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2LP
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BEWITH 024LP
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2025 repress; remastered on 180 gram vinyl, expanded to double-LP, gatefold sleeve. One cannot hear a Tommy Guerrero song without immediately recognizing it as his -- and his only. The cult skater from San Francisco is globally renowned as one of the original members of the legendary "Bones Brigade" team. And as an accomplished multi-instrumentalist, his laid-back soul is beloved by all who've basked in its blissful glow. A Little Bit Of Somethin' is a quietly majestic gem. Brimming with Guerrero's horizontal "loose grooves", these brief but innovative instrumentals demonstrate a rich variety and, as such, comprise an LP that is aptly titled. An enchanting start-to-finish listen, it was instantly regarded as essential upon release via Mo Wax in 2000. It has aged remarkably well. Throughout this inspired collection, simplicity is key. In deploying it, Guerrero presents a beautifully crafted melodic soundscape. The distinctive, mellifluous approach of his guitar style, blending Brazilian, Cuban, Mexican, soul, and jazz motifs, is at once startlingly new and tantalizingly familiar. Set against unrushed percussion, the music releases a crystal-clear stream of healing frequencies to create a fragile, hypnotic atmosphere. Each track clocks in at around three minutes and, with a lack of studio polish or commitment to traditional song structure, it's a wonder how this enigmatic record demands your attention. However, through its gentle dynamism and impressive playing, it does just that. Whilst resolutely low-key, this lo-fi aesthetic feels genuinely organic and remarkably personal; its powerful intimacy truly connects. It's what makes this album so beloved of those lucky enough to be already familiar with it. From Margaret Kilgallen's truly iconic cover artwork to the music contained within, it's all brilliantly effortless. Guerrero's musical ideas are consistently compelling throughout, making it impossible to select highlights. The album's laconic drift touches upon jazz-fusion workouts and slow-mo hip-hop drums, Tortoise-style experimental post-rock, and cinematic sound textures. It's at once hazy, light and bouncy yet somber and bluesy. The Latin soul of El Chicano blends with the breezy jazz of Grant Green. By employing guitars and drum machines to create a stripped-down rhythmic tapestry of spellbinding, addictive songs, there are even traces of The Durutti Column. A little bit of country, a little bit of rock n' roll. A Little Bit Of Somethin', indeed.
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BEWITH 065LP
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2025 repress. Be With Records present the first vinyl issue of Tommy Guerrero's From The Soil To The Soul, originally released in 2006. Yes! Tommy Guerrero's much-loved fourth album -- the smooth West Coast classic From The Soil To The Soul -- gets its first ever vinyl release. As the follow up to his revered Soul Food Taqueria (BEWITH 026LP), this album was originally released by Quannum Records 2006 but only on CD. Working with Tommy directly, the LP has been fully remastered, cut on to heavyweight wax, and comes with artwork freshly reworked by the man himself. From The Soil To The Soul represents a continuation of Tommy's blissful guitar-soul whilst demonstrating increasingly complex chops and a slightly darker side to his distinctive sound. His spare, effortless funk is blended here with elements of Americana, heavy psych, lo-fi fuzz, and intoxicating Latin rhythms. Combined with his typically breezy, laid-back San Franciscan style, it's a vibe from start to finish. Recorded primarily in his home studio, Tommy wrote, arranged and played nearly all the instruments, including bass, guitar, keyboards, percussion, and kalimba. Renowned street artist Barry McGee, aka Twist, designed the cover art which Tommy has now recast in a deep, deep red for the vinyl version. As ever with Tommy, the highlights are many and memorable. From twinkling, sun-drenched opener "Hello Again" to the penultimate, punk-rocking track "Let Me In Let Me Out" (featuring the melodic yet fearsome rapping of Lyrics Born), the variety across the LP is relentless, but satisfying, and without once losing focus. You're treated to the gorgeous hip-hop blues of "The Under Dog", Meters-style Hammond B-3 jams like "War No More" and "No Guns More Glory" and Balearic bangers like Bing Ji Ling's star-turn on the sleazy "Don't Fake It". Curumin's soulful guest vocal elevates the already-great Brazilian lounge feels of "Salve" to hitherto unscaled heights and the heavy, driving basslines -- funky and warm on "Badder Than Bullets", somber and intense in "Tomorrow's Goodbye" and "Molotov Telegram" -- never fail to move both body and soul. But Be With's favourite track is the beautiful breezy pop of "Just Ain't Me". A bittersweet, skipping ballad which boasts an incredibly rare instance of Tommy singing. "What you want from me, I can never give" he repeats throughout, lending the already-melancholic atmosphere greater poignancy. It would've been number 1 across the planet in a parallel universe. Remastered. 180 gram vinyl.
