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Studio One was founded by Clement "Coxsone" Dodd1 in 1954, and the first recordings were cut in 1963 on Brentford Road in Kingston.1[2] Amongst its earliest records were "Easy Snappin" by Theophilus Beckford, backed by Clue J & His Blues Blasters, and "This Man is Back" by trombonist Don Drummond. Dodd had previously issued music on a series of other labels, including World Disc, and had run Sir Coxsone the Downbeat, one of the largest and most reputable sound systems in the Kingston ghettos.
In the early 1960s, the house band providing backing for the vocalists were the Skatalites[3] (1964–65), whose members (including Roland Alphonso, Don Drummond, Tommy McCook, Jackie Mittoo, Lester Sterling and Lloyd Brevett) were recruited from the Kingston jazz scene by Dodd. The Skatalites split up in 1965 after Drummond was jailed for murder, and Dodd formed new house band the Soul Brothers (1965–66), later named the Soul Vendors (1967) and Sound Dimension (1967-). From 1965 to 1968 they played 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., 5 days a week, 12 rhythms a day (about 60 rhythms a week) with Jackie Mittoo as music director, Brian Atkinson (1965–1968) on bass, Hux Brown on guitar, Harry Haughton (guitar), Joe Isaacs on drums (1966–1968), Denzel Laing on percussion, and on horns (some initially and some throughout): Roland Alphonso, Dennis 'Ska' Campbell, Bobby Ellis, Lester Sterling, among others on horns during the era of Rock Steady. Headley Bennett, Ernest Ranglin, Vin Gordon and Leroy Sibbles were included among a fluid line-up, to record tracks directed by Jackie Mittoo at Studio One from 1966-1968.
During the night hours at Studio One from 1965-1968, singers like Bob Marley, Burning Spear, The Heptones, The Ethiopians, Ken Boothe, Rita Marley, Marcia Griffiths, Judy Mowatt, Alton Ellis, Delroy Wilson, Bunny Wailer[4] and Johnny Nash, among others, would put on headphones to sing lyrics to original tracks recorded by the Soul Brothers earlier each day. These seminal recordings included "Real Rock" (by Sound Dimension), "Heavy Rock", "Jamaica Underground", "Wakie Wakie", "Lemon Tree", "Hot Shot", "I'm Still In Love With You", "Dancing Mood", and "Creation Rebel".
Jackie Mittoo, Joe Isaacs, and Brian Atkinson left Studio One in 1968, recorded drums and bass for Desmond Dekker's and Toots' biggest hits at other Kingston studios, then moved to Canada. Hux Brown stayed in Jamaica to record on the soundtrack The Harder They Come, The Harder They Fall, and toured in Nigeria with Toots and the Maytals and Fela Kuti. The Soul Brothers (a.k.a. Sound Dimension) formed the basis of reggae music in the late 1960s, being versioned and re-versioned time after time over decades by musicians like Shaggy, Sean Paul, Snoop Lion, The Clash, String Cheese Incident, UB40, Sublime, and countless other Billboard originals and remakes trying to emulate their original Rock Steady sound at Coxsone's Studio One.
The label and studio were closed when Dodd relocated to New York City in the 1980s.

Wewantsounds is delighted to reissue Brion Gysin"s cult avant funk album produced by Ramuntcho Matta in the early 80"s. The hugely influential Gysin who, with his friend William Burroughs, was revered by the likes of David Bowie, Brian Jones, Laurie Anderson, Genesis P-Orridge, is accompanied here by Matta - on his return from a two-year spell in New York - and French post punk stalwarts Yann Le Ker (from the group Modern Guy) and Frederic Cousseau (from Suicide Romeo) plus special guests including Don Cherry, Elli Medeiros, Lizzy Mercier Descloux, Caroline Loeb and Senegalese drummer Prosper Niang (Xalam). This is the first time the album is reissued on vinyl, newly remastered from the original tapes, augmented with bonus tracks and a 2 page colour insert featuring new liner notes by Gysin scholar Jason Weiss.

The Ganjas Meets Nairobi. The Space Rock of the Chileans together with the Dub of the Argentines. First time on vinyl celebrating 10th anniversary. Sounding laid-back and incisive at once, crisp production and rock sensibilities. The Ganjas are one of the best exponents of Chilean Space Rock and a fundamental-must-listen to understand the new Chilean psychedelic scene of the last decade. They began 25 years ago with long jam -kind -of-playing, with steady drum beats and simple basslines, but adding innovative and colorful lyrics and synths, without never losing the song structure. On the other side of the Andes, the eclectic by nature Nairobi laid the groundwork for a new style in Dub. Since 2009 they had released 3 studio albums and worked with the best legendary Dub producers: Mad Professor, Lee “Scratch” Perry and Sly & Robbie. Touring the same year 2014 in Chile they coincided with The Ganjas at BYM Studios for an unforgettable session that brought this recording, that boasts an intricate rhythm, sumptuous keyboards, and soaring guitars offering elastic grooves, disembodied vocals, and deep bass lines. The album itself revisits the past while also looking to the future. The songs are particularly creative, with the Bob Marley & The Wailers cover ‘The Heathen’ totally revitalized and other passages like ‘Pastor’ and ‘Eagle & Snake’ that travel through an incredible mix of styles, brilliantly blending Trip-Hop, Dub FXs from soundboard, a Brian Jones-esque style slide guitar, and songs like ‘Soul Salvation’ that brings an steady reggae beat with genius saxophones lines from Ignacio Czornogas (King Krule). Mastered by Cem Oral at Jamming Masters (Berlin). AVAILABLE 300 BLACK VINYLS. For fans of: Primal Scream (Echo Dek), Sumo, Dub Syndicate-Murder Tone, Upsetters, Peaking Lights, Peter Tosh-Mama Africa.

When it comes to warming, quality, life-affirming live blends of house and disco, Italian duo Micky More and Andy Tee are in a league of their own. Logo Side Sees "Celebrate” Feat. Kathy Brown & Sheree Hicks; A beautiful original song with a great energetic two-voice chorus full of intensity; Hypnotic guitars and explosive strings surround the voices of Kathy Brown and Sheree Hicks. Feel-good house music with disco and soulful influences. On The Flip “So Wide Open” Feat. Angela Johnson is a horn-heavy, disco and funky-fired organic house number. Quality dance music as we like it.

DJ Support: David Morales, Dimitri From Paris, Dave Lee, Simon Dunmore, David Penn, Michael Gray, Brian Tappert, Melvo Baptist, Seamus Haji, Terry Hunter, DJ Spen, Hector Romero, Dr. Packer, Kenny Carpenter; Jellybean Benitez, Husky, Birdee, Derrick McKenzie, Angelo Ferreri.

Part of The Optic Sevens 5.0 Reissue Series.
Limited to 500 copies worldwide . Pressed on Blue Vinyl . Includes poster.
By 1986 Nikki Sudden had found a home at Creation Records releasing Texas.
Widely considered Sudden’s solo magnum opus,. Co-produced by Sudden and his brother Epic Soundtracks, Texas is a masterpiece. Like Young’s After the Gold Rush or the Rolling Stones’ Sticky Fingers, Texas holds together as a damaged, atmospheric take on Americana. At this time in rock history, Sudden was nearly alone in referencing Brian Wilson’s Smile album.
Jangle Town was the opening track and only single that was taken from the album. This reissue uses the 12” artwork

In January 1983, Minor Threat went into Inner Ear Studio for the first time as a five - piece (Brian Baker had moved from bass to second guitar and Steve Hansgen was now playing bass).

They had six new songs that would end up being the centrepiece of what became the ‘’Out of Step’’ 12" EP. The band had also decided to re-record the song "Out of Step" with some extra language to try to clarify the lyrics, as well as "Cashing In", a tongue-in-cheek song about the DC punk scene which they had only played live once.

After much debate, "Cashing In" was added as a hidden track on the original vinyl release though not listed on the cover or label. There was still blank tape on the reel, so they decided to record an instrumental with the working title, "Addams Family" and then recorded new versions of "In My Eyes" and "Filler" to hear what they sounded like with two guitars.

