Wewantsounds announce an ambitious Makoto Kubota reissue program with his three albums recorded with The Sunset Gang between 1973 and 1977. The albums feature Haruomi Hosono (who also co-produced Hawaii Champroo) and also includes Minako Yoshida, Taeko Ohnuki and Tatsuo Hayachi to name a few. Makoto Kubota has been one of Japan's true musical innovators and following his involvement with Les Rallizes Dénudés in the early '70s, he developed a unique sound bringing American, Hawaiian and Okinawan music influences to his own Japanese folk music mix. Recorded in Honolulu in 1975. Recorded in 1975 at the famed Sounds of Hawaii studio in Honolulu, Hawaii Champroo was co-produced by Haruomi Hosono and marks the start of Kubota's keen interest in Hawaiian and Okinawan music (Champroo is derived from Chanpurū, the traditional Okinawan stir-fry dish). A companion album to Hosono's own Tropical Dandy and Bon Voyage Co. albums (on which Kubota plays), the album was at the forefront of a tropical musical movement started in Japan in the mid-70s. The core Sunset Gang consists of Kubota on Guitar, Takashi Onzo on bass, Yosuke Fujita on guitars and mandolin, Keni Inoue on lead guitar and Hiroki Komazawa on pedal steel guitar. They are joined on the album by Hosono on drums and Teriyuki Kokubu on piano. Having travelled to the United States in the early '70s, Makoto Kubota had fallen in love with American music and had brought back many influences from his sojourn on the East and West coast. these are evident from the tracks covered by the band on Hawaii Champroo, including Jesse Fuller's "San Francisco Blues", The Rooftop Singers' "Walk Right In" (an old Gus Cannon ragtime) or The Texas Playboys' classic "Steel Guitar Rag". Hawaii Champroo also features originals such as the funky "Shanghai Gaeri" and a nod to the Hula Hawaiian dance "Moonlight Hula". One of the highlights of the album is the classic "Haisai Ozisan", the Okinawan 1972 cult classic by Shoukichi Kina which has become a standard in Japan. All in all, Hawaii Champroo is a timeless classic and one of the key Japanese albums from the '70s. This is the first time the albums are released outside of Japan. Newly remastered by Makoto Kubota. Comes with original artwork, OBI and the original Japanese inserts.

LP version. Gatefold sleeve; includes 24-page booklet. Wewantsounds reissue Akiko Yano's cult classic Ai Ga Nakucha Ne, recorded in 1982 and co-produced by Ryuichi Sakamoto. Ai Ga Nakucha Ne ("there must be love" in Japanese) is Akiko Yano's sixth studio album and follows Tadaima in 1981. It continues exploring the electro-pop sound of its predecessor, hot on the heels of her touring with Yellow Magic Orchestra between 1979 and 1980. For this album, Akiko decided to try something new; she enrolled English musicians Mick Karn, Steve Jansen and David Sylvian from Japan and booked the Air Studios in London under the supervision of engineer Steve Nye. Over a couple of weeks, the musicians created a fascinating soundscape full of catchy pop tunes, sung in both Japanese and English. Reminiscing about the studio sessions, Steve Jansen notes "Our music's different but we maybe had a similar process of working. It was a great environment because the studio was a great place to work. It was very insular. There were four studios and there were always groups working in there 24/7." The eleven tracks featured on Ai Ga Nakucha Ne, mostly composed by Akiko -- are a great collection of catchy tunes featuring her distinctive vocals and accompanied by the Japan musicians. As Akiko explains about the creative process, "I didn't think to imitate or to make another Tin Drum. But I had Steve Jansen and Mick Karn, these excellent musicians. They were eager to understand the songs, then they put in everything they had. I knew the material was different from what they usually played in Japan. But it was a great experience working with them." There are many highlights on the album, from the pop edge of "Aisuru Hito Yo" to the avant groove of "Another Wedding Song", each song is memorable and the album ends with the superb "Good Night" sung by Akiko and David Sylvian. The original 1982 LP release included a 24-page booklet featuring many photos by Pennie Smith and Japanese photographer Bishin Jumonji. The booklet is reproduced in its entirety here and the album on top of contributions by Mac DeMarco, a longtime fan of the album. Also includes a dual interview with Akiko Yano and Steve Jansen by journalist Paul Bowler. Audio remastered from the original tapes by Mitsuo Koike.

Modulor and Octave Lab announce the first official reissue of Kellee Patterson's Kellee LP. Recorded in 1976, Kellee is the second album for the amazing lady soul singer after her debut album Maiden Voyage released on Black Jazz Records. Produced by Gene Russell, who produced Maiden Voyage, this album includes some great soul and jazz cover songs. Barry White's masterpiece "I'm Gonna Love You Just A Little More, Baby", The O'Jays' "I Love Music", The Stylistics' "Stop, Look & Listen To Your Heart", Grover Washington Jr's "Mister Magic" and Kenny Loggins's "Time To Space". Kellee is a must-have and very rare record for every jazzy/soul music fan.

