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Recent Best Sellers
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2LP
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KOM 386LP
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Double LP version. Includes download code. "Rausch with no name / My beautiful shine / You are the sun / This is where I want to be / Rausch with no morning / This is where we burn / The Stars sparkle / In a sea of flames / Horns and fanfares / Fanfares of joy / Fanfares of fear / The wine we drink through the eyes / The moon pours down at night in waves / Careful with that axe Eugene / Personal Jesus / No beginning no end / Eighteenth of Oktember / The night falls / The king comes / The hunt starts / Freude schöner Götterfunken / The long march through the underwood / Trust me there's nothing / Once upon a time, there was a bandit / Who loved a prince / That was long ago / Spring Summer Fall and Gas / There is a train heading to Nowhere / Drums and Trumpets / Future without mankind / Warm snow / Alles ist gut / The bells toll / You are not alone / The murmur in the forest / The murmur in the head / Light as mist / Heavy as lead / Music happens / To flow like gas /A clearing / Heavy baggage / Debut in the afterlife / Death has seven cats / World heritage Rausch / Finally infinite." --Wolfgang Voigt, 2018; Rausch was created as a single composition. The intention is to listen to the album as a whole from beginning to end. Following a global tour, GAS will continue to perform live throughout 2018 to support Rausch.
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WRJ 001LTD-LP
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LP version. Mastered at half speed. 180 gram vinyl; Stoughton tip-on sleeve. We Release Jazz (WRWTFWW Records' new sister-label) presents its first release, the official reissue of Ryo Fukui's highly sought-after masterpiece Scenery, originally released in 1976. Unquestionably one of the most important Japanese jazz albums ever recorded, Scenery reveals Ryo Fukui as a miraculously brilliant self-taught pianist fusing modal, bop, and cool jazz influences for a very personal, dexterous, and game-changing take on classic standards made famous by Bing Crosby and John Coltrane among others. From "It Could Happen To You" and its serene and calm intro which magically flows into a jubilant and upbeat piece, to the out-of-this-world piano solo of "Early Summer", or the incredible teamwork of "Autumn Leaves" where Fukui leads Satoshi Denpo (bass) and Yoshinori Fukui (drums) into groove heaven, every single note on the album oozes precision, confidence, and flair and every single section slides seamlessly into one another, creating a supreme and elegant blend of jazz. Often compared to McCoy Tyner or Bill Evans, Ryo Fukui was a genius in his own right, a true master of his craft whose perfectionism gave birth to some of the greatest music ever recorded. Scenery is his magnum opus and an absolute must-have. The Hokkaido wizard-pianist followed Scenery with the soulful gem Mellow Dream (WRJ 002CD/LTD-LP) in 1977. He then focused on improving his live skills, often performing at Sapporo's Slowboat Jazz Club (which he co-founded with his wife Yasuko Fukui) and releasing two live albums. Ryo Fukui sadly passed away in March 2016, leaving behind a legacy of works that is sure to captivate jazz lovers for generations to come. Sourced from the original masters.
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CD
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KOMP 145CD
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"Rausch with no name / My beautiful shine / You are the sun / This is where I want to be / Rausch with no morning / This is where we burn / The Stars sparkle / In a sea of flames / Horns and fanfares / Fanfares of joy / Fanfares of fear / The wine we drink through the eyes / The moon pours down at night in waves / Careful with that axe Eugene / Personal Jesus / No beginning no end / Eighteenth of Oktember / The night falls / The king comes / The hunt starts / Freude schöner Götterfunken / The long march through the underwood / Trust me there's nothing / Once upon a time, there was a bandit / Who loved a prince / That was long ago / Spring Summer Fall and Gas / There is a train heading to Nowhere / Drums and Trumpets / Future without mankind / Warm snow / Alles ist gut / The bells toll / You are not alone / The murmur in the forest / The murmur in the head / Light as mist / Heavy as lead / Music happens / To flow like gas /A clearing / Heavy baggage / Debut in the afterlife / Death has seven cats / World heritage Rausch / Finally infinite." --Wolfgang Voigt, 2018
Rausch was created as a single composition. The intention is to listen to the album as a whole from beginning to end. Following a global tour, GAS will continue to perform live throughout 2018 to support Rausch.
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2LP
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OP 048LP
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Nicolas Jaar shows he is paying attention to the masses by issuing a widely called for vinyl press of his A.A.L. (Against All Logic) album 2012-2017. Originally issued as a digital-only release back in February of 2018, it's slowly grown to become one of the most cherished releases in the entire Other People discography. Much like Kerrier District did to disco, A.A.L. (Against All Logic) borrows heavily from the samples and sounds ingrained deep within Jaar's listening habits and evidently a record collection packed to the brim with classic soul, house, and most importantly, funk hooks. Keenly twisting these sounds and filtering them through a studio set up that's leaning heavily on the beefed-up kick drums and reverb units to make a well-executed homage to these sounds, pieced together with the inherent idea of making the listener unable to resist the urge to move, be it in a bedroom, basement, or just sat in work staring at a computer screen. A.A.L. (Against All Logic) is both a well-executed homage to all of the above references, yet also just a really strong and enjoyable record from Nicolas Jaar. Its undeniable popularity digitally is sure to see the vinyl evaporate in no time at all.
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WRJ 002LTD-LP
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LP version. Mastered at half speed. 180 gram vinyl; Stoughton tip-on sleeve. We Release Jazz (WRWTFWW Records' new sister-label) present the official reissue of criminally overlooked Japanese jazz gem Mellow Dream by Hokkaido pianist wunderkind Ryo Fukui, originally released in 1977. Released in conjunction with the its legendary predecessor 1976's Scenery (WRJ 001CD/LTD-LP). Firmly standing on the foundation he laid down with Scenery, Ryo Fukui continues his exploration of modal, bop, and cool jazz sounds with meticulous grace and absolute mastery. As its title suggests, Mellow Dream ventures into slightly mellower, more soulful, and sometimes more contemplative territories (the Bill Evans-reminiscent "Mellow Dream" and "My Foolish Heart") while still packing the commanding punch Fukui's work is loved for, as heard on the amazingly bombastic "Baron Potato Blues" or the gigantic McCoy Tyner/John Coltrane-influenced "Horizon" which sees each member of the trio -- Satoshi Denpo is on bass and Yoshinori Fukui is on drums -- demonstrating their virtuosity for nine exhilarating minutes. With his sophomore album, Ryo Fukui swings from melancholy to vibrant joy with ease, and reminds you that jazz is best served with a pinch of blues, and displays an immensely rare combination of pure talent, unique personal approach and focused discipline. The man undeniably deserves a spot in the pantheon of all-time great jazz pianists. After releasing the outstanding Scenery and Mellow Dream back-to-back, Ryo Fukui worked on developing his live skills, often performing at Sapporo's Slowboat Jazz Club (which he co-founded with his wife Yasuko Fukui), and even releasing two live albums. He sadly passed away in March 2016, leaving behind a legacy of works that all jazz lovers should explore. Sourced from the original masters.
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2LP
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ZORN 052LP
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Aguirre Records present a reissue of Taj Mahal Travellers' August 1974, originally released in 1975. A monumental work by the Japanese experimental music ensemble. In April 1972 a group of Japanese musicians set off from Rotterdam in a Volkswagen van. As they crossed Europe and then made their way through Asia they made music in a wide range of locations. They also paid close attention to the changing scene and to differing ways of life. Midway through May they reached their destination, the iconic Taj Mahal on the bank of the Yamuna river in Agra, India. The Taj Mahal Travellers had fulfilled physically the promise of the name they adopted when they formed in 1969. The double album August 1974 was their second official release. The first July 15, 1972 is a live concert recording, but on August 19th, 1974 the Taj Mahal Travellers entered the Tokyo studios of Nippon Columbia and produced what is arguably their definitive statement. The electronic dimension of their collective improvising was coordinated, as usual, by Kinji Hayashi. Guest percussionist Hirokazu Sato joined long-term group members Ryo Koike, Seiji Nagai, Yukio Tsuchiya, Michihiro Kimura, Tokio Hasegawa, and Takehisa Kosugi. The enigmatic Takehisa Kosugi, whose soaring electric violin was such a vital element in their music, had been a pioneer of free improvisation and intermedia performance art with Group Ongaku at the start of the '60s. Later in that decade, before launching the Taj Mahal Travellers, he had become known internationally through his association with the fluxus art movement. During the mid-70s the Travellers disbanded and while his colleagues more or less stopped performing as musicians Kosugi continued to reach new audiences across the course of several decades as a composer, regular performer, and musical director for the acclaimed Merce Cunningham Dance Company. August 1974 captures vividly the characteristic sound of the Taj Mahal Travellers, haunting tones from an unusual combination of instruments, filtered through multiple layers of reverb and delay. Their music has strong stylistic affinities with the trippy ambience of cosmic and psychedelic rock, but the Taj Mahal Travellers were tuning in to other vibrations, drawing inspiration from the energies and rhythms of the world around them rather than projecting some alternative reality. Films of rolling ocean waves often provided a highly appropriate backdrop for their lengthy improvised concerts. Licensed from Columbia Japan. Remastered and lacquer cut by Rashad Becker.
