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A whole heap of killer new stuff this week, and if you missed it, the Record Store Day list has been announced. Take a look and let us know ASAP if there’s things on there you’d like to see us stocking on RSD, the sooner we order the better the chance of getting the all special slabs you desire in for you to line up to try and buy.

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…..picks of the week…..

White Heaven: Out (Black Editions) LP
White Heaven’s debut album Out is one of the greatest psychedelic rock albums ever recorded. First released in 1991 by Tokyo’s P.S.F. Records and pressed in an edition of 500 copies the original LP has become a holy grail in underground circles, with only a scant few copies ever making it outside of Japan. Built on the chemistry between You Ishihara’s lysergic lyricism and the blistering leads of one of Japan’s undisputed guitar gods Michio Kurihara, Out is an absolute classic. It is one of the few albums to successfully join a deep love of classic rock n’ roll with the rapturous energy of punk and openness of the avant-garde. Each song creates its own world, raising dynamic structures that defy categorization. Meticulously re-mastered by the artists this new edition is the album in its clearest, most powerful form. Cut at the legendary Bernie Grundman studios and pressed at RTI it is now available on vinyl for the first time in almost 30 years. Black Editions presents Out in its definitive edition. Deluxe LP edition, Heavy tip-on jacket and tri-panel insert printed on black paper with metallic gold ink. Vinyl mastering by Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman, high quality pressing at RTI. “What happens if you want to make a sound like Eric Clapton on ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps,’ or Ritchie Blackmore on Made in Japan — two early influences Kurihara mentions in particular — but you’ve never been in a recording studio before? What happens if you want to sing like Marc Bolan or Robert Plant — or even Lou Reed and Tom Verlaine — but you’ve never been on a stage before? Listen to what happened on Out: a wide knowledge and love of classic rock sounds fused to a freedom of expression based not only on punk, but on avant-garde experimentalism. It isn’t that these young players had chops like that at the time. But neither did they need them to hit heightened moments of what I can only describe as rock rapture.” –Damon Krukowski

File Under: Japan, Psych
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Kali Malone: Sacrifical Code (Ideal) LP
Kali Malone presents a new album featuring nearly two hours of concentrated pipe organ pieces governed by a strict acoustic and compositional code. It’s a major new work with ultimately profound emotional resonance. The Sacrificial Code takes a more surgical approach to the methods first explored on Organ Dirges 2016-2017 (ASCETICKALI). Over the course of three parts performed on three different organs, Malone’s minimalist procedure captures a jarring precision of closeness, both on the level of the materiality of the sounds and on the level of composition. The recordings of The Sacrificial Code involve careful close-miking of the pipe organ in such a way as to eliminate environmental identifiers as far as possible — essentially removing the large hall reverb so inextricably linked to the instrument. The pieces are then further compositionally stripped of gestural adornments and spontaneous expressive impulse — an approach reminiscent of Steve Reich’s words, “by voluntarily giving up the freedom to do whatever momentarily comes to mind, we are, as a result, free of all that momentarily comes to mind.” With its slow, purified, and seemingly austere qualities, The Sacrificial Code guides you through an almost trance-inducing process where you become vulnerable receptors for every slight movement, where every miniature shift in sound becomes magnified through stillness. As such, it’s a uniquely satisfying exercise in transcendence through self-restraint — a stunning realization of ideas borne out of academic and conceptual rigor which gradually reveals startling personal dimensions. It has a perception-altering quality that encourages self-exploration free of signposts and without a preordained endpoint — the antithesis to the language of colorless musical platitudes we’ve become so accustomed to. Features additional organ pieces performed by Ellen Arkbro. Art and photography by A.M. Rehm. Mastered and cut by Rashad Becker.

File Under: Drone, Minimalism, Experimental
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…..new arrivals…..

Ajate: Alo (180g) LP

In tomorrow… “Three years after their critically acclaimed and sold out Abrada LP the great and joyful Japanese afro groovers Ajate are back with their much awaited brand new album Alo! Ajate is a Japanese band who plays a unique blend of afro-groove dance music mixed with Japanese traditional festival music called “”Ohayashi””. Formed in 2011 by the band-leader John Imaeda, Ajate consists of 10 Japanese musicians. Another unique feature of the band is the use of hand-made bamboo instruments as well as traditional Japanese percussion. The “”Jahte”” is a bamboo-made xylophone or balafon with a piezo pick-up mic attached to each key, connected to a pre-amplifier to obtain a loud sound and to add some touch of dirty distortion to its warm and natural acoustic sonority. The “”Piechiku”” is also a bamboo-made string instrument inspired by the west-African “”Ngoni”” or Moroccan “”Guembri”” instruments. The Piechiku uses strings of the Japanese traditional “”Shamisen””. This instrument is also played through a pre-amplifier and John sometimes adds some wah-wah effect to it. All these bamboo instruments are designed, made and named by John Imaeda himself. On Alo you will also be amazed by the exceptional sound of the Japanese Shinofue flute, which was not on the previous Abrada LP. Now, add to this unique sound some well-crafted Japanese female and male singing and you get a killer mix of Afro-Funk flavored grooves with traditional Japanese music! Since the release in 2017 of their Abrada LP on the 180g label Ajate has toured Europe twice and has played a memorable concert at the world famous Trans Musicales festival in France in 2018, which has been followed by another great KEXP Live session. Here is some music you will not be able to hear anywhere else, by one of the most joyful Japanese band to hear on record and to listen live!

File Under: Japan, Funk, AfroBeat
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Ruth Anderson: Here (Arc Light Editions) LP

Jennifer Lucy Allan’s Arc Light Editions releases Here, the debut album by little known electronic and tape music composer Ruth Anderson (1928-2019) who died just before she was able to see her first solo release out in the world. Here reinserts Ruth Anderson as a trailblazer in the history of electronic music in the USA. Here gathers microtonal electronics, drone, and meditative long-form works and a mischievous plunderphonic collage into an album that is playful, meditative, and bold in its minimalist a pproach to sound. In an article written by her partner, the composer Annea Lockwood, Ruth describes her music “evolved from an understanding of sound as energy which affects one’s state of being. [These are] pieces intended to further wholeness of self and unity with others.” “Pregnant Dream” is a collaboration with poet May Swenson. “Points” is constructed from pure sine waves, a veil of microtonal sound intended as a healing piece that generates quiet energy. “So What” hovers in electroacoustic space, and crescendos in oscillations and phasing. The playful proto-plunderphonics of “SUM (State of the Union Message)” is constructed from sounds sampled from TV commercials, made one January while Anderson was waiting for a studio to become free, offers tongue-in-cheek resistance to politics and communication as pertinent today as then. Her intention with “SUM” became “to say as little, and by omission, as much as the President (Nixon) would in his address.” The restful and meditative “I Come Out Of Your Sleep”, constructed from the speech vowels in Louise Bogan’s poem “Little Lobelia”, is a deeply calming and mindful piece. Anderson intended the shape of the vowels to become breathy melodic arcs and tones, which becomes the core of a stylized meditation. Sleeve notes by Louise Gray. Mastered by Giuseppe Ielasi. Anderson was born in Montana in 1928, and originally trained as a flautist and composer studying with Darius Milhaud and Nadia Boulanger in Paris. She was the first woman to be admitted to Princeton University Graduate School in the early 1960s. She also worked as an orchestrator for NBC-TV and the Lincoln Center Theater production of Annie Get Your Gun with Ethel Merman (1966). After joining the faculty of Hunter College, CUNY, in 1966, she created the Hunter College Electronic Music Studio, one of the first electronic music studios in the USA to be founded and directed by a woman. She was engaged in studies of psychoacoustics, Zen Buddhism, and was a committed teacher. She retired from Hunter College in 1989. Ruth Anderson died on November 29th, 2019, aged 91, just after approving test pressings for Here.

