Search:m plant

Leipzig's Salomo - who caught attention with his contribution to the labels previous compilation is now releasing his full solo LP via VARY. 12 tracker that provides an organic transition from house to ambient - suitable for club play, your next pool party or as a birthday gift to your mother in law. Conscious of it's inspirations, the record is a slight nod in the direction of contemporary electronic music from London, Vancouver and Detroit that still strikes with integrity & originality.

With a hybrid jazz based on African grooves, Ethio-oriental melodies and psychedelic dub this Belgian five-piece creates an atmosphere where ancient and modern sounds fuse into a powerful, hypnotic and groovy sensation.

Receiving critical acclaim for their second album 'Artifacts' (2017), the Belgian quintet are pleased to announce the release of their much-anticipated third album entitled 'Future Flora', released 12th April via Sdban Ultra on vinyl / cd / digital.

Piloted by saxophonist/flutist/composer Nathan Daems (Ragini Trio, Dijf Sanders, Echoes of Zoo), the input of notorious musicians, drummer Simon Segers (MDC III, De Beren Gieren, Stadt), cornet player Jon Birdsong (dEUS, Beck, Calexico), keyboardist Wouter Haest (Voodoo Boogie) and bassist Filip Vandebril (Lady Linn, The Valerie Solanas) leads to the specific universe that only Black Flower is able to create.

Where debut album 'Abyssinia Afterlife' (2014) and 'Artifacts' (2017) bathed in an atmosphere of psychedelics, mythical figures, ancient sounds and modern cultures, new album 'Future Flora' refers to the power of plants and their importance for the future.

"'Future Flora' is a metaphor for the importance of feeding and watering powerful and revolutionary ideas and initiatives that can save our world. You can compare it with plants that fight between the paving stones of the city for their future. These "urban warriors" need water to survive and grow. Their future and ours depends entirely on how we look at the plant world", says Daems.

Black Flower's musical cross-pollination of sounds and rhythms remain on 'Future Flora', but there is still room for a more Western touch with Romanian and Maloya (Réunion) influences. Daems developed his own arrangements where Western, Oriental and Ethiopian scales and chords are fused together to create a real mix of traditional instrumentation and modern electrical vibrations.

The strong underlying groove is omnipresent, but the room for psychedelics, folklore and experimentation grows. Songs like new single 'Hora de Aksum' combine modern western rhythms with doses of Balkan eccentricities while 'Future Flora' takes you on a psyche-delicious 21th century Ethio-dub-jazz trip with echoes of Mulatu Astatke and Fela Kuti.

"The general feeling that dominates is that of strength and perseverance. The feeling that we have to fight for our future and that we have to do it now! The whole album is interspersed with this atmosphere and sounds swirling, haunting and ecstatic. For those who once saw Black Flower live at work, this energy will be extremely recognizable", he adds.

It's auspicious that Sonic Boom-the solo project and nom-de-producer of Peter Kember (Spectrum, Spacemen 3)-returns in 2020 with its first new LP in three decades. Kember's drawn to the year's numerological potency, and this intentionality shines into every corner of All Things Being Equal. It's a meditative, mathematical record concerned with the interconnectedness of memory, space, consumerism, consciousness-everything. Through regenerative stories told backwards and forwards, Kember explores dichotomies zen and fearsome, reverential of his analog toolkit and protective of the plants and trees that support our lives. Sonic Boom's second album and first for Carpark began in 2015 as electronic jams. The original sketches of electronic patterns, sequenced out of modular synths, were so appealing that Stereolab's Tim Gane encouraged Kember to release them instrumentally. "I nearly did," confesses Kember, "but the vibe in them was so strong that I couldn't resist trying to ice the cake." Three years later, a move to Portugal saw him dusting off the backing tracks, adding vocals inspired by Sam Cooke, The Sandpipers, and the Everly Brothers (which he admits "don't go far from the turntable pile"), as well as speculative, ominous spoken word segments. His new home Sintra's parks and gardens provided a different visual context for Kember's thoughtful observations, and he thematically incorporated sunshine and nature as well as global protests into the ten resulting tracks. "Music made in sterility sounds sterile," he says, "And that is my idea of hell."

We first encountered DJ Varsovie back in 2018 when Guillaume Labadie proposed him as the remixer for Walpurgis Night on the I Hate Models / Khemia release Midnight Cults.

So the dark love affair began and developed into an intoxicated obsession, The spores were planted in the dark substrata late at night and the mycelium thread led us to where you are now. The Monster devoured the Labyrinth.

Tyyni is the third album by Finnish-born sound artist and musician Cucina Povera aka Maria Rossi. The second album recorded using a more studio-based scenario – as opposed to last year’s Zoom, a collection of in-situ, spontaneous recordings – Tyyni feels like a slowly unfurling mediation on the clash between nature and mechanical living, a rumination on the complexities of modern life that begin to unveil more about the inner landscape of the artist as it progresses. A Finnish word referring to still, serene weather, the title belies a new note of turmoil in Cucina Povera’s soundworld. Tyyni represents a more detailed focus on the sculpting of sounds that curl around Rossi’s hymnal vocal performances. It’s a more adventurous work than Rossi’s previous output that goes further into noise elements and vocal abstraction while maintaining the balance and ecclesiastical ecstasy of her debut Hilja.

While tension at the core of Cucina Povera is always prevalent, previously it was organic sounds that were used to counterpoint Rossi’s singing but on Tyyni these are often replaced with aggressive synths and distortion, profane clashes with the seemingly sacred hymns. Whether close mic’d and intoning in a loop or in full flight, Maria Rossi’s voice remains in the foreground, set here against a more synthetic backdrop. This development builds new worlds for Cucina Povera, a digital environment which brings in a sense of the alien for Rossi’s vocal to duel. The effect is often dazzling. On Salvia Salvatrix, an ode to the medicinal plant used to ward off evil spirits, Rossi’s invocation is encircled by a distorted synth sound tearing at the fabric of the composition. It’s an inspired juxtaposition, leaving the listener to appreciate both sounds as separate and as a duet. Anarkian kuvajainen embraces a sense of chaos, an accidental transmitting mobile phone’s pulse is swept up gently with looped synth swells as Rossi’s prayer-like vocal rhythmically teases the composition into loops that embrace and then drift apart. Teerenpeli flirts with a minimal beat rendered by sampler and processed, layered field recordings of capercaillies, while Side A ends with one of Rossi’s most beautiful, simple tracks yet recorded. Varjokuvatanssi is an a cappela recording built on top of a wordless glossolalia, a shadowy interplay which foregrounds the solo vocal.

