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Over recent years, there have been countless reissue of reggae-disco rarities and slept-on classics. Soul Jazz has, surprisingly given that they first dipped into the style 20 years ago on the now legendary Reggae Disco Hustle compilation, been surprisingly silent, so it's nice to see them joining the party in fine style. Disco Reggae Rockers is a fitting sequel to its illustrious predecessor, featuring as it does a wealth of killer covers of - and more adventurous 're-versions' inspired by - vintage soul, disco and funk tunes. The plentiful highlights include Devon Russell's inspired take on Curtis Mayfield's 'Move On Up', Risco Connection's super-sweet version of Diana Ross classic 'It's My House', Valerie Harrison's interpretation of Me'lissa Morgan's 'Fools Paradise' and Hortense Ellis re-frame of Candi Staton hit 'Young Hearts Run Free'.

SoHaSo continues their summer sampler series. Again, the Utrecht based record label brings you some forgotten beauties from the past. Mostly from the Lowlands this time. Perfect Virtue by British trio Shi Take is one of those gems. Tribal house rhythms from 30 years ago, with a bassline that makes you want to wiggle all the way to the center of the dance floor. SoHaSo label head honcho Nuno had been playing a demo of Tools for Fools by Dutch producer Sluwe Vos for years, when he found out the energetic rhythm track never got a proper release. Well, now it has. Flip over for some more forgotten Dutch house history. Jibaros is a project from dance veteran Eric Cycle. It has all the elements that made house music from the lowlands so good in those days: percussive beats, a decent baseline and good melodies sprinkled on top. It's a layercake of sweet stuff that just keeps on building. Very pricey on Discogs nowadays, but luckily Cycle still had the original DAT-tape lying around. Nozem is a bit of the odd one out. It's actually a project by a young dude from the south of Holland but it sounds like he stepped into a time machine which warped him back to the 90s. The vocals (in ancient Greek!) are from Sister of Iris. Closure track Tinkling Sensation by Delta (Alex Dijksterhuis) is more than 25 years old. With it's fast-paced rhythms this piano driven tune could well be something post-progressive from Scandinavia. But this is the real deal. Uplifting rave music from the days people were still carrying fluor sticks.

Vessels promise an escape from responsibilities towards the landscape, they facilitate our avoidance of conscientiously feeling our attachment to the mainland. The visual nothingness of deep water and clean horizons fools the brain and delivers a treacherous feeling of independence.

We ignore the truths expressed by landscapes, so we mould them into urban projects for our strange desires. We clean up the irrationalities by which nature constructs itself. Then we look up to the skies, where the abstractions we have to draw in our minds should reside and inspire us.

We peer into the various shades of blue above the waters, the emptiness guarantees possibilities of our abstractions becoming realities. The apathetic stare into neat, straight horizons transforms our ancestral landscape into dirt and danger, when looking back to it.

To be on a ship under quarantine, is an upside down experience, for the promised escape has turned into a forced paralysis. The Lima flag (? - ? ?, in morse code), presented on the outer sleeve of this record, indirectly demands of all passengers to stay aboard and contemplate their escape from the land they now desire to return to.

These four piano pieces could be considered as a classical sonata (allegroadagio-scherzo-rondo). In a recital they are accompanied by four video pieces by artist Karl Van Welden. We picked the videos out of his extensive archive, choosing images intuitively while listening to the piano music. The theme of ships relating to quarantine thus came unannounced but of course, we were in the middle of the pandemic at the time.

Solastalgia was already waiting as a title for the new album before march 2020. I first came across the word in Underland, a book by Robert Macfarlane (2019). He defines the word as "The unhappiness of people whose landscapes are being transformed about them by forces beyond their control". These forces and this unhappiness are, I believe, what constitutes the modern human. Solastalgia, about the music We haven't found them yet, the words to talk to each other about the worrying signs of climate change. Feeling worried when walking on autumn leaves in the beginning of August should be completely normal. But how do we communicate about it? We don't want to be just the next hysterical doomer.

With this music I try to focus on the climate pain itself, gently inviting the listener to investigate their latent feelings of unease and growing concerns about the environment. As in real life, we circumvent the real issues because they are just too big, there are no words, no expressions yet.

This album tries, in four different attempts, to carve out a path towards communicating about a deeper pain that eventually will connect us all. My general method is to start with a comforting melody, full of fake nostalgia, which, after changing gear to autodestruct mode, morphs into a painful question mark.

