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Afrociberdelia is the second studio album Brazilian of manguebeat Chico Science & Zombie Nation, released on May 15 of 1996. It was ranked 18th in the list of 100 best records of Brazilian music by Rolling Stone Brasil magazine and 2nd in the election of the best national records of the years dev 1990, carried out by the website “Scream & Yell”. The album was produced by Eduardo BiD and recorded at Nas Nuvens studio, in Rio de Janeiro. With a stronger presence of elements of electronic music and hip hop than its predecessor, Da Lama ao Chaos, he would reach the gold record in April 1997. In interviews, members of the band stated that they preferred the timbre of the drums in Afrociberdelia, which would finally have approached the sound that the group made on stage.

Sounds move across the limits of space and time to leave imprinted in the mind an album of memories full of colors and emotions, a travel journal that from the farthest corners of the world burns every kind of distance and returns through warm and strongly evocative sounds the colors, scents, rhythms, the atmospheres of distant lands. The result is a rich and evocative soundscape, where images become sounds and sounds images, where the elements of nature echo voices of different places and cultures, distant in space but deeply similar and intimately connected.

Imaginária Records has commissioned the refined experience of Giovanni Santucci and LucaEffeSunset a journey through the sounds of the world, which from the enveloping wave motion of the warm Iberian beaches carry us to the crystalline dripping of waters and voices of the Mexican jungle, crossing Balearic rhythms and Brazilian brilliance, letting ourselves be captured by the persuasive voices and the chasing rhythm of the magical formulas of the masciare, ancient mysterious witches of southern Italy. In this journey, which represents the first stage of a wide-ranging project (a trilogy that will take the shape of new musical experiences gathered around the themes of the places first and then of the return), an exciting centrifugal movement that attracts towards a single center: the beating heart of a single Mother Earth; voices, suggestions, rhythms, emotions from the far/near, in order to confirm, together with Raymond Murray Schafer, that in the end "the whole world is sound".

Multi-talented musician and Moons' singer-songwriter Jennifer Souza presents her second solo album, produced and recorded by Leonardo Marques at his Ilha Do Corvo studio in Belo Horizonte. With a sound palette that moves from Brazilian song to jazz, from melancholic folk to indie rock with multiple and unexpected instrumentation, "Pacífica Pedra Branca" reveals a musical geography that is highly unique to the artist, one of the most exciting names on the Brazilian music scene today. Welcome to a unique and magical world of soft pop, indie rock and folk from beautiful Brazil!

Recorded between February 2020 and June 2021 in Brazil.

Produced, engineered and mixed by Leonardo Marques at Ilha do Corvo Studio in Belo Horizonte, MG.

Artistic directed, executive produced and co-produced by Jennifer Souza.

LP executive produced by Greg Gouty.

Mastered by Anderson Guerra at Analog Bunker Studio in Belo Horizonte, MG.

Front and back cover photographs by Luiza Ananias.

Designed by Yannick Falisse.

LP additional design by Nicolas Kerembellec (nker.fr).

180GDULP08 - Manufactured and distributed by 180g in collaboration with Disk Union Japan.

Solo acts of Paula Rebellato (RAKTA) and Douglas Leal (DEAFKIDS), members of two of the most thriving and groundbreaking bands coming out of Brazil to the world lately. The fusion of traditional and acoustic instruments with electronic and processed sounds highlights the strong characteristics of both projects, melted into a journey within timeless soundscapes. Buh Records presents "Gnose", the joint full-length by the solo acts of Paula Rebellato (RAKTA) and Douglas Leal (DEAFKIDS), members of two of the most thriving and groundbreaking bands coming out of Brazil to the world lately. Produced between 2019 and 2020 in Sao Paulo, Brazil, some of the compositions were first conceived for a live performance in late 2019 and then expanded into a full-length album, part recorded in studio and part at home during the first months of the pandemic. Inspired by the ritualistic potentials of music, "Gnose" offers a vertical and circular narrative throughout its 7 themes, exploring atmospheres that may contribute to experiences of displacement and inner silence. The fusion of traditional and acoustic instruments with electronic and processed sounds highlights the strong characteristics of both projects, melted into a journey within timeless soundscapes. Paula Rebellato is an artist based in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Her journey with music and sound started at young age and became a more consistent path when she co-founded the genre-bending group Rakta.

Ichiko Aoba’s albums have only been available as expensive Japanese imports, until now. In November, Ba Da Bing will release Windswept Adan on 2xLP in North America, Europe and the United Kingdom, with deluxe packaging.

After creating her label, hermine, last year to celebrate her tenth
anniversary in music, Aoba released the most complex and rewarding
work of her career, 2020’s Windswept Adan. While audiences in
the west are only just learning she exists, her accomplishments are
unquestionable; she contributed to the soundtrack for The Legend of
Zelda: Link’s Awakening, was cited by Owen Pallett as an inspiration
(“I’ve never been so blindsided by a musician as I was by Ichiko
Aoba”), and has collaborated with the likes of Haruomi Hosono,
Cornelius (who met her only two years after she first picked up a
guitar and was blown away), Ryuichi Sakamoto, and recently Mac
DeMarco.
Ichiko Aoba’s iconic voice and classical guitar playing are
immediately recognizable, timeless sounds. Windswept Adan,
envisioned as a soundtrack for a fictional film, builds its own world with
sweeping co-production and arrangements from Taro Umebayashi,
which “recall the Wes Anderson scores of Mark Mothersbaugh or
the cinematographic swells of American composer Jherek Bischoff”
(Bandcamp). It’s the story of a young girl sent to the island of Adan, a
place where there are no words.
While international listeners of Aoba may not understand the words
she sings, and despite the central importance of lyrics in her writing,
it’s a testament to the power Aoba wields that one can resonate so
deeply with her work. No matter the breadth of her sonic palette, and
on Adan her scope is as wide and encompassing as Joanna Newsom’s
on Have One On Me, Aoba manifests an intimacy that makes one feel
in the room with her.
Ichiko Aoba’s work gained greater exposure in the past year as the
need for comfort grew while the world sequestered in solitude. She
has a rare musical gift that is matched only by her ability to hone it
into meticulous craft. Her music embraces and elevates alone time to a
generous and tranquil place. In it, listeners are invited to feel a sense of
consolation and possibility. The magic she imparts yields articles like
“Ichiko Aoba and the emotion of space during the pandemic;” in other
words, her effect is singular.

Hailing from Rio de Janeiro, Marcela Dias Sindaco is formerly a classical piano and cello player. With early musical influences drawing from experimental German groups like Popol Vuh, Tangerine Dream, and Cluster, her electro productions encapsulate more than one sound palette. In 2021, she released her first EP on DEEPTRAX, and here we have her second gift of huge, thoughtful, vocalized electro ready to be received by heady listeners across the world.

