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As trans-Atlantic alchemists pulling from a shared dialectic that somehow encompassed both postmodern deconstructionist tendencies and a delightfully subversive sense of poptimism, it’s easy to see how David Cunningham and Peter Gordon immediately hit it off upon initially meeting each other back in the late-1970s at the height of their youthful transgressions. Having initially worked together on the second Flying Lizards’ LP fourth wall, with its ingenious fusion of dismantled rhythms and rearranged melodies juxtaposed against the slyly sultry singing of Snatch’s Patti Palladin— with Gordon adding a few sprinkles of mischievous sax in the mix— it’s no wonder the collaboration would lead to further musical adventures.

Which leads us directly to the genesis of The Yellow Box. Embarking on a collaborative exercise in the structural repurposing of music as untethered puzzle pieces in need of rearrangement with no predetermined outcomes, the duo gave birth to a project that would see them move through both time and recording studios across Europe, taking nearly two years from 1981-1983 to complete. Enlisting the great Anton Fier on drums from The Feelies/Lounge Lizards nexus and John Greaves on bass from Henry Cow/Soft Heap lore to round out their dueling creative counterparts, the album would be something of a lost treasure until its eventual release on Cunningham’s Piano imprint in 1996.

Cinematic in scope, and filled with drifting drones, beautiful counter-melodies, eery minimalism, Kraftwerkian synthesizers, looped voices, skronky interludes, and other shifting undercurrents of sound, it was an album that utilized both a diverse array of expressive languages, as well as early sampling techniques and prepared instruments, well before most people were thinking in such expansive, integrated terms at the dawn of the 80’s. But such is life at the vanguard of new music. And one of the reasons that it likely sat on the shelf for so long before finally being released well over a decade later. Like a sparser, less groove-oriented version of My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, or a more radical take on the experimental work of Can’s Holger Czukay, The Yellow Box stands at the crossroads of time and technology, fusing multiple strands of musical thought and compositional techniques into a disjointed whole that somehow still comes off as a conceptually complete record.

Now, here it is again, over 40 years later, with perhaps even more historical resonance than it had before, remade and remodeled just waiting to be rediscovered again.

Becoming Peter Ivers tells the story of the late Peter Ivers, a virtuosic songwriter and musician whose antics bridged not just 60s counterculture and New Wave music but also film, theater, and music television. Written and recorded in Los Angeles in the mid-to-late-1970s, Becoming Peter Ivers raises the curtain on this mischievous master of ceremonies, who, harmonica in hand, rarely missed a chance to light up an audience. Since his untimely death in 1983, Ivers¡Ç short but storied life has been the subject of much research and remembrance. Becoming Peter Ivers is the most expansive effort yet to collect his archival recordings. ¡ÈDemos are often better than records,¡É Ivers wrote. ¡ÈMore energy, more soul, more guts.¡É The statement anticipates the appearance of Becoming Peter Ivers, which was assembled from a trove of demo cassettes and reel-to-reel tapes that Ivers recorded variously at his home in Laurel Canyon, Los Angeles, and Hollywood studios for a pair of major label albums in 1974 and 1976. While the two commercially released albums feature the resources of session musicians and state-of-the-art studio detail, Becoming Peter Ivers highlights the private moments of Ivers¡Ç musical energy, frequently pared down to piano, drum machine, harmonica, and Peter¡Çs ageless voice. Though technically not Ivers¡Ç debut album (in 1969 Epic Records released Knight Of The Blue Communion, Peter¡Çs psychedelic jazz odyssey of sorts), Terminal Love was the A&R brainchild of music legend Van Dyke Parks. Already a masterful harmonica player (respectively mentored by blues legend Little Walter and jazz bassist Buell Neidlinger while he was a student at Harvard in the late 60s), Ivers wove his harp melodies through the sensuously colored but unconventionally arranged pop compositions of Terminal Love and its self-titled follow up, which, like the New York Dolls at the same time, explored the libidinous, ironic, and artful possibilities of the rock template. A studious artist, Ivers recorded hundreds of writing and rehearsal sessions onto reel-toreel and cassette tapes, but notes were either scarcely kept or have since been lost. RVNG Intl. collaborated with Ivers¡Ç longtime friend and supporter Steven Martin, as well as his lifelong companion Lucy Fisher, to tell an intimate story of Peter¡Çs creative journey through this untold music. The collection includes tracks that recurred in Ivers¡Ç ouvre over the years; ¡ÈAlpha Centauri,¡É ¡ÈEighteen And Dreaming,¡É ¡ÈMiraculous Weekend.¡É And, of course, ¡ÈIn Heaven¡É – the song co-written with David Lynch and commissioned by the filmmaker to be featured in a now-iconic scene of Eraserhead. An accomplished Yogi by the late 70s, Ivers was as spiritual as he was playful. Accentuated by his cherubic face and compact height, Ivers¡Ç vitality and curiosity became a part of his poetic sensibility, a quality that also characterizes his singing voice. Fisher remembers Ivers calling his days holed up in the studio as ¡Èsnowy days,¡É as if he had been cut from school and let free to roam on his own. ¡ÈNo one knows what Peter Ivers does on a snowy day,¡É he would say. In 1980, Ivers became involved with the Los Angeles-area public access show New Wave Theatre, serving as its host and paternal misfit. Ivers would introduce a new generation of groups like Fear, Dead Kennedys, and Suburban Lawns while playing a kind-of ¡Èstraight¡É man, deliberately baiting the punks with square questions and frocked fashion. His signature question to guests was delivered deadpan: ¡ÈWhat is the meaning of life?¡É Ivers died, tragically, the victim of a violent homicide in 1983 that remains unsolved. A shock to his community, his death all but fazed the LAPD, who treated the investigation with less than minimum care. A labor of love that took RVNG Intl. over five years to complete, Becoming Peter Ivers re-frames Peter¡Çs music as the centerpiece of his captivating story, concentrating on the work he made during his numerous retreats into art, or, as he put it, during his snowy days.

