Pop & Rock News

With its tongue in cheek title, The Best of Band X (there had been no previous Band X releases) snuck into the record racks in 1976, the first the world was to hear from musician/producer/writer/arranger (and later all-American hero) Craig Peyton. Fitting in somewhere between contemporaries like Weather Report, Headhunters and Stone Alliance, Craig Peyton definitely ploughed his own musical furrow even in an exceptionally fertile era. Originally a jazz drummer and vibraphonist, Craig was interested in utilizing the potential of some of the new synthesizers that were coming onto the market in that era, (beating even Stevie Wonder to the use of the Fairlight keyboard).
1. Rip Van Winkle
2. Red Cloud
3. Trullion Alastor 2262
4. Afterthought
5. Picking Mushrooms With
Rabbit
6. Home
7. Black Hole

Since its foundation in 1997 Jazzanova always had a big following in Japan. And theintercultural exchange with the Japanese DJ scene has been brisk ever since. However, now for the very first time a remix 12inch jam-packed with works by artists from the land of the rising sun.In collaboration with Especial Records (Kyoto Massive member Yoshihiro Okino's label) four remixes for 'Now There Is We', Jazzanova's last single, had been commissioned. Starting things off is Kuniyuki Takahashi, producer and sound designer from Sapporo. The Future Jazz apostle bends and breaks - Now There Is We' until he puts down an impelling jazz piano accompanied track which would even bring tears to the late Frankie Knuckle's eyes.A completely different approach is applied by Mano Arriba (Spanish for - Hands up!'): Under his direction the song mutates to become a carnival-compliant salsa rhythm. Absolutely striking!

Debut album by Jimmy "The Funky Tramp" aka "Mr. Motion" Lynch! Original store stock from the 1970s - still sealed! Limited quantity available. For fans of Rudy Ray Moore and Blowfly this is a must have.

Odd ball You betcha......., driving 'drinkin' blues rocker with great guitar break and cool moving flip

The Jazz Epistles were not only South Africa's first bebop band, but were also, rumour has it, the first black South African group to release an album. Very few copies of that album 'Jazz Epistle Verse 1' were made in 1960 (issued on the Continental Label), and even fewer survive today. At the time members of the band were very active in the burgeoning South African jazz scene and had also made several recordings for John Mehegan, a self-taught white American jazz pianist and tutor who toured South Africa that same year. Mehegan soon found himself in trouble with the South African authorities for fraternizing with black musicians.

The Jazz Epistles broke up soon after the Verse 1 recordings, with all members being offered work touring Europe with the hit African jazz musical 'King Kong', along with the Manhattan Brothers and vocalist Miriam Makeba.

This tour came at a time when Sophiatown, the black suburb of white Johannesburg where the band lived and played, was about to be demolished. This, along with The Sharpeville Massacre marked the beginnings of forced segregation, violence, repression and a most turbulent time in their country - a time when African arts would not be tolerated.

Thankfully, the touring members of the Jazz Epistles found freedom, enlightenment, appreciation and the guidance of European musicians to further their musical careers. So in some ways, South African jazz flourished for the next few decades, but only in other countries.

Listening now to these recordings we hear that the band's early mix of African and American jazz ideas, rhythms and swingin' tempos make their sound both unique and prescient, and can now be appreciated as a cornerstone and most important landmark in South African sounds.

This unique vinyl release brings together selections from the classic Verse 1 album as well as other rare cues by members of the band, recorded for Mehegan in those lively 1959/ 60 jazz sessions. Of particular note on this release is the sublime track Gafsa, summed up on its original release like so: 'Another piano solo from Dollar Brand. It tells of a man who was madly in love with a wonderful woman. She dies, but her vision comes to him as he walks through the streets of Cape Town on a misty night.'

The fourth album by Jimmy "The Funky Tramp" aka "Mr. Motion" Lynch! Original store stock from the 1970s - still sealed! Limited quantity available. For fans of Rudy Ray Moore and Blowfly this is a must have.