"Addams Family" ended up being used as a coda to "Cashing In", but the other two songs were never mixed and largely forgotten for over 35 years until the multitrack tapes were taken into the studio to be digitized in 2021.

Surprised by the discovery, Ian and Don Zientara mixed the two songs along with the complete take of "Addams Family". These outtakes are now being released on a 7" to mark the 40th anniversary of the release of ‘’Out of Step’’.

Impossible to find in the wild, KPM's Image is exactly that; this record paints extraordinary, hyper-vivid scenes with music, in the way only the library greats can. Originally released in 1974, Image is an absolutely stunning listen from start to finish, and arguably the most wanted KPM grail that's still not been reissued - until now! Just too good…

Worth the price of admission alone, and likely the reason you're all already drooling about this release, the mellow, dramatic beat of "Image", Brian Bennett's opener and title track, is a Jaylib-sampled firecracker. A reflective, scenic underscore which grows to full orchestra and ends as it begins - it's just beautiful. Next up, swoon to "The Little Orphan" by Neil Richardson featuring strings and harp. It's a deeply emotive, sweeping orchestral piece. Just straight gorgeous. It's followed by "Paradise Island", a lush, horizontal Balearic gem courtesy of Gordon Rees and David Gold; it'll send you into a blissful reverie with its elegant strings and gentle drums. From the same pair, "Forbidden Fruit" is, again, string-drenched but the strings are more insistent, stabbing even, and, with drums and Blaxploitation guitars high up in the mix, it's definitely a funkier proposition. "The Enchantress", again a Rees-Gold special, is a slower, groovy, synthy wonder. Closing out the A-Side, "Phenomena" is a mysterious gem, a Gold solo effort set at a breezier tempo with propulsive percussion and head nod, fast-paced breaks with ace keys.

Flip over for "Infinite Expanse", John Scott's dramatic panorama adorned with proud, triumphant horns. Scott's "Static Objects" paints patient, pastoral scenes; there's a serenity and stillness to the proceedings. Next up, Be With favourite John Fiddy delivers shifting shapes and patterns with his wonderful "Metamorphosis", all wah wah, harps, dramatic percussion and strings. It's by turns billowy and blasting. "Cubist Pictures" follows, Neil Richardson's brilliant nebulous, fragmentary piece. Better yet, Richardson's gorgeous, beatless "Analysis" follows, and it's an orchestral beauty featuring cello, harps and woodwind. It's no exaggeration to describe this as transcendental. His "Crystal Ball" presents more static scenes with cello, twinkling percussion and strings, before Steve Gray's fantastically-titled softly-ace "Gliding Through Clouds" closes out this remarkable set.

As with all of our KPM re-issues, the audio for Image comes from the original analogue tapes and has been remastered for vinyl by Be With regular Simon Francis. And as usual, the sleeve reproduction duties were handed over to Richard Robinson, the current custodian of KPM’s brand identity.

Saxon proudly release their latest album Hell, Fire And Damnation on January 19th 2024, and when internationally-renowned actor Brian Blessed OBE delivers a proclamation for opening track, “The Prophecy”, expectations are automatically high. Have no fear and make no mistake, Saxon meet and exceed them on their 24th studio release, creating a superlative British Heavy Metal classic which strides the perfect line between confident, current power, and gloriously irreverent flexing of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal muscle which Saxon co-created.

Third album from Brooklyn, NY singer/songwriter/guitarist/harpist Lizzie No; first album with a label partner Let’s start with this: genre is a construct. To categorize artists might make it easier to organize record stores and playlists but there’s no one term that could define any artist, least of all one like Lizzie No (she/her/they/them). You could say that Lizzie No makes “Americana” music, in that her work pulls from the rhythms and traditions of Blues, Folk, and Country — not unlike the artists to whom she’s most often compared: Allison Russell, Rhiannon Giddens and Adia Victoria — but her collaborations with Brian Dunne, Pom Pom Squad and Domino Kirkie display an undeniable Indie influence that allows No to move frequently and seamlessly between overlapping musical circles. You could say that Lizzie No writes “protest” songs, in that as a Queer, Black woman, her entire existence is a living, breathing, singing protest against a genre and a country that, on their best days, are reluctant to reckon with the very foundations upon which they were built.

The Weeklings new studio album release featuring eight new Weeklings originals plus stylized covers of "I've Just Seen A Face", "She's Leaving Home", "I'm On Fire" and "Mr Soul".

Second ist der Nachfolger ihres selbstbetitelten Debütalbums von 2021. Dead Best nimmt die rohen, pandemischen Ausdrucksformen zweier Punk-Veteranen auf und verfeinert sie in 13 mitreißenden Tracks. Die LP ist ein kurzes, aber klares Profil der gemeinsamen kreativen Stimme von Goren und Sokel, die mit stampfenden Gitarren und verzweifelten, verzerrten Vocals tiefe Ängste zum Ausdruck bringen. Die langjährigen Freunde Adam Goren und Brian Sokel gingen Ende der 90er und Anfang der 2000er Jahre in der Punkszene von Philadelphia getrennte Wege.

Während Sokel Riffs in die Dub- und Hardcore-Mischung Franklin einbrachte und der primäre Songwriter und Multiinstrumentalist von AM/FM war, die eine Reihe von Alben auf Polyvinyl Records veröffentlichten, spielte Goren in den Punkbands Fracture und Armalite und erforschte die Verwendung von Sequenzern in seinem exzentrischen Soloprojekt Atom and His Package. Mit ihren jeweiligen Projekten tourten die beiden gemeinsam durch die USA und Kanada, veröffentlichten die Musik des jeweils anderen auf selbst gegründeten Labels, und Goren zollte sogar Sokels Band auf dem Atom and His Package-Track For Franklin" Tribut.

Change Everything is an apposite title for this album, the first since Waking
Hours, their breakthrough record which had appeared in 1989. Starting off as a
janglesome Scottish indie group, Del Amitri had developed into a west- coast
influenced leftfield pop act, and now with the wind of success in their hair (after
the protracted build of Waking Hours), the group – Justin Currie, Iain Harvie,
David Cummings, Andy Alston and Brian McDermott – paired up with producer Gil
Norton and crafted a handsome rock album to capitalise on their success.
It's a varied, expansive selection. Ballads are represented by the delightful First
Rule Of Love and Be My Downfall, but it is the uptempo numbers that shine,
typified by Change Everything's lead single, Always The Last To Know, a No 11 hit
in the UK and a No 30 stateside. All 12 tracks emphasise just how important Del
Amitri were to 'the other 90s': straightforward, intelligent music, away from the
headline fads

In 2006, THE DRAFT was formed by Hot Water Music members Jason Black, George Rebelo, and Chris Wollard shortly after singer/guitarist Chuck Ragan's departure. The three remaining members of the band wanted to continue making music together but chose not to continue under the Hot Water Music name, opting for a fresh start instead. The initial writing and demo sessions included the legendary punk rock guitarist Brian Baker (known for Minor Threat, Dag Nasty, Bad Religion). However, due to conflicting schedules, Baker couldn't commit as a full-time member, leading fellow Florida resident and former Discount member Todd Rockhill to join the band. After releasing their debut album "In a Million Pieces" (produced by the esteemed Brian McTernan) on Epitaph Records in 2006, the band embarked on extensive tours with acts like Samiam, The Gaslight Anthem, and Paint It Black. They also released several singles on the renowned No Idea Label before disbanding in 2008. With both "In a Million Pieces" and all 7" records being out of print for years, THE DRAFT has now teamed up with End Hits Records and Equal Vision Records to release a deluxe vinyl version on double vinyl. For the first time, you can find every track ever recorded by THE DRAFT: Included are the twelve album tracks, six songs featured on three 7" records, two unreleased demo versions, as well as four songs recorded during a radio session in the UK that have never been released before. Not only were all songs remastered specifically for vinyl by Brian McTernan, and detailed liner notes have been added to tell the band's history from beginning to end, but the packaging has also been completely overhauled. A special feature for collectors: the European and American versions come in different gatefold covers, which together form a complete work of art.

