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For the last 20 years London-based author and party organiser Tim Lawrence has dedicated himself to excavating the history of New York City party culture and bringing some of the most powerful aspects of that culture to London’s dance scene, from where it has ricocheted around the world.

Having conducted the first and set of major interviews with David Mancuso of the New York City Loft, Lawrence started to host Loft-style Lucky Cloud Sound System parties with David and friends in London in June 2003. In February 2004 he published the first of three published three pioneering histories that have excavated and championed the previously overlooked foundations of contemporary party culture: Love Saves the Day: A History of American Dance Music (1970-79), Hold on to Your Dreams: Arthur Russell and the Downtown Music Scene (1973-92), and Life and Death on the New York Dance Floor (1980-83). Since 2018 Lawrence has hosted and DJed at the community audiophile party "All Our Friends. Paper Magazine describes him as the “reigning authority on the history of dance music in New York”.

With knowledge to share, and a readership as well as a dance floor to feed, Lawrence released Life and Death on the New York Dance Floor as the debut imprint on Reappearing Records. A year in the making, a compilation featuring rare and iconic tracks that appear in his much-loved and heavily-thumbed classic Love Saves the Day amounts to the follow-up. The collection features several tracks selected regularly by Mancuso, the party host who exerted a prophetic and unparalleled influence on New York City party culture, as charted by Lawrence. It also includes choice picks from groundbreaking DJs such as Michael Cappello, Steve D’Acquisto, Francis Grasso, Richie Kaczor, Larry Levan and Nicky Siano, whose expressive contributions are faithfully recorded in Love Saves the Day. The compilation traces how disco grew out of the record collections and intuitive sensibility of these and other DJs, offering a unique survey of the era’s expansive sonic palette.

A collection of Jamaican doo wop & R&B records taken from the late 50s and early 60s. These records represent a period in which soundsystems were just starting to dominate the island, with Duke Reid and Sir Coxsone stepping up their rivalry by beginning to make and release their own records rather than rely on US imports for use in their dances. Many of these records are definitely more-or-less imitations of the American records, as the uniquely Jamaican ska sound was yet to take hold - however many of the future stars of ska, rocksteady and reggae were beginning to cut their teeth in the industry on these records, incl. Jimmy Cliff, Derrick Harriott, Alton Ellis and more, and they provide a unique view into the fledgling independent record industry culture in Jamaica that would prove to be unbelievably proflific and unparalleled for an island of it's size.

ALTER presents a remastered edition of Cremation Lily’s second album, on vinyl for the first time. Recorded whilst living in Hastings and originally released as a double cassette on his Strange Rules label in 2017, The Processes… forms a trilogy of albums in the CL canon that were influenced by the life and atmospheres within British coastal towns. Composed using a rudimentary set-up of synth, drum machine and two modified walkmans, CL draws upon a broad range of influences from the underground electronic music spectrum. Noise, tape music and ambient techno are all referenced and align to form a cohesive collection of tracks, flowing fluidly in sequence. Melancholic synth pads and deep kick drums intersect with crude field recordings and occasional bursts of feedback, evoking a claustrophobic uncertainty that feels more like being pulled under than carried above.

Features additional piano and violin by Theodore Cale Schafer.
Remastered by John Hannon.

Two guitar legends - Eric Clapton and B.B. King - first performed together in NYC in 1967. Over 30 years later, in 1999, the two longtime friends joined forces to create a collection of all new studio recordings of blues classics and contemporary songs. The resulting album Riding with the King would be released in June 2000 and go onto sell over 4 million copies globally and win a Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album.

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of this classic album, two additional previously unreleased tracks have been added: The blues standard “Rollin’ and Tumblin’” and a cover of Willie Dixon’s “Let Me Love You Baby.” Both tracks were recorded during the original sessions and were produced and mixed especially for this release by Simon Climie, who produced the original album with Clapton. The original tapes have been remastered by Bob Ludwig for release on 26th June via Rhino Records.

The 14-track collection will be available on 180-gram black double vinyl package and was mastered (vinyl) by Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering in Los Angeles.

The album features four B.B. King originals, plus a selection of covers from writers as diverse as Isaac Hayes & David Porter (“Hold On I’m Coming”), Johnny Mercer & Harold Arlen (“Come Rain Or Come Shine”) and William Broonzy & Charles Seger (“Key To The Highway”). John Hiatt wrote the album’s title track.

