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Bruno Berle is a singer, songwriter, producer, multi-instrumentalist and figurehead of a contemporary Brazilian music movement. With a quiet mastery of songwriting and an astonishing voice, his music has won hearts around the world. Since the release of his debut album No Reino Dos Afetos (2022), Berle has performed across the UK, Europe, Japan, South Korea, and China, only leaving his home country for the first time in 2023. Shaped by these journeys, Berle’s third studio album, Sem Fronteiras (Without Borders), reflects a utopian vision of a unified world. Recorded across London, São Paulo, Minas Gerais, Germany, and Maceió, the album–co-produced alongside his longstanding musical partner Batata Boy–is the most expansive canvas Berle has worked on to date. Shot through with the imagery that has always animated his songwriting: open skies, morning light, vivid colours and the magic of human connection, Berle’s carefully crafted poetics and warm, delicate instrumentation drive this vivid body of work. “I came from nothing”–Berle doesn’t take his rise to global prominence for granted. Born to a working class family from Brazil’s northeastern Alagoas state, one of Brazil’s most economically deprived, Bruno moved frequently in his youth to follow any job opportunities his parents could find, before eventually settling in the coastal capital of Maceió. “I used to travel to Caruaru, Santa Cruz, Recife, Garanhuns, Arapiraca, which I loved and feel it made me ready to be in this rhythm i’, but at the same time I think not having friends from childhood and being in constant change made me a little numb to the constant upheaval”. On Sem Fronteiras, there is a similar duality at play. The album celebrates the collective joy and human connection that live touring brings, but it also sits with the darker realities of crossing borders. While music moves more freely around the world than ever before, our bodies are not granted the same privilege. Though he’s never lacked self-belief, Berle recognises that talent alone doesn’t guarantee opportunity. “Before my second album [No Reino Dos Afetos 2] everything I had ever recorded was made with the help and kindness of people who believed in my ability”. Determined to pay that kindness forward and help others from the sharp end of Brazil’s desperately unequal society, Berle produced and featured on the recent self-titled albums by his northeast Brazilian compatriots, Nyron Higor and Phylipe Nunes Araújo (both 2025), helping propel both onto the international stage. In turn, following the successes of Nyron & Phylipe’s albums alongside his own, Bruno finds himself at the forefront of a thriving community of artists now based in São Paulo, but primarily originating from northeastern states like Alagoas and Pernambuco. Much like the famed Clube Da Esquina movement that spawned in 1970’s Minas Gerais, they operate with a free-exchange of ideas, writing songs with and for each other, performing on each other’s albums and on the live circuit together. Lead single ‘Manha’ flows from this ethos. It was written by Berle’s friend and fellow Alagoan João Menezes (writer of ‘Ate Meu Violao’ and ‘Te Amar Eterno’ from Bruno’s previous albums) and Marvin Viera, and originally recorded on their 2018 album Areia e Mar. Sem Fronteiras opens with ‘Você Já Sabe Que Eu Te Amo’, just six beats of one nylon guitar chord ring out before changing key, paving the way for the gentle strike of fender rhodes and the arresting call & response duet between Berle and Higor. On ‘Amor Inteiro’, the album reaches a celebratory burst of catharsis, with the punch-packing drums of Pedro Lacerda and Nina Maia’s joyous backing vocals encapsulating the live energy that Berle and his band bring to the stage. With the abundant talents of this musical community at its heart, Sem Fronteiras releases 10th July 2026 via Far Out Recordings, supported by a summer tour across Europe. Bruno Berle will perform in a four-piece band alongside Nyron Higor, Phylipe Nunes, and Batata Boy, culminating in an appearance at Roskilde festival, Berle’s biggest live show to date. He’ll continue to carry a hopeful vision of a world where artists and musicians can move as freely as their music flows.
Joyce & Tutty Moreno, the legendary architects of Brazilian sophisticated samba, have partnered with Adrian Younge to complete JID027—a deeply emotional album born from tragedy. Set in motion by the endorsement of their late friend João Donato, the project became a tribute to him following his sudden passing. The result is a breathtaking collection of improvisation, poetry, and resilience.
