Spending the greater part of the last decade assembling this masterpiece while tracking down most of the musicians in the process, Stuart Ellis of Radiodiffusion International has compiled a mind-blowing set of Pakistani instrumentals spanning the period between 1966 and 1976. It's all here: rock and roll beat, surf, folk traditional mixed with pop, film tunes, electric guitars, sitar and organ solos, brilliant percussion and arrangements crafted by the grooviest bands of the period: The Panthers, The Mods, The Bugs, The Blue Birds, The Abstracts, The Aay Jays, The Fore Thoughts, Nisar Bazmi, and Sohail Rana. Situated between Afghanistan, India and Iran, the collision of cultural influences in Pakistan gave birth to music that was, and still is, unlike anything heard anywhere else on the planet. By the late 1960s, previous restrictions on musical expression began to soften and bands that were playing American and British pop covers became popular in Karachi's burgeoning night club scene and at private dance parties. Long hair came into fashion among young men and hashish became the popular drug of choice on college campuses across Pakistan. Soon, hippies from both North America and Europe began flocking to Karachi, Lahore and Peshawar. Very few of the bands that formed during this time actually got to record. Like their neighbors in India, the Pakistani record industry was more focused on releasing "filmi" music, which had just started to incorporate the electric guitar and electric sitar. Pakistan's musical revolution ended in June 1977 after a coup d'état and the establishment of a pure Islamic state governed by Sharia law. This marked the end of the "Swinging '70s" in Pakistan as night clubs and alcohol were banned throughout the country. Television and cinema, as well as popular music, were now subjected to government censorship. After the clamp-down, many Pakistani musicians left the country and moved to America, Canada and England. The audio quality here is top notch, sourced straight from the original EMI Pakistan masters. This CD comes in a digipak with superb photos of the musicians and extended liner notes by compiler Stuart Ellis.

LP version. Carla dal Forno announces her second full-length album, Look Up Sharp, on her own Kallista records. Dal Forno beckons a bold new era in her peerless output pushing her dub-damaged DIY dispatches to the limits of flawless dream-pop. In a transformative move towards crystal clear vocals and sharpened production, Look Up Sharp is an evolutionary leap from the thick fog and pastoral stillness of her Blackest Ever Black missives, You Know What It's Like (BLACKEST 015CD/LP, 2016) and The Garden EP (BLACKEST 068EP, 2017). Three years since her plain-speaking debut album, the Melbourne-via-Berlin artist finds herself absorbed in London's sprawling mess. The small-town dreams and inertia that preoccupied dal Forno's first album have dissolved into the chaotic city, its shifting identities, far-flung surroundings and blank faces. Look Up Sharp is the story of this life in flux, longing for intimacy, falling short and embracing the unfamiliar. In her own territory between plaintive pop, folk and post-punk dal Forno conjures the ghosts of AC Marias, Virginia Astley, and Broadcast through her brushwork of art-damaged fx and spectral atmospheres. The first half of the record is filled with dubbed-out humid bass lines, which tether stoned hazes of psychedelic synth work, as on "Took A Long Time" and "No Trace". These are contrasted with songs like "I'm Conscious" and "So Much Better" that channel the lilting power of YMG and are clear sequels-in-waiting to dead-eyed classics like "Fast Moving Cars". The second half begins with the feverish bass and meandering melody of "Don't Follow Me", which takes The Cure's "A Forest" as its conceptual springboard. It's the clearest lyrical example since "The Garden" of dal Forno's unmatched ability to unpick the masculine void of post-punk and new wave nostalgia to reflect contemporary nuance. Look Up Sharp reaches its satisfying conclusion with "Push On" -- dal Forno's most explicit foray into an undiscovered trip hop universe between Massive Attack and Tracey Thorn. Adding further depth to Look Up Sharp are the instrumentals, which flow seamlessly between the vocal-led pieces. "Hype Sleep" and "Heart of Hearts" drink from the same stream as The Flying Lizard's dubbed-out madness and the vivid purple sunsets of Eno's Another Green World (1975). While "Creep Out of Bed" and "Leaving For Japan" funnel the fourth-world psychedelia of Cyclobe's industrial-folk into the vortex of Nico's The Marble Index (1968). A deeply personal but infinitely relatable album its many surfaces are complex but authentic, enduring but imperfect, hard-edged but delicate.

The legendary Adnan Othman has long been a driving force in the Malaysian rock scene. As early as the 1960s his groundbreaking songs in the style known as Pop Yeh Yeh (rock and roll sung in Malay) attracted fans from across Southeast Asia. Recently, he has gained many new fans around the globe due to a renewed interest in rock music from this region. Adnan first rose to fame during the groovy Pop Yeh Yeh era (1964-1970) in Malaysia and Singapore and he continued to evolve as a musician and composer throughout his exciting career. He made his first recordings in Singapore in the early 1960s, when he was invited to record with a highly popular backing band, The Rhythm Boys. He produced innovative material well into the 1970s, but always stayed true to his Rock-and-Roll roots, even when many other artists were turning towards more predictable disco influences. Every track on this album, which draws from all eight of his solo EPs, reveals a different side of his personality. His forceful, gritty, and emotional lyrics and vocals are backed by such memorable Pop Yeh Yeh bands as The Rhythm Boys, The Wanderers, The Flamingoes, and The Falcons. This impressive collection includes rare photos from the artist's own collection and a detailed biography, co-written by Adnan himself. This is a rare and personal insight into the life of one of Singapore and Malaysia's most beloved Pop Yeh Yeh legends -- revealing the man behind the spotlight -- one of the most humble, generous, down-to-earth people you could ever meet. It is clear that Adnan Othman cares deeply about preserving the legacy of his fellow Pop Yeh Yeh musicians: he devoted much time and energy helping to develop the previous Malaysian rock-focused release, Pop Yeh Yeh: Psychedelic Rock from Singapore and Malaysia 1964-1970 (2013). Again, for this album, he patiently answered our many questions about his life as a musician and artist, and we are most grateful to him for giving this release so much of his unique perspective. In fact, the title of this collection, Bershukor, named for one of the hits included in this album, means "gratitude" in Bahasa Melayu. The 26 unforgettable tracks on this CD are soulful, electrifying, and beautiful. To the many fans of '60s Asian Rock and Roll around the world who have been waiting for an album dedicated solely to the music of Adnan Othman, here it is! Digipak CD with full-size color 32-page booklet of text and photographs.

