Born Herman Poole Blount in Alabama during 1914, Sun Ra first emerged on the Chicago jazz scene during the late 1940s. One of the great avant-garde composers of his generation -- leading the way on piano, organ, and (eventually) synthesizer -- beginning in the mid-1950s and lasting until his death in 1993, led the Arkestra, a band through which a near countless number of important artists passed and collaborated with, and many remained for the duration of their careers, notably Marshall Allen, John Gilmore, and June Tyson. Known for their wild costumes and theatrics, Ra's eccentric image and claims that he was from Saturn was deeply political, imagining an alternate social order, history, and future for African Americans that rests as a pioneering force in the Afro-Futurist movement. Recorded live at Teatro Giulio Cesare on March 28, 1980, comprising an astounding 27 compositions, including the highly celebrated "Astro Black," "Mr. Mystery," "Romance of Two Planets," "Space Is the Place," "We Travel the Spaceways," and "Calling Planet Earth." High among the greatest live gigs by the Arkestra captured on tape, carefully mastered by Matt Bordin at Outside Inside Studio, Live in Rome 1980 is a near perfect snapshot of the band's versatility and range, including many of their most notably and famous songs, as well as striking renditions of the Horace Henderson penned Benny Goodman number "Big John's Special," Fletcher Henderson's "Yeah Man!," and "Limehouse Blues," displaying Ra's willingness to address and rework the entire, diverse history of jazz in a single go. Heard in its totality, perhaps what makes Live in Rome 1980 most striking is the way in which the concert plays out. Roughly the first half encounters the band locked in some of the most out-there, free jazz fire that can be imagined, weaving a startling sense of interplay and furious energy into a brilliant tapestry of writhing sonority, the likes of which were only really achieved by this band. The second half, with only moments of exception that return to the furious energy of the first, is a very different affair, easy toward the vocal standards, led by June Tyson's vocals and the joyous collective chanting of the band, for which they have become so widely celebrated, threading the sounds of off-kilter big band swing with heavy grooves and imagines of outer space.

Boston/Tenor/Index presents for the first time some of the earliest works by the American composer Phil Niblock, including the three never before released "Index" (1969), "Tenor" and "Boston III" (both from 1972), thus making it possible to discover Niblock's starting point as a composer. Until now, it's been impossible to encounter Niblock's compositions from earlier than the '80s, a reality thankfully rectified by the long overdue publication of this Boston/Tenor/Index, now on CD from Alga Marghen. "Tenor" (1972) represents the first evolution of Niblock's musical thought towards the aesthetics of microtones, overtones, and drones which the composer would develop in following decades. The piece was recorded by the photographer Martin Bough on tenor saxophone and gradually dubbed back and forth by the composer in his New York studio. The audio materials activated in "Tenor" through technologically de- and re-composed sounding textures, became a vehicle for those sound anomalies that would determine Niblock's audio poetics. Performing gestures are deconstructed though disseminating and editing processes by the imperceptible gestures of the composer. With its smooth flowing structure, "Boston III" (1972) stands at the very beginning of this illusion. It was recorded at the Intermedia Sound studio in Boston with Rhys Chatham (flute, voice), Martin Bough (tenor saxophone), and Gregory Reeve (viola, voice); the composer himself also contributed with his voice. "Index" (1969) is an improvised sound performance by the composer himself. The listener is lucky to listen to the movements of the artist's fingers hitting a guitar string and the soundboard in breathtaking tempo. The piece itself represents early minimalism in its virgin state, untouched by distancing technology. Guitar (both its body and strings), fingers and fingering fuse in a vehement action around which barely listenable sounds and resonances vibrate. This CD also includes "Boston I" (1972), or the first chapter of the "Boston" series. This 25-minute bonus track is less massive than "Boston III," but this version is much richer in dynamics and presents a more recognizable voice of each instrument. The music changes according to the loudness of playback. The interaction of the upper harmonics changes especially, with much richer overtone patterns being produced at louder levels. Edition of 300 copies in digipak sleeve, including an eight-page booklet with photos and liner notes.

LP version. The explorer Walter Maioli makes his most amazing adventure, the journey to the center of the Earth. Retracing the exploits of the Platonic demiurge, he identifies in the cave the deepest meaning of myth. Primordial sounds, not shadows, are at the center of this magical path straddling geology and Paleolithic polyphony. The recordings between 1985 and 2002 capture the sonic imperceptibility of the great subterranean womb, investigate the secret dialogue between the trickling of pond waters and the faint percussive reverberation of stalactites and stalagmites. Rocky sediments are played as tubular organs, glockenspiels, xylophones or stone marimbas. Crystalline timbral variations and subtle microtonal passages recall the chimes of Tibetan gongs and bells, of the scales of Java and Bali. Amidst muffled pauses and silences, trills and rings, echoes and tremolos, hisses and pops of vibration, Maioli builds his most imaginative niche of sound, a magnetic and telluric chant that is pure symphony and archetypal synesthesia. Co-produced with Holidays Records.

