MUSIC

A trio of Moroccan brothers, coming together here with a very groovy sound – rock at the core, with some very trippy elements and harmonies on some of the best cuts – but also tinged with some slight traditional instrumentation as well – used to flavor the tunes and really make them stand out from more Anglo styles of the time! The songs are all original, and nicely different than other Mid-East pop work we know from the time – maybe a bit headier overall, on titles that include "Hey Di Dam Dam", "Leili Twil", "El Harib", "Sebar", and "Galouli Ensaha"

Irrepressible, off-the-wall and utterly unique - the late ‘70s/early ‘80s Latin jazz-funk and leftfield electronic boogie of Japanese composer and pianist Izumi ‘Mimi’ Kobayashi collected for the first time. (🇯🇵👇) A luminous soul with an indefatigable love for music, few artists have had careers as varied and successful as Izumi ‘Mimi’ Kobayashi. One of Japan’s leading jazz-funk pianists, she wrote and recorded cult albums with fusion legends at home and abroad. Obsessed with new electronic instruments, she penned some of the country’s most well-known TV themes and pioneered the use of drum machines in anime soundtracks. 💫 A star in Japan, she moved to Europe to record global hits with Depeche Mode and Swing Out Sister, toured the world with the Reggae Philharmonic Orchestra and made beats with Attica Blues’ Tony Nwachukwu. Now based in London, Mimi currently fronts Tokyo Riddim Band - the intergenerational live Japanese Reggae outfit born from Time Capsule’s acclaimed 2023 compilation of the same name - playing live shows and releasing a trio of recordings made at Prince Fatty’s studio. Choice Cuts 1978-1983 collects eight recordings from four of Mimi’s first five albums – Sea Flight (1978) recorded with her group Flying Mimi Band, and Coconuts High (1981), Nuts Nuts Nuts (1982) and Tropicana (1983) under her own name. The compilation opens with a syncopated electro-funk cover of Sergio Mendes’ iconic ‘Mas Que Nada’ (Tropicana) and the crisp and stripped back techno-pop of ‘Coffee Rumba’ (Nuts Nuts Nuts) with a keyboard bass line that would have made Stevie Wonder weep. Alongside the off-beat synth jam ‘Quiet Explosion’ (Nuts Nuts Nuts) and piano samba of ‘Espresso’ (Tropicana), there’s space for two low slung soul-jazz numbers, ‘Naze’ and ‘Angel Sky’, from Sea Flight (1978) that recall the collaborations between Herbie Hancock and Kimiko Kasai. But it is around the two tracks from Mimi’s 1981 album Coconuts High that this compilation revolves (and from whose cover shoot it borrows). Released on legendary guitarist Takanaka’s Kitty Records label, Coconuts High was recorded in LA with a backing band of jazz fusion icons, including Alex Acuña, Abraham Laborial, Harvey Mason and the Tower of Power horns. A riot of playful Latin-tinged jazz, funk and fusion with the off-beat spirit of Kid Creole & and the Coconuts, the album became a cult hit, attracting huge sums on the resale market. Here it’s the sultry, Minnie Riperton-esque ‘Crazy Love’, with its addictive groove and bittersweet melodies that makes the cut, alongside the steel drum-infused carnivalesque bounce of ‘Palm St’. Capturing a highly creative and prolific moment in Mimi’s career, Choice Cuts 1978-1983 will introduce the idiosyncratic energy and playful verve of this under-the-radar pioneer to a wider audience for the first time. Welcome to the world of Izumi ‘Mimi’ Kobayashi. Once you enter, you won’t want to leave.

To dwell within a land that's meant for many men not my tone, I must pay attention to the least-paid-attention-to

