Yow! This is the biggest list this year for sure, maybe even longer! So many great slabs this week, but note… LOADS of this is in tomorrow. They will be available on the site, ONCE THEY ARRIVE. If they BUY HERE link doesn’t work, we know. It will tomorrow when it arrives. I’m sure I’ll post Green on Instagram when it arrives, so when that happens, everything else will be up there too.
And in case you’re wondering, no, we still aren’t opening up yet, despite the provincial gov’t’s confidence in how things are going. As I’ve been saying we’re in a good groove. Online ordering and pick-ups are working well and keeping everyone safe. We run a small shop. Distancing, and cleaning add an extra layer to the whole thing that I currently just can’t fathom adding to the mix right now. We’re keeping tabs on how things go with Phase 2 rolling out tomorrow and in the coming weeks.
As always, big thanks to everyone who’s been hitting up our webstore and placing orders! It’s getting competitive around 5pm when we post up fresh used stock. If you haven’t hit up the WEBSTORE, MAYBE YOU SHOULD! If you can’t figure out the site, or don’t like to use computers, you can always call the store and we can do an order over the phone. I’ll be at the shop 11-4 week days. Stay safe!
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…..picks of the week……
Hiroshi Yoshimura: Green (Light in the Attic) LP
IN FRIDAY!! Black vinyl version… coloured vinyl, coming soon. Barely known outside of his home country during his lifetime, the late Japanese ambient music pioneer Hiroshi Yoshimura has seen his global stature rise steadily in the past few years. The 2017 reissue of his lauded debut, Music For Nine Post Cards, along with a slow building cult internet following has helped ignite a renaissance in his acclaimed body of work, much of which has never been released outside of Japan. Known for his sound design and environmental music, Yoshimura worked on a number of commissions following the 1982 release of Music For Nine Post Cards, including works for museums, galleries, public spaces, TV shows, video art, fashion shows, and even a cosmetics company. Originally released in 1986, GREEN is one of Hiroshi Yoshimura’s most well-loved recordings and a favorite of the artist himself. Recorded over the winter of 1985-86 at Yoshimura’s home studio, the compositions unfold at an unhurried pace, a stark contrast to the busy city life of Tokyo. As Yoshimura explained in the original liner notes, the album title in the context of this body of work is not meant to be seen as a color, but is rather used to convey “the comfortable scenery of the natural cycle known as GREEN”—which perfectly encapsulates the soothing and warm sounds contained on the album, although it was created utilizing Yamaha FM synthesizers, known for their crisp digital tones. This edition marks the first reissue of the highly sought-after and impossible to find album. It features the original mix preferred by Yoshimura himself, previously available only on the initial Japanese vinyl release (a limited edition remixed version of the album, with added sound effects, was released on CD in the US). Additionally, this release is the first in our ongoing series, WATER COPY, focusing on the works of Hiroshi Yoshimura.
File Under: Japan, Ambient, New Age
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Bing & Ruth: Species (4AD) LP
Bing & Ruth, the ever-evolving project helmed by New York composer David Moore, returns on 4AD with the new 7-track, 49-minute record Species. While on a surface level, Species is an exploration of the sonic possibilities of the Farfisa organ, aided only by a clarinet and double bass (played respectively by founding members Jeremy Viner and Jeff Ratner), the title Species is a nod to both humanity and humility – a devotion to the godly intuition with which we are all endowed, and the humbleness required of us to perceive it. It’s also about suspended time and trance; not just a steady movement from A to B, but as something that flows, meanders and eddies, like water. “I suppose what interested me the most in putting this together was the concept of trance and what can happen to the listener by submitting to the wave of the thing,” Moore explains. “Upon reflection, I suppose what I was moving towards was a way to feel small – a way to feel deeply humble. I had always made music in search of some sort of inner peace, but I no longer cared so much to comfort myself. I’d grown tired, it seemed, of looking inward. I wanted to look nowhere.” Species, and the transcendental state it embodies, was inspired by two recent loves of Moore’s: the desert and long-distance running. Briefly relocating from his New York base to Point Dume, between the Pacific Ocean and the desert, Moore was able to indulge in both passions, which in turn provided stimulus for new work. He says, “I’d found myself in places unfamiliar enough that I could easily lose all sense of direction, size and, more than anything, all sense of time. The music I was making became a kind of reflection of these intentional detachments – and a place to mirror that feeling of trance that had pushed them out in the first place.”
File Under: Ambient, Experimental, Classical, Electronic
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…..new arrivals…..
Alternative Particle Choir: Black Hole Diaries (Twenty One Eighty Two) LP
IN FRIDAY! The early 1980s was a formative time for a wide variety of outstanding unique music coming out of Phoenix, Arizona. Experimental DIY, punk, prog rock, noise, comedy, jazz was all mixed together for a few years at any given “punk” show. In 1981, Alan Bishop and W. David Oliphant along with a rotating roster of talented musicians formed the post everything (at the time) group Destruction. This was a mix of jazz, punk, found sounds, loops, voice, and droning walls of noise. After 35 wandering years, Alan and David joined forces again along with Joel Robinson. They met up in Southern Arizona in August 2017 to record with the same post everything genre approach that had begun decades earlier. Black Hole Diaries is the result. For years music from Phoenix has been considered “sun damaged”, Twenty One Eighty Two Recording Company suggest that something much more sinister is afoot. Black Hole Diaries is music that comes from an undefined place, familiar yet not quite right. This is a sonic movie and you are both the projector and viewer of the visions that grow out of these sounds. Music that seems lost to time and perhaps even chemically induced but isn’t. A need to bring together while still isolating the experience as singular. Three composers refining their craft, but also using the tension and energy from each other to power something complete different from their own artistic statements. Experimental in collaboration, but not in purpose. “What a rebuke of capitalism might sound like if we weren’t suffocated by it.” –Donald Frankowski
File Under: Experimental, Sun City Girls
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Alva Noto: Xerrox Vol. 4 (Noton) LP
IN FRIDAY! Alva Noto returns to his much awaited Xerrox project with Vol. 4, the fourth installment of the five-piece intended series based on the concept of digital replication of source material. Using the process of copying as a basis, the Xerrox series deals with the manipulation of data by means of endless reproduction. Due to the inherent fallacy of the procedure involving the making of copies made from other copies, everyday sounds become so altered that they can be hardly associated with the source material. As a result, entirely new sounds are created: copies of originals become originals themselves. Following Xerrox Vol. 1 (R-N 078CD/LP, 2007), Vol. 2 (R-N 103LP, 2009), Vol. 3 (R-N 159CD/LP, 2015), Carsten Nicolai continues the pentalogy eluding the accuracy and precise sound design for which he’s renowned, and turning to a more harmony-driven composition technique. Unlike the previous Xerrox albums, whose starting point is a set of samples extracted from external sources and fragments of recordings, Vol. 4 compounds under a unified cinematic soundscape, warm chords, thrumming digital ambiences, liquified electronics, drones, and noise sustained by floods of strings. The tension between the organic warmth and static curves, broad tones into distant roars and electronic cascade of sounds. While Alva Noto’s oeuvre is predominantly affiliated with pristine sound design, Xerrox holds more intimate gestures and emotional sensibility. This fourth volume shuns further from the conceptualism and orderliness of prior musical outputs, ranging from heart-warming elegies to mind-bending sci-fi projections in extrasolar territories.
File Under: Electronic, Ambient
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Arca: KiCk i (XL) LP
Produced and recorded by Arca, KiCk i defines a new era of multiplex harmony for the Venezuelan artist, singer, DJ, performer and experimental music composer. Featuring guest appearances by Björk, Rosalía, Shygirl and Sophie, KiCk i is a celebration not only of the joy Arca’s been able to find in her life, but the sometimes arduous journey it took for her to find it. Her struggles to reconcile her Venezuelan heritage and her trans Latinx identity emerge as reggaetón and pop en Español. “I don’t want to be tied to one genre,” Arca says. “I don’t want to be labeled as one thing.”
File Under: Electronic
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Astral Travel: If You Say You Are From This Planet, Why Do You Treat It Like You Do? (Hyperjazz) LP
IN FRIDAY! Enter a world in which drummer and composer Tommaso Cappellato leads a new configuration of his Astral Travel ensemble, comprised of select improvisers from the contemporary creative music scene. Inspired by the poetry of Sun Ra inscribed within the pages of the book This Planet Is Doomed, the music and lyrics focus on the current consciousness of the planet, raising questions and issues of humanity’s collective spiritual direction. The body of work contained in this album is the result of numerous live-in-studio improvisations, deconstructed in a meticulous post-production process by avant-garde electronic producer Rabih Beaini. Vocalists Dwight Trible and Camilla Battaglia sing and declaim the poems, which are enveloped in a spontaneous musical magma. Each piece is collectively created by Tommaso Cappellato on drums along with pianist Fabrizio Puglisi, reeds player Piero Bittolo Bon, who also contributes to the electronic soundscape, and double bassist Marco Privato. Astral Travel was created in memory of Cappellato’s late mentor, pianist and arranger Harry Whitaker, composer of the ’70s masterpiece Black Renaissance. The ensemble debuted in 2013 with the release of the album Cosm’ethic for UK label, Jazz Re:freshed. It was later re-issued on Japanese imprint P-Vine Records — a success that earned Cappellato the JAJ Award from Shuya Okino, acknowledging him as the year’s best new artist. A major highlight of the collective’s journey thus far includes a performance in Berlin as part of a tribute to Arthur Blythe, staged by Jaw Family in conjunction with Gilles Peterson and the Steve Reid Foundation.