Almost a decade on from his last full length for the label, the religiously themed Teopatia, Marco Papiro returns to Planam with Con un occhio aperto, his most challenging and ambitious work to date. Known as one of the most dedicated contemporary investigators of the potential of analogue synthesizers, the musicality and personal touch of Papiro's work stand apart from a field dominated by gear fetishism and nostalgia. In recent years, one of the unique ingredients of Papiro's music has been his use of synthesized human voices, often lending his productions a dimension of uncanniness. Here, he pushes this aspect of his work much further, presenting a suite of four pieces where most listeners would be hard pressed to trace the sounds they hear back to electronic sources. The opening title piece, "Con un occhio aperto" (i.e. "With One Eye Open"), begins with metallic textures, similar to bowed cymbals or gongs, which are soon joined by waves of percussive sound, both drum-like and metallic. Irregularly rising to the surface and receding into the background, at times reminiscent of natural rhythms of rain, wind, or sea, these percussive textures are accompanied by haunting voice-like tones, at once strikingly realistic and disorienting in their non-human patterns of articulation and attack. Perhaps the closest parallel to these overlapping waves of rattling, pulsating percussive sounds and eerie extended tones is Jon Gibson's classic "Visitations," where the line between instrumental, electronic, and natural sound is blurred in a mesmerizing drift. Threaded through this hypnotic arrangement are recognizable synthesizer figures, alongside long tones performed on alto flute and bass clarinet by Christoph Bösch and Toshiko Sakakibara (members of Basel's Ensemble Phoenix). Like Teopatia, Con un occhio aperto arrives in a sleeve bearing beautiful and comical self-portrait photographs of his father. While on the earlier release, he styles himself as a saint, here he appears as a fur-clad hunter: a fitting image for this singular, exploratory music, which, like the photographs, is at once playful and primal. Edition of 300 copies.

New volume of the Avant Marghen series issued in a numbered edition of 80 copies only. This luxury black boxset edition actually includes the fifth group of seven LPs previously issued for the VocSon series and now sold out. Each individual LP record includes a numbered Avant Marghen inner-sleeves. LP 1 features Jean-Louis Brau's Instrumentations verbales. Jean-Louis Brau (1930-1985) approached everything in an explosive way, sometimes achieving some major results, like his sound poetry, as demonstrated by "Turn back nightingale" (1972). Also included on this one-sided LP are "Elégie Elémentaire" and "Ataloche Roche," both recorded in 1961, as well as "Instrumentation Verbale" and "Cantate pour l'interdiction de Mandrake," both recorded in 1963. LP 2 features Maurice Lemaitre's Poemes et musiques lettristes et hyperphonie. An exceptionally wild sonic art and poetry document, Poemes et musiques lettristes et hyperphonie was recorded between 1952 and 1968. Also included on this LP is a previously unreleased torrid "concerto" titled "L'alcove" for a lettrist male chorus and female solo orgasms, followed by "L'ascension du Phenix M.B." a sound collage from 1967. LP 3 features Ulises Carrion The Poet's Tongue LP. All pieces from this LP, recorded at the Instituut voor Sonologie in Utrecht between September and October 1977, have in common their refusal of discursiveness. LP 4 features Anton Bruhin's 11 Heldengesänge und 3 Gedichte with four-page insert. 11 Heldengesänge und 3 Gedichte is a sound poem which takes listeners into a medieval world of minstrels and errant knights. LP 5 features Gil J Wolman's Wolman et son double. Wolman et son double, a previously unreleased recording probably from the late '70s, is Wolman's most theatrical -- as well as musical and lyrical -- piece. LP 6 features Eduardo Kac and Porn Art Movement's Pornéia, also including an LP-size 40-page full-color book. These previously unissued recordings from the Porn Art Movement (1980-1982) include five performances recorded live on Ipanema Beach in 1982, as well as a selection of previously unheard studio recordings of Eduardo Kac yell-poems. The LP also includes the Manifesto Pornô (1980) and four recordings of Flatographic Poems from 1982 LP 7 features Jose Luis Castillejo TLALAATALA with a dark-grey sleeve, only available with this boxset edition. A killer reading of Jose Luis Castillejo TLALAATALA book by Fernando Millan, recorded in Madrid in 2001.

"Steve Cannon's cult classic novel returns to print. Despite decades of notoriety as one of the 'filthiest books in the world,' Steve Cannon's first and only piece of longform fiction, Groove, Bang and Jive Around, has hardly been read since first being published in 1969. In the words of American poet Ishmael Reed, Cannon's debut work inspired a generation by breaking with staid literary modernism. Its publication 'signaled a resurfacing of the irreverent, underground trickster tradition of Black orature.' This erotic farce follows Annette, a teenage runaway, from the outhouse of a New Orleans juke joint to the psychedelic paradise of Oo-bla-dee -- an idyllic country possibly founded by Dizzy Gillespie -- by way of bacchanalian voodoo ritual. As Ophelia Press, its original publisher, wrote, Groove, Bang and Jive Around is an absolute necessity 'for everyone who wants to know where and how the action takes place in sex and soul.' Steve Cannon (1935-2019) moved to New York City in 1962 and joined the Umbra Workshop. He worked with and was a mentor to many artists and writers. In 1990 he founded the magazine and gallery A Gathering of the Tribes in New York City's East Village." 4.3 x 0.7 x 7 inches; 244 pages; 7.2 ounces.

"2023 marked the 50th anniversary of the birth of hip-hop and Get On Down continues to honor the artists and albums that had a significant impact on the culture. The label now presents a long overdue reissue of KRS-One's 1995 self-titled album, KRS-One. Two years after the release of Return of the Boom Bap, KRS-One got back in the studio and behind the boards and enlisted for additional production DJ Premier, Showbiz, Diamond D, Norty Cotto, and Big French Production. In August of '95 KRS-One dropped the Preemo-produced lead single 'MC's Act Like They Don't Know' with 'Represent The Real Hip-Hop' featuring Das EFX on the B-side of the 12-inch, boasting KRS-One's lyrical skills and backing up his status as one of the best live performers in the game. KRS-One knocked it out of the park on his second solo effort with another Premier single about the current state of hip-hop on 'Rappers R, N. Dainja' and straight-up Boom Bap rap on the Fat Joe assisted track 'De Automatic.' He offers political and social commentary on 'R.E.A.L.I.T.Y.,' 'Hold,' and 'Free Mumia' with Channel Live and continues to diss sucker MCs on 'Wannabemceez' with Mad Lion. Get On Down presents this deluxe reissue packaged in a gatefold jacket with a new interview by Check The Technique author Brian Coleman, complete with a foldout lyrics sheet."

