MUSIC

A Milan-born multi-instrumentalist of Venetian heritage, Alberto Baldan Bembo was a gifted vibraphonist, organist, pianist, arranger, and composer whose work bridged jazz, pop, and film music. By the early 1960s, he was performing with Italy’s leading ensembles, including I Menestrelli del Jazz and Bruno De Filippi’s group, and soon became an in-demand session musician. For several years, he toured with the legendary Mina, providing the piano and organ backbone to her live shows—a role that sharpened the cinematic sensibility and refined musicianship that would later define his soundtrack work. In the years to come, he would be celebrated for his scores to films such as L’Amica Di Mia Madre (1975) and Lingua Argento (1976), earning a place alongside Piero Umiliani, Alessandro Alessandroni, Berto Pisano, and other luminaries of Italy’s golden age of soundtrack and library music.

Io E Mara is the soundtrack to a film that was never made. Originally released on the CGD label in 1969, this debut album from the brilliant Maestro Baldan Bembo is a sophisticated concept-album tracing 24 hours in the life of two young lovers. Told entirely through music, the record unfolds as a continuous suite of ten tracks, where cinematic lounge, bossa, and jazz flavors mingle to create a dreamlike atmosphere. Baldan Bembo’s signature piano and organ are masterfully complemented by Mara’s ethereal vocals, while immersive soundscapes of crashing waves, seagulls, and rain showers enhance the feeling of a deeply personal and intimate journey.

A cast of exceptional musicians brings this vision to life, including Bruno De Filippi on electric guitar and sitar, Carlo Milano on electric bass, Rolando Ceragioli on drums, and Pasquale Liguori on sound effects. This singular work not only showcases the burgeoning talent of a future soundtrack master but also features the original pop art front cover by Italian cult illustrator Guido Crepax.

The first new studio album by the Ethio jazz pioneer in over 25 years features intricate new compositions alongside funky workouts. Includes the cinematic instrumental ‘Green Africa’ and the slinky jazz cut, ‘The Way To Nice’.

"Minami-kaze α Wave (Southerly wind alpha wave)“ is a very rare ‘vocal piece’ that Henry Kawahara has produced, and released under the name HMD (H Music Deperception) in 1993. The song is a vocal version of the cyber-occult exotic instrumental piece "Nanpu“ included in the compilation “Cybernetic Defiance and Orgasm: The Essential Henry Kawahara” [EM1197TCD/DLP]. This track is a rare example that proves he had also a genius for producing ‘pops’ in the general sense of the word, and which seems to have challenged head-on the pop songs produced by Haruomi Hosono or Tetsuya Komuro in the 80s-90s. 

The Henry Kawahara project on EM Records was developed only with the enthusiasm of proving Kawahara's existence if he is to be erased as nothing in the current art context, and we have confirmed that there are a lot of supporters all over the world for our opinion when we released "Cybernetic Defiance and Orgasm" (several articles and interviews have been given). This single is a 'prescription' for the sequel, tentatively titled "Cybernetic Defiance and Orgasm 2: Other Sides of Henry Kawahara," which is currently in the process of being prepared. This 7” is a limited one-off release, not included in the compilation.

RODUCT DETAILS The previously unissued soundtrack to the 1964 noir, You’re Not From Around Here, discovered after 55 years in the Louis Wayne Moody archive. A hobo’s bindle full of twangy tremolo, reverb-drenched revenge, and existential echo. Songs of alienation, paranoia, dark alleys, betrayal, prison, prostitution, trains, gun play, feminine betrayal, and the dusty, lonely road of self discovery. A black and white affair trapped under the weight of a post-war technicolor allure, You’re Not From Around Here lives in a universe of moral ambiguity. Packaged in a replica of the original octagonal film canister, replete with rusted and glimmering varnishes alike, debossed logoture, and 36" x 27" fold out movie poster.

 

The third in Strut’s Inspiration Information studio collaboration series brings together an intriguing pairing between one of Africa’s great bandleaders, Mulatu Astatke, with the next level musicianship of The Heliocentrics collective from the mighty roster of Stones Throw / Now Again.

