LP version. Green color vinyl. Mayday is the third LP by Montreal-based artist, Myriam Gendron. It follows her earlier, critically acclaimed albums, Not So Deep As A Well (2014) and Ma Délire: Songs Of Love, Lost & Found (2021). Myriam began exploring the complex folk traditions of Quebec (and beyond), with Ma délire, which combines traditional and original songs with arrangements that make space for avant-garde musical interludes by such folks as guitarist Bill Nace (Body/Head) and renowned jazz percussionist Chris Corsano. Mayday presents an even more syncretic fusion of the elements Myriam uses to create her sound. Most of the songs are original, sung in both English and French, and they blend traditional and avant elements with abandon. She is often accompanied on this album by the guitarist Marisa Anderson and drummer Jim White (Dirty Three, Xylouris White), whose work provides a quietly aggressive sort of free-rock base. Additional players include Montreal bassist Cédric Dind-Lovie, Bill Nace and saxophonist Zoh Amba. Mayday is a thoroughly thrilling effort that manages to create new vistas of sound while maintaining a feel that is both intimate and familiar. The music here certainly possesses a richly serious tone, but Myriam Gendron (like Leonard Cohen) is able to infuse her darkness with a subtle, powerful light that reminds listeners that even the most pitch-black night is but a transitional state. Beautiful work. Recorded at home and at Hotel2Tango with Howard Bilerman and Shea Brossard. Mastered by Harris Newman.

When the U.S. State Department announced in the mid-1970s that they were sponsoring a South African tour for the Oklahoma-born, Paris-based saxophonist Hal Singer, producer Rashid Vally took note. Even though his nascent record label As-Shams/The Sun (established in 1974) was making waves on the local scene, the idea of commissioning a recording from an international artist was a ballsy idea. With a discography that stretched back to the 1950s, Hal Singer was already somewhat of a legacy artist by 1976. Vally was well-versed on Singer's accomplishments and specifically enamored by his composition "Blue Stompin'," which appeared on a Prestige album from 1959 that had struck a chord in South Africa. With his irresistible charm, Vally managed to coax Singer into a studio in Johannesburg, South Africa, to record a new version of "Blue Stompin'" with South African sax star Kippie Moeketsi, which became the title track of a 1977 album by Moeketsi. The recording session also yielded an album's worth of new material by Hal Singer and his quartet that took its name from a track inspired by Singer's trip to South Africa entitled "Soweto to Harlem." Released in 1976 and only available in South Africa, Soweto to Harlem captures a laid-back, cheeky and nostalgic rhythm and blues set from the Hal Singer Quartet that is unlikely to have emerged for a different target market.

Dettinger's Intershop and Oasis have long been held, by many fans of ambient and electronic music, to be some of the finest albums in their field. Produced by the mysterious Olaf Dettinger, about whom not much is publicly known, they were some of the earliest full-lengths released by the then-nascent Kompakt, and in many ways, they both articulated and defined the sound that would come to be known as pop ambient, while also existing, somehow, to the leftfield of any clearly recognizable genre. Beautiful, sui generis works, it is a rare pleasure to see them being reissued on vinyl for a new generation of listeners to embrace. Originally released on CD only in 1999, Intershop was Kompakt's first artist full-length. The music here simmers and broods, with opulent banks of tone marking out territory for rhythms that seem to be built from the clacking detritus of technology -- hisses, thunks, knocks. Bass is deployed carefully, each drop a dubbed-out depth charge; drones spin and spiral, warping and weaving between the beats. There is, of course, other music to know Dettinger by, too -- his three excellent EPs for Kompakt, Blond (1998), Puma, and Totentanz (1999), the latter of which, Michael Mayer once argued, "invented dubstep." There is also a small, yet graceful run of compilation contributions, many of which can be found on Kompakt's Total and Pop Ambient series. All this music has plenty to recommend it, sharing a clarity of purpose, and a rare, human warmth and depth. But Intershop and Oasis are the releases that distill Dettinger's singular vision, and allow him, should he wish, to claim his place as a modern master of ambient and electronic music.

This live album is a recording of the last live performance by Drumwolf (Toru)'s with the band. The concert was held at WWWX in Shibuya on March 11th, 2023 and includes 13 of the songs that they played at this gig. It is the last memorial live performance for Toru, the bedrock of Guitar Wolf for many years and will be permanently etched on vinyl. This is a must record that fans need to get hold of, as it is the live recording of the band's latest performance featuring many of their classic songs. Guitar Wolf have been expanding their horizons of their activities in recent years, including an appearance at the Shimane Jet festival, and they hope you can appreciate the pure joy of their universal rock and roll vibes on vinyl that might be too hot for the whole world to handle! And as a bonus item, you can stream the full live performance of this monumental concert of Guitar Wolf in its entirety as well! It was directed by Tetsuro Takeuchi, who had previously worked on Guitar Wolf's music videos for many years. This video of their live performance was edited full of tension and speed and it truly displays how much Guitar Wolf deserves the title of Japan's number one rock and roll band.

This is tenor saxophonist Frank Lowe, a major voice in the '70s New York loft scene, at the head of a stellar line-up featuring: Don Cherry (trumpet), Grachan Moncur III (trombone), Geri Allen (piano), Charnett Moffett (bass), and Charles Moffett (drums). An outstanding cast of creative jazz luminaries for a hard swinging, blues driven studio session dated 1984.

