How can a sense of beauty be found amidst fear and cruelty? How can all the unspeakable be made audible, but also anger, hope, and an unyielding will to live? With his third album Temple Of Hope, Iranian composer Saba Alizadeh has created a moving homage to the people of his homeland. He transforms the events during the "Woman Life Freedom" movement, as well as the struggles of the population in previous years, into poignant electro-acoustic music. Intensified by the vocals and lyrics of Andreas Spechtl, Sanam Maroufkhani, and Leila Rahimi. In his compositions, Saba Alizadeh combines the traditional string instrument Kamancheh with strings, modular synthesizers, and a no-input mixer. This results in a tense sound that explores the speechlessness and torn emotions between suffering, rebellion, and hope. Historical radio sequences ground his pieces in the culture and history of the country. The strong alienation and deconstruction of these acoustic elements, in turn, point to the incomprehensible -- to existential upheavals and dissolution processes.

Immerse yourself in the incomparable world of funk and soul with the compilation Rare Grooves: A Funk And Soul Era. This unique collection of 16 hand-picked tracks from the '60s, '70s, and '80s brings back the vibrant influence of funk and soul to the European musical landscape of the time. This CD is a musical time capsule that brings long-forgotten treasures back to life. Many of the songs included were originally only released as vinyl singles and are now available on CD for the first time. Look forward to a fascinating mix of disco, krautrock, pop, Afrobeat and jazz songs, which gets its very own charm with a healthy dose of funk and soul. Let yourself be carried away by the creative diversity and unbridled groove of this era. Rare Grooves: A Funk And Soul Era is more than just a CD -- it is an essential piece of music history for collectors and lovers who appreciate the authentic sound of the funk and soul era. Featuring Atlas, Abadie, Ganymed, Charly And The Diamonds, Bill Gabo, The Jaguars, Stonewall, Epsilon, Lee Reed, MC London, Wolfgang Ambros, and Christian Kolonovits.

LP version. Final part of the Nichts deluxe reissue series: The almost forgotten third Nichts album Aus Dem Jenseits from 1983 has finally been reissued! Due to circumstances, it was lost and unsuccessful at the time, but that's why it's also rare and has become a cult favorite. Nichts reorganized themselves in 1983 and released an unbroken series of six German-language new wave power pop super hits on side A of the LP, garnished with the always good post-punk lyrics of singer Andrea Mothes. Their echoes can still be found today in current guitar pop, new wave and new German wave. At least the single "Venus Schenkt Dir Schöne Stunden (Horrorskop)" should have been an NDW classic of the better kind. And side 2 is hardly weaker. After the band ended their tour in autumn 1982 following two successful albums and the NDW hits "Radio" and "Tango 2000," founding member and guitarist Meikel Clauss and bassist Scarbeck left the band. But singer/lyricist Andrea Mothes and drummer Tobias Brink were not finished with Nichts and recorded the third album Aus Dem Jenseits with a new line-up. A live performance at Mal Sondock's Pop Explosion, a planned single release and a booked tour seemed to continue the success, but things turned out differently: due to an injury to Brink, the tour had to be cancelled, the single was not promoted any further, the band soon broke up and the album became a die-hard fan favorite. The remastering of the album, which was enthusiastically approved by the former band members with a grade of 1+, was produced in the Düsseldorf Skyline sound factory by Kai Blankenberg, whose services are otherwise utilized by International Music, Boy, Madsen and regularly by Udo Lindenberg, among others. In addition to a bonus track (Horrorskop 2024 Single Edit), there is also a 16-page booklet with photos of the time and the lyrics!

LP version. When the sense of time and space disappears, psychedelic sounds merge into an endless tapestry of sound, nothing can really be categorized here. You don't have to, better switch off your head. Only rarely do records like ADA appear that offer seemingly endless opportunities to dream away -- because there is so much history in them: "The new album is something like the essence of over 30 years of Electric Orange," explains Dirk Jan Müller, who started the long-running project back in 1992 in Aachen, Germany and later developed it into a great band. Electric Orange are clearly rooted in the Krautrock of the seventies (and also use some of the equipment from this era), so many tracks are reminiscent of the well-known legends of the genre: Can, Tangerine Dream, Amon Düül -- a mixture of everything the band members love. In this world, every groove is even better when you play it for minutes on end. Electric Orange's music is constantly evolving, spherical sounds come in and go out again -- or are replaced by experimental wah-wah guitars. Space sound effects? Movie samples? Yes! Electric Orange reveal an expansive world and then lead the listener through it; their music is both driving and dreamy at the same time.

