$48.00
Perhaps Larry Nozero’s single most-recognizable contribution to popular music is the soprano sax solo on Marvin Gaye’s seminal, “What’s Going On,” the title track and tone-setter for one of soul music’s most successful, not to mention conceptual, recordings. Like so many talented reedmen before him, Nozero received instruction from Detroit’s Teal School of Music, creating common ground with Yusef Lateef, Joe Henderson, and Benny Maupin. Although Nozero flirted with the Strata groundlings briefly in 1964 as a member of Charles Moore’s Detroit Contemporary 5, he was soon drafted into the military. A mixed blessing, Nozero took full advantage of the opportunities within the Army Band, which led to several high profile jobs upon his return to Detroit. Despite lengthy engagements with Henry Mancini, Sergio Mendes, and studio work with everyone from Holland-Dozier-Holland to Berry Gordy, Nozero still relished musical freedom of expression, which made him right at home on the Strata roster. While little is known about Sphere as a stand alone group aside from it’s contributors Larry Nozero, Eddie Nuccilli, Keith Vreeland, Jimmy Peluso, John Dana and producer Bug Spangler, Inside Ourselves presents the level of quality jazz expected from both One Eighty Proof and Strata Records. - HHV
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Label: 180 Proof Records – OEP 1007 |
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Series: Actualities Series – SRI 103-74 |
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Format: 2 × Vinyl, LP, Album, Limited Edition, Reissue, Remastered |
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Country: US |
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Released: 2019 |
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Genre: Jazz |
$45.00
Seattle-raised, Brooklyn-residing Kassa Overall is a jazz musician, emcee, singer, producer, and drummer. His second, full-length album, I THINK I’M GOOD, is the work of an artist whose voice has ripened to its own hard-earned, provocative conclusions, erasing the need to talk about dissolving barriers between hip hop and jazz because he has begun a new conversation.
I THINK I’M GOOD is a window into the real life of Overall, a Bushwick-based artist wrestling with the abhorrent American prison system, the ebbs and flows of romantic relationships, and perils of trust, all seen through the kaleidoscopic lens of a brilliant 21st century composer. The backdrop to these varied themes is Overall confronting his experience with mental illness, which included a manic episode and subsequent hospitalisation when he was a student. Themes of incarceration and claustrophobia weave through the record, but never drown out the feeling of a fragile but vital hope. - Bandcamp
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Label: Brownswood Recordings – BWOOD0219LP |
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Format: Vinyl, LP |
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Country: UK & US |
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Released: 28 Feb 2020 |
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Style: Fusion |
$39.00
Suddenly is more stylistically varied than Our Love or Swim, but it’s also the most direct that Snaith has sounded. Many of its standout songs are just two or three minutes long, perfect models of pop economy. The anthems are punchier: The dusty boom-bap of “Home” is the platonic ideal of a rare-groove edit, “Never Come Back” the epitome of a piano-house barnstormer. There’s nothing generic about even his most exacting genre studies: A Caribou song will always sound first and foremost like a Caribou song, thanks in part to Snaith’s distinctive falsetto, which graces every song here. There are no bum notes, no wasted motions, and no corners of the audio spectrum left untouched. - Pitchfork
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Label: City Slang – SLANG50247LP |
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Format: Vinyl, LP, Album |
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Country: Europe |
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Released: 28 Feb 2020 |
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Genre: Electronic, Rock |
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Style: House, Indie Rock |
$48.00
The ‘imaginary’ soundtrack to the adventures Of Kindaichi Kosuke, the cult detective book series by writer Seishi Yokomizo is on many DJ want-lists. Arranged by soundtrack master Kentaro Haneda and featuring a mysterious group of the best 70s Japanese Funk musicians, the album is pure undiluted Disco Funk. This reissue is the album's first official release outside of Japan. Remastered from the original tapes, it features artwork by renowned illustrator Ichibun Sugimoto, OBI strip and a 4 page insert with a new introduction by British journalist Anton Spice. - Bandcamp
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Label: Wewantsounds – WWSLP31 |
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Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue |
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Country: Europe |
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Released: 2020 |
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Genre: Jazz, Funk / Soul, Stage & Screen |
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Style: Soundtrack, Score, Theme, Jazz-Funk, Disco |
$39.00
To fully appreciate La Femme’s singular approach to pop, just take a listen to ‘Antitaxi’, the opening track on this debut album. Here you'll find boy/girl vocals with all the wild, raw spontaneity of punk (‘Psycho’), a completely unanticipated detour into surf-pop guitar riffery (‘Tropical’), all underpinned by sinewy throbbing sequencers and thudding beats reminiscent of DAF (‘Berlin’). ‘Psycho Tropical Berlin’ – entirely aptly titled, then – has a number of such moments where these seemingly incompatible elements collide improbably together, the effervescent ‘Sur La Planche’ (video below) being the highlight. But you might also find yourself hearing filmic numbers with an essence of the ‘60s European movies that seemed très exotique to New Wave bands with French dictionaries and hairspray 30 years ago. That, or jerky rock ‘n’ roll that sounds like the Ramones playing through a broken Moog; or Theremin-augmented fairground music that comes with mystique and spookiness in equal measure.
