2024 repress. With the demise of the group Wire in 1980, founder members Bruce Gilbert and Graham Lewis joined forces to create Dome. With the assistance of engineer Eric Radcliffe and his Blackwing Studio Dome took the ethic of "using the studio as a compositional tool" and recorded and released three Dome albums on their own label in the space of 12 months: Dome (July 1980), Dome 2 (October 1980), and Dome 3 (October 1981). A final fourth album, Will You Speak This Word: Dome IV was released on the Norwegian Uniton label in May 1983. These albums represent some of the most beautifully stark and above all timeless exercises in studio experimentation from early 1980s alternative music scene. Previously issued in the out-of-print Dome 1-4+5 box set in 2011. Now available as standalone LP; Includes download card. New artwork by Dave Coppenhall. B.C. Gilbert: voices, guitars, bass, percussion, tapes, drums; G. Lewis: voices, guitars, bass, percussion, tapes, synthesizer; A.M.C. - voice on "Cruel When Complete". Recorded on March 10th & 16th, 1980 and April 1st, 1980; Produced by B.C. Gilbert and G. Lewis; Engineer - Eric Radcliffe; Asst. engineer - John Fryer; Floating-point re-master by Russell Haswell, August 2011; Cut at Dubplates & Mastering by Rashad Becker, August 2011.
2024 restock. 140-gram LP. Cluster's self-titled debut was originally released by Philips in 1971; this edition is the first reissue to restore the track running order of the original Philips release. Includes liner notes by electronic avant-garde pioneer Asmus Tietchens. In 1998, The Wire listed Cluster's self-titled debut as one of "100 Records That Set The World On Fire (When No One Was Listening)." Very few albums from Germany can lay claim to this honor. Cluster is a monster; it contains a mere three untitled tracks and was quite an ordeal for untrained ears when it was released. Yet the album pointed the way forward like no other electronic opus. Cluster's previous incarnation was a trio called Kluster. A change in direction and musical differences moved Dieter Moebius and Hans-Joachim Roedelius to split from the group's third member, Conrad Schnitzler, in 1970. The following year, in addition to playing live, they recorded their first album in publisher Ralf Arnie's Star Musik Studio in Hamburg. Here they first met Conny Plank, who would himself become a legend. They remained close friends until Plank's death in 1987. Early Cluster music was new. New in the sense that it did not continue any tradition, instead laying the foundations for a future tradition. The duo's utter renunciation of conventional harmony and rhythm, embrace of near total aural abstraction, and confident use of noise, rigorous live electronic improvisation, and a positive mindset were all factors in Cluster's innovative trailblazing of 1971. For want of a better category, Cluster was classified rather inappropriately and incorrectly as "cosmic." Few recognized Cluster for what it was -- a synthesis of pop music, stripped of embarrassing glamor, and so-called serious music without intellectual constraints. Moebius and Roedelius took the liberty of raiding both disciplines to perfect their musical concept. A common enough practice today, but akin to a palace revolution in 1971. So it is that three pieces of electronic music meander and pulsate through Cluster, with no beginning and no end. Cluster's music is free and open in all directions. There are sounds, noises, and structures to be heard on this album that would become ingrained in the electronic pop music of the 1980s and 1990s. Cluster had taken the first step into the future.
2024 repress; LP version, on 180 gram vinyl. Tired of quarreling endlessly with his imperious brother Klaus, Thomas Dinger quit the production of Viva, the second La Düsseldorf album, and promptly set off for the south of France. Frustrated and far away from home, his mind turned to the possibility of a solo album. An album devoted to his own musical ideas, free from domineering voices telling him what to do. Presenting his own vision in the context of a La Düsseldorf LP would have been difficult at the best of times. "I wanted to create something by myself, to make something just for me and nobody else," the third member of the band Hans Lampe recalls him saying -- hence the album title Für mich. He recorded the album in La Düsseldorf's studio in 1981, with Hans Lampe on board as co-producer and engineer. The six instrumental pieces, melancholic and elegiac in character, featured layers of synthesizer sounds, closer to the music of Wolfgang Riechmann or Michael Rother than that of La Düsseldorf. (The pulsating 4/4 beat associated with Klaus Dinger can be heard just the once. Two tracks are actually written in a 3/4 signature). The nearest points of reference in the La Düsseldorf canon might be the more measured "Rheinita" and "Silver Cloud." In the studio, Dinger and Lampe allowed themselves plenty of time to experiment. As Thomas wished, his brother Klaus stayed away from the recording and mixing sessions. Hans Lampe described the creative process thus: "There was a large balcony to the rear of Thomas' apartment, looking onto a vast, overgrown courtyard. A little park, a verdant oasis in the big city. We sat here often, listening to music, working on the LP and musing on life. Thomas and I complemented each other marvelously, bouncing ideas off each other. Our understanding was so great, the mood was so deep and heartfelt, we thoroughly enjoyed working together." Which is how the album sounds: simultaneously conveying a sense of somber depth and unfettered lightness, even playfulness.
