MUSIC

ACCIDENT IN HEAVEN was originally released in 1987 as a hand-made micro-edition of about 40 cassette tapes. It was only the third ever release on the short-lived now near legendary SDV label which had been established that same year by Konrad Kraft, Bernd Sevens and Dino Oon in Düsseldorf. Finally finding a more substantial and appreciative audience on vinyl over 30 years after its original limited release, ACCIDENT IN HEAVEN is a strong testament to the explorative experiments of Detlef Funder a.k.a. Konrad Kraft, whose homebuilt studio sound attempted to bridge the clinical roughness of Severed Heads and the psychedelia of Coil with the density and force of industrial, post-punk and prototechno. Concurrent with his ever-expanding production skills, KONRAD KRAFT's sound work in the second half of the 80s stayed firmly rooted within a highly stylised underground spirit. Both his music and also the freshly launched SDV label first and foremost served as a medium for communication. The vital urgency of ACCIDENT IN HEAVEN underlines the record's core narrative which arguably sounds even more futuristic today than it did 30 years ago. Hallmarks of ACCIDENT IN HEAVEN are an 8-track tape recorder, a Yamaha DX7 synth and a Roland 707 drum computer and the late 80s’ internationally ubiquitous shift from analogue to digital music production. Whilst its predecessor ARCTICA (another cassette-only release from 1986/87, previously reissued on TAL in 2018) was significantly more experimental and almost an in-between-states affair, ACCIDENT IN HEAVEN was the point at which Konrad Kraft really began to experiment with beat structures, sequenced synth pads and the framework of 'dance' music. However, the rhythmic elements are submerged so far beneath his expertly crafted drones it's almost impossible to label these sounds as “dancefloor oriented” work at all, as the tracks on the album joyfully disrespect the rules and boundaries of that or indeed any other genre. ACCIDENT IN HEAVEN also epitomizes the decade's ending energy and sharp momentum with its successful merging of highly individual production and irresistible rhythm tracks. The rich wealth of references is mirrored within the silhouettes and the graphics of the album’s unique artwork, which was created by Dino Oon. The new mastering has all sounds on ACCIDENT IN HEAVEN emerge in fresh shades and three dimensional plasticity, inviting the listener not to merely revisit the full palette of KONRAD KRAFT’s creation but offering an entirely new sound experience.

The bastard love child of Elvis and Lux Interior, Israeli guitarist Charlie Megira brewed a heady amalgam of ’50s trash rock, surf-y tremolo, and reverb-drenched goth during his all-too-brief 44 trips around the sun. He recorded seven albums worth of material in 15 years, primarily issued on CD-R, most of which is now unreadable or in a landfill. Armed with only an Eko guitar, a black tuxedo, and his signature wrap-around shades, Charlie Megira was a mold-breaking artist who disintegrated while we were all staring at our phones. We've chosen our 2 favorite cuts off his 2000 debut, Da Abtomatic Meisterzinger Mambo Chic. Hear as Megira channels the optimism of post-war America, narcoleptic surf, and the Twin Peaks soundtrack into a lo-fi masterpiece all his own. Sung in both Hebrew and English, Mambo Chic moves at a deliberate pace, unconcerned by the traffic of the modern world and wrapped in a blanket of Tascam 4-track hiss. On “Tomorrow’s Gone” Megira achieves the feat of being so far back in time that he’s somehow living in the future and waiting for the rest of us to arrive.

The bastard love child of Elvis and Lux Interior, Israeli guitarist Charlie Megira brewed a heady amalgam of ’50s trash rock, surf-y tremolo, and reverb-drenched goth during his all-too-brief 44 trips around the sun. He recorded seven albums worth of material in 15 years, primarily issued on CD-R, most of which is now unreadable or in a landfill. Armed with only an Eko guitar, a black tuxedo, and his signature wrap-around shades, Charlie Megira was a mold-breaking artist who disintegrated while we were all staring at our phones. In 2006, Israeli garage-nik Charlie Megira took a sonic turn while partnered with Israeli multi-instrumentalist Michal Kahan. The duo wasted no time forging a new path, swapping Megira’s trademark reverb for echo, and guitar-noir for new wave. Their third album together, Charlie Megira And the Hefker Girl is an unabashed continuation of gothy ’80s archetypes employed by Joy Division, The Jesus and Mary Chain, and The Cure. With little impedance, the album fits into Megira’s ageless world of cross-pollinated genres and styles.

