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Mando Diao is back on full effect having played all the major rock-festivals across Europe in summer 2022 including Southside and Novarock. Just before the summer-season they rolled out the first in a series of volumes with sizzling hot and high octane ROCK fresh of the studio. Vol 1 produced the radio-success "Frustration" that managed to climb all the way to No 2 at rock-radio in Germany. Now we are happy to announce Vol 2 to drop 23rd of September having parts of the band in Hamburg for an exclusive and personal 20 YEARS OF MANDO DIAO panel during Reeperbahn Festival. The lead-track "Primal Call" is a hippie-like sounding one that draws inspiration from Led Zeppelin and King Crimson, a much punkier version. No logic whatsoever in the changes throughout the track but hey, that's how the band likes it. Full of surprises. As if the producer was a total lunatic out of control. "Fire in the hall" is a short, intense song written by Björn and Jens. Once again, a blend of primitive rock'n'roll feel and electronics. For example, the drums are based on samples of Patso's drumming. The lyrics are simple and almost trivial, with a "La Vida Loca" vibe: start a great fire, for yourself and others. Most things can be solved with a cleansing dance - both in reality and in lyrics. "If you write the lyrics together with someone, it's easier to avoid becoming pretentious and over-analytical," they summarize. Finally, "Charlie", about their current producer (Charlie Storm). One of the greatest there is having worked with so many big releases (Roxette, In Flames, Hurl etc). At least partly. They were excited about him and felt that he deserved a song. Or maybe they didn't have anything else to write about. Everyone had different inputs, but it ended up being a pure rock'n'roll song. And a real banger.

Cosmic Disco Machine Volume 6 is reconfirmed with a refined selection of electronic “disco” songs from the 70s / 80s, rigorously in original and remastered versions. Inside we will find songs from the German school "The 4:08 to Paris" by Berlin Express (Conrad Schnitzler) and Rolf Trostel "Digital Track", the English "Regime" by Two, Iam Siam from America with "Talk To Me Even to Italo with Riccardo Cioni's “Nebbia”.

• 1980s New York was where modern dance music took its first steps; a phoenix rising out of the ashes of disco’s over-exposure and demise. The underground scene was the very opposite of the celebrity-sprinkled commercialism of Studio 54 – “Lofts & Garages” looks at how the Spring label, with its brand new 1980s subsidiary Posse, reacted to the new movement.

• As an independent New York label, it was perfectly placed to understand new trends in the clubs; it worked with some of those who would go on to define the dance music of the era, and for a glorious summer tracked the important early work of Arthur Baker, Maurice Starr and Michael Jonzun. These began their careers with productions that included Ritz, Glory and Blaze – records that sounded perfect for 12-inch singles and mixed electronic instruments with a real feel for the dancefloor.

• Label mainstays Fatback were always searching for a new groove and kept an eye on the floor. Their final single for the label, ‘Spread Love’, was remixed by Morales and Munzibai. Fatback’s Bill Curtis and Gerry Thomas also produced the sought-after boogie single ‘Get Up An’ Dance (Dance With Me)’ for Mynk.

• Others featured include one of the most distinctive voices in dance music, Fonda Rae, with her single ‘Live It Up’, released here in its rare radio edit; veteran soul man Lonnie Youngblood with his gospel-influenced ‘Sing A Song’; Detroit dance pioneers C-Brand’s ‘Wired For Sound’ and Body’s ‘Have Your Cake’, which has an early mixing credit for dance music legend Timmy Regisford.

• These records may not have all worked on the floor of the Paradise Garage, but they were part of the energy that was given off by that and the rest of New York’s vibrant post-disco era.

Volta Recordings – a brand new label digging in those much-prized vaults that hold some of the creme de la creme of Italian house, officially licensed, remastered and reissued for a new generation to indulge in.

First up an absolute classic club stomper from the early '90s. Peaktime piano house, produced by the prolific Luigi Stanga under the one-hit and out, S.L.D. moniker. Pure ecstasy bubbling up through those joy-filled chords, fizzing synths, choice vocal samples and grooving basslines. Too right we’re getting hot.

The LP version is limited to 1000 copies, pressed on blue vinyl, in a high grade spot-varnished gatefold sleeve.

700 Bliss is the forward-thinking duo of DJ Haram and Moor Mother. Their first full length for Hyperdub is an album of noise rap that ties together the raw edges of club music and hip hop with punk energy, jazz, house-party catharsis, percussion-heavy analogue sound design, and cheeky skits, ranging from experimental rap tracks with rolling hi hats and lyrical bravado, to poetry set to noise and sound collage.

Moor Mother and DJ Haram started collaborating in 2014 and eventually formed 700 Bliss, a blistering live act in Philly's DIY scene, releasing their 2018 debut, Spa 700 on Halcyon Veil / Don Giovanni Records. Since that time, both artists have grown global followings. Moor Mother is a prolific solo artist and collaborator, writer, and member of Black Quantum Futurism while Haram has been curating and creating radio shows, DJing, and producing (including an EP for Hyperdub in 2019).

‘Nothing To Declare’ is a smart, danceable revelation, a chiseled soundscape of dive bombing bass, piercing bleeps, crunchy distortion, and wavering synth lines. Welcoming in a variety of voices from their extended, cross-genre scene, 700 Bliss also bring along a cast of collaborators, including vocalists Orion Sun, Lawfandah, Ase Manual, and Ali Logout (from the band Special Interest), plus Palestinian producer Muqata'a, and writer M Téllez who delivers a surreal sci fi monologue over a pounding kick drum on ‘More Victories’.

‘Nothing To Declare’ is a deeply layered rewriting of hip hop and electronic music that gives more with each listen. You won't hear another rap album like it in 2022.

South Street delve into the The Sound Of Detroit from one of its unsung heroes, reissuing Amp Fiddler's 'Motor City Booty' LP on Yellow & Blue vinyl respectively. Coming straight off the D Funk assembly line, it's a full on dance floor affair from Motown to P-Funk, Techno and Neo Soul.

This 12 track album produced by Amp Fiddler & Yam Who? includes the massive 'Soul Fly' sounding like a Mark Ronson production had he been hanging out with George Clinton's Parlet followed by the bonafide P-Funk anthem 'Steppin' both featuring the stunning vocals by the Dames Brown girls.

Amp Fiddler is credited for taking both a young J Dilla and also Q-Tip under his wing teaching them his Akai MPC techniques, setting the path for some of Hip Hop's finest recordings which have defined the shape of things to come.

His musical collaborations & current duties include: Moodymann's musical maestro, keyboard wizard for Theo Parrish's live band, a longstanding Funkadelic member, co-writer for Sly & Robbie, Prince, Maxwell, Jamiroquai & Seal to name a few.

