News & Events

 

PRICE: $25.50

CAT #: AUK 008LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

2023 repress. Released on 180 gram black vinyl. Deluxe gatefold with printed inner sleeves. 2007 release -- originally released in 1995. Redolent with the spirit of such high priests of effects and delay as Loop, Spaceman 3, and My Bloody Valentine, not to mention a fair dollop of the Jesus And Mary Chain, Methodrone clearly is the sum of its influences. Thankfully, BJM does a very solid job with them throughout the album's course of over 70 minutes.

 

PRICE: $23.00

CAT #: 71RW 001LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

Warehouse find, last copies. "Formerly of '60s US psych-folk band Euphoria, Roger & Wendy financed this privately pressed album for family and friends in 1971. They later renamed themselves Bermuda Triangle (their 1977 album recently reissued). This $900+ rated album is the rarest of the lot and is a top notch collection of psych-folk gems. A superb artifact from the early '70s US underground psych folk scene. Taken from the original master tapes, and using the original sleeve artwork, this is a strict limited edition of 450 copies pressed on virgin DMM vinyl.'

 

PRICE: $21.00

CAT #: ACT 9970LP

FILE UNDER: JAZZ

"Catching Ghosts by revered, iconoclastic 81-year-old reedist Peter Brötzmann (1941 to 6/22/23) with Moroccan Gnaoua adept Majid Bekkas playing two-stringed, camelskin-backed guembre and Chicago-bred drummer Hamid Drake, proves that 'free' spontaneous interactions deriving power from age-old traditions can transcend cultural lines. Improvising on incantations from Gnaoua liturgy, Brötzmann's horn cries as summons and statement; Drake's drums awaken inner impulses; Bekkas' strings, plucked and strummed, tie it all together, and his voice brings the song home. But this is no lucky success: The music is vital due to its players' career-long practice, their knowledge of heritage, and belief the past must always be reinterpreted, renewed. American jazz giants have jammed with Gnaouans, but for Brötzmann, Europe's exemplar of unfettered blowing, to grapple with such material is to hear a new synthesis. Bekkas aligns himself with Brötzmann, championing the revival of Gnaouan culture, which originates in the uneasy history of freed Black slaves integrating with Moroccan Islamic society. The music relates to American blues, as Bekkas knows. Drake orchestrates the open format, making drama from grooves so each track of Catching Ghosts tells its own story, signifying meaning though it be pre-linguistic. That suits Brötzmann's adjustment of his signature style."

 

PRICE: $30.50

CAT #: AMT 034LP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

Producer, DJ, and composer Seb Wildblood returns to the fold with third album Separation Anxiety. Set for release via his own "all my thoughts" label, the prolific producer's blissful electronics are on full display across the album's 10 tracks, his most ambitious and fully realized offering yet. While Separation Anxiety is structured within the realms of traditional dance music, the record harmoniously exists between the worlds of ambient, indie, electronica, jazz and classical. Rich in collaboration, it features Swedish pop auteur Sir Was, Montreal's Tess Roby delivering vocals on the title track, and Dial Record's Lawrence. We also hear Wildblood and 'mauv' team up once more on "handshake," the pair having previously penned "Amelia" from his debut album Sketches of Transition. Now based in Los Angeles and counting the likes of BBC, KCRW, FACT, Mixmag, RA and i-D as fans, Wildblood has spent the last few years forging a sonic identity focused on transportive experiences. Whether it's in tracks designed for the dance-floor, or in those more suited to headphones, the recurring theme across his musical output is one of subtlety and depth. Across his trifecta of labels he's also released the likes of Chaos In The CBD, SUCHI, Tom VR, and Ouri, has composed music for JW Anderson collection reveals at Paris and London Fashion Week, Burberry, and holds down a regular slot on Dublab with his All My Thoughts radio show. Also features work from Laraaji.

 

PRICE: $42.00

CAT #: BEWITH 131LP

FILE UNDER: JAZZ

Restocked. The Tony Williams Lifetime's Emergency! is a furious, stunning, seminal album. In 1969, it's explosive sound divided critics in both jazz and rock but is now rightly regarded as groundbreaking. A musical statement so bold and irreverent that it was revolutionary. With Emergency!, provocative percussionist Tony Williams unified the most vital sounds of the era and galvanized the creation of jazz fusion. A sprawling double-LP that shattered the boundaries between jazz and rock, it forged fresh frontiers by unleashing dense, courageous and fantastically mysterious music. The group was founded by Tony Williams, a member of Miles Davis's radical 1960s quintet, out of his desire to fuse the influences of modern jazz and rock music. To effectively meld the scorching bop of Coltrane with the raging rock of Hendrix. Like all the very best records, Emergency! takes multiple listens for your brain and body to decipher everything going on, to truly process and appreciate the details that our senses are throwing at us. It's a mesmerizing, rough sound yet the intuitive interplay of all three musicians is super-tight. The tunes are strung out and jamming but retain a tight rhythmic focus. The incendiary title track immediately presents jazz-rock's chaotic birth. After Williams's ominous snare-roll signals the brewing storm, the snarling band blasts its way through the gate in truly breathtaking fashion, fuzzed-up wahed-out guitar riffs vying for prominence with gnarled, insistent organ. Thrillingly, Williams manages to both acrobatically crash over every element of his drum kit while keeping the whole groove undeniably funky. "Beyond Games" is a gloriously volatile freeform, featuring Williams' bugged-out vocals, whilst the 12-minute "Where" is another deep, wild jam. With the buoyant "Vashkar", we begin to experience jazz-rock's many angles; imaginative melodics, taut dynamics and as torrent of searing heat. Perhaps the most economical track on Emergency!, it's the most instant. The laconic "Via the Spectrum Road", a brilliant pop-psych tune, was sampled by Showbiz & AG on their classic debut LP. It oscillates between a tranquil funk groove and strutting improv interludes. The pyrotechnic jam "Spectrum" wakes things up again with pure, molten jazz lava and crazy soloing from all involved. A breathtaking, kaleidoscopic 13-minute cycle through ferocious noise, "Sangria For Three" is a sublimely frenetic detonation of distilled (acid) jazz rock. Closer "Something Spiritual" finishes this jaw-dropping set with a driving, unrelenting heavy guitar and organ freakout, backed high in the mix by Williams's untamed funk before unsettled dissonance rides you out. Mastered for vinyl by Simon Francis and cut by Cicely Ralston for Alchemy at AIR Studios.

 

PRICE: $30.50

CAT #: BEC 5161611

FILE UNDER: WORLD

2023 repress; originally released in 2002. "Radio Bemba Sound System captures a 2001 live performance featuring songs from Esperanza, Clandestino, and the albums of Mano Negra. The recording, a blend of two performances, never lets up, packing all or part of 29 songs into an hour, and I think it captures the inclusive spirit of Chao's music even better than his studio work. The cheers at the end of 'Bienvenida a Tijuana' -- when the final line offers a ringing endorsement of sex and marijuana -- are amazing, and the transformation of punky Mano Negra songs such as 'Peligro,' 'The Monkey,' 'Mala Vida,' and 'Machine Gun' into multi-genred beasts is something to hear... Chao's 10-piece band is extremely versatile, augmenting a standard rock set-up with horns, accordion, and extra percussion. They leap from reggae to funky merengue to punk to flamenco with flourishes of surf, blues, North African rai, Central African rumba, mariachi, and rock'n'roll while also switching languages, sometimes in mid-song. Esperanza's subdued reggae track 'Mr. Bobby' is much funkier live, with a great psychedelic guitar solo and second, dancehall-ish vocal from Bidji. Because it samples two shows, a few songs appear twice but that feels like an appropriate side effect of the collage approach." --Pitchfork; Comes with a CD copy of the album.

 

PRICE: $34.00

CAT #: BE 020LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

Black Editions presents Mass Hysterism in Another Situation remastered and cut to double 45RPM 12" vinyl. Mass Hysterism in Another Situation captures Masayuki Takayanagi's New Direction Unit in its final incarnation, at an apex in its development; it also finds Takayanagi, one of Japan's great iconoclastic artists, at a moment of crucial artistic transformation. Recorded in August 1983 as part of his "Another Situation" concert series, the album features one of the last performances of Takayanagi's revolutionary and perhaps most famously violent piece, "Mass Projection." By this date, New Direction's line up had been distilled to a compact, searingly hot trio of Takayanagi joined on electric guitar by Akira Iijima and Hiroshi Yamazaki on drums/percussion. Over the course of 40 minutes, the group sustains an uninterrupted, highly charged attack propelled with unrelenting energy. The music is rife with noise and dissonance intruding from both sides; a vortex of sound and fury that begins to slip from even the expansive bounds of free jazz into something almost purely electronic. The trio would perform only four more times, completing the "Another Situation" series with its 24th edition in November 1984. Eleven months later Takayanagi would debut an entirely new modality, one he called "Action Direct." It completely transformed his approach to guitar and sound in general by embracing an entirely abstract, solo noise music projected through massive, complex sound systems of his own design. Mass Hysterism is perhaps the most powerful link in this part of Takayanagi's history -- a perfect realization and farewell to one of his greatest forms en route to territories even further afield and radical. Pressed to high quality vinyl at RTI. Housed in a heavy tip-on gatefold jacket with Pantone spot colors, spot ink pigment foil on gloss film laminate finish as well as printed inner sleeves. Featuring photographs by Tatsuo Minami and newly translated notes by Takayanagi scholar Yoshiyuki Kitazato. Deluxe double LP gatefold.

 

PRICE: $24.00

CAT #: BYR 041LP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

Siema Ziemia hail from Poland and come together as an electronic-inspired quartet, which draws an energy from collective improvisation. Their music attempts to recreate highly organized structures of electronic music with acoustic instruments. The band has a reputation for genre-defying experimentation, fusing free jazz improvisation with breakbeat, IDM, and influences from underground music scenes. Inspired by the ephemerality and vulnerability of the world we inhabit, Second meditates on our connection to nature and our loved ones through a collective approach to music-making that emphasizes improvisation and spontaneity. With its forward-thinking approach to composition and performance, Second represents a continuation of Siema Ziemia's innovative approach to music.

