Pop & Rock News

Lingering at the remains of a campfire before dawn, with the politics of the personal burnt into ash, running his stick through what’s left, Wand singer/guitarist Cory Hanson is reflecting on a series of moments in which he steps farther into himself, finding the ultimate big sky country on the inside of his skull. It’s a combination of songs and sounds that journey
through bleak and broken territory and places of sweet, lush remove and it adds up to the best record he’s been involved in yet: his second solo album, ‘Pale Horse Rider’.

 Cory’s first solo, ‘The Unborn Capitalist From Limbo’, was an intense affair, a grand experiment that produced inspiring,
nconventional music - but this time around, he wanted to breathe a bit easier, to feel that breath in the music as well. So he and his band drove out to the desert to record in a lowstress environment: Brian Harris’ Cactopia, a house surrounded by 6ft tall sculptural psychotropic cacti. They built a studio inside and then they made music and lived off pots of coffee and chili and cases of Miller High Life as they played guitars, bass, keyboards and drums in what seemed increasingly like a living biomech, their tech made out of fungal networks and cacti needles.

 It was loose and flowed onto tape well. Recorded by Robbie Cody and Zac Hernandez (who assisted on Wand’s ‘Laughing Matter’), the sounds were great from the get-go. First takes were mostly best takes. Fuelled with DNA lifted from country-rock cut with native psych and prog strands, Cory guided his craft toward the cosmic side of the highway, a benevolent alien in ambient fields hazy with heat and synths, early morning fog and space echo spreading the harmonies wide.

 ‘Pale Horse Rider’’s got a lot to get out of its mind, looking around and seeing that, on the surface, things don’t always look like much. A lifelong Californian, Cory’s naturally found himself standing to the left of most of the
country. The west may be only what you make it; these days, the roadside view looks exceptionally sunbleached and left behind. ‘Pale Horse Rider’ eyes the city, the country and the fragile environment that holds them both in its hands - a record as much about Los Angeles as it can be with its back to the town and the sun in its eyes; as much about
ostalgia as new music can be with the apocalypse over the next rise.

 On ‘Pale Horse Rider’, Cory Hanson moves ceaselessly forward. The old myths weave and waft, the shadows of tombstones flickering in the mirages and the light that lies dead ahead.

Heather Leigh is a musical polymath in the truest sense of the word; primarily known as an influential practitioner of pedal steel guitar, her work is impossible to pigeonhole - all-over-the-place in the best way, from collaborations with Peter Brötzmann and Shackleton to a properly mind-bending duo of albums for Stephen O’Malley’s Ideologic Organ and Editions Mego - hers is a sound that’s both highly sensual and aesthetically aggressive, beautiful and fearless. Her ‘Glory Days’ album for Documenting Sound has now been
remastered and pressed on vinyl - and is, for our money - one of the most intangible yet open-hearted pop records of recent times.

‘In This Lingering Twilight Sparkle’ finds Mark Leckey stitching together a fantasy travelogue made up of found sounds, spoken word and dismantled tunes like some hallucinogenic mixtape; part audio diary, part YouTube session taking in fairytale folk musics, iMessage notifications and gothic horror that will make you question... stuff. “In the Age before These Times I’d been reading lots of folklore about Fairies, and Changelings and the like. At the same time I’d watch all these shows with my young daughter which revolved around magic and myth: enchanted realms, unicorns, mermaids, trolls etc. That I could instantaneously conjure up these shows on various devices made them appear even more magical. In my head these two worlds began to converge; the contemporary magic of consumerism, embodied within a rainbow unicorn, and an older mindset that could transact between the mundane and the supernatural. When the lockdown began this sense of the modern and medieval co-existing grew and grew, along with the belief that all the streaming sevices served as a protective magic from the encroaching dark age. Come the pestilence I had the kids, online magic and a hard drive full of stuff I’d collected for O Magic Power of Bleakness, things that I wanted to emulate, that sonically suggested the sensations I was looking for, sounds and music that evoked Childhood and Consumerism, Fairies and Trauma, Hauntings and Concrete. More than these concepts though what I really I wanted was it to sound like someone totally lost and confused with the ongoing mystification of reality. An actuality where a Great Worm could reasonably appear on my news feed app as the Moon turns to Iron. We draw the magic cap down over eyes and ears as a make-believe there are no monsters. KARL MARX”

Mark Leckey, May 2020

The young virtuoso producer Prins Emanuel follows up his acclaimed debut album on Music For Dreams with something quite different than what we're used to hearing from him. While Arbete & Fritid was an epic odyssey into the furthest corners of disco with an array of studio wizardry and complex rhythms, Diagonal Musik is a sparse and delicate exploration of the acoustic guitar. Steering away from his comfort zone, the Prins follows his intuition for experimentation and lands somewhere in a field of genre-defiant folk-jazz meditations; a development that fits like hand in glove for the eccentric nature of Music For Dreams. The album reads like a soundtrack to the country house Emanuel shares with his family and friends, a place on the map called Oran. From atop a hillside overlooking a lake, Oran is lodged deep in the heart of the Skåne landscape, the southern part of Sweden that once belonged to Denmark. This place encompasses the whole of the album, as the track titles all pinpoint crucial locations on the courtyard and its surroundings. 'Orön' which opens the album is named after the small half-island that sits in the centre of the lake. There's the hand-built sauna ("Bastun") at the edge of the yard, and behind that in a slope the old root cellar ("Jordkällaren"). While the nature here is anything but balearic, the overwhelming calm of the country life seems to inspire the same laid-back attitude and passion for all things organic (and not just musically, as this is where Emanuel also makes cider from local apples according to the vin naturel school). Upon listening to Diagonal Musik one might be keen to draw references to works in similar style, such as the output of late 80's new age label Windham Hill or the dreamy lullabies of long-time friend and Music For Dreams affiliate 55 Cancri e. This is all circumstantial however, surprising as it may seem.