LP version. "Martin Rev's eponymous debut solo record was released in 1980, not long after the second Suicide LP appeared. It is one of the most seminal albums to have emerged in the early years of electronic music?. The tension between his hypnotic drum machine salvoes and Alan Vega's irrepressibly expressive voice on stage or in the studio created an electrifying mix, and yet these six supremely minimal compositions were no less impactful without Vega's voice. There is an enchanting simplicity to the beautiful bubblegum melodies of the opening pieces 'Mari' and 'Baby Oh Baby' (the only track with a Rev vocal, everything else is instrumental). Like a clandestine heart, embedded in dissonant textures and infinite rhythm loops, echoing the doo-wop and rock and roll songs at the tempestuous epicenter of New York, the place which had such a profound influence on the youthful Martin Rev, there is also an incongruousness to Rev's own music, etched into the DNA he shares with the city?. Above all, there's a sense that Suicide's records and the solo works of Martin Rev could not be any more different to those of their European contemporaries such as Kraftwerk, Tangerine Dream or Jean-Michel Jarre. If this is music as dystopian psychedelia, it glows nevertheless with substantial warmth. Sounds grab you instantaneously and, by virtue of endless repetition, never let you go. Rev's 1980 debut thus offers us something of great value: an insight into the beginnings of an impressive solo career which would play such an important role in the development of successive generations of artists. It is as enthralling today as it was when it first appeared." --Daniel Jahn, July 2023
Bahamadia's 1996 debut album Kollage is rightly regarded as one of the greatest rap albums of the 1990s. For the first time ever, Be With presents the definitive double LP version of this eternal hip-hop classic, including the legendary "Path To Rhythm" which never appeared on the original LP or on vinyl, anywhere. An indelible vibe from start-to-finish, Kollage presents Bahamadia's swirling rhymes delivered with an irresistibly butter flow and razor-sharp assuredness over a steady slew of smoothed-out, jazzed-up, blunted beats. Achingly cool and effortlessly funky throughout, it's an absolute must for true '90s hip-hop fanatics. The entire Kollage project was recorded at D&D Studios and the ties to Gang Starr are keenly felt, with DJ Premier producing five tracks in addition to the killer songs Guru had already produced with her. Working with the cream of the mid-'90s East Coast sound, Kollage is, accordingly, a record that demonstrates a varied musical taste with disparate influences. With intelligent, poetic lyricism and a laconic verbal style bursting with both warm texture and deceptive energy, Bahamadia's flow was as inspired by Aretha and Nancy Wilson as it was Q-Tip, Schoolly D and Lady B. Incredibly, only the European and Japanese CD versions of Kollage were released with the brilliantly breezy "Path To Rhythm," featuring Ursula Rucker. Whilst ostensibly a "bonus track," it's anything but. Very much in sonic conversation with KRS-One's stretched-out sleeper classic "Higher Level," it's absolutely essential. Somewhat predictably, whilst Kollage was released to significant critical acclaim, it suffered from disappointing sales. In the intervening years -- and for far too long -- it was a criminally underrated record, an increasingly hidden gem. This Be With double LP reissue has been mastered for vinyl by Simon Francis, cut by Cicely Balston, and pressed at Record Industry. It's too bold and beautiful to remain overlooked and underserved.
LP version. "This is long overdue. I mean, looooooonnnnnng overdue. A solo album by Jim [White]. The trap kit -- so straightforward, so mysterious. What's inside those things? Air and light -- from which century? Which continent? Which planet? Depending on how and when you hit them it can be a vibration sent through a prehistoric breath, particles of Saturn's atmosphere, the dead, wet leaves you walked through on the way to the first day of school. These are the memories of the drums on this record. Infinite and personal. Editing each other as they muscle to the front or soft shoe to the shadow. Cymbals can override/cancel everything out -- wipe your memory clear or make the memory clearer. Drums are the instrument where you can feel the presence of the player the most -- the full body -- and sense the thoughts of the player the most. The instrument with the most choices to be made sends out the most brainwaves. A bouquet of brainwaves is on this LP. Jim oversees it all, surveys from the lost place we're in, the void -- the drumless song. We trust. We trust, Jim. His big green eyes search for the right tool (mallet, brush, etc), eyes that search you like you're a song he wants to join, wants to see if he can add to or understand. Before humans, drums were playing -- these drums. 'Genesis' was a solo drum piece. After humans, these drums, this album. Someone -- the last man -- is out in a spaceship at the edge of space. He plays a single chord on a synth to set time free from its bind and then lets go. This album sets time free, lets it frolic, lets it graze, lets it remember. This is a record of thoughts, memories, surgery. A deft surgical operation you may not even realize is happening as it's happening but you're back on your feet when it's over. Memories refreshed. Did you really even listen to it?" --Bill Callahan, November 2023
LP version. "High Llamas present Hey Panda -- a modern pop music/deep listening experience that could only issue forth from their personal quadrant of the galaxy. Hey Panda projects soulfully through an enervating abstract of today's popular music; the sound of the Llamas' stately melodies and expressive ditties laid open -- blissfully shattered -- with drums and vocals hitting different, burning sounds and contemporary production twists pulling the ear at every turn. For the past few decades, High Llamas have trafficked in contemporary pop sounds directed toward the avant end of the spectrum as much as not. But here the message was clear. Llamas' composer-in-residence Sean O'Hagan was determined to let go. Hey Panda does just that, with a set of tunes reflecting on multiple levels how definitions change over the course of a lifetime, radiating an optimism derived from the diverse conundrums of today. Hey Panda's wide reach is aided by two co-writes from Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, (who bonded with Sean over a shared love of gospel soul during writing sessions), guest vocals from Rae Morris and Sean's daughter Livvy, production twists from Fryars and the stalwart, flexible presence of High Llamas. For all of its sense of departure, Hey Panda is a movement in the High Llamas oeuvre that's been a long time in development. Aspects of soul music were addressed at the time of Can Cladders; similarly, aspects of electronic dance music were in the mix in the late '90s, around the time of Cold and Bouncy. But nothing up to now has refocused the music of High Llamas so completely. Sharing the impulse of late-period Miles Davis and Quincy Jones, with further inspiration from Steve Lacy, SZA, Sault, No Name, and Ezra Collective, among many others, Sean O'Hagan and High Llamas are living joyfully in the new and the now, with Hey Panda!"
