#14 in our mix series is brought to you by none other than Sadat! He's 1/4 of the celebrated Afrodesia crew and an absolute joy to be around. Straight up infectious vibes on this mix from start to finish, so give it a listen if smiling is something you enjoy doing! Read on for the interview + tracklist. 
AV013 is one for the hip hop & jazz heads! TAV Alumni Matt Sekiya [@magneticmza] delivers a lovely jazz-focused mix for our series. A great blend from the man who used to work right here at the vault, Matt takes us through some delicious rare groove, soul jazz and hip hop for a steady hour. Press play to catch the vibe!
George makes his special come back on modular synth inspired by the writings of Paul Virilio, the figure of Liu Bai Yuan in Wuxia films along with the global information war we are experiencing.
Through our many musical interactions at the vault, he has personally taught us to seek the meditative qualities in all sorts of music through our short but sweet listen-ing sessions together. Luckily for us, we now have the opportunity to go deeper with George and pick at his approach - a detached, but informed practice with the foreign but familiar.
Couldn't ask for a better person to revive our mix series! Radio presenter [@intotheblue-bfm] and label head [@botanicrecords] Tim Sharp delivers a lovely hour through his personal stash for AV012 - an all analog affair, an ode to digging and discovery. Lock in & press play! Recommended timing: right before the sun goes down.
$39.00
In nearly any appreciation of Stevie Wonder’s profound run of music, Secret Life of Plants serves as a page break, a bookend, the arid valley after the vertiginous peak of the beloved Songs in the Key of Life. In almost every assessment, it marks the end of the greatest run in pop music history. “If Alexander wept when there were no more worlds left to conquer,” critic Jack Hamilton said when Slate ran their “Wonder Week” feature, “Stevie happily composed 90 minutes of largely instrumental music for the soundtrack to a documentary about botany.”
Favoring slowness as well as quicksilver mood shifts, spare balladry and additive composition, acoustic guitars and two $40,000 Yamaha GX-1 synthesizers, whimsical experimentation and near invisible incremental movement, an album with six credits for “special programming of synthesizer” and Wonder with almost all other instrumentation, it’s a flummoxing and charming album wherein Wonder sings about seeds, leaves, and ecology as he himself embodies the traits of his botanical muse. The best insight into Plants may lie in the original Times review, where, in the midst of meditating on self-indulgence and Wonder’s sentimental mysticism, John Rockwell notes: “He has also managed to make an album that in its own idiosyncratic way may seem an oasis of peace and calm amid the bustle of the rest of the pop-music business.” – Pitchfork
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Label: Motown – B0028292-01 |
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Format: 2 × Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue |
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Country: US |
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Released: 07 Sep 2018 |
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Genre: Funk / Soul |
$45.00
On March 2018, Tim Linghaus has released his first album “Memory Sketches” from Schole Records, which he expressed his childhood memories with some heartwarming noise and piano sound. Then this will be his second album.
This new album titled “We Were Young When You Left Home”, the music expresses about the childhood emotions whom went through an experience of parental divorce. This brilliant sound structured with piano-dominated compositions with noise sound to express the texture which gives more depth into music, then overlays with synthesizers and a gentle voice as it if telling a story.
Artwork beautifully represents the world view of this album is done by Alexander Hanke, the nostalgic printing production by Shin Kikuchi from Schole Label, from this collaboration work has produced a wonderful package design as previous album. Product release format will be on vinyl record only, and hope the listeners will enjoy the record design as well. – Bandcamp
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Label: Schole Inc. – 4571256415062 |
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Format: Vinyl, 12", Album |
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Released: 22 Nov 2019 |
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Genre: Electronic, Classical, Folk, World, & Country |
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Style: Ambient, Classical, Folk |
$48.00
With our eyes firmly fixed on the far horizon we want the new. We want what’s next. We not only want the new, we demand it. We’ve boiled our lives down to frantically seeking out what’s the latest, what’s right around the next corner that we can grasp onto before discarding it by the wayside for the next thing, the latest stuff, the hottest new trend just beyond our reach. I bet there are more than a few out there who can barely tolerate leftovers from last night’s dinner.
