Mercenárias is an iconic band in the history of Brazilian punk and post-punk. They gained global recognition after being included in several compilations outside Brazil. Recommended for fans of The Slits, DNA, Malaria!, Kleenex, and Minutemen, the group stood out for their rebellious attitude, incisive lyrics, and raw sound that blended punk, post-punk, no wave and experimental elements. This is a compilation of rare tracks from 1983 to 1987, including ten amazing songs that didn't make it onto their two albums; there's also a great early live recording, as well as a "lost" studio session. It has been remastered from the original tapes and includes an insert with previously unseen photos and a short text by Edgard Scandurra. This is a collaboration release with the Brazilian label Nada Nada Discos. Born in the vibrant alternative scene of 1980s São Paulo, Mercenárias is an iconic band in the history of Brazilian punk and post-punk. Formed in 1982 by Sandra Coutinho (bass and vocals), Rosália Munhoz (vocals), Ana Machado (guitar), and Edgard Scandurra (drums), the group stood out for their rebellious attitude, incisive lyrics, and raw sound that blended punk, post-punk, no wave and experimental elements. Their debut album, Cadê as Armas? (1986), is considered one of the most important records in Brazilian music history.

Discover the groundbreaking sound of Los Texao, a legendary Peruvian rock band that helped shape the music scene in the 1970s. Their music fused the energy of psychedelic rock with Latin American influences, captivating audiences across their native Peru. Los Texao's psychedelic phase was marked by experimentation with new sounds and instruments. This release comprises their complete recordings, including all their singles and also covers of some of the most influential rock bands of the era, most of them previously unavailable on vinyl. Born in the culturally rich city of Arequipa, Los Texao's journey to stardom was paved with innovation, passion, and an undeniable connection to their roots. Formed in 1969, the band took their name from Arequipa's emblematic flower, the nasturtium, and made an immediate impact with their debut at a local band contest. Soon after, they recorded their first 45 RPM single, which included covers of tracks by Chilean group Los Beat 4. But it was in the early '70s when Los Texao truly found their voice. With a dynamic lineup, including the talented Fernando "Feño" Humbser and Juan Núñez on guitar, Víctor Dibán on vocals and bass, and Edgar "Chito" Manrique on drums, their musical evolution began to take shape. The addition of Julio Torres, a keyboardist and guitarist from the iconic bands Los Beatniks and Los Dig It, further elevated their sound. Los Texao's psychedelic phase was marked by experimentation with new sounds and instruments. They embraced the emerging trend of playing rock in English, despite the language barrier, and incorporated cutting-edge gear. With the help of the legendary Peruvian jazz musician Jaime Delgado Aparicio, they created hypnotic tracks like "Algún día" and "Nunca cambias," capturing the essence of '70s rock with swirling textures and atmospheric vibes. Los Texao quickly became a sensation in Peru, performing in cities like Puno, Moquegua, and Arica (Chile), and sharing stages with iconic bands like Los Shain's, Traffic Sound, and Telegraph Avenue. The band's wild live shows became the stuff of legend, with fans packing into intimate venues to experience the raw energy of their loud, unapologetic rock. In addition to their 45s, Los Texao also recorded covers of some of the most influential rock bands of the era, including Cream, Steppenwolf, and The Guess Who, showcasing their versatility and love for classic rock. Unfortunately, this session remained lost for years and some of these covers have never been available on vinyl before.

LP version. Louis Philippe and The Night Mail return with a new captivating record where the songs are once again faultless. Carrying on the journey away from the classic towards the unexpected with new synths and hand claps adding a sense of the abrupt and, with voices calling from the wings, a sense of play and a lack of fear. Philippe Auclair aka Louis Philippe, Anglo-French singer-songwriter extraordinaire, has been an admired fixture for the past four decades, from his beginnings as protagonist and house producer at Mike Alway's fabled él Records label through his forays into the Shibuya sound and collaborations with the likes of Bertrand Burgalat, XTC's Dave Gregory, High Llamas' Sean O'Hagan and Young Marble Giants' Stuart Moxham right up to his more recent adventures with The Night Mail -- a loose ensemble around bassist/sometime acid jazz artist/encyclopedian of sound Andy Lewis, ex-Death in Vegas guitarist/head of heads at Papernut Cambridge/legacy indie's favorite live and session drummer Ian Button and guitarist/Viennese pop ambassador to Canterbury Robert Rotifer. When Louis Philippe & The Night Mail met again at Rimshot Studio in rural Kent in the spring of 2023 to tackle album number two, the same extended line-up was assembled. Work on The Road to the Sea began with just four days' intense recording under Rimshot's oakwood eaves followed by extensive extra sessions in Andy Lewis' hideaway studio somewhere up in deepest Bassetlaw. As the core duo of obsessives, Lewis/Philippe immersed themselves in the material, adding voices, instruments and effects, interrupted only once by Robert Rotifer visiting to throw in a few more touches of Telecaster. Their mission was to fully realize the sonic and harmonic potential of songs as varied as the partly portentous, partly (deceptively) jaunty opener "The Road to Somewhere", the catchy, XTC-flavoured "Pictures of Anna", the breezy-yet-apocalyptic space age groove of "Where Did We Go Wrong" or the piano-led Francophone waltz of "Une maison sans toit". It all adds up to a colorful mix of delicate textures, subtly sculpted reverb, melodic mellotron madness, Wilsonesque layered vocal harmonies, and the sort of long lost, very English whimsy it would take an anglophile Frenchman to evoke. And yet, in its transparent spaciousness dotted with charming detail, The Road To The Sea also brings to mind the sound of Summer Dancing, Andy Lewis' acclaimed 2017 collaboration with the late, great Judy Dyble.

Two years after releasing the acclaimed Crash Recoil, Anthony Child aka Surgeon returns to Tresor with new LP, Shell~Wave. Retaining the minimal equipment list and studio-version-of-live-show-sets approach of the previous album in order to focus on the work itself, Shell~Wave is a deeply personal document of both where Surgeon is and has been, converging three decades of experience with a continued curiosity in the untested. From the complex, twisting track "Infinite Eye" to the caustic "Soul Fire," the eight tracks that make up the body of the album are single-take explorations of the vast, hard yet minimal techno "Child" is synonymous with. Neatly dividing the record in two, the emotional center of the record comes in the form of "Dying," a vibrating, beatless piece that with a mantra-like vocal loop steeped in reverberating effects. Further echoes of dub production appear throughout the record as tracks like "Divine Shadow," and "Empty Cloud" have an almost ever-present mist of reverberation, driven by the appearance of a new delay unit in the equipment list; while much of the philosophy of Crash Recoil's creation is present, the process and the instruments have changed as Child again switches up his approach to studio work. This insistence on trying novel techniques doesn't preclude returning to old ones, as this use of modern digital machines with live, hands-on takes that are as inspired by '60s producer Joe Meek and '70s reggae as they are by this year's synthesizer expos. This philosophy of 'time travel' is inherent to the music itself as the synchronized loops repeat while the delay and effects branch out, forming unique eddies; distinct quantum moments within the circular whole; the future leaking through the spaces between the sounds. All of the concepts on the album are perfectly communicated through the painting by Taiwanese artist Jazz Szu-Ying Chen which suggests the movement of water, sound waves, and the chitinous shells of sea creatures.