To be released in LP and CD on 02/04/21 by Les Disques du Festival Permanent, Pagans, Murailles Music.

Artwork and illustration by Camille Lavaud

Constructed like an invented tarot deck, De Mòrt Viva explores the idea of a contemporary paganism in ten jubilant, humorous and spiritual odes.

The Auvergne Occitan imposes itself at the spittoon, deploying its metaphorical and polysemic network, with the particular candor of a newly acquired language.

The melody is born from the word, the poem gives birth to the song, in a form that could recall from afar and without erudition, the trobar, the art of the troubadours.

In this game-album each piece describes a possible situation, with its typical emotions and stakes, its often reversible systems of forces whose meaning escapes Manichean thinking.

Drawing from the ageless figures of the Carnival, these ten arcane songs will perhaps bring to our consciences what to think differently about contemporary concerns.

Always hybrid and exploratory, Sourdure's music reveals itself here under a new face. Exoskeleton or chemical revelator, the electronics are camouflaged in the roughness of the song as if to disturb its contours. Carried away by an armada of percussions and wind instruments, the voice naturally takes its strong place, whispering, savoring the langue d'oc like a macerated wine.

For decades, Dylan's performance in Manchester was incorrectly labeled 'The Royal Albert Hall Concert'. Now, for the first time, the REAL Royal Albert Hall concert, originally recorded for a live album by CBS Records, is finally being released. The 2CD will be released on 11th November with the 2LP following on 26th November.

‘Spells’ is the ethereal and enchanting debut release by Los Angeles harpist and composer Nailah Hunter.

Each of the tracks offer tranquillity and a reflective setting. The release started off with Hunter wanting to reclaim the way she thought about creating and performing music.

Hunter says each of the eight tracks on the release represents a spell, allowing her to carry them out as steps of a ritual: “Each track is its own incantation, its own spell, its own world.” Ambient in nature, ‘Spells’ brings out Hunter’s intuitive skills as a composer.

All instrumentation on ‘Spells’ was composed, played, recorded and produced by Hunter, who is best known for creating ethereal music with the harp. She is part of Leaving Records supergroup Galdre Visions alongside Green-House, Ami Dang and Yialmelic Frequencies The project was recently featured in the New York Times.

Hunter recently contributed to 4AD’s Bing Ruth’s ‘Divergence: Species Remixes’ EP alongside Khotin Maria Somerville, Lucy Gooch and James Krivchenia.

For fans of Laraaji, Hiroshi Yoshimura, Enya, Pure Moods, Mary Lattimore and Alice Coltrane.

LP comes with an 8-page full-colour 12x12 booklet.

A limited edition clear vinyl pressing for Vol. 1 of DINTE's critically acclaimed collection of pirate radio adverts & idents, taken from recordings of London stations between 1984 & 1993.

Father John Misty is the nom-de-plume of Josh Tillman, who
has been recording and releasing solo albums under his own
name since 2003 and who recently left Seattle’s Fleet Foxes
after playing drums with them from 2008-2011.
When discussing Father John Misty, Tillman paraphrases Philip
Roth: “‘It’s all of me and none of me, if you can’t see that, you
won’t get it.’”
‘Fear Fun’, Father John Misty’s album from 2012 and now
available again through Sub Pop, began gestating during what
Tillman describes as an “immobilizing period of depression” in
his former Seattle home, when he had lost interest in
songwriting and wound up finding his voice by writing a novel.
After breaking from Seattle and settling in a spider-infested
Laurel Canyon treehouse, Tillman spent months demoing
songs, eventually liberating himself from his creative impasse.
With the help of LA producer/songwriter/pal Jonathan Wilson, a
wealth of talented musicians kicking around LA and producer
Phil Ek (who everyone knows has worked with Built to Spill,
Modest Mouse, Band of Horses, Fleet Foxes), ‘Fear Fun’
blossomed into a fully-formed expression of Tillman’s
unrestrained vision.
‘Fear Fun’ consists of such disparate elements as Waylon
Jennings, Harry Nilsson, Arthur Russell, All Things Must Pass
and Physical Graffiti, often within the same song. Tillman’s
voice has never been better and often sounds like Roy Orbison
at his most joyous, while the music maintains a dark,
mysterious yet playful, almost Dionysian quality.
Lyrically, his absurdist fever dreams of pain and pleasure elicit,
in equal measures, the blunt descriptive power of Bukowski or
Brautigan, the hedonist-philosophy of Oscar Wilde and the
dried-out wit of Loudon Wainwright III.
6-panel digipack CD. Gatefold LP.

Kame House Records is back again with their second instalment. TIP!

Malian music is arguably deeper, more sophisticated and lyrical than any other form of African music. Those of us deeply entranced by Malian culture, and, in particular, the immense hypnotic beauty of Malian music, have put together a selection of songs from across the country.

Compiled by Vik Sohonie & Dave 'Mr Bongo’ Buttle, the story of this release began in 2015 when Dave happened upon the Soul Bonanza blog. A treasure chest of rare finds from around the world! One mix in particular stood out and totally enthralled Dave - le monde à change: a tribute to mali 1970 - 1991. He already knew of Malian legends such as the Rail Band, Salif Keita, & Les Ambassadeurs du Motel de Bamako, but this mix was something else! Deep & culled from the collections of some of the heaviest African music collectors in the world; legends like Vik Sohonie, Hidehito Morimoto, Philippe Noel, Gregoire Villanova, and Rickard Masip. Dave immediately contacted Vik and a journey of discovery tracking down the rights-holders began. He also turned to the font of Malian music knowledge; Florent Mazzoleni. Florent has written the definitive book about Malian music – 'Musiques modernes et traditionnelles du Mali’. He proposed some incredible tracks to include and provided the back bone of the sleeve notes and photos that are used in the album. No Malian album would be complete without a striking front cover photo, and ours is sourced from the late great Malian photographer Malick Sidibé.

