Forced Exposure New Releases for the Week of 7/3/2022

 

PRICE: $25.00

CAT #: 4M 7022LP

FILE UNDER: WORLD

2022 repress. "War Ina Babylon by Max Romeo & The Upsetters was originally released in 1976 by Island Records. Produced by Lee 'Scratch' Perry at his Black Ark Studio, with backing by his superb band The Upsetters, this record has Perry's trademark gritty, swampy sound while the socially and politically conscious songs and the musicians performances show all involved at the height of their powers. This is a classic of the roots era and an essential record for reggae fans. On black vinyl."

 

PRICE: $20.00

CAT #: ACOLOUR 037EP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

D'Arcangelo is the duo of Marco and Fabrizio D'Arcangelo and Arium is their first release of sublime introspective electronics for A Colourful Storm. Throughout EPs and seminal albums for Rephlex, Nature, and Suction Records, D'Arcangelo forged a sleek and sensuous sound alongside their label mates Bochum Welt, Leo Anibaldi, and Lory D. Arium is their latest EP, containing new studio productions and a lost gem produced during the Shipwreck era (1999), hinting at the seminal Broken Toys' Corner (2002) and Eksel (2007) albums. Full-color sleeve with insert and liner notes by Marco D'Arcangelo.

 

PRICE: $27.00

CAT #: ACOLOUR 038LP

FILE UNDER: EXPERIMENTAL

Princess Diana of Wales, by London-based Australian Laila Sakini, is A Colourful Storm's latest and most curious project. Someone, no one, a notion, a feeling... Sakini offers clues but no simple answers. Vocal-led pieces "Still Beach" and "Fragments of Blue" are brittle and intoxicating, contemplating recklessness and unfulfillment of a past life: "Watching the future wash away/ Giving it up to have this day". She studies closeness and, incredulous of the feelings that emerge, wonders if detachment is impermanent. She catalogs these emotions as a series of memories, colors, and images. "Evaporate", sedated and hushed, is a secret confession and ode to resolution, albeit, fatally, only a temporary one: "Take some form/ Later on when I can do this/ When we can do this/ Together". Behind the album is a stage of dubwise disorientations evoking in-between states of the everyday. "Swing" and "Closer" are woozy and dreamlike, their voices summoning ghosts of fortunes past while "Exhaust" finds an aperture in our protagonist's daydream. A perilous foreshadowing of the incantatory "Choir Chant", whose spell pacifies her inquisition, submerging both self and feeling into the deep blue sea. RIYL: Grouper, Kali Malone, Drew McDowall. Full-color sleeve with insert.

 

PRICE: $14.50

CAT #: AUK 047-10

FILE UNDER: ROCK

To coincide with the Brian Jonestown Massacre's start of their 2022 North American tour with special guests Mercury Rev this is a release of two new tracks by the band. Recorded in Berlin and remotely between 2020-2021, the opening track "The Real" is from the forthcoming album Fire Doesn't Grow On Trees. The second track "Where Do We Go From Here?" is exclusive to this release. Anton Newcombe (vocals/guitars), Ryan Carlson Van Kriedt (keyboards), Hakon Adalsteinsson (guitar), Hallberg Daði Hallbergsson (bass), and Uri Rennert (drums) play on this offering. It is 30 years since the release of their first single She Made Me/Evergreen. Released in 1992, the band continue to deliver the sound of the Brian Jonestown Massacre. Cover artwork by Anthony Ausgang.

 

PRICE: $14.50

CAT #: AUK 047B-10

FILE UNDER: ROCK

10" vinyl version. White vinyl. To coincide with the Brian Jonestown Massacre's start of their 2022 North American tour with special guests Mercury Rev this is a release of two new tracks by the band. Recorded in Berlin and remotely between 2020-2021, the opening track "The Real" is from the forthcoming album Fire Doesn't Grow On Trees. The second track "Where Do We Go From Here?" is exclusive to this release. Anton Newcombe (vocals/guitars), Ryan Carlson Van Kriedt (keyboards), Hakon Adalsteinsson (guitar), Hallberg Daði Hallbergsson (bass), and Uri Rennert (drums) play on this offering. It is 30 years since the release of their first single She Made Me/Evergreen. Released in 1992, the band continue to deliver the sound of the Brian Jonestown Massacre. Cover artwork by Anthony Ausgang.

 

PRICE: $17.50

CAT #: ACIDTEST 016EP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

Accompanying the cassette album of Lerosa's fourth full-length, Catena (AT 016CS), this heavyweight 12" features two originals from the album and two remixes from familiar faces: childhood friend Donato Dozzy and long-time fellow traveler Jordan GCZ (of Juju & Jordash). Album closer "Suite De Paris" places pitch-bent liquid acid over a huge skanking bassline, the perfect material for Dozzy to make hay with his simmering techno take. Meanwhile, album opener "Apollo" churns with industrial fervor, before Jordan GCZ reduces it down to its acid techno essence, leaving little space for you to catch your breath.

 

PRICE: $25.00

CAT #: AES 003LP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

Aesthetical in collaboration with Sync presents Detect by Marco Monfardini. Originally developed as an audio/video live performance, Marco Monfardini based his research for Detect on the decoding of inaudible sounds, sound generated by electromagnetic emissions left from electronic devices and inaudible to the human ear. By using various electro-smog detectors Marco Monfardini creates a sort of detection mapping where electromagnetic emissions are the starting point for the sonorous development of each single composition. A path that creates a parallel with our lives by questioning how much these emissions affect unconsciously our choices, tastes and perceptions, seeking a relationship between the massive use of technology in everyday life and our emotional state. The album Detect is developed in 15 tracks in continuous play, an imperfect, faulty mosaic inhabited by invisible beings manifesting themselves in the form of sound streams, mutable entities that find a definitive form in the pattern of the compositional structure. The album opens with "a[R1] detection", sounds of pure detection place themselves in the sound space giving the initial coordinates for the exploration of unconscious parallel areas. The boundaries transform and gradually expand until they flow into the structure of "kernel variations", a growing rhythmic pattern decodes the impulses projecting a perspective that dissolves in the unstable and fluctuating electromagnetic emissions of the subsequent "[a]3020t detection", "binary defect" and "core[2]". "[A.box]emission" confronts the use of sound downloaded random from internet sample banks and the emissions generated during the download itself. The first part ends with the short "[sa]6030" and "[det]x1a", absence and presence provide an alternation of movements, inaudible and elusive signals all trying to establish a contact with our perception. "det : scan" opens the second part of Detect, a sort of scanning, leaving EMF (electromagnetic field) textures, a static multilayer that progressively expands until it dissolves into the rhythmic emissions of a common smartphone "[4s]detection". The track "[rs]zone" is pushing itself deeper, two minutes of sound speleology that reveal the existence of sound artifacts that seem to vanish getting in contact with the light accented by the bass drum of "[det] 0100+" a constant, rhythmic pumping, a luminous pulsation that reveals an apparent void, which seems to subside entering in the winding and waving atmosphere of "conductive [area]" and "[s3] microfunktion". Detect comes to the end with "[emf]terminal" a mirror of the technological acceleration intercepting the flow of data that feeds the system of communication. Edition of 300.

 

PRICE: $12.50

CAT #: AES 004CD

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

New full-length album of Franck Vigroux's uncompromising signature sound of colossal electronic music. Atotal gathers material from Franck's latest live A/V of the same name. Working with his longtime visual partner Antoine Schmitt, Atotal is an audiovisual performance aiming to reconstruct in order to better deconstruct the processes of imposition of will by repetition and absolute synchronism, to propose a breach to a potentially life-saving de-coincidence. The total work of art, when pushed to its paroxysm of absolute coincidence of the perceptions of a captive spectator, is similar to the techniques of mental manipulation of totalitarian regimes, proceeding by annihilation of the critical mind, repetitive semantic pounding, subliminal messages. The ideal of a deterministic universe of Newton in which everything rationally stems from its causes, in which everything is predictable like a totality for Laplace's daemon, where everything can be considered already written, has been undermined in the infinitely small of the uncertainties of Heisenberg which tell us that it is impossible to know everything about a particle, in the quantum mechanics of Schrödinger which reveals to us that the looker affects the looked-at, and in the infinitely abstract of Gödel's incompleteness which explains to us that certain things are literally unexplainable. The show Atotal slips into these flaws and, like a clinamen of Lucretia, deviates the visual and audio atoms from their destiny. Mastering by Denis Blackham. Artwork by Mostafa Khaled.

 

PRICE: $21.00

CAT #: AKU 1010LP

FILE UNDER: WORLD

2022 restock. Music of Northern Laos, subtitled Provinces of Luang Namtha et Phongsaly. One part of Akuphone's collection of Laotian music. Includes liner notes in English, French, and Japanese and a download code. Akuphone presents a collection of recordings of various musical practices from the Laotian provinces of Champasak, Attapeu, Sekong, Saravan, Luang Namtha and Phongsaly. These documents are a perfect introduction to the traditional music of South Laos minority groups. Popular modern music is widely spread but visitors are barely ever exposed to ancient acoustic practices from villages. As a matter of fact, mouth organs of various sizes exist among the Hmong and Bit as well as amazing vocal techniques among the Lantene, Ahka, or Khmu who combine simultaneous singing and flute notes. This collection also compels one to discover the Brao gongs, the Triang bamboo flutes, the Lao, Ta Oy, Alak, OI, Pacoh, or Nyaheun mouth organs as well as the powerful singing accompanying these instruments. Caught on the spot, these outstanding testimonies were collected between 2006 and 2013 by Laurent Jeanneau, aka Kink Gong. Through his researches, this self-taught ethnologist has gradually become one of the specialists of the field, building up a collection of complete and fascinating sound archives which contribute documenting parts of this immaterial heritage. Music of Southern and Northern Laos brings some light on a region of South East Asia still largely unknown from the general audience as well as the recently reborn ethnographic musical industry. This compilation will delight both molam/khene lovers and beginners unused to South East Asian sounds.

 

PRICE: $21.50

CAT #: SD 1588LP

FILE UNDER: JAZZ

2022 restock; Exact repro reissue, manufactured by Rhino. "Though recorded in 1959, this album was not released until 1971. Featuring the classic Ornette Coleman quartet, this release is perhaps most notable for an early version of 'Free Jazz,' here called 'First Take,' the 40-minute version of which would make up his entire album of the same name from the following year."

 

PRICE: $15.50

CAT #: AUS 175EP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

Hermione Frank aka rRoxymore has spent the past decade cherry picking the labels she works with whilst building up a totally unique signature sound -- DBA, Timedance, and recently Ideophone. Hermione's Aus Music EP sounds soft and intricate yet punchy and powerful. Beautiful synth licks and crunchy drums melded together with plenty of UK attitude. A daydreamer's delight, it offers restrained weight and it's the perfect elixir for any morning dancefloor.

 

PRICE: $24.00

CAT #: BTR 052LP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

Batov Records presents a full-length foray into the musical world of Italian producer and multi-instrumentalist Ayala, with particular emphasis on his love of African music, from Afrobeat to disco. Whilst earning the support of leading DJs such as Colleen Cosmo Murphy, Dave Lee, Danny Tenaglia, J-Kriv, and DJ Rocco, Ayala has built an increasingly visible profile producing and DJ, with releases across a wide range of prolific labels, such as Compost, Hector Romero's Latin freestyle label, Orianna, and leading Italian label, Rebirth, early supporters of the likes of Tensnake, Motor City Drum Ensemble, Soul Clap, Jimmy Edgar, and Deetron. Previous to Views, Ayala worked closely with the likes of Hector Romero, remixing jazz sensation Web Web, and receiving the remix treatment himself from cosmic disco legend, Daniele Baldelli, NY party starter Nickodemus, and Italian stalwart Musumeci. Now Views sees Ayala heading deep within, into his primary loves, Afrobeat and African funk, evolving a warm and organic sound, irresistible to the ear, soul, and body. Views opens proceedings with the Afrobeat funk of "Caravan", which as Ayala remarks, "highlights the value of organic improvisation combined with groove." However, Ayala's Italian sensibility comes into play on "Adrian". For Ayala, this song feels like "an intrusion of African grooves into Italy's obscure '70s disco", offering a "feeling like smoking cigarettes and drinking champagne in a night clubin Rome." It's not all floor-filling bangers on View. The deeper side of the album is best exemplified in "Fuse". A full-bodied slow-groover, the steady Afrobeat rhythm, and bassline are complimented by laidback horns and synths. In this, his first full-length, Ayala doesn't disappoint as he looks deep within to create a new vision, fusing his musical passions and roots with an underground Italian club sensibility. For fans of: Kruder & Dorfmeister, Funky Jaws, Captain Planet, Gerardo Frisina, Nicola Conte & Gianluca Petrella, BOSQ.

 

PRICE: $27.00

CAT #: BEC 5610596

FILE UNDER: ROCK

Because Music announces the signing of French artist Aime Simone. Aime is a young singer and songwriter making flamboyant, epic, and minimalistic pop songs. Previously based in Berlin, where he crafted his sound and found his voice, Aime is now based in Paris. Since he started making music a few years ago, he has been working fully self-produced and self-distributed, amassing over ten million streams worldwide and getting a lot of attention from international fans. He released digitally only his debut album Say Yes, Say No in the summer of 2021 which includes songs such as "Shining Light" and "In The Dark Time". Following the steps of artists such as Christine and The Queens and Feu! Chatterton, he was recently awarded with the prestigious Chorus new talent prize. Because Music releases the first time physical edition of Say Yes, Say No.

 

PRICE: $15.50

CAT #: HVALUR 042CD

FILE UNDER: CLASSICAL

Manchester Collective announce the release of their second full-length album, Shades. Following their debut The Centre Is Everywhere in 2021 (HVALUR 038LP), Shades is available on CD. Featuring Edmund Finnis's first and second string quartets -- the latter commissioned and premiered by Manchester Collective -- Shades marks the next chapter of the Collective's ongoing collaboration with the British composer. Composer Edmund Finnis: "'String Quartet No. 2' (2021) begins and ends with musical ideas that were in the back of my mind in some form or other since my teens. In the process of moving house during 2020, I rediscovered some old minidiscs containing rough demo recordings I'd made nearly two decades before. At that point I didn't yet know how to realize these ideas, but listening back much later I found the seeds of what has now developed into the two outer movements of the piece. Between them come the flowing interwoven patterns of the second movement and the slow third movement, which is a lament. The piece is dedicated to my friends Rakhi Singh and Adam Szabo from Manchester Collective. It has been a joy and an inspiration for me to be able to build such a close and fruitful musical relationship with the musicians of Manchester Collective over the last few years. Something of their spirit fed into the writing of this piece. I wrote the penultimate movement of 'String Quartet No. 1' (2018) first. It is a reflection on William Byrd's setting of the fifth century hymn 'Christe, qui lux es et dies'. That ancient melody is a prayer for Light within the darkness of night. The falling and rising contours within it became integral to my work on the remaining four movements of the quartet, as did the mental image of the setting and rising of the sun. I think of these two quartets as some of the most personal and intimate pieces I have written. They are outcomes of my enduring need to communicate something that I'm incapable of fully expressing with words. I would if I could. I know that it has something to do with love." Manchester Collective's relationship with Edmund Finnis has been developing over a number of years -- Finnis's piece The Centre Is Everywhere was at the heart of the Collective's debut album and their first appearance at the BBC Proms. The musical partnership continues later in 2022 in This Savage Parade (June 16-24) featuring the world premiere of a new song cycle by Finnis set to the words of British poet Alice Oswald.

 

PRICE: $34.00

CAT #: BMR 127LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

"The trance blues stylings of Otha Turner and his Rising Star Fife And Drum Band should be a music classification unto itself, a whole new primitive take on drum and bass. This music is the oldest still-practiced post-colonial American music, and Turner was one of its greatest artists of the 20th century. Blowing the cane fife with a band of drummers as back up, The Rising Star Fife And Drum band was legendary in the hills of Tate County, Mississippi, where they would perform during the yearly goat picnics on Turner's farm. These tracks were recorded by Luther Dickinson during such picnics and released when Turner was ninety years old. Everybody Hollerin' Goat shows firsthand the hypnotic and rhythmic style of fife and drum music at its best -- raw and beautiful. It is every bit as essential a document of America's folk-music heritage as anything Harry Smith or Alan Lomax ever offered up for posterity. Turner's band included some of his children and grandchildren that have gone on to continue the fife and drum tradition since his death in 2003. This first ever vinyl release of Everybody Hollerin' Goat contains a whole side of unreleased recordings from one night of the picnic and is intended to bring the experience of hollerin' for goat in Senatobia, Mississippi to the living room. Dancing around the plants is recommended (but don't eat the pickled eggs). The entire album is remastered by legend Gary Hobish." "One of the top five blues LPs from the 90s." --David Fricke, Rolling Stone

 

PRICE: $14.50

CAT #: BORNBAD 150CD

FILE UNDER: ROCK

Wouldn't it do them justice to rid Les Calamités (literally "the calamities") of the embarrassing phrase "girl band", durably stuck to their skins and plaited skirts? It's nothing but a pink puffy cloud obscuring their true importance as a "band" full stop, as well as their fleeting though mind-bending trajectory. In just a few months going on stage with a handful of original songs recorded here and there, they became, from Dijon to Rouen, Paris to Toulouse, Bordeaux to Strasbourg, the darlings of an uncompromising rockers' demanding scene. Tolerated by some, maybe, they were also consecrated, certainly (should they have needed the accolade). The trade-off was a succession of quick and distinctive verse-choruses for which the adjectives "fresh" and "light" seemed to have been invented again. They delivered just as many covers, which gave an idea of the origins of their songwriting: one foot in the fifties (on the dancefloor), the other in the sixties (in the garage). All of this leading to their final hit, a successful incursion in the top sales with a popular song for everyone to hum at ease, from seaside campsites to the cool kids of the capital. Everything the Calamités touched, with their classy, rigorous, casual ways -- plus just enough amused detachment -- turned into gold. Small-scale, three-voice anthems sung with a style given both by arrogant innocence and cheeky ease. Without playing the cards naturally assigned to girls (sexy attitude, feminist clichés, dilettante groupism) they managed to combine a pop teen spirit with a shameless rock n' roll energy. The Calamités were however and at once, one step behind -- some kind of '50s-60s classicism -- and one ahead thanks to their writing talent and French lyrics. They lived in Beaune, Burgundy, and do so mostly uneventfully. It's the early '80s. One thing leading to another, with a repertoire made up of just as many covers as personal compositions, they find a drummer after trying many, fire up local, then national venues, befriend the Dogs and other rock n' roll bands and recorded an album, À bride abattue, for the label New Rose. Coveted by fanzines, then approached by the magazines Best and Rock & Folk, they also appear on regional then national television, from Les Enfants du Rock all the way to Platine 45 with Jacky. When all the doors seem wide open, they choose to focus on the end of their studies instead. Caroline definitely moves on, while Odile and Isabelle push things just a bit further and treat themselves to a hit that easily makes its way into the Top 50: the famous "Vélomoteur", fan-produced by Daniel Chenevez -- one-half of the successful duo Niagara and a savvy producer. Liner notes in French and English. CD version includes 36-page booklet.

