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Banyen Rakkaen - Lam Phloen World-class: The Essential Banyen Rakkaen (CD)
Banyen Rakkaen - Lam Phloen World-class: The Essential Banyen Rakkaen (CD)Em Records
¥2,750
Baan Yen Laken is a leading figure who has built up the existence of a female mass idol Mor lam in the heyday, and is a superstar who has been the goal of many singers including Ankanan and Hong Thong since the latter half of the 1960s. Discovered by Isan's big-name producer, Tape Pubut, she has an urban mor lam that was one of the first to incorporate Western music, and destroyed traditional mor lam entertainment with flashy costumes and bewitching stage productions. The state of (* meaning of development and development in Thai) that foresaw this era was criticized at that time, but the influence that it became more enthusiastic and became the mainstream of the present age is immeasurable.

She was supported not only by her cuteness and flashiness, but also by her debut in an era when good and bad songs were the first priority, and she was sung by legendary Morlam singers. Because he was a talented singer who fascinated him. That should be it, Baan Yen's singing ability learned under Morlam's classic apprenticeship is with origami. He is now one of the leading singers in the country (he has also performed at Thai festivals in Japan).

This time, she compiled the most violent 70's innovative Morlam & Luk Thung works, and distributed them in a well-balanced manner from flashy and up-to-date songs to moist and astringent songs. It is a "listening" best compilation album that focuses on the innate talent of Baan Yen, the skill of singing. Soi48, of course, for song selection, commentary, and binding!
Barbara & Ernie – Prelude To... (LP)
Barbara & Ernie – Prelude To... (LP)Life Goes On Records
¥2,586
Soul singer Barbara Massey and jazz guitarist Ernie Calabria paired up for this rare 1971 album. With Calabria having worked with Nina Simone and Harry Belafonte, among others, and Massey having sung backup for artists including Jimi Hendrix, Cat Stevens, and Herbie Hancock, the pairing was an inspired one and resulted in this superb soul-jazz outing. Massey has a dry yet passionate and evocative vocal quality that often brings to mind Grace Slick. Fittingly, the duo takes on Jefferson Airplane's "Somebody to Love," turning the Summer of Love anthem into a steamy and hypnotic soul-funk jam. Elsewhere, the duo touches upon such varying styles as folk, Latin, and psychedelic rock with cuts like "For You" and "Do You Know?," bringing to mind such similarly inclined acts as the Free Design and Bill Withers. Anyone who has even a passing interest in this kind of '70s cross-genre aesthetic will certainly want to seek out Prelude To.... ~ Matt Collar
Barbara Monk Feldman - Verses (CD)
Barbara Monk Feldman - Verses (CD)Another Timbre
¥2,113
Another Timbre releases a new CD by Barbara Monk Feldman, wife of American avant-garde music legend Morton Feldman, featuring five chamber and solo pieces composed between 1988 and 1997. Performed by the "GBSR Duo" consisting of George Barton & Siwan Rhys and Mira Benjamin from Apartment House! This is a fantastic chamber music piece that envelops you in a very ethereal tranquility.
Barbara Moore - Bright And Shining (LP)
Barbara Moore - Bright And Shining (LP)Be With Records
¥6,062

Finally, finally, FINALLY! After many years of fruitless praying, a true collector grail can finally grace every turntable the world over.

Bright And Shining is a miraculous leftfield library classic from the genius mind of Barbara Moore.

It's Highly Addictive Happiness Music TM and one of the coolest records to come out of anywhere...ever! With originals almost impossible to find - and, when they do, going for over £300 - you already know how crucial this beautiful reissue is.