The History of Unheard Music hail from lower Manhattan and were founded at the absolute dawn of the 1980s. The founders, Books Williams, Charlie Mendoza, and Beo Morales combined their individual and common interests in music from all periods of all cultures, active analytic listening, state-of-the-art music technology and low-tech devices. These interests were applied to highly developed composition and raw free-form improvisation. Access to the then-nascent computer aided compositional tools of sampling and synthesis, pre-and-post MIDI sequencing and a fearless appetite for sound-as-event, synthesizing historical styles, formats, sonic triggers, and traditions allowed them to strike a nerve in the listener resulting in responses ranging from confusion and bewilderment to appreciation and inspiration and beyond. A neutral response to the music or the live performances was not an option. Here is an unheard selection of some works of that mind-boggling New York band. All tracks selected from the '84-'85 hidden tapes and LPs: History of Unheard Music on Staatplat, Drop it on Harmonic Ranch, and Chapter One on Rockgarage Records. Music that ranges exclusively in the absurd. Art-rock, grotesque comedian pop, bouncing sounds from post-world influences and electronic proto dance music, pure avant-garde. Here Us Again for Whatever Reason touches hidden chords in a decomposed and critical message towards a dimensional state of total disorientation against the established order.

"The Madlib Invazion Music Library Series Entry #12: DJ Muggs takes the Soul Assassins approach to source music -- deep, dark, dank. The Madlib Invazion Music Library Series was created by Madlib and Egon to give their creative friends a chance to stretch out and indulge in whatever type of music they wanted. This music was created for easy, one-stop clearance in film and television synchronization usage and for sampling. You can also enjoy these albums in the way that many do with the best of the best vintage library catalogs -- listen, ponder, repeat."

"Anthology of Zamrock musician Mike Nyoni's funky, psych-rock and folkloric 1970s recordings. Zambian guitarist and singer/songwriter Mike Nyoni's music is Zamrock only because he came of age during the country's rock revolution. He preferred wah-wah to fuzz guitar, James Brown to Jimi Hendrix. His '70s recordings -- often politically charged, and ranging from despondent to exuberant -- are amongst the funkiest on the African continent. He was also one of the only Zamrock musicians to see his music contemporaneously issued in Europe. This anthology collates works from his three '70s LPs -- his first, with the Born Free band, and his two solo albums Kawalala and I Can't Understand You -- and presents a singular Zambian musician on par with celebrated artists Rikki Ililonga, Keith Mlevhu, and Paul Ngozi."

"Criminal Minded is now available as a double LP in a gatefold jacket with extensive liner notes. In listing the greatest albums in hip-hop history, one title never seems to stray from the upper echelons, no matter how many years pass: Boogie Down Productions' undisputed classic from 1986, Criminal Minded. Released amidst a battle between BDP and MC Shan that would redefine the New York rap landscape as it was then known, the album, which features the songs 'South Bronx,' 'Criminal Minded' and 'The Bridge is Over,' captures the excitement, urgency and raw power that embodies hip-hop culture as we know it, with KRS-One's aggressive yet intelligent lyricism backed by Scott La Rock's hard-hitting, stripped-down beats. A true classic, Criminal Minded has been recognized by Vibe Magazine, The Source, and Rolling Stone as one of the most important albums of all time."

The Damned's debut album, Damned Damned Damned, released in 1977, captured the raw energy of punk. With its frenetic pace and rebellious spirit, this cassette edition allows fans to experience the brilliance of tracks like "Neat Neat Neat" and "New Rose" on the go. An iconic punk record, a cherished relic.

Funky Kromong is a compilation from the multitalented legendary Betawi artist Benyamin Suaeb. Consisting of ten tracks from the '70s, this compilation is rich with Benyamin Suaeb's eccentric vocals with tongue-in-cheek lyrics and walled with funk and psychedelic and traditional sounds. He made his own humorous style of psychedelic music that everyone could relate.

Leading a dynamic trio with virtuoso bass player Leroy Vinnegar and drummer Donald Bailey, piano player Hampton Hawes released one of his best efforts in 1970, focusing on an original blend of post-bop and rare groove. The record opens with a rendition of Bacharach "The Look Of Love" and offers a deep soulful voyage with the 11-minute title track.

"Paddan's Sigtryggur Baldursson and Birgir Mogensen are lifelong friends from Kópavogur, Iceland, who started as mates on the local football team, then graduated to making music together as teenagers, and even later as young men doing time in the experimental punk collective KUKL, from 1983-1986. KUKL was populated by survivors of the post-punk scene in Iceland in the early '80s, which is well documented in the film Rock in Reykjavik from 1982. The band was released by the Crass collective in London and featured members, apart from Birgir and Sigtryggur, like Guðlaugur Óttarsson, Einar Melax, Björk and Einar Örn, some of whom would become better known later in outfits like the Sugarcubes and their respective solo work and other collaborations. Sigtryggur has a long career in music, having worked with among others, Emiliana Torrini, Howie B, Les Negresses Vertes, Tomas R. Einarsson, Petur Ben, KK, Kaktus Einarsson, and many others. He also produces an award-winning documentary music show for RUV called Hljómskálinn. Birgir Mogensen is a classically trained classical guitarist and bass player who has worked through the years with artists ranging from KUKL to Killing Joke to Spilafifl and Inferno5. Birgir and Sigtryggur formed Paddan during the 2010s, and now present Fluid Time, which has been inspired by their perception of time and space. Birgir Mogensen says, 'As a duo, we trusted our musical intuition and were guided by allowing the first idea to remain unchanged during the recording process.' Recorded, produced, and arranged by the pair, Sigtryggur and Birgir play basses and drums along with various other instruments. All recordings are played on live instruments except a modular synth which is programmed in the background of two tracks The duo is joined by the great harmonica and lap steel player Gaukur Davidsson on 'Vaguely' and 'Bug,' and trumpet player Eirikur Orri Ólafsson on 'Splash,' not to mention the mixing expertise of Vaccines bassist Arni Hjörvar Árnason on 'Bug,' 'Splash,' and 'Kokka,' and sound-mixer Albert Finnbogason on 'Vaguely.'"

