Well, you’d think I’d have learned by now to check the tracking on things. Built this whole news letter figuring a shipment was coming still today, and it totally isn’t. So, there’s a ton of stuff below that’s hopefully in tomorrow, but this time of year, who knows. It’s all up on the site to pre-purchase. And it’s some great stuff too! A post Vox Populi! project, Kosa. A much needed repress of Music From Memory‘s compilation of Gigi Masin‘s catalog. A couple Bourbonese Qualk reissues. Some Vanity reissues on Mesh Key. A few new bangers on L.I.E.S. as well as a couple new psych jammers on Guruguru Brain. A much needed repress of the French spiritual jazz monster by Full Moon Ensemble. And then there’s all the great stuff that actually IS in. The killer Dallas Good/Sadies tribute album by Rick White. A reissue of the seminal Warp compilation Artificial Intelligence, ground zero for 90s IDM. A couple Blue Notes. Some coloured King Gizz represses. And a whole pile of restocks after y’all cleaned us out last weekend! Lots to see and hear, read on!
OH… and we’re doing something we rarely do… WE ARE HIRING! At least one, maybe two part time positions. Weekend availability is a must! Drop a resume off at the store along with your top ten albums of all time and this year.
Current operations…..
– in-store shopping/pick ups – 11 – 6 pm Monday – Friday, 11 am – 5 pm Saturday
(if you don’t want to come into the store for a pick up, call and/or use the back door)
– We will be wearing masks, if you want to, great! If not, that’s also fine, but please be respectful of other people’s space and decisions.
– Sanitize your hands (we’ll have some)
…..picks of the week…..
Kosa: Kosa and Friends 1987/97 (Notte Brigante) LP
In tomorrow? After the legendary French Ethno-industrial group Vox Populi! faded into obscurity in the early 1990s, members Arash Khalatbari, Ariel Kyrou, Axel Kyrou, Chester Harlan, Mithra, Pierre Jolivet and Francis Manne all embarked on new artistic adventures in their own way. Some, like bassist Francis Lafont aka fr6 Manne, aka Kosa Nostra, aka Kosa and Friends, left Paris to make a profound change in his life. He settled in Lyon and traded his job as a graphic artist and musician for that of a landscape designer. From his pure artistic universe, he has never stopped making music. Alone or with others, he follows his sound inspirations, multidisciplinary, already present on the label Vox Man records, founded in 1982 with Axel Kyrou. Together, as early as 1984, they started publishing the famous “Audiologie” compilations, an audio fanzine presenting a contemporary point of view on the experimental, noisy and avant-garde electronic music scene of the time. In particular, the three “Alterntative Funk” compilations that have become collector’s items for fans of weird and ambitious electronic music. Today, Notte Brigante presents “Kosa and Friends 1987/97”, twelve previously unreleased recordings that illustrate Francis Laffont’s ongoing musical creation following the dissolution of the group Vox Populi! With the music and video collective “Kosa and Friends,” he welcomes attentive listeners into an eccentric world of pop and poetry, experimentation and groove. Kosa blurs the lines between proto funk and post punk, indus and cold wave, all steep and intriguing sonic territories among which Francis and his collaborators navigate endlessly. The cover of the record is an “action painting” by fr6 Manne. A collage which underlines the experimentalism of the music by a crossed and unique composition. This cover reminds us of fr6 Manne’s graphic work, which has appeared on many album covers (Vox Populi, Bain Total) and compilations (notably Audiologie, released in 1988, accompanied by his fanzine named Ethniques Urbaines). Through an audacious collection of sounds and visions, this album testifies and documents the unexplored universe of a visionary musician of the French avant-garde and his peer group.
File Under: Industrial, Post Punk, Electronic, Ian’s Picks, Kris’s Picks
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Gigi Masin: Talk to the Sea (Music From Memory) LP
In tomorrow? *2022 repress* Part of only a small and very much underground music scene in his hometown of Venice, Gigi Masin self released two modestly pressed LP’s ‘Wind’ (1986) and ‘Wind Collector’ (1991) and appeared along side Charles Hayward for the Sub Rosa compilation LP “Les Nouvelles Musiques De Chambre Volume 2″ (1988). Having met with little commercial success in Italy at the time, Gigi Masin’s solo albums remained for the most part totally unknown. His music has though in recent years, and seemingly by pure word of mouth, developed almost something of a cult following. Gigi Masin’s uniquely intricate and at times deeply emotive compositions take the listener into a realm of contemplation, a spellbound mind state where time and space appear to dissolve. His sparse and hypnotic often loop-based compositions seem to draw parallels with Detroit Techno’s earliest beginnings, all at once conjuring those same feelings of both melancholic longing and ecstatic joy. With access to Masin’s large body of work, far greater than that of the handful of released recordings, Music From Memory’s new compilation covers a period of over 30 years, from the mid 1980’s up until recent works . Including seventeen compositions, most of which have remained unreleased or unavailable until now, ‘Talk To The Sea’ aims to shine a light on Gigi Masin’s unique and heartfelt talent. This is electronic music from the soul.”
File Under: Ambient, Electronic, Kris’s Picks
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Bourbonese Qualk: s/t (Mannequin) LP
In tomorrow? The self named LP marked the fifth album and end of the first incarnation of Bourbonese Qualk. Julian Gilbert left the group after ‘The Spike'(1986) to concentrate on writing and theatre, leaving Steven Tanza and Simon Crab who parted ways after touring in Europe in early 1986 and recording this album. Steven Tanza went on to found the group ‘The State’ and while Crab continued as Bourbonese Qualk (with the new line-up of Miles Miles,Crab and Owen If), dissolved the Recloose Organisation label and founded ‘New International’ as the outlet for future Bourbonese Qualk and Recloose Org releases. “If we were awarding prizes for making people rush out of the room in blind panic Bourbonese Qualk would have a trophy cabinet to match Bayern Munich’s. Strange, because whilst some of their music is damned uncomfortable listening, an equal part is pleasantly ambient. Pretty, even. Their 5th album is no exception with different types of track side by side throughout, so that the listener can neither drift along in a state of slumber nor masochistically subject themselves to the audio equivalent of the chinese water torture. This makes it all a very stop-start thing but all the more rewarding as a result.” Can’t be Beat magazine – London 1986 Bourbonese Qualk were an experimental music group from England, active from 1979 through 2003. They were always obsessively and uncompromisingly focused on controlling their work: they ran their own record label, recording studio, tour organization, and music venue (the notorious Ambulance Station). They refused to integrate into the commercial music racket and turned down publishing deals from major labels, stubbornly opting for total independence. They’re also known for their political activism, formed in the crucible of 1980s Britain amid such influences as the UK miners’ strike, The Falklands War, Thatcherism, monetarism, local government corruption, squatting, anti-capitalism, anti-fascism, and anarchism. Their work was often ambiguous and directly critical of cynical power-politics of any color, often irritating members of the traditional organized left. In 1984 Bourbonese Qualk occupied a large empty building – The Ambulance Station – on the Old Kent Road in South London, which they turned into a base for their activities, a cooperative space for artists, musicians, and writers, and a center for radical political activism — specifically as a coordinating center for the Stop the City anti-capitalist riots of 1984. This is music as much for then and today, a radical, revolutionary cultural force that acts as a positive social charge.