 

PRICE: $30.50

CAT #: CAM 026LP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

Underground prominent figures of the Belgian '80s scene, Alain Neffe and Nadine Bal have released and produced dozens of tapes under different monikers. Bene Gesserit is probably their most famous and iconic one due to its multiple facets. Originally a tape released in 1981 on their own Insane Music label, Best Of encaptures all the DIY and creative freedom of the band. From the yagé vapors of "Erg Habbiana" to synth madness of "Gloria" or "Gppm" this album summarizes the full spectrum of their ethos: Insane music without borders. This reissue additionally includes four unreleased tracks from Alain Neffe vault. Remastered by Krikor Kouchain and limited to 300 copies.

 

PRICE: $37.50

CAT #: CCS 130LP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

Alan Abrahams aka Portable returns to the label in fine form with his latest full-length LP, Augmented Dreams. The title refers to the use of everyday technological advancements to achieve what were once only dreams or visions of past generations, making this an explorative concept album that is equal parts not-too-distant science fiction, and about as topical as it gets. From the gorgeous opening string layers of "The Pull of Time" to the classy 4/4 grooves of "Begin Again" or lead single "Guiding Me", into the apropos and angular sci-fi broken beat feels of "Parallax" and "The Color of Static", fitting Detroit-influenced love taps like "Beacon" and "The Mycorrhizal Network", the politically-inspired "Are We Not Above It?" referencing the lingering effects of colonization featuring NiQ E from South Africa on vocals and L_cio from Brazil on flute, through to the futurist pop elegance of the dreamy duet recorded with Alexey Kochetkov "I Need You" and the conclusive titular track, it is clear that both the in-depth concept and immaculately-crafted musical content in Portable's inimitable style are balanced in significance and expressive effect. This also functions as a timely statement in itself, as today's iceberg-tip evolution of AI technology is currently impending over the arts and many of our existing realities. This ten-song album serves as an imaginative yet hyperrealist narrative on how humanity's fascination with and reliance on ever-advancing technology defines the times we find ourselves in, while the skillful sonic displays and present-era production techniques along with Abraham's knack for timeless emotive songwriting offer up this solid soundtrack for the ages.

 

PRICE: $23.50

CAT #: COSMR 021LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

Reissue of the band's sole album, originally released in 1968 on Capitol Records. The record is a mixture of light psychedelic pop and folk. The Wind In The Willows broke up shortly after failing to achieve commercial success or critical acclaim. The following year Artie Kornfeld, the record engineer of the album, went on to be the music producer of the Woodstock festival in 1969. Debbie Harry went on to join The Stillettos in 1974 and other bands until subsequently achieving success in 1976 fronting the new wave band Blondie.

 

PRICE: $27.00

CAT #: 113THCYCLE

FILE UNDER: EXPERIMENTAL

"First time on vinyl, presented in Gatefold Sleeve on Double LP. Originally released in 2015 and carefully forged between 2011 and 2014, De Aeris In Sublunaria Influxu showcases a magically crafted alchemical wedding between these two titans of drone ambient. The double LP features an exclusive bonus track. Troum navigates through cavernous, subterranean spaces where cyclical sounds reverberate towards impressive crescendos of icy noise, luminous drones and dramatic, guitar-driven ghostly melodies. Their truly unique soundscapes shine in a perfect symbiotic movement with the Swedish dark ambient maestro Peter Andersson. Engulfed in a hauntingly beautiful kaleidoscope of grey-ish melancholia, Raison D'etre comfortably walks deeply into Troum's vast territory, delivering his very own trademark of eerie tones, ominous sacral ambience and crystal-clear constructions. Airy lush enigmatic atmospheres live together with dark breathing, reverberant transformative drones. Rich and gorgeously layered. All sounds assembled and recorded by Raison D'etre (Peter Andersson) and Troum (Stefan Knappe, Martin Gitschel) between 2011 and 2014. All sounds processed, manipulated and structured by Peter Andersson. K-14 level mastering by Peter Andersson. Artwork by Ritxi Ostáriz. 2LP Vinyl Edition of 300 copies, gatefold sleeve, matte lamination, black paper inner sleeves. Eight tracks."

 

PRICE: $26.00

CAT #: JACK 031CV-LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

An iconic and celebrated artist whose cultural standing in America remains resolute and heavily influential. The Patti Smith Group headed out on their first US tour to promote the release of their debut album Horses, produced by John Cale and released in November 1975. They then released their Radio Ethiopia album a year later and toured to support its release in 1977. An amazing performance by a great artist. Pink color vinyl.

 

PRICE: $20.50

CAT #: DMOO 041LP

FILE UNDER: JAZZ

Reissue, originally released in 1963. During the late 1950s, the iconic tenor saxophonist John Coltrane was exploring different milieus with various associates, most notably reconnecting with Miles Davis during a time when the latter was working with pianist Red Garland, bassist Paul Chambers, and drummers Jimmy Cobb and Art Taylor. These players are featured on the 1958 session that would yield Stardust, released by Prestige four years later, and although comprised of four standard cover tunes, Trane's playing is so supremely emotive and the hard-bop arrangements so subtle and engaging that the LP becomes another deep audio dive that sounds better with every listen. Clear vinyl.

 

PRICE: $20.50

CAT #: DMOO 048LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

The son of a slave and of part-Native American heritage, Texan blues songster Mance Lipscomb began recording albums in 1960 after the Arhoolie label became aware of his talents, the work coming at the start of the country blues revival, which he became a key part of. The excellent follow-up Trouble In Mind, released by Reprise in 1961, has top-notch renditions of favorites such as "Alabama Bound," "Ballad of the Boll Weevil" and "Motherless Children," the latter with great slide guitar work, yet somehow the LP sold poorly, rendering it a sought-after rarity. Definitely one of Mance Lipscomb's best!

 

PRICE: $25.00

CAT #: DC 882LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

"Since 2011, Mike Donovan's been a Drag City stalwart, first with Sic Alps, then as a solo and with The Peacers -- but Mike "The Mighty Flashlight" Fellows has been a behind-the-scenes figure at Drag City since the early early days, playing live and on record with Royal Trux, Silver Jews, and Will Oldham. A multi-hyphenate, Fellows has contributed to releases from Endless Boogie, Pigeons, Weeping Bong Band and Prison in recent years. So when these two rambling musicians found themselves in adjacent communities in upstate New York, Mike D brought Mike F into the process of his new solo album. There The Mighty Flashlight turned on, bringing his recording, writing, performing and mixing talents to the tabletop with such a seasoned vibe that he bought himself real estate in the album title itself! The two-Mike combination makes the fourth Donovan solo album a one that hits all kinds of high water marks for the most and the best of what he's capable of/plus inclined to do. Mike D's music, in all phases, takes the form of a next-phase roots-pop: soaked in the traditional waters of rock and roll and passed through a variety of after-punk sonic sieves, highlighted with DIY and lo-fi values. He prefers a particular density of obtuse angles colliding sweet and hot noise, an arrangement he has perfected over all his Sic Alps/solo/The Peacers years; his innate understanding of the mechanics of a pop song wends purposefully through the junk-strewn landscape, sharing secrets with cipher in hand. Playing in this cracked kingdom of sound/garden of verse, Mighty Flashlight alternately accents and balances Mike's eccentricities with his playing and knob-spinning. Mighty's own kind of stereo imagining informs Donovan's smoky subterranea with additional depth of field, while still allowing all the wayward details within the arrangement to diverge as one. Mike and Mighty wind it all together: art punk utterance and top 40 radio junk of yore, the primitivity that formed recorded music in its youth, honkytonk romanticism, liminal chamber-folk and ever-present disassociated psychedelia, transformed via self-medication into a gleeful, extramusical ennui while giving the listener impetus to sing along with Mike's patented unlikely combos of melody and lyric. The sprawl of sounds and tunes, wayward, yet compact, is so easy to admire. Slip inside an eternal jukebox of the mind with Mike Donovan Meets the Mighty Flashlight."

 

PRICE: $25.00

CAT #: EXREC 002LP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

Bursting into the summer with a vibrant and dynamic debut album, Energy Exchange Ensemble (EX Ensemble), assume their position as innovators of contemporary organically engineered dance music inspired by collaboration and that "special sauce" born from improvised jam-style musicianship. Long-time collaborators and pioneers of Melbourne's indefinable underground sound through collectives like 30/70 and Zeitgeist Freedom Energy Exchange, Lewis Moody and Ziggy Zeitgeist, reunite on their latest project, EX Ensemble. Energy Exchange Records Vol. 1 pays homage to the transcultural projects curated by iconic label, ECM, capturing the impassioned spirit of spontaneity. Also featuring Oscar Jerome, Allysha Joy, CC Dance Orchestra, Eric Owusu and Cody Currie.

 

PRICE: $16.00

CAT #: XBITX 004EP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

Ladies and gentlemen, it's 2023 and Rico Puestel doesn't get techno anymore. What happened? They might have grown apart... So, he just did his thing and after twelve months of not producing anything electronic, he just wallowed in independence of doing what he always loved...

 

PRICE: $30.00

CAT #: GET 51290X-LP

FILE UNDER: HIPHOP

"2023 is the year of Too $hort at Get On Down with the fourth reissue and album number seven in the catalog of the Bay Area legend. Shorty The Pimp was released on July, 14, 1992 and has not been in print since we originally reissued it on wax in 2018. Taking the title from the incredibly rare 1973 Blaxploitation film, Too $hort does what he does best on Shorty The Pimp: funk beats, boastful braggadocio, a few conscious rhymes and layers of straight up pimp talk. The lyrical content can certainly be considered comical and entertaining. Shorty The Pimp is also a stand out project for producer Ant Banks who did many of the beats for the project, his first working with Too $hort with many more to follow over the next decade. Pressed on orange-colored vinyl with hand numbered obi. Limited to 1000 copies."

