LP version. Chinese multi-instrumental Lao Dan, a rising star of free jazz with a deep background in traditional music from his homeland, debuts a blistering new quartet recording featuring three of the most important figures from the Chicago scene -- percussionist Michael Zerang, bassist Joshua Abrams, and pianist Mabel Kwan. Over the last decade or so the Chinese multi-instrumentalist Lao Dan has emerged as one of the most hard-driven, skilled, and versatile figures of the improvised music community. While his earliest work found him exploring new, improvisational terrain with the dizi, a traditional Chinese bamboo flute used in many regional musical approaches, his lyric delicacy on that device has been countered by his ferocious energy and searing tone on the tenor saxophone. He first surfaced on the global scene in 2019 with Live at Willimantic Records, a fiery live date recorded a year earlier in Connecticut with stalwart Western Massachusetts free jazz figures Randall Colbourne and Paul Flaherty, along with double bassist Damon Smith. Dan's restless spirit has led him to travel the planet, building new connections, collaborating with many different musicians. Dan's dual interest in folkloric traditions and free jazz led to an interest in the duo work of Chicago percussionists Michael Zerang and Hamid Drake, whom he first heard on recordings as members of the Peter Brötzmann Chicago Tentet. In the spring of 2024 he arranged for a trip to play in Chicago, and while Drake wasn't in town, he performed with a variety of local figures, including a sterling quartet with Zerang, double bassist Joshua Abrams -- leader of Natural Information Society -- and pianist Mabel Kwan, a rising star whose improvisational brilliance has complemented her deep roots in contemporary music. Trost Records is proud to present Lao Dan's Klotski, a searing recording of that live quartet performance at Elastic Arts where the opening tenor cries on "Green Tongue" can't help but evoke the spirit of Peter Brötzmann's galvanic opening blasts, but the music that follows belongs to this agile quartet alone. While Dan's fire-breathing extremes lead the way through a rumbling, shape-shifting thicket on the opening piece, his crystalline tone, peerless technique and melodic gifts on flute distinguish the rollicking "Wandering Donkey." Throughout the set the music toggles between such polarities, fed by the versatility of the quartet members who reveal an almost instant rapport and keen listening abilities, particularly the nubby sonic fabrics woven behind Dan's blowing by Abrams and Kwan.

"Time stands stunningly still on The Final Painting, the dreamy, elegiac final album from legendary underground singer-songwriter/poet/painter Ed Askew. Ed started his singing career in 1968 with a self-titled LP release on NYC's infamous freejazz/free-folk ESP-Disk' label. Upon returning to New York in the early '80s, he began circulating cassettes of his self-recorded new songs. This was a fascinating and unlikely new chapter in his music, but only a few noticed. In the years following, additional new and archival Askew recordings have been released through Tin Angel, Drag City and Improved Sequence Records. By the time Ed turned 80 in 2020, his health was declining to the point that touring was impossible and even leaving his place was a challenge. In his Brooklyn apartment, he continued to tape new songs, posting them on his Bandcamp page. Their stark and fragile quality was singular, inspiring thoughts of a new production fleshing out Ed's two-track home recordings. Ed was into it; he forwarded nearly three dozen songs in different stages of completion and the two plotted a path forward. For the World featured acoustic piano, banjo and harp; the songs here, played by Ed on keyboards, synth and harmonica suggested trumpet, tenor saxophone and other sonic touches to expand their existentially lonely sound. Health scares for both men delayed things until early 2024, when various musicians recorded their parts either at home or in a Nashville Studio, with Styrofoam Winos' Trevor Nikrant and Ryan Davis's Roadhouse Band taking their turns almost in response to one another. The Final Painting not only defies the curse of sequels and the ten-year gap between the two DeCicca/Askew productions, it's also a wonderous variation on the intimacy of the self-portrait, an expression from the twilight of one of the most unique artists to emerge in last half of the 20th century. The Final Painting reinvites For the World contributors Sharon Van Etten, Eve Searls, and Canaan Faulkner, and new guests Bill Callahan, William Tyler, Ryan Jewell, Dustin Laurenzi, and Fulvio Sigurta. In their last conversation, just days before Ed passed in January 2025, he and Jerry agreed to: a) use the painting left on the easel of Ed's now-empty apartment and b) call the album The Final Painting. Profoundly resonant in the style of Frank Sinatra's Watertown and David Bowie's Blackstar, The Final Painting is faithful to the spirit of Ed Askew and his DIY nature and Modernist values, pursued for years and years throughout life, art and music, all the way to the very end."

LP version. "Sir Richard Bishop returns for a new spontaneous six-string meshing of people's music, recollections and psychic intentions. Are y'all ready for some Hillbilly Erotica? Migration from last album's Ragas to this new Erotica is another chapter in Bishop's progress, drifting via songs into the further frontiers of his pappy's hometown sounds, trancing over and out in their hand-me-down clothes. As with the ragas, the 'rotica's hung round the neck of John Fahey's infamous dubbing of certain traditional American folk sounds as 'American Primitive.' A perfectly good thought, but Sir Richard picks his own axe and chose a separate path. Rushing through gutters and picking pickled brains in the saucy headwaters of the down-low and literal American primitive, his hillbilly music is a mash of brined cultural inheritance, mini-ragas and moonshine-drunk savagery breaking out on the frets. As a conception for Sir Rick's acoustic guitar music, it's a dynamite means and frame, centering his improvisations in a place overflown with pagan desire and unbound in deliverance. Here he flies up and down the neck, his manner less pristine, yet more exquisite, a flailing, flowing-on-the-river medley through stubborn whitewater turbulence, post-grass and folk's classical gas. Anybody who takes a snort of this here Hillbilly Erotica will find a frankly spellbinding richness of intent and execution in their ear-mouths. And may thereafter find brain and blightness. It's fine! Like with Hillbilly Ragas, Sir Richard plays one acoustic guitar on all eight Hillbilly Erotica cuts, no overdubs and, but for the closing 'Postcoital Serenade,' improvised entirely. The not-so-sexy 'sexy' angle of song titles like 'Lick Skillet,' 'Sweet Lips,' 'Hookers Bend,' and 'Finger, Tennessee' is actually actual names for dots on the map in rural TN, each one just five minutes removed -- by horse, of course -- from Richard's dad's remote Enville homestead, its town name purloined previously for a song on 2020's Oneiric Formulary. This ancestral interzone's a venue of interest for Rick, allowing him to ask the deep questions, like 'What the hell has been going on around here with place names like these?' while running down the changes like no one else before. Hillbilly Erotica promises unspoken wonders of the world around each and every dark corner, revelations of legacy, a new spyglass to sight your forebears! Imagined American music at its most gorgeous and violent, simply achieved by Sir Richard Bishop through a powerful application of steel-stringed instrumentation and delightfully exhaustive flights of speculative thought."