Each track brings together unique pieces that fit into her cohesive vision of electro. There are big bass drums, panned hi-hats, and crunchy bass lines. Stabby pads, punchy piano licks, tantalizing but direct Portuguese vocals, loopy Rhodes progressions, and a touch of acid...bonafide DJ rewind material right here!

Brief Encounter, THE soul band from North Wilkesboro, N.C., formed the 1970's and recorded through the the 90s with various labels as well as self releasing. We have been working with band members Montie & Gary Bailey (who has actually visited me in Scotland) to bring you a few releases over the last few years, culminating in this final release alongside their rarest and unknown single when they were known as Sounds of Soul. Never a step wrong, not a bad track to be seen, one of America's finest 70s soul bands.

As the sweary, confrontational title suggests, this four-tracker from Detroit hero Omar-S is like a musical expansion pack for his much-discussed recent album, F*ck Resident Advisor. The no-nonsense Detroiter starts in fine fashion with 'Gonna Love You', a jaunty, piano-sporting peak-time loop jam crafted from old school vocal samples and snippets from a killer disco record, before reaching for cosmic synth sounds, lilting melodies and a melancholic mood on the starry deep house jam 'Bread Over Bed'. He subtly doffs a cap to Dance Mania style ghetto-house on the quirky, club-ready cheekiness of 'Shut Up', before smothering a classic house groove with heady hand percussion and snaking synth lines on dense and energetic closing cut 'Sloppy Joe'.

After 6 years and 7 volumes, the Tramp Records crew invites you to join them on yet another enlightening journey into soulful Jazz, Folk and Funk from the 1970s.

This 8th volume contains nineteen Jazz, Soul and Folk nuggets from between the late 1960s and the late 1970s. One of the many highlights is the opening track by Bobby Cole which is most likely one of the finest independently produced vocal jazz recordings ever put on wax. So true. Oscar Brown Jr. and Mark Murphy sends its regards. But that's just the beginning. Praise Poems Vol.8 covers a wide selection of genres, from big band jazz (Helmut Pistor's Big Rock Jazz Band and Germany's own Ladykiller) to psych-pop (Portraits in Sound, Harve and Charee and Allison & Shaffer), from folk-rock (Flash, Garndarf and the incredible Fang Buzbee) to AOR (The Menagerie and Penn Central), completing the set with a handful of melancholic folk beauties, most notably Hans Hass Jr.'s mind-blowing "Welche Farbe hat der Wind".

Very few compilation series' release as many as eight volumes and those that get that far often start to run out of quality music or meander too far from their original artistic direction. That certainly is not the case with the "Praise Poems" series which leaps from strength-to-strength as our team of compilers and researchers continue to unearth lost and often overlooked music from an era long gone. Many of these records were released in small quantities as private pressings or by small regional labels. Obviously, those labels neither had the budget, expertise, nor options to promote their releases in a sweeping way. Therefore the majority of these artists failed to find the wider audience their music so richly deserved.

Futuro Antico, released just on tape in 1980, this record contains the hypnotic session of Walter Maioli (Aktuala) and Riccardo Sinigaglia. Analog and warm sounds, a perfect mix of drone synth and ancient flutes (found in oriental countries) gives you the idea to fly on a spaceship towards some exotic sites. This records terribly remember the astonishing live Köln jam of Terry Riley and Don Cherry, the comparison fits!This reissue maintains the first tape artwork + info and photos in the innerfolder.

After the recent reissue of their first eponymous album, Favorite Recordings proudly presents Vegas, the second LP from Venezuelan band Esperanto. Rare and sought-after for many collectors, it was recorded in between Las Vegas and Caracas and originally released in 1981. Following bandleader Jorge Aguilar in his musical trip to the infamous American city bathing into flashing lights and vivid colors, we're invited to an excursion in Disco, Boogie and Jazz-Funk territories. Finally reissued, fully remastered, Vegas will be available as Gatefold Tip-On Vinyl LP.

With great care and attention to details, Esperanto managed to create a very convincing sequel to their Jazz-Funk debuts. Vegas keeps indeed a perfect balance between various influences. Through energic disco beats with intense funky solos, catchy AOR-influenced songs, where Jorge delivers convincing vocal performance, or sunny jazz-funk slow jams, the album still reveals something quite authentic. And this feeling echoes surely the one that could have been felt by Jorge Aguilar while discovering USA on a trip - where it all started for the music he loves. Like sometimes a foreigner's enriching view on some local specialty, he surely brought with the band all his authenticity and young but vibrant experience while convincing at the same time major labels for distribution.

With certain notoriety coming with the release of their first album, Jorge Aguilar and his drummer Pablo Matarazzo planned to go to Los Angeles for a few gigs. But once there, they realized their contact had to leave for Tina Turner's tour in Europe. Before that, he invited them to come along to Las Vegas and eventually meet musicians there. Luckily, the plan worked perfectly: Jorge came back to Los Angeles with a lot of contacts then moved to Boston and NYC before finally coming back to Caracas. He told: "I was so impressed with this trip that I told myself that one day I would return to Los Angeles and Las Vegas. The first tracks I did them in Los Angeles with Kenny More, James Gadson and other session musicians from that city. Later, I took the tracks to Caracas where the musicians of the band recorded overdubs. After that, I returned to Los Angeles to master with Bernie Grundman who was still working in his small studio at A & M records studios in Hollywood. As can be seen in the title of some of the songs like "Hollywood", "Vegas", "Kenny's Place", were only the translation of my experiences at the time."

On August 27th 2021 The Third Sound released their fifth album ‘First Light’ on Fuzz Club Records and it is now being given a second pressing after selling out upon release the first time aorund. Dealing in a hypnotic blend of neo-psychedelia, post-punk and new wave, The Third Sound is a Berlin-based band led by the Icelandic musician Hákon Aðalsteinsson, who is the guitarist in Brian Jonestown Massacre and formerly played in the cult rock’n’roll outfit Singapore Sling. A mainstay of the European psych underground in his own right, not just through his collaborations with the likes of Anton Newcombe and Tess Parks, The Third Sound has been Hakon’s primary solo endeavor since the release of his self-titled debut on Newcombe’s A Recordings a decade ago. Arriving following 2018’s ‘All Tomorrow’s Shadows’ LP, ‘First Light’ marks an evolution into a brighter and at times uplifting sound. Marrying moments of light and dark, the result is The Third Sound’s most dynamic full-length to date. Talking about the album, Hakon said: “This album is definitely less gloomy than the previous one, although some ghosts from the past are lurking in the background. We always try to make something new on each album and never make the same album over again, but this feels like an even bigger change than usual, especially regarding the mood. Something new is beginning although the past is not forgotten. I think the title, First Light, describes the overall feel of the record pretty well.” ‘First Light’ is the fifth full-length from The Third Sound and arrives off the back of 2018’s ‘All Tomorrow’s Shadows’, 2016’s ‘Gospels of Degeneration’, 2013’s ‘The Third Sound of Destruction and Creation’ and their 2011 self-titled debut. With Hakon Aðalsteinsson leading the group on vocals and guitar, the rest of the band is currently comprised of Robin Hughes (Guitar / Organ), Fred Sunesen (Drums) and Andreas Miranda (Bass). With a number of European tours in tow, the band have previously shared the stage with the likes of the Brian Jonestown Massacre, The Warlocks, Singapore Sling, Crocodiles, Clinic, Tess Parks and more.