Pölytön nurkka is the most melodic song yet recorded by Cucina Povera. While it still maintains an off-the-cuff performance style, the synthesized chimes and 4/4 beat are smothered by a distorted synthesizer which almost replicates the bravado of an electric guitar feedbacking into the night. Rossi’s subject matter talks of trying to start anew, getting rid of extraneous material, perhaps still feeling powerless to affect positive change. On Haaksirikkoutunut, the protagonist vocal is lost, a vessel rudderless on the ocean, buffeted by waves metaphorical or real, digital, atonal chords gurgling and splashing against the bow, a storm forever brewing on the horizon. Saniaiset recalls Coil in its eldritch, nocturnal tone and digital-bell like synth, Rossi’s half-spoken/half-sung voice attaining a creepy tone before flipping into flight. Album closer Jolkottelureitti uses an escalating, sequenced synth that splinters into both abrasive tones and harmonising chords creating a kosmische effect, reminding the listener of Kluster or synth-era Popol Vuh, all the while elevated by Rossi’s searching vocalising.

For an artist with such a singularly unique musical language, Cucina Povera is continually teasing new strands and emotive tones from an evolving palette. Most importantly, Tyyni appears to be pulling back the veil to uncover an artist finding a synergy between her own emotional inner world and practice. As such, on her third album, Maria Rossi has found a third way between abstraction and extraneous emotion, personal experience turned inside out to reveal more about the listener.

This record on Kvitnu presents live recordings be PAN SONIC played in Kyiv, Ukraine on June 6th, 2009.
Oksastus – is a Finnish word for process of grafting or cultivating of plants.

"Pan Sonic, the Finnish noise duo who split in 2010, recorded this meticulous live effort in 2009 in Kyiv in the Ukraine. It's impossible to frame it without thinking about the impending meltdown of both band and country, cloaking Oksastus in an apocalyptic backdrop." Pitchfork, 2014 (7.1 rating)

► One half of duo Lumisokea and persistent sonic explorer ANDREA TAEGGI (Opal Tapes, SM-LL, Type, Präsens Editionen) debuts on OOH-sounds with a new solo album under-the-influence of mushrooms.

► Recorded at Willem-Twee synthesis studios in Holland, Mycorrhiza is a lucid excursion into a new form of 'ritual-computer-music' — gamelan from the future.

►Master + Cut by Helmut Erler, D&M Berlin. Limited Edition of 200, 12" black vinyl housed in gold cardboard sleeve with 'ad-hoc' fluo sticker.

Of course this is not the first album born under-the-influence of mushrooms, but apparentlyTaeggi doesn't take them here as he rather observes the cognitive and intelligent behavior of mycorrhizal fungal roots—one of the great mysteries inhabiting the forest soil, and from which a network of beneficial underground relationships with plants sprouts. Known as Mycelium, this fascinating wood-wide-web very much resembles the intricacy of the human neural system—transporting carbon, water and nutrients from one tree to another. A mutualistic symbiosis that Taeggi similarly establishes with the rather rare arsenal of sound machineries he had access to at Willem-Twee synthesis studios in Holland—a center for experimentation inspired by Berio and Maderna's Studio di Fonologia RAI in 1950s Milan.

In the process of tweaking and feeding electric impulses and sound signals into instruments of the likes of the iconic ARP 2500/2600 and a number of testing/measuring units from the 50/60s—originallynot conceived as musical instruments—Taeggi engages into an exchange of nutrients and information, while abruptly sabotaging un-welcome elements, hence accelerating the sound superhighway towards spectral psychedelic tension—a process he seems to be extremely in control of. Taking a step aside from his usual minimal approach to address more complex structures and augmented mind-sets, Mycorrhiza sounds at times like gamelan from the future: a lucid excursion into a form of "ritual-computer-music" with a conspicuous penchant for detail,alluding to a continuitybetween pseudo-cerimonial and laboratory-like computer music, steering clear from any reference to a specific creed or religion—imagine Stockhausen drinking the Amazonian sacred brew Ayahuasca..

The swarming micro-movements of "Cuttleburrs" multiply in a series of crescendos marked by sudden falls, saturated drums incursions and tense sonic clusters, introducing the more explicit gamelan percussive tones and compositional forms of "Kodama" and "Icaro". Recorded on the ARP 2500, "Mycorrhiza" uses white noise generators, resonant bass and spring reverb to conjure up a magical fungal diorama, which expands into the spooky shadows of skeletons and demons of "Phantasmagoria" and the spectral mystics of "Oculus Cordis"—the Eye of the Spirit — in which Taeggi grapples with the same sine-wave generators that Stockhausen used in his seminal "Studie I" and "Studie II".

Part I (Disc 1)

The Taiwanese artist Yutie Lee covers six Chinese folk songs about Flowers.
Tuberosa, Rose, Jasmine, Plum Blossom, Orchids & Chamomile all are odes to the beauty of the plant. The flower also being a metaphor for something we are desperately longing for, but can never quite get. However you may want to interpret the songs, they are all telling a story of something pure and indestructible. In the end nature will prevail?
Romantic thoughts created in a time long before the current state of the world.
By artificially mutating her voice, Yutie Lee successfully manages to transfer the songs into 2020s arguably much more complex, dystopian reality. She does this not without a bow to the past, prevailing something of the original songs sweet essence, even adding a layer of humour… in the end leaving the listener with a feeling of good hope.

Part II (Disc 2-3)

To complete the package Yutie Lee’s versions have been remixed by, Alva Noto, Bell Towers, Laura Groves, Oceanic and Suzanne Kraft.

We left them to take over,
to brake hopes,
to snatch any desire.

As distorted images on a screen,
They changed the balances of our lives.

They imposed false myths in our believes,
In our most intimate thoughts,
In the semantics of our meditations.

They chose the path of everyone,
As androids, they conducted us to the implosion,
Of souls, of rigid sentiments,
Of vitreous look.

They took the control of each decision,
Changing the order of priorities,
Changing the given meaning,
The significant and the significance.

They left us weak
In the bodies, in the spirits
On a slimy ground,
Sliding towards the loss of consciousness
Towards the end of our existences.

We pass away in our silent souls,
In a hibernation without return

- UTOPIAN SOUL -

+ Bonus 7" 400 ltd!

Christina Aguilera, Donny Hathaway, and Gregory Porter. If you are curious to learn how these three names are connected with Movements Vol.10 then all you got to do is to keep on reading.