Fresh from their release on John Digweed's Bedrock Records under their more covert Techno guise 'Cypherpunx' the Brighton based duo Flip Fantazia unleash their debut album ‘The Trip’.
Touching on influences from Air to Bonobo, The xx to DJ Shadow, ‘The Trip’ guides you down a road less travelled meandering through Downtempo, Electronica & Trip Hop with a few Jazzy twists & turns.
Essentially Flip Fantazia is a meeting of two minds,
four hands, several synths, quite a few guitars, some very clever computer software with a variety of drum machines. The prolific duo spend most of their time writing, recording, producing, mixing & mastering original music down in an old bank vault in Brighton... well, Hove actually! Their real names… Douglas Horner & Tim Belcher.
Born from a project focussed mainly on music for Sync, writing for Ninja Tune PM, Cavendish Music, Delimusic, BMG PM & Deep East + more this is their first artist album to be commercially released.
Their first brief for Ninja Tune’s Production Music company was to create an authentic 60s sounding Samba song and a Boogaloo / Salsa, both of which appear on the Ninja Tune Latin Excursions album.
Along with a contemporary breaks / glitch remix of the classical masterpiece Flight Of The Bumblebee and a piece of funk with a foodie flavour for two other Ninja Tune production music albums. Another brief came in for some Australian influenced Beach House from delimusic to be used on the BBC Commonwealth Games Gold Coast 2018 coverage, so out came the Didgeridoo and five new tracks were born. Writing to brief is a delight & an adventure for Flip Fantazia covering many genres from authentic Samba to electro disco new-wave post modern cosmic soul funk afro-boogie punk alt+indie dance crossover and everything in between! So it was tough to narrow The Trip down to 10 original tracks which best illustrate the authentic Flip Fantazia sound.

After racking up a handful of recent releases on Macro and Field Records, L'estasi Dell'oro has returned from the woodshed to mark his debut solo EP on Voodoo Down Records, the label he co-founded in Brooklyn nearly a decade ago.
Soaring guitars, twisted violins, dusty pianos, tolling bells, stretched drums, and outward-bound synths are all features of the sonics presented here across the four songs on this record. Additionally, the A1 feature song 'Proserpina' revisits the vocals of Crystal Boyd,
the singer featured on the L’estasi tracks from the early Voodoo Down compilations which helped define his sound in the techno world. Along with the three original songs, his Penalune alias strips the A1 tune to it's floating core elements for full atmospheric immersion.

Originally released in 1980, now remastered & cut at revelatory Half-Speed at Abbey Road Studios from vinyl specific original tape transfers designed to get the very best possible sound from the format.

Pressed on heavyweight 180g black vinyl, this album features the singles ‘Emotional Rescue’ and ‘She’s So Cold’.

In the shape of the 90's... but with a speedcore old school tasty gabba

Reemerging from the threshold of the cosmic vortex, Black Lodge returns with another sonic artifact that is charged with vigorous chaotic energy, known as EXPERIMENT_ZERO. Accounts of the radiant object's origin are as mysterious as the raw energy that utters from its core. Following a close study, the guardians of the portal suspect that "Experiment Zero" was a primordial experiment rooted in the slam jack pits and DIY warehouse rituals of ages passed. A sonic dialog constructed of various languages, spanning from roots-house jak to bare-knuckled electro are revealed across the artifact - a revolutionary tale that surpasses the constructs of ephemerality, with a refusal to be ignored. Across the release the listener is confronted with fearless acid lines that are underscored by a tone of revolution, and sets the stage for a human voice that switches between modes of a sharp and mutated presence. The power of such sonic objects are both celebrated and rejected by various tribal societies. It is all dependent on the belief structures and traditional histories of its members. Those that belong to the cult of Ron Hardy, Mad Mike Banks, Traxx, and JTC will welcomingly be drenched in its riotous energies. It is for the dedicated, not the light-hearted. After further research it has been discovered that, Experiment Zero is the product of Dona, aka Dj Plant Texture and Mike Tansella Jr. of Son of Traders, both products of the ancient mercantile city of Bari in Southern Italy. Previous works from these artists have been featured on Creme Organization, Gravitational Waves, Unknown to Unknown, and Illian Tapes. All sonic experimentation was recorded in one take to capture the raw energy of instantaneous collaborative sound craft operating in flux. Black Lodge's 4th release is sure to find a space in the music collections of those seeking to travel within the uncanny portals that unforgivingly defy the status quo. Mastered by: Alex J Michalski Label design: Kosmik Pressing: Deepgrooves (NL)