Peru enjoyed a thriving and exciting music scene since the mid-1960s. Bands such as Los Saicos, Los Shain's, and Los York's, to name just a few, released a number of brilliant records that drove young fans crazy and set an example for many to follow. The end of the decade brought about an evolution in sound and new music genres, as Peruvian bands kept an eye on the groundbreaking British and US artists exploring baroque pop, psychedelic rock and early prog. One of them was Traffic Sound, founded in Lima in 1967. Over a very short period of time the band managed to successfully develop their career transcending their starting point, in which they'd simply record covers of artists such as Jimi Hendrix, Cream, or The Young Rascals, moving on to the more mature sound of their first LP with self-written songs, Virgin (1969), a masterpiece of Latin rock, and this second self-titled LP, released in 1970. Traffic Sound incorporates here complex arrangements and long song structures with which they approach prog music. However, the immediacy of songs like "Yesterday's Game", with a fierce and contagious guitar riff, or "Chicama Way", a terrific anthem, clear any possible doubt about the sound principles of the band: groovy rock. While tracks such as "Those Days Have Gone" or "America" show the friendliest yet psychedelic side of the group, "Tibet's Suzettes", the opening song of the album, simultaneously introduces all the ingredients of the Traffic Sound recipe: hypnotic rhythms, untamed guitars, and very skilled playing. Although some influences cannot be ignored, this second Traffic Sound album is huge and deserves to be considered one of the greatest recordings of its time, even internationally, as essential as the most hailed works of Cream, Caravan, or Led Zeppelin that served as a bridge for rock music between the '60s and '70s. Presented in facsimile tri-fold sleeve and pressed on 180 gram vinyl.

Japanese experimental group Les Rallizes Denudes are the ultimate rock 'n' roll enigma. Sometimes referred to as Hadaka no Rallizes or even as Hadaka no Rarizu, each appellation a variant of the name "Fucked Up and Naked", which equates to being high on hard drugs, they are seen as noise-rock pioneers, yet sifting fact from fiction isn't easy with their oddball tale. Emerging from the radical hippie communes of Kyoto during the late 1960s, the band was formed in November 1967 by university student Takashi Mizutani, taking the overamplified, distorted guitar of the Velvet Underground as a starting point. Early demo recordings apparently suffered from poor sound quality, leading the perfectionist Mizutani to retreat from the studio environment, meaning that most of the group's output has appeared as live bootlegs, with the occasional studio demo surfacing as well. Performances were initially staged as part of avant-garde theatre, though the band's propensity for super-loud noise soon put paid to such collaboration; the ever-changing membership saw Mizutani the only permanent force, despite his embroilment in the 1970 Red Army hijacking of a civilian Japan Airlines flight, enacted partly through bass player, Moriaki Wakabayashi, who defected to North Korea in its aftermath. Though perhaps not quite as notorious, fellow improvisational group, Taj Mahal Travellers, has a backstory of random international travels that is almost as intriguing as that of Les Rallizes; formed in 1969 by six experimental musicians and an electronic engineer, they embarked on a series of improvisational gigs across Japan, notably including an all-day marathon held at a Kanagawa beach, and made their way to Europe in 1971, where they crossed paths with Don Cherry and other like-minded practitioners. They later drove from Holland to the Pakistan border, acquiring santoors in Iran on the way to help broaden their already unpredictable repertoire. The OZ Days Live release is culled from the OZ Last Days festival held in the autumn of 1973, to benefit Tokyo's OZ Rock Café, which had been closed following repeated drug busts. Here the Taj Mahal Travellers are suitably cosmic, their echoing jams featuring looped vocal chants, disjointed string instruments and sparse, off-kilter percussion; in contrast, the contributions from Les Rallizes are more standard examples of instrumental psychedelic rock, which veers more towards the acid rock end of the spectrum as the performance progresses.

Sight, sound, and space are deeply rooted in the work of Jeff Mills. But what do these three quintessential elements mean? Is it possible to describe to someone what it is like to see for the first time, or to listen to music in a new way, or to travel throughout the galaxy without having to break through the earth's atmosphere? The man from the moon has deep-seated thoughts about these concepts and explains them through this massive compilation, Sight, Sound And Space. The project has Mills diving into his extensive catalog and selecting tracks which epitomize his feelings on each. Sight is a beautiful faculty bestowed upon the human race. Mills wants his music to draw the correlation between sight and sound. In this opening part, you see him select tracks which often soundtrack classical sci-fi films, in which what we experience is the embodiment of all three: sight, sound, and space. As in with opening track "Perfecture", composed for Fritz Lang's Metropolis (1927), where the track is to accentuate the perfection of the futuristic buildings John Coltrane used to deconstruct music when he listened to it, listening to each aspect individually to absorb and appreciate it completely. Repetition, or the lack of it, is often at the heart of listening to music: it helps us understand its structure. An understanding of sound aids in reaching into the realm of music which encapsulates things or experiences, and electronic music is the perfect tool for exploring these possibilities. Tracks like "Microbe" exude this point, with layered beats each with their own meaning and direction which make a tantalizing cut. Space is one of the pinnacles of Mills' interests. The similarities between it and techno are remarkable, the more that is discovered about each, the more possibilities they reveal. "One Man Spaceship" was constructed to give the listener the experience of navigating through the cosmos. Perpetuated here is electronic music as a guide. Space may frighten you as this gigantic continuum that is detached from you, but you must remember you are a part of it. Sight, Sound And Space is another installment in his The Director's Cut series. DVD package size, hard-cover book style package; Includes three CDs and a 50-page booklet.

Honest Jon's Records present a reissue of Company's Epiphany, originally released in 1982.

Epiphany \ i-ˈpi-fə-nē \ (1) a manifestation of the essential nature of something (usually sudden) (2) an intuitive grasp of reality through something (usually simple and striking) (3) an illuminating discovery or disclosure.

