Le Renard Bleu, the new musical and cinematic collaboration between Lafawndah and composer Midori Takada, and filmmakers Partel Oliva, takes a cross-generational echo as ground zero for recovering a crucial myth for uncertain times: the blue fox. As transmitted by Takada, the fox appears in both ancient Senegalese and Japanese folktales as the trickster archetype. Above all else, the fox is famous for its cunning nature. Renard Bleu marks the first new music released by Takada in nearly twenty years. Her first solo record, 1983's Through The Looking Glass (WRWTFWW 018LP, 019CD/LP), has been rediscovered and heralded as a lost classic; the influence of her percussion trio, the MKWAJU Ensemble, continues to permeate and inspire a new generation. Takada has performed in numerous film score orchestras, including the ensemble for Akira Kurasawa's Dreams (1990), coincidentally a key influence on Renard Bleu. In the ensuing years, Takada has worked closely with theater group the Suzuki Company of Toga on productions of Electra and King Lear, an experience, she says, that allowed her to pursue "a unity of music, body and space." Equally, it is Lafawndah's freedom of tone, decentralized maps of ancient and modern music cultures, and alloying of devotional intensity with modern songcraft casts her as a distinct relative of Midori Takada's. One can trace the influence of artists such as Meredith Monk, Carlos Sara, and Andy Kaufman as much as musical antecedents AR Rahmann, Missy Elliott, or Geinoh Yamashirogumi. It is in a mutual commitment to this unity that Lafawndah, Takada, and Partel Oliva find fertile aesthetic common ground. The music of Renard Bleu originated in Takada's preoccupation with the legend of the fox; after constructing a vivid instrumental composition dramatizing the spirit animal's journeys through waterphone, bells, marimba, and various forms of drums, Lafawndah responded -- in her inimitable mix of fairytale and undertow -- with melodies and lyrics capturing a dialogue between her and the fox himself. Eventually, the duo met in Tokyo for a week of communing with the material at Avaco Creative Studios, where new elements were composed on site. Created in partnership with KENZO and premiered today via their channels, it was Partel Oliva who imagined a contemporary cinematic frame for the myth of the fox to reappear, creating a hybrid of choreography and narrative around Takada and Lafawndah's performance of their joint composition (also titled Le Renard Bleu). 20+ minute project/track.

Double LP version. Includes download card. Ideas call for realization, realizations turn into habits, habits then quickly turn into traditions, and traditions become an intrinsic part of culture. Born at the turn of the new millennium as a symbol of a new era for electronic music, Kompakt's longstanding Total series returns with its 18th iteration, the essentials of the label's releases over 2017 and 2018, a period of intense activity, and extended breadth of resources, blowing out its 25th birthday candle with the breath of a young, throbbing heart. Introducing faces new and familiar, full-scale hits and criminally overlooked tunes, Total 18 recollects glorious moments on the dancefloor and further intimate ones between friends, inviting the listener to flick through a family album marked with tracks as distant yet eerily close as Sonns highly sensual "Tame" and John Tejada's propulsive "Detector", Terranova's elegiac "Let It Fail" and Rex The Dog's mind-altering "Crasher" but also, and as usual, its lot of unreleased cuts. With a handful exclusive deliveries courtesy of label co-founder Jürgen Paape -- here making a rare appearance with the humbly-titled opener "Well It's Paape", &nd's one-and-only Aaron Ahrends with the nostalgic "Eyes Closed", Tobias Thomas and Michael Mayer as Thomas/Mayer, Lebsanft & Raquet and the poetic synthesis of "Signale", Cologne figure Jörg Burger on electro-punk-wave mode, minimal Danish talent Christian Nielsen and Voigt & Voigt for a session of left-of-center techno, Total 18 sweeps the spectrum back and forth, navigating from the deeper umbra onto the brighter shades seamlessly. Total 18 moves and shifts, from the power of dancefloor-oriented pieces such as Tom Demac & Real Lies' "White Flowers" (here presented in its house version), Dixon's silky revamp of Vermont and Gui Boratto's euphoric club weapon "Forgive Me" onto the funky electro pop flavors of Fahrland, cosmic dub-tech jazz of Ghost Vision, and robot bounce of T.Raumschmiere's "Augen Zu" for a whelming tour d'horizon. Double-LP version features: Aaron Ahrends, Thomas/Mayer, Geiger, Jürgen Paape, Christian Nielsen, Voigt & Voigt, Jörg Burger, and Lebsanft & Raquet. Double LP version includes download card with complete download.