File Under: Industrial, Ian’s Picks
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Galcher Lustwerk: 100% Galcher (Ghostly) LP
Brooklyn-based Galcher Lustwerk became one of the most hotly tipped names in the underground dance music scene during the mid-2010s. The Cleveland-born producer’s tracks combine deep house beats with his own subtle vocals often reminiscent of a more laid-back variation on late-’80s hip-house, creating a detached yet energetic take on the Midwest house sound. He is a member of the White Material collective, which was founded by cohorts DJ Richard and Young Male in 2012. Lustwerk’s first vinyl release, Tape 22, appeared on the label in 2013, but it was his 100% Galcher mix of unreleased material for podcast series Blowing Up the Workshop that put him on the map among house fans. EPs Nu Day and Remixes followed on Tsuba Records in 2014. He then founded Lustwerk Music in 2015, kicking off the label with his EPs Parlay and I Neva Seen. He also released a few digital EPs of “driving music” under the name Road Hog. In 2016, Lustwerk released Scenes (2012-2015), a double LP by Studio OST, his side project with fellow White Material member Alvin Aronson. Lustwerk’s debut full-length, Dark Bliss, appeared in 2017, and 200% Galcher followed in 2018. While recorded alone, 100% Galcher was a collective moment. A decade later, Lustwerk sees the legacy as shared: “Making music can be an alienating experience, especially for DJs who travel a lot, it’s all super isolating. It’s easy to express loneliness in the music itself, but when it comes down to getting things done, putting music out, you def should go on that journey w other people, friends, or maybe just a group of people online, build things with your friends then they can build to help you.”
File Under: Electronic, Piyush’s Picks
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…..new arrivals…..
Morio Agata: Morimono Zukan (Mesh Key) LP
In tomorrow? Originally released by Osaka’s Vanity Records in 1980 and back on vinyl for the first time in nearly 40 years, this fully authorized reissue has been remastered from the original analog tapes. In tip-on sleeve, with double-sided insert. 50 years ago, Hokkaido-born singer-songwriter Morio Agata released his debut single, Sekishoku Ereji (Red Elegy), an emotive, shuffling piano ballad that (shockingly) sold half a million copies in Japan. While he would never have another Top-40 hit, Agata would spend the next half century issuing a series of idiosyncratic, experimental pop albums. Today, he’s a beloved cult figure, still actively touring and recording in his seventies. In his first decade as a recording artist, Agata released a stream of classics right out of the gate — Otome No Roman (1972) melded American-styled folk rock with traditional Japanese melodies, Zipangu Boy (1976) was a sprawling, Haruomi Hosono-produced psychedelic opus, and Kimi No Koto Suki Nan Da (1977) saw Agata tackle slick, lightly funky AOR. While this sort of stylistic schizophrenia might sink your average artist, Agata’s singular voice and magnetic charisma elevates everything he touches, and subsumes it all into Morio Agata World — a joyous, playful and frequently unhinged world. Arguably the biggest left-turn of Agata’s early career, however, came in 1979, when legendary experimental label Vanity Records’ Yuzuru Agi paired Agata with major players from his label’s roster and the Osaka punk scene for an impromptu recording session. An impressive list of musicians took part (SAB, Yukio Fujimoto (Normal Brain), Masahiro Kitada (INU), Taiqui (Ultra Bide), Jun Shinoda (SS), Chie Mukai (Che-Shizu), and others) and even though they all came from different wings of the underground music scene, together they built an arresting, minimalistic bedrock of synthesized and acoustic sounds for Agata to work his magic over. The recording sesssions were tense and it took a while for the collective to find their footing. But the hard work paid off — Norimono Zukan is a masterpiece of ramshackle new wave and droning dirges, topped off with Agata’s unmistakeable croon, at times delicate, other times twisted. It’s a relatively short album, but a deep one, and Mesh-Key is honored to introduce it to a new generation of music fans.
File Under: Japan, Electronic, Experimental
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Aunt Sally: s/t (Mesh Key) LP
In tomorrow? Available again! Mesh-Key reissue of a true desert island disc, criminally out of print for nearly 40 years. They’ve spared no expense bringing this classic back to life in a format befitting its brilliance, carefully orchestrating transfers of the original analog reel-to-reel tapes for remastering, and packaging each record in a heavy tip-on jacket with film lamination, and a double-sided, printed inner sleeve. This seminal, eponymous post-punk album by Japanese group Aunt Sally, fronted by experimental singer Phew, was first released by the iconic Vanity Records label in 1979. Over the past forty-plus years, Phew has forged a singular path through a wide range of styles – from free improvisation to pop – and has collaborated with the likes of Ryuichi Sakamoto, members of Can, DAF, Einstürzende Neubauten, The Raincoats and more. But Aunt Sally is where she got her start and, despite the members’ young ages (still in college at the time), Phew and the band delivered a mature, timeless take on minimalistic punk. Remastered from the original analog tapes, this fully authorized reissue is packaged in a heavy, tip-on jacket from Stoughton, and is housed in a double-sided, printed inner sleeve.
File Under: Japan, Post Punk
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Chet Baker & Art Pepper: Picture of Heath (Blue Note) LP
Having teamed up on two prior Pacific Jazz recordings, trumpeter Chet Baker and alto saxophonist Art Pepper continued their fruitful collaboration with the supremely swinging 1956 album Picture of Heath (which was originally released as Playboys until Hugh Hefner objected). The sextet for the session was brimming with top talent from the West Coast Jazz scene including tenor saxophonist Phil Urso, pianist Carl Perkins, bassist Curtis Counce, and drummer Larance Marable. A notable feature of the date was its focus on the compositions of saxophonist Jimmy Heath who penned five of the album’s tracks: “Picture of Heath,” “For Miles and Miles,” “C.T.A.,” “For Minors Only,” and “Resonant Emotions.” The set is rounded out by two of Pepper’s tunes – “Minor-Yours” and “Tynan Tyme” – and the playing throughout is unfailingly vibrant with exquisite solos and lively band interplay all of which which makes this a quintessential cool jazz date.
File Under: Jazz
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BKO: Djine Bora (Bongo Joe) LP
In tomorrow? In response to the current political and ecological turmoil, the famous Malian quintet BKO appeals to the magical spirit of the djinn with Djine Bora (the appearance of the genie). An explosive and mystical third album, embodied by a music of resistance, the fruit of their unique experimentation with Mandingo music and their extraordinary history The three letters B.K.O. are the code for Bamako airport. It is in the Malian capital that the group has been rehearsing since 2012. In the same year that Mali declared a state of emergency, no one could have imagined that these musicians would be responsible for three albums and over 450 concerts in 25 different countries. BKO fights, does not fail, unifies and looks like no one else. In this album, the band delivers an abrasive music where tradition is tinged with rock, polyphonies, distortions and shrill breaks. They invoke ancestral spiritualities by marrying for the first time in Mali two diametrically opposed traditions. In the course of the ten tracks of Djine Bora, BKO propels the traditions within a powerful and hybrid universe, just like Bamako. In this bewitching atmosphere, crackling concrete and ritual ceremonies meet. The group has released one of its most accomplished albums, tinged with trance, enigmatic melodies (Ntiaro’s Peulh prayer) and unifying messages (Maya, Bamako, Toumaro).