Salsa con charanga is really a feast for all salsa music lovers, a true jewel, which deserved much better when it originally came out in 1978. It comprises eight great, solid tracks; some, new interpretations from other albums in which Mike Guagenti participated with his handsome and captivating voice -- a crooner with a salsero soul -- that, at times, could remind listeners of the late Tito Rodríguez, and even Ray Ramos. It has developed a cult following, and finding a copy of the original could be quite expensive. Luckily, this officially licensed and restored edition will fill that void. In addition to being a great salsa album, has the distinction that was released on Orfeon, a Mexican record label, due to the diligent work of the extraordinary producer Bobby Marin, and which miraculously received air play when powerhouse Fania label and few others ruled radio in the salsa music world. "The Mike Guagenti album," as indicated by Marin, "is a compilation of recordings by other artists. Originally a salsa album, I brought in [Cuban] Pupi Legarreta (violin and flute) and [Panamanian] Mauricio Smith (flute) to give it a charanga sound." With the exception of the cut "Salsa con charanga," which is an instrumental, the rest feature vocals by Guagenti. Salsa con charanga has developed a cult following, and finding a copy of the original could be quite expensive. Luckily, this officially licensed and restored edition will fill that void.

Cuban Soul - 18 Kilates is Cassiano's third studio album, released in 1976, and stands as a milestone in Brazilian soul music. It combines Brazilian rhythms with classic American soul elements, creating a unique fusion. Cassiano's smooth, soulful vocal style and the album's larger-than-life arrangements, reminiscent of Tim Maia's sound, give it a rich, deep feel. The standout track, "Onda," is a relaxing anthem evoking beach vibes that has become a DJ's favorite in recent years and also made it into several compilations. Remastered from the original tapes and pressed on 180g vinyl. This release is part of a new reissue series that will include many other outstanding Brazilian classics like Evinha's Cartão Postal or Gerson King Combo. Influenced by artists like Otis Redding, Eddie Kendricks, Stevie Wonder, and others, it combines Brazilian rhythms with classic American soul elements, creating a unique fusion. The album features nine tracks, with "A Lua e Eu" becoming a major commercial hit and the theme song for the soap opera "O Grito". This album has earned cult status over the years, securing its place as one of the most coveted Brazilian records of all time. Once incredibly rare and expensive, it's now at the top of every serious collector's wishlist. After not being available outside of Brazil for years, it's finally been reissued -- don't miss your chance to own this legendary piece of music history.

Na Rua, na Chuva, na Fazenda is a landmark 1975 album by Hyldon, a key figure in Brazilian soul music. The album captures the vibrant musical spirit of the 1970s and reflects the influence of the black power movement. With a mix of MPB, soul, and funk, Hyldon brought his unique sound to life, collaborating with influential artists like Azymuth. This album has earned cult status over the years, securing its place as one of the most coveted Brazilian records of all time. Remastered from the original tapes and pressed on 180g vinyl. This release is part of a new reissue series that will include many other outstanding Brazilian classics. Hyldon's debut release was one of the top-selling albums that year, capturing the vibrant musical spirit of the 1970s and reflecting the influence of the black power movement alongside artists like Tim Maia and Cassiano. The album, which features the iconic title track, is a celebration of love with timeless songs like "As Dores do Mundo," "Na Sombra de uma Árvore" and "Meu Patuá." Produced by Guti Carvalho with arrangements by Hyldon and Waldir Arouca Barros, the studio band included the talented musicians from Azymuth (José Roberto Bertrami, Alex Malheiros and Ivan Conti "Mamão"), making it a memorable piece of Brazilian musical history. This album has earned cult status over the years, securing its place as one of the most coveted Brazilian records of all time. Once incredibly rare and expensive, it's now at the top of every serious collector's wishlist. After being unavailable outside of Brazil for years, it's finally been reissued -- don't miss your chance to own this legendary piece of music history.

Dame Café, originally released on Discos Fuentes in 1965 to meet the tropical music demand of the time, features a mix of traditional rhythms like vallenato and cumbia, alongside more experimental beats. Los Gavilanes de la Costa, the band behind this album, had a brief existence but left a lasting impact, especially in Mexico's sonidero scene. Over the years, pirate editions and elusive original copies have made it a highly sought-after collector's item. The album's lively sound, combining accordion melodies, deep bass, and vibrant guacharaca rhythms, continues to resonate in the tropical music scene. The vibrant musical scene of the 1960s in Colombia owes much to a group of versatile accordionists who blended genres such as cumbia, charanga, guaracha, vallenato, and Cuban-influenced rhythms. This group included notable figures like Andrés Landero, Aníbal Velásquez, Lisandro Meza, and Alfredo Gutiérrez, among others. A prime example of their diverse musical styles is the album Dame Café, released in November 1965, which features a mix of traditional rhythms like vallenato and cumbia, alongside more experimental beats such as paseaíto and pasaje. The album includes six previously released singles composed by José Castro, Policarpo Calle, and others. The album highlights the commercial strategy of Discos Fuentes, which often created short-lived studio bands to meet the tropical music demand of the time. The group's creation was driven by the high demand for tropical music in the 1960s, with many musicians adjusting to market trends. Most of the members, including composers Campillo and Castro, vanished from the scene, while others, like Calle and Zambrano, went on to have notable careers in music. Calle, in particular, became a cumbia legend, later settling in Mexico City. The album features a remarkable contribution from Colombian jazz legend Justo Almario, who, at just 16 years old, played tenor sax on the track "Pues no da pa' más." Over the years, pirate editions and elusive original copies have made it a highly sought-after collector's item.

