Agartha: Personal Meditation Music is a 7 CD boxed set, originally released on cassette in 1986, at the height of New Age, as an aid for meditation and alignment. Bringing to mind 20th century composers like Eliane Radigue, La Monte Young, or even Brian Eno's Shutov Assembly, the time-stopping, enveloping, electronic music contained in this series sounds eerily modern, mysterious and moving. Characterized by deep analog drones, rising overtones, floating frequencies surfing on sine-waves and intervals with mystic modulation, this is truly moving, vibrational music. In Agartha, the individual notes of each Harmonic Triad proceed in a fashion that is neither improvisational nor chance-based, nor is it generative. Instead, the music flows outward as if being transmitted -- or channeled -- from a place outside human consciousness. There is a profound sense of cosmic depth expanding ever outward as the music fills the listener with waves of emotion, and a palpable somatic response is felt, although there are subtle differences with each unique Triad. Each disc is individually packaged in original replica sleeves and housed in a heavy-duty cardboard clamshell box. Digitized and remastered by Jessica Thompson. Liner notes include extensive instructions for use from the original text and an essay by library music scholar David Hollander. The original edition of Agartha: Personal Meditation Music, featured one-track, 30-minute track per tape repeated on both sides. Subsequent editions had unique Side B tracks on all but two of the seven volumes. Important Records have included all tracks in this boxed set. RIYL: Eliane Radigue, Pauline Oliveros, Eleh, Duane Pitre, La Monte Young, Eno, Larajji, Iasos.

In Straight Up, Without Wings, Joe McPhee surveys sixty years in creative music. Starting with his trumpeter-father's influence and formative years in the U.S. Army, McPhee recounts experiences as a Black-hippy-cum-budding-musician based in upstate New York, perched at an ideal distance from Manhattan's free jazz demimonde of the 1960s and its loft scene of the 1970s. A natural storyteller, revealing never-told tales and reveling in the joys of noise, McPhee puts the influence of -- and encounters with -- Ornette Coleman, John Coltrane, and Albert Ayler into the context of an independently-minded young player, ravenous for experience, dealing with the crucible of racism, seeking to break out beyond the bounds of a regional Hudson Valley scene that he knows like the back of his hand. The memoir draws forward through thrilling passages in Europe and across the United States, as McPhee gains momentum, as his music becomes the impetus for multiple record labels, as he collaborates with figures from Peter Brötzmann to Pauline Oliveros, and as he eventually goes on to inspire musicians far and wide. Written as an oral history, deftly conducted by Mike Faloon to preserve McPhee's unique narrative voice, Straight Up, Without Wings includes "reflections" by eight musicians from across the protagonist's rich history. Photography: Ziga Koritnik, Ken Brunton, John Corbett. First printing, edition of 1000. 166 pages. Dimensions: 8.5" x 6" x .5".

"Hardback in slipcase with 7" vinyl. Out of print since its initial 2012 very limited first edition run. Contains exclusive 7" featuring previously unreleased 1983 interview with Barney Sumner conducted by the author. Over 400 unique-to-this-publication photos of the band and 200 plus images of rare memorabilia. No one has ever documented the early live career of a truly iconic band in such detail. Dec Hickey saw every New Order UK gig between Feb '81 and June '84 -- some fifty plus nights! Forewords by Peter Hook and Stephen Morris. Introductions by Moby and . Paul Morley. Moby: 'Up until about 10 minutes ago I thought that the depths of my Joy Division/New Order obsession were untouched/unmatched. Then I looked through this book. Ah boy, I'm beaten. And in awe.' Paul Morley: 'I can very much understand someone having an obsession with New Order. It was inevitable that a fan, a loyal, attentive follower, of such a group on such a meticulous label releasing records packaged with such scrupulous suggestive care would themselves be particularly obsessive. The fan(atic) symbolizes the idea that without obsession, life is nothing. For the fan, New Order are an ideal object of desire, the perfect pop group -- in the form of a perfect puzzle, an actual sign of fluid intelligence -- to obsess over, to collect, analyze, interpret, treasure, and ultimately possess.'"

