Forced Exposure New Releases for the Week of 4/29/2024

 

PRICE: $38.00

CAT #: 12XU 136LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

Restocked. "At the very dawn of the '90s, Love Child's debut 7" made a splash on the burgeoning scene of shambolic bands and lo-fi recordings. Back then, they were mentioned in the same breath as Pavement, Sebadoh, or Beat Happening. But Love Child's two great albums and sparkling singles have become the stuff of record collectors, unavailable vis streaming and out of print, until now. Never Meant to Be: 1988-1993 pulls from these releases and some unreleased radio sessions, unearthing a trove of lost gems by a band that could be the best of all of the '90s buried treasures. Culled from their smashing debut 7", their two full-length albums, another great single, and some unreleased radio sets (including a Peel session), Never Meant To Be has catchy hooks, gritty noise, sneakily-deft playing, brainy but blunt lyrics, and lots of other awesome stuff. Love Child were part of lo-fi's beginnings, but also had the NYC pedigree to absorb predecessors like the Velvet Underground, the Voidoids and Teenage Jesus and the Jerks. Will Baum started Love Child while a student at Vassar College, bringing on classmates Rebecca Odes and Alan Licht. All three members were happy to trade roles and instruments from song to song, but they also had some specific chops. Licht was a bit of a guitar prodigy, having taught himself how to tap like Eddie Van Halen, but versed enough in punk to know simplicity could be just as powerful. Odes' bellowing bass was equally prominent, and her vocals could veer quickly from sweet to snarling, like Kim Deal or Georgia Hubley with a jagged edge."

 

PRICE: $23.00

CAT #: 12XU 160LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

"Big Hotel, the sophomore effort of Winged Wheel, is an evolutionary document. Core members Cory Plump (Spray Paint, Rider/Horse, Expensive Shit), Fred Thomas (Tyvek, Idle Ray), Whitney Johnson (Matchess, Damiana), and Matthew J Rolin (Powers/Rolin Duo, solo) expand their lineup to include Lonnie Slack (Water Damage) and Steve Shelley (Sonic Youth), and instead of the entirely remote method utilized to create their 2022 debut No Island, the far-flung party convened in person in Kingston, NY for a long weekend of live studio recording. The results are undeniably compelling. The band's signature cyclonic energy is simultaneously augmented and refined with the approach of real-time collaboration. After tracking three days' worth of group improvisations, weirdly-born songs, and other spontaneous creations, the hours of material were edited with a similar intensity. Half-hour jams became three-minute ragers and fragments were looped into infinity, calling on the same spliced aesthetic as some of the most adventurous material by Can, Faust, or more recently the experimental production of the International Anthem camp. The stereo field has been torn apart and sewn together again, rerouted with strange and mesmerizing left turns. Vignettes of ambiguous construction, both tightly coiled and exploding, revolve around themselves, gathering intensity and mass, coalescing into something greater than the sum of its parts. Where No Island was born out of distance and murk, these songs breathe and erupt in close quarters. Though the band isn't necessarily concerned with finding new levels of clarity, there's a newfound power in the steady drive of Shelley's unmistakable rhythmic style, and the unexpected interplay that builds on this foundation. Big Hotel is the sound of what happens in the rare and intriguing moments when Winged Wheel are all in the same room." --Jen Powers

 

PRICE: $62.00

CAT #: VP 4212LP

FILE UNDER: WORLD

2024 repress. "20 years after the release of Blood & Fire's outstanding but now deleted Heart Of The Congos reissue, VP Records/17 North Parade release a definitive, 2017 re-mastered triple-LP edition, put together with both respect and gratitude to that illustrious antecedent. The vinyl package includes 'Don't Blame It On I' an overlooked, previously unreleased track unearthed, too late to include on the Blood & Fire release, by Steve Barrow and David Katz in 1997. All tracks are re-mastered and subsequent dub and 12" mixes from the historic album are included, making the 40th anniversary edition, the most complete presentation of Heart Of The Congos to date."

 

PRICE: $28.00

CAT #: ZORN 081LP

FILE UNDER: EXPERIMENTAL

Originally released on tape by SicSic in 2014, Aprilnacht commemorates a decade of music from Brannten Schn?re and marked the spring in a tetralogy of albums about the four seasons when it came out. Back then the W?rsburg-based project consisted solely of Christian Schoppik, who later welcomed Katie Rich to take over the vocals. He used to perform as Agnes Beil, but dropped the name when, while making this album realized his music was becoming "much gentler and more fragile." Aprilnacht already captured the particular musical ideas that Schoppik would thoroughly keep exploring, delving deeper and deeper into the use and manipulation of samplers from sources so diverging as to wander between the five continents to post-war German family television and cult cinema. Heir of the ritualistic intensity of Coil, of the intricate sampler assemblies of Gh?dalia Tazart?s', and of the dusty, dismal old ballads from around the world, Brannten Schn?re manages to make these paths cross in a territory that is as inherent as it is uncanny; sieged by the past and intimate as a hearth. An organic approach to folk, ambient, and sound collage, where ethereal yet thoroughly textured pieces coalesce in enthralling, delicate, and innermost musical rituals. Aprilnacht was inspired by the stories of German philosopher and writer Friedrich Alfred Schmid Noerr, whose work exhaustively examines the conflict between paganism and Christianity, safeguarding myth in a way that Schoppik describes as boldly modern, humorous and unpredictable in its variations of the Germanic folklore motifs. Do not succumb to the insipid howl of death, for nothing may last but mutability. You see, the rock has moved a little during the night; the rest is just wind fleeing from the void.

 

PRICE: $17.50

CAT #: ZORN 105CD

FILE UNDER: JAZZ

St?r op med solen ("Rising with the sun") is the second album by Amalie Dahl's Dafnie. With this album, the band continues the exploration of their collective sound. There are influences from both old school free jazz, and contemporary Scandinavian jazz like Fire! Orchestra and Christian Wallumr?d Ensemble, as well as clear connection to the Trondheim milieu, where the group was founded in 2020. The energetic and expressive band explores their more subtle side with this record. St?r op med solen is an album longing for humans to be one with nature. The music comments on the world's ultra-capitalistic power structures of today. The band navigates like one organism through parts of organic free jazz, strict structures and composed cells. They start out where their first record ended, in the familiar free jazz sound with riffs and melodies, and go safely on their onward journey. Amalie Dahl's Dafnie brings together five well-known names from the Norwegian jazz scene, also known from other projects like Kongle Trio, Bliss Quintet, I like to sleep, Veslem?y Narvesen, Galumphing Duo, Treen, and Trondheim Jazz Orchestra, among others.

 

PRICE: $26.00

CAT #: ZORN 105LP

FILE UNDER: JAZZ

LP version. St?r op med solen ("Rising with the sun") is the second album by Amalie Dahl's Dafnie. With this album, the band continues the exploration of their collective sound. There are influences from both old school free jazz, and contemporary Scandinavian jazz like Fire! Orchestra and Christian Wallumr?d Ensemble, as well as clear connection to the Trondheim milieu, where the group was founded in 2020. The energetic and expressive band explores their more subtle side with this record. St?r op med solen is an album longing for humans to be one with nature. The music comments on the world's ultra-capitalistic power structures of today. The band navigates like one organism through parts of organic free jazz, strict structures and composed cells. They start out where their first record ended, in the familiar free jazz sound with riffs and melodies, and go safely on their onward journey. Amalie Dahl's Dafnie brings together five well-known names from the Norwegian jazz scene, also known from other projects like Kongle Trio, Bliss Quintet, I like to sleep, Veslem?y Narvesen, Galumphing Duo, Treen, and Trondheim Jazz Orchestra, among others.

 

PRICE: $28.00

CAT #: BTR 092LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

Sun, sea, and surf rock converge with dreamy hypnagogic pop on Dmaot, the enchanting sophomore album by the guitar-wielding, vocal-harmonizing trio, Rasco. Named after Charlie Megira's acclaimed track "At the Rasco" and influenced by iconic artists like The Cramps, Beach Boys, Elvis, April March, and others, Rasco carefully extracts the essence and distinctive sound of sixties surf and garage bands and distils them into a modern and distinctly Mediterranean context. Electric guitarist Eden Atiya and bass guitar Gaya Wajsman first crossed paths in a smoky cave in Jerusalem, eventually teaming up with drummer Itay Hamudi to form Rasco. Rasco's hypnotic guitar and vocal-heavy sound have earned the group coveted opportunities to share the spotlight on stage alongside global psych bands such as Altin Gun, Boom Pam, and Messer Chups. Dmaot ("Tears") represents a significant evolution from Rasco's debut, showcasing a darker, and denser side with a shift towards the shoegazing sounds of the '80s. The album, produced by multi-instrumentalist Uri Brauner Kinrot, leader of Boom Pam, pioneers of today's resurgence in Middle Eastern surf rock and now labelmates on Batov Records, packs a heavier punch while maintaining Rasco's signature hypnotizing power. The album delves into dreamlike landscapes, capturing the essence of different scenarios. Dmaot explores the dichotomy between life in the city and life in the countryside. Eden notes, "It's definitely something to define our songwriting by -- the mix between electric heavier sounds and mystical, nature-inspired lyrics." Commencing with a chime-like guitar motif before the first heavy wave of shoegaze-like tremolo hits, "Layla" alternates with an almost Lynchian pre-chorus, whilst the song earworms its way to your brain. "Nahur Rau" almost screams "garage rock anthem" with its clap-accompanied beat group rhythm, and fuzz guitar riffs, but the energetic delivery is balanced by Rasco's laidback style. It would be remiss to omit mention of the group's incredible cover of Tears For Fears' "Head Over Heels," that seamlessly connects The Smiths, Julee Cruise, and the B-52s, in the group's own haunting style. Rasco is a genre-defying trio that transcends the boundaries of surf rock and psych, creating a mesmerizing blend of sound and emotion. Dmaot is a testament to their evolution as artists and their ability to weave a tapestry of sonic landscapes into their own world.

 

PRICE: $29.50

CAT #: BT 118LP

FILE UNDER: JAZZ

Black Truffle announces the first vinyl reissue of Trancedance, a wild slice of Swedish Afro-fusion from Christer Both?n, originally released in 1984. A major figure in Swedish jazz and improvised music since the 1970s, often heard on bass clarinet and tenor sax, Bothen studied doso n'koni (the large six-stringed "hunter's harp" of the Wasulu) in Mali in 1971-1972 before turning to the guinbri (the three-stringed lute of the Gnawa/Gnauoua) in Marakesh later in the decade. In between, he performed extensively with Don Cherry during his Organic Music Society period and taught Cherry the doso n'koni. In the later '70s and '80s he worked with the most important figures in the distinctive Swedish jazz-rock-world fusion scene, joining Archimedes Badkar for their African-influenced Tre and participating in Bengt Berger's legendary Bitter Funeral Beer Band. Many of the musicians who played on the Bitter Funeral Beer Band's ECM LP (including Berger on drums, Anita Livstrand on voice and percussion and Tord Bengstsson on piano, violin and guitar) joined Both?n for one of the sessions that produced Trancedance, the first release under his own name, dedicated to his compositions. The other session introduced his seven-piece group Bolon Bata, heard on the second track of each side. Using an expanded 16-piece ensemble, the music balances untethered improvisation with carefully arranged passages of knotty ensemble playing that at points suggest Mingus, Moacir Santos, or some of the ambitious post-free work being done in the same years by figures like David Murray or Henry Threadgill. A must for fans of the Swedish scene around groups like Arbete och Fritid and Archimedes Badkar, as well as any listener who has been seduced by Louis Moholo's Spirits Rejoice!, The Brotherhood of Breath, or, more recently, the guinbri grooves of Natural Information Society, Trancedance is a lost classic ripe for rediscovery.

 

PRICE: $17.50

CAT #: BOND 12073EP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

On Deep Inside, Sascha Dive returns to Bondage Music once again for another deep frequency encounter, as usual as a vinyl-only release. Featuring Robert Owens.

 

PRICE: $24.00

CAT #: BSR 838R-LP

FILE UNDER: WORLD

"Niney The Observer's Sledgehammer Dub In The Street Of Jamaica LP has always been considered a long lost gem with dub collectors. Originally released in early 1977 and pressed in a limited quantity of between 300 to 400 copies the record was a compilation of dubs devoid of vocals but high on rhythms -- mixed with feeling and showcasing the talents of both musicians and mixing engineers. King Tubby's involvement is clear, as is that of all the other parties involved such as Niney, The Soul Syndicate, and The Cimarrons to name but a few. The actual LP title was derived from how King Tubby mixed his tracks. Niney described the sound coming from the speakers as like having a sledgehammer hitting you on your head. Niney himself is steeped in reggae history, making songs for the likes of Lee Perry, Bunny Lee, Joe Gibbs, and Coxsone, producing the masterful Blood And Fire cut and being one of the first to experiment with sound in early reggae. Sledgehammer Dub In The Street Of Jamaica was pressed on Niney's own Observer label without a jacket and has become something of a holy grail for collectors of dub."

 

PRICE: $28.50

CAT #: CCS 131LP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

Yuval Havkin, also known as Rejoicer, is one of the foremost exponents of downtempo music, inspired by the fusion of jazz and hip-hop. This Is Reasonable draws on his early influences while exploring the world of calm, melodic electronic music that borders on ambient. This Is Reasonable has a chill-out feel to it, a record filled with melodies and atmospheres that, throughout its eleven tracks, conveys a sense of calm and floating, akin to ambient music. Stripped of the clich?s of the genre, the album is built around subtle melodies and rich harmonies from keyboards and synths, which borrow as much from the spirit of jazz as from the inventions of electronica, whilst being supported by a gentle groove. This equilibrium is perfectly captured by Rejoicer's moniker, a term that evokes both the idleness of artificial paradises and a soft, caring form of spirituality. This new Rejoicer album, which follows three earlier jazz-tinged records, marks a new and more personal musical direction for an artist who previously favored group work and collaborations. Following his meeting with Mathias Duchemin, founder of the Circus Company record label and a keen enthusiast of the new Israeli jazz scene, Yuval chose to delve into a more electronic and sequenced style of music, playing Prophet 6 and 8 synths, a Juno 60, a Minimoog and his Fender Rhodes keyboard, in contrast with the more organic sounds of his previous albums. While a few tracks on this new album may sound like a laid-back version of some of the Warp label's early electronic classics by Aphex Twin or Boards of Canada, Yuval Havkin claims to have also been inspired by the great Fela Kuti, particularly in his search for harmonies between bass, keyboards and percussion, and by his elder trumpet-playing friend Avishai Cohen, a musician he particularly admires. Beyond these various influences, This Is Reasonable is an album of compelling and bewitching melodies. The moods, peacefulness and sheer beauty of This Is Reasonable is, indeed, quite paradoxical, in stark contrast to the country's tragedies (the title explicitly refers to recent political disputes in Israel) and the war currently raging less than a hundred miles from his studio. A paradox fully embraced by the artist, who views his music as a response to the violence of our times. Features Yonatan Albalak.

 

PRICE: $28.50

CAT #: TND 001LP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

Tara Nome Doyle's latest EP Agape marks her return to the music scene after a two-year hiatus following the success of her acclaimed sophomore album V?rmin. Agape is a profoundly intimate collection of songs documenting TND's emotional journey through grief, commemorating the passing of a loved one. Each track explores different facets of this emotional landscape, showcasing TND's otherworldly performances and unique approach to songwriting. This self-produced EP represents an artistic leap for the Norwegian-Irish songwriter. Skillfully capturing the arresting beauty of her compositions, TNDs minimalistic arrangements feature the haunting melodies of Norwegian-Scottish cellist Sunniva Shaw of Tordarroch (known for her work with Fay Wildhagen, Liv Jakobsen, and Juni Habel). The ethereal atmosphere they create together evokes a distinctly Scandinavian eeriness while TND's dedication to crafting poetic lyrics and vivid storytelling pays tribute to her Irish singer-songwriter roots. The EP's title Agape translates to unconditional, selfless love -- a sentiment that permeates each of the six tracks. This timeless collection of songs aims to be a comforting and cathartic companion for anyone caught in the throes of grief.

 

PRICE: $23.00

CAT #: CTZ 011LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

"Mia Doi Todd is known for her quiet, haunting songs, usually conveyed through her evocative and instantly recognizable voice. With a deep body of work spanning twelve albums, and as a formidable collaborator on records by Laraaji, Tunde Adebimpe, Scientist, and more recently with Andr? 3000 and Carlos Ni?o on New Blue Sun, Mia is an essential element in the richly woven musical tapestry of her native Los Angeles. Morning Music is an instrumental, ambient experience unlike anything else in her catalog. It is a gorgeous, softly stirring work of art that makes full use of its minimal elements. Mia recorded and mixed the tracks at her own Ch?teau des Chats Studio in Frogtown, Los Angeles, playing harmonium, piano, tin whistle, tamboura, acoustic guitar, and drums. On the tracks 'Samai'I' and 'Emotion,' she is joined by multi-instrumentalist Andres Renteria on cajon, piano, wooden stool, and udu. Birds and traffic, heard softly in the distance, feel like a natural and comforting part of the proceedings. The small dramas of the piano and tin whistle resolve themselves peacefully, like thoughts arising and falling in meditation. However one chooses to listen, Morning Music is a lovely and aptly named collection of music to encourage even the weariest minds and bodies to quietly awaken. Originally released as a CD in 2009 and now available for the first time on vinyl."

 

PRICE: $23.50

CAT #: COSMR 024LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

Prompt reissue of the only album released by The Aggregation, a Los Angeles psych rock combo, who licensed the album on LHI (Lee Hazlewood Company) back in 1969. The story goes like that: the band used to perform cover songs at Disneyland attraction park but also produced a bunch of originals to get along with Disney rides and exhibits. Hence their concept album in which "funhouse" is a metaphor for exploring the brain frontiers. A must have!