LP version. Hailing from Cyprus's divided capital Nicosia, and led by Antonis Antoniou, the founder of Monsieur Doumani and Trio Tekke, Buzz' Ayaz creates a transfixing Eastern Mediterranean psychedelia. Their self-titled debut album is a fuzzed-out urban soundscape of dubby electronics, '70s-psych organ, growling bass clarinet, amplified folk instruments, ritual beats and Greek and Anatolian melodicism. The band members come from both sides of the capital's divide, and the music found on Buzz' Ayaz is a deliberate attempt to give a voice to the city as a whole. A mercurial sound that echoes above the concrete walls and checkpoints. Cyprus is a holiday destination for people from all over Europe, a sunny, blue-sea island in the Eastern Mediterranean with a proud, ancient history. But it's also a divided island, with longstanding political tensions between the Greek and Turkish Cypriot populations. Yet, inevitably in a small place, the two cultures intertwine. Walk the streets of Nicosia, the divided capital, and you'll hear Greek rembetiko alongside Turkish pop, Anatolian psychedelia next to Western rock. That urban mix of sounds he heard each day put a spark in Antonis Antoniou's head. With his new band, Buzz' Ayaz, that spark has caught fire, making Cypriot music that strides between decades and continents, electric and organic. The results on their eponymous debut album holds a barely contained wildness -- and a bass clarinet. Buzz' Ayaz carries a big sound, a punchy heaviness that draws from ʼ60s and ʼ70s rock, but stirring it up with all the differing sounds of Cyprus that Antoniou has known all his life. The recording captures the energy of Buzz' Ayaz, with all the rawness and sweat of performance, coated with urban grit. But there's far more to this than power; Buzz' Ayaz prickles with intelligence, invention and imagination. Buzz' Ayaz is the electric sound of modern Cyprus, the musical bridge that spans worlds. It's music that keeps Antoniou's blood racing, the sound in his head coming to life. The roots of Buzz' Ayaz are in Cyprus, Greece, Turkey and throughout the Levant, but they meld together on the streets of Nicosia. "I hope," Antoniou says, "that the reach is infinite."

Another Mississippi Sunday Morning is the poignant sequel to Some Mississippi Sunday Morning (2023), the prison-recorded gospel album that was met with unexpected global acclaim by the likes of the New York Times, The Guardian, the New Yorker, and BBC (just to name a few). In early 2024, Grammy-winning producer Ian Brennan (Tinariwen, Ustad Saami, Ramblin' Jack Elliott, The Good Ones [Rwanda]) returned to the Parchman Farm maximum security facility in Mississippi to record a second collection of raw, haunting performances from the prison's Sunday gospel service. The results are once again captivating and unforgettable. Twelve men participated in the new recording session, ranging in age from 23 to 74. Three are serving life sentences and six of them were newer arrivals or not on the debut album. There were no guards or chaplains present this time. Like the first album, all songs were first takes, recorded 100% live and without overdubs. The session took four hours, twice the length of time Brennan was allotted for Some Mississippi Sunday Morning. This time the singers knew what to expect and some came to the session with pre-prepared material. "Certain people who were involved the first time became very prominent this time," Brennan says. "They were also more motivated to write their own songs, so a lot of them had done that in advance. A couple of those from before were really eager to do song after song. Everybody sang at least one song." Though all of the music is intimate and stripped back, each song and performance, whether it is based on traditional gospel or hip hop or the deep blues, has an individual and powerful story to tell.

"From a cappella and delicately inflected tenor ornamentation to a hypnotic basso profundo chant; from an urgent rap about a singer's remorse to a hopeful choral outburst: this is inspirational music, triumphant rather than beaten down and defeated." --BBC Music

LP version. Chris Eckman is one of those songwriters with the alchemist's touch. He's proved it over the years as the songwriter of the Seattle rock folk band The Walkabouts, as well as across a lauded six album solo career. His songs have been recorded by Townes Van Zandt, Steve Wynn, Willard Grant Conspiracy (and others), and his last album, the spare, haunted Where the Spirit Rests, won the prestigious German Record Critics Award (Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik) in 2021. Three and a half years later he's back with The Land We Knew the Best, and new stories to tell.

WRWTFWW Records reissues revered UK electronic duo Ultramarine's best kept secret from their discography, the superb A User's Guide album, available as a limited double LP housed in a beautiful heavyweight sleeve with inside out printing. On the rare occasions that Ultramarine's story is told, the duo's fifth album, 1998's A User's Guide, tends to get omitted from the narrative. Radically different to anything the duo released before or since, it has remained a slept-on, timeless and inherently futurist classic ever since. Unavailable on vinyl since the year it was released, A User's Guide was the result of a conscious decision by Ultramarine members Paul Hammond and Ian Cooper to change their working methods and the "sound palette" that underpinned their work. Out went the partially improvised hybrid electronic/acoustic sounds and the collaborations with guest musicians they'd become famous for. They were replaced by painstakingly created electronic sounds and textures, metallic motifs, spaced-out chords, rhythms rooted in contemporary techno and drum and bass culture, and nods aplenty to pioneering music of the period, from the post-rock atmospherics of Tortoise, and the hazy dub techno of Basic Channel, to the tech-jazz of Detroit, the minimalism of Berlin, and the musically expansive warmth of Chicago deep house. As this first vinyl reissue conclusively proves, the material showcased on A User's Guide has lost none of its sparkle in the 26 years that have passed since its release. Fully remastered from the original DATs by Jason G at Transition Studios, the 2024 vinyl edition of A User's Guide thrusts Ultramarine's most overlooked album back into the spotlight. This WRWTFWW edition also features brand new contextualizing sleeve notes, complete with new quotes on the production process from Ultramarine, by dance music historian Matt Anniss (author of Join The Future: Bleep Techno and the Birth of British Bass Music, and founder of online electronic music platform Jointhefuture.net). For fans of electronic, leftfield, postrock, tech-jazz, IDM, minimalism, futurist electronica, dub techno, house, experimental, Autechre, Tortoise, Basic Channel, forgotten gems from superb discographies, and very good music.

Volume 12 in this amazing series of slow grinding R&B/Soul/Exotica tunes as they are being played in a club in Melbourne/Australia. Around midnight on the last Saturday of every month, an assemblage of juiceheads, grifters, kittens, dandies and derelicts gather in a dimly lit, smoke-filled room and dance together real slow. These are some of the records we dance to. Featuring Tony Mottola, Hirao Masaaki & His All Stars Wagon, Jeri Southern, Les Harris, John Mckinney & The Premiers, Guy Mitchell, Lyn Avalon, Roger Smith, The Surfmen, Billy Fury, Andre Williams & Gino Parks, Carl Holmes And The Commanders, Charles Brown, and Mr. Sad Head.

