The strange thing about the music of Anima is that it's often considered as strange, while it's actually very natural. It has a free spirit, analog to nature. For this release the natural spirit is strengthened by the participation of indigenous American flute player and composer R. Carlos Nakai who did a series of concerts in the US and Europe with Paul and Limpe Fuchs in the 1980s. As with almost all Anima work, the natural feel manifests itself not only by the musical approach and sounds generated by metal, wood, stone and air, but also by the absence of electronic devices. This LP is a reissue of a rare privately released cassette from 1988 and was recorded by the Bayerischer Rundfunk.

Originally released on tape by SicSic in 2014, Aprilnacht commemorates a decade of music from Brannten Schnüre and marked the spring in a tetralogy of albums about the four seasons when it came out. Back then the Würsburg-based project consisted solely of Christian Schoppik, who later welcomed Katie Rich to take over the vocals. He used to perform as Agnes Beil, but dropped the name when, while making this album realized his music was becoming "much gentler and more fragile." Aprilnacht already captured the particular musical ideas that Schoppik would thoroughly keep exploring, delving deeper and deeper into the use and manipulation of samplers from sources so diverging as to wander between the five continents to post-war German family television and cult cinema. Heir of the ritualistic intensity of Coil, of the intricate sampler assemblies of Ghédalia Tazartès', and of the dusty, dismal old ballads from around the world, Brannten Schnüre manages to make these paths cross in a territory that is as inherent as it is uncanny; sieged by the past and intimate as a hearth. An organic approach to folk, ambient, and sound collage, where ethereal yet thoroughly textured pieces coalesce in enthralling, delicate, and innermost musical rituals. Aprilnacht was inspired by the stories of German philosopher and writer Friedrich Alfred Schmid Noerr, whose work exhaustively examines the conflict between paganism and Christianity, safeguarding myth in a way that Schoppik describes as boldly modern, humorous and unpredictable in its variations of the Germanic folklore motifs. Do not succumb to the insipid howl of death, for nothing may last but mutability. You see, the rock has moved a little during the night; the rest is just wind fleeing from the void.

LP version. Står op med solen ("Rising with the sun") is the second album by Amalie Dahl's Dafnie. With this album, the band continues the exploration of their collective sound. There are influences from both old school free jazz, and contemporary Scandinavian jazz like Fire! Orchestra and Christian Wallumrød Ensemble, as well as clear connection to the Trondheim milieu, where the group was founded in 2020. The energetic and expressive band explores their more subtle side with this record. Står op med solen is an album longing for humans to be one with nature. The music comments on the world's ultra-capitalistic power structures of today. The band navigates like one organism through parts of organic free jazz, strict structures and composed cells. They start out where their first record ended, in the familiar free jazz sound with riffs and melodies, and go safely on their onward journey. Amalie Dahl's Dafnie brings together five well-known names from the Norwegian jazz scene, also known from other projects like Kongle Trio, Bliss Quintet, I like to sleep, Veslemøy Narvesen, Galumphing Duo, Treen, and Trondheim Jazz Orchestra, among others.

Several years of mutual appreciation and encounters on and off-stage have been the root of this chance meeting, resulting in an unplanned mysterious collaboration album where the aura of each individual is augmented by the magic osmosis of united forces. The 12-tracks display a collage of dreamy musique concrète with desolate instrumental and vocal interventions, masterfully balanced out by Vincent Epplay.

For more than 40 years, Anne Gillis has discreetly unfolded her proper singular universe without any compromise. She playfully moves with determined restrictions, excavating contrasting forces; sensual and visceral, mechanical and organical, black and white. She extends this personal expression in her visuals using self-portrait photos, handwritten text and her theatrical performances are equally aligned. Her music can be considered as musique concrète using the tape machine as compositional tool, manipulating her recorded sources, mainly consisting of extended voice and different (instrumental) sounds with addition of electronics and treatments. In both her photography and her music, Anne Gillis works fully analog.

The only example of a working sixth-tone harmonium in the world belongs to the collections of the National Museum and is permanently exhibited in the Czech Museum of Music in Prague. Sub Rosa presents these new compositions that were written by Phill Niblock, Klaus Lang, Bernhard Lang, Milan Gustar, Judith Berkson, Idin Samimi Mofakham, and Ian Mikyska. The premiere of these compositions took place in August 2023 as part of the Ostrava Days contemporary music festival. Performed by pianist Miroslav Beinhauer, who is currently the only musician in the world to be able to play this unique instrument. The first model of the sixth-tone harmonium was created in the 1920s on the basis of a commission from the pioneer of microtonal music, Alois Hába, whose visions for its construction convinced the company August Förster. The improved model of the harmonium dates from 1936 by the same company. The first Czechoslovak president Masaryk supported the purchase of the new instrument by contributing ten thousand crowns, and the same amount was added by the Ministry of Education and National Enlightenment at the time. In 2018, Miroslav Beinhauer participated in the premiere of Hába's sixth-tone opera Come Thy Kingdom, followed by the staging and recording of Alois Hába's opus Six Compositions For Sixth-Tone Harmonium, op. 37, which was the only solo composition for this instrument for more than ninety years. In the last three years, new repertoire for sixth-tone harmonium has been written by renowned Czech and foreign composers.

