quête:his trio

Looking at Dan Andriano's catalog, one might assume that making new music is old hat for the veteran vocalist, songwriter, bassist and primary member of the beloved Chicago punk outft Alkaline Trio
Decades into his prolifc career, though, Andriano is just as in love with the process as he was in those early days of sweaty clubs and cramped vans.

On Andriano's new Epitaph Records album, Dear Darkness, that unceasing passion is evident on this solo, self- produced project, which follows his 2015 release (as Dan Andriano in the Emergency Room) Party Adjacent, fnds Andriano venturing into deeply personal lyrical territory while also pushing the limits of just what his unclassifable sound can be.

*Text by Philip Sherburne: In the beginning, there was just a box of tapes and “Fate’s Gentle Hand.”

It was the autumn of 2010, and an anonymous figure known only as the Head Technician, an employee of Pye Corner Audio Transcription Services (“Magnetically aligning ferrous particles since 1970”), found himself at an auction in the village of Coldred, pop. 110. He was on the hunt for tobacco pipes when he chanced across a trio of boxes listed in the auction catalog, which described their contents only as “archived magnetic recordings.” The sole bidder, he won the lot, and upon receipt of his purchase took possession of an unspecified number of mouldering cassettes and ¼" reel-to-reel tapes. The collection contained no identifying information save for a single phrase scrawled on each box: “Black Mill Sessions.” And so, armed with razors, eyedroppers, and a bevy of solid-state circuitry, the Head Technician sat down at his machines and got to work

The third entry in Lucy's trio of adventurous full-lengths is visually introduced by artwork of a pearl-bearing shell, designed by Stroboscopic Artefacts' resident visual artist (and Lucy's brother) Ignazio Mortellaro. This drops a subtle hint as to the nature of its contents: just as a pearl slowly forms within its enclosing body in response to organic challenges, Lucy's work is also a kind of crystallization of memory and experience into an artifact of great value.

Listeners to this album will be struck immediately by how different it sounds from past Lucy productions, while still retaining the feel of relentless questing that defined his previous two solo LPs Wordplay for Working Bees and Churches, Schools, and Guns (or, as Lucy himself defines the feeling, the equal valuation of precision and exploration'). Initially feeling like Lucy is guiding his listeners on a slow and slightly apprehensive down-river trip through the Amazon, or some similarly thriving but as-of-yet undiscovered terrain, the album is enriched by several layers of ambience and by the wordless, improvisational (yet still somehow narrative) vocals and flute of Jon Jacobs. Without a doubt, it's an album with an initiatory' atmosphere that listeners should commit themselves to hearing in one sitting, with as little interruption as possible. However, unlike many initiatory rites, this is no arduous ordeal at all: great care has gone into connecting each chapter of the album with the same silver thread of entrancing story-telling. On standout pieces like She-Wolf Night Mourning,' electronic arpeggiation and persistent synthetic flutters perfectly merge with the unique tone colors of resonant acoustic percussion and pensive woodwind. Elsewhere, pieces like A Selfless Act' reconcile technoid pulses with melancholic, yet intoxicating echoes of Mediterranean musical traditions.

Interestingly, many of the tracks on Self-Mythology refer to old legends and well-known fairytales (e.g. the opening track which references Baba Yaga's magical hut), or to more broadly defined states of consciousness ( Samsara,' which features an especially strong, sustained choral interplay between glassy synth sequences and earthy flute sonorities). This is where the album is truly unique and relevant in its ambition. The interplay between the graphic design, the vocal and flute performances of Jacobs, and the sound design chosen by Lucy aims to be an intimate audio autobiography of its creators while also referring back to the stories that have shaped human destiny for millennia. This work is a meditation upon the reciprocity between personal hopes and fears and collective dreams and nightmares, an exploration of the endless interplay between the universal and the deeply individual. It is the tale of that uncanny process by which our own conscious experience draws from the pool of archetypal information, while also contributing to it.

Soundtrack from Academy Award-nominated actor Ethan Hawke’s 2001 film Songs written by Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy with the score performed by Tweedy and Glenn Kotche Featuring two previously unissued bonus tracks and available on CD and (for the first time) Vinyl. Includes performances by Wilco, Billy Bragg, Robert Sean Leonard, “Little” Jimmy Scott, and more Packaging features new liner notes from Ethan Hawke, Glenn Kotche, and a conversation between Jeff Tweedy and Grammy®-winning set producer Cheryl Pawelski “It was pivotal for me. There was a burst of creativity that continues to this day because I took the last remaining guardrails off of what I’d been willing to allow myself to do.” –Jeff Tweedy The same year of his Oscar®-nominated performance in Training Day, Ethan Hawke made his full-length film directorial debut with Chelsea Walls (starring Kris Kristofferson, Uma Thurman, Vincent D’Onofrio, Robert Sean Leonard, and more). A fan of Wilco, Hawke approached Jeff Tweedy about scoring the film, and Tweedy agreed. Around this time, Tweedy had collaborated with musician and producer Jim O’Rourke (Sonic Youth, Stereolab) for a special live performance. As fate would have it, O’Rourke had been working with Glenn Kotche, and O’Rourke introducing Tweedy to Kotche would lay the groundwork for the trio’s work together on the debut album by their band, Loose Fur. Tweedy also asked Kotche to work with him on an improvised soundtrack to the movie he had agreed to score.













[m] 13. Finale (Extended) [Bonus Track]
[n] 14. Promising [Bonus Track]

MOTOR CITY SCENE, also released as Stardust, by American saxophonist PEPPER ADAMS and trumpeter DONALD BYRD, was recorded in 1960 and released on the Bethlehem label. Donald Byrd and Pepper Adams—and their ace band, including Kenny Burrell, Tommy Flanagan & Paul Chambers—deliver what is one of the finest performances of “Stardust” you’ll ever hear on this album. And that’s just the first track; this is Donald Byrd hitting his first peak, and summoning a band behind him that was formidable, and deft.

"Of the records Ayler made during 1964, the LP New York Eye and Ear Control...is probably the most important link between the epoch-making collective improvisation Free Jazz by the Ornette Coleman double quartet, and John Coltrane's Ascension. Apart from that, it is—in my opinion—one of Ayler's very best recordings. New York Eye and Ear Control owes a large part of its success to the contrasting temperaments of the three musicians used by Albert Ayler in addition to his trio, namely, trumpeter Don Cherry, trombonist Roswell Rudd and alto saxophonist John Tchicai. Don Cherry improvises in broad melodic lines or places sharply accented staccato passages. Roswell Rudd interposes fragmentary flourishes in the highest register, or growl sounds and glissandos in the manner of the old tailgate trombonists. John Tchicai presents the polarity of a slightly 'cool,' linear style and offers motivic linkage by insistently repeating melodic patterns. All three inspire Albert Ayler to a breadth of expression which is too often missing in his improvisations with smaller groups. There is less limitation to his sound-span playing, more contrast, more punch and rhythmic accentuation, and with quick response Ayler takes motives from Cherry, Rudd and Tchicai, transforms them
into his own musical idiom, and in turn gives a new direction to the flow of ideas." - Free Jazz by Ekkehard Jost

"The music is fiery but with enough colorful moments to hold one's interest throughout." - Scott Yanow, All Music Guide

"...a valuable window into the music's early history as well as what might have happened outside record dates, more than one is usually privy to." - Clifford Allen, AllAboutJazz

Between the 60s and 80s, Albert Verrecchia played a major role in Italian pop music and on the European disco and Afro-cosmic scene, both under his own name and under the monikers Albert Weyman and Albert Prince. He was the keyboardist of legendary Italian-French r'n'b band I Pyranas, served as a session Hammondist for singer and TV star Raffaella Carrà, and produced the disco trio Belle Epoque as well as the debut album of singer-songwriter Alan Sorrenti. Among his many incarnations, in the early and mid-70s he also composed a few soundtracks for Italian genre cinema, including for movies such as the poliziottesco Roma drogata, la polizia non può intervenire (Hallucinating Trip, 1975, Lucio Marcaccini) and the erotic drama Tecnica di un amore (1972, Brunello Rondi).