There were no deluxe studios for the musicians who recorded the devastating tracks contained herein. Nothing so grand. Most of these tracks were recorded live, with traditional instruments finding a place alongside any keyboards or guitars that could be found. And yet, it was the experiments of Khmer rock musicians which transformed the nightlife of the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh—and which many years later continue to seduce listeners around the world with their groovy sound. The music is wild and anarchic, rhythmic and undulating, or sweet and lyrical, but always moving and with that deep soulfulness, regardless of actual musical genre or style, that is the hallmark of the best and most important music. The lyrics often tell stories of angst, death, betrayal and sorrow. But there is a very real, deep, inescapable tragedy in these grooves as well. Alas, in 1975 came an entirely different type of transformation: the rise to power in Cambodia of the fanatical, anti-Western, Khmer Rouge, led by Pol Pot. Within roughly four years, implementing their “concept of Year Zero,” Pot and his regime were responsible for the deaths of an estimated two million Cambodians (roughly 21% of the nation’s population), many in the notorious “killing fields.” Even the most famous and beloved Khmer musicians could not escape. Sinn Sisamouth, the “King of Khmer music”; Ros Sereysothea, the “Golden Voice of the Royal Capital”; and Pan Ron — all featured on this collection of songs written by the majestic Sinn Sisamouth — met their deaths at the hands of the Khmer Rouge. Jon Swain, who was the Sunday Times war correspondent in South Vietnam and Cambodia at the time, said: “Educated people, musicians, people with glasses… a lot were taken to the killing fields… so the great singers disappeared.” To us, the richness and deep soulfulness of Cambodian music is akin perhaps to what was excavated from Ethiopia and embraced worldwide over the years thanks to the “Ethiopiques” series — this despite the geographical and cultural distance between the two very different nations. It really is one world, not three. It has long been a dearest wish to be able to present on the Lion Productions label individual artist-specific volumes of some of the most important Cambodian music, with the blessing of the families of the artists. Thanks to the family of Sinn Sisamouth, what seemed a dream is now real! Enjoy this first volume of the many to come!

Experimentation in early electronic music in the Sahara from the singular Mamman Sani. Dreamy organs and droning melodies reinterpret ancient folk tradition into sublime fantastical soundscape. Never before released recordings from the very beginning - unreleased tracks from his first album, recordings of a short lived trio, and a cover of an American folk ballad. Limited to 500 copies.

Wilurarrakutu is the brilliant debut from Papunya-based artist Keanu Nelson, an intimate exercise in musical storytelling and reflection. The album's eight tracks, sung in both Papunya Luritja and English, are verses of prose and poetry pulled directly from Nelson's notebooks and set to minimalist, DIY electronic arrangements.The evocative musical backdrops—featuring Casio keyboards, drum machines, and subtle synth flourishes—were created in collaborative sessions between Nelson and Sydney producer Yuta Matsumura. The two met by chance on Matsumura's visit to Papunya last year. Their impromptu jam sessions form the foundation for Wilurarrakutu's low-key sonic palette, influenced in parts by Papunya's strong local gospel music scene as well as the reggae beats often passed around the remote community via USB sticks and mobile phone transfers.Over these soundscapes, Nelson sings of family, friends, heritage, and culture, with a tone that balances joy and melancholy. They're themes and emotions that also echo through his work as a painter at the Papunya Tjupi Arts Centre. In this way, Wilurarrakutu becomes an extension of his art practice - a graceful audio portrait of a place that evokes the resonance of home.