Like Sun Ra's Arkestra and John Coltrane are to jazz, the Mystic Revelation of Rastafari are to reggae – the ultimate expression of roots music and Rastafarian ideology in reggae music, music functioning at a high level of spiritual consciousness combined with an equally avant-garde and forward-looking approach to sound.
The group's stunning, unique and groundbreaking 1973 album ‘Grounation’, a mighty conceptual triplealbum (the first ever reggae triple!) is, similar to Marvin Gaye's 'What's Goin' On', a definitive allencompassing cultural statement of its time and place. A sprawling album of raw and unique cultural expression that combined Rastafari consciousness with deep spiritual jazz music – an absolute and essential classic of Reggae music.

The Mystic Revelation of Rastafari group came into existence at the start of 1970s, the union of two artists (and groups) of equal repute – Count Ossie and his African Drums and saxophonist Cedric ‘Im’ Brooks’ and his group,

The Mystics. Both Ossie and Brooks were alumni from the great Studio One Records. Master drummer Count Ossie and his collective of Rastafarian drummers performed for Haile Selassie on his
momentous visit to Jamaica in 1966. Cedric Brooks came out of the Alpha Boys School – the fertile breeding ground of musicians who dominated the Jamaican music scene from the 1960s onwards; Tommy McCook,

Don Drummond, Johnny Moore, Headley Bennett, Johnny Osbourne, Yellowman, Leroy Smart, Bobby Ellis, Joe Harriott, Eddie Thornton, Vin Gordon, Rico Rodriguez, Owen Gray, Leroy ‘Horsemouth’ Wallace and more.

The Mystic Revelation of Rastafari’s ‘Grounation’ is a massive opus, a work of profound musical genius that tells the story of Jamaica through music and words. The album is a cornerstone in the history of reggae, a unique and other-worldly album the like of which has never been made since.

Soul Jazz Records are releasing this long-revered album release in two unique vinyl formats: a one-off pressing limited-edition deluxe box set triple-vinyl edition complete with a free 45 single + art print + an exact-replica reproduction Mystic Revelation 1977 mag/zine + download code; And secondly as a triple album + download
code. There is also a deluxe 2 CD version
complete with large format booklet encased in
double-walled slipcase. All editions come with
extensive new sleevenotes, photography, exact
reproductions of the original text and artwork

Probably you might think, is this a cover version of the Patrick Cowley’s classic? Somehow it is, but add Paolo Gozzetti on the production and Fred Ventura on the vocal and you really a banger for the dancefloor. This is one of the time that the cover brings an extra to the original. The 12” includes also the track No Guilt No Pride

Contemporary DIY Street Soul, New Jack, Electro Funk studio project from Parisian DJ Raphaël Top-Secret & Antoine Kogut (Syracuse).

For lovers of Loose Ends, Larry Heard, Mad Professor, Strafe or Sade. This EP includes two smash-hit A-side remixes by LA and Vancouver underground celebrities Benedek and Pender Street Steppers (PPU / Mood Hut) that sound like 1986 or 1992 !

Original versions are found on the B-side with “Give It Up”, a smooth and romantic 112 bpm G-Funk jam that is the perfect track for your drive to the coast, while “The Way They Do …”, a 98 bpm dreamy electronic AOR indie-pop dubby, will take you to an island.

Using original vintage gear as the TR-808, Emulator II, DX-7 and Rhodes, electric guitar, studio bass arrangements, the release shows sophisticated skills in the production stages, while being a very refreshing pop and dance release.

A stunning debut for the Cachette label !

In the autumn of 2003, Flunk - then consisting of producer/vocalist Ulf Nygaard, singer Anja Øyen Vister, guitarist Jo Bakke and drummer Erik Ruud - booked in at the Hotel de Roubaix in Paris. The framework for their second album "Morning Star" was recorded during a busy week in the Paris hotel room, before being worked out and finished in their Oslo studio early 2004.

The album was licensed to Kriztal Recordings in the USA the following year, and their version of the album included five tracks not on the original Beatservice Records versions, and omitting the Kinks cover "All Day and All Of The Night".

On this expanded edition of the album, all of the US bonus tracks are included to the original Beatservice Records tracklisting, making it a 14 track album.

Two cover song are included: The Kinks' "All Day and All Of The Night", performed as a duet by Anja and Ulf. The cover is the most up-tempo track on the album, capturing the energy of the original Kinks' classic in Flunk's slightly odd way. There is also an acoustic live-in-studio version of New Order's "True Faith". But most of all "Morning Star" includes very strong original material. Both the title track "Morning Star", and the singles "On My Balcony" and "Blind My Mind" showcases the songwriting talents of Flunk.

The track "Play" didn't make it on the original release of the album. But the band did a total makeover of it for the US release, and the track ended up as the feature song in an episode of the show "The O.C.", and on the fourth "The O.C." compilation album.

Other tracks included from the US version of "Morning Star" are the beautiful "Probably" (originally recorded for the debut album "For Sleepyheads Only"), the New Order classic, "True Faith" (a different version than the b-side to "On My Balcony"), the poppy "Skysong" and the lush "All My Dreams On Hold".

"Folk electronica" has been used by a.o. american press to describe Flunk, and on the "Morning Star" album, they have evolved this further. The album is pure indie pop, less electronica - all tracks built around Jo's trademark guitar sound and the voice of Anja Øyen Vister.

"Morning Star" is an instantly tuneful pop injection, now further expanded and with a new superb sounding 2022 24-bit re-master.

France is the trio of Jeremie Sauvage on electric bass, Mathieu Tilly on drums and Yann Gourdon on amplified hurdy-gurdy. They play one note / one rhythm producing energetic performances reminiscent of the early collaborations between Faust and Tony Conrad. Creativly recycled influences result in intense shows with pounding overtones and repetitive pulsing rhythms. Loud straight and trance-inducing.

The pertinency of the recordings only slowly appear On Occitanie" in the mass of sound, the rhythmic repetition and the elongated drones. The hurdy-gurdy forces you deeper, highlighting points of microtonal flux, cracking open the single note, the nodding rhythm, to imply the presence of every note, every sound, inside it. The insensible evolution, lurks in a corner of noise and finally imposes itself slowly on careful listening.

The band members of France perform in various other projects: Tanz Mein Herz, Toad and Jérico, all are member of the collective La Novià, an organisation based in Haute-Loire which brings together professional musicians and is a place for reflection and experimentation around traditional and / or experimental music.

