MUSIC

As the sun sets on a quaint East Nashville house, a young man bares a piece of his soul. Facing the camera, sporting a silky suit jacket/shirt/slacks/fingerless gloves ensemble that announces "singer" before he's even opened his mouth, Lee Tracy Johnson settles onto his stage, the front yard. He sways to the dirge-like drum machine pulse of a synth-soaked slow jam, extends his arms as if gaining his balance, and croons in affecting, fragile earnest, "I need your love… oh baby…" Dogs in the yard next door begin barking. A mysterious cardboard robot figure, beamed in from galaxies unknown and affixed to a tree, is less vocal. Lee doesn't acknowledge either's presence. He's busy feeling it, arms and hands gesticulating. His voice rises in falsetto over the now-quiet dogs, over the ambient noise from the street that seeps into the handheld camcorder's microphone, over the recording of his own voice played back from a boombox off-camera. After six minutes the single, continuous shot ends. In this intimate creative universe there are no re-takes. There are many more music videos to shoot, and as Lee later puts it, "The first time you do it is actually the best. Because you can never get that again. You expressing yourself from within." "I Need Your Love" dates from a lost heyday. From some time in the '80s or early '90s, when Lee Tracy (as he was known in performance) and his music partner/producer/manager Isaac Manning committed hours upon hours of their sonic and visual ideas to tape. Embracing drum machines and synthesizers – electronics that made their personal futurism palpable – they recorded exclusively at home, live in a room into a simple cassette deck. Soul, funk, electro and new wave informed their songs, yet Lee and Isaac eschewed the confinement of conventional categories and genres, preferring to let experimentation guide them. "Anytime somebody put out a new record they had the same instruments or the same sound," explains Isaac. "So I basically wanted to find something that's really gonna stand out away from all of the rest of 'em." Their ethos meant that every idea they came up with was at least worth trying: echoed out half-rapped exhortations over frantic techno-style beats, gospel synth soul, modal electro-funk, oddball pop reinterpretations, emo AOR balladry, nods to Prince and the Fat Boys, or arrangements that might collapse mid-song into a mess of arcade game-ish blips before rallying to reach the finish line. All of it conjoined by consistent tape hiss, and most vitally, Lee's chameleonic voice, which managed to wildly shape shift and still evoke something sincere – whether toggling between falsetto and tenor exalting Jesus's return, or punctuating a melismatic romantic adlib with a succinct, "We all know how it feels to be alone." "People think we went to a studio," says Isaac derisively. "We never went to no studio. We didn't have the money to go to no studio! We did this stuff at home. I shot videos in my front yard with whatever we could to get things together." Sometimes Isaac would just put on an instrumental record, be it "Planet Rock" or "Don't Cry For Me Argentina" (from Evita), press "record," and let Lee improvise over it, yielding peculiar love songs, would-be patriotic anthems, or Elvis Presley or Marilyn Monroe tributes. Technical limitations and a lack of professional polish never dissuaded them. They believed they were onto something. "That struggle," Isaac says, "made that sound sound good to me." In the parlance of modern music criticism Lee and Isaac's dizzying DIY efforts would inevitably be described as "outsider." But "outsider" carries the burden of untold additional layers of meaning if you're Black and from the South, creating on a budget, and trying to get someone, anyone within the country music capital of the world to take your vision seriously. "What category should we put it in?" Isaac asks rhetorically. "I don't know. All I know is feeling. I ain't gonna name it nothing. It's music. If it grabs your soul and touch your heart that's what it basically is supposed to do."

It is said, study, work hard and life shall reward. Be good unto others and life will be kind to you. The question is, can you break free from the external constraints of control or do you negotiate your release. Should one endure the seemingly eternal struggle, wielding equality as a spearhead of revolution ? Or do you count your loses and move on to a new world where the lessons of the past are acknowledged ? A fresh start without the weight of having to shield your liberty. A place where all past wrongs can be made right and the tentacles of evil can not reach. A world where legacy can be held in esteem.

Mansoor Brown is an artist, producer and multi-instrumentalist from Brixton, London. The debut work from , led by Henry Wu, who is the typhoon of the new generation of UK jazz, has attracted attention to the extent that Robert Glasper and Thundercat have been cited, and he has released the latest mixtape. !