This is Calm's first beatless chillout album.
The sound quality is also softer than usual, giving it a more organic finish.
Continuing from the previous work, the main members have participated in several songs, but this time, rather than jazz-like freedom, Calm's play that is close to the writer's style is added.
And the best feature is that it seals the long arrangement that is good at it, and it has a structure like a good old record album era, with a total of less than 50 minutes and an ending in no time.
FJD, a friend from the first, is in charge of the design.

The analog edition is configured with the good old LP era in mind.
A new challenge in a sense for Calm, who recently had a lot of double-disc sets.

Japanese Breakfast's 'Soft Sounds From Another Planet' is less of a concept album about space exploration so much as it is a mood board come to life. Over the course of 12 tracks, Michelle Zauner explores a sonic landscape of her own design, one that's big enough to contain her influences. There are songs on this album that recall the pathos of Roy Orbison’s ballads, while others could soundtrack a cinematic drive down one of Blade Runner's endless skyways. Zauner's voice is capacious; one moment she's serenading the past, the next she's robotically narrating a love story over sleek monochrome, her lyrics more pointed and personal than ever before. While 'Psychopomp' was a genre-spanning introduction to Japanese Breakfast, this visionary sophomore album launches the project to new heights.

Tropical ambient set on a fictional tropical island! First official LP record of the "Doshin the Giant 1" soundtrack for the NINTENDO64DD game!
In 1996, Moodman made his solo debut on M.O.O.D. label, and in 2001, Alec Empire, who received his debut album, enthusiastically offered to release his first full-length album on Geist, the label he had started. Tatsuhiko Asano has also provided music for various other projects, including label compilations such as Daisy World and Transonic. 15 tracks were released in 2000, including new recordings and versions not used in the game before it was converted for the 64. Included in the collection are the following songs.
As Asano himself describes the music as "fluffy, fuzzy, soft and warm, like a living creature, sounding like something from over the mountains," its charming, yet somehow elusive, quirky appearance makes it stand out from the myriad of game music.
Kuniyuki Takahashi was in charge of remastering the album for vinyl release. Limited edition of 1,000 copies.

Music is wonderful because it can inspire people. You can't do that with flimsy music. Put your heart and soul into it, and you'll be able to make something that comes right out of the speakers. And if you feel exhilarated then you've accomplished something - Adrian Sherwood
A legendary singer who became loved by reggae fans all over the world with numerous masterpieces such as "Skylarking" and "Money Money" produced in the 70's and 80's on labels such as "Studio One" and "Wackies". , Horace Andy. Since the 90s, he has shocked the non-reggae scene by participating in Massive Attack's work, participating in all of their studio albums, and has been active as a main member who always supports their tours. It continues to captivate music fans. "Midnight Rocker" released from by Adrian Sherwood as a producer was accepted by the media and fans as a new Horace Andy masterpiece. It has been revealed that the edition "Midnight Scorchers" will be released on September 16th.

A revelatory discovery in the Tinariwen archives, Kel Tinariwen is an early cassette tape recorded in the early 90s that never received a wider release, and sheds new light on the band's already rich history. Not having yet developed the fuller band sound that they became internationally established with, Kel Tinariwen features their trademark hypnotic guitar lines and call-and-response vocals weaving in between raw drum machine rhythms and keyboard melodies that almost evoke an Arabic take on 80s synth-pop. There's distinct parallels with the sounds found on this tape and the work uncovered in recent years by cratedigger labels such as Awesome Tapes From Africa, Sahel Sounds and Sublime Frequencies.

In the summer of 1991, four members of Tinariwen travelled to Abidjan in Ivory Coast to record the band’s first official release, Kel Tinariwen. They were Abdallah Ag Alhousseyni, Hassan Ag Touhami aka ‘Abin Abin’, Kedou Ag Ossad and Liya Ag Ablil aka ‘Diarra’. The project was the brainchild of Keltoum Sennhauser, a painter, poet and songwriter of mixed parentage (her father was a Sonhrai, her mother a Touareg), who grew up partly in Bamako, partly in the Kidal region of north-eastern Mali, the homeland of all the members of Tinariwen. Like so many Touareg from that region, Keltoum and her family had been forced to emigrate by the droughts that tore the Touareg world apart in the mid 1970s and 1980s, as well as all the oppression and suffering that had followed independence in 1960. Keltoum became deeply involved in the Touareg struggle for freedom and self-determination and saw music in general and music of Tinariwen in particular as an essential part of that struggle.

