The Zeros are a pioneer punk rock band formed in 1976 in Chula Vista, California. Comparisons with The Ramones are often made when describing the energetic and fierce guitar driven sound of the group. The first singles recorded by the band instantly catapulted The Zeros into a top draw on the local scene and have become legendary. Unfortunately, the band never cut an album during these days. This release compiles all their early singles, some rare tracks (including the previously unreleased "Left to Right") and songs taken from a 1978 live show. Munster are thrilled to reissue this essential '80s power pop gem as part of a series of releases celebrating Bomp! 50th anniversary. Their debut single was released in 1977 on Greg Shaw's very own Bomp! Records. It included "Don't Push Me Around" and "Wimp," two of the greatest punk rock songs of all time, both written by Javier Escovedo. It was followed by another single in 1978, "Wild Weekend" and a third one in 1980, "They Say That (Everything's Alright)." The first singles recorded by the band instantly catapulted The Zeros into a top draw on the local scene and have become legendary. Unfortunately, the band never cut an album during these days.

"This compilation is dedicated to the memory of the late great 'Prince' Philip Smart -- the first apprentice of King Tubby and the first engineer at Tubby's studio besides Tubby himself. Alongside Tubby, Philip was integral to the innovation that took place at Tubby's studio in the mid-1970s, where the mixing of new roots reggae revolutionized the sound of Jamaican music and created styles and techniques that are still being echoed today, nearly 50 years later. Though rarely credited on records in comparison to Tubby, Philip also mixed a lot of the paramount music produced by those close associates of Tubby's studio such as Bunny Lee, Yabby You, and Augustus Pablo. Philip was closely tied to Pablo due to their childhood friendship and was a partner in his stylistically significant early production works. In the early years of Tubby's studio, both men were making and cutting custom dubs there for their sound systems before starting to produce their own tunes from scratch, and Philip becoming the second chair engineer. Several of the songs on this compilation are a selection of the aforementioned work. All of the songs here are sourced from Philip's personal tape archive, and basically all of these mixes and versions have been scarcely if ever heard, and never released before. This double album comprises a rare and genuine glimpse into the dubplate workings of the inner circle of Tubby's studio in the mid-1970s, where the prime players and emerging giants of reggae music production and sound system versioned, remixed and voiced rhythms for custom and exclusive cuts. Some of the cuts heard here were formerly exclusive power plays on King Tubby's own legendary sound system, and unlike some previous issues of such material, these are genuine mixes done at the time. Some other tracks clearly exude the youthful enthusiasm of the participants. Rest in power Prince Philip Smart." --RB/DKR, Summer 2023

"On the cover: Grace Jones by Tamara Palmer: Palmer delves into the entire history of this remarkable artist, who will naturally deliver us a stunning cover image. Jones is even more of a one-of-a-kind musician and persona than most of us realize, so we're extra excited to feature her on the cover of this issue. Deep Archival Dives With Living Luminaries -- PULP: Peeling back the onion of time, we are graced with a fine selection of ephemera and rare images from the forthcoming Hat + Beard book on the cult band's cult band: I'm With Pulp, Are You?, by Mark Webber; Mayo Thompson: Jasper Leach has delivered a stunningly good and very deep dive into the genesis and long life of Thompson's masterpiece Corky's Debt to His Father; REDD KROSS: They've already had a great double album and documentary readied for summer but in the Fall there's also a definitive RK book so we enlisted Jen B. Larson to do a career-spanning feature on your favorite teen babes from Monsanto. Larson wrote Hit Girls: Women of Punk in the USA 1975-83; MARY TIMONY: Mary Timony is one of the great guitar luminaries and songwriters of the indie era, but rarely does she get the credit she deserves. Audrey Golden, author of I Thought I Heard You Speak: Women at Factory Records, not only went into every nook and cranny of Timony's career, but the first question she asked Timony is one for the ages: 'Is that a lute?'"

In the early '80s, an anthropologist left his recording equipment and tapes behind in a remote Wakuénai (Curripaco) village along the Upper Río Negro in Venezuela. When he returned almost a year later, he discovered that the village headman and his sons had used the equipment to record 12 hours of tape documenting a bewildering array of local narrative and musical genres -- sacred chants, place-names, spirit languages, and, as featured here, the astonishing and mesmerizing sounds of trumpet and flute ensembles. Recorded in a wide range of settings -- during all-night sessions in and around the village, while paddling on the river by canoe, and at various locations deep in the surrounding forest, including the mythical homes of the ancestors and animal spirits, these tapes are not only a stunning artifact of indigenous ethnomusicology, they also reveal the deep connection between sound and the shape-shifting animism of Wakuénai (Curripaco) society. As you will hear here, the music of Wakuénai (Curripaco) wind ensembles range from the deep bass drone of handmade trumpets to the high-pitched dissonance of various flutes. Sometimes the trumpets and flutes produce distinct rhythmic and melodic patterns associated with animal species, ancestors, and spirits -- the hissing sound of jaguars; the low-frequency sounds of the river filled with spawning fish; or the "voices" of birds, frogs, and spirit animals. At other times, they are played together to produce cacophonies representing the undifferentiated chaos of primordial space-time -- "the [cosmic] sound that opened the world" associated with the mythic trickster-creator. The anthropologist in this story was Jonathan Hill (1954-2023), who spent many years studying the music and culture of the Amazonian lowlands. This LP is dedicated to him and his legacy. The first two recordings here were made by Jonathan and feature catfish trumpets and ceremonial flutes performed during ceremonial exchange (pudáli) at Gavilán, Río Guainía, Venezuela, October 24, 1981. The remaining tracks were recorded by Feliz López de Oliveiros and focus on the trumpet and flute ensembles performed during a rite of passage in a remote village along the Tomo River, Colombia, 1985. These recordings are presented here for the first time. Produced by Radio Is A Foreign Country.

