2025 repress. Anthony Naples's fifth full-length LP, orbs, is a moody portal of shoegazed and slo-mo songs suspended in thin air. The album doesn't reassemble the AN sound from the ground up, so much as enhance and expand its scope in all directions. Samples and instruments meld together into new languorous and liquid forms that with or without the beat of drums, shift with the gentle movements of time.

2025 repress. Up-Tight are a three-piece psych group based in Hamamatsu, Japan with a history dating back to 1992 has released around 10 records. Up-Tight's current line-up (2016) is original members T. Aoki (vocal & guitar) T. Ogata (bass) and T. Shirahata (drums). The ghosts of The Velvet Underground, Les Rallizes Dénudés and Amon Düül loom large over their personal feedback song-destruction universe. This LP is the first re-issue of their original CD-R-only release in Japan in 1999 in a very limited edition of 100 copies. It has been remastered in Berlin from original recordings and presented here in an edition of 300. Here is what David Keenan (Wire magazine) thought about this first CD-R released in 1999 : "Up-Tight are a noxious young trio from south Tokyo, all acolytes of the legendary Japanese psych group Les Rallizes Dénudés, who augment their sound with crushing, Sabbath-styled dynamics, earsplitting acid leads and beautiful Velvets-inspired ballads... Song structures are mostly kept loose, allowing for lots of noisy improvisation. Generally the album is anchored by heavy riffs. Just when you thought you'd got to grips with Tokyo's paradigm destroying psych scene, this one hits like a sucker punch." All songs are five to ten minutes long, varying from very melodic ballads to psychedelic journeys. The album ends with an epic track, "無題", which is an 18 minutes tour-de-force, that takes you to another dimension as if the Velvet Underground's "Sister Ray" would have a child with Acid Mothers Temple, while listening to Amon Düül under codeine. Up-Tight are from the generation that emerged with the madness of the Tokyo '90s and the P.S.F Records scene. Close to Acid Mothers Temple (the two bands recorded an album together), Up-Tight has a unique sound and is one of the most important underground reference in the Japan psychedelic scene.

2025 repress. Disco Club is a groundbreaking 1978 EP of experimental electronic disco created by Bernard Fèvre and his collaborator under their tongue-in-cheek aliases Joachim Sherylee and Junior Claristidge. The Aphex Twin-backed Rephlex label notably reworked a handful of Disco Club tracks in 2004, however this is the first ever reissue of the EP in its complete, originally intended sequence. So synonymous is Fèvre's career with this release, he continues to perform internationally as Black Devil Disco Club today. An impossibly rare piece, this edition has been treated to a remaster from the original tapes by Fèvre himself.

2025 repress. Bahamadia's 1996 debut album Kollage is rightly regarded as one of the greatest rap albums of the 1990s. For the first time ever, Be With presents the definitive double LP version of this eternal hip-hop classic, including the legendary "Path To Rhythm" which never appeared on the original LP or on vinyl, anywhere. An indelible vibe from start-to-finish, Kollage presents Bahamadia's swirling rhymes delivered with an irresistibly butter flow and razor-sharp assuredness over a steady slew of smoothed-out, jazzed-up, blunted beats. Achingly cool and effortlessly funky throughout, it's an absolute must for true '90s hip-hop fanatics. The entire Kollage project was recorded at D&D Studios and the ties to Gang Starr are keenly felt, with DJ Premier producing five tracks in addition to the killer songs Guru had already produced with her. Working with the cream of the mid-'90s East Coast sound, Kollage is, accordingly, a record that demonstrates a varied musical taste with disparate influences. With intelligent, poetic lyricism and a laconic verbal style bursting with both warm texture and deceptive energy, Bahamadia's flow was as inspired by Aretha and Nancy Wilson as it was Q-Tip, Schoolly D and Lady B. Incredibly, only the European and Japanese CD versions of Kollage were released with the brilliantly breezy "Path To Rhythm," featuring Ursula Rucker. Whilst ostensibly a "bonus track," it's anything but. Very much in sonic conversation with KRS-One's stretched-out sleeper classic "Higher Level," it's absolutely essential. Somewhat predictably, whilst Kollage was released to significant critical acclaim, it suffered from disappointing sales. In the intervening years -- and for far too long -- it was a criminally underrated record, an increasingly hidden gem. This Be With double LP reissue has been mastered for vinyl by Simon Francis, cut by Cicely Balston, and pressed at Record Industry. It's too bold and beautiful to remain overlooked and underserved.

2025 restock. The long awaited repress of Slight Freedom, acclaimed guitarist & composer Jeff Parker's first solo album & a New York Times' best albums of 2016 selection, is here. Pressed on premium 120-gram audiophile-quality vinyl by RTI from lacquers cut at sterling sound by Steve Fallone, presented in a retro flipback jacket. Second edition of 1,399 copies. What we said in 2016: "Slight Freedom, Jeff Parker's first ever solo record, presents the first opportunity to hear the guitarist in fully self-revealed circumstances. recorded 2013 & '14 in the Hollywood Hills as he relocated from Chicago to Los Angeles, Parker combines the dark tonal palette & percussive attack he's long been known for with real-time processing elements & field recordings, deftly crafting a unique world of solo guitar music -- multilingual, mysterious, alive with extraordinary sonic events, with a sturdy intelligence in charge & a raw homestyle vibe. parker's title composition sets the album's cavernous mood. terse lines & ricocheting loops morph into a gnarly ambient section that resembles Neil Young droning out over a vg+ copy of discreet music. Parker creates a different sort of ambient space in his take on Frank Ocean's 'Super Rich Kids', bending the melody around a bossa nova rhythm into a moodsville tone poem. parker makes an extraordinary long-form statement out of Chad Taylor's 'Mainz', a piece he first recorded with Taylor & Chris Lopes on the album Bright Light In Winter. Twice the length of the trio recording, the multi-layered soliloquy finds parker leaping from the high rung to damn near orchestral heights, pushing his techniques & concepts to the breaking points. It's one of the great solo performances you'll hear from a musician this year. To say 'Lush Life' comes with formidable baggage is an understatement. Parker achieves instant classic status with a rendition that sounds beamed-in from a decommissioned satellite -- burned out, covered in space grit, yet still formally nuanced & beautifully reflective of Strayhorn's world-weary lyrics. twenty years into the game it's a joy for eremite to present work by an artist who's clearly taking his music to the next level." "It's not jazz, it's not ambient, it's not noise; it's something more idiosyncratic and more personal, something only Parker could have come up with. Perhaps this is what Slight Freedom is supposed to mean: Not an anarchic exploding of rules, not the total liberation proposed by free jazz, but a steadier, stealthier path -- dissolving boundaries, softening constraints, and wearing away at the edges of things until the ideas run as freely as water." --Philip Sherburne, Pitchfork