For the very first time on vinyl, Jah Wobble's 1997 extraordinary descent into downtempo and world beat science. Released on his now-defunct 30 Hertz label, The Light Programme showcased an excellent cast of musicians. On board are historical Can drummer Jaki Liebezeit, with more of his African-induced rhythms; multi-instrumentalist and The Wire contributor Clive Bell, conga player Neville Murray, guitar and synth player Mark Ferda, and the exceptional harpist Zi-Lan Liao. If you enjoyed My Life In the Bush Of Ghosts you'll fall in love with The Light Programme.

Sonor Music Editions presents this revived issue of Open Air Parade, one of the most sought-after artifacts from the golden era of Italian library music. This holy grail was originally released in 1972 on the legendary Sermi Records label (often referred to as SR Records). It features ten tracks composed by Ennio Morricone's whistler, Alessandro Alessandroni, revealing his great talent and unrivaled sense of melody, accompanied by the brilliant Italian jazz bassist Giovanni Tommaso, also founder and member of the legendary prog-jazz-rock ensemble Perigeo. Open Air Parade is a masterpiece and rightfully sits among the top five in its genre. It has a beautiful cohesiveness throughout and can only be described as sincere. The music ranges from superb psychedelic lounge funk, compelling groovy jazz beat tunes, and far-ranging mood music with lush arrangements. It's an essential album, officially reissued by Sonor Music Editions. This 2024 repress has been carefully remastered, and packed in a thick cardboard sleeve with fully restored artwork using the original painting by Ernst Wilhelm Nay in full fidelity.

After achieving some decent notoriety, and not only in Italy, as an electro-pop duo (thanks mainly to the single "Short Wave," a small "classic" in the early years of that decade), between January 1982 and March 1983 Ruins morphed into a new five members line-up. With this fresh option, Ruins restructured the previous repertoire and produced entirely new material. The original four-track recording had remained largely unpublished at the time and seemed irretrievably lost. However, thanks to persistent research and with the aid of modern technology, they have been brilliantly recovered from the archives and are now available in this collection aptly titled Brain Flakes (The Lost Combo Tapes), bringing to light the "explosive" blend of prog, funk, new wave, and electro-pop, that Ruins' short-lived lineup managed to create in just over a year of activity.

The third chapter of the Milano Undiscovered series, curated by Fred Ventura takes listeners on a journey through the vibrant Milanese techno and house scene of 1988-1992. This latest installment unveils a treasure of unreleased demos, showcasing the productions that emerged from the city's flourishing underground during this era. Inspired by the pioneering sounds emanating from Chicago, Detroit, London and Sheffield, a wave of Milanese producers embarked on a creative odyssey, crafting their own unique sonic interpretations of the electronic dance music landscape. Featuring Sigma Tibet, B-Logic, Grey Area, Mont Blanc, Straight Beat, Love Nation, Soul City Crew, Visions Factory, Periferico, and Beat 4 Life.

Starting out as a typical U.K. club soul band, and then turning toward psychedelia and prog rock in the latter half of the '60s, Pesky Gee! changed their name in 1970 to Black Widow and reached the public eye with their occult masterpiece Sacrifice. Their 1969 debut on Pye is considered a turning point in the British jazz-blues scene. With a cool Hammond organ vibe and some truly fascinating acid-folk harmonies -- both intoned by male and female singers -- Exclamation Mark is more than a mythological album!

"Big Hotel, the sophomore effort of Winged Wheel, is an evolutionary document. Core members Cory Plump (Spray Paint, Rider/Horse, Expensive Shit), Fred Thomas (Tyvek, Idle Ray), Whitney Johnson (Matchess, Damiana), and Matthew J Rolin (Powers/Rolin Duo, solo) expand their lineup to include Lonnie Slack (Water Damage) and Steve Shelley (Sonic Youth), and instead of the entirely remote method utilized to create their 2022 debut No Island, the far-flung party convened in person in Kingston, NY for a long weekend of live studio recording. The results are undeniably compelling. The band's signature cyclonic energy is simultaneously augmented and refined with the approach of real-time collaboration. After tracking three days' worth of group improvisations, weirdly-born songs, and other spontaneous creations, the hours of material were edited with a similar intensity. Half-hour jams became three-minute ragers and fragments were looped into infinity, calling on the same spliced aesthetic as some of the most adventurous material by Can, Faust, or more recently the experimental production of the International Anthem camp. The stereo field has been torn apart and sewn together again, rerouted with strange and mesmerizing left turns. Vignettes of ambiguous construction, both tightly coiled and exploding, revolve around themselves, gathering intensity and mass, coalescing into something greater than the sum of its parts. Where No Island was born out of distance and murk, these songs breathe and erupt in close quarters. Though the band isn't necessarily concerned with finding new levels of clarity, there's a newfound power in the steady drive of Shelley's unmistakable rhythmic style, and the unexpected interplay that builds on this foundation. Big Hotel is the sound of what happens in the rare and intriguing moments when Winged Wheel are all in the same room." --Jen Powers