Those in the know are well aware of Bobby Marin's work, and the fact that he was behind the scenes for some of the best boogaloo and salsa of the '60s and '70s. Yet, until now, no one has explicitly put Bobby's name in the headline and given him his due on the cover of a properly credited Latin soul compilation. This compilation comprises 24 essential boogaloo, Latin funk, rock and afro disco gems, each one bearing the mark of quality: "A Bobby Marin Production," including songs by Ricardo Marrero, the Ghetto Brothers, Ocho, Louie Ramírez, and more. A freshly curated overview of his fascinatingly complex back catalog in these genres. Generally, when discussing the "first wave" of Latin soul and boogaloo, it's the bands and their leaders, the singers and the songs that get all the recognition. But what of the producers, composers, and arrangers behind the music? Over the years, one of the best old-school New York Latin music producers, Bobby Marin, has occasionally been given some well-deserved credit and popped up sporadically in articles or liner notes (Wax Poetics, Fania, Gladys Palmera). However, to the casual public, he is not a household name, even among some fans of boogaloo and salsa. Thankfully, those rare few who are in the know are well aware of his work, and the fact that he was behind the scenes for some of the best boogaloo and salsa of the '60s and '70s. There are even some contemporary Latin soul compilations that contain mostly material licensed, produced and/or written by Bobby, and a tip of the hat must go to Bobby's friend Dean Rudland for all his work in this area, as well as to Rocafort Records for digging up the long-lost Nitty Gritty Sextet album. This collection aims to change that and give the man his Latin soul "props" for the first time on a freshly curated overview of his fascinatingly complex back catalog in this genre. Also featuring Richie & The Ps 54 School Yard, 107th Street Stickball Team, Louie Ramírez & His Orchestra, Johnny Rodriguez & Angel René Orchestra, La Cucaracha Brass, Herbie Olivieri & The Latin Blues Band, Los Africanos, and La Crema.

Holy Beat! A collection of '60s Italian Christian beat from the vaults of Ariel Records. Presenting nine tracks from three amazing Italian bands, Angel and the Brains, I Barritas, and The Bumpers. Originally released as La Messa dei Giovanni in 1966 and recorded live the same year, this record has been the stuff of legend for deep cut Pop connoisseurs and '60s beat archeologists, a beautiful and mesmerizing gem that goes way beyond the Christian novelty. This is not just a Christian pop record, this is a collection of beautifully crafted beat that will blow the mind of anyone remotely interested in '60s music, a must!

Clear color vinyl version. "Discovering the wealth of Cambodian recordings was like falling into a parallel universe, complete with its own Elvises, Patsys and Jimis. You can recognize some of the anonymous outstanding instrumentalists as they appear on record after record and marvel at their uncanny blend of Western and Far East, a pure synergy Western musicians have never accomplished. Of course, looming over every recording is the tragic end of the music and the musicians themselves under the axe of the Khmer Rouge, a cloak of darkness hovering over some of the most joyous, festive music ever made. In a world of instant global communication and mass pop culture, Cambodian rock remains one of the few undiscovered secrets of music. Not content with killing the musicians, the government further ordered the destruction of their records, implicitly understanding the power of pop music to create community. It is a testament to the power of Sinn Sisamouth's music that it has survived all that has been done to vanquish it." --Joel Selvin, author/journalist. The first official reissue of these recordings since their initial release as singles. Comes with an 8-page full color booklet with info and photos supplied by Sinn Sisamouth's surviving family.

From Lawrence English: "This recording was, in many ways, a critical one for me. In some respects, it rounded out a period of work that was focused on a particular marriage of thematics and harmony. Like For Varying Degrees Of Winter, it dwelled on old world impressions of the seasons, something that, in the southern hemisphere, isn't intrinsically part of our way of approaching place. I think it was this incongruity with my own lived experience that kick-started the interest in making these recordings. The intention had originally been to take Vivaldi head-on, as the holder of the Four Seasons terrain (I jest of course), but shortly after completing this album, it became resoundingly clear that even in the old world, seasonality was a thing that was known 'then', and unknowable 'now'. Climate change, as a lived experience and not merely as a 'possibility', suddenly came into focus with reports flooding in about the climatic dynamics since the turn of the century and events like the Black Saturday fires here in Australia. It felt like, and continues to feel like, seasonality as some predictable measure of our world is relegated to the 'before' times. This record is not about these climatic shifts however, more a recognition of how we have used patterns and predictability to guide us over the centuries and perhaps a realization that the way forward is not the path we have known historically. Listening back to the record with fresh ears, a process made completely delightful by Stephan Mathieu who has carefully remastered it, I am struck by how minimal some of the structures were. There are moments that strike me as uncharacteristically patient and even generous, allowing one element to hold without interference. I'm grateful to still feel a deep connection to this edition and to the people and places that helped shape it. I hope you find some sense of your place here. It's offered with that intention and invitation."

