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Columbia Records release the eagerly anticipated new album (first in seven years) from US indie/rockers. This is the band's sixth studio album and was recorded at Shangri-La studios in Malibu (produced by Rick Rubin). A 9 track album, which includes the singles "At The Door", "Bad Decisions" and more. Released on vinyl and CD.

Recent UK promo trip and live date. Ads, features, interviews and reviews across all press. Video plays at MTV/Vevo. Radio support across R1, R2, 6Music, Radio X, Beats 1, Absolute, Virgin, ILR. Radio ad campaign. Online/social media activity. Poster campaign and database mailout.

Columbia Records release the eagerly anticipated new album (first in seven years) from US indie/rockers. This is the band's sixth studio album and was recorded at Shangri-La studios in Malibu (produced by Rick Rubin). A 9 track album, which includes the singles "At The Door", "Bad Decisions" and more. Released on vinyl and CD.

Recent UK promo trip and live date. Ads, features, interviews and reviews across all press. Video plays at MTV/Vevo. Radio support across R1, R2, 6Music, Radio X, Beats 1, Absolute, Virgin, ILR. Radio ad campaign. Online/social media activity. Poster campaign and database mailout.

Something is stirring in downtown Tucson. That's no great surprise perhaps: Calexico have been sending out missives from the desert for 20 years now, Giant Sand for even longer than that, and the Green on Red revival is surely overdue. Let us remind ourselves that this isn't a big city in the American sense, but that its hinterland is indeed as big as it gets. For an hour south, Mexico starts. And this is where things get interesting.

Born in Nogales, Arizona, raised in Nogales, Sonora, multi-instrumentalist and band-leader Sergio Mendoza grew up listening to the Mexican regional styles jostling for headspace in a young, music-mad mind - cumbia mainly, but mambo, rancheras and mariachi too. The border is always a fierce arena of exchange, both commercial and cultural, and so there was American music too. At one point 'rock and roll, the classics', as Mendoza himself deadpans, seemed to win out and he stopped playing those 'Latin styles' for a good decade and a half.

The return to those sounds was a strong one in 2012's Mambo Mexicano, co-produced by Mendoza and Joey Burns of Calexico - a band for which Mendoza has become an increasingly integral touring and recording member. While that record had a studied air, tentative in parts (as befits the renewal of an old love affair), ¡Vamos A Guarachar! is another beast entirely: by turns raucous ('Cumbia Volcadora', featuring Mexican electronic pioneer Camilo Lara), tender ('Misterio', surely Salvador Duran's finest moment with the band so far) and plain serious fun, as in 'Contra La Marea' and 'Mapache', it also bears a robust electronic edge, a keen pop sensibility and all the hallmarks of Mendoza's love of 60s rock, with the closing track, 'Shadows of the Mind', sure to be included if anyone decides to update the Nuggets collection for the 21st century. This is roundabout way of saying that it appears to have everything, but never too much of anything. Focused, fierce and beautifully executed by a superbly drilled set of musicians, it is a record that fully matches the band's explosive live performances.

You could, of course, take the trip to Tucson yourself, to the home of this essential set of field recordings. The scene hangs out together, so ... if the stars align and their frantic tour schedules permit, you might see any number of folks from Calexico, Giant Sand or up-and-coming cumbia rockers Xixa deep in conversation somewhere in town with a quiet young man in black. That's Sergio. Right now, in this endless game of Tucson tag, Orkesta Mendoza are IT.

“Osondi owendi. What is cherished by some is despised by others. One man’s meat is another man’s poison. Different strokes for different folks. To each their own. Osondi owendi.

It’s a conventional aphorism in the Igbo language but if you utter the word “osondi owendi” in Nigeria today, the first thing that comes to anybody’s mind is the cucumber-cool highlife music maestro Chief Stephen Osita Osadebe and his legendary album that takes its name from the adage. Released in 1984, Osondi Owendi was instantly received as Osadebe’s magnum opus, the crowning event of an exalted career stretching back to the early years of highlife’s emergence as Nigeria’s predominant popular music.