All three definitions apply perfectly to this span of music recorded at London's ICA in July 1982. It's a miracle of group interaction, wonderfully paced, moving steadily between moments of mounting intensity and tension. The passage about halfway through -- when Derek Bailey's harmonics ring out above a sheen of inside piano tremolos and shimmering electronics, topped off by Julie Tippetts's soaring vocalese -- is simply sublime. After which it's fun to try and tell the two pianists apart. Are those runs Ursula Oppens, with her formidable technique honed from years performing some of the twentieth century's most difficult notated new music, or are those Keith Tippett's crunchy jazz zigzags? Are those intriguing twangs from one of Akio Suzuki's invented instruments or could they be Fred Frith's or Phil Wachsmann's electronics? Bah, who cares? There's plenty of room for the more delicate instruments too, like Anne LeBaron's harp picking its way gingerly through a pin-cushion of pings and scratches from Bailey and bassist Motoharu Yoshizawa. Of course, some performers are instantly recognizable: Tippetts, as lyrical and flighty on flute as when she sings, Phil Wachsmann, sinuous and sensitive on violin, and trombonist George Lewis, who, as John Zorn once put it, "swings his motherfucking ass off." So many magical moments abound, from the opening dawn chorus of Tippetts' voice and Frith's guitar swooping through a rainforest of exquisite piano cascades, to the Zen calm of the closing moments. Epiphany, indeed. Housed in a gatefold sleeve.

"'360 degrees of freedom is overwhelming in music, and you need not truly begin to find freedom until you put yourself under extremely narrow constraints.' It was with this quote that Don Slepian laid the groundwork for over 40 years of musical output. Slepian's work draws equally from the harmonic terrain he explored while performing with a Javanese gamelan ensemble, as well as his time spent building and modifying electronic audio equipment for studios and fellow musicians. Gravitating towards improvisation and experimentation, Slepian built a breathtaking sound-world that stretched the briefest of moments into an eternity of detail and depth. In 1980, Slepian self-released a series of cassette albums that built upon and perfected this practice, offering New Music for Digital Orchestra. New Dawn is one of those albums -- an enthralling example of New Age euphoria, and early-electronic experimentation. New Music For Digital Orchestra? An ironic subtitle for an album without any traces of digital technology found within. The instruments, tools, and recording techniques are entirely analog. A Korg PS3100, Mellotron voices, Mellotron flutes, analog tape echo and analog recorder were used to create both of the pieces found on New Dawn with both tracks being recorded live with no overdubs."

Sonor Music Editions reissue of a previously unreleased soundtrack for the obscure drama movie Seduzione Coniugale from 1974, directed by Daniele Franco. Originally published by CAM label with just two tracks recorded on a scarce 45, Sonor Music Editions was able to restore the music from the original CAM archive tapes to offer a proper vinyl edition that this beautiful score absolutely deserves. Maestro and orchestra director Giancarlo Gazzani -- the great musician and arranger behind several Italian grails like Feelings (1986) and more killer Library recordings from Costanza Records -- composed an enchanting and unmissable OST with loads of refined Morricone-esque orchestral arrangements, insane groovy beats, and Nuova Consonanza-inspired avant-garde music. The whole soundtrack is great with a huge strings orchestra that swings between sweet and flirtatious bossa nova themes and mental sounding experimentation with a driving drums kit.

Triple LP version. Gatefold sleeve. Soundway releases first Caribbean compilation in over ten years, Body Beat: Soca-Dub And Electronic Calypso 1979-98. 17 obscure soca B-side versions, dubs, instrumentals, and edits as well as vocal tracks influenced by disco, boogie, house-music, soul, and the more conscious lyrics of roots reggae. Owing as much to New York, Toronto, and London as to the Caribbean cities of Port of Spain, Bridgetown, and Kingstown this compilation traces the genre from its explosion in the late 1970s right up to the period just before contemporary soca became established around the end of the 1990s. Compiled by Soundway label founder Miles Cleret and DJ/collector Jeremy Spellacey, Body Beat, as with many compilations on the label, explores the fringes of this often maligned (by outsiders) genre. Boiled down to the bare bones of the matter though: soca is party music. Soca was originally a re-invention of Calypso music; a genre that in the 1970s was fast becoming usurped around the Caribbean by Jamaican reggae and American soul, funk and later disco. The originator of soca (or sokah as he called it), the calypsonian Lord Shorty, began experimenting and modernizing on the formulation of calypso in the early 1970s. His first album featured a strong emphasis on East African rhythms and a punchier recording style that emphasized the beat, and introduced arrangements that often owed as much to American funk and soul as to calypso. So here you go -- seventeen slabs of soca crossover, rapso, electronic calypso, and Caribbean "soca-soul" for your enjoyment -- and bound to fit well into modern, open-minded DJ sets alongside the resurgence of burger-highlife, digi-reggae, soukous, and zouk. Features Cito Jarvis, Roger Bain, *D* Ivan, Bill Campbell, Brother Resistance, Adonijah, Peter Britto, Juno D, Colin Jackman, Levi John, Spiking, Mohjah, Andre Tanker, Touch, D'Rebel Band, The Millers, and Chocolate Affaire. RIYL: Rebles' Sweetest Taboo (Soca) 12" (SNDW 12036EP), George & Glen Miller's Easing 12" (SNDW 12037EP), Wilson LeGendre.

