quête:ny

White Vinyl

An outstanding 2LP compiling the best instrumentals of the greatest white rap group ever: the Beastie Boys. New Yorkers Ad-Rock, MCA and Mike D crossed over into the mainstream in the mid 80s with their full-length Licensed to Ill and exploded any notions of one-dimensionality with its ambitious followups such as Paul's Boutique, On Check Your Head and Ill Communication. Taking influences from hardcore and hip hop, these innovators performed most of the music while integrating an array of rock samples, 808 beats and witty wordplay into an ever-intriguing sonic smorgasbord.

More than 50 million records sold, LP productions in Hungarian, German
and English, tours and festival appearances throughout Europe and
Japan, at least 50 cover versions or adaptations of the world hit
"Gyanngyhaj li ny" - Omega are Hungary's number one rock export
In 2022, the band will be celebrating its 60th stage anniversary, making it one of
the longest-serving rock formations in the world. On St. Nicholas Day, December
06, 2021, singer and founding member J nos K bor passed away due to the
coronavirus. Now the Omega albums from the well- known and successful
Bacillus era will be rereleased originally and completely on vinyl. After a few trips
into symphonic and psychedelic rock realms, Omega presented themselves on €
III € , released at the end of 1974, again more down to earth: Nine crisp hard rock
tracks, only one exceeding the four-minute mark. For this album, Peter Hauke, still
producer, and Omega not only used current material, but also included songs that
had already been recorded on the Hungarian original from 1969: "Stormy Fire" and
"Spanish Guitar". In order to attract a broader audience, the songs had been pared
down, instrumental soloing was reduced. Although Omega had always flirted with
progressive stylistic means since their turn to psychedelic rock in 1969, this time
they kept their hands off intricate arrangements. Instead, they turned towards the
zeitgeist by including rather blunt rock tunes like "Stormy Fire", "Go On The Spree"
and "Fancy Jeep" in the list, which could also please a glam rock fan and
passionate consumer of single hits by bands like The Sweet and Slade.

BLACK VINYL REPRESS

NYC´s Superbloom debut LP Superbloom is Brooklyn’s latest entry into the alternative rock scene. Their debut album, “Pollen” is a 12-track love-letter to heavy alternative music that spans infectiously bouncy hard rock, instantly nostalgic acoustic songs, sing-along choruses and undeniable hooks. The album was mastered by Will Yip (Quicksand, Mannequin Pussy, Code Orange), mixed by Joe Reinhart (Remo Drive, Joyce Manor, Hop Along) and produced by Superbloom. The album’s two recent singles, “Whatever” and “Mary on a Chain” have both landed in several Spotify curated playlists including All New Rock, New Alt-Rock Mixtape, Noisy and Alternative Noise. While the album’s feedback-laced instrumentation is hard-hitting at every turn, the band’s sonic signature is embedded in the vocal performance that fills each track with complex layering, earworm melodies and lush harmonies that deliver discoveries of nuanced detail with each listen. Press Quotes: "Your next grunge revival obsession." -The Noise "...buzzing guitars that aren’t too far away from the ones that dominated DGC Records during their heyday... reminiscent of a bygone era when rock dominated the airways. Superbloom are most definitely a guitar band and they play their instruments loud and with the urgency of a ticking time bomb, it’s aggressive and in-your-face, but also catchy as hell." -The Alternative "The group's sonic approach is rooted in the fuzzy guitar atmospherics of bands like Hum and Amusement Parks on Fire. The hooks are plentiful, the arrangements lean and mean, and there's a bouncy rhythmic quality to much of their work so far." -No Echo

REPRESS ON PURPLE VINYL. New edition of the third Warthog EP. Raging hardcore punk from the hyped NYC group.

The last flight – we have arrived! Fasten your seatbelt and buckle up – Denn die erfolgreichste Dance- & Trance-Compilation unseres Planeten setzt einmalig zu ihrem letzten Landeanflug an.

Anlässlich des 100. Jubiläums erscheint die beliebte Produktreihe als galaktische Sonderausgabe und Fans dürfen sich neben der 3CD und dem eAlbum auf eine streng limitierte Fan-Box mit 3CD, galaktischem Comic-Poster, Fan-Socken und Schlüsselanhänger freuen. Damit aber noch nicht genug: Diese letzte Ausgabe unserer FUTURE TRANCE erscheint am 25.11.2022 zudem exklusiv als 4LP inkl. Comic-Poster!
Echte Fans werden zudem bei der besonderen Optik ein Flashback erleben – das erste Mal seit der Landung der FUTURE TRANCE Vol. 60 erlebt die Reihe wieder ein Alien-Revival und erscheint in außerirdischem Design.

Die FUTURE TRANCE 100 besticht durch ein randvolles Aufgebot mit den größten Stars der Szene und ihren aktuellen Bangern. Ein letztes Mal zünden wir die Trance-Booster - mit dabei sind z.B. Scooter,
Pulsedriver, Armin van Buuren, Rocco und und und. Abgerundet wird dieser Senkrechtstarter mit einem exklusiven FUTURE TRANCE UNITED Mix „The last flight – we have arrived!“ Hier ist Gänsehaut vorprogrammiert!

”A Cross The Universe” ist ein Dokumentarfilm aus dem Jahr 2008 über das französische ElektronikmusikDuo Justice unter der Regie von Romain Gavras, So Me und Justice selbst. Es ist die erste Veröffentlichung
von diesem auf Vinyl und enthält ein stürmisches Set, das im Concourse Exhibition Center in San Francisco
aufgenommen wurde. Im Verlauf von 18 Tracks, darunter Teile von Soulwax, Franz Ferdinand, Klaxons und
Metallica, enthält es Justice-Klassiker wie ”We Are Your Friends”, ”D.A.N.C.E.” und ”Waters of Nazareth”.
Kurz nach der Veröffentlichung ihres ersten Albums ”†” komponierten Justice 2008 für eine Modenschau
von Dior den Titel ”Planisphere”, ein kultiges und episches Stück, das ganze 18 Minuten lang ist. Nun
ist der Track zum ersten Mal in einer physischen Ausgabe in kompletter Länge, bestehend aus 4 Teilen,
erhältlich.

DJ, Edit entrepreneur - Record Mission Records & Record dealer Nick The Record is adding another tab to his busy Calendar with the launch of a new label Natural House for showcasing new material & Remixes.

Studio 58's "Birds Of Paradise" is a place where Highlife meets House with a smile wider than its face.
Mandjou Koné hailing from Burkina Faso gives us "Wamian" which is perfectly pulled into the heart of the dance floor
with all manner of deftly deployed devices. Absolutely essential floor pieces from a man who knows.

In the late 90's Nick recorded a tribute to Fela Kuti with Tim Hutton under the Soul Ascendants moniker.
Tribute turned into an NYC underground anthem and was huge at Shelter & Body & Soul, often getting played 3 times a night.
For the Soul Ascendants project they worked with Tony Allen of Fela's Afrika 70 Band and on this new release Nick brings his love of African music onto the modern dance floor with 2 peak-time Remixes.

