Forced Exposure New Releases for the Week of 10/2/2023

 

PRICE: $17.50

CAT #: ACIDTEST 020EP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

Vienna-based producer and 303 maestro Tin Man returns to Acid Test for his first solo EP for the label in over five years. It's another impeccable outing of romantic acid variations, especially tailored for unforgettable dancefloor revelations. Tin Man has been setting the pace for forward-looking acid lovers for close to two decades now, and on his 15th Acid Test appearance he takes the vibe back to early and proto-house roots, stripping back the musical elements while layering in the euphoria with four perfectly crafted slices of feelgood 303. Opening track "Hidden Acid" already sounds like a long-lost classic, with strings draped over bouncy acid and motorik drums, stretching out over nearly nine minutes, and beautifully capturing the feel of house music circa 1991. "Swaying Acid" comes in all propulsive, toms and congas setting the foundation for melodic acid lines to weave through your heart strings. On the B Side, "Running Acid" is fully optimized for the autobahn fast lane -- a gradual, slow-filtered acid meltdown that builds and releases in tandem with driving hats and vaporous pads that hang over the track like early morning mists. "Wrapped Up Acid" brings the EP to a fitting close, slowing the tempo for a low-key easy dance excursion par excellence -- smooth yet spikey 303 riffs punctuate the chords that drift through with a hint of Badalamenti in the progression. With the Hidden Acid EP Tin Man might hark back to more vintage times, but the emotive power is as strong as ever. The naivety of the '90s is instead replaced with a conviction behind the musical choices that brings even more weight to the heartwarming vibes. This is acid in some of the best shape it's ever been, enhanced and upgraded specifically for the dance.

 

PRICE: $47.50

CAT #: AT 014LP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

Limited 2023 restock. Ten years ago, Acid Test began with a simple concept: each track the label released would make use of the Roland TB-303. Like a producer purposefully paring down their studio setup, or the continuous imperative within underground electronic music to reduce, this concept engendered creativity with the introduction of what seemed to be an aesthetic limit. However, the decade that followed, which now culminates in the triple-LP compilation 10 Years Of Acid Test, proves acid is limitless. That the Berlin-via-LA label would expand upon the classical conception of acid house and techno is no surprise considering the cast of characters that have come in fold over the past decade. 10 Years Of Acid Test gathers key material from the label's extended family of acid acolytes. There's that Vienna-via-LA maestro of sad, elegant acid Tin Man (Johannes Auvinen), whose "Afters Acid" is both a highlight within his prolific catalog and a distillation of his symphonic approach to the 303. Detroit giants Erika and Marcellus Pittman present their respective and singular bass line visions. Erika, the Interdimensional Transmissions lynchpin, crafts a dark, delicate take on broken techno on "Violet Fungus" while Pittman continues his cubist house explorations on "Unknown Species". Irish-based master Lerosa, as well as Delsin affiliate VC-118A, delve into downtempo atmospherics. Meanwhile, Japanese deep techno virtuoso Wata Igarashi, SUED co-founder SW. and Patricia (one-half of Acid Test act Ociya) use acid as a creative jumping-off point for complex melodic concepts. Wata layers an orchestra of synth-bliss drone overtop a squelchy bassline on "Ephemeral". SW.'s "ChaIAnJAzzz" cycles through an array of dusted chords eventually landing in skewed, fuzzy rave nostalgia, anthemic chords held aloft by a wicked UK-flavour bass line. Patricia's "Higher Still" explores dreamy, IDM-flavored acid, cinematic synth lines counterbalanced by propulsive, squelching acid. Acid Test devotees will be thrilled at the return of various luminaries from the catalog, including Achterbahn D'Amour, Skudge, AAAA, John Tejada and Donato Dozzy. There's new blood too. San Francisco up-and-comer Sepehr makes his label debut with the excellent "Persian Acid Prince", as does Andreas Tilliander's beloved hardware techno project, TM404. Ten Years Of Acid Test is a valuable portrait of a group of artists linked by a dedication to innovation within acid, in line with the genre's storied roots. Over ten years, Acid Test has gracefully made a case for the 303's past, present and future, the story of acid continuing to unfurl in unpredictable, addictive patterns.

 

PRICE: $23.00

CAT #: BEC 5772894

FILE UNDER: ROCK

2023 repress. Metronomy present their third album The English Riviera. The follow up to 2008's critically-acclaimed Nights Out, The English Riviera is a sonic progression of epic proportions and affirms Metronomy front man and producer, Joseph Mount, as a rare British talent. Since Nights Out, the band have swollen to a four-piece with new members Anna Prior on drums, Gbenga Adelekan on bass, original member Oscar Cash on keys/sax, and Joe himself on vocals, keys and guitar. This expansion of personnel is reflective of a new record that is mapped by vast soundscapes, incredible depth and warmth, and big pop hooks. Part love letter to the area of Devon coast Mount grew up in and part concept album about his own semi-fictionalized vision of The English Riviera, the tone for the album is set by the opening sounds of seagulls, distant waves and a Music Hall string quartet. However, any notion of whimsy is swiftly dispelled, as the seismic bass line of "We Broke Free" shudders and ushers in waves of layered guitars and synths. Having produced and remixed everyone from Roots Manuva to Kate Nash an album from Nicola Roberts, this is the first Metronomy album that Mount has taken out of his bedroom and recorded in a proper studio. The results are telling. Characterized throughout with a sense of warmth and richness, The English Riviera is in parts reminiscent of seminal 1970s West Coast studio albums from the likes of Fleetwood Mac and The Eagles, but due to Mount's studio wizardry, the record sounds vibrant and entirely of its time. Few other albums will so successfully transcend such a plethora of influences and ideas and form such a coherent body of work.

 

PRICE: $24.00

CAT #: BFR 028LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

"Songs for Satan is a moment of critical mass for Warsaw, Poland's Dopelord. A blast of devil-worship in the riffing realms is nothing new, and while they aren't the first band to openly embrace the motif, their amplified heresy is uniquely triumphant, their fuzz-drenched apostasy genuine and glorious. Songs for Satan showcases the band's equal mastery of lumbering plod and silvery hooks, and mines Polish Catholicism's decades of oppression for lyrical fuel. Tracks like 'Satan's Call,' 'The Chosen One,' 'One Billion Skulls' and 'Worms' are pointed in their defiance of the church's cultural dominance, even while managing to be contagiously singable at the same time. Calling to mind Electric Wizard, Windhand, Beelzebong and Acid King, Songs for Satan is Dopelord's apex, an iconoclastic milestone that rumbles the earth and shakes our figurative foundations."

 

PRICE: $25.00

CAT #: BFR 028Y-LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

Colored vinyl version. "Songs for Satan is a moment of critical mass for Warsaw, Poland's Dopelord. A blast of devil-worship in the riffing realms is nothing new, and while they aren't the first band to openly embrace the motif, their amplified heresy is uniquely triumphant, their fuzz-drenched apostasy genuine and glorious. Songs for Satan showcases the band's equal mastery of lumbering plod and silvery hooks, and mines Polish Catholicism's decades of oppression for lyrical fuel. Tracks like 'Satan's Call,' 'The Chosen One,' 'One Billion Skulls' and 'Worms' are pointed in their defiance of the church's cultural dominance, even while managing to be contagiously singable at the same time. Calling to mind Electric Wizard, Windhand, Beelzebong and Acid King, Songs for Satan is Dopelord's apex, an iconoclastic milestone that rumbles the earth and shakes our figurative foundations."

 

PRICE: $24.00

CAT #: BSR 859LP

FILE UNDER: WORLD

"Ephraim 'Jerry' Baxter recorded Love Train under the name Well Pleased And Satisfied with The Revolutionaries backing him. Recorded at Channel One and Randy's with a mix done at King Tubby's, Love Train highlights The Revolutionaries 'rockers' sound and is a 'showcase' album which means the corresponding dub follows each vocal track. The album contains the original vocal cut of 'West Man Rock' which was dee-jay'ed over by Ken Quatty under the same title, plus some outstanding Revolutionaries dubs of Jerry's vocal tracks. Love Train was originally issued by Burning Sounds' sub-label Burning Rockers on red vinyl in 1979. Burning Sounds have on this re-issue album kept the original color and label."

 

PRICE: $24.00

CAT #: BSR 860LP

FILE UNDER: WORLD

"Opening with Jah Walton who would go on to greater success as Joseph Cotton in the nineties, followed by Big Youth who had made some of his earliest records with Phil Pratt. I Roy, Jamaica's most literate and articulate DJ, steps forward with two big hits, 'Ital Dish' and 'Musical Air Raid' before two tracks from King Sighta, a young DJ who apparently lost an eye in a factory accident, and who released the eponymous King Sighter The One Eyed Giant album on Terminal that year. Very little is known about Little Wicked, but Big Joe recorded extensively during the seventies for Studio One, Harry Mudie's Moodisc Records and many other top producers although this is his sole recording, released on Chanan Jah in London, for Phil Pratt. The set concludes with Jah Stitch, DJ for Tippertone and Black Harmony sound systems."

 

PRICE: $24.00

CAT #: BSR 868LP

FILE UNDER: JAZZ

"Re-issue of 1978 album Welcome to my World. Featuring Jimmy London (vocals), Aston 'Family Man' Barrett and Robert 'Robbie' Shakespeare (bass), Carlton Barrett and Lowell 'Sly' Dunbar (drums), Bertram 'Ranchie' MacLean (lead guitar), Radcliffe 'Dougie' Bryan (rhythm guitar), Ansell 'Pinkie' Collins and Bobby Kalphat (keyboards), Tommy McCook (tenor saxophone), Felix 'Deadly Headley' Bennett (alto saxophone), Vincent 'Don D Junior' Gordon (trombone), Christopher 'Sky Juice' Blake, Noel 'Scully' Simms and Uzziah 'Sticky' Thompson (percussion). Recorded at Channel One Recording Studio."

