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Spun Out Agency is honoured to present ‘More of that Frightful Oompty Boompty Music’, a compilation dedicated to the Guv’nor himself Mr Andrew Weatherall who should need no introduction on these pages. Released on vinyl in two beautiful parts, the first drops on April 15th with the second following two weeks after.

‘More of that Frightful Oompty Boompty Music’ (yes we are going to write that out every time we talk about it in this communique) showcases a selection of the shining greatness from the agency’s roster. Paranoid London, Fantastic Twins, Mehmet Aslan, Autarkic, Ruf Dug, Sean Johnston, and Manfredas gift exclusive tracks which highlight the sublime acid, techno and house sound that Weatherall would have described as “oopmty-boompty” music.

Spun Out is a London-based artist booking agency which has been run by Caroline Hayes for over 20 splendid years, that looked after the life and times of Andrew Weatherall alongside his partnership with Sean Johnston under their A Love From Outer Space moniker, and the likes of Optimo (Espacio), Ivan Smagghe, Josh Caffe, Man Power, Body Hammer, Kiara Scuro and many more artists, doing it differently.

Kicking off the A-side of the first record is Hardway Bros’ (aka Sean Johnston) previously unreleased remix of We Are The Axis by The Asphodells, the duo consisting of the Andrew Weatherall and former Battant member and Spun Out talent Timothy J. Fairplay. An energetic techno stomper with percussive rhythms, this exclusive remix offers the ideal tantalising dose to tease any dancefloor. The vocals and synth layers give it a punk rock approach, referencing the multi-genre essence of Weatherall’s taste in music.

Tel-Aviv-based Autarkic’s Sleepover closes the A-side with a chuggy lullaby, one that is certainly unsuitable for putting a baby to bed, given its intricate acid lines of total hypnosis. Following on the B-side is Manctalo Banger, a house bop by the Manchester-via-Ibiza computer game nerd and vinyl digger Ruf Dug, and Shizowaves, Turkish-born Basel-based Mehmet Aslan’s soulful touch to the compilation, bringing Middle-Eastern percussive melodies and catchy basslines.

The second record is introduced by Paranoid London, with a Spun Out dedicated acid techno banger appropriately titled Spinning Out and Fantastic Twins’ EBM track Kali’s Tongue Was A Weapon. On the B-side is Lithuanian chug legend Manfredas’ Hfuhruhurr, and Naum Gabo, who closes the compilation with the chaotic analogue-synth frenzy, Cold Sold. The name Naum Gabo may evoke the pioneer of Russian constructivism, who rose to fame thanks to his crazy kinetic sculptures. However, here it manifests as one half of Spun Out’s Optimo duo Jonnie Wilkes (JG Wikes) and James Savage. The duo’s impeccable manipulation of electronic hardware couldn’t give a better homage to him.

Some highlights for Spun Out artists this summer include 9 acts from the roster playing at Houghton Festival, Paranoid London’s show at Sonar Festival, Love International Festival and Ransom Note’s festival with Optimo Watching Trees.

Twisted percussion-forward kosmiche club brilliance from Düsseldorf’s Niklas Wandt. Stepping cosmic house, new beat hypnotism, tribal piano breakdown madness & wavey vocoded synth make up the four track EP for the Animals Dancing imprint’s first release of the year.

While Bobby Oroza puts the finishing touches on his next album, he treats us to this killer two-sider to end out 2021 and hold us over until the new record is finished. Bobby's debut album "This Love" made big waves around the world and amassed him a cult following from the US to Japan and everywhere in between. He found big love in the sweet soul scene early, but has since made fans in a myriad of circles and subcultures globally. It has by now become clear that his music is not just one thing, analog soul textured for sure, but also with an array of influences that span far beyond the soul ballad world. It is that inability to really nail down his sound that has become the biggest charm, an esoteric and profound passion permeate the lyrics and vibe of everything about Mr. Oroza. This new 7" shows off two sides of Bobby's song writing, an upbeat number on the "plug" side and a heavy duty ballad on the flip. The A side "The Otherside" is an optimistic tune that Bobby humbly shares his story about the troubles we can create for ourselves and the possibility of having a change of mind that frees us from them. The track is equally encouraging with its sunny energy that carries an important message from Bobby to anyone who is struggling and can't see a way out. The B side "Make Me Believe" is another instant classic for the slowie enthusiasts. A moody, soul bearing, cry for help that comes off with a sweet- ness.

Spectacular live recording from 1986 of two seminal figures of the Japanese avantgarde - Akira Sakata on saxophone and Takeo Moriyama on drums.

Mitochondria captures the reunion of the two free jazz masters, who started playing together in the Yosuke Yamashita Trio in 1972 until 1975. For both, the experience with the trio was an important step in the development of their own career and musicianship. The recordings are a remarkable performance in which each successfully highlights the essential elements of his playing while giving of room for the other musician.

Recorded at Kashiwa Church Chiba Pref. In Japan on 24 May 1986 by Yukio Tezuka on Sony stereo cassette recorder.

Mixed by Jim O’Rourke, Mastered by Martin Siewert. Graphic design/cover photo by Lasse Marhaug.
Liner notes by Kazue Yokoi.

Mats Gustafsson – tenor saxophone, fluteophone, flute, junk
Jim O´Rourke – guitar, accordeon, junk

The quiet beauty of the improvised duets of legendary guitarist and composer Jim O’Rourke and saxophone player extraordinaire Mats Gustafsson finally on vinyl – and extenisve double vinyl it is!

The 1999 recordings for Incus Records were taken in all their glory and remastered by O‘Rourke – now the full versions of the tracks plus some unreleased songs.