2025 repress. Jeff Mills's Waveform Transmission Vol. 3 initially came out in 1994 on Tresor Records. The eight titles on this album marked a turning point for Mills. It indicates a transition from the straightforward sound he had created through the early 1990s, into the different facets and sound palette he would develop through the remainder of the decade. It is a significant piece within Mills's oeuvre.

Onilu is an all-percussionist trio utilizing the extensive family of drummed and tuned percussion instruments to deliver beautifully composed, arranged and executed small ensemble music. Nothing about this all-percussion band feels rarified, or missing anything musical. To the contrary, Onilu create a soundworld where nothing is missing, and everything is musical -- defying the stereotype of modern percussion ensembles as esoteric or academic pursuits, reaffirming the powerful social and sacred musics made in African diasporic communities and across cultures by drum and percussion groups since the beginning of human time. The members of Onilu are: Kevin Diehl, leader of the enduring Philadelphia-based Afro-Cuban Yoruba free-jazz ensemble Sonic Liberation Front; Chad Taylor, Artistic Director of Jazz Studies at the University of Pittsburgh and esteemed drummer of long standing in many scenes. Highlights of Taylor's recent history include his work with James Brandon Lewis, Jaimie Branch, Marc Ribot, Rob Mazurek, and with Joshua Abrams in the duo Mind Maintenance-. Taylor was part of the community of young Chicago-based musicians organized around Fred Anderson's Velvet Lounge in the 1990s that included Abrams, Nicole Mitchell, Jeff Parker, and Matana Roberts, among others; living legend Joe Chambers, who began his illustrious career as the drummer on now-canonical early Blue Note recordings by Andrew Hill, Bobby Hutcherson, Sam Rivers, Wayne Shorter, and Mccoy Tyner. A 1970 founding member of Max Roach's pathbreaking percussion ensemble M'Boom, Chambers continues to record percussion-centered music as a leader for Blue Note records. After nearly three decades working with such historic drummers as Denis Charles, Walter Perkins, Sunny Murray, Hamid Drake, Milford Graves, Susie Ibarra, Charles Bobo Shaw, and Han Bennink, it is Eremite Records' joy and honor to give the drummers not some, but ALL the spotlight. From Dana Hall's liner notes: "These three artists are master musicians and the music they present here is masterfully conceived. The drum, and its entire global family of membranophones, shakers, and idiophones, are conduits for their collective creative voice. In addition to drummers, they are also composers, and their works here represent a synthesis of ideas, concepts, and their individual dialectics on the language and syntax found in much of African and African Diasporic musics. A music that uses call and response. One that honors the past while looking forward to the future. A music that is principally concerned with feeling, mood, and storytelling. One that eschews frivolity and the baroque. A music that swings and grooves. I found myself dancing to this recording. Trust me, you, too, will find yourself rightfully and unapologetically dancing to this recording." First Eremite edition of 999 copies pressed on premium audiophile-quality 140-gram vinyl at Fidelity Record Pressing, from Kevin Gray/Cohearent audio lacquers. Recorded by Michael Richelle, Philadelphia. Mastered by Joe Lizzi, Queens, NY. Hand screen-printed insert by Alan Sherry, Siwa Studios, Northern New Mexico.

"In the mid-'70s in Northern New Jersey, some friends and I formed an ensemble called Atomic Squawk, with which we used our extremely limited musical techniques to play the sorts of whacked-out sounds about which none of our fucking peers gave a rat's ass. 'Funny' talking blues, free form skronk, vaguely detourned covers of Beefheart and the Velvets -- these were our stocks in trade, and much happy time was whiled away in Randy Charles' basement drinking and making noise, simply because most all the live music being played in the area was dull as shit; useless unless your only goal was trying to get a sloppy blowjob in the parking lot of Mother's. Fifty miles south, things were pretty much the same for future members of Steel Tips, King of Siam, Strapping Fieldhands, Spy Gods and other future legends of the South Jersey sub-underground. But the active (and semi-active) participants in Bangone Ensemble had access to many more and better musicians down around Rutgers. This meant the Bangone Ensemble's sound was leagues beyond Atomic Squawk's. Still, we shared the same aesthetic impulse. In 1975, Jersey bands like the Laughing Dogs and Another Pretty Face were considered cutting edge. If you knew anything about anything, this notion was a goddamn joke. It sounds to me (factual details are shrouded in mystery) like Bangone Ensemble had up to a dozen players at times, with miles of instrumental width, and chops almost on a par with Ithaca's Zobo Fun Band. There's some seriously good playing going on here, but it's all being done in the name of weirdo-rock as the truest expression of non-idiotic teen rebellion. It's a great damn sound, mixing jazz, art-rock, 'new music' and primitivism in much the same way DC band the Muffins did during their earliest days. The sound is kind of like a child's guide to the avant garde -- from the Mothers to the Soft Machine to the Magic Band to the Arkestra and beyond, with a soupçon of sheer wise-assery stirred in for good measure. Bangone Ensemble's sound is just a great gust of freedom from a time and a place that was pretty fucking square. They unwittingly set a pace not really matched until some of the free-rock post-everything fusion units of the mid '90s. As Mick Farren might have said, 'Give the anarchists a cigarette!' They earned it." --Byron Coley

2025 repress! LP version. Reissue. Originally released as private pressing in 1971, the Farm album is highly sought-after and revered by collectors. Recorded by this Southern Illinois band in 1971 at the legendary Golden Voice studios, it's chock full of jammy, bluesy guitar psych with heavy dual guitars, organ, congas, harp... Recommended if you like Quicksilver, Allman Brothers, Canned Heat, Ten Years After... Remastered sound; original artwork; includes booklet with photos and extensive liner notes by Kevin Rathert (It's Psychedelic Baby) LP version includes download card. "A vital album for fans of vintage guitar action." --Patrick Lundborg (Acid Archives).

