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BILL ORCUTT GUITAR QUARTET - FOUR GUITARS LIVE LP 2x12"

"As Bill Orcutt’s most mature and exhilarating LP to date, Music for Four Guitars was a slab of undeniable Apollonian beauty. Its approachability and obvious novelty landed it not only on the year- end lists of every key-pushing codger in the underground in 2022, but also on NPR in the form of the Bill Orcutt Guitar Quartet, an ensemble assembled to perform this music and featuring Wendy Eisenberg, Ava Mendoza, and Shane Parish in addition to Orcutt. But while their Tiny Desk Concert gave a whiff of the quartet’s easy intimacy, the sterile confines of the virtual recital medium still left a puzzle unsolved: how might these brutally mannered bricks of minimalist counterpoint sound on a stage in front of actual breathing bodies?" "This was the question foremost in my mind when I first saw the quartet in San Francisco a few months before this double live LP was recorded. I was already familiar with the prowess of Eisenberg and Mendoza, two of the most technically intimidating shredders to blast out of the noise/improv underground, and knew Parish as the mastermind behind the epic translation of Orcutt's quartet recordings into a fully notated score. I was ready to be 'blown away'—and I most assuredly was. The quartet navigated Orcutt's jaggedly spiraling right angles into the shining core of the compositions with joyous ease, faithful to the originals in nearly every way (though their tempos were slightly ramped up, Blakey style, to communicate their breathless rush). The renditions were flawless, stellar and inspiring. I had expected nothing less." "Which leads us to this album, Four Guitars Live, recorded in November of 2023 at Le Guess Who? festival during the quartet’s first European tour. The true essence of this set is not simply in its faithfulness to the source compositions, but in the group's easy familiarity (no doubt the result of weeks on the road) and the generosity of their improvisations, both collective and solo. Orcutt, clearly cognizant of both the caliber of his collaborators and the singularity of their voices, has given everyone room to stretch out, and all have delivered some of their most moving passages to date." "One of this record's great thrills for me is imagining a listener, perhaps unfamiliar with the outer limits of contemporary guitar improvisation (or the Tzadik catalog), slammed into catatonia by Mendoza's liquefying lines on Out of the corner of the eye, then revived and healed by the languid, breathy lines of Parish's unaccompanied, spaced-out breakdown of the track's main theme, finally only to be crushed by Eisenberg’s staggering extended solo on Only at dusk (somehow channeling both Eugene Chadbourne and Buck Dharma)." "There's another peak, which begins at the end of side B, in Orcutt's own languid solo, encapsulating the flowing focus of his recent solo LPs, and serving as an introduction to the next side's ensemble tour de force, the psychic heart of the album, On the horizon: its melodic core passing first to Orcutt, launching into a sublime solo turn by Eisenberg, a duo of Parish and Mendoza, before parachuting back into the ensemble for a smashup rendition of Barely visible and Glimpsed while driving (renamed Barely driving) knitted together with an softly bubbling ensemble improvisation. The transfer is orchestrated yet seamless, its tonal form undeniable even in the presence of obvious dissonance." "The breadth of Four Guitars Live gives lie to the false notion that agile, polytonal improv is necessarily without soul, is necessarily inaccessible. Rather, Four Guitars posits a human avant-garde music that the most conservative will recognize as virtuosic and revel in its classic intervals, boiling counterpoint, and precisely- layered facets. Even the rockers in your life might dig it, so why not pass it on?"—Tom Carter

pre-order now22.03.2024

expected to be published on 22.03.2024

Kevin Hays, Ben Street & Billy Hart - Bridges LP

96kHz - 48-bit HD Audio with digital booklet including original photography by Christopher Kayfield and liner notes by Shaun Brady.

Pianist Kevin Hays, bassist Ben Street, and drummer Billy Hart reunite for a second, scintillating trio date, BRIDGES, featuring original compositions by Hays and Hart with classics by Wayne Shorter, Bill Frisell, The Beatles, and Milton Nascimento.

Hays Street Hart, the trio of pianist Kevin Hays, bassist Ben Street, and legendary drummer Billy Hart, recorded their acclaimed 2021 debut, ALL THINGS ARE, under less than optimal conditions. The album began life as a performance in honor of Hart’s 80th birthday in December 2020, live-streamed from an empty Smoke Jazz Club in the final weeks of that grueling pandemic year. Despite those adversities, the music they created that night was spectacular enough to convince all involved that it should be released.

Two years later, the trio has reconvened, this time fully cognizant that they were going to record an album at Sear Sound Studios in NYC. The captivating BRIDGES brilliantly spotlights the unique chemistry and shared spirit of exploration that emerged fully formed on that initial impromptu session. The title succinctly hints at some of the reasons why Hays, Street and Hart work so well together: this is a trio that bridges generations, certainly, as well as a wealth of diverse experience and inspiration. But it also sums up a mutual desire to bring people together through music.

“In this world that seems to be crumbling beneath our feet,” Hays explains, “we sense the need to make allies where there might be adversaries. On the most intimate level, interpersonally and inter-psychically we set out to overcome any number of misunderstandings and adversarial situations.”

Not that there was any antagonism to overcome within the trio itself. More than anything, Hays Street Hart is a mutual admiration society of the highest order. The esteem in which the pianist and bassist hold Billy Hart likely goes without saying. The drummer was ordained in 2022 as an NEA Jazz Master, just one of the many honors he has chalked up over a breathtaking career. He began his career with an apprenticeship under the revered vocalist Shirley Horn and went on to make notable music with such luminaries as Miles Davis, McCoy Tyner, Herbie Hancock, Wes Montgomery, Jimmy Smith, Stan Getz, and as part of the quartet Quest featuring David Liebman and Richie Beirach.

But Hart is if anything, even more laudatory toward his younger bandmates. Street has been a member of the drummer’s stellar quartet for two decades, alongside pianist Ethan Iverson and saxophonist Mark Turner, a tenure that speaks for itself. As for Hays, Hart is quick to place the pianist in the exalted company of some of his iconic former collaborators.

“I’ve been lucky enough to have the chance to perform with Herbie Hancock and McCoy Tyner,” says Hart modestly. “Each generation presents their own equivalent, and Kevin is an example of the latest innovations. There was Herbie and McCoy, then it was Chick Corea and Keith Jarrett, and then you have what's coming next. I think Kevin is definitely part of that continuum.”

Though Hays sticks strictly to the piano on BRIDGES, he is also an accomplished singer whose vocal instincts fuel his inventive and lyrical melodicism. Street points to those facets as key to the connection between the pianist and Hart, who has enjoyed several meaningful collaborations with vocalists.

“It always seems to me that Kevin has the capacity to sing in his mind and then accompany himself on the piano,” Street describes. “That makes for such a nice connection with Billy, who has played with and learned from so many singers. I don't even feel like we're playing as a piano trio most of the time; it feels more like a quartet.”