If it's really a post-genre world, why does everything sound the same? The two halves of Tampa rap duo They Hate Change_Dre (he/him) and Vonne (they/them)_first came together in front of the apartment complex where they both lived as teens. Dre had just moved down from Rochester, NY; Vonne was trying to sell him bad weed. It was clear from the start that the two listen to music differently from most people_they're sonic omnivores, obsessive deep-divers, lovers of rare and radical sounds. Starting as kids trawling the internet for tracks, they've been collecting music from around the world and across the decades, amassing a shared sonic knowledge so deep that "encyclopedic" barely begins to cover it _ not just the East Coast hip-hop that Dre grew up on, or the hyperlocal bass-music variants like jook (the Gulf Coast's twerkably raunchy answer to house) and crank (think "Miami bass meets NOLA bounce"), but also drum `n' bass, Chicago footwork, post-punk, prog (they're, like, seriously into prog), grime, krautrock, emo, and basically any genre on the map. Once they graduated to DJs on the Tampa DIY scene _ which includes everything from punk rock house parties to the black "teen nights" that pop up in rec centers and ballrooms _ they figured out how to pull all these disparate sounds together into a cohesive style. More importantly, they figured out how to make it something people will actually move to. When they made the transition to rapping and making beats, they brought that pleasure-seeking approach to sonic experimentation with them. "With this album, Vonne says, "it's really like, okay, you know how you talk about the internet breaking down borders? Here's what that actually sounds like. It's not just a hip-hop record with a couple more weird sounds. You want homegrown DIY? This is a record that was written, produced, and recorded in a 150-squarefoot bedroom from the least cool city you could think of." Finally, New is what a truly post-genre musical landscape is supposed to be: building deep connections that transcend outdated distinctions between them, spilling over with the joy of exploration and possibility, and daring other artists to think broader, go deeper, take bigger risks. Let the rest of them keep playing by the old rules_They Hate Change will keep changing the game.

Kemetic Just featuring Terrence Downs with 'We R Culture' is now available on 12" black vinyl with exclusive remixes from top NY producer DJ Spinna. The producer currently at the top of his Wipe the Needle provides a firing remix as B1 and Househeads sprinkle their magic to close the single off. We're making moves again with a Makin' Moves slammer.

Bad Colours is back with his sophomore album, "Always With U," out on Bastard Jazz Recordings in November, 2022. The London-born, Maryland-raised, Brooklyn-based DJ, songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist - aka Ibe Soliman - continues to build on the well-deserved acclaim from his 2021 debut LP, "PINK," as well as a slew of standalone singles and collaborations with the likes of Shabazz Palaces, Jarv Dee, and Stas THEE Boss.

"Always With U" sees Ibe further develop his talents as a songwriter and producer, while maintaining the signature balance of banging dance music and dense bars that he's quickly becoming known for. The album expands Ibe's role to a collaborator, band leader, and all-around star-of-the-show; it's certainly still a dance record, but there's also so much more. Live instrumentation accompanies every track, with the notable contributions of Nigerian bassist Akin-Alade Ogo heard across the album, as well as the NY-based saxophonist Carras Paton on the jazzy, upbeat house number, "Heartache + U."

The lead single, "Maybe I Should Move to LA," sees the proudly Brooklyn-based Bad Colours contemplate a move out West – an idea that came about following a trip to LA for the 20 Years of Bastard Jazz anniversary party (which he DJed) in November last year. Bright pads, a thumping four-on-the-floor beat, and a catchy vocal line make it the perfect accompaniment to a top-down joy-ride up PCH. The album's second single, "You Don't Know," features frequent collaborator and PNW darling Jarv Dee, as well as KAS and JVDE who have both been making waves in the Brooklyn scene (KAS for his work with Grammy- nominated producer Harmony Samuels featured on BET, and JVDE as the lead-singer of alternative band Blind Benny). "You Don't Know" turns up the heat with Jarv and KAS trading dense, rapid-fire verses over a high-tempo beat and detuned vocal; the kick cuts out for the bridge, replaced by syncopated keyboard stabs and JVDE's stacked vocals. "You Don't Know" is high-energy hip house at its finest: Super catchy and irresistibly dancey.

The two singles are emblematic of the rest of the album, which largely alternates between vocal and hip house, sometimes jazzy, other times touching on R&B or dancefloor influenced pop. Dave Giles II and Cor.Ece (who recently both contributed to Beyoncé's chart-topping "Renaissance" LP and Honey Dijon's "Work" single) feature on "Flow," while Toribio (of the acclaimed Brooklyn band Conclaves) provides vocals for "Do Better;" both tracks are on the mellower side, reminiscent of late-90s New York mid-tempo garage. Rising artist N.O.V. features on the second track, "Ready," rapping over a bass-heavy beat; MarcusHarmon makes a return after appearing on "PINK," with smooth vocals on the romantic "Come Closer." Aforementioned JVDE can be heard throughout the album, contributing to "You Don't Know," "Flirtation Avenue," and "Easy Come, Easy Go."

While Ibe's career has spanned nearly two decades - as both a DJ (alongside the likes of James Murphy, Mark Ronson, and Q-Tip) and producer (for Kendrick Lamar, Faith Evans, Keyshia Cole, and Rick Ross, among others) - the Bad Colours name only came into being in early 2020, with the debut LP, "PINK," being released in February, 2021 on the Brooklyn tastemaker label Bastard Jazz. By tapping into his deep network of artist friends, Ibe compiled a treasure-trove of vocal samples, snippets, sketches, and fresh instrumental loops into a beautiful debut record that touches on hip-hop, house, and left-field electronic, while remaining danceable.

A slew of singles throughout 2020 and 2021 included "Feelin' Like," featuring the Seattle rapper Jarv Dee, has become an underground hit, popping up everywhere from Best Buy ads, Hulu's "Woke," celebrity Peloton instructor Emma Lovewell's playlist, and even as a soundtrack to the Mayor of Madrid's TikTok video. Most recently, "Feelin' Like" had a prominent placement in the #1 Netflix film "Spiderhead," directed by Joseph Kosinski ("Tron: Legacy;" "Top Gun: Maverick") and starring Chris Hemsworth, Miles Teller, and Jurnee Smollett. The breakout success of "Feelin' Like" further led to a collaborative EP with Jarv Dee, titled "BLAKHOUSE," which saw additional features from fellow PNW natives Shabazz Palaces ("Clouds," featured in Hulu's "Shoresy") and Stas THEE Boss ("Black Skin"). This year, Bad Colours dropped the early Summer banger "Hit The Breaks," and served as the musical director for the influential MADE New York festival, a two-day fashion, music, and arts event presented by Public School NYC and Paypal, that saw performances by Nas, Heron Preston, and Bearcat among others.

"Always With U" is a testament to Bad Colours' versatility as a producer and artist, which has allowed him to bring together such a diverse group of friends and collaborators. Yes, the house and hip-hop roots remain, but "Always With U" shows an evolution of the Bad Colours sound into masterfully crafted dancefloor sounds. It's a truly stunning follow-up from an artist undoubtedly on the rise. The album is out on all platforms, via Bastard Jazz Recordings, November 11th, 2022.

