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„Room With A View“ sees Rone returning to his musical roots and the set-up of his early albums: purely electronic, solitarily conceived without any musical collaborators. At the same time he was able to leave his comfort zone through a new kind of artistic liaison. The album was produced alongside a live show commissioned by the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris and developed together with choreography collective (LA) HORDE and 20 dancers of the Ballet National de Marseille. This new kind of collaborative approach allowed Rone to produce his most sincere and far-reaching music in some time. Inspired by discussions of collapsologie and climate change, „Room With A View“ offers food for thought on how to deal with one of the most pressing issues of humanity.

The Fenchman manages to let his trademark sound shine in a new light, pleasing early fans as well as every electronica enthusiast. Typically melodic beats like „Ginkgo Biloba“ nestle against tracks that exhibit classic influences from Boards of Canada („La Marbrerie“) to SAW-era Aphex Twin („Raverie“), euphoric dancefloor rhythms sit next to contemplative synth work. Tracks like „Sophora Japonica“ showcase Rone’s mastership in atmosphere, which sometimes requires no drums at all. Elsewhere, Rone is clearly reviving the club-centric vibe of „Tohu Bohu“ and experimenting with elements of dub. It all makes for and adventurous and rewarding listen.

Most importantly, Rone is redefining the notion of „organic“ in electronic music through use of field and voice recordings. Be it his own child chattering, Aurelien Barrau or Alain Damasio debating, or the dance troupe rehearsing and discussing the show. "Because the writing process of the album was very machine focused, it seemed appropriate to feed back a human touch into the music and to still have bodies involved". Thus „Esperanza“ uses the steps of the dancers as a rhythm to start a new track, while in „Human“ they serve as a choir. This idea of extended human collaboration becomes apparent also on the album cover.

After his Elements series on SINO and a release on Freddy K’s Key Vinyl, Benales is back with a new project on SINO. Three massive techno tools perfectly crafted. A must have.

In den späten neunziger Jahren war Wien Welthauptstadt der elektronischen Musik - Namen wie Kruder & Dorfmeister, Pulsinger & Tunakan, Waldeck, Electric Indigo oder Fennesz künden davon. Danach kam lange Zeit nichts, bis eine neue Generation - von HVOB bis Parov Stelar, von Dorian Concept bis Elektro Guzzi - sehr nachdrücklich eigene markante Sound- und Leuchtspuren setzte. Und nun kündigt sich abermals ein Zeitsprung an.
Zu große Töne gespuckt? Nein. Selbst Christian Fennesz zieht schon den Hut. Vor Drahthaus. Einer Band, die eigentlich keine Band ist. Noch nicht einmal eines der vielen Projekte, die immer und überall rasch entstehen und noch rascher wieder vergehen. Hier ist etwas radikal anderes im Kommen. Das 2015 gegründete Kollektiv Drahthaus ist ein Zusammenschluss diverser in Wien lebender Kreativer (Musiker, Künstler, Designer, Filmemacher, Techniker, Programmierer, Handwerker, Veranstalter und Kreativer jeglichen Geschlechts) mit der Vision, alte Strukturen in Frage zu stellen. Und Raum für gänzlich Neues zu schaffen.
Die Faktoren Lust, Neugier, Fachwissen und künstlerische Vernetzung sind mit im Spiel. Auch wenn Drahthaus den anarchischen Freiraum der Kunst mit präzisen, systematischen, analytischen Fragestellungen vermessen. Im April erscheint das erste Album - es trägt keinen Titel. Aber es wird die Elektroniksphäre aus den Angeln heben. Lokal, national, international. Willkommen im Drahthaus.

Jon Tye and Pete Fowler have been making music as Seahawks for a decade now. Given the sounds they’ve been exploring over those ten years it was a cosmic inevitability that they would be asked to contribute to the catalogue of the legendary library label KPM.

They replied with Island Visions, an exploration of sound for vision where they construct “audio micro-worlds to explore and inhabit”. A way to transport the listener away from the everyday without the bother of getting on an aeroplane. Mind travel is space travel after all, and much better for the environment.

Mostly recorded at The Centre Of Sound in Cornwall, with additional recording at Studio 34 in London, Jon and Pete’s travelling companions on this particular trip were boogie wunderkind Sven Atterton on fretless bass and keys, Nick Mackrory on percussion and the Seahawks live team of Dan Hillman and Alik Peters-Deacon.

From the grooves of Brian Bennett to the moog vibrations of Mike Vickers, the lush textures of Les Baxter to the experimental sounds of Delia Deryshire and David Vorhaus, this new music channels sounds and moods from across the KPM universe.

The spacious “Hot Sand Shuffle” opens the record with some of Seahawks’ familiar “deck-shoegaze”. The slinky digi-dub of “Sky Blue Sky” follows, gently encouraging us to lay back and relax. “Mystic Beach” is a refreshing ocean spray of a synthetic groove that clears the head, priming a pathway to receive “Crystal Forest”, a new age house groove of birds and flutes.

Dense, deep and dreamlike, “Distant Shore” is ambient rainforest house with a 90s vibe, its dense foliage clearing to let us bask in the shimmer and shine of “River Run”. Hang drum, electric gamelan, flute and loon close side A.

Side B bounces into being with “Catch A Wave”, an upbeat beach groover of synthetic guitar, effervescent synth and snappy drums. Equatorial bubbler “Paradise Bird Bath” soon glides in with marimba, crisp beats and fat synth bass. Fender rhodes, space echo and fretless bass make “Smooth Runnings” a laid-back poolside groove.

“Spirits Have Flown” conjures a hazy vibe with marimba, sax, synth funk bass and chilled beats before “Rolling Deep” serves up a light cocktail of sultry rhythms, refreshing textures, cooling sax and fretless bass. Almost-title track “Island Blues” brings the horizontal poolside feels with melodic chimes, oboe and more fretless bass for maximum vibrations. The marina drone of modular electronics, celestial trumpet and jungle ambience pay the album’s final respects to the cosmos on “Sun Salute”.

Like many KPM suites, this is a record of two distinct sides. The sunrise of side A brings a deep meditation, a journey within to renew the jaded self. Side B refreshes with cocktails by the pool and a chance to groove away the evening at some sunset beach party before dancing under the stars in the house of dreams.

Pete’s front cover for the LP is part map, part postcard: “the record has five different sections and I wanted to reference those in the worlds they created, musically and physically. From beach campfire, to poolside hanging and nighttime dancing. A kind of portal to those places and the pictures they inspired in my mind. All places we’d like to be in this turbulent year”. The track descriptions on the back help guide the way.

2020 marks 10 years since Ocean Trippin’, the first Seahawks release, and Island Visions is the perfect distillation of the sounds, sights, textures and moods that Jon and Pete have been exploring over the last decade. Sunrise to sunset condensed to two sides of an LP. The normal rules of space and time don’t apply here.

This is the first time Be With has worked with Seahawks, but individually Jon and Pete have been members of the extended Be With family since forever (Pete did those posters for our Ned Doheny tour and we worked with Jon on the vinyl version of Hatchback’s Colors Of The Sun). Of course we were going to put this out on vinyl.

Mastered by balearic engineer of choice (and Be With’s regular audio co-pilot) Simon Francis, cut by the legendary Pete Norman and pressed in the Netherlands by Record Industry, the sonic frequencies of these Island Visions have been precision tuned and encoded for optimum travelling conditions. Take the trip.