20 years ago, US heavy and hard rock titans Mos
Generator took the heavy (stoner) rock music scene by
storm with the release of their first self-titled album. To
celebrate this special anniversary in style, the band’s
charismatic frontman Tony Reed himself has revised and
remastered this vinyl reissue of their pathbreaking debut
album.
 Mos Generator - who formed in 2000 in Port Orchard,
Washington from the ashes of a ten year off and on
collaboration between its three members, all of which
are long time veterans of road and studio - have inspired
the heavy music scene since decades. The band have
released nine full length studio albums, two live albums
as well as several singles and split albums over their
impressive career by labels as Stickman, Ripple, Heavy
Psych Sounds, Roadburn, Small Stone and Listenable.
 Touring has been just as important to the profile of the
band as making records has. Over the years Mos
Generator has shared the stage with many big heavy
rock names across Europe and North America including
extensive tours with Saint Vitus, Fu Manchu, Melvins,
Pentagram, Elder, Spirit Caravan and Atomic Bitchwax.
They have also played prestigious festivals throughout
the world, fusing soul with doom metal into a great loud,
funky and psychedelic concoction of heavy rock.
 Their 2002 debut album was the starting point, and this
hand-numbered clear vinyl 20th Anniversary edition of
‘The Mos Generator’ release is a must have for fans old
and new.
 For fans of Orange Goblin, Fu Manchu, Sheavy, Mind
Funk, Kyuss, Mountain, Nebula, Black Sabbath and
Monster Magnet.

Bristol techno, noise and hardcore supremos SCALPING are
releasing their highly anticipated debut album ‘Void’.
‘Void’ comes on the heels of an extremely exciting 2021 for the
band, which saw them play to sold-out crowds at the Roundhouse
twice in two weeks - both on tour with Squarepusher and at
Pitchfork Festival London - as well as releasing two widely
acclaimed EPs titled ‘FLOOD’ and ‘FLOOD Remixed’, the latter of
which featured treatments from producers Hodge, Azu Tiwaline,
object blue, AQXDM and Laurel Halo and Scottish instrumental
rock legends Mogwai.

SCALPING are heavy metal in 4D; the sound is moody, distorted
and rhythmic, but the use of electronic techniques gives the finer
details room to breathe, making more space for experimentation.
Tracks such as ‘Tether’, featuring Oakland rapper DÆMON, puts
a modern, metal twist on Bristolian trip-hop, whereas album closer
‘Remain in Statis’ features fast-rising artist Grove, a Bristol-based
rapper and self-professed metalhead whose commanding
presence sets the track alight.

In the heat and darkness, it’s a swarm of low-end frequencies and
ripping guitars, somewhere between Black Sabbath-esque
psychedelica and The Bug’s sub-bass headfuckery. Live, the
effect is immense. SCALPING play continuously for the duration of
their sets, generating a storm of metal-and-techno through a rising
beats-per-minute count.

‘Void’ will be put to the test, as the band kicks off an eight-date UK
headline tour, culminating in a live performance at fabric on May
5th. As live shows return in 2022, SCALPING will continue to
prove themselves as one of the UK’s most impressive, ambitious,
and original new live bands.

By the power of darkness and the might of black-hearted will no two Mayhem albums have been or will be the same. Over the course of Mayhem’s storied and groundbreaking 35-year career—from De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas (1994) through Esoteric Warfare (2014)—the Norwegians have continuously challenged the orthodoxy of the genre they helped create. Originally informed by greats Hellhammer, Venom, Bathory, and Sodom, the Norwegians eventually imbued their damnable attack with influences from all over the music extreme spectrum, indicated first on the harsh and angular Wolf’s Lair Abyss (1997) EP and foremost on the enterprisingly brutal and revolutionary Grand Declaration of War (2000). In 2019, Mayhem yet again reinvent on new album, Daemon. “Mayhem will always be Mayhem,” says guitarist/songwriter Teloch (aka Morten Bergeton Iversen) says. “If we put the genre game aside a bit, no one else sounds like Mayhem. Even when De Mysteriis came out, it was not at first considered to be a black metal album, if my memory serves me right. Tricky to label this band, metal would be the most fitting; it’s not pure black metal in my opinion. Not sure it has ever been actually, despite what the general opinion is. People can call it whatever they want. If it’s black metal to them, then fine. We don’t really care. But to me it’s important to keep some sort of black metal vibe at least

“Slave Driver” pushes the boundaries of Thrash Metal once again, intense and aggressive in its purest form available! Dead Head have been around since the late 80`s which was a golden and extremely fertile period for Thrash Metal, and it shows. Their style is just about as aggressive as Thrash can logically get before having to refer to them as death metal whilst thankfully managing to retaining a slight 80`s vibe. Everything about “Slave Driver” just ooozes unadulterated seething hatred, and aural violence. The raging, savage, heavy yet scything hyperfast guitar riffs are so crammed with maliciousness that you instantly realise that Slayer have in all reality been effectively dead for years. The vocals which easily rival any Thrash band in history for delivering snarling savage hatred, should show Kreator what they have been incapable of producing since Pleasure to Kill. The fast cannon like drumming is unrepentant, and forms a perfect malevolent percussive backing for this brutal aural bashing. The mix is just as professional as you could want from a Thrash album, the guitar tone is crunchy and vocals are just right: spitting hatred and virtue in the same breath. If the band’s previous albums haven’t cemented them into the annals of Thrashistory just yet, “Slave Driver” will seal the deal. It’s an impressive statement from an overlooked band. Dead Head have remained very consistant with their releasing of very high quality Thrash/Death music for over thirty years. Hail the best Thrash band around today, they have been criminally overlooked for far too long.

25TH DELUXE ANNIVERSARY EDITION OF AMERICAN BABYLON FEATURING LIVE TRACKS WITH BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN Grushecky and his band had been a club fixture in the Northeast for nearly 25 years when they released American Babylon in 1995. The Pittsburgh band had proven themselves to be the consummate bar band with occasional flirtations with national success. American Babylon found them teaming up with Bruce Springsteen, who handles production, plays on several tracks, and wrote two songs for the album. The title track is an uptempo rocker detailing the disintegration of societal mores. There are plenty of songs outlining love gone wrong and the struggles of common folk, all delivered in Grushecky’s warm, well-worn voice over a barroom mixture of blues-based traditional rock. However, delivered with such earnestness and spirit makes American Babylon a worthy contender and an enjoyable listen for fans of Mellencamp, Seger, and, especially, Springsteen. The 25th anniversary deluxe reissue edition will include LIVE tracks from the Houserockers’ legendary October Assault Tour recorded at an enthusiastic hometown show that same year. “American Babylon is an impassioned, sharply-etched portrait of working-stiff triumphs and travails.” -Rick Reger, Chicago Tribune “As the leader of the Pittsburgh-based Iron City Houserockers, Joe Grushecky hammered out four heartland rock albums in the late 70s and early 1980s. These won over more critics than fans, so he became a special education teacher to support his family. Still, he maintained a close relationship with Bruce Springsteen, and in 1995, they teamed up for American Babylon. The two remain tight and play together at least once a year, but this album remains their greatest joint accomplishment.” -Rolling Stone “At a time when rock had splintered into grunge, industrial, alternative, and more, Joe Grushecky planted a defiant flag in the soul of rock and roll with American Babylon--one of the very best and undeservedly overlooked albums of the 1990s, and one that sounds just as fresh, vibrant, and relevant 25 years later. Bruce Springsteen may have helped bring the album to life, but his contributions only elevate a collection of songs that in another time would have been radio classics on their own.” -Ken Rosen, E Street Shuffle