Reissued for the first time on vinyl, here's Jamaican reggae singer George Faith's second album, originally released on Hollywood Records in 1979. Amazing soulful reggae melodies backed by the likes of Sly & Robbie, Aston "Family Man" Barrett, Tommy McCook, Earl "Chinna" Smith, and more. Produced by the one and only Bunny Lee at Harry J Studios, and mixed by Scientist at King's Tubby's Studios!

Final is Justin Broadrick. While many might recognize him through his connections to legendary groups such as Godflesh and Techno Animal, or via his various solo guises (Jesu, JK Flesh, etc), Final charts an entirely different sonic terrain. Focused primarily on devolved landscapes of heavily treated guitar, Final sees Broadrick dwell in a foggy and subliminal zone where source materials are submerged, morphed and reborn as wholly different sound-beings. What We Don't See is a record that pierces into the realm of post-experience that exists beyond sense and sensation. It reaches towards the invisible, the inaudible and the intangible and imagines a soundtrack to this non-place. The record is cast in a hazy gauze of filtered noise within which seismic tremors of tone and harmony fold into each other. It is a record that breaths with a measure of deep dreams and an unfettered desire to dwell in sound. From Justin Broadrick: "The theme of this recording is the invisible world, and one's (my) need for it. It's necessary for me, this idea of the invisible world, if I am to function on a daily basis. I find comfort in knowing that this is all not just us here and now, that there's something else around us. That there's something within us, that isn't just this frail skin and bones and the immediate environments we drag ourselves around. I am sure since I was a child, that within me I am many, I am more than this. I surely can't be just this, so I am motivated by the fantasy and/or promise of more?" Created and produced by Justin K Broadrick. Mastered by Lawrence English at Negative Space.

From France Jobin: "Quantum mechanics unfolds an intricate realm of limitless possibilities and probabilities, eluding easy definition. It paints a picture of the universe vastly different from our perceptible reality. What captivates me is the lens through which I perceive sound, akin to the principles of quantum physics? I don't merely hear the audible, but rather, I extract elements to construct novel auditory experiences. My profound interest in science, particularly quantum mechanics, originates around 2008-2009 during a resurgence of enthusiasm for string theory, (10-33cm released on ROOM 40) hinting at the prospect of a comprehensive theory of everything. The notion of existing within 11 dimensions, as opposed to our familiar four, held a mesmerizing allure. Lacking a background in quantum mechanics intensified the challenge of my exploration, yet I stayed attuned to emerging theories, albeit at a surface level due to time constraints. The advent of the pandemic granted me the opportunity to immerse myself in the intricacies of quantum mechanics, with a particular focus on the bizarre phenomenon of quantum entanglement, which stands as one of the most enigmatic aspects of modern physics, alongside gravity. Embarking on this intellectual journey presented a steep learning curve, leaving me in a state of bewilderment for the initial six months. Yet, amid the confusion, I gleaned a profound insight: the intrinsic nature of probabilities within quantum mechanics means that feeling adrift and perplexed isn't a hindrance but rather an advantage. It becomes a preparation for the myriad possibilities and uncertainties that define this captivating and eccentric realm. Moving forward to 2021 brings me to the four sources of inspiration for the Entanglement project: the fluidity of time, the principle of entanglement, the Copenhagen interpretation and many worlds interpretation. Three iterations have been created so far with visual artist Markus Heckmann: Entanglement AV, Entanglement XR, Entanglement Dome, and finally, a fourth one, a series of four albums entitled Entangled Quantum States." All sounds recorded at various locations in Europe, Japan and South America, at MESS (Melbourne Electronic Sound Studio) and at EMS (Elektronmusikstudion, Stockholm). Cover image: Markus Heckmann.

Color vinyl version. "Originally released in 1990, Same Place The Fly Got Smashed was Guided By Voices' fourth album in as many years. Roughly a concept album about an alcoholic named Joker Bob who goes on a bender, someone dies, and Bob gets the chair ('the electrifying conclusion'). From the moment the needle drops, the listener is served notice that this isn't going to be an easy listen, as an argument taped off of a TV cuts to a basement recording of a lone, blaring electric guitar with someone yelling over the top. But for those brave enough to pass the opening hazards, there are wonders within. This particular album has come to be held in higher and higher regard by fans, and they are correct to consider it a top-tier release. The story and sequence have a flow, and consideration for approachability is optional. Many of the crudest tracks reveal themselves as necessary stitches in the album's tapestry. Yet it also contains all-time greats like 'Drinker's Peace,' 'Mammoth Cave,' the epic 'Local Mix-Up/Murder Charge,' and of course 'Pendulum' with its immortal opening line: 'Come on over tonight, we'll put on some Cat Butt and do it up right!' -- a rare break in the clouds on one of the band's darkest albums. This reissue, like the previous ones in this series, is a mostly faithful reproduction of the original pressing of 500 on the band's own Rocket #9 label. And like the others, the virgin RTI vinyl is housed in a thick tip-on jacket, and includes Robert Pollard's original handwritten lyric insert."