 

PRICE: $20.00

CAT #: BORNBAD 150LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

LP version. Includes eight-page booklet and download code. Wouldn't it do them justice to rid Les Calamités (literally "the calamities") of the embarrassing phrase "girl band", durably stuck to their skins and plaited skirts? It's nothing but a pink puffy cloud obscuring their true importance as a "band" full stop, as well as their fleeting though mind-bending trajectory. In just a few months going on stage with a handful of original songs recorded here and there, they became, from Dijon to Rouen, Paris to Toulouse, Bordeaux to Strasbourg, the darlings of an uncompromising rockers' demanding scene. Tolerated by some, maybe, they were also consecrated, certainly (should they have needed the accolade). The trade-off was a succession of quick and distinctive verse-choruses for which the adjectives "fresh" and "light" seemed to have been invented again. They delivered just as many covers, which gave an idea of the origins of their songwriting: one foot in the fifties (on the dancefloor), the other in the sixties (in the garage). All of this leading to their final hit, a successful incursion in the top sales with a popular song for everyone to hum at ease, from seaside campsites to the cool kids of the capital. Everything the Calamités touched, with their classy, rigorous, casual ways -- plus just enough amused detachment -- turned into gold. Small-scale, three-voice anthems sung with a style given both by arrogant innocence and cheeky ease. Without playing the cards naturally assigned to girls (sexy attitude, feminist clichés, dilettante groupism) they managed to combine a pop teen spirit with a shameless rock n' roll energy. The Calamités were however and at once, one step behind -- some kind of '50s-60s classicism -- and one ahead thanks to their writing talent and French lyrics. They lived in Beaune, Burgundy, and do so mostly uneventfully. It's the early '80s. One thing leading to another, with a repertoire made up of just as many covers as personal compositions, they find a drummer after trying many, fire up local, then national venues, befriend the Dogs and other rock n' roll bands and recorded an album, À bride abattue, for the label New Rose. Coveted by fanzines, then approached by the magazines Best and Rock & Folk, they also appear on regional then national television, from Les Enfants du Rock all the way to Platine 45 with Jacky. When all the doors seem wide open, they choose to focus on the end of their studies instead. Caroline definitely moves on, while Odile and Isabelle push things just a bit further and treat themselves to a hit that easily makes its way into the Top 50: the famous "Vélomoteur", fan-produced by Daniel Chenevez -- one-half of the successful duo Niagara and a savvy producer.

 

PRICE: $19.00

CAT #: BORNBAD 153LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

LP version. Includes four-page booklet with liner notes; also includes download code. Évariste is one of the rare specimens of artist-cum-scientists. Among his kind stand others like Pierre Schaeffer, a Polytechnique graduate (an engineer but also the father of musique concrète) and the eccentric Boby Lapointe (graduate of the École centrale and inventor of the Bibi-binaire system, patented in 1968). Évariste's songwriting, joyful and full of energy (albeit extremely critical), shrouds an original tragedy: born in 1943 among résistants, Joël Sternheimer (aka Évariste) grew up without a father, lost to Auschwitz. In 1966, the young Joël sports Princeton's colorful paraphernalia, freshly returned from the country is in the midst of the Vietnam War. Joël, who's under the supervision of a rebellious physician, is dismissed. He regardless keeps following the prestigious seminaries of the Institute for Advanced Study, chaired by Oppenheimer, inventor of the atomic bomb. Likely inspired by the hippie movement and music, Joël buys a guitar and starts playing in Washington Square. Morisse is blown away by Lucien Morisse's tape and signs him onto the label right away. Michel Colombier, arranger for Serge Gainsbourg, contributes some of his original ideas to the 7" E=mc2. The organist Eddy Louis, who is to participate, in 1969, to the success of Claude Nougaro's Paris Mai (1969), also appears on the record. It's 1966 and the Antoine phenomenon (signed on Vogue) storms through France. Success comes around swiftly and in 1967 Évariste launches into a second 7", Wo I Nee, again arranged by Michel Colombier. Quantum mechanics fans finally get their anthem with "La Chasse Au Boson Intermédiaire" (Intermediary Boson Pursuit). A few months later, it's May '68 and everything's turned upside down. Évariste writes a series of songs inspired by the events, which he immediately submits to Lucien Morisse. When he hears the song "La Révolution" -- a father and son dialogue -- he can't take any more: AZ simply cannot release this. But there and then Lucien Morisse makes a gesture which will remain engraved in French music's history: sorry to be unable to officially stand by the singer, he encourages him to self-produce the record, but with his tacit support. Évariste keeps singing at the Sorbonne with "Jussieu's Gang" and "the young Renaud" he nicknames "le p'tit gavroche" (street urchin). Renaud volunteers to type the lyrics of the song "La Révolution" so that the chorus can be sung and recorded. The self-released 7" La Révolution/La Faute À Nanterre is sold under the table and door-to-door for half the price of a standard record, on and around the boulevard Saint-Michel; and it runs out fast. When the theater director Claude Confortès decides to adapt Wolinski's drawing series titled "Je Ne Veux Pas Mourir Idiot" (I don't want to die a fool), he asks Évariste to write the original soundtrack. Dominique Grange (writer of the song "Nous Sommes Les Nouveaux Partisans") soon joins the team. After 150 performances, Évariste leaves his place to Dominique Maurin (brother of Patrick Dewaere). Évariste composes the songs for Claude Confortès' next play, Je Ne Pense Qu'à Ça ("That's all I think about"), co-wrote with Wolinski in 1969. The comedians of the play record the songs on a 7". 1970 is the beginning of a decade in the course of which Évariste is to make a decisive discovery in the musical and scientific domains. Following this breakthrough, he moves away from self-produced music and gaucho magazines to focus on science.

 

PRICE: $21.00

CAT #: BYG 026LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

2022 restock. LP reissue, in gatefold sleeve. "L'Incendie is the first collaboration between Areski and Brigitte Fontaine. It's an exceptional album for BYG records. In a perfect symbiosis with Brigitte Fontaine's magnificent voice and surrealist texts, Areski creates a minimalist 'ethno-folk acoustic universe.' In the uniquely French 'dark chanteuse' genre, this is a classic. Originally released in 1974."

 

PRICE: $20.50

CAT #: BYR 038LP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

At the vanguard of Greek electronic music, Anatolian Weapons, an alias of Aggelos Baltas, has garnered praise from the likes of Lena Willikens and RA. This is a deliberately dancefloor-oriented release, with a host of long, acid-laced tracks, and some surprises. The titles offer a subtle nod to a recently passed DJ and polymath, and the remixes give a fresh feel to Aggelos's tracks, with Serbian selector AASKA and Coma World on duty. The remixes give a fresh feel to Aggelos's tracks, with AASKA breathing downtempo energy into "Only Harmony Seeds", and Byrd Out associates Coma World (Betamax and Pete Bennie) imbuing "Other Paths" with a dreamlike spirit driven by Betamax's treacle-like drumming. For fans of: Andrew Weatherall, DMX Krew, Sordid Sound System, James Shinra.

 

PRICE: $38.50

CAT #: CLAAP 022LP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

Prime Sequences is the latest album by DJ and electronic music producer GummiHz, real name Alexander Tsotsos. Alex has an ear for what he describes as elastic frequencies, thus gummi-hertz! In other words, low bass lines, airy synth phrases, and shuffle rhythms, playfully arranged within loose forms. A philosophy that comes across throughout this long player. Elements fall in and out of order, time swings back and forth, all together in perfect harmony. Pushing the boundaries of what has become his signature sound, a fusion of house and techno all the way from Berlin to Detroit. This package features underground music coming straight from the heart, or the Hertz more appropriately. The story unfolds within no less than nine tracks showcasing Alex's versatility in making waves. The opening track titled "Berlinopolis" is a sonic portrait of the city of Berlin, where Alex lives since more than a decade. A smooth soundscape produced by combining abstract melodies with field recordings of the city's ambience. "Second Wave" follows airy jazz chords and drum parts to launch the listener into trajectory. The title track "Prime Sequence" is a Detroit brewed piece with some Berlin minimalism rawness in the rhythm section. Next up comes "Submerge", a tight and hypnotic affair carrying the right amount of subtle release. "Prime Dub" dives deeper into the frequency spectrum. "Proto Sequence" follows a simple still infectious groove laced with various modulations. Inspired by proto-house motifs pioneered by artists like Chi-town's Ron Hardy. "Metafunk" reaches out to Berlin's club culture at its core. "Mindloop" is a track written for the afterhours looping state of mind. Another minimal house cut with a fair dose of psychedelic sound design. Lastly, "Descension" relaxes the mood through deep pulsating rhythms and playful arpeggios. Prime Sequences covers a wide range of styles like ambient electronics, peak time house, and techno, as well as seriously effed-up afterhours minimalism. Made for both DJs and music lovers, this is the second long player by GummiHz to come out on vinyl after his debut album Sleepless Nights back in 2009.

 

PRICE: $31.50

CAT #: CLV 005LP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

After the release of Dissidænce (Episode 1) (CLV 004CD/LP), warmly met with both critical and popular success, Vitalic keeps his promise and returns with a second instalment, darker and more techno than the first, and this time with a marked industrial aesthetic -- cold and minimal. The composition and production style have a post-cold wave heritage, something that has always been part of the artist's DNA but is now brandished with renewed pride. Dissidænce (Episode 2) opens with "Sirens", a towering tornado of synths and sweat, followed by "Dancing in the Street", "The Void", and "The Light is a Train", sparse techno boiled down to its essence -- mechanical, cold, and alarming. Tempering this hostility are moments of grace and poetry like "Marching", "Friends & Foes", and "Winter is Coming", both melodic and melancholic. A two-pronged project masterfully orchestrated by Vitalic, a strange cosmic voyage of implacable energy. 180 gram vinyl; includes download code.

 

PRICE: $17.50

CAT #: CCR 007EP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

Club Culture Rarities, the new record label exclusively dedicated to re-prints of cult and rare 12" taken form Expanded Music's labels. After their first collaboration under the alias Dreamatic, in 1992 the same team made up of Davide Rizzatti, Fabrice, and Paolo Martini got together again, this time to produce a new EP under the pseudonym of Aural. Desire was the second release of "Creative" the new label of the Expanded Music aimed at a more club audience, so the trio follows the same sound as the Dreamatic project and went even more deep and tribal. The whole production done in just a couple of days, is characterized by the sound of that era which was the deep house, passing from the vocal version of "Martini" to the "Fabrice 4 A.M. Mix": this one became a true anthem in the underground circuit and the after-hours of that period and was included in many compilations over the years. A true classic.

 

PRICE: $15.50

CAT #: COR 173EP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

Harvey McKay makes a welcome return to Cocoon Recordings with the Black Spider EP, featuring three heavy-duty cuts that spin out in a variety of directions, constructing a formidable web of peak-time mayhem in the process. "Black Spider" bites hard from the get-go with a venomous bassline that pulses and mutates through a series of precision peaks and troughs. The track kicks repeatedly, drenching the dancefloor in washes of analog noise while McKay still finds space for a barrage of clattering percussion. Haunting ambient voices and a mysterious spoken mantra add yet more texture to the cavernous, gothic atmosphere it conjures. Next up, the disconcertingly titled "Sticky Carpet" utilizes a '90s hard house vibe complete with crunching, distorted beats, and a glistening octave-jumping synth pattern that slides and constricts around the chugging bassline. However, the track really comes into its own as alternating metallic patterns start to dominate in a homage to the hi-hat, whipping the dancefloor into shape as they switch in and out, jostling relentlessly for attention. Finally, hardcore junglist tendencies take center stage on "Packed Lunch" as another rasping, doomsday bass rides the sonic spectrum, simultaneously spitting sparks and shaking the foundations to the core. Scattered arpeggios add a certain discord to the fray as the pounding breakbeat hammers out a pathway to oblivion. "Packed Lunch" definitely packs a punch, adding extra spice to an EP that's exclusively for the headstrong.

 

PRICE: $19.00

CAT #: CMSR 006EP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

Rare trance/ambient house reissue from French label Cosmocities Records -- including a remix from S.O.N.S. under his SYO moniker. Fruit of '90s cross-channel outfit Prism, the collaborative endeavor of French producer Pascal Eloy and UK-based Grant Wilkinson, the three-track EP mixes unreleased music ("Refraction"), a 1996-issued goodie ("Rain") and an exclusive remix from SYO, better known for his ambitiously retro-futuristic output under the S.O.N.S moniker. Originally released as part of Planet Dog's 1996 compilation "Feed Your Head", "Rain" retains all of its original mystique and soulful use of modern production tools -- letting a cascading flow of arpeggiated synths, stealth bass onslaughts and 303-borne trippiness pour down as a fully immersive digital shower for the senses. An unheard gem from the vault, initially written and recorded in 1995, "Refraction" pulls further dynamic traction from a bubbling drum programming and damp, urban jungle-y atmosphere -- beaming you straight back in the rave's most compelling heyday with its feverish maelstrom of fluttering bleeps, spiraling tribal motifs and faux-organic, Neo-Easternmost harmonics. Adding his ever-innovative spin to the table, SYO cuts into the flesh of the original to deliver a further syncopated and spacious version, flush with complex rhythmic sleights of hand and subtle melodic trickery throughout, bound to keep you on the edge with every bar. 25 years on since it was first designed, Prism's lasting relevancy shines bright on this all-road, bold-to-the-full trance epic that's lost nothing of its flair.

 

PRICE: $14.50

CAT #: DABBS 001EP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

Rising star Amy Dabbs delivers another huge house EP, dropping as the debut release on her brand new label Dabbs Traxx. The modern take on classic house that she's become renowned for in her recent highly-acclaimed releases permeates on every track on Four Track Mind EP, serving up Amy's trademark pacey rhythmic percussion, emotive melodies, and fat subby basslines. "Ghosts" kicks things off with ticking clocks and haunting melodies woven throughout, creating a deeply atmospheric track. It surrounds you with thick layers of pads and strings, underpinned with tear-jerking chords and vocals, sprinkled with touches of Amy's beloved Juno 106. This track relays a moving tale of facing the ghosts of your past which, alongside the powerful percussive drops of "Ghosts", is guaranteed to give the dancefloor goosebumps in more ways than one. "Til You See" takes you in an uplifting direction, with a powerful bassline blazing against a backdrop of soaring pads and delicately placed arpeggiators, leading towards a spine-tingling yet subtle vocal as the track reaches its peak. Bringing Amy's desire to create music that moves you to life, this stunning track is brimming with jubilance and optimism from beginning to end. Last but by no means least comes the EP's title track, "Four Track Mind", its nostalgic organ sounds, bouncy percussive chops and big basslines ensuring it will be a huge dancefloor moment when played out. This energetic track takes you into the heavens with its relentlessly uplifting transitions throughout, Amy's intention clearly to place you firmly in the center of the dancefloor with a massive smile on your face.

 

PRICE: $16.00

CAT #: DAMGOOD 576CD

FILE UNDER: ROCK

"Mini LP featuring outtakes and re-recorded B-sides from the Back In Mono sessions! Back In Mono, The Courettes´ third album, was critically acclaimed worldwide and made it onto numerous best-of-the-year lists in 2021. If, like us, you can't get enough of Back In Mono, here's some good news! Back in Mono - B-sides & Outtakes is coming out in June. Bringing some more 'spit 'n' snarl garage-meets-Phil Spector pop' (Mojo) in three brand new unreleased tracks. Look forward to hearing the three new smash tunes 'Daydream', 'Tough Like That' and 'Talking About My Baby', all wrapped in a new mix by 'Wall of Sound' aficionado Seiki Sato (Japan) and produced by the hit wizards Søren Christensen and C.T. Levine. Also included are the three non-album B-sides from the band's most recent singles. These B-sides have been newly spruced up with extra instrumentation. Making up the eight tracks is the inclusion of a Courettes rarity -- 'So What' was previously only available on a split single with The Jackets released on Chaputa Records back in January."

 

PRICE: $21.00

CAT #: DAMGOOD 576LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

LP version. "Mini LP featuring outtakes and re-recorded B-sides from the Back In Mono sessions! Back In Mono, The Courettes´ third album, was critically acclaimed worldwide and made it onto numerous best-of-the-year lists in 2021. If, like us, you can't get enough of Back In Mono, here's some good news! Back in Mono - B-sides & Outtakes is coming out in June. Bringing some more 'spit 'n' snarl garage-meets-Phil Spector pop' (Mojo) in three brand new unreleased tracks. Look forward to hearing the three new smash tunes 'Daydream', 'Tough Like That' and 'Talking About My Baby', all wrapped in a new mix by 'Wall of Sound' aficionado Seiki Sato (Japan) and produced by the hit wizards Søren Christensen and C.T. Levine. Also included are the three non-album B-sides from the band's most recent singles. These B-sides have been newly spruced up with extra instrumentation. Making up the eight tracks is the inclusion of a Courettes rarity -- 'So What' was previously only available on a split single with The Jackets released on Chaputa Records back in January."

 

PRICE: $21.00

CAT #: DBCD 105CD

FILE UNDER: WORLD

"Joe Gibbs Roots Reggae 1976-1977. CD debut of two of the finest roots albums of the late '70s includes many tracks new to CD. Features many of the biggest reggae hits of the roots era."

 

PRICE: $21.00

CAT #: DBCD 107CD

FILE UNDER: WORLD

"The first of a trio of newly compiled collections."