Vinyl reissue of the most acclaimed album by Brazil’s legendary female vocal quartet. Originally released in 1972, this LP captures the group at their creative peak, featuring sophisticated arrangements by Edu Lobo and Luiz Eça (Tamba Trio).A post-bossa gem filled with stunning vocal harmonies and standout tracks like their take on Milton Nascimento’s ‘Tudo Que Você Podia Ser,’ plus ‘Quando o Carnaval Chegar’ and ‘Canto de Obá.’A landmark of MPB, long out of print and highly sought after by collectors of Brazilian music, bossa nova, and 70s vocal pop. 180g vinyl reissue.
Brazilian singer, poet, guitarist Joao Gilberto made his 1959 debut with the now legendary LP, ‘Chega de Saudade’, a new sound and acknowledge as the first bossa nova album, a genre that swept the world in popularity and taken up by such artists as Stan Getz, Charly Byrd, Astrud Gilberto, Frank Sinatra, Quincy Jones, and countless others. Presented here is essentially a themed compilation of some of his best songs, including tracks from his acclaimed debut LP, ‘Chega de Saudade’.
A longtime favorite among Brazilian music collectors! Trio Ternura’s ‘A Gira’, originally released in 1973, blends mid-tempo grooves with percussive funk and soul in a way that feels effortlessly timeless. We're excited to make this incredible single available once again, cut at 45 RPM and remastered from the original tapes. *****AUDIO*****: www.youtube.com/watch?v=UATvde65bzI ¡Uno de los singles favoritos entre los coleccionistas de música brasileña! ‘A Gira’, del Trio Ternura, publicado originalmente en 1973, combina ritmos de tempo medio con funk y soul percusivo de una forma que resulta atemporal. Nos alegra poder ofrecer de nuevo este increíble single, cortado a 45 RPM y remasterizado a partir de las cintas originales.
Marcos Valle is one of those artists you simply can’t overlook if you have even apassing interest in Brazilian music. Whether your taste leans toward bossa jazz, samba,psychedelic folk, or modern soul, Valle has surely recorded a great album for you. By thelate 1960s he had already released enough outstanding records to secure a place amongthe greatest Brazilian artists of all time, but fortunately his career didn’t stop there. Hehas continued recording fabulous albums over the following decades, right up to thepresent day.This second album by Marcos Valle (1965) is one of the foundational works of bossanova. In fact, the record includes one of the most widely heard and covered Braziliansongs in history: ‘Samba de Verão.’ In addition to his work as a composer—alongside hisbrother Paulo Sergio—Marcos Valle also begins to reveal himself here as a great singer,with a soft, almost fragile voice, while his acoustic guitar recreates the same intimacy ofthe nighttime atmosphere in which he composed most of the songs.The arrangements were co-written with Eumir Deodato, with the participation of otherrenowned Brazilian musicians, and they surround Valle’s compositions with elegant stringorchestrations, bossa rhythms, and jazzy touches of swing. Highlights include thesophisticated beauty of songs like ‘Preciso Aprender a Ser Só,’ the rhythmic 3/4 feel oftracks such as ‘Seu Encanto,’ and the powerful ‘Deus Brasileiro.’First vinyl reissue in over 50 years! Pressed on 180g vinyl.
Essential 1969 album from Gal Costa, one of the defining voices of the Tropicalia movement. It showcases a bold fusion of psychedelia, Brazilian pop, rock, and samba, featuring standout tracks like Caetano Veloso’s ‘Baby’ and Caetano and Gilberto Gil’s ‘Divino Maravilhoso,’ as well as songs written by other iconic artists such as Jorge Ben and Erasmo Carlos. A timeless classic that still sounds fresh and relevant.
Brazilian avant-jazz vanguardists Grupo Um celebrate their 50th anniversary, sharing a second previously lost 1970s album from the vaults. Nineteen Seventy Seven (titled after the year it was recorded) is another rip-roaring instrumental fusion treasure from the band which spawned from within Hermeto Pascoal’s famed mid-1970s São Paulo collective.