LP version. The 1960s weren't just about The Beatles, the Rolling Stones and hippies; they also ushered in new forms of art: happenings, Fluxus, Neo-Dada, video art, to name just a few. As borders blurred, pop influenced art and art influenced pop. Many protagonists of the time chose to ignore borders altogether. This chaotic, euphoric atmosphere of extreme innovation lasted well into the 1970s and continues to resonate today. All manner of trailblazers shaped the soundscape of the era. Conrad Schnitzler (born 1937) and Karl Horst Hödicke (born 1938) -- longstanding members of the official artistic canon -- were multifunctional artists who painted, performed, sculptured, made films and music. They were always to be found on the edge of the "permissible" and invariably went beyond "modern" perceptions of art. Schnitzler, Hödicke and many of their contemporaries arrived at a completely new definition of the avant-garde. The circumstances of Schnitzler and Hödicke's first meeting are unknown, but it should come as no surprise that it was Schnitzler who composed the soundtrack for Hödicke's film entitled Slow Motion in 1976. The two artists were cut from the same cloth, routinely crossing any boundaries they happened to encounter. Schnitzler wrote music for each of the film's 14 sequences, linking them together in a logical progression of minimalist imagery. Each piece of music quite brilliantly accentuated the preceding one. Schnitzler's musical sensibility was wholly compatible with Hödicke's approach to film. Not that Schnitzler was ever a film composer. Slow Motion worked because Schnitzler and Hödicke were on the same wavelength, daring to experiment with sound and vision in such a way that auditory and visual components were interdependent. Nevertheless, it still makes sense to release the soundtrack without the images. Schnitzler undoubtedly responded to the pictures as he composed, but his customarily uncompromising style is very much in evidence: rhythmically structured electronic cascades, intermittent impulse chains and manual improvisations alternate with planar clouds of sound. Analogue sequencers and an analogue rhythm machine played a crucial role. The tracks on Slow Motion vary in length and mood, but the listener never has to leave Schnitzler's sonic universe, even without the pictures for which the music was composed. Slow Motion is an important document in Schnitzler's oeuvre, seamlessly taking its place alongside his many other releases, whilst also highlighting his constructive input as an equal partner in an experimental film production.

Mad About Records officially reissues super rare private press Quintessence's 1981 LP. With every famous jazz recording, many others remained on the shelf of oblivion without ever receiving the recognition they deserved, and this is the case of Quintessence. Ron Ancrum, with George Sovak, David Gaedeke, Winston Johnson, and Steve Muse recorded an exceptional and fundamental album of '80s jazz. If you are into Fender Rhodes, this is an LP to be collected. Deluxe hard-cardboard sleeve cover. 180g vinyl. Includes obi and download card.

Double LP version. Yellow color vinyl. Einstürzende Neubauten present their new album Rampen (apm: alien pop music). Since the band was founded on April 1, 1980, Einstürzende Neubauten have been shifting the parameters of mainstream and subculture to make the inaudible audible -- perhaps the unheard as well. This experimental field research, spanning more than four decades, is now entering the next stage. In its 44th year of existence, the band is going back to its roots while redefining itself. It's a change in self-image, for which the Berlin quintet plus one has created its own genre -- alien pop music.

Sabura Djâ Nfrontam by one of the biggest names in the triumph of the electrification of Funaná, the great José Casimiro. The album was recorded in 1981, celebrates music made in Portuguese-speaking Africa, finally reissued for the first time. Sabura is a new record label based in Lisbon, but its hearts and ears are firmly rooted in the world. Sabura believes that some of the most exciting present sounds come from the past, and digs deep into the musical legacy of Portuguese-speaking Africa. Its mission is simple: to give the most notable recordings of Lusophony a new life. Sabura couldn't start in a better way than with the reissue for the first time of two landmark LPs of Cape Verdean music.

LP version. A stylish selection of jazz-funk from Japanese label Electric Bird, selected by DJ Notoya and featuring Yasuaki Shimizu, Shunzo Ohno, Bobby Lyle, Toshiyuki Honda, Mikio Masuda, David Matthews, and Ronnie Foster. Following the success of the Tokyo Glow compilation, Wewantsounds once again teams up with Japanese Tokyo-based DJ Notoya to dig the rich Electric Bird catalogue and come with a versatile selection of sunny jazz-funk gems recorded between 1978 and 1987 for the label. Most tracks make their vinyl debut outside of Japan and the album has been designed by Optigram/Manuel Sepulveda and is annotated by DJ Notoya. Audio newly remastered in Tokyo by King Records. A sub-label from the venerable Japanese label King Records, Electric Bird was set up in 1977 to cater for the booming Nippon jazz funk audience that King -- as the Japanese licensee for such US jazz labels at Blue Note or CTI -- had grown for years. Taking advantage of their experience and the many contacts King had garnered through their American partners, Electric Bird, headed by in-house producer Shigeyuki Kawashima, decided to apply the same formula to their new label. Kawashima began signing a new wave of jazz musicians from Japan, putting them in state-of-the-art Tokyo or New York studios and backing them with the best American and Japanese players in order to shape the slick, sun-drenched jazz funk sound that would be Electric Bird's signature sound. With Funk Tide, DJ Notoya aimed at showcasing the diversity of the label's output, from the funky opener "In The Sky" by Trumpeter Shunzo Ohno to the sunshine mid-tempo groove of sax player Toshiyuki Honda's "Living in a City" featuring Paulinho Da Costa on perc via Mikio Masuda's Fender Rhodes-infected "Let's Get Together." One of Funk Tide's highlights is certainly Katsutoshi Morizono's "Space Traveller" from 1978, a remake of James Vincent's eponymous cult classic recorded two years before with some of Earth Wind And Fire's musicians and which has since become a favorite on the groove scene. Faithful to Vincent's beautiful laid-back, breezy original, Morizono's rendition add its own spice to it, and ending Notoya's skilled selection of the cutting-edge Electric Bird label on a perfect note.