 

PRICE: $33.00

CAT #: GET 51477LP

FILE UNDER: HIPHOP

"Get On Down presents the debut solo album from Wu-Tang Clan's Ghostface Killah. Released in 1996 on Epic Records, Ironman earned immediate success, debuting at number two on the Billboard 200 chart, and number one on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. Produced by RZA, Ironman found inspiration in sources ranging from blaxploitation films to classic soul and charted a whole new direction for hip-hop in the process. The album features classic bangers like 'Daytona 500' featuring Raekwon and Cappadonna to soulful emotionally moving cuts like 'All That I Got Is You' with Mary J Blige. The album earned gold status a year after its release and platinum by 2004, a true testament to the staying power or this classic piece of Wu-Tang artistry."

 

PRICE: $26.00

CAT #: GREL 098LP

FILE UNDER: WORLD

"Dub companion to the 'five-star' 1978 release, Africa Must Be Free By 1983, this album underscores the relationship be-tween producer Augustus Pablo and performer Hugh Mundell. Pablo's dub productions, mixed by King Jammy form the perfect complement to these classic rhythms and melodies. Re-mastered for release in celebration of the 40th anniversary of the Greensleeves label, the album is example of why Augustus Pablo continues to inspire reggae music fans and musicians these decades later."

 

PRICE: $43.00

CAT #: VPGS 7106LP

FILE UNDER: WORLD

"Greensleeves Records, the legendary U.K. label, has teamed up with the 'Roots Defenders of Notting Hill Carnival', Channel One Soundsystem to head Down In The Dub Vaults. The enigmatic selector Mikey Dread has been let loose in the Greensleeves archives, curating a serious set of roots & dub gems that have featured over the years on Channel One's unique handbuilt soundsystem. Revered Jamaican vocalists such as the Wailing Souls, Michael Prophet, Linval Thompson, Hugh Mundell and many more feature on this collection plus on the second disc we enter the Echo Chamber with their dub counterparts from the likes of Sly & Robbie, Scientist, Augustus Pablo, and The Rockers All-Stars et al to complete the listening experience."

 

PRICE: $33.00

CAT #: HHC 2050LP

FILE UNDER: HIPHOP

"Helping give birth to hip-hop's subgenre of horrorcore and one of hip-hop's first supergroups, Gravediggaz were born at a time when all four members were at low points in their careers. Already one of hip-hop's most legendary producers, Prince Paul was at a crossroads in his career resulting in experimenting with darker sounding beats. He recruited a young soon to be legendary producer RZA, who was at a different type of crossroads in his career, not having the best experiences with various labels and before going on to start the global phenomenon that is The Wu-Tang Clan. Also added were Frukwan, a former member of Stetsasonic with Paul, and Too Poetic, a young MC navigating his way in the game after creating underground buzz with his two brothers and their short-lived group the Brothers Grym and before his unfortunate death from colon cancer. The four transformed themselves into The Undertaker (Paul), The RZArector (RZA), The Gatekeeper (Frukwan) and The Grym Reaper (Too Poetic) to form Gravediggaz. On 6 Feet Deep the group utilize horror-themed imagery and lyrics combined with black comedy and satire to vent their frustrations with the hip-hop record industry. Singles 'Diary of a Madman,' 'Nowhere to Run, Nowhere to Hide' and '1-800 Suicide' lead an onslaught of tracks which The Quietus writer David Bennun described as 'a then novel means of addressing black life at street level [and] finding a new way of getting that message across.' Production is mostly handled by Paul with RZA handling a few tracks. Highly regarded and still sought after, this pressing comes in a premium gatefold jacket with only 2000 of this classic available."

 

PRICE: $24.00

CAT #: HRB 004LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

Reissue, originally released in 1992. Influential Los Angeles-based doom metal group Saint Vitus was formed in 1979, with Black Sabbath and Black Flag noteworthy references. Seventh album C.O.D., from 1992, made former Count Raven frontman Christian Lindersson lead vocalist, the guitars now texturally layered, and the drums bathed in heavy reverb, hearkening older styles of metal. Overall, it's a testament to underachieves and burnouts everywhere, directly addressing their fans as the "Children of Doom" of the title. This is an underrated album for all discerning doom metal lovers, and unmissable for those who seek a fuller understanding of Saint Vitus' progression. Color vinyl.

 

PRICE: $30.50

CAT #: BEC 5543439

FILE UNDER: ROCK

2023 restock; double LP version. First vinyl edition; 180 gram vinyl; gatefold sleeve with printed inner sleeves; includes CD. A reissue of JJ Cale's To Tulsa And Back, originally released in 2004. The song "These Blues" was used on an episode of Dog the Bounty Hunter. Personnel: JJ Cale - vocals, guitar, synthesizer, banjo, all other instruments; Shelby Eicher - fiddle, mandolin; Christine Lakeland - guitar; Don White - guitar; Bill Raffensperger - bass; Gary Gilmore - bass; Walt Richmond - keyboards; Rocky Frisco - keyboards; Jim Karstein - drums; Jimmy Markham - harmonica."On his first studio outing in eight years, the mythical Okie troubadour turns in a solid set of his trademark dusty blues tunes. What is not so typical, as with Travel-Log from 1990, is that Cale steeps himself in technology and evokes the moods and frameworks of music that intersect with the blues or stand in opposition to them. The keyboards, drum loops, and horns on this record are as pervasive as the guitars." --All Music

 

PRICE: $14.50

CAT #: IF 1087CD

FILE UNDER: ROCK

Cindy Pooch is a breath of fresh air on the French pop scene, placing vocals and lyrics centerstage. She initially started composing this project intimately alone, unveiling the raw emotions of the artist. The result is an album of Chanson Française tracks as pop as they are avant-garde, with meticulous, intimate and powerful productions. The twelve tracks that make up the album were written around specific moments in the Cindy's life; in Lyon, where she lives, in Cameroon where she frequently visits her family, and on the road during her many tours with the Maloya groups Ti'Kaniki. In Nomine Corpus is a debut album that showcases Cindy's maturity, sincerity, and commitment, marking the beginning of a promising solo career. Her artistic collaboration with guitar player and producer Seb Martel (Camille, Femi Kuti, -M-) finally takes shape in productions that are both powerful and light at the same time, an effervescent weightlessness. Twelve tracks, combined with lyrics of pure poetry, making up a cathartic album that is endearing and liberating.

 

PRICE: $27.00

CAT #: IF 1087LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

LP version. Cindy Pooch is a breath of fresh air on the French pop scene, placing vocals and lyrics centerstage. She initially started composing this project intimately alone, unveiling the raw emotions of the artist. The result is an album of Chanson Française tracks as pop as they are avant-garde, with meticulous, intimate and powerful productions. The twelve tracks that make up the album were written around specific moments in the Cindy's life; in Lyon, where she lives, in Cameroon where she frequently visits her family, and on the road during her many tours with the Maloya groups Ti'Kaniki. In Nomine Corpus is a debut album that showcases Cindy's maturity, sincerity, and commitment, marking the beginning of a promising solo career. Her artistic collaboration with guitar player and producer Seb Martel (Camille, Femi Kuti, -M-) finally takes shape in productions that are both powerful and light at the same time, an effervescent weightlessness. Twelve tracks, combined with lyrics of pure poetry, making up a cathartic album that is endearing and liberating.

 

PRICE: $34.00

CAT #: JPR 098LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

"All analog process from the original master tapes. Cut by Kevin Gray. Long out of print 1965 Mono release. Featuring the legendary The Mar-Keys' horn section. Includes the hit single 'Soul Dressing.' Limited clear vinyl pressing."

 

PRICE: $34.00

CAT #: JPR 099LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

"All analog process from the original master tapes. Cut by Kevin Gray. Long out of print 1966 release. 1966s And Now! is the first to feature long-term bassist Duck Dunn, who helps create a nightclub feel that alternates between some of their most aggressive recordings and most sultry."

 

PRICE: $34.00

CAT #: JPR 100LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

"All analog process from the original master tapes. Cut by Kevin Gray. 1967s Hip Hug-Her is one of Booker T. & The M.G.'s most beloved records. Spawning two significant hits, their cover of the Young Rascals 'Groovin' and the title track 'Hip Hug-Her'"

 

PRICE: $34.00

CAT #: JPR 101LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

"All analog process from the original master tapes. Cut by Kevin Gray. Doin' Our Thing's first U.S. vinyl reissue since its original 1968 release date. Doin' Our Thing is not only Booker T. & The M.G.'s first self-produced album, but offers their most varied selection of songs."

 

PRICE: $33.00

CAT #: KR 108LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

Repressed; First ever, remastered vinyl version. The core duo plus guest collaborators expands its sonic palette of Rick Brown's elemental percussive patterns and Che Chen's ecstatic modal guitar style to a new musical richness. With some tape releases and their first album Wooden Bag, 75 Dollar Bill quickly introduced themselves as one of the hottest, most unique and essential groups at the heart of NYC's underground -- the following Wood/Metal/Plastic Pattern/Rhythm/Rock (GB 047CD, 2016) made the duo known internationally, and the 2019 double vinyl I Was Real (TW Q-LP) turned out a major success at the critics and audience alike with the #1 spot in The Wire's albums of the year list. Then came the pandemic, and in lack of opportunities to actually perform in public, the core duo of Rick Brown and Che Chen released several Bandcamp only albums in digital format, one of these being Power Failures. Brown's elemental percussive patterns (often simply played on a wooden box) and Che Chen's ecstatic modal guitar style (often under the influence of his studies with Mauritanian guitarist Jeich Ould Chigaly) are at the core of the tracks with guest collaborators like Yo La Tengo's Ira Kaplan (guitar), Sue Garner (violin), or Steve Maing (saxophone, guitar) expanding the sonic palette to a new musical richness. Trance-inducing psychedelia, "placeless, gripping grooves" (The Guardian), collaged rehearsal and field recordings, mantric percussion, microtonal guitar sounds -- 75 Dollar Bill sound as deeply rooted in traditions as they sound fresh-of-today, a kind of future music from the past. Hard to grasp by words, and impossible to resist! 180 gram vinyl; gatefold; includes download card.

 

PRICE: $31.50

CAT #: LANR 034LP

FILE UNDER: WORLD

Rare reggae collection originally released in 1975. Featuring guest musicians Ken Boothe, Delroy Washington, Bob Davis, Gene Rondo, and former members of the Cimarons. Some of the tracks have been recorded at the Black Arc Studio with engineer Lee "Scratch" Perry. All tracks produced by Clem Bushay.