Those qualities are especially clear on Hays’ “Butterfly,” which opens the album. Though it’s performed here as an instrumental, the pianist has composed lyrics for the piece, and its gorgeous, song-like quality shines through. Hays also contributed the breathtaking ballad “Song for Peace,” highlighted by Hart’s gentle, embracing brushwork and Street’s sturdy, stentorian tone. The pianist’s third original, “Row Row Row,” is constructed on a twelve-tone row, but as the playful title suggests, it has none of the more stringent qualities of the serialist composers.

Hart’s stunning “Irah,” originally recorded on his quartet’s self-titled 2006 debut, is dedicated to the composer’s mother and was recorded at Street’s suggestion. The bassist also brought guitarist Bill Frisell’s reflective “Throughout” to the date, imagining Frisell’s Americana influences would resonate with the similarly inclined Hays, who approaches the tune with a harp-like beauty. Hays’ love of pop and rock music is also reflected by the inclusion of The Beatles classic “With a Little Help from My Friends.”

The trio pays tribute to the late, great Wayne Shorter with “Capricorn,” originally released on the composer’s 1969 Blue Note album SUPER NOVA and later included on the Miles Davis Quintet set WATER BABIES. Hart called Shorter one of a kind. I think of the many times I heard him excel – with the Maynard Ferguson Big Band, with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, with Weather Report. And in each case, he was innovative.”

BRIDGES closes with the title track, a dazzling piece by the great Brazilian singer and songwriter Milton Nascimento, which Hays calls “one of my favorite compositions ever, by anybody.”

BRIDGES was recorded under ideal studio conditions by a now-established trio with a weeks-long European tour under their belts. Perhaps what’s most remarkable about the album is not that Hays, Street, and Hart play so masterfully together – with three artists of their caliber, who could expect any less? – but that this second outing maintains the bold spirit of inquisitiveness and spontaneity that its predecessor naturally possessed. Credit that to a trio perpetually determined to discover new bridges worth building.

pre-order now22.03.2024

expected to be published on 22.03.2024

Komodrag and the the Mounodor - Green Fields of Armorica LP

70's psych rock supergroup from brittanny releases 1st lp

An album of 100% boundless energy featuring two drums, three guitars and a hammond organ

pre-order now22.03.2024

expected to be published on 22.03.2024

Bunny Wailer - Solomonic Singles, Pt. 2: Rise & Shine (1977-1986) LP 2x12"

At the same time that Neville 'Bunny Wailer' Livingston recorded his debut solo long playing masterpiece, 'Blackheart Man', he was also creating a series of singles for his own Solomonic label. These records were every bit as good, at times even better, but they have never been released outside of Jamaica. Until now...,

It is next to impossible to ever overstate the importance of The Wailers to the history of Jamaican music and, as the last surviving member of the group, Bunny Wailer rightly regards himself as the sole keeper of their history ever mindful of the group's exalted position in the story of reggae music and the importance of their legacy. In 2010 Dub Store were proud to be able to work with Bunny on re-releasing a selection of his earliest recordings for the Solomonic label, lovingly restored and presented in reproduction sleeves and labels, on limited edition seven and twelve inch singles. Now, taking another step forward, we are more than proud to present Bunny's timeless music on two beautifully packaged CD's and double LP's. Bunny's first solo album, 'Blackheart Man' originally released in 1976 on his own Solomonic label in Jamaica and on Island in the UK, is one of the undisputed all time classics of Jamaican music and established Bunny Wailer as a highly respected, world renowned artist in his own right. During this period Bunny also produced a series of singles released in Jamaica and the UK in strictly limited quantities without the benefit of international distribution, that are every bit as good and, in some cases, even better than this awesome debut long player. Original copies have subsequently become highly prized, and highly priced, collector's items. "Classic rarities" is an overused and abused term too often employed to describe average records that failed to sell on their initial release but both 'Tread Along' and 'Rise & Shine' are packed from beginning to end with a searing selection of some of the greatest and hardest to find reggae records ever produced. 'Tread Along' opens, naturally enough, with 'Tread Along' from 1969, one of the last singles for The Wailers' own Wail N Soul M label, and runs through the first release on the Solomonic label, 'Searching For Love' also known as 'Search For I', 'Bide Up' released as 1974 drew to a close, a radical reworking of 'Pass It On' and a marked contrast to the version on The Wailers' 'Burnin'', album, 'Life Line' and the prophetic 'Arabs Oil Weapon' kept the pressure on as Bunny began outlining the flawless 'Blackheart Man' album. Each release was a certified classic in its own right. Peter Tosh's melodica version to Bunny's 'Amagideon' ('Armageddon'), the first track on 'Rise & Shine', is followed by 'Love Fire', an update of another Wail N Soul M track, 'Fire Fire'/'Babylon Burning', through to one of the deepest roots records ever created, 'Rise & Shine', on to 'Riding' from the 'Bunny Wailer Sings The Wailers' sessions (but not featured on the album) and a huge hit in the UK in 1981, and closing with 'Rule Dance Hall' from 1985. No idle boast..., The liner notes feature the story of The Wailers, as told to Dub Store by Bunny himself in Kingston in an enlightening 2012 interview, and rarely seen contemporary photographs complete these essential releases. The music of Bunny Wailer was not only a medium for change and protest but also to elucidate and educate and 'Tread Along' and 'Rise & Shine' finally complete the canon of un-compiled Wailers music. "I'm quite satisfied, you know, reggae music is the kind of music that although sometimes you would look at it and say..., boy, it's hard..., then again you look at what it has done for the people of the world you know that that couldn't be locked up in a little place like Jamaica!" Bunny Wailer

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Last In: 2 years ago
Various - Sixties Japanese Garage-Psych Sampler LP

Here's for the real thing! A late 60s Japanese compilation investigating the so-called "group sound" movement. Includes early recordings by a series of musicians later to perform with legendary bands such as the Flower Travellin' Band, Speed Glue & Shinki, Les Rallizes Denudes and Foodbrain. Must have !

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Last In: 2 years ago
SANULLIM - Vol. 1: Already Now

Sanullim

Vol. 1: Already Now

12inchGUESS243
GUERSSEN
15.03.2024
also available

Vol 2

Vol 2


Debut album by Korean psychedelic fuzz masters and the perfect introduction to Sanullim’s unique world.

Formed in the early 70s by the three Kim brothers while they were still in University, Sanullim managed to release their first album in 1977 despite censorship, misunderstanding from their record company and rudimentary recording techniques problems. Fuelled by piercing psychedelic fuzz guitars, Farfisa styled garage organ, keyboards and sweet melodies, the created a very unique sound, unheard in Korea at the time. Including some of their most iconic songs like “Already Now” and “"Likely Late Summer" (famous for its inclusion on the “Love, Peace & Poetry” series.