2025 limited restock. Deep, deep, earth music from Tsutomu Ōhashi and the Geinoh Yamashirogumi crew. A macrosymphony composed for the International Garden and Greenery Exposition in Osaka, Japan, 1990, Ecophony Gaia, was supposed to be the stunning, aural centerpiece for a light and water performance system echoing the sentiment of the venue: "Harmonious Coexistence of Nature and Mankind". Ecophony Gaia was in its truest essence the final part of a trilogy that began with 1986's Ecophony Rinne, continued, in 1988, with their most-known work the soundtrack to Katsuhiro Otomo's dystopian, cyber-punk film Akira (released as Symphonic Suite Akira), and this release mere months later. Looking back one can break up these releases into a holy musical trinity: Ecophony Rinne = spirit, Symphonic Suite Akira = body, and Ecophony Gaia = Gaia/earth. Ecophony Gaia is Geinoh Yamashirogumi's most hopeful release. Rebirth, the hardest thing to capture in music, is something Ecophony Gaia expounds upon through sonics and feeling. You hear this in light echoes from Symphonic Suite Akira coursing through Ecophony Gaia, acting as symbols saying: "not everything from the past needs to be discarded, that certain things, when rethought of, hold a heavier power". The Japanese Noh music you heard trapezing through Akira's "Illusion" walks positively untethered in Ecophony Gaia's "Euphony", Indonesian gong chimes that hit darkly in Akira's "Tetsuo" transform Ecophony Gaia's "Catastrophe" into the light sublime, serene music that it is. What's left over are the songs that point to new directions. Those that derive their influence from things that aren't easily quantifiable. The introduction of field recordings to a warmer palette of sound makes Ecophony Gaia Geinoh Yamashirogumi's first roots album. Of course, these roots belong to worldlier kind of music. Rhythms that sound like water coursing downstream from brook to ocean, electronic layers that hum and cycle through, string instruments that hover like atmosphere, wind instruments that sound like air and breath, and the powerful sound of human voices presenting divinity through communal chant -- those all constitute the ecosystem of Ecophony Gaia. Things that you've heard/felt before, renewed in a different luster. When you hear the album, notice how there are two sides to its whole: "Chaos" ending in "Euphony", "Catastrophe" ending in "Gaia". It would be a disservice to describe the way it sounds, it's an album based on belief not premonition. All you'll find in Ecophony Gaia are movements. Hopeful movements. Needed movement.

Restocked. The reissue of 1972's Italian jazz funk classic, directed by Il Maestro Piero Umiliani. Trumpetist Francesco "Cicci" Santucci and saxophonist Enzo Scoppa cut their teeth in the late '50s, playing with the Italian group Modern Jazz Gang, along with other Italian jazz greats such as Sandro Brugnolini and Amadeo Tommasi. In June 1971, "il maestro" Piero Umiliani made his Sound Workshop recording studio in the heart of Rome available to them, so that they could create an album under his supervision. The result was Olimpiade, a jazz-funk album featuring Franco d'Andrea on electric piano (who would go on to play with the group Perigeo a year later), and Belgian musician Joel Vendrokenbrak on organ. It should be noted that this session was also released on Dire, under the name On the Underground Road, but is here reissued for the first time with its magnificent original cover. A poster of the artwork and a printed insert featuring the Sound Workshop studio are also included with this reissue.

2025 restock. Otoroku present the first vinyl reissue of Louis Moholo Octet's Spirits Rejoice!, originally released in 1978 on Ogun Recordings. One of the most legendary free jazz records ever produced, Spirits Rejoice! is a high achievement in the movement of the era as it soars beyond oppression with a raucous and spiritually uplifting surge of movement and melody. Featuring Harry Miller, Johnny Dyani, Keith Tippett, Evan Parker, Nick Evans, Radu Malfatti, and Kenny Wheeler, this is former Blue Note artist Louis Moholo's first album under his own name and is a classic example of the cross-pollination between South African and British players. Mongezi Feza's 'You Ain't Gonna Know Me 'Cos You Think You Know Me" alone is enough to make your life a better place. Made with permission and in association with Ogun Recordings. Features an exact reproduction of the original artwork and liner notes, along with new liner notes from Matthew Wright. Remastered by Giuseppe IIelasi. High gloss sleeve.

From Matthew Wright's new liner notes: "The South African melodies, now so familiar, were wholeheartedly taken on board by the individual musicians, their unity of purpose mirroring the belief in the strength of the collective. Stunning solos, often close to the edge, feature throughout -- Evan Parker and Keith Tippett on 'Shine Wherever You Are'; the contrasting trombone styles of Nick Evans and Radu Malfatti on 'You Ain't Gonna Know Me...'; the octet sounding like a full big band; and behind them, the relentlessly rhythmic urgency of the piano, bass and drums. Add to this Kenny Wheeler's moving and all-encompassing trumpet on the elegiac 'Amaxesha Osizi' and the joyous flamboyancy of 'Wedding Hymn' with Parker's relatively straight-ahead tenor and Tippett's dextrous piano solo over a bed of riffing horns, (fast) walking bass lines and a supreme sense of swing. Louis' early hero, Big Sid Catlett, would have loved it!"

Music-lovers of all lands, rejoice! Here you have the rerelease of the fourth album of the Intercommunal Free Dance Music Orchestra recorded with the Guinean saxophonist Jo Maka. The title says it all: Vol.4: Jo Maka. But before that, a bit of history: The Intercommunal Free Dance Music Orchestra was created in 1971 by an "old hand" of French free jazz, François Tusques. "Free Jazz" was also the name of the recording made by the pianist and other like-minded Frenchmen (Michel Portal, François Jeanneau, Bernard Vitet, Beb Guérinand Charles Saudrais) in 1965. But, six years later Tusques had had his fill of free jazz. So he then founded the Inter Communal, an association a name under which the different communities could become closer and compose, simply. In 1976, on the first album: L'Inter Communal, listeners can already hear Tusques playing without borders in the company of Carlos Andreu, Ramadolf, Michel Marreand, and Jo Maka (as a conclusion to this Vol. 4, listeners can hear them in 1977 at the Moulin de Prades Le Lez). Over the next decade, the, association kept going with concerts at the Dunois theatre, in 1980 and 1981, it welcomed old hands and new recruits (Bernard Vitet, Jean-Jacques Avenel, Jacques Thollot, Sylvain Kassap). If Vol. 4 : Jo Maka is an homage to the Guinean saxophonist, who passed away a few months before the release of this selection of concert recordings, it also displays a proud collective inspiration! One foot in the blues, and ears open to everything else, Tusques begins with a lament that the Company rapidly transforms into a joyful dance ("Vive la Commune"), weaves a full-blown party piece ("Poses ton fardeau et remets la machine en route," "7 rue des prêcheurs," "Mazir") or gets fabulous with Mingus ("Fable Of Faubus"). And there you have it, with so many revolutions François Tusques is almost back to free jazz. So, your turn with the turntable.