 

PRICE: $23.50

CAT #: COSMR 025LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

The debut album by the Boston psychedelic power trio Eden's Children, originally released in 1968 on ABC Records. The album consists of a rather awkward mix of Jimi Hendrix-inspired heavy guitar rockers, peppered with smoother, jazzy crooners. The standout track on the record is the epic "Just Let Go," with her jazzy nightclub feel, turning soon into a guitar laden Eastern psychedelic jam. An authentic cult finally unleashed!

 

PRICE: $16.00

CAT #: DABBS 002EP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

Amy Dabbs & Coco Bryce return with a long-awaited second instalment of their collab project Slightly Involved, in which they interpret each other's tracks using their own unique production styles and techniques. Slightly Involved Vol. 2 sees Amy and Coco rework four tracks previously released on their own imprints, Dabbs Traxx & Myor. Amy delivers two tracks in her signature style of coding drums from the ground up, on two of Coco's highly renowned jungle bangers, while Coco serves up jungle versions of two of Amy's house tracks from her first EP on Dabbs Traxx, crafting his tunes using lusciously layered breaks.

 

PRICE: $26.00

CAT #: DADA 006LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

LP version. Re-reissue of Cranes ?ber rare debut album Fuse on Dadaphonic, for the first time on vinyl and CD. The Fuse album was remastered at Abbey Road in 2023. The album includes an extra unheard track from the period called "New Liberty." Artwork is by Chris Bigg of V23. The second in a series of archive releases by Cranes, Fuse was recorded in Portsmouth, their home town by siblings Alison and Jim Shaw. It originally appeared as a cassette album in 1986 on the Bite Back! label. With an initial run of only 200 copies, over the years this album, with its distinctive purple cover has been highly sought after amongst fans, often exchanging hands for more than ?100. Fuse showcases a sparser, darker and more industrial, post punk sound. From the hypnotic allure and rhythmic intensity of the title track to the ferocious and challenging beats of "Wrench," the songs are just as mesmerizing as Cranes' later, critically acclaimed releases. Recorded in a garage on a four-track porta-studio, the band spent many months experimenting and became obsessed with the recording process. Jim Shaw used a very early sampling pedal to create the drum sounds, which were all individually triggered. The only and first "industry" person to hear anything by Cranes at this time was Martin Hannett (legendary producer of Joy Division and New Order). He was looking for unsigned bands to appear on a new music TV show in Manchester and so Ian Binnington from Biteback! sent him a compilation tape of many Portsmouth bands. Hannett picked out "Fuse - Original Version" by Cranes and told Ian that the track was "fucking great."

 

PRICE: $17.50

CAT #: DEFCLAS 005EP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

Canadian deep house don Nick Holder's Fruit Loops EP is next to get the remaster and reissue treatment from Definitive Recordings. This label, now overseen by Get Physical Music, first released the EP back in 1995 when Toronto-based Holder had already become one of house music's most tasteful operators. He went on to release over 125 EPs and singles under countless aliases, in various groups, and on his labels DNH Records and Treehouse Records, as well as !K7 Records and NRK. His style spans house, disco loops and minimal Chicago grooves and is always high on immersive atmosphere. Opener "Dance Dance Dance" brings together all those aspects of the Holder sound with its funky guitar riffs looping beneath raw drums and disco basslines. Classic Chic samples burst out of the mix to bring an air of celebration and party, and it makes for an irresistibly feel-good sound. "Keep on Running" is a steamy and sweaty house jam with loopy drums and bass and more smartly chosen samples, this time from Roy Ayers, that bring the funk and never let up. It has long been a go-to anthem for house DJs, and the realness and rawness of the emotions in Holder's work also shine through with the filtered synths and jazzy keys of "The Message of Love," which is complete with bumpy and irresistible drums. Last of all is the unfettered party spirit and diva vocals of the brilliantly lo-fi funk-house pumper that is "Clap Ya Hands." This EP hasn't aged one bit and remains a definitive piece of early deep house history.

 

PRICE: $34.00

CAT #: LPNUY 010LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

Sons of Viljems are a London based duo, comprised of Andrea Giommi (guitar, vocals) and Nejc Haberman (bass, synth). With a measured pace in a world of relentless acceleration, they have released six carefully crafted songs over five years on Sas Recordings and Fang Bomb Records. In contrast to bulk editing and standardization, Sons of Viljems meticulously chisel every song to its last detail. After years of concerts, collaborations, and sporadic releases, the band has now curated 42 minutes of music for their debut full-length album Lithospheric Melodies. This collection is a fusion of minimalistic bass-guitar sessions and collaborative efforts with external musicians, each contributing their unique touch to the compositions. London jazz drummer Tim Doyle, also known as "Chiminyo," records the album and plays percussion on every track. Other notable contributors include Filip Sijanec on synths and drum machine, Laura Loriga lending her vocals on two tracks, Elisa Ridolfi with a range of evocative and possessed Goblin-Morricone like vocal patterns, Matjaz Mlakar sprinkles the album with inventive saxophone solutions, and Agathe Max adds her viola touch to three tracks. The album is mixed and produced by Jean-Gabriel Becker of Becker and Mukai. Lithospheric Melodies is a dynamic, dreamy, obscure, eerie and evocative collection. It navigates through dub bass lines, it suggests jazzy/world music atmospheres, echoes, reverbs, touching melodies and relentless grooves. The album paints a vivid sonic landscape, reminiscent of a collaborative session between Goat and Khruangbin, evoking influences from the likes of Robert Wyatt, Coil, Labradford, Arthur Verocai, Mulatu Astatke, Os Mutantes, This Heat, Ennio Morricone, and David Axelrod. It is the band's first release on Disasters By Choice Records.

 

PRICE: $29.50

CAT #: CREP 104LP

FILE UNDER: WORLD

Born in 1977, in Malang, East Java, Wukir Suryadi began playing music for theatre at the age of 12 with the Idiot Theater Studio, and later with the Rendra Theater Workshop. In his solo work, and as a member of Senyawa, Error Scream, Bendera Hitam Setengah, Potro Joyo, and other groups, Wukir breaks the boundaries of traditional music, death metal and avant-garde performance. On this new release, Cycle & Prayer, recorded in 2023, he expands the edges of his unique artistic world further, by digging in to meditative improvisation, art, and community building in his home workshop in the mountains of central Java. These recordings vibrate inwards, toward the microcosmic ecologies of forests and rivers; they distort outwards, resonating with global waves of apocalyptic change that are forcing all living beings to the edges of existence on earth. The result is a meditative poem that moves, as its titles announce, from phenomena to phenomena, praying that humans find a way out from the depths of the depths to the light that illuminates the soul. An essential mode of creative work for Wukir is the creation of unique instruments, using these sound sources as "bullets of expression." In addition to the spear-like tube zither Bambu Wukir, he has created the Solet, Enthong, Garu, Luku, Arrows, and Industrial Mutant instruments, which in addition to being used in live performance, have been exhibited in the Instrument Builders Project and the 2017 Jakarta Biennale. On this recording, he uses the simple Cetta guitar, an instrument designed in Bali and made for Indonesian children and local communities of folk and popular musicians, in order to explore the different sonic characteristics of a more "normal" instrument built from local wood. The themes of the album -- cycle and prayer -- arise from a foreboding series of meta-events that shook Indonesia and the world over the past years, following one after the other: the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ukrainian-Russian war, the Kanjuruhan Stadium tragedy in which football supporters were gassed and killed by police, revelations of government failures and corruption, the rise of personal vehicles, the increasing disturbance of natural patterns of the rainy season and other ecological cycles.

 

PRICE: $25.00

CAT #: DC 127LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

Repressed; 2024 vinyl reissue. Green color vinyl. "Returned from early '90s Japan are the holy sounds of Ghost. Their collective, clearly inspired by various forms of transcendental music throughout history, created a new syncretic psychedelia with these albums, mixing the texture and vibe of multinational forms of traditional music, with strummed antique stringed instruments and the haunting wail of a recorder on top of their heavy beats and guitars. The considerable depth of this approach was explored through 2014 over another five Ghost LPs, as well as the further explorations to the present day of leader Masaki Batoh, as a solo artist and with The Silence, Damon & Naomi, Helena Espvall, and most recently, nehan. The first three Ghost titles (Ghost, Second Time Around, and Temple Stone) were originally released by P.S.F. on CD in 1990, 1992 and 1994, respectively, radiating enigma and energy in palpable waves with their original sound. After the acclaim that greeted Drag City's 1996 US release of Lama Rabi Rabi, the label quickly reissued all three on vinyl -- and they quickly went out of print! At which point, Ghost had Snuffbox Immanence and Free Tibet ready to go. And then, Hypnotic Underworld. And then, and then... Now, it's been 25 years since they were last offered on vinyl. In the twenty-year sweep of Ghost history, these first three releases qualify as primitive early Ghost -- sort of like a German Os Mutantes (or perhaps a Brazilian Amon D??l). The subterranean presence of a diversity of progressive/avant classic rock influences (Pink Floyd, Incredible String Band, Captain Beefheart, Scott Walker, Led Zeppelin, Popol Vuh, Third Ear Band, to name but a few) provokes further synthesis, making for an entirely new meditation on the traditional order of psychedelic music. The first two studio albums, each one an iteration of Ghost's unique lysergic folk music, were followed by the monolithic 'live in various places' happening of Temple Stone, which raised the trippiness levels considerably."

 

PRICE: $40.00

CAT #: DUST 120LP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

Double LP version. In the enigmatic realm of electronic music, The Black Dog stands as a visionary act, responsible for crafting, among other things, the mesmerizing album Silenced. Notably, this release marks a significant milestone in the band's evolution, being the first album from the new line-up and their collaboration with the fledgling label Dust Science. Defying industry norms, The Black Dog embodies a DIY ethos. Their artistic journey remains steadfast, with a commitment to originality and creative freedom, unfettered by the limitations imposed by the commercial music industry. The record label Dust Science takes pride in championing The Black Dog's musical prowess, with its first release being the band's four-track EP Bite Thee Back. However, this EP was only a prototype for the revitalized collective, eventually leading to the composition of Silenced, which followed soon after. This creative period denotes a fresh start for The Black Dog, a testament to their resilience and a commitment to evolving their sound. The resulting album represents a new beginning, celebrating and transcending the echoes of the past. It redefines the band's sonic landscape and establishes a distinct musical narrative that resonates with dedicated followers and newcomers alike.

 

PRICE: $35.50

CAT #: EG 010LP

FILE UNDER: JAZZ

For the very first time on double vinyl, one of the most amazing musical adventures of influential singer and songwriter Julie Tippetts. Originally released on CD in 1999, Shadow Puppeteer is the result of a long running career, a devotional solo album fulfilling her royal artistic vision. Surely one of the foremost European vocalists in the field of contemporary jazz and improvised music, she started out with The Brian Auger Band in the '60s fusing soul-jazz and R&B with amazing results. Moving forward into the realms of free improvisation and English jazz she found home in stunning projects as Centipede, Ovary Lodge, Ark, Mujician, The Georgian Ensemble, The Dedication Orchestra, and (late husband) Keith Tippett's Tapestry. Shadow Puppeteer is a suite of compositions and improvisations in which Julie's voice and various instruments (wind chimes, tambourine, mandolin, thumb pianos, zithers and bells) are multi-tracked to showcase the full extent of her powers of expression and imagination.

 

PRICE: $25.00

CAT #: EG 011LP

FILE UNDER: WORLD

For the very first time on vinyl, Jah Wobble's 1997 extraordinary descent into downtempo and world beat science. Released on his now-defunct 30 Hertz label, The Light Programme showcased an excellent cast of musicians. On board are historical Can drummer Jaki Liebezeit, with more of his African-induced rhythms; multi-instrumentalist and The Wire contributor Clive Bell, conga player Neville Murray, guitar and synth player Mark Ferda, and the exceptional harpist Zi-Lan Liao. If you enjoyed My Life In the Bush Of Ghosts you'll fall in love with The Light Programme.

 

PRICE: $14.50

CAT #: EFFICIENT 031CD

FILE UNDER: ROCK

A humanity-reminding suite of miracle moments, Someone Like Me unites a geographically unbound cast of real people in pursuit of a meaningful connection. Taping their lived experience in economic studios in quiet English counties, Pacific Northwest woodland retreats and the big city bustle of Sydney and Los Angeles, these kindred spirits rendered sheer beauty in the process. Custom pressed folk songs of love, loss and the lord savior. Illuminating minor works from seasoned players such as former Syndicate Of Sound chart-topper Sharkey and late-era Canned Heat lynchpin James Thornbury, the collection simultaneously honors the fleeting amateurism of hobby musicians. With their one shot at tangible vinyl, freshman Lynne Ann Kingan realized her loose bubblegum rocker on campus time, while U.S. Navy recruit Fred Potts cut his unconditionally serene ballad remotely stationed on a Spanish naval base. Spartan production continues to reign with Jon Betmead's hair-raising gospel, howling into infinite space, and Goldrust's stripped back garden hymn. Throughout the hour-long reflection, faith has an intermittent yet revelatory presence, most overtly with the divine choral soul of Seventh-day Adventist quartet Remnant. More subtly, Gary Ramey and Jim Kennedy both turned to song in their spiritual quests, offering their all to a universal power. An irrefutable compilation cornerstone, the National Office For Black Catholics showcased Charles Murphy's lionhearted account of the Black experience at a 1971 concert. Five years earlier, high school seniors The Superwomen would use their hauntingly angelic harmonies to address racial inequity with a breathless take on "Lowlands." Reaching the furthest corners, Someone Like Me secures the inaugural license of three homespun masterpieces. Discovered by fluke in the digital haystacks of Youtube and Soundcloud, Jim Huxley's bedroom pop earworm melds peacefully into Charlie Webster's synthesized reverie. Meanwhile, Hollywood's John Agostino introduces us to the bizarre world of tax scam records, with the artist only now learning that his tender psych-folk demos were leaked via a 1977 bootleg. Compiled and lovingly restored by armchair digger Mikey Young (Eddy Current Suppression Ring/The Green Child), Someone Like Me pays due service to seventeen rarefied journals of truth and devotion. Adorned with visual artist Chris Fallon's figure and flora dream extractions, the uniting songbook is further detailed by expansive track-by-track liner notes and a forward from San Franciscan poet Rod Roland. Also featuring The Bob Hughes Band, Jon Betmead, Robison Kaplan Ltd., and Ritchie Tierney. Original recordings range from 1966 to 1990.

 

PRICE: $26.00

CAT #: HE 69015LP

FILE UNDER: JAZZ

LP issued to celebrate more European artists than ever before winning the annual "Downbeat" polls in 1969. On this release they all perform as a unit. Personnel: John Surman - baritone saxophone, soprano saxophone; Niels Henning Oersted-Pedersen - bass; Daniel Humair - drums; Francy Boland - piano; Albert Mangelsdorff - trombone; Karin Krog - vocals. Produced on the occasion of the Berlin Jazz Festival 69 by Joachim E. Berendt. Recorded Berlin 10 and 11 November 1969, Sonopress Studio.

 

PRICE: $26.00

CAT #: HE 70010LP

FILE UNDER: JAZZ

Recorded in Japan during a tour in 1970. Featuring famous French musicians Eddie Louiss on organ and Daniel Humair on drums. A classy trio album with Louiss' superb Hammond organ played front and center and a glimmering of the Caribbean dancing in the shadows. LP on 180-gram vinyl.

 

PRICE: $26.00

CAT #: HE 70012LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

Pure class as always from Gal Costa! This record is her first after the immediate Tropicalia years, and it's a stunning blend of styles that seems to draw heavily from changes going on in the American rock scene at the time. The core of the music is still steeped in Brazilian elements -- but there's a lot of influences coming into play on the album, like bluesy rock phrasing, showy nostalgia-heavy arrangements, psychedelic production elements, and some of the baroque orchestrations that would show up on Gal's later albums in the '70s. LP on 180-gram vinyl. 45RPM.

 

PRICE: $26.00

CAT #: HE 70015LP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

Kraftwerk is the self-titled debut album by the D?sseldorf band Kraftwerk. It was produced by Conny Plank and released in 1970. LP on 180-gram vinyl with gatefold sleeve.

 

PRICE: $26.00

CAT #: HE 72001LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

Fotheringay is the self-titled album by the group formed by Sandy Denny after she left Fairport Convention in 1969, and was the group's only contemporaneous release. It was recorded in 1970 with former Eclection member and Denny's future husband Trevor Lucas, with Gerry Conway, Jerry Donahue, and Pat Donaldson. The album includes five Sandy Denny compositions (one of which was co-written with Lucas), one song by Lucas, as well as one traditional song and two cover versions: Bob Dylan's "Too Much of Nothing" and Gordon Lightfoot's "The Way I Feel."

 

PRICE: $23.50

CAT #: ESK 166LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

Chasing dopamine in free fall through a burning world. Looks that make you want to go swimming, even though you know you're going to drown. Mental health, body positivity, queerness, sexualized violence and self-determination: Elena Rud sings about these things, loud and wild. With a voice that sometimes seems on the verge of breaking and then hangs deep in the ear canal again. As raspy as after a handful of cigarettes. So distinctive that you will recognize them again and again from a big bunch of newcomer bands. Because the songs go through the marrow and bone. Under the skin or into the heart. Maybe left in and right out, but it's good in between. Because you feel that you're no longer quite so alone with yourself and this shitty world. Also featuring SAL?.