EXPANSION introduce a brand new series of 10' CLASSICS back to back with the coolest CONTEMPORARY takes of the same track. First off is the 70s masterpiece by the MIZELL BROTHERS, as originally recorded by the master of the Hammond organ, JOHNNY HAMMOND in 1975 on FANTASY REORDS - a jazz funk, timeless 'rare groove' previously only a single as a 7' edit but glorified here in it's full 6 minutes. The new version is by QUASIMODE, the hippest new jazz quartet from Japan, signed to BLUE NOTE RECORDS. They have taken the jazz world by storm and have recorded a version of 'Los Conquistadores Chocolates' worthy of comparison to the original and on vinyl here for the first time

Death Shanties is a new mixed media balls-­to-­the-wall Free Jazz group featuring Trembling Bells founder Alex Neilson (drums), Sybren Renema (alto/baritone sax) and Lucy Stein (painting / projections). The group combine references to Medieval music, Sea Shanties and Field Hollars with the ecstatic cry of classic 1960's fire music. Stein uses primitive devotional images, food stuffs and even her own hair in visceral, highly textured painted projections making Death Shanties a unique and immersive live experience. Death Shanties debut album "Crabs" is out on August 11th 2014 on Bomb Shop.

Three tracks from the record were previewed by Wire Magazine (http://bit.ly/1rzhEb8), who also ran a half-page review in their August issue. Airplay is confirmed on Stewart Maconie's Freak Show, and Dense PR (Berlin) are carrying out a European online & radio campaign. A full album premiere, along with an interview with Alex Neilson, is scheduled to appear on The Quietus at the end of the month.

Ever since the end of World War II, the exchange of musical ideas between jazzmen of various nations has gained increasing incidence, particularly in Scandinavia. It was in Sweden that the first outstanding modern jazz soloists were contributed by Europe to the international discographies; and it was in Sweden that a number of happy unions took place between American and Swedish jazzmen, resulting in the production of such successful sessions as the two represented on this album.(...) Jazz Abroad indicates decisively that men like Quincy Jones, Roy Haynes and their confreres are musically at ease in the company of such distinguished Swedish contemporaries as are heard with them here. (...)
(from the original liner notes)

Recorded in 1961 under the direction of the legendary Quincy Jones and featuring members of Count Basie's group as well as crack New York sessions players, Genius + Soul = Jazz is one of the finest records in Charles' storied career. Lushly arranged and impeccably played, the group and performances are the perfect backdrop for Charles' whiskey smooth vocals. A crucial and essential piece of work from one of the 20th century's most celebrated performers.

Somewhat a cross between a Fela edits record, & songs built from Fela breaks. Each track is built from pieces a single Fela track, stripped of all the horns & singing, focused on the backing ensemble, w/some shouts & grunts. Primal stuff.

Here we are! The eighth release in the JAZZ DANCE SERIES is soon to be out!

James Edwards Matthews was born in Gloster, Mississippi and later moved to St. Louis, Missouri. He then left St. Louis at six years old to live with his mother in Greenville, Mississippi. His mother built a house in Greenville and opened a club called Desire. James would go to the club's lower level to listen to, watch, and memorize piano techniques from great entertainers in the club's house band.

Amazing tropical jazz double-sider with spiritual vibes and funk-fuelled rhythms

This Series Takes The Debauchery Of "Las Vegas Grind" Into Exotic Asia, The Deserts, And The Jungle! Bongos, Ape Noises, Fake Oriental Chants, And Maracas Galore. Truly Bizarre And Ridiculous Attempts At Exotica By Crazed, Obscure, One Shot Rock ´n´Roll


























27 Jan Davis - Watusi Zombie
28 Dantels, The - Dragon Walk
29 Pastels, The - Jungle Run
30 Premiers, The - Firewater
31 Megatons, The - Isis
32 Ganimian & His Orientals - Come With Me To The Casbah