File Under: Africa
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Bourbonese Qualk: The Spike (Mannequin) LP
In tomorrow? Bourbonese Qualk’s third album “The Spike” was recorded during the period 1984-1985 and published by the Berlin based Dossier/Atonal label while Bourbonese Qualk were involved in organising the Berlin Atonal festival. Parts of Side 2 of the album is a recording of pieces made for a dance and film performance at the Bloomsbury Theatre in London in 1985. Bourbonese Qualk were an experimental music group from England, active from 1979 through 2003. They were always obsessively and uncompromisingly focused on controlling their work: they ran their own record label, recording studio, tour organization, and music venue (the notorious Ambulance Station). They refused to integrate into the commercial music racket and turned down publishing deals from major labels, stubbornly opting for total independence. They’re also known for their political activism, formed in the crucible of 1980s Britain amid such influences as the UK miners’ strike, The Falklands War, Thatcherism, monetarism, local government corruption, squatting, anti-capitalism, anti-fascism, and anarchism. Their work was often ambiguous and directly critical of cynical power-politics of any color, often irritating members of the traditional organized left. In 1984 Bourbonese Qualk occupied a large empty building – The Ambulance Station – on the Old Kent Road in South London, which they turned into a base for their activities, a cooperative space for artists, musicians, and writers, and a center for radical political activism — specifically as a coordinating center for the Stop the City anti-capitalist riots of 1984. This is music as much for then and today, a radical, revolutionary cultural force that acts as a positive social charge.
File Under: Industrial
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Broken Social Scene: Old Dead Young (Arts & Crafts) LP
Once a two-person basement recording project, Broken Social Scene came to life onstage as a shadowy improvisational entity with a revolving-door roster, each concert a wholly unique experience dependent on the room, the weather, what they ate for dinner that night, and who was dropping in to play. Where the band’s 2001 debut album, Feel Good Lost, presented BSS as an anonymous ambient project that reflected its humble, homespun origins, their electrifying live performances from that era rallied an extended family of performers with roots in post-rock (Justin Peroff, Do Make Say Think’s Charles Spearin), Latin jazz (Andrew Whiteman), art-folk (Feist), synth-pop (Amy Millan and Evan Cranley, also of Stars), dance-punk (Metric’s Emily Haines and Jimmy Shaw), and country rock (Jason Collett). But by pursuing improvisational freedom over commercial considerations, Broken Social Scene set a new gold standard for indie rock in the 21st century with 2002’s You Forgot It In People, an album that pushed the genre far beyond its noisy ’90s slacker roots toward a more sonically expansive, emotionally expressive vision. And with follow-up releases like the blissfully chaotic Broken Social Scene (2005), the rapturous Forgiveness Rock Record (2010), and the intricate, insidiously melodic Hug of Thunder (2017), Broken Social Scene have amassed a thrillingly amorphous, unpredictable body of work. Old Dead Young: B-Sides & Rarities is everything in between: A career-spanning collection of B-sides, rarities, and outtakes pulled from 20 years of 7-inches, compilations, soundtracks, unreleased music, and hard-to-find releases. Despite being a compilation, it has the same cohesion of a meticulously considered full length album with all the familiar euphoric highs and meditative lows.
File Under: Indie Rock
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Built to Spill: There’s Nothing Wrong with Love (Up) LP
There’s Nothing Wrong with Love is the second full-length album released by legendary indie rock band Built to Spill. It was originally released September 13, 1994, on the Up Records label. The line-up for the album was Doug Martsch, bassist Brett Nelson, and drummer Andy Capps, with Phil Ek producing. There’s Nothing Wrong with Love was wonderfully received by critics upon its release. It went on to earn “Best Albums of 90’s” notices from the likes of Pitchfork, PASTE & SPIN.
File Under: Indie Rock
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Tom Carruthers: Programmed World (L.I.E.S.) LP
In tomorrow? Hot off his debut for L.I.E.S. young music prodigy Tom Carruthers delivers a new 6 track lp of total Transmat worship. Jam packed with huge DX basslines, slamming 909s, and catchy melodies – this lp is made for the floor and would be hard pressed not to be thought of as a lost relic from ’89. Where as his last LP channeled more bleep elements, this one goes right to Detroit and moves the crowd as it should be…anthem after anthem.
File Under: Electronic
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Clear Path Ensemble: Solar Eclipse (Soundway) LP
In tomorrow? Diy contemporary jazz from New Zealand meets electronic production. As pockets of new jazz scenes emerge around the world, it’s apparent that New Zealand’s bubbling microcosm in Wellington interprets the genre through a unique lens. Clear Path Ensemble bottles the energy of that burgeoning movement and distils it into moody morsels of differing styles. From electric jazz to ambient, experimental, house and funk – it’s a DIY, jam-session attitude towards composition, as the band members freely cherry-pick from a vast orchard of influences. Citing inspiration from 70s ECM catalogue, the ensemble channels the “expansive and astral” elements of electric jazz, with an introspective dynamic. At times it’s fused with catchy synth hooks, smooth basslines and shuffling beats, while other tracks morph into moody electronic soundscapes, and even Sun Ra-esque free jazz. Led by percussionist Cory Champion, the band released their debut self-titled album with HHV in 2020, followed by a headline performance at the 2021 Wellington Jazz Festival. Champion has played drums alongside some of New Zealand’s most revered contemporary musicians (Lord Echo, Lucien Johnson and Mara TK to name a few), and also produces leftfield deep house and techno under the name Borrowed cs, which partly informs the ensemble’s electronic production.
File Under: Jazz, Electronic
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Dhidalah: Sensoria (GuruGuru Brain) LP
In tomorrow? Where is space? Is it in our brain? Or is it outside the planet Earth? Dhidalah poetically answers the question with their newest album Sensoria. (Soma, Black Shrine) Two songs are made from their weekly jam session in Tokyo. The band leader, Gotoh usually records the session and shares it with (Masahito aka Bin and Ikuma) the other two members. After listening to the jam recording, they each get inspired by the flow of sounds and find a connection to the outside world. In the following week and with their own understanding, they try to recreate the (essence of the) jam. (Invader Summer, Dead) Track 2 and 3 are written by Ikuma, who is known to be a natural space head guitar monster with his own interpretation of space. The last 20-minute long Black Shrine was inspired by the Japanese folklore Yokai, the spiritual and sometimes shapeshifting creatures living in the dark mountains of Japan. Space is free space, Sensoria is a thoughtful, supernatural example of a Japanese trio space. How is your space like? Deep in the middle of the night, or in bright daylight, in the smallest of rooms, to the vastness of the forest, listening to Sensoria will open you up to a new sense/kind of space.
File Under: Psych, Japan
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Ernesto Djedje: Le Roi De Ziglibithy (Analog Africa) LP
In tomorrow? The star of Ernesto Djédjé started rising in the late 60s, when he became the guitar player and leader of Ivoiro Star. Annoyed by the “congolisation” of the Ivorian music that was taking place within the band, Ernesto left the group and emigrated to Paris in 1968 to record his first few singles arranged by Manu Dibango and influenced by Soul, Rhythm & Blues and Jerk. Returning to Côte d‘Ivoire in 1974 Ernesto began thinking of ways of combining the rhythms and chants of the Bété people and fuse them with Makossa, Funk and Disco and create a musical style that was both Ivorian and International. He called his experiment Ziglibithy and his first two albums, immortalised at the EMI studios in 1977 in Lagos and released on the Badmos label, took West Africa by storm turning Ernesto Djédjé into an icon overnight and one of the legends of African music. The song Zighlibitiens, brought to Colombia by an aeronautical mechanic in the early 1980, would become a huge hit on the Caribbean Coast and reach legendary status in Barranquilla and Cartagena.