On this album you will find well-known artists sitting next to rarer discoveries. The Rail Band, who are one of the best known of all the big bands in Mali, gave us the stars Mory Kanté and Salif Keita. Les Amabassedeurs du Motel de Bamako were another big act that had Idrissa Soumaoro, Kanté Manfila, and for a while Salif Keita in their ranks. Sometimes Salif would play in both bands in one night, quite a feat considering the bands were fierce rivals. As an albino Salif has had to face considerable prejudice from society, focusing on his musical career to help overcome this.

A major discovery on the album has been Idrissa Soumaoro et L'Eclipse de L’Ija. L'Eclipse de l'Institut des Jeunes Aveugles was a Blind teenagers institute and their record was produced by the German association that took care of blind Malian teenagers in Bamako. It was never properly released commercially and was the first recordings by the legends of Malian music Idrissa Soumaoro, Amadou Bagayoko and Mariam Doumbia. Amadou & Mariam later got married and became household stars, including making an album with Manu Chao.

This album is a concerted global effort to showcase the most vital cornerstone of Malian culture in an attempt to preserve its reputation in the face of its current, grim reality. We hope our highlights of Mali's rich history of musical innovation will serve as a starting point for reclaiming an image tainted by unnecessary conflict. May peace and music return to Mali soon.

"On The Other Side" ist das lang erwartete Debütalbum des Londoner Künstlers Josh Edwards aka Blanco White. Mit drei bislang veröffentlichten EPs - "The Wind Rose" (2016), "Colder Heavens" (2016) und "Nocturne" (2018) - konnte Blanco White derart beachtliche Erfolge verzeichnen, die ihm monatelange Tourneen durch die ganze Welt ermöglichten. Josh studierte Gitarre in Cádiz (Spanien) und das andine Zupfinstrument Charango in Sucre (Bolivien), so verwundert es nicht, dass er Elemente der andalusischen und lateinamerikanischen Musik mit traditionellem Folk seiner Heimat verbindet. Das Album wurde hauptsächlich in London aufgenommen und von Josh selbst produziert. Für den Mix zeichnet sich Jake Jackson (Air Studios) verantwortlich.

Singer, lyricist and composer Nirox Romão aka Diron Animal was born and raised in Cazenga, Angola. Diron Animal's involvement in the music world began early: he was part of a traditional Angolan music band and capoeira group, followed by a hip hop project. 12 years ago he moved to Portugal to study, but music became more than just a passion when he landed in kuduro.

For over 6 years, he sang, danced and traveled the world with Afro Portuguese act Thoes + The Shine, mixing rock and kuduro, becoming an explosive ensemble. At one moment, Diron wanted to record a solo album to show a bit more of his own personality and in late 2017 his debut album ‘Alone’ appeared on Soundway Records, where he himself worked out the melodies, rhythm, vocals and even the guitar parts between classic funk to afrohouse and kuduro bass. Through that album he explored major festivals in Europe during 2018, such as at Paléo Festival Nyon, Trans Musicales Festival, Amsterdam Dance Event and others.

On ‘Pair’, his 2nd album and released on Brussels outernational label Rebel Up Records, he has worked hard to enhance his special formula. Inspired by the cruel death his nephew, it became a testament against oppression via the mixed sounds of afro boogie, disco, funk, afrohouse, coupé décalé and kuduro, with English and Portuguese lyrics.

The first single of the album, ‘You and Me’, is an English sung afro boogie disco song and produced by Diron with the support of musician and producer Moullinex, actor André Cabral and video made by director Vasco Mendes. In the video, featuring dancer and actor André Cabral, Diron Animal takes on the role of a gay man to express that a homosexual is a normal person who loves, feels desire, dreams, conquers, wants to be loved and desired, wants to live next to a being that completes him. With “You and Me”, Diron Animal above all wants to appeal to society, respect for the choice of people and non-discrimination of sexual choices. For in life we all deserve to be happy regardless of our sexual choice.

Since first emerging as part of Crazy P in the late 1990s, James Baron has released a lot of great music. However, he’s previously put out very little quite like the Falling That You Know EP, his first solo outing as JIM on NuNorthern Soul.

The Falling That You Know EP sees Baron exploring an explicitly stripped-back, sensatory and soft-focus sound. It features a quartet of hazy home recordings created using little more than an acoustic guitar, piano, keyboard and some toy instruments belonging to his children. The music stretched across the EP is warming, wide-eyed and picturesque, with Baron showcasing his rarely heard singing voice as well as a finger-picking guitar style he’s spent the best part of 18 months perfecting.

Those with a wide-ranging musical palette will spot subtle sonic references to some of Baron’s lesser-known musical inspirations, including singer-songwriters Ned Doheny and Nick Drake. There’s a folksy, homespun charm to the camp-fire-ready bliss of loved-up opener ‘Falling That You Know’, where Baron delivers his own thoughtful lyrics atop shuffling shaker percussion, layered acoustic guitar, smooth bass, synth-strings and sustained piano chords.

Arguably even more impressive is ‘Phoenix’, a swelling, simmering and sweeping semi-acoustic cover of The Cult track of the same name featuring backing vocals from Crazy P chanteuse Danielle Moore producing a stunning, sunset-ready take on the classic.

Baron’s dedication to the finger-picking style long associated with British and American folk music comes to the fore on ‘Whisper in the Wind’, a future early evening singalong that gently builds across six spellbinding minutes.