Like their debut album Starting Point, Grupo Um’s Nineteen Seventy Seven was recorded when Brazil's military dictatorship was at its most repressive. “There were no open doors to those who dreamt to be protagonists in creative instrumental music”, remembers drummer Zé Eduardo Nazario, “even popular composers and singers had to submit their songs to censors and many records were banned and confiscated from the stores.”
Just like Hermeto Pascoal's Viajando Com O Som (1977) and Grupo Um's previous album Starting Point (1975), both of which remained unreleased until the 21st century, Zé Eduardo asserts that the 1977 album was flatly 'without any chance to be released at that time."
Recorded at Rogério Duprat’s Vice-Versa Studios in São Paulo, the group were under both time and space restraints, “we chose the small Studio B,” Lelo Nazario recalls, “which had a Tascam (TE AC) 12x8 console and a 4-channel AMPEX AG 440 machine. Therefore, we had to record without overdubs, everything straight to tape.”
Expanding from a trio to a quintet, original Grupo Um members Lelo Nazario (keys), Zé Eduardo Nazario (drums), and Zeca Assumpção (bass) were joined by saxophonist Roberto Sion and percussionist Carlinhos Gonçalves. Carlinhos, Zé and Zeca had already played together in the group Mandala, while brothers Lelo and Zé had just finished a stint backing Hermeto Pascoal during his years in São Paulo.
Lelo was deeply immersed in modular synthesizer experimentation during this period, working extensively with the ARP2600 and EMS Synthi AKS. These electroacoustic explorations formed the sonic foundation for "Mobile/Stabile," one of his first compositions to merge modular synthesis with Brazilian music, a fusion that would ripple throughout the Brazilian jazz scene. The piece premiered at the first São Paulo International Jazz Festival in 1978, performed by Grupo Um with guest trumpeter Márcio Montarroyos. In a shocking moment, festival organizers interrupted the show mid-performance, sparking fierce backlash from both audience members and journalists who denounced the incident as artistic censorship during Brazil's era of political and cultural repression. The version on Nineteen Seventy Seven is the first recording of the composition.
Nineteen Seventy Seven combines Afro-Brazilian rhythm, modular synthesis and a plethora of whistles, percussion and effects pedals. Album opener “Absurdo Mudo” - so titled for the absurd difficulty it poses to the musicians performing it - starts out in a cloud of mysterious dissonance, before the haze breaks for a glorious keyboard and saxophone interplay atop an uptempo samba groove. “Cortejo dos Reis Negros (Version 2)” (Procession of the Black Kings), based on the maracatu rhythm, inverts the traditional jazz song structure by beginning with improvisations, which are followed by the theme and a final coda. “The studio also had two Parasound electronic reverb units,” Lelo notes, “and the timbre is very audible on the soprano sax and percussion.”
Grupo Um’s daring music represents a manifesto of resistance during the dictatorship years, but it’s one which remains just as relevant today. As Lelo puts it: “For me, the aesthetic issue has always been about combining contemporary avant-garde languages with Brazilian music, independent of categories and commercial interests. The result of this fusion takes music to a new level.”
Nineteen Seventy Seven will be released for the first time on vinyl LP, CD and digitally on 23rd January 2026 via Far Out Recordings.
Joyce & Tutty Moreno, the legendary architects of Brazilian sophisticated samba, have partnered with Adrian Younge to complete JID027—a deeply emotional album born from tragedy. Set in motion by the endorsement of their late friend João Donato, the project became a tribute to him following his sudden passing. The result is a breathtaking collection of improvisation, poetry, and resilience.
Joyce & Tutty Moreno, the legendary architects of Brazilian sophisticated samba, have partnered with Adrian Younge to complete JID027—a deeply emotional album born from tragedy. Set in motion by the endorsement of their late friend João Donato, the project became a tribute to him following his sudden passing. The result is a breathtaking collection of improvisation, poetry, and resilience.
