Hip-Hop News

(Comes with a free Funky Chicken 45 RPM adapter)

Kieren Gallear aka DELS returns with his second album, Petals Have Fallen, and makes the step up from potential contender to full scale champ. Delivering on the potential he displayed on his first album, GOB, DELS has developed his own unique take on hip hop - intensely personal and poetic but also funny, scuzzy, raw and sonically adventurous. All the elements were there with his first record, but no one could have expected him to display them with such consistency, such delicacy and such supreme confidence. His explanation of the title of the record perfectly sums up Gallear's aesthetic, plus providing a handy definition of what it is to make art: 'the urge to protect something precious that will ultimately fall apart.'

There's plenty that you could pick out individually from this record. From the sung opening of 'Limbo' there are spine-tingling moments galore. The hard rhyming over an epic beat on 'Fall Apart'. The combination of Kerry Leatham's vocals, Bonobo's beat and DELS' wordplay on 'Pulls'. The free-rolling exuberance of 'Pack of Wolves'. The delicacy of 'Petals Have Fallen'. Plus, of course, re-works of the brilliant 'Bird Milk' and 'You Live In My Head', both of which were included on the Black Salad EP last year and hammered by Zane Lowe, Annie Mac and Huw Stephens, amongst others.

But just as impressive is the consistent feel of the record as an album, where moods and images and sonics develop and mutate but hold together as a whole. Some of this comes from the deployment of DELS' long-term collaborator, Kwes in the role of Executive Producer and 'reducer.'Only one of the tracks is produced solely by Kwes, with beats provided by Bonobo, Micachu (fresh from her triumph as the soundtracker for Under the Skin), Blue May, Eli-T and others. But Kwes and DELS took every track back to his studio to provide additional production and an overall feel to the whole album. Throw in guest performances by some of the most exciting singers in the UK today (Kerry Leatham, Rosie Lowe, Tirzah, Bila and Elan Tamara) and you have a palette which has been extended even further. More even than any of that is the leap in DELS' own abilities.

Put simply, Gallear has developed the confidence to be exactly and only himself - at times sensitive and romantic, at others sarcastic and funny, even ready to take the piss out of himself: 'Some say I'm anxious/ I just think I need to eat cheese less.' Gallear has talked about how he uses visuals as well as music to inspire his writing and Petals Have Fallen is a record which you almost see as much as hear, one in which moments in time are suspended in images like prehistoric insects in amber. Already hotly-tipped as an MC and carving out a successful career as a designer and video director, DELS brings together all his interests and talents on this, a stand out album, which delivers and then some on The Times' verdict that he is 'the future of UK hip hop.'

DJ Oil of the Troublemakers present Phantom his sophomore solo album out on BBE.