Kel Tinariwen was never heard outside of the local community that traded cassettes back in 1992 - an activity that was important to the movement, as Keltoum explains: “I think the cassette played crucial role as a tool of communication, a tool that was very dear to us. It served to raise awareness and awaken the consciences of those who felt that everything was already lost, or that we didn’t have the wherewithal to win our struggle. It allowed the Touareg world to develop its own conscience and move forward. In our milieu, the only thing that can make us question ourselves is music. Because we listen to a lot of music, we love music, we love poetry. We don’t read. We’re not a people who read. So, the only reading we have, about ourselves and about the outside world, is music.” Thirty years later, the album is finally seeing an official release, on vinyl, CD, and cassette to pay homage to its original format. 

34-song SUPERSTORE is the Sam Gendel all genre follow-up album to 2021's 52-song Fresh Bread. SUPERSTORE is more unreleased music from the enigmatic producer/saxophonist collected from personal archives of solo recordings and collaborations in various venues. Contributing players on select tracks include Blake Mills, Gabe Noel, Kevin Yokota, and Philippe Melanson.

Reissue of the legendary 5-track first LP (plus 2 bonus tracks) from horn wizard & original underground FM radio DJ Young, featuring soprano sax, clarinet, and electronically-processed bass clarinet. An enjoyable outing from a neglected musician. Cosmic afro mimimal electronic winds recorded in 1970s San Francisco.

The other day, Koshiro Hino, who succeeded in the Tokyo premiere of his masterpiece "Virginal Variations" as a composer, is finally attracting attention from both inside and outside the country. His solo unit YPY's worldwide distribution album is finally released. The undisputed 2010s talent, Hino, is a track maker / musician who emerged from the club scene, but due to his strong writer's ability to be inversely proportional to his low waist, he couldn't fit in an underground box, and the creative power that erupted. The state of holding down. YPY is devoted to live performances and recordings every day, but in reality there are few releases and the value of this work is quite high. This album reveals an early impulsive and multifaceted rhythmic quest that is different from the stoic attitude of his band, goat. This time, his ally, Yosuke Yukimatsu, gave advice on song selection, and Hino's urge was firmly established in the album. One of the characteristics of YPY is that it has a compressed and massive sound and the style is electronic music, but it has a strange organic feeling like a living thing like the indigenous music of Africa, which is a cassette tape for sound making. It is also related to the use of. The title song "Zurirezumu" is a mysterious work that takes advantage of the equipment trouble that happened by chance, and is YPY's first recording!

"The trajectory from the initial impulse of Koshiro Hino = YPY as a track maker, not as a brain of goat, bonanzas. However, the trajectory does not mean that it is heading straight somewhere. , The path is constantly ZURE. Why. Because he is constantly trying. Why keep trying. It is to explore the possibilities hidden there. Here is a fragment of Koshiro Hino so far. And the pieces from now on will also ZURE polyrhythmically. Are your ears listening to the sound of the heart? John Cage continued to question the possibility of hearing. The possibility awaits us. ing."
-Yosuke Yukimatsu
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"I listened to it and thought," It's the sound of a live house! " There is no so-called chord feeling or melody, it is not noise, it is not music that can be heard only by "sound", it is not dance music, but it is a familiar sound. Is it physical music? It is a playful work. You should listen to it first without thinking about anything. -Phew

The shocking COMPUMA (Koichi Matsunaga)'s first 12-inch !!! The problematic work of the endless computer original problematic work that reconstructed the problematic work "Haku no Ongaku"! It is no exaggeration to say that it is the most important must-listen work of Japanese underground dance music in 2015!

90s is Asteroid Desert Songs, 00s is Smurphotokogu, and in recent years, the first 12-inch impact of Koichi Matsunaga aka COMPUMA, a stubborn electro crew who admits himself and others with his musical connoisseurs who are dying in "Devil's Swamp". drop. Only computers can interact with "Haku's music" on an equal footing! I delusionally asked to rebuild the album. This is the work that came up! ?? !! The experimental result that the computer says, "It looks like an original work ...". However, in order to faint in agony and complete the original request, I decided to announce it under the name of Compuma meets Haku. An electro song with a non-trivial atmosphere that has a feeling of devotion from each note of snare, kick, hat, etc. 80s US Old School-Tasteable dance music that has blossomed suspiciously in the depths of Japan across the Atlantic Ocean from the 1960s!