Then there’s closing cut ‘You Know What To Say’, an effortlessly emotive, tactile and atmospheric affair that cannily distils all that is good about Baron’s latest solo venture into three magical minutes. It offers a near perfect end to an EP of rare pastoral beauty.

Updated Press / PR:

Jim interviewed on BBC London Robert Elms show discussing the EP (2hr:39)

Often regarded as Japan’s first female singer-songwriter, Sachiko Kanenobu created an enduring legacy with Misora, a timeless classic of intricate finger-picking, gently soaring melodies, and rustic Laurel Canyon vibes. Originally released in 1972 on URC (Underground Record Club), one of Japan’s first independent record labels, the Haruomi Hosono-produced album remains one of the most beloved works to come out of Japan’s folk and rock scenes centered around Tokyo and Kansai areas in the early 1970s. Now repressed with the vinyl housed in a deluxe, uncoated gatefold jacket with 12-page liner notes book !

The concept album Eli (1976) was the result of the collaboration between two of the most prolific musicians in Dutch history. After leaving Prog heroes Focus in the mid seventies, guitarist Jan Akkerman teamed up with singer Kaz Lux of the equally legendary Prog band Brainbox. Eli is a celebration of everything Folk, progressive Blues and Funk, weaved together with the virtuoso string play of globally acclaimed guitarist Akkerman. It’s exactly 40 years ago since he was voted best guitar player in the world by Melody Maker, which makes this the perfect time to reissue this wonderful album, which was awarded the Dutch Edison Award for Best Album in 1976.

Available as limited edtion of 1000 individually numbered copies on gold coloured vinyl. The package includes an insert.

Two dope Island Boogie tracks by Experience, an Afro Reggae group hailing from Germany. - Very nice steeldrumming in these tunes..

Experience’s “Share It With You” and “Happiness” can both be found on the private LP release “Oh! What A Feeling” from 1982. The group consisted of Anthony Flaverney from Trinidad, Curvin Murchant from Jamaica, Daniel Kofi Jefferson from Ghana and John Innies from Trinidad and was founded in Hamburg.

Anythony Flaverney, the lead singer on both songs, was active as songwriter and musician in Germany since the mid-1970s, most notably appearing on the Peter Herbolzheimer arranged “Caribbean Rock“ album by Malcolm's Locks (be sure to check their funk version of Bob Marley’s “Get Up Stand Up”!). Curvin Merchant, a highly respected drummer from Jamaica, settled in Germany around the same time. Before forming Experience, he was a member in several groups, including highly successful pop acts like Boney M. Later he became known as "Germany’s Grandfather of Roots Rock Reggae", among other things buildung up the "Reggae Center" in Hamburg. Flaverney and Merchant are joined by Daniel Jefferson on bass and John Innies on steel pan. The band existed for about 2 years, touring in Germany and Europe, unfortunately recording only one album which features a unique mix of Reggae and Funk.

The first track “Share It With You”, should give any serious music lover goose bumps. It was written by Flaverney and features a deep groove, steel drum solos and fantastic soulful vocals. It’s that type of tune you will play in a DJ set and people will come up to you and ask what it is. The single version is slightly edited.
Side B continues with Happiness, an equally great track with positive vibe and attitude, written by Flaverney and Jefferson. Again, the steel pan sounds give it that special compelling “Island” vibe from Trinidad.

The single is limited to 300 copies and comes in a beautiful picture sleeve showing part of the original artwork from the “Oh! What A Feeling” album.

“Instead of landscape sketches I wanted to go into more personal areas of my reality,” says Jim Ghedi of his third album In The Furrows Of Common Place. “To hold up certain aspects of society that were laying bare in front of me.”

Whilst Ghedi’s previous idiosyncratic take on folk has often been instrumental, exploring the natural world and his relationship to it through his music as seen on 2018's A Hymn For Ancient Land. His new album In The Furrow Of Common Place is a deeper plunge inside himself to offer up more of his voice to accompany his profoundly unique and moving compositions. “There were things I was seeing around me and being affected by in my daily life,” he says. “Socially and politically I saw defiance but also hopelessness. I wanted to be honest with the frustration and turmoil I was experiencing.”

The decision to include more of Ghedi’s vocals was a conscious one and driven by a need to say something. However, this isn’t a brash raging political polemic. As is now customary with Ghedi’s work, it is rich in nuance, history, poetry and allegory. Musically, the album is equally locked into this ongoing sense of evolution. Ghedi’s intricate yet deft guitar playing still twists and flows its way through the core, weaving in and out of gliding double bass, sweeping violin, gentle percussion and vocals that shift from tender solos to overlapping harmonies.

As with much of Ghedi’s work, there’s a rich connection between the past and the current. Musically, he continues to sit in a singular position of sounding distinctly contemporary yet also with a touch of traditional flair. This expands itself into the lyrical terrain here too. “I've been exploring contemporary issues and in that process discovering sources that correlate with similar issues in the past,” he says. “Which proves that these issues throughout history - environmental destruction, working class poverty etc - are ongoing.”

For all the socio-political and historical backdrop to the record it is not one that feels overwhelmed by it. Much like Ghedi’s work when it was largely instrumental - and some of it still is here - it flows and unfurls thoughtfully, with space still being utilised masterfully, creating room to pause and reflect. It’s another inimitable record from an artist that truly sounds like nobody else right now.

floral prince is the latest release from Field Medic, the preeminent Bay Area freak folk artist also known as Kevin Patrick Sullivan. Longtime followers of Field know the history of the anticipated project. It’s a frequent subject of late night twitter rants, secret youtube leaks and instagram live sets. But what is floral prince

Some people love to work, some people love to vacation. Thankfully for us, Emma Russack loves to do both! The concept for Permanent Vacation - the fourth album from Melbourne-based singer-songwriter, Emma Russack - stems from a lack of guilt about not having a 'real job'. Emma explains, 'I had some well-paying gigs last year, which meant that for 3 months I was literally just going to the beach, reading and lying in my parents' hammock - without feeling guilty.'