Those of you who have been enjoying Tramp Records' Movements series from the very beginning know that this series is not just about funk. It actually covers a wide spectrum of genres: early Rhythm & Blues, Soul-Jazz, Latin-Soul, heavy James Brown-style Funk, and mid-70's pre-Disco. The track listing is, as on all previous volumes, selected in chronological order.

For this, our 10th jubilee album, we go back in time more than 60 years. The Frankie Greer Quartet opens the set with their beautiful composition "Spooky". Just as sweet is "Early in the Morning" by the Bill Beau Trio which was recorded in 1958. What Eunice Haze, Phylis Hendricks and the Eddie Buster Band have in common is the fact that each of them has recorded only one 45rpm single in their musical career.

Johnny Spinosa's "Come On" is a fierce Rhythm 'n Blues monster of the highest order. The same goes for The New Philadelphians. No one would question if "The Mustang" was announced as an unreleased Blue Note recording by Lou Donaldson from 1968. Cleveland Eaton, who became one of the most versatile and best jazz bassists in 1970s, started out with his band The Kats in the late 1960s. "Under the Covers" was arranged by none other than Donny Hathaway (of "The Ghetto" fame) with who he has worked closely together in his early days.

Probably one of the finest and most sought after versions of "Coming Home Baby" out there has been recorded by a german dude and bis band, Ronny Pellers Satin Sound. Another excellent cover version is delivered by The Lido which should leave any latin-jazz fan speechless. "El Mexicano" is an inconspicuous little groover while the next two tunes by Herb Crawford's Jazz Ensemble and The Runningboards are more in the soul-jazz vein. Listen to the dummer on "Louisville Assembly Plant" who goes nuts!

Monkey Business is the third single to be taken from the forthcoming album ‘Hotspot’ out 24th January 2020, and features a radio edit of the track, remixes from Friend Within and Prins Thomas, plus exclusive B-side ‘At Rock Bottom’. "Hotspot" was mostly recorded in Hansa Studios, Berlin, and mixed in The Record Plant, Los Angeles.

It was produced and mixed by Stuart Price and features ten brand new tracks including the single "Dreamland" feat. Years & Years, which was released in September. Another of the songs, "Burning the heather", features Bernard Butler on guitar and was recorded at RAK Studios in London.

They Say: “Documentary and industrial underlays for current themes of modern life”.

We say: Mind-blowing, percussion-heavy, Afro-tinged, cosmic-disco library bomb.

This is the one. An absolutely outstanding record from 1983 and definitely one of the hardest to find on the collectable German library label, Coloursound. The Now Generation (Percussive Underscores) is comfortably one of the very best library records full stop.

The record comes galloping out the gate with a pair of rapid synthy-eurodisco bombs - the title-track and “Panama” - before slowing down to a woozy pace on “Inorganic Matter”. “African Nightclub” sounds like it reads, and is a particular favourite of Prins Thomas. Indeed, it was used to great effect on his seminal Cosmo Galactic Prism mix for Eskimo back in 2007. It’s followed by the dark, druggy, slow motion industrial groove of “Grease Plant” before “Southerly” lifts the tempo to close out side A with its Latin funk strut of bells and melancholic keys.

For us, though, it’s all about the opener to side B: “Mechanical Heart”. Seven minutes of building, mid-tempo disco-funk joy, deceptively explosive, club-ready gear for body and soul. The back cover dryly describes the track as “Guitar and percussion, light industrial underlay”. Hmmm. How about, “after finally emerging from a particularly heavy week jamming in a sunless, lawless German warehouse, Chic warily press record on a wayward, illicit instrumental for basement gatherings”. Just wait for those drums at the 3 minute mark…

The beatless ambience and menacing stabs of the proto-electro “Chemical Threat” follows, before the open drums and incredible fills of the metronomic “Steady Going” and fantastically monotonous funk breaks of “Nepal Trek” round out this sensational set.

This is a library masterpiece in no uncertain terms, full of synth funk, afro beats, exotica, leftfield madness, dance floor dynamite and all-around greatness.

As with our KPM and Themes re-issues, the audio for The Now Generation comes from the original analogue tapes and has been remastered for vinyl by Be With regular Simon Francis. Richard Robinson has brought the original Coloursound sleeve back to life in all its metalic silver glory.

Clear Vinyl.

Raime explore exquisitely honed rhythmic instincts with scintillating results on the 2nd release on their RR label.

Where the London duo’s 2018 EP and RR debut ‘We Can’t Be That Far From The Beginning’ evoked a meditative mood from the info overload of their home city that left acres of space to the
imagination, the ‘Planted’ EP rejoins the dance with four tracks that icily acknowledge strong influence from Latin American and Chicago footwork styles in a classically skooled mutation of hardcore British dance music.

In four fleetingly ambiguous dancefloor workouts they carry on a conceptual theme exploring the digital subconscious with persistently invasive, alien ambient shrapnel - half-heard voices, aleatoric prangs, and tag-covered signposts - woven into and thru their tightly coiled and reflexive drum programming.

UPTOWN, ’Num’ flexes tendons and hips like a Leonce riddim that danced all the way from NOLA and ATL to the wintery dawn of a LDN warehouse, while the lip-biting tension of minimalist 160bpm jungle/ footwork patterns and jibber-jawed vocals in ‘Ripli’ suggests the Alien film’s protagonist lost in a mazy rave space, chased by H.R. Giger-designed face huggers (or gurning energy vampires).
DOWNTOWN, ‘Kella’ then catches them on a grimy dubtech bounce, cocked back and straining at the harness, before ‘Belly’ shuts down the dance with invasive, demonic motifs exploding over dark blue chords and palpitating jungle subs with impeccable darkside style.

‘Rain, spit, ice, neon, plants, steam, mercury and soil. This is dream music categorised by a language of senses; visual, poetic, and abstract sound that draws on techno and dub ambient.

‘Somewhere between pastoral impressionism and cyber-noir, its surface evokes the tensions of a fluctuating, fizzing atmosphere, pictures emerging and dissolving in the mind’s eye. Thick layers of field recording flood tracks fabricated from erratic, oddly distanced rhythm.

‘The sensation whilst listening is not unlike hearing the world from a place within the body; swimming in the bloodstream, cutting through the turbulent landscape secure in a metal tube.

‘Or being over-exposed to lushly textured environments with the anatomy far receded; an out-of-body experience where subtler senses are heightened and the landscape begins to take on surreal qualities.’

15 YEARS OF SEX TAGS MANIA! Established in Bergen 2004 and ran by DJ Sotofett & DJ Fett Burger the first 4-5 years as one of Norways only labels consistently releasing House & Techno on vinyl. Since about 2008/09 it's been operated by DJ Sotofett.