Wewantsounds announces the reissue of Fumio Itabashi's highly sought-after album Watarase, hailed as one of the great Japanese jazz albums and featuring Itabashi on solo piano playing an inspired mix of standards and originals. Recorded in 1981 for Denon and released in Japan the following year, the album has since reached cult status among international jazz connoisseurs, thanks to Itabashi's inventive piano playing and to its cult title track, a superb lyrical spiritual composition. Newly remastered by Nippon Columbia using their ORT mastering technology, the album reissue features original artwork including a two-page insert with a new introduction by Paul Bowler. Born in 1949 in Tochigi, Fumio Itabashi studied piano at the renowned Kunitachi College of Music in Tokyo, where Joe Hisaishi also studied. After finishing his studies, he quickly began recording as a session player for Japanese heavyweights such as Sadao Watanabe (making his recording debut on Watanabe's 1972 self-titled album), Terumasa Hino, and Kohsuke Mine before recording his first album as a leader -- accompanied by his trio -- with the album Toh released by Frasco Record in 1976. In October 1981, Itabashi entered Nippon Columbia's Studio 1 to digitally record a new album using Denon's PCM digital recorder as a follow up to Nature. The album, called Watarase was cut in just two days and feature Itabashi on solo piano, playing a couple of standards ("Someday My Prince Will Come" and "I Can't Get Started") and four originals plus "Msunduza," a Dollar Brand composition from 1975. The album highlights the pianist's dazzling technique oscillating between energetic passages as on "Msunduza" and more serene ones as heard on "Someday My Prince Will Come." The high point of the album is undoubtedly its title track, "Watarase" which has become a favorite on the international jazz scene over the years. Paul Bowler, in the liner notes, draws comparisons between Itabashi's and Pharoah Sanders' playing, noting that they both "possess a similar open-hearted blend of spiritualism, passionate intensity and melodic beauty." Watarase was never widely available outside of Japan (with only a limited edition in 2018). Wewantsounds is therefore delighted to bring this classic back in circulation, newly remastered in Tokyo by Nippon Columbia for all Japanese jazz lovers to enjoy.

Cara Beth Satalino built her adulthood in feral, eccentric Baltimore, Maryland, waiting tables and playing in a band, keeping her schedule flexible just in case an opportunity arose. Though spontaneity seemed inevitable as an artist, she was stuck. Paralyzed by her own assumptions of what a musician's life needed to be, time passed undetectably -- more songs written, more gigs played, tips in pocket on which to survive, undying hopes of "making it" in the music industry. In a moment of frustration, Cara Beth left Baltimore to pursue further schooling. Along with her partner Chester Gwazda -- fellow member of indie band Outer Spaces -- the couple moved to New Jersey only to be met with a chronic illness diagnosis for Cara Beth, a global pandemic, a surprise pregnancy, looming mental-health issues, and the inevitable obligation to quit school. So much upheaval after fifteen years of a predictable lifestyle led to the creation of Little Green, a bold, stripped-back, ten-song distillation of identity out on UK label Worried Songs. Born in upstate New York, the breeding ground for America's rich history of folk and settler traditions, Cara Beth was steeped in acoustic sounds from a young age. Her father, an accomplished instrumentalist, colored her childhood with the vibrations of fiddle, banjo, guitars, and mandolin. Though she had spent much of her indie rock career rarely allowing these influences to show, the unravelling of her life seemed like a perfect time to be honest about her musical framework. As "Warmth of A Golden Sun" opens Little Green with what feels like a folk-rock dirge over Casio drum machine beats -- Cara Beth offers a sonic analogy about her move from weird city life into warm analog intimacy. "Dandelion Weed" plants the listener firmly into her ecosystem of pedal steel and close-microphoned acoustic guitar, but with succinct rock drumming that gives the song's spaciousness a sturdy foundation. Though the influences of Fairport Convention, James Taylor, and Sandy Denny are all opaquely present throughout the record, surprising twists like the Velvet Underground electricity of "Little Green" and the classic '70s country shuffle on "Time", broaden the scope out of upstate New York into the eclectic artist she has become. Sitting above this spacious sonic palette is the obvious allure of Little Green: Cara Beth's voice. Her vocal tones span centuries, from traditional mountain singing to hints of young Dolly Parton and the delivery of Gillian Welch.

