MUSIC

A command across genres has distinguished Yasushi Ide’s work as a DJ and producer since emerging from the multi-scene spawning big bang that was Tokyo’s highly influential club milieu of the 1980s. His productions draw variously from hip-hop, dub, house, punk, jazz dance, exotica and electronic music - and at their most expressive, synthesize sensibilities within a single track. The respect Ide’s earned is well evident in the impressive roll call of collaborators he’s accrued over the years - Masters At Work, Tom Verlaine, Don Letts, James Chance, DJ Krush, Pharaoh Sanders, U-ROY, and Bongo Herman, just to name a legendary few. “A Place In the Sun” is in many respects a consummate distillation of Ide’s inspirations and artistry. An exquisitely sparse down-tempo instrumental composed and produced by Ide, it features the unmistakable guitar stylings of Jamaican music giant Ernest Ranglin alongside Takayoshi Matsunaga’s steady bass, Nobuyuki Nakajima’s sparkling Fender Rhodes touches, and Yoko Ota’s tight drum programming. The track’s lovely original incarnation saw release as a Japan-only album cut from Ide’s album 2012 Late Night Blues. But in a serendipitous turn, Love Injection’s Barbie Bertisch and Paul Raffaele encountered “A Place In the Sun” by way of an elusive 1-of-50 dubplate remix by Kaoru Inoue, aka Chari Chari (founder of the SeedsAndGround label, a subsidiary of Kenji Takimi’s respected Crue-L Records) while traveling and gigging in Japan in 2019. Barbie and Paul brought the dubplate back home to New York City, and still buzzing in the afterglow of their Japan trip, promptly fell for its perfect evocation of warmth in all its meanings, and intuitively understood: this should be more widely heard. Now available for worldwide distribution from Love Injection Records in both digital and 7-inch 45 vinyl formats, the Yasushi Ide “A Place In the Sun (Kaoru Inoue Remix)” is paired with the equally gorgeous “A Place In the Sun (Dub).” On the former, Inoue’s treatment largely strips away the track’s beats, anchoring it to a subtle percussion pulse that emphasizes the composition’s irresistible melodic qualities. The latter finds Yoko Ota at the controls restoring and pushing reverb-soaked drums to the forefront of the mix, accentuating Ide’s affection for the sound system aesthetic while exercising just the right amount of spacial arrangement flourishes to inject some brawn amidst the beauty. These serendipitously rediscovered renditions of a back catalog deep cut are just the latest examples of Yasushi Ide’s artistic reach. In addition to recording such acclaimed albums as 2020’s Cosmic Suite and its 2022 sequel (for which Love Injection has remixed a track), his work has spanned music supervision of some 200+ compilations for major labels, artist management, his Grand Gallery shop/gallery proprietorship, and books showcasing the depth of his archival sensibilities, including vintage t-shirt and ephemera curation. Perhaps most inspiring, however, is that Ide is still winning new appreciators and collaborators in unexpected ways four decades into a revered career that continues to evolve and expand.

After his first album on BLESSYOU "Turquoise", Mogwaa aka Seungyoung Lee from Seoul is back with another stellar contribution this time re-visiting his earlier days of musical appreciation in Reggae music. This album is another entirely instrumental work with 8 tracks, effortlessly displaying his confidence in the studio when it comes to dreamy dubbed out ambient sounds intertwined with heavy digi/stepper and even dancehall influences. A refreshing treat to the ear when it comes to contemporary productions as Mogwaa approaches the Jamaican genre with a refined aesthetic of his own. From Korea with much craft and dedication for the music, a pleasure to have him back. Mastered at Manmade mastering.

This is the seminal first studio work by revered dub producer Adrian Sherwood (Ministry, Nine Inch Nails, African Head Charge), engineered by Dennis Bovell (Fela Kuti, The Slits, Orange Juice). Dub From Creation was originally released on pre-On-U Sound label Hitrun in 1978. Recommended for fans of Scientist, King Tubby and the Wackies label. A classic of the genre unavailable on vinyl since original release and now commanding high prices second-hand.