BBE is proud to present Phantom, the sophomore solo album from Lionel Corsini, aka DJ Oil. A true veteran of the underground music and party scene in his native Marseille, Lionel released his well-received solo debut as recently as 2012 (Black Notes for French label Discograph) but is probably better known as one part of The Troublemakers, who had the (probably unique) distinction of being signed to both the legendary '90s house label Guidance and the most famous of all jazz labels, Blue Note. The latter didn't work out too satisfactorily for Lionel, who found himself constrained by Blue Note's corporate ways as part of a major and yearning for the freedom he'd had as an independent artist at an independent
label.
Nonetheless, the trajectory from Guidance to Blue Note gives you some idea of the range of Oil's music. Phantom (so-called because 'all these tracks live on my computer like ghosts, waiting to get out, and some never did get out') begins with an incredibly low-slung mutant rhythm'n'blues instrumental (imagine Link Wray taking guitar lessons from John Lee Hooker on acid), and ends with a kind of abstract spiritual... and seems to take in pretty much the whole spectrum of black music on the way, music in which Lionel is thoroughly steeped (his father was a collector of soul and R&B, a passion that has continued to course through the Corsini blood), ending up somewhere altogether other-worldly. It's a dark, edgy, angst-ridden soundscape ('why don't I just drop out' asks a voice, repeatedly) that invokes the untrammelled energies of '60s and '70s Black radicalism, animated jive-talk juxtaposed with the soothing tones of Africanist scholars discoursing on 'rhythm'...
As singers are not to the forefront and it's hardly a 'dance' record, Phantom is likely to be labelled 'trip-hop', but it's far meatier than the usual trip-hop fare, and owes more to hip-hop itself in its passion for recontextualizing sound. Furthermore, contrary to the initial assumption (based on its diverse sounds and gritty analogue 'feel') that it must be a sample-based record, DJ Oil has recorded the whole album live: 'sometimes at parties, sometimes at home, but never at the mixing desk.' With a few exceptions any samples are his own creations: beats, percussion, basslines, Moog and other synth sounds are all played by Lionel, while many of the voices we encounter are street scenes, chat, collaborators met during Lionel's extensive world travels, more phantoms preserved as files on DJ Oil's laptop. 'This album is like a collection of spontaneous paintings, not re-touched,' says Lionel, 'that's why there are so many 'accidents' in the music you hear.' Any 'accidents' are surely serendipitous, and result in real sonic diversity, as the music veers from mood to mood, constantly referencing music and cultures from Africa and across the Atlantic as well as urban France, past and present, and a hint of the future too.
From country blues, through township jive and Rahsaan Roland Kirk-style 'flute' vocalizations, with the occasional nod to four-to-the-floor house, DJ Oil runs the musical gamut, using modern technology to recreate the virtual orchestra existing in his head and gifting us an astonishingly assured and rather exceptional album, which surely should break this stalwart of the French underground scene to a larger international audience. Making up for the 'lost years' with Blue Note, Lionel Corsini's creative juices are clearly flowing freely at the moment. Listen out especially for the track featuring rapper Josh (and singer Hope Malike) from Zimbabwean band Monkey Nuts: this is another DJ Oil project with a full album also forthcoming soon from BBE.

Two low down and sleazy, moody popcorn masterpieces from the deep, deep baritone-voiced Jimmy Ricks and his backing group The Ravens. 'Daddy Rolling Stone' is a great mid-tempo cover of Otis Blackwell's signature piece with a swinging, early soul feel while 'Homesick' is a downbeat, bluesy piece which evokes the atmosphere of the traditional gospel spirituals.

Emma Donovan is a renowned indigenous Australian singer and songwriter. She started her singing career at age seven with her uncle's band, The Donovans. In 2000, she became a founding member of Stiff Gins, leaving the band three years later to release the solo album Changes in 2004. She performs with The Black Arm Band, and released a solo EP, Ngaaraanga, in 2009. Emma also features on the Diesel n Dub record released this year which features reworkings of Midnight Oil songs produced by Dan Sultan and mixed by Mad Professor.

The lead single "Daddy" was premiered in Wax Poetics, and the title track has a video due to be launched around the release date in November. The PutBacks feature members of The Bombay Royale, Hiatus Kaiyote and The Black Arm Band and have several 7" releases on HopeStreet.

Emma Donovan is a renowned indigenous Australian singer and songwriter. She started her singing career at age seven with her uncle's band, The Donovans. In 2000, she became a founding member of Stiff Gins, leaving the band three years later to release the solo album Changes in 2004. She performs with The Black Arm Band, and released a solo EP, Ngaaraanga, in 2009. Emma also features on the Diesel n Dub record released this year which features reworkings of Midnight Oil songs produced by Dan Sultan and mixed by Mad Professor.

The lead single "Daddy" was premiered in Wax Poetics, and the title track has a video due to be launched around the release date in November. The PutBacks feature members of The Bombay Royale, Hiatus Kaiyote and The Black Arm Band and have several 7" releases on HopeStreet.