 

PRICE: $24.00

CAT #: LIFE 035LP

FILE UNDER: WORLD

Best known for his proficiency on the oud, John Berberian has been releasing music since the early-1960s. While attending New York's Columbia University, Berberian made his professional musical debut playing the oud in support of violinist Reuben Sarkisian. While completing an MBA from Harvard, Berberian managed to find the time to become a staple on the Manhattan nightclub scene. In 1964 he was signed to Bob Shad's New York-based Mainstream Records, where he recorded a pair of Middle Eastern-themed instrumental collections. Those were followed by a pair of albums for George Goldner's Roulette and Jerry Schoenbaum's Verve Forecast. Music Of The Middle East was originally released in 1966 on Roulette and showcased all of the composer brilliancy. The group he formed to perform the traditional music of Turkey, Armenia, Greece, Arabia and North Africa, succeeded in creating a vividly exotic blend of rhythms, melodies and improvisations into an early global beat. Still a breathtaking experience.

 

PRICE: $14.50

CAT #: MACROM 073CD

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

Less is more -- the motto applies to Luxembourg's most intriguing newcomer Arthur Clees, whose approach is minimalist, rich, hypnotic. Clees is a young prodigy drummer/percussionist/vocalist with a multitude of performances and sessions under his belt. The 21-year-old musician manages to inspire very different people with his tracks. There's both depth and a tremendous upward pull at the same time. In his debut album, Stay, Temporary Home influences from techno to electronica to the avant-garde are paired with a distinctive feeling for melodies and a signature treatment of percussion. Soul and R&B songs often appear as sonically distant yet emotionally close mirages.

 

PRICE: $18.00

CAT #: MIG 1420CD

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

"'Re-issue of the originally 1972 released Klaus Schulze album Trancefer, including extended liner notes and bonus tracks. Always a soundwave in front of the rivalry, Schulze is presenting his album together with the percussionist Mike Shrieve (Santana), who performs real marvels on his two barrels, and the cellist Wolfgang Tiepold, who forms a pleasant contrast to Schulze's often hard and strictly synthesizer patterns with his warm touch.' --(Stereoplay, Germany, 1982)"

 

PRICE: $22.00

CAT #: MIG 190CD

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

"Part 10 of the great Klaus Schulze retrospective -- now available as a jewel box. This three CD set contains rare and previously unreleased recordings from 1985 to 1993. The track 'Unheilbar Deutsch' was recorded during a concert at a German radio station in Cologne, in January 1985. 'Maxxi' is the only maxi single that KS ever did. It was recorded by KS in March 1985, on request from a record company, and 'for the discos.' The tracks from 'Walk the Edge' are soundtrack recordings for the American violent crime movie Walking The Edge (also known as The Hard Way) by director Norbert Meisel. 'Havlandet' is again a soundtrack. It contains ten parts (let's call them 'sketches') for the Norwegian movie Havlandet. 'Goodwill' is one track from a handful of poppy experiments that Klaus did in 1991 as a kind of research exercise on popular music. The three Spanish are encores from the concerts in Spain in October 1991. The famous Bach title was played and recorded by Klaus in 1992, and remixed by him in 1993. Intended for the CD release 'Midi Klassik' (called by the company: 'Klaus Schulze Goes Classic'), but not used then because of lack of space. There is another bonus track, 'Weiter, weiter!' which is an encore from the concert in the German town of Aachen, from the tour in 1985."

 

PRICE: $25.00

CAT #: MILS 004LP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

"The Madlib Invazion Music Library Series Entry #4: Dan Ubick (Connie Price & The Keystones, The Lions) explores the realms of canyon funk. This is the next up in a series of music library releases, with future volumes produced by DJ Muggs, Karriem Riggins, and more. 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."

 

PRICE: $20.50

CAT #: MGDC 015LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

This concert was the first time that Pink Floyd were able to perform the whole of what became the Dark Side of The Moon album in its entirety, the previous night's performance in Brighton having been halted for technical reasons. Remarkably, at its first full live performance at the Guildhall in Portsmouth, England on 21st January 1972, most of the album was in the form it would be when released 14 months later.

 

PRICE: $21.50

CAT #: NP 045LP

FILE UNDER: EXPERIMENTAL

Last copies/reduced price, all remaining copies have minor bumped corner shipping damage; sold as is. A compilation of contemporary Italian tape electroacoustic and musique concrete artists featuring Valerio Tricoli, Mercury Hall, Ezio Piermattei, SEC_, Giovanni Lami, Giulio Nocera, kNN. Edition of 200.

 

PRICE: $16.00

CAT #: NSD 828CD

FILE UNDER: WORLD

"Visionary artist Augustus Pablo is among the most important figures in reggae history. Widely credited with popularizing the use of the melodica in reggae, Pablo was a talented musician and an innovative producer who became an early dub pioneer. Now regarded as classics, his memorable 1970s recordings were part of the remarkable creative surge that vaulted the Jamaican music scene to international prominence. Much of this material was released by Rockers, an independent record label founded by Pablo and named after his popular Kingston sound system. Now, Nature Sounds is presents Roots, Rockers, & Dub, a new Augustus Pablo collection celebrating the 50th anniversary of Rockers. Featuring classic dubs along with rare and out-of-print tracks, the album captures Pablo's immense contribution to roots reggae by highlighting a wealth of material spanning his entire career, all released on Rockers. Fully remastered and released in partnership with the Pablo family, Roots, Rockers, & Dub is a fitting tribute to an artist whose music still reverberates heavily more than two decades after his passing."

 

PRICE: $18.00

CAT #: NECH 022EP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

Ukrainian record label NECHTO introduces a new design concept with the upcoming release NECH022 by Louwave & Splinter (UA). Founded by the illustrious DJ NASTIA, NECHTO has been a torchbearer for authentic dance music. This fresh design is a testament to the imprint's commitment to evolving while staying true to the core values of the dance music community. From its very beginning, Splinter (UA) has played a pivotal role within the label by joining label nights, producing the third EP and making notable appearances on both volumes of the Scary Beautiful compilation. Following his relocation from Odessa to Lviv, he embarked on a collaborative studio venture with Louwave, ultimately giving rise to their joint release. Louwave and Splinter (UA) are no strangers to the electronic music realm, each boasting over 15 years of experience in their individual careers. Their live performances stand out with their ability to connect with the audience, turning each live show into an immersive experience. The upcoming EP skillfully blends classic techno elements with tribal groove aesthetics, resulting in a sonic landscape that tugs at emotions and entices dance floors alike.

 

PRICE: $26.00

CAT #: ORGM 2283LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

"Pleasure is the 1972 record from Detroit funk pioneers the Ohio Players. Immediately returning to the studio after the initial success of their debut album, Pain, this would become the most influential album of their career. Massive chart success came with this record, propelled by the song 'Funky Worm,' which went on to become one of the most sampled songs in hip hop history. Working with the original Westbound Records master tapes at the iconic 54 Sound studio in Detroit, these legendary recordings have been remastered by award winning engineer Dave Gardner with restoration and tape transfers by archival specialist Catherine Vericolli, and additional engineering assistance from in-house 54 Sound engineer Nick King. The vinyl release is housed in a gatefold jacket, including a foldout poster of the iconic cover photo."

 

PRICE: $27.50

CAT #: ORGM 2283S-LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

Silver color vinyl edition. Indie exclusive. "Pleasure is the 1972 record from Detroit funk pioneers the Ohio Players. Immediately returning to the studio after the initial success of their debut album, Pain, this would become the most influential album of their career. Massive chart success came with this record, propelled by the song 'Funky Worm,' which went on to become one of the most sampled songs in hip hop history. Working with the original Westbound Records master tapes at the iconic 54 Sound studio in Detroit, these legendary recordings have been remastered by award winning engineer Dave Gardner with restoration and tape transfers by archival specialist Catherine Vericolli, and additional engineering assistance from in-house 54 Sound engineer Nick King. The vinyl release is housed in a gatefold jacket, including a foldout poster of the iconic cover photo."

 

PRICE: $18.50

CAT #: PAL 077LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

"It's tempting to view guitarist Kris Gruda, a North Carolina resident, as part of a lineage of demented Southern avant-pickers stretching back to Chadbourne, and while that's not false, it's unnecessarily reductive. Gruda is but one particle in a contemporary wave of traveling minstrels plying the interstates and unnumbered highways of the Deep South, navigating between pickup gigs in urban centers from Asheville to Baton Rouge to Jacksonville to Amarillo, dipping into the free jazz songbook and a bottomless bag of capital-I-improv tropes to play for audiences of 0-50 intrepid listeners (most of them musicians themselves) .... Whether or not Gruda is one of these compulsive road-trippers is beside the point, because... Gruda clearly spends a lot of his time in his car. Kris Gruda Plays for You was recorded entirely behind the wheel under lockdown in 2020-2021, mostly during shift breaks at the kombucha factory. Each track is a separate Instagram post, downloaded and spliced together into two unbanded sides (a la Beefheart's Strictly Personal), and as such, represents an audio verite tour of a musical vision that, amoeba-like, engulfs two worlds separated by a windshield -- the spinning car wash brushes, the passing cop cars, the preacher on the radio. The cover (Gruda in a hairnet, oozing Waylon's outlaw bit and clutching a stickered acoustic) supplies a little bit of the IG multimedia appeal missing from the audio, but the sound ("without which none of this is possible," states Gruda) supplies an expansive narrative by itself.... The politics of Plays For You are Guthrie-direct, speak to individual action, and seek to inspire us to reach beyond our silos and attempt to reconstruct a virtual solidarity we could once access via a physical commons. But I suspect what will resonate most with listeners are the plaintive cries voiced by a canny (and virtuosically played) selection of classics by Coltrane, Kirk, Coleman, and Cherry, tiny scraps that remind us of a once-encompassing musical spirituality that spurred a half-dozen would-be revolutions (and which may someday do so again). Ultimately, the enthusiasm (and massive doses of sheer weirdness) Gruda exudes in Kris Gruda Plays for You lights up a big, friendly highway into the heart of a deeply idiosyncratic and charismatic vision that's a gas to listen to even stripped of its social media spectacle -- so put down your phone and just listen." --Tom Carter, 2023

 

PRICE: $24.00

CAT #: RRS 030CV-LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

Disorder are a hardcore punk band formed in 1980 in Bristol, and still going strong today. The Singles Collection compiles their first and fieriest recordings in one place, comprised of three 7" EPs and the eight-track 12" EP Perdition -- recordings which John Peel allegedly referred to as "sounding like shit" (possibly a compliment) -- this LP of long out of print recordings would be a welcome addition to any punk collector's shelves. Another essential piece of the UK punk puzzle.