File Under: Electronic, Minimalism
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Art Ensemble of Chicago: The Spiritual(ORG) LP
The Spiritual, a free jazz album recorded by The Art Ensemble of Chicago in 1974, finds the group of stellar musicians at their creative peak. With various types of percussion, though the absence of a traditional drummer, the ensemble is able to create vivid, freeing compositions without the confines of conventional structure. The quartet, consisting of Joseph Jarman, Roscoe Mitchell, Lester Bowie, and Malachi Favors, explore the depths of Avant-Garde Jazz through a means that has yet to be touched on in a comparable capacity. Previously released on red color vinyl exclusively for Record Store Day, The Spiritual will now be widely available on 180gram black vinyl.

Carla Bley/Andy Sheppard/Steve Swallow: Life Goes On (ECM) LP
A striking album of new music from pianist/composer Carla Bley, whose trio with Andy Sheppard and Steve Swallow is now in its 25th year. Individual associations among the players go back much further: bassist Swallow first recorded music by Carla in 1961. The album, realized in the Auditorio Stelio Molo Studio in Lugano in May 2019, with Manfred Eicher producing, takes the form of three suites. The title piece begins as a stoical blues, at first melancholic then hopeful. “Beautiful Telephones,” inspired by a US president’s first observation on entering the Oval Office, has plenty of Bley’s dark wit. And “Copycat” explores the notion of call-and-response in fresh ways as the improvisers continue each other’s thoughts. Throughout, Carla’s distinctive piano, with its hints of Monk and Satie, is beautifully framed by Swallow’s eloquent, elegant bass guitar and Sheppard’s yearning saxes. This trio has a unique collective sound, reflecting – as The Telegraph recently noted – “musical mastery of a rare order.”

File Under: Jazz
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Victor Cavini: Japan (Be With) LP

Be With Records present a reissue of Victor Cavini’s Japan, originally released in 1983. The first Be With foray into the archives of revered German library institution Selected Sound is one of Be With’s favorites on the label. Rare and sought-after for many years now, this is one of those cult library LPs that never turn up. With Daibutsu the giant Buddha of Kamakura’s presence gracing the hefty front cover, this is a record bursting with dope samples for adventurous producers: it’s koto-funk madness! Victor Cavini was the library music pseudonym of prolific German composer and musician Gerhard Trede. He was known for exploring instruments and styles from around the world (he played over 50 different instruments himself) and Japan is his collection of 14 musical sketches painted with traditional Japanese wind and string instruments. These are the sounds of traditional Japanese folk music re-interpreted through Western ears, with the occasional contemporary twist. Contemporary for 1983, of course. These “Pictures Of Japan” are hypnotic, sometimes frantic, but always beautiful. The first twelve tracks offer airy explorations of koto and flute, with other strings and percussion being added and then given their own space. Indeed “Pictures Of Japan XII” is just drums. And then “Pictures Of Japan XIII” seems to come out of nowhere. But the subtle sleaze of its full band sound still doesn’t quite prepare you for the towering climax of “Pictures Of Japan XIV”. This is Japan’s undoubted standout piece, completely and wonderfully at odds with the rest of the album. It’s the reason this has become such a must-have record. It keeps the traditional Japanese instruments but combines them with shuffling funk breaks, electric bass high in the mix and a Godzilla-sized psychedelic fuzz guitar sound that might actually be a traditional reed flute pushed to its limits. Recalling both Rino de Filippi’s 1973 album Oriente Oggi (CNLP 042LP) and Giancarlo Barigozzi’s Oriente also from 1973, the track’s a real head-nod groove for b-boys and b-girls alike that sounds straight out of a late-70s Yakuza film. Indeed, if you were told The RZA or Onra had cooked this up in the lab this century, you’d be convinced. It’s crazy that this dates from 1983. Audio remastered for vinyl by Be With regular Simon Francis. Richard Robinson has handled the careful restoration of the original Selected Sound sleeve.

File Under: Japan, Folk
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Crys Cole: Beside Myself (Students of Decay) LP
“Beside Myself is the second full-length release from Canadian sound artist crys cole. Known to many through her extensive collaborative practice with artists such as Oren Ambarchi, Leif Elggren, and James Rushford, in her solo work cole uses contact microphones, voice, simple electronics, and field recordings to create sonic environments that linger uneasily at the threshold of perception. Demonstrating how cole’s work has developed and deepened since the relative austerity of her first solo LP Sand/Layna, Beside Myself offers two lushly immersive side-long pieces that explore ideas of compositional drift. ‘The Nonsuch’ is inspired by the aural hallucinations experienced in the hypnagogic state during the onset of sleep. Opening with scratching contact mic textures and unintelligible vocal murmurs, the piece threads together live and studio performances with field recordings of urban environments to create a texture that is at once seemingly consistent and marked by constant transitions. Individual elements rise up from the background thrum only to disappear just as we become conscious of them; heterogenous sounds and spaces succeed one another with the unassailable logic of dreams. ‘In Praise of Blandness (Chapter IX)’ also focuses on drift and transition, but in a much more single-minded way. Over a rich, slowly-evolving organ drone, cole reads a passage from the French sinologist François Julien’s book In Praise of Blandness (1991) exploring the concept of ‘blandness’ in the Taoist aesthetics of sound. Beginning crisp and clear, cole’s voice becomes gradually less distinct over the course of the piece, the spoken words blurred by resonant frequencies à la Lucier’s I Am Sitting in a Room until we are left with only the rhythm of incomprehensible speech. The text that cole reads acts a perfect description of her aesthetic project: ‘We hear it still, but just barely, and as it diminishes it makes all the more audible that soundless beyond into which it is about to extinguish itself. We are listening then, to its extinction, to its return to that great undifferentiated matrix’.” –Francis Plagne (November, 2019) Includes download code; edition of 300.

Cult of Dom Keller: s/t (Mannequin) LP

Mannequin Records release the long-awaited debut LP by Nottingham’s finest purveyors of psychedelic noise, The Cult Of Dom Keller. Partially compiled from re-mastered and reworked versions of tracks previously included in the band’s self-released series of EPs, this new incarnation of The Cult Of Dom Keller’s sounds also features three unreleased recordings. This is the absolute first time that these recordings become available on vinyl, a format that perfectly complements the band’s meticulously textured and carnal sound. A collection of fuzzily enrapturing and lysergic-tinged compositions with an electronically-infused backbone, the band’s debut might appear as a slight deviation from Mannequin’s traditional aesthetics. Mannequin Records’ connoisseur audience will appreciate the novelty and will instantly fall for these stupefying songs. Golden vinyl; edition of 300. Strongly recommended to fans of Spectrum, Spacemen 3, Faust, Wooden Shjips, Moon Duo, Psychic Ills, The Brian Jonestown Massacre, and 13th Floor Elevators.