Deluxe LP version. Coke-bottle green vinyl. Renascent marks the long-awaited return of legendary Manchester outfit The Durutti Column, their first new studio album in over fifteen years, produced by Keir Stewart. Around the guitar work of Vini Reilly, the album plays between sonic atmospherics and structure: warm ambient washes, piano, beats and guest vocal turns by a new generation (Caoilfhionn Rose on "Agonistes" and Lucas Elliot on CD bonus track "All they See is Fire"). Both contemporary and otherworldly, and with a swathe of new champions citing the band as an influence (Blood Orange, Harry Styles, The Avalanches, Mark William Lewis), Renascent is a timely and vital rebirth for The Durutti Column. Artwork by long-time collaborators 8vo.

Color vinyl version. Ever since the late 1950s bossa-nova revolution, Brazil's influence on French music has been undeniable. Pierre Barouh, Georges Moustaki, and a vast array of lesser known artists, all made the Musica Popular Brasileira (MPB) an axis of promotion at the service of a cool and metaphysical, modern and mixed Brazilian lifestyle. Some were seduced by the poetic languor of the bossa, some were looking for fun, and others just loved the American hybridization of jazz-bossa, jazz-samba. With emotion, arrangements for violin and supple guitar licks, bossa nova rapidly changed. A transformation that can be heard in the Tchic Tchic: French Bossa Nova 1963-1974 compilation, the result of a cultural reappropriation, which traveled through the United States and supplemented itself in France. A musical revolution that has remained significant, bossa nova was born in Rio. From 1956 to 1961, Brazil lived through its golden years. In five years, the country had invented its modernist style. American jazzmen then took over. In particular, trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie and guitarist Charlie Byrd. In November 1962, the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs funded a "Bossa-Nova" concert at Carnegie Hall in New York, inviting the genre's pioneers. In Brazil, the 1964 military coup quickly ended this euphoria. The destructive atmosphere that ensued pushed many Brazilian musicians to leave, if not to exile. Thus, Tom Jobim, Sergio Mendes, and Joao Gilberto arrived to the United States. In New York, Joao Gilberto met saxophonist Stan Getz. At the time, he was married to the Bahianese Astrud Weinert Gilberto, who had a German father. She had never sung before, but she knew how to speak English. Getz therefore asked her to replace her husband on "The Girl From Ipanema". The Getz/Gilberto record with Tom Jobim on piano, was released in March 1964. Phil Ramone, the "pope of pop" was in charge of sound. Bossa nova arrived in Paris through the classic "guitar-voice" channel. But France loved jazz and Paris had already welcomed its American contributors. Features Les Masques, Isabelle Aubret, Christianne Legrand, Jean Constantin, Billy Nencioli & Baden Powell, Marpessa Dawn, Jean-Pierre Sabar, Sophia Loren, Isabelle, Sylvia Fels, Frank Gérard, Ann Sorel, Charles Level, Andrea Parisy, Audrey Arno, Aldo Frank, Clarinha, Hit Parade des Enfants, Jean-Pierre Lang, Magalie Noël, and Françoise Legrand. CD version includes 24-page booklet with liner notes in French and English. Double-LP version includes printed undersleeve with liner notes in French and English; also includes download code.

LP version. Guilty Razors, Parisian punk band (1975-1978). To understand something about their somewhat linear but very energetic sound, we might need to talk about the context in which it was born and, more broadly, recall the boredom (a theme that would become capital in punk songs) coupled with the desire to blow everything off, which were the basis for the formation of bands playing a rejuvenated rock music ; about the passion for a few records by the Kinks or the early Who, by the Stooges, by the Velvet mostly, which set you apart from the crowd. In 1975-76, French music was, as almost always, in a sorry state; it was still dominated by Johnny Hallyday and Sylvie Vartan. Local rock music was also rather bleak, apart from Bijou and Little Bob who tried to revive this small scene with poorly sound-engineered gigs played to almost no one. In the working class suburbs at the time, it was mainly hard rock music played to 11 that helped people forget about their grueling shifts at the factory. It makes sense that the four+1 members of Guilty Razors, who initially amplified acoustic guitars with crappy tape recorder microphones, would adopt punk music (pronounced paink in French) naturally and instinctively, since it combines liberating noise with speed of execution and -- crucially -- a very healthy sense of rebellion. Anything that could challenge authority was fair game and of course, strikes for just about any reason would lead to increasingly frequent truancy (with a definitive farewell to education that would soon follow). Tristam Nada spent his 10th and 11th unfinished grades with José Perez, who had come from Spain, where his father, a janitor, had been sentenced to death by Franco. The first rehearsals of the newly named Guilty Razors took place in the bedroom of a Perez aunt. There, the rookies tried to cover a few standards, songs that often were an integral part of their lives. But like most pioneering punk bands of the era, Guilty Razors eventually split up for good after three years The reason for ceasing business activities were more or less the same for everyone: there were no venues outside one's small circuit to play this kind of rock music, which was still frightening, unknown, or of little interest to most people. Pantone silver metallic cover. Includes booklet with liner notes by Eric Tandy (Olivensteins) in French and English.

