quête:mr done

 In November, the new ABBA album, ‘Voyage’, will
be released, after 40 years. Just in time for the
music comeback of the year, and as a tribute to the
Swedish supergroup, a classic is now being
released on vinyl for the first time: ‘Funky ABBA’ by
the Nils Landgren Funk Unit from 2004.
 Fans and music magazines count the cover
numbers by Mr. Redhorn and his cult band among
the best in the world, and even today they are
played on the radio and in clubs by DJs. Landgren,
who once played trombone himself on the ABBA
hit ‘Voulez-Vous’, personally asked ABBA
mastermind Benny Andersson for his blessing for
the album: “ABBA was never funky. But if you can
do it, then do it!” replied Andersson. Andersson
was so enthusiastic about the project that he was
also present at the legendary Polar Studio during
the recording sessions and did not miss the
opportunity to record a bonus track for the album
himself as a duo with Viktoria Tolstoy.
 The result was celebrated, and ‘Funky ABBA’
became the best-selling Funk Unit album of all
time. “It's hard to believe: ABBA grooves, and
how!” claimed STEREO in their review after the
CD’s release.
 For this vinyl edition, the album has been
remastered.
 180g vinyl with digital download code.

Lee 'Scratch' Perry's Black Ark Studio opened its doors in 1974. Situated in his backyard at 5 Washington Gardens, Kingston, Jamaica. Using only basic
equipment, a Teac Four-Track Recorder, a Sound craft mixing desk, an Echoplex delay unit and later adding a Phaser effects unit that he used in conjunction with his Roland RE201 Space Echo. He managed mixing down the tracks from Four track to Two track to make his distinctive whirling sound that sets apart the Black Ark Sound from the other Jamaican Studios.

Born Rainford Hugh Perry, 28 March 1936, Hanover, Jamaica. He began his career at the grand age of 16, working for Clement ‘Coxsone’ Dodd’s sound
system, rising quickly to the position of record scout and organising recording sessions during his 3-year period 1963-1966. Restlessness and unsatisfied with credit he felt due to him he moved on to work with Producers J.J. Johnson and Clancy Eccles, the latter of which would help him set up his ‘Upsetter’ label in 1968, which would see his first of many recordings telling the injustices done to him by previous employers. ‘The Upsetter’ track itself pointed at Mr Dodd but reflected to Perry when he inherited it as a nick name alongside many others during the course of his career, including ‘Scratch’, again taken from one of his recordings ‘Chicken Scratch’ recorded in 1965/1966. Perrys work in 1968 with producer Joe Gibbs was fruitful and resulted in many successful releases, but again feeling a lack of credit and itchy feet, it was time to move on. Still not having a studio of his own, Perry recorded at the various Kingston establishments at the time, Randy’s Studio 17 on North Parade, Dynamics on Bell Road and Harry J’s on Roosevelt Avenue where the bulk of the aforementioned recordings with The Wailers were carried out. His dream was always to build his own studio and not to have to work to the constraints of the other studios and producers.

On opening the Black Ark studios, the hits seemed to come immediately. Firstly with Junior Byles' 'Curly Locks' and in 1975 the massive crossover hit Susan Cadogans' 'Hurt So Good' that reached No 4 in the UK charts.1976 saw Island Records releasing Perrys vast output, timeless material like the Heptones 'Party Time', Max Romeo's 'War Inna Babylon' Bob Marley and the Wailers 'Jah Live', 'Punky Reggae Party' and Junior Murvins 'Police and Thieves' to name but a few.But sometimes missing out on a few classics like Perrys own 'Roast Fish, Collie Weed & Corn Bread' and possibly one of the best reggae albums of all time The Congos 'Heart of the Congos'. Dub releases like 'Revolution Dub' (1975) showed a way forward for his production skills in this formidable arena. Having his own studio allowed him to build up a vast catalogue of tracks to work on. We have culled together some lost productions that Lee Perry carried out with singer Mike Brookes, a fine singer, arranger from that special time in the Black Arks history. Sounding like Junior Marvin in parts and Max Romeo in others but still carrying a distinctive Falsetto voice. Some classic tracks as you can see recorded with the cream of musicians at Lee Perrys disposal. Mr Perry works his magic that gives these songs that distinctive feel that his output.
carried around the mid 1970's.

So we hope you enjoy some more lost treasures from the Black Ark that we feel should be added to that mighty cannon of material that still sound so fresh and strong today.

It’s a given that timing is everything in music – most obviously in terms of composition and production but often just as much in regard to conception and release – the latter two doubly poignantly so in the case of this massive DOOM vs The Sugarcubes mash-up LP from turntablist and producer Krash Slaughta.

Which is why the tale of this project’s gestation is perhaps what should be told about it before anything else.