LP version. "JJ Whitefield, who in the early '90s revived the gritty, analogue Funk sounds of the '60s and '70s with his Poets Of Rhythm, has been working with Now-Again Records for over decade, releasing a flock of acclaimed projects with Karl Hector & The Malcouns, Whitefield Brothers, Rodinia and the Original Raw Soul anthology. He first started exploring African rhythms with the Whitefield Brothers in the late '90s, continuing in the '00s with Karl Hector & The Malcouns. He's been instrumental in launching Ghanaian Afro beat/funk legend Ebo Taylor's international career, decades after the maestro recorded the landmark albums that have inspired thousands. Whitefield recorded two new studio albums with Taylor and toured in his band between 2009 and 2013, where he met Taylor's son Henry and percussionist/singer Eric Owusu. The trio now front the Johnny! band and find inspiration not only in Ghana's hypnotic grooves, but also the full-frontal fuzz guitar assault heard on the legion of '70s Zambian Zamrock albums reissued by Now-Again. Indeed, Whitefield credits his tours with Zamrock godfathers Rikki Ililonga and WITCH's Jagari Chanda as instrumental in creating the Johnny's sonic backdrop. The band is rounded out by Turkish drummer Bernd Oezsevim (Woima Collective, Rodinia) and Indonesian bassist/multi-instrumentalist Tomi Simatupang (Whitefield Brothers). This is what was oft-called 'Afro Rock' at the core, with the possibilities to stretch out into swinging highlife, sweet soul or psychedelia. The results, point at a new direction for the music inspired by the Great Continent. One that takes a direction once mocked as derivative and asserts its importance on the globe's current musical stage."

LP version. "Roscoe Mitchell founder of the Art Ensemble of Chicago performs on percussion and saxophone. Written and recorded during the pandemic Roscoe has created music that is simply at peace and beautifully original."

"Extensive 4CD set documenting the final years of The Stooges. A companion set to 2020's well-received You Think Your Bad, Man?. Featuring studio sessions and rehearsal recordings made in London, New York, Detroit, L.A. and Michigan as the band prepared to record and tour their Raw Power masterpiece. Includes seminal Stooges classics -- 'Search And Destroy', 'Raw Power', 'Gimme Danger' -- alongside countless lesser known tracks and material which was never recorded professionally. Sleevenotes from Iggy aficionado, the legendary Kris Needs and produced in association with MainMan. An intimate study of a band on the edge, captured as The Stooges began their final descent into rock 'n roll immortality. Following a two-year hiatus, and by fair means or foul, The Stooges reunited in 1972 for their final assault on the heart of American rock 'n roll. Born In A Trailer compiles legendary recordings made by the band at London's Olympic Studios and in assorted rehearsal spaces across the US as they wrote and rehearsed for the studio dates that would result in 'Raw Power', and their famously intense live shows of 1973 and 1974. Filled with focused recordings showcasing a band still determined to make it, and produced in conjunction with Tony Defries' MainMan organisation, who famously steered the careers of Bowie, Iggy and Lou Reed during that period, Born In A Trailer is a must-hear document of one of the great bands of the age accelerating into the final lap of a career which inspired a new generation of anti-establishment rock 'n rollers in the years immediately following their demise."

LP version. "Beautiful mélange of folk, jazz and sound from Lebanon. Recorded in late 1970s Beirut by Rogér Fakhr who at the time also played guitar for Ziad Rahbani and Fairouz. Rogér Fakhr is a musician from Lebanon. He recorded these songs in the late 1970s in Beirut (and some during a brief exile in Paris). Some were circulated on hand copied cassettes among friends, others like Had To Come Back Wet were never released. His music effortlessly combines folk with touches of jazz and soul. He wrote, composed and arranged all songs. While working on his own music he also played for Ziad Rahbani, Fairouz and other musicians. When we first heard Roger's music we were blown away! The music was a mixture of folk with touches of other genres. Maybe one could also refer to it as 'singer-songwriter', since all of the songs were Roger's own compositions. Songs of unique beauty both musically as well as lyrically. At the same time they gave me the feeling of them being somehow time and space isolated capsules. Nothing really revealed, where they could've been recorded and without knowing it was Beirut, my first guess maybe would have rather been California, sometime in the 1970s. The immersive effect of his compositions and voice are just incredible. I was stunned and proposed Roger to work on a re-release, which he politely declined, saying he had no interest in this music being reissued. CD digipak version comes with a 16-page booklet."

Nanocluster Vol 1 is an album with some serious pedigree. It sees Immersion (aka Malka Spigel and Colin Newman of influential groups Minimal Compact and Wire, respectively) collaborating with some of the finest left field artists of our era: Tarwater, Laetitia Sadier, Ulrich Schnauss, and Scanner. The project was born out of a Brighton based club night, also called Nanocluster, run by Spigel and Newman alongside writer, broadcaster and DJ Graham Duff, and promoter Andy Rossiter. The club features a range of influential and cutting-edge music acts. But the unique aspect of the evenings is that each show climaxes with a one-off collaboration between Immersion and the headliners.

Immersion and Tarwater: The German duo of Ronald Lippok and Bernd Jestram have created an impressive body of work. The opening instrumental "Ripples" is a gentle breathe of optimism, all purring tones and sun dazzled synths. Meanwhile, "Mrs. Wood" is a dubby psychedelic shuffle, Lippok's vocal cool and assured over a fat bass line and sky bound eastern melodics.

Immersion and Laetitia Sadier: An original and distinctive presence in contemporary music, Sadier made her name with the inimitable Stereolab, but she's also created several impressive solo works. The instrumental "Unclustered" sees Sadier's spidery guitar weaving through Immersion's lush web of synths drones. The following "Uncensored" has a subtle melodic tug with a classic Spigel guitar line underpinning Sadier's sweet yet worldly wise vocal. "Riding the Wave" is another feel good song, swapping between Newman's plaintive vocal, and Spigel's vocal and Sadier's backing vocals.

Immersion & Ulrich Schnauss: A highly respected solo artist, as well as being a member of Tangerine Dream, Schnauss' skill with electronics is legendary. The opening "Remember Those Days On The Road" skips along on a rimshot rhythm with Spigel's honeyed vocal telling a tale of life on tour. "Skylarks" opens with a lattice of arpeggios before a gently nagging guitar enters and everything takes a turn for the sublime. "So Much Green" is constantly spiraling urban-kosmisch, with Spigel's plangent bass anchoring the celestial sounds.