 

PRICE: $16.00

CAT #: DROID 422EP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

Three's a charm: U-Star, Noid and Droid! Of course, Dan Tyler and Conrad McDonnell have done way more than that. Better known as Idjut Boys, they were still there when the sun-of the summer of love went down and the acid house fever settled down. As remixers extraordinaire, party priests, dub poets or mirror ball hippies, they were broadening minds with labels like Discfunction and treating disco as a way of life. It's hard to imagine the British club (and music) scene without their mark. Here is their long overdue return under the Droid umbrella. Reactivated for the needs and dance nerds of today, Droid initially had been designed for straight up machine music, fierce drums, electronic body music and bass heavy melodies in 2008. Following that template, Dumme Willie sounds like a cocktail made from Prelude bonus beats, Supertronics dubs, and stand-off between George Kranz and Curt Cress. Two well-crafted takes of each "Dumme Willie" and "Schlagstock" fill the proverbial boots of said influences and equally draw for your attention. An Idjut thing indeed. Fun fidelity guaranteed.

 

PRICE: $20.00

CAT #: MND 013LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

Swedish duo Thunder Tillman come together again in healing harmony to produce a much-needed LP for troubled times. Thunder and his life coach Pony bring their spirits in sync for 40 minutes of improvised soundtracks for mental and physical wellbeing. Recorded on Stockholm's Wind Island, the pair have carefully selected specimens from their collection of vintage musical paraphernalia to channel these specific vibrations for maximum healing power. Side one is a gentle wake up call for the soul, with pipes and chimes that gently give way to mind-expanding synths and feedback echoes that sound like sun glistening off a mountain river. Those sounds lead into an electric piano and life affirming synth figure, before disintegrating into santoor strings and chants with a slight Indian flavor. It's a cosmic combination that invites relaxation and meditation, and the kind of deep breathing exercises that could turn back the clock on a host of bodily ailments. An electric piano comes back to the foreground with a bass and synth combination that drives forward with healing hands, before parting the frequencies for ear-tickling pads and voices. Rounding out the side is a chiming synth and santoor figure that brings the wandering spirit home and to rest. Side two starts up with "Cosmic Osmosis" -- a motorik drum machine beat and bass line that briefly brings to mind some of their more krautrock inspired modes across their three previous EPs, but soon collapses back into visceral synth twinkles and relaxing washes of analog tones. It's a dynamic that drives the whole record, sounds that excite the soul perhaps even the body on an atomic level, before bringing that energy down to a calming, relaxing home. There's a craftsmanship to their synthesized tones that goes beyond mere artistry, and the interplay between sounds and frequencies is especially inspired, to the point where the music practically sparkles out of the speakers. Side two closes out with harmonic chimes that could put you on a Himalayan Mountain side, and succeeds in raising the spirit, mind and body to higher plains of cosmic consciousness. The Aural Healing Program is accompanied by a 40-minute Visual Healing Program that will be unveiled in conjunction with the vinyl release. The first visual healing session featuring side B opener "Cosmic Osmosis", is already available for all to partake. Relax, let go, and let the frequencies guide you. Inlay insert included.

 

PRICE: $30.50

CAT #: EPR 004LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

2022 repress, red vinyl. Double LP version. Causa Sui's Free Ride is finally back in print after being sold out for more than a decade! The original single-LP version, released in 2007 on Elektrohasch, has been selling for ridiculous prices on Discogs and eBay. Even the CDs are sought-after collectors' items, almost impossible to find, until now. Imagine a tidal wave sweeping up from the 1960s through the 1970s, then cresting in the 1990s before finally crashing on the shore of the present; that's what Free Ride sounds like. This is the "heavy psych" album of the Causa Sui catalog, one out of only two albums they recorded with a lead singer,and the most direct-sounding collection of tracks the band has done to date. The sonic experimentation and curious song structures that also define later Causa Sui records are there (just listen to those echo-treated flutes in "Passing Breeze"), but what really ties this record together is an unashamed appreciation of the grand rock tradition of the previous four decades. One can literally feel how the young lads had been absorbing endless amounts of Blue Cheer, Led Zeppelin, Mudhoney, Black Sabbath, and Kyuss before cooking up these seven tracks. There's no shortage of killer riffs and Bonham-esque grooves. The culmination is the epic breathtaking acid-rock finale that takes up the entire second disc: the 15-minute "Newborn Road" and the 20-minute extended live version of the band's signature track "El Paraiso", captured in front of a mesmerized crowd at Roadburn on the very day Free Ride was released. It's impossible not feel swept away by the Hendrixian glory of these two cuts, as they fly from tranquil noodlings to the most thunderous peaks. This is the kind of album where one dropa the needle and rides it all the way to the end, as if overwhelmed by an awesome natural force. Includes 20-minute bonus track recorded live at the Roadburn Festival in 2007. Remastered by Jonas Munk.

 

PRICE: $11.50

CAT #: FTR 695CD

FILE UNDER: ROCK

"Jeffrey Alexander is one of those guys whose brain and hands are constantly in motion whether working with bands, doing solo stuff, installations, paintings, label shit... whatever. Anyway, he's always a pleasure to work with, and we have done so on many occasions. That said, I sorta feel as though this new CD might be closer to taking a walk through Jeffrey's head than anything else I've heard. Flutterings was done using guitars, keys, percussion, electronics and gimcracks of all descriptions. The pieces were created specifically to be used inside the Tactile Dome at San Francisco's Exploratorium, which is one of the more delightful places yet invented by humans. The Dome itself is almost like a sensory deprivation maze, pitch black, through which you feel your way before being popped back out into the light. This music was broadcast inside the darkness, so that folks would have a way to orient themselves via sound. Cool idea, and cooler music. Although they don't really share any common construction details, this music puts me in mind of Ned Lagin's Seastones project (IMPREC 479LP), maybe with a little Hooteroll stirred in. What they all share is a sense of occupying middle ground between 'serious' music and purely stoned improvisation. Even though you understand on some level this shit is being done with compositional intent, there's a looseness to the details that makes it a very fine album to just space out to. Melodies aren't the point so much as harmonics and a general flow that will not be stanched. It is a very fine soundtrack for losing your ego, if you know what I mean. The material on Flutterings was recorded in the mid-Teens, but only really got assembled for release during the Lockdown. Proof again, that lots of good things have been happening in the background, no matter how dire the foreground can appear. A lesson worth remembering." --Byron Coley, 2022

 

PRICE: $15.50

CAT #: FEELI 004EP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

International Feel founder and guru of the sunset soundtrack, Mark Barrott returns with a new EP entitled Travelling Music. After spending the last few years writing and producing for other people, Mark is focusing his creative efforts inwards & rediscovering his own musical compass, calling it "the best medicine and therapy there is". It's this energy he looks forward to sharing via a number of releases over the coming months, including a new La Torre compilation, a series of Bandcamp only releases, the soundtrack to a new Japanese documentary (??) and this new vinyl release, Travelling Music. He refers to the title track as Balearic trance. Not in the overblown Dutch sense, but trance as a metaphor/mechanism for an altered state, through hypnotic unraveling synth lines and a dash of wonkiness thrown in for good measure. Elsewhere on the EP, "Arcade Scene" flexes its melodic Italo dance moves with a slight nod to New Order, but a version of the group that's beamed in from an alternate reality, where The Haçienda was called Il Tesoro and relocated to Ancona via a Gerd Janson DJ set circa 1991. "Chillin' 4 Work" channels Aphex Twin from his easy listening Gentle People remix era, with added Sketches from an Island/Ry Cooder-esque guitars and the reprise of "Travelling Music" already feels like a La Torre sunset classic, bouncing with sequenced polyrhythmic arpeggios, before gently evaporating into a Vangelis-meets-Edgar Froese heat haze. As with most of his work, Barrott calls this folk music -- the telling of stories from everyday life and being Ibizan in origin, there are always a lot of varied and crazy stories to tell, but this chapter in particular feels like a deep burnt therapeutic transmission straight from the heart.

 

PRICE: $28.50

CAT #: FKR 111LP

FILE UNDER: SOUNDTRACK

From deep in the heart of Moomin valley, frozen in time for many midwinters passed, comes a genuine treasure chest of never heard Moomin melodies and instrumental comet songs composed for the continued animated adventures of the fuzzy-felt freak folk friends who disappeared from UK TV pastures in the mid-1980s. From the top of the Hobgoblin's Hat and the bottom of Snufkin's satchel, original Moomin's composer Graeme Miller (The Carrier Frequency) kindly shares this patchwork selection of spellbinding sound poems and percussive peons made using the very same selection of ocarinas, kalimbas, miniature squeak boxes, Wasp-y synths, cornflake box shakers and a seemingly endless array of talent and lo-fi home studio trickery. Regarded as one of the most enigmatic, beguiling and haunting imported children's programs to ever grace UK TV screens, The Moomins was one of the first-ever commissions by Anne Wood (The Teletubbies) who ingeniously replaced the original Polish/Austrian/Finnish soundtrack with homemade music experiments by unknown post-punk theater students Graeme Miller and Steve Shill (aka The Commies From Mars) who after the screening of two unforgettable series in 1983 and 1985 were left in eager anticipation of rescoring further Moomin adventures with new melodies, arrangements and sound designs which then lingered in the ether waiting until the Groke awoke and Snorkmaiden sang once more. With future felt adventures screened exclusively in Poland and Germany for many years (often as feature films) these unheard recordings are the only genuine musical sequel to the bizarre UK version of The Moomins and stand as important inclusions the Graeme Miller's own portfolio of theatrical theme music and sound installations as part of The Impact Theatre Cooperative including collaborations with artists and writers such as Russell Hoban. Witnessed in fragmented form during a short run of incredible rare live screenings at The Barbican Theatre and various film festival this record marks the first time this music has been heard in its original full-length form, free from sound effects, dialogue and whimpers of euphoric joy and nostalgia from those who have continued to crave the company of the Moomin trolls and their mysterious music over the last five decades.

 

PRICE: $28.00

CAT #: GET 51457LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

"Well before Shuggie Otis cut his debut album, musicianship and performance had long been a part of his life. The son of rhythm and blues legend Johnny Otis, Shuggie learned to play guitar as early as the age of two, and performed professionally with his father's band at eleven. Throughout his long and illustrious career he'd performed on records for the likes of Frank Zappa, Al Kooper, Etta James, and George Duke, to name a few. In spite of all this, widespread mainstream success eluded Shuggie for much of his career. His most famous release to date is his 1974 album Inspiration/Information, which would experience new resurgent life in the 2000s. Those willing to dig a little deeper however, would discover hidden gold in his earlier releases, especially in the album directly before Inspiration/Information, his sophomore 1971 release Freedom Flight. As with his debut, Freedom Flight was produced by Shuggie's father Johnny Otis, and built upon the distinct sounds of his debut album: lush, baroque, string section arrangements, paired with hard funk rhythms, and funky blues melodies, with the majority of the instruments once again performed by Shuggie himself. The album also features backing from premium session greats like George Duke and Aynsley Dunbar, and the track 'Strawberry Letter 23' which became a monster hit for The Brothers Johnson three years later. Freedom Flight is a treasure of deft, technical skill, and virtuosic composition."

 

PRICE: $17.00

CAT #: MVD 10295DVD

FILE UNDER: Misc

"20,000 Days On Earth is an inventive, lyrical ode to creativity and an intimate examination of the artistic process of musician and cultural icon Nick Cave. In their debut feature directors Iain Forsyth & Jane Pollard fuse drama and documentary, weaving a staged day in Cave's life with never-before-seen verité observation of his creative cycle."

 

PRICE: $25.00

CAT #: MVD 10296BR

FILE UNDER: Misc

Blu-ray version. "20,000 Days On Earth is an inventive, lyrical ode to creativity and an intimate examination of the artistic process of musician and cultural icon Nick Cave. In their debut feature directors Iain Forsyth & Jane Pollard fuse drama and documentary, weaving a staged day in Cave's life with never-before-seen verité observation of his creative cycle."

 

PRICE: $29.50

CAT #: GODUNK 081LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

LP version. Tripe. It's what graces the cover of Cassels' third album, A Gut Feeling. It looks gross. And Cassels are a rock band who've often sounded gross. You know the adjectives. "Discordant". "Angular". "Cynical". Shellac quickly mentioned. Listening to A Gut Feeling, though, Cassels sound different. Not too different -- the molten riff of advance single "Mr Henderson Coughs" puts paid to the idea that the London-based duo have taken a hard 180. But instead of writing as quickly as possible, the Covid-19 pandemic gave the brothers Beck (Jim, guitar/vocals, and Loz, drums/BVs) some time to mull things over. Instead of sticking with the stripped-back recording approach of previous LPs, Jim and Loz spent time at Tom Hill's Bookhouse Studios in South London, considering tone, layering tracks, and bringing new instruments into the fold. Lyrically, the approach has changed too. Rather than presented as personal experience, Jim notes that his words this time around "are an intentionally muddy mix of experience, opinion, red herrings and fiction." The result is the most satisfying and unexpected collection of songs in the Cassels catalog. Instruments at turns razor-sharp and bludgeon-blunt provide the backing track to a savage, hilarious, and tender collection of short stories. Jim notes that "writing can be a great way of unearthing hang-ups and becoming acquainted with your own anxieties." Hardly new ground for a rock band, but presented in this third person format -- unbiased and filled to the brim with human warmth -- these songs are more empathetic than anything the band have written before. It's clear that the band still aren't afraid to tackle weighty subjects too, with A Gut Feeling picking up where their previous album, The Perfect Ending (2019), left off. "Charlie Goes Skiing" pulls a similar trick to Future of the Left's "Goals in Slow Motion" -- setting a screed against consumerism to one of the most propulsive, catchy tracks on the record. It's followed by "Dog Drops Bone", a rustling loop overlaid with sad, simple chords reminiscent of a Sparklehorse tune, which uses the internal monologue of a beloved canine companion to question the true depth and sincerity of human relationships. This kicks into the breakneck "Beth's Recurring Dream" -- a track exploring a sexual identity crisis which owes as much to early Los Campesinos! as it does Steve Albini. Of "Your Humble Narrator", the album's punishing, pulsing opener and A Gut Feeling's thematic frame.

 

PRICE: $16.00

CAT #: GBVI 115CD

FILE UNDER: ROCK

"Tremblers And Goggles By Rank marks a new phase in Robert Pollard's songwriting evolution. His songs have always included non-traditional approaches to form and song structure, but with this album, he has pushed it further than ever. While the familiar Guided By Voices pop-craft and melodic virtuosity always occupies center stage, the first-time listener will never be able to predict what's coming next in a song. 'Alex Bell' and 'Focus On The Flock' are the two anchors, each one expansive and filled with rock grandeur, and both exemplifying the complex wordplay, melodies, and structures that are hallmarks of the album. GBV's latest batch of brilliant songs ride on colorful psychedelic flourishes and brash post-punk textures that make this ten-song album a one-of-a-kind head trip. While there are hooks and earworms aplenty within, this album is a complex and kaleidoscopic journey, representing a new echelon in the Guided By Voices universe. It represents another level of songwriting and performance from the group. It plays out like an intricate and powerful collage, in a very multicolored and multi-faceted fashion; a work grand in scale and undertaking. There are triumphant and glorious choruses, deep and dark wormholes, sinewy twists and turns, bold and theatrical bravados, massive cliffs, plateaus, peaks, and valleys -- these emotional landscapes reach new and unexpected heights along the way."

 

PRICE: $22.00

CAT #: GBVI 115LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

LP version. "Tremblers And Goggles By Rank marks a new phase in Robert Pollard's songwriting evolution. His songs have always included non-traditional approaches to form and song structure, but with this album, he has pushed it further than ever. While the familiar Guided By Voices pop-craft and melodic virtuosity always occupies center stage, the first-time listener will never be able to predict what's coming next in a song. 'Alex Bell' and 'Focus On The Flock' are the two anchors, each one expansive and filled with rock grandeur, and both exemplifying the complex wordplay, melodies, and structures that are hallmarks of the album. GBV's latest batch of brilliant songs ride on colorful psychedelic flourishes and brash post-punk textures that make this ten-song album a one-of-a-kind head trip. While there are hooks and earworms aplenty within, this album is a complex and kaleidoscopic journey, representing a new echelon in the Guided By Voices universe. It represents another level of songwriting and performance from the group. It plays out like an intricate and powerful collage, in a very multicolored and multi-faceted fashion; a work grand in scale and undertaking. There are triumphant and glorious choruses, deep and dark wormholes, sinewy twists and turns, bold and theatrical bravados, massive cliffs, plateaus, peaks, and valleys -- these emotional landscapes reach new and unexpected heights along the way."

 

PRICE: $16.00

CAT #: HEIST 061EP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

Dam Swindle are back on Heist Recordings and coming in hot with a series of three releases in 2022 to celebrate a decade of Dam Swindle. The aptly titled Keep On Swindling EPs form a collection of classic DS tracks that have been re-engineered and remixed as well as new material from the Dutch duo. The first EP features two new originals, a stellar rework of "The Break Up" by rising UK jazz star Emma-Jean Thackray and a 2022 mix of their 2014 hit: "64 Ways" featuring Mayer Hawthorne. The EP kicks off with "Body Control": A fresh DS production that has all the elements in there to become their next club hit. A tight garage groove smothered in congas forms the basis for this track along with its deep repetitive bassline. It's the musical elements that make this track really stand out though. There's swinging offbeat synth hits, sample chops, lush pads and vibrant arpeggios building momentum for dancers to lose their shit (or their body control) to, every time this track is played. "The Break Up" -- originally part of the first release on Heist back in 2013 -- has only been remixed once in that same year by Max Graef. The track now gets a full makeover courtesy of the amazingly talented Emma-Jean Thackray, who has been playing the original in her sets for since day one. Her version is loaded with newly recorded parts -- vocals and horns included - and gives the original an amazing live jazz twist. On the flip, the duo offers a 2022 mix of their track "64 Ways" featuring Mayer Hawthorne. "64 Ways" was originally released as part of their album Boxed Out in 2014 (DIRT 006CD/LP) and was their first venture into vocal collaborations. None other than Mayer Hawthorne -- a serious house-head himself -- came over to Amsterdam to record the track and it was an instant hit. Now, with some new engineering done, the guys have dusted off their old project to great effect. The 2022 mix makes this track sound warm, powerful and well rounded, giving new life to this DS classic. The final track of the EP is "All I Want"; the second production on this record that sees Dam Swindle deliver a track that has "summer festival" written all over it; synth stabs, diva vocals, acid lines and a huge breakdown included.

 

PRICE: $19.50

CAT #: HONEY 022LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

2022 repress. A fantastic collection focusing on Aretha Franklin hits from the period 1960-62. That's when she started to gain fame as a unique and powerful singer who later became world-known as the Queen of Soul. A great selection of songs full of all the essential ingredients that will inform the development of soul, gospel, and R&B. The perfect introduction to the spirit and art of the unforgettable Lady Soul.