LP version. First-ever reissue of this elusive private pressing from 1970 by British singer/songwriter Keith Noble (a founding member of pre-Pink Floyd bands Sigma 6/The Abdabs and co-composer of Chad & Jeremy's hit "A Summer Song"). Mr. Compromise, originally released as a tiny demo pressing on the custom Eden label (home also of other psych-folk rarities like Mourning Phase), showcases the versatile songwriting talent of Noble: jazzy-bossa pop, Kinks/Hollies/Byrds styled full electric numbers and haunting psychedelic folk not unlike Al Stewart or Incredible String Band. Featuring Keith's friend from the pre-Floyd days Rado Klose (one of the earliest members of Pink Floyd) on lead guitar. After the album release, Keith Noble dedicated his life to architecture and teaching and he also wrote several musicals. Sadly, he passed away in 2014. This long-awaited reissue of Mr. Compromise has been possible with help from the Noble family. Featuring remastered sound with original artwork in hard cardboard sleeve. Includes insert with detailed liner noted by Richard Allen and photos, as well as download card.

LP version. Contains download card. "Legend of e'Boi (The Hypervigilant Eye) is the powerful new work by composer and alto saxophonist Darius Jones. Both of his tremendous artistic strengths are to the fore here in a fully committed trio communion with longtime collaborator Gerald Cleaver (drums) and Chris Lightcap (bass). Five potent new Jones compositions, and a striking arrangement of 'No More My Lord' (the prison song recorded by Alan Lomax at Parchman Farm). Legend of e'Boi is the seventh chapter (of nine on completion) in Jones' expansive Man'ish Boy epic, begun with AUM Fidelity in 2009. Includes liner notes by acclaimed writer and poet Harmony Holiday, cover art photography by Jesse Ponkamo, and additional artwork by Risha Rox. Typical of his work, Legend of e'Boi serves as a larger creative vehicle for artistic exchange. This project is about Black mental health and healing from personal and collective trauma through therapy, community and creative expression. In addition to the liner notes, CD/digital editions include booklets with contributions from seven writers and artwork which also address this theme. Jones has received wide acclaim not only for his albums featuring music and images evocative of Black Futurism, but also for his commissioned work as a composer throughout the U.S. and Canada. Jones' fLuXkit Vancouver (i̶t̶s̶ suite but sacred) was ranked #3 in The Wire's Top 50 Albums of 2023 and chosen among NPR's 50 Best Albums of 2023."

Accurately described by Thurston Moore as "great for meditating to the cosmos," Terry Riley's classic Descending Moonshine Dervishes is available again in a limited edition repress. Originally recorded live in Berlin in 1975 and released by Kuckuck in 1982, Beacon Sound reissued the album in 2016 to widespread acclaim. Using just intonation and a modified organ, Riley conjures forth a rich and layered sound that challenges the Western ear, reflecting his associations with Indian classical singer Pandit Pran Nath and La Monte Young, whose Well Tuned Piano was well underway. Descending Moonshine Dervishes is a virtuosic and kaleidoscopic performance, standing as one of the finest works of a revolutionary composer and musician at the height of his powers. Recorded in concert November 29, 1975 at Metamusik Festival in Berlin. Originally mastered by Stephen Hill. Remastered in 2016 by Rafael Anton Irisarri. Front cover painting by Helmut Zimmermann. Back cover photography by Roberto Masotti.

"Descending Moonshine Dervishes' dates from 1975 and it belongs to a larger Dervish series of compositions whose origins predate Riley's two signature works of minimalism, 'In C' (1968) and 'A Rainbow In Curved Air' (1969)? (the piece is) structured around just intonation, which stretches the listening experience into new areas. Played on a Yamaha organ with a bit of tape delay that allows Riley to duet with himself, the music of Descending Moonshine Dervishes is an ear expansion that goes through skittering arpeggios and long, droning notes that indicate something of the many levels that it operates on." --Louise Gray, The Wire Magazine (2017)

"Terry Riley has become a totemic presence in music over the past half-century." --The Guardian

Essential collection of demos and acetates (1968-69) by psychedelic hard-rock/proto-prog British band Andromeda, mostly done by their original line-up: John Cann on guitar and vocals, Mick Hawksworth on bass, and Jack McCulloch (brother of guitar player Jimmy McCulloch) on drums. Raw psychedelic hard-rock with John Cann's guitar on fire. Out of print since 1990, this new, improved edition fixes some credits/tracklisting mistakes of the original release and includes a new insert with liner notes and photos. Cover illustration by Micah Ulrich.