 

PRICE: $12.50

CAT #: FARO 240CD

FILE UNDER: WORLD

Bruno Berle, the young songwriter and poet originally hailing from Macei?, the capital of Brazil's Alagoas state, crafts songs that are simple, direct, and full of tender nuance. With his first album No Reino Dos Afetos (which translates to "In the Realm of Affections" and was released in 2022), Berle firmly established himself as a unique and important voice in the burgeoning scene of new Brazilian artists making a global impact, including peers like Ana Frango El?trico, Tim Bernardes, Bala Desejo, Sessa, and more. Now back with his second album, No Reino Dos Afetos 2, he stretches that further. Bruno Berle's music lives between two worlds -- a traditional Brazilian folk talent steeped in history, and a contemporary, dreamy electronic pop; the result is songwriting that's genre-bending, intentional, iconoclastic and consuming, spacious and sinewy and singular, a striking reflection of its composer while leaving space for the listener to settle in. The guiding theme of No Reino dos Afetos 2 is a relationship, unfolding in the arc of a weekend. It traverses the innocence of an early young love, how that can be formative, can stretch on to take new shapes, or shape you. Coupled with the lo-fi aspects that shape much of the album's personality in the vocals and the production, No Reino Dos Afetos 2 is meticulously elaborated by Berle's sonic alchemy, like on the mid-album instrumental "Sonho," which feels like floating. The production, the arrangements, his restraint and intentionality in crafting his songs feel just as vital as their emotional cores. His songwriting is amorphous, fluid, an encompassing genre-bending movement in-and-of-itself, quietly daring. The songs are often in conversation with other works -- drinking in fountains as diverse as the filmmaking of Ingmar Bergman, the poetry of Walt Whitman, the rhythm of Djavan, and the painting of Maxwell Alexandre. Musically he weaves together a rich tapestry of Brazilian folk, UK 2-step garage/dub, trip hop and sun-soaked west coast songwriters; something akin to the worlds of Milton Nascimento, Arthur Russell, James Blake, Feist, and Sade colliding into one. Featuring Batata Boy.

 

PRICE: $19.00

CAT #: FARO 240CS

FILE UNDER: WORLD

Bruno Berle, the young songwriter and poet originally hailing from Macei?, the capital of Brazil's Alagoas state, crafts songs that are simple, direct, and full of tender nuance. With his first album No Reino Dos Afetos (which translates to "In the Realm of Affections" and was released in 2022), Berle firmly established himself as a unique and important voice in the burgeoning scene of new Brazilian artists making a global impact, including peers like Ana Frango El?trico, Tim Bernardes, Bala Desejo, Sessa, and more. Now back with his second album, No Reino Dos Afetos 2, he stretches that further. Bruno Berle's music lives between two worlds -- a traditional Brazilian folk talent steeped in history, and a contemporary, dreamy electronic pop; the result is songwriting that's genre-bending, intentional, iconoclastic and consuming, spacious and sinewy and singular, a striking reflection of its composer while leaving space for the listener to settle in. The guiding theme of No Reino dos Afetos 2 is a relationship, unfolding in the arc of a weekend. It traverses the innocence of an early young love, how that can be formative, can stretch on to take new shapes, or shape you. Coupled with the lo-fi aspects that shape much of the album's personality in the vocals and the production, No Reino Dos Afetos 2 is meticulously elaborated by Berle's sonic alchemy, like on the mid-album instrumental "Sonho," which feels like floating. The production, the arrangements, his restraint and intentionality in crafting his songs feel just as vital as their emotional cores. His songwriting is amorphous, fluid, an encompassing genre-bending movement in-and-of-itself, quietly daring. The songs are often in conversation with other works -- drinking in fountains as diverse as the filmmaking of Ingmar Bergman, the poetry of Walt Whitman, the rhythm of Djavan, and the painting of Maxwell Alexandre. Musically he weaves together a rich tapestry of Brazilian folk, UK 2-step garage/dub, trip hop and sun-soaked west coast songwriters; something akin to the worlds of Milton Nascimento, Arthur Russell, James Blake, Feist, and Sade colliding into one. Featuring Batata Boy.

 

PRICE: $28.00

CAT #: FARO 240LP

FILE UNDER: WORLD

Bruno Berle, the young songwriter and poet originally hailing from Macei?, the capital of Brazil's Alagoas state, crafts songs that are simple, direct, and full of tender nuance. With his first album No Reino Dos Afetos (which translates to "In the Realm of Affections" and was released in 2022), Berle firmly established himself as a unique and important voice in the burgeoning scene of new Brazilian artists making a global impact, including peers like Ana Frango El?trico, Tim Bernardes, Bala Desejo, Sessa, and more. Now back with his second album, No Reino Dos Afetos 2, he stretches that further. Bruno Berle's music lives between two worlds -- a traditional Brazilian folk talent steeped in history, and a contemporary, dreamy electronic pop; the result is songwriting that's genre-bending, intentional, iconoclastic and consuming, spacious and sinewy and singular, a striking reflection of its composer while leaving space for the listener to settle in. The guiding theme of No Reino dos Afetos 2 is a relationship, unfolding in the arc of a weekend. It traverses the innocence of an early young love, how that can be formative, can stretch on to take new shapes, or shape you. Coupled with the lo-fi aspects that shape much of the album's personality in the vocals and the production, No Reino Dos Afetos 2 is meticulously elaborated by Berle's sonic alchemy, like on the mid-album instrumental "Sonho," which feels like floating. The production, the arrangements, his restraint and intentionality in crafting his songs feel just as vital as their emotional cores. His songwriting is amorphous, fluid, an encompassing genre-bending movement in-and-of-itself, quietly daring. The songs are often in conversation with other works -- drinking in fountains as diverse as the filmmaking of Ingmar Bergman, the poetry of Walt Whitman, the rhythm of Djavan, and the painting of Maxwell Alexandre. Musically he weaves together a rich tapestry of Brazilian folk, UK 2-step garage/dub, trip hop and sun-soaked west coast songwriters; something akin to the worlds of Milton Nascimento, Arthur Russell, James Blake, Feist, and Sade colliding into one. Featuring Batata Boy.

 

PRICE: $29.50

CAT #: FARO 240X-LP

FILE UNDER: WORLD

Bruno Berle, the young songwriter and poet originally hailing from Macei?, the capital of Brazil's Alagoas state, crafts songs that are simple, direct, and full of tender nuance. With his first album No Reino Dos Afetos (which translates to "In the Realm of Affections" and was released in 2022), Berle firmly established himself as a unique and important voice in the burgeoning scene of new Brazilian artists making a global impact, including peers like Ana Frango El?trico, Tim Bernardes, Bala Desejo, Sessa, and more. Now back with his second album, No Reino Dos Afetos 2, he stretches that further. Bruno Berle's music lives between two worlds -- a traditional Brazilian folk talent steeped in history, and a contemporary, dreamy electronic pop; the result is songwriting that's genre-bending, intentional, iconoclastic and consuming, spacious and sinewy and singular, a striking reflection of its composer while leaving space for the listener to settle in. The guiding theme of No Reino dos Afetos 2 is a relationship, unfolding in the arc of a weekend. It traverses the innocence of an early young love, how that can be formative, can stretch on to take new shapes, or shape you. Coupled with the lo-fi aspects that shape much of the album's personality in the vocals and the production, No Reino Dos Afetos 2 is meticulously elaborated by Berle's sonic alchemy, like on the mid-album instrumental "Sonho," which feels like floating. The production, the arrangements, his restraint and intentionality in crafting his songs feel just as vital as their emotional cores. His songwriting is amorphous, fluid, an encompassing genre-bending movement in-and-of-itself, quietly daring. The songs are often in conversation with other works -- drinking in fountains as diverse as the filmmaking of Ingmar Bergman, the poetry of Walt Whitman, the rhythm of Djavan, and the painting of Maxwell Alexandre. Musically he weaves together a rich tapestry of Brazilian folk, UK 2-step garage/dub, trip hop and sun-soaked west coast songwriters; something akin to the worlds of Milton Nascimento, Arthur Russell, James Blake, Feist, and Sade colliding into one. Featuring Batata Boy.

 

PRICE: $48.00

CAT #: FIELD 034LP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

Twenty-three years on from its original release, the debut album of American artist Mike Parker stands proud as a blueprint for deep, hypnotic techno in the new millennium. Originally published as a CD-only edition on Parker's own Geophone label, Field Records are now giving Dispatches the full vinyl release it so richly deserves -- spread across six sides and reproducing Parker's distinctive artwork at scale. Charting the course of Parker's career reads like the evolution of deep techno itself -- moving from early collaborations with Donato Dozzy to appearances on seminal labels such as Prologue, Semantica and Spazio Disponibile. The essence of his approach was forged early on, honing techno's propulsion into a raw essence without losing any of the weight. It's an exercise in minimalism, but the sound is still monolithic and engulfing, crystal clear in its intention and devoted to the power of subtle pressure. When the decay on a reverb opens up a fraction, Parker's music leaves enough space for you to notice. Incremental shifts become monumental in his hands and his commitment to subliminal layering reveals hidden depths the further you submit to his hypnotic sound. This definitive edition of Dispatches looks at the vinyl singles which accompanied the album's original release and creates a more complete picture of the area that Parker was exploring at the time. It's the first time that the alternate take of icy depth charge "Copper Variations: CV1" appears on wax, as goes for the pneumatic tension of "Reduction" and evocative miniature sound sculpture "Blue Equals Black." Expanding the album beyond its original CD form, epic rarity "Dissolution 99" presides over the final side, while the standout Voiceprint release is now represented in full with the inclusion of heavyweight stepped techno workout "Voiceprint: Voice Two." Able to sustain his own creative vision without cowing to the trends or expectations of any scene or clique, Parker's music has progressed on its own terms. What this reissue demonstrates is how fully formed his vision was -- even at a relatively early stage. In an era where the deep techno scene is thriving, Dispatches feels all the more relevant, undiluted by time and still unmatched in its immersive perfection.

 

PRICE: $25.00

CAT #: FRAGILE 015LP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

LP version. Wolfgang Tillmans' latest album, Build from Here, is driven by a desire to explore and to expose. It navigates joy and heartbreak amid ruin and rebuilding, embodying hopeful defiance in uncertain futures. The songs vary in style, from propulsive and catchy to contemplative, featuring lush instrumentals transitioning into danceable beats. Tillmans' voice, whether growling and confrontational or tender and stripped down, maintains its prominence throughout, serving as the album's core. Also featuring FRAGILE.

 

PRICE: $34.00

CAT #: H 002LP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

On the second installment for Len Faki's newly founded platform Hardspace, the veteran producer goes back to vaults of his collection in order to unearth more hidden gems, turning them into tracks that can not only keep up with modern dancefloor standards, but even bring new life and audience to these personal favorite classics. Phuture's "Your Only Friend" with its iconic lyrics was an absolute anthem back in the day and had a big impact on the young Len Faki. Being able to remix it himself was a very special experience, resulting in an equally strong and emotional "Hardspace Mix." A standout of the early 2000s, "Agent Wood" by UK Gold still stands as a prime example of tribal techno. This remix builds on the original's wild drumming sequence and gripping vocals, but manages to pack even more drive and the necessary extra oomph for today's sound systems. The only more recent outing on Hardspace Volume Two is "Base" by young German producer A-STS. An extremely simple techno tool that had enough room for Hardspace to add many additional elements like more drums, a new breakdown and even a dubby synthline to completely transform the track towards the end. "Drum Crazy" holds up to its name -- a DJAX-UP classic that got remixed into a distinctly more "techno" version with booming low end and more emphasis on the synth lines, while still keeping the crazy onslaught of all things drums going. A certified banger in 1992 already, "Overdub" by Belgium outfit Test stood out with its insane main synth motif, which gets dialed back here into something more simple yet even more powerful with some added layers of groove. Stemming from the same group of early '90s producers, "Her Majesty 909" is a time-honored example of expert use of this seminal drum machine. The Hardspace mix brings the rework up to latest production levels but also keeps the stripped-back charm of the original intact, while making the already reverb-laden track feel even bigger. Hardspace Volume Two is a compilation varied enough to come out in many different sets and settings and at the same time gives us a deeper understanding of the path the DJ and producer Len Faki aka Hardspace is on.

 

PRICE: $14.50

CAT #: HPS 295CD

FILE UNDER: ROCK

New super-band featuring desert rock legends Mario Lalli, Brant Bjork, Sean Wheeler, and Ryan G?t. The first release from this band of pioneering desert rock musicians captures the band and its purest form exercising the desert born ethic and approach of rock improvisation, psychedelic and flowing, heavy and explorative. The foundation of Mario Lalli's grooving heavy bass lines and meditative themes with an intuitive guitar work alongside Brant Bjork and the percussion of Ryan G?t, which sets the scene for Sean Wheeler's poems and songs capturing the dark and beautiful stories and images of life in the Mojave Desert of Southern California. This is a representation of desert rock in its purest form. A very special live performance in Gold Coast Australia. Mario Lalli & The Rubber Snake Charmers began in 2010 with a focus on live psychedelic rock improvisation and sonic experimentation curated by desert rock pioneer Mario Lalli, featuring likeminded musicians from all walks of the musical spectrum. Anchored by Lalli's heavy grooving and morphing bass lines, this is a heavy meditation on rhythms, drones, grooves and riffs. Sonically becoming a canvas where each participant is encouraged to create fine lines or splatter and explode into chaos -- wherever it goes it goes.

 

PRICE: $16.50

CAT #: HPS 296CD

FILE UNDER: ROCK

Dabbing (LIVE) Rosin in Europe is Bongzilla's brand new live album. All the songs were recorded during their "Dabbing Across Europe & UK Tour" in Spring-Summer 2023. Mixed and mastered by Shane Trimble at Sletner Sound.

 

PRICE: $14.50

CAT #: HPS 299CD

FILE UNDER: ROCK

Acid Mammoth presents this brand-new full-length album, Supersonic Megafauna Collision. Get ready to be overtaken by a storm of pachyderm guitar riffs, wooly bass, explosive drumming, and witchy vocals! Supersonic Megafauna Collision is an unholy celebration of all things heavy, and as the album progresses it just keeps getting doomier! It is an evil and explosive album, with 666% fuzz! Recorded, mixed and mastered at Descent Studio. Drums recorded at Ritual Studios. Artwork by Branca Studio.

 

PRICE: $9.50

CAT #: HANCD 012CD

FILE UNDER: JAZZ

Colin Baldry's Ambient Jazz Ensemble often compared to Bob James and David Axelrod due to the large ensemble and orchestral elements. AJE are a London based 15-piece jazz with classical and electronic music orchestra. Baldry has created upbeat house, disco and electronic reworks of all ten tracks off his debut and Gilles Peterson' favorite Suite Shop album with the inclusion of mixes by Simbad, Leo Zero, and Leftside Wobble. AJE's remixes mastered by Jon Hopkins engineer Guy Davie on his gorgeous 1970s EMI Lagos desk. Dylan Colby remix closing track on Hospital Records We Are 21 compilation. Baldry's impressive music career includes writing and producing for iconic labels Motown, RCA, Geffen and Capitol Records whilst arranging and conducting The BBC Concert Orchestra and The City Of Prague Philharmonic, Baldry's expansive experience has in result meant a bigger approach to ideas. With access to working with world-class orchestras, he has been able to create large-scale epic arrangements, which has no doubt furthered his talent for emotive, cinematic compositions. Often described as "storytelling," Baldry himself regards AJE's musical output as the painting of a scene not unlike the role of a film score.

 

PRICE: $26.00

CAT #: HANLP 012LP

FILE UNDER: JAZZ

Double LP version. Colin Baldry's Ambient Jazz Ensemble often compared to Bob James and David Axelrod due to the large ensemble and orchestral elements. AJE are a London based 15-piece jazz with classical and electronic music orchestra. Baldry has created upbeat house, disco and electronic reworks of all ten tracks off his debut and Gilles Peterson' favorite Suite Shop album with the inclusion of mixes by Simbad, Leo Zero, and Leftside Wobble. AJE's remixes mastered by Jon Hopkins engineer Guy Davie on his gorgeous 1970s EMI Lagos desk. Dylan Colby remix closing track on Hospital Records We Are 21 compilation. Baldry's impressive music career includes writing and producing for iconic labels Motown, RCA, Geffen and Capitol Records whilst arranging and conducting The BBC Concert Orchestra and The City Of Prague Philharmonic, Baldry's expansive experience has in result meant a bigger approach to ideas. With access to working with world-class orchestras, he has been able to create large-scale epic arrangements, which has no doubt furthered his talent for emotive, cinematic compositions. Often described as "storytelling," Baldry himself regards AJE's musical output as the painting of a scene not unlike the role of a film score.

 

PRICE: $27.50

CAT #: HOS 879LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

Limited repress now available! 12 years after Hospital Productions released the first Raspberry Bulbs album, the band returns to the label with their most focused offering to date. Gone are the interludes found on their last two albums. This time RB has distilled all their strengths into 11 concise songs. Listeners may be tempted to mention "noise rock" or "post punk" in describing the sound, but RB thinks outside the limits of any genre, and stands in contrast to those whose approach amounts to failed exercises in style. The band spent two years boiling each song down to its essence, while sacrificing none of the power and dynamics found on previous records. Somehow the results are both more metallic and more melodic. The vocals, in particular, are fittingly more venomous this time, with their vitriol aimed at the current narrow-minded, oppressive "underground" landscape. Prepare yourself. Recorded among the ruins of the Belvedere Inn, Stamford New York, in 2023. Digital download code included.

