Ten-year Anniversary LP Edition. Out of print for nearly a decade, Cold Spring Records are proud to announce the much-demanded new vinyl edition of this legendary collaboration. Recoiled is a rambunctious alchemy, of magical COIL sensibilities and hi-tech home circa '90s mixing technique, all fused in the cave-like early studios of Danny Hyde/Peter Christopherson. These were the unrestrained studio mix downs of four songs which long time Coil admirer/collaborator Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails) requested Coil to remix. Reznor sent over the original multi-tracks and DATs to Hyde/Christopherson, who independently mixed versions and then met to synch both creations, molding them into these master versions. Recoiled includes a fuller, more opulent version of the track "Closer," which eventually made it onto the opening credits to the movie SE7EN. These five lengthy compositions are pre-Ableton/laptop generation type priest song creations, with the use of baby alarms and numerous wires to create bespoke effects. These legendary tracks were always rumored to exist and, only the due diligence of a dedicated NIN forum who hunted them down, are released/unleashed for your listening pleasure. Four of the tracks were released on the download-only Uncoiled. A bonus, previously unheard track from the same sessions closes the album. Jhonn Balance is also manifest on this gilded constellation. Beautifully remastered.

LP version. "Habibi Funk presents a second collection of deep grooves and unreleased songs from Algeria's Ahmed Malek, often compared to Italian heavyweight Ennio Morricone. Malek's music effortlessly switches between thematic jazz, funk, reggae and Algerian folk -- creating indelible soundscapes that intersect the musical innovations made in African jazz by Mulatu Astatke, Bembeya Jazz National along with some of Europe's finest experimental composers like Piero Piccioni and Janko Nilovic. Habibi Funk previously produced a small movie about Malek that Paloma Colombe shot and directed. Musique Originale de Films, Volume Deux is a deep collection of unreleased songs and stemmed grooves from the Algerian master, from jazz, funk, psych to reggae rhythms and Latin flavors, all under the sonic umbrella of 'Planète Malek;' to quote the maestro, 'I didn't choose music, music chose me.' As always, this release comes with an extensive booklet featuring background and interviews with Ahmed compiled through found newspaper clippings and newsreels, also including unseen photos, scans and more."

Repressed; LP version. "After a two-decade interlude, Jim O'Rourke's Moikai returns with Spectral Evolution, a major new work by Rafael Toral. Making his name in the mid-1990s with influential guitar drone platters like Sound Mind Sound Body and Wave Field, Toral has never been one to rest on his laurels repeating his past glories. Since 2017, Toral's work has been entering a new phase, often still centered around the arsenal of self-built instruments developed in the Space Program, but with a renewed interest in the long tones and almost static textures of his earlier work; he has also, after more than a decade, returned to the electric guitar. Spectral Evolution is undoubtedly Toral's most sophisticated work to date, bringing together seemingly incompatible threads from his entire career into a powerful new synthesis, both wildly experimental and emotionally affecting. Toral manages the almost miraculous feat of having his self-built electronic instruments (which in the past he had seen as 'inadequate to play any music based on the Western system') play in tune. In an unexpected sidestep away from any of his previous work, the chord changes that underpin many of the episodes on Spectral Evolution are derived from classic jazz harmony, including takes on the archetypal Gershwin 'Rhythm changes' and Ellington-Strayhorn's 'Take the ʻA' Train,' albeit slowed to such an extent that each chord becomes a kind of environment in its own right. Threading together twelve distinct episodes into a flowing whole, Spectral Evolution alternates moments of airy instrumental interplay with dense sonic mass, breaking up the pieces based on chord changes with ambient 'Spaces.' At points reduced to almost a whisper, at other moments Toral's electronics wail, squelch, and squeak like David Tudor's live-electronic rainforest. Similarly, his use of the guitar encompasses an enormous dynamic and textural range, from chiming chords to expansive drones, from crystal clarity to fuzzy grit: on the beautiful 'Your Goodbye,' his filtered, distorted soloing recalls Loren Connors in its emotive depth and wandering melodic sensibility. The product of three years of experimentation and recording, and synthesizing the insights of more than thirty years of musical research, Spectral Evolution is the quintessential album of guitar music from Rafael Toral."

The long running vessel for Cameron Stallones' psychedelic excursions, Sun Araw, returns to Discrepant after 2023's split with Tarzana via Keroxen sister label. Without much precedent in his own -- already wide-ranging -- back-catalog, Cetacean Sensation discards the dubby vibes, psych-rock sunburnt jams, tropical visions, or stalking sensibilities of such classic efforts as On Patrol or Ancient Romans towards a deeply focused and vivid solitary approach, while still retaining this Sun Araw blissed out escapist feeling. Composed of hydrophone recordings of whales and dolphins sourced during a summer in Galicia, Cetacean Sensation paints an impressionistic and sensory floating canvas that expertly escapes both academic-like documentarian purposes and any new-age spa vibrations one could associate with such subject matter. Processing those raw recordings into alluring collages that flow gracefully between moments of clear eco-location and submerged impressions of wildlife social dynamics. By the third track -- "Dance of the Minke"-- listeners are introduced to this ringing MIDI tone that evokes a CD-ROM era of mystic educational programs and click-and-deploy strategies that still feel very much like an unfulfilled future, conjured again by "Spider Crab Elegy's" sparse keyboard pads and sound effects that give way to this properly elegiac tentative melody. "The Spider Crab Point" ends the album on a more uneasy vibe, with synth tones pointing towards no particular direction, confounding and strangely inviting at the same time. As sensations often do. Music written and produced by Cameron Stallones using hydrophones and digital synthesis. Recorded in 2019 in Galicia, ES Mastering by Rashad Becker.