Minas-cover Minas is a world music duet comprised of Orlando Haddad and Patricia King. Minas reflects a perfect musical marriage with a stage presence and chemistry that only a lifetime can produce. Drawing on the passionate styles of Brazilian and American roots music, the two create a fresh and innovative sound. With a catalog of 8 recordings released on their label Bluezul and a collection of over 100 songs, they have been building their reputation. Multi-talented as composers, vocalists, and instrumentalists, and equally comfortable in Brazilian jazz, folk, and classical genres, Minas is now bringing their world music approach to the Beatles with their latest album titled Beatles in Bossa. This re-imagination of fourteen Beatles' songs is infused with American Jazz and Brazilian styles of Bossa Nova, Samba, Choro, Partido Alto, Afoxé, Marcha Rancho, and Frevo. "Blackbird" has a nylon-strung guitar and vocal intro that sets the tone for this Brazilian-themed arrangement. Minasminas-1 transforms the melody to something new while still keeping the theme recognizable. The male and female vocals of Haddad and King blend beautifully as the band builds a relaxed Brazilian feel. John Swana plays an expressive Evi solo, adding a modern color while still being vivid. Haddad wrote this creative arrangement with a fresh approach to this classic Beatles melody. "With A Little Help From My Friends" is another Brazilian arrangement that is all Minas. The concept came from Haddad and King with the horn arrangement provided by Andrew Neu. Haddad's nylon-strung guitar keeps a Latin pattern as the horns accent the two vocalists trading phrases of the melody. Neu plays an exciting solo. The arrangement is rewarding, enabling us to hear the melodic lines, harmony, and orchestration from a different perspective.minas-2Minas' Beatles in Bossa impresses with its natural, vibrant, and heartfelt presence, allowing us to hear and appreciate the colors and textures of the exceptional music of the Beatles through a Brazilian perspective and thoughtful performances.

Before he co-founded the legendary Sunday afternoon event Body & Soul with fellow New York DJs Danny Krivit and Francois Kevorkian in 1996, Joaquin "Joe" Claussell was the driving force behind Instant House, an eclectic production outift who released a series of uplifting deep house records, several of which were spun by David Mancuso at the 90s iteration of his influential Loft parties.

In 1993, Instant House released their deepest single, Lost Horizons, through Jungle Sounds Recordings. The A-side, ‘Lost Horizons (The Mind Travel Saturday Night Sunday Morning Mix)’ is a seventeen-minute and twenty-second sojourn into the vibrant club sounds of early 90s NYC. Driven by a Latin-accented man-machine beat that marches into infinity, it comes backed by two shorter mixes, ‘Lost Horizons’ and ‘Lost Horizons (Percussion Bonus)’. Twenty-nine years later, Isle of Jura presents an official vinyl and digital reissue of this slow-burning deep cut.

The Instant House story begins in the late 80s at Dance Tracks, an East Village record store established by the businessman, DJ, and graphic designer Stan Hatzakis. Patronised by New York trendsetters like Frankie Knuckles and Larry Levan, Dance Tracks was considered one of the world's best underground dance music retailers.

During the winter of 1991, Stan got together with one of his best customers, Tony Confusione, to make music. A wall street guy by day and a keyboardist by night, Tony was also a serious DJ. Not long after their first recording sessions, they invited another Dance Tracks fixture, Joaquin "Joe" Claussell, to join them in Tony’s state-of-the-art home studio in Long Island. He brought a vibrant, percussive edge to the sample-based tracks Stan and Tony were cooking up. Emboldened, the three DJs began recording together as Instant House. That year, they released the Dance Trax EP.

In 1992, after Instant House had dropped two certified classics, 'Over' and 'Awade', for Jungle Sounds Records, Stan exited the group and sold Dance Tracks to Joe and his business partner, Stefan Prescott. Following Stan's departure, Joe and Tony headed into the studio for a special recording session. “I just remember how powerful the connection was while we were making that record,” explains Joe, recalling the creation of ‘Lost Horizons (The Mind Travel Saturday Night Sunday Morning Mix)’. “It was a very spiritual encounter in the studio.”

While laying out the drum patterns, sound effects, and arrangement, Joe explained the vibe to Tony, who played the lush cosmic chords and an effortless keyboard saxophone line over the top. “That was Tony completely feeling himself,” Joe reflects. “He performed majestically.”

After the release of the Lost Horizons 12”, Joe received a phone call from Cisco International Corp. A plane flight later, he was sitting in their label offices in Tokyo, talking to a senior record executive who wanted to introduce Lost Horizons to Japan. “What they were primarily doing at the time was pressing classical records - we’re talking thousand dollar plus classical reissues - and they wanted to license and distribute Lost Horizons,” Joe remembers. Three years later, Joe and Tony released 'Asking Forgiveness', their final 12” as Instant House, before parting ways with full hearts.

In the context of his career as a DJ, remixer, and producer, Joe is known for long songs and compositions. As Lost Horizons illustrates, he’s carried that impulse with him since his foundational days. “When I produce, I don’t believe in the beginning or endpoint of anything,” Joe explains. “I really despise the rules. To me, that’s not true to the art of creation. I just believe there is a flow in creation. When we were making music in the 90s, we were restricted by format, but that record could have gone on forever.”

The 12” is housed in a full sleeve jacket by Bradley Pinkerton based on the original release design.

Essentia is not only the latin word for – you guessed that right – essential, but also the name of Krystal Klear’s return to Running Back. While trance might be a state of mind (according to DJ Dag), it’s also a tone theory with a very specific tool kit. Here you get the version that makes sense in the aural universe of a producer that got raised on a diet of hip hop, boogie and the foundation tunes in house music. Moderate in tempo, the result is still euphoric to say the least: melted brains, stimulated spinal cords and rave rampage included. Essentia balances the euphoric rush of its topical genre perfectly with the happy-sad moments after the rave. If that is not musical or emotional enough for your taste, you will find content in the Sunrise version. Excessive use of the well-beloved choir, breakbeats and - downs make it equally irresistible for sun-ups and love-ups.

Flip the coin for Winnies Karaoke. Stemming from the same source and session as Essentia. Named after the interactive entertainment bar in Chinatown NYC and made sometime in the early morning hours, its the quintessential Krystal Klear. Sawtooth boogie, if you will. It’s counterpoint is the Sundown mix. Techno prog for the tilted generation.
Sometimes, in the permanent search of happiness, the world of tomorrow needs the sound of yesterday made with the means and minds of today. Essential bliss.

TELE MUSIC is a label of Éditions Musicales Sforzando now owned by BMG Production Music. It is entirely devoted to the music library, that is to say, music for sound illustration used in audiovisual productions. Created in 1966 by Roger Tokarz,
just before advertising was allowed on French television, Editions Sforzando specialized from the outset in sound illustration for radio and television.
This collection, soberly entitled “Volume 2”, is the sequel to “Volume 1”, produced with equal care, passion and fervour by Lord Funk & DJ L.C. In the mid-90s, Tele Music vinyl was sold at ridiculously low prices. Often disparaged by collectors and record shops, considered by some as lift music or vulgarly called “music by the meter”, the music store was only of interest to fans of instrumental music! But in the 2000's, it had a second life and saw its prices soar on Discogs, thanks to sampling and digging in Hip-Hop mainly. This advent of the library is an era that Lord Funk, curator of this compilation, experienced when he brought several music library collections to New York City (NYC) to his A1 Records stronghold in 1997.
In this 2nd volume, Lord Funk & DJ L.C. have chosen a range of music from 1969 to 1983, from psychedelic jazz to electro funk via rnb, soul and jazz-funk. Most of the titles in this collection were recorded in the magic place that was the famous CBE recording studio set up by Georges Chatelain, Janine Bisson and Bernard Estardy. Bernard, nicknamed the giant, was a sound genius and a mixing perfectionist. Georges Chatelain was an electronic engineer. Together, they brought a sound,
a colour, a trademark. Bernard Estardy was also considered as one of the greatest French sound engineers and an energetic organist for Nino Ferrer or Nancy Holloway. We warmly thank Julie Estardy for her total and unreserved involvement in these reissue and compilation projects.
The combination of all these prodigies has given TELE MUSIC a phenomenal and unique sound colour in the service of a sound repertoire that is now part of the French heritage.