LP version. This self-titled second album from Gordan, the acclaimed transnational (Serbia/Germany/Austria) experimental trio, fuses traditional Balkan vocalizations with feedback, electronic sound generators, pulsing bass and hypnotic drumming. Gordan mirrors the mysticism of legends and stories from the Balkan region, creating a music that stretches between expressiveness and abstraction; tradition and the avant-garde. The visceral vocals of Svetlana Spajic (Marina Abramovic, Lenhart Tapes, Antony and the Johnsons) are both rooted and deeply interpretive. In turn, drummer Andi Stecher (STECHER, Billy Bultheel, Orchestre Les Mangelepa), and Guido Möbius on bass and electronics, employ sonic strategies that steer the songs in inspired and unpredictable directions. Gordan makes music that lies between expressiveness and abstraction. Their pieces are not limited by rigid formal structures. Instead, they are open processes that create a loss of sense of time. Reduced arrangements and expressive vocals combine to form a powerful musical whole. This band creates something new from minimalism, intensity and the rich singing tradition of the Balkans. When Down in the Meadow, the first album by Gordan was released by Morphine Records in October 2021, it was celebrated by critics and audiences alike. Now the trio presents its second, even more radical record. Drummer Andi Stecher forgoes any ornamentation and at the same time plays varied and concentrated. Confident and with outstanding technique, he is the engine of the band's sound. His stylistic flexibility demonstrates a profound knowledge of global music history. Guido Möbius plays bass guitar and various electronic sound generators. He also provokes feedback using a guitar amplifier, microphone and effects. These sometimes spherical, sometimes very concrete sounds interact with Svetlana Spajic's voice. Vocals and feedback circle each other in fleeting, ever-changing harmony.

"Gripping, like something ancient being born" --The Wire

"The connection between folk and improvised music, between traditional song and electric noise has been tried in recent years, but rarely as intensively and interestingly." --Rolling Stone (DE)

LP version. Alowan is the side of 16 Horsepower that has not been heard before. As a founding member of the alternative country band from Denver, Colorado, Tolas' arrangements, music and influence in the band was always clearly present through their career. This is a more personal and intimate vision. In collaborations with a few friends and musicians, Feathers is a body of work to be reckoned with. Tola presents ten beautiful and dark folk songs. Chantal Acda, the main vocalist, will carry you to the clouds with her light but deep tones and poetic lyrics. Alowan takes her to new territories and her talent shows. The Texan Calvin Dover (Dover Brothers) accompanies her on a couple of tracks making the duet irresistible. A few others join Tola in this project, such as Steve Taylor (former 16 Horsepower guitar player) and Theo Hakola of the famed Orchestre Rouge and Passion Fodder.

Composer and multi-instrumentalist Anthony Braxton is recognized as one of the seminal figures of the music of the second half of the 20th century and of the beginning of the 21st. Expressing himself through an enormous variety of mediums, Braxton has opened with his work new conceptual and technical paths in the trans-African and trans-European musical traditions, finding a highly original synthesis between jazz-based improvisation and the complexity of classical-contemporary music. Angelica Festival previously hosted Braxton in 2006 with Richard Teitelbaum, in 2007 with Cecil Taylor's Historical Quartet, and in 2018 for the premiere of his duo project with the harpist Jacqueline Kerrod; this new four-CD box release represents a further degree of exceptionality by documenting the entire 2022 European tour with which Braxton launched his new project for four saxophones. The distinctive feature of this new project is the addition of electronics: an interactive system in real-time, uniquely developed by Braxton using the SuperCollider platform, which acts almost as a fifth improvising member of the ensemble. Lorraine is the name Braxton coined for the compositional system that governs the first stages of this project still in progress: as he explains in the video-interview available online and on Angelica website, it is a "new system of poetics," a "mutable and fantasy space" which represents for the composer "the Aether level" (wind, breath, clouds), as opposed to the "ground" level he explored up to this point with his "Tri-Centric Thought Unit Construct," on which he based much of his music production from the 1980s onwards. Accompanying him in this new phase once again are musicians who have been part of his conceptual "music systems" in recent years, in the role of both instrumentalists and/or orchestra conductors: James Fei, Chris Jonas, and Ingrid Laubrock (replaced by André Vida for the Vilnius date only). Includes 40-page booklet with photos and an essay in English and Italian by Mario Gamba.

LP version. Earth, Our Planet?: A call for environmental awareness. This time, Pedro Vian -- the founder of Modern Obscure Music -- presents his fourth solo album. Earth, Our Planet? promises to immerse listeners in a moving odyssey, crossing the boundaries of musical genres to provoke an urgent meditation on the protection of the planet. On this occasion Vian has composed the album influenced by the myth of the eternal return, the compositions are long and repetitive, generating states of pure trance. Pedro Vian, singular for his fusion of genres and styles, ventures into even more complex territories in Earth, Our Planet?. From the first listen, it is evident that this work treads the line of convention and breaks the boundaries of electronic and experimental music with artistic dexterity. The album weaves together texture, hypnotic rhythms and melody. Each track reveals his distinctive ability to create immersive landscapes, guiding the listener into deep emotional introspection. The album features high-caliber collaborations that add layers of creativity and elegance. Trumpeter Pierre Bastien, whose early productions left an indelible mark on Aphex Twin's Reflex label, infuses "A Day in Rotterdam" with a unique emotional resonance. Violinist Asia, renowned for her avant-garde approach and ability to conjure unique landscapes, elevates the album's opening tracks "Urobóros" and "Les Tambours Subterraniens." Their skill and sensitivity intertwine perfectly with Vian's artistic vision. In addition, Italian producer Daniele Mana, with whom Pedro Vian collaborated closely on his previous album Cascades (MOM 036LP, 2022), also contributes to "Les Tambours Subterraniens." There is also a collaboration with Raül Refree, an artist with whom Vian worked with in 2023, presenting "Font De la Vera Pau," an album that The Guardian defined as "a wonderful piece of electro-acoustic music, a captivating mix of strings and analogue synth drones which sometimes flirts with Alice Coltrane-ish spiritual jazz." With Earth, Our Planet?, Pedro Vian not only offers up some of his best work to date, but it is also a call to reflect on humanity's relationship with the natural world.