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LP
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ZORN 051LP
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Aguirre Records present a reissue of Distant Voices, Steve Lacy's rare Japanese collaboration album, originally released in 1976. Renowned for remarkable solo concerts that confirmed his mastery of the soprano horn and that carried its instrumental language into previously unexplored regions, Lacy also loved to collaborate with musicians who could inspire him to stretch the boundaries of his own artistry. During the summer of 1975 Lacy toured Japan, and on June 24th he entered a Nippon Columbia studio in Tokyo with Yuji Takahashi and Takehisa Kosugi, two adventurous kindred spirits, guaranteed to fire Lacy's creative imagination. The fascinating outcome of that dynamic session is Distant Voices, an album without parallel in Lacy's extensive discography. Composer Iannis Xenakis was so impressed when he heard Yuji Takahashi playing piano in 1961 that he later wrote music especially for him. His repertoire extends back to Bach and Purcell yet for Takahashi, music has remained an open quest and a process of discovery. Takehisa Kosugi on the other hand has been a legendary figure in the international avant-garde since the mid-1960s when his work was endorsed by the fluxus movement. In Japan he was by then already well established as leading practitioner of experimental music and intermedia performance art. At the time Distant Voices was recorded Kosugi had also developed a following for his electric violin playing with the Taj Mahal Travellers, a group whose sound had strong stylistic affinities with psychedelic rock and space music. Subsequently other audiences worldwide came to know Kosugi through his long association as a composer, performer, and musical director with the Merce Cunningham Dance Company. On 24th June 1975 Takahashi sat at a grand piano, with celeste and vibraphone alongside him and small bells attached to his hands. Kosugi was equipped with violin, flute, mouth organ, an electronic modulator, porcelain bowls and at times he used his voice. Lacy played soprano saxophone, of course. Now and then he pressed the mouth of the instrument against the skin of a kettle drum. He occasionally fiddled with a transistor radio, and also found uses for a stepladder, a toothbrush, and a spinning wheel. This was in no sense a routine musical session. Distant Voices preserves a unique occasion when three singular musicians joined together to embrace the unknown. Licensed from Columbia Japan. Remastered and lacquer cut by Rashad Becker. 180 gram vinyl.
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2LP
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BE 004LP
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Black Editions present the first ever vinyl release of Ché-SHIZU's signature album A Journey, originally issued in 1994 by Tokyo's legendary P.S.F. Records. Ché-SHIZU is one of the most original and mystifying groups to ever emerge from the Tokyo underground. Founded by master improviser Chie Mukai in 1981 the group has been guided by her singular vision for nearly 40 years. Throughout its history Ché-SHIZU has challenged traditional notions of song structure and improvisation. Mukai's signature instrument, the Chinese er-hu, is an ancient two stringed bowed instrument rarely found outside of traditional music. Even within the wildly diverse roster of artists on P.S.F. Records, Ché-SHIZU is a playful and confounding outlier. Early on Mukai became active within the avant-garde movement flowering in Tokyo during the mid-1970s. She studied with renowned Fluxus composer and violinist Takehisa Kosugi, recalling, "that encounter was so huge for me, much more than any one technique. Even in terms of the er-hu, I only started playing it because Kosugi gave it to me." In 1975 she joined his East Bionic Symphonia, a large improvising ensemble featuring students from Tokyo's Bigakko art school. From there she contributed to improvising avant-garde groups including an early version of Marginal Consort and later the Vedda Music Workshop. Her work with Ché-SHIZU however is where her vision most clearly emerged. Ché-SHIZU released its first album I Can't Promise in 1984 on Zero Records, in time the album would become a revered classic. It would be another ten years before another full-length would be released. During that time the group performed extensively with various rotating line ups. In the summer of 1994, Mukai led the group to Studio J in Tokyo to record an album for the P.S.F. label. Released later that year, the album was titled A Journey. Fittingly, it is a sprawling excursion through ethereal dreamscapes, the group confident in its own resplendent joy. Over the album, the group creates a spontaneous, loose form of chamber pop that weaves folk and a light psychedelia into something entirely unique. Pop songs like "Juso Station" intersect with instrumentals such as the title track to create a varied yet coherent improvisational language. Remastered; deluxe double-LP edition cut at Dubplates & Mastering, Berlin and pressed at Pallas Germany. Includes new expansive artwork and lyric translations, housed in a spot gloss heavy gatefold jacket; Includes high resolution digital download.
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3LP
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ENV 215LP
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2018 repress. In the late nineties, the budding producers Morgan Geist and Darshan Jesrani bonded over their shared love of slower tempos and '70s and '80s New York City club culture. Obsessed with record digging and the sounds they heard on late-night "club classics" radio shows -- and turned off by current releases they saw as artlessly "updating" sublime disco by sampling, filtering, and subjugating them with huge kick drums -- the duo set out to discover how their favorite old 12" records were made. They naturally gravitated towards extended dubs of songs -- full of strange mistakes and echoing backing tracks -- instead of the better-known vocal versions. Lacking the big budgets and gear that made so many of their favorite classic records come together, they were forced to take a guerrilla approach. They reprogrammed their techno-oriented arsenal of secondhand synths and samplers, using novel digital recording technology to capture live instrumentation and prioritized mood over hooks, and the resulting music was just wrong enough to sound unlike anything else being released at the time. After just four underground 12" releases, the duo -- now well-known as Metro Area -- released their first and only album, Metro Area, in the fall of 2002. Fifteen years later, it's time to celebrate the culmination of their shared history and inspiration once again. Environ is proud to present the 15th Anniversary Edition of Metro Area, Metro Area's eponymous debut album, meticulously remastered using the original source tapes and generously spread across three slabs of vinyl. The 12-track triple LP and included download card combines all the songs from both the original US and licensed European releases, and features new commemorative artwork unique to this edition.
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LP
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RFLP 004LP
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2018 repress. First ever vinyl release; originally released on cassette in 1983. Gorgeous and essential archive material from this master of mood. The latest unearthing on Chee Shimizu's 17853 Records -- previously only available on a very limited Japanese cassette back early '80s. The late Hiroshi Yoshimura, a pioneer of Japanese ambient music, was involved in a wide range of fields, such as sound design for public installations, graphic design, visual poetry, free improvised performance (using his own body), and inventing his own instruments, right up until he passed away in 2003. The seven songs on Pier & Loft were created for a fashion exhibition held at a warehouse in the Tokyo bay area. He released it on cassette tape on Japanese label Fukusei Gijutsu Kohboh ran by Yoshio Ojima who also produced the album. Yoshimura referring to the Loft: "As the time goes by, the Loft that was swept away (forgotten) from the city but it somewhat has a look of a 'City of Ruins' that reminds you of something you have forgotten. Something nostalgic. Sounds from the city and the vast landscape gave me a great opportunity to take a fresh look at Tokyo". And referring to the Pier: "His look towards Tokyo bay takes on the shape of sonic particles. . . . tickling down gently while tinged with change. A landscape of seven sounds." The sleeve image is the same as on the original cassette release.
