TAV's Monthly Picks - June
Big thank you to all who've come by this month - new favourites have emerged through our listening sessions here at the vault! Here's 10 of them:
Eddie Chacon – Pleasure, Joy And Happiness
This is a thoughtfully considered album of quiet, confident R&B: it doesn't jump out at you, but rather gets in you. Produced by John Carroll Kirby, the like-minded artist and collaborator with Frank Ocean and Solange Knowles, it features restrained percussion from Kanye West’s Sunday Service drummer Lamar Carter. Celestial soul as a break from chaos, these are quietly challenging songs as timeless as they are contemporary.
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Ron Everett – The Glitter Of The City
Jazzman Records with the holy grails again - this time reissuing Ron Everett’s 1977 Glitter of the City. Original copies are almost incredibly hard to find - The music itself is a personal celebration of his hometown of Philadelphia, with its vibrant musical community and heritage - presenting it through funky jams, sweet jazzy soul melodies and blues infused jazz. Includes a really nice write up of the life story of Ron Everett through interviews with the Everett family members and the surviving musicians on the album. Last but not least, it includes 3 previously unreleased bonus tracks to TOP it all of!
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João Gilberto – O Amor, O Sorriso E A Flor 
Joao Gilberto, one of the true masters of the genre, displays a great selection of songs including various Tom Jobim's classic gems such as "Samba de Uma Nota Só" ("One Note Samba"), "Corcovado", and "Outra Vez". An essential piece of work in the whole history of Brazilian music. Clear vinyl; edition of 300.
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Coming Up Roses - Waters
The young Singaporean quartet's debut mini-album touches on themes that come with the experience of entering adolescence, whether it is love (“Sky”), anger and disappointment (“Lies”), despair (“Waters”) or loss (“Fall”).
Waters is an exploration of these different emotions and a journey through the rollercoaster ride that is growing up.
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Maulawi – Maulawi
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.
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Maarten – Poy Sian จังหวะ 
Aside from the Seminal Soundway “Sounds of Siam” compilations by frontrunners Chris Menist and Maft Sai, Thailand’s Luk Thung has been explored sporadically in the global music scene, cited for inspiration by some (Khruangbin most notably) but remaining exotic and hard to explore for many.
A digger's dream, Luk Thung has been pressed on countless 45's and Full length LP's.. Hopefully this EP will spark some interest to the worlwide music fam to delve into this amazing culture from South East Asia.
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Various – Virtual Dreams (Ambient Explorations In The House & Techno Age, 1993-1997)
From Ambient and early Chill-out classics, to lesser known one-off projects, as well as Ambient deviations by some of House and Techno’s leading producers, Volume One of Virtual Dreams features tracks by Bedouin Ascent, David Moufang, LA Synthesis, LFO, Marc Hollander, Mark Pritchard & Kirsty Hawkshaw, Richard H. Kirk and more. Techno without the thump for chilled out or deep home listening.
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Doug Carn Featuring The Voice Of Jean Carn – Revelation
Aside from McCoy Tyner's 'Contemplation,' John Coltrane's 'Naima,' and René McLean sic McClean's 'Jihad,' Doug Carn himself takes the composing reins on this masterful 1973 release, which further integrates Jean Carn's ethereal yet soulful vocals into the his impressive stylistic vision. Another home run on Real Gone Music's Black Jazz reissue series.
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George Otsuka Quintet – Loving You George
A lovely first-time-reissue of four superb live performances led by George Otsuka’s drumming and Fumio Karashima’s fender rhodes. If you missed out the first time we brought this in, now’s your chance! Remastered from the original master tapes by King records in Japan, so you know it sounds legit!
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João Selva – Navegar
Pep-In-Your-Step Latin Funk / Soul / MPB here, a perfect one for that mood uplift while keeping it real.
Navegar is an album that deals in hope and optimism, it’s got endless bounce and energy, but it also underlines that getting to those good times is never easy … and that’s some achievement.