I’m here to remind you that there are some things worth revisiting. I’m not talking about some somber commemorations of old disasters or old political scandals or the hairstyles of your youth. I am, of course, referring to a collection of songs, and not just any collection, but a powerhouse recording by the father of desert blues Ali Farka Toure and the recording The Source.
Originally put out in 1992 and the first recording for the Malian guitarist with his band Group Asco, The Source wasn’t Mr. Toure’s merry-go-round or his first recording. Recordings on Sonafric like Ali Toure Farka and Biennale and the Sonodisc/Esperance recordings Ali Farka Toure (Red) and Ali Farka Toure (Green) appeared before The Source. It was following the release of The River on the label World Circuit, where The Source bubbles up from the earth and Mr. Toure takes listeners on musical landscapes like Talking Timbuktu with Ry Cooder, Niafunke, Mississippi to Mali with Corey Harris, In the Heart of the Moon with Toumani Diabate and Ry Cooder, Savane and Ali and Toumani. Mr. Toure showed us The Source and we all listened.
As luck would have it, World Circuit has just announced the release of a special edition of The Source. Re-mixed, remastered from the original tapes, The Source is now out for the first time on vinyl with a 28-page color booklet. This is the kind of re-issue you all want. This is where going back is all just so very fine. – World Music Central
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Label: World Circuit – WCV030 |
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Format: 2 × Vinyl, LP, Special Edition |
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Country: Europe |
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Released: 21 Jul 2017 |
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Genre: Blues, Folk, World, & Country |
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Style: African |
$48.00
Active as a professional DJ in Japan since the late eighties, DJ Yoshizawa Dynamite is also a renowned remixer, compiler and producer. An avid record collector and an expert of the Wamono style, Yoshizawa published the Wamono A to Z records guide book in 2015 which instantly sold-out. The book unveiled a myriad of beautiful and rare records from a highly prolific, but still then unknown, Japanese groove scene.
After many years working as a record buyer for several stores, DJ Chintam opened his own Blow Up shop in 2018 in Tokyo’s Shibuya district. A member of the Dayjam Crew and a specialist of soul, funk, rare groove and disco music, Chintam is also an expert of the home-brewed Wamono grooves. He supervised and wrote the Wamono A to Z records guide book together with Yoshizawa.
With this first volume of the Wamono series, our two DJs here guide you through some of the best and rarest jazz funk and rare groove tunes produced in Japan between 1968 and 1980. Put the needle on the record, turn up the volume and dig right now into the Wamono sound - the cream of the Japanese funk, soul, rare groove and disco music developed throughout the years since the end of the sixties in Japan! - Bandcamp
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Label: 180g – 180GWALP01 |
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Format: Vinyl, LP, Compilation, 180g |
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Country: France |
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Released: 11 Sep 2020 |
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Genre: Jazz, Funk / Soul |
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Style: Jazz-Funk, Soul-Jazz |
$45.00
Bristolian collective, Worm Disco Club are proud to present their label Worm Discs, the collective recruit some of Bristol’s most notable
emerging talent for an exploration into the new wave of Jazz emanating from the city. Featuring Waldo’s Gift, Snazzback, Run Logan Run (Montreux Jazz Talent Award winners), Ishmael Ensemble, China Bowls, BaDaBooM!, Lyrebird and Alun Elliott-Williams, 'New Horizons' channels the seismic energy of the sonically rich landscape into 11 progressive, psychedelic, impeccably crafted tracks.