File Under: Africa, Funk, Afrobeat
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Drexciya: Neptune’s Lair (Tresor) LP
In tomorrow? Tresor Records announces forthcoming special editions of its entire catalogue of Drexciya and related projects. 2022 marks the 20th anniversary of the passing of James Stinson and the releases of the Transllusion and Shifted Phases albums. In recognition, the rightsholders, their families, and the label have commissioned Detroit-based contemporary artist Matthew Angelo Harrison to re-conceptualize the covers of Tresor’s Drexciya-related catalogue. These editions will be released sequentially, bimonthly, starting early-September 2022. The series starts with Neptune’s Lair, first released in 1999, with the Hydro Doorways single arriving shortly after. In November, Harnessed The Storm and Digital Tsunami are coming. In 2023 comes the release of Transllusion in February. The series is completed by the long-awaited re-release of Shifted Phases – The Cosmic Memoirs Of The Late Great Rupert J. Rosinthrope – at the end of March. These records, individually and as a catalogue, represent some of the most crucial moments in the Tresor label history, with the sound and mythic world of Drexciya undoubtedly inspiring generations.
File Under: Electronic
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Herb Ellis & Remo Palmier: Windflower (Real Gone) LP
Originally released on the Concord label, this masterful 1978 meeting of jazz guitar giants has quietly become one of the most collectible albums of its era. Herb Ellis and Remo Palmier (a.k.a Palmieri) were contemporaries in the red-hot NYC jazz scene of the ‘40s, but they arrived at this recording through very different routes. Ellis’ reputation steadily grew as he went from being a sideman in the Glen Gray and Jimmy Dorsey orchestras to being a mainstay in the Oscar Peterson Trio in the ‘50s, and later playing in a guitar trio with Barney Kessel and Charlie Byrd. Palmier, on the other hand, got his career off to a blazing start, playing with Coleman Hawkins before appearing on seminal bebop sides (e.g. “Groovin’ High”) with Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. But then, health issues intervened, and Palmier spent the next three decades or so working a staff job at CBS for The Arthur Godfrey Show. Finally, after the show was canceled, Palmier re-entered jazz circles but never really recorded much, which only makes Windflower that much more of a treasure. “Sublime” is the word that springs to our mind, but you can substitute your own superlative; backed by George Duvivier on bass and Ron Traxler on drums, Ellis and Palmier bring an organic sense of swing, beautifully-voiced chords, and lyrical lead lines to such fare as “The Night Has a Thousand Eyes,” “Groove Merchant,” and even “Danny Boy.” Produced by Concord label founder Carl Jefferson. First-ever reissue, emerald green vinyl!
File Under: Jazz
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Ful EFX: Headrush (L.I.E.S.) LP
In tomorrow? Turning a new chapter with a new alias, techno stalwart Anthony Parasole delivers his FULL EFX project. The New York City artist known for his work on OsGut Ton, Dekmantel, and his own imprint The Corner, now makes his debut on L.I.E.S. Records. While the backbone of this project is rooted in the structural ideas of traditional techno, we now hear Parasole expand on his past sound in a refined manner with acute attention to detail throughout these new productions. Most notably is the repeated use of processed “vocals” on the recording which serves a psychedelic element that drives many of the tracks with haunting results. Tempos push and pull from lightspeed 140 bpm club cuts to 89 bpm pseudo-dancehall to the broken beat closer “Scared to Death” with its chopped vocal, sizzling percussions and industrial crunch, all tracks taking their own persona. With FULL EFX, Parasole expertly puts forth an lp that brings together and transforms the many sounds of modern electronic music in a unique and laser focused fashion with his new vision.
File Under: Electronic
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Full Moon Ensemble: Crowded with Loneliness (Comet) LP
In tomorrow? Reissue of this French spiritual free jazz masterpiece, includes the killer poetry jazz tune ʻSamba Miaouʼ! Crowded with Loneliness by Full Moon Ensemble was produced by Claude Delcloo, check the classic ‘Samba `Miaou’, like a lost Pharoah Sanders tune mixed with politically-engaged French poetry! The whole LP is varied, avant-garde and spiritual and now available as Vinyl LP with Gatefold cover
File Under: Jazz, Spiritual
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Serge Gainsbourg/Alain Goraguer: Strip-Tease (Survival Research) LP
Another side of Serge Gainsbourg permeates this 1963 film soundtrack about “a stripper lost in the nocturnal world” of Paris, according to director Jacques Poitrenaud, who cast Nico in the lead role (after her appearance in La Dolce Vita and just prior to the single she cut with Jimmy Page for Andrew Loog Oldham). Created by Gainsbourg with arranger and longstanding collaborator Alain Gourager, the music is fittingly the cool jazz of dingy nightclubs and seedy bordellos, with Gainsbourg on piano, and there’s the sultry title track, delivered breathlessly by Juliette Greco. Another lost gem for all serious Gainsbourg fans.
File Under: OST, French, Jazz
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Genetic Factor: In Deadly Wet Dreams (Artificial Dance) LP
In tomorrow? Artificial Dance is very happy to announce the full archival compilation of work by Richard Zeilstra A.K.A. Genetic Factor. Recorded in different parts of the world, at different times – we hope this will give the world a glimmer of the mind of Genetic Factor. A mind that has been behind a variety of very influential operations during the years; including a string of radio programmes (Radionome & Spleen a.o.), working at Boudisque and running Barcelona’s first compact disc store. A double disc affair housed in a deluxe gatefold sleeve that is only bleak in comparison with the musics featured on the discs. With songs taken from a wealth of recordings (and we’re only touching the surface!) that were safely locked in the Lab’s vaults. The songs featured are not an attempt of making a coherent ‘album’ but much more trials of interpretation of his world into ‘music’. His strong believe in non-musicianship makes it more thrilling than conventional musics, yet these recordings are not result of amateurism – they form a consistent reality of what excites him. Take a dive in the realm of the Genetic Factor…
File Under: Electronic, Industrial
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Hot Hot Heat: Make Up the Breakdown (Sub Pop) LP
Make Up The Breakdown was produced by Jack Endino (Nirvana, Soundgarden, Sonic Youth) at Vancouver, BC’s Mushroom Studios with additional engineering and mixing from former Death Cab for Cutie member Chris Walla at The Hall of Justice in Seattle, and released in October 2002 as a ten-track album. For this deluxe edition, Make Up The Breakdown has been expanded to twelve tracks and now includes “Apt. 101” and “Move On,” two tracks only previously available with a UK-only single for “Bandages.” Make Up The Breakdown earned praise from the likes of AllMusic, who called the album “an addictive, densely packed pop gem that ranks among 2002’s best albums,” and Pitchfork agreed, including it at No. 20 on “The 50 Best Albums of 2002.” The official videos for “Bandages” and “Talk to Me, Dance With Me” saw regular airplay on MTV. Meanwhile the singles saw huge support at Alternative Radio, with both songs going to No. 1 at the KROQ in Los Angeles.
File Under: Indie Rock
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IDLES: Brutalism (5 Years of Brutalism) (Partisan) LP
To celebrate the 5th anniversary of their smashing debut album the band created a special limited edition. This version is pressed on cherry red vinyl, packaged in a gatefold jacket with alternate cover art and a printed inner sleeve. Limited edition of 10,000 for the world. Originally released in 2017, Brutalism, was heralded as a return of loud rock by a band with feelings that they were not afraid to share and to shout them with you. IDLES are a band that transcends expectations and a styles. Yes, they rock. Yes, they’re caustic. But as this stunning debut LP shows they also know love, care and heartbreak. This album saw them successfully channel the energy of their live performances into a studio epic. IDLES and this album are the mosh pit personified: fury, sweat, excitement, aggression, happiness and everyone looking out for each other.