Décima Víctima were a Spanish band that, during their short-lived career between 1981 and 1984, developed a very personal sound reminiscent of Joy Division, The Cure, and other British post-punk bands. Despite commercial success evaded them, rarely has any Spanish band achieved such a high degree of quality and coherence in their music and personality. Although included in Munster's past release MR 305 (2010) as part of a limited-edition boxset, this is the first time their debut album gets an official reissue in its original single LP format. For this edition, the sound of the original tape recordings has been cleaned and improved and the artwork has been slightly modified following the band's original idea. Despite only being active for under three years, Décima Víctima left a long-lasting legacy, and their influence would later be heard in Spanish bands such as Family, Los Planetas, and Sr Chinarro. In 1981, brothers Lars and Per Mertanen formed the instrumental band Clausula Tenebrosa. After a show they started talking about the possibility of rehearsing with Carlos, a friend at the time and ex-singer of the recently split Ejecutivos Agresivos. That's how the story of Décima Víctima started, rehearsing with a drum machine in the cellar of the Mertanens' house in Madrid. The first single came out in 1982, with Lars playing drums on it. Soon after, Los Esclarecidos introduced them to Jose Brena and he joined Décima Víctima as drummer. The second single was also recorded in 1982. A few months later they went to Vigo for a week to try out their repertoire live, in order to see which tracks the audience liked best and choose 12 for the record. The studio sessions were no short of joy and experimentation. Paco Trinidad, the producer, understood what the band wanted and managed to achieve it technically. Despite commercial success evaded them, their first LP was acclaimed by the press, especially by El Pais, one of the biggest-selling newspapers in Spain. Unavailable for years and always in high demand, this is the first time their debut album gets an official reissue in its original single LP format. For this edition, the sound of the original tape recordings has been cleaned and improved and the artwork has been slightly modified following the band's original idea.

LP version. Monster tripped-out Floydian psychedelia/krautrock by this band from Düsseldorf featuring visual artist Gabor Baksay. This is their sought-after album originally released in 1972. Dark, atmospheric, hypnotic sound with percussion, flute, organ, guitars and early electronics/proto-industrial sound collages. DOM (Gabor and Laszlo Baksay, Rainer Puzalowski and Hans-Georg Stopka) evolved from a beat/psychedelic band called the Early Birds, later Set Mind, who were in a sort of sporty competition with another group called Spirits of Sounds, featuring Michael Rother's Pre-NEU and Kraftwerk drummer Wolfgang Flür. DOM were regulars at underground clubs from Düsseldorf such as the Creamcheese, where they rubbed shoulders with early Krafwerk and Can. Edge Of Time was recorded at the legendary Neubauer Studios and subsequently released on the tiny Melocord label in 1972. Its enigmatic cover was designed by a friend of the band, Jutta Keime. Remastered sound with original artwork in cardboard sleeve and OBI. Includes insert with liner notes by Klemen Breznikar and rare photos. RIYL: Pink Floyd, Tangerine Dream, Mythos, Kluster, Popol Vuh, Yatha Sidhra.

"Originally released in the UK by Tad's Record label and Vista Sounds in 1982 and 1983 respectively as Shank I Sheck Vol. 1, this one-riddim LP has been reissued by Tad's Record. Produced by Ranking Joe and Tad A. Dawkins, the 12-track album has been released under the new title King Tubby's Shank I Sheck. The track order has been rearranged, but the artists and their songs remain the same. The album features classic tunes from reggae greats such as Dennis Brown, Sugar Minott, Horace Andy, Linval Thompson, Ranking Joe, and Tristan Palmer. The Shank I Sheck riddim showcased on this album is a reinterpretation of a ska instrumental by trumpeter Baba Brooks, produced by King Edwards."

Crafted by UK-based Italian composer Alessandro Baldessari, Dario Argento PANICO is the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack for the documentary retrospective and intimate portrait of Italian giallo master Dario Argento. Premiering at the prestigious 2023 Venice Film Festival, this evocative soundtrack immerses listeners in a diverse array of styles, conveying a rich spectrum of emotions and enhancing the narrative arc of the film. The soundtrack was commissioned by Giada Mazzoleni, film producer and head of Paguro Film. The collaboration between Alessandro Baldessari and director Simone Scafidi started with a conversation, during which Simone articulated his vision for the documentary and invited Alessandro to explore the theme of the doppelganger. Written and recorded between 2022 and 2023, Baldessari's compositions preceded much of the filming process, enabling him to craft a musical narrative that offers a distinctive perspective. The music serves as a parallel reflection on the film's themes -- duality, love, grief, family dynamics, anxiety, suicide, and, notably, panic - profoundly enriching the storytelling experience. Baldessari's meticulous approach to composition is evident in the soundtrack's cohesion, achieved through recurring melodic and rhythmic motifs, rather than using a single sound palette. A notable example is the use of Dario Argento's name transformed in a musical motif and subtly integrated into the piano pieces that underscore many pivotal scenes. The soundtrack features a diverse range of tracks, from the pulsating energy of "Panico Titles" to the tender introspection of "Suicide and Memories" and the haunting melodies of "Ominous Doppelganger." Notably, the film ends on the notes of the entirely string-based composition "Partenza," offering a stirring conclusion to the sonic journey. The album includes two bonus tracks and the track "Tre," from Baldessari's previous work, Nostalghia. The music has been written, played, and mixed by Baldessari, who, for his first full-length film, wanted to curate every aspect of the soundtrack.

Reissue of the Californian psychedelic band's only album released on Acta records in 1968. Their sound was influenced by early Rolling Stones and Yardbirds (not coincidentally, guitarist Randy Holden, later on also in Blue Cheer, was offered to replace Jeff Beck). Their name gained attention after their single "Mr. Pharmacist" was included in the famous Nuggets collection.

2024 repress; originally released in 2016. Wilson Tanner's 69 returns to Australian soil for a new season. A uniquely provincial take on ambient music, Andrew Wilson (Andras) and John Tanner (Eleventeen Eston) assembled their prized debut over a shared love of seafood, wine and LPG. Recorded in a Perth backyard, these two new friends reached for the tools at hand and made the best of the fine weather. Instrument and implement combine in a languorous bricolage of synthesizer, clarinet and building materials -- interrupted only by the occasional flutter of pigeon wings or a call to lunch. Back in print for the first time since 2017, Wilson Tanner hop into Efficient Space's expanding pot.