File Under: Jazz
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Chet Baker: Mr. B (Tidal Waves) LP
IN FRIDAY! Chet Baker (1929 – 1988) was an American jazz trumpeter, actor and vocalist that needs little introduction. Baker earned much attention and critical praise through the 1950s but his well-publicized drug habit also drove his notoriety (he was in and out of jail frequently before enjoying a career resurgence in the late ‘70s and ’80s). Chet’s career included collaborations with greats such as Elvis Costello, Charlie Parker and Van Morrison. Mr. Baker was the subject of many books and documentaries throughout the decades and he was even portrayed by Ethan Hawke in the 2015 film Born to Be Blue. Chet began his musical career singing in a church choir and his mother said that he had begun to memorize tunes on the radio before he was even given his first instrument. Peers called Baker a natural musician to whom playing came effortlessly. In the early 1950s he was chosen by Charlie Parker for a series of West Coast engagements…shortly after this, his song “My Funny Valentine” became a hit and would be associated with Baker for the rest of his career. Mr. Baker (with his quartet) was a regular performer at famous Los Angeles jazz clubs such as The Haig. Chet Baker’s quartet released popular albums between 1953 and 1956 and he won reader’s polls at Metronome & Down Beat magazine, beating trumpeters Miles Davis and Clifford Brown. In 1956, Pacific Jazz Records released Chet Baker Sings, an album that seriously increased his visibility. During most of the 1960s (before heading to Europe more frequently) Chet recorded music that could be classified as ‘West Coast jazz’ From 1978 until his death in 1988, Chet Baker lived and played almost exclusively in Europe, returning to the U.S. once a year for a few performances. This was Baker’s most prolific era as a recording artist. On the album we are presenting you today (Mr.B) you’ll find Dutch recordings (recorded in 1983 & released in 1984). This rare gem of an album is comprised out of tracks written by some of the top jazz composers of all time (Herbie Hancock, Horace Silver, David Brubeck,..) and played meticulously by Baker and his all-star line-up trio consisting out of Ricardo Del Fra (Ennio Morricone), John Engels (Toots Thielemans, Dizzy Gillespie) and Michel Graillier (Magma, Steve Grossman). On the bonus tracks you’ll also find a top performance from Philip Catherine (Placebo) on guitar. Be prepared for eight sublime tunes that bring out the more intimate and touching aspects of the Chet Baker sound, a fantastic session where the master plays his themes with an almost religious surrender. There is a sadness permeating the trumpeter’s sound throughout…a deep and touching beauty can be felt, marking this as one of Chet’s best from the period. Originally released in 1984, Tidal Waves Music now proudly presents the first official reissue of Chet Baker’s classic Mr. B album. This reissue was remastered by Peter Brussee (Herman Brood) and is featuring the original album cover shot by Hans Harzheim (Pharoah Sanders, Coltrane & Sun Ra). Also included are the original liner notes from jazz writer Wim Van Eyle and two bonus tracks that were not on the original vinyl release. Available as a deluxe 180g vinyl edition (limited to 250 copies on CLEAR VINYL) with obi strip.
File Under: Jazz
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Bell Witch & Aerial Ruin: Stygian Bough: Volume 1 (Profound Lore) LP
The debut collaboration album from doom metal giants Bell Witch and Aerial Ruin (the solo folk project of singer/songwriter Erik Moggridge), under the moniker of Stygian Bough is a culmination of the work of both artists as witnessed previously on Bell Witch’s three full length albums, where Moggrdige has contributed guest vocals. With each succeeding Bell Witch release, one has seen Moggridge’s involvement with the band developing, growing and getting more elaborate. This release, produced by Randall Dunn (Sunn O))), Wolves In The Throne Room, Anna Von Hausswolff), follows up Bell Witch’s colossal “Mirror Reaper” opus with Moggrdige actually being involved in the creative and writing process with the band duo of Dylan Desmond (bass/vocals) and Jesse Shreibman (drums/synthesizers/vocals). Not only does Stygian Bough expand and broaden this alliance between the artists, but with Aerial Ruin contributing to the songwriting of this dedicated collaboration and incorporating his signature and alluring style of emotionally-driven folk, along with taking the lead vocal position, adding to the band’s caliber of unearthly towering doom, this album becomes its own singular, unparalleled doom metal entity.
File Under: Metal
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Lea Bertucci: Acoustic Shadows (SA) LP
IN FRIDAY! A new LP and sample library from the acclaimed New York composer, performer and sound designer Lea Bertucci. A work of three interlinked incarnations, ‘Acoustic Shadows’ began as an event, which then became an album and has inspired a sample library for other musicians. The Event (recalled by Lea Bertucci) “Acoustic Shadows I-III was a series of site-specific musical performances and a sound installation that took place in the enclosed hollow body of the Deutzer bridge in Koln, Germany, 2018. Spanning approximately 440 meters across the Rhine river, the extraordinary acoustics and rich existing aural architecture of this site became crucial components of the installation and musical compositions. An 8-channel speaker system distributed throughout the bridge became activated by three instrumental performances that happened throughout the course of a week. Fragments of each performance were captured by microphones installed in the space and then played back through the 8-channels after the performance was over in a loop of overlapping moments, creating a sonic accumulation that takes place over long stretches of time – a musical performance with no clear ending. The first performance, for solo alto saxophone, served as the basis for the rest of the piece, as the sounds generated during this performance were played back as an installation throughout the following days. The second performance built upon the first, this time with an 8-piece brass ensemble. Again, the sounds produced here were captured in a similar fashion from the first performance and continued as an installation for the next few days. On the last day, a performance for three percussionists closed out the event and completed the project. I wanted to create elements within this project that directly responded to the auditory richness of the site. In each composition, I looked for particular instruments that would excite the acoustic characteristics of the space. With approximately 14 seconds of reverb, distinctive delay effects and a room tone of approximately 65 hz, the hollow body of the bridge provided a lush sonic backdrop to stage these pieces. The Album… Regarding editing and reworking the original ‘Acoustic Shadows’ performance recordings into an album, Bertucci comments; “Rather than offer a straight document of a piece that eschewed notions of time, space and subjective/mutable spatial positioning of the listeners, I was more interested in shaping compositions that worked within the parameters of an LP, developing pieces that worked within the approximate timeframe of 20 minutes on each side and capturing the essence of the experience. The original pieces were more than 40 minutes long each, and with no real ending due to the playback element that transformed performance into installation.” Utilising the “natural processing of sound”, direct audio sources provided by Bertucci and percussionists, tram noise from the bridge and voices of visitors to the installation coalesce with the space’s own reverberations and resonances, creating two sonically opulent compositions. On ‘Brass’ drones rise like giant slo-mo waves, contrasting with stabs which dart across the soundspace like shards, whilst on ‘Percussion’ beats appear as thrown objects, flying through and bouncing off surfaces, giving the listener a 3D sensory and spatial perception akin to a bat’s echolocation. This detailed deep listening experience has a transportive quality, summoning a vivid sensation of being present as the installation took place. Both pieces map and evoke a sense of the bridges’ impressive size, shape and material, whereby its incredible acoustic properties purvey a monolithic auditory power and profound sense of gravitas. “The LP is best listened to at loud volumes and on good speakers in order to feel the mesmeric power of sound in space”, suggests Bertucci.
File Under: Electronic
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Bonjintan (Sakata/ O’Rourke/ Domenico/ Yamamoto): Dental Kafka (Trost) LP
IN FRIDAY! Jim O’Rourke (of Gastr del Sol and Sonic Youth fame) plays a lot with Japanese free jazz legend Akira Sakata in various formations. Together with Italian composer and pianist Giovanni di Domenico and the drummer Tatsuhisa Yamamoto they form this powerful band. Their second release combines contemporary avantgarde and free jazz in a beautiful way. Personnel: Akira Sakata – sax, clarinet, voice; Jim O’Rourke – double bass; Giovanni Di Domenico – piano, Hohner pianet; Tatsuhisa Yamamoto – drums. Recorded at Hoshi to Niji studio June 30th, 2018; Recorded by Jim O’Rourke.
File Under: Jazz, Avant Garde
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Paul Dupont & His Orchestra: Tapestry
(Farfalla) LP
IN FRIDAY! This album was recorded for the London based recording company “Chappell Recorded Music” and released in 1977 exclusively for professional use. Farfalla Records allows you to discover again the music of Roger Webb (aka Paul Dupont) with this album that could have been the perfect soundtrack for a crime film of the 1970s, alternating powerful tracks with jazz-funk rhythms and melodic tracks with light/romantic themes.
File Under: Library, Jazz, Funk
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Executioner’s Mask: Despair Anthems
(Profound Lore) LP
Executioner’s Mask is the dark post-punk child of three unlikely suspects: Jay Gambit of the noise metal unit Crowhurst providing vocals, Ryan Wilson from the legendary Intestinal Disgorge lending both guitar and drum programming, and Lace and Cop Warmth’s Craig Mickle handles even more guitar. Together they offer a modern take on the classic blueprints set by bands like AFI, The Sisters Of Mercy and Red Lorry, Yellow Lorry. The band, hailing from equal parts Texas and Philadelphia, debuted with 2018’s True Blue demo – a gloomy and cavernous release, weaving infectious hooks at every turn. Not too much after, the group completed production on Despair Anthems, their Profound Lore debut. It features production from Jeff Zeigler (Kurt Vile, Nothing) and Ryan Schwabe (Big Thief, Algernon Caldweller), allowing it to be both raw and satisfying throughout.
File Under: Metal
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Agostino Nirodh Fortini: Suoni Immaginari (Black Sweat) LP
IN FRIDAY! Before his prolific activity in the field of music therapy, Agostino Nirodh Fortini also embarked on his own path in electronic music. In the early 80s, he was a close collaborator of Walter Maioli and Fred Gales, at the time of the pioneering label Sound Reporters. Suoni Immaginari, released only on cassette privately in 1988, contains a wide range of keyboards and lots of ethnic field recordings assembled with an absolutely modern praxis ahead of its time. Nirodh imagines his planetary odysseys as a complex of harmonic devices, nebula storms, glassy explosions and gravity-free falls. His operational horizon reflects further cultural ideas and suggestions; not only the artifice between natural sounds and the programmed machine but also the intrusion of arabesque dreams and jungles contaminated by invading insects and mad pipers. These are spectral symphonies which can have analogies with the fourth world of Hassell and Eno.
File Under: Fourth World, Electronic, Ambient
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Frogs: 1st (End of All Music) LP
The Frogs re-emerge in 2020 with the previously unreleased “1st”. More than a vast departure from The Frogs’ previous works, it’s an arrival at the beginning. It’s the 1st original debut album. Recorded within the realms of time stamped January 1986, “1st” (aka Pat’s Session) was intended to be the initial release by brothers Dennis and Jimmy Flemion prior to The Frogs’ 1988 self-titled debut. Twin/Tone Records approached The Frogs and expressed fawning interest, extending an invitation to record the band after their 1985, 7th Street Entry live performance. It was at this point, the famous fork in the road, where The Frogs opted to record closer to home, thus the path deviated a few weeks later to Nexus Recording Studio in Waukesha, Wisconsin. 12 rapid fire songs emerged and were captured on reel to reel, one night, recorded live, first take, no overdubs. Upon playback review, the late Dennis Flemion opted not to release the album due to the overabundance of reverb. 32 years later, Jimmy would take the recordings to a Portland, Oregon recording studio to remaster. The studio engineer successfully cleaned-up and removed the excess reverb.