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2LP
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HDYARE 005LP
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Double LP version. Includes download code. Too Slow to Disco take a dive into an often-overlooked side of Brazilian music: Brazilian soul, funk and AOR. The compiler of this Too Slow to Disco release, a giant of musical endeavor, is the young nephew of Brazil's legendary soul icon Tim Maia, the "Colossus of Rio", as he's known: Ed Motta. At the end of the 1980s, Ed Motta burst upon the music scene as a major singer and one of the writers and producers in the band Conexão Japeri. He's now fifteen albums into a career that hops from genre to genre, perhaps one of the savviest music makers and curators out there. He is a refined practitioner of jazz, funk, soul, AOR, and much else besides, having worked with everyone from Gilles Peterson to Roy Ayers, 4Hero, Seu Jorge, Patrice Rushen, Greg Phillinganes, Bo Diddley, Incognito, Ryuichi Sakamoto, and many other insanely talented musos. In this collector's compilation, you're coming on a kind of expert guided time travel mission -- just picture yourself following Ed's fingers as they trace along the sleeves in his massive library-sized vinyl vault. You'll dart back through over two decades of music making, dancing in one style then the next from soul to funk to AOR, you'll feel the air coming out of the horn section right the way through, and a mixologist's golden touch tying everything together. The artists Ed has play-listed for you include über-obscure figures like Carlos Bivar or Gelson Oliveira & Luiz Ewerling -- both of whose songs here derive from privately pressed albums -- so rare they're not even listed on Discogs! He's also gathered together a real pantheon of Brazilian musical heroes like Rita Lee (who was part of Os Mutantes), Cassiano (one of the founders of Bossa Trio and Os Diagonais), and million sellers like Roupa Nova, lovingly referred to as "the Brazilian Toto". And as ever with the Too Slow to Disco series, the artists might be new to you, but they're always bringing a killer tune. Also features Filó Machado, Sandra De Sá, Altay Veloso, Junior Mendes, Don Beto, Lucia Turnbull, Guilherme Arantes, Biafra, Santa Cruz, Jane Duboc, Carlinhos e Soninha Queiroz, Zeca Do Trombone, Kiko Zambianchi, and Brylho.
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LP
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AUK 043LP
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LP version. 180 gram, white-color vinyl. Something Else is the first full-length offering from The Brian Jonestown Massacre in 2018. A self-titled full-length album is to follow in the fall of 2018. This is the 17th full-length release from the band, and the style is less experimental and returns to the traditional sound of the band. Recorded between 2017 and 2018, this nine-track album will please old and new fans alike. In 2017 the band did a brief tour of the US and Mexico City to support the band's 2017 album release, Don't Get Lost (AUK 040CD/LP), a relatively quiet year for the Brian Jonestown Massacre.
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2LP
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SOMA 030LP
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Double LP version. Crying Bamboos is a translation of the pidgin description of the sound of sacred flutes: "Mambu i cry, i cry, i cry". Sacred flutes are blown to make the cries of spirits by adult men in the Madang region of Papua New Guinea. Pairs of long bamboo male and female flutes are played for ceremonies in the coastal villages near the Ramu River. There are seven male initiation flute cries from Bosmun, four flute cries from Bak: Borai with occasional single garamut percussion and two flute cries from Kaean, one with vocals and hand drums. The flute players were of the last generation to have learned this skill during a complete cycle of male initiation. These previously unreleased recordings were made by Ragnar Johnson in 1979. Notes by Ragnar Johnson and Jessica Mayer; Photographs by Ragnar Johnson. Tape to digital transfer and mastering by Dave Hunt at Dave Hunt Audio, London; Cut by Rashad Becker at Dubplates and Mastering, Berlin.
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CD
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HDYARE 005CD
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Too Slow to Disco take a dive into an often-overlooked side of Brazilian music: Brazilian soul, funk and AOR. The compiler of this Too Slow to Disco release, a giant of musical endeavor, is the young nephew of Brazil's legendary soul icon Tim Maia, the "Colossus of Rio", as he's known: Ed Motta. At the end of the 1980s, Ed Motta burst upon the music scene as a major singer and one of the writers and producers in the band Conexão Japeri. He's now fifteen albums into a career that hops from genre to genre, perhaps one of the savviest music makers and curators out there. He is a refined practitioner of jazz, funk, soul, AOR, and much else besides, having worked with everyone from Gilles Peterson to Roy Ayers, 4Hero, Seu Jorge, Patrice Rushen, Greg Phillinganes, Bo Diddley, Incognito, Ryuichi Sakamoto, and many other insanely talented musos. In this collector's compilation, you're coming on a kind of expert guided time travel mission -- just picture yourself following Ed's fingers as they trace along the sleeves in his massive library-sized vinyl vault. You'll dart back through over two decades of music making, dancing in one style then the next from soul to funk to AOR, you'll feel the air coming out of the horn section right the way through, and a mixologist's golden touch tying everything together. The artists Ed has play-listed for you include über-obscure figures like Carlos Bivar or Gelson Oliveira & Luiz Ewerling -- both of whose songs here derive from privately pressed albums -- so rare they're not even listed on Discogs! He's also gathered together a real pantheon of Brazilian musical heroes like Rita Lee (who was part of Os Mutantes), Cassiano (one of the founders of Bossa Trio and Os Diagonais), and million sellers like Roupa Nova, lovingly referred to as "the Brazilian Toto". And as ever with the Too Slow to Disco series, the artists might be new to you, but they're always bringing a killer tune. Also features Filó Machado, Sandra De Sá, Altay Veloso, Junior Mendes, Don Beto, Lucia Turnbull, Guilherme Arantes, Biafra, Santa Cruz, Jane Duboc, Carlinhos e Soninha Queiroz, Zeca Do Trombone, Kiko Zambianchi, and Brylho.
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LP
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JBH 068LP
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Sublime unreleased score for the weird cult/brutalist thriller I Start Counting! (1970). Charming, odd, and affecting score by Basil Kirchin, made "in association" with his regular cohorts, Jack Nathan and John A. Coleman. The film was directed by the multi-talented and quite radical David Greene. Greene was also an actor, a successful producer and had already employed the services of Kirchin for his 1967 horror The Shuttered Room and quirky crime thriller The Strange Affair (1968). I Start Counting!, notably starred a 14-year-old Jenny Agutter, is set in brutalist Bracknell, with Agutter's character living in Royal Point, a classic "threepenny bit" of a 1960s tower block. When she ventures away from the safety of this concrete castle on an obsessive, erotically charged journey, her world is turned upside down. As macabre, coming-of-age thriller, the score for I Start Counting! allowed Kirchin to explore more dark edges of film music and composition: as a score, it bubbles along with lots of classic Kirchin hallmarks, but here you are also treated to a beguiling opening song that is lyrically and musically developed and then slowly pulled apart over sequential cues. There is also an unusual Eastern tinge to some of the percussion and Kirchin's distinctive pastoral oddness is here too. His sonic jumps between low drama and high tension are extraordinary, and his use of free jazz to bring about unease is both perfectly simple and effective. Basil's original idea for the opening song was to have it sung by Cilla Black or Jenny Agutter, but in the end Lindsay Moore, the daughter of jazz chum Barbara Moore stepped in. The score is mighty fine but a little short, so included here is more unreleased soundtrack material from the Kirchin archive -- a tape labeled "Third World Documentary". This dates from the early 1980s and was produced for either TV or a festival and musically complements the first score well, even though they are two decades apart. The names of the musicians working here died with Basil, but the drummer for I Start Counting! may well have been Clem Cattini, Evan Parker was more than likely involved with the session, and possibly Derek Bailey too. As for the later recording, there is a distinctive modern "Fairview" sound to the cues and production. Mastered and sequenced by Jon Brooks, AKA The Advisory Circle.
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10"
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AUK 042-10
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Hold That Thought announces The Brian Jonestown Massacre's forthcoming two albums to be released in 2018. The first track is "Hold That Thought" which comes from the forthcoming album Something Else, to be released in June of 2018. The second track is "Drained" which will come from the self-titled album, to be released in September of 2018. Both tracks were recorded in Berlin. White-colored 10" vinyl.
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HH 3093CD
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Alice Coltrane, live at Carnegie Hall, New York on February 21st, 1971. On Sunday, February 21st, 1971, a benefit was held in New York's Carnegie Hall for Swami Satchidanda's Integral Yoga Institute, featuring Laura Nyro, the New Rascals, and Alice Coltrane's All-Stars. The latter band was a remarkable coming-together of talent, with Lady Trane joined by legends such as Pharoah Sanders, Archie Shepp, and Jimmy Garrison on stupendous form (with a little assistance from members of the Yoga Institute). The astounding performance of John Coltrane's "Africa" on this set, finds them improvising thrillingly. Includes the entire WQXR-FM broadcast, digitally remastered and accompanied by background notes and images. Also features: Kumar Kramer (harmonium), Jimmy Garrison (bass), Cecil McBee (bass), Clifford Jarvis (drums), and Ed Blackwell (drums).
