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toe is a Japanese music group long revered in post-rock circles, while their song structures and dynamics have taken on elements from all styles of music, ranging from math-rock, jazz, pop, and R&B. toe is composed of Kashikura Takashi on drums, Mino Takaaki on guitar, Yamane Satoshi on bass guitar, and Yamazaki Hirokazu on guitar. The band has formally played with this lineup since their inception in 1998. The vast majority of the music is instrumental and features the swift, agile drumming of Takashi. The band is also known for melodic, clean guitar, often employing the juxtaposition of electric and acoustic. While the compositions feature the repetition of typical rock motifs, the subtle changes in beat and rhythm form a unique rhythmic dialect. The band has consistently expanded their sound throughout their musical tenure by incorporating singing, rhodes piano, mallet percussion, and electronic production elements.

This release comes with a Poster & Insert & Sticker & Download Code.

The vinyl is pressed as a colour in colour, green & yellow disc.

toe is a Japanese music group long revered in post-rock circles, while their song structures and dynamics have taken on elements from all styles of music, ranging from math-rock, jazz, pop, and R&B. toe is composed of Kashikura Takashi on drums, Mino Takaaki on guitar, Yamane Satoshi on bass guitar, and Yamazaki Hirokazu on guitar. The band has formally played with this lineup since their inception in 1998. The vast majority of the music is instrumental and features the swift, agile drumming of Takashi. The band is also known for melodic, clean guitar, often employing the juxtaposition of electric and acoustic. While the compositions feature the repetition of typical rock motifs, the subtle changes in beat and rhythm form a unique rhythmic dialect. The band has consistently expanded their sound throughout their musical tenure by incorporating singing, rhodes piano, mallet percussion, and electronic production elements.

FIRST 100 ORDERS COME WITH A DOUGLAS DARE OMNI CONDOM, ON A FIRST COME FIRST SERVED BASIS**First Pressing on Limited Translucent Red Vinyl**British artist Douglas Dare announces the release of his fourth album Omni. Seen by Douglas himself as a bold rebirth and embrace of the electronic, Omni is all at once a throbbing, avant-garde, queer, dark and cinematic record imbued with a love of rave culture and sense of fearless storytelling that’s deeply evocative. Omni will be released on May 10 via Erased Tapes. To mark the announcement, Douglas today shares the first taster of the record with ‘Mouth To Mouth’, a pulsing, synth-laden track that begs to be played loud. ‘Mouth To Mouth’ sees a collaboration with label mate Daniel Brandt who appears on production duties, with beats supplied by Rival Consoles. Speaking on the track, Douglas says, “life, death, fate and orgies; this is the heartfelt club track I always wanted to write.” Since 2013, Douglas has blurred classical, chamber-pop, folk and avant-garde to dazzling effect, with a startling voice that can stop you in your tracks. It’s why he’s played with luminaries like Nils Frahm, Perfume Genius and Ólafur Arnalds, and was selected by David Lynch and The Cure’s Robert Smith for their respective cultural festivals in Manchester (MIF) and London (Meltdown). But Douglas’s fourth album, Omni, is a fresh awakening. Encouraged by Erased Tapes founder Robert Raths, he decided to step away from acoustic instruments, especially the piano he grew up playing, and swapped them for synths and drum machines. His new music has much in common with Arca and the late SOPHIE, two artists for whom self-expression meant liberation. “I got to hang out in the studio with her,” says Douglas of the latter musician, “the way she made music made a big impression on me.” And yet Omni is steeped in the kind of deft storytelling, sweeping strings, elegant contrasts and fairytale atmosphere that marks Douglas out as a crucial and singular voice. It’s not often you hear a strutting electro banger that could have been straight out of 90s Soho, with vocal loops inspired by US experimentalist Meredith Monk. For Douglas, Omni is about reconciling all those different sides of himself – the songwriter, the raver, the lover, the observer. It’s a hugely queer record: seductive, sexy, lusty, untethered from the genre binary. “It’s even got sailors on it!” laughs Douglas. “You don’t get more queer than that.

Reissue for the first time colored vinyl 500 ex "PAST PRESENT FUTURE feat BAM (from Jungle Brothers) MATTIC, BARBARA MOLEKO BLACC EL, ELIAS, ASM...

“ Dafuniks is bringing back their brand of cool hip-hop, soul and groove””

Drummer Kendrick Scott and bassist Alexander Claffy join rising-star Danish pianist RasmusSorensen for the release of a special trio project - BalancingAct- recorded in true jazz spirit in the heart of New York City. Timeless repertoire and intricate originals combine in a piano trio session which captures thetradition of years gone by: three players meeting in a studio to produce music which somehow sounds as if they spent a lifetime together. Sorensenrelocated to New York City in 2018 to pursue his studies at the Manhattan School ofMusic on a full-tuition scholarship and within five years had proved himself as a compellingcreative force, playing alongside some of the scene"s most reputable musicians and performing his original compositions in some of the world"s mostrevered jazz clubs. In line with New York"s fast paced spirit, the session with Claffy and Scott was set up, planned and recorded within a matter of days, with the musicians meeting on the day and spending just three hours together in the studio. It"s something of a rite of passage for pianists to showcase their treatment of classic jazz repertoire;Sorensen choses a selection of Great American Songbook classics and a lesser-knownColtrane number for this, his sophomore album. Alongside a handful of originals, the recording with two veteransof New York"s prestigious scene is a masterclass in energetic, spontaneous, playful and exciting piano trio playing. Effortless groove, rich contemporaryharmony, virtuosic improvisations, dextrous rhythmiccomplexity and intricate arrangements make for an adventurous and thrilling listen; the first meeting of three fearless and experienced masters of their craft. Jazz is no stranger to the concept of passing the baton from one generation to the next, not through loud exclamations and accolades, but by who the greats choose to work with. With Balancing Act, Sorensenhas not only produced a beautiful trio album, but staked his claim - with the help of Scott and Claffy - as one of the ones-to-watch from the new generation of pianists.

Nach drei EPs und ausverkauften UK-Tourneen kündigt Lynks das Debütalbum 'ABOMINATION' an, das über Heavenly erscheint. Auf dem Album nimmt uns Lynks mit auf eine lebendige Tour durch die moderne Queer-Kultur, die von Gelegenheitssex, wilden Fantasien, chaotischen Irrungen und Wirrungen und einer einseitigen Liebesaffäre mit einem heterosexuellen Tennistrainer geprägt ist.

Selbst geschrieben, selbst produziert und selbstverherrlichend vereint das Debütalbum die künstlerische und persönliche Entwicklung der letzten fünf Jahre. Während die früheren Werke einen Stil aus Effekten und gepitchten Vocals verbanden, gibt 'ABOMINATION' Lynks den Raum, auf eine andere Art zu experimentieren – mit einer größeren Bandbreite an Ideen, Gesangsstilen und neuen Genreelementen. Das Ergebnis ist ein Debüt, das mit den Extremen spielt und dabei zwischen abgrundtiefer Scham und hedonistischer Freude schwankt.

- LP: (inklusive DL-Code + 2 Art Prints)

Samosa Records roars into 2024 with a sublime four-tracker, the curiously titled ‘(Re)-Funk+Head EP'.

All four tracks have been carefully sized, selected and re-edited by De Gama himself. For those not in the know, Re-Funking is serious business and you can tell De Gama’s laboratory was in full flow in bringing these tracks even closer to the dance floor!