Repress

First up is a reinvention from Coby Sey - the Lewisham, South London musician who's founded the Curl collective alongside Mica Levi and Brother May and collaborated with Babyfather, Klein and Tirzah, noted as one of the 50 best new artists of 2019 by the guardian. The tone and atmospherics of the original’s combination of synthesiser and woodwind are sliced into ghostly, mesmeric fragments and refitted in layers around loping, propulsive rhythms with something like UKG's steppiness - languid despite being uptempo, bright and almost gleeful despite the inescapable mournfulness of the source material.

Who’s The Technician? of Ireland's Wah Wah Wino label - turns in a remix that wrestles with the original over seven- and-a-half-minutes of relentlessly captivating deep digi-dancehall, less of a remix than a rebirth cycle, with the latent soul-splitting lament of Kolida Babo’s duduk copy-pasted onto a delirious mercurial lead rotating through hedonistic ecstasy and burnout, a snake-eating-its-own-tail of a version cracking open the third eye with a crowbar, plus a post- apocalyptic, ruthlessly space-invading dub that blasts the remix’s scale out to the starkest retreats of the universe in search of...

Off the heels of a few successful digital compilations, newly found LA based label For The Heads proudly kicks off their vinyl series with a 4-track collaborative EP from Subtle Mind & mrshl. All 4 of these cuts bring freshness and originality to the ever-growing 140 sound and are a meticulous blend of styles given both of the artist's virtuosity and creative ability.

First, "Built The Same" sets the pace of the EP with luscious chords and a prolific melody all wrapped together by it's enticing low end. Next, the title track "Can You Hear It" is a weighty number focused on it's orbiting sub-bass and crisp percussion with a switch up that is sure to get any dance moving. On the B-side, an exceptional and unparalleled fusion of both modern synth-bass oscillations with the classical UK style groove and step of some jungle and garage is evident in "When The Rain Comes"; all of this pieced together nicely with a jazzy saxophone sequence. Rounding out the EP, "We're Alright Now" features a radiating, encircling melody that is sure to grab the attention of it's listeners with punching low end and soulful vocal shouts.

The Bees are a textbook case of the chew and spit cycle that was the late 80’s South African music industry. Although their unknown story is likely unique, it is just as likely that it is no different to that of many other young artists who dreamed of getting their music heard at the time.

By 1988, the independent record label was no longer as uncommon as it had been at the beginning of the decade. As the 80s went on, more seasoned A&R reps and Producers that had gained experience and connections from their work under major labels would be trying to cash in on a market they helped create. Without the need of big rooms or expensive recording equipment, the digital advancements allowed many Producers to open or work in smaller studios and promote unknown artists under their own imprints. They would then have their catalogs marketed and distributed by the same major labels they had been working for just years prior. This would open up the possibility of a new era of stars as potential talent no longer had to be pitched to major labels in hopes of them taking a chance on a new signee over their already established artists. With the market growing and a struggle to keep up with the demand for new sounds this agreement would allow the major labels to put new emerging artists or groups on their catalog with little investment and high reward if it happened to be a hit.

ON Records was just one of the independent players at the time. Ronnie Robot had just signed the unlikely trio The Bees in hopes of adding a hit group to his label roster that consisted of solo acts. Despite the debut’s fresh house inspired sound, it failed to catch on was outsold by the bubblegum disco the label was known for. Over the years unsold back stock and promos would build up with the distributor. Luckily this allowed sealed copies from the label’s catalog to survive into the 90s when the distributor’s stock was unloaded and picked up by legendary Johannesburg jazz shop Kohinoor. Here sealed copies of the Bees first attempt sat under appreciated for over 20 years before becoming a hot title after they started circulating online and became club staples. This is how the first album of an unknown group with no success was able to become a collectors item and earn a reissue over 25 years later.