"Julián y su Combo was founded in 1962 by left-handed guitarist Julián Angulo Ponce, who was originally from Guapi, Cauca, Colombia and made his name in Cali and Buenaventura, signing initially with Bogotá's Sello Vergara in 1966. During a 20-year period Julián y su Combo released eight records (with several band name variations). Angulo was part of the first generation of artists from the Colombian Pacific who migrated to Bogotá in the 1970s, and his combo enjoyed popularity in his adopted city as well as in Medellín and Mexico. The band also travelled to Venezuela and the US. Angulo described his sound as 'Afroantillano', combining Cuban, New York Latin, and Puerto Rican elements with Colombia's own tropical traditions. The combo's arrangements were distinguished by the bandleader's funky, jazzy electric guitar work (Angulo played without changing the order of the strings), a hot rhythm section and the potent brass line-up of two saxophones and a trumpet (much like Cortijo y su Combo). Noche De Fiesta (1975) was the first of two albums Angulo cut for the Medellín-based INS label (Industria Nacional del Sonido Ltda), and the record was distinguished by having the great Peruvian bandleader and composer Alfredo Linares guesting on piano. Linares also shared the arranging duties with the combo's trumpet player Carlos Rivas. At that time Alfredo Linares was musical director at INS and this album bears his influence in the funky 'mambo rock' sections (breaks and handclaps galore!) and hot Cuban and Latin jazz piano styles that also graced his own records. The lead vocals were equally split by Julian's long-time singer José Arboleda and the band's drummer 'Guapachá' (guest artist Clelia Ramírez joined the band on coro). Noche De Fiesta is sought after by collectors and DJs the world over not only for its hard salsa and instrumental 'descarga' (jam) tracks but also because of the funky dancefloor cuts 'Enyere Kumbara' (covered by Quantic), 'INS-Rock' and 'Estoy Soda' as well as the excellent original version of 'Las Caleñas Son Como Las Flores' (made famous later the same year by The Latin Brothers)." --Pablo Iglesias, aka DJ Bongohead Part of a new Vampisoul reissue series of classic LPs from Colombia's INS label. Presented in facsimile artwork and pressed on 180 gram vinyl.

Alter present the debut vinyl release from Melbourne's Trevor, aka graphic artist and Total Control drummer James Vinciguerra. Becoming A Bed gathers seven tracks that run the gamut between battered drum-machine beats, minimal-wave, scratchy noise, and spoken word. "Romp With Monty" is the album's least demented moment and delightfully evocative of its title with simple melodies and rigid drum machine patterns. A sharp contrast to the flailing gabber and breaks combination on "Cabbage Land", resembling something akin to Jamal Moss or Beau Wanzer experiencing a severe breakdown of both mind and hardware. These hybrids of erratic, free percussion and wild synth blurts (see also "Midi 2") lend the album a charming edge, favoring a playful kind of experimentation which extends to the album's calmer moments too. "Bedtime Story" provides one such bit of respite and the only appearance of Vinciguerra's voice, processed here in a cold, curious monolog that ruminates on lethargy and illness, atop looping dark ambient textures. It's position in the album providing a centerpiece of cavernous and confounding simplicity. Elsewhere, tongue-in-cheek end skits sound as if they were heckled at the end of a gig and then decidedly left on the tape. The reckless rave of closing cut "Speed Ave" reflects this in-the-moment sensibility, the machines being close to escaping their captain. It may provide the most didactic dancing effort on the record, but neatly aligns with a loose and uninhibited mindset that skirts around the same warped techno vision as label affiliates Cru Servers or Acolytes. This is music for the most fun of dancefloors.

For the first time since its inception in 1983, Steve Hiett's elusive Down On The Road By The Beach is finally made available outside of Japan. Most recognized in the fashion sphere as an English photographer and graphic designer, Hiett's transportive audio portraits amplify his serpentine guitar to the infinite blue, recorded across Paris, Tokyo and New York. A career devotee of Brian Wilson's groundbreaking harmonies, Hiett shot The Beach Boys for Rolling Stone -- as well as The Doors, Miles Davis, and Jimi Hendrix -- while establishing himself as a fashion photographer. Decamping to Paris in 1972, he began what would become 20-year collaborations with Vogue Paris and Marie Claire. In 1982, representatives from Tokyo's Galerie Watari visited him to propose a solo exhibition. Asking if he could insert a 7" of original music into the back of the exhibition catalogue, Hiett laid down "Blue Beach - Welcome To Your Beach" in a Parisian radio station, playing all of the instruments himself, and two more cuts in New York with Yoko Ono, The Doobie Brothers, and Steely Dan hired-gun, Elliot Randall. Once dispatched, there were requests for him to fly to Tokyo to record; it wasn't until he arrived that he discovered CBS/Sony had facilitated an entire album. Heitt hastily gripped some petty cash, bought a guitar, and retreated to his hotel room to start writing. Entering the studio the following day, he was further surprised by a waiting room of session players known as Moonriders -- one of Japan's most acclaimed rock bands of the 1980s. Intimidated by their indecipherable sheet music, Hiett suggested Randall join them and with money being no object for major labels at the time, his wingman was on the next plane out of New York. Near-ambient arrangements that float in a space between The Durutti Column, Steve Cropper, and Ashra, Down On The Road By The Beach also crowns Hiett the master of recontextualization with his zero-gravity blues visions of "Roll Over Beethoven", Santo & Johnny's "Sleep Walk" and the 1967 Eddie Floyd soul hit, "Never Found A Girl". Produced in coordination between Be With Records, Efficient Space and the artist, this definitive reissue is restored from original masters; extensive liner notes penned by Mikey IQ Jones. CD version marks the release's first time on CD; digipack; includes six-page insert with photos and liner notes.

The first LP from France's Humming Dogs. Born from the radical Oiseau Mouche (Bird-Fly Company) -- a troupe of actors and comedians who focus on the theatre of gesture -- Humming Dogs make joyful, avant rock music, which pooh-poohs the po-faced in favor of a party. Humming Dogs are made up of eight members -- David Bausseron, Mathieu Breuvard, Florence Decourcelle, Thierry Dupont, Chantal Esso, Léa Le Bars, Florian Spiry, and Valérie Waroquier -- who each write and create songs, swap instruments, and sing collectively. Guitars, bass, drum kit, and keyboards mix with toy percussion, amplified pinecones, pot lids, iPads and a zither. "Ha Ha Ha" opens the record with the group dispersed and growling at one another, only to break out in infectious laughter, a free word riot and a thick bass melody. The traditional French song, "Karnaval", gets totally sent by keyboards and a heavy guitar scrawl egged on by the bands hooting and hollering. "Ça Me Gratte" haunts, grates, until it splits with a rising synthesizer, squeaking toys, vocal drones and spitting, near exhausted vocals from Chantel Esso. "Les Borigènes" contains the self-taught, simple charm of the Shaggs' Philosophy of the World (1969), performed in the spirit of village revelry and recorded and edited beautifully in the tradition of the GRM. Democratized experimentation, low ego rock n' roll, Les Borigènes is a truly joyous, remarkable and wild record. Artwork from London's Submit to Love Studios and Taylor Silk. Humming Dogs have performed at Sonic Protest, Cafe OTO, and Counterflows. 140 gram vinyl; edition of 500.