**DELUXE CD EDITION FEATURES NEW GATEFOLD ARTWORK AND REMIXES FROM LORD RAJA (GHOSTLY), BRENDON MOELLER (ECHOCHORD/PROLOGUE), ARCHIE PELAGO (MISTER SATURDAY NIGHT) AND MORE

Introducing singer, composer, multi-instrumentalist and native New Yorker Gabriel Garzón-Montano. Born to a Colombian father and a French mother, Gabriel spent his early years mastering the violin, guitar, and drums, before turning to the piano and bass guitar to better complete his compositions. By the time he graduated from SUNY Purchase's Music Conservatory, the foundations for his debut EP, Bishoune: Alma del Huila, were already laid.

**DELUXE VINYL EDITION FEATURES NEW MATTE JACKET AND DOWNLOAD CARD FEATURING REMIXES FROM LORD RAJA (GHOSTLY), BRENDON MOELLER (ECHOCHORD/PROLOGUE), ARCHIE PELAGO (MISTER SATURDAY NIGHT) AND MORE

Introducing singer, composer, multi-instrumentalist and native New Yorker Gabriel Garzón-Montano. Born to a Colombian father and a French mother, Gabriel spent his early years mastering the violin, guitar, and drums, before turning to the piano and bass guitar to better complete his compositions. By the time he graduated from SUNY Purchase's Music Conservatory, the foundations for his debut EP, Bishoune: Alma del Huila, were already laid.

A heartfelt tribute to the role of family, love, and the City's unavoidable lifestyle, Bishoune: Alma del Huila collects six songs performed and recorded at Henry Hirsch's famed Waterfront Studios. Renovated from an old church, Henry's home provided Gabriel with the right tools and environs needed to realize his demos to the songs included on this EP.

Escandalo!, as Perez Prado states in the brief sleeve note, is named after a
"new rhythm" created by himself. "A rhythm you can dance to in freedom,
without specific steps". In spite of this naive launching, the opening track
Chicago Banana is a declaration of intent, with its Sly Stone-esque groove. 9
out of 12 tracks are originals credited to composers of the Unifunk circle, but
the track list is careful to preserve Prado's well-established Latin appeal, by
including three standards such as Brazil, El Manisero and Tequila.
A hispanic-looking thin moustache, two hands drumming hot Latin rhythm on congas,
bongos and tumbas, and a well-known stage name: Perez Prado. Were we in the
presence of the '»King of Mambo'¼ The man who got the whole world dancing to hits such
as Mambo n°5 and Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White Well, as we'¼ll see, there was
a certain controversy behind this identification.
The King of Mambo's first name was not "Perez" and his family name was not "Prado".
This little known fact would help in explaining this situation. Actually, the great musician
from Cuba, born in 1916, was christened Damaso. Perez-Prado was his double-barreled
surname. Damaso Perez-Prado also had a younger brother named Pantaleón, who was
born in 1928.
Pantaleón Perez-Prado was the owner of the moustache and hands we had been talking
about earlier. Yes, Pantaleón was a musician too, a good percussionist, bass player and
arranger. However, since he grew up in his brother's shadow, he tried to make the best

"Known as Pantaleon Perez Prado,was the younger brother of the famous"King of Mambo".Pantaleon, who came to Europe in the 1950s, recorded several albums with Unifunk.A powerful Big Funk Band sound featuring: Tullio De Piscopo, Mario Rusca,
Paolo Tommelleri, Pino Prestipino and others...;.vocals Don Alfio
Includes "Circle" a strong track with a killer groove written by Mario Rusca. For this second LP, the obscure vocalist Don Alfio had gained enough prestige within the band to share the top of the bill with the bandleader. That's probably because, in October
1973, the Love Child 45rpm (which has nothing to do with the 1968 Supremes' hit) had enjoyed a good airplay on Supersonic, a daily Italian public radio show that presented a lot of freshly released records. The DJs explicitly credited the record to "Don Alfio with Perez Prado". The reviving of Chicago banana from Escandalo!, plus many new tracks including Circle, Imperfect and the jazzy Chato, gave the record a precise latin-funk attitude. Bossanova evergreen Bahia (also known as Na baixa do sapateiro) and a synthled version of Ciliegi Rosa (Cherry pink and Apple Blossom White) are the only two
concessions to Latin standards.