 

PRICE: $20.00

CAT #: ITR 365EP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

"In The Red is proud to announce the 12-inch vinyl release of six songs from The Linda Lindas' early recording sessions on beautiful color vinyl variants that were specifically picked by each member of the band. The group released the tracks digitally a year ago and have since become instant sensations when their song 'Racist, Sexist Boy' went viral -- now everyone knows how awesome they are. In The Red were already huge fans of the band and are thrilled to be giving these songs the vinyl treatment. This release will be priming the pump for their debut album which will be out later in 2022 on Epitaph." "I first had my mind blown by The Linda Lindas at a Save The Music in Chinatown Event. The series of concerts was meant to raise funds for the music program at Castelar Elementary School in Chinatown. At that point, the girls played covers of popular punk songs and traded instruments. They played with skill, joy and zero pretense. The children in the audience danced and chased each other around to the music. As I recall, the old timers in the audience included OG members of the Adolescents, the Dils, the Zeros, the Alley Cats, Nervous Gender, and of course the Bags. We were all smiling from ear to ear during the entire set, recognizing that punk spirit of fearlessness and an eagerness to take on the world." --Alice Bag

 

PRICE: $22.50

CAT #: ILG 006LP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

Sorog's six-track EP Prigioniero Notturno on Infoline.

 

PRICE: $24.00

CAT #: KRXN 018LP

FILE UNDER: EXPERIMENTAL

Melancholic energy blast from Gran Canaria's cult trio, MINIATURa, helmed by Eduardo Briganty. Formed in Las Palmas in 2007 and with three records under their belt, Music Box (2007), La Huida Concéntrica (2012), and Estrategias de Perdicio?n (2015), the trio now unleashes its fourth album with a distillation of Briganty's musical and artistic references, coming like a cross of concept album and an unintentional imaginary soundtrack to a David Lynch flick -- an island version of a depressed or irate David Lynch. Featuring deep rock workouts to somnambulant ballads, Geometri?a Prohibida presents itself like a statement from the band, a crystallization of the bands intentions with a concise and precise 26 minutes of masterfully produced music showcasing the kind of restrain you'd expect from past giants like Joy Division, Neu!, or Scott Walker. The hallmarks of krautrock and shoegazing/dream pop haunt this record like a benevolent force, another unique reference of music made through an insular lens of remoteness that Keroxen drives to showcase to the world. More unobvious island music to the outer world.

 

PRICE: $33.00

CAT #: KRXN 024LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

Spectacular mystical jazz infused psychedelics from Canary Islands' cult band GAF. Using a series of different add-ons to their (already obscure) band acronym GAF (Grifa Ambient Factory) such as Love Supreme Arkestra or GAF & La Estrela de la Muerte amongst a few, the Tenerife based band illustrate clearly what mutation or influence they're feeding through (their mind) by the judicious use of these referential add-ons. Rotating around the vision of local lynchpin, Mladen Kurajica aka Bonni, Keroxen label head, festival organizer, producer and musician with numerous projects including helming the GAF outfit. The Love Supreme Arkestra variation here being the more Coltrane leaning (Alice rather than John) and Sun Ra-esque influenced thematic of the six-piece band. Over a series of seven huge sounding themes, you can hear twirling saxophones, trumpets, marimbas, modulars, and rhythmic sections intertwining like flying spiral snakes over a burning sea of lava. Recorded live and freely over a completely improvised jam session on a sunny afternoon in the mountainous region of La Esperanza in Tenerife, the band lets rip free of any previous albums particular sound choosing instead to purge into a world of musical liberation by embracing the aforementioned pioneers of the genre whilst unconsciously absorbing in their surroundings -- as an additional inspiration for musical freedom. The result really shines through its 74 minutes of mind-blowing adventurous music. A journey to the peaks of the Teide Volcano and down the green valleys, into the blue and black volcanic coasts of liberation. For fans of Sun Ra, Alice Coltrane, free spiritual jazz. Presented in a gatefold sleeve with two beautiful paintings by Tenerife painter, Sema Castro.

 

PRICE: $13.50

CAT #: KSCD 088CD

FILE UNDER: WORLD

Jackie Mittoo, organ and piano maestro, was not only a founding member of the legendary Jamaican ska group The Skatalites, but through the course of Jamaican music's long history has produced a body of work under his own name and of that with his various group incarnations including, the Soul Brothers, Soul Vendors, and the Sound Dimension. His distinctive organ and piano sound and musical arrangements have all played a major part in Jamaica's musical history. Two Kingston bands that he played with, the Rivals and the Sheiks, brought Mittoo to the attention of Studio 1's founder Coxsone Dodd. Dodd was putting a group of musicians together to be his studio band and asked Jackie to join what would become Jamaica's foremost band, The Skatalites. The band ruled the Jamaican scene between 1964-1965 and is credited as inventing the ska sound. 1965 saw The Skatalites disband, and Jackie Mittoo move on to his next musical project, The Soul Brothers. Formed with fellow Skatalite, Roland Alphonso, this band would back all of Mittoo's hits coming out of Studio 1 for the next three years. Around this time Jackie also had his own single released, a ska underground classic called "Got My Bugaloo". It also features Jackie in the unusual role for him, as lead singer. 1966 saw the ska sound evolve into rocksteady, again with Jackie's band at the helm, and his first hit single the rocksteady cut "Ram Jam". The single's success led to a solo career and album releases under his own name. In 1967, the hits at Studio 1 were still flowing when The Soul Brothers morphed into the Soul Venders and began backing such luminaries as Ken Boothe, Alton Ellis, Delroy Wilson, The Heptones, The Wailers, and more. By 1968, Jamaican music was ready for another change, and rocksteady rolled into a slower groove soon to be called reggae. Jackie Mittoo would be at the forefront with his latest band the Sound Dimension. Being the house band at Studio 1 they backed all the leading names of the time. Jackie Mittoo emigrated in the late '60s to Canada but traveled to Jamaica and London to record with many of the big names. Producers such as Bunny Lee and Sugar Minott used Jackie Mittoo's services. For this release, Kingston Sounds have put together a selection of some of his finest recordings done with legendary reggae producer Bunny Lee. 1970s cuts that feature Jackie's numerous talents, showing his ability to embellish tracks with a feel few could better. CD version includes four bonus tracks.

 

PRICE: $20.50

CAT #: KSLP 088LP

FILE UNDER: WORLD

LP version. Jackie Mittoo, organ and piano maestro, was not only a founding member of the legendary Jamaican ska group The Skatalites, but through the course of Jamaican music's long history has produced a body of work under his own name and of that with his various group incarnations including, the Soul Brothers, Soul Vendors, and the Sound Dimension. His distinctive organ and piano sound and musical arrangements have all played a major part in Jamaica's musical history. Two Kingston bands that he played with, the Rivals and the Sheiks, brought Mittoo to the attention of Studio 1's founder Coxsone Dodd. Dodd was putting a group of musicians together to be his studio band and asked Jackie to join what would become Jamaica's foremost band, The Skatalites. The band ruled the Jamaican scene between 1964-1965 and is credited as inventing the ska sound. 1965 saw The Skatalites disband, and Jackie Mittoo move on to his next musical project, The Soul Brothers. Formed with fellow Skatalite, Roland Alphonso, this band would back all of Mittoo's hits coming out of Studio 1 for the next three years. Around this time Jackie also had his own single released, a ska underground classic called "Got My Bugaloo". It also features Jackie in the unusual role for him, as lead singer. 1966 saw the ska sound evolve into rocksteady, again with Jackie's band at the helm, and his first hit single the rocksteady cut "Ram Jam". The single's success led to a solo career and album releases under his own name. In 1967, the hits at Studio 1 were still flowing when The Soul Brothers morphed into the Soul Venders and began backing such luminaries as Ken Boothe, Alton Ellis, Delroy Wilson, The Heptones, The Wailers, and more. By 1968, Jamaican music was ready for another change, and rocksteady rolled into a slower groove soon to be called reggae. Jackie Mittoo would be at the forefront with his latest band the Sound Dimension. Being the house band at Studio 1 they backed all the leading names of the time. Jackie Mittoo emigrated in the late '60s to Canada but traveled to Jamaica and London to record with many of the big names. Producers such as Bunny Lee and Sugar Minott used Jackie Mittoo's services. For this release, Kingston Sounds have put together a selection of some of his finest recordings done with legendary reggae producer Bunny Lee. 1970s cuts that feature Jackie's numerous talents, showing his ability to embellish tracks with a feel few could better.

 

PRICE: $24.00

CAT #: KRANK 234LP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

LP version. "Jacob Long's third Earthen Sea outing for Kranky, Ghost Poems, further refines his fragile, fractured palette into fluttering arrythmias of dust, percussion, and yearning. Composed during the first wave of lockdowns in New York, the pieces took shape patiently from samples of piano, texture, and domestic sounds (sink splashing, room tone, clinking objects), filtered through live FX to imbue them with an intuitive, immaterial feel. Wisps of melody splinter, shimmer, and refract, like light on water; pulses accrue and dissipate, as if mapping shifting sands. Throughout, there's a sense of matter made animate, of absences felt. Long cites notions of 'the studio as a dub instrument' and the melancholy of '7th chords on a fake Rhodes patch' as central elements in his process, transforming raw materials into rare thresholds of symbiosis and hypnosis. This is music for night skies in hollowed-out cities, for views across rivers towards unknown shores: restless, placeless, and profound."

 

PRICE: $22.50

CAT #: KRY 025LP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

The great wealth of multifaceted skills is Ralph Heidel's core identity, evident in the attempt to classify his music into a genre. Drone jazz, organic glitch, neo-classical, jazztronica, all these terms apply when we read about his music. He began his career as a saxophonist and by now has also become a highly requested composer and arranger for a wide variety of productions. The 28-year-old musician was signed by Mathias Modica for the Kryptox label, while he was still studying at the Musikhochschule München. Heidel released his debut album Moments of Resonance (2019) with his eight-piece ensemble Homo Ludens, followed by his EP Relief (2021). This grandiose prelude received applause on an international level. From neo-classical and ambient artists like Carlos Cipa and Josin, to German Indie acts like Drangsal and All diese Gewalt, Ralph Heidel has been featured on many albums. His wide range of artistic ability and curiosity was also demonstrated by his collaboration with a big star of the German rap scene, Tarek. Ralph Heidel rearranged the album Golem for a chamber music ensemble. The Golem Sessions album then, was released in 2020. Thanks to Heidel's precise work, it has been proven that rap and a chamber music ensemble, ambient and trap can complement each other. Heidel's name became well-known within the scene which finally made him 2022 the musical director of Casper, one of the most famous rappers in Germany, and his band. The official tour will start in March 2022 under Ralph Heidel's leadership. However, Ralph Heidel's creative drive seems to be inexhaustible. Which now made him finish his new album Modern Life. Together with one of the currently most important indie and pop producers, Max Rieger, Heidel created his latest masterpiece. Modern Life is the further development of the compositional debut album Moments of Resonance and the predominantly electronic EP Relief. The piano and the string arrangements are back. He uses a vintage piano from the 1960s, which he recorded in his apartment in Berlin. Its distinctive character delivers an outstanding mood to the album. The result is an unmistakable sound that, in combination with his main instrument, the alto saxophone, bears Ralph Heidel's hallmark. As further components he uses small-scale, organic percussion, soft synthesizer surfaces, noisy loops and fragmented vocal samples. "Admiring" features Plateau Green. For fans of: Olafur Arnalds, Nils Frahm, Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith, Four Tet, Floating Points.

 

PRICE: $28.50

CAT #: MUS 252LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

New York's Straw Man Army return with SOS, the follow-up to their 2020 debut LP, Age of Exile (DM4T 001LP). Emerging from the D4MT Labs group that also includes Kaleidoscope and Tower 7, Straw Man Army's delicate musical touch, embrace of melody, and rapid-fire, clearly articulated vocals separate them from the louder and noisier end of New York's fertile punk scene. While Age of Exile examined the legacy of colonialism through the musical milieu of melodic anarcho-punk, SOS turns its attention to the increasingly bleak prospects for the human race and planet Earth. While Straw Man Army's lyrical approach remains dense and thought provoking on SOS, their musical scope grows wider, encompassing Age of Exile's melodic take on anarcho, bleak and brooding post-punk, psychedelic instrumental excursions, and even the wistful pop of album highlight "Beware". SOS is everything Straw Man Army's fans could have hoped for in a follow-up and so much more, cementing the band's status as one of the most original, exciting, and important groups in the contemporary punk underground.

 

PRICE: $18.00

CAT #: BJR 069CD

FILE UNDER: WORLD

Les Disques Bongo Joe present brand new sounds from the cutting-edge of the 21st century Istanbul underground by powerhouse Turkish trio Lalalar. Riding a wave of fierce energy and acclaim generated by their show-stopping festival performances at Le Guess Who and Trans Musicales, they now unleash their hotly-anticipated debut album, Bi Cinnete Bakar. The brainchild of three of Turkey's most active and innovative alternative artists -- Ali Güçlü ?im?ek, Barlas Tan Özemek, and Kaan Düzarat -- the album is a thrilling mix of punk energy, dark electronics and Turkish instrumentation and samples. You can learn a lot from the names bands give themselves --and Lalalar is no exception. Principal songwriter, Ali Güçlü ?im?ek, explains: "Lala is the wise man, the teacher of sultans in Ottoman history. And at the same time, in slang, the one who doesn't know what he is talking about." Make it plural by adding "lar," and you've got a moniker that might translate as "the wiseguys," delivered with a punkish sneer. That's the kind of streetwise, confrontational attitude that crackles through Lalalar's first, uncompromising full-length offering. For listeners whose knowledge of Turkish music extends only as far as '70s Anatolian rock, Lalalar might come as a surprise. Though ?im?ek suggests that those psychedelic classics are "in the veins" of all three members, Lalalar are much more than just another retro outfit. Instead, they weave subtle samples of timeless Turkish folk music into their electronic stews. Listen to how "Abla Deme Lazim Olur" begins with a flash of Arabesque strings before hunkering into a lumbering industrial-funk groove. But for all their brooding mystery, Lalalar are anything but a bunch of shoe-gazing introverts. Over the last few years, they've forged a formidable reputation for their wildly ecstatic live performances. Just as the UK's '70s punk scene was fueled by youthful discontent with Margaret Thatcher's Conservative government, Turkish youth living under President Erdo?an's rule are hungry for new sounds. All three members of Lalalar have been active on this scene for years but, although they've been friends since way back, they didn't start playing together till spring 2018. It was a long overdue meeting of minds, with a deep foundation of mutual respect. ?im?ek and guitarist Barlas Tan Özemek first worked together in 2014 on the debut album of another doyen of the current Turkish scene, singer Gaye Su Akyol. For fans of: Scalping, Altin Gün, Yin Yin, Los Bitchos.

 

PRICE: $34.00

CAT #: BJR 069LP

FILE UNDER: WORLD

Double LP version. Les Disques Bongo Joe present brand new sounds from the cutting-edge of the 21st century Istanbul underground by powerhouse Turkish trio Lalalar. Riding a wave of fierce energy and acclaim generated by their show-stopping festival performances at Le Guess Who and Trans Musicales, they now unleash their hotly-anticipated debut album, Bi Cinnete Bakar. The brainchild of three of Turkey's most active and innovative alternative artists -- Ali Güçlü ?im?ek, Barlas Tan Özemek, and Kaan Düzarat -- the album is a thrilling mix of punk energy, dark electronics and Turkish instrumentation and samples. You can learn a lot from the names bands give themselves --and Lalalar is no exception. Principal songwriter, Ali Güçlü ?im?ek, explains: "Lala is the wise man, the teacher of sultans in Ottoman history. And at the same time, in slang, the one who doesn't know what he is talking about." Make it plural by adding "lar," and you've got a moniker that might translate as "the wiseguys," delivered with a punkish sneer. That's the kind of streetwise, confrontational attitude that crackles through Lalalar's first, uncompromising full-length offering. For listeners whose knowledge of Turkish music extends only as far as '70s Anatolian rock, Lalalar might come as a surprise. Though ?im?ek suggests that those psychedelic classics are "in the veins" of all three members, Lalalar are much more than just another retro outfit. Instead, they weave subtle samples of timeless Turkish folk music into their electronic stews. Listen to how "Abla Deme Lazim Olur" begins with a flash of Arabesque strings before hunkering into a lumbering industrial-funk groove. But for all their brooding mystery, Lalalar are anything but a bunch of shoe-gazing introverts. Over the last few years, they've forged a formidable reputation for their wildly ecstatic live performances. Just as the UK's '70s punk scene was fueled by youthful discontent with Margaret Thatcher's Conservative government, Turkish youth living under President Erdo?an's rule are hungry for new sounds. All three members of Lalalar have been active on this scene for years but, although they've been friends since way back, they didn't start playing together till spring 2018. It was a long overdue meeting of minds, with a deep foundation of mutual respect. ?im?ek and guitarist Barlas Tan Özemek first worked together in 2014 on the debut album of another doyen of the current Turkish scene, singer Gaye Su Akyol. For fans of: Scalping, Altin Gün, Yin Yin, Los Bitchos.

 

PRICE: $15.00

CAT #: LIB 5013CD

FILE UNDER: ROCK

"'60s Brit band The Troggs are garage music forefathers and are cited as influences on numerous alternative and punk bands such as The MC5, R.E.M., The Buzzcocks, The Fleshtones and countless others. Their classic rock hit 'Wild Thing' is an international classic covered numerously from Jimi Hendrix, X, Fancy, and Siouxsie & The Creatures. Other songs are revered and often covered including 'Love Is All Around', 'With A Girl Like You' and 'I Can't Control Myself'. The band recorded four studio albums in the '60s before a hiatus in the early '70s. They recorded two albums in the mid-part of the decade with The Troggs Tapes (not be confused with the legendary spoken word tapes) in 1976. This 12-track album has a '70s glam-punk sound with raucous tracks like 'Supergirl' and 'Down South to Georgia' along with cover versions of Rufus Thomas's 'Walkin' the Dog' and Brendon Dunning's 'Rock and Roll Little Lady'."