A brand-new studio album from Träden ("The Trees"), formerly known as Träd, Gräs och Stenar ("Trees Grass and Stones") in different incarnations, but often just called Träden for short. Through long, crescendoing improvisations, Träden has found their own unique path in the music world for decades, creating a music with room for everyone. Many younger musicians and friends of minimalist, experimental music have been inspired and followed, astonished that a bunch of Swedish hippies made the planet's most hypnotic, moss-fragrant psychedelic trance rock. Today, Träden consists of Hanna Östergren (Hills), Sigge Krantz (Archimedes Badkar), Reine Fiske (Dungen, The Amazing), and originator Jakob Sjöholm. Nisse Törnquist (Amason) also plays on three of the songs. In this latest, celebrated edition, the band has played for sold-out houses all over Sweden and other parts of the globe. "When we decided to record and release a new album it's the people who are now in the group that plays on it. We have become a band again in the way that we can once again get out and gig more regularly. The name change is a way of freeing ourselves from the old band and its idiom, thus opening our minds to let the music find new ways, simply giving us more artistic freedom," explains Jakob Sjöholm. The new album was recorded at Träden's countryside music workshop and in good old TGS tradition, much of the material emerged by jamming. Then there are some songs that demanded some toil and despair. It has been a process where everyone in the band has been deeply involved throughout the course of work, in all stages of the production; from the first musical notes to the last choice of colors and images for the album sleeve. The music on the new album makes one to let go and be swept along in a soaring, endearing ecstasy, and be thrown into a wild but safe forest. Even though the band constellation has changed successively, the majestic roar continues. Sometimes the loudness is lifted out to the big, eccentric carpentry and chopped down to a nice "tree porridge". Or on contemplatively growing songs, where the guitars' winding and whirling calls to the very highest air bearings. Many fans describe Träden's rough-cut music in almost spiritual terms. Träden answers with some mighty songs where the band reaches the mind-expanding oscillation that seems to only occur in their music.

New and unreleased tracks recorded at Mad Professor's Ariwa Studio in South London. "This Is The Upsetter" sees Lee chanting and philosophizing over a rollicking bass, underpinned by understated guitar and perfectly placed hats, and continues to the straight up dub, "Lion Share Dub". And on the flipside is the title track, "Game Of The Throne", with brass section and backing vocals belting out soul fire, with Lee offering his words to Selassie.

Cold Spring Records present the complete recording of A Slow Fade To Total Transparency. Recorded on August 24th, 1983 at the Air Gallery in London, UK. Personnel for the performance: John Balance (Coil), John Gosling (Zos Kia), Marc Almond (Soft Cell), and live mix by Peter Christopherson (Coil, Throbbing Gristle). Features: "How To Destroy Angels", the complete 23-minute piece; "How To Destroy Angels (Zos Kia Remix)", a nine-minute, unheard remix by John Gosling; and "Baptism Of Fire", an unreleased recording of Zos Kia/Coil at Recession Studios, London, England on October 12, 1983. Liner notes by Michel Faber (Under The Skin (2000), The Crimson Petal And The White). All audio, previously unreleased, has been remastered from the original tapes and is exclusive to this release.

Michel Faber: "Imagine how out-of-step with the dominant culture Coil were when they unveiled themselves in the Air Gallery to perform A Slow Fade To Total Transparency. Subtitled: How To Destroy Angels, the music -- a backing track prepared by John Balance, John Gosling and Peter Christopherson -- bears only scant resemblance to the How To Destroy Angels 12" that Coil would release as their debut vinyl the following year. Instead of the meditative ritual gongs of the 12", what we hear here is a restless, queasy melange of industrial noise, its eerie whistles the perfect backdrop for Marc Almond as he recites a bitter tirade against an ex-lover."

Studio Mule's new project with Miyako Koda aka Dip In The Pool. Following a cover version of Ohnuki Taeko's "Carnaval", this is a new version of the Japanese new wave classic "Shinzo No Tibia" by Mariah, with new lyrics in Japanese, written by Koda; Yasuaki Shimizu kindly gave us permission to do this. The extended version on the A side is full of respect for the original version, while a dark new wave dub version is on the B side; Kuniyuki said the idea for this version came from an Adrian Sherwood remix for Depeche Mode.