Begun last August and finished on 25 October, the album started life as an idea born from a casual listen to final Sugarcubes album Stick Around For Joy that Krash had bought a copy of years before in a charity shop. Contemplating the cover art while listening to the LP and the track Hit in particular, it came to him that here might be the musical basis for a concept LP in the grand tradition of the hip-hop mash-up album. Thus the project was born, becoming something of an obsession as lockdown restrictions recommenced through a sanity-testing autumn. As it developed, the provisional title of Stick Around For DOOM morphed into Sugar Coated DOOM and Brighton artists Leigh Pearce and Rob Crespo were roped in to create the artwork. So pleased was Krash with the results that he decided to self-finance the pressing of the LP to vinyl which in turn would allow him to send a copy to DOOM in the most fitting format. On that basis, along with his dad’s advice that if you want something done properly; do it yourself’, he initiated the process for a limited press run as soon as the project wrapped and telephoned his dad (who’d been shielding and who he hadn’t seen for months) to say he’d done precisely that. In a tragic twist, this turned out to be their last ever conversation, for Krash’s dad died suddenly the next day. Two months later of course, while waiting for the Covid-slowed vinyl pressing process to complete, came a further tragic twist as the world received the delayed news that DOOM himself had also passed away back in October – in the event, only five days after Krash’s father. So it’s no understatement to say that Sugar Coated DOOM carries significant emotional resonance for its maker, forever linked as it will be to the deaths of two of his personal heroes.

Which brings us to the content. The album contains seven vocal tracks, with an alternate version of one and instrumental versions of five of the seven across two sides of an album with the music, track names, LP title and cover art mashing up musical, lyrical/ textual and visual elements of The Sugar Cubes’ Stick Around For Joy with DOOM acapellas, track names and references. Listeners won’t need long to appreciate that Krash Slaughta was right to be proud of his creation, almost certainly correct in thinking DOOM would dig it and no doubt The Sugarcubes too. Also, who would have thought The Sugarcubes had so much potential for beat-mining? But then seeing potential in the unexpected was always a vital skill from the golden era of sampling in hip-hop and those who follow in the tradition. The first track proper, for example, swipes Madlib’s lo-fi beat from underneath the vocals for Figaro and replaces it with the looped and beefed-up opening bars of the Cubes’ I’m Hungry. The result is a natural fit. But then the blending of elements in every track on this release provides evidence of the effort and love put into its creation, reinvigorating DOOM’s classic vocals while re-purposing The Sugarcubes in a manner that will delight. Indeed, if you’d didn’t know the work of Bjork’s former band, you’d be unlikely to pin an early 90s alt-rock LP as the sample source. I imagine listeners will have a hard time picking a favourite too. Perhaps Hit It (based on the track which triggered the project idea in the first) which splices the Bond-theme-ish Hit with My Favourite Ladies might prove the most popular, or the monkey’s favourite, Nurse Chong, which blends Happy Nurse with Raedawn (named for Tommy Chong’s daughter) from Viktor Vaughn LP Vaudeville Villain. Whichever one punters pick though, anyone who hears anything off this will know it’s one to rank alongside your other favourite hip-hop mash-up albums. And who knows – perhaps even Mr Daniel Dumile himself might have considered it a not unfitting epitaph.

When most musicians reach a career milestone they take it on tour. Texas, whose debut album turned 30 last year, had bigger ambitions. Rather than simply perform their old songs, the Scots set out to meet their old selves – the wide-eyed kids who made Southside, their two million-selling, Top 3 debut, and the band who bounced back eight years later with the six times platinum White On Blonde.
The vaults at Universal were raided for recording sessions for both albums, stored on tape and DAT and never digitised. Top of Texas’ list was their first, failed attempt at I Don’t Want A Lover, scuppered by Chic bassist Bernard Edwards.
“Just after we signed, we were in the studio with Bernard and Chic’s drummer Tony Thompson,” recalls guitarist Johnny McElhone. “Bernard got coked up and ended up running away to Mexico before Sharleen even started her vocals. But that’s a whole other story.”
Late in 2018, the aborted version was found, alongside several songs recorded during different sessions which didn’t make their debut. The biggest revelation, however, was a 15-strong batch of tracks from the White On Blonde sessions which both Johnny and Sharleen Spiteri had forgotten existed.
“When we made that album, no one in Britain gave a shit about Texas,” says Sharleen. “We were still doing really well in Europe, but here we couldn’t get arrested.
“No one at our label was asking to hear any music or pushing us, so we just kept writing and recording and trying out new stuff until we felt the record was ready. Hence we ended up with a lot more material than usual.”
So good were the songs that Texas initially planned to release them as a ‘lost’ album, possibly to be called Blonde On White. But working with their old recordings inspired them to start writing new songs.
“Tweaking the old stuff was so much fun,” says Sharleen. “It felt like us, now, collaborating with ourselves of 25 years ago. It was amazing to go back there – my voice was so young! – and to hear how much energy and passion we had. We were fighting for our careers at the time, trying to prove that Texas were still relevant.
“Our excitement at finding this treasure trove of songs collided with our excitement from back then and, unplanned, new songs started coming. You could say we were inspired by ourselves, if that didn’t make us sound insanely big-headed.”
Hi, Texas’ tenth album, is the result of that bonkers journey back but has its eyes firmly fixed on the future. The title track and sensational first single aptly fuses the two. A brand new collaboration with Wu Tang Clan, it finds a soulful Sharleen nestled next to boisterous raps from RZA and Ghostface Killah over a cinematic backdrop of lush beats and acoustic guitar.