File Under: Rock, Weirdness
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Ryo Fukui: My Favorite Tune (Slow Boat) LP
IN FRIDAY! Deeper and more vivid. This is his first and only solo piano album, including the masterpiece “Nord,” which was born during his journey to the north. Ryo Fukui’s third album is the first analog version! This is his first and only solo piano work in 17 years since “Mellow Dream”, which was released only on CD in 1994 and has been out of print for a long time. In addition to songs that represent Fukui’s work such as “Scenery” and “Mellow Dream”, fans will be delighted to hear songs such as “Voyage” and “Nord”, which were written on a trip to the north, and “Nobody’s”, which is a tribute to his mentor Barry Harris. aThe profoundness of a bop pianist, which he has acquired through his studies, is wonderfully combined with Fukui’s deep Hokkaido feeling, which he has always possessed. This is a masterpiece that should be listened to for years to come.
File Under: Jazz, Japan
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Asher Gamedze: Dialectic Soul (On the Corner) LP
IN FRIDAY! Includes printed inner sleeves. On The Corner Records announce the release of Dialectic Soul, the debut album from one of Cape Town’s most cutting-edge, visionary artists and musicians, the drummer Asher Gamedze. This is jazz at its most spiritual, most progressive, and most appealing form. As Asher himself says: “Dialectic Soul is about motion and a refusal to remain static or stay still. It’s the commitment to be continually moving.” Recorded live over two days at the Sound and Motion Studios in Cape Town with renowned musicians — Thembinkosi Mavimbela (bass), Buddy Wells (tenor sax), Robin Fassie-Kock (trumpet), Nono Nkoane (voc) — Dialectic Soul is breathtaking in its musical vitality and expression of soul seeking truth. By incorporating the concept of the total art for this project, it fits perfectly within On The Corner’s aesthetic of music, art and vision for creative innovation. Label art director Victoria Topping created the sleeve design working with Asher’s drawings and concept. Asher continues: “My composition ‘state of emergence’ introduces the themes that constitute the album; free drums representing autonomous African motion, the saxophone reflecting deeply and honestly on the violence of colonialism, the teachings of Coltrane, Steve Biko, Makeba, and Malcolm X and others inspired the music’s positive manifestations of resistance. Fundamentally, it is about the reclamation of the historical imperative. It is about the dialect of the soul and the spirit while it moves through history. The soul is dialectic. Motion is imperative. We keep moving.” Gamedze is best known for his work with Angel Bat Dawit on International Anthem.
File Under: Jazz
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Ron Geesin: Pot Boilers (Trunk) LP
IN FRIDAY! Sublime, unique, sexy, and peculiar unreleased scores by electronic and jazz pioneer Ron Geesin, made for the films by maverick director Stephen Dwoskin. Geesin made great music and worked with Pink Floyd. Dwoskin made odd films, most of them are in the BFI permanent collection. These superb unreleased soundtracks come from a fascinating, progressive, and important period in British film history. They represent an intriguing collaboration between the lively Ron Geesin from Scotland and the American Stephen Dwoskin, who both met in London. Musically they are minimal, charismatic, and quite groundbreaking. Ron’s soundtracks for Dwoskin’ films, recorded in the Geesins’s flat, encompassed Ron’s very eclectic range of styles — madcap piano and fretted banjo as well as tape manipulation. Aside from Ron’s soundtracks, some of which belong to films that no longer exist (including Pot-Boiler). There was no London equivalent to the underground film scene that Dwoskin had known in New York, and his films remained unseen until such a scene began to come into being, in the autumn of 1966. Some of them made their debut at the Mercury Theatre, near Notting Hill Gate, that September. Dwoskin wrote Alone, starring Zelda Nelson (from Ron Rice’s Chumlum), and Chinese Checkers, with Beverly Grant and Dwoskin’s friend Joan Adler. Soon both Dwoskin and Geesin became involved in the nascent London Film-Makers’ Co-op, which put on screenings in Better Books on Charing Cross Road. In the same autumn, Dwoskin moved into a flat almost opposite the Geesins on Elgin Crescent. More collaborations followed, including Naissant, on which Gavin Bryars, whom Geesin had met during a stint on the northern club circuit with novelty act Dr Crock and His Crackpots, played double bass. Around the end of 1967, Geesin released his first solo LP, A Raise of Eyebrows, and Dwoskin won recognition at the Fourth Experimental Film Competition, aka EXPRMNTL 4, an occasional film festival staged at Knokke-le-Zoute in Belgium. By now the films had optical soundtracks. For Moment, a single-shot film, Geesin provided his most experimental score yet. At the time of its debut in 1970, Dwoskin and the Geesins were sharing a house in Ladbroke Grove. By then, Ron was working with Pink Floyd, and soon afterwards he and Frankie moved out to the country, to be replaced by Bryars both in the house and as Dwoskin’s principal collaborator. Until now these scores have remained part of the Geesin Archive and have never been issued. Sleeve notes by Ron Geesin.
File Under: OST, Electronic
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Malcolm Goldie: Sound of Malcolm (Trunk) LP
IN FRIDAY! What the fuck is going on here? Sounds totally insane. Like it was made by a cage of techno chimps or minions or something. Not sure it should even be allowed. It absolutely cannot be compared to anything. Malcolm Goldie makes all sorts of things, including music. He makes lots of music in fact, for stuff like those Adidas trainers you are wearing, or those Nike Football boots worn by International soccer superstars. When these companies need something totally off the fucking wall for their kooky advertising films, Malcolm normally gets the call. He is a master of the cut and sonic stick, the accurate and intensely random, he makes the bizarre effortlessly more so. Jonny Trunk has known Malcolm a long time, so he thought it would be a groovy idea to ask Malcolm to make his debut LP for Trunk Records. And this totally unusual set of cues proves that this was not just a good idea, but it proves that Malcolm does actually have a DeLorean and has traveled to the future, made an LP, brought it back and given it to the world now. This is the future. Right now. A new sonic language even.
File Under: Electronic, Experimental
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Harald Grosskopf: Synthesist (40th Anniversary Edition) (Bureau B) LP
IN FRIDAY! Double LP version. Yellow transparent vinyl; edition of 500. Bureau B present a 40th Anniversary Edition reissue of Harald Grosskopf’s Synthesis, originally released on Sky Records in 1980. 40th Anniversary Edition features new interpretations by Steve Baltes, Thorsten Quaeschning, Paul Frick, Kreidler, Pyrolator, Love-Songs, Stefan Lewin, Camera, and Tellavision. “Harald Grosskopf was in his early twenties when LSD “blew [his] reality away”, as he recalls. Born in Hildesheim in 1949, he had previously drummed in fairly conventional rock bands, most recently for Wallenstein. Their label boss Rolf-Ulrich Kaiser was fond of facilitating jam sessions for musicians on his Ohr und Pilz label, often supplying his ‘cosmic couriers’ with LSD (unbeknown to them, on occasion). In one such session, the drug inspired something of an epiphany in Grosskopf: ‘There I was playing the drums when, in the midst of my euphoria, I realized that I had been imitating other drummers. Suddenly a voice spoke to me: stop trying to sound like Billy Cobham or Ginger Baker. From that moment on I felt liberated, free to drum without having to shine in a particular role.’ Having discovered his own musical identity, Harald Grosskopf understood that a standard rock combo was not the ideal conduit through which to express it . . . Grosskopf consequently left Wallenstein. ‘I fell into a hole at first, wondering what I was going to do. So I sold my prized drum kit and used the money to buy a guitar, amp and echo device.’ A few days later, the doorbell rang. It was Manuel Göttsching, on his way back to Berlin from a tour of France. They knew each other from Berlin’s electronic scene and recording sessions for the likes of Ash Ra Tempel. Göttsching invited Grosskopf to sign up for his new project Ashra and the rest is history: Ashra (Grosskopf, Göttsching, Lutz Ulbrich alias Lüül) released a series of successful albums in the years that followed. It was not until the summer of 1979, however, that he finally felt ready to release a solo album. Synthesist comprises eight instrumentals, recorded largely by Grosskopf on his own. His melodies, carried along by synthesizers and drums, were reminiscent of works by Berlin electronic friends such as Klaus Schulze and Tangerine Dream, as well as those ‘cosmic’ sessions of the early 1970s — yet each melody retains a unique timbre. Synthesist is thus regarded as a classic by electronic music enthusiasts all over the world, evoking a thrilling musical era of the past with equal capacity to excite today.” –Christoph Dallach
File Under: Electronic, Kosmische
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Motohiko Hamase: Technodrome
(WRWTFWW) LP
IN FRIDAY! WRWTFWW Records announce the official reissue of Motohiko Hamase’s astounding ambient house album Technodrome, originally released in 1993. This marks the fourth release from the Esplanade Series which focuses on the works of Yoshio Ojima, Motohiko Hamase, and Satsuki Shibano. Inspired by John Cage, Jon Hassel, Brian Eno, and the emergence of house and techno music, Technodrome is jazz bassist turned electronic experimentalist Motohiko Hamase’s foray into what he calls ambient house or, as he explains, “using the gritty sensation inherent to the core of house music” to create an ambient record “aiming to express inverted images, optical illusions, and the sense of déjà vu that modern people can get in the city.” Technodrome is constructed around innovative minimalism, a robotic funk orchestrated by bass lines and percussions, and monochrome moods. It’s the most intriguing project in Hamase’s discography, a ghostly ride set in ’90s urban landscape, where repetition sets the groove and brings things to life, echoing Hamase’s deeper subtext for his compositions: “and attempt to recreate (as metaphor) the time in our mother’s womb.” The album was initially released in 1993 by Newsic, the cult label started by Tokyo’s Wacoal Art Center (also known as Spiral), home, notably, of Yoshio Ojima who co-produced the album. It is now reissued in conjunction with Motohiko Hamase’s #Notes of Forestry (1988) and Anecdote albums. The album is sourced from original masters and available on CD and vinyl for the first time ever. Includes liner notes from the artist.