It is with great joy that we present the Mr Bongo edition of Marcos Valle's 1983 self-titled masterpiece. A pure vintage that features the ultimate Brazilian-boogie cult-classic ‘Estrelar’ and iconic 80s cover art that sees a gloriously sun-drenched Marcos dressed in a pink v-neck t-shirt surrounded by a generous selection of deadly-looking neon cocktails.

The album was produced by the legendary Lincoln Olivetti and Marcos' brother Paulo Sérgio Valle. It showcases a real who's who of Brazilian music at the time, with stellar performances from vocalists and musicians such as Rosana, Serginho Do Trombone, Robson Jorge and Oberdan Magalhães to name but a few. This was Marcos’ second album, after having moved back to Brazil from his time living in Los Angeles, and that US influence is evident through its prominent boogie, soul and funk sounds. It also features collaborations with the US singer-songwriter, composer, pianist, keyboardist, and record producer, Leon Ware, who co-penned three tracks including 'Estrelar'. To complete the album there are tracks such as 'Fogo Do Sol', which is pure AOR / Balaeric vibes, and tracks that are more MPB and pop-inspired, making a well-balanced track list for both home-listening pleasure and dancefloor business.

What could we do to give one of Marcos' most celebrated albums the treatment it deserved and produce the most definitive re-issue possible? The answer was to enlist the services of Miles Showell, Abbey Road Studios Mastering and lacquer-cutting engineer and all-around audio-magician, to cut a special half-speed master edition. Miles had previously worked his half-speed magic on our Arthur Verocai album re-issue, and once again we are totally blown away by the richness which Miles has brought out in his mastering technique. He has enhanced the listening experience and taken this wonderful album to another level.

To celebrate the release we have pressed up several vinyl versions; both standard master, and Miles' half-speed mastering editions on Black vinyl, alongside special limited edition Rose and Mint-Green coloured vinyl variants that were inspired by the audacious-looking cocktails on the cover - sheer 80s excess!

For number 92 in our Brazil45 series, we delve back to another all-time favourite track, 'Embalo Diferente' by Os Devaneios. This sublime funky Samba joint has always ignited the dancefloor for us. It featured on the band's 1978 album, 'O Conjunto Que Faz Você Vibrar’, which originally saw release on EMI. No crazy hype needed for this one, just a fantastic straight-up, no messing Samba Funk made for dancing.

We only know of four albums by Os Devaneios and for the A-side of this 45, we have selected one of our more recent discoveries with a track entitled 'A Beleza É Você Menina'. Taken from their 1979 album 'Raça Suor E Suingue’ (also originally released on EMI), it was recorded only a couple of years after 'Embalo Diferente’. Whilst it remains in that Samba mold, it has also taken on some of the vibe and characteristics of Soul, Brazilian Boogie and AOR from that late 70s and early 80s period. A feel-good and uplifting record, yet one which simultaneously has a hint of melancholy and is all the more beautiful for it. It's always good to discover a new song by an old favourite, and we hope you grow to love it too.

Pink Vinyl
It is with great joy that we present the Mr Bongo edition of Marcos Valle's 1983 self-titled masterpiece. A pure vintage that features the ultimate Brazilian-boogie cult-classic ‘Estrelar’ and iconic 80s cover art that sees a gloriously sun-drenched Marcos dressed in a pink v-neck t-shirt surrounded by a generous selection of deadly-looking neon cocktails.

The album was produced by the legendary Lincoln Olivetti and Marcos' brother Paulo Sérgio Valle. It showcases a real who's who of Brazilian music at the time, with stellar performances from vocalists and musicians such as Rosana, Serginho Do Trombone, Robson Jorge and Oberdan Magalhães to name but a few. This was Marcos’ second album, after having moved back to Brazil from his time living in Los Angeles, and that US influence is evident through its prominent boogie, soul and funk sounds. It also features collaborations with the US singer-songwriter, composer, pianist, keyboardist, and record producer, Leon Ware, who co-penned three tracks including 'Estrelar'. To complete the album there are tracks such as 'Fogo Do Sol', which is pure AOR / Balaeric vibes, and tracks that are more MPB and pop-inspired, making a well-balanced track list for both home-listening pleasure and dancefloor business.

What could we do to give one of Marcos' most celebrated albums the treatment it deserved and produce the most definitive re-issue possible? The answer was to enlist the services of Miles Showell, Abbey Road Studios Mastering and lacquer-cutting engineer and all-around audio-magician, to cut a special half-speed master edition. Miles had previously worked his half-speed magic on our Arthur Verocai album re-issue, and once again we are totally blown away by the richness which Miles has brought out in his mastering technique. He has enhanced the listening experience and taken this wonderful album to another level.

To celebrate the release we have pressed up several vinyl versions; both standard master, and Miles' half-speed mastering editions on Black vinyl, alongside special limited edition Rose and Mint-Green coloured vinyl variants that were inspired by the audacious-looking cocktails on the cover - sheer 80s excess!

Red & Yellow Vinyl

With its first track produced in early 2017 (that crowds worldwide were listening to already in 2018), the OBI THINE XI album by RICO PUESTEL took up the time of 4 years to become the wild-at-heart ride at hand.
The fantasy concept of OBI THINE XI (based on an anagram of the label name EXHIBITION) tells stories from a wonderous kind of holistic place in space with two dualistic layers and velocities of perception present:
On the one side of SPACE, the main plot is based on the idea of an exhibition-walkthrough, representing the culmination of the EXHIBITION label itself. Throughout these acts of promenading from exhibit to exhibit, the journey passes different angles of RICO PUESTEL's musical mindset from the uniquely designed depths of OBI XI or RITUALIST to the blunt uplifts like MODEST or ID (a cooperation with scene-bedrock Tom Wax), finally peaking with the retro-game styled melodies of THINE that close this primal arc.
On the other side of TIME, there's a 12“-exclusive mini-album within the album itself that pays tribute to the vinyl record (and all of its fans) with four tracks at the end of each side, telling tales at their own pace and reflecting their perspective on the main course of the album like reflective and feverish dreamscapes from places without any conception of time.
The union of both layers merges the dualism of space and time, demonstrating the wayward ideas and musical excesses of RICO PUESTEL when it comes to his grasp and definition of Techno music and beyond – you gotta say yes to this excess...