Stephen Osadebe first appeared on the music scene in 1958 as a spry, twenty-two year-old vocalist in the Empire Rhythm Skies Orchestra, directed by bandleader Steven Amechi. With his dapper suits, urbane Nat King Cole-influenced vocal stylings and jaunty, uptempo, calypso-scented dance tunes, he personified the frisky spirit and anxious aspirations of a young, educated generation that had come of age in the wake of the Second World War, in a Nigeria that was rapidly shaking off British colonization and marching towards an independent future. 1959 would be the year that he truly made his mark in the business with his debut solo single “Lagos Life Na So So Enjoyment.” A giddy exhortation of the music, sex, fun and freedom availed by life in the big city, the song became a sensation and an anthem, and Stephen Osadebe became the leader of his own popular dance band, the Nigerian Sound Makers.

Osadebe would ride this wave of acclaim through most of the nineteen sixties, but a change in direction would be called for at the dawn of the seventies. As Nigeria emerged from a devastating civil war, so did a new generation of youth inspired by rock and funk, confrontational sounds reflective of a more violent, less idealistic era. All of the sudden, the idioms of the post-WWII dance orchestras that nurtured Osadebe’s cohort seemed quaint, the stuff of nostalgia. Osadebe needed to evolve to respond to the new tumultuous, turned-up times.

His response? He cooled it down.

Abetted by a new crop of fire-blooded young players, Osadebe slowed his music to a mellow, meditative tempo, brought forward the lumbering, Afro Cuban-accented bass and percussion, from the rockers he borrowed searing lead lines on the electric guitar. Over this musical bedrock, doesn’t so much as sing as he dreamily muses, coos, sighs aphorisms, words of wisdom and inspiration. “When one listens to my music, all I say appears meaningful,” Osadebe explained his lyrical approach, “at times they are in the form of proverbs which provoke much thought afterwards.” The result is a blend that is both rollicking and soothingly languid. Osadebe christened the style Oyolima—a tranquil, otherworldly state of total relaxation and pleasure. Osondi Owendi represents oyolima at its finest, and possibly Nigerian highlife in epitome.

Osondi owendi. What is cherished by some is despised by others. In some way, the album’s title constitutes a paradox. Because Osondi Owendi is a record that it’s almost impossible to imagine being despised by anybody."

Sam went into an almost psychotic state when making music. He wasn’t himself. He was immersed in the creativity to such an extent that it was almost like a psychotic trance. Here’s an example. He found all this giant kelp down at Western Port bay and he would bathe himself in it for weeks. He would replenish the water and put salt in the bath, but leave the kelp in there. I used to ask Julie, his partner and wife, “How’s everything going?” and she’d say, “Just go and have a look at the bath.” - Tony Rogers

Sam Mallet could have pursued a career as a French literature professor in Paris, but decided his true calling was to remain in Australia, dedicate himself to his music and find the plateau; a word he used to describe the sensory worlds residing in music. Under the influence of Eno, Jon Hassell, Arvo Pärt, John Coltrane and Robert Fripp, Sam explored a wide variety of musical styles and put them to service soundtracking the time based works of his peers. He crafted spatial ambience, somber jazz, and drum computer driven rockers for short films and experimental video works, television shows (including the original Australian Wilfred series), feature films and live theatre. The avant garde Anthill Theatre, known for its departure from conventional staging practices and having a keen eye for talent, enlisted Mallet to provide soundtracks for approximately 40 productions throughout the 1980s and early 1990s.

Sadly, Sam passed away in 2014. A crucial piece of his legacy is undoubtedly the body of work he produced during his life, and the archive of recorded works is vast and deep. Sam seemingly saved everything, from fragments to finished pieces; and often repurposed previously released tracks by collaging them into new pieces. He self released a small number of cassettes and CDs from the mid 1980s onward, the contents of which were culled from soundtrack work and original pieces, but the majority of his music was experienced only within the ephemeral live performances.

Wetlands is the product of countless hours spent with this archive by Rowan Mason (Sanpo Disco/Recurring Dream) and Tony Remple (Musique Plastique), offering a dynamic survey of Sam’s work, and housed in a jacket evoking the minimal design and colour palette of his earliest cassette releases. Two selections of Sam Mallet’s music were featured on the compilation Midday Moon (also produced by Rowan), released last year by Bedroom Suck Records. Along with Left Ear Records’ Antipodean Anomalies, Midday Moon has served to highlight outlier musics and scenes from Australia and New Zealand, and Wetlands plunges deeper into the catalog of this obscure yet groundbreaking artist.