2018 repress. Twelve tracks presented on 180 gram vinyl with insert. Underground Belgian Wave Volume 2 sold out quickly after its original release in 2010 and is since then a much sought-after and highly collectible gem. Tracks by Autumn, Tangible Joy, The Misz, Emotional Violence, Berntholer, Elisa Waut, Marcel Vanthilt, Secret Life, and Enzo Kreft.

2018 repress. 41 years later, Lee "Scratch" Perry uses today's sound system to revisit his classic Black Ark album that defined Jamaican dub music, reincarnating the magic for the sound system generation. Big question about it: "How do you improve on a masterpiece?" Lee "Scratch" Perry defined dub music with his seminal 1976 Super Ape album, and he returns with New York City's Subatomic Sound System to conquer again, definitively reincarnating the magic of his Black Ark studio in Jamaica, heavy on Ethiopian horns and percussion, while reinvigorating it with the 21st century booming bass and beats that capture the energy of their innovative live electronic show. Largely known as the mentor to Bob Marley, Perry's influence has transcended reggae. Since 2010, he has toured with NYC's Subatomic Sound System, his go-to band for recreating his Black Ark studio sound live on stage, in new exciting ways as a one-of-a-kind hybrid of beat heavy electronics and live musicians, including original Black Ark studio percussionist Larry McDonald. Subatomic Sound System has been pushing the envelope of electronic music in combination with reggae since their inception in 1999. In dub, Lee "Scratch" Perry is a star at organizing and remixing the music with drum and bass in the forefront and tweaking knobs and faders, adding effects like a jazz improvisation. In the 1970s, the idea of a producer as a star, rather than a singer or musician, seemed crazy, but looking across the world of star DJ producers, he is rightly acknowledged as a visionary as well. There are many stories to be told, but this album follows on the mission of the tour which has the goal of reaching out to old fans and new fans. As sound system culture continues to expand globally with reggae and beyond, these are DJ-friendly heavyweight versions of Scratch material that makes sense in the 21st century. "Scratch" started his music career as a dancer so he loves to get a party started even at 81. The album shows that Scratch was 40 years ahead of his time with Super Ape, and that at 81, he's more relevant to youth culture than ever. The original "Burning Man", "Scratch" was called "the Salvador Dali of music" by Keith Richards and Bounty Killer hailed him as "the greatest Jamaican artist of all time". Features: Jahdan Blakkamoore, Screechy Dan, and Ari Up of The Slits. Includes CD.

Echo Beach present the first vinyl issue of Little Axe's Champagne & Grits, originally released in 2003. Champagne & Grits is considered by many to be one of Little Axe's best albums and it features the musicians Doug Wimbish, Keith LeBlanc, and more. 180 gram vinyl; Edition of 500.

For the first time available on vinyl, three albums by Little Axe originally released CD-only on Peter Gabriel's Realworld label. Little Axe, aka Skip McDonald, started his career in music back in the '70s as a member of the Sugarhill Gang backing band (already with longtime collaborators Doug Wimbish and Keith LeBlanc). Later on, the same musicians got involved with Adrian Sherwood and his much beloved progressive reggae/dub label On-U-Sounds. So far McDonald has released a total of eight albums of his own under the Little Axe moniker. Each of them recorded together with Adrian Sherwood, and each of them based around Little Axe's very own and contemporary version of the blues, combining blues with dub, Cajun and gospel sounds. For the first time, Echo Beach offer vinyl versions of the three albums Little Axe released on the Realworld label in the early 2000s.

CV313, the prolific duo of Rod Modell and Stephen Hitchell, continue their string of releases on Echospace with Analogue Oceans. The furthest depths of sound are awakened in this double CD set, creating a distinctive sonic environment inspired by ocean movements and its mysteries. Beginning anew, CV313 delivers an etheric approach on Analogue Oceans that fearlessly illuminates the culmination of 25 years of sound design, a continuous transformation that engages the listener in ways it never has before. Shimmering metallic washes of color meet sub-aquatic tones, creating an immersive sonic world unlike anything heard before, this is hands down some of most engaging sound worlds this project has ever explored. Includes a Variant re-work on the second disc. Engineered, written and produced by CV313.