Includes download card for full album plus two bonus tracks, and printed inner sleeve with a new essay by Steve Barker (The Wire Magazine/BBC Radio) telling the story of the recording in full.

Founded in 1981 in Britain's second city Birmingham, the band Sceptre were part of a thriving local music scene, a scene that for the most part revolved around live shows in the region's community centres, university campuses, pubs and nightclubs. Neglected by major labels, many bands went unrecorded and of those that did get documented most managed to release just one or two singles. Fortunately, Sceptre recorded and released an entire album, 1984's “Essence of Redemption Ina Dif'rent Styley”. Poorly pressed, in very small numbers and with limited distribution, the album didn't sell well and barely made an impact on its release. However, whatever its problems the music itself was first class and over the last three decades, has acquired numerous fans and an ever growing reputation as a classic of the British reggae genre. Whilst still remaining underground and unknown to the vast majority of reggae fans, demand amongst those in the know has been such that used copies have fetched as much as £180. As part of our mission to document and reissue Britain's lost, forgotten and unreleased reggae heritage, Sceptre were high on our list of projects. Through the good offices of Black Symbol who had released Sceptre's previous two recordings on “Black Symbol Presents Handsworth Explosion Volume One”, (also reissued on Reggae Archive Records), we were introduced to Jean McLean and able to get the band members approval and cooperation with this project. Musically this is one of the strongest UK albums there is, with not a single weak track and many stand outs. Six of the ten songs are roots, varying between a classic roots sound based on a 1970s Jamaican blue print on “Essence of Redemption”, “Nuclear Disaster”, “Soul Searching” and “Pestilence and Bombing” to a more contemporary UK feel on “Right Time Coming,” whilst “Get Up And Go” incorporates a funk feel into the mix. Three of the tunes, “Play the Music”, “Me on My Own” and “Goodbye” are Lovers Rock with Jean McLean taking over lead vocal duties from the men, whilst Jean's sister Beverley aka Rankin Bev demonstrates her MC skills on the dancehall orientated “Ina Dif'rent Styley”. The album is brim full of great tracks and not only showcases the band's versatility, but also what talented songwriters and musicians they were. The fact that it didn't enjoy greater success and get heard by the reggae audience at large is a travesty we can finally put right. Sceptre's “Essence of Redemption Ina Dif'rent Styley” is reissued by Reggae Archive Records on 20th October 2014 and will be available on premium quality vinyl, CD and digital download from all leading outlets. To coincide with this release our sister label Sugar Shack Records is releasing former Sceptre guitarist, horn player, keyboard player and vocalist Jean McLean's new album “Everlasting” on the same date. credits

Rio Arriba is the sophomore album from Chancha Via Circuito, who molds local South American rhythms into global artistry. Rio Arriba bubbles up from the Andes like percussive lava, seething as it is soothing. Layers of drums play out like water and earth battling heat - heat brought by Chancha Via Circuito. Chancha has forged a path from his town outside the urban sprawl of Buenos Aires in the east of Argentina up across the border with Bolivia and into the Northern hemisphere where he's bringing new fans to native drum traditions. In his first release, Rodante, Chancha took cumbia into uncharted territory retrofitting the Latin rhythm for a worldly audience. With Rio Arriba, South American folklore takes the reins and, under Chancha’s steady hand, obscure backwoods rhythms take on a top shelf lifestyle as folklore hits the club. Cumbia made Chancha’s first album Rodante a stand out, Rio Arriba takes his sound primal, rooted in rhythm, but worldwide in scope. With recent remixes of The Ruby Suns (Sub Pop) and Gotan Project (Ya Basta/XL Recordings), Chancha proves his production can cross continents and pollinate. Rio Arriba annihilates the obvious - it's a fresh breeze from the city of good air flooding the urban habitat, sending you dancing upstream.