With their 2013 debut single "Vintage Voudou," Conjunto Papa Upa cemented themselves as the torchbearers of a rare breed of Afro-Caribbean psychedelic soul, a clear delineation from the wonderful world of Venezuelan poly rhythms. That original song, named after the short lived but heavily influential Amsterdam brick and mortar record shop that band leader Alex Figueira founded, was a perfect clue into the deep exploration that Papa Upa would begin to take on their musical journey. Like the store itself, known for its solid connection to the musical footprints put down in relatively undiscovered places like Suriname, Curacao, Cabo Verde, Portugal and of course Figueira's native Venezuela, Papa Upa has captured a sound that is entirely unique, a new concoction of influences that at once sound strange, yet totally familiar. Perhaps because Venezuela shared such a rich & diverse mix of sounds from the Atlantic, Caribbean & US, a kindred spirit to their neighboring country, Colombia, an equal in terms of their industry output from the 60's & 70's, yet not nearly as publicized and compiled in recent years. Like many places in the greater Afro-Caribbean nexus, they were musically ahead of their time.


This futuristic mélange of sounds is reflective of Papa Upa itself, made up of musicians from Venezuela, Uruguay, Cuba & The Netherlands, all living, practicing & recording at Figueira's Amsterdam studio, Barracão Sound. With such a wide range of tropical influences, in a cosmopolitan and diverse city like Amsterdam, it's no wonder that Papa Upa's first extended project would find kinship in a collaboration with New York's Names You Can Trust.


Their lead single for the label, a preview of an upcoming full-length project in 2020, features "El Secreto Del Metalero" & the 45-only bonus B-side, "Chicharrón Pelúo." Metalero, or "The Metalhead's Secret" is a fitting anecdote for Papa Upa, with Figueira's synthesized vocals leading the way. It's an allegorical exorcism of a debauched headbanger on a discreet dance floor of a tropical rave. The shedding of a gruff & gothic exterior for the buckle-to-buckle bliss of the changa. Similarly in the music itself, under the cloak of vintage synths and a woofer exploding bassline, lies a frenetic fusion of afro-latin percussion that is highlighted by the intense rhythms of Angola's giantguacharaca (or scraper), thedikanza. At its heart is a sugary sweetness that is capable of converting the roughest of rockers into a tropicalista on the dance floor.

Benedek & Noble return! This marks part 2 in the ongoing collaborations of the now bi coastal rockers. This track came together around 2018 and is now finally available on Wax

Dutch underground acid-techno act Random XS strikes again with two rugged and authentic dance floor rockers. After a long awaited re-release of their Djax-Up-Beats classic 'Give Your Body' last year on Delsin, they return with a pair of fresh and unheard acid jams on the closely related MOS Recordings. Both tracks recorded in the early '90s, but only recently finalized and improved for heavy club impact. It's an EP full with gurgling 303 grooves and raw energy in the traditional and energetic Random XS way.

The Souljazz Orchestra return with a brand new studio album for our troubled times, 'Chaos Theories', released on Strut.
Always known for their uncompromising social and political messages, the Canadian collective hit harder than ever on 9 new tracks, outing the hypocrisy of modern day politics, police brutality and the everyday struggle of the working man. Led by chief songwriter and arranger Pierre Chrètien, the band continue to evolve their sound, drawing on a broad palette from their trademark Latin, Afro and Caribbean styles to some of the UK's political sounds of the early '80s, the era of The Clash, The Police, 2-Tone and frontline reggae.