"There is, and has been, a prevailing orthodoxy permeating the Egyptian musical hierarchy that would render this spectacular piece as scandalous. But let us remember that over the past 100 years, Said Darwish, Mohamed Abdel Wahab, Halim El Dabh, Ahmad Adaweya, and the modern Mahraganat movement have all experienced their fair share of scandal and opposition. Music must always be pushed forward -- it may not always succeed as revelatory, but in this particular case, it does. Much like the venerable magic carpet, The Handover slowly builds to escort you into its swirling, ascending expression of the psychedelic, eventually descending, step by step, back to earth, landing as a wonderous spaceship with wide open doors inviting us inside for repeat listening. Perhaps this should have been happening in Egyptian music 50 years ago but it's here right now, and that's what matters. We are often asked an impossible question to answer: 'What constitutes a Sublime Frequencies release?' For the moment, we can point to this record as the answer to that question." --Alan Bishop/Sublime Frequencies (March 2024)

In The Handover, Aly Eissa, Ayman Asfour, and Jonas Cambien explore the common and uncommon senses of Egypt's ritual music. It is clear that Aly Eissa's original composition is deeply rooted in Egyptian and Arabic traditions. At the same time, this band is one of the most progressive coming out of Egypt today. This is in big part thanks to Eissa, who has proven time and again to be not only an extremely skillful composer, but also a real visionary, combining tradition with modern experimentation. A performance by The Handover is typically one stretch without break: a long build-up that lasts for the duration of the concert. Towards the end of the performance, all the tension is released in an exuberant, joyful climax, when wild improvisations are driven forward on top of exciting dance-rhythms from rural Egypt. The Handover elegantly combines the delicacy of classical Arabic music, the raw expressiveness of Egypt's countryside music, and the spontaneity of free improvisation, carefully obliterating the artificial separation between acoustic and electronic instruments. Despite the remarkable absence of any percussion or drums, The Handover is an extremely groovy band, with an ability to slow down and accelerate the tempo in almost telepathic synchronization at exactly the right moments. Alongside the tight ensemble playing there is plenty of room for individual expression as the oud, synthesizer and violin take turns playing solos on top of repetitive riffs. Throughout the album, native Alexandrian Ayman Asfour plays the violin with breathtaking beauty, while not being afraid to make the violin buzz, squeak and rattle at times. Belgian/Norwegian keyboardist Jonas Cambien makes the synthesizer a melodic instrument in its own right, at times evoking almost classical Maqam, while in other moments it seems like he comes straight out of an Egyptian wedding. The oud forms the backbone in the composition's structure, as Aly Eissa's solos guide the listener from minimalist, meditative drones, to a compelling climax, and back to earth. There is much more to The Handover's sound then the obvious references to Arabic and Egyptian music. The opening drone section of the album is pushed towards abstraction and even noise, and the vintage Farfisa organ gives the music a touch of '70s psychedelic rock. The repetitive riffs can be reminiscent of Embryo's experiments combining krautrock with influences from the middle-east, but the use of repetition to induce trance dates way back in Egyptian music, and is present in many rituals like Sufi and moulid celebrations. The composed melodies on this album couldn't be possible without Eissa's deep love for this music. And what The Handover does with this composed material couldn't be possible without three strong individual voices, their love to play music together and their dedication to push the traditions forward. (Recorded in Alexandria Egypt in January of 2023, this Limited-Edition vinyl LP includes a two-sided insert with additional photos, liner notes and bios of the musicians).

LP version. "Originally released in 1974 on Shandar, Dream House 78'17" is the second full-length album by La Monte Young and Marian Zazeela. This first-time US edition reproduces the original gatefold sleeve with beautiful calligraphy by Zazeela and liner notes by Young and French musicologist Daniel Caux. Side one was recorded at a private concert (on the date and time indicated by the title) and features Young and Zazeela's voices against a sine wave drone with Jon Hassell on trumpet and Garrett List on trombone. This work is a section of the longer composition Map of 49's 'Dream the Two Systems of Eleven Sets of Galactic Intervals Ornamental Lightyears Tracery' (begun in 1966 as a sub-section of The Tortoise, His Dreams and Journeys, which was begun in 1964 with Young's group The Theatre of Eternal Music). The piece evolves with the oscillator changing pitch and dictating an ornate pattern over the course of the performance. Side two is an example of one of the sets of frequencies sustained in the Dream House, the composite sound environments conceived by Young and Zazeela. The composer suggests listening while seated -- to experience how the sound interacts with the room and other perceptions of its arrangement -- as well as while walking. As Young states, 'The frequency ratios are monitored continuously as lissajous patterns on the oscilloscopes and, in spite of the great stability of the oscillators, the phase relationships of the sine waves gradually drift which causes their amplitudes to add and subtract algebraically. Not only does the sound become a bit louder and softer, but at very loud levels, one actually begins to have a sensation that parts of the body are somehow locked in sync with the sine waves and slowly drifting with them in space and time.'"