Ever wondered what a Brian Wilson solo album
from 1969 would sound like?
Look no further. (No A.I. needed...)
Exquisitely arranged by ex-Animal Vic Briggs and
featuring several Wrecking Crew musicians who
also played on Pet Sounds, MARK ERIC’s A
Midsummer’s Day Dream is a unique blend of
Beach Boys/Four Freshmen sensibilities coupled
with wistful, lush surf psychedelia.
Defiantly soft, the 1969 LP captured the tail end
of L.A.’s pop innocence perfectly, just as it
slipped into infinity. First time on vinyl since its
original release.
Coming this summer! Our 2002 & 2009 CD reissues
of A Midsummer’s Day Dream caught the soft pop
collector’s world entirely off guard: Very few
were aware of the LP’s existence, and the
reaction was united: A masterpiece was
unleashed and a new generation of daydreamers
was born! The result was glowing reviews in MOJO
and UNCUT, a Japanese edition, as well as soaring
prices for the original long out-of-print vinyl
pressing. The full-colour gatefold jacket includes
EXCLUSIVE, rare photos, and UPDATED and
EXPANDED liner notes that feature the
participation of Mark Eric himself. Reissue
produced, annotated, and designed by STEVE
STANLEY.

Soul To Burn features highly inventive and memorable avant-rock songs by trio of celebrated musicians, Reciprocate. The germ of the notion that would flower into Soul To Burn came when Reciprocate’s vocalist/guitarist Stef Kett reflected on the idea of funk rock. It ought, he thought to himself, be the best of genres but so often in practice it ends up being the poorest. True enough. Kett decided to approach the problem from a fresh angle, multiple fresh angles, grinding angles, creating an “alt-soul” in which the soul gets to stretch and burn, applied with the power of a rock’n’roll trio but dynamism and agility, rather than cumbersome bulkiness. Reciprocate is a super-group made up of highly celebrated musicians from the UK DIY music scene – their singular, searing-hot power conjured by Stef Kett (Shield Your Eyes) in tandem with drummer Henri Grimes (Shield Your Eyes, Big Lad) and Marion Andrau (The Wharves, Underground Railroad) on bass. The result is the excellent Soul To Burn, which proceeds at a cadence all of its own, halting and blasting, ducking and weaving, zooming away from its distant cousins: Taste era Rory Gallagher or Mr Zoot Horn Rollo of Captain Beefheart’s Magic Band. That’s particularly evident on “Self Regarding Floor Sweepings”, with echoes of “When Big Joan Sets Up” from Beefheart’s Trout Mask Replica, especially with Kett’s added harmonica as the trio hit the winding dirt track, slaloming and swerving. Here is an album of full throttle soul, an avant-rock made up of ear worms so intoxicating they borrow from deep in the mind down deeper into the heart – it’s the cool, weighty groove of Tony Joe White leathering it at full throttle, fuelled by virtuosic back beats that remind of somewhere between the rolling rock of Mitch Mitchell and the fractured noisebeat of Lightning Bolt’s Brian Chippendale: immediate, innovative, virtuosic, exhilarating. Key to the impact of Soul To Burn is Grimes’ drumming, a force unto itself, which sometimes feels like it’s engaged in a creative and playful tussle with Kett’s virtuosic vibrato guitar. Take “Rhodia”, which sounds initially like a radical reworking, an anagram of Free’s “All Right Now”, on which Grimes doesn’t so much hit the groove as hammer it into the ground. Reciprocate tend to be averse to mere repetition, too full as they are of ideas, possibilities. But they know how to hit a riff, as on “Pissed Hymn”. Kett’s vocals are unconventionally impassioned - no vibrato or performative hollering. Rather they climb, up and and again up from the pit of the soul. There’s a sense throughout that this music is hard wrought, squeezed through small apertures, produced against the odds, born to trouble as the sparks fly upwards. There are quieter moments, however, such as the exquisitely beautiful “Ressypressocate”, which affirm the ultimately tender place from where this album proceeds, notes plucked like black flowers, twisted and cherished. Reciprocate demonstrate an astonishing virtuosity, nuance and musical sensitivity manifested through their deep mutual understanding and synergetic interactions. There are moments of sync and camaraderie that remind of the very late Beatles, those rare moments during the Let It Be Era when they loosened up, reassumed their old understanding. But then Kett’s lets fly with a long, looming note and suddenly we’re somewhere else again. With Soul To Burn, Reciprocate set out their stall of intoxicating, super catchy good-time, big heart music – a human album delivering a human message of love and love lost. By the album’s end, you’ll feel pushed and pulled through the mill, wiped out, blissfully exhausted, strangely serene

KID FRANCESCOLI, leader of the French Riviera Touch is back with the stellar album SUNSET BLUE out Sept 22nd 2023.

After a first sold-out world tour (over 200 concerts in Europe, USA, Asia...), and successful hits such as Nopalitos, Blow Up or Moon (now certified diamond, with more than 200 millions streams), the Marseille-based producer, crooner and multi-instrumentalist, Mathieu Hocine, is eager to share his most accomplished LP ever. This fine collection of soulful songs honor his Mediterranean roots, with elegant and pop melodies. His most recent success and the creation of his first original soundtrack with AZURO, installed him as one of the best French songwriters of his generation, with a unique signature sound.

"I live in Marseille, I spent my childhood in Corsica, I have Algerian origins, my first vacations with friends were in Barcelona, vacations with my first girlfriend in Roma,... Then, I had the chance to perform in Morocco, Greece, Turkey and Egypt: each time I spent time in the Mediterranean region, the people I met there made me feel like I was part of the same country. This shared multiculturalism is really comforting, it has its own poetry and strength, bringing uniqueness and empathy to the people. It is essential for me. I love my city: it’s the perfect place to feel good with sun, sea, family, friendships, love... It gets me emotional, bringing tears with a smile".

With his new musical gem, Mathieu Hocine unveils 11 elegant tunes of his finest craft: sunbathed French Touch (Run Run, 1986), romantic chillwave (Corsica), uplifting synthpop (You Are Everywhere, Like Magic), electronic-soul (Casino Soul), cinematic disco (Solaris), cosmic R&B (Sweet and Sour, Take Time), … Everything is in this record.

For the first time ever, Kid Francescoli paid tribute to his mixed origins with his collaboration with world-renowned lute and mandolin player Hakim Hamadouche (Rachid Taha, Patti Smith, Brian Eno, Tricky...), whom added Algerian patterns to the introspectives songs Drift in Blue and The Morning After.

"My ambition is to create pictures in people's heads with music, to transport them instantly into a movie"

SUNSET BLUE is an instant-crush album: crystal-clear, strong, personal but universal at the same time.

It's an ecstatic soundtrack for this moment when time is suspended, the golden hour when everything seems possible. It feels like Love is in the air, you're living your best life and you're at the right place at the right time. This album embodies this magic moment where we would like to last forever… Like an epiphany, Kid Francescoli's new album is a moment of pure pleasure, a soothing way to escape reality.

"I see myself as a melodist.I would like my music to feel like velvet. There's something cinematic, classy about it, and yet comforting. It's very simple, popular and synonym of love and passion"

His friend French 79 co-produced the album, while the american rapper Bamby H2O brought his NYC swag (on Sweet & Sour), Stan Neff (Polo & Pan, Kungs, Christine and the Queens...) took care of the mix and Alex Gopher (Daft Punk, The Blaze, Bon Entendeur...) added a final touch of magic when mastering. Nicolas Despis (known for his work with Etienne Daho, Hoshi, Juliette Armanet... and many famous French rappers) later joined this dream-team to craft custom-made artworks. SUNSET BLUE is a deeply personal quest, a human adventure for Mathieu Hocine (whom explores his maghrebian origins, his feminine side, his subconscious space, ...). It's a male's work, but don't get it wrong, this LP would be nothing without women’s touch : Julietta (on Run Run and Take Time), Sarah Gaugler from Turbo Goth (on You Are Everywhere and Like Magic), and iOni (on Drift in Blue).