 

PRICE: $24.00

CAT #: RRS 094CV-LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

Reissue, originally released in 1981. Why is the debut album by hardcore punk legends Discharge. Upon its initial release, it peaked at #1 in the UK indie album chart. When it comes to classic hardcore punk, Discharge are truly one of the all-time greats. Red vinyl.

 

PRICE: $26.00

CAT #: RRS 122CV-LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

Formed on a grim council estate in Edinburgh in 1979 by singer Terry Buchan and guitarist Stevie Ross with bassist Alan Paget and drummer Andy McNiven, The Exploited became one of the most popular and notorious of all hardcore punk bands. When they signed to Secret Records in 1981 for their debut LP Punks Not Dead, Terry had been replaced by his ex-soldier brother Wattie, with guitarist Big John Duncan, drummer Drum Stix, and bassist Gary McCormack; by the time Let's Start A War? was released, the group featured Wattie's brother Willie on drums and Billy Dunn on bass, while Horror Epics had Wayne Tyas on bass and Karl "Egghead" Morris on guitar. That same line-up is featured on Live At The Whitehouse, a riveting and lengthy performance recorded in Washington DC in April 1985; highlights include the opening "Let's Start A War," a take of "Rival Leaders" aimed at Reagan and Thatcher, "I Hate You" (with a reverse Jello Biafra reference), a castigating "Daily News" aimed at Maximum Rock n Roll, and a rousing "Punks Not Dead" encore.

 

PRICE: $30.50

CAT #: RRS 122SPL-LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

Splatter vinyl version. Formed on a grim council estate in Edinburgh in 1979 by singer Terry Buchan and guitarist Stevie Ross with bassist Alan Paget and drummer Andy McNiven, The Exploited became one of the most popular and notorious of all hardcore punk bands. When they signed to Secret Records in 1981 for their debut LP Punks Not Dead, Terry had been replaced by his ex-soldier brother Wattie, with guitarist Big John Duncan, drummer Drum Stix, and bassist Gary McCormack; by the time Let's Start A War? was released, the group featured Wattie's brother Willie on drums and Billy Dunn on bass, while Horror Epics had Wayne Tyas on bass and Karl "Egghead" Morris on guitar. That same line-up is featured on Live At The Whitehouse, a riveting and lengthy performance recorded in Washington DC in April 1985; highlights include the opening "Let's Start A War," a take of "Rival Leaders" aimed at Reagan and Thatcher, "I Hate You" (with a reverse Jello Biafra reference), a castigating "Daily News" aimed at Maximum Rock n Roll, and a rousing "Punks Not Dead" encore.

 

PRICE: $22.00

CAT #: R 102CD

FILE UNDER: EXPERIMENTAL

Recital presents a book and CD homage to the New Zealand-born American composer Annea Lockwood (b. 1939). The unique concept for this album was conceived by artists Noel Meek (New Zealand) and Mattin (Basque Country), who each share a deep admiration for Lockwood. A longform Skype conversation between the three artists was arranged at the end of 2020. They discussed politics, aesthetics, and Annea's compositional practice among other things. Noel Meek and Mattin had from the beginning decided that the conversation itself would be used as a score for this album, Homage to Annea Lockwood. Each piece on the album reflects her prismatic compositional practice: sound maps, scores that unfold temporally or environmentally, synchronous with nature, and pianos transplanted to exotic locations (often engulfed in flames). Meek and Mattin maintain a playfulness and curiosity of Annea's sound world; from electronic verbal fizz, a recording of lighting a laptop on fire, hydrophonic diaries from underneath an old oak tree in New Zealand, to a polyphonic choral piece which concludes the album. Homage to Annea Lockwood is housed in a hand-numbered paperback book, which carries a full transcription of the conversation, in this case: the score, along with lush photographic documentation, and ending with a lovely afterword written by Annea Lockwood. Recital is working with Annea again years later, after publishing her 2014 album Ground of Being. What a joy it is to celebrate Annea, and how appropriate it be done through the ritual of music.

 

PRICE: $31.00

CAT #: R 103LP

FILE UNDER: EXPERIMENTAL

The first vinyl release from American artist Sydney Spann, Sending Up A Spiral Of well encapsulates Spann's body of work thus far. On their music, which reacts to themes of family systems and care work, Sydney writes, "people who have done care work -- nannies, sex workers, therapists, nurses -- may possess their own musical knowledge, developed over time through particular modes of voicing practiced to achieve a desired outcome in their labor. Attending intimately to these ways of voicing and listening and bringing them into a sound practice could be a way to legitimize a less recognized kind of musical knowledge." Sending Up A Spiral Of explores this unarticulated expression through sound and song. The titular piece traces Spann within some quixotic woodland, as if beginning inside of some urban fairy-story. Self-soothing singing quivers under dragging branches, peeling cement and other tactile grit. The work drops into a new proximity half-way through as electronic contours overtake the environment. Sine-tones smolder in a pulsating choreography, perhaps reminiscent of Richard Maxfield's "Night Music" played at half-speed. The second section of the record depicts a series of five smaller portraits, expressed (or disguised) as lullabies. An oceanic humming permeates them. "Possession" and "Purposeful Evening" are the most song-like lullabies, with their verse-chorus repetition and melodic simplicity. Sydney's voice and vision for this album is ambitious, cloaked in the strains and contradictions of what love means in the nuclear family. A 16-page artist pamphlet of rubbings, photographs and sheet music accompanies the LP, along with a digital PDF of Spann's thesis Sending Up A Spiral Of: A Musical Epistemology Made Through Care Work.

 

PRICE: $38.50

CAT #: RER VHC12

FILE UNDER: ROCK

Originally released on CD as part of the 40th anniversary Henry Cow Box and reissued here for the first time on vinyl, these high-quality Swedish Radio live recording, made in 1977, include previously unreleased material including Tim Hodgkinson's "Erk Gah," a long, epic, large scale composition considered as one of Cow peaks, a breathtaking rendition of Phil Ochs' "No More Songs" -- in fact the only real song ever played by Henry Cow -- and Fred Frith's "The March," plus the legendary "Ottawa Song" and other untitled free improvised pieces. Over an hour of outstanding experimental rock music performed by the Henry Cow original lineup: Dagmar Krause (vocals), Fred Frith (guitar, violin, xylophone), Lindsay Cooper (bassoon, flute), Tim Hodgkinson (organ, sax), John Greaves (or Georgie Born) (bass, cello), and Chris Cutler (drums). Henry Cow's natural habitat was the stage and the real-time pressure of public performance, because it was there that the music could live, breathe and evolve. All music taken from the original radio tapes and re-mastered by Bob Drake. The album contains printed inner sleeves with full notes by Frith, Cutler and Hodgkinson, and photos.

 

PRICE: $16.00

CAT #: ROG 131CD

FILE UNDER: JAZZ

"These four musicians, led by Rob Brown, are made to play together, they love it, and you can hear it. Their second album, another great achievement. Featuring Rob Brown (alto saxophone, flute), Steve Swell (trombone), Chris Lightcap (double bass), and Chad Taylor (drums)."

 

PRICE: $16.00

CAT #: ROG 132CD

FILE UNDER: JAZZ

"Rob Brown is undoubtedly a master of the alto saxophone, and this long-awaited solo album is a major achievement in his career."

 

PRICE: $29.50

CAT #: RUMI 010LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

Big Daddy Mugglestone is back, with his first full-length solo release in over two decades! Rumi Sounds presents this collection of songs about life, love, and God that really embody the idea of Americana Gothic. The songs are dark but not bleak, giving a glimpse of forgiveness. Even the 12-minute-long murder ballad for which the album is named is still a love song. With a mixed band of Denver and Berlin-based friends, Mugglestone steps out of the shadowy depths to create a record you and your auntie could listen to while doing the dishes or lounging on the sofa on a rainy day. The psyche-melodic guitar swirls of Oska Wald and the alluring back-up vocals of MTN GRL elevate his wry croon, not quite country but not quite contrary. Something like if Lee Hazlewood and John Prine both wanted to buy the same vintage lamp.

 

PRICE: $34.00

CAT #: RUMI 011LP

FILE UNDER: WORLD

Between tradition and contemporary aesthetics, Sousta Politiki forcefully and uniquely revisits the repertoire of smyrneiko (Greek rebetiko from Asia Minor) and the songs of Istanbul, adding their own compositions. Formed in Strasbourg in 2016, Sousta Politiki is a Franco-Turkish music group that draws inspiration from various urban and marginalized music genres of Greece and Turkey. The repertoire they explore is diverse, including smyrneiko from Asia Minor, kanto from Istanbul, rebetiko from Athens or Piraeus, and traditional songs from Thrace. However, they all share a common connection to the post-Ottoman traditions of the early 20th century. These songs primarily consist of vocals, and their themes often touch upon of daily life such as alcohol, drugs, prison, and prostitution. The songs are approached with a sense of irony and celebration. One can find both joy and melancholy, as in Argentine tango or American blues. The five members of Sousta Politiki come from diverse musical backgrounds, including rock, Ottoman music, opera singing, rebetiko, and improvised music. The process of creation and reinterpretation knows no limits, and the unique instrumentation of the group (cello, Ottoman tanbur, accordion, bouzouki, percussion, and vocals) allows for surprising and unprecedented rearrangements.

