Aguaturbia's second LP Volumen 2 (1970) is an essential album to understand the construction of what is known today as Chilean rock. The album is as raw and dynamic as their debut LP, featuring even heavier rhythms, distortion, and exceptional phased female vocals reminiscent of Jefferson Airplane. Comparisons with the Grateful Dead, Country Joe and the Fish and Led Zeppelin can be drawn. Splendid heavy psych and proto-stoner tracks make this album a pioneer recording in the history of South American rock. Aguaturbia's debut album was originally released in 1970 and showcases one of South America's most significant psychedelic bands from the late '60s and early '70s. In July that same year the band recorded this Volumen 2 that delivers even heavier intensity than their debut LP. The LP showcases breathtaking moments, like the psych-blues "Heartbreaker" or "I Wonder Who" where guitarist Carlos Corales shines. When he played solos at the gigs, the effect on the audience was silence and euphoria at the same time. In fact, Carlos Corales (guitar) and Willy Cavada (drums) were both professional musicians who had made a previous career in rock and roll bands. Controversy accompanies the release of the album once again. In this case the cover artwork, a tribute to Salvador Dalí, scandalizes the most conservative sector of Chilean society.

A new album by composer Oksana Linde presents new electronic pieces, composed between 1986 and 1994, that have remained unreleased. This set of electronic pieces explores more ambient and meditative sounds. Travesías, her second album released by Buh Records, features pieces created in her private studio in San Antonio de Los Altos, Venezuela. These works belong to the same creative period as the pieces included in her acclaimed debut album, Aquatic and Other Worlds (BR 160LP, 2022). Born in 1948 in Caracas to Ukrainian immigrant parents, Oksana Linde's journey is an example of resilience and innovation. After abandoning her career as a chemist due to health problems, Linde devoted herself to music, experimenting with synthesizers to create a deeply evocative sonic universe. She produced a vast number of recordings during the 1980s, many of which remained unreleased until the publication of Aquatic and Other Worlds. This new collection of pieces, taken from the extensive archive of cassette tapes preserved by Linde, unveils yet another perspective of her work. The pieces "Mundos Flotantes" (Floating Worlds), "Horizontes Lejanos" (Distant Horizons), and "Arrecifes en el espacio" (Reefs in Space) were specifically composed for the show Travesía Acuastral (Aqua-Astral Journey), presented by Linde in February 1991 at Casa Rómulo Gallegos as part of the 3rd Encounter of New Electronic Music. This event, produced by Maite Galán in collaboration with the Musikautomatika group, was a milestone in shaping an experimental electronic music scene in Venezuela, one of the most active in Latin America at that time. Linde composed a series of pieces for use in meditation sessions, four of which are included in this compilation: "Luciérnagas en los manglares" (Fireflies in the Mangroves), "Estrellas I" and "II" (Stars I and II), and "Kerepakupai Vena." The latter refers to two words from the Pemón Indigenous community in southeastern Venezuela, meaning Angel Falls, the name of the world's tallest waterfall. Travesías solidifies Oksana Linde's position as an essential figure in electronic music and furthers the effort to bring to light one of the most fascinating archives of electronic music produced in Latin America. This compilation is released through Buh Records in a limited edition of 500 copies. Compilation and liner notes by Luis Alvarado. Mastered by Alberto Cendra at Garden Lab Audio. Cover photo by Elisa Ochoa Linde. Art and design by Gonzalo de Montreuil. This album was made possible thanks to the Ibermusicas fund.

Double LP version. One of Peter Brotzmann's final concerts, presented on Otoroku. When the label invited Peter to do a residency at Cafe OTO back in February 2023, it had no idea these would be his last ever shows and he played with such power it would have been hard for anyone present to believe he would never play publicly again. Recorded over two nights this grouping of Jason Adasiewicz on vibraphone, John Edwards on bass, and Steve Noble on drums feels especially resonant and personal to Cafe OTO. The first time Peter performed at the venue back in 2010 it was in a trio with John and Steve, so it feels fitting that the last shows he ever played here should also have that trio at its core. There are moments of tenderness to Brotzmann's playing that feels specific to this small group -- one that cuts across three generations -- and in a space that's come to feel like home. Of course, there is dizzying, forceful, single-minded playing, but even amongst a relentless chorus of cymbal splashes and busy vibraphone clusters the lyrical, spacious moments are savored and held onto. As he remarked after at the end of the group's first visit to OTO, "the Quartet is, for us, a great adventure." Peter clearly wanted to play to the end. It was Peter's wish that these recordings should be made public and he was due to finalize the cover design on the week he passed away. Otoroku would like to thank Peter's family for working to fulfil Peter's wishes to release this material. Recorded live at Cafe OTO by Billy Steiger on 10th and 11th February 2023. Mixed by James Dunn. Mastered by Giuseppe Ielesi. Photos by Dawid Laskowski. Pressed in the UK by Vinyl Press. Artwork by Peter Brötzmann. Design by Untiet. The 2LP version is an edit of the music played on both nights. It comes as a gatefold 12" printed in reverse board outersleeves and includes a pull out with photographs from the residency by Dawid Laskowski.

For the first time, a representative anthology of Eduardo Polonio's early electroacoustic works is available in vinyl format. This compilation also serves as a review of the history of Spanish electroacoustic music, featuring works created at the Phonos Laboratory in Barcelona, the Alea Electronic Music Laboratory in Madrid, the Electroacoustic Music Cabinet in Cuenca, and the composer's private studio in Barcelona. The anthology Eduardo Polonio: Obra electroacústica 1969-1981 revives the early stages of the innovative composer with a curated selection of eight restored pieces. A limited edition celebrating his profound impact on Spanish experimental music. Eduardo Polonio (1941?2024) was one of the foundational figures in the emergence and development of electroacoustic music in Spain. From the raw electronic textures of "Para una pequeña margarita ronca" (1969) to the timbral subtleties of "Flautas, voces, animales, pájaros" (1981), this collection showcases Polonio's artistic evolution and highlights different facets of his work as a composer and musician. The included works reflect this multifaceted aesthetic. "Oficio" (1969) is a real-time improvisation recorded using two low-frequency generators and a modified electric guitar amplifier for sound modulation. Rabelaisiennes (1969), for prepared guitar, explores minimalism and instrumental experimentation. "Continuo" (1970), a piece for electric guitar and bass, anticipates ambient music while engaging with free jazz and psychedelia. "Me voy a tomar el Orient Express" (1976) stands out for its rhythmic and harmonic interplay between the lines forming the sonic texture. "Valverde" (1981) offers a microscopic study of a distinctive way flamenco guitar concludes bulerías phrases. "El reclinatorio en el tejado de la lejana abadía" (1971) is structured as an imaginary soundscape in the form of a suite. Polonio's life and work parallel the history of electroacoustic music in Spain. From his beginnings at Alea, Spain's first electronic music laboratory, to his collaborations with figures like Horacio Vaggione and Josep Maria Mestres Quadreny at Phonos, Polonio carved a unique path in the history of Spanish experimental music. Eduardo Polonio: Obra electroacústica 1969-1981 is presented by Buh Records as a limited double LP edition and in digital format, in collaboration with the Asociación de Música Electroacústica de España (AMEE). The audio in this edition has been restored and mastered directly from the master tapes by Víctor Aguado. The album includes extensive liner notes written by Víctor Aguado and Ramón del Buey, with artwork and design by Gonzalo de Montreuil.