Known primarily through the successful ‘Ethiopiques’ album series and the film soundtrack to Jim Jarmusch’s ‘Broken Flowers’, Mulatu Astatke is one of Ethiopia’s foremost musical ambassadors. Informed by spells living and studying in the UK and the USA, his self-styled Ethio-jazz sound flourished during the “Swinging Addis” era of the late ‘60s as he successfully fused Western jazz and funk with traditional Ethiopian folk melodies, five tone scale arrangements and elements from music of the ancient Coptic church.

The Heliocentrics have become known as one of the UK’s foremost free-thinking collectives of musicians, inspired by a wide palette covering Sun Ra, James Brown, David Axelrod and all manner of psych, Afro and Eastern sounds. Now a fixture within the Stones Throw / Now Again roster, they forged their own genre-breaking directions in the astral analogue groove on their 2007 debut album, ‘Out There’.

“ It’s like going back to the feel of the ‘60s, it really feels like that,” explains Mulatu. “There’s a new composition, ‘Cha Cha’, and ‘Dewel’, heavily influenced by an Ethiopian Coptic Church composer called Yard. The band took it and added what they feel. It’s a nice experiment.” 

SG is none other than Andrew Pekler returning to faitiche with an album of sentimental guitar escapism. For Lovers Only / Rain Suite features ten tracks made using only an electric guitar and a handful of effects pedals (plus some additional recordings of rain) and finds Pekler once again attempting to reconicile his tendencies towards kitsch, experimentation and minimalism. 

What does Pekler's pseudonym SG stand for? Sentimental Guitar? Sound Gallery? Shy Guy? Sad Gnosis? Saudade Glamour? Soft Goth? We don't know, but we asked notorious Chicago romantic Sam Prekop for his take on the album – his reply: It’s a wonder where the rivers go and far, how fast or slow. Just seconds to remember, who can forget, when you are lost. I think to recount every step, in both hands, eyes open, the clouds unfold, one two three. Every other step, just as well. Where the moss is soft, you know strong. How many hours, days? I could have been careful, did I forget? Never mind. Waking up, in these arms, where the rivers go, slow. One two three, one two three.

Originally released in 1988. This third album, recorded at Compass Point Studios in southern France and the Bahamas, exudes a relaxed mood. The enchanting “Sade sound” remains as timeless as ever. The album features 10 tracks, including hits such as “Love Is Stronger Than Pride,” “Paradise,” and “Nothing Can Come Between Us.”

The analog edition being released this time is an 180g heavyweight vinyl. After conducting a high-resolution digital transfer from the original analog studio tapes to a stereo master mix at Abbey Road Studios, the mastering process was carried out at half speed for cutting onto the lacquer disc. Through this meticulous half-speed mastering process, a sound source that is both faithful to Sade's intended sound and extremely clean and detailed has been created. By avoiding any unnecessary digital limiting during the mastering process, the album achieves greater clarity and purity of reproduction, preserving the original mix's dynamic range intact. Additionally, the album cover faithfully reproduces the original's paper and printing techniques, accurately capturing every detail.