 

PRICE: $25.00

CAT #: HC 027LP

FILE UNDER: WORLD

Limited 2024 restock. Hot Casa Records proudly presents the reissue of Disco Hi-Life, a real treasure album composed and interpreted by Afro-soul maestro Orlando Julius. Following up the 12" release, here comes the remastered version of a real mindblower from 1976, including four unreleased tracks, all recorded with the best Nigerian musicians between Ginger Baker's studio in Lagos and the American Star Studio in West Virginia. Orlando Julius Aremu Olusanya Ekemode was born in 1943 in Ikole-Ekiti, Nigeria, and is considered a main figure of Afro-soul music history. One of the first African musicians to sign to a major label (Polydor), he delivered many hit singles as a composer and effortlessly performed live as a tenor sax player and singer. He worked and met with some of the greatest, including Louis Armstrong, James Brown (for his Nigerian tour with Bootsy Collins), The Crusaders, Gil Scott-Heron, and Hugh Masekela. In the middle of 1975, just after they finished the recording of The Boys Doing It album with Hugh Masekela, they all flew to Ghana and Lagos. It was holyday and Orlando had also plenty of time to focus on his own songs. He wrote "Disco Hi-Life" in Yoruba and "Children of the World" in English and he immediately planned a recording session including 12 of the finest musicians, such as singer Dora Ifudu Avery, Adelaja Gboyega on keys, Kenneth Okulolo on bass guitar, Butley Moore on drums, Fela's collaborator Tunde Williams on trumpet, and also Ade, who helped sing "Love Peace & Happiness." Originally released by Nigerian label Jofabro in partnership with the UNICEF association for the "International Year of the Child," it was only available in a small promotional quantity. This is the very first official reissue of this dancefloor masterpiece.

 

PRICE: $15.00

CAT #: IMPREC 145LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

Limited restock. This vinyl edition of 33 1/3 is limited to 1000 copies on black, red, red/black split and red & black splatter vinyl. Includes a bonus track only available on the vinyl version.

 

PRICE: $32.00

CAT #: IF 1091LP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

LP version. UTO presents When all you want to do is be the fire part of fire. Anyone familiar with UTO's lauded 2022 debut Touch The Lock (IF 1067CD), which Pitchfork praised for its "prismatic synth pop," will be aware of the variegated nature of what they do. This album is just as colorful, with Neysa's vocal work sparking similarities to Kim Gordon's off-kilter vocals, which they both ceremoniously jet through a post-electronica blender mixing stylized indie sleaze productions with '90s breakbeats. While they might appear as a singular entity to others, UTO wrote large sections of this album apart, converging by the fireside to discuss the day's work before coming together to hone and finish the songs. 2023 was, by their own admission, a difficult year, and that's reflected in the Dantean themes expressed in songs such as the lead single "Zombie," which arrived at the end of November as a taster for the new record; the latter's dark heart is belied by the skittering beats, glitchy electronics and pummeling sequencers that elevate it from the void. From fire, early man's discovery, to AI, humanity's next great adventure -- with all of the wonders and complexities of human relationships in between -- When all you want to do is be the fire part of fire really is about life, the universe and everything. Just remember, be the flame, not the moth. Featuring HSRS.

 

PRICE: $13.50

CAT #: IRON 035EP

FILE UNDER: WORLD

The Blackstones were formed by Leon Leiffer in 1974. Since the initial group formation, there have been several line-up changes; currently the group consists of: Leon Leiffer, Tony Mahoney, and Jr. Bailey, and they have recently been joined by A.J. Franklin (Chosen Few, Federals). Over the years they have worked with many notable Jamaican producers, such as Count Shelly, Fatman, Phill Pratt, Lloyd Charmers, Lindel Lewis, Tony "Ruff Cut" Phillips, Winston Curtis, Jah Larry, Tony Owens, the late great Bunny 'Striker' Lee, and the legendary, Clement "Sir Coxsone" Dodd at Studio One in JA. This release features two rootical vocal sides of their consistent repertoire. The four-track EP features a re-work of "Selection Train" and "Hell & Heaven." The vocal tracks are replete with instrumental versions from Alvin Davis.

 

PRICE: $24.00

CAT #: ISA 001LP

FILE UNDER: EXPERIMENTAL

Having flown in from Tbilisi, Anushka Chkheidze found herself completely alone inside the empty and as yet unoccupied University of Basel's Biozentrum: just her, a piano, and the surrounding spaces. Over a two-week period the young Georgian musician and composer was able to explore the building, designed by Ilg Santer architects, with the piano, microphones, a mixing deck, a computer, and her voice. She also assembled a small choir from the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis music academy in Basel, who performed in an auditorium in the basement. Anushka used her field recordings and compositional ideas from her on-site sessions to create the music for this album in the studio in Tbilisi, Georgia. The eight tracks are an acoustic and associative journey through the Biozentrum with a nonvisual form of perception: she encountered eight very different places in the building, and the spatial acoustics and nonvisible interior spaces all play their part. Clean Clear White was mixed by Taylor Deupree (Pound Ridge, New York), mastered by Christoph Stickel (Vienna), cut by Sidney Claire Meyer at Emil Berliner Studios (Berlin), and pressed on 180-gram black vinyl by Optimal Media (R?bel/M?ritz) with love and care to audiophile standards.

 

PRICE: $31.00

CAT #: JAKARTA 187LP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

"Jakarta Records is presents Les Grandes Vacances courtesy of Beirut's Cosmic Analog Ensemble, aka multi-instrumental phenom Charif Megarbane. The LP is an expansive musical odyssey, one that paints a melodic tapestry woven from an eclectic panorama of sonic tools. Funky beats, dreamy melodies, and cinematic flair combine to create an experience that transcends time. From vibrant funky energy to introspective moods and library-inspired tunes, Les Grandes Vacances captures the essence of past and present, inviting you to indulge in the perfect balance of 'groove-stalgia.' Building on the success of his debut solo release Marzipan in 2023 via Habibi Funk, Les Grandes Vacances is a sonic journey that captures the full scope of Megarbane's sonic habitus. As a composer and producer, Megarbane touts hugely versatile, sometimes volatile musicianship -- his 100+ catalogue of projects (including legendary groups like the Cosmic Analog Ensemble, Free Association Syndicate, Monumental Detail, etc.) features a huge domain of sonic direction. Now, Jakarta Records presents a new expansion in the Megarbane sonic universe. In the enchanting sonic world of Les Grandes Vacances, Cosmic Analog Ensemble expertly combines diverse musical elements to craft an immersive experience. From vibrant funky energy to introspective moments and library-inspired compositions, the album's sonic palette is rich and varied. The meticulously designed artwork by Simone Cihlar (known for collabs with Anderson Paak, Tom Misch, Ivan Ave, Tapioca, and others) complements the album's thematic depth, enhancing the visual and auditory journey for listeners. Reflecting on his creative process, Megarbane cites a stream of consciousness approach to the Cosmic Analog Ensemble: 'It's a very spontaneous, playful, and diary-like approach and workflow... I trust my instinct because instinct is based on experience.'"

 

PRICE: $29.50

CAT #: KOM 478LP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

Dettinger's Intershop and Oasis have long been held, by many fans of ambient and electronic music, to be some of the finest albums in their field. Produced by the mysterious Olaf Dettinger, about whom not much is publicly known, they were some of the earliest full-lengths released by the then-nascent Kompakt, and in many ways, they both articulated and defined the sound that would come to be known as pop ambient, while also existing, somehow, to the leftfield of any clearly recognizable genre. Beautiful, sui generis works, it is a rare pleasure to see them being reissued on vinyl for a new generation of listeners to embrace. Originally released on CD only in 1999, Intershop was Kompakt's first artist full-length. The music here simmers and broods, with opulent banks of tone marking out territory for rhythms that seem to be built from the clacking detritus of technology -- hisses, thunks, knocks. Bass is deployed carefully, each drop a dubbed-out depth charge; drones spin and spiral, warping and weaving between the beats. There is, of course, other music to know Dettinger by, too -- his three excellent EPs for Kompakt, Blond (1998), Puma, and Totentanz (1999), the latter of which, Michael Mayer once argued, "invented dubstep." There is also a small, yet graceful run of compilation contributions, many of which can be found on Kompakt's Total and Pop Ambient series. All this music has plenty to recommend it, sharing a clarity of purpose, and a rare, human warmth and depth. But Intershop and Oasis are the releases that distil Dettinger's singular vision, and allow him, should he wish, to claim his place as a modern master of ambient and electronic music.

 

PRICE: $29.50

CAT #: KOM 479LP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

Dettinger's Intershop and Oasis have long been held, by many fans of ambient and electronic music, to be some of the finest albums in their field. Produced by the mysterious Olaf Dettinger, about whom not much is publicly known, they were some of the earliest full-lengths released by the then-nascent Kompakt, and in many ways, they both articulated and defined the sound that would come to be known as Pop Ambient, while also existing, somehow, to the leftfield of any clearly recognizable genre. Beautiful, sui generis works, it is a rare pleasure to see them being reissued on vinyl for a new generation of listeners to embrace. Oasis, released in 2000, refined the palette that Dettinger had explored on its predecessor, Intershop. A blurred crusade of ambient texturology, its unassuming patterns, and subtle, incremental dynamics, admit to real beauty, and a kind of abstract sensuality that you don't often experience with music that is, perhaps, similarly tooled, but not as poetic. Through seemingly simple gestures -- whether lushly expansive repetitions, hyper-acute tremolo tones, or ear-tickling rhythms -- it builds complex emotional resonance. It's no surprise to discover Oasis is held in high esteem by artists like Panda Bear of Animal Collective, who once said of Dettinger, "For us, he was the dude." There is, of course, other music to know Dettinger by, too -- his three excellent EPs for Kompakt, Blond (1998), Puma, and Totentanz (1999), the latter of which, Michael Mayer once argued, "invented dubstep." There is also a small, yet graceful run of compilation contributions, many of which can be found on Kompakt's Total and Pop Ambient series. All this music has plenty to recommend it, sharing a clarity of purpose, and a rare, human warmth and depth. But Intershop and Oasis are the releases that distil Dettinger's singular vision, and allow him, should he wish, to claim his place as a modern master of ambient and electronic music.

 

PRICE: $32.00

CAT #: SCIE 3323LP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

Several years of mutual appreciation and encounters on and off-stage have been the root of this chance meeting, resulting in an unplanned mysterious collaboration album where the aura of each individual is augmented by the magic osmosis of united forces. The 12-tracks display a collage of dreamy musique concr?te with desolate instrumental and vocal interventions, masterfully balanced out by Vincent Epplay.

 

PRICE: $32.00

CAT #: SCIE 3423LP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

For more than 40 years, Anne Gillis has discreetly unfolded her proper singular universe without any compromise. She playfully moves with determined restrictions, excavating contrasting forces; sensual and visceral, mechanical and organical, black and white. She extends this personal expression in her visuals using self-portrait photos, handwritten text and her theatrical performances are equally aligned. Her music can be considered as musique concr?te using the tape machine as compositional tool, manipulating her recorded sources, mainly consisting of extended voice and different (instrumental) sounds with addition of electronics and treatments. In both her photography and her music, Anne Gillis works fully analog.

 

PRICE: $28.00

CAT #: SCIE 3523LP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

The strange thing about the music of Anima is that it's often considered as strange, while it's actually very natural. It has a free spirit, analog to nature. For this release the natural spirit is strengthened by the participation of indigenous American flute player and composer R. Carlos Nakai who did a series of concerts in the US and Europe with Paul and Limpe Fuchs in the 1980s. As with almost all Anima work, the natural feel manifests itself not only by the musical approach and sounds generated by metal, wood, stone and air, but also by the absence of electronic devices. This LP is a reissue of a rare privately released cassette from 1988 and was recorded by the Bayerischer Rundfunk.

 

PRICE: $24.00

CAT #: LIFE 040LP

FILE UNDER: WORLD

Nephew of world-famous sitar player Ravi Shankar, Ananda made an important impact in the '70s psychedelic scene by combining Western electronics and Indian music in order to create stunning instrumental jams. The jungle safari-tinged S?-Re-G? Mach?n was released in 1981 but still maintains a certain soundtrack feel to it, more akin to previous decade excursions. Still a magical clash of eastern and western musical dichotomy.

 

PRICE: $24.00

CAT #: LIFE 041LP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

A.R. & Machines is the solo project of one Achim Reichel. Released in 1971, this album still retains a magical touch. Ranked between the most original kraut albums of all the time, Die Grune Reise (aka The Green Journey) really is a trip. Turning his back to the original beat movement, Reichel embraced the infinity of a multi-layered sound, experiencing the most prolific path of prog rock while joining the obscure meanders of the lysergic renaissance.

 

PRICE: $39.50

CAT #: LMS 1725118

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

Double LP version. Following on from the UK Top 20 success of 2022's 30 Something (LMS 5521698), and the Top 10 for 2023's Optical Delusion (LMS 5521858), London Records launch an extensive 2024 campaign for Orbital, revisiting 1991's seminal debut Orbital (The Green Album). The Green Album heralded a brave new world for the UK musical landscape (DJ Mag would later decry that the album "rewrote the rule book for rave"). Brothers Paul and Phil Hartnoll eschewed formulas and clich?s, choosing to explore wider textures, rhythms and stranger mind spaces within dance music. Their resulting album would enjoy both chart success and an enduring legacy, influencing and inspiring artists from Bj?rk to Bicep, with the Hartnoll brothers going on to collaborate with artists as diverse as Madonna, Ennio Morricone, Kraftwerk, Sleaford Mods, and Professor Brian Cox. 33 years since its original release, the album is revisited.

 

PRICE: $40.00

CAT #: LMS 1725129

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

Originally released on September 30, 1991, Orbital's eponymous debut album became known as The Green Album to distinguish it from their second album (known as The Brown Album). The Green Album includes the seminal "Belfast" and a live version of "Chime," the landmark dance track that launched their career in 1990. Back on double vinyl edition with exclusive splatter vinyl. The Green Album heralded a brave new world for the UK musical landscape (DJ Mag would later decry that the album "rewrote the rule book for rave"). Brothers Paul and Phil Hartnoll eschewed formulas and clich?s, choosing to explore wider textures, rhythms and stranger mind spaces within dance music. Their resulting album would enjoy both chart success and an enduring legacy, influencing and inspiring artists from Bj?rk to Bicep, with the Hartnoll brothers going on to collaborate with artists as diverse as Madonna, Ennio Morricone, Kraftwerk, Sleaford Mods, and Professor Brian Cox.

 

PRICE: $15.50

CAT #: LUV 045EP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

A new Luv Shack sampler comes in the form of Retroscope 02, and it's another exuberant remix affair. Das Komplex' hot psychedelic-disco take on Jakobin's "See Me Through" is followed by an unhinged Rosa Red remix of "If You" by Lee Stevens and Ken Hayakawa, followed hot on the heels by Guiddo's synth heavy disco remix of LeSale & Lee Stevens "Luv Sick" and a set of two reworks of Burnin Tears' "Permanent Midnite," featuring George Perin by Local Suicide, the first with assistance in Oomph! by Lee Stevens.

 

PRICE: $25.00

CAT #: MILS 010LP

FILE UNDER: WORLD

"The Madlib Invazion Music Library Series Entry #10: Motif Alumni (Rucker Collective) joins forces with Music Research Library, bringing together contemporary and futuristic cues inspired by motion and the passage of time. The Madlib Invazion Music Library Series was created by Madlib and Egon to give their creative friends a chance to stretch out and indulge in whatever type of music they wanted. This music was created for easy, one-stop clearance in film and television synchronization usage and for sampling. You can also enjoy these albums in the way that many do with the best of the best vintage library catalogs -- listen, ponder, repeat."

 

PRICE: $25.00

CAT #: MILS 011LP

FILE UNDER: WORLD

"The Madlib Invazion Music Library Series Entry #11: Madlib sampled composer, producer and multi-instrumentalist Kevin Henkel on his Bandana album with Freddie Gibbs, leading to this collection of decelerated rare grooves. The Madlib Invazion Music Library Series was created by Madlib and Egon to give their creative friends a chance to stretch out and indulge in whatever type of music they wanted. This music was created for easy, one-stop clearance in film and television synchronization usage and for sampling. You can also enjoy these albums in the way that many do with the best of the best vintage library catalogs -- listen, ponder, repeat."

 

PRICE: $17.50

CAT #: MSK 011EP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

Mask's ZentaSkai and Laura Merino Allue announce vinyl-only underground house and techno series as Cuddling Monsters. Cuddling Monsters serve up the first vinyl-only volume of a new self-titled series on Berlin-based Mask Records. All four cuts explore deep and classy techno, dub and house soundscapes with the aim of rediscovering the soul of electronic music and forming new bonds between human creativity and technological innovations. ZentaSkai is the Mask founder recognized for his immersive, hypnotic groove, and Allue is a fashion and graphic designer. They are newly assembled under this alias but have a long-time love of vinyl and analog machines, which shows in their sounds. "Crafting music with analog instruments holds profound importance in the contemporary musical landscape. Despite the omnipresence of digital technology, analogue instruments maintain a pivotal role, offering distinctive sonic qualities, creative constraints, and genuine sound reproduction. The tactile, hands-on connection" --Cuddling Monsters. The superbly deep and atmospheric "Lucky Star" is a dubby minimal cut with a deft rhythm and warm pads that are perfect for cozy back rooms. The absorbing "Crystal Growing" is another stripped-back techno roller with rubbery drums and pensive chords that lock you into a state of meditation. Up next is the powerful "Floating Tank" which pairs gorgeous ambient synths with driving drums. It's a great coming together of the physical and the emotional that will take dancefloors to the next level. "Analog Dreams" shuts down with more perfectly smoky pads and grainy lo-fi atmospheres as slick but driving drums power onwards.