Baby Buddha is the experimental new wave duo of Charles Hornaday (vocals, guitar, electronics, drums) and David Javelosa (vocals, electronics, clarinet). Born from late night improvisations of San Francisco synth-punks Los Microwaves with a rotating cast of musicians. Live shows would include music, projections, dance and performance art in both clubs and gallery spaces. In 1980, Howie Klein's 415 Records released their first single of Tammy Wynette's 'Stand By Your Man'. In 1981, 'Music For Teenage Sex' was their first full length album released via Poshboy Records. It featured Los Microwaves' Meg Brazill, Poshboy boss Robbie Fields, and Kathy Peck as "Tammy Why-not", who later went on to found H.E.A.R (Hearing Education and Awareness for Rockers). In January 1983 Kathy, Charles and David went into the studio with a couple of Kathy's original 'country' songs and began working on a sophomore album. They also incorporated songs from a live multi-track recording of a concert at the Graffiti Club on June 6th 1984. The album titled 'Everyone Is My Age' sat unreleased until 1987 due to relocation to Los Angeles and eventually found a home on David's Hyperspace Communications, the original label for the first Los Microwaves singles. For this first time reissue we've added a previously unreleased bonus song 'What's Going On,' a Kathy Peck original. All songs have been remastered by George Horn at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley. The vinyl comes housed in the original jacket featuring a collage by David Javelosa and includes an insert with lyrics, photos and liner notes. Alternative.

Spiritual message from Kiddus I, the Original Rockers to each and every roots lovers across the board. Backed by one of Japanes most devout band Reggaelation IndependAnce, Kiddus is back again with a breathtaking remake of "Flying Knots".

The electronic pioneer and founding father of synthpop, Gary Numan, celebrates his 40th anniversary as recording artist. During these 40 years, Numan's impact made itself felt; his dark, paranoid vision, theatrically icy alien persona, and clinical, robotic sound were echoed strongly in the work of many goth rock, wave and industrial artists

Wave Tension Records invited 7 contemporary dark wave, gothic and dreampop artists to honour their inspirator with an exclusive tribute. The album opens with Agent Side Grinder's nostalgic analogue rendition of 'I'm an Agent', followed by Ash Code's fresh sounding fast paced post-punk/dark wave version of 'Down In The Park'. Shad Shadows turn 'Metal' into a whispering heated darkwave track. On the last track of side A, Box & The Twins create warm and dreamy soundscapes in their version of 'Complex'. SUIR opens side B with a hypnotic psychedelic slowed down art-punk version of 'Cars'. Synths Versus Me turns Numan's monster hit 'Are Friends Electric' into a fresh synthpop & EBM take with Art of Noise-esque vocals. The album's closing track is a gothic rock rendition of 'My Name Is Ruin' by Swedish rockers Then Comes Silence, which encourages you to sing along

Mirror Box is the solo analog synth project of Dallas musician Sean Kirkpatrick. With an extensive resume that includes keyboard duties for Kill Rock Stars' 00s noise rock band The Paper Chase as well as his concurrent projects, dark post-punk-synth-rockers Nervous Curtains and darkwave duo Little Beards, Mirror Box is Kirkpatrick's first foray into the purely electronic realm. Blending together elements of Giallo moodiness, dub texture, techno propulsion, a passing nod to your favorite wave music, and a flare for the kosmiche, Mirror Box' debut release, Minimal Compliance EP, is a tour de force of the veteran musician's exploration of a wide range of influences and experience.

Released by Dallas-based Gavin Guthrie (TX Connect)'s TRU (Texas Recordings Underground), the 5-track EP kicks off with the immediately-gripping title track. A huge mid-tempo 808 beat drives the menacing Moog bass while cosmic synths explore the skies over gritty, urban terrain. 'The Body,' grounded by its stuttering and singular bass line, is an expansive reworking of a track from Little Beards' debut album which features Nan Kirkpatrick on the release's only vocal appearance. Side A closes with 'Destabilized Agent,' a retro-futurist dream that effortlessly voyages from Sagan's Cosmos to a melodic minimal wave refrain.

While the first side's lush synthesizers and sophisticated syncopation are somewhat of a departure for TRU, a label that has so far defined itself by bringing the electronic sounds of Texas' underground warehouse scene to dance floors across the sea, the flip side of the record is where the four hits the floor. 'Grifter React' opens with a hard kick and electro zaps, letting the rhythm take the lead until a distorted bass finally enters to provide the hook. Minimal Compliance EP finale, 'Critical Blitz,' weaves together all of Mirror Box' finer elements into a concise mission statement. Pulsing, hypnotic mono-synth, vintage mellotrons, classic hats and claps, sweeping production (courtesy of Alex Bhore at Dallas' Elmwood studios) and sparse synth melodies converge in dark analog pleasure that will guide you along like on a cool air-conditioned drive through a devilishly hot Texas night.:

Augustus Pablo's monumental 1988 LP Eastman Dub is back! Showcasing a vital selection of Rockers dub attacks built on the classic 1978 album Tetrack Let's Get Started.' Originally recorded at Channel One and Harry J's and mixed by Sylvan Morris at Channel One. Another classic Augustus Pablo collection from the golden age of Rockers!