While their name may conjure images of avian origami, rolled cannabis, or cut-up 10th letters, Paper Jays are an instrumental music body from Rhode Island that became fully formed during the session for this eponymous release on ESP-disk. Previously, Jesse Cohen and Justin Hubbard's guitar duo (a trio, only if counting the unmanned feedback drone of a hollow-bodied Gibson) had been contentedly performing and apartment taping for a solid five years. But after witnessing drummer and percussionist Matt Crane back Linda Sharrock at the local House of Pizza, their vision for Paper Jays widened. The ensuing studio recording date with Crane yielded results that greatly pleased all three gentlemen, and a new Paper Jays began. When playing, Jesse and Justin bend, abstract, and honor world and domestic string traditions through their amplified guitars. Matt brings tight (and loose) syncopated rhythms with occasional freer excursions on his array of percussion instruments from varied folkloric sources. Overall, their output travels from intentional, pleasant figures merged with staggered but controlled phrasing to more extemporaneous, unsystematic, and liberated expressions.

2024 repress. "As music fans know, James Brown wasn't just the greatest funk and soul singer the world has ever seen -- he was also a musical visionary and businessman, who surrounded himself with geniuses who made him better and pushed him further. From horn masters Maceo Parker and Pee Wee Ellis to vocalists Lyn Collins and Bobby Byrd, Brown was a musical A & R master, restless and always looking for the next big thing. Most times, that would manifest in the latest James Brown smash under his own name. But not always. His stable of talent was overflowing in the '60s and '70s, and, thankfully, the tape machine in his studio was always rolling. Originally released in 1988, during the era of hip-hop's golden age of sampling, it's no surprise that just about every note heard in this incredible collection has been used on not one but multiple rap classics. Which, at the time, was proof of Brown's (and his crew's) staying power. But we're almost three decades beyond those days now, and it has lost none of its musical potency. Diving deeper into the vaults than the also-incredible Part 1 of the Funky People series, there is not a weak track in the bunch. Moving beyond well-known JBs cuts, things get interesting from the get-go with Bobby Byrd's monumental groover 'I Know You Got Soul.' Hank Ballard and Marva Whitney also enter the fray, leading the way to Myra Barnes' emotional and powerful 'Message From The Soul Sisters (Parts 1 & 2)' and Lyn Collins' slow, smoldering cover of Isaac Hayes' 'Do Your Thing,' Politics even get the funky soul treatment, with Fred Wesley & The JBs' 'You Can Have Watergate But Gimme Some Bucks And I'll Be Straight' and 'I'm Paying Taxes, But What Am I Buying?' And it should not be overlooked that Maceo & The Macks' instrumental workout 'Soul Power '74' even features a proto-sampling snippet from MLK's 'I've Been To The Mountaintop' speech from 1968. This is another amazing collection of James Brown's funky friends, without one second of filler, brought to you as a glorious 2-LP gatefold by your friends at Get On Down."

Repressed. Vivid peyote-induced psychedelia from Texas sounding like an impossible meld between the Elevators and the Velvet Underground but possessing a strongly unique disposition. Recorded in 1970 but never released at the time, featuring future members of Roky Erickson's backing band Bleib Alien/The Aliens. Formed in Austin in the late 1960s by visionary lyricist and autoharp player Billy Bill Miller and his friend Tom McGarrigle on guitar, Cold Sun evolved from a band called Cauldron (later Amethyst) which at one point featured drummer John Kearney from Roky Erickson's first band The Spades. Miller, a proto-Goth figure always dressed in black, highly influenced by Joe Meek and vintage sci-fi/horror movies, started to experiment with weird noises out of his electrified autoharp, favoring the audio-oriented drug mescaline over the LSD associated with hippies. Amethyst jammed with musicians such as Benny Thurman from the 13th Floor Elevators and Steve Webb from the Lost And Found. It was through Mike Waugh's friendship with Elevators drummer John Ike Walton that Billy Miller and the band hooked up with the local label/studio Sonobeat, who expressed interest in recording an album with the intention to shop it to a major label: thus, the now-legendary Cold Sun album was born. The band, driven by Miller's strange electrified autoharp sounds plus the massive fuzz guitar of McGarrigle, dressed with feedback and futuristic lyrics, laid down several tracks in between rehearsals at Miller's house on Castle Hill (west Austin). Never released at the time, the Cold Sun album languished in oblivion and the musicians moved on to other things. It wasn't until 1990 that the Cold Sun album was finally released on vinyl by the Rockadelic label (in a tiny edition of 300 copies), followed by a new edition on German label World In Sound in 2008, now out of print. For this new edition, Guerssen tried to imagine how the Cold Sun album could have looked like if it had been actually released in 1970. It comes in a hard cardboard sleeve with vintage styled artwork by psychedelic illustrator Callum Rooney. Sourced from the same audio master as the original Rockadelic LP, the sound has been vastly improved thanks to the meticulous and careful restoration/remastering by audiophile engineer Ezra Lesser, who has also penned the definitive story of Cold Sun for the liner notes.