This is Texas-born tenor sax giant Billy Harper captured on tour in Europe in 1979. Mr. Harper's gorgeous tone drives a highly energetic quintet featuring a young Fred Hersch on piano, Everett Hollins on trumpet, Louie "Mbiki" Spears on bass and Horace Arnold on drums. A beautiful live document from the Post-Bop era!

Wewantsounds announces the reissue of Ziad Rahbani's cult album Amrak Seedna & Abtal Wa Harameyah, one of his praised albums from the '80s, released on the sought-after Lebanese label Relax-in in 1987. This release is an event as the album, recorded at Rahbani's By-Pass studio, was only released in Lebanon at the time. Mixing Arabic music with funk and fusion jazz and hints of boogie, it's a bonified Rahbani classic, sought after by Arabic groove DJs and collectors around the world. The reissue features audio remastered by Colorsound Studio in Paris and a two-page insert with a new introduction by Mario Choueiry from Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris (English/French). Ziad Rahbani is a living legend of Arabic music and a cultural icon in Lebanon where he was born. His father was the famous composer and musician Assi Rahbani, of The Rahbani Brothers' fame and his mother is the legendary Lebanese Diva Fairuz, whom he produced in the late '70s and '80s with such classic albums as Wahdon and Maarifti Feek, that have become highly sought after among Arabic music DJs and collectors over the years. The album Amrak Seedna & Abtal Wa Harameyah was released in 1987 on the Beirut-based label Relax-in' and is the soundtrack to two theatre plays written by famous Lebanese playwright and actor Antoine Kerbaj (born 1935). These two plays were released in the middle of the Lebanese civil war and although Rahbani (who is also an actor) doesn't act in these, he masterminded the soundtrack, composing and recording them at his By-Pass recording studio in Beirut. The album alternates between instrumentals, short interludes and songs sung by his regular fellow singers, Sami Hawat, Abbas Chahine, and Nabil Qazan, among others, mixing Arabic music with Rahbani's usual blend of jazz-fusion, funk and groove.

Formed in 1969 and contracted in 1970 to the Pye group Dawn, the Trifle consisted of George Bean on vocals and guitar, Patrick Speedy King on bass, Barry Martin on saxophones, John Pritchard on trumpet, and Rod Coombes on drums. Their sole album was released in 1971, blending elements of jazz and rock, while not disdaining few escapes into folk. RIYL: Cream, Colosseum, Graham Bond Organization.

A collection of mind-blowing songs from Hindi films 1958-1984. 12 musical gems from the Bollywood vaults with a wide variety of styles thrown in the mix, from the classic to the rare, a must! An astonishing overview of the magnificent musical talents populating Bollywood films. With a predilection for movies with a strong musical backbone where songs and musical numbers play a pivotal role, the Hindi cinema boom gave birth to a strong and creative music industry where composers, musicians, musical directors, conductors, producers, singing actors, and playback singers (singers who provide vocals for the musical parts of roles played by actors or actresses) found a perfect place to develop their careers. A sample of those incredible talents is included in this compilation, the ideal point to start digging deeper into the lush garden of musical delights that is Bollywood. Featuring Mohammedd Rafi, Asha Bhosle, Kishore Kumar, Geeta Dutt, Kamal Haasan, Sridevi, Kalyanji & Anandji, P. Susheela, S.P. Balasubrahmanyam, Manna Dey, Lata Mangeshkar, Shankar & Jaikishan, and R. D. Burman.

"X was formed in Sydney, Australia in 1977 by Ian Rilen (Rose Tattoo), Steve Lucas, Ian Krahe, and Steve Cafiero. After the sudden death of Ian Krahe in 1978, the band pushed on with a few other guitar players but struggled to find their footing. Then in late 1979, just a few months after singer Steve Lucas first picked up a guitar, the band recorded what would become X-Aspirations as a three-piece in five hours. Legend has it that the band went into the studio expecting to record a single. Once they loaded in, they decided to record every song they knew how to play and then pick a single from there. Most of the songs were first takes and they figured that the end result was good enough to release as an LP. In true DIY fashion, the band released the record on their own in early 1980. The album went on to be listed as one of the 200 Greatest Australian Records of All Time and called 'one of the best punk records of all time' in Maximum Rock'n'roll. It's not often that those two publications agree, but it's hard to argue otherwise. After 10 years of being out of press in the United States, Dirt Cult Records and Green Noise Records present X-Aspirations with new cover art sanctioned by the band's only surviving member, Steve Lucas."