First up on the A-Side are Samosa favourites Dirtyelements & Drunkdrivers with the hypnotic, smokey dim lit club thumper ‘Keep It Coming’. Coming in at a deceptive 115bpm, the bass massages your brain whilst the keys, vocal sample and beats tickle your toes. A deliciously salty and sweet re-edit.

Sneaking up on you is A2 and a track from label boss De Gama himself – the flutey, tootie late night funk bomb that is ‘Some More’. Be warned - this dirty birdie stirs up primordial feelings that are probably illegal in some countries. It’s not an overstatement to say that ‘Some More’ is the definition of pure, adult-orientated funking. Saddle up, put out the camp fire and ride it into town.

A quick flip to the B-side and you’ll find Paul Older’s Sax Francisco (B1) parading down the street in all its splendid glory. Mr Older sure knows how to cook - and served on his sombrero-shaped sun terrace is this fantastic tropical sorbet of a tune. The production is assured and so warm that you lose yourself for the entire 6 mins and 26 seconds in its spell. Expect this to be packed in your summer 2024 suitcase with your Factor 50.

Closing the EP off is the super-talented MB Edit and his deadly groover ‘Got The Feeling’. The serious business of Re-Funking is on full display here – stompy, squeaky clean four-to-the-floor drumbeats, twisted riffs and subtle piano prepare you for the soaring horns, heavenly strings and disco-fied vocal breakdown that used to make lofts bounce and dark clubs heave. A dreamy, relentless journey into the disco ball for those lucky enough to jump in.

(Re)-Funk+Head is another exceptional EP from the Samosa stables and pushes the ever-expanding sonic boundaries with seriously solid production, stone cold grooves and a roster of amazing talent on one EP. A must, must, must have for the record box!!

Ste Hendry Black Light Disco

I love these musicians Sam Amidon, Karl Blau, Charlotte Greve, Shahzad Ismaily. I’ve played with some of them for two years and some for over twenty. We met up last spring at Figure 8 Studios in Brooklyn and rehearsed for one day before recording this album at the nearby Owl Parlor on March 29 and 30, 2023. It fills me with joy to hear my songs reinterpreted through the spirits of these masterful musicians (who are also my dear friends). I hope you enjoy this document, too. Thank you to Oren Bloedow at The Owl Parlor for creating a beautiful space for us to perform and record this music.” Sam Amidon – fiddle, electric guitar and vocals Karl Blau – bass and vocals Charlotte Greve – sax, synths and vocals Shahzad Ismaily – drums, piano and vocals Laura Veirs – nylon guitar, electric guitar, piano and vocals Recorded and mixed by Lily Wen Mastered by Josh Bonati at Bonati Mastering NYC Produced by Laura Veirs

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Harold Land, one of the greatest West Coast tenor saxophone voices of all time. A strong player rooted in Bop language, famous for his role in the legendary Max Roach and Clifford Brown quintet and later as part of another great Los Angeles based combo such as bassist's Curtis Counce group. The Fox is a 1960 album originally released on the Hifijazz label and reissued by Contemporary in 1969. Here Land is at the head of a marvelous quintet, some sort of who's who of the LA jazz scene: Dupree Bolton - trumpet, Elmo Hope - piano, Herbie Lewis - bass, and Frank Butler - drums. Besides the well known instrumental skills of these musicians, the album displays four superior compositions by the great pianist Elmo Hope and two Land's originals. Music that combines a deep feeling for the Blues and a highly sophisticated West Coast sound approach.

This is high-quality hard bop, easily recommended to fans of straight-ahead jazz. (Four and a half stars) Scott Yanow - Allmusic Guide

“Great Doubt” is the third full length LP by Danish composer Astrid Sonne. Throughout her acclaimed discography, Astrid Sonne has been carefully crafting different moods through electronic and acoustic instrumental endeavours. On “Great Doubt” this skill is refined, now with the distinct addition of the composer's own vocal in front. The tone of each track is unmistakably Sonne’s, structured around contrasts through an impeccable sense of timing. Lyrics on the album are sparse, merely highlighting different scenes or emotional states of being, leaving the music to fill in the blanks. Yet they also form a pattern of ambiguity, consolidated through the album title, searching for answers through looking at how and what you are asking, questions for the world, questions of love. The viola, a trusted companion since Astrid Sonne’s youth, appears effortlessly throughout the album, fully integrated into the sonic universe; through a pizzicato driven arrangement in the poignant track “Almost” or along with booms and claps in mutated cinematic stabs during “Give my all”, paraphrasing Mariah Carey's 1997 ballad. Yet the string section also gives way to explorations of woodwinds, counterbalancing the bowed movements with digital brass and airy flutes. Finally, beats and detuned piano are fresh additions to the soundscape, cementing how Sonne’s practice is always evolving into new territories. In fall 2022, Astrid Sonne relocated from Copenhagen with its peers of artists such as ML Buch, Erika de Casier and Smerz, to live in London, where musicians of the South-East London scene like Coby Sey, Lolina, Still House Plants and Mica Levi provide a new inspirational framework. “Great Doubt” bears witness to both of those geographical locations, yet finds itself in its own unique space, in many ways due to the presence of Sonne's voice throughout. A voice that has always been present in her work, but never fully explored as a solo instrument before now. Astrid Sonne elaborates on the wish to work more in depth with the voice: “I come from a tradition of choir singing where I’ve used my voice as a way of creating unity with other voices. I’ve disciplined my voice in a certain way and this album is an exploration of me trying to find my own voice as an instrument, as a communicator, as a new way of being honest.” Questions take up a central role throughout the album. The doubt is both a blessing and a curse, always lying in-between, acting as both what holds back and drives forward. A metamorphosis not going anywhere. The great doubt takes place in a space of courage, chances, love, loss, gifts and surprises. Genre: Electronic / Experimental

Reel People Music breathes new life into its gleaming vault of back catalogue classics with brand new series Fusion Moves. The series will offer talented music-makers the opportunity to remix and reinterpret label releases of their choosing, kicking off with soulful progressive Kaidi Tatham in the hot seat.

Tatham’s modus operandi is clear from the get-go. Opening selection Sebb Junior feat. Paula’s All Of My Life flows dreamily upon that trademark Tatham mix of organic beats, polished horns and immersive keys. As Paula rightly sings, “the beautiful can happen.” And keep happening…. Reel People feat. Mica Paris’ reworked I Want To Thank You gains elegant funk and boogie bounce, a bubblin b-line and those upweighted backing vocals adding new urgency and depth, whilst some extended bass-end manoeuvrings on the collective’s 2020 hit Save a Lil Love provide a hugely effective counterpoint to Eric Roberson’s super-smooth vocals.

Tatham switches things up for his re-take of The Realm x Atjazz x Kelli Sae’s deep afro-house burner On The Road, adding wonderfully carefree jazz-funk flow ‘n’ feeling replete with sweet synth solos and guitar licks. The snappy syncopated rhythms propelling Daz-I-Kue feat. Hadiya George’s Pedigree and Monkey Brothers feat. Sean Escoffery’s stunning Losin’ My Head align to the rich broken beat heritage for which most admirers associate him but, true to form, he continues to glide compellingly between mood and moves….