In 2009, France was invited to play in Pau, a city far south-west of France, next to spain, by the people running Pagans Musica, a like-minded traditionnal-oriented group of people, also bent on educational issues concerning the local music and dialect: Occitan and on fusioning traditional musics and rock related sounds and instruments. They had set up a show for France and their band Artus and originaly wanted to have Acid Mother's Temple join the bill. The japanese band had done versions of songs coming from their village (eg. "La Nòvia") but weren't touring near France so instead they invited Duo Ancelin Rouzier as the third act, a band both Artus and France were also very fond of.

Pagans had everything set-up for the concert to be recorded and as France had plenty of time for sound-check, they went on to record the Pau" album in the afternoon, taking a thirty seconds pause in the middle of the session so as to mark both sides of the vinyl. The Occitanie Lp is the recording of the live set later that night, with no cut and a longer, more savage performance.

First vinyl edition of these homemade electronic tracks, recorded in a primitive bedroom studio between 1993 and 1994 by Mahk Rumbae, a British born fan of synths and drum machines. A surprising crossover, as it alternates between the soft balearic sound heat and the urban indu-electro rigour.

BACK IN STOCK

Swaying & icy electronic dub compilation straight from DELODIO STUDIO SESSIONS.
Programmed and produced by F.M. Cut and compiled by Fa_Fane

Repress of Froid Dub's "An Iceberg Cruising The Jamaican Coastline" has a confirmed docking time.

This version will be on regular black 140g vinyl.

Ambolley is revered as the Simigwahene in Ghana – The King of Simigwa-Highlife. Because of his deep, soulful, and funky Highlife sound, he is also sometimes referred to as the “James Brown of Ghana.” And not without reason. His blend of Highlife, Funk, Jazz, Soul, and proto-Rap was and is still exhilarating. He learned music from outstanding artists like Sammy Larteh and Ebo Taylor, with whom he played In the Uhuru Dance Band. Together they founded the Apagya Show Band in 1974. Now, after more than 40 years active in music and his numerous albums, Gyedu-Blay Ambolley is a living legend, too. Gyedu-Blay Ambolley exploded on the music scene in 1973 with a jazzy, funky, and soulful Highlife sound he called SIMIGWA-DO. Building his own Simigwa style and leaving traces around the world, today the versatile, irrepressible and highly revered singer, composer, bandleader, multi-instrumentalist, producer, and “musical-life-force” has more than 30 music albums to his credit. On his new album "GYEDU-BLAY AMBOLLEY AND HI-LIFE JAZZ" you can hear his versions of some classic Jazz tunes like "Round Midnite", "Love Supreme", Footprints" and "All Blues" as well as some new compositions by the Simigwa - Man himself.

Der Titel von Leon Thomas' drittem Album für Bob Thieles Flying Dutchman-Label bezog sich auf Oliver Nelsons klassische LP "The Blues and the Abstract Truth" von 1961. "Blues And The Soulful Truth" wurde im Original 1972 veröffentlicht und enthielt eine All-Star-Band, zu der Pretty Purdie (Schlagzeug), Stanley Clarke (Bass), Cecil Payne (Baritonsaxophon) und Neal Creque (Keyboards) gehörten. Es ist ein Soul meets Jazz meets Blues-Meisterwerk mit Arrangements von Ex-James Brown Hornist Pee Wee Ellis.

Der Klassiker enthält das außergewöhnliche 'Shape Your Mind To Die', 'L-O-V-E', eine fesselnde Gesangsversion von Gabor Szabos 'Gypsy Queen', das fesselnde 'Love Each Other', das klagende 'China Doll' und eine treibende Version von John Lee Hookers 'Boom-Boom-Boom'.
Gatefold 180 Gr.-Vinyl in klassischem Schwarz mit dem Flying Dutchman-Layout als Nachbildung!

UK producer Dennis Huddleston goes by the artist name of 36. He is a much-loved producer with a fine back catalogue which is investigated here with The Box, a new collection of his earliest and perhaps most admired works. They were all written between 2005 and 2012 and are drawn from albums such as 2009's Hypersona, 2010's Hollow and 2012's Lithea. The bumper six vinyl collection also features a bonus album, Orphans, of all new and previously unreleased tracks. There is a real depth of range and emotion to these tracks so it is no wonder the artist says they are some of the most personally cherished works he has written.

INCANTATION celebrates 30 years as one of the most influential and iconic underground Death Metal bands with the new Tricennial of Blasphemy collection! A triple LP set that catalogs rarities and unreleased tracks, Tricennial of Blasphemy traces all eras of the band's infamous history. From a previously unavailable demo version of the band's classic "Impending Diabolical Conquest" featuring Will Rahmer (Moritican) on vocals, to never-before-heard tracks like "Pest Savagery" - Tricennial of Blasphemy is another crucial part of INCANTATION's legacy. Tricennial of Blasphemy was mastered by Dan Swano, and features art by Wes Benscoter!

46 Top 10 Hits (including 19 #1’s) on double-CD, triple-LP, and Digital Packaging contains new liner notes from Grammy®-nominee Randy Poe Limited Edition Gold Vinyl available for Independent Retail Buck Owens is a country music icon. As one of the best-selling artists of the 1960s, he accumulated numerous Top 10 hits with 19 of them reaching the #1 top spot on the charts. Now all of Owens’ Top Ten hits from 1959–1974 have been compiled on Bakersfield Gold: Top 10 Hits 1959–1974. Collecting 46 tracks, this release is available as a double-CD, triple-LP, and Digital release. Featuring new liner notes from Grammy®-nominee, Randy Poe (author of Buck ‘Em: The Autobiography Of Buck Owens), this is the first collection to compile Buck’s Top 10 hits on vinyl, with a limited edition gold vinyl version for independent retail. Bakersfield Gold is the ultimate collection of Owens’ biggest hits, with The Buckaroos, Rose Maddox, Buddy Alan, Susan Raye, and more. With its availability across all formats, this is a perfect introductory collection for the new fan, and an incredible ride for those who already love the magic of Bakersfield.

Mit Megahits wie „Die immer lacht“, „Scheissmelodie“, „Regenbogenfarben“ und „Wegen dir (Nachts wenn alles schläft)“ hat Kerstin Ott in den vergangenen Jahren sämtliche Charts-Rekorde gebrochen, Millionen begeisterter Zuschauer:innen berührt und die deutsche Popschlagerlandschaft so richtig umgekrempelt.

Kaum eine andere Solokünstlerin hat die deutschsprachige Popmusik in der letzten Zeit so geprägt wie Kerstin Ott und ihr Werdegang liest sich wie der wahr gewordene Traum eines jeden Künstlers.