The first part sets off with an idyllic melody, accompanied by repeated notes, as a far, muted echo of an alarm. The melody starts to explain itself painfully into a dissonant whirlwind in the high register, sounding not unlike Ravel's Gaspard de la Nuit bravura. In the second piece a warm Beatles like melody (And I love her) gets confronted with the weird hippie mantra of a later Lennon song War is over, if you want it. Sentences get reduced to syllables and result in lonely notes that crash and shiver under the burden of too much meaning. Like Shostakovich's latest work, the Sonata for viola and piano.

The descending melody of Bach's Erbarme dich, Mein Gott is echoed in the upper and lower voicings of the third piece, juxtaposed to a typical, threatening Ennio Morricone Western dotted rhythm accompaniment. This rhythm eventually evolves into citing the 1972 Captain Beefheart early ecological warning song Blabber and Smoke (there's a big pane/pain in your window, it's gonna hang you all,... dangle you all). Towards the middle of the piece, the music explodes and the three layers get dispersed all over the keyboard in a virtuosic maelstrom towards another painful question mark. The bitter answer is going back to business with a barely noticeable citation of the first notes of the RZA's Liquid Swords album.

The final piece is some kind of mantra, the same 7/4 pulse all throughout the piece. The dampers of all A's and B's on the keyboard are released by the middle pedal, thus sustaining an ever present resonance. Melodic cells alternate in shifting quantifications with small, bell like percussive cluster playing. While composing this piece an image crept up: walking out of the church on Sunday morning, tolling bells enthusiastically moderating the churchgoers' small talk in the local dialect. Apparently I have tried to evoke this kind of conversation, but injecting it with fictitious alarming conversation topics, the contemporary.

Frederik Croene (August '22)

Hier kommt eine LP Neuauflage des original in 2018 erschienenen Albums, dieses Mal in hellgrün transparent colour.

TAF KIF Records present their first release: Fools Gold Vol. I, a four track compilation with an eclectic selection of dancefloor-ready cuts for this summer.

Studio Barnhus' head honcho, Axel Boman, starts off the A side with a catchy bassline, hypnotic and nostalgic synths and ring modulated guitars. After being road tested for years, we are super happy to finally get to release his song "Oasis", a surfy summer heater in all its glory.

A2 comes from TAF KIF's own Velmondo, known for his work on Hivern Discs and Compost Records. He blesses us with "Echo Welt", a leftfield psychedelic excursion filled with Balearic vibes, krauty bubblegum beats and exotic percussion. What else could you ask for?

TAF KIF's MLiR, a usual name for those familiarised with the Studio Barnhus' catalogue, open the flip side with the mega sexy "It's Baby Time". Smooth operators in the house, baby!

Last but not least, Lusille delivers an afro fire starter called "Une Long Route", a secret weapon from the likes of Hunee among others. Very limited edition with just a few hundreds of copies, don't sleep!

hree years after the release of their self-titled debut LP, Shark Toys follow it up with ten more bursts of weirdo punk. Nine originals and cover of the Mekons classic, “Where Were You.” Ever since forming in 2008, the band has developed a reputation for sharp and choppy live sets, developing a loyal following around their home town of Los Angeles and around the US, from playing shows with bands like Ty Segall, Protomartyr, Parquet Courts, Terry Malts, the Urinals and many others. This batch of tunes were taken from the same session as the recent 7” single, a split with Florida’s UV-TV, on Emotional Response, earlier this year, recorded by Dave Fox of the Traditional Fools (who also recorded Fuzz, Scraper, Vial, and Wand). "A treble fueled look at Los Angeles that certain fans of Tyvek will consume lovingly. Usually the word shambolic would be thrown in for effect when describing bands attempting to transmit a Homosexuals/Tronics/Desperate Bicycles air, but this band does not have a shambling manner to these ears. They seem very propulsive and on target, with shards of errant guitar whipped into shape by the savagery of the rhythm. … They have a driving down highways at night nihilism that is hard to conjure … with ear slicing guitar “solos” somewhere between sneaker squeak and door creak. … Super catchy bedroom punk for people that clutch the Astral Glamour box set to their hearts and know all the words to Swell Maps B-sides …"— Maximum Rock N' Roll // “Much love for this synth-punk masterpiece, highly recommended by Strangeworld for members of Ausmuteants fan club.” - Strangeworld Records, Australia

BLACK BOMBERS, Birmingham's rock 'n Roll veterans whose primal racket contains elements of both proto and post punk, drop a new 7"on Friday, April 1st - on Easy Action Records. All Fools' Day 2022 seems the perfect time to release a track about false promises and the fantasy of returning to fading Empires. The recording for the single was originally carried out during one of those brief respites from Lockdown in the Summer of 2020 and was then developed in the Soho studio of new Black Bomber guitarist Steve Crittall over the following few months. The 'B' side of the single features Black Bombers' cover of The Damned's 'You Take My Money' - the much maligned second album being something of a band favourite. Bass player Darren Birch played with Damned guitarist Brian James in a short-lived line-up of his James Gang band. This release comes as 'UN-SCENE!', Black Bombers' drummer Dave Twist's compilation album of Birmingham Post Punk, is receiving real acclaim and is already in short supply... The band have dates around the country in the coming weeks and play the DIE DAS DER benefit show for Ukraine on March 27th at the Hare & Hounds, Kings Heath Birmingham.