 

PRICE: $16.00

CAT #: LIB 5075CD

FILE UNDER: ROCK

"It's hard to let go of a good thing. More than four decades after the Mutants first appeared on the San Francisco underground music scene, four of the original members are still playing shows together under that name in 2022. After all, mutants are known to mutate, and that's what this colorful, energetic musical collective has been doing off and on since 1977. Perhaps even more surprisingly, the sessions for their lone album, 1982's Fun Terminal, continue to bring forth lost nuggets. In punk and new wave lore, Fun Terminal is considered a troubled project. Prior to the album's appearance, the Mutants had released only one 7-inch single -- 1980s' The Mutants EP -- and the band also had songs featured on two local compilations. Both the EP and one of the compilations were issued by 415 Records, the legendary Bay Area indie that made the jump from the new wave trenches to the majors when they signed a deal with Columbia Records in 1981. Many scenesters felt that the Mutants should have begun album sessions for 415 immediately after the EP, but that didn't happen. Each of the 14 tracks on the new collection, Curse Of the Easily Amused" has either been remixed, or sourced from previously unreleased tapes. 'From the band's point of view, each cut is a substantially different version than what might have appeared before,' explains current Mutants bassist and project producer Peter Conheim. Eight songs have never been officially released on vinyl or CD in any form. The versions of 'Think Think Think' and 'Tribute to Russ Meyer' feature radically different approaches than what was heard on the Fun Terminal reissue. We recently rediscovered a tape reel that included those songs. The Mutants discarded or forgot about a ridiculous amount of music during its first eight years. Audio quality for all the tracks here is superior to anything that's come before. No overdubs were used in preparing this release."

 

PRICE: $24.00

CAT #: LIB 5076LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

LP version. "'60s Brit band The Troggs are garage music forefathers and are cited as influences on numerous alternative and punk bands such as The MC5, R.E.M., The Buzzcocks, The Fleshtones and countless others. Their classic rock hit 'Wild Thing' is an international classic covered numerously from Jimi Hendrix, X, Fancy, and Siouxsie & The Creatures. Other songs are revered and often covered including 'Love Is All Around', 'With A Girl Like You' and 'I Can't Control Myself'. The band recorded four studio albums in the '60s before a hiatus in the early '70s. They recorded two albums in the mid-part of the decade with The Troggs Tapes (not be confused with the legendary spoken word tapes) in 1976. This 12-track album has a '70s glam-punk sound with raucous tracks like 'Supergirl' and 'Down South to Georgia' along with cover versions of Rufus Thomas's 'Walkin' the Dog' and Brendon Dunning's 'Rock and Roll Little Lady'."

 

PRICE: $15.50

CAT #: LAD 062EP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

Ashee's music fires on all cylinders. Not preoccupied with subtlety, the music punches you on the nose and won't be ringing you the next day to apologize. A punk ethos pulls together sinister '90s techno energy, rave goosebumps euphoria, and face-twisting garage basslines from the subwoofer of a modified Vauxhall Corsa skidding past a kebab shop. Country classic, Ashee's second EP, holds on to all with an injection of dead-pan fist-pumping EBM on the A-side. "Rampage" the B-side is a DJ's Swiss Army knife -- extremely versatile, from floor-filling warm-up to keeping the dregs in the room at afterparty.

 

PRICE: $16.00

CAT #: LIVITY 053EP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

Toma Kami returns to Livity Sound Recordings for a third EP of provocative, experimental club gear. At the helm of his own Man Band label the French producer continues to explore a hybridized style which favors fractured beats, playful samples and occasional psychedelic flourishes. Compared to the busier sound of previous releases, minimalism informs Toma's approach on this EP as he sits his crunchy drums and weighty low-end in a tangibly spacious mix on "Amapicante". Even within a stripped-down context, his unique approach shines through as "Later To The Bone" progressively ramps up in scratched and scuffed sonic interference and "Mzecal" trips over its own fragmented found-sound drum formations.

 

PRICE: $60.50

CAT #: LMS 5521472

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

Black vinyl. 25 Year Anniversary Edition of Goldie's Timeless, originally released in 1995, remastered and expanded with rarities and new remixes, featuring Grooverider, 4 Hero, and [re:jazz]. Goldie's groundbreaking album Timeless turns 25, and to celebrate Clifford Joseph Price, the pioneering producer and DJ announces a reissue with London Records. A complex debut album, Timeless founded a new chapter in the history of the electronic genre originally reaching no. 7 in the charts and since been celebrated for its unique blend of sublime strings, beautiful atmospheres, and sophisticated vocals. Inarguably an ambitious blueprint at the time; Goldie's production in 1995 fashioned the edgy rhythms and bass of jungle into a newly futuristic model, now globally admired as drum & bass. Features rarities and remixes unearthed from Goldie's personal archive. New liner notes by Tim Barr.

 

PRICE: $109.00

CAT #: LMS 5521698

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

Four LP box version. 180 gram vinyl. Includes 12x12" foldout booklet. Includes slip mat. Orbital missed their actual thirtieth anniversary due to lockdown, but it gave Paul and Phil pause to think and find a way to celebrate their past that was actually about the future. Unlike other "Best Of"s, the 30 Something album contains reworks, remakes, remixes and re-imaginings of landmark Orbital tracks based on the duo's unrivalled live show. "Satan", "The Box", "Impact", "Belfast", and more appear in new 30 Something guises, familiar yet new, time reversing, yesterday becoming tomorrow. Plus, new track "Smiley". Also including remixes from Yotto, ANNA, Jon Hopkins, Dusky, Joris Voorn, Logo 1000, Eli Brown, Shanti Celeste, and more. Also features remixes by Floex, John Tejada, Octave One, Lone, Rich NxT, and David Holmes. Includes sleeve notes by Andrew Harrison.

 

PRICE: $14.50

CAT #: LUV 038EP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

The Austrian musician and live-act/DJ Lukas Poellauer has been establishing a distinct production style with recent releases and remixes on Luv Shack Records, Fine Coincidence, Fortunea Records, and Schönbrunner Perlen, melting classic house with airy, catchy melodies, and mature songwriting. "I Don't Care" is the name of his first single for an upcoming release on Luv Shack Records and features the Austrian funk band Mary Jane's Soundgarden and the piano player Valentin Zopp. The vastly featured musical talent of the Band makes the track oscillate between tight, club ready production and earthy, live-jazz café vibes, with the hazy voice of singer Tanja Peinsipp at its core. For his second track Lukas Poellauer teams up with legendary singer Hubert Tubbs of Tower of Power fame. Tubb´s remarkable vocal timbre perfectly contrasts the light footed instrumental, as he sings about "When A Groove Is In Control". The actual groove itself is reduced and rather laid back, but Lukas Poellauer manages to bring in both dramatic and quirky overtones with a plethora of mallet, brass, and string melodies. On the flip, Patrick Pulsinger and Sam Irl deliver a fabulous dub rendition of "I Don't Care" with a mad wobble bassline and classic reggae stabs, sitting comfortably between Grace Jones' electronic tango and the hazy studio wizardry of dub emperor Lee Perry. Luv Shack's very own Space Echo put their spin on "When A Groove Is In Control", opting for a cold and eerie vibe with the help of digital bell pads and a tight, stripped-down four-to-the-floor groove. Rounding off the package, is the Pulsinger and Irl instrumental dub which really makes the fantastic arrangement and mix shine even more.

 

PRICE: $20.00

CAT #: MIG 412CD

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

"The Big In Japan album by Klaus Schulze was originally released on April 19, 2011 on the Made in Germany label. German synth master Klaus Schulze arguably peaked in the mid-70s with albums like Timewind, Cyborg, and Moondawn, but he's still got a sizable cult audience, he passed away on April 26, 2022. Big In Japan was recorded in Japan in 2010, it clearly shows that while generally speaking, he's who he always was, his music has evolved over time. Indeed, this performance is notable for featuring Schulze on electric guitar (on 'Sequencers Are Beautiful') as well as more percussion than usual on 'La Joyeuse Apocalypse'. Big In Japan CD music is a three-disc set with five songs."

 

PRICE: $12.00

CAT #: MAGGOT 009

FILE UNDER: Misc

"Raymond Pettibon on the cover! And on the inside, in a wide-ranging and sweet interview by Adam Woodhead, Pettibon walks us through his entire career, and even makes economics sound interesting. Columns: Lucy Sante (their first autobiographical writing for us, touching and brilliant); Mimi Lipson with a tear-jerker of an advice column; The forgotten hip-hop column is on the enigmatic Son of Bazerk!; A look at forgotten early Hawaiian music in the reissue column; We go into detail about why the mysterious Seymour Glass from Bananafish matters so much; We revisit the roadside America column with a dinosaur theme because why not; There's a terrific first-person account of growing up in DC right when Fugazi hit and why that band was such a crucial signpost for misfits of all stripes at the time. Also featuring: Cheri Knight: The great Seattle-based scribe Dave Segal goes deep on this neglected experimental pop musician from Olympia in the '80s; David Nance: Editor Mike McGonigal is fascinated by the way Nance manages to mix up tributes, and collaborations, with such strong solo material; Amy Ruhl: The cinematic visual artist is explored in depth by Chelsea Wolfe; John Brannon: the most epic and excellent career spanning photo packed feature by photographer Doug Coombe; Melvins photo tour diary, entirely by Buzz Osbourne, photos and words; Lidia Yuknavitch: Alex Behr turned in a brilliant interview with the cult writer; Kan Mikami: The Japanese outsider blues-folk musician and actor is interviewed by the LA-based saxophone player and composer Patrick Shiroishi; The Willies: And here we have thanks to Tyler Wilcox the most Maggot Brain type article, a big in-depth, lyrical feature on the Feelies ambient offshoot who have never been written on in-depth; Sarah Elizabeth Schantz: We have some brilliant and timely fiction that deals with gun violence by this great writer."

 

PRICE: $20.50

CAT #: MGDC 011LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

Jimi Hendrix, live in Stockholm on January 9, 1969.

 

PRICE: $17.00

CAT #: MGART 112CD

FILE UNDER: ROCK

2022 repress. "Ash Ra Tempel's second album, Schwingungen is a psychedelic classic that has influenced trip rock since its release. Originally recorded and released in 1972, this edition on MIG has been remastered by band leader Manuel Gottsching. Recommended for fans of Saucerful of Secrets era Pink Floyd. Sprawling, tripped out improvisational acid rock!"

 

PRICE: $35.50

CAT #: MP 040LP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

The new Cristian Vogel album 1Zhuayo sounds as if non-musicology and ultra-blackness is not an end or a destination to be arrived at, but as if it is the point of departure, much like tomorrow relates to the day after tomorrow. As if we have left the space of certainties and are moving instead into one of manifold possibilities. They are anticipated in the micro-structures of sound, which is the process of playing with and against the software. Beyond genre delimitation and fragmentation, it is non-music in the post, without itself immediately becoming a cliché, like deconstructed club music or hyper pop. Without being superficially conceptual, the musical material alone succeeds in creating a different, coherent, sonically possible world.

 

PRICE: $23.50

CAT #: MOVPIC 008EP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

Rico Casazza's sonic identity is like that of a city, one which has developed an undeniable self-ness as it hosts various movements and is rocked by various events, leaving a core self that is still open to change, but solidly, defiantly clear. These days the musical nomad focuses heavily on techno and electro, but he is more easily recognized through that previously mentioned, the humorously self-professed electronic emo; Casazza never fails to diffuse his work with a gloomily pulsating heart. Rico's four-tracker vinyl EP on Moving Pictures label will encompass all these genres and influences.

 

PRICE: $43.00

CAT #: MOVATM 257C-LP

FILE UNDER: SOUNDTRACK

"Western is part of the Ennio Morricone Themes series, a unique collection of the greatest scores 'The Maestro' composed for movies over the past 70 years, divided into different themes. Starting 70 years ago as an arranger for the Mamma Bianca, Ennio Morricone is the emperor of scores and soundtracks. Morricone has always been a huge influence for the likes of Hans Zimmer, Danger Mouse, Muse, Metallica and many more artists. He's one of the most successful composers of all-time, selling over 70 million records and winning dozens of awards. Western contains a selection of defining Morricone songs featured in legendary (spaghetti-) western movies like Once Upon A Time In The West, A Fistful Of Dollars, The Good, The Bad And The Ugly, A Pistol For Ringo and The Return Of Ringo amongst others, selected on this two-LP compilation. Western is available as a limited edition of 1500 individually numbered copies on red & silver marbled vinyl. The package includes a four-page insert with liner notes written by Claudio Fuiano."

 

PRICE: $43.00

CAT #: MOVATM 258C-LP

FILE UNDER: SOUNDTRACK

"Psycho is part of the Ennio Morricone Themes series, a unique collection of the greatest scores 'The Maestro' composed for movies over the past 70 years, divided into different themes. Starting 70 years ago as an arranger for the piece Mamma Bianca, Ennio Morricone is the emperor of scores and soundtracks. Morricone has always been a huge influence for the likes of Hans Zimmer, Danger Mouse, Muse, Metallica and many more artists. He's one of the most successful composers of all-time, selling over 70 million records and winning dozens of awards. Psycho is dedicated to Morricone's work with Italian directors spanning the late 1960s up to the 1980s. These scores accompany some darkly dramatic films, some veering into the realms of horror. The music highlights the psychological tension within the films and contrasts with his work in the United States during the same era. This is Morricone where he feels truly at home, working with the nuances and drama of the Italian psyche as laid bare by Italian film makers. Psycho is available as a limited edition of 1500 individually numbered copies on 'black clouds' colored vinyl. The package includes a four-page insert with liner notes written by Claudio Fuiano."

 

PRICE: $43.00

CAT #: MOVATM 259C-LP

FILE UNDER: SOUNDTRACK

"Lounge is part of the Ennio Morricone Themes series, a unique collection of the greatest scores 'The Maestro' has composed for movies over the past 70 years, divided into different themes. Starting 70 years ago as an arranger for the piece Mamma Bianca, Ennio Morricone was the emperor of scores and soundtracks. Morricone has always been a huge influence for the likes of Hans Zimmer, Danger Mouse, Muse, Metallica and many more musicians. He was one of the most successful composers of all-time, selling over 70 million records and winning dozens of awards. The term 'lounge music' is not one that Ennio Morricone would have heard at the time he was composing these pieces for the movies that they enhanced, but it is one has been retrospectively applied to a certain type of music that mimicked the space age sound effects of the time and the advent of stereophonic technology allowed to spatial audio techniques to be used to full effect. It is a style that Morricone has contributed a great deal towards. This collection is a celebration of lounge style pieces by Morricone that are capable of evoking in the listener thoughts of easy living, sophistication, romantic moods, and the excitement of a 1950s cocktail lounge or a 1960s nightclub. Lounge is available as a limited edition of 1500 individually numbered copies on 'Mediterranean blue' marbled vinyl. The package includes a four-page insert with liner notes written by Claudio Fuiano."

 

PRICE: $43.00

CAT #: MOVATM 260C-LP

FILE UNDER: SOUNDTRACK

"Giallo is part of the Ennio Morricone Themes series, a unique collection of the greatest scores 'The Maestro' has composed for movies over the past 70 years, divided into different themes. Starting 70 years ago as an arranger for the piece Mamma Bianca, Ennio Morricone is the emperor of scores and soundtracks. Morricone has always been a huge influence for the likes of Hans Zimmer, Danger Mouse, Muse, Metallica and many more musicians. He was one of the most successful composers of all-time, selling over 70 million records and winning dozens of awards. When we think of 1960's Italian pulp cinema, the spaghetti western is the genre that comes to mind. However, Italy was responsible for another classic cinematic exploitation movement around the same time, one that is equally as compelling, but less widely recognized. Giallo, meaning 'yellow', is the Italian term for crime fiction, it was named after the bright yellow colors of early pulp fiction paperbacks. Film audiences adopted it as the name for a peculiarly Italian sub-genre of thriller cinema that had its heyday in the 1970's -- just as the spaghetti western movement was waning. The Giallo can be difficult to define, but essentially it is an Italian crime film that draws from a pool of common themes: stylized murders, amateur sleuths, sleazy glamour, psychological crimes, enigmatic titles and all these themes are underpinned by creepily atmospheric Ennio Morricone music scores. Giallo is available as a limited edition of 1500 individually numbered copies on 'bloody & black' marbled vinyl. The package includes a four-page insert with liner notes written by Claudio Fuiano."

 

PRICE: $36.00

CAT #: MOVATM 347LP

FILE UNDER: SOUNDTRACK

"The Lost Daughter is a critically acclaimed 2021 psychological drama film written and directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal in her feature directorial debut, based on the 2006 same-titled novel by Elena Ferrante. The film stars Olivia Colman, Dakota Johnson, Jessie Buckley, Paul Mescal, Dagmara Domi?czyk, Jack Farthing, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, with Peter Sarsgaard, and Ed Harris. Colman also serves as an executive producer on the film. The film follows Leda (Colman) who is on a solo-vacation at the seaside and becomes consumed with a young mother and daughter as she watches them on the beach. When a small, seemingly meaningless event occurs, Leda is overwhelmed by memories of the difficult, unconventional choices she made as a mother and their consequences for herself and her family. The seemingly serene tale of a woman's pleasant rediscovery of herself soon becomes the story of a ferocious confrontation with an unsettled past. The Lost Daughter premiered at the 78th Venice International Film Festival, where Gyllenhaal won the Golden Osella Award for Best Screenplay. At its opening night world premiere, the movie received a four-minute standing ovation from Venice Film Festival attendees. The film also received three nominations at the 94th Academy Awards for Best Actress (Colman), Best Supporting Actress (Buckley), and Best Adapted Screenplay. The score is composed by Dickon Hinchliffe, founding member of Tindersticks. Dickon's unique style of composition and arrangements developed from his classical study of the violin and song writing and recording in bands. The Lost Daughter is available as a limited 'Peal it like a snake, don't let it break' edition of 750 individually numbered copies on orange marbled vinyl. The LP features alternative artwork designed by Yelena Yemchuk, a Ukranian professional photographer, painter and film director, best known for her work with The Smashing Pumpkins. The vinyl package includes an inset with pictures and liner notes by both Maggie Gyllenhaal and Dickon Hinchliffe."