The score he wrote in 1975 for Il tempo degli assassini (Season of Assassins, a film about a gang of criminal youths who terrorize the city of Rome in the already violent 70s) is certainly his most accomplished work in the genre. Conceived for a small ensemble, it was written almost entirely on the spot in the recording studio. Verrecchia himself played the Moog, and his dynamic and percussive approach to the instrument resulted in a style midway between funk and proto-disco. A modern rhythmic style - or Ritmico Moderno, which is the title chosen by CAM for the LP containing the soundtrack and released two years later as part of a promotional library music series only distributed to film professionals and radio and TV programmers (CML series, cat. no. 131). One is led to wonder whether it was thanks to that LP that, in 1977, three pieces from the soundtrack found their way into another film about youth gangs, the Spanish Perros callejeros (Street Warriors), written and directed by Jose Antonio de la Loma. On a side but important note, there's the added bonus of popular 70s and 80s entertainer Sammy Barbot singing on Gang Leader alongside female vocal group Baba Yaga. What a pity that Verrecchia's career as a film composer ended here!

Tenor saxophonist Timo Lassy, one of Finland's leading jazz artists, is back with a new album release "Trio" on We Jazz Records. The album, to be released on 27 August, introduces Lassy's new combo with bassist Ville Herrala and drummer Jaska Lukkarinen – both We Jazz Records roster artists on their own right.

The new Lassy sound is tight, swinging and funky, led by the strong and riff-ready sax of the tenorman. That being said, the album's sound is not limited to that of the swinging trio. Lassy's new vision also brings in some subtle electronics (played by Lassy, Dalindèo frontman Valtteri Laurell Pöyhönen and Ilmiliekki Quartet pianist Tuomo Prättälä) and lush strings performed by Budapest Art Orchestra as arranged by Finnish artist Marzi Nyman. It's a new sound for Lassy, but one which keeps true to his no-nonsense cookin' on the tenor.

This combination proves to be a winning one on the album, ranging from the more solemn moments on tracks such as "Sunday 20" and "Sointu" to the all out groovers like "Pumping C" and "Subtropical". The basic three sylinders of the band tenor sax, bass and drums, are strong throughout and the strings add air beneath the wings to really lift things off. Electronics are used as a tasty condiment, not taking over the main course but adding to it just right.

"We began the process with the bare bones trio but along the way, the sound started evolving into something else" Lassy explains. "That's how I like to work, anyway, while the trio can take this music to great lengths live, on the album I like to paint a fuller, more colourful picture sonically."

Speaking of painting, the sleeve of the album features the original artwork "Subtropic" by Finnish artist Ilari Hautamäki. "Trio" by Timo Lassy will be released by We Jazz Records as blue and black vinyl editions complete with a heavy duty tip-on sleeve, on CD and digitally. The special BUNDLE version includes the LP with a 7" featuring two non-LP tracks, available with blue LP + blue 7" or as black LP + black 7", bound together in a re-sealable "Japanese styled" sleeve, plus a We Jazz sticker.

Tenor saxophonist Timo Lassy, one of Finland's leading jazz artists, is back with a new album release "Trio" on We Jazz Records. The album, to be released on 27 August, introduces Lassy's new combo with bassist Ville Herrala and drummer Jaska Lukkarinen – both We Jazz Records roster artists on their own right.

The new Lassy sound is tight, swinging and funky, led by the strong and riff-ready sax of the tenorman. That being said, the album's sound is not limited to that of the swinging trio. Lassy's new vision also brings in some subtle electronics (played by Lassy, Dalindèo frontman Valtteri Laurell Pöyhönen and Ilmiliekki Quartet pianist Tuomo Prättälä) and lush strings performed by Budapest Art Orchestra as arranged by Finnish artist Marzi Nyman. It's a new sound for Lassy, but one which keeps true to his no-nonsense cookin' on the tenor.

This combination proves to be a winning one on the album, ranging from the more solemn moments on tracks such as "Sunday 20" and "Sointu" to the all out groovers like "Pumping C" and "Subtropical". The basic three sylinders of the band tenor sax, bass and drums, are strong throughout and the strings add air beneath the wings to really lift things off. Electronics are used as a tasty condiment, not taking over the main course but adding to it just right.

"We began the process with the bare bones trio but along the way, the sound started evolving into something else" Lassy explains. "That's how I like to work, anyway, while the trio can take this music to great lengths live, on the album I like to paint a fuller, more colourful picture sonically."

Speaking of painting, the sleeve of the album features the original artwork "Subtropic" by Finnish artist Ilari Hautamäki. "Trio" by Timo Lassy will be released by We Jazz Records as blue and black vinyl editions complete with a heavy duty tip-on sleeve, on CD and digitally. The special BUNDLE version includes the LP with a 7" featuring two non-LP tracks, available with blue LP + blue 7" or as black LP + black 7", bound together in a re-sealable "Japanese styled" sleeve, plus a We Jazz sticker.

Tenor saxophonist Timo Lassy, one of Finland's leading jazz artists, is back with a new album release "Trio" on We Jazz Records. The album, to be released on 27 August, introduces Lassy's new combo with bassist Ville Herrala and drummer Jaska Lukkarinen – both We Jazz Records roster artists on their own right.

The new Lassy sound is tight, swinging and funky, led by the strong and riff-ready sax of the tenorman. That being said, the album's sound is not limited to that of the swinging trio. Lassy's new vision also brings in some subtle electronics (played by Lassy, Dalindèo frontman Valtteri Laurell Pöyhönen and Ilmiliekki Quartet pianist Tuomo Prättälä) and lush strings performed by Budapest Art Orchestra as arranged by Finnish artist Marzi Nyman. It's a new sound for Lassy, but one which keeps true to his no-nonsense cookin' on the tenor.

This combination proves to be a winning one on the album, ranging from the more solemn moments on tracks such as "Sunday 20" and "Sointu" to the all out groovers like "Pumping C" and "Subtropical". The basic three sylinders of the band tenor sax, bass and drums, are strong throughout and the strings add air beneath the wings to really lift things off. Electronics are used as a tasty condiment, not taking over the main course but adding to it just right.

"We began the process with the bare bones trio but along the way, the sound started evolving into something else" Lassy explains. "That's how I like to work, anyway, while the trio can take this music to great lengths live, on the album I like to paint a fuller, more colourful picture sonically."

Speaking of painting, the sleeve of the album features the original artwork "Subtropic" by Finnish artist Ilari Hautamäki. "Trio" by Timo Lassy will be released by We Jazz Records as blue and black vinyl editions complete with a heavy duty tip-on sleeve, on CD and digitally. The special BUNDLE version includes the LP with a 7" featuring two non-LP tracks, available with blue LP + blue 7" or as black LP + black 7", bound together in a re-sealable "Japanese styled" sleeve, plus a We Jazz sticker.

Tenor saxophonist Timo Lassy, one of Finland's leading jazz artists, is back with a new album release "Trio" on We Jazz Records. The album, to be released on 27 August, introduces Lassy's new combo with bassist Ville Herrala and drummer Jaska Lukkarinen – both We Jazz Records roster artists on their own right.

The new Lassy sound is tight, swinging and funky, led by the strong and riff-ready sax of the tenorman. That being said, the album's sound is not limited to that of the swinging trio. Lassy's new vision also brings in some subtle electronics (played by Lassy, Dalindèo frontman Valtteri Laurell Pöyhönen and Ilmiliekki Quartet pianist Tuomo Prättälä) and lush strings performed by Budapest Art Orchestra as arranged by Finnish artist Marzi Nyman. It's a new sound for Lassy, but one which keeps true to his no-nonsense cookin' on the tenor.

This combination proves to be a winning one on the album, ranging from the more solemn moments on tracks such as "Sunday 20" and "Sointu" to the all out groovers like "Pumping C" and "Subtropical". The basic three sylinders of the band tenor sax, bass and drums, are strong throughout and the strings add air beneath the wings to really lift things off. Electronics are used as a tasty condiment, not taking over the main course but adding to it just right.

"We began the process with the bare bones trio but along the way, the sound started evolving into something else" Lassy explains. "That's how I like to work, anyway, while the trio can take this music to great lengths live, on the album I like to paint a fuller, more colourful picture sonically."