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2LP
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BEWITH 098LP
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2025 repress; Be With Records present a reissue of DJ Quik's Rhythm-Al-Ism, originally released in 1998. DJ Quik is a giant of West Coast hip-hop. With his fourth album Rhythm-Al-Ism he created his masterpiece, a perfect hip-hop album. A preternaturally gifted producer/rapper, DJ Quik has produced scores of LA gangsta rap classics. He's released platinum and gold records of his own, as well as helped craft them for the likes of Tupac, Snoop Dogg, and Dr Dre. Quik has always been quirkier and more interesting than his gangsta rap peers, both musically and lyrically. An old-school funk producer at heart, he's also incredibly nice on the mic. His raps often deal in boasts, jokes and good times but also cover his beefs, his trials and his trauma. Partying and pain, all mixed up. DJing and producing hype beat tapes from age 14, Quik's tracks blended the languid funk and rubbery synths of Zapp and George Clinton with a gangsta aesthetic, creating a more danceable foil to Compton's more typical nihilistic hedonism. Ultimately, his records sound custom engineered to drift out over sun-soaked barbecues. Released in 1998 on Profile, Rhythm-Al-Ism was the closest Quik ever got to making a commercial splash. "You'z A Ganxta" and "Hand in Hand" made radio waves across the country and the less radio-friendly tracks like "Medley For A 'V'" were bumping out of car stereos. Combining his soulful, jazzy P-Funk/G-Funk beats with his effortlessly smooth flow, Rhythm-Al-Ism was the quintessential West Coast Party. Squelchy synths, bouncy bass, monstrously knocking drums and freaky keys - this is peaking acidic party-rap, straight out the gate. Dripping with wit and good humor. A real swing to the vibe. Mastered for vinyl by Simon Francis, cut by Pete Norman and pressed at Record Industry. Original picture sleeve and insert.
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BEWITH 113LP
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2025 restock. Be With Records present a reissue of Klaus Weiss Rhythm And Sounds' Sound Inventions, originally released in 1979. From the notoriously strong mind of Niagara drummer/library-funk overlord Klaus Weiss, Sound Inventions is loaded with tripped out studio funk-freakery, mad samples, and swaggering abstract funk grooves. From dramatic deep disco with dark Italo/Moroder leanings to heavy German funk breaks, this is absolutely sensational. Absolute synth-and-string-drenched magic. Born in 1942 in Gevelsberg, Germany, Klaus Weiss began his career as a jazz drummer at sixteen (with a group called the Jazzopators) before working with the internationally successful '60s groups the Klaus Doldinger Quartet and the Erwin Lehn Big Band. In 1965 he formed his own trio, the first of many groups to bear his name, and as his renown as a bandleader grew over the next decade it naturally led to working in production music. About as cult as it gets when it comes to library music legends (German or otherwise), he produced essential records on German library labels Coloursound, Selected Sound, and Sonoton, as well as making two essential entries in the Conroy catalog. Collections of music in the trademark Klaus Weiss sound of electronics unsurprisingly built on top of sometimes funky, sometimes frenetic, but always hard-hitting drums. Sound Inventions is one of those library records with a hefty track list, 22 in total, but they're all pretty stunning. That's not something you can often say and picking out the highlights is almost impossible. If pushed, go towards the tough teutonic funk of "Drumcrazy", the by turns juddering and sweeping majesty of the title track "Sound Inventions", the aquatic serenity of "Glide", the elegant strut of "Greenwich Street", the muted, eerie cosmic-funk of "Air Space", the squelchy acid-clavs of "Rhythm Function", the calming, melodic "Waves", the stuttering proto-Timbaland sensation that is "Rainbows" and the percussive funk-fueled workout of "A Few Cuts". Founded in the late '60s by German composer and musician Klaus Netzle, Selected Sound began as a production music company specializing in jazz, orchestral and electronic recordings. You can't miss those early LPs in their iconic glossy metallic copper sleeves with minimal German typography. Mastered for vinyl by Simon Francis from audio from the original tapes. Richard Robinson reproduced the original Selected Sound sleeve.