It was during this time on the New South Wales south coast, while sun tanning, that Emma struck pen to paper and wrote the majority of the songs for Permanent Vacation. Playing the same piano on which she learned as a child, you'll hear her tinker away on the keys, from opening tear jerker 'Migration' to the confessional 'Free Things', where Emma admits, 'sometimes I wish I had a partner', and on the haunting 'The Way' - perhaps one of the most strikingly beautiful songs Emma has ever written. While instrumentation is noticeably pared back on this album, the song structures and tempos are as intricate and varied as ever; from the calypso feel of title track 'Permanent Vacation' to the anthemic chorus of tongue-in-cheek single 'Everybody Cares' where Emma dryly proclaims 'everybody cares if I'm not at the party.'

Discussing the concept behind 'Everybody Cares', Emma explains: "Some people think that your friends aren't really going to miss you or be annoyed if you don't show up to some kind of social gathering that you've said you'd attend. I decided this couldn't possibly be true in my case - surely I am THAT much fun that everybody cares if I'm not at the party. Speculation Certainly - but I like to think that's how it is.'

Overall, Permanent Vacation is a less confessional album than any of her previous works, In a New State (2016), You Changed Me (2014) or Sounds Of Our City (2012). Emma explains, "For the first time in a long time, the songs came out of contentment and reflection - as opposed to some kind of existential crisis or breakup.'

The album was recorded very quickly with producer John Lee, who worked on In a New State. Emma played all guitar and piano, and John played bass and drums. It was tracked in a mere 3 days, with minimal follow up work.

It is often the case with popular music that those recordings which have the most profound impact and long-term appeal are often the ones which are produced in a moment without much deliberation or agenda. And that has certainly been the case with Slow Club’s EP of Christmas songs.

The first single from the E.P, Christmas TV, was actually written in soundcheck at Birmingham Barfly and released as a free download for Christmas 2008. The rest of the EP was written and recorded in a short burst in late summer 2009 at Axis Studios in Sheffield and in their friend’s bedroom. It came at a moment of intense creativity for the band when the songs were coming thick and fast and the duo were really hitting their stride. The differing musical styles of the pair was already becoming apparent across the three original compositions and three covers, and there is a real sense of a band pushing their limits in a way which would coalesce in the recording of their breakthrough second album the following year.

Second volume in VampiSoul's series focusing on Peruvian cumbia from the 60's and 70's. Beat and psychedelia mix with Andean and Amazonian folk to create pure tropical magic!

After their critically acclaimed debut compilation, a turning point in the downtempo universe, Entropia Coletiva II is the second vinyl appearance of the international collective and record label Voodoohop. The 2xLP travels into a broader spectrum of music zones, but stays close to the hazy, ambient shadows, where smooth rhythms and hypnotic musical compositions dance in a kaleidoscopic electronic landscape.

A groovy downtempo electronica with an enigmatic atmosphere bursts out of this release like the flagrantly adorned cover art that represents it. Entropia Coletiva II is a brilliantly executed exploration of mood, that defies the variety of artists presented by being fiercely congruous.

It features Xique-Xique, M.RUX and many more in a 11 track record and still builds itself as if it was the craft of a single consciousness.

Gea Russell is a singer / songwriter with roots deep in hip hop culture presents his latest album One Last Dance! One Last Dance mixes elements of blues, soul, reggae, jazz and hip hop, and whilst his music has been likened to Tindersticks, Ben Harper and Michael Kiwanuka. The result? An honest, spacious and heartfelt dance, and hopefully not his last.

Triptdes as the tdes of the ocean draw their power from the moon above, the music of Triptdes is fueled by the mind-bending inspiraton and wide-ranging creatve talents of Glenn Brigman (vocals and guitar), Josh Menashe (guitar and vocals), Dylan Sizemore (bass guitar) and Shaugnessy Starr (drums).
The trip began in the bohemian basements of Bloomington, Indiana in 2010, where Glenn and Josh shared ideas and infuences before evolving to craf a complex yet cohesive range of lush, psychedelic beach-pop' sounds. Two EPs and four LPs later, Triptdes are now an essental element of the Los Angeles psych scene, where they are preparing to launch their newest album, Aferglow. Inspired by the spirit of '60s and '70s West Coast pop and psychedelia, as well as legendary albums ranging from The Piper at the Gates of Dawn to The Notorious Byrd Brothers, Aferglow will be released this summer on French label Requiem Pour Un Twister and supported with a full European and North American tour.
This artefact is something especially nice to have and hold and sit alongside The Young Sinclairs, Silver Factory and Allah-Las in your collecton. They deserve far more atenton than has come along so far' ---Shindig
The soundtrack that will illuminate the summer.' ---Nouvel Obs
The romance that is begining with Triptdes will last more than this summer'. ---Rock & Folk

There are few instruments more uniquely suited to capturing the beauty and ennui of the rural American midwest than the acoustic steel-string guitar. In the hands of a master, the range of evocable emotion and experience is truly limitless. Daniel Hecht is one such master. His 1973 self-released debut album, simply titled Guitar, is an indispensable piece of the endless puzzle that is instrumental Guitar Soli music.

Guitar was written and recorded while Hecht was living and working on a commune in Madison, Wisconsin. In between harvesting his own food and studying the music of Andrés Segovia and Mississippi John Hurt, Hecht found himself playing host to legendary itinerant street performer, Moondog.

