"Maggot Brain is a full-color, quarterly magazine edited by noted Detroit scribe Mike McGonigal: 100+ pages packed with phenomenal content -- art, music, literature, unpublished archival material, and more -- with a simple promise to only exist on the printed page. Contents: Luc Sante on 'Crawdaddy' magazine; Debut publication of often hilarious and always droll memoirs by Stuart Moxham (Young Marble Giants, Gist, solo, etc); Murat Cem Mengüç' dramatic tale of when Sun Ra and the Arkestra visited Istanbul, Turkey in 1990; The fantastic and true story of electro-pop pioneer, runway model, and Eve Babitz-ish character Ann Steel, which has never fully been told before now; In conversation with comedy guru Tom Scharpling in advance of the publication of his moving and hilarious new autobio; Archival interview by Steve Lafreniere with 'Honeymoon Killers' star Shirley Stoler; Overviews of new music from David Nance, Patricia Brennan, and Pharoah Sanders with Floating Points. We're so enamored with the Floating Points/Sanders collaboration that we had no less than Andy Beta go off on it at length, for what is our first 'real' record review (as we're a quarterly, that's not something we'll do too often but the stars aligned.)"

Reissue of Brij Bhushan Kabra's Scaling New Horizons With Guitar, originally released in 1976. In the 1920s, Tau Moe (pronounced mo-ay), a Hawaiian musician, arrived in India and introduced Hawaiian music to the sub-continent. After settling in Calcutta in the early 1940s, Moe and his family performed, taught and introduced Hawaiian music by building and selling guitars to the local musicians. Indian filmmakers and composers quickly fell under the spell of these instruments and sounds and made them suitable for playing ragas -- the melodic patterns and modes in traditional Indian compositions. Soon these hot-rod guitars were accepted as legitimate instruments for performing Indian classical music, and a new breed of virtuosos emerged to write yet another chapter of the guitar's unpredictable evolution. Brij Bhushan Kabra was one of the Indian musicians who heard the steel guitar's siren call, but his vision went beyond adapting Hawaiian sounds to popular music. Instead, he saw the instrument's potential for playing ragas. To pursue this dream, Kabra began studying with Ali Akbar Khan, whose fretless sarod offered a sonic example for Kabra to emulate with his lap-slide guitar. Kabra's instrument was a Gibson Super 400, modified with a drone string and a high nut to raise the strings off the fretboard like a lap steel. Seated on the floor in the traditional style of Indian musicians, Kabra played his guitar horizontally, using a fingerstyle plucking technique and a bar to contact the strings. His approach set the standard for virtually all Indian slide guitarists. He is rightfully considered a master musician and regarded as one of Indian classical music's most renowned ambassadors' to the rest of the world. Scaling New Horizons With Guitar is considered by many one of Kabra's masterpieces. Released in 1976 and out of print for over 45 years, this is the first reissue in any format. Newly remastered for this edition, limited edition pressing.

2021 repress. Originally released on CD in 1996, now reissued on A Recordings, Anton Newcombe's own record label. Released on 180 gram vinyl. The Brian Jonestown Massacre's obsession with the Rolling Stones continues unabated on the brilliant Take It from the Man!; where the group resurrected psychedelic-era excesses on the previous Their Satanic Majesties' Second Request, here they jump further back in time to the Stones' mid-'60s period, with even more superlative results. From the opening "Vacuum Boots" onward, Take It from the Man! is gritty, swaggering R&B-influenced rock, delivered with remarkable assurance and attitude; singer Anton Newcombe is half-madman and half-shaman, and he commands each delirious moment with absolute mastery, emerging not so much a disciple of Mick Jagger but as a serious threat to the throne.

RIP BARBARA ESS (1948?2021). The only release of her music we have on hand is this old/classic 2002 CD on ECSTATIC PEACE. Radio Guitar is nine tracks of fantastic music and noise utilizing radio sound and electric guitar as realized by artists Peggy Ahwesh and Barbara Ess respectively. Filmmaker Peggy Ahwesh came of age in the 1970s with feminist politics and the experimental film underground. She started working with Super-8 film in her teens and went on to make feature films, including Splice This (1999) and Girls Beware (1997). Her work has been shown at Rotterdam, Osnabrook, and The New York Film Festival. She is a recipient of the Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship, the NYSCA Film Production Grant, Jerome Foundation Grant, and a grant from Art Matters, Inc. She has taught at Bard College since 1990. Barbara Ess has been performing music in NYC since the 1970s w/ such famed no-wave groups as The Static and Daily Life as well as The Glenn Branca Ensemble and Y Pants, a trio of women playing music on toy instruments. She has also been a member of Ultra Vulva. She has also worked as a publisher of Just Another Asshole -- a series of anthologies of artists works in various formats. She also works as a visual artist, making and showing large-scale photographs. A book of her photo work, I Am Not This Body, was published by Aperture in 2001.

"Considered to be one of two Holy Grails on Strata Records, Maulawi Nururdin, 180 Proof presents a stellar reissue featuring a previously unheard instrumental version of 'Street Rap'. This 180 Gram vinyl album has been remastered from the original reel to reel master tapes and is presented with an alternate cover artwork done by Ge-ology and Mr. Krum."

Warehouse find, last copies... "Avant-garde composer and sound installation artist Takehisa Kosugi (musical director of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company) has led the Japanese avant-garde music scene since the early 1960s. In 1969 he formed the Taj Mahal Travellers, a musical collective that travelled the world in a VW minibus creating Fluxus-influenced improvised multimedia sound events. This double album (divided into two LPs), recorded live at the Nippon Columbia Studio in Tokyo in 1974, was the group's final effort before disbanding. Here Kosugi and the Travellers blend Eastern and Western instrumentation, vocal chants and electronics to create free-form psych-laden drones. This historic album is an essential and influential piece of Japanese avant rock." Part one, on clear vinyl in clear plastic sleeve with black lettering. Limited edition 500 copies.