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FFL 043LP
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LP version. Comes on clear vinyl; obi strip; Edition of 1000. Souffle Continu Records present the first ever reissue of Areski's Un Beau Matin, originally released in 1970. Only those who read all the credits on record liner notes will know the full details: Areski is of course Brigitte Fontaine's partner in life, but also her creative alter ego, and the composer of the music of most of her songs. Even though it was his wife Brigitte and not him who wrote the lyrics, Areski is a poet in his own right. Furthermore, he is polyvalent: composing, arranging, singing, improvising, playing every possible instrument, and even acting. Areski, to sum up, is the perfect mix of the tradition of Munir Bashir with the European "sophistication" of someone like Jean-Claude Vannier, one foot permanently in Versailles (where he was born) and the maghreb. Areski, is left bank French songs without the stylistic effects, revised and updated through contact with Arab-Andalusian music. He is a Living Theatre style happening with a dose of cosmic free jazz; surrealist poetry viewed through the prism of Kabyle culture... Areski honed his talent observing the stars of traditional chaâbi, testing it out in bars and dives before meeting, during military service, the singer Jacques Higelin with whom he would record his first cult album (1969), and who would present him to his wife-to-be, Brigitte Fontaine. Between 1969 and 1980, with Fontaine, Areski would contribute an essential chapter to French underground music including classics such as Comme à la radio (with the Art Ensemble of Chicago) (1969), Je ne connais pas cet homme (1973), L'Incendie (1973), Le Bonheur (1975), and Vous et nous (1977). For all that, Areski has never really tried to have a career under his own name, in spite of the wonderful Un Beau Matin first published in 1970, and which it is high time to (re)discover. Those already in the know will not be surprised to see, especially, Jean-Charles Capon, author of the inspired L'Univers-solitude (1972), Brigitte Fontaine of course, or Daniel Vallancien, author of a no-less inspired duo with saxophonist Philippe Maté. All contributing to an acerbic poetic universe, concerned but never militant, and open to worldwide influences long before they became a fashion. Inspired, poetic, in a word essential: Un Beau Matin is one of the best albums of the French underground produced by Pierre Barouh on his label Saravah.
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EJ 009LP
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"A trip through the productions of pioneering genius Joe Meek. Here we have a mix of hits that have appeared on comps before and real out-there obscurities. Designed to be highly listenable. Never a dull moment amongst these songs that cover subjects close to Joes' heart such as vampires, love (and the lack of it), death, outer space, the human soul, Buddy Holly, and more. Artists featured are The Blue Rondos, The Blue Men, Jason Eddie and the Centremen, The Sound Offs, The Moontrekkers, Johnny Leyton, The Cryin' Shames, Mike Berry, The Outlaws, Chick Lewis, Glenda Collins and even Joe himself warbling out a tune. One time very small pressing so please don't sleep."
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AUK 043CD
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Something Else is the first full-length offering from The Brian Jonestown Massacre in 2018. A self-titled full-length album is to follow in the fall of 2018. This is the 17th full-length release from the band, and the style is less experimental and returns to the traditional sound of the band. Recorded between 2017 and 2018, this nine-track album will please old and new fans alike. In 2017 the band did a brief tour of the US and Mexico City to support the band's 2017 album release, Don't Get Lost (AUK 040CD/LP), a relatively quiet year for the Brian Jonestown Massacre.
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2LP+CD
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BEC 5543356
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Reissue of Shaolin Soul Episode 1, originally released in 1998. One of three LP reissues celebrating the 20th anniversary of Shaolin Soul Episode 1. Legendary deep soul French compilations featuring many soul classics, sometimes forgotten, which have been sampled countless times by some of the biggest hip-hop acts. Available for the first time on vinyl + CD. Original packaging strictly reproduced. Cut from original masters. Double-LP comes in a gatefold sleeve; Includes CD.
Episode 1 features Ann Peebles, O.V. Wright, The Charmels, David Porter, Willie Mitchell, Al Green, Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell, The Emotions, Bob James, Syl Johnson, Donny Hathaway, Wendy Rene, Lyn Collins, The Dramatics, Gladys Knight & The Pips, Booker T. And The MGs, and Barry White.
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2LP
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BORNBAD 064LP
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2018 repress. Double LP version with printed inner sleeve. Born Bad Records presents the music of Cameroonian musician Francis Bebey, circa 1982-1984. "The first time I saw a sanza (a type of African 'thumb piano'), it was just sitting there on a piece of furniture in my family's living room/dining room -- a space that our father also transformed into a recording studio every day. It seemed more like a box than a musical instrument: a mysterious instrument, which arrived at our house, like many things, in a somewhat miraculous way. The sounds it produced seemed particularly bizarre; to my young musician's ears, trained in Western classical music, it sounded out of tune. That's because, like my brothers and sisters, I had been trained on the piano. I had trouble understanding how anyone could endure these tones and, honestly, our father's passion for 'unusual sounds' did not interest me. I was in secondary school at the time (the very late 1970s) and was not at all oriented toward musical projects. I planned to graduate, and then become a chef. In the early 1980s, my interest in music picked up. I was still undecided about my career. I was content to pursue my 'serious' English studies while hanging out at jazz clubs at les Halles in Paris, where I sometimes joined jam sessions. Next, I put together my first band with professional musicians; I had hidden my age and lack of experience from them. France was just beginning to accept 'world music.' Musicians of every nationality were performing in Paris. It was a wonderful period. My father asked my brother Toups and me to accompany him for a few concerts. In particular, we toured Tunisia together at the time of the 1983 Carthage International Festival. Back then, my father was renowned across the French-speaking world. Everyone looked forward to hearing his humorous songs, like 'Agatha' and 'La condition masculine.' But, behind the scenes, he continued his research concerning electronic music, the sansa, pygmy polyphony, etc. One day he put a sansa in my hands, without saying a word. He was sending me a message: 'Let's see what you can do with it!' That's when I really discovered something. Exploring the instrument and playing, I transcended the 'imperfect' aspect of its sound and began to discover its fascinating potential. Playing the sansa, you enter a world that enraptures you in a very serene and mesmerizing way. I think its sounds evoke a rainbow, with rain falling while the sun shines. A very peaceful feeling. It allows you to make music that truly sounds like life. The sansa is also the instrument that my father and I shared the most because I am a pianist and he was a guitarist. I also share this eminently African instrument with my musician brother, Toups. Our father loved to tell us one of the legends of the sansa: how it even managed to dispel the boredom felt by... the Creator himself! This instrument gives life to the world, to beings and things. I did not participate in the production of the various records that my father devoted to the sansa. He did it himself, you might say, in his 'laboratory.' Yet today, I cannot imagine playing a concert without using a sansa. The piano remains present so that listeners don't become disoriented and wonder about the weird sounds invading their ears! However, I find the eccentric and disturbing side of sansa interesting. And the sansa always affects the audience: in reality, it excites them. The secrets of this instrument are surely its beneficial powers and... its magic!" --Patrick Bebey
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ELP 036LP
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Pye Corner Audio morphs into Head Technician mode for the project's brooding second sojourn with Ecstatic. Taking inspiration from his fascination with Brutalist construction, Martin Jenkins exclusively uses Roland TR-606, MC-202, and TB-303 boxes plus the Roland System 100 modular synth to sketch out a slow, murky sound in furtive pursuit of the vibes on Zones (2017), but this time the results are even darker and obscure. Echoes of early Detroit and UK bleep and bass infiltrate the stark corridors of Profane Architecture as much as the hauntological spirits of Boards of Canada, combining to make a sound that revels in nostalgia yet yearns for the future. It's not a new idea, but it is one that Jenkins executes with such classic style and unique character that can only lead to comparisons with acid maestros such as early Plastikman or the Analord, Richard J. James. For moody dancers, Profane Architecture is perfect; from the oozing elan of opener "First Pour" through the spheric momentum of "Béton Brut" and the mind-weaving acid of "Formwork" he establishes a slickly hypnotic sound that works its magick with more funk on the flipped, generating the tactile form of "Second Pour" and the ruggedly hewn groove of "The New Brutalism", then closing out with the exquisite darkness of "Demolition" -- a real highlight in his extensive and highly collectible catalog. Cut by CGB at Dubplates & Mastering.
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AKU 1008LP
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Akuphone in collaboration with Annihaya present Rats Don't Eat Synthesizers, the long-awaited second album by The Dwarfs Of East Agouza. Hailing from the Agouza district of Cairo, Egypt, this brilliant trio consists of Alan Bishop (acoustic bass, alto sax), Maurice Louca (keyboards, drum machine), and Sam Shalabi (electric guitar). Following their acclaimed first album Bes (NAWA 005CD, 2016), this new full-length is composed of two hypnotic journeys: "Rats Don't Eat Synthesizers" and "Ringa Mask Koshary" which were recorded in Cairo in September of 2015. Mesmerizing electric guitar parts, frenetic beats, both supported by the deep sound of Alan's acoustic bass create a new magical Egyptian soundscape. LP comes in a beautiful hot-foil stamped sleeve that magnifies the red metallic rats and a wonderful printed inner sleeve; Includes download code. 33 RPM. Edition of 1000.