The Worm Discs team explain: “The idea for this record began back in 2019. We had been curating parties in Bristol featuring jazz acts from around the UK for several years and had just hosted 'The Wormhole' at Glastonbury Festival, featuring an all-star line-up from the scene. Having always felt that Bristol’s exciting jazz scene deserved to be heard, the idea for a label was born. We wanted to showcase some individual creativity and open up a space to try something different.” - Bandcamp
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Label: Worm Discs – WDSCS 001 |
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Format: Vinyl, LP, Compilation, Stereo |
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Country: UK |
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Released: 04 Sep 2020 |
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Genre: Jazz |
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Style: Contemporary Jazz |
$39.00
Issued on Cadet in 1970, The Rubaiyat of Dorothy Ashby is really a left-field offering for the jazz harpist. But being a jazz harpist was -- and remains -- an outside thing in the tradition. Her previous offerings on Prestige were pure, hard bop jazz with serious session players soloing all over them. She made recordings for Atlantic and Jazzland before landing at Chess in 1968 with Afro-Harping which began her partnership with arranger Richard Evans. Ashby became content as an iconoclast and was seemingly moving forward toward the deep well of spiritual jazz in the aftermath of John Coltrane's death and the recordings of Pharoah Sanders and Alice Coltrane. On this set for Cadet, she again teams with Evans who wears the hats of producer, arranger, and conductor of a string section and the record goes in a somewhat different direction. Whereas Afro-Harping hit on a direction for Ashby and cemented her relationship with Evans, Rubaiyat realizes that partnership in total. With a band that included a host of percussion instruments -- Stu Katz played vibes and kalimba, and Fred Katz played a second kalimba, Cash McCall was enlisted as guitarist, Cliff Davis played alto saxophone, and Lenny Druss played flute, oboe, bass flute, and piccolo. There is also a bass player and a drummer but they are not credited. For her part, Ashby played her harp, but she also brought the Japanese koto into the mix as well as her voice. Rubaiyat is no ordinary jazz vocal album. It is exotic, mysterious, laid-back, and full of gentle grooves and soul. All Music
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Label: Cadet – LPS-841 |
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Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue |
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Country: US |
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Released: 2006 |
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Genre: Jazz |
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Style: Soul-Jazz, Easy Listening |
$48.00
Mr Bongo
Tadao Sawai, Kazue Sawai, Takeshi Inomata, Norio Maeda, Hozan Yamamoto – Jazz Rock
$48.00
Originally released in 1973, the record sounds simultaneously vintage and contemporary. It is akin to something Madlib might dream up whilst lost in Japan collaborating with Min'yō players at a recording session. The record features some amazing shakuhachi (bamboo flute) playing by Hozan Yamamoto, which gives the music a haunting, dreamlike atmosphere. You can almost visualise the long grass blowing in the wind, and hear the bamboo rustling in the distance on a long hot summer’s day. Takeshi Inomata, Tadao Sawai and Kazue Sawai anchor the session. Takeshi’s exceptionally funky-drum work will almost certainly get some producers dusting off and firing up their MPC's. Whilst Kazue and Tadao work their magic on the koto (a traditional string instrument).
Though certainly not an ambient record, 'Jazz-Rock' has the same meditative, other-worldly quality that invites you to sit back, listen and be transported somewhere else. Unfortunately, until now the 'Jazz Rock' album is a scarcity that commanded a high price-tag only for the most hardened of record collectors. So it is pleasure to make it accessible to all, and we hope you dig this lost, obscure future-classic as much as we do. – Mr Bongo
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Label: Mr Bongo – MRBLP-204 |
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Format: Vinyl, LP, Limited Edition, Reissue, Stereo, Gatefold |
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Country: UK |
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Released: 17 Jul 2020 |
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Genre: Jazz, Folk, World, & Country |
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Style: Min'yō, Jazz-Rock |
$35.00
Singapore ‘90s electronic music pioneer makis his extraordinary comeback on modular synth, a bold piece of electronic music with a no-wave sensibility. It is filled with abstract beats, eclectic samples and blistering noise – not exactly dance music, not quite modern composition, but a fog of post-techno spiritual intensity that leaves one breathless and craving for more.
Recorded by Evan Tan (former Opposition Party, The Observatory). Mastered by Daniele Antezza @ Dadub Studio.
LP comes in a deluxe spot UV cover with artwork designed by Sant Ruengjaruwatana.
George Chua is an artist based in Singapore, active since the late ’90s. As an instigator and explorer of the psychedelic potential of sound, he has no interest in developing a singular style. Contemplative prayer and uncompromising music is his path.
View the "Neo Punggol" MV at vimeo.com/445423525
credits
Modular Synths: George Chua
Executive Producer: Mark Wong
Recorded by Evan Tan
Mastered by Daniele Antezza @ Dadub Studio
Artwork by Sant Ruengjaruwatana
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Label: Ujikaji Records – UJI-013LP |
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Format: Vinyl, LP |
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Country: Singapore |
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Released: 16 Sep 2020 |
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Genre: Electronic |
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Style: Abstract, Experimental, Noise |
$45.00
The poignant songs on Love Letters document a time of profound flux for Anoushka – health issues, heartbreak, domestic upheaval – and show a new, vulnerable and raw side of her as a songwriter and musician. “These were difficult times, which pushed me into some very vulnerable places,” explained Anoushka. “I’ve written from a personal place before, of course, but there was something particularly tender about the process this time, and it was a creative challenge to be brave enough to allow the music to remain as raw as it began.”