LP version. For their fifth album, Vaudou Game's influences have spread beyond the city and country limits, crossing the Atlantic to reach Colombia. Magnetized, the tropical waves traveled along the equator from Latin America to Togo, knocking on the door of OTODI studio. They too wanted to be part of it and take advantage of its legendary analog equipment. Expected by Peter Solo, they weren't the only ones contributing to forging the group's famous hypnotic groove. The sedans parked in the lot don't lie. From the nearby Lomé market, Nana Benz Du Togo have come to unite the delicacy of their alluring vocal harmonies in call and response with Peter Solo. Lomevio, a young group when Vaudou Game's leader had provided them with instruments during difficult times, now offers to its listeners the strength of its voice-guitar-accordion trident. Still acting under the supreme authority of funk controlled by the esotericism and mystique of the voodoo scale, Vaudou Game unites the hand of highlife with that of cumbia above its head. "Afro Cumbia" is one of the new musical directions taken by the band. They were accompanied by the brilliant voice of the Spanish-english singer Clara Serra López on the track "Râler." Guitars, percussion, brass, and vintage keyboards to activate hips or set the most intriguing atmosphere, Peter delivers his messages hidden behind his unremovable mask. Whether dealing with political or human and ecological subjects, he is always sure to mask them under a thick layer of sarcasm and humor in order to put them into better use via a joyful and dancing trance. With the subliminal motto of repaying Africa, the people, the Earth. Fintou!

"Regarded as one of the greatest blues albums of all time. Cut by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio. Recorded in 1969, this album, as McDowell's titular quote suggests, is not just a collection of songs but a significant piece of musical history. It's a masterclass, a confessional, a musical statement, and a history lesson all in one. Despite its seemingly simple nature, it's a profound work. Regarded as one of the greatest blues albums of all time, I Do Not Play No Rock 'N' Roll is a must-listen, a testament to one of the greatest musical forces that has directly influenced The Rolling Stones, Aerosmith, The Black Keys, and Bonnie Raitt (to whom McDowell taught slide guitar). In 1959, McDowell's talent was first captured by folklore musicologist Alan Lomax, and from there, he quickly rose to stardom with his live recordings and festival appearances across the US and UK. This album is a testament to McDowell's unique voice and guitar style, dominating the air and filling it with raw power and authenticity."

Modern Obscure Music presents Pierre Bastien and DJ Low's Swing Low, a work that fuses the poetic inventiveness of Pierre Bastien with the visionary legacy of the late DJ Low (Tom Deweerdt), a central figure in Belgian independent music and founder of the influential Lowlands label. This album, which interweaves memory and experimentation, represents Bastien's debut on the Barcelona label's catalog and a testament to the creative bond between the two artists. The album, composed of seven pieces, stands out for its hybrid nature: five reinterpretations of Bastien's previous works, some of them coming from his influential Mecanoid (originally released by Rephlex), and two unreleased improvisations, "A Pupa" and "Reviver," which seal the unique character of the project. Pierre Bastien, recognized as a composer, inventor and builder of sound machines, has been a tireless explorer of the frontiers between the mechanical and the musical. From his contribution to the Belcanto Orchestra, his collaboration with the PRSNT project to his participation in Pedro Vian's Earth, Our Planet or his collaboration with Tomaga for the Other People label, his career illustrates a constant commitment to experimentation and the intersection of disciplines. Among the artists he has worked with are names such as Robert Wyatt, Jac Berrocal, Jaki Liebezeit and designer Issey Miyake. His works have found homes on iconic labels such as Marionette, Morphine and Discrepant to name a few. The album is presented with a visual design by Koen Bruyneel, reinterpreted as a tribute to Tom Deweerdt, a decade after his departure.

From Lawrence English: "I like to think that sound haunts architecture. It's one of the truly magical interactions afforded by sound's immateriality. It's also something that has captivated us from the earliest times. It's not difficult to imagine the exhilaration of our early ancestors calling to one another in the dark cathedral like caves which held wonder, and security, for them. Today the ways in which sound occupies space, the so-called liquid architecture, holds just as much wonder, albeit one that is often dominated by functionality and form. Beyond those constraints however, how sound operates in the material world is something that exists at the fundament of our understanding of music, and moreover within the broad church we know as the canon of sound arts. Even The Horizon Knows Its Bounds is a record born out of these relations. In a direct sense, the record is the product of an invitation by curator Jonathan Wilson to create a sound environment, reflecting on the Naala Badu building at the Art Gallery Of NSW. The building's name, which translates from the Gadigal language to 'seeing water', was opened in 2022 and this piece was offered as an atmospheric tint to visitors walking through the building throughout the year following its opening. It's also a record born out of a recognition for the porousness sound affords, especially as a device for collaborative endeavor. This composition is one born out of generosity and acoustic solidarity. Even The Horizon Knows Its Bounds is comprised not just of my sounds, but also that of an incredible array of artists who have also operated in the orbit of the Art Gallery Of NSW. The players include Amby Downs, Chris Abrahams, Chuck Johnson, Claire Rousay, Dean Hurley, Jim O'Rourke, JW Paton, Madeleine Cocolas, Norman Westberg, Stephen Vitiello, and Vanessa Tomlinson. The piece was constructed around two long form sound prompts that each musician responded and con-tributed to. These materials there when digested into the final piece you hear. The work could not exist without the substantial offerings these artists made, and I am immensely grateful to each of them."