A year and a half after the release of her already acclaimed album Me Chama De Gato Que Eu Sou Sua, the young and award-winning exponent of the Brazilian music scene releases a double single that ends the album cycle with a flourish. Winner of the São Paulo Association of Art Critics Award for album of the year in Brazil and nominated for a Latin Grammy for “best rock album in Portuguese”; in the US, it received excellent critical and public acclaim, and her show toured 11 countries on three continents, with over 40 sold-out shows. After an intense year of work, Ana returns to the studio to record the 2 songs that were included in the show's repertoire -- A Sua Diversão, by Ana and Tuca Monteiro; and Não Tem Nada Não, by Marcos Valle, Eumir Deodato and João Donato. The single will be released on 7” vinyl by the labels RISCO, MR Bongo and Psychic Hotline in July 2025. “The first time I played Não Tem Nada Não was in a solo show, and I immediately felt that the song should be included in the Me Chama De Gato Que Eu Sou Sua show. For the show of my last album, I decided to reduce the band a bit, remove the horns, so that it could be more flexible and be able to tour more places with it. First, it was a logistical issue. I wanted the new show to be audible… the bass drum, the snare and the hi-hat, the individual pieces and all the instruments. They had to have a lot of emphasis, I wanted everything to be audible. And I felt that in the shows with the big band, something always didn’t come through, it went unnoticed. So I thought of a leaner show so that, sonically, everything would have emphasis. So, these phonograms come as a continuation of Me Chama De Gato live, of the meeting with the band. I wanted to provoke this encounter with the band in a phonographic way. At the same time, it is a more subtle, more neutral phonogram than my other works. It almost fulfills the function of a live performance, the representation of a live performance, of an arrangement for the band. “A Sua Diversão, on the other hand, is an unreleased song, written in partnership with Tuca Monteiro, which I had been playing at some Me Chama De Gato shows… However, since it was an unreleased song, I didn’t see much point in releasing it alone, and at the same time, I didn’t know where to fit it. So, when I started considering recording Não Tem Nada Não, which is a song by my idols… I have this in my career, I don’t re-record idols, I don’t consider myself an interpreter, I’m a composer… So when I decided to record Não Tem Nada Não, I was racking my brains to make it natural in my discography, as someone who is a composer, who is a music producer. So A Sua Diversão came in perfectly, as a counterpoint, as a fitting, in a great farewell to Me Chama De Gato… “These are definitely songs that don’t point the way, but rather close a cycle. They reflect research based on live performances, on the MCGQESS shows, which will be celebrating their farewell in Brazil this year. The two tracks occupy a similar place in my discography to Mama Planta Baby and Mulher Homem Bicho, but different because without the pandemic factor, without the home studio, now recorded live, with a band.”
Bruno Berle is a singer, songwriter, producer, multi-instrumentalist and figurehead of a contemporary Brazilian music movement. With a quiet mastery of songwriting and an astonishing voice, his music has won hearts around the world. Since the release of his debut album No Reino Dos Afetos (2022), Berle has performed across the UK, Europe, Japan, South Korea, and China, only leaving his home country for the first time in 2023. Shaped by these journeys, Berle’s third studio album, Sem Fronteiras (Without Borders), reflects a utopian vision of a unified world. Recorded across London, São Paulo, Minas Gerais, Germany, and Maceió, the album–co-produced alongside his longstanding musical partner Batata Boy–is the most expansive canvas Berle has worked on to date. Shot through with the imagery that has always animated his songwriting: open skies, morning light, vivid colours and the magic of human connection, Berle’s carefully crafted poetics and warm, delicate instrumentation drive this vivid body of work. “I came from nothing”–Berle doesn’t take his rise to global prominence for granted. Born to a working class family from Brazil’s northeastern Alagoas state, one of Brazil’s most economically deprived, Bruno moved frequently in his youth to follow any job opportunities his parents could find, before eventually settling in the coastal capital of Maceió. “I used to travel to Caruaru, Santa Cruz, Recife, Garanhuns, Arapiraca, which I loved and feel it made me ready to be in this rhythm i’, but at the same time I think not having friends from childhood and being in constant change made me a little numb to the constant upheaval”. On Sem Fronteiras, there is a similar duality at play. The album celebrates the collective joy and human connection that live