ESP-Disk present a vinyl reissue of Henry Grimes Trio's The Call, originally released in 1966. It has occasionally been assumed that Henry Grimes got this December 28, 1965 recording date as a reward for his long service in the avant-garde of jazz. Having already honed his musical conception with a varied range of players, from Benny Goodman and Arnett Cobb to Lee Morgan, Gerry Mulligan, and Sonny Rollins to McCoy Tyner, Steve Lacy, Albert Ayler -- including Spirits Rejoice (ESPDISK 1020CD/LP)--, Don Cherry, and Cecil Taylor (to name just a few), the service was certainly there, but he got this gig fully on his merits. For The Call, Grimes teamed with highly original clarinetist Perry Robinson (as label owner Bernard Stollman has noted, "a virtuoso who merits far wider recognition...and this recording reflects both of their contributions, in equal measure") and stalwart drummer/ESP-Disk' regular Tom Price. As a bassist, Grimes's melodic style is well up to the task of being co-equal voice with a horn, resulting in a thoughtful and texturally rewarding LP with a level of quality far above the rote sideman session cliché, and far away from equally clichéd ideas of unrelentingly full-bore free jazz. It offers the sound of three excellent musicians listening to each other and responding superbly. The Juilliard-trained Grimes appeared on six other ESP LPs besides those already mentioned. He retired at some point after the last of them, 1967's Marzette Watts LP, and went so far off the scene that it was rumored that he had died. Happily, that was not the case, and he reemerged in 2003, moved back to New York, and returned to his prolific ways until illness slowed him down and then took him from us earlier this year (2020). 180 gram vinyl featuring original artwork; edition of 500.

Legendary Sun Ra bassist (Ronnie Boykins 1935-1980) stepped out on his own for his first and only release as a leader on The Will Come, Is Now. He was invited by ESP in 1964 to record his own album, and in February 1974, he told ESP that he was finally ready, and the session took place later that month. This recording not only features Boykins's solid abilities as a bassist, including his marvelous arco work, but also his talents as a composer and arranger. In addition, one is treated to an all-natural bass sound, a rare sound during this particular era of jazz history. In septet format, Boykins's six originals create a variety of moods and textures that not only evoke the music of Sun Ra but also reflect Boykins's own sensibilities as an artist. Original pressings, made just before ESP-Disk' went on hiatus for forty years and thus less common that other ESP LPs, often go for upwards of $150. 180 gram vinyl features original artwork; edition of 500.

Hospital Productions announce the unreleased, would-be-classic from Japanese noise hero Painjerk. Originally recorded immediately after the canonical Gallon Gravy classic, this is pure -- definitive -- loop-heavy noise energy and dynamism that would become the signature of Kohei Gomi's electronic studies having influenced two generations of underground electronics since. Hailing from a background of Japanese punk, Kohei Gomi stayed true to the fierce ethos of independence and experimentation that reached its peak in Japan in the late '90s. But make no mistake, Mr. Gomi never stagnated into a single platform, having worked with such diverse labels as Alternative Tentacles, Relapse, Editions Mego, and so on. Composed with a mysterious configuration of constantly flowing noise hardware -- always recorded live without overdubs, Gomi went on to risk taking computer explorations into the roots of avant-garde compositions inspired by the likes of Pan Sonic and David Tudor. Having reached cult status and maintaining an air of mystery after an onslaught of now classic and highly collectible tape-only releases, such as the monstrous Cacophony Of A Thousand Pleasures 3xCS which was been cited as an influence for Mika Vainio. Never settling for stale genre collaborations, Kohei Gomi further went on to such divergent ends as the insane collaboration with Russell Haswell, psychedelic commune pioneers Smegma, and power violence royalty Bastard Noise. Hospital Productions now unleash this critical document onto the world, one that 20 years on can easily sit alongside the classics of its day. Raise a fist in solidarity for the inimitable punk noise of Painjerk. Double-LP wide spine jacket with inner printing and gold metallic ink.