Hostile Environment is the first album in over forty years from the legendary Creation Rebel, who were the original On-U Sound house band and responsible for classics such as Dub from Creation and Starship Africa. The trio of Crucial Tony, Eskimo Fox and Magoo are back with producer Adrian Sherwood to create a modern spin on their heavyweight dubwise rhythms.

It is the seventh album credited to the group, who originally coalesced as a live backing group for the late, great Prince Far I, in the process sharing stages with the likes of The Clash, The Slits and Don Cherry. Vocals from their former band leader, preserved on archive tapes, feature on the new record, as well as guest contributions from the likes of Cyrus Richards (musical director for Horace Andy and the Dub Asante Band), Italian synth maestro Gaudi, and fast chat king Daddy Freddy.

The album title refers to former British Prime Minister Theresa May’s controversial policy towards asylum seekers, and the recent Windrush scandal, all too relevant to a group of musicians of Jamaican origin who have spent their whole lives operating in the darkening shadow of a former colonial power with a staggeringly short memory for historic wrongs.

What comprises a dream? An astral plane of our own making where thoughts, love, and desires of the inner mind abound with irreverence - ripe with connection & perspective beyond constraints of time, set, and setting. Azu Tiwaline exists within the wonders of these interstitial worlds, diving deeper towards inner sanctums of mystic imagination, sublime intrigue, & profound understanding on her second full length LP “The Fifth Dream”. Released again through her beloved partnership with I.O.T Records, “The Fifth Dream” finds Azu painting an expansive vision towards unified multitudes, mercurial realities, & abundant inner sanctums. Where her first album “Draw Me a Silence” was a loving ode to her family & upbringing in the form of an elegant diptych, “The Fifth Dream" is the enactment of actualizing her roots into new routes, taking her multifaceted identity into new means of communication towards herself, the world, & the cosmic unknowns that surround her. Throughout The Fifth Dream’s 54-minute runtime, we hear all elements of the uniquely transcendental sound that Azu is beloved for worldwide. “Antennae Opening”, “Blowing Flow”, & “Amen Dub” embody her talents for tectonic, dubwise soundscapes that channel the innately maternal elements of bassweight into bold & abstracted pulsations, indebted to the most psychedelic & body activating ends of dubstep. Still attuned to the spatial awareness of dub sonics but giving way to the hypnotic syncopation & synaptic frequencies of techno, “Reptilian Waves”, “Long Hypnosis”, & “Mei Long” bring forth her spectacular expertise for entheogenic rave rhythms - guiding us warmly towards trance-inducing hyper states of dance & delight. Fluctuating between an adventurous velocity and enveloping stasis, the expansive abyssal planes of “Golden Dawn”, “Night in Palm Tree”, & “Canope Imaginaire” conjures a wondrously invigorating rhythmic enlightenment & celestial comprehension - simultaneously moving us forward, inwards, & outwards through Azu’s uniquely omnidirectional & kaleidoscopic musical visions. Adorned with sampled field recordings of her deeply inspiring home in the desert of El Djerid in South Tunisia, Azu opens a portal into the synergistic inner sanctums of being, self, and the world around us that’s essential to her work as an artist - from the macro levels of humanity’s naturally intimate connection to the Earth we share, down to each of our own micro levels of culture, ancestry, and belonging. All of this is alchemized through a combination of timeless Saharan knowledge & modern cybernetic tools, creating new dimensions of bewitching, euphonious sonic energy. This is music that gives back as much as the listener wants to give themselves unto it - detailed and layered, orbiting a steady core as ethereal swirls and intonations of the natural world embrace us warmly within a spellbinding journey. 8 of the album’s 9 tracks feature a deep level of collaboration from innovative Franco-Iranian percussionist Cinna Peyghamy. Cinna’s use of Tombak, the principle drum of Iranian music throughout time, is beautifully sonorous - channeling the passion of centuries of Southwest Asian rhythm & expression into his own personalized flourishes, with Azu adding her own electrifying frequencies & undiluted artistic freedom to their shared interplay. This profoundly communicative diasporic essence is transmuted between Azu & Cinna, their expression, & the listener. Both are music lovers, intimately connected to their respected Iranian and Tunisian cultures - concurrently acknowledging the wisdom of their resonant pasts, while proudly bringing the sounds of their heritage into the present & future. “The Fifth Dream” embodies a cosmic anodyne for those feeling caught in between life’s abyssal inbetweens, whilst aiming for a consonant awareness of where our home truly lies in the swells of life’s spiritual maelstrom. This dream belongs at once to none & to many, that of a common language unified in concentric depth - finding beauty in all aspects of our world, and ultimately, within oneself.