Double LP version. Since 2008, Jazzman's Spiritual Jazz series has presented unlimited horizons. Each album celebrates the rich tradition of African-American songs based on the belief in a higher force than oneself and has also focused on geographical areas, such as Europe or Japan, thus recognizing that these territories have immense cultural riches. Religions, like Islam, whose musical traditions have vivid Arabic and North African resonances, have also been highlighted. The stylistic range of all the above is wide. Yet historic record labels, from Blue Note and Impulse! to Prestige and Steeplechase, have also featured because their catalogues are musical treasure troves that could not be more relevant to Spiritual Jazz, even though they issued vast amounts of music between the late '30s and present day, that have not been confined to any one school. Spiritual Jazz 16 is a focus on Riverside and its associated sister labels. Riverside itself was founded in 1953 by Orrin Keepnews and Bill Grauer, and became an important purveyor in that decade and beyond of what would be marketed as of modern jazz. That coinage was itself an amorphous, umbrella term that essentially created a demarcation from the vocabulary of pre-war classic jazz and inter-war big band swing, thus recognizing that improvising artists were breaking new creative ground that would subsequently give rise to a flurry of sub-genres, for example bebop, hard bop, cool, modal and Latin jazz. And it's from this multiplicity of sub-genres that Jazzman chose the deepest, most vibrant selections that the vast, pan-generational catalogue of Keepnews and Grauer has to offer. Featuring James Clay, Werner-Rosengren Swedish Jazz Quartet, Sal Nistico Quintet, Frank Strozier, Cannonball Adderley Sextet, Blue Mitchell, Sonny Red, Clifford Jordan, Lee Konitz Quintet, McCoy Tyner, Joe Henderson, and Alice Coltrane.

They're back! This time the Finnish seers Mahti venture even deeper into the unknown on their third release Musiikki 3, assisted by the creativity of English musicians Richard Dawson and Sally Pilkington. The music reaches for space and roots at the same time bringing forth Mr. Dawson's earthy guitars and angelic voice while Ms. Pilkington weaves ethereal layerings with her synths and joins occasionally the choir. Hannu Saha conjures ancient Karelian spirits with his kantele while Muumu, Lehtibabba, and Mätky mesmerize the listener with their unique mix of electro, rock and noise. The end result is an album full of Musiikki unlike any you've ever heard before! Limited mirage blue/green marble colored vinyl LP with download code.

Machiavellian Art and Riot Season Records present Population Control. An intense exploration of societal and self-imposed controls, encapsulated in a dynamic contrast between Side A's visceral anger and the introspective ambiance of Side B. This duality mirrors the contrasting themes of external control versus internal reflection. Population Control extends beyond its predecessor, Indoctrination Sounds, in both musical depth and thematic scope. The album confronts a broad spectrum of modern-day addictions -- not just to substances, but to technology, social media, and the relentless 24-hour news cycle. These themes manifest across tracks like "A Slow Death," "Population Control (1) + (2)," "Fear of the Outside World," and "Crisis," each exploring the resulting isolation, paranoia, fear, and hopelessness. "Seaside Holiday," a critique of environmental negligence, specifically highlighting the issue of untreated sewage being dumped into Britain's waterways by private companies. Limited-edition lilac colored vinyl LP with download code.

LP version. Empires into Sand is the first album of new material from Normil Hawaiians in 40 years. The group first refined their sound during the early '80s, hitting on a pastoral experimentalism that drew on ambient drone, motorik impulse and post-punk pep. Empires into Sand came together in the familiar manner of their original three albums, with improvisation and nuance informing the blueprint of the tracks. It was with the official release of this last record Return of the Ranters (originally recorded in 1984/85, but then unconsciously shelved) in 2015 by Upset The Rhythm that led to the group reconnecting with the intention of playing music together again. The quaint weirdness of folk song, the humanity of communal practice and the group's ecological mindedness have all found a place in Normil Hawaiians' current sound world. Normil Hawaiians took their time to develop these threads at their own pace, allowing songs to mutate and settle over months. Simon Marchant deftly produced and recorded the album whilst also performing in the band, this marked the first time the band had total control of their own sound. Empires into Sand incorporates samples from old rehearsals and live music into the new finished pieces, this is in continuum with their previous records. Snippets of sound from the static of short-wave radio and satellite transmissions also embellish the work. In fact, the whole album is stitched together with interludes, creating an acutely immersive 45 minutes. The album's title is derived from a poem by band member Mark Tyler, who sadly passed away during the recording process and the transience of life is felt heavily throughout. Noel best coins the group's wish for the album: "We wanted to create an album that acknowledges our history and also reflects who we are today. We remained true to ourselves and we wanted to make something beautiful without removing the edges." Empires into Sand certainly does that, it's an echo from the past, an echo from the future. Featuring Rodney Relax.

"On the cover: David Lynch & Chrystabell. Since performing on the soundtrack to 2006's Inland Empire, Texas-born Chrysta Bell Zucht, aka Chrystabell, has had an enduring creative partnership with film director David Lynch. But after countless in-studio and on-screen collaborations, the new album Cellophane Memories, out soon via Sacred Bones, will be their first fully co-credited album. In a wide-ranging exclusive interview, the duo talk to The Wire about cinema, music and more. By Britt Brown. Inside the issue: The sound world of David Lynch. Expanding on the issue's cover feature, Wire writers contribute a series of essays on the sonic and audio components of director David Lynch's idiosyncratic worldview. Topics range from fandom and karaoke, the sonic semiotics of wind and the influence of Twin Peaks on rave music to reinterpretations of songs from the Lynchian repertoire by artists like Ono and Backxwash. Invisible Jukebox: Dhangsha. The composer and educator formerly known as Dr Das of Asian Dub Foundation takes on The Wire's mystery listening challenge. Tested by Daryl Worthington. Plus one page profiles of Copper Sounds, Miaux, and Feeo & Caius Williams, and regular sections and columns including Epiphanies, Unlimited Editions, Global Ear, and The Inner Sleeve."