 

PRICE: $23.00

CAT #: DAMGOOD 604LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

"A live recording from 1977! First time on vinyl! Previously only available on CD as part of the Past & Future Landslide 3CD box set! 'It was 1977 and things were progressing extremely well. We had signed to Beggars Banquet and our first single Shadow c/w Love Story had been released. John Peel had been playing both sides of the single most nights on his radio show, so we were getting heard by a lot of people. But we didn't yet have a 'proper' tour bus, so we all piled into a transit for the trip down to Margate with our tour manager Mike Stone in the driving seat. The Queens Hotel turned out to be a pretty good venue. There was a nice high stage which we much preferred over the low-slung platforms of some of the places we played. It meant that the crowd wasn't totally swamping us the whole time, although there would still be a constant stream of people jumping on and off stage, bumping us, knocking equipment over and so forth. We weren't sure if many people would turn up on a cold and windy night so close to Christmas, but it was a good turnout, and they were out for a good time too. There was none of the aggro stuff which would become a problem later on at our shows. The actual gig was typical of a Lurkers show at that time, being fairly chaotic with a lot of crowd 'interaction.' There is a recklessly fast version of 'Pills' on the recording, and I think we were playing 'It's Quiet Here' for the first time live. Howard was on good form too; it would be his birthday on Christmas Day. My favourite quip from him is towards the end of the show when he says 'eat your heart out Hank Marvin' after one of my more eccentric Shadows guitar intros.' --Pete Stride, 2022"

 

PRICE: $31.50

CAT #: DIO 435822LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

LP version. Debut album by hard prog heavy psych French band. Lacerating riffs with massive and powerful organ sound. Hard prog heavy what? This hybrid music style between prog rock and psych rock born in Birmingham and in the English Midlands at the end of the '60s is still alive? Yes, Moundrag members Camille and Colin from Paimpol, Brittany are giving a new life to the genre. Camille plays Hammond organ (Deep Purple, does that ring a bell?), Colin plays drums, and both of them sing. Moundrag clearly shows that you don't need a guitar to make rock music. They have everything to have a massive and powerful sound: the Hammond organ sound wrecks everything in its path like hurricanes, the drums rumble like a storm, the vocals are dubbed, harmonized, highlighted, in that vintage rock style that has been enjoying a revival for the last few years. From their instruments to their look, everything is vintage, except them. However, they seem to have come straight from a 1970s psychedelic trip. In any case, they didn't forget to bring back the wild energy of the bands of that time to compose their own music. Bold tracks with lacerating ri?s, which evoke ELP, Atomic Rooster, and Deep Purple while adding their personal touch. Hic Sunt Moundrages is the result of a journey where music, imagination and visuals unite as one, transporting you into a transcendent universe.

 

PRICE: $17.00

CAT #: DIS 190LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

2023 repress; pink vinyl; LP version. "Coriky is a band from Washington, D.C. Amy Farina plays drums. Joe Lally plays bass. Ian MacKaye plays guitar. All sing. Formed in 2015, Coriky did not play their first show until 2018. They have recorded one album. They hope to tour."

 

PRICE: $23.00

CAT #: DC 866LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

"Moments of eternity: the first plucks at the strings, a bass note cementing the drift into place a little more than a minute in. The organ drones, iterating unrelivable ancient history, a chiming note of the church. Guitar strings, climbing that stairway to heaven. Gossamer-light when viewed from a distance; up close, the gears grind with a visceral physicality. With BCMC, Cooper Crain and Bill MacKay unite to create Foreign Smokes: provocalogues, equal parts avant-garde noir and fire-and-icy jams to recall bright shades and warm stretches of infinity drawn through the buzzy overdrive of this side of life's strange and sunny days. Cooper's organ and synths and Bill's guitar draw songs from spontaneous statements and elegiac scraps, floating closer, then farther, and closer again to the sounds of the other. Starting with a melody, a set of progressions or even as little as a scale or just a key, gives room for either one of 'em to take the lead, depending on where they are or are going at any given time. The reigning motif most often seems to be, to melt and wind around each other's sound, part of a singular undulation, handed back and forth, a slowly emerging trip up into and through an ideal of exuberance. As BCMC beam through the universe, their light intersects with yours, creating a new arc. Every turntable they spin upon becomes a new prismatic stream; every bud blooming in ears across the known plane, another voicing. Every resonance, every redolence -- hushed and encompassing, prayerful yet omniscient, intimate and universal -- Foreign Smokes!"

 

PRICE: $30.50

CAT #: DTD 058CD

FILE UNDER: WORLD

Bolinus Brandaris takes the listener to the Bay of Cadiz, which is often referred to as "cuna del cante" ("cradle of song"). This southernmost part of mainland Spain is considered the birthplace and heartland of flamenco, where many song styles originated then radiated out through the rest of Andalusia. Expertly recorded with modern technology in informal and natural environments, this is flamenco culture as it is being lived today. Generally speaking, modern flamenco recordings have often missed the mark for two reasons: either they were live recordings in which the recorded sound was a by-product of a staged concert event, or they were studio recordings that leaned heavily on studio techniques to make the music sound contemporary (i.e. isolation booths, added effects, multi-tracking). Bolinus Brandaris gives flamenco's fundamental elements -- voice and guitar -- their overdue spotlight. By excluding the often-overemphasized component of flamenco dance, this release provides context which will enrich any flamenco experience. Featuring Trini de la Isla, Juani de la Isla, Jesus Castilla, Ana Polanco, Victor Rosa, Pedri?n de la Isla , Jesus Guerrero, and El Nin?o del Parque. Comes with a 96-page, 9.25" x 6.25" x 5" hardcover book printed on artbook-quality paper with 46 color photos.

 

PRICE: $26.00

CAT #: EH 68003LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

Quicksilver Messenger Service's debut effort was a little more restrained and folky than some listeners had expected, given their reputation for stretching out in concert. While some prefer the mostly live Happy Trails, this self-titled collection is inarguably their strongest set of studio material, with the accent on melodic folk-rock. Highlights include their cover of folksinger Hamilton Camp's "Pride of Man," probably their best studio track; "Light Your Windows," probably the group's best original composition; and founding member Dino Valenti's "Dino's Song" (Valenti himself was in jail when the album was recorded). "Gold and Silver" is their best instrumental jam, and the 12-minute "The Fool" reflects some of the best and worst traits of the psychedelic era.

 

PRICE: $26.00

CAT #: EH 69009LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

The third long-player from San Francisco psychedelic icons Quicksilver Messenger Service (QMS) is a direct contrast from their previous discs. Shady Grove (1969) is comprised mostly of shorter and self-contained pieces as opposed to the long and extended jams that were so prevalent on their self-titled debut (1967) and Happy Trails (1969). Ironically, the one stretched-out instrumental is courtesy of their latest acquisition -- Brit recording session guru Nicky Hopkins (keyboards). Another possible reason for the shift in style as well as personnel is the conspicuous absence of Gary Duncan (guitar) -- who is rumored to have been a "guest" of Bay Area law enforcement at the time. The band incorporate a number of different styles on the album. Kicking off the disc is an up-tempo rocking version of the traditional Appalachian folk song "Shady Grove." The QMS reading is highlighted by John Cipollina's trademark fluid fretwork and a familiar "Bo Diddley" backbeat -- reminiscent of both "Who Do You Love" and "Mona" from the live ensemble LP Happy Trails.

 

PRICE: $26.00

CAT #: EH 70002LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

Juju was the first album recorded by the rock band Gass and featured guitarist Peter Green, who had just left Fleetwood Mac at this time. The album was released by Polydor in 1970 and withdrawn soon after it was released to retail outlets and re-issued (entitled Gass).

 

PRICE: $25.00

CAT #: HE 70003LP

FILE UNDER: JAZZ

French jazz library LP with female voices and drum breaks, originally released in 1972 on Mondiophone. Stunning composition and wonderfully recorded, this dark, aggressive jazz orchestral vibes, flitting perfectly between the abstract and the structured. Essential. 180 gram LP.

 

PRICE: $25.00

CAT #: HE 70006LP

FILE UNDER: WORLD

Antônio Carlos Jobim was a primary force behind the evolution of bossa nova and his sixth studio release Stone Flower is an absolute classic. The album is emblematic of '70s bossa with its seductive samba beat fused with elements of modern jazz provided by a star-studded supporting cast of Ron Carter, Hubert Laws, Airto Moreira, and Joe Farrell. Stone Flower was recorded by Blue Note engineering virtuoso Rudy Van Gelder and arranged by fellow pianist and guitarist Eumir Deodato; the fidelity and musicality is so well cared for that it effortlessly carries listeners away. 180 gram gatefold LP.

 

PRICE: $23.00

CAT #: GODRECORDS 027

FILE UNDER: ROCK

"What happens when you take a band operating within the imposing, steel-grey confines of Chicago and ship 'em out to the sunny beaches of southern California to make a record? You get Blinded By Oblivion! Axis: Sova have crystallized on every level with their latest, dropping a total classic in the process -- a perfectly conceived album of head-catching tunes in proliferation, produced to transmit polarities to our synapses with every song. It ain't Axis: Sova without a creeping sense of inalienable oppositions at work -- this time, the brutal truths lie beneath flags of conquest flying in the electric wind, the introspection extroverted to explore human condition, intention, and manipulation in the modern world. Blinded By Oblivion zeroes in with zero fucks on these Axis concerns, excited by sounds sourced from high water moments in the rock and roll eras: present, past and future. At times ferocious and slavering, at others, gleamingly diamond-cut, the clash of industrial steel vs. indelible nature is sonically palpable. You get it all, right out the gate: in the bright opening moments of 'People,' Blinded By Oblivion's first cut, an induction of dreamy guitar textures from all corners set up the immortal opening couplet, 'People will be the end of people / People will snuff the light.' From there, the accelerated, percussive thrust that begins 'Hardcore Maps' launches a sequence of quick-hitting singles, each demonstrating a melodic attunement previously only touched upon in the Axis-verse. While earlier releases Motor Earth and Early Surf dwelt in subterranean corridors mottled with lo-fi and psychedout sonics, 2018's Shampoo You sharpened their song-craft and fidelity, pushing vocal arrangements forward. Blinded By Oblivion accelerates this conception to new heights, thanks in part to the bold, hi-fi production courtesy of Ty Segall, who helped bring the band's latest vision to life at his Harmonizer Studios. That vision became hyper-focused with the sweet addition of (human) drummer Josh Johannpeter to the Axis fold. Combined with new drum machines, the rhythms found on Blinded By Oblivion are split in sensual arrangement between organic and synthetic beats on every song. This stereo divergence opens space for Jeremy Freeze's buoyantly grounded bass and Brett Sova's guitar adventures to tap the source with unprecedented contrast and brevity, while providing bedrock for their refreshingly assured vocals to gloriously harmonize. All the elements are there: compassion for our collective fallibility, rebuke on the tip of the tongue, all rolled tight with hook-laden, high-energy construction..."

 

PRICE: $43.00

CAT #: GREL 2105LP

FILE UNDER: WORLD

2023 repress on vinyl. Featuring: Roots Radics, Sammy Dread, Bunny Lie Lie, Wayne Wade, Wailing Souls, Sunny Dread, Pap Tullo, Saddle Dread, Linval Thompson, and Johnny Osbourne.

 

PRICE: $24.00

CAT #: SUBURBIA 027LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

Started in the late '80s as a one-man band with a Fisher Price drum machine, San Pedro's punkers F.Y.P. (Five Year Plan) soon evolved into one of the main names of the '90s pop-punk evolution. Released on their own recess records in 1997 and produced by Dwarves' frontman Blag Dahlia, their fourth album My Man Grumpy is reissued on vinyl for the first time in twenty-five years.