Skatebård's "Conga" has turned to be one of the most sought after releases from the Sex Tags Mania catalog with it's sparse pressing of about 2-300 copies – though most of the original stock was given away as the record gained minimal interest in 2005. The original record was cut with excellence by Lawrie Immersion – and pressed in his own plant – the now defunct Curved Pressings. MANIA 30 – the repress of "Conga" has as close to original sound as possible and it also carries a new B-side – the Crystal Bois live version of "Conga" from 2007, featuring Skatebård on male vox!

Plants Dub is an art project of the homonym collective based in Lecce - Italy formed by Maria Teresa Santoro, art historian and light designer, Francesco Andriani De Vito aka Dubin dj and producer, and Andrea Presicce aka NoFinger Nails, dub master and producer. They work in Plants Dub project in a mutual exchange of skills so as to be able to research in a way where art and science has no borders. Plants Dub connects electronic music and bio-acoustic researches. Through samplings and synthesizers Plants Dub produces an inter-species communication in order to form a complete human-plant audio exchange. The album was composed using melodies generated by plants thanks to a special sound device that allowed the translation of the plants' electrical impulses into sound. Plant sounds were recorded between March 2018 and July 2019 in Salento. The musical production has followed a double register: in Acanthus Mollis, Morus and in Phoenix Canariensis the vegetable melodies overlap to specially composed dub rhythms, in Laurus Nobilis, Olea Europaea and in Quercus, the tree melodies are translated into ambient sounds.

"Nicolas Gaunin's surreal sound experiments lift you out of the everyday and transport you to an off-world Tiki lounge set high amongst the tree tops of a tropical rainforest, where you're surrounded by bizarre, colourful creatures and weird psychotropic plants. Noa Noa Noa is modern Dada, a neon soundtrack to your most outlandish fever dreams.
Nicolas Gaunin is the alter ego of Nicola Sanguin, part of the vibrant experimental music scene around Padua, Italy where he plays in outsider rock groups The Lay Llamas and Orange Car Crash. Nicolas Gaunin is his solo electronic project, a bright and playful cosmic mash-up that uses the rhythms of traditional African percussion groups and skews them slightly to create unsettling, off-kilter grooves. These drum machine experiments are laid over a teeming microscopic sound world of bird calls, insect chatter and weird jingles reminiscent of advertising earworms or video game soundtracks.
Noa Noa Noa takes its influences from music from around the world, and inspiration from high and low culture; from composer Gyorgy Ligeti to the cosmic sounds of Italian DJ Danielle Baldelli, from the experimental music of Moondog or Harry Partch to the playful sounds of Francis Bebey or the exotica of Martin Denny, from Iannis Xenakis to 8-bit video game music. Noa Noa Noa ends up sounding something like the imaginary soundtrack to the Nintendo Gameboy version of a lost William S. Burroughs novel.
Incredibly, most of the tracks on Noa Noa Noa were recorded live in one take with the express intention of creating music that is, in contrast to much of today's electronic music, bright, sunny, light-hearted and mischevious. The resulting album is both totally essential and also completely throwaway.
These tracks were originally released in 2018 by Artetetra Records (Italy) as Noa Noa (cassette & digital) and Danse de l'Oiseau (digital only). Hive Mind Records are proud to present Noa Noa Noa on vinyl for the first time."

Dream Ticket is back with a barrage of sonic bliss from SHUT boss Ryan James Ford. His is a futuristic vocabulary transmitted from a quarter century ago and decoded tomorrow: incunabulated ambience, aphextual textures, reflectivised rhythms. This EP is for anyone whose heart is in the techno, IDM, jungle & environs of the early-to-mid-90s, but whose feet are planted firmly in the here and now, most likely in the middle of a fearless dancefloor. Rave on.

Ground is an Osaka native, but his soul is truly that of a nomad, traversing the planet, befriending kindred spirits found in humans, animals and plants. He is exceptionally receptive to the beauty in everything that surrounds him—the incidental music of a city street, the orchestral chaos of a scrambling radio, the syncopated grace of migrating birds, the simplicity of an isolated hand clap—and as his roadmap continuously unfolds, he accumulates a vast catalogue of visceral tools to musically recount his experiences. 'Sunizm' is a cross section of the artist’s process—an array of complex microcosms overlapping to comprise a thematic whole—gathering field recordings, found instruments, jagged electronics, synthesized chanting, and weaving all into a dense narrative that appears obsessively constructed yet divinely improvised. 'Follow Me', the second of two singles surrounding the album, is complimented with a pseudo drum’n’bass treatment by enigmatic Greek artist Jay Glass Dubs, as well as a massively triumphant b-side entitled 'Ozone House', which is exclusive to this single release. Attention all humans, animals and plants, Ground and the ESP Institute present, 'Sunizm'.

Glenn Astro conquers new territories with Naturals, fusing elements of Balearic and leftfield house with tribal and acid sounds on Tartelet Records.

In an impressively short amount of time, Glenn Astro has created a musical universe that’s entirely his. With full-length releases making waves on Ninja Tune and Apollo Rec, the sister label of R&SRecordings, the Berlin-based musician assembles a perfect pastiche of influences on his forthcoming EP Naturals, coming out on Copenhagen’s Tartelet Records this September.

Exploring the outer fringes of the Balearic sonic spectrum, Naturals delves into unexpected sound territories without losing touch with planet home. Sub-heavy drums mix with private oceanic field recordings, futuristic synth, and effect pedal workouts, delivering a four-track EP that is novel but honest to the bone.

“I tried not to take any direct influence from any particular music I was listening to,” Glenn Astro says. “Instead, I tried concentrating on where the instruments and effects were taking me, experimenting with different ways of using the gear that I know so well.”

Inspired by Sicily’s natural beauty, the juxtaposition of its rough landscapes and clear blue waters, Naturals takes listeners on a journey into unfamiliar sound; a conscious diversion from his usual style and yet an instant dance floor cracker infused with the artist’s signature panache.

“I made most of the record while being in Sicily,” he says. “In retrospect, it is easy to hear that the volcanic landscapes contrasting the idyllic beaches were a major influence.”

The EP opener “Naturals (Unsweetened Mix)” is a beautiful freak – a peak-time cut – starting out with tranquil ambient melodies and water drop percussion followed by a beasty acid line and slick drum programming. Next, “Naturals (Dance Mix)” slows it down to 116 BPM, taking a completely different route with a hypnotic dance between tribal and dub – a wonderfully weird closer.