Barbara Moore - Vocal Shades And Tones (LP)
Barbara Moore - Vocal Shades And Tones (LP)Be With Records
¥4,679
Vocal Shades And Tones is a miraculous leftfield library classic from the genius mind of celebrated UK composer/singer/vocal arranger Barbara Moore. It's a heavenly groove-based blend of jazz, Latin, soft-psych, folk-funk and gospel soul. Recorded for the legendary Music De Wolfe in 1972, it's an audacious start-to-finish listen, as dizzying as it is dazzling. It's a perfect snapshot of a musical era, supported by Moore's glorious vocal arrangements. Widely regarded among collectors, DJs, and lounge/easy-listening acolytes as an absolute essential it is viewed as the holy grail by many production music heads, rarely appearing for sale and disappearing in a flash when it does. Indeed, originals now go for over £300 and it's easy to see why. Just one of the reasons why this fresh Be With reissue, part of a wider De Wolfe reissue campaign, is so utterly crucial. Racing out the gate, the driving "Hot Heels" is a bright, sophisticated scat groove which sounds Brazilian, richly produced as if coming by the hand of Arthur Verocai. Yes, *that* good. It's followed by "It's Gospel" which is, er, a wonderfully slow and deeply soulful gospel treasure. The appropriately monikered "Steam Heat" is a darker, breathy gem, one for salacious crates and one of the record's most infamous tracks. "Fly Away" is pastoral West Coast soft rock, very much in conversation with John Cameron and Keith Mansfield's epochal KPM recording, Voices In Harmony. "His Name Was" is a stop-you-dead-in-your-tracks Beach Boys accapella church-organ stunner, whilst "Swing Over" is another carefree, richly produced sun-dappled smasher. The gentle Bossa and sunshine soul of the aptly-titled "Touch Of Warmth" closes out a virtually perfect A-Side. The B-Side opens with the easy grace and dramatic build of "Voice Force Nine". The jaunty "Very Fine Fellow" may be the only track to slightly grate so we advise heading to the slower, moody "Shades-Tones", eminently more compelling with sparkling, hypnotic piano throughout, underpinning the gorgeous wordless vocals. Just beautiful. It was sampled by Redman for his Method Man-featuring "Do What Ya Feel" on the great Muddy Waters. We're back in Brazilian territory with the cool, uptempo "I'm Feather" before swooning to the warm, relaxed "Drifting", another total highlight which was famously sampled by Koushik on his legendary remix of Madvillain's "America's Most Blunted (Doom's Verse)". The penultimate track, "Take Off" is a bright, organ lounge groove before this remarkable set is rounded out by the beaty "Fly Paradise". It's so so good, it sounds like Rotary Connection fronted by The Mamas & the Papas. As noted in a recent Guardian article on Moore's life, "there is a plushness and electricity in the tight vocal harmonies that spring out, sung with the precision of cathedral choristers decades before Auto-Tune." Amen. In the 1960s, Barbara Moore was a member of Top of the Pops’ resident vocal-harmony group, The Ladybirds and sang backing vocals for Dusty Springfield’s TV show. Her own outfit, the Barbara Moore Singers, were regulars on TOTP, singing with Jimi Hendrix when he performed "Hey Joe" live in Lime Grove Studios. An important detail for Moore was the shepherd’s pie she bought Hendrix when she found him alone, looking emaciated, near the BBC canteen. By 1970, she was working as a session singer for De Wolfe and, by 1972, was composing her own tracks for De Wolfe and working within their tight creative strictures. Each short track had to evoke an obvious mood and theme, with no significant key or tempo changes. Her response, this very album, managed to stay between the lines while cohering as an overarching artistic masterpiece. The audio for Vocal Shades And Tones has been carefully remastered by Be With regular Simon Francis, ensuring this release sounds better than ever. Cicely Balston's expert skills have made sure nothing is lost in the cut whilst the records have been pressed to the highest possible standard at Record Industry in Holland. The original, iconic sleeve has been restored here at Be With HQ as the finishing touch to this long overdue re-issue.
Barbara Stant - My Mind Holds On To Yesterday (Coke Bottle Clear Vinyl LP)
Barbara Stant - My Mind Holds On To Yesterday (Coke Bottle Clear Vinyl LP)Numero Group
¥3,342
Eventually crowned Queen of the Norfolk Sound, Barbara Stant was just a teenager when she auditioned for Shiptown impresario Noah Biggs in 1970. A dozen sides were tracked throughout the decade, producing a body of work that stretched from deep soul to northern soul to sister funk. By 1978 disco was in overdrive, Noah Biggs was in the ground, and Stant’s career on hold. My Mind Holds Onto Yesterday is what remains.
Barrington Levy - Bounty Hunter (LP)
Barrington Levy - Bounty Hunter (LP)Lantern Rec.
¥4,754