"Is it too Sam Prekop?", Sam Prekop asked me in an email conversation in which he delivered his wonderful illustrations which would become the front cover artwork. No, it is not too Sam Prekop at all. His drawings as well as the freeform music on this album are subtly different from anything else he has produced in his solo career. Regardless of the style he is working in, Sam Prekop’s music is always imbued with a sense of wide-eyed discovery and unpredictable exploration. On »The Sparrow« Sam Prekop expands his electronic cosmos with a remarkable expression of timeless simplicity and coherent execution. It's deceptively simple music that feels accessible without abandoning the experimental legacy of the Modular hardware system which serves, besides a polyphonic Prophet 5 synthesizer, as the centre piece of this production. The side long title track opens this album with unpredictable synth dissonances and broken step sequenced patterns. »Palm« brings the set to a close with its irregular fragility while »Fall is Farewell« is build around a yearning brassy fanfare which resembles the noir romance theme of Michael Smalls soundtrack for the 1971 film »Klute«. The sparkling essence of »Step and Stair« seems a suitable space for unforgotten summer holidays of our childhood. On his first solo release for Düsseldorfs label TAL, electronic experimentalist Sam Prekop offers his most captivating yet stripped down modular music. All compositions on »The Sparrow« were gradually developed piece by piece. Best known for his jazz-leaning tropicalismo with The Sea And Cake, a key part of the Chicago scene with the likes of Tortoise or Chicago Underground Duo, he has in recent years established himself as a modular synthesist, building his instrument meticulously to create a unique system that allows him to create highly individual music through mechanical patterns, repetitions and chance. In this context his widely acclaimed community forming public tutorials on fb should be noted as well. »The Sparrow« is an exciting new chapter in his development as a constant creative influence. Stefan Schneider, Düsseldorf August 2022

Nachthorn, for midi-controlled organ Nachthorn takes its name from one of the 78 stops that make up the main organ in St. Antonius Church in Düsseldorf. This instrument, equipped with a system developed by the German company Sinua, offers the possibility of controlling all of its keyboards and timbres via a computer. The organ thus becomes a powerful synthesiser. This set-up allowed me to fulfil an old dream of mine : to create an entirely acoustic dance music piece with the organ as sole actor. Oscillating between dub techno, harmonic locked grooves or after-hours pop, Nachhorn proposes a hypnotic music piece whose lines sketch the outline of an imaginary warehouse.