El Palmas Music rescues a hidden gem of Venezuelan salsa. With the vinyl reissue of En La Conquista del Mundo Latino (1979), by the Salsa Suprema Orchestra, it pays a fair tribute to Larry Francia. "Larry Francia's work deserves nothing less than transcendence," says Miguel Álvarez, the Venezuelan musical collector and archaeologist who one day came across with this salsa legend from his country without planning it and knew it was fair and necessary to spread this magnificent work. Born in Barlovento, an Afro area of Venezuela where the drum rules, Larry Francia grew up in San Agustín del Sur, a Caracas neighborhood that is salsa territory par excellence. When he was barely 12 years old, Víctor Piñero, one of the most popular orchestra singers in Venezuela in the '60s, summoned him to record choirs. An early initiation that marked Larry forever and at the same time revealed his indisputable talent. When that orchestra stopped working (there were no producers who supported their tours, their records were pirated in Spain in the '80s), Larry suffered an emotional breakdown and even gave up devoting himself to music for a few years. He was someone who undoubtedly lived for and through music. Larry Francia left this world in 2023, but he left a fabulous album like En La Conquista del Mundo Latino, recovered from the chest of memories by Álvarez and the Suicide Diggerz collective, specialists in rescuing hidden gems. The El Palmas Music label -- created by musician, DJ, designer and cultural agitator Maurice Aymard, whose base of operations is in Barcelona -- has been committed since 2020 to making known the best and least visible of the rich heritage of the popular music from Venezuela. Now he is pleased to present the reissue of this fundamental album as a posthumous tribute to the great Larry Francia.

First ever vinyl release of the final Bronco Bullfrog album, originally released as a CD only edition in 2004. Recorded in Spain with Joe Foster (Creation, Rev-Ola Records) as co-producer and with Fausto Martín (of Spanish power-pop band The Winnerys) at the mixing desk (and also on searing 12-string Rickenbacker guitar on a couple of tracks), Oak Apple Day saw the band combining their '60s-'70s influences in a stellar way, offering a cohesive collection of brilliant pop songs: "Sunday Wheeling," "I Don't Need The Sunshine," "Mock Orange Innocence," and more! You can expect the usual doses of three-part vocal harmonies, overdriven guitars á la '70s Who, mid-'60s folk-rock, vintage power-pop, freakbeat, psychedelic-pop -- it's all here! Remastered sound. New artwork by Dan Abbott. Includes insert with liner notes and photos. RIYL: Hollies, Who, Beatles, Byrds, Gene Clark, Beach Boys, Raspberries, Move, Rubbles, Teenage Fanclub.

2024 repress. An impossible to find album, reissued for the first time ever on vinyl. 1979's Sei Note in Logica is Italian experimental composer Roberto Cacciapaglia's second LP, a minimalist album that features one continual composition "for four voices, computer, and orchestral ensemble," in the same vein as Fred Rzewski, Steve Reich, and Terry Riley. Unlike anything else coming out of Italy at the time, Cacciapaglia (who worked for Italy's national Department of Phonology) was also quite advanced in his use of computer-based technology. A major influence on the likes of Jim O'Rourke and others of his ilk. Presented on 180-gram vinyl with a bonus CD containing an acoustic version of the entire album.

Toaster Jah Thomas began his career on the west Kingston sound systems of the mid-1970s, making a massive splash with Midnight Rock in 1976. After a debut LP for Channel One, his self-produced Dance On The Corner raised the bar several levels. Voiced at King Tubby's studio, mixed by Tubby, Jammy, and Scientist and edited by the King himself, the album has Thomas chatting over hard Roots Radics rhythms earlier used by Barrington Levy -- the perfect platform for Thomas' relaxed chants, vexed rants, and commentaries on Jamaican life. This is Jah Thomas at his best -- a must for all fans of reggae, dub, deejay, and dancehall!

Brothers Gerard Mendes (also known as Boy Ge Mendes) and Jean-Claude Mendes display the intriguing combination of Creole Portuguese-African polyrhythms, American boogie, and Brazilian samba; the duo became massive stars among the Cabo Verde diaspora. This LP includes the killer boogie anthem "Mitamiyo." Sabura is a new record label based in Lisbon, but its hearts and ears are firmly rooted in the world. Sabura believes that some of the most exciting present sounds come from the past, and digs deep into the musical legacy of Portuguese-speaking Africa. Its mission is simple: to give the most notable recordings of Lusophony a new life. Sabura couldn't start in a better way than with the reissue for the first time of two landmark LPs of Cape Verdean music.

LP version. Yellow color vinyl. "The collaboration between renowned drummer Jim White and acclaimed guitarist Marisa Anderson is a natural union of two of the most intuitive players and listeners working in music. Jim White is known for his groundbreaking trio, Dirty Three, as well as duo Xylouris White. His list of collaborations is vast and include artists such as Nick Cave, Bill Callahan, Cat Power, Marnie Stern, and Warren Ellis. Jim just released his debut solo album, All Hits: Memories. Marisa Anderson, known primarily for her solo work, in demand collaborator who has worked with Tashi Dorji, Sharon Van Etten, Yasmine Williams, and Michael Hurley. She has released records with William Tyler and Tara Jane O'Neal. White and Anderson are each highly sought after collaborators in no small part because of their mastery, versatility and highly expressive playing. Their sophomore album, Swallowtail, finds the duo completely attuned to each other, fluidly moving as wind and water. They avoid preconceived movements, instead focusing on their musical conversation. As Anderson puts it: 'The ideas aren't the music, they are the pathway into the musical possibilities.' Their skillful interplay creates an effervescence throughout the album. The ebb and flow to the duo's motions bring a sense of serenity and ease to spontaneous transitions, each swell and retraction sounding as free as it does inevitable. White and Anderson's preternatural alchemy as a duo allows each fleeting gesture to feel featherlight and stirring while maintaining an inquisitive spirit. Their music is an enchanting and illuminating."