In the fall of 2022, celebrated UK chill-out institution Seahawks landed in Los Angeles for the first time in their 15-year history, with plans to record a sweeping new age downtempo “exploration of visionary California.” Instead, they immediately fell ill with flu (Fowler collapsed next to a taco truck; 911 was called), and were bedridden for the better part of a week. Upon recovering, they resituated at the synthesizer sanctuary of Brian Foote (Peak Oil, Kranky, Leech), channeling their post-sickness psychedelia into one of the band’s lushest and most elevated creations to date: Time Enough For Love. Inspired by the “groove and mood” of Harry Nilsson demos, as well as its wider 70’s wavelength – Rhodes, Wurlitzer, wood paneling – Seahawks transposed their classic post-rave ambient exotica onto a warm and woozy Golden State palette. Buoyed by the liquid touch of English maestro Kenny Dickenson on keys, the results rank high among the duo’s smoothest and most multi-sensory voyages. “Sail Across The Moon” delivers on its title, a simmering, phaser-smeared cruise through the beauty of the night. “Messengers” echoes the cosmic lounge of Air’s Moon Safari, shuffling, weightless, and ethereal, while “Falling Deep” reaches for the stars, pure cascading bliss, the ecstatic moment writ large. The album skews steadily more astral as it progresses, drifting towards jazzy, galactic outer reaches. “Like A Grain Of Sand” opens with a spoken sample by the celebrated late American poet Rachel Sherwood (“The children watch, breathless / with the birds / They feel an emanation / from this shuddering place”), before taking flight on a Balearic trip through island house, PM Dawn gold dust, upright bass meditation, and kaleidoscopic light. A remix of the title track by Chicago trio Purelink closes the record in a suitably subdued and skittery state of mind. Time Enough For Love radiates color, complexity, and positivity, infused by the “life enhancing” nature of the band's time in Los Angeles – sunsets, sound systems, and sativa, framed by coastlines and cloudbanks, the city’s mystic sprawl glittering beneath purple dusk.

Long time friend of the label and Stones Throw alumni ‘Rejoicer’ joins forces with longtime collaborator, fellow Apifera band member and renowned pianist Nitai Hershkovits to present a new moniker and concept piece “Cinema Royal” - a delicate yet audacious album that quietly commands attention. Having previously collaborated on works for Raw Tapes and beyond, this body of work exists more on the modern classical plain with splices of ambient and jazz woven into the musical fabric of the compositions.

Led by piano, the album features a dizzying array of orchestral, percussive and traditional string instruments from around the world- flawlessly combined in a way that might sound contrived, but just fits effortlessly..

The fact that it’s such an easy listen distracts from its complexity. Synthesisers cozy up to Afro beat indebted drums , East Asian zithers swim amongst classical string arrangements whilst Ethio- jazz keys dance atop restrained but irresistibly funky drum machine patterns. Inspired to create a cinematic energy they saw the essence of Fellini in their album cover choice, striving to create an album that could exist as a film score.

The album exudes a sense of ease, a feeling of lightness that speaks to the virtuosic abilities of the players.The sense of fun is infectious and the playful improvisation is energising. Conceptually inspired by a simple drum loop and single take via the piano the two exist working in a deeply involved flow with collaborations from friends to enhance the initial piano melody.

Speaking on the process, Nitai remarks, “Cinema Royal emerges from years of collaborative writing and recording. Our initial experience with a complete one piano take on a drum loop was in Flying’ Bamboo, a collaboration with MNDSGN and animator Felix Colgrave that garnered millions of views on YouTube. Nearly a decade later, we revisited this unique method of improvising a single piano take throughout the album. We love Emahoy Tzegue, Ennio Morricone, Nino Rota, Lalo Schifrin and lots of music from the ECM catalog. There’s a lot of Africa, too - from Ebo Taylor, Pat Thomas, Felt Kuti, and Ghana high-life, to more niche stuff from the Awesome Tapes from Africa’s catalog “

Rejoicer and Nitai have a rare synergy and have channeled it to create something that speaks without words, or rather - whispers, and in this quiet exclamation we are drawn in to listen closer and closer. 

ADRIAN YOUNGE PRESENTS DELFONICS is quintessential sweet-soul from The Delfonics lead vocalist William Hart produced by Adrian Younge. From the very beginning, it was Younge’s intention to create an old-school Delfonics vibe but offer a very hip-hop-informed perspective. There are distinguishing musical elements that Delfonics fans will recognize, like the electric sitar guitar, the French horn, string arrangements, and the tympani. Recorded and mixed by Adrian Younge at Linear Labs, the preeminent analog studio of Los Angeles, CA.