“Music has this magical power to broaden your vision of the world. It's fascinating because, like dreams, it's the kind of irrational things science can't explain and that makes life exciting."

Planets aligned perfectly on this project and thanks to this five-star cast of collaborators, Kid Francescoli achieved his personal holy grail : he orchestrated a great 21st century pop-music album.SUNSET BLUE is a new turning point between organic and electronic, both a mediterranean travel and a Californian dream, a bridge between Ennio Morriconne and modern electronic music.

Also, while it might be called SUNSET BLUE in honor of the sea and the Portuguese / Brazilian concept called “saudade”, but it is a really optimistic album, whose true colors would rather be "yellow-orange-red" in nod to the sun.

Created in the midst of the world tour, SUNSET BLUE is a direct result of the lives’ energy and fans’ joyful vibes: going back in the studio after smiling, singing and dancing with people all around the world inevitably gave Kid Francescoli the desire to retranscribe this ecstatic feeling in music. This album is a sensitive experience, from sunrise to sunset, from first track to last one. It’s an exploration of an everlasting summer, reaching its climax in the very final seconds of the track Corsica, making us want to press play and dive into this jewel all over again.

A beautiful cosmic trip, whether you like to stay in bed cocooning, to travel far, far away or to dance ‘till dawn, to catch the first rays of light.

Make sure to catch Kid Francescoli on his next world tour to have a good time.

Beautiful ambient techno from multiple Grammy award winner James Sanger released via acid techno label "Triumph Records" in 1993. Clocking in at over 10 minutes it’s an elegant trip that demonstrates the production skills that would see James earn collaborations with everyone from Brian Eno to Madonna. Restored and remastered with a rolling dance floor dub from Sunju Hargun’s Eternal Injection alias on the B side.

Late Night Tales reissues the classic and hard-to-find
‘Late Night Tales: Jamiroquai’, compiled by none other
than Jay Kay himself. The 10th edition of what is now
a classic series of compilations was originally released
20 years ago, and hasn’t been available on vinyl for
over 15 years. A blissful collection of soul, disco, jazz,
rare groove, and funk, this collection is an electrifying
journey through the aural influences of one of the UK’s
most seminal jazz bands.
Jay Kay showcases a wealth and breadth of inspiration
that wouldn’t be amiss on the late-night dancefloors
of the Loft (or Giant Steps, for that matter). From The
Pointer Sisters’ uplifting and soulful ‘Happiness’ and
jazz funk legend Johnny ‘Smith’ Hammond’s ‘Fantasy’
to the anthemic ‘Stay Free’ by Ashford & Simpson and
mellifluous ‘Music Of The Earth' by Patrice Rushen,
these two discs form a rite of passage into the creative
mind of a true musical legend.

LP reissue of Collective Calls, the first duo LP from Evan Parker and percussionist Paul Lytton. Mythically alluded to as ‘An Improvised Urban Psychodrama In Eight Parts”, Collective Calls utilises electronics, pre-records and homemade instruments to wryly in/act self investigation. Having just recorded the cliff jumping Music Improvisation Company with Derek Bailey, Christine Jeffrey, Hugh Davies and Jamie Muir, Parker was at the point where he was thinking, ‘what’s the next thing?’ On Collective Calls, only the 5th release to appear on the newly minted Incus label, percussionist Paul Lytton arrives with an arsenal of sound making sources to push Parker into ever new territory. Recorded in the loft of The Standard Essenco Co on Southwark Street by Bob Woolford (Topography of the Lungs, AMM The Crypt), Collective Calls has more in common with noise or music concrete than with jazz; sitting comfortably alongside Italian messrs Gruppo di Improvvisazione Nuova Consonanza or the husband-wife duo of Anima Sound. According to Martin Davidson, it was a Folkways record that Lytton was obsessed with around the time of this release - Sounds of the Junkyard - its track titles like “Steel Saw Cutting Channel Iron in Two Places” working to give you a good idea of the atmosphere of Collective Calls. Paul Lytton had encountered the use of electronics in music in 1968 when he was invited to play drums on the recording of An Electric Storm by White Noise (along with David Vorhaus, Delia Derbyshire and Brian Hodgson). He had seen Hugh Davies using contact mics in the Music Improvisation Company, and soon set about assembling a Dexion frame akin to drummer John Stevens’, except that his own was armed with several single-coil electric guitar pickups, long wires and strings with connected foot-pedals to modulate pitch. Influenced as much by Stockhausen, Cage and David Tudor as he was by Max Roach and Milford Graves, Lytton’s percussion is abstract, expressionist and at times totally mutant. Sometimes rolling extremely fast, then screeching almost backwards over feedback, Lytton gives Parker room to play some of his weirdest work. Parker is listed as performing both saxophones, but also his own home made assemblages, including one dubbed the ‘Dopplerphone’ - a length of soft rubber tubing (activated by a saxophone mouthpiece and manipulated to alter the rate of airflow) attached to a longer length of clear plastic tubing (whirled around the head whilst being played) ending in a plastic funnel. Thickening the brew even more, Parker would also add a cassette recorder, on which he would play back collected sounds and previous recordings of the duo. Imagining the set up in a 70s loft, it’s an assemblage more akin to what today's free ears might see at a Sholto Dobie show, spread out on the floor of the Hundred Years Gallery, the shadow of Penultimate Press lurking in the corner. It’s a testament to Parker’s shape shifting sound - the ever present link to birdsong being at its most warped here - terrifically free and unfussy, wild and loose from any of the dogma that might come in later Brit-prov years

Dez Andres must have had a busy year in the studio because he has a few new joints dropping at the moment. Beretta Music has his latest and it comes in the form of a 7"to follow up his 'Back in My Space' from back in Spring. Once again here the Motor City native, former Slum Village DJ and house maestro dips into his more soulful side with some fresh breakbeat tunes that are sure to get the floor popping. Yelping vocals and some signature Andres basslines finish it in a fiery fashion. Fellow Detroit talent Brian Kage steps up with a booty-shaking remix that gets even heavier on the drums to make for another fine 7".

ARTIST OVERVIEW Mixing warm acoustic tones and strong vocals with heavy emo elements, the band launched several DIY tours, quickly developing a national presence. Signing with Boston indie Topshelf Records, they released their debut album, “The Earth Pushed Back" and in 2014, Have Mercy signed with vaunted indie Hopeless Records, which released their second LP, “A Place of Our Own”, later that year. Working with producers Paul Leavitt (All Time Low) and Brian McTernan (Thrice), Swindle and a rotating crew recorded the band’s Hopeless follow-up, “Make the Best of It”, which was released in early 2017. Have Mercy returned with “The Love Life” in 2019, which charted Swindle’s tumultuous personal life over the previous three years. The band came back in August 2022 with a self-tiled EP, released via Zodhiac Records, which caught the attention of Brooklyn Vegan, FLOOD Magazine, The Noise, and more. In september 2022 they shared an unreleased B-Side from their 2012 EP, My Oldest Friend, titled "Seventeen" via Rude Records. BAND MEMBERS Andrew Johnson // Guitar, Backing Vocals Brian Swindle // Lead Vocals, Guitar, Keyboard Nick Woolford // Bass, Backing Vocals TOURING HISTORY Since 2012, Have Mercy has toured both nationally and internationally with such acts as Taking Back Sunday, Motion City Soundtrack, Senses Fail, Mayday Parade, The Maine, The Wonder Years, Turnover, Real Friends and Neck Deep

Das dritte Studioalbum von bbno$ und Yung Gravy, zusammen bekannt als BABY GRAVY, enthält die Singles 'You Need Jesus', 'Goodness Gracious' und 'No Way Jose'. BABY GRAVY sind die Siegfried & Roy des Meme-Rap. Ihre LP erscheint auf transparent-babyblauem Vinyl im Gatefold mit bedruckten Innenhüllen und einem 12 x 24 Zoll grossen Poster.

Champaign, Illinois band Hum is re-issuing its four-album catalog on vinyl with exclusive distribution by Polyvinyl Records. The band members oversaw every step of the re-mastering, lacquer cutting, and manufacturing stages while working with original designer Andy Mueller/Ohio Girl in updating the artwork. Each album is offered in a double-LP 180g set in black.