AN EXCLUSIVE NEW LABEL DEDICATED TO JAZZ, HARD BOP, R&B AND SOUL MASTERPIECE IN STRICTLY LIMITED CLEAR VINYL EDITION.

Limited Clear Vinyl edition, 500 copies! Recorded in NYC in 1958 and originally released in 1959 as “The Cecil Taylor Quintet - Hard Driving Jazz” this is in fact the only existing document of the meeting between John Coltrane and Cecil Taylor. Even if caught at an early stage in their career the two masters show great personality and deep respect for each other while trumpeter Kenny Dorham sticks more to his familiar bop idiom.

Cordially backed up by Chuck Israel on bass and Louis Hayes, Coltrane swings madly on Taylor’s dissonant comping producing a rare, fascinating friction between two worlds. A must for every Coltrane maniac out there.

In 2003, Pisco Crane assembled a six-piece band from motivated and talented like minds in the Kinshasa slums where he grew up. Pisco had been involved with a handful of local rap acts when he was younger, but after meeting legendary instrument builder Bebson De La Rue, he was inspired to follow a new path. He set about building instruments from the discarded trash that surrounded his city: bits of old computers or oil cans were fashioned into bass guitars and drums, and keyboards were bashed together using springs, metal pipes, and offcuts of tubing. If there was a core philosophy that guided Pisco at this stage in his journey, it was that everyone should have access to instruments, no matter where they come from or what their budget might be. And following in the footsteps of Bebson, Pisco locked into a Congolese tradition that touches on the eccentric genius of globally lauded artists like Konono Nº1 and Staff Benda Bilili. Over the years, Fulu Miziki's notoriety grew in the Kinshasa underground - their utopian vision of the future was infectious. Eventually, they were joined by performance artist, sculptor and fashion designer Lady Aisha, who offered the band unique colour and a soulful central focus. Influenced by Kinshasa's street performance scene, Aisha helped the band devise vivid masks and costumes that were as electric and singular as the instruments they played, and the scene was set. In 2020, as the world was plunged into lockdown, footage of Fulu Miziki went viral and their star began to grow exponentially, with a video of the band preforming the track 'Tikanga' racking up millions of views on Facebook. The band used this opportunity to work on documenting their sound, and shored up at the Nyege Nyege studios in Kampala for a year to assemble a definitive album. Recorded by HHY & The Macumbas' Jonathan Saldanha, this record captures the band's furiously innovative mixture of industrial sonics, spiritual jazz, punk, and Congolese soukous pressure. At their best, Fulu Miziki sound almost completely out of time, curving pounding rhythms around microtonal clanks, rousing chants and spiky sonics. On 'Mutangila', there's a hint of disco in the 4/4 stomp, but it's been shifted into a post-punk ritual, adorned with complex bell percussion and overlapping vocals. 'Congo' is even harder to define; electrified buzzes form a bassline, but it's the mindboggling rhythms that shuttle the track into psychedelic realms, led confidently by Lady Aisha's limber rhymes. Fulu positively slither on the sultry, industrial-influenced 'Sebe', while 'Tikanga' reminds of Congo's rumba-derived soukous traditions, materializing the sounds into the future with tight, pounding percussion and head-melting fx. The story of Fulu Miziki is sprawling and complex and constantly evolving, with various offshoots and band iterations. Two members left the band in 2016 to form KOKOKO! with French producer Débruit. Not long after they recorded this magnum opus album, several other original members left to form a similarly named outfit currently based in Europe. This other incarnation recently released an EP of electronic productions without the band founder Pisko Crane and lead vocalist Lady Aicha, on the UK based Moshi Moshi records. Pisco and Lady Aicha currently lead a different outfit in Kinshasa made up of completely new musicians. This full-length is the remaining proof of Fulu Mziki at their most vital and most complete - it won't be repeated - and can never be recreated. It's an essential portrait of one of the Democratic Republic of Congo's most innovative contemporary outfits, and some of the most surprising hybrid music you're likely to hear.

From Seattle we present NYCO on the 16th Self Reflektion release with a selection of previously digitally released music from this talented versatile producer. Essential dancefloor driven cuts!

What does it mean to be a traveler in a fixed place? An adventurer in
domestic space? A troubadour in a confined microcosm, or a
constellation of microcosms—that is, a microcosmos? These are the
questions Nashville musician, songwriter, and published poet Lou Turner
(aka Lauren Turner, Styrofoam Winos) was reflecting on as she wrote her
luminous third solo album, Microcosmos
She says of the cosmic country record, "Musically, these songs are mostly in the
country/folk vein of the 70s songwriter but lyrically they're challenging some of
those tropes or totally subverting them altogether, talking about commitment and
love—the small microcosmic things that make up the fabric of everything."
With her warm and welcoming voice and nylon- stringed acoustic guitar
foregrounded over sparse yet playful arrangements, Microcosmos is a meditation
on what it means to privilege cultivation over consumption and to ponder larger
realities from within the shell of the fixed reality of a home. The reward is the
adventure to be found in stillness and observation, the discovery of the
otherworldly in earthly matter, the revelations of groundedness. Turner generously
offers up these wonders to the listener, sharing hers, and inviting us to find our
own.

Ultramarine & Anna Domino meet again for a reworking of their collaborative track '$10 Heel'.

The song originally appeared on the Ultramarine album Signals Into Space (Les Disques du Crépuscule, 2019). $10 Rework replaces the urgent, jittery rhythm of the original with a straighter House backbone and then proceeds to disassemble the structure with a pair of freestyle, hands-on-the-desk, on-the-fly dub mixes.

Anna Domino's stream-of-consciousness lyrics tell the impressionistic tale of post-club after-hours chaos in Times Square, NYC circa 1979. Anna raps off studio equipment brand names like passing neon signs glimpsed in a blur through a taxi cab window.

Iain Ballamy wields his saxophone like a graffiti artist with a spray can; scrawling and skronking across the canvas. Ric Elsworth lurks in a side alley, unraveling a trash can monologue of wild flamming bongos.

Ultramarine is the UK duo of Ian Cooper & Paul Hammond. Formed in 1989, their albums include Every Man and Woman is a Star (Rough Trade, 1991), United Kingdoms (w/ Robert Wyatt) (Blanco Y Negro, 1993) and Signals Into Space (w/ Anna Domino) (Les Disques du Crépuscule, 2019).

Anna Domino is an American musician based in LA and NY, best known for her classic run of releases on Belgian label Les Disques du Crépuscule in the 1980s and '90s.