From the loose bass-guitar groove of Eric Ericksson & Reel People feat. Debra Debs’ Don’t Hold Back On Love and sultry strut and swagger of AAries’ Don’t Give It Up to Sebb Junior feat. Muhsinah’s infectiously jammin’ Special – lovingly framed by nimble jazz-piano play – and the liberatingly upbeat dressing applied to Tony Momrelle’s seminal Fly, Tatham’s sonic upholstery right across Fusion Moves is as skilful as it is impactful. One expert body of work built upon another.

Expect to hear further Fusion Moves in the coming months. Fresh twists on quality songs and sounds. Always with soulful authenticity at the heart.

Yuval Havkin, also known as Rejoicer, is one of the foremost exponents of downtempo music, inspired by the fusion of jazz and hip-hop. His new album thus draws on his early influences while exploring the world of calm, melodic electronic music that borders on ambient.

This Is Reasonable has a chill-out feel to it, a record filled with melodies and atmospheres that, throughout its eleven tracks, conveys a sense of calm and floating, akin to ambient music. Stripped of the clichés of the genre, the album is built around subtle melodies and rich harmonies from keyboards and synths, which borrow as much from the spirit of jazz as from the inventions of electronica, whilst being supported by a gentle groove. This equilibrium is perfectly captured by Rejoicer's moniker, a term that evokes both the idleness of artificial paradises and a soft, caring form of spirituality.

Musical path
Yuval Havkin was born in Israel in 1985, and grew up in England before returning to his homeland. He began studying classical piano as a child, but was put off by such conservative teaching and turned to hip-hop and beatmaking in his teens. Throughout the 2000s, he learned his skills "on the job", working with musicians he met in Tel Aviv, a local scene that nurtured a sense of community and emulation. Back then, he was particularly impressed by the grooves and electronic inventions of Detroit producer Dabrye, who had a revelatory effect on him, before he discovered legendary musicians Madlib and Jay Dee aka J Dilla, who led him down the path of beatmaking.

Yuval Havkin's music career got off to a more serious start in the late 2000s with the creation of his own label, Raw Tapes, both based in Tel Aviv. Blending jazz, funk and hip hop, whilst still embracing pop influences, the label's productions showcased the richness of the new Israeli scene combining cool, elegance, playfulness, and a degree of research and inventiveness, thanks to the talent of artists and bands such as Duo Brothers, Maya Dunietz, iogi, Nitai Hershkovits, the Buttering Trio and Rejoicer, the artist's most personal project.

In 2018, Rejoicer's warm and engaging sounds caught the attention of the prestigious Los Angeles label Stones Throw, renowned for having signed his idols Madlib and J Dilla, not to mention Aloe Blacc and Peanut Butter Wolf (its founder). Two albums followed, Energy Dreams (2018) and Spiritual Sleaze (2020), both of which demonstrate his instrumental mastery, jazz culture and lush orchestrations. Both albums are on a par with more renown sampling prodigies of the beat scene, and gave him his first international recognition.

Now based between Los Angeles and Savyon, near Tel Aviv, this hyperactive and instinctive artist simultaneously pursues a career as a composer, musician and label owner, member of numerous bands and collective projects (Apifera, PlayDead, collaborations with Jimi Prasad and Avishai Cohen) while also offering his studios and production skills to other artists.

“Fela Kuti meets Aphex Twin”
This new Rejoicer album, which follows three earlier jazz-tinged records, marks a new and more personal musical direction for an artist who previously favored group work and collaborations. Following his meeting with Mathias Duchemin, founder of the Circus Company record label and a keen enthusiast of the new Israeli jazz scene, Yuval chose to delve into a more electronic and sequenced style of music, playing Prophet 6 and 8 synths, a Juno 60, a Minimoog and his Fender Rhodes keyboard, in contrast with the more organic sounds of his previous albums.

While a few tracks on this new album may sound like a laid-back version of some of the Warp label's early electronic classics by Aphex Twin or Boards of Canada, Yuval Havkin claims to have also been inspired by the great Fela Kuti, particularly in his search for harmonies between bass, keyboards and percussion, and by his elder trumpet-playing friend Avishai Cohen, a musician he particularly admires.

Beyond these various influences, This Is Reasonable is an album of compelling and bewitching melodies. The moods, peacefulness and sheer beauty of This Is Reasonable are, indeed, quite paradoxical, in stark contrast to the country's tragedies (the title explicitly refers to recent political disputes in Israel) and the war currently raging less than a hundred miles from his studio. A paradox fully embraced by the artist, who views his music as a response to the violence of our times.

Diane Birch emerges as a formidable American singer-songwriter and pianist, boasting a repertoire of critically lauded releases spanning a rich decade-long career. With an eclectic array of musical influences stemming from a globe-trotting childhood - ranging from her humble beginnings as a preacher's daughter in Zimbabwe and South Africa to her transformative years as a gothic teen immersed in the vibrant cultural underbelly of Portland, Oregon. Her discovery while living in London via Myspace led to a record deal in New York, where she then spent the next few years.

Diane's journey is as diverse as her sound. Her profound experiences have culminated in a unique musical blend, characterized by her stint performing soulful covers and original pieces in the swanky lounges of the Beverly Hills elite. Receiving widespread attention with her debut album "Bible Belt" and her follow-up projects "Speak A Little Louder" and "Nous", these works not only cemented her position in the international music scene but also earned her accolades and respect from esteemed peers including Prince, Daryl Hall, Mark Ronson, Dave Stewart, Questlove, Elvis Costello, Bryan Ferry and Stevie Wonder.

Returning with her latest work, "Flying On Abraham", Diane presents a meticulously crafted collection of original compositions. This album is a heartfelt homage to her vast and varied musical roots, weaving together the rich tapestry of 70s AM radio, soul, jazz, classic rock, 80s/90s pop and R&B. Despite the eclectic mix, Diane's sound remains distinctly her own - her voice a blend of raw emotion and refined grace, echoing the legacy of iconic artists like Carole King, Carly Simon and Rickie Lee Jones, yet standing out with an authenticity and individuality that is unmistakably Diane Birch. Produced by renowned English musician Paul Stacey, known for his work with Noel Gallagher and the Black Crowes, "Flying On Abraham" was recorded in the UK, backed by an impressive lineup of musicians. This album is not just a collection of songs but a narrative of her artistic journey, offering a window into the soul of a woman who has traversed continents and musical genres to create something truly extraordinary.

With "Flying On Abraham", Diane Birch reaffirms her status as a musical virtuoso, continuing to enchant audiences worldwide with her evocative lyrics. It represents Diane's enduring vision of "making American music with an English sensibility."

unior Marvin - musikalischer Leiter und Gitarrist von Bob Marleys legendärer Band The Wailers - gilt als einer der größten Reggae-Musiker aller Zeiten.
Juniors neues Album 'Happy Family' erscheint fast zeitgleich zum Kinostart von 'One Love', dem viel beachteten Bob Marley Paramount Biopic Spielfilm. Die Rolle des Junior spielt im Film sein Sohn Davo, der auch selbst Musiker ist. Eine Neuaufnahme des Marley Klassikers 'One Love' ist dann auch die erste Singleauskopplung aus 'Happy Family'.