Karl O'Connor (Regis) rallies the Downwards troops for the odd family portrait of Let Love Decide, including the first new Concrete Fence collab between Regis and Haswell since that killer PAN hook-up (PAN 039EP, 2013), plus all new and exclusive tracks by label staples Mick Harris, Nick Dunton, Simon Shreeve, DVA Damas, and Karl Meier, plus Rachel Aiello's Layne, and Khrone/Mjolsness (Male) and various appearances by Regis himself in different formations. Cutting across the face of the label, Let Love Decide Pt. 1 is the first part of Downwards' contemporary portrait series aligning veteran hands with the new class of mutant industrial disciples. The nine tracks include a strong clutch of exclusive projects such as the EBM supergroup You Hung -- a quartet of Nick Dunton (vocals), Jim Siegel (drums), Simon Shreeve (live mix and Studio), and Karl O'Connor (synth) -- and Karl & Ken Meier's "ambient" alias Obelus, cued up beside previously unheard Fret gear by Mick Harris and a Cub collab between Karl O'Connor and Simon Shreeve, to highlight the label's strength in diversity and shared purpose. Naturally, the label kingpin Karl O'Connor is a constant throughout the compilation, a connective ligature that ties the slurred slow techno of Cub's "Teenage Fists" to the live band EBM praxis of You Hung, where O'Connor's synth underlines Krishna Goineau-styled vox by Nick Dunton (65D Mavericks) and the gnashing drums of Jim Siegel (Raspberry Bulbs), as well as the welcome reappearance of his Concrete Fence duo with Russell Haswell in a sharp cut of pranging industrial funk that sounds like vintage Autechre, chopped and skewed. Following his turn in Cub, Simon Shreeve also weighs in his powerful studio pressure on the soggy, gothic lurch of "The Space Between Cultures", while Mick Harris ramps the distortion on a ravenous Fret cut "Helicopter Rig". The rest is essentially a showcase of the label's American ambassadors, taking in the scuffed modular dub brawl of "Scale Reference" by Karl & Ken Meier's Obelus beside Layne's blank-eyed swagger, and a stark shot in the ambient unknown by Jonathan Khrone & Benjamin Mjolsness (aka Male), while L.A.'s DVA Damas stretch out across the D-side on a stripe of sexy darkwave-techno rolige. Mastered and cut to vinyl at Dubplates & Mastering, Berlin. Edition of 500.

Hand-stamped white label, album sampler for forthcoming Richard Fearless album of the same title. "Atlas Of Insanity" is reactionary, big room techno from Richard Fearless; a pounding kick, death whip snares, and synth lines that drill into your core. This is raw, impulsive electronic body music made to lose your mind. With "New Perspective", Fearless delivers pure techno soul. With sonic leanings towards the North's Bleep scene and minimalist techno pioneer Mika Vainio's Philius and Ø alias.

Endless Flight's old friend "Sasse" comes back to label for the first time since 2007. His homie, veteran artist Jimi Tenor joins the new single. Endless Flight are fans of their collaboration on Studio Barnhus. The title track on side A is a super romantic, '80s style vocal disco track. Side B track is spiritual jazzy deep house.

Double LP version. 180 gram vinyl; includes download code. From Far Out Recordings' in-house producer, Daniel Maunick's debut solo album Macumba Quebrada conjures scenes of collective hedonism from start to finish. Spanning Afro-Brazilian spiritual dance ceremonies, late-80s Detroit techno parties, and jungle and broken beat raves in '90s London, Maunick celebrates our instinctive, age-old desire to come together and lose our sense of self. Daniel Maunick practically grew up behind the mixing desk. As the son of Brit-funk legend Jean-Paul "Bluey" Maunick (of Incognito fame), he found himself immersed in music from an early age, and quickly became involved in London's drum n' bass, acid-jazz, house, broken beat, and soul scenes, releasing his first production at the age of sixteen on Gilles Peterson and Norman Jay's Talkin' Loud label. Since then, he has produced albums by the likes of Azymuth, Marcos Valle, Terry Callier, Incognito, Ivan "Mamao" Conti, and Sabrina Malheiros. Reflecting his dual residence between Rio de Janeiro and East London, Macumba Quebrada features deep house stompers and broken bangers littered with Brazilian rhythms -- in the form of both dusty percussion and Maunick's intricate drum programming. But the album sees Daniel draw inspiration from across the black music continuum, and the rich histories of communal celebration in Detroit techno, Chicago house, London D'n'B, and New York disco. Bringing all this together in explosive peak-time club tracks, moments of eerie ambience, South American swing and tribal earthiness, Macumba Quebrada expands on Maunick's recent vinyl-only EPs A Vicious Circle and Sombra Do Dragao. Taking its title from a syncretism of South American spiritual practices, the cover art is photograph taken by acclaimed French photographer and self-taught ethnographer Pierre Verger, who traveled the world documenting civilizations that would soon be effaced by progress. Settling for good in Salvador, Brazil, Verger became initiated into the Candomblé religion, eventually officiating rituals and ceremonies within the community. Without having become an ordained priest, Daniel Maunick shares both Verger and Far Out Recordings' love for Brazil: its people, its culture, and its music.

Berlin's producer, sound designer, and composer Sven Weisemann's fourth full-length as Desolate arrives on Fauxpas Musik. Entitled Exceptionalism, it features 11 tracks melting the '90s. The tracks are intelligent down-tempo with a touch of ambient. 180 gram vinyl.

Following the success of her 2018 solo debut album Kontrapoetik (PRTLS 017LP), the Swedish composer Maria W Horn returns with Epistasis, her most ambitious record to date. The title track, "Konvektion" and the two parts of "Interlocked Cycles" see the XKatedral co-founder explore radical approaches to composition that combine avant-garde methods with electronic means. While Kontrapoetik highlighted Horn's strength as a conceptual and political artist, Epistasis is to be understood as an advanced statement by a forward-thinking composer who throughout four pieces channels her influences, ranging from black metal to minimal music, through state-of-the-art technology. Originally composed as an audiovisual piece for synchronized multi-channel sound and lights and premiered in 2018 at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm, "Interlocked Cycles" is a series of pieces exploring a gradual increase in tempo and density using various instruments. It was written to be performed by a computer-controlled upright Disklavier piano while the electronic part was generated within the Supercollider framework using phase modulation synthesis. An exercise in minimalism that combines the subtle gravity of Phill Niblock's work with the visceral theatrics of Anna von Hausswolff's organ pieces. 180 gram vinyl.