"A Taste Of India" released in 1968 by Martin Denny's , the king of exotic fantasy music, has been re-released from ! This work is one of the most outstanding and unique works of Martin Denny, who worked on the theme of Indian music! In the midst of the psychedelic movement, the King of Exotica responded! A gentle, gentle and friendly Martin Denny manners sound trip with sitar and tabla! The Strawberry Alarm Clock's "Incense and Peppermints" is an impressive cover, and your own "Hypnotique" self-cover is full of highlights!

HAPPY's "Ancient Moods Mahollova Mind" is their third full-length album in five years, and most of the songs were recorded in the members' home studio, which was built up during the pandemic disaster. As the album title suggests, the theme of the album is an ancient fascination and an exploration of the mind, and it has a new sound with an exotic atmosphere, as is typical of HAPPY's exploration of music that has never been heard before. In addition to their usual instruments, the members themselves play a variety of instruments such as the Taishogoto, lyre harp, bansuri, conga, and djembe, expanding their range of expression while maintaining the catchy approach of their previous works. Mastering was done by Timothy Stollenwerk, who has worked with Wooden Shjips and Drugdealer, and the depth and dimension of the sound has been increase.

The second of Louis Wayne Moody’s trilogy of mid-century noirs, 1966’s runaway adventure They Move In The Night follows the escapades of “The Kids”—teenage siblings Cara and Applejack Seaworth—as they set out across America by thumb, rail, and bicycle in search of their long lost father—”The Man.” Hunted by the F.B.I., P.T.A., C.T.A., animal control, and a wicked grandmother dead set on claiming their inheritance, The Kids must come to grips with their orphaned reality and an unyielding future.Discovered after spending 58 years on a dusty shelf in the Louis Wayne Moody Pictures vault, this previously unissued soundtrack contains a backpack’s worth of grieving guitars, somber surf, and haunting hiss, zipped tight with the teeth of abandonment, dashed dreams, moral ambiguity, fate, tearful goodbyes, and lukewarm diner coffee. Because the long arm of society nips at their heels... They Move In The Night.