From Theresa Wong: "The inspiration for these pieces comes from the Chinese folklore of Guanyin, a deity whose name translates to 'the one who perceives all the sounds, or cries, of the world.' Also known as Guanshiyin 觀世音, she is the embodiment of infinite compassion. I grew up knowing of Guanyin as a female deity, but recently discovered that she had transformed through the centuries from the male Hindu bodhisattva, Avalokiteśvara. I instantly found an affinity for this gender-fluid figure, who was said to have attained enlightenment through meditation on sound. These pieces offer an imaginary story of a humble seafarer (Guanyin is a popular matron saint of fisherfolk), who returns from the tumult of the sea one evening at dusk. They journey into a seaside cave in a cliff nearby to find solace in prayer to Guanyin. Deep within the chambers of this glistening cave, an encounter with the mystical deity brings comfort and healing while the churning of life outside persists. Perhaps it was out of a premonition that I created these pieces, which became one of the few things I could listen to during an intensely challenging year of my life. All the music is played on solo and multi-tracked acoustic cello. Many pieces are created around the repetition of simple phrases, like a sonic mantra repeated to focus and ease the mind. The cello is tuned down to a fundamental of A=216 Hertz, and the harmonies are composed in just intonation, a tuning system based on the natural overtones of resonating frequencies. In tracks 5 and 7, the lower strings are detuned extremely to a precise tension, creating a drone that contains both noise and specific overtones. In this manner of playing, I often have the feeling of 'splitting the sound open' into a composite of rhythm, harmony, melody and noise through playing beating frequencies, fingered overtones, implicit melodies emerging out of undulating harmonics, and the pure growl of the slackened string. I hope the listener will find rest and repose -- in this music, amidst the ever-compounding churning of our present world. My deepest thanks to Lawrence English, Janet Oh, the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, and the Emily Harvey Foundation for supporting this work."

After digging deep into the overwhelming archives of Discos Fuentes and Codiscos in the previous volumes, this third instalment in the series Cumbia Cumbia Cumbia!!! comprises a selection of 28 Peruvian cumbia bangers for the dance floor from the deep vaults of Discos MAG, all of them originally released between 1964 and 1987. Cumbia Cumbia Cumbia!!! combines well-known classics and rarities that are difficult to find in their original formats. An invitation to enjoy and be amazed, above and beyond ethnographic and academic concerns. The historical origins of cumbia are nebulous and imprecise. The mythology surrounding it suggests an ancient past when Amerindian, African and European musical sounds were mixed together. MAG had released porros since the label was set up, and by 1957 it was already selling records by the Colombian Lucho Bermúdez, a leading figure in porro and cumbia in orchestra format, from Buenos Aires. Colombian cumbia has come a long way in Peru since those years and put down its own roots, just as it has in other Latin American countries. This third volume of the series Cumbia, cumbia, cumbia demonstrates how the rhythm has persisted over three decades of Peruvian recordings, ranging from versions by orchestras and ensembles to original cumbias with electric guitars, with lingering echoes of Caracas-born Hugo Blanco, Tulio Enrique León, Los Teen Agers and Amparito Jiménez. Featuring Carlos Pickling Y Su Orquesta, Los Chicoques, Los Demonios De Corocochay , Los Felcas, Sonora Casino De Hugo Macedo, Sam Brasil, Volada 5, Otto De Rojas Y Su Orquesta, Silvestre Montez Y Sus Guantanameros, Ñico Estrada, Freddy Roland Y Su Orquesta De Moda, Los Avileños, Joe Di Roma Y Su Conjunto, Los Rumberos Del Solar, Los Pavos Reales, Nilo Espinosa Y Su Orquesta, Tito Chicoma Y Su Orquesta, Nelson Ferreyra Y Su Sonora, Los Kintos, Manzanita Con Los Cañeros, and Los Belking's.

Kuunatic's hotly anticipated second album Wheels of Ömon takes another adventuresome deep dive into their self-made fantasy mythology, proposing whole new worlds of psychedelic drama and ritual. In addition to their core sonic palette of tribal drums, pulsing bass, atmospheric keyboards and grouped female vocals, the acclaimed Japanese psych-rock trio played an array of Japanese traditional instruments on Wheels of Ömon. The result is a thrilling, kaleidoscopic album that brushes against tradition as it whirls into an other-worldly future. Kuunatic are the trio of Fumi Kikuchi on keyboards, Shoko Yoshida on bass and Yuko Araki on drums. All three of them also sing. They formed in 2016 and released an EP and 7" single before, in 2021, dropping their debut album, Gate of Klüna (GB 117CD, 2021), on an unsuspecting public. Wheels of Ömon builds on the story of Gate of Klüna with more tales of prophecy, mysterious powers and magical healing lakes. Kuunatic's imaginative flights of visionary fancy achieve the same kind of epic, science-fiction world-building as legendary French jazz-prog heroes, Magma. But their inspirations come from further afield. "The three of us listen to completely different types of music so our ideas and influences come from all different places," they say. "We create fantasy stories," they say, "but it's deeply influenced by historical events that happened on Earth. So, when we stayed in Switzerland, looking at the Alps and Vallée du Rhône, they made us imagine vast histories of a grand Earth and times of several hundred million years ago. Perhaps it's this majestic natural setting that has imparted to the new album a deep connection to folk traditions, to human stories, to the very roots of storytelling. It's a mood that manifests most powerfully in the album's varied use of Japanese traditional instruments. Throughout the album, Kuunatic play chappa (hand-sized cymbals used at temple rituals or festivals), sasara (a percussion instrument of 108 wooden plates strung with a cotton cord), ryuteki (a flute used in gagaku), kagurabue (a flute used for Japanese traditional shrine music) ougidaiko (a fan-shaped hand drum), kokiriko (small bamboo stick instruments), and wadaiko (a huge traditional drum that has been used for rituals or festivals since ancient times)."

"Grumbling psych played on a whirring blender of guitars, synths and traditional Japanese temple instruments" -- The Wire

Actress presents Tranzkript 1. First pressing of 300 units.

LP version. Music-lovers of all lands, rejoice! Here you have the rerelease of the fourth album of the Intercommunal Free Dance Music Orchestra recorded with the Guinean saxophonist Jo Maka. The title says it all: Vol.4: Jo Maka. But before that, a bit of history: The Intercommunal Free Dance Music Orchestra was created in 1971 by an "old hand" of French free jazz, François Tusques. "Free Jazz" was also the name of the recording made by the pianist and other like-minded Frenchmen (Michel Portal, François Jeanneau, Bernard Vitet, Beb Guérinand Charles Saudrais) in 1965. But, six years later Tusques had had his fill of free jazz. So he then founded the Inter Communal, an association a name under which the different communities could become closer and compose, simply. In 1976, on the first album: L'Inter Communal, listeners can already hear Tusques playing without borders in the company of Carlos Andreu, Ramadolf, Michel Marreand, and Jo Maka (as a conclusion to this Vol. 4, listeners can hear them in 1977 at the Moulin de Prades Le Lez). Over the next decade, the, association kept going with concerts at the Dunois theatre, in 1980 and 1981, it welcomed old hands and new recruits (Bernard Vitet, Jean-Jacques Avenel, Jacques Thollot, Sylvain Kassap). If Vol. 4 : Jo Maka is an homage to the Guinean saxophonist, who passed away a few months before the release of this selection of concert recordings, it also displays a proud collective inspiration! One foot in the blues, and ears open to everything else, Tusques begins with a lament that the Company rapidly transforms into a joyful dance ("Vive la Commune"), weaves a full-blown party piece ("Poses ton fardeau et remets la machine en route," "7 rue des prêcheurs," "Mazir") or gets fabulous with Mingus ("Fable Of Faubus"). And there you have it, with so many revolutions François Tusques is almost back to free jazz. So, your turn with the turntable.