Peter Rehberg is known for his pioneering electronic work with computer software which over time evolved into a modular set up alongside running MEGO and then Editions Mego labels.

Rehberg was a prolific collaborator, with other musicians and with contemporary dance and theatre productions, most notably with French artist and choreographer, Gisèle Vienne with whom he created a series of soundtracks from Showroomdummies, released under the name DACM in 2002 (Showroomdummies MEGO 056), to Crowd in 2017. A collection of Rehberg’s solo works for Vienne was released in 2008 (Work for GV 2004-2008 EMEGO 092). The outfit KTL, with Stephen O’Malley, was initiated by Gisèle Vienne for her work Kindertotenlieder and subsequently made a series of soundtracks for Vienne’s works branching off into a prolific series of live shows. The work Rehberg did for theatre and performance teased out aspects of his practice one may not have encountered in his own solo work as PITA or that of collaborations with other musicians.

Editions Mego is proud to present a previously unreleased theatre soundtrack made for Icelandic choreographer Margrét Sara Guðjónsdóttir, whom Rehberg had a decade long collaboration with until his untimely passing in 2021. The original composition for Liminal States was created by Rehberg for the performance Pervasive Magnetic Stimuli in 2018 and then revisited as a catalyst for the concepts behind Liminal States. This work is based on an ongoing artistic research conducted by the choreographer into altered states of perception through phenomenological embodiment. It is the last in a trilogy dealing with the notion of larger forces that act on us beyond our conscious mind. The trilogy consists of Pervasive Magnetic Stimuli (2018), Boundless Ominous Fields (2024) and now Liminal States (2024).

Rehberg's score for Liminal States is a vast canvas of spectral ambience at once tangible and unfathomable in its constantly shapeshifting lysergic dread. The results are a psychological journey through the mental effects of sound on space and subsequently the mind. The first part presents cascading waves of shimmering electronics laying the groundwork for the second part where the psychological illusion splinters into all manner of sonic effects taking the listener on a deep mental voyage. If references are witnessed the late period long form hallucinatory works of Coil, such as Time Machines and Constant shallowness leads to evil, are amongst a similar mind message delivered here. Unlike any other release in Rehberg’s output Liminal States is a single long form work which, despite the form, retains Rehberg’s idiosyncratic sound vision.

Guðjónsdóttir and Rehberg’s collaboration blurs that relationship into a greater force which truly enables the theme of liminal states to unfold in a brave new fashion. Rich in timbre and sonic invention this is powerful work easily holding its own outside of the intended performance whilst still complimenting the missions statement entirely. This profound collaboration has the cumulative effect where the concept and soundtrack are one and may be one of the strongest works in the entire Rehberg canon. 

When Alexander the Great came in 333 B.C. to the Phrygian city of Gordium (located in what is today central Turkey), he was confronted by a puzzle no one could solve. Alexander apparently solved the puzzle, but all that survived from the story is a parable, a legend of the Gordian Knot. In the summer of 2004, many issues I was facing seemed mysterious and unsolvable. This may be why the legend of the Gordian Knot came to my mind when deciding on the title of the piece. The Plains at Gordium was composed from June to August 2004 and is dedicated to Charlotta Kotik. The incentive to compose the piece came from a percussion group in Brno, Czech Republic, who asked me for a piece of music. Not being a commission-disciplined composer, I wrote a piece for six percussionists, while the Czech group, DAMA-DAMA had only four members and could not perform it. The size of the piece also defies the scale of a standard percussion piece, 1,290 measures over a 108-page score. The Plains at Gordium belongs to a group of compositions that I started in 1971. All of the music is based on a steady pulse. Although the various pieces, for example There is Singularly Nothing, John Mary, If I Told Him, Many Many Women, and many more, are independent compositions, parts of them can be mixed in a collage-like performance. The common, steady pulse is what can unify all the different parts, performed simultaneously, into a coherent whole. In a way, all these compositions, written from the 1970s to early ‘80s, can be regarded as one endless continuous piece with changing instrumentation. In 1977, I began composing a percussion piece entitled Drums, adding pages and pages to it. It cannot really be said that the piece was finished in 1981, I just stopped adding pages to the score. Drums envisions any number of players (minimum of 2), each with a differently tuned set of four drums, all locked into a steady pulse. It can be performed simultaneously with parts of other compositions from this period, instrumental and vocal (the vocal parts use texts by Gertrude Stein and later by R. Buckminster Fuller). The Plains at Gordium follows the same basic idea, without the intention of making collage-like additions or performing parts of it with other compositions (although there were performances with some vocal segments from There is Singularly Nothing). Unlike the early pieces, it sometimes takes off, doubling in tempo. Also, bells have been added here, in addition to the set of six differently tuned drums for each player. - Petr Kotik, March 2021