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MFM 029LP
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Music From Memory return with more Music From The Living Room (1983). Delving further into the archives of British musician Michal Turtle, Return To Jeka brings together eight previously unreleased works recorded between 1983 and 1985. Drawn from a larger archive of works the compilation highlights a fascinating period of material Michal recorded after the release of his only album. Working as an accompanist musician at The Laban Centre in New Cross at the time, Michal met Jonathan Smart who was currently studying dance. After being invited to add spoken word vocals to a few of Michal's tracks, Michal discovered Jonathan was also an accomplished guitarist; and Jonathan would add guitar to a number of recordings from this period. Vocalist Lucianne Lassalle who Michal was working with in local bands The Duplicates and The Wicked Kitchen Staff and who had worked with Michal on recordings for his album, would also collaborate with Michal again during this period. While some tracks were produced with the idea in mind of a follow up to his album Music From The Living Room which UK label Shout proposed but which would sadly not materialize, others were in fact demos written for student dance choreographies. Produced in the living room of his parents' home in Croydon, South London and later in his apartment in Camden Town, Michal Turtle's home recordings featured on Return To Jeka continue his unique musical explorations; drawing extensively on the use of percussion and electronics they bring together elements which were not only in many aspects visionary but also sound like little else.
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3CD/DVD/Book
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DTD 053CD
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This watershed release represents the life's work of William Ferris, an audio recordist, filmmaker, folklorist, and teacher with an unwavering commitment to establish and to expand the study of the American South. William Ferris was born in Vicksburg, Mississippi in 1942. Growing up on a working farm, Ferris began at a young age documenting the artwork, music, and lives of the people on the farm and in his local community. The archive of recordings that he created and the documentary films that he had a hand in producing have served as powerful tools in institutions of higher learning for decades. Dust-to-Digital present these films and recordings. The label's hope is that the enjoyment and educational value that has been received by Ferris's students over the years will be transmitted to listeners around the world and further the understanding of Southern culture. Voices of Mississippi: Artists and Musicians Documented by William Ferris includes: a 120-page hardcover book in full color edited by William Ferris Writings by Scott Barretta, David Evans, and Tom Rankin; three CDs -- two of the CDs feature blues and gospel recordings (1966-1978), and the final CD features interviews and storytelling (1968-1994); and one DVD featuring documentary films (1972-1980). Transcriptions and annotations are provided for each track. Comes in a cigar box.
In addition to being a groundbreaking documentarian of the American South, William Ferris is Joel R. Williamson Eminent Professor of History and senior associate director of the Center for the Study of the American South at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. A former chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities, Ferris co-edited the Encyclopedia of Southern Culture (1989) and is the author of multiple books. In 1991, Rolling Stone magazine named him among the top ten professors in the United States.
The recordings feature James "Son Ford" Thomas, Lovey Williams, Wallace "Pine-Top" Johnson, Maudie Shirley, and Jasper Love, Scott Dunbar, Mississippi Fred McDowell, Louis Dotson, Sonny Boy Watson, Sam Myers, Tom Dumas, Unidentified Musician with Mississippi Fred McDowell, Walter Lee Hood, Wash Heron and "Big" Jack Johnson, James Hughes, Leland Musician, Inmates at Parchman Farm, George Lee "Sun Bud" Spears, James "Son Ford" Thomas with Sonny Boy Watson, Mary and Amanda Gordon, The Southland Hummingbirds, Lovey Williams, Reverend Smith and Family, Liddle Hines, Providence Missionary Baptist Church, Church of God in Christ, Fannie Bell Chapman, Mary Alice and Alan Mcgowan, Reverend Ott and Family, Rose Hill Church, Lovey Williams and Family, Fannie Bell Chapman and Family, Reverend Isaac Thomas and Rose Hill Church, Barry Hannah, Alice Walker, Alex Haley, Ray Lum, Bobby Rush, Joe "Skeet" Skillet, Joe Cooper, Shelby "Poppa Jazz" Brown, B.B. King, Allen Ginsberg, James "Son Ford" Thomas, and Bill Ferris, Robert Penn Warren, Pecolia Warner, Victor Bobb, and Pete Seeger.
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SLT 004CD
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Saltern presents Al Di Là, the first full-length collection of recordings by renowned dancer/choreographer, artist, and writer Simone Forti. Forti (born 1935, Florence, Italy) has influenced generations of artists through her innovative approaches to dance and movement. Forti is noted for her extensive work with musicians, including Charlemagne Palestine, La Monte Young, Jon Gibson, Peter Van Riper, and Z'EV, among others. With Al Di Là, we hear Forti musically in her own right through a diverse collection of never-before-released pieces, ranging from the early '60s to mid-80s, that highlight Forti's use of her voice, folk songs, handmade instruments, and physical space. The album, compiled by Forti with the assistance of Tashi Wada, includes a rare guest appearance by La Monte Young and Marian Zazeela and features a 28-page color booklet of writings, drawings, and photos by Forti. Al Di Là is a uniquely personal and intimate portrait of one of the truly visionary artists of our time. Edition of 550. Printed at Stoughton Printing Company. Mastered by Stephan Mathieu.
From Forti's liner notes: "I'm awaiting a song from afar, from afar, a song of goodbye from afar. For now I've seen the game I was playing, slowly leaving the earth and drifting far among the stars."
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OS 036LP
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The first chapter of Onderstroom digging into the history of Dutch minimal synth and wave. Who needs a big, expensive recording studio with all those fancy high-tech machines that only make your weary head spin when you can do it all by yourself at home in your (teenage) bedroom? Way back in the early eighties all you really needed was an idea, quite a bit of guts and some rudimentary equipment. You could basically do whatever you wanted. The means were limited, yet the sky was unbounded. It was the time of the Cold War nuclear threat, social unrest and mass unemployment but at the same time it was an era of infinite possibilities. The future was just around the corner. A lot of music that was being produced sounded just like that: a brave new world of sound and rhythm. Music was simply put on cheap cassettes, easily duplicated, and swiftly distributed in limited quantities into the big world outside. Tracks recorded in Amsterdam, Arnhem of Heiloo ended up in unimaginable destinations such as Brisbane or Buenos Aires. Prolific international underground scenes were informed of this new wave of Dutch electronic artists by means of word of mouth, fanzines, devoted underground tape traders, and sometimes that tiny bit of luck. As their predecessors of the (in)famous Dutch East-India Company (now cult) acts such as The Actor, Ende Shneafliet, Das Ding, Störung, S.M. Nurse, Nine Circles, Beatnik Love Affair, and Van Kaye + Ignit all explored their own paths. Some went straight into oblivion, others had a brief taste of modest upper-ground success. Mind: the names presented here are but the proverbial tip of the iceberg. Some of these early tapes became much sought-after collectors' items; others gathered dust. The rest, well, is history. Now, decades upon decades later, Onderstroom digs again in history and surfaces with a selection of tracks that illustrate the rich past of electronic Holland. Call it minimal wave, synth-pop, or experimental electronics. Onderstroom call it the real Dutch treat. Features Nine Circles, Beatnik Love Affair, The Actor, Störung, Van Kaye + Ignit, S.M. Nurse, Ende Shneafliet, and Das Ding. Comes in a gatefold sleeve with metallic finishing; 180 gram vinyl.
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C 027-2EP
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The second vinyl EP from Terre Thaemlitz's first album in five years Deproduction features its two bonus tracks: "Admit It's Killing You (And Leave) (Piano Solo)" and DJ Sprinkles' corresponding "Dead End" deep house mix. Presenting vinyl versions of the bonus reworks to his 43-minute Deproduction album track "Admit It's Killing You (And Leave)", the A-side includes Terre's haunting 14-minute "Piano Solo", where he drops the unsettling backdrop of samples of domestic violence to leave the keys suspended in reflective space, reverberating in plangent overtones which take on a starker effect if you care to play it at 33rpm. The B-side is Sprinkles' uncannily brilliant "Dead End" house mix, a more percussive adjunct to the "House Arrest" mix off EP1 (C 027-1EP), framing traces of the original vocal and keys in a sumptuous, rolling and swinging deep house workout full of rustling congas and lustrous low-end that marks up among her most affective, especially in its closing minutes. So damn good... Mastered by Terre Thaemlitz, cut at Dubplates & Mastering.