Iain Ballamy is a composer and saxophonist; a member of the Loose Tubes collective in the 1980s and more recently with several albums to his name on ECM.

Ric Elsworth is UK-based percussionist and vibraphone player.

‘Dead End Kings‘, eines der ehrgeizigsten Werke der Band,
wurde in den Ghost Ward Studios und in The City Of Glass
aufgenommen. Anders Nyström und Jonas Renkse kümmerten sich um die Produktion des Albums, während David
Castillo, der für seine früheren Kooperationen mit Katatonia
sowie Opeth und Bloodbath bekannt ist, für den Mix des
Albums verantwortlich war. ‘Dead End Kings‘ war das
Aufnahmedebüt von Gitarrist Per Eriksson für die Band,
zusammen mit dem neuen Bassisten Niklas Sandin.

Fangst never announced their arrival – without a warning they were just there, and so was the demand for their music. The band’s hook-laden songs were quickly embraced by audience and press alike. Suddenly there was a new challenger to the throne of Norwegian “mother tongue rock”. Fangst appeared with a bang – releasing four singles in quick succession in 2021. Seeing the band live, it’s easy to be seduced by the four band members and their magnetic stage presence. Now they’re ready with their debut album on Jansen Records. But this is hardly a musical debut for the guys who make up this four-headed beast. All members of Fangst come with heaps of musical experience, and the bare mention of their other bands – Death By Unga Bunga, Honningbarna and Hvitmalt Gjerde – will awake fond memories in every concert goer who’s ever encountered those bands. Fangst’s debut full-length will be out in the fall of 2022, and if captivating Norwegian lyricism or very, ehm…rocking rock (or even both!) is your bag, then you’ll get your fill here. The band’ sound is a result of their diverse musical backgrounds and combines to create beautiful rock music – sporadically dangerous and at times plain cute.

First Time On Black vinyl. A lot has happened to the Magic Castles since this was released in April 2021 this release took over a year to be manufactured, the band have toured with the Brian Jonestown Massacre & the Warlocks in the USA in 2022 & the the track “Lost Dimension” was used in the HBO series “Succession” so not a bad 2022 for the band. Sun Reign is the band’s fourth release on Anton Newcombe's label ‘A’ Recordings Ltd. Ironically similar to BJM, the Magic Castles have been plagued by lineup changes over the years. In November of 2019, tragedy struck and Edmonds was seriously injured in a car accident that required hospitalization and surgery. Friends started a Go Fund Me that raised over $20k USD for the uninsured musician’s hospital bills, showing an incredible outpouring of love and support for him and his family. Fortunately, Edmonds has made a complete recovery from his injuries and has bounced back remarkably well. In early 2020, Edmonds managed to finish the remaining work on the album “Sun Reign”, including a previously unreleased song, “Surmise'' penned by guitarist Jermiah Doering, and a rare cover of a moody 1966 garage rock song “Ode to the Wind” by Danny and the Counts. Edmonds also began working with a booking agency, planning a return tour to Europe with the band to support the new album. Unfortunately, it was not to be. Due to the global pandemic crisis of Covid-19, the album was delayed until 2021, and the promising tour was cancelled. In May of 2020, Minneapolis police killed George Floyd two blocks from Edmonds’ home, which incited riots across the country. The protests led to the burning of Minneapolis, where a long time music venue and many other buildings were lost. Edmonds’ studio was not destroyed although many nearby buildings were. Edmonds is a known supporter of Black Lives Matter Tracklisting:- 1) Sunburst , 2) Lost Dimension , 3) Ode to the Wind , 4) Asuras , 5) World of Time , 6) Valley of Nysa , 7) Magna Mater , 8) Surmise , 9) Gates of the Sun , 10 ) Relax Your Mind

Suns of Arqa is a sonic mission created by luminary Michael Wadada, who began in 1979 after receiving higher guidance in Jamaica while working with roots reggae chanter Prince Far-I. It is a prolific traveling music collective that has seen over 200 collaborators, meant to connect people from all cultures and walks of life through a "deeply spiritual vibration that merges cultures, faiths and musical genres". Wadada combines ancient Hindustani raga systems with Piobaireachd and Nyabinghi roots drumming, creating ritualistic world music infused with dub and reggae. The lyrics combine both mystical and sensory elements, often including prayer and referencing a higher power but finding root in experiences common to all people- memory, sight, and physical sensation. Their first album, Revenge of the Mozabites, was a collaboration between Wadada and On-U Sound creator Adrian Sherwood. Following its 1980 release, Peter Gabriel invited them to perform at the first WOMAD festival. Today, the record is regarded by some as a cult classic.

Forget your search for a holy grail, THIS is The Lost Ark Of The Covenant.

Walter Gibbons presents 'The Ten Commandments Are The Law Of The Land'
It will melt your face and make you clap yo' hands!
Mythical disco foundations from Sunshine Sound.




Label Info:
Take a journey to the dawn of DJ culture with Sunshine Sound, the NY imprint that through a series of genre defining Disco Edits became recognised as the 'Birthplace of the Edit'.

These 'Disco Adjustments' would become the hottest tracks in a DJ's crate, spawning countless bootlegs & imitations since they first appeared so many years ago.
As influential as these recordings were, most only appeared as acetate discs individually cut in mono & sold direct to DJs.
Some of these were cut in such small quantities it could be debated as to whether they ever really existed at all.
40 years later and all that remains are remakes & rumours...

...or so it was thought.



Sunshine Sound rises again to bring you a series of classic, legendary & mythical Edits.
Travel back with us to re-discover monumental works that helped shape the sound of dance music as we deepen the textures of history with a series of exclusive Digital & limited Vinyl releases selected from the vault.
Sunshine Sound releases are distributed by Moonshine Sound, bringing you antiquities of historical Disconificance.

Black & Opaque Silver vinyl. ZZK Records Presents Uji's TIMEBEING. A prehistoric tribe dances around the fire. Young revelers lose themselves on a packed dancefloor. Explorers fly a rocket toward another galaxy. In the TIMEBEING universe, these things are all connected. From the earliest days of humanity, people have strived to expand their reality beyond the limitations of the here and now and have used technology to make it happen. Their methods and machines may have changed across the centuries, but the drive remains constant, vibrating through history and occupying a space where time loses all meaning. "The art of making music is the art of manipulating time," says Uji. "I have had experiences where time shifts dramatically; sometimes it slows down to a halt, while moments seemingly become infinite. This is where the magic happens. This is when the fabric of what we call reality begins to show its seams." An Argentinian electronic producer and ethnomusicologist, Uji has been navigating those seams for more than two decades, initially as one half of the pioneering duo Lulacruza, but more recently with his own solo work. TIMEBEING continues that lineage, but also elevates it, taking shape as a interdisciplinary multimedia journey that includes a new album, an accompanying short film, an immersive live show and the birth of a new decentralized community of like-minded artists, creators, seekers, and dreamers. Mesmerizing and deeply psychedelic, the TIMEBEING LP certainly reflects the rich sound palette of Latin America and its intersection with various strains of electronic music but Uji taps into traditions both musical and spiritual that can't be hemmed in by borders and boundaries. Transcendence is the goal, and the album moves through fantastical spaces that may or may not exist: a metallic jungle, a Balkan spaceship, a cloud that morphs into a tumultuous whirlpool. All the while, Uji criss-crosses history, consulting elders and futurists alike as he throws open the doors of perception and pens a new mythology about what it means to be human. Some of that mythology takes shape in the TIMEBEING film. Written by Uji himself, the eight-part opus has been brought to life by Jazmin Calcarami, who makes her directorial debut following years of working as an experimental make-up artist with the likes of Björk and Cirque de Soleil. On stage, the transportive TIMEBEING live show is set to premiere at the Artlab Cultural Center in Buenos Aires, where it will be debuted as a part of a weekly residency this spring. More than just a concert, it's a dazzling theatrical experience, complete with dancers, costume changes, arresting visuals and even an on-stage "ship" (shaped like mollusk) where Uji himself will perform. "What we see on the surface, is only that the surface," says Uji. "There is so much more. Music is the bridge and the possibilities are limitless." Track listing: 1. Mito 2. Oropo 3. Truenatruena 4. QuemaQuema (feat. Nyaruach) 5. Kinto 6. Lunay (feat. Zola Dubnikova) 7. Flechas 8. Sirios (feat. Kristine Barrett)