2024 repress. Be With Records presents a reissue of Vaughan Mason and Butch Dayo's Feel My Love, originally released on Salsoul in 1983. If ever an album could transport one to the hazy sunshine and imagined halcyon paradise of Southern California in the mid-1980s, or could capture the early evening warmth of hanging at an inclusive boogie jam as it approaches "magic hour" in Santa Ana or Anaheim, then it's Feel My Love. A brilliantly produced deep slung, low rider funk classic, it's a masterpiece of "funk love music." A perfectly formed five track mini LP of unparalleled heat, there's one song here that, above the rest, represents Orange County boogie-funk. A straight killer beloved by all that have had the pleasure of moving to it. A track that can fill up a dance floor within seconds of its starting. That song is the eternal title track, "Feel My Love". This is a work of art that made people fall in love with the funk -- it transcends the limitations of genre. "Feel My Love"'s deceptive simplicity makes it perfect to drop during a house set, a classic funk party or at a west coast rap jam. It's sexy, deeply emotional, melancholic, hopeful, passionate and just radiates so much raw energy -- this is music. The rest of the record is hardly filler though. Opener "Oh, Love" is a dizzying, emotional slow jam. With heaven-sent vocals riding gorgeous, sweeping keys that alternate between sweet twinkling lines and funk-fuelled stabbing -- it's sensational. A rollerskating jam named "Rollalong Songs" is an ultra-swish piece of dance floor dynamite; its slick drums, staccato piano, and neck-snapping claps underscore Dayo's buoyant vocals. It's essentially "Bounce, Rock, Skate, Roll Part II". The flip begins with "Party On The Corner" with smoother-than-silk vocals, day-glo synths, a bubbling bassline, and guitar licks that would surely receive the Prince seal of approval. It's another example of how Mason and Dayo flirt with perfection so routinely. The majestic closer, the kaleidoscopic, cow-bell-assisted synth-funk heater "You Can Do It" is a proto-rap groover that truly smokes. This LP is a stone-cold jam and finding original copies on vinyl at affordable prices has been tough for years. Mastered by Simon Francis, cut by Pete Norman, with lovingly reproduced artwork, this Be With reissue ensures this legendary LP now sounds, looks and feels as sensational as it should. 180 gram pressing.

Double LP version. Hot Casa Records present Togo Soul 2, selected rare Togolese recordings from 1974 to 1989. A treasure-trove of rare and unusual recordings mostly recorded in Lomé during the '70s and '80s. A fusion of traditional voodoo chants, raw soul and even electro funk. Finding these tracks and their rights holders hasn't become any easier even after few trips all over this west African country bordered by Ghana, Benin, and Burkina Faso. After eight years, Hot Casa Records, with the kind help of Roger Damawuzan, decided to select thirteen tracks, a snapshot of some hundreds of rare and often forgotten tapes from the most prolific, professional and exciting phase of the country's recording history included international stars like Akofa Akoussah, Gregoire Lawani, and Roger Damawuzan. Many of the tracks featured here are peppered with innovation and experimentation highlighting how diverse, the music scene in Togo was at the time even if the political context influenced their creation. Many of the original albums these tracks are taken from high prices online due to their rarity and so with great pleasure Hot Casa present a selection here that evokes a golden boomtime in Togolese music history. Includes biographies and rare photos. Remastered by Frank Merritt. Includes 32-page booklet. Also featuring Ali Bawa, Napo De Mi Amor, Alognon Degbevi & Les Vétérans Jazz, Mamo Lagbema, Koffi Ottytana Bebli, Deg Dos, Tomede Ehue, Mawuli Decker, Palete Wawa, and Agboti.

A.R. & Machines is the solo project of one Achim Reichel. Released in 1971, this album still retains a magical touch. Ranked between the most original kraut albums of all the time, Die Grune Reise (aka The Green Journey) really is a trip. Turning his back to the original beat movement, Reichel embraced the infinity of a multi-layered sound, experiencing the most prolific path of prog rock while joining the obscure meanders of the lysergic renaissance.

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

"Jackson C. Frank has become a folk legend. As an American folk musician and songwriter known for his brief but influential career in the 1960s, his debut album, Jackson C. Frank, is considered a folk classic. It featured songs like 'Blues Run the Game' and 'Milk and Honey,' which have been covered by numerous artists over the years, including Simon and Garfunkel, Nick Drake, and Bert Jansch."