Repressed, 2LP version. "2025 is the new 1996! Fresh from them halcyon end-of-century days of the Chicago postrock communal living hostile comes an awesome new vinyl pressing of Gastr del Sol's Upgrade & Afterlife, just in time for its 29th anniversary. Way back when, Upgrade & Afterlife was the umpteenth release from the individual and collective forces of David Grubbs (known then for Bastro, The Red Krayola, Codeine, Squirrel Bait) and Jim O'Rourke (known for O'Rourke), whose further history has since numbered at least another umpteen or so essential listens. What is it though, wrapped up in delectable sonic amber here, that defines this Upgrade? As part of its time-traveling function, Upgrade & Afterlife is a return to roots, but not always necessarily Gastr's. They were more than happy to stand on branches up above other folks in order to see any next thing worth leaping for. Opening at their most incandescently impressionistic, 'Our Exquisite Replica of Eternity' has no precedent in the Gastrlog, and few in most others, either. 'Rebecca Sylvester' uses vocal harmonies to sharpen their singular, gamelan tone poem song form into something resembling a pop reverie at the finish. With undeniable (albeit oblique) comedy, 'The Sea Incertain' comments upon Crookt, Crackt, or Fly's 'The C in Cake,' with the presence of cracked electronics here and elsewhere taking a more forward position. The stentorian chamber piano sound introduced on 'Mirror Repair' is still in full effect throughout Upgrade, but the bluesy rattling of finger style acoustic has the last word, with a tranced-out reading of John Fahey's version of 'Dry Bones In the Valley,' weaving guitar, piano and Tony Conrad's trademark droning violin together to close the proceedings with an ingenious, slow-acting bang. In addition to the elder-statesman Conrad, Gastr del Sol drew upon a memorable spectrum of players for the sounds of Upgrade & Afterlife, including Anthony Burr, Steve Braack, Gene Coleman, Mats Gustafsson, Terri Kapsalis, John McEntire, Günter Müller, Jerry Ruthrauff, Ralf Wehowsky, and Sue Wolf. When issued, this combination of players, parts and play -- packaged in an impressively broad tip-on Stoughton gatefold sleeve emblazoned with Roman Signer's instantly iconic 'Wasserstiefel' image -- became the fastest-moving Gastr del Sol record to date. A delightful result, to our way of thinking, of the band's ability to push at the far boundaries of their music while consolidating upon pleasure points within sounds and songs."

"So the bad news is, in a fit of pique, I asked Chat GPT (nicely) to compose a one-sheet for the new Shit and Shine double album, Mannheim HBF. The even worse news (yes, even worse than resorting to such tactics) is that the resulting biography is halfway passable and on some levels, superior to the sort of thing being published by what's left of our weekly coupon-shoppers. But for fuck's sake my friends, Craig Clouse did not get to where he is today by settling for halfway passable and neither should you. That Shit and Shine's discography is vast and dizzying is already well established; what's not nearly as established are these recordings being specifically dizzying. I don't know if there's anyone else in modern music as skilled in waltzing around the periphery of so many disparate idioms ('noise,' being one of the least prominent this time around) and somehow, against all odds, tying 'em together in the most intricate of knots. And who doesn't love knots? We all have our favorite ways to experience music that's all-engulfing, but whether your preferred method is thru a stadium sized sound system or ear buds affixed as you've leapt off the tallest building in Bastrop, TX (the Jerry Fay Wilhelm Center for the Performing Arts, since you asked), not for the first time, Shit and Shine is entirely appropriate in either instance, possibly every instance. There are moments where I think this is a club record. The Friars Club, however. Far be it from me to provide guidelines for how and when you take in Mannheim HBF. 'No interruptions,' 'no distractions' are merely suggestions on the label's part, though we cannot be held responsible for what happens if you ignore 'em. Thank you." --12XU Records

LP version. Includes download code and an essay by E.R. Pulgar, a Venezuelan-American journalist, editor, poet, and translator interested in Latinx and alternative culture. Basing himself off the works of Cuban guitarist-composers José Angel Navarro and Hector Angulo, Italian guitarist Walter Zanetti intimately recreates sacred Afro-Cuban batá drum songs on guitar. Santería draws heavily on music for its ceremonies. This Afro-Cuban syncretic religion, sometimes called La Regla de Ocha, saw the Orisha deities of the West African Yoruba peoples codified with Catholic saints. Yoruba practitioners, brought by force to the West, continued to worship their gods under the nose of those who sought to dehumanize them by adopting their spiritual language. The chants that became Santería's prayers were often accompanied by the beat of the batá drum. This heartbeat runs through every invocation, through every sacred song. In the same way that the shuffling chains on the feet of enslaved African peoples dancing defiantly in Colombia birthed the distinctive rhythm of cumbia, syncretism has been present in music as much as it has in religion. It has always been about challenging the odds, about creation, creativity, and heart. This is why Italian musician Walter Zanetti's guitar pierces straight to the soul on his Cantos Yoruba de Cuba. This album of new recordings from Zanetti brings together six original compositions by Navarro dictated to the Italian guitarist on a month-long trip to Cuba and reinterpretations of Angulo's nine original Cantos Yoruba de Cuba, which give the record its name.

"For more than two years, Zeus B. Held has been the keyboardist for the German kraut rock institution Guru Guru. However, his long-standing international career as a musician, producer, songwriter and arranger began in 1972 with his kraut rock colleagues from Birth Control. Six years and six BC albums later, after the release of his solo album Zeus' Amusement, he parted ways with the band. He explored new and interesting possibilities for himself with the use of a vocoder, especially in vocal phrasing. Together with drummer Manni von Bohr (Bröselmaschine), bassist Horst Stachelhaus (Birth Control, Message) and Helmut Fichtner from the Düsseldorf band Message as another keyboarder, he also brought the concept of Zeus' Amusement to the stage. The album itself was released in 1978 on Brain; the cover design by Berlin underground artist Gil Funccius caused a sensation and sold very well, but unfortunately it was somewhat forgotten over time. This was also due to the fact that Zeus concentrated more on writing, producing and arranging and provided the right sound for artists like Nina Hagen, Dead Or Alive, Men Without Hats, and especially Gina X Performance. After almost 47 years, Zeus' Amusement is now available on CD and digitally for the first time. As a bonus, there are four new arrangements and remixes by Zeus."

Mercenárias is an iconic band in the history of Brazilian punk and post-punk. They gained global recognition after being included in several compilations outside Brazil. Recommended for fans of The Slits, DNA, Malaria!, Kleenex, and Minutemen, this early recording by Mercenárias is more punk than their albums, but still super catchy. It has been remastered from the original tape and includes an insert with previously unseen photos and a short text by Edgard Scandurra. This is a collaboration release with the Brazilian label Nada Nada Discos. Born in the vibrant alternative scene of 1980s São Paulo, Mercenárias is an iconic band in the history of Brazilian punk and post-punk. Formed by Sandra Coutinho (bass and vocals), Rosália Munhoz (vocals), Ana Machado (guitar), and Edgard Scandurra (drums), the group stood out for their rebellious attitude, incisive lyrics, and raw sound that blended punk, post-punk, and experimental elements. Their debut album, Cadê as Armas? (1986), is considered one of the most important records in Brazilian music history. Three years earlier, they recorded their first demo tape at the studio of the funk/pop band Placa Luminosa. The recording turned out great, it's the best you can wait from a Brazilian punk record: raw, aggressive, yet catchy, well-played and produced.