"Recorded in fits and starts, while the artists worked on their moontans amidst strong waters, the sole release by Dead Girl's Party was originally issued on cassette by the Entr'acte label. Since that tape now goes for a ben-and-a-half, we realized it was time to make a vinyl document of these young jazz immortals. Scott 'Pfennig' Foust (XX Committee, IFCO, Tart and the founding philosopher of the Anti-Natural movement) and Matt 'Ha'Penny' Krefting (Son of Earth, Believers, Duck, MK Unit, etc.) decided to do this stuff because they were hanging out a bunch, and 2009 seemed like a 'down' year to them. What better to inflate its core than a totally-inscrutable duo, dedicated to creating noise-pop with no clear precedent? The three tracks on the first side run from the Francis Bebey-like 'The First Pill,' through 'I'm a Tick Tock Bomb' (basically a distillation of every good move the Fall made in the '90s), onto the Apocalypse-as-a-carnival-midway-game of 'Spin the Wheel!' It's what I sort of thought the Sleaford Mods might sound like when I first heard about them (boy, was that a disappointment). Just a weird, sometimes wordy collection of electronics and mood and barely suppressed outrage. The two tracks on the flip are sort of a post-Apocalypse song suite about pirates in a submarine who have to get rid of a lot of ballast, although they know they're gonna die anyway. And wasn't life grand? To which we say, 'yeah!' Impossible to categorize or to get off the stereo, The Things I've Lost is a monster for the ages. Listen in the light. Listen in the dark. Just listen." --Byron Coley, 2018 Edition of 300; Includes download code.

Hi Hat presents Free Jazz Meeting Baden Baden '67, capturing a set of live performances from 1967. Since 1966, the Free Jazz Meeting (now known as the SWR NewJazz Meeting) has taken place annually in Baden-Baden, Germany. This disc presents performances that were broadcast in Germany from the second of these events, which took place from December 16 through December 18, 1967. The four pieces feature different lineups of major free jazz musicians from several countries, including such top players as Don Cherry, Marion Brown, Evan Parker, and John Stevens. Featuring Jeanne Lee, Albert Mangelsdorff, Gunter Hampel, Buschi Niebergall, Pierre Courbois, Peter Kowald, and Sven-Åke Johansson.

2018 repress, originally released in 2016. Recital present the first album of American Gamelan composer Daniel Schmidt (b. 1942). Schmidt, who emerged in the Bay Area music scene in the 1970s, wove the threads of traditional Eastern Gamelan music together with American minimalism (repetitive music). Schmidt was (and is still) a prime figure in the development of American Gamelan music -- studying and collaborating with Lou Harrison, Jody Diamond, and Paul Dresher. He currently is a teacher at Mills College, teaching instrument building. The recordings on Flowers date from 1978-1982, selected directly from Schmidt's personal cassette archive. It holds two studio tracks, along with two live performances. The first track, "Dawn" (commissioned by composer John Adams), employs an early digital sampler provided by Pauline Oliveros. It holds the sound of a string quartet. The nature of this piece is breathtaking, an ocean of strings pulsing beneath the gliding bells of the gamelan -- such a lovely interplay. Furthermore, the title track, "Flowers", features the addition of a rebab, a traditional bowed instrument, which reels through the piece, netted and taught. The final two works are strictly gamelan compositions. "Ghosts" is a dynamic piece; rife with dexterous euphoria, it well displays the skillset of the percussionists heard on the LP. The closing work, "Faint Impressions", is a somber elegy. Demonstrating the fragility and grace possible with the gamelan; sounding almost as an evening piano sonata. In My Arms, Many Flowers is a unique document from an under-represented movement of American new music. An account of the curious beauty and woven emotions hidden within resonating pieces of metal.

"'The seven-track, double-LP is the Philadelphia duo's second studio album following Infratracts, which was released on Morphine Records back in 2013. Known for their fusion of avant-DIY electronics and degraded techno, Kenneth_Lay and V. Hold have also put out a spate of live cassettes on _bruxist in the years since Infratracts, while Kenneth_Lay's _moonraker project has had an album and a run of EPs, too.'--Resident Advisor."

"'Kassem Mosse is releasing a new EP called 211 Circles Of Rushing Water. Gunnar Wendel has adopted a new alias, DJ Residue, for the eight-track vinyl release. Wendel told Resident Advisor that it 'was recorded over the course of five days in summer in an apartment with no AC in New York with random instruments found inside the apartment (a Moog Radioshack synth & two Zildjian cymbals).' He's previously appeared on The Trilogy Tapes alongside regular sparring partner Mix Mup under the KM/MM moniker and with Beatrice Dillon as Dillon Wendel. He also had a live cassette that was co-released by Doldrums and The Trilogy Tapes back in 2010. More recently, he scored a dance performance in Leipzig called Slave To The Rhythm.' --Resident Advisor."