Petre Inspirescu returns with a four-part suite of mesmeric, long-form compositions. Spanning two 12" records, each track occupies a full side - unfolding with the patience and precision of serialist structures. Drawing from minimalism and contemporary classical traditions, this is introspective electronica in its most refined form - hypnotic, elegant, and quietly expansive.

s i n c e h i s f i r s t e p t i p s o n l u c i a n o s l a b e l c a d e n z a i n 2 0 0 7 p r o d u c e r a n d d j p e t r e i n s p i r e s c u e m e r g e d i n t o o n e o f t h e k e y f i g u r e s o f t h e r o m a n i a n e l e c t r o n i c m u s i c s c e n e . s o f a r h e r e l e a s e d m u s i c o n l a b e l s s u c h a s v i n y l c l u b , l i c k m y d e c k o r a m p h i a . t o g e t h e r w i t h h i s b u d d i e s r h a d o o a n d r a r e s h h e a l s o l a u n c h e d i n 2 0 0 7 3t h e l a b e l [ a : r p i a : r ] - † a p l a t f o r m w h e r e h e , h i s t w o f r i e n d s a n d m a n y p r o d u c e r s f r o m r o m a n i a a n d a b r o a d r e l e a s e d d e t a i l e d g r o o v i n g h o u s e a n d t e c h n o , t h a t s t a n d s o u t w i t h d e l i c a t e s t r u c t u r e s a n d o n e - o f - a - k i n d g r o o v e s . b o t h o f h i s m o r e d a n c e f l o o r o r i e n t e d s o l o a l b u m s " i n t r - o s e a r a o r g a n i c a . . ." a n d " g ra d i n a o n i r i ca" f o r [ a : r p i a : r ] a r e e n l a r g e d w i t h m e l o d i e s , s o u n d s a n d h a r m o n i e s t h a t g o b e y o n d t h e u s u a l c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s o f a d a n c e a l b u m . f u r t h e r m o r e h i s l o v e f o r c l a s s i c m u s i c i a n s l i k e m i l y a l e x e j e w i t s c h b a l a k i r e v , a l e x a n d e r p o r f i r y e v i c h b o r o d i n o r o r n i c o l a i a n d r e j e w i t s c h r i m s k y - k o r s a k o w c a n b e f e l t i n t h e a l b u m " pa d u r e a d e a u r ( o p u s 2 i n r e m a j o r )" a n d t w o m o r e e p s t h a t h e r e l e a s e d u n d e r t h e a l i a s e n s e m b l e o n t h e r o m a n i a n l a b e l y o j i k c o n c o n i n o r d e r t o u n i t e c l a s s i c a l s p h e r e s w i t h a n a l o g u e e l e c t r o n i c m u s i c p r o d u c t i o n . i n f e b r u a r y 2 0 1 3 h e a l s o r e l e a s e d h i s h i g h l y a c c l a i m e d f a b r i c m i x c d t h a t o n l y f e a t u r e s d a n c e f l o o r l e a n i n g m u s i c p r o d u c e d b y h i m s e l f . w i t h "t a l k i n g w a t e r s" h e p u b l i s h e d i n l a t e 2 0 1 4 h i s f i r s t 1 2 i n c h o n m u l e m u s i q t h a t i s n o w f o l l o w e d b y t h e f u l l - l e n g t h a l b u m " v i n p l o i l e" w h i c h h e p r o d u c e d w i t h o u t t h e i n t e n t i o n t o e n t e r t a i n w i t h e a s y t o h o o k u p r h y t h m s , m e l o d i e s a n d h a r m o n i e s . e v e n t o u g h h e e s t a b l i s h e d h i m s e l f a s a i n t e r n a t i o n a l l y p l a y i n g h o u s e d j t h a t r e g u l a r l y p e r f o r m s a t a l l m a j o r c l u b s , f e s t i v a l s a n d o t h e r p a r t y d e s t i n a t i o n s a r o u n d t h e g l o b e : a s a m u s i c i a n p e t r e i n s p i r e s c u a l w a y s t r i e s t o e n t e r n e w t e r r i t o r i e s t o e x p l o r e w i t h a h e a r t f e l t h u m a n t o u c h t h e i n f i n i t e s p a c e o f s o u n d . f o r h i s l a t e s t a l b u m t h e m a n t h a t o r i g i n a l l y c o m e s f r o m t h e e a s t e r n r o m a n i a n t o w n b ra i l a s t e p p e d a w a y f r o m h i s f o r m e r e x p e r i m e n t s o f m e l t i n g c l a s s i c a l s p h e r e s w i t h e l e c t r o n i c m u s i c . i n s t e a d t h e 3 6 - y e a r s o l d m a n f r o m b u c h a r e s t o n l y u s e d s o m e p i a n o , s t r i n g a n d w i n d i n s t r u m e n t e l e m e n t s a n d a n a l o g u e e l e c t r o n i c s t o a r r a n g e a g r a c e f u l l y d e e p o c e a n o f s o u n d . a l l s l o w g r o o v i n g t r a c k s s p r e a d t h e a t m o s p h e r e o f l i v e i m p r o v i s e d s e s s i o n s t h a t a r e e d i t e d , t w e a k e d a n d m i x e d t o p e r f e c t i o n . i n - t h e - m o m e n t m o o d s o f s t r a n g e a n d u n u s u a l a n a l o g u e s y n t h s o u n d s g r o o v e i n a f l u i d q u a l i t y w i t h s u b l i m i n a l b a s s s h a p e s , l a t i n a t e p e r c u s s i o n s , j a z z r h y t h m s a n d a c o u s t i c m e l o d i e s . t o g e t h e r t h e y c r e a t e a g a s e o u s k i n e t i c a t m o s p h e r e f u l l o f t a n g i b l e r h y t h m p a t t e r n s , d e l i c a t e c h o r d s a n d g h o s t l y m o d u l a r s y n t h p a d s a l l m i x e d s u b t l e t o c r e a t e s p a c e f o r t h e t o n e s b e t w e e n t h e t o n e s . y o u c a n c a l l i t a h y p n o t i c a f t e r h o u r a l b u m f o r a f t e r h o u r s t h a t a r e d e d i c a t e d t o a d e e p l i s t e n i n g e x p e r i e n c e . y o u c a n t a g h i s a r r a n g e m e n t s a s b r i l l i a n t l y t e x t u r e d a n d m u s i c a l l y s u p e r - c h a r g e d a m b i e n t , w h i c h g o e s b e y o n d t h e u s u a l d e f i n i t i o n o f t h e g e n r e . a l l n i n e s u s p e n s e f u l c o m p o s i t i o n s s e d u c e w i t h a d e e p m e l o d i c s e n s i b i l i t y , h a r m o n i c a d v e n t u r e s a n d a n o v e r a l l r h y t h m i c a m b i a n c e o f f r e s h n e s s a n d l a i d b a c k e n t h u s i a s m . t o g e t h e r t h e y r e p r e s e n t a c h a l l e n g i n g a u d i t o r y e x p e r i e n c e t h a t w i l l r e s o n a t e i n y o u r m i n d l o n g a f t e r t h e m u s i c h a s f i n i s h e d.