Continuing with the theme of finding and releasing quality 21st century CD-only tracks on to 7” vinyl, Jai Alai now are proud to present their fourth release which showcases the stand-out tracks from the only two albums released under the name Sir Wick.
Chad ’Sir Wick’ Hughes is probably best described as a musician (trombone, piano, percussion), composer, teacher, adjudicator and clinician, but somehow that doesn’t seem quite enough to describe such a unique musical talent. Born in Detroit, and graduating from the same High School as Diana Ross, Paul Thompson, & Ron Carter, he went on to study composition and arranging, and holds regular clinics around the north and mid-west US states sharing his expertise.
The topside on this limited edition release is the lead track from his debut album “An Interpretation Of A Universal Language” (2007 Sir Wick Entertainment LLC) which features the sublime vocals of Sedalia Marie, a beautiful mid-pacer, whilst the other side “I Love You” features the mellow vocals of Anthony Saunders on a track from Chad’s opus work “A Tale Of Two Fools”, which he began in 1996 but only finally orchestrated and released as his second album in 2017 - a soundtrack featuring a full orchestra comprising eight woodwind parts, full strings, big band brass, and seven-piece rhythm section.
Originally intended as an operetta, it was evolving into something bigger; an opera, musical or stage play maybe, but he finally referred to it as a ‘novical’ (a musical novel), which best describes this story of a young musician falling in love for the first time. A biopic, maybe?
One could easily take these two fabulous tracks at face value as simply just another great double-sider, but isn’t it nicer to know the full story?

Steve Hobbs (Solar Radio, Totally Wired Radio)

Lee Burridges’ All Day I Dream Presents Jim Rider’s Fantastic New EP, The Final Straw

The UK-Producer Revives the Labels’ Heavier Melodic Sensibilities Across 4-Originals

The title track opens an EP led by intention, accenting a time in the producer’s life where he was disillusioned with his day job and intent on pursuing music full time once again. “The Final Straw'' includes a romantic, husky narrative delivered by Namibian vocalist “Black Soda” (AKA Annely Ickua). Here we find him pulling from his musical upbringing - melodic elements afforded to him by his Mother, a folk musician and singer, and his focus on percussion fueled by his background as a drummer.

“Rascals” is a follow up to “Fools” from Jim’s 2021 Beatport category #1 EP “Popcorn & Politics”. It pays homage to the classic 1950s American TV show “Little Rascals” with eccentric keys and playful percussion alongside dazzling, eccentric elements from keys to tropical-inspired marimbas. “Los Que Caen,” as the name suggests, is inspired by Rider’s love of latin music and percussion and includes a heavy bass guitar riff, bouncy synths and a harp-led rhythm section. EP closer “The Cypriot” blends lead flute lines with plucky synths and a driving bassline while sporadic haunting vocal ad-libs and delayed keys add decoration to the track.

After a quarter century of nearly nonstop activity, dystopian Detroit synth-punk institution ADULT. have perfected a strain of stylistic cohesion in the album format, "but for this we wanted something that's falling apart." Becoming Undone, the 9th official full-length by cofounders Nicola Kuperus and Adam Lee Miller, explicitly succeeds in this aim, simultaneously rejecting and reflecting the planetary discord that inspired it. Begun in the latter half of 2020 against a backdrop of unprecedented flux and seismic isolation, the duo kickstarted their muse by sourcing fresh additions to the rig: a vocal loop pedal for Kuperus and Roland percussion pads for Miller. Reconnecting with legacy influences like the politicized industrial percussion of Test Department and the queasy miscreant synthetics of TG's 20 Jazz Funk Greats sparked a series of fruitfully frenetic sessions, centered on themes of impermanence and dissonance. Miller's rationale is blunt: "We weren't interested in melody or harmony since we didn't see the world having that." From the tense technoid blitz of "Undoing / Undone" to the twitchy EBM of "Fools (We Are_)" and "I Am Nothing," the sides bristle with strident acidic revolt and black leather sequential circuits, unhinged and unforgiving. Elsewhere, slower tempos of purgatorial unraveling ("Normative Sludge," "She's Nice Looking") showcase a breadth of vocal FX, Kuperus sounding alternately indignant and possessed, decrying the crimes, fears, and failings of a deluded world. Throughout, the band's chemistry crackles with revulsion and strobe-lit dissent, equal parts exorcism and denunciation. "Humans have always been pretty terrible," Kuperus explains. "But every year the compromises of culture just accelerate." Becoming Undone is also freighted with a more personal pain, as Kuperus' father passed away during the height of the pandemic, just before the album took root. As his hospice caretakers, she and Miller faced the banality of finality, surrounded by objects drained of meaning, "the joy of having a body, but also the drudgery of having one." The record's bewitching closing track, "Teeth Out Pt. II" - which happens to be the first ADULT. song in the group's history without drums - speaks to this sense of doomed corporeal mass and the looming, lightless unknown that binds us all. A seasick haze swells and subsides in slow, low waves, flickering with ring modulation, above which Kuperus sings in a dazed, brooding, transcendent state, as if having finally glimpsed beyond the pale: "Some day / some day I will be silent and free / of this relentless gravity."