Speaking of painting, the sleeve of the album features the original artwork "Subtropic" by Finnish artist Ilari Hautamäki. "Trio" by Timo Lassy will be released by We Jazz Records as blue and black vinyl editions complete with a heavy duty tip-on sleeve, on CD and digitally. The special BUNDLE version includes the LP with a 7" featuring two non-LP tracks, available with blue LP + blue 7" or as black LP + black 7", bound together in a re-sealable "Japanese styled" sleeve, plus a We Jazz sticker.

Bill Evans catapulted to the top of the jazz world in June 1961 after reeling off three straight masterpiece sessions at New York's Village Vanguard with his trio. Yet the emotional highs came to a screeching halt shortly thereafter when bassist Scott LaFaro died in a car accident. Devastated, Evans refrained from playing for nearly a year. If not for an inspirational collaboration of tremendous creative outpouring, one wonders what fate may have befallen Evans. Undercurrent, the outcome of two studio sessions with guitarist Jim Hall, is that project.

Mastered on Mobile Fidelity's world-renowned mastering system and pressed at RTI, this Silver Label LP edition bursts forth with brilliant textures, you-are-there realism, and extraordinary tonalities. No other version outside of this analogue copy brings you face-to-face with these two jazz giants' sonic communion, a kind of spiritual musical summit on which Evans' deft keyboard touches and Hall's reliably subtle phrasings seamlessly mesh and wonderfully dance, the compositions streaked with natural instrumental decay, full-frequency extensions, and poignant emotionalism that, on this LP, you can feel.

While Evans managed to sit down for a few one-off takes between LaFaro's passing and these April-May 1962 dates, he largely remained on hiatus and abstained from recording. Whether it owes to the intimate pairing, he and Hall's brotherly chemistry, or the exquisite selection of program material, the results consistently come across as the equivalent of a private meditation - such is the level of introspective depth and quietly shaded interplay throughout. For Evans, the duet clearly functions as therapy, a healing episode in which his partner patiently lays back, shadowing moves and suggesting others, neither musician interested in the spotlight but each striving for (and achieving) transcendent beauty.

In tackling standards such as Rodgers and Hart's "My Funny Valentine" and the Broadway classic "Darn That Dream," as well as the Hall original "Romain," the pair traverses complex harmonies with the astute elegance of a figure skater. At times, Evans and Hall go for broke on a hard-swinging romps, yet it's their implied melancholy and drifting, softly struck melodic refrains on waltzes and ballads that bestows Undercurrent with a nuanced romanticism and whispered atmosphere befitting the record's title.

Indeed, even the album's cover - an iconic photograph by Toni Frissell - exhibits the surreal, almost-hallucinogenic properties of the fare contained within.

 A fascinating thing about jazz is what can arise through force of
circumstance rather than the result of planning. The drummer
scheduled to appear in a trio with Jan Lundgren at the Ystad
Sweden Jazz Festival had to cancel because of the pandemic,
which forced Lundgren to rethink the gig. The pianist - who is
also artistic director of the festival - quickly realised that things
could also work without a drummer. Serendipitously, the name
of Emile Parisien came to his mind... and a new trio was born.
The three musicians had never played together in this
configuration before; so, after a single day of rehearsals, the
band took to the festival’s main stage on 1 August 2020.
 Jan Lundgren is one of those pioneers who gave European jazz
its distinct identity and freed it from American jazz. The Ystadbased pianist combines virtuosity, an acute sense of tonal
colour, awareness of form from European classical music and
his own folk music tradition. For him, to make music where
many different genres coalesce is both inevitable and natural.
 Lars Danielsson’s bass playing is unmistakably melodic and
lyrical. He is one of just a handful of bassists who stand out
both as creative composers and as distinguished band leaders.
Technical brilliance, outstanding musical imagination and an
almost telepathic understanding of his fellow musicians - his
presence is ideal in this trio.
 Soprano saxophonist Emile Parisien found his way into this
band practically out of nowhere. The vivacious Frenchman lives
jazz with body and soul and his honesty and authenticity ring
true in every note he plays. Parisien is a visionary of jazz,
aware of its legacy but always looking forward in an innovative
way.
 This unique performance leaves the listener begging for more.
Having started this new venture so auspiciously, Jan, Lars and
Emile are surely going to want to aim even higher.
 Recorded live in concert by Mattias Dalin (Eurosound AB) at
Ystad Sweden Jazz Festival, August 1, 2020. Mixed by Bo
Savik, Jan Lundgren and Lars Danielsson at Tia Dia Studios,
Mölnlycke, Sweden. Mastered by Bo Savik.

 Nils Landgren was born in 1956 and grew up with the music of his
father, a jazz cornetist, and the church music of his grandfather, a
pastor. He never lost his strong affinity for his own musical heritage.
 Esbjörn Svensson, born in 1964, didn’t want to play folk music at first.
At home with the music of Chopin, Ellington, or disco-pop groups
such as The Sweet, the pianist had first found his place in the
competitive music scene in Sweden. His trio was a success and in his
homeland, he was voted Jazz Musician Of The Year in 1995 and
1996. The first sprinkling of jobs became a steady flow. Svensson
proved himself in the bands of his friend Nils Landgren. The music
was about funk and soul, occasionally pop and, in the main, classic
jazz. But not folklore.
 It was through the influence of Landgren and Svensson’s former
teacher Bengt-Arne Wallin, who recorded the landmark album ‘Old
Folklore In Swedish Modern’ back in 1962, that Svensson and
Landgren were inspired to make a duo album centred around folk
songs. In August 1997, both went into the studio and, with only
trombone and piano, recorded ‘Swedish Folk Modern’. Their
improvised treatments of the classic songs of the folk culture not only
impressed the public; it brought praise from the press. Svensson and
Landgren had created more than just a few impressions in duo.
Discarding any sort of large conceptual superstructure, they had
continued what Jan Johansson’s Jazz på Svenska and Bengt-Arne
Wallin had begun in the early Sixties and what has since become a
major force within the inner workings of European jazz.
 The time after ‘Swedish Folk Modern’ was hectic and exciting. Nils
Landgren’s Funk Unit advanced to the position of a celebrated festival
act. Svensson’s own trio, E.S.T., expanded beyond Scandinavia’s
borders, where the band’s fortunes skyrocketed. Inundated with jobs,
the musicians finally found the time to once again get together, in
December 1999 in Oslo’s Rainbow Studio. It would be a meeting full
of exceptional jazz energy. Even more than the first time, they would
rely on the force of reduction. Moods would be suggested, left open.
Melodies worked out in simple clarity. Delicate variations
supplemented and amplified both the original and traditional motifs of
the central musical im- pressions. ‘Layers Of Light’ is an affair of the
hearts of two artists who went back to their roots. That makes their
music truthful, direct and authentic in a wondrous way.

Available for the first time ever, Tennis System's first LP 'The Future of Our History'. Limited to 300 and are numbered.

Tennis System are a power trio with an emphasis on power, capable of conjuring a storm of noise and melody that would make Kevin Shields proud.

Breathe captures the Hammond B-3 organ legend Dr. Lonnie Smith during his 75th birthday run at the Jazz Standard in NYC in 2017, the same week he recorded his acclaimed trio album All In My Mind. On this night the good doctor took the stage with an expanded line-up featuring Jonathan Kreisberg on guitar, Johnathan Blake on drums, John Ellis on tenor saxophone, Jason Marshall on baritone saxophone, Sean Jones on trumpet, and Robin Eubanks on trombone. Two additional studio tracks that open and close the album present the unique collaboration between Doc and Iggy Pop including a sublime cover of Donovan’s 1966 hit “Sunshine Superman.”

One of the most important harmony groups in the entirety of Jamaican music, the Paragons have a long and complicated history. First formed in the ska years by Bob Andy and Tyrone Evans as the duo of Andy and Ronnie, the group soon expanded to a quartet through the addition of Howard Barrett and John Holt, the latter naturally assuming lead duties, following the subsequent departure of Andy, Holt, Evans and Barrett made the Paragons the quintessential rock steady trio. They had an incredible run of hits for Duke Reid and Coxsone during the mid-to-late '60s, and also issued some self-produced work, before Holt's solo career skyrocketed, leaving the group on the back-burner. Then, in the mid-1970s, the Paragons reformed, cutting material for New York-based labels such as Clocktower and Clintones, which led to this intriguing album, which saw material recorded in Jamaica at Harry J for Bunny Lee mixed with work cut at Bullwackie's studio in the Bronx, along with re-workings of classics such as 'Left With A Broken Heart' and 'Memories By The Score' is a whole range of new material, dealing with contemporary themes.