We love it when family return to ZamZam and #92 welcomes back Blind Prophet & Ishan Sound in their first cross-pond collab. Begun in 2019 when Joe & Cris met in Portland for the first time, “The Labyrinth” is a phantasmagoric dream of intertwining melodic figures, buoyant mid-range synth work, bright percussion and piping flutes over a driving steppers riddim. Playful, even spritely, but belying a menacing core. Flipping the key and darkening the vibe substantially, “Minotaur Dub” strips out the lighter tones, pulsing and pushing through dark tunnels of reverb and echo, deeper and deeper into the labyrinth of refracting drums and relentless bass, the sound of pursuit, predator and prey. Fusing the spectral with the functional, the mythic with the technological, this release is for deep forest dances and subterranean sessions alike. This one is ruff… and tuff!! Strictly limited to 700 copies for the world. No digital, no repress. Art, design, & screen print by Polygon Press. Mastered by Sam at Precise, pressed at Third Man. Releasing end of July, 2023.

Deejay Jah Thomas was one of the creative figures making a dramatic impact on the Kingston sound system scene of the late 1970s and early 80s, the rhythms he laid at Channel One studio with the Roots Radics helping to steer reggae towards the emerging dancehall style. Voicing and mixing his work at King Tubby’s studio, typically with the young upstart engineer known as Scientist, Thomas was another champion in the realm of dub, his re-makes of vintage Studio One and Treasure Isle rhythms part of the process. In A Dub Explosion is a thrilling comp of tough dubs, mixed by Scientist & the King. A great listening experience!

There isn’t much to go on other than the soundscapes when it comes to Civilistjävel! What is rumoured to be a figment of the pre-internet era tapping into a similar consciousness as Biosphere, Chain Reaction or early Fax +49-69/450464 is ultimately left up to second guessing. For the average listener crossing paths with the project, a steady run of small-run, minimally packaged LPs has cemented Civilistjävel! as a leading force in the dub techno/glacial drone scene of present. However niche that may sound, this collection of tracks for Perko’s new FELT imprint navigates the same territories as the previous outings but with the folkloric tag “Iron Night” to help guide our ears. A Swedish expression for long nights of frost that damage plants and crops, the spectral and foreboding atmosphere of the opening cut already hints at the direction of the album. Combining dense ambient synth layers with hard to place industrial motifs (sometimes in rhythm, sometimes chaotically arranged) are what Civilistjävel! does best, indeed Järnnätter unfolds as a piece of work you can really spend time with. At points it feels as if the machines in some old factory complex have spluttered back to life through some unknown force and have begun to sing to one another. Other times the atmosphere is akin to a hydrophone placed deep into an ice-covered lake and the synthetic pulses of ‘A2’ are the only vaguely human touch. However, the sparse melodic flourishes across the record stem from an interest in psalms and early Swedish folk music, the juxtaposition of machine-led intuition and personable studiousness adding a hidden depth to the album.

A fictional soundtrack of the weekends lost during the pandemic Mellow, endless melodies and lo-fi, dubby, effects-processed soundscapes. 

There is a spring after the cold winter, and “Down the Road” by Lost Weekend captures our collective reawakening. This collaborative album was born when Japanese producer/DJ duo Slowly's Masato Komatsu and Ryo Kawahara discussed and compared each other’s perspectives on music during the pandemic. 