 

PRICE: $17.50

CAT #: RB 125EP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

Jordon Alexander (pen name Mall Grab) brilliantly carved out his very own niche in dance music. Influenced by hardcore punk skateboarding and high fashion (Linea Rossa) in equal parts the young Australian delivers precise studies in house and techno. As entertaining as they are excitatory there hasn't been a bump on his road so far. Alexander's debut for Running Back proves this point. How The Dogs Chill Vol. 2 delivers four high octane tracks whose DNA contains traces of deep house and a penchant for atmospheric and dulcet melodies. But they are also muscle-bound soaring and cater to the aptitude of shaking legs. Written in 2022 while he was around the flora and fauna of Australia these tracks are also supposed to sound somewhat botanical -- or at least evoke the sensory experience of a visit to a greenhouse. Carefully sequenced and crafted one is left with an appetite as soon as the playtime is over. Proper nutriment for party people and serious music pendants alike.

 

PRICE: $14.00

CAT #: SONBOY 004CD

FILE UNDER: JAZZ

Washington, DC-based Masters-Messengers Daniel Carter, Chris Williams, Jamal Moore, Luke Stewart, and Tcheser Holmes dig deep into humanity's ancestral stream, modulating their musical and life experiences into something new yet old and futuristic at the same time. If the listener comes with open ears and hearts, they will be richly rewarded. The Remembrance Quintet provides an answer to those critics-cynics who predict the death of creative-experimental music. Long live creative and experimental music. Long live the creators of this music, for they are the lighthouse in the darkness. Featuring: Daniel Carter (reeds); Jamal Moore (reeds, percussion); Chris Williams (trumpet); Luke Stewart (double bass); Tcheser Holmes (drums, percussion). Associated with artists like Irreversible Entanglements, Mofaya!, Matthew Shipp Quartet, etc. RIYL -- Art Ensemble of Chicago, Moor Mother, Daniel Carter, Matana Roberts.

 

PRICE: $31.50

CAT #: SOULG 012LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

Here's the official reissue of the album originally released on Dallas Pompeii label in April 1969. When he was out on tour with his regular gig, the Ike & Tina Turner Revue, Ike found the time to cut this unbelievable instrumental album. Whenever he had some spare time he would drag the band into a local studio and lay down tracks, resulting in these 12 funky soul jams that sound like they were lifted from a blaxploitation movie. The band is tight and laid-back at once, with horns at the forefront most of the time. Los Angeles hip-hop group Jurassic 5 later sampled "Getting Nasty" on their self-titled EP.

 

PRICE: $51.00

CAT #: SR 023LP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

Welcome to Recreational Kraut, the latest release on the recently relaunched Source Records label. This collaboration between Jordan Czamanski (aka Jordan GCZ) and David Moufang (aka Move D) links back to the ambient experimental beginnings of Source Records in the early '90s, as well as to Conjoint, a project exploring the borders of improvised music based on ambient, experimental electronics and jazz featuring Karl Berger, Jamie Hodge, Gunter "ruit" Kraus and David Moufang. Recreational Kraut was recorded live in in three sessions in Jordan's Amsterdam studio in 2018 and 2019. As the title suggests, the album flirts with the term and the "genre" krautrock and it's prolonged, often improvised instrumental passages. The equipment used in the late '60s and early '70s was often rather conventional like electric piano, old synthesizers and electric bass guitar -- all present on the album's opener "Recreation Parts 1-3". The two instruments shaping the album and giving it a coherence, despite the varied styles and tempos are Czamanski's Fender Rhodes and Moufang's lyra-8, an 8-oscillator drone synthesizer which is played manually via touch sensors, giving it a very expressive sometimes violin-like other times outer-worldly, atonal character. Recreational Kraut's 11 tracks span beat-less ambient soundscapes to jazzy psychedelia, as well as hints of house, techno, broken beat and funk. Let yourself submerge in the gravitational fields of Recreational Kraut.

 

PRICE: $15.50

CAT #: SR 550CD

FILE UNDER: ROCK

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

 

PRICE: $17.50

CAT #: SMFV 001EP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

Summit Fever is a pair of industry veterans who opt to stay out of the spotlight and prefer to let the music speak for itself. Here they emerge from the shadows with a four-tracker entitled Something Forever that includes a mesmerizing remix by Larse (Defected, Glitterbox, DFA, Eskimo). Prepare to be taken on an exhilarating journey back in time as they showcase their love for classic '90s house that is set to captivate the hearts and ears of house music enthusiasts and reignite the flame of nostalgia. DJ support: Wolfram, Jimpster, Marcel Vogel, Graeme Park, Souldynamic, Hifi Sean, Androosh, Johannes Albert, Willie Graff, Dave Jarvis, Pastaboys, DJ Harri, Lisa Loud, Jerry Bouthier, Kiko Navarro, Kelvin Andrews, Neil, Diablo, Lex Athens, Rocksteady Disco, Flash Atkins, FSQ, Mr Shiver, Ravanelli Disco Club, Ed Mahon.

 

PRICE: $20.50

CAT #: LSD 69012LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

Previously unreleased live soundboard recordings from this groovy group from the '60s San Francisco Bay Area scene. Along with The Sopwith Camel, The Beau Brummels, The Mystery Trend, The Great Society, Jefferson Airplane, The Warlocks, and The Grateful Dead, The Final Solution were part of the first wave of San Francisco rock bands having formed in 1965. They were very popular all over the Bay Area and appear on countless early posters of the period, but they never released anything. If you dig The Great Society and The Warlocks Emergency Crew demos, this is for you!

 

PRICE: $34.00

CAT #: TVPCLP 008LP

FILE UNDER: WORLD

Pejza? (aka Bartosz Kruczy?ski) returns with a captivating new collage album. Divided into two records LIST I and the upcoming LIST II, it delves into the realm of '90s/Y2K Eastern European CD releases. Employing hundreds of samples, Pejza? sculpts a mesmerizing and distinctive body of work. LIST I, bathed in sun-drenched chords, seamlessly blends pop-rock guitars, soulful drums, and dreamy, pastoral folk elements with minimal music and ambient textures, reminiscent of Baltic beat (the Polish incarnation of Balearic music). Notably, this marks Pejza?'s first foray into a fully instrumental album. Although devoid of lyrics, the bittersweet blend of samples infuses the music with a profoundly Polish essence, further enhancing its distinctive allure.

 

PRICE: $20.00

CAT #: TPR 131LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

"Cherry Cheeks are back with the follow up to their highly praised debut LP. Now a full band based out of Portland, OR with a few successful tours under their belt and a strongly defined sound CCLPII picks up where last year's Cherry Radio EP left off. The songs are more fleshed out, the production crisper, and the hooks are gigantic with layers of synths and electronic bleeps and blurps peppered throughout. The manic energy is still front and center but the poppier elements hinted at with songs like 'Go Outside' and'Two Bugs' on their debut are given much greater focus on the album's hit heavy A-side. On the flip the album takes a darker and more sinister turn. The synths are more heavily featured the vocals have more bite and the punk muscle fully flexed. Cherry Cheeks prove they've got some staying power and I'm excited to see what they have in store for CCLPIII. Catchy, razor sharp, and 100% TOTAL PUNK!"

 

PRICE: $18.00

CAT #: TRESOR 313-1EP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

Cybotron has re-emerged in the contemporary cybercultural age when artifactual futures begin a transition into a new era of "Meta." By combining their knowledge of philosophy, science fiction, and mechanical engineering, at a time when electronic instrument companies were only just beginning to distribute their products to the masses, two prosumer audio technicians named Juan Atkins and Rik Davis were able to re-engineer Cybotron -- a combination of the words "Cyborg" and "Cyclotron" (an atomic particle accelerator) -- to be used as a home studio performance music that would change the course of independently produced and distributed electronic music. Dissolving the boundary between singer, songwriter, and producer, Juan Atkins named Cybotron's future forward funkadelic sound "techno" in reference to Alvin To ler's concept of unlikely "techno rebels" against technocracy. The cover of their debut album Enter (DEC 1104LP, 2014) transmitted a fragmented view of a body in motion being digitized mid-stride, dissolving physical and virtual reality into sonic fiction. Today, the man-machine hybridity of Cybotron is still the truest form of techno, coevolving in conversation with the technological music they created and inspired. The latest data disk marks a new chapter that reflects a techgnostic musical expression of the knowledge acquired during their decades-long hiatus. Unlike the dance music industrial replications of the Model 500 formula, acknowledging the content marketing expectations that segments music into specific, sellable genres, this techno music is self-aware. Cybotron processes dance music tropes spawned from its very own blueprint with a meta-tactical precision out of sync with our current rave new world. Cybotron's return demonstrates a studied engagement with what techno was and should be with a peerless update of Juan Atkins' initial inventive idea of do-it-yourself electrically reengineered music xeroxed onto both sides of the 12" -- uploaded directly into the alleys of your mind.

 

PRICE: $15.50

CAT #: UNSURE 001EP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

Helium Robots aka Ewan Willmott comes up with new exciting music for the first release of new label Unsure. On Miniatures the Robots offer deep rich house music in the tradition of their releases for Running Back and Misfit Melodies, with huge bass lines ("Flam") and synths that are as uplifting as melancholic ("Pure Lost"). But they also explore new horizons: "Sweetie" touches the glorious days of English IDM, its abstract slow-motion beats and meandering percussive patterns are sparse and stripped down, yet there's the lush harmonies that make "Sweetie" strangely sweet indeed. And "Rouse" is the most beautiful electronica: hypnotic grooves and shimmering melodies, tender and full of light.

 

PRICE: $15.00

CAT #: VP 2761CD

FILE UNDER: WORLD

"Clive Hunt, the ace Jamaican producer, has assembled an elite team of musicians and vocalists from around the world to breathe new life and positive reggae vibes into The Beatles' songbook. The result is Rub-A-Dub Soul, a twelve-track LP/fourteen-track CD featuring standout performances from legends such as Barry Biggs, The Pioneers, plus contemporary artists such as Tarrus Riley, Gentleman, and emerging artists Nai-Jah, Yaniss Odua, Ala.Ni, and Danakil."

 

PRICE: $26.00

CAT #: VP 2761LP

FILE UNDER: WORLD

LP version. "Clive Hunt, the ace Jamaican producer, has assembled an elite team of musicians and vocalists from around the world to breathe new life and positive reggae vibes into The Beatles' songbook. The result is Rub-A-Dub Soul, a twelve-track LP/fourteen-track CD featuring standout performances from legends such as Barry Biggs, The Pioneers, plus contemporary artists such as Tarrus Riley, Gentleman, and emerging artists Nai-Jah, Yaniss Odua, Ala.Ni, and Danakil."