This 45 comprises two killer pop dancers with plenty of psych fuzz guitars, punchy horns and funky beats: the in-demand Christie Laume's mod anthem "Rouge-Rouge" and Marta Kubisova's "Tak Dej Se K Nám A Projdem Svět," a glorious LP-only song that has never available on a 45 before. Sister-in-law of Edith Piaf (who introduced her to the music business), Christie Laume became a ye-ye style singer in '60s France. Her mod anthem "Rouge, Rouge" (1967) is a great song that never fails in making the dance floor shake, taken from a very rare and in-demand EP. On the flipside comes Marta Kubi?ová, one of the most popular singers in the Czech Republic in the '60s. Her "Tak Dej Se K Nám A Projdem Svět" is a glorious LP-only song from 1969 that has never available on a 45 before. Expect heavy basslines, punchy horns and fuzzy guitars.

2025 repress. Monolithic and stark but extremely warm, intensely personal, and for every one in every which way. Proibito are very happy to present to you For Those Of You Who Have Never (And Also Those Who Have), an album by Huerco S.

2025 repress. Forged Prescriptions is a double album by Spacemen 3, containing alternative takes and demo versions of songs from their album The Perfect Prescription (1987), plus some previously unreleased tracks. In his liner notes, Spacemen 3's Sonic Boom says this release presents the album's songs in their "full guitar-laden versions with all the layers of beautifully streamlined guitar, considered by us to be too hard to replicate live and therefore reduced for the original release. For me, this is where Spacemen 3's songwriting came to a head; many of these songs pre-dated Sound Of Confusion (1986), some were even recorded at both sessions, but I am still impressed mightily by Jason Pierce's lyrical genius on originals like "Walking With Jesus" and re-writes like "Come Down Easy" and his fluid guitar playing across the whole sessions."

Wewantsounds continues its extensive Meiko Kaji reissue program -- in partnership with Teichiku Records and Kaji herself -- with the release of Yadokari, her third album from 1973. This marks the first time the album has been reissued on vinyl, featuring its original artwork and newly remastered audio. Renowned for her iconic 1970s films (Lady Snowblood, the Stray Cat Rock series) and admired by Quentin Tarantino, Meiko Kaji also released a string of outstanding albums on Teichiku, blending Japanese pop with cinematic grooves. Yadokari is reissued here with its original deluxe gatefold sleeve and OBI plus a two-page insert featuring new liner notes by Hashim Kotaro Bharoocha. As a special bonus, this edition includes an EP single featuring "Shura No Hana," famously featured on the Kill Bill soundtrack. Kaji was one of Japan's most iconic exploitation film actresses of the early 1970s. Beyond acting, she was invited by film studios to perform theme songs for many of her films leading to revered music career. Between 1972 and 1974, she recorded five albums for Teichiku, which have since become highly sought after. Yadokari ("hermit crab"), released in 1973, was Kaji's third album for the label. Like its predecessors Gincho Wataridori and Hajiki Uta, it offers a rich mix of kayōkyoku (Japanese pop), traditional enka, psychedelic rock, and cinematic '70s funk. The album includes two tracks, "Hagure Bushi" and "Kiba no Ballad," from the cult 1973 TV series Sengoku Rock Hagure Kiba, in which Kaji starred. "Hagure Bushi" stands out as one of the album's funkiest tracks. Like "Kiba no Ballad," it was composed and arranged by the legendary producer Yuji Ohno (best known for his work on Lupin the III). The album as a whole is a superb blend of atmospheric songs, from the haunting, slow-burning title track "Yadokari" to "Ah," which features groovy guitar licks, harmonica, and sleek string arrangements, evoking a subtle Morricone influence. To complete this reissue, Wewantsounds has included the rare 1973 7" EP "Shura No Hana/Hō Yare Ho" as a bonus. Only released as a single, "Shura No Hana" (Flower of Carnage") is a cult classic, famously featured on Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill Vol. 2 soundtrack. A key release in Meiko Kaji's 1972 - 1974 Teichiku Records catalog, Yadokari is a testament to her singular talent as a singer.

Incredible "concept" album from the transatlantic duo made of Ian Svenonius (The Make Up, Escape-ism, Chain & the Gang, etc.) and Memphis Electronic (Dum Dum Boys, NON!) who took the beloved but tired tunes of the classic rock canon and resuscitated them by pumping new blood into worn-out veins, revitalizing them with new themes, new lyrics, and new riffs to make them brand new again, merging the old with the new, completing the circle of life! A truly cosmic record! The Ancient Greeks and Romans sure had that "classic" touch. Before their empires crumbled into ruin, they set the standard with their classical forms, in art, buildings, and philosophy. They've set the pace ever since with pretenders and imitators making "classical music," "neo-classical architecture," and of course "classic rock." Once something is a classic, it's untouchable. No one would dare attempt to improve it. That would be sacrilege! After all, who could do better than Ovid, Homer, & Virgil? Or the classic tunes of Rolling Stones, the Stooges, et al? They're the gold standard of perfection; no one would dare try to improve upon them -- until XYZ that is! That's right, XYZ -- those little-known legends -- have achieved the impossible; they've taken the classics and made them even better! More relevant, more updated, more "now," more wow! They improved the classics using all the latest sensibilities, technologies and innovations. On XYZ Plays The Classics, the XYZ band -- the twosome that sang "Bubble Gum" -- take the beloved but tired tunes of the classic rock canon -- The Rolling Stones, VU, Neu!, The Seeds, Stooges, and the other Hall of Famers -- and resuscitates them, pumping new blood into worn-out veins, revitalize them with new themes, new lyrics, and new riffs to make them new again! This is the record that merges the old with the new, that completes the circle of life; it's the cosmic record that everyone needs right now!

LP version. Der Moderne Man formed in 1979 and operated mainly in the vicinity of Hanover's No Fun label. Inspired by visits to concerts and record stores in London and New York and bands such as the Ramones, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Iggy Pop, and the Clash, the group developed an explosive sound that led to the first album 80 Tage auf See ("80 days at sea") in 1980: German-language post-punk that stood out from Hanover's underground sound and also gained support from BBC's John Peel. Tapete Records now re-issues their first two studio albums. This is accompanied by Jugend Forscht, a compilation of demos, EPs and singles with some unreleased tracks. All three releases are complemented by detailed liner notes and previously unreleased images. 80 Tage auf See captures a historic moment. When the record was released in 1980, the so-called "Neue Deutsche Welle" (German New Wave) was no more than a rumor. It was still far from clear what (post-)punk on West German terms might entail. 80 Tage auf See was recorded over a short time span and hurled onto the market just as swiftly. The 80 days of the album title most likely do not refer to time spent in the studio. This release occupies one of the top spots in the race for the very first German punk album. It is perhaps the first "first German punk LP" that managed to reproduce the force and urgency of the English original, albeit in a way so deferred and strange that the term "Krautpunk" comes to mind. Der Moderne Man was to Damned and Wire what Amon Düül II was to Hawkwind and Vanilla Fudge. No wonder John Peel kept the record in his show's heavy rotation. Shortly after the release of 80 Tage auf See, the basically postnatal New German Wave disbanded into fractions whose initial hostility towards each other gradually turned into indifference. The remains were something like 'Deutschpunk' (not 'Krautpunk') here, avant-garde neo-tonality there and in between some more or less successful attempts to establish contemporary German pop music. On 80 Tage auf See, all of this is still on equal footing: (power) pop, the catchy wave punk which would become the signature sound of Hannover's No Fun label and the rather idiosyncratic idea of experimental music which Michael Jarick (aka Ziggy XY) brought in as a singer.