File Under: Psych
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Malaku Daku: Love Drums From the Ghetto (Tidal Waves) LP

In tomorrow… Malaku ‘Daku’ Thompson (born Philadelphia 1943, died 2004) was an amazing artist who was deeply involved in percussion and Africanism. Malaku was mostly active in the 70s, producing-recording music and performing percussion at African themed rallies. During the Pan African struggles of the 1970’s Malaku changed his last name from Thompson to ‘Daku’. Malaku Daku (who was deeply involved in his community) went on to become a teacher and writer of several children’s books. During the mid 70s Malaku recorded and produced the album Love Drums From The Ghetto, an album that truly showed off his skills as an artistic genius. With this album Malaku Daku delivered an important contribution to the never-ending rich heritage that is African American music. When you listen to (and feel) these exploding pulsations and rhythmic-melodic drumbeats you have to realize that just one man is playing both the top and bottom drumbeats on no less than 8 congas at the same time! Traditionally, the drum was the heartbeat, the soul of most African communities. Drums have been an intrinsic part of African life for centuries and for countless generations, an ancient instrument used to celebrate all the aspects of life. In Western culture drumming is, most often, about entertainment but in Africa, drums hold a deeper, symbolic and historical significance. They herald political and social events attending ceremonies of birth, death and marriage. They spark courtships, they herald home-coming and going and they accompany religious rites and rituals, calling up ancestral spirits. They can also inspire passion and excitement and even cause trances, a momentary loss of consciousness to either the drummer or the listener. On the other side, drums are about communication and making music, two essential characteristics of community life. For centuries the ‘talking drums’ were a primary source of communication between tribes used to transmit messages sometimes across great distances. Absorb the rhythm of Love Drums From The Ghetto … the singing, the many drumbeats, the repetitive vocal lines and moans merging with percussive tribal sounds produce a very trancy (yet funky) African ritualistic vibe which longs to connect with the tribal spirits of the motherland. Every track on this album comes with its own story and mythology explained by brother Malaku on the back cover of the LP. Recorded at the legendary Future Gold studio in Philadelphia and originally released in 1974 as a private pressing, this is such an unknown and underrated album that just begs for a place in your record collection. Tidal Waves Music now proudly presents the first official reissue of Love Drums From The Ghetto. Available as a deluxe 180g vinyl edition (limited to 500 copies). Remastered from the original master tapes (found in a case, hidden in a wall by someone who demolishes houses…the tapes then made their way to a Discogs employee and to us). This release also comes with an insert containing an unseen manifest written by Malaku Daku himself. The clear vinyl variant (limited to 200 copies, exclusively available from Light In The Attic) also includes a bonus EP with alternate takes found on the master tapes.

File Under: Funk, Afrobeat
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Eleh: Living Space (Touch) LP

Following Slow Fade for Hard Sync (2009) and Location Momentum (2010), Living Space is Eleh’s third physical release for Touch. Seven years in the making, this new release consolidates the artist’s parallel narrative between a series of vinyl and CD releases for Important Records — where the emphasis is on a minimalist aesthetic — to a visual counterpoint that hints at the cinematic and painterly qualities of the music. Sound, as a healing force, is an idea as old as the medium itself. Inspired by the legacy and above all the spirit of John Coltrane, Living Space features five new compositions that seek to express the beauty of slow change, not only through the microtonal shifts in sound that Eleh navigates but moving with the atmospheric and shape-shifting conditions that the music creates as it interacts with the listening space, whether bedroom or concert  hall, each one of them unique. If the ambition of Living Space is to reflect both personal and collective growth cycles, the experience of its audition has the effect of stopping time. Melodic and harmonic progressions are implied and not stated obviously, to enable listeners to apply their own emotions and feelings to the music. Using modular and analog synthesizers, piano, organ, bass, and symphonic chimes, Living Space stresses the promise of the albm’s final track — “Lighter Touch” — forsaking the forceful hand for an approach that mirrors the slower and softer exposures of plant life and leaf formations, slow moving waters, not flash floods nor forest fires. In counterpoint to the music, the 64-minute album is presented in a gatefold sleeve with Jon Wozencroft’s water photography extending the meditational pull of these new compositions. For those for whom Eleh needs no introduction, see if you agree. Anyone who has yet to experience the artist’s sonic alchemy, Living Space is the perfect starting point.

File Under: Drone, Electronic, Minimalism

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Greg Foat: The Dreaming Jewels (Athens of the North) LP

In tomorrow… Recording at Malcom Catto’s analogue studio has been an ambition of Greg’s for a long time, not only for the studio itself but for Malcolm’s skill using this vintage equipment, very few people can achieve such an incredibly big sound. Earlier this year we grabbed the chance to get the full Greg Foat group joined by Binker Golding (Binker and Moses) on Tenor Saxophone, Malcolm Catto on drums and Hugh Harris (The Kooks) on Guitar on the session. Moving to a more rhythmic space, you could call it Jazz funk or Fusion, but labels suck so just listen and appreciate the pure sense of space Malcom achieves with this recording. Instruments float in space, aided by the Vintage EMI desk and a host of valve equipment which has taken Malcolm a lifetime to collect. In amongst the more rhythmic pieces we also have some classic Foat style compositions; ‘Lake Kussharo’ and ‘The Dreaming Jewels’ as emotive and personal as ever, a feeling that can only be expressed and articulated in music. These past few years will no doubt be looked back on with great favour in musical history, with prolific and high quality output in all his various projects this LP is his crowning achievement of 2019. A strong year indeed!

File Under: Jazz, Library
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France Gall: 1968 (Third Man) LP

“France Gall was a prolific French vocalist and performer, remembered as one of the central figures of the 1960s yé-yé pop movement. Aligning catchy, spirited rhythms with lighthearted lyrics and drawing from the beat music a la early Beatles and Hollies, the yé-yé artists promoted a sort of new freedom of expression and breaking down of social barriers in post-WWII France. Third Man Records is beyond honored to bring this music to a larger audience by issuing the first authorized North American vinyl pressings of these titles, some of the most brilliant highlights from Gall’s catalog. Without a doubt this is the weirdest France Gall record. 1968 dives further into the psychedelia that she was hinting at on Baby Pop. Even with addition of sitars and echoes of The Beatles, The Stones, The Kinks and Pet Sounds era Beach Boys all over this record it is still 100% French and could only have been made by France Gall. The addition of English expat producer/arranger, David Whitaker, brought a new and welcome airiness to the mix that was lacking on Gall’s earlier recordings. The album contains 2 of Serge Gainsbourg’s strangest and most out-there arrangements, ‘Nefertiti’ and ‘Teenie Weenie Boppie’ about an LSD trip gone horribly wrong. 1968 is an absolutely essential addition to any record collection.”

File Under: French, Ye-Ye
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France Gall: Baby Pop (Third Man) LP

“France Gall was a prolific French vocalist and performer, remembered as one of the central figures of the 1960s yé-yé pop movement. Aligning catchy, spirited rhythms with lighthearted lyrics and drawing from the beat music a la early Beatles and Hollies, the yé-yé artists promoted a sort of new freedom of expression and breaking down of social barriers in post-WWII France. Third Man Records is beyond honored to bring this music to a larger audience by issuing the first authorized North American vinyl pressings of these titles, some of the most brilliant highlights from Gall’s catalog. Baby Pop is not only an important album for France herself, it is also a hugely important record for the entire yé-yé scene. Baby Pop hinted at the musical direction that yé-yé was headed in much the same way Revolver and Pet Sounds did in the UK and USA. Baby Pop is more mature and varied than her earlier more bubblegum releases. You will still find a wonderfully cheesy tracks like ‘L’Amerique’ here and there but with the impossibly infectious title track and songs like the Gainsbourg penned ‘Nous Ne Sommes Va-T’en’ and the groovy Farfisa-driven ‘Faut-Il que Je T’Aime’ we welcome a new France Gall and say hello to some of the fi nest pop music ever released in French or any language.”