VALHALLA was a Long Island, NY based band comprised of Don KRANTZ (guitar,some bass), Rick AMBROSE (bass,vocals), Eddie LIVINGSTON (drums), Bob HULING (percussion,vocals) and leader Mark MANGOLD (keyboards,vocals) that played a combination of heavy psychedelic blues with powerful symphonic arrangements. The band released their eponymous and only album in 1969, a wildly eclectic affair that at times recalls DEEP PURPLE, PROCOL HARUM, CREAM, ELP, and fellow symph-psych outfits as ROOM. Although the band swings from sixties folk-pop to jazz and the addition of an orchestra lends a pompous, almost cinematic feel to the album, Valhalla was always a psych-blues band, and this influence can be felt across the record. Sadly, Valhalla would not have time to mature their sound and they shortly broke up. However, Mark MANGOLD's love of the organ (among other symphonic keyboards) would continue in his later AOR, heavy keyboard experiments, including the mid-70s group AMERICAN TEARS. VALHALLA is recommended for fans of Deep Purple, as well as fans of the 60s-meets-70s prog-edelic sound.

Tempo Records brings you another new sublabel called TempoSubs. Here we bring Brazilian DJ Andy and he describes the tracks his own words: "A: somente se alcana a sabedoria com ao. AA: a disciplina te leva onde a motivao no pode te levar." meaning something like "Change your mindset".

This beautiful crafted crystal clear limited edition vinyl 12" comes in a new designed Tempo Records high quality "Kraft" outer sleeve and a beautiful innersleeve. All tracks mastered by Stuart Hawkes of Metropolis Mastering, London.

Legendary Brazilian group Orquestra Afro-Brasileira are reborn for first new album in over fifty years, produced by Beastie Boys collaborator Mario Caldato Jr.

Led by maverick composer Abigail Moura, Orquestra Afro-Brasileira were one of the most influential yet overlooked groups in Brazilian music history. Operating for almost thirty years until 1970, they released just two albums - the first of which, Obaluayê, has recently been reissued by Day Dreamer Records - and left behind a legacy of Afro-Brazilian consciousness that continues to resonate today.

Combining Yoruba spirituality, folk tales, Candomblé chants and West African percussion with the instrumentation of the big band jazz tradition in the United States, the Orquestra placed Afro-Brazilian heritage in a new and vital context. Weaving emancipatory narratives into complex poly-rhythms and powerful, syncopated horn lines, the group educated and enlightened all those who saw them perform.

For Abigail’s protégé and percussionist on the group’s 1968 album Carlos Negreiros, the message of the group’s music had a profound impact: “I became aware of what it is to be black,” he says, “discovering the extraordinary potential of the Afro-Brazilian culture in the making of the national ethos.” Now the last remaining member of the original Orquestra, Carlos was tracked down by producer Mario Caldato Jr. - whose credits include Beastie Boys, Marcelo D2 and Seu Jorge among others - to oversee the first new album of Orquestra Afro-Brasileira material since 1968.

“I was overwhelmed with the percussive rhythms, beautiful deep vocals and combined energy,” Caldato Jr. explains. “It felt like the most authentic Brazilian roots music I had ever heard. It was raw and dynamic, a pure organic sound and energy. It was a spiritual experience.”

Alongside arranger Caio Cezar, Carlos assembled his Orquestra to record five tracks at Berna Ceppas’ Estudio Maravilha 8 studio in Rio De Janeiro. With percussion, horns and vocals cut in single takes over three days, the session captured the intuitive, pure and natural spirit of the group in full flow.

Following the success of the initial session, five additional tracks were recorded at the iconic Estudio CIA dos Tecnicos in Copacabana to complete the album. Mixed by Caldato Jr., 80 Anos is a contemporary incarnation of Abigail Moura’s vision, bristling with the flair of the original recordings.

Favorite Recordings proudly presents Deux, second album of French Jazz-Funk quartet Aldorande. In this new chapter, the four explorers pursue their interstellar trip on the Aldorande
planet, deploying their ever deeper love for the 70's Jazz-Funk & Fusion scene. Extending their first
visions of this new world, the bigger-than-life arrangements of this second album reflect again their
high attention to dramatic narrative schemes, breezy Brazilian vibes, tempestuous funky grooves and
strong cosmic melodies from outer space. Classic and contemporary at the same time, Deux is built
for the like-minded souls still looking for the perfect beat.
Twisting time and space but never forcing the groove, the band dives more profoundly into the
Cortex influence of their compositions, with intense female back vocals fitting perfectly into their
cinematographic vision. Like a cry in space, could these esoteric incantations be heard by Aldorande's
divinities? Or will they be more impressed by the super-tight rhythm section with its bangin' basslines
or an irresistible blend of drums and percussion? In the end, they probably would have to surrender
after hearing the infinite echoes of the synthesizers and horns reflecting in the atmosphere. Deep and
thoughtful, the travel has only begun but it seems that so much has already been experienced.
Breaking the code, they opened the gates to a rebirth. One that could be only accomplished by finding
the “Pierre des Mondes”, deeply buried somewhere on Aldorande - the only key to solve the riddle of
the groove. Mission accepted.
You'll find in Aldorande some of the best French jazzmen including bandleader and founder Virgile
Raffaëlli on bass (Setenta & Joe Bataan, Camarão Orkestra), Florian Pellissier on keys (Iggy Pop,
Setenta, Cotonete & Di Melo, …), Mathieu Edouard on drums (Chassol, De La Soul) and Erwan
Loeffel on percussion (Camarão Orkestra, 10LEC6). On this album, they took the initiative to invite
two guests on some tracks: AOR singer Al Sunny and killer guitarist Laurent Guillet (Le Soldat Rose,
Setenta).eir ever deeper love for the 70's Jazz-Funk & Fusion scene. Classic and contemporary at the same time, Deux is built for the like-minded souls still looking for the perfect beat.

Available on November 19th 2021 as Tip-On Vinyl LP & CD.