On the flip side, “Slarutan (Pristine Mix)” emerges au natural with Sicilian field recordings, layered pads, playful melodies, and crisp drum programming. Saving the best for last, “Slarutan (Water Mix)” dips its toes into the early days of dance music, shifting into futuristic, ambient dub territory with divine melodies and filtered percussion.

“This one is for the plants and the trees. Return to planet Tartelet,” Glenn Astro says.

Jatinder Singh Durhailay and David Edren released Tea Notes as a cassette back in April of 2018. London-based Jatinder Singh Durhailay is a painter and student of Indian Classical music. He has trained in both the sitar and the Hindi singing technique, Dhrupad. He also plays two traditional Sikh instruments; the bowed, stringed Dilruba and Taus. Poetic Pastel Press issued his solo debut, The Last Ballad Of Mardana, in 2017. David Edren`s expertise lies with machines and modular synthesis. His Kosmische and New Age-Inspired electronics have featured on numerous cassettes, and compilations, produced for imprints from the current Belgian underground, such as Jj Funhouse, Social Harmony, and Ultra Eczema. These recordings appearing, since the turn of the millennium, either under his own name, or the moniker DSR Lines. Jatinder and David’s collaboration, Tea Notes, is a celebration, a meditation, on both the beverage, and the communal time shared imbibing. The coming together to partake in its ritual. Each of the six tracks represents a different infusion. The opening piece is a tribute to semi-oxidised Oolong, from China`s Wuyi Mountains, with hammered dulcimer-like glissando. Gongs shimmering, gently crashing, as if signaling a change in the weather. A calm of thin, stretched synths and Ai angels introduces Tulsi from India. The Holy Basil of Hinduism, used in the worship of Vishnu, Krishna, and Rama. A traditional herb of Ayurveda and Siddha medicine. Automated arpeggiated sequences raising a vibrating wall of hallucinatory sound. Pairing swooning strings with a racing robot heart. Ceylon is a modern twist on the classical raga. Serving to tell the story of a tea smuggled into Sri Lanka in the 19th century. Plants stolen from South West China, where the brew had been enjoyed since the days of the Shang Dynasty (1766 to 1122 BC). The contraband founding fresh industry in its new home when the indigenous coffee crops failed. Muted organ and sleepy, treated sine wave microtones describe Kava, the Polynesian fireweed root, whose extract serves as both sedative and euphoriant.Shincha are the first young leaves of the season. Picked in Southern Japan and steamed to prevent oxidization, retain their flavour and green / gold colour. Their musical counterpart finds Edren establishing an ecclesiastical drone, while Durhailay`s strings chart an ancient romantic ache. Sonic stars shine. Singing out to the infinite, the universe, before dissolving into knots of Radiophonic Workshop noise.Melodies treated with subtle sustain and delay denote Pu-Ehr, from the Yunnan province. The only truly fermented black tea - made distinctive by the action of bacteria, moulds, and yeasts. Its musical themes hovering in the vapour trails, the atmospheres, they themselves create. Spiraling, soaring, reaching for the heavens, while pretty music box glitches - tiny chimes turned in on themselves. Catching, reflecting, like light at play on fresh running water. (words: Robert Harris)

The idea of this records came out of a book called The Metamorphosis of Plants, written by Goethe in the 18th century. I was also triggered by a greek friend, who explained me the etymology of the world ""metamorphosis"", that is such an interesting greek concept.
""I cannot tell you how readable the book of nature is becoming for me: my long efforts at deciphering, letter by letter, have helped me; now all of a sudden it is having effect, and my quiet joy is inexpressive."" - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe to Charlotte von Stein, 1786

TThe melodically adventurous soul of Leon Ware continues its expression in his final opus Rainbow Deux, released on double vinyl on September 13th. The album features new songs recorded and performed by Leon before his health turned, leading to his transition on February 23rd 2017. Co-produced by Taylor Graves, it has stellar musical contributions from the likes of Kamasi Washington, Thundercat, Ronald Bruner Jr, Rob Bacon and Wayne Linsey.

Taylor Graves came into Leon’s musical family in 2002 when he, his brother Cameron and the Bruner brothers Ronald Jr and Stephen (Thundercat) were playing along with their schoolmate Kamasi at an L.A. jazz club. Taylor, Cameron, Ronald and Stephen became Leon’s band for his debut shows in Japan in 2002 and Taylor continued to work with Leon as his mentor and collaborator over the next 15 years.

“Leon was ALWAYS writing something or developing his musical palette” his wife Carol Ware tells us, so it’s impossible to pinpoint any single moment of Rainbow Deux’s genesis. Six of the songs go back to 2012/2013 and were released in 2014 as part of Sigh, a Japan-only CD collection heavy with Rob Bacon’s tasteful licks and Wayne Linsey’s piano vibes. The rest of the material comes from Leon’s sessions with Taylor.

Describing Leon’s and his process, here’s Taylor: “We’d start by having some great homemade food! Then a glass of wine ‘to slow down time’. After we’d have our fill and smoked our joints we’d go into his studio room to listen and create.”

The album was finished-up around August of 2016 in a back-and-forth between Leon and his go-to mastering engineer Toni Economides in the UK.

Leon worked on Rainbow Deux with life’s greatest challenge looming over him, yet it is one of his most focused and cohesive solo offerings since the 1980s. The entire record is a vibe: mellow, deep and smooth as silk. The lyrical themes are eternal, and the music is elegant, soulful and sensual.

The album opens with the hypnotic throb of “For The Rainbow”, coming on like a percussive, slow-mo house shuffle. Gilles Peterson is a fan. The exotic “Let Love In” follows, with its gradual-build Island Funk, intricate guitar picks and sassy female vocals. It explodes when it hits its stride. “Sigh” is the stylish slow jam close-out to side A. Serene guitars and polished drums create neck snapping funk, with a swaggering finger-snap strut.

Side B opens with the easy-burning broken-beaty “The Darkest Night”, the centrepiece of the album. Kamasi Washington’s lurking sax, restrained and beautiful, unfurls into the dank, sticky atmosphere of Thundercat’s signature creeping bass laid over his brother’s in-the-pocket drums. Leon’s vocals are perfect, a masterclass in seductive sax-soul.

“Surrender Now” conjures waves of vocals to swell and wash over the glossy piano, subtly bumping hip-hop drums and bubbling synth-bass stabs. It’s got the trademark Leon layers. “Summer Is Her Name” has Kamasi’s effortless, melancholic sunshine sax give way to rising tempos and propulsive rhythms.