Repressed! "Volume, repetition, volume, repetition, volume and repetition, this is the sonic mantra of Austin, Texas's Water Damage. On their new double album, Water Damage continues to scorch the earth with walls of punishing sound. It's no secret that something truly special can happen to the psyche when you are being pummeled with trance inducing drones, you can transcend time, you might laugh, you might cry but hopefully you look inward, letting a calm wash over you with metric tons of distortion. Water Damage are the rare 'rock' band that follow in the lineage of artists like Faust, Tony Conrad, Steve Reich, and Pärson Sound, one that creates such heavy yet minimalistic audio treasures that not only hit you viscerally but also give space to contemplate on your place in the cosmos. Their longest offering yet, Water Damage hits you with four side-long tracks of krautpunk ending with a cover of 'Ladybird' by Shit & Shine featuring Craig Clouse on vocals. Drone until you hear god speak." --Joe Trainer, Dummy

2024 repress. "Jackson C. Frank's eponymous album is the embodiment of folk legend. Issued in late 1965 on the UK Columbia label, it was for many years more famous for its producer (Paul Simon) and the musicians who would go on to cover its songs (Nick Drake, Bert Jansch, Sandy Denny) than for the hauntingly beautiful music contained inside. Frank's backstory certainly adds to the legacy: born in Buffalo, New York, he used the settlement from a childhood accident to sail to London where he quickly became a fixture of the bustling folk scene. Performing a mix of blues standards and originals, he met fellow ex-pat Paul Simon who would put up the money to record Frank's only LP. For such a sparsely recorded work, Jackson C. Frank covers a lot of ground. From the rugged, world-weary opener 'Blues Run The Game' to the stunning melancholy of 'Milk And Honey,' Frank's nimble acoustic guitar and passionate howls are all that is needed to power such authentic songwriting. Captured in a single-day session, these ten tracks are stark, gritty and seemingly out-of-place with time. There may be no '60s folk record that is simultaneously as rare and influential as Jackson C. Frank's self-titled debut."

"A legendary concert by one of the great unrecorded bands in free jazz history is here at last. WEBO, the third installment in the Black Editions Archive series of previously unreleased recordings from Milford Graves' private tape library, roars into the station June 21, 2024. For the first time, Charles Gayle, Milford Graves, & William Parker -- three lions of the Black American jazz avantgarde -- are finally heard together on record, presented here across three audiophile-quality LPs for two brutalizingly joyous hours of real ju-ju & musical mastery. The trio of Charles Gayle, Milford Graves, & William Parker gave only seven public performances between 1985 and 2013, and released no recordings. Their June 1991 two-night stand at the short-lived Lower East Side venue Webo, long referenced as a signal event in New York free jazz's 1990s resurgence, has been a topic of discussion among close followers of the music for decades. In the uncompromising grassroots spirit of the 1970s New York Musicians Organization and loft jazz movements from which they had emerged, the band produced and promoted the WEBO concerts themselves. Photography and audio recording were not allowed at the concerts, and this official recording, commissioned by the artists, was never released -- until now. So vivid was the lore surrounding WEBO that it topped the list of recordings sought by Black Editions Archive from Graves' private collection. The tapes maximally substantiate eyewitness accounts describing extra-sensory levels of communication within the band, and the extraordinary clarity and impact of their performance. From William Parker's liner notes: 'Imagine a village or choir of drummers, horn players and strings. You can hear the bass and drums churning with a call and response, a melodic-rhythmic propulsion. In reality there is only one drummer, one bass, and one saxophone.' Age 52 at the time of these concerts, Charles Gayle had only recently made his first recordings. To all but the most immediate insiders he was still more myth than reality. Milford Graves, two months out from his 50th birthday, was about halfway into his body of recorded work and had sanctioned just one appearance on a commercially released recording in the last 14 years (Pieces of Time by an all-drummer quartet with Kenny Clarke, Andrew Cyrille, and Famoudou Don Moye). William Parker, the young man of the group at age 39, was a mere fifty entries into his discography, now 500+ entries and counting. All three musicians were at least a quarter century into passionately developing a personal and collective music rooted in the cultural values and radical aesthetics of the 1960s and '70s Black American avant-garde. 30+ years after the WEBO concerts, Black Editions Archive is honored to make these historical recordings available to the public. The three LPs are presented in a heavy black, pigment-stamped box with mounted cover painting along with liner notes by William Parker, commentary from Alan Licht (witness to night one of the WEBO concerts), a reproduction of the original concert flyer, and a set of 6"x9" printed photos from the 2021 WEBO reunion outside MoMA PS1, Queens, NY. Cover Painting by Jeff Schlanger/musicWitness, made June 8, 1991, at Webo during the band's performance. Vinyl pressed at RTI, lacquers cut by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio." --Michael Ehlers, 2024

2024 repress. Far Out Recordings present a reissue of the seminal debut album from Azymuth, Azimüth, originally released in 1975. Having never seen a vinyl release outside of Brazil, Azimüth is considered a milestone in Brazilian music. Azymuth -- Jose Roberto Bertrami, Ivan Conti, and Alex Malheiros, as well as Ariovaldo Contesini -- formed in the late '60s just as Os Mutantes released their debut record (1968). Whilst Mutantes were honing a psychedelic "Amazonian" version of western pop music, Azymuth were creating a futuristic, electric interpretation of US jazz -- also driven by the same rootsy Brazilian "swing" that Mutantes had harnessed. Bertrami was the drive behind Azymuth's sound -- a control freak and musical genius obsessed with the latest technology who wanted to use it to push the boundaries of music in a way that no one else in Brazil had done. His use of keyboards has drawn comparisons between Azymuth's work and Herbie Hancock's early '70s output, yet with its Brazilian swing Azymuth's electric jazz sound is unmistakably their own. Conti is an impulsive and an incredibly energetic drummer. Alex Malheiros, who learned his trade playing from the master of Brazilian swing Ed Lincoln, is one of Brazil's original groove masters. Bertrami rose to fame as an arranger in the mid-60s, and by the late '60s he was arranging for the queen of Brazilian music, Elis Regina. Released in summer 1975, the album was a minor commercial success selling 200,000 copies. Opening track "Linha do Horizonte" -- a sublime piece of melancholic electronic saudade where deep cinematic synths melt into gently strummed acoustic jazz guitar -- was chosen for a TV novella and went on to sell half a million, propelling Azymuth onto the Brazilian music scene. The rest of the album doesn't disappoint -- "Melô Dos Dois Bicudos" sees Azymuth plugging them into the Brazilian national grid for a slice of electrified psyched out samba funk with crashing military drums, shrieking sirens and psych synths. "Brazil" is a lolloping bass led groover with Bertrami's melody giving the track a charming, innocent naivety, and "Caça A Raposa" is a boogie jazz funk groover. Azimüth is the album that kick-started it all for them, the record that was the blueprint and definition of their "samba doido/crazy samba" sound. Comes in a gatefold sleeve; 180 gram vinyl.