Consider this your invitation to Café Molly, a lounge bar like they don’t make them anymore. The lights are low, the martinis are ice cold, the banquettes are velvet, and the stage is set for the electrifying talent of whistler Molly Lewis. Molly’s soft-focus cocktail music conjures up visions of classic Hollywood jazz clubs, Italian cinema soundtracks and lingering embraces between lovers. After the exotica stylings of The Forgotten Edge EP and the tropicalia-indebted Mirage EP, Molly wanted to encapsulate the sound of Café Molly for her debut album On The Lips, a dreamy tribute to classic mood music. That spellbinding sound, which usually comes to life in Los Angeles, has also popped up in Mexico City dancehalls, graced the runways of Paris and London Fashion Weeks, and made a magical appearance at a children's fairyland. Molly Lewis’s love for this smoky corner of the world doesn’t end with her songwriting. She is a devotee and an archivist, capturing and enlivening the pieces that endure. She was a regular at the legendary shows by Marty and Elayne, the lounge duo who spent almost 40 years playing LA’s Dresden bar. The duo came to global fame after an appearance in 1996’s Swingers and kept going long after that spotlight faded, finally finishing their nightly residency after the death of Marty at the ripe age of 89 last year. “That felt like the end of an era,” says Molly. But there are still flashes of that world to be found, and she finds them. “I’ve been spending a lot of time in New York lately, where there are a lot more of those moody, classic jazz bars,” she explains. Molly celebrates the poet Kenneth ‘Sonny’ Donato, a former drinking buddy of Charles Bukowski, on the album’s swooning ‘Sonny’. “He’s a total LA character with a great voice and great style, as well as a champion of me and my music,” says Molly, who met Sonny when he was tending bar at Hollywood’s iconic Musso and Frank. “He would MC my Café Molly shows and introduce the night with a poem about LA. Everyone loves him.” Over the past few years Molly has flexed her one-of-a-kind musical skill alongside Mark Ronson on the Barbie soundtrack, as well as with Dr Dre, Karen O, actor John C Reilly, Mac De Marco, fashion houses Chanel, Gucci and Hermes, and folk rock royalty Jackson Browne. After a performance with longtime friend Weyes Blood on Burt Bacharach’s The Look of Love during a Café Molly evening at LA’s Zebulon, Molly supported the singer on a US tour, introducing her sound to a brand new audience. “I forget sometimes that what I do has that factor of surprise and uniqueness – it is something that most people have never seen before,” says Molly. She too might never have entered the idiosyncratic world of whistling had she not as a teenager seen the 2005 documentary Pucker Up, which details the International Whistling Competition. Equally amused and bemused by the eccentric event, in 2012 she competed herself. Spending her early twenties in Berlin she then moved to LA to work in film – and returned to the contest in 2015 to take home first prize. One evening Molly did a turn at an open mic at the Kibitz Room, a tiny late-night bar inside historic LA deli Canter’s. Her display led to appearances at performance art happenings across the city, and she soon caught the ear of independent record label Jagjaguwar. On The Lips was recorded with producer Thomas Brenneck of the Menahan Street Band, Budos Band, Dap-Kings and El Michels Affair, at his newly-built Diamond West Studios in Pasadena. The pair bonded over the work of 1960s soundtrack composers Alessandro Alessandroni and Piero Piccioni, and, with something of an open door policy during the sessions, a stream of acclaimed musicians ended up across the album’s 10 tracks. “We were all sitting around having beers and amazing people would just come by,” says Molly, who fitted out the studio with a vintage tiki bar she picked up at a local flea market. “It was a wonderful place to be social, sometimes almost too social!” Step forward Nick Hakim, who would lend bossa nova piano to ‘Cocosette’, which also features the smooth sounds of Latin Grammy-nominated Brazilian guitarist Rogê. Elsewhere Leland Whitty of Canadian instrumental group Badbadnotgood lends a searing saxophone line to the jazzy ‘Lounge Lizard’, while Sal Samano and Alex Garcia of Chicano soul group Thee Sacred Souls appear on the melancholy ‘Crushed Velvet’. Badbadnotgood’s Chester Hansen also plays bass across the album, while Beck collaborator Roger Joseph Manning Jr. lends organ to the lush ‘Moon Tan’, which pays homage to film score composer Piero Umiliani. Experimental jazz pianist Marco Benevento and El Michels Affair’s Leon Michels both crop up on the perky ‘Silhouette’. There are a couple of covers, too, just like you’ll hear at a Café Molly night. This time it’s Dave Berry’s 1960s pop standard ‘The Crying Game’ and Jeanette’s ‘Porqué Te Vas’, which Molly fell in love with after hearing it on the soundtrack of Carlos Saura’s acclaimed 1976 drama Cría Cuervos. “The original is such a great song – I always wanted to do a few covers and I don't really gravitate towards more upbeat music in my own songwriting, so it was fun to try and think of a more upbeat track to include, to try to kind of change up the movement of the record.” With her intoxicating compositions, and wry brand of stagecraft (she might not be singing up there, but she can sure tell a joke) Molly Lewis looks set to join her heroes in the storied lore of the Los Angeles lounge scene and beyond. So pull up a chair, order your favorite drink, and prepare to fall for On The Lips.