File Under: Indie Rock, Punk
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Influenza Prods. Memoire (Left Ear) LP
In tomorrow? Left Ear re-surface with a compilation of music from Italy’s original “homewave” band the ‘Influenza Prods.’. TIP!!!! Bruno De Angelis and Giovanna Gulinello unwittingly met in London in the late 70’s, after being introduced by a mutual friend. Both Bruno and Giovanna arrived with varying ambitions. Giovanna wanted to learn English or be a painter, while Bruno found work at the Royal Post Office, which he found testing. It wasn’t until Bruno rescued Giovanna from an awkward date that the pair became a couple. At the time, music was just something they did for fun. Bruno already had an acoustic guitar and G bought a bass. Those were the days when you could start a new band, whether you could play or not, and new independent labels were springing up. Rough Trade Records was literally around the corner. In 1981 the pair moved back to Italy and found an apartment in Rome. It’s here that they began to focus on their music and where they started ‘recording’ their tracks. First, they would record the rhythm, maybe add the Gigster (the name of their “cheap drum machine”), the bass, and then, as they made a copy of the first cassette onto a second cassette they would add guitar, more synth, or both at the same time. After that, it was not unusual to copy from the second cassette back into the first cassette adding even more “stuff”. As with many artists during the early 80’s, the Influenza Prods’ sound was the direct result of the accessibility of emerging electronic instruments and the recording equipment available to them. The duo was resourceful and inventive, acquiring new equipment as resources allowed. They recorded dialogue from British Soap Operas on their TV set, which were later added to their tracks, while further making use of their family’s cutlery sets, which were used to fill in certain percussion sections. The duo’s homespun recordings found a web of admirers in the unofficial distribution of tape trading and mail-art scenes. Despite the DIY ethos and the fact that most tapes were handmade, the Influenza Prods managed to ‘release’ three tapes which comprised of the Greatest Tits (1983), Cheek-A-Bomba (1984) and Quasi Solo (1985). Bruno and Giovanna were sadly subjected to serious family problems, including the loss of loved ones in their lives and eventually parted ways, concluding the Influenza Prods. However, to this day they remain close friends who keep in touch regularly.
File Under: Electronic
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Ingested: Ashes Lie Still (Metal Blade) LP
The flagbearers of modern UK death metal, Ingested, have been churning out bilious anti-anthems for more than a decade and a half, dropping a string of releases that have helped shape the genre. In 2022, they return with Ashes Lie Still, their most dynamic, inventive and daring release to date. Over the course of ten tracks they hack, slash and steamroll through everything in their path, and it easily stands as the highpoint of an already impressive career.
File Under: Metal
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King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard: Float Along – Fill Your Lungs (ATO) LP
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard is one of the most exciting head-spinning, third-eye opening, double-drumming goddamn rock ‘n’ roll bands on the planet. The unexpected is just about the only thing we have come to expect from the Melbourne band. Via a series of carefully considered yet wildly divergent concepts The Gizz’s collective body of work offers visceral thrills a-plenty without ever once resorting to indulgence. Their music works on so many levels, providing a transcendental, hair-swinging soundtrack for some, a transportive journey to the center of one’s id for others, while in their more reflective moments also tenderly offering succour and guidance for the lost and spiritually malnourished. Float Along – Fill Your Lungs is King Gizzard’s third full-length LP, released in 2013 and home to the fan favorite “Head/On-Pill.” The band cranks up the fuzzbox and sets the delay on infinity, assembling a cosmic force field that draws their sonic creations of the recent past into one unified, throbbing whole.
File Under: Psych
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King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard: Flying Microtonal Banana (ATO) LP
5-year anniversary edition of King Gizzard’s first exploration into non-Western musical scales, inspired by the movable frets of the Turkish baglama. The band’s second best-selling album of all time, now in a deluxe gold foil jacket and pressed on golden nugget colored vinyl and housed in a 100% recyclable custom paper sleeve. Golden Rattlesnake Edition LP
File Under: Psych
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King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard: Paper Mache Balloon (ATO) LP
2022 pressing of King Gizzard’s acoustic dream pop masterpiece! This new double vinyl includes the original LP, plus the original album – INSTRUMENTAL. Pressed on fresh “champagne lemon” and “mango wave” colored vinyl with custom inner-sleeves and obi-strip.
File Under: Psych
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La Femme: Teatro Lucido (Born Bad) LP
The French psycho-indie-rock band La Femme announces the release of Teatro Lucido, their new studio album sung entirely in Spanish, released on November 4, 2022. During their time touring in Latin America and Spain, La Femme wrote a Spanish song called “Le Jardin” for their previous album Paradigmes. This track led them down the path toward creating Teatro Lucido, their first full album sung entirely in Spanish. Similar to their previous albums, La Femme wrote, composed, and produced Teatro Lucido themselves, inviting numerous female singers to participate in the process. The album found birth through their adventures in Seville, Grenade, Madrid, Mexico City, Cuautepec, Padul… where they had so many moments of laughs and joys, tears and disappointment. Teatro Lucido draws from many of La Femme’s inspirations including the famous Semana Santa in Spain; pasodoble, reggaeton, Brasilian, and Andalusian rythms; classical guitars, and Movida of the 80’s. Teatro Lucido is the name of a mythic theatre where La Femme has played many times in Mexico. It is the first album from a thematic series they have planned called “Collection Odyssée.”