2025 restock; LP version. Includes original four-page insert full of session photos and credits. Wewantsounds present a reissue of Jaye P. Morgan's 1976 ultra-rare private press, featuring the cream of the LA jazz and funk scene -- and one of David Foster's first productions -- is reissued on vinyl and CD. This lost classic recorded in LA at the legendary Sound City Studios is also the first full-blown production by David Foster two years before he co-produced Earth Wind & Fire's album I Am (1979) and went on to become one of the hottest producers on the scene. Featuring an extraordinary lineup of the best LA musicians including Harvey Mason, Ed Greene, Jay Graydon, Ray Parker Jr. Tower of Power, Ernie Watts, and many more, it's probably one of the most expensive private press ever produced and a delight of sophisticated Los Angeles funk featuring Jaye's superb soulful vocals. "This album is one of the first David ever produced and I know he was going all the way to the top" stated Jaye P. Morgan in an interview when asked about David Foster before adding: "I tried to make a soulful album and I loved David's work. We used the best musicians in the world." And they certainly did making this album one of the most expensive private presses in the world! This album was a bold move for the singer who had made her mark in the '50s and '60s as a singer and actress. Hiring Foster was a masterstroke as he hadn't yet produced any noticeable hit, but together they gathered the most impressive crew of musicians you could think of including two of Foster's closest associates, guitarist Jay Graydon and singer/arranger Bill Champlin (of Sons of Champlin's fame) and created the perfect white soul album with a breezy California feel. Featuring masterful renditions of such iconic songs as Stevie Wonder's songs as "Seems So Long" and Earth, Wind & Fire's "Can't Hide Love" (Foster, Champlin, and Graydon would soon pen "After The Love Has Gone" which would become a mega hit for Earth Wind & Fire two years later), together with a handpicked selection of originals, the sound alternates between up-tempo funk and soulful mid-tempo ballads, all served by Morgan's superb vocals. The missing link between Steely Dan and Earth, Wind & Fire, Jaye P. Morgan is pure, undiluted funk music and an essential LA classic.

Aguaturbia's second LP Volumen 2 (1970) is an essential album to understand the construction of what is known today as Chilean rock. The album is as raw and dynamic as their debut LP, featuring even heavier rhythms, distortion, and exceptional phased female vocals reminiscent of Jefferson Airplane. Comparisons with the Grateful Dead, Country Joe and the Fish and Led Zeppelin can be drawn. Splendid heavy psych and proto-stoner tracks make this album a pioneer recording in the history of South American rock. Aguaturbia's debut album was originally released in 1970 and showcases one of South America's most significant psychedelic bands from the late '60s and early '70s. In July that same year the band recorded this Volumen 2 that delivers even heavier intensity than their debut LP. The LP showcases breathtaking moments, like the psych-blues "Heartbreaker" or "I Wonder Who" where guitarist Carlos Corales shines. When he played solos at the gigs, the effect on the audience was silence and euphoria at the same time. In fact, Carlos Corales (guitar) and Willy Cavada (drums) were both professional musicians who had made a previous career in rock and roll bands. Controversy accompanies the release of the album once again. In this case the cover artwork, a tribute to Salvador Dalí, scandalizes the most conservative sector of Chilean society.

A new album by composer Oksana Linde presents new electronic pieces, composed between 1986 and 1994, that have remained unreleased. This set of electronic pieces explores more ambient and meditative sounds. Travesías, her second album released by Buh Records, features pieces created in her private studio in San Antonio de Los Altos, Venezuela. These works belong to the same creative period as the pieces included in her acclaimed debut album, Aquatic and Other Worlds (BR 160LP, 2022). Born in 1948 in Caracas to Ukrainian immigrant parents, Oksana Linde's journey is an example of resilience and innovation. After abandoning her career as a chemist due to health problems, Linde devoted herself to music, experimenting with synthesizers to create a deeply evocative sonic universe. She produced a vast number of recordings during the 1980s, many of which remained unreleased until the publication of Aquatic and Other Worlds. This new collection of pieces, taken from the extensive archive of cassette tapes preserved by Linde, unveils yet another perspective of her work. The pieces "Mundos Flotantes" (Floating Worlds), "Horizontes Lejanos" (Distant Horizons), and "Arrecifes en el espacio" (Reefs in Space) were specifically composed for the show Travesía Acuastral (Aqua-Astral Journey), presented by Linde in February 1991 at Casa Rómulo Gallegos as part of the 3rd Encounter of New Electronic Music. This event, produced by Maite Galán in collaboration with the Musikautomatika group, was a milestone in shaping an experimental electronic music scene in Venezuela, one of the most active in Latin America at that time. Linde composed a series of pieces for use in meditation sessions, four of which are included in this compilation: "Luciérnagas en los manglares" (Fireflies in the Mangroves), "Estrellas I" and "II" (Stars I and II), and "Kerepakupai Vena." The latter refers to two words from the Pemón Indigenous community in southeastern Venezuela, meaning Angel Falls, the name of the world's tallest waterfall. Travesías solidifies Oksana Linde's position as an essential figure in electronic music and furthers the effort to bring to light one of the most fascinating archives of electronic music produced in Latin America. This compilation is released through Buh Records in a limited edition of 500 copies. Compilation and liner notes by Luis Alvarado. Mastered by Alberto Cendra at Garden Lab Audio. Cover photo by Elisa Ochoa Linde. Art and design by Gonzalo de Montreuil. This album was made possible thanks to the Ibermusicas fund.

Sabor de Amor is the fourth album from Brazilian soulman Hyldon, singer and instrumentalist, who formed, alongside Tim Maia and Cassiano, the legendary triad of Brazilian soul music in the 1970s. Sabor de Amor (Continental, 1981) is perhaps his most consistent work. On it, Hyldon is back once again by his trusted buddies Azymuth with a stellar lineup of musicians, including Alexandre Malheiros (bass), Ivan "Mamao" Conti (drums), Sérgio Carvalho (Hammond organ and Fender piano), Zé Roberto Bertrami (synthesizers), Antonio Adolfo (Yamaha piano), Marcio Montarroyos (flugelhorn), Renato Piau (guitar), Mario Monteiro "Picolé" (drums) and the Grupo Alma Brasileira (percussion). Produced by the legendary jazz-funk band Azymuth. Released originally in 1981 on Continental.