 

PRICE: $32.50

CAT #: NN 010LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

Warehouse find, last copies. Limited edition of 475 copies. On many hard-core psych collectors' Top 10 lists, this insanely rare and impossible-to-describe 1973 brain-fryer from Minneapolis is utterly soaked with mystic, thoroughly-dosed higher key psychedelia. It is a truly unhinged gem of out-there, acid-dipped geniusness, with quavering vocals, flanged-out guitars & effects, acoustic ramble, and fuzz confusion. Damin Eih wandered off to India to clear his head after leaving behind this lone, legendary offering, never to be heard from again. Painstakingly and spectacularly remastered from two virgin copies of the original vinyl with the full participation of Brother Clark (the others are lost and presumed dead), this treasure is now rescued from the deepest catacombs of psychedelic fatso obscurity for all to hear. 180 gram vinyl, original insert reproduction, and 28 pt. craft stock with old school paste-on sleeves.

 

PRICE: $14.50

CAT #: ON 404EP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

Part of The Optic Sevens 4.0 reissue series. Article 58, named after the Soviet classification for counter-revolutionaries, were formed in Scotland by Gerri McLaughlin (vocals), Douglas MacIntyre (guitars), and Ewan MacLennan (bass), with Stephen Lironi (drums) on these recordings. The group existed for a short period of time, burning brightly before burning out. A single, "Event To Come", was produced by Postcard Records' Alan Horne and Malcolm Ross and released on Josef K manager Allan Campbell's Rational label. Article 58 were the opening group on many bills in Scotland, including support slots circa 1981 with A Certain Ratio, Scars, Josef K, Delmontes, Bauhaus, Restricted Code, among others. Josef K invited Article 58 to support them on some dates in England to promote their only album, The Only Fun In Town, after which Article 58 recorded tracks for an as-yet unreleased album. One track, "Reflection", did surface on a cassette/zine product (Irrational) released by Rational Records. However, the teenage tension and strain of all that accompanies being in a group proved too much and Article 58 split up at the end of 1981. "Event To Come" was to be the only single released by Article 58. The B side, "Icon", is a previously unreleased recording. Both tracks are presented in a brand new sleeve designed by The Creeping Bent Organisation for release on the Optic Nerve label. Red vinyl; includes postcard and poster.

 

PRICE: $14.50

CAT #: ON 406EP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

Part of The Optic Sevens 4.0 reissue series. The Monochrome Set were something of the unsung heroes of the post-punk world; they fitted into absolutely no category whatsoever and their puckish take on spaghetti western soundtracks meets lounge jazz via the twisted lyrical imagery of vocalist Bid was as singular as it was unique. Comprising a couple of ex-Ants in Andy Warren and Lester Square, with singer/guitarist Bid and drummer JD Haney, their filmic, playful material found favor with many, including John Peel although they failed to match this with commercial success. "The Jet Set Junta" was originally released on Cherry Red in 1983 with its urgent, ringing guitars surrounding Bid's lyrics telling of dodgy arms dealings and armored limos as Lester Square's Ennio Morricone twang bends and reverb as a counterpoint. Red vinyl; includes postcard and poster.

 

PRICE: $25.50

CAT #: ORBS 001LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

Best known as Hot Chip's clear-voiced frontman, Alexis Taylor also pursues a solo career as an introspective singer/songwriter, exploring distinct themes and ideas with each record. Alexis announces the release of his sixth and strongest solo album to date, Silence. Partly about silence -- and how we intersect with it, observe it, try to record it, and how we feel about it when it's gone, as we remember it -- the record is also about religion, transcendence, giving oneself over to something bigger than you, or beyond this world. "I'm not religious myself," adds Alexis, "but the songs which deal with the idea of gospel music or religion, look at it from a distance (rather like the shaky hand-held lens through which we follow the action in Pasolini's 'Gospel According To Matthew') and try to uncover its influence on music and on people in desperate circumstances." The genesis behind Silence started a few years ago with Alexis ruminating on silence as a subject and making plans to make a record of the sounds you hear in public spaces as people observe moments of silence. He then lost his own personal access to silence as tinnitus began in his right ear in 2019 at a Hot Chip show. As Alexis explains, "I started to think about what it meant to me to lose quietness, solitude, meditative head space -- as that was no longer available to me." Mostly composed in enforced isolation, Silence is a beautifully rich and unexpected conceptual album that is also Alexis's most accomplished solo record and one that has seen early comparisons with a notably eclectic range of artists including Mark Hollis, George Michael, Big Star, Epic Soundtracks and Maher Shalal Hash Baz. This record sees the first time Alexis has collaborated with Sam Becker (double bass), Kenichi Iwasa (horn, trumpet) and Rachel Horton-Kitchlew (harp), who due to lockdown had to work in isolation from Alexis. In one case Kenichi recorded musical passages which were then superimposed on songs he had never heard -- in effect keeping the songs themselves silent from the playing until the mixes were played to him.

 

PRICE: $42.00

CAT #: OP 056LP

FILE UNDER: EXPERIMENTAL

A collection of sounds from the Studio Eksperymentalne Polskiego Radia (1959-2001). Would It Sound Just As Bad If You Played It Backwards assembles a collection of audio experiments created at the Polish Radio Experimental Studio (PRES) from 1959 to the beginning of the millennium. These exceptional works are presented alongside images from the Polish artist Zofia Kulik, whose career reached its apogee between the late 1960s and early '70s. While PRES and Kulik remain important artifacts in the recent history of the Polish avant-garde, presenting them together in one release may not seem like an obvious choice. There are, of course, some historical intersections -- he most notable being a shared interest in Polish artist and architect Oskar Hansen's Open Form theory. Open Form promoted a modular theory of architecture that became a tool adapted by its users and inhabitants to... Hansen's ideas influenced Kulik's early works and also manifested in the PRES's iconic "black room", a music studio designed by Hansen, himself, which was equipped with moveable sound panels that absorbed or reflected sounds to promote a greater, creative freedom from its users. And yet, as it usually goes, the most obvious connections are usually the most deceitful. Whereas Kulik initially followed Open Form, she later turned away from it. And as for the black room -- it mostly worked in theory but not in practice. What is it then that makes the two work together? Features Krzysztof Knittel, Bohdan Mazurek, Magdalena Dàugosz, Barbara Zawadzka, Rudnik, and Bogus?aw Shaeffer.Polish Radio Experimental Studio - PRES (Polish: Studio Eksperymentalne Polskiego Radia) was an experimental music studio in Warsaw, where electronic and utility pieces were recorded. The establishment of the Polish Radio Experimental Studio was conceived by W?odzimierz Sokorski, head of the Radio and Television Committee. Between 1952 and 1956 he was a Minister of Culture, and as a strong supporter of socialist realism he fought against any manifestations of modernity in music. The Polish Radio Experimental Studio was founded on the November 15th, 1957, but only in the second half of the following year was it adapted for sound production. It operated until 2004. Until 1985, for 28 years the studio was headed by its founder -- Józef Patkowski -- musicologist, acoustician, and the chairman of the Polish Composers' Union. The second most important person in the Studio was Krzysztof Szlifirski, an electro-acoustics engineer. Before founding the studio Józef Patkowski visited similar hubs in Cologne, Paris, Gravesono and Milan. Though the studio was a place where autonomous electronic pieces were recorded, this wasn't its main purpose. It was launched as a space for the creation of independent compositions, sounds illustrations for radio dramas, and soundtracks for theatre, film and dance.

 

PRICE: $15.00

CAT #: POL 002-2022CD

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

"K. Leimer's The Starting Errors serves as a handy index of catastrophes. The album documents the way in which the repetition of unexamined cultural behaviors spread as established -- even acceptable -- practice in the service of the few, no matter how damaging and destructive those practices prove. Music of conscience and consequence set within a general theme of things-gone-wrong, the album is built around a set of errors carefully indexed by the title track: a text-centric piece read by Tallula Bentley, exhibiting an ideological kinship with the work of Henry Cow, here set in an orchestral pastiche. Vocal works are rare for Leimer, but using spoken words in addition to instrumental voices was the most direct path to making his views explicit. Throughout the album techniques surface from jazz-inflected improvisation to classic tape manipulation to granular processing and chamber ensemble airiness. The results catalog most of Leimer's long history of sonic preoccupations, embracing broken song structures, dark ambience, noise, calamitous repetition, and modular constructs. He describes it this way: 'The goal was to use a wide range of approaches, techniques and voicing to best express the subject matter of each piece. And, despite the thematic unity, the pieces evolved in many directions.'"

 

PRICE: $25.00

CAT #: PRTL 001LP

FILE UNDER: WORLD

LP version. In 1980 Gerald Moore -- of G.T. Moore And The Reggae Guitars and Heron fame -- was in Kingston, Jamaica working with Lee Perry on the Return Of Pipecock Jackxon LP. Gerald went into Harry J's studio with James Lascelles (Global Village Trucking Company, The Breakfast Band) and Bud Beadle (Ginger Baker & Salt) alongside members of Zap Pow: Don Grant, Cornell Marshall, and Dwight Pinkney. Of the four tracks recorded, only "Utopia" was ever released (on the Black Star Liner label in 1980 and then reissued by Partial Records in 2014). The tapes sat around gathering dust for the best part of 40 years and are now finally unearthed. "Jerusalem", "Working For The Dollar", and "Constant Spring" were mixed directly from the masters by Dougie Wardrop. Also "Utopia" is freshly mixed here. Four cuts followed by their respective dub mixes.

 

PRICE: $44.50

CAT #: PE 028LP

FILE UNDER: EXPERIMENTAL

The Ring Orchestra is an eight-person effort, a collective coming together to tackle opera and one of the genre's controversial poster boys. 18 compositions, the artists Born In Flamez, Gil Schneider, Simonne Jones, Leo Luchini, Legion Seven, P.A. Hülsenbeck, Isa GT, and Ixa create a collaborative musical score that uses Richard Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen as the point of departure. Originally, the music was created for a staging of Der Ring des Nibelungen at Schauspielhaus Zürich, directed by Christopher Rüping and written by Necati Öziri. Far from being an affirmative tribute, the orchestra sets out to deconstruct and break down what Wagner and his opus magnum represent: collaboration over singularity and openness instead of conservative rigidity. The resulting score doesn't shy away from ambivalence by de-centralizing authorship and encompassing everything from ambient to pop, reggaeton, and a wider variety of non-western musical influences.

 

PRICE: $15.00

CAT #: PFL 274CD

FILE UNDER: ROCK

"Winterlong, the psychedelic new album from Executioner's Mask is set for release on Profound Lore Records. An epic bouquet of swelling synths, hypnotic melodies, and noisy guitars marry post-punk and shoegaze in ten songs exploring themes of liberation and self-destruction in these end-times. In the studio, the core group of Gambit, Mickle and Wilson added Christian Molenaar into the fold on synths, adding an ethereal edge to the band's hard-driving melancholy. Additional touches were added by Kennedy Ashlyn (SRSQ) and Jake Superchi (Uada, Ceremonial Castings), their distinct sonic fingerprints sending the compositions further into territories unexplored. Featuring production from Jeff Zeigler (The War On Drugs) and Ryan Schwabe (Oneohtrix Point Never), Winterlong is the type of sublime and immersive album that inspires the same visions often conjured by masters like The National, Alcest and Deerhunter. On stage, Gambit, Mickle, and Molenaar are joined by Anthony Charletta on bass, Melissa Lochambon on drums, and Daniel Gaona on guitar to create an explosive force of sound that come together with the potency of Children Of God-era Swans. Expanding on the kaleidoscope of ambition, expect to see re-mixes of the album released in a series of their own by an ensemble cast that features members of Deafheaven, Full Of Hell, No Joy, Xiu Xiu, and The Armed amongst an army of others. The first of these Winterlong re-mix albums will be released as a bonus disc that will come with the CD release, mastered by Angel Marcloid (aka Fire-Toolz)."

 

PRICE: $15.50

CAT #: PROTOTYP 015CD

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

JB Dunckel, half of electronic iconic French band Air, releases a new solo album. Carbon, JB Dunckel's first album in four years, considers the recent uncertainties that have befallen the planet and explores diffuse visions of how a better future might look. There are meditations on existential bliss (the airy, chiming "Cristal Mind") and egotistical escapist fantasies ("Sex UFO", which can't help but recall Jeff Bezos phallic rocket). Yet Carbon also considers the subversive pleasures of nihilism: reveling in man's insignificance compared to the cosmos (the languid "Space") and wondering whether big tech might save us yet (the triumphalist "Corporate Sunset"). The album is a psychological test that reveals the listener's own outlook, says Dunckel -- an artist who taught pop fans how to dream more than 20 years ago as half of the trailblazing cosmic pop duo Air. Since then, he's become a lauded, César-nominated composer for films such as François Ozon's film Summer of 85 (2020). With Carbon, the accompanying images are entirely of the listener's creation: "I want them to feel ready to travel in space," he says. "Space" features Heather d'Angelo.

 

PRICE: $26.00

CAT #: PROTOTYP 015LP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

LP version. JB Dunckel, half of electronic iconic French band Air, releases a new solo album. Carbon, JB Dunckel's first album in four years, considers the recent uncertainties that have befallen the planet and explores diffuse visions of how a better future might look. There are meditations on existential bliss (the airy, chiming "Cristal Mind") and egotistical escapist fantasies ("Sex UFO", which can't help but recall Jeff Bezos phallic rocket). Yet Carbon also considers the subversive pleasures of nihilism: reveling in man's insignificance compared to the cosmos (the languid "Space") and wondering whether big tech might save us yet (the triumphalist "Corporate Sunset"). The album is a psychological test that reveals the listener's own outlook, says Dunckel -- an artist who taught pop fans how to dream more than 20 years ago as half of the trailblazing cosmic pop duo Air. Since then, he's become a lauded, César-nominated composer for films such as François Ozon's film Summer of 85 (2020). With Carbon, the accompanying images are entirely of the listener's creation: "I want them to feel ready to travel in space," he says. "Space" features Heather d'Angelo.

 

PRICE: $17.50

CAT #: PP 070EP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

DJ Chrysalis who has appeared on Public Possession before with contributions to the Chill Pill series now delivers this five-track debut EP on the label. When he is not out and about in the Australian outback he works on his ceramics or makes music. The former definitely inform the later as you can hear a clear connection to earth and a strong spiritual vibe in the five songs that put a contemporary touch into an ancient cosmic vision.

 

PRICE: $24.00

CAT #: RS 046C-LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

LP version. Yellow vinyl. Bristol based band Cousin Kula announce their debut album, Double Dinners. With co-signs from the likes of BADBADNOTGOOD and newly signed to Rhythm Section, Cousin Kula have created their own musical universe of otherworldly pop serenity with vastly distinct, but complementary elements: "the possibilities of jazz, the emphatic energy of club culture, and the sonic tapestries of psychedelia" CLASH Magazine remark. Living and recording together, nestled in the sun-drenched hills on the outskirts of Bristol, Cousin Kula are masters of their craft, and also of restraint; widely regarded by their fans for their superior live show. Having performed live in various bands for the past ten years since their early teens, not being able to hit the stage during lockdown took its toll on these musicians. Ever resourceful, however, Cousin Kula began a series of their own home-made live sessions, which lead in turn to a Boiler Room Session and further a request from XL signees BADBADNOTGOOD to record a live adaptation of their new single. Now, Cousin Kula flutter into the collective consciousness with a timeless slice of psychedelic soul on debut album Double Dinners. The latest band to emerge out of the buoyant Bristol music scene, they have stripped back all excess baggage for their most accomplished recordings to date. Existing on a similar plane to contemporaries such as Connan Mockasin, Mildlife, Toro Y Moi, Mac DeMarco, and HOMESHAKE, the band caught the attention of renowned tastemaker Bradley Zero with their Casa Kula Cassette EP at the end of 2020, with the Rhythm Section founder swiftly taking the five-piece under his wing, with him commenting: "The band balance an outsider approach with more hooks than you can shake a stick at... the result being a gently beguiling sound that effortlessly draws you in, revealing more character with each listen." For fans of: Connan Mockasin, Mildlife, Toro Y Moi, Mac Demarco, HOMESHAKE, BADBADNOTGOOD.

 

PRICE: $22.50

CAT #: RS 046LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

Bristol based band Cousin Kula announce their debut album, Double Dinners. With co-signs from the likes of BADBADNOTGOOD and newly signed to Rhythm Section, Cousin Kula have created their own musical universe of otherworldly pop serenity with vastly distinct, but complementary elements: "the possibilities of jazz, the emphatic energy of club culture, and the sonic tapestries of psychedelia" CLASH Magazine remark. Living and recording together, nestled in the sun-drenched hills on the outskirts of Bristol, Cousin Kula are masters of their craft, and also of restraint; widely regarded by their fans for their superior live show. Having performed live in various bands for the past ten years since their early teens, not being able to hit the stage during lockdown took its toll on these musicians. Ever resourceful, however, Cousin Kula began a series of their own home-made live sessions, which lead in turn to a Boiler Room Session and further a request from XL signees BADBADNOTGOOD to record a live adaptation of their new single. Now, Cousin Kula flutter into the collective consciousness with a timeless slice of psychedelic soul on debut album Double Dinners. The latest band to emerge out of the buoyant Bristol music scene, they have stripped back all excess baggage for their most accomplished recordings to date. Existing on a similar plane to contemporaries such as Connan Mockasin, Mildlife, Toro Y Moi, Mac DeMarco, and HOMESHAKE, the band caught the attention of renowned tastemaker Bradley Zero with their Casa Kula Cassette EP at the end of 2020, with the Rhythm Section founder swiftly taking the five-piece under his wing, with him commenting: "The band balance an outsider approach with more hooks than you can shake a stick at... the result being a gently beguiling sound that effortlessly draws you in, revealing more character with each listen." For fans of: Connan Mockasin, Mildlife, Toro Y Moi, Mac Demarco, HOMESHAKE, BADBADNOTGOOD.

 

PRICE: $19.00

CAT #: RS 048C-EP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

After learning her craft at an after-hours club in her hometown of Santiago de Chile, a pivotal move to Milan at the end of 2015 proved to be the ticket that would propel Paula Tape into the European club circuit. Six years later Paula has made a name for herself as a purveyor of eclectic selections, stomping Italo beats, percussive Balearic excursions and synth-heavy rarities, both through her international DJ sets and shows on Worldwide FM and Milan's Radio Raheem. With two EPs under her belt via Alzaya and SOBO, collaborations with Project Pablo, Tornado Wallace, and Elias Mazian to boot, and standout singles on Permanent Vacation, Ransom Note Records, and Rhythm Section International's highly regarded SHOUTS compilation, Rhythm Section welcomes the announcement of a knockout four-tracker from the Chilean producer on the same Peckham-based label. In the last 12 months she's taken the Mixmag Lab and Boiler Room by storm, and with a slew of international tour dates and forthcoming releases lined up, 2021 looks set to be Paula's year. "When I started working on the Astroturismo EP I didn't know the music I was writing was going to shape into an EP. Finalizing the first track 'Body Nature' helped me a lot to orientate the correct use of all the music I have been producing during the lockdown months and Rhythm Section team was constantly supporting me to make me feel free to explore musically without needing to stick to club music." "Body Nature" embodies strong energies, in a very personal way: "I noted down those silly lyrics and kept singing the melody in my head for days, in the end, that drove me to create a groove that would work and transfer the mood I was feeling. This track is about feeling relief with dancing, whether in a private moment like I did in those days or in a public space, few easy moves to trigger positive energy and improve your emotional state." For fans of: Nicola Cruz, Peggy Gou, Fantastic Man, CC:Disco, Dan Shake, Young Marco.