“As the pandemic continued, how I listened to music and values within me changed.
I started to feel that the music I was making was slightly different from the real world.” 

Slowly are best known for their uptempo tunes and remixes that often utilise reggae rhythms. They are a DJ’s DJ and DJ’s producer as many of their 7-inch releases have sold out and get played on dancefloors across the globe. Their remix of Struggle For Pride’s “Make a Rainbow feat. Yoshie Nakano” was selected as one of the best songs of 2020 on Gilles Peterson on his BBC Radio 6. With reggae at the core of his roots, Masato’s eclectic sound making is highly praised, and consists of a mixture of genres with futuristic visions to serve a worldwide audience. 

Disruptions from the pandemic hit club culture hard in Japan. When Masato and Ryo sat down, and compared their music notes over this long spell, they discovered that both were inspired by a similar direction in music: exotica, balearic and chillout. With the reassurance of looking in the same direction, during this challenging time, they decided to draw upon a new canvas. Bravely taking a big step away from the Slowly sound, they present Lost Weekend, a new project, creating a fictional soundtrack “longing for the weekend” that we lost during the pandemic. 

Properly stunning fever-dreamweaving on this new one from Zaumne, occupying an elevated space at the intersection of flickering dub-pop and ASMR soundscaping. If you’re into anything from HTRK to Malibu, Félicia Atkinson to Voice Actor, consider it a major life enhancement. For his Sferic debut, Zaumne enlists YL Hooi - a constant source of inspiration for many of us here, as well as Metoronori and the muted sax of Patrick Shiroishi. Loosely inspired by Baudelaire’s ‘Flowers of Evil’ (soft spoken extracts of which appear throughout), the album is a sort of exercise in escapism and sensual wandering. Throughout ‘Parfum’, faded pop is fleshed out with surreal elegance: all flickering neon and half-heard whispers suggestive of blurred late night fantasies; liminal, abstract, and highly evocative. Sounds hang in the air like incense, caressing the senses with an intentionality that's missing from so much landfill ambient. On opening track 'Voyageur’ he sets the scene with pastoral field recordings, dragging a pitched voice and elongated pads through a rhythmic throb that reduces dub techno to a faint knock. There are echoes of music from the fringes of the afterhours club scene too: Andrew Pekler's obscure imaginary landscapes, Jake Muir's druggy bathhouse vapours, DJ Lostboi’s balmy introspection. But despite a shared bleary–eyed aesthetic, Zaumne’s sound is more explicit and well defined, and with it brings a more acute emotional pull. When YL Hooi appears on 'Sorcières', her voice; drenched in reverb but absolutely crystalline, takes proceedings to a whole other level, reminding us of Natalie Beridze’s perennially overlooked ‘The Wrestler’ from her 2003 album for Thomas Brinkmann’s Max Ernst label; a sort of echo chamber dub perfectly re-imagined as dreampop. A whispered French vocal introduces us to 'Éther', a smoked cloud of looping synths and twinkling bells, and on 'Nymphes’ a wash of pads, wind chimes and waves lapping at the shore somehow manages to swerve all the associated schmaltz you’d imagine and instead gives us the same tingling sensation we had when we first heard Art of Noise’s ‘In Visible Silence’ at dusk, on a beach in the south of France, what seems like forever ago. There's a ritualistic quality to Zaumne’s music too, as if he's burning rare gums and mosses over smoldering coals in a remote Carpathian clearing. Hikari Okuyama, aka Metoronori, brings her pointed surrealism to 'Ombres', adding a softly spoken wonder to Olszewski's chimes, while Los Angeles-based multi-instrumentalist and composer Patrick Shiroishi contributes horn curliques to 'Prairie', ushering us towards the same sonic space inhabited by Bohren und der Club of Gore and Julee Cruise.

Ultra-positive consciousness from Afro-Caribbean London, circa 1979. Members of the legendary 20th Century Steel Band (one of Grand Master Flash's favourites) sailing Trinidad-wise over gratifyingly intricate African ritual rhythms. Strong vocals compliment reggae, funk, disco and soul influences to form a relentless groove machine. 