One of Jamaica’s greatest voices lights the way from roots reggae to dancehall on rhythms laid by Roots Radics, produced by Hyman “Jah Life” Wright and tweaked out by Scientist at King Tubby’s studio

Maybe more strictly one of dancehall’s greatest voices, Barrington Levy served ‘Bounty Life’ in 1979 - one of four albums that year - initiating one of the greatest catalogues of the era in the process. It shares classics ‘Shine Eye Gyal’ and ‘Shaolin Temple’ with the LPs of the same names, along with aces such as the title tune catching his distinctive flow in action, whereas ‘Moonlight Lover’ is a mango-sweet romantic anthem, and his version to Horace Andy’s ‘Skylarking’ brings the OG closer to the dancehall, where ‘Don’t Fuss or Fight’ signs off with a classic flourish.

Barry Brown - Praises (2LP)
Barry Brown - Praises (2LP)Pressure Sounds
¥4,086

Litho printed sleeve of the Praises double vinyl set. On the Justice label produced by Bunny Lee and mixed by Paolo 'Dubfiles" Baldini. Nice set.

<tracklist>
1. Step It Up Youthman extended - Barry Brown 
2. Natty Rootsman (part 1) - Barry Brown 
3. Natty Rootsman (part 2) - The Aggrovators 
4. Fittest Of The Fittest (part 1) - Barry Brown 
5. Fittest Of The Fittest (part 2) - The Aggrovators 
6. We Can’t Dub Like This - The Aggrovators 
7. Longer (intro) 
8. Look How Long (vocal) - Barry Brown 
9. Look How Long Dub - The Aggrovators 
10. Longer (outro) 
11. From Creation (vocal) - Barry Brown 
12. Creative Vibes (xylophone) - Diggory Kenrick 
13. From Creation (part 3) - The Aggrovators 
14. Give Thanks And Praise (vocal) - Barry Brown 
15. Give Thanks And Praise (Lion Mix) - Barry Brown 
16. Give Thanks (part 3) - The Aggrovators 
17. Creative Dub - The Aggrovators (CD only bonus track)
18. Natty Roots Controller - Barry Brown (CD only bonus track)

Recorded at: Channel One Studio, Dynamic Sounds Studio, Harry J Studio, King Tubby’s Studio 
Backed by The Aggrovators
Drums: Carlton ‘Santa’ Davis, Lowell ‘Sly’ Dunbar
Bass: Robbie Shakespeare, George ‘Fully’ Fullwood
Guitar: Earl ‘Chinna’ Smith, Tony Chin, Radcliffe ‘Dougie’ Bryan, Bertram ‘Ranchie’ McLean
Keyboards: Winston Wright, Robbie Lyn, Ossie Hibbert, Tony Asher 
Horns: Tommy McCook, Lennox Brown
Percussion: Noel ‘Scully’ Simms
Xylophone: Diggory Kenrick 
Mixed : Paolo Baldini Dubfiles at Alambic Conspiracy Studio

Barton & Priscilla McLean - Electronic Landscapes (CD)Barton & Priscilla McLean - Electronic Landscapes (CD)
Barton & Priscilla McLean - Electronic Landscapes (CD)Em Records
¥2,750

Although Barton and his wife Priscilla McLean have had a long and distinguished history of LP and compact disc albums throughout their professional composer/performer career, this album is unique in that it is the first one to present, on one CD, such a broad and comprehensive picture of their purely electronic music, spanning 1975 through 2001. Interestingly, although their materials and equipment have changed, their ideas of musical composition are still basically the same, creating a unity throughout the CD.

Regarding the graphic score of "Song of the Nahuatl" which comprises the cover of this CD, Barton McLean and graphic artist Gary Pyle felt a need to explore the subconscious visual domain suggested by the sounds. The artistic rendering preserves dynamics, timing, relative high and low pitch areas, and textural/timbral aspects, while presenting a truly artistic expression in its own right.