 

PRICE: $14.50

CAT #: JMAN 137CD

FILE UNDER: JAZZ

While the string of legendary independent labels, from Blue Note and Prestige to Steeplechase and Impulse! loom large in the Spiritual Jazz catalog, Jazzman's latest installment concerns the brave and innovative souls who acted "privately," recording and releasing their music without the aid or involvement of a bona fide record company. Making a custom, private press record on your own, without the backing, status and business acumen of an established record company to help out is no mean feat, but it never really was difficult -- it's just a matter of spending money -- but the tricky bit, which remains to this day, is what to do exactly with a pallet load of vinyl that's just been delivered to your door? Sales and distribution never were easy, and getting it right requires imagination, enthusiasm, dedication, hard work and a more than a little luck. Even for the professionals it's proved immensely difficult at times; perhaps that's why so many private press records remain so obscure and elusive to this day. Here, Jazzman examines a variety of tracks from a selection of privately pressed jazz records, released in the US between 1964 and 1987. One of the most interesting things about this album is the variety of reasons behind coming up with a self-released record. No two stories are the same; some were done purely out of altruism to further the musical direction of students, others were simply trying to make it big, albeit on their own terms. But one solid truth remains that binds together each and every selection here -- the artists didn't just make their music for the fun of it, they believed in their art so much that they took whatever steps they had available to them at the time to get their music heard exactly as they wanted it to be heard -- with no spoddy record exec bossing them about! In keeping with the DIY ethos of private pressings, each copy has hand-stamped covers meaning no two copies are exactly alike. And as always with the Spiritual Jazz series of albums, each comes with liner notes and pics, in this case direct from the artists themselves. Featuring Erni Clark, Elysian Spring, Radam Schwartz, Mary Lou Williams, Carmelo Garcia, Black Is ----, Cullen Knight, Don Menza, Belair, Andrew McPherson, Almanac, Owen Marshall, Bobby Jackson, and Compass.

 

PRICE: $32.00

CAT #: JMAN 137LP

FILE UNDER: JAZZ

Double LP version. While the string of legendary independent labels, from Blue Note and Prestige to Steeplechase and Impulse! loom large in the Spiritual Jazz catalog, Jazzman's latest installment concerns the brave and innovative souls who acted "privately," recording and releasing their music without the aid or involvement of a bona fide record company. Making a custom, private press record on your own, without the backing, status and business acumen of an established record company to help out is no mean feat, but it never really was difficult -- it's just a matter of spending money -- but the tricky bit, which remains to this day, is what to do exactly with a pallet load of vinyl that's just been delivered to your door? Sales and distribution never were easy, and getting it right requires imagination, enthusiasm, dedication, hard work and a more than a little luck. Even for the professionals it's proved immensely difficult at times; perhaps that's why so many private press records remain so obscure and elusive to this day. Here, Jazzman examines a variety of tracks from a selection of privately pressed jazz records, released in the US between 1964 and 1987. One of the most interesting things about this album is the variety of reasons behind coming up with a self-released record. No two stories are the same; some were done purely out of altruism to further the musical direction of students, others were simply trying to make it big, albeit on their own terms. But one solid truth remains that binds together each and every selection here -- the artists didn't just make their music for the fun of it, they believed in their art so much that they took whatever steps they had available to them at the time to get their music heard exactly as they wanted it to be heard -- with no spoddy record exec bossing them about! In keeping with the DIY ethos of private pressings, each copy has hand-stamped covers meaning no two copies are exactly alike. And as always with the Spiritual Jazz series of albums, each comes with liner notes and pics, in this case direct from the artists themselves. Featuring Erni Clark, Elysian Spring, Radam Schwartz, Mary Lou Williams, Carmelo Garcia, Black Is ----, Cullen Knight, Don Menza, Belair, Andrew McPherson, Almanac, Owen Marshall, Bobby Jackson, and Compass.

 

PRICE: $22.50

CAT #: JMAN 141LP

FILE UNDER: JAZZ

Where Greasy Mike takes a trip to the Orient -- and returns with 16 slices of sizzling spices in a sleazy Szechuan sauce! Expect all manner of tasty treats to liven up the party, but don't forget to bring the Baijiu! Featuring: The Fugu Five, Billy Nash Rock Band, Marc Mirror, The Pendletons, Jackie Lee, The Windsors, Spike Jones & His City Slickers, Sing A Poor Charlie, Copper Penny, The Manhattans, Yo Yo Hashi, The Dawnbreakers, Chuck Fayne, Walkin Charlie Aldrich, and Earl Craig.

 

PRICE: $30.00

CAT #: VP 4109COL-LP

FILE UNDER: WORLD

Joe Gibbs (real name Joel Gibson) was the producer, owner of the studio, business manager, paymaster and the one who collected the profits by virtue of being the publisher for originals. He was also the man who called the shots when it came to arrangements even though he did not actually perform. The moniker Joe Gibbs and The Professionals could mislead the casual listener. His studio engineer Errol Thompson was a complementary genius when it came to recording and mixing and they awarded themselves the epithet The Mighty Two. This pair were responsible for such greats as Culture's Two Sevens Clash, Prince Far I's Under Heavy Manners, and of course, everyone's favorite summer reggae tunes, Uptown Top Ranking. As for The Professionals, the house band who formed up to perform these songs reads like a who's who of reggae greats. They also recorded as The Revolutionaries and The Aggravators for other studios. With such talent and experience on hand, for their dub albums The Mighty Two could dip into the back catalogue of not only Joe Gibbs releases but Channel One and Treasure Isle hits as well. Consequently, many of the rhythms will be recognizable to anyone with a passing knowledge of reggae and rock steady.

 

PRICE: $30.00

CAT #: VP 4110COL-LP

FILE UNDER: WORLD

Joe Gibbs (real name Joel Gibson) was the producer, owner of the studio, business manager, paymaster and the one who collected the profits by virtue of being the publisher for originals. He was also the man who called the shots when it came to arrangements even though he did not actually perform. The moniker Joe Gibbs and The Professionals could mislead the casual listener. His studio engineer Errol Thompson was a complementary genius when it came to recording and mixing and they awarded themselves the epithet The Mighty Two. This pair were responsible for such greats as Culture's Two Sevens Clash, Prince Far I's Under Heavy Manners, and of course, everyone's favorite summer reggae tunes, Uptown Top Ranking. As for The Professionals, the house band who formed up to perform these songs reads like a who's who of reggae greats. They also recorded as The Revolutionaries and The Aggravators for other studios. With such talent and experience on hand, for their dub albums The Mighty Two could dip into the back catalogue of not only Joe Gibbs releases but Channel One and Treasure Isle hits as well. Consequently, many of the rhythms will be recognizable to anyone with a passing knowledge of reggae and rock steady.

 

PRICE: $19.00

CAT #: KALITA 12025EP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

Kalita Records presents the first ever 12" single of Emerson's 1988 mythical electro boogie grail Sending All My Love Out, accompanied by two remixes courtesy of the genre's most respected innovators, Egyptian Lover and Detroit In Effect. Originally privately released as an obscure 7" single on LAS Records, operated by visionary power couple Emerson and Leora Sandidge, Sending All My Love Out has since transformed into a hallowed grail among dance music collectors, enthusiasts and DJs alike, commanding sky-high prices on the second-hand scene. A late '80s electro boogie anthem, featuring a heavy mix of synthesizer and drum-machine euphoria, overlaid with Emerson and Leora's own vocals, the recording truly is in a league of its own. And to do justice to its legendary status, Kalita Records has dusted off the original multi-track master tapes and enlisted two of the electro scene's most revered figures, namely Egyptian Lover and Detroit In Effect, to remix and elevate the track in their own signature style.

 

PRICE: $25.00

CAT #: LG 005LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

"Recorded in 1989 on the remaining ten minutes left at the end of Swiz's Hell Yes I Cheated reel-to-reel and originally released at the time as a 33 RPM 7", this 2023 release presents a 12" 45RPM version remastered by Tim Green with an extra song recovered from the tape archives of Jason Farrell. The brief story of Fury: At some point in 1989, members of Washington DC punk bands Swiz and Ignition formed Fury as a loose experiment with no intentions beyond being a diversion. The band existed for a few months, wrote six songs, and played two shows. Shawn Brown and Chris Thomson switched their musical roles from their regular bands as vocalist and bass player. The eyes-closed leap into those unfamiliar positions imbued the recording its feeling of deranged chaos, while the well-seasoned duo of Jason Farrell and Alex Daniels nailed down each song with the signature agility and power displayed in their more familiar work together. The recording is a vexing listen that sounds like a Neapolitan swirl of Swiz, Void, and The Germs. Was it precision theatre? Or was it a natural step back into a more primitive and comfortable place for four young veterans that just wanted to fill the daily void of existential restlessness? The track 'Resurrection' famously made it onto the final Swiz LP. The final track 'Last One' got cut off halfway through recording and the band looped and spliced it into a dizzying psychedelic nightmare/masterpiece. The recording has faded into somewhat of an obscurity, a footnote to the larger careers of all of its members. In its time, it was revered by a small cult of obsessives from numerous early '90s underground punk circles. It notably had a pronounced influence on the emerging Gravity Records scene, where its echoes can be heard on quite a few of the earlier releases. Resurrection is finally getting the deluxe treatment that it deserves after 34 years!"

 

PRICE: $25.00

CAT #: LG 006LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

"Las Mordidas were a short-lived Washington DC band that existed from Summer 1993 through Spring 1994. The band was comprised of four well-known veterans from the DC punk community: Chris Thomson (Circus Lupus/Monorchid/Ignition), Dug E. Bird (Beefeater/All-Scars/Fidelity Jones), Jon K. (Rain/Chrisbald 96), and Jerry Busher (Fugazi/All- Scars/Fidelity Jones). The Chris Thomson-fronted bands Circus Lupus and Monorchid that bookended Las Mordidas have received much more exposure, but Las Mordidas were no less audacious and uncategorizable. The familiar DC rhythm section of Bird and Busher here are augmented by the unhinged guitar talent of the relatively obscure Jon K. (Kirschten, younger brother of musician Chris 'Bald' Kirschten). Jon was a revered, integral character in the DC scene and played in many well-known bands, yet he appeared on scant few recordings. To fans of the late '80s and early '90s DC scene, this record is an artifact that it arrives out of the blue and demands an ear. A Frankenstein collaboration that both defies and embodies the DC sound of the era. Recorded by Geoff Turner at WGNS in 1994 and Brendan Canty at Pirate House in 1993. Tapes recovered and transffered by Ian Mackaye and Don Godwyn. Mastered by Tim Green at Louder Studios, CA."

 

PRICE: $24.00

CAT #: LAPSUS 037LP

FILE UNDER: EXPERIMENTAL

Composer, percussionist and multidisciplinary artist RRUCCULLA is undoubtedly one of the most eclectic projects to emerge from Spain in recent times, combining abstraction, plasticity and experimentation with an uncommon mastery. Since her first impact on the electronic "headz" scene with SHuSH in 2018, the Basque producer has been carefully distilling her new album Zeru Freq., which will be released on Barcelona's Lapsus record label. The album is wide-ranging, interweaving sound and art that transports the listener into an immersive universe. Zeru Freq. envelops us in a Euskadi environment, guiding us through an open-air museum, containing a collection of eleven sound productions that fuse nature, landscapes and the local climate. This epic musical journey incorporates organic frequencies painted in technicolor, in which hyper-realistic synthesizer textures merge with acoustic instruments, resulting in an atmospheric ambient sound that warps our perceptions of reality. At a sonic level the unmistakable stamp of RRUCCULLA is omnipresent, but this time she climbs to even higher plains. Zeru Freq. explores an expanded aural palette, traversing the borders of strictly electronic music, while laying foundations for a new audio discourse. Throughout its eleven tracks, RRUCCULLA embraces the broadest spectrum of contemporary music, flirting with avantgarde electronica at will, without succumbing to labels or pigeonholing. Zeru Freq. is the sound of shapes; figures and strokes, it is a work that mutates with each passing moment, until the last note is heard. Also featuring Violeta Azevedo and A. Txabarria.