Junior Marvin ist in Jamaika geboren und in London aufgewachsen. Am Valentinstag 1977 (ironischerweise der gleiche Tag, an dem der Film in die Kinos kommt) traf er die verstorbene Ikone Tuff Gong, die ihn als den "jungen Jimi Hendrix von London" bezeichnete. Marley bat Junior sofort, sich seiner Band als Leadgitarrist anzuschließen. Marvin war bis zum Tod Marley's einer seiner engsten Freunde. Juniors Gitarrenspiel hatte einen großen Einfluss auf Marley, und seine Musikalität ist in so bahnbrechenden Marley-Songs wie 'Could You Be Loved' (den Junior ursprünglich geschrieben und Marley geschenkt hatte), 'Waiting in Vain', 'Buffalo Soldier', 'The Heathen', 'One Love' und 'Jamming' deutlich zu hören.

Junior Marvin beschränkt sich jedoch nicht nur auf Reggae, sondern spielte unter anderem auch mit Stevie Wonder und Steve Winwood (er lehnte sogar ein Angebot von Wonder ab, dessen Band Wonderlove beizutreten, um Marleys Angebot, Mitglied der Wailers zu werden, am Valentinstag 1977 anzunehmen).

- Col. LP: (Red Gold Green Vinyl)

Following their critically acclaimed 2019 debut album Unfurl, Hidden Notes Records are happy to announce the release of the multi-award-nominated experimental/contemporary folk string duo Fran & Flora’s sophomore full-length album, Precious Collection. Released on Friday 12th April 2024, this album, produced by the duo themselves, explodes in myriad directions expressing the richness of the long-standing collaboration between Francesca Ter-Berg (cello/vocals/electronics) and Flora Curzon (violin/vocals/electronics). With Klezmer and Yiddish song as the predominant inspiration for the record, Precious Collection defies convention, featuring self-penned tunes and unique arrangements pushing their ground-breaking project beyond their virtuosic string playing. Drummers Ursula Russell (Snapped Ankles, Alabaster DePlume) and Simon Roth (Chris Potter, Alice Zawadzki, Adrian Dunbar) feature on the record on full kit and Ukrainian Poik (marching drum) respectively, and Francesca and Flora experiment with bowed cymbals, extended piano techniques, and samples of found sounds.The album was recorded in three different locations - Total Refreshment Centre (London), Big Jelly Studios (Ramsgate) and Great North Sound Society (Maine, USA). The music of Fran & Flora sits in two camps, both steeped in tradition, with material drawn directly from archival recordings, recovered manuscripts and years of study with traditional music masters, whilst simultaneously garnering a contemporary and avant-garde aesthetic, speaking to the more classical and experimental listener. Fran & Flora inject their source material with drones, loops, free improvisation and electronics to create a ‘border-defying’ (Mojo) sound. Their influences range across a wide spectrum of artists and composers from Silver Mt.Zion to Rhiannon Giddens, Lankum, Brìghde Chaimbeul, Colin Stetson, Adrienne Lenker, Shabaka Hutchings and Mica Levi. As string players Fran & Flora’s collaborations together and separately includes performing with the likes of Tom Skinner, Portico Quartet, Imogen Heap, Riz Ahmed, Sam Lee, Talvin Singh, Jocelyn Pook, Hannah Peel and The Vernon Spring. Within the global Klezmer community they have worked with Zoe Aqua, London Klezmer Quartet, Sashe Lurje, Craig Judelman, Merlin & Polina Shepherd and Frank London, and have taught at Klezmer music camps including at Klezfest London, contributing to ongoing research and revival work.

Following their critically acclaimed 2019 debut album Unfurl, Hidden Notes Records are happy to announce the release of the multi-award-nominated experimental/contemporary folk string duo Fran & Flora’s sophomore full-length album, Precious Collection. Released on Friday 12th April 2024, this album, produced by the duo themselves, explodes in myriad directions expressing the richness of the long-standing collaboration between Francesca Ter-Berg (cello/vocals/electronics) and Flora Curzon (violin/vocals/electronics). With Klezmer and Yiddish song as the predominant inspiration for the record, Precious Collection defies convention, featuring self-penned tunes and unique arrangements pushing their ground-breaking project beyond their virtuosic string playing. Drummers Ursula Russell (Snapped Ankles, Alabaster DePlume) and Simon Roth (Chris Potter, Alice Zawadzki, Adrian Dunbar) feature on the record on full kit and Ukrainian Poik (marching drum) respectively, and Francesca and Flora experiment with bowed cymbals, extended piano techniques, and samples of found sounds.The album was recorded in three different locations - Total Refreshment Centre (London), Big Jelly Studios (Ramsgate) and Great North Sound Society (Maine, USA). The music of Fran & Flora sits in two camps, both steeped in tradition, with material drawn directly from archival recordings, recovered manuscripts and years of study with traditional music masters, whilst simultaneously garnering a contemporary and avant-garde aesthetic, speaking to the more classical and experimental listener. Fran & Flora inject their source material with drones, loops, free improvisation and electronics to create a ‘border-defying’ (Mojo) sound. Their influences range across a wide spectrum of artists and composers from Silver Mt.Zion to Rhiannon Giddens, Lankum, Brìghde Chaimbeul, Colin Stetson, Adrienne Lenker, Shabaka Hutchings and Mica Levi. As string players Fran & Flora’s collaborations together and separately includes performing with the likes of Tom Skinner, Portico Quartet, Imogen Heap, Riz Ahmed, Sam Lee, Talvin Singh, Jocelyn Pook, Hannah Peel and The Vernon Spring. Within the global Klezmer community they have worked with Zoe Aqua, London Klezmer Quartet, Sashe Lurje, Craig Judelman, Merlin & Polina Shepherd and Frank London, and have taught at Klezmer music camps including at Klezfest London, contributing to ongoing research and revival work.

To record "Ease the Work", Hour traveled via ferry with an entire studio’s worth of equipment to an old off-Broadway theater on Peaks Island in Maine, months before the first tourists would show up. The week-long session started with an island-wide power outage that halted recording on the first day, and ended with twelve songs that walk steadily between longing and contentment, sentimentality and subtlety, the lift of harmony and the compulsion of a melody you wish would play forever. Hour’s music cuts a broad pathway, and remains hard to classify or compare. Perhaps most at home beside work from Bill Frisell, Eiko Ishibashi, ECM Records, or the Louisville experimental chamber group Rachel’s, Ease the Work shows us life on the boundary of composition and improvisation. It reaches for the sweeping gestures and inspired pacing of classic film scores, Frank Sinatra ballads, and Scott Walker’s pop orchestra. It also retains the arresting intimacy of the band’s early work. Strings swell and harmonize in counterpoint with electric guitar, clarinet, and piano, while drums, synth pads, and field recordings complete the aural world.

"Ease the Work" by Hour includes the following tracks: "Stoner", "Brain Scrub", "Dying of Laughter", "The Most Gorgeous Day in History" and more.

This release comes with a Download Code.

Recorded in 1971 by a 27-year-old pastor and an after school program choir, Like A Ship is a stirring and powerful meditation on the wayward aftermath of the Civil Rights Movement. Tracked with the help of Chess/Cadet maestros Gene Barge, Phil Upchurch, and Richard Evans, the album is a mix of euphoric gospel and Mayfieldesque political soul, with sleigh bells, hand claps, and jazzy piano stabs. Sampled by T.I., Kanye, and Khaled, Barrett created a rapturous, crossover gospel classic that's still wildly r elevant.