I am facing a dilemma: how does the founder of an independent music label justify creating a project highlighting, even praising piracy, the very plague that has brought many labels to the brink of bankruptcy? I first became aware of “pirata” LPs in 2020 while hunting for records in Mexico City: their weird-looking DIY covers – and the edited, tweaked, EQ-manipulated and pitched-down music they contained – got me hooked. There was no denying it: the more I became immersed in the world of these illicit productions the more I became intrigued; and before long it became crystal clear that I would one day release my own compilation compiled out of pirated compilations. But beyond my own fascination with that parallel world, it was undeniable that the “pirata” movement had played a significant role in shaping the musical scene of Mexico. So how did it all start? During the 1980s, a group of music dealers and record collectors from Mexico City joined forces to create a series of illegally manufactured vinyl records containing rare and highly-sought hits from Perú, Ecuador, Colombia and beyond. At the time, Mexico City’s dance-party scene was ruled by the sonideros, a highly developed network of mobile soundsystem operators. The popularity of the sonideros led to a growing demand for tropical music, as their fan base became increasingly hungry for the “exclusive” hits associated with particular sonidos. Additionally record dealers were getting frustrated with the music industry constantly “feeding” them streams of mediocre records and from this frustration came the idea of compiling and manufacturing LPs on which every song was a hit: “no matter where the needle dropped, it had to be a song capable of igniting the party.” These bootleg compilations – known as “pirata” – were pressed during graveyard shift on recycled vinyl in editions of no more than 500; they were cheaply produced and sold just as cheaply to people who otherwise wouldn’t have been able to afford them. They were played extensively in every corner of Mexico’s heavily-populated barrios where, in addition to educating the ears of the youngsters, they also promoted some of the best tropical music recorded in Latin America. According to various first-hand accounts these “piratas” began to appear mysteriously in the early 1980s at various market stalls in Tepito, Mexico City’s infamous barrio, a place where one can attend daytime Salsa parties, get any drug imaginable, buy any kind of weapon and, of course, purchase pirated music in all formats. It seems that the manufacturers of pirata LPs worked on the principle that “what happens in Tepito stays in Tepito” and getting information about their bootlegging operations was difficult, not to mention dangerous. My partner in crime – Carlos “Tropicaza” Icaza, who had agreed to write the notes to this project – was quick to point out that: “We won’t be able to disclose any names. We’ll have to be careful how we tell the story!” At first the pirata LPs came in a simple generic covers, had made-up company names such as Discos Music-Hall, Carioca, Garden, or Miami, and contained popular street-dance songs in nearly every tropical genre. As these unlikely compilations became successful and new ones started being produced at a rate of one per month, the pirates began designing and printing interesting looking covers which often featured the logos of some of the most popular sonidos such as Rolas, Pancho, La Changa, Arco-Iris, Casablanca. The pioneer of this design style was Jaime Ruelas, who had started out as a DJ for the legendary mobile discoteque Polymarchs before using his illustration skills to design their flyers, posters and logos. Taking direct inspiration from science fiction movies and heavy metal covers, the graphics he created became a key element of sonidero culture. The anonymous manufacturers may not have realised it at the time but, in daring to create pirata LPs, they were helping to consolidate and expand a love for tropical music and dance among the population of Mexico City and beyond. The records themselves are a key element of the sonidero culture that was recently declared as part of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Mexico City for the impact that it has had on multiple generations who identified with the communal experience of the street party, and for whom music and dance became an essential part of daily life. This double-LP contains 23 tropical floor-fillers sourced from the finest and strangest pirata LPs produced during the golden age of Mexico City’s mobile soundsystems. It also includes a large booklet containing extensive notes and photos and It is dedicated to all the sonideros for their ground-breaking roles as ambassadors of tropical music within mexican society.

After leading the Flying Mimi Band, Izumi Kobayashi, who gained attention for her keyboard work with the Masayoshi Takanaka Band and music for the anime “Urusei Yatsura,” reissued her funky, tropical solo debut released in 1981 on LP!

WRWTFWW Records is ecstatic to announce the first ever best-of compilation of Soichi Terada’s amazing project OMODAKA. including 14 songs never released on vinyl before. The 18-track ZENTSUU: Collected Works 2001-2019 album is available on double LP in heavy 350gsm sleeve with printed inner sleeves, as well as in CD and digital formats. Initiated in 2001 while trying to create a "boat racing song", the OMODAKA project features sublime music by veteran electronic/house/jungle/video game music producer/DJ Soichi Terada and the vocals of Japanese folk min'yō & enka singer Akiko Kanazawa for a never-heard-before colorful blend of retro game 8bit/chiptune sounds and traditional Japanese music with wet electro rhythms, joyful 90s house grooves, and slick downtempo vibes. Feel-good, sexy, and fun, Terada’s project brings forth one of the most unique sounds in recent memory. The smile-inducing sonic adventure is packed with irresistible hits and a good dose of dancefloor-ready gems: a well deserved delivery of good times for 2022 and beyond! Tokyo born genius Soichi Terada has built an impressive career in different music genres. He co-founded respected label Far East Recording with Shinchiro Yokata, composed the soundtrack for cult video game series Ape Escape, released tons of amazing house music records (some included in the beautiful compilation Sounds from the Far East released by Rush Hour in 2015), and has been a celebrated world-touring DJ.