Ethan Gold's new double a-side 7'' single from the film The Song Of Sway Lake is a limited edition talisman from a film about characters fixated with the past, and searching for old records in a grand lake house in the Adirondack Park.

The inimitable John Grant sings the haunting, quiet moonlight Lost Record Version, arranged to sound like a small group of musicians in 1939 playing after midnight in a barn. His range as a vocalist brings a pathos and gravity that is timeless, utterly convincing as a 30s performance, filled with emotion and longing.

English sisters trio The Staves sing the brassy daylight Big Band version, arranged as if it were a pop hit of 1947, all brash tight three-part harmonies, reflecting the razzle dazzle arrogance and exhuberance of post-War America. Swing your honey around the dance floor!

Composed & Produced by Ethan Gold. Arrangements by Gina Leishman. Mixed by Flood.

Opera Multi Steel was born during the winter of 1983 in Bourges, a city in the center of France. The band started off as a trio with Franck Lopez (Vocals, Keyboards,Recorder, Guitars), his brother Patrick L. Robin (Vocals, Percussion) and Catherine M. Marie (Keyboards, Vocals). They began to record demos utilizing a Elex Keyboard, Casio VL-Tone, Roland TR-606 drum machine, guitars and bass pedals. Layering organ-like keyboards over drum machine snares and a woodwind recorder, they created a unique style of Medieval or Baroque synth pop.

In November 1976, Jef Gilson’s phone rang. What a surprise! It was Serge Rahoerson, one of the musicians he had met in Madagascar at the end of the 60s and who had played on his first album “Malagasy”. Rahoerson announced that he was in Paris for a few days.

Immediately, Jef wanted to organise a recording session, starting the next day. He thought of a trio including Serge, Eddy Louiss on organ and cellist Jean-Charles Capon, who had also been on one of the trips to Tananarive and so had also known Rahoerson there. Unfortunately, Eddy Louiss –who had already played with Gilson and Capon on the album “Bill Coleman Sings And Plays 12 Negro Spirituals” in 1968- had to drop out at the last minute: he was delayed by a session with Claude Nougaro. Jean-Charles Capon had also become a sought-after studio musician since his trip to Madagascar in 1969. He appeared on several key albums on the Saravah label including the now famous “Comme À La Radio” by Brigitte Fontaine, “Un Beau Matin” by Areski and “Chorus” by Michel Roques, without mentioning the album by his own Baroque Jazz Trio. He was also to be found with Jef Gilson for his album on Vogue with the ex-drummer from Miles Davis’ first great quintet, Philly Joe Jones, or also in the orchestra led by Jean-Claude Vannier for the album “Nino Ferrer & Leggs”. He also played regularly on albums by Georges Moustaki.

Jean-Charles Capon and Serge Rahoerson found themselves thus in the studio, with Jef at the controls. He had decided to record the rhythmic structure right away. He would find the soloists later, that didn’t worry him. Serge Rahoerson was on drums. Though a saxophonist by training, Jef remembered that Serge was also capable of great things behind a drum kit: he was the improvised drummer on their cover of “The Creator Has A Master Plan” on the album “Malagasy”... The great memories came flooding back (the nod on the title “Orly - Ivato”), and the old magic worked again.

Brought in momentarily from Europamerica, Gilson’s new big band, in which JC Capon also played, the saxophonists Philippe Maté, from France (another Saravah stablemate) and the American Butch Morris (soon to be a key member of David Murray’s band) were invited to record their parts later and Gilson mixed it all as if it had been one single session (as he had already done on other albums, with the tracks by Christian Vander recorded before the creation and success of Magma).

The album would not appear until 1977, on Palm, Jef’s own label, and was dedicated to the memory of Georges Rahoerson, Serge’s father, who had also played on the album “Malagasy” and who had died prematurely at the age of 51 in 1974.
“I only received my own copy of the album in 1981 when I came to live in France definitively”, a still-moved Serge Rahoerson told us in 2013. “I was playing in a club one night and Jef turned up by surprise with a copy of the album for me, I was so pleased to see him again. When I arrived in France, I told everyone that I had played with Jef Gilson a few years previously, and I was surprised to learn that so few people knew of him. For us, he was of one of the great jazz visionaries.” (Jérôme "Kalcha" Simonneau)

Hedvig Mollestad must surely be one of the hardest working musicians on the Norwegian music scene at the moment, with “Tempest Revisited” being her third album in a mere 18 months, all at a consistently high artistic level. Her first solo album, “Ekhidna” (2020), received a Spellemannpris (Norwegian Grammy), appeared on several jazz and rock best of the year lists and got her into Downbeat´s “25 for the future” selection. “Tempest Revisited” draws lines back to 1998 and the very beginning of Rune Grammofon. This was the year we released “Electric”, the collected electronic works of Arne Nordheim, one of Norway´s greatest composers. It was also the year when parts of “The Tempest”, possibly his most cherished and well-known work, was chosen to be performed at the opening of Parken, the new cultural house in Ålesund, birthplace of Hedvig Mollestad. To celebrate 20 years, the culture house was ready for a new storm, and the first name that came to them was Hedvig, a local artist that was already making waves on the international scene with her power-trio. Hedvig took inspiration from the front of the house, adorned with Nordheim´s score for “The Tempest”, at the same time making a direct connection to the sometime heavy weather conditions of this coastal area in the northwest part of Norway. One could say it´s a big paradox that over all this might be Hedvig´s most lyrical and less aggressive collection of music. On the other hand it´s quite a dynamic record, lots of light and shade and enough sonic parts at work to evoke the elements, the mighty Gran Cassa drum only one of them. The music included here was adapted from the initial performance in 2018 and produced by Hedvig in the studio the following year for this album release. The musicians included are old friends Marte Eberson from the Ekhidna band, Ivar Loe Bjørnstad from her trio and Trond Frønes (Red Kite) on bass as well as three sax players. Yet another triumph in a more than impressive discography.

Maurice Louca is one of the most gifted musicians and composers on Egypt's thriving underground music scene. This forthcoming full-length album draws voraciously on Arabic music, psychedelic folk. The title Saet el Hazz is a coded saying in Egypt to refer to a good time and usually implies a great deal of debauchery. “When you mention to someone that you’ve had a saet hazz, there are no questions asked. It is what it is.”

The initial spark for Saet El-Hazz (The Luck Hour) was Louca’s desire to collaborate with 'A' Trio, the Lebanese improvisational group featuring Mazen Kerbaj on prepared trumpet, Sharif Sehnaoui on prepared guitar, and Raed Yassin on prepared double bass. 'When the three of them come together they create a sonic cosmos entirely their own. I started by composing music that I wanted to have exist within this sonic world— at times in harmony, or clashing with it, and all the emotional ranges in between.' Just as 'A' Trio served as the spark, a commission from Mophradat, an arts organization based out of Brussels, was the tinder. The commission was for a new composition to be performed using instruments that Louca would modify to play microtonally. This led him to Turkey and Indonesia. In Istanbul, he worked with a Lutheran to custom-make a guitar. In Surakarta, he ended up with an instrument maker tuning a Serang—referred to as the Indonesian xylophone, part of the family of Gamelan tuned percussion instruments. These new modified instruments opened up the composition to new tonal possibilities which drove Louca to expand his line up to include Khaled Yassine, a longtime collaborator and versatile percussionist and drummer, Christine Kazaryan, a dynamic harpist whom he met via Praed Orchestra, and Anthea Caddy, a cellist who came highly recommended from the Berlin free improv scene.

'There is something about linking luck to decadence that resonates with me, and even if I can't fully articulate it in words, the drive behind the music of this album and how it came to be, and the energy between us at the studio rehearsing and recording it, was in a lot of ways for me a saet hazz.'