“Are You Ready” is a total highlight (and we’ve been playing it out for ages). It’s a nimble groove of piano and synth rolling around Theo Croker’s sensual trumpet playing. Digi-soul at its finest. With lush G-Funk sensibilities “Streets (Keep Me Runnin’)” sounds like a lost Dam-Funk produced gem. All tough kicks and snares and street sounds. Leon’s hood pass will be forever intact.

“Samba Dreams” is the first of two tracks that bring a little Rio magic to Rainbow Deux. Leon created a whole body of work in partnership with Brazilian legend Marcos Valle that includes “Rockin’ You Eternally” - a hit for Leon - and “Estrelar” – a hit for Marcos. Leon channels his obvious love of Brazilian music here through more of Croker’s sumptuous trumpet, played over loose percussion. “Let’s Go Deep” is next up. A dreamy between-the-sheets quiet storm anthem and a real showcase for Leon’s vocals.

The dripping, honeyed harp-funk of “We Should Be Laughin’” marks the star turn of the brilliant Kimbra. Leon first met her on-stage to do an impromptu duet of “Inside My Love” during an open-air celebration of Minnie Riperton in July of 2014. Kimbra was working with Taylor on her music and he brought her to Leon’s house to do some writing. This was the result.

Warm synths radiate shuffling samba soul on “Wishful Thinking” as those Brazilian rhythms return to bring Rainbow Deux to a close.

During an apartment move Leon and Carol rediscovered some watercolours Leon had done years ago. One of these paintings had been dubbed “Deux Hearts” and Leon decided it should be on the cover of Rainbow Deux, getting as far as approving a draft concept for the artwork.

Carol has overseen developing that draft into the final gatefold sleeve. It brings together quotes, photographs and tributes in what is a reflection on the music, relationships and philosophy of the sensual minister.

Gerry “the gov” Brown, Leon’s long-time sound engineer, was by his side throughout the project, recording and mixing. The album was mastered by Toni Economides and Simon Francis’ additional sensitive work makes sure this double LP sounds like it should on vinyl.

Be With’s first ever release was Leon’s eponymous LP. Re-issuing that album planted the seed of a relationship that has grown to grant us the privilege of presenting his crowning achievement. We know that Leon’s fans all over the Earth will love Rainbow Deux. But we also hope that this album, the final entry in a phenomenal body of work, will reach new fans and find fresh conduits for the spirit of this oft-unsung hero of Soul.

Leon always said “they will get it when I'm gone.”

He also said that “the spirit never dies”…

30th anniversary pressing limited to 1000 copies. With the 2016 Roots

mini-series such a success, there is new interest in Quincy Jones’ original

soundtrack to the ground-breaking 1977 mini-series.

Highlights include the “Roots Mural Theme,” composed by Gerald Fried, and

the 28 minute, ‘Roots Suite,’ with Letta Mbulu as the featured vocalist. Plus

the stunning “Main Title: Mama Aifambeni” as sampled by Moodymann and Andrés.



Also included are snippets of dialogue from Roots actor Lou Gossett. Featured

players include: Shelly Manne, Victor Feldman, Ernie Watts and Lee Ritenour.

Mysterious Sydney songstress Justine recorded one album in ’79, which was never officially released. Left Ear have chosen two tracks for a 45 RPM 12” single, which they feel best highlights Justine’s unique vocal talents and songwriting ability. Here the crafty songstress wields melancholic soul and a funky Jazz inspired number with personal and reflective lyrics, both with an intimate and honest approach.

Elusive Sydney songstress Justine (Bradley) almost entirely wrote, produced and arranged her sole LP in ’79, an album that was funded by a radio station as the beneficiary for emerging talent. The music was created specifically for radio play without any intention of being manufactured. Luckily however, a friend with ties to a pressing plant known aptly as ‘Midnite Flite’, managed to sneak into said plant one evening and press up a small number for the enjoyment of family, friends & those involved.
Left Ear have decided to release what they consider to be the two most significant tracks from this release onto a 12” single, now for the enjoyment of all. The A-Side will feature the haunting ‘Wordless Songs’, a melancholic soulful number which according to Justine explores the “capacity to comprehend a partner’s internal quest for authenticity and connection”. The B-side ‘Mama Didn’t Tell Ya’ is more uplifting in both tempo and arrangements comprising an extended outro, while the lyrics remain just as personal and reflective.

This very special record is a collaboration between Amsterdam based stalwart, and frequent contributor to Young Marco’s Safe-Trip label, Darling, and his extremely talented daughter, Lexi. Here the producer, Darling, crayon proofs his studio and lets his 4r yr old daughter, Lexi run riot on the synths. The resulting submerged grooves, outer worldly melodies & psychedelic nursery rhymes are made up entirely of seqeunces recorded in by the outstandingly creative youngster with Dad making the edits and laying in the beats . This record was powered by Haribo.
BIG TIP!

Comes with insert.

Having discovered electronic music at the end of the 90’s, Thomass grew up going to raves where trance was one of the main styles played at this massive partys. The influence it had on him was planted deeply into his DNA and this EP is the interpretation he has these days of the genre. He moved on to different pastures soon after but the style was already in him. Thomass now takes the old fashioned elements he still likes and takes them to new directions. Fueled by gated chords, dreamy arpeggios, trippy vocals and percussions this tracks are destined to take you back into the past and bring you right back to the present. Forget what you learned. Trance not trance.

Parasian fellow Stephane Laporte joins the Antinote crew with a very introspective and dreamy full length record. kraftwerk gone ambient will be the best discription..TIP

Ashley Henry is one of a new generation of musicians who've been raised with a wide range of influences, from such luminaries as Kirkland, Moran, Madlib and Dilla, yet also steeped in the traditional sounds of masters such as Hancock and Monk.

At the time of recording, Henry was only 24, playing with such beauty and sensitivity - that usually comes from a lifetime immersed in jazz - that allowed him to tour the UK appearing at Ronnie Scott's, the Jazz Cafe and the Royal Albert Hall. He was the youngest performer on the bill for the 2015 International Piano Trio festival where he performed alongside the likes of Robert Glasper.

After graduating from Leeds College of Music with the Yamaha Jazz Scholarship Award, Ashley continued his studies, attaining a Master's degree in Jazz Piano & Performance from the Royal Academy of Music.

As well as performing with some of the UK's leading Jazz musicians (including Gary Crosby, Jean Toussaint, Shane Forbes, Jay Phelps, and award-winning saxophonist Krzysztof Urbanski) he's also recorded extensively with Manchester-based hip hop collective The Mouse Outfit.