Immersion & Scanner: Scanner -- aka Robin Rimbaud -- is one of the most prolific and diverse artists currently working in contemporary music. "Cataliz" is the album's moodiest moment. With its serpentine synth drones it sounds like the soundtrack to a mysterious thriller. The rich pulsing "Metrosphere" recalls Immersion's early work whilst adding another layer of grainy uncertainty. The closing "The Mundane and the Profound" is a gentle and touching end to a unique collection of songs.

Nanocluster Vol 1 is a testament to a remarkable synergy between a diverse assembly of strongly individual talents.

LP version.

Wewantsounds present the first vinyl reissue of legendary Arabic diva Warda's Khalik Hena, recorded with full Egyptian orchestra and originally released on the label Soutelphan in 1973. A cult classic sampled by Jay Z and J Dilla, the album recorded in public mixes traditional Arabic music with a tinge of '70s grooves. Here, Warda delivers a hypnotic performance backed by her full-size orchestra featuring those unparalleled Arabic strings that made recordings by Oum Khalthoum, Farid El Atrache, and Abdel Halim Hafez so famous. Khalik Hena is one of her all-time classics, written by legendary composer Baligh Hamdi. Warda is one of the undisputed divas of the Arab world. Born in the Paris suburb from an Algerian father and a Lebanese mother, she was discovered at 11 by Ahmed Hachlaf, Pathe Marconi's heads of A&R specializing in Arabic music. having honed her singing skills at her father's cabaret in the Latin Quarter, the Tam-Tam (for Tunisia-Algeria-Morocco) she quickly found recognition in the Arabic music circles. The family relocated to Beirut in the late '50s after the police found arms in her father's cabaret destined to the political group fighting for Algeria's independence and was swiftly discovered there by an Egyptian film producer who brought her to Cairo to record and play in his films. From there, her career took a meteoric rise and she became a star working with Egyptian such stars as Abdel Halim Hafez and composer Mohammed Abdel Wahab. However, in the early '60s a traditional marriage in Algeria stopped her career for a decade to be a housewife until Algerian President Boumediene asked her to perform for the tenth anniversary of the Nation's independence in 1972. This was an epiphany and after a divorce she was back to Egypt for a triumphant comeback. Khalik Hena recorded in public in 1973 dates back to these glory days. Teaming up with her new husband, legendary composer Baligh Hamdi, she recorded a string of classic albums -- hypnotic tour-de-forces stretching over two sides in an almost trance-like mode, enhancing Warda's powerful vocal and ability to mesmerize audiences. Blending traditional and modern instrumentations (electric guitar, organ), the music is both complex and groovy, Khalik Hena is one of her best LPs, sought after by Arabic diggers and collectors alike. Remastered audio; original artwork and two-page insert with new introduction by Mario Choueiry from Institut du Monde Arabe who curates Wewantsounds' Arabic series of reissues.

Robert Ashley's eL/Aficionado is a group of scenes from the life of an "agent". The scenes are a kind of "debriefing" to a jury of Interrogators, in which the Interrogators (chorus) challenge the Agent (soloist) in various forms of musical dialogue. The mood of the opera owes much to our fascination with espionage and with the character of those people who lead double lives. The opera was performed many times between 1987 and 1993, and Lovely Music released a recording of the opera in 1994 (LCD 1004CD). This new studio recording features the cast of the 2021 production (October 21-23 at Roulette, Brooklyn), with mezzo soprano, Kayleigh Butcher, taking over the role formerly inhabited by baritone Thomas Buckner. Recorded at Robert Ashley's studio in July 2021. Orchestration by Robert Ashley and Tom Hamilton. Recorded and mixed by Tom Hamilton. Produced by Tom Hamilton and Mimi Johnson. Personnel/Credits: Music and Libretto by Robert Ashley; Kayleigh Butcher - The Agent; Brian McCorkle - Interrogator No. 1; Bonnie Lander - Interrogator No. 2; Paul Pinto - Interrogator No. 3.

"As labyrinthine as a Robbe-Grillet novel, as pithy as a Pinter play, eL/Aficionado comprises a series of debriefing sessions between a secret agent and his three interrogators. For 70 minutes the work sustains an atmosphere of uneasy calm brilliantly: misty, microtonal electronics provide a sometimes barely audible backdrop to the vocal parts. But don't confuse this with ambient; Ashley's music requires your full attention to appreciate the subtle timbres of his unique sound world... This is another riveting work by one of the world's leading composers of experimental opera." --Chris Blackford, The Wire (1995)

"Enigmatic, cryptic, wonderfully mysterious, eL/ Aficionado has a story line and narrative structure, as do Ashley's previous operas. Though the characters hail from a parallel universe, familiar and alien. The music is austere, simple, even minimalistic, yet utterly compelling. The New York Times was dead-on in proclaiming Ashley 'opera's James Joyce.'" --Dean Suzuki, Wired, 1995

2019 release. "For those of you paying attention, Fog Window lives in the extended family of Devin, Gary & Ross, the bizarro psych trio who have been frothing in the fringes for the last decade or so. The players themselves have been on the horizon even longer. Gary Panter issued a single with the Residents, did design work for Pee Wee's Playhouse, contributed comics to RAW and knocked out a Yo La Tengo cover painting and you barely thought to say 'thanks.' Panter hooked up with Devin Flynn, also a purveyor of fine comics and illustration (Y'all So Stupid, Adult Swim, Yo Gabba Gabba), as a duo LP on Ecstatic Yod/Feeding Tube in 2011 and eventually they pulled in fellow psychedelic traveler Ross Goldstein to the fold. The partnership set the scene for two LPs of melatonin-mad psych-folk goo that'll warp yer wagon if you let 'em, 2011's Four Corners and 2014's Honeycomb of Chakras. They've absorbed a couple more campfire cosmonauts into the mix for the lovely sprawl that is Fog Window's debut -- with Lily Rogers and Curtis Godino of the band Worthless rounding out the roster here."