File Under: Electronic, Japan
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Motohiko Hamase: Anecdote (WRWTFWW) LP
IN FRIDAY! Three-sided. WRWTFWW Records announce the official reissue of Motohiko Hamase’s extremely rare live album Anecdote, recorded in 1987. This marks the sixth release from the Esplanade Series which focuses on the works of Yoshio Ojima, Motohiko Hamase, and Satsuki Shibano. Anecdote was recorded live June 12th, 1987 at Spiral Garden (Wacoal Art Center) in Aoyama (Tokyo) as part of the Eat Newsic Concert No.3. Motohiko Hamase on electric fretless bass, synthesizers, and computer programming, is accompanied by frequent collaborators Toshio Kaji on acoustic piano and synthesizers, and Yasunori Yamaguchi (of #Notes of Forestry fame) on acoustic percussions. The three-man band improvises around Hamase’s unique repertoire of ambient and electronic music, reinterpreting pieces from his albums Reminiscence (STUDIOMUL 010CD/LP), Intaglio (STUDIOMUL 008CD/LP), and #Notes of Forestry. It’s environmental and minimalist experiments with a jazz soul, three brilliant musicians flowing to blissful heights, and a beautiful testament to the ’80s Japanese ambient scene that gave birth to seminal releases by Midori Takada, Satoshi Ashikawa, Yutaka Hirose, and many more. Essential. The live album came out on CD only in 1993 on Motohiko Hamase’s Lung Records. It is now reissued in conjunction with his #Notes of Forestry and Anecdote albums. The album is sourced from original masters and available on vinyl (double LP) for the first time ever as well as on CD. It comes with liner notes from the artist.
File Under: Electronic, Japan
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Loleatta Holloway: Cry to Me (Tidal Waves) LP
IN FRIDAY! Loleatta Holloway (born in Chicago, 1946) was an American R&B-Disco singer known for her massive hit songs such as “Hit and Run”, “Love Sensation” and “Relight My Fire”, all of which have been sampled extensively worldwide. Billboard magazine ranked her as one of most successful dance artists of all-time. Holloway first began her career singing gospel music, then in the early 70s, she met her future producer, manager (and husband) Floyd Smith which kick-started her impressive recording career. Shortly after Holloway signed with the Atlanta-based soul music label ‘Aware’ where she recorded two albums: Loleatta (1973) and Cry to Me (1975). Later, in the mid 70s she signed with top Philadelphia arranger and producer Norman Harris’ Gold Mind/Salsoul Records, where she recorded many more top charting hit singles and launched her career as a disco act. From then on (and until this day) Holloway’s songs (which became DJ favorites) were heavily remixed and sampled on a multitude of tracks from renowned acts such as Whitney Houston, Bobby Byrd, Raekwon, Flo Rida, Pitbull, Ice Cube…and MANY others. Loleatta Holloway passed away at the age of 64 on March 21, 2011 leading to a wave of tributes and condolences from across the globe (Holloway also had a huge following in Europe and Japan). Her second album (Cry to Me from 1975), which we are presenting you today is a total classic…both the album (and the title track) peaked in the R&B and Billboard Hot Soul Singles charts. Cry To Me was produced by Floyd Smith and it features tracks penned by some of the most talented songwriters of the time…Sam Dees (Gladys Knight, Bo Diddley, Aretha Franklin) wrote five of the tracks on the album and his arrangements provide the perfect backdrop for Loleatta’s emotive, dramatic and powerful vocals. Curtis Mayfield also contributes the magnificent ‘Just Be True’ track and Jo Armstead (Ray Charles, Syl Johnson, Tina Turner) wrote the beautiful ‘Casanova’ song. This record is a soul masterpiece extraordinaire…fantastic piano plays accompanied by chiming guitars, swirling strings, a powerful rhythm section and gospel tinged backing vocals. Loleatta’s vocals are devastatingly sad, as she sings about her relationship breaking up and the pain and sadness it’s caused her. She just sings her heart out… it’s almost impossible to listen to the album without getting caught up in the emotion. Loleatta roars defiantly, using all of her strength to deliver this classic slice of Southern Soul music. Originally released in 1975, Tidal Waves Music now proudly presents the first official reissue of Loleatta’s classic Cry to Me album. Remastered from the original master tapes by Ginn Music Group-Aware Records and if features the original album cover designed by Ruby Mazur (Pharoah Sanders, Sun Ra, John Lee Hooker). Available as a deluxe 180g vinyl edition (limited to 250 copies on CLEAR VINYL) with obi strip.
File Under: R&B, Disco
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JPQ: Quintessence (Tidal Waves) LP
IN FRIDAY! JPQ (Jimmy Person Quintet) was a short-lived soul & funk band from the Greensboro, North Carolina area who released just one album in 1983. Their only album (Quintessence) would become a much sought-after private pressed holy grail within the record collecting community. Jimmy Person started performing as a singer/guitarist in the early 70’s in Greensboro…after appearing at several local events and multiple appearances on WFMY-TV, he was approached to perform regularly at a restaurant (named Sammy’s) that featured live music. By the mid 70’s Jimmy began working with his sister (Rhoda Randolph) and his then wife (Marilyn Person) both featuring as background singers. Other skilled musicians began to sit in on Jimmy’s performances…starting with Charles Carlton (guitar), followed by Cirt Gill (bass guitar) and then finally by Larry Clay (drums). The group gained quick popularity and played to a regular packed house. After Talib Din (keyboards) joined…JPQ was now complete! Offers for gigs started coming in fast and the group began giving regular performances at a larger restaurant named Huck’s. With a fast growing fanbase, the group started evolving beyond just being Person’s “backup band” to a serious outfit with strong lead-vocals by Jimmy, Larry, and Cirt. The group started traveling to perform at dances, wedding receptions, concerts, clubs, and outdoor jazz events. The group performed as an opening act for many national artists from the likes of Melba Moore, Archie Bell and The Spinners as their popularity increased. JPQ is still remembered today for their memorable live performances in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia! JPQ’s first recording was, “Have A Little Faith in Me” released as a 45 single. The 7inch got radio airplay on stations in North Carolina and this then led to the production of the “Quintessence” album (released on Jam-A-Ditty Records in 1983). The name of the label was a reference to Cirt’s father who was a radio pioneer (and the first Black DJ at WGBG Radio) from 1949 to 1960. He was known on the air as ‘Jam-A-Ditty’. After JPQ disbanded in the mid 80’s, members went their own way… Cirt Gill started his work as a band director in the Guilford County School system where he directed marching bands & jazz bands at different schools and in numerous concerts/performances. He has been busy teaching academic music production, playing in regional bands (that were opening acts for major artists such as Earth, Wind & Fire, Millie Jackson, Bobby Womack, The Isley Brothers, etc.) and has performed on tours both at home as abroad (from Iceland to Japan). In 1985 Gill was cast as the ‘Juke Joint Musician’ by Quincy Jones to star in Steven Spielberg’s 1985 film ‘The Color Purple’ and got the chance to work with Whoopi Goldberg, Laurence Fishburne & Oprah Winfrey. JPQ was a true example of a bright light burning out way too quickly, thankfully we are left with the unique (and very rare) document that is their “Quintessence” album. The entire album is filled with sexy (yet strong) vocals, groovy bass lines & even cosmic/bluesy guitar touches …one can clearly hear the influences of artists like George Benson, The Crusaders, as well as several Motown acts like Marvin Gaye softly slipping in. If you like your tracks either slow, sexy and groovy or prefer them fast paced and more experimental…look no further, “Quintessence” has it all. This is THE perfect combination of slick soul, timeless funk, smooth jazz and melancholic R&B. Tidal Waves Music now proudly presents the first ever vinyl reissue of this fantastic private pressed North Carolina soul/funk album (originally released in 1983 on Jam-A-Ditty Records). This rare record (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 insert.
File Under: Soul, Funk
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Kanaan: Double Sun (El Paraiso) LP
IN FRIDAY! Kanaan from Oslo, Norway is back with their second album in 2020. Following the impromptu Odense Sessions with Causa Sui guitarist Jonas Munk released in February (EPR 057LP, 2020), Double Sun is a different beast all together: Treading the same path as their 2018 debut Windborne (EPR 050CD/LP, 2018), Double Sun is a studio effort in the best sense of the word. Perfectly balanced on the edge of dynamic improv, throbbing beats sizzled in scorching fuzz and topped off with deeply layered soundscapes. This album sees Kanaan reach a new plateau. Kanaan presents a unique perspective to psychedelic rock, painting with a wide palette that includes jazz and post-rock. Double Sun devotes as much energy to sonic color as it does to groove and energy. The spirit of experimentation is everywhere: From the savory, pastoral sounds of opening track “Worlds Together”, to the soaring exploratory paths of the two-part title track. In the creative process, Kanaan dived deep into the possibilities of the studio, adding intricate layers and twists and turns to these tunes: acoustic guitars, percussions, and synthesizers embrace and enhance the Norwegian modern-day version of a power-trio.
File Under: Psych, Jazz, Prog
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Egistio Macchi: Sud e Magia (Cinedelic) LP
IN FRIDAY! Maestro Egisto Macchi (Gruppo di Improvvisazione Nuova Consonanza) recorded this mystical ethnographic trip to the South of Italy imbued with its rites, superstitions, magical symbols and popular mythologies in 1977 for the TV Documentary Sud E Magia. Astoundingly evoking the intensity, magic, and psychedelia of its subject with the use of inventive and unconventional techniques (aerophones, crystal glasses, prepared piano), Macchi harmonizes kindred spirits from transcendental, religious, and metaphysical sound forms. Produced in the Feeling Records Studios, Turin, which had the highest level of equipment and technicians, this pinnacle of experimental library music is released for the first time with audio restored from the original masters tapes.