The Source - nearly 30 years in the tradition of the infinite peculiar. The Source is a quartet with a long history. Actually started in 1993, with the founding members Ingebrigt Håker Flaten (bass), Per Oddvar Johansen, Trygve Seim og Oyvind Brække, who all by then studied at the Jazz Course at the Trondheim Music Conservatory. The new quartet album; " ... but swinging doesn`t bend them down" will be published in October on the legendary record label Odin. The title is an excerpt from the poem "Birches" by the American poet Robert Frost, a title that encompass a child's dream of climbing the treetops and swinging birch branches. It could be read as a reflection over the conflict between the free play in nature and the boundaries of adult life awaiting on the ground_ But maybe the ground can wait? Just join the sheer joy of climbing the trees and the careful balance that is needed not to fall and be at one with the flexibility of nature. After several season-related albums, like "The Source: of Christmas" and "The Source: of Summer", it is now a pure quartet display out in the tube, only based on original music. The pieces are all signed by the quartet members and covers a vast register; raga, shuffle, swing, lyrical spots, improv and even a rough trombone/drum outing, and more.The Source: Oyvind Brække, trombone Trygve Seim, saksofon Per Oddvar Johansen, trommer Mats Eilertsen, bass.

Isabelle Duthoit - clarinet, voice Franz Hautzinger - quarter-tone trumpet Hamid Drake - percussion, frame drum, voice Michael Zerang - percussion, frame drum Two duos firmly anchored in improvised music - Duthoit/Hautzinger and Drake/Zerang - explore what ritual music can mean in the present time. They moan and groan, sigh and sing in the jungle of their soul. Melodies between tradition and contemporary music in all their extremes ventures forward into a poetry full of sound noises. CREDITS: Recording: live at Artacts - Alte Gerberei, St. Johan, March 7th 2020, by Charles Wienand & Markus Massinger Production: Konstantin Drobil, Hans Oberlechner, Franz Hautzinger Mix: Martin Siewert & Franz Hautzinger Mastering: Martin Siewert Artwork: Lasse Marhaug Photos: Cathy Mary-Houdin

Abbey Lincoln's distinctive vocal style, thought-provoking writing, and spirited personality has secured her a place among the jazz greats. Though she made her first recording for Riverside, and later in life for Verve, it was with the young and audacious Candid Records that she made her biggest musical statement, 1961's Straight Ahead. Straight Ahead is one of Abbey Lincoln's greatest and most important recordings. A testament to her credibility and talents, the section on this album includes saxophone giant Colman Hawkins, the great Eric Dolphy on flute alto, trumpeter Booker Little, pianist Mal Waldron and the iconic drummer Max Roach.

LIMITED COPIES

For the very first time on vinyl, the cult song by JUDGE DREAD “SKINHEAD” on 7inch single.

Disliked by some, Judge Dread is adored by many! And this is one of two very important songs that has never been on vinyl before.

Very much in demand.

On the flip the gorgeous “THE BELLE OF SNODLAND TOWN”.

This lovely piece of “art” was only released as a single in France in 1975!

Marta Sanchez's creative voice is strikingly original - circling rhythms,
elaborate forms and criss-crossing counterpoint distinguishes her sonic signature on the crowded New York contemporary music scene

Following three critically acclaimed quintet releases, the Madrid- born pianistcomposer presents 'SAAM (Spanish American Art Museum)' on Whirlwind Recordings, an album driven by emotional candour and boundary- pushing compositions. A talented cast realises her knotty, technical writing - frontline partners Alex Lore and Roman Filiu meet Sanchez, Rashaan Carter and Allan Mednard on backline duties.'SAAM' riffs on the Smithsonian American Art Museum, on an album that's an exhibition of Sanchez's life in musical form: "It's made up of all the elements of society from both countries Spain and America that impact my life and make me who I am." Matters internal and external are realised in musical expositions of complex feelings. The pieces took shape in lockdown, as Sanchez exchanged fortnightly composition tasks with a pen- pal.

"Those compositions express all the phases I was going through at that time. I was reflecting super deeply on what's important, and how we might give some sense to life."

On their third album »Constant Connection«, West Australian-based Erasers create hypnotic compositions of synth, guitar and voice, evoking the vast expanse of their native landscape and the shrouded emotions behind the senses. Comprising of vocalist, synth player Rebecca Orchard and Rupert Thomas on guitar and synths, Erasers have developed their earthly kosmische music into an open language based on drone, variation in repetition and minimal song structures. Based in Perth, regarded one of the most isolated cities in the world, Orchard and Thomas’s music has brewed in the city’s vibrant DIY/Outsider community and evolved into a meditation on landscape, power, the shadow-world of human emotions and stream of consciousness. »Constant Connection«, with its waves of sound and chant-like vocals evokes a trance that suggests an infinity just beyond the senses.

At the heart of each Erasers composition is the interplay between the instrumentation, played with stoic restraint and recorded directly with minimal effects and the transcendental states induced in the listener. It’s a magic that is performed in plain sight and all the more powerful for it. The recognisable vibrato of Fender Rhodes keyboards and simple drum machine loops, the subtle strands of analog synth melodies that snake in and out of the ear, above all the towering encantations of Rebecca Orchard’s undeniably Australian-accented hymns; all of this is presented with minimal ostentation and yet it instantly engenders a dream state, hints at an infinity beyond the material.