2025 repress; Be With Records present a reissue of DJ Quik's Safe And Sound, originally released in 1995. Complete with "Tanqueray", the hidden track from the original CD release. DJ Quik is a giant of West Coast hip-hop. With 1995's Safe + Sound, he scaled new levels of musical magnificence with his signature new age P-Funk/laconic G-Funk. A quintessential, sun-scorched LA album, this is pretty much essential. A preternaturally gifted producer/rapper, DJ Quik has produced scores of LA gangsta rap classics. He's released platinum and gold records of his own, as well as helped craft them for the likes of Tupac, Snoop Dogg, and Dr Dre. Quik has always been quirkier and more interesting than his gangsta rap peers, both musically and lyrically. An old-school funk producer at heart, he's also incredibly nice on the mic. His raps often deal in boasts, jokes and good times but also cover his beefs, his trials and his trauma. Partying and pain, all mixed up. DJing and producing hype beat tapes from age 14, Quik's tracks blended the languid funk and rubbery synths of Zapp and George Clinton with a gangsta aesthetic, creating a more danceable foil to Compton's more typical nihilistic hedonism. Ultimately, his records sound custom engineered to drift out over sun-soaked barbecues. By the time of his third album DJ Quik was a household name on the West Coast -- California's premier rapper/producer not named Andre Young. Released on Profile in 1995, Safe + Sound was certified gold. Less reliant on samples and more focused on live instruments, it elevated him from producer to fully-fledged composer. This sound -- the quick, winding basslines, tinny high hats, smooth instrumental solos, soulful pipes, and Roger Troutman's talkbox -- defined him. This is an album of full-blown masterpieces. Rich soundscapes and masterfully arranged orchestrations with dense layers of sounds, intricate rhythms, and well-balanced songwriting. Mastered for vinyl by Simon Francis, cut by Pete Norman and pressed at Record Industry.

2025 restock. Reissue of this 1979 album, mixed at King Tubby's Studio. Tracks: "Pure Ranking," "I've Been Around," "What Eyes Don't See," "African Liberation," "Jah Gift To Man," "Modern Babylon," "Totally Free," "Change Your Ways," "No Love In The City," "Jah Is The One," "Natural Mystic" and "Strictly Ranking (Ghetto Style)."

2025 restock; 1995 release. "A virtual wizard of the mixing desk, Overton H Brown has been one of the key figures in dub since the late 1970s. Getting his start as a teenager at King Tubby's legendary studio in Waterhouse, Brown was known as 'The Scientist' because his imaginative approach to the mixing desk and electronic gadgetry seemed to derive from magical powers that linked him to some intangible, futuristic realm."

"We are overjoyed to present this album, another one from our bucket list and another one to set the record straight and illuminate the history of another much loved, but until now mysterious group. The Invaders made some of our all-time favorite records -- back in 2013 we issued five 45's of their brilliant, sometimes plaintive, sometimes hopeful and sweet early roots music. Their sound touches folk and gospel in lovely subtle ways that elevate them above the many harmony groups of the early roots reggae era. Since the start of DKR we were striving to learn more about the group -- and despite being able to license a portion of their output for reissue, and get anecdotes about them here and there, we were never able to connect with the group themselves. But we never gave up asking about them, and finally in 2024 we were able to link with Delroy 'Bongo Pat' Forde, the surviving member of the group. Unfortunately other Invader, Lloyd 'Paddy' Campbell passed on several years back. To hear and learn their full story, you need to check out this album and read the liner notes. This 13-song LP corrals much of their output -- some of the tracks we previously issued but have been long out of press, some more never before reissued, and some great related solo works by the duo. And to cap it all off we've added two new voicings on a couple of our favorite vintage rhythms, by Invader Bongo Pat himself, live in 2024, singing two Invaders songs written way back in the early 1970s but never recorded back then. All together this is a long overdue document of one of the 1970s finest groups and one dear to our heart. LP comes with double sided insert sheet of history and photos." --DKR