"A common misconception about Mars is that their music was meant to be dark and nihilistic. That's not totally wrong: When their guitars sawed noise, rhythms lurched heavy and words came in howls, listening could be a harrowing experience, as suffocating as any of their apocalyptic No Wave counterparts. But the quartet's work was also energetic, joyful and buoyantly melodic. After all, they started by jamming on tunes by the Velvet Underground, pretty much the ur-band when it comes to sounding both dark and bright. As much as Mars stretched and remade that model into new wiry shapes, the spark of brightness sustained. It's easy to hear when listening to this set recorded in the summer of 1977 at a series of shows put on by the late Terry Ork at the Village Gate, a renowned jazz club in Greenwich Village. All eight songs have an urgent bounce, which is clearest in the caffeinated energy of the vocals, usually delivered in the pungent wail of either Sumner Crane or Connie Burg. Mark Cunningham's rubbery bass and the chopping guitars of Crane and Burg shoot flares as if they were running a fireworks display. Add Nancy Arlen's nonstop drumming -- roughly echoing Mo Tucker if she had extra limbs and Live at the Village Gate becomes a dizzying rush of tunes that zooms by in a taut 24 minutes. Though Mars hadn't even recorded at this point, they were already what Burg called 'like a machine in a way -- a really out of control machine.' Most of these songs were honed when the band was called China, a name they changed a few months before this gig after discovering other, potentially litigious groups bearing that moniker. In fact these songs were so far along that when Mars did start recording, only '3E' would survive, none of the other seven would ever see the dank light of a studio." --Marc Masters

The legends of the golden era of Italian soundtracks and library music go by many names, but the backbone of that era's definitive sonic identity is most often identified as I Marc 4 (also known as Marc 4 or I Marc Quattro). While the moniker might be less familiar to the uninitiated, it is a simple acronym derived from its founding members: Maurizio Majorana (bass), Antonello Vannucchi (organ), Roberto Podio (drums and percussion), and Carlo Pes (guitar). The number 4 serves to highlight the core synergy of these four master musicians. Their journey began in Rome's vibrant jazz scene of the 1950s and early 1960s, where they honed their craft as members of the RAI national orchestra and collaborated with the most prominent jazz and pop icons of the day. However, it was their pivotal role in defining the Italian cinematic sound of the 1960s and 1970s that secured their legacy. Their unmistakable style was an eclectic fusion of beat, jazz, classical, and Latin influences -- textured with early synthesizers, experimental sound effects, and a blend of electronic and baroque instrumentation. Beyond their work as session luminaries, they produced a vast body of library music under their own name at the legendary Telecinesound Studios in Rome. These recordings were released through prestigious library labels like Sermi, Ricordi, and Fonit Cetra, as well as through their own imprints: Nelson Records, Silver Men, and Silver Music, spanning a definitive series of sixteen albums. Ten of these volumes were issued on Nelson Records during the 1970s, featuring the now-iconic military stencil design. The series was completed by two elusive companion releases: S.M. 2001 on Silver Music and S.M. 2002 on Silver Men, both presented in the same distinctive brown sleeve. Rediscovered in the 1990s and 2000s, these Nelson releases have since achieved cult status among collectors, producers, and DJs worldwide. The final two installments, S.M. 2001 and S.M. 2002, remain the rarest and most enigmatic of the set. Often overlooked, they contain some of the most profound "hidden gems" in the group's catalog. Sonor Music Editions has meticulously curated the finest moments from these two rare albums for this first-ever dedicated reissue. Bringing together the best of Silver Music (S.M. 2001) and Silver Men (S.M. 2002), this release retains the iconic stencil artwork but introduces a striking silver finish. This design choice honors the original ten-album sequence while shedding new light on these outstanding recordings -- works that remain, in every sense, golden.

2026 repress; double LP version. Includes insert. Born Bad Records present the second volume Chebran, a series focusing on French boogie. The French in the '80s were not faint-hearted: as some threw themselves heart and soul into music or business, others wouldn't mind going bottomless to get themselves noticed. While Bernard Tapie soon realized his own fortune was rather to be found in business, many music-loving dreamers already imagined themselves in the sun, in an enchanting world made of funky rhythms and synthesizers. While the French National Front was growing in the shadow of François Mitterrand, these guys mixed New York-style funk with electronic, Eastern, or African sounds. With their genre-crossing arrangements and often chanted lyrics, they brought honor to the "SOS Racisme" generation, unconsciously outlining the nascent French contemporary urban culture. The French, while admiring Grace Jones' "savage beauty" in Jean-Paul Goude's advertisements, were enjoying their freshly-gained fifth week of paid vacation, tanning on the beaches of Maghreb. Following The Clash's example, punks and rockers converted to reggae, and the new independent radios opened up their programming to "world music". At the other end of the pyramid, the successive waves of immigration enriched France in a much better way. With the rise of "Youth and Culture Centers", the practice of musical instruments became affordable for those of humble background, allowing for new bands to appear. Caught between the spirit of Gallic bawdiness and their own community hopes, the musicians from this singular scene probably didn't succeed in life the way Bernard Tapie meant it. But their explorations left no room for doubt: by facilitating the rise of a new hybrid culture about to give birth, among others, to French hip-hop, those little-known artists indeed were off on an adventure, quite simply. Since the '60s, numerous venues destined for the North-African community had appeared all over France. In those bars and nightclubs, Eastern 45s were broadcast as well as local productions combining Raï, Frenchy funk, or proto-hip-hop. Thanks to the cassette tape medium, new songs kept circulating between Paris, Lille, Strasbourg, Marseilles, and many other urban areas -- mainly among the working class. The artists appearing on these compilations progressively shaped a new style, blending sounds from their original cultures and from their adopted country. Features Phil Barney, JM Black, Ettika, Sammy Massamba, Shams Dinn, Alfio Scandurra, Philippe Chany, Nordine Staiffi, Brigitte Et Michot, Alec Mansion, Marie Jose Fa, Hamidou, Ganawa, Creole Star, Manu, Ethnie, and Joel Ferrati.

The cult album, fully remastered. Recorded in Paris with Jean-Yves Messan, Patrick Francfort, and François Corea, leading figures of the African diaspora, Na Bo Ndedi is one of the pinnacles of makossa's golden age. A classic by Ngallé Jojo, with a unique sound that blends traditional rhythms with modern arrangements, vibrant grooves, and a powerful rhythmic drive. Thirty years later, Celluloid Records is reissuing this essential album in a remastered version. For collectors who know it by heart, and for all those who are finally discovering it. Also available with bonus 7" (CELPACK 001LP).