One of the rarest psychedelic garage albums ever, the Kaleidoscope album was recorded in the Dominican Republic by this Boricuan/Dominican band but released only in Mexico in 1969 as a tiny pressing, housed in a fantastic psychedelic sleeve designed by Bodo Molitor. Acid fuzz guitars, organ, demented vocals. Impossible to find in its original form, here's a welcomed reissue. Remastered sound. Original artwork in hard cardboard sleeve. Includes insert with detailed liner notes by Enrique Rivas and rare photos.

"Originally released in Turkey 1973, Özkent's masterpiece creation of an all-instrumental Turkish psychedelic funk album filled with classic beats and breaks still inspires long-time fans and first-time listeners. The funky rhythms, hypnotic percussions, and heavy break beats makes this a holy grail amongst DJ's and music fans alike. The original concept was futuristic and eluded categorization: traditional folk songs mixed with rock, jazz, blues, funk and psych, reconstructed for the new 'hip' generation. The album was recorded live in just one day with some of the best studio musicians in Turkey. Lacking a multi-channel recording deck, Özkent used microphone techniques to emulate a total stereo effect and capture the heavy psychedelic effects and close-miked beat breaks. Özkent created his own unique guitar sound by adding extra frets and a clutch of effect pedals in order to create quarter notes and emulate Turkish traditional scales. Mustafa Özkent has since made arrangements for hundreds of other artists in Turkey, but this unique album documents his most revered work -- and the world is still just discovering this gem. The fact that only a handful of copies from the original pressing are known to still exist partly explains why, making this reissue a welcome addition to any record collection."

2024 repress, blue vinyl. Reissue, originally released in 1971. This isn't just a seminal album. It is an estuary. All the black rivers that would form Brazilian funk/hip-hop flow through it. Led by Paulista pianist Salvador Silva Filho -- Dom Salvador -- Som, Sangue, e Raça from 1971, one year after the explosion of Tim Maia on the scene, catalyzed the bossa nova and jazz background of its leader with the rhythm and blues of its members like saxophonist Oberdã Magalhães, nephew of samba-enredo master Silas de Oliveira and future leader of Banda Black Rio, who since the group Impacto 8 (which had, among others, Robertinho Silva on drums and Raul de Souza on trombone) had already been trying to reconcile MPB with Stevie Wonder and James Brown. Add to all this a mixture of samba, Nordestino accent, and even the black side of the Jovem Guarda represented by the authorial presence of Getúlio Cortes (older brother of Gerson King Combo, the James Brown "cover") in "Hei! Você". Alongside these elements and the presence of Rubão Sabino (bass), who still called himself "Rubens", drummer Luis Carlos (another member of Black Rio), the record enlists the trumpet and flugelhorn of symphonic musician Darcy in place of the original Barrosinho (yet one more founder of Black Rio), who was traveling during the recording but would end up being a leading force of the band. The album Som, Sangue e Raça paves the way for future generations of musicians and producers of the Carioca scene at the beginning of the 1970s. The lyrics that dealt with the question of race and the explosive fusion of samba, soul, jazz, and funk, elaborated by Dom Salvador and his troupe, Abolição, established the bases for the development of new sounds and tendencies in Brazilian music. 180 gram vinyl; deluxe hard-cardboard sleeve; OBI; resealable outer sleeve.

Color vinyl version. The Fuzztones' sophomore set Lysergic Emanations is often hailed as the best album that the garage rock band ever released. As with their debut album, the disc mixes cover versions of obscure 1960s garage rock tracks with some inspired original work, and this one benefitted from being cut in the studio, allowing listeners to hear the group in full-spectrum stereo, without the noisy distractions of a live setting. Keen covers of songs by the Sonics, the Yardbirds and Sonny Boy Williamson are rendered in their own image and the originals sound totally on form too. Lysergic Emanations is the Fuzztones' pinnacle -- totally superb!

Recital presents an artists' record from the two giants Richard Hamilton and Dieter Roth. Hamilton (1922-2011) is revered as the father of British Pop Art as both theorist and practitioner, in addition to famously designing the artwork for The Beatles' White Album. Dieter Roth (1930-1998) was a Swiss German artist who blithely ignored all artistic boundaries and aesthetic dictums. His oeuvre includes hundreds of artist books, almost half a thousand prints, sculptures, multiples and records, all balanced between magnetic playfulness and self-deprecating paranoia. Roth also ran his own record/book press Dieter Roths' Verlag, and was a major force in the reckless improvisational music group Selten Gehörte Musik (1973-1979). The two artists most significant collaborations happened between 1976 and 1978, beginning with a series of 74 paintings in which they reworked each other's art. The paintings were made for an exhibition for dogs (as suggested by the late Marcel Broodthaers, to whom the works were dedicated) in Cadaqués, Spain. Hamilton and Roth then produced the catalogue Collaborations of Ch. Rotham with reproductions of all the paintings alongside four brilliant new collaborative texts. The narrative of the texts sprung from the "fairy story" (Hamilton) quality that emerged from these dog paintings -- a hallucinatory tapestry of sausages, gestating giants, Sancho Panza, Don Quixote, and a donkey. Together they gallop, humorous and beautifully absurd, across the wild field of an imaginary seaside backdrop with endless garbled iterations of ever-mutating names riddled with mad typos. For these recordings the individual texts were read by Roth and Hamilton, actor friend Duncan Smith, and a huge cast of British artists for the final play Die Grosse Bockwurst, performed at the Whitechapel Gallery in London in 1977. The recordings were first released on cassette on the Audio Arts label in 1978, and have now been remastered from the original tapes for this double vinyl edition. Also included are two booklets: one is a new essay written for this edition by artist and co-producer Malcolm Green (Red Sphinx, Atlas Press), alongside full reproductions of the Roth/Hamilton collaborative Ch. Rotham texts. Thanks to Björn Roth, Rita Donagh, Hansjörg Mayer, William Furlong, Tate Modern, and Hauser & Wirth.