Saginaw Racket, the new double album by Sir Richard Bishop, features the first new recordings from the former Sun City Girls guitarist in over five years. It is a singular work for electric guitar in four parts with each part being a full side. Each of the four parts were recorded in one take and they are presented in the order they were originally recorded. But this is also a circular work with no fixed beginning or end. One can start the record with any of the four sides, with the remaining sides then played in order. Known for his interpretations of Spanish, North African, Middle and Far Eastern guitar and string compositions, Richard Bishop never remains long in any one musical territory. There are no Eastern or exotic touches here. It is more reminiscent of early '70s underground rock (unrock). The entire work is improvised, with recurring motifs and melodies. It is similar in approach to Neil Young's Dead Man Soundtrack, but Saginaw Racket is louder, more energetic and more complex, while retaining its cinematic quality. The tone of the guitar is the voice of the record. It is noisy at times but it is not "noise." It definitely is a racket, though, and it unleashes all the pent-up energy of the last few years, during much of which, SRB never even picked up a guitar. So in a sense Richard Bishop is returning to his roots in the form of a spontaneous soundtrack to old Saginaw where he grew up and first learned to play the guitar -- a Saginaw that certainly doesn't exist anymore. Saginaw Racket is limited to 400 copies pressed on 140g black vinyl.

Agua Larga offers an immersion into the Afro-Ecuadorian culture of the province of Esmeraldas. The authors have captured how music is part of the daily life of the inhabitants, and how it interacts with the other sound elements that surround it. The musical material is thus accompanied by stories, poems and scenes of everyday life captured on the spot, far from aseptic studios, in public spaces, on river banks or by the sea. The guiding theme is water ("agua" in Spanish), in all its forms. It was the sea that brought the slaves to this new continent, but it is the sea that supplies the fishermen of today with fish. The rivers and streams used by boats and pirogues connect the villages of this rainforest. Water has also become a rare commodity in the city, where access is still difficult for some of the population. Scenes taken on the spot will mark this omnipresence of water, as a place to live and a necessary daily resource. This documentary project is intended as a sound testimony to an oral culture that is still too little known.

Boîte Boîte is the latest collection from French trumpeter Jac Berrocal. Composed of rare and previously unreleased tracks, it plunges the listener into the fascinating world of this unclassifiable and timeless avant-garde artist. Recorded between Paris, New York, Berlin and Riga, the works are received like postcards from an unknown sender and enjoyed without moderation. The selection, devised by Jac Berrocal himself, oscillates between experimental tracks such as the eponymous "Boîte Boîte" and electronic pop delusions such as "Amarena." Impeccably mixed by Vincent Epplay. Limited edition.

LP version. "With Time is Glass, Six Organs of Admittance is captured once again in the intricate tangle of the fretboards, soaring in open skies above. Like lens flare cutting through the speakers; spiderwebs cracking the windshield that holds back all the onrushing reality. Blowing the dust away, cutting a new path for cognition. After 20 years of living on the road in different places, Six Organs of Admittance had returned home to Humboldt County -- a far country, to some, but still part of the world through which creatures of all kinds are moving through and contributing to. And some of them are human. Alone together -- forming connection and exchange out of thought and expression -- no different from the people on the other side of the Redwood Curtain. It was there, where Six Organs had long ago emerged, in the name of everything cycling, of circles that spiral concentrically and remain unbroken, the new music was conceived. In moments, it was as if the future had somehow wrapped around 360 degrees; elsewhere, the systems and patterns inside the writing and recording only became evident later -- like a recognition that cumulus and nimbus clouds which passed through the sky the day before contained familiar shapes. Informing the songs accordingly as he went, Ben picked up on modes both musical and lyrical, threading backward through the time of Six Organs of Admittance. Working on the music and the vocals, then spending some time with them while stepping away from them. Walking the dog and coming back to them. Time is Glass is made of that kind of time. Alone time. Recorded in the visceral environs of home, Time is Glass is sharply focused, even as misty impressionist mountains float through the background. The intuit, passing through wormholes and time, sounding deep then dissolving into the universal. The acoustic sounds ringing, layered suddenly, then clear again. Explosions of a new kind of distortion. Ecstatic melodies. Communing. The space of a day. The space of a season. Time is Glass, and Six Organs of Admittance is here and will be here, again."

French chanson, noise, echoes of music from faraway and long ago, modified radio transistors and other old electronic gear, French song, noisemakers, rumors of ancient and distant music, handmade instruments, modified transistor radios and other old electronic objects, Bégayer is looking for a gesture for those without folklore, for the offspring of this culture of lack, born as much from the twilight of popular habitus as from noisemakers' howling, from village squares as from the swarming of digital streams, for an unprecedented kind of rapsod-aliens. The culture of lack can be seen as a cruel joy, an opportunity for communion between the staggering interpretation of ancient gestures and present-day attempts to construct unique variations and overflows. In this way, each stuttering chant seeks to be a restless and joyful object, whose obstinacy and cruel simplicity offer themselves as manifest objects of agitation, as distances to be encountered, as studies that look towards us. Évohé Bègue moves towards an open, highly improvised composition, somewhere between the patterns of Morton Feldman, the Nigerian Ogene orchestral bands, the post-punk pleas of New York no-wave, the laughing insolence of northern Italian folk music, the ritual yodelling of the monks of Java, contemporary poetry, and improvised music.