First solo album from Budapest producer "Norwell", includes 2 collaborations with Farbwechsel Label head honcho "Alpar". Analogue synthwave, kraut, kosmiche, drone... A real journey! Illuzio was inspired by the book "Mr. Vertigo" and especially by this part: "Deep down, I don't believe it takes any special talent for a person to lift himself off the ground and hover in the air. We all have it in us--every man, woman, and child--and with enough hard work and concentration, every human being is capable of...the feat....You must learn to stop being yourself. That's where it begins, and everything else follows from that. You must let yourself evaporate. Let your muscles go limp, breathe until you feel your soul pouring out of you, and then shut your eyes. That's how it's done. The emptiness inside your body grows lighter than the air around you. Little by little, you begin to weigh less than nothing. You shut your eyes; you spread your arms; you let yourself evaporate. And then, little by little, you lift yourself off the ground. Like so."

Compilation of all the recordings by this legendary punk band prior to their LPs: the sessions for their single 'Mucha Policía', taken for the first time in 27 years from the original tapes, which has unearthed two studio recordings unissued until now; plus rehearsals, demos and live recordings. Completely remastered. A furious, noholds-barred sonic account of a period of immense changes for Spain and the Basque Country. The origins of the most important Spanish punk group, regarded as one of the essential bands of the genre all over the Spanish speaking world.It was a time when the walls were teeming with socio-political proclamations, where the hammer and sickle - alongside the illegal Ikurriña (the flag of the Basque Country) - were the most widely used symbols. A time of general strikes and protests on the streets that often ended in an ugly manner. A time also of smoky joints, where huge speakers played loud rock and there were dreams of strawberry fields. In Santurtzi, on the left bank of the Nervión estuary, a unique band was born: ESKORBUTO. Iosu Expósito and Jualma Suarez lived in working class neighbourhoods that had grown fast. Both Kabiezes and Mamariga were, in the 50s, mainly rural areas of Santurtzi. In the 60s, industrialization and rampant development transformed them into urban areas without any investment in urbanism. Some elements for the alchemy led to the explosion: intelligent young guys who were nevertheless incapable of adhering to school discipline, a country in full swing towards freedom after 40 years of dictatorship. It was a context very familiar with the turbulence of the "Basque conflict", with neighbours seduced by the "armed fight" and the "liberation of Euskal Herria", with the question of "identity" constantly present, traumatic episodes of killings, tortures and imprisonments .One day at the end of the 70s they decided to start a band. The first period of Eskorbuto's life, before the damage done by the needle became noticeable, was incredibly fruitful. They soon found a rehearsal space, thanks to their first drummer ("Gu"), and there the first songs were born: 'Enterrado vivo', 'Busco en la basura', 'Éste es el porvenir', 'Mucha policía, poca diversión'. It was a period of line-up changes. Iñaki Laiseka played bass for them, and that role was also taken by "Seni" and "Garlopa", two precursors of "left bank" punk. Later on they found Paco Galán, who also came from a similar neighbourhood to theirs (Repélega, in Portugalete). Paco always was the necessary engine, the piece around which the rest revolved, which guaranteed continuity. His drumming also added an apparently chaotic element to the already unbridled guitar melodies and visionary texts, halfway between dirty realism and Edgar Allan Poe's nightmares. These recordings are taken from those early times of excitement and vertigo, of journeys to Madrid under a train's seat and endless trips up and down the left bank looking for "someone that I've heard is selling an amp". Now the Reina Sofía Museum exhibits their "Impuesto Revolucionario" LP and there's no Spanish speaking country without legions of fans.

Listening to Magic Sam playing and singing from a twenty first
century perspective shows distinctly how he was pushing the
blues in a rockier direction and influencing many subsequent
players. During the sixties he attracted many new fans with two
fine albums on Delmark Records that have remained very
collectable. This fine album represents the first phase of his
career and captures his distinct guitar playing with its crisp and
sometimes choppy attack. He was very much a second-wave
bluesman on the Chicago scene, but obviously had so much to
offer in terms of taking the blues in new and exciting directions.