Trost have unearthed another gem from the Japanese jazz maestro Akira Sakata, together with Bill Laswell, Hamid Drake, and Pete Cosey. Fisherman's.com was released originally on CD, Japan-only, by Starlets Records in 2001. This release marks its first time on vinyl and available worldwide. Fisherman's.com is Sakata's ode to folksongs of the sea -- an intense personal statement on the fluidity of tradition. Personnel: Akira Sakata - alto saxophone, vocals, synth; Bill Laswell - bass, synth; Hamid Drake - drums; Pete Cosey - guitar.

Reckonings is the debut album from experimental violinists Laura Cannell and André Bosman. 12th century melodies mingle with the drone of long sleeping Saxons, evoking medieval cultures on distant planets. Spontaneous composition and excursions to a medieval church capture their playing with no planning or shaping of the music beforehand, keeping the music vital and direct. Never in the building for more than half-an-hour, Reckonings is made up of visits through the seasons with wind rattling, sun burning, and snow melting.

2018 repress. From the Honest Jon's 'hood -- Ladbroke Grove, late 1970s -- stomping disco, dubwise reggae and regal steel-band. Three-track EP, released in conjunction with EM Records from Japan.

2018 repress. Stunning new music from Istanbul! Wild baglama improvisation and mystical male-unison singing, atop the propulsive mass of a Berlin half-stepper, with turbulent detours into dub, radiophonics, and psychedelia. "Kime Ne" means "so what," "what's it got to do with you." The song adapts verses from the seventeenth-century poet Kul Nesîmî, wistfully invoking the Melami strain of Sufism as a touchstone of humility and tolerance in dark times. "Insanlar" means "humankind"... "The Human Beings." RV's mixes are expert, taut and hard-grooving. "2" is the more agitated and dubwise. Side D is etched with Katharina Immekus's lovely artwork.

After a debut outing on International Black in 2017 with his best friend Mallard, LT graduates onto Rhythm Section International with a stunning debut solo effort, Forest Floor. Aged just 20 years old, Lewis Taylor, aka LT, is another prodigal talent from the north of England. Sitting somewhere between electro, house, and techno with a healthy dose of breaks -- LT constructs complex arrangements with as much of a nod to the retro summer of love stylings of Lone as to the new age bounce of the Pender Street Steppers.

Corbett Vs. Dempsey present a reissue of Amarcord Nino Rota, a tribute album assembled by producer Hal Willner, originally released by Hannibal Records in 1981. If you think you know how to put a mix-tape together, take a lesson from Hal Willner, the absolute master. In 1981, Willner produced a landmark record of interpretations of music written by Nino Rota for the films of Federico Fellini. With ten tracks and as many different lineups, this record set the template for a series of brilliant tributes that Willner has made over the ensuing 35 years, covering the songbooks of Monk, Mingus, Weill, and Disney, with a mind-expanding range of performers from Eugene Chadbourne to Chuck D to Diamanda Galas to Peter Frampton. On Amarcord Nino Rota, Willner drew together an equally dazzling spectrum of musicians, compiling them into a perfect program that explores Rota's wonderful, sly, sexy oeuvre from contrasting and complementary perspectives. Pianist Jaki Byard sets the stage with the title track and ends things with "La Strada", and in his first appearance on record, guitarist Bill Frisell contributes a haunting solo acoustic version of "Juliet Of The Spirits". Soprano saxophonist Steve Lacy, who lived in Rome early in his international years, offers a take on Rota's "Roma" and vibraphonist Dave Samuels provides interludes and transitions in a couple of spots. On the other end of the size bracket, Muhal Richard Abrams arranges and conducts his band as part of "La Dolce Vita Suite", which ends with a rock group featuring Debbie Harry singing a wordless waltz. The Carla Bley Band presents a daunting, suitably hilarious version of "8 ½", with Gary Windo's ballistic tenor saxophone, a David Amram Quintet with Sharon Freeman on French horn plays "Satyricon", and in a surprise appearance, trumpeter Wynton Marsalis plays alongside his brother Branford, tenor saxophonist George Adams, pianist Kenny Barron, bassist Ron Carter, and drummer Wilbert Fletcher, in William Fischer's arrangement of a medley of Rota chestnuts. Long out-of-print on LP and only released on CD for a hot minute in the early nineties, Amarcord Nino Rota is a certifiable classic.