Wan Chai Records is a Hong-Kong based label, specialized in rare Asian records and quality reissues.

For their first release, they wanted to highlight a promotional record released at 500 copies only in Hong-Kong for a famous Soda brand.
It was offered with a pack of bottles in 1977 and never been
released.

Produced and arranged by Noel Quinlan, this Album is a mix of
Funk and Soul covers. The result is an awesome LP including
groovy covers, from the classic Lowdown' by Bob Scaggs, to a
Funky I Shot The Sheriff' by Bob Marley with a deep Fender
Rhodes, and 12 other outstanding tracks.

Apollo are delighted to welcome Steve Legget & Mark Hand to the fold with their lush new single ‘If You Cannot Try’ featuring the dulcet vocals of Greg Blackman. Originally released as an uplifting bumping house track on Ramrock Records Blackman sent the stems of the release to longtime collaborator Steve Legget for a rework. Legget tore the original to pieces, deconstructing it into a much more ambiguous form. ”I’ve never been a fan of a chorus in a song,” Legget muses. "I like songs that are not direct that leave room for your imagination - Mark and I ended up building a new song around the texture of the original.”

Hand and Legget met in the early 90s at the Northern College of Art in Middlesbrough, and have collaborated at various times in the intervening years, through a shared love of Detroit techno, experimental electronic music, jazz and funk. Their creative process involves sending audio files back and forth - “The release was written in collaboration over the internet Greg in Colchester, Mark in Hartlepool, and me in St Albans."

Hand added spaced out textures and riffs from his collection of vintage Fender Rhodes and classic synths - taking the track into sunny space funk realms that comes on like a lost release from joe Claussell’s Spiritual Life label or Basic Channel jamming with Herbie Hancock.

Using their new version as the seed - Hand decided to try his own ’Teesside Techno’ version - "I wanted to give the track more of a 'machine funk' vibe with my rework” he explains. “I generally like to work by jamming with hardware - the bass line is generated by triggering the arp on my Juno 6..using triggers from a TR606 kick drum and hats replaced by a TR909.. the result being more of a jackin' electronic funk mutation!"

This continuing game of musical pass the parcel has indeed born some juicy fruit -

Getting stuck into the new year with a fresh, contemporary jazz attitude, Rocafort Records are proud to present the Kumadé EP from exciting Swiss-French quartet KUMA, led by keyboardist Matthieu Llodra and saxophonist Arthur Donnot.

Confidence, rhythmicality and solidity are the first impressions that hit you from this tight outfit of young but highly experienced musicians. After nine years of holding down a 10-night residency at the prestigious Cully Jazz Festival, Llodra and Donnot have honed down their skills in front of a live audience making tension, pacing and release their speciality in compositional strategy. Grooves and moods are created with just the right amount of rise and fall, push and pull, melodic catches and improvisational wanderings.

The EP is well balanced out with two spaciously laconic, ethereal tracks - Alfama and The Core - that could easily belong on some ECM-inspired soundscape, juxtaposed with Kumadé and I.G.A.T.F. that pack a fuller punch, fat and chunky in all the right places, hinting at a 1970s style George Duke at his funky-fusion best.

Despite a whiff of nostalgic reference, rest assured that the KUMA timbre is fresh and exploratory, as innovative and curious as any protagonist from the current UK jazz explosion. Keep an ear out for these young Jedi masters, all of them at the top of their game. More assured, impressive releases are due out this year.

Matthieu Llodra – Fender Rhodes

Arthur Donnot – Sax

Fabien Iannone - Bass

Maxence Sibille – Drums

Zacharie Ksyk – Trumpet (guest on Kumadé").

‘Oh, baby, this is where it gets good.’ - Zaphod

The last ever BBC radio series of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy makes its vinyl debut! Materialising in the lavish packaging style of the preceding five series (Primary Phase, Secondary Phase, Tertiary Phase, Quandary Phase and Quintessential Phase) the Hexagonal Phase will make its presence known to all humanity on heavyweight Neon Geen vinyl! First broadcast in 2018, the Hexagonal Phase is based on Eoin Colfer’s And Another Thing…, the first - and, to date, only – official sequel to Douglas Adams’s original book series. This is also the first ever publication of the original radio edits of the Hexagonal Phase, as heard on their original Radio 4 broadcast. Arthur Dent and friends are thrown back into the Whole General Mish Mash in a rattling adventure featuring Viking Gods and Irish confidence tricksters, taking in a rare glimpse of Eccenrica Gallumbits and a brief but memorable moment with The Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal.
Starring John Lloyd as The Book, with Simon Jones as Arthur Dent, Geoff McGivern as Ford Prefect, Mark Wing-Davey as Zaphod, Sandra Dickinson as Trillian/Tricia McMillan, Samantha Béart as Random and Jim Broadbent as Marvin, with a guest cast including Jane Horrocks, Lenny Henry, Jon Culshaw, Mitch Benn, Ed Byrne, Toby Longworth, Professor Stephen Hawking and many more, with music by Philip Pope. Adapted, Directed and Co Produced by Dirk Maggs, based on the novel And Another Thing… by Eoin Colfer, with additional material by Douglas Adams.

Presented on 3 x 180g heavyweight neon green vinyl, and
presented in illustrated wallets inside a rigid, bound 20 page book,
including a perspective sleeve note by Geoff McGivern and a
concluding overview of the series’ development by Jem Roberts,
Adams’s official biograph

You’re home just in time for tea.’ - Fenchurch

It has been a LONG time since Bushwacka! released any music on his original label, Plank Records. Its apt that the label started 25 years ago, and now, for its 25th 12 inch release Bushwacka! has delivered a killer 4 track EP, pushing boundaries of time signatures and paying homage to his rave breakbeat days as well as turning up the heat with the electro cuts.

A1. All Night in Heaven actually started out as a rave house track, with the killer breakbeat drop in the middle, but Bushwacka! changed the arrangement specifically to play the track at the Return To Rage event at Heaven, where he first went raving every Thursday from 1988 to 1992. The track sounded so massive on the dance floor that he decided to keep the breakbeat vibe throughout the track and release it on his Plank Imprint.

A2. It’s The Five O is a piece of music that defies gravity. Its a fusion of percussive assault, tribal chanting frenzy, and a bassline from the depths of Hell… but the magic of the track is its 5/4 time signature. Incredibly challenging to mix in and out of, yet so unique in its rhythm that people bust shapes they didn’t know their bodies were capable of.

B1. Feng Shui is a piece of filthy Electro Breaks that pulls you inside out and upside down. Bushwacka! has his signature Plank sound all over this, with raw rhythms and deep melodies and twisted warped sounds.

B2. Whiplash was written three years ago in Bushwacka’s Ibiza Studio. Its a cross between Electro and 4/4 dance music, with a beat so powerful the floors feel like an earthquake has hit them. This is the most pure of the tracks in its direct line to the early 80s Electro sounds, yet sounds like it was made yesterday. It has been destroying the clubs in his sets since 2017 and now needs to be shared.

Plank Records has had a devoted cult following and second hand the tracks have been changing hands for big bucks, and many vinyl labels have been re releasing some of the cuts. It’s so exciting that the label is launching again for 2020, with a sound often imitated, yet never replicated.