Seit dem Debüt-Album „Herzbewohner“ (2016) hat Kerstin Ott insgesamt vier Studioalben veröffentlicht, mit denen sie bis heute über 300 Wochen in den deutschen Top 100 Album Charts vertreten war, sowie die Plätze 4 (Herzbewohner), 3 (Mut zur Katastrophe & Nachts sind alle Katzen grau) und 2 (Ich muss dir was sagen) erreichte - ein wahrer Rekord.

BEST OTT - Das ist das ultimative „Best of“ Album von Kerstin Ott. Erhältlich als limitierte 2CD Version mit 34 Songs sowie als limitierte 2LP Vinyl mit 21 Songs - alle Hits inkl. Regenbogenfarben,
Wegen Dir (Nachts wenn alles schläft), Die immer lacht u.v.m. Plus 4 neue Songs - inkl. „Was auch immer passiert“ (mit Andrea Berg) und der neuen Single „Mädchen“.

Limited Arctic Moss coloured vinyl LP version. New solo LP from The Stranglers' Hugh Cornwell, Moments of Madness is an album of acute, pithy, and witty observations and social commentary across ten singular songs!

Widely regarded as the poet laureate of the punk era (from his early career fronting the Stranglers to his transition as a solo artist), Hugh Cornwell has built a substantial and singular body of impressive solo albums. His tenth solo opus, Moments of Madness, continues his illustrious output by experimenting with musical genres as his enviable reputation as a wordsmith resounds across this album's songs.

Self-produced, and playing all of the instruments himself, Moments of Madness' ten incredible tracks finds Hugh flexing his musical muscles with a stripped down, offbeat, reverberating sixties vibe ringing from the seductive melodies and lyrically distinctive perceptions that are indelibly stamped with Hugh’s trademark imagination. Vocally and lyrically a career-best, Hugh has never sounded so good on his tenth solo album.

A high watermark and a modern-day masterpiece, Moments of Madness is being tipped as the most significant album of Hugh’s career.

We are proud to present he latest from Turbo Recordings Executive Honcho Tiga, a massive ode to passive-aggressive income remixed by Héctor Oaks, Der Zyklus, and Decius.
“No one wants to work their body anymore,” says the Montreal merrymaker from atop a throne in the exact shape of a digital wallet. “I get it. Who wants their surplus sweat equity vacuumed up off the dance floor by corporate parasites when the real future’s in decentralized skanking? But that’s why people in my position - the top one-percent in terms of nightlife and hospitality take-home pay - have to offer real benefits to risking it all in the clubs. I’m talking dance-move insurance, competitive drink ticket packages, and - most of all - the kind of brick-and-mortar bangers Rhythm Nation was founded upon back in 1814.”
While gratingly content with the original version, Tiga has nonetheless chosen to flood the Marketplace of Ideas with a plurality (3) of voices he feels will optimally position this release in today’s unforgiving Neo-Centrist landscape. This stunning grassfed vinyl 12” opens with a remix by Berlin-based vinyl-only DJ Héctor Oaks, who has been described as “operating at the absolute vanguard of rave.” Please remember that describing people this way is basically injecting them with Imposter Syndrome.
The release also features a remix by Der Zyklus, an alias of Gerald Donald, the epochal genius from Drexciya, Dopplereffekt, Japanese Telecom, Abstract Thought, Zerkalo, Zwischenwelt, and many other fantastic projects. Finally, Decius closes out the EP with all the British Mischief you might expect from UK luminaries from Trashmouth Records, Fat White Family, and Paranoid London.
"I’ve designed my entire life around the concept of ease,” adds Tiga. "I never wanted to work for a law firm. I wanted to make beats for a law firm. I’ve always been selfemployed, and that why my street cred’s off the street charts. And I’ve let as much of
that freedom trickle down to the audience as I can. Because when it comes to music,
there’s no such thing as an acceptable minimum wage. You gotta know that you gotta
give it all you got or you’re gonna get got.”

Finnish underground pioneers are back with six tracker Hidden Gems, Lost Memories. Limited vinyl is loaded with different moods nad grooves.

From Breakbeat, deep house to ambient and percussive dubby jammers.

There´s also a trippy Brawther dub version of Come Alive where the Helsinki production unit teams up with Detroit vocalist/producer Niko Marks from the UR-camp.

Sleep if ya will, but get this record first while you can..

Vinyl is hand customized and numbered 250 copies.

'WINGS' is taken from THE INVISIBLE's album 'RISPAH', and comes with an exquisite remix from Floating Points !
While the lead track from Mercury Nominated indie-electronic mopey types The Invisible is a goodun, our money's on the phenomenal remix from the ever on-form Floating Points. Taking the crunchy drum-machine rhythm, tape hiss and guitar jangle from the original, Sam Shepherd reconfigures the track into a near eight-minute opium opus, whimsical synths and all. Funnily enough Dave Okumu's haunting vocals sound even more focused here as Shepherd tranforms them into a ghostly memory, reframing them as a complex recollection of loss. It's harrowing and beautiful stuff

Herva started to work on 'Seez' right after the release of his last Planet Mu album 'Hyper Flux' back in 2017. He was experimenting with home-made hardware and after the album release wanted to raise the bar, challenging himself to build a point-to-point mixer from scratch. This task took almost a year of intense soldering and forced him to scrap music production. Eventually all this hard work grew into making studio hardware properly and he co-founded a new company making mixers and compressors that work with Eurorack, called Audio Gear Obsession. On 'Seez' Herva moves away completely from the sample-based music he's most known for and into programming and computational production, which he mixes and compresses with his newly-built hardware tools to give them the life and feeling he requires. There's also an element of randomness in 'Seez' as the music is generative, defined with numbers and ratios from his own software, tuned by ear rather than to set scales, with unexpected outcomes.To make the record, he spent more time digging between the different iterations of each track than coding the programs that generated them. He says "How I make music is kind of weird for most producers, but I like it, and I plan to dig further. You can think of 'Seez' as the alpha version of what I and my system are able to do." The new music still retains Herva's laid back airy feel. Each track is like a small ecosystem of chiming tones, wafting drones and skittering rhythms, hinting at formal patterns and melodies but developing on its own abstract terms. It feels as if it's the audio equivalent of watching sped-up recordings of a camera capturing different combinations of plants growing, a pleasant and curious experience to let yourself enjoy.

(Extended Reissue)

Double vinyl LP | Extended reissue
All tracks remastered from the original master tapes.

And here it is! For the first time ever, Zoo Folle in its full, extended glory.
This double LP contains both the soundtrack as released in 1974 (sides A and B) and previously unreleased gems (sides C and D).