Trost Records presents Two Balls Are Enough, the debut album from the duo of Finnish accordionist Kimmo Pohjonen and Swedish reedist Mats Gustafsson. Both musicians have routinely blown past the rules of the traditions from which first emerged -- folk and free jazz, respectively -- to explore constantly expanding worlds. It was only a matter of time before these iconoclasts collided to create something wonderfully raw and unexpected. Recorded Feb 24-25th, 2026 by Martin Siewert, Vienna. Mixed May 18-19th, 2026 by Martin Siewert, Pohjonen and Gustafsson. Mastered June 2nd, 2026 by Martin Siewert. Photos by Olof Madsen and Ziga Koritnik.

LP version. Wewantsounds presents the first official reissue of the highly sought-after 1979 classic, Summer-Time Love Song by The Milky Way. Originally released on the Seven Seas label in Japan and produced by the legendary Makoto Matsushita -- the visionary behind the cult album First Light -- the album is a premier example of the sophisticated sound that defined the era. Featuring the cream of Japanese musicians, including Yasuaki Shimizu, the record offers a superb mix of AOR, jazz fusion, funk, and bossa nova. Remastered by Colorsound Studio, this deluxe reissue features the original artwork, an OBI strip, and a 4-page booklet with a new introduction by Paul Bowler. The album serves as a vital precursor to Matsushita's own 1981 cult masterpiece First Light. Here, he and Nobuta lead the cream of Japanese session musicians. From the sun-drenched bossa nova rhythms of the Jobim classic "Wave" to a sophisticated rendition of Boz Scaggs' classic "Harbor Lights," finishing with the dreamy rhythms of "Endless Summer," the record is a masterclass in elegant funky arrangements and relaxed harmonies. As music journalist Paul Bowler writes in the liner notes for this release: "Summer-Time Love Song represents a fascinating bridge in Japanese pop history; a moment where the breezy aspirations of the '70s met the meticulous studio perfectionism that would soon take over the world." This deluxe edition features the original artwork, showcasing classic photography by the cult photographer Shinpei Asai -- famed for his iconic work on the Pacific album by Haruomi Hosono, Shigeru Suzuki, and Tatsuro Yamashita. Newly remastered, this reissue finally makes one of the most coveted albums of the 70s Japanese scene accessible to Japanese music fans worldwide.

"Limited edition double LP set. For the first time together, the complete Torch Of Freedom sessions. The acclaimed follow up to the classic Pick A Dub And Flesh Of My Skin album. Original raw manmba label Jamaican mix, plus Keith's UK remix and re-sequence. Includes bonus dub crying previously only available on rare import 7" single. Features the classic 'Turn The Heater On' as cover by New Order. Extensive sleeve notes by Keith Hudson biographer Vincent Ellis."

LP version. Released in 1974, Zuckerzeit marks a clear turning point in Cluster's work, introducing shorter formats and a more defined rhythmic framework. The increased use of drum machines and structured sequencing sets it apart from the duo's earlier, more diffuse recordings, while maintaining a focus on texture and tone. Developed in close proximity to Michael Rother and under increasingly independent production conditions, the album establishes a more direct and accessible approach without simplifying its underlying ideas. This standard edition makes the album available again on CD and vinyl following the previous limited anniversary release. A key recording in Cluster's catalogue, capturing a pivotal moment of transition and refinement. In 1974, Cluster entered the sugar era. Many a thing had changed for band members Moebius and Roedelius since Cluster II: They had moved from boisterous Berlin to this calm rural village, they had founded the band Harmonia, had set up their own studio and had bought new equipment. As a result of this and many other things, new impulses were noticeably spurring the evolution of their music. The album Zuckerzeit ("sugar era") launched a revolution for Cluster. Strictly speaking, Zuckerzeit is not really an album by Cluster. More precisely, the LP contains two mini solo albums by Moebius and Roedelius. Those who were familiar with the stylistic peculiarities of the two musicians could easily relate the solo pieces to either one of them. As Roedelius and Moebius had not yet released any solo works by the time, it was actually not possible to draw up any comparisons yet. Zuckerzeit is light and cheerful, freed from the Germanic gravity and the mystic incense fumes that were so fashionable at the time. Cluster managed to keep both feet on the ground without becoming plain or even sterile. The friendliness of the music is clearly due to the two personalities of Roedelius and Moebius; its down-to-earth character possibly comes from Michael Rother, the album's coproducer. When comparing Zuckerzeit to the works of other electronic combos produced at the same time, it is first of all the shortness of the tracks that seems most striking. The fact that Cluster worked in such a calm and collected way, that they concentrated on their musical ideas instead of losing themselves in long-windedness -- all this taken together gave way to the creation of electronic miniatures that sounded as extraordinary in the 1970s as they still do today.

Originally released in 2017. This is a previously unreleased mono recording of Modes and Blues from the Tubby Hayes Quintet's weekly Ronnie Scott's residency on February 8, 1964. Regarded as one of the masterworks of British modern jazz, Modes and Blues shows the Quintet at the very height of its powers, channeling the new musical flavors and inspiration that Tubby Hayes had absorbed from the cutting edge of jazz and the new directions of John Coltrane. Recorded with Hayes' approval by Les Tomkins on his Ferrograph tape recorder, this is one of the most engrossing of all his stretch-out epics. Hayes digs in deep with marathon and breathtaking soloing, trumpeter Jimmy Deuchar delivers his characteristically lyrical improvisation, and there's dynamic interplay and drive from the great Terry Shannon, Freddy Logan, and Allan Ganley rhythm section. The Quintet had barely a few months left to run at the time of this performance, splitting in August 1964, fearing its music had atrophied into self-parody. Modes and Blues is among its many triumphs, a performance that shows how high the band had set the aspirational bar for British modernism, and, as such, is as much a cultural document as a musical souvenir.