Double LP version. Of all the independent record labels of the 1980s, él was the most singular and exciting. él only existed for a few short years and yet paradoxically -- given its modest commercial success -- was hugely influential. For writer Jonathan Coe, one of the label's many devotees, él was "Britain's great musical secret." This "best of" compilation LP, curated by label supremo Mike Alway himself, reminds the world of the greatness of él. él was created in 1984 by Alway, a mercurial A&R man for Cherry Red signing outstanding artists like Everything But the Girl, The Monochrome Set, and Felt. Alway briefly co-ran Blanco Y Negro (an offshoot of WEA) but was soon constrained by the conservativism of the commercial music sector and left to set up his own label. Alway's "hands on" approach was to take complete control of the philosophy of the label's releases and even the titles of songs in the manner of pop impresarios of the past. Alway became a curator, selecting, shaping and overseeing the records issued on él. He employed songwriters proficient in classical pop techniques such as Nicholas Currie (AKA Momus) and Philippe Auclair (AKA Louis Philippe) who issued their own records while writing, arranging and performing for other él artistes. Great musicians such as Simon Turner (AKA The King of Luxembourg), Dean 'Speedball' Brodrick, and producer Richard Preston completed the picture. él was critically acclaimed in the UK and popular in America and mainland Europe but in Japan had a profound effect, directly influencing the Shibuya-kei phenomenon that included Pizzicato Five, Kahimi Karie, and Cornelius. The Rubens Room accompanies the book Bright Young Things by Mark Goodall (Ventil) the first publication to tell the fascinating story of the music found on The Rubens Room. Mike Alway writes in his sleeve notes that "él was the joy of my life. It was monumental." Featuring Louis Philippe, Anthony Adverse, The King of Luxembourg, Would-Be-Goods, Marden Hill, Bad Dream Fancy Dress, The Monochrome Set, Always, and Momus.

"On the cover: aya: New album hexed! explores sobriety and neurodiversity through radical tunings and transformed instruments. By Chal Ravens. Inside: Satch Hoyt: The one-time Burnt Sugar member's Un-Muting project opens museum archives of stolen instruments. By Francis Gooding; Ailie Ormston: The Glasgow composer moves away from the conservatoire to conduct the sounds of the city. By Abi Bliss; Joke Lanz: At 60 years old the Swiss improvisor still takes a punk approach to the turntable. By Daniel Spicer; Bios Contrast: Kolkata musician Nilotpal Das cooks up the concept of brahmancore. By Misha Farrant; Laura Cocks: Chamber music is the site of connection for the flautist. By Stewart Smith; MIC: Grime provides the setting for sci-fi storytelling in the hands of the London MC. By Lucy Thraves: John King: The composer playing the blues for Palestine's lost communities. By Kurt Gottschalk; Trân Uy Đúc: The Vietnamese multidisciplinary artist curates the self-scape. By Daryl Worthington; Invisible Jukebox: Alvin Curran: Will the Musica Elettronica Viva member read maritime rites over The Wire's mystery record selection? Tested by Julian Cowley; Global Ear: Experiments and activism in Danish capital Copenhagen. By Josh Feola; Unlimited Editions: Meticulous design and sonics dovetail in New York new music label Greyfade. By Philip Watson; The Inner Sleeve: Seymour Wright on Anne Gillis's Lxgrin; Against The Grain: VAN magazine Editor Hugh Morris can't stand that jazzy sensation; Epiphanies: Surgeon gets all cut up by William S Burroughs and Brion Gysin. Plus 40 pages of reviews including Gryphon Rue: State of nature. By Abi Bliss; Ed Kuepper & Jim White/Kim Salmon & Masami Kawaguchi: Pacific old masters. By Byron Coley; Strata-East reissues: Black unity. By Daniel Spicer; Music under Stalin: Utopian dreams and nightmares in the USSR. By Andy Hamilton; Borealis: Nordic operations. By Robert Barry; 160 Unity: Footwork on the floor. By Joseph Francis; and much, much more."

Featuring contributions from Jordan Tice (of Hawktail), Jay Bellerose, Harrison Whitford, Rayna Gellert, Dylan Day, Mark Goldenberg, Rich Hinman, and Robert Bowlin, this album, a self-titled affair, finds Cameron Knowler at an exciting crossroads between American tradition and forward looking guitar soli -- toeing the line between personal regionalism and the universality of landscape memory. Knowler draws on the history and geography of his birthplace of Yuma, Arizona -- a border town known for its lettuce production and defunct territorial prison. In line with the regional ethos of the composer Frantz Casseus and the minimalism of Bruce Langhorne, this instrumental guitar record launches into a world of desert sun, propane tanks, dark jail cells, and the verdant Colorado. Knowler ferries listeners across a sensitively crafted world with deft, understated playing, pushing the current of instrumental acoustic music forward through lush original compositions, while keeping an eye on tradition with his singular arrangements of old-time fiddle tunes. With what many describe as the closest thing to the right hand of Norman Blake, Knowler's delivery also nods to the work of creative outsiders Terry Allen and David Rawlings. With this work, Knowler sonically illuminates untold stories of the Sonoran, lending a voice to the pictorial canon made famous by Dorothea Lange and western films such as 3:10 to Yuma. There is a sense of interiority to the record as well, Knowler says, noting that he "grew up isolated, unschooled in a desert with very little contact with children my own age." He only returned to his hometown recently to revisit places held in memory, and this album stands as a direct result of unpacking those landscapes coded with personal darkness. By creating an outward-facing work of art, Knowler strives to "make sandcastles out of grief" and emblazon the diorama of his youth. Here, the world receives a sound poem, a memory palace that stands as a document of both personal grief and acceptance of the many dimensions of a place.

The Rising Wave marks the debut collaboration between singer-songwriter Marlene Ribeiro (of psychedelic band GNOD) and electronic producer Shackleton under the name Light Space Modulator. Ribeiro's ethereal voice -- part singing, part incantation -- feels both distant and intimate, humming just behind the horizon. Her experimental soundscapes flow like a streamlined river, intertwining seamlessly with Shackleton's deep, textural production and intricate percussion. Shackleton's percussive production ebbs and swells, conjuring a hypnotic, tripped-out atmosphere. At The Rising Wave's core lies a sense of intention, a cleansing ritual designed to shift perception and inspire transformation.