Unbeknownst to the general public at the time and underappreciated until today, arguably the world's first punk record was recorded on September 28, 1966, in New York. On that day, The Godz got together to record their first album Contact High with The Godz in about 30 minutes, to be released on the avant-garde label ESP. It comprises eight rudimentary songs (plus one bizarre Hank Williams cover), played without prior rehearsals or repeats, sounding deliberately incompetent and completely lacking even the political undertones or avant-garde ambitions of other far-out music produced in New York at the same time. In 2008, Berlin-based musician and journalist Jacek Slaski met ESP owner Bernard Stollman in New York and learned the story behind the Godz' first album. He decided to trace and re-enact that historical moment and got together his band The Curators to perform a note-by-note replay of Contact High with The Godz. Again, without rehearsals or repeats. They set up (without audience) in the Festsaal Kreuzberg in Berlin on November 30, 2008, began by listening to the first Godz song, repeating it, then the next, then the next. The resulting first derivative of the original album was duly titled Contact High with The Curators and is finally released here after having laid around on external hard drives for 15 years. Edition of 200 with insert containing liner notes, and a beautiful sleeve design by Nathan D'Arcy. The Curators were formed in Berlin in 2007 by architect Anna Krenz and writer Jacek Slaski, who at the time ran the art space ZERO, and were joined by camera operator Patrick Classen. All three are non-educated and non-professional musicians. The Curators played in different venues in Berlin, Rotterdam, Vienna and Warsaw, and the band was dissolved around 2011. For this album, they were joined by songwriter and singer Doc Schoko.
Christina Kubisch (b. 1948) belongs to the first generation of sound artists and is among the most prominent European artists working in sound installation and electroacoustic composition today. Many of her works involve ephemeral phenomena such as ultraviolet light, solar energy and electromagnetic induction. She transforms them to make them perceivable acoustically and visually, thereby reminding the spectator of their presence while also allowing their aesthetic qualities to crystallize. Among her most well-known works is a project called Electrical Walks which employs specially-built headphones that receive electromagnetic signals from the environment and convert them into sound. She uses these headphones for auditory dérives through any given territory, guided by the sounds that are inaudible to passersby, and stopping wherever they seem interesting. Things like light systems, wireless communication systems, ATMs, anti-theft security devices, surveillance cameras, neon advertising, etc., have proven to emit particularly strong signals worth of being explored, often even sounding quite musical. Finally, Kubisch compiles her findings into a map and allows the public to use the headphones themselves to set off for own journeys. One sound source that has shown to be particularly worthwhile, and surprisingly varied throughout different countries, is public transportation. Zenger Station thus focuses on the electromagnetic sound qualities of trams, buses and related infrastructure. Side A is taken by the "Zenger Station" suite of three single pieces, composed from recordings Kubisch made in Prague in 2021 and 2022 and titled after the transformer station of the same name. Side B has a piece from 2021 called "A bus meets a tram meets a trolley" including tram, electric bus and trolley bus recordings from Rome, Bangkok and Bratislava, respectively. Edition of 300 with full-color sleeve and four-sided insert with photos, liner notes and an extensive interview with Christina Kubisch by Christoph Cox.
NPVR is the avant garde duo made up of the late Peter Rehberg and Nik Void. Editions Mego presents their second and final release. No, this is not some kind of Beatles synthetic AI that raises the dead reconstructed recordings but rather a new album made by the humans and their machines. The initial meeting of Rehberg and Void was in London in 2016 and despite or due to their mutual awkwardness found solace and compatibility in the fact that they both had a similar electronic modular set up, along with matching cases to transport all. The idea to collaborate was an obvious and organic process as a means to connect their individual gear together and observe the outcome. The fruits of these initial experiments, recorded in London, resulted in the playful experimentation of their acclaimed 2017 release 33 33 (EMEGO 251LP). Now, Editions Mego presents the logically titled follow up, 33 34. These sessions were recorded six months after the initial recordings at Peter's home in Vienna. This was planned out as a mirror city release to the original London recordings. The initial session of these recordings was edited by Rehberg and sent to Void to further develop. Over time the final versions were agreed on and then shelved as other outside projects took over. Following Rehberg's untimely passing, Void had difficulty listening back to the sessions but eventually thought it fit to complete and release this album, of which even the artwork (like 33 33, an image from Zurich photographer, Georg Gatsas) had been decided upon prior to Rehberg parting ways. There is an unmistakable joy to these recordings. One encounters an enthralling exploration of their chosen machines which conveys the excitement of what can be randomly conjured when people speak through such devices. There is no grand statement or argument here, just the sheer thrill of creation and the recorded results of random encounters.