To impart a sense of the meaning and composition of these works, along with offering a glimpse into the milieu in which they were created, the following excerpts are quoted here from Priscilla McLean's new autobiography "Hanging off the Edge: Revelations of a Modern Troubadour", published by iUniverse (New York, Lincoln, NE, Shanghai) and also available with corresponding CD, featuring excerpts of her music described in the book, at:
Throughout the time span of the works on this album, Priscilla McLean kept detailed journals of her experiences, forming the basis of her autobiography. These excerpts, abridged and slightly altered, are imbedded in the more specific program notes on each work below.
Book Excerpt: from HANGING OFF THE EDGE, pp. 149 - 159

1973 -1978: South Bend, Indiana to Austin, Texas:
In 1973, Indiana University at South Bend (where Barton McLean taught) ordered from the EMS Studios in London a Synthi-100 synthesizer and digital 256 sequencer, which comprised the first commercial digital sequencing capability in the USA. By 1971 we had also begun our own home studio, purchasing a new Arp 2600 Synthesizer and three reel-to-reel tape recorders: two two-channel half-track Revoxes and a four-channel quarter-track Sony, and borrowing from the college a small Synthi AKS Synthesizerムan update of the EMS Putney, with a ribbon keyboard and 256-note real-time sequencer.

When Bart introduced me to the new studio with the Synthi-100, I stared unbelievingly here was a huge synthesizer, along a whole wall, with hundreds of push-pins (a matrix setup for connecting sounds, rather than the old patch cords), and twenty-two oscillators! The Synthi-256 Digital Sequencer was a full-sized keyboard, standing alone diagonally to the analog synthesizer, but connected internally.
In that studio with the giant machines, one raced from one end of the room to another to play and record the sounds, never sitting down, and in removing unwanted noise or editing out a recorded section, the composer had to take a metal splicing block and sharp razor blade, and pressing down very hard, cut through the 1-inch wide acetate tape in two places, remove the unwanted time segment, and rejoin the two remaining ends with special splicing tapeノSo we three Bruce, Bart, and I worked all our spare time, alternating with each other, in the I.U.S.B. Studio. I spent whole days there, sometimes 22 hours long, working and working to get just the right sound-combinations and record them

The McLean Mix
[NOTE: The McLean Mix, composing/performing duo of Barton and Priscilla McLean, has toured worldwide since 1974, and annually since 1983.]
The McLean Mix was born on September 19, 1974, in our World Premiere concert at St. Mary's College, Notre Dame, Indiana. The faculty, of which I was an adjunct professor, was delighted when I offered to perform with Bart our new electronic music, consisting of Gone Bananas by Bart, as he soloed on the Arp 2600. This was a light piece, and ended with Bart, having set the synthesizer to play the music by itself on its sample and hold controller, sitting on the edge of the stage eating a banana! Second was my Night Images six-minute stereo tape work. Next came my "Dance of Dawn", 22 minutes long. We finished the evening with a jazzy piece by Bart called Groove, which had us jamming on two synthesizers the Arp 2600 for me, and Bart on the Synthi AKS. These early live-performance compositions suffered the demise of all such pieces of the period, but fascinated the audience at the time they who had never heard any live electronic music. The works for stereo tape lived on, however.

"During the halcyon days of the 70's, when all electronic music was enthusiastically received and the audiences large and eager, an album produced out of this concert (CRI SD 335 with Priscilla's "Dance of Dawn" and Barton's "Spirals") garnered a dozen reviews from all over America, and the composers were looked upon as courageous explorers into a vast musical continent unknown and beckoning.

In August of 1976 we moved to Austin, Texas. After the Synthi-100 was removed from the Indiana University, South Bend Electronic Music Studio in 1974, we were left with its digital sequencer, a small ElectroComp 101 Synthesizer, the mini-synthesizer Synthi AKS, and the tape recorders and mixer. This wasn't enough to continue any quality work, so we added our own home studio equipment, and turned back to manipulating found soundsムsteak knives bouncing on violin strings, tennis balls on the piano harp, banging pots and pans, etc. All of these sounds in addition to ones from the synthesizers and sequencer I used in my next major electronic piece, "Invisible Chariots". Because of the unwieldiness of the musique concrete (recorded, not synthesized, sounds) medium, composing the piece was glacially slow.