Baiano & Os Novos Caetanos was a band formed by prolific and multi-talented Brazilian comedians Chico Anysio and Arnaud Rodrigues. Satirising Brazil's Tropicalia movement in the 1970s, the duo took a friendly crack at the likes of Caetano Veloso and psychedelic rockers Novos Baianos, with their righteous tropicalista alter-egos 'Baiano' and 'Paulinho Boca de Profeta' poetically denouncing the dictatorship while simultaneously mocking those who took themselves too seriously. Jazz funk legends Azymuth play backing band with keyboard maestro Jose Roberto Bertrami also responsible for the arrangements on the album. Azymuth's free and funky psych sounds combine with accordion, harmonica, brass and plenty of rural Brazilian rhythms, for a hugely varied album drawing on MPB, funk and soulful samba rock. The album also features Orlandivo who co-wrote many of the songs, and renowned multi-instrumentalist and producer Durval Ferreira.

180g double vinyl with digital download insert.
The definitive rock 'n' roll album by the mighty Eddie Cochran, the wildest in a wild generation of rockers.
Prematurely dead at the age of 21, it took Eddie only three years and 32 titles to dynamite the universe of rock 'n' roll.

"A heavy selection of mod-rockers, garage and psych-funk tracks," runs the sub-title of new compilation series, Down In The Valley from Perfect Toy, encapsulating in a nutshell the multifarious pleasures on offer.

And what better way to open such a set than with Van Broussard's banging titty-shaker Mojo This is followed by The Little Bits' screaming garage-soul cut Girl Give Me Love (recorded when the band members were all between nine and twelve years old!) and Frozen Sun's Jamm Pt.1 - a monster psych-soul number secretly laid down in the lobby of radio station KTKT (in Tucson, AZ) on a Sunday after midnight and about as aptly named as a track can get. Phlegethon's You're No Good provides cover song thrills by getting heavy-psychedelic on the Clint Ballard-penned classic, while yet more garage-soul delights are locked down by offerings from The Chapters, The Looking Glass and The Four. Closing the set is Pump's previously unreleased Ashtray Candle 6:33 - a slow-grooving psych masterpiece.

Once again, Chan the Man - previously the guiding light for Perfect Toy's Down & Wired series - was the driving force behind this project. It is his incredible knowledge, combined with the network of record collectors, DJs and vinyl nerds that he has established over the past few decades which have made it possible to come up with such a high-octane selection of super-heavy and extremely rare tracks. Accompanied by detailed liner notes and never-before-seen photos of the artists, Down In The Valley 1 sets the bar high for future volumes.

"a Heavy Selection Of Mod-rockers, Garage And Psych-funk Tracks," Runs The Sub-title Of New Compilation Series, Down In The Valley From Perfect Toy, Encapsulating In A Nutshell The Multifarious Pleasures On Offer.

Volume 2 Continues The Good Work Of Volume 1 With Yet Another Breathtaking Selection. Morning Reign's Previously Unreleased Can't Get Enough Of It Provides Big-ass Funky Thrills Along With This Volume's Only Cover - The Penny Arcade's Mod-funk Take On Funky Way. Next Come Two Frantic Garage-soul Cuts From A Pair Of Super-obscure Groups: 1906 & Company And Band Of Gold While Rex Garvin & The Mighty Cravers' Titty-shaking Instrumental Strange Happenings Slows Things Down To A Monster Shimmy With Retro Horror Movie Vibes. The Animal Show Band's Tell Daddy Provides The Male Answer To Etta James' Tell Mama And Rocks Just As Hard As The Original While Gino Scorza's Funk-tinged Soul Heater Little By Little (which He Originally Privately Pressed Himself) Gets Reissued For The First Time. Closing The Album Is A Real Treasure By Big John K In The Shape Of His Heavyweight Slab Of Soulful Blues-funk - Poor Souls.