Vangarde's 11 songs represent the culmination of not only what this year has wrought, but also the talents of Lif and Bangas, an emcee-producer duo built for this. And you can hear that for yourself as soon as the second track, "Shelter in Place," blasts its way into your speakers. From the driving production to Lif and Blacastan's bars, the single embodies the raw, visceral feel of the entire LP. It carries through to the previously leaked "Basquiat," the stirring and gripping posse cut "8 Minutes 46 Seconds," and the highly personal "Now is Only Now," in which Lif explains how he wrote most of his lyrics secluded from his wife and young son due to the pandemic.

What makes Vangarde so impactful, however, is that it doesn't beat you over the head with the same sound or approach. Lif and his guests may tackle subjects related to oppression and corruption throughout the record, but it's done through nuance. The same goes for Bangas' stellar production, which maintains the momentum of his vocal counterparts. It's no surprise then that the two speak so highly of each other, with Bangas referring to Lif as a "storyteller and a reporter," and Lif noting that he was saving the name "Vangarde" for a project with an "elite producer."

Caiphus Semenya, AKA Mr Letta Mbulu, is a South African legend, and Listen To The Wind, his iconic debut album, is simply a superb modern-soul/boogie album. It’s also incredibly rare, especially in good condition, so Be With is delighted to present this reissue.

Now a revered composer, musician, and arranger, Caiphus left apartheid South Africa in the 60s for self-imposed exile in Southern California together with his wife, Letta Mbulu. Settling in Los Angeles he started working with the likes of Hugh Masekela and Miriam Makeba and other exiled and semi-exiled South african artists, as well as, of course, his wife Letta.

Caiphus also found himself working with and composing for a broad range of jazz and pop artists, including Lou Rawls, Nina Simone and Cannonball Adderley. His facility with both jazz and African forms served him well. His LA stay was also the beginning of an ongoing collaboration with Quincy Jones, the fruits of which can be tasted in Caiphus’s African compositions for the scores to Roots and Spielberg’s adaptation of The Color Purple.

Given his decades of work behind the scenes, it’s no surprise that it took until 1982 for Caiphus to get around to putting out the first album of his own. But all that experience shows. Listen To The Wind is a deeply impressive synthesis of early 80s US production and instrumentation together with his traditional South African musical roots.

It’s stylistically diverse but the ingredients are never diluted. There are elements of boogie, soul, funk and jazz, all shot through with pan-African flavour, and moving effortlessly from uptempo floor fillers to more meditative, slower soulful tracks. Produced by Caiphus himself, he makes full use of a stellar line up of session musicians including Nathan East, Michael Stanton, Sonny Burke and Paulinho DaCosta. And of course, there are Letta’s show-stopping vocals. To our ears, Listen To The Wind is just one big party, and lord knows we need that more than ever right now.

Opener “Angelina” is one of Caiphus’s most beloved tracks at Be With HQ. It’s a breezy, feel-good SA boogie-funk classic. Harmonic and horn heavy, it sounds as fresh today as it would’ve done in the early 80s. If this one doesn’t make you move, you may need your pulse taking. The drum breakdown alone, a little over halfway through, is sensational.

It’s followed by the gentle reggae lilt of “Play With Fire”. A real melodic slo-mo delight, carried by the tropical vibes and, above all else, by the extraordinary performance of Caiphus himself and his backing singers.

Closing out side one, the spectacular “Umoya” is driven by triumphant horns and slick bass. With its proto-Graceland vibes, we reckon Paul Simon must’ve been listening. Hard. Caiphus trades verses with the unmistakable tones of Letta, and it sounds divine. Yes, it’s as good as anything on Letta’s canonical In The Music… The Village Never Ends. A wide-eyed wonder, made for unity and togetherness, it’s all infectious, smiling faces for nearly nine minutes. But never mind nine, we could party to this for ninety minutes and “Umoya” would leave us re-energised for ninety more.

Elegantly firing up side two is perhaps the album’s best known track. “Without You” is a heavenly slice of modern soul, an end-of-nighter to end them all. Smooth strutting, disco-fied funk with that unmistakably South African sound, it’s just sublime, with those lyrics that keep coming back to smiling faces and community, “without You the sun won’t shine”. Big with the likes of Rush Hour’s Antal, this is aural perfection.

“Ziph’inkomo” is a soul-soothing, swooning epic. Gently building throughout, its final few minutes are genuinely stirring as the backing vocals and instrumentation swell. Jaw-dropping. The irresistible groove of frantic, percussive workout “Gumba Boogie” closes out what must surely be one of the greatest artistic statements of the 1980s. If his friend Quincy wasn’t feverishly taking notes for Thriller, then you could’ve fooled us.