There is always a danger with such hybrid albums that they sound monumentally kitsch at best, or a sprawling mess at worst. Somehow this Biarritz-based unit has managed to bypass both with élan, producing an album that sounds as polished as Kraftwerk robotically waxing The Beach Boys’ surfboards. - Clash
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Label: Born Bad Records – BB051 |
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Format: 2 × Vinyl, LP, Album |
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Country: France |
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Released: 20 Apr 2013 |
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Style: Synth-pop, Garage Rock, Darkwave |
$60.00
Art Taylor was one of the greatest drummers in modern jazz who propelled the bands of Bud Powell, Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Donald Byrd, Lee Morgan, Dexter Gordon, and many more. As a leader Taylor only recorded a handful of albums including 1960’s A.T.’s Delight, which is a delightful and inventive set of hard bop that interprets the music of Coltrane, Monk, Davis, and Kenny Dorham with a stellar band featuring trumpeter Dave Burns, tenor saxophonist Stanley Turrentine, pianist Wynton Kelly, bassist Paul Chambers, and Carlos “Patato” Valdes on congas.
This Blue Note 80 Vinyl Edition is all-analog, mastered by Kevin Gray from the original master tapes, and pressed on 180g vinyl at Optimal. – Blue Note
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Label: Blue Note – ST-84047, UMe – 0845458
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Series: Blue Note 80 Vinyl Reissue Series – ST-84047
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Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, 180g
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Country: USA & Europe
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Released: 2020
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Genre: Jazz
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$60.00
After his six years with the seminal John Coltrane Quartet, the mighty drummer Elvin Jones signed with Blue Note Records in 1968 and made a series of 10 fantastic albums including 1972’s Mr. Jones, produced by Francis Wolff and George Butler, and featuring saxophonists Dave Liebman, Steve Grossman, and Pepper Adams, Thad Jones on flugelhorn, pianist Jan Hammer, bassist Gene Perla, and percussionists Carlos “Patato” Valdes, Frank Ippolito, and Albert Duffy. The music delves into expansive post-bop with Latin influences and includes an impassioned version of Tadd Dameron’s gorgeous ballad “Soultrane” in dedication to Coltrane.
This Blue Note 80 Vinyl Edition is all-analog, mastered by Kevin Gray from the original master tapes, and pressed on 180g vinyl at Optimal. – Blue Note
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Label: Blue Note – BN-LA110-F |
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Series: Blue Note 80 Vinyl Reissue Series – |
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Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, Remastered, 180g |
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Country: US |
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Released: 13 Mar 2020 |
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Genre: Jazz |
$48.00
This previously unreleased limited edition legendary live concert, CJQ 'The Black Hole,' 180 Gram 2xLP Gatefold vinyl of 1000 copies was remastered from the original reel to reel master tapes. The original artwork has been restored and includes the original design sketches for the album. – Bandcamp
“The most important thing about that group, which was together for a solid seven years, was that we weren’t all necessarily socially compatible. But we were all committed to that music. We enjoyed playing together so much that we were actually breaking the curfew during the riots to go back-and-forth to Ann Arbor to play at the town bar. We were running the risk of being shot or incarcerated just so we could play together.” – Fat Beats
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Label: 180 Proof Records – OEP1008 |
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Format: Vinyl, LP, Album |
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Country: US |
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Released: 2020 |
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Genre: Jazz |
$48.00
Roughly translating to "dinner is ready," the double-LP was recorded with Yellow Magic Orchestra and originally coproduced with Ryuichi Sakamoto across Tokyo and Los Angeles. The 14-track album showcases Yano's move away from her pop and jazz funk origins towards a synth pop sound. Akiko Yano is a Japanese pop and jazz musician and a longtime YMO affiliate. This reissue follows two Yano albums rereleased on Wewantsounds this year, Japanese Girl and Iroha Ni Kompeito. – Resident Advisor
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Label: Wewantsounds – WWSLP32 |
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Format: 2 × Vinyl, LP, Deluxe Edition, Reissue, Remastered |
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Country: France |
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Released: 24 Jan 2020 |
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Genre: Electronic |
$48.00
José James spent a decade reshaping jazz with the genre-blurring verve of a crate-digging beat guru, before becoming a solo R&B star. The last couple years he lived in Bill Withers' shoes - recording and touring his legendary songbook for the Lean On Me project. Now, the satin-voiced songwriter's latest is No Beginning No End 2, a sequel to his 2013 album that resurrects the bold eclecticism audiences first fell in love with. After the Bill Withers tour, James recalls: "I wrote a thing on Instagram saying I was thinking about No Beginning No End 2 and people went insane. They wrote thousands of comments about how the first one changed their life. I don't sit around and think 'my work is so important' so that was kinda nice."