Back in 2016 we put out the first official reissue of Zoo Folle. It sold out in a matter of months, leaving many vinyl collectors hungry for more. Quite serendipitously, the following year we found ourselves digging through Giuliano Sorgini's personal archives to prepare what would become Africa Oscura and stumbled upon a few mysterious reels that could be traced back to Zoo Folle. Imagine our joy when we realized that they contained the complete recording sessions of the original soundtrack, including unreleased material and never-before heard alternate versions! It was a no-brainer to start planning this extended reissue.

Already a phenomenon among collectors and experts, not only does Zoo Folle it keep winning more and more recognition, but, together with The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue and Under Pompelmo, it has established Sorgini as one of the great Italian composers of his generation.

And this is no coincidence. Zoo Folle is Sorgini's most committed and personal work. It reflects at once his beliefs as an animal rightist and his deep friendship with TV director and long-time collaborator Riccardo Fellini (brother of La Dolce Vita director Federico). It was Fellini himself who asked Sorgini to score his documentary on the living conditions of animals in zoos in Western metropolises (Rome, London and Paris in particular).

Originally broadcast by RAI in three primetime episodes, Fellini's exposé sharply contrasts the lives of caged animals with the freedom they experience in nature and wildlife reserves such as the Amboseli National Park in Kenya, Africa.

For his part, Sorgini offers perhaps his grandest score ever – a magnificent, multifaceted soundtrack that brings together a variety of instruments and the best musicians available at the time, from the lavish string orchestra recorded at the Fono Roma studios (a dream come true for someone who had not penetrated the inner circle of A-list composers like Morricone), to the angelic voice of Edda Dell'Orso, who conveys the sweetness and melancholy of the African sunset in Red, Old Skies.

Also performing on the soundtrack are exquisite soloists – all long-time friends of the composer. Nino Rapicavoli, for instance, whose flute adds a magical touch to the psycho-funk of Mad Town and the groove of Slaves, as well as Enzo Restuccia, whose afro-tribal percussions have made Ultima caccia a legendary track especially among lovers of Balearic grooves, and Enrico Ciacci, whose classical guitar soars beautifully over the nostalgic and poignant Chains. Not to mention the fact that Sorgini himself laid down the foundation tracks for the album in the small studio he had in the Prati neighbourhood in Rome, playing the piano, drums and several synthesizers.

So, what are you waiting for? Get your turntables ready for the full version of Amboseli (14 minutes of sheer bliss versus less than 6 in the original record) and for stunning, previously unreleased alternate versions of many other themes composed by Sorgini to celebrate the beauty of the savannah.

Skyline Recordings are thrilled to be releasing this incredibly modern, yet classic take of the timeless, Cry Me A River. This is an AWESOME version. On the A side, Betty Black (aka Elisabeth Troy) delivers a unique and powerful vocal; backed up with the rhythm section TFF (The Family Fortune) comprising of the incredible Pat West (guitar, drums); Andy Ross (saxophone) & Ralph Lamb (trumpet). The goosebumps come and, before you know it, you’re singing and dancing along. The horns combined with Black’s vocals gives this a real Brit Funk, Diana Krall meets Grace Jones vibe, with a side of James Bond. This is a real ‘smiler’. A great 45rpm for Betty Black’s first single. On the flip, TFF never fail to deliver a deep and inspirational instrumental featuring Kaidi Tatham on keyboards and Andy Ross on flute. Perfect DJ tool.

“Pure psychotropic madness.” A screaming head on fire penetrated my chest, jolting me from the universal plane back to earth.” Guitarist/Singer/Sonic Alchemist Dave W’s vivid fever dream ignited The Revenge of Heads on Fire, WHITE HILLS’ latest release, which harnesses the energy of ferocious, hedonistic rock with blissful passages of dark ambience. Exploring themes of mortality, transformation and rebirth, the band reveals a spiritual depth unparalleled in previous works. The roar of fire, swirling of oceans and hallucinogenic visions can be heard throughout the 75-minute journey. From the intrepid prelude “The Instrumental Head” to the closing punk blaze of “Eternity”, the album ebbs and flows, smouldering and seething in the middle with the 21- minute mammoth opus “Don’t Be Afraid”. “’Don't Be Afraid’ alone makes this an essential listen for fans of contemporary psychedelia.” -All Music The Revenge of Heads on Fire consummates Dave W’s prototype for the 2007 release on Rocket Recordings, Heads on Fire, later picked up by Thrill Jockey. Six rediscovered songs accompany re-mixed versions of the original material, fulfilling the master arch of the pyre lit long ago. Recorded during the band’s tumultuous early years, the music vibrates with the energy and volatility of a sonic boom. The album will be released on Heads on Fire Industries, distributed worldwide via Cargo Records.

Welcome to the FLIP SERIES. It's a new series where a group or an artists are sharing an album together.

Japanese Jazz trio Nautilus are starting with the A-Side. Label head Oonops is working with them since 2017 and this is their eighth common project. He selected two of his favourite tunes from Nautilus back archive which are called "In The Rain" - a cover version of an old soul classic by The Dramatics from 1971 as well as "Kudu" by Eddie Henderson from 1976 (both previously only available on the Japanese market). Additionally there are three new cover versions which Oonops desired to get arranged: "Manhã" by Azymuth, "The Bottle" by Gil Scott-Heron and "Be Thankful For What You Got" by William DeVaughn! All classics and new reinterpreted in the typical Nautilus way.

For the flip side Oonops selected his favourite tunes by traditional Japanese singer Anna Sato & Nautilus drummer Toshiyuki Sasaki. They released two common digital albums named "Message & Message 2 - Reincarnation" and now found on this mini sampler on 12"-vinyl for the first time.

"Manhã" played by Gilles Peterson (BBC Radio 6 Music)

For all fans of this band: stay excited because a debut live tour for Germany in May 2022 is planned! credits released September 2, 2022

Arranged by: Toshiyuki Sasaki
Drums: Toshiyuki Sasaki
Keys: Mariko Nakabayashi
Bass: Shigeki Umezawa

A1 written by: The Dramatics
A2 written by: Azymuth
A3 written by: Gil-Scott Heron
A4 written by: Patrice Rushen
A5 written by: William DeVaughn

Flipside:
Drums arranged by: Toshiyuki Sasaki
Vocals arranged by: Anna Sato

Artwork and layout: Glueset
Photography Nautilus: Orie Ichihashi
Photography Anna Sato & Toshiyuki Sasaki: Rino Kojima
Conceptual project idea: Oonops

Psychedelic Funk: this is the musical mood of the new Sexopolis. For those who enjoyed in the 70s or those who jus discover them today, will find in this last release internationa and very rare historical songs shuch as “Flute Salad” from JuPar Universal Orchestra, “Misty Purple” by Rolf Kühn, “Dove” by Cymande, and also some Italian gem
such as “Fall out” by The Braen's Machine (Alessandro Alessandroni ), “Nebbie misteriose” by Ugo Busoni.