Double LP version. WRWTFWW Records is flying high as it announces the reissue of the 1997 ambient masterpiece Quiet Logic by electronic music visionaries Mixmaster Morris (The Irresistible Force), Jonah Sharp (Spacetime Continuum), and Haruomi Hosono (Yellow Magic Orchestra). Quiet Logic invites listeners to embark on a captivating sonic odyssey, blending intricate rhythms and celestial environments that push the boundaries of electronic music. Co-crafted at Haruomi Hosono's Tokyo studio in 1997, this album represents a time of rapid transformation in the genre, with these three artists at the forefront of redefining soundscapes. With its unique blend of influences from Hosono's immense contribution to electronic, pop, and experimental music to Morris' worldwide chill out DJ performances and Sharp's pioneering label, Reflective, Quiet Logic remains a timeless piece of ethereal electronica. It was originally only released in Japan in CD format on the Harry Hosono-curated Daisyworld Discs label. Remastered for 2024, this reissue is a must-have for fans of Haruomi Hosono/YMO, The Irresistible Force, Spacetime Continuum, Dreamfish, Tetsu Inoue, FFWD, H.I.A., Fax +49-69/450464, and mind-expanding musics. Immerse yourself now.

Double LP version. A humanity-reminding suite of miracle moments, Someone Like Me unites a geographically unbound cast of real people in pursuit of a meaningful connection. Taping their lived experience in economic studios in quiet English counties, Pacific Northwest woodland retreats and the big city bustle of Sydney and Los Angeles, these kindred spirits rendered sheer beauty in the process. Custom pressed folk songs of love, loss and the lord savior. Illuminating minor works from seasoned players such as former Syndicate Of Sound chart-topper Sharkey and late-era Canned Heat lynchpin James Thornbury, the collection simultaneously honors the fleeting amateurism of hobby musicians. With their one shot at tangible vinyl, freshman Lynne Ann Kingan realized her loose bubblegum rocker on campus time, while U.S. Navy recruit Fred Potts cut his unconditionally serene ballad remotely stationed on a Spanish naval base. Spartan production continues to reign with Jon Betmead's hair-raising gospel, howling into infinite space, and Goldrust's stripped back garden hymn. Throughout the hour-long reflection, faith has an intermittent yet revelatory presence, most overtly with the divine choral soul of Seventh-day Adventist quartet Remnant. More subtly, Gary Ramey and Jim Kennedy both turned to song in their spiritual quests, offering their all to a universal power. An irrefutable compilation cornerstone, the National Office For Black Catholics showcased Charles Murphy's lionhearted account of the Black experience at a 1971 concert. Five years earlier, high school seniors The Superwomen would use their hauntingly angelic harmonies to address racial inequity with a breathless take on "Lowlands." Reaching the furthest corners, Someone Like Me secures the inaugural license of three homespun masterpieces. Discovered by fluke in the digital haystacks of Youtube and Soundcloud, Jim Huxley's bedroom pop earworm melds peacefully into Charlie Webster's synthesized reverie. Meanwhile, Hollywood's John Agostino introduces us to the bizarre world of tax scam records, with the artist only now learning that his tender psych-folk demos were leaked via a 1977 bootleg. Compiled and lovingly restored by armchair digger Mikey Young (Eddy Current Suppression Ring/The Green Child), Someone Like Me pays due service to seventeen rarefied journals of truth and devotion. Adorned with visual artist Chris Fallon's figure and flora dream extractions, the uniting songbook is further detailed by expansive track-by-track liner notes and a forward from San Franciscan poet Rod Roland. Also featuring The Bob Hughes Band, Jon Betmead, Robison Kaplan Ltd., and Ritchie Tierney. Original recordings range from 1966 to 1990.

"The general theme of the composition is the idea of sounds which travel. During a tram ride from the city up to the hills with an old tram I discovered not only stunning views of the surrounding landscape but as well a special soundscape. Wearing a custom-made induction headphones, I could hear the normally hidden electromagnetic fields of the tram, which were so impressive and musical to me that I immediately decided to base my piece for Trondheim Voices on this discovery. As a start, a series of pure vocal recordings were produced by Trondheim Voices while listening to a choice of electromagnetic tram sounds and following score instructions. This material was mixed in my Berlin studio and afterward was played back through a multi-loudspeaker setup into the room of the Elisabeth Church in Berlin and was instantaneously recorded. The emerged recording was played back and recorded again. The process of playing back the previous recording was repeated numerous times, generating numerous 're-recordings,' until the voices sounded aethereal and abstract. The last one of these recordings became the very beginning of the "Stromsänger" piece. Part A is based on the electromagnetic sounds of the waiting tram and previously recorded voices. The singers come on stage and start to sing together with their recorded part which slowly fades out while the live singing takes over: a kind of choral for electrical tram waves and voices. Part B is based on the actual tram ride with strong and intense electromagnetic sounds. The single recordings were treated electronically and were divided into six channels. Each singer has chosen one of these files and improvises with the magnetic sounds as a soloist or in duos or trios. Part C is based on the itinerary of the tram ride to Lian, where a pilgrim's path starts. The names of the single stops, which have very beautiful and poetic names, are performed together as a kind of "sound poetry." The singers walk around on stage and/or can choose special positions for their performance. The recording of the word "Lian," the final stop, was recorded beforehand and played back and re-recorded several times in the open Norwegian landscape near the final tram stop. The voices slowly disappear and fade out." --Christina Kubisch, 2024