On Moondog’s insistent urging, Daniel decided to record some of his recent guitar compositions. Released on his own Dragon’s Egg imprint, Guitar fused Hecht’s complex classical preoccupations with his country folk influences. The album eventually found a fan with guitar godhead, John Fahey, who eventually helped land Hecht on the eminent new age/ instrumental label, Windham Hill.

As Hecht’s playing and composition grew in complexity, he found peership with labelmates like Michael Hedges, William Ackerman, and Alex DeGrassi. But it is his debut album that remains the greatest document of Hecht’s talent and ambition in first bloom. A rolling, blissful trip through rural America, guided by the ambitious hand of a guitar master. Morning Trip is elated to release this gorgeous and seminal document of acoustic exploration on vinyl for the first time since its initial 1973 offering.

In 2018, the Argentinean electro-cumbia legend Chancha Via Circuito (Pedro Canale) released Bienaventuranza, an album that capped off a decade-long trajectory that reshaped the musical panorama as we know it. The album maintained the swift-yet-wild balance between analog and digital, the new and the traditional, while crossing new sonic thresholds by way of fresh collaborations and new instrumentation. Released via Wonderwheel Recordings, Bienaventuranza received critical acclaim around the globe - from NPR to the Guardian.

Now the world gets a follow-up to Bienaventuranza - a 4-track EP of remixes by some extremely special contributors who shock these tracks into a new existence with their interpretations. First up is a remix of "Alegría" by none other than Nicola Cruz, the acclaimed Ecuadorian artist and producer who the New York Times called one of this year's Artists To Watch. A longtime collaborator of Chancha's, his spin on the track adds a hypnotic energy to it, as if peeling back an entire layer of the song. Next up is one of the album's more melodic tracks - "Ilaló" featuring Mateo Kingman, remixed by Spanish artist Baiuca, who's quickly gained popularity in Spain for his unique fusions of electronic with traditional Galician music. He puts an up-tempo house-tinged spin on the track, injecting it with a heavy, danceable pulse that compliments its already-winding melody. What follows is "Los Pastores" - the album's marching opening track. Remixed by Rafael Aragon, the French DJ/producer known to fear no sound, the track takes on an entirely new feeling. With jungle-like hues and intense percussive overlays and drones, Aragon readies the track for the dreamiest dancefloor you've ever known. Capping off the EP is a remix of "Barú" by El Búho (aka Robin Perkins), the artist and producer from Northern England known for his subtle integration of nature sounds into serene and captivating electronic compositions. He's allured global audiences for years with songs that inadvertently tempt listeners into a dreamlike state; his last LP, Balance (also out on Wonderwheel), was one of NPR's top albums of its year. He's taken one of the darker, more minimalistic songs on the album and infused it with a rich array of bird songs, winds, and sitars as if to make it the daytime reflection of itself.

With the contributions of 4 renowned producers from around the world, the Bienaventuranza Remix EP is a profound and fresh perspective on Chancha's original album. It'll help you hear the songs differently, all while inadvertently promising you'll listen to them a little more closely.

Untameable Anatolian feline fuzzy folk funk finally uncaged. A spontaneous Turkish-Norwegian-Dutch expedition, where seafaring jazz cats entangled with fugitive roadies and Tee-Set mods, makes the story of Durul Gence’s highly anticipated/ill-fated Asia Minor Mission group the stuff of lost-rock legend and remains one of Turkish music’s great “what ifs?” The black cat is finally out of the bag...

Having forged a celebrity status as one of Turkey’s premier percussionists and bandleaders, Durul Gence assembled the underground fusion group known as Asia Minor Mission (AMM) in early 1972 (with Irfan Sumer, Oguz Durukan and Ugur Dikmen) while trying to escape the constant daze of paparazzi camera flashes that followed him across Turkey. During a far-fetched post-gig brainstorm the group pondered relocating to Norway (based on fact that none of them had ever visited the country) when a local seaman who claimed to have recording studio connections in Oslo overheard them. Enlisting the roadie services of a streetwise Istanbul taxi driver friend on the run from the police AMM took the plunge, accepting the sailor’s offer of passage on his next sailing.
In these new idyllic surroundings, the same region that played host to fellow Turkish percussionist Okay Temiz, Durul found the peace he desired discovering a muse in Norway’s welcoming creative climate. Much like Barıs Manço and Mogollar in France, Cem Karaca and Gökçen Kaynatan in Germany, Gence’s relationship with Norway rekindled a passion for composition in ways he couldn’t have imagined in his homeland, opening doors thought previously unreachable. As a potential prodigal son for Anadolu pop Durul joined a wider pop-cultural diaspora alongside electronic pioneer Ilhan Mimaroglu, Tülay German (aka Tuly Sand) Kardasllar’s “Alex” Wiska (collaborator with Krautrockers Can) and Maffy Falay from the band Sevda.
Despite a blooming fan base and original repertoire the Nordic dream was not to be and after two years without a studio session, AMM called it quits during a tour of Holland after which Durukan and Dikmen went home to join Cem Karaca’s band Dervisan - Dikmen’s keyboards feature on Finders Keepers releases by Turkish singer Selda (FKR011). Retreating to the city of Delft to ponder his next move, Durul met Peter Tetteroo, former vocalist from successful Dutch psych-pop combo Tee-Set, who also found himself in a lonely boat after the demise of his long-running group. As an AMM fan, Tetteroo suggested they record two Gence penned AMM demos for Dutch Philips signed exotic songbird Sasi Naz at Peter’s home studio. A session was hastily arranged and a talented, yet unconfirmed, guitarist was enlisted. Durul maintains it was the work of Ferry Lever from Tee-Set/After Tea, something Ferry has denied, and with Tetteroo having died in 2002 the question remains. Upon entering the humble studio Durul stumbled upon a skeletal drum kit. Lacking hi-hat, toms or even a snare he cobbled together a bongo and a tambourine and set to work. Together, under the watchful eye of Tetteroo, the pair jammed stripped back versions of the AMM live staples Black Cat and Boo Song, with an added freak factor otherwise missing from their jazzier approach. Laid down in just 30 minutes, with Gence’s accomplished guide vocals and fuzzy overdubs, the rudimentary but professional recordings never made it to Philips execs and the tapes returned to Turkey under Durul’s arm as one of only two documented AMM recordings (the other being a live performance in Oslo’s Hennie-Onstad Art Centre in May 1973).
Unintended for commercial release, curiouser and curiouser, Finders Keepers proudly present these previously unheard tracks sourced directly from original tapes, which stand as a testament to the inimitable talent of Gence and the only studio document of the mythical AMM Turk jazz funk troubadours, representing a pop-psych Hollandaise holiday postcard which has taken five decades to be delivered. 45 revolutions later... The cat’s got the cream.