Shades of John Cale’s 70s work with Nico, early 70s German synthesists Kluster and even fellow Australians Fabulous Diamonds can be seen as stylistic touchstones for Constant Connection. Where Nico hinted at the macabre and gothic, Rebecca Orchard’s similarly gliding vocal is more zoned in to a kind of oceanic openness, with words becoming chants and spells that suggested themselves to the singer during recording sessions. It’s this hidden hand of improvisatory, automatic writing that lends a sense of expanse to the music. On opener I Understand, while the lyrics might hint at discontent the emotional spectrum it opens up is far more rich and complex, as layered as the waves of droning chords that are the bedrock of each Erasers track. The title track talks of flow, continuum and balance, the protagonist in the song seemingly weightless, gently pulled through a walking reality that borders on dream. In Erasers’ world, it seems, the borders between reality and dream, consciousness and sub-consciousness are blurred and eroded.

On Constant Connection, Erasers’ music might be deeply evocative of landscape but it’s never clear which one. The vast, open terrain that surrounds Perth is dusty, burned by the sun into desert and Constant Connection feels like the product of the heat and relative isolation, the altered states these elements can create. But it’s these altered states of mind that appear to be the real landscape described by Erasers. It’s a landscape that’s hazy, in-and-out of focus, with emotional undertows pushing and pulling you into a weightlessness. On album closer Easy To See the band dispense with percussion all together, field recordings of the water at the edge of their native city ushering in two duetting synths. Orchard’s vocal undulates with the flow, viewing both the geographical and psychological landscape from the perspective of a consciousness not bound by bodies and from a timescale measured in millennia. The album ends as it begins, with field recordings of the real world that the music seeps out from, temporarily, before regressing back into the other realm it feels like it belongs to.

Between these two recorded hints of reality, Erasers manifest a deeply sensual dreamscape that constantly feels like it’s dissolving at its seams. A desert psychedelia emanating from a real world that might not be that real in the first place.

While most ensembles are driven by personalities, the Necks are powered by an idea. A very large and simple idea - which now seems completely obvious…. but only because the Necks thought of it and made it work. Now their pleasure (and ours) is sequentially to re-imagine and explore that idea – the prime directive of which seems to be to be that each unfolding step and every passing detail of any performance be allowed to evolve organically out of the musical conditions established at its moment of departure. In other words, we are in the territory of chaos and catastrophe theory; of hurricanes and butterfly wings… And, since one can never step twice into the same river, each beginning has led to wildly unpredictable and variant outcomes; and imperceptibly: you never hear the changes until somehow they have already happened. “We end up, Lloyd Swanton writes, ‘in a very different place from whatever our initial notion … had been.” In the case of Vertigo, we are dropped straight into an almost Feldmanesque musical universe, in which sounds - seemingly disconnected - are already there; creating space rather than inhabiting it. Then, without trying, they mutate. Not mechanically and not according to any pre-determined process - because it’s always clear that what we hear is being played by human beings; that it’s music. A special kind of music that is not pushy or demanding or demonstrative, but rather co-operative, spatial, ambiguous. A music that leaves room for its listeners.

You probably heard it before, several times. The opening number ‘Hungry, So Angry’ is to be considered one of the most infectious white funk anthem of the era. The Glitterhouse was released in 1981 on british imprint Cherry Red and soon was hailed as an instant classic for the post-punk generation close to dancefloor. In the same league of A Certain Ratio and newyorkers Bush Tetras the band originally from Nottingham moved behind obscure numbers and twisted grooves showing a revolutionary take on the up and coming new wave scenario. Here’s an unmissable collection with tracks from their three singles, sole studio album, live recordings but also unreleased tracks from an October 1982 demo tape.

Mura were a previously little-known group from Japan, formed by friends Kota Inukai (vocals, guitar), Masaki Endo (bass) and Sho Shibata (drums) in the late noughties. Performing mostly in small events in Sapporo, they were outsiders, and felt a kinship with few other groups, though Inukai mentions rock group Green Apple Quick Step, and hardcore band Ababazure as fellow travellers. This isolation surely feeds into the uniqueness of Mura’s music – they sound little like much that we know of the taggable Japanese underground of their times, and the music they recorded for this, their debut album, spanning a decade, is gloriously all over the shop, from delirious punk wig-outs to strange pop miniatures.

The group formed young – Inukai was only fourteen when they started, and Mura were his first ever band. When pressed on what they were listening to while making their music, Inukai recalls that he “used to listen to the works of Haruomi Hosono a lot”, and you can hear traces of this, perhaps, in the breadth of the sound Mura explores, from the lovely, country-esque shuffle of “In The Talk”, through the garage-y plunk of “Rest” and the reflective, melancholy “Younger Brother”. They were also big fans of video game music – “even orchestral covers of video games”, Inukai smiles – and that’s in there, too, in the split-second responsiveness of the playing, the way they flick through ideas and genres almost impatiently, taking minutes to cover terrain that other groups might spend albums and years exploring.

But the songs were also grounded in Japan’s history, with many of the songs inspired by “old Hokkaidō,” Inukai recalls, “from the Meiji, Taishō, Shōwa periods.” With Inukai coming up with the melodies, and Shibata fleshing out arrangements, all three members then contributed lyrics. You can hear that collective effort in the way the music moves, every player listening carefully to each other, the songs moving gracefully, but not without verve and vim. It’s a delightful album, full of pop songs that take unexpected turns, with glinting melodies sung out, here sweetly, there with gruff candour, guitars tangling together like an unholy union of Tom Verlaine and Jad Fair, every song charged with a new, unpredictable spirit.

Caroline No’s 3rd album was built around a set of songs I was writing in the summer of 2019. I built the songs around real events, but looped these narratives into stories from song histories. The result is like an intersection of Brill building characters such as Carole King and Neil Sedaka with the bedroom fanaticism of historical music projects like Virgin Insanity.

After a year of playing the songs live in various formations, we aimed to record in the Australian summer. We knew Jim was going to be in Melbourne, and soon after he arrived in Australia, we met at Mick’s studio. Nick and Mick engineered, with Ian on bass, Jim on drums, Mick, Dee and me on guitars, and Dee and me singing. The sense of intuitive knowledge and performance was exhilarating as we played. We spent two days in the studio, and when we listened back later, it seemed a compelling representation of what had happened, captured live.

The band on this album are artists I grew up with. We were friends first, and engaging with the material, there was no formal structure to follow. Our interpretive approach meant the songs grew from simple structural frames and narrative poetics into full sonic landscapes, engaging across pop, folk, psychedelia and improvisation. Caroline No became - for this iteration - a shifting sonic space tied to intimacy, musical conversation and relationship, expressed in an open improvisatory way. The sound of the record is the result of trust, responsiveness and mutual knowledge.