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WRWTFWW 019LP
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2018 repress; LP version. Comes in a Stoughton "Tip-On" jacket; Includes printed inner sleeves. Palto Flats and We Release Whatever The Fuck We Want Records present the highly-anticipated reissue of Japanese percussionist Midori Takada's sought after and timeless ambient/minimal album Through The Looking Glass, originally released in 1983 by RCA Japan. Considered a holy grail of Japanese music by many, Through The Looking Glass is Midori Takada's first solo endeavor, a captivating four-song suite capturing her deep quests into traditional African and Asian percussive language and exploring contemplative ambient sounds with an admirably precise use of marimba. The result is alternatively ethereal and vibrant, always precise and mesmerizing, and makes for an atmospheric masterpiece and an unparalleled sonic and spiritual experience. Midori Takada is a composer, multi-percussionist, and theater artist renowned in Japanese vanguard circles. Midori has released two solo albums: Through The Looking Glass and Tree Of Life (1999) and wrote music for Tadashi Suzuki's theater plays. Her hypnotic, minimalist music is based in the concept of coherence between sound and the human body. She performs solo on marimba and other percussion instruments. She debuted on the scene of Berlin Philharmonic, performing with the RIAS Symphonie-Orchester Berlin just after graduating from Tokyo University of the Arts in 1974. She continued her career with solo concerts in Japan and abroad. In the 1980s, Midori began to explore the traditional music of Asia and Africa. Her fascination resulted in joint projects with Kakraba Lobi from Ghana, Lamine Konte from Senegal, Farafina Band from Burkina Faso, and Korean musicians: zither player Chi Seong-Ja, flute player Won-Il, and saxophone player Kang Tae-Hwan. She also led Mkwaju Ensemble's innovative percussion project and still performs with free-jazz band Ton-Klami with Kang Tae-Hwan and jazz pianist Masahiko Satoh. Takada's compositions have a remarkable way of affecting the imagination. Her minimalist, contemplative music is filled with the concept of infinity and reminds us of a moon voyage, falling stars, a journey into the ocean, or a walk in the garden. The trans melodies, initially simple, begin to loop and splinter, their rhythm breaking and thickening, slowly drawing the listener into another reality. This fully licensed reissue comes with extensive liner notes.
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FAITBACK 010LP
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Faitiche present the first vinyl issue of Improvisations And Edits, Tokyo 26.09.2001, originally released on CD in 2002 on Soup-Disk. Jan Jelinek and the Japanese trio Computer Soup (Satoru Hori - trumpet; Osamu Okubo - toys and electronics; Kei Ikeda - toys and electronics) present eight tracks, all recorded one afternoon in the trio's living room in Tokyo. They are excerpts from a joint group improvisation that subsequently underwent rudimentary editing, on which Jelinek and Computer Soup worked separately. Jelinek met the three musicians at his first concert in Japan in 2001, at Tokyo's Yellow club, where Computer Soup performed as the support act. Delighted by their free improvisation on pocket-sized electronic toys, trumpet, and oscillators, he arranged to meet Hori, Okubo, and Ikeda a few days later for a session at their apartment. The resulting three-hour recording formed the basis for Improvisations And Edits. A few days later, Jelinek returned to Berlin. Over the following months, they separately chose passages from the recording that were then edited and assembled into an album. Formed in Tokyo in 1996 as a quintet (including Shusaku Hariya and Daisuke Oishi), Computer Soup began by performing with acoustic instruments on the streets of Shibuya. Ikeda und Okubo soon switched instruments, and from then on, the group's minimalistic but densely woven sound was defined by electronic toys, oscillators and Satoru Hori's trumpet. Includes download code; Edition of 500.
Original reviews of Improvisations And Edits, Tokyo 26.09.2001 in 2003:
"The mind-blowing first track 'Straight Life' is perhaps the best example of what the album has to offer. Jelinek's trademark smears and washes occupy the midrange, like ghosted images of Joe Zawinul's electric piano floating quietly in the wind. DSP jazz modes are set against a walking bassline (possibly computer generated) and a gently tooted trumpet complete with Harmon mute, a dead ringer for Miles Davis' Prestige-era ballads. The effect is something like a three-dimensional film, with different realities on each layer; images of what jazz was manage to interact with a real-time demonstration of all it could be." --Pitchfork, 2003
"Often deliciously dreamy and hazy, Improvisations And Edits is like listening to an exceptional instrumental jazz performance while half-conscious or under some sort of chemical influence. Computerised blips and bleeps, loops and treatments and murky sonic skips curl up around desolate horn notes and scattered instrumental noises that culminate in elegant music." --Exclaim!, 2003
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FD 106EP
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Mark Perry has remained the sole surviving original member and driving force. Alternative TV have been responsible for around fifteen albums since their formation, with the last one, Opposing Forces (2015), proving to be their strongest thus far, marrying of igneous rock, idiosyncratic touches, barbed commentary, and occasional seething undercurrents of dark psych. Dark Places introduces four songs cascading between full-on rock to a kind of abstract minimalist electronics approach perfectly in keeping with Alternative TV's occasional traverses to the furthest reaches. Vic Godard's guests on guitar on "Like A Tomb".
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R 046LP
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The Ivytree, as some may know, is the project of San Franciscan musician Glenn Donaldson. In the early 2000s Glenn was a founder of the Jewelled Antler Collective, forming such projects as The Blithe Sons, Thuja, and The Skygreen Leopards, among many others. The range of projects he is associated with all beautifully web together. Between 2001 and 2005 Donaldson published a handful of discs under the names The Ivytree and The Birdtree. These boiled down and tanned the patient, outdoor ambiences of the long-form instrumental recordings. These were slow and pastoral and pensive songs, carried by Glenn's haunting voice. Glenn recorded outside with field-recorders and mini-discs: in forests, headlands, and tunnels of the Bay area. Recital label head Sean McCann on the recordings: "I grew up listening to his recordings -- throughout high school and college in Goleta, CA. They spark many memories: driving around beach parking lots, dragging boomboxes into creeks, camping in the mountain valleys etc. I remember once driving five hours up to San Francisco with a group of friends to try and get into a Giant Skyflower Band concert (another Donaldson project). It was at a bar and we were under 21 -- so we couldn't get in, even after trying to bribe the doorman. As you can tell, very special places in my mind and memory. My fondness for The Ivytree never dissipated, and I always dreamed of hearing more material from that time, as I know how prolific the Jewelled Antler association can be. On a whim in 2017 I reached out to Glenn and asked him if he wanted to publish a 'best-of' The Ivytree as a limited LP. This idea blossomed and provoked Glenn to dig through his vast mini-disc archive, where he unearthed some forgotten jewels. The recordings were trickling in to my email -- one by one, each better than the last. Ranging from the Robert Wyatt-esque piano ballad 'Evil Is Circular' to the gentle melancholy of 'All The White Plumes' that could belong on Richard Youngs' Sapphie (1998). 'Unburdened Light' carries on the warm breeze and innocence of the early 2000s CDr culture. So our project then turned into publishing a new album of unreleased Ivytree recordings. A full circle youthful wish now ripens in my adulthood. I am honored to have stirred up the bees-nest to deliver you these tragically honeyed songs." Unreleased recordings: 2001-2004. Includes eight-page 9x9″ booklet of Glenn's collages. Edition of 300.
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AUK 130LP
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Right On EP, the third offering from Tess Parks and Anton Newcombe, contains four tracks. "Right On" is on the forthcoming Tess and Anton full-length LP, the three other tracks are exclusive to this EP. The track "Grunewald" was written in 2015 and proved such a success through the 2015 tour of the band , that they decided to record and release it. All tracks were recorded at Cobra Studios, Berlin in 2017. White vinyl; 180 gram vinyl.
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BANG 125LP
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Red Kross's Oh Canada, finally on vinyl. Originally self-released in 2016 on CD, Redd Kross now present this live album recorded in Canada in 1997 during their "Show World" American tour on vinyl. Redd Kross expose themselves here at their peak of glammest rocking attitude. Melodies, electricity, choruses... Redd Kross at their best! Absolutely amazing quality and impacting recording mastered by Jeff McDonald himself. This is a mandatory release for all Redd Kross fans around the world. Edition of 600.
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EJ 006LP
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"It could be argued that this is one of the greatest rock n' roll records of all time! Straight from Zambia, we have My Ancestors. A tough rock and roll masterpiece like no other. Over-ridden fuzz guitars, pop melodies and even a Black Sabbathesque sounding song. Comes in an old school 'tip on' cover. Must be heard to be believed."