In summer 2019 Everland Music will release a mindblowing boxset with Osamu Kitajima's first 5 highly acclaimed and superrare
albums All 5 albums are taken from the ORIGINAL MASTERS, provided by Mr. Kitajima himself. Osamu Kitajima was born in Chigasaki, Japan on February 3rd 1949 and studied classical guitar and piano already in his childhood days. Later on in the 1960s, when Beat and Rock music became the hot stuff in the popular music circuit, he joined his cousin’s band “The Launchers” with his brother, before graduating from university. Osamu’s cousin, Yūzō Kayama, is a famous Japanese film actor and musician. In 1971, when Osamu was already a successful composer of TV advertising jingles, he moved
to England for a year and developed an obsession for British Rock music, especially in the Psychedelic field. The Beatles, The Bee
Gees, Jimi Hendrix, Deep Purple and The Zombies became his major influences and inspired him to start a solo career under the
name „Justin Heathcliff“, which he adopted for it’s typical English sound. His 1971 eponymous album was a typical Pop Psyche
effort for it’s time, but not long after he returned home to Japan, Osamu abandoned the English sounding name and further on
merged Western Progressive and Electronic music with Japanese Folk sounds.
Shinchugoku (1972)
This is a beautiful early 1970s Psychedelic Folk Rock effort, on which Osamu Kitajima cooperated with Fumio Miyashita (aka FAR
OUT) and members oft he very popular FAR EAST FAMILY BAND, to create a bunch of mind altering colorful tunes with a mellow,
yet intense approach.
Benzaiten (1976)
This album is called his masterpiece by many aficionadoes of 1970s Progressive Rock, with it’s mixture of haunting Japanese Folk
elements and skillfully played spacey Rock music that takes you on a spiritual journey to the center of your mind.
Osamu (1977)
His third album marks another change in direction. Still Japanese elements and some haunting melodic Space Rock elements
flow gently into another, but by incorporating Jazz, Funk and even Reggae, Osamu broadens the whole musical colour palette by far.
Masterless Samurai (1980)
Osamu completely abandons the Space Rock aspects here and takes a turn into Jazzrock with a Progressive edge, that he still
combines with these totally exotical sounding Japanese Folk elements.
Dragon King (1981)
The step from Masterless Samurai to Dragon King has not been such a big one as it has been with the albums before. We
experience a softer version of Osamus Jazzrock / Japanese Folk Fusion, that often even shows Soul Pop aspects, typical for it’s
time.

We are very excited to bring you a new IFP release – the first vinyl edition of Peter Ulrich's debut solo album “Pathways And
Dawns”. Widely known for his past work as drummer/percussionist with legendary Dead Can Dance and contributor to 4AD's This
Mortal Coil, Ulrich emerges here as a writer of hauntingly beautiful melodies and deeply poetic lyrics. “Pathways And Dawns” is
packed with driving rhythms and meditative ritual patterns of percussion. With some inspired guitar-work, arrangement and
production from DCD mastermind Brendan Perry, the result is a pure delight... The album was recorded in two parts, the first in
England in 1990, and the second after a long time break in 1996-97, by Brendan Perry at DCD's Quivvy Church studio in Ireland.
The album was released on CD in 1999 on the US label Projekt and was dubbed by critics as "the album the Beatles might have
made had the group signed with 4AD instead of Capitol" and "a wonderful collection of songs that, while in the 4AD school,
shimmers with an inner lightness that makes it very different ". This absolute masterpiece of spiritual music, so badly wanted on
vinyl for so long, is available now. Mastered from Original master takes by Martin Bowes (Attrition).
"His first album is a remarkable piece moving on the edge between ethnic and medieval art pop music" – SideLine
"Ulrich's gifts as composer, percussionist and vocalist win over the listener... The excellent "Nocturne" is Beatlesque, with Spanish
guitar and rich orchestral bridges, and "The Springs of Hope" sounds swiped from the same album the Fab Four might have made
had they signed with 4AD instead of Capitol. The closing track "Time and a Word", recalls late 70s Eno, nicely rounding our a
release that leaves one wanting more." - Alternative Pres
"Pathways and Dawns is a wonderful collection of songs that, while in the 4AD School, shimmers with an inner lightness that
makes it very different from any other 4AD album." – Lexicon
"Ulrich makes his own way... from the majestic epic of the ten years old soldier “Taqaharu” to the joyous celebration of the source
of inspiration on The Springs of Hope... dreamy lyrics a la Syd Barrett... This is a fine album by an artist I'd love to hear more from
soon." - Ink Nineteen
"It’s beautiful... it's also very interesting in its choice of world-sound crossovers and skillful lyrics... Emotionally poignant, poetic
and in its own way, experimental." - New Age Voice
"Ulrich successfully incorporates graceful folk music, powerful tribal beats and soothing synths into one enchanting full length
effort" - Outburn