Fully licensed, limited to 500 copies. Frank Chickens could have been possibly forerunners for several famous alternative band, Cibo Matto, but sure had a development on their own. They began in London, early eighties as the original creation of Japanese performers Kazuko Hohki and Kazumi Taguchi. The band debuted with a pair of singles and a full length on Kaz Records. Backed by the likes of Steve Beresford (Alterations, The Slits, General Strike, London Improvisers Orchestra), Annie Whitehead (Penguin Cafe Orchestra, Robert Wyatt), Lol Coxhill, Tony Coe, and Clive Bell, the band soon became a case in history. Now, 37 years after its original release, their second album is being reissued: Get Chickenized! The record came out in 1987 on the British label Flying Lecords and showed a different side of the project, with a major focus on the so-called synth wave counterculture, still maintaining a certain avant feel. With original conspirator Steve Beresford still on board, the band was propelled in the studio by another key figure of the London underground: journalist, composer and producer David Toop. Being John Peel's favorite for a while, the band built a cult following retaining some absurd live performances, well known for their idiosyncratic choreography. Later revamped in the year 2000, thanks to cult label Ninja Tune, the band enjoyed a second wave of success, with a remix album featuring the likes of Pizzicato 5, Fink, and Neotropic. With a cover embellished by the labor of Pere Ubu David Thomas, this second influential album is finally available for your listening pleasure.

Honour’s debut album is a ligament stretching from Lagos to London and to New York, curling across the diaspora and brushing the darker hues of blues, hip-hop, free jazz, ambient, gospel with Christian mythology and Yoruba folklore. As cinematic as it is painterly, Àlàáfíà is a meditation on themes of life, death and love that pulls inspiration from the poetic profundity of God, remembered dreams, unexpected casual conversations, field recordings, literature, ephemera, and personal archives. The result is an impressionistic vision in Black and Blur that both exhausts and implicates language and that sublimates boundaries between everywhere and nowhere; history and the present; the individual and the universal.

Olvido Records, a new label distributed by Mississippi that has made a splash by reissuing Greek music from the 1930s, has released a compilation of rare tracks by Kenyan acoustic guitar virtuoso George Mukabi. !!!!

Bouncing between his local musical styles of "nyatiti lyre" and "sukuti His "omutibo" guitar style, which bounced off the "nyatiti lyre" and "sukuti" styles of his local music, had spread from West Africa to East Africa by the time Mukabi died in 1963. This is a traditional and simple storytelling style that has been passed down from generation to generation in Kenya. The guitar is very funky and there is no room for mis-tone. Even in the old recordings, you can hear the clawed guitar, simple percussion, and powerful singing. It's a happy groove that makes you want to hum along with them over a drink. Even if you don't listen to it with the same groove as the documentary, this recording will still be as great as ever. As long as there is a listener.

Authentic Brazilian music inspired and respected by the most legendary musicians of the genre: Seu Jorge, Arthur Verocai (who arranged strings on both Curyman albums), Arlindo Cruz (cowrote 100% Samba). A masterful contemporary that carries the legacy of the best of Brazilian music: past, present and future. Latin Grammy-nominated and Brazilian Music Awards-winning artist Rogê has become a pivotal figure in the resurgence of Música Popular Brasileira (MPB). With a rich career spanning over two decades, Rogê has released seven solo albums that have solidified his place in the contemporary Brazilian music scene. In March 2023, he released his U.S. debut album Curyman under Diamond West Records. Produced by Thomas Brenneck of the Budos Band who has worked with artists like Lady Gaga, Beyoncé, Jay-Z, and Amy Winehouse the album is a celebration of samba infused with messages of resilience and redemption. Curyman not only marked the launch of Brenneck's new label but also reflected Rogê's deep belief in the power of music to inspire hope and perseverance. Now comes Curyman II. Building on the success of his U.S. debut, this album promises to deliver even more vibrant samba rhythms and thought provoking lyrics. As Rogê continues to evolve his sound and push the boundaries of Brazilian music, he remains dedicated to spreading the rich cultural heritage of Brazil to audiences around the world.