Recorded by Mark Rubel at Pogo Studio, Champaign, IL. Mixed by Brian Malouf at Pacifique, LA.
Licensed from Sony Music and re-mastered by Ryan Smith at Sterling Sound, New York.

Chicago rock ensemble Red Red Meat hit hard with 1995’s Bunny Gets Paid. Arguably the band’s most complete album, the record pairs Stones-indebted blues-rock roots with beautiful songs, sounding miles removed from the era’s grunge and radio-friendly alternative rock tropes. Recorded at Idful Studios in Chicago’s Wicker Park by producer Brad Wood (Smashing Pumpkins, Liz Phair, Tortoise), Bunny Gets Paid finds Red Red Meat’s core members, Tim Rutilli, Brian Deck, Ben Massarella, and Tim Hurley, straddling the line between their most accessible set of songs and a desire to explore a kind of “alternate fidelity,” employing layers of distortion, natural reverb, and room ambience. “At the time, I felt like we’d made a classic rock record,” Rutilli says. “I was like, ‘This is our Astral Weeks.’” But listening back 20 years later, Rutilli recognizes the band’s ambition, a desire to break songs down to their barest, most primitive elements to “see what survives.”

"Trolls Band Together (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)" ist das Album zum gleichnamigen DreamWorks-Animationsfilm. Der mehrfach preisgekrönte Künstler Justin Timberlake kehrt als ausführender Musikproduzent des Soundtracks an der Seite des GRAMMY-prämierten Produzenten/Songwriters Mike Elizondo zurück. Timberlake schrieb und sang neue Originalmusik für den Film, der auch Musik von den Darstellern und einigen der heutigen Top-Künstler wie Kid Cudi, Camila Cabello, Troye Sivan, Anna Kendrick und anderen enthält. Das Album enthält auch den ersten gemeinsamen Song von *NSYNC seit zwei Jahrzehnten, "Better Place"

The 2nd release from TABBY TRAXX is an exciting mix of acid house, jackin' house and tech house. The title track "STALKER" gets a special Chicago style acid house remix by MATTHEW BRIAN. "FLASHBACK" on the flipside pays tribute to the early days of acid house and gets a remix from label boss MIKE MAPES.

In the early 21st century on the bustling streets of New York City, Jennifer Vanilla is a container, a portal, a joy delivery system, a self help regimen, a social mirror, a Times Square celebrity, a shark-toothed advertiser, a kicky talk show host and an ebullient mascot. Collaboratively crafted with co-writer/co-producer Brian Abelson , Jennifer Vanilla's debut full length Castle in the Sky is a deft and mercurial "jennifreaky" journey, traversing 90s dance music, no wave, post-punk, art pop, new age and experimental R&B. "Consider this an invitation, I'll be your guide," Vanilla beckons on the album's "Take Me For A Ride," which, like much of the album, is driven by their nimble and virtuosic vocal delivery. Variously steely, theatrical, sensuous and authoritative, Vanilla's vocals harken the sparkling precision of Ann Steel, the growling tenacity of Laurie Anderson and the wispy tenderness of Shelley Duvall in Faerie Tale Theatre. Jennifer Vanilla performances often are exercises in the transformation of reality through fantasy, testing the limits thereof, while the songs of Castle in the Sky are an artifact of that laboratory. Many of these songs took on numerous incarnations over the course of years before arriving at their album form, mutated in direct response to audience reaction. A year after the initial release of Castle in the Sky via Sinderlyn Records, a vinyl edition of the record arrives on December 1, 2023, featuring bonus remixes and reworks from Jerry Paper and musclecars.

Box Set #6 ist die neueste in einer Reihe von umfangreichen Box-Set-Neuauflagen des beliebten Backkatalogs des Afrobeat-Pioniers Fela Kuti. Nach früheren Ausgaben, die von Künstlern wie Chris Martin, Erykah Badu, Ginger Baker, Brian Eno und Questlove kuratiert wurden, wurde das neueste Box Set der Reihe von dem Schauspieler, Produzenten, DJ, Rapper und Sänger Idris Elba alias Big Driis zusammengestellt und enthält die Klassiker Open & Close (1972), Music of Many Colours (1980), Stalemate (1977), I Go Shout Plenty!!! (1977), Live in Amsterdam (1983) und Opposite People (1977).

Die auf 5.000 Exemplare limitierte Box enthält das Artwork jedes Albums, das originalgetreu von den Vinyl-Originalpressungen reproduziert wurde, sowie ein 24-seitiges Booklet mit den Songtexten, Kommentaren des bekannten Afrobeat-Historikers Chris May zu jedem Album, bisher unveröffentlichten Fotos und einer Einführung von Elba. Alle Boxen werden von einem speziellen 16" x 24" Poster begleitet, das von Lemi Ghariokwu, der kreativen Kraft hinter vielen von Felas bahnbrechenden Albumcovern, entworfen wurde.

Much has been written about Young Marble Giants' small, perfect catalogue, which contained roughly two-dozen songs, nearly each one a perfect gem. Less is known about his long wilderness years after the break-up of his first professional band. His next project, The Gist, chopped YMG's minimalism into a new sound. This Is Love, Public Girls and Fool For A Valentine showed his songs to be razor-sharp, but the album's fragmented pieces were a step too far for some, though even the strangest, Carnival Headache, when cast in sunlight by Alison Statton's combo Weekend, was as fine a song as any he'd written - and Love At First Sight became a million-seller when covered by Etienne Daho. Then Stuart disappeared. A rmid-90s resurgence led to fine albums done on low budgets, before more silence followed. The Gist's 2018's release Holding Pattern - unexpected and then quickly followed by YMG singer Alison Statton's first new album with her accompanist Spike in two decades, adding fuel to public interest. The Devil Laughs, recorded a few years back, is a compelling addition to the canon of the 21st century songwriting. Stuart's generally unadorned musical presentation does not hinder his appreciation for the skills of Louis Philippe, whose iconic arrangements across an array of Él label albums inspire the fierce devotion of aficionados around the world. Nor does the unvarnished solidity of Stuart's arrangements deter Louis from hearing possibilities for their presentation in styles which take inspiration from the perfection of 1960's studio technology that led to the rise of Brian Wilson, Burt Bacharach, along with less-recognised names such as Bones Howe and Roy Halee. Tidy Away is Young Marble Giants redux, though the backing vocals hint at maturity which band didn't live to see. Fighting To Lose, written with producer Ken Brake, would pass as a worthy b-side to Bridge Over Troubled Water, and although the songs are otherwise Stuart's, Louis fans will delight at several, like Love Hangover and Sky Over Water, which display his style and production genius as succinctly as anything on his own albums. The Devil Laughs is as out of its time as Colossal Youth was - its subtle but immediate beauty, devoid of "rock", is a recording best understood in the light of those obscure groundbreakers who inspired it - the faux barbershop vocals of Smile-era Beach Boys, the studio lustre of Tom Wilson's work with Simon & Garfunkel, a dash of The Swingle Sisters and French chanson - along with enough hints of Young Marble Giant's modernist folk abstraction to satisfy longtime fans. The Devil Laughs is a small masterpiece of pure expression.

ONLY AVAILABLE ON PREORDER!!

The first-ever LP box set gathering the entire 10 albums collection of Obscure Records produced by Brian Eno’s.
Curated by Gavin Bryars

Originally issued between 1975 and 1978, nearly 50 years on the output of Obscure remains radically forward-thinking - offering glimpses of a future yet to be fully seen - and amounts to one of the most important, influential, and creatively accomplished album series ever conceived.
Co-curated by Eno and the composers Gavin Bryars and Michael Nyman - issuing the recording debuts of Bryars, Nyman, John Adams, Christopher Hobbs, David Toop, Max Eastley, Jan Steele, Simon Jeffes / The Penguin Café Orchestra, and Harold Budd, in addition to important works by John Cage, Tom Phillips, and John White - Obscure’s collective output is a groundbreaking landmark in the histories of Minimalism, modern composition, and Experimental music, and laid much of the groundwork for the soon to emerge movement of Ambient music.