touring brings, but it also sits with the darker realities of crossing borders. While music moves more freely around the world than ever before, our bodies are not granted the same privilege. Though he’s never lacked self-belief, Berle recognises that talent alone doesn’t guarantee opportunity. “Before my second album [No Reino Dos Afetos 2] everything I had ever recorded was made with the help and kindness of people who believed in my ability”. Determined to pay that kindness forward and help others from the sharp end of Brazil’s desperately unequal society, Berle produced and featured on the recent self-titled albums by his northeast Brazilian compatriots, Nyron Higor and Phylipe Nunes Araújo (both 2025), helping propel both onto the international stage. In turn, following the successes of Nyron & Phylipe’s albums alongside his own, Bruno finds himself at the forefront of a thriving community of artists now based in São Paulo, but primarily originating from northeastern states like Alagoas and Pernambuco. Much like the famed Clube Da Esquina movement that spawned in 1970’s Minas Gerais, they operate with a free-exchange of ideas, writing songs with and for each other, performing on each other’s albums and on the live circuit together. Lead single ‘Manha’ flows from this ethos. It was written by Berle’s friend and fellow Alagoan João Menezes (writer of ‘Ate Meu Violao’ and ‘Te Amar Eterno’ from Bruno’s previous albums) and Marvin Viera, and originally recorded on their 2018 album Areia e Mar. Sem Fronteiras opens with ‘Você Já Sabe Que Eu Te Amo’, just six beats of one nylon guitar chord ring out before changing key, paving the way for the gentle strike of fender rhodes and the arresting call & response duet between Berle and Higor. On ‘Amor Inteiro’, the album reaches a celebratory burst of catharsis, with the punch-packing drums of Pedro Lacerda and Nina Maia’s joyous backing vocals encapsulating the live energy that Berle and his band bring to the stage. With the abundant talents of this musical community at its heart, Sem Fronteiras releases 10th July 2026 via Far Out Recordings, supported by a summer tour across Europe. Bruno Berle will perform in a four-piece band alongside Nyron Higor, Phylipe Nunes, and Batata Boy, culminating in an appearance at Roskilde festival, Berle’s biggest live show to date. He’ll continue to carry a hopeful vision of a world where artists and musicians can move as freely as their music flows.
Imagine it’s late afternoon, you’re outside by the lake, and there’s sunlight on the water. This is the peaceful and contemplative scene that Matt Gold and Resavoir set on their collaborative LP Horizon. Across 10 lush and exploratory tracks, it’s the product of two Chicago-based musicians—Will Miller, the acclaimed trumpeter, composer, and producer who’s worked with SZA, Whitney, and more, and Gold, a seasoned multi-instrumentalist and accomplished guitarist—effortlessly combining their distinct sensibilities for something hypnotic and tangibly inviting. What started as a love letter to their shared admiration for ‘60s and ‘70s Brazilian music evolved into a dynamic and sprawling body of work. These sunny and expansive tunes are as immersive as they are endlessly replayable.
Both Miller and Gold attended Oberlin College’s Conservatory of Music together and in the years after graduating, they orbited each other around Chicago’s music communities. “We were showing up for each other as friends and taking an interest in each other's projects, noticing a lot of resonances and similarities working within in our music,” says Gold, who’s collaborated with artists like Makaya McCraven and Jamila Woods and stretched the bounds of jazz and Americana on solo albums Imagined Sky and Midnight Choir. “We had talked so much about eventually working together that it was almost like an ongoing bit at a certain point,” says Miller. Though they had known each other for over a decade, they first had their chance on “Inside Minds,” the breezy lead single on 2023’s Resavoir. While those sessions were remote, two had palpable chemistry.
It wasn’t until Miller left the touring band of the Chicago group Whitney in 2023 that their plans to make music together in person came to fruition. “When I first started Resavoir, I was chasing the desire to produce records and now that I had time to focus exclusively on that, Matt was the first person I called to come to the studio,” says Miller. The two had bonded over an admiration for the Brazilian guitarist Luis Bonfa and songwriter Milton Nascimento, especially the latter’s work with Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter, so they decided to use nylon string guitar as a starting point for these early sessions. “Canopy,” which opens Horizon, was the earliest track. Kicking off with bright acoustic chords, the song slowly unfurls into a slinking groove, samples, and fluttering leads from soprano saxophonist Tim Bennett.