After Prince Istari finished the Dub Encounter with Erik Satie, he immediately set to work on expelling the evil curse of artificial intelligence. While the encounter with Satie was guided by the original compositions, this album delves deeper into dub science. The opening track is "Curse Of Machine Learning," a grinding cumbia dub track that sucks you into the curse of machine learning. It's followed by "Artificial Neural Network," arguably the album's most nerve-wracking track, with wild snare rolls colliding with offbeat echoed riddim sections. "Large Language Models" offers a more relaxed, arabesque one-drop riddim with speech synthesis vocals. "Fake Image" closes the first side with a full trombone solo contributed by Eugene Rosebud. Side B starts with the one-drop killer tune "Haunted By Delusion," featuring an organ solo by Prince Istari. Drum and bass in your face. "Evil Forces," on the other hand, is a fusion of jazz and dub; after the brass section breakdown, it rolls into a crazy synth solo. Then next „I Want Your Data" pulls your data into the AI's guts with a vibraphone. This is maybe the ambitious tune on the record speaking of chord progressions. The final track sees Eugene Rosebud return with a double trombone solo in "Transhuman Feedback Rock" assisted by a saz cooling the blues pattern with a hookline. Here we have beautifull springreverb and harmonizer dub effects on the snare twirrling around the trombone solos. All tunes composed, arranged, conducted and engineered by Prince Istari and played by his house band The Virtualistics. Trombone Solos by Eugene Rosebud. Packaged in a nice cover drawn by Markus Schäfer and frequency shift and cut by LXC.

When KMRU accessed the sound archive of the Royal Museum of Central Africa in Tervuren, Belgium, it catalysed an auditory response in the form of the album Temporary Stored. The album listened back to listen forward – to reckon with the collective inheritance of colonial (sound) archives. Temporary Stored II serves as an artistic and curatorial extension of the original album, inviting other artists to lend their critical ear to museum archives holding recordings of African songs, traditions and practices. With KMRU, Aho Ssan, Lamin Fofana, Nyokabi Kariũki and Jessica Ekomane draw upon their listening experiences as global contemporaries navigating a world in flux – ecologically, economically, and politically. Each artist brings a selection of sonic fragments out of dormancy, channelling (in)audible traces into a contemporary cultural and political paradigm. Temporary Stored II sensitively responds to historical archives whose sounds have been restored and made more accessible through digitalisation, despite still being the copyrighted property of European institutions. It develops an emergent language to engage with the vocal, rhythmic and syllabic intelligence rooted in these sonic repertoires, grounded in reimagination of sonic records as seeds for a sounding future. Listening back to these recordings is one way to recover the loss of listening traditions, orality and modes of transmission. In these sonic mediations, Lamin Fofana, KMRU, Jessica Ekomane, Nyokabi Kariũki and Aho Ssan account for the archives with care and criticality. Inscribed in this album are “black waveforms as rebellious enthusiasms”, which in the words of Katherine McKittrick “affirm, through cognitive schemas, modes of being human that refuse antiblackness while restructuring our existing system of knowledge.” The album asks us to listen to colonial pasts and imagine the sound of our epistemological futures. It is a sonic retort; a playback to history and its colonial processes of extraction and accumulation. Temporary Stored II is a reminder that the labour of listening back is a continuous process of reassessing what has been lost, captured and refused.

Hive Mind Records are proud to present Colours of the Night, the final studio recordings of deep, hypnotic Gnawa songs from the late, great Maalem Mahmoud Gania. The recordings see their first release outside of Morocco on 8 September 2017, and are available as a double vinyl LP and digital download. The release has been licensed directly from the Gania family and comes with the support of all who were involved in the original recordings. Colours of the Night is his first album to receive a vinyl release. Maalem Mahmoud Gania was one of Morocco's most famous Gnawa musicians. Gnawa is a musical and spiritual tradition originating in sub-Saharan Africa that has survived as a subculture within Moroccan society for centuries. The roots of the blues can be heard in its hypnotic rhythms.

This essential reissue presents a rare collection of dub instrumental reggae tracks recorded by Tommy McCook (who you may know as the sax man from super ska outfit The Skatalites) and Bobby Ellis (who played the trumpet for dub legends The Upsetters) in 1977. Originally licensed to Grove Music, this still remarkable album features renowned musicians such as Sly and Robbie, Ansel Collins on organ, Clinton Fearon from The Gladiators on lead guitar, and Bernard Harvey of The Wailers on piano. The recordings took place at Channel One and were mixed at King Tubby Studio and every single tune cuts deep and with great authenticity.