Reissue of George Duke's classic 1975 jazz-funk-fusion album 'The Aura
Will Prevail'
With its intensive quartet, this 1975 recording again mirrors how far Duke, by his
own admission, had moved away from the "smug and overly serious jazz
musician" and towards a master of fusion, eager to experiment and add a note of
humour to the music. With Santana drummer Leon "Ndugu" Chancler, bassist
Alphonso "Slim" Johnson, and the Brazilian percussion magician Airto Moriera,
Duke designed stunning scenarios in sound which once more reveals him to be
one of the synthesizer pioneers.
He paints a fantastic morning atmosphere in Dawn; in Floop the Loop Duke
conjures animated, funky tone poems. There is a change of scene as Duke takes
up the role of soulful singer on the smooth ballads For Love and Fools. His
onetime collaboration with the Mothers of Invention rubs off on Duke's
adaptations of Echnidna's Arf and Uncle Remus, and a touch of samba is added
to the relaxed tropical magic of Malibu.

 In 2011, Toronto’s Fucked Up delivered an album
that chafed the edges of punk rock’s conceptual
boundaries - a set of songs that splayed freely into
unexpected instrumentation, psychedelic drift, and
situationist philosophy. Its ambition was limitless
and its run time opulent. Which is to say, they
made a concept album.
 Matador Records celebrate the 10th Anniversary of
Fucked Up’s titanic 78-minute early ‘10s
masterpiece, ‘David Comes to Life’, with a special
edition double LP reissue on lightbulb-yellow vinyl.
 ‘David Comes to Life’ is a story of lost love, global
meltdown, depression, bombs, guilt and madness.
Or is it? A modern-day morality tale set amid the
dour backdrop of a British industrial town in the
late ’70s, it’s a four-part play that follows the dark
moods and inner psyche of the titular hero. At the
same time, the reliability of the narrator gets called
into question. The tables are turned, responsibility
shifts, and the story goes meta. Of course, you
could always ignore the backstory and just listen to
a fiercely imaginative double album of blistering,
melodic rock ‘n’ roll shot through with all manner of
psychic weirdness.

Actress and singer Julie London is best remembered in pop terms for her much-covered classic ‘Cry Me A River’, a Number 9 US hit in 1955 and a Number 22 UK success two years later. But as this compilation shows, there was much more to the girl than one impressive song

The brothers Jerry and Jimmy Vivino belong(ed) to sought-after session
musicians and producers in the American blues scene.
Their services have been taken by numerous blues musicians such as Son Seals,
Johnnie Johnson, Hubert Sumlin, Al Kooper, Shemekia Copeland, Aaron Neville,
Lucky Peterson, Dr. John, Buddy Guy and Odetta, among others.
However, the Vivino Brothers rarely recorded albums together. With Chitlins
Parmigiana, however, they recorded something special by fusing urban blues,
jazz funk and soul. Although the album spreads a party atmosphere, the ballad
‘Fools Gold’ is goose bumps pure.
An enjoyable album that illustrates the Vivino siblings’ diversity.
The album by the Vivino Brothers, which is still legendary today, was no longer available in mint condition for over a decade. Now Chitlins Parmigiana is
emerging again - as a Double-LP.