With their first record behind them The Bees were ready move forward and get back into the studio. A suggestion from producers had the trio change camps and go work with the newly formed Creative Sound Recordings, the label that promised “Music for the Future” and ended up being an essential studio in the early years of Kwaito. They would work with producer Chris Ghelakis and guitarist George Vardas, while a young Marvin Moses sat behind the desk. Musically the sophomore album was as good as a follow up as you could get. Building on the first album, Mashonisa delivers catchy melodies backed by heavy drum programming that would score points with any Pantsula. The Black Box inspired “ Never Give Up” was one of two tracks chosen to be pressed as the promo for the album, hoping to trick listeners with their catchy version of the hit( A year later the label would release their first volume of Black Box covers sang by neo soul diva BB, it would be a great seller). The label printed up an unknown amount of these in a last attempt to push the release in Shabeens and on Radio. The cheaper route of flooding the market with promo copies would only pay off 25 years later when unplayed copies started being rediscovered and had survived the years in a quantity that original run of the full album could not. Once again it was clear that with no mainstream appeal, the quality of the music on its own was not enough to garner any success at the time. The album flopped worse than their first and failed to make it past it’s initial run, making it one of the harder titles to get from the CSR catalog.

Mashonisa would be the last attempt from the Bees. They would disappear from the scene as quickly as they appeared. Of the three members it is only known that lead Singer Solomon Phiri continued in music fronting a wave dance group before he mysteriously vanished in 1993, never to be heard from again. Through a combination of luck and circumstance the group, which is unknown in South Africa to even the most plugged in musicians, producers and radio hosts of the time, managed to finally get some of the recognition they deserved 30 years later. Unfortunately this small blip of fame would happen with none of the band members present to give their side of the story, or even aware of how their two albums became popular enough to be printed on different continents in a new millennia. The Bees suffered the same fate as countless other artists of the time, who thanks to emerging independent labels and willing producers were given an opportunity to have a short career, only to be replaced by the meat grinder of the music industry when they failed to produce a hit.

After many hints and teases MANIC STREET PREACHERS have confirmed the re-issue of a deluxe edition of their 1993 second album ‘GOLD AGAINST THE SOUL’ on 12th June 2020 for Columbia/Sony.   Available as a 120 page A4 book featuring unseen images from the bands’ long time photographic collaborator Mitch Ikeda, many personally annotated by Nicky Wire and original typed and handwritten lyrics from the bands own archive.  It will contain two cd’s featuring the remastered album, previously unreleased demos, b-sides from the era, remixes and a live recording of The Clash song ‘What’s My Name’.  There will also be a 180g vinyl version of the original album with download codes to the extra tracks on CD1 and a digital version featuring all the songs. 

Nicky Wire said of the release “We moved our studio a few years ago and I unearthed a lot of demos and pictures from the ‘Gold Against The Soul’ era and thought it would be a shame not to let them see the light of day.  We haven’t always been the most complementary about this album in the past, but with hindsight it was a strange and curious record with many fan’s favourites on it.  James always gets a huge response when he teases the riff to ‘Sleepflower’ live.” 

‘Gold Against The Soul’ entered the Top 10 on release just over a year after their debut album ‘Generation Terrorists’ and saw the band shift musically to a classic rock sound.  Lead single ‘From Despair To Where’ was followed by ‘La Tristesse Durera (Scream To A Sigh)’, ‘Roses In The Hospital’ and ‘Life Becoming A Landslide’.  Produced by Dave Eringa who had been working in various guises with the band and continues to do so to this day, the album was recorded over six weeks at Outside/Hookend Studios.

Let’s be honest – the first time many of us heard the otherworldly talents of the Ultramagnetic MC’s was on a compilation. A smattering of singles in 1986 had barely registered beyond a small circle in New York, but the inclusion of the 1987 single ‘Travelling at the Speed of Thought’ on Street Sounds’ ‘Hip Hop Electro 16’ set, sandwiched between classics from MC Shy D and Just-Ice, was a watershed moment.

In a way, it’s their most atypical release. The deceptively simple combination of drums ‘borrowed’ from The Rolling Stones and a scratched hook from The Kingsmen’s definitive version of Richard Berry’s ‘Louie Louie’ is one thing. The simple by their standards vocals, however, render it into a loveable pastiche of rock-rap, a more esoteric equivalent of Run DMC’s ‘Walk This Way’.
The flip is more in keeping with their style both on their earlier ‘Ego Tripping’ single and the soon-to-arrive landmark classic album ‘Critical Beatdown’. Over some heavily chopped drums from erstwhile breakbeat classic ‘Apache’ by the Incredible Bongo Band, Ced Gee and Kool Keith showcase flows that were different from anything out there at the time.