It has a cinematic style throughout, and it can be said that the expressive power of the internal guitar that can be felt everywhere is a sound unique to Mansoor Brown. The B-side contains 4 songs developed without beats, and you can fully enjoy his guitar sound. "Meikai", which decorates the last track, is the closest to ambient music in the work, and it is a must-listen song that invites you to another world with modulated vocals, sparkling guitar sounds, and the electronic sound that appears at the end!

Fine debut album from blue-eyed soul crooner Seán Being, a softly smudged suite of gauzy, subtly autotuned vocal harmonies a la How To Dress Well, Olan Monk or groggy aspects of pigbaby, wreathed with folksy strings and fractured grooves Seán’s succinct bouquet of seven songs, ‘Faux Window’ is a real one for the daydreamers. Its septet of carefully frayed paeans float by in a gentle haze from the ambient spritz of ‘Fake (Window)’ thru introspective thinking-about-thinking liens of thought recalling a lo-fi Laura Groves in ‘On’, to dialled-down R&B in ‘Everything’, whilst ‘Wasting’ shimmers with a knackered folksy lustre akin to pigbaby, and ‘Otherwise’ continues that drafting smudge to more Americana themed strums. The harmonised glossolalia of ’F.T.O.’ calls to mind Elaine Howley via How To Dress Well to these ears, and ‘This Is What I Want’ keens off into hazy middle distance ambient-pop style with shades of more eaze & claire rousay’s pop works.

Soulgramma present a reissue of Betty Harris' Soul Perfection, originally released in 1969. Soul singer Betty Harris -- mainly known for her Jubilee and Sansu recordings -- was born in 1939 in Orlando, Florida. As a teenager she worked as a mate for Big Maybelle who encouraged her to start singing. First recording was released in 1962, her major hit was a cover of Solomon Burke's "Cry To Me" in 1963. Taken at a slower pace, Harris' rendition turned the song into a Billboard Hot 100 number 23 hit and soon became a deep soul classic. A total of three further singles including a reissue of "Cry To Me" were released on Jubilee with "His Kiss", which was released on January 4, 1964, another deep soul ballad, reaching the lower part of the Billboard Pop and R&B charts. In 1964, Betty Harris switched record labels to Sansu, a New Orleans label, where she was produced by Allen Toussaint. Her recordings with Sansu produced ten singles and Toussaint raw yet sophisticated Southern soul arrangements behind Harris' rich, distinctive vocal, are considered prime specimens of the classic soul era. Soul Perfection, originally licensed on UK label Action in 1969, was in fact a collection of her previous works on Sansu, a rare groove affair rapidly in demand between a crowd of obsessive fans all over the world. Harris retired from performing in 1970 to raise a family and made an occasional return in 2007 with the album Intuition.

Chicago pastor and activist T.L. Barrett’s rare gospel soul classic Like A Ship… (Without A Sail) is finally receiving a much-needed reissue. Long revered by record collectors, this album remains one of the holy grails of gospel soul. Self-released in 1971, Like A Ship was the result of Barrett channeling his passion for music, a determination to keep children off the streets, and his charismatic preaching (which attracted the likes of Earth, Wind & Fire and Donny Hathaway to his sermons at Mount Zion Baptist Church) into the production of the album, a project bolstered by the saxophonist and arranger Gene Barge of the famed Chess Records, and backed by a cast of players that included Richard Evans, Phil Upchurch and the rapturous vocals of the Youth For Christ Choir. Like A Ship… is filled with sanctified grooves and spiritual praise delivered with a righteous, infectious chorus.

The sequel to Pastor Barrett’s landmark 1971 masterpiece Like A Ship…, Do Not Pass Me By finds the young Chicago preacher and his Youth for Christ Choir continuing their genre-bending spiritual journey. Heavy drums, soaring falsettos, euphoric tambourines, sharp horns, and Barrett’s unwavering devotion dance around a 40-strong choir, working together to form sanctified slab of gospel funk. Pressed in a minuscule quantity in 1973, Do Not Pass Me By was sold primarily from the pulpit of Barrett’s Mt. Zion Baptist Church, disappearing into Chicago’s south side for 45 years before Numero’s excavation. The ten-song album has been remastered, it’s generic album cover updated to match Barrett’s vision. On the back of the jacket, he insisted on the following words: “After listening to this album you will be glad that you did not pass it by!”