Portico Quartet announce Monument, the electronic driven follow-up to their acclaimed ambient-minimalist suite Terrain, presenting the band at their most direct

It's rare that a band releases two albums within six months of each other, rarer too that while both are so different, they are both as epochal in terms of the band's output as Terrain and Monument are to Portico Quartet. The irony is that Monument, a stripped-back, intentionally direct album, was the album that the band set out to write in May 2020, before the dream like long-form Terrain came into focus. Briefly they were two halves of the same record, but the band ended up developing these two distinct bodies of work concurrently. And although they were written side-by-side and recorded at the same sessions, they are records best understood as distinct from each other, each with opposing ideas and forms.

Monument is one of Portico Quartet's most accessible, direct records to date. If Terrain addressed the darker side of how Duncan Bellamy and Jack Wyllie made sense of the pandemic, then Monument resonates as an ode to better times. If not quite a dance record, it nonetheless pulses with an energy, radiance and a scalpel sharp focus. Jack Wyllie explains: "It's possibly our most direct album to date. It's melodic, structured and there's an economy to it that is very efficient. There's not much searching or wastage within the music itself, it is all finalised ideas, precisely sculpted and presented as a polished artefact."

Bellamy expands "Monument sits somewhere between our albums Portico Quartet and Art in the Age of Automation. It has perhaps a more overtly electronic edge to its sound – there are more synthesisers and electronic elements than we have used before and the music is often streamlined and rhythmic".

After the ethereal, stage-setting of Opening, the album kicks into overdrive with Impressions, a short energetic track that pairs a club influenced groove with hang drum and close, delicate saxophone. It's the balance between these elements that push and pull the track through a selection of melodic and rhythmic re-configurations, contrasting human touch with a machine-like focus. Ultraviolet is a kaleidoscopic, krautrock inspired track with a haunting introduction and an insistent pulse. The wistful Ever Present builds from a simple piano refrain; a nostalgic melody line floats over the top as drums and bass groove insistently underneath, before reaching a euphoric peak. The title track Monument builds around a looping vocal sample, drums and an enigmatic melody, the ending giving way to a gauzy, weaving synth line. The power here is in its economy and luminosity. AOE flips back and forth, like a dial that's been switched. Mining the tension between a pastoral inflected cello and saxophone melody, with an abrupt shift to jilted live drums, wailing delayed saxophone and a flickering synth line. Warm Data comes straight from the same Portico Quartet tradition as older tracks like Current History and Laker-Boo. It's a marriage of instrumental minimalism with drum machines and synths. Finally, the album closes with On The Light, a track that transmits a sense of suspense and freedom, driven by the twitching drums of Bellamy and evocative sax of Wyllie. It offers the perfect bitter-sweet and evocative ending to Portico Quartet's latest Monument.

LTD. COLORED VINYL

Somewhere Between: Mutant Pop, Electronic Minimalism & Shadow Sounds of Japan 1980–1988 hovers vibe–wise between two distinct poles within Light In The Attic’s acclaimed Japan Archival Series—Kankyō Ongaku: Japanese Ambient, Environmental & New Age Music 1980–1990 and Pacific Breeze: Japanese City Pop, AOR & Boogie 1976–1986. All three albums showcase recordings produced during Japan’s soaring bubble economy of the 1980s, an era in which aesthetic visions and consumerism merged. Music echoed the nation’s prosperity and with financial abundance came the luxury to dream.

Sonically, Somewhere Between mines the midpoint between Kankyō Ongaku’s sparkling atmospherics and Pacific Breeze’s metropolitan boogie. The compilation encompasses ambient pop, underground electronics, liminal minimalism and shadow sounds—all descriptors emphasizing the hazy nature of the nebula. Out–of–focus rhythms wear ethereal accoutrements, ballads are shrouded in static, and angular drums snake skyward on transcendent tones. From the Avant–minimalism of Mkwaju Ensemble and Yoshio Ojima, to the leftfield techno-pop of Mishio Ogawa and Noriko Miyamoto (featuring members of YMO), and highlights from the groundbreaking Osaka underground label Vanity Records, these are blurry constellations defying collective categorization.

These tracks also exist in a space of transition when the major label grip on the Japanese recording market began to give way to the escalation of independents. Thanks to the idyllic economic climate and innovations in domestically–manufactured music gear, creators on the edges were empowered to focus on satisfying their artistic visions in the open headspace of home studios. While labels like Warner Music and Nippon Columbia explored new sounds through traditional channels, it was possible for Vanity, Balcony and other indie labels, not to mention self–released artists like Ojima and Naoki Asai, to publish their work via affordable media such as cassettes, 7" vinyl, and flexi–discs.

Expertly curated by Yosuke Kitazawa and Mark “Frosty” McNeill (dublab), Somewhere Between is a collection of music, much of it released for the first time outside Japan, that is bound more by energetic vibration than shared history, genre or scene. They are the sounds of transition and searching—a celebration of the freedom found in floating.

Note: The track “Days Man” by Yoshio Ojima is only available on the LP and Cassette versions.

Hungry for some modern melodic death metal with ridiculously catchy pop influences? Well, your dinner has just been served. This steaming nine-course setting is called "Origin" and it is honoringly brought into the table by the renowned Finnish heavy metal band Omnium Gatherum. Omnium Gatherum – OG for close friends – has been offering remarkable pieces of melodic death metal for already twenty-five shining years. While storming through these ferocious decades, Omnium Gatherum has convinced worldwide legions of heavy metal lovers by releasing unstoppable musical onslaughts and touring relentlessly all over the world. "Any sort of popularity hasn't come overnight for OG, and rising to that "next level" has sometimes taken a considerably long time, but one thing has been set in stone: progress has been inevitable. In other words: a lot of great things have happened along the way but the journey hasn't been the easiest one", says longtime singer Jukka Pelkonen. ... And recent times are no exception. Contrary to what you might think, we are not talking about a global scourge that gripped the entire world about a year and a half ago. "Although most of the things around "Origin" have been really good – we have never had so much time to compose and sharpen the material for instance –, there have been some serious roadblocks as well. This, of course, has not come as a big surprise as OG was not born under the happiest stars", laughs guitarist extraordinaire and the band founder Markus Vanhala. "Above all, our dear fans should know that since the previous studio effort "The Burning Cold" (2018), half of the band's line-up has changed. I would say quite surprisingly as we haven't really had any major problems, at least to my knowledge." "This internal turmoil lifted dark clouds into the band's vast sky and everything was falling apart... well, for a few hours at least. After that, as many times before, we decided to turn these difficulties into something better!" Before the arrival of "Origin", Omnium Gatherum's colourful discography features eight studio albums, but the newcomer does not pale in comparison. The truth is, in fact, quite the opposite... By the stylish, majestic and melodic splendor of "Origin", it really feels like the band's original style called AORDM – adult oriented death metal – has reached its peak. Well, so far... "Over the years, OG's material has been deliberately moving further away from the anxiety of the windy Northern shores and traditional melodeath's gloomy despair. These days our music is a powerful mixture of older deadly roots and newer AOR-vibes that you get while listening to Survivor and driving a Corvette along the sunny shores of Miami of us, we will not forget the original enthusiasm for playing heavy metal... And therefore we will never give up!"