Writing and recording Love Letters was cathartic for Anoushka Shankar – a “gentle, organic process” that saw her collaborating almost exclusively with female peers. During the toughest parts of that 2018-2019 period, Shankar found the practical and emotional support that her friends, fellow artists and performers offered became, quite naturally, artistic in nature.
A rotating cast of vocalists, musicians and producers would turn up for emotional support and talks that evolved into song-writing sessions. Anoushka noted, “I really got to experience the way women show up for each other when crisis strikes. There was this sweetness; I felt very held throughout this process, and that’s really where the music came from – the shared experience of women, holding my hand and helping me find a safe place to put some of my feelings.”
A host of trail-blazing women feature on Love Letters including the principal collaborator Alev Lenz, twin sister vocal duo Ibeyi, singer and cellist Ayanna Witter-Johnson, renowned Indian singer Shilpa Rao, Brooklyn-based mastering engineer Heba Kadry (Björk, Slowdive) and British audio mastering engineer Mandy Parnell (Aphex Twin, The XX). – Udiscover Music
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Label: Mercury KX – 085 1615 |
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Format: Vinyl, LP, Mini-Album, Limited Edition, RSD2020 |
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Country: Europe |
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Released: 07 Feb 2020 |
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Genre: Folk, World, & Country |
$48.00
"It was a dark day for jazz in early 1998 when a fatal heart attack cut down 70-year-old pianist Walter Bishop, Jr. He had been one of the premier pianists in jazz for several decades, as his many colleagues knew so well. But Bishop was often overlooked by the jazz public and press in his lifetime, and, in the years since his demise, his music continues to be neglected."
"One hopes the reappearance of Coral Keys will generate wide interest. The songs on Coral Keys are decisive and radiant, thankfully free of the indulgences marring many jazz records issued in the early 1970s. The title-track finds flutist Vick catching a melodic light tropical breeze before and after a moderately ebullient solo by sure-fingered Bishop. On 'Waltz for Zweetie,' a close cousin of John Coltrane's 'My Favorite Things,' Vick's soprano conjures a lyric poetry that brings to mind Coltrane; here Bishop plays his heart out rather quietly. Highlighting 'Track Down' is Bishop's deployment of his formidable technique in the service of his active imagination." --Frank-John Hadley, Downbeat. Personnel: Walter Bishop, Jr. (piano), Idris Muhammed (drums), Reggie Johnson (bass), Harold Vick (flute & soprano), Alan Schwartz Benger (drums), Woody Shaw (trumpet). – Forced Exposure
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Label: Black Jazz Records – BJ/2, Real Gone Music – RGM-1078 |
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Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, Stereo |
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Country: US |
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Released: 2020 |
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Genre: Jazz |
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Style: Post Bop, Modal, Hard Bop |
$48.00
Recorded in 1963, The Kicker was actually vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson’s first session as a leader for Blue Note, but for reasons lost to time it was shelved, and instead Hutcherson’s album Dialogue was released as his debut two years later. First released in 1999, The Kicker is a sequel to guitarist Grant Green’s masterpiece Idle Moments, which was recorded one month earlier with the exact same personnel featuring Green, tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson, pianist Duke Pearson, bassist Bob Cranshaw, and drummer Al Harewood. – Blue Note
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Label: Blue Note – B0031654-01, Blue Note – BST 21437, Blue Note – ST-21437, Blue Note – 21437 |
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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 Aug 2020 |
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Genre: Jazz |
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Style: Hard Bop, Post Bop |
$38.00
This 1980 album from Venezuela shows the typical trademarks of its creator Daniel Grau. Spaced-out disco grooves, this time even with some nifty female vocals aspirated gently upon the lightfooted waves of synthesizer melodies and pulsating rhythms. An exception is the second track „Con en cielo en tus ojos“ which is a lush and utterly relaxed floating Latin pop number with a repetitive vocal line breathing an atmosphere of peace. It is one of these positive tunes that make you feel at ease with everything in this world. There is definitely more color on this album than expected from listening to the „Disco fantasy“ record which in fact was a strong piece already. No wonder that this long out of print gem fetches prices up to 200 Euros among collectors. If you are a fan of what Donna Summer released during the same period of time and love this silky yet vivid feel of the steady pulse the rhythms offer, than you'll have to grab a copy of this beautiful reissue. This is one of these albums that should have been legendary among the dancing public in the clubs by the time of its release peppered with memorable tunes that even work well 36 years and a massive development in popular music later. Let's look behind the surface and dig out the real jewels of this genre! – Bandcamp