Gently Down Your Stream marked a creative zenith within the Columbus, Ohio, soul scene, at the juncture of the 1960s and ’70s. The Four Mints were one of the most influential local group harmony outfits of their era and—with assistance from Columbus doyen and Capsoul purveyor Bill Moss—among the few to release a full length LP. The roster of backing musicians hired to provide aural landscaping reads like a Midwest super-group, with surprising appearances from Indianapolis-based vibraphonist Billy Wooten and drummer Bobby Allen of the Fabulous Originals from Dayton, Ohio. And though most of the material on 1973’s Gently had been previously released as 45s, the collection—five singles and one priceless track saved from the scrap heap—gives witness to a world-class vocal quartet at its professional and intuitive peak. Under the watchful eye of arranger and mega-talent Dean Francis, the Four Mints pour forth from your speakers soulful, faithful and clear, but perhaps more importantly, intrinsically homegrown and utterly honest.

Just as Al Green’s “Back Up Train” was pulling out of Grand Rapids, Michigan, for a whistle-stop tour to the top of the charts, producer Palmer James began eyeing another Furniture City branch line: Tommy Mcgee. The result was 1976’s Positive-Negative, the creative apex in a career littered with endless bottoms. Gathered for the first time are Mcgee’s timeless album, singles for Golden Voice, Mercury, TMG, and Tosted, as well as the complete output of his nascent mid-‘60s funk combo the T.M.G.’s.

Compiled here are 25 of Shiptown's most compelling sides recorded between 1965-1977, from the likes of Ida Sands, The Soul Duo, The Anglos, Dream Team, The Grooms, Positive Sounds, Barbara Stant, Wilson Williams, Art Ensley, and yes, Flip Flop Stevens.

Under the presidency of Bradley Zero, London's prestigious label , which has produced numerous masterpieces and is also focusing on contemporary jazz, has collaborated with labelmate Vels Trio keyboard player Jack Stephenson-Oliver. The latest work by SAUL, a collaborative project by producer Barney Whittaker (aka Footshooter). Includes songs featuring guests such as Ezra Collective saxophonist James Mollison and South London MC Natty Wylah. It is a supreme jazz album that blends the vibes of bedroom pop/soul that are familiar to the LA crowd with the energy and blackness of spiritual jazz. In the second half of this year, he will perform with Kamasi Washington, one of the great icons of contemporary jazz, so it's a must-see!SAUL enlist the help of talented friends for their new EP - a feel good, summer-ready soundtrack, bursting with uplifting synths and groove-heavy broken beats SAUL, is a joint project from the minds of Jack Stephenson-Oliver (keys player of fellow Rhythm Section INTL signee, Vels Trio) and producer Barney Whittaker, aka Footshooter. With the success of their individual projects - Vels are soon to embark on a tour across the UK and Europe and Footshooter is growing from strength to strength following releases on Astral Black and Dance Regular - it’s exciting to hear what the duo will think up next. When the two of them get together their jam sessions result in a fusion of jazz and broken beat. Atmospheric keys and synths interweave with programmed drums, laying the perfect ground for the all star cast of featured artists assembled for this record. Collaboration is a key element to the creative output of SAUL, shining a light over individual and collective talents. Their second release, Mutualism, promises a stellar line-up of musical interaction. In the words of Barney, “the feature performances are all very different, the way they worked on the tracks really brought each one to life in a big way”. The project starts with the sounds of sunrise. Opening with The Light, is Allysha Joy, a member of another group on Rhythm Section’s roster, 30/70. She crafts uplifting melodies that move gracefully through bouncy Rhodes chords. This track shines with sun-focused energy and up beat grooves that provide the perfect soundtrack for long summer festival days. On Coalesce, featuring South London MC Natty Wylah, lofty, cloud-like atmospheres are built above classic Moog synths. The hypnotic bass and lead notes are equal parts hopeful, eerie and curious, matching the optimistic promise offered by Wylah’s hook: ‘don’t you want to find somewhere better?’. Subjects flow from party-focused lyrics to poetic streams of consciousness as Natty adopts a dreamy sung delivery by the end of the track. The Ep comes to a serene close with a feature from ‘aden’ - recipient of the 2021 Fred Perry x Nicholas Daley Music Grant. The early image of sunlight may have faded, but the energetic focus of the project never dies. Swirling synths circle around sharp bass stabs, with a driving bassline taking over into the hook. Other major features include the unmistakable tone of Lex Amour. During Flowers, her laid back, spoken style is accompanied by a slowed down G-Funk-inspired instrumental. With an illustrious list of collaborators already to her name (such as Kojey Radical, Wulu, George Riley and Ego Ella Mae) and sell out shows across the country, she makes her lyrical prowess evident. Lex effortlessly switches between rhythmical flows to hypnotic layered melodies - elevating the production to another level in the process. The synergy between producers and vocalists is evident; the collaborations equal far more than the sum of their parts. In ‘Mutualism’ we see Saul’s vision fully come to fruition. The synergy is apparent, the possibilities - endless and the respect - mutual. Aside from the Vocal guest appearance, Mutualism is also packed with instrumental cameos. SAUL turn to Ezra Collective’s sax player James Mollison on the track Can’t Wait. The seasoned five-piece are set to perform alongside the modern day jazz pioneer Kamasi Washington later this year. Mollison shows his range on this song as energy flows from soaring highs to long sustained lows, allowing a hint of dub influence to come to light. SAUL’s newest release signals two musicians at the height of their artistic expression, drawing resources and influences from wherever is inspiring them most. This collaborative methodology produces a sound that is constantly evolving, illuminating new faces and sounds with each project that passes.