eremite presents the definitive vinyl edition of the most legendary private press underground jazz album of the 1970s. There’s not another record on the planet that sounds even remotely like vibraphonist Khan Jamal's eccentric, one-of-a-kind masterpiece, Drum Dance To The Motherland. In its improbable fusion of free jazz expressionism, black psychedelia, & full-on dub production techniques, Drum Dance remains a bracingly powerful outsider statement forty-five years after it was recorded live at the Catacombs Club in Philadelphia, 1972. Comparisons to Sun Ra, King Tubby, Phil Cohran & BYG/Actuel merely hint at the cosmic otherness conjured by The Khan Jamal Creative Arts Ensemble & by sound engineer Mario Falana's real-time enhancements. Originally issued by Jamal in 1973 in an edition of three hundred copies on ‘Dogtown’ records, Drum Dance To The Motherland was effectively a myth until eremite’s 2005 CD reissue. eremite’s LP edition has been a long time coming. With the master tapes long vanished, the audio was transferred on the pneumatic Rockport table at Sony Music's 54th street studio from a minty copy of the original LP, manually de-clicked, & remastered on Sony's vintage outboard tube EQs by Ben Young & Andreas K. Myer. The LP is pressed on premium audiophile quality vinyl by RTI from a Kevin Gray lacquer. Alan Sherry at Siwa Studios screenprinted by hand every component of the package: the screenprinted labels & heavyweight stoughton laserdisc jackets reproduce exactly the artwork of the original Dogtown release. A screenprinted insert with Ed Hazell's detailed telling of Drum Dance's incredible history & eremite's signature retro-audiophile screenprinted dust sleeves are unique to this edition. 999 copies. Jesus. Forget what you know. Every now and then, a record comes along that sneaks up on you and punches you in the back in the head so hard, it sends you reeling for days. This is one of them. Recorded live in 1972, this holy grail private press album by vibraphonist Khan Jamal probably qualifies as a "jazz" record, but not as this world knows it, as it sounds like it was recorded in a spaceship, an echo chamber, and a cave all at once, which makes it virtually impossible to put a timestamp on. The dubbed-out percussion intro of "Cosmic Echoes" sounds like Sun Ra overseeing an Aggrovators session, yet strangely contemporary, and it only gets more inspired and unfathomable from there. The extended free jazz shocks (complete with recording engineer's mystery effects!) and cosmic black psychedelia dreamed up by this underground Philly collective explores outsider worlds that Actuel never knew existed, and emits a kind of smoke ESP-Disk never had a whiff of. Drumdance to the Motherland will render a majority of your record collection somewhat useless, but you're going to want to take that gamble. Utterly unique and essential document from way left of center. --[AK], Othermusic Vibraphonist Khan Jamal has been around since the mid-1960s, and his Drumdance to the Motherland--recorded in 1972 Philadelphia, released this year on Michael Ehlers' flawless Eremite label--reveals an ensemble approach to rhythm calisthenics on par with anything Sun Ra, Beaver Harris, or Sam Rivers cooked up. This 12-minute beast is a percussion smorgasbord, with any number of the quintet's members--Jamal, bassist Billy Mills, guitarist Monnette Sudler, and percussionists Alex Ellison and Dwight James--taking on the sidewinding pulse and bending, twisting, and reinventing its magic to his will. Dig: Jamal's vibes solo seven minutes into this jam is just as third-eye jubilant as anything Konono No. 1 has kicked out. --Bret Mccabe, Baltimore City Paper Online In all my perambulations during these decades of record hunting, i have never seen a copy of khan jamal's drumdance to the motherland. it's so rare that i'd never even heard of it, despite liking jamal & generally looking for unusual 1970s free-jazz. &, despite the fact that it has now been lovingly reissued, i still have no idea what the record looks like. so, let's get extra geeky & talk about record covers. when eremite repackaged drumdance, they put a nice new image on it. the original issue, on the microscopic dogtown label from philadelphia, came with individually designed covers, a probable nod to jamal's then-fellow philadelphians in sun ra's arkestra, who regularly decorated records by hand, often just before a big gig. there's more than just the cover about drumdance that's ra-esque. wave upon wave of tape delay recalls the ra lps, nearly a decade earlier on which drummer tommy 'bugs' hunter first accidently put the microphone into the wrong jack & discovered the supernatural, spaced-out powers of over-driven echo. jamal's is a fantastic record, with funky grooves & maniacal blowing periodically reflected in the funhouse mirror of slapback. jamal's vibraphone & marimba are, in some sections, featured in an unfettered & undistorted way. it's a real treat, as is monnette sudler's aggressive guitar. an absolutely unique lp, drumdance is testament to the liberating powers of the underground, the shared do-it-yourself mentality that links fringe jazz & punk. hats off to eremite for dredging it up, even with its new visage. --John Corbett, Downbeat Originally released on obscure Philadelphia label Dogtown, Drumdance to the Motherland has long been a sought after collector's item of early 70s underground free jazz. Literally underground: it was recorded in a basement coffeehouse in October 1972, & features Jamal on vibraphone, marimba & clarinet, Alex Ellison & Dwight James on drums, percussion & clarinet, Billy Mills on bass & Fender bass, & Monnette Sudler on guitar & percussion. Titles like "Drum Dance" indicate there is plenty of deep African groove on offer, but thanks to the input of sound engineer Mario Falana, whose use of reverb is so outstandingly musical he deserves to be listed as a group member in his own right, the album sounds nothing like any of the other extended riff workouts that appeared in the early 70s when the major labels tried to move in on free jazz. On "Inner Peace," the combination of Mill's loping bass riff, Sudler's cool bluesy guitar licks -more Montgomery than McLaughlin-- & the kind of raucous shrieking clarinet Arthur Doyle would be proud of is truly striking. & in Falana's hands, the gently cycling riffs of "Breath of Life" sound not so much spaced out as otherworldly --even without the kind of chemical stimulation one suspects helped inspire The Creative Arts Ensemble & their producer, you wouldn't be surprised if someone told you this was a mid-90s release on Thrill Jockey beamed back through time. --Dan Warburton, The Wirepiece! Legendary new remastering specifications such as and . Pressed from Kevin Gray's lacquer discs to audiophile quality records at RTI.