This HOT double-A side features the 70s Torch dancer 'HERE I GO AGAIN' - with it's crashing backbeat and fabulous 'call-to-the-floor' intro. The song was originally released in the USA by Atlantic Records in 1969, to little acclaim at the time, but later spiraled to No.11 in the UK pop charts in 1972 due to demand from the Northern Soul scene. 'TIGHTEN UP' was one of the first songs to be recorded by Archie Bell & The Drells, in Houston, Texas in 1967. The track had originally been developed by the T.S.U. Toronadoes and, coupled with Bell's unique spoken introduction, caught the imagination of the nation earning the band a gold disc and a No.1 R&B and Pop smash. It would become a UK Mod anthem and spawned future club hits care of Willie & The Mighty Magnificents 'Funky 8 Corners' and Frankie Crocker's floor packin' 'Ton Of Dynamite' (also available from Outta Sight, OSV106).

DELLA REESE, was born Delloreese Patricia Early in Detroit, Michigan in 1931. She was discovered, singing gospel, by Mahalia Jackson and had a successful career throughout the fifties singing gospel, jazz and pop standards, finally scoring a Top 20 hit in 1957 with 'And That Reninds Me' for Jubilee Records. She signed to RCA in '59 and topped the R&B charts with 'Don't You Know' which became her signature song. In the sixties she hosted her own chat show, Della, also the name of her Grammy nominated 1960 album. Here we feature her 1964 RCA cut 'A Clock That's Got No Hands' that had remained an obscurity until popularized on the Northern Soul scene by DJ Dave Rimmer.

Shelley Fisher is something like a legend within the world of rare funk record collectors. The reason for this is I'll Leave You Girl (for somebody new), a song which he wrote and released in 1970. Backed with an equally great version of the standard St. James Infirmary, copies of the original 45rpm single are highly sought after by DJs and record collectors. Now everyone can afford to get his hands on this amazing two-sider without paying a small fortune.

Key-selling points: - original label artwork - limited to 500 copies - officially licensed

The group is composed of the key members of the Finnish funk powerhouse The Soul Investigators, who have previously backed worldwide success stories for artists such as Nicole Willis and the vocal duo Myron & E.

This is an instrumental pressing of the "Lost Soul" album, which High Society Brothers did with New Orleans Soul Legend Willie West. Limited edition, vinyl only release with a beautiful tip-on sleeve.

Born and raised in Louisiana, Willie West made his first recording already in the year 1959. While being backed by The Meters, he also had one release on Warner Brothers in the mid 1970's, plus numerous singles produced by Allen Toussaint. Even though he was noticed locally and in the circles of soul music aficionados with minor hits such as "Did You Have Fun" in 1960, Willie never managed to break to national success. During the past years, he has lived in Minnesota and kept himself busy in music. Lost Soul might be just the thing that finally gives him wider recognition.

Lost Soul continues on the moody path laid by the 7" single recordings West has done with The High Society Brothers band from the year 2009. The group is composed of the key members of the Finnish funk powerhouse The Soul Investigators, who have previously backed worldwide success stories for artists such as Nicole Willis and the vocal duo Myron & E.

Born and raised in Louisiana, Willie West made his first recording already in the year 1959. While being backed by The Meters, he also had one release on Warner Brothers in the mid 1970's, plus numerous singles produced by Allen Toussaint. Even though he was noticed locally and in the circles of soul music aficionados with minor hits such as "Did You Have Fun" in 1960, Willie never managed to break to national success. During the past years, he has lived in Minnesota and kept himself busy in music. Lost Soul might be just the thing that finally gives him wider recognition.

Lost Soul continues on the moody path laid by the 7" single recordings West has done with The High Society Brothers band from the year 2009. The group is composed of the key members of the Finnish funk powerhouse The Soul Investigators, who have previously backed worldwide success stories for artists such as Nicole Willis and the vocal duo Myron & E.