*Original artwork in hard cardboard sleeve
*Sourced from the original masters
*Insert with liner notes by Hugh Dellar (Shindig!) and rare photos / memorabilia

“Their debut album featured a blistering fuzz guitar sound that bleeds in and out of the mix as well as what sounds like a tinny Farfisa set behind the sweetest of pop vocal melodies, and the nine tracks stretch out into strangely hypnotic diversions. It’s easy to grasp how psych and garage heads coming to these tracks cold would find much to dig here, and also simple to see how the recordings could be mistaken for something cut many years earlier” – Hugh Dellar (Shindig!)

pre-order now15.03.2024

expected to be published on 15.03.2024

SANULLIM - Vol. 2: Spread Silk On My Heart
also available

Vol 1

Vol 2


Debut album by Korean psychedelic fuzz masters and the perfect introduction to Sanullim’s unique world.

Formed in the early 70s by the three Kim brothers while they were still in University, Sanullim managed to release their first album in 1977 despite censorship, misunderstanding from their record company and rudimentary recording techniques problems. Fuelled by piercing psychedelic fuzz guitars, Farfisa styled garage organ, keyboards and sweet melodies, the created a very unique sound, unheard in Korea at the time. Including some of their most iconic songs like “Already Now” and “"Likely Late Summer" (famous for its inclusion on the “Love, Peace & Poetry” series.

*Original artwork in hard cardboard sleeve
*Sourced from the original masters
*Insert with liner notes by Hugh Dellar (Shindig!) and rare photos / memorabilia

“Their debut album featured a blistering fuzz guitar sound that bleeds in and out of the mix as well as what sounds like a tinny Farfisa set behind the sweetest of pop vocal melodies, and the nine tracks stretch out into strangely hypnotic diversions. It’s easy to grasp how psych and garage heads coming to these tracks cold would find much to dig here, and also simple to see how the recordings could be mistaken for something cut many years earlier” – Hugh Dellar (Shindig!)

pre-order now15.03.2024

expected to be published on 15.03.2024

AyGeeTee & Actress Pets - About You MC

Prolific outsider artist Andrew G. Thomson - aka AyGeeTee - brings his unique sonic language to Kit Records, with a frenetic peep into a sprawling archive of unreleased work.

About You mutates through elastic synthesis, torporific loops, dislocated percussion and the splattered voices of AyGeeTee's backing group, The Actress Pets.

What begins life as a dervish of repurposed instrumental fragments ('Today's W'), ghosts into mantric pop irreverence ('Troubled Dinghy'), burnished orbits of guitar ('Sweetness One') and shuddering avant rap atmospheres ('Raiders').

Recommended if you like Carl Stone, Odd Nosdam, Shit and Shine.

About You is pressed to a very limited run of 50 tapes, with artwork by Andrew.

pre-order now15.03.2024

expected to be published on 15.03.2024

SANULLIM - Vol. 3: My Heart (My Soul Is A Wasteland)
also available

Vol 1

Vol 2


Third album, originally released in 1978, by legendary Korean psychedelic band Sanullim. From heavy-fuzz psychedelic garage to slow burners, including the monster sidelong track “You Are Already Me”, the title track (which sounds like a Korean Blue Cheer) and more! *Original artwork in hard cardboard sleeve *Sourced from the original masters *Insert with liner notes and rare photos / memorabilia “This time, whilst the fuzz guitar and strangely basic bass and drum patterns are more familiar, it’s the frequently gruff, howling vocals that are the most noticeably different element of the sound” – Hugh Dellar (Shindig!)

pre-order now15.03.2024

expected to be published on 15.03.2024

Maj Rachel - My Shadow Was a Nun LP

Redrum Recordz and Fremdtunes present:
Maj Rachel - 'My Shadow Was a Nun'
With her debut "My Shadow Was a Nun", Maj Rachel creates anamalgam of soul, musique concrete, sound design experimentsand classical. She employs objects as percussion, fieldrecordings, piano, guitar, synths, violin and effects incompositions that are rich in color and contrast. Her music isabstract, paradoxical, full of emotion. At times, her voicesubmerges into a tumultuous sea of reverb and distortion, onlyto emerge in soft, bittersweet melodies. She sounds dark andeerie. She sounds romantic and whimsical. In short, it's apowerful debut album that engages the mind, heart, and gut.
This is what Maj herself says about "My Shadow Was a Nun":
"So sensitive yet so immune. Light beams shine through millionsof holes. The sun makes the black thick wall seem light grey.The light pulls apart to colors. Love feels painful yet beautiful.You are around even though you're not. A brain doesn't like tothink it's alone. Arranged sound into personal stories, all self-recorded. Because sound creates deep emotion."

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Last In: 2 years ago
Raär - Will I Ever Sleep Again

Raär

Will I Ever Sleep Again

12inchARTS042
ARTS
13.03.2024

2024 Repress

Raar output is a unique sound design that explores a different side of techno, he orbits between hard and very delicate sounds, his world is a beautiful painting that inspires us to think further in what can be done with the genre called techno. These beautiful 5 cuts are the celebration of his beautiful artist path, now is he finally with us to shine like never before.

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Last In: 6 months ago
SOICHI TERADA - APES IN THE NET LP

6-track EP compilation with Terada's work for the Ape Escape games, tip!

Outside of the international house underground, where his early ‘90s works for the Far East Recording label he co-founded with Shinichiro Yokota are rightly celebrated as bona-fide classics, Soichi Terada is best-known for his work composing music for video games. Yet until now, few of his productions for video games have been released outside of Japan, especially on vinyl.

Apes In The Net, a six-track EP featuring music composed for the popular PlayStation 1 series Ape Escape, sets the record straight. It not only showcases Terada’s quality as a composer and producer, but also his versatility. Like much of Terada’s work on the Ape Escape series, the tracks featured don’t explore deep, New York and New Jersey influenced house sounds, but rather his lesser-celebrated love of jungle and drum & bass – a sound he fully explored on 1996 album Sumo Jungle.

“The producer of the Ape Escape games heard that and got in touch,” Soichi remembers. “They asked me to make the soundtrack, and then work on the music for the sequels after that. I used to love making music with AKAI hardware samplers, synthesisers, and computers, so I played and recorded the tracks using almost the same methods as I did when I made house music. Using breakbeats and audio samples with a sampler was the most useful way to make the soundtracks.”

The six tracks on show, which were originally recorded in the ‘90s but reconstructed and remastered for Japan-only CD and digital releases over a decade ago, mix elements of Terada’s familiar deep house style – think warming chords and pads, memorable melodies, and emotive musical motifs – with blistering D&B breakbeats, 16-bit synth sounds, electronic bleeps and undeniably weighty basslines. They’ve stood the test of time and arguably sound just as fresh now as they did at the turn of the millennium.

For proof, check the soaring, spellbinding ‘Spectors Castle’, where uplifting lead lines and sumptuous chords dance atop punchy beats and growling bass, the jazzy and saucer-eyed rush of ‘Mount Amazing’ (all twinkling piano motifs, alien synth sounds, squelchy bass and skittish drums) and the intergalactic, liquid D&B excellence of ‘Time Station’, whose whistling melodies and stargazing chords are undeniably alluring.