"Africa Stand Alone is a 1978 album by Jamaican roots reggae band Culture. It was recorded with engineer Sylvan Morris at Harry J's Studios, Kingston, Jamaica, in the interim between the band's sessions with producers Joe Gibbs and Sonia Pottinger, and produced by Jamie Hatcher and Seymour Cummings."

Reprinted. "In response to the arguably self-righteous pronouncements made in the 1990s as to what jazz is and isn't, Julius Hemphill (1938?1995) spoke up as he had done throughout his career. 'Well, you often hear people nowadays talking about the tradition, tradition, tradition. But they have tunnel vision in this tradition. Because tradition in African- American music is wide as all outdoors.' This collection of music, this celebration of artistic collaborations that engaged Julius Hemphill throughout his life, adds much to what we know of his creativity in exploring the implications in that wide space. His work, done in what was not much more than twenty-five years, illuminated so many byways of that protean tradition, created in America against the direst of odds. Equally vital, Julius claimed, with great passion, his space to be expressive. He worked inward as much as he looked outward, in his artistic creativity and cultural engagements. This box set contains musical compositions and performances that have come to light from the Julius Hemphill Archive at the Fales Library of New York University. These performances present thirty-five Hemphill compositions culled from close to 180 audio and visual documents of his work. Twenty-five of these works did not receive a commercial recording in his lifetime. Also represented in this box set are ensemble contexts Julius formed which did not receive substantial, or in some cases, any public documentation. These performances put Julius's improvisational work as a saxophonist and flutist to the fore, from solo to quintet contexts. (The one exception being Disc 4, where we hear pieces Julius wrote for others to interpret.) Equally important, these performances deepen our experience of Julius's long associations in artistic collaboration." --Marty Ehrlich (from the liner notes)

The milestone of French electronic music, 25th anniversary edition. Originally released in 1996. Only available on physical format -- no digital release. Remastered version of the classic album Pansoul by French legends Philippe Zdar and Etienne de Crécy, aka Motorbass. 2x12" in a gatefold sleeve.

"... the starting point for the French dance movement, and therefore one of that decade's most important records. Yet the spaces its 10 tracks inhabit are far darker than anything Daft Punk or Air have achieved." --Uncut

As one chapter closes, another opens. Following the passing of group member J.Derwort in 2019, Hanyo van Oosterom's legacy work brings about the next evolution of the Chi project: Son of Chi. AI-25 sees subtle developments in the sound and expansion of tonal vocabulary, whilst retaining the organic instrumentation and rapturous dreamtime narratives. Flourishes of piano float elegantly with poise, and long-drawn flutes breathe life into the shifting landscape. Shadows play in the thick vegetal overgrowth; the air is heavy with the scent of age-old evocations. Speakers drift in-and-out of undulating reverie, forgotten transmissions from the repository of consciousness. Against the wide backdrop of the harsh and wild unknown, a feeling of peace resides within. Night and day gradually collapse into one another, as loops of lapping textures glisten quietly with mystical beauty.

Flower Studies, the enchanting third album by Australia's Blue Chemise, consists of eight intimate, delicate and touching "études", reflecting Mark Gomes's introspective musings on a series of floral studies by 19th-century French photographer Adolphe Braun (1812-1877). Includes download code; edition of 450.

"Behold whither eventually/ Imposing sounds and a grandiose bleakness/ Majestic flowers in centuries-old photographs/ And silences where heather grows/ No story, only depictions of flowers/ Nature filtered through a temperament/ The suggestion of poetical ideas/ Nature draws the imagination to infinity/ Paysages composes/ Like beautiful melodies/ Nature's great harmony/ Is that of an immense and divine keyboard/ The diffused freshness of budding greenery/ A cult for flowers/ Privately eavesdropping on nature/ To hear the voices of the trees" --Mark Gomes (Blue Chemise).

LP version. The new album by electronica producer Ulrich Schnauss and the Engineers guitarist Mark Peters Destiny Waiving is released via Bureau B. Hailing from Kiel in North Germany, it's now 20 years since the electronica prodigy Ulrich Schnauss released his debut album. His second, A Strangely Isolated Place cemented his reputation as both a pioneer and an artist who routinely creates inspirational music that is adored by many. As a full-time member of Tangerine Dream since 2014, his lifelong passion for their work inspired a creative resurgence for the band, resulting in their most successful new album for over 30 years, 2017's Quantum Gate. Liverpool born guitarist (and founder of the dream pop outfit Engineers) Mark Peters shared a similar musical path, exploring ambient textures and effect laden songwriting via a series of blissful albums for the band. In 2017 he released his first solo album, Innerland which was enthusiastically received by BBC6 music and later included in Rough Trade's top ten best albums of 2018. Destiny Waiving completes a collaborative trilogy that began with 2011's Underrated Silence (BB 094CD/LP) and followed by 2013's Tomorrow Is Another Day (BB 148CD/LP) (Schnauss also became a full-time member of Engineers at this time). Initial sessions began at Ulrich's East London home studio in early 2017 and final mixes were completed there in late 2020. Despite its extended conception, most tracks were completed during 2017, in part informed by improvisational sets in London, Dublin and St James' Church in Birmingham. Despite these exercises in exploration, Destiny Waiving is perhaps the most focused and concise collection of all three releases. Ranging in tone from precognitive foreboding to soaring optimism, the album delicately hones a particular atmosphere that is unmistakable in their work. While track titles such as "The Supposed Middle Class" acutely display a concern for society at large, compositions and performances reveal a great deal more light and shade. This inherent balance is a key facet of the duo's chemistry, signposted by the titles of "Chiaroscuro" and "Clair-Obscur" and the shifting moods within the tracks. For every rushing, upward sweep ("Hindsight Is 20/20", "Circular Time"), contemplative countering is evident in tracks such as "Words Can Be Dismissed" and "So Far", "The Moment".