LP version. 180 gram vinyl; edition of 150. Bristol-based composer Ryan Teague presents his seventh studio album, Recursive Iterations, a suite of seven extended compositions that incorporate cinematic arrangements and cutting-edge sound design within an algorithmic framework to striking effect. The resulting pieces combine elements of neo-classical, post-rave, and soundtrack music, to create an utterly compelling contemporary soundscape balanced by a calculated, almost architectural use of space and restraint. The musical structure is derived from a custom-written algorithmic system that sequences harmonic and rhythmic events in ever-shifting patterns. Hyperreal electro-acoustic phrases and digitally synthesized fragments come and go in continual rotation, re-framed and re-contextualized by their proximity to other events in the sequence as the compositions evolve. The effect evokes a minimalist bricolage, hypnotic and kaleidoscopic in nature, and calls to mind artists such as Oneohtrix Point Never, The Haxan Cloak, and Ital Tek. At the same time, a core theme running throughout the record is a masterly use of absence and inertia influenced by the Japanese concepts of ma (間 - negative space) and the enso (円相 - circle), which serve to complement and counterbalance the diverse sound palette. By integrating these qualities, tension is built and resolved in equal measure, creating a dramatic sonic impression where fragmented rhythms, dynamic textures, subsonic basses, and delicate ambience all coexist. Recursive Iterations is a bold, powerful, and unique work that pushes sonic boundaries whilst revealing more with each listen.

Life And Death label boss DJ Tennis works with Israeli duo Red Axes as they express themselves with total freedom and explore the similarities and differences between their respective sounds. DJ Tennis and the Red Axes duo were first introduced to each other by The Pachanga Boys at a festival in Corsica. "Their faces, their expressions and their attitude -- gentle, smart, loving and funny -- impressed me at first sight," remembers Tennis. They have deepened their personal and musical connections since. Around a year ago, they were having a discussion and decided they should attempt to combine their "love of psy and Mediterranean influences" and scheduled a week of recording sessions together. After making at 9am and having a proper Israeli breakfast, the artists went to a studio on top of a decadent old shopping mall in the Centre of Tel Aviv. Each of them then set up in one corner of the studio with their own instrument (including Tennis's Pearl Syncussion, a small modular setup, a Juno and bunch of guitar pedals, while Niv and Dori "used their usual weird cheap instruments including bass and guitars" and they began playing, experimenting and jamming, recording everything they did then swapping stations and repeating the process. They then took all the recordings into various editing sessions and finalized the adventurous, multi-genre exploration that is Redrago. "The aim was to find a kind of Italian-Israeli connection in our musical approach," explain Red Axes. "The album journeys from psychedelic Italo disco to Israeli trance rock with a lot of rave elements. We call it falafel disco mixed with a 1/4 of spaghetti sauce." The album opens with the freaky synths and punchy drums of "Rave 'N Roll", which has layers of exotic instrumentation and beguiling sound design. "Redrago" is a Balearic track with expansive pads and sun-kissed melodies, while "Il Veliero" is a complexly woven tapestry of intoxicating leads and drunken tabla drum sounds with a psyched-out vibe. The soft rock licks and conversational synths of "The Kohlrabi Session" make for a chugging disco groover while "Plastelina" is a deep and late-night cosmic exploration that continues through the star gazing ambiance and long-legged drums of "Shalom Alanation". Acid squiggles and tropical vocals make "Ventilo" another fantastically fresh track while "Phantom Rag" closes out with a flurry of wild synth patterns, techno drums, and intergalactic feels. Four-color splatter on clear vinyl.

First time ever on LP for Don't Crowd Your Mind, a compilation of songs from Lorette Velvette, originally on rare 45s and CDs. The collection sees the ex-Panther Burns and Hellcats member with guests like Alex Chilton, Mick Collins, Lee Baker, Doug Easley. Garage blues and raunch n' roll, originals songs, and startling covers -- the true Memphis sound, savage and soulful!

LP version. 2018 release. Olindo Records present the second release and first LP on the label, by London-based Afro-Latin jazz quintet Waaju. A project that never stands still, Waaju's members have been busy as part of other ensembles (Caravela, Bahla, Jordan Rakei, and Ashley Henry, to name a few), which means they cherish each time they get to make music together. The five cuts on this album are only a snapshot of what they're doing and continually try to do -- the tip of the iceberg -- but one that speaks volumes about their intentions. Kicking off the album is "Ali's Mali" is an ode to the great Malian guitarist Ali Farka Toure, but seen through a different lens, as he did himself in reinventing West African music. His spirit is transcended into the modern soundscape mixed with dub, electronic music, and echoes of Cuban batá drumming, reminiscent of the two countries' cultural exchanges throughout the 20th Century. "Kaolack" draws from a Senegalese rhythm found in sabar and mbalax music. It's transformed into a gritty, surging groove with heavy touches of psychedelia and smatterings of traditional sounds pulsating from its textures. "Neleh" explores different sides of a love song and has a myriad of influences displaying different characteristics. Tinges of yearning Tuareg music from Northern Mali, sizzling son percussion and delicate chimurenga-fused guitar, together presenting an introverted, drifting piece with twists and turns. "Waaju" is influenced by the samba funk of 1970's Brazil combined with the more widely known Louisiana funk of The Meters, et al. Its irresistible lilting rhythm and infectious energy are brought into a new modern jazz sphere displaying the spontaneity in improvisation of each member. "Maroc" draws from the chaabi music of Morocco and Algeria, which bandleader Ben experienced firsthand whilst in Marrakech. Much less known internationally than Moroccan gnawa music, its heavily syncopated drum rhythm creates a frenzy of energy, which is interpreted here much more slowly and dirtier in character, with dubby bass and dissonant harmonies.