File Under: French, Ye-Ye
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France Gall: Poupee De Cire, Poupee De Son (Third Man) LP

“France Gall was a prolific French vocalist and performer, remembered as one of the central figures of the 1960s yé-yé pop movement. Aligning catchy, spirited rhythms with lighthearted lyrics and drawing from the beat music a la early Beatles and Hollies, the yé-yé artists promoted a sort of new freedom of expression and breaking down of social barriers in post-WWII France. Third Man Records is beyond honored to bring this music to a larger audience by issuing the first authorized North American vinyl pressings of these titles, some of the most brilliant highlights from Gall’s catalog. While France Gall had been releasing music since she was 16 it wasn’t until she took the Grand Prix at the 1965 Eurovision Song Contest with her rendition of Serge Gainsbourg’s ‘Poupée de Cire, Poupée de Son’ that she would be catapulted to the top of the swinging yé-yé scene alongside the likes of Francoise Hardy, Sylvie Vartan and Bridgette Bardot. This record contains two of France’s most loved tracks, ‘Poupée de Cire’ and ‘Laisse Tomber Les Filles’ also penned by Gainsbourg. She recorded versions of the title track in French, German, Italian and Japanese and was now an international pop superstar. At the time France was dismissed by many as making fluffy ultra-commercial pop hits but her music stands the test of time far better than most, as not many were making music of this consistent high quality. Highly recommended.”

File Under: French, Ye-Ye
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Jacky Giordano: Timing Archives (Farfalla) LP
In tomorrow… Timing is a collection of sixteen records intended for audiovisual and media professionals which came out between 1975 and 1977, and initiated by Jacky Giordano who took care of the first six albums. The ten others were developed by Pierre Arvay and nearly all published in partnership with Music De Wolfe.
14-tracks LP with plenty of funky breaks and hard grooves, including afro-cuban rhythms, wild jazzy sounds, fuzz guitar, strings, sax, clavinet, flute…

File Under: Library
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Ground Zero: Revolutionary Pekinese Opera Ver. 1.28 (Le Narthecophore) LP

In tomorrow… In 1984 the German free jazz duet of Alfred Harth and Heiner Goebbels released an album containing their interpretation of a Chinese opera from the 60s. Then in 1995, using extensive samples from that German recording alongside a free rock ensemble and traditional Asian instruments, Otomo Yoshihide and his Ground Zero band issued a terrific and definitive rendition of that opera, in the form of a noisy sound collage. We reunited the Japanese and original German versions on that record..

File Under: Electronic, Jazz, Rock
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Gruppo di Improvvisazione Nuova Consonanza: Nuova Consonanza (Cinevox) LP

In tomorrow… When gazing over the expanse of 20th century avant-garde music, few European projects can claim the seminal importance of the Gruppo di Improvvisazione Nuova Consonanza. Formed in Rome in 1964 and considered to be the first experimental composers collective, its membership included many of the most remarkable voices of its day: Franco Evangelisti, Ennio Morricone, Egisto Macchi, Roland Kayn, Frederic Rzewski, and many others. Creatively radical, rawing on jazz, serialism, musique concrète, and extended techniques — breaking with the divisions that largely defined the global avant-garde scene, the Group sculpted a body of sound like nothing before or since. Over the last few years, numerous reissues and archival releases have brought their crucial contributions back into the center of the contemporary consciousness. Cinevox highlight the emergence of yet another crucial piece in the puzzle, the reissue of what is arguably the rarest artifact in their catalog: 1975’s Gruppo d’Improvvisazione Nuova Consonanza. The collective’s fifth full-length release, encounters the project at its sublime best. This incarnation features Macchi, Morricone, Evangelisti, Mario Bertoncini, Walter Branchi, Giovanni Piazza, and Jesus Villa Rojo, each masterfully responding and intervening within an expanse of sound where no one voice takes center stage. Delicate acoustic textures sculpt an endlessly surprising sense of tactile space, penetrated by percussive interventions and atonal squeals, each in their own way defying a concise image of source. Wildly intelligent, and yet feeling so natural that these interactions of sound might have simply always been or appeared, the album captures an archetypal vision of one of the most important groups in the history of the avant-garde — a singular, and entirely new vision of improvisation and collaboration which laid the groundwork for a countless number of artists who followed in their wake. Fully remastered from the original tapes, which revealed a different sequence than the original Cinevox album. Moreover, “Settimino”, the long track that opens the first side, has a completely different structure which can be listened here for the first time. Includes an exclusive 30x30cm, 12-page booklet with never seen before pictures and essays/texts which delve deep into the album. 180 gram vinyl; Edition of 400.

File Under: Library, Experimental
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Konami Kukeiha Club: Castlevania: The Adventure Rebirth
(Ship to Shore) LP

In tomorrow… Ship to Shore is proud to present the original soundtrack to 2009’s Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth on vinyl for the very first time. Featuring some of the greatest tracks from the Castlevania canon remixed and revamped, this album is a must have for VGM and Castlevania fans. A vertiable greatest hits collection, the album contains tracks from the original Castlevania, Casltevania III: Dracula’s Curse, Dracula X and many, many more.

File Under: OST, Videogames
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K. Leimer/Mark Barreca: Chains of Being (Abstrakce) LP

A conceptual and contemporary approach to early music, exploring its ambiences, timbres and feelings. Delicate experimentation with sound textures where different white noise tones can meet the strings from a viola da gamba. A cinematic work, very touching and emotional. Almost mystic, spiritual ambient. K. Leimer and Marc Barreca are two American synth/multi-instrumental musicians that have been active since late ’70s. They have some previous collaborations released in Leimer’s imprint Palace Of Music. Presented in a very careful edition, the record comes packed in a folder printed in letterpress with wood and lead types. Six letterpress cards — one per track — are also included, contextualizing the artists’ references used as an inspiration for their compositions. “These three pieces spring from a love of early music, specifically the works of Sainte-Colombe, Marin Marais, and John Dowland. Each of these composers — their lives spanning a period of great musical innovation and change from 1563 to 1728 — is represented by a track included here. While there are no direct quotations present from any of their pieces there is a now familiar reliance on timbre and even on drone, elements that flourished in the often slowly-paced and harmonically narrow style of early music. Those stylistic elements have been taken up today, deliberately or not, by ambient, dark ambient, post-ambient, and slow music artists. In atmosphere early music often evokes a melancholic — even elegiac — sensibility appropriate to the present time.” –K. Leimer “These three tracks were inspired by the shadows, streams of sunlight, muted colors and peaceful interior ambience of Spanish cathedrals. Calm and mystery combined.” –Marc Barreca

File Under: Electronic, Ambient
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Linkwood & Foat: s/t (Athens of the North) LP

In tomorrow… Athens of the north is not just here to release great music but to support our artist development and experimentation, to this end we always try to bring good people together to work on new music. This LP fuses two massive talents, for the first time to AOTN we introduce House and Techno legend Linkwood, joining him is one of the |UKs most respected Jazz Artists Greg Foat, who will need no introduction to AOTN fans. ‘Linkwood & Foat’ is the first LP to be recorded in the new ‘Athens of the North Studio’, which was designed and built specifically for our artists so that they can create without the time pressures or expenses of studio hire elsewhere. With no fixed plans, no rules or expectations, the pair relaxed in the new studio and started making music. The result is very special indeed. Linkwood had just returned from walking in the wilds of an Ibiza summer and Greg had similarly been immersed on the sun drenched south coast of the Isle of wight. This freedom and sense of space saturates the grooves of the LP juxtapositioned against a deeper late night basement club feel they both love so much, the pull between nightlife and the freedom of nature. It’s extroversion and introversion, the freedom and escapism of the two seemingly opposing environments permeates this recording.