True Ingredients on a mission to irrigate fertile earholes and infuse the senses with nutritionally
balanced and socially responsible rebelliousness. Working as a counter-measure to the
pandemic infectiousness of the polluted mainstream, the new album fuses music, live shows,
technology, and sunglasses(!) in a ground breaking way...
True Ingredients is a genre busting, London based band that are ready to release their new
album Through the Lens. Living up to their tag-line, "Made with 100% Imagination", their debut
album was the world's first to be released on sunglasses.
These limited edition "Album Shades" have been worn by the likes of Sean Paul, Mischa
Barton, Coolio, Kaya Scodelario and at Lovebox Festival 2011 Snoop Dogg headlined wearing
the limited edition Mustard-Yellow TI Shades...Each pair boast a unique download code that
enables the user to download the album from www.trueingredients.com
They believe that a great album is about so much more than just a collection of songs. It could
be an evolving story, energised with creativity, inspiring artwork, captivating performances,
and a direct relationship to the artists. Through the Lens captures this imagination and ups the
standard to introduce the world's first Immersive Album. It will be presented through the use of
ground breaking technology that will allow the listener to journey into the music and themes on
the album using any digital device or platform. By interacting with 3D scenes and videos, remixing
the music, and manipulating the imagery around each track, listeners can immerse
themselves in the experience ranging from global social issues to general party mayhem.
More than anything the band loves playing live and loves getting to know a new crowd. The
live shows feature an explosion of rhymes, flows, freestyles, melodies, harmonies and the kind
of energy on stage that infects a venue resulting in a truly vibrant exchange between audience
and performers. The intensity is fuelled by a cocktail of musical styles, fusing driving basslines,
chunky beats, soulful keys and distorted guitars. The band have been touring hard since 2009
with over 300 shows. They hosted their own stage at Glastonbury with the Love Bullets
Movements, performed at London Peace Week live on Kiss FM from Trafalgar Square, live on
SRS National Swiss Radio, went crowd surfing to people losing their minds at TMBase
Festival in Romania and all across the UK and Europe.
The band members represent four continents and this makes for an interesting coming
together of creative minds. They share the notion that originality in thought, and trueness in
spirit, is an important and a powerful tool. They are advocates of mental liberation from the
capitalistic mechanisation of society. At times they are introspectively enjoying the moment,
and at others they are ranting menaces to an established world order. Through the Lens is
about various visions of life as they see it.













Roxx

Haunting & wistful Dday One instrumental created from P&S Playdate material runs the P&S dub ethos through a hip hop filter. Flip for a rework of the very 1st Playdate recording, slathered in analog delay regen. Cover photo by Dday One.

Souleance are back! Following on from the success of their debut LP 'La Belle Vie' from earlier this year, the French duo have been busy in the studio producing La Beat Tape. 20 tracks deep, the release is aimed squarely at the DJs, with every beat guaranteed to shake the danceflloor.
Souleance are producer Fulgeance (Musique Large / MPM) and DJ Soulist (What The Funk Paris). Since releasing their debut EP (Le Monde) back in 2009, they have built a solid reputation for their idiosyncratic take on modern beats. With fans including Gilles Peterson, Danny Breaks and Mr Thing, their debut album was the culmination of 3 years of beat-making, touring, partying and drinking too much Pimms. Whilst other producers would rest on their laurels after releasing their debut, Souleance got straight back into the studio to produce La Beat Tape - their sole aim to create tracks that they would DJ with themselves. The result is 20 tracks of pure dancefloor fire.
This 7" is our pick of the tracks that we think the DJs will love most. It takes in heavy Turkish breaks (Sauce Samorai), Hammond funk (L'insouleance), Just Blaze-style horn-heavy hip hop (Como Estan Bitches) and loose-limbed hip hop funk (BBQ & Pimms). This limited edition 7" containing features artwork by long-term collaborator Alice Dufay: it's sure to join their previous vinyl releases as a genuine collectors item.

Brandnew 21st Century Funk Album Many Years And Many Miles From The Inspirational Source, Redefining The International Parameters Of Pulse Power!

Like Richard Oliver's "Dicky Oliver", "Style" was an LP
released on the RCA Italy catalogue.
"Style", is an extremely rare album which was not conceived for
sale but for synchronisation purpose only. This was quite
common at those times, with many labels producing music for
film, radio and tv and consequently pressing limited quantities of
wax, which became rapidly collectible.
"Popoff" is a superb example of italian 70s Jazz Funk infused
with a characteristic Progressive flavour, which was a trending
genre at that time.
Among the eleven tracks of the LP "Notte a Bagdad" and
"Kimono Pop" present wicked grooves and evocative
atmospheres
Originally released in 1974 now this highly sought-after title is
again available on Schema Easy Series.

Limited Edition Heavy Weight Vinyl Pressing.45 RPM. Recorded in Heliopolis Cairo Egypt in the early 70's.