Dedicated to the sounds of Black & Brown musicians. Reviving and releasing unissued cuts from back in the day. Each release in direct collaboration with the creators & producers to retain a legacy for these almost forgotten tracks

In These Silent Days, the highly anticipated new studio album from six-time Grammy Award-winning singer, songwriter, performer, producer and New York Times Best Selling author Brandi Carlile, is out October 1. Ahead of the release, the album’s first single, “Right On Time,” featuring a music video directed by Courteney Cox launched on announcement
Inspired by the mining of her own history while writing this year’s #1 New York Times Best Selling memoir Broken Horses, In These Silent Days was conceived of while Carlile was quarantined at home with longtime collaborators and bandmates Tim and Phil Hanseroth. The ten songs chronicle acceptance, faith, loss and love and channel icons like David Bowie, Freddie Mercury, Elton John and Joni Mitchell—the latter two who, by some sort of cosmic alignment of the stars, have turned out to be close friends in addition to being her biggest heroes and inspirations.
In These Silent Days follows Carlile’s 2018 breakthrough GRAMMY Award-winning album, By The Way, I Forgive You, which Rolling Stone declared, “…an Adele-meets Joni Mitchell tour de force.” In the years since—in addition to collaborative projects with The Highwomen, Tanya Tucker, Soundgarden, Alicia Keys, Dolly Parton, Barry Gibb, Leslie Jordan, Brandy Clark and more—she has earned six Grammy Awards recognizing her work as a performer, songwriter and producer, was awarded Billboard’s Women In Music “Trailblazer Award,” CMT’s Next Women of Country “Impact Award” and received multiple recognitions from the Americana Music Association Honors & Awards including 2020’s Album of the Year (Highwomen), Group of the Year (The Highwomen) and Song of the Year (“Crowded Table”) and 2019’s Artist of the Year. Carlile was also once again nominated for Artist of the Year and Group of the Year (The Highwomen) at the 2021 ceremony.

Released via Columbia Records in the UK, 'Respect' is a 2021 American biographical musical drama film based on the life of American soulk legend Aretha Franklin. Directed by Liesl Tommy (in her feature directorial debut) from a screenplay written by Tracey Scott Wilson, the film stars Jennifer Hudson as Franklin. Forest Whitaker, Marlon Wayans, Audra McDonald, Marc Maron, Tituss Burgess, and Mary J. Blige are featured in supporting roles. The CD was released in mid August. This is the 21 track double vinyl format with songs featured in the film, including one new original track produced by Will I Am. Continued promo/marketing activity across all media outlets (for both film and soundtrack).

Many great singers passed through the hands of late great soul/
R&B producer Jerry Wexler, from Aretha Franklin to Dusty
Springfield, but Etta James was a singer he willingly waited 20
long years to work with. “Etta is a church in herself,” he said in
his autobiography, adding: “Her voice is a mighty influence, her
musical personality able to express an extraordinary range of
moods.” He further described her as “A woman used but not
spent, abused but never defeated, vulnerable but though sheer
strength of will, victorious.” Her legend lives on in her music.
Press play and share her many emotions…

RECORD STORE DAY 2021 TITLE!!!
The Bruisers - Singles collection 1989-1997 - Vinyl re-issue - long out of print now available once again on limited collector's classic black double vinyl!!

21 Number Ones is celebrating it’s 15th Anniversary in 2021 and it will be available on vinyl for the first time! The album features 21 of GRAMMY Award-winning superstar Kenny Rogers’ number one hits including “The Gambler”, “Through The Years”, “Lady” and many more! Rogers sold over 120 million albums worldwide, making him one of the best-selling male artists of all-time according to the RIAA, with one Diamond album, 20 Platinum albums and 11 Gold. He recorded 24 No. 1 hits, 12 No. 1 albums and 25 Top 10 country albums. Miraculously, he charted a song within each of the last seven decades. His music has always crossed boundaries, with singles and albums finding frequent success on the Country, Top 40, and Adult Contemporary charts, and in a few instances, on the R&B and Christian charts.

• 180 GRAM AUDIOPHILE VINYL
• GATEFOLD SLEEVE
• INSERT
• 2-LP SET FEATURING REMIXES OF THEIR CLASSIC
HITS “FOOLS GOLD”, “ELEPHANT STONE”, “ONE
LOVE”, “SHE BANGS THE DRUMS” & MORE
• REMIXED BY A GUY CALLED GERALD, PAUL OAKENFOLD, JUSTIN ROBERTSON, UTAH SAINTS,
GROOVERIDER & OTHERS
• BLACK VINYL

The Remixes is a compilation album by The Stone Roses, which features remixes by various producers including Utah Saints and Paul Oakenfold. Various techno luminaries ply their skills reworking some of those early classic songs, and it is immediately clear that the Roses, even beyond the genius of their songs, were a preeminent dance band.

The Remixes on black vinyl includes an insert.