Two incredible sides from the legendary Young Jessie. 'You Were Meant For Me' is a timeless piece of jazzy, dancefloor blues from the rapidly changing early '60s era. On the flipside, an equally excellent updated reworking of Young Jessie's 1956 hit 'Mary Lou'. Cut during his stint with Mercury Records, both sides boast superb production and impeccable musicianship, and of course that trademark, oaky baritone of Obie Jessie himself

Roane Namuh adds his signature drums, filters, & bump to the spacey "Without Love"; HOT16 reimagines 80s boogie classic "Dreamer" into a slowed down contemporary Hip-Hop/R&B jam.

Unified by dub's loose sense of space and deep sub-frequencies, CHLLNGR's unique amalgam of soul, pop, stripped-down beats, and decaying atmospheres has earned the Copenhagen-based artist, Steven Jess Borth II, adulation from press and peers alike. The nocturnal, murky worlds of his debut 'Haven' and it's follow-up EP 'Datter' alluded to subtle pop possibilities featuring Borth's soft-touch vocals woven into structures indebted to modern R&B's sleek minimalism and the techniques set forth by dub reggae's chief architects King Tubby, Scientist, among countless other legends. An artist who shines in the collaborative process, Borth's acclaimed debut 'Haven' featured Coco (of Quadron), Aku (of Dragons of Zynth), Teachers, and he has been a consistent cohort of South African MC Spoek Mathambo partnering in composing, production, and touring as Mathambo's multi-instrumentalist secret weapon over the past few years.
Over the past year, CHLLNGR has been working on his next full-length for the LA-based Time No Place label. Recorded at the newly built Red Bull Studios in Copenhagen, Borth took a different approach by recording most of the new record at a legitimate studio as opposed to his previous DIY methods. Again, a collaborative effort: the new album features contributions from up-and-coming vocalist JOSIAHWISE IS THE SERPENTWITHFEET, Grace Hall of Skin Town, Doctor Echo, Dusty Brown, Nikolaj Manuel Vonsild (When Saints Go Machine, Cancer) and the UK based artist DELS. Keeping much CHLLNGR's signature moody starkness, his forthcoming LP strives for brave eclecticism, digging deeper into his future-minded soul music explorations.

Okayplayer Records and Somethinksounds join forces to present the New Zealand duos brilliant second LP. Their critically-acclaimed self-titled 2010 debut thrust the group into the international spotlight and achieved cult status following its release, garnering support from the like Gilles Peterson and Benji B on BBC Radio, which has continued with the release of their latest singles If These Are The Last Days and By & Bye. Deep and rootsy the EWH sound draws influence from an array of cultures and traditions, always on the pulse their 'far out' approach to soul, rock, beats and blues separate them from near enough every band in todays contemporary music spectrum. The group recently returned from a string of US live dates, including a much praised set alongside Questlove at The Roots Picnic in Philadelphia, marking an end to their 4 year hiatus.

Prekäre Bonvivants, begnadete Musiker, radikale Typen - VON SPAR sind vieles, vor allem aber eine der erstaunlichsten Bands aus jenen Gefilden, deren spannendere Musik von den Briten Krautrock getauft wurde. Sebastian Blume, Jan Philipp Janzen, Christopher Marquez und Phillip Tielsch wurden in der Vergangenheit öfter als Wiedergänger des Genres gefeiert (u.a. lieferten sie 2012 gemeinsam mit Stephen Malkmus vor den Augen der gerührten CAN-Gründungsmitglieder Irmin Schmidt und Jaki Liebezeit eine Neuinterpretation des Albums - Ege Bamyasi' auf dem Kölner Weekend Festival), auch wenn sich die vier gleichermaßen von Techno, Synthpop, Noise, Postpunk und Neuer Musik inspirieren ließen.
- Das Konzept des Kollektivs VON SPAR scheint zu sein, Hörerwartungen von Album zu Album zu torpedieren', schrieb die TAZ über das letzte Album - Foreigner', und tatsächlich ist auf - Streetlife' wieder vieles neu. Vier der acht Stücke wurden mit dem kanadischen Sänger Chris Cummings aka Marker Starling (formerly Mantler) eingespielt, dessen fragile Stimme in manchen Momenten an den großen Kommunisten und Musiker Robert Wyatt erinnert. Auf weiteren weiteren Stücken singen Ada (Pampa Records), so wie Scout Niblett (Drag City), für die Jan Philipp Janzen auf verschiedenen Tourneen in der Vergangenheit Schlagzeug gespielt hat (wie u.a. auch für Owen Pallett und The Field).
- Streetlife' ist ein heterogenes Album geworden, das von melodischem Pianodisco (- Chain Of Command') über vertrippte Soundscapes (- Hearts Fear') und pompösen Softrock (- Try Though We Might') in eine bessere Welt führt, könnte man sagen, klänge das nicht so pathetisch. Denn VON SPAR sind nicht pathetisch, sondern hellwach. Das ist kein Eskapismus, sondern life in the streets. And that's how they live it.