 

PRICE: $25.00

CAT #: MIG 1062CD

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

"While other musicians mostly vary their repertoire with nuances, every Klaus Schulze performance is hard to predict. His former bandmate Edgar Froese (Tangerine Dream) once needed a nice image when describing his way of improvising on stage with electronic instruments, saying 'This is like a parachute jump where one cannot be sure if the parachute will even open.' This was particularly true during the time of the unpredictable, analog synthesizers -- but Klaus kept this same work method throughout the years without making any changes. And with this he is one of the few musicians who saved this art of improvising, all during the transition from the analog to the digital era. This is also true according to Schulze's principle, 'It is important that I do not have a clue when I should be going onstage.' What appears to be a paradox or what smells like absolute randomness is quite the opposite; it is a reference to all factors of this deciding moment along with a full release as well as an arrival. The definite highest point however would be the Amsterdam concert. It may also be that it was the tour's third concert after Warsaw and Berlin and all those involved had perfectly played one after another. But this does not explain the magic and the breathtaking dramaturgy of the entire performance. The non-verbal and deeply emotional interaction between Klaus Schulze and Lisa Gerrard was seldom so homogenous, real union as it was here!"

 

PRICE: $20.50

CAT #: MAF 001LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

This selection of obscure eighties and nineties experimental and industrial music was taken from even more obscure cassette releases on labels such as Nihilistic Recordings, Harsh Reality, Cauchy Productions, Cafardage, Illusion Production, Watergate Tapes, Afterbirth Records, IEP and Out Of Nowhere. Crazy selection of cult noise and experimental from the 80s and the '90s. Edition of 300 copies. Featuring Kinexus Stringenus, Bernard C., Winter, Lyke Wake, Varoshi Fame, Toshiyuki Hiraoka, Mortification To The Flesh, Louis Pasteur, Det Wiehl, Nox, and A Violated Body.

 

PRICE: $12.00

CAT #: MAGGOT 014

FILE UNDER: Misc

"Cover boy Harry Smith shines thanks to a cheeky, never-before published photo by Allen Ginsberg. We celebrate the life and work of the self-described 'ethnopharmacologist' just in time for the release of John Szwed's illuminating biography and Smith's first one-person art exhibition, at the Whitney, with three killer, well-illustrated features (on his Anthology of American Folk Music, an interview by Marc Masters with Szwed, and a terrific dive into Smith's relationship with fellow visual artist and filmmaker Jordan Belson by Raymond Foye). Also featuring: Andy Beta on the reissue of a forgotten Lou Reed record; excerpts from two revelatory works -- Andy Zax's Extinctophonics, and Christina Ward's Holy Food; Kathy Lindenmayer witnesses a show by Boygenius; an archival interview with fabric arts pioneer and Bauhaus OG, Anni Albers; Michelle Dove visits Cincinnati to write about what made Jenny Mae's work so special; an illustrated Advance Base tour diary by Owen Ashworth; Tamara Palmer considers the oddball career arc of Orbital; Andy Beta goes deep on Tetsu Inoue; Nate Lippens goes off on Rene Ricard and other obsessions; Michelle Dove on Cat Power's sense of humor; the triumphant return of the Unstapled column, with reproductions of a contemporary basketball fanzine. Illustrations throughout by Marly Beyer. Columns by Lucy Sante, Mimi Lipson, Dwight Pavlovic, and editor Mike McGonigal. Tributes to Sixto Rodriguez, Esp Summer, and Pee-Wee Herman."

 

PRICE: $63.50

CAT #: MSKLP 001LP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

ZentaSkai unveils stunning, high-concept house album on Mask Records. ZentaSkai undertook a period of research into the underlying structure and organization of the human brain before writing The Architecture Of The Mind. The Berlin-based artist then took what had been learned and kept it in mind when writing the music that marks Mask's first album release. It comes with extensive background notes on each track, and an operational manual of sorts -- notes from the artists as to the effects each piece will have on those who hear them. The gorgeous "Mind Mapping" opens up with deep and dubby drums and lush harmonies that soothe you to your core, "030" then has more raw, heavy drums with many layers of glowing synths, glassy melodies and organic found sounds. "Fügun" keeps the deep and introspective moods coming before the crisp tech of "Flow Dreaming" ups the ante with more drive and layers of vocal whispers, hi-hats and smeared dub chords. Elsewhere the likes of "Quiet Reflection" lean into the groove with swirling pads and one-word vocal sounds drifting through the air over propulsive drum loops, and "Boiling Range" suspends you in deft synth loops amongst the stars over a prickly house beat. The superb synth craft and well-designed grooves continue through the dusty deep house of "Karl-Marx-Allee" and minimal dub of "Dynamic System" before the elegant melodic techno of "Apeiron" and dreamy synthscapes of "Parallel 30" close the album in a reflective fashion. This is a deeply evocative album with a fully realized concept that is as thought-provoking as it is immersive. Also featuring Laura Merino, Jeremy Reinhard, Palawan, Sebastian Klenk, Apoena, and Yucuma.

 

PRICE: $19.00

CAT #: AM 1201EP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

It's time to release the toys from the darkness and dive into the sound playground. Midnight in a Toyshop is a new lo-fi house project from an old hand in the electronic music business. He is launching an EP series called Play. This will be available on vinyl and digital. All tracks are characterized by punchy, driving beats and a deep, warm, positive atmosphere. The use of 8- and 12-bit tools and tape recordings creates a nostalgic aesthetic that takes you back to a time when moments of lightheartedness and playful creativity flourished. Press play and enjoy the journey.

 

PRICE: $21.00

CAT #: M04 CD

FILE UNDER: JAZZ

2023 restock. "The English free jazz improvisation scene of the late 60s and early 70s was an incestuous breeding ground. Robert Fripp was producing albums by Keith Tippet, Brian Eno was using Derek Bailey and Evan Parker on albums of odd Russian electronic music on Island, and labels like EMI and RCA were actually taking a stab at selling this music to a large market. Amidst all this was Ray Russell, a popular session guitarist, also playing in John Barry's group, also reputed to be the first guitarist in England to have a pedal setup, and also the man responsible for the guitar freak-out on the Dr. No soundtrack album. CBS and RCA started releasing records of his free jazz groups. They started innocently enough, but eventually Russell started to break free. At a time when hollow body guitars and a clean sound were the norm, he had his Fender guitar in one hand and a fuzz box in the other. For a period in the early 70s he made records of unknown hybridibastardization of the rock sound and free jazz energy. He was Caspar Brotzmann when Caspar's dad was still writing blueprints for the continental Europe free jazz sound. Then he moved on, as people do, and the records became impossible to get. His efforts dropped off the face of the free map. The sound is recognizably jazz -- rhythm section, horn, playing heads; group improvisation. But even after all these years it's still a shock when Russell comes up to bat. His lines are not so much melodic variation, or even Coltrane-like walls of sound. Instead it is what, 20 years later, was termed 'skree'; sharp, angular bursts, like a Pollock painting mounted with guitar pickups, the sound of explosions. Like contemporaries Sonny Sharrock and Terje Rypdal, Russell makes it sound as if the guitar is not enough, as if he's reaching for something wilder, something that can't be contained within the 6 string cage."

 

PRICE: $56.00

CAT #: MOV 3497COL-LP

FILE UNDER: JAZZ

"Bon Voyage is the 1987 jazz album recorded by the McCoy Tyner Trio, featuring McCoy Tyner on piano, Avery Shape on bass, and Louis Hayes on drums. The album includes original compositions by McCoy Tyner, George Gershwin's standard 'Summertime' and Irving Berlin's How Deep Is The Ocean.' Originally released as a single LP, Bon Voyage is available for the first time as a double LP-set, including alternate takes of 'Jazz Walk,' 'How Deep Is The Ocean,' and 'Don't Blame Me.' Bon Voyage is available as a limited edition of 500 individually numbered copies on silver colored vinyl and contains liner notes on the sleeve."

 

PRICE: $20.00

CAT #: KIRK 006CD

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

Warehouse find, last copies. "Selected from over seven hours of archive recordings, the majority of which has never before been available, Earlier/Later - Unreleased Projects Anthology 74/89 documents a fifteen-year period of private research and personal development by Richard H. Kirk. Committed to cassette and then forgotten, they have been transferred onto CD with a minimum postproduction. Throughout the two CD release is evidence of Kirk reinventing himself through the sparse dynamics of dance music and laying down the groundwork for his later Sandoz and Sweet Exorcist projects. The earliest material, recorded onto open-reel tape machines using the most basic equipment, is raw and inventive."

 

PRICE: $29.50

CAT #: OR 020LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

White Death, Black Heart, originally released in 2011, is the second album by rock duo Peter Kernel, aka Barbara Lehno? (Camilla Sparksss) and Aris Bassetti. It immediately picks up where the band had left it with their previous LP, hammering in their unique and unmistakable brand of music. With a greater place granted to the multi-faceted female voice that sets the band's signature sound apart, this second opus is irresistible from start to finish.

 

PRICE: $16.00

CAT #: PAMPA 003EP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

2023 repress. On DJ Koze's debut Rue Burnout EP from his own Pampa label, he plays with finesse and sophistication, and implicitly understands the importance of subtlety, leading from dreamy and restrained parts to a noisy frenzy at the end. "Blume Der Nacht" starts with a looped piano solo from Arabian dodecaphony, interwoven with bangs of violin bows, piercing high-pitched strings, almost shrieking glissandi, deep angel chants and obsessive, sharp rhythms. It's very rare that you find house music this excitingly light-footed.

 

PRICE: $16.00

CAT #: PAMPA 021EP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

2023 repress. Here is the second installment of remixes of tracks off of DJ Koze's album Amygdala (PAMPA 007CD/LP). We have no idea what kind of app he used, but somehow Roman Flügel he transformed the title-track from a laid-back, wind-chiming electro-pop number into a clockworking tech-house fairy tale. Robag Wruhme has taken the pleasant puffiness of DJ Koze's "Nices Wölkchen" and incubated it in a deep house cocoon. The witch-shifted voice of guest singer Apparat is given a new life, hovering amidst a mesmerizing mechanical groove.