Arriving in North America on Eremite, the debut recording by The Ancients, the intergenerational coalition of Isaiah Collier, William Hooker, and William Parker formed by Parker to play concerts in conjunction with the Milford Graves Mind Body Deal exhibition at the Institute Of Contemporary Art Los Angeles and now a working group. Across 2 LPs of side-length long-form improvised sets recorded at 2220 Arts and Archives in LA and The Chapel in San Francisco, The Ancients bring the free jazz trio languages first explored by the Cecil Taylor Unit and Ornette Coleman's Golden Circle Band (expanded upon in later eras by Sam Rivers' trio and Parker's collective trios with Charles Gayle/Graves and Peter Brötzmann/Hamid Drake) into their own unique and scintillating realms of expression. As we tumble further into the throes of history's tides, people of hope and creativity rely on the works of our great artists to lift our spirits and focus our resolve. Ascension was recorded less than a year after the passage of the Civil Rights Act and four months after the assassination of Malcolm X. Journey in Satchidananda was recorded the month Reagan was re-elected governor of California. M'Boom made its debut recording weeks after the Watergate scandal broke and a couple months after the Wounded Knee occupation ended. The music of The Ancients builds on these great musical legacies. It resounds with the pride of survival and the joys of making and sharing music. It delivers to us hope and balm. Something real in you, real in history, and real in the music is shared, right on time. When Eremite records commenced operations during the 1990s free jazz resurgence, heavyweight freedom-seeking tenor saxophonists such as Fred Anderson, Peter Brötzmann, Charles Gayle, Kidd Jordan, and David S. Ware were at the height of their powers. Isaiah Collier's tenor playing in The Ancients is bracing testimony that the wellspring lives on. To hear the young Chicago firebrand blowing freely with veteran improvisers in an entirely open-form group music is a revelatory study of his vast talent, personal voice, and the intensity of his expression -- as well as a bold complement to his composition-based albums as a bandleader (including The Almighty, a New York Times' best albums of 2024 selection). I've admired drummer William Hooker since first encountering his music in a Hartford, CT, city park, early '90s (on a double bill with Jerry González and Fort Apache Band). From the man himself right off the bandstand I bought his even-then rare first recording, the 1976 self-released 2LP opus Is Eternal Life (reissued 2019 by Superior Viaduct). An imposing force on his instrument and an intrepid DIY cat, Hooker's been exuberantly swinging in-and-out of free time for 50+ years. Informed by the innovations of Sunny Murray and Tony Williams yet entirely himself, there is no other term for it than "pure Hooker." At age 78, with the Ancients and everywhere else, THE HOOK is in peak form. With a discography approaching 600 entries and 50+ years working across the musical maps, including in the history-defining bands of Don Cherry, Cecil Taylor, Bill Dixon, Peter Brötzmann, in his own wondrous ensembles from small group to orchestra to opera, a bastion of compassionate leadership and a poetic champion of his musical community, in tireless service to what he rather egolessly refers to as "the tone world," multi-instrumentalist, improviser and composer William Parker is a living hero of the grassroots and the Black Mystery Musics, not to mention one of the great bassists in the history of jazz. To quote George Clinton, conquering the stumbling blocks comes easier when the conqueror is in tune with the infinite. Free jazz is an enduring high art. Its greatest expressions belong to their particular moment in history, and live on to transcend and refract in amaranthine ways. Inside our present historical moment, we are fortunate to have the master musicians in the ancients bringing us their high-level creation. First Eremite edition of 1,299 copies pressed on premium audiophile-quality 140gram vinyl at Fidelity Record pressing, from Kevin Gray/Cohearent audio lacquers. Live to 2-track concert recordings by Bryce Gonzales, Highland Dynamics. Mastered by Joe Lizzi, Queens, NY. Album and concerts co-produced with The Black Editions Group.

Restocked. US psych holy grail from 1969. Killer Doorsy organ and fuzzed-out guitars, including all-time psychedelic classics like "Colors," "Workshop," and "Mind Machine." Transplanted from Portland to the Sunset Strip, Hunger played at all the hip places, rubbing shoulders with bands like Hour Glass (pre-Allman Brothers), the Doors, and Steppenwolf. In 1969 they released Strictly from Hunger for the small Public label. Highly sought after, Guerssen is proud to present a straight reissue of such collectable album. Featuring original artwork in hard cardboard sleeve plus OBI, with remastered sound and insert with liner notes and rare photos by Clark Faville.

"1968 debut album from the king of the psychedelic bayou -- the hypnotic, mystical and powerful sound of the swamp coming to life. As he became Dr. John (real name Mac Rebennack), it was his LA session work with musicians like Sonny and Cher, Canned Heat, and Zappa that allowed him to start conjuring up his visions of guitar psych-pop to walk alongside his authentic New Orleans upbringing. While Gris Gris contains moments that make it a type stamped symbol of its era, it might have well been made in outer space. Recorded in its own psychic and stylistic vacuum, the album borrows as heavily from the New Orleans' musical culture in which he grew up as it does the looming continuous pulse of war, heavy drugs, and the end of the free love/hippie movement. The album was taken under the wing of a small percentage of the 'underground' upon its release in 1968 and did not find a true following for years. Original 1968 Mono Mix. Mastered and cut by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio. Sourced from the original master tapes."

More Japanese lysergic madness! The 1972 soundtrack for Shuji Terayama's visionary movie of the same name contains all the elements necessary to reach composer and theatre producer J.A. Caesar's intended pleasure-centers. Disturbing, but in the end truly innovative, this soundtrack is a certified gateway to the underworld in the vein of classic by Faust, Cosmic Jokers, or early Amon Düül.

Reissued here for the first time, Cartão Postal is one of the best and most sought-after Brazilian funk-soul albums from the early '70s. It includes some outstanding up-tempo gems like Marcos and Paulo Sergio Valle's "Que bandeira," and the stellar "Esperar Prá Ver," co-written by Evinha's brother Renato Corrêa who also happened to be a member of the Golden Boys. This is a classic Brazilian soul-funk title, right up there with all the greatest albums of the genre. Remastered from the original tapes and pressed on 180g vinyl. This release is part of a new reissue series that will include many other outstanding Brazilian classics. Cartão Postal was originally released on Odeon Brazil in 1971, a few years after Evinha started her solo career. From 1961 to 1968 she was a member of Trio Esperança, alongside her brothers Mário and Regina. In 1969 Evinha won first prize at the Festival Internacional da Cançao Popular and her discography for Odeon took off. Cartão Postal, her third solo album, comprises some outstanding gems. "Só Quero" emanates samba soul sounds while songs like "Por Mera Coincidência" or "Rico Sem Dinheiro" resemble what Trio Esperança was doing at the time: vocal-driven groovy jams spiced with celestial strings arrangements and heavy-duty drums and basslines, which is not surprising since they both worked with the same producers and arrangers, as they were all Odeon artists. Ridiculously rare and expensive now, and at the top of many collectors' wants lists for decades, it's finally reissued here after years unavailable.