As these initial experiments proved successful, Gold and Miller felt they could broaden the scope of their vision. “We were initially conceiving of it as this acoustic guitar driven record but eventually we wanted to frame it orchestrally and see how many shades and colors we can bring in around that sound,” says Gold. “Dewy” thrives within this orchestral palette of woozy synths, strings from Macie Stewart, Claire Chenette’s oboe, flautist Wills McKenna, and French horns from Lloyd Billingham. “We discovered that our multi-instrumentalist mentalities—using piano and bass, samplers, drum grooves, guitar ideas all as starting points— nurtured the broad orchestration across this record,” says Miller.
“The LP took about a year with on-and-off sessions,” says Miller. “The songs benefit from letting them ferment for a couple months, coming back to it, and seeing what sort of new flavors have developed.” Co-produced by Miller and Gold (and mixed by Dave Vettraino), Horizon proudly reflects the artists’ vast artistic community and musical network in Chicago and beyond. Along with Gold, Eddie Burns (Clairo), Peter Mannheim (Tony Glausi), and Carter Lang (SZA, Lil Nas X) provide drums and percussion throughout. On the dreamlike single “Diversey Beach,” New York songwriter Mei Semones lends vocals and along with her band members Noah Leong and Claudius Agrippa, collaborated on a mesmerizingly conversational string arrangement. “We wrote "Diversey Beach" on the coldest day of the year watching a blizzard coming down out of the window, where the sounds of the cars driving by sounded like waves crashing on a beach,” says Miller. “I sent it to Mei Semones, who I’ve been a fan of for a long time. She's absolutely incredible and it’s amazing what she did with it.”
Horizon is a testament to the feeling of endless possibilities that come from collaboration. It’s a remarkable synthesis of two artists who share musical community and an artist lineage but have carved their own paths in unique ways. Nowhere is this more evident than “Hazel Canyon,” which boasts Gold’s silky pedal steel and a subtly enveloping arrangement that evokes Erasmo Carlos. “Musically, we're always trying to capture a fleeting moment of infinite expanse, feeling the vastness of things while knowing they'll always change,” says Gold. “This record keeps the light reflecting on the water just a little longer -- our collaborative process running through the backbone of these songs and rippling out in so many beautiful directions..”
Following on from their seminal Light As A Feather LP, Outubro (October) was originally released in 1980 and began Azymuth’s run of prolific output for Milestone Records throughout the decade. Typifying the consummate craftsmanship of the three members’ performances - each with such distinct personality and together so perfectly balanced - their perfectionist attitude to sound is maintained across the production on the album, beautifully colouring the expressionist fusion of samba rhythm, jazz progression, funk attitude and psychedelic electronics. The album hosts a wonderful mix of tempos and styles, from Alex Malheiros’ earth-shaking slap-bass on ‘Dear Limmertz’, which was to become a hit on London’s underground disco and jazz-dance club scenes alike, to the late maestro Jose Roberto Bertrami’s genial melodic Rhodes excursions on the vocoder laden, samba-jazz masterpiece ‘Un Amigo’, while Ivan ‘Mamao’ Conti’s signature swing on ‘Maracana’ exemplifies the root of Azymuth’s ‘samba doido’ (crazy samba) philosophy. The two cover versions on the album are the title track which was originally penned by Milton Nascimento, and Chick Corea’s, ‘500 Miles High’, both of which magically reimagine the originals and further demonstrate the immense virtuosity of this cult recording.
Clube da Esquina 2 is a 1978 album by Brazilian singer-songwriter Milton Nascimento. The album serves as a continuation to the Clube da Esquina album and retained the collective approach, stylistic diversity, and experimental elements of its predecessor, spread across two LPs. Musically, the album reflects the Brazil’s social contradictions, exploring themes of hope and despair, beauty and hardship, and the tension between historical trauma and uncertain futures. The album featured a broader range of collaborators, including Brazilian artists like Elis Regina, Chico Barque, and Lo Borges.