The first reissue of the famous and long-awaited "Medley Maxi 45" by Cortex. Originally released in 1979, this Medley is the perfect tool for DJs (Already played by MCDE at We Love Green Festival as the Final track…). On B side the “Mary & Jeff (Fender Rhodes Version 77)” was released in 2010 on a very limited 7inch (TV003).

Never republished! Remastered from original tape by Trad Vibe records.

Adam ‘Adred’ Baker is an imperative part of the US drum & bass scene, providing a home for its fans amongst the cultural hub of New York City. Alongside his work as a promoter for ‘Natural Selection NYC’, he’s also dropped music on labels such as Metalheadz, Soul:R and 31 Recordings, proving that he’s as multi-faceted as they come.

This is something which shines through on his forthcoming LP ‘KIM’ set to be released on Goldie’s Metalheadz; named after his late father whose Fender Rhodes features prominently in much of Adred’s music and is a central part of his inspiration.

The album is an introspective look at the producer’s history and one which will identify the elements which have made him both such a successful artist and drum & bass event host.

Wewantsounds is delighted to continue its Akiko Yano reissue program with the reissue of her superb double album recorded with YMO at a time when she was part of the group’s touring line up between 1979 and 1980. The album is pure Akiko Yano featuring her superb singing and piano playing, enhanced by touches of YMO’s synth-pop sound (check her cult version of YMO’s classic, “Tong-Poo”). It is the first time the album is released outside of Japan and the deluxe 2-LP set features the original artwork with gatefold sleeve and 4-page insert.
When "Gohan Ga Dekitayo" came out in 1980, Akiko Yano had been touring with Yellow Magic Orchestra for more than a year. She'd play keyboards alongside the three founding members, Haruomi Hosono, Ryuichi Sakamoto and Yukihiro Takahashi, plus guitarist Kenji Omura and Synth wizard programmer Hideki Matsutake (as part of the 1980 North American tour, she'd also feature in the group's cult TV appearance on Soul Train for a memorable rendition of "Tighten Up") and they are all present on "Gohan Ga Dekitayo."
The double LP, whose title could be translated by "Dinner is ready," was co-produced with Ryuichi Sakamoto and recorded at two legendary studios: Tokyo's Alfa Studio "A" and Los Angeles' Sound City. It was Akiko's first shift towards a fuller synth sound following four studio albums mixing Pop and Jazz Funk, including her landmark debut from 1976, "Japanese Girl". A shift that would continue with the release of "Tadaima" in 1981, also featuring the YMO musicians.
?The fourteen tracks featured on "Gohan Ga Dekitayo" find Akiko in top form mixing her singer-songwriter's sensitivity with the electro-pop sound of YMO. It's interesting to note though that it is very much an Akiko Yano album even if the group is present on the album (interestingly they do also play analog instruments on the album). Akiko is clearly the one in charge with a string of beautiful compositions and the rendition of one of the group's classics, "Tong Poo" which she reinvents as a slower, less metronomic-paced song adding her own lyrics.
?Other highlights on the album include "Dogs Awaiting..." an hypnotic composition featuring fascinating electro arrangements or "Coloured Water" sung in English by Akiko accompanying herself on Fender Rhodes with subtle percussion by Tatsuo Hayashi and electronics by Ryuichi Sakamoto.
There are many more great moments on this superb album which announces the further experiments of "Tadaima". "Gohan Ga Dekitayo" is an album that urgently needs to be (re)discovered by her growing international fanbase and Wewantsounds is happy to reissue it worldwide for its 40th anniversary.

The 36 track 2CD album comes with 50-page book featuring text, biographies and photography. It also comes in a limited run two volume double-vinyl super-loud super-heavy gatefold sleeve editions. Compiled by Stuart Baker (Soul Jazz Records) and sleevenotes biographies by Jonny Trunk (Trunk Records).

TV Sound and Image features British composers who worked in television, film and music libraries the second half of the 20th century.

Aside from John Barry, whose work on the James Bond films made him a household name, or Tony Hatch and Laurie Johnson, the majority of composers featured here - Simon Park, Keith Mansfield, Reg Tilsley, Syd Dale, Keith Papworth – remain relatively unknown. And yet ironically they have created some of the most recognisable songs in British popular culture, their music widely disseminated on television.

A quick role call of these would include Neil Richardson (who composed the theme tune to Mastermind) and Barry Stoller (who wrote Match of the Day). The Simon Park Orchestra’s Eye Level, theme song to the BBC series Van der Valk, reached number one in 1973. CCS’s cover of Led Zeppelin’s Whole Lotta Love was the theme tune to Top of the Pops. And so on.

This album is not however a stroll through the TV memories of the mind, but an exploration of the serious contribution that these creative musicians have on the landscape of popular music in Britain.

Here then is a guide to the amazing music of many of the composers (both well-known and obscure) responsible for some of the most widely known music ever to come out of Britain in the second-half of the 20th century.

Reviews:

Quietus

Der Spiegel: "spannende Klänge ... die oft funky und immer lässig klingen"

"thrilling sounds.... often funky and always chilled"

New Zealand Herald: ***** "Every track is a killer... This is more than just music to mooch too."

Irish Times: **** "downright funky"

Volkskrant: "Ze leverden spanning op maat, die onbekende makers van fenomenale Britse film en tv-muziek. Door de cd TV Sound and Image opnieuw in de aandacht"

Evening Standard: "deeply funky"

Uncut Magazine "excellent 36 track set ... welcome additions to your collection"

Q Magazine: ****

Future Ethics’ first release is an eight-track compilation on a special USB stick with an accompanying zine. The label wanted to foster a spirit of collaboration with an unusual compilation-building structure. Artists gradually added to the compilation as it grew: each artist received the existing tracks and was asked to contribute or remix a track from the compilation. This took time, but resulted in a cohesive and beautiful compilation, rich in emotion, ranging from a vintage club rant from tati au miel; disoriented housy jams from Bergsonist, Beta Librae, and Violet; tense experimental compositions from Englesia and Odete; a 139 BPM banger from softcoresoft; to a dancefloor-melting System of a Down edit from Estoc & Bored Lord.
The zine features an interview from Discwoman’s Frankie Decaiza Hutchinson, writing on off-Facebook event organizing from Adwoa Afful, a beautiful cover from collage artist Fenna Fiction, and a guide to recognizing opioid overdoses and administering Naloxone from Liz Singh and Sara Martin in Toronto. It also features a comic from Berlin-based artist @juicycomics and a poem from Wafa Ktaech.

My Music is a stellar spiritual soul / jazz-funk gem, recorded by keyboardist-singer Samuel Jonathan Johnson in 1978. The epitome of a cult classic, it didn't do much upon its release but steadily found an audience over the decades that followed. It eventually worked its way into the culture, and latterly the wantlists, of wave after wave of soul aficionados.

This is music that shares the jazzy R&B DNA of contemporaries like Roy Ayers and is an intoxicating blend of mellow moments and more groove-heavy tracks. Spacey keys and lush production give it a luxurious, enveloping warmth.