There are plenty of other delights to be found across the EP, too, from the bustling, race-to-the-finish breathlessness of D&B/bleep techno fusion workout ‘Spectors Factory In’, and the rumbling sub-bass, creepy pads and suspenseful melodies of ‘Haunted House’, to the bombastic, all-out-assault on the senses that is ‘Coaster’, the set’s most “purist” jungle workout – albeit one that also doffs a cap to the pulsating world of big room techno.

Apes In The Net, then, celebrates Soichi Terada’s mastery as a video games composer and early Japanese junglist. Props are well and truly overdue.

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Last In: 18 months ago
Alma Negra - Madrugada EP

Dersu and Diego Figueura are Basel-based brothers also known as Alma Negra and have been responsible for some seriously fresh and funky, afro-inspired dance music since their inception a decade ago. With releases on Heist, Lumberjacks In Hell, Basic Fingers and their own Alma Negra imprint, the duo wear their Cape Verdean roots proudly on their sleeves ensuring a warm, tropical sound emanates through their productions. For their Delusions debut Alma Negra have delivered a compelling and well-rounded EP which shows off their skills across two original tracks, a dub version and a brilliant remix from Yuksek.

Title track Madrugada takes us directly to the afterparty. More specifically, the kitchen of the house party where the action invariably continues to the early hours. Live horns, guitar, percussion and bass all bring a big sound and real band groove to the production making for a feel good modern-day boogie tune guaranteed to lift the spirits.

Next up we have the aptly named Funky Fever which treads a similar path with big horn parts rubbing up alongside Moog synth lines and punctuated with 80’s tom fills and a rock solid rhythm guitar riff. The real star of the show is the vocal which is unashamedly raw and unpolished giving an authentic and endearing hook to the track.

French producer Yuksek is someone whose productions we’ve been loving for some time and really happy to finally have him onboard for a remix for what we feel is the perfect project for him. Like Alma Negra, Yuksek is another talent who is difficult to pigeonhole and enjoys mashing up genres and incorporating many outernational influences into his sound. On his remix of Madrugada he keeps many of the live parts intact but generally ‘houses’ up the drums and mix which increases the energy without losing the overall vibe of the original.

Closing out the EP we have Alma Negra’s own Dub Mix of Madrugaga which goes for a classic dub approach; pairing back the parts, muting the vocals and creating space for the groove to shine, all making for a perfect track to warm up the dance floor early doors.

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Last In: 20 months ago
BRYNDLE - Bryndle LP

Bryndle

Bryndle LP

12inch638126751324
High Moon Records
08.03.2024

Das Debütalbum von Bryndle, einem Kollektiv aus Karla Bonoff, Kenny Edwards, Linda Ronstadt, Andrew Gold und Wendy Waldman, bietet
angenehmen Folk-Pop, der an die Soloarbeiten der einzelnen Mitglieder erinnert. Ursprünglich 1995 erschienen, ist es jetzt wieder auf Vinyl
erhältlich.

pre-order now08.03.2024

expected to be published on 08.03.2024

Two Opposites - Escape From Reality EP

For its 2nd release, Sweet Notes is happy to welcome the Italian duo Two Opposites to its imprint! Begin the adventure with "Escape Reality", where celestial synths elevate you to the cosmos. A dash of pop flair in the playful bassline lightens the mood, making you groove from head to toe on this mind-bending escape!

The second track, "Gravitone", means business from the start. A serious vibe that compels you to exchange intense looks with your mates or strangers on the dance floor. The whirling stab? It's like an old computer crashing, but in the coolest way. Paired with an acid house beat, get ready to techno-nod with newfound seriousness!

Dive into the EP's third track, "Magic Gate", where a deep bassline takes you on a mind-soaring journey. Shimmering synths elevate the experience. Once open, the magic gate leads you into its twisted slide tunnel—a wild, memorable ride awaits, so you better buckle up!

Enter the laid-back realm of "Melocity," where multi-directional stabs guide your mind on an intense self-trip. It's mellow yet positively infectious, and those shiny stabs? They're the secret giggle-inducing agents. Let the carefree vibes roll!

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Last In: 14 months ago
ARMIN VAN BUUREN - A STATE OF TRANCE YEAR MIX 2023 LP 3x12"
 
104

F8 . Liam Melly - Energy
F9 . Armin Van Buuren - Space Case
F10 . The Obsessed - Free Yourself
F11 . Ie Shuuk & B Stylezz - Konje
F12 . Armin Van Buuren - Lose This Feeling (Maddix remix)
F13 . Armin Van Buuren - Lose This Feeling (Dimension remix)
F14 . Armin Van Buuren - AI Vs Humanity (A State Of Trance Year mix 2023 outro)

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Last In: 2 years ago
EMAHOY TSEGE MARIAM GEBRU - SOUVENIRS LP

Das erste Album mit Gesang der geliebten äthiopischen Nonne, Komponistin und Pianistin Emahoy Tsege Mariam Gebru enthält tiefgründige und bewegende Kassettenaufnahmen, die inmitten politischer Umwälzungen und Unruhen entstanden sind. Es sind Lieder über Weisheit, Verlust, Trauer und Exil, die direkt in eine Boombox gesungen und von Emahoys unverwechselbarem Klavier begleitet werden. Obwohl sie die Lieder noch im Haus ihrer Familie in Addis Abeba schrieb und aufnahm, singt Emahoy über den Schmerz, weit weg von zu Hause zu sein, über die Revolution von 1974 und den Roten Terror in Äthiopien und über eine Vorahnung ihres zukünftigen Exils in Jerusalem. Im 21. Jahrhundert ist Emahoy weltweit für ihren ganz eigenen melodischen und rhythmischen Stil bekannt geworden. Häufig als "jazzy" oder "honky tonk" fehlinterpretiert, entspringt Emahoys Musik in Wirklichkeit einer tiefen Auseinandersetzung mit der westlichen klassischen Tradition, gemischt mit ihrem Hintergrund in traditioneller und orthodoxer äthiopischer Musik. Diese Lieder, die zwischen 1977 und 1985 aufgenommen wurden, unterscheiden sich von allem, was die Künstlerin bisher veröffentlicht hat. Die Geräusche der Vögel vor dem Fenster, das Knarren der Klavierbank und das Klopfen von Emahoys Finger auf der Aufnahmetaste vermitteln das Gefühl, bei der Künstlerin zu sein, während sie aufnimmt. Emahoys Texte, die sie auf Amharisch singt, sind poetisch und schwer von der Last des Exils. "Als ich hinausschaute / hinter die Wolken / konnte ich den Himmel meines Landes nicht sehen / bin ich wirklich so weit gegangen?", fragt sie in "Is It Sunny or Cloudy in the Land You Live?" Ihr Gesang ist zart und innig und zeichnet die melodischen Konturen ihres Klaviers nach.