Pagan Psych-Folk Glam Vocal Sounds of the Italian Cinema is a superb collection of extremely obscure gems culled from a variety of forgotten films. Featuring mostly vocal tracks, these songs are dripping with that mid-1960s to mid-1970s exploratory nature of song-craft, from clever and majestic to the ridiculously absurd. Acoustic guitars laced with strings and subtle effects, haunting and moody lyrical tales, and epic ballads that rock -- all of them fitting together like an impossible puzzle that most music aficionados of this magical period never knew existed. Stretches of this compilation could accompany an imagined sequel to the Wicker Man film made in Italy! A mix of relatively unknown and legendary composers of the time are presented here in this incredible package, which has been lovingly assembled to provide the most pleasurable listening experience available. Legends such as Nico Fidenco, Guido & Maurizio De Angelis, Piero Umiliani, and obscure combos like The Sorrows and The Rage Within are included among many other artists that combine to make Pagan Psych-Folk Glam Vocal Sounds of the Italian Cinema an instantly iconic release. Lavish full-color gate-fold jacket collage artwork with still shots from many of the films represented here. Limited edition pressing of 750 copies. Featuring Orchestra Cometa, Nico Fidenco, The Carrie Nations, The Sorrows, Augusto Martelli, Guido & Maurizio De Angelis, Raoul Lovecchio, Cyan, Don Powell, Piero Umiliani, The Rage Within, Charles Cannon, Gene Roman, Shirley Hammer, Phil Chilton/Peter L. Smith, Zeudi Araya, Canary Jones, Melody, and Orchestra Di Rockford Kabine.

"The High Llamas' classic '90s output comes back to life on vinyl for the first time in over twenty years. The vibrant and colorful sweep of their remarkable six-album arc shines in new pressings of the original masters, which include the first-ever vinyl pressing for their debut album, Santa Barbara. The High Llamas were founded by Sean O'Hagan, Jon Fell, Marcus Holdaway, and Rob Allum. One year after the release of Hawaii, Cold And Bouncy delivered again, organically incorporating the glitch, dub and electronic inspirations burbling up from the underground into the Llamas signature sound. Respect here is due to co-producer Fulton Dingley's contributions as programmer, engineer and mixer. Without shifting away from their pop-rooted songwriting, Cold And Bouncy was also a grand example of the emerging electro-exotica of the late '90s."

Complete 1967 recordings -- including the cult psychedelic classic 45 "Madman Running Through the Fields" -- by Dantalian's Chariot, Zoot Money's psychedelic incarnation featuring a young Andy Somers on guitar and sitar (later known as Andy Summers in The Police). Performing frequently at Middle Earth and UFO displaying a wild light show, the band cut just one 45 but laid down more tracks for an unreleased album. Here it is in its full sonic glory. Top notch UK psychedelia with West Coast and Eastern influences. Remastered sound. Hard cardboard sleeve. Insert with liner notes and photos/memorabilia.

HMS Bounty was Merrell Fankauser's project after Fapardokly. Things! was originally released in 1968 and it's one of the key albums from the Los Angeles psychedelic scene. Amazing songwriting, incredible guitar work with tasty fuzz, occasional sitar, refreshing vocal harmonies. Remastered sound with original artwork in hard cardboard sleeve. Includes insert with liner notes and photos.

West Coast psychedelia/bluesy acid-rock by this true hippie band led by the legendary Merrell Fankhauser (Fapardokly, HMS Bounty) and genius guitar player Jeff Cotton (Captain Beefheart Magic Band). This is their classic and sought after first album from 1971. Remastered sound with original artwork in hard cardboard silver foil sleeve like the original. Includes insert with lyrics, photos and extensive liner notes by Patrick Lundborg.

"The mix of bluesy urban LA exhaust fume vibes and tribal desert mystique is as archetypal an early 1970s SoCal trip as you can find. With strong songwriting and a pro-level recording, the album is given a clear musical identity via the excellent slide guitar, harmony vocals, and occasional sax." --Patrick Lundborg (Acid Archives)

Boogie jazz funk at its best. Rare 1985 session from guitarist Eddie Fisher, the East St. Louis native whose best known for the jazz/funk albums The Next One Hundred Years and The Third Cup. Fisher, who died in 2007, never really achieved major stardom, but has become a cult figure over the last years, thanks in large part to DJs and crate diggers who discovered his music and spread the word. Perhaps the most obscure item in his catalog, The Promise was issued only on vinyl in 1985 on Fisher's own Nentu label and has been out of print for years. Licensed by Christina Fisher.

Expanded reissue, originally released in 1965. Infectious rock n' roll, surf, beat, girl group and ye-yé sounds by Las Mosquitas, the first female beat band from Argentina. Including their rare album from 1965 for the Music Hall label plus bonus tracks from singles and their impossible to find split EP with Los Gatos Salvajes. Las Mosquitas ("The Little Flies") consisted of Stella Maris Conde (Pupé) on vocals and guitar, María Cristina Medina (Nita) on bass, Ana María Millán (Nené) on vocals and guitar and Beatriz Cabrera (Dina) on drums. They performed their original compositions as well as Spanish sung covers of hits from the era. Producer Ricardo Romero of pioneering rock n' roll Argentinean band Los Cinco Latinos took them under his wing and secured a deal with the Music Hall label. They toured nationally and internationally, sometimes supporting Los Cinco Latinos, other times as the main act. Not only that, but they conquered every city they performed in, they were received by fans, ambassadors, presidents and their daughters, all eager to see Las Mosquitas on stage. Tours through Panamá, the Dominican Republic, Peru, Puerto Rico, Chile, Uruguay, Brasil, Curazao, and Argentina were completed with fantastic public response and TV appearances. The "Mosquitamania" was born and a string of singles and a full album on the Music Hall label followed. All of them are compiled here for the first time. Insert with liner notes in Spanish/English and photos/memorabilia; includes download card. "Their music was a mix of ye-yé and beat and they dressed how you would expect the Beatles to dress if they had been women" --Gareth Wynne (Ugly Things)