My Music opens with the gorgeous title track: an indulgent slow jam opus. Introducing us to Johnson’s compelling musical vision, it features a rich mélange of production techniques. Dripping in strings, horns, backing singers, popping funk bass lines and swooshing synth waves, it’s an unusually structured cosmic two stepper that has an irrepressible groove. Accordingly, it’s been a favourite with the diggers and it was sampled by The Alchemist for Jadakiss’s “We Gonna Make It” (and it was also used on Ras Kass’s “Home Sweet Home”… but that’s a story for another time).

The up-tempo “Sweet Love” bubbles over with joy, its uplifting lyrics backed by infectious bass and jazzy Fender Rhodes lines. It follows a cover of “What the World Need’s Now Is Love”, taken at a funereal pace that transforms it into a heartfelt plea for love and understanding. Essential in these dark days.

After a full-minute-long opening of lush cinematic strings and horns, “Because I Love You” makes space for Samuel’s voice, accompanied by some keys and just a sprinkle of guitar. It builds back up and then mellows its way out to a jazz lounge finish (in all the right ways). The feel-good ebullience of the Stevie Wonder-esque “It Ain’t Easy” closes out the LP’s first side.

The second side bursts open with the heavy bounce and disco-funk basslines of “You”, a slightly off-beat string-laden dancer with insistent horns and a piano-assisted groove. Next up is “Just Us”, a legendary steppers track that could be heard oozing out of deep soul radios and funk sound systems back in the late 80s.

“Yesterdays and Tomorrow” is a moving original ballad that is followed by an exquisite high-stepping paean to mom in the form of “Thank You Mother Dear”. The thumping easy-glide of “Reason For The Reason” brings the album to a close.

Respectfully mastered by Simon Francis and cut by the master Pete Norman, this reissue of Samuel Jonathan Johnson’s sole LP sounds as sumptuous as that scarlet gown on the front cover. The sleeve artwork was lovingly restored by the Be With team. My Music is a luxurious and rare collection of songs that now has an opportunity to reach beyond its cult audience.

A Winged Victory For The Sullen veröffentlichen auf Ninja Tune ihr neues Album, das musikalisch zwischen Neo-Klassik, Ambient und Electronic angesiedelt ist!

A Winged Victory For The Sullen, Spezialisten auf ihrem Gebiet der zeitgenössischen und elektronisch inspirierten Ambient-Musik, kehren auf dem neuen Album, „The Undivided Five“, mit einem mutigen Schritt zurück. Das Duo, bestehend aus Dustin O'Halloran und Adam Wiltzie, hat ikonische Filmmusik und zukunftsweisende Ambient-Projekte geschaffen und eine Reihe von Platten für Erased Tapes und Kranky veröffentlicht. Auf „The Undivided Five“ beleben sie ihre einzigartige Partnerschaft für nur ihr zweites Stück Originalmusik außerhalb von Film-, Fernseh- und Bühnen-aufträgen und kreieren ein Album, das Ritual, höhere Kräfte und ungekannte kreative Energien kanalisiert. Mit ihrer fünften Veröffentlichung (nach ihrem Debütalbum, zwei Film-Scores und einer EP) visieren sie konkret die Rolle der Nummer fünf an, inspiriert von der Künstlerin Hilma af Klint und der steten Wiederholung des perfekten fünften Akkords.

Auf diesem Album kreieren sie mutige neue Arbeiten, die auf ihren Fundamenten in Ambient und neoklassischer Musik aufbauen. Seit ihrem selbstbetitelten Debüt im Jahr 2011 ist das Duo Teil einer viel gelobten Szene mit Kollegen wie Max Richter, Nils Frahm, Hildur Guðnadóttir, Tim Hecker und Fennesz.

LTD Edition!

A Winged Victory For The Sullen veröffentlichen auf Ninja Tune ihr neues Album, das musikalisch zwischen Neo-Klassik, Ambient und Electronic angesiedelt ist!

A Winged Victory For The Sullen, Spezialisten auf ihrem Gebiet der zeitgenössischen und elektronisch inspirierten Ambient-Musik, kehren auf dem neuen Album, „The Undivided Five“, mit einem mutigen Schritt zurück. Das Duo, bestehend aus Dustin O'Halloran und Adam Wiltzie, hat ikonische Filmmusik und zukunftsweisende Ambient-Projekte geschaffen und eine Reihe von Platten für Erased Tapes und Kranky veröffentlicht. Auf „The Undivided Five“ beleben sie ihre einzigartige Partnerschaft für nur ihr zweites Stück Originalmusik außerhalb von Film-, Fernseh- und Bühnen-aufträgen und kreieren ein Album, das Ritual, höhere Kräfte und ungekannte kreative Energien kanalisiert. Mit ihrer fünften Veröffentlichung (nach ihrem Debütalbum, zwei Film-Scores und einer EP) visieren sie konkret die Rolle der Nummer fünf an, inspiriert von der Künstlerin Hilma af Klint und der steten Wiederholung des perfekten fünften Akkords.

Auf diesem Album kreieren sie mutige neue Arbeiten, die auf ihren Fundamenten in Ambient und neoklassischer Musik aufbauen. Seit ihrem selbstbetitelten Debüt im Jahr 2011 ist das Duo Teil einer viel gelobten Szene mit Kollegen wie Max Richter, Nils Frahm, Hildur Guðnadóttir, Tim Hecker und Fennesz.

Before an upcoming album in 2020 on Heavenly Sweetness, Mama is the first single. A track in which the balafon’s woody resonance, the meditative flute and the female choruses return to the Creole roots of David, recall the memory of his Caribbean grandfather exiled to New York but, above all, a title dedicated to his grandmother, who after the last soaring electro-disco, she comes to declaim the text on the ultimate measures. David Walters will have thought of it, conceived and realized in close collaboration with Patchworks. Then, in the wake of the single Mama released in the month of each of them took the title, isolated himself in the studio with instruments and machines to come out only with a total reinterpretation, but especially personal, of the title. Hammering bass drum and snare drum bursts, David has entrusted the direction of operations to the rhythmic, and it is one after the other that digital elements were invited to transform the original maternal softness into a boiling soundsystem. Synths their strings on the hum of the bass, the hypnotic power of the riddim remains.
Two remixes, two atmospheres. The Patchworks scene is set in a jazz-funk setting, an heritage from Roy Ayers and Lonnie Liston Smith. Powerful drum, enrobing bass, the Fender Rhodes becomes a soloist, motivated by this irrepressible groove, first become a soloist. And that the meshes leave the hands of the balafon player to pass in those of the vibraphonist.

Sometimes in soul music history it has seemed that record producers couldn't get enough of a certain backing track, churning out singles after another, chasing for a hit that never came. The latter doesn't really apply to Pratt & Moody's "Lost Lost Lost", which just recently broke 1 million Youtube plays. While stacking up fame in the lowrider soul scene, this beat ballad also caught the ear of the West Coast record collector and dj Mike Noriega, who decided to write fresh lyrics to accompany its instrumental.

"Wondering" that came as a result was brought to life by the singer and industry insider Gerald McCauley, who turned his soul inside out for the performance. In the past McCauley has worked as a musician, A&R man for example in a project involving George Benson and Al Jarreau and even produced a book and documentary on the history of the Fender Rhodes electric piano. Here he slips comfortably into the Cold Diamond & Mink groove, squeezing every drop of heartache on tape.