‘M.C.’s Ultra (Part II Edit)’ is part brag-rap, part baffling science lecture. Leaning heavily on the thesaurus, it’s a slang heavy manifesto that elevated the boast rap to the next level. While Kool Keith would go on to be the group’s breakout star, this is a showcase for the whole collective, right down to DJ Moe Love’s slithery scratching sliding from one channel to the next.

Only previously released in the UK as a 7” that’s now very hard to source, this is a chance to re-embrace this breakthrough from a legendary group.

The late engineer and producer Paul C’s fingerprints are all over this single from Ultramagnetic MC’s, perhaps the defining release of their career. While earlier records gave notice of their strange and unique talents, they were loveably messy affairs. This, however, is the real deal, as polished as their early sound would ever be.

‘Give the Drummer Some’ grabs a fistful of different elements – from James Brown, Dee Felice Trio and James Brown – but bends them to its own purpose. This is a song with a momentum of its own and endlessly quotable lyrics. One of which, of course, was sampled by The Prodigy – huge hip-hop fans – for ‘Smack My Bitch Up’ in 1997. The now hugely rare 7” of ‘Give the Drummer Some’ edits this out to make it more radio-friendly, but this reissue reverses that cut, giving you the original lyrics. If anyone knows why Kool Keith also changes the word ‘rappers’ to ‘monkeys’ for that edit, answers on a postcard…

The brilliant B-side harks back to the time when every group had a song dedicated to their DJ. ‘Moe Luv’s Theme’ sees Kool Keith at his most straightforward, singing the praises of the turntable skills of Moe Luv. It would be throwaway were it not for the effortless repurposing of Jackie Robinson’s oft-sampled ‘Pussyfooter’. That – and the presence of one of the world’s great MC’s at the height of his powers – elevates it far above a footnote.

Marion formed in Manchester in 1994 and released their debut album This World And Body in 1996. The album reached number 10 in the UK album chart and the band found further success with the singles ‘Let’s All Go Together’ and ‘Sleep’. To follow up on their triumphant debut, the band returned to the studio to record The Program with exSmiths guitarist Johnny Marr on production duties. Demon Records is proud to present The Program on vinyl for the very first time, pressed on 180g heavyweight translucent green vinyl. This edition includes a print of the album artwork, hand signed by Jaime Harding and is strictly limited to 500 copies.

The Cranberries – Dreams

The Cranberries – Dolores O’Riordan, Noel Hogan, Michael Hogan and Fergal Lawler – quietly became one of the world’s most successful bands in the 1990's. With O’Riordan’s remarkable voice and their unforgettable melodies, the group scored a string of UK and US Top 10 albums and singles. This stunning collection brings together 11 of their best-known tracks, including their unforgettable calling cards, Linger and Zombie.

This compilation brings to vinyl the incredibly successful CD title which has so far sold over 100k units in the UK alone.

Swedish titan, Eric Prydz, drops two brand new tracks, ‘Valborg’ and ‘The Raid’ under his highly acclaimed techno-focussed moniker Cirez D, via his own Mouseville Records.

Having teased new material at the likes of Tomorrowland and Creamfields last year, many have been eagerly awaiting this 12” and quite rightly too. A double header of big room, synth heavy Cirez D slammers, that take listeners on a hard-hitting techno exploration.

Longpigs were the alternative rock band who came to prominence in the 1990s Britpop scene. Fronted by Crispin Hunt, the group also featured guitarist Richard Hawley, Simon Stafford on bass and drummer Dee Boyle. Originally released in 1996 on U2’s Mother label, ‘The Sun Is Often Out’ featured four UK top 40 singles including ‘On And On’ and ‘She Said’. Demon Records is proud to present the first ever vinyl reissue of this cult classic, pressed on 180g heavyweight blue vinyl.

Celebrating live music and record store culture.