The Wild Classical Music Ensemble is a Belgian experimental rock band formed in 2007 by artists with mental disabilities within the social-artistic non-profit organization Wit.h in Kortrijk. Their unique sound is a blend of punk/rock riffs, fanatical rhythms and soaring flutes and fiery synths, over which gravitate multiple, multilingual voices that scratch harshly as much as they comfort. There's something very Belgian about this harshness and noisiness. During the Covid crisis, the disabled members of the Wild Classical Music Ensemble were undoubtedly subjected more than others to the harsh conditions of confinement, alone in their rooms. Damien Magnette was still able to visit them with sound equipment. This was one of their all-too-few windows onto the world. Forbidden to meet, let alone play together, the members of Wild were nevertheless able to compose songs in tandem with Damien. The tracks were then sent to musician friends -- Fabrice Gilbert, Ava Carrère, Wim Opbrouck, Shht, Arthur Satàn, Nathan Roche, and Julien ZLDR -- who added their artistic touch. Jean Lamoot and Carl Roosens joined the adventure, one as mixer, the other as video director. Leader Damien Magnette says: "For over a year, we were all confined. But what about when you're a mentally handicapped person? Well, it's very different from you and me. We have the right to choose, the luxury of deciding for ourselves what rules we want to follow or not. We have free will. They don't. This series of confined songs is dedicated to all the people who have gone through this crisis, deprived of their free will. We send them our thoughts, hugs and kisses full of true love!" The songs respond to a deep desire to look out for each other in adversity (the so obvious 'Comment ça va?' by Johan Geenens and Wim Opbrouck, or 'Waarom ben je boos' by Sébastien Faidherbe with Wim Decoene, the latter full of empathy). A sense of loneliness is logically present on the album ('Dat is mijn verdriet' by Linh Pham, a very real, very concrete and particularly touching poem, or 'Loneliness,' whose text was improvised by Wim), if not an understandable rage ('Je ne veux pas' and 'My Frustrations'). It worth noting that on "On reste heureux", Sébastien Faidherbe composed all the parts in one go, with an optimism that stands out from the anger expressed in his other songs.

LP version. Summer of love: they weren't around for the first, they've studied the second, and they're planning the next. Bryan's Magic Tears release their fourth album, Smoke and Mirrors, on Born Bad. The famed pupil-dilated Parisian shit-stirrers usually have a way of demolishing compositions in style when they go live. They'll have their work cut out for them with these new tracks bricked up in studio with Marc Portheau. Still a thing on previous records, 4AM (BORNBAD 108CD) and Vacuum Sealed (BORNBAD 146CD), their garage/noise legacy fades away, not denied though. Benjamin Dupont (guitar/vocals) collaborated with Lauriane Petit (bass/vocals) on four tracks, and recorded each instrument for this unabashed pop album. This confusing specimen will rave about fashionable shoegaze oldies while admitting a kink for All Saints. Aptly named, this new album pokes fun at stadium music while respecting its codes. Looks and sounds like Shaun Ryder had eaten Liam Gallagher, shamelessly churning out hits, leaning on a well-built wall of sound, held together by Raphaël Berrichon and Nicolas Boursier (guitars). The record heavily features that typical '90s shuffle beat, with which Bryan was already flirting, but they're an item now. Two-thirds of the tracks have that groove on. Lauriane and Benjamin offer matching vocal delivery, alternating rhythmic phrases crafted like riffs, and sweet dragging harmonies. This record offers a plump sound, tailor-made to spread arms, bob your head, and level the ground in festivals. Smoke and Mirrors ends with "Lady D," a clever dunce's essay on a rare subject. Went for the kill with acoustic guitar intro, strings on the chorus, warm heavy-hearted vocals, flanger on the drums when it's time to light the lighters, and put spoons on top. Because yes, it's still music to take drugs to make music to take drugs to listen to music.