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Label: Oom Dooby Dochas – DOO16002LP |
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Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue |
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Country: Europe |
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Released: 25 Jul 2016 |
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Genre: Electronic, Funk / Soul |
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Style: Disco |
$60.00
Originally released on Parrish’s own Sound Signature imprint in 2000 Parallel Dimensions was the release which lit the ignition under Theo’s ascent from Detroit’s basements to dance music’s top table. Although he’d already made a name for himself with a smattering of ear catching 12s on KDJ, Elevate and Sound Signature, his debut LP, the uncompromising First Floor, was a work of flawed genius. Occasionally brilliant, and certainly not wanting for ideas or talent, the album lacked a clear narrative and was at times confused. Theo needed to come up with an extended statement of artistic intent, and Parallel Dimensions was just that. First Floor had introduced a niche house music audience to his unique style of whomping lows and hissing highs (most noticeably on the brilliantly rough ‘JB’s Edit’) but Parallel Dimensions saw the producer hone his technique, and more importantly his skills as an arranger, to take things to the next level.
As soon as the slinky percussion loop of opener ‘Serengeti Echoes’ is courted by that subby kick our journey into the heart of Theo’s psychedelic soul begins. Over the course of the next twelve minutes of expansive sound, Parrish layers African chant, circular basslines and heart-wrenching strings into a deeply hypnotic groove that always stays fresh and dynamic despite the track’s formidable length. The success of ‘Serengeti Echoes’ owes as much to Parrish’s mastery of arrangement as it does the beauty and simplicity of the component parts, and it’s this killer combination which comes to the fore throughout the LP. – Vinyl Factory
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Label: Sound Signature – SSPD1 |
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Format: 2 × Vinyl, 12", Album, Reissue |
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Country: US |
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Released: 07 Mar 2017 |
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Genre: Electronic, Funk / Soul |
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Style: House, Deep House |
$45.00
Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso U.F.O. are known for way-far-out space rock. ‘Wandering The Outer Space’ is no exception. Acid Mothers Temples ‘Wandering The Outer Space’ is a sonic liquid light kaleidoscope swirling and fusing rock, jazz, drone, chanting, and electronic music with heavy psychedelic influence. It is not accurate to refer to this music by any of the generic terms listed above. Acid Mothers Temple creates a new sound that is distinctively Acid Mothers Temple. They slip between the cracks of conventional harmony and musical structure, intentionally warping any familiar sound. The opening track ‘Anthem Of The Outer Space’ traverses a dynamic and broad sonic territory it covers traditional bouzouki, blow-out guitars, mantric chanting, comic-ambient drone, and ends with a surprise pop vocal melody. ‘Forsaken Moonman’ is traditional Acid Mothers Temple with a slow build to whaling intergalactic noise-guitar solos, high-frequency synth and fast rhythms echoing across the threshold of space-time.
Acid Mothers Temple has a long winding history beginning in the 1990s with many variations such as Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso U.F.O, Acid Mothers Guru Guru, Acid Mother Temple SWR, and many more. The one constant is the visionary guitarist, producer, master of sound, Makoto Kawabata. Kawabata says the music he creates is based on recreating extraterrestrial signals. The entire aesthetic has always revolved around U.F.O.s and communication with the universe, making them true space rockers.–The Psych Rock
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Label: Buh Records – BR86 |
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Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Limited Edition, Reissue |
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Country: Peru |
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Released: 25 Jan 2019 |
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Genre: Electronic, Rock |
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Style: Space Rock, Psychedelic Rock |
$48.00
Verve Records / Impulse!