 

PRICE: $30.00

CAT #: MKY 035LP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

"Deluxe, fully authorized reissue of R.N.A. Organism's R.N.A.O Meets P.O.P.O (first released by legendary Osaka label Vanity Records in 1980). A key document of the late '70s experimental music scene in Kansai, Japan, R.N.A.O Meets P.O.P.O is a hallucinatory trip of dubby bass, churning guitars, sputtering rhythm boxes, twisted vocals and unidentifiable sound effects. Produced by experimental music lifer Kaoru Sato (EP-4), R.N.A. Organism was a mysterious Kyoto trio known only by their aliases -- 0123, Chance, and Zero. They never performed live, and instead sent prerecorded tapes to venues for playback. Remastered by Stephan Mathieu from brand new transfers of the original reel-to-reel tapes, cut by Josh Bonati, pressed by RTI, and housed in a hefty Stoughton tip-on sleeve, this edition also includes an expanded insert with an illuminating essay by producer Kaoru Sato."

 

PRICE: $16.00

CAT #: MP 071CD

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

Positive* by Neuro... No Neuro is based upon thin slices of memory, and the disintegration of their existence. The day-to-day, with its "ups and downs," all while operating/existing above and to the right of the body. When the day ends, and the separated is reunited; how does one collect what is no longer there? Separating consciousness from the corporeal. Memory and thought are being swept out to sea in granules that are imperceptible to those around you. Short term is riddled with inconsistencies. Say "so long" to the granules.

 

PRICE: $32.00

CAT #: MOM 049LP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

Merzbow (aka Masami Akita), animal rights activist, writer, and musician, an iconic figure in international noise scene. Renowned for his pioneering contributions to the noise music genre, Merzbow has solidified his position as one of its most significant and recognizable figures. From his groundbreaking utilization of tape loops to craft expansive industrial landscapes in the late 1970s, to his transition to laptop-generated static noise at the turn of the century, Merzbow has consistently pushed the boundaries of sonic experimentation. Modern Obscure Music now unveils Merzbow's debut release on the label, Tsubute Mosaic.

 

PRICE: $13.50

CAT #: MOM 050CD

FILE UNDER: EXPERIMENTAL

Earth, Our Planet?: A call for environmental awareness. This time, Pedro Vian -- the founder of Modern Obscure Music -- presents his fourth solo album. Earth, Our Planet? promises to immerse listeners in a moving odyssey, crossing the boundaries of musical genres to provoke an urgent meditation on the protection of the planet. On this occasion Vian has composed the album influenced by the myth of the eternal return, the compositions are long and repetitive, generating states of pure trance. Pedro Vian, singular for his fusion of genres and styles, ventures into even more complex territories in Earth, Our Planet?. From the first listen, it is evident that this work treads the line of convention and breaks the boundaries of electronic and experimental music with artistic dexterity. The album weaves together texture, hypnotic rhythms and melody. Each track reveals his distinctive ability to create immersive landscapes, guiding the listener into deep emotional introspection. The album features high-caliber collaborations that add layers of creativity and elegance. Trumpeter Pierre Bastien, whose early productions left an indelible mark on Aphex Twin's Reflex label, infuses "A Day in Rotterdam" with a unique emotional resonance. Violinist Asia, renowned for her avant-garde approach and ability to conjure unique landscapes, elevates the album's opening tracks "Urob?ros" and "Les Tambours Subterraniens." Their skill and sensitivity intertwine perfectly with Vian's artistic vision. In addition, Italian producer Daniele Mana, with whom Pedro Vian collaborated closely on his previous album Cascades (MOM 036LP, 2022), also contributes to "Les Tambours Subterraniens." There is also a collaboration with Ra?l Refree, an artist with whom Vian worked with in 2023, presenting "Font De la Vera Pau," an album that The Guardian defined as "a wonderful piece of electro-acoustic music, a captivating mix of strings and analogue synth drones which sometimes flirts with Alice Coltrane-ish spiritual jazz." With Earth, Our Planet?, Pedro Vian not only offers up some of his best work to date, but it is also a call to reflect on humanity's relationship with the natural world.

 

PRICE: $12.50

CAT #: NP 016LP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

Last copies, reduced price. "Costes has caused me so much trouble. Even today, 25 years after the last time I performed with him, I still have a hard time booking shows because he has not mellowed as I have and the venues are afraid, because of my past association with him, that there will be piss, shit, violence, genitalia, racial tension, cops, etc. Costes has caused himself so much trouble. He's been taken to court five times over his art, received countless death threats. When's the last time you can think of that ART has been taken so seriously -- as a life and death matter? And he perseveres. I think Costes is extraordinary. He ostentatiously thumbs not only his nose, but every single body part external AND internal, at any authority there is. Pas Encore Mort, a re-release of a 1997 CD, is uncharacteristically introspective, pretty, and sad. It is unsettling to see the man behind the gross warrior exposed, vulnerable, alone. I love and hate this album." -- Lisa Carver, Maine, U.S., April 2, 2016.Born in 1954, Jean-Louis Costes is possibly France's most transgressive and independent artist. He is a musician, singer/songwriter, performance artist, painter, writer, actor and director. His highly expressionist trash style is instantly recognizable no matter which mode of expression he adopts. A unique and uncompromising artist, Costes has released over 70 albums since 1986. His songs are mostly recorded in his home studio and display very raw explicit lyrics, with music alternating between rock, pop and noise. He is renowned for his infamous "Porno-Social" Operas, which can be described as an explosive mix of live music, theater, violent actions, sex, noise, chansons, romanticism, mysticism and social issues. He has toured Europe, North America and Japan. In the late 1990s, he began publishing his own texts, and since 2003, has authored four novels.

 

PRICE: $12.50

CAT #: NP 021LP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

Last copies, reduced price. Since 2004, ?lg (Laurent G?rard) has drawn concentric sound spirals made of musical pipes and entrails. He uses an arsenal of instruments and methods, constantly renewed while building improbable bridges between musique concrete and French song-writing, cartoon-like radiophonic creations and cosmic pop as well as lo-fi Dada-esque experimentation with electronic tentacles. ?lg is half of the electronic botanic duo Opera Mort, and a third of big band trios Orgue Agnes (with the members of Kaumwald) and Reines d'Angleterre (with Jo Tanz and Gh?dalia Tazartes). He's had albums released by Kraak, SS-Records, Lexi Disques, Fonal, Hundebiss Records, and Alter, among others.?I DIG COSMIC MUSIC WITH ROCKS OFF? anathema to top 40, ?lg is the holy ghost of the new sound. his music deals with the altered state with muscle -> primed on transcendence like naked hug, the fire music of his previous duos or the zap force of his earlier Nashazphone jam ?Capitaine Present 5,? it feels hip to stay forever eternal in the house of mirrors & emerge on the cyclone. coney island baby bataille. there's a dimensionality of miracles herein, we were born on earth...as humans. Then there's ?lg, Laurent G?rard -> he's a love lodge, a sonic native. this is immersion music? climb upward, go down and deep. my fave cosmic strip here is in cool color? the rare moment on this LP when the guitar solo explodes from the narrative ripping a hole in "song.? through the planet of one voice, we hear the inimitable Dylan Nyoukis and the one and only OG Alan Bishop. these heads are perfect jam vehicles to hang with Laurent. Then there's the paramour lady Catherine Hershey, forever muse?roast tongue. brand new language, brave nu world. this grabs the tusk of Francois Tusques and rides Mother Gong, all glissando and Koba?an. learned from Shandar and transporting with a freer range Lard Free, organic music that slays all inner city mountains, outer realm gotham. bluer than noon. contempo lone gunman exploratory moderne with the controls set to the heart of love. we're in the "Mauve Zone", where is bananafish? hearing is believing. a transport to future analog and digital dialup. call this dude, he's beyond rap. what a crazy fucking life.? -- Matt "MV" Valentine; Guilford, VT; spring 2016.

 

PRICE: $31.00

CAT #: NSD 237LP

FILE UNDER: HIPHOP

"Known for classic collaborative albums with artists like J Dilla, MF DOOM, and Freddie Gibbs, widely celebrated producer Madlib is a sampling savant who has crafted beats for the likes of Erykah Badu, Anderson Paak, Tyler The Creator, Logic, De La Soul, and many more. The California artist's latest project is Liberation 2, his second collaboration with hip-hop icon Talib Kweli. A global call for unity through space and time, the acclaimed album features appearances by Q-Tip, Westside Gunn, Roc Marciano, Roy Ayers, Goapele, Wildchild, Pink Siifu, and more. Now, the remarkable jazz-inflected Madlib instrumentals from Liberation 2 are receiving a proper vinyl release. Following in the footsteps of past Madlib instrumental classics, this limited-edition collection features 14 compelling tracks from one of the most gifted musical minds in hip-hop history."

 

PRICE: $25.00

CAT #: NSR 012LP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

Molto Morbidi's debut album String Cheese Theory is filled with an organic warmth and has the feeling of quiet classics or cult records rediscovered years after their release. A certain sense of closeness, even intimacy, comes through the listening experience of String Cheese Theory, that lays claim to unbridled creativity, halfway between pop music and the avant-garde. Featuring Ed Dowie and Quentin Rollet.

 

PRICE: $28.50

CAT #: NSR 017LP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

Icelandic musician and visual artist Sunna Margr?t presents her debut full-length album, Finger on Tongue, via No Salad Records. Citing influences from krautrock legends CAN and Neu!, outsider synth pop artist The Space Lady and electronic music pioneers Suzanne Ciani and Eliane Radigue, Finger on Tongue is a masterclass in experimental pop, capturing an authentic Icelandic essence through its electronic and spellbinding sounds. Some tracks offer softness and peace while others invite you to dance, and the album homogeneity is precisely ensured by the rigorous approach to writing.

 

PRICE: $36.00

CAT #: NOV 029LP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

"Angel Del Villar II, professionally known as Homeboy Sandman, has had a long-standing music career by virtue of his exceptional work ethic and dedication to the craft. He has released timeless projects with prominent record labels such as Stones Throw, Rhymesayers, and Mello Music Group. Throughout this time, Homeboy Sandman's life has been composed of many diverse stages, both good and bad, all of which is reflected in his music. These life phases have led him to the latest chapter in his career and led him to create his new album. Recorded over the past three years, Rich is Homeboy Sandman's greatest project to-date, his magnum opus. The inspiration behind the album is layered in introspection and personal growth, a struggle that led him to the realization that he is rich. The true meaning of 'rich' which he defines as, 'God. Love. Freedom. Talent. Magic. Health. Truth. Walking with God, being free, finding oneself and finding love is what real richness is.' Rich is fully produced by New York beatmaker Mono En Stereo, whom Homeboy Sandman has frequently collaborated with in the past and whom he considers to be his twin flame. Mono -- known for his work with Your Old Droog, Prodigy, De La Soul, Action Bronson -- delivers a masterclass in beatmaking providing a wide variety of soundscapes throughout the 11-track album. Available in pink vinyl with black splatter run pressed at 45 rpm on 140-gram vinyl and housed in a 24pt reverse board jacket."

 

PRICE: $31.00

CAT #: NA 5261LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

"15 heavy funk rarities presented as a double LP. Cold Heat is Eothen 'Egon Alapatt's a follow-up to the famous Funky 16 Corners set he curated in the early 2000s. And like that one, Cold Heat is overflowing with great bits that had barely (or never) been heard by the rest of the world at large. Egon went through a range of rare singles, masters, and demos and came up with tunes that burn with a brightness that's undeniable. The grooves are all on the harder end of the James Brown Funky People side of the spectrum and some tracks are by names that finally got their due here, thanks to Egon, Now-Again, and some of the other funky forces doing the good work over the years."

 

PRICE: $25.00

CAT #: NA 6106LP

FILE UNDER: WORLD

"Archival reissue of the Afro-prog-psych Zamrock masterpiece. Presented for the first time ever in an aged copper green pressing. The entirety of Witch's fourth album, restored and remastered from master tapes, and presented as an archival reissue in an aged copper green vinyl pressing. Witch's musical arc is contained to a five-year span and, in retrospect, it is a logical one. The band's fourth album -- recorded after the band toured with Osibisa -- makes use of traditional Zambian rhythms and folk melodies alongside progressive rock movements. It is the most 'Afro-rock' of Witch's oeuvre."

 

PRICE: $25.00

CAT #: NA 6107LP

FILE UNDER: WORLD

"Archival reissue of the Afro-prog-psych Zamrock masterpiece, presented for the first time ever in a yellow vinyl pressing. Witch's musical arc is contained to a five-year span and, in retrospect, is a logical one. The band's fifth and final rock album -- released before the band splintered and an offshoot band traveled to Zimbabwe to record and release disco albums -- makes use of traditional Zambian rhythms and folk melodies alongside progressive rock movements. Like Lukombo Vibes before it, it is in the Osibas 'Afro-rock' style."

 

PRICE: $33.00

CAT #: OTR 019LP

FILE UNDER: JAZZ

Long sought-after by those in know, this essential Irish jazz album finally gets a vinyl reissue on Outernational Sounds. Fully licensed from producer John D'Ardis, remastered at Abbey Road from the original tapes, and with lacquers cut at Dubplates and Mastering, the Noel Kelehan Quintet's stunning 1979 Ozone is presented with unseen photographs of the band and commentary from original band members. Featuring moody, modal jazz of the first order, subtle and original composing and world-class playing, Ozone was the creation of Ireland's most respected jazz composer and musician, pianist Noel Kelehan (1935-2012). The only small-group album under his name, and arguably the first ever Irish jazz LP, Ozone was a landmark recording, but it was far from Kelehan's only achievement. Born in Dublin, Kelehan had studied music from an early age. From the mid-1950s he worked at state-broadcaster Radio ?ireann, and from the early 1960s he fronted Dublin's first be-bop unit, the Jazz Heralds. A busy professional career saw him compose for numerous Irish pop stars, arrange and conduct many of Ireland's Eurovision entries, and even contribute string arrangements to U2's Unforgettable Fire LP. But jazz was Kelehan's first passion, and he never stopped playing in both small modernist units and composing for his own big band. The late 1970s saw him fronting the Noel Kelehan Quintet, alongside drummer John Wadham, saxophonist Keith Donald, bassist Frank Hess, and trumpeter Mick Nolan. Playing weekly in Dublin for several years, they opened for visiting stars including Dollar Brand and the Ronnie Scott Orchestra, and eventually played a two-week residency at Ronnie Scotts in London. Though Kelehan had recorded a big-band LP of traditional Irish songs arranged as easy jazz in 1970, Ozone was his first album of modern jazz. Released on John D'Ardis's independent Cargo imprint and press on blue vinyl, it featured original compositions such as the deep collectors cut "Spon Song," subtle Latin flavors on "Spacer's Delight" and a beautiful modal arrangement of the traditional Irish air "Castle of Dromore." A legendary recording in Ireland, Ozone reflected Kelehan's keen appreciation of classic quintet-era Miles, with touches of the cerebral fusion of Ian Carr and the arranging genius of Neil Ardley. Not just a landmark Irish jazz set, Ozone is a lost classic of European jazz more widely.

 

PRICE: $24.00

CAT #: OTR 020EP

FILE UNDER: HIPHOP

Enter your spaceship for a transatlantic meeting of minds as the legendary Kool Keith links up with We Are The Horsemen (Outernational Sounds head honcho Harvinder Singh Nagi and producer Sub One) and the great Kaidi Tatham for a future-jazz flavored trip through the great MC's London adventures. Kool Keith needs no introduction to hip-hop heads worldwide. As one of the greatest MCs ever to touch the mic, Keith has never stopped innovating and progressing. From his days in the seminal 1980s Bronx unit Ultramagnetic MCs, through his pioneering development of new conceptual characters and styles in the 1990s, to his continuous run of radically independent recordings in the 2000s and beyond, Kool Keith defines rap longevity and artistic originality. No one else in hip hop has a comparable record of continuous reinvention, conceptual boldness, and stylistic panache. And after four decades in rap, Keith is still one of the hardest working rappers in the game, perpetually seeking new sounds to spit on and new collaborators from across the musical spectrum. Fresh off the acclaim for his new Black Elvis 2 release, the protean MC has touched down on Outernational Sounds for a unique collab with We Are The Horsemen and Kaidi Tatham. London Is The Place finds Keith riding the Horsemen's atmospheric, break-toughened riddim and reaching back in time to drop kaleidoscopic, stream-of-consciousness impressions of the Ultramagnetic MCs infamous 1989 tour, before flashing forward to the present in order to namecheck Honest Jons Records, saxophone star Nubiya Garcia and master keyboardist and broken beat pioneer Kaidi Tatham, who contributes trademark jazz keys and bruk steez to the AA side remix. The 12" is closed out by a third version, the Horsemen's own "Kool Jazz Mix," bringing see-sawing organ stabs and a neck-snapping ultra-sampling hook. Kool Keith, Kaidi Tatham and We Are The Horsemen, taking it higher and overcoming the pressure with "music so progressive," to quote Keith himself.

 

PRICE: $48.00

CAT #: PCD 008LP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

An edit-reissue of this gargantuan double cassette released back in 2014 under the Typhonian Highlife moniker, H.R. Giger's Studiolo finds netherworld voyager, Spencer Clark, at a particularly beguiling conjunction of his labyrinthine-esque sound world. With complete disregard for linear timelines and trajectories, H.R. Giger's Studiolo finds both inspiration in the Swiss master's vision and the Cenobite iconography previously explored by Clark on Fourth World Magazine's Pinhead in Fantasia. The CD Head Cenobite picture adorning the cover makes the connection more than apparent. A sprawling, two-and-half hour excursion on the tape version, here properly edited down to the wax container, the first two volumes of H.R. Giger's Studiolo are some of Clark's most mystifying recordings. A baroque odyssey through an hermetic maze of alien voices, warping sound effects, oneiric keyboards and a quasi-orchestral sense of space and dynamics, H.R. Giger's Studiolo feels like an hallucinatory fever dream still unlike everything else, either from before or after. Time doesn't apply here, anyway. Mastered by Rashad Becker. Artwork by Spencer Clark. Gatefold.