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BT 039LP
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2025 repress. Black Truffle present the release of Ichida, the first release from the duo of two important, yet often underappreciated musicians, Eiko Ishibashi and Darin Gray. Ishibashi is a singer-songwriter, keyboardist, drummer, and multi-instrumentalist, known in Japan both for her own elaborately conceptual solo albums and for her frequent collaborations with figures such as Jim O'Rourke, Merzbow, and Phew. Darin Gray is a bassist and multi-instrumentalist known for a multitude of collaborations (with O'Rourke and Loren Connors, among many others), for On Fillmore, his cinematic post-exotica project with Glenn Kotche, and as one half of Chikamorachi with Chris Corsano, one of the finest free-jazz rhythm sections around. Presenting the entirely of a live set performed at Tokyo's Super Deluxe in March 2013, the set begins as a duet for Ishibashi's flute and Gray's upright bass. Calmly melodic yet harmonically inventive, with shades of "spiritual jazz", the pair's acoustic ruminations are gradually joined by Ishibashi's lush electronics, which randomly flicker between chords in a manner recalling the classic work of David Behrman. As the electronics build into a gloomy fog of slowly cycling loops, Gray lays his bass aside and turns to making strangely mournful interjections on a mouthpiece. Eventually Ishibashi moves to the piano, enveloping the audience in rippling pools of sustained, octave-doubled melody, provided by Gray's bass with a fluid and dynamic foundation. For much of the second side, both Ishibashi and Gray turn to electronics, ultimately arriving in a bizarre space of melancholic arpeggios and random sputter and sizzle, oddly reminiscent of '70s outsider prog acts like Wapassou. An uneasy coda of rich piano chords ends the set. Captured in warm room ambience and beautifully mixed by Jim O'Rourke, Ichida is a rare combination of improvisational acumen and emotional directness, both adventurous and immediately accessible. Cover pics by Jim O'Rourke. Design by Stephen O'Malley. Mastered and cut by Rashad Becker at Dubplates & Mastering, Berlin.
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BT 064LP
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2025 repress. Black Truffle announce a new solo album by Eiko Ishibashi, her first for the label, following on from the duo recording Ichida alongside bassist Darin Gray (BT 039LP, 2018). Hyakki Yagyō (Night Parade of One Hundred Demons) was produced for the "Japan Supernatural" exhibition at The Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney focusing on ghost stories and folklore from the Edo period onwards. As with The Dream My Bones Dream (Drag City, 2018), the album is a response to troubling questions about Japanese history, and the influence of the past upon the present, but finds Ishibashi shifting further away from her earlier piano-led songwriting and showing a deepening interest in electronics and audio collaging. The two side-long parts of Hyakki Yagyō feature layered synthesizers, acoustic instrumentation, recited verse, and field recordings, at times densely mixed but always with a subtle interplay of changing elements. The influence of European and American forerunners as diverse as Alvin Curran, David Behrman, and Strafe Für Rebellion can be traced, yet at the same time Ishibashi evokes the flute and string sounds associated with Japanese storytelling, and draws directly on the subversive literary tradition of Kyoka ("mad poetry") with a verse by the 15th-century poet Ikkyū Sōjun repeated throughout the album. Revisiting what has gone before, re-thinking what is possible musically, as a way of articulating what else might be possible in the future. As Ishibashi's liner notes make clear, the album reflects an attention to persistent dangers, myths and evasions in Japanese culture -- as well as the lurking uncertainties that might threaten positive change. This would seem to be manifested in the emerging melodies soon met by dissonance, erratic collisions, and near silence, as well as the eerie manipulation of the double-tracked vocals. Ishibashi's underlying concerns ring true more widely of course. Hyakki Yagyō is a work of multiplicities, and mystery, a landscape where nothing is as it seems at first, and everything is vulnerable to sudden violent interruptions. The album was produced with regular collaborators Jim O'Rourke (double bass) and Joe Talia (percussion), and features dancer and choreographer Ryuichi Fujimura performing Ikkyū's satirical tanka. O'Rourke's immersive mix creates a three-dimensional effect, with Ishibashi's various sound sources enmeshing and interacting in captivating ways. White vinyl; inner sleeve featuring artist portrait and liner notes from Eiko Ishibashi. Cover and label design by Shuhei Abe. Back cover design by Lasse Marhaug. Mixed and mastered by Jim O'Rourke.