with his third album “vin ploile” the bucharest, romania based producer, musician and dj petre in-spirescu captured a whole new audience in 2015 and reached out with minimal leftfield ambient sounds to music loving folks, that are not part of the world-wide dance music universe.

well known as one of the key figures of the romanian electronic dance music scene since his first ep “tips” on luciano’s label cadenza, inspirescu stepped away from club sounds that made him famous due to releases on labels like vinyl club, lick my deck or amphia.

also his two solo albums “intr-o seara organica...” and “grădina onirică“, both released on [a:rpia:r], the record label he initiated with his buddies rhadoo and raresh in 2007, do not have much in common with the sound of “vin ploile” - a mesmerizing deeply musical album that he only tuned in with some elements of piano, string and wind instruments as well as analogue electronics.

at the end of 2015 his nine slow swinging arrangements where celebrated in many polls and now, just a bit more than one year after the release of “vin ploile” petre inspirescu delivers “vîntul prin salcii” – another longplayer enlarged with seven, up to epic twelve minutes long arrangements, that continue where “vin ploile” ceased.

they all listen to the name “miroslav” and only differ numerically in their title. you can call them ambi-ent. you can call them minimal music in the sense of classic compositions by steve reich or terry riley. they groove – sometimes more, sometimes less. and they spread the sounds of flutes or saxophones, delicate piano figures, organic jazz drumming, arpeggiated analogue synth-lines, mesmerizing strings, choral singing, alienated looped vocals and spaced out new aged spheres.

what unites them all is the way, the melodies dance upon and in each single tune. their beautiful tex-tures ensnare and they are continuously engaged with experimentation. a mystical album full of evolu-tionary music to which each listener is able to paint his very own emotional picture. moody, dark and at the same time light-flooded shape-shifting compositions - made for those who love to surrender them-selves to a gentle dance between experimentation and attractiveness.

the cover artwork for petre inspirescu’s album was made again by the illustrator and photographer julian vassallo, who’s artistic works fascinate with a touching spirit of distance, that captures the truth in each single motif. just like petre inspirescu’s music, only that his art grooves with notes that tell somehow: there is no truth. there is only perception.