 

PRICE: $24.00

CAT #: RS 050C-LP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

LP version. Transparent violet vinyl. The South-London based musician Tone announces his debut album So I Can See You, due for release via Rhythm Section. With a mixtape already under his belt, one that he says was thrown together on a whim; this new body of work was created during the pregnancy and subsequent birth of his daughter. Tone, real name Basil Anthony Harewood, was compelled to capture this significant moment, recording mostly at night, with his new life and old life in mind. The album is less a departure of who he was but an embrace of the future and the new life that arrives with beginning a family. Across the 11 tracks, you hear tender guitar riffs and off-beat R&B elements press up against influences of dub and shoegaze leaving you with a woozy afterglow. Tone's distinctive vocals are complemented by the familiar voices of Coby Sey on "So I Can See You", Fran Lobo on "From the North" and Roxanne Tataei on "Make It Drop". Having both Afro-Caribbean and Welsh heritage has informed the ways in which he sees things and the music he has been magnetized to, especially growing up in both a tiny village in the north of England in East Yorkshire as well as further afield in Europe. Time spent in St Kitts and Nevis as a child opened his eyes and ears to calypso, reggae and dub and while back home in the UK, he fell in love with ska, punk and skinhead culture none of which he ever outgrew and to this day still informs his music practice. Each track was recorded on a Tascam 38 tape machine in the studio he set up with Mica Levi and Coby Sey in Hither Green with the drums, played by Marc Pell (Good Bad Happy Sad) were recorded at Andy Ramsey's studio (Stereolab). Alongside, Levi and Sey, Tone is a CURL collective member and was half of the short-lived punk-duo, Farai. For fans of: Mica Levi, Tirzah, Coby Sey, Smerz, Blood Orange, Dean Blunt, Erika De Casier, Farai, L'rain, Joviale.

 

PRICE: $20.50

CAT #: RS 050LP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

The South-London based musician Tone announces his debut album So I Can See You, due for release via Rhythm Section. With a mixtape already under his belt, one that he says was thrown together on a whim; this new body of work was created during the pregnancy and subsequent birth of his daughter. Tone, real name Basil Anthony Harewood, was compelled to capture this significant moment, recording mostly at night, with his new life and old life in mind. The album is less a departure of who he was but an embrace of the future and the new life that arrives with beginning a family. Across the 11 tracks, you hear tender guitar riffs and off-beat R&B elements press up against influences of dub and shoegaze leaving you with a woozy afterglow. Tone's distinctive vocals are complemented by the familiar voices of Coby Sey on "So I Can See You", Fran Lobo on "From the North" and Roxanne Tataei on "Make It Drop". Having both Afro-Caribbean and Welsh heritage has informed the ways in which he sees things and the music he has been magnetized to, especially growing up in both a tiny village in the north of England in East Yorkshire as well as further afield in Europe. Time spent in St Kitts and Nevis as a child opened his eyes and ears to calypso, reggae and dub and while back home in the UK, he fell in love with ska, punk and skinhead culture none of which he ever outgrew and to this day still informs his music practice. Each track was recorded on a Tascam 38 tape machine in the studio he set up with Mica Levi and Coby Sey in Hither Green with the drums, played by Marc Pell (Good Bad Happy Sad) were recorded at Andy Ramsey's studio (Stereolab). Alongside, Levi and Sey, Tone is a CURL collective member and was half of the short-lived punk-duo, Farai. For fans of: Mica Levi, Tirzah, Coby Sey, Smerz, Blood Orange, Dean Blunt, Erika De Casier, Farai, L'rain, Joviale. LP versions on black vinyl (RS 050LP) and transparent violet vinyl (RS 050C-LP).

 

PRICE: $17.50

CAT #: RS 053EP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

Session Victim debut on Rhythm Section International with an EP of understated but highly effective jazzy house rollers. Having cemented themselves as firm favorites on the Rhythm Section dancefloor over the years, the German duo step forward to present their debut EP on the South London label: Basic Instinct. Known for their unparalleled energy when performing live or DJing, Hauke and Matthias fly the flag for sample based, soulful house music and a commitment to the art of vinyl DJing. With the never-ending search for the perfect beat at the core of what they do, it was no surprise they found a deep affinity with Rhythm Section International over years of playing for each other, jamming in the studio and crossing paths at festivals and airports around the world. In short, this record was an inevitable culmination of two passionate, like-minded groups, a match made in Heaven and a long time coming. Despite hailing from the techno meccas of Berlin and Hamburg, Session Victim are direct descendants of the German jazzy housemasters, tracing inspiration from the likes of Jazzanova, Soulphiction, and Compost Records -- the likes of which have gone onto inspire a renaissance of this more soulful sound in German clubs, spearheaded by labels like Tartelet and Toy Tonics -- the latter of which the duo recently released an EP with. This latest effort on Rhythm Section International is a masterclass in restraint, demonstrating a deep understanding of dancefloor dynamics, putting the maxim "less is more" to great effect. The opening track, "Trying To Make it Home" is the most immediately engaging cut: a double bass riff drives along a Kerri Chandler-esque filtered piano pattern which gives way to a soaring gospel vocal, allowing the groove to take control as flutes, strings and occasional guitar licks meander in and out of the mix to create areal "heads down, arms up" moment for the dancefloor.

 

PRICE: $15.00

CAT #: EZRDR 140CD

FILE UNDER: ROCK

"How does one follow up one of the most legendary, yet rarest albums said to signal the birth of doom metal? If you're Randy Holden, you give everyone about fifty years to catch up, then casually drop a tastefully modernized reinterpretation of that sound. Population III picks up where Holden's 1969 solo debut left off, updated with several decades worth of technological advances and personal hindsight. Following his tenure in proto-metal pioneers Blue Cheer in 1969, the guitarist aimed for more control over his next project. Thus, Randy Holden -- Population II was born, the duo naming itself after the astronomical term for a particular star cluster with heavy metals present. Along with drummer/keyboardist Chris Lockheed, Holden created what many say is one of the earliest forms of doom metal. Their six-song debut album Population II delves into leaden sludge, lumbering doom and epic soaring riffs that sound free from all constraints of the era. However, troubles with the album's original 1970 release bankrupted Holden, who subsequently left music for over two decades. For good reason, it's widely hailed as a masterpiece, and until finally getting a proper formal release in 2020 on Riding Easy Records, was a longtime Holy Grail for record collectors. Flash forward forty years to 2010, one finds the guitarist/vocalist quietly coaxed into recording a follow-up album by Holden superfan and Cactus member Randy Pratt. Joined by drummer Bobby Rondinelli (who has played with Black Sabbath, Blue Öyster Cult, Rainbow), the trio cut the six-song collection of leaden future blues, Population III. 'Randy Pratt had written the basic song structures, he understood my music and where I come from quite well,' Holden says. 'He nailed it.' But the recording was ultimately shelved for over a decade. Throughout Population III, Holden effortlessly dishes out squealing, soaring leads and skull-thwacking riffs with his signature low end grit and penchant for Middle Eastern scales. Coupled with Pratt's pocket-locked bass, the slight flanging effect on Rondinelli's drums and his pugilistic beats, the album occasionally brings to mind Presence-era Led Zeppelin. At times, Holden sounds reminiscent of Neil Young leading Crazy Horse's ruptured grunge as his lilting falsetto vocals push and pull his guitar's siren's call. Population III is the real deal -- a powerful continuation of a sound forged fifty years ago, that almost didn't happen. Somehow, Randy Holden's music always finds a way to stand the tests of time."

 

PRICE: $22.50

CAT #: RR 004LP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

California-based label Ritual Release introduce new and as-yet unknown duo Guruku. Love Runaway is their debut EP and comes with remixes by disco don Ray Mang. Title track "Love Runaway" features criminally underheard Tamara Lee on vocals and co-writing duties. LA funk/R&B/future twang auteur Harriet Brown (Innovative Leisure, Phantom Island, World Building) provides guest vocals on the EP's second original track, "Crimped Hair". On the flip, Ray Mang delivers a masterclass in honing "Love Runaway" for peak dancefloor effect in a choice of extended remix or dubby reprise. "Absolutely essential release. A really good song is turned into a modern disco monster by Ray Mang, channeling Prelude Records circa 1982." --Bill Brewster (DJ History, UK). For fans of: Maurice Fulton, The Vision, Dreamcast, Star Creature.

 

PRICE: $17.50

CAT #: PURESHORE 002EP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

Two tracks from Youandewan & Mculo.

 

PRICE: $14.50

CAT #: RB 110X-EP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

Mind Eclipse completes Deetron's triptych for Running Back. After Body Electric and Ego Rave, it's the missing part in a tale of youthful exuberance told by a seasoned raver and transported into the here and now. Taking the essence of the carefree energy of those days, its warehouses and fields minus the (sometimes!) aural clumsiness, Deetron delivers four studies in the transformation of said emotional states. "Mind Eclipse" aka "Trancehouzztool" does exactly what it says on the tin: big synths, swirl and twirl during an extra-long break down for an uproar -- serotonin shower included. "HG" acts like an umbrella to that. Almost melancholic in its presence and meandering between highs and lows, it's the perfect counterpoint and offset. On the other side, "Phoenix" sounds like a lost Border Community hymn that found its way near a Roland 909 for peak time purposes, before "The Shore" closes the book in a hybrid state between electro and disco or the soundtrack to IDM supporters in a gym workout (also available in an alternative version digitally for those who like their beats straight). It won't eclipse your mind though that Deetron knows what he does in the studio, so expect finest artistry, crafty tricks and technical expertise.

 

PRICE: $17.50

CAT #: SAT 050EP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

Frank & Tony drop their new Dream Vibration EP some five years after their last outing as a duo with the much-celebrated Odes EP. Having teased the full release with two upfront tracks -- "Time Out Of Mind" and Timmy Regisford's masterful instrumental rework of "Stretch Out Like The World", you now get to enjoy the full package. Title track "Dream Vibration" kicks off with a lazy breakbeat, floating, barely-there chord washes and eventually and slowly reveals a thick, low kick and deep sub to drive things along. Frank & Tony's original version of "Stretch Out Like The World" features Eliana Glass on vocals -- a melancholic but tough track that exudes a classic in the making. Timmy Regisford's vocal mix amps up the percussion to create a hypnotic club jam idea for an early morning Shelter dancefloor.

 

PRICE: $24.00

CAT #: SEC 256LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

"Vinyl version of this 1982 Dickies live show."

 

PRICE: $33.00

CAT #: SEV 10100BR

FILE UNDER: Misc

Double Blu-ray version. "The 4k restoration of Dennis Hopper's lost classic with 15+ hours of special features. It's been called 'shocking' (Film Comment), 'blistering' (Filmmaker) and 'a flat-out masterpiece' (The Playlist) yet remained virtually unseen for over 40 years. Now experience this 'haunting portrait of juvenile delinquency that ranks among the most powerful in American cinema' (Chicago Reader) from actor/director Dennis Hopper as it's never been seen before: Linda Manz 'gives one of the greatest teenage performances of all time' (Film Comment) as a 15-year-old who idolizes Elvis, punk rock and her ex-con father (Hopper), is surrounded by junkies and predators, and follows them all down a one-way road to oblivion. Sharon Farrell (The Stunt Man), Don Gordon (The Last Movie) and Raymond Burr co-star in 'a film about extremes, directed by an extremist' (Time Out) featuring music by Neil Young, newly scanned in 4K from the original negative with more than 15 hours of special features."

 

PRICE: $28.00

CAT #: SQM 011LP

FILE UNDER: JAZZ

Following his trio debut Triptych in 2021 (SQM 012CD/LP), trumpeter Matthias Lindermayr presents his duo record Sequence with long-time companion and ECM recording artist Matthieu Bordenave on tenor saxophone. In contrast to its technical title, Sequence is a very lyrical record, sacral at times. Like two figure skaters, the voices gracefully glide along and whirl around in perfect synch, always sensing where the other one is going. A fitting comparison also, as the recording session was equally exhausting, due to the level of concentration required to perform this music. The minimalist line-up and the hyper-focused playing gives the album both a breath-like purity and solemn depth.

 

PRICE: $15.50

CAT #: SRWAX 017EP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

"A Lucid Dub" and "Metronomik" get the remix treatment for the companion 12" to Louis Haiman's Metronomik EP. Diahgonal and John Beltran handle the A-side with masterful remixes of "A Lucid Dub". Santiago Salazar and Shawn Rudiman add their knowledge to the techno discussion with their remixes of "Metronomik".

 

PRICE: $12.50

CAT #: SSR 088EP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

Less than a year after their debut, Brazil's Lasso returns with their second EP. While Lasso's razor-sharp riffing and songwriting remain intact, this time around the sound is thicker and meaner, as if what was presaged in the first EP's foreboding, ominous sound has finally come to pass. Indeed, as the world has slid into previously unthinkable depths of darkness and brutality, Lasso's sound has evolved to match, a hard-won sense of steadiness now augmenting the anguish so palpable on their first record. Lasso also introduces a few new musical wrinkles here. A surf-y, Dead Kennedys-esque lead guitar elevates tracks like "Fechado Em Copas" and "Atarantado" to even higher levels of catchiness than their already-infectious debut, while "Mendaz" closes the record with an apocalyptic, mid-paced stomp. Desperate times call for desperate music, which makes Lasso the perfect soundtrack for 2022. Limited to 400 copies.

 

PRICE: $12.50

CAT #: SSR 089EP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

Erupt offer up five fiery tracks on Left To Rot. Treading the blurry lines between extreme punk and extreme metal, Left To Rot is a cacophony in all the right ways. Fast as, heavy as, nasty as. Featuring members of Sheer Mag, Geld, and Gutter Gods, Erupt brings its own molten explosions to the surface. These burnt offerings are recommended for fans of Sodom, Celtic Frost, Iron Age, Warthog, Mindsnare, and the other hordes of apocalypse old and new.

 

PRICE: $17.50

CAT #: SUBEX 066CD

FILE UNDER: SOUNDTRACK

A gripping new split soundtrack album from two live wires of the underground electronic music scene. Hailing from Portland, Oregon, and Sidcup, Kent respectively, Hyacinth kicks off proceedings with a succession of his trademark Dada-esque breaks and beats. Compelling, beguiling, restless, and transitory, this is Hyacinth at his superb peak. The Central Office of Information picks up the rainswept transport theme, carving out a suspense-laden electronic soundtrack to create a stunning album counterpoint. Some bonus Hyacinth works close proceedings with such a flourish, it's hard not to be overwhelmed with the sheer amount of artistry on show. Passing Cars In The Rain documents two fascinating electronic producers at their finest. A certain treat for the curious explorer.

 

PRICE: $18.00

CAT #: TAO 010CD

FILE UNDER: JAZZ

"The exemplary and well-traveled cornetist Kirk Knuffke here introduces a bold new trio -- with bassist Michael Bisio and pianist Matthew Shipp -- on an intimate and expansive double album. Gravity Without Airs features the three world-class musicians on both Knuffke compositions and in open form, creating a tour-de-force of poetry and verve. This is Knuffke's debut as a leader for TAO Forms, following on his being full part of James Brandon Lewis / Red Lily Quintet's Jesup Wagon, one of the most acclaimed jazz releases of 2021. That album was eventually voted #1 Album of the Year in the JazzTimes Critics Poll, the international Jazz Critics Poll established by Francis Davis, and the (soon to be announced) DownBeat Critics Poll. Accolades for the cornetist's own recent work as leader include NPR's Jazz Album of the Year laurel for 2017's Cherryco, his homage to Don Cherry, a prime influence. DownBeat praised the way that album showcased Knuffke's 'nonchalant versatility and ebullient melodic gifts,' while esteemed critic Francis Davis called it 'nothing short of spectacular.' Davis also wrote the liner notes for Gravity Without Airs, noting the allure of Knuffke's instrumental aplomb: 'Kirk plays as if his cornet is a part of him -- he plays with it, not just on it.' On his guiding artistic impulse, Kirk Knuffke says: 'I'm concerned with making beautiful music. Beauty is always first, though not in a precious way. It can be in a rough way, too.' A prolific, lauded record-maker, Gravity Without Airs fulfills his poetic aims as well as any recording he has made. This work finds Knuffke in the rare, even unique, trio format of cornet, piano and double-bass. His partners are two ever-estimable pillars of creative music, and the work they've created together here brims with melody and mystery, intimacy and dynamism. Regarding the album title, Knuffke explains: 'I was reading Meditations by Marcus Aurelius while preparing for this recording. He used the phrase 'gravity without airs', and it stuck with me. That's what it's all about! Being heavy but not putting on airs -- that's what my favorite musicians do. In these days of social media and constant hype and self-promotion, this is what we should really aspire to: do the work and study, get into your thing and avoid showing it off half-cooked. Matthew and Michael have that sort of grace. I was really touched because once we started playing, they both got excited and wanted to play more and more -- that's how we ended up with a double album,' Knuffke recalls. 'I hope people can listen to it as a whole, so they can hear all the subtleties as well as the shape and flow of the album. I have to say: I'm especially proud of this one.' Liner notes by Francis Davis." "Rhythmically precise, New Orleans funky and full of grace, Kirk Knuffke's music is a reflection of his multifaceted personality: part musical sage, part jazz philosopher, a self-taught musician with wide interests, endless curiosity and an abundance of good humor." --DownBeat

 

PRICE: $10.00

CAT #: WIRE 460

FILE UNDER: Misc

"On the cover: Phew. The Japanese punk survivor and intrepid vocalist/composer continues to build an impressive catalogue of collaborations, solo projects and band work in a career now spanning over 40 years. Japanese punk primer: A round-up of notable outliers of Japanese punk and post-punk; The Primer: Pauline Oliveros. A Deep Listening dive into the recordings (and cisterns) of the composer and accordionist who pioneered radical new ways of listening and living; Ione: The writer, playwright and director, and creative/life partner of Pauline Oliveros, continues their work to connect communities and listeners; Invisible Jukebox: Ava Mendoza. Will The Wire's mystery record selection shred the nerves of the virtuoso guitarist?; The Dream Syndicate: Since their 2012 reunion, the US psych trailblazers have let their freak flag fly across a run of trippy releases including new album Ultraviolet Battle Hymns & True Confessions; Unlimited Editions: Radio Art Zone; Unofficial Channels: Riddimguide; Black Glass Ensemble: Environmentalist chamber group follow the data; Deborah Walker & Silvia Tarozzi: Finest worksongs for the Italian cello and viola duo; Julmud: The Palestinian producer and rapper collages industrial sounds from across the Middle East; Floris Vanhoof: Transforming sound and vision is fair game for the Belgian artist and instrument builder; Global Ear: Moscow. The invasion of Ukraine has pushed the Russian counterculture into retreat; The Inner Sleeve: billy woods on Bigg Jus's Black Mamba Serums v2.0; Epiphanies: Gary Lucas is enchanted by Third Ear Band's trancelike medievalism."