Echospace continues their series of Radius's Interpolation Tapes with Restoration 2/3. Hot on the heels of 2018's Obsolete Machines [Stage Two], Radius's cassette demo restoration project returns to form with the Interpolation Tapes series. The original source tapes had aged, warped, and degraded and as a result the present release has preserved the best segments, sampled and reprocessed with a vintage Prophet 2000 sampler, studio 440 and various Linn samplers to add depth and range to the original source material. Echospace have spent nearly an entire year restoring and interpolating over 100 hours of music, processing sound and redesigning the blueprints of this long-forgotten project. Every track was originally recorded down to an old Tascam 688, an eight-track cassette recorder purchased and abused since 1992 and these tracks to our ears still sounds quite impressive, even by modern standards. Interpolation Tapes [Restoration 2/3] is the second part, following Interpolation Tapes [Restoration One] (RDS 002CD, 2017) in a series of three releases featuring unreleased material culled from the vault of the long out of print Radius project, an ageless analog tapestry of sound. This release features eight tracks revisited and restored from analog cassette tapes with recordings conducted from 1994-2001 with nothing but analog/digital hardware. The original source tapes had aged, warped and degraded and as a result Echospace has preserved the best segments, sampled and reprocessed them into an entirely new sonic spectrum. It's been a truly nostalgic experience re-visiting and re-arranging these masters. Regardless of the time passed, there's so much depth and organic movement that the music nearly breathes in slow motion. When considering the limitations of hardware in the era these were recorded, they've truly aged like a fine wine.

XI Records releases Drop By Drop, Suddenly, a two-CD set of eleven compositions for bassoon composed and performed by Leslie Ross. Ross is not only an internationally renowned instrument builder but is also an uncompromising creative musician. The first disc starts with a series of short seed pieces that play primarily with the timbral and microtonal differences highlighted between tone-holes, forming a layered effect while playing with only one fingering, single note or multiphonic. They range from the strictly tonal or modal pitch-centered to a thicker atonal and dissonant collection of frequencies. Pieces progress to longer complex ones by the second disc, some of which have as minimal material as the shorter ones, but make more extensive use of live multi-track recordings and frequency filters to further bring out changes in frequencies or accentuate specific multiphonics. The electronics used were created explicitly for each composition using the computer-based program MAX/MSP. Save for the unconventional 15 microphones of the "prepared bassoon", these recordings include pieces with no sound processing whatsoever, as well as pieces that do involve sound processing and multi-tracking. Importantly, however, any processing is made in real time, not post-recording. All recordings are single-take recordings where four speaker channels along with room microphones have been mixed down to stereo. Key clicks occasionally get picked up in a loop recording to return sometimes processed, sometimes not, while in circular breathing a multiphonic might drop out before sounding again. What might sound like clicks or occasional drop outs on some pieces are not overlooked mastering faults but the result of this live processing, presenting these pieces as they would be in performance. With a formal background in classical music and early performance practice, Leslie Ross took a plunge into the free improvisation scene of downtown New York in the mid 1980's and has immersed herself in experimental music ever since. Her connected, parallel, work as a baroque bassoon builder also opened up concurrently into explorations of invented instruments and sound installations. She has presented solo programs, both acoustic and electro-acoustic throughout Europe and the US over the past three decades. In the mid 2000's she returned her music focus to a detailed exploration, analysis and understanding of bassoon multiphonics. It is through this exploration of multiphonics and the subtle changes made when playing with resonance keys that brought her to the music presented on Drop By Drop, Suddenly.