Saet El Hazz (The Luck Hour) is a long form composition of six movements, recorded over the course of a week in August 2019 at A/B studios in Brussels.

The Ethiopians are one of the great vocal groups to come out of Jamaica. Singing songs of life and times as they found them, themes that resonated with the people of the Island that made them such a treasured group. Lenard Dillon (b. 9 December, 1942, Port Antonio, Jamaica) the founding member of the Ethiopians began his singing career at Clement 'Coxonne' Dodd's Studio One. Initially he recorded under the name of Jack Sparrow, and backed by the Wailers, cutting 'Ice Water' and 'Suffering In The Land'. Under The Wailers encouragement, he went on to form his
own vocal group. Recruiting singers Stephan Taylor (b.1944, Portland, Jamaica) and Aston 'Charlie' Morris to become The Ethiopians. They cut 'Live Good', 'Why You Gonna Leave Me Now' and 'Owe Me No Pay Me'. Although receiving favourable response, Aston Morris decided to leave the band and the remaining pair carried on and cut 'I'm A Free
Man' and 'Don Dead Already' and 'For You'. On meeting contract builder Leebert Robertson who had recently returned to live in Jamaica, ashad he wanted to get into the music business, a session was booked for Treasure Isle Studios. The session produced their seminal 'Train To Skaville' track, which became an immediate hit in Jamaica and in the UK, when in 1967 it reached number 40 in the charts. They also cut 'Engine 54', which became the title of their debut album. Its
follow up 'I Need You / Do It Sweet', did not fare so well and the band moved over to Sonia Pottinger's stable, where they cut 'The Whip / Cool It Amigo' which revived their fortunes and proved another big hit for the band. Two more hits followed 'Stay Loose Mama' and 'The World Goes Ska', after which the band decided to return to a trio, adding
Melvin 'Mellow' Reid to the line up. The band now hit another run of successes with producer JJ Johnson 'Everything Crash, 'Gun Man', 'Hong Kong Flu' and 'The Selah'. Many hits followed leading the band to work with a variety of Jamaican producers. Such tracks as 'I Want To Be a Better Man, ' Conquering Lion', 'Fire A Mus Mus' Tail', and the timeless 'Reggae Hit The Town' to name a few. Two albums 'Reggae Power' (1969) and 'Woman Capture Man' (1970), pulled a lot of these tunes together. Sadly Taylor was killed in 1975 after been struck by a van in a road accident. Dillon returned to Port Antonio till 1977, when he was persuaded to return to Treasure Isle studios with producer Niney The
Observer and cut the Rasta based album 'Slave Call'. Additional members who joined for this album were Bro Fatty, Bro Ewing, Bro T, Mello and Hychi Dread. An album that showed all the Ethiopians magic had not been lost.
For this release we have included the full 'Slave Call' set, 'Ethiopian National Anthem', 'Slave Call', 'Guilty Conscience', 'Hurry On', 'Mus Follow Babylon'(on CD Edition), 'Train To Skaville (1977 version, on CD Edition), 'Culture', 'Obeah Book', 'Let It Be' and 'I Love Jah'. Alongside some of the bands early hits including the original version of 'Train To Skaville', 'Engine 54', the great and poignant 'Everything Crash', 'Reggae Hit The Town' and 'The Selah'. An interesting set to remind us what a great group the Ethiopians really were.

Stargazing from the sands of the Niterói beach, Tempos Futuros is low-end-led Brazilian futurism from one of Brazil’s most prolific and influential bassmen. As one third of legendary trio Azymuth, Alex Malheiros has pioneered a unique fusion of space-funk, samba and jazz since the early seventies. His playing can be heard on the records of Jorge Ben, Milton Nascimento, Roberto Carlos, Marcos Valle, and Mark Murphy (to name a few), and he’s performed and toured with everyone from Stevie Wonder to Chick Corea.

Written and recorded in Niterói, Brazil, overlooking Guanabara and the beaches, mountains and forests of Rio de Janeiro, Tempos Futuros has deep roots in Brazilian soil. The rhythms of Malheiros’ homeland have always permeated his music. But just like the Oscar Niemeyer designed Niterói Contemporary Art Museum which stands spaceship-like over the water, Tempos Futuros - while inspired by terrestrial forms, reaches out, deep into the great unknown.

Produced by acclaimed London-based producer Daniel Maunick, who has worked with Marcos Valle, Azymuth, Terry Callier, and Ivan Conti, the funk comes full circle. Daniel’s father Jean-Paul “Bluey” Maunick and Alex Malheiros shared a reciprocal stream of influence throughout the 80s, between London and Rio; Azymuth and Incognito; brit-funk and samba-funk. But just as with Azymuth’s music, you can also hear the influence of stateside jazz-funk masters like Roy Ayers, Weather Report, Lonnie Liston Smith, Mtume and Pleasure.

Tempos Futuros features Alex’s daughter, a Brazilian star in her own right, vocalist Sabrina Malheiros, Brazilian percussion master Sidinho Moreira, London based saxophonist Sean Khan, Marcos Valle’s go-to drummer Massa, and Brazilian keyboard player Dudu Viana. Featuring the late Azymuth keyboard maestro Jose Roberto Bertami on Fender Rhodes, the title track “Tempos Futuros” was originally recorded as a demo in 1995. On this finished version, Alex Malheiros used Bertami’s original keyboard take, explaining the posthumous release.

The Scottish wunderkind pianist’s second album, Cairn, looks set to establish his global presence as a formidable composer, pianist and bandleader with its freshness of sound and originality. - Rooted in the Scottish tradition and inspired by Scottish landscapes, Cairn combines contemporary, jazz and classical influences in a profound, mesmerising and compelling way. - Fergus works with established trio of bassist David Bowden and drummer Stephen Henderson; Cairn is a testament to their instrumental command, originality and communication. - In October 2020 Fergus was awarded Best Instrumentalist at the Scottish Jazz Awards.

Mega rare 1974 jazz funk rock album recorded by Argentina's top jazzmen Pocho Lapouble, Ricardo Lew and Adalberto Cevasco (also members of Quinteplus, Jorge Lopez Ruiz's band and Gato Barbieri's group among many others). Includes the irresistible fast-paced funk rock track 'Se Acabó el Recreo' and the ethereal 'Todo en Su Medida y Armoniosamente' and 'Haceme Shaft', featuring Patricia Clark on vocals and unexpected moog arrangements. First time reissue, with remastered sound and original artwork.

Those into world jazz will be aware of the amazing modal, big band and post-bop jazz recordings released in Argentina in the '60s. The body of work produced by the likes of Chivo Borraro, Jorge López Ruiz or Enrique Villegas would be able to rival the recordings of their American counterparts.

The following decade would see a great openness to the exploration, with a jazz language, of other musical genres, with a certain preponderance of rhythm. The members of El Trio are part of a jazz generation with a greater propensity to experiment with electricity and with what could be considered an avant la page exercise of what soon afterwards would be called jazz rock -it is music composed and played, in the faraway Buenos Aires, at the same time Miles Davis adventured into new fields, with such records as "In a Silent Way" or "Bitches´ Brew".

"Todo en su medida y armoniosamente" reflects that same spirit of experimentation and fusion of diverse influences with an eye on both rock and local folklore. It's not surprising that the protagonists of this recording -Pocho Lapouble (drums), Ricardo Lew (guitar) and Adalberto Cevasco (bass) - had accompanied Gato Barbieri himself in his project "Latinoamérica" shortly before the release of this album where the presence of rhythms from the southern hemisphere infused the avant-garde jazz of the Argentine saxophonist. Drummer Pocho Lapouble had also created Quinteplus, which in 1972 released a single studio LP inspired by those same premises of fusion jazz.
This album was originally released on the eclectic local label Music Hall in 1974 and probably distributed in tiny quantities, hence the rarity of this record and the current crazy prices in the collectors' market.

"Live in Paris" - Nathan Davis, (sax); Georges Arvanitas (p, org); Jack Diéval (p); Jacky Samson, Jacques Hess (b); Franco Manzecchi, Charles Saudrais (dr)

Style is not a given. Not many musicians reach the level of artistic personality where you can unmistakably recognize them. It takes character, roots, honesty, soulfulness. Nathan Davis had style.