First vinyl edition of the album Rhetorical Islands, originally released by Giuseppe Ielasi in 2012 as a limited-edition CD on his Senufo Editions label, with recordings made in 2011 as a commission for l'Audible Festival, Paris. The album's ten tracks have neither titles nor accompanying text, standing for themselves as what Ielasi himself has called "isolated sound worlds." They are nonetheless unparalleled in their plasticity, acoustic events with a rare degree of tangibility. Ielasi evokes physical objects, some of which seem to have been constructed out of paper and cardboard, others based on a mechanics of elastic materials. Of course, these objects are hallucinations, and precisely because Ielasi constructs them so masterfully there's no need for any further information. Here's to everyone creating their very own sculptures while listening to Rhetorical Islands. The front and back cover features 0.058, a work on paper by the artists Thomas & Renée Rapedius. They make sculptures whose form and artistic inspiration are defined by their materials. Like Ielasi's acoustic islands, their impact derives from self-referentiality, resulting in paradoxical objects that embody both a detailed material study and a potential for free association.
2024 restock; gatefold 180 gram vinyl reissue, originally released in 1965. Featuring John Coltrane (tenor sax), McCoy Tyner (piano), Jimmy Garrison (bass) and Elvin Jones (drums). "...A Love Supreme remains a remarkable, challenging listen...It's the definitive version of a definitive moment..." -- Mojo
Restocked! Jonny From Space is the moniker of Miami-based producer, DJ, and co-founder of Impacto, Jonathan Trujillo. After two EPs on Omnidisc and a few more self-released, Incienso presents his debut solo LP, back then I didn't but now I do. Loping drum loops, warbling synth lines, sun-streaked pads and voice amble into the depths of the humid world Jonny's music inhabits, where tempos shift and often float off into the ether altogether. In the words of JFS himself -- this album is "built 2 chill."
This record contains four tracks taken from a live performance which took place on December 3rd 2021 at the Vinyl Harvest record store in Esch-sur-Alzette Luxembourg. The concert was curated by non-profit organisation I Am Esch Twenty Too and the label mint.conception.recordings. I Am Esch Twenty Too was founded in 2020 as an alternative suggestion to the city of Esch-sur-Alzette being European Capital of Culture 2022 and its role and program. The budget for this concert was generated by the entrance fee to the concert only. Jan Jelinek has for more than 20 years been one of the most essential voices in contemporary electronic music. Arthur Clees is a young percussionist from Luxembourg and a bright talent intent on finding his own way into jazz, improv and electronic music. Both performers had never met each other before. Recorded by Karl Humbug at Vinyl Harvest for mint.conception.recordings. Mixed by Jan Jelinek. Mastered by Giuseppe Ielasi. Design by Erik Mathias.
In 1998, Carsten Nicolai, also known as Alva Noto, visited a sound installation created by Robert Lippok for a group exhibition in Weimar, Germany. Soon after, he invited Lippok to release music on his label Raster-Noton. Open Close Open was released in 2001 and marked the beginning of Lippok's solo career. Before, Lippok had already played in Ornament und Verbrechen (with his brother Ronald Lippok) and To Rococo Rot (with Ronald Lippok and Stefan Schneider). The title of the EP is a linguistic reference to the instructions found on everyday objects. In fact, the sound of birds or a closing door can be heard. Besides field recordings, cultural fragments were used -- including the sample of the famous "Adagietto" from Gustav Mahler's Symphony. No. 5. -- and integrated into three loop-based pieces, that have been praised by Fact Magazine as "a masterclass in collage, looping and tactile processing." The source material for Open Close Open initially served as a soundtrack for a video by Takehito Koganezawa, a visual artist from Japan. For this remastered vinyl reissue, Lippok revisited the original sound material and produced a new track called "Licht."
LP version. toechter is an all-female trio operating from Berlin. toechter's second full-length album Epic Wonder sees its classically trained members blend elaborate string arrangements with ethereal indie pop and delicate rhythms. Katrine Grarup Elbo, Lisa Marie Vogel, and Marie-Claire Schlameus exclusively use analogue sound sources (such as violin, viola, cello, and their voices), which were then electronically processed. Epic Wonder was created in the spring and summer of 2023. Playing with forms and contours, the music sounds like the awakening of something new. One seems to be listening to an ongoing conversation, an exchange about what music could be, where it wants to go and how it contributes to our view of life. It all rests on a simple premise: "Every sound you hear in our universe comes from us. The string trio is the core of toechter, the starting point of all our work." Those looking for new worlds of sound can find them in the work of this classically- trained musicians. Whether they add voices or percussive instruments, sample the sounds, or manipulate them electronically; ultimately, they are exploring the string trio's place in a world shaped by the digital. Sometimes dwelling on subtle, yet marveling phenomena like the evening fog covering a valley on Midsummer, sometimes on grandiose splendors like the genesis of mountains or the birth of a child -- letting interactions and encounters with other beings float through the musical universe as drips of emotional perceptivity. For the visual manifestation of Epic Wonder, toechter has engaged with Finish up-and-coming lens-based artist Aino Kontinen.