File Under: Library, Gruppo
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Maston: Tulips (Be With) LP
IN FRIDAY! Frank Maston’s Tulips is a sample-ready film score to the best ’70s movie never made. Originally a super-limited self-release on his Phonoscope label in late 2017. Be With Records were introduced to Maston by mutual friends Aquarium Drunkard and it didn’t take long before the label decided this modern classic deserved a reissue. Inspired by the deep-grooving soundtracks of Italian cinema — think Morricone, Umiliani, and Alessandroni — Maston conceived the entire Tulips project as a continuation of these revered works. Frank designed the artwork and made two 16mm films to accompany the music. There’s a distinct library music feel too, with wiry organ, spacey keyboards and loping ’60s guitar hinting at KPM and DeWolfe. Like the best library music, Tulips creates a cinematic universe through sound alone, evoking moving images in the listener’s technicolor imagination. Tulips was recorded between 2015 and 2017 in a small studio in a village called Zwaag in Holland, during downtime from Frank’s touring duties with Jacco Gardner’s band. With some very European influences in mind, Frank wanted to eschew any American influences. But you can still feel the studio wizardry of the likes of Brian Wilson and Harry Nilsson in there somewhere. A psychedelic bedroom-pop song-cycle, full of hypnotic hooks and dusty drums, Tulips manages to sound charmingly homemade yet wholly widescreen. Dreamy opener “Swans” is an exquisite soul instrumental and recalls the soft-psych of Koushik. Tropicalia influences abound in the cool and breezy “New Danger” and the KPM-references are loud and proud on the lush organ pop of “Old Habits”. Fast-paced “Chase Theme No. 1” manages to be both tense and laid back, decorated by acid-drenched spaghetti Western guitars. The glorious Gainsbourg-esque melancholia of “Infinite Bliss” is all gauzy flutes and happy-sad vocalizing and the title is almost perfect. Side A closes with “Evening”, a subtle bossa nova beat thing. Side B opens with the heat-shimmer guitars of “Rain Dance”, evoking an unreleased Byrds or Buffalo Springfield backing track. “Sure Thing” is music to accompany an elevator ride you never want to end, but in a good way! The ornate “Garçon Manqué” is as beautiful as the instrumentals on Pet Sounds and the wistful “Turning In” starts like a stroll in the park before Maston introduces a scorched-Earth guitar solo. “Chase Theme No. 2” is a briefer, more keening counterpart to what is on side A. The head-nod bass-drums-keys funk of “Hues” rounds out this staggeringly assured set. Mastered for vinyl by Simon Francis. Alternative burnt orange artwork from Maston. 140 gram vinyl; can be played at 33rpm or 45rpm.
File Under: Library, Funk
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Le Matos: Exode OST (Death Waltz) LP
IN FRIDAY! Jesse Malcolm Sweet’s haunting sci-fi web series EXODE tells the story of celestial cartographer David, who is trying to save his family from death on a malfunctioning spaceship. His only help comes from a wise AI named Leo. Montreal-based Le Matos (TURBO KID, JOIN US) provides a richly textured electronic score that is key to the story, deftly cultivating feelings of wistfulness, loneliness, and mortality up against the unapologetic indifference of outer space. The kinetic title theme is classic Le Matos sent into space — a majestically tempered track with a driving rhythm section and searingly dreamy synthesizers. The end credits theme alters that, nimbly blending in the sense of foreboding. The remaining tracks find Le Matos tapping into the range of introspection and terror. David feels as he tries desperately to reconnect with his family. Tender melodies morph into weary synth pads, pulsating arps, crystalline synth dreams, dissonant sonic expressions, and chest-thumping percussion. After a successful collaboration on the SUMMER OF 84 soundtrack, the exquisite Computer Magic rejoins Le Matos for the wistful slow-burner “The Sounds of Nora.” It all makes for an extraordinary adventure. If you think about it, David isn’t alone with just Leo. He has Le Matos’ skillfully composed and evocative electronic soundtrack, which won the 2017 Melbourne Web Fest jury prize for Best Original Score. This is a companion that would make us all feel more comfortable tackling the beauty and terror of our own daily lives.
File Under: Electronic, OST
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Zara McFarlane: Songs of an Unknown Tongue
(Brownswood) LP
Brownswood present Zara McFarlane’s Songs of an Unknown Tongue, a masterful work that underlines her continuous growth as an artist. Zara’s fourth studio album pushes the boundaries of jazz adjacent music via an exploration into the folk and spiritual traditions of her ancestral motherland, Jamaica. The album is a rumination on the piecing together of black heritage, where painful and proud histories are uncovered and connected to the present. Partnering with cult South London based producers Kwake Bass and Wu-lu, Zara has created a futuristic sound palate, electronically recreating the pulsing, hypnotic rhythms Kumina and Nyabinghi – and the music played at African rooted rituals like the emancipation celebration Bruckins Party, and the lively death rites of Dinki Minki and Gerreh. These richly patterned electronic rhythms are balanced throughout by McFarlane’s distinctive, clear vocal tones, and vivid song writing.
File Under: Jazz
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Morricone Youth: Last Porno Show (Country Club) LP
IN FRIDAY! Devon Goldberg’s original score to director Kire Paputts’ 2019 dark comedy feature-length film “The Last Porno Show,” performed by Morricone Youth along with Cochemea Gastelum (Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings), Sean McCaul (Philip Glass), Karen Waltuch (Wilco, JG Thirlwell) and Scott Hollingsworth (World Inferno Friendship Society).
File Under: OST
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Rie Murakami: Sahara (Ship to Shore) LP
IN FRIDAY! Unseen on vinyl – or indeed, any physical format – since its original Japanese pressing in 1984, Ship to Shore PhonoCo. are proud to announce this limited edition release of Rie Murakami’s Sahara! The album’s blending of instrumentation and genres – from funk, disco, soul and orchestral arrangements and then back again – makes it reminiscent of early WANG CHUNG’s pop sensibilities, blended with a dash of YELLO’s exuberant playfulness but front and foremost is all the whimsical charm one comes to expect from an 80’s J-Pop record. Not one to be missed!
File Under: J-Pop, Soul, Funk. Disco
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Muslimgauze: Return of Black September
(Staalplaat) LP
IN FRIDAY! The excellent Black September, a continuous, five-part, 68-minute epic, is as formidably competent as ever, although more for the brooding, surreal nature of its soundworld than for its grooves, which here sound almost subsidiary. The soul samples and restlessly evolving minor-chord kaleidoscopes that unfold throughout the work is prima facie evidence of a musician on a roll. Boldly named after one of the most notorious Palestinian terrorist organizations, the group which carried out the Israeli Olympic athlete massacre in 1972, September matches its dark black artwork and design with equally doom-laden music (mastered as one track, despite the five separate song titles listed on the back). The title-track relies on a slightly more gentle ominousness, with soft string-plucking reverberating around the beat, but things start to pick up accordingly with the more aggressive, sharp-edged electronics shading into a tense blend of percussion and energy on “Libya”; after shading away into a more minimal midsection, the track returns at a nervous, quick pace, with drums and drum pads firing off echoes into the mix as drones snake in and out of the song. One particularly gripping section has shards of noise firing off in all directions before settling back into the frazzled energy of the central beat, feeling like a soundtrack to a particularly good chase scene in a movie. “Thuggee” and its accompanying remix keep the unsettled edge up, with sudden drum and electronic pulse intrusions erupting over the main flow of the songs. It’s interesting to hear how Bryn Jones’s love of dub applies itself in even more creative and different ways than from his productions of some years before, exchanging the slow pace for a fast one and applying krautrock drone principles. A nicely stretched-out, creepy remix of Gun Aramaic’s “Opiate and Mullah” wraps up this fine effort. This vinyl includes the two unused Return Of Black September tracks that were on the archive series volume 32 CD. The two extra tracks, however, follow in taking a much more cleanly digital feel, with many of the elements Jones usually uses present but in more stripped down or even mechanized forms. The relatively clean pulse of these two longer compositions serve as a refreshing contrast. Edition of 700.
File Under: Electronic, Industrial, Tribal
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Old Tower: The Last Eidolon (Profound Lore) LP
The third album by the enigmatic Old Tower, The Last Eidolon, tells a somber story of a kingdom laid to waste by its own creator through the corruption of dark magic and possession of destructive spirits. Because of wrongful decisions, spiritual rebellion and the misuse of ancient yet dangerous practices these malevolent forces started to turn against the enchanter. And so fell his once proud and powerful dominion. What was once great has now been reduced to a hollow manifestation of its old self. The long and weary process of reclaiming its former glory has begun. Throughout the “Grim Alchemy” trilogy, smithed in conspiracy with the mighty Hospital Productions, The Specter meticulously crafted his own style of medieval dark ambient. The Last Eidolon is an elongation but also a new direction of this concept and will take the listener on a desolate journey spanning three, long chapters. Faded memories of a dark past will shimmer in and out of existence throughout these epic compositions yet the energy of renewal is flowing from the fountains of the old kingdom. The Last Eidolon comes pressed on luxurious double vinyl LP with extensive artwork, all richly illustrated and curated by The Specter himself. To get the full effect, these spells were mixed and mastered by Arthur Rizk.
File Under: Metal
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Oneness of Juju: African Rhythms 1970-1982 (Strut) LP
Strut kick off a brand new deal with the seminal independent black jazz and soul label Black Fire with African Rhythms 1970-1982, a comprehensive vinyl 3LP compilation of Oneness Of Juju, led by Plunky J. Branch. Tracing their career from the band’s earliest work in 1970 with South African exiled jazzman Ndikho Xaba in San Francisco, the compilation covers the band’s journey to New York’s loft jazz scene, forming Juju and releasing two landmark albums of hard-hitting percussive jazz on Strata-East. “I saw myself as a cultural warrior,” explains Plunky. “We studied about Africa and tried to infuse our music with an African spirit.” Moving back to his hometown of Richmond, VA during the mid-‘70s, Plunky drew in a superb new group of musicians and vocalists and created the band’s new incarnation, Oneness Of Juju, retaining the African influence but fusing his sound with funk and R’n’B on the classic African Rhythms album. “We realised that, if we put a backbeat to the Afro-Cuban rhythms, people in Richmond and Washington D.C. could be drawn into it; it didn’t change anything about our message.” The change would lead to a series of enduring soul-jazz classics on Jimmy Gray’s Black Fire label, including “River Luv Rite,” “Plastic” and “Don’t Give Up” and their biggest crossover international hit, “Every Way But Loose” in 1982, later famously remixed by Larry Levan. The band received renewed interest in their music during the mid-‘80s as Washington D.C.’s go-go innovators cited the band as a major influence and rare groove DJs revived their albums for London dancefloors. African Rhythms 1970-1982 reprises a compilation released on Strut in 2001 and is newly remastered by Frank Merritt at The Carvery. Also includes a 12″ sized 4-page booklet featuring rare photos and a comprehensive interview with Plunky Branch within liner notes by Chris Menist.