After having completed the first run of shows for their recent album "2066" through UK, France and Germany, the Mighty Mocambos did an intimate performance at world-renowned Groove City Record Store in their hometown Hamburg.
Not content with just playing stripped down versions of existing material, the band wanted to step up a notch from the "tiny desk" type concert idea and decided to record unreleased tunes for a vinyl single capturing the live energy and crowd atmosphere with analog studio techniques. After having warmed up with a couple of songs from "2066", a cheerful crowd in the packed shop witnessed the band tracking magic takes of unheard songs directly to tape.
"St. Pauli Second Line", an instrumental live favourite with simple but irresistant swamp funk ostinatoes turned into a frenetic call and response chant workout midway of the song. Singer Nichola Richards' tune "Keep It Movin'", a mainstay of the band's live repertoire for years, was cut with great energy, finally finding its way onto wax. "Something's Missing" is a brand new tune with a raw sister funk vibe - written and arranged for the occasion, rehearsed once and performed live for the first time in the version you hear on this record.
While many live recordings a are mere mix of crowd noise and neglectable renditions of well-worn tunes that are unusable for DJs and hardly appealing to the dedicated listener, THE MIGHTY MOCAMBOS - Live At Groove City au contraire is a treat for turntableists and a testimony of the spark that a well-attuned live band can light up, combining the vibes of a concert with the no-nonsense analog sound of their well-loved studio recordings.

May 1990 The Brand New Heavies released ‘that blue album’ and with it came a winning formula which would go on to earn them 16 top 40 hits and three million worldwide album sales not to mention two UK Platinum albums. Emerging at the heart of the Acid Jazz scene, their self-titled 1990 debut made an instant impact with audiences on both sides of the Atlantic and over the last three decades the band have not let up releasing enduring classics such as You Are The Universe, Midnight At The Oasis & Dream Come True to name but a few. To celebrate these thirty years we’re releasing a limited edition 7-inch vinyl, the first 7-inch release since Stay This Way came out in 1992. The 7-inch will contain the vocal performances of both Beverley Knight and N’Dea Davenport on Beautiful and Getaway respectively.

Louis Armstrong is one of the most important jazz musicians. He belongs to those who transformed the local music scene born in the Southern States of the United States - around New Orleans - into an international language.

It was in the 1920's, in Chicago, that he recorded his first records with His Hot Five and His Hot Seven. His personality and his natural enthusiasm, combined with his talent as a trumpet player and singer, helped him pave his way to success.

He traveled the United States with his orchestra throughout the 1930's and the 1940's, and appeared on television sets from all around the world throughout the 1950's and the 1960's. In five decades, Armstrong's music had evolved into jazz music, then known as a familiar universal language, popular on five continents.

The four sides of this double album revive the history of jazz, from "Muskrat Ramble" to "Hello Dolly".

Ella is the most celebrated of divas, and she dominated the jazz scene for over fifty years, from her first hit A-Tisket, A-Tasket in 1938 to her gradual retirement from the stage in 1989 due to illness. She left her signature on every jazz universe to which she contributed.

The Essential Works 1956-1959 throw light on her talents as a performer of the greatest standards, with songs written by Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, George Gershwin and Rodgers & Hart. Ella succeeded in making popular melodies her own, most often songs taken from musicals that she transformed into as many pearls of vocal jazz.

The four sides of this album bring together the indispensable inner soul of Ella Fitzgerald's recorded work.

Essential comp of rare funk 45’s from the 70’s – original 1994 LP’s in pic sleeve

DJ Haus explores the range of frequencies of the electromagnetic spectrum on the "Return 2 The Source EP”. Electromagnetic radiation and their respective wavelengths and photon energies are put to the test when Jensen Interceptor & SHED collide within the UTTU Omnisphere.

Shark Attack / Dub Attack / Toture The Devil / Dub Torture : King Earthquake Ke10-12

"Lost Ark Music" proudly present to you another labour of passion "Praying for the Angels" by Pura Vida. 'The heart of the Last Ark' is beating on the riddim of the drums" ... Play it loud!

"Crawling" is about Puraman's personal struggle in life (...) trying to blend a stepping, jazzy reggae groove with some psychedelic stuff, Pieter De Naegel & Mathieu Vilain provide some "Last Ark Fyah Horns". "Song to Bob" is Puraman's tribute to Bob Marley, with a haunting Bassline provide by Aston "Familyman" Barrett, Orginal Wailer (...) His son Aston Barrett Junior hits the drums like Lightening!