File Under: Library, Jazz
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Stephen Malkmus: Traditional Techniques (Matador) LP

Traditional Techniques is new phase folk music for new phase folks, with Stephen Malkmus as attuned as ever to the rhythms of the ever-evolving lingual slipstream. Instead of roses, briars, and long black veils, prepare for owns, cracked emojis, and shadowbans. Centered around the songwriter’s 12-string acoustic guitar, and informed by a half-century of folk-rock reference points, Traditional Techniques is the product of Malkmus and engineer/arranger Chris Funk (The Decemberists). Playing guitar is friend-to-all-heads Matt Sweeney (Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, Chavez, too many others to count), who’d previously crossed paths with Malkmus on the opposite end of the longhairs’ map of the world, most lately gnarling out together back east in the jam conglomerate Endless Boogie.

File Under: Indie Rock
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Ofege: How Do You Feel (Tidal Waves) LP

In tomorrow… Ofege was formed in the early 1970s by a bunch of teenagers at the St. Gregory’s College in Lagos Nigeria. They were largely influenced by the guitar solos of Carlos Santana, Jeff Beck & Jimmy Page while closer to home, they were influenced by the music of ‘BLO’, ‘Monomono’ (led by Joni Haastrup), ‘The Funkees’, and ‘Ofo The Black Company’. Due to their vibrant combo of sweet harmonies, hooks & fuzz, Ofege would become one of the most legendary Nigerian groups of all time, with expressive sales and national stardom. At the turn of the century (and because of tracks appearing on various psychedelic music compilations) Ofege would receive international acknowledgment for being the first of their kind and the ultimate West-African psychedelic funk band! Their first album (Try and Love – 1973) was recorded while the band members were still in high school (average age of 16). It took some years before other albums saw the light since some band members still had to finish school. Further astonishing recordings include ‘The Last of The Origins’ (1976), ‘Higher Plane Breeze’ (1977) and ‘How Do You Feel’ (1978). How Do You Feel (released in 1978 on Polydor Nigeria) is Ofege’s fourth (and final) album. On this amazing record, the listener is treated to the trademark Ofege sound, but you can also hear the band absorbing some of the other things that were happening at the time (like disco & reggae). By 1978, North American bands like Funkadelic and the Ohio Players that had formerly purveyed raggedly funky rock were shifting their output exclusively towards slicker, more dancefloor-oriented material. These shifts also applied to bands on the European and African continent…and Ofege was no exception. The difference in sound from their earlier recordings sounds organic and can be attributed to the band’s burgeoning maturity & said changes in their musical environment. Next to the regular band-members, this album has some serious ‘all-star’ guest musicians featured on it as well…Kofi Ayivor (Eddy Grant) on congas, Robert Bailey (Osibisa) on keyboards …and of course the legendary Jake Sollo (The Funkees) who’s trademark solo-guitar work is all over this Ofege record. How Do You Feel is a an Afrobeat club-classic with some serious funky & spacey disco (of the good kind) mixed through its tracks…a faithful snapshot of what was actually happening in the African soul music scene at that specific period in time. This album shows a perfect glimpse of the late 70’s afrobeat works combining soul, jazzy rhythms & fluid danceability…but when you listen to songs like ‘World Peace’ and ‘Frustration,’ that’s just the basic, rootsy and raw Ofege sound. Tidal Waves Music now proudly presents the first reissue of this landmark Nigerian album. This RARE classic (original copies tend to go for large amounts on the secondary market) is now finally back available as a limited vinyl edition (500 copies) complete with the original artwork and exclusive liner notes/pictures provided by Ofege’s founding member ‘Melvin Ukachi’ who also supervised this reissue.

File Under: Rock, Funk, Disco
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Oneness of Juju: Chapter Two: Nia (Now-Again) LP

“Essential spiritual jazz originally issued on the lauded Strata-East label. Magical, mystical, Afrocentric, progressive — words that could be used to describe any number of musical compositions by Sun Ra or his cosmic brothers and sisters, from John to Alice Coltrane, early ’70s projects on record labels like Detroit’s Tribe or Houston’s Lightin’ or the interests of one Washington, DC native named Jimmy Gray that centered under one, perfect moniker: Black Fire. Gray spent nearly three decades pushing boundaries as a Black American promoter, distributor and, finally, record label owner. Together with Oneness of Juju’s leader James ‘Plunky Nkabinde’ Branch, Gray oversaw sixteen releases on Black Fire Records between 1975 and 1996. These are the definitive reissues of five of the label’s key titles; all were lacquered — most directly from master tape – by legendary Los Angeles mastering engineer Bernie Grundman, With this set, Oneness Of Juju and Black Fire’s story burns forth into its fifth decade, its message not tempered, its sound pure. It’s cycle, once again, complete. Each release is packaged in a thick, tip-on sleeve and includes a deluxe booklet with extensive notes on the album, the Black Fire collective, and the musical and cultural revolution they created. Limited edition, one time pressing.”

File Under: Jazz, Strata East
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OST: The Music of Red Dead Redemption 2 (Lakeshore) LP

In tomorrow… The Music Of Red Dead Redemption 2 soundtrack was produced entirely by 7 time Grammy Award-winner Daniel Lanois, known for producing albums for Bob Dylan, Neil Young, and Willie Nelson as well as collaborating with pioneering musician Brian Eno to produce several albums for U2 including the multi-platinum The Joshua Tree. In addition to Lanois’ production, the soundtrack features additional vocal performances from a range of award-winning artists including D’Angelo, Willie Nelson, Nas, Rhiannon Giddens, Josh Homme, plus an additional track written, produced and performed by David Ferguson.

File Under: OST
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OST: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time (iam8Bit) LP

In tomorrow… The plot of Turtles in Time is the stuff of sci-fi lunacy – a supercollage cast of baddies battling through the ages: Krang donning his trademark exosuit stealing the statue of liberty, metal-mouthed Shredder hijacking the TV airwaves, prehistoric dinos, grimey pirates, neon-future robots, mutated sewer nasties, etc.. Enter the mean, green, fighting machines, on a hard rock collision course to reset the space-time continuum back to a peaceful, cheesy-grease-soaked state. This is one of the greatest SNES soundtracks of all time, expertly mastered for the first time ever on vinyl, cozied away in a choose-your-own-adventure pizza (or bomb) box… cowabunga!