Real Feel Records looks to blend old and new in paying tribute to the roots of U.S. house music. Real Feel is the vehicle intended to bring it back to basics and create a platform to boost US-based artists in an inclusionary way. The label is run out of DC, pressed in the US, and will look to elevate Black, Latinx, AAPI, women and TLGBQ artists—new and OG—in the US. The intention is not to come in and Columbus anything--we all know vets in Detroit, Chicago etc have been self-releasing material for a long time; but rather give a channel for new artists while blending in established names.

For its first release, NY DJ, producer and multi-instrumentalist Toribio baptizes Real Feel Records with the Brown Cocoa Skin EP. The record is chock full of lush, swingy tracks built for the dancefloor. The legendary DJ Spinna contributes the finishing touches with a monster remix.

Eclair Fifi is back with the first new release on her River Rapid label in 2 years. Rapid Remixes brings together two of her favourite producers - Montreal legend and fellow LuckyMe alumni Jacques Greene and rising NYC star AceMo - to reimagine 2 key tracks from the labels previous releases - DC Salas and Santiago Salazar. These have been secret weapons amongst select djs for a while.

This extraordinary NYC trio combines free jazz and post-punk with pointed commentary about issues of race, gender, the pandemic, and political autonomy.

Rose Tang, a Mongol from Sichuan, sings/recites and plays guitar, piano, and percussion. Tenor saxophonist Ayumi Ishito, from Japan, plays in a plethora of bands along the jazz/rock spectrum. Drummer, composer, and educator Wen-Ting Wu, from Taiwan, combines jazz drive and classical rigor.

The group came together to play one song at an event. ESP-Disk’, already familiar with the separate work on the NYC scene of all three members, immediately invited them to make an album. After intensive rehearsals, the members recorded the album in a one-day session, then reunited during the pandemic to add words about its effect to an existing instrumental on “8 Steps/7 O’Clock.” This album is simultaneously part of ESP-Disk's Drive To Revive Weird Rock and an extension of the label's famed free-jazz legacy.

Auf ihrem Sony Classical Doppel-Album Two Steps From Hell: Live - An Epic Music Experience definieren Two Steps From Hell - aka Thomas Bergersen und Nick Phoenix - die Schöpfer des "epischen Sounds", ihre fantastische Musik mit dem Odessa Opera Orchester, Chor und Rockband neu. Das Album enthält über zwei Stunden Musik und 28 der bekanntesten Titel der Gruppe, die im Rahmen ihrer erfolgreichen Europa-Konzerte im Sommer 2022 neu-arrangiert und aufgenommen wurden. Genre-Hits wie "Heart of Courage", "Victory", "Star Sky", "Protectors of the Earth" oder "Strength Of A Thousand Men" verbinden die in Kalifornien ansässigen Komponisten und Produzenten Thomas Bergersen und Nick Phoenix - die Masterminds hinter Two Steps From Hell - zu episch-akustischen Klangwelten zwischen Klassik, Filmmusik und Rock. Bei ihren Aufnahmen wurden die Multiinstrumentalisten von einer Reihe herausragender Solist*Innen begleitet wie Esther Abrami (Violine), Skye Emanuel (Gitarre), Elaine Correa (Keyboards), Saulius Petreikis (Windwoods) oder Greg Ellis (Drums) und den Sängerinnen Merethe Solvedt, Úyanga Bold und Kamila Nývltová. Two Steps From Hell sind eine der weltweit erfolgreichsten Produzenten für epische Musik und gehören zu den Vorreitern des "epischen Sounds". Seit ihrer Gründung im Jahr 2006 haben Thomas Bergersen und Nick Phoenix diverse Filmtrailer für Blockbuster (Avengers, X-Men, Star Trek, Harry Potter, Indiana Jones), Fernsehserien (Doctor Who, Breaking Bad, The Walking Dead) und Videospiele (Mass Effect, Resident Evil, League of Legends, Kill Zone) vertont. Ihr Song "Heart of Courage" leitete die Spiele der Fußball-EM 2012 und das Finale der Olympischen Spiele 2012 in London ein. Die Musik, die Thomas Bergersen und Nick Phoenix für Film, Fernsehen und Videospiele produzierten, löste euphorische Reaktionen bei den Zuhörern aus und sie begannen ganze Alben aufzunehmen und ihre Musik bei Musikportalen selbst zu veröffentlichen. Two Steps From Hell, ein Internet-Phänomen, war geboren und eine treue internationale Fan-Base sorgte für über fünf Milliarden Streams auf YouTube und anderen Plattformen, vier Platin-Alben, zwei Nummer 1 Alben in den Billboard Classical Charts ("Battlecry" und "Unleashed") und insgesamt 10 Platzierungen in den Top 10 der Billboard Classical Albums Charts.

Initial copies / pressing on limited-edition coloured LP edition on blue transparent vinyl. The Milk Teeth mini album compiles singer-songwriter Suki Waterhouse's various non-album singles onto a physical release for the first time. It includes the song "Good Looking," which, in mid-2022, exploded on Tik Tok and hit #1 on the global viral chart. Suki Waterhouse catalogues the most intimate, formative, and significant moments of her life through songs. You might recognize her name or her work as an actress and model, but you'll really get to know the multi-faceted artist through her music. Growing up in London, Suki gravitated towards music's magnetic pull. She listened to the likes of Alanis Morissette and caught Missy Elliott live as her first concert. Meanwhile, Oasis held a particularly special place in her heart. She initially teased out this facet of her creativity with a series of singles, generating nearly 20 million total streams independently. Nylon hailed her debut "Brutally" as "what a Lana Del Rey deep cut mixed with Joni Mitchell's 'Both Sides, Now' would sound like." In addition to raves from Garage by Vice and Lemonade Magazine, DUJOR put it best, "Suki Waterhouse's music has swagger." Constantly consuming artists of all stripes, she listened to the likes of Sharon Van Etten, Valerie June, Garbage, Frazey Ford, Lou Doillon, and Lucinda Williams. In late 2020, she finally dove into making what would become her full-length debut album, I Can't Let Go Sub Pop Records with producer Brad Cook [Snail Mail, Waxahatchee]. Now, she introduces this chapter with "Moves" and "My Mind." Her first album for Sub Pop, I Can't Let Go, produced by Brad Cook (Bon Iver, War On Drugs, Snail Mail, Waxahatchee) and released in May of 2022, is a testament to her powers as a singer and songwriter. The Milk Teeth mini album rightly shines a spotlight on her pre-album material, giving these six songs their first physical release.