File Under: French, Psych
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Machine: s/t (Wewantsounds) LP
In tomorrow? One of rarest funk albums on the international scene originally released in 1972 and reissued on vinyl for the first time in decades. Newly remastered with original artwork including new liner notes by Charles Waring. Check out ‘Why Can’t People (Be Colors Too?)’ amongst many others! Machine’s self-titled album is shrouded in mystery. Supposedly released in 1972 on All Platinum Records, it completely disappeared without a trace and only a few copies seem to have survived. Consisting of three young session musicians backing their label mates The Whatnauts, the group display a superb mix of socially-conscious hard-hitting funk and earthy soul, the album is reissued here in its original artwork and remastered by Colorsound Studio in Paris. It includes a 2-page insert with new liner notes by Charles Waring. Masterminded by singer and guitarist Michael Watson accompanied by bass player Curtis McTeer and drummer Donald McCoy, the album Machine came straight out of the New Jersey-based All Platinum studios where the label was based. The musicians had been active as session musicians for the label since the late 60s, mainly backing such label acts as The Whatnauts. As a matter of fact, the Whatnauts’ manager, Bunch Herndon, makes guest appearance on the album as percussionist. Beside the core group of Watson, McTeer and McCoy, the album’s line-up features several other cult musicians and also the orchestrator Sammy Lowe, a seasoned professional who had been arranging for Sam Cooke, James Brown and Nina Simone to name just a few. This solid group of musicians worked their magic in the studio offering the perfect setting to Watson’s compositions. On most of the album, Watson decided to add a social and political edge, a direction that was popular at the time with Marvin Gaye’s ‘What’s Going On’ and Curtis Mayfield’s ‘Superfly’ having just been released to huge success. Kicking off the album is the Funk killer ‘Time is Running Out’ featuring a huge Hammond organ-led groove, enhanced by a powerful brass section and funky guitar licks. The song is mostly instrumental except for the refrain sung ad-lib over the formidable groove. The song is followed by “Only People Can Save the World” a soulful ballad based on a similar structure with the title sung over a catchy instrumental. The song is in fact the instrumental version of the Whatnauts’ song of the same name which was also released in 1972. The album continues on the Funk vein with the instrumental “Headhunter” featuring another explosive groove, followed by “World,” a protest song dealing with the impact of the Vietnam war among the African American community. The pace slows down with “Trails before going back to its deep funk foundations with the instrumental “Lock Your Door” and ending on a sixties soul note with the track “Boots in the Snow.” Nobody seems to have an explanation as to why this elusive album is so rare fueling rumours it actually never came out. We will probably never know the full story of Machine, but Wewantsounds is glad to make up for this injustice and put this funky gems back into circulation for the pleasure of all the Soul and Funk heads
File Under: Funk
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Gigi Masin: Vahine (Language of Sound) LP
In tomorrow? Widely-loved electronic maestro Gigi Masin returns with ‘Vahinè’ – a mini album of beautiful and distinct music that is unmistakably his, sounding better than ever. Masin always pours his heart into composing, but here it takes on a potent new level of heavy emotion – as it’s a tribute to his late wife, who sadly passed away last year. “There is a Tahitian dance called ‘Aparima’. It consists of graceful, sinuous and fascinating movements, which tell you stories and legends about love or tradition. The ‘Vahinè’ are now dancing, the Tahitian females, with smiles and gestures that could be symbolic or descriptive but are always gentle, harmonious, charming. I was watching this documentary, it was almost 4 in the morning, but I couldn’t sleep; I was in front of the television for hours, my wife had passed away the day before, and I was watching hands and arms swaying. I told myself that maybe it’s so, at the end of the road it’s possible to realize dreams, and I’m sure that she is finally able to dance like never before, and is able to move without any impediment, with no suffering, free to make all the movements that she couldn’t make for so long, turning to me with a smile and a wink. So, in the clouds, you will discover and see an extraordinary ‘Vahinè’, because she will move and dance and smile until the end of time.” Gigi Masin. A future-retro dreamscape where stripes of early evening sun pour through partially closed venetian blinds; kalimba, piano and steel pans meet on the incredibly evocative ‘Marilene (Somewhere in Texas)’. The Balearic/Italo house heart of ‘Barumini’ throbs throughout a celestial epiphany, whilst ‘Shadye’ is a sun blinded ambient mirage where angelic voices and electric guitar intertwine, before more heavenly music ensues on the trance-like ‘Malvina’. A heart-wrenchingly beautiful evocation of transitioning to the other side, ‘Valerie Crossing’ is Gigi’s compelling and inspirational take on death, with a vivid evocation of something spiritual, existential and metaphysical. His exemplary approach shows decease not as a cause for despair, but a philosophical and poetic exploration of where souls go, when they leave their earthly bodies. Masin closes with ‘Vahinè’ – a twitchy, levitational piece of sublime deep techno, which transmits high strength vibrations of powerful emotions. On both this track, and the album of the same name, there’ s no pseudo intellectual ambient posturing with cod academic angles tagged on; This is music of real substance, coming from a real place. It’s saturated with feelings, but turns mourning into affecting art, and even a beacon of hope.
File Under: Ambient
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Kham Meslien: Fantomes…Futurs (Heavenly Sweetness) LP
In tomorrow? Bassist of the band Lo’Jo until 2016, Kham Meslien has performed on all continents, from the big stages of the world’s cities to the Australian and American deserts. He also plays in the trio Sweet Back and has collaborated, on stage or in the studio, with many international musicians: Robert Plant, Archie Shepp, Robert Wyatt and Justin Adams. With this solo double bass project, Kham Meslien embarks on a new adventure, introspective and shared.
File Under: Jazz
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The Meters: A Message from the Meters – Complete Josie, Reprise & Warner Singles (1968-1977) LP
How would you like to hear a new side—or should we say sides—of the world’s greatest funk band? This 3-LP, 40-track set presents inside of a double gatefold jacket the A and B-side of every single that organist Art Neville, guitarist Leo Nocentelli, bassist George Porter, Jr., and drummer Joseph “Zigaboo” Modeliste cut for the Josie, Reprise & Warner Bros. label, virtually their entire singles output (all but two co-produced by the late, great Allen Toussaint) save for a few odds ‘n’ ends issued mostly overseas. That means that you not only get every hit along with its hard-to-find B-side but also the rare single mixes, including the especially rare original mono single mixes of the 1968-1971 Josie sides (the first three LP sides are all mono; the last three, featuring the later Reprise and Warner Bros. singles, present all stereo single mixes). These songs represent the mother lode of New Orleans funk, classic tracks like “Sophisticated Cissy,” “Cissy Strut,” “Look-Ka Py Py,” “Chicken Strut,” “Hand Clapping Song,” “Hey Pocky A-Way,” and more. And, with liner notes by Bill Dahl featuring quotes from Nocentelli, Neville, and Porter, this 3-LP set offers probably the best retrospective to date of this enormously influential band. And how’s the sound? Well, after extensive and exhaustive tape research, we were able to come up with original tape sources for all but five of these single sides, and the remastering—by Mike Milchner at SonicVision—is tight! Crate diggers, take your marks!
File Under: Funk
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Minami Deutsch: Fortune Goodies (GuruGuru Brain) LP
In tomorrow? Everyone has their own imagination about outer space, and each one us gets to daydream about what exactly floats or exists there. ‘Fortune Goodies’ is Minami Deutsch’s long-awaited 3rd studio album and an encyclopaedia of Krautrock, as band leader Kyotaro Miula describes it. While not all the songs on the record function as straightforward Krautrock this time around, they still manage to capture the spirit and heart of the genre. After relocating from Tokyo to Berlin, Miula’s musical vocabulary has greatly expanded, thus resulting in this ultimate Japanese take on cosmic music in 2022.
File Under: Psych, Krautrock
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Blue Mitchell: Bring It Home to Me (Blue Note) LP
Trumpeter Blue Mitchell had been a sideman on Blue Note sessions led by Lou Donaldson, Jimmy Smith, Jackie McLean, and appeared on numerous classics as a member of the Horace Silver Quintet before he began recording his own leader albums for the label. Following The Thing to Do and Down With It, Mitchell headed back into Rudy Van Gelder’s studio in 1966 to record Bring It Home To Me, a soulful hard bop date that featured the trumpeter with Junior Cook on tenor saxophone, Harold Mabern on piano, Gene Taylor on bass, and Billy Higgins on drums. Steeped in the blues and deeply funky, the six-song set found the band performing Mitchell originals (“Blues 3 for 1” and “Blue’s Theme”) as well as a pair of compositions by Jimmy Heath (“Bring It Home To Me” and “Gingerbread Boy”), and a stunning rendition of the ballad “Portrait of Jennie.”
File Under: Jazz
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Hitomi Moriwaki: Subtropic Cosmos (Guruguru Brain) LP
In tomorrow? Subtropic Cosmos is the international debut album by Japanese artist Hitomi Moriwaki. Composed and recorded at her Fukuoka home during the worldwide pandemic between 2020-2022, the album was produced by Hideki Urawa, who has also worked with Kikagaku Moyo and other musical acts on Guruguru Brain. Hitomi Moriwaki is a multidisciplinary artist working with a wide range of mediums besides music, including: magazines, ceramics, digital art, and animation. “Subtropic Cosmos” in particular is a wonderful work that conveys the “joy of making things” to listeners, as it is filled with various influences from her diverse activities. As suggested by the album title, most of the songs were created under the unprecedented conditions of corona–and as a result, were inspired by the consciousness of traveling through imaginary foreign lands and nature. As if adventuring through the universe inside of her own mind, Moriwaki’s versatility is best experienced through her fearless fusion of hip-hop, pop and experimental music. Through a lens of psychedelic production by Hideki Urawa, this album is a truly special, one-of-a-kind space experience for listeners to enjoy and embark upon.