Double LP version. Far Out Recordings presents a landmark discovery in Brazilian jazz: the long lost album by drumming pioneer Edison Machado. Recorded in New York City in early 1978 but never released, Edison Machado & Boa Nova captures a pivotal figure in Brazilian music history at the height of his artistic powers. After facing persecution under Brazil's military dictatorship and being forced to sell his drum kit in 1976, Machado found renewed creative purpose in New York with the Boa Nova ensemble. The resulting album captures the essence of his genius -- sophisticated yet wild, controlled yet daring, leading an ensemble of some of the best jazz, samba and bossa nova players of the day. At just fifteen years old, Machado revolutionized Brazilian music through an accident that would change everything -- when his snare drum broke during a performance, he began playing samba rhythms on the cymbal. This innovation, known as "samba no prato" (samba on the cymbals), brought new layers of dynamism to samba and proved instrumental in the development of bossa nova alongside contemporaries like Antonio Carlos Jobim and João Gilberto. A complex and passionate figure, Machado was notorious for his militant perfectionism and "attacking" style of drumming. Having spent some years of his youth in the Brazilian army, musicians often remarked that he played as if he were at war. But his innovative style, while exhibiting complete control and sophistication, somehow so often danced right on the edge of chaos and wild abandon. After making his name in Rio's legendary Beco das Garrafas (Bottles Alley) in the 1950s and early '60s, Machado went on to form Bossa Três -- the world's first instrumental bossa nova group. His influence spread internationally through collaborations with Stan Getz, Sergio Mendes, Antônio Carlos Jobim, Milton Nascimento, and Chet Baker, while his 1964 album Edison Machado É Samba Novo stands as a masterpiece of Brazilian jazz. At 80 minutes in length, Edison Machado & Boa Nova, the lost 1978 New York sessions, is a singular achievement in Brazilian jazz. The format itself is a rarity in the canon. It's packed full of exceptional technical precision and creative vitality, with sophisticated arrangements and masterful improvisation from its exceptional sextet of Brazilian and US musicians: Paulinho Trompete (flugelhorn/trumpet), Ion Muniz (tenor saxophone), Steve Sacks (baritone saxophone), Mozar Terra (piano), and Ricardo dos Santos (double bass). The album features unheard compositions by Brazilian masters Dom Salvador, Guilherme Vergueiro, and Aloisio Aguiar, amidst the plethora of captivating original material by the members of the Boa Nova ensemble.

On Katelyn Clark and Mitch Renaud's Ouroboros astronomical and astrological phenomena, concepts and symbols such as the Great Year or the Eternal Return serve as the starting points for sonic explorations and experimentations. Focusing on a uniquely tempered range of frequencies, from low-end drone rumbles to airy pipe swirls, the duo develops a minimalist and highly evocative sonic universe on their debut album for Hallow Ground. Working as composers, improvisers and curators in Canada's vibrant experimental and early music scenes, Clark and Renaud began developing Ouroboros through extensive improvisation with a reduced setup. Clark, who has worked extensively with historical keyboards since her studies in Amsterdam and Siena, played a small pipe organ modelled after a 14th-century instrument while Renaud brought a modular synthesizer and his interest in feedback systems to the collaboration. Later, the duo further refined their artistic dialog and the sonic interactions of the two instruments through the shared space of a two-day recording session in Vancouver. Subtle crackling, acoustic beating and other (psycho-)acoustic effects in five pieces document this encounter, giving the music a profound physicality while hinting at the bodily presence of the two collaborators. Just as the cyclicality of natural phenomena or the repetition of planetary movements is both a scientific fact and of the cultural imaginary, the sound worlds of Ouroboros are fundamentally rooted in time and space while transgressing the idea of a "here and now" through their conceptual links to geological and planetary time. The interplay of portative organ and modular synthesizer, which merge fluidly and in ever-changing ways, leads to a kind of circularity, a timelessness, a no-time. At the same time, the movements and subtle changes undermine the idea of repetition in the negative sense. After all, the Eternal Return, as Gilles Deleuze writes in regard to Nietzsche, is not the return of the same but a repetition of repetition. The only constant is change, the production of new intensities, of new forms of life -- and of new frequencies.

Night Keeper is a collaborative album by New York City-based artist Aaron Landsman and former Swans guitarist Norman Westberg that is based on the former's eponymous play. Westberg recorded it together with performer Jehan O. Young for the Swiss Hallow Ground label, with Landsman serving as the record's producer. The original piece was first performed in the Spring of 2023 at The Chocolate Factory Theater in Queens and filled the stark industrial space with spoken text, choreography, projections, and music in dim light and, occasionally, complete darkness. Westberg and Young afterwards brought it to the studio to record it as a two-part album in whose course his textural sounds, based on loops and samples, set the stage for her soothing, sonorous vocal performance. Night Keeper is a performance inspired by sleeplessness and the wanderings of the human mind at night -- about time and memory. Westberg and Young elegantly capture its essence in these roughly 44 minutes with a somnambulic album, letting sound and meaning flow into each other. The initial spark for Night Keeper was a run of almost sleepless nights in different neighborhoods of a city that is perpetually insomniac. Instead of trying to force himself to go back to sleep by any means necessary, Landsman started writing down his thoughts. Accordingly, the texts that Young reads on the record form a diverse collection of specific moments, imagining different speakers and evoking different situations. Westberg complements, accentuates, and juxtaposes these with different means. Ominous drones, soaring melodies, rhythmic bass sounds. Landsman makes it clear that Night Keeper was intended as an invitation to "stay up, look out the window, let what's happening outside spark reveries or predictions« or even take it on a stroll through the neighborhood" at night, of course. Much like the original piece, this album is then one dedicated to wandering around, both mentally and physically.

Purple Trap, the powerful trio of Keiji Haino (voice, guitar), Bill Laswell on bass, and Rashied Ali (drums), recorded live on stage at The Stone. Recorded in December 2005, this furious live album by what can easily be called a super group remained unreleased till in 2023 Bill Laswell made it accessible in a rough-mixed digital version for his bandcamp subscribers program exclusively. For this vinyl version, the music has been newly mixed by Dirk Dresselhaus (SchneiderTM) and mastered/cut by Ruy Mariné at Dubplates & Mastering Berlin. Purple Trap reunited for this one-off gig as part of a five-day Haino-festival at John Zorn's venue, The Stone, seven years after its only album had been recorded (released on Tzadik in 1999). The six untitled tracks deliver what can be expected from such musical masters: Rashied Ali, iconic free jazz drummer who played with John and Alice Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders, Sonny Rollins, James Blood Ulmer, and countless more, is all drums, from quiet tiny sounds to high-energy rhythm patterns. Keiji Haino, one of the most prolific artists of the Japanese experimental/noise scene for almost 50 years now, switches between truculent guitar splatters and full-on psychedelic outbursts. Bill Laswell, who as producer and musician created a massive body of work in fields as diverse as ambient, world music, funk, jazz (and often hybrids of these), has proven his mastery in improvisation in projects like Massacre, Painkiller or (early) Material and provides the low-end grounding with his signature bass sound, or adds effect-laden ornaments to the whole. An overdue addition to a very small body of work by a clearly under-documented supergroup!