Double LP. We Release Jazz announces an exciting new body of work by Joseph Deenmamode aka Mo Kolours. A catalog of critically acclaimed records, including his self-titled debut (2014), Texture Like Like Sun (2015), 2018 album Inner Symbols and three companion EPs, established Deenmamode as a prodigious musician and vocalist. The tracks on Original Flow have been constructed from sessions, improvisations and soundbites captured around the world; collecting contributions from musicians including Deenamode's brothers Reginald Omas Mamode and Jeen Bassa plus Andrew Ashong, Charles Bullen, Dwaye Kilvington, Eddie Hick, Stefan Asanovic, Myele Manzanza, Ross Hughes, and Tom Dreissler. Original Flow is an album of UK street-soul nouveau, future indigenous jazz fusion, Rasta Segga, Nyahbinghi jazz, Malagasy Hebrew hip hop. While retaining a spirit of exploration and improvisation, it sees Deenmamode grow and flex beyond beat tape brevity, expanding composition and stretching his musical muscle to play live with other musicians. Themes of empowerment, overcoming adversity, and mental liberation coexist with notes from ancient history, futurism, and science, as well as musings on family and togetherness.

Black Truffle announces The Mountains Pass, a major new work from Olivia Block. A key player in Chicago's vibrant experimental music scene since the late 1990s, Block has developed an extensive body of work grounded in a personalized, at times emotive approach to the studio-based practices of the musique concrète tradition, while also encompassing improvisation, orchestral pieces, sound installations, and a sustained engagement with the piano. On The Mountains Pass, recorded by Greg Norman at Steve Albini's Electrical Audio and meticulously edited and constructed over the course of three years, Block pushes into new terrain, introducing her singing voice and drums played by Jon Mueller into flowing assemblages that move seamlessly from ruminative organ tones and fragmented piano airs to explosions of sizzling synths and thundering percussion. Like many of Block's past works, which include, for example, a sculptural installation using the sound of oyster beds, The Mountains Pass draws inspiration from nature and the animal world. Time spent in a particular mountain range in Northern New Mexico informs this suite of pieces, whose lyrics and titles refer particularly to animal life in the area. The music sometimes suggests the great outer-limits works of '70s Italian prog figures like Franco Battiato or Arturo Stalteri in the languorous drift of synthesizer, organ, and piano tones and the meticulous yet organic flow of its construction. Block's crystalline voice and rich piano chords at times call up the restrained chamber songs of Janet Sherbourne, but fragmented and threaded through passages of woozy pitch-bent keyboards, hypnotic distant thuds, tinkling bells, and searing distorted synth tones. On "f2754," the freedom of the roaming wolf surges through dense layers of rapid keyboard attacks and long organ tones over a propulsive drum performance straight out of Animal Magnetism-era Arnold Dreyblatt. This distinctive sound world is then reencountered in a darkened mirror image in the uneasy, metallic shimmer of the closing "Ungulates," named in reference to a heard of elk roaming through the mountains. Like Battiato's Clic or Gastr del Sol's Upgrade & Afterlife, The Mountains Pass inhabits the underexplored terrain where the beauty of song coexists with a radical formal openness, illuminating the deep musicality and warmth that have been present in Block's work all along.

"Oren Ambarchi has been collaborating with the Fire! trio (Mats Gustafsson, Johan Berthling, and Andreas Werliin) for over a decade -- and both Johan and Andreas played on Oren's Live Hubris as well. Oren and Johan began music-making together back in the early aughts -- but it wasn't until 2021 that the three of them got together to record music. That became the first Ghosted album. When they were done, it was clear they had founded a new group. A music of sustained tension and deep atmosphere marked by subtle, shifting dynamics, Ghosted was released in May of 2022 to psyched response everywhere; the trio embarked upon an ongoing series of concert bookings around Europe, with loads of other people in the world still hoping to have the chance to be in the room at the next show. Two years on, Ghosted has gone through several represses; now, it's time for the 'dreaded follow up album.' What made the most sense was to go back to Daneil Bengtsson at Studio Rymden in Stockholm for a couple days, then have Oren and Joe Talia mix and Joe master it at Good Mixture in Melbourne again, then get Pål Dybwik to do some well-distinctive cover art, and once more, call it a record. Ghosted II has a definitively fresh quality radiating throughout it. The mutual feeling among the three players goes deep, allowing for lots more to say every time they get together -- a further recombination of elements, a new expedition through alternative angles. There's always more, and incredibly, it's all improvised, with next-to-nothing prepared going in and minimal overdubs after they've laid things down. As noted, these guys balance their music improbably between a relaxed feel and a nervy resolve, as each member holds down their corner in an open sound field. Making Ghosted II, the band found that there's a different kind of tension making something for an established project rather than the kind one feels making something for the first time -- and they used this new variety, as before, as a kind of fuel --driving their terse minimalism fruitfully through the process of succumbing to and then transcending guilty pleasures. Finding fresh territory in funk sketches, jazzy heads, ambient pastorals and droning soundtrack pieces, Ambarchi, Berthling and Werliin compellingly haunt a mad variety of spaces."