2021 repress. All 20 volumes of the legendary Rubble Collection are now collected in this 20-CD box set. Inaugurated in 1984 with the release of its first volume, Rubble is among the first and best psych compilations ever put together. Each and every volume is a mind-blowing treasure trove of acid rock and pop from the late 1960s, and comes housed inside a slipcase card replica of the original LP artwork. Featuring famous names such as Blossom Toes, The Pretty Things, and Soft Machine, alongside a myriad of lesser-known acts like Pregnant Insomnia, The Barrier, and Cherry Smash, and compiled and sequenced by leading collectors, the series has long been a byword for the best in psychedelia. All 317 tracks are presented here, complete with two fully-revised and overhauled full-color booklets (86 and 96 pages, respectively), featuring updated band histories, rare photographs, and full discographies (incorporating a mass of information not included in previous editions), making this the most comprehensive and authoritative psych boxed set ever assembled. Includes tracks by Blossom Toes, The Pretty Things, Soft Machine, Pregnant Insomnia, The Barrier, Cherry Smash, Wimple Winch, The Mirror, Caleb, Martin Cure & The Peeps, The Living Daylights, The Misunderstood, Open Mind, The Dakotas, The Craig, Unit 4+2, Hush, The Mindbenders, Mode, The Parking Lot, Keith West, Shotgun Express, Executive, The Talismen, Bo Street Runners, The Sons of Fred, The Idle Race, The Spencer Davis Group, Gordon Waller, Brain, Focus Three, Bamboo Shoot, Wild Silk, Mark Wirtz, The Lemon Tree, The Koobas, Aquarian Age, Chances Are, Ipsissimus, Edwick Rumbold, Penny Peeps, Tomorrow, Jason Crest, The Mirage, Kaleidoscope, The Cymbaline, Finders Keepers, Californians, Rings & Things, The Fox, Tempus Fugit, The Poets, The Attack, Flies, Game, Score, The Mark Four, Fire, Gene Latter, Keith Shields, Dream Police, Fairytale, The Kinsmen, Ice, The End, Turquoise, Pudding Maker, The Accent, Elastic Band, Two & a Half, Life 'n' Soul, The Falling Leaves, Tinkerbells Fairydust, Orange Seaweed, Glass Menagerie, Orange Machine, Carnaby, New Formula, Onyx, Flying Machine, The Primitives, The Ivy League, Epics, Factotums, Erky Grant & The Earwigs, Velvett Fogg, Yellow, Sharon Tandy & Les Fleur de Lys, Eyes of Blue, Rick Price & Mike Sheridan, Jigsaw, Skip Bifferty, Methuselah, Norman Conquest, Dantalian's Chariot, Mashmakhan, The Mike Stuart Span, Serendipity, Second Hand, Dragonfly, Peter & The Blizzards, Group 1850, Tower, Outsiders, Sharks & Me, Short '66, The Motions, Sandy Coast, Zipps, Bumble Bees, The Young Ones, St. Giles's System, Q 65, Supersister, Baroques, Golden Ear-Rings, The Clique, The Montanas, Floribunda Rose, Turnstyle, Kytes, Fresh Air, 5 a.m. Event, Writing On the Wall, Felius Andromeda, Plague, Les Sauterelles, Bulldog Breed, Virgin Sleep, Tintern Abbey, 23rd Turnoff, The Human Instinct, East of Eden, World of Oz, Denny Laine, Timebox, People, Outer Limits, Warm Sounds, Buzz, Boys Blue, Deejays, Southern Sound, Act, Force Five, Answers, French Revolution, Arizona Swamp Company, Attraction, Peep Show, George Gallagher & The Pathfinders, Espirit de Corps, Truth, Our Plastic Dream, Rupert's People, Groove, Curiosity Shoppe, Ghost, Nirvana, Pinkerton's Assorted Colours, Boeing Duveen & The Beautiful Soup, Strawberry Children, Science Poption, Syn, Sub, Noah's Ark, State of Mickey & Tommy, House of Lords, John Fitch, Tuesday's Children, Jackpots, Sound Barrier, Wallace Collection, Wonderland, Gary Walker & The Rain, John Bromley, Lovin', Chasers, Saint Valentine's Day Massacre, The Sea-Ders, Dreams, Ace Kefford Stand, Remo 4, Carriage Company, Staccatos, Mint, The Oscar Bicycle, Gentle Influence, Andwella's Dream, A New Generation, Christopher Colt, Lion Tamers, Philamore Lincoln, Afex, Nicky James, Acid Gallery, Argosy, Calum Bryce, Lyons & Malone, Fruit Machine, Andy Forray, Russell Morris, Octopus, Doomsday Machine, Infantes Jubilate, Still Life, Dee & The Quotom, St. David's Road, Time Machine, Rameses & Selket, Lion of Judah, Moving Fingers, Cinnamon Quill, Scots of St. James, Icarus, Fourmyula, Portobello Explosion, Hayden Wood, Together, Apple, David, Kate, Bump, Adjeef the Poet, Pandemonium, Chapter Four, Crazy World of Arthur Brown, Beautiful, Art, and The Beatstalkers.

OTOROKU reissue Evan Parker's first solo LP Saxophone Solos. Recorded by Martin Davidson in 1975 at the Unity Theatre in London, at that time the preferred concert venue of the Musicians' Co-operative, Parker's densely woven and often cyclical style has yet to form; instead throaty murmurs appear under rough-hewn whistles and calls -- the wildly energetic beginnings of an extraordinary career. Reissued with liner notes from Seymour Wright in an edition of 500.

"The four pieces across the two sides of Saxophone Solos -- 'Aerobatics 1' to '4' -- are testing, pressured, bronchial spectaculars of innovation and invention and determination. Evan tells four stories of exploration and imagination without much obvious precedent. Abstract Beckettian cliff-hanging detection/logic/magic/mystery. The conic vessel of the soprano saxophone here recorded contains the ur-protagonists: seeds, characters, settings, forces, conflicts, motions, for new ideas, to delve, to tap and to draw from it story after story as he has on solo record after record for 45 years. 'Aerobatics 1-3' were recorded on June 17th 1975, by Martin Davidson at Parker's first solo performance. This took place at London's Unity Theatre in Camden. 'Aerobatics 4' was recorded on September 9th the same year, by Jost Gebers in the then FMP studio in Charlottenburg, Berlin. Music of balance and gravity, fulcra, effort, poise, and enquiry. Sounds thrown and shaken into and out of air, metal and wood. It is -- as the titles suggest -- spectacular." --Seymour Wright, 2020

"Terrestrial Funk's sixth release explores over a decade of Armenian disco, funk, and soul. Compiled by Darone Sassounian who spent three years tracking down the records and artists; fulfilling a calling to lift his people's voice, a people that have always faced the threat of erasure. The music was made a generation after the Armenian Genocide, a testament to perseverance. The seven tracks featured are incredibly inventive and unique in their interpretations of Western seventies sounds. This compilation comes at an urgent time as 2020 set the stage for Azerbaijan and Turkey to perpetuate genocidal rhetoric as they invaded Armenian borders and bombed civilian cities eventually resulting in the loss of lives and land stewarded for millennia. All while the western world paid little notice. It is with great gratitude and purpose that Terrestrial Funk rebirths this music and uplifts the voice of the Armenian Diaspora."