Prime cut late '60s California sunshine psych/acid-rock. Creation Of Sunlight by Long Beach band Sunlight was originally released on the Windy label in 1970 and it's filled with breezy vocal harmonies, organ, fuzz guitar, and flute. With original copies changing hands for four-figure sums, here's a welcomed reissue with newly sourced and remastered sound. Including a download card with the full album plus a bonus track, "Seven's Theme," taken from a rare acetate and never released until now. RIYL: Strawberry Alarm Clock, Love, Clear Light, Doors. Original artwork in hard cardboard sleeve. Remastered sound. Insert with liner notes by Mike Stax (Ugly Things) and photos.

This compilation edition recovers the memory of a very important moment for Venezuelan pop music. The appearance of PP'S (the acronym for Pedro Pérez Show, an original name that highlighted the leadership of the creator of an unexpected new wave scene in Venezuela) produced an explosion whose echo later resonated with the birth of a handful of bands that also renewed the country's musical panorama, in tune with what sounded strong in the Anglo market in those effervescent '80s (punk, post-punk, ska, even the funk that had expanded in the previous decade): Sentimiento Muerto, La Seguridad Nacional, Desorden Público, Caramelos de Cianuro, and Los Amigos Invisibles. PP'S recorded three albums in the '80s: PP'S (1981), En el aire (1982) and Tercera Guerra Mundial (1984), all with a clear pattern: putting the body in motion. It is music connected to its time that invites you to dance and listen to today, it builds a bridge to the past while opening a path to the future because PP'S is still in action. This compilation contains six songs from the first album, two from the second and three from the third, and is an exclusive edition of El Palmas Music. It reaffirms the vocation of Maurice Aymard's label to preserve the heritage of Venezuelan popular culture and at the same time captures all the facets of a musical project that is a stainless symbol of the country's new wave, but also exceeds that label with music in which flows of progressive, space rock and acid jazz filtered through. A colorful, diverse new wave, far from any type of corset. At just over 20 years old, Pedro Pérez lived in a city with a powerful cultural imprint like San Francisco. In the air was the fresh, uplifting sound of bands like Talking Heads, Devo, and The B-52's. Also, reggae and dancehall from a large group of Jamaican artists. Pérez also shared a date with Black Uhuru and with UB40, a British reflection (white and more pop) of Rastafarian music.

A note from Alvin: "It has taken me over 50 years to write these words. Since my initial successes in the 1970s, many have urged me to 'release' unpublished works from the same period, pieces that featured the VCS3 synths or the amazing Serge (which I regret not having used enough) or pieces featuring soundscapes from my classic environmental composition style. For reasons of persistence and empathy, Lawrence English at Room 40 was the most persuasive; now, nearly three years after our agreement, a new publication composed with materials from that inceptive period has come to fruition. While I'm condemned to live evermore in the past, it is the future where I continue to put my remaining creative energies. Nonetheless, in the creation of these two 'new' works I did all I could to avoid sentimentalism or get buried by my own history and the musical riches of the late 20th Century. Relistening to these forgotten fragments of old tapes included inspiring and useful surprises."

"Pop polymath Wilson Malone -- multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, vocalist, producer, arranger -- has achieved cult acclaim for his early work in the soft white underbelly of the British pop industry, being responsible for a number of highly collectable singles and albums during the psychedelic and progressive rock eras before recording the soundtrack to the 1972 British horror film Death Line (retitled Raw Meat for the American market) and working with such storied names as Cliff Richard and Roger Daltrey. However, genuine heavyweight success didn't arrive until some thirty years into Wil's career, when he provided the striking string arrangements that underscored major '90s hits by The Verve ('Bittersweet Symphony') and Massive Attack ('Unfinished Sympathy'). His work has been featured in movies, TV shows, and commercials. His contributions to the soundtracks of various media have helped create mood and atmosphere in visual storytelling. This three-disc CD boxset titled Old Feet, New Socks: The Many Faces Of Wil Malone 1965-72 captures those early years of Wil Malone's work from Robb Storme, The Orange Bicycle, Barnaby Rudge, The Wilson Malone Voiceband, and Fickle Pickle."

Memphis-born saxophonist Frank Lowe with his muscular tenor sax voice shines along with Butch Morris' cornet and Amina Claudine Myers' piano on top of Wilber Morris (bass) and Tim Pleasant (drums) angular rhythms. Recorded in 1981.

Warehouse find, last copies; Double LP version. Kostas Soublis' productions under the Fluxion moniker helped define legendary Berlin imprint Chain Reaction, and with 1999's Vibrant Forms, the Greek producer released a milestone in the dub techno genre. Hazy and distant, there was still more than enough dancefloor push to propel Soublis into the (very short) list of genre legends, and make Vibrant Forms one of the very rare techno albums that works from beginning to end. Out of press for far too long, this new edition of Vibrant Forms has been remastered and will finally see the entire album released on vinyl for the first time. The most shocking thing hearing it almost 15 years after its original release, however, is how little it has dated. Soublis wisely avoided any cultural tropes, and the productions still sound fresh and deceptively alien. Through washes and waves of reverb and the faint thud of a kick drum, the all-analog productions contain a raw quality that is all too rare these days. Just head to the album's elegiac closing number "Opaque." Upbeat and propulsive, the track still maintains a deceptive calm, buoyed by swirling synthesizer washes and sizzling, tape-saturated percussion. This is the way dub techno should sound -- don't accept any imitations, Vibrant Forms is the real thing. Completely remastered by Matt Colton at Alchemy.