Our second LP this month is an unreleased magical modern soul LP from the band Coast To Coast, the full story below by band leader Mark Beiner...


I met Ben iverson in 1976 when I was 17 years old. I was a junior at Newtown High School in Elmhurst, Queens. At that time, I took a part time job as a Produce Clerk at Walbaum's Supermarket on Northern Boulevard in Jackson Heights, Queens, where I met Ben Iverson who was the "Frozen Food Manager." In between the music, this job was steady income, and he and his Wife, Diane, started a family and raised two Daughters, Tonia and Cytherea, whom I am still in contact with today.

Back then, I remember going to work early just to talk to him about his musical background and his time spent in the 50's and 60's with the Ohio Doo Wop Group, "The Hornets", or better known as, "Ben Iverson and The Hornets." However, Ben was somewhat quiet and at a loss for words when I questioned him with regard to "Ben Iverson and the Nue Dey Express", as well as his short career as Manager and Songwriter for Brooklyn's own, "Crown Heights Affair" in the early 70's.

Between the 50's and 60's, "Ben Iverson and The Hornets" shared billing at music events with recording artists such as, The Drifter's, Bill Haley and The Comets, Pat Boone, Etta James, Mary Wells, Nancy Wilson, Jackie Wilson, Sam Cooke, Aretha Franklin, Lloyd Price and Al Green. Many of these names got their start in the 50's, which Ben met at music concert events hosted by Radio Disc Jockey, Alan Freed. Alan was truly the first Concert Promoter for Doo Wop, Rhythm & Blues, and early Rock & Roll.

In 1978 after Ben and I discussed getting together and composing music, I started writing poetry and expressing in writing my break up with my college girl friend, Paula Vasta. Paula's middle name was Marie, so in kidding around, I would call her "Paula Marie." Ben thought my lyrics were "powerful" and wanted to put them in music. Thus our first recorded 45 rpm record called "Paula Marie", backed with "I Want You Dear." This launched our musical partnership and within a year, the Coast to Coast Band was formed. Ben and I went on to writing two albums worth of material, which in turn gave us a lot of time and presence on stage at our live gigs.

The regular Coast to Coast Band members consisted of Ben Iverson on Lead Vocals, Rhythm Guitarist and Co-Executive Producer, Joe Crowley, who is known today as "New York Congressman Joe Crowley." Carl (Woody Wood) Morton on Bass Guitar, Jimmy Johnson on Keyboards. Woody and Jimmy used to hang and play rap in its early days with "Run DMC" in St. Albans, Queens. Lead Guitarist, Lou Jimenez, currently owns his own recording studio, Music Labs in Elmont, Long Island. On Drums, Eddie Byam, on Alto Sax, Jay Cohen, who in the 70's used to record for "Gary U.S. Bonds." Gary Pevols on Trumpet. On Bone, Scott Burrows, Trumpet player, Steve Becker, whom we lost to Testicular Cancer at the age of 25, along side Neil Levine, Stan Stockley, Tom Russo and additional members that came and went that we used for live gigs and studio recordings.

In addition, special recognition goes out to our Producer, Recording Engineer and Multi-sound Recording Studio, Owner, Dave Weiner and staff. Dave and I launched Multi-Sound Records under the Multi-Sound label in 1980.

Last, of course myself, Mark Beiner, where I served as Executive Producer, Songwriter, Business/Marketing Manager, and background vocals.

Unfortunately, Ben Iverson passed away on March 21, 2008, and cannot be here to share this with us, but his music and voice still lives on!

THE CHARLATANS proudly announce their (Covid) delayed release of their 30th Anniversary tour and a career spanning best of entitled “A Head Full of Ideas’ Released on Then Recordings through Republic Of Music. ‘A Head Full of Ideas’ sums up their remarkable progress from 1990 Manchester scene hopefuls to one of the UK’s most enduring and best-loved bands. The accompanying tour begins at Belfast, Limelight 22/11/21 and finishes in Aberdeen on 20/12/21.

The band have notched up 13 Top 40 studio albums - three of them number ones - alongside 22 hit singles, four of them top 10. The rollercoaster highs have been accompanied by some shattering lows, any which one of them could have felled a less resilient band, from nervous breakdowns to near bankruptcy and the deaths of two founder members.

Somehow, they have not just carried on but adapted and transformed. The classic Charlatans sound - driving Hammond organ, Northern Soul and house-influenced rhythms, swaggering guitars and Tim Burgess’s sunny yet somehow yearning vocal - is instantly recognisable. And in spite of everything they have been through their music is now more relevant than ever, The Guardian described their last album, Different Days as “one of their best ever”.

As well as a very limited 6 Vinyl box set, there will also be Limited Coloured Triple vinyl LP version and 2CD deluxe of the box set featuring the hits albums plus a bonus live album ‘Trust is For Believers’, and finally a CD or Double LP Vinyl of just the hits albums.

We are always happy to throw you a curve ball, Athens of the North have an LP of our catalog flipped by Scottish beat Maker / Hip-Hop producer extraordinaire Jaisu.

We have always been a huge fan and sorted Jaisu with records whenever he popped down the office for a chat. One day early this year in full covid gear he came down to the studio with some beats from our previous releases and immediately I was like "Man do us an LP" and so the project was born. Jaisu took arms full of vinyl back to his studio in Niddrie and started feeding his MPC.

Doug Payne is a graduate of LaGuardia High School of Music & Art (also known as FAME) in Manhattan NY, and Howard University in Washington D.C. He performed as a member of the Sister Sledge tour ("We are Family") has produced several recordings for quite a few East Coast acts and worked as the Music Director for The Dreamlovers, Eddie Holman, The Coasters and the house-band for the Atlantic City television show Chat-24.

We are happy to present two of his self released singles in full on one long 12". She Is On The Money is a A+ Boogie floor filler this previously unreleased in this full version massive 15 Mins long mix direct from master tape. On the flip we have Doug's first single "Holiday" which was previously 45 only and very hard to find, plus some other mixes of "She is On The Money" from a second tape, HEAT!