2024 repress. Although Warhol, who was listed as producer on the album, allegedly gave the Velvets free reign over their sound, it was on his insistence that Nico performed on this album. However, this does not detract from the fact that when this album was made the Red Sea parted, and the Velvet Underground crossed into the Promised Land. Deluxe gatefold jacket with peeling banana and "Chelsea Girls" bonus track on B5

The eleventh issue of We Jazz Magazine, Oni Puladi for Carla Bley. 128 pages, 170 x 240 mm in size and printed on 140g Edixion paper with laminated 300g Invercote covers. All articles presented in English. Carla Bley by Stewart Smith, Gondwana Records by Debra Richards, [Ahmed] by Seymour Wright, Amirtha Kidambi by Ayana Contreras, Ruth Goller by Daryl Worthington, Abdul Wadud by Pierre Crépon/David Neil Lee, François Jeanneau by Bret Sjerven, Mette Henriette by Debra Richards, Nduduzo Makhathini by Rob Garratt, Discaholic column by Mats Gustafsson, We Jazz Festival 2023 photo essay by Julius Töyrylä, album and live reviews, plus more.

2024 repress; LP version. 180 gram vinyl, half speed mastered; heavy sleeve with obi and gold ink. We Release Jazz announce the official reissue of Hiroshi Suzuki's Cat, a glorious jazz-fusion-funk holy grail originally released in 1976. Cat was recorded in October 1975 at Nippon Columbia Studio, while Hiroshi Suzuki was visiting his home country of Japan after moving to Las Vegas in 1971 to play with Buddy Rich and perfect his craft. Back on his old stomping grounds, the man known as Neko (Cat) immediately reunited with his dear friends for an epic two-day session of groove magic. The chemistry was still intact. The skills and style had grown. The result, Cat, is a smooth masterpiece, a deep and soulful affair where stunning trombone solos by Hiroshi Suzuki flirt with Takeru Muraoka's heavenly saxophone and the sensual rhythm section of Hiromasa Suzuki (keyboards), Kunimitsu Inaba (bass), and Akira Ishikawa (drums). Celebrated in jazz collectors circles, in the lo-fi beat scene, and among music diggers around the world, Cat has become one of the most sought-after Japanese jazz albums of all time and, much like Ryo Fukui's Scenery, has fascinated old and young generations alike. Sourced from the original masters. Liner notes by Teruo Isono.

2024 restock. Far Out Recordings presents the first ever vinyl release of Milton Nascimento's Maria Maria, originally released in 2003 as a double-CD package. Recorded in 1974 and unreleased until almost thirty years later, the album was written as the soundtrack to a ballet which dealt with the legacy of slavery in Brazil. Milton Nascimento possesses one of the most immediately recognizable voices in Brazilian music: high and sweet and as breathtakingly sublime as that of any soul singer. Along with journalist and song writer Fernando Brant, lyricist Marcio Borges, and his younger brother Lo Borges, Nascimento wrote and produced what would become Milton's milestone album, Clube da Esquina (1972) which shaped the local scene and reflects the essence of "the Nascimento Sound". Milton's religious upbringing as an Afro-Brazilian Catholic saw him exposed to church choral music from an early age. This collection also displays his early fascination with evocative, non-verbal, scat-style singing, spare, harmonic guitar work and local folk music, jazz, and rock. In 1976, Milton and Fernando Brant teamed up with a new contemporary dance company called Grupo Corpo, whose Argentinian choreographer Oscar Araiz, would become a collaborator with the two musicians. Together, they conceived a show based on the composite life story of the daughter of a black slave called Maria. Nascimento wrote music to Brant's lyrics and Maria Maria was premiered in the main theatre of the Belo Horizonte Palacio das Artes that year. The music on Maria Maria was performed by an impressive group of young Brazilian musicians, including Naná Vasconcelos (percussion and effects), Toninho Horta (guitars), and Paulo Moura (sax). Several vocalists, including Naná Caymmi, Fafá de Belém, Beto Guedes, and Milton himself, had hits in years to come with reworkings of these songs. On the title track, Maria's story is narrated and translated to music through the use of African Percussion, drums, and metal signifying the field slave tools of the day. "Trabalhos (Works)" runs to work rhythms and whip cracks. "Lília" documents the beating of the slave woman. After "A Chamada" and the triumphant "Era Rei e Sou Escravo", things begin to turn and Milton employs tropical jungle cries to symbolize freedom. "Santos Catholicos x Candomble" represents the battle between African and European religions through the music of both sides. Milton's heavenly falsetto pours into "Francisco" and "Pai Grande" and the outstanding "Eu Sou Uma Preta Velha Aqui Sentada no Sol" conjures images of an old woman sitting deep in the forest, her memories painted in drums, piano, and voices. 180 gram vinyl.