For instance, the first sound is a scrape up a bass piano string with a metal bar. I wanted the echo from the piano to last over thirty seconds, so I had to record it onto a master tape, then re-record the echo from this tape to each of four channels of another tape recorder, recording each successive one a few seconds ahead of the last one, over and over, until thirty seconds evolved. Then I combined the beginning piano flourish, recorded at home, with a similar keyboard flourish created on the Arp 2600 Synthesizer and performed, playing (forwards and backwards) on the Synthi 256 Sequencer. Much more was involved to complete this complex beginning sound, and two months of time for thirty seconds of music!
After lying low since our performance in the old UT electronic music studio a few weeks after we arrived in Austin in 1976, The McLean Mix was revived and had several engagements the spring of 1979. This included Bart's new electronic piece "Song of the Nahuatl", finishing with my "Invisible Chariots", with all three movements. This varied according to the audience and schedule. [end of paraphrased excerpt] 

Bartosz Kruczyński - Dreams & Whispers (LP)Bartosz Kruczyński - Dreams & Whispers (LP)
Bartosz Kruczyński - Dreams & Whispers (LP)Balmat
¥4,136

ドイツ・ハンブルクを拠点にニューエイジ・リバイバルを牽引したBasso主宰の名門レーベル〈Growing Bin Records〉や、ギリシャ系ニューエイジを掘り起こした〈Into The Light〉などからのリリースや、アンビエント・ダンス・ユニットEarth TraxやPtakiなどの名義でも活動するポーランド・ワルシャワのバレアリック/アンビエント鬼才ことBartosz Kruczynskiによる最新ソロアルバム、今回も凄い才能&内容!16年リリースの『Baltic Beat』が当店でも大ヒットを記録した人気アクトによる、4年振り最新アルバム!温かみのあるビブラフォン、張り詰めたアルペジオ、重なり合うストリングス、孤独なディレイチェーンなど、アンビエントの重なり合うスタイルに、常に独自のスピンを加えてきた名手による、安定のバレアリック/アンビエント作品!

Basic Channel - Basic Reshape (12")
Basic Channel - Basic Reshape (12")Basic Channel
¥3,276

A miraculous union of techno and dub reggae, featuring two tracks remixed by Mark Ernestus & Moritz von Oswald's Basic Channel, "Remake (Basic Reshape)" (1994) and "The Climax (Basic Reshape)" (2001) under the name Carl Craig-Paperclip People. A universal masterpiece of immersive ambient dub techno, remixed by von Oswald's Basic Channel.

Basic Channel - Octagon / Octaedre (12")
Basic Channel - Octagon / Octaedre (12")Basic Channel
¥3,089
unification of techno and dub reggae. An outstanding universal masterpiece of sound dub/minimal techno released in 1994 by German Mark Ernestus & Moritz von Oswald's Basic Channel, repressed in 2023.
Basic Channel - Phylyps Trak (12")
Basic Channel - Phylyps Trak (12")Basic Channel
¥3,319
unification of techno and dub reggae. An outstanding universal masterpiece of sound dub/minimal techno released in 1993 by German Mark Ernestus & Moritz von Oswald's Basic Channel, repressed in 2023.
Basic Channel - Phylyps Trak II (12")
Basic Channel - Phylyps Trak II (12")Basic Channel
¥3,089
unification of techno and dub reggae. An outstanding universal masterpiece of sound dub/minimal techno released in 1994 by German Mark Ernestus & Moritz von Oswald's Basic Channel, repressed in 2023.
Basic Channel - Q 1.1 (12")
Basic Channel - Q 1.1 (12")Basic Channel
¥3,319

unification of techno and dub reggae. An outstanding universal masterpiece of sound dub/minimal techno released in 1993 by Mark Ernestus &amp; Moritz von Oswald&#39;s Basic Channel, repressed in 2025.