16 tracks, 80 minutes of a music journey between the mystic and psychedelic, funk and afrofuturism, as always original versions gently remastered, and pressed on limited light blue splattered double vinyl.

‘Complex and dangerously catchy, lyrically sophisticated and provocative, noisy and somehow serene… Yankee Hotel Foxtrot… is simply a masterpiece.’ – Pitchfork, 10/10, April 2002

‘The looped chaos and plangent melodies... effectively heralded the birth of a new band, as Jeff Tweedy overhauled his compositional modus operandi. So tender was the emotional core of songs like ‘Jesus, Etc.’ that the record became wrapped up in America’s post-9/11 cultural discourse... Yankee Hotel Foxtrot embedded Wilco’s great American songwriter status.’
– Mojo

‘It's as if the Flying Burrito Brothers suddenly decided to cover Pavement songs. There is a gentle, rootsy beauty here that Wilco has buried in a box of vulnerability and covered with a handful of dirt.’ – New York Times

‘Born out of turmoil, Wilco’s fourth album was a stone-cold classic.’ – Uncut

Nonesuch releases seven special editions of Wilco’s landmark 2002 album Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. The now-classic record has been remastered and will be available as part of each set. The Super Deluxe version comprises eleven vinyl LPs and one CD – including demos, drafts, and instrumentals, charting the making of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot – plus a live 2002 concert recording and a September 2001 radio performance and interview. That box set includes eighty-two previously unreleased music tracks as well as a new book featuring an interview with singer/songwriter/guitarist Jeff Tweedy, drummer Glenn Kotche, and Jim O’Rourke, who mixed the acclaimed 2002 album; an in-depth essay by journalist/author Bob Mehr; and previously unseen photos of the band making the album in their Chicago studio, The Loft. For the Yankee Hotel Foxtrot recording, Wilco was Jeff Tweedy, John Stirratt, Leroy Bach, Glenn Kotche, and Jay Bennett with Craig Christiansen, Ken Coomer, Jessy Greene, Fred Lonberg-Holm, and Jim O’Rourke.

A live version of ‘Reservations’ from a legendary concert contained on Snoozin’ at The Pageant – Live 7/23/02 at The Pageant, St. Louis, MO – a recording that is part of the Super Deluxe LP and CD sets as well as the Deluxe LP and digital sets – is now available. A limited-edition vinyl 7” with versions of ‘I’m the Man Who Loves You’ and ‘War on War’, from the Super Deluxe box set, is available now from wilcostore.

Wilco marked the anniversary of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot – which was released commercially on April 23, 2002, after a circuitous and storied gestation, including a period of streaming for free on the band’s website – with a performance of the album’s ‘Poor Places’ on April 18’s Late Show with Stephen Colbert, which may be seen here. The band is currently performing Yankee Hotel Foxtrot in its entirety (plus a mix of concert favourites and rarities) in two limited runs at New York City’s United Palace and Chicago’s Auditorium Theatre. The Chicago show on April 23 will be available as a live stream here.

Yankee Hotel Foxtrot was widely acclaimed as one of 2002’s best albums, appearing in year-end lists of Mojo, NME, Q, Rolling Stone, and Uncut, among many others. Yankee Hotel Foxtrot also was featured in multiple decade-end lists, with Rolling Stone naming it #3 Album of the 2000s, as well as many Greatest Albums of All Time lists, including in the NME.

Among Yankee’s inspirations was a recording Tweedy bought at Tower Records in the late 1990s, The Conet Project: Recordings of Shortwave Numbers Stations. As Bob Mehr points out in his new album note, the record got “deep under Tweedy’s skin.” Tweedy said in his 2017 memoir, Let’s Go (So We Can Get Back), “It was as fascinating to me as anything being made by actual musicians using actual instruments… I wanted to know why it was so hypnotic to me. Why could I listen to hours of this stuff, even though I had no clue what any of them were saying. That question became the foundation for Yankee Hotel Foxtrot… the way people communicated or ultimately failed to communicate.” The album takes its title from a haunting recording of a woman repeating those words that is included in The Conet Project; that recording is sampled in the penultimate song on Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, ‘Poor Places’.

“Conceptually, Tweedy had decided to focus on a big idea for the next album: the state of America. His lyrics – often distilled from scribbled pages of free verse or poetry – became a form of inquiry,” Mehr continues. Tweedy said, in 2004, “I wanted to write about the stuff right in front of my eyes, microscopically looking at America and asking questions about each little thing… How can there be all these good things and things that I love about America, alongside all of these things that I’m ashamed of? And that was an internal question, too; I think I felt that way about myself.”

Mehr says, “Exploring those questions, while weaving in strands of Eastern philosophy and bits of autobiography – Yankee lyrics would be loaded with the pained imagery of someone suffering from migraines and mental health issues – Tweedy would conjure a deep examination of both country and self.”

Describing the uncanny, strangely prescient feeling of the album, which Wilco began offering as a free stream on its website in 2001, Mehr notes: “In the wake of 9/11, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot would be burdened with unintended meaning. The disc had originally been scheduled for a September 11 release. Its cover – a Sam Jones-shot image of Chicago’s twin Marina Towers angled in looming fashion – bore an eerie resemblance to the felled World Trade Center towers. And the songs – with titles like ‘Ashes of American Flags’ and ‘War on War,’ and lyrics about how ‘tall buildings shake, sad voices escape’ – took on a terrible new resonance.”

Yankee Hotel Foxtrot was the first Wilco release on Nonesuch Records following the band’s infamous split with Reprise (both labels are part of Warner Music Group). It was also the first release featuring the line-up of drummer Glenn Kotche and multi-instrumentalist Leroy Bach joining founding members Jeff Tweedy and John Stirratt. The 2002 Sam Jones film I Am Trying to Break Your Heart documented the fraught recording and mixing process, personnel changes, and label issues.

The relationship with Nonesuch would last nearly a decade and include three more studio albums – the Grammy Award-winning A ghost is born, Sky Blue Sky, and Wilco (the album) – along with a live album and a live DVD, plus reissues of earlier records, before Wilco began its own label, dBpm. The band’s current lineup of Jeff Tweedy, John Stirratt, Glenn Kotche, Mikael Jorgensen, Patrick Sansone, and Nels Cline has been together for nearly twenty years.