ALL-TIME CITY POP CLASSIC PRODUCED BY MAKOTO MATSUSHITA IN 1979 AND FEATURING YASUAKI SHIMIZU, RELEASED OUTSIDE OF JAPAN FOR THE FIRST TIME WITH REMASTERED AUDIO, ORIGINAL ARTWORK AND NEW LINER NOTES
Wewantsounds is delighted to present the first official reissue of the highly sought-after 1979 classic, Summer-Time Love Song by The Milky Way. Originally released on the Seven Seas label in Japan and produced by the legendary Makoto Matsushita—the visionary behind the cult masterpiece First Light —the album is a premier example of the sophisticated sound that defined the era. Featuring the cream of Japanese musicians, including Yasuaki Shimizu, the record offers a superb mix of AOR, jazz fusion, funk, and bossa nova. Remastered for vinyl by Colorsound Studio, this deluxe reissue features the original artwork, an OBI strip, and a new introduction by Paul Bowler.
Wewantsounds is delighted to present the first official reissue of one of the most sought-after City Pop albums out of Japan, the 1979 classic Summer-Time Love Song by The Milky Way. Originally released on the Seven Seas label, the album was produced by Makoto Matsushita with Kazuo Nobuta, representing a peak of the sophisticated studio craft that defined the late-70s Japanese transition into high-fidelity AOR and Jazz-Fusion.
The album serves as a vital precursor to Matsushita’s own 1981 cult masterpiece First Light. Here, he and Nobuta lead the cream of Japanese session musicians—including the renowned Yasuaki Shimizu—through a superb mix of AOR, funk, and Brazilian music. From the sun-drenched bossa nova rhythms of the Jobim classic "Wave" to a sophisticated rendition of Boz Scaggs’ classic "Harbor Lights," finishing with the dreamy rhythms of "Endless Summer," the record is a masterclass in elegant funky arrangements and relaxed harmonies.
As music journalist Paul Bowler writes in the liner notes for this release: "Summer-Time Love Song represents a fascinating bridge in Japanese pop history; a moment where the breezy aspirations of the 70s met the meticulous studio perfectionism that would soon take over the world."
This deluxe edition features the original artwork, showcasing classic photography by the cult photographer Shinpei Asai—famed for his iconic work on the Pacific album by Haruomi Hosono, Shigeru Suzuki, and Tatsuro Yamashita. Newly remastered and including its OBI strip, this reissue finally makes one of the most coveted albums of the 70s Japanese scene accessible to Japanese music fans worldwide.
Brazil’s premiere guess-again specialists Lugar Alto have been threatening to unleash this one for a while and here it finally is; compiled by the goat GG Albuquerque and mixed by label enigma Akira Umeda, “My Life is a Movie and In It I Am the Villain” is a compendium of signature DJ drops and idents used in soundsystems from Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo going back to the 1980's and right up to the present day - a genuinely synapse-popping madness that maps the constant evolution of the most vibrant and forward-facing soundsystem cultures of our time... If you've spent any time with Brazilian funk, you'll know the sonorous intros - always larger-than-life, tongue-in-cheek, fluoro-flavoured - almost as important as the songs themselves. You don't have to understand Portuguese to get the message, either; the cacophony of pitch-wonked vocal stims, familiar samples, pop culture references and cheapo effects is borderless in its appeal, a core component of contemporary funk that's just as important as the syncopated tamborzão beat itself. We've copped tracks that are entirely reliant on the "carimbos" (literally "stamps") and "vinhetas" (intros) so we were hoping someone would put together something like this. And Lugar Alto - the Brazilian imprint responsible for releasing those essential DJ Ramon Successo LPs and that shocking Djalma Corrêa anthology - have taken the most impressive approach imaginable, tasking fount of all knowledge and journalist GG Albuquerque (last seen putting together that sick MÉDIO GRAVE tape for Nyege Nyege Tapes) with compiling something from a genuine street's-eye perspective. The mix tells a non-linear, multi-dimensional story of Brazilian sound system culture, using DJ drops, stage calls, adverts, cheeky samples and explosive intros made between the 1980s and 2025. It takes us from the point where local sounds collided with funk, freestyle, electro and Miami bass in the wake of 'Planet Rock’ to the moment the scene eventually evolved into the splintered landscape of bruxaria, ritmado, brega and other sounds that we can interface with today via TikTok and Insta. It's a dense, fittingly psychedelic and suitably impertinent mosaic of references, in-jokes and mind-tickling sonics that's seemingly without beginning or end, a time-fluxing braindump of laugh tracks and aborted rhythmic snaps that's best compared to being airlifted into a Rio street party after being shot with medical-grade ketamine. Within a matter of seconds we get John Williams' 'Star Wars' intro followed by a Portuguese Darth Vader voice and a barrage of buzzing "tuin" effects - and it just gets madder and more frenetic from there. A sort of heatsick parallel narrative to decades of British pirate radio culture, 'Minha Vida...' Is an incredible artefact of a movement that defies easy categorisation, a multi-coloured collage of sounds, humour and idiosyncratic energy that's driven the sound since the very beginning. You can take the boom-cha-cha boom-cha-cha beat, but you can't even begin to mimic the sheer gusto.