 

PRICE: $26.00

CAT #: VPRL 2556LP

FILE UNDER: WORLD

2023 repress. "In The Light is rightly regarded as Horace Andy's strongest testament. Originally released in 1977 and given confirmed reggae album classic status by its 1995 Blood & Fire release, this reissue is complete with the Prince Jammy dub companion. The newly commissioned sleeve notes are written by reggae historian, Noel Hawks, and feature previously unseen photos. Horace Andy is already considered a legend in reggae circles, a status which has strengthened through his work with Massive Attack and his continued live presence. In The Light captures Andy at the very highpoint of his game."

 

PRICE: $37.50

CAT #: WANT 001LP

FILE UNDER: WORLD

The Mapendo album of the Mighty Cavaliers, up to today, has been shrouded in mystery. If you look at the original cover of this very rare Kenyan funk-infused album all you will find are the names of the engineer and the producer, as EMI Kenya omitted the names of the musicians and the songwriters. Digging deeper a rather sinister story of deceit develops whereby Mapendo becomes symbolic for all what was wrong about the Kenyan record industry in the 1970s, and the music industry in Africa as a whole. As this maltreatment of artists proved endemic throughout the continent, although little talked about. One of the three surviving members of the Mighty Cavaliers, bass player Bonnie Wanda -- who started his career in 1971 with Gloria Africana -- vividly remembers participating in the recording of the two albums the band made in 1976 and 1977 -- Fisherman and Mapendo -- and how they, especially on the last album, got short-changed by shrewd record label executives. In the 1960s it was mostly Indian and European record bosses that called the shots and usually gave musicians the chance of a one-off payment for their session time and recorded songs or wait for -- hopefully -- a generous royalty check. In most cases records didn't sell more than a thousand copies with an occasional hit selling in the tens of thousands, so musicians were reluctant to register themselves with the Music Copyright Society of Kenya, although without doing so one couldn't receive royalties. The re-release of Mapendo, the first of the German Want Some Records label, is another exciting puzzle piece in the tapestry of groovy Kenyan music. It proves that there are still great gems out there to be re-discovered for audiences worldwide. This album is dedicated to the musicians Bonnie Wanda, Rashid Salim, Vuli Yeni, Juma Waweru Njuguna, and Athmani "guitar boy".

 

PRICE: $17.50

CAT #: WJ 75001EP

FILE UNDER: JAZZ

2022 release. "We Jazz Records kicks off their new series of archival 7" releases with Esa Pethman In Belgium 1967. The two-tracker is licensed from the Belgian VRT radio archives and both of the pieces are previously unreleased. Finnish jazz legend Pethman, heard here on alto flute and tenor sax, joins forces with European jazz greats such as Heinz Bigler, Uffe Karskov, and Jean Fanis. This is a small but valuable piece of unheard European jazz history from the early heyday of modern jazz. The physical release is a quality 'inside-out'-styled EP with 3mm spine and small center hole on the 45rpm vinyl."

 

PRICE: $17.50

CAT #: WJ 75002EP

FILE UNDER: JAZZ

2023 release. " We Jazz presents the first ever reissue of this rare 1990 local release by Brazilian duo Rosanna & Zelia. 7" EP with inside out 3mm spine sleeve. RIYL: Gilberto Gil, Joyce, Musica Popular Brasileira, bossa nova, bossa jazz. Rosanna & Zélia performed Brazilian music in Finnish clubs and festivals and recorded a 7" EP for local label Maumau Music. The record was distributed mostly in the Seinäjoki area, but the three songs are well-performed and authentic Brazilian MPB, so the largely unknown record now gets its first reissue for a wider audience on We Jazz Records."

 

PRICE: $18.00

CAT #: WJCD 036CD

FILE UNDER: JAZZ

2021 release. "Tenor saxophonist Timo Lassy, one of Finland's leading jazz artists, is back with a new album release Trio on We Jazz Records. The album introduces Lassy's new combo with bassist Ville Herrala and drummer Jaska Lukkarinen -- both We Jazz Records roster artists on their own right. The new Lassy sound is tight, swinging and funky, led by the strong and riff-ready sax of the tenorman. That being said, the album's sound is not limited to that of the swinging trio. Lassy's new vision also brings in some subtle electronics (played by Lassy, Dalindèo frontman Valtteri Laurell Pöyhönen and Ilmiliekki Quartet pianist Tuomo Prättälä) and lush strings performed by Budapest Art Orchestra as arranged by Finnish artist Marzi Nyman. It's a new sound for Lassy, but one which keeps true to his no-nonsense cookin' on the tenor. The sleeve of the album features the original artwork Subtropic by Finnish artist Ilari Hautamäki."

 

PRICE: $18.00

CAT #: WJCD 041CD

FILE UNDER: JAZZ

2022 release. "Petter Eldh's explosive ensemble Koma Saxo continues their adventures with a new album Koma West, out on We Jazz Records. The album sees Koma Saxo expand on their previous sound with the addition of vocalist Sofia Jernberg and a strong cast of featured artists, including cellist Lucy Railton, violinist Maria Reich, pianist Kit Downes and accordionist Kiki Eldh. The hard-hitting key quintet remains, including Eldh on bass and assorted instruments, Christian Lillinger on drums, plus saxophonists Otis Sandsjö (of Y-OTIS), Jonas Kullhammar, and Mikko Innanen bringing the SAXO to the KOMA operation. At 14 tracks, Koma West is a full menu of monumental compositional ideas that could spawn entire albums. Eldh relies on continuous movement while presenting another all killer no filler program taking Koma Saxo on a sonic outing not quite like anything that had previously appeared under the band's name. That being said, there's very much the Petter Eldh touch here, one which might be hard to pinpoint and verbalize, but nevertheless a recognizable style of composing, producing and arranging. Thematically, the album is rooted in the West Coast of Sweden, where Eldh grew up. There's a thread of Swedish folk song tradition that has been part of the Koma Saxo DNA from the get-go."

 

PRICE: $18.00

CAT #: WJCD 042CD

FILE UNDER: JAZZ

2022 release. "Uusi Aika is a fresh new ensemble from Finland. The band's music could be described as introspective and meditative, but that's only a part of the story. The instrumentation is acoustic and their sound organic to the bone, but the music's slowly unfolding character brings to mind some deep abstract electronic music or experimental dub explorations at times. That is, there's power just under the surface, just beautifully out of focus. Otto Eskelinen says: 'Lately I have been playing mostly folk music and using traditional instruments, such as ancient flutes. Now I felt that I wanted to play the saxophone again, and to do it in a small group setting, while searching for new compositional approaches and also ways of playing together with others. I wanted to create a band that would play something connected to free jazz, but with a distinctly melodic approach. I wanted the sound of the band to be gentle and peaceful, all acoustic. The main inspirations here stem from the history of Japanese sound aesthetics, new age, early 20th century art music and jazz giants such as Lester Young and Jan Garbarek.'"

 

PRICE: $18.00

CAT #: WJCD 047CD

FILE UNDER: JAZZ

2022 release. Designers are Joachim Florent on double bass, Will Guthrie on drums, Aki Rissanen on piano. This is their debut album together. Their music, composed by Joachim Florent, is inspired by geometry and architecture. The music flows as minimalist, postmodern piano trio jazz of the highest caliber, as evidenced by the lead single "Moulindjek". Florent (from Belgium) and Guthrie (from Australia) are based in Nantes, France, and Rissanen (from Finland) also has strong ties to the city. Joachim Florent says: "As a kid I started playing music with the piano and I keep playing it every day, even if pretty poorly, and use it to compose and discover new music. In 2019 I started to write some piano studies that appeared to be pretty geometrical in a way, so I had this idea I could bring some music for the trio that would be inspired by geometry and architecture. In the meantime, I knew that we would improvise as much as possible as Aki and Will are among the most brilliant improvisers I've ever met! So, the challenge for me was to write as little as possible but to make the material strong enough to suggest a particular geometric feeling for each tune. I discovered Filip Dujardin's work some ten years ago and I was struck by the power of these impossible architectures looking so familiar and totally surrealist in the meantime. I guess that's how I would love Designers to sound: both familiar and surrealist."

 

PRICE: $28.00

CAT #: WJLP 002X-LP

FILE UNDER: EXPERIMENTAL

2022 release. We Jazz Reworks is an idea that repurposes some of the label's output ten albums at a time. That is, we invite producers whose music we love on board, and one by one, they tackle 10 albums worth of source material, of which they are free to use as much or as little as they choose. The series evolves chronologically, so this volume being number two, the source material is pulled from We Jazz LPs numbers 11 through 20. The artist has complete freedom. Vol. 2 in the series happens with Carl Stone, a legendary figure in creative music. His career spans decades of unlimited musical innovation. Stone's recent output on Unseen Worlds, the label who has also been instrumental in issuing some of his remarkable earlier work, ranks among the most original art of our time and renders notions such as "genre" virtually meaningless. Here, We Jazz originals by Terkel Nørgaard, OK:KO, Jonah Parzen-Johnson, and more are met here with a fresh sense of discovery, spun around and delivered ready for the turntable once again. Carl Stone says: "It was wonderful that We Jazz gave me carte blanche to work with any materials from the set of ten releases in its catalog. This freedom to work with everything could have been a mixed blessing though, as it could be a challenge to try to deal with so much musical information. In the end I did what I almost always do: Let my intuition be my guide and to seize upon any musical items that seemed to fit into an overall approach . . . To make a new piece I usually start with an extended period of what really is just playing, the way a child plays with toys. Experimentation without necessary expectation, leading to (hopefully) discovery of things of musical interest, then figuring out a way to craft and shape these into a structured piece of music. Each track uses a different approach, which I found along the way during this play period." This conceptual approach becomes complete with the design, in which album graphics are treated in a similar fashion, reworking what's there. This time around, the artwork is reinvented by Tuomo Parikka, a friend of the We Jazz collective and a regular cover collage contributor for the We Jazz Magazine.