Sonic Fiction Special, featuring Earl Howard. Recorded in Cologne, March 2025. Featuring Earl Howard (electronis, alto sax), Frank Gratkowski (clarinets), Laura Strobl (viola), Georg Graewe (piano), and Gerry Hemingway (drums, percussion).

Laura Strobl is a Viennese, classically trained violist (and violinist), who focuses on featuring the viola as a contemporary solo instrument. She is a long-time member of German pianist and composer Georg Graewe's Sonic Fiction Orchestra, which is based in Vienna. Stroble has played with such innovative improvisers as Frank Gratkowski, François Houle, Gerry Hemingway, Martin Siewert, and Günter "Baby" Sommer. She initiated the free-improvising trio with her mentor Graewe and British master drummer Mark Sanders, who has worked with many greats in the British, European, and American free jazz and free improvised music scenes. Sanders first collaborated with Graewe in his quintet in the 1990s (Concert in Berlin 1996, Wobbly Rail, 1999), and continued to work with Graewe in the Frisque Concordance band. This trio first performed live at London's Cafe OTO in March 2026 during Sanders' three-day residency in the club. Actuance was recorded in Vienna in November 2025 and offers eleven chamber pieces for the uncommon instrumentation of viola, piano, and drums. The album's title refers to the abrupt transition from light to dark in a physical, objective measure of an image at the edges of objects. It defines the steepness of the tonal gradient across boundaries, directly influencing the human eye's perception of sharpness and clarity in a photograph. It is an apt description of how spontaneous, improvised ideas, a brief and evocative melody, or just an abstract sound gravitate organically into instant, coherent, and often complex and intense compositions.

2026 repress. LP version. Otto A. Totland's modern compositional elements are most widely-recognized as half of the Norwegian duo Deaf Center, where his melancholic, intricate piano work provides haunting relief to the beds of noise and deep strings from Erik K. Skodvin. Pinô is the first full-length release by Totland, though his solo work has been released once, as the five-minute A-side of Sonic Pieces' 7", Harmony from the Past. Otto's previously brief vignettes are now expanded into a fully personal realization of his own style. Initial track "Open" fills itself with heavy, knowing pauses that quickly become overwhelmed with the desire to understand what's to come. Each silence leads into quick flutters of keys, preparing the listener for a vast terrain of giddy beauty, bleak depths, and true contentedness. Pinô quickly recalls deep winter; in front of a fireplace for days on end, you lose how far along you've ventured into the 18 tracks without any idea how far is left to go. The experience feels inevitable, with no other option but to curl up somewhere cozy and appreciate the sense of timelessness that Totland has created. His album is a haunting modern compositional treasure, expressed through instrumentals completely unique to Totland and captured masterfully by Nils Frahm at Durton Studios. With Pinô, Otto A. Totland appears out of the Norwegian landscape, sharing an achievement that will provide relief during the brooding winter darkness. Though a highly personal endeavor, the recognizable continuation of Totland's compositions will attract fans of Deaf Center, and the cinematic and classical components of his solo work will hold sway for those familiar with Harold Budd or Dustin O'Halloran.

2026 repress. LP version. Includes original four-page insert full of session photos and credits. Wewantsounds present a reissue of Jaye P. Morgan's 1976 ultra-rare private press, featuring the cream of the LA jazz and funk scene -- and one of David Foster's first productions -- is reissued on vinyl and CD. This lost classic recorded in LA at the legendary Sound City Studios is also the first full-blown production by David Foster two years before he co-produced Earth Wind & Fire's album I Am (1979) and went on to become one of the hottest producers on the scene. Featuring an extraordinary lineup of the best LA musicians including Harvey Mason, Ed Greene, Jay Graydon, Ray Parker Jr. Tower of Power, Ernie Watts, and many more, it's probably one of the most expensive private press ever produced and a delight of sophisticated Los Angeles funk featuring Jaye's superb soulful vocals. "This album is one of the first David ever produced and I know he was going all the way to the top" stated Jaye P. Morgan in an interview when asked about David Foster before adding: "I tried to make a soulful album and I loved David's work. We used the best musicians in the world." And they certainly did making this album one of the most expensive private presses in the world! This album was a bold move for the singer who had made her mark in the '50s and '60s as a singer and actress. Hiring Foster was a masterstroke as he hadn't yet produced any noticeable hit, but together they gathered the most impressive crew of musicians you could think of including two of Foster's closest associates, guitarist Jay Graydon and singer/arranger Bill Champlin (of Sons of Champlin's fame) and created the perfect white soul album with a breezy California feel. Featuring masterful renditions of such iconic songs as Stevie Wonder's songs as "Seems So Long" and Earth, Wind & Fire's "Can't Hide Love" (Foster, Champlin, and Graydon would soon pen "After The Love Has Gone" which would become a mega hit for Earth Wind & Fire two years later), together with a handpicked selection of originals, the sound alternates between up-tempo funk and soulful mid-tempo ballads, all served by Morgan's superb vocals. The missing link between Steely Dan and Earth, Wind & Fire, Jaye P. Morgan is pure, undiluted funk music and an essential LA classic.