Once Again, Chan The Man - Previously The Guiding Light For Perfect Toy's Down & Wired Series - Was The Driving Force Behind This Project. It Is His Incredible Knowledge, Combined With The Network Of Record Collectors, Djs And Vinyl Nerds That He Has Established Over The Past Few Decades Which Have Made It Possible To Come Up With Such A High-octane Selection Of Super-heavy And Extremely Rare Tracks. Accompanied By Detailed Liner Notes And Never-before-seen Photos Of The Artists, Down In The Valley 2 Sets The Bar High For Future Volumes.

Glyn Bigga Bush has been producing electronic and sample-based music since the early 90s when he formed Rockers Hi Fi, going on to release numerous albums. Since the turn of the century he has produced and DJ'd as BiggaBush as well as various side projects such as Lightning Head (Sonar Kollektiv), the Dandelion Set (Buried Treasure) and the Magic Drum Orchestral (Tru Thoughts).

Bigga's latest project 'Sunken Foal Stories' represents a departure from much of his other work in that it is not primarily based on beats. Instead, his working method was to go with fascinating samples, accidental juxtapositions and irregular loops - inspired by pioneers of sound such as Faust and the audio experiments of Julian House as well as early stereo test records, soundtracks and library music.

The 21 concise tracks of Sunken Foal Stories link into two 15 minute segments on the LP. Bush explores the random elements created by overlaying disparate samples, where chimes of baroque psychedelia clash with ascending classical strings, or a haunting Eastern European folk song is looped into an eternal cadence of longing. Various voices float over the speakers, lost poets, disturbing therapists, dreaming vampires, chuckling cabaret singers. Sourced almost entirely from charity shops and carboot sales, the source material speaks of a forgotten yet relatively recent period, when stereo was something new and exciting, when home entertainment first came into its own and suburban homes thrilled to the exotic sounds of home organs, primitive beatboxes, LPs bought in unusual holiday destinations and 'glamorous' soundtracks.

'Sunshine' EP is the debut release from J-Rap crew Akadama Bros. They are fronted by Taigen Kawabe singer and bassist with London-based Japanese noise rockers Bo Ningen. Music production is via Teppei Ozawa aka Fuffie Daddy from Hamburg-based alternative Hip Hop group Hallo Werner Clan. Teppei has also released music under the alter-ego Miss Hawaii on labels like Storage Records and 19-t. The EP also features Tokyo based MC Chinza Dopeness who is signed to EMI Japan. This EP also features two remixes of Sunshine, the first from Technoman aka Shex (Clock Hazard/19-t) , and a second by Candie Hank aka Patric Catani (Shitkatapult/Digital Hardcore).

Aketi Ray are an all-acoustic dub-jazz group, playing original compositions grounded in the instrumental music of post-independence Jamaica -ska, rocksteady, reggae, rockers, dub -but drawing inspiration and influence from Ethiopian and US jazz, west African percussion traditions, all with the mind set of UK steppas. An outernational sound: Kingston to Chicago to Addis Ababa to Dakar to London.The sound of "From Ever Since" draws on the vibes and heritage of pre-electr(on)ic music, but gives that traditional sound new power through the use of dub techniques of reverb, delay and EQ manipulation.The Aketi Ray sound Band leader 'Mikus' Gorecki explains: At the time I was listening to a lot of tuff digital dub tunes, and much as I love that sound still, I thought there was a lack of dubwise music getting made that had that live feel of the 60s and 70s. At the same time I didn't want to just rehash the past - the best you can do is come close to replicating that sound, you definitely won't beat it. So I decided to try something different, and bring in other connected jazz and African influences to the mix. 'Sometimes when people fuse different music traditions it can sound a bit of a collage, the elements are all there but they don't actually fuse together. I think we have our own sound, and it's greater than the sum of its parts.The compositions are forward-looking, form-pushing, and although there are no vocals, they are message-driven, concerned with conditions of modern life, spirituality and politics. Mikus says The music definitely has a message. Each track has a very clear subject in mind when writing it, but it's down to the listener to tune in to that and take from that what they will. I find you can say more with the abstract language of music than you can in words.'