Here at Four Flies, we kind of feel we need a bigger word than 'proud', this time, to present, in collaboration with Beat Records, the first-ever release of the original soundtrack written in 1976 by Guido & Maurizio De Angelis for the legendary Squadra Antifurto, the second chapter of the comedy-infused crime saga directed by Bruno Corbucci and starring Tomas Milian as the iconic Italian Police Marshal Nico Giraldi.

The excitement in this case is nothing short of gigantic, difficult to rein in for those who, like ourselves, grew up adoring the character played by Milian as one of our cult heroes, and dreaming that the soundtracks of the first three films in the saga – the only ones composed by the De Angelis brothers – would one day be released.

Since the launch of our label, Squadra Antifurto has been at the top of the list of film scores we most wanted to release. Until a few months ago, this dream of ours seemed destined to remain just that, so strong was the conviction in all of us that the master tapes were definitively lost, that they had forever vanished into thin air. That's why their recovery, made possible by Maurizio De Angelis himself and the persistence of our friends at Beat Records, is an extraordinary feat.

Nearly 50 years after it was first heard in cinemas, the soundtrack penned by the De Angelis brothers is resurrected in its entirety and can finally shine its incredible power all over us.

Beautifully seeping through this score – like many others composed by the golden duo in the 1970s – are elements from the Italian, and especially Roman, folk tradition, for instance in the warm, heartfelt ballad sung by Alberto Griso, "E nun ce voio sta," which first plays in the opening credit sequence and is then reprised in various forms throughout the film, culminating with the soul-stirring orchestral version that closes the album's tracklist.

But as in any Italian crime film worthy of that name, a different soundscapetakes centre stage: it's the music that accompanies the countless scenes of tension, action, and pursuit that punctuate the film, and which has made us fall madly in love with this score.

The main theme is a prog-funk joyride, drawing inspiration from the traditional tarantella but elevated to irresistible energy thanks to a rock orchestration featuring psychedelic flutes, wild percussion, distorted electric guitars, piano chords, and various feedback and delay effects.

The resulting groove is just mind-blowing, and we almost can't believe it's finally available on a record, completely remastered for vinyl.

We really couldn't be prouder, and dedicate this release to all passionate fans of Italian crime films, the De Angelis brothers, and Tomas Milian aka Nico Giraldi.

Available starting April 12th on standard black vinyl and limited coloured vinyl (transparent amber, limited to 300 copies).

This wonderful collection of mostly overlooked gems has been remixed and remastered from the original master tapes. Finally available again after 20+ years of unavailability. The Freddie Mercury produced title-track features the iconic Queen frontman on piano and vocals and Brian May on guitar. The further Eddie Howell tracks on the album are from around the same period and feature cameo appearances from Phil Collins, Gary Moore, Ray Cooper and many others. Pressed on 180gram audiophile quality white vinyl, presented in an exclusive boxset including photos, poster, plectrum, QR code (for the Dolby Atmos version of the album) and the story behind the project.

Man From Manhattan by Eddie Howell & Freddie Mercury, released 12 April 2024, includes the following tracks: "Jezebel ", "A Long Story ", "Parachute ", "Chicago Kid " and more.

This version of Man From Manhattan comes as a 1xLP in a(n) Printed Inner Sleeve(s) packaging. This release comes with (a) Photo(s) & Poster.

The vinyl is pressed as a white disc.

repressed !

Along the west coast of Co Kerry in Ireland you will find the amazing Valentia Island.

Attached by a bridge to the mainland, it is a place of beauty touched by years of history and the songs of the sea.

I managed to obtain a house there for a few weeks, I took my computer and mic with me not knowing what to expect when I got there. In one of the rooms sat a piano, and as my fingers touched the keys I knew there was a story there waiting to be told.

The sound of the piano in that place was something very magical as 100mph winds battered the house and interrupted my recordings.
Other material has since emerged from those days spent on the island, but the main body of work that I recorded there makes up this album that I now present to you.

Album support from: Gilles Peterson, Skream, Laurent Garnier, Patrick Forge, Jean-Claude (IF), Soulclap, Joszif, Makoto, Breach, Flight, dBridge, Doc Scott, Trevino, Craig Richards, John B, Klaus
Fiehe. Mr Scruff....

With his debut EP Mo Wrights delivers a jazz-focused and narrative-driven record navigating the inner dialogue of a creative struggle of inferiority, abstraction and commitment. The story finds him enlisting some friends along the way to advance from one act to the other.

With the title track - ‘things2proof’ - Mo tries to combine his myriad of influences in a 6-minute record that weaves together elements of jazz, broken beat, acid jazz, fusion, hip-hop and hints of rock. The coherence comes from his poignant narrative, which resembles a four-act structure, telling the story of alienation and his internal experience of inferiority, creative frustration, and his eventual recognition of a solution, concluding by finally permitting himself to simply ‘be’. And for that we thank him!

The b-side ‘proof of concept’ follows the title track, Mo embraces a more laid-back approach, sitting sonically closer to his beloved broken beat sound. Amsterdam-based pianist Misto Kay delivers a long soul-felt piano solo that carries the track into untold dimensions of groove. With this offering the soul feels both heard and yearned for. It’s as if desire and satisfaction are in conversation with one another. You can’t help but be gripped, pay attention, and listen.

As a co-founder of the Amsterdam-based music platform Steppin’ Into Tomorrow, whose ethos is anchored in the principle of collaboration and unification of the Dutch scene is a deeply felt sentiment throughout Mo’s EP. He enlists a slew of emergent local legends, such as QUANZA, drummer Jamie Peet, flutist Han Litz, bass player kotokid and pianist Misto Kay to embellish and remix his creation. The remixes also illuminate other bright creatives the local scene has to offer, with remixes by the likes of - Kofi the Unknown, LYMA, Misto Kay and Jazz n Dance.

Over the course of five albums, Manchester based trumpeter, composer, arranger and band-leader Matthew Halsall has carved out a niche for himself on the UK music scene as one of it's brightest talents. His languid, soulful music has won friends from Jamie Cullum and Gilles Peterson to Jazz FM and Mojo as well as an ever-growing international following. His new album Into Forever, puts the spotlight on Halsall the composer, arranger and producer. Halsall draws on a diverse range of influences from Alice Coltrane, Dorothy Ashby, Phil Cohran and Leon Thomas to the more contemporary sounds of The Cinematic Orchestra, Max Richter and Nils Frahm to deliver his most complete recording to date. Into Forever features renowned Manchester based soul poet Josephine Oniyama and rising star vocalist Bryony Jarman-Pinto (Werkha) as well as regular collaborators, flautist Lisa Mallett, harpist Rachael Gladwin, koto player Keiko Kitamura, pianist Taz Modi, bassist Gavin Barras and drummer Luke Flowers (The Cinematic Orchestra) and two percussionists Sam Bell and Chris Cruiks. The result is arguably Halsall's finest record, asublime melding of stripped back soulful funk and deep, minimalist, spiritual jazz, that will take you on a journey deep into forever!

Vana is a true Estonian lowkey gem, a duo (Ajukaja & Edith Karslon) who deal boldly with pop music clichés. On their debut 7” they cue up a track by beloved 80’s Estonian beachtown band to give it some new attire. A version & context of their own. They manage to lift a pseudo reggae track to present day & make it resonate here & now. Easy does it.