DISC 5: HERE COMES EVERYBODY – BUILDING YANKEE HOTEL FOXTROT (PART 2)
Side I: (TRAIN)
1. Radio Cure (Here Comes Everybody Version) *
2. War on War (Here Comes Everybody Version) *
3. Venus Stopped the Train (Here Comes Everybody Version) * #
4. I'm the Man Who Loves You (Here Comes Everybody Version) *
5. The Good Part (Here Comes Everybody Version) * #
Side J: (KETTLE)
1. Pot Kettle Black (Here Comes Everybody Version) *
2. Ashes of American Flags (Here Comes Everybody Version) *
3. Poor Places (Here Comes Everybody Version) *
4. Shakin' Sugar (Here Comes Everybody Version) *
5. Reservations (Here Comes Everybody Version) *

DISC 6: HERE COMES EVERYBODY – BUILDING YANKEE HOTEL FOXTROT (PART 2) / THE UNIFIED THEORY OF EVERYTHING – BUILDING YANKEE HOTEL FOXTROT (PART 3)
Side K: (ESCAPE)
1. Cars Can't Escape (Here Comes Everybody Version) * #
2. A Magazine Called Sunset (The Unified Theory of Everything Version) ** #
3. Remember to Remember (Hummingbird) The Unified Theory of Everything Version ** #
4. I Am Trying to Break Your Heart (The Unified Theory of Everything Version) ** #
Side L: (WAR)
1. Kamera (The Unified Theory of Everything Version) ** #
2. Radio Cure (The Unified Theory of Everything Version) ** #
3. War on War (The Unified Theory of Everything Version) ** #
4. Jesus, Etc. (The Unified Theory of Everything Version) ** #

DISC 7: THE UNIFIED THEORY OF EVERYTHING – BUILDING YANKEE HOTEL FOXTROT (PART 3) / LONELY IN THE DEEP END – DEMOS, DRAFTS, ETC.
Side M: (DRUMMER)
1. Ashes of American Flags (Stravinsky Mix) ** #
2. Heavy Metal Drummer (The Unified Theory of Everything Version) ** #
3. I'm The Man Who Loves You (The Unified Theory of Everything Version) **
4. Pot Kettle Black (The Unified Theory of Everything Version) ** #
5. Poor Places (The Unified Theory of Everything Version) ** #
Side N: (RESERVATIONS)
1. Reservations (The Unified Theory of Everything Version) ** #
2. Love Will (Let You Down) Lonely in the Deep End Version *
3. Lost Poem Demo (Lonely in the Deep End Version) *
4. I’m The Only One Who Lets Her Down (Lonely in the Deep End Version) *
5. Has Anybody Seen My Pencil? (Lonely in the Deep End Version) *














[l] E1. Anniversary (Nothing Up My Sleeve) [American Aquarium Version] *









[v] G2. Not for the Season (Laminated Cat) [American Aquarium Version] *


[y] H2. Not for the Season (Laminated Cat) [Here Comes Everybody Version] * #





[xe] K3. Remember to Remember (Hummingbird) [The Unified Theory of Everything Version] ** #











[xq] N2. Love Will (Let You Down) [Lonely in the Deep End Version] *

Originally released in the UK on 13 May 1996 through Virgin Records, ‘Older’, George Michael’s iconic album, reached the pinnacle of chart success, where it remained for three consecutive weeks, spending 35 weeks in the top 10 overall. The album produced six singles, two of which - ‘Fastlove’ and the haunting ‘Jesus To A Child’ - reached No.1, with the other four peaking in the top three.

The album was a huge global commercial success, going 6x platinum in the UK, as well as verified platinum in another 22 countries – an achievement which is unparalleled to this day.

‘Older’ was George’s third album as a solo artist and would see him experimenting with new musical styles and expanding his artistic horizons. Hailed by critics as a triumph, it told the story of an extraordinary period in the life of the man who wrote, recorded and produced it, as he journeyed through one of the most turbulent periods of his professional and personal life. George channeled all his painful life experiences into one of the most personal, heart-felt albums he had ever written.

Deluxe Edition

We’re proud to present an extravagant 51st anniversary edition of Wigwam’s game-changing prog rock classic Fairyport. What began as a projected 50th anniversary release turned into a 51st due to the current manufacturing queues for vinyl. To create the anniversary package we teamed up with Jukka Gustavson and went through a plethora of material. Gustavson hand-picked the best possible bonus materials. The legendary jam Rave-up For The Roadies, featuring Jukka Tolonen, was located in its original 36 minute form. The truncated 17-minute version is the closing number of Fairyport, but here the full version received an entire LP. Most original reels to Fairyport are lost, but we salvaged a few demo session tapes plus some eight track reels of the album’s work-in-progress stage. Four tracks were chosen by Gustavson to be added here. It should be noted that the two album session tracks feature the original violin parts, which were left off the final product. All material was mixed from the original reels by Risto Hemmi at Finnvox. The box set also features a live LP. For this Gustavson picked material from a show the band played in Stockholm while working on the album’s demo sessions. There’s an earliest existing version of Losing Hold plus a 15-minute medley of several tracks. Also included is a 20-minute live set from the first ever Ruisrock in 1970, a couple of months before the band entered the studio. Here Wigwam perform three classics by The Band. The vinyl box set is limited to 1000 copies. All material has been remastered at Finnvox by Pauli Saastamoinen in 2022.

feat. Banda Maje

Four Flies is thrilled to present a fresh little gem of a 7 inch where the Salifornian funk collective Banda Maje put their spin on "Wait For Me", a disco-funk track by Canadian multi-instrumentalist Franky Selector originally released in his album Never Better – which last spring was fully reinterpreted by a number of Italian artists, including Banda Maje, in the digital album Italians do it (Never) Better.

The full, vocal version of the re-edit, on side A, sees Franky Selector himself sing in perfect Neapolitan amidst irresistible backing vocals, while the instrumental version is provided on side B.

Both versions brim with joy, funk, and Salifornian energy, bringing Italy and Canada closer than ever. Infectious groove has no boundaries.

Wilco setzen ihrem bedeutendsten Album "Yankee Hotel
Foxtrot" im 20. Jubiläumsjahr ein eigenes Denkmal mit
gleich mehreren Deluxe-Reissues, die einen tiefen
Einblick in die wechselvolle Entstehungsgeschichte des
Meisterwerks geben.
Insgesamt gleich sieben Editionen der Platte werden am
16. September veröffentlicht, darunter eine
Super-Deluxe-Version, die aus elf Vinyls und einer CD
besteht. Mit dabei sind Demos, Fragmente und
Instrumentalstücke, die die Entstehung von "Yankee Hotel
Foxtrot" dokumentieren, sowie ein Live-Mitschnitt eines
Konzerts aus dem Jahr 2002, ein Radioauftritt und ein
Interview aus dem September 2001.
82 bisher unveröffentlichte Songs sowie ein neues Buch
mit einem Interview mit Sänger Jeff Tweedy,
Schlagzeuger Glenn Kotche und Jim O'Rourke (der bei
der Abmischung auch entscheidend dafür sorgte, dass
sich die Platte anders entwickelte, als ursprünglich
beabsichtigt war), einem Essay des Autors Bob Mehr und
bisher unveröffentlichten Fotos der Band bei den
Aufnahmen zum Album in ihrem Chicagoer Studio The
Loft sind in der Super-Deluxe-Version enthalten.