LP version. If the jazz of François Tusquesis is "free," his spirit is even more so: having recorded free jazz with other like-minded Frenchmen (Michel Portal, François Jeanneau, Bernard Vitet, Beb Guérinand Charles Saudrais), the pianist had covered a lot of ground, with Barney Wilen (Le Nouveau Jazz) or even solo (Piano Dazibao and Dazibao N°2), so as not to repeat himself. In 1971 he founded the Intercommunal Free Dance Music Orchestra which, as the notes to this album stated, "is an interpretation of a music which synthesizes the different communities living and working in France." In 1976, on the first album (L'InterCommunal) listeners can already hear Tusques playing without borders in the company of Carlos Andreu (vocals), Michel Marre (trumpet and saxophone), Jo Maka (saxophone) and Ramadolf (trombone). It is a meeting between jazz and music from Catalonia, Occitanie and Africa. So far so good, but what about Brittany, that, Tusques knows "by heart?" Having lived for a long time in Nantes, he would expand his "brittanitude" on the canal linking the city to Brest by playing with, for example the Diaouled-Ar-Menez. With these "devils from the mountain" who, under the baton of Yann Goasdoué, worked throughout the 1970s on the renewal of music from Brittany, Tusques met, notably, Tanguy Ledoré and invited him one day, with trois bombards and some bagpipes (Jean-Louis Le Vallegant, Gaby Kerdoncuff and Philippe Lestrat), to join the ranks of the Intercommunal. And so they set of towards a new music from Brittany, as the title states; Vers une Musique bretonne nouvelle! With percussion from Samuel Ateba and Kilikus, the association launches the "bombardier:" the repetitions and dissonance of the different members all serve a common cause however: the dance, which is always the reason for the party. This sets a whole universe spinning, which can bring to mind Chris McGregor's Brotherhood of Breath ("La rencontre") when not taking on board waltz, swing, blues and gavotta or even revealing mysteries like those of Gurdjieff ("Les racines de la montagne" or "Le cheval" sung by Andreu).

LP version. Ingrid Schmoliner and Alex Kranabetter are pillars of the improvised and experimental music scenes in Austria stretching back more than a decade. Although the former is known primarily as a pianist and vocalist and the latter as a trumpeter, they both possess seriously expansive sonic palettes. Schmolinger works rigorously with sound direction to generate vibrant psychoacoustic and spatialized effects, while Kranabetter routinely deploys electronics to radically transform and expand his sound worlds in solo and collaborative settings. Perhaps no single endeavor captures the full splendor of their aesthetic tendencies like their duo drank, which presents its stellar debut recording Breath in Definition on Trost. The album includes guest appearances by the remarkably versatile drummer Lukas König and Soap&Skin (aka Anja Franziska Plaschg).

In the new work Shlimazl by Swiss composer Michael Wertmüller, symphony orchestra and big band merge into a virtuoso, polymetric organism that not only transcends styles, but also a perceived linearity of time. In doing so, he explicitly takes up the rich tradition of the big band, and revitalizes it within the symphonic context under new auspices and allows it to take off. All the soloists act like a picture within a picture within the big band, which oscillates between musical nucleus, place of concentration and utopian space of freedom. Wertmüller illuminates the ambiguity of the Yiddish title "Shlimazl" ("mess") with the structuring phrases "Mazely Shlimazl" ("happiness and mess"). The stylistic carombole and the chaos of polyphony without uniformity harbor not only the overwhelming effect of apparent incompatibility but also the happiness of new possibilities for cooperation: from the power of contradiction and friction towards something that can neither be planned nor imagined. A model that creates the vision of a constructive way out in times of increasing incompatibility and hardening in the world. Shlimazl by Michael Wertmüller was a commissioned composition by Basel Sinfonietta and Ruhrtriennale.

"From their early '90s inception to the latter years of the 21st century's first decade, No Neck Blues Band appeared (to distant observers, anyway), to be something of the Platonic ideal for the 'improvisational collective,' in turn confounding ideas of authorship, recognition, and fame. A fragile symbiosis at best, the scrim of anonymity began to fray sometime around the turn of the century, and a group that looked like it might, for a second, become the ur-rock, drug-soaked United-States-of-American AMM, instead unraveled. As individual members began to emerge from behind the veil, the conceptual, compositional, and improvisational personalities behind the group's untouchable alchemy took form. Two of the group's lifers stood out -- Dave Shuford, undeniably the group's guitar powerhouse (who also revealed himself to be an ace songwriter with Rhyton, D. Charles Speer, et al), and Pat Murano, who founded his label Daksina to explore obsessions with deep electronics, metal's outer reaches, and late-night murmurings of all sorts. In addition to whatever else they were, Murano and Shuford confirmed their status as high-order improvisers, albeit with an expansive grip wielding far more power than the polite conversationalism permeating most 'non-idiomatic' improv genres. On their second duo LP Sing and Play for the Guru, Shuford and Murano dig deep into the crevices of nocturnal electric moan, the first side a meditation on the abyss that sits easily on the shelf next to Murano's blackest Decimus musings. Building at a horrifically slow pace towards a sunless molten boil of vocals and electronics, the side is a perfect soundtrack to our ongoing entropic apocalypse, a 'dark ambient' opus that manages to make Abruptum sound like Kiss. While it's a stretch to call side B 'brighter,' it moves from its opening guttural cyborg eviscerations into tranced-out elaborations on non-Western modalities (something both of these punters excel at) with synapse-cleansing grace. As a whole, the LP ups the ante yet again for Daksina, whose every release effortlessly resets the pinnacle for non-rock psychedelic entanglement. Regardless of your take on the future, it seems foolish to muse on society's collapse with anything other than this record on the deck, your ass in an armchair, and your libations of choice flowing into your gullet." --Tom Carter