Tom Findlay (Groove Armada) and James Alexander Bright's relationship started on Twitter (a place where hope usually goes to die) However, Tom had listened to James' recent release on the radio reached out to chat about working together on some tracks. Over a few months in the studio they created a mountain of work, some of which would feature on Groove Armada's recent 'Edge Of The Horizon' album. Having enjoyed working together so much, they decided to start their own project and Bright & Findlay was born. The first track they worked on together is featured as the lead on this 12" was 'Slow Dance' Funky party track with its feet firmly in 80s boogie territory and. Following tracks seemed to interweave / play alongside each other. Drums machine / chorus laden synths and guitars, and a soulful vocal are a staple of their sound. When Tom and James sent the EP over I was down from 20 seconds into the first track, 80s Boogie, Tangerine dream, Disco rap style rhythms yet totally the...

37 Years after its original release on Egberto Gismonti's Carmo label, Piry Reis' classic Caminho Do Interior album is finally available again. All original tracks are restorated and remastered. 'Idade Média' is added as a bonus track which has only been released as a B-side on the 7" vinyl 'Quase Meio Dia / Idade Média' printed in small amounts in 1974. This deluxe edition is pressed on 180 gram vinyl.

Special word of thanks from Piry himself:

"Agradecimento especial a Egberto Gismonti pelo apoio constante ao meu trabalho como compositor." - Special thanks to Egberto Gismonti for his constant support in my work as a composer.

THE NIGHT FLIGHT ORCHESTRA is back! The band that formed as an idea of friends from several well known rock/metal bands (SOILWORK, ARCH ENEMY, MEAN STREAK) back almost a decade ago and has been dropping jaws ever since. With 5 albums already under their belt, 2 nominations for the Swedish Grammies, countless live shows and praises from fans and media alike, TNFO have steadily upped their game when it comes to paying tribute to a decade that influences all sorts of people and even industries to this day - the 80s. With hits like ‘Domino’, ‘Lovers In The Rain’, ‘West Ruth Ave’, ‘Divinyls’ or ‘This Time’, the band manages to maintain a variety of vibes and emotions within every album. From hard rockers, poppy digressions to progressive epics, disco-esque songs and almost cheesy yet loveable ballads.

Enter 2020, TNFO had just released their recent record, ‘Aeromantic’, and kicked off their European tour in support of it, when the Covid-19 pandemic hit. Björn Strid, the AOR dictator helming this exceptional collective called NFO, recalls “We made it one week into the tour after some absolutely amazing shows and then it all went south and we had to go home. Just about everyone on the tour got sick when they came home, with varied conditions.”
The band didn’t step back and accept the situation but decided to do what they do best instead: “It was pretty clear after some months into the Covid madness, that it was here to stay and that we weren’t gonna be able to tour for quite some time. So we made the best out of it. The remedy was simply to hit the studio again as soon as everybody was well again. It ended up being an incredibly creative 1,5 years and so many amazing songs came out of it.”

That being said, the second part of the ‘Aeromantic’ saga really captures what this band is all about: being in motion and romanticizing traveling, sometimes even with a broken heart - accompanied by the good things in life. Namely with songs like ‘White Jeans’, yet another jaw dropping classic rock gem about hot young love, cramped with nostalgia, or ‘Change’, which encompasses all the vibes you know from your favorite decade: Urgency, emotion, warmth and excitement. But also groovy danceable songs like ‘Chardonnay Nights’, a groovy, dreamy, yet uplifting homage to parties and hot love, or ‘Burn For Me’, a true feel good anthem for the summer - driving people to dance in the streets, all worries aside, to a brighter future.

On the other hand there are tracks like the almost progressive ‘Amber Through A Window’. A little throwback (at least titular) to the NFO’s epic 2017 album ‘Amber Galactic’: “Amber is with us wherever we go and I think she’ll keep coming back. She’s our mascot of escapism. The song was very interesting to compose. It takes you on quite a journey with key changes and goes from minor to major when you least expect it and throws you between different set of emotions. At the same time it feels pretty direct and operates like a mini epos. Really happy with how it turned out“, cites Strid.

Besides all this, the band has also stepped up their game when it comes to music videos for their timeless anthems. “White Jeans” for instance features Swedish TV personality Fredrik Lexfors and is a sweet little homage to the LGBTQIA+ community. “Fredrik is a good friend of mine and has loads of experience in the musical/theatre world and is super creative. He created this character called ”Kantorn” (The Cantor) some years ago and became a hit on YouTube. He has a very twisted and unique way of singing and acting, which is very funny. He was a part of Sweden’s Got Talent TV Show and went really far and became a crowd favorite. Fredrik has a lot of friends in the LGBTQIA+ community and I also have quite a few. We saw it as a joyful tribute and we’ve only gotten really good response. It’s of course also humorous but has a very nice balance and a very positive message.”

The bold and jovial video for “Burn For Me” on the other hand maybe among the biggest and best productions, the NFO ever recorded for the depths of the internet: “I’ve had this idea to film a ”Dancing in the Streets” video, where curious people come out of the woodworks and join the party in the streets. It’s a very classic 80’s scenario and very common in videos back then. Sort of the video to IRENE CARA’s ”Fame”. You don’t see it very often these days. We felt that it was needed and after “Burn For Me” was done I immediately envisoned it being the perfect ”post corona dancing celebration in the streets-song”.”

Those two videos are by far not everything the band will have to offer visually, but we won’t tell any more just for now. To be continued…

With all that new greatness up their sleeves, NFO are ready to take the world by storm – again! Even though coming up with a setlist for their scheduled tour starting in September may prove to become problematic according to the AOR Dictator: “Making a setlist might end up being a nightmare haha… I would be up for doing only songs off »Aeromantic I« and »Aeromantic II« since that’s really where we’re at right now, but I think most of our the Midnight Flyers would like to hear some old stuff, too. Maybe we could get away with it as long as we play “West Ruth Ave” as the ending song and create the good old conga train?”

Francesco Cavaliere and Tomoko Sauvage embody a tactile audio visual display, radiating the color green into sounds and painting meditative music. By transforming collected objects into invented instruments and scenography, each motif becomes a dedication to a specific situation, an anecdote or a symbol, sometimes real and other times absurd, that the artists have encountered through their travels and conversations: the Chinese myth about a man wearing a green hat, naming convention of Japanese traffic lights, or even the imaginary chants of frolicking twin dolphins. This inspired the duo’s personal research on experimenting with raw and synthesized idiophones, stage landscape design, spontaneous field recording and organized improvisation.