A treasure of Thai music! The best selection of the orthodox Morlam (*) diva, Pailin Pawn Phibun. Thai essential edition and the world's first CD!

Pailin Pawn Phibun is a treasured child of Isan music tycoon Surin Pakshiri and an orthodox Morlam singer who followed Ankanan Kunchai. In the world's first best compilation album, a collection of famous performances from the latter half of the 70s to the beginning of the 80s during the heyday by the name combination with Paksiri. Although his ability and popularity were also popular, there were not many recordings (→ Paksiri hated crude overproduction), and most of them were released as singles, so the sound source value of this work is quite high. Almost all songs will be reissued on CD for the first time in the world.

The title song "Lamb Chrome Tun (Phantom White Bird)" is the theme song of the oversized hit movie "Monrack Menam Mu" (1978), which features Isaan music, and is her representative song. It is a masterpiece with the saying that the Thai song giant Waiphot Phetsuphant, who was impressed by this, begged Paksiri to make a cover.

Surin Paksiri, who has always brought a new twist to Isan music, is a super-experimental work because Pailin is a singer of the time when he was the sharpest. Lamb Prune, Lamb Tanwai, Luke Tung Isaan, etc. are all quirky recordings, and are full of deep and heavy works such as polyrhythmic songs reminiscent of African music and songs of tribal dance music itself. In Thai music, which tends to be spotlighted only on the singer's song and appearance, there are famous songs that should be talked about in terms of sound as well as the famous producer / arranger work in Japan, the United States and Europe. A unique music mor lam that is neither funk, jazz, rock nor club music! The more you know about Thai music, the more you will understand its brilliant speciality. Soi48 and M are proud to send you this special piece!

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* Note "Mor lam": Mo is a master, and ram is a performing art that speaks with intonation in the tone. In other words, it is a "master of narrative" and is a name that refers to both the singer and the performing arts. Mor lam is not a "song". Isan (Northeastern Thailand) is the home.

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+ Song selection / commentary / binding: Soi48 (with English translation)
+ Japanese / English translation
+ CD version: Normal jewel case, 24-page booklet
+ LP version: Liner included

Guitar and bass duo Gong Gong Gong (工工工) charge out from Beijing’s underground scene with a distinct vision and uncompromising sense of purpose. The duo taps into a wavelength uniting musical cultures, drawing on inspirations ranging from Bo Diddley to Cantonese opera, West African desert blues, drone, and the structures of electronic music. Gong Gong Gong’s debut LP, Phantom Rhythm, is their mission statement: between the locomotive chug and banjo twang of Tom Ng’s guitar and Joshua Frank’s thumping bass harmonics, an aura of ghostly snare hits and timpani overtones emerges. Over Frank’s enigmatic melodies, Ng sings in Cantonese, piecing together abstract tales of absurdity and doubt, desire and lust. Formed in 2015, the band’s earliest shows were in Beijing underpass tunnels and DIY spaces. Ng and Frank are both outsiders who call the city their home: Ng, who was born in Hong Kong, defiantly sings in his native tongue, while Frank, originally from Montreal, has lived in Beijing on and off since childhood. (He is the English translator of Ng’s lyrics, adding another layer to the duo’s close collaboration). A compact, almost telepathic unit, Gong Gong Gong use their minimalistic tools and idiosyncratic playing style to challenge the notions of rock n’ roll, stripping the form down to its bare essentials: rhythm, melody, and grit

A key work from the golden era of Impulse! Records, Love in Us All is a 1974 masterpiece by spiritual jazz seeker Pharoah Sanders, now reissued on vinyl. As the title suggests, this album is a sonic journey of devotion and transcendence toward the “love within us all.” A powerful balance of mysticism and compassion, chaos and serenity—this is truly music shaped by love and the cosmos. An eternal resonance, more vital now than ever.