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Last In: 21 months ago
Viktoria Tolstoy - Stealing Moments LP

Viktoria Tolstoys ACT-Debütalbum »Shining On You« aus dem Jahr 2004 markiert aus heutiger Sicht einen wichtigen Moment in der Erfolgsgeschichte populärer Jazzstimmen aus Skandinavien. Die Musik für die Aufnahme schrieb Esbjörn Svensson, der zusammen mit Dan Berglund und Magnus Öström die Kern-Band bindet, welche wenig später als e.s.t. weltberühmt wurde. Das von Nils Landgren produzierte Album ist auch ein Treffen vieler Mitglieder der damals noch jungen ACT Family of Artists, die als Gäste an der Session teilnahmen.

Genau 20 Jahre später hat Viktoria Tolstoy für »Stealing Moments« die Idee des »familiären« Musikzierens wieder aufgegriffen. Die Kompositionen des Albums stammen von einer ganzen Reihe aktueller ACT Künstler, von denen viele auch schon an »Shining on You« beteiligt waren. Und auch Esbjörn Svensson ist auf besondere Art am Album beteiligt: Von ihm stammt die Instrumentalkomposition »Hands Off«, für welche seine Frau Eva nun einen Text verfasst hat. Dazu kommen Kompositionen, die langjährige Freunde und Weggefährten wie Nils Landgren, Ida Sand, Wolfgang Haffner, Cæcilie Norby, Lars Danielsson, Iiro Rantala und Jan Lundgren eigens für Viktoria Tolstoy und ihre Stimme geschrieben haben.

»Wenn du singst, geht die Sonne auf«, sagte Pat Metheny einst zu Viktoria Tolstoy. Ihre klare, kraftvoll strahlende Stimme ist der rote Faden, der alle Stücke auf »Stealing Moments« verbindet. Dazu kommt eine Mischung aus Energie und Leichtigkeit, die Viktoria Tolstoy als Person ausmacht und die sich durch die Musik auf die Zuhörer überträgt. Ihre Botschaft ans Publikum, in Anlehnung an den Albumtitel: »Lasst mich Euch ein bisschen Zeit stehlen, um dieser Musik zuzuhören.«

pre-order now01.03.2024

expected to be published on 01.03.2024

Takatsugu Muramatsu - Phoenix: Reminiscence of Flower (Original Soundtrack) LP 2X12"

STUDIO4℃×Osamu Tezuka

A story of the love and adventure of a woman who lived for 1300 years.

``Phoenix'' Nostalgia Arc has been made into two animated works with different endings!

Theatrical release of the movie “Firebird Eden no Hana” / Disney Plus “Firebird Eden no Sora” world exclusive distribution

Master Osamu Tezuka is hailed as the "God of Manga" and is still revered all over the world. Of the 12 stories in the timeless masterpiece "The Phoenix," which became his masterpiece and life's work, the "Nostalgia Chapter," which depicts the future of the earth and the universe in which we live, will finally be made into an animated film for the first time. STUDIO4°C, which continues to create artistic video works, was the one who completed the spectacular spectacle, which took seven years to create. The voice actors include Rie Miyazawa, who plays the main characters Romi, Yosuke Kubozuka, Issey Ogata, Honoka Yoshida, Shintaro Asanuma, and Ryohei Kimura. A gorgeous voice actor team gathers to make a timeless masterpiece into a movie. The person in charge of the music is Takatsugu Muramatsu, who is active in a wide range of areas including film music and providing music for numerous artists. The music, which has both a grand scale and a poetic feel, gently envelops the story.

pre-order now01.03.2024

expected to be published on 01.03.2024

LYSISTRATA - VEIL LP

LYSISTRATA hat die Kurve zu ihrer dritten Platte mit einer unglaublichen Geschmeidigkeit gemeistert. Das Indie-Rock-Trio aus Saintes, Frankreich markiert den Übergang zum Erwachsenenalter, indem sie ihren Pop-Aspekt sublimiert. "Veil" - produziert von dem New Yorker Ben Greenberg (Metz, Algiers, Beach Fossils, DIIV usw.) - ist ein Album, das geschaffen wurde, um zu tanzen, zu singen und seine Gefühle bis zur Hingabe auszuleben. Ein verbindendes Album, das weit über den ersten Kreis der Fans dieser so ehrlichen Band hinaus richtig und stark berühren wird.

pre-order now01.03.2024

expected to be published on 01.03.2024

Bob Marley - Trenchtown Rockers

The album ‘Trenchtown Rock’ is a celebration of the place where Marley and many other Jamaican artists emerged. It evokes the atmosphere, culture, and resilience of the people of Trenchtown. The title track is often associated with the reggae movement and serves as an example of Bob Marley’s commitment to social and political issues of his time. With hits like ‘Sun is Shining,’ ‘Kaya ,’ or ‘Trenchtown Rock,’ this album helped define and popularize reggae worldwide. Alongside albums such as ‘Catch a Fire,’ ‘Burnin,’ ‘Natty Dread,’ ‘Rastaman Vibration,’ and ‘Exodus,’ it established Bob Marley as one of the greatest icons of 20th-century music.

pre-order now01.03.2024

expected to be published on 01.03.2024

ALICE COOPER - Welcome To My Nightmare LP 2x12"

1975 was a banner year for superstar Alice Cooper with the release of the groundbreaking concept album Welcome To My Nightmare. This album showcases Cooper's theatricality, storytelling prowess, and ability to create an immersive world of horror and fantasy.

From the opening notes of the title track, "Welcome to My Nightmare," listeners are transported into a dark and twisted dreamscape. Cooper's signature blend of rock, glam, and theatricality shines throughout the album. His gritty yet melodic vocals, combined with a richly layered musical backdrop, create an atmosphere of eerie enchantment. The album's production incorporates haunting orchestral arrangements, catchy hooks, and powerful guitar riffs, crafting a sonically diverse and captivating listening experience.

Teaming up again with his longtime producer Bob Ezrin, the duo assembled some of the greatest music to go along with the David Winter-produced TV special, and in doing so, created some of his best known songs like the huge hit single "Only Women Bleed." This Top 5 single carried Welcome To My Nightmare into multiple platinum territory and forever etched the word superstar to the name of Alice Cooper.