His tone on tenor was unique. So was his soprano sound and his distinctive approach to flute. His musical world was equally original and knew no boundaries.

This concert in Paris is audible proof that as a performer, his fluid phrasing, distinct articulation, booming bottom register, growls and shrieks were fuelled by tremendous drive and furious invention - the man was on fire!

These live sessions demonstrate the limitless invention of Nathan’s solos. Holding no punches, weaving signature phrases, shouts and riffs into his solos, he was a fierce and fervid performer. With a sort of hollow resonance at the heart of his reedy and warm sound, Nathan Davis was a highly original artist, from an era when having a distinct sound on your instrument was the grail of jazz artistry. Harold Land, Jimmy Heath, John Gilmore, Paul Gonsalves, Charlie Rouse, George Coleman, Booker Ervin, Clifford Jordan ... Jazz is made of such giants and Nathan Davis was one of them.

This compilation comes as a perfect introduction to vintage Italian Jazz. A fine selection of some of the best Italian mainstream jazz masters of the sixties and seventies such as the young trumpet genius of Enrico Rava, or maverick film music composer Piero Umiliani, whose jazz influence is well known worldwide. Throughout this record you will bump into both famous and obscure swing / bop stylists of the likes of bass player, Giorgio Azzolini, trombonist Dino Piana, tenor saxophonist Gianni Basso, and drummer Gil Cuppini, a bunch of true pioneers who made the sound of Italian Jazz.

On November 12, Merge will reissue two crucial releases from The Clean's distinguished discography. The "Tally Ho!" b/w "Platypus" 7-inch and the Boodle Boodle Boodle 12-inch EP, the Dunedin trio's first official recordings as a band, both celebrate their 40th anniversary this year. These reissues have been remastered by Tex Houston with assistance from the Alexander Turnbull Library New Zealand, and The Clean's David Kilgour and Robert Scott oversaw the careful re-creation of the original packaging. Merge is thrilled to make these records globally available for the first time since their original release in 1981. Pitchfork described "Tally Ho!" as "a classic of immense proportions, from its Velcro melody, absurdly mixed garage organ and motorik beat, to the crusty, hiss-laden home eight-track recording that embodies it." Recorded in the middle of a New Zealand tour for a humble NZ$60, the song broke into the country's Top 20 singles chart at #19, surprising everyone including the band. Its B-side "Platypus" was recorded live at a show just days prior, capturing the band's buoyant and elastic sound on stage. The 7” reissue will be available on limited-edition silver Peak Vinyl and standard black vinyl, as well as limited clear vinyl exclusively in New Zealand.

Known for his soothing trumpet work in German jazz group Fazer, Matthias Lindermayr is back on Squama with an all-new trio and his third album 'Triptych'.
With Philipp Schiepek on acoustic guitar and Simon Popp on percussion, the Munich-based musician created a forward-thinking record between jazz and contemporary classical, conceptually bold and utterly beautiful.
'Triptych' is a thrillingly quiet record. While the album's predecessor 'Newborn' (2018) featured a quintet, the rather unusual trio line-up on 'Triptych' gave Matthias more room to share the nuances of his playing.
His compositions, most written especially for this group, are of a noble simplicity allowing the musicians to focus more on interaction and sound.

Clear History are a scorching post-punk trio from Berlin who make a big deal out of little things, sometimes vice versa.

Pressing of 500 copies worldwide on 180GM black vinyl.

Clear History’s debut mini-album is entitled 'bad advice good people' and will be released by Upset The Rhythm on November 5th. The six songs here cast a huge net across themes of raucous opposition, identity, closeness, gifting and exploding cars. They are a full-hearted call to arms from a stubborn Aries concerned with wasting time and energy. With such rapport for the touchstones of danceable post-punk (ESG, Kleenex, Gang of Four) Clear History are proud hi-hat botherers, bounding along with the plummy bassline, joining the dots whilst thinking to the beat. This debut documents the tantalising first sparks from a band intent on holding up a magnifying glass to the sun.

Their influences include correct grammar, Rihanna & ‘The Waiting Room’ by Fugazi. They make muscular songs about intimacy whilst dreaming of an extravagant breakfast the day after the rapture. What will the dance floors look like over there? What music will ring true and make the people move? Clear History are giving this their full atttention!

BBE Music celebrates the centenary of recorded Ghana Highlife music with a double album reissue of two rare 80s LPs recorded by the late Atakora Manu, AFRO HIGHLIFE and OMINTIMINIM. Born in Toase, Ghana, a proud Asante, Atakoras musical talent made itself clear from an early age. But it wasn’t until his late teens that he put that talent to use as a performer, first founding the legendary Princess Trio from 1961 till 1963 with drummer Togas and multi-instrumentalist Elder Osei Bonsu. After a spell from 1963 till 1966 as guitarist with the United Ghana Farmers’ Council Drama Troupe, Manu teamed up with Moses Kweku Oppong to form the legendary Kakaiku No. 2 Band, producing a string of national hit singles over the following three or four years. There followed a three year break from music until fate struck: Atakora found a job in 1973 as Recording Studio Attendant- and later recording engineer- at Ambassador Recording Studios in Kumasi, at that time the country’s largest independent label. On seeing his musical talents behind the studio desk, it wasn’t long before the boss suggested to Manu that he get back to making music himself, an opportunity that he was quick to take up- as will be more than apparent from the hardcore, rootsy Highlife and palmwine selections reissued here. As well as long-time associates Togas and Elder Bonsei, local Kumasi legends CK Mensah, Amoako Agyeman, Agyei Kyeremanteng (of the famous Keyeremanteng All Stars) , and Atta Fofie lent a hand from time to time, along with a handful of other seasoned Ambassador studio session players. THE MUSIC A unique selling point here is the mix of vintage, rootsy ‘palmwine’ blues-style guitar Highlife with quirky keyboard electronics, a sound well-established today but revolutionary in the comparatively conservative world of 70s and 80s Highlife. This comes across beautifully in Dada and Cape Coast Cousin, the latter toasting off guitar licks with bubbling wah wah organ. We find a similar juxtaposition in Asante Kotoko, a shout-out to Kumasi’s champion soccer team, which also features some sweet ‘village’ drumming, and in Meka A Ensa..

This double album is a new collaboration between long-time Umor Rex artists Andreas Gerth (one half of Driftmachine) and Carl Oesterhelt (11 Pieces for Synthesizer). Both developed their shared musical cosmos during their time with the now defunct Tied +Tickled Trio. Oesterhelt is also known for his solo compositions for orchestras and for collaborations with Johannes Enders and Hans-Joachim Irmler of Faust.

As futurism seems inherent to electronic music, the backward-looking view is alien to its nature – consequently, a dialectical struggle between these principles is rarely expressed with the means of electronics. Especially today, its essence as a medium of progress stands in opposition to a sceptical position. By reconnecting us with history, The Aporias of Futurism seeks to define a critical location, that stands in opposition to the postmodern concept of interpretation, deconstruction and reformulation and the belief in progress that goes with it.

The working method for the album Andreas and Carl followed was the usual musique-concrète-technique – cut/assemble/edit/process pre-recorded sounds – but instead of deconstructing the concrete noises into an abstract sound entity, they followed a different path: the organic interweaving of orchestral structures with the electronically processed noise layers into a composition in the sense of classical modernism at the beginning of the 20th century.

Carl started with sketches recorded via a broken CD player, processed through a ring modulator, which sounded like old electronic music from the 1950s. To interact with these fragments Andreas recorded and processed a plethora of everyday noises, atmospheres, tonal fragments from the modular, industrial and shortwave radio noise, percussion in the form of door slamming, falling metal sheets, ball tracks, and so on. So, while they still played within the futuristic discipline, the reference to the past is actually unmistakable. One can hear it in the tonality of the contrasting orchestral passages, in the sound character of the processed samples and the sonic electronic layers. But it is precisely here, where a narrative tension develops. Theses and antitheses, extreme (unresolved) opposites, contrasts… essentially inner contradictions, or expressed in another word aporias… … but there is another factor at play here, something that plays a subordinate, almost ostracized role in the post-modern context: beauty (albeit the beauty of ruins) – beauty, the only refuge of the pessimist.