Unreleased baroque jazz horror score to controversial lesbian sex cult witchcraft exploitation drama from 1973, composed by Ted Dicks, the man who wrote the Catweazle theme. Ted Dicks is not that well-known as a composer these days, but back in the mid-1960s he was composing library music as well as penning some of the greatest comedy songs of the era, including "Hole In The Ground" and "Right Said Fred". His work was performed by Kenneth Williams, Petula Clarke, Bernard Cribbins, Topol, and more. But until now, little has been known of his brief flirtation with film music. Virgin Witch was his first brush with film scoring -- one of only two score he wrote. The film was produced by legendary wrestling commentator Ken Walton (under his sexploitation pseudonym of Ralph Solomans), with the help of Hazel Adair, a woman famed for co-creating the long running UK TV soap Crossroads. Virgin Witch was a racey film, turned down at least once for certification by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC), passed uncut with an X for release just in London, then cut and passed for general release shortly afterwards. The score itself is a unique and quite beautiful pop baroque work, utilizing the cimbalom, an instrument more than likely played here by Ipcress File (1965) musician John Leach. A very limited release of a most unique 1970s pop horror lesbian witch score. Full color, eye-catching sleeve with great sleeve notes.

2018 repress. "The compilation that started the renaissance. In 2002 Audika Records entered into an exclusive licensing agreement with the estate of Arthur Russell to compile and issue previously unreleased and out of print material from Arthur's vast archive. This first album Calling Out of Context, features 12 previously unreleased tracks of Buddhist Bubblegum Alt Disco Pop recorded during Arthur's prime years 1985-90."

LP version. Includes CD. Long before Elon Musk reached for the stars with his SpaceX project, a Swabian engineer by the name of Lutz Kayser harbored his own childhood dream of a voyage into space. Fly Rocket Fly - Mit Macheten Zu Den Sternen ("To The Stars With Machetes") tells the remarkable story of how he and a dedicated band of Stuttgart engineers founded the world's first private space exploration enterprise: Orbital Transport-und Raketen Aktiengesellschaft, or OTRAG (Orbital Transport and Rockets Inc.). Having enlisted Wernher von Braun as scientific adviser, this early start-up developed a rocket in the late 1960s on the principle of low cost rather than high tech. Windscreen wiper motors were deployed in valve control systems, for example. Kayser's search for a suitable development site led him to African dictator Mobutu Sese Seko who signed off on a deal to allow OTRAG to establish a launch facility in the Congolese jungle. OTRAG built their very own German Cape Canaveral in an area the size of the former GDR, complete with its own butcher's shop and marijuana plantation. They successfully launched several rockets to suborbital altitude before the global political crisis of the mid-1970s put an end to OTRAG's activities. Nobody wanted to see German rockets in the skies over the African jungle (or anywhere else) 30 years after the war -- Fly Rocket Fly is a madcap mix of adventure, political thriller, farce and economic drama -- somewhere between Fitzcarraldo (1982), The Wages of Fear (1953) and Tintin: Explorers On The Moon. The documentary's soundtrack, to be released on Hamburg-based label Bureau B, features songs by the likes of ESB, Camera, Conrad Schnitzler, Günter Schickert, Die Wilde Jagd, as well as new productions from film composer Heiko Maile. Also features Solyst, Dennis Young, Rolf Trostel, and Moebius Neumeier Engler. CD includes three bonus tracks.

LP version. What two great producers other than Lee Perry and Bunny Lee would be best suited for a Dub Soundclash? Both producers were integral at the birth of dub music and would share many rhythms and sessions -- their musical paths would cross all through their careers. It was in fact Bunny Lee's rhythm that provided the back drop to Lee Perry's "Shocks Of Mighty" cut. Jobs were passed from one to the other, Bunny Lee taking over Lee Perry's position at WIRL Records. Yes, two producers whose paths always seemed to cross as it does with this release. Jamaican Recordings have selected some of Lee Perry's rhythms, the first half of this set, against some Bunny Lee rhythm on the second half. You can hear the distinctive sound of Lee Perry's Black Ark studio with his echoplex giving his trademark whirling sound against Bunny Lee's rhythms cut at many different studios. The winner of the Soundclash? That is up to you the listener... But in this dub session there is no loser...

True blues ain't no new news and on here you'll find the choicest cuts of amplified post-war blues. This is tail-shaking guitar-based dance music straight from the small sweaty clubs and riotous rent-parties of the late 1950s and early 1960s. Side A's selections come courtesy of Stag-O-Lee's own R-Man and Side B is from the collection of London based DJ and record hound, Diddy Wah. Put it on, turn it up, and stomp your big ol' feet to the big ol' beat. R-Man's side features Billy Boy, Bobo Jenkins, The Sly Fox, Eddie Taylor, Willie Nix And His Combo, Lightnin' Hopkins, Johnny Acey, and Papa Lightfoot. Diddy Wah's side features Sonny Terry, Sammy Lewis, Kid Thomas, Tender Slim, Champion Jack Dupree, Guitar Red, Lulu Reed, and Lightnin' Slim.