The name Caroline No was an imaginary character through much of the work, arising from the Beach Boys’ melancholic paen to encountering a past lover who has cut her hair off. My idea was for Caroline No to become the locus for an ongoing composition project where I would write back into songs' history the perspective of patriarchal song’s subjects.

This is a recuperative project of easeful making; attempting reclamations of lost narratives, exploring love, loss and the psychedelic of the everyday.

Caroline Kennedy, January 2022, London

Peruvian cumbia, also know as "chicha", brings together tropical music styles from Colombia and Cuba, Western influences such as 60s beat and psychedelic rock, and mixes them with indigenous melodies from the Amazonian jungle and traditional Andean songs. The result is a unique and vibrant style of music which reverberates with life. Vampisoul's compilation includes tracks by the most important bands of the genre. Peruvian cumbia is currently being rediscovered by new audiences and there exists a thriving club and live venue scene in cities like New York, London and Madrid.
36-page booklet with extensive liner notes in English and Spanish plus photos and memorabilia.

The Reflex returns with another double dose of heavenly heaters. As ever, strictly multitrack remixes from the original tapes, combining creativity and functionality for maximum dance floor impact.

DJ Support:
Dave Lee / Gilles Peterson / Dimitri from Paris / The Blessed Madonna / Skream

Prolific and singular Japanese producer Hoshina Anniversary presents Hyakunin Isshu, a two tracker of extended jaunts deeper into the mystery than he’s yet dared to venture. With a growing reputation for sizzling productions combining propulsive house rhythms with gyrating arpeggios and textured sound design punctured by jazz-inflected keys, Hyakunin Isshu further expands the limits.

On Hyakunin Isshu, Hoshina Anniversary paces it out over the course of two complimentary side-long runs. The A side Karakurenaini rides on a steady 4/4 as cycling percussion loops, squelchy acid basslines and angular piano chords float in and out of the mix. Deployed and rinsed to peak effect, it's relentless repetition evolves just enough to get completely lost in.

On side B Kirigirisu slows the pace down to a crawl, a lurching rhythm and haunting riff ascending almost to the point of vertigo toppling and giving way to a sci-fi drum break, a stirring prolonged break and triumphant culmination, it’s slow-mo future strut equally indebted to melodies of the past.

Hyakunin Isshu is named for Ogura Hyakunin Isshu, an anthology of delicate, reflective Japanese poetry comprised of works from the 12th and 13th centuries. Both tracks share their titles with different entries in the series.

Hoshina Anniversary is the alias of Yoshinobu Hoshina, a reverent reinterpreter of jazz, dance music and traditional Japanese instrumentation. The last couple of years have seen the producer from the Tokyo suburbs release a torrent of inimitable missives on esteemed maisons disques like ESP Institute, Osare Editions, Alien Jams and Youth. Also forthcoming in the summer of 2022 is an LP on Impatience.

Linda Fredriksson (they/them) shares their debut solo album "Juniper" on We Jazz Records, 29 Oct 2021. Linda (of Mopo and Superposition) has been working on the compositions heard on the album for several years, composing them mostly on guitar, keys and by singing. Only later have they been arranged for the band heard on the album, including Fredriksson on saxes and various instruments, Tuomo Prättälä (of ilmiliekki Quartet) on rhodes, moog and piano, Minna Koivisto on modular synth, moog and OP, Olavi Louhivuori (of Superposition) on drums, and Mikael Saastamoinen (of OK:KO and Superposition) on bass, plus featuring the Swedish artist Matti Bye on piano.

At heart, "Juniper" is a "singer-songwriter album", performed by an instrumental jazz band. The end result is unique, personal, and as Linda themself puts it "quiet and introspective". The first single from the album is "Neon Light and the sky was trans", "a song from the shining streets – the beginning of something new", featuring field recordings of rain falling down behind the window of Linda's Helsinki working space.

It's a fitting introduction to an album full on wonders and carefully crafted secrets ready to be discovered. "Juniper" is a world unto itself, and Fredriksson describes the process as one of isolation and of learning slowly to do new things. After the demo stage, the songs were taken to the full band, but what's on the record often stays true to the minimal nature of the early demos. Linda credits their co-producer Minna Koivisto as a key ally in the process of maintaining the demo sessions' fragile beauty on the actual finished record.

With regards to instrumentation, those who have heard Linda Fredriksson in Mopo and Superposition are likely to be surprised by their credit listing including not only alto and baritone saxophones, plus bass clarinet, but also guitar, Rhythmic8 synths, ambience recordings and drum programming. Linda describes the way of finding new sounds through their beloved old guitar as follows: "It's an old acoustic guitar that has been hit by a car and is literally full of holes, but that makes the sound just perfect for this album and you can hear the instrument on 'Pinetree song' and 'Lempilauluni' (Finnish for 'My Loved Song')."

In fact, Linda began their music-making with guitar and vocals, and the debut of the hole-filled vintage acoustic guitar makes perfect sense here, while also describing the album's immediate sound perhaps better than any other individual instrument used. The influence list for the album name checks the likes of Feist, Neil Young, Susanne Sundfør, Alice Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders, Eric Dolphy and Fever Ray, yet the number one inspiration for Fredriksson prior to making the album was "Carrie and Lowell", the 2017 album by Sufjan Stevens. Different as the albums are in terms of instrumentation and general scope, it's fascinating to draw parallels between them by listening to the quietness and immediacy of the music. "Nana – Tepalle" also relates to the world of "Carrie and Lowell" in being a dedication to a lost family member, Linda's grandmother (she is featured in the digital single artwork).

Throughout the album, Linda plays their saxophones in a way that is serving music first and foremost. The musician's ego, so often at the forefront in jazz, takes a backseat, and the songs themselves remain. Linda thinks as a composer, utilising their instrument where and how necessary, not presenting "chops". "It's sometimes hard to play simple," they say, "but I tried to follow my instinct about what the songs need. The mood rules here, any solos or improvisations happen around that at all times."