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BT 084LP
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2025 repress. Black Truffle announce For McCoy, a new work by Eiko Ishibashi dedicated to the widely loved character of Jack McCoy, portrayed by Sam Waterston in Law & Order. Following on from Hyakki Yagyō (BT 064LP), For McCoy finds Ishibashi further exploring the unique space she has carved out in recent years, bringing together musique concrète techniques, ECM-inspired jazz, lush layers of synths and hints of pop into immersive and affecting structures crafted in her home studio, aided by a group of close collaborators. Beginning with overlapping layers of descending flute lines, the expansive "I Can Feel Guilty About Anything" (whose two parts stretch out over more than thirty minutes) unfolds with a free-associative logic, embracing dreamlike transitions and unexpected cinematic cuts. As a hovering cloud of synthetic tones and multi-tracked voices fans out from the spare opening moments, Joe Talia's skittering cymbals settle into a gently propulsive groove, soon joined by melodic fragments performed by Daisuke Fujiwara on multi-tracked saxophone. As the drums cede to field recordings and ominous synth figures, the uncommon meeting of saxophone and electroacoustic techniques call to mind the more spacious moments of Michel Redolfi and André Jaume's Synclavier-propelled oddity Hardscore or the early work of Gilbert Artman's Urban Sax. As the piece continues on the LP's second side, distant dialogue rumbles beneath a surface of processed flutes, blurring into a cavernously reverberant backdrop for stark ascending lines performed by MIO.O on violin. Eventually, the piece settles into a gorgeous passage of abstracted dream pop, where Ishibashi's multitracked vocal harmonies glide atop synth chords, errant pings and snatches of outdoor sound. Fragments of melodic material reappear throughout the spacious opening piece, finally stepping to the forefront on the closing track, "Ask Me How I Sleep at Night". Here, over a shuffling groove supplied by Jim O'Rourke on double bass and Tatsuhisa Yamamoto on drums, layers of flutes, saxophones and guitars sound out melodies whose combination of twisting irregularity and soulful immediacy calls up prime Keith Jarrett, while their closely voiced harmonies suggest Kenny Wheeler or even Wayne Shorter's Atlantis. In a classical gesture of closure, the web of melodic lines eventually leads back to the descending flute figures with which the record began. Presented in an immersive, impeccably detailed mix by Jim O'Rourke and arriving in a sleeve featuring Ishibashi's beautiful drawings of Jack McCoy, For McCoy is an essential release for anyone following the enchanted and unique path being forged by Eiko Ishibashi.
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LP
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BJR 111LP
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LP version. Alice is a vocal harmony trio made up of three persons, joined by a cheap synth and limited virtuosity. Together, they craft a kind of future folklore that's part funny, part apocalyptic -- half-soft, half-harsh, half-sad, half-simple, half-complex, half-controlled, half-Yvonne Harder, half-Sarah André, half-Lisa Harder. Since their last album L'Oiseau Magnifique (BJR 091CD), Alice have spent time on the road -- in cars, in trains, out in the open. Accustomed to writing outdoors, they slowly stitched together a collection of new songs. After two years of performing in clubs, bars, stairwells, carpentry workshops, activist agricultural fairs and roadside shoulders, they took their Oiseau Magnifique just about everywhere. It felt like time to sew these new pieces together -- a quilt of humor and soft words, something we could really use in these half-sweet, half-fascist times. Les Châteaux Faibles is the name of one of their latest songs, and naturally, the title of their new album. It captures the group's ethos perfectly -- a search for refuge in fragility, in a weakness that's better when shared. A collective sensitivity to bring us closer, stronger -- united in Châteaux Faibles.
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BB 058LP
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2025 restock. 140-gram LP. Cluster's self-titled debut was originally released by Philips in 1971; this edition is the first reissue to restore the track running order of the original Philips release. Includes liner notes by electronic avant-garde pioneer Asmus Tietchens. In 1998, The Wire listed Cluster's self-titled debut as one of "100 Records That Set The World On Fire (When No One Was Listening)." Very few albums from Germany can lay claim to this honor. Cluster is a monster; it contains a mere three untitled tracks and was quite an ordeal for untrained ears when it was released. Yet the album pointed the way forward like no other electronic opus. Cluster's previous incarnation was a trio called Kluster. A change in direction and musical differences moved Dieter Moebius and Hans-Joachim Roedelius to split from the group's third member, Conrad Schnitzler, in 1970. The following year, in addition to playing live, they recorded their first album in publisher Ralf Arnie's Star Musik Studio in Hamburg. Here they first met Conny Plank, who would himself become a legend. They remained close friends until Plank's death in 1987. Early Cluster music was new. New in the sense that it did not continue any tradition, instead laying the foundations for a future tradition. The duo's utter renunciation of conventional harmony and rhythm, embrace of near total aural abstraction, and confident use of noise, rigorous live electronic improvisation, and a positive mindset were all factors in Cluster's innovative trailblazing of 1971. For want of a better category, Cluster was classified rather inappropriately and incorrectly as "cosmic." Few recognized Cluster for what it was -- a synthesis of pop music, stripped of embarrassing glamor, and so-called serious music without intellectual constraints. Moebius and Roedelius took the liberty of raiding both disciplines to perfect their musical concept. A common enough practice today, but akin to a palace revolution in 1971. So it is that three pieces of electronic music meander and pulsate through Cluster, with no beginning and no end. Cluster's music is free and open in all directions. There are sounds, noises, and structures to be heard on this album that would become ingrained in the electronic pop music of the 1980s and 1990s. Cluster had taken the first step into the future.