Steel an' Skin, a unit composed of young nightclub musicians born in Ghana, Nigeria, St. Kitts, Trinidad and the U.K., who once performed with Ginger Johnson's Afrikan Drummers, a highlife band under the tutelage of the late Ginger Johnson and played at Johnson's Iroko Country Club in Hampstead, London. Steel an' Skin began activities giving concerts and workshops in London schools, expanding nationwide to schools, prisons, psychiatric hospitals and summer festivals, including the world-famous Notting Hill Carnival. The group combined an admirably brave, open and unironic mix of musical forms with community outreach, non-cynical and untainted by preachiness or "social work." Good feelings from good hearts. 

This EM reissue consists of Steel an' Skin's 1979 debut 12 inch single "Reggae is Here Once Again", featuring "Afro Punk Reggae (Dub)", a fine disco-dub workout, plus some tracks from their 1984 recordings, as well as one unissued track.

The second part of the famous collaboration between two UK based electronic pioneers: John Bolloten aka The Rootsman and Bryn Jones aka Muslimgauze. For this album the original The Rootsman material from his albums “Into The Light” and “52 Days to Timbuktu” was remixed and deconstructed by Muslimgauze. As always with Bryn Jones, all material is inspired by Arab culture. We hear distorted dub rhythms, sawn-off loops, traditional music, male and female voices and then distorted rhythms again. Closing your eyes, you can find yourself in the middle of an eastern city, walk along its noisy streets, admire the ancient architecture. This noise can tell amazing stories! First vinyl edition. Originally in 1999 on CD by Third Eye Music.

Bastian Epple makes an eagerly anticipated return to marionette under his elusive MinaeMinae guise that imagines rich sonic architectures for the journeying spirit to voyage to. Räumlichkeit is Epple’s debut album and third release to date following Gestrüpp from 2020, venturing further into melodic electronic nostalgia and percussive beat oriented soundscapes. Spanning fifteen vignettes that trapeze through uncharted winding trails and familiar spaces, the album’s recordings evoke a scenic state of mind. The tracks simulate a room or nested rooms where the breathtaking views of nature and contrasting brutalist structures are explored with an equal sense of curiosity and wonder. Taking the listener down unpredictable paths that are rooted within the music itself, Epple is as much present in the creation as the listening experience which gives the recordings an immediacy and a live element of unfolding before your ears, unfamiliar each time. This novel viewpoint is very much at the core of Räumlichkeit, poetically contemplating the concept of spatiality and how that, in turn, influences the receiving of those fleeting moments. Apart from the world building qualities of the recordings, it's the speed of travel that also impacts the perception of the journey, and Epple tends to manipulate time at a fully immersive rate that grips the mind and body.

Roots Reggae's one and only genius Augustus Pablo! Remastered reissue of Rough Trade's early classic 7"! Augustus Pablo, the one and only genius of Roots Reggae, who is still loved beyond genres, left his only catalog in the very early days of Rough Trade, and this long-awaited remastered reissue commemorates the 45th anniversary of its release! Originally released as the label's catalog number 2, this instrumental piece traces the nostalgic melodica of Horace Andy's classic. For this reissue, the classic sleeve from that era has been reproduced, remastered and cut by Marco Perry, known for his work with Dennis Bovell and Massive Attack, and distributed in a limited edition of 100 copies in Japan!

The early days of the man affectionately known to his peers as Tubbs' are chronicled in some detail in the notes to this LP's predecessor and companion volume, not unreasonably titled "King Tubby's Classics Chapter 1". It's unlikely that anyone who buys Volume 2 will not already have Volume 1, but for the few who don't it's only fair that we start the note with a short précis of the early life and career of the boy born to be 'King ...

Mala and Joe Armon-Jones unite on A Way Back; a five track collaborative project that calls back the golden age of dubstep, released on Armon-Jones’ imprint Aquarii Records.