Available on CD and LP - comes with Japanese obi-strip.

Missing masterpieces of the original Jamaican Ska. Recorded at the Federal Studio between 1964 to 1965 and released on Ken Khouri's Kentone label, this is another essential reissue from the Dub Store Records camp. Featuring The Maytals, The Techniques, Dobby Dobson, Eddie Perkins, Sneer-Towners, Stranger & Patsy, The X-Rays, Eric Morris and more.

During his almost 40 years spanning career Jah Wobble recorded more than thirty solo albums and contributed to even more, uncountable projects. On the route from the post punk of Public Image Limited (PiL) via dubby dance music (especially in form of Jah Wobble's Invaders Of The Heart) to world music and ambient in all its facets the exceptionally gifted bass player hasn't left out almost any genre which is relevant in the modern British music scene. With "Inspiration" Jah Wobble returns to his roots, the love of his youth, reggae music. With the singer PJ Higgins he found the prefect companion, voice and songwriter to accomplish this endeavor with flying colors - a match made in heaven. Already the opener "My Heart's Burning" sparkles with the magic that arose during the recording sessions between Wobble and Higgins and sets the groundwork for the next seven tracks to come. PJ Higgin's vocals are piled layer upon layer and weave seamlessly in the deep, dubby bassline and the mellow guitar sounds. This masterfully, delicate reluctance is present over the full length of the album. Now and then, for instance with 'I Did Bad', it almost gets trip hoppy and you wouldn't be surprised if at it's finale suddenly Tricky would sneak around the corner. What makes the difference to the trip hop of Bristolian days is the mastery of these professional musicians who show off their craftsmanship on each and every song.

It's only with the third track, 'King Of Illusion', that you finally notice that the foundation of this album is actually reggae. The trumpet of Sean Corby and the offbeat-played keys by Wobble himself make slight references to the bygone sound of Studio One. On the other hand you can clearly hear that the separate instruments have been mixed in a lavish mastering above-board - in a way one now ought to speak of 'spherical reggae'. The core part of this masterpiece is of course the title track 'Inspiration'. Alex McGowan caps it all off with his very distinctive guitar playing and the thriftily applied Fender rhodes add extra virtuosity to the already very complex arrangement. 'Floating on high', sings PJ Higgins and means the transcendence you achieve when you addict yourself to all your inspirations and consider yourself as an aggregate of them. And this album is figuratively speaking jam-packed with influences and ideas, as many as it needs to make your head spin. Giddiness is no where in sight though, thanks to Jah Wobble's extra-experienced bass playing that pieces all the individual songs together to one big beautiful picture. It's the common thread to everything that's going on and the grounding of the electrifying voice of PJ Higgins. On 'What Have I Become' there's no holding back anymore though and she catches fire delivering a performance that goes right through you. The drums and percussions played by Marc Layton- Bennett add a heavy dose of voodoo to the mix. Even a spiritual ('Chaingang') find its way on to this immaculate and, after repeated listening, truly impressive collection. The call & response by PJ Higgins is simply accompanied by hand claps and foot stomps and, of course, Jah Wobble's restrained bass.