2024 restock; 1998 release. Voted one of 1998's top 15 Records of the Year in Modern Composition by the writers and critics of The Wire, Trilogie de la Mort is a work in three parts for anolog Arp synthesizer. The first third of the work, Kyema, is inspired by The Tibetan Book of the Dead and invokes the six intermediate states that constitute the existential continuity of the being. Kailasha, the second chapter, is structured on an imaginary pilgrimage around Mt. Kailash, one of the most sacred mountains in the Himalayas. Koumé makes up the last part of the trilogy and emphasizes the transcendence of death.

"The last great rock LP from Nigeria's post-Civil War underground. Be Nice to the People was recorded in 1977 by Fela producer Odion Iruoje as he chased the runaway success of high school band Ofege. The Western world was in the throes of peace, love and flower power as Nigeria descended into civil war in 1967. The rock scene that developed during the following three years of bloodshed and destruction would come to heal the country, propagate the world-wide ideal of the modern Nigerian, and propel Fela to stardom after the conflict ended in 1970. The members of Question Mark were children when the Nigerian civil war ended and by the time they recorded their only album in 1977 they were college students, chasing rock n' roll dreams as Afro-beat turned to Afro-disco. Theirs is a fiery reminder of a once vibrant scene."

"Through the fog of our grief in the wake of the earth-shattering loss of our beloved angel stevie? we announce the release of Mope Grooves' fifth and final album, Box of Dark Roses. A 27 song, two-disc LP of songs that stevie prepared for release before she left. In addition to the music, stevie provided extensive liner notes to accompany the album. These are included with the album in the form of a zine, or as a digital PDF, respectively. Box Of Dark Roses is an LP where the same images repeat and repeat until you might have some idea of what roses have to do with armed struggle, trans autonomy, losing your house (again), angels, women political prisoners, violence returned to sender, suicided poets, refusing to recant, insisting on life, and how the revenge of twenty billion screaming ghost women could unmake the worst of all possible worlds. Performance by stevie (lowercase, no last name, she/her), cap (lowercase, no last name, they/them), Lee Butterfield (they/them), Penny Olives (she/her), Elias Williamson (they/them), Izzy Dupuis, Ana Díaz Sacco (she/they), Clinton O'Brien, Evan Mersky, Ana María Rodríguez (she/her), Ray Aggs (they/them), and Kyle Raquipiso." --Mope Groves

Debut collaborative album from Troth, the Nipaluna-based duo of Amelia Besseny and Cooper Bowman, and kindred spirit and legendary Mancunian free-form guitarist Jon Collin. A lavish dreamscape conjuring the dramatic beauty of uncharted mountains and streams, it documents both the crystallization of ideas first shared during an Australian encounter in early 2023 and years of mutual appreciation. Troth's sonic universe, a constellation of drifting atmospherics, bedroom pop impulse and modern classical motifs, is deeply intimate and never rushed. Recent sides Forget The Curse and Idle Easel and live performances supporting the likes of Maxine Funke and Treasury of Puppies have seen Besseny's soaring, celestial voice take center stage, delicately adorned with Bowman's synthesizer flourishes and homespun instrumentation. At their heart lies Bowman's tireless collaborative instinct: his decade-long involvement in the Australian underground and his countless musical outfits (including contemporary trio Th Blisks, with Besseny and Yuta Matsumura). Collin is perhaps best known for his playing, deconstructing and reconfiguring of the guitar and other stringed instruments, realized in solo works on his own Early Music and Winebox Press imprints, and collaborations on a trio of albums with Demdike Stare and live sessions with Sarah Hughes and Bill Nace. His unique style of playing, sometimes delicate, at other times frictional, refutes expectations of traditional instruments and fits perfectly within both Troth's ethos and their lush sonic mise-en-scène. The objects of devotion perhaps symbolize the group's devotion towards each other during their music-making process, and the fruits from which they are borne. The sacredness and ominousness of remote Tasmania is just as affecting, the interplay of Besseny's haunting vocal washes, Bowman's sparse instrumentation and Collin's ritualistic strum evoking the eeriness that lurks beneath the seemingly limitless Australian landscape.