This, his debut album, shows that his trio is clearly influenced by hip hop but has its roots firmly in jazz. This is the next generation planting their feet firmly in twenty first century.

George & Glen Miller’s 1979 hit “Easing” - encapsulating late 70s New York in its blend of disco, soul and Caribbean soca... BIG tune! Version on the flip..

The Miller brothers’ musical journey began in Trinidad and Tobago in the early 70s. During their teenage years they formed The Groovy Millers - a five piece band made up of George, Glen and their three siblings. After a chance meeting with Lord Shorty, they went on to collaborate with one of the Soca stars of the time and firmly plant their feet in the Soca scene of the musically rich Caribbean island.

Of the five siblings it was George and Glen that pursued a career in music, and in the late 70s the two brothers made the move to North America to develop their music style. Disco dominated the airwaves at the time and a studio session with the prolific Frankie McIntosh resulted in the masterpiece that is Easing. Drawing influence from the blossoming disco and soul scene, George and Glen added Caribbean flavour to the New York sound to startling effect. Soft, subtle keys and guitars are punctuated with layered trumpet and violin riffs, complimenting George’s silken, restrained vocal. Frankie McIntosh’s arrangement shines through with what might be his finest work, placing this track on the mantle with other New York classics of the time.

Always one to explore, Shipwrec have set sail and discovered a new isle of musical experimentation. Phainomena is a terrain for ambient introspection, dream-filled drone and stunning soundscapes. An old friend returns to the fold to inaugurate this venture, Julian Edwardes. Seven works of abstract immersion coalesce to create "Consonance." The Dutch artist journeys into far-flung realms and worlds, sweet silken synthlines and juddering noise being his transportation tools of choice. Off-centre echo and muted delay swirl in these audio planets. Mountains, oceans, unending skies are conjured as notes bulge, expand and disperse. Wildlife buzzes, chirps and trills in this land of sonic undulations, plants are given musical form with modulated ruffles as bleeps of cloud scud across an expanse of frequencies. An album of brilliant brightness, shifting shapes and unearthed undercurrents where expression is as ephemeral as it is eternal, a sentiment captured in Rob van Hoesel's sublime cover work.

The Growing Bin may have taken a hiatus for AW18, but don‘t be fooled into thinking this is a deciduous operation; after all the most powerful plantlife grows from below. Moving through the mulch, Basso traces the mycellium network from Hamburg‘s forests to the gentle slopes of Hasenheide, reconnecting with James Booth for the officially first Growing Bin release of 2019, or the first ever Glowing Pin Release.

Emerging from the green house with a heroic dose of wavy caps, the Mancunian export unleashes A-side sizzler ‚Space Echo Track‘, a little post-minimal magic for the peak time shamans. Built around the polyrhythmic patter of organic percussion, a touch of UK shuffle and the occasional blast of soundsystem bass, the track rolls and rattles from start to finish, tailor made for mid-set hypnosis. And while neon leadlines dance with disorienting sampler vox and papaya whistles summon the ethno-flute melodies, Booth brings us to a new level of future primitive consciousness, unlocking the Stargate once and for all. Onto the B-side and we‘re hurtling through galaxies, submerged in the entheogenic frequencies of‚ Locus of Control‘. Shimmering swathes of angelic synth vox and dreamlike pads drift freely, forming a
perfect counterbalance to the warp factor thrust and rasping resonance of the wormhole sequences. Beatless in space, ‚Locus‘ balances ambient techno and acid gurgle, cleansing your synapses like a Sven Vath warm down circa ‚94. This is music for the microdosers...

From the artist:

"pootek" - Paul (Solpara) and I laid down the majority of this track one November night in Berlin. We lived in the same dorm in university nearly 10 years ago and bonded over weird electronic music. We hadn't seen each other in a while and had never made music together. We got so rowdy making this my neighbour who I had never seen before came up to complain we were being too loud.

"whendialupbecomeform" - I was thinking a lot about dial-up modems, especially after I heard a Lana Del Rey song that featured that sort of sound in the background, whether intentionally or not. I woke up in the middle of the night and laid down the main arrangement in a couple of hours. I later added some vocals, random sounds from freesound.org, and what might be described as "dreamy pads."

"dosheepdreamofandroidelectrics" - I don't think the song has much to do with Philip K. Dick. I wanted to make something that someone could introspectively zone out to, maybe under the influence of a plant, either at home or at the club.

Groove Line Records series of officially licensed disco / funk 12' reissues continues in 2019 with two fabulous cuts of gospel disco from The New York Community Choir (NYCC), 'I'll Keep My Light In My Window' & 'Express Yourself'.

The New York Community Choir (NYCC) began in the early 1970s, a gospel ensemble which developed a style that also gave secular R&B, soul, and pop songs a spiritual dimension; bridging Saturday night and Sunday morning, as it were.

'I'll Keep My Light In My Window' is a slice of joyful uplifting gospel disco, which is as needed in these times as it was when it was released in 1978. This was a great favourite of David Mancuso and Larry Levan at the time, and has remained a much loved dancefloor track for the disco cognoscenti ever since.

This came from NYCC's second LP for RCA, Make Every Day Count, produced by Warren Schatz (who also produced The Brothers, which was Groove Line's first reissue 12' in 2014).

NYCC released a self-titled debut album, also produced by Schatz in 1977 included the dance hit "Express Yourself," the B-side of this release in its 11m45s David Todd & Warren Schatz Disco Mix version.

All Groove Line Records releases are fully licensed and taken from the original master tapes, this 12' has been remastered and cut at half-speed by Matt Colton at Alchemy Mastering (Mastering Engineer of the Year 2013 & 2018). All vinyl is heavy weight 180g manufactured Optimal Media in Germany, one of the world's finest pressing plants.

Groove Line Records cut no corners when making sure that each and every one of our releases has the highest quality performance possible.

Groove Line Records' deluxe reissue of 'I'll Keep My Light In My Window' & 'Express Yourself' is an essential purchase for any serious Disco, Gospel, Funk, or Soul vinyl collector who demands the very best in quality vinyl pressings. Find out more at

ZamZam 70 is our first team-up with the man of mystery known as Marcus Anbessa. An enigmatic figure whose identity must remain secret for the time being, his infrequent releases on labels such as Lion Charge, Tribe 12, and The Most High (as “Unknown Artist”) are eagerly awaited by those who know, charting an uncompromising vision down a path untrod by the weakheart or the follow-fashion. We love music that builds its own sound world with only passing reference to familiar genres or signposts, music that believes in itself utterly - for this reason we feel genuinely blessed to present these two sides.