All in all, this is a well-rounded package trying to be a classic reggae album but overstating the case by turning out to be much more than that. If PJ Higgins and Jah Wobble were new kids on the block, they'd be a pair to keep an eye on. Keeping an ear to the ground doesn't hurt though

(October Collective Title) Cooly G returns with 'Wait 'Til Night', an album of sensitive, lo-fi bedroom music, it's lyrics sketching dreamy scenarios of seduction, lust and sex. The moody South London house of her debut album 'Playin Me' and her DJ sets has given way to a near-horizontal, sometimes melancholy and highly original take on R'n'B. The tracks swing effortlessly with no-fuss musical arrangements that are filtered through reggae sound system culture and US R'n'B in equal amounts, with a slight hint of dark synthpop wound throughout. The pace has come down from the deep, tribal house she's known for so far, with the only constants that run through the album - her intimate vocals and smokey synths - cross-hatched with her characteristic broken rhythmic sense. Opening with title track, Cooly coos about a date, over an infectious synth lead that wouldn't sound out of place on a Depeche Mode song. 'Like A Woman Should' is twilight music, synths rolling out like clouds over pulsing drums, while the vocals whisper invitations. 'Your Sex' is a fantasy with synths and surprisingly stabbing, hooky and distorted rhythm guitar. 'I Like' feels like the opening of an especially dreamy jungle track stretched into a full pop song. 'Dancing' rolls out drums and a mini guitar figure into a gently dizzy waltz, while 'Quick Question' plays out the scenario after the dance. 'Want's' barely-there song structure of drum and occasional bass with a wiry synth lead, is accompaniment to a near-whispered vocal. The pace steps up with the smouldering 'So Deep', with a deep synth bassline and a muscular hip hop beat. '1st Time' is all depth charge bleeps, guitars and piano. 'Freak You' is spacious and guitar driven, with Cooly beaming in directives through a distant voice transmission. The album's final honest, angry and forlorn track, 'The 3 Of Us', comes down hard on an absent parent, a full stop on the romance that the album narrates. It also reveals Cooly G as a skilled rap artist, something she's kept hidden until now, with double-time flows casting off a missing babyfather. 'Wait 'Til Night' finds Cooly G casting her net wider than her debut album, with songs that are more confident, accessible and stylistically consistent. The album comes laced with Cooly's unique honesty and charm and is sure to win her new fans with her catchy melodies, slow-jammed stories of blighted urban romance, and engaging lack of pretension.

The Pepper Pots will release their new 45 "You've got the Future"t" on the back of 10 years and 6 albums, world tours that have taken in the United States, Japan, the UK, France, Russia and Germany and collaborations with some of the most important artists in the recent history of Soul music (Binky Griptite, Eli 'Paperboy' Reed) as well as the past (the Impressions, Maxine Brown). These 10 years have seen the band's approach to Old School Soul mature into this, their best recordings so far, representing a leap forward for both the songs and the sound of the group.

(Comes with a free Funky Chicken 45 RPM adapter)

New Dawn Baba Stiltz hails from a tradition of funky outcasts centred around the calm yet unpredictable city of Stockholm, Sweden. Since his infant days he's been guided through the nitty-gritty basics of what it is to be a true music lover by some of the city's most prolific artists, producers and djs. Despite his youth, 20-year-old Baba boasts an impressive discography, with two albums of dreamy folk-pop (as The Betlehem Beard Corporation) and a string of hit singles within the elusive Skweee scene already under his belt. His more recent studio adventures have led to three 12' releases on Stockholm dance label Studio Barnhus as well as recurring production work for post-rap phenomenon Yung Lean. Total is Baba's debut album under his own name and his finest work to date. From the opening machine-funk arpeggio of Missing to the sanguine melancholia of closing hiphop beat Discovery - New Dawn, Baba's masterpiece rides through psychedelic screw-pop, minimalistic emo-acid and opiate-drenched coming-of-age-ambient.