Double LP version. One of Peter Brotzmann's final concerts, presented on Otoroku. When the label invited Peter to do a residency at Cafe OTO back in February 2023, it had no idea these would be his last ever shows and he played with such power it would have been hard for anyone present to believe he would never play publicly again. Recorded over two nights this grouping of Jason Adasiewicz on vibraphone, John Edwards on bass, and Steve Noble on drums feels especially resonant and personal to Cafe OTO. The first time Peter performed at the venue back in 2010 it was in a trio with John and Steve, so it feels fitting that the last shows he ever played here should also have that trio at its core. There are moments of tenderness to Brotzmann's playing that feels specific to this small group -- one that cuts across three generations -- and in a space that's come to feel like home. Of course, there is dizzying, forceful, single-minded playing, but even amongst a relentless chorus of cymbal splashes and busy vibraphone clusters the lyrical, spacious moments are savored and held onto. As he remarked after at the end of the group's first visit to OTO, "the Quartet is, for us, a great adventure." Peter clearly wanted to play to the end. It was Peter's wish that these recordings should be made public and he was due to finalize the cover design on the week he passed away. Otoroku would like to thank Peter's family for working to fulfil Peter's wishes to release this material. Recorded live at Cafe OTO by Billy Steiger on 10th and 11th February 2023. Mixed by James Dunn. Mastered by Giuseppe Ielesi. Photos by Dawid Laskowski. Pressed in the UK by Vinyl Press. Artwork by Peter Brötzmann. Design by Untiet. The 2LP version is an edit of the music played on both nights. It comes as a gatefold 12" printed in reverse board outersleeves and includes a pull out with photographs from the residency by Dawid Laskowski.

Tsunaki Kadowaki curates the fourth installment of Midnight in Tokyo, themed around Ambient Kayō. The Midnight in Tokyo series by Studio Mule focuses on Japanese music, serving as a soundtrack for Tokyo nights -- whether for home listening, club play, or as a driving BGM, transcending location and space. The fourth volume takes "Ambient Kayō" as its new perspective, compiling genre-defying tracks released between 1977 and 1999 to explore the intersection of Japanese ambient and pop music. The focus was on music that deeply moves the listener, is open-minded and evocative, brims with inspiration and spiritual insight, and embodies the "utagokoro" (singing heart) of Japanese artists. Opening the compilation is "Umi e Kinasai" by Yōsui Inoue, a legendary Japanese singer-songwriter. Composed and arranged by Katsu Hoshi, the track features renowned players such as Masayoshi Takanaka, Hiroki Inui, and Shigeru Inoue. Next, "Oritatamu Umi," compiled from Keiko Nosaka and George Murasaki, is an instrumental track from their album Niraikanai Requiem 1945. Also featured is "Natsu no Kowareru Koro" by Higurashi, a folk-rock band led by Seiichi Takeda, formerly a guitarist of The Remainders of The Clover. From the enigmatic Blue, the only work left by the mysterious composer S.R. Kinoshita, comes "Mangrove", a hidden treasure of Japan's ambient/new age scene from the CD era. "Yaponesia Sakura," selected from Rehabilual's sole album New Child, is a masterpiece of Japanese new age music. The track features Michio Ogawa (Chakra) and Atsuo Fujimoto (Colored Music). "Asa no Hitoshizuku", the opening folk song from Sachiko Kanenobu's album Sachiko, is also included. From the synth-pop band E.S. Island comes "Yume Fūrin ", selected from their long-lost new age classic Nanpū from Hachijo. Dubbed "the world's first Min'yō House Mix," "Esashi Oiwake (Maeuta)" comes from Kanazawa Akiko HOUSE MIX, a collaboration between Japanese house music pioneer Soichi Terada and Akiko Kanazawa. This compilation also includes "Sweet Ong Choh," a track from Voice From Asia, a group active between 1989 and 1992 featuring vocal artist Shizuru Ohtaka. Hailed by Haruomi Hosono as having "a shaman residing in her voice," singer-songwriter Nami Hōdatsu also appears in the selection. Her debut album featured "Asa-Hikari-Ame-Yume," a track that now stands as a precursor to modern vocaloid/synthesized vocal music. Likewise, "Tennessee Waltz", from Naomi Akimoto's album One Night Stand, supported by members of Mariah, serves as another early prototype of vocaloid/synthesized vocal music. Closing the compilation is "Heaven Electric", a track from Nav Katze's album Gentle & Elegance, which featured remixes by Autechre, Seefeel, and Sun Electric.

Wewantsounds presents the reissue of Sho-Nuff's highly sought-after album Body Pressure from 1983. Recorded for Japanese label King Records, the album was only ever released in Japan and disappeared without trace making it one of the most coveted modern soul/boogie albums on the international collectors scene. Mixing funk and boogie with a few juicy ballads for good measure, Body Pressure is a superb album that lives up to its reputation, hence the hefty price tag for an original. The audio was remastered in Tokyo by King from the master tapes and the album is reissued here with its original artwork and OBI for the first time since 1983 with new liner notes by Charles Waring. Sextet Sho-Nuff, who hailed from Jackson, Mississippi were formed in the mid-seventies. They started creating a stir on the local music scene before signing with Stax and releasing their debut album in 1978. After this first album which sold modestly, the group went on to sign with local label Malaco Records and released two further high-quality albums, Tonite in 1980 followed by Stand Up For Love in 1982. In the process they began making waves outside of the US especially on the Japanese market. There they toured regularly leading to their signing a deal with King Records in Tokyo for an album to be released on their sub label Constellation. The album, Body Pressure was duly recorded adding Japanese jazz funk guitarist Takao Naoi (who played with Akira Ishikawa and Yuji Ohno among many others) and was released in Japan in 1983. The album was never released outside of Japan, making it one of the rarest '80s soul albums on the international scene. A superb mix of styles, the album kicks off with the title track "Body Pressure", a fast-paced horn-driven funk setting the mood, followed by "Yakki ! Yakki!" a tongue-in-cheek ode to Japanese culture served in a groovy mid-tempo style. The album then alternates between the hard funk of "Monster Monster" featuring Takao Naoi's slick jazzy guitar opening solo and "Hollywood" and the languid synth modern soul of "Hold On For Love" one of the many highlights of the album. Another mid tempo Soul gem "Don't Keep Me Waiting" that wasn't on the original 1983 album, was added to this reissue as a bonus track.