Originally released in 1971. Reissued In 2012; 2021 repress. "Ubiquity Records presents a limited repressing of Awakening" by the legendary Pharaohs which is highly sought after and has been out of print for several years. Awakening was originally released in 1971 and re-issued by Luv n'Haight in 1996 and quickly became a must-have for collectors of spiritual, deep, Afro-centric jazz."

"The Band That Can Do Anything -- that's the literal English translation of the name of a band whose creativity, productivity and influence ran far and wide during the notorious era of racial oppression in South Africa. The Makgona Tsohle Band was easily the most popular and highly productive instrumental team in the African music business of the 1960s and '70s. Assembled by formidable talent scout and producer Rupert 'Bops' Bopape, Makgona Tsohle provided musical accompaniment on literally hundreds of Gallo recording sessions, as well as creating some of the biggest dance hits of the era. They are often credited with the invention of that staple township music, mbaqanga. A big boast -- but only a slight embellishment. Makgona Tsohle's members were utterly crucial to the style's formation and development, reinforcing the more modern, danceable, electrified jive as the leading force in township music until the mid-1970s. Makgona Tsohle Reggi was issued only once, in May 1970. It quickly became a collector's item. This sought-after album now makes its welcome return to African record stores as well as its debut in the international market. The stunning diversity of the Makgona Tsohle Band's musical genius spans pure sax jive through to swinging '60s soul, ska and even hints of rocksteady and 'reggi'. This is the authentic sound of Soweto as demonstrated by the experts!"

2021 repress. "dead prez may have been slightly ahead of their time during their golden years, but that is definitely meant as a compliment. Sermonizing Black Nationalism, Pan-Africanism and the benefits of a healthy and just lifestyle during the height of the Bad Boy / Roc-AFella era of nihilistic excess in the late '90s, they also signed to a major label (Loud / Columbia) despite leaning much more towards the burgeoning indie aesthetics of the day. But this was a good thing -- using major label muscle to wake up righteous hip-hop fans who might have fallen asleep at the wheel. The group itself -- consisting of MCs stic.man and M-1, who produced or co-produced most of the duo's music -- was formed in Tallahassee, Florida in the early 1990s (M-1 originally hailed from Brooklyn). By later that decade, the duo had started making significant waves, having their music heard on the soundtracks to Soul In The Hole and Slam, as well as appearing on albums by Big Pun and The Beatnuts. By 1998, they released their first official single, the serious, stark 'Police State,' on Loud, appropriately brought to the label by Lord Jamar of Brand Nubian. After building a solid rep over the next two years with fiery live performances, in 2000 they unleashed their debut album, Let's Get Free. The album was a welcome return to provocative and often radically political rhetoric that hearkened back to hip-hop forebears including The Coup, Public Enemy and KRS-One (as well as poetic descendants like the Last Poets and Watts Prophets). Let's Get Free was critically acclaimed and benefited from multiple singles, including the infectious, thick analog drive of 'Hip-Hop' (which became the de facto theme song for 'Chappelle's Show'); 'It's Bigger Than Hip-Hop,' with a remix co-produced by a young Kanye West; 'Mind Sex' (with Abiodun Oyewole of the Last Poets); and the poignant 'I'm An African.' But the singles weren't the only worthy songs, as just about every cut here has deeper meaning than most full albums by their early 2000s peers. Highlights: the thought-provoking, anti-drug album opener 'Wolves'; 'We Want Freedom' (co-produced by frequent collaborator Hedrush); 'They Schools' and 'Propaganda' (co-produced by Lord Jamar, one of five songs he assisted on). All in all, this is one of the more underrated and possibly Top 5 fully-realized political hip-hop albums of all time. If you don't agree with the previous sentence, give Let's Get Free another listen... you might be surprised at how well it has held up over the years."

"South Africa's lost jazz history contains many an overlooked classic. But even within that hidden tradition, there are few albums that suffered such an unlucky fate as Spring, the monumental 1968 debut album by pianist Ibrahim Khalil Shihab, formerly Chris Schilder. Though Shihab was only twenty-two when Spring was recorded, he was already a lynchpin of the Cape Town scene, and the album was to be his first major statement as leader and composer. It is a magnum opus gilded by the presence of the upcoming saxophonist Winston 'Mankunku' Ngozi, who was soon to find huge acclaim with the hit album Yakhal' Inkomo. Three months of touring southern Africa in 1968 honed the band to the point that this entire album was recorded within the just two hours of allocated studio time. This album was repressed just once before the master tapes were destroyed by an ignorant record company executive. While it has remained out of print since then, the album was 'kept alive' as an 'add-on' to a 1996 CD of Mankunku's Yakhal' Inkomo. As a result, many modern jazz lovers still incorrectly believe these five compositions come from Yakhal' Inkomo. With this edition of Spring, Matsuli Music corrects an historic wrong. This edition of Shihab's stunning debut, produced with the blessing of the man himself, is the first time it has been properly available in over forty years, and the first time it has ever been available outside South Africa. Restored and presented with new liner notes by Valmont Layne, Spring can now be seen for what it is: a peerless masterwork of Cape Jazz, blessed by the presence of the great Mankunku, but truly animated by the subtle vision and original musical spirit of its creator, Ibrahim Khalil Shihab."