It is with great pleasure that we announce Mitchum Yacoub’s debut album " Living High in the Brass Empire"— a showcase in unique stylings of tropical funk, afrobeat, cumbia, and soul; a musical patchwork threaded by a heavy, hypnotic rhythm section and powerfully vibrant horn lines. What sounds like a 12-piece ensemble was actually mostly recorded and performed by Yacoub at his home in San Diego, featuring a few close friends from local groups Sure Fire Soul Ensemble and Boostive. The horn section is comprised of Travis Klein, Bradley Nash, and Wesley Etienne (featuring Todd Simon on “Los Muñequitos"), each with distinguished performances that send the music to higher heights. Nuanced vocalist Divina Jasso lends humanity and introspection throughout the head-nodding soul sounds of “Never Knew”, Latin dance anthem “Cumbia Divina”, and the syncopated funk of “Empire”. You’ll hear rhythms from Colombia, folkloric percussion of Cuba, interlocking grooves à la Fela Kuti, 70’s r&b influence, and something in between it all. Drawing many inspirations into a refreshing and unified record, we think you’ll enjoy Living High in the Brass Empire.

Something of a sequel to Eternal Rhythm, his classic meeting of free jazz and world music from five years prior, Eternal Now found Don Cherry entering the studio for the tiny Sonet label, once again with members of the European avant-garde scene (this time from Sweden). This time around, though, the focus swings decidedly to the world-folk end of things: The only standard Western instrument is the piano, featured on only two of the five pieces (one of which is a non-traditional, African-styled repeated figure for two pianos and three players). The other instruments -- which include a great deal of percussion -- come from Africa, Tibet, China, India, Romania, and Indonesia. The session has a very loose, exploratory feel (four pieces are around eight minutes or more), which leaves lots of room for the musicians to play with the exotic textures of the instruments. The arrangements tend to be sparse, with plenty of open space that allows each instrument to be heard clearly, making for a sound that's similar to some of the Art Ensemble of Chicago's '60s work (on the same note, the percussion on "Tibet" also recalls the AEC's "little instruments" experiments). Cherry and the rest of his musicians hardly approach the project in a traditional manner (none of these intercontinental instrument combinations had probably been tried before); the whole point is to explore new musical possibilities and commonalities among cultures. While the results do meander occasionally, Eternal Now on the whole remains a fresh, unpredictable listen.

Caetano Veloso is one of the great masters of Brazilian music. This is the analog reissue of his fifth studio album, "Alaska Azul," which was released in 1973 and showcased the most experimental sound of his career. The album's refracted experimentalism is even more fresh than the image in the bizarre cover photo, bleached with plagian tropicalia and psychedelics.

Warodjah is the musical collaboration between Andrea Rausa (A.K.A. Afreak) and Massimiliano Troiani. The two Italian DJs and producers crossed paths in Rome, where they started sharing the mixing console and co-hosting parties in the Italian capital. They soon found a deep connection through their mutual passion for African music and electronic dance music. On the A side, the title track, presented in both full-length and radio edit versions, pays homage to the rich heritage of African music and the storytelling tradition of African griots. Special guest Zouratié Koné, hailing from a Griot family in Burkina Faso, takes us on a sonic journey. With his masterful handling of a self-crafted Kora, he weaves dreamy melodies that dance freely above a progressing tapestry of drum patterns and ethereal piano chords. On the flipside, a sumptuous house remix by DJ Fett Burger. Renowned for his diverse and eclectic productions with a lot of personality, delivers here 14 minutes of pure joy and bliss. Playing around with the original theme, and adds full of surpassing and groovy elements that draws you to the dancefloor and keeps you there! A fusion of hypnotic euphoric rhythm play, delightful melodies and a touch of house music as a feeling. A remix dedicated to the true era of the art of remixing! Original, creative and groovy!