1985 was one of the most important years in Brazil's recent history, when the country was freed from more than 20 years of military dictatorship. The youth took the lead and finally Brazil entered the world show business circuit with Rock In Rio festival. But the real revolution was happening in the underground and this record is a proof of that.
One of the people in charge was the musician, composer, poet, writer, scriptwriter and speaker from Rio de Janeiro Ronaldo Tapajós, who was always involved with experimental and avant-garde music. His trajectory begins in the mythical 1968, when, as part of the the duo Rô and Carlinhos, he released an emblematic single containing the song “O Gigante” - perhaps the first Brazilian bad trip recorded on vinyl and a shrewd criticism of the society's “square” habits.
According to Cinema’s LP press release: “in the era of visual music, Cinema is sound”. In terms of sound, listening to this album feels like diving into an intriguing anguish of trying to understand how the relationship between technology available at that time (1983-1984) and the more organic instruments happened, this duality between synthesizers/effects with percussion, woodwind instruments, piano and clarinet. In other words: how was the coexistence between the synthetic and the acoustic? This paradox seems to seduce collectors, DJs and enthusiasts of Brazilian music from the 80's around the world.
This fictional soundtrack has a dark mood, as if a fog of dark and ambient music insisted on staying on top of cheerful patterns of Afro-Brazilian percussion, or conceptual synth pop.

Joan Baez is one of the most influential performers in folk music
history. She was a leading light in the musical protest movement
led by Pete Seeger. This brought her into contact with an up-andcoming young troubadour named Bob Dylan, whom she met in
1961 in New York’s Greenwich Village. Her self-titled debut
album, 'Joan Baez', brought her
to public attention following her discovery at the 1959 Newport
Folk Festival – her first professional engagement
coinciding with the first festival. A plainly produced, live-sounding
vocal and guitar album featuring a repertoire of traditional folk
songs, it put Joan firmly on the map. In 2007 she finally picked up
a Grammy for lifetime achievement.

Rarely does a record so perfectly encapsulate the essence of Hawai‘i.

During the 1970s and 1980s, Hawai‘i’s live music scene was at its peak. Countless clubs, lounges, and bars filled the islands. Musicians embraced and experimented with all manner of ideas.
Among them were Steve Ma‘i‘i and Teresa Bright, a harmonizing guitar-and-bass duo that floated somewhere between nostalgia and an unassuming island sound. They could fill a concert hall or bring the family together at a backyard kanikapila with their music.
Both singers share backgrounds rooted in native Hawaiian culture; Steve once the bassist for musician/ activist George Helm, and Teresa the daughter of hula dancer Carol Bright and musician Daniel Bright. Together, they crafted a refreshing approach to jazz standards, traditional Hawaiian tunes, and hapa-haole classics.
Steve and Teresa enchanted every listener they encountered, including engineer Rick Keefer, who convinced the pair to record at his Sea-West Studios in nearby Hau‘ula.

Ai Aso’s immaculately crafted form of minimalist pop music skirts the edges of tensity with the manner and with the skill of a tight rope walker, calmly balancing repeatedly at every step, with a combination of surety and the risk of a slip, a fall, and an unknown uncoiling of events. Aso's capacity to capture, or inspire, the tension and attention from within the listener and observer are quite pronounced. At Aso's concert the performance constantly teeters near the brink, a sharpened awareness in the hall emerges from all observing, with the will of that most delicate balance. On “The Faintest Hint” she brings a meta level to the proceedings, the dream of a singer in a bright sunlit room in the centre of the density of the society, simply and precisely searching for single ideas, single tones, a sense of sensuality and even a dream of a grandeur (rock dream) emerge. A stillness prevails, even a sharp set of instances of dreaming, melancholia, nostalgia… or even saudade. The album was recorded, mixed & mastered by Soichiro Nakamura at Peace Music between 2018-2020. Atsuo and I joined these sessions as producers, and moreso as catalysts, yet also became the skeleton of a band on the album (with the tender touch). The legendary Japanese rock band Boris accompany Aso on two pieces. A faintest hint of sharpness and la tendresse féroce quickly erodes into a fine brief cloud of the purest crystalline dust.

–Stephen O'Malley, Stockholm June 2020

"Cy Timmons, born in 1941, is “The World’s Greatest Unknown” singer-songwriter from Atlanta, Georgia.

His style may be called batida Americana: unusual bossa nova technique marked by the art of guitar percussion and turning his voice into a variety of instruments such as flute, trombone, synthesizer and more. But basically, it is difficult to specify the genre where his music belongs because it has been developed individually and heavily colored by his love of American music such as cool jazz, traditional pop, early R&B and many years of entertaining in various musical venues including Café Erewhon (“Nowhere” spelled backwards) which he ran in Atlanta. Rather than an imitation of bossa nova, Cy applied the bossa concept of expressing samba alone through classical guitar and vocals to expressing good old American popular music alone and so developed a new “traditional” American sound, a sound that was honed in part through an encounter with Judy Davis of Oakland, California, the stars’ vocal coach whose students included Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, Mary Martin and Barbra Streisand.

He himself produced three albums of his music. On the first: “Cy Timmons” (1972) he was backed by a small orchestra, but the second, “The World’s Greatest Unknown” (1974), and the third “Heaven’s Gate” (1998), were Cy alone and show the true worth of his music that also has something in common with João Gilberto’s “White Album” and “Voz E Violão”."

Mastered and half-speed cut at Abbey Road, pressed at RTI, each release comes in a custom G-FLute cardboard mailer. 001 has a satin fabric heart sticker and 002 gold foil-stamped quotations from Cy. Both have extensive liner notes, including a full length interview.