Odd Okoddo is a Kenyan/German duo consisting of Olith Ratego and Sven Kacirek. The two artists met in Kenya, around 2009, when Sven Kacirek was recording his Kenya Sessions (PING 020CD, 2011), an album that put Kacirek on the map of outernational producers. It was reviewed as a "World Music 2.0" (de:bug magazine), whose "fascination endures" (The Wire). Olith Ratego also made an appearance on the Kenya Sessions, on the track "Too Good To Be True". The duo formed the project Odd Okoddo in 2018, with the two musicians joining their various talents which dovetail in perfection. Ratego writes the lyrics and vocal melodies while Kacirek composes, records and produces the arrangements of all nine songs on Auma. They create a colorful, dynamic sound which is defined by both Ratego's enormous vocal compass and range of timbres as well as Kacirek's outstanding skills as a sensitive percussionist. Olith Ratego sings in a musical style called "dodo", which originates from the shores of Lake Victoria in Kenya, high in pitch and soulfully expressive. He refers to his music as "dodo blues". His lyrics touch upon the topics of politics, family and of course: love. As a skilled luthier, Ratego builds his instruments himself, like the five-stringed Okodo which lends its name to the project. Sven Kacirek is a multi-instrumentalist who has been commuting between Germany and Kenya for many years now. In the past he has closely collaborated with various international musicians, among them Nils Frahm and Shabaka Hutchings. Kacirek's sound builds upon a powerful bass marimba which is present throughout the album. It sometimes invokes the sound of a tuned 808 kick-drum. He works with Kenyan an arsenal of percussion instruments as well as household objects and found materials. Kacirek has now settled into a signature sound which has been described as "thrilling and dizzyingly inventive" by the Australian magazine, Cyclic Defrost. LP comes with a printed inner sleeve with liner notes by Tabu Osusa from the Nairobi based label, Ketebul, as well as explanations about the song lyrics.

Clear vinyl version, edition of 222. "Let's hear it now for good old '89.... Following a year of devastating trauma where the Pink Dots went from being a six-piece band to just two stalwart survivors of myself and Phil (The Silverman), and our Amsterdam home was emptied so it could be transformed into a wine bar for Yuppies, the last 12 months of the decade were laced with the optimism of a new beginning. For a start, ace saxophone master Niels Van Hoorn stepped in, playing his first show perhaps three days after his first rehearsal. We'd been living in a caravan in the grounds of Niels' converted farmhouse, but were offered a flat in the 'worst part' of Nijmegen (which actually meant there were fewer buses on Sundays). Then, Niels' old friend and 'Golden Age' guest guitarist Bob Pistoor turned the Dots into a foursome and injected an intense passion into band. A good year. Lady Fate didn't seem quite so angry anymore, and a couple of cassettes bearing sketches for songs were fleshed out into the evergreen landmark that became The Crushed Velvet Apocalypse. Has it really been 30 whole years? The only sad footnote was that Bob joined the band a month too late to qualify for that elusive American work permit and The Pink Dots' first tour of the continent was as a three piece. His greatest ambition was to play in the USA, but the tiny mind of pointless bureaucracy can't cope outside the box. Tragically, Bob prematurely passed away in 1992, having never toured America. This 30th Anniversary edition of The Crushed Velvet Apocalypse is dedicated to Bob with undying love. --Edward Ka-spel, August 2019.

This 30th anniversary edition of The Crushed Velvet Apocalypse includes the complete album as well as the tracks from Princess Coldheart EP and two extended session recordings on a bonus LP. It is presented in a deluxe gatefold jacket, with a lyric insert and a color postcard with a download code. Edition of 222."

Studio Mule present a reissue of BGM's Back Ground Music, originally released in 1980. The debut album from Japanese living legend, electronic music producer Takayuki Shiraishi. Released on legendary experimental music label in Osaka, Vanity Records, run by Yuzuru Agi when Shiraishi was high school student. Shiraishi was influenced by the music of post punk, new wave, kraut rock -- this album is his unique mixture of that kind music style. One of the most in-demand alternative music albums from japan finally reissued. Remastered from original tape and mastering by Kuniyuki Takahashi.

Violin was Milan Knízák's first instrument. He has composed hundreds of works of this ilk. The first one "DHK", was written 45 years ago. Next to his destroyed works, Milan took notations of different composers, cut them and put them together (with his own score) into a collage, expressing his feelings and his apprehension of music. Recorded from February-July 2018 and performed by fama Q: David Danel, Roman Hranicka - violin; Ondrej Martinovsky - viola; Balázs Adorján - violoncello. fama Q is a string quartet founded in 2005 in Prague. Its members, also orchestral musicians with the Prague Philharmonia, were always devoted to chamber and string quartet music.

"I am aware that the majority of my compositions are technically challenging, since I employ uncommon intervals, so as to make the musicians think in a different, novel way and to produce different colors in the 'classical' passages too. If the instruments were arrayed 'beneath one another', simple melodies may come across as boring. In the case of interval skips, whereby I count with a certain fuzziness, even falseness of tones, music is far more colorful. I don't care who would perform my pieces, as long as they are solid musicians. I think I have written them in such a manner that they should not forfeit energy even when someone is not familiar with the modern playing principles, only their effect would somewhat shift. And I really don't mind any shift. One of my friends said that this music of mine is not similar to anything. I would like to add that it is similar to everything. Perhaps both are true." --Milan Knízák, April 2018.

Prof. Milan Knízák, Dr.A. is a multimedia artist working in fine art (actions, paintings, sculptures), music, literature, architecture, fashion, and furniture design. Member of the international art group Fluxus. Featured in major galleries around the world as well as archives, catalogs, encyclopedias and dictionaries. His Broken Music (SR 400LP, 2015) was included among the 1000 most important compositions of the 20th century. A dictionary of designers published by Ambiente lists him as "a central figure in modern Czech design". Milan Knízák has had more than 120 solo exhibitions and hundreds of group exhibitions throughout almost the entire world. He has published approximately 80 books and catalogs and released many music recordings, as well as creating a number of design projects.