Double LP version. 140 gram vinyl. Gatefold sleeve. Includes liner notes (French and English). WRWTFWW Records announce the release of two never-released-before soundtracks by French award-winning composer, audio experimenter, electroacoustic, and musique concrète magician, and all-around sound visionary Bernard Parmegiani, sourced from the original reels, and with English and French liner notes. Les Soleils De l'Île De Pâques (1972), by French director Pierre Kast, is a sci-fi feature which secured itself a well-deserved place in the pantheon of mysterious cult films thanks to hallucinatory (and superb) cinematography, exploration of supernatural phenomenon and occult symbolism, and one hell of a trippy atmosphere. La Brûlure De Mille Soleils (1965) also comes from Pierre Kast, but this time with the help of none other than writer, photographer, multimedia artist, homme à tout faire Chris Marker -- notably known for films La Jetée (1962), A Grin Without a Cat (1977), and Sans Soleil (1983) -- who edited this bizarre short to brain-melting results that live up to the promises of its synopsis: A depressed millionaire poet, accompanied by his cat Marcel and a sign language robot, travels in time to shake a persistent feeling of ennui and falls hopelessly in love with a woman from another planet. 'Nuff said! A renowned member of the prestigious GRM (Groupe De Recherches Musicales, the French equivalent of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop) and frequent collaborator of Pierre Schaeffer, Iannis Xenakis, and Pierre Henry, among others, Bernard Parmegiani does what he does best with these two rare soundtracks: create moods with electroacoustic experimentation, elevating the weird and hypnotic with soundscapes from other dimensions, and cementing his status as a true innovator.

2018 repress. One of the all-time classic ambient albums finally available on strictly limited edition 180 gram vinyl. The vinyl edition of Substrata is released by Geir Jenssen's own label, Biophon. It comes as a double gatefold album featuring the bonus track "Laika" (14:35). Biosphere is widely-regarded as one of the legendary names in ambient/electronic music. Residing in Norway, near the Arctic Circle, he has found the focus to slowly and steadily create a self-contained aural universe, made up of reflective and immersive sound sculptures. For almost 15 years, he has released a string of critically-acclaimed albums. 1997's Substrata, which marked Jenssen's embarkation towards an intensely minimal style, is not only often considered to be Jenssen's best work to date, but is also seen as one of the all-time classic ambient albums. Re-mastered by Stefan Betke @ Scape Mastering, Berlin. New artwork by David Coppenhall.

Luciano has arranged Sequentia, a special series of four releases as part of the 2018 celebrations for the fifteen years anniversary of his own Cadenza Records, launched here with Sequentia Vol. 1 to begin the festivities. Each episode is coming out in a different season of the year; the present one, dedicated to the summertime and contains five enchanting tracks with an exquisite sound. This series is just one of the astonishing surprises that Luciano has set aside for the birthday of his beloved label. The show begins with "The Amazing Lilou", a crispy ariose tune with elaborated percussions and calypso-flavored synthesizers. "Hiding Hearts" is a Latin prelude with pleasant guitars and restful melodies, flowing with joy and peace. "Nabusima" is another Caribbean spell, with carefully mixed drums and elevating harmonies. "Magik Mechanics" explores complex broken beats and electronic textures, drawing a colored narration in between a fairy tale and a sci-fi movie. Finally, "Tirana del Oriente", as disclosed by the title, is a trip into the ardent magic of the Orient. Sequentia Vol. 1 is a collection of five long, summery compositions to accompany our hot pleasing days from the dawn 'til dusk, holding our hands during a never-ending daydream. Gatefold sleeve.

2018 repress. Reissue of the 1976 historic collaboration between producer instrumentalist Augustus Pablo and dub engineer King Tubby.

2018 repress. Landmark dub record from legendary reggae producer Lee 'Scratch' Perry', using a combination of established collaborators and new musicians (Upsetters, Lee Perry, Ricky and Bunny).

2018 repress; 1995 release. "A virtual wizard of the mixing desk, Overton H Brown has been one of the key figures in dub since the late 1970s. Getting his start as a teenager at King Tubby's legendary studio in Waterhouse, Brown was known as 'The Scientist' because his imaginative approach to the mixing desk and electronic gadgetry seemed to derive from magical powers that linked him to some intangible, futuristic realm."