Basic Channel - Q-Loop (12")
Basic Channel - Q-Loop (12")Basic Channel
¥3,276
A miraculous union of techno and dub reggae. The outstanding universal masterpiece of acoustic dub / techno released only on CD in 1995 by the Basic Channel of German Mark Ernestus & Moritz von Oswald is vinylized with a full-length version longer than the original cut.
Basic Channel - Quadrant Dub (12")
Basic Channel - Quadrant Dub (12")Basic Channel
¥2,963

unification of techno and dub reggae. An outstanding universal masterpiece of sound dub/minimal techno released in 1994 by German Mark Ernestus & Moritz von Oswald's Basic Channel, repressed in 2025.

Basic Channel - Radiance (12")
Basic Channel - Radiance (12")Basic Channel
¥3,319
unification of techno and dub reggae. An outstanding universal masterpiece of sound dub/minimal techno released in 1994 by German Mark Ernestus & Moritz von Oswald's Basic Channel, repressed in 2025.
Basic Rhythm - 8 Bar Techno (2LP)Basic Rhythm - 8 Bar Techno (2LP)
Basic Rhythm - 8 Bar Techno (2LP)Sneaker Social Club
¥5,998

Smacking that sweetspot between grime, techno, bassline and soca, Anthoney J Hart (East Man, Imaginary Forces) aka Basic Rhythm delivers a full-bore pack of rampers for Bristol-via-Berlin’s bassbin overlords, Sneaker Social Club. Active in a vein of uchronic, ‘nuum-bending invention since the 2010’s, but with roots reaching back to ‘90s pirate radio, Hart’s decade-straddling steez yields the crankiest horsepower as Basic Rhythm on ‘8 Bar Techno’. Hewing hard to the brief, he dissects and recombines styles & patterns with a fiercely upfront quality, trampling on putative borders with a rudeboy alacrity that works a treat on up-for -it ‘floors. The durable torsion of OG jungle tekno and its myriad derivations are twisted into tensile girders, variously splitting the difference between 4/4 grime and hard groove techno in ‘the title tune, or panel-beating sublow into rictus bashiness on ‘Weed Killer’, while firing killer rounds of vocal cuts including the dancehall-grime of ‘Vibez’ with NyNy, or electroid drill with Lyrical Strally and Eklipse. Along with the precision-tooled rufige of ‘Kонец века’ with Moscow Legend, the mutant soca gallop o ‘Ice cold’, and diesel-fuelled grime-techno of ‘More Pricks than Kicks’, or the dive-bombing darkness of ‘The Deluge’, it’s a hard set for discerning 140BPM shotters, and surely one of Basic Rhythm’s deadliest.

Basic Rhythm - Corner Crew / Driller (10")Basic Rhythm - Corner Crew / Driller (10")
Basic Rhythm - Corner Crew / Driller (10")Artikal Music
¥3,352
This album, which includes the two latest tracks under the name Basic Rhythm, which has maintained a strong dedication to UK Bass, is a masterpiece in which the aesthetics of an underground pirate radio DJ OG are incorporated into an atmospheric and ravy Jungle/DnB sound. In recent years, he has continued to develop a fairly consistent musical style based on influences from Jungle, DnB, Grime, Rave, etc., as well as industrial sound design, and those who like him will be hooked.