This version continues the story of "Lost Lost Lost" so gracefully that one can only wonder, if there are more to come. Who will be the next poor soul to sink into this deceivingly blissful bed of roses, filled with piano, drums and slide guitar?

With the release of their first two albums and live shows supporting Snarky Puppy, Roy Ayers, Marcus Miller, Larry Mizell & the Blackbyrds, Butcher Brown, Yellowjackets and more, Resolution 88 have already established themselves as one of the UK's leading exponents of funk jazz. Their music is synonymous with the silky, buttery sound of the Fender Rhodes. They're also a bona fide band, a refreshing change in a musical world increasingly occupied by online collaborations and viral videos. They're best mates who love to hang out, play together and make their own music - that sincerity is evident in their songs and their chemistry on stage.


'Revolutions' represents a lot of firsts - the first time Resolution 88 have recorded to multi-track tape, the first time that they've included a real string and brass section, the first time they've included special guests on record and the first time they've pressed an album on vinyl. Imagine a combination of an undiscovered Herbie Hancock album from the mid' 70's, rare-groove samples from the golden era of hip hop (ATCQ, Pharcyde etc) and the new London sound of bands like Yussef Kamaal.

Every track on'Revolutions'represents an aspect of music on vinyl. On'Pitching Up'you hear the DJ pitch the record up from 33rpm to 45rpm.'Out Of Sync'simulates a clumsy attempt at beat-matching. The hypnotic, circling sax line that opens the title track'Revolutions'(echoed by the strings at the end) evokes the mesmerizing sensation of watching the record label artwork whirling as it spins on the platter.'Runout Groove'fades in and out; the drum beat mimics the distinctive, perpetual rhythm tapped out by the stylus as it reaches the runout groove. On the second side,'Sample Hunter'unexpectedly deviates from the main section into Rhodes-drenched interludes; the type of moment that producers searched high and low for back when hip hop was great.Marcus Tenney's (Butcher Brown) lyrics on 'Dig Deep'are all about the thrill of digging for records and'Matrix'is inspired by the hidden messages sometimes left in the matrix markings on record pressings. On'Tracking Force', you can hear the beat twist and morph as the stylus skates over the record. Finally,'Warped Memories'closes out the album with a wistful, melancholy melody. Sit back with a glass of Japanese whisky and a Cuban cigar (or whatever your chosen poison is), stick the album on and enjoy it from start to finish - although if you're listening to it on vinyl, you'll need to get up to turn it over to the B-side ;)

Wewantsounds continues its collaboration with Bob Shad's grandchildren, Mia and Judd Apatow, to present a 2LP selection of 13 turntable-friendly Mainstream Records tracks recorded between 1970 and 1973 and showcasing the label's superb blend of Funk, Soul and Jazz. All tracks remastered from the original tapes, most of them released for the first time since their original release with a few highly sought-after ones. Liner notes by UK journalist Paul Bowler. The Mainstream sound is unmistakable: earthy, rich and funky, it's the signature sound of producer Bob Shad. After working with such geniuses as Charlie Parker, The Platters, Billie Holiday and Janis Joplin over three decades, Shad decided to go back to producing Great Black Music in the early 70s through his label Mainstream Records and started releasing a formidable series of jazz albums known as the 300 series. Released between 1971 and 1974, these albums are the main source of this set. Coincidentally, it opens with one of the two tracks on the tracklist not produced by Shad himself. Saundra Phillips' "Miss Fatback" is nonetheless fascinating as it's one of cult disco producer Greg Carmichael's earliest productions from 1975 (before he went on to produce Inner Life, Bumblebee Unlimited, Universal Robot Band with fellow producer Patrick Adams). The other track not issued by the Shad sound factory is Almeta Lattimore's 7" single "These Memories," a truly great soulful track from 1975 and now a sought-after classic on the international Soul scene. Shad's forte was Jazz, and the sessions usually used the best musicians you could think of, including Bernard Purdie, Billy Hart, Stanley Clarke, Dom Um Romao, Joe Sample, Freddie Robinson, Gordon Edwards, Larry Willis, Wilbur Bascomb to name just a few. Filled with gorgeous Fender Rhodes chords and heavy basslines, they define the unmistakable Mainstream sound which had one foot in the great jazz and bop tradition and the other in the sonic jazz explorations of the early 70s. Oscillating between jazzed-up covers of soul hits like Jay Berliner’s "Papa Was A Rolling Stone" or Afrique’s "Kissing My Love" and more introspective originals such as Hal Galper's "This Moment" or Dave Hubbard's "T.B.'s Delight", They all have this perfect balance between groove and depth. One perfect example is Pete Yellin's "Bird and The Ouija Board," a superb 12 min opus starting off with a deep abstract improvisation before switching to an up-tempo funk beat fueled by drummer Billy Hart and bass player Stanley Clarke.

Acclaimed by many as one of the greatest and rarest library LPs of all time, the album 'FEELINGS' by Jay Richford & Gary Stevan aka Stefan Torossi. With its iconic 'naked lady in the wild' cover, has been coveted for many years by collectors of all musical genres. This album showcases some outstanding compositions & arrangements that explore the exciting connections between rhythmic funk and orchestral jazz - and are now for the first time issued on 7" 45 vinyl double pack!

We open with the uplifting “Running Fast” - a driving, pulsating groove laden with Fender Rhodes and swept along by lush strings. If you're not feeling it - book an appointment to see your doctor! Next follows a B-Boy dancer filled with battle floor emotion - “Fearing Much” - this one packs a heavy bass and syncopated drum groove with dramatic, stirring strings. A must have 45 DJs fave! The opening drum break to “Feeling Tense” gives way to mellow vibes with a deep bass, silky strings and charged horns that deliver the perfect slick, down-tempo groove. Last one is another down-tempo vibe heavy on the bass and strings, “Walking in the dark”. 
All in all yet another MUST HAVE Dynamite Cuts 45!

High quality laquer cut LP with silver and pink pantone colors on cover.

Mutual Intentions is proud to present "Astral Traveling" which is Byron The Aquarius' debut album. A stunning piece of fusion built from everything between jazz, soul, hiphop and house makes Mutual Intentions a perfect platform for the release. String compositions is an on-going theme throughout the album. From the first chord on "Love Is 4U", until the very last second of "Spazzing Out", where Byron raps over a beautiful backdrop consisting only of Fender Rhodes, electric bass & strings. Byron jumps seamlessly between different genres throughout the whole album. From the acid house inspired "Sorry Kari", to 70's prog jazz sounding cuts like "Lost In Love". Once you put the needle on side B, you'll hear "Deep In That ***** feat. MDMA" which sounds pretty much like if Dexter Wansel took MDMA in 2019, inside Legowelt's studio and tried to re-create his classic cut "Theme From The Planets".

Debütalbum des Bristoler Electro-Singer/Songwriters Tamu Massif alias Dave Dixon, der als Meister der Samples diese mit intelligenten Lyrics und wundervoll-harmonischen Vocals kombiniert und so an seelenverwandte Künstler wie z.B. James Blake erinnert. Tamu Massif veröffentlichte bislang zwei EPs, tourte mit Japanese House, C Duncan und Shakey Graves, und co-produzierte das Debütalbum von Fenne Lily. Bei der Abmischung von "Little Death Summer" stand ihm sein Langzeitkollege Ali Chant (Youth Lagoon, Perfume Genius, Aldous Harding) zur Seite.