"When the right time come" was recorded in an oldschool fashion, Recording the riddim in one take (...) Puraman on Vocals and Guitar, Boris Perck on the bass, Xan Albrecht on the drums, Wouter Rosseel on Lead Guitar. Bos Debusscher provides a wicked synthline!
Are you ready?

"Pretty Stranger I wrote this song for you... You shurely look like danger but that's what I like about you". Pura Vida goes Psychedelic Rock (...) "Les Eaux Sauvages" is a Love-Song with the Wonderfull voice of Nina "Vitalia" Schelfthout!

"O sopro de Inae" features the warm voice of Alessandra De Queiroz...Straight from Brazil she came to the Mare Altar forest under the guidance of Maarten Rosa in search for the "Arka Perdida".
This song has Portugese Lyrics, praying for the Spirits of Iemanja and Inae (...) The Spirits of the Ocean! "Find a way Home" is a Soultune features Alessandra De Queiroz!

The Title Track "Praying for the Angels" is another combination of Puraman & Alessandra's voice. In a Sixties Psychedelic Spirit (...) Singing about the Lost Souls dwelling the streets of the Ancient City! It was recorded on Puraman's Birthday (...)

"And the lights of the city, drive them crazy. And there's nowhere to run (...) And they're praying, hear them praying for the Angels...".

"Blessings from the Last Ark" features the amazing voices of Roydel "Ashanti Roy" Johnson, Derrick "Watty" Burnett & Kenroy "Tallash" Fyffe from 'The Congos'. Ashanti Roy provides the Bassline and Percussion. Watty & Tallash provide extra magic percussion. Puraman on Vocals, Melodica & Guitar. Pieter De Naegel & Mathieu Vilain play humble and bright on this Deep Roots Tune. Blessings from the Ark. Beyond Time & Space (...)

"Ancestor Spirit Dance" is an Afrobeat inspired tune features the voice of Puraman's Great-Grand-Mother Mathilde Spruytte, who
was a local folk singer.

Steel drum cover of Grace Jones. Steel drum cover of Erykah Badu. Third full length album coming in 2021. Bacao Rhythm & Steel Band is back with another crushing two-sider that is guaranteed to set dancefloors on fire and get heads nodding around the globe. The mysterious steel pan outfit hailing from Hamburg, Germany has become a staple in DJ sets from Europe to Japan, from the US to Brasil, and anywhere else these tunes have found their way to speakers. They have released a slew of classic 7”s and two critically acclaimed full length albums. With that they have set a high bar for themselves, one clearly they intend on pushing higher with this new offering. Side A is BRSB’s take on Grace Jones’ nightclub classic “My Jamaican Guy”. They take the tune to a new height from the first beat, laying down an infectious groove that will get people out of their seats immediately. Heavy duty drums and bass shake the speakers through the intro then the pans reveal what they are covering as they play the instantly recognizable top line of the original. Rhythm guitar, heavily echoed percussion hits, and the different pan sets all combine to make this yet another instant classic from Bacao. BRSB has received a lot of praise for their choices of covers. Occasionally reworking hits, but, most notably pulling the album cut gems from artists typically more championed by the underground. Well...here they go again, covering Erykah Badu’s homage to the late great J Dilla “The Healer”. This is the type of thing to make Spice Adams jump on his kitchen counter and scream. From the instant this comes on, necks will be snapping and faces will scrunch up as they take the original beat produced by Madlib and give it a run for its money. Shaking subwoofers with the eerie tremolo bass they replay E. Badu’s vocal melodies on the pans adding their own flourishes. Glockenspiel plays the downbeat and a clap like thunder keeps the two-step swaying, all coming together to make this another must have two-sider from Bacao Rhythm & Steel Band

We gladly present the long awaited debut album by kurdish multi-instrumentalist Philippos Sîpano and Frankfurt am Main’s mighty duo Dan Bay & Le Rubrique aka The MPC Orchestra. “The Spirit of Dilovan” pays tribute to Philippos Sîpano and Dan Bayat’s youth band “Spirit Of Dilovan”, sketches the different musical paths the two took over the years and finds its final form in their new collaboration with Dilovan Le Rubrique, a master in the studio and a true patchbay wizzard.