 

PRICE: $47.50

CAT #: 9782491233105

FILE UNDER: Misc

English language Marilyn Jess is an icon of French eroticism. This new book is the first ever dedicated to the film career of "Patinette" (her nickname), from her debuts to the erotic masterpieces directed by Gérard Kikoïne, Claude Mulot, or Jean Rollin. The book also takes a look at the US, Italian and German productions she starred in, her collaboration to cult satirical magazine Hara Kiri and her photo novels, and investigates extensively the story of the movie she made with Traci Lords, Traci I Love you (1986). 304 pages of stories, anecdotes, firsthand accounts and many rare and unpublished pictures, and a complete filmography, as well as original pieces of art from illustrators and painters.Hardcover with softouch; 304 pages color format 25; 5x28 cm; English.

 

PRICE: $22.50

CAT #: RRS 199LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

Following the success of the Who's Quadrophenia and The Jam's stunning debut LP, Britain was hit by a full-on mod revival, the scene mushrooming in the late 1970s and early '80s. To showcase the phenomenon, Bridgehouse Records staged a gala concert in Canning Town in May 1979, featuring Secret Affair, the Mods, Squire, Beggar, Small Hours, and other acts, many of whom hailed from the Big Smoke's suburban edges. This edition comes complete with two bonus tracks from the revered Merton Parkas, a short-lived group that featured future Dexy's Midnight Runners and Style Council main man, Mick Talbot. A must for all mod die-hards!

 

PRICE: $26.00

CAT #: RRS 199S-LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

Color LP version (splatter vinyl). Following the success of the Who's Quadrophenia and The Jam's stunning debut LP, Britain was hit by a full-on mod revival, the scene mushrooming in the late 1970s and early '80s. To showcase the phenomenon, Bridgehouse Records staged a gala concert in Canning Town in May 1979, featuring Secret Affair, the Mods, Squire, Beggar, Small Hours, and other acts, many of whom hailed from the Big Smoke's suburban edges. This edition comes complete with two bonus tracks from the revered Merton Parkas, a short-lived group that featured future Dexy's Midnight Runners and Style Council main man, Mick Talbot. A must for all mod die-hards!

 

PRICE: $24.00

CAT #: RRS 209LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

Formed as The Age in the late 1960s in the gritty north London neighborhoods of Wood Green and Tottenham, teen glam band Hello signed to Bell Records after being auditioned at home by Argent's lead singer Russ Ballard, the concept being that the band would be supplied with original material by former Zombies manager, David Blaylock, a sure-fire formula that gave them strong overseas followings. This essential compilation gathers the best of the singles they cut for Bell, as well as more obscure rarities, the resulting picture capturing the group in all their glam rock glory, from prime beginnings to bittersweet end.

 

PRICE: $22.50

CAT #: RRS 218BL-LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

After the demise of Teenage Jesus and the Jerks, Lydia Lunch launched her solo career with Queen Of Siam, arguably her greatest LP. In true No Wave style, the album is a mishmash of irritants, but her palette is far broader here, lurching from slow dirges, excessive feminist exhortations, and raucous personal purges to a touch of disco and lounge music exoticism, as conjured by Voidoids/Lou Reed guitarist Robert Quine, Contortions bassist Jack Ruby, and John Cale's drummer, Douglas Browne. Spirited, surprisingly broad and defiantly dissonant, Queen Of Siam's dense layers were designed to provoke and inflame; listen closely to fully decode.

 

PRICE: $44.00

CAT #: MVD 6029LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

"A double LP set of rare, early Hüsker Dü live recordings, featuring original flyers and artwork. Drawn from the historical Hüsker Dü recording archives compiled by Terry Katzman, this double disc live set is an essential companion piece to the band's Savage Young Du box set. While the SYD release principally featured studio demos, the 28 tracks presented here are the aural and enchanting equivalent of a time machine that vividly thrusts the listener straight back to Hüsker Dü's embryonic unsheathing on stage. Side A dates to July 1979. Side B gives us a full year's evolution to July 1980, while Sides C and D land the listener in September 1980. Perhaps 120 people in total saw these three Longhorn performances. Until now, a handful at most have heard the playbacks. So, rare and fresh, it's all here: the songs, the driven performances, the small club intimacy of being in front of select friends, fans, and peers, with one fair shot at getting it right. These four sides compellingly document that you can't doubt that they did."

 

PRICE: $28.00

CAT #: RPUT 043LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

Already bandmates within IDALG, Jean-Michel Coutu and Yuki Berthiaume-Tremblay have been working on new material for some time, from which a distinct identity emerges: the echoes of exotic post-punk, the polychrome and nervous plot of an art rock space opera. YOCTO, in addition to the name given to this new project, is a micro unit of measurement that re?ects well this mini-cyclic and fractional music, drawing its DNA from mid-70s underground rock (Television/Talking Heads/Devo) and sci-fi series opening credits. As a leader of this band, Yuki Berthiaume-Tremblay (Jesuslesfilles, IDALG) sings rebellion anthems alongside Jean-Michel Coutu (IDALG) on guitar, Emmanuel Éthier (Chocolat) on bass, Félix-Antoine Coutu on drums, and Carl Matthieu Neher on v-organ. The first album, Zepta Supernova, co-produced by Emmanuel Éthier (Corridor, Pierre Lapointe, P'tit Belliveau) and Jean- Michel Coutu (Jesuslesfilles, CRABE, PYPY), is released on Canadian label Duprince and French label Requiem pour un Twister. An incisive odyssey where fatal obsession, pernicious pride, chained star, and judgment day are at issue. In this series of science-fiction fables, Yocto speaks to a completely megalomaniacal antagonist. The latter has a predisposition to indulge in his own vices -- which Yocto has understood well and will make good use of: through her cunning and pure ingenuity, she will undermine her rival until his lucky star becomes a supernova.

 

PRICE: $26.00

CAT #: EZRDR 147LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

"Brotherhood Of Peace (aka B.O.P.) brought the world some of the best breezy power pop, Southern rock and heavy boogie all packed into one brilliant album in 1976, the fittingly titled Cuttin' Loose. The album is a free-flowing nine song collection of genre-blending would-be hits suited for both '70s AM gold and FM album rock that never received its proper due, until now. The album flows somewhat similar to the way Big Star combined heavy riffs with airy pop sweetness, but B.O.P. brought more of a blues rock groove to the proceedings, resulting in heavier undercurrents to songs with glowing three-part harmonies and impeccable power trio musicianship. By the mid-'70s, rock n' roll was truly anything goes. Experimentation, excess and inventing new genres was all the rage, and the trio of spritely young men -- guitarist / vocalist Dennis Tolbert, bassist / vocalist Mike Arrington and drummer / vocalist Ronnie Smith -- gamely tackled whatever sound they pleased. Fortunately, the band captured it all on their lone album, released on the small independent label Avanti Records in March 1976. The Mount Airy, North Carolina trio got its start as teens in 1969 as the backing band to a large 20-50 person traveling church choir called the New Americans. By 1970, the band was ready to move on to performing on their own. First as a sextet, the band soon trimmed down to a three-piece, working the local club circuit like madmen, sometimes playing three shows a day. At the height of their live tightness, B.O.P. recorded the album with local musicians Don Dixon and Robert Kirkland of the band Arrogance who worked at Charlotte recording studio Reflection Sound in October 1975. The band laid out the highlights of their live set in the studio, which ran the range of influences from The Raspberries to Deep Purple, Doobie Brothers to Nazareth, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Grand Funk. The initial pressing of 1000 copies was released in March 1976, but without major label machinery for retail distribution, radio and press, the album never took off. The band mostly sold them at live shows, via consignment at local stores and in limited distribution in the Southeastern region. However, to date, the record still occasionally pops up for sale online worldwide at exorbitant collectors' prices. Until now, finally getting a proper reissue via Riding Easy Records."

 

PRICE: $15.00

CAT #: EZRDR 158CD

FILE UNDER: ROCK

"It's been nearly eight years since the last Mondo Drag album came out. In that time, the Bay Area psych-prog band toured the US and Europe, performed at major festivals and -- once again -- reformed their rhythm section. But in the context of the band's nearly two-decade existence, this period may have been the most fraught. Vocalist and keyboardist John Gamiño lost friends and family members. Meanwhile, humanity suffered the throes of a global pandemic. 'It was a dark chapter,' he recalls. 'I was going through a lot of stuff personally -- there's been a lot of death, loss of family members, and grief. Plus, the band was inactive. It felt like time was slipping away from me. I felt like I was wasting my opportunities. I felt like I wasn't participating in my story as much as I could have.' This feeling of time slipping away is the prevailing theme on Mondo Drag's new album, Through The Hourglass. 'For me, Through The Hourglass really encompasses the quarantine / pandemic years,' Gamiño says. 'But in a way that includes a couple of years before that for us, because the band was stagnant during that time. Living with that was really impactful on our daily lives. So, the album is reflective. It's looking at time -- past, present, future.' Luckily, Mondo Drag emerged from this dour period reborn. Freshly energized by bassist Conor Riley (formerly of San Diego psych squad Astra, currently of Birth), who joined in 2018, and drummer Jimmy Perez, who joined in 2022, Gamiño and guitarists Jake Sheley and Nolan Girard have triumphed over the seemingly inexorable pull of time's passage. The result is a dazzling and often plaintive rumination on the hours, days, and years -- not to mention experiences -- that comprise a lifetime. Through The Hourglass was tracked at El Studio in San Francisco, with an additional ten days of recording at the band's rehearsal space, which doubles as a hybrid analog-digital recording studio. The album was engineered and mixed by Phil Becker, drummer of space-punk mainstays Pins Of Light. 'We're still here,' Gamiño says. 'We've been in the studio working on our craft and honing our skills. Now we're re-emerging for the next stage of our life cycle.'"

 

PRICE: $38.00

CAT #: RBL 048-5LP

FILE UNDER: SOUNDTRACK

"New edition and definitive release of the iconic horror film soundtrack composed by Claudio Simonetti for Dario Argento and Lamberto Bava's 1980s gore classic Demons. This soundtrack perfectly captures the growing tension created by the film as the main characters are transformed into demons, leading the way with the electro metal of 'Killing,' the percussively cruel 'Demon,' and the now classic cult hit 'Demon.' 30 years later the music still shines with timeless quality thanks to the eclectic talent of composer Claudio Simonetti. Limited marble yellow vinyl plus insert."

 

PRICE: $42.00

CAT #: RBL 064-3LP

FILE UNDER: SOUNDTRACK

"Rustblade presents Claudio Simonetti and his Goblin playing and reinterpreting the score of one of the most famous horror movies of all times to celebrate 45 years of the idolized film Dawn of the Dead, directed by George Romero and produced by Dario Argento. The music that accompanies the movie is a mix of prog and electronic rock full of tension and magic tribalism. Piercing guitars, synth orchestration, and virtualism give life to thousands of blood thirsty zombies. An unmissable release. Limited colored vinyl plus insert."

 

PRICE: $24.00

CAT #: SEC 301DG-LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

"Re-issue of 1978 album. Limited numbered edition of 1000 pressed on 180-gram Day-Glo pink vinyl. Four panel 12" insert containing artwork, photos and extensive sleeve notes."