"The Jungle Brothers' 1988 debut, Straight Out The Jungle, is important for many reasons. It is lo-fi and goofy, but had moments of real focus and social consciousness. It is a true kitchen sink record, that caught a rap fanbase enraptured by Eric B. & Rakim, Public Enemy, and Boogie Down Productions a bit off-guard. Also of note, beyond the excellence of the album itself, the Jungle Brothers were the fulcrum for what would become the Native Tongues movement -- they came first, De La Soul and A Tribe Called Quest followed, under their guidance. By 1989, the group had even more confidence, plus a Warner Bros. contract and advance in their back pocket. They used it to great advantage on the self-produced and criminally underrated Done By The Forces Of Nature, expanding their sonic palette and continuing their Afrocentric approach to music and life. Singles like 'What U Waitin 4' and 'Doin Our Own Dang'(with De La Soul and Q-Tip, alongside Monie Love) show the group's fun side. But things weren't all fun and games, as deeper, more pensive album tracks like 'Black Woman,' 'Beeds On A String,' and 'Acknowledge Your Own History' show. It was another accomplished mix of fun, frolic, and knowledge-of-self, proving that you could be serious in the rap game but still let off steam and fill the dancefloor. Done By The Forces Of Nature stands as one of the most cherished hip-hop documents of the late '80s among true-school heads. Get On Down is proud to present a new limited-edition pressing on Tri-Colored vinyl in a gatefold jacket with full lyrics and numbered OBI limited to 1000 copies."

2023 repress; 180 gram exact repro reissue of their 2nd album, originally released in 1967. "The Elevators' second album, Easter Everywhere showed the band's progression light years away from their first one but a year earlier. Indeed, they had transmuted beyond their Lightnin' Hopkins'n'Hooker heated acid blues; delving further inward to the cosmic eye, mind and beyond. Easter Everywhere is an album that exhibits group chemistry at its ultimate unification. The Elevators had already arrived at a place where they had the songs, lyrics AND feel to animate both into a consciousness-delving manner, but now they took their explorations even further out and beyond the crust, the mantle and the white-hot core of the psychedelic experience into a place where existence can be seen as an eternal dance: a play between time and space, of push and pull (it's hard to describe without using the language it demands, but here goes) of the whole exchange of thingy-inny to thingy-outty and all that implies?of the spaces between yourself and your existence, as the rollicking rhythm that is life steams full on ahead into the future. A broader expanse was never mapped out by a rock'n'roll band of its time." -- The Seth Man/HEAD HERITAGE.

Vivid peyote-induced psychedelia from Texas sounding like an impossible meld between the Elevators and the Velvet Underground but possessing a strongly unique disposition. Recorded in 1970 but never released at the time, featuring future members of Roky Erickson's backing band Bleib Alien/The Aliens. Formed in Austin in the late 1960s by visionary lyricist and autoharp player Billy Bill Miller and his friend Tom McGarrigle on guitar, Cold Sun evolved from a band called Cauldron (later Amethyst) which at one point featured drummer John Kearney from Roky Erickson's first band The Spades. Miller, a proto-Goth figure always dressed in black, highly influenced by Joe Meek and vintage sci-fi/horror movies, started to experiment with weird noises out of his electrified autoharp, favoring the audio-oriented drug mescaline over the LSD associated with hippies. Amethyst jammed with musicians such as Benny Thurman from the 13th Floor Elevators and Steve Webb from the Lost And Found. It was through Mike Waugh's friendship with Elevators drummer John Ike Walton that Billy Miller and the band hooked up with the local label/studio Sonobeat, who expressed interest in recording an album with the intention to shop it to a major label: thus, the now-legendary Cold Sun album was born. The band, driven by Miller's strange electrified autoharp sounds plus the massive fuzz guitar of McGarrigle, dressed with feedback and futuristic lyrics, laid down several tracks in between rehearsals at Miller's house on Castle Hill (west Austin). Never released at the time, the Cold Sun album languished in oblivion and the musicians moved on to other things. It wasn't until 1990 that the Cold Sun album was finally released on vinyl by the Rockadelic label (in a tiny edition of 300 copies), followed by a new edition on German label World In Sound in 2008, now out of print. For this new edition, Guerssen tried to imagine how the Cold Sun album could have looked like if it had been actually released in 1970. It comes in a hard cardboard sleeve with vintage styled artwork by psychedelic illustrator Callum Rooney. Sourced from the same audio master as the original Rockadelic LP, the sound has been vastly improved thanks to the meticulous and careful restoration/remastering by audiophile engineer Ezra Lesser, who has also penned the definitive story of Cold Sun for the liner notes.

Gatefold packaging. Terumasa Hino is undoubtedly one of the most famous Japanese jazzmen. Learning the trumpet at the age of nine, he began his career as a professional musician by playing in the orchestra of an US Army base, before joining Hideo Shiraki's Quintet and then forming his own band in 1964. On Hi-Nology, his brother Motohiko Hino appears on drums, Hiroma Suzuki on electric piano, Kumitsu Inaba on electric bass and Takeru Muraoka on tenor sax. The inspiration from the "electric period" of Miles Davis (notably Miles In The Sky released in 1968) is felt and is even accepted, since the opening piece is entitled "Like Miles." Coincidentally, Hi-Nology was recorded on July 31, 1969, the day after the release of In a Silent Way and has nothing to envy of this great record by Miles Davis.

"Celebrated Zambian guitarist and bandleader Paul Ngozi's concept album about the struggles of those living in Africa's 1970s townships. Includes oversized eight-page booklet that details Paul Ngozi and the Ngozi family's arc, including rare photographs, discography, and annotation. The third entry in an era-defining reissue series on Now-Again centered around this Zamrock legend and his band - previous entries include Day Of Judgement and 45,000 Volts. Zamrock was a bona-fide rock scene: on the African continent, only Nigeria can claim one so comprehensive, and Nigeria's was largely catalyzed and funded by subsidiaries of the European major labels. Zamrock was as independent as the newly-named country, formerly known as Northern Rhodesia. Zamrock is starting in its completeness, especially for a scene that emerged, unfurled and disappeared so quickly. From Musi-O-Tunyaís fusion of Fela's Afro-beat, Hendrix's rock, South African jazz and traditional Zambian melodies and rhythms to Salty Dog's acid folk/rock, Zambia's rock scene contained all of rock's subgenres. Zamrock was much more than an imitation of American and European rock music: it quickly became a uniquely Zambian movement, befitting of its name. WITCH, Paul Ngozi, and Amanaz sound nothing like other rock music from the African continent -- or elsewhere."