2026 repress. LP version. Wewantsounds present a reissue of Yukihiro Takahashi's debut solo album Saravah!, originally released in 1978. One of the key Japanese albums of the '70s, it was released at a key time when, following his tenure with Sadistic Mika Band, Takahashi had just joined the nascent line up of Yellow Magic Orchestra. A sophisticated mix of disco funk, synth pop, ambient, French exotica, and bossa nova, the album has the stylish feel of a night out clubbing in Paris circa 1978. It's the missing link between the city pop scene of the late '70s and the synth sound of YMO which was about to revolutionize the world. The month before recording the YMO debut album that would help alter the course of music, Yukihiro Takahashi entered the studio with his fellow band-members Ryuichi Sakamoto and Haruomi Hosono to record Saravah! together with the cream of the Japanese scene. He drew his inspiration from globe-trotting French musician Pierre Barouh who had introduced Bossa Nova in France in 1966 with "Samba Saravah" (featured in soundtrack the Oscar winner A Man And A Woman which he co-wrote) and subsequently launched Saravah Records. Saravah! starts off with a couple of French and Italian exotica classics ("Volare" and "C'est Si Bon") with delicious touches of synth while "Saravah!" is a nod to Pierre Barouh, a languid bossa nova with beautiful soulful strings arranged by Ryuichi Sakamoto. The album gets hotter with "La Rosa", a superb mid-tempo ambient funk featuring Shigeru Suzuki's fluid guitar. Next is an amazing exotica-synth version of the standard "Mood Indigo", announcing the midi revolution that was to come before things get funkier shortly after with Ryuichi Sakamoto's superb up-tempo disco instrumental "Elastic Dummy" featuring soulful strings and horns with solos by Sakamoto and guitarist Tsunehide Matsuki. The album then moves on to the ambient synth pop of "Sunset" before switching back to disco funk with "Back Street Midnight Queen" which, like "Elastic Dummy", has become a dancefloor cult classic. Saravah! ends on a perfect note with the beautiful "Present" a perfectly crafted pop song which Takahashi wanted to do in a city pop mode, featuring a superb melody and high-class arrangements.. Newly remastered by renowned engineer Mitsuo Koike. Features original artwork with photos by Masayoshi Sukita (David Bowie's Heroes (1977)); includes four-page insert and a new Introduction by Benjamin Barouh (of Saravah Records).

2026 restock of Macka Dub's The Sound of Macka Dub Vol. 1. Featuring Glenn Adams (piano/organ), Mr. Wire (piano/organ), Rick Trater (guitar), Bobby Chung (guitar), Carlton Barrett (drums), Tad Dawkins (drums), Sparrow Martin (drums), Maurice (bass), and Family Man Barrett (bass).

Originally released October 11, 2025, Art Blakey's birthday. Featuring Art Blakey (drums), Johnny O'Neal (piano), Donald Harrison (alto saxophone), Terence Blanchard (trumpet), Billy Pierce (tenor saxophone), and Charles Fambrough (double bass). Recorded on April 1, 1982, in Strasbourg, France. Mastered by Caspar Sutton-Jones at Gearbox Records, London. Album artwork by Alan Foulkes.

Pon is Tujiko Noriko's sixth album for Editions Mego and a further extension of her already significant body of work as both a solo and collaborative artist. Dedicated to her cat who she adopted as an infant and passed away due an accident having been born deaf, Pon is imbued with abstraction, tenderness and a deep emotional resonance. Noriko's palette of electronics, romantic melodies and surprising sonic details are all fully present here, and like her last full length, 2023's Crépuscule this is an epic work, released as a 2LP by Editions Mego. The unmistakable hue of Japan hovers throughout this emotional rich landscape. Subtle field recordings and fragile, abstract motifs drift through the album, all cloaked in a warmth and humanity that only Noriko seems able to conjure. Pon moves effortlessly between the childlike and the obscure. There are moments of deceptive simplicity where unexpected elements suddenly surface -- strange voices emerge on "Boku Wa Obaka." "Knife of Yonder" is a standout: a startling ten-minute unfolding that begins with a warm, almost Eno-esque drift before launching into a soaring mid-section and finally landing somewhere unexpectedly blues-adjacent. "Kikoeru Pon" is brimming with childlike wonder -- a heartfelt ballad that dissolves into domestic field recordings, including sounds of the feline for whom both the album and track are named. A quietly devastating ending that brings the personal nature of the record into sharp focus. There is a deep sense of the human in the way Noriko embraces technology. This is far from cold abstraction; rather, Pon feels like a colorful photo album, documenting Noriko's inner world and instincts with remarkable intimacy. Hovering in liminal states between pop, ambient and abstraction, this is a deeply affective and moving release that reveals new surprises with each listen. The emotional range of Noriko's latest offering inspires hope in a world in disarray. It is both gentle and epic and one which we feel embodies the work of an artist fully at the height of her powers.

First time ever on vinyl for the 1999 debut album by cult Melbourne outfit, Hungry Ghosts. Originally released on CD on the Reliant label and produced by Rowland S. Howard (Birthday Party/Young Charlatans), it sounded like a band from another place and time. Nominally thrown into the "post-rock" sphere, the Hungry Ghosts brought so much more to the table than such restrictive terms may imply. Featuring an eclectic array of percussive and stringed instruments, with some brass thrown in for good measure, the band created its own world of expressive instrumental music that played like a lost European film soundtrack. Soon after its release, the group made their way to the US to record for Steve Shelley (Sonic Youth)'s Smells Like label, and the story continues from there. This 2LP edition features the debut full-length CD on vinyl for the very first time, as well as their debut self-released (and -titled) EP from two years earlier. Inside is an informative four-page booklet with extensive liner notes telling the Hungry Ghosts story. Highly recommended for fans of: Dirty Three, Low, Triffids.

Originally released on the Vertigo label in 1974 in Australia and their homeland of New Zealand, Universal Radio was Dragon's debut recording. It was also a country mile -- musically speaking -- from the chart-topping anthemic pop they would later become famous for, but that's another story. They released one more album while stationed in NZ in 1975, Scented Gardens For The Blind (also to be reissued by Eminent), before transplanting themselves permanently in Australia and hitting it big with tracks like "April Sun In Cuba," "Get That Jive," "Rain" et al. Universal Radio features the lineup of Marc and Todd Hunter, Ivan Thompson, Ray Goodwin, and Neil Storey, six glorious tracks of elongated and ever-shifting progressive rock (elements of Pink Floyd, Cressida, and early Genesis in there) and the fantastical artwork of Dick Frizzel. The band had garnered a strong domestic following through festival and university concerts and came to record as a fully-evolved beast, mixing the whimsy of "Weetbix" with the darker tones of "Graves." Universal Radio is simply an excellent example of '70s progressive rock, New Zealand or not, and stands alongside Split Enz's debut, Mental Notes, as one of the best and most unique NZ recordings of its day. First ever vinyl reissue, fully authorized by the band, with royalties going directly to the band. Housed in a hi-gloss sleeve with four-page booklet featuring photos, artwork and liner notes penned by noted music historian and author, Ian McFarlane.