Basic Rhythm - The Bounce (12")Basic Rhythm - The Bounce (12")
Basic Rhythm - The Bounce (12")The Trilogy Tapes
¥3,292
TTT catch Basic Rhythm in neurotic hardstep flow on four cuts of the tightest D&B following his killer mixtape in this mode OG pirate radio DJ for Rude FM in the ‘90s, and multifaceted producer since the 2010s; Anthoney J Hart is a true survivor of the hardcore ‘nuum. ‘The Bounce’ chases up his superb ’23 mixtape, ‘Straight From the Bedroom’ with a high calibre selection of cuts relating to that session, nailing a dead tuff seam of millennium-era pressure that variously plays deep into, and fucks with, its classic form. Living up to his mantle, Hart’s ascetic production values keep everything chiselled and rictus, but with nuff funk in its flex, tying D&B back to roots in the rigidity of OG electro and betraying its foundational links to earliest dark garage and grime. The title tune shadowboxes with clinically compressed snares in dank negative space, and ‘Tubby’ ups the neuro factor with shearing synths and grinding, granite-cut bass wobble. ‘Fists in Pocket’ is pure early ‘00s warehouse menace straight out of a Loxy or Dylan DJ set, and ‘Unworthy’ rudely distorts the structure with noisier, eye-wobbling compression fuckry.TTT catch Basic Rhythm in neurotic hardstep flow on four cuts of the tightest D&B following his killer mixtape in this mode OG pirate radio DJ for Rude FM in the ‘90s, and multifaceted producer since the 2010s; Anthoney J Hart is a true survivor of the hardcore ‘nuum. ‘The Bounce’ chases up his superb ’23 mixtape, ‘Straight From the Bedroom’ with a high calibre selection of cuts relating to that session, nailing a dead tuff seam of millennium-era pressure that variously plays deep into, and fucks with, its classic form. Living up to his mantle, Hart’s ascetic production values keep everything chiselled and rictus, but with nuff funk in its flex, tying D&B back to roots in the rigidity of OG electro and betraying its foundational links to earliest dark garage and grime. The title tune shadowboxes with clinically compressed snares in dank negative space, and ‘Tubby’ ups the neuro factor with shearing synths and grinding, granite-cut bass wobble. ‘Fists in Pocket’ is pure early ‘00s warehouse menace straight out of a Loxy or Dylan DJ set, and ‘Unworthy’ rudely distorts the structure with noisier, eye-wobbling compression fuckry.
Batsumi (LP)
Batsumi (LP)Matsuli Music
¥4,891

'BATSUMI’s 1974 classic. Repressed at Pallas in Germany on 180g black vinyl. Cover printed on reverse board and includes printed inner sleeve with liner notes from Francis Gooding. Initial copies shipped with exclusive 30cm x 30cm print of Batsumi performing in 1974.

Batsumi is a masterpiece of spiritualised afro-jazz, and a prodigious singularity in the South African jazz canon. There is nothing else on record from the period that has the deep, resonant urgency of the Batsumi sound, a reverb-drenched, formidably focused pulse, underpinned by the tight-locked interplay of traditional and trap drums, and pushed on by the throb of Zulu Bidi’s mesmeric bass figures. The warm notes of Johnny Mothopeng’s guitar complete a soundscape that is at once closely packed with sonic texture and simultaneously vibrating with open space, and in whose shimmer and haze Themba Koyana and Tom Masemola soar. A sonorous echo emanating from an ancient well, reverberant with jazz ghosts and warmed by the heat of soul and pop, Batsumi is nothing short of revelatory.

Many groups from this period did not issue recordings at all, and Batsumi are unusual in even having left an official recorded legacy. Out of print since the 1970s, and never issued outside of South African in its entirety, Batsumi is a landmark South African jazz recording, and a key musical document of its time.'