The Upsetters, a studio band that rehearsed at Lee Perry's Kingston record store at the end of the 60's, released their first album in 1970 and it has been reissued on vinyl by Antarctica Starts Here, a subsidiary of Superior Viaduct. The Upsetters were a studio band that rehearsed in record shops. The album is mainly Ska and Rocksteady, with dreamy reverbed keyboards and studio work that could be considered a prototype for dub.

“Surf synth acid dancehall rock!!” is how Jackson Bailey aka Tapes/Rezette describes the A-side of this new release from Osaka’s 7FO. This 7-inch single, marking 7FO’s return to EM Records, is an homage to both the vinyl single format itself and also to the legendary producer Joe Meek. “Healing Sword” is the first time 7FO has created a track expressly as a single. On the flip side, “Snake (Live)” is a dubby lo-fi mono travelogue. The ‘onsen’ (hot spring) artwork is by artist/performer Keisuke Yamao and friends.

Ayatollah is an apocalyptic record, full of dread - dubwise and deep from the first chords of Jackie Mittoo's interstellar keys, over classic Wackies-style steppers drum and bass - with a dream-like atmosphere in which pain and sufferation are swirled together with devotional mystery and redemption. Originally released on the Nefertiti label, like Rocking Universally this is from the early eighties (and the B-side here is another essential, extended version of that rhythm - dancefloor murder), when Jackie Mittoo was between New York and Toronto. Such a killer.

A fine selection of unpublished tracks from the pioneering British roots dub duo. "Ancient A&O is a selection of unreleased tracks and dubs we like from our old DAT tapes all created during our early years between 1989 and 1993. It includes Here For A Reason, a rare unreleased track featuring Nishka. We're very pleased the great Lantern Rec are releasing the vinyl and we hope you like it, many thanks... A&O"

COMPUMA has released his long-awaited first solo album "A View" on his own label <SOMETHING ABOUT>.

This is an full-length album based on the music for the play "View" commissioned in fall of 2021 by the theater group "Blue Egonak" based in Kitakyushu. The album contains 9 original songs and 2 dub mixes, totaling 11 songs, newly reworked with co-producer hacchi (Urban Volcano Sounds / Deavid Soul).

In addition to his inexhaustible DJ and music selection activities, COMPUMA has released a number of collaborations and remixes, including a 2007 album
as Smurphies' Fearless Bunch [Smurph-Otokogumi] (reissued on vinyl in 2021) and its predecessor Asteroid Desert Songs [ADS], as well as duo works with Ken Takehisa (KIRIHITO)). COMPUMA has also released a number of collaborations and remixes, but this is his first album as a solo artist. Recently, his DJ trio "Akuma no Numa" with Dr. Nishimura and Awano, has been getting a lot of attention, and their performances have been introduced on radio shows overseas.

The sound, including electronic sounds, field recordings, and the space between them, evokes a variety of landscapes, and that quietly stimulates your imagination. It is a work that will have a unique presence in the next wave of the new age ambient/environmental music revival that has been emerging in the global ambient/IDM scene.

One of the two dub mixes included on the album, "Vision(Flowmotion in Dub)" is a re-work of "Flowmotion(IN DUB)" which will be included in  "Midnight is Comin'", a compilation curated by ¥ØU$UK€ ¥UK1MAT$U scheduled for release in May on the Singapore label Midnight Shift. The other dub mix is a version of "View 2", done by Naoyuki Uchida who is known for his work on LITTLE TEMPO, Oki Dub Ainu Band and more recently GEZAN's "KLUE".

Album is mastered by Soichiro Nakamura of Peace Music, who has worked with Shintaro Sakamoto, OGRE YOU ASSHOLE, and countless artists. Artwork is by Tomoo Gokita, a world-renowned painter who is also known in Japan for his jacket art for META FIVE and TOWA TEI. Design is by Satoshi Suzuki. Gokita and Suzuki, both of whom have worked on COMPUMA's previous products.
(text by Yusuke Kawamura)

LIL MOFO

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