 

PRICE: $25.00

CAT #: TDP 54066LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

Trading Places present a reissue of Samurai's self-titled album, originally released in 1971. In 1971 the group called WEB changed its name to Samurai and started working on their eponymous studio album released on the obscure Greenwich Gramophone label. Samurai is a great gem of early British progressive rock, and although it was clearly influenced by legendary groups such as King Crimson and Gentle Giant, it represented a unicum in the music panorama. Unfortunately, the group disbanded shortly after the release, partly compromising its highly deserved recognition. Licensed by Cherry Red.

 

PRICE: $25.00

CAT #: TDP 54072LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

Trading Places present a reissue of Beau's self-titled album, originally released in 1969. Leeds-born folk-rocker John Trevor Midgely, alias Beau, was known for his deft twelve-string guitar work, his poignant voice and distinctive song-writing, which brought him onto the roster of John Peel's Dandelion label in 1969. His self-titled debut album is arguably his best and includes the outstanding single "1917 Revolution," said to have inspired America's smash, "Horse With No Name," the LP ably demonstrating that all the artist needed was his voice, his guitar, and his individual approach to song writing, the work bearing his haunting hallmarks throughout. In short, an unjustly obscure release that is ripe for current reappraisal. Licensed by Cherry Red. Includes two bonus tracks. 180 gram vinyl.

 

PRICE: $25.00

CAT #: TDP 54073LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

Trading Places present a reissue of Gilli Smyth's Mother, originally released in 1978. The London-born vocalist and former Sorbonne lecturer Gilli Smyth became known as the "space whisperer" for the poems she performed in Gong, formed in Paris in 1967 with her Australian-born partner, Daevid Allen of Soft Machine, with whom she also performed. Debut solo album Mother, released by French label Charly in 1978, featured her breathy suppositions on motherhood, the cosmic lifeforce, and the powers of Mother Earth, cut with fellow Gong members such as bassist Christian Trisch, saxophonist Didier Malherbe, drummer Pip Pyle, and Allen himself, as well as their children. A must for all Gong fans! Licensed by Cherry Red. 180 gram vinyl.

 

PRICE: $25.00

CAT #: TDP 54076LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

Trading Places present a reissue of J.P. Sunshine's self-titled album. In 1967, the English poet George Duffell, alias Jorgy Porgy, decided to set his verses to music, birthing J.P. Sunshine with guitarist/vocalist Rod Goodway of pop act the Pack (later with the Crazy World of Arthur Brown), the line-up expanding with a bassist and bongo player, Duffell's girlfriend on percussion, and former Pack guitarist Andy Rickell on electric lead. These resultant recordings, cut on basic gear in Duffell's flat, evidence an individual psychedelic sound, marked by the incestuous claustrophobia of the group's romantic rivalries, the meandering lyrics, and disjointed melodies pointing to the pervasive drug use that ultimately squashed the project. This is psych with a difference: rare, rough, and freaky. Licensed by Cherry Red.

 

PRICE: $25.00

CAT #: TDP 54077LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

Trading Places present a reissue of Beau's Creation, originally released in 1971. Leeds-born folk-rocker John Trevor Midgely, alias Beau, was celebrated for deft twelve-string guitar, a poignant voice and distinctive song-writing, which brought him onto John Peel's Dandelion label. Second LP Creation was recorded over three days and features more of Beau's beautiful twelve-string work and mournful vocals, this time with accompaniment from Steve Clayton and Jim Milne of The Way We Live (later known as Tractor), mostly subtle, but rocking in places, as heard on "The Silence Returns"; this edition comes with rare bonus track, the contemplative "Sky Dance", from a 1972 Dandelion compilation LP. Licensed by Cherry Red.

 

PRICE: $25.00

CAT #: TDP 54079LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

Trading Places present a reissue of Doris Duke's I'm A Loser, originally released in 1970. Emotive soul singer Doris Duke got her start backing gospel artists and was a mainstay at the Apollo in the early 1960s, cutting some demos for Motown that remain unreleased. After a debut single that made little impact (credited to Doris Willingham), she became Doris Duke at the behest of Swamp Dogg, who produced this acclaimed solo debut, I'm A Loser, regarded by many as one of the best "deep soul" albums ever issued. Cheating saga "To The Other Woman (I'm the Other Woman)" was a top-fifty pop hit and "Feet Start Walking" also reached the US R&B charts, assuring Duke's eternal reputation, despite the collapse of Canyon Records, the label that first released this hefty gem. Licensed by Good Time Inc.

 

PRICE: $28.50

CAT #: VB 003LP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

Australia-born Los Angeles-based artist Luke C. presents T.O.M.B., his debut solo release on his newly minted label Velvet Bikini. The seven-track album is a gauzy, starry-eyed style of ambient electronics, embedded with melancholia and a touch of otherworldly psychedelia. A soundtrack to a generation lost, endlessly searching the streets of a sun-drenched, neon-lit city. The bulk of T.O.M.B. was recorded at Luke C.'s home studio in LA over 12 months and put together with various sources -- MicroKorg, voice, sampled records, treated field recordings, resampled synths -- to create the noirish atmosphere present across the LP, one that takes the listener through the depths of the psyche and the neon-lit corners of the city in which it was recorded. Iranian-American artist Kamran Sadeghi mastered the entirety of the LP, known for his recent album on Richard Chartier's LINE imprint and his work as a key member of Soundwalk Collective.

 

PRICE: $21.50

CAT #: VEYL 034LP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

Veyl welcome Marco Freivogel's Prequel Tapes for an immense eight song release, The Golden Cage. Completing an album cycle of themes and exploration which began with 2015's Inner Systems, The Golden Cage is perhaps Prequel Tapes' most diverse and expansive work -- utilizing the artist's own vocals for the first time and evolving his production and sound to new, uncharted dimensions. Working off the trauma of his father's suicide, The Golden Cage was spawned from a hyper-realistic dream experience which revealed the artist's path, catalyzing new productions and techniques. The result is a striking work of unconventional electronics that journeys through rhythms, atmospheres, and experimentations. A true narrative of a continuously challenging personal journey. Beginning with the tension-building, free flow of "My Turn", you then delve into grief and anger with "I Hate You", which transforms into the pulsating tempos of "Stranger or Lover". The glistening nostalgia of "Last Things" marks the halfway point before grappling with the heavy introversion of "Alone" and devious energy of "Mind Corner". Nearing the end of our trip, "Without Remission" uncovers the most dance floor tuned piece while finally the title track closes things out with an energy that will linger long after you've listened. Crystal clear vinyl; includes poster and download.

 

PRICE: $31.00

CAT #: MS 2123HLP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

2022 restock. 180 gram exact repro reissue of Gram Parsons' first solo album, originally released in 1973. Manufactured by Rhino. "...probably the best realized expression of his musical personality. Working with a crack band of L.A. and Nashville's finest (including James Burton on guitar, Ronnie Tutt on drums, Byron Berline on fiddle, and Glen D. Hardin on piano), he drew from them a sound that merged breezy confidence with deeply felt Southern soul, and he in turn pulled off some of his most subtle and finely detailed vocal performances; 'She' and 'A Song for You,' in particular, are masterful examples of passion finding balance with understatement. Parsons also discovered that rare artist with whom he can be said to have genuinely collaborated (rather than played beside), Emmylou Harris; Gram and Harris' spot-on harmonies and exchanged verses on 'We'll Sweep out the Ashes in the Morning' and 'That's All It Took' are achingly beautiful and instantly established her as one country music's most gifted vocalists. On G.P., Parsons' ambitious vision encompassed hard-country weepers, wistful ballads, up-tempo dance tunes, and even horn-driven rhythm and blues." -- All Music Guide

 

PRICE: $17.50

CAT #: WENDE 001EP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

Metaboman's new EP Wende 001 comes with four tracks of warm and energetic vibrations. After 20 years of working and releasing, with this EP he initiates his new artist driven label Wende, designed to present his personal output -- of course not without some of his friends. This time, featured artists are Large M and Prestin as well as Jaw from DOP. The cover shows a part of an artwork by Stefan Lenke, a contemporary Dresden based fine artist, working between the concrete and abstract, who also brings in some of the hidden conceptional ideas for Wende.

 

PRICE: $15.50

CAT #: WNCL 040EP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

Conceived in 2020, compiled in 2021 and, thanks to dear friends at the pressing plant, now finally available for your earholes in 2022. The We Are Family series continues to showcase the latest crop of cassette librarians with all four artists enhancing their splendid name with this disc. It will sell in millions to the world. Dip it in gold and give it to your grandchildren. Or just simply wear it out. Features Ténèbre, Skin Teeth, Mani Festo, and Justice.

 

PRICE: $15.50

CAT #: WRWTFWW 041EP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

2022 restock. WRWTFWW Records announce the official reissue of Grauzone's essential 1981 maxi single with timeless classic "Eisbär", proto-techno beast "FILM 2", and romantic synth ballad "Ich Lieb Sie", just in time for the 40th anniversary of the Swiss band's formation. "Ich möchte ein Eisbär sein?" written by Martin Eicher after a nightmare in which he saw talking polar bears on the walls, and with music by the Grauzone crew consisting of Martin and his brother Stephan Eicher, Marco Repetto, Christian "GT" Trüssel, and Claudine Chirac (on saxophone), "Eisbär" is the most recognizable title from the band, a sublime mix of ingredients reflecting the transitional era it comes from -- the raw energy of punk music still palpable, combined with the audacity of early electronics, the warm groove of a disco gem, beautifully fragile lyrics, and one of the best basslines ever. It became a mega hit, totally unplanned, but how could you resist such a track? "FILM 2" is the ultimate B-side monster, a menacing all-instrumental pre-techno masterpiece, slowly building to a magnetizing frenzy. An instant underground favorite, it was famously heard played at both speeds depending on the scenes and DJs you were frequenting, 45rpm as it was first intended, and 33rpm for the cosmic experience. The maxi single ends with "Ich Lieb Sie", a synth-pop meets doo-wop ballad, a true love song oozing with innocence -- simple, stylish, and just right. At the crossroads of post-punk, new wave, pop, and electronic experimentation, the Eisbär maxi offers three songs that are technically different but hold the same spirit, the perfect embodiment of Grauzone's music -- wild, unpredictable, and youthful, yet sophisticated, catchy, and ingenious. The magic recipe for the good stuff. Stephan Eicher went on to be, arguably, the most successful Swiss musician ever, with an international career extending from pop chanson to experimental escapades and collaborations with Moondog, artists Sophie Calle and John Armleder, and author Martin Suter among many other luminaries. Marco Repetto flourished as a techno and ambient producer, releasing multiple projects including releases on Aphex Twin's Rephlex label. Grauzone and WRWTFWW will continue to collaborate on the band's 40th anniversary reissue campaign, with numerous projects planned for the year, including a vast selection of music, visuals, and literature never available before. Sourced from the original reels; cut at 45rpm; Includes iconic artwork on a 350gsm sleeve.

 

PRICE: $15.50

CAT #: WRWTFWW 043EP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

2022 restock. WRWTFWW Records is beyond thrilled to announce the first ever vinyl maxi-single release for Raum, Grauzone's best-kept secret and underground mega-gem from 1980. The four-track affair includes the full title track sourced from the original reels. The 12-inch vinyl is cut at 45rpm and comes with a never-seen cover art by band member Stephan Eicher and a handmade Xerox hype sticker. Initially released almost 40 years ago on the beloved compilation Swiss Wave The Album (Off Course Records, 1980) alongside the band's massive hit "Eisbär", "Raum" is the biggest Grauzone track people have yet to discover. An über-infectious New York style bassline played by Christian "GT" Trüssel and frantic drumming by Marco Repetto's blend with Martin Eicher's hauntingly hopeless lyrics and Claudine Chirac's saxophone escapades to personify post-punk heaven and all its wonderful anomalies. It's disco with an edge, pop filled with fear, it's The Cure infused with proto techno and Swiss art chic. Or maybe, it's simply one hell of a song that will make you dance and shout. Further on the A-side, Naum Gabo's rework takes Grauzone to modern dancefloors with a thumping track and bounce-inducing groove on which Liquid Liquid's very own Dennis Young adds magic in the form of marimba, Roto Toms, and EBowed guitar. The energy is electric, the sound is huge, a club banger with extra heart, ready for sound systems of all kinds. The B-side features Ata Macias's fabled extended version of "Raum" (first released in 2010 via Live at Robert Johnson) that Stephan Eicher described as "the perfect Grauzone edit" (and it is!), plus a straight to the point radio edit of Naum Gabo's rework. This release follows WRWTFWW's reissue of Grauzone's Eisbär maxi-single (WRWTFWW 041EP) as part of the 40 years anniversary of the band.

 

PRICE: $30.50

CAT #: WRWTFWW 060LP

FILE UNDER: EXPERIMENTAL

LP version. WRWTFWW Records and MEG Museum (Geneva) present the first new solo album by renowned Japanese percussionist Midori Takada in 23 years, Cutting Branches For A Temporary Shelter. Recorded in a live setting and played with instruments conserved in the collections of the MEG Museum, Cutting Branches For A Temporary Shelter is Midori Takada's very own rendition of "Nhemamusasa", a traditional work emblematic of the musical repertoire for mbira of the Shona of Zimbabwe, well known worldwide, thanks notably to its version by Paul F. Berliner included on the famed 1973 album The Soul of Mbira. The choice of this title by Midori Takada evokes the links between traditional African and contemporary music which are the foundation of this work, and it also translates the resolutely multicultural vision of the artist. Midori Takada explains: "African music is remarkable for its polyrhythms. Not only are there simultaneously several rhythmic motifs, sometimes as many as ten, but furthermore it may be that the part played by each musician has its own starting point and its own pace, all combining to form a cycle. All the cycles progress at the same time according to a single metrical structure which functions as a reference point, but which is not played by any one person from beginning to end. The structure emerges out of the multi-level parts, all different. With the Shona, the musical system is based on the polymelody: one performs simultaneously several melodic lines which are superimposed, each having its own rhythmic organization. It is truly captivating. In Western classical music, one four-beat rhythm induces some precise temporal framework and regular reference points, which come on the strong beats 1 and 3. But in the logic of the Shona musical system, and in other African music, the melody can begin in the very middle of the cycle and be continued up to some other place in an autonomous manner, as if it had its own personality. It's very rich." Includes in-depth liner notes that include an interview with Midori Takada, a point of view by Zimbabwean scholar, musician and activist Forward Mazuruse, and background information on the project by Isabel Garcia Gomez and Madeleine Leclair from MEG Museum. Artwork by celebrated Zimbabwean painter Portia Zvavahera.

 

PRICE: $30.50

CAT #: WRWTFWW 061LP

FILE UNDER: EXPERIMENTAL

LP version. WRWTFWW Records and MEG Museum (Geneva) announce a new full-length album by celebrated Japanese percussionist Midori Takada, in collaboration with Buddhist monks belonging to the Samgha group of the Shingon school of Koya-san, led by Reverend Syuukoh Ikawa. Recorded at The Premises Studio (London) and in Tokyo in 2019, You Who Are Leaving To Nirvana is a majestic work combining a suite of six Buddhist liturgical chants and a musical creation by Midori Takada. The Buddhist chants come from three types of repertoires: shomyo ("Teisan", "Unga-Bai", "Sange", "Taiyo"), but also goeika ("Kannon-Daiji") and mantra ("Hannya-Singyo"). After supervising the recording of the Buddhist chants, Midori Takada added her own compositions, with subtle layers of percussion and the melodies of her beloved marimba, giving full life to the sacred texts. Reverend Syuukoh Ikawa explains: "Shomyo is a form of declamation of sacred esoteric texts, inherited over many generations. The power of words goes far beyond their mere pronunciation. I think there is something that words alone cannot really convey. If I recite prayers in a musical way, the feeling transmitted will be even stronger than if I say it normally, in everyday language. I think that the musicality of a work carries a hidden power that cannot be expressed in words alone. The setting of the music has an additional power for you and for those around you who listen to it. The words of a song are not just words set to music. They carry an additional hidden power that cannot be expressed in any other way. Listening to Midori Takada's musical performance, the words truly seem to come alive." Original recordings of the Buddhist chants are held in the International Archives of Folk Music (IAFM) at the MEG Museum in Geneva. The album sleeve features an artwork by famed Japanese sculptor Katsura Funakoshi selected by Midori Takada. LP version comes on half speed mastered vinyl.

 

PRICE: $17.00

CAT #: YAZ 1053HLP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

2022 restock; 180 gram vinyl reissue, originally released in 1976. "It is not difficult to imagine why the harmonica should have been a favorite among bluesmen; its price, portability and loud volume made it ideal for them. Moreover, the harmonica was perhaps the best suited of all blues instruments to imitate and exaggerate the sound of the human voice. It could produce glissandos and vibratos that even a bottleneck guitarist would have been hard put to duplicate."

 

PRICE: $17.00

CAT #: YAZ 1078HLP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

2022 restock. 180 gram reissue, originally released in 1990. "Blind Willie Johnson (1902-1947) is one of the great gospel blues legends. Initially a preacher who gave sermons in the street, Johnson first became known for his powerful voice, but it was his masterful slide guitar playing that would soon write his name in the annals of blues."