This extraordinary NYC trio combines free jazz and post-punk with pointed commentary about issues of race, gender, the pandemic, and political autonomy. Rose Tang, a Mongol from Sichuan, sings/recites and plays guitar, piano, and percussion. Tenor saxophonist Ayumi Ishito, from Japan, plays in a plethora of bands along the jazz/rock spectrum. Drummer, composer, and educator Wen-Ting Wu, from Taiwan, combines jazz drive and classical rigor.

MorMor is the artist project of the multitalented writer, producer and performer Seth Nyquist. From a young age he would sit in front of the stereo in his mother’s house in Toronto, fast forward to a particular section in a recording, and immerse himself in those precious seconds. As MorMor, Seth works in not so dissimilar a fashion: He has an idea for a sound, and he works intensely until he’s created it. The first song he released was a tangy synth pop anthem called “Heaven’s Only Wishful”, which arrived in early 2018 and was met with critical acclaim. Following two acclaimed EPs—Heaven’s Only Wishful in 2018 and Some Place Else in 2019— his debut album Semblance is by turns contemplative, jittery, wistful, gentle, and generous. His distinctive voice—a svelte tenor that sits comfortably higher in pitch—leaps out of the speakers, alighting over the sturdy bass lines, guitar riffs, and drums he played himself. The album pursues difficult truths about love and growth and relationships, uncovering feelings that Seth couldn’t have revealed in any other way. Semblance offers a beguiling feeling the listener chases but never quite pins down. A record to put on again and again, reliving the moments.

To say that R.A.M.B.O. occupies a singular space in punk history is an understatement. During their initial run from 1999 to 2007 the Philadelphia band took influences from thrash, anarcho-punk, d-beat, crust, and hardcore and combined that with intelligent but very fun – and at times downright ridiculous – lyrics to create what was very much a DIY powerhouse. In those eight years they released two albums, 7" splits with Crucial Unit and Caustic Christ, and played thousands of gigs across the country and across the world. They might have gone out at the top of their game but now, 15 years later, R.A.M.B.O. is back with their aptly titled new album, Defy Extinction. This is not a nostalgia trip, or an attempt at recapturing past glory; R.A.M.B.O. have their sights trained on the present. On these 16 tracks of pounding epic crust-infused hardcore punk and beatdowns, R.A.M.B.O. is imploring you to believe in science, fight authoritarianism, and most of all DEFY EXTINCTION!

'Mysticisms' prides itself on finding the groove, but with a nod (and wink) to discerning ears. However, sometimes it's right to just let it all out and go route one. Berlin based producer Daniel Scholz aka (DJ) Leinad was all about the dancefloor, releasing a series of simple but highly effective EPs of cut up, looped house music that summed up that late 90s Chicago-NYC-London-Paris influenced bombs.

The jack that house built the "heroes" with the "touch" Souvenirs embodies Leinad's sound. Moving from high-school DJ, to computer programmer to professional producer, DJ and soundtrack artist, remixing for the likes of Yellow and Peter Gabriel's Real World, moving from early classic mid-90s German techno and trance releases on to his 'Leinad' moniker (Daniel spelt backwards), the series of releases on JXP can now go for dizzing sums. In Souvenirs, taken from the Disco Part's III EP, Mysticisms found the source - elastic bass, filtered loops, watertight kick and twisted disco'n' strings, all cut back and forth 'for the party' to abandon.

Present day remixes come from Lewie Day's 'Deep Dean' project, offering a wonderful example of an artist at work, a laid back groove, pushing all the right dancefloor buttons, all presented with respect to the past, but with acres of modern day swing; Mysticisms' own cohort Piers Harrison, side stepping his edit school as one of Soft Rocks, to produce a literal peak time acid banger; and to close the 'DJ' returns, Leinad offers a bumping 2022 remake to show he's still a teacher.

Guru The Mystery.

repress

Levon Vincent returns with his fourth full-length studio album Silent Cities a striking departure from his previous records. This, his first release experimenting with the cassette format, Silent Cities is a kind of mixtape through more private moods and personal pitches (literally given Levon’s non-standard tunings).

While Levon has always pro
duced dance floor jams with the intention of raising people’s heart rates, Silent Cities began with 72 bpm: his average resting heart rate, and the concept of tuning the music he was making to his own body rather than increasing anything. This brought the tempos down to 72 bpm or even half of that, at 36bpm. Programming the record during the empty cityscape of Berlin lockdowns, this is the first time Levon’s created an album for the home stereo or for headphone listening whilst navigating through a city. A mixtape specialist in his youth; he was always wanted to play with the cassette format. The results are sure to delight any listener, with the ever-present ambient, krautrock, shoegaze, hip-hop and electro influences coming to the foreground on this work.

“I was expanding further along the lines of a surprise favourite from my previous LP, a song called She Likes To Wave To Passing Boats which was not a 4 on-the-floor piece to play in clubs but a more impressionistic piece of music that I wrote to expound some emotions one day” says Levon. “It was a song written using just intonation. I really love how warm the pure 4ths sound, so when working on the new LP Silent Cities I decided to use my own tunings”.

Historically, the use of just intonation has meant that such instruments could sound "in tune" in one key but at the expense of more dissonance in the other keys. None of the songs on Silent Cities use standard Western equal temperament, Levon created his own scale designs coupled with the ancient ratios found in just intonation.

Born in Houston in 1975, Levon’s life changed dramatically when his parents moved their family to New York in 1981, uprooted from what he knew, the shock, the change from Houston to New York at 6 years old, is referred to constantly in Levon’s Musical output over the years. Levon's family moved houses in and around NYC from 1981 -2010, never more than a mile or two from the WTC. He lived on the Lower East Side during his teenage years and early 20s. This time period and this locale are also a big theme recurrent in his music as he tries to convey how the "downtown" lifestyle and culture-melding affected him so much at a tender age. He cut his teeth working in record shops around lower Manhattan, and while working at the Halcyon Record shop in Brooklyn he (alongside DJ Jus-Ed) was instrumental in creating the wave that came to be known as the "NYC House Renaissance" circa 2010. During the Y2K years he studied 20th C post-minimalism at Purchase college of New York under James McElwaine (who tangentially produced Man Parrish’s Self-Titled proto-hip-hop debt LP). Levon was fortunate to study theory with avant-garde composer Dary John Mizelle and orchestration under conductor Joel Thome. He undertook masterclasses with Philip Glass and also served as intern for John Kilgore, engineer for Steve Reich, where he was present for notable mix sessions such as “Violin Phase.”