"Juniper" can still be heard as a jazz album, but perhaps one reminding that the word doesn't need to mean any one thing in particular. At its best, jazz music is highly personal and "of the moment", both true on "Juniper". The album has been made in two different studios, three homes, two summer cottages and four working spaces. It was recorded with professional studio equipment but also with an iPhone and on a basic built-in laptop speaker. With that, "Juniper" stands as a remarkable musical diary of a creative musician and composer during the early 2020's.

Our Starry Universe returns with it’s first release of 2022, the mesmerizing Mother Oak from Dan Wainwright & Elle Redding. The album is out on 12” vinyl and digital 22nd April.

An Acid House/Cosmic concept album featuring Elle’s spoken word on Dan’s production, Mother Oak is about the life cycle of an oak tree from the perspective of the tree. “As we dreamed up a rough outline of the story, the music was created to personify the seasons and the emotions that were to come through Elle’s words.” Says Dan.

It’s a deep listening experience. The kind of record one should listen to in one sitting on vinyl while you are staring at the lyrics on the back cover. “…it all just fell perfectly into place as Elle typed the story. It all came to life really quickly and was an emotional experience for me to enjoy something so beautiful as her creativity and it’s an honour to have that combined with mine.” Says Dan.

He continues… “We made an album that carries meaning and wisdom and at the same time conveys our wonder, awe and joy that we both experience by being in nature and feeling connected to the forever changing cycles of our planet.”

Dan Wainwright is a prolific producer in the underground with releases on Night Noise, Tici Taci, & Sprechen as well as a seemingly constant slate of releases on his own imprint Oddball Recordings.

Following persistent requests, Mr Bongo has finally relented and dedicated an edition of their popular Brazil 45s series to Orlandivo Honorio de Souza, a composer, singer and percussionist whose 1977 album Oelandivo remains high on my collectors' wants-lists. Wisely, their A-side pick is 'Onde Anda O Meu Amore', a cosmic and spacey fusion of samba-soul and jazz-funk rich in ethereal flute lines and intergalactic keys. This time round it comes backed by the equally as impressive 'Gueri Gueri', an insatiable samba-rock number wrapped in heady accordion, jangly acoustic guitar and punchy horn sounds.

Repress

Founded in October 2017 and known in first place as a party series in Essen, The Third Room expands its spectrum with their debut as a label and mastering studio as well. Those three disciplines going hand in hand and forming our vision as a creative collective. Creating, crafting and sharing the passion that drives us.

After a bitter series of event cancellations caused by the corona pandemic we had to find a way to overcome this financial crisis which has put lot of people in a difficult situation who are driven by love and dedication for what they do. In first place we wanted to give all ticket buyers who waived their refunds for the cancelled The Third Room x Bassiani event at UNESCO World Heritage's Mischanlage a "thank you" gift in form as a Fundraiser Compilation. We wanted to preserve what we have built up over the years at our home base. Because we do believe that the Mischanlage is maybe the most aesthetically-techno place we've ever seen.

We, the founders Ahmet Sisman & VNNN., reached out for artists we have invited on our events, build up a strong relationship and sharing the same ambition for what we stand for. Not only regular guests such as Dax J, Ellen Allien or SHWD & Obscure Shape who have accompanied us over the years, but also new friendships have risen up with artists like Henning Baer, Hector Oaks or Markus Suckut. Or collectives such as Lebendig, R-Imprint, Brutalism, Purify and Acid Wave Records. It is safe to say that we have our own special story with each artist on this compilation and it shows once more that music unites us in these hard times. If you like what you hear, buy the music, support the artists and the local scene. Everyone who has held their T3R x Bassiani Tickets will get a download link of the compilation.

SAM Records was one of the labels at the forefront of the Disco Genre when the format was at its creative peak. This was the late 70’s and early 80’s, when the producers and artists involved were all using top notch professional recording studios with live instrumentation and their focus was on songs and rhythms that would make the dance floor move. Sam Weiss the founder of SAM was involved with various aspects of the music industry in addition to his role running the label, but the Sam Records imprint was his greatest passion, and that energy comes through in the songs that make up the catalogue. In this compilation we have engaged some of the world’s premier producers of the current disco inspired sounds that are blowing dance floors worldwide. They have used their talents and appreciation of the genre to mix, edit and master these classic jams into disco inspired productions that are fully equipped to ignite DJ sets and dancefloors worldwide.

Madrid based producer Corp debut on Hivern Discs after releases on Libertine and his own imprint, Unusual Systems. Artwork by Superplus

There is a tendency within modern electronica to pigeonhole and categorise, to package music into easily digestible formulae. In direct revolt comes Dutch artist Satori and his new album Dreamin’ Colours, released globally April 22nd, 2022, on renowned imprint Crosstown Rebels. Recorded at the esteemed Sonic Vista Studios in Ibiza, the nine-track LP has been greatly anticipated off the back of its proceeding’s singles: Yellow Blue Bus ft. Laska, Lalai ft. Ariana Vafadari and most recently Gin Song.

An ethereal, swirling body of work, Dreamin’ Colours is rich in texture, colour and imagination. Satori stretches himself out through languorous, mystical explorations of both the digital and the analogue elements of music, the result a beautifully conspired collection of world music, steeped in electronic and Balkan roots, and straddling a multitude of genres from blues and indie electronic to opera, folk and beyond.

Colourful Dream begins proceedings, taking the form of a gently-building opener. From the pluck of a guitar string to hypnotic flute-like elements, we soon arrive at the enchanting world of Lalai ft. Ariana Vafadari. Recorded in a four-hundred-year-old water well, it showcases the transcendent sound with which Satori has become best known, meandering through rustling hats and tribal-like drum patterns whilst the dulcet tones of Ariana shimmer softly throughout.

Tuti ft. Kalima takes on a harder edge, with gritty drum patterns opening into melancholic chords early on. Kalima’s vocals add an emotive touch to the piece, paving the way for Moj Dilbere: a euphoric cut that feels tribal and reflective in one.

We land at a similarly ethereal soundscape on The Gin Song ft. Mybaby, as star-like synths pulse alongside punchy percussion before Yellow Blue Bus ft. Laska takes its place. It begins with real-life ambience, made up of sounds recorded live in Ibiza as a bus passes and birds chirp merrily in the background. This swiftly gives way to a guitar-flecked bassline, opening neatly into the vocal offerings of both Satori and Laska.