Wewantsounds presents the release of Sweet Rebels: The Golden Era of Algerian Pop-Raï, selected in Paris by Cheb Gero. The set features the raw energy of the Algerian Raï scene from the '80s and early '90s and its young stars Cheb Zahouani, Chaba Zohra, and Abderrahmane Djalti. Newly remastered and including liner notes from Raï authority Rabah Mezouane, the compilation brings together eight cassette tracks from the electrifying period when Raï music was evolving from a more traditional sound to the mesmerizing electro funk sound of the '80s. Raï music was born in the seedy parts of Oran, the port city north-west of Algeria, during the 20th century. Mixing elements of Arabic music and western influences, the music was raw and urban emanating from the cabarets and nightclubs of the city. Mainly performed by female singers such as Cheikha Rimitti and Cheikha Djenia, Raï songs would talk about love and social hardship in direct and often crude ways. The style evolved after the war and it was revolutionized in the 1980s by a new wave of singers who infused their sound with synthesizers and drum machines to instill tough messages of youth rebellion, political criticism, and heartbreak. Mainly released on cassette by street vendors in Algeria during the '80s, Rai rapidly spread among the youth. It became a phenomenon which soon spread beyond North Africa, led by the crossover success of Cheb Khaled. Sweet Rebels gives an insight into the genre's ecstatic electro sound, showcasing a unique cultural moment, where creativity and resistance connected to form a vibrant trend. Compiled by DJ Cheb Gero, Sweet Rebels includes cult, sought-after tracks released on cassette by the label Oriental Music Production and features the best exponents of the genre, such as Cheikha Djenia El K'bira, Cheb Zahouani, Cheb Abdelhak, Chaba Amina, and Chaba Zohra. Most of the tracks here make their vinyl debut and Wewantsounds -- following its releases from Lebanon and Egypt, is delighted to continues its exploration of Arabic music by digging into the fascinating Algerian Raï heritage.

For the first time, a representative anthology of Eduardo Polonio's early electroacoustic works is available in vinyl format. This compilation also serves as a review of the history of Spanish electroacoustic music, featuring works created at the Phonos Laboratory in Barcelona, the Alea Electronic Music Laboratory in Madrid, the Electroacoustic Music Cabinet in Cuenca, and the composer's private studio in Barcelona. The anthology Eduardo Polonio: Obra electroacústica 1969-1981 revives the early stages of the innovative composer with a curated selection of eight restored pieces. A limited edition celebrating his profound impact on Spanish experimental music. Eduardo Polonio (1941 - 2024) was one of the foundational figures in the emergence and development of electroacoustic music in Spain. From the raw electronic textures of "Para una pequeña margarita ronca" (1969) to the timbral subtleties of "Flautas, voces, animales, pájaros" (1981), this collection showcases Polonio's artistic evolution and highlights different facets of his work as a composer and musician. The included works reflect this multifaceted aesthetic. "Oficio" (1969) is a real-time improvisation recorded using two low-frequency generators and a modified electric guitar amplifier for sound modulation. Rabelaisiennes (1969), for prepared guitar, explores minimalism and instrumental experimentation. "Continuo" (1970), a piece for electric guitar and bass, anticipates ambient music while engaging with free jazz and psychedelia. "Me voy a tomar el Orient Express" (1976) stands out for its rhythmic and harmonic interplay between the lines forming the sonic texture. "Valverde" (1981) offers a microscopic study of a distinctive way flamenco guitar concludes bulerías phrases. "El reclinatorio en el tejado de la lejana abadía" (1971) is structured as an imaginary soundscape in the form of a suite. Polonio's life and work parallel the history of electroacoustic music in Spain. From his beginnings at Alea, Spain's first electronic music laboratory, to his collaborations with figures like Horacio Vaggione and Josep Maria Mestres Quadreny at Phonos, Polonio carved a unique path in the history of Spanish experimental music. Eduardo Polonio: Obra electroacústica 1969-1981 is presented by Buh Records as a limited double LP edition and in digital format, in collaboration with the Asociación de Música Electroacústica de España (AMEE). The audio in this edition has been restored and mastered directly from the master tapes by Víctor Aguado. The album includes extensive liner notes written by Víctor Aguado and Ramón del Buey, with artwork and design by Gonzalo de Montreuil.

LP version. Music is like literature: getting through a second novel or second album is often a perilous exercise. Spatsz and Mona Soyoc, propelled into the limelight by their explosive Try Out, headed off to New York to record a follow-up to this fabulous debut. By Pass (1983) follows in the musical and sonic footsteps of its predecessor. The same sticky synth layers, the same flayed vocals capable of voluptuous flights, KaS Product still navigates the murky waters of a nervous, unhealthy cold wave, somewhere between the gall of Suicide and the gothic melodies of Siouxsie. And the melodies are always there, as on the stunning "Tina Town" and "T.M.T," two of the most successful tracks on an album that holds up remarkably well, and also deserves a closer look at its detours, such as "Taking Shape" or "Tape" at the end of the disc.

LP version. For their fifth album, Vaudou Game's influences have spread beyond the city and country limits, crossing the Atlantic to reach Colombia. Magnetized, the tropical waves traveled along the equator from Latin America to Togo, knocking on the door of OTODI studio. They too wanted to be part of it and take advantage of its legendary analog equipment. Expected by Peter Solo, they weren't the only ones contributing to forging the group's famous hypnotic groove. The sedans parked in the lot don't lie. From the nearby Lomé market, Nana Benz Du Togo have come to unite the delicacy of their alluring vocal harmonies in call and response with Peter Solo. Lomevio, a young group when Vaudou Game's leader had provided them with instruments during difficult times, now offers to its listeners the strength of its voice-guitar-accordion trident. Still acting under the supreme authority of funk controlled by the esotericism and mystique of the voodoo scale, Vaudou Game unites the hand of highlife with that of cumbia above its head. "Afro Cumbia" is one of the new musical directions taken by the band. They were accompanied by the brilliant voice of the Spanish-english singer Clara Serra López on the track "Râler." Guitars, percussion, brass, and vintage keyboards to activate hips or set the most intriguing atmosphere, Peter delivers his messages hidden behind his unremovable mask. Whether dealing with political or human and ecological subjects, he is always sure to mask them under a thick layer of sarcasm and humor in order to put them into better use via a joyful and dancing trance. With the subliminal motto of repaying Africa, the people, the Earth. Fintou!

"Regarded as one of the greatest blues albums of all time. Cut by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio. Recorded in 1969, this album, as McDowell's titular quote suggests, is not just a collection of songs but a significant piece of musical history. It's a masterclass, a confessional, a musical statement, and a history lesson all in one. Despite its seemingly simple nature, it's a profound work. Regarded as one of the greatest blues albums of all time, I Do Not Play No Rock 'N' Roll is a must-listen, a testament to one of the greatest musical forces that has directly influenced The Rolling Stones, Aerosmith, The Black Keys, and Bonnie Raitt (to whom McDowell taught slide guitar). In 1959, McDowell's talent was first captured by folklore musicologist Alan Lomax, and from there, he quickly rose to stardom with his live recordings and festival appearances across the US and UK. This album is a testament to McDowell's unique voice and guitar style, dominating the air and filling it with raw power and authenticity."