Batu - Opal (LP)Batu - Opal (LP)
Batu - Opal (LP)Timedance
¥3,594
Building on the promise of nearly 10 years testing limits within club music, Batu presents his debut album Opal. Experimentation is a well-established facet of Omar McCutcheon’s identity within the leftfield techno zeitgeist, but more than ever on Opal he seizes the opportunity to incorporate ideas beyond dancefloor impetus into his animated, forward-leaning sound. Through the course of 11 tracks, rhythmic forms are mutated and manipulated, sonic matter bends across the frequency range and narrative structures coalesce and dissolve according to Batu’s own internal logic. Unpredictability lies at the heart of all this music, bound together by a consistent modernist glint. It’s a sound intrinsically connected to the superlative string of club 12”s, EPs and collaborations Batu has spun behind him thus far, even as it moves into unfamiliar terrain, guided by abstract inspiration from coastal landscapes and the mineral matter all life on Earth is built on. On Opal the visceral production isn’t necessarily geared towards shock tactics. Instead, emotional depths are explored through melodic and textural forms which take on an elemental quality. It’s a space which can accommodate the explicit heart and soul of the human voice, as recent collaborator serpentwithfeet demonstrates weaving a mesmerising vocal through ‘Solace’, but it can also take in broad sweeps of interpretive landscape. There’s also room for small fragments of instrumentation, recorded by Memotone, processed by Batu and subtly threaded throughout the album. Balancing micro and macro in specific sounds as much as moods, Batu’s finely-sculpted work calls to mind the immensity of passing time cast in cliff faces, and the intimate personal growth we experience in our own lifetimes. Mimicking the iridescent stone it takes its name from, Opal refracts Batu’s distinctive artistic imprint, giving us a deeper, more revealing impression of the artist as he explores ideas bigger – and indeed smaller.
Be Present Art Group - The Spiritual-Sonic Research Series (3CS)Be Present Art Group - The Spiritual-Sonic Research Series (3CS)
Be Present Art Group - The Spiritual-Sonic Research Series (3CS)Albina Music Trust
¥4,251

Each cassette in this trilogy is based off over a decade of audio-spiritual research on three beings who have created highly spiritual musical compositions, and who have transitioned off this planet in the physical: Pharoah Sanders, Alice Coltrane (Swamini Turiyasangitananda), and Sun Ra. You will hear two ensembles - Roman Norfleet & Be Present Art Group as well as The Cosmic Tones Research Trio - play interpretations, responses, and hypotheses pertaining to the research on the music and message of those beings. Each cassette is simultaneously in tribute and is also a sonic dissertation. These cassettes are intended as future research on how the music of these beings affected the playing, the witnesses, and the hearers at the time of performance.

The first cassette "Something’s Happening: The Transitioning of a Pharoah" centers the beingness and music of Pharaoh Sanders. This recording took place on the day of his transition (9-24-22) at The Lumber Room in Portland, Oregon and features the ensemble Roman Norfleet & Be Present Art Group. The news of Pharaoh’s transition stunned the whole planet. The ensemble had different compositions prepared for this day originally, but immediately made new sonic arrangements in response, prayer, grief, and gratitude. Norfleet had a formative encounter with Sanders around 2013 while working as a computer salesman and learned about the music of Sanders directly from him. They spent hours in conversation on technology and music, which included talks about Sun Ra.

The second cassette is titled "Explorations of Turiya Loka" and was recorded at Leach Botanical Garden in Portland, Oregon (9-24-23). "Turiya" is a spiritual, blissful state and "Loka" means planet - according to Vedic spiritual systems. Turiya Loka is a spiritual, blissful planet. This cassette holds a recorded ceremony by Roman Norfleet & Be Present Art Group honoring the music and spiritual teachings of Swamini Turiyasangitananda (also known as Alice Coltrane) and explores what Turiya Loka may sound like. Turiya Loka is a home for Swamini Turiyasangitananda based on her song “Om Supreme” on the album Eternity. Since 2017, Norfleet has been studying and fellowshipping with the students of Swamini Turiyasangitananda who are based in California and still run the Vedantic Center organization. The organization continues to hold classes and ceremony. In this recording, listeners will get a chance to hear spiritual insight from Radha Botofasina, who is a student of Swamini Turiyasangitananda and lived on the ashram the spiritual teacher founded in Agoura Hills, California.

The final cassette consists of music from The Cosmic Tones Research Trio composed of Harlan Silverman, Kennedy Verrett, and Norfleet. It was recorded in community at Mississippi Records in Portland, Oregon (12-3-23). The ensemble's name gives a nod to Sun Ra’s "Cosmic Tones For Mental Therapy" album title and was formed for extensive research purposes pertaining to universal and cosmic tones - how they affect human mental wellness and overall interspecies wellbeing. Sun Ra’s "Cosmic Tones For Mental Therapy" is a great example and research tool for audio wellness. The evening of this concert was the trio’s first mental wellness event which had tremendous positive effects on the beings and buildings present and surrounding.

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