Soul Jazz Records are releasing this new 10th anniversary 2017 edition of their classic album 'Dancehall - The Rise of Jamaican Dancehall Culture'. This long-out-of-print collection is now available as a triple-vinyl edition and double CD pack.

The album is a lightning-flash collection of all-time classic and definitive dancehall classics as well as a stellar selection of more obscure tracks. Featuring Yellowman, Tenor Saw, Sister Nancy, Ini Kamoze, Chaka Demus & Pliers, Michigan & Smiley, Super Cat, Cutty Ranks, Eek-A-Mouse, Gregory Isaacs and more, this album features non-stop floor-filling party tune rockers throughout!

Dancehall is released to coincide with the new 2017 edition of the stunning 400+ photos deluxe coffee table book 'Dancehall - The Rise of Jamaican Dancehall Culture', featuring Beth Lesser's amazing Dancehall photography (also newly published by Soul Jazz Records). This book has become the definitive cultural reference book for Jamaican dancehall and features hundreds of killer photographs, extensive text and interviews with many of the artists.

'A vibrant anthology of all that mattered: the sound systems, studios, producers, singers and deejays.' The Guardian

The Boutique Label presents an expanded vinyl edition of Backdoor Possibilities, the sixth album by cult German prog rockers Birth Control, originally released on the Brain Records imprint in 1976.

Formed in Berlin in 1968, Birth Control were known for a progressive hard rock sound which fused elements of jazz, psychedelia and so-called Krautrock. A surreal concept suite recorded with famed producer Conny Plank, Backdoor Possibilities arguably marked a final creative peak, blending rock, jazz, classical and avant-garde stylings with intricate polyrhythmic textures and lyrical nods to the legends of Faust and Odysseus.

On Backdoor Possibilties core members Bernd Noske (drums, vocals) and Bruno Frenzel (guitar) were joined by keyboard maestro Zeus B. Held, who also features on two long improvised tracks featured on Disc 2, Figure Out the Weather and Shake Those Crazy Nights, both recorded with Conny Plank in 1976. All material on Disc 2 is previously unreleased, with third track Rock It With a Long Bone being another extended piece recorded at Dierks Studio in 1982.

Too many people sleep on Tougher Than Leather, Run-DMC's fourth album. But hear us out as we plead the case for this amazing LP. By 1988 there was a lot more competition in the rap game - Public Enemy, Boogie Down Productions, Eric B. & Rakim, Ice-T and many more had given Hollis, Queens' prodigal sons lots of competition. But Joe, Darryl and Jay were still at the top of their game, and hip-hop fans should never let this classic - chiefly produced by their Queens neighbor, DJ and multi-instrumentalist Davy D(MX) - get lost in their crates. For starters, the album's first single, Run's House' b/w Beats To The Rhyme' is arguably the most powerful one-two punch of the trio's career, showing contenders to the rap throne that they could still destroy a beat, tag-teaming with power at any speed. Not to be lost in the shuffle, fans were also reminded on both sides that Jam-Master Jay remained one of the world's best DJs, flexing the pinnacle of what would be called turntablism' a decade later. Both songs show a musical telepathy between all three that has rarely been equaled. The second single, Mary, Mary,' driven by an infectious Monkees sample, took a different approach, shrewdly ensuring that pop fans who jumped on the Raising Hell bandwagon had something to chew on. But, like Walk This Way,' the song wasn't just bubblegum - there was an edge to it, and the lyrical gymnastics were very real. It wasn't selling out, it was allowing fans to buy in. Papa Crazy,' driven in concept and by a sample from the Temptations' Papa Was A Rolling Stone,' followed a similar pop-leaning path. Overall, the lyrical content on the album was a step up from the group's first three LPs. It's easy to infer, looking back, that they were feeling the heat from their younger competitors in the rap game. The genre was changing fast, and they were up to the challenge. On cuts like Radio Station' they bring substance to the grooves, by attacking Black Radio for its continual denigration of rap. Tougher Than Leather' reminds the world that they were still the Kings of Rock, with hard guitars to drive the point home. And They Call Us Run-DMC' and Soul To Rock And Roll' both bring things back to their early days, with sure-fire park jam rhymes and killer cuts. Tougher Than Leather, which went platinum up against a lot of competition, perfectly bookends the '80s output of one of the decade's most important groups. It encompasses the full range of the trio's capabilities, and reminds us that Run-DMC should never be forgotten as both pioneers and party-rockers. And so, we say, long live Joe, Darryl and Jay!