A new ship of fools sails on Bolombia lands! These strange people seem to celebrate the whole jazz universe and african idioms, but they've never been in Africa. The great continent, more than physical, is a mental place of encounter and psychedelic skids. Neurotic and schizoid sorcerers, a furious wind drags them towards the total effervescence of the groove: an unprecedented cauldron of dangerous substances, hybrid styles and influences mixed with secret recipe. Their music is an explosive bubble of expressions, a feverish, impulsive and unstoppable ritual. A cosmic attitude, such as Heliocentrics or Embryo, marries the majestic and floating sounds of synths and psych organs, acidified by toxic dub sparks and deadly funk forays. A crazy horn section travels without maps from Sun-Ra and Ethiopian echoes, hard-bop reminiscenses, to sudden and virulent Balkanisms, making this soup an indecipherable combination of flavors.

Audiophile 180g Vinyl-Reissue des Debütalbums "Private Revolution" (1986) der britischen Rockband World Party, die der walisische Sänger und Musiker Karl Wallinger 1985 nach seinem Austritt bei The Waterboys gründete. Mit den Singles "Ship Of Fools", "All Come True" und "Private Revolution".

Young, Gifted and Black is considered as one of Franklin’s best projects, and a leader in Pro Black Movement albums in the 70’s. Beginning her most Soulful period, the album includes the title track, “Rock Steady” and “Day Dreaming”, pressed here onto burn orange vinyl.

• Around the second anniversary of Chas Hodges’ passing, his son Nik began going through Chas’s multitracks and picking the pieces that he felt his dad would’ve considered finished and ready to be heard by all. Back in 2007, Chas had bought himself a digital hard-disk multi-track “portastudio” recorder, which allowed him to make fully-produced recordings rather than just rough demos, playing all the instruments himself.
• So here are fourteen previously unreleased wonderful gems – ten original songs and four covers. The originals include instant classics like “Street Games” and “Rock ‘n’ Roll Allotment”, as well as two songs written with the “Only Fools And Horses” West End musical in mind, “Trigger (Is What I’m Known As)”
and “What You Got You Gotta Show It”.
• The standard “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love” is given the unmistakable Chas Hodges treatment, and the album ends with his touching rendition of The Beatles/John Lennon classic “I’m So Tired”.
• The artwork includes personal notes by both Chas’s wife Joan and son Nik, as well as previously unseen photos.

his is the first vinyl re-issue of Marc Almond’s 4th solo album, “The Stars We Are”, since the album’s original release in September 1988. This re-issue is a limited edition double vinyl that couples the original album with a second record that compiles together all the Bsides of the associated singles as well as two first-timeon-vinyl extended versions of album tracks ‘The Stars We Are’ (Full Length Version) and ‘These My Dreams Are Yours’ (Through The Night Mix). The final extra track included is Marc's solo version of ‘Something’s Gotten Hold Of My Heart’, which after the album’s original release, was re-recorded with the 1967 hit song’s original singer Gene Pitney, creating a duet that became a UK #1 single for four weeks in early 1989.

“The Stars We Are” was the first of two albums recorded for Parlophone and was Marc Almond’s return to a highly infectious and chartable pop. The first single ‘Tears Run Rings’ confirmed the revitalised, unabashed pop that characterised the record and reached #26 on the UK Singles Chart. The album was recorded with an assembled band ‘La Magia’ which comprised of former Willing Sinners members Annie Hogan, Billie McGee and Steve Humphries as a core unit. The album is a shimmering arc of musical textures, compulsive melodrama and euphoric uplift. As well as further
singles ‘Bitter-Sweet’ (UK#40) and ‘Only The Moment’ (UK#45), the album contains an homage to goth sensibilities in ‘Your Kisses Burn’ a duet with Nico (her last ever studio recording) as well as an extravagant mini-operetta, ‘Kept Boy’, a duet with cult chanteuse
Agnes Bernelle.

Contains sleeve notes from celebrated cult poet and biographer, Jeremy Reed.