All the hallmarks of a top-notch Analogue Productions reissue are here for you to savor: Mastered directly from the original master tape by Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering and cut at 45 RPM. Pressed on 180-gram vinyl at Quality Record Pressings and RTI, and housed in tip-on old style gatefold double pocket jackets with film lamination by Stoughton Printing.

pre-order now29.02.2024

expected to be published on 29.02.2024

Sven Wunder - Piano Piano

Sven Wunder

Piano Piano

12inchPP1002
Piano Piano
28.02.2024

By welcoming the beauty of imperfection and simplicity, Sven Wunder applies the timeless wisdom of wabi sabi on this musical journey. What you can hear is filtered through Ukiyo-e (which translates as “pictures of the floating world”), which illustrates everyday life, as well as through Japonism, the study of Japanese art, and more specifically its influence on European works. The result is a surface that creates an illusion by sound. The infusion of Min’yō with jazz rock, this hazy scene evokes the landscape of Monet’s ”The Water Lily Pond”, which depicts the painter’s Giverny garden, with a Japanese bridge, bamboo, ginkgo trees and the reflection of the sky in the pond. This illusion constructs both time and space.

The surface of the music, like the canvas of the painting, invents a journey between now and then by interpreting the idiom of folkloric and western art instruments. In this composition, the sound of the Western concert flute, which stretches back to the Renaissance and Baroque periods, evokes the sound of the bamboo-flute (”shakuchachi”), which reached its peak during the Edo period. The guzheng, also known as the Chinese zither, with a more than 2,500 year history, joins traditional Japanese folk melodies with modern pop percussion and 20th century electronic instruments such as the Moog synthesizer, Wurlitzer electric piano and electric bass.

This is the illusion that celebrates the fleeting nature of all things. A journey. A deep inhale and a slow exhale. It has a mix of jazz (both funky and progressive), East Asian and South Asian sounds. The idea of fusing these styles and reframing them with the aesthetic of wabi sabi is to reconnect with nature and concentrate on asymmetries and emphasize ornamentation to generate new ways of looking at the world, here and now.

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Last In: 2 years ago
La Pambelé - La Pambelé LP

Bogotá's La Pambelé steps into the ring for their debut release on Names You Can Trust, and with it, they've joined a storied history in Colombia's prized salsa tradition. This new generation of talented musicians have come out for the 1st round with fire, grit and determination. Brass, keys, percussion and lyrics blast at you from all angles, evocative of the way the orchestra's namesake, the legendary Palenque boxer, used his flashing fists within the squared circle.

Featuring a full album of original compositions that have been faithfully recorded and mixed under the guidance of Mario Galeano Toro (Frente Cumbiero) and Daniel Michel (La Boa) at Mambo Negro Records, the approach is a return to the roots of salsa dura that continues to thrive in Colombia's deep musical training grounds. The promising future of the genre shines in the capable hands of La Pambelé and its players, and this introduction is sure to help vault the group from up-and-comer to title contender status.

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Last In: 2 years ago
Ṣonuga - Airing EP

Ṣonuga

Airing EP

12inchBC001
Black Cat
26.02.2024

BlackCat is the sister label to WhiteWolf Records. Its purpose is to
showcase undiscovered NY talent and friends of WhiteWolf. High
quality beats and intrinsic groove for your dancefloor.

With BC001 we introduce Ṣonuga aka Femi Shinuga-Fleming. A NYC
based techno producer and DJ with Nigerian and Caribbean roots and an extensive background in live experimental electronic music.

Ṣonuga is interested in the intersections of deep textural soundscapes, layered percussion and shuffled rhythms.
His debut EP, 'Airing' explores themes of sound and space influenced by his architectural studies, while also exploring and paying homage to contemporary dub techno.

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Last In: 19 months ago
Nasti - People Problem LP

Nasti

People Problem LP

12inchSSR107
Static Shock
26.02.2024

Nasti, the people’s favorite, is back with their third album of misanthropic hardcore punk. Sure to delight the senses of the senseless with thudding violence and irritated vitriol. It is the band’s opinion that humans are mostly garbage and this record reflects that sentiment wholeheartedly. “People Problem” is musical equivalent of Jack Nicholson in The Shining methodically/maniacally typing: I don’t like you. I don’t like you. I don’t like you. I don’t like you. I don’t like you. I don’t like you. I don’t like you. I don’t like you. I don’t like you. I don’t like you. I don’t like you. I don’t like you. I don’t like you. I don’t like you. I don’t like you. I don’t like you. I don’t like you. I don’t like you. I don’t like you. I don’t like you. I don’t like you. I don’t like you

pre-order now26.02.2024

expected to be published on 26.02.2024

PROCOL HARUM - SHINE ON

Procol Harum

SHINE ON

12inchECLECLP2501
Esoteric Music
23.02.2024

Shine On Brightly is the second studio album by English rock band Procol Harum. The title of the epic "In Held 'Twas in I" is an acrostic, taking the first word from the first movement as well as the first word from a verse later in the movement as well as the first word from each of the three successive movements as shown in the track listing.

pre-order now23.02.2024

expected to be published on 23.02.2024

BILL FAY GROUP - TOMORROW TOMORROW AND TOMORROW LP 2x12"

Die Versuchung, Bill Fay zu mythologisieren, kann überwältigend sein. Sein Status als unbesungener Held hat sich langsam, aber stetig, über fünfundzwanzig Jahre hinweg entwickelt und mit jedem neuen Album kommen Fans hinzu, darunter prominente Musiker wie Jeff Tweedy, Kevin Morby, Adam Granduciel und Julia Jacklin, um nur einige zu nennen. Fay war jahrzehntelang ebenso produktiv wie unterschätzt, innerhalb seines Katalogs ist die Bill Fay Group seine bedeutendste Zusammenarbeit. Nach seinem selbstbetitelten Debüt Bill Fay (1970) und dem Klassiker "Time of the Last Persecution" (1971) hatte Decca Records kein Interesse ein drittes Album zu veröffentlichen. Bill Stratton, Gary Smith, Rauf Galip formierten sich mit Fay zur Bill Fay Group und nahmen zwischen 1978 und 1981 in mehreren Sessions, trotz minimaler finanzieller Mittel, ein brillantes Album auf. Die Bandmitglieder beschwören ein elegantes Gegengewicht zu seinem Gespür für das Unauffällige. "Tomorrow Tomorrow and Tomorrow" bringt die galaktischen Qualitäten des frühen Rock, die Komplexität der Jazz-Improvisation und Fays erdigen Folk-Zauber zusammen. Zur Zeit der Fertigstellung fand sich aber leider kein Label für das Projekt. Erst 2005 brachte David Tibet auf seinem Label Durtro Records eine unvollständige, nur auf CD erhältliche Version heraus. Eine Neuauflage von 2006 machte das Album auf Vinyl erhältlich, allerdings mit stark gekürztem Tracklisting, es fehlten neun Songs. Jetzt endlich erscheint Tomorrow Tomorrow and Tomorrow weltweit in voller Länge. Es enthält die 22 Original-Songs des Albums, dazu 6 Bonustracks, sowie seltene und bisher unveröffentlichte Fotos von den ursprünglichen Aufnahmesessions von "Tomorrow Tomorrow and Tomorrow".