Futuristic synthesizer specialist and sound designer Matsuo Ohno was responsible for the sound design of a broad range of film, television, and radio soundtracks, most famously the animation series Astro Boy which he began working on in 1963 together with his assistant, Takehisa Kosugi. Ohno was born in the heavily-populated Kanda district of central Tokyo in 1930 and was heavily affected by the repeated bombing raids on the city enacted in World War II, which took place during his formative years. After the war, deeply motivated by philosophy and Surrealism, he was largely unaffected by popular music, other than the electronic abstractions of Karlheinz Stockhausen; the left-wing filmmaker Fumio Kamei was another early influence. Ohno began immersing himself in the realm of sound effects while working with the Bungaku-za modernist theatre troupe and he performed a similar function at NHK, Japan's national broadcasting corporation, but became so frustrated by the rigidity of the restrictions imposed on him there that he quit his prestigious post at the broadcaster, although his skills were such that he remained in high demand as a freelancer, which allowed him to refine his sound effects techniques with evolving analogue synthesizers. The five suites of tracks that make up the Roots Of Electronic Sound album were recorded between 1963 and 1966; initially released on the ALM label in 1975, it is comprised of brief tape experiments, the cover artwork fittingly representing Astro Boy, from which many of the audio interludes are taken. Includes full color insert; edition of 500.

LP version. A live musical performance to Derek Jarman's In The Shadow of the Sun. Recorded live at Cafe OTO, London, England on May 23, 2017. Derek Jarman's In The Shadow of the Sun forms part of a series of films, shot and edited on S8mm, grouped under the collective title The Art of Mirrors. In The Shadow of the Sun is the longest of these running at 54 minutes. Filming took place between 1972-74 and the film was completed in 1974. When Derek showed the film, he would play Verdi's requiem as an accompaniment. In 1980 the FDK in Berlin agreed to make a 16mm blow up of the S8mm film to be shown at the Berlinale forum. The footage was blown-up to 16mm by John Hall of Colour Technique. Derek felt that the new version should have a new accompaniment and, with this in mind, approached Throbbing Gristle to provide the music. In May 23, 2017, Psychic TV performed two live soundtracks to In The Shadow of the Sun at Cafe OTO in London. The recordings on this LP were made that night. For the realization of this project Psychic TV were: Genesis Breyer P-Orridge - violin; Edley ODowd - drums and percussion; Alice Genese - flute; Jeff Berner - guitar; John Weingarten - keyboards. Live mixing by Matski; Album produced by Edley ODowd.

LP version. Includes download code. Since 2000, Mapstation has been the moniker for the solo work of TAL Label founder Stefan Schneider. Schneider has won international acclaim as a founding member of Kreidler and To Rococo Rot, as well as through unique collaboration works with artists such as Joachim Roedelius (Cluster, Harmonia), Bill Wells, Katharina Grosse, Dieter Moebius (Cluster, Harmonia), Sofia Jernberg, or Jochen Irmler (Faust). There has not been a new Mapstation release since 2009's The Africa Chamber (SCAPE 059CD) which had former Fela Kuti member Nicholas Addo-Nettey on percussion. Present Unmetrics is not entirely a stand-alone creation either. There are guest appearances by Thomas Klein (Kreidler) on percussion, Michael Acher (The Notwist) on Sousaphone and an outstanding vocal contribution from Japanese singer Haco, all deeply woven into the digital topography of the music. Present Unmetrics offers a collection of radically subtle music. The guiding principle of the album was to construct direct and nuanced tracks which embody a sense of open-ended incompleteness and heterogenous dynamics. Out-of-sync bass arpeggios, infused with uneven rhythms, fractured synth stabs, and intimate melodies, frequently created here with a Schlumberg sine wave generator, are continuously engage with experimentation, both on sound and structure. Expertly pieced together and produced in timeless fashion, Present Unmetrics displays all the coherence and artistic authority of an album on a constant quest so vital to the music of Mapstation. An album that couldn't have been made by any other than Mapstation.

LP version. This is for sure no fake news! F4 Fake is the exciting new album by Made To Break, the gripping quartet of Ken Vandermark, mixing jazz, funky patterns, and electronics in groovy improvisations -- interrupted by abstract insertions. Recorded by Daniel Schatz, November 29 2017 at Primitive Studios, Vienna. Mastering by Alex Inglizian at Experimental Sound Studio, Chicago. Mixing by Alex Inglizian and Ken Vandermark. Artwork by Federico Peñalva. Personnel: Ken Vandermark - reeds; Christof Kurzmann - pooll/electronics; Jasper Stadhouders - electric bass; Tim Daisy - drums.

Randall Taylor joins the Beacon Sound roster and graces the label with his finest work yet, Between Distant And Remote. Taylor uses tape loops, guitar, field recordings, and electronic processing to pay homage to the paradox of memory and growth, creating a deeply immersive musical landscape in the process. The album is reflective of the artist's move from Austin, Texas to lush, green Portland in 2018, and also represents a more intentional and layered recording process. Exploring narratives of longing, dislocation, and rediscovery, Between Distant And Remote invites you to dive in and break down the boundaries between yourself and the world around you, reaching into the past to deconstruct the present.

After his 2017 Blank Editions debut Bird, Daf Lloyd left his London studio to write a dream diary, experiment with hypnosis, and make space (rather than time)-oriented music, before temporarily moving to the Russian forest, where he started the construction of the Dream Hotel. Built over the period of a year, Dream Hotel explores the space experienced in dreams, memories, and altered states of consciousness. Dense textures, ethereal tunings and rhythms created with a mix of electronic and analog instruments guide the listener through deep corridors and reveal doors to hallucinatory environments and other dimensions. 140 gram vinyl; includes download; edition of 300.

Mono-Tone Records present the first vinyl reissue of Coronados' Un Lustre, originally released in 1989. One of the great French bands of the '80s. Coronados created a perfect mix of wild garage, off-beat influences (for the times) -- like Alex Chilton, Kevin Ayers, Harry Nilsson, or Beefheart as well as French twisted '60s pop -- delivering it all in their own original and even eccentric style, savage but literate, loose but subtle. Un Lustre is Coronados' second album. The first one, N'Importe Quoi, had a very bare sound (that the band didn't like at the time but that has aged well). Un Lustre has a great full production, perfect for the ambitious songs. Despite great reviews, in France and abroad, and praise from their peers, they split soon after and have never played again, adding to their myth and cult status. A vivacious cult LP for garage fans and literate rockers. Buy or die!