WRWTFWW Records presents a one-of-a-kind collaboration release between buzzing UK producer and DJ Pizza Hotline and Swedish electronic and synth icon Mitch Murder, delivering three gigantic tracks each for the Anti Gravity Tournament album, available as a limited-edition LP housed in a heavyweight 350gsm sleeve illustrated by the legendary junkboy. Inspired by the classic WipEout video game series, this high-energy boosted split-album transports listeners into the futuristic world of anti-gravity racing, a colorful turbo adventure soundtracked by six mega tracks of fast-paced atmospheric jungle, thunderous breaks, and liquid drum and bass. The adrenaline-fueled collection delivers maximum energy and dreamy vibes, a true paradise for fans of '90s/Y2K video games, LTJ Bukem, Peshay, Soichi Terada, and previous efforts by Mitch & Pizza. Anti Gravity Tournament follows two critically-acclaimed albums by Pizza Hotline -- Level Select and Polygon Island, both still available on WRWTFWW Records, as well as the limited Low Poly Breaks cassette series which sold out in a few minutes. Mitch Murder is known as one of the originators of synthwave and has released timeless albums on Rosso Corsa Records, Mad Decent, and My Pet Flamingo (TimeSlave Recordings). He is also the man behind the Kung Fury soundtrack and has collaborated with David Hasselhoff himself! The astonishing exclusive artwork comes from the one and only junkboy, creative director at Mojang Studios (Minecraft) and all-around design grandmaster. Fasten your seatbelt and join the fun.

"A special moment here with this one. This record has it all -- one of the best rhythms of the entire '80s let alone the early digital canon, laced with lasers, killer synths, dive bombs, vocoder, screeching across the border, militant lyrics, gigantic drums, perfect claps, the list goes on and on. An absolutely perfect record for the period and for the ages. Hopeton Lindo lets loose an awesome vocal -- his salute to the heroes and martyrs of the militant struggle against South African apartheid -- Benjamin Moloise, Stephen Biko and of course Nelson Mandela. If you don't know, read up on these men ASAP. This tune was made at Tubby's on a wild mix of the original King Tubby's tempo riddim, and was originally released on the very short-lived Aqua label due to some producer runnings back in the day. Now recut from the original master tape, this is one of those joyous occasions where this new issue actually sounds better than the original, which suffered from being made at the notoriously quality plagued GG's pressing plant. Fans of late '80s digital and militant reggae take note - this is your perfect storm. A long time searching for this one, finally here."

Efficient Space honors the memory of producer and MC Ali Omar with Hashish Hits, a posthumous selection from the dub rebel's self-released discography. One of ten children in working-class Liverpool, Omar drew deep influence from his father's Arabic heritage -- a thread central to his identity and sample origins. After art school and a spell clubbing during Manchester's halcyon days, he relocated to Sydney, where he co-founded the blunted downbeat duo Atone with fellow British expatriate Andy Fitzgerald. As an MC, he infiltrated the city's house, dub, jungle, and bass circuits, becoming a regular fixture at the Bentley Bar, where he commanded the mic with his versatile, rumbling baritone and charisma. Freakishly talented in the studio, Omar was a pioneer of the Akai sampler and Atari, deftly recording live sessions straight to DAT. Drawing on industry insights from his sister, Merseybeat firebrand Beryl Marsden -- who supported The Beatles on their final UK tour and was signed to Decca and Columbia -- the non-conformist sought to build a self-sufficient business model. Between 1998 and 2004, he independently issued four albums on CD through his Hashish Studios imprint, hustling copies directly to local record stores and live shows for instant returns, even hand-sewing screen-printed hessian sleeves for his final release. Uncompromising in his principles and refusing to suffer fools or charlatans, Omar relished the opportunity to collaborate with those who embodied the same spirit. Hashish Hits offers a snapshot of his inner sanctum -- Fitzgerald on the opening track's billowing smoke stacks, the serpentine vocals of Gina Mitchell and the magic hands of mixer Louis Mitchell on "On Release," and Wicked Beat Sound System's Kye on "Poor Man Beggar Man Thief." Meanwhile, "Suicide Bomber" smolders with the tension of a lost Muslimgauze relic, as the instructional "Roll Up" and "The Last Straw" spiral deeper into Omar's signature production vortex -- where space stretches in slow motion and walls reverberate with ricocheting delay. A true icon of Sydney's underground scene, the larger-than-life Omar passed away on 23 June 2009 after a valiant battle with cancer. He is remembered for his assertive spirit, larrikin humor, wild anarchic personality, and enduring mantra: "Love and live your life."