The B–side sees Vana on a pop trek. “Kuu Maa” is a real heart melter with its dreamy vocals, arousing piano line, guitar licks & funky bass. Grab that dictionary to catch each & every chunk of emotion on here. Or just let it slowly sink in. Lets go!

Costantino Luca Rolando Kiriakos, an influential figure in Athens' electronic scene since the 80s, showcased his diverse talents as a composer, sound engineer, and installation artist under his Coti K. alias on this EP from back in 1994. The five tracks he offered up all explore Balearic-ambient bliss-scapes and now get reissued on Dark Entries complete with their smooth breaks, cosmic pads, and lush pianos. Reflecting his Hellenic roots, track titles like 'Argonauts' and 'Theros' bring global ambient vibes and spoken word by Konstantinos Bhta and cello by Nikos Veliotis all help add their magic to this nostalgic journey with a Mediterranean twist.

Finland's own Otto Taimela, a pro-skateboarder-turned-producer-pianist, makes his Cold Blow debut with "Sunflower Seeds”, merging jungle breaks with Boards-of-Canadaesque nostalgia with mesmerizing results. Led by the streaming hit "Sunflower," the EP feels like a hazy, late spring morning sun filled with childlike energy, abandoning the roots of its inspirations in favor of his native landscapes.

Limited to just 175 copies, this release is bound to be in high demand. Don’t miss out on the vinyl-only B3 track; grab your copy while you can!

Looking at Otto's discography, he could be described as one of the most versatile and prolific contemporary artists in Finland. His debut vinyl, "Kimmeltie," launched in 2020 under the famous avant-garde label Ultraääni Records. Word spread globally, and records sold out quickly, making Kimmeltie a rare collectible among experimental music lovers. Since then, Otto's cassettes and vinyl records have been distributed, sold and played all around the globe.

Kerri Chandler returns to his own Kaoz Theory with Vol.3 of his archive focused ‘Lost & Found’ series.

Kerri Chandler and his Kaoz Theory imprint continues to move from strength to strength still after decades at the forefront of House music. In this ‘Lost & Found’ series, Chandler dives back into his vault to unearth forgotten gems and bring them into the limelight today. For this release, Kerri also revisits ‘Let It’ from his recent ‘Spaces and Places’ LP, reworking it with a new vocalist this time round, namely AbbieLee.

Kicking things off is new version of Let It (Give Me Back My Love), laid out across six minutes, employing shimmering Rhodes melodies, fluttering arpeggios, a bumpy bass groove and crisp drums intertwined with AbbieLee’s soulful vocal stylings. ‘Another Dawn (Vocal Mix)’ follows with jazzy, bruk-tinged drums, uplifting piano chords and pulsating subs running alongside enchanting vocal lines,On the flip-side, Kerri dives into more underground basement realms with the murky basstones, shuffled dusty drums and expansive reverberations of ‘The Bassline (Kerri’s DarkMix). ‘The Breeze’ then rounds out the EP with an electro tinged 808 jam, utilising the machines classic cowbell chimes, skippy snares, rumbling toms and thunderous kicks.

"The Piano Guys have become a YouTube sensation with their clever and inspiring takes on popular music and creative videos that accompany them. From Beethoven to Adele, their eclectic mix of classical, film score, rock and pop favorites resonate with audiences across generations and from all walks of life. The band consists of American musicians Jon Schmidt, Steven Sharp Nelson, Paul Anderson, and Al van der Beek. Their 2012 debut album The Piano Guys reached #1 on the Billboard New Age Albums and Classical Albums charts. With over 7 million subscribers on their YouTube channel, at least 20 million views on each of their videos and even some surpassing the 100 million views, The Piano Guys are quite the hit. In June 2011, they won the Most Up-and-Coming Channel award in the YouTube on the Rise-contest with ""Michael Meets Mozart"", featuring Jon Schmidt and Steven Sharp Nelson. The Piano Guys is available as a limited edition of 1000 individually numbered copies on translucent blue coloured vinyl and includes a 4-page booklet. "

The Piano Guys by Piano Guys, released 4 April 2024, includes the following tracks: "Code Name Vivaldi", "Over the Rainbow / Simple Gifts", "Arwen's Vigil", "A Thousand Years" and more.

This version of The Piano Guys comes as a 1xLP. This release comes with (a) Booklet.

Wewantsounds is delighted to announce the reissue of Fumio Itabashi's highly sought-after album "Watarase" hailed as one of the great Japanese jazz albums and featuring Itabashi on solo piano playing an inspired mix of standards and originals. Recorded in 1981 for Denon and released in Japan the following year, the album has since reached cult status among international jazz connoisseurs, thanks to Itabashi's inventive piano playing and to its cult title track, a superb lyrical spiritual composition. Newly remastered by Nippon Columbia using their ORT mastering technology, the album reissue features original artwork including a 2 page insert with a new introduction by Paul bowler.

The latest in a prolific string of solo and collaborative releases by James Rushford, Turzets collects a pair of new works primarily created and recorded last year while the Australian composer-performer was in residence at La Becque, an art center on Lake Geneva in Switzerland. The side-length piece "Fallaway Whisk" explores hesitation in its many forms_reticence of speech, sonic restraint_using live, abstracted translations of text from English to German against a lush and swelling soundscape. On the flip side, "Quire" is a work in ten movements influenced by the composer's study of late medieval repertoire on portative organ, weaving the instrument's woodsy interlocking melodies with angelic Yamaha CS-80 synth sweeps and stuttering glitches. The combined effort is somewhat a departure for Rushford, working in traces of Klaus Schulze, concrete poetry, and ars subtilior into a precise and ever-unfolding tapestry. Rushford's work draws from a wide range of collagist and improvisatory musical languages, staking out an idiosyncratic stylistic space that has been variously described as "electro-acoustic experimentation with a beating heart" (Boomkat) and "haunted Jacobean ASMR" (The Wire). Investigating the creases, cracks, and folds in traditions ranging from early music to New Age, Rushford's work subtly exaggerates seemingly liminal aspects such as atmosphere and the bodily presence of the performer until these take on a weight equal to musical elements such as pitch, rhythm, and timbre. In recent years, Rushford's solo work has been guided by his theorization of sonic images, particularly the shadow, which has inspired pieces as diverse as an hour-long companion to Federico Mompou's 1959-67 piano cycle Música Callada (2016) and a sumptuous translation of the play of light across flat surfaces into synthetic sound (The Lake from the Louvers, Shelter Press, 2021). His long-standing performance practice for piano, portative organ, synthesizers, and electroacoustic devices, is constantly infused with a delicacy of touch and a harmonic sensibility in which unorthodox tunings coexist with influences from fin de siècle Impressionism, the twentieth century avant-garde, and popular musical structures. He has worked with a vast range artists including Klaus Lang, Annea Lockwood, David Behrman, Tashi Wada, Haroon Mirza, Dennis Cooper, Ora Clementi, crys cole, Oren Ambarchi, Kassel Jaeger, Will Guthrie, and Graham Lambkin. He has performed as Golden Fur (with Sam Dunscombe and Judith Hamann) and Food Court (with Joe Talia and Francis Plagne).

Repress!