Diana Krall – All For You (A Dedication To The Nat King Cole Trio)
$48.00
Pianist/vocalist Diana Krall pays tribute to the Nat King Cole Trio on her Impulse! set. In general, the medium and up-tempo tunes work best, particularly such hot ditties as "I'm an Errand Girl for Rhythm," "Frim Fram Sauce," and "Hit That Jive Jack." Krall does not attempt to directly copy Cole much (either pianistically or vocally), although his influence is obviously felt on some of the songs. The slow ballads are actually as reminiscent of Shirley Horn as Cole, particularly the somber "I'm Through With Love" and "If I Had You." Guitarist Russell Malone gets some solo space on many of the songs and joins in on the group vocal of "Hit That Jive Jack," although it is surprising that he had no other opportunities to interact vocally with Krall; a duet could have been delightful. Bassist Paul Keller is fine in support, pianist Benny Green backs Krall's vocal on "If I Had You," and percussionist Steve Kroon is added on one song. Overall, this is a tasteful effort that succeeds. – All Music
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Label: Verve Records – 602547376510, Impulse! – 602547376510 |
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Format: 2 × Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, 180g |
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Country: UK, Europe & US |
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Released: 15 Jul 2016 |
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Genre: Jazz |
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Style: Contemporary Jazz |
$45.00
Capitol/UMe’s celebration of the great entertainer Nat King Cole’s centennial year, with the direct participation of his estate, will begin with the 15 March of two new compilations by Cole. On the same day, an expanded edition of Marvin Gaye’s tribute album to the storied singer will be available. All three releases are part of the array of special events, projects and programmes that will mark the 100th anniversary of Cole’s birth on 17 March 1919 in Montgomery, Alabama.
Ultimate Nat King Cole will be released on CD and digital formats, with a 2LP vinyl edition to follow on 14 June. The collection includes such signature hits as ‘Unforgettable,’ ‘Mona Lisa,’ ‘Straighten Up And Fly Right,’ ‘L-O-V-E,’ ‘The Very Thought Of You,’ ‘Stardust’ and ‘Nature Boy.’ – Udiscover
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Label: Capitol Records – 00602577335556 |
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Format: 2 × Vinyl, LP, Compilation, Stereo, Mono |
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Country: Europe |
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Released: 13 Jun 2019 |
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Genre: Jazz, Pop |
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Style: Vocal, Swing |
$45.00
Erased Tapes Records
The Art Ensemble Of Chicago – We Are On The Edge (A 50th Anniversary Celebration)
$45.00
Iconic, innovative and internationally renowned force in avant-garde music The Art Ensemble of Chicago released their 50th anniversary celebratory album We Are On The Edge in April, and Erased Tapes are honoured to announce the vinyl edition of this exceptional body of work. – Bandcamp
The Art Ensemble of Chicago has been at the forefront of creative improvised music since 1969, and has long served as the flagship ensemble of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM), the august Chicago-based organization that also fostered the careers of members such as Muhal Richard Abrams, Anthony Braxton, Henry Threadgill, and Wadada Leo Smith, among many others. The greatness of the Art Ensemble has always been the shared commitment of its original members – Roscoe Mitchell, Lester Bowie, Joseph Jarman, Malachi Favors, and Famoudou Don Moye – to the total realm of African diasporic music: what they have long-termed “Great Black Music—Ancient to the Future.” Also important are the group’s disparate musical and artistic personalities, comprised of jazz, advanced compositional techniques, theatrical performance, poetry, Pan-African percussion, all tied together with improvisational flair and the exploration of pure sound. – Bandcamp
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Label: Erased Tapes Records – ERATP123LP |
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Format: 2 × Vinyl, LP, Album, Gatefold |
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Country: UK |
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Released: 09 Aug 2019 |
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Genre: Jazz |
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Style: Free Jazz, Contemporary Jazz |
$39.00
Imagine Plantasia was an animated film narrated by Jacque Cousteau and the musical score reminds you of your favourite library record. “Ambitus Of Beauty” invites you on yet another beautiful and timeless full-length journey through various magic moments, scenes and soundscapes by Natureboy Flako. You will be floating on a vast stream of memories, ideas, thoughts, wishes and feelings translated into sound while your mind starts dancing gracefully and is likely to drift into nothing and everything at the same time. Carefully crafted with a great sense of oneness, this album is offering a mind travel to focus and re-calibrate. Music Heals! – Bandcamp
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Label: Materialized Moments – HHV849, HHV – HHV849 |
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Format: Vinyl, LP, Album |
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Country: Europe |
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Released: 15 May 2020 |
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Genre: Electronic |
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Style: Experimental, Ambient |
$39.00
Alva Noto returns with the fourth volume of his Xerrox series of albums. For the first single, ‘Xerrox Voyage’, Noto has enlisted the filmmaking talents of Simon Mayer. Manipulating footage of the earth taken by NASA at the international space station, the meditative video speaks to the wider themes of the album, which Noto envisioned as the soundtrack to an imaginary film.