pre-order now23.02.2024

expected to be published on 23.02.2024

Grey, Jj & Mofro - Olustee LP

Grey,Jj&Mofro

Olustee LP

12inchLPAL5018
Alligator
23.02.2024
  • The Sea
  • Top Of The World
  • On A Breeze
  • Olustee
  • Seminole Wind
  • Wonderland
  • Starry Night
  • Free High
  • Waiting
  • Rooster
  • Deeper Than Belief

Olustee is a masterpiece of soul-shaking music. JJ’s deep Southern roots and skill as a storyteller shine through, whether he’s rocking with gospel-tent fervor or slowly winding his raspy voice around a lyric of heartbreak and loss. It’s an aggressively groove-driven record fueled by JJ’s gritty vocals and funk-infused guitar playing.

pre-order now23.02.2024

expected to be published on 23.02.2024

JLM Productions - Near The Ecliptic EP

marbled green vinyl

A1 - The Cartographer
JLM Productions opens the EP with an inspiring, uplifting intro leading wonderfully towards an intricate old school atmospheric drum loop, laden with sprightly deep bass tones with crisp, clear hats and cymbals. Luscious, long swaying strings weave their magic on the ears as catchy keys sneak around the movements of a cartographer far from silent, to create a composition which will rightly sit atop your playlist for some time to come.
A2 - Fata Morgana
Showcasing his diversity in the genre and an immense ability to seamlessly mix old school jungle sensibilities with a modern atmospheric twist, Fata Morgana sees JLM Productions fuse a medley of swirling, enveloping atmospheric pads and a tight two-step breaks to form a collage of inspired vibes which will fit perfectly within a synth wave-style dancefloor set - or a good old throwback jungle mix.
AA1 - The Navigator
Breaks are on the agenda immediately with The Navigator, bringing forth a myriad of fluid drum samples, filtered and chopped with old school sensibilities shining through. Tense pad work builds the vibe with washes of synths before the breaks switch up, throwing in more surprises to the mix alongside along early 90's jungle inspired melody. We are continually treated with layers of detail and intricacies with FX as the breaks reach their final form. A real treat.
AA2 - Aleya
Closing out the EP, we see JLM Productions deftly toying with the legendary Apache break, which features heavily in the varied cluster of classic jungle breaks on display. A diverse selection of pads and keys tint the engulfing atmospheric soundscape with a quiet Sci-Fi intensity, developing and
evolving towards a stunning breakdown before the breaks
return, eventually exhaling towards a fittingly epic outro.

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Last In: 9 months ago
ELMORE JAMES - Blues After Hours LP

Complete Album + 6 Bonus Tracks. Known as the "King of the Slide Guitar," Elmore James was the most influential slide guitarist of the postwar period. His music went far beyond his premature death in 1963 at the age of forty-five. He was credited with helping to invent blues rock and his style influenced a generation of blues-rock players like Eric Clapton, Peter Green, Duane Allman, and The Rolling Stones. Blues After Hourswas James' debut album, and one of the greatest blues albums of all-time. "Blues After Hours, originally released on LP by Crown in 1960, was Elmore James' first long- playing record. The crunchy garage sound of James' arrangements coupled with his passionate edgy vocals, quickly made him one of the most influential blues artists of his time." - AllMusic, 4.5 STARS

pre-order now23.02.2024

expected to be published on 23.02.2024

REMO DRIVE - MERCY LP

Remo Drive

MERCY LP

12inch279711
Epitaph Europe
23.02.2024

REMO DRIVE, the longstanding project of brothers Erik and Stephen Paulson, want you to feel something. Following a six-year run of pristine emo-influenced rock "n" roll records comes Mercy, the band"s fourth album and third for Epitaph. It"s the band"s most lyric-focused offering to date, a record about reinvention, trusting yourself, and wearing your heart on your sleeve even when it"s painful or vulnerable. Sonically, Mercy is also a major departure for REMO DRIVE. It"s less indebted to the emo and pop punk that foregrounded the duo"s career and instead invested in thorny, baroque indie pop byway of Father John Misty and Fleet Foxes. It was produced by Phil Ek, a legendary Seattle-based indie rock producer who has previously worked with those two bands as well as the Shins and Band of Horses, among others. REMO DRIVE worked with Ek over the course of ten days. "It was refreshing to work with Phil," says Erik, "It made music feel like how it did when we were younger. He was like fuck it, let"s go, let"s have fun." Mercy is a study in intimacy, in being real with yourself, in entering an exciting new creative chapter where you are making the art you really want to make. That"s where REMO DRIVE is today.

pre-order now23.02.2024

expected to be published on 23.02.2024

Hi-Tek - Werk Road

Hi-Tek

Werk Road

12inchHTK005
Hi-Tek Music
23.02.2024

After 25 years of living his dream as one of hip hop’s most respected producers, Hi-Tek is digging back into his roots with a brand new trio of instrumental vinyl LPs. “Werk Road (1997 MPC 60)” is the third volume of the series, each featuring a selection of restored and remastered beats, carefully chosen from an archive of DAT tapes. These LPs manage to both provide a window into Tek’s development and to shine light on the work of an already enormously talented musician whose beats would’ve sounded right at home on classic releases from the mid-1990s.

1997 is when the name Hi-Tek began to develop a global buzz, largely due to the combustible indie-rap scene. He’d moved on from the now-shuttered Beatbox Studios in his hometown of Cincinnati and began building his first proper home studio in his new apartment on Werk Road. With a borrowed Akai MPC 60 drum machine as the foundation, he began churning out beats at a more prolific rate than ever.

In addition to placements on debut LPs by Mood and Royal Flush, Tek would make his name in 1997 as one-half of the duo Reflection Eternal with Brooklyn MC Talib Kweli. Their Rawkus Records debut 12” “Fortified Live” was an instant smash, and it quickly placed him at the top of the class of up-and-coming beatmakers. His unique balance of bassline-driven grooves behind soulful samples would eventually lead him to be in high demand for artists across the spectrum of the genre, and in short time he was producing for Common, Snoop Dogg, Raphael Saadiq, Dr. Dre, 50 Cent, and others from all over the country.