Nour Mobarak's Dafne Phono is an adaptation of the first opera, Dafne, composed and written by Jacopo Peri and Ottavio Rinuccini in 1598. Drawing on the myth of Daphne and Apollo from Ovid's Metamorphoses -- a story of unrequited love, patriarchal possession, conquest, and transformation -- Mobarak's multimedia and multispecies reimagining splinters the opera's Italian libretto. Alongside English and Greek versions, it is translated into some of the world's most phonetically complex languages -- Abkhaz, San Juan Quiahije Eastern Chatino, Silbo Gomero, and !Xoon. In this process, the narrative -- and an artifact of Western culture -- is dismantled, metabolized, and rendered into unruly utterances that shape the sensorium as much as they do the capacity for sense-making. These voices are given material form by a cast of mycelium sonic sculptures whose rhizomatic compositions and broadcasted recordings resemble the formation and mutation of language over time, reconstituting speech into a new, polyphonic body politic, composed of voices whose striking, poetic utterances transfix and transcend meaning. The A-Side of the record presents a stereo version of Mobarak's 15-channel sound installation, Dafne Phono. The B-Side uses a recording of a portion of the translation process the libretto underwent in Namibia, live-processed by the artist. Dafne Phono is released in tandem with a book of the same name, published by Wendy's Subway.

Pressed on amber color vinyl. "Black Bile compiles some of Umberto's most resplendent, sanguine music to date. The solo work of LA composer Matt Hill draws heavily from the world of cinema, spinning immersive narratives and rich atmospheres using sound alone. Hill, an active composer for film and television, recently scored the 2022 Jerry Pyle film Loveseat (soundtrack was released in 2023). Other recent scores include the 2020 thriller Archenemy, from the producers of cult classic Mandy. Inspired by the ancient Greek theory of the 'four humors,' an early medical theory linking the inner workings of the human body to the elements. Black Bile specifically links the feelings of melancholy with autumn. Hill's celestial compositions are an autumnal soundtrack conveying beauty, yearning, reflection and comfort. Many of the album's phrases are constructed from just two notes or sounds, arranged by Hill into complex patterns that undulate with an organic pulse. The spare melodic structure holds a myriad of small and beautiful details. The songs began with Hill improvising on the piano, to find the notes and patterns that created the musical and emotional structure from which he could expand with textural detail. Hill then would often remove the initial structure leaving a sparer and more skeletal one which he could again expand upon to create a full piece. The careful attention to each detail gives his minimal compositions emotional heft. The album masterfully stakes Umberto's claim among other avant-ambient boundary pushers such as Lawrence English or Laurel Halo."

"There is real compositional variety and intrigue in his songs? elaborate and unpredictable... it's hard not to be impressed with Umberto's evolution of late, as lacerating experience as it may be at times." --The Quietus

"Masterfully polished and skillfully arranged... dazzling" --Brainwashed

2024 restock; double LP version. Heavy 350gsm sleeve. WRWTFWW Records reissue Swiss cult band Grauzone's self-titled album in an expanded "40 Years Anniversary Edition" packed with the original 1981 album plus nine extra songs, as well as extensive liner notes by Swiss music historian Lurker Grand. The pioneering band from Bern (Switzerland) had a short-lived but highly-regarded career which birthed a cult discography that still fascinates and resonates today. Consisting of core members Martin Eicher, Stephan Eicher, and Marco Repetto, and on-and-off participants Christian GT Trüssel, Claudine Chirac, and Ingrid Berney, the elusive group broke new grounds in the early '80s, experimenting with punk and industrial music, early techno sounds, minimalism, new wave, pop, and various electronics. With an innovative and polished approach to design, visuals, performance, and all-around style and philosophy on top of their superb music, the constantly transforming unit developed a whole experience -- the Grauzone experience: wild and unpredictable, yet sophisticated and cohesive, or as Swiss music historian Lurker Grand would call it, "an Art band with a Punk attitude." Completely rejecting the music industry rules and refusing to play the game of promotion, touring, release schedules, and TV appearances even though they had a multi-platinum international hit with the song "Eisbär", the band quickly disintegrated in full convention-defying glory, leaving behind an inspiring music legacy for the world to discover and discover again, one generation after the other. This extended version of their debut (and only) album beautifully crystallizes the Grauzone miracle/accident -- where pop and youthful experimentation meet at (new/cold/no) wave and industrial crossroads, and where classic hits ("Eisbär", "FILM 2", "Raum", "Träume Mit Mir", "Der Weg Zu Zweit") flawlessly mesh with unconventional deep cuts ("In Der Nacht", "Film 1", "Maikäfer Flieg"). Very simply put: good timeless music with an edge. Stephan Eicher went on to be, arguably, the most successful Swiss musician ever, with an international career extending from pop chanson to experimental escapades and collaborations with Moondog, artists Sophie Calle and Sylvie Fleury, and author Martin Suter among many other luminaries. Marco Repetto flourished as a techno and ambient producer, releasing multiple projects including releases on Aphex Twin's Rephlex label. Sourced from the original reels and put together under the supervision of band member Stephan Eicher.