Troublemaker ft. El Mundo retains an inherent melodic quality, progressing through poignant strings and whispering kick-hat combos. Powerful and poignant, the mesmeric sounds of Ora Dea and Moshe meander subtly into Lonely Boy (Redux) ft. Hugo Oak. The closing saga brings things to a wonderfully subdued finish, rounding off the album on a wholeheartedly calming note.

Although raised in the Netherlands, where commercial electronic music is of course king, on Dreamin’ Colours it is undeniably Satori’s Balkan heritage that layers his production with dreamy, ethereal, Eastern European influences. The album’s overriding voice lies in his exultant celebration of Eastern European music, weaving vibrant threads of its earthy, melodic, rhythmic sounds into his thick musical tapestry. Written during the pandemic and driven by the ache of separated love, the album is, Satori says, his most personal yet.

From holding down an eighteen-month residency at Heart, Ibiza to having nearly four-hundred-thousand listeners on Spotify each month, Satori is a truly worldwide artist in today’s electronic music scene. Having been championed by Damian Lazarus early on in his career, he has emerged as a must-see live act for fans from all corners of the globe. November 2021 marked the start of his USA tour, where his Maktub concept adorned some of the country’s most iconic clubbing institutions, whilst his discography speaks for itself, with a plethora of acclaimed releases on labels including Crosstown Rebels, Sol Selectas and DGTL Records to name a few. As Dreamin’ Colours introduces him to an ever-growing audience, Satori remains one of the most exhilarating, untamed and truly authentic forces in music.

Ode to the Mode is the new EP from Naarm/Melbourne DJ & producer Kayroy. His first for the Velodrome Recordings imprint, this record sees the producer blend his love for synth-laden italo-style house and rave-ready techno, resulting in a record that is equally suited for cloud gazing and peak club moments.

The record opens with ‘Behind the Clouds’, a dense and sprawling track that pairs vibrant synth leads with crystal clear percussive work - a modern flip on a warm italo-house sound. With the EP’s title track, Kayroy takes a more club-focused approach, delivering a high-energy groove packed with buzzing 303s and an ear-worm percussive hook.

The flipside sees the producer journey into hard-hitting electro territory on ‘Ping Pong Funk’, before closing out the record with the slow-burning breakbeat bomb ‘Better Late’.

Sophie Lloyd returns to Classic Music Company for another stunning soulful delivery, this time teaming up with Faithless vocalist Pauline Taylor on ‘Angels By My Side’. Much like Sophie’s previous works on Luke Solomon’s imprint, this record brims with the same joyous energy sure to uplift, as live recorded strings, horns and keys give an added richness to the release. With Sophie’s Classic debut ‘Calling Out’ a modern day dancefloor anthem with 10 million streams and counting, and her latest offering garnering early support from the likes of NYC legend Danny Krivit, there is no doubt ‘Angels By My Side’ will follow suit as an essential record for discerning selectors.

New York’s Straw Man Army return with 'SOS', the follow-up to their 2020 debut LP, 'Age of Exile'. Emerging from the D4MT Labs group that also includes Kaleidoscope and Tower 7, Straw Man Army’s delicate musical touch, embrace of melody, and rapid-fire, clearly articulated vocals separate them from the louder and noisier end of New York’s fertile punk scene. While 'Age of Exile' examined the legacy of colonialism through the musical milieu of melodic anarcho-punk, 'SOS' turns its attention to the increasingly bleak prospects for the human race and planet earth. While Straw Man Army’s lyrical approach remains dense and thought provoking on 'SOS', their musical scope grows wider, encompassing 'Age of Exile’s' melodic take on anarcho, bleak and brooding post-punk, psychedelic instrumental excursions, and even the wistful pop of album highlight 'Beware'. 'SOS' is everything Straw Man Army’s fans could have hoped for in a follow-up and so much more, cementing the band’s status as one of the most original, exciting, and important groups in the contemporary punk underground.

Repressed for the first time in a while, note small price increase. Etta James historic live recording from 1963! On stellar Blue vinyl, with the original album artwork and including 3 bonus tracks. Best known for the lush 1961 rendition of the ballad “At Last” – a slow-dance staple at wedding celebrations everywhere, she is also celebrated for having recorded one of the best live albums of all time, “Rocks the House.” Recorded in 1963 at the New Era Club in Nashville, James is captured at her performance peak. The foundation for her reputation as a fiery no-holds-barred performer was firmly established in this recording. Blues, soul, jazz, R&B, and rock vocalist Etta James, needs no introduction. An icon from early rock’n’roll’s pantheon of divas, she has inspired 5 decades of listeners and fellow artists with her vocal stylings. From Janis Joplin to Beyonce, her expressive and guttural style has been imitated but never quite matched. Jackpot Records is honored to release this momentous record on stellar blue vinyl, with the original album artwork and including 3 bonus tracks which have only ever been released previously on CD. Her powerful version of “Something’s Got a Hold on Me” will shake you. Her impassioned version of “All I Could Do Is Cry,” will break you.

Note vinyl rel date is later. 10 Year Anniversary Reissue. 2LP / 2CD featuring the album proper & demos of each song + rarities. Colored clear vinyl, includes digital download. Recommended If You Like: The original ‘151a’ release, of Montreal, Regina Spektor, Andrew Bird. They say that you spend your entire life writing your first album, piecing every formative moment, scribbled turn of phrase, and thematic epiphany into a fantastical collage. Multi-instrumentalist K. Ishibashi (aka Kishi Bashi) disproves that old adage. The title of Kishi Bashi’s 2011 debut album,‑151a, is a riff on the Japanese phrase‑“ichi-go ichi-e,” roughly translating to “one time, one place.” That’s exactly what this debut is: A singular time, an inimitable place, a launchpad for bigger and better things to come. “It’s a play on words that translates as a performance aesthetic of having a unique performance in time, with imperfections, and enjoying it while you can,” Ishibashi‑told NPR at the time of the album’s release. “The saying reminds me to embrace my mistakes and move forward.” From the deconstructed Beach Boys-esque doo-wop of “Wonder Woman” to the menacing marriage of Eastern Hues and Western operatics of “Beat the Bright out of Me,”‑151a‑is a mediation between opposing drives, offering possible reconciliation but never promising it. The album’s emotional wellspring, “I Am The Antichrist To You” was reimagined in 2021 when it was featured on the animated sci-fi sitcom‑Rick and Morty, introducing Kishi Bashi to a new generation of awestruck fans. Kishi Bashi uses‑151a‑as a vehicle to explore his cultural background. Using Japanese refrains as a compositional and textural device (the polyrhythmic grandeur of “Bright Whites”; the gleeful surrealism of “It All Began With a Burst”), Kishi Bashi celebrates his heritage with earnestness. Japanese phrases and couplets are sung as the response to Kishi Bashi’s resplendent calls, offering listeners a conversation that dovetails with the album’s themes of love, sentimentality, and self-discovery. Today, the “one time” and “one place” that­151a‑inhabited seems further than ever, almost broaching celestial realms of time and space. But, rest assured, with each listen, the world that Kishi Bashi built springs back to life. The world of‑151a‑never left—it was just waiting to be rediscovered.