With Simon Francis handling the mastering of this Be With edition, you know it sounds as fantastic as ever. The cover art, as breezy as the music, has been faithfully restored. All that’s missing is you.

A new sub-label of the longstanding Canadian electro imprint Suction Records, Ice Machine — focusing on old-school wave/post-punk sounds — is thrilled to present a new, deluxe reissue of “Pow Wow”, the debut 1982 solo LP from Cabaret Voltaire’s Stephen Mallinder. Now expanded to a double-LP, and also released on CD/digital, it’s a definitive reissue which now includes Mallinder’s early solo discography in its entirety. This collection of mutant dub/funk/postpunk sounds just as fresh and contemporary in 2020 as it did in 1982 (note Autechre’s inclusion of standout cut “Del Sol” in a mix earlier this year), and highlights Mallinder’s crucial contributions to Cabaret Voltaire.

Some words from Mr.Mallinder on the scene and era from which “Pow Wow” was born: “It was an interesting, and inspiring, time. The primal caterwaul of punk was dying and lots of really significant things were emerging from the fires. Much looser vibes were in the air and there was a much more exploratory feel. Punk had championed a visceral, anti-intellectual approach but in truth the real characters brought so much more to the table, and what began to happen - from people like The Pop Group to Throbbing Gristle, and emerging scenes from No New York to Factory Records - is we began to embrace the art of it all. There was acknowledgement of the importance of books, films, graphic art, and experimentation with all those mediums. We were just as interested in turning over rocks to see what lay beneath, as throwing them. There was a sense of new magik emerging.”

“Pow Wow” was commissioned by the Fetish Records label, and recorded at the Cabs’ Western Works studio, where Mallinder would spend his days recording with Cabaret Voltaire, and continue on alone into night recording his debut solo material. “I slept very little in those days,” he adds, continuing: “It was done on 8 track and very multi-tracked, so lots of recording, then bouncing, and overdubbing, to get the integrated feel of the tracks. I became very adept at pressing record then jumping onto equipment to play it - it was actually a very 'live' record in that sense. I've always seen rhythm at the core of what I do so I loved the layering of counter rhythms. The sequence/arpeggiator parts were all drum machine triggers that were played live. It was about creating a distinct groove so arrangements came from weaving in and out of those linear grooves. It was fun to play everything from drums, guitars, keys, trumpet, percussion, tapes… and record and produce it all. Prince got it from me!”

Surprisingly, Mallinder’s first solo LP would also prove to be his last - that is, until last year’s critically-acclaimed solo return “Um Dada”, on Dais.

This new edition of “Pow Wow” contains 14 songs, and is housed in a recreation of the original, iconic Neville Brody jacket, painstakingly recreated using scans of Brody’s original artwork elements. The 2LP vinyl edition is in a reverse board, thick-spine jacket, and adds a 12”x24” folded poster/insert, featuring unused elements from Brody’s original designs, sketches, and instructions for the LP. The CD edition comes in a reverse board, 6-panel digipack.


2-11 from the Pow-Wow LP on Fetish Records, 1982.

13-14 from the Temperature Drop / Cool Down 12” on Fetish Records, 1981.

12 from the Fetish Records compilation The Last Testament, 1983.

1 edit from the Pow-Wow Plus LP on Fetish Records (Japanese pressing), 1984.

Again Technician and Overdose team up to show you how it’s done The Hague or Rotterdam or even better to say M.F. RotterHague style. You take the shit from one city, double it up with the shit from another city and you get shit so tough it’s impossible to handle. Need we say more, it’s The Shit!