“Maggot Mass,” the fifth full-length album by Pharmakon on Sacred Bones Records, marks the project's return after a five-year hiatus. This album signifies a departure from the original rules and structures established by Margaret Chardiet for Pharmakon, evolving into a new form. It retains the project’s experimental roots in power electronics and noise while incorporating industrial and punk influences. The album stems from a profound disgust with humanity’s dysfunctional relationship with the environment and other life forms. It explores the loneliness resulting from this broken bond and challenges us to acknowledge our personal and systemic responsibility. What peace can we make with privilege when the true cost of our comfort is not measured in dollars but in death? How can we reconcile with death when we impose the same hierarchical structures on it that we do in life? Is life worth living in the isolation of this self-imposed species loneliness? Humans often measure worth by accumulation—money, assets, objects—mistaking this for power and influence. Western heritage dictates a hierarchy, placing humans at the top, separate from the natural world. This delusion turns bodies into objects, land into property, and people into expendable tools. If our value were instead determined by our contribution to the ecosystem, who could claim that a human is more valuable than a maggot? Maggots recycle death into life, breaking down matter and nourishing new growth. They transform into flies, pollinating plants and sustaining the Earth’s flora. In contrast, humans pollute rather than pollinate, with a select few profiting from exploitation at the expense of biodiversity and the well-being of many. In grappling with grief and loss on both personal and global scales, Margaret sought solace in the idea of rebirth through death, celebrating the beauty of regeneration through decay. However, she had to confront the stark reality of the disconnection from the earth under oppressive systems. Pharmakon is here imagining a path where the final act is to give back what was received from creation, offering our lives and deaths to sustain existence. once I slough off this human skin I will find my home and ancestral kin… in the coffin-birth of my cadaver’s ecosystem All songs written and performed by Margaret Chardiet Lyrics by Margaret Chardiet Recorded, Mixed and Mastered by Sasha Stroud at Artifact Studios Produced by Margaret Chardiet and Sasha Stroud

Pharoah ‘Farrell’ Sanders (born 1940) is a leading figure in the world of jazz and one of the last living legends with connections to players like Sun Ra and John Coltrane. His tenor saxophone playing has earned him royal status amongst free jazz players, critics and collectors. Originally Sanders was interested in urban blues music, but his high school teacher exposed him to jazz and this took Farrell in an entirely new direction. Once completing high school Sanders quickly packed his belongings and headed to Oakland, where he got a chance to work with musicians of high caliber such as saxophone players Sonny Simmons and Dewey Redman (who were both later to be major forces in new jazz and free jazz). Soon the young Pharoah would meet John Coltrane and would feel being attracted to the life as a professional musician. By the early sixties Sanders moved to New York where the major jazz scene was happening. Here he’d spent most his time honing his skills at rehearsals with Sun Ra….sadly he was not making much money with the Arkestra and soon found himself living on the streets, trying to stay up all night playing and then scrounging for money during the day, often selling blood to eat. Sanders recorded his debut album for ESP soon after, but it wasn’t until he started playing with his old friend John Coltrane that he would fully unleash the fury of his saxophone on the world of free jazz. The records Pharoah Sanders played on for Coltrane laid the foundation of what was to come for both the world of free jazz and for Sanders as a musician. After Coltrane’s tragic death Sanders would record further with Alice Coltrane, John’s widow, on the album Karma (1969 – Impulse!), which is universally accepted as Sanders’ masterpiece. Along with musicians Alice Coltrane and singer Leon Thomas, Sanders helped to create the genre of spiritual jazz. On the album we are presenting you today (Africa from 1987) Sanders plays with an all-star line-up consisting of Idris Muhammad, John Hicks and Curtis Lundy. Muhammad brings his trademark tight sense of timekeeping, but with a looseness that we love – and Lundy’s warm soulful bass does more than enough to give the set a sound bottom- all this while Hick’s free lyrical piano works nicely with Sander’s spiritual horn. The brilliant ‘Africa sessions’ features the quartet at their best…soulful but also searching for a strong groove at the same time. The music here is less ornamented than on most of Sanders’ studio recordings, where sextets, septets or larger lineups have been the norm, but this brilliant effort here remains every bit as compelling. Pharoah and his crew play with the utmost sensitivity and give a demonstration that shows us the full extent of their skills. Tidal Waves Music now proudly presents: the official reissue of this fantastic album, back available on vinyl for the first time since 1987. Available as a deluxe 180g 2XLP set, with TWO bonus tracks from the same session that were not featured on the original vinyl release. This album is limited to 500 copies worldwide and comes with an obi strip + liner notes by American jazz critic & author Kevin Whitehead.

Pharaoh Sanders' 1971 impulse! Adding groove to the spiritual, free jazz foundation explored on the previous album, the 37-minute rhythm-driven title track is full of piercing emotion, exploring African, Latin, Aboriginal, and Native American sounds.