"NYC's 75 Dollar Bill began its prolific career in 2012, after percussionist Rick Brown -- a veteran of the indie underground (Fish & Roses, Run On, V-Effect) -- and noise scene guitarist and multi-instrumentalist Che Chen -- connected via MySpace. Since that initial jam session, when Brown began experimenting with his signature plywood crate drum rhythms, they have released three LPs and a clutch of self-released cassette and digital releases. Last year's double album I Was Real received serious critical acclaim -- The Wire calling it 2019's Album of the Year. On their first live album, Live At Tubby's, 75 Dollar Bill assembled a unique 'little big band' [Sue Garner on bass, Cheryl Kingan on sax, Steve Maing on guitar, Jim Pugliese on percussion and Karen Waltuch on viola] for the small Kingston, NY club show. Recorded on the last day of their spring tour, the record puts a new perspective on themes from their body of work: a little more intimacy, a little more freedom, a little more controlled chaos. Brown's idiosyncratic rhythms are all the more hypnotizing in Tubby's cozy setting, and Chen's furious guitar work cuts and hums with sounds seemingly only attainable on stage. It's an album both challenging and immediate. The expanded 75 Dollar Bill's affinity for improvisation and the avant-garde even leads to a rousing take on the Ornette Coleman classic, 'Friends And Neighbors' that feels right at home in their own repertoire. The listener can't help but feel present and part of the communal joy and catharsis being shared here in this room. This performance at Tubby's turned out not only to be the last show of their tour, but the last show possible as the pandemic hit. Originally offered as a digital only release on 75 Dollar Bill's Bandcamp, Live At Tubby's now documents a highlight and closure of sorts; this kind of musical improvisation and community interaction being on hold for the foreseeable future. This double album on Grapefruit will have to tide everyone over until it can all happen again."

2021 restock; LP version. Originally released in 1980, this album from Lee "Scratch" Perry is the final work to emerge from the Black Ark studio, before its permanent destruction. It concludes a series of such LP masterworks such as Super Ape, War In Babylon, Police And Thieves, and Return Of The Super Ape. Enthrallingly, it crosses the sound world of Roast Fish Collie Weed & Cornbread with new hybrids -- like the irresistible 11-minute opener, rolling and delirious, a kind of reggae prophesy of Marvin Gaye's "Sexual Healing," but musically richer, and more glazed, randy and visionary. Includes an insert with extensive notes by David Katz.

"MF DOOM is the man in the iron mask. The most mysterious figure in hip-hop has also become one of the most popular, supplying beats and rhymes for Gorillaz, De La Soul, Madlib, Danger Mouse, and Wu-Tang Clan, and drawing praise from heavyweights like Just Blaze, Nas, and Mos Def. Since 2002, DOOM has released numerous volumes of Special Herbs, one of the longest-running instrumental series in hip-hop history. Now, the seventh and eighth volumes in the acclaimed series are available on CD for the first time in years. With obscure loops and dusty samples galore, Special Herbs Vol. 7 and 8 is a must-have for any DOOM fan or hip-hop head."

Naomi Yang has been threatening to get this book together for years, but the Trump Virus shutdown finally goaded her onto action. Inspired by oddball community cookbooks through the ages, this is a heavily annotated collection of recipes involving simple techniques and common ingredients. In this instance, the community represented is the musical sub-underground of Western Massachusetts and beyond. Mr. Coley is a home cook, whose professional restaurant experience mostly involves dishwashing. But over the last quarter century he has fed family, friends, traveling musicians and large events at his house, the Yod Space, Feeding Tube Records/Rox Art, and various other places. Accompanied by his own commentary, as well as that of those who have et his vittles, this book should be as useful as reading material in the bathroom, as it is for instruction in the kitchen. Designed by Naomi Yang, contributors include Steve Albini, Elisa Ambrogio, Kristin Anderson, Alan Bishop, Julie Cafritz, Benoit Chaput, Ben Chasny, Addie Coley, Hud Coley, Chris Corsano, Beth Crawford, Dave Crouch, Alison Darrow, Abby Drake, Lauren Dunn, Lili Dwight, Valle Dwight, Ilene Gerhardt, Tom Givan, Jim Glaspole, Kim Gordon, Emily Hubley, Georgia Hubley, Michael Hurley, Dan Ireton, Pat Ireton, Glenn Jones, Elaine Kahn, Heather Kaplow, Andrew Kesin, Maria Kozic, Matt Krefting, Damon Krukowski, Michio Kurihara, Willie Lane, Ted Lee, Tom Leonard, Lida Lewis, J Mascis, Cynthia Meadows, Amy Mehaffey, Roger Miller, John Moloney, Coco Gordon Moore, Thurston Moore, Bill Nace, Alden O'Donaghue, Kerstin Park-Labella, Charles Plymell, Lauisa Reichenheim, Wayne Rogers, Aaron Rosenblum, Kevin Sahagian, Dave Schramm, John Shaw, Jacqueline Sheridan, Nora Smith, Jack Tieleman, Matt Valentine, Kate Village, Naomi Yang. Ringbound; 194 pp.

Sunbeam Records present a double-CD reissue of Wizz Jones's self-titled release, originally released in 1969. An undisputed giant of modern folk and one of the finest acoustic guitarists Britain has ever produced, Wizz Jones has been cited as an influence by stars including Rod Stewart and Keith Richards, and received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the BBC Folk Awards in 2019. His first solo LP appeared 50 years earlier, and receives its first-ever reissue here. A beguiling mixture of standards and originals with his outstanding playing to the fore throughout, it's unlike anything else he ever recorded. It's presented here in both its mono and stereo mixes, together with an insert containing background notes and rare images, and a repro shop flier from the original time of release. Double-CD digipack with eight-page booklet.