Originally released on CD only, Triola im Fünftonraum counts as one of the most iconic albums of the early Kompakt era. Experience this timeless masterpiece of lush electronica lovingly restored and remastered for the first time on vinyl -- 21 years after its inception. This review from back in the days that perfectly sums up what Triola im Fünftonraum is all about: "The press material for Triola im Fünftonraum made allusions to home listening, when the album is mostly about movement -- in a car -- preferably a fast one -- on a muggy spring day. This might catch followers of producer Jörg Burger off guard. Up until this point, the producer's Triola tracks -- limited to three consecutive appearances on Kompakt's yearly Pop Ambient series and a spot on 'Leichtes Hören Teil 1' -- were free-floating ambient washouts (albeit wondrous free-floating ambient washouts) with no pulse. The album, on the other hand, is beat-driven. Though still resolutely ambient -- more an update of Burger's lushest Bionaut tracks, only fully engaging instead of mildly diverting. The soft, synthetic hand drums and tranquil vapors of 'Leuchtturm' from Pop Ambient 2003, remain untouched and begin the album. Two other tracks that might sound familiar receive dynamic overhauls, now supported with quick dance rhythms and additional layers of synth gauze; the whispy flute trills and lightly flickering keys of 'AG Penthouse,' for instance, are melted into a churning rhythm and some singing keyboard vamps that resemble a relaxed take on Tangerine Dream's suspenseful soundtrack work for 'Thief' (minus the crazy guitars). What really makes the whole thing glow is the manner in which the tracks are attached, flowing in and out of another, rising and cresting and receding, with supreme poise -- even if its title provides no indication, the album is as much a travelogue as Carl Craig's Landcruising, Morgan Geist's Driving Memoirs and Model 500's Deep Space. These are some of Burger's most inventive productions, a remarkable feat since he's been doing this so long. Catch yourself in the right frame of mind and you'll wonder if everything he has released has been one extended ramp-up to this. In this age, it's also refreshing to have a purely ambient techno album with absolutely no connection to 'Boards of Canada.' In other words, it's a landmark for both its label and its genre." --Andy Kellman

Modern Obscure Music presents Pierre Bastien and DJ Low's Swing Low, a work that fuses the poetic inventiveness of Pierre Bastien with the visionary legacy of the late DJ Low (Tom Deweerdt), a central figure in Belgian independent music and founder of the influential Lowlands label. This album, which interweaves memory and experimentation, represents Bastien's debut on the Barcelona label's catalog and a testament to the creative bond between the two artists. The album, composed of seven pieces, stands out for its hybrid nature: five reinterpretations of Bastien's previous works, some of them coming from his influential Mecanoid (originally released by Rephlex), and two unreleased improvisations, "A Pupa" and "Reviver," which seal the unique character of the project. Pierre Bastien, recognized as a composer, inventor and builder of sound machines, has been a tireless explorer of the frontiers between the mechanical and the musical. From his contribution to the Belcanto Orchestra, his collaboration with the PRSNT project to his participation in Pedro Vian's Earth, Our Planet or his collaboration with Tomaga for the Other People label, his career illustrates a constant commitment to experimentation and the intersection of disciplines. Among the artists he has worked with are names such as Robert Wyatt, Jac Berrocal, Jaki Liebezeit and designer Issey Miyake. His works have found homes on iconic labels such as Marionette, Morphine and Discrepant to name a few. The album is presented with a visual design by Koen Bruyneel, reinterpreted as a tribute to Tom Deweerdt, a decade after his departure.

From Lawrence English: "I like to think that sound haunts architecture. It's one of the truly magical interactions afforded by sound's immateriality. It's also something that has captivated us from the earliest times. It's not difficult to imagine the exhilaration of our early ancestors calling to one another in the dark cathedral like caves which held wonder, and security, for them. Today the ways in which sound occupies space, the so-called liquid architecture, holds just as much wonder, albeit one that is often dominated by functionality and form. Beyond those constraints however, how sound operates in the material world is something that exists at the fundament of our understanding of music, and moreover within the broad church we know as the canon of sound arts. Even The Horizon Knows Its Bounds is a record born out of these relations. In a direct sense, the record is the product of an invitation by curator Jonathan Wilson to create a sound environment, reflecting on the Naala Badu building at the Art Gallery Of NSW. The building's name, which translates from the Gadigal language to 'seeing water', was opened in 2022 and this piece was offered as an atmospheric tint to visitors walking through the building throughout the year following its opening. It's also a record born out of a recognition for the porousness sound affords, especially as a device for collaborative endeavor. This composition is one born out of generosity and acoustic solidarity. Even The Horizon Knows Its Bounds is comprised not just of my sounds, but also that of an incredible array of artists who have also operated in the orbit of the Art Gallery Of NSW. The players include Amby Downs, Chris Abrahams, Chuck Johnson, Claire Rousay, Dean Hurley, Jim O'Rourke, JW Paton, Madeleine Cocolas, Norman Westberg, Stephen Vitiello, and Vanessa Tomlinson. The piece was constructed around two long form sound prompts that each musician responded and con-tributed to. These materials there when digested into the final piece you hear. The work could not exist without the substantial offerings these artists made, and I am immensely grateful to each of them."

From Theresa Wong: "The inspiration for these pieces comes from the Chinese folklore of Guanyin, a deity whose name translates to 'the one who perceives all the sounds, or cries, of the world.' Also known as Guanshiyin 觀世音, she is the embodiment of infinite compassion. I grew up knowing of Guanyin as a female deity, but recently discovered that she had transformed through the centuries from the male Hindu bodhisattva, Avalokiteśvara. I instantly found an affinity for this gender-fluid figure, who was said to have attained enlightenment through meditation on sound. These pieces offer an imaginary story of a humble seafarer (Guanyin is a popular matron saint of fisherfolk), who returns from the tumult of the sea one evening at dusk. They journey into a seaside cave in a cliff nearby to find solace in prayer to Guanyin. Deep within the chambers of this glistening cave, an encounter with the mystical deity brings comfort and healing while the churning of life outside persists. Perhaps it was out of a premonition that I created these pieces, which became one of the few things I could listen to during an intensely challenging year of my life. All the music is played on solo and multi-tracked acoustic cello. Many pieces are created around the repetition of simple phrases, like a sonic mantra repeated to focus and ease the mind. The cello is tuned down to a fundamental of A=216 Hertz, and the harmonies are composed in just intonation, a tuning system based on the natural overtones of resonating frequencies. In tracks 5 and 7, the lower strings are detuned extremely to a precise tension, creating a drone that contains both noise and specific overtones. In this manner of playing, I often have the feeling of 'splitting the sound open' into a composite of rhythm, harmony, melody and noise through playing beating frequencies, fingered overtones, implicit melodies emerging out of undulating harmonics, and the pure growl of the slackened string. I hope the listener will find rest and repose -- in this music, amidst the ever-compounding churning of our present world. My deepest thanks to Lawrence English, Janet Oh, the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, and the Emily Harvey Foundation for supporting this work."