When South-Americans gather, many things can arise, but one will be certain: it
will be intense. It could be it a party, a conflict, a work of art or an EP such as this
one that involves a Brasilian label releasing a collection of eclectic, dark and deep
electro-boogie and post-punk by a Colombian artist. Gladkazuka is the guitarist
on Matías Aguayo’s pan-american ensemble The Desdemonas and here he offers
us four slices of synthetic trunk funk on Gop Tun’s label. Each one of them are
guaranteed not only to entice sensations of all types and provoke emotions of all
kinds but also with the intensity expected from such a combination and required
for maximum fun.

Part of the new wave of artists credited with stirring up the sound, including Kamasi Washington, Yussef Kamaal, Sons of Kemet and The Comet is Coming, Yazz Ahmed is thrilled by the possibilities of making something new. "I feel like I'm a part of modernising jazz and connecting it with audiences today" Yazz says, "it's exciting".

Her take on jazz weaves in Arabic melodies to evocative, cinematic effect.

'La Saboteuse' is a deep exploration of both her British and Bahraini roots. Ably assisted by musicians including Lewis Wright on vibraphone, MOBO-winning new jazz kingpin Shabaka Hutchings on bass clarinet and Naadia Sherriff on Fender Rhodes keyboard, it's composed of undulating rhythms, Middle Eastern melody and Yazz's sonorous trumpet lines. The record sounds like the passage of a desert caravan, bathed in moonlight. The theme of 'La Saboteuse' is the sense of self-doubt that Yazz feels when she is creating, personified in a female saboteur, an anti-muse that spurs her into action. "Giving 'her' a name has really helped me to identify those negative voices we all get," she says. "I know what it is and I know how to combat it"

Milan-based imprint Just This present Cristalli Ionici, a four-track EP from Italian duo Abstrakt featuring a Marcel Fengler remix.

Abstrakt is a collaborative project from Luca Rambelli and Filippo Scorcucchi concerned with the intense study of spatial timbres - a psychedelic trip represented as a sonic aesthetic.

A relatively new endeavour, their debut on Just This offers an expertly crafted voyage into the outer reaches of the imagination. Sonically, the EP files under ambient techno, brandishing swirling textures and tangible effects to create a blissful meditative state.

For his remix of the title track, Marcel Fengler places the subtle complexion of the original and places it inside a driving rhythmic pattern of syncopated percussion and unrestrained energy.

• Recognised by fans and fellow recording artists, as one of the World’s most influential and best ever guitarists.
• This tribute is frequently confirmed when Hank regularly features high on the polls that determine the greatest guitarists of all time.
• Initially known as the lead guitarist of The Shadows, the band that evolved to become the UK’s biggest ever selling instrumental group,
Hank Marvin defined the sound of a generation.
• Hank was the very first guitarist in the UK to own an iconic Fender Stratocaster – when Cliff Richard imported the guitar from the US
exclusively for Hank to play.
• As a solo Artist, Hank Marvin has released 16 albums, with Top 20 albums spanning almost 50 years; 1969-2017 (to date), in a long and
successful career lasting more than 60 years.
• Hank Marvin, as a solo Artist, as well as part of The Shadows, with and without Cliff Richard, has spent approximately 900 weeks on the
UK Albums Chart.
• This ‘Gold’ 180g Heavyweight Gold Colour Vinyl LP set, covers Hank’s solo career, in this 15-track set.
• ‘Gold’ includes guest appearances/performances from Cliff Richard, Brian May, Duane Eddy and Mark Knopfler.

Nocta Numerica is happy to present its 14th release by Betonkust. "Sent Items' is a 4-Track EP that mixes Electro, New Beat and Acid music. The EP will be out on June 17th and available in digital & vinyl on all the usual platforms, Limited edition of 300.

Dutch producers Mindmapper & Fre4knc team up to deliver the 'Martial Manners' EP in celebration of Translation Recordings' tenth vinyl release, which comes on a visually stunning piece of crystal & transparent white vinyl! Up first is 'Collessius,' whose heavy-rolling bassline rushes in with the
force of a tsunami, leaving a wake of dancefloor destruction in its path. 'Shutter Angel' is a futuristic track where tight, snappy breakbeats slingshot back and forth between an electrifying bassline that surges across the airwaves like a beam of focused energy. Mindmapper & Fre4knc
delve into darker territories on 'Fenryr,' whose gritty atmospherics and subterranean low
frequencies deliver a unique and immersive listening experience. They close the EP on a deep, meditative note with 'Mind of Steel' (digital only) where drum edits slice through growling bass riffs with blade-like precision. The 'Martial Manners' EP strikes the perfect balance between dancefloor and experimental to carry on Translation Recordings' ongoing mission to bridge audiences with quality music that can be enjoyed in all listening environments.
---
Translation Recordings is proud to unveil its summer 2012 project capturing all moods sublime with the 'Universal Grooves LP'. A limited press on transparent blue vinyl, this special edition 12inch showcases a diverse sampling of Translation's full album that will not disappoint. The A-side brings the thunder showcasing the heavy hitting, rolling and dubby sounds of Loxy and Resound's 'Civil War' and Theory's calculated genius behind the ragga and amen tear-out, 'Final Confrontation.' Flip to a switch in vibe as DBR

Recorded in London by David Ros, 12th March 2019

Mastered by Simon Scott @ SPS Mastering

LP comes pressed on 180 gram vinyl.

On 29th March, Reclaimed Records are proud to present pianist and composer Taz Modi's elegant debut solo album 'Reclaimed Goods', which brings to light his love for contemporary composition – something which may come as a surprise to fans of soulful dance music heavyweights Submotion Orchestra, and jazz trumpeter Matthew Halsall's Gondwana Orchestra - for both of whom Modi plays keys/piano. Whilst also gaining further demand as a musician, including for A-list studio and live work for funk 'n' soul legends Dennis Coffey and Fred Wesley, plus beatmaker heroes DJ Shadow and Mr. Scruff, Modi has been discreetly pursuing an additional passion during down-time for years – and his prolonged, patient crafting shows in the record's tasteful and beautiful spirit.

Calling to mind the piano music of Cage, Frahm, Hauchska, Sakamoto and Aphex Twin, 'Reclaimed Goods' is a graceful affair, in which lush strings and gently pulsing rhythmic flutters sit alongside prepared and plaintive piano, with the tunes ranging from sparse beauty to weightier moments of electronic rhythms. This allows the music to appeal equally to fans of heavier electronic acts such as Cinematic Orchestra and Bonobo, to devotees of ambient and contemporary classical music, as well as those familiar with Modi's work with both Submotion Orchestra and Matthew Halsall.



Positive review by John Lewis for the Guardian's contemporary music album of the month section: 'An even more effective exploration of solo piano territory comes from British pianist Taz Modi; best known for his work in various jazz and funk ensembles, his solo debut Reclaimed Goods features a host of introspective instrumentals that are reminiscent, variously, of Ryuichi Sakamoto (Libra), Nils Frahm (Time to Practise, Crystalline) and Hauschka (Ethical Tourist).

Featured in Music Week's Tastemaker section, 15th April 2019 with Haydon Spenceley: 'Listen to it; it'll lift you high above our care-worn world to a place of safety and grace'.