Triángulos De Luz Y Espacios De Sombra (Triangles of Light and Spaces of Shadow) is a collection of visionary Mexican electronic music sourced from obscure cassettes, CDs, private pressings, and personal archives, presented by Séance Centre and Smiling C. These works trace an expansive scene of prescient musicians who created a unique speculative cosmology, forging Mesoamerican mythologies with innovative sonic technologies. From the mid-80s through the 90s, a network of Mexican musicians embarked on a journey to craft a musical expression distinct from the mainstream musical culture that dominated the airwaves and record industry. Based around practices of collaboration, ethnomusicology, electronic experimentation and home-recording, these artists traversed territories at the very edges of genre and musical form. Myth-scientists Antonio Zepeda, José Luis Fernández Ledesma, Jorge Reyes, Isaac Alva, and La Fábula venture into the periphery of the new age, incorporating Pre-Columbian rhythms and melodies into their dream-like compositions. Vistas Fijas, Armando Velasco, Eblen Macari, and Gabo move through radical new wave territories, utilizing guitars and drum machines to map their musical chronicles. Germán Bringas and Eugenio Toussaint traverse the jazz landscape, blending horns with electronics, improvising long uncharted expeditions. Pinning down a unified sound for these artists is challenging, yet they collectively cohabitate the capacious space of "ambient," employing diverse expressions through various imaginative modalities. What distinguishes these artists is a distinctly transhistorical approach which vividly imagines sonic possible worlds. In an attempt to situate themselves within a culturally and historically complex landscape, many of the artists on the compilation reactivate ancient Mesoamerican music traditions, those of the Aztecs, Maya, and Olmecs. Their electronic compositions are intricate tapestries woven with the haunting melodies of pre-Hispanic flutes and ocarinas, resonating alongside the echoes of ancient percussive marvels like the teponaztli and huéhuetl. Ritualistic chants, undulating synths, and atavistic rhythms intertwine, conjuring a hypnotic mosaic of chimeric sound. Natural and acoustic sounds are juxtaposed within a synthetic habitat, as if towering skyscrapers cast a shadow across ancient pyramids. Rather than longing for an impossible past, these works evoke fantastical visions suspended in dreams, glimpses into the mythical realm of the hummingbirds. The title "Triángulos De Luz Y Espacios De Sombra" (Triangles of Light and Spaces of Shadow) is inspired by a public access TV show of the same name that showcased several artists featured in this compilation. Imagining triangular prisms of light superimposed on otherworldly shadows feels apt for these illusory and phantasmagoric sounds. The space between these two opposing but interdependent images is the resonant juncture where these artists create their auditory oracles. This compilation highlights the prophetic luminaries of this underground community of musicians, with many of these songs previously unreleased or only available on fugitive formats until now. This double LP release features 17 tracks remastered from reel-to-reel, DAT, and cassette masters. It includes two inserts with an essay by Mexico City based music journalist David Cortés on both Spanish and English, accompanied by archival photos of the artists and artifacts featured on the compilation. The first edition comes adorned in a luminescent sticker illustrating a solar eclipse. RIYL: Outro Tempo, Durutti Column, Jon Hassell, Música Esporádica, Finis Africae

In 1974, a brash young designer called Augustus Kerry Taylor had an idea. He'd gather together the hottest musicians in Ghana and record an album of the heaviest and funkiest sounds coming out of America. And this time, he wouldn't just design the cover, like he'd done with Fela Kuti, he'd even release it on his new label, Emporium, as well. Local Accra legends Joe Wellington, Jagger Botchway, Leslie Addy, Officer Toro, Oko Ringo, Soldier and Steve answered the call. They were christened the Kelenkye Band and gelled immediately. Moving World, is a funky, disparate album that exudes a rare warmth, enthusiasm and togetherness. 'Moving World' and 'Brotherhood of Man' are hard, grinding funk. 'Jungle Music' has a more soulful groove. There's also a bit of reggae, 'Dracula Dance', and old-skool highlife, 'Wale Tobite'. Accra's leading DJ, Charlie Sam, declared his mind 'well and truly boggled.' The Kelenkye Band never recorded another album. Augustus Kerry Taylor shut down Emporium and went back to designing album covers. But in Moving World they delivered a perfect moment of funk alchemy that has rightly become the Holy Grail of 70's Ghanian groove. - Peter Moore, www.africanrevolutions.com / Licensed by the bandleaders and songwriters of the album, Joe Wellington and Jagger Botchway.

Honour’s debut album is a ligament stretching from Lagos to London and to New York, curling across the diaspora and brushing the darker hues of blues, hip-hop, free jazz, ambient, gospel with Christian mythology and Yoruba folklore. As cinematic as it is painterly, Àlàáfíà is a meditation on themes of life, death and love that pulls inspiration from the poetic profundity of God, remembered dreams, unexpected casual conversations, field recordings, literature, ephemera, and personal archives. The result is an impressionistic vision in Black and Blur that both exhausts and implicates language and that sublimates boundaries between everywhere and nowhere; history and the present; the individual and the universal.