“It is certainly a good time to question all norms and reassess values. I hope that we will emerge from this crisis in a different way, with more solidarity, and the certainty that we are all on the ‘same boat’ – or as Buckminster Fuller described it, on the ‘Spaceship EARTH’.” – Fact Magazine
There’s a certain muteness to most ambient music that eludes criticism, made wordlessly, unlikely to illicit verbal or written response. In the context of listening to — and indeed writing about — Xerrox Vol. 4, the fourth instalment of a planned five in Carsten Nicolai aka Alva Noto’s Xerrox series, in which the German composer undertakes a decade-plus long (on-going since 2007) investigation into manipulating familiar audio fragments into alien monoliths of sound, elusive sleight of hand is built-in to its purpose. This central impetus is everything we’re moored to, the sole clue we have in breaking the puzzle wide open.
The design of these fourteen pieces are marvels in themselves — intricately arranged for what is ostensibly an array of experiments — and more so without knowing how they’re made, or even how many intersecting textures fill the space at any one time. Gusts of wind buffet against the the stone-still route notes of ‘Xerrox Kirlian’, heavy droplets melt from unseen icicles on ‘Xerrox Plongée’. But Alva Noto isn’t at all concerned about revealing the blueprints to his synthetic-natural world. Xerrox Vol. 4 fittingly evokes flux because itself feels like one, piano phrases extant yet ghostly, every drone spreading until it becomes the air you breathe. – Loud and Quiet
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Label: Noton – N-049 |
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Format: 2 × Vinyl, 12", Album |
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Country: Germany |
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Released: 19 Jun 2020 |
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Genre: Electronic |
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Style: Ambient, Experimental |
$48.00
Left Ear have put together a collection of recordings taken from the elusive Berlin band I.A.O., spanning their third phase from 1988 to 1995. Phase III commemorates the bands final line-up of three members; Achim Kohlberger, Ralf Östereich and Carsten Zielske. The sounds on this retrospective vary widely, however, link with threads of melancholic sequences, angular jamming and a focus on electronic soundscapes.
The tracks are pinned against a backdrop of political and social unrest in Berlin at the time. Two different cities had become one with the fall of the wall, driving a bubbling subculture attempting to reunite the capital. Seemingly irrelevant to what I.A.O. was producing, these territories dance parallel to one another. In the late 1980’s, Achim Kohlberger of the band and partner Dimitri Hegemann, were orchestrating ‘Atonal Festival’, these days known as Berlin Atonal. Soon after, they set-up of one of the first techno clubs in the world - UFO, today known as Tresor.
I.A.O. cites the cast of personalities they would come across in the clubs and pubs as influential in their songwriting, artists, outsiders or the ‘general dropouts.’ However, the works of IAO far resemble techno music. Phase III’s opening track Gospel IV introduces the band with their patience and restraint, synthesizers work to reveal folding melodies. The downtempo voyage continues with Marshmallow Girls, an insight into the band’s sensitive observations and hazy imagery. All Is Bliss presents a vocal mantra cooperating with nagging bass lines and euphonic percussion. Meanwhile, two instrumentals Love and Twinkle Twinkle Twinkle Little Star both typify and defy timeless dancefloor paradigms. The compilation signs off with Ferns, binding the icy yet bright tones found throughout. - Bandcamp
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Label: Left Ear Records – LER 1023 |
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Format: 2 × Vinyl, LP, Compilation |
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Country: Australia |
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Released: 20 Jan 2020 |
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Genre: Electronic, Jazz, Rock |
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Style: Downtempo, Experimental, Synth-pop |