File Under: OST, Videogame

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Piero Piccioni: Il Dio Sotto La Pelle (Musica Per Immagini) LP

One of Piero Piccioni’s best contributions for the seveth art. Recorded for the homonymous documentary (1974) by Folco Quilici and Carlo Alberto Pinelli, looking for some people who reject civilization to withdraw in nature and peace, Il Dio Sotto La Pelle was released for the first time in 2000, quickly becoming one of the most sought-after records by many collectors and fans. Musica Per Immagini and Sonor Music Editions release a renewed edition of Il Dio Sotto La Pelle, where jazz, exotic and lounge music and psychedelia are mixed in an admirable way: introduced by the dreamy voice of Catherine Howe for “It’s Possible”, Piero Piccioni’s organ gives you fragments of a dazzling splendor such as “Night To Come” or “Give Love A Chance”, while “Inventions” and “Katmandu” handed down to the posterity the guitarist vein of the opera, demonstration of the period of great creativity crossed by the Italian composers, capable of filtering their traditional and classical action with some rock elements. Il Dio Sotto La Pelle is available again as double-LP album with tracks remastered by Claudio Fuiano from first generation master tapes and sequenced by Lorenzo Fabrizi. Also including twelve unreleased gems, new graphics inspired by the original posters. Designed by Luca Barcellona and Marco Ferretti’s liner notes.

File Under: Library
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Piper: Summer Breeze (Ship to Shore) LP

In tomorrow… Led by guitarist/vocalist Keisuke Yamamoto, Piper was formed in Hamamatsu in Shizuoka Prefecture. A move to Tokyo was followed by the release of their first single on Yupiteru Records, thanks to original guitarist Yuji Suzuki who had became an A&R man for the label. Citing British bands like Wishbone Ash and Camel as influences, Yamamoto and Piper nevertheless conjured up classic American sounds on Piper’s recordings, utilizing unusual recording techniques and new technologies like Linn drums to effortlessly blend styles of funk, soul and fusion and simultaneously evoking summer vibes, autumnal breezes, and wintery shimmer. Summer Breeze is Piper’s second album, originally released in 1984 on Yupiteru. Inspired by the sounds of Masayoshi Takanaka and Tatsuro Yamashita, as well as the concept of “BGM” (background music) championed by YMO, Summer Breeze was a conscious about face from their debut to create a new signature sound and become masters of summery resort vibes. Its smooth sounds belie the bevy of experimentation utilized on the recording, from vocoders and drum programming to recording guitars direct through the board. Even the iconic cover art, with the surfer wearing an impossibly short crop top, is deceiving in its simplicity – it was one of the most expensive jackets produced by the label at the time, due to its use of special spot colors and custom handlettering. The original album featured the marketing copy “Good Weather! Good Sounds!” which perfectly encapsulates the sounds contained on the album.

File Under: Japan, City Pop
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Byron Pope Speed of Light: Music for Earthdwellers & Starseekers (Tidal Waves) LP

In tomorrow… Alto saxophonist Byron Herman Pope (born 1934) might be a rather unsung name on the bill despite being part of the avant-garde jazz circuit for more than half a century. Deeply committed to the ideas of John Coltrane, he has played with Alan Silva and Sunny Murray but only recorded sporadically over the course of his long career. Coming from a musical family: Byron’s father was the band leader of his own orchestra and was a writer for Billie Holiday, his uncle Lee was the tenor sax player with Eddie ‘Cleanhead’ Vinson (until he retired & was replaced by a young man named John Coltrane) and his cousin was Darlene Love, the famous R&R Hall Of Fame singer/actress who was married to Phil Spector and godmother to Whitney Houston. Growing up in a segregated Monroe-Louisiana in the 1940’s, at the age of 12, Byron Pope was exposed to concerts by African American bands at his high school…this became his principal motivation to become a musician himself. At the age of 19, Byron came to Germany as a US military serviceman…after two and a half years he returned to the States but was not able to accept the racism and political climate in his home country anymore. After accumulating three professorships as a jazz teacher (including the title of professor in Jazz and Blues at University of Washington, Seattle in 1968) in the early Seventies Byron crossed the ocean again, this time he went to France. Here he met (and started performing with) the legendary Burton Greene and became friends with main players from the likes of Georges-Edouard Nouel and Chris Henderson. Throughout his long career Byron kept close friendships with famous jazz and blues players including Sun Ra and John Coltrane (Coltrane wanted to record his song “This Way” but unfortunately passed away before he could do it). Byron Pope was a member of the Alan Silva Orchestra from 1972 to 1976, later he went on to play with Sunny Murray on a regular basis. Byron eventually settled in Geneva where he has lived ever since…dividing his time between his family, his love for spiritual yoga and his musical career. Byron Pope’s 1982 LP Music For Earthdwellers And Starseekers (recorded at Studio Caroline, Paris) is a sublime modal jazz record with a nice cosmic spiritual touch. Enlisting a superb all-star line-up including Georges-Edouard Nouel on piano, Roger Raspail (Kassav) on percussion and Chris Henderson (Sun Ra) on drums. To top things off, the album was engineered by the legendary Jean-Philippe Bonichon (who later on went to become the engineer responsible for many of the early remixes of Dimitri From Paris). This is absolutely top-drawer material with superb grooves that astral travelers are looking for. The three percussionists unlock rhythms that move your bones and bring alive new levels of consciousness…pure raw cosmic energy turned into vibrations and notes at the speed of light. Today we are proud to present to you the first ever vinyl reissue of this rare album (original copies tend to go for large amounts since only 1000 copies were pressed upon its release in 1982). This reissue is now available as a deluxe 180g vinyl edition (limited to 500 copies) featuring the original artwork and also comes with an insert containing pictures and liner notes.

File Under: Library
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Horace Tapscott: Live at Lobero (Pure Pleasure) LP

In tomorrow… This is a reissue of a now out-of-print album from live trio date by the legendary LA-based pianist, composer and multi-bandleader, Horace Tapscott. Pianist Horace Tapscott is always at his best when he is leading a trio. “Sketches of Drunken Mary” features some sparkling piano revolving around a most lyrical bass part that is absolutely touching. The piece ends with a long, monstrous drum solo has to be heard to be believed. I recall hearing/seeing the mighty Sonship with John McLaughlin’s One Truth band live at Central Park way back in 1979 and being knocked out by his drumming. “Raisha’s New Hip Dance” is a lovely piece that starts with some amazingly powerful and somewhat dark solo piano, with some strong two handed playing going in different directions and then winding down to somber conclusion, then building back up once again. The final piece is called “Dark Tree” which is a great work that features a colossal, McCoy-like repeating line that is most hypnotic. The trio explodes in waves together, an immensely propulsive circular current at the center of the storm. Roberto Miranda takes an astonishing, fleet-fingered contrabass solo and then Sonship again provides a cosmic gong, cymbals and drum solo. This is a momentous offering from start to finish. It doesn’t get any better than this.

File Under: Jazz
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Tomas Tello: Cimora (Discrepant) LP

Over the last decade, multi-instrumentalist Tomás Tello has been developing his own personal music style based around an exploration of the guitar and his intense personal investigation of traditional Peruvian music — in particular Andean culture which he grew up with. Now operating out of Tavira, Tomás has been functioning like a psychic musician, a well-tuned antenna picking a unique sound universe where, among others, sounds of native instruments (quenas, drums, charangos) and experimental electronics (field recordings, loops, circuit bending, small synths, and effects pedals) merge in mystic harmony. Tomás delivers meditative compositions, sonic illuminations which seem to be the result of a direct act of contemplation, of glaring at the immensity of a landscape, a river or the proximity of strange wild animals, a vision calling that, with the aid of medicinal plants, offers a state of consciousness in tune with the early works of envisioned artists such as Arturo Ruiz del Pozo, Jorge Reyes, or Walter Maioli. Tomás Tello’s music is an invitation to listen to nature from a new place. It’s timeless music, which enraptures those who have the joy of entering it. Artwork by Evan Crankshaw and Raleigh Gardiner. Mastered and cut by Rashad Becker.