Listening to these nine tracks it is hard to believe that this version of Fleetwood Man had only a few weeks left to run. An acid-damaged Peter Green would leave six weeks after this gig and they would never sound this good again. This high-quality BBC recording includes contemporary hits such as "The Green Manalishi" and "Rattlesnake Shake" as well as album tracks featuring the melodic skills of Danny Kirwan ("World In Harmony", "Underway") and some unreleased rockers from Jeremy Spencer ("Tiger", "Great Balls Of Fire"). Full sleeve notes and credits included.

Red and purple vinyl. Italian producer Clap! Clap! returns to Bristol's Black Acre with his third album, Liquid Portraits. Born and raised in Florence, Cristiano Crisci's musical career extends back to the mid-90s where he started out as a rapper, before picking up a saxophone and exploring both jazz and jazz/punk fusion with Trio Cane, and then returning to his electronic roots with A Smile For Timbuctu project. By 2008, Crisci decided to strike it out on his own as Digi G'Alessio, channeling the same hip-hop meets electronic music energies as those animating the nascent Los Angeles beat scene. Soon Crisci hit upon a new formula when he started combining samples from the African continent with energetic drum programming. The results led to the birth of Clap! Clap! in 2013, which has since been recognized and supported by the likes of Paul Simon and Gilles Peterson. Crisci released his first and second albums Tayi Bebba (ACRE 006LP, 2014) and A Thousand Skies (ACRE 009LP, 2016) via Black Acre. Clap! Clap!'s third album once again deploys his inimitable technique in fine style, however with new eyes as this new project signifies a definite shift in his work having spent the last few years learning the art of mixing which has led to some breakthroughs: "In recent years I've spent a lot of time studying essential mixing techniques. I then built an acoustic-treated room and set up my new studio. I started to convert digital into analog and vice versa with good converters and achieved sounds that I've never heard before from my speakers. This had a huge positive impact on my mixes and result on my music." Entitled Liquid Portraits, the album -- as the name suggests -- is a collection of sonic paintings, an attempt at capturing furtive, subconscious memories through sound. The tracks reference trips Crisci took and people he met -- from southern Italy to Hokkaido via the Kif Mountains of Morocco -- as well as more abstract ideas of loss, calmness, and childhood. Having been approached by Paul Simon to work on his 2016 album Stranger To Stranger after Simon discovered Tayi Bebba through his son, Clap! Clap! is no stranger to collaborations and this album features a small cast of talents, such as Italy percussionist Domenico Candellori ("Southern Dub"), Belgian artist Martha Da'ro ("Moving On"), harpist Kety Fusco ("Rising Fire"), and Piero Spitilli ("Liquid Portraits").

Herself is the moniker of multi-instrumentalist Gioele Valenti, also known as JuJu in more recent years (Fuzz Club) or as part of the psych project Lay Llama's. Herself's work was described by critics as the harmonious meeting between Sparklehorse, Gravenhurst, and Will Oldham. Valenti's songwriting takes inspiration from low-fidelity apocalyptic folk, crooning and pop; boasting a rather extensive discography. Well rooted in tradition, his music often ventures in the realms of subtle experimentation. Rigel Playground prepares the listener for a journey through cosmic folk, in which traditional Brit pop flirts with an alt vein, as if the Beatles and Sparklehorse would meet the torments of Nick Drake and the intimacy of a Mike Scott. Continuing a long list of illustrious collaborations (Amaury Cambuzat of Ulan Bator, John Fallon of The Steppes, Capra Informis of GOAT, among others), the prestigious guest on this record is Jonathan Donahue from Mercury Rev, a group of absolute prominence in the international indie panorama, which in addition to having lent his voice to the single "The Beast of Love" -- as Herself says -- informs the essence of the entire record. Not surprisingly Mercury Rev chose Herself to support them during their Italian tour in 2019.

LP version. Perhaps best known as the upside-down, guitar-wielding front man of psych-legends The Entrance Band, and solo albums released under the ENTRANCE moniker, notably 2004's country blues epic Wandering Stranger (Fat Possum), 2006's self-released cult classic, Prayer of Death (which led to the formation of The Entrance Band), and most recently 2017's Book of Changes (Thrill Jockey), Guy Blakeslee has typically used his own name to release his most experimental and confounding records. Postcards From The Edge is no exception. Nearly two decades into a lifer's voyage of shapeshifting through shadowy realms of the American underground, Guy Blakeslee, poses these and other conundrums on his dramatic new album, Postcards From The Edge. Recorded in New Orleans at the house studio of Preservation Hall Jazz Band, with former Sonic Ranch engineer and producer, Enrique Tena Padilla (Oh Sees, Wand), and featuring appearances from singers Lael Neale, Hale May, Rachel Fannan, and drummer Derek James of The Entrance Band, Postcards From The Edge is electrified by the spirit of sonic experimentation, and the fervent desire to chart a map into unknown territory. Across the record's seven tracks, Blakeslee's questing lyrics teem with stormy emotion, his plaintive voice finding succor in richly-textured melodies that soar over lushly-produced soundscapes, always on the verge of collapse. A wandering soul who has spent the better part of his musical life on the road, Blakeslee, a Baltimore native and LA transplant currently residing in the wilds of Virginia, has supported the likes of Spiritualized, Beach House, Cat Power, Mazzy Star, Interpol, and Father John Misty to name a few. "Seven tracks of questioning, tremulous, occasionally beautiful gospel-psych" --Uncut Magazine.