 

PRICE: $22.50

CAT #: PERMVAC 316LP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

New Jackson marks his long-awaited follow-up to 2017's From Night To Night with its successor Oops!...Pop for long-time collaborators Permanent Vacation. A concise triumph in techno pop, its nine tracks elevate his signature electronic sounds into anthemic new heights. David Kitt is a prolific sonic polymath who's enjoyed a colorful career making whatever he likes. While releasing music under a vast array of aliases and collaborations for close to two and a half decades, New Jackson has remained his irregular home since 2011 for when "at one with the machines." It offers a kaleidoscopic window into his love of dance music, and on his debut album under the alias From Night To Night he unfurled his singular vision; a dilated suite of nocturnal soul coaxed from his beloved electronic equipment with songwriter's nous, sonically etched as blunted whispers coalesced from the dusky billows of Dublin bay. In the time since his New Jackson debut, he's slowly distilled his studio methodology to help mine the true core of his musical self. Within this experimentation, he has stumbled upon the bounty that is OOPS!... POP, his most direct and euphoric body of work to date. Recorded across the span of five years and three different countries, Kitt has managed to transform his beloved alias into a leaner beast, tightening the screws around arrangements and songwriting to inspire an album sonically effortless in demeanor and spontaneously playful in structure and form. Aided by a stacked cast of collaborators including Rita Lynn, Donnacha Costello, Riche "Jape" Egan, Yenkee, Kean Kavanagh, Margie Jean Lewis, Meg Cronin, and Fehdah, it bears the hallmarks of the studio albums of yesteryear in its dynamism and gratification while drawing on his rich bouquet of influences across a century of recorded music. New Jackson's oeuvre, indeed David Kitt's musical world, is vast; OOPS!... POP then might just be his opus across it all, a towering achievement of soaring catharsis in melody and song that soundtracks the most direct transmissions from his heart to yours.

 

PRICE: $26.00

CAT #: PP 1002LP

FILE UNDER: JAZZ

"By welcoming the beauty of imperfection and simplicity, Sven Wunder applies the timeless wisdom of Wabi Sabi on this musical journey. What you can hear is filtered through Ukiyo-e (which translates as 'pictures of the floating world'), which illustrates everyday life, as well as through Japonism, the study of Japanese art, and more specifically its influence on European works. The result is a surface that creates an illusion through sound. The infusion of Min'y? with jazz-rock, this hazy scene evokes the landscape of Monet's The Water Lily Pond, which depicts the painter's Giverny garden, with a Japanese bridge, bamboo, ginkgo trees, and the reflection of the sky in the pond. This illusion constructs both time and space. The surface of the music, like the canvas of the painting, invents a journey between now and then by interpreting the idiom of folkloric and western art instruments. In this composition, the sound of the Western concert flute, which stretches back to the Renaissance and Baroque periods, evokes the sound of the bamboo flute ('shakuhachi'), which reached its peak during the Edo period. The guzheng, also known as the Chinese zither, with a more than 2,500-year history, joins traditional Japanese folk melodies with modern pop percussion and 20th-century electronic instruments such as the Moog synthesizer, Wurlitzer electric piano, and electric bass. This is the illusion that celebrates the fleeting nature of all things. A journey. A deep inhale and a slow exhale. It has a mix of jazz (both funky and progressive), East Asian, and South Asian sounds. The idea of fusing these styles and reframing them with the aesthetic of Wabi Sabi is to reconnect with nature and concentrate on asymmetries and emphasize ornamentation to generate new ways of looking at the world, here and now."

 

PRICE: $26.00

CAT #: PP 1003LP

FILE UNDER: JAZZ

"Still life painting, also referred to as 'natura morta' ('dead nature') in Italian, stretches back to ancient times. Some of the earliest works, found in Pompeii, depict commonplace objects such as fresh autumn fruits alongside man-made objects such as a small amphora and a small terracotta heap with dried fruits. These two-thousand-year-old paintings give a snapshot of Roman life and also create a link to time and space. A slice of life has been created by binding the earth's pigments with extracts of oil, made from nuts and seeds, painted with brushes, and made from a variety of fibers, such as trees and hair from animals. While life wanes with each brush stroke, by shifting reality into the past, art exists to make people come alive, being a living image of a dead thing, a surface, and a symbol with symbolic powers of its own. Still life works celebrate material and ephemeral pleasures by returning to nature as the ultimate source for our standards in art as well as in life itself. Natura Morta collects pieces from a continuous variety of melodies -- supported by a decisive rhythm section -- creating a musical kaleidoscope of ever-changing colors. Sven Wunder brings life into this rich assortment of musical implications by fusing and combining melodic instruments with each other in a setting that spans from a classical to a modern idiom. The author evokes this panoramic portrait by articulating an instrumental dialog between a chamber orchestra and a jazz ensemble. The result is a musical celebration of material pleasures that also serves as a reminder of the brevity of human life."

 

PRICE: $33.00

CAT #: PING 085LP

FILE UNDER: WORLD

Marewrew (pronounced: Ma-leoo-leoo / m?le?ul? e?u)? is a female vocal group that sings traditional Ainu songs. The music of the long-suppressed people from northern Japan has been a particular focus of Pingipung's output in recent years, together with Oki Kano who recorded and produced many Ainu artists. Following various re-releases by Umeko Ando, the late grande dame of traditional Ainu music, the spotlight is now on the a cappella music of Marewrew, which by the way means "butterfly" in Ainu. Attentive listeners will recognize the voices, as some of the band have already performed as backing singers on recordings by Umeko Ando. Their a cappella versions of traditional Ainu music shed a whole new light on the fascinating songs that have been passed down through generations exclusively through song. Many of the songs are set as tightly interwoven canons: one starts, the others join in, but slightly out of phase. The short songs sometimes unfold into a wondrous trance that seems to spin round and round -- if singing can actually dance, then this is how. Nature sounds and woodpeckers can be heard, and there is a funny miniature in which the ladies imitate birdsong. Things get hypnotic with an evocative song about stranded whales or an ode to the Orca as "Little Sea God." The album culminates in unexpected pop or cumbia moments with a band line-up including percussions and Oki Kano on the famous Tonkori harp. Marewrew are Rekpo, Hisae, and Mayunkiki. Rim-Rim was a member of the group until 2022. Ukouk is a selection of Marewrew's work compiled from CD releases by Pingipung's Andi Otto. Oki Kano has contributed unreleased material and added new versions of the songs which had only been released in Japan. The album has been remastered by Kassian Troyer and is now available on LP for the first time.

 

PRICE: $21.00

CAT #: PRO 412CD

FILE UNDER: ROCK

"Masterfully joining the two worlds that define Steve Roach's signature styles, the 140-minute 2CD Sanctuary of Desire combines deep ambience and mesmerizing, spiral-like forms in a majestic flow of stately elegance and breathtaking aural drift. Disc one explores a realm of suspended tranquility, sustained reflection and emotional resonance. Disc two soars upon a morphing journey into the mythic imagination by way of multi-dimensional mandala-like tapestries woven from Steve's mastery of analog-based synths and sequencers and hovering atmospherics. Drawing from his 44 years of dedication to the evolution of electronic music, concerts worldwide and a lifelong passion for the hardware instrument-based way of working, Steve places the listener in the center of his sanctuary of desire. On Sanctuary of Desire, Steve brings us to a summit drawn from his life in the sound-current: a timeless ephemeral and empowered space that soothes, inspires and enlightens. 2CD in six-panel digipak."

 

PRICE: $27.00

CAT #: PP 108LP

FILE UNDER: SOUNDTRACK

Baba Stiltz has written and produced the award-winning soundtrack for the Swedish movie Shame On Dry Land (Syndabocken). Awarded the Guldbagge prize for best feature film soundtrack in 2024, the music is dense, at times oppressive, than again light-mediterranean, all perfectly accompanying the stories vibe. The score is now available on vinyl for the first time.

 

PRICE: $20.50

CAT #: PP 043EP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

In the annals of German techno history of the early '90s, Mannheim's Milk Club was always something like the dirty little brother between Berlin's Tresor and Frankfurt's Omen -- not as cocky as the two big siblings, but secretly all the more-clever. Less pretentious than the ?ppelwoi metropolis, less dirty than the capital and, despite squaring the circle, less straightforward than both together. Instead, they delight with breakdancers of almost Wigan Casino-like elegance. Very British, even in the musical mix of house, techno and breakbeats, breakbeats, breakbeats. A club like a kind of mother raising the nightclubbers with her milk. Devi G. pay tribute to this club with their Milk EP on Pudel Produkte. Devi G. are Dirk Mantei aka Dman (DJ and former manager of the Milk Club) and Oliver Bradford (one half of Thee Church Ov Acid House and resident DJ at the equally legendary Br?ckenkopf parties in Mainz). A four-part promenade mix is on offer that has it all. It contains house, techno and, yes, breakbeats, breakbeats, breakbeats. Four tracks that transfer the milk legend into the 21st century with '90s-inspired rave finesse. Dross for the posse. Or as the connoisseur says: effervescent tablet in the brain, highly recommended!

 

PRICE: $32.00

CAT #: R-M 213LP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

LP version. Il Quadro di Troisi presents La Commedia. Four years after their eponymous debut, Il Quadro di Troisi return with a new album and a new line-up. The perfect circle traced by Eva Geist (aka Andrea Noce) and Donato Dozzy (aka Donato Scaramuzzi) becomes a triangle with the permanent addition of Pietro Micioni, who collaborated in the previous recordings and had been part of ll Quadro's live set. La Commedia is about turning a crisis into an opportunity and using change as a catalyst for rebirth. Much like the characters in classic Italian comedies, who are masters in using irony to face life's hardships, Il Quadro di Troisi explores the vast and unpredictable terrain between the lighter and darker sides of the human experience, matching the magical with the mundane. La Commedia marks the band's embrace of a more traditional song form, shaped by a very personal and distinctive musical style. The distinguishing elements of Il Quadro di Troisi's music -- classic Italian songwriting with an electronic spin -- meld into a unique mix that is both seductive and eerie, elegant and earthy, contemporary and timeless. La Commedia celebrates the band's cultural roots while constantly moving into new territory, balancing nostalgia with a forward-thinking approach. La Commedia is a rare gem that confirms Il Quadro di Troisi's relevance in the international music scene, as demonstrated by the number of top-level artists featured on the album: from Suzanne Ciani, a legend and a pioneer of independent music with a career spanning five decades, to Aimee Portioli, aka Grand River, a Dutch-Italian musician, composer and sound designer based in Berlin, along with Francesca Colombo's eclectic violin (the de facto "fourth angle" of Il Quadro di Troisi's frame), Fiona Brice's strings, cultural agitator and icon of the Roman underground scene Stefano Di Trapani (aka Demented Burrocacao and a member of Trapcoustic and System Hardware Abnormal, among other projects), Maestro Daniele Di Gregorio, an excellent musician and a longtime collaboration of songwriting legend Paolo Conte, and Tommaso Cappellato, whose professional description goes well beyond "drummer" and who has been working with artists like Rabih Beaini and Maurice Louca.

 

PRICE: $17.50

CAT #: RS 058LP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

Renowned for their boundary-pushing sonic explorations, Klein Zage and Joey G II join forces to deliver a captivating fusion of spoken word and electronic beats in their latest collaborative EP, New Cross To Ridgewood, inspired by their time living together in South London. The EP promises an immersive auditory experience that transcends genre boundaries featuring remixes from Local Artist, DJ Python, and Ariel Zetina. The EP marks a return to the stripped back musical style Zage became known for early in her career on Orphan Records, such as Womanhood EP and the sensational "The Sayers" on the 2022 edition of Shouts. The record effortlessly blends the ethereal spoken word prowess of Klein Zage with the electronic breaks wizardry of Joey G II. The duo's ability to seamlessly merge spoken word poetry with innovative electronic soundscapes creates a unique and compelling listening journey that captivates from start to finish. Adding to the allure of the EP are the remix contributions from three distinct artists, each bringing their own perspective to the project. For fans of: System Olympia, Parris, Yu Su, Galcher Lustwerk, Loraine James, Upsammy, Anz, DJ Sports, Reckonwrong, Bored Lord, Call Super, Huerco S, Pender Street Steppers.

 

PRICE: $24.00

CAT #: RV 004LP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

Lauren Ritter returns to her roots with Antigone // Sarus, a new EP featuring two emotive, nostalgic, and melodic compositions, "Antigone" and "Sarus," that sure to please fans of her All Day Dream 2015 debut Lark EP and her recent Rift Vision output alike. She invites friends Powel and Zone+ to provide their takes on both tracks, who weave in dynamic grooves and vocal elements in their signature styles to underscore Ritter's melodic motifs.

 

PRICE: $30.50

CAT #: RLP 3235LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

LP version. After a solid run of five studio albums and two double live albums, Psychedelic Backfire I and II, (both 2019), Elephant9 had taken their groovy mix of high energy rock and power jazz as far as they could. In this respect their previous album Arrival of The New Elders (2021) came as a welcome and most timely addition to their recorded output. More varied, mature and reflective, they were as groovy as ever, but more structured and less jam oriented. Mythical River is molded much in the same way and a natural follow-up, with six stellar new compositions by keyboard maestro St?le Storl?kken, bookended by two short cosmic snippets. From the hypnotic and magical to the razor sharp and polyrhythmic, this is yet another strong group effort from a trio on top of their game. Comparisons have been made with bands dating as far back as the sixties, but with Arrival of The New Elders and Mythical River, Elephant9 appear as a thoroughly contemporary, timeless and even futuristic sounding band. Mythical River was recorded and mixed by previous Dungen producer Mattias Glav?. St?le started his musical journey in Veslefrekk with Jarle Vespestad and Arve Henriksen in the '90s, soon morphing into Supersilent with Helge Sten on board. He?s also a member of Hedvig Mollestad Weejuns, M?ster!, and Humcrush, and have collaborated with a number of artists, most notably Motorpsycho. Nikolai is also a member of Bigbang, Needlepoint, and Band of Gold, and have appeared on a couple of hundred records. The same goes for Torstein, an associate member of numerous bands ranging from pop and soul to free jazz. But Elephant9 has always been their special baby.

 

PRICE: $17.50

CAT #: RBSSS 005EP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

Master Plan was the Chicago based dance music project of Pepper Gomez and Tom O'Callahan. Spanning from 1984 to 1986, the groups development is in sync with the dance music scene of Chicago during that era. While their first record "Pushin' Too Hard" is a Windy City version of the NYC club music of the time and its European cross-pollination, "Electric Baile" from two years later down the line is almost a quantum jump into house music. With the engineering help of Matt Warren, it bears the marks of Ron Hardy, Chip E, Farley Jackmaster Funk, or the WBMX dance party craze, if you will. Here you have remastered and updated versions by Enzo Elia and Gerd Janson. The first ones's edit attempt of "Electric Baile" ignited this edition. A custom-tailored main mix is completed by a dub and useful bonus beat version to do, what DJs used to do. Concluded by two edits of "Pushin' Too Hard" by GJ, you get two great slices of yesterday that are still major dance music blue prints today.

 

PRICE: $33.00

CAT #: SDBAN 016LTD-LP

FILE UNDER: JAZZ

Limited 2024 restock; double LP version. Silver vinyl. Delve into the Dutch jazz scene of the 1950s and 1960s with a selection of classic and rare hard bop and cool jazz tracks from artists like Herman Schoonderwalt, the Diamond Five, Wessel Ilcken and Tony Vos. Holland never sounded this hip before! "Jazz is garbage and a caricature of the modern orchestra; it is garbage arranged by half-grown musicians for the benefit of common entertainment." In spite of the Dutch cultural establishment's attempts to preclude jazz -- as illustrated by this citation from the October 1926 issue of music magazine De Muziek -- The Netherlands was one of the earliest adopters of the new music style as it came over to the Old Continent at the end of World War I. Also features Herbie Mann with the Wessel Ilcken Combo, Kwartet Leo Meyer, The Jacobs Brothers, Kwartet Martin Verlinden, The Rhythme All Stars, Martien Beenen and the Orchestra, Sandy Fort, Tony Vos Quartet, The Red and Brown Brothers, Frans Elsen Quintet, Leddy Wessel, Jack van Poll and his Tree-oh, Boy's Big Band, The Frans Wieringa Trio, Eduard Ninck Blok, Rita Reys and Oliver Nelson, Herman Schoonderwalt Septet, and Trio Tony Vos.