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BB 340LP
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2025 restock; LP version. During the legendary Forst years, Roedelius had a private workspace with a Farfisa organ, a Revox-A77 tape machine, an echo device and a synthesizer which he borrowed from the Cluster studio next door now and again. Here he experimented, practiced, allowed his imagination to flow, at any hour of the day or night, whenever he was not in the studio with Dieter Moebius and/or Michael Rother at work on new Cluster or Harmonia material. Roedelius always let the tape run, in order to analyze the ideas thus captured more effectively on repeated listening. For the first time ever, this Roedelius audio sketchbook had been digitalized and available to the public in 2014 on a limited three-LP box set called Roedelius Tape Archive 1973-1978. The recordings offer a deep insight into the creative process of his music. Fleeting notes, slivers of ideas, so to speak, moments of inspiration. Finger exercises, experiments in harmony, studies in rhythm are also preserved on these magnetic tapes. Since the box set has been sold out for a long time, Bureau B decided to release the essence of those three LPs on a one-disc compilation: Roedelius Tape Archive Essence 1973-1978.
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CR 189LP
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2025 repress. "A reissue of the classic 1977 vocal fusion album that has been the source of many hip-hop samples. It features Narada Michael Walden (Whitney Houston, Herbie Hancock, George Benson) on drums. Long out of print, and coveted by collectors, Chiaroscuro provides an official faithful reissue."
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CT 103LP
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2025 restock. 1979 Clocktower reissue of UK release of Prince Jazzbo's Natty Passing Thru (1976) with a different tracklist and sleeve. "The full-on Black Ark sound from the Super Ape era. Riddims include Max Romeo's 'One Step Forward'." Produced by Lee Perry, The Upsetters, and Brad Osborne. Features Earl Smith (guitar), Mikey Boo (drums), Keith Stirling (piano), more.
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CTLP 198LP
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2025 repress. Recorded at Channel One. Credits: Aston "Family Man" Barrett, Robbie Shakespeare (bass), Hoss Mouth, Sly Dunbar (drums), Earl "Chinna" Smith (guitar), Ossie (organ), Ansel Collins (piano), Linval Thompson (producer).
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FB 5127LP
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2025 repress. Black vinyl. "With one foot in the past but their eyes firmly set on the future, El Michels Affair are among the leaders of a resurgent funk & soul movement from New York City that's sweeping both the music community and the charts. Led by saxophonist/organist Leon Michels and producer/engineer Jeff Silverman, El Michels Affair began as a loose collaboration of session musicians (including members of top-selling acts Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings, the Budos Band, and Antibalas) that looked to blend some of the vibrant quality of soundtrack records with the recording aesthetic of early reggae, and the rawness of 60's rock -- they called it 'Cinematic Soul.' This delicate balance was evident on their 2005 debut album Sounding Out the City, which earned critical acclaim and acted as the inaugural full-length release for Michels and Silverman's burgeoning label Truth & Soul (also the moniker for the duo as a production team). The buzz generated from the album and a series of moderately successful 7" vinyl singles from Truth & Soul led to an invitation by Toyota's Scion division for El Michels Affair to accompany the rapper Raekwon of Wu-Tang Clan for a promotional concert. As avid Wu-Tang fans, not only were the band leaders thrilled with the opportunity, but Michels found that the 'Cinematic Soul' sound was consistent with the moods of RZA's gritty soundscapes on the classic Wu-Tang releases. The concert was such as success, El Michels Affair went on to play several more concerts nationwide backing Raekwon and other members of the Clan, and the shows led to the recording of two smash 7" singles featuring instrumental reinterpretations of the Wu-Tang classic songs 'C.R.E.A.M.' and 'Bring Da Ruckus.' The singles combined to sell an extraordinary amount of over 7,000 units worldwide, and their success led to a contract in 2007 with indie hip hop powerhouse Fat Beats Records to record an entire album of Wu-Tang Clan interpolations entitled Enter the 37th Chamber. Since the contract was inked, a worldwide explosion of retro soul led by Amy Winehouse, Mark Ronson, and Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings has transformed the pop music landscape, and the Truth & Soul production duo have been in strong demand, recording with everyone from breakthrough Grammy-nominated artist Adele to punk rock innovator Iggy Pop. They've been commissioned for official remixes of Amy Winehouse and Dinah Washington (for the popular Verve Remixed series), and produced for Australian multi-platinum acts Jet and Gabriella Cilmi. Despite the eclectic group of clients for the Truth & Soul production company, El Michels Affair continued to build an audience within the hip hop community. A track from Sounding Out The City was sampled for Ghostface Killah's 2007 track 'Shakey Dog Lolita,' and a horn part written and performed by Michels (for Menahan Street Band) was famously lifted for Jay-Z's smash single 'Roc Boys.'"