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FAITICHE 017LP
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Faitiche release a short version of the radio play Zwischen (German for "between"). Devised and produced by Jan Jelinek for German public broadcaster SWR2, Zwischen brings together twelve sound poetry collages using interview answers by public figures. Each collage consists of the brief moments between the spoken words: silences, pauses for breath, and hesitations in which the interviewees utter non-semantic sound particles. These voice collages also control a synthesizer, creating electronic sounds that overlay and merge with the voices to make twelve acoustic structures. We all know the speaker's fate: you falter, you mispronounce, there are breaks, silences, and false starts. This results in delays, a language noise compared by Roland Barthes to the knocks made by a malfunctioning motor. Such gaps can be disconcerting, standing as they do for a failure of the speaker's rhetorical skills. But what happens when they become a constitutive, poetic factor? Zwischen consists of twelve answers to twelve questions. The answers were all recorded in interview situations. From the speech of the interviewees -- all eloquent public figures -- the pauses are extracted and edited together. The result is a series of sound collages of silence. But this silence is deceptive, as it is only meaning that falls silent. What remains audible is an archaic body language: modes of breathing, planning phases, seething word particles in search of sense that can break out into onomatopoeic tumult or drift off into sonorous noise. In a further step, each of the twelve collages controls a modular synthesizer via its amplitude and frequency. Supposedly defective speech acts conduct synthetic sounds and the speakers regain their composure -- not via the spoken word, but through sound. The opening questions in the various interviews are answered by: Alice Schwarzer, John Cage, Hubert Fichte, Slavoj Zizek, Joseph Beuys, Lady Gaga, Ernst Jandl, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Marcel Duchamp, Friederike Mayröcker, Yoko Ono, and Max Ernst. Jelinek extends his thanks to Frank Halbig and SWR2. Includes download code; Edition of 500.
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WWSLP 011LP
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OFFICIAL RSD 2018 release. Wewantsounds present the first ever vinyl release of Dave Grusin's cult funky original soundtrack for Peter Yates's superb crime film from 1973, The Friends Of Eddie Coyle. The music composed here is both funky and jazzy and on a par with Quincy Jones and Lalo Schifrin's best soundtracks of the early '70s. Peter Yates, who had directed Bullitt (1968), knew who to go for when it came to outstanding musicians, and Grusin was certainly one of the best young composers in Hollywood at the time. Grusin would sign another more famous score in 1975 with 3 Days Of The Condor, but the Eddie Coyle soundtrack recorded two years before is even more stunning. It plays like a hypnotic slow-burning suite and is performed by the cream of the LA jazz scene, including John Guerin, Chuck Rainey, Tom Scott, Bud Shank, and percussionist Emil Richards. Amazingly, the score never got released on vinyl when the film first came out in 1973, making this the soundtrack's first edition. Remastered from the original tapes, it includes one bonus alternate take. Includes a new essay by leading UK writer and musician David Toop. Housed in a beautiful gatefold sleeve, the release features a stunning cover by highly sought-after Alternative Movie Poster illustrator Oliver Barrett.
From David Toop's liner notes: "The Friends Of Eddie Coyle may not be Grusin's best known or most celebrated score but, like both book and film, it's a quiet classic." --David Toop
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SHAD 195LP
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Shadoks Music present a reissue of Jesper Siliya's Giant Steps, originally released in 1978. This album by Jesper Siliya was released originally on the same label as Chrissy Zebby Tembo's My Ancestors. Jesper Siliya used to play with the Ngozi Family and most likely, they played with him here. This is his sole album as a band leader, and it's a great one -- very catchy, simple but beautiful compositions, you'll find yourself singing these songs in your sleep. Heavy fuzz-guitar is all over the album -- Fuzz guitars all over with African beats and political lyrics. Originals are impossible to find in any condition and the prices are high when you do find them. African rhythms and '70s rockish underground moods -- never too polished. A "sugar & spice" album. The music suits all fans into Zam-rock such as Ngozi Family, Witch, and Amanaz. Heavy sleeve; 180 gram vinyl; Includes CD; Edition of 500 (numbered).
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2LP
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MFM 005LP
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2018 repress. On the leading edge of NYC's underground music scene, Vito Ricci produced only a handful of self-released cassettes and one LP between 1983 and 1985, with most of his work recorded for experimental theater and performance art pieces. Taking their label name from Ricci's only LP, Music From Memory brings together a compilation of works by one of the unsung heroes of New York's downtown music scene. Starting out as a percussionist, Ricci's early musical journey led him to improvised and experimental jazz; working alongside such luminary musicians as Rashied Ali, Byard Lancaster, Peter Zummo, and Yousef Yancey. He quickly became involved in the avant-garde scene with spoken word performances, film scores for independent movies, and even performances with punk bands at venues such as CBGB's and the Mudd Club, and his compositions drew on all of these influences while channeling them through his experiments with synthesizers and drum computers. Drawing comparisons with New York's downtown no-wave scene, Vito's compositions blend his unique use of intricate percussion with a wide sphere of musical influences to create a world of hypnotizing ambient, meditative minimal-synth, dubbed-out electronic funk, and even left-field boogie. With most of Vito Ricci's music remaining previously unreleased, the compilation I Was Crossing A Bridge unveils Ricci's unique and visionary take on electronic music.
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LP
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BR 089LP
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Buh Records present for the first time in vinyl format, the reissues of the two first and fundamental albums by El Polen, the legendary Peruvian band formed in the late 1960s by brothers Juan Luis and Raul Pereira. Two records highly sought by collectors round the world due to the majesty of a sound where you find Andean music, folk and psychedelia. 1972's Cholo, presented here, and 1973's Fuera De La Ciudad ("Out of the City") (BR 090LP) are two landmarks in Peruvian music, as they are two works that start a path for fusion between rock and native music in Peru and Latin America. This influential Peruvian band, pioneer of the fusion of Andean music, folk, and psychedelia, is the favorite artist of Devendra Banhart.
With Cholo, recorded in 1972, El Polen and rock fusion began their history in Peru. Seven songs emerge: "La Flor" ("The Flower"), "Cholito Pantalon Blanco" ("White Pants Little Cholo"), "Paisajes De Quenas" ("Quena Landscapes"), "Valicha", "Sitting Dreaming", "Tondero", and "Sequencias De Organillo Y Poliphon". The name of the album comes from the film that director Bernardo Batievski shot to honor the life of soccer player Hugo "Cholo" Sotil. "We were the only group that auditioned for the film. Batievski immediately after hearing us said: 'this is the mestizo music I need.' Part of the repertoire we had in those times was included in the record, these were songs we had already played in many concerts and that had matured for more than a year", Juan Luis remembers, 48 years after recording Cholo. For this record the musicians sat on the floor, turned the studio lights off, and recorded "the magic of Cholo" in only three hours. The input by Ayacucho musician Alejandro Vivanco was incredible. Rock roots, symphonic, progressive, psychedelic tints emerge from these songs combined with Peruvian folklore. The Cholo adventure was possible with the participation of Juan Sebastian Montesinos, Ernesto Pinto, Fernando Silva, and Beto Martinez. The present edition in vinyl format has been produced from the master tapes with the authorization and supervision of the band itself. This is the starting point for a series of releases of a new collection of Buh Records dedicated to El Polen.
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LP
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BR 090LP
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Buh Records present for the first time in vinyl format, the reissues of the two first and fundamental albums by El Polen, the legendary Peruvian band formed in the late 1960s by brothers Juan Luis and Raul Pereira. Two records highly sought by collectors round the world due to the majesty of a sound where you find Andean music, folk and psychedelia. 1972's Cholo (BR 089LP), and 1973's Fuera De La Ciudad ("Out of the City"), presented here, are two landmarks in Peruvian music, as they are two works that start a path for fusion between rock and native music in Peru and Latin America. This influential Peruvian band, pioneer of the fusion of Andean music, folk, and psychedelia, is the favorite artist of Devendra Banhart.
Fuera De La Ciudad was recorded with all of the musicians at the same time in two short sessions at El Virrey studios; which said studio never believed El Polen's LP would sell so they only released a limited edition of only one thousand copies. Three months later, there were no records in the market. Various musicians from El Polen were contacted in those times by travelers from different parts of the continent who came with the dream of finding a copy... it was not possible, even some of the musicians from the band didn't have a copy. Today these are rare items still looked for by people from different parts of the planet. The present edition in vinyl format has been produced from the master tapes with the authorization and supervision of the band itself. This is the starting point for a series of releases of a new collection of Buh Records dedicated to El Polen.