Memphis, Tennessee quintet Deepstaria Enigmatica doesn't sound like your father's free jazz. It's spacier; it's moodier; sometimes it sounds like ambient drank a lot of expressos and got down; sometimes it sounds like one of Miles Davis' mid-'70s electric bands ate shrooms and got freaky while Miles wasn't around; sometimes it sounds like a funky lounge band from the Antares system. Deepstaria Enigmatica is a quintet of improvisers from Memphis, Tennessee dedicated to creating otherworldly soundscapes. Named for a rarely seen, bell-shaped jellyfish discovered by Jacques Cousteau, the group's every note is inspired by that famous ocean explorer's sense of discovery. But don't assume the five veteran musicians create only chaos: they are as attuned to melodies and harmonies as they are to fine gradations of noise. What emerges with each extemporaneous performance can range from dark swirls of frenetic fury to interplanetary hard bop, to sunlit ambient dreamscapes punctuated with snatches of folk song. The diverse experience of the players sets the tone for their deep dives: David Collins is the composer and guitarist behind Frog Squad, a Memphis group who have blended jazz improvisation with visionary music as disparate as that of Horace Silver and Erik Satie; he's equally at home playing simple, unfettered guitar lines or rocking, effects-drenched rave ups. Chad Fowler played alto saxophone with both Frank Lowe and George Cartwright in the 1990s, and now teams up with the likes of William Parker, Kidd Jordan, Ivo Perelman, Zoh Amba, Matthew Shipp, or Brian Blade for music released on the Mahakala Music label. Keyboardist Alex Greene first studied musique concrète and computer synthesis with composer Judy Klein in the 1980s, before playing in a variety of Memphis groups ranging from Alex Chilton to Big Ass Truck to Reigning Sound, not to mention over twenty years of work with New York composer Dave Soldier. Now he improvises with multiple keyboards simultaneously, including a vintage Roland Juno-106. Since completing his jazz studies at the University of Memphis in 2016, drummer Jon Harrison has cast a wide stylistic net with the groups he's joined, which include the Southern Comfort Jazz Orchestra, Frog Squad, Hope Calyburn's Soul Scrimmage, Joe Austin, Roderick Duran, PXLS, and the Church Brothers. Bassist Khari Wynn, best known as the guitarist for hip-hop sensations Public Enemy, regularly tests more unorthodox waters with groups such as Energy Disciples, often under the name Mysterioso Africano. Together, these five musos cohere with a surprising unity of purpose, as their listening and playing gel into what often sound like prepared compositions. Sharing an uncanny telepathy, they transport listeners to new worlds of musical possibility.

Think about Can as performed by a shaman commune! Two long LP-side size compositions, focusing on tribal rhythms (without real drummer), heavy-folk and electronic samples and loops. Takahashi Yoshihiro (Brast Burn) was the man behind this cultish project originally released in 1974.

Rare islands funk soul. Great soulful vocal ghetto-vibed funkiness from Barbados. Reissued for the first time. Watch out for funky version of Kool & The Gang's "Kool Reggae" and favorite songs of many DJs, such as "World of Tomorrow" or "Making a Living." Licensed by Phil Dino.

A groundbreaking collaboration between British experimental artist Pete Kember, aka Sonic Boom (Spacemen 3) and Swiss electronic duo SINNER DC, MAPS blends music, visuals, and interactive gaming (Mac/PC) into a multidimensional experience. Originally conceived for a one-off live performances in 2013 in Geneva, MAPS draws inspiration from Borges' meditations on the limits of representation, crafting a surreal auditory and visual journey.

Pedro Vian and Maalem Najib Soudani's Mogador: a fusion of analog electronic music and traditional gnawa sounds. Mogador stands as a compelling exploration of the intersection between seemingly irreconcilable musical worlds; the experimental realm of analog electronic music and the deep-rooted tradition of Gnawa. This project is more than just a juxtaposition of styles; it's a meeting of minds where the ancient and the modern, the analog and the organic, are woven together into a seamless auditory dialogue. What truly sets Mogador apart is the way Pedro Vian's use of the EMS AKS Synthi and Buchla doesn't overpower the mix but instead forms a perfect synergy with Maalem Najib Soudani's qrebeb and guimbiri. Rather than competing, the analog pulses intertwine with the hypnotic lines of the traditional instruments, amplifying the trance-inducing qualities inherent in Gnawa music. Maalem's vocals, steeped in history and spirituality, float over layers of synths that feel both ethereal and tangible, crafting a soundscape that is as cinematic as it is visceral. This is not just a collision of cultures or a superficial fusion exercise. Mogador represents a genuine dialogue between two ways of understanding sound and space, where every element -- from the syncopated percussion to the serpentine modular waves -- contributes to a sonic landscape that is both haunting and profoundly resonant. Here, tradition isn't a museum piece, and analog electronics aren't a rootless futurism; instead, they transform each other, creating something greater than the sum of their parts.

Inventive and superbly produced hard-rock with psychedelic, blues and heavy-prog/proto-metal touches by this studio side-project of Mama Lion. Loud fuzz guitars, heavy keyboards (by James Newton Howard), and screaming vocals. Featuring the great Neil Merryweather and Lynn Carey & the Mama Lion musicians. This is their second album, originally released on Artie Ripp's Family Productions label in 1973. First official vinyl reissue. Original artwork in hard cardboard sleeve with OBI. Sourced from the original master tapes. Includes insert with liner notes, photos, and download card.