Includes four-page insert. "TCJQ together with Gary Peacock and Sunny Murray! This is THE sunken treasure. This is music I have only heard about. And yet, here it is. Unbelievable. Intact. Preserved. Beaming of energy and JOY! This is a sensational find. My favorite Danes exploding together with my favorite double bass player all time. Gary Peacock. The engine. The power engine. I can hardly breathe when he plays, and when he starts soloing and creating beautiful duo bass action with his colleague Steffen Andersen in this very first recording of 'Predetermination,' 10 minutes in -- my heart expands, and the world suddenly looks and sounds entirely different. Add Sunny Murray on top of it all? The master of unreal flow and accents. Sunny was a beast to deal with at the time. But what he adds to the music is pure poetry. No other drummer did anything even close to this back in the mid-'60s. To have Steinmetz and Beckerlee playing alongside Peacock and Murray in 1964 is as good as it gets. The absolute point-zero of free jazz, Spiritual Unity, was just released. It changed everything. This is the mother of it all. The birth. You would think Steinmetz and Beckerlee would have had a little anxiety joining the American duo. There is nothing of uncertainty or vague playing here. This is for real. Right-on-take-no-prisoners-do-not-look-back. Added to the A-side of this mythical recording with creative Danes and the rhythm section of Spiritual Unity is a little improvised miniature. 'In the Name of Beauty.' The title very accurately describes what is going on. TCJQ creating pure communal beauty. Steinmetz, Beckerlee and Andersen getting very real! Dig the harmonics of the last note. The B-side´s 'Spontaneity,' 'Action' and 'Collusion' are just wild. Raw. And utterly beautiful. The group is doing real sharing on a level unheard of before. While listening through this music numerous times and trying to write something simultaneously of intellectual or emotional content something happens? I lose the sense of time. The emerging free jazz scene of Denmark of the early '60s, is something spectacular and WILD. Years before the other Scandinavian countries even got a grip of the new jazz, the Danes were doing it already. Fueled by very important guest visits by Cecil Taylor, Sunny Murray and Albert Ayler at both clubs and radio or TV appearances. Those were the times when public service actually noticed new developments in art, music and literature." Mats Gustafsson, April 2026

LP version. The Durutti Column's Vini Reilly album is available again to everyone. Produced by Stephen Street (The Smiths, Blur, The Cranberries, New Order). Many new champions cite the band as an influence (Blood Orange, Harry Styles, The Avalanches, Mark William Lewis). Includes booklet.

"This issue's cover story is an extraordinary interview with Jim 'Harpo' Valley who talks about his years on the early Northwest rock 'n' roll scene with the Viceroys and Don & the Goodtimes, his wildly eventful year with Paul Revere & the Raiders at their 1966-67 peak, a summer of love solo career that failed to launch, and the dramatic events that sent him to live alone in a cave in Big Sur. Then, from 'Louie Louie' to Fun House, Don Gallucci tells all about his adventures with the Kingsmen, Don & the Goodtimes, Touch, and producing the Stooges' seminal second album. Also, the wild ride of 1965-67 Sunset Strip garage band the New Generation, the continuing saga of '60s Canadian psych/rock legends the Collectors, and a short chat with writer/musician Michael Moorcock. Plus the life-sustaining reviews sections covering the latest reissues and music-related books."

Alga Marghen presents the historical Intervalli by Giuseppe Chiari, a world premiere of the compete cycle of 12 Intervalli. Elegantly performed and recorded by Reinier Van Houdt, this timeless composition from 1950-56 anticipates Minimalist by a decade as well as Concetual and Sytems-Based-Composition while intersecting the perspectives that would soon be developed by Fluxus, the group Chiari would join in 1962. Giuseppe Chiari's Intervalli for piano still retain the charm of a discovery, even when considered in the context of their historical perspective. Composed within a time frame that extends throughout the entire first half of the 1950s, they are striking for the precocity of their compositional conception based on a radical reduction of musical parameters on mathematical and rational grounds. One might also be surprised to discover that Chiari's early compositions follow such a rigorous logical approach in the organization of musical material, particularly in light of the subsequent direction his work took, which established him, within the Neo-Avant-Garde, as the most resolute and determined exponent of gestural music -- a genre thus free from any dogma or structural constraints. In Intervalli Chiari focuses on the idea of a rational "arrangement" of the sequence of sounds and/or their simultaneity through a more or less controlled system of repetitions of variants or invariants, defined by their interval features and duration. The systematic processes of limiting and repeating musical parameters are elements that, by analogy, later came to the fore with the birth of musical minimalism. It would, however, be a stretch to regard Chiari's Intervalli as a driving force that will have a direct impact on the emergence and establishment of this current. Whilst minimal music employs the systematic reduction of parameters and their repetition to guide unidirectional development as a gradual process, Chiari's Intervalli move towards an opposing concept that "explores the relationships between sounds without any temporal hierarchy" in order to achieve "music that strips succession of its discursive power." A clear indication of an objective, almost atomistic conception of sound, aimed at deconstructing its syntactic homologation. Hence its conceptual relevance, which cannot be equated with the canonical currents of minimalism: a nuance that would subsequently predispose Chiari to an informal openness towards the performative gesture. The Intervalli cycle thus marked Chiari's first point of arrival, but also a point of no return -- save for the final decade of his creative career, when a still surprising new recourse to musical writing was mediated precisely by a gestural instinctiveness. This first edition of complete Intervalli also includes liner notes by Gabriele Bonomo as well as the reproduction of some of the pages from the original score.

Dowser was formed in the late 1980s by Hiroyuki Nagashima. After numerous lineup changes, the current members are Hiroyuki Nagashima (instruments), Masateru Terai (instruments, voice), and Takashi Miyagawa (design). Dowser combines vintage synthesizers such as Buchla and EMS with virtual instruments to construct a distinctive sonic landscape that merges electronic music, rock, noise, and ambient textures. Founder and leader Hiroyuki Nagashima is also an accomplished film composer, having created music for internationally acclaimed directors including Gakuryu/Sogo Ishii, Katsuhiro Otomo, and Shinji Aoyama. One of the earliest works released under the name Dowser was itself a soundtrack, the score for the cult cyberpunk film 964 Pinocchio, directed by Shozin Fukui. Nagashima has also contributed to the recent work of legendary vocalist Phew, notably handling album mixing. In addition, he serves as a professor at the Graduate School of Film and New Media at Tokyo University of the Arts, where he teaches film sound design. Now operating as a trio, Dowser crafts immersive soundscapes that channel a wide spectrum of human emotion, from the raw to the deeply vulnerable. Miyagawaʼs automatic drawings complement and extend the musical dimension, reinforcing the group's identity as an "Unconscious Electronic Sound Collective." Schema 1+2 marks Dowserʼs first label release in many years. Long respected within Japanʼs underground scene, the group enters a new phase of its evolution with this album.