‘Complex and dangerously catchy, lyrically sophisticated and provocative, noisy and somehow serene… Yankee Hotel Foxtrot… is simply a masterpiece.’ – Pitchfork, 10/10, April 2002

‘The looped chaos and plangent melodies... effectively heralded the birth of a new band, as Jeff Tweedy overhauled his compositional modus operandi. So tender was the emotional core of songs like ‘Jesus, Etc.’ that the record became wrapped up in America’s post-9/11 cultural discourse... Yankee Hotel Foxtrot embedded Wilco’s great American songwriter status.’
– Mojo

‘It's as if the Flying Burrito Brothers suddenly decided to cover Pavement songs. There is a gentle, rootsy beauty here that Wilco has buried in a box of vulnerability and covered with a handful of dirt.’ – New York Times

‘Born out of turmoil, Wilco’s fourth album was a stone-cold classic.’ – Uncut

Nonesuch releases seven special editions of Wilco’s landmark 2002 album Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. The now-classic record has been remastered and will be available as part of each set. The Super Deluxe version comprises eleven vinyl LPs and one CD – including demos, drafts, and instrumentals, charting the making of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot – plus a live 2002 concert recording and a September 2001 radio performance and interview. That box set includes eighty-two previously unreleased music tracks as well as a new book featuring an interview with singer/songwriter/guitarist Jeff Tweedy, drummer Glenn Kotche, and Jim O’Rourke, who mixed the acclaimed 2002 album; an in-depth essay by journalist/author Bob Mehr; and previously unseen photos of the band making the album in their Chicago studio, The Loft. For the Yankee Hotel Foxtrot recording, Wilco was Jeff Tweedy, John Stirratt, Leroy Bach, Glenn Kotche, and Jay Bennett with Craig Christiansen, Ken Coomer, Jessy Greene, Fred Lonberg-Holm, and Jim O’Rourke.

A live version of ‘Reservations’ from a legendary concert contained on Snoozin’ at The Pageant – Live 7/23/02 at The Pageant, St. Louis, MO – a recording that is part of the Super Deluxe LP and CD sets as well as the Deluxe LP and digital sets – is now available. A limited-edition vinyl 7” with versions of ‘I’m the Man Who Loves You’ and ‘War on War’, from the Super Deluxe box set, is available now from wilcostore.

Wilco marked the anniversary of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot – which was released commercially on April 23, 2002, after a circuitous and storied gestation, including a period of streaming for free on the band’s website – with a performance of the album’s ‘Poor Places’ on April 18’s Late Show with Stephen Colbert, which may be seen here. The band is currently performing Yankee Hotel Foxtrot in its entirety (plus a mix of concert favourites and rarities) in two limited runs at New York City’s United Palace and Chicago’s Auditorium Theatre. The Chicago show on April 23 will be available as a live stream here.

Yankee Hotel Foxtrot was widely acclaimed as one of 2002’s best albums, appearing in year-end lists of Mojo, NME, Q, Rolling Stone, and Uncut, among many others. Yankee Hotel Foxtrot also was featured in multiple decade-end lists, with Rolling Stone naming it #3 Album of the 2000s, as well as many Greatest Albums of All Time lists, including in the NME.

Among Yankee’s inspirations was a recording Tweedy bought at Tower Records in the late 1990s, The Conet Project: Recordings of Shortwave Numbers Stations. As Bob Mehr points out in his new album note, the record got “deep under Tweedy’s skin.” Tweedy said in his 2017 memoir, Let’s Go (So We Can Get Back), “It was as fascinating to me as anything being made by actual musicians using actual instruments… I wanted to know why it was so hypnotic to me. Why could I listen to hours of this stuff, even though I had no clue what any of them were saying. That question became the foundation for Yankee Hotel Foxtrot… the way people communicated or ultimately failed to communicate.” The album takes its title from a haunting recording of a woman repeating those words that is included in The Conet Project; that recording is sampled in the penultimate song on Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, ‘Poor Places’.

“Conceptually, Tweedy had decided to focus on a big idea for the next album: the state of America. His lyrics – often distilled from scribbled pages of free verse or poetry – became a form of inquiry,” Mehr continues. Tweedy said, in 2004, “I wanted to write about the stuff right in front of my eyes, microscopically looking at America and asking questions about each little thing… How can there be all these good things and things that I love about America, alongside all of these things that I’m ashamed of? And that was an internal question, too; I think I felt that way about myself.”

Mehr says, “Exploring those questions, while weaving in strands of Eastern philosophy and bits of autobiography – Yankee lyrics would be loaded with the pained imagery of someone suffering from migraines and mental health issues – Tweedy would conjure a deep examination of both country and self.”

Describing the uncanny, strangely prescient feeling of the album, which Wilco began offering as a free stream on its website in 2001, Mehr notes: “In the wake of 9/11, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot would be burdened with unintended meaning. The disc had originally been scheduled for a September 11 release. Its cover – a Sam Jones-shot image of Chicago’s twin Marina Towers angled in looming fashion – bore an eerie resemblance to the felled World Trade Center towers. And the songs – with titles like ‘Ashes of American Flags’ and ‘War on War,’ and lyrics about how ‘tall buildings shake, sad voices escape’ – took on a terrible new resonance.”

Yankee Hotel Foxtrot was the first Wilco release on Nonesuch Records following the band’s infamous split with Reprise (both labels are part of Warner Music Group). It was also the first release featuring the line-up of drummer Glenn Kotche and multi-instrumentalist Leroy Bach joining founding members Jeff Tweedy and John Stirratt. The 2002 Sam Jones film I Am Trying to Break Your Heart documented the fraught recording and mixing process, personnel changes, and label issues.

The relationship with Nonesuch would last nearly a decade and include three more studio albums – the Grammy Award-winning A ghost is born, Sky Blue Sky, and Wilco (the album) – along with a live album and a live DVD, plus reissues of earlier records, before Wilco began its own label, dBpm. The band’s current lineup of Jeff Tweedy, John Stirratt, Glenn Kotche, Mikael Jorgensen, Patrick Sansone, and Nels Cline has been together for nearly twenty years.