A collection of ten hypnotic guitar renditions that dive deeply into the traditional compositional musicality that underpins Harakami’s hallucinatory beatscapes before reconsidering them under a fresh, innovative and engaging new light. River: The Timbre of Guitar #2 Rei Harakami signals a new level of awareness and understanding of both Rei Harakami’s significance and Ayane Shino’s undeniable talent.
Back in stock ! João Gilberto’s 1970 En México captures the bossa nova legend in exile, blending Brazilian classics, boleros, and standards with his signature whisper-soft vocals and minimalist guitar. Recorded during his stay in Mexico City, the album features gems like “Bésame Mucho” and “Ela é Carioca,” offering a delicate, cross-cultural set that highlights Gilberto’s timeless, introspective style.
Rio de Janeiro guitarist and composer Fabiano do Nascimento returns with new album Cavejaz. Cavejaz is a project that stemmed from a hang with renowned Minas Gerais singer/songwriter Jennifer Souza, who suggested that do Nascimento record music with a new connection: the musician Paulo Santos, best known as a member of landmark Brazilian group UAKTI. Collaborators of Paul Simon, Philip Glass, Milton Nascimento, Stewart Copeland, among others, UAKTI became known for crafting their instruments by hand, using all kinds of recycled materials such as pvc pipes, glass, water, sponges, and more. Their artistic manifesto centres around creating minimal music, even as an ensemble. In August 2024, do Nascimento and Paulo Santos began recording at Studio Ilha do Corvo in Belo Horizonte with producer Leo Marques. At the time, Brazil was suffering one of the biggest and widest spread wildfires the country had ever seen, smoke spreading all across South America and causing devastating effects especially in Belo Horizonte. It represented an uncomfortable time for Brazil, provoking widespread discomfort and anxiety, as well as forcing do Nascimento and Santos indoors at the studio and cutting their recording period down to a spare few sessions. "But", writes do Nascimento, "we managed to have a good time still, and to enjoy recording the open and free ideas that would come up. Leo would just hit record, and we would just play." The second part of Cavejaz was recorded in Japan with veteran Japanese musician U-zhaan. The pair performed in concert in a beautiful noh-gaku-doh theater in Tokyo, which was recorded live, with Fabiano ultimately completing the Japan sessions solo at the SALO studio in Oiso. "So the project became a selection of what I recorded in Minas Gerais in studio with Paulo and Jennifer in August 2024, and the rest live in Japan, with one exception being live recording from a concert I performed in Los Angeles with my longtime bandmate, the percussionist Ricardo "Tiki" Pasillas (Salvador). The material made sense together." Despite these disparate backgrounds, Cavejaz is made cohesive by its organic performance and minimalist instrumentation. It is crafted from guitar and handmade percussion, elevated further still by U-zhaan's intuitive additions for the tabla and Tiki's handmade, hybrid percussion set. "The title came from the overall feel of the music and was recommended by my friend Sam Gendel," says do Nascimento. "Kind of sounds like music coming from a cave with water and organic elements." Fabiano do Nascimento is a Brazilian-American guitarist, composer, producer and arranger, currently based in Los Angeles and Tokyo. He performs on various multi-string and multi-tuning (nylon string) guitars. A contemporary artist who is deeply rooted in Brazilian heritage and is known for his unique sound and ever-expansive compositions, borrowing from the traditions of Afro-Samba, Folkloric and Choro while blending elements of jazz, experimental music, and electronica.