LP version. "Outer-national dance discourses, that strive for no country and obey to no flag: when Düsseldorf based producer, Stefan Schwander creates music as Harmonious Thelonious, highly percussive rhythms, dissonances and melodic twists tango chatoyant virtuosic. Since 2008 he releases music, that unites Detroit techno districts, widescreen minimalistic structures and African rhythm patterns into a wide dynamic scale. All eight musical objects collected on Instrumentals! document a chapter in Harmonious Thelonious's work, that left the noisy background drones behind in favor for a signature sound full of echoes of ancient rituals and ecstatic ceremonies. Eight growing outlaw music studies crammed with living, deeply haunting entities. They all came to life in different cities like Berlin, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, London or Paris, first published on labels like Asafa, Disk, The Trilogy Tapes, or Versatile. United under one roof, they unfold their magical groove symbolism, notable hypnotic harmony and agitating rhythm archetypes in a total overpowering coalition. Tunes like 'Beiläufige Muziek' or 'Yusuf' embark with a new breed of psychic leftfield Motor City techno, perfect for an electric drive on a multicultural utopian future highway. In contrast, tracks like 'Abel', 'Ayranman', 'Apakapa', or 'Halb Ding' perform tricky snake dances enlarged with Ghanaian highlife tones, Senegalese guitar folk and manic serpentine Moroccan flute wizardry. Intense buzzing voodoo music, driven by swinging bass pulses, sequencing looniness, moving up somewhere on a polyrhythmic horizon between Occident and Orient, end-to-end danceable, thoroughly transcending space and time." --Michael Leuffen

LP version. In this latest album, Sumrrá makes the inspired exercise of taking perspective and rethinking our own existence through music. The three musicians based in Santiago de Compostela look with new eyes at the "Sapiens Sapiens", the "Inner Space" that lives inside each one of us, or the "Ra", the first Star, the source of all life. They reflect on our eternal position in the "Universal Periphery", or the permanent dance of the "Gravitational Forces". They tell through their music what happened "13.7 billion years later", or why there are seven degrees that separate "Aswan from Alexandria". A result as surprising as it is revealing. Lucid, overwhelming, brilliant 7 Visions ... Sumrrá's seventh album is here. Personnel: Manuel Gutiérrez - piano; Xacobe Martínez Antelo - double bass; LAR Legido - drums.

Concentric Records presents Radiant, the third compilation of its introductory release trilogy. Featuring music by ASWA, HOLOVR, Max Loderbauer, Petre Inspirescu, Supply, The Waves, William Selman, the album evokes luminous, iridescent and ethereal sonic spaces -- a journey that overcomes struggles, spinning upward towards the light. The album opens with calm, bright and assertive tonalities, evoking mental spaces prone to exploration and wondering. Molecular textures and real-world sounds bring us closer to an intimate and physical sphere, a voice. Ultimately everything dissolves into a synthetic domain of acid-like washes, in a cinematic sense of departure. 180 gram vinyl; includes UV gloss art insert; edition of 250.

Alkisah Versi Hitam is a radical deconstruction and reimagination of Indonesian duo Senyawa's most recent album Alkisah by Hamburg's Marc Richter aka Black To Comm. The original album was released to critical acclaim in February of 2021 as a decentralized release on a multitude of labels from all corners of the world, Germany's Dekorder being one of them. Richter is now completely reinventing the original album from scratch by doing an almost Teo Macero-level production job here, cutting up the originals and (re)constructing new material from scratch. Arcane chants and vocal cut-ups, fierce freeform percussion, grimy no wave collage, monochrome drones exploding into multicolor streams, unearthly psychedelic noise and sheer sonic mayhem, warped discordant rhythms between moments of calming beauty -- it's never easy to digest but the outcome is both ecstatic and transcendental -- never sounding anything less than a fully formed singular album. Black To Comm is the moniker of Hamburg composer/musician Marc Richter who is creating intricate multi-layered collage-based works for labels like Thrill Jockey, Type and Dekorder. His 2019 album Seven Horses For Seven Kings revealed an increasingly angry, transcendental and fearless approach, attaining new levels of urgency through noise, volume, rhythm, repetition, atonality and beauty. Jogjakarta's Senyawa embody the aural elements of traditional Indonesian music whilst exploring the framework of experimental music practice, pushing the boundaries of both traditions. Their music strikes a perfect balance between their avant-garde influences and cultural heritage to create truly contemporary Indonesian new music. Their sound is comprised of Rully Shabara's deft extended vocal techniques punctuating the frenetic sounds of instrument builder, Wukir Suryadi's modern-primitive instrumentation. Inventions like his handcrafted "bamboo spear"; a thick stem of bamboo strung up with percussive strips of the animal skin alongside steel strings. Amplified it fuses elements of traditional Indonesian instrumentation with garage guitar distortion. Sonically dynamic, the instrument can be rhythmically percussive on one side whilst being melodically bowed and plucked on the other. They have collaborated and performed with many notable musicians such as Stephen O'Malley of Sunn o))), Otomo Yoshide, KK Null, Keiji Haino, Rabih Beiani, Trevor Dunn, Greg Fox, Arrington De Dionysus, Melt Banana, Damo Suzuki and Oren Ambarchi. Gold/white silk-screen printed PVC sleeve; edition of 200.