The work featured on “Werk Road (1997 MPC 60)” reveals an artist who would not only become one of the most respected producers in rap, but one of the cultural ambassadors of his home city of Cincinnati for over 25 years. In 2022, Hi-Tek was inducted into the Cincinnati Black Music Walk of Fame alongside luminaries like The Isley Brothers, Bootsy Collins and Midnight Star, and remains the most successful hip hop artist that the city has ever produced.

pre-order now23.02.2024

expected to be published on 23.02.2024

The Appleseed Cast - The End Of The Ring Wars LP 2x12"

A stunning display of powerful emotion shines from the post-hardcore glory that defines The Appleseed Cast. The End Of The Ring Wars is a moving story about tragic loss and the battle to overcome the sorrow that lingers on. Disturbingly honest and passionately realized, The Appleseed Cast reminds us that sometimes the only way to feel alive is to grip closely the pain that made us who we are. This record will make your heart soar. This is a reissue of the long out-of-print vinyl version of the bands classic debut album on Deep Elm Records. 2xLP on heavy 180 gram vinyl. New artwork by Zum Heimathafen. Partly gloss printing on heavy deluxe gatefold sleeve.

pre-order now20.02.2024

expected to be published on 20.02.2024

The Silhouettes Project - The Silhouettes Project, Vol. 1 LP

The Silhouettes Project was founded by community organisers Jaden & Asher (aka Eerf Evil & Asher Kosher), and is a platform for the new generation of underground hip-hop, jazz, and soul artists in the UK. It aims to shine a light on artists who are making ground-breaking music but who are in need of a solid structure to work within - artists who they felt deserved more recognition. This led to the name ‘The Silhouettes Project’, as they wanted to shine a light on those artists in the shadows. In 2020, they released a number of singles that culminated in their self-titled debut LP, which has gained 65 million streams to date, & featured some of London’s foremost underground rappers & singers like ENNY, Lex Amor, & Kofi Stone. They will be releasing their second album in Q1 2024, The Silhouettes Project Volume II, starting the campaign this September with 'Knocked Down'. All proceeds from the album will go back into the organisation to support and sustain its running, its artists, and the non-profit studio ROOT 73 where the project was created. The contributors all receive an even split of the album, rather than of their specific track, which stays true to their ethos.

pre-order now16.02.2024

expected to be published on 16.02.2024

The Silhouettes Project - The Silhouettes Project, Vol. 1 LP

The Silhouettes Project was founded by community organisers Jaden & Asher (aka Eerf Evil & Asher Kosher), and is a platform for the new generation of underground hip-hop, jazz, and soul artists in the UK. It aims to shine a light on artists who are making ground-breaking music but who are in need of a solid structure to work within - artists who they felt deserved more recognition. This led to the name ‘The Silhouettes Project’, as they wanted to shine a light on those artists in the shadows. In 2020, they released a number of singles that culminated in their self-titled debut LP, which has gained 65 million streams to date, & featured some of London’s foremost underground rappers & singers like ENNY, Lex Amor, & Kofi Stone. They will be releasing their second album in Q1 2024, The Silhouettes Project Volume II, starting the campaign this September with 'Knocked Down'. All proceeds from the album will go back into the organisation to support and sustain its running, its artists, and the non-profit studio ROOT 73 where the project was created. The contributors all receive an even split of the album, rather than of their specific track, which stays true to their ethos.

pre-order now16.02.2024

expected to be published on 16.02.2024

Maston - Darkland

Maston

Darkland

12inchBEWITH096LP
Be With Records
16.02.2024

2023 Repress

Maston’s Darkland is a breezy collection of the material from the Tulips sessions that didn’t make it on to the original LP. Originally a digital-only release for those in the know in the autumn of 2018, after re-issuing Tulips in 2020 it made too much sense for Be With to give Darkland a vinyl release.

Like Tulips, Darkland was recorded mostly in Hoorn, in the Netherlands, between 2015-2017 during downtime from Frank’s touring duties with Jacco Gardner’s band. Bits were also done in Los Angeles on some extended trips back home.

The collection plays like an alternate view of Maston’s instant modern classic Tulips; a companion piece to the LP proper with similar mixture of shorter themes and more full length tracks. As Frank Maston explains: “I think Darkland is the shadow of Tulips in a way… what it might’ve been in a different universe. But the heart of Tulips beats in these songs as well and they evoke the same memories and feelings for me. I see my process playing out across these songs - lots of experimentation and trying out new techniques and sounds and just sort of going for it.”

Frank goes on: “It was all from the same pool of material, like 30+ ideas. I was making a lot of little demos… some would be more fleshed out and become songs and others would just be a cool riff and not go anywhere. When I started trying to form it all into an LP I went through all the sessions and ideas and collected the ones I thought were the most fleshed out and cohesive together as a whole. There were a fair amount of songs that were finished and in hindsight really should have been on Tulips (like what would’ve been the title track). And the rest of these songs are either very early versions of tunes that ended up on Tulips or some cool ideas that just ended up being dead ends. It definitely shows how wide my net was in the beginning before I narrowed the record down stylistically.”

Darkland opens with its ornate 39 second title-track before striding into “Tulips”, that full-length title-track that never was. It’s a real head-nod, percussive-rich electric piano stunner that would’ve been a comfortable standout on the album proper. But now this “downlifting” gem is given ample room to shine on this record.

The funky organ-led bass and drums workout “Immaculate Conception” will keep your neck gently snapping while MPC fiends go reaching for their sampler. And that’s gospel. “Love Theme No 3” cuts a breathtakingly stylish vibra-slapped swathe through the middle of the opening side before we’re startled by the pronounced bass and twinkling percussion of “The Owl In Daylight”. Charming digi-drums underpin the wonky synth (quiet-)banger “Innovative Patterns” which has a lovely melodic switch-up in the final third before the tempo (and hairs on your neck) rise on the faintly creepy yet imminently groovy “Osiris”. The gorgeously soft-focus “Groove Experiment No 3” closes out the first half in slow-mo wonderment.

The lushly melancholic “Raincloud” ushers in side B before the emotionally-stirring “Phonic” taps at the door, coming on like the long lost sister to Pet Sounds’ “Let’s Go Away For A While”. Next up, the swooning beauty “Love Theme No 2” keenly sways in front of you, growing ever more insistent and hypnotic. The too-short “Italian Summer” conjures the same flirtatious imagery as the title hints at whilst “Endless” is a fascinating “piano-pella” alternative version to “Rain Dance” from Tulips. “Wonder Theme” has a nostalgic, exotic 60s swing and album closer “Willow” is a hushed, campfire folk gem. The gently circular strumming is just magical.

Speaking to Aquarium Drunkard back in 2019 about the sessions that became Tulips, Frank noted: “I was really surprised by the lack of sunlight during my first winter in Holland, so I would call it Darkland which then became the name of the first demo I wrote during that time. It was also the working title of the record when I first started writing. Some are full songs that didn’t make the cut (including what would have been the title track), some are just ideas that I never finished.”

Whilst we were working on Darkland’s vinyl release Frank explained more specifically about the music that didn’t make it on to Tulips: “When I was putting together the tracklisting for Tulips I was already thinking that whatever didn’t make it onto the LP would be cool to release eventually somehow. The response to Tulips has been so passionate over the years that it’s nice to be able to offer another piece of that world. And for me personally it’s amazing to have more of my work out there in the world. Most common bit of feedback was that many of these songs should have been on Tulips. The odd friend says it’s much better than Tulips.”

Just like Tulips before it, Simon Francis’s vinyl mastering for Darkland has been cut at 45rpm so you can trip out to this as well at a woozy 33 1/3. The artwork too has been designed by Frank himself as a literal visual continuation of the Tulips cover.

We couldn’t possibly say whether Darkland is better than Tulips, and luckily we don’t have to decide.

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Last In: 4 years ago
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