Sutja Gutierrez is back on Lumière Noire. The finesse of his productions and his implacable stage performances have given him a special place within the Parisian label. In 2017, he released the EP "The Legend of Time" and one year later, he appeared on the compilation From Above with his track "Allodoxaphobia". He comes back here with an LP entitled PHYLAX SOCIETY, which confirms that Sutja Gutierrez is indeed an artist in his own right. Phylax means guardian in Latin, and the album’s title is directly inspired by the “Phylax Society”, a group of people who, in the late 19th century, wanted to create the ultimate canine breed, but who due their lack of consensus failed and dissolved. Later on, an ex-member eventually bred the very first German Shepherd. On this heartfelt record, as emotional as it is catchy, the artist deals with the feelings that come after the loss of a loved one, chiefly nostalgia and melancholia. The result is an ardent record where crooning is sincere and never a posture. The artist’s lo-fi psychedelic pop trademark oozes in every track of this album. Many of these songs feature his vocals, often doused in ethereal echoes or even shrewdly chopped and distorted in a way that reminds us of the great musique concrete experiments of the past. A DIY approach sometimes indebted to punk and post-punk music, all mixed with a vast variety of traditional pop instruments such as guitar, bass, electric keyboards and real drums, but also drum machines, synth bleeps, found sounds and other strange but fascinating samples. EMPTY FLOWER POTS, which was released as a single ahead of the LP, is definitely one of the album’s standout tracks. This catchy mid-tempo song is the perfect entry point into Sutja’s finely twisted world. A world in which you can find that particular balance between nostalgia and optimism. Oh, life is great, what is life? Life is death. . he sings. It is one of those songs that stays in your head for a while. Do not let the idea of alternative pop fool you, it is quite impossible to listen to any of these songs without reacting in some way or another through moving, dancing or thinking, regardless of the tempo or meaning. I’M DIGGIN’ might be the perfect example of this. Deceptively simple and far removed from dance music, this rock-infused number will not only have you singing along instantly, but you will also find yourself dancing and responding accordingly to the energetic mantra of this song... I'm digging for the truth, I am so diggin' into it. Truly, the dance floor is never too far, sometimes quite blatantly and sometimes in a more oblique fashion. Another case in point is PHYLAX SOCIETY, the eponym track which closes the album, a song in two parts, where a slo-mo club groove carries Sutja’s trademark singing to yet another level of uniqueness, with his surreal soundscapes, twisted melodies and everyday life sounds. An ode to humanity and an homage to the ones who are risking their lives every day in the mediterranean sea. It is rare to encounter an album which is immediately satisfying on one hand but also reveals more and more beautiful secrets with each listen. PHYLAX SOCIETY is clearly one of those special albums.

Gitkin's music exists somewhere between primal, rootsy memory and distant exotic yearning — A dusty bordertown where the familiar blends imperceptibly into the enchantingly foreign.

After a long and fruitful run as a bandleader with relentlessly touring party-rockers Pimps Of Joytime and a Grammy-nominated country blues collaboration with Cedric Burnside, multi-instrumentalist Brian J set out to "explore tonalities I'd never messed with," as he puts it. It was a release from "having to write lyrics or involve my voice," he notes, and so the (mostly) instrumental sound of Gitkin came into being.

Reviews of Gitkin's first LP grappled with descriptors, tagging it vaguely as "cinematic" and comparing it favorably with Khruangbin. True, the music is largely wordless, emotionally evocative, and guitar driven. But it possesses an alluring alchemy all its own.

Gitkin's first release, 2018's well-received Five Star Motel, amply demonstrated his ease with earthy funk and comfortably-cut rhythm. On his new full-length release Safe Passage, the itinerant guitar slinger broadens his already rich palette with melodies informed by Greek and Middle Eastern modalities, Peruvian Chicha and Tuareg Saharan guitar styles. No gimmick, this juxtaposition of gut-bucket blues and funk low-end with unexpectedly twisting lead phrases highlights the intense flavors found in each savory ingredient.

Recorded at his home studio in New Orleans, Safe Passage showcases a new batch of immediately engaging, repeatedly satisfying cuts, ranging from surf exotica ("Cat Nip") to raunchy roadhouse stompers ("Fools Gold" and "The Drive") to dreamy vocal cuts "Foot Steps" and "Hold On" to the floating finale of "Safe Passage."

Gitkin's production radiates character and warmth, leaning on soft-focus vintage mics, dubby spring reverbs and the quirks of a tape console. Further enhancing the intimate vibe are guests like veteran Chauncey Yearwood (congas) and New Orleans local "Spug" Smith, who provides a sousaphone low-end on the cumbia-not-cumbia "Spug Life." Carol C lends her striking voice to three tracks, including the strutting single "De La."

Safe Passage will be released by Wonderwheel on September 18th, 2020 and will be available on vinyl, CD and digitally.

The Doors returned to their roots and were reborn a rock ’n’ roll band on Morrison Hotel, the group’s fifth studio album. Completed in only a few weeks and released in February 1970, the hard-charging album took its name from the Skid Row hotel in downtown Los Angeles that’s featured in the iconic cover photo taken by Henry Diltz.