Illuminating the remarkable, and largely otherwise undocumented, creative ferment within and between the British and American scenes of experimental music during the mid to late 1970s, this collection - made in full collaboration with all of the composers or their estates - contains the entire 10 album output of Obscure, the majority of which have been out of print for years, with a number having never received a CD reissue.

Offering each of Obscure’s albums, completely remastered and housed in faithful replicas of their original covers and liner notes, as well as a 80-page book (LP dimension) for LP-BOX SET, filled with rare photos, archival material and texts by - among others - Gavin Bryars, Bradford Bailey, David Toop, Max Eastley, Richard Bernas, and Tom Recchion, this historic collection marks the first time this seminal series has received a complete LP repress.

Featuring exclusive performances by Donnie Emerson and Noah Jupe, score selections by Leopold Ross, plus vintage classics from Donnie & Joe Emerson -Includes the original version of the cult-classic hit, "Baby" -LP release housed in a gatefold jacket -Mastered by John Baldwin at Infrasonic Sound -Directed by Bill Pohlad, Dreamin' Wild, stars Casey Affleck, Zooey Deschanel, Beau Bridges, Noah Jupe, Walton Goggins, and Chris Messina // Acclaimed label Light in the Attic proudly partners with River Road, Zurich Avenue, and Roadside Attractions to release Dreamin' Wild Original Motion Picture Soundtrack. The film follows the real-life story of brothers Donnie & Joe Emerson, whose teenage dreams of rock stardom suddenly came true 30 years later. The soundtrack blends vintage recordings by Donnie & Joe (including the cult favorite "Baby") with exclusive new performances by Donnie Emerson, Nancy Sophia Emerson, and actor Noah Jupe, plus original score selections by composer Leopold Ross (Black Mirror, A Million Little Pieces). Jupe, who portrays a young Donnie Emerson, re-recorded several of the duo's classic songs for the film, including their debut single, "Thoughts in My Mind." The wistful ballad, which was written and recorded while the brothers were still in high school, was originally released in 1977 on their own Enterprise & Co. label. The soundtrack also includes "When A Dream Is Beautiful," a new song by husband-and-wife duo Donnie Emerson and Nancy Sophia Emerson, and recorded in Nashville by the film's music producer and multi-GRAMMYr winner Dave Cobb. Also available are Donnie & Joe's 1979 album, Dreamin' Wild, as well as the acclaimed 2014 collection Still Dreamin' Wild: The Lost Recordings 1979-81, which culls highlights from the brothers' prolific collection of songs. Additionally, fans can find exclusive Donnie & Joe merch at DonnieAndJoe . Adapted from a profile by journalist Steven Kurutz and written, directed, and produced by Oscarr and Emmyr-nominee Bill Pohlad (whose extensive credits include Brokeback Mountain, 12 Years a Slave, and the Brian Wilson biopic Love & Mercy), Dreamin' Wild stars Academy Awardr winner Casey Affleck, Emmyr-nominee Zooey Deschanel, Emmyr-nominee Walton Goggins, Chris Messina, Noah Jupe, Jack Dylan Grazer, plus Emmyr and Grammy Awardr-winner Beau Bridges. A true story of love and redemption, Dreamin' Wild centers around Donnie Emerson (Affleck/Jupe), a middle-aged singer-songwriter who learns that a record label is interested in reissuing the album that he and his brother recorded as teens in rural Washington State. Suddenly, the Emerson brothers find themselves thrust into the spotlight, as their 30-year-old album is hailed as a lost masterpiece. While the album's rediscovery brings hopes of second chances, it also unearths long-buried emotions as Donnie, his wife Nancy (Deschanel), brother Joe (Goggins/Grazer), and father Don Sr. (Bridges) come to terms with the past and their newly found fame. Named for the brothers' 1979 debut album, Dreamin' Wild is a River Road - Innisfree Production, produced by Academy Awardr-winner Jim Burke, Academyr and Emmyr-nominee Pohlad, Kim Roth, Viviana Vezzani, and Karl Spoerri. Casey Affleck served as executive producer, alongside Emmyr-nominee Christa Workman, Dan Clifton, Steven Snyder, and Tobias Gutzwiller. More about Donnie & Joe Emerson: Brothers Donnie and Joe Emerson grew up on a 1600-acre farm in Fruitland, WA with dreams of musical stardom. Far removed from the punk and disco scenes of the late '70s, the boys' inspiration primarily came from a tractor radio, which they listened to for hours on end while working the fields. In between farm duties and high school, the brothers spent their remaining time on music, with Donnie serving as the primary songwriter, vocalist, guitarist, and keyboardist, and Joe holding down the beat on drums. Donnie & Joe's parents encouraged their sons' talents - so much so that they leveraged the family farm in order to build a state-of-the-art recording studio, where the brothers self-produced their debut album, Dreamin' Wild. Released in 1979 on their own Enterprise & Co. label, the album offered a lo-fi blend of FM rock, pop, soul, and funk - evoking such contemporaries as Marvin Gaye, Hall & Oates, and the Brothers Johnson in songs like "Good Time," "Dream Full of Dreams," and "Baby." Despite the Emersons' passions, however, Dreamin' Wild wasn't the bestseller that they envisioned. In fact, it tanked, nearly bankrupting the family in the process. Donnie and Joe's dreams did actually come true though. It just took three decades and a heavy dose of kismet. Around 2008, record collector, actor, and Out of the Bubbling Desk blogger Jack Fleischer discovered a copy of the LP at a Spokane antique shop. Initially intrigued by the jacket image (which features the boys in flashy, Elvis-style jumpsuits), Fleischer was blown away by what he heard. Before long, word began to spread about the Emerson brothers, while their soulful ballad "Baby" became a viral hit, eliciting multiple cover versions (most popularly by Ariel Pink & Dâm-Funk). Since its digital release, the track has been streamed over 30 million times on Spotify. In 2012, Light in the Attic brought Dreamin' Wild to the masses, giving the Emerson brothers a second chance at stardom and an outpouring of long-overdue accolades, including features in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and The Guardian, a shout-out from Jimmy Fallon, and praise from the likes of Pitchfork, which called the 1979 album "A godlike symphony to teen-hood." The Emersons' inspiring story caught the ears of writer, director, and producer Bill Pohlad, who recently told PEOPLE, "Being able to go deep to explore this amazing family was the real reason that I was drawn to this material. Dreamin' Wild ultimately became a story about family, faith and forgiveness for me."

Singing with an enigmatic allure, CHILLEMI’s style paints with broad strokes of cinematic themes. The solo project of Brian Chillemi (Rose Cologne, Junk Boys), his debut album With Woman was released in April 2021 on Swiss indie label Taxi Gauche Records. After moving to Los Angeles from his native home of New York City just months before the pandemic, CHILLEMI returned to Manhattan to put the finishing touches on this LP.

Platform 23 reunites once more with Vox Man Records to dig deep into their archives and shine a new light on. In the past they have done some mega well loved Alternative Funk compilations which got the label off to a fine start and now they dig into an array of cult cassette releases to bring us treasure from Audiologie N-4 - The Independant Psychedelic Trip and Audiologie 5 et 6 - Ethniques Urbaines. This is music from the avant-garde and post punk scenes that draws on wave, spoken word, dark dub and industrial for its eerie yet alluring charms, all with a real edge. Ethnic, idiosyncratic and psyched out, this is another great overview.