To be a woman singing your own blues and soul songs in 1960s Texas was a rare thing. To do so while brandishing a left-handed Stratocaster and bashing out hard-edged licks was even rarer. Yet that's just what Barbara Lynn did, inspired by Guitar Slim, Jimmy Reed, Elvis Presley and Brenda Lee. And it was a hit: her 1962 debut single, 'You'll Lose A Good Thing,' recorded with session musicians including Dr. John, gave her an R&B chart Number One and a Billboard chart Top 10 hit.

It was a path that Lynn chose at elementary school in 1940s Beaumont, Texas, when she told her mother she wanted to play guitar. 'I decided that playing piano was a little bit too common, you know what I mean' says Lynn in the new liner notes. 'You'd always see a lady or a little girl sitting at a piano. I decided I wanted to play something more unexpected, so that's when I got interested in learning to play the guitar.' Self-taught, first on the ukulele and then on a guitar, Lynn formed her first group, Barbara Lynn and Her Idols, while still at school and soon took the local scene by storm. Hers was a powerful talent in a petite package, a performer who could stand up against the best-even as a teenager.

Spotted while performing, underage, in Louisiana, she was offered the chance to record her own material, songs that filtered the experience of being a black Texan teen with power, feel, and guts. Ten of the twelve tracks on her debut album were her own compositions. 'It took a lot of time,' Lynn remembers of the recording process, 'but we got 'Good Thing,' we got our hit. I loved it. I loved meeting the new musicians; a lot of the guys who played on that record became friends. And seeing how the engineers worked and how they produced the sounds, all of that was really interesting to me.'

The success of that single took Lynn out on the road with the likes of Stevie Wonder, Gladys Knight, BB King, Supremes, Chuck Berry, Guitar Slim, and The Temptations. BB King even wrote a letter to Lynn's mother to tell her what a talented daughter she'd raised. She appeared at the Apollo Theater, she was twice on American Bandstand, and one of her songs, 'Oh Baby (We've Got A Good Thing Goin')' was covered by The Rolling Stones.

Though she was a precocious performer, hers is a talent that came to full bloom on Here Is Barbara Lynn, her 1968 album produced by Huey P. Meaux and originally released on Atlantic Records. The record was conceived as an introduction of Lynn's prodigious talents, her deeply felt guitar playing, her gutsy soulful singing skills, and her songwriting prowess. It collected her early hit and a raft of new songs, each packed with Lynn's passion and fire. Yet the introduction to her world-now reissued by Light In The Attic-largely proved to be her swansong. She married in 1970, aged 28, had three children, and largely retired from the music industry for most of the '70s and '80s. Now touring again, she's amused to think of her 46 year-old album gaining new fans. 'I hear this album, and it seems like... it seems like the old times to me,' she says. "I don't know, it's strange to know it's coming out again. It is going to be a wild, first time thing for me, like going back in time. But I'm excited to see what happens.'

(Comes with a free Funky Chicken 45 RPM adapter)

(Comes with a free Funky Chicken 45 RPM adapter)

A unique project gathering nineteen tracks from eighteen prolific producers including Claude VonStroke, Brodinski, Cassius and Art Department centred around one inimitable singer; JAW. 'Midtown' is the ambitious sound of an artist reflecting on his vision of the world, through collaborations with friends from every corner of the planet. You may know JAW by name, but most will know him by voice. As the frontman of French house wildcards dOP and their indiepop sideproject, Les Fils du Calvaire, JAW has blossomed into one of the most distinctive performers in a scene where few dare to cross the barrier of the DJ booth. From bedroom setups to street recordings to highend studios, spanning melancholic folk, electro pop and apocalyptic R&B, 'Midtown' is the culmination of years JAW has spent connecting with likeminded artists, challenging himself to use his unmistakable voice in different ways. Placing the emphasis on having fun, whether the music be dark and obtuse, or upbeat and flamboyant, the result is nineteen different recording spaces with nineteen different textures, ensuring that no two moments on 'Midtown' feel the same. o As the vocalist for madcap house wayfarers dOP, Jonathan Illel has seduced the hearts and minds of dancefloor dwellers, holding them captive with his voice as he douses them in vodka.

(Comes with a free Funky Chicken 45 RPM adapter)