LP version. Sahrawi singer-songwriter activist Aziza Brahim's fifth album Mawja ("wave" in Hassaniya Arabic) is fashioned from a simple but powerful foundational palette: Saharan and Iberian percussion entwining with stately guitars and warm, enveloping bass. Co-produced by Brahim with long-time collaborator Guillem Aguilar, the record from her oeuvre that Mawja most sonically resembles is her revered and graceful debut Soutak (GB 009LP, 2014). That noted, there is a confident eclecticism found here, an expansive take on her vision that even includes a drum pattern inspired by the Clash. Brahim's voice, as always, is a wellspring of deep and resonant emotions. The yearning for homeland. The struggle for freedom. The love for one's elders. The unfurling of time. Waves of history, waves of sound. Mawja.

LP version. Glitterbeat Presents Ana Lua Caiano's Vou Ficar Neste Quadrado. Ana Lua Caiano's debut album melds rural Portuguese music traditions with layered vocals, synthesizers, insistent beats and field recordings. Her music is visceral and tightly focused pulling from a rich mosaic of influences that includes traditional group singing, musique concrete, songwriters from Portugal's '70s revolutionary period and electronic icons like Bjork and Laurie Anderson. Hailing from Lisbon's fertile musical underground, Caiano's music -- and its international reception -- are moving forward quickly. Her lauded recent performances at Eurosonic and Transmusicales certainly attest to that, as do the laser sharp emotions and highly individual sonics of her much anticipated first album: Vou Ficar Neste Quadrado ("I Shall Stay in This Square"). It's electronic music. Utterly contemporary. Pulsing, glitchy, atmospheric and beat driven but with roots deep in the traditional Portuguese music her parents listened to when she was a child. "They had a lot of cassettes that they'd play," she recalls. "I loved to mimic and I'd imitate the singers. I took it in by osmosis, I suppose, and the elements are still there in what I do." Since she began her sonic experiments during lockdown, Caiano has been relentlessly pushing the borders of her music. It is of course a process that already began when she first imitated traditional singers or took her first piano lesson. It is a process that's led her to the road she's on now, one where tradition and electronics walk side by side. "I think it's quite experimental," she says, affirming that her music emphasizes the restless and evolutionary. "I believe traditional music evolves with the world -- nowadays you can make traditional music with a computer or talk about themes that weren't relevant or didn't exist in the past. Traditional music is always evolving." Travelling forward fast and sure, Ana Lua Caiano is definitely not stuck in a square. Featuring Essence Voices.

After a solid run of five studio albums and two double live albums, Psychedelic Backfire I and II, (both 2019), Elephant9 had taken their groovy mix of high energy rock and power jazz as far as they could. In this respect their previous album Arrival of The New Elders (2021) came as a welcome and most timely addition to their recorded output. More varied, mature and reflective, they were as groovy as ever, but more structured and less jam oriented. Mythical River is molded much in the same way and a natural follow-up, with six stellar new compositions by keyboard maestro Ståle Storløkken, bookended by two short cosmic snippets. From the hypnotic and magical to the razor sharp and polyrhythmic, this is yet another strong group effort from a trio on top of their game. Comparisons have been made with bands dating as far back as the sixties, but with Arrival of The New Elders and Mythical River, Elephant9 appear as a thoroughly contemporary, timeless and even futuristic sounding band. Mythical River was recorded and mixed by previous Dungen producer Mattias Glavå. Ståle started his musical journey in Veslefrekk with Jarle Vespestad and Arve Henriksen in the '90s, soon morphing into Supersilent with Helge Sten on board. He´s also a member of Hedvig Mollestad Weejuns, Møster!, and Humcrush, and have collaborated with a number of artists, most notably Motorpsycho. Nikolai is also a member of Bigbang, Needlepoint, and Band of Gold, and have appeared on a couple of hundred records. The same goes for Torstein, an associate member of numerous bands ranging from pop and soul to free jazz. But Elephant9 has always been their special baby.