"Now-Again Records presents catalog-wide reissues of Latin music propellant Joe Bataan's legendary Ghetto Records. Next up in the series: La Fantastica. This brash, big band Latin orchestra from Brooklyn debuted on Ghetto Records with an underground Salsa album which also contains the beguiling, English-language psychedelic soul of 'Latin Blues.' Ghetto Records was Joe Bataan's way to get over on 'The Man' and out of the 'hood, a bold move by an artist looking for independence and creative control in an industry that had exploited his talents and treated him like chattel. As Bataan puts it today, 'Ghetto Records was part of my journey, a stepping stone to everything else that I've done. I learned enough that it enabled me to get out of the box with my thinking, it showed me how to deal with adversity.' Like many dreams and schemes born of the street, this one was audacious, perhaps even reckless to a fault. Hatched from desperation yet full of hope Ghetto Records came crashing down shortly after its inception. The seven albums in its discography languished out of print -- until now. These are the definitive reissues of these albums, licensed from Joe Bataan, with his oversight and input into a 16-page oversize book by Pablo Yglesias that details Bataan's larger-than-imagination life and his little Latin label that could."
"Before releasing their lone self-titled debut album, one of the most-rare rock records to be released in Europe in the 1970s, Paternoster provided the soundtrack for a film that could only have been made while the psychedelic movement was still in its first wave. The group's first recordings presented here are the soundtrack for Herbert Holbaís 1971 hippie sci-fi film Die Ersten Tage ('The First Days'), screened at the Berlin International Film Festival, and interestingly played on Austrian TV in August of that year. The material issued here is the genesis of Paternoster and set the stage for the release of one of the world's great rock albums with their self-titled debut the following year. The music has been painstakingly transferred directly from master tapes."
"The elusive gemstone of 1970s Harlem soul and funk from the Ray Alexander Technique, officially reissued with bonus tracks. Renowned for its enviable combination of musical muscle and malleability, guitarist/songwriter Raymond Alexander Jenkins' tight four-piece unit was so revered on the uptown club circuit that it was offered the opportunity to serve as the Apollo Theater house band. Jenkins demurred, hopeful and confident in his group's chances at making it on its own, and Let's Talk is the sublime result of their hard work. Independently released and recorded with a distinctly lo-fi charm, it is a collection of unabashedly sincere songs that perfectly encapsulates the era's heady milieu of Black pride and cultural awareness, and the plaintive emotion of struggling to realize dreams whilst navigating a city and neighborhood in decline. Personal tragedy coupled with Jenkins' inability to gain traction as a musician, would haunt him for years. But Let's Talk's reputation would eventually spread via word-of-mouth praise amongst soul and funk connoisseurs and record collectors. Now elevated to exalted status, it may finally be more widely appreciated as a testament to Jenkins' gifts. The main album is augmented by two songs by Ray Alexander Technique with Chris Bartley, not available on the original album."
VA
Postcards Vol. 1: D.I.Y and Indie Post-Punk from USA and UK 1979-1984 LP
Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad musical genre that emerged in 1977 in the wake of punk rock. Post-punk musicians moved away from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, adopting instead a broader, more experimental approach that included a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-rock influences. Inspired by punk's energy and DIY ethos, but determined to break with rock clichés, artists experimented with styles such as funk, electronic music, jazz and dance music; dub and disco production techniques; and ideas from art and politics, including critical theory, modernist art, film and literature. These communities have produced independent record labels, visual art, multimedia performances and fanzines. These three compilations are by no means "Best Of" or collections of chart hits. They are compilations that endeavor (and they do a good job) to take a wide-ranging look at the UK and American post-punk scene in the years from 1978 to 1984, but here almost everything stops in 1981, giving space to bands and artists that almost always didn't make it beyond the 45rpm mark. A representation of the true "Outside of Everything" of the era. Features Blue Trapeze, Bound & Gagged, Cardboards, Chemicals Made From Dirt, The Adults, Collective Horizontal, Colours, Commercials, Crash Action Winners, Dry Rib, The Czechs, and The Different I's.
LP version. To abandon animals for music -- and avant-garde jazz at that -- could seeming shocking to some people. However, it is exactly what Manuel Villarroel did, as he was a vet for three years before leaving his native Chili for Europe and a career in music. And though the animals may have suffered, the world of music can be grateful. Born in 1944, Manuel Villarroel lent an ear to the best pianists from North America: Oscar Peterson and Erroll Garner, then Herbie Hancock, McCoy Tyner, and Cecil Taylor. Manuel left Santiago in September 1970 to participate in the Contemporary Music Workshop in Berlin. To pursue his musical career, he rapidly decided to remain in Europe. The following year in Paris, Manuel began a quartet with saxophonist Jef Sicard (who would also play with his brother Patricio, in the Dharma Quintet). But the group would rapidly expand: Villarroel and Sicard added Gérard Coppéré (saxophone), William Treve (trombone), François Méchali (bass) and Jean-Louis Méchali (drums). And with the arrival of Sonny Grey, a Jamaican trumpeter heard ten years earlier with Daniel Humair, the Matchi-Oul Septet was complete. Complete and ready: on May 8th, 1971, Matchi-Oul was in the studio for Gérard Terronès' Futura label. The septet recorded seven of the pianist's compositions. A succession of tracks which flow magically from one to the next: from the first drum strokes to the last deep notes of the bass, the successive waves roll over the piano and whistle through the wind instruments. And when they all come together it gives even greater force to Villarroel's beautiful songs. Terremoto is a masterpiece of collective expression.