A double shot of Y2K digi thrillers from Sydney via Bromley electro-dub producer Jeff Dread. Part of the city’s burgeoning network of blunted bass and sound system culture, Dread worked in parallel with the likes of Sheriff Lindo, Andy Rantzen and Ali Omar, issuing two dynamite albums on Creative Vibes in 1999 and 2001. Utilising the Atari 1020 Ste, Dread would frantically live mix up to 9 tracks direct to CD-R, echoing the same rough and ready low tech intuition as Jamaican trailblazers King Tubby, Scientist and Jack Ruby and their UK-based disciples Jah Shaka, Adrian Sherwood and Mad Professor. While unmarked discs of his indulgently durational sessions litter the archives, this plate showcases versions immortalised by two crucial compilation CDs. Wicked stepper ‘Dub The Farmer’s Daughter’ burrows the ear canal with its addictive melodica and tightly coiled acid synth lines, edited for high impact by Sheriff Lindo for his volume of Dub For the Masses (Dread would curate its successor), while ‘Out On A Limb’ hails from Just Is, a double album sequenced by legendary Sydney queer party crew Club Kooky. A bass bin creeper that was extended with horns for his second longplayer Return From Alpha One, it’s this unembellished work in progress that really stings. With Dread’s allegiance to local sound system heavyweights Firehouse, these totally brained studio jams are tried and tested weapons, finally blasting on the sacred 7” format.

Originally released in 2005, Insen is the second collaboration album between Alva Noto and Ryuichi Sakamoto and the second installment of V.I.R.U.S.‘s five albums series. Remastered in 2021 in collaboration with Calyx Studio, the album’s recordings are accompanied by an unreleased composition titled Barco. Initially composed for Alva Noto and Ryuichi Sakamoto’s 2005 Insen tour, the audio material used in this piece is based on the subtle sounds of Barco projectors, whose tonalities served as a ground for the artists’ live improvisation. In Insen, Alva Noto and Ryuichi Sakamoto explore the potential for interaction and tension between electronic and acoustic instrumentation. Across eight compositions, the echoes of the cascading piano combine, collide, and dissolve with the tapestry of digital breakages in sheer vibrancy. This relationship lies at the album’s core. It subtly continues Vrioon‘s calm melancholia, becoming a vessel for all the emotions and memories nourished by the listener. As you hear the opening, lonesome notes of Aurora, you realize that the pair have once again conceded an ambition to embed elaborate disciplines into an archetypal sound of soul-searching beauty. Album art designed by Carsten Nicolai Mastering by Bo @ Calyx

"E2-E4" released in 1984 under the name of Manuel Göttsching is a popular masterpiece at our company, but this is also the second masterpiece of Ash Ra Tempel released 12 years ago, which is also a representative of Krautrock. It can be called a board! In commemoration of the 50th anniversary, it reappeared from his own label in 2021 under the supervision of Manuel Göttsching. Released on in 1972, the band at the time was joined by Wolfgang Müller, Manuel Göttsching and Hartmut Enke, after Klaus Schulze left the band after his self-titled debut album (1971). It was made. It is composed of two parts, and the first half "Light And Darkness" is a chaotic psychedelic world. Manuel Göttsching strumming a bluesy guitar, and guest-participating John L.'s vocals add to the trip! And the latter half "Schwingungen" is a world of silence that contrasts with the first half. This track, named "Vibration", is a trip ambient with a fantastic reverberation and euphoria. A vivid and intense work left by Ash Ra Tempel, who was in drug culture at the time! !! Gate fold specification with stickers. Comes with a special insert printed with a copy of the original metronome press release issued in 1972.