After the impact of Exist in Ramallah festival back in 2019, and how relationships between the artists got established and the attendees contribution that helped to shape the identity and the vision of the project itself. Exist decided to take the next step and expand the project with a label that is runned between Amman based and festival founder Odai Masri and Amsterdam based and label co-founder Chafik Chennouf with the same ethics that the festival is standing for. Some of the main principles Exist upholds include resistance to homophobia, and the ongoing colonization of various parts of the world by state actors or multi-national oligarchs. In turn, we think that this colonization leaves no one free, and that it especially targets communities (human and non-human) that are most marginalized by capital and historical racial and ethnic structures. The first release 'Marks of Existence' is a collection of mind-melds with some of the scene's most continuously exciting and refreshing artists: Drew McDowall, Muqata'a, CASKO, Adel Poursamadi & Tegh. The Scottish, NYC-based experimental musician, Drew McDowall, has been subverting the formula for many years now, having clocked up storied work with Coil and Psychic TV back in the day. His track 'Conceal the Wound' is a stunning, exquisitely chiselled piece of synth music. It's like waking from a dream, only to return to its febrile clutches. Ramallah's Muqata'a came through flawless with his cut 'Administrative Detention', a blast of chaotic chopped breaks and lurching neo-beat tape MPC programming. The breakcore influence in combination with referencing crimes against humanity makes the tune an intense headmelter. The ideal soundtrack for unorganized resistance from a firsthand perspective. ‘The Price You Pay To Be Unattached Flesh’ sees CASKO push the hi-tech dirt of his Opal Tapes, Leyla Records and Voidance releases down darker ginnels to claustrophobic, anxiety-raising effect in a collection of brilliantly neon explosions of colour and exuberance floating on a sleazy and slow beat with bags of North-African swagger. Experimental electronic musicians from Iran have marked their prints on the face of the universal experimental music scene for some time now, though the manner in which their status went from "non-existent" to "present" and from "silent" to "noisy" might somehow seem "unpredictable" to the naked eye. Tegh, known for his work on Opal Tapes joined forces with Adel Poursamadi to come up with a beautifully bittersweet synthetic orchestration in a staggering fashion to close this EP with.

One of the more idiosyncratic U.S. independent labels must be the Hep’ Me imprint from New Orleans run by veteran Soulman Senator Jones. Very few of Hep’ Me's numerous releases made it out of New Orleans and the ones that did, tended to go into collections and nowhere else. Las Vegas Connection's ‘Running Back To You’ surfaced some time in the mid 1970s but there were never enough copies for it to take off. Hopefully that will change with this re-release on the original label.

Also, a lovely piece of mid-tempo soul on the flip with the stunning ‘Can't Nobody Love Me Like You Do’. Original copies are few and far between and the current price benchmark for this superior slab of New Orleans vinyl is hovering around the £250 mark. As with most of our reissues this will appeal to across-the-board scenes.

We're all unabashed fans of Steely Dan so we take Steely Dan covers seriously. Mainly "why bother"? You can't improve on perfection right? However, when we heard Deep Heat's scintillating version of "Do It Again" we changed our minds. A totally brilliant funkier version of Steely Dan's first-ever hit which stands loud and proud in re-interpreting this classic song into something much more appropriate for today's more sophisticated dance-floors.

Originally released on the tiny Detroit label, Cu-Wu, original copies soon ran out. There is currently just one available in the entire world for $1000 and that'll be gone in a blink. The smart money says hold on for a mint reissue on the original label.

A great socially-conscious flip too, the uptempo funky "She's A Junky (Who's To Blame)". All in all, this is a killer double-sider and will also appeal to Steely Dan collectors and enthusiasts across the board. Expect strong demand. I mean who wouldn't want this within their collection? Absolute banger. Both sides!

Perhaps one of the most enigmatic of artists on the Rare Soul scene must be Flame N' King aka Oscar Wayne Richardson Jr, who ran his various labels independently since the mid ‘60s. It was a surprise when the group surfaced again with a fantastic uptempo New York dance track in 1976 on the tiny N.Y.C.S. records. "Ho Happy Day" found immediate favour with the Modern Soul crowd, but it took the next 30 years for it to eventually become a Modern Soul anthem and cross over to a wider audience.

These days "Ho Happy Day" can be heard at numerous venues across the world and is a bigger floor-filler now than it was back in the 1970s. We're delighted to finally re-issue this classic on the original N.Y.C.S. imprint and watch it find even more audiences in 2022. An original copy will cost circa £250 these days, so there's already a heavy demand for this long-awaited re-issue

One record which has lately come to prominence is the brilliant "After Hours" by Charlie Mitchell aka Vic Marcel on an absolutely gorgeous slice of mellow Rare-Groove which recalls the Leon Ware vibe perfectly. Produced and arranged by seasoned veterans Tony Silvester and Bert DeCoteaux this incredibly hypnotic song was also written by top writers J.R. Bailey and Ken Williams. "After Hours" has grown in popularity particularly over the last few years with original copies now reaching the £200-£250 valuation.

The flip-side is another slice of beautiful mid-tempo soul from the same production stable. Only one copy currently available the last time we checked, such has been the demand over the last two years especially. Quite why this record has been underground for so long is open to debate. Vic Marcel was under contract to RCA at the time hence the Charlie Mitchell pseudonym. Janus were also suffering distribution problems at the time which explains why the original is so rare. We're proud to finally make this available again on the original Janus imprint. Another double-sided beauty.