LP version. Wewantsounds announces the reissue of Norio Maeda's cult classic Rock Communication Yagibushi, released in Japan in 1970. The album has since become a Japanese jazz funk cornerstone and is now highly sought-after on the international DJ scene. The album reinterprets 14 traditional Japanese folk songs into jaw-dropping jazz funk instrumentals featuring killer arrangements by Maeda that would fit perfectly between David Axelrod and Lalo Schifrin. One of the most prolific Nippon arrangers, Norio Maeda on a par with Yuji Ohno and Kentaro Haneda and this album has long been on many collectors' wantlist. Rock Communication Yagibushi is reissued internationally for the first time, with newly remastered audio, original gatefold artwork and new liner notes by Paul Bowler. Norio Maeda was born in Osaka Prefecture in 1934 and learnt to read music from an early age thanks to his father. He was largely self-taught on piano and quickly got into jazz, before moving to Tokyo in the mid '50s to immerse himself in the city's thriving jazz scene. There Maeda started his own group before joining The West Liners led by saxophonist Konosuke Saijo as pianist and arranger in 1959. Maeda arranged many pop and jazz albums by the likes of Nobuo Hara, Terumasa Hino, jazz singer Mieko Irota and, in 1969, he released the album This is Jazz Rock with saxophonist Jiro Inagaki, reinterpreting international pop, jazz and soul hits with groove arrangements which would pave the way for Rock Communication Yagibushi a year later. For the album, Maeda used two lineups -- a reduced one comprising Takeshi Inomata on drums, Shigeo Suzuki on sax and flute, Kiyoshi Sugimoto on guitar, and Tetsuo Fushimi on trumpet -- and an extended one adding three trumpets, four trombones and a different drummer, Takahiro Suzuki. The album is an explosive succession of instrumental funk and breakbeat nuggets that are reminiscent of David Axelrod with shades of Italian cinematic groove adding a Japanese twist to the mix. It's hard to pick a favorite track as Norio Maeda hits the mark every time and manages to display many fascinating shades of funk throughout the album. One of the most coveted Japanese classics on the international diggers scene, Rock Communication Yagibushi is finally available internationally and will please Japanese jazz funk's many fans.

LP version. "Cereal Music is bassist-composer-leader-poet William Parker's first spoken word album -- observations from a profound life devoted to the path of finding truth in beauty and speaking truth to power. Parker's words are further illuminated by deeply sensitive sound design created by a likewise devoted artist on the same path, producer and singer Ellen Christi. William Parker's music -- in its vast scope and range of form -- has been an elemental nutrient of countless listeners lives for nigh on five decades. William's words -- whether published on page or spoken from the stage -- are part of that music. They speak on the beauty of life itself, amplifying the light of life ever-present, even in exceptionally difficult circumstance. As his first artistic expression, Parker began writing as a young person growing up in the South Bronx projects, presenting an alternate perception of often bleak surroundings and living conditions in the neighborhood. This early awareness that there was another way of being in the world, has suffused his development into a singularly generous artist and human being. Ellen Christi's singing brings that same affirmation in the beauty of life. She and Parker's previous work together, The Majesty of Jah, is a tremendous feature for her voice. That album also includes the track, 'Baldwin,' with James Baldwin's ever-powerful words and voice resonating even more profoundly within the sonic architecture created around them by Christi. When Ellen got in touch to say that she had begun work on a similar album-length project, centered on William's spoken texts, Aum Fidelity immediately asked that she please send the pieces as she finished them. The cover painting and additional paintings on Cereal Music are by William Parker."

LP version. Introducing Azerbaijani Gitara Vol. 2 by Rəhman Məmmədli, the eagerly awaited sequel to Bongo Joe's acclaimed debut featuring Rüstəm Quliyev. Born from the vibrant streets of Baku, Azerbaijani gitara culture has evolved into a mesmerizing fusion of indigenous traditions and global influences. From the oil boom era to Soviet rule, musicians have embraced the electric guitar as a symbol of cultural expression. Rəhman Məmmədli, a legend in his own right, revolutionized the sound with his innovative techniques and impassioned performances. Drawing inspiration from mugham music, Məmmədli's compositions resonate with soul-stirring melodies and electrifying solos. Azerbaijani Gitara Vol. 2 promises to captivate listeners with its depth, diversity, and unbridled passion, inviting you on a journey through the heart and soul of Azerbaijan's musical heritage.

"What might appear to be the most unlikely collaboration of 2024 proves also to be one of the most invigorating listens of the year! Shackleton & Six Organs of Admittance are in full aural/metaphysical alignment in their mutual effort to become Jinxed by Being. On first listen, it becomes immediately clear that this fusion of Shackleton's bass-heavy cosmic dread and Six Organs' ritual folksong makes total sense. Longtime listeners know that both Shackleton and Six Organs of Admittance have been unafraid to pursue their muse into any and all encroaching depth of darkness or outer boundary of potential dissonance -- in fact, that has always been their default mode, finding more of resonance way out there in the process. They also share that ol' maverick psychedelic ritual transcendental music vibe, don't they? And a fascination with repetition and cycles. And a mutual inspiration drawn from alternative tunings and literature -- all this considered, it's been basically inevitable that Ben Chasny and Sam Shackleton would work together. It took a while for them to find each other -- and once they did, it was almost eerie, how preordained it felt. When the music started coming, though -- that's when it got really eerie. The mood rises from the music like smoke, a sure signal of total integration. Jinxed by Being finds Shackleton and Six Organs of Admittance delighting in their synthesis. Reveling in the unique sonic textures found in the collage, they launch small details that unfold into a massive space, then fracture into multiple lines of dimensional reality, crossing the stereo spectrum with enervating motility. Here lies all the proof you need against the danger of categorizing by perceived genre rather than intention -- encounters like Shackleton and Six Organs of Admittance might never have found the linear space in which they sit next to each other, beyond alphabets and other institutional organizing principles. Rearrange your libraries -- or you might miss getting Jinxed by Being.