LP version. "The work of Fred Moten and Brandon Lopez, both powerfully creative and exceptionally perceptive individuals, concerns itself with how one might navigate the ascending reign of long-institutionalized madness while simultaneously keeping humanity and sanity intact. With Revision, the synergistic mesh of these two voices in duo is presented on record for the first time, following two acclaimed works on the Reading Group label in trio with Gerald Cleaver. Inimitable poet, cultural theorist, author, 2020 MacArthur Fellow, Fred Moten creates new conceptual spaces that accommodate emergent forms of Black cultural production, aesthetics, and social life. Moten is a professor of performance studies and comparative literature at New York University concerned with social movement, aesthetic experiment, and Black study. He is also a United States Artists Rockefeller Fellow and was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Puerto Rican-American bassist Brandon López is the son of a gravedigger who himself put time in doing the same, developing muscles that serve him well in his thorough command of the upright bass. On moving to NYC, López made himself indispensable within numerous realms of creative music. As the Cleveland Review of Books noted, 'This is virtuosity as vocabulary, a total command of texture, subtlety, and a depth that can be reached into.' RIYL: Nathaniel Mackey, Amiri Baraka, Manley Lopez, Irreversible Entanglements, Gil Scott-Heron, Art Ensemble of Chicago."

After digging deep into the overwhelming archives of Discos Fuentes and Codiscos in the previous volumes, this third instalment in the series Cumbia Cumbia Cumbia!!! comprises a selection of 28 Peruvian cumbia bangers for the dance floor from the deep vaults of Discos MAG, all of them originally released between 1964 and 1987. Cumbia Cumbia Cumbia!!! combines well-known classics and rarities that are difficult to find in their original formats. An invitation to enjoy and be amazed, above and beyond ethnographic and academic concerns. The historical origins of cumbia are nebulous and imprecise. The mythology surrounding it suggests an ancient past when Amerindian, African and European musical sounds were mixed together. MAG had released porros since the label was set up, and by 1957 it was already selling records by the Colombian Lucho Bermúdez, a leading figure in porro and cumbia in orchestra format, from Buenos Aires. Colombian cumbia has come a long way in Peru since those years and put down its own roots, just as it has in other Latin American countries. This third volume of the series Cumbia, cumbia, cumbia demonstrates how the rhythm has persisted over three decades of Peruvian recordings, ranging from versions by orchestras and ensembles to original cumbias with electric guitars, with lingering echoes of Caracas-born Hugo Blanco, Tulio Enrique León, Los Teen Agers and Amparito Jiménez. Featuring Carlos Pickling Y Su Orquesta, Los Chicoques, Los Demonios De Corocochay , Los Felcas, Sonora Casino De Hugo Macedo, Sam Brasil, Volada 5, Otto De Rojas Y Su Orquesta, Silvestre Montez Y Sus Guantanameros, Ñico Estrada, Freddy Roland Y Su Orquesta De Moda, Los Avileños, Joe Di Roma Y Su Conjunto, Los Rumberos Del Solar, Los Pavos Reales, Nilo Espinosa Y Su Orquesta, Tito Chicoma Y Su Orquesta, Nelson Ferreyra Y Su Sonora, Los Kintos, Manzanita Con Los Cañeros, and Los Belking's.

Kuunatic's hotly anticipated second album Wheels of Ömon takes another adventuresome deep dive into their self-made fantasy mythology, proposing whole new worlds of psychedelic drama and ritual. In addition to their core sonic palette of tribal drums, pulsing bass, atmospheric keyboards and grouped female vocals, the acclaimed Japanese psych-rock trio played an array of Japanese traditional instruments on Wheels of Ömon. The result is a thrilling, kaleidoscopic album that brushes against tradition as it whirls into an other-worldly future. Kuunatic are the trio of Fumi Kikuchi on keyboards, Shoko Yoshida on bass and Yuko Araki on drums. All three of them also sing. They formed in 2016 and released an EP and 7" single before, in 2021, dropping their debut album, Gate of Klüna (GB 117CD, 2021), on an unsuspecting public. Wheels of Ömon builds on the story of Gate of Klüna with more tales of prophecy, mysterious powers and magical healing lakes. Kuunatic's imaginative flights of visionary fancy achieve the same kind of epic, science-fiction world-building as legendary French jazz-prog heroes, Magma. But their inspirations come from further afield. "The three of us listen to completely different types of music so our ideas and influences come from all different places," they say. "We create fantasy stories," they say, "but it's deeply influenced by historical events that happened on Earth. So, when we stayed in Switzerland, looking at the Alps and Vallée du Rhône, they made us imagine vast histories of a grand Earth and times of several hundred million years ago. Perhaps it's this majestic natural setting that has imparted to the new album a deep connection to folk traditions, to human stories, to the very roots of storytelling. It's a mood that manifests most powerfully in the album's varied use of Japanese traditional instruments. Throughout the album, Kuunatic play chappa (hand-sized cymbals used at temple rituals or festivals), sasara (a percussion instrument of 108 wooden plates strung with a cotton cord), ryuteki (a flute used in gagaku), kagurabue (a flute used for Japanese traditional shrine music) ougidaiko (a fan-shaped hand drum), kokiriko (small bamboo stick instruments), and wadaiko (a huge traditional drum that has been used for rituals or festivals since ancient times)."

"Grumbling psych played on a whirring blender of guitars, synths and traditional Japanese temple instruments" -- The Wire

For over half a century, Sven Åke Johansson and Rüdiger Carl have explored the boundaries of music together. Villa Hügel captures a rare moment: a concert with no audience, recorded in 2020 in the library of Villa Hügel during the 2 x Kippenberger exhibition. The few present could only experience it in-house via TV transmission. Carl on accordion, Johansson on percussion, cardboard, and crackle box -- an interplay of structure and openness, sound and silence. This release follows Johansson's exhibition Osram at JUBG in 2025. A document of two musicians, bound by time and sound, in a moment like no other.

Actress presents Tranzkript 1. First pressing of 300 units.