 

PRICE: $28.00

CAT #: WJLP 041LP

FILE UNDER: JAZZ

LP version. 2022 release. "Petter Eldh's explosive ensemble Koma Saxo continues their adventures with a new album Koma West, out on We Jazz Records. The album sees Koma Saxo expand on their previous sound with the addition of vocalist Sofia Jernberg and a strong cast of featured artists, including cellist Lucy Railton, violinist Maria Reich, pianist Kit Downes and accordionist Kiki Eldh. The hard-hitting key quintet remains, including Eldh on bass and assorted instruments, Christian Lillinger on drums, plus saxophonists Otis Sandsjö (of Y-OTIS), Jonas Kullhammar, and Mikko Innanen bringing the SAXO to the KOMA operation. At 14 tracks, Koma West is a full menu of monumental compositional ideas that could spawn entire albums. Eldh relies on continuous movement while presenting another all killer no filler program taking Koma Saxo on a sonic outing not quite like anything that had previously appeared under the band's name. That being said, there's very much the Petter Eldh touch here, one which might be hard to pinpoint and verbalize, but nevertheless a recognizable style of composing, producing and arranging. Thematically, the album is rooted in the West Coast of Sweden, where Eldh grew up. There's a thread of Swedish folk song tradition that has been part of the Koma Saxo DNA from the get-go."

 

PRICE: $29.50

CAT #: WJLP 041RED-LP

FILE UNDER: JAZZ

LP version. Red color vinyl. 2022 release. "Petter Eldh's explosive ensemble Koma Saxo continues their adventures with a new album Koma West, out on We Jazz Records. The album sees Koma Saxo expand on their previous sound with the addition of vocalist Sofia Jernberg and a strong cast of featured artists, including cellist Lucy Railton, violinist Maria Reich, pianist Kit Downes and accordionist Kiki Eldh. The hard-hitting key quintet remains, including Eldh on bass and assorted instruments, Christian Lillinger on drums, plus saxophonists Otis Sandsjö (of Y-OTIS), Jonas Kullhammar, and Mikko Innanen bringing the SAXO to the KOMA operation. At 14 tracks, Koma West is a full menu of monumental compositional ideas that could spawn entire albums. Eldh relies on continuous movement while presenting another all killer no filler program taking Koma Saxo on a sonic outing not quite like anything that had previously appeared under the band's name. That being said, there's very much the Petter Eldh touch here, one which might be hard to pinpoint and verbalize, but nevertheless a recognizable style of composing, producing and arranging. Thematically, the album is rooted in the West Coast of Sweden, where Eldh grew up. There's a thread of Swedish folk song tradition that has been part of the Koma Saxo DNA from the get-go."

 

PRICE: $29.50

CAT #: WJLP 042LP

FILE UNDER: JAZZ

LP version. 2022 release. "Uusi Aika is a fresh new ensemble from Finland. The band's music could be described as introspective and meditative, but that's only a part of the story. The instrumentation is acoustic and their sound organic to the bone, but the music's slowly unfolding character brings to mind some deep abstract electronic music or experimental dub explorations at times. That is, there's power just under the surface, just beautifully out of focus. Otto Eskelinen says: 'Lately I have been playing mostly folk music and using traditional instruments, such as ancient flutes. Now I felt that I wanted to play the saxophone again, and to do it in a small group setting, while searching for new compositional approaches and also ways of playing together with others. I wanted to create a band that would play something connected to free jazz, but with a distinctly melodic approach. I wanted the sound of the band to be gentle and peaceful, all acoustic. The main inspirations here stem from the history of Japanese sound aesthetics, new age, early 20th century art music and jazz giants such as Lester Young and Jan Garbarek.'"

 

PRICE: $28.00

CAT #: WJLP 047LP

FILE UNDER: JAZZ

LP version. 2022 release. Designers are Joachim Florent on double bass, Will Guthrie on drums, Aki Rissanen on piano. This is their debut album together. Their music, composed by Joachim Florent, is inspired by geometry and architecture. The music flows as minimalist, postmodern piano trio jazz of the highest caliber, as evidenced by the lead single "Moulindjek". Florent (from Belgium) and Guthrie (from Australia) are based in Nantes, France, and Rissanen (from Finland) also has strong ties to the city. Joachim Florent says: "As a kid I started playing music with the piano and I keep playing it every day, even if pretty poorly, and use it to compose and discover new music. In 2019 I started to write some piano studies that appeared to be pretty geometrical in a way, so I had this idea I could bring some music for the trio that would be inspired by geometry and architecture. In the meantime, I knew that we would improvise as much as possible as Aki and Will are among the most brilliant improvisers I've ever met! So, the challenge for me was to write as little as possible but to make the material strong enough to suggest a particular geometric feeling for each tune. I discovered Filip Dujardin's work some ten years ago and I was struck by the power of these impossible architectures looking so familiar and totally surrealist in the meantime. I guess that's how I would love Designers to sound: both familiar and surrealist."

 

PRICE: $26.00

CAT #: WJMAG 006

FILE UNDER: Misc

2022 release. The sixth issue of We Jazz Magazine, Revelation for Black Jazz Records. All articles presented in English. Stories include Black Jazz Records by Daniel Spicer, As-Shams by Andy Thomas, Nyege Nyege Festival by Markus Karlqvist, Alina Bzhezhinska by Tina Edwards, Carl Stone by Peter Margasak, Gyedu-Blay Ambolley by Rob Garratt, Travelogue by Kari Ikonen, Pharoah / Jazz Composers Orchestra by Seymour Wright, reviews, plus more. 128 pages 174 x 250 mm in size and printed on 140g Edixion paper with laminated 300g Invercote covers.

 

PRICE: $26.00

CAT #: WJMAG 007

FILE UNDER: Misc

The seventh issue of We Jazz Magazine, Universal Beings for Makaya McCraven. All articles presented in English. Stories include Makaya McCraven by Ayana Contreras, Sonny Rollins by Ashley Kahn, Peter Evans by Andrey Henkin, Amina Claudine Myers by Seymour Wright, Adolphe Sax by Harry Eddy, Ronald Snijders by Mike Bindraban, introducing new columnist Mats Gustafsson, Puristamo Helsinki by Mathias Foster, reviews, plus more. 128 pages 174 x 240 mm in size and printed on 140g Edixion paper with laminated 300g Invercote covers.

 

PRICE: $31.00

CAT #: WWSLP 013LP

FILE UNDER: JAZZ

2023 repress. Wewantsounds present the first ever reissue Jack Wilkins's highly sought-after Mainstream Records album Windows, originally released in 1973. Produced by Bob Shad, the album, which is on many want-lists, is especially cult for his rendition of Freddie Hubbard's classic "Red Clay", notably sampled by A Tribe Called Quest (on "Sucka Nigga") and Chance The Rapper. Recorded in 1973 at New York's Record Plant, this superb session sees guitarist Jack Wilkins in a trio setting accompanied by Mike Moore on bass and young seasoned west coast drummer Bill Goodwin (Gabor Szabo, Gary Burton, Paul Horn, Tom Waits). Together, the trio plays mix of classics including John Coltrane's "Naima", Wayne Shorter's "Pinocchio", and Chick Corea's "Windows", showcasing their instant rapport. Jack Wilkins is an underrated guitarist; he's accompanied such stars as Stanley Turrentine, Ray Charles, Sarah Vaughan, and Sammy Davis Jr. but he has remained more of a musician's musician. Windows has reached cult status for the fact that its slow funk version of Freddie Hubbard's "Red Clay" has been sampled by A Tribe Called Quest for "Sucka Nigga" from their masterpiece Midnight Marauders (1993). ATCQ's jazz samples have always garnered a huge amount of attention from DJs and hip-hop fans and this one has had an instant effect on Windows's popularity, making it one of the most sought-after albums released on Mainstream. Chance the Rapper has also sampled "Red Clay", in the song "Nana" which featured on his second mixtape, Acid Rap (2013). This reissue is thus a great opportunity to (re)discover a great guitarist. Comes in gatefold sleeve featuring never-seen session photos and new liner notes by leading UK journalist, Kevin Le Gendre (Jazzwise, Echoes, BBC's Jazz Line Up).

 

PRICE: $32.00

CAT #: WHP 1465LP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

This is the one and only Sade caught live for Veronica's Rock Night TV broadcast on September 21, 1984 in the Netherlands, just a few months after the release of her first single "Your Love Is King." Sade is backed here by her original group, an elegant, super tight line- up featuring all four members appearing on her outstanding debut album Diamond Life plus a two-piece brass section and percussion. Needless to add that 1984 was a crucial year in Sade's career. That was when the world suddenly discovered her highly sophisticated, soulful sound world. Now, if you want to catch the whole energy of such discovery, these high-quality live recordings are the right stuff to start with. Line-up: Sade Adu (vocals); Paul S. Denman (bass); Andrew Hale (keyboards); Stuart Matthewman (guitar, saxophone); Dave Early (drums); Martin Ditcham (percussion); Terry Bailey (trumpet); Gordon Matthewman (trombone).

 

PRICE: $24.00

CAT #: WHP 1472LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

An amazing performance that captures the Queen of Soul in her prime. This was her last live appearance with King Curtis and the Kingpins, an amazing fourteen-piece band (the same appearing on her famous Live At The Fillmore West album) featuring heavyweights such as guitarist Cornell Dupree, drummer Bernard Purdie and King Curtis himself on tenor sax, as well as the super tight Memphis Horns section and the invaluable Sweethearts Of Soul's backing vocals. Just have a look at the track list, a breathtaking sequence of her finest material performed at maximum energy and inspiration! How can you go wrong with all that?

 

PRICE: $34.00

CAT #: WHP 1473LP

FILE UNDER: JAZZ

This is Archie Shepp caught live at two important European festivals in 1973. At the head of some sort of one-off line up featuring Dave Burrell on piano, Donald Garret on bass along with her partner Zusaan Fasteau on percussion, flute and vocals, and last but not least Muhammad Ali (Rashid's brother) on drums. Shepp, heard on tenor and soprano saxes and piano, delivers a full program of hot renditions of mostly standards by the likes of Ellington, Monk, and Davis, plus a couple of pieces written by his regular partners of the time, Cal Massey and Grachan Moncur.