"Evil Does Not Exist is an expansive new soundtrack undertaking from Eiko Ishibashi, a stellar further display of her ability to explicate the depths of the unspoken in her music. That it is also the soundtrack to the new Ryusuke Hamaguchi feature is marvelous news for all who loved her score for his Oscar-winning 2021 film, Drive My Car. That her music harmonizes effortlessly with the state of nature as depicted in his film, a nuanced tale of humans' uneasy efforts to maintain co-existence with the delicate state of the planet, is a further profound achievement. At play here, though, is much more than fantastic new music from a powerful new film -- it is evidence of a vital recomposition of the relationship of sound to narrative, and composer to filmmaker. The impetus for this came when Eiko was asked by overseas promoters for a program of live performances backed by visuals. After some thought, she asked Hamaguchi if he would make something for her to use for this purpose. This led Hamaguchi to develop the script further, with sequences of dialogue. In the end, he made two works: Gift, a silent film to act as a visual score for a live performance by Ishibashi, and Evil Does Not Exist, his new narrative feature film, which provided the visual material for the silent film Gift and features Eiko's music as its soundtrack. This is a fittingly synergistic exchange within their two disciplines, in which the moods and intentions of the music and the film acted in practical conversation: each one a sovereign statement, made possible by its relationship with the other. Eiko's compositions are scored for violin, cello, guitar, drums and keyboards. Her longtime partner Jim O'Rourke played the guitar and mixed and mastered the recordings when they were done, eliciting further the necessary nuances of atmosphere and mood that one would expect in one film, much less two!"

Cardinal Fuzz/Feeding Tube Records in collaboration with Deep Water Acres and in tribute to Sunrise Ocean Bender Records bring to you: Elkhorn -- Other Worlds. Drew Gardner and Jesse Sheppard, the two-guitar duo of Elkhorn, share a musical brotherhood that spans several decades. From their nascent high school socialist-realist post-punk band Mayfirst, to teenage scavenger trips to the Princeton Record Exchange and City Gardens, the two came of age goofing along to the Dead Kennedys, the Butthole Surfers, and Sonic Youth in the dank Jersey/Philly-scene music holes. Elkhorn has long traversed the valleys between fried cosmic psychedelia and American Primitive, particularly the latter style's reverence for a wide range of folk and blues idioms ranging from County Records compilations to the Mississippi Sheiks. While the pair is best known for their acoustic guitar explorations, Other Worlds continues their recent experiments with other instrumental possibilities. For instance, on the previous Elkhorn release On the Whole Universe in All Directions, Drew switched to vibraphone and drums, with Jesse playing 12-string guitar. Other Worlds, on the other hand, finds them in a recognizable "rock trio" format (in improvisational mode) -- Drew is on electric guitar, with Jesse playing bass, and they are again joined by Ian McColm on drums, with the free-flowing groove he brings. On the opening track "Watching the Skies" you can feel the forward propulsion this power trio sets up, a cosmic widescreen which Elkhorn proceed to rock and groove across the whole of Other Worlds. Three flawless musicians in their own right, together they form a telepathic psychic link that taps into the otherworldly flow that is Other Worlds, as the synergy created by Jesse and Ian leaves Drew plenty of space to take off on exhilarating and soaring flights of fuzzy haze fire that results in a musical journey toward transcendence. Elkhorn demonstrate again and again that there is no height they won't scale, no direction they won't travel. Have Elkhorn ever sounded as heavy or as on fire as the recordings laid down here? You be the judge. The trio is multitudes. The trio is one.

A tribute to a glorious and sophisticated era in Brazil music. Disco E Cultura: Vol. 2 brings 15 tracks of the funkiest Brazilian music from the '70s and '80s. Soul and funk were taking the world by storm in the 1970s. Brazilians developed their own sound by combining influences from funk and soul music from abroad to create something uniquely Brazilian. Featuring Jorge Ben, Almir Ricardi, Guilherme Arantes, Marcos Valle, Sandra Sá, Tony Bizarro, Viva Voz, Hanna, Marilia Barbosa, Tony Bizarro, Coral Som Livre, Ana Maria E Mauricio, Djalma Dias, Inema Trio, and Jeremias. 180g vinyl in deluxe hard-cardboard sleeve cover with obi.

Double LP version. For an aesthetic of (dis)obedience. The impressions Richard Siegal and his company Ballet of Difference gathered on a trip to Japan in September 2022 now find their way into a full-length dance evening. Siegal and his team had set off for Tokyo to learn the practice of Shuudan Koudou, also known as "Japanese Precision Walking". The strictly synchronized group choreographies are astonishing in their radical stringency and have become a secret YouTube hit, not least because of their peculiar subtle humor. Siegal recognizes in the extreme disciplining of the bodies an analogy to the training practice of classical ballet. In the mutual exchange of these movement cultures, questions are raised about individual and collective thinking, about personal decision-making power and social responsibility. For this extraordinary project, Richard Siegal has invited a special guest: Nazareth Panadero, long-time companion of Pina Bausch, who has long since become an icon of Wuppertal dance theatre and will be on stage with the BoD ensemble. On the other hand, Hybrid III is inspired by Noh Play -- Japanese performances and deals with the refusal of rules musically. Hybrid III continues the two previous albums and weaves both rhythmic and beatless musical pieces into a holistic work.

Patrick Higgins is an American composer, guitarist, and producer from New York City, known for his work in experimental and contemporary classical music. Higgins plays guitar and composes in the band Zs, described by The New York Times as "one of the strongest avant-garde bands in New York." Higgins has received attention for bridging traditions including baroque chamber music, contemporary noise, electronics and 20th century minimalism. His work has been performed in over 25 countries internationally, and he has composed works for some of the world's leading ensembles, ranging from chamber orchestra works, percussion cycles, and string quartets to smaller ensembles and soloists. He has scored works for television, museum exhibitions, and films both short-form and feature-length. Since 2013, he has operated Future-Past Studios, a recording studio in upstate NY. He recently had a solo exhibition of artworks and sheet music, as well as two world premiers, at The Clark Museum in MA, USA. In 2019, he was a curator and headliner of the Le Guess Who festival in Holland.