Music To Varnish Owls By. Does Geoff Bastow have a claim for the best album title of all time? It's certainly up there. It's also one of the hardest to find library funk records. But don't let the eye-catching name fool you into thinking this isn't serious business. As a key member of Giorgio Moroder's team, the legendary Geoff Bastow shouldn't need any introduction. You'll be familiar with his singular brilliance as the brains behind the much-sampled boogie/disco classics "You Don't Like My Music (Hupendi Muziki Wangu?!)" and "Don't Stop," released by his group, K.I.D. But 1975's Music To Varnish Owls By is where it all began. It's packed with incredibly soulful, soothing music that -- despite being utilized a few times by Knxwledge -- remains still largely un-mined. So, beat-makers, get cracking. Born in 1949, Bastow was a Munich-based English songwriter and record producer. Originally working as a guitarist and pianist in dance bands around his home county of Yorkshire, he moved to London in the early 1970s and then Munich in around 1976. He was one of the main architects of the Munich disco sound of electronic innovator Giorgio Moroder and also released heaps of killer library records for legendary labels like Bruton, Impress, JW Music Library and the Munich-based Sonoton between the 1970s-2000s. Bastow died tragically young, in Berlin, Germany on 16 March 2007, at the age of just 57. But he left behind a truly incredible electronic music legacy. He deserves to be much better known and this reissue should bring him to a fair few more ears. As ever, the audio for Music To Varnish Owls By has been carefully remastered by Be With regular Simon Francis, ensuring it sounds better than ever. Cicely Balston's expert skills have made sure nothing is lost in the cut whilst the records have been pressed to the highest possible standard at Record Industry in Holland. The original, iconic sleeve has been restored here at Be With HQ as the finishing touch to this long overdue re-issue.

"A stunning 650-page hardcover illustrated book, featuring over 150 record collectors including A-Trak, Colleen Murphy, DāM FunK, Peanut Butter Wolf, Quantic, DJ Spinna, Kid Koala, Don Letts, Andy Votel, Shawn Lee, Mayer Hawthorne, and bass maestro Ron Carter. Renowned photographer and publisher Eilon Paz returns with Dust & Grooves: Further Adventures In Record Collecting, a sequel to his 2014 best-selling Dust & Grooves, highlighting over one hundred fifty of the world's most fascinating and accomplished vinyl collectors, bridging stunning images with extensive interviews, and revealing the motives and backstories behind the global record-collecting community. Ten years after the first book release, with vinyl's consistent surge in popularity, Further Adventures, spanning over 650 pages, digs deeper than its predecessor, underscoring gorgeous collections from astute, everyday enthusiasts to venerated DJs, musicians and producers. Veteran journalist and editor David Ma (Wax Poetics, NPR, Rolling Stone) handles the editorial end of this sequel, making Further Adventures a cultural leader in the field, expertly accentuating the world's unifying devotion to vinyl. Tailor-made for lovers of world-class photography, novice to expert collectors, and music obsessives alike."

"Moondog's jovial H'art Songs was the first release not to incorporate his name in the title, but the record that forever proved his genius. A rare vocal album recorded by Moondog when he was in his sixties, these ten art songs blur the boundaries between classical and pop music. Moondog called this series of art songs 'H'art songs' -- Hardin's art songs. The musical content is on a higher level than most popular music, but has an appeal to a wide range of tastes, from the pop to the classical listener. This collection of piano pop songs written and recorded in 1977 made Moondogs' stunningly eclectic discography even more chaotic musically, it also featured some of his most mesmerizing wordplay. Telling tales that can be interpreted as metaphors for how to live -- sometimes political, sometimes autobiographical, sometimes nature loving - they are always intriguingly poetic, and helped push this album to the very top of all Moondog's releases."

When pioneering no wave act Teenage Jesus and the Jerks inevitably split, vocalist/anti-guitarist Lydia Lunch launched a solo career that continues to the present with countless reinventions along the way. 2004 downtempo gem Smoke In The Shadows sees Lunch in west coast cinematic jazz mode, offset by hip-hop backbeats, Afro-Cuban rhythms and funk. Created by the team of Tommy Grenas and Len Del Rio of Anubian Lights, featuring guitarist Nels Cline and saxophonist Niels Van Hoorn from Legendary Pink Dots with special guest vocalist Carla Bozulich. It's the perfect foil for Lunch as Femme Fatale starring in her own B-movie, a film noir soundtrack that both threatens and seduces.