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

Consider this your invitation to Café Molly, a lounge bar like they don’t make them anymore. The lights are low, the martinis are ice cold, the banquettes are velvet, and the stage is set for the electrifying talent of whistler Molly Lewis. Molly’s soft-focus cocktail music conjures up visions of classic Hollywood jazz clubs, Italian cinema soundtracks and lingering embraces between lovers. After the exotica stylings of The Forgotten Edge EP and the tropicalia-indebted Mirage EP, Molly wanted to encapsulate the sound of Café Molly for her debut album On The Lips, a dreamy tribute to classic mood music. That spellbinding sound, which usually comes to life in Los Angeles, has also popped up in Mexico City dancehalls, graced the runways of Paris and London Fashion Weeks, and made a magical appearance at a children's fairyland. Molly Lewis’s love for this smoky corner of the world doesn’t end with her songwriting. She is a devotee and an archivist, capturing and enlivening the pieces that endure. She was a regular at the legendary shows by Marty and Elayne, the lounge duo who spent almost 40 years playing LA’s Dresden bar. The duo came to global fame after an appearance in 1996’s Swingers and kept going long after that spotlight faded, finally finishing their nightly residency after the death of Marty at the ripe age of 89 last year. “That felt like the end of an era,” says Molly. But there are still flashes of that world to be found, and she finds them. “I’ve been spending a lot of time in New York lately, where there are a lot more of those moody, classic jazz bars,” she explains. Molly celebrates the poet Kenneth ‘Sonny’ Donato, a former drinking buddy of Charles Bukowski, on the album’s swooning ‘Sonny’. “He’s a total LA character with a great voice and great style, as well as a champion of me and my music,” says Molly, who met Sonny when he was tending bar at Hollywood’s iconic Musso and Frank. “He would MC my Café Molly shows and introduce the night with a poem about LA. Everyone loves him.” Over the past few years Molly has flexed her one-of-a-kind musical skill alongside Mark Ronson on the Barbie soundtrack, as well as with Dr Dre, Karen O, actor John C Reilly, Mac De Marco, fashion houses Chanel, Gucci and Hermes, and folk rock royalty Jackson Browne. After a performance with longtime friend Weyes Blood on Burt Bacharach’s The Look of Love during a Café Molly evening at LA’s Zebulon, Molly supported the singer on a US tour, introducing her sound to a brand new audience. “I forget sometimes that what I do has that factor of surprise and uniqueness – it is something that most people have never seen before,” says Molly. She too might never have entered the idiosyncratic world of whistling had she not as a teenager seen the 2005 documentary Pucker Up, which details the International Whistling Competition. Equally amused and bemused by the eccentric event, in 2012 she competed herself. Spending her early twenties in Berlin she then moved to LA to work in film – and returned to the contest in 2015 to take home first prize. One evening Molly did a turn at an open mic at the Kibitz Room, a tiny late-night bar inside historic LA deli Canter’s. Her display led to appearances at performance art happenings across the city, and she soon caught the ear of independent record label Jagjaguwar. On The Lips was recorded with producer Thomas Brenneck of the Menahan Street Band, Budos Band, Dap-Kings and El Michels Affair, at his newly-built Diamond West Studios in Pasadena. The pair bonded over the work of 1960s soundtrack composers Alessandro Alessandroni and Piero Piccioni, and, with something of an open door policy during the sessions, a stream of acclaimed musicians ended up across the album’s 10 tracks. “We were all sitting around having beers and amazing people would just come by,” says Molly, who fitted out the studio with a vintage tiki bar she picked up at a local flea market. “It was a wonderful place to be social, sometimes almost too social!” Step forward Nick Hakim, who would lend bossa nova piano to ‘Cocosette’, which also features the smooth sounds of Latin Grammy-nominated Brazilian guitarist Rogê. Elsewhere Leland Whitty of Canadian instrumental group Badbadnotgood lends a searing saxophone line to the jazzy ‘Lounge Lizard’, while Sal Samano and Alex Garcia of Chicano soul group Thee Sacred Souls appear on the melancholy ‘Crushed Velvet’. Badbadnotgood’s Chester Hansen also plays bass across the album, while Beck collaborator Roger Joseph Manning Jr. lends organ to the lush ‘Moon Tan’, which pays homage to film score composer Piero Umiliani. Experimental jazz pianist Marco Benevento and El Michels Affair’s Leon Michels both crop up on the perky ‘Silhouette’. There are a couple of covers, too, just like you’ll hear at a Café Molly night. This time it’s Dave Berry’s 1960s pop standard ‘The Crying Game’ and Jeanette’s ‘Porqué Te Vas’, which Molly fell in love with after hearing it on the soundtrack of Carlos Saura’s acclaimed 1976 drama Cría Cuervos. “The original is such a great song – I always wanted to do a few covers and I don't really gravitate towards more upbeat music in my own songwriting, so it was fun to try and think of a more upbeat track to include, to try to kind of change up the movement of the record.” With her intoxicating compositions, and wry brand of stagecraft (she might not be singing up there, but she can sure tell a joke) Molly Lewis looks set to join her heroes in the storied lore of the Los Angeles lounge scene and beyond. So pull up a chair, order your favorite drink, and prepare to fall for On The Lips.