2024 repress. Be With Records present a reissue of Sweet And Nice, the vital debut album from Jamaica's undisputed first lady of song Marica Griffiths, originally released in 1974. It's reggae at its most soulful. Slinking through a tight ten tracks of R&B and pop-sourced material, it became an instant best seller. Sweet And Nice has appeared over the years with a revised running order and under different titles. But the original's opening sequence of loping soul is legendary, even beyond reggae circles. These songs are now returned to how they were presented on that first Jamaican release, and under their intended album title. Be With doesn't mess with magic. Marcia's version of "Here I Am (Come and Take Me)" has long been lusted after, played by genre-hopping selectors to snapping necks for decades now. It's followed by the sophisticated, rollicking wah-wah funk of "Everything I Own" and the slice of smooth lovers soul par excellence that is "Green Grasshopper" and her ace, lilting Neil Diamond cover "Play Me". The thundering, humid funk of "Children At Play" "sounds uncannily like a precursor of Massive Attack", as FACT Mag astutely noted when they put Sweet And Nice at number 16 in their list of the 100 best albums of the 1970s. Otherworldly, moody, and essential. Side two keeps the fire burning. "Sweet, Bitter Love" should leave you swooning, and is also one of the album's alternate titles. Curtis Mayfield's already-eternal "Gypsy Man" follows, recast as proto-lovers rock. "There's No Me Without You" is elevated to canonical status by the majestic, forlorn horns of the Federal Soul Givers and Marcia's heartbreaking delivery. And if this doesn't get you then surely the next track will: arguably the definitive version of Ewan MacColl's "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face". "I Just Don't Want To Be Lonely" re-takes its rightful place at the end of the LP's second side... but Be With Records added an entire second record of rare material recorded around the same time as Sweet And Nice, much of it unavailable since it was originally released. Amongst these 14 extra tracks you'll find the exquisite late-60s singles "Melody Life" and "Mark My Word" which, along with the sumptuous reading of "Band Of Gold". All material is remastered. 140 gram vinyl.

This double CD set includes an extended collaboration between The New Blockaders and Grinder-Without-Organs, and two live recordings of anti-theatre premiered at Cafe OTO (London, UK) and Audio Foundation (Auckland, NZ). The set also includes a link to access a bonus film and extra, printable material. CD1 features Ein Glücklicherer Zufall: Genau Zu Lang, an hour-long part studio/part live collaboration between seminal anti-music stalwarts The New Blockaders, and purveyors of the absurd Grinder-Without-Organs. Ein Glücklicherer Zufall shows a different side to TNB's trademark obliterating noise offensives with a more collaged, musique concrète approach. CD2 opens with G-W-O Live at Cafe OTO. The set concludes with The Theatrical Panopticon, "A stage play performed in a void infected with accidental somniloquies." Fans of noise music will need no introduction to the work of TNB. Ron Lessard, of legendary US Noise label RRRecords, once stated, "I'd give the nod to TNB as being the first truly devoted Noise artists." TNB served as a major influence on legendary noise pioneers such as Merzbow and their influence on the current crop of popular crossover noise artists such as Wolf Eyes is immeasurable. Double CD comes in a six-panel matt digipak with eight-page booklet featuring TNB and G-W-O artworks.

British percussionist Tony Oxley returned to his piece "Angular Apron" multiple times after debuting it in the early 1970s. Drawing equally on his interest in contemporary composed music by folks like Xenakis and Ligeti and on his long tenure as one of the central figures in European improvised music, Oxley assembled a quintet to play the work in Bochum, Germany, in 1992. The one-time ensemble consisted of five players from varied backgrounds. Trumpeter and flugelhornist Manfred Schoof, who delivers one of his last performances before turning exclusively to composition, is one of the pioneers of free music in Germany, a somewhat understated figure of immense power and authority whose 1969 FMP LP European Echoes stands as one of the great documents of orchestral improvisation, and whose own quintet helped define the transitional forms of new jazz a few years earlier in the decade. American bassist Sirone is best known for his work in the Revolutionary Ensemble, with violinist Leroy Jenkins and drummer Jerome Cooper. Sirone's presence in Oxley's group confirms the drummer's commitment to a transatlantic aesthetic, one he explored extensively with Cecil Taylor and William Parker in the Feel Trio. Saxophonist Larry Stabbins brings his incredible versatility to the band, adding the mix of ferocity and buoyancy that he added to diverse projects from Spontaneous Music Ensemble and Peter Brötzmann to Weekend and Working Week. On piano and electronics, Pat Thomas was at the time a relative newcomer to the British scene, rapidly becoming one of its leading lights and most sought-after collaborators. Oxley drew on this crew's wide range of orientations for this "Angular Apron," exploiting their extremes of timbre and register, calling on their acuity as listeners, and prodding them with his finely-honed junkshop of metal percussion, with which he detonates the hour-long piece. Presenting the never-before-released music in its complete glory, mastered from the original tapes, the Angular Apron CD design features images of two of Oxley's paintings. Recorded October 2, 1992, at the Ruhr Jazz Festival, Bochum, Germany. Mastered by Larry Stabbins. Design by David Khan-Giordano. Produced by John Corbett. Thanks to Tutta Oxley.

The Long Shadow Falls is Current 93's first-ever CD box-set, and is as beautiful as the moon! This gorgeous, elaborate, boxset consists of 7CDs, plus a 7" single, and a beautiful 48-page art-book. The Long Shadow Falls collects the 41 unknown and redreamt mixes that C93 created for two (long-ago sold-out) lathe-cut 12" releases, respectively titled The Long Shadow Falls and Why Can't We All Just Walk Away?, which were both issued in editions of just 39 copies, cut by The Bricoleur at Bladud Flies!, which came with hand-painted covers by David Tibet, and with original artwork by him inserted into each copy. It also adds two final mixes of "The Long Shadow Falls" that were not released on vinyl. The box-set cover, booklet, CD covers, and 7" single all carry images from David Tibet's Channelled Hallucinatory Shadowed Found Fotograph series. For these photographs of ghosts, C93 spelled: David Tibet, Andrew Liles, and ChoirBoyHigh.