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12"
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LIVITY 046EP
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2025 Repress in plain white disco sleeve. Forest Drive West returns to Livity Sound with the Dualism EP, a tour de force of stripped dub aesthetics and swirling psychedelic rhythms. One of the finest breakthrough UK producers of recent years, in a short space of time Forest Drive West has created an enviable catalog across labels such as Livity Sound, Rupture, Echocord, Whities, and Mantis. This new EP marks some of his best work to date. The final track on the EP, "Scorpion", features Melbourne based percussionist Lucky Pereira whose frenetic but tightly locked drums add a fizzing energy to Forest Drive West's deep atmospheric rhythm track.
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MR 394LP
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2025 repress. "After many years, we've recovered a rehearsal session that we had recorded on an old cassette tape. It had originally been laid down on a four-track recorder but unfortunately the tape got lost. The story of these tracks goes back to the last weekend of October 1983, when we went to record at Paco Trinidad's family home in the mountains north of Madrid. It was unexpectedly cold that weekend and we weren't prepared for the drop in temperatures . . . Paco recorded our latest songs on a four-track tape recorder at the house. It was done live, except for extra takes of Lars playing the clarinet and some guitar details. The garage sound, as the name suggests, was achieved in the garage and an adjoining room where José Brena played the drums. I used to write most of the lyrics . . . On this tape the track 'Una Vez Más' is instrumental and it's been so long now that we don't remember if it was like that at the time or if we hadn't defined the vocal melody yet. I rewrote most of the lyrics for the studio edition of the tracks on Un Hombre Solo (1984), with the exception of Lars's version of 'La Frontera Perdida'. It's not that his lyrics weren't good but I was more comfortable singing the words I wrote, as they felt more intimate . . . we always registered the songs as group compositions, drawing no distinctions between lyrics and music. The sleeve design is by Lars, who designed all the covers to our records. It's a photo montage of our performance for the Maqueta de Oro (Gold Demo) at the Diario Pop awards in March 1983, plus another photo of the band in the dressing room at Rock-Ola after playing our last gig. Áurea Cuní carried out the research and coordination among friends of friends in order to find photos of the group. The project for this record began months ago, when Per and his wife, Áurea, commented that they had listened again to the cassette tape of Décima Víctima that they kept in their storage room and had realized the power we had as a band. They said it was an interesting item for collectors and we should release it..." --Carlos Entrena, 2019
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MR 458LP
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2025 repress. Décima Víctima were a Spanish band that, during their short-lived career between 1981 and 1984, developed a very personal sound reminiscent of Joy Division, The Cure, and other British post-punk bands. Despite commercial success evaded them, rarely has any Spanish band achieved such a high degree of quality and coherence in their music and personality. Although included in Munster's past release MR 305 (2010) as part of a limited-edition boxset, this is the first time their debut album gets an official reissue in its original single LP format. For this edition, the sound of the original tape recordings has been cleaned and improved and the artwork has been slightly modified following the band's original idea. Despite only being active for under three years, Décima Víctima left a long-lasting legacy, and their influence would later be heard in Spanish bands such as Family, Los Planetas, and Sr Chinarro. In 1981, brothers Lars and Per Mertanen formed the instrumental band Clausula Tenebrosa. After a show they started talking about the possibility of rehearsing with Carlos, a friend at the time and ex-singer of the recently split Ejecutivos Agresivos. That's how the story of Décima Víctima started, rehearsing with a drum machine in the cellar of the Mertanens' house in Madrid. The first single came out in 1982, with Lars playing drums on it. Soon after, Los Esclarecidos introduced them to Jose Brena and he joined Décima Víctima as drummer. The second single was also recorded in 1982. A few months later they went to Vigo for a week to try out their repertoire live, in order to see which tracks the audience liked best and choose 12 for the record. The studio sessions were no short of joy and experimentation. Paco Trinidad, the producer, understood what the band wanted and managed to achieve it technically. Despite commercial success evaded them, their first LP was acclaimed by the press, especially by El Pais, one of the biggest-selling newspapers in Spain. Unavailable for years and always in high demand, this is the first time their debut album gets an official reissue in its original single LP format. For this edition, the sound of the original tape recordings has been cleaned and improved and the artwork has been slightly modified following the band's original idea.