"The three Peel Sessions recorded in 1978 and 1979 by Adam & The Ants are a true testament to the greatness of the band. From their pioneering, vibrant and energetic approach to punk rock to more complex ideas being thrown in the mix, this recording showcases an essential band at the peak of their power. An absolute must for anybody interested in the first years of punk history. Includes insert with liner notes, interview and photos."

The beginning of the 1970s was a watershed moment in the terrestrial life of Sun Ra. With his band, the Arkestra, he began touring internationally. He and his manager Alton Abraham penned a deal with ABC-Impulse! for a series of records which introduced him to many new and distant listeners, as did his Blue Thumb LP Space is the Place. The film of the same name was under way in northern California at the time, too, and Ra accepted a lectureship at University of California, Berkeley, in 1971, teaching a class titled "The Black Man and the Cosmos." This course of study was held in some secrecy, apparently open exclusively to Black students who were strictly forbidden to record the lectures. Ra's assistants did, however, document the sessions, and some of these recordings have made their way to YouTube. The incredible half-hour of Berkeley Lecture presented here, however, is previously unknown, extracted from the Creative Audio Archive's extensive holdings. It presents Ra walking his students through a series of wonderful paradoxes and riddles, the sound of his chalk on the chalkboard serving as a kind of Greek chorus, commenting on or complementing his highly creative pedagogy. At the end of the lecture, Ra performs two musical demonstrations, the first a piano version of the Arkestra classic "Love in Outer Space," followed by a blistering 16-minute solo on the Moog synthesizer. Available for the first time ever, with cover images of the original tape box and reel featuring Ra's annotations. Transfer by Todd Carter. Mastering by Alex Inglizian. Original tape box and reel from CAA. CD designed by David Khan-Giordano. Produced by John Corbett.

2024 restock; LP version. As Brian Eno famously said, "The studio is a musical instrument," Bruce Brubaker now says, "A musical instrument can be a studio." Eno Piano, is a stunning reinterpretation by American pianist Bruce Brubaker of selected tracks from Brian Eno's ambient masterpieces, including iconic Music for Airports as well as three original compositions venturing into his collaborations with Harold Budd, Hans Joachim Roedelius, Dieter Moebius, or Jon Hopkins. In his explorations of minimalism, Bruce Brubaker makes connections to music old and new. In his album Codex, there was a dialogue between open-form music by Terry Riley and very early keyboard pieces written down by anonymous scribes in the 15th century, while Brubaker's performances of music by Philip Glass enabled the releases of the critically acclaim Glass Piano and his collaboration on Glassform with Max Cooper (IF 1059CD/LP, 2020). Brian Eno's music is equally a significant part of the repetition-based musical minimalism in the 20th century. Eno Piano acknowledges a deep artistic bond. In Eno Piano, the piano, one of the first "synthesizers," becomes a new kind of fantastic resonating box -- a supernatural synthesizer. The album is a compelling discovery, a rereading, reinterpretation, "re-production" of Brian Eno's music, from the hands of a visionary virtuoso. Sonically, the record is a combination of Bruce's piano playing, and piano sounds made using new electromagnetic "bows" that vibrate strings inside the piano creating drone notes. The album represents a leap, into a new genre of post-ambient, post-piano piano music. Here, sound technology heightens artistic sensitivity, and the listener's presence in the moment. An instrument is reimagined, refashioned. The usual boundaries of time and sound loosen allowing the formation of a new 21st-century beauty.

2024 repress; LP version. "Originally released in 1982, Kakashi is another high water mark in the 80s Japanese underground. This album, which has gathered cult status in recent years, is the project of musical visionary Yasuaki Shimizu, and considered to be a highlight of his solo career. Shimizu was the bandleader of Mariah, who also saw their album Utakata No Hibi reissued by Palto Flats in 2015. Kakashi offers a similar blend of saxophone experimentations, jazz fusion and ambient dub excursions."

Hard and heavy first album by Hard Stuff, originally released in 1972 on Purple Records (the label set up by Deep Purple's management team). Quintessential British hard-rock/proto-metal, featuring the outstanding guitar playing of John Cann (Andromeda, Atomic Rooster) and the powerful rhythm section of John Gustafson (Quatermass) and Paul Hammond (Atomic Rooster). This first Hard Stuff album included a lot of reworked/newly recorded material from the early line-up of Hard Stuff under the Bullet name, with vocalist Harry "Al" Shaw, who also appears here on five of the tracks. Featuring remastered sound and original artwork in gatefold sleeve. Insert with liner notes by Plastic Crimewave and photos/memorabilia.

Beat machine freak duo Bill Converse and Patricia (Max Ravitz) present 380/750, a new EP on Acid Test that blends the two producers' singular styles to form an emotive "introspection on the dance floor" experience over the course of four tracks. Recorded at Ravitz's Brooklyn studio over the course of two days, 380/750 features raw, no-multitrack, no-edit live recordings that showcase the duo's intuition for expressive rhythm tracks. Considering Converse's roots in the '90s Michigan rave scene, and Ravitz's Chicago upbringing, the midwestern strains really shine through. With rhythm-composer mutations, acid dripping over atmospheric synth textures, and the ever-present jack throughout, 380/750 offers a deep sound to get lost in that feels both new and classic at the same time.