For their second album The Foel Tower, Quade holed up in an old stone barn in the cradle of a Welsh mountain valley. The valley was a stark and windswept backdrop with little daylight, as the band would huddle around crackling fires each evening. It was an environment that would shape the band -- a Bristol four piece made up of Barney Matthews, Leo Fini, Matt Griffiths, and Tom Connolly -- and the record they have made. It's an album that is as dreamy as it is melancholic, and as quiet and tender as it is forceful and potent -- gliding across genres like winds blowing over those wide-spanning Welsh hills -- to arrive at something the band half-jokingly, yet somewhat accurately, describe as "doomer sad boy, ambientdub, folk, experimental post-rock." In many ways, the making of this record goes way deeper than the simple writing, construction and recording of music. It is a profoundly deep and meaningful experience. It is a deep, dense record that is stuffed with musical, cinematic and literary influences -- from Ursula La Guin and Cormac MacCarthy through to RS Thomas and Yeats -- but despite the heavy, introspective and anxious nature of some of the material, it is also a record that is remarkably deft, agile and considered. Made with producer Jack Ogborne and mixer Larry 'Bruce' McCarthy, there is a pleasing duality to the final sound of the record. The album title also pays homage to the place that shaped it so greatly. Within this remote Welsh valley stands the Foel Tower, a stone structure filled with valves and cylinders that can raise and lower the level of the reservoir to draw off water. What makes The Foel Tower such an incredible record is that it feels born of a time, place and situation that only existed in that very moment. It's a snapshot of those ten days spent in rural Wales and all the feelings and anxieties the band were experiencing at that specific time, magically caught on tape.

Violeta García is a cellist, composer and curator from Buenos Aires, Argentina, based in Bern, Switzerland. Working across a broad spectrum of artforms including improvisation, contemporary classical and electronic music, she now presents her new album IN/OUT via Bongo Joe. After dedicating years to the study of classical and popular music on the violoncello, and later delving into contemporary composition and improvisation, Garcia came to the realization that her unique musical voice yearned to transcend specific genres, and she has embarked on extensive tours throughout Europe and around the globe, showcasing her work as a soloist, collaborator and with her experimental rock project, Blanco Teta. In 2015, she co-founded Latin America digital label TVL-REC, dedicated to the production of experimental and improvised music. For IN/OUT, Garcia worked with expanded cello techniques, recorded in a cave in Geneva, Switzerland, which once housed the city's water reservoir. Employing the resonance of the natural acoustics of the site as a sound body, Garcia fuses improvisation, composition and new sounds, actively engaging in experimentation with extended techniques and prepared instrument, whilst exploring dynamic, rhythmic, and original melodic combinations.

Long and intermittent running duo of Discrepant head honcho Gonçalo F Cardoso and Angela Valid's Alex Jones, with sometime collaborator Phil Laney aka Kenny Hosepipe joining in somewhere along the way, Hair & Treasure crossover from Sucata Tapes to Discrepant wax via Disc Rot. Described by the duo, in their cryptic and scatological fashion, as "a fetid spread from the buttery catacombs of Hair & Treasure," one can only speculate on the mindset, if not for the scenario, for these file swap recording sessions. As if decaying throughout this back and forth process, the synthscapes, field recordings, voices from who knows where, and subliminal pulses assembled in these 11 pieces all coalesce into this out-there murk where invocations of "a" real are mangled into unhinged, squinting eyes moments of near-consciousness. Compared to previous Hair & Treasure ventures like Two Fucking Tapes or Forked Piss Blues, Disc Rot forgoes side-long tapestries by focusing on shorter and clearer transmissions from the netherworld. Still, the feeling of pieces of discarded hardware and sound hubris lying around and turned music of the duo remains unscathed, filtered through a newfound precision. After the opening feverish threat of "Warm Night," the suspended synth pads and working machinery of "Byzantine Turd Skirt" actually comes as a relief, pulling away (a bit) of the dread to resurface with the Texas Chainsaw Massacre OST ambience of "Amateur Depravity" and 2004-ish Midwest noise stylings of "Busy Hubby's Flight to Gstaad" and "Tit Ale." "Roads Gonad Today" and "Just Jerkers" are not that far removed from a lower fidelity take on Black Dice circa "Creature Comforts," while "Professional Babies" goes back a couple of years to their collabs with Wolf Eyes, but mostly, all of this sounds like nothing but Hair & Treasure themselves.

LP version. In 1968, Weird Herald released a now sought-after promo only 45 with the songs "Saratoga James"/'Just Yesterday." That 45 was part of a full album that was never released. Music ranges from haunting, beautiful folk-rock with spacey acoustic guitar playing and delicate vocal harmonies, cool laid-back country-folk, to energetic hard-rockers à la early Moby Grape or Jefferson Airplane with stunning electric leads. Not forgetting "Where I'm Bound" which has a cool Notorious Byrd Brothers feel. Hailing from Los Gatos in California, Weird Herald featured two accomplished guitar players who are local legends in the San Jose / Santa Cruz area, Billy Dean Andrus and Paul Ziegler. Their roots can be traced to the early San Jose folk / coffeehouse scene. Jorma Kaukonen (Jefferson Airplane/Hot Tuna) was a close friend and used to jam with them. Billy Dean Andrus was Skip Spence's best friend since high school and they both used to perform as a folk duo in the early days. A fantastic rhythm section, Cecil Bollinger on bass and Pat McIntire on drums rounded the band. Sadly, in 1970 Billy Dean Andrus died of a drug overdose in the Santa Cruz Mountains. He was immortalized on the songs "Ode for Billy Dean" written by Jorma Kaukonen for Hot Tuna and "Chicago" by the Doobie Brothers. Paul Ziegler ended up joining up Hot Tuna in the early '70s. He passed away in 2000. Problems with the management/producers led to the planned album being shelved and, according to legend, the master tapes destroyed. Luckily, reel-to-reel copies have remained with the Andrus family for half over a century, unheard until now. Includes eight-page insert with detailed liner notes by Cam Cobb (authors of Weighted Down: The Complicated Life Of Skip Spence) with input from the Andrus family and the surviving Weird Herald members and rare photos. Comes with download card with 11 previously unreleased bonus tracks, including basement demos from 1967 by the first line-up of the band. RIYL: Moby Grape, Jefferson Airplane, The Byrds, Milk Carton Kids, Buffalo Springfield, Maitreya Kali, Everly Brothers, Psychedelic Rock, Folk-Rock, Loner Folk.