Psychedelic hard-rock and heavy blues with loud fuzzed-out guitars, keyboards and inventive studio production/effects by this band led by the great Neil Merryweather and featuring the Mama Lion musicians. This is their first album, originally released on Artie Ripp's Family Productions label in 1972. The Heavy Cruiser project was conceived during the studio sessions for Mama Lion, the band led by Neil Merryweather and Lynn Carey. Artie Ripp always allowed Neil to experiment/jam in the studio and to record any cool ideas and songs he may come up with. Thanks to that creative freedom, Heavy Cruiser was born during Mama Lion jamming sessions. The initial idea was to operate both bands simultaneously with Lynn taking the backseat for Heavy Cruiser but providing vocals and helping with songwriting. Powerful cover versions of rock classics like "C'mon Everybody" or "Louie Louie" show the band having lot of fun in the studio and there was also room for more experimental sounds like "Miracles Of Pure Device." First official vinyl reissue. Original artwork in hard cardboard sleeve plus OBI. Sourced from the original master tapes. Includes insert with liner notes, photos, and download card.

Originally known as Captain Speed, Turquoise was a psychedelic rock band from Southern California who were managed by pioneering Tri-counties concert promoter Jim Salzer, who also operated the legendary Arcade Record Shop. Their sound was 100% psychedelic with swirling baroque organ, trippy guitar fills and driving percussion, all topped off by front man and Jim Morrison's lookalike Tim Pearson's lysergic lyrics. Turquoise shared stage with big names like Grateful Dead, The Doors, Jefferson Airplane, Country Joe & the Fish, The Seeds, The Strawberry Alarm Clock, Jimi Hendrix, and many others. During 1967-68, they recorded two 45s for Jim Salzer's Arcade label and they also laid down material for a planned LP that was never released -- until now. Featuring keyboard player Bill Payne, who later went on be a founding member of Little Feat. Remastered from the original master tapes by Alec Palao. Including their two rare 45s plus eight previously unreleased tracks, 1967-68. Includes insert with liner notes by Gray Newell (Ugly Things/Shindig!) and rare photos/memorabilia. Includes download card.

Soul4Real returns to the south with a selection of eleven songs from Malaco, Muscle Shoals Sound Studios and Alarm Records. There is no doubt that in the 1970s and 1980s, Malaco in Mississippi and Muscle Shoals Sound in Alabama were both highly significant in defining the southern soul sound. Malaco's Studio had opened in 1967, while Muscle Shoals Sound Studio opened its doors for business in 1969, when four musicians left nearby Fame Studios to go it alone. Alarm Records, meanwhile, based in Shreveport, Louisiana, provides listeners with four of the tracks on this album. Independent producers and major record companies sent their artists south to record, taking advantage of both Malaco and Muscle Shoals Sound's talented array of musicians, writers and producers. Muscle Shoals Sound, in particular, started to receive artists from Atlantic Records from the get-go; R.B. Greaves, Baby Washington, Sam & Dave, and Solomon Burke led the way, along with Scotland's Lulu. The first release on their own record label was the timeless "It Hurts So Good" by Katie Love. Meanwhile, Stax (amongst others) sent some of their artists to record at both studios, and Malaco would also lease some of its own productions out to Atlantic. Alarm Records was a smaller set-up which also produced some wonderful records. This album opens with the only female singer featured -- Dorothy Moore. Her exquisite "Girl Overboard" has been justifiably popular on the soul scene for decades. The other ten tracks showcase an array of fine male singers, most of whom (Bobby Bland and King Floyd aside), sadly and perhaps unjustly, never really made the big time. It is the first showing on vinyl for three of the tracks here (previously having only been issued on CD), and Jimmy Jules' reading of "Having A Little Talk With Love" has never appeared anywhere before. As always, sit back and savor the music! Also featuring Ray Crumley, George Jackson, Chuck Brooks, Joe Wilson, Ted Taylor, Eddie Giles, and Reuben Bell.

Italia Synthetica 2025 features a Fred Ventura curated selection of unreleased tracks from a collective of Italian artists and producers who have long been influential in the electronic underground scene. These musicians continue to push boundaries and explore new frontiers within electro, synth-pop, and new wave. Rimini Metafisica is the new project by Paolo Gozzetti, already known for his work with Sigma Tibet and as part of the Italo synth pop duo Italoconnection. TenGrams is one of the many aliases of brothers Alessandro and Davide Piatto (formerly of N.O.I.A), here exploring dark and minimal synth sounds with an essential edge. Diego Montinaro aka Sandiego, DJ, producer, and prominent figure in the Milanese underground scene for over two decades, contributes to the album with a synthetic ballad marked by a cybernetic cadence. Mono Han is another project by the Piatto brothers, this time brighter and authentically synth-pop, where the sounds of the Linn Drum and Roland Jupiter 8 pave the way. Deep Field is the new synth-pop project by Danilo Carnevale, a former member of post-punk bands Other Side and Jeunesse D'Ivoire, and more recently active with Ivoiries and Lunaires. Castelli, a member of the band Clone Culture, presents a track from his upcoming solo album, an engaging mix of Italian new wave and disco. Fogli and Ventura brings together Livio Fogli (formerly of La Maison and Periferico) and Fred Ventura in a minimal synth project with an isolationist character. Through Twelve is a Milan based duo that recently released a mini-album featuring a sound that blends post-punk and synth-pop with a contemporary sensibility. Body System emerges from the collaboration between Enrico Colombo (formerly of Art Boulevard, Orang e Party, and Bedroom Rockers) and Fred Ventura, aiming to rejuvenate the EBM sound in 2025. Finally, Italoconnection featuring Francesca Gastaldi presents a "lost" track by Paolo Gozzetti and Fred Ventura, reinterpreted in an electro-Kraftwerkian style by TenGrams.