Jerome Meyer AKA Von D is a master craftsman, well-known for releasing dubstep and bass music since 2009. On an increasingly prolific trajectory since last year, recent 12's on Infernal Sounds, Trojan Audio and Scotch Bonnet have signaled his renewed focus on dubwise productions. We are proud to say that Von D's Khaliphonic debut sees him fully committing to reggae and dub - in his words, going back to my musical roots.'

Politricks' is a masterwork, cut from the same living rock as the classic Cuss Cuss riddim, a simply huge bass and drum workout that is truly one for the ages. Politricks is an anthem for now, a call to avoid the dead-end of politics-as-usual and a warning to beware of the lies politicians tell to keep themselves in power - full of promises but changing nothing. Von D says that working with Don Cotti was very natural,' and their easy relationship is audible - the tune fits the vocal like a glove, and Cotti's instantly-recognizable singjay style gives even more gravitas to an already heavy track. The dub version spools out Von D's signature saturated echoes even further, and opens up spectral chambers of reverb that shimmer and glow.

The B side Ygrec' is an equally massive tune, just as compelling if more meditative and mysterious, coming in both one drop and power-steppers mixes for maximum versatility and vibes. Both tunes and their versions feature an incredibly robust, warm, human sound - one that simply can't come from machines alone - live drums, bass, and kete drum among other instruments maintain the tradition of live musicians in dub - to say nothing of expert desk-based mixing and deployment of live analog effects the way the elders intended. Both tunes dial in at 140 making them perfect for roots and dubstep selectors alike.

Von D got his start as a drummer and engineer outside Paris, in the heady days of original jungle. Early releases on Disfigured Dubz, Hench, Boka, Black Acre and the seminal V Recordings, as well as his reggae-oriented Liquid Wicked project, cemented his reputation. Don Cotti is a prolific producer, DJ and MC with releases stretching back to 2006 on labels as varied as Bass Face, Studio Rockers, and Soul Jazz.

Mastered by Lewis at Stardelta. Art & design by Polygon Press.

*Restless Mashaits hailing from Geneva are based around the core of Jil and Stuff. They released a sizeable amount of new roots classics throughout the 90s and 2000's. Recently becoming active again, they are best remembered for the sessions they recorded at Kingston, Jamaica in the mid/late 90s with legendary musicians such as Dean Fraser, Vin Gordon, Deadly Headly and Dizzy Moore. The original releases have been since long deleted, but some are now unearthed thanks to Partial Records.
*`Africa' from 1999, is a storming roots rockers piece which features saxophonist Dean Fraser and Dwight Pickney (Roots Radics and Zap Pow) on guitar.
* Both cuts are different mixes to the ones that previously surfaced on 45.

*A late 70's roots rockers instrumental from the London-based reggae band Investigators led by Michael Gordon who had a string of hits in the late 70's / early 80's on labels such as Fine Style (Fashion Records off-shoot) and Private Eye.
* Investigators were predominantly a Lovers Rock band, but occasionally wondered into more roots territory as heard on this 7' musical disc. The result being a heavyweight melodica-led instrumental, favoured in the late 70's by sound system legend Jah Shaka. This cut sounded not too dissimilar to the works of Augustus Pablo.
*Backed with a compulsory dub cut.
* This release will be welcomed by collectors of the genre, as the original 12" whence this came, changes hands for silly money.

Edward O’Sullivan Lee “but my friends call me Bunny or Striker Lee” was born in Kingston, Jamaica on 23rd August 1941. He started in the music business plugging records for Duke Reid at Treasure Isle, Coxsone Dodd at Studio One and Leslie Kong at Beverley’s. “I used to do plugging… when I say plugging I used to get their records played on ‘Teenage Dance Party’ and we’d dance so if you had a record to plug you’d put it on and dance to it and show the latest moves”.