File Under: Japan, Pop, Psych
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Jessie Reyez: Yessie (Island) LP
Yessie picks up where Grammy-nominated, 4x Juno-winning, singer-songwriter Jessie Reyez’s 2020 debut studio album left off – a highly anticipated release from a now unforgettable era. Her writing on the new album captures the human experience in a way that is at once unique and relatable. After releasing two critically acclaimed EPs, Kiddo and Being Human In Public, Jessie released Before Love Came To Kill Us in March of 2020. Against unenviable odds, the album charted Top five on Billboard’s R&B Album Chart – and earned the title of Top Female Debut Album and Top R&B Album of 2020 – cementing Reyez as a worldwide phenomenon.
File Under: R&B
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Ayanda Sikade: Umakhulu (Afrosynth) LP
In tomorrow? Born in 1981 in Mdantsane in the Eastern Cape, Ayanda Sikade is one of South African jazz’s most in-demand and respected drummers, a familiar face on the scene for years and a driving force behind its growing prominence on the world stage. Dedicated to his grandmother who raised him, Sikade’s long-awaited sophomore album as a bandleader, Umakhulu, follows his 2018 debut Movements. Recorded in Johannesburg in early 2021, it features the talents of frequent collaborator Nduduzo Makhathini on piano, young Simon Manana on alto sax and Nhlanhla Radebe on bass. The album’s nine tracks, composed and produced by Sikade, pay homage to the artist’s heritage — most noticeably on ‘Mdantsane’ and ‘Nxarhuni River’ — while forging onwards to a brave new world on others, like ‘Imithandazo Yeengelosi’ (Prayer of Angels) and ‘Space Ship’.
File Under: Jazz, Africa
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Spiritualized: Spaceman Demo Mixes (Fat Possum) LP
A three track 12″ EP from Spiritualized, featuring alternate mixes from the most recent album Everything Was Beautiful, and a Junior Kimbrough cover song. With new art from Mark Farrow.
File Under: Rock
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We Jazz: Issue 1: World Galaxy (We Jazz) Magazine
In tomorrow? We Jazz launches a new magazine bringing together contributors from such sources as Pitchfork, WIRE, Downbeat, The Quietus, Jazzwise, Deutschlandfunk Kultur, etc. Altering its title according to each issue’s lead story, the first 128-page edition of the publication is entitled “World Galaxy” in connection to the cover story about Alice Coltrane written by US author Ashley Kahn. Other writers for the first issue include Phil Freeman, Debra Richards, Stewart Smith, Daniel Spicer, Peter Margasak, Andreas Müller, Matti Nives, Christian Adofo, Samy Ben Redjeb, 4AD’s US Label Manager Nabil Ayers, plus more. Topics in addition to the Alice Coltrane lead in include Sun Ra in Egypt, Scatter label profile, John Corbett, vinyl production in 2021, free jazz hero Alan Braufman, Finnish guitarist Raoul Björkenheim’s jazz photos from 1976-77, a collection of European modern jazz posters, Oiro Pena, records / books / design, etc. “We wanted to create a quality magazine with top content and a very organic feeling,” says the magazine’s co-editor and AD / graphic designer Matti Nives. “To us that means inviting some of our favourite writers to come up with ideas about topics they would like to cover, and linking up with great local illustrators and photographers. We hope that the end result would differ from other prints out there and provide fresh ideas in relation to the music we love.” Going forward, the English-language We Jazz Magazine is planned to be published twice a year.
File Under: Jazz, Magazine
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We Jazz: Issue 5: Amaryllis (We Jazz) Magazine
In tomorrow? The fifth issue of We Jazz Magazine, “Amaryllis” for Mary Halvorson. 128 pages 174 x 250 mm in size and printed on 140g Edixion paper with laminated 300g Invercote covers. All articles presented IN ENGLISH. Stories include Mary Halvorson by Peter Margasak, Pi Recordings by Will Layman, Tyshawn Sorey by Marc Medwin, A Lesson To Be Learned About Jazz Education by Tina Edwards, Odysseus Festival by Dave Waller, Bob Rutman by Marialuisa Bonometti, Sarathy Korwar & Joanna Duda in conversation by Debra Richards, Tokyo Jazz Joints Vol. 3 by Philip Arneill, reviews, plus more.
File Under: Jazz, Magazine
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Rick White: Plays the Sadies (Blue Fog) LP
Rick White, best known for his work through the 1990’s with Eric’s Trip and Elevator (To/Through) Hell, is a close friend to The Sadies. Over the years, he’s collaborated with them many times, writing songs for them, as well as making videos and artwork. They also recorded and performed together as The Unintended. After Dallas Good’s sudden death in February of 2022, to help work through his grief at the loss of a good friend, he recorded his own versions of 14 of his favourite Sadies songs. Playing all the instruments, he gives their songs a faithful treatment, keeping all the guitar and vocal melodies intact, while adding the heavy psychedelic vibe we can always expect from his creations. Blue Fog are releasing this with the blessing of the band, and as a tribute to their friend Dallas. A nice collection of songs for fans of both Rick and The Sadies, on a limited white vinyl pressing.
File Under: Psych, Sadies, Eric’s Trip
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Various: Artificial Intelligence (Warp) LP
Includes rare early tracks by Aphex Twin (as The Dice Man), Autechre, Richie Hawtin (as UP!), B12 (as Musicology) and Alex Paterson (The Orb), the latter featuring co-production from Jimmy Cauty (The KLF). First release in Warp’s 1992 – 1994 Artificial Intelligence series that consisted of Artificial Intelligence, Surfing On Sine Waves by Polygon Window, Bytes by Black Dog Productions, Electro-Soma by B12, Dimension Intrusion by F.U.S.E., Ginger by Speedy J, Incunabula by Autechre, and Artificial Intelligence II.
File Under: Electronic
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Various: Padang Moonrise: The Birth of the Modern Indonesian Recording Industry (1955-69) (Soundway) LP
In tomorrow? Padang Moonrise is the story of modern Indonesian music that emerged underneath the volcanoes of Java and Sumatra. Java, the most populous island in the archipelago of over 17,000 islands and 1300 distinct ethnic groups, and its capital city Jakarta, was where most of the post-colonial national identity, politics, administration and music production was centred. Traditional songs from Java, Sumatra, Bali and beyond were re-imagined by a small group of state-sponsored musicians that also composed and arranged new music. These songs aimed at consolidating a geographically disparate country with a new language and new ideas of national character. This compilation brings together a handful of these recordings that combine elements of regional popular music, Islamic Gambus, Javanese & Balinese Gamelan and Kroncong, with jazz, Afro-Latin music & instrumentation, and vocal harmonies influenced by banned American doo-wop and rock & roll. The results are a unique blend of styles that have remained mostly insulated from the world outside of Indonesia until a recent worldwide resurgence in the interest of recorded music of all forms has shone a new light on these nearly forgotten recordings. 27 tracks compiled by Miles Cleret, on double vinyl with bonus 7”, housed in gatefold sleeve with extended liner notes.