Kamana is a multiformat release inspired by and channeling the culture and traditions of the Aeta, an indigenous group from the Zambales region in the Philippines. One of the oldest inhabitants of the region the Aetas are also some of the most fascinating and ancient nomadic and hunter gathering cultures. The release goes from the realms of the real to the imaginary, from transcription to syncretism, from concrete to abstract. An (un)real sonic exorcism filled with ancestral frequencies, haunted ghosts and other animistic spirits roaming the Pinatubo forests. The release features a series of materials released in different formats from the field recording digital only release, an LP and CD release to a special 7" vinyl featuring an interview with a bat hunter. Also includes download with additional material.

"Kamana is a long due homage to the Aeta community that hosted me a few years back, fascinated by the endurance of these people and their connection to their land, devastated by the eruption of the Pinatubo volcano in 1991, they continued to go back to their ancestral lands surviving on basic agriculture and hunting bats and wild pigs. Living with them for weeks, I managed to capture some essential field recordings and sounds that form and compose the basis for this release, from the more reprocessed and interpreted LP release to the pure field recording documentation of the digital release. It is meant to be accessible to all and provide a window to the livelihoods of these unique communities. For this reason, this release serves as both an archival document and a syncretic one, trying to channel memories and feelings of living in these jungles whilst listening to their stories as well as witnessing their lifestyles." --Carlos Casas, 2021

LP version. Residing in Rio de Janeiro, Vasconcelos Sentimento is a self-taught composer, producer and multi-instrumentalist. A mosaic of lo-fi breaks, cosmic ambient jazz and wonky chromatic funk, the eccentric Brazilian DIY wizard's debut album Furto beautifully pieces together a huge range of seemingly disparate sonic elements. Calling himself an "amateur euphoric sound researcher", he has no formal training in either music theory or production, and it's simply by following his ear that has led him to creating his debut album for Far Out Recordings. It was his fascination with his fellow countryman, the enigmatic, psychedelic '70s folk artist Jose Mauro, that led the young Vasconcelos Sentimento (real name Guilherme Esteves) to first make contact with Far Out. Coincidentally living in the same region as Mauro, Sentimento managed to track him down and put label boss Joe Davis in touch, after Davis had spent years of what felt like hopeless searching for the man many assumed dead. When Joe and the FarOut team heard Guilhermes' own music, there was a sense of shock. "It was unlike anything we'd heard before, but it also sounded curiously at home on Far Out. Like it had taken little pieces of different releases from the catalog, and all the music from the '60s onwards that influences everything we do, and recreated all that magic in such an exciting new way." Indeed, Sentimento is not afraid to admit what he himself sees as acts of theft. (Furto = Theft in Portuguese). But while the debate surrounding the ethics of sampling is a never ending one, Sentimento's music -- while it does contain the odd sample, including an interview with Joe Davis himself, "One For The Masta Digga" -- steals in an entirely different way. His creative process involves an intensive period, in which he'll listen to just one artist or song over and over, for days and weeks on end. Then he'll head to his rudimentary bedroom studio, which, as he puts it, is "built for speed", hit record and "blurt" whatever comes out. "I never spend more than a day working on any one song idea"... Picasso once said "lesser artists borrow; great artists steal." And it's through this process of Furto that Vasconcelos Sentimento has somewhat ironically cultivated a sound that is unmistakably his own.

"Don't hold me to it, but by my count this the sixth LP we have done with the splendid Brighton-based musician named Joseph Allred. Initially known as a master of stringed instruments, Joseph has continuously expanded his musical arsenal. When asked about basics regarding Branches & Leaves, he wrote, 'I played harmonium, piano, guitars, glockenspiel, banjo, tambourine, bass drum, and clarinet on this album and did all the vocals myself. I'm glad I got to collaborate with some friends and would like to have done so more, but the pandemic made that impossible. Recorded at the end of 2019 and in the first few months of 2020 in Overton County, Tennessee and Boston.' The ten songs on Branches & Leaves are originals, apart from two traditional tunes, 'When the World's on Fire,' and 'Can't Feel at Home,' which Allred first heard performed by the Carter Family. And while it if difficult to attach too specific a tag to this wonderfully varied LP, words like 'Southern,' 'gnostic,' 'rural' and 'haunted' keep floating into my head. Not always at the same time, but enough to think I might use them to point in the material's general direction. The mix of harmonium and Allred's vocal delivery gives some of songs the sonic qualities of a spiritual, even if the lyrics are not similarly disposed. Joseph's work is always very personal and idiosyncratic, so I am hesitant to make too many statements about it. Other than to say the way he weaves all these threads into the textures of American Primitive guitar music is amazing to hear. Branches & Leaves may be one of the more plain-spoken albums in Joseph Allred's canon, but like all his music, the songs have many layers of sound and meaning that will unfold themselves for your pleasure for a long while to come. Beautiful stuff." --Byron Coley, 2021