"On the cover: Shellac, Arnold Dreyblatt, Robyn's Rocket, Zoh Amba, Normil Hawaiians, Kalia Vandever, Antti Vauhkonen, Marion Cousin. Invisible Jukebox: Iceboy Violet. The Inner Sleeve: Kai Fagaschinski on The Jimmy Giuffre 3. Global Ear: Berlin choir A Song For You. Unlimited Editions: Ipecac. Unofficial Channels: Music Republic & Moroccan Tape Stash. Epiphanies: Tashi Wada on tuning systems, plus 40 pages of reviews including Tony Conrad & Jennifer Walshe. FUNK.BR: São Paulo, Christer Bothén featuring Bolon Bata, Somerset House Studios' Assembly, and much more,"

"Continuing Digikiller's Park Heights series, here's another all killer no filler compilation LP in DKR style. Ten great tracks from Park Height's productive late '80s period, where Mr. Francis produced a lot of great early digital reggae both in Jamaica and right here in NYC. Here are eight great never before reissued tracks from the catalog, plus two previously unreleased gems. As always, housed in a fresh jacket with the vibes of the time."

"This is the first vinyl issue of Temple IV, arguably Roy Montgomery's finest solo album, originally released in 1996 on CD. The original album has been enhanced with two newer tracks that constitute side four of the album. Montgomery states: 'The two new tracks recorded in 2018 were about asking the question 'Can you step into the same river twice?' Heraclitus said you cannot. I say you can.' From the original press release: Few recording artists have aligned the quantity and quality of their releases as well as New Zealand singer/guitarist Roy Montgomery has in 1995. Beginning with Kranky's release of the soundtrack for an imaginary film That That Is... Is(Not) by Montgomery's duo Dissolve early in the year, a series of superb albums and singles have been issued by a variety of labels across the world. Each one of them is a must have. Most recently, the Drunken Fish label released a collection of pastoral drones entitled Scenes From The South Island, singles have appeared on the Roof Bolt and gyttja labels, and further singles are scheduled with Ajax, Siltbreeze, and others. Temple IV is the first solo recording by Roy Montgomery on Kranky. The album was recorded by Montgomery on a four-track tape deck and then thickened up with monophonic moog. The tracks on the album are thick with interwoven guitar lines and moog drone, inspired by the Guatemalan rain forests and the mysterious ruins of the temple and ruins Montgomery visited there."

Contemporary classical composer Sophia Jani and violinist Teresa Allgaier announce their new collaborative work Six Pieces for Solo Violin on Squama Recordings. Characterized by its calmness and poise, each movement focuses on a particular technical aspect, bending the boundaries of the instrument while maintaining the illusion of simplicity.

Limited black vinyl. Full color sleeve with unseen pics of Ron Geesin in his studio doing math stuff on the back. Ron Geesin made this kooky electro groovy score to a really progressive math educational program on Central TV in 1980, and it's musically anarchic and amazing, and it's never been issued before. Until now.

"Basic Maths was the second educational TV Series for the Midlands-based ITV station for which I composed, played and recorded all music and noises. The first series, also for budding mathematicians in the 7-10 age group, was Leapfrog in 1978 produced by ATV (Associated Television): Basic Maths was for the newly-formed Central Television, the work spanning 1980-1981; both series were of twenty-eight parts. The most-worthy idea for both of these series was to project mathematics into life by means mainly of non-verbal sound and vision, with both animated and live action films, linked by two presenters, Fred Harris and Mary Waterhouse. In my role as media composer, I had had quite enough of voice overs, therefore music well under, so this fairly radical educational approach at the time encouraged my creative juices to run unhindered. Of course, the sound had to do something with the picture and not just use it as a carrier for peacock display. It had to duet, play with and explain the visual content using novel and engaging techniques, so this involved the usual and sometimes intricate mathematical calculations which constantly exercised my already reasonable school maths." --Ron Geesin

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.

Al Hirt's infamous Soul In The Horn is inextricably tangled up in crate-digger lore. Originally released in 1967, the album has been in heavy, heavy demand for over 30 years, entirely down to the majestic soul-jazz fire of "Harlem Hendoo." And it's a song so good, so vital, so timeless, that it will always tower above everything else in its proximity. However, it would be an error to dismiss this record as merely a one tracker, loaded as it is with dope samples for adventurous beat makers. Certainly the funkiest Al Hirt record, it definitely lives up to the "soul" in the title. Thanks to composer Paul Griffin and arranger Teacho Wiltshire, Hirt got uncharacteristically free and groovy throughout. Soul In The Horn represented an expressive detour into authentic soul-jazz for Al Hirt. Throughout is a fiery energy that's otherwise absent from his typically easy listening work. Without question, the slinky, magical "Harlem Hendoo" is the standout, here. It's also the reason why the record is so scarce and commands awe among crate diggers, sounding like something from an obscure and deeply revered spiritual jazz record. As is often the case, the true genius of the song is tricky to do justice to; it's like a minor miracle of songwriting and performance that simply swooned down from the heavens on the back of horns, bells and harpsichord. It's one of the sweetest musical compositions ever recorded inside a studio. Sampled brilliantly by De La Soul, it has also been used by The Roots for "Stay Cool" and Nightmares On Wax for "Damn." An album deserving of a place in every serious record collection. The audio for Soul In The Horn has been carefully remastered by Be With regular Simon Francis, ensuring it sounds better than ever. Cicely Balston's expert skills have made sure nothing is lost in the cut whilst the records have been pressed to the highest possible standard at Record Industry in Holland. The original sleeve has been restored at Be With HQ as the finishing touch to this long overdue re-issue. This is after-hours music. Let it speak for itself. Listen. Listen to the soul in Al Hirt's horn.