200 pages. "Eternal Rhythm: Conversations & Travelations with Don Cherry and Graeme Ewens offers an intimate, free-flowing portrait of a legendary improviser and musical visionary. Drawn from priceless cassette-taped interviews gathered since 1979, the book is woven together by writer Graeme Ewens -- a confidant, travel companion, and close friend of Don Cherry. Through Ewens' vivid storytelling and Cherry's own reflections, Eternal Rhythm traces a life lived in constant motion -- artistically, spiritually, and geographically. The result is an unfiltered insight into the evolution and working life of a musician globally recognized as one of the most unique, innovative voices to emerge from the '60s free-jazz movement. It's a rich exploration of creativity without borders, capturing the essence of Cherry's expansive global musical journey. Printed in black and white and color.

Clear vinyl version. In spring 2025, Abul Mogard and Rafael Anton Irisarri created the source material for their second album, Where Light Pauses in the Silence of the Sun, during a three-day residency at Morphine Raum in Berlin. Functioning as both recording studio and performance venue, the space has no stage, with the audience gathered around the performers. Working within an open framework, the duo reshaped the music each evening while recording the performances live to multitrack. Rotary speakers, modular synthesizers and bowed guitar formed the core of their sonic language, captured through a 1970s mixing console and microphones placed around the room. Back in Mogard's studio in Rome, the material was further crafted as motifs were stretched, fragments isolated, and tempos dissolved. Irisarri recorded additional guitar textures and treatments in New York, while passages recorded by Martina Bertoni and Andrea Burelli in Berlin reinforced the harmonic centers and brought breath, refinement and a new sensibility to their compositions. The process continued as Mogard's layering and subtraction reassembled everyone's parts into the final arrangement. The album opens with "In the Eastern Wild," building from a sparse outline into a monumental formation of low-frequency weight, its internal motion shaped by the rotating Leslie speaker. "Over the Domes" widens into a broader acoustic field, where sustained modular tones meet waves of softly plucked guitar. The music then turns inward with "A Blue Descent," centered on Bertoni's cello, whose growling timbre introduces a melancholic depth. At the album's center, "In a Quiet Radiance" unfolds around a slow guitar ostinato, its luminous stillness opening into a more expansive and reflective state. Across its ten-minute span, Burelli's violin lines and Bertoni's lower cello phrases gradually surface, weaving through the harmonic field. Mogard brings Burelli's processed voice to the fore, its emotive, operatic presence becoming one of the record's pivotal moments. "Of Blessed Ages" suspends the sonic flow, shifting between parallel major and minor chords as lingering, slowly decaying melodies shape the music's internal drift. The closing "Among Shadows" settles into a darker resonance as layered textures recede. Mogard and Irisarri's shared language balances restraint and maximalism.

LP version. In this work, first published in 1978 by Cetra, Antonio Infantino continues to express his ritualistic and shamanic relationship with the musical traditions of Southern Italy. The recordings focus on the mystery of death and the sacraments, the light of the spirit and the divine that descends and conquers souls. The phenomenon of Tarantism is still strong, the power of dance as a symbol of transformation and revolt, a therapeutic process of final healing. Folk music celebrates a deep sense of community, the memory of a peasant world that no longer exists but is still alive in the collective memory. Behind the tight and insistent rhythm of the percussion, the voices of the people, the colors of the squares and the scratchy string arrangements always emerge. The magical sound of the bagpipes is lost in the alleys of the villages. Infantino sings of minor cultures, the poor and oppressed classes, who share joys and sorrows, dance and music as secular forms of liberation.

LP version. Al Doum &The Faryds have always been an enchanting organism, a timeless land of wisdom, humility, brotherhood and love. Their blend of spiritual jazz, psychedelia and Afro-Latin rock holds a magical balance, turning their music into a tropical celebration filled with harmony and deep vibrations. A volcano of emotion, where the poetry of rising and falling voices becomes a gospel and soul illumination, echoing from faraway places. The expanded horn section -- alto and tenor sax, soprano sax and bass clarinet -- erupts with power, igniting incandescent grooves. Sax lines weave and chase one another like a train in relentless motion, evoking the urgency of post-punk, a wry Zappa-esque eccentricity, and exotic jazz-folk arrangements tinged with retro flair. A hybrid assemblage, deeply anchored in the '60s and '70s, flowing through free-form instrumental turns and psych-tribal impulses, where the guitar traces unexpected, lysergic, dreamlike paths. The Faryds continue to believe in the possibility of a new utopia: moving forward with courage, with hearts open to human connections, grounded in the dialogue of their souls.

These three previously unreleased tracks reflect the cultural influences of a very young Riccardo Sinigaglia. In particular, the Anti-psychiatry movement founded by Ronald David Laing, author of the influential books The Politics of Experience and The Bird of Paradise. As well as Jung's theory of archetypes, a subject explored in depth in the writings of Elémire Zolla. The compositional processes of concrete music are fundamental, while the extensive use of fragments from other cultures reflects a sensitivity matured through his travels in Africa and Asia. The mixture of aquatic and liquid sounds manifests a new state of mind: bird songs, hidden streams, marsh plants, invisible drains, light waves, African, Tibetan, and Indonesian echoes. Everything is skillfully collected using various recording methods (4 tracks Teac 3340, Akai S612) and then assembled on tape with reverbs, equalizers, and the electronic moods of the Revox. Music conceived in different times and situations, but with a similar mood, that of the waters of Lake Orta as a perennial source of peace and inspiration.