In the course of the process, a wide range of motifs and ideas emerged from the fog of memory. Free associations of concepts, books and authors from a wide period of time, such as Milton's Paradise Lost, William Blake, Robert Graves, ancient Rome, as well as Borges and Juan Rulfo. This flood of images is also incorporated on the album cover as a "free interpretation" of cultural objects and their relations in time.

The overarching motif of a sceptical rejection of the idea of Futurism is illustrated by a quote from Emile M. Cioran, the writer who most closely embodies the common spirit of the work presented here.

"But here comes the strangest thing: the Futurist idolizes becoming only until he has enforced that order for which he fought; then the ideal conclusion of time becomes apparent to him, the ‘always’ of utopia, which concludes and crowns the historical process. The conception of the Golden Age of Paradise par excellence, thus grips believers and unbelievers alike. But between the original paradise of the religions and the eschatological of the utopia there is the whole distance that separates a nostalgia from a hope, a repentance from a delusion, an achieved from an unrealized completion."

All music composed by Andreas Gerth and Carl Oesterhelt between Berlin and Munich, Germany in 2021. Produced and mixed by Andreas Gerth in Berlin. Mastered by John Tejada in Sherman Oaks, USA. Artwork by Daniel Castrejón in Mexico City.

What happens when you put four of the most creative musicians from the Norwegian jazz scene in lockdown? They create. In march 2020, when the corona pandemic forced Norway into lockdown, Flukten found their oasis. Flukten springs out of one thing - the will to create music. Flukten consists of musicians from some of the most critically acclaimed jazz groups in Norway: Hanna Paulsberg Concept, Atomic, Moskus, GURLS, Wako, Espen Berg Trio, Hullyboo, Skadedyr and Trondheim Jazz Orchestra.After Flukten's debut concert last year one music critic wrote: "if there is one band debut that really has left their mark in soul and heart, it is this".With a musical reference library filled with the likes of John Scofield, Joe Lovano, Per "Texas" Johansson, Salif Keita and Paul Motian, they take detours through hip hop, soul and folk music from all over the world. Here, all spontaneous whims can be cultivated and explored. Flukten gives you dirty jazz that makes you move, and soft, fine tuned jazz that makes you think. This is music that celebrates life and embraces the unbelievable. In February 2021, the four musicians entered the recording studio with the same open attitude as when they first jammed together. On Flukten`s debut album you hear saxophonist Hanna Paulsberg's eternal vocabulary and multifaceted tone unfold completely without compromises. You hear guitarist Marius Klovning somewhere in the middle of John Scofield, sharp soul, western and Norwegian folk music. Hans Hulbækmo's drumming is tempting to compare with the playing of a solo pianist in his melodic repertoire. Bassist Bárdur Reinert Poulsen drives everything with his punchy, hard swinging hand, but also provides us with emotional solos.Together, Flukten are an explosion of joyful playing from some of Norways most talented musicians. The songs of Flukten's debut album span from playful melodies to dissonant harmonies. Sometimes it's a composition based on a voice memo of someone humming. Other times we hear snapshots from improvisations in the vivid studio atmosphere. The music dances, other times it is like a soft caress. Suddenly they fly into ecstasy. This album is the sonic equivalent to jumping from a hot sauna and into cold water. The music wakes you up. This is music that could only appear this exact moment from these exact musicians. Maybe you spend hours lying on the floor, lost in a book. Maybe you get drunk, or you run into the woods? We all need to escape now and then.

Juno-winning saxophonist Chet Doxas is a guiding voice in the world of creative improvised music. Doxas, co-leader of Riverside with trumpeter Dave Douglas and a respected collaborator of Carla Bley and Paul Bley, joins Whirlwind for 'You Can't Take It With You', his ninth album as a leader and first at the head of a trio. He's joined by two stand-out collaborators - Ethan Iverson (piano) and Thomas Morgan (bass) - for a meticulously constructed album with playful positivity at its heart.

In 2020 Sunnyboys will celebrate 40 years since their inception (though a mere 12 years of actual existence) via a new release SUNNYBOYS 40 that brings together the first ever re-release of the band’s much loved 1980 eponymous debut 7” - featuring the original version of the classic Alone With You - alongside four new recordings culled from the archives of chief songwriter Jeremy Oxley.
Recorded over two days in October 1980 and released via independent Sydney label Phantom Records on December 31st the same year, the four songs featured on the EP were essentially the first songs Jeremy Oxley had presented to the band on his arrival in Sydney from Kingscliff just a few months earlier. Alongside Alone With You they included Love to Rule, What You Need & The Seeker.
The debut ‘yellow’ ep was an instant underground smash selling out its initial pressing of 1000 copies in just 2.5 weeks. A further pressing of 1000 would follow but then all further attempts of a repress were quashed when the ep master mysteriously disappeared after band signed to Mushroom Records in February 1981. The tapes having never been recovered these masters have been taken from the cleanest vinyl available and appear here for the first time ever outside the 7” ep format and that limited run of 2000.
Fast forward 40 years (as you do) and Sunnyboys are enjoying a renaissance rarely seen for any band from any era. In truth their popularity now eclipses what it did in 1980-1984 with each successive tour selling more tickets and faster than the tour previous. Why not then give the people new music?
Part 2 of Sunnyboys 40 was recorded between touring commitments in 2018 at Airlock Studios, Brisbane. Overdubs were added over the following twelve months at locations in Sydney & Brisbane and the mixing completed in the summer of 2019 by current in-demand producer Konstantine Kerstin. The idea being to tackle some material Jeremy had written for other projects post-1984 and to complete some unfinished business from back in the band’s original lifespan.

Can’t You Stop is a reworking of a song Jeremy recorded as The Fisherman in 1986. The short-lived trio were Jeremy’s immediate post-Sunnyboys band and the original version was released on the Waterfront label the same year. In this guise Can’t You Stop features an all new arrangement plus those trademark Sunnyboys harmonies.

Lovers (On Another Planet’s Hell) meantime, is a reworking of a track from the Sunnyboys third album Get Some Fun. The original version featuring a 4/4 beat often referred to as the “AC/DC beat” which never sat well with the band. The opportunity to readdress that all these years later proving irresistible. The added keyboards of Alister Spence and brass playing of Eamon Dilworth and young Nico Oxley (Peter’s son) also adding a new dimension to the original.

Strange Cohesion was actually written post-Get Some Fun in 1984 and was performed by the band regularly during their final tour. It would feature on the band’s swansong release, 1984’s Real Live but was never recorded in the studio. 40 gives the track its recorded debut and gives some small hint as to what Sunnyboys album no.4 may have sounded like.

Originally released as a solo recording back in 1991 under the banner Jeremy ‘Ponytail’ Oxley Way After Five shares perhaps the strongest relationship to the ‘40’ concept. Jeremy’s voice at times just a croak - a by-product of the life he has lead for much of last 40 years - adding further poignancy to the songs lyric; and it’s another Oxley classic.

And what better way to celebrate both the new release and the milestone anniversary than by doing what Sunnyboys do best - play live! And so Sunnyboys hit the east coast this February including first time ever shows in Torquay and for Sydney’s Twilights @ Taronga. Special guests Painters & Dockers will join Sunnyboys for the shows in Victoria while garage rockers Rocket Science will join the birthday boys in Sydney.
“We really didn’t think we would ever play again as a band. But wow, we have and we sure are having a bloody great time doing it.” - Peter Oxley

After the demise of the Ooga Boogas in the Before Time,
the four band members went their very separate ways. Being
in that band was such an intense high pressure experience,
some chillax time was well-deserved.
Leon Stackpole aka Stacky recorded under the name
Leon, Per Byström joined Voice Imitator, Mikey Young
recorded with The Green Child and Richard Stanley
played in Drug Sweat. All quite deserving projects, but it
was Stackpole’s solo outing that garnered the most interest
from public and industry alike. The demand for live shows
led him to recruit Byström from Ooga Boogas and a guy
named Brad into his touring lineup.
The trio was red hot, but inevitably the venues they
filled required a fuller sound so Stackpole recruited Young
as well on second guitar. The gruelling touring schedule
became too much for family-man Brad, so Stanley jumped
in to fill his size 11s and off they went for another lap of
regional Victoria.
Eventually the question presented itself to this freshlyminted
foursome: should they continue as Stackpole’s
backing band or strike out anew with a fresh identity? The
answer came in a moniker too electrifying to resist; a name
as clever, enigmatic and indeed, as powerful as the band
itself: Power Supply.
Back in the shed, jams became songs, jokes became
lyrics and long afternoons spent together became this record—
listen though, and one will hear life through the lens
of Stackpole and the tactile tentacles of his pals. In The
Time Of The Sabre-toothed Tiger contains ten songs that
listen so easy, one will barely notice when they’re gone.