First single 'Ethical Tourist' featured as a premiere on 18 Feb 2019

Second single 'Crystalline' premiered on Boiler Room's 4:3 video channel, 12 Mar 2019

'A kaleidoscopic album that seductively pulls you in and leaves you curious about the inspiration behind the songs' - AAA Music

Positive review on Magazine Sixty

Support on Soho Radio, Dom Servini

Played on Worldwide FM, April 3, Gondwana Records show

Featured on Bleep's Spotify playlist 'For Your Ears and For Your Head', April 2019

Played by Mischa Kreiskott, NDR Radio Germany, ndr.de

Worldwide FM's Gondwana Records show on May 1 featured an interview with Taz Modi, along with multiple tracks from the album.



Musicians:

Taz Modi – piano, keyboards/electronics, arrangement and production

Natalie Purton – violin + viola

Liz Hanks – cello

Margit van der Zwan – cello

Seb Hankins and Jon Scott – drums

‘Just rain! Tell that to the dolphins!’
The brand new first-time vinyl edition of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to
the Galaxy: Quandary Phase comes on heavyweight blue vinyl,
packaged in the lavish style of the preceding Primary Phase,
Secondary Phase and Tertiary Phase LP releases.
Here, for the first time ever on vinyl, are Episodes 19 to 22 of the
BBC radio series. First broadcast in 2005, the Quandary Phase is
based upon the Douglas Adams’s fourth novel So Long, and
Thanks for all the Fish. This is the first ever publication of the
original radio edits of the Quandary Phase, as heard on their
original Radio 4 broadcast.
Hitching a lift back to Earth after it miraculously reappeared, Arthur
Dent returns to his cottage and tries to resume normal life. But an
encounter with a striking woman named Fenchurch leads to a
series of unanswered questions. Why has the planet’s entire
population of dolphins vanished, leaving behind them some very
charming crystal bowls? Who is Wonko the Sane, and what is
God’s Last Message to His Creation? Meanwhile Ford Prefect is
Having revelations of his own, and as for Marvin the Paranoid
Android…well, just don’t ask. Suffice to say, things may never be
the same again.
Starring William Franklyn as The Book, with Simon Jones as
Arthur Dent, Geoffrey McGivern as Ford Prefect, Bill Paterson as
Rob McKenna, Jane Horrocks as Fenchurch, Sandra Dickinson as
Tricia McMillan and Stephen Moore as Marvin the Paranoid
Android, with a guest cast including Arthur Smith, June Whitfield,
Stephen Fry, Jackie Mason, Rula Lenska, Patrick Moore and
Christian Slater, with music by Philip Pope and Paul ‘Wix’
Wickens. Adapted, Directed and Co-Produced by Dirk Maggs
Two 180g heavyweight coloured vinyl discs are presented in
illustrated wallets inside a rigid, bound 20 page book, including a
moving tribute to Douglas Adams written by Stephen Fry and
sleeve notes by Jem Roberts, Adams’s official biographer.
‘Whoooo…I’m flying…’

Celebrating its 25th anniversary, Far Out Recordings proudly presents two albums of previously unheard Azymuth demo recordings from 1973-75

Since their debut album release in 1975, Azymuth have risen to rank alongside the world’s greatest jazz, funk and fusion artists. As young men in Rio de Janeiro, they stood out for both their exceptional talent as musicians, and their wild rock ‘n’ roll antics in the predominantly middle-class worlds of bossa nova and jazz. Their signature ‘Samba Doido’ (crazy samba) sound ruptured the tried and tested musical structures of the day, resulting in what can only be described as an electric, psychedelic, samba jazz-funk hybrid.

Before they became Azymuth, José Roberto Bertrami (keyboards), Ivan ‘Mamão’ Conti (drums), Alex Malheiros (bass) and Ariovaldo Contesini (percussion) played backing band to just about every major artist in Brazil. Bertrami was also contracted as an arranger and songwriter at some the biggest labels of the era: Polydor, Philips, Som Livre, and EMI being just a few. Azymuth’s name can be found on record sleeves by the likes of Jorge Ben, Elis Regina, Marcos Valle, Ana Mazzotti and countless others. But at the dawn of the seventies, fascinated by developments in improvisational music - from jazz in the US, to progressive rock in the UK and of course samba, bossa and tropicália on home turf - the energetic young group were inspired and ready to move forward. Any spare moment in which they weren’t in sessions and writing music for other artists, they would be carving out their own sound.

These previously unheard recordings took place between 1973-75 at Bertrami’s home studio in the Laranjeiras district of Rio de Janeiro. At the time of recording, there was nothing in Brazil, less the world that sounded anything like them, so perhaps it’s unsurprising that when Bertrami presented his demos to the record companies he had been working for, he was turned away, and told in effect that the music was ‘wrong’.

One of the demos ‘Manhã’ would be picked up by Som Livre and Azymuth released their seminal debut album in 1975. Throughout the late seventies and eighties, the group released a series of now classic albums for Milestone Records, before taking an indefinite hiatus to pursue their individual careers.

When English producers Joe Davis and Roc Hunter arrived in Brazil in 1994 to record the first Azymuth album in over a decade, Bertrami dug out the demos which had sat virtually untouched for over twenty years. Joe recalls how he was “blown away by the freedom and intensity of the music, as well as the genius of the ideas musically.” Beginning a long and fruitful relationship, ‘Prefacio’ would be the first track Azymuth recorded for Far Out Recordings and was released on the Carnival album (1996).
Along with ‘Manhã’ and ‘Prefacio’, only a handful of these demos were ever professionally recorded and released, making this the first opportunity to hear many of these early Azymuth compositions in their raw, original form.

On every track the frenetic energy in the studio is palpable, giving the recordings a beautifully personal feel and a sense of the phenomenally creative vision Bertrami, Malheiros and Conti were realising at the time. Fifty years on, Azymuth’s earliest recorded music retains an ineffable, futuristic quality, standing amongst their most captivating and moving work.

Credits:

Keyboards: José Roberto Bertrami (Mini Moog Series One, Arp Omni, Arp 2600, Arp Solina Strings, Fender Rhodes 88, Hammond B3 with box speaker, Clavinet with Wah Wah)
Drums: Ivan ‘Mamão’ Conti
Bass: Alex Malheiros
Percussion: Ariovaldo Contesini
Produced by Azymuth and Jose Roberto Bertrami
Recorded at José Roberto Bertrami’s home studio in Laranjeiras, Rio De Janeiro, Brazil between 1973–1975.
Issue and project co-ordinator: Joe Davis
Tape transfers by Roc Hunter (thanks to Simon Hitner)
Mastered by Daniel Maunick at the Sugar Shack, Lanark, Scotland
Mastered by Frank at Carvery Cuts
All tracks published by Far Out Music Publishing/Westbury Music LTD

Celebrating its 25th anniversary, Far Out Recordings proudly presents two albums of previously unheard Azymuth demo recordings from 1973-75

Since their debut album release in 1975, Azymuth have risen to rank alongside the world’s greatest jazz, funk and fusion artists. As young men in Rio de Janeiro, they stood out for both their exceptional talent as musicians, and their wild rock ‘n’ roll antics in the predominantly middle-class worlds of bossa nova and jazz. Their signature ‘Samba Doido’ (crazy samba) sound ruptured the tried and tested musical structures of the day, resulting in what can only be described as an electric, psychedelic, samba jazz-funk hybrid.