2021 repress. "Debuting in 1988 as a self-released 8xCassette boxset, Chapter Eleven collects the solo recordings (1976 - 1987) from one of the earliest members of the US Industrial Noise scene, coalescing a wide swath of influences and culling experimental techniques into inventive new terrain. Carefully remastered from the original tapes, this deluxe reissue is a long-awaited rescue from obscurity. 4xCDs -- Over 4 hours of music. Remastered by John Wiese. Co-Released by Hanson Records and Helicopter." "Turman seemed to have taken over where the last of the great synth based kraut artists left off in the 70's, infusing the spiritual meditation music with his own brand of loop hypnosis, slowly moving drones, industrial patterns, guitar fuzz, and even some in-your-face 80's style synth work" --IMPOSE Magazine.

University Challenged are Ajay Saggar ("Bhajan Bhoy"), Oli Heffernan ("Ivan The Tolerable"), and Kohhei Matsuda ("Bo Ningen"). The trio began in 2019, playing shows in Holland, where they gained a reputation for delivering highly dynamic sense-rattling shows, ranging from gentle melodic orchestral spinouts to epic power jams, all backed by beautiful self-made films in the background. The plan had always been to record an album, and get the collective musical force and spirit cemented to vinyl. Many months of hard work and focus paid dividends with the majestic eight-track double album Oh Temple! ready to be delivered to the world at large. Mixed and produced by Ajay Saggar at his Soundation Studio in Holland in the summer of 2020, and mastered by Oli Heffernan in England. This is a beautiful collection of tracks where the pioneering spirit of the three artists allowed them to cross musical boundaries with their bold and accomplished playing to forge eight unique and mesmeric numbers. While there is commonality in the artists approach to music, there are a wide variety of styles -- kosmische musik, electronic experimentation, deep spiritual jazz, modern classical, pastoral guitar soli, and more. These tracks sound fresh and revealing now, and will certainly do so for a long time to come.

One of the most influential bands in the last five decades, Kraftwerk virtually established the blueprint, the source code even for electronic music. Founded by classically trained musicians Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider-Esleban in Dusseldorf in 1970, the band has informed and inspired a diverse range of genres and artists including David Bowie, Björk, Afrika Bambaataa, and Joy Division. This early live performance, in Soest, Germany in Winter 1970, broadcast on WDR-TV displays the band in superb form. Arguably, the future of electronic music, trance, techno, ambient -- started right here. 180 gram picture disc, with insert. Die cut sleeve.

Modern sounds for the 21st century featuring modal, progressive and esoteric contemporary jazz from the UK, Spain, Netherlands, Finland, USA, Belgium, Canada, South Africa, Sweden, Germany, and Italy. The first 12 volumes of Jazzman Records' hugely popular Spiritual Jazz series have unearthed a wealth of historic recordings in the genre, collating a variety of works from the '50s to the '80s by artists from all around the world. And so, with Volume 13, the label turn their attention to what's happening NOW. Over the course of 24 tracks and spanning two sets, Jazzman Records present an overview of the contemporary exponents of spiritual jazz; musicians who are intent on bringing something personal to the table, as much as they recognize the importance of those who have paved the way for them. We feature music recorded within the past 20 years and from 15 different countries, including modern classics from veterans Steve Reid and Idris Ackamoor, providing a vital link between the past masters and the enlightened new generation. It's pioneers such as John Coltrane, Sun Ra, Pharoah Sanders, et al, with their innovations in reaching another plane of consciousness that was and remains uppermost in the minds of exponents of spiritual jazz. Fittingly, several of the artists featured on this compilation, such as Cat Toren and David Boykin, are practitioners of the art of music therapy and sound healing, and have absolute conviction in the role of song as solace. The pioneers may no longer be with us, but their saintly selves loom large, shining a light in the darkness, inspiring many a brave new disciple today, as this album will testify: the new wave of jazz is gathering pace and still sounds fresh, vibrant and as relevant as ever. Extensive liners with pictures. Features Benjamin Herman, Idris Ackamoor & The Pyramids, Nat Birchall, Chip Wickham, Jimi Tenor And Kabukabu, Black Flower, Darryl Yokley, Damon Locks Black Monument Ensemble, Oiro Pena, Cat Toren, Shabaka & The Ancestors, and Makaya McCraven.

Magic Box present a reissue of The Third Power's Believe, originally released 1970. This psychedelic power trio emerged from the same Detroit scene that spawned the MC5 and the Stooges (with whom they shared many bills), and have been described as Detroit's answer to Cream. Their sole album originally appeared in May 1970, and is widely regarded as one of the best underground hard rock records of the era. It makes its long-awaited return to vinyl here, complete with an insert containing background notes and images. Includes CD which features two bonus tracks.

2021 repress. "Four new chapters from Nicolás Jaar in Telas. Here, again, it's the odder and more essence-like devotion to sound that is semi-narrative, ambient, and concrète that we heard and were drawn to in Pomegranates. Telas gestures towards a more refined tone, with less sudden shifts and vignettes, incrementally shaping an hour of self-reflective music with tracks building and collapsing across its vinyl sides. When Telas was first drafted and presented to Mana it felt appropriate to mention a sense of monastic retreat. Where Pomegranates often felt epic-like in its scope and shifting scales, this album conveys images of quieter moments spent tending to a vegetable patch within a cloistered garden, perhaps, or the threading of a tapestry with filigree. Nicolás often moves slowly and deliberately throughout, focused on manipulating gauzy fibres and room tone or fluttering around other cryptic actors, so that when bursts of clarity and emotion appear they take on a deeper character. There's a greater sense of contemplation and patience in the album's logic, pointing to a conception of art, melody, and sound which is continuously under construction. In relationship with sister-album Cenizas and surface qualities of recent Against All Logic material it feels that there's a centre being defined and meditated upon. Telas was made between December 2016 and January 2020." Black & clear vinyl in gatefold jacket, with art by Somnath Bhatt.