 

PRICE: $34.00

CAT #: SEAL 025LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

Twelve Cubic Feet, a clear case of a band which should have been bigger than The Beatles but, for some malignant reason, became a blurry footnote in the history of underground music. Formed from the ashes of Exhibit A in the spring of 1981, the band disappeared leaving no trace shortly after 1983. During their brief existence they released a series of stickers, a monthly newsletter, two cassette tapes and their incomparable Straight Out Of The Fridge 10". Twelve Cubic Feet released this perfect 22-minute, seven-track album in 1982 on Namedrop Records (home to Doof, Philip Johnson, and Cold War and run by Philip Johnson and 12CF guitarist Paul Platypus). It is a glorious scratchy DIY indie pop gem with a post punk spirit. The sound is naive and fragile yet very addictive. Based around jangly clean guitars, drums that are on the edge of falling apart, haunting keyboards and a female vocalist that has a knack for a golden pop hook. Hard not to fall in love with. It's beautiful with a ragged charm that deserves to be heard by the masses. The band played a lot of the anarcho-punk haunts of the early '80s -- Autonomy Centre in Wapping, Centro Iberico, and London Music Collective, and were equally heralded by punks (Andy Martin from The Apostles released one of their tapes) and the DIY music crowd. The line up changed after the 10" and they recorded a Joe Foster produced demo and fell in with Alan McGee's Communication Club crowd. Twelve Cubic Feet burned bright for just a handful of years and now it's time to burn bright again. Hopefully this reissue will help them reverse one of their sticker statements "today we're nobodies but tomorrow you'll know who we are." This reissue comes with the 16-page booklet that came with the original 10". Twelve Cubic Feet feature members who did time in bands such as Khmer Rouge, The Reflections, Solid Space, Doof, and What Is Oil? For fans of the Marine Girls, Girls at our Best, Hornsey At War, Swell Maps, and Postcard Records.

 

PRICE: $24.00

CAT #: CREST 120LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

"Jackson C. Frank has become a folk legend. As an American folk musician and songwriter known for his brief but influential career in the 1960s, his debut album, Jackson C. Frank, is considered a folk classic. It featured songs like 'Blues Run the Game' and 'Milk and Honey,' which have been covered by numerous artists over the years, including Simon and Garfunkel, Nick Drake, and Bert Jansch."

 

PRICE: $93.00

CAT #: SOL 199BK

FILE UNDER: Misc

"On the Borderline is two books in one: It's an autobiography by Robin Storey, the musician best known as Rapoon. And it's a comprehensive survey of his parallel career as a visual artist. Rounding out the package is compact disc containing all-new recordings, attached inside the front cover. Robin Storey's autobiography starts with a unvarnished review of his early years growing up in a hardscrabble village near the Scottish border, in the far north of England. He was often cold and hungry, dressed in second-hand clothes, foraging for wild mushrooms, or turnips and carrots pilfered from fields near his home, where he shared meals with his parents and four siblings. His introduction to art preceded his experiments in music, both of which are examined in detail. He covers his days playing football, attending art school, meeting girls, dabbling in improvisational music, working as a graphic artist, living in a variety of precarious situations, and eventually finding himself making music as a co-founder of Zoviet France. Gigs around England and Europe followed, along with marriage, fatherhood, and a more settled existence. The majority of the book is given over to a comprehensive review of Robin Storey's output as a visual artist. His paintings regularly appear on the jackets of his albums, but only a fraction of his work has been widely published, and the second portion of On the Borderline is filled with page after page of rarely seen paintings and charcoal drawings. The images are grouped chronologically, allowing readers to appreciate the progress and evolution of his artistic style. There are more than 100 pages of color and black-and-white images, starting in the 1970s and carrying forward into 2020s. It's an enchanting collection of sensuously drawn charcoal nudes, abstract or impressionist patterns evoking primordial landscapes, alien voyagers, and vibrating hallucinations usually visible only to ancient shamans. On the Borderline is a hardcover book with 176 pages, most printed in color. Limited edition of 400 copies. A new compact disc recording A Dark Telling is mounted inside the cover."

 

PRICE: $28.00

CAT #: SCR 225LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

Repress. The debut album from the London-based four-piece Whitelands. At the forefront of the new generation of Black British guitar music with Big Joanie and Bob Vylan.

 

PRICE: $40.00

CAT #: SME 062X-LP

FILE UNDER: JAZZ

Sonor Music Editions presents this revived issue of Open Air Parade, one of the most sought-after artifacts from the golden era of Italian library music. This holy grail was originally released in 1972 on the legendary Sermi Records label (often referred to as SR Records). It features ten tracks composed by Ennio Morricone's whistler, Alessandro Alessandroni, revealing his great talent and unrivaled sense of melody, accompanied by the brilliant Italian jazz bassist Giovanni Tommaso, also founder and member of the legendary prog-jazz-rock ensemble Perigeo. Open Air Parade is a masterpiece and rightfully sits among the top five in its genre. It has a beautiful cohesiveness throughout and can only be described as sincere. The music ranges from superb psychedelic lounge funk, compelling groovy jazz beat tunes, and far-ranging mood music with lush arrangements. It's an essential album, officially reissued by Sonor Music Editions. This 2024 repress has been carefully remastered, and packed in a thick cardboard sleeve with fully restored artwork using the original painting by Ernst Wilhelm Nay in full fidelity.

 

PRICE: $24.00

CAT #: SPITTLEDD 007LP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

After achieving some decent notoriety, and not only in Italy, as an electro-pop duo (thanks mainly to the single "Short Wave," a small "classic" in the early years of that decade), between January 1982 and March 1983 Ruins morphed into a new five members line-up. With this fresh option, Ruins restructured the previous repertoire and produced entirely new material. The original four-track recording had remained largely unpublished at the time and seemed irretrievably lost. However, thanks to persistent research and with the aid of modern technology, they have been brilliantly recovered from the archives and are now available in this collection aptly titled Brain Flakes (The Lost Combo Tapes), bringing to light the "explosive" blend of prog, funk, new wave, and electro-pop, that Ruins' short-lived lineup managed to create in just over a year of activity.

 

PRICE: $24.00

CAT #: SPITTLEDD 008LP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

The third chapter of the Milano Undiscovered series, curated by Fred Ventura takes listeners on a journey through the vibrant Milanese techno and house scene of 1988-1992. This latest installment unveils a treasure of unreleased demos, showcasing the productions that emerged from the city's flourishing underground during this era. Inspired by the pioneering sounds emanating from Chicago, Detroit, London and Sheffield, a wave of Milanese producers embarked on a creative odyssey, crafting their own unique sonic interpretations of the electronic dance music landscape. Featuring Sigma Tibet, B-Logic, Grey Area, Mont Blanc, Straight Beat, Love Nation, Soul City Crew, Visions Factory, Periferico, and Beat 4 Life.

 

PRICE: $23.50

CAT #: STUDIOMUL 037EP

FILE UNDER: JAZZ

Japanese jazz pianist Fumio Itabashi, German house producer Henrik Schwarz, and one of the best Japanese electronic music producers, Kuniyuki, made this re-recording of Japanese jazz classic "Watarase."

 

PRICE: $18.00

CAT #: SR 560CD

FILE UNDER: EXPERIMENTAL

Five Traces is a wordless opera in three acts. Its sound includes words and images. The notes must speak: "This wordless opera is certainly my most daring experiment with text in sound. Over the ten years I spent discovering the majestic Geomungo, the six-string Korean bass zither played with a suldae plectrum, working on H?ros de la pens?e gave soft, poetic, melodious and appeasing sounds. Some of my studies continued the reduction process I had started for the piano and the violin (and then for the Gayageum), in the compositions I wrote between 1986 and 2023, attempts at extreme reducing and simplifying down to lines, music stated on one and single note (with exceptions). Lines allows the interpreter to express themselves within the scope of rhythm, nuance, vibratos, stresses and attacks, and to show the many unheard orchestral possibilities at the root of this unique instrument. In stark contrast, Chanson Cubique (Vol II) or Trace III include moments with an excessive variety of notes driving the instrument into a corner. With the warm timbres of the recordings featuring on the first two CD volumes, the listener is an accomplice to the interpreter, standing in the wings while they rub strings on fret, prepare their fingers and release the strings, tune the instrument while playing, etc. On the other hand, 'Traces' (once every five of them have been listened to) offers a more panoramic view, a look at the geometric structures of the compositions. Vol I was my doorway to the geomungo, while the compositions gathered in Vol II were explorations (experiments, studies) with a more technical aspect, in preparation for the writing of Five Traces." --Baudouin De Jaer

 

PRICE: $20.50

CAT #: SR 567CD

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

The only example of a working sixth-tone harmonium in the world belongs to the collections of the National Museum and is permanently exhibited in the Czech Museum of Music in Prague. Sub Rosa presents these new compositions that were written by Phill Niblock, Klaus Lang, Bernhard Lang, Milan Gustar, Judith Berkson, Idin Samimi Mofakham, and Ian Mikyska. The premiere of these compositions took place in August 2023 as part of the Ostrava Days contemporary music festival. Performed by pianist Miroslav Beinhauer, who is currently the only musician in the world to be able to play this unique instrument. The first model of the sixth-tone harmonium was created in the 1920s on the basis of a commission from the pioneer of microtonal music, Alois H?ba, whose visions for its construction convinced the company August F?rster. The improved model of the harmonium dates from 1936 by the same company. The first Czechoslovak president Masaryk supported the purchase of the new instrument by contributing ten thousand crowns, and the same amount was added by the Ministry of Education and National Enlightenment at the time. In 2018, Miroslav Beinhauer participated in the premiere of H?ba's sixth-tone opera Come Thy Kingdom, followed by the staging and recording of Alois H?ba's opus Six Compositions For Sixth-Tone Harmonium, op. 37, which was the only solo composition for this instrument for more than ninety years. In the last three years, new repertoire for sixth-tone harmonium has been written by renowned Czech and foreign composers.

 

PRICE: $16.50

CAT #: TR 558CD

FILE UNDER: ROCK

Hailing from a place of ancient mariners' secret coves and vast moors beaten by the wind and rain, Backwater Collage is James Hoare's first solo album under the name of Penny Arcade. Despite leaving London for the West country he grew up in, the Englishman is no stranger to the scene. He has been wandering around as if awakened from a long, not-so-peaceful sleep for some time now. You have most probably come across his washed-out blue eyes several times, in projects including Veronica Falls, The Proper Ornaments, and Ultimate Painting. For this dreamy, hand-stitched record, Hoare has taken his time. Maybe because he had to rescue his songs from various recording sessions tinged with a number of mishaps he amusedly admits he is accustomed to: broken multitracks, failing tape machines, rarely available drummers living in the capital. The eleven intimate and solitary songs which make up the album, delivered in the greatest home recording tradition, are nonetheless cautiously produced. James unfurls pure, uncluttered melodies in which his gentle, melancholic voice mingles with smooth, warm vocals by Nathalia Bruno. Barely saturated guitar solos sometimes disrupt the clear, unpolished musical line. Hopping onboard, longtime friend Max Claps has added keyboard parts which manage to embrace the minimal nostalgia of the tracks while preventing any teary pathos. Similar to Jack Name or Syd Barrett -- only less psychedelic -- in terms of songwriting and stripped back atmosphere, Hoare is sitting on the Velvet Underground's black-and-white sofa and gives his album a subterranean feel. At times restless but light-footed, deprived of any unnecessary effects, the record follows in the steps of a less noisy but just as raw and unadorned Jesus and Mary Chain. With Backwater Collage, alone at the helm under a stormy sky, James Hoare invites his listeners to settle in the sheltered comfort of a cup of tea.

 

PRICE: $26.00

CAT #: TR 558LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

LP version. Hailing from a place of ancient mariners' secret coves and vast moors beaten by the wind and rain, Backwater Collage is James Hoare's first solo album under the name of Penny Arcade. Despite leaving London for the West country he grew up in, the Englishman is no stranger to the scene. He has been wandering around as if awakened from a long, not-so-peaceful sleep for some time now. You have most probably come across his washed-out blue eyes several times, in projects including Veronica Falls, The Proper Ornaments, and Ultimate Painting. For this dreamy, hand-stitched record, Hoare has taken his time. Maybe because he had to rescue his songs from various recording sessions tinged with a number of mishaps he amusedly admits he is accustomed to: broken multitracks, failing tape machines, rarely available drummers living in the capital. The eleven intimate and solitary songs which make up the album, delivered in the greatest home recording tradition, are nonetheless cautiously produced. James unfurls pure, uncluttered melodies in which his gentle, melancholic voice mingles with smooth, warm vocals by Nathalia Bruno. Barely saturated guitar solos sometimes disrupt the clear, unpolished musical line. Hopping onboard, longtime friend Max Claps has added keyboard parts which manage to embrace the minimal nostalgia of the tracks while preventing any teary pathos. Similar to Jack Name or Syd Barrett -- only less psychedelic -- in terms of songwriting and stripped back atmosphere, Hoare is sitting on the Velvet Underground's black-and-white sofa and gives his album a subterranean feel. At times restless but light-footed, deprived of any unnecessary effects, the record follows in the steps of a less noisy but just as raw and unadorned Jesus and Mary Chain. With Backwater Collage, alone at the helm under a stormy sky, James Hoare invites his listeners to settle in the sheltered comfort of a cup of tea.

 

PRICE: $28.50

CAT #: TZA 028LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

After discovering Ayo, Grace, Imany, and Faada Freddy, the Think Zik! label has set its sights on talented New Zealand band Ha The Unclear. With their debut album A Kingdom In A Cul-De-Sac, the foursome wreak havoc with an astonishingly punk insouciance and sensitive intelligence. From Auckland, New Zealand, come four restless and immediately seductive boys. Immediately seductive, with a tankful of turbulent, deep songs and an already flattering reputation as a live phenomenon that will soon spread its sparks to this side of the world. Their sound, still in its infancy, is deeply rooted in a certain New Zealand pop-folk tradition.

 

PRICE: $15.50

CAT #: TOYT 159EP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

A new Toy Tonics EP. It's the second by Venezuelan house DJ and producer Gee Lane. Including amazing remixes by NYC mainstay musclecars! Gee Lane's debut EP Metamorphosis came out in 2023. But as Virginie (her real name) is a steady name of true Toy Tonics crew now and plays almost every weekend at one of the worldwide Toy Tonics Jams it makes sense to put out a follow up fast. Gee Lane originally from Caracas now in Barcelona is a passionate DJ and vinyl digger with an extraordinary positive energy and attitude. A DJ diva in a positive way. A unique personality with a very strong style (in music but also as a person) and very elaborated ability to read and play with the dancers. Like the first EP also this one was recorded in Barcelona and Berlin with a little help by Robin Braum from Athlete Whippet. The music reflects well her roots and passion for everything that came out from New York's dance culture. You can hear influences from the '80s promo disco scenes as well as the 1990 Body & Soul/Francois Kervorkian/Joe Claussell universe. In fact, Gee Lane, after being raised in Caracas and musically educated by her father from a very early age (a composer and musician), moved to New York in the late 90's where she fell in love with the house scene. And especially everything that happened at the famous and influential Body & Soul club. This culture increased her curiosity to become a DJ (and vinyl digger herself) who is not just interested in house music but wants to explore other genres such as funk, hip-hop, jazz and Latin sounds and include these vibes into her DJ sets. A vinyl collector (and long-time record shop employee) since then, she is known for her musical eclecticism that leads her to mix everything what she wants.

 

PRICE: $28.50

CAT #: UME 003LP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

James Devane returns with another adept investigation into minimal techno's spaces in between. Searching serves as both companion to Beauty is Useless (UME 001LP, 2022) and the next logical step in James' exploration of process as guiding compositional tool. Conceptually simple, technically robust, the end result elicits both an undeniable groove and a trove of detail for listeners willing to go deep. In his own words: "These recordings are the result of chance. Using hours of source material, everything was 'chosen,' manipulated, and assembled at random via custom software without concern for key, tempo, measures, or rhythm. A search button and a save button."

 

PRICE: $26.00

CAT #: UIHR 009LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

Available on super limited-edition pink vinyl with obi strip and download code. Only 300 copies pressed. London based shoegaze three-piece Holy Springs are Neil Atkinson Jr, Maria Bellucci, and Suzanne Sims. The band blend psychedelic influences with their love of lo-fi guitars and keyboards. In 2020 they self-released the cassette mini album Indoor Tapes. Shortly after the incredible EP Camera they present their debut full length E.A.T on limited-edition vinyl. Debut albums can sometimes feel a bit disparate as bands fling all the songs they've been working on together with no real thought as to how they all hang together as an album. Not so with E.A.T. The effort and thought that has gone into writing a cohesive and well-structured album is evident on every note played. If this is the band just starting out imagine what their next album will sound like, and the one after that.

 

PRICE: $26.00

CAT #: UIHR 012LP

FILE UNDER: JAZZ

Available on limited-edition white vinyl, only 300 pressed. Includes extended album download. Ivan The Tolerable is the alter ego solo project of Middlesbrough based musical wizard Oli Heffernan. Aside from his solo work as ITT, Oli has played in numerous bands over the years including Year Of Birds, King Champion Sounds with members of the Ex, Detective Instinct, and Shrug, and has collaborated with icons like Mike Watts of the Minutemen, and J Mascis of Dinosaur Jr. On Black Water/Brown Earth, Heff called in the help of his Dutch friends Mees and Elsa in King Champion Sounds again and wrote the album in a long-distance session. The album feels like an excursion in nature, featuring bird song, flowing water, pots and pans percussion, and a genuine feel of wandering about and experiencing the outside world with eyes and ears wide open. It is a band effort too, with organic sounding drums, the characteristic saxophone, and droning synths.

 

PRICE: $26.00

CAT #: UIHR 015LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

Available on limited-edition eco mix vinyl, with only 250 copies pressed. Includes download. Up In Her Room presents the latest full length from London psych heads The Confederate Dead. In their own words: "As an artist, one of the most extraordinary gifts is the ability to convert life's experiences and emotions into music, transmuting pain into beauty, tragedy into art. With our latest album, Flamingo, we embarked on this creative journey. The inception of this project dates back to 2022, a year marked by a period of separation that was both challenging and transformative. Flamingo is not just an album; it is a voyage through the labyrinth of heartache and healing. Each track resonates with the overarching theme of the album, yet each presents a unique interpretation of it. Every song echoes the same meaning, the same core narrative, but from a different emotional lens." Each song flows differently, shifting the dreamy images into another direction. Thoughts of The Black Angels, the Fuzz Club catalogue and genres from shoegaze to garage pop and back to good old psych rock come to mind. In the end it appears that this struggle will never truly be decided. The Confederate Dead is their own beast, and a great one at that. Theirs is a sound that oozes confidence and grandeur, presented like a big name would. and there is no reason why The Confederate Dead would not dream big, they have the chops, the songs, the looks, the only thing standing in the way of moving up might be their dark brooding undertones and their refusal to do a cool thing twice.