"OXYMOREWORKS", ist eine Sammlung von Kollaborationen mit anderen Künstlern zusammen mit Jean-Michel Jarre. Das neunstückige Werk umfasst Überarbeitungen von Stücken aus seinem 2022 erschienenen Album OXYMORE'. Jeder Track wurde von Jarre in direkter Zusammenarbeit mit den jeweiligen Künstlern komponiert und produziert. Das Ergebnis ist eine unverwechselbare neue Version, die das kollektive Können der beiden Musiker zur Geltung bringt. Das Album umspannt dabei ein breites Spektrum elektronischer Genres. Jean-Michel Jarre sagte über die Kollektion: "OXYMORE hatte einen besonderen Platz in meinem Herzen, da es eine wirklich einzigartige klangliche Reise antrat. Mit der tiefen Freude an der Zusammenarbeit mit anderen Künstlern, ganz ähnlich wie bei meinem vorherigen Projekt Electronica, wollte ich eine neue Perspektive für meine Musik schaffen. Ich habe meine Hand nach Musikern ausgestreckt, von deren unterschiedlichen Talenten ich glaubte, dass sie eine faszinierende Dimension in jeden Track einbringen würden. OXYMOREWORKS ist ein Zeugnis für die Kunst der Zusammenarbeit; eine lebendige Sammlung musikalischer Dialogen." OXYMORE wurde im Oktober 2022 veröffentlicht. Es ist konzeptionell sein bisher ehrgeizigstesund bahnbrechendstes Album und die erste kommerzielle Veröffentlichung dieser Größenordnung, bei der Mehrkanal- und binauraler Sound (räumliches 3D) vollständig zum Einsatz kommen. Jarre produzierte, komponierte, nahm auf und mischte in 360-Grad-Audio in den "Innovation"-Studios von Radio France.

Exhausted from a 3 years in the making album called Lagarius released in 2023. Gary Martin had a plan to not work in the studio this summer until he realized his Facebook keyboard playing friend named Brian Mars was a.k.a. Javonntte the writer of an exceptional good song on The Mahogany compilation released that year.

Gary created the beat for The Infinite Time and Brian sent the bass line and the keys. Then, picking the exotic scale called Persian was how the creation of Zurvan started. Gary Made the beat and Brian sent the bass line and the keys and Lot’s of Teknotika studio wizardry followed to complete this concept Ep.

2023 repress, red with white splatter LP plus white red splatter 7" single. Innitially the first release in Fu Manchu's 30th Anniversary vinyl reissue series, In Search Of...Deluxe Edition, celebrates the band's 3rd album and major label debut, which was originally released on 27 February, 1996. Recorded at Grandmaster Studios in Hollywood, California by the band and Brian Jenkins (KYUSS, SCREAMING TREES), "In Search Of_" is considered a classic of the '90s and a pillar for the "stoner rock" movement. Highlights include the lead single "Asphalt Risin'", "Redline" and fan favorite "Cyclone Launch." This limited edition run is pressed on clear vinyl with blue and yellow splatter and the gatefold package design includes never before seen photos of the band. Also included is a bonus red/black splatter 7" of "Chevy Van" (a Sammy Johns cover that was previously only available on the Japanese pressing of the original album) b/w a 1995 Demo version of "Redline." Both the LP and 7" feature newly remastered audio for maximum fidelity.

Gombloh’s forgotten masterpiece

What if you have Brian Wilson and Bruce Springsteen rolled into one? And what if he came of age as an poor buskers in in Surabaya, Indonesia, but then summoned enough strength to record six albums that flew in the face of everyone in the country’s rock scene back in the early 1980s?

Genius, be they Brian Wilson or Soedjarwoto “Soemarsono” Gombloh, don’t conform to rules written for us mere mortals. They have their own way of doing things and in the case of Gombloh, writing music, conducting recording session and spending cash from his music, must be conducted on his own terms and his terms only. Studio time was expensive back in the early 1980s, yet Gombloh could be three-hour late for his session, and while engineers, session musicians and producers were jittery about the prospect of another botched session, Gombloh took his time for a nap before the recording begun.

Yet, some of his greatest works came into being in the wake of this napping session. Recording session for Sekar Mayang is no exception, despite the fact there’s foreboding sense of doom with Gombloh being unsure about the possibility of selling enough units to help his label break even. This is, after all, this is his last record with his band Lemon Tree’s. No one knew that Gombloh was operating with all his cylinders running and what came out of this Indra Record session, in the waning days of 1980, were some of the best compositions ever committed to magnetic tapes (to wax, if now you’re holding this on vinyl).

This is Gombloh at the peak of his creative genius. You can argue that his debut album Nadia & Atmospheer (what’s with the spelling mistake?) is the most sprawling and complex album (both sonically and thematically), but Sekar Mayang certainly had the best songs and I can make the argument that this album’s 10 songs are strong contenders for biggest hits in blues, country, psychedelic rock charts. “Prahoro & Prahoro” is one of those impossible song which appears to have sprung from a bottomless well of inspiration, encompassing King Crimson’s sprawling epic, Deep Purple’s deepest blues and Genesis’ most progressive tendencies. Or “Sekaring Jagat”, which begins as Lennon-McCartney lullaby before launching a thousand ships traveling to the end of the rainbow with children choir singing heavenly melodies backed by droning harpsichord and synclavier, while a buzzing Hammond B3 tightly locks with Gombloh’s guitar strumming.

For many of his fans, Gombloh is known as generous man of the people. A Robin Hood type if you please. He spent his royalty checks to buy foods for beggars and buskers and dish out some more to buy undergarments for Surabaya’s prostitutes. In Sekar Mayang, Gombloh went full Springsteen mode in “Mitra Becakan,” a social commentary that cut so deep you can end up with tears in your eyes and lump in your throat (even if you don’t understand any of its Javanese language lyrics). This is one the most devastating social commentary ever recorded for a pop song, and even if you discount the greatness of its musical composition, you chalk this up as a great social-realism poetry. His years of hanging out with pedicab drivers, street vendors and street-bound prostitutes certainly gave him enough insight into their (in)human condition.

Yet, a record this stellar was largely forgotten. First, this record was a flop upon its release in 1981. Indra Records reportedly only did one pressing on cassette tape and be done with it. For those who were lucky enough to have come across one of songs from this album on the radio were likely growing up in East Java, where Gombloh had a massive cult following early in the 1980s. Nothing was heard from this record again.

There were only a handful of cassette tapes from the first pressing found on second-hand market and I recently stumbled upon one online with a price tag of Rp 50 million (US$3,500). It’s no longer available now.

In Sekar Mayang, Gombloh harbours an obsession for a long-lost utopia, Java’s distant past, where farmers have their barn full of rice and corn, where blacksmith working around the clock making tools and children singing and dancing in their seminaries. Or the fact that he opens the song with stanza from Serat Weddhatama, arguably the most monumental poem in neo-classic Javanese literature, could be his pledge of allegiance. The question for him is should a modern-day Indonesia, rife with poverty, corruption and environmental degradation not be an anathema to that utopia?

In the end, you don’t need to be someone fluent in Javanese to enjoy this majestic record. And if this record turns out to be the last in Elevation Records catalogue and we shut down this label tomorrow, we will be very happy. Mission accomplished!

Bryan Ferrys neuntes Solo-Studioalbum "Mamouna" wird zum ersten Mal seit 1994 wiederveröffentlicht und erscheint in zwei Deluxe-Formaten. Es war das erste Studioalbum von Bryan Ferry seit sieben Jahren mit Originalaufnahmen, nachdem er sechs Jahre lang unter dem Arbeitstitel "Horoscope" an dem Album gearbeitet hatte.

Die bisher unveröffentlichten alternativen Aufnahmen zu den endgültigen "Mamouna"-Versionen sind zum ersten Mal auf diesen
Deluxe-Wiederveröffentlichungen als "Horoscope"-Album
zusammengestellt.

Das audiophile 2LP-Schwergewicht-Vinyl wurde in den Abbey Road Studios, London, von Master Engineer Miles Showell in halber Geschwindigkeit geschnitten. Die 3CD-Version enthält auch das "Horoscope"-Album sowie eine zusätzliche Disc mit bisher unveröffentlichten Demos oder "Sketches" von den beiden Alben "Mamouna" und "Horoscope". Das Artwork für die aktualisierte Neuauflage wurde von Bryan Ferry selbst gestaltet.