All Music Written & Recorded by David Drucker at The Skinny Apartment in Ridgewood, Queens, 2017
Featuring Mike Green (Mezzanine Swimmers) on guitars on "I Took Too Much Acid in 7th Grade," Cop Funeral on
electronics on "Seafood Special," Chris “Mr Transylvania” Shields on background vocals on "Massachusetts Is a Magical
Place," Eva “Nighttime” Goodman on violin & backing vocals on "The Ridgewood Ripper"
Painted Faces is the long (strange/trip) running voyage of weirdo David Drucker, began in Florida in 2009 and decamped
to NYC in 2011. It has sometimes been a loose band in the past with a revolving lineup of outsiders and interlopers
(known as The Freak Band), but is usually a solo endeavor, and the bulk of the recordings have been done as such. PF
has always been a home recording solo project, one-man-band style heavy on psychOdelic/outsider
folk/noise/experimental vibes. He started self releasing CD-Rs in the early days and quickly jumped to tapes on a variety
of labels including Already Dead, Lava Church, J&C, Null Zone, Tall Tapes. A "legendary" CD compilation on Gulcher
Records and an LP from Already Dead and Almost Halloween Time in Italy brings us to the here and now. Tales from the
Skinny Apartment is somewhere around the 20th or so Painted Faces release...he has long lost count.
Drucker runs/curates gigs (and records at) the Skinny Apartment, his dwelling place in Ridgewood Queens,
which some folks have called the "realest DIY zone in NYC." He also rips in Dead River Company, Big Hiatus, Shecky,
Canyon River Blues and countless other unknown subterranean improv zoner outfits. "Ripping" involves keeping it
freaky and weird and ripping sets wherever/whenever, i.e. always being down to perform whether in a kitchen or a
packed ballroom....no diva bullshit, just plugging in (or going sans electricity) and playing...always giving it your
all...Ridgewood Rippers are the crew of artists that populate Ridgewood and the loose "scene" around the Skinny
Apartment...much of it is in jest, a self-inflated mythology of nonsense which is pervasive in all rock and roll "scene"
histories. As a student of rock/pop history, Drucker is fascinated by the loose associations that connect folks from
various zones together...i.e. Miles Davis and The Grateful Dead...it's all the same though, the labels and genre
distinctions are completely arbitrary. We're all in this together, now more than ever...to be a "ripper" is simply to
"rip"...no nonsense!
Painted Faces has toured all over the USA and Canada numerous times, spreading the ripper gospels, and is
gearing up for their second European tour. He is known for falling apart on "stage," with performances heavy on humor,
horror, stoned digressions, and cathartic bouts of therapy, part performance art/part standup comedy, eradicating the
lines between performer, performance, and audience one show at a time

Back in 2009 My Rules label owner Justin Van Der Volgen released a mix cd done completely with his own edits titled Try To Find Me Vol 2. The mix was received incredibly well and had fans scrambling for years to try and spot the track list. It earned a 4.5 review on Resident Advisor, and had a certain rather known and respected DJ opening their sets with it. Since then the status has only grown and is now considered by some one of the best mixes of all time. So to mark the 10 year anniversary Justin has decided to finally release two of the most requested edits from it.
On the A-side you get a high powered vocal cut from Peggi Blu which comes on like a lost Chaka Khan anthem.
Flip over to the B side and you'll find Gregg Diamond's charging string-laden disco trip stripped back into a hypnotising euphoric roller. Two peak time cuts not to be missed. Fully licensed.

In celebration of 5 thrilling and inspiring years of work, we've gathered well-known artists, Goldmin regulars and emerging talents for a new compilation of Various Artists 12s". It was really important for us that the compilation express the elusive nature of the Goldmin sound. Over the past 5 years, we've had the chance to meet most of these artists in person, and follow their very own creative paths, as well as share thoughts and ideas. They've all had their own part to play in crafting the sound of the label. What it comes down to is a genre defining selection devoid of any specific standard or norm. The compilation reflects the unique sound which has grown throughout our whole catalogue, since the label's birth 5years ago. That's why, picking this selection of tracks, that we feel illustrate Goldmin Music's essential freedom was one of toughest things we've ever done. It was also important to pick only the most original and iconic tracks from each artist. In the end each track had to be their most Goldmin one and they've all been tried in all types of situations, in club at 1 and 5 AM, on the highway at night or even staring at the ceiling during a sleepless insomnia session, and they all fullfilled their duty!"

'Mantra Moderne' is a stunning, contemporary masterpiece that fuses Anatolian Psychedelia, Brazilian Tropicalia, 60’s European pop and American jazz. A must for fans of Khruangbin, Portishead, Arthur Verocai, Goat, Caetano Veloso, Tom Zé, Os Mutantes, Cortex and co.

The duo is formed of Kit Martin, who lives between London and France and plays all instruments on the album, and Merve Erdem, vocalist and multi-disciplinary artist from Istanbul, now based in London. This is their debut album.
The album explores universal themes such as love, loss, decay, language and ideology, mixing three different languages: English, Turkish and French. Written and recorded by the duo - Kit composed all the songs and Merve wrote the lyrics - in rural France during 2018, each song was completed within a 12-hour window, pawning contemplation for spontaneity.
Dubbed by Kit and Merve as ‘lo-fi-hi-fi’ in reference to the high-end tube equipment that helped it find its way to 8-track cassette tape. The style owes its sound to narrow tape width, valve distortion, spring reverb, the mixture of high end gear with lo-fi equipment as well as a disregard to the norms of hi-fi studio techniques. All instruments were analogue and no samples were used. The instruments that are used range from tablas to darbukas, balalaikas to ouds, MS20 synths to Farfisa organs and a lot of cuica. The mixing techniques were done on-the-fly, tracking immediately to tape: compression, EQ, delay and reverb; meaning mixing could not be revisited!