Things are a little different this time around. For one, while the prequel was James' Blue Note debut, this is his first set of new music for his own label/collective Rainbow Blonde Records. Secondly, the album is full of collaborators who are auteurs in their own right: Laura Mvula, Aloe Blacc, Ledisi, Lizz Wright, Erik Truffaz, and Hindi Zahra, to name a few. Thirdly, with the backing of a wildly talented band held down by rhythm sections in Los Angeles and Brooklyn (befitting Rainbow Blonde's bicoastal status), the songs are warmer and more defined than ever. – Broadway World
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Label: Rainbow Blonde – BLONDE022V |
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Format: 2 × Vinyl, LP, Album, Gatefold |
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Country: Europe |
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Released: 06 Mar 2020 |
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Genre: Funk / Soul |
$39.00
Man Alive! is the fourth studio album by English singer-songwriter Archy Marshall, and his third album under the stage name King Krule. The album was released on 21 February 2020 through True Panther Sounds, XL Recordings, and Matador Records. – Wiki
Man Alive! is arranged like a harrowing trek out of a hectic locale. Up front, there are coarse, pithy tunes about disorder at home and abroad. “Cellular” addresses the disorienting experience of being plugged into world news but unable to do anything about it. “There’s a massacre / Across the ocean / I can see it in the palm of my hands,” Krule sings. Ignoring the nightly news doesn’t bring peace: “I left her dying / She was still crying / And now she’s lying in my head.” “Supermarché” speaks of blood, battlefields, and child soldiers; “Comet Face” is a gauntlet of late-night encounters with partiers, drinks, and drugs. The lyrics paint abstract, discomfiting scenes. The music zips between post-punk and sludge. When I endeavor to call the growling “Stoned Again” a grunge song, Marshall details the ups and downs in his relationship with the electric guitar, which he’s played for 17 of his 25 years on Earth. “As an instrument, it got me money, it got me love, and it got me hatred.” Where guitars gave 6 Feet its breezy, psychedelic feel and played the field on The Ooz, beefing up atmospherics rather than taking center stage, they’re out front for Man Alive!, giving “Alone, Omen 3” its laconic slacker-rock mood and “Comet Face” its punk-rock edge. The Vulture
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Label: XL Recordings – XL 1009LP |
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Format: Vinyl, LP, Album |
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Country: Europe |
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Released: 2020 |
$70.00
Recorded in 1958, Minor Move was Tina Brooks’ very first recording, though it wasn’t released until 1980, 6 years after his tragic death at the age of 42. In fact, Brooks’ 1960 classic True Blue was the saxophonist’s only album released during his all-too-short lifetime. Once all 4 of Brooks’ Blue Note albums were released his status as one of the most innovative tenor saxophone stylists in jazz has become clear. As Larry Kart notes in the album liners, Brooks’ sound, with its prayerful, airy and speech-like tone, sets him apart. “Brooks was one of those musicians for whom feeling and sound were one.” On this set featuring 2 Brooks originals and 3 standards, the saxophonist is joined by a veritable who’s who of hard bop royalty with Lee Morgan on trumpet, Sonny Clark on piano, Doug Watkins on bass, and Art Blakey on drums. – Blue Note
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Label: Blue Note – B0030487-01
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Series: Blue Note Tone Poet Series –
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Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, Stereo, 180g, Gatefold
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Country: US
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Released: 25 Oct 2019
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Genre: Jazz
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Style: Hard Bop
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$70.00
Stanley Turrentine is at his blues-drenched best on Comin’ Your Way. This session from 1961 features the magnificent rhythm section of Horace Parlan on piano, George Trucker on bass and Al Harewood on drums, better known as the Horace Parlan Trio. Also featured is Tommy Turrentine (Stanley’s brother) on trumpet, who contributed the tune “Thomasville” on this set, showing his strong Fats Navarro influence. This quintet was at the peak of their collective power at this time, with this same group also making the classic Blue Note Horace Parlan records, Speakin’ My Piece and On the Spur of the Moment. Comin’ Your Way completes this magical hard-bop trilogy! – Blue Note