LP version. Before coming to Europe, in 1970, pianist Manuel Villarroel was a vet in his native Chili. A few years later, as leader of the Machi Oul Big Band, he returned to the animal kingdom. A very specific kind of animal, for sure, the Quetzalcoatl, also known as the "Feathered Serpent." What is behind this title (also the name of one of the three original compositions on this album released on the Palm label in 1976), is first and foremost a sort of homecoming. After discovering the jazz of Herbie Hancock, McCoy Tyner, Miles Davis, and John Coltrane, Villarroel was taken by the free jazz which was all the rage at the time in America and Europe, and this would inspire the first version of his Machi Oul, project. This was a septet, with which the pianist would record, in 1971, the tremendous Terremoto (re-released by Souffle Continu). After this masterstroke, Villarroel was invited to record with Perception (Perception & Friends) and with Baikida Carroll (Orange Fish Tears). While these were notable contributions, Villarroel was already looking into other combinations. "I had to deal personally with my situation as an expatriate, without disavowing it. I tried not to betray my roots, I tried to translate into my music what was essential to me, to reflect my origins -- Latin America, its musical and above all human feelings -- while remaining faithful to jazz, which is the mode of expression of the musicians in the group." This then is the "homecoming," which would incite Manuel Villarroel to compose what he would call "structured free music." In January 1972, the pianist enlarged his formation to reach the size of a real big band: the septet became the Machi Oul Big Band. Three years later in January 1975, with producer Jef Gilson at the helm, fifteen musicians including those from the old septet (Jef Sicard, François and Jean-Louis Méchali, Gérard Coppéré) worked on a rare form of jazz.
Violist, violinist and singer-songwriter Marla Hansen returns to Karaoke Kalk with Salt, her second full-length album to date. Building upon the sonic palette the Berlin-based musician established with her debut Dust (KK 116CD) in 2020, Salt takes the delicate mixture of acoustic instruments such as viola, violin, piano and guitar combined with subtle electronics to the next level. The new album is both a remarkable departure and at the same time sheds a new yet reassuring light on Hansen's work and creativity. Salt features numerous collaborations with like-minded musicians and friends, e. g. producer and composer Simon Goff, The Notwist's drummer Andi Haberl, and the renowned artist DM Stith. Salt is a big album. The opener "Chains" is driven by a gliding bass line, bobbing 808 snares, deep chords and a mesmerizing chorus doubled by luscious strings, marking the beginning of a new chapter in her creative journey. A stark statement, both musically and lyrically. Meanwhile, the title track of the album is an almost abstract sounding ambient miniature, sketch-like, dark and haunting, showcasing Hansen's voice in a shy, brittle and fragile state. In this range of styles and approaches, Hansen's vision is more present than ever. For refining and finishing the songs, Hansen turned to Simon Goff, who produced the album and engineered much of the recording, merging Hansen's newly-found songwriting approach with the artistic delicacy which made her debut album an exceptional piece of work. Features include among others: Alice Dixon (Oriel Quartett) on cello, Kyle Resnick (The National, Beirut) on trumpet, Benjamin Lanz (The National, Beirut) on trombone and tuba, and Miles Perkin on bass. And then there is The Notwist's Andi Haberl, who "crafted perfect drum and percussion parts to move the songs wherever they needed to go, either into their driving grooves, slow-build explosions or gentle swells of feeling." Salt is a bold artistic achievement, with songs as big as the biggest waves imaginable. With melodies as alluring as the most comfortable breezes. Perfect from start to finish.
One of the most beloved of reggae vocalists, Dennis Brown was more popular than Marley in his native land and rated "the Crown Prince" overseas for his excellence. Lovers Paradise is an intriguing compilation of the early 1990s, gathering work for Bunny Lee and colleagues. Along with a retitled "Have You Ever," and "Wild Fire" in the guise of the title track, there is a mix of agreeable love ballads, including Dennis's takes on Carlton and the Shoes' immortal "Love Me Forever," and originals such as "Woman I Tell You No Lie" and the devotional "Wolga Nagga Fire," plus there's a hot cut of "Sleng Teng" too. D Brown fans take note!
Grey color vinyl. "Saicobab channels the vital energy of living music traditions through ecstatic performance. NRTYA, Sanskrit for 'dance,' explores the shared roots of Japanese and Indian spiritual practices in a tangible, intoxicating form. YoshimiO's experiments in this field are well documented and legendary from her work in OOIOO to her work in the Boredoms. Multi-instrumentalist Yoshida Daikiti reveals the human hand that shapes living traditions, as much through his fluid playing as his own collection of handmade instruments, while percussionist and multi-instrumentalist Motoyuki 'Hama' Hamamoto embodies the metaphysical power of rhythm. YoshimiO's wild vocal acrobatics and inimitable range shift from hypnotic chants to ethereal atmospherics and darting melodies, ducking and weaving around Daikiti's serpentine sitar figures and basslines. Hama's solid rhythmic architectures and deft polyrhythms are here enhanced by additional drums from Taketawa Yo2ro, slipping from subtle pulses to thundering grooves that drive the music. Saicobab's music exudes a true reverence for living musical traditions while remaining unbound by orthodoxy. The electrifying energy of the quartet's performance is palpable in every track, eliminating established hierarchies with performer and listener alike entwined in the same cosmic dance."