Post-minimalism clearly remains an influence not to mention the early sampler stars of 80s freestyle and synth pop. Mixing such far-reaching influences is something Levon executes tremendously well. The first track Everlasting Joy moves at a head nodding 96 BPM tempo, reflecting formative influences like Paul Hardcastle’s Rainforest or Art Of Noise’s Moments in Love. “Those types of songs were a big eye opener for me as a youth, because it was where I realised songs in popular culture didn’t have to be kept to just 3 minutes, and they didn’t require vocals either. So, Everlasting Joy is a song with that intention, one that might be radio-friendly, despite the long arrangement and without vocals. You could say it was inspired by 107.5 in NY because that was a station I listened to a lot in the 1980’s.”

The majority of demos on Silent Cities were recorded before Covid-19 hit the world - when Levon had found a studio space outside of home in his adopted city of Berlin. It was a career first - working on music outside the bedroom. This riding the train or bicycling ‘going to work’ in Berlin opened up a new mood in his music, using the time back and forth to be inspired - commuting as an NYC transplant who still feels as a tourist in Berlin, with a pair of headphones, looking out the window on the train, or stopping on bridges and parking his bike to enjoy Berlin's skyline and horizon. Then, the pandemic struck and “work” came to a halt. Levon had recorded so much material during that year in the studio out of house it seemed like an inflection point for him to lighten the burden of the possessions he was carrying.

“People close to me have watched me give away synths and hardware regularly and I have given away my record collection every few years for my whole life. As a struggling artist in my 20s who had worked in record stores that whole time, I learned that moving constantly with 12k records just wasn't the way to live. So, in light of the pandemic, I set up a shop online, and sold all my music equipment. I also created a separate shop for all my sneakers and clothes. Easy come, Easy go. This provided me with a slow drip type of income that carried me quite well through the pandemic and it allowed me to focus on my own art and music. Getting rid of all my possessions felt like a weight being lifted from my shoulders and I was able to stay the course and remain committed to the music. I needed a further 2 years to mix and arrange the LP. If it weren’t for the pandemic, I would not been able to make this type of LP, so in light of everything, I was able to turn a depressing time in to something lasting and musically very positive.”

You can hear how his approach to a cassette release retains the "Medium is the Message." ethos. Silent Cities is a spooling, warm piece about life memories and embodiment.

Emotional Rescue finally gets around to reissuing some House music with the start of a 3 x 12 series from Miami's Dancefloor Records. Covering House and Freestyle, this is music as worthy as any other explored to date.Founded by British ex-pat Jeffery Collins in 1983, Dancefloor Records was the culmination of a music industry journeyman's long career from swinging sixties London to bohemian seventies NYC before relocating to the sunnier climbs of Miami.Taking in the City's unique mix of American, Latin and Caribbean sounds, Dancefloors early success came via a long association with reggae turned disco star King Sporty. While his legacy will be looked at in future, this series concentrates on Dancefloor's shift to the growing club sounds emanating from Chicago and NYC.First is the little is known Eighth Ray. As often the case, a project by a group of musician friends who went on to release under various pseudonyms. From the opening spoken word intro of Axis Of Love, the spaced-out 4/4 and spiritual, pulsing arps, this could be mistaken for the then in-vogue 'Italian House'. With Rimini in its sights, the vocals are the journey, underpinned by simple, up'n'back bass and Mateo and Matos style keys, pure 6am sunrise. Backed with the deeper 8th Ray, the EP eschews the bumpin' House then coming from NYC and looks to the sound system vibes out across the Atlantic. Deep House before the term had grabbed hold, been twisted and contorted and donned head-to-toe in black. Simply, real House music.

For over a decade, Names You Can Trust has presented a variety of new music that has grown from a prolific network of talented musicians in Colombia's capital city. Frente Cumbiero, Romperayo, La Boa, and Meridian Brothers are some of the important names to have reached a well-deserved global audience. The scene itself in Bogotá has been on the cutting edge for some time, and this new generation of musical spirit has naturally become a beacon in the tropical music community, not only as a standard bearer for honoring tradition but as well as the ability to flip that tradition on its head, with thoughtful modern and technological experimentations. The good news is that there are no signs of this particular renaissance slowing down, as some of these marquee names in the aforementioned list have expanded their creative output as producers, engineers and mixers.

In this case, Meridian Brothers creator and musical savant, Eblis Álvarez lends his expertise to a new emerging septet of tropicalistas, La Sonora Mazurén, named after a northern neighborhood in Bogotá. The group's mission is best described as an exploration into the many influences of tropical music that have thrived in Colombia for decades. Thinkcumbia,chicha,charangaandvallenatoto name a few, and that's where we land on with the group's debut single for NYCT. It's an apt illustration of the band's range, starting with the A-side's quintessential "Charanga Mazurén," a throwback to pure dancefloor accordion bliss, a pulse that is synchronized with the aura of Colombia's legends such as Landero, Meza, or Gutiérrez. The B-side "Cachicha" is a take on the all-importantchicha, which has become an inescapable and essential part of Peru's nationalcumbia, and likewise a staple within Colombia's borders since the advent of the popular style on record back in the day. That tradition continues here, the familiar pluck of the psychedelic guitars mixed with an array of synthesized sonics, the palette of Peru mixed with that of producer Álvarez's wizardry and the group's talented players.

Pressed On Clear Vinyl! 1991 was the year that it all broke loose for producer Pete Rock and his rhyme partner, CL Smooth. But the duo was far from an overnight sensation. The two friends had been on the grind since high school in Mt. Vernon, NY in the mid-'80s, and Pete had been building up to his big moment since he first manned the decks on WBLS's hugely influential 'In Control With Marley Marl' radio show, starting in 1987. In '91, Pete's talent finally forced him from the studio shadows into the spotlight, and after remixes and co-productions for Heavy D (1989's Big Tyme album); Johnny Gill ('Rub You The Right Way,' 1990); and Elektra label-mates Brand Nubian ('Slow Down,' 1990); it was time for top billing. As Pete's rep skyrocketed with a revolutionary remix to Public Enemy's 'Shut 'Em Down' in 1991, the stage was set. The duo's debut EP, 'All Souled Out', was the perfect set-up - and bridge to - their flawless LP, Mecca & The Soul Brother, which appeared only one year later. Fans new (thanks to a recent revival, resulting from the song's use in a Google / Android commercial) and old are sure to know the EP's only single, 'The Creator.' The cut is a perfect slice of early '90s hip-hop - jumpy, funky and rolling along at a sprinter's pace, with killer horns that sew up the chorus. Interestingly, it's the only song on the EP where Pete Rock rhymes (and solo at that, with lines written by Brand Nubian's Grand Puba). The remaining five of the EP's songs, with CL Smooth in full charge of the mic, are no less impressive. The sleeper is perhaps 'Go With The Flow,' a kinetic groover with an egregiously thick, muted bassline, surgical cuts and never-endingly captivating lines by the liquid-tongued CL. 'All Souled Out' boasts all of the Pete Rock trademarks - a jumpy, filtered bassline; beautifully stitched horn samples on the hook; and this time with a faster tempo. CL has no issues with Pete's BPM challenge, proving he can drop knowledge at any speed. And of two different versions of 'Good Life' on the platter, the EP's final cut, the 'Group Home Mix,' is perhaps the winner, with an abundance of musical action to back up CL's lyrical musings on ways to achieve success and comfort in life. 25 years after its initial impact, 'All Souled Out' sounds as heavy and essential as ever, and will remind fans how important this duo was to the artform.