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LP
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WLV 82063LP
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Wax Love present a reissue of Billie Holiday's At Jazz At The Philharmonic, originally released in 1954. Jazz At The Philharmonic was a concert series produced by the legendary Norman Granz all the way from 1944 to 1983. Billie Holiday performed several times in the 1940s and '50s and was even a member of the touring troupe late in her career. These sides were recorded in 1945 and 1946 with backing from legends like Illinois Jacquet, Lester Young, and Barney Kessel. Recorded at the height of her technical prowess and before her hard living affected her voice, these performances from Los Angeles and New York City are some of the finest live recordings of her career. Absolute essentials from a jazz legend.
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LP
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VAMPI 182LP
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"Discos Fuentes featured many great vocalists and composers in the realm of Colombian tropical music during the golden era of the 1960s and 1970s. One of the most talented and perhaps tragic figures of the 1970s salsa and cumbia boom in Colombia associated with Fuentes was Edulfamid Molina Díaz, aka Piper Pimienta, whose life was ended by a bullet from an anonymous assassin in 1998. . . . After coming to the attention of producer José María Fuentes in Medellín in 1970, [El Combo Monterrey ] was boastfully renamed El Gran Combo Los Supremos and signed for a one album deal, recording Atiza Y Ataja ('Push and Pull') in April of 1971. Grounded firmly in the Cuban style of La Sonora Matancera, with a prominent piano and crisp trumpet sound augmented by an additional double sax, Los Supremos were also influenced by the NYC salsa dura and bugalú of Willie Colón, while also managing to include coastal Colombian tropical music like cumbia and currulao, throwing in some improvised descarga jamming as well, making for a varied and hard-edged mix for one of Discos Fuentes' first, and finest, forays into making salsa records. . . . The frenetically paced title opener is a largely improvised descarga guaguancó (jam session in the guaguancó rhythm). . . . The next tunes, a paseaíto (short and fast paseo, akin to a cumbia) and a cumbia proper . . . These are followed by 'El Mico' ('The Monkey'), a great example of Colombian 'salsa dura' . . . The side closes out with another bouncy cumbia with Scoot (Pedro Botina Guevara, aka 'Peter Scoot') on lead vocals and featuring the growling and whinnying equine trumpet of 'Don Fabio' Espinosa. Side two kicks off with the most obvious homage to what was happening at Fania Records in New York City with the cumbelé titled 'Hacha Y Machete'. Next up is the funky Cuban-style guajira (mixed with son montuno) 'Sin Solución', with vocals shared by Pimienta and Scoot . . . That's followed by 'Guaguancó Supremo' in an upbeat descarga style, a party jam that was also popular in the dance halls and radio airwaves of Cali and Buenaventura. . . . The record ends with what is perhaps the most experimental tune in the whole repertoire, mixing funky Latin soul/boogaloo with guaguancó . . . " --Pablo Yglesias, aka DJ Bongohead
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7"
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BANG 022-7EP
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Who said this would never happen... Nevermind, here it is! The Scientists' new recordings! Kim Salmon is back with his Scientists -- Boris Sujdovic, Tony Thewlis, and Leanne Cowie (the mid-80s line-up) -- and delivers their first recording in 30 years. For this occasion Scientists have recorded "Mini Mini Mini", a cover originally by Jacques Dutronc, and "Perpetual Motion", a track written by The Scientists in the '80s, previously unrecorded. And what does it sound like? Simple and easy: The Scientists. Remember "Swampland"? Well, that's the sound here. That's it!
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Cassette
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HOS 595CS
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Northern California producer Fred Welton Warmsley III's solo work as Dedekind Cut has evolved from fractured industrial design into increasingly subdued and sublime ambient meditations across two years of dedicated activity. His second full-length collection Tahoe -- so named after the mountain lake town he now calls home -- swells with widescreen grandeur, evoking vistas both inner and outer. There are echoes of his earlier, more tempestuous mode in tracks like "MMXIX" and "Spiral" but overall the album skews panoramic and pensive, muted synthetic mists contoured with choral melody, field recordings, and radiant drone. His compositional instincts feel alternately classical, contemporary, and conflicted, befitting an artist whose discography spans divergent labels. Warmsley characterizes Tahoe as a "time peace", sifting through "the past, the present, future, and fantasy". Recorded in New York, Berlin, Cambridge, and Placer County, California. Includes cassette-only exclusive bonus track. Art by Micki Pellerano.
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CD
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HH 3110CD
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Paul Bley Trio, live from Lila Eule, Bremen, Germany on September 27th, 1966. The young Paul Bley earned his spurs playing with legends including Charles Mingus, Art Blakey, Chet Baker, Jimmy Giuffre, Ornette Coleman, and Bill Evans. As the 1960s progressed, he increasingly embraced the avant-garde, with arguably his greatest successes coming in the piano trio format. Originally broadcast on Nordewestradio in the autumn of 1966, and featuring material by Bley and his wife Carla, this fiery set typifies his approach at the time. Includes the entire Nordewestradio FM Broadcast, digitally remastered and accompanied by background notes and images. Personnel: Paul Bley - piano; Mark Levinson - bass; Barry Altschul - drums.
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LP
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FARO 200LP
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2018 repress; LP version. 180 gram vinyl. Hermeto Pascoal is a true maestro and a cultural icon. He represents the highest level of musical evolution; as a multi-instrumentalist, a composer, and an arranger. Once described by Miles Davis as "the most impressive musician in the world", there is good reason (beyond his Gandalf-like appearance) why he is known as "O Bruxo" ("the Wizard"). For Far Out Recordings' 200th release, the label present a previously unreleased album by Hermeto Pascoal and his Grupo Vice Versa: Viajando Com O Som, the lost '76 Vice Versa Studio Sessions. Recorded in two days in 1976, at Rogério Duprat's Vice Versa Studios in São Paulo, the sessions featured Hermeto's go-to "Paulista" rhythm section: Zé Eduardo Nazario (drums), Zeca Assumpção (bass), and Lelo Nazario (electric piano), as well as saxophonists Mauro Senise, Raul Mascarenhas, and Nivaldo Ornelas, guitarist Toninho Horta, and vocalist Aleuda Chaves. Hermeto decided he would record with this particular group following a show at Teatro Bandeirantes, during which an almost spiritual musical connection amongst the group was realized. The performance lasted for hours, without any breaks, and Hermeto saw the potential for his compositions to reach a "higher level" as the music organically moved from structured compositions to "freer" improvisational works. In the studio, the sound engineer Renato Viola understood that things needed to happen quickly. Almost everything recorded on the first take ended up staying in the final mix. After the mixdown, Lelo Nazario would ask Renato to make him a copy of all the material. Supposedly, the master tape was lost, but Lelo kept his copy in his studio's archives, where it stayed for over forty years. With the tape rescued and restored, this release fills a void in time. Recorded at an especially experimental period in Hermeto's career, it's a compelling insight into the incredible efforts of this group, who created a unique musical language which would have a profound influence on countless artists to come. The 1970s are considered a golden age of Brazilian music, but it's often forgotten how desperately hard it was for artists to get their music past the military dictatorship's censorship efforts. Yet in 1976, despite the often musically radical nature of Hermeto Pascoal's compositions, he was typically productive. The release of Viajando Com O Som re-writes the already remarkable story of one of the world's most supernaturally talented musicians.
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LP
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EPR 046LP
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LP version. Connecticut group Landing celebrate their 20th anniversary in 2018 but they show no signs of losing creative momentum. Bells In New Towns, their second album for El Paraiso Records, is arguably their finest, most cohesive effort to date. The group's sound has always been multi-textured, alluding to many different genres at once. There's the heavy oscillating drones and the fuzzy, motoric psychedelia, the lush ambient soundscapes and shimmering, dreamy vibes -- all tied together by that characteristic sense of fluid progression. On this record the ethereal components of their sound are firmly anchored by a tight, steady low-end -- certainly due to the fact that the album was partly recorded by Justin Pizzoferrato (Dinosaur Jr., Elder, Pixies, Sonic Youth). The result is an electric music that speaks to the mind as well as the senses.
"Groups like Stars of the Lid and E.A.R. have wandered this same misty plane in search of the perfect drone, but Landing incorporates Bardo Pond's jam aesthetic into the journey, imparting a welcome communal feel to their lengthy, meandering compositions." --Pitchfork
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LP
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WLV 82040LP
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Wax Love present a reissue of Ornette Coleman's At The Town Hall, December 1962, originally released as Town Hall - 1962 in 1965. Ornette Coleman's Town Hall show from December 1962 is the stuff legends are made of. He'd already made a name for himself with incredible releases on Atlantic including The Shape Of Jazz To Come (1959) and Free Jazz (1961), but to some extent this live date feels like his free-jazz coming out party. A true artistic statement of pure free energy, this live date is both totally unhinged and completely in control. A necessary piece of free jazz history on Wax Love.
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