After a long time silent, La Luna is back with a 6 track VA featuring artists, Exit 47, Maricopa, Olywok, Mr. Projectile, Inmost and Senoy & Joce. The dreamy artwork was done by Berlin based artist, Heather Marie and will be pressed on 180 gram with a beautiful high quality outer sleeve. We hope you enjoy the sounds ranging from ambient, deep house, IDM and all types of downtempo electronica. Secure your copy and stay tuned for news on LALUNA003

Here's Another Huubaat Nugget That We Are Very Excited About To Release. "momentum" Includes A Collection Of Previously Unreleased Or Digtial-only Available Works Incl. The Collaboration Effort With Flako. The Vinyl Comes With A Lovely Soft-touch Sleeve.

"beatnicks Tape": All Tracks Produced By Hubert Daviz In April/may 2008. The Original Release "beatnicks Tape #01" Included 13 Tracks. These Tracks Have Been Released For Free Download In Summer 2008 On The Cologne Based Record Label Up My Alley. The Work On This Beat Tape Started As An Attempt Of Getting Familiar With One's First Own Equipment. Original Text From The Back Cover: "lots Of Vinyl, 1 Mpc2500, 1 Microkorg, Hands On."

"damage Is Done": All Tracks Produced By Flako & Hubert Daviz Between December 2007 & June 2008. Unreleased Beat Tape From The Joint Collaboration With Flako (going By The Name Of "damage Is Done"). The Original Version Was Completed By Flako On June 21, 2008 And Included 8 Tracks. "woop, Wooop.."

Mastered and cut by Rashad Becker at Dubplates & Mastering in Berlin.

Hana's first and self-titled LP was recorded in Autumn 2010 at Facta non Verba and consists out of 5 tracks which are techno oriented with disposal of experimental and abstract elements.

Reviews

OMG Vinyl
Hana s S/T LP is easily the best promo records we ve gotten in months. This Greek duo has somehow, almost entirely below the radar, released one of the most exciting electronic records of 2011. Their wobbly brand of techno sometimes chugs ahead at full-speed, other times easing back into a wider waver, almost resembling some weird, warped IDM. I will be shocked if this record doesn t get wider appreciation very soon. Whether that happens or not, we fully recommend it, track one down.

Cyclic Defrost by Oliver Laing
Granny Records duo Hana come correct with their first album, offering a refreshing take on techno and IDM variants in the vein of Jan Jelinek, Raime, Actress and hints of the mighty Chain Reaction label. Mastered at Berlin s Dubplates and Mastering by none other than Rashad Becker, a name that often appears in the run-out groove of artists who inhabit a curiously funky techno-not-techno netherworld Hana s debut self-titled release grows in stature and listening enjoyment with every spin. With a sense of fun and adventure inhabiting the grooves, Hana (who are also part of label-mates, Good Luck Mr Gorsky), explore experimental timbres and ghostly vocalisations with a lightness of touch that belies their recording credentials.

Starting off with an abstract, Clicks and Cuts style intro, Liv slowly finds the sweet spot between mutant Detroit electro funk, a hint of the indie/dance territory of Matthew Dear and the abstract, yet rhythmic 12 releases on the Beatservice label, by Norwegian duo Information from the mid 90s. Obermaier implies the groove to begin with, until a wrong-footed man-with-two-left-feet rhythm leads into minimal acidic flourishes. Album opener SM heads in a Ricardo Villalobos vs. Nonplace Urban Field direction, as the lopsided rhythm and sepulchral vocals add a haunted edge to proceedings. CR80 uses beautifully syncopated live drums and urgent female vocals, and adds a driving, belligerent synth riff falling somewhere in between DMZ and Gary Numan. Echoic, boingy sounds threaten to derail the beat, but somehow it manages to maintain, reminding me of Shed and A Made Up Sound; more in overall feel than in the specific sounds. For those that enjoy abstract electronics that work just as well on headphones as on the dance floor, Greece s Hana are a duo to watch.

Textura
Hana's self-titled debut album arrives saddled with a (literally) cheeky front cover one would more associate with a 70s band like Wild Cherry than a Greece-based techno outfit formed in Thessaloniki last summer. Recorded in fall 2010 at Facta non Verba, the five-cut release finds Good Luck Mr Gorsky members Thanasis Papadopoulos and Thanos Bantis hunkered down in their chemical lab concocting formulae to go along with their material's stripped-down techno beats. Using analogue synths, samplers, and sequencers, the duo brings a decidely experimental edge to their productions, sprinkling as they do liberal doses of burble and flutter over bass-heavy techno rhythms.
The opening track, Sm, sets the scene with a heavy low-end pulse thudding alongside a steady kick drum and joined by acidy synths and percussive effects that suggest a lighter being repeatedly flicked open. On a slightly more aggressive tip, the B-side's Cr80 adds truncated vocal yelps to its bleepy, elephantine throb. A dubby dimension emerges in the track, too, when echoing waves drift repeatedly across the huge bass that slithers across the track's underbelly. The album's most elaborate track comes last. Liv opens beatlessly with flickering shudders and what could pass for the amplified workings of an ant community but then progressively fills in the dots with an insistent beat pattern, voice fragments, and even the demented meander of accordion playing. Though Hana hardly rewrites the techno guidebook on the release, it's nevertheless a pleasurable listen, in part due to the multi-dimensional experience provided by the vinyl format and the always superb mastering work done by Rashad Becker at Berlin's Dubplates & Mastering.