RSD 2024. This limited-edition Japanese radio edit single of “Harvest Time / Love Will Find Way” is a complement to Pharoah Sanders’ seminal album from 1977 Pharoah

A1 Hum-Allah-Hum-Allah-Hum-Allah 15:08

A2 Sun In Aquarius (Part 1) 3:42

B1 Sun In Aquarius (Part 2) 24:10

By 1980 when this was originally released Pharoah Sanders was solidly entrenched with his own voice on tenor. The passing of John Coltrane and Sanders’s fruitful years of playing with the prolific saxophone genius resulted with an unmistakable influence on his sound and explorations of the instrument. Beginning with “Greetings to Idris” the structure of the music is one that follows tradition yet opens up for the musicians to improvise within the arrangements. “Greetings to Idris” is in reference to the featured drummer Idris Muhammad who also played with Coltrane during his late period. Naturally Sanders is featured as the main instrument and his horn can be bold and demanding of your full attention. Always interested in other instruments from other cultures, much like Trane, he incorporates the Japanese instrument the koto, a beautifully harmonic stringed instrument to counter his soft rich blowing on tenor with only wind chimes and a harmonium for a delicious peaceful bit of music on “Kazuko”(Peace Child) that has the qualities of a meditative offering. Most of the music, eight tracks, is composed and arranged by Sanders and demonstrates his leadership. There is one John Coltrane composition entitled “After The Rain” that gets the Tranesque treatment by Sanders that makes it hard for even the most discerning listener to distinguish between the original version and Sanders impression. It is a bluesy duet featuring only sax and piano and leaves you wanting to hear it over and over again because of it’s simple and haunting melodies. Another song that Coltrane recorded entitled “Easy To Remember” has a gentle swing to it built around a classic quartet (drums, bass, piano, sax) like that employed by Coltrane that results in a superb standard.

Sanders incorporates the use of another “foreign” instrument to jazz by working in a tabla and sitar on "Soledad " that takes center stage before Sanders joins in on the music. The result is a thing of genius as the East and West merge and interface for composition that is peaceful. Sanders music on this LP fluctuates between the tranquil sounds of his mellow horn to the outer limits where he left off with the explorations of Trane’s late period. What separates this LP from others is that it is a group playing under his leadership where he gives all others close to equal billing. The uptempo, “You’ve Got To Have freedom” is one such song where Sanders gets out there on some of his solos but works within the group structure as the other musicians, most notably Eddie Henderson on flugelhorn, bring the music back home. There is a chorus sung much of the time throughout where the the proclamation “Ya gotta have peace and love, ya gotta have freedom” is presented in Manhattan Transfer style but with much more soul. The use of vocalists is done again on the track entitled “Think About The One.” The chorus features vocalese specialist Bobby McFerrin. This LP shows the different sides of Pharoah Sanders, a man always willing to explore the music, explore his soul and share it with you. The closing track “Bedria” is a mellow exploration of the various ranges of the tenor. It is a ten minute song that displays all the grace of his being, a gentle giant who can manipulate the horn to do extraordinary things, reverberating out and back in undulating waves of harmonic bliss. Sanders on this LP is next to perfect. One of his best recording from his post Impulse career. It belongs in your jazz collection right next to John Coltrane.

Karma is Sanders' third recording as a leader, and is among a number of spiritually themed albums the Impulse! record label released in the late 1960s/early 1970s. Although it is followed by the brief "Colors", the album's main piece is the 32-minute-long "The Creator Has a Master Plan", co-composed by Sanders with vocalist Leon Thomas. Some see this piece as a kind of sequel to Sanders' mentor John Coltrane's legendary 1964 recording A Love Supreme (whose opening it echoes in a muscular yet lyrical opening "prelude", with Sanders playing over a suspended, non-rhythmic backdrop, before the entrance of a bass figure which underpins much of the piece). It features Sanders on tenor sax, along with two of his most important collaborators, the aforementioned Leon Thomas and pianist Lonnie Liston Smith, as well as a supporting cast of musicians who were major musicians in their own right: flautist James Spaulding; French-horn player Julius Watkins; bassist Reggie Workman, who had played with Coltrane earlier in the 1960s; second bassist Richard Davis; drummer Billy Hart, and percussionist Nathaniel Bettis. While later recorded versions of the tune, some of which featured Sanders and Thomas, became shorter and more lyrical, this original contains extended free instrumental sections, particularly the third section, where the saxophonist demonstrates some of the techniques which build his distinctive sound, including a split-reed technique, overblowing, and multiphonics, which give a screeching sound.

This is an analog reissue of the classic live album "Live At The East" by Pharaoh Sanders, a living legend of spiritual jazz in the vein of John Coltrane, released in 1972 on Impulse! The album features some of the band's best performances, including the 20-minute epic "Healing Song" and the two-part "Lumkili".