File Under: Jazz, Funk, Africa
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Charlemagne Palestine & John Kormeling: Ffroggssichorddd (Staalplaat) LP
IN FRIDAY! Architect John Körmeling and maverick musician Charlemagne Palestine collaborate on a whole new system of music. A famous English conductor said that the harpsichord sounded like “two skeletons copulating on a tin roof”. An instrument that was once the basis of every orchestra and chamber ensemble was long ago replaced by the stronger and, for some, sweeter sounding piano. Now the harpsichord is very much the preserve of specialists and early-music supporters and has seen very little progress in design. Enter architect and musical philosopher John Körmeling. In addition to designing utopian public spaces like the “Happy Street” which served as the Dutch pavilion at the Shanghai Expo 2010, and the “Straight Road” artwork which played with the mismatch between the curvature of the earth and our need to see life in two dimensions, Körmeling has devised a system of music that sets aside familiar Western tuning and is based instead on square roots, areas, and volumes. In order to realize this music, he turned back to the harpsichord and adapted its jangling sound to an intonation that literally plays Pythagorean ratios. Körmeling made it possible to hear ratios and proportions that we usually only encounter on the pages of a math book. Körmeling now had his instrument, but who would have the imagination and vision to play it. He turned to the veteran rule-breaker Charlemagne Palestine, pioneer of long-form improvisations on harpsichord, harmonium, and other neglected keyboard instruments. The idea of “playing a triangle” immediately appealed. Responding to the invitation from Körmeling, he said that “thiss Pythagoriann harpsichordd was just upp myy alley,,,,,,,,,”. Palestine saw the new instrument and named it the Frogsichord after its color. This record documents performances on the Frogsichord made in Brussels, Rotterdam and in Cappadocia, Turkey. The sound is strange, perhaps even estranging, but Palestine has made it his own, and created a music that is rich and detailed, not simply “exotic”. It’s no longer a question of Western tonality colliding with non-European harmonic systems. Here is music that taps into the universal language of mathematics.
File Under: Experiemental, Avant Garde, Drone
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Protomartyr: Ultimate Success Today (Domino) LP
A sting in the summer blossom, Ultimate Success Today is Protomartyr’s fifth full-length album. Following the release of Relatives In Descent, the band’s critically acclaimed headlong dive into the morass of American life in 2017, Ultimate Success Today continues to further expand the possibilities of what a Protomartyr album can sound like. “The re-release of our first album had me thinking about the passage of time and its ultimate conclusion,” says Joe Casey. “Listening to No Passion All Technique again, I could hear myself hoping for an introduction and a long future, but also being cognizant that it could be ‘one and done’ for us. So, when it came time to write Ultimate Success Today, I was reminded of that first urgency and how it was an inverse of my current grapple with how terribly ill I’ve been feeling lately. Was that sick feeling coloring how I felt about the state of the world or was it the other way around? This panic was freeing in a way. It allowed me to see our fifth album as a possible valediction of some confusingly loud five-act play. In the same light I see it as an interesting mile marker of our first decade of being a band – a crest of the hill along a long highway. Although just to cover my bases, I made sure to get my last words in while I still had the breath to say them.” Ultimate Success Today was recorded at Dreamland Recording Studios, a late 19th century church, in upstate New York and co-produced by the band and David Tolomei (Dirty Projectors, Beach House) with mixing by Tolomei. Featured guest musicians on the album include Nandi Rose (vocals), jazz legend Jemeel Moondoc (alto sax), Izaak Mills (bass clarinet, sax, flute), and Fred Lonberg-Holm (cello).
File Under: Punk
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Redd Kross: Red Cross EP (Merge) LP
This special 40th anniversary edition of the Red Cross EP, which includes the band’s six-song eponymous debut and adds five contemporaneous extra tracks, is the most comprehensive document to date of the extraordinary birth of Redd Kross. Redd Kross incubated alongside such SoCal luminaries as Black Flag, Descendents, and the Minutemen, and this new 11-song collection – which includes rare and unreleased demos plus a live track recorded in 1979 at “The Church,” the infamous Black Flag birthplace in Hermosa Beach, CA – puts in proper perspective the McDonald brothers’ contribution, at the ridiculously precocious ages of 12 and 16, to that area’s punk scene.
File Under: Punk, Rock
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Reigning Sound: Home for Orphans (Merge) LP
When Reigning Sound’s Greg Cartwright assembled the tracklist for 2005’s Home for Orphans compilation LP, he was mining from a moody pool of outtakes and rarities cut at various locations across his hometown of Memphis. Stephen Deusner wrote in his review for Pitchfork: “Greg Cartwright has an ear for the hooks and hits from the mid-20th century, when rock, country, and R&B were only just beginning to diverge, and his songs with the Reigning Sound have the authenticity of dusty 45s by long-forgotten artists, buried for decades in some lonely LP store or flea market.” Featuring the original Memphis lineup of singer-guitarist Cartwright, bassist Jeremy Scott, drummer Greg Roberson, and organist Alex Greene, Home for Orphans presents Reigning Sound’s classic sonic blueprint.
File Under: Punk, Garage
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Tal Ross: Giant Shirley (Tidal Waves) LP
IN FRIDAY! Of the numerous musicians who have played along with George Clinton in his Parliament/Funkadelic mob, perhaps the most mysterious of them all would be guitarist Tal (aka ‘Tawl’) Ross. Next to being one of the original Funkadelics, Ross was a vital force (and responsible for many of the rhythms and chords of the early material) on such early classics as ‘Funkadelic’, ‘Free Your Mind and Your Ass Will Follow’, ‘Osmium’ and ‘Maggot Brain’. Tal Ross left the band in 1971 after a shattering encounter with LSD that made him leave the music scene and his New Jersey home altogether. He went to live in a small town in North Carolina, working and playing acoustic guitar. Years went by without any word from Ross … until 1995, when out of nowhere he issued his first solo album: Giant Shirley. This was made possible by Aris Wilson and Peter Wetherbee (former label manager of Bill Laswell’s Axiom Records) who also enlisted an all-star cast of guest musicians to play on the album (including former P-Funk drummer Jerome ‘Bigfoot’ Brailey & Manu Dibango/Gil Scott-Heron collaborator Aiyb Dieng). The results of Tal’s nearly 25-year funk-fermentation are compelling, with a beefy stew of blues, funk, eastern rhythms, psychedelia, percussive textures, and even some rock ‘n’ roll for good measure. The album’s roots lie deep in the Mississippi Delta style of brooding blues. Whereas his former band eventually shed their hard funk for a more accessible sound, Ross surprisingly stays true to Funkadelic’s early style here on ‘Giant Shirley’. Alternating between red hot and cool funk, the album takes the listener on a fantastic journey not witnessed since Clinton and company’s early 70s output. This unique album is far from the standard “shake your whatever” genericness that the majority of the P-Funk camp had embraced by this point and comes highly recommended for fans of Parliament/Funkadelic (and for 70s psychedelic/funk rock collectors in general). Tidal Waves Music now proudly presents the FIRST ever vinyl release of Giant Shirley (it was only available briefly on CD in the mid-nineties), supervised by P-funk archivist & producer Aris Wilson. Available as a deluxe 180g DOUBLE vinyl edition (limited to 250 copies on VIOLET COLOR VINYL) with obi strip.
File Under: Funk, Psych
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Hiroshi Sato: Orient (Wewantsound) LP
2020 repress! Wewantsounds present a reissue and the first international release of Hiroshi Sato’s ultra-rare synth masterpiece, Orient, originally released in 1979 on Kitty Records in Japan only. This highly sought-after album is a superb breezy mix of Japanese synth-pop with a subtle touch of mid-70s Herbie Hancock-style funk and AOR. Originally released in 1979, at a fruitful time when Hiroshi Sato, Haruomi Hosono, and Shigeru Suzuki were fresh from playing in the group Tin Pan Alley and Haruomi Hosono had just formed Yellow Magic Orchestra, Orient is a unique balance of various styles. It has become one of the most sought-after Japanese LPs on the global Balearic scene and is now exchanging hands for astronomical prices. The album includes such cult tracks as “Son Go Kuw” and “Do-Jo” popular on the international DJ scene. It features the best Japanese musicians at the time, including Shigeru Suzuki on guitar, Haruomi Hosono on bass, Pecker on percussion, and Sato himself on keyboards and synthesizers. The album also features on Gilles Peterson’s “Significant Album” List. Fully remastered from the original Kitty Records tapes by Universal Japan. Includes original four-page color insert, including English translations of the original liner notes by leading Japanese journalist Yasufumi Amatatsu, plus the full track-by-track musician line up. “Breezy Balearic synth pop with a Nippon twist” –The Vinyl Factory.
File Under: Japan, Jazz, Funk, Electronic
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Masahiko Sato: Kayobi No Onna (Mistuko & Svetlana) LP
IN FRIDAY! A golden era gem from the master himself, Masahiko Satoh, presented by Mitsuko & Svetlana Records. Archival reissue of long-lost treasure from genius pianist and composer whose resume includes hundreds of legendary albums and collaborations with Midori Takada — Lunar Cruise and Ton-Klami) among many others. Very rare soundtrack of a nine-episode suspense drama that aired on TV in 1969 and 1970. Filled with exquisite jazz, soul-jazz, folk-jazz, and mystery-jazz, plus groovy affairs, classical moods, and ’70s flair. Highly recommended to Japanese jazz collectors, soundtrack collectors, Masahiko Sato collectors, lovers of rare gems and wearers of vintage trench coats.Originally released in November 1970 as an LP on Toho Records (BL-1001). All compositions and arrangements by Masahiko Sato. Personnel: Masahiko Sato – piano, keyboard; Yoshiko Goto – vocal; Kiyoshi Sugimoto – guitar; Kunimitsu Inaba – bass; Yasuo Arakawa – bass; Akira Ishikawa – drums. Edition of 500.