LP + DVD

Factory Benelux presents a 180gm vinyl edition of The Invisible Girls, a collection of rare lost studio recordings by legendary new wave production duo Martin Hannett and Steve Hopkins (aka The Invisible Girls).

The album has been newly remastered by Peter Beckmann at TechnologyWorks and is pressed on 180gsm black vinyl. The outer sleeve is printed in black with a silver pantone. The inner bag includes detailed liner notes by Steve Hopkins, as well as archive TIG and Strawberry images.

Martin ‘Zero’ Hannett is the legendary Manchester producer famous for his work with Joy Division, Buzzcocks, New Order, Magazine and Happy Mondays. Steve Hopkins was his musical partner in The Invisible Girls, a floating studio collective which shaped epochal records by John Cooper Clarke, Pauline Murray, Nico and several others.

The first five tracks on the album are a selection of previously unreleased demos (‘moods’) recorded at the famous Strawberry Studios between 1980 and 1987. “These were the beginnings of Martin’s Invisible Girls world domination plan,” ace arranger Hopkins explains. “The idea was to assemble a roster of key instrumental players, produce tracks to be fronted by different singers/stars - and get some hits!”

Also included are 3 Hannett solo pieces recorded in 1978 and 1979, with the deluxe package rounded off by a DVD featuring a remarkable 13 minute trio improvisation by Hannett, Hopkins and Vini Reilly of The Durutti Column, recorded for television in January 1980.

Praise for FBN 65: ‘This store room grab conjures Manchester’s scarred wastelands, jazz-funky library music and ambient disquiet. Blade Runner via the Arndale Centre. A strange wayward collection, just like the thought processes of Hannett’s brain’ (Mojo)

‘Lovingly annotated, these effortlessly melodic backdrops offer a glimpse into what could have been as a post-punk one-stop-shop Chic’ (Q); ‘Captivating’ (Classic Pop); ‘The Nelson Riddle of narcotic rock’ (The Wire)

Biffy Clyro will release the surprise new project ‘The Myth of the Happily Ever After’ on October 22nd. The record is a homegrown project that represents a reaction to their #1 album ‘A Celebration of Endings’ and a rapid emotional response to the turmoil of the past year. It is the ying to the yang of ‘A Celebration’, the other-side-of-a-coin, a before-and-after comparison: their early optimism of 2020 having been brought back to earth with a resounding thud. It’s the product of a strange and cruel time in our lives, but one that ultimately reinvigorated Biffy Clyro.

“This is a reaction to ‘A Celebration of Endings’,” says vocalist / guitarist Simon Neil. “This album is a real journey, a collision of every thought and emotion we’ve had over the past eighteen months. There was a real fortitude in ‘A Celebration’ but in this record we’re embracing the vulnerabilities of being a band and being a human in this twisted era of our lives. Even the title is the polar opposite. It’s asking, do we create these narratives in our own minds to give us some security when none of us know what’s waiting for us at the end of the day?”

Grounded by lockdown, Biffy Clyro recorded ‘The Myth’ in a completely different way to how they approached ‘A Celebrations’. Rather than spending months in Los Angeles, they traded one West Coast for another by recording for just six weeks in their rehearsal room (converted DIY style into a fully functional studio by rhythm section brothers James and Ben Johnston) in a farmhouse closer to their homes.

The trio went in with the intention of completing some unfinished songs from ‘A Celebration’, but instead ‘The Myth’ took over as it started to take shape late in 2020, with everything written and recorded within a ten-mile radius. Traditionally, 90% of Biffy songs have been written in Scotland before the band head to London or Los Angeles for recording, but this represented the first time they’ve ever recorded in their homeland. As Simon jokes, “It’s our first full-on tartan album!”

‘The Myth’ blends experimental flourishes with flashes of old school Biffy. ‘Existed’ is the moment that shaped the record an elegant expression of self-doubt that redefines the sonics of the band’s catalogue of vulnerable slowburners, while ‘DumDum’ is an even bigger departure, having been constructed primarily around soft synths sampled from Simon’s voice. And ‘Slurpy Slurpy Sleep Sleep’ is just as audacious a closer as ‘Cop Syrup’ from ‘A Celebration’. It also represents one of a selection of “easter eggs” or “turns of phrase” that subtly complement and contrast the two records.

At the other extreme, devoted fans will connect with the feral anger of ‘A Hunger In Your Haunt’, the arena-scaled drama of ‘Errors In The History of God’ and the sheer catchiness of ‘Witch’s Cup’.

‘The Myth’ has been launched alongside the new track ‘Unknown Male 01’. In six adventurous minutes, the band explore every facet they’re renowned for, taking in the unguarded emotion of its introduction, a skewed off-kilter breakdown, and a jagged, spiralling riff that builds towards a cataclysmic crescendo. The song reflects on friends who have taken their own lives.

“When you lose people that you love deeply and have been a big part of your life, it can make you question every single thing about your own life,” he says. “Like a lot of creative people, I struggle with dark thoughts. If you’re that way inclined you realise you’re staring at darkness, but you don't want to succumb. Those moments don’t stop. As the song says, ‘The devil never leaves.’ There’s never a day where you wake up thinking, ‘I feel great, it won’t cross me ever again.’”

A recurring concept of the album is the power of personal convictions, which have taken on an almost religious fervour via the echo chambers of social media and news platforms. But that idea has the nuance to rise above contrasting sides of an argument, arguing that greater unity and open-mindedness is the only way forward. Elsewhere, it spans everything from gaslighting to the ultimate devotion of cults and the beautiful failure of a Japanese racehorse.

‘The Myth of the Happily Ever After’ is now available to pre-order here, with ‘Unknown Male 01’ provided as an instant download. It will be released on CD and digital formats, as well as a limited edition red vinyl which is packaged with a must-have bonus CD for fans: full audio of the acclaimed livestream show that Biffy Clyro performed at Glasgow Barrowland in August 2020 to commemorate the release of ‘A Celebration of Endings’.

After headlining Reading and Leeds in August, Biffy Clyro will also play further large-scale outdoor gigs this summer at Cardiff Bay and Glasgow Green. Plans for 2022 are also taking shape, with April’s long sold-out ‘Fingers Crossed’ intimate tour and a huge Saturday night headline set at Download. Please see the band’s official website for a full list of shows and ticket information.

Bad Bad Hats are an indie rock trio from Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Known for bringing a joyful, exuberant presence to their live shows, touring
with The Beths, Margaret Glaspy, The Front Bottoms, Hippo Campus, and
Third Eye Blind, the group took specific care to bring their fun-loving spirit
to their third LP, Walkman.
Kerry (guitar/vocals), Chris (bass), and Con (drums) let their collective hair
down on Walkman, bringing raucous and explosive riffs alongside witty lyrics.
Though you might not notice from their indie rock exterior, Bad Bad Hats draws
a heavy influence from classic pop songwriting that shines through in their
hooky choruses and strong melodic sensibilities.
For this release the band set out to push their capabilities as a trio. Subtle
changes in process helped the band achieve this goal, such as shifting Chris
from a wider multi-instrumental role to allow him to prioritize his bass playing, having Kerry record the bulk of the guitars instead. ‘You can hear all of our
musical voices a lot better on this record.’
A carefully crafted studio sound brings the record to life, injecting it with an
energetic voice that is unique to Bad Bad Hats. Walkman is the group’s fourth
time working with producer Brett Bullion, including their previous two LPs, Psychic Reader and Lightning Round, and the Wide Right EP.
Bullion and the band use the studio as an instrument, resulting in their most
polished work to date.