be released on the 24th of June via Nonesuch. Nonesuch Records releases the forty-disc John Adams Collected Works, a box set featuring recordings spanning more than four decades of the composer’s career with the label. The release includes two extensive booklets containing new essays and notes by Timo Andres, Julia Bullock, Robert Hurwitz, Nico Muhly, and Jake Wilder-Smith.

Nonesuch made its first record with John Adams in 1985. He was signed exclusively to the label that year, and since then the company has released forty-two first recordings and thirty-one all-Adams albums, of which six are full-length operas, oratorios, or staged theatrical presentations. Four of Adams’ Nonesuch records have won Grammy Awards, among other honours.

“John Adams coming to the label was one of the central events in our company’s history,” says Robert Hurwitz, Nonesuch’s longtime President and current Chairman Emeritus. “The idea of a label recording all of the works of its most cherished composers had been long established in the classical record business, most notably the efforts of Columbia with Stravinsky, Decca with Britten, and Deutsche Grammophon with Stockhausen.

“While most of Columbia’s Stravinsky recordings were made decades after the works’ premieres, and many of the admirable Decca Britten recordings came after his death, this Nonesuch collection is unique in the sense that the recordings were done in real time, mostly within a few months of a piece’s first performance. Every recording was either conducted by John, or made under close supervision of the composer, who was in the control booth for every album – when he wasn’t on the podium.”

Hurwitz continues: “As the record business changed, we realised the urgency of preserving this amazing accomplishment in a physical form; the music’s importance to our culture cannot be underestimated and the idea of much of it only being available digitally in the future was difficult to imagine.

“In making the box we left a little extra space, since Nonesuch plans to continue recording John’s work.”

John Adams occupies a unique position in the world of music. Long embraced by the world’s leading orchestras and conductors, instrumental soloists and singers, choreographers and opera directors, his works are among the most performed of all contemporary classical music. Early in his career, Adams was composer-in-residence of the San Francisco Symphony (1982-85), and creator of the orchestra’s highly successful and controversial New and Unusual Music series. Many of his landmark orchestral works were written for and premiered by the San Francisco Symphony, including Harmonium (1981), Grand Pianola Music (1982), Harmonielehre (1985), and Absolute Jest (2012).

In 1985, Adams began a collaboration with stage director Peter Sellars that has resulted in more than three decades of groundbreaking operas and oratorios: Nixon in China (1987) and The Death of Klinghoffer (1991), both to libretti by Alice Goodman; El Niño (2000), Doctor Atomic (2005); A Flowering Tree (2006); The Gospel According to the Other Mary (2012); and Girls of the Golden West (2017).

Since 2009 Adams has held the position of Creative Chair with the Los Angeles Philharmonic where he has been instrumental in the success of that orchestra’s highly creative Green Umbrella new music series.

Adams also has become a significant mentor of the younger generation of American composers. In his liner note, Adams’ label mate, composer and pianist Timo Andres, says: “I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that when Road Movies was dropped into my lap as a college freshman, it triggered a chain reaction that led me where I am now… John’s music has been such a constant in my life that it’s reached a base level of my consciousness – it’s part of the way I hear all music now.”

This year launched with a major focus on Adams’ music in Zürich with the Tonhalle Orchestra, from January to March. Orchestras around the world will likewise present major performances of his works including Cincinnati Symphony, NDR Elbphilharmonie, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Budapest Festival Orchestra. This spring, Adams’ piano concerto Must the Devil Have All the Good Tunes? tours to orchestras around the world: Seattle, St. Louis, Cleveland, Zürich, Iceland, Gothenburg, and San Francisco; Adams conducted a performance of it by the Cleveland Orchestra and Jeremy Denk earlier this year. In September 2022, Adams’s new opera Antony & Cleopatra will open the San Francisco Opera’s centennial season.

Nonesuch Records has historically had close relationships with modern composers. During the years of Tracey Sterne, the label made multiple recordings of Elliott Carter, George Crumb, Charles Wuorinen, and William Bolcom. Since 1985, Nonesuch has made multiple recordings of works by Philip Glass, Stephen Sondheim, Laurie Anderson, Caroline Shaw, Louis Andriessen, John Zorn, Adam Guettel, Henryk Górecki, Timo Andres, Nico Muhly, and Donnacha Dennehy. For Steve Reich, like John Adams, Nonesuch has recorded every new piece of his music since 1985 and will also release a collection of his complete works – in 2023.

While Nonesuch recordings comprise thirty-five of the forty discs in Collected Works, the set also includes recordings from other labels, including: the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s recordings of The Gospel According to the Other Mary and Must the Devil Have All the Good Tunes?, with Yuja Wang, on Deutsche Grammophon; a recording by Christina and Michelle Naughton of Roll Over Beethoven on Warner Classics; and the San Francisco Symphony’s recordings of Absolute Jest and Grand Pianola Music. The Berlin Philharmonic’s recording of Harmonielehre, conducted by Adams, is the final CD in the set, serving as the bookend to the piece’s first recording, by the San Francisco Symphony led by Edo de Waart on Nonesuch that is the first disc of the set.

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Hermin Chin Loy

Musicism Dub

Next Wave Acid Punx Deux - Chapter 2

Release: 2023 / UK – Reissue

Genre: Reggae & Dancehall

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Curses

2LP | 2023 | EU | Original (Eskimo)