“March of The Falasha” is pure roots music that, firmly planted in the soil of dub and sound system, reaches back even further into the mists of time through technological means. Downbeat steppers is the idiom, pure heartbeat is the pulse. Like an old soul young in years but full of wisdom, a distorted flute melody wanders ahead through the undergrowth of bass, light filtering through the ancient canopy above in the form of swung percussion and flickering echoes overlapping and intertwining like vines and creepers weaving on temple walls. Ancient-to-the-future.

“Creator” strikes a different yet equally dread chord, 140-ish post-apocalyptic Rasta business focused squarely on bass and space, hard, insistent drums and infinite echo trails flinging from the snares and percussion, creating hypnotic tracers like sparks swirling heavenward from a well-tended fire in blackest night.

Imagine African Headcharge on Jah Tubbys, or a rootsman groundation resuscitating ancient machines in the crumbling ruins of a near-future world and you begin to see what Marcus Anbessa brings. This music reminds us that nature herself will some day claim Babylon and grind it to dust, regardless of our efforts to save it or hasten its fall.

moogmemory is the latest album from multi-award winning pianist and composer Matthew Bourne, who has turned his considerable talents to the world of analogue synthesizers.

Very much in demand as a collaborator and co-conspirator, Bourne has his fingerprints on a huge number of projects, having worked with artists as diverse as John Zorn, Annette Peacock, Nils Frahm, Nostalgia 77, Amon Tobin and Broadway Project.

Growing from spontaneous improvised live performances, the album took shape in the studio as Bourne explored and moulded the vast sonic possibilities of voltage-controlled oscillators, creating beautiful, brooding landscapes of thick impasto and translucent sunbursts.

The seed for this project was planted when Bourne acquired an uncooperative 1982 Memorymoog, having it painstakingly modified and upgraded by Rudi Linhard in Germany .

Created without the use of computers or sequencers,Moogmemory is the first album to be recorded using only the Lintronics Advanced Memorymoog.

Bourne will tour moogmemory in collaboration with brilliant visual artist Michael England, who has worked with Autechre, Bola, Leila, Demdike Stare and many more.

The album will be available on CD and as a limited edition LP (with CD) in an intricate embossed sleeve designed by England.

Album press release written by Bourne fan Graham Massey (808 State).

The album follows the critical success of Radioland: Radio-Activity Revisited, a visceral live audio/visual experience created to mark the 40th anniversary of Kraftwerk's seminal album, with Franck Vigroux and video artist Antoine Schmitt.

Bourne's first solo studio album, Montauk Variations (The Sunday Times' Leftfield Album of the Year in 2012), was celebrated for its sense of stillness and serenity, marking an important musical turning point in his career and the beginning of a new creative direction.

Tracks from Montauk Variations have appeared on compilations by Bonobo and Needwant.

Stenocactus crispatus is native to broad swathes of Mexico's
Chihuahuan Desert, specically the Northern and Central areas
of Hidalgo, Querétaro, Tamaulipas, Veracruz, Oaxaca,
Guanajuato, Tlaxcala, and Puebla. Colloquially known as the
'Brain Cactus' due to its unique undulating ribs, Stenocactus
crispatus can be found primarily in xerophilous pastizal
ecosystems as well as open piñon-juniper woodlands.
Stenocactus crispatus is a solitary plant, meaning it rarely
branches, and is covered in wavy ribs protected by long
attened spines. Regarded as an ideal specimen for home
cultivation, it produces small yet vividly attractive magenta and
pale pink owers when in bloom. Our botanists strive to source
and produce high-quality specimens to enrich your mind as
well as your ears. After many months in the eld our team has
returned with a diverse selection of sonic seedlings. Following
a series of meticulous experiments in our research facility each
seedling has been deemed safe for general propagation and
cleared for release.

The B-52's The B-52's on Numbered Limited Edition LP from Mobile Fidelity Silver Label
Ranked at #152 on Rolling Stone's List of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time Delightfully Campy, Intentionally Goofy, Lyrically Kitschy: 1979 Set Is Nothing But a Good Time
Mastered on Mobile Fidelity's World-Renowned Mastering System and Pressed at RTI (America's Best Record Plant): LP Bursts Forth With the Color and Vibrancy of the Brilliant Pop Within
The B-52's' Wild Planet and Cosmic Thing Also Available on Silver Label LP Boffo! Beehive hairdos, goofy sci-fi humor, lava-lamp kitsch, thrift-store fashions, party-starting tunes, unconventional perspectives, and the unique blending of the underground aesthetic with mainstream accessibility: The B-52's mix all this and more into a dizzying cocktail on their self-titled debut, which remains one of the most ahead-of-its-time, endlessly enjoyable, and vividly colorful albums ever released.
Ranked at #152 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, The B-52's has its roots in the band's improbable genesis, itself reflective of the record's gleeful moods and quirky charms. The five members first played after sharing a tropical alcoholic beverage at a Chinese restaurant, the ironic silliness and spontaneous irreverence indicative of the music on its breakthrough record. Not to mention how it mirrors the unusual hodgepodge of instrumentation: organs, walkie talkies, bongos, glockenspiels, tambourines, toy pianos, smoke alarms, and more!
Musically, the band proves just as adventurous and whimsical. Using pleasant harmonies as a backdrop and Kate Pierson's squealing organ as a starting point, the B-52's draw upon surf-rock grooves, beach-bound soul-pop, herky-jerky funk riffs, minimalist rhythms, and Ricky Wilson's unusual guitar lines to craft songs that tower above the sarcastic suggestiveness and campy declarations. Of course, the latter are plenty entertaining on their own, but there's no denying the dance-bound persuasiveness and melodic shimmy associated with the classic cult single 'Rock Lobster' and splendid cover of the ubiquitous Petula Clark standard 'Downtown.' You've never heard anything like this.

Indeed, the B-52s were about a decade ahead of the alt-rock revolution when they recorded this delightfully campy, intentionally goofy, lyrically tawdry, and undeniably harmonic 1979 new-wave set that comes off as the best dance party you might ever hear. This is 40 minutes of nothing but a good time.
Mastered on Mobile Fidelity's world-renowned mastering system and pressed at RTI (America's best record plant), Silver Label numbered limited edition LP presents the B-52's brilliant debut in a fidelity it's never previously enjoyed. So detailed and realistic are the timbres, accents, and harmonies, you'll think the band's bright outfits are appearing right in front of you. Plus, the LP is worth the cost alone for the iconic album cover, which spotlights those bouffant 'dos.