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PL 135LP
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2025 restock. On May 28, 1969, four American musicians -- reed/wind players Roscoe Mitchell and Joseph Jarman, bassist Malachi Favors, and (accompanied by his wife, singer Fontella Bass) trumpeter Lester Bowie -- boarded the ocean liner S.S. United States, bound for Le Havre, France. After landing five days later, they moved on to Paris, where they got to work. On August 22, 1970, in the waning days of their stay overseas, the group, with Bass on vocals, would record their second release for EMI's Pathé Marconi: the movie soundtrack Les Stances à Sophie. The record, an exciting, eminently listenable combination of soul, classical, and jazz strains that survives as the Art Ensemble of Chicago's most stylistically diverse album, has long been admired by a devoted cult. Its durability is largely due to the popularity of its "hit": Over the years, "Theme de Yoyo" has been covered repeatedly, essayed by acts as varied as German funk band the Boogoos (and the offshoot Deep Jazz, both featuring singer Julia Fehenbeger), British nu-jazz combo the Cinematic Orchestra, Polish jazz man Wojtek Mazolewski, Norwegian rockers Motorpsycho, French dance music artist Étienne Jaumet, and London-based remixer, Shall I Bruk It. More than half a century later, "Theme de Yoyo" and Les Stances à Sophie still bring it. Limited-edition LP reissue from play loud! Productions, supplemented with new notes by U.S. music journalist Chris Morris.
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PL 161LP
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When asked about the title of her new record, Amor, Limpe Fuchs bluntly responded, "because it's everything." Being a Beatles fan from the very beginning, she's well aware that "all you need is love," but there's more to her sentiment than a corny pun. On the one hand, she's more than half a century into her musical career, and describes the relationship towards her instruments in terms of an ongoing and deepening love affair. So, it's about time for a love letter to her percussion instruments and the act of drumming and listening to her drums, which can be heard as "Trommeln" on the second to last track on Amor. Listeners also get to learn about "Verliebte Autos im Wald" -- a poem by Augusta Laar that Limpe recites during the closing track. What may come across as a goofy nursery rhyme at first is indeed testament to Limpe's longstanding animistic beliefs, her imagination towards everything around her. "It may sound wonky, but it's as simple as it's true, and it's important to love yourself and everything around you -- at least I try to do so the best I can, and sometimes I fail, sure." And, again, if you think about it, it's not much of a surprise, she's singing about cars, the vehicles that since decades get her and her instruments from gig to gig, all across Europe. But it's not all just about the material world around her, of course. So, on the other hand and for the most part, Amor reflects on love as an interpersonal and spiritual experience. Drawing inspiration from such different authors as Giordano Bruno, Hilde Domin, and Serge Kahili King, Amor is a record of compositions one could almost call "songs," although they're far from being performed in a conventional way. It is also Limpe Fuchs' most openly insightful and vulnerable record to date. As curious as ever, in her light-hearted yet thoughtful manner she explores the upsides and downsides of what it means to be loved or not loved.
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PL 163LP
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After re-releasing 1982 and the double LP Froh zu sein and 8-EP-Sampler, play loud! now completes the Familie Hesselbach catalog (1980-1985) with the third vinyl LP Sueddeutschland & Der Untergang des Hauses H. Enjoy!