File Under: Latin, Experimental
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Oded Tzur/Nitai Hershkovits/Petros Klampanis/Johnathan Blake: Here Be Dragons (ECM) LP

Here Be Dragons is the ECM debut of New York based, Tel Aviv born saxophonist Oded Tzur, a strikingly original player and musical storyeller. Tzur’s graceful and fluid tenor sax sound has been influenced by studies with bansuri master Hariprasad Chaurasia, and the concept of raga is subtly embedded in his elegant compositions, played with verve and imagination by his outstanding Israeli-Greek-American jazz group. As DownBeat has observed: “Tzur and his colleagues are definitely on to something.” Recorded in June 2019 at Auditorio Stelio Molo in Lugano, and produced by Manfred Eicher.

File Under: Jazz
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Marcos Valle & Azymuth: Fly Cruzeiro (Tidal Waves) LP 

In tomorrow… Marcos Valle needs little introduction, born in Rio de Janeiro in 1943, Mr. Valle is an award-winning/chart-hitting Brazilian singer, songwriter and record producer. He was raised on a staple diet of classical, Brazilian popular music and North American jazz. Marcos Valle grew up to be one of the most influential & innovating musicians of the Bossa nova period and is regarded as one of the greatest Brazilian artists of all time. He has recorded albums for North American labels such as EMI, Warner Brothers & Verve…cementing his career with a series of tight musical workouts moving seamlessly between funk, samba, soundtracks, soul, jazz, dance and rock. Valle contributed to some of the most important recordings by artists including Sarah Vaughan, Frank Sinatra, Sergio Mendes, Leon Ware, Chicago and Airto Moreira. Mr. Valle’s work has been sampled/remixed by major artists from the likes of Jay-Z, Kanye West & Madlib. One of Valle’s favorite bands to frequently collaborate with was no doubt Azymuth, who took their name from a Valle song! Azymuth (Bertrami-Malheiros-Conti) started their individual careers in the 1960s in the emergent Bossa nova and jazz scene of Rio, living in the same bohemian block in Copacabana and playing in small bars as session musicians under various other names. It was the early 1970s when Azymuth really began to cause a stir and Marcos Valle invited them to record on a soundtrack LP he was doing. The unique Azymuth sound was now born: a mix of electronic music, samba, funk and jazz that they defined as MPB-jazz (MPB stands for Musica Popular Brasileira). Over the decades Azymuth released extremely successful albums (selling millions of copies) on labels such as Polydor, Som Livre and Atlantic. Hitting the charts on multiple occasions, Azymuth played at the Monterrey and Montreux jazz festivals and at venues around the globe. The band has worked with legendary musicians from Joe Henderson to Stevie Wonder and they’ve also been remixed/sampled by artists such as Flying Lotus, will.i.am, MF DOOM and Peanut Butter Wolf. Their unique brand of fusion-music has influenced three generations of musicians, DJs, and producers. Music journalists across the spectrum from mainstream to underground, celebrated these raw yet wildly imaginative and musically accomplished tracks that were a revelation of jazz, funk and disco, with some even stating that the roots of EDM were on display in their early recordings. On the album we are presenting you (Brazil by Music – Fly Cruzeiro) the listener is getting yet another fantastic early Valle/Azymuth collaboration. Released in 1972, this rare album was pressed and gifted to customers of the ‘Cruzeiro’ airline company. This promotional record came as no surprise because the connection between Cruzeiro Airlines and Valle was very tight (Valle’s father was the manager and his brother was a co-pilot there). Next to the Valle/Azymuth material present, other songs include some of the all-time best Brazilian standards originally written by renowned artists such as Jorge Ben & Antonio Carlos Jobim. Take a flight with us through this fantastic album and into some of the best Jazz, Funk & Bossa Nova the Brazilian musical landscape has to offer. Tidal Waves Music now proudly presents the first ever vinyl reissue of ‘Fly Cruzeiro’ since its release in 1972 (only 500 copies were pressed upon its original release in 1972). This official reissue is now available as a deluxe 180g vinyl edition (limited to 500 copies) packaged in a gatefold jacket and also comes with an insert containing rare pictures and liner notes courtesy of Marcos Valle himself.

File Under: Brazil
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Oliver Patrick Weder: OPW (SA Recordings) LP

In tomorrow… ‘OPW’ is the debut album and bespoke sample library from musician and composer Oliver Patrice Weder. Oliver Patrice Weder’s unique musicality has been heavily inspired and shaped by living and travelling through different places and cultures including Brazil, Africa and the USA, as well as his experiences making a home in various European countries. Oliver discovered his love of keyboards after hearing the sound of Ray Manzarek (The Doors), and spent his formative years playing classical and jazz piano in the rainy foothills of the Alps. After recording and touring across Europe with various bands including psychedelic rock band Time for T, he studied at Valencia’s Berklee College of Music where he established his passion for film music. As well as composing for the BBC, Oliver is lead composer at Spitfire Audio in London. In 2017, Oliver co-scored the feature film ‘The Haunted’ and made a vlog style series Inside the Score with Spitfire Audio, documenting the entire process — from meeting the director, to seeing the film shown at various international film festivals. Oliver’s deeply personal debut LP, ‘OPW’, took shape across Europe, between Switzerland, UK, Spain and Holland, where he lived and spent time writing and recording this intimate and powerful musical journey. It fuses a rich and unique blend of acoustic instruments and rhythms with electronic elements — from piano, Wurlitzer, experimental strings from the London Contemporary Orchestra, flugelhorn and drum machines through to spoon solos, occasional gritty synths and percussion found in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro — adding flavour and colour throughout.

File Under: Electronic, Classical
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Various: Kearney Barton: Architect of the Northwest Sound
(Light in the Attic) LP