Opaque red vinyl version. "Our comprehensive overview of Zambia's premier garage-, psych-, prog-, funk-,Afro-rock ensemble Witch, We Intend To Cause Havoc!, is now sold out in its 6LP box set form. So we are making the first four Witch albums available in archival reissue form. As with our box set, the audio is nigh-perfect -- restored and remastered from the original master tapes. The entirety of Witch's first album, restored and remastered from master tapes, and presented as an archival reissue. Witch's musical arc is contained to a five year span and, in retrospect, is a logical one. The band's first two, self-produced albums - released in unison with the birth of the commercial Zambian recording industry -- are exuberant experiments in garage rock, and are as influenced by the Rolling Stones as they are James Brown. Thus Introduction, their first, is the perfect starting point for anyone interested in delving into the Witch band, or Zamrock in general."

Originally recorded and released in 1980, Six of One beautifully captures the detail in Evan Parker's high frequency split tones for which he is now perhaps better known. Five years on from Saxophone Solos and with circular breathing and polyphonics well-worn into his live performances, Parker's experiments here produce sustained passages of brilliant flight. Set into the echoes and resonances of a St Judes On The Hill church, the results are stunning. Transferred from the original master tapes by Thomas Hall at Abbey Road Studios and released in an edition of 500.

"The recital commences with a split tone line of twining sine waves that expand and contract in telepathic collusion. Pitch dynamics narrow and redefine themselves more emphatically on the second piece where sliding legato rivulets born of Parker's compartmentalized tonguing create the sonic semblance of up to three separate voices emanating from the single reed speech center. It's a feat he's accomplished innumerable times since, but every fresh hearing never fails to open an aperture into a style of improvisatory expression that is at once wholly alien and intensely mesmerizing. There's also something strangely subterranean about the flood of sounds, like the rush percolating water through an underground aquifer system enroute to unknown tributaries. The third piece trades tightly braided tones for leaner and more linear phrases, but a vaporous trail of phantom notes still clings to the central line. And so it goes, with the illusion of repetition guiding the momentum, though Parker never explicitly repeats himself." --Derek Taylor, All About Jazz, 2002

2021 repress, black vinyl. "Animated sci-fi masterpiece La Planète Sauvage (aka Fantastic Planet), winner at Cannes Film Festival in 1973, is a bizarre and beautiful film. Towering blue-skinned figures, tiny humanoids in the midst of revolt, and drug-induced Tantric sex transport viewers to a truly magical setting. Composer Alain Goraguer creates an equally hypnotic score from a palette of effects-laden guitars, flutes, Fender Rhodes, and strings. While the lush arrangements are reminiscent of Goraguer's collaborations with Serge Gainsbourg in the 1960s, space-age synth flourishes suggest a more psychedelic era. Moody vignettes flow together in tense, slow-paced funk rhythms and Baroque textures. It comes as no surprise that La Planète Sauvage has been cited as an influence on contemporary artists such as French duo Air and American hip-hop producers J Dilla and Madlib. Gorgeous, interplanetary soundscapes resemble the surreal meeting point between Pink Floyd's Obscured by Clouds and Broadcast's Future Crayon. This long out-of-print vinyl release features the original soundtrack recording and newly designed artwork. Recommended for fans of Ennio Morricone, Basil Kirchin, and David Axelrod."

Montreal-based producer and DJ Slick Shoota releases Function, his debut LP and first solo release on the Teklife imprint. A native of Norway known for his renowned Oslo club night Ball Em Up, he's been a member of the elite crew since 2015, contributing tracks to the label's compilations such as On Life Vol. 2 and VIP Trax. Using a unique palate that combines both traditional footwork drums and eclectic otherworld sonics, this album expands on the signature sound he's been brewing during the course of his career, celebrating his longtime love of the Chicago soundscape, with a healthy helping of UK rave, jungle, and vibes from other fast paced club realms. Slick starts the record off with "Hovercraft", a big burly mutant rap beat riding a glowing titanic wave of jungle subbass, with vicious hi-hats stabbing through the mix. "Desire Path" follows with hysterical horns cruising along a stampede of erratic Chicago percussion. A glitchy, malfunctioning computer meets drumline stomps on "See Me Flex", resulting in a psychotic, yet psychedelic sci-fi soundscape. Ultra-distorted hardcore kicks open up "Jellyneck", dropping straight into a dungeon of ghostly vocals and headlong toms. "Warehouse 2K" opens up the B-side with R&B chops and lasers floating on a charming cloud of pulsating pads. Mad doppler sirens loop around your head on "Delahaze", as distant clangs and crashes fight an impatient, throbbing bassline. Classic rave atmospheres are met with Slick's elegant sound design on "MTL Hardcore", his ode to his adoptive city. The album closes off with "Special Tek", channeling the signature quirky drum sounds of the late DJ Rashad over a pounding, fast paced house beat, a wonderful nod to the windy city and its influential sonic culture. Carving out his own sound from the legacies of Chicago, the UK, and other underground club hotspots, Slick Shoota has found his own recognizable voice within these realms of dance music, and this LP serves as documentation of that solidified voice. Years of studying the masters and immersing himself with their work has clearly paid off, and he's respectfully taking these sounds he loves in exciting new directions. Bridging gaps both historical and geographical, Function marks a pivotal point in his career, and is clear evidence that Slick Shoota is vital member of the legendary Teklife family.