"180-gram red vinyl. Includes insert with extensive sleeve notes. Dillinger's sparring partner on this album is Trinity aka Wade Brammer, who was active during the 1970s and 1980s. Trinity as Dillinger, is best known for deejaying over reggae and dancehall tracks. 'Clash' albums became very popular at the tail end of the 1970s and into the 1980s with both singers and deejays competing against each other track by track."
Feeding Tube announces The Band Whose Name Is A Symbol LP. Verdun is the first studio LP this war-torn group have recorded in some time and boy oh boy what a magnificent freewheelin', incendiary and blissed out racket TBWNIS have conjured. Over the last 15 years there are few groups that have been more prolific or dedicated to pushing psychedelic rock and all things cosmic to its limits. With Verdun their sound has become even more expansive -- Scott Thompsons' outer zone zonk horn blowing... Jason Vaughan and Chris Laramee deep space swirling on synth/keys... Bill Guerrero's twelve-string is shimmering and Brydsian but this is the jangle of nails down your spinal chord? Dave Reford untamed and unleashed and going full tilt with Nathaniel Hurlow, and John Westhaver precise and driving. Verdun contains three monstrous compositions where shimmering tones unfold into sinister drone-territory which resemble German pioneers Neu! playing "This Heat!," where abrasive guitars and wild riffing, repetitive beats and raw primitivism are densely packed into a larger-than-life sound that never stops climbing skywards -- never have TBWNIS sounds so euphoric playing their brand of ecstatic rock 'n' roll. For anyone that likes to get lost in sound -- Verdun is a sonic amusement part -- close your eyes and climb aboard this rollercoaster, strap yourself in tight and let yourself get lost in the heaviest of vibrations as you go for a breathless physical/visceral ride. TBWNIS are one of the essential groups of the world's psychedelic underground and Verdun is a freaked-out trip.
"Pressed on blue swirl and orange swirl colored vinyl, packaged in a gatefold jacket with printed fold out lyrics sheet. Originally released in the fall of 1993, Return of the Boom Bap is KRS-One's first official solo album. The album is pure '90s hip-hop filled with KRS-One's trademark conscious raps and storytelling with boom bap beats from the man himself, DJ Premier, Showbiz, and Kid Capri. The album kicks off with a trademark intro leading into 'Outta Here,' a tale about coming up in the '80s with a message to emcees not staying true to their roots. Throughout the album KRS-One tackles corrupt police, fake emcees, religion and provides some comical relief on 'I Can't Wake Up' where he dreams about being a blunt passed around by a who's who of '90s emcees and Bill Clinton! The album was selected as one of The Source's 100 Best Rap Albums and received a four mics rating in The Source in 1993. Get On Down is presents a limited edition pressing of Return of The Boom Bap to commemorate the 30th Anniversary of the blast master's classic debut solo album. Includes the bonus freestyle track 'Hip-Hop vs Rap' that was on the original 'Sound of Da Police' 12"."
2024 repress. For his premiere recording on God Records, Phill Niblock confirms his minimalistic musical approach and composes two monumental pieces for flutes and additional voices, respectively. Commissioned by Erik Drescher and Natalia Pschenitschnikova, Niblock again delivers an almost stripped, uncompromising one-way sound monolith. Tremendous, straight, and to the point... Personnel: Phill Niblock - composition; Natalia Pschenitschnikova - bass flute, voice; Erik Drescher - glissando flute.
LP version. Dabbing (LIVE) Rosin in Europe is Bongzilla's brand new live album. All the songs were recorded during their "Dabbing Across Europe & UK Tour" in Spring-Summer 2023. Mixed and mastered by Shane Trimble at Sletner Sound.
Abfall and Prurient present Smokestacks. A smokestack theatre is an open, usually cyclical, pollution factory stereotypically used in dark skulls. Such skulls and the faces they support have flue gas stacks, hence the name "smoke flu" and produce a high volume of congestion and respiratory creative illness. The earliest era of electric power development, coal fired electric stations in urban opera houses were common prior to the use of alienating currents for lighting as direct current electricity could only travel a short distance -- through face make up for use under heavy spot stage lighting. For example -- the distance from the temple to the eye socket. Or the nasal cavity to the cheek bones. Smokestacks are dark skulls. Don't ever forget their loud and rising voices as you approach the smokestack curtains of the theatre. Black vinyl edition. Includes digital download code.
"The Madlib Invazion Music Library Series entry #8: Karriem Riggins' To The Jungle. Riggins is the type of drummer whose power shakes even Malcolm Catto. If you know what that means, this is the album for you. The Madlib Invazion Music Library Series was created by Madlib and Egon to give their creative friends a chance to stretch out and indulge in whatever type of music they wanted. This music was created for easy, one-stop clearance in film and television synchronization usage and for sampling. You can also enjoy these albums in the way that many do with the best of the best vintage library catalogs -- listen, ponder, repeat."