"C & PM -- two adepts of improvisation again alight their paths with esoteric flame. The emotional tenor of their masterful double LP release Four Infernal Rivers (MIE 027LP) is maintained: frightful urgency blends with a kind of poised resolve, the auditory version of a thousand-yard stare from an aloof predator. The guitar based sonics in evidence here on Songs of Éliphas Lévi Zahed congeal into a monolithic viscous clarity. 'The Will' is marked by vibrant strings slowly coaxed into vocalese. A few minutes in, a trap door delay takes the listener instantly to the tripping basement, forced to navigate a respirant rug in near total darkness. Tunnel vision tiny dot of light then dilated to max. Blinding flashes of a green horizon. Fuzz plumes are heard staggering into the distance, slowly passing over the hill of setting sun. 'Astral Light' piles on the pastoral waves as it glides along the edges of a shimmering ray. These tracks have been dedicated to the legendary ceremonial magician, Éliphas Lévi, the one who illustrated the Goat of Mendes for all to see plainly. This man of constant sorrow cut his teeth in socialist circles in Paris but later focused on more obscure routes of societal impact. In one of his books, he arranged 22 chapters to match the major arcana of the tarot. Lévi brought cartomancy into the realm of Kabbalah and the larger magical tradition. In his system, the will becomes interlaced with astral light - allowing for influence from far remote locales. Another version of what was known in neo-platonic circles as the pneuma, the field of transmission for extenuated mind force. Near the end of his life, Lévi hid away a catalog of ethereal songs written in the major and minor keys of Solomon. 'The Imagination' is where magic stakes its claim. Within the mind's eye, where images can hold fast and bind the viewer. Splatter tones draw out a tumbling duel, infernal internals. Molten pickup sound but enhanced, like drinking direct from the tap of voltage control. Faith based magic -- even faith based on lies, can be efficacious." --Dave Shuford

Shredding up definitions of electro-acoustic opera, spectralist chamber musique and concrète rave, Demdike hit square between the eyes/ears of film music vernaculars on a startlingly strong addition to their unique oeuvre, now in its 16th year of elusive psychoacoustic strafes and jump-cuts across putative borders. The 13-part, hour-long album dislodges source material made for the experimental film To Cut and Shoot, by Kristen Pilon, an NYC-based musician and filmmaker, to farther refract the film's themes of serendipity and the nature of ghosts and dreams with a flickering flux of sound-imagery and aleatoric weirdness appropriate to her original meditations, but also freely messing with their forms. Situated just a few miles north of Houston, Cut and Shoot is a relatively insignificant Texas town with an unforgettably bizarre name. Pilon grew up not far from Cut and Shoot, and it's there where she ran into 65-year-old machinist and motorcyclist Robert Lewis Stevenson, better known as Bobbo, who's pictured on the album's cover. Responding to Kristen's initial piano and operatic vocal recordings, Demdike return a volley of discrete parts tilting from typically cantankerous mayhem to quieter, more clandestine buzzes sliced with crazed interstices of the imagination, all marbled with the plasmic contrails of the paranormal which have long been peculiar to their work. With a poetic flair reflecting Pilon's own phrasing and melding of mediums, Demdike unfold and expand her melodic fragments into temporal mazes. The storyline wickedly frays and loops into itself with a non-linearity that recalls the mid-to-latter stages of Lynch's Mulholland Drive or waking from a sweaty fever dream only to pitch back into its thorny bush of ghosts, often within the space of one track. It's testament to the ever-tighter binds of Demdike's symbiotic vision that the results nevertheless hold a thread of logic that weaves in everything from their Jon Collin jams to reams of mixes and Gruppo edits with an unresolved, open-ended quality. RIYL: The Caretaker, Gruppo Di Improvvisazione Nuova Consonanza, Nate Young. Mastered by Rashad Becker, art by Andrew Lyster.

LP version. Mute is an album that explores distance, speech -- and the lack of it. It's a series of musings on people, places -- and leaving. The record began life with the core of El Khat -- multi-instrumentalist el Wahab, percussionist Lotan Yaish, and organist Yefet Hasan -- recording in an isolated village underground shelter. "My state of mind at the time affected the compositions even before I wrote the music," el Wahab notes, "and the isolated location gave us a chance to make sense of that." Following those sessions, in the summer of 2023 the group emigrated to Berlin; a far cry from Jaffa, where they'd largely grown up. The move was an expression of the nomadic urge that has been a constant in el Wahab's life, one that flows directly into his work. "These songs are about emigrating, leaving someone or somewhere. I don't think I've stayed in any one place for more than a year. For us Arab Jews whose families were forced to leave Yemen, it really began with that big move and our families' arrival in Israel, a land with a constant muting of the 'other'." Mute, he feels, is "a big and meaningful record." It's a story of endings and new beginnings. "But that's true of all our albums" el Wahab insists. "They're about relationships and the struggle to see two sides as a whole and not something that ends with muting and conflict. The songs here are about old loves, country, family. They are about feelings and identity." And all of that inevitably brings up many questions. El Wahab keeps reinventing himself: even his career has been an act of self-invention. Unable to read music, he still managed to talk his way into the Andalusian Orchestra, playing cello by ear until he learned music theory. And instruments he uses on his albums, like the blue gallon (actually a jug) or the kubana (named after a type of Yemeni bread) are also self-invented. These handmade, one-of-a-kind instruments sit at the heart of Mute. He's always made music from the items others discard. Everything recycled and reused, nothing wasted.

LP version. This album title translates as "One more chance to succeed in life." Not that they need it. The trio of guitarist Eblis Alvarez, bassist Mario Galeano, and drummer Pedro Ojeda has been successfully carving out a wildly idiosyncratic musical world since the release of their debut album in 2010, pushing the boundaries of instrumental Latin tropical music with bold infusions of psychedelia, dub, minimalism and more. But their journey started a long time before that. All three attended the same high school and have been playing together for three decades, since they were around 15 years old. "We started with punk and heavy metal," Ojeda recalls. "Then we were very interested in Colombian tropical music and traditional music from Colombia and Latin America, and that led us to focus on African music. It's been a long road." Along the way, the unfettered, spontaneous improvisation of jazz has been a crucial touchstone. "When we started playing in an improvised setting, we were very influenced by free jazz from the '60s," says Ojeda. "But now we are more into making music for the dance floor and music that has a beat and a strong feeling to dance to -- especially in this latest album." The music on Una Oportunidad stems from the venerable tradition of the groove-based jam session. "All of the tunes 100% come from improvisation sessions," says Galeano. "With this album," Ojeda elaborates, "we went to the studio in the morning every day for a week. Each of us would bring one or two ideas and we would start jamming, experimenting with those ideas. By lunchtime, we had one or two pieces based on those ideas and then, after lunch, we would record them. By the end of the week, we had the eight tracks that are on the record." Recording for the first time in the relaxed surroundings of Galeano's studio, with Alvarez once again mixing and producing, Una Oportunidad luxuriates in a relaxed intimacy. And, more than any other album they've released so far, it captures the immediacy of a live performance, with no overdubs or studio magic, just raw, in-the-moment invention.