"40 years after six students from the prestigious university of Tübingen were latecomers to the German new wave, it is once again the turn for Familie Hesselbach, who have always been called 'The German Talking Heads,' something we could agree with, if we add to their sound the rhythm schemes of A Certain Ratio, the groovy bass of Bush Tetras, the skronky disco-esque of James White, and turn Byrne's voice to a more spastic and cons ice one. Berlin´s play loud! label reissued in vinyl this early '80s German new wave gem, and if you think of all the bands we've named, you know this is going to blow your mind!" --Tremendo Garage about the first LP 1982
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PL 175LP
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There was a seismic shift in the European punk scene when Californian Mike Sobieski and Norah Findlay selected the Basque phenomenon Kike Turmix as their frontman in 1987. Madrid was the place to be, and with the addition of the British bass player Barnaby Bowles and later Spanish Angel Ramos, The Pleasure Fuckers crafted a singular sound, grabbing punk and doing rock while simultaneously grabbing rock and doing punk. In 1988, Simple Needs was the first of a long succession of singles, EPs, LPs, videos, soundtracks, and documentaries, and the band was known from Helsinki to Peru and Prague to Seattle. Kike unfortunately passed in 2005. The Pleasure Fuckers have returned with legendary singer Scott "Deluxe" Drake from Suicide Kings, The Humpers, and Guerrilla Teens. This group is always going to make listeners shudder and move and will shake the world of punk and rock and roll.
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CD/BOOK
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PL 184CD
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Jim Coleman's NOW WAVE - Glowing: Beth B Exhibition features collected tracks that represent the sonic component of the "NOW WAVE - Glowing" exhibition by Beth B. This 2024 exhibition appeared at Silent Green in Berlin, featuring several live performances. Coleman collaborated with a stellar group of musicians and artists: Annie Bandez (Little Annie), Robert O. Leaver (This Wilderness, Birdthrower), Phil Puleo (Swans, Cop Shoot Cop), Jared Louche, Kirsten McCord, Paul Wallfisch, Vincent Dubuis, Nick Flynn, Evelyn Frantti, No Anger, Louise Hoffmeister, and Bliss Blood. The fusion of text, music, filmic image material, and performance create an immersive experience that is captivating and entertaining, but also confronts existential questions of human coexistence. The universal stories of the artists confront perceptions and assumptions concerning heartache, disability, mental illness, and addiction alongside the visceral music by Jim Coleman. Voicing the unheard and seeing the unseen are themes that have run through Beth B's films, art, and installation work with an eye to creating dialogue, community, and a place for self-knowledge and acceptance. Includes art exhibition catalog; 32+ pages, 17x24 cm.
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10"
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RAJATON 003A-EP
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Restocked, last copies, reduced price. First 10" in a series of five EPs by Sasu Ripatti aka Vladislav Delay. 45rpm; includes download code; edition of 500. Vladislav Delay presents Hide Behind The Silence EP 1-5, a series of five 10" releases coming throughout 2023. Intuitive and raw music, momentary and reflective, released on Ripatti's own label, Rajaton. "Stillness is a myth. Consider concepts such as "still water", or "still air" for that matter . . . Everything can be explained on a molecular level, but since we're not scientists -- and even if you happen to be -- it's the natural world of perception that moves me. Still air is very similar. A hot summer's day with zero wind feels completely still. It's the closest I have felt to complete stillness. Or for a more urban adaptation, imagine the same vibe inside a normal apartment. In those moments, revelations and mind- blowing experiences can be had with experiments in stillness . . . What if we would need absolute stillness? Or is it just enough that we can perceive something as such? Extremes attract, so for both water and air, extraordinary movement is equally fascinating. That is also a luxury item of sorts. For us to enjoy a very 'loud' body of water or air, we need to be safe, in enough control of the situation. So, when you are, it's worthwhile to pay attention and take it all in. A rapid flowing free with extreme strength and just barely in control. Look at that water go! No still water on this one, only 'sparkling'. A windy day when birds seem surprised how hard it is to fly, but in the end, they make it. Trees bend but don't break. The wind shows you its movement but doesn't hurt you. It feels friendly, like a big clumsy dog that doesn't quite understand its size. It's beautiful to be a guest of the elements, but not at the mercy of them. A new kind of dialogue forms."
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10"
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RAJATON 003B-EP
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Restocked, last copies, reduced price. Vladislav Delay presents the second EP in his Hide Behind The Silence series with five 10" releases coming throughout 2023. Intuitive and raw music, momentary and reflective, released on Sasu Ripatti's own label Rajaton. Second 10" in a series of five EPs by Sasu Ripatti aka Vladislav Delay. 45rpm; includes download code; edition of 500.
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CD
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RA 041CD
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Live at Konfrontationen, Nickelsdorf, 2024. Featuring Georg Graewe (piano), Brad Jones (double bass), and Hamid Drake (drums).
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