Das Album enthält eine hervorragende Besetzung von Begleitmusikern wie Nile Rodgers, Guy Pratt und Steve Ferrone sowie Beiträge von seinen Roxy Music-Bandkollegen Phil Manzanera, Andy Mackay und Brian Eno. Das Album erreichte Platz 11 der UK Official
Album Chart und enthält die Singles "Don't Want To Know", "Your Painted Smile" und den Titelsong "Mamouna

When Kronos plays a piece, they become fellow composers, true collaborators. Without them, we wouldn’t have the kind of string quartet playing that we find around us today. There are two kinds of string quartet playing: the ‘Before Kronos’ and the ‘After Kronos’.” – Philip Glass

‘Kronos Quartet has broken the boundaries of what string quartets can do.’ – New York Times

Nonesuch releases Kronos Quartet’s acclaimed album Kronos Quartet Performs Philip Glass on vinyl for the first time to coincide with Kronos Quartet: Five Decades, a year-long celebration marking the quartet’s 50th anniversary. Originally released in 1995, the album features David Harrington (violin), John Sherba, (violin), Hank Dutt (viola) and Joan Jeanrenaud (cello) performing Quartet No. 2 (Company) (1983), No. 3 (Mishima) (1985), No. 4 (Buczak) (1990), and No. 5 (1991), the first piece Glass wrote especially for Kronos. Recorded at Skywalker Sound in California, the album was produced by Judith Sherman, Kurt Munkacsi and Philip Glass. The cover art features Francesco Clemente’s painting The Four Corners (1985). At the time of the album’s release, the New York Times said, ‘It contains some of Glass's best music since Koyaanisqatsi. His ear for sumptuous string sonorities is undeniable,’ while the Washington Post called it ‘An ideal combination of composer and performers.’ It was a top 10 hit on Billboard’s Top Classical Albums, and spent 12 weeks on Billboard’s Classical chart.



In his original liner note, critic Mark Swed wrote, ‘Glass’ string quartets may contain his most intimate music. They are works through which a very public composer, perhaps the most important opera reformer of our age and a longstanding collaborator in large-scale music theater, holds up a mirror to himself and his way of composing. “In an odd way,” Glass explains, “string quartets have always functioned like that for composers. I don’t really know why, but it’s almost impossible to get away from it. It’s the way composers of the past have thought and that’s no less true for me. It’s almost as if we say we’re going to write a string quartet, we take a deep breath, and we wade in to try to write the most serious, significant piece that we can.” Glass says that as he sat down to write String Quartet No. 5, he had discovered that perhaps not taking a serious tone might be the most serious way to deal with it. “I was thinking that I had really gone beyond the need to write a serious string quartet and that I could write a quartet that is about musicality, which in a certain way is the most serious subject.”’



Glass’ first numbered quartet was written in 1966; however, he did not return to the string quartet medium until 1983, when he provided incidental music for a dramatization of Samuel Beckett’s prose poem, Company. During those 17 years, Glass had formed an ensemble and developed his style in a series of increasingly elaborate pieces for it. String Quartet No. 3 is also adapted to dramatic music, this time from his score to the 1985 Paul Schrader film, Mishima. It was with the music of Mishima that Kronos became associated with Glass, recording the string quartet sections of the soundtrack and subsequently working extensively with the composer on all five of his numbered quartets. Kronos also gave the first concert performances of Company and Mishima. String Quartet No. 4 was composed in remembrance of the artist Brian Buczak, who died of AIDS in 1988.



As Kronos’ anniversary season continues with further concerts around the world, Nonesuch will reissue Black Angels on vinyl on February 16. First released in 1990, the award-winning album includes George Crumb’s title piece, which inspired David Harrington to found the quartet. Called ‘an unusually elevated and searing Vietnam War protest’ by the New York Times, it sets a dark, powerful tone for this collection, which addresses the political/physical/spiritual consequences of war. Also featured are works by Charles Ives, István Márta, Thomas Tallis, and Dmitri Shostakovich. ‘Stylishly packaged, intelligently programmed, superbly recorded and brilliantly performed,’ proclaimed Gramophone. ‘In short, very much the sort of disc we’ve come to expect from the talented and imaginative Kronos Quartet.’ The Evening Standard included it among its ‘100 Definitive Classical Albums of the 20th Century’.



Born in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1937, Philip Glass is a graduate of the University of Chicago and the Juilliard School. By 1974, he had created a large collection of music for The Philip Glass Ensemble. The period culminated in the landmark opera, Einstein on the Beach. Since Einstein, Glass’s repertoire has grown to include music for opera, dance, theatre, orchestra, and film. His scores have received Academy Award nominations (including Kundun and The Hours, as well as Notes on a Scandal) and a Golden Globe (The Truman Show). Recent works include his memoir, Words Without Music, his first Piano Sonata, opera Circus Days and Nights, and Symphony No. 14. Glass received the Praemium Imperiale in 2012, the US National Medal of the Arts from President Barack Obama in 2016, and 41st Kennedy Center Honors in 2018.



Nonesuch’s relationship with Glass began in 1985, with the release of the score for Paul Schrader’s Mishima featuring Kronos Quartet. Over the years other Glass works on Nonesuch have included Einstein on the Beach (1993), Kronos Quartet Performs Philip Glass (1995), Music in Twelve Parts (1996), Glass Box (2008), as well as the soundtracks for Powaqqatsi (1988), Kundun (1997), Koyaanisqatsi (1998), and The Hours (2002), amongst others.



For 50 years, San Francisco’s Kronos Quartet – David Harrington (violin), John Sherba (violin), Hank Dutt (viola), and Paul Wiancko (cello) – has challenged and reimagined what a string quartet can be. Founded at a time when the form was largely centred on long-established, Western European traditions, Kronos has been at the forefront of revolutionizing the string quartet into a living art form that responds to the people and issues of our time. In the process, Kronos has become one of the most celebrated and influential groups of our era, performing thousands of concerts worldwide, releasing more than 70 recordings of extraordinary breadth and creativity, and collaborating with many of the world’s most accomplished composers and performers. Through its nonprofit organization, Kronos Performing Arts Association, Kronos has commissioned more than 1,000 works and arrangements for string quartet – including the Kronos Fifty for the Future library of free, educational repertoire. Kronos has received more than 40 awards, including three Grammy Awards and the Polar Music, Avery Fisher, and Edison Klassiek Oeuvre Prizes.



Kronos is prolific and wide-ranging on recordings. The ensemble’s expansive discography on Nonesuch includes three Grammy-winning albums: Terry Riley’s Sun Rings (2019), Landfall with Laurie Anderson (2018), and Alban Berg’s Lyric Suite featuring soprano Dawn Upshaw (2003); the 40th-anniversary boxed set Kronos Explorer Series; Nuevo (2002), a Grammy- and Latin Grammy–nominated celebration of Mexican culture; Pieces of Africa (1992), a showcase of African-born composers that simultaneously topped Billboard’s Classical and World Music charts; and Folk Songs (2017), Nonesuch’s 50th album with Kronos, which featured Sam Amidon, Olivia Chaney, Rhiannon Giddens, and Natalie Merchant singing traditional folk songs.

Bas Jan return with a polished and poignant collection of perfectly-crafted pop songs that retains their authentic indie edginess. 'Back To The Swamp' is a heady tussle between their incorrigible DIY ethics and new responsibilities. Serafina Steer, Charlotte Stock, Emma Smith and Rachel Horwood cast an examining eye over modern times, lost love, Tarot intuition and long days in an everyday swamp. Awash with lush chorale effects, orchestral hewn loops, pin sharp electronic beats and sublime harmonies. Back To The Swamp is filled with thought-provoking stories, it's a reflective worldview. It's a polished and poignant collection of perfectly-crafted pop songs that retains their authentic indie edginess. These new studio recordings feature more accomplished pop production; filled with cerebral one-liners that pluck at the senses. And, there's a nod to an eclectic mix of influences; The Pet Shop Boys, Lizzy Mercier Descloux, Kate Bush, Heaven 17 and Jon Hassell by way of Brian Eno. Witches, Tarot readings, road signs, Salt-N-Pepa namechecks and a river all cried out, welcome to the swamp_ "Beautifully fractured art-pop" MOJO