LP version. "Hip-hop legend Rakim is breaking new ground with his upcoming studio album, God's Network Rebirth, by flexing his skills both on the mic and behind the boards. Widely lauded as the best lyricist of all time, The God MC himself is blessing the culture with the next step in his historic career. This new album arrives nearly four decades after the release of his classic debut with Eric B., Paid In Full. Since then, he's continued to shape the landscape and culture of hip-hop, inspiring rising artists with his hype live shows and incredible studio albums. And while he's produced some of his previous work, this feels like new territory for the 18th Letter, whose production and scratching talents are nothing short of remarkable. You can tell he feels that level of praise when speaking about the genesis of the album. 'Having the ability to showcase my talents behind the boards coupled with the elite lyricism the world already knows and gives me infinite praise for alongside some of the best talents to ever do it is truly a blessing and for that I am humbled,' he said. Rakim is more than an official triple-threat as an artist, because he's also showing off skills as a curator. On this album's seven tracks, he enlists a who's-who of top hip-hop talent, including the dearly departed Nipsey Hussle, Fred the Godson, DMX, and Prodigy (of Mobb Deep). Rakim also linked with many of his contemporaries, such as Snoop Dogg, Method Man, KXNG Crooked, B.G., and Kool G. Rap, among others. The album's first single, 'Be Ill,' is the perfect introduction, as it pairs Rakim's raw rhymes and head-nodding production with slick guest features from Kurupt and Masta Killa. Elsewhere, Rakim slows it down for the soulful 'Love Is The Message,' which features Nipsey Hussle, Planet Asia, Louis King, Snoop Dogg, Sally Green, Kobe Honeycutt, and the LA Grand Choir. For fans of hip-hop, and especially of Rakim's storied discography, there is so much to love on this record. You can hear his hunger as an emcee and producer on every track, as well as his desire to collaborate with so many respected artists. Despite having decades in the game and many classics to his name, it feels like Rakim is just getting started."

Jonathan Bockelmann is a classical guitarist and composer based in Munich who first made waves in 2023 with his debut album Childish Mind (SQM 020CD). His entry into composing were arrangements he had made of pieces by Japanese composer Ryuichi Sakamoto. Some of these have been released digitally in three editions and are now available on vinyl for the first time. The record comes in high quality packaging with an embossed art print and features both some of Sakamoto's lesser-known works like the "Suite for Krug" as well as iconic pieces like "Bibo No Aozora."

2LP, 180g white/grey vinyl, pantone printed sleeve, UV spot varnish. Includes download code with digital bonus tracks. In honor of its 25th anniversary, Tresor Records presents a white and grey vinyl edition of one of the most seminal albums in the label's catalog: Drexciya's Neptunes Lair. 2022 marked the 20th anniversary of the passing of James Stinson and the releases of the Transllusion and Shifted Phases albums. In recognition, the rightsholders, their families, and the label had commissioned Detroit-based contemporary artist Matthew Angelo Harrison to re-conceptualize the covers of Tresor's Drexciya-related catalogue. These editions were released sequentially, bimonthly, starting early-September 2022. The series started with Neptune's Lair, first released in 1999, and the "Hydro Doorways" single arriving shortly after, followed by Harnessed The Storm and Digital Tsunami. In the beginning of 2023, Transllusion was released. The series was completed by the long-awaited re-release of Shifted Phases. These records, individually and as a catalogue, represent some of the most crucial moments in the Tresor label history, with the sound and mythic world of Drexciya undoubtedly inspiring generations.

2024 repress. "Volume One is the debut album. It was the only album recorded with second guitarist Justin Marler, before he became an Orthodox monk. Volume One showcases a darker sound and stronger doom metal influence than Sleep's later work."

With Visitations and Revisitations, Matt Rogalsky continues lines of work that seem to inevitably revolve around explorations and honoring of place, people, and memory. Ambient, expansive and immersive, twelve new songs without words invite listeners on travels through spectral sound worlds. All the compositions combine elements of acoustic and electronic sound, where the electronic sound is often derived from underlying acoustic sources which often remain unheard while their liminal, spectral qualities are evoked in new ways. On this collection, two "Visitations" bracket ten "Revisitations." Each "Revisitation" identified by a letter is an investigation into the work of a composer or musician whose work has meant much to Rogalsky: "The 'Revisitations' all function as homage compositions, in an alphabetical series of 26, where each letter references a composer whose work has touched me, and whose sounds I have spectrally explored in a new response piece." The "Visitations" are different from the "Revisitations" in their referencing of intensely personal conditions: one derives from the resonances of a family upright piano which came from Rogalsky's maternal side, and one evokes experiences in movement, sound and community around the base of Sacred Buffalo Guardian Mountain in Banff Alberta. The range of influences Rogalsky explores on Visitations and Revisitations span from musicians and poets in his local sphere, to internationally well-known contemporary and historical figures in music and sound. Some sources are revealed and others kept private as a guessing game for listeners. A number of the tracks on the album are based in recordings of live performances while others are purely studio compositions. Matt Rogalsky is based in Kingston/Katarokwi, in Ontario Canada where he runs the Sonic Arts Studio at Queen's University. He previously released a double CD album Memory Like Water on XI Records in 2006 (XI 131CD).