 

PRICE: $26.00

CAT #: UIHR 018LP

FILE UNDER: JAZZ

Up In Her Room presents the first in the Ivan The Tolerable archive reissue series, Autodidact. Originally released on a 10" lathe cut by Ack Ack Ack Records in February 2018, this has now been remastered and repackaged, and will now be available on limited-edition khaki vinyl, with only 250 copies pressed. Here's a bit about the record in Oli Heffernan's aka Ivan The Tolerable own words: "I recorded the bulk of this record over a weekend in January 2018, in the midst of a very minor breakdown that was to last for pretty much the entire year. I was living in a big house all on my own, smoking too much and not really seeing any people. Happy days indeed. It was tracked in the back room of 97 Hambledon Road, Middlesbrough using two questionable microphones, a broken HH 100 amp, my friends' drums and a Tascam DP08 (that wasn't to see the year out, RIP 2009-2018). When I was done, Robbie came round and recorded a ton of violin drones through my amp and I remember feeling like I'd gone into a trance a few times, then Ben recorded his parts at home and sent them over. Mixed and mastered the same night -- I released it myself a month later as a lathe cut 10"and then promptly moved on. I listened to the album for the first time in years to write this sleeve note and I think it is possibly the closest I've ever got to capturing the sound I hear in my head -- I love how grubby and cavernous it sounds, claustrophobic and swirling -- the track 'Autodidact' I have recorded four more times since this version and I've never got that sound back. I'II keep trying."

 

PRICE: $28.50

CAT #: UIHR 022LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

Ponyland are a psychedelic punk, force of nature, a multi-limbed monster of scuzzed-out riffs and thunderous ritualistic grooves. Combining the grinding onslaught of Lightning Bolt, the ecstatic spectacle of Sun Ra and the irreverent spirit of System of a Down, this unhinged, masked menagerie have to be seen to be believed. Intoxicating rhythms meet hook driven waves of riffage, with ecstatic energy that will make your legs rattle uncontrollably. Following on from their debut album Mora Mora, this new full length LP Hare Brains sees Ponyland embrace a new edge to their visionary sound world. Keeping the trademark, pulverizing double drum kit engine and fuzz-drenched psychedelic soundscapes, the band have supercharged their songwriting with focused riff-based hooks and driving punk-edged vigor. Prominent female vocals channel Bikini Kill and Warpaint, whilst gritty, melted electronics flow around a classic thrashing guitar sound. Hare Brains is a celebration of dysfunction, a call to arms against human apathy, a psychotropic odyssey of eroded power structures, post-apocalyptic landscapes and mutant pigeons. The anarchic pagan ecology of Ponyland's vision grabs the listener and catapults them into a visceral NOW, full of defiant life, movement, and human connection.

 

PRICE: $20.50

CAT #: UTR 162LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

Recorded across three sessions over the last three years, Behold is a testament to Parsnip at their most creative, catchy and collaborative. This album showcases the multi-talents of all four members, with spirited performances adding dazzle to the thirteen tracks. Paris Richens lets the bass playfully roam. Carolyn Hawkins tumbles feeling into the drum rumble. Stella Rennex's guitar soars alongside her saxophone work, whilst a sprightly keyboard is tenderly attended by Rebecca Liston. Everyone sings amidst this lush canopy. Patience, environmental cues and internal signals are integral for a garden to flourish. The same can be said of the conditions necessary for Behold to emerge. It is an album gleeful in reassessment, changed priorities and anticipation. The roots are deeply anchored to mystery, drinking up a hidden wonderment that lies within. "The Babble" sounds like Ray Davies playing Wordle for enlightenment. In fact, most of these songs are pointing the way towards growth and understanding. "Turn to Love" is mesmeric and timeless, thoroughly serene and perfectly judged. Parsnip write songs as a form of communion with the intangible in our increasingly delusory world, but there is always a gentle reminder; don't take anything too seriously. On Behold, Parsnip explore both the inner and outer realms of consciousness with quick wits and some seriously quality jangle and jolt. "The Light" is a whip smart workout, sprouting naturally from the propulsive nature of their debut album When the Tree Bears Fruit (2019). "Placeholder" is also devastatingly honest and channels The Field Mice as it buries itself like an arrow into your heart. Anti Fade Records and Upset The Rhythm present Parsnip's first album in five years, Behold.

 

PRICE: $33.00

CAT #: VIO 075LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

How do you follow up a work described in the Independent "the best debut album since Marquee Moon?" That's the question facing singer-songwriter John Canning Yates, twenty years on from the critically acclaimed The First Album by his band Ella Guru. The Quiet Portraits will appeal to anyone who loves the beautiful melodic soundscapes woven by Brian Wilson, Burt Bacharach, and Tom Waits, while Yates's unique vocals evoke the emotional fragility and compelling narrative of Neil Young, Paul Buchanan, Mark Linkous, and Elliott Smith. Mastered by Jason Mitchell (PJ Harvey, Robert Forster), and featuring guest contributions from pedal steel maestro BJ Cole and friend and multi-instrumentalist Andy Frizell (Kevin Ayers, Wizards of Twiddly), those dedicated followers of Ella Guru who stayed the path will find their patience very well rewarded. The Quiet Portraits is a remarkable achievement from an unassuming, yet hugely talented artist. It's a welcome relief amid the rapidly changing musical landscape to find that all that has changed in John's world is the number of musicians around him. The beautiful storytelling, the art of finding those magical musical moments that will remain with you for years to come: all of that has survived the passing of time intact. Happiest with headphones on, working alone in the small hours from his Liverpool home, Yates has created another masterpiece. Entitled The Quiet Portraits, the new solo album from John Canning Yates tells tales of people and places, of time, family, history, belonging, forgetting and remembering.

 

PRICE: $28.00

CAT #: WJLP 066LP

FILE UNDER: JAZZ

LP version. The Swedish quartet Goran Kajfe Tropiques share their new music with We Jazz Records. Tell Us, an album consisting of three long pieces composed by the group, is "slow music" to the bone, a deep body of work utilizing the language of jazz as its core mode of communication but echoing way beyond. The quartet is expanded with strings, adding wings to the music and helping it lift off the ground in a personal, highly engaging manner. The Tropiques quartet consists of Goran Kajfe (trumpet, synthesizer), Alexander Zethson (piano, organ, synthesizer), Johan Berthling (acoustic bass), and Johan Holmegard (drums) -- each a key member in the Swedish creative music scene, with experience from groups such as Dungen, Ghosted, Fire!, Gard Nilssen's Supersonic Orchestra, Oddjob, plus many more, including Goran Kajfe's own Suptropic Arkestra. Their music, groove based and connected to the tradition of "minimalism" has at times been called "hypno-jazz." Tropiques initially came together in 2011 when Kajfe was commissioned to compose and perform music to a performance by the Swedish modern dance company Vindh?xor. Since then, the group has evolved in its own ways and independently from, yet informed by, their origins. That is, the experience of creating music together with a strong sense of movement. All three compositions on Tell Us expand on what the Tropiques have done before, building around their signature style and its spacey texture and rooting the musical narrative in strong melody, rolling groove and their collective limitless urge for sonic exploration. As the opener "Unity In Diversity" goes to show, Tropiques's compositions are like flowers opening slowly, each element and layer growing out of what has come before, in a constantly surprising manner. This music, then, becomes the perfect antidote for the quick-fix eye candy rolling down your smartphone screen. This music will take its time, but it'll also create new dimensions with each second as it unfolds.

 

PRICE: $29.50

CAT #: WJLP 066X-LP

FILE UNDER: JAZZ

LP version. Blue and red color vinyl. The Swedish quartet Goran Kajfe Tropiques share their new music with We Jazz Records. Tell Us, an album consisting of three long pieces composed by the group, is "slow music" to the bone, a deep body of work utilizing the language of jazz as its core mode of communication but echoing way beyond. The quartet is expanded with strings, adding wings to the music and helping it lift off the ground in a personal, highly engaging manner. The Tropiques quartet consists of Goran Kajfe (trumpet, synthesizer), Alexander Zethson (piano, organ, synthesizer), Johan Berthling (acoustic bass), and Johan Holmegard (drums) -- each a key member in the Swedish creative music scene, with experience from groups such as Dungen, Ghosted, Fire!, Gard Nilssen's Supersonic Orchestra, Oddjob, plus many more, including Goran Kajfe's own Suptropic Arkestra. Their music, groove based and connected to the tradition of "minimalism" has at times been called "hypno-jazz." Tropiques initially came together in 2011 when Kajfe was commissioned to compose and perform music to a performance by the Swedish modern dance company Vindh?xor. Since then, the group has evolved in its own ways and independently from, yet informed by, their origins. That is, the experience of creating music together with a strong sense of movement. All three compositions on Tell Us expand on what the Tropiques have done before, building around their signature style and its spacey texture and rooting the musical narrative in strong melody, rolling groove and their collective limitless urge for sonic exploration. As the opener "Unity In Diversity" goes to show, Tropiques's compositions are like flowers opening slowly, each element and layer growing out of what has come before, in a constantly surprising manner. This music, then, becomes the perfect antidote for the quick-fix eye candy rolling down your smartphone screen. This music will take its time, but it'll also create new dimensions with each second as it unfolds.

 

PRICE: $42.00

CAT #: WE 007LP

FILE UNDER: WORLD

In 1975, Joyce Moreno, who had just wrapped up a tour with legendary Brazilian composer Vinicius de Moraes, found herself in a studio with producer Sergio Bardotti in Rome, Italy. She had been taking a break from writing and she decided to pick up a selection of her favorite compositions from contemporary Brazilian writers whose songs were beacons of hope in times of an ongoing intense military leadership in her home country. Unlike their previous albums, these recordings live from their reductiveness and intimacy. For a long time, Passarinho Urbano was considered a secret masterpiece and was highly sought after by record collectors, now Week-End Records is glad to be making it available internationally on vinyl for the first time ever.

 

PRICE: $28.00

CAT #: WISE 001LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

Starting out as a typical U.K. club soul band, and then turning toward psychedelia and prog rock in the latter half of the '60s, Pesky Gee! changed their name in 1970 to Black Widow and reached the public eye with their occult masterpiece Sacrifice. Their 1969 debut on Pye is considered a turning point in the British jazz-blues scene. With a cool Hammond organ vibe and some truly fascinating acid-folk harmonies -- both intoned by male and female singers -- Exclamation Mark is more than a mythological album! Licensed from Sanctuary/BMG.

 

PRICE: $30.50

CAT #: WS 014LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

Cara Beth Satalino built her adulthood in feral, eccentric Baltimore, Maryland, waiting tables and playing in a band, keeping her schedule flexible just in case an opportunity arose. Though spontaneity seemed inevitable as an artist, she was stuck. Paralyzed by her own assumptions of what a musician's life needed to be, time passed undetectably -- more songs written, more gigs played, tips in pocket on which to survive, undying hopes of "making it" in the music industry. In a moment of frustration, Cara Beth left Baltimore to pursue further schooling. Along with her partner Chester Gwazda -- fellow member of indie band Outer Spaces -- the couple moved to New Jersey only to be met with a chronic illness diagnosis for Cara Beth, a global pandemic, a surprise pregnancy, looming mental-health issues, and the inevitable obligation to quit school. So much upheaval after fifteen years of a predictable lifestyle led to the creation of Little Green, a bold, stripped-back, ten-song distillation of identity out on UK label Worried Songs. Born in upstate New York, the breeding ground for America's rich history of folk and settler traditions, Cara Beth was steeped in acoustic sounds from a young age. Her father, an accomplished instrumentalist, colored her childhood with the vibrations of fiddle, banjo, guitars, and mandolin. Though she had spent much of her indie rock career rarely allowing these influences to show, the unravelling of her life seemed like a perfect time to be honest about her musical framework. As "Warmth of A Golden Sun" opens Little Green with what feels like a folk-rock dirge over Casio drum machine beats -- Cara Beth offers a sonic analogy about her move from weird city life into warm analog intimacy. "Dandelion Weed" plants the listener firmly into her ecosystem of pedal steel and close-microphoned acoustic guitar, but with succinct rock drumming that gives the song's spaciousness a sturdy foundation. Though the influences of Fairport Convention, James Taylor, and Sandy Denny are all opaquely present throughout the record, surprising twists like the Velvet Underground electricity of "Little Green" and the classic '70s country shuffle on "Time", broaden the scope out of upstate New York into the eclectic artist she has become. Sitting above this spacious sonic palette is the obvious allure of Little Green: Cara Beth's voice. Her vocal tones span centuries, from traditional mountain singing to hints of young Dolly Parton and the delivery of Gillian Welch.

 

PRICE: $31.50

CAT #: WSR 058LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

The much-anticipated debut album from Leeds post-punk power-trio and 6Music favorites Objections. Optimistic Sizing is comprised of ten kitchen-sink dramas, ten miniature worlds to lose yourself in. The key topics are covered: performative royal mourning, ill-suited sexual relationships, coastal gentrification, motormouth bigots and -- of course -- snogging. These tales of 21st century existence are set to a musical backing that is joyous and wild. The guitar operates as a detonation device, a musical firework display to energize and punctuate the songs. The bass anchors with irresistible melodic and rhythmic hooks. The drums make complex and dizzying patterns seem effortlessly human, natural and always very, very danceable. Objections might follow the Minutemen music-as-socialism blueprint but rather than be constrained by these apparent limitations, they are somehow freed by them. That real estate might be clearly divided but it is vast, limitless, and ready to be explored. Objections formed in the post-lockdown period after drummer Neil and guitarist Joe's former band (and cult favorites) Bilge Pump slowed to an amicable halt. They wanted to continue the musical dialogue they had built up over decades and turned to Claire Adams (Nape Neck, Beards) to start something new and Objections was born. Pink vinyl limited to 200 copies. FFO: The Casual Dots, The Ex, The Slits, Gang Of Four, No Means No, Erase Errata.

 

PRICE: $16.00

CAT #: WRWTFWW 083CD

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

WRWTFWW Records is flying high as it announces the reissue of the 1997 ambient masterpiece Quiet Logic by electronic music visionaries Mixmaster Morris (The Irresistible Force), Jonah Sharp (Spacetime Continuum), and Haruomi Hosono (Yellow Magic Orchestra). Quiet Logic invites listeners to embark on a captivating sonic odyssey, blending intricate rhythms and celestial environments that push the boundaries of electronic music. Co-crafted at Haruomi Hosono's Tokyo studio in 1997, this album represents a time of rapid transformation in the genre, with these three artists at the forefront of redefining soundscapes. With its unique blend of influences from Hosono's immense contribution to electronic, pop, and experimental music to Morris' worldwide chill out DJ performances and Sharp's pioneering label, Reflective, Quiet Logic remains a timeless piece of ethereal electronica. It was originally only released in Japan in CD format on the Harry Hosono-curated Daisyworld Discs label. Remastered for 2024, this reissue is a must-have for fans of Haruomi Hosono/YMO, The Irresistible Force, Spacetime Continuum, Dreamfish, Tetsu Inoue, FFWD, H.I.A., Fax +49-69/450464, and mind-expanding musics. Immerse yourself now.

 

PRICE: $30.50

CAT #: WSNWGBTZ 010LP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

R?dh?d presents: Crimson Rubeus, the first ever compilation on WSNWG. Under the leitmotif "WE SEE NEW WORLDS GROWING," the release marks a progression for the imprint to open up for solo releases from new artists and long-term collaborators. The compilation features eight tracks handpicked by R?dh?d, each characterized by a vigorous commitment to the dancefloor while staying true to the label's signature -- hard-to-resist sound with a pinch of mystery. While every contribution has its distinct magnetic pull, marking the way to a nascent world, the crimson red thread running through this compilation is perpetuating, swirling techno with an acute fit for the dancefloor. As with previous releases R?dh?d crafted the artwork for the compilation, this time drenched in crimson hues echoing the energy of the music. Featuring Uv?ll, Arkan, Inox Trax, Nastia Reigel, SAMA, UFO95, ? [Phase], and Kameliia.

 

PRICE: $20.00

CAT #: XXX 014RMX-EP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

Isaie's mini album Psycho remixed by heavy hitters Gerd Janson, Eagles & Butterflies, Kiara Scuro & Tech Support, and SHMLSS. The remixes have been road tested all over the world by XXX's remixers and their favorite DJ's.

 

PRICE: $22.50

CAT #: YORE 050EP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

Yore is on something like a roll at the moment. This time, the label returns with a techno EP by ReKaB. It's easy to forget that, at its core, techno hopes for a better future. This new four-track EP of connoisseur-grade repetitive beats from ReKaB (AKA James Baker) reminds Yore of this with a reverent nod to the past and a look forward to a human-centered tomorrow. Tradition is a big part of the ReKaB sound. Classic timbres run through all the tracks, but what James does so well is how he deploys and contrasts the elements. Piano chords layer late-night soul over syncopated bass. Comforting strings and ethereal pads upgrade your consciousness while your body remains rooted by Techno City square waves. Call and response between acid lines and synth patterns feel like the machines interact, whilst the ever-present 909 thump adds the all-important dance floor framework. Throughout the whole EP, ReKaB shows deep knowledge and respect for the art form, proving he is no less than a master of the craft. Limited to 250 copies worldwide.