LP version. If the jazz of François Tusquesis is "free," his spirit is even more so: having recorded free jazz with other like-minded Frenchmen (Michel Portal, François Jeanneau, Bernard Vitet, Beb Guérinand Charles Saudrais), the pianist had covered a lot of ground, with Barney Wilen (Le Nouveau Jazz) or even solo (Piano Dazibao and Dazibao N°2), so as not to repeat himself. In 1971 he founded the Intercommunal Free Dance Music Orchestra which, as the notes to this album stated, "is an interpretation of a music which synthesizes the different communities living and working in France." In 1976, on the first album (L'InterCommunal) listeners can already hear Tusques playing without borders in the company of Carlos Andreu (vocals), Michel Marre (trumpet and saxophone), Jo Maka (saxophone) and Ramadolf (trombone). It is a meeting between jazz and music from Catalonia, Occitanie and Africa. So far so good, but what about Brittany, that, Tusques knows "by heart?" Having lived for a long time in Nantes, he would expand his "brittanitude" on the canal linking the city to Brest by playing with, for example the Diaouled-Ar-Menez. With these "devils from the mountain" who, under the baton of Yann Goasdoué, worked throughout the 1970s on the renewal of music from Brittany, Tusques met, notably, Tanguy Ledoré and invited him one day, with trois bombards and some bagpipes (Jean-Louis Le Vallegant, Gaby Kerdoncuff and Philippe Lestrat), to join the ranks of the Intercommunal. And so they set of towards a new music from Brittany, as the title states; Vers une Musique bretonne nouvelle! With percussion from Samuel Ateba and Kilikus, the association launches the "bombardier:" the repetitions and dissonance of the different members all serve a common cause however: the dance, which is always the reason for the party. This sets a whole universe spinning, which can bring to mind Chris McGregor's Brotherhood of Breath ("La rencontre") when not taking on board waltz, swing, blues and gavotta or even revealing mysteries like those of Gurdjieff ("Les racines de la montagne" or "Le cheval" sung by Andreu).

LP version. Ingrid Schmoliner and Alex Kranabetter are pillars of the improvised and experimental music scenes in Austria stretching back more than a decade. Although the former is known primarily as a pianist and vocalist and the latter as a trumpeter, they both possess seriously expansive sonic palettes. Schmolinger works rigorously with sound direction to generate vibrant psychoacoustic and spatialized effects, while Kranabetter routinely deploys electronics to radically transform and expand his sound worlds in solo and collaborative settings. Perhaps no single endeavor captures the full splendor of their aesthetic tendencies like their duo drank, which presents its stellar debut recording Breath in Definition on Trost. The album includes guest appearances by the remarkably versatile drummer Lukas König and Soap&Skin (aka Anja Franziska Plaschg).

In the new work Shlimazl by Swiss composer Michael Wertmüller, symphony orchestra and big band merge into a virtuoso, polymetric organism that not only transcends styles, but also a perceived linearity of time. In doing so, he explicitly takes up the rich tradition of the big band, and revitalizes it within the symphonic context under new auspices and allows it to take off. All the soloists act like a picture within a picture within the big band, which oscillates between musical nucleus, place of concentration and utopian space of freedom. Wertmüller illuminates the ambiguity of the Yiddish title "Shlimazl" ("mess") with the structuring phrases "Mazely Shlimazl" ("happiness and mess"). The stylistic carombole and the chaos of polyphony without uniformity harbor not only the overwhelming effect of apparent incompatibility but also the happiness of new possibilities for cooperation: from the power of contradiction and friction towards something that can neither be planned nor imagined. A model that creates the vision of a constructive way out in times of increasing incompatibility and hardening in the world. Shlimazl by Michael Wertmüller was a commissioned composition by Basel Sinfonietta and Ruhrtriennale.

Six track EP full of warm deep house music, spacy jazz not jazz, African and Brasil rhythms, plus a portion of psychedelic funk poetry. Children Of Zu Zu is Charles Petersohn's restart after his previous label release from 18 years ago. On this EP, sound merges into each other, producing an organic flow. Smooth deep house, different kinds of jazz and jazz-not-jazz, African rhythms, Brasil batucada, psychedelic funk poetry, inspired by Dr. John and most of all the space music and Afrofuturist philosophy of Sun Ra and his Arkestra. Soundscapes and atmos in the background of each song give the music a deeper feel. It took its time to get the music ready. There was the desire of having Web Web pianist Roberto di Gioia in the music. Roberto planted some magic moments in to it. On other hand Charles is hyper critic with his own sound. Children Of Zu Zu became a collage of thick, warm and smooth house music, spacy ambient jazz and two dancefloor tools with a deep Afro and Brasil feel.

"From their early '90s inception to the latter years of the 21st century's first decade, No Neck Blues Band appeared (to distant observers, anyway), to be something of the Platonic ideal for the 'improvisational collective,' in turn confounding ideas of authorship, recognition, and fame. A fragile symbiosis at best, the scrim of anonymity began to fray sometime around the turn of the century, and a group that looked like it might, for a second, become the ur-rock, drug-soaked United-States-of-American AMM, instead unraveled. As individual members began to emerge from behind the veil, the conceptual, compositional, and improvisational personalities behind the group's untouchable alchemy took form. Two of the group's lifers stood out -- Dave Shuford, undeniably the group's guitar powerhouse (who also revealed himself to be an ace songwriter with Rhyton, D. Charles Speer, et al), and Pat Murano, who founded his label Daksina to explore obsessions with deep electronics, metal's outer reaches, and late-night murmurings of all sorts. In addition to whatever else they were, Murano and Shuford confirmed their status as high-order improvisers, albeit with an expansive grip wielding far more power than the polite conversationalism permeating most 'non-idiomatic' improv genres. On their second duo LP Sing and Play for the Guru, Shuford and Murano dig deep into the crevices of nocturnal electric moan, the first side a meditation on the abyss that sits easily on the shelf next to Murano's blackest Decimus musings. Building at a horrifically slow pace towards a sunless molten boil of vocals and electronics, the side is a perfect soundtrack to our ongoing entropic apocalypse, a 'dark ambient' opus that manages to make Abruptum sound like Kiss. While it's a stretch to call side B 'brighter,' it moves from its opening guttural cyborg eviscerations into tranced-out elaborations on non-Western modalities (something both of these punters excel at) with synapse-cleansing grace. As a whole, the LP ups the ante yet again for Daksina, whose every release effortlessly resets the pinnacle for non-rock psychedelic entanglement. Regardless of your take on the future, it seems foolish to muse on society's collapse with anything other than this record on the deck, your ass in an armchair, and your libations of choice flowing into your gullet." --Tom Carter