"Now-Again Records presents catalog-wide reissues of Latin music propellant Joe Bataan's legendary Ghetto Records. The series concludes with Drug Story -- rare and unreleased material from Joe Bataan and his Ghetto Records vaults, including an entire side of Bataan's never-before- issued 'Latin Funk' that spans the gamut from salsa to soul. Drug Story was inspired by true events and ranks highest among Bataan's finest achievements as the poet laureate of El Barrio. Ghetto Records was Joe Bataan's way to get over on 'The Man' and out of the 'hood, a bold move by an artist looking for independence and creative control in an industry that had exploited his talents and treated him like chattel. As Bataan puts it today, 'Ghetto Records was part of my journey, a stepping stone to everything else that I've done. I learned enough that it enabled me to get out of the box with my thinking, it showed me how to deal with adversity.' Like many dreams and schemes born of the street, this one was audacious, perhaps even reckless to a fault. Hatched from desperation yet full of hope Ghetto Records came crashing down shortly after its inception. The seven albums in its discography languished out of print -- until now. These are the definitive reissues of these albums, licensed from Joe Bataan, with his oversight and input into a 16-page oversize book by Pablo Yglesias that details Bataan's larger-than-imagination life and his little Latin label that could."
"Drum-machine soul, funk, disco and boogie from Buffalo, NY. Rare 7" singles and previously unreleased tracks presented as a complete album. In the early '70s, Jessie Key and Sylvester Cleary -- two passionate idealists living in Buffalo, New York -- formed a close friendship based on a mutual mission to better their city. The Attica State Prison Riot of 1971 was a burning memory, and the Arthur vs. Nyquist lawsuit -- brought against the City of Buffalo for creating and maintaining a racially segregated school system -- was on the docket. Key was once a cotton-laborer in Mississippi, who journeyed north for school where he met his kindred spirit, Cleary. The two struck up an intense friendship, bought a drum machine and recorded their first 45, A Man, a paean to self-actualization and Black American empowerment, which they custom pressed and issued privately. Dozens of recordings followed over a decade long span, issued on local labels and warehoused on cassette tapes. Perennial optimists, Key & Cleary tried any -- perhaps every! -- path they could demarcate in hopes of forwarding their agenda of self-effected, positive change. They formed Buffalo's first minority-owned construction company, opened a health food restaurant in a building previously occupied by a fast-food chain, and even concocted a candy bar called 'The Buffalo Treat,' which they manufactured and sold locally. Eventually they started their own label, Buffalo's Reflection. On it they released their masterpiece, 'What It Takes To Live,' a sought-after disco and Northern soul classic, which previously appeared on Now-Again's Soul Cal anthology. This album collates the breadth of Key & Cleary's recordings from 1970 until the mid-1980s, both with songs issued on rare 7" singles and previously unreleased. It presents a conjoined musical vision and tells the story of a duo years ahead of their time, both musically and culturally. Love Is The Way was their ethos -- their goal was to enlighten humanity and to bend history in a more loving direction through communion."
"This is the first stop on Sven Wunder's musical journey. Wunder takes the listener somewhere around the easternmost part of the Mediterranean Sea, around the Levantine Sea, where he paints a colorful portrait and illustrates the region's flora through sound. The fruitage is a vivid bouquet where Wunder fuses colors and pigments by using traditional and modern instruments merged with arrangements and melodies that stretch from popular to folk music by portraying tulips, red roses, hibiscus, hyacinths, chamomile, magnolia, daisies etcetera. With both fine and thick brushes these flowers are pictured in both modern and classic idiom. The outcome is prismatic. It stands between Anatolian rock and European jazz-funk with ponderous drum patterns, groovy organs, far-out synthesizers, enchanting sax, and impetuous bass lines. Eastern Flowers sweeps through time and space and points towards the future. It could appeal to both psych and prog listeners, folk or jazz aficionados, and as well the gourmet hip hop connoisseurs."
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Tear It Up: The Rockabilly Years 1956-59 LP
Solo Flight: Best of 1939-41 LP
Return Of The Boom Bap 2LP
Home Cooking Deluxe LP + 7"
Craterellus Tubaeformis CD
Craterellus Tubaeformis LP
Breakfast Of Champions CD
Breakfast Of Champions LP
Ghetto Records Presents... Eddie Lebron LP
The Black Saint And The Sinner Lady LP
Wie Das Wispern Des Windes...Like The Whispering Of The Wind LP
Auf Dem Schwarzen Kanal 12"
Upside Down Melted Chair 12"
All Hits: Memories Cassette
Psychodrama (Yellow Vinyl) LP
Psychodrama (Striped Vinyl) LP
Folklore From Other Desert Cities LP
Folklore From Other Desert Cities (Violet Vinyl) LP
Folklore From Other Desert Cities (Yellow/Green/Magenta Vinyl) LP
Dabbing (LIVE) Rosin in Europe LP
Dabbing (LIVE) Rosin in Europe (Red Vinyl) LP
Dabbing (LIVE) Rosin in Europe (Green/Pink Splatter Vinyl) LP
back then I didn't but now I do LP
From Tokyo To Naiagara LP
Mesmerized/What It Takes 12"
Postcards Vol. 1: D.I.Y and Indie Post-Punk from USA and UK 1979-1984 LP
Postcards Vol. 2: D.I.Y and Indie Post-Punk from Great Britain 1978-1981 LP
Postcards Vol. 3: D.I.Y and Indie Post-Punk from England 1979-1981 LP
Bennesbeh Labokra... Chou? LP
Tear It Up: The Rockabilly Years 1956-59 LP
Solo Flight: Best of 1939-41 LP
Return Of The Boom Bap 2LP
Home Cooking Deluxe LP + 7"
Craterellus Tubaeformis CD
Craterellus Tubaeformis LP
Breakfast Of Champions CD
Breakfast Of Champions LP
Ghetto Records Presents... Eddie Lebron LP
The Black Saint And The Sinner Lady LP
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