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Label: Blue Note – B0030598-01, Blue Note – 84065, Blue Note – ST-84065, Blue Note – BST-84065 |
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Series: Blue Note Tone Poet Series – |
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Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, Remastered, Stereo, 180g, Gatefold |
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Country: US |
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Released: 28 Feb 2020 |
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Genre: Jazz |
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Style: Bop |
$70.00
Grant Green’s 1962 album Born To Be Blue featuring Ike Quebec is often thought of as the sister album to Quebec’s classic Blue and Sentimental, which was recorded for Blue Note just 3 months prior and also showcased the deep chemistry between the soulful guitarist and tenor saxophonist. Quebec’s deep, soul-drenched tenor sound matches beautifully with hard bop masters Green and pianist Sonny Clark, along with the tried-and-true rhythm section team of Sam Jones and Louis Hayes on this sublime set of standards. – Blue Note
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Label: Blue Note – BST 84432, Blue Note – 84432, Blue Note – B0030486-01 |
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Series: Blue Note Tone Poet Series – |
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Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, Stereo, 180 Gram, Gatefold |
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Country: US |
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Released: 25 Oct 2019 |
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Genre: Jazz |
$70.00
Hank Mobley was famously called the “middleweight champion of the tenor saxophone” with a round sound and an incredible rhythmic lightness on his feet that won the admiration of legions of tenor saxophone players. This remarkable session from 1957 somehow was left on the shelf in the rush of Blue Note releases that year. With an incredible cast of bop giants: Art Farmer on trumpet, Pepper Adams on baritone saxophone, Sonny Clark on piano, and the incredible rhythm team of Paul Chambers on bass and Philly Joe Jones on drums. Mobley’s “East of Brooklyn” on this date is a masterpiece of lyrical construction and just one of the albums many highlights. – Blue Note
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Label: Blue Note – B0030597-01 |
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Series: Blue Note Tone Poet Series – |
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Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, Stereo, 180g, Gatefold |
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Country: US |
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Released: 28 Feb 2020 |
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Genre: Jazz |
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Style: Hard Bop |
$70.00
Grant Green’s Nigeria is an under-recognized gem in the guitarist’s remarkable Blue Note catalog. Recorded in 1962, but not first released until 1980, the album features a top-shelf band with Sonny Clark on piano, Sam Jones on bass, and, in one of his only appearances with Green, Art Blakey on drums. The groove is deep and wide right from the start on the Sonny Rollins classic “Airegin” followed by a version of the Gershwin standard “It Ain’t Necessarily So” for the ages with Blakey stoking the fire with his powerhouse drumming and verbal shouts. Side B presents timeless renditions of 3 more standards: “I Concentrate On You,” “The Things We Did Last Summer,” and “The Song Is You.” – Blue Note
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Series: Blue Note Tone Poet Series – |
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Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, 180g, Gatefold |
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Country: US |
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Released: 28 Feb 2020 |
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Genre: Jazz |
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Style: Hard Bop |
$30.00
From local imprint Darker Than Wax, reaching out worldwide!
Nomad’s Land is essentially an honest reflection of the artist’s life experiences - inspired by people, relationships, psychedelic experiences, and human existence. The album also represents Dominic’s first outing as a vocalist, bouncing between soulful singing, spoken word, and freestyle rap. This vocal element is crucial to the album’s impact, adding a layer of heart and truth to these deeply personal compositions.