File Under: Jazz, World
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Various: Polyphonic Cosmos: Sonic Innovations in Japan (1980 – 1986) (Cease & Desist) LP
In tomorrow? Ever since he made his first trip to Japan to DJ, Optimo Music founder JD Twitch has been bewitched by Japanese music, and particularly the vibrant, imaginative, and often far-sighted sounds which emerged from the island nation during the 1980s. Now he’s put years of digging in Japanese record shops to good use on Polyphonic Cosmos, the latest release on his compilation-focused Cease & Desist imprint. Subtitled ‘A Beginners Guide to Japan In The ‘80s’, the collection offers a personal selection of Japanese gems recorded and released between 1981 and ’86 – a period when advances in recording and musical technology offered the nation’s artists and producers a whole new tool kit to employ. When combined with the unique musical culture of Japan, where local traditions are frequently fused with Western styles to create timeless, off-kilter aural fusions, this embrace of locally pioneered music technology had spectacular, often unusual results. Eight years in the making, Polyphonic Cosmos provides an endlessly entertaining musical snapshot of Japanese music of the early-to-mid ‘80s with all of the open-minded eclecticism and sonic twists that you would expect from the Glasgow-based DJ. Compare and contrast, for example, the gently breezy, morning-fresh folk-plus-electronics bliss of ‘ばら二曲 Baranikyoku (Fellini&Rota)’ by World Standard – the most familiar alias of long-serving musician/producer Sohichiro Suzuki – and the hallucinatory, slow-motion tribal rhythms, post-punk rhythms and tape delay-laden electronics of Imitation’s ‘Exotic Dance’. Or, for that matter, the tipsy mid-‘80s electronic reggae of Pecker’s ‘Sha La La’, the grungy but melodic post-punk strut of ‘You Go On Natural’ by Earthling (a track Twitch accurately describes as “sheer unrelenting groove”), and the unearthly, swirling sonics, new age instrumentation and flotation tank vocals of prolific (and seemingly mysterious) act Geinoh Yamashirogumi’s ‘Rimme Kohkyogaku Meiki’. It’s a credit to JD Twitch’s curatorial skills that the quality never dips, and sonic surprises lurk around every corner. Consider for a moment the hard to describe, far-sighted audio immersion of D-Day’s ‘Ki-Ra’ – all languid post-pop guitar, enveloping chords, spoken word vocals, shuffling 808 beats and marimba melodies – and the two contributions from video games soundtrack specialist (and driving instrumental synth-pop specialist) Hiroyuki Namba. The collection naturally includes some selections that have long been favourites in Twitch’s DJ sets – see Masumi Hara’s ‘Your Dream’ – as well as a handful of tracks from artists who may be more recognisable to those with only rudimentary knowledge of Japanese musical culture. The great Yasuaki Shimizu, whose work as Mariah has become far better known in recent years thanks to reissues of some of his most magical albums, is represented via ‘The Crow’, a picturesque chunk of horizontal, hard-to-define jazz-not-jazz smokiness, while the collection fittingly concludes with a sublimely funky, oddball electronic workout from Yellow Magic Orchestra legend Ryuichi Sakamoto (the frankly incredible ‘Wongga Dance Song’).
File Under: Japan, Electronic
…..restocks…..
Antibalas: s/t (Daptone) LP
Aphex Twin: Selected Ambient Works 85-92 (R&S) LP
Bad Brains: s/t (ORG) LP
Ray Barretto: Barretto Power (Craft) LP
Beach House: Depression Cherry (Sub Pop) LP
Beastie Boys: Licensed to Ill (Def Jam) LP
Beck: Odelay (Geffen) LP
Art Blakey: Moanin’ (Blue Note) LP
Boards of Canada: Geogaddi (Warp) LP
Boards of Canada: In A Beautiful Place Out in the Country (Warp) LP
Boards of Canada: Tomorrow’s Harvest (Warp) LP
Bon Iver: For Emma, Forever Ago (Jagjaguwar) LP
Boy Harsher: Yr Body Is Nothing (Nude) LP
Donald Byrd: Places and Spaces (Blue Note) LP
C418: Minecraft Volume Alpha OST (Ghostly) LP
Gene Clark: No Other (4AD) LP
Cocteau Twins: Heaven or Las Vegas (4AD) LP
Jocy De Oliveira: Raga Na Amazonia (Discos Nada) LP
Dead Cross: II (Ipecac) LP
Mac DeMarco: 2 (Captured Tracks) LP
Dhidalah: Threshold (Guruguru Brain) LP
Duster: Capsule Losing Contact (Numero) LP
El Michels Affair: The Abominable (Big Crown) LP
Bill Evans: Trio ’65 (Verve) LP
Feist: The Reminder (Arts & Crafts) LP
Foo Fighters: Essential (Legacy) LP
Marvin Gaye: What’s Going On (Motown) LP
Grant Green: Born to Be Blue (Blue Note) LP
Herbie Hancock: Sextant (Music On Vinyl) LP
Aldous Harding: Designer (4AD) LP
Aldous Harding: Party (4AD) LP
Hole: Live Through This (Geffen) LP
Iron Maiden: s/t (Sanctuary) LP
Iron Maiden: Piece of Mind (Sanctuary) LP
Iron Maiden: Seventh Son of a Seventh Son (Sanctuary) LP
Iron Maiden: Somewhere in Time (Sanctuary) LP
Akira Ishikawa & Count Buffaloes: Uganda (Mr. Bongo) LP
Karate: Time Expired (Numero) LP
King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard: Infest the Rats Nest (ATO) LP
Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio: Close But No Cigar (Colemine) LP
Mark Lanegan: Bubblegum (Beggars) LP
Merope: Salos (Granvat) LP
MLO: Oumuamua (Music From Memory) LP
Lee Morgan: The Sidewinder (Blue Note) LP
National: Sleep Well Beast (4AD) LP
Nine Inch Nails: Pretty Hate Machine (TVT) LP
Nine Inch Nails: The Fragile (Nothing) LP
OST: It Follows (Music on Vinyl) LP
Outkast: ATLiens (Laface) LP
Outkast: Stankonia (Laface) LP
Pearl Jam: Vs. (Epic) LP
Orville Peck: Bronco (Columbia) LP
Photay with Carlos Nino: An Offering (International Anthem) LP
Pink Floyd: Ummagumma (Pink Floyd) LP
Pixies: Come On Pilgrim (4AD) LP
Pixies: Doolittle (4AD) LP
Propagandhi: Less Talk, More Rock (Fat Wreck) LP
Radiohead: A Moon Shaped Pool (XL) LP
Roxy Music: Avalon (Republic) LP
Rush: Moving Pictures (Mercury) LP
Slift: Levitation Sessions (Reverbation) LP
Slint: Spiderland (Touch & Go) LP
Sons of Kemet: Black to the Future (Impulse) LP
Soyuz: Force of the Wind (Mr. Bongo) LP
Special Interest: Endure (Rough Trade) LP
Taylor Swift: Evermore (Republic) LP
Midori Takada: Through the Looking Glass (WRWTFWW) LP
Midori Takada: You Who Are Leaving to Nirvana (WRWTFWW) LP
Tool: Fear Inoculum (RCA) 3LP
A Tribe Called Quest: Midnight Marauders (Jive) LP
Harold Vick: Steppin’ Out! (Blue Note) LP
Violent Femmes: Add It Up (Craft) LP
Weyes Blood: Titanic Rising (Sub Pop) LP
White Stripes: Icky Thump (Third Man) LP
Jack White: Fear of the Dawn (Third Man) LP
Yo La Tengo: And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out (Matador) LP
Yo La Tengo: I Can Hear the Heart Beating As One (Matador) LP