File Under: OST, Jazz, Funk, Japanese
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The Shaggs: Shaggs’s Own Thing (Light in the Attic) LP
IN FRIDAY! When The Shaggs’ Philosophy Of The World came out in 1969, some people couldn’t or wouldn’t understand it. But many musicians, including Frank Zappa and Kurt Cobain, cited the Shaggs as a major influence. Heck, Zappa exclaimed they were “better than the Beatles!” NRBQ’s Terry Adams and Keith Spring were such fans, and after reissuing Philosophy in 1980 on their own Red Rooster label, Adams began work on a collection of recordings the Wiggin sisters had made in the years following their debut. The result was Shaggs’ Own Thing – a beguiling follow-up that reveals a more developed and mature sound while still retaining all of their homespun uniqueness. “The songs were better and they were recorded better, so it naturally made a better album,” Dot Wiggin said shortly after the original release of Shaggs’ Own Thing in 1982. It’s a “natural, organic extension” of the utterly original sound that The Shaggs had created, intentionally or not, with Philosophy Of The World, as John DeAngelis writes in the new liner notes. While Dot Wiggins originals like “You’re Somethin’ Special To Me” and “My Cutie,” and covers of classic songs like “Yesterday Once More” reveal a maturity not displayed on the debut, the two versions of “Shaggs’ Own Thing” and the revisiting of “My Pal Foot Foot” show that The Shaggs lost none of their pure and honest charm over the years. Remastered from the original tapes with liner notes by John DeAngelis, this reissue includes the bonus track “Love at First Sight,” first issued on the 1988 Red Rooster/Rounder Shaggs CD and appears on LP for the first time, plus three additional tracks on CD: “Sweet Maria” and “The Missouri Waltz,” first released by Light In The Attic as a limited-edition Record Store Day 45 in 2016, and the previously unreleased cover of the classic surf instrumental “Wipe Out.”
File Under: Pop, Weirdness
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Sleeparchive: Trust (Tresor) LP
IN FRIDAY! Throughout his career, Roger Semsroth has followed a deep intuition for experimentation in sound, wrapping club music around eerie microtonal motifs and industrial sensibilities. This new work for Tresor takes a step forward, as the first true techno album from Sleeparchive, where his previous LPs have exhibited themselves more conceptually, or under different names and his Nord Vest label. Semsroth has been active in electronic music since the late ’90s. He received initial attention first for his electro productions under the alias Skanfrom and the ’80s minimal synth inspired Television Set. These projects echoed his love for these sounds, which the East Berliner had steadily immersed himself with after the end of the GDR. Upon hearing the bleeps of Mika Vainio and Plastikman, he began to engage with his strain of techno. Over the last decade, he has focused on his Sleeparchive alias, which dates back to 2004. Alongside close friend DJ Pete, he performs live techno as TR-101. His relationship with Tresor began in 2011, first releasing the Ronan Point EP (TRESOR 243EP) and following up with the crucial A Man Dies In The Street series in 2013 (TRESOR 260EP, TRESOR 264EP). With this new album, Sleeparchive’s impact on the techno sound is ever more relevant. Awaking in constant locomotion, locked-in, unrelenting, and dry. Sleeparchive’s churning loops etch visions of tight minimalism at times densely frenetic and others serenely galactic. This predilection continues throughout the four sides on the album, eschewing conventional arrangement styles with gradual probabilistic change. Tracks such as “Needle” and “Peccant” offer up precise, sinewy techno. “Leave” recalls the Detroit sound of Terrence Dixon, with its cascading synth tones and droning atmospheres. The album closes with a different version of “Trust” to that found on 2019’s Revised Recordings EP released on Tresor (TRESOR 309EP), with its now-familiar nerve-inducing pizzicato strings even more at the fore with its mechanic delivery. 180 gram vinyl; includes download code.
File Under: Electronic
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Soul Media: Funky Stuff (Nippon Columbia) LP
IN FRIDAY! This album is incredible, truly well-named — funky stuff, indeed. Fat bass, good variety of guitar sounds, nice horns and organ, crisp drums … it is an instant favorite!
Tenor Sax, Alto Sax, Flute, Producer – Jiro Inagaki
Electric Piano – Hiromasa Suzuki
Drums – Hajime Ishimatsu
Bass – Akira Okazawa
Guitar – Hiroshi Yasukawa
Trombone – Takashi Imai
File Under: Japan, Funk, Jazz
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Sun City Girls: Live at the Sky Church – September 3rd, 1004 (Twenty One Eighty Two) LP
IN FRIDAY! The first new Sun City Girls release since Funeral Mariachi (2010), Live at the Sky Church is a performance that melds their signature alien-jazz improv, Asian-tinged psychedelia, and Middle Eastern meditations together with their ranting psychodrama. An audio and visual recording from Seattle in 2004 shows a group that is both aware and committed to its history, while still demonstrating the power of the experimental to drive an enormous cudgel through the heart of those who believe to have all the answers. Twenty One Eighty Two Recording Company has had a long history with Sun City Girls, most of which, the Girls were unaware of. While the label were not at the show, their attempt to help continue to put a part of Arizona’s musical history in the appropriate context convinced the Girls that a bunch of subversives from a town no one admits to being from to be the right people to put this document into the world. Society rarely documents the things that matter, and the label hope to change that with this release. It is a document that now stands to the interplay between three friends before that history would be sunset way before its time. As the recording begins, you already realize the experience will be too short, but what the fuck are you supposed to do but celebrate that it happened. The Girls came from Phoenix, Arizona, but now have traveled the world exploring sound, documenting travel, and attempting to be the emissaries that should represent these union of states. Live at the Sky Church illustrates this history and attempts to provide a manifesto without dictating the experience. Will you listen? Includes DVD. “LONG MAY THEY ISOLATE.” –John “Inzane” Olson (American Tapes, Wolf Eyes, etc.)
File Under: Experimental
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Sunn Trio: Electric Esoterica (Twenty One Eighty Two) LP
IN FRIDAY! Phoenix is where Twenty One Eight Two Recording Company are from, but it isn’t where they are at. The scene is essential to nothing, but that doesn’t mean the musicians here aren’t essential. Music attempts to appeal to as large an audience as possible, but composition attempts to engage the listener in something different. Enter Sunn Trio. A punk trio that is influenced by Middle Eastern psych, free jazz, and improvisation. While not recorded in a traditional studio, these recordings represent the first studio-produced sounds from this group. The group is built around Joel Robinson and has had as many as eight-to-ten members in recordings and live performances, but more recently has been focused on a trio that composes music that challenges every notion of what rock, punk, or psych can be; however, at the same time, the music is crafted with improvisational focus and middle eastern influence that should be the basis for this generation’s new music. Robinson makes his melody maker sound like an oud, rabab, and even at times a gamelan when he isn’t using these instruments to generate the lead lines to the compositions. The music has an import that shows a deference to eastern music, while expressing a freedom that isn’t present in any modern music. We stood idle during the Arab Spring; we decimated Iraq and Afghanistan; and now we retreated from Syria as the Kurdish people struggled to survive. Sunn Trio creates music that responds to these atrocities and works to build a bridge to these people. Urgent music for urgent times. Electric Esoterica is the third album from Sunn Trio. It is the third in a series of records that revolve around Alan and Richard Bishop, Charles Gocher, W. David Oliphant, and Joel Robinson called the Mount Meru Anthology. These sounds are rooted in a history of creation in Arizona that involves people that were inspired and supported by people who do things differently. Sunn Trio wants you to listen, but don’t be fucking passive.
File Under: Experimental, Sun City Girls
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Le Theatre du Chene Noir: Aurora (Souffle Continu) LP
IN FRIDAY! First vinyl reissue. Souffle Continu Records present a reissue Le Théâtre du Chêne Noir’s Aurora, originally released in 1971. In 1972, Steve Lacy recorded Solo, one of the gems in his discography, in the Théâtre du Chêne Noir in Avignon. The previous year (which was also the year in which Aurora appeared), the eponymous group of actors led by Gérard Gelas, took up residence in what was a 12th century chapel. The Théâtre du Chêne Noir is therefore not just the name of a space open to all kinds of artistic audacity, but also the name of the great Theatre Group which resides there. Gérard Terronès showed some flair when he published, in 1971 on Futura, the first album by Théâtre du Chêne Noir. It has to be said that the group run by Gérard Gelas was right up his street: non-conformist, eccentric, protesting, just so alive… Singing too, as you can still hear today on Aurora, recorded at Avignon the 22nd and 23rd of June 1971. Aurora, which had been created a few weeks earlier at Ariane Mnouchkine’s Théâtre du Soleil, is according to, Gelas’ own words, a fantastic tale with actor musicians who play out the fabulous story of the Earth, and children who fight against terrifying bird men who fly from planet to planet to enslave the inhabitants and become the masters of the universe. It is an ambitious subject and thankfully (even more so for the album than for the play), the actors are also excellent musicians! If you can find Chêne Noir between Checkpoint Charlie and Chillum in the Nurse With Wound List created by Steven Stapleton and John Fothergill, Aurora is closer to Stances à Sophie by the Art Ensemble Of Chicago and the Divine Comédie by Bernard Parmegiani and François Bayle. So, move forward cautiously in this landscape of recitals and songs, of mysteries and cries, where saxophones and flutes, electric guitars and percussions spring up… Could the tragic climax have been possible without music? The Théâtre du Chêne Noir replies no to the question and creates a fascinating mix of text and music without one dominating the other. Enjoy the show! Remastered from the master tapes. Licensed from Futura / Marge.
File Under: Avant Garde
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Charles Tolliver/Music Inc.: Impact (Pure Pleasure) LP
IN FRIDAY! Trumpeter/flügelhornist Charles Tolliver often straddled the line between the lyricism of hard bop and the adventurous nature of the avant-garde. Released in 1975, Impact contained a stimulating progressive edge within an energetic large band (14 horns, eight strings, and rhythm section) format. Tolliver’s arrangements are consistently bright and build momentum, while the soloists are given sufficient room to manoeuvre through the multiple textures. Featured soloists in the remarkable reed section include Charles McPherson, James Spaulding, George Coleman, and Harold Vick.
File Under: Jazz
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The Trees Community: The Christ Tree
(Old Bear) LP
IN FRIDAY! The Trees Community was a 1970’s Episcopal religious order that created and performed original world music on over eighty instruments. They were first a group of searching young people exploring many faiths and cultures. By the beginning of 1971, they became a Christian community that explored new music as a form of communion and worship. Later that spring, the group’s five women, six men, 2 cats, and small dog became nomads, living on a scripture coated bus. They called life on the road “a pilgrimage without a destination” though eventually the group shared their musical worship on organized church tours through the US and Canada. The Trees’s musical meditation called The Christ Tree showcases the band’s style as both experimental and experiential. Ethereal voices and complex avant-garde arrangements of ancient sounding folk music are the hallmark of the Trees Community sound. For years, only one published recording of their music has existed: The 1975’s The Christ Tree vinyl record. Over the decades this recording has garnered a ton of indie credibility, being referred to as an influence of the Fleet Foxes and Sufjan Stevens. The original vinyl pressings of The Christ Tree are rare and are purchased by collectors for hundreds of dollars. In 2004, music engineer Timothy Renner of Dark Holler Arts digitally remastered the album from the original studio tapes and salvaged other Trees recordings, and with the official blessing of the Trees’ surviving members, released the music onto Compact Disk. A new vinyl recording, however, although discussed at the time, wasn’t made. This past year, in 2020 (50 years after The Trees’ inception) we at Old Bear Records received the rights to the digital remastered The Christ Tree and can not wait to release this double vinyl LP to you through Old Bear Reissued!”