On the occasion of RT 30 (the celebrations of Right Tempo's thirty years of activity) the Italian record company has decided, among other things, to publish a new volume of this successful series. The Easy Tempo series, born in 1996, aimed to disseminate a sound linked to black culture (in its broadest meaning and most varied forms) with contaminations ranging from psychedelia to vintage electronics through soul, funk and jazz. Having drawn from the world of soundtracks did not arise from a specific passion in this area, but from the simple fact that that universe offered a vast repertoire, however submerged, of music suitable for the 'groove' vocation of Right Tempo, as well as a distinctive sign of national identity, considering the caliber of the composers and musicians involved in writing and performing the music featured in the different tracking lists of the series. To this respect, starting from Volume 11 that you are holding in your hand, Easy Tempo will expand its editorial horizons, including tracks taken from obscure, underrated and/or hard to find records that transcend the congested world of soundtracks. It should also be emphasized that, given the label international vocation, the repertoire from which we will draw will no longer be limited to Italian record production, but will have a global perspective. The sound journey you are about to embark on is steeped in soul, funk, jazz, Latin, psychedelia, with a pinch of electronics at times. Travelling flutes, tight and driving rhythm patterns and rich and colorful arrangements perfectly indicate Easy Tempo series new direction. The most intriguing and ubiquitous aspect is particularly incisive thanks to the "cinematic" cut given to the selection. We believe, upon a first check of the musical content, that this new chapter will meet the expectations of all those who have enjoyed the ten previous volumes of this collection of sounds and emotions over time. Enjoy Easy Tempo Volume 11. Features Roberto Pregadio, Soul's Soul, Orchestra Mustang, Genius, Gianni Marchetti, I Raffazzonati, Brooklyn Bridge Group, Hugh Bullen, Carlo Cordara e i Waterloo, Les Chakachas, Le Streghe, Ninety, Lara Saint Paul, Ivano Fossati, Sandro Brugnolini, Gianni Basso Quartet, Enzo Scoppa, Gino Marinacci, and The Gypsy-Gershwin Medley.

More in the new series from Jazzman featuring the lowest of the lowball schlock n' roll 45s never known to exist! After many years in hiding, notoriously shady Super Spiv of the record world Greasy Mike has finally opened up his vinyl dungeon, and we were first to raid it! We have left no box untouched, no crate unrummaged, no pile unpilfered! Just the greasiest and grimiest, the most shocking and sordid 45s have made it onto our selections. Watch out for more!!! On this occasion Greasy Mike reminisces about the time he was shipwrecked and washed up all alone on a remote island in the South Pacific. But, ever the resourceful, our man did not despair! Grooving to the beat in the tropical heat, his desert island discs kept him cruising while coconut moonshine kept him boozing. Dig this, swashbucklers!