"Four years after his rock juggernaut Puritan, Chris Brokaw delivers Ghost Ship, a landscape meditation (at sea) for vocals and electric guitars. You need to listen to Ghost Ship from beginning to end. Stand too close to the speaker holding a plastic cup of seltzer with lime and really crank it up. If you have a purple light bulb, screw that into the ceiling fixture, and it will be like seeing Brokaw play the kind of live Brokaw set that puts you on the bottom of the ocean, standing under a transmission tower with a semicircle of effects pedals at its feet. If this sounds vaporous, consider the conversational chords of '8 Or 9 Things', the sharply descending final notes of 'Profile', or the extinction burst of 'Anything Anymore'. Think of echolocation: sonics defining space and distance, time elapsing, the disappearance of something -- maybe drugs or a doomed love, possibly in the same form. Chris Brokaw is perhaps best known for his work with the bands Codeine and Come. He has released over two dozen solo albums of instrumental and vocal music since 2002, and played in The New Year, Pullman, Charnel Ground and the Lemonheads. He has scored nine films, most recently Crookedfinger by Julia Halperin and Jason Cortlund, and written for dance and arts associations, most recently Lowlands with Rimi/Imir in Stavangar, Norway. He has recorded and performed as an accompanist to Thurston Moore, Christina Rosenvinge, Rhys Chatham, Jennifer O'Connor, Steve Wynn, and GG Allin. Currently he plays in Lupa Citta (with Sarah Black and Jenn Gori), the Martha's Vineyard Ferries (with Bob Weston and Elisha Wiesner) and the Chris Brokaw Rock Band (with Clint Conley and Luther Gray). He continues to perform periodically with Codeine and Come. Recorded and mixed by Paul Kolderie at Wool\y Mammoth MA and Camp St. NY October and November 2024."

Opening Night is a collection of instrumental music composed for the opening gala of the New Theater Hollywood by Danish composers MK Velsorf and Aase Nielsen. A cycle of minimal pieces for e-guitar, e-piano and backing tracks, the music was performed and recorded live from the stage balcony during the dress rehearsal, arrival of the guests and between speeches throughout the night. The music is patient, minimal and groovy -- consisting of sparse guitar vamps, drum and synth loops, it establishes a mood, or a tone: one of sun-soaked dreams, ecological dread and never-ending anticipation. Opening Night evokes the environmental furniture music of Erik Satie, as well as the melancholic instrumentals of Arthur Russell, the procedural TV score of Mike Post, and the sleazy atmospheres of certain Michael Mann films. Designed to weave in and out of the listener's consciousness, Opening Night is light in feel yet with a deep pull, breezily conjuring feelings of banality, pleasurable dissociation, and eerie repetition. The listener is invited to get in the car and stay for a while. The New Theater Hollywood is a performance space run by artists Calla Henkel and Max Pitegoff, housed in the historic 49-seat 2nd Stage Theater in Hollywood's largely defunct Theater Row, conceived as a space to develop and stage original theatrical productions in the crosswinds of performance, literature, contemporary art, film and television.

2025 restock. Trost Records presents the latest release in its ongoing cooperation with Berlin's legendary FMP label, with the long overdue reissue of two classic live albums by the singular alto saxophonist Noah Howard, a key figure in New York's free jazz revolution during the 1960s. Berlin Concert was recorded live in the titular city in January of 1975 with a quartet featuring pianist Takashi Kako, bassist Kent Carter, drummer Oliver Johnson, and percussionist Lamont Hampton. It was released on the SAJ sub label in 1977. It deftly captures the full diapason of Howard's fiery art. Fueled by the propulsive swing of the great Oliver Johnson, bassist Kent Carter -- both Americans who spent many years living and working in Europe, including long stints with Steve Lacy -- and percussionist Lamont Hampton, Berlin Concert nonchalantly toggles between modal workouts, where Japanese pianist Takashi Kako invokes the ironclad drive of McCoy Tyner, and the needling fury of "New York Subway," summoning the all-out fury of the '60s New Thing. This album reinforces the scalding passion of Howard's playing, while simultaneously highlighting a stylistic depth and lyrical grace that's often overlooked in his music. Howard, who suffered a fatal cerebral hemorrhage in 2010, at age 67, has been duly celebrated for his work in the 1960s, but the return of this gem makes it plain he had plenty more to say. Recorded live by Jost Gebers on January 30th and 31st,1975 at the Quartier Latin in Berlin. Cover design by Wolf Walt. Photograph by Roberto Masotti. Produced by Jost Gebers. Originally released and published on FMP in 1977.

Corbett vs. Dempsey presents Jaap Blonk's Ursonate, featuring the complete text-sound work by artist Kurt Schwitters. Blonk first recorded the canonical Dada poetry piece in 1986, released as an LP on BVHAAST, Willem Breuker's label. He has returned to the work multiple times over the ensuing decades, and this incredible new recording shows his deepening understanding of the pioneering work. Blonk writes in the liner notes: "Kurt Schwitters (1887-1948) wrote his Ursonate or Sonate in Urlauten ('Primordial Sonata' or 'Sonata in Primordial Sounds') over ten years, from 1922 to 1932. During that period Schwitters tried out many preliminary parts in public poetry readings. It became a 30-page work in invented words, which he later considered one of his two masterpieces (the other being the Merzbau in his house in Hannover, destroyed in 1944). The Ursonate has a structure similar to that of a classical sonata or symphony. It consists of four movements: 'Erster Teil' ('first part'), 'Largo,' 'Scherzo,' and 'Presto.' After a short introduction, the first movement opens with an exposition of its four main themes (subjects), each of which is subsequently 'developed' (development in the sense it is used in classical sonata form), leading to a coda. It is note- worthy that the theme exposition returns as a reprise before each new development but the last one. Both the Largo and the Scherzo have a centered (A-B-A) construction in which the middle part contrasts with the two identical outer parts. The Presto has a strict rhythm broken only by a few interjections from the first movement and the Scherzo. Like the first movement, it follows the sonata form: exposition (repeated immediately in this case), development, and recapitulation. Next is the Kadenz, leaving the reciter free to choose between the written version and his own. However, in his written instructions for future performers of the piece, Schwitters says that he wrote his cadenza only for those among them who 'had no imagination.' In my performances of the Ursonate, I always create an improvised cadenza on the basis of the sonata's thematic material. Only on the recordings I have issued, for reasons of completeness, a recording of the written cadenza is included as a separate track." --Jaap Blonk, December 2024