2024 repress; gatefold LP version. ""What makes On Your Own Love Again new? Everything, and yet everything woven so subtly into the presentation leaves you unaware that you have been modulated upon. The album was recorded entirely by Jessica in the fashion of 'Night Faces' and 'Dreams,' from her first album, and mixed in collaboration with Will Canzoneri. Touched lightly with additional instrumental and vocal parts, the songs ripple beneath the surface with lyrical details that morph almost subliminally from the personal into fantasy. When Jessica's playful nature bubbles up, she sends her voice traveling into strange places to see what it finds there. The music too is deceptively accomplished, providing subtle hallucinatory nuances to the tunes. The orchestral organ stop working in the shadows of 'Wrong Hand,' the reverberant percussion floating through 'Game That I Play,' the clavinet panned out on the side in 'Moon Dude,' Jessica's sudden vocal dip into her lower register on 'Greycedes' -- all pull at the ears, highlighting her unique pop sensibilities with craft and humor, giving the album's inherent romance a greater heft. Perhaps most significantly, On Your Own Love Again was recorded at home -- at places in Los Angeles and San Francisco, over the past two years. This process sands the surface of her more active multi-tracking approach, allowing a sound as delicate and singular as her former recordings. On On Your Own Love Again Jessica is fully alive in a space all her own; with isolation in the breeze, the sound resonant in the natural light and a gauze of clouds in the sky, under which she can relax, unwind and let herself be."

"It is absolutely appropriate the second volume of Wednesday Knudsen's Soft Focus suite appears as spring finally begins to take hold. Like the brilliant first section of this work (the whole of which was initially released on CD), the music here is a celebration of shimmering sunlight and the awakening of nature's tonal brilliance. But where the first LP focused on more bite-sized pieces of work, this one envisions and documents instrumental horizons that are ever expanding. The first of the three tracks, 'Sunshine,' is the shortest, and picks up where Volume One left off -- slow single note electric piano runs with lightly buzzing sustain that are darker than the song title suggests, but utterly devoid of overt bummer tongues. The way the keys' edges are muted for its ending feels like washing your hands in a bag of rough-cut diamonds. The second, 'Ariel's Letter and the Rain,' has a mysterious title that turns out to be far less abstract than you might imagine. It references a friend making some suggestions involving the rhythms and flow of nature at a crucial moment in the tune's gestation. As simple as that, and the resultant sounds are stunning. The final, side-long 'Soft Focus II' begins with the same slow-massed notes that end 'Soft Focus I,' but it mostly explores long tones generated by two or three notes that fluctuate and pulse like soft drops of dew on a car's window, drooling to the wind's commands while accreting size and strength. After a while, things shift to small piano figures that repeat and mutate casually, before cascading upwards with a sense of coalescent rebirth. Unlike Soft Focus Volume I, there are no vocals on this album, but the music creates its own meditative language that will transport you from wherever you happen to be, into warm sunshine and air filled with the languorous scents of earth awakening. Paradise is rarely this portable." --Byron Coley, 2024

E Gone is Daniel Westerlund from Stockholm, Sweden, and Adventures Before the Body is his long-awaited latest excursion into cosmically earthy musical alchemy, rounding out a trilogy of albums begun in 2013 with All the Suns of the Earth, and continuing with Advice to Hill Walkers in 2016 (both also released by Deep Water Acres and Sunrise Ocean Bender). Musically, Adventures builds on its predecessors' eclecticism and love of sonic juxtapositions -- astute psychedelic guitar lines swirled together with exotic instrumentation and modal motifs, rock riffs alongside ethnic percussion and old-school beats, drones and atmospheric effects blending into electronic deep dives. A pair of songs bring back Westerlund's vocals, though the overall compositional logic scales up from the shorter instrumental pieces on Advice into more progressive territory (most notably the 14-minute title track). As that suggests, Adventures also extends the triptych conceptually -- if All the Suns was about waking up and breaking free, and Advice was a metaphorical travel guide of diverse vignettes, Adventures is about expansion or explosion, whether outwards or inwards; evoking, in the man's own words, "a feeling of vertigo in the vastness of the universe." That said, deep philosophical musings are in no way necessary to appreciate the sheer enjoyment within Adventures' grooves. These are songs and sounds of mystery and wonder, as sonically experimental as they are melodically accessible, taking form somewhere outside of conventional genre lines. An album of shifting textures and formidable scope that rewards attentive ears and repeat listening. Adventures Before the Body is brought to you by Cardinal Fuzz/Feeding Tube Records, in collaboration with Deep Water Acres, and in tribute to Sunrise Ocean Bender Records and Kevin McFadin.

Glossy Mistakes presents Atlantic Mavericks: A Decade of Experimental Music in Portugal 1982-1993, a groundbreaking double LP compilation that offers a unique glimpse into the vibrant landscape of Portuguese experimental music. This monumental release showcases the evolution and innovation of the Portuguese music scene during a transformative decade marked by political upheaval and artistic experimentation. Compiled by Glossy Mario and featuring liner notes by Rui Miguel Abreu, Atlantic Mavericks captures the essence of a generation of artists who dared to challenge conventions and push the boundaries of what was possible in music. The compilation stands as a testament to the eclecticism of the Portuguese music scene during this period, featuring a diverse range of genres and styles. From ambient and new age to electro, rock, and synth-pop, Atlantic Mavericks offers something for every listener, inviting them to explore the rich tapestry of sounds that defined the era. The 1980s in Portugal were a time of profound transformation, marked by the aftermath of a peaceful revolution and a burgeoning desire for artistic expression. As the country emerged from political turbulence, a new generation of musicians began to explore uncharted territories, paving the way for a wave of experimentation and innovation. From the emergence of artists like Rui Veloso and bands like UHF, who ushered in a new era of Portuguese rock, to the founding of independent record labels like Fundação Atlântica and Ama Romanta, the 1980s saw a surge in creativity and a desire for independence within the music industry. Each song on this album tells a story of artistic evolution and creative risk-taking, reflecting the diverse influences and eclectic tastes of the Portuguese music scene during this transformative decade. Spanning from 1982 to 1993, the compilation includes contributions from a wide range of artists, including SPQR, Croix Sainte, Linha Geral, Balladium, Ban, Santa Maria, Gasolina Em Teu Ventre!, Fé de Sábio,Nuno Rebelo, Vítor Rúa, Tó Neto, Luis Cilia, Pilar, Carlos María Trindade, Balladium, Pop Dell'Arte, and Telectu. With each track carefully curated to showcase the breadth and depth of Portuguese experimental music, Atlantic Mavericks promises to be a must-have for music enthusiasts and adventurous listeners alike.