Made up of two long improvisations each of over 22mn, “L'Œil” on side A and “Vision” on side B, this “Workshop” by Jef Gilson, with the gifted young saxophonist Philippe Maté, plunges you into the depths, attempting to drown you in electronic waves, dragging you back to the surface by the collar, giving you a good shakedown, before showing you the light, leaving you breathless on the shore after 46mn of the most intense music French has to offer. In October 1974, the first number of “L'Indépendant du Jazz”, a small self-produced magazine DIY -before punk supposedly invented the concept- was launched by Jef Gilson, Gérard Terronès, Jean-Jacques Pussiau and a few other specialists of a different kind of jazz in France, it looked at the already long career of Jef Gilson and in detail at the album with saxophonist Philippe Maté : “The ‘Workshop’ is, with Philippe Maté (alto-sax), an undeniable success. Maté is genuinely ‘the’ most inventive French saxophonist since Michel Portal burst onto the jazz scene (who has also worked with Jef Gilson on both “Enfin” and “Gaveau”).” Even though the author of the article is a mysterious I.H. Dubiniou, and it is difficult to know if it is a real person or a pseudonym used by one of the merry bunch, it is also tempting to hear it as what Jef Gilson really thought about his new discovery. Even more so as the two men would work together over a long period, as Maté became one of the key figures of Gilson’s Europamerica orchestra up until the 1980s. Philippe Maté had started to make a name for himself with the Acting Trio when they released an album on the BYG label in 1969, and he was also one of the regular sidemen for the Saravah studios (he can notably be heard on albums by Higelin, Fontaine or his cult duo album with Daniel Vallancien). The album was recorded on 4 February 1972, at the Foyer de Montorgueuil, where Gilson had set up his studio, with more or less the same team found on “La Marche Dans Le Désert” by Sahib Shihab + Gilson Unit (recorded ten days later). This was drummer Jean-Claude Pourtier and pianist Pierre Moret (regular Gilson accomplices since “Le Massacre Du Printemps”), alongside Maurice Bouhana and Bruno Di Gioa on various percussions and/or wind instruments. On bass is Didier Levallet, of the now mythical Perception, (Jean-François Catoire would replace him with Shihab) and Philippe Maté who took top billing, rather than the American saxophonist afterwards. The two albums are however quite different. This “Workshop” is more abrasive, more free. Made up of two long improvisations each of over 22mn, “L'Œil” on side A and “Vision” on side B (Gilson specialists would recognise the nod to one of his albums from the 60s), the album plunges you into the depths, attempting to drown you in electronic waves, dragging you back to the surface by the collar, giving you a good shakedown, before showing you the light, leaving you breathless on the shore after 46mn of the most intense music French has to offer. “An undeniable success”, they said.

Linkwood returns to AOTN in 2022 with Stereo, the follow up and part two, to his killer and hyper focussed LP Mono, which turned heads in 2021. All recorded live at the AOTN studio, he's kept the essence of the first LP which worked so well, but moved it on in a much deeper direction. Fusing many of his influences, Boogie, Detroit and early 80's synth joints to name a few, stereo has its own identity and showcases Linkwoods ability to write and produce on the fly but maintain that warm, fuzzy and intricate sound we all love him for.

** 1st pressing- restricted to 1500 units **An unbelievable post-punk shuffler from 1981, by Tel-Aviv-Brussels band Minimal Compact! This tune is one of our favorite tracks ever and we've been wanting to reissue it since day one. But this is no ordinary reissue! The 12'' includes an unreleased instrumental version plus a spaced-out extended dub mix by the living legend, Mad Professor! Killer stuff as ever from the Fortuna Records crew!!!

First ever vinyl reissue of this French free jazz nugget from Sahib Shihab & Jef Gilson Unit Remastered from the master tapes * Paris, February 1972. A few months after having released Le Massacre du Printemps, Jef Gilson was back behind his keyboards for a completely different experience. Heading up his Unit, he was joined by Sahib Shihab, ex- partner to Gillespie, Monk and Coltrane, for a brief stroll in the desert. For three-quarters of an hour, the caravan passes by, evoking, one after the other, Pharoah Sanders and Alice Coltrane, Pierre Henry and Karlheinz Stockhausen... Oh yes, and one other thing, we forgot to mention that Shihab’s saxophone is... amplified.