LP version. Following her thrilling 2022 duo EP with Iggy Pop (The Dictator) Belgian composer/musician Catherine Graindorge returns with a luminous ensemble album. Instrumental and vocal songs of life, love and death. Inspired by mythologies and elegies from the Greeks to the Beats. Over the years, Catherine Graindorge has worked with an incredible cast of collaborators, including Iggy Pop, Nick Cave, Hugo Race, and producer John Parish (PJ Harvey). But for Songs for the Dead she wanted a small, tight ensemble, so she called on regular collaborators Simon Ho on keyboards, and bassist Pascal Humbert (16 Horsepower, Lilium, Détroit) who both know her and her music well. Best known as the vocalist with And Also the Trees, Jones's voice gives the lines gravity, a delivery between singing and speaking. "I recorded demos of the music I'd written and sent them to him," Graindorge recalls, "then he returned them with his ideas for the words. He understood what I was looking for." Things coalesced quickly, and by the time they went into the studio "almost everything was written, so we didn't need to discuss much. We took six days to record the album, then another five to complete the mixing." All the mixing was analogue, Graindorge explains because "it's warmer, and it makes more sense to me with my instruments and the way I write, acoustically on violin and viola. More like baroque music, in a way." Songs for the Dead is quite deliberately an album that gives space for the imagination, "where people can come and go in the music," Graindorge says. And there's plenty to explore in the stories of Orpheus and Eurydice and Ginsberg's dream meeting with Joan Burroughs. Myths ancient and modern. Legends and stories. "I like to tell a story," she says. "I come from theatre, and I'm also an actor. These are narratives, questions and answers that relate and connect to each other."

Titled Vernacular, the debut album by Blake Reyes is personally overseen by Jeff Mills, and is part of the Axis Jazz collection. This confirms the eclecticism and versatility of both Axis and Blake Reyes, through harmony and rhythm, cultural influences, and the right touch of fusion: characteristics that have always defined jazz. The album was recorded in three different cities (Bologna, Milan, and Rome), with Jeff Mills present during all recording and mixing sessions. Particularly in Milan, work was done at the Officine Meccaniche studios, where Duke Ellington, Quincy Jones, and many others have recorded. Vernacular is an album that draws from jazz, Detroit techno and funk. It evokes operatic work due to its aspiration to create strong emotional intensity. The album features a blend of acoustic instruments such as acoustic bass, acoustic and electronic guitars, and the Steinway & Sons Grand Piano -- the same Duke Ellington played in 1963 when he recorded The Symphonic Ellington album -- alongside electronic instruments including drum machines and Roland synths. The musical references can primarily be found in Jeff Mills and his Millsart project, and more broadly in the works of composers like Bruno Nicolai, Piero Umiliani, Piero Piccioni, Brian Bennett, John Cameron, and even Raymond Scott. Producer, DJ, and sound designer Blake Reyes (born Luca Vertulli) divides his time between Milan and Ibiza. His productions consistently focus on the sounds and emotions derived from tapes, samplers, drum machines, and analog synthesizers. His mixes are broadcasted on stations such as Ibiza Global Radio, Ibiza Sonica, Radio Raheem, and Olà Radio.

Melbourne/Naarm-based musician and curator Rama Parwata, known for being the backbone drummer in bands such as Kilat, Whitehorse, and Rinuwat, releases his second major solo album titled Ceases on Cassauna/Important Records. Parwata's gripping new electro-acoustic work is a sonic exploration within the realms of post-free-jazz and experimental electronics. At its core, Ceases navigates the liminal spaces between rhythm and noise, structure and chaos. The album traverses a vast emotional and conceptual landscape, touching upon themes of impermanence, transformation, and the cyclical nature of existence. At the forefront of the album is Parwata's emotive compositional and performative approach, which serves as both anchor and catalyst for the album's journey. The percussion performance is cymbal heavy accompanied by deeply meditative drones and slow-moving melodies. The wash of sound touches on a spiritualism akin to Coltrane's "A Love Supreme Part 4: Psalm," albeit with a modern electronic vision á la Tim Hecker. With a keen sense of textural intricacy Parwata favors the emotional expression of electro-acoustic composition, weaving complex poly-textures that ebb and flow with hypnotic, prayer-like intensity. Each performative gesture creates a visceral immediacy that draws the listener deeper into the celestial, otherworldly sonic framework. The diverse array of electronic elements, meticulously crafted and seamlessly integrated into the fabric of the album are a testament of Parwata's capacity for acousmatic composition. From pulsating synthesizers to glitched-out samples, the electronic timbres in Ceases serve as both sonic embellishments and structural foundations, blurring the boundaries between organic and synthetic, acoustic and digital. Honing in on the electronics, a listener could be convinced they were hearing anything from spiritual-jazz, '90s rave, dungeon synth or doom. Through judicious composition, Parwata imbues each sound with a sense of transcendental allure and paints a soundworld that has a distinct "outerness." At times the narrative is pointedly bleak but over a few passages the sonic language often bends toward rejuvenation; finding respite in cadence. The title itself suggests a sense of cessation, of endings and beginnings intertwined -- a motif that reverberates throughout the album.

2024 repress.. Reissue, originally released in 1974. "This Is Augustus Pablo is a studio album by Augustus Pablo originally released in 1974 and co-written and produced by Pablo's childhood friend and critically acclaimed reggae producer Clive Chin. The album boasts an impressive list of session musicians including Ansel Collins on keyboards and Lloyd Parks and Aston Barrett both on bass guitar. The album was one of the first to showcase Pablo's unique use of the melodica."