SIDE A: A Tribute To Sun Ra Salah Ragab ; Conducting , Piano , Drums , Congas. Zaky Osman ; Trumpet , Flute. Mohammad Abdou ; Trumpet. Ibrahim Wagdy ; Trumpet. Khalifa El Samman ; Trumpet. Mahmoud Ayoub ; Trombone. Sadeek Basyouny ; Trombone. El Saied El Aydy ; Alto Sax. Farouk El Sayed ; Alto Sax. Saied Salama ; Tenor Sax. Fathy Abdel Salam ; Tenor Sax. Reckardo Kready ; Piano. Sayed Sharkawy ; Drums. Moohy El Din Osman ; Bass. Sayed Ramadan ; Bongos.

SIDE B: Latino In Cairo Salah Ragab ; Conducting , Piano , Drums , Congas. Zaky Osman ; Flute. El Saied El Aydy ; Alto Sax Sayed Sharkawy ; Drums. Moohy El Din Osman ; Bass. Sayed Ramadan ; Bongos.

Compositions and Arrangement by Salah Ragab Published by Art Yard Music Publishing © Art Yard Ltd 2014

During the '70s, work days at Umiliani's Sound Workshop Studios were hectic; thousands of sessions were held in order to keep up with a very busy Italian movie industry: Hundreds of soundtracks alongside with music library were recorded and released on vinyl in very limited quantities for TV and film production use only. Those LPs are now proper collectors' items, extremely hard to find.

Filled with hypnotic bass lines, heavy drums and screaming fuzz guitars "Underground", the first LP of the fictitious group known as Braen's Machine, is one of the rarest and the most expensive of them all, always "reaching" sky high prices throughout the second hand vinyl market. A fast-beat jam with hammond scales and a twin lead guitar theme ("Flying") opens the A Side soon followed by "Imphormal", a classicfunk-beat-meetsfender- rhodes-and-psychedelic-guitar number. The music then switch to "thriller territories" with "Murder" which is based on prepared piano swells and a deeply hypnotic walking bass, reminiscent of the best Morricone's soundtracks for Dario Argento's movies. Two highly percussive songs complete the A Side: "Gap" is an improvised song with guitar and keyboards dwelling over an infectious drum rhythm while a marching snare and a vibraslap effect are the special features on "Militar Police".

The mood relaxes slightly on the opening of the B Side with a lazy jazz groove on "New Experience" but the rock influences are soon brought back on the following track "Fall Out". "Obstinacy" is all about keyboards with syncopated rhodes themes and distorted hammond sustained notes whilst the fuzz guitar is back again screaming through the left channel on the last song of the album, "Description". We could happly say that that was the golden age of the Italian music library. But who's behind the name "Braen's Machine" On the original cover the songs are credited to the composers Braen and Gisteri. Braen was a pseudonym often used by Alessandro Alessandroni, an extremely skilled and versatile musician, and one of Umiliani's closestcollaborators. He could write, conduct and arrange, he could sing (ever heard "Mah Na Mah Na"), he could whistle (ever heard Morricone's "For a fistful of dollars") and he could play almost anything: guitar, bass tuba, accordion, sitar and the list grows..... His first album "Alessandro Alessandroni e il suo complesso" (Sermi, 1969), had transformed the Italian library music from orchestral sound beds into the psychedelia we all love; the extremely fuzzy guitars are very "present" on "Underground" too. For a long time Gisteri's real identity was rather mysterious; often wrongly attributed to Umiliani. Gisteri was the pseudonym of Oronzo De Filippi, art name of Rino De Filippi, music supervisor to the Italian public broadcast company (RAI) between the '60s and the '70s. De Filippi composed other notable pieces such as "Riflessi" (Edipan, 1975) and "Nel mondo del lavoro" (Sermi, 1972).

De Filippi passed away few years ago but we were able to contact Alessandroni to talk about this LP. Remembering "Underground" recording session as one of the thousands he took part of, Alessandroni told us that this record was produced very quickly, in two days maximum. This was made possible by a team of wonderfully capable session musicians and the creative genius behind the mixing desk; this incredible combination helped to focus on the mood of each track even more. Unfortunately there are no liner notes but Alessandroni's memories and speculations, based on other music tracked in the same period at Soundworkshop by resident engineer Claudio Batussi, led us to identify this as the most probable lineup: Munari on drums, Majorana on bass, Vannucchi on keyboards and Alessandroni himself on guitar. For this reissue the sound has been restored and the cover art reproduced exactly as it was.