Cardinal Fuzz and Feeding Tube Records bring to you for your listening pleasure Nudity Is God's Creation. A retrospective release of recordings dating from 2005 to 2010 of orgasmic interstellar mayhem. Reissued and for the first time available domestically in the USA In 2004, a commune named Nudity, formed by four travelers from the astral plane, appeared in Olympia, Washington. The founding members were Dave Harvey (guitar) and Jon Quitty Quittner (bass, though Josh Haynes of the mighty guitar fuzz scorchers Feral Ohms plays bass on the majority of the tracks featured here), both of whom were former guitarists of Tight Bros From Way Back When and Eryn Ross (drums) from Growling. A couple of self-distributed CDrs and a 12" on Discourage were a visual akin to colored liquid sloshing around on a transparency machine and were a pure drip feed for psych/kraut and Jap rock fiends around the world as Julian Cope and Terrascope raved about them. Alas for whatever reason no full-length LP arrived from the original line-up -- something that at last has been rectified as now all these tracks have been brought together (along with some unreleased gems and a couple of live bonus download tracks). The sonic ear candy contained within the four sides of vinyl presented here go from Detroit fuzz blazing face melters to acid trippin' head swirling raga's via The Flower Travelin' Band and Hawkwind. Nudity were the masters and for those that missed out the first time this double album was released -- don't make the same mistake a second time. Terrascope gushed about Nudity: "This is seriously fucking good; one of those quite literally extra-ordinary LPs that come along every once in a while which you just know instinctively are going to be dug out and played, sniffed and caressed for years."

LP version. "Roy Montgomery, a pioneer of the NZ underground, believes there is always new sonic terrain to investigate. His latest series of albums for Grapefruit marks forty years of rigorous exploration in which he's managed to navigate disparate genres, scenes, and atmospheres, always at the forefront of experimental independent music. To commemorate, Grapefruit will be releasing four new Montgomery albums in 2021, which can be purchased individually or via subscription. The third release of the series, Rhymes Of Chance, is the darkest entry of the four. Songs sound particularly spacious and minimal, with two tracks centering forlorn melodies around trusty collaborator Emma Johnston's singing and two others sung by Montgomery himself. While Side A presents the six-part 'Rhymes Of Chance' suite, Side B's 'Aspiratory' holds a clue to Montgomery's approach on this record; a floating dirge stretches time, much in the manner Mark Hollis (to whom the song is dedicated) approached music."

"First launched in 1971, Flirt Records was one of the many notable production music imprints distributed by Flipper Music, iconic publishing company founded by Romani Di Bari in 1968 and house to some of the best Italian library music. Back in 1972 the label released this compilation entitled Underground Mood featuring music composed by Emma De Angelis, Roberto Conrado, Luigi Lopez as well as Amedeo Minghi, whose anthemic 'Lustful' track went on to be sampled by Justin Timberlake in 2013. An incredible 12-tracks collection of guitar driven jazz-funk tinted with fuzzy psychedelic rock vibes, making it one of the most interesting and sought-after releases of the Flirt Records catalog. Now available on vinyl for the first time since its original release as a limited edition of 500 copies."

LP version. A fantastic fifth album of the sensational French jazz band. "In this tropical daze, contemplating the surrounding landscape, the luxuriance of nature, with the ocean and her ballet of gentle waves, caressing the sand -- timidly gaining a few inches with each passing adagio. The temperature, as if perfectly adjusted to the most precise degree by an artful yet mercurial hand knowing full well that it could, with idle ease, sway the fragile quality of this luscious and suave atmosphere... However, just a few months before, the course had been set for New Jersey. More specifically; to Rudy Van Gelder's studio: one of jazz's greatest institutions. This pilgrimage was to both celebrate and crown the twentieth anniversary of the quintet. An unchanging line-up that yielded four albums, with this fifth recording intended to be our artistic culmination before moving onto something else . . . The energy, the dynamics of the group were, at that time, not parallel with those tempestuous qualities so when we pushed, something resisted. We strived to sink into darkness -- yet reality lead us back again and again towards an ever more sensitive space of grace and elegance. We arrived wanting to take out the machete, but finesse, in the end, called out to us. Obviously, the sessions saw new trails emerge, basked in a serendipitous and welcoming light. Rather than battling, we instead turned our compass towards the calmer latitudes of Capricorn and Cancer. It was then the quintet embarked for tropical promenades in the newfound tranquility of this legendary studio. So how did we get there? By not upsetting the creative forces that willed the powers of voodoo against taking our souls, at least this time anyway. From afar, my faithful creative daemons came galloping out, like gazelles, from the groove and gracefully forged a rhythm machine, encased with futuristic vibes that I myself then layered with synthesizers. At once intoxicated by all these sultry elements and fulfilled by our orchestral solstice -- I thought of Rio. And this one's to my Rio." --Florian Pellissier (Transcribed by Franck Cochon). Recorded at Rudy Van Gelder Studio (New Jersey, USA), mixed by Jordan Kouby at Question de son (Paris), and mastered by Frank Merritt at The Carvery (London, UK).

Keplar reissues the fourth album Chessa by Dan Abrams' project Shuttle358 on vinyl for the first time. The double LP edition includes three previously unreleased tracks from the same recording sessions back in 2004, as well as an extended artwork with unseen photographs by Dan Abrams. While undoubtedly associated with the microsound and "clicks & cuts" movement around the turn of the millennium, on Chessa, Shuttle358 left behind the classical rhythmic patterns of the genre and shifted further towards warmer territories, meandering between modern digital minimalism and the soft tones of ambient music. Counter to his microsound synthesis approach on Frame (2000), Abrams created Chessa by writing software that manipulated samples from his unreleased songs, guitar pieces, and vintage Japanese films sampled from video tape. In particular, a special granulating technique was written and performed at intentionally low sample rates that gave the uniquely fragile, yet dense sound to the album. Over fourteen tracks, Abrams arranges slowly evolving sonic entities of unfading elegance. Strayed and hazy melodies pulse and cascade, elongated but brittle harmonies shimmer and disappear, echoing far-off in the rounded corners of the mind. The patient and detailed way Abrams combines the broken with the beautiful in creating organic collages of sound that retain the euphonic essence of a song, makes this piece of work so powerful and timeless, sounding just as relevant today, as it did upon release. Under modern scrutiny in Abrams latest studio, he refocused the original recordings to emphasize the elements most important to the original vision. The final mastering and vinyl preparation was done in collaboration with Stephan Mathieu, vinyl was cut by LUPO. From the original press release in 2004 by Taylor Deupree: "... Chessa is the third release from Abrams' Shuttle358 moniker on 12k and he continues to do what he does best: attempt to move microsound away from the world of theory and towards absolute real life. Like his photographs, Chessa is music about, and to be listened to in, unexpected places. It is a narrative, a simple slice of life that plays out through the incidental photography of the cover artwork. To achieve this Abrams fuses irregular granular sound particles, like the movements of everyday life, with a deliberate melodic base that captures emotion and simplicity." Edition of 500; includes printed inner sleeves and download code.