With multilayered arrangements based on different kurdish music traditions and inspired by their indivudual experiences of Pop- and Clubculture, Philippos Sîpano & The MPC Orchestra’s new album can be both perceived as diasporic Popmusic or epic dancefloor monster for experienced music lovers.

All songs were produced at Offenbach’s Upper Citycenter Studio and dedicated to all DIlovans* out there, hoping they will one day constitute the majority of all people and we will all find peace, love and habibtiness on planet earth.

* good-hearted people <3

Bep Kororoti & Akin debut on Modern Obscure Music with four Afro influenced tracks. Bep Kororoti released a self-titled mini album on Hivern Discs’ more experimental HVNX sub-label in 2016, but he is better known for making music as Kresy. Here, Kororoti is joined by Akin, who provides vocals and saxophone on this EP. Epomuyeñ is dancefloor cut with striking percussion and strong vocals, whilst Eruobodo is a sax dominated track. Ijotiya channels the spirit of Fela and Afrobeat over a spinning bassline, whilst Love is the only way has a deep spiritual vibe and a powerful vocal.

Composed as a means to map the cultural translation between Chinese culture and European traditions, Piotr Kurek’s A Sacrifice Shall Be Made / All The Wicked Scenes is comprised of pieces composed between 2016 and 2018 specifically to accompany theatre performances directed by Tian Gebing (500m and The Decalogue) and Grzegorz Jarzyna (Two Swords). Kurek attended performance rehearsals in Beijing and Shanghai, with additional preparations and recording sessions taking place back in Warsaw.

While most of Kurek’s past work is unaccompanied by other musicians or outside help, A Sacrifice Shall Be Made / All The Wicked Scenes features various Polish and Chinese musicians both from classical and experimental scene (Barbara Kinga Majewska, Grzegorz Hardej, Łukasz Rychlicki and Hubert Zemler) as well as by actors of Paper Tiger Theatre Studio from Beijing. This approach of Kurek exploring new players and places is further juxtaposed as Kurek recycled samples from his own past, including various recordings with musicians he did throughout years, found sounds from the Internet, or cannibalised old solo work.

Recorded over the course of several years, this aural report of a monumental multi-disciplinary venture is in the end an enthralled and enthralling survey of a contemporary composer who is unencumbered by geographic or cultural boundaries. Concurrently, ditching any resemblance to local musical traditions and rearranging the compositions for all three performances, Kurek has formed an architecture that allows the phases of rituals to unfold while projecting social structure assumed in myth making. The regrouping of different moments in these stories is a curious way of narrating another myth — a synthetic, polyvalent story set in a city that strangely reassembles Beijing, Giza, and Prague at the same time.

Piotr Kurek is a Warsaw based musician and composer who straddles the world of electronic music taking inspiration from various genres but fitting comfortably in none. Through his unconventional use of a wide array of instruments both electronic and acoustic, he built a reputation for himself as a qualified inventor of hypnotic worlds drenched in uncanny arrangements.

Kurek has already released a range of idiosyncratic, forward-thinking works on a variety of imprints (including but not limited to Sangoplasmo, Black Sweat Records, Hands In The Dark, Dunno Recordings, Crónica, Foxy Digitalis) and participated in numerous music festivals including Unsound, CTM, OFF, TodaysArt and UH Fest as well as participating in extensive tours in Poland and abroad. In 2014 and 2015 he opened for Bonnie “Prince” Billy’s two European mini-tours. In 2016 he has been selected as a part of Shape platform for innovative music and audiovisual art from Europe.

Included on "What It Is", one of Luv N'Haight's earliest Rare Groove compilations this Deep Funk classic has been a favorite by DJ's and collectors alike. Making the rounds in the early '90s and even getting a sample nod by The Gravediggaz, it's now available as a double A-side 7in. Heavy drums, strolling bass-line, chugging chicken-scratch rhythm guitar and finally Butch Yates' psychedelic saxophone as the final layer on top is the perfect recipe for this quintessential example of heavy Funk that will always remain part of the canon.

New fresh release on Rye Records by The Robinson. The 3
tracks' on this record are each a perfect representation of the
different facets of the duo: Soulful, self-reflective and pulsating.
Together the decisive sounds accompany melodies that take
you on a journey far away...