Grey Interiors was made in collaboration with Actual Objects and is an absorbing animation and navigation of those post-human ideals that have prompted Darren J. Cunningham to his best work across the preceding two decades. In its hypnagogic symphony of the elements, he short-circuits distinctions of classical music's metric freedoms and the hyperspatial sensuality of concrète/electro-acoustic and ambient music with an artistic license that has come to distinguish his work in the contemporary field, and arguably identified him as this generation's most vital electronic abstractionist. The first half of the album is bewitchingly airless, materialized in a twinkling vacuum. Naturalistic environmental recordings and a half-heard piano swirl around nauseous airlock whooshes and eerie bass drones. It's all pulverized to a powdery, shimmering residue; if Actress's music is defined by its character and texture -- that sweet spot between the bedroom and the soundsystem -- then this one advances the narrative without losing its backbone. And like a lot of his best work, it comes into its own on the back of zonked eyelids, conjuring a play of shifting geometric patterns within its imaginary physics and nuanced narration of ephemeral melodic phrasing and vaporous textures. At about the halfway point, that dissociated piano finds its groove, coalescing into a jerky drum machine rhythm popping like bubbles in the stifling atmosphere. Listeners can draw some intersecting lines here thru electronic music lore -- traces of vintage AE, Push Button Objects, UR -- but Actress always leaves an indelible fingerprint on anything he touches. Even when he's rubbing against the gallery-industrial complex, he manages to fill a stagnant space with electricity and wit. A post-industrial symphony landing somewhere between nutopian ambient, kankyō ongaku and sawn-off bass science. White vinyl pressing -- one-sided vinyl, edition of 500 copies. Mastered by Noel Summerville. Art by Actual Objects.

2025 limited restock. Deep, deep, earth music from Tsutomu Ōhashi and the Geinoh Yamashirogumi crew. A macrosymphony composed for the International Garden and Greenery Exposition in Osaka, Japan, 1990, Ecophony Gaia, was supposed to be the stunning, aural centerpiece for a light and water performance system echoing the sentiment of the venue: "Harmonious Coexistence of Nature and Mankind". Ecophony Gaia was in its truest essence the final part of a trilogy that began with 1986's Ecophony Rinne, continued, in 1988, with their most-known work the soundtrack to Katsuhiro Otomo's dystopian, cyber-punk film Akira (released as Symphonic Suite Akira), and this release mere months later. Looking back one can break up these releases into a holy musical trinity: Ecophony Rinne = spirit, Symphonic Suite Akira = body, and Ecophony Gaia = Gaia/earth. Ecophony Gaia is Geinoh Yamashirogumi's most hopeful release. Rebirth, the hardest thing to capture in music, is something Ecophony Gaia expounds upon through sonics and feeling. You hear this in light echoes from Symphonic Suite Akira coursing through Ecophony Gaia, acting as symbols saying: "not everything from the past needs to be discarded, that certain things, when rethought of, hold a heavier power". The Japanese Noh music you heard trapezing through Akira's "Illusion" walks positively untethered in Ecophony Gaia's "Euphony", Indonesian gong chimes that hit darkly in Akira's "Tetsuo" transform Ecophony Gaia's "Catastrophe" into the light sublime, serene music that it is. What's left over are the songs that point to new directions. Those that derive their influence from things that aren't easily quantifiable. The introduction of field recordings to a warmer palette of sound makes Ecophony Gaia Geinoh Yamashirogumi's first roots album. Of course, these roots belong to worldlier kind of music. Rhythms that sound like water coursing downstream from brook to ocean, electronic layers that hum and cycle through, string instruments that hover like atmosphere, wind instruments that sound like air and breath, and the powerful sound of human voices presenting divinity through communal chant -- those all constitute the ecosystem of Ecophony Gaia. Things that you've heard/felt before, renewed in a different luster. When you hear the album, notice how there are two sides to its whole: "Chaos" ending in "Euphony", "Catastrophe" ending in "Gaia". It would be a disservice to describe the way it sounds, it's an album based on belief not premonition. All you'll find in Ecophony Gaia are movements. Hopeful movements. Needed movement.

Recorded at the Philharmonie de Paris and one and a half a year after releasing his magnum opus Music For Animals -- described by PopMatters as "a musical waterfall of monumental proportions" -- Nils Frahm shares a new live album on his Leiter label. In what's becoming a tradition, it follows 2013's Spaces, a Pitchfork Album of the Year taped at shows over the preceding 18 months, and 2020's Tripping With Nils Frahm, also released as a film. Paris is Frahm's first live album from a single night, March 21, 2024, and contains ten tracks over a running time of 84 minutes. Frahm's performances have always been known for expanding upon his studio recordings, and Paris is no exception. Drawing on his substantial catalogue, the German composer and producer reworks tracks from Music For Animals ("Right Right Right" and "Briefly") before less recent material from 2009's The Bells ("Some"), and 2012's Screws ("Re," originally recorded with just nine fingers after Frahm broke a thumb). There's also "Spells" from All Encores and "You Name It" from Day, while the brand new, luxurious and strangely gripping "Opera" sets the stage for "On The Roof" from his heart-rending, award-winning score for 2015's widely acclaimed, one-camera, one-take German thriller, Victoria. Frahm's instrumental range has expanded to include a mountain of vintage synths and keyboard instruments. These include a custom-made organ as well as the final glass harmonica constructed by Gerhard Finkenbeiner, a master glassblower who, in the 1980s, resurrected the instrument -- first invented by Benjamin Franklin in 1761 -- and then died in 1999 in mysterious, still unresolved circumstances. Frahm's grasp of dynamics and tension has likewise expanded, and not only does he reinvigorate his work during concerts for this wider range of possibilities, but he also keeps developing it as he tours. If he leaves the stage to the same uproarious jubilation with which he was initially greeted, Paris makes it clear why he's been so in demand. Paris is a vital document of this ingenious, gifted musician's endless pursuit of fresh perspectives.

Anoushka Shankar, the acclaimed sitar player, producer and composer, has confirmed details of the third and final instalment of the trilogy of mini-albums she began with Chapter I: Forever, For Now in October 2023, and followed by the Grammy-nominated Chapter II: How Dark it Is Before Dawn in April 2024. Chapter III: We Return To Light comes via Leiter. "Three chapters, three geographies," Shankar scribbled in a diary at a café in Goa on New Year's Day in 2023, manifesting an ambitious trilogy that she hoped would span multiple geographies with nods to her roots, across continents and collaborators. Looking back now, it's safe to say that the 11-time Grammy Award nominee has outdone herself. Chapter I was recorded in Berlin acknowledging Shankar's European heritage (she was born and lives in London), while Chapter II was captured in California, where she moved aged 11 and lived for over 15 years. Central to Chapter III is the mindfulness of India at the root of all her music.