2024 repress; LP version. First vinyl edition; 180 gram vinyl; printed inner-sleeve; Includes CD. Because Music present a reissue of JJ Cale's Guitar Man, originally released in 1996. Guitar Man is the 12th studio album by JJ Cale. Personnel: JJ Cale - vocals, guitar; Christine Lakeland - guitar, vocals on "Death In The Wilderness"; James Cruce - drums on "Death In The Wilderness".

"25 years after his first album, Naturally (1971), JJ Cale created Guitar Man, an album made up of hypnotic grooves forged out of elegantly simple components. The album is largely a solo affair, with only scattered additional accompaniment, such as on the incredible opening tune, 'Death in the Wilderness.' Otherwise, Cale plays every instrument, adding particularly strong guitar work to the mix." --All Music

2024 restock; LP version. Includes six-page booklet. One, two, three... hold your breath for 40 minutes for a peregrination through a special kind of pop music "made in France" between 1967 and 1970, a mix of ribaldry, flashes of brilliance, and adventurous twists on familiar sounds. We will plunge into French-style pop, unapologetic and defiant; blue-white-and-red pop that does not take itself seriously, not out of line with its "yé-yé" contemporaries, who were themselves uninspired by the boring, commercial teenage music that dominated in France at that time. It is pop music fueled by creativity -- though not always well-focused -- with peculiar arrangements, inspired compositions, and precarious production... but oh so tasty! WIZZZ 3 spotlights French artists who dared to try, to experiment... Includes tracks by Dansez avec Moa, Bernard Chabert, Joanna, Pierre Paul Jacques, Evariste, Jean-Bernard de Libreville, Crischa, Long Chris, Nato, Papy, Fatty Nautty, Balthazar, Jane et Julie, Bruno Leys, and Marcel Artero.

2024 repress; LP version. Printed inner sleeve. In 1966, a new pulse spread like wildfire on the sidewalks of Spanish Harlem and local radio waves. Like no music genre ever before, boogaloo brought together African Americans and Latinos. As the ultimate musical syncretism of popular genres in the Barrio, boogaloo is often described as "the first Nuyorican music". A revolutionary hurricane was then blowing on Amerika: in the trail of the Black Panthers and the Young Lords Organization, minorities were gathering in the streets to reclaim their rights from the establishment. Boogaloo was the soundtrack of a social revolution overtaking the country, before it got overshadowed by salsa. Boogaloo's energy seduced young people from different backgrounds, well beyond the borders of the USA, and especially in the Caribbean cradle land. From Fort-de-France to Pointe-à-Pitre, old biguines and mazurkas from West Indian orchestras strong of a bloodline of virtuosos, from father-to-son, became outdated by those modern beats. On Fred Aucagos's "Ti Man'zelle", there's a subtle mix of imports from the mainland, the USA, and the neighboring islands. Musicians dabbled with boogaloo, coming up with rather unorthodox interpretations. This is precisely what gives this compilation its singularity. It incorporates influences from the African continent thanks to the Rico Jazz (an adaptation of "Si Tu Bois Beaucoup" of the Congolese rumba orchestra O.K. Jazz). It rubs elbows with the "Jerk Vidé" of a David Martial before he turned in a doudouiste cliché. With the cheeky humor of the Guyanese Dany Play ("Mais Tu Sais"), the perkiness of Joby Valente ("Disk La Rayé" with Camille Soprann on sax), the listener (re)discovers classics published on two historic Guadeloupean labels: Aux Ondes of producer Raymond Célini, and Disque Debs, whose boss Henri Debs can be heard on "Ou Pas Z'ami En Moins". "Ou Qué Di Moin" from Monsieur X is a Creole funk pamphlet, neither Latin, nor festive, and not strictly boogaloo for that matter. The Nuyorican rhythm is a tiny fraction of what the West Indies orchestras were playing, as they often incorporated biguine and Haitian kopi elements. Assisted by Jean-Baptiste Guillot, Julien Achard spent over three years compiling this best of the Creole boogaloo. Also features: Maurice Alcindor, Gabby Siarras, Les Bois Sirop, Le Ry-Co Jazz, and Les Vickings. LP version comes with a printed inner sleeve with liner notes in English and French.

2024 restock; LP version. Yīn Yīn's dazzling second album dives even deeper into dancefloor propulsion and space travel atmospherics than their lauded debut The Rabbit that Hunts Tigers (2019). The beautiful, old and somewhat staid city of Maastricht, where the band is based, isn't really conducive to setting up a bustling music scene: and it's a place where the outsiders quickly recognize each other. Yīn Yīn are all "nightlife people", which meant their friendship initially came about through co-organizing and deejaying DIY parties. Things started to move for real when Yves Lennertz and Kees Berkers decided to make a cassette tape that drew on references to Southern and South East Asian music. Once the idea was formed, Lennertz and Berkers wasted no time in taking "a lot" of instruments to a rented rehearsal room in a small village near Maastricht. They asked friends to help out, and they became a full band: with Remy Scheren on bass, Robbert Verwijlen on keys and Jerome Cardynaals, and Gino Bombrini on percussion. A "united against the world" stance is also heard at the end of "Declined by Universe". It's a funny, maybe surreptitious statement of belief in what they do. Yīn Yīn also wanted to create an illusion of strength in other ways: "Declined By Universe" sounds as if there is a large group of people playing, not just the core band. Nods to brilliant, invigorating dance music abound, some of the thumping beats in numbers like "Chong Wang" the title track and "Nautilus" drop some thumping 1990s-style electric boogie and Italo disco chops along the way. Then there is "Shēnzou V.", which plots a stately course between eastern-inflected pop music, Italo, and Harmonia-style electronic meditations. The expansive richness in sound and feel may be down to the fact that more samples, drum computers, and synthesizers are used on The Age of Aquarius than in their previous records, a process that intertwines with real-time playing in the studio. "Faiyadansu", for example, started with a sample found on an old traditional Japanese koto record. Cosmic appropriations of time also crop up in the titles, which may give the lie to some of the band members' preoccupations with the state of the world. An old trope musically the Age is most famously referenced in the hippie musical, Hair. Other direct references to cosmic times are in the track names "Kali Yuga" and "Satya Yuga": the Kali Yuga, in Hinduism, is the fourth and worst of the four yugas (world ages) in a Yuga Cycle, preceded by Dvapara Yuga and followed by the next cycle's Krita (Satya) Yuga.