For their installation and performance, Cavaliere and Sauvage assemble a green cabinet of curiosities - instrumentarium combining water, glass, clay, bamboo xylophones, metallophones and synthesizers. Tomoko describes in an interview: “When you are actually surrounded by green musical instruments, it has a calming effect as if you were looking at a forest or mountain.” Surrounding themselves with amulets and fluorescent fluids, the duo transcend into a musical imagination that connects scores, choreography and sculpture. Motions like crisscrossing the stage, feeling the presence of a perfectly plump leaf as it strikes a glass bowl, minerals slipping through fingers, all resonate to the soothing sounds of splashing water. There’s an intuitive yet methodical nature to this conceptual approach to composition reminiscent of the fluxus art movement. The pair’s initial motif was to play Henning Christiansen’s Green Music, whose score turned to be nonexistent. By then, their green dream was already flourishing in their mind, retracing the path of so-called environmental music from Walter Tilgner, Knud Viktor, to the likes of Kankyo-Ongaku and Hiroshi Yoshimura.

Since there is a strong visual element to their work, witnessing this captivating site specific performance may be imperative in understanding the range and influence of the color green and the impact on the sounds they create together. On ‘Viridescens’, the first release by Cavaliere and Sauvage, we are invited to experience these recordings in a more musical context. Acting like an intermediary, the duo transport us to their special planet, enlivened by animal voices, wind, and aquatic creatures dancing across a luminous aurora.

Mara TK, a golden voiced, Maori-Scottish world-wandering citizen of Aotearoa (New Zealand) announces his debut solo album 'Bad Meditation', released 7th May on Extra Soul Perception. Stepping out on his own, Mara TK is the former frontman of the acclaimed Kiwi future soul trio Electric Wire Hustle. Written and produced by Mara himself, 'Bad Meditation' is his 13 track opus, a deeply personal account of heritage, love, loss and healing.

An alumnus of Red Music Academy in Toronto, Mara TK's work beyond Electric Wire Hustle has seen him collaborate with critically lauded names including Om'Mas Keith of Sa-Ra Creative Partners, Detroit producer and J Dilla collaborator Waajeed, and Steve Spacek.

Extra Soul Perception is a collaboration and community music platform that started life between the UK, Kenya and Uganda but is now continuing to grow and connect independent musicians worldwide. Now with Mara TK added to the roster, Extra Soul Perception has released music by Lex Amor, K15, Maxwell Owin, Lynda Dawn, Hibotep, Karun, Labdi, Faizal Mostrixx and more.

*Nb: The solo version of 'Met At The River' is a digital exclusive only.

Delicate Wash returns to tease and please once again with a bright cocktail of mind-melding melodies accompanied by stiff drum machine rhythms.

Four piquant party starters pulled from the shores of a vintage future-scape where the horizon glows from a perpetual sunset, and there's just enough gravity to keep your feet bouncing on the sand.
Versatile, balanced and blendable, Delicate Wash #5 contains all the ingredients for you to build your own seductive sonic universe!

Tonnon produced the album with longtime collaborator, and The Beths’ guitarist and producer, Jonathan Pearce. Tonnon wrote the bulk of the songs during an extensive period of touring after the release of Successor - a period where Tonnon performed with Nadia Reid in Europe, The Veils in the USA, and The Chills, The Phoenix Foundation and Don McGlashan in New Zealand. The pair workshopped songs between tours, often recording new parts as the live versions developed.

Tonnon and Pearce recorded between 2017 and 2020, and in that time, Tonnon’s practise evolved heavily. He incorporated new technology into his set, including the Wellington-designed Synthstrom Deluge, which allowed him to adapt his set for new performance environments;Art Galleries, Museums, even New Zealand Fashion Week. He took that technology further when he collaborated with the Otago Museum on the immersive show for Planetariums, A Synthesized Universe, which travelled to Arts Festivals around New Zealand in 2019.

Creating a music video for ‘Old Images,’ which explored a lost passenger train network, Tonnon came to the idea for a new experience-based show called Rail Land. It took audiences on railways to reach distant community halls around Aotearoa. The show saw Tonnon combine historical research and spoken word narrative, with the immersive lighting and musical technology he developed for A Synthesized Universe. In March, Rail Land finished a three-night run at Auckland Arts Festival, cementing Tonnon’s move to the concept show.

Over time, Tonnon and Pearce’s production moved further from the traditional rhythm sections that powered songs like Successor’s ‘Water Underground.’ In their place came off kilter electronic rhythms, like the beat in ‘Two Free Hands,’ and textures that blur lines between organic and synthesized sound. Guitars are set against synthesizers, and drums against drum machines in ‘Entertainment’ and ‘Peacetime Orders,’ which Tonnon also used in his soundtrack for RNZ’s 80s spy-themed podcast The Service. In ‘Leave Love Out Of This,’ a ballad starts with a piano and a string quartet, but ends in a wall of electronic sound.

The constant has been Tonnon’s lyrics. Whether singing about evolution and the future of work in ‘Two Free Hands,’ the television industry in ‘Entertainment,’ or environmental disaster and regulatory failure in ‘Mataura Paper Mill,’ Tonnon has followed a distinct approach to subject matter, description and phrasing that have seen him longlisted for the APRA Silver Scroll three times.

Tonnon’s explorations of local government and civic infrastructure in his work - an unusual preoccupation for a songwriter, have taken new meaning in his adopted home of Whanganui, where last year, he was elected by councillors as Whanganui District Council’s representative for public transport.

After Tonnon moved to Whanganui, and Pearce toured almost constantly after the success of The Beths’ first album, the pair conducted their collaboration over distance, but with key sessions at Pearce’s Karangahape Road studio, including drums and bass with long time band members Stuart Harwood and David Flyger, a string quartet led by Charmian Keay and arranged by Matthew Bodman, and additional drums with The Beths’ Tristan Deck.

As Leave Love Out Of This is released, Tonnon and Pearce find themselves in very different places to where they started, working on Auckland’s Karangahape Road, close to the venues like Wine Cellar and Whammy Bar where they regularly performed. Back in New Zealand since Covid, Pearce has had to adjust to being in one of Aotearoa’s best-known bands, while Tonnon, when not working on conceptual shows, wrestles with how to restore civic infrastructure to a post industrial city in the regions.

Created over a life-altering period of, Leave Love Out Of This is the culmination of years of experimentation and development - with new technology, new sounds, and new ways of creating, and performing music.

Summer has arrived and with it our first club release in ages, a high energy burner by KΣITO from Tokyo, Japan. We are more than excited to welcome this talented MPC finger drummer Keito Suzuki to fiery post-lockdown dance floors. He draws inspiration from the South African Gqom and percussive music, and in his own stately way he merges big room intensity with an experimental explosion of weirdness. Expect bare bones techno, full of earworm hooks. Tolouse Low Trax and Kӣr complement this record with a bunch of psychedelic remixes, creating a great balanced journey.

Artwork by Marta Marinotti.