 

PRICE: $24.00

CAT #: SED 070LP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

Elevator Bath and Sedimental are honored to co-release the newest work from legendary Texas-based electronic musician Rick Reed, arguably the linchpin of Austin's experimental scene for the past few decades. Reed's distinguished reputation has been justifiably lauded and this new collection of works is thus cause for celebration. The Symmetry of Telemetry, Reed's first new release since 2018, was recorded at his home studio during 2020 and 2021. Reed employs Buchla and Moog synthesizers, organ, vocoder, and found radio sounds. "I've long been fascinated by the radio" says Reed. "But usually more atmospheric blasts like short wave static, rather than accidental juxtapositions of ironic voices or music." Reed's mastery lies in his matchless ability to combine these disparate elements into tightly organized audio collages, each bearing his stamp of singularity. The resultant album contains three new stories conveyed as highly distinctive, personal electronic music. Side A's "Dysania" is an atmospheric rumination on the lethargy so prevalent during the early days of the pandemic. Tinged with melancholy, it is an occasionally serene but deceptively complex study -- and one of Reed's finest compositions to date. Side B kicks off with "Space Age Radio Love Song," a dense pastiche of Buchla bleeps and bloops with frequent radio interruptions and a ring-modulated vocal coda. It's a varied and surprisingly vulnerable construction, a love song in its essence. Side B ends with the moody and intriguing "Leave a Light on for Tony," dedicated to the great artist of light projections, Tony Martin, who passed away the same day Reed finished this piece. The gorgeous artwork on the album's cover consists of two recent paintings by Reed, the most fitting visual accompaniment imaginable for his music (and vice versa). The images are presented here on a heavy, full-color jacket with spot gloss printing, designed by Colin Andrew Sheffield. The vinyl is housed in a poly-lined inner sleeve with beautiful full-color labels.

 

PRICE: $27.50

CAT #: SED 070X-LP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

LP version. Clear vinyl.Elevator Bath and Sedimental are honored to co-release the newest work from legendary Texas-based electronic musician Rick Reed, arguably the linchpin of Austin's experimental scene for the past few decades. Reed's distinguished reputation has been justifiably lauded and this new collection of works is thus cause for celebration. The Symmetry of Telemetry, Reed's first new release since 2018, was recorded at his home studio during 2020 and 2021. Reed employs Buchla and Moog synthesizers, organ, vocoder, and found radio sounds. "I've long been fascinated by the radio" says Reed. "But usually more atmospheric blasts like short wave static, rather than accidental juxtapositions of ironic voices or music." Reed's mastery lies in his matchless ability to combine these disparate elements into tightly organized audio collages, each bearing his stamp of singularity. The resultant album contains three new stories conveyed as highly distinctive, personal electronic music. Side A's "Dysania" is an atmospheric rumination on the lethargy so prevalent during the early days of the pandemic. Tinged with melancholy, it is an occasionally serene but deceptively complex study -- and one of Reed's finest compositions to date. Side B kicks off with "Space Age Radio Love Song," a dense pastiche of Buchla bleeps and bloops with frequent radio interruptions and a ring-modulated vocal coda. It's a varied and surprisingly vulnerable construction, a love song in its essence. Side B ends with the moody and intriguing "Leave a Light on for Tony," dedicated to the great artist of light projections, Tony Martin, who passed away the same day Reed finished this piece. The gorgeous artwork on the album's cover consists of two recent paintings by Reed, the most fitting visual accompaniment imaginable for his music (and vice versa). The images are presented here on a heavy, full-color jacket with spot gloss printing, designed by Colin Andrew Sheffield. The vinyl is housed in a poly-lined inner sleeve with beautiful full-color labels.

 

PRICE: $23.50

CAT #: SPITTLE 035LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

2023 repress. Taking up the gauntlet thrown down by New York's no wave scene, many Italian bands of the early '80s, playing far from the footlights of the world's stage, began creating compelling, and often cutting edge, hybrid sounds. This kind of experimenting soon went viral along the entire peninsula: from Southern Italy to the Alps, creating a brave new Italian take on post-punk. From the nervous white funk of Neopolitans Bisca, to the instrumental explorations of Confusional Quartet, to the "fake jazz" of the Hi-Fi Bros (who even had a track produced by Arto Lindsay), to Band Aid, this collection testifies to one of the most creative periods of the Italian underground. Also features: Eazycon, Modern Model, Die Form, Funkwagen, Nofun, Hakkah, Illogico, Rinf, and State Of Art. Includes CD; CD features the previously unreleased bonus track by La Maison, "Noise Express".

 

PRICE: $27.00

CAT #: SQM 023LP

FILE UNDER: JAZZ

Paul, Rick and River is a programmatic title for the new album from Munich-based Paul Brändle Trio, a modern jazz group led by the eponymous 31-year-old guitar player and band leader. Playing together for years and across continents, this recording manifests the trio's current state of matter, focusing on a no-gimmicks approach and a classic, melodic style of musical world-building.

 

PRICE: $28.00

CAT #: SR 544LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

Double LP version. Gatefold sleeve. At the border of genres, Ogives is an ambitious musical project, initiated and led by composer and musician Pavel Tchikov. This large ensemble leads us onto a path to a sacred universe, to a cathedral of sounds, whose foundations are rock and classical music. Born in Liège (Belgium), Ogives offers a resolutely intense personal and poetic work, dominated by layers of melodious, polyphonic, shouted or lyrical voices. This first album from Ogives, La Mémoire Des Orages ("The Memory of Storms"), is build and orchestrated around poems written by two members of the group. These texts revolve around the themes of the perception of time and the perspective of death. We find here all the group's influences, ranging from post-rock, prog, to contemporary music, baroque and medieval music, through electronic music and noise, all exploited to forge a homogeneous and singular material. From the first choral notes to the last sharp riff, it is a dense and melancholic epic, carried by inhabited and versatile musicians. The album was mixed by Steve Albini.

 

PRICE: $24.00

CAT #: SR 550LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

LP version. Marbled vinyl. In 1995 the self-titled full-length debut of Die Anarchistische Abendunterhaltung (DAAU) was released. The band consisted of four young, "classically derailed" musicians who played their own compositions exclusively with their with acoustic instruments such as violin, cello, clarinet and accordion. Their work contained influences from Roma music, Eastern European folk, klezmer and jazz, and was performed with energy and true punk spirit. DAAU was part of the fertile Antwerp scene, which also produced dEUS, Zita Swoon, and Kiss My Jazz, and soon signed an international record deal with Sony Classical. The group's influential first record, which has been out of print for a while, is now finally being released again and is available on vinyl for the very first time.

 

PRICE: $24.00

CAT #: SR 551X-LP

FILE UNDER: WORLD

Maurice Louca and his band Elephantine announce Moonshine, shining brightly with a live, raw, collective sound. One of the most gifted, prolific and adventurous figures on Egypt's thriving experimental arts scene, Louca has in recent years garnered a global reputation through three previous solo albums and an expanding, evolving lineup of genre-defying collaborations. The Wire called his 2014 sophomore solo effort, Salute the Parrot, "remarkable music-dense, driven and splashed with colour." For Louca, Elephantine serves as both the pinnacle of his wide-ranging experience and a bold next step in his development as a composer, arranger and bandleader, from cosmic jazz, African and world music, to transcendental modal traditions. The music-from its pensive lulls through its stretches of hard-grooving hypnosis and moments of avant-jazz. All copies on red/black vinyl mix.

 

PRICE: $15.50

CAT #: SR 553CD

FILE UNDER: CLASSICAL

"All my music is night music," says the composer Petr Bakla. Three pieces featured on the new album Late Night Show span almost a decade and provide varied examples of his style, "so specific and personal, so allergic to fashion or aesthetic trend," as Eric Wubbels puts it in the insightful liner note. The central instrument is the piano, operated by Bakla's longtime collaborator Miroslav Beinhauer, accompanied by the musicians of Brno Contemporary Orchestra. Digipack and booklet.Petr Bakla (born 1980) composes orchestral, chamber, and solo pieces. In his compositions, he often employs basic material, typically chromatic and whole-tone scales. He is interested in constructing situations and structural contexts in which these frugal musical elements can acquire a unique expressiveness and energy. A frequent feature of Bakla's work is a simultaneous course of two musical/sound layers which, although usually markedly differing in dynamics to allow for a sense of "figure and background", are not mutually subordinating -- they are of equal importance, their "friction" creating specific tension and ambiguity. Petr Bakla's music has been played in Europe and the USA, in many cases commissioned and/or performed by distinguished ensembles, soloists and conductors. Of particular importance for him has been his collaboration with the Ostrava Days festival, which has made possible the performance of numerous works of his for large ensemble or symphony orchestra.

 

PRICE: $15.00

CAT #: SF 067CD

FILE UNDER: WORLD

2023 repress. Erkin Koray and Sublime Frequencies are pleased to present this collection of rare tracks and lesser-heard singles. All tracks were recorded and released in Turkey between 1970-1977 and culled from Koray's personal vinyl collection. Includes exclusive photos and remastered audio. What more is there to say about Erkin Koray? An iconic guitar and songwriting genius. A voice of gold. Having founded the country's first-ever rock and roll group in 1957, he is regarded worldwide as the father of Turkish rock. Forging Western sounds with his own inimitable musical mastery, he self-produced singles and LPs throughout the 1960s and 1970s that shook and altered Turkish society. Erkin didn't stop at rock and roll. Over time, he began to find inspiration in folk sounds from Turkey's Anatolian interior, and radio broadcasts received from Egypt and Lebanon. He looked to the East from his West-leaning Istanbul perch, and began incorporating these sounds into his own work. This amalgamation was as unprecedented and unorthodox in Istanbul at the time as rock and roll itself had been in the 1950s. The resulting hybrid sound ignited what became known as the Arabesque music movement in Turkey -- which continues to this day. While Erkin has recorded and performed tirelessly throughout the years (both as a solo artist, and with the powerful groups he formed), his extensive back catalog only began to be explored by the international community in the 1990s. He is now recognized as one of the foremost global leaders of psychedelic, folk rock, pop and balladry. His music has stood the test of time more than many of his Western contemporaries and influences have managed to, and his prolific work ethic has not ceased. He continues to live and breathe music, performing epic concerts, and continuously plotting new recordings and strategies. His vision and integrity, coupled with his pronounced world views and inherent musical greatness, have made him the unique and magnificent living legend he is today. This collection features tracks not found on the many unauthorized Erkin compilations and LP reissues that have emerged in the West over the years. Ranging from the sublime to the surreal, these tracks offer an essential glimpse into the extensive repertoire of the great Erkin Koray. --Mark Gergis, July, 2011

 