Brazilian-American power trio São Paulo Underground (Rob Mazurek, Mauricio Takara, Guilherme Granado) align their chakras with Tenerife electronic pranksters Tupperwear (Mladen Kurajica, Daniel Garcia) for an anything goes EP session of tropical jazz, Chicago post rock, and general head scratching psych chants. Recorded live in 2016 in a disused kerosene tank in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands after a week-long residency. Now recompiled by the Keroxen label and presented here in its ripest form, certified ready for human consumption. Each member plays multiple roles in creating Saturno Mágico's unique organic evolving sound. Mazurek plays cornet and modular synths; Takara's on drums, cavaquinho and electronics, whilst Granado plays keyboards, synthesizers, and sampler. Tupperwear add to the organic flow with Kurajica on various synths and keyboards whilst Garcia excels on electronics, live sampling, guitar and voices. Another unique document from the Keroxen Label, exponential Island music and insular collaborations spilled out onto the world -- so much more to come, blink it and you'll miss. Recorded Live November 9th, 2016 by Daniel Badal. Mixing and master by Daniel García. Artwork by Evan Crankshaw.

"Mikey Dread was a Jamaican singer who played an important role in the popularization of the reggae during the 1970s. His second album, Dread At The Controls, was releases in 1979 and can be seen as a crucial album in the reggae world. Some of the most superb rhythms he recorded for this album, with the help of musicians like Robbie Shakespeare, Ranchie McLean, and Earl 'Bagga' Walker. With Dread and some other fine studio professionals behind the controls in the studio he recorded some of his best-known songs. The fantastic sound and great atmospheres showing the best side of the fantastic music Mikey Dread recorded. Mikey Dread began recording in the early 70s and worked together with a lot of different artists from the reggae scene."

2021 repress. Subtitled: Heavy Psychedelic Ballads And Dirges 1968-1974. Originally released 2009. 2LP version. "Deluxe gatefold jacket containing extensive and detailed liner notes and annotation by Egon, rare photos and other ephemera." Artists: Top Drawer, Sensational Saints, East Of Underground, D. R. Hooker, Shin Jung Hyun & The Men feat. Jang Hyun, T. Zchiew & The Johnny, The Strangers, Damon, Ellison, Morly Grey, Shadrack Chameleon, Ofege, Ana Y Jaime, Kourosh Yaghmaei, Baby Grandmothers.

Sonor Music Editions present a reissue of Sandro Brugnolini's Utopia, originally released in 1972 on Gemelli label. From the glorious Sermi catalog, a renomated Italian Library label that released, between late '60s and early '70s, some among the most sought-after and insane records of the whole library/soundtrack genre. Sandro Brugnolini's masterpiece Utopia, originally pressed on a ridiculous run, and released on a beautiful tip-on sleeve reproducing painter Michel Seuphor's abstract art. The first official release after the recent maestro's passing, conceived with the great arrangements of Giorgio Carnini at the Hammond and piano, and the direction of maestro Franco Tamponi. A brilliant and inspired jazz-funk and lounge jazz session with amazing sounds, driven by both dreamy and underground moods, avant-garde jazz refined orchestrations and gorgeous grooves. Edition of 800.

"If your brain has a shortlist of bands that instantly evoke New Wave, Suburban Lawns deserve a slot right next to the likes of Devo, Talking Heads and the B-52's. After putting out two singles on their own Suburban Industrial imprint, the Lawns signed to I.R.S. Records and released their debut LP in 1981. While the band gained cult status thanks in part to a Jonathan Demme-produced music video which aired on Saturday Night Live, their self-titled album would sadly be the five-piece's only full-length statement. Suburban Lawns' asymmetrical aesthetic is personified by co-vocalist Su Tissue, whose mesmerizing stage persona was at once childlike and terrifying. Her unique style embodies the awkward/arty female singer of the Reagan era, while the group's male vocals -- courtesy of Frankie Ennui, Vex Billingsgate and John McBurney -- maintain the satirical themes of Southern California's postwar mirage of limitless sprawl. Suburban Lawns' catchiness can be attributed to their drum-tight performance and taut songwriting. Listen to the vocal trade-offs on 'Anything,' which could have easily come out on any purely punk label from LA at the time, while Tissue's deadpan delivery on 'Janitor' glides into the best art-warble this side of Lene Lovich, broaching the possibility of nuclear annihilation with a murmured 'Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom.' From a West Coast scene dominated by 7-inch singles and EPs, the Suburban Lawns' lone LP remains in a class with precious few. It's not surprising that they found acceptance in the Hollywood punk scene, despite their Long Beach roots, and would influence other bands such as Minutemen. This is not a disc that will get parked in your collection hoping to get pulled once in a while; this is a record you will play."