Follow-up to 2010’s acclaimed EP Addis-Abeba, Mercato is the debut album by Swiss band Imperial Tiger Orchestra, the finest connoisseurs and grooviest performers of Ethiopian music from the Golden Age. Raphaël Anker, trumpet player from Geneva, one day decides to gather musicians for a live performance revisiting the golden age of Ethiopian music. It's 2007, and the experience is so memorable that the one shot happening becomes a band: Imperial Tiger Orchestra. Consisting of members with very diverse backgrounds (free jazz, noise experimentations, contemporary music, twisted pop…) the Orchestra tests the grounds with an EP and a 7" breaking the boundaries of genres followed by a trip to Addis-Abeba where they perform with local luminaries and learn about the large diversity of Ethiopian music. A life-changing experience which brings them back to the studio for their debut album: Mercato. Overseen with flair by Ethiopian music expert Jeoren Visse, Mercato is a mesmerizing re-interpretation of Ethiopian music's golden age mixed with the digitalized themes that appeared in the 80s and filtered through the eclectic influences of the Orchestra. It's a fascinating retro-futuristic piece of music, close yet totally different from the songs that inspired the band. It's progressive Ethiopian rock! Whether saluting Mahmoud Ahmed on "Lale Lale", re-interpretating the classic wedding theme "Shinet", or taking Martha Ashagani's "Zoma" to new heights, the Orchestra always does it with its unique vision while honoring the Ethiopian originals. Thunderous rhythms and feverish hooks, down tempo moments and fast paced epiphanies, electronic sounds and ambient nirvanas, Mercato explores multiples paths and never loses its warm groove. A winter Mercato sure to bring fire to stages this summer!

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. 

Long-awaited reissue of the historical masterpiece released by Kazumi Yasui, a female lyricist who established a new image of women in Japan! Yasui herself wrote all the lyrics, and Kunihiko Murai, Hiroshi Kamayatsuya, Kenji Sawada, Terumasa Hino, Mamoru Manu (Golden Cups) and others contributed songs. Released in 1970.

It was a musical cocktail born in a marketing meeting: Two parts easy listening, one part jazz, a healthy dollop of conga drums, a sprinkling of bird calls, and a pinch of textless choir. Serve garnished with an alluring female on the album jacket for best results. Exotica! The soundtrack for a mythical air conditioned Eden, packaged for mid-century, tiki torch-wielding armchair safariers. Be it mosquito-bitten torch singers, landlocked surf quartets, fad-chasing jazz combos, mad genius band leaders, D-list actors, or a middle aged loner programming bird calls into a Hammond, Exotica was always more concerned with what geography might sound like over who was conducting. Captured across three albums (or three compact discs) are 48 (or 54) curious examples of the short-lived genre’s reach, each summoning their own sonic visions of Shangri La, bringing their versions of the Pacific, Africa, and the Orient to the hinterlands of America. Technicolor Paradise is where one makes it, after all.

DOWN 2 EARTH, which was established by Toshio Nakanishi as a "Nagomimono" music line within the Major Force label, has finally released the album of the group of gods, known as the pinnacle of exotic music, on analog. !

An exotic work that can be said to be an extension of the Watermelon Group, Toshio Nakanishi, Masayuki Kudo, steel guitar player Genichi Tamura, who is also known for activities such as Little Tempo, and Shunji Mori of Natural Calamity gathered in Bali to record. This album is an exotic sound that has been consistently slowed down in line with the label's concept.
A work that can be said to be the highest peak of domestic exotic music.
Works in 1992

Tracklist:
Side A
1.BEYOND THE JUNGLE (there’s something)
2.MOON HOTEL

Side B
1.DEATH A GOOD ADVISER
2. NUMBERS
3.WHEN THE SKY FALLS

DISC 2
Side C
1.MOVING WATER (GET HOT, GET WET)
2.SLACK BABY SLACK

Side D
1.THUNDER ISLAND
2.SPACE COWBOY
3.VOICES

A lounge in the Poconos located just inside a Holiday Inn, 1973. The smoky haze clears to reveal a middle-aged couple on a one-foot high stage, prattling on about the weather or Watergate before launching into a serviceable cover of Burt Bacharach’s “Do You Know The Way To San Jose?” Tens of thousands of such combos littered restaurants, cruise ships, casinos, lobbies, and cocktail bars throughout the ’60s and ’70s, but far fewer cut a record worth buying from the stage, much less listening to on the home hi-fi. Gathered here are 14 lounge originals from across the entire easy listening spectrum. A spent matchbook’s worth of crooners, bossa nobodies, seafood jazzers, and Donca-Matic enthusiasts all in search of their ticket out of a red leather booth hell.