LP version. Mirror Mirror is the new album by the Finnish jazz legend, pianist/composer Olli Ahvenlahti. Championed by the likes of Gilles Peterson and Kenny Dope, Ahvenlahti is a master of hard-grooving jazz funk. Here, he continues the evolution of his style, much-beloved since the legendary 1970s albums such as The Poet and Countenance. Ahvenlahti's new group highlights some of the best talent on the Finnish scene, including trumpeter Jukka Eskola, saxophonist Joonatan Rautio, bassist Ville Herrala and drummer Jaska Lukkarinen. "I'm always striving to make one more great record," Ahvenlahti says. "I'm 75 years old this year and as the years pass, this goal seems all the more concrete. Thus, Mirror Mirror feels a bit like 'now or never', an album that reflects all of my career and searches for something new at the same time." For fans of the classic Fender Rhodes-driven Ahvenlahti jazz funk sound, Mirror Mirror is manna from heaven. Earlier performances of the current group were billed as "The Poet II," which speaks of Ahvenlahti's desire to continue on the lineage of his classic '70s period, while adding new layers and hues into his signature sound. The present album is a further continuation of the idea, the next step for the band tried and tested on such sought-after performance spots as Helsinki's Flow Festival, Odysseus Festival, and Pori Jazz. Mirror Mirror is a well-balanced affair for Ahvenlahti and group, showcasing both their hard-driving funky edge and Ahvenlahti's knack at composing effortless and melodic "slow music," which strolls along at its own pace. The singles "Paint It Blue" and "Rhythm and Rhymes" drive the groove hard, with each band member bringing their soul into it, while especially on the album's last two selections, an honest form of serenity reigns supreme. Perhaps "honesty" is the key here. At 75, there is no extra effort to gain recognition or short-term goals with Olli Ahvenlahti. This is "simply" beautiful new work from a seasoned artist and a scene legend, whose wisdom extends beyond mere composition and performance into the social workings of a jazz quintet. He knows how to make music where everyone can bring in their core musicianship and also be challenged to top what they knew before getting in. RIYL: Olli Ahvenlahti, The Poet and Bandstand, classic jazz funk à la Bob James, Herbie Hancock, Patrice Rushen, and Mizell Brothers productions.

At its heart the Rendell/Carr Quintet had one of the leading British jazz musicians of the post-war era -- saxophonist Rendell -- whose CV included work with American big hitters such as Woody Herman and Stan Kenton. Around him he had gathered four younger, more adventurous jazzmen, all wishing to push the envelope of the music. This session captures a moment that, without any hint of sleeve note hyperbole, can rightly be called historic. That moment is the April 19th 1965 debut within the Rendell/Carr ranks of pianist Michael Garrick, a musician who was -- again with no little sense of overstatement -- to quite literally change the course of the group's direction, and it can be argued with some conviction, that of the wider sound of British jazz. The overall fidelity on this recording is excellent and pressed on 180gram vinyl.

The Generous Law, a new album by organist Jack Langdon and guitarist Anthony Vine, presents a glimpse of the inner voices and acoustical splendor of the Fisk Organ at Wellesley College, enlivened by the intuition of two improvisers. At the keyboards, Langdon crafts geometries of patiently braided lines and incisions, configuring the hues and shades of organ stops with an ear to the materiality of sound. Vine seizes on this, tuning his guitar to the organ and bringing his strings into alignment with the harmonics of the reeds and pipes, becoming an extension of the instrument, an organ stop of sorts. The guitar flows in and around Langdon's angular counterpoint, like the shimmer between the divots of a jigsaw puzzle, illuminating its matrix. The tonal design of the Fisk Organ brings these interactions into vibrant relief through its quarter-comma meantone tuning and 17th-century Danish and German stops -- giving organists access to sonorities only found in historic North European churches. Resurrecting a distant sonorous past echoes the design of Wellesley College's Houghton Chapel itself, a braiding of ecclesiastical motifs with no historical center, designed to impart a sense of old-world sacredness. Fisk's ahistorical mélange yielded something extraordinary, not a cheap replica or period imitation, but an instrument of sui generis chroma and expressivity. The musical idioverse of Langdon and Vine is defined less by interior imaginations, established style, and compositional formality, and more by the inexplicable pull of the organ, its guiding and grounding voice. In a letter to Ross Feld, Philip Guston speaks to this abstract, yet ubiquitous dynamic in artmaking with his notion of the "generous law," the namesake for this collection: "I think you are writing about the generous law that exists in art. A law which can never be given but only found anew each time in the making of the work. It is a law, too, which allows your forms (characters) to spin away, take off, as if they have their own lives to lead -- unexpected too -- as if you cannot completely control it all. I wonder why we seek this generous law as I call it. For we do not know how it governs -- and under what special conditions it comes into being. I don't think we are permitted to know other than temporarily. A disappearance act. The only problem is how to keep away from the minds that close in and itch (God knows why) to define it." This music is not driven by concept, process, or system, but by the wanderlust of sound, time, and listening.