"Open Vocal Phrases, Where Songs Come in And Out and Sketches For World of Echo (AU 1029CD) offer two intimate unedited Arthur Russell solo live performances recorded at Phill Niblock's Experimental Intermedia Foundation in Downtown NYC on 12/20/85 and 06/25/84. Phill curated and produced with Arthur both concerts at EI that would become part of the foundation for the World of Echo album. These extraordinary performances were recorded 18 months apart between 1984/85 by Steve Cellum and overseen by Phill and Arthur. Arthur would later edit sections from both concerts merging it with studio material recorded at Battery Sound to finalize the World of Echo album released in 1986. The double vinyl LP for Open Vocal Phrases, Where Songs Come in And Out includes the complete nineteen-minute-plus version of 'Tower of Meaning/Rabbit's Ear/Home Away' along with the previously unreleased songs 'That's The Very Reason,' and 'Too Early to Tell.' Side four includes two instrumental performances from the 06/25/84 Sketches for World of Echo performance, 'Changing Forest' and 'Sunlit Water' along with a full color insert and liner notes from Audika Records and Arthur Russell archivist Steve Knutson."

LP version. Şatellites' self-titled debut album received international acclaim. The record earned support from outlets such BBC Radio 6 Music and FIP in France, and they were invited to record live sets for both Gilles Peterson's Worldwide FM, and KEXP in Seattle. Since their debut, Şatellites have evolved from a studio project into a full-fledged touring band. Over time, the lineup has shifted, enabling the group to recreate their studio sound live. Their expanded lineup now includes Tsuf Mishali on keys and synths, known for his work in proggy psych bands, and the animated Tal Eyal on percussion. Şatellites blast back into orbit on Aylar, delivering a bold evolution on the psychedelic folk-meets-groove sound they established on their acclaimed debut album. Rotem Bahar has also stepped up as the band's full-time vocalist and frontwoman, adding a fuller, grittier edge to the group's sound. Behind the drumkit, Lotan Yaish brings dynamic energy to the rhythm section. After two years of touring, this cohesive and reinvigorated lineup entered the studio with renewed purpose and closer musical bonds. Aylar (Turkish for "moons" or "months") showcases more ambitious arrangements, extended compositions, intricate harmonies, and unexpected twists, reflecting the band's commitment to innovation and their passion for the original wave of Turkish psychedelic music. Kluger's saz and Mishali's synths intertwine seamlessly, underpinned by Ariel Harrosh's infectious basslines and Yaish's dramatic drumming, all culminating in Rotem's husky, emotive vocals. The album's most ambitious cover is their cosmic folk-funk rendition of Hakki Bullut's ballad "Ikmiz Bir Fideniz," followed by the original instrumental "Beş Kardeş" ("Five Brothers"). If Şatellites' self-titled debut laid the blueprint for their sound, Aylar marks their transformation into a fully realized musical force. With this album, Şatellites step confidently out of the shadows of their Anatolian psych heroes to craft a modern yet timeless record, expanding their influences while deepening their connection to their roots.

"Open Vocal Phrases, Where Songs Come in And Out and Sketches For World of Echo (AU 1029CD) offer two intimate unedited Arthur Russell solo live performances recorded at Phill Niblock's Experimental Intermedia Foundation in Downtown NYC on 12/20/85 and 06/25/84. Phill curated and produced with Arthur both concerts at EI that would become part of the foundation for the World of Echo album. These extraordinary performances were recorded 18 months apart between 1984/85 by Steve Cellum and overseen by Phill and Arthur. Arthur would later edit sections from both concerts merging it with studio material recorded at Battery Sound to finalize the World of Echo album released in 1986. Double CD digipack with full color insert and liner notes. 2CD contains the complete Sketches performance."

Thought Leadership's III Of Pentacles is an instant classic and glides into the pantheon of timeless guitar-soul totems. Originally out on cassette only, Be With presents the first ever vinyl issue. It's a hideously limited pressing of 300 for the world, so don't sleep on this. Thought Leadership has already garnered big support from such tastemakers as Ruf Dug, Jason Boardman, Nathan Gregory Wilkins, J Walk, Evan Woodward, Justin Robertson and Heavenly's Jeff Barrett. They reside in Stockport and are obsessed with ethereal guitar records. Captured on a multitrack recorder in a terraced house in Stockport, this is as DIY as it gets. Glaringly obvious is a love for classic Factory and early 4AD. Perhaps it is the proximity to the River Mersey where the ideas arrived, and there being but three miles between where this and the Durutti Column's classic LC was recorded, as the two operate across a familiar aural plain. Be it geographic or otherwise, limited by a true economy of means, namely guitar, pedals and drum machine, the fruit borne from these humble tools has been indelibly shaped by the perma-gloom that hangs low over the Manchester and Stockport environs. Think Sensations Fix or Göttsching at his most peeled out. Drones, ambient drifts of broken chords and distorted lead lines all swirl round the mix. Carefully remastered by Be With's engineer Simon Francisco to ensure it sounds better than ever after its initial tape release. Cicely Balston's expert skills have made sure nothing is lost in the cut whilst the records have been pressed to the highest possible standard at Record Industry, in Holland. The original tape cover artwork, so crucial to Thought Leadership's striking visual aesthetic, has been rejigged for vinyl issue here at Be With. Its stark presentation befits the music contained within. RIYL: Durutti Coulmn, Cocteau Twins, Dif Juz, Sensations Fix, Spike.

Limited restock, last available copies. "Snockument is a vinyl sampler of some of Michael Hurley's favorite covers of his songs, spanning 30 years or more, threaded with a love and admiration for the songs of Hi Fi Snock. Some tunes were recorded specially for the occasion (Calexico, Cass McCombs, The Hackles, dbh and Little Sue) while others were picked up along the way (Cat Power, Yo La Tengo, The Chicken Chokers, Vernon Tonges and Jason D. Williams). They have been mastered specially to create a fine unity of all the selections as though all were performed in the same place on one day. This limited-edition vinyl LP on the Blue Navigator label includes a gatefold insert featuring art by Snock himself. Produced by Michael Hurley (USA), Brendan Foreman (Ireland) and Sarah Illingworth (New Zealand), with thanks to Steve Peters and Jonathan Scheuer (Nonsequitur) and Byron Coley (Feeding Tube Records)."