La marche dans le désert, (The Walk in the Desert) is first and foremost the meeting of two iconoclastic musicians: Jef Gilson, pianist who tried his hand in all forms of jazz (bebop, choral, modal, free, fusion...) collaborating with emblematic American musicians (Walter Davis Jr., Woody Shaw, Nathan Davis...) or French musicians who were on their way to becoming so (Jean-Luc Ponty, Bernard Lubat, Michel Portal, Henri Texier...), and Sahib Shihab...

Shihab is one of the many black American jazzmen who found refuge in Europe. After having played in the bands of Fletcher Henderson and Roy Eldridge, the saxophonist worked with Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, Art Blakey and Tadd Dameron. He came to the old continent with the Quincy Jones orchestra, spent a few years in Copenhagen, returned to Los Angeles, then came back to Europe. When he met Jef Gilson, in February 1972, the saxophonist was happily touring with the Clarke-Boland Big Band.

La marche dans le désert, is therefore the opportunity for this supporting player to show what he was capable of. And it was some opportunity: with Gilson and his Unit (Pierre Moret on keyboards and Jean-Claude Pourtier on drums, with whom the pianist had just recorded Le massacre du printemps, but also with Jef Catoire on double bass, and Bruno Di Gioia and Maurice Bouhana on flute and percussion respectively), Shihab got maximum exposure.

To mark the occasion, he put aside his baritone saxophone to play a soprano... varitone. The amplified instrument, while losing nothing of its natural sound, was capable of generating the same presence as Gilson’s electronic keyboards. And it would change the face of modal jazz: in a forest of percussion, Shihab and Gilson go on a sensual walkabout that will remain with listeners for long after. Between the two takes of Mirage, Shihab, this time on baritone again, takes up the mantle once more of a style of jazz he was unable to strictly define: “For me there is only one type of music: good”. Let’s make one thing clear from the outset: La marche dans le désert, is definitely good.

Liner notes by Mats Gustafsson: Alone at night. Large church room. Lots of air. Stone. Wood. Glass. Quietness. Stillness. The dead and the alive. Surroundedness. Existentialistic matters spinning. Peaceful state of mind. The dialectic equilibrium of complete stillness and deeper thoughts on contra- resistance on local and global levels. Fighting (y)our stupidities. Contra. I have never ever before gotten myself into such an unusual setting for a recording project. And yet, so simple. So naked. So peaceful. Alone at night. As we all are. I borrowed the keys to the beautiful church of Gustafsberg, from my neighbor Rune. I went there at midnight. Set up my recording gear. Old school DAT machine, tube pre-amps and two AKG 414s in an extreme stereo set-up, close to the horn. The horn of choice. The contrabass sax. The monstrous sax-machine “Tubax” made by the German engineer Benedikt Eppelsheim at the turn of the century. I sat down in the first row of benches. Breathing. Preparing. Contemplating. The saxophone positioned in the very middle of the church, close to the altar. More than 6 hours straight of low-end sax noise and many breaks later: the sun set. At around 7 am… I was done. I was alone the whole night. And yet, not all alone. Some things were going on in that church. In that room. I kid you not. Never audible. But strongly felt. Whatever presence of the old or new gods - old and new dreams - it effected the music and my mind. I let it happen. I let it all flow. Alone at night. There is nothing to explain. -Mats Gustafsson 2003/ 2021

Hot second drop of jazz fire led by saxophonist Julian Siegel, and underpinned by the deftly muscular rhythm section of Leon Brichard and Gene Calderazo, recorded live at Mu, Kingsland Road, Dalston. Another sureshot from London’s Ill Considered Music label, whose collective counts Idris Rahman and Leon Brichard among a broader rotating assembly of free improvisers, this one attests to their midsummer ’22 show with an upfront, live, room recording witnessing Brichard and Rahman, plus drummer Calderazo sweeping between rousing, swarming spiritual jazz impulses and a more self-contained 2nd half. Quick on the heels of their April performance at the same venue, the July show shuffles the line-up to feature Brichard on double bass, not electric, with Bruno Heinen joining on piano, and swapping out Rahman for Julien Siegel on tenor sax. The asymmetric twin engine of Calderazo/Brichard’s rhythm section are loosely attuned in roiling, diffractive syncopation to propel the darting quick/slow melodies of Siegel and Heinen’s flourishing keys in the lusher first part, before they come deeper inside the pocket on the proceeding part of pent hush and bluesy swag, prepping the way for Heinen’s keys to really take centre stage in a quietly rapturous and woozy finale.