File Under: Psych, X-ian
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Vibration Black Finger: Can You See What I’m Trying to Say (Jazzman) LP
IN FRIDAY! Includes download card. Lascelle “Lascelles” Gordon — the driving force behind Vibration Black Finger — astonishes yet again with a magnificent second album. Once more his inspiration is drawn from the obscure spiritual jazz collectives of the 1970s where he employs a vast array of like-minded collaborators to create a listening experience infused with an ever-present undercurrent of personal expression and cultural empowerment that’s as enriched with ideas as it is progressive in its form. Having earned his chops as founding member of the Brand New Heavies, Campag Velocet, and Heliocentric World, Lascelle’s latest album Can You See What I’m Trying to Say bursts with energy and vivid contrasts, flowing effortlessly between beat-laden grooves, oscillating improvisations, soulful recitations, audio verité, and moody atmospherics. The album drops like a post-hip-hop reimagining of foundational genres, with a prayer to the future. “Can You See What I’m Trying to Say” is a quote from Marion Brown, the great alto saxophonist’s explains Gordon. “The album was put together over the last three years, not in the conventional way of going into the recording studio with musicians, but starting from ideas I had on various formats (cassettes, mini disc, DATs & reel to reel). I also used field recordings. I did a lot of home recording with long time musical friends Ben Cowen and Diana Gutkind, some of them going back 20 years. The voices of my nieces (heard on ‘Law Of The Universe’) were recorded 25 years ago. ‘Only In A Dream’ and ‘Empty Streets’ are the only songs that were recorded live in the studio. “Empty Streets”opens the album, with vocalist Ebony Rose turning in a thoroughly haunting vocal performance. Following “Empty Streets”, some instrumental interludes segue into a dimensional drift of beats, space synths, horns, and electronics; there’s a vocal reprise of “Acting For Liberation”, sung with gusto by Maggie Nichols, and then there’s the album’s momentous finale, “Only In A Dream”, which takes off as an ominous drone before a delicious bassline from the late Ken Kambayashi transforms it into an intense, soaring epic which finally descends onto another world. In a career spanning several decades, Lascelle Gordon remains an omnivorous musical force, whether as DJ, collaborator, or radio broadcaster. As amply demonstrated on Can You See What I’m Trying to Say, he refuses to rest on his laurels and continues to impress with music that is as rich, vital, and contemporary as anything he’s done before.
File Under: Jazz, Funk
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Wire: 10.20 (Pink Flag) LP
10:20 offers a glimpse into Wire’s working practices. When the band plays live there are different three classes of pieces that are performed: new songs, old songs and ‘new old’ songs. The latter often involves taking something that existed on a previous release and re-working it, very often evolving a stage highlight from it. There also pieces that have never seen a major release but for some reason never fitted on an album. The best of these ideas were recorded in two sessions – one relating to Red Barked Tree but recorded in 2010 and another relating to Wire’s latest album Mind Hive released in 2020. Incidentally celebrating the decade Matt Simms has been with the band. The album divides in to two halves – the 2010 side and the 2020 side – hence the title. 10:20 is that rare thing: an album that not only serves as a must-have for long-term fans and completists, but paradoxically also the perfect introduction for anyone new to the band.
File Under: Punk
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Sven Wunder: Wabi Sabi (Piano Piano) LP
IN FRIDAY! By welcoming the beauty of imperfection and simplicity, Sven Wunder applies the timeless wisdom of wabi sabi on this musical journey. What you can hear is filtered through Ukiyo-e (which translates as “pictures of the floating world”), which illustrates everyday life, as well as through Japonism, the study of Japanese art, and more specifically its influence on European works. The result is a surface that creates an illusion by sound. The infusion of Min’yō with jazz rock, this hazy scene evokes the landscape of Monet’s ”The Water Lily Pond”, which depicts the painter’s Giverny garden, with a Japanese bridge, bamboo, ginkgo trees and the reflection of the sky in the pond. This illusion constructs both time and space. The surface of the music, like the canvas of the painting, invents a journey between now and then by interpreting the idiom of folkloric and western art instruments. In this composition, the sound of the Western concert flute, which stretches back to the Renaissance and Baroque periods, evokes the sound of the bamboo-flute (”shakuchachi”), which reached its peak during the Edo period. The guzheng, also known as the Chinese zither, with a more than 2,500 year history, joins traditional Japanese folk melodies with modern pop percussion and 20th century electronic instruments such as the Moog synthesizer, Wurlitzer electric piano and electric bass. This is the illusion that celebrates the fleeting nature of all things. A journey. A deep inhale and a slow exhale. It has a mix of jazz (both funky and progressive), East Asian and South Asian sounds. The idea of fusing these styles and reframing them with the aesthetic of wabi sabi is to reconnect with nature and concentrate on asymmetries and emphasize ornamentation to generate new ways of looking at the world, here and now. This record is produced with financial support from the Swedish Arts Council.
File Under: Jazz, Library, Funk
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Sven Wunder: Eastern Flowers (Piano Piano) LP
IN FRIDAY! This is the first stop on Sven Wunder’s musical journey. Wunder takes the listener somewhere around the easternmost part of the Mediterranean Sea, around the Levantine Sea, where he paints a colourful portrait and illustrates the regions flora through sound. The fruitage is a vivid bouquet where Wunder fuses colours and pigments by using traditional and modern instruments merged with arrangements and melodies that stretches from popular to folk music by portraying tulips, red roses, hibiscus, hyacinths, chamomile, magnolia, daisies etcetera. With both fine and thick brushes are these flowers being pictured in a both modern and classic idiom. The outcome is prismatic. It stands between Anatolian rock and European jazz-funk with ponderous drum patterns, groovy organs, far-out synthesizers, enchanting Saz and impetuous bass lines. Eastern Flowers sweeps through time and space and points towards the future. It could appeal both psych and prog listeners, folk or jazz aficionados and as well the gourmet hip hop connoisseurs. Eastern Flowers is the US issue of 2019’s Doğu Çiçekleri. This record is produced with financial support from the Swedish Arts Council.
File Under: Jazz, Funk, Library
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Various: Giants of Ghanaian Danceband Highlife (Naked Lunch) LP
IN FRIDAY! A marvelous compilation of Ghanaian dance music recorded between 1950s and 1970s. Highlife was one of the results of the unprecedented blend between the West African music tradition and various sounds and styles from the new world, especially jazz from America and calypso from the Caribbean. Highly energetic addictive music based on the combination of ancestral rhythms and modern arrangements as direct expression of the strong spirit of Independence of the period. An incredible cast of stars including astonishing sets by E.T. Mensah And The Tempos, acknowledged as the king of highlife, and the Ramblers International, a highly individual dance band mixing highlife with soul and Latin materials. Also features Kwamalah Quaye Sextetto Africana, The Black Star Band, Buddy Pipp’s Highlifers, and John Santos Martins.
File Under: Africa, Calypso, Highlife
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Various: Ladies of Too Slow to Disco Volume 2 (How Do You Are?) LP
IN FRIDAY! On Volume 2 of The Ladies Of Too Slow To Disco, DJ Supermarkt has brought together 16 compelling tunes and hidden gems from 1974-82 that tell a deeper, more political story, while taking the suave sounds you love into new territory: soul, gospel, and jazz. The songs on this compilation are from women who were taking control of their own careers, making an independent stance in the some of the most trying years for women in the history of the recording industry. In an effort to tell the often untold, yet deeply influential, stories of this delicious period of music, Volume 2 highlights songs from players who broke through the machismo that sat upon the glass ceiling before them to create classics. As with every TSTD release, you will uncover lost classics and should-have- been-hits into the overdue limelight. You’ll find confessional funk and sultry disco, 5th Avenue flounce and soulful midnight aching. You will discover artists here who were movers and shakers from the 1970s Women’s Music movement, artists determined to fashion a music industry that worked for them. You’re in the company of musical royalty. The Ladies Of Too Slow To Disco Vol. 2 brings you the smartest writers and singers, Grammy winners and unforgettable performers, all at the peak of their powers. Features Terea, Marti Caine, Diane Tell, Lulu, Karla Bonoff, Franne Golde, Martee Lebous, Lonette McKee, Kristle Murden, Janis Siegel, Linda Tillery, Ullanda McCullough, Nicolette Larson, Valerie Carter, Elkie Brooks, and Holly Near.
File Under: Soul, Jazz, Gospel
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…..Restocks….
AMM: AMMMusic (Black Truffle) LP
Cluster: Sowiesoso (Bureau B) LP
Cluster: II (Lilith) LP
Sarah Davachi: Let Night Come on… (Recital) LP
Tod Dockstader: Aerial 1 (Important) LP
Julius Eastman: Crazy N***** (Blume) LP
Julius Eastman: Evil N***** (Blume) LP
Julius Eastman: N**** Series (Blume) LP
Nils Frahm: All Encores (Erased Tapes) LP
Funkadelic: Standing on the Verge of Getting it on (Westbound) LP
Serge Gainsbourg: Historie de Melody Nelson (Light in the Attic) LP
King Crimson: Discipline (Pangyric) LP
Ennio Morricone: Spasmo (Dagored) LP
Mystery Kindaichi Band: Adventures of Kindaichi Kosuke (Wewantsound) LP
Neu!: s/t (Groenland) LP
Pale Cocoon: Mayu (Incidental) LP
Ryuichi Sakamoto: Thousand Knives of… (Wewantsound) LP
Patrick Shiroishi: Descension (Thin Wrist) LP
Moses Sumney: grae (Jagjaguwar) LP
Tengger: Nomad (Beyond Beyond is Beyond) LP
Waxahatchee: Saint Cloud (Merge) LP
Wet Tuna: Livin’ The Die (Feeding Tube) LP
Robert Wyatt: Rock Bottom (Domino) LP
Young Marble Giants: Colossal Youth (Domino) LP
Various: Louis Wayne Moody High (Numero) LP
Various: Pacific Breeze (Light in the Attic) LP