2024 repress, only currently available version. Single LP reissue of the original album (does not include the "Reverb Mix" version found on previous 2LP editions). "Issued in 1975, this is the articulation of Zambia's Zamrock ethos. Its' musicians were anti-colonial freedom fighters, it envelops Zambian folk music traditions, and it rocks -- hard. Amanaz were serious, and they made a serious stab at an album. They titled their album Africa, according to original band member Keith Kabwe, 'because of how it was shared and how its inhabitants were butchered and enslaved, its resources stolen... all the atrocities slave drivers committed.' Thus, their 'Kale,' a blues sung in Nyanja, that traced the continent's arc from slavery to Zambia's independence closes the album. Kabwe and rhythm guitarist John Kanyepa have a winsome softness to their vocals, which sit politely aside the feral growl of drummer Watson Baldwin Lungu, bassist Jerry Mausala and bandleader/lead guitarist Isaac Mpofu. Africa's vibe ranges from anxious ('Amanaz') to escapist ('Easy Street') to straight-up pissed-off. On the 'History of Man,' his voice whiskey-burned, his distorted guitar buzzing like swarming hornets, Mpofu indicts his species. There's a darkness to Africa not found on any other Zamrock records, and a melancholy drifts throughout, specifically on Mpofu's more restrained 'Khala My Friend,' which stands as an effective, bleak situation for the Zambian everyman, the average citizen of a struggling, new nation, who might have had relatives in conflict-torn countries on the horizon, who might have been struggling to find his next meal, who might have seen a bleaker future than his president promised. Then there's the clear Velvet Underground-influence on the nostalgic 'Sunday Morning,' which, as Kabwe recalls, was the first song written for the album, back in 1968, when Velvet Underground and Nico was a new release -- and the underground funk of 'Making The Scene.' The album also tackles traditional Zambian music and early-'60s rock -- punctuated, of course by Kanyepa's wah-wah and Mpofu's fuzz guitars. But every time Amanaz get too deep, too violent, they come back with an accessible song and woo their listener back to the groove. 'Green Apple' is a civil song, featuring Kanyepa's sighing guitar."

2024 restock; double LP version. 180 gram vinyl; includes CD. Tak:Til/Glitterbeat present the first ever reissue and remastering of Jon Hassell and Farafina's prescient, "Fourth World" masterwork, Flash of the Spirit, originally released in 1988. Propulsive Burkinese rhythms meet revelatory, ambient soundscapes. Co-produced with the legendary studio team of Brian Eno and Dainel Lanois. Composer and trumpeter Jon Hassell has been an elusive, iconic musical figure for more than half a century. He's best known as the pioneer and propagandist of "Fourth World" music, mixing technology with the tradition and spirituality of non-western cultures. In 1987 he joined with Farafina, the acclaimed percussion, voice, and dance troupe from Burkina Faso, to record Flash of the Spirit. While the album is a natural extension of those "Fourth World" ideas, and a new strand of Possible Musics, it also a distinctive outlier in the careers of both artists; an unrepeated merging of sounds whose influence still reverberates today. The eight members of the band -- who had also collaborated with the Rolling Stones and Ryuichi Sakamoto -- brought their long apprenticed, virtuosic drumming, and melodic textures (balafon, flute, voices) to the sessions. They built up layers and patterns of rhythm, while producers Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois (fresh off the success of U2's Joshua Tree) created a sonic atmosphere in which they could creatively intertwine with Hassell's digitally processed trumpet and keyboards. Despite their initial skepticism, the musicians from Farafina ended up relishing their interaction with the studio team and the trumpeter/conceptualist Hassell. The music that emerged was rich and groundbreaking, a move to transcend the boundaries between jazz, avant-garde classical, ambient and the deep rhythmic tradition embodied by Farafina. On "Out Pours", the groove simmers softly, led by shifting patterns on the balafon, while Hassell's heavily treated trumpet creates breathy swirls of sound that play and dance around them. Percussion leads on "A Vampire Dances," pushing and probing and seeming to force electronic shrieks as a response from Hassell's trumpet, while the keyboard creates a bed of sound that refuses to hold still. "(Like) Warriors Everywhere" takes that idea even further. Over Farafina's surging rhythms, Hassell's electric piano and trumpet dig deep into abstract, melodic ideas hinted at by the Bitches Brew-era Miles Davis band. Farafina create the rhythms and counter-rhythms that spring and move. A new, natural trans-cultural harmony is apparent on the final track, "Masque", where percussion and treated trumpet draw the listener along on a journey through shifting landscapes.

2024 repress. Double LP version. Juan Atkins and Moritz von Oswald -- the two indispensable protagonists of the "Electric Garden" -- plug back into the wilderness. Transport brings together a set of studio-refined sequences aimed at colonizing some of the dark energy that pulsates through those areas that are thoroughly electrified, even if not on the grid. The Detroit-Berlin axis triangulates to a third point that, like the atomic particle that lives in two places at once, flickers between a form of techno-charged ambience and a futuristic club-jazz that cannot be broken down into constitutive parts. Borderland remains caught in a state of enraptured stillness, invisibly moving between every imagined future for electronic sound making. The result: a font from which springs serene and exhilarating musical ideas that vibrate with refined energy for 60 seconds in every minute.

LP version. Faust is a group of artists who shared intense musical experiences in the years 1971 to 1974. Supported by producer Uwe Nettelbeck and sound engineer Kurt Graupner, they produced an immense array of recordings in a studio in Wumme which had been set up just for them. Two compact album productions followed, recorded at the Manor (March 1973) and Musicland Studios (May 1974). This album presents a selection of recordings from this period, documenting their creative versatility and explosive dynamism. Some tracks are extremely raw and experimental, others are fully rounded productions. A collection of un-released snapshots which offer a wonderful insight into the world of Faust. This volume includes recordings which have been previously released on other compilations such as 71 Minutes and BBC Sessions+. When reviewing this material for this compilation some titles have been changed, e.g. "Can't Fly Away," "Children's Toy Etude", "Begluckte Schlagbohrmaschine," and "Stay Or Leave" have been released as "Party 1," "Party 8," "Party 6," and "Party 9" previously, and "Woke Up Outside The Dust Bin" was released as "Chromatic."