Melodies International proudly moves forward with an elusive piece of mid-tempo Chicago soul originally performed by Gloria J. Jennings in 1977.

Gloria was signed to Stage Productions as a gospel singer with pure and raw talent she had developed in the choir of her father's Southern Baptist Church. She was 16 years old at the time. To tutor her for R&B vocals, Willie C. Nance of Stage Productions spent 3 months taking the artist back and forth for vocal training 25 miles each way, 3 days per week.

At the time, Mr. Nance had made plans to work with singer and songwriter Theresa Eagins to record Know What You Want'. However, two days before the recording was set to begin, Ms. Eagins refused to move forward with the recording as she chose to take her religious faith more seriously and forgo the singing of secular music. Hence, Stage Productions turned to Gloria Jay to perform a song that would go on to move people thousands of miles away, many years later.

One of them was Patrick Forge: Back around 1990 I had a residency upstairs at the Wag Club on a Friday night alongside Paul Martin (he was Gilles P's A&R right hand man at Talkin Loud), the night was called Respect and we played mainly Soul, Boogie and Jazz-Funk. Many years later I bumped into Paul at a record shop and he quizzed me about a tune I used to play at the end of the night at Respect. Hhe described it as being an independent Soul seven inch on a red label, slow to mid tempo... and more to the point a bullet of a record. It piqued my curiosity so much I burrowed through my seven inches and even made Paul a compilation of likely contenders, his response was lovely selection, but it's not on there!'. Damn, a mystery! Many moons later whilst I was living in Japan, my tenant in my London flat said she'd found an old mixtape I'd done for her way back when and was desperate to know the identity of something she was calling the choo choo song'. Eventually when I was back in London she played the mixtape and I quickly identified her tune as Fabrica' by Cesar Mariano, however letting the tape play some time later a familiar descending chord sequence catapulted me back to those Friday nights at The Wag, and Gloria Jay's plaintive vocals reminded me of a record that had been absent from my life for far too long. I've no idea what happened to my original copy, I hunted another one down straight away, and I've kept it close ever since. Know What You Want' is a song that goes deep in such a simple, unaffected, almost naive way, Gloria's voice is both sweet and raw, it's built on simple chords and obvious instrumentation, but it's so much greater than the sum of its parts.

Know What You Want' is soul music, pure and unadulterated, there's nothing getting in the way of the feeling, it's straight from the heart.' Carefully re-mastered from the tapes, MEL008 comes forth in its original 7' format with a 14'x14' poster.

The Europe-centered techno scene might be thinking: Where is techno in a city as vast, dynamic and electric as New York It's alive and well, and keeps growing through aptly-named NEW YORK TRAX. Founded in 2015 and based in Brooklyn, NEW YORK TRAX is an outlet for New York music, by New York artists, in New York city.

NEW YORK TRAX storms out of the gate in 2016 with a crushing release from none other than RICHARD HINGE. Mr. Hinge, a pioneering proponent of NY techno since the early 90's, has outdone himself once again with this no-compromises gem, plumbed from the depths of his hardware based Brooklyn studio. Having taken a hiatus from production since his seminal releases on Conrail, Sonic Groove, Hidden Agenda, Disko B and Path Records, Hinge triumphantly reclaims his seat at the table of NY techno greats with this 12'. Only available on NEW YORK TRAX.

Changes' is a track which sounds like changes. Steadily and intently, it evolves and progresses until it breaks the surface and becomes part of your reality.

Ever had voices in your head Auditory hallucinations Well, you like techno, so likely the answer is yes. Now, imagine those voices over a heavily distorted beat. Unless you're headstrong, Voices in my head' might be your worst nightmare, but given the right dance floor, time, and space, serious damage can be done in the best possible way.

Movement', a deep and dreamy affair, rounds out the EP. Here Hinge has no mercy and he wakes you up from that sweet dream with a short rain of intense hi-hats and throbbing subsonics.
Here Hinge has no mercy and he wakes you up from that sweet dream with a short rain of intense hi-hats and throbbing subsonics.

"Dave Clarke's protege rocks it big time with his crushing debut on The Public Stand" - Mixmag (May, 2015 edition)"