PRICE: $25.50

CAT #: SF 1067LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

Erkin Koray and Sublime Frequencies are pleased to present this collection of rare tracks and lesser-heard singles. All tracks were recorded and released in Turkey between 1970-1977 and culled from Koray's personal vinyl collection. Includes exclusive photos and remastered audio. What more is there to say about Erkin Koray? An iconic guitar and songwriting genius. A voice of gold. Having founded the country's first-ever rock and roll group in 1957, he is regarded worldwide as the father of Turkish rock. Forging Western sounds with his own inimitable musical mastery, he self-produced singles and LPs throughout the 1960s and 1970s that shook and altered Turkish society. Erkin didn't stop at rock and roll. Over time, he began to find inspiration in folk sounds from Turkey's Anatolian interior, and radio broadcasts received from Egypt and Lebanon. He looked to the East from his West-leaning Istanbul perch, and began incorporating these sounds into his own work. This amalgamation was as unprecedented and unorthodox in Istanbul at the time as rock and roll itself had been in the 1950s. The resulting hybrid sound ignited what became known as the Arabesque music movement in Turkey -- which continues to this day. While Erkin has recorded and performed tirelessly throughout the years (both as a solo artist, and with the powerful groups he formed), his extensive back catalog only began to be explored by the international community in the 1990s. He is now recognized as one of the foremost global leaders of psychedelic, folk rock, pop and balladry. His music has stood the test of time more than many of his Western contemporaries and influences have managed to, and his prolific work ethic has not ceased. He continues to live and breathe music, performing epic concerts, and continuously plotting new recordings and strategies. His vision and integrity, coupled with his pronounced world views and inherent musical greatness, have made him the unique and magnificent living legend he is today. This collection features tracks not found on the many unauthorized Erkin compilations and LP reissues that have emerged in the West over the years. Ranging from the sublime to the surreal, these tracks offer an essential glimpse into the extensive repertoire of the great Erkin Koray. --Mark Gergis, July, 2011

 

PRICE: $32.50

CAT #: SF 122LP

FILE UNDER: WORLD

This is the first Vinyl LP ever released featuring a woman playing the Rudra Veena. Madhuvanti Pal is from Kolkata India, teaches the Rudra Veena and builds her own instruments. The name Rudra Veena derives from two Sanskrit roots: Rudra, which is a name for Shiva, and veena, which means "instrument." The first historical accounts of the instrument are given in the Vedas, and then the Puranas. According to Hindu mythology, the Rudra Veena has a unique origin. It is said that Shiva saw his beautiful wife Parvati sleeping, with her arm over her breasts, and decided to build an instrument in her form. It is a stick zither, with two large gourds attached to a hollowed neck. Dhrupad is the oldest form of North Indian classical music that is still performed today. During the Mughal period, the Rudra Veena was a popular Dhrupad instrument, and was often played in courts throughout north India. Dhrupad musicians, including Rudra Veena artists, enjoyed the patronage of various Kings and Princes. In recent years the Rudra Veena has gained some popularity, in part thanks to interest from musicians outside of India. Madhuvanti Pal is one of the new generation of Rudra Veena artists who is teaching students in India and abroad. Early documentation suggests that women played the instrument. This can be seen in sculptures in Hindu temples -- some dating back more than 2000 years -- which depict only women playing the Rudra Veena, and miniature paintings from the 15th - 17th centuries often depict a woman playing the Rudra Veena. However, in more recent times there has been significant stigma around women playing the instrument. Some earlier texts went as far as to suggest that women could not play the instrument, lest they be subject to a "curse." Jyoti Hegde, who is perhaps the most famous female Rudra Veena artist, broke this barrier; her courage enabled younger musicians like Madhuvanti Pal to learn. However, while Jyoti Hegde plays the so-called traditional Rudra Veena, Madhuvanti plays a modified Dagar-style instrument. Very few recordings of the Rudra Veena have been released; most current recordings are of Ustad Asad Ali Khan, Ustad Zia Mohiuddin Dagar and his son, Bahauddin Dagar. This is for a number of reasons, including that the Rudra Veena is notoriously difficult to capture in recorded form. Instead of traveling to a studio and availing technicians more accustomed to modern instrument needs, these recordings have been made in Madhuvanti's apartment. In preparing the album, she has used her own equipment to record and mix each raga. (Limited Edition Double LP spanning over 90 minutes in length, full-color Gatefold with extensive liner notes inside.)

 

PRICE: $17.50

CAT #: TRESOR 252EP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

2023 repress. Following the club and label's 20th anniversary back in 2011, Tresor released an exclusive mix from one of its esteemed Detroit connections, Mike Huckaby. On that mix, Mike Huckaby included an exclusive production of his, the first one to be released on Tresor Records. This is the pressing of "The Tresor Track" on wax, making for a massive A-side cut at 45 RPM. On the flip, Huckaby explores dark and twisted corners with "Basement Trax," and surprises with some rhythmic patterns on "The Upstairs Lounge."

 

PRICE: $37.50

CAT #: TCLP 002LP

FILE UNDER: WORLD

To be far ahead of your time sometimes means that you have to wait a while for the right moment to be understood. The visionary approach of multi-instrumentalist Johnny Lamas led him to experiment with a world of hybrid jazz-funk, ambient and electronic sounds while keeping the rhythms of Venezuelan traditional music alive. From 1993 to today, small recognition has grown into true admiration for this so specific sound and his Danza Cósmica masterpiece. TrueClass Records present as their second release a complete restoration of this gem, beautifully remastered and redesigned, making it available now for the first time in fine audio quality on vinyl and digital formats.

 

PRICE: $28.00

CAT #: VL 990045LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

2023 repress. Vinyl Lovers present a reissue of the Velvet Underground's White Light/White Heat, originally issued in 1968. While 1967's Velvet Underground & Nico was a part of Andy Warhol's global artistic vision, 1968's White Light/White Heat was free of all Warholian influence, so in a way it could be thought of as another debut album. Here the music was left to fester on its own, with no artistic visionary interfering or trying to create a soundtrack for his pop art, and the Velvets filled that void with an album that is an aural subway car full of drunkards, junkies and whores rumbling through the bowels of NYC with a one way ticket to oblivion. Purple vinyl.

 

PRICE: $16.00

CAT #: WJCD 052CD

FILE UNDER: JAZZ

Enemy, the trio of drummer James Maddren, pianist Kit Downes and bassist Petter Eldh make their We Jazz Records debut with their third album The Betrayal. After their self-titled debut and the follow up, the explosive yet lyrical trio is seeking new directions with the 12-track new record, arguably their strongest yet. The Betrayal consists of all original material penned by Downes and Eldh. It's an album of "purposeful contradictions and a shedding of skin", a studio recording recorded within the scope of a single day, edited, produced and mixed by the band themselves. Careful listeners will quickly notice how different from Vermillion the new album is. Where once was echo and reverb, is now rhythmic intensity and a more compact sense of sound. The band sounds closer, their movement seems more focused. If Enemy would have a motto, it would be "no risk, no fun". True to this, The Betrayal has its sudden twists and turns, yet the trio never loses sight of what makes the music theirs. It wouldn't be fair to call them "experimental", at least for the sake of using such a vague word, but they do experiment, having fun while at it. Listen to the three albums in one serving and you'll surely hear many directions in music being suggested, tried out, perfected, thrown out, and taken into processing again. You can also hear it within a single track at times. While being on the move at all times, they have a real "swing" in their sound, and there's always a bigger idea for the music than just playing it, whatever it might be at any given moment. Their music is natural, and why not, for it's based on long-time collaboration and friendship.

 

PRICE: $28.00

CAT #: WJLP 052LP

FILE UNDER: JAZZ

LP version. Enemy, the trio of drummer James Maddren, pianist Kit Downes and bassist Petter Eldh make their We Jazz Records debut with their third album The Betrayal. After their self-titled debut and the follow up, the explosive yet lyrical trio is seeking new directions with the 12-track new record, arguably their strongest yet. The Betrayal consists of all original material penned by Downes and Eldh. It's an album of "purposeful contradictions and a shedding of skin", a studio recording recorded within the scope of a single day, edited, produced and mixed by the band themselves. Careful listeners will quickly notice how different from Vermillion the new album is. Where once was echo and reverb, is now rhythmic intensity and a more compact sense of sound. The band sounds closer, their movement seems more focused. If Enemy would have a motto, it would be "no risk, no fun". True to this, The Betrayal has its sudden twists and turns, yet the trio never loses sight of what makes the music theirs. It wouldn't be fair to call them "experimental", at least for the sake of using such a vague word, but they do experiment, having fun while at it. Listen to the three albums in one serving and you'll surely hear many directions in music being suggested, tried out, perfected, thrown out, and taken into processing again. You can also hear it within a single track at times. While being on the move at all times, they have a real "swing" in their sound, and there's always a bigger idea for the music than just playing it, whatever it might be at any given moment. Their music is natural, and why not, for it's based on long-time collaboration and friendship.

 

PRICE: $31.50

CAT #: WJLP 052X-LP

FILE UNDER: JAZZ

LP version. Marble pink vinyl. Enemy, the trio of drummer James Maddren, pianist Kit Downes and bassist Petter Eldh make their We Jazz Records debut with their third album The Betrayal. After their self-titled debut and the follow up, the explosive yet lyrical trio is seeking new directions with the 12-track new record, arguably their strongest yet. The Betrayal consists of all original material penned by Downes and Eldh. It's an album of "purposeful contradictions and a shedding of skin", a studio recording recorded within the scope of a single day, edited, produced and mixed by the band themselves. Careful listeners will quickly notice how different from Vermillion the new album is. Where once was echo and reverb, is now rhythmic intensity and a more compact sense of sound. The band sounds closer, their movement seems more focused. If Enemy would have a motto, it would be "no risk, no fun". True to this, The Betrayal has its sudden twists and turns, yet the trio never loses sight of what makes the music theirs. It wouldn't be fair to call them "experimental", at least for the sake of using such a vague word, but they do experiment, having fun while at it. Listen to the three albums in one serving and you'll surely hear many directions in music being suggested, tried out, perfected, thrown out, and taken into processing again. You can also hear it within a single track at times. While being on the move at all times, they have a real "swing" in their sound, and there's always a bigger idea for the music than just playing it, whatever it might be at any given moment. Their music is natural, and why not, for it's based on long-time collaboration and friendship.

 

PRICE: $26.00

CAT #: WJMAG 001

FILE UNDER: Misc

2021 release. This is the first issue of the new We Jazz Magazine. All articles presented in English. Inside, you'll find great new stories about music including the cover piece on Alice Coltrane by Ashley Kahn, Sun Ra by Daniel Spicer, Berlin report by Debra Richards, Corbett by Peter Margasak, Scatter by Stewart Smith, Andreas Müller on Lockdown Listening, Alan Braufman talking to Nabil Ayers, plus more. This is a magazine put together by a quality cast of writers and illustrators/photographers with references such as The Wire, The Quietus, Deutschlankfunk Kultur, Jazzwise, etc. Something new is beginning here... 128 pages 174 x 250 mm in size and printed on 140g Edixion paper with laminated 300g Invercote covers.

 

PRICE: $26.00

CAT #: WJMAG 003

FILE UNDER: Misc

2022 release. This is the third issue of the new We Jazz Magazine, Tetragon for Joe Henderson. All articles presented in English. Stories include Joe Henderson by Daniel Spicer, International Anthem by Tina Edwards, Tokyo Jazz Joints by Philip Arneill, The Lisbon Scene by Rui Miguel Abreu, plus many more. 128 pages 174 x 250 mm in size and printed on 140g Edixion paper with laminated 300g Invercote covers.