In tomorrow… When Seattle-based recording engineer Kearney Barton died in 2012, the 80 year-old studio veteran had spent the past 50 years recording the cream of the Seattle music scene through the decades. The Fleetwoods, Quincy Jones, The Ventures, The Wailers, The Sonics, Ann Wilson (Heart), The Frantics, The Kingsmen, and Dave Lewis to name a few. Barton also captured Seattle’s vibrant 1960s-70s R&B and soul scene, including Black On White Affair and Soul Swingers, among others, as documented in Light in the Attic’s Wheedle’s Groove series. In his later years Barton’s old school reputation drew in contemporary bands like Young Fresh Fellows, The Smugglers, The Minus 5, and The A-Bones into his studio. Essentially, when a local unknown band wanted to make a demo tape, or record their debut album, or perhaps someone just wanted to capture their uncle playing banjo or their kid sister’s first songs, they’d go to Barton’s studio. There were 7,000 reel-to-reel tapes piled up in Barton’s house at the time of his passing. The University of Washington carefully cataloged these tapes, and former Sub Pop employee Dan Trager (who had learned the art of recording from Kearney years earlier as a student) began listening and taking notes. With input from a team drawn from the university and Light in the Attic, Dan compiled a shortlist of essential tracks that would form the basis of this compilation. Kearney Barton: Architect of the Northwest Sound is a comprehensive document of Seattle in the 1960s, 70s, and 80s. It is also a testament to Barton’s life-long dedication to the art of recording. It includes long out of print recordings originally released by local labels such as Jerden, Topaz, Piccadilly, and Etiquette Records. It covers a wide range of genres: sitar and balalaika players, gospel church choirs, unknown garage bands, steel drums, obscure soul artists and teenage a cappella singers. There’s also some familiar names here: Sonics, Wailers, a young pre-Heart Ann Wilson, Larry Coryell making his first ever studio recordings with Chuck Mahaffay, the Hudson Brothers long before they were on TV. “However diverse, there is a commonality that stands out among his recordings: hardcore analog fidelity,” says University of Washington archivist John Vallier. “It sounds like you are in the room with the drums, bass, guitar, and vocals. The mix is minimum. It’s a raw, sonic reality, even if the band is poppy and jangly. It’s an honest sound that doesn’t sugarcoat what’s being performed. That’s Kearney, too.”

File Under: Rock, Funk, Soul
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Various: Musax Background Music Library (Farfalla) LP

In tomorrow… For this first volume of Musax Background Music Library, Farfalla Records continues exploring the maze of the french library music through one of its most discreet and prolific representatives: Jacky Giordano and one of his many projects, the Musax label. Farfalla Records carefully selected this tracklisting among LPs recorded between 1978 and 1979 of which the originals became particularly sought after by the collectors. Jacky Giordano who appears under his aliases Joachim Sherylee and José Pharos, is surrounded by qualified and renowned musicians such as Jean-Pierre Decerf, Jean-Claude Pierric, Serge Planchon, Patrick Petitbon, Gérard Gesina, Jean-Charles Capon, Daniel Humair and also a band composed of members from the legendary Crazy Horse cabaret, namely Pedro Perea, Claude Brisset, Bruno Bompard, Jean-Claude Guselli, Claude Thirifays, Vincent Momplet and Joseph Gatineau. This selection mixing explosive jazz-funk, lascivious jazz and electronic music more spacey or experimental, which could also be the soundtrack for a TV show, a porn movie or a car chase between cops and gangsters in the bad neighbourhoods of Paris. A fascinating slice of the French music scene of the late 70 is brought to life before our very eyes. (Erwann Pacaud)

File Under: Library
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Various: Spiritual Jazz Volume 1 (Jazzman) LP

Jazzman Records presents the sound of the unsung musicians who — in the midst of the Vietnam War and the fallout of the Civil Rights struggle — created some of the most beautiful spiritual and meditative music of the era. Sometimes funky, sometimes mellow, but always trying to say something about the world in which we live. Existing completely under the critical radar and largely ignored or unknown by music fans and critics alike, most of the musicians featured in this album won’t be familiar to even the most seasoned aficionado. Their records, frequently turned down by distributors and record stores, saw little attention when first released — and have seen even less since. But in this era of musical apathy, where so many music junkies look to the past for their musical fix, Jazzman Records have re-discovered hidden, obscure and esoteric jazz musicians who looked to the four corners of the earth — and beyond — for inspiration. Here Jazzman Records evaluates spiritual jazz — music that is a snapshot of the era after Coltrane, a time which saw the evolution of an underground jazz that spoke about the reform of the soul, the reform of the spirit, and the reform of society: a music which was local and international at once, which was a personal journey and a political statement, and which was religious and secular in one non-contradictory breath. The music on this album reflects the social and historical forces at work during the closedown of the ’60s dream; music made by close-knit collectives and individual visionaries, by prisoners and eccentrics, by mystics and political radicals. It includes music by acknowledged masters, and moments of brilliance by unsung figures known to us from just one or two recordings. It is the jazz music of America in the age of civil rights, brutal repression, political assassination and war; a music that would guarantee the survival of the spiritual dimension in a society that was angry and traumatized, but nevertheless had seen hope of better days to come. Soul jazz; Black jazz; Spiritual jazz. Features James Tatum Trio Plus, Lloyd Miller, Morris Wilson Beau Bailey Quintet, Mor Thiam, Ndikho Xaba & The Natives, The Positive Force with Ade Olatunji, Salah Ragab and The Cairo Jazz Band, The Frank Derrick Total Experience, Hastings Street Jazz Experience, Ronnie Boykins, Leon Gardner, and Ohio Penitentiary 511 Jazz Ensemble.

File Under: Jazz, Spiritual
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Various: Cool Cat Club (Stag O Lee) LP

After the highly successful volumes The Crazy Rhythms Of Mata Hari and Shake Your Bones, Stag-O-Lee present Volume 3 in the Stag-O-Lee DJ Set series. Again, a compressed 80-minute set of a whole evening of DJing. This time behind the decks — Thorsten Dietsche, Stefan Christiansen, and Jonas Rein. The trio is known as Cool Cat Club and they are from Hamburg. They made their name with residencies at the Komet Club and as organizers of the yearly Hitch-Hike weekender. This limited double-disc features 32 tracks of pure ’50s rhythm & blues — hits and rarities, well mixed. This is for the dancefloor. Features Jimmy Rogers, Moose John, Joe Tex, Barrett Strong, Jeanette Williams, George Allen, Calvin and Clarence, Kenny and Moe, Little Jimmy Ray, Sugar Boy Williams, The Monitors, Vernon Harrel, Bobby Guy, Jackie Ross, Sugar Pie DeSanto, Walter Spriggs, Joe Sheppard, Frank Minion, Jimmy Ricks, Roy Corwin, Danny Cobb, Ray Johnson, Lee Parker, Kenny Martin, Howlin Wolf, Earl King, The Midnighters, Piney Brown and His Toppers, The Sterlings, Steve King & The Echelons, Don Ellis and Royal Dukes, and The Poets. Edition of 700.

File Under: Exotica, RnB

Various: Rockinitis Vol 3 (Stag O Lee) LP

The Rockinitis series showcases electric guitar blues from the mid-50s to the early ’60s. Unfettered pleasure in the form of Black dance music. Third time’s the charm as two heavy-hitters join the fray. Wexford, Ireland’s Bill Kealy, has been packing dancefloors for 30 years. He was sucked deep into the rhythm & blues vortex after following the trail back from the music of his youth; The Kinks, The Animals, and the like. A truly international DJ, hear his sets at The Federal Rhythm & Blues Club in Crewe, For Dancers Only in Dublin, or as a regular guest DJ at top R&B clubs almost everywhere. Steve Longworth spent his teenage years dancing to Soul at Wigan Casino. He was then drawn towards the R&B and popcorn sound. Since the early 2000s, he’s been running nights all across England’s North — Soulful Shack, Down In The Basement and The Ad-Lib, to name a few. He’s played gritty blues 45s at clubs from Barcelona to Melbourne and now regularly spins at Sheffield’s mighty Room At The Top. Features Al Simmons, Eddie Burns, Skip Robinson, The Nightriders, Roy Brown, Peppermint Harris, Ulie & The Uniques, Junior Wells, Little Walter, Dusty Brown, Ace Holder, Lynn Johnson, Detroit Junior, Jimmy Anthony, Magic Sam, and Poppa Hop.

File Under: Exotica, RnB