Morrison Hotel: 50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition includes the original album newly remastered by The Doors’ longtime engineer and mixer Bruce Botnick, plus a bonus disc of unreleased studio outtakes, and the original album on 180-gram virgin vinyl. The music will also be available from digital and streaming services the same day.

For this new collection, the original album has been expanded with more than an hour of unreleased recordings taken from the sessions for Morrison Hotel. These 19 outtakes transport listeners into the studio with Jim Morrison, John Densmore, Robby Krieger, and Ray Manzarek for an unprecedented perspective on the making of the album. Botnick says: “There are many takes, different arrangements, false starts, and insightful studio conversations between the band – who were in the studio – and producer Paul Rothchild – who was in the control room. It’s like being a fly on the wall.”

Several of these unheard recordings spotlight how Queen Of The Highway and Roadhouse Blues evolved across multiple sessions. It’s especially interesting to hear how the band played with different bass players on Roadhouse Blues. Early versions include Harvey Brooks, who played on the band’s previous album, The Soft Parade. Later takes feature guitar legend Lonnie Mack on bass along with The Lovin’ Spoonful’s John Sebastian on harmonica who, due to contractual restrictions at the time, had to be credited as G. Puglese.

Among the treasure trove of unreleased outtakes are also rough versions of Morrison Hotel tracks Peace Frog and Blue Sunday, as well as The Doors rarity I Will Never Be Untrue. The collection also captures some incredible session outtakes of the band jamming on cover versions of the Motown classic Money (That’s What I Want) and B.B. King’s Rock Me.

The Remixes is a compilation album by The Stone Roses, which features remixes by various producers including Utah Saints and Paul Oakenfold. Various techno luminaries ply their skills reworking some of those early classic songs, and it is immediately clear that the Roses, even beyond the genius of their songs, were a preeminent dance band.

The Remixes is available as a limited edition of 3000 individually numbered copies on transparent & red swirled vinyl. The package includes an insert.

Compilation album curated by Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith

The directive for the composers featured on Breathing Instruments was, in effect, to accentuate the ways in which instruments sound like they are breathing. Some have recreated the literal experience of feeling or hearing the human breath. Others take a more abstract approach, where “breathing” is more motif than object of emulation.

From hushed pulsations and distant vocals in Kathryn Shuman’s ‘Objects creating a womb-like environment to Julianna Barwick’s blissful ‘Newborn’ the tracks give sonic form to the experience of emerging from the womb.

There is also a striking concurrence of woodland sounds throughout this collection from the ghostly tones of Emily A Srague’s ‘Flew’ to Cool Maritime and Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith’s dew dripped ‘Daybreak’.

Meanwhile the undulating seascape of Geotic’s ‘Uncaught’ conjures moments of Evening Star by Fripp/ Eno, but supplants that album’s crystalline production with the warm crackle of vinyl.
If we learn anything from Breathing Instruments it is that we are inextricable from the natural world.

Searching for new languages beyond the bitter and nihilist dialect of punk, bands like Gaz Nevada, Litfiba, CCCP, Diaframma, Neon, and many others, began spreading their message all along the Italian peninsula during the early eighties and many of the members of these bands are now some of the best musicians/producers in the Italian independent music panorama (Giovanni Lindo Ferretti, Piero Pelù/Litfiba, Bisca, etc.). 16 tracks by 16 Italian underground bands from 1982-1984: bands who faded into oblivion before ever releasing anything of their own on vinyl. It should, however, be stated that if these sixteen bands had been found on an album, EP or single, they certainly would not have lowered the average quality of albums in that genre…not even in terms of sound quality, which has actually been improved upon here (considering that the original tapes had been lying around collecting dust for at least a quarter of a century) by careful restoration.

Named lovingly after the venerable boozer from Only Fools and Horses, Interpret 'The Nag's Head' is the sonic moniker of Brighton artist Stephen Maskell. Combining on the fly recordings, kitchen sink instrumentation and addictively constructed beats, Maskell's music is as one customer puts it - at times moving, at time hilarious and sometimes just great dance music. Following a trilogy of tapes, 'ENTROPY NOODLE' is Maskell's first LP proper, and signals a maturation of sound - bending, twisting and manipulating synthesis to explore every microtonal corridor of the sonic spectrum.

The debut album from the American female trio, originally released in 1973 on the Philly Groove Label

Classic Philadelphia sound featuring the disco anthem and title track that peaked at #28 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #16 UK charts. Other highlights include the hit singles ‘Smarty Pants’ (UK #9), ‘Newsy Neighbors’ and Northern Soul Classic ‘This Is The House’

Demon Music are proud to reissue this soul classic on 180g heavyweight vinyl, with printed inner sleeve and original artwork