"While there has been plenty of precedent, regarding Alvarius B's fascination with the down and out of Anglo/American cultural refuse, That's How I Got To Memphis is certainly his most realized collection of paying homage to it. The fact that this whole album is a collection of covers that have invaded AB's current musical obsessions is testament to the timeless nature of the original artists songwriting prowess. Imagine Joe Meek coming back from the dead to produce a country western and northern album by a Saginaw miscreant fried up in the Orman botanical gardens of Cairo Egypt. That this album could be a perfect soundtrack to a Paul Lynch sequel to his portrait of failed ambition masterpiece The Hard Part Begins is irrelevant, because it stands alone as a sequel to another AB masterpiece, Baroque Primitiva. That this album also highlights actual OUTSIDER artists from the halcyon days of holy, rebellious, loner losers should give hope, cuz outsider these days means you don't have a gmail account or Meta colonized brain. That's How I Got To Memphis is a superb collection of songs about longing, love lost and found, curios picked up and dropped off, tragedy and hope, confusion and epiphany while stumbling around through back roads to nowhere." --HM

LP version. "Ava Mendoza has never made an album quite as personal as her second solo full-length, The Circular Train. Through her decades of collaborations with Nels Cline, Carla Bozulich, William Parker, Fred Frith, Matana Roberts, and Mick Barr -- plus years leading her power trio Unnatural Ways and playing in Bill Orcutt's quartet -- the guitarist's name has become synonymous with virtuoso technique, raw passion, and visceral resonance, a player pushing the edges of the guitar's possibilities. Along the way, from 2007 to 2023, Mendoza was writing these slow-burning, incandescent songs. The Circular Train is comprised solely of her single-tracked guitar playing and, on two songs, her corporeal singing. Her first solo LP of original material since relocating from California to New York City a decade ago, much of The Circular Train was honed amid pandemic years that clarified the virtues of slowing down. This expressive avant-rock is a definitive introduction to one of the most uncompromising and inquisitive visions in creative music. Mendoza's thrilling melange of free jazz, blues, noise, classical training, and blazing experimental rock'n'roll all coheres with ecstatic feedback, with picking and solos that crest with shimmer. Sometimes she sounds like a one-woman Sonic Youth with guttural and poised vocals that equally evoke Patti Smith and blues greats like Jessie Mae Hemphill.

Exact repro of original 1978 hardcore punk album from Sweden. Originally released by Swedish Polydor. Contains all the hits, including "Raggare Is A Bunch Of Motherfuckers," "Absolute Ruler," etc. Rude Kids were from Hagsätra, located in the periphery of Stockholm. They founded in 1977 and existed until 1984. They were the first Swedish punk band to release a record through a major record label.

Carrying on a string of stunning archival releases from major figures of Indian classical tradition (including releases from members of the Dagar family and Amelia Cuni), Black Truffle presents an unheard recording from tabla master Kamalesh Maitra (1924-2005). For over fifty years, Maitra devoted himself to the rare tabla tarang, a set of between ten and sixteen hand drums tuned to the notes of the raga to be performed. While the tabla tarang has its origins in the late 19th century, Maitra was the first to recognize its potential as a solo concert instrument, using the set of tuned drums to perform full-length raags. Seated behind a semi-circular array of drums, Maitra produced stunning waves of melodic improvisation enlivened with the rhythmic invention of a master percussionist. Across his career, Maitra performed in ensembles led by Ravi Shankar, collaborated with George Harrison, and led his own East-West fusion group, the Ragatala Ensemble. However, it is in the solo setting that his remarkable artistry and the otherworldly timbral qualities of the tabla tarang are most strikingly on display. Recorded during the same 1985 Berlin sessions that produced Maitra's self-released solo LP Tabla Tarang: Ragas on Drums, on Raag Kirwani on Tabla Tarang listeners are treated to Maitra stretching out for over forty minutes on the late-night Raag Kirwani, accompanied by Laura Patchen on tabla and Mila Morgenstern and Marina Kitsos on tanpura. The performance begins with the traditional free-floating exposition section, where Maitra's spacious melodic improvisation at times almost resembles a plucked string instrument (like the sarod, which Maitra also played). For the listener unaccustomed to the tabla tarang, the sound of these microtonally inflected melodic patterns played on drums has a magic quality. As Maitra begins to imply the rhythmic cycles more strongly, Patchen joins on tabla, beginning half an hour of rhythmic-melodic exploration, where virtuosity sits side by side with delicacy and meditative attention. Accompanied by beautiful archival images and extensive liner notes from Laura Patchen, for many listeners Raag Kirwani on Tabla Tarang will be the perfect introduction to the magical world of Kamalesh Maitra, released to coincide with the hundredth anniversary of the master musician's birth.