 

PRICE: $26.00

CAT #: WJMAG 004

FILE UNDER: Misc

2022 release. The fourth issue of We Jazz Magazine, The Call for Horace Tapscott. All articles presented in English. Stories include Horace Tapscott by Andy Thomas, Tigran Hamasyan by Rui Miguel Abreu, Istanbul Scene by Alper Kaliber, Isaiah Collier by Daniel Spicer, Bill Frisell by Debra Richards, DJ Old Crank by Matti Nives, Tokyo Jazz Joints Vol. 2 by Philip Arneill, reviews, plus more. 128 pages 174 x 250 mm in size and printed on 140g Edixion paper with laminated 300g Invercote covers.

 

PRICE: $26.00

CAT #: WJMAG 005

FILE UNDER: Misc

2022 release. The fifth issue of We Jazz Magazine, Amaryllis for Mary Halvorson. All articles presented in English. Stories include Mary Halvorson by Peter Margasak, Pi Recordings by Will Layman, Tyshawn Sorey by Marc Medwin, Women On the Syllabus by Tina Edwards, A Love Supreme Festival by Gareth Allen, Odysseus Festival by Dave Waller, Bob Rutman by Marialuisa Bonometti, Sarathy Korwar & Joanna Duda in conversation by Debra Richards, Tokyo Jazz Joints Vol. 3 by Philip Arneill, reviews, plus more. 128 pages 174 x 250 mm in size and printed on 140g Edixion paper with laminated 300g Invercote covers.

 

PRICE: $17.50

CAT #: WWSCD 071CD

FILE UNDER: WORLD

The first ever international release of Ryuichi Sakamoto's landmark 1984 album Ongaku Zukan, originally issued in Japan on his own School label in 1984. Remastered by Saidera Mastering in Tokyo. The early '80s were a turning point for Japanese musician Ryuichi Sakamoto. As a solo artist, the smash hit soundtrack he had composed for 1983's Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence, had put him on the verge of becoming a global superstar. Meanwhile he had called a halt to his work with Yellow Magic Orchestra; the influential, globally successful pop trio calling it quits after the release of their 1983 album Naughty Boys. Against this backdrop, Sakamoto descended on Tokyo's Onkyo Haus Studio to record his fourth solo album, Ongaku Zukan ("Musical Encyclopedia") accompanied by a handful of musicians including his ex-YMO partners Haruomi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi, and the prolifically talented Yasuaki Shimizu, Tatsuro Yamashita and Toshinori Kondo. It was on his return to the studio the following year that the album truly began to take shape. Released in August 1984 the album Ongaku Zukan proved a huge success, providing Sakamoto with his first top five hit in Japan. Filled with inspired melodies that showcase his unique gift as a composer, it offers up a fascinating mix of styles. Featuring remastered audio with bonus tracks and new liner notes by Andy Beta. This is the very first time that the two 1984 Japanese editions of Ryuichi Sakamoto's classic album have been released internationally in collaboration with the artist's management and Midi Inc., with remastered audio and the original artwork faithfully reproduced.

 

PRICE: $31.50

CAT #: WWSLP 064LP

FILE UNDER: WORLD

2023 repress; Wewantsounds present a first-time vinyl reissue Fairuz's classic album Kifak Inta produced by her son Ziad Rahbani in the late '80s and only released on cassette and CD in 1991. Composed and arranged by Rahbani, who had already produced Wahdon (1979) and Maarifti Feek (1987), Kifak Inta features his usual blend of jazz, funk, and Arabic music, spiced up with Brazilian influences serving Fairuz's beautiful voice. Fairuz is a living legend and one of the greatest divas of the Arab world. She came to prominence in the '50s crossing path with the Rahbani Brothers (Assi and Mansour) an encounter that turned into a fruitful collaboration that would last until the '70s, spawning countless classics in the process. Fairuz's marriage with Assi produced a son, Ziad, who would start a brilliant career as a cutting-edge playwright, musician, and producer in the early '70s. When Assi Rahbani became ill in the mid-70s and the couple separated, Ziad took over as Fairuz's musical director and started to add elements of jazz, funk, and bossa nova to her music. The collaboration started in 1979 with Wahdon which included the funky cult classic "Al Bosta". They worked together again in 1983-84 on the album Maarifti Feek which was released in 1987 and continued their collaboration with Kifak Inta a few years later. The album was released on the Lebanese label Relax-in in 1991 on cassette and CD only, but, although there are no recording dates listed, the track "Ouverture 87" indicates it was recorded around that year. The album follows the same pattern as previous Ziad Rahbani productions for his mother and mixes traditional Arabic music ("Farewell Song", "It's Not a Problem"), jazz-funk ("Ya Leili Leili Leili"), and bossa nova ("Indi Thika Fik"), all featuring Ziad's superb orchestrations and slick arrangements. The jewel in the crown is the album's title track, "Kifak Inta" (And You, How Are You?), a ballad written and composed by Ziad Rahbani. The song is sung by a woman opening her heart to her childhood sweetheart, now married to another woman, and confessing she still loves him. The subject was controversial and created quite a stir when the song came out in the still conservative Lebanese society of the time. The track "Prova" which closes side one is a fascinating studio rehearsal of "Kifak Inta" featuring both Ziad and Fairuz. Remastered audio by Colorsound Studio in Paris. Includes new liner notes (French/English) by Mario Choueiry (Institut Du Monde Arabe).

 

PRICE: $36.50

CAT #: WWSLP 071LP

FILE UNDER: WORLD

LP version, includes 7" with two extra tracks: "Replica" and "Ma Mère l'Oye." The first ever international release of Ryuichi Sakamoto's landmark 1984 album Ongaku Zukan, originally issued in Japan on his own School label in 1984. Remastered by Saidera Mastering in Tokyo. The early '80s were a turning point for Japanese musician Ryuichi Sakamoto. As a solo artist, the smash hit soundtrack he had composed for 1983's Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence, had put him on the verge of becoming a global superstar. Meanwhile he had called a halt to his work with Yellow Magic Orchestra; the influential, globally successful pop trio calling it quits after the release of their 1983 album Naughty Boys. Against this backdrop, Sakamoto descended on Tokyo's Onkyo Haus Studio to record his fourth solo album, Ongaku Zukan ("Musical Encyclopedia") accompanied by a handful of musicians including his ex-YMO partners Haruomi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi, and the prolifically talented Yasuaki Shimizu, Tatsuro Yamashita and Toshinori Kondo. It was on his return to the studio the following year that the album truly began to take shape. Released in August 1984 the album Ongaku Zukan proved a huge success, providing Sakamoto with his first top five hit in Japan. Filled with inspired melodies that showcase his unique gift as a composer, it offers up a fascinating mix of styles. Featuring remastered audio with bonus tracks and new liner notes by Andy Beta. This is the very first time that the two 1984 Japanese editions of Ryuichi Sakamoto's classic album have been released internationally in collaboration with the artist's management and Midi Inc., with remastered audio and the original artwork faithfully reproduced.

 

PRICE: $40.00

CAT #: WWSLP 072LP

FILE UNDER: WORLD

[sold out on preorders] Limited LP version, includes 12" EP with three extra tracks: "Replica," "Ma Mère l'Oye," and "Tibetan Dance (Version)." The first ever international release of Ryuichi Sakamoto's landmark 1984 album Ongaku Zukan, originally issued in Japan on his own School label in 1984. Remastered by Saidera Mastering in Tokyo. The early '80s were a turning point for Japanese musician Ryuichi Sakamoto. As a solo artist, the smash hit soundtrack he had composed for 1983's Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence, had put him on the verge of becoming a global superstar. Meanwhile he had called a halt to his work with Yellow Magic Orchestra; the influential, globally successful pop trio calling it quits after the release of their 1983 album Naughty Boys. Against this backdrop, Sakamoto descended on Tokyo's Onkyo Haus Studio to record his fourth solo album, Ongaku Zukan ("Musical Encyclopedia") accompanied by a handful of musicians including his ex-YMO partners Haruomi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi, and the prolifically talented Yasuaki Shimizu, Tatsuro Yamashita and Toshinori Kondo. It was on his return to the studio the following year that the album truly began to take shape. Released in August 1984 the album Ongaku Zukan proved a huge success, providing Sakamoto with his first top five hit in Japan. Filled with inspired melodies that showcase his unique gift as a composer, it offers up a fascinating mix of styles. Featuring remastered audio with bonus tracks and new liner notes by Andy Beta. This is the very first time that the two 1984 Japanese editions of Ryuichi Sakamoto's classic album have been released internationally in collaboration with the artist's management and Midi Inc., with remastered audio and the original artwork faithfully reproduced.

 

PRICE: $19.00

CAT #: WH 370LP

FILE UNDER: JAZZ

"Outstanding drummer Mike Clark unites with Blue Note trumpeter Eddie Henderson, fellow Headhunter Bill Summers, Skerik, Wayne Horvitz, and Blackjazz Records legendary bassist Henry Franklin for an amazing new release on Wide Hive Records. Kosen Rufu is ten well-crafted compositions that are drawn together by awesome musicianship and a classic version of Erik Dolphy's Hat and Beard. Mike Clark is one of the most sampled drummers in history. Here he reunites with Bill Summers; both were in many bands together and most notably Herbie Hancock's Thrust and Man Child. Joining the rhythm section is Henry Franklin on stand-up bass; known for his work with Hugh Masekela, Stevie Wonder, and his eponymous release on Blackjazz Records."

 

PRICE: $40.00

CAT #: WRWTFWW 078LP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

Limited repress. WRWTFWW Records announce the first ever vinyl release for Pizza Hotline's brilliant 2022 full-length Level Select, originally only released on cassette and digital. The liquid drum & bass meets Y2K era video gaming aesthetics monster is now available in a limited-edition transparent vinyl double LP with a glorious 45rpm cut, packaged in a heavyweight 350gsm sleeve. Entirely written and composed by UK producer Pizza Hotline (apart from "GLACIER ZONE", a collaboration between Pizza Hotline and DJ Total 90), the stellar eight-song album was initially released as a limited cassette in January 2022 and quickly gained cult status -- making a full-on vinyl release quite the necessity. It's here now with the previously unreleased track "POLYGON DREAMSCAPE" (which sounds as magical as its title) and 45rpm cut for louder, bigger, deeper bass rumbling. Spellbinding, atmospheric, and beautifully melodic, Level Select is a large scope dreamy adventure of liquid DnB filled with ambient escapades, ethereal jungle, high vibe breaks, and a heavy loving dose of late '90s/early 2000s video game influences. Hypnotic late-night hype and pensive chill moods mesh with ease in a cinematic soundscape that re-contextualizes and gives a new life to a beloved music genre -- LTJ Bukem, Peshay, the Wipeout OST or Soichi Terada's Ape Escape come to mind, and sounds and soundtracks from the Sony Playstation, the Nintendo 64, and the Sega Saturn resonate from the speakers. It's all fresh with a subtle nostalgia and so much heart. An instant classic. Press start.