LP version. "This album has been a long time coming. We were lucky enough to do a tape in 2022 with Jeremy Hurewitz (aka Rootless) called what the truth leaves out. But this is the first time we've been able to work with long-time fave, Matt Lajoie, who appears with Ash Brooks as half of the no-longer-active duo, Starbirthed. The idea for this pairing was presented to us by Jeremy, who recorded the album at his cabin in southern Vermont in 2019. Jeremy's Rootless project generally features at least a soupçon of acoustic guitar (often combined with electronics or other things) and Starbirthed was initially canted towards producing music for meditation, although their instrumentation -- voice, bass, guitar, synth, bells, etc. -- also meant that some of the recordings possessed more of a gentle free rock heft than anything overtly new agey. Anyway, soon after the session, the Plague hit, the members of Starbirthed decided to go their own ways, and everything got sorta dragged down in the torpor of the times. But Jeremy persisted in wanting to get the session finished and together, and he succeeded quite admirably. The music on Rootless & Starbirthed is a glorious celebration of what I'd describe as a rural utopian vision of possible futures in which the world does not go straight into the shitter. This is music that glows with kind of positive energy that might be galling if it didn't sound so great. Both Rootless and Starbirthed (as well as Matt's many other projects -- Herbcraft, ML Wah, etc.) are about creating an atmosphere in which beauty thrives as much as anything else. And this great collab LP flows like a newly discovered river, carrying us away from the anxiety and insect paranoia of our quotidian reality. Positing something better, just around the corner. Something we are not yet able to see, but which might. just. save the day. This might sound like old man hippie thinking, but that's cool. I've been called worse. And so have you." --Byron Coley

Thirty-two artists honor the extraordinary legacy of Suzanne Langille through interpretations of her vast songbook. Langille is best known as an acclaimed avant-garde singer-songwriter and collaborator of guitarist Loren Connors. They ventured into electrified blues and abstracted artsongs across more than a dozen albums since the mid-1980s. Langille's songs, with Connors, solo, or other collaborators, are marked by distinct and captivating depth. Her evocative lyrics, layered with themes of loss, longing, and the natural world, defy conventional boundaries, blending poetry with potent melodies. Her work embraces the uncertainty of life and the delicate spaces between joy and sorrow. The double CD includes a 20-page booklet with artist bios, rare photos, and liner notes tracing Langille's roots from a cappella harmonies to 1980s protests through today. This Connors-produced collection is a joint release by Family Vineyard and Feeding Tube Records. The Suzanne Langille Songbook features a diverse array of artists who reinterpret her music, showcasing its timeless and transformative power. Contributors include Kim Gordon & Bill Nace, Jim O'Rourke, Heather Leigh, Lee Ranaldo, Zoh Amba, Sarah Davachi & Sean McCann, William Hooker, Daniel Carter, Alan Licht & Angela Jaeger, David Grubbs, Alison Farrell, Byron Coley, Ras Moshe Burnett, Loren Connors, Tom Carter, Ronnie Yates & Gabriel Martinez, Neel Murgai, Novaga, John Kolodij & Jane Hesser, Kim Gordon & Bill Nace, Andrew Burnes, Dean Roberts, Boris Hauf & Andrea Belfi, Laura Ortman, and Adam Casey & the Liminal Choir with Katherine Walsh.

Originally released 2022. Following the release of his recent debut album Moon in Earthlight, Wolfgang Tillmans drops "Insanely Alive" with remixes by the legendary Pet Shop Boys alongside producer Total Freedom, in a collaboration with Sami Baha. Tillmans, a life-long fan of the Pet Shop Boys, directed the music video for their 2002 single "Home And Dry," and contributed the cover artwork for the third iteration of their remix series "Disco 3." In 2015, Tillmans met Ashland Mines aka Total Freedom for the first time at Mike Q's club night at Escuelita in New York. Earlier that year, Tillmans had researched the DJ and producer's tracks for Playback Room, his sound installation focusing on the sounds of American producers. For this remix single, Tillmans invited both the Pet Shop Boys and Total Freedom to put their hands on the catchiest song of his album, resulting in a classic PSB Maxi Mix, an additional radio edit and Total Freedom's pulsating rework of "Insanely Alive."

Two killer tracks of erotic psychedelia with a jazzy twist and touches of acid rock by the French cabaret star Rita and Chilean rock pioneers Aguaturbia. A perfect soundtrack to an imaginary sexploitation film, half-way between the classic sound of library records and a progressive and hypnotic musical journey driven by fuzzy guitars. Reissued on a 45 for the first time. French actress, model, dancer and singer Rita Cadillac, local star at well-known Parisian cabarets like Crazy Horse or Folies Bergère, recorded several 45s in the 1960s. In 1969, and most likely following the success of the Welsh band Man, released this song that could have easily worked as the perfect soundtrack for a sexploitation movie. Rita's sensual voice is wrapped in a piece of background music that could have been taken from a classic library record from the KPM, Chappell or Montparnasse 2000 catalogues. Hammond-driven prog jazzy passages, subtle fuzzy guitar solos and a contagious bassline all delivered by some anonymous studio band accompanied by Rita's provocative whispers and moans. What better than another song in a similar vein and identical title, "Erotica" by Chilean rock pioneers Aguaturbia, to complete this single? Denise's alluring vocals dance harmoniously with Carlos' electrifying guitar loaded with fuzz and wah wah effects, building up a progressive and hypnotic musical journey. This song was included in their much sought-after debut LP and it is presented here again as the perfect accompaniment to the sensual Rita. Both songs are reissued on a 45 for the first time.

LP version. Pat Thomas returns to OTOROKU for his fourth collection of solo piano improvisations, this time recorded in a studio setting at London's Fish Factory. For 25 years now, beginning with Nur (Emanem) and continuing through Al-Khwarizmi Variations (Fataka), The Elephant Clock of Al-Jazari (ROKU 019LP), and now The Solar Model of Ibn Al-Shatir, Pat Thomas has drawn on the Arabic world for titles for his solo piano work -- specifically the long-standing Islamic tradition of astronomical invention. For Thomas, the work of the polymaths he dedicates his music to has been sidelined by Eurocentrism, just as the Arabic origin of "jass" and the scalar, intervallic and polyphonic contributions made by Arab musicians have been routinely overlooked. Islamic innovation is at the heart of Thomas' solo projects and draws a direct link between his Sufi faith and a totally unique style of playing. Each of his solo piano records is a dedication -- not just to the innovators Thomas names but to the beauty of the universe in all its complexities. Starting standing up with one hand inside the piano and one on the keys, "The Solar Model" begins with single staccato bass notes appearing like chondrites in the darkness, occasionally tumbling towards a rhythm and then falling out of it. Metallic string work starts to pull towards an unseen center and eventually notes from the upper registers appear, clear and light. With both hands drawn to the keys, Thomas builds towards scintillating beauty, carried through "The Laws of Motion" and propelling listeners towards the A-side closer, "For George Saliba". The whole landscape of the A side swings with this one movement, until its energy is spent on one last sweeping rotation. On the B-side, "The Oud of Ziryab" notes to the instrument maker who added a fifth pair of strings to the Oud. The single bass notes of the first side are swapped for clusters, bursting together and decaying in space. Making use of the sustain pedal and the silence of a studio setting, it's one of the most open, lush recordings of Thomas at the piano -- more Muhal Richard Abrams than Monk, the lower end thundering under rapid, crystalline blues. "For Mansa Musa" brings back a swing instantly recognizable as Pat, with a huge euphoric lift halfway that crowns the record but the album's end title "The Birds are Singing" is more celestial, more chromatic -- a reminder that the spiritual matters just as much as the physical for Thomas.