Deep diversity can be found throughout the record, from the sino-grime inflected Time Unremembered, to the lush piano-trio vibes on Feeling, to the glitchy breakbeat jazz hybridity of DMT. Yet despite these seemingly disparate shades, Nomad’s Land is a singular statement and front-to-back listening experience, unified by beautiful production and grounded in raw musicality.
With early support from Alex Barck (Jazzanova), Soul Clap, Simbad, Ennio Styles, and Jad & The (Beats of No Nation) – Darker Than Wax
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Label: Darker Than Wax – DTW056 |
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Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Stereo |
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Country: Singapore |
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Released: 13 Mar 2020 |
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Genre: Electronic, Jazz |
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Style: Future Jazz |
$80.00
TAV ESSENTIAL LISTENING
Modal Soul is the second full-length album by Japanese hip-hop artist Nujabes, released on November 11, 2005, on Nujabes' own record label Hydeout Productions. Like its predecessor, Metaphorical Music, Modal Soul fuses jazzy, smooth rhythms and hip hop. The album features artists Cise Starr (of CYNE), Akin, Terry Callier, Shing02, Substantial, Pase Rock, Apani B and Uyama Hiroto. It was the final studio album released during Nujabes' lifetime; his third and final one, Spiritual State, wouldn't be released until nearly two years after his death. - Wiki
Within Seba's recipe exists all of the essential factors needed to be granted printing space in the book. He not only equips himself with jazzy instrumentals, but also with intelligent lyricists who are capable of gliding atop of them. Nujabes' reluctance to produce a track which isn't seemingly passionate or authentic, gives Modal Soul a flavor never encountered before.
The taste is bold, distinguishable, and unlike many other flavors, all of the elements are seamlessly blended. He meshes hip-hop rhythms with jazz samples from the likes of Miles Davis and Yusef Lateef. Background pianos and parts of saxophone solos are all incorporated. Although the sampled jazz artists are high profiled, the featured underground hip-hop acts are also an important spice to the dish. – Sputnik Music
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Label: Hydeout Productions – HOLP-004 |
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Format: 2 × Vinyl, LP, Album |
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Country: Japan |
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Released: 26 Feb 2020 |
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Genre: Electronic, Hip Hop, Jazz |
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Style: Jazzy Hip-Hop, Downtempo, Cool Jazz |
$39.00
Monolith of Phobos is the debut studio album by The Claypool Lennon Delirium consisting of American multi-instrumentalists Sean Lennon and Primus' Les Claypool, released on 3 June 2016 - Wiki
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Label: ATO Records – ATO0308, Prawn Song – ATO0308, Chimera Music – ATO0308 |
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Format: 2 × Vinyl, LP, Album, Gold |
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Country: US |
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Released: 03 Jun 2016 |
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Genre: Rock |
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Style: Psychedelic Rock, Indie Rock |
$39.00
Just when it seems the shadow of The Beatles can't get any longer and everything in rock has been done before, along come Sean Lennon and Les Claypool, asking the musical question: What if, instead of ducking The Beatles, you embraced the band's tricks — the galumphing marches, the sun-dazed harmonies — and then made them a little weird?
South of Reality is the second album by the duo, who perform as The Claypool Lennon Delirium. As the bassist and chief prankster of Primus, Claypool has always been a bit of a mad scientist, pushing his gawky, tottering funk-metal creations to the brink of absurdity. But he's also a secret pop fan, who says he's spent 30 years trying, with mixed results, to write catchy hooks. In Sean Lennon (famous son of John), Claypool has a collaborator with an instantly recognizable voice, for whom this kind of candy comes naturally. - NPR
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Label: ATO Records – ATO 0445, Prawn Song – ATO 0445, Chimera Music – ATO 0445 |
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Format: 2 × Vinyl, LP, Album, Pink + Purple Split with Blue Splatter |
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Country: US |
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Released: 15 Feb 2019 |
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Genre: Rock |
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Style: Indie Rock, Psychedelic Rock, Art Rock |
Staying home this week? We've got you covered! Here are 5 great records to put on if you're spending lots of time at home. We've selected different music for different situations - facilitating Conversation, Rest, Cooking, Exploration and Reflection. Have a read and a listen below! You can click on the title or the album art to purchase the LP right here on our online store.
Top 5 essential LPs currently at the Vault in the month of January 2020. For this round, we will be highlighting records only from Latin America!