The debut album from soulful electronic pioneers Little Dragon originally released in 2007 was initially a record
slept on as no one in their right mind would have expected the future of soul music to come from Gothenburg,
Sweden. But there it is in the dreamy, rhythmical, shifting, moody rainbow creature that is Little Dragon. With
hindsight it is easy to see why some of the world’s top musical luminaries went onto fall over themselves to work
with them.
Includes the must own classics “Twice”; a master class in low key pop, with a sparse piano line offset by classy
strings and woozy synth wobbles; it is restrained, but never detached (over 100 million streams across multiple
DSPs) and “Constant Surprises” where Yukimi’s delicious vocal skips and glides atop hi-hats and bubbling bass
laying down the bands distinct soulful credentials (30 million streams).

Anders als bei ihrem selbstproduzierten Debüt 'Refuge Cove' und dem Nachfolger 'Storm Queen' arbeitete Grace Cummings für ihr neues Album 'Ramona' mit Produzent Jonathan Wilson (Angel Olsen, Father John Misty) zusammen und schuf einen aufwändig orchestrierten Sound, der die Tiefe und den Umfang ihres stimmlichen Könnens voll zur Geltung bringt.

'Ramona', das am 5. April über ATO Records erscheinen wird, behandelt Trauer, Selbstzerstörung und emotionale Gewalt und verleiht Cummings Musik dabei eine neue Größe. “In the past I’ve been caught up in worrying about whether I’m being too emotional or over-the-top, but this time around I decided not to filter any of that out”, so Cummings. “My only intention was to be myself, which meant being extremely vulnerable in my writing and my vocal performance, without going back and editing myself later on.”

Das Album entstand in Zusammenarbeit mit einer Reihe von Gästen, darunter die Harfenistin Mary Lattimore und der Streicherarrangeur und Multiinstrumentalist Drew Erickson (Weyes Blood, Mitski, Lana Del Rey), mit Cummings an der Gitarre und am Klavier und Wilson an der Gitarre, dem Schlagzeug, dem Banjo und der Orgel. “I wanted everything and the kitchen sink on this record, to make it as big and dramatic as possible and show a whole range of colors.”

'starsdust' is an ambient album composed from the fragments of Runnner's 2023 album 'like dying stars, we're reaching out.' singles 'ten' and 'eleven' are glitchy, colorful moments of reflection stretched across a few meditative minutes. Runnner's noah weinman says on the creation of this release: "I made one rule for myself while making this record and it was that I wasn't allowed to record any new audio. Every sound on this album is a repurposed stem from Like Dying Stars, We're Reaching Out. I was allowed to pitch, flip, stretch, and chop anything I wanted, but everything had to begin from something already recorded for the last album. It started out as something fun to do in transit (and to alleviate my flight anxiety). I was doing a lot of solo touring at the time and my affinity for cheap Southwest Airlines flights meant a lot of layovers. I think I made the first three or four sketches either in the air or at the airport. I made the rest of the album during the spring of 2023 when I was mostly stuck in bed recovering from tearing my achilles tendon and the subsequent surgery. A project that seemed to perfectly fit my constraints. The initial process of making these songs was an attempt to remove myself from the process a bit. I'd (sort of) randomly choose stems from songs, like the bass from one track, the drums from another, and maybe find a banjo or piano loop from a third, and then throw them together. It usually made something chaotic at first, but the joy of the album was sifting through that initial cacophony and finding the kernel of the song to keep pursuing. Many attempts were abandoned, but the twelve featured here I consider to be my most fruitful endeavors. It was very exciting, scary, and rewarding to step outside of my wheelhouse on this record and I hope you ennnjoy it."

'Mei Semones' sweetly evocative blend of jazz, bossa nova and math-y indie rock is notonly a way for her to find solace in her favorite genres, but is an intuitive means ofcatharsis. "Blending everything that I like together and trying to make something new -that's what feels most natural to me," says the 23-year-old Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter and guitarist. "It's what feels most true to who I am as an artist." Plinking guitar tones and asymmetrical time signatures exemplify her forays intoangular indie rock more now than ever before, especially on her debut Bayonet Recordssingle "Wakare no Kotoba"_its wide-interval arpeggios in odd meters being some ofthe most technically difficult guitar work Mei has ever implemented in her songwriting.Translated to "parting words'' in English, the self-described "anti-love song" serves as afarewell to a toxic friendship, complete with orchestral swells and crashing guitars. Originally from Ann Arbor, Michigan, Semones began playing music at a young age,starting out on piano at age four before moving to electric guitar at age eleven. Afterplaying jazz guitar in high school, she went on to study guitar performance with a jazzfocus at Berklee College of Music. College is where she met her current bandmates,including string players Noah Leong and Claudius Agrippa, whose respective viola andviolin add softness and multidimensionality to Mei's intricate guitar work. After releasinga slew of singles and an EP in 2022, coinciding with her move to New York City, Mei andher band have since gone on to collaborate with post-bossa balladeer John Roseboroand embark on their first-ever tour with the melodic rock outfit Raavi. Semones chronicles infatuation, devotion, and vulnerability in her songs, complete withsweeping strings, virtuosic guitar-playing and heartfelt lyrics sung in both English andJapanese, that have all become part of her sonic trademark: ornately catchy, genre-fusing compositions serving as the backdrop to tender lyrics touching on theuniversalities of human emotion.

We’re hugely excited to announce the brand new album from Dee C. Lee - ‘Just Something’, out 22 March on Acid Jazz. It follows the incredible response to the new single ‘Walk Away’ and last year’s double-sider ‘Don’t Forget About Love’ / ‘Be There In The Morning’, marking the return of one of the UK’s most revered soul singers. Dee is known for her work with The Style Council, Wham!, Slam Slam and Animal Nightlife, and an illustrious solo career (including the Top 3 hit ‘See The Day’). ‘Just Something’ is her first new record since 1998, and her debut for Acid Jazz. Available on LP and CD, all pre-orders from the Acid Jazz Store will be signed by Dee.

‘Just Something’ features 11 songs: nine originals co-written by Dee, a song penned by her daughter Leah Weller, a successful singer/songwriter in her own right, and two inspired covers. Produced by Sir Tristan Longworth, the album is a soulful collection that frames her instantly recognisable vocals in luxurious horns, percussion and keys, and heritage soul with a disco backdrop. While making the record has been a collaborative process, ‘Just Something’ is nevertheless the sound of a singer in charge of her own style and direction. Her vocal delivery and phrasing steal the show throughout, bright and lilting one moment, passionate and ringing the next. She cites Chaka Khan and Jean Carn as major influences, but Lee’s voice is resolutely her own, the product of a life lived.

Inspired by classic Motown, current single ‘Walk Away’ was written by Dee with one of her ‘brothers from another mother’, former fellow Style Council member Mick Talbot, and features Talbot’s distinctive piano and Wulitzer playing on the track. Talbot also plays on another of the album’s many standouts, the Leah Weller-penned ‘Everyday Summer’.

Three of the album’s songs, opener ‘Back In Time’, first single ‘Don’t Forget About Love’ and ‘How To Love’ were co-written with Michael McEvoy and Ernest McKone, whom Dee wrote with back in the 1980s. All three songs channel her musical past, from the thrill and excitement of those early Wham! days, going out and partying, to The Style Council’s trademark jazzy soul, and expressive balladry and killer choruses, which places Lee in the lineage of classic soul singers.