Before they became Azymuth, José Roberto Bertrami (keyboards), Ivan ‘Mamão’ Conti (drums), Alex Malheiros (bass) and Ariovaldo Contesini (percussion) played backing band to just about every major artist in Brazil. Bertrami was also contracted as an arranger and songwriter at some the biggest labels of the era: Polydor, Philips, Som Livre, and EMI being just a few. Azymuth’s name can be found on record sleeves by the likes of Jorge Ben, Elis Regina, Marcos Valle, Ana Mazzotti and countless others. But at the dawn of the seventies, fascinated by developments in improvisational music - from jazz in the US, to progressive rock in the UK and of course samba, bossa and tropicália on home turf - the energetic young group were inspired and ready to move forward. Any spare moment in which they weren’t in sessions and writing music for other artists, they would be carving out their own sound.

These previously unheard recordings took place between 1973-75 at Bertrami’s home studio in the Laranjeiras district of Rio de Janeiro. At the time of recording, there was nothing in Brazil, less the world that sounded anything like them, so perhaps it’s unsurprising that when Bertrami presented his demos to the record companies he had been working for, he was turned away, and told in effect that the music was ‘wrong’.

One of the demos ‘Manhã’ would be picked up by Som Livre and Azymuth released their seminal debut album in 1975. Throughout the late seventies and eighties, the group released a series of now classic albums for Milestone Records, before taking an indefinite hiatus to pursue their individual careers.

When English producers Joe Davis and Roc Hunter arrived in Brazil in 1994 to record the first Azymuth album in over a decade, Bertrami dug out the demos which had sat virtually untouched for over twenty years. Joe recalls how he was “blown away by the freedom and intensity of the music, as well as the genius of the ideas musically.” Beginning a long and fruitful relationship, ‘Prefacio’ would be the first track Azymuth recorded for Far Out Recordings and was released on the Carnival album (1996).
Along with ‘Manhã’ and ‘Prefacio’, only a handful of these demos were ever professionally recorded and released, making this the first opportunity to hear many of these early Azymuth compositions in their raw, original form.

On every track the frenetic energy in the studio is palpable, giving the recordings a beautifully personal feel and a sense of the phenomenally creative vision Bertrami, Malheiros and Conti were realising at the time. Fifty years on, Azymuth’s earliest recorded music retains an ineffable, futuristic quality, standing amongst their most captivating and moving work.

Credits:

Keyboards: José Roberto Bertrami (Mini Moog Series One, Arp Omni, Arp 2600, Arp Solina Strings, Fender Rhodes 88, Hammond B3 with box speaker, Clavinet with Wah Wah)
Drums: Ivan ‘Mamão’ Conti
Bass: Alex Malheiros
Percussion: Ariovaldo Contesini
Produced by Azymuth and Jose Roberto Bertrami
Recorded at José Roberto Bertrami’s home studio in Laranjeiras, Rio De Janeiro, Brazil between 1973–1975.
Issue and project co-ordinator: Joe Davis
Tape transfers by Roc Hunter (thanks to Simon Hitner)
Mastered by Daniel Maunick at the Sugar Shack, Lanark, Scotland
Mastered by Frank at Carvery Cuts
All tracks published by Far Out Music Publishing/Westbury Music LTD

Berlin’s Answer Code Request and Marcel Fengler remix two cuts from AVION’s ‘Untrod’ album on his Crossing Imprint.

Established in 2013, Crossing has become a home for the majority of VAION’s releases including his debut album that picked up support from the likes of Darko Esser, Cosmin Trg, Anastasia Kristensen, Steve Bicknell and many more.

For this compelling remix package, AVION invites Answer Code Request and Marcel Fengler two legendary Berghain residents known for releasing on Ostgut Ton and their own eponymous imprints, who together have been honing a musical hybrid that stands apart from some of the more uniform forms of techno.

Answer Code Request’s ‘Evasion’ kicks off proceedings with an ethereal ambience balancing a tough syncopated drum sequence, resonant pads and atmospheric synth keys floating underneath. On the flip, Marcel Fengler’s remix of ‘Streetlights’ rounds off proceedings with menacing breaks-tinged percussion,

murmuring oscillations graciously fused with Emika’s delicate vocals and resilient modulations throughout.

WYLLOWE is Anna Sheard and Rory More – a nascent writing duo with a shared enjoyment of all things folky and groovy (think early '70s Sergio Mendes, '60s sunshine pop and modal jazz versions of Scarborough Fair). The new 7-inch release Fortunate Fool is a rolling and loping affair with a lilting melody accompanied by a chiming 12-string Fender, electric piano and Lowrey organ; its soaring lament and understated groove is an open-road elbows-in-the-wind driving song.

The B side, Berwick Street Blue, brings to the fore Anna's alluring lyricism and Rory's oscillant motifs calling to mind the compositions of continental soundtrack composers and the sonorous femme-fronted productions of the late 1960s. Lush choral harmonies, layered guitars and resonant piano and organ ebb and flow over a soulfully intoned lyrical paean to a part of London lost and changed forever.

Radha-Krsna Nama Sankirtana was the first of two albums Alice Coltrane released in 1977 (the other being Transcendence). Coltrane's music during this period grew out of an epiphany in which she would renounce secular life and don the orange robes of a swamini (spiritual teacher in the Hindu tradition). Musically, this meant leaving jazz behind (at least partially) and embracing the chants and rhythms of devotional music.

The first half of Radha-Krsna is mostly filled with simple arrangements of bhajans (Hindu devotional songs) and features the singing of students from the Vedantic Center, the Ashram that Coltrane founded in 1975. The group bounces with the joy of a gospel choir (not coincidentally, some had backgrounds in Southern Baptist churches).

A rapturous aura permeates opener "Govinda Jai Jai" with Alice leading on Fender Rhodes. On "Prema Muditha," she returns to acoustic piano (her main instrument in the early part of her career) to deliver a powerful and poignant theme.

Sidelong "Om Namah Sivaya" beams with probing organ improvisations accompanied by the drumming of her 13-year-old son Aruna John Coltrane, Jr. This closing track offers a strong indication that even if Alice Coltrane was turning toward new traditions for inspiration, her music was still something that only she could make.

Repress!

Contemporary house merged with space-age jazz & broken beat from Copenhagen newcomer Nejrup on debut release MANDA backed by a uniquely off-kilter remix from London soul stalwart K15 (Eglo / Wild Oats)

MANDA is a selection of intricate compositions for the dancefloor with a jazz centered approach to combining dance grooves with modular soundscapes & live instrumentation.

For Nejrup, a self-learned synthhacker, pianist and producer from Copenhagen, his debut MANDA is a result of years of experimentation and never-ending practice and noodling on his Fender Rhodes & homebuilt synth collection. Delivering a compositional complexity influenced by Radiohead and Floating Points, while letting his tunes simmer with airy synths and improvised live instrumentation combined with a love for depthful harmonies.

K15 backs the release with a soothing, heavily syncopated remix, as only he could do it. The Londoner, whose soulful touch and ear for melody has earned him high status in the jazz encompassing house- and broken beat circuit, through Kyle Hall's 'Wild Oats' and Alexander Nut's 'Eglo Records' and as center of the Culross Close outfit.