Pharoah ‘Farrell’ Sanders (born 1940) is a leading figure in the world of jazz and one of the last living legends with connections to players like Sun Ra and John Coltrane. His tenor saxophone playing has earned him royal status amongst free jazz players, critics and collectors. Originally Sanders was interested in urban blues music, but his high school teacher exposed him to jazz and this took Farrell in an entirely new direction. Once completing high school Sanders quickly packed his belongings and headed to Oakland, where he got a chance to work with musicians of high caliber such as saxophone players Sonny Simmons and Dewey Redman (who were both later to be major forces in new jazz and free jazz). Soon the young Pharoah would meet John Coltrane and would feel being attracted to the life as a professional musician. By the early sixties Sanders moved to New York where the major jazz scene was happening. Here he’d spent most his time honing his skills at rehearsals with Sun Ra….sadly he was not making much money with the Arkestra and soon found himself living on the streets, trying to stay up all night playing and then scrounging for money during the day, often selling blood to eat. Sanders recorded his debut album for ESP soon after, but it wasn’t until he started playing with his old friend John Coltrane that he would fully unleash the fury of his saxophone on the world of free jazz. The records Pharoah Sanders played on for Coltrane laid the foundation of what was to come for both the world of free jazz and for Sanders as a musician. After Coltrane’s tragic death Sanders would record further with Alice Coltrane, John’s widow, on the album Karma (1969 – Impulse!), which is universally accepted as Sanders’ masterpiece. Along with musicians Alice Coltrane and singer Leon Thomas, Sanders helped to create the genre of spiritual jazz. By this point in his career & on the album we are presenting you today (Moon Child, recorded in 1989), Sanders had largely withdrawn from the kind of screeching avant-gardism on which he at first staked his reputation. Here Sanders plays with an all-star line-up consisting of Stafford James (Sun Ra) on bass, William Henderson (Roy Ayers) on piano, & Eddie Moore (Sonny Rollins) on drums. Moon Child, with its attractively spacy vocals, is reminiscent of the days of “The Creator Has a Master Plan,” and this mood is kept throughout the album and in the choice of cosmic tunes represented on it. On this album the legendary saxophonist clearly reinvented himself as a more traditional improviser, capable of thoughtful and pensive deliberations. Catchy mystical New Age vocals, astrological references… Pharoah may remain an acquired taste, but few jazzmen can equal his unique formula of mastering the ‘groove’. Tidal Waves Music now proudly presents: the official reissue of this fantastic album containing these rare 1989 French sessions, back available on vinyl for the first time since 1990. This edition comes packaged as a deluxe 180g LP and is limited to 500 copies worldwide (with obi strip).

"Although Pharoah Sanders was originally considered a firebrand, thanks to his wild early free jazz work in the '60s, his later records are actually more in the tradition of players like his one-time leader John Coltrane and, especially, Rahsaan Roland Kirk. The title track from this 1987 session could have been on any of Kirk's Atlantic albums, a mixture of gospel sway and free jazz honk that builds into a hypnotic swoon under Leon Thomas' rich baritone vocals. (Thomas also appears on his own composition, the blues 'If It Wasn't for a Woman,' and the closing 'Next Time You See Me.') On the extended, relaxed take of Coltrane's 'Equinox,' Sanders doesn't try to copy his former boss' phrasing, but there's certainly a Coltrane-like elegance to Sanders' lyrical solo. In fact, Sanders' playing on the standard 'Polka Dots and Moonbeams,' which also features a lovely Vince Guaraldi-like piano solo by William S. Henderson III, is downright pretty. Oh Lord, Let Me Do No Wrong is a mellow and peaceful set by a player who no longer needs to make noise; whether old-school fans will appreciate this is debatable." --Stewart Mason, All Music

A deluxe, embossed 2 LP box set. Alongside a remastered version of PHAROAH, his seminal record from 1977, are two previously unreleased live performances of his masterpiece, “Harvest Time." Includes a 24-page booklet with rarely seen photographs and ephemera, as well as interviews with many of the participants and a conversation with Pharoah himself.

A deluxe, embossed 2 LP box set. Alongside a remastered version of PHAROAH, his seminal record from 1977, are two previously unreleased live performances of his masterpiece, “Harvest Time." Includes a 24-page booklet with rarely seen photographs and ephemera, as well as interviews with many of the participants and a conversation with Pharoah himself.

This is tenor sax giant Pharoah Sanders caught live in France in summer 1971, when the man was still in full post-Coltrane mood. At the head of a strong quintet featuring: Lonnie Liston Smith - piano, Cecil McBee - bass, Jimmy Hopps - drums, and Lawrence Killian - congas, Pharoah delivers two very intense yet serene versions of his milestone piece 'The Creator Has A Master Plan' and 'Let Us Go In The House Of The Lord,' a traditional gospel hymn arranged by Lonnie Liston Smith. This is deep spiritual music kissed by the sun of a splendid southern France summer.

If we can learn to love, think and serve, the mind will become so powerful and co-ordinate that it will unerringly direct all other of our activities. Our calm enthusiasm will inevitably give us that slow, deep and powerful breathing which will finally become automatic with us. Let something else tell you what to do when you want something by some greater forces, by the senses of transcendental knowledge. Why worry over what's already created? Think about the beautiful of tomorrow. Think about what can better that which has already been created on this planet giving good example for others, for you are the key to the world and the world will learn from you. For those who do not know Him by his name there is no mystery. For those who sincerely need Him deep down in their souls and believe and believe and believe, this will serve as much to me inso much as to this planet. Thank you Creator of All.

The Beautiful of Tomorrow by Pharaoh Sanders