Elsewhere, on ‘Anything’, co-written with Paul Barry, Dee sings her heart out on a song full of optimism and hope for the future, while ‘For Once In My Life’, the oldest song here dates back to 1998, is effortlessly commercial and has hit written all over it, with Lee empowered and regal sounding over a warm blanket of bassy funk.

The album’s two covers, meanwhile, were both suggested to Lee by Acid Jazz’s Eddie Piller. In Lee’s hands, Renee Geyer’s ‘Be There In The Morning’ is pure celebration, taking its cue from the Norman Connors version from 1979. ‘I Love You’, written by Don Blackman and recorded by Weldon Irvine in 1976, could have been written with Lee in mind. A big club tune, Dee recalls hearing it everywhere she went and I wanted to keep as close to the original vibe as she could.

Dee’s relationship with Acid Jazz the goes back to The Style Council days, and it was the 2019 documentary ‘Long Hot Summers’ that renewed Dee’s friendship with label founder Ed Piller and director Dean Rudland. We’re honoured to release this record and be a part of Dee’s return to the forefront of UK soul music.

"During the past 50 years, tenor-saxophonist Scott Hamilton has been one of the most consistent jazz artists, always taking thoughtful and swinging solos while displaying a warm tone. His 2004 live recording brought a top-notch quartet to the Jazzclub De Tor at Enschede, the Netherlands. Accompanied by pianist Rein de Graaf, bassplayer Marius Beets and on drums Eric Ineke, Scott Hamilton plays six jazz tracks from the set including ""Rhythm Riff"", a 12-chorus solo that gradually builds in excitement. In the beginning of 2024, Scott Hamilton started his worldwide tour, playing in selected jazz clubs. Live At De Tor is available on vinyl for the first time as a limited edition of 500 copies on translucent blue coloured vinyl, contains liner notes on the back-sleeve by jazz journalist/author Scott Yanow. "

Live At De Tor by Scott Hamilton, released 4 April 2024, includes the following tracks: "Peace and Harmony ", "Dreadlock ", "Autalene ", "Wah Go Home " and more.

This version of Live At De Tor comes as a 1xLP.

The vinyl is pressed as a translucent, blue disc.

Monika Enterprise welcomes a new act to her roster with Berlin based experimental pop duo Post Neo releasing their new EP. Individually known as Nicole Luján and Pauline Weh, both musicians pursued their own solo projects before forming the duo Post Neo. On “Alles Immer Wieder” they combine as more than the sum of their parts to produce 5 songs of dark and powerful experimental avant- pop which is released as an exclusive 10” vinyl.

Pauline and Nicole met making music in Berlin during the summer of 2019 and kept collaborating online, until Nicole moved to Berlin in 2022. The musicians' different musical backgrounds result in diverse intuitions which complement each other perfectly when producing tracks together - Nicole was more into synthesis and electronic music production in Mexico City while Pauline received a classical piano education in Munich before she started doing electronic music.

In 2022 they released their first EP, «do you?», which consists of five tracks that were composed and produced as an inter-continental project between Berlin and Mexico City. In autumn of that year Post Neo received a residency at Sternhagen Gut from Musicboard Berlin where they caught the ear of monika head Gudrun Gut who was so taken with their compelling mix of techno beats and dreamy melancholic atmospheres she immediately signed them to her label.

The EP’s opening and title track “Alles Immer Wieder” (trans. Everything again and again) is a reflection on repetition and monotony as transcendence in the form of sleep, dreams, work and other daily cycles. The rhythmic juxtapositions and tempo shifts make for a captivating opening track. “Ganz Schön Was Los” (trans. A lot happening) has a proper synthwave electro pop vibe while the vocals lend a little light hearted humanity to the otherwise calculated computer music aesthetic. With its fusion of synthesizers and drum machines track B1 “Die Verwirrung” (trans. The confusion) brings a sense of melancholic doom. The flow of B2 “Wenn Wir Wüssten” (trans. If we knew what would happen) is a future-focused reflection on the unidirectional movement of time's arrow. Sampled harmonies and instrumental breakdowns make it possibly the most emotive track on the EP. And the record comes to a close with “Dreh dich” (trans. Turn around) which lures us in with delicate vocals before menacing synthesizer sounds blast us into oblivion. It is an invitation to turn the record over and start listening from the beginning again.

Post Neo’s music is steeped in minimalism: at once managing to be hugely expressive and evocative while still retaining a sense of privacy and mystery for the listener to decrypt. Like all great pop music their songs are musically captivating while also conveying a strong message. As their band name suggests, Post Neo are essentially futuristic and with live shows at some of Berlin’s hottest underground venues under their belt as well as in their hometowns of Munich and Mexico City, plus the release of „Alles Immer Wieder“ in 2024, great things are in store for the electronic pop duo.

Here at Bordello, the hot season has already arrived. Championing this warmth is Italy’s very own Hey Cabrera! The Turin based dynamo melds elements of electro disco, italo and house to create a uniquely aromatic blend of dancefloor joy. Clean drum patterns, claps and hi-hats are at the foundation of “Italo Void”. From these percussion points, a bold and ensnaring melody takes flight; glimmering synthlines shining from beginning to end.


Fellow Bordello mainstay, Lauer arrives to bring his own analogue sound to the title piece. Accentuating that irrepressible tune, piano keys give extra ballast with a touch of late evening romance as we wait for the sun to come up. The flip transports us to Scandinavia for some unrequited love. Although “Forelskelse” may mean unexplored passions, this track is brimming with emotions. Burning with a smouldering energy, ingredients from disco to house combine to produce a wonderfully uplifting work.

David Bay, of Zissou Records fame, closes with his interpretation of “Forelskelse”. A measured introduction gives way to those addictive notes of the original, Bay stripping back the samples to allow the instruments to sing. A soundtrack to see us into a magical summer.

Sofia Portanet releases her highly anticipated 2nd album "Chasing Dreams" on 8th March 2024 via Duchess Box Records. The album features the top 100 Radio Charted singles Real Face and Unstoppable, as well as the hits Mi Amor, Ballon, and My Time as well as a piano version of Real Face featuring special guest Chilly Gonzales as a bonus track. In December 23, Sofia Portanet will be on tour in Germany as support to Betterov. Sofia has performed all over the world including showcase events such as SXSW, Eurosonic and Reeperbahn Festival. The new album Chasing Dreams features duets from the likes of Chilly Gonzales and Tobia Bamborschk, better known as lead singer from German indie rock group Isolation Berlin. Sofia Portanet who won Germany's prestigious VUT Award for Best Newcomer in 2021, following her critically acclaimed debut album Freier Geist, released in 2020 has gone on to be Spotify Equal Ambassador and make multiple national TV performances, duet with the likes of Chilly Gonzales and Kreator as well as making live sessions from NPR. Talking about her new album Sofia Portanet explains "Inhaltlich wollte ich ein poppigeres Album machen. Einfach, weil ich Pop Musik liebe und damit aufgewachsen bin. Ich möchte mich nicht auf ein Genre festnageln lassen. Ich werde immer die Musik machen, die ich für den gegebenen Moment fühle und gut finde. Es macht also auch wenig Sinn mich selbst mit meiner eigenen ersten Platte vergleichen zu wollen."

Chasing Dreams by Sofia Portanet, released 4 April 2024.