Invisible City continues to celebrate its 10th anniversary as a record label by reissuing the overlooked 1994 UK LP Accura - Five x Five! The best records make you want to grab the steering wheel and feel the sunny coastal drive. Frank Ed’s unique blend of genres on his LP “Five x Five” does exactly this by melting G-funk, smoothie Rnb and NYC Disco a la Larry Levan, a genre he coined “Street Jazz”. A Ghana expat inspired by the endearing levity of the sounds of Hilife along the Gold Coast, Frank Ed fuses downtempo keys and throbbing basslines on the opener “The Vibe”. Taking turn on the sunny coast, “Groove Control” is a euphoric minimal disco gem teasing the padlocked grooves of Gwen Guthrie and the West End setting sun into a fiery Loleatta sample that sparks into a fiery vocal “You got me burning up”. Dervish vibraphones, inspired by the Jazz-Funk renaissance, mesmerize the interlude “Ghetto Strings”. The punchy sampledelic psychedelia of conscious hip hop continue with the car sounds of “Jazz Maiden” opening with a screeching car halt, alongside MCs Cap D and Darkstorm rapping about a girl on the town, before being snapped and interjected by a female vocal chiming in“Excuse Me!” “Freestylin’” is a top down portamento G-funk glider, a nod to everything from the West Coast hip hop highway. “The Good Times'' - a CD-hidden only cut - is the real jewel here, emblematic of Frank Eds distinctive style. Expect low slung, nasal rapping and sine wave G funk grooves paired with lyrics about baggy jeans and Kangol kits that land with the chorus: “ I walk the walk I pay the price of this hip hop rhyme.” The pacific highway drive continues with “Summer Jazz” a breezy cruiser with the line, “Just move your body and slow…Summer Jazz.” You can feel the sun and wind in your hair as the keys trill along the reverb vocals of “I Feeeel It.” This pressing Includes two other CD-only releases featuring the NHB remixes of “Feelin Jazzy” and “Summer Jazz.” An essential LP, lovingly remastered and adjacent to the African diaspora genre UK Street Soul and the fervent UK RnB explosion of the early 90s. Glimmering with the disco ball of The Paradise Garage and the simmering smoothness of bumpin’ West Coast hip hop. Official Limited Pressing made in collaboration with Frank Ed and Toronto local selector Matt Stein. Not to be missed!

Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio—or as it is sometimes referred to, DLO3—specialize in the lost art of “feel good music.” The ingredients of this intoxicating cocktail include a big helping of the 1960s organ jazz stylings of Jimmy Smith and Baby Face Willette; a pinch of the snappy soul strut of Booker T. The M.G.’s and The Meters; and sprinkles Motown, Stax Records, blues, and cosmic Jimi Hendrix-style guitar. It’s a soul-jazz concoction that goes straight to your heart and head makes your body break out in a sweat. The band features organist Delvon Lamarr, a self-taught virtuosic musician, with perfect pitch who taught himself jazz and has effortlessly been able to play a multitude of instruments. On guitar is the dynamo Jimmy James who eases through Steve Cropper-style chanking guitar, volcanic acid-rock freak-out lead playing, and slinky Grant Green style jazz. From Reno, Nevada is drummer Dan Weiss (also of the powerhouse soul and funk collective The Sextones). Dan’s smoldering pocket-groove drumming locks in the trio’s explosive chemistry. Founded by Lamarr’s wife and manager Amy Novo, the trio started from humble beginnings in 2015, but since then has released two Billboard charting albums and toured the world to sold out venues. The trio returns now with their second studio album, I Told You So, with even heavier grooves and more confidence. It may have been several years since their most recent studio effort, but they haven’t missed a beat.

Finally this ghost gem left by Jiro Inagaki's Soul Media has been repressed on vinyl for the first time thanks to Cinedelic Records. ‘Woodstock Generation’ is a masterpiece of Japanese jazz/rock funk/soul that for some it even considered better then the acclaimed "Head Rock" in terms of perfection; surely there are many points in common between the two albums having been made a few months later, in 1970. Behind "The Soul Medium" name hides saxophonist Jiro Inagaki, an iconic figure of the japanese Jazz Rock scene during the late sixties to the early seventies. Jiro is supported by his legendary quintet "Soul Media" under its first incarnation featuring Ryo Kawasaki (g) Yasuo Arakawa (b) Masaru Imada (org) Sadakazu Tabata (ds) with Tetsuo Fushimi & Shunzo Ohno on trumpet in addition. "Woodstock Generation" is a tribute album to the Woodstock Festival including cover of songs performed on the stage by Sly & Family Stone (I Want To Take You Higher) The Who (Summertime Blues) or Ten Years After (Spoonful) but also Woodstock (written by Joni Mitchell in honor of the Festival) and Mamma Told Me (Not To Come) written by Randy Newman for Eric Burdon and The Animals. Titles include also variations on the "Head Rock" theme "The Ground For Peace” and original composition of Masahiko Sato "Knick Knack". All tracks arranged by Jiro Inagaki. Artwork by Eric Adrian Lee. Jiro Inagaki - tenor saxophone soprano saxophone Masaru Imada – organ Ryo Kawasaki – guitar Yasuo Arakawa – bass Sadakazu Tabata – drums Tetsuo Fushimi, Shunzo Ohno – trumpet

The last chapter of Lou Ragland’s Cleveland career was perhaps the most monumental. By its completion, Understand Each Other—more often referred to as The ConVeyor, with that uppercase V intentional but unexplained—featured generations of Cleveland luminaries, and representation from most scenes, both sexes, and several ethnicities. The album’s credits read like the guest list for a Lou Ragland episode of This Is Your Life. Kathy Grant was brought in to arrange the massive Cleveland Orchestra, inviting her father Frank in as first chair cello. A pre-O’Jays Dunn Pearson handled keys, and Richard Shann, the man who Pearson would replace in the O’Jays, got an arranger’s credit as well. The horn section was rounded out by Mother Brain Tree trombonist Ulysses Young, Bell Telefunk trumpeter Watson Vaughn, and future Dazz Band trumpeter Pierre Demudd. Lou’s live-in girlfriend Elaine Hines and her First Light singing mate Joyce Jenkins, both on break from stints with Terry Knight’s Grand Funk Railroad project, contributed backing vocals. One-time Co-Co co-owner Leonard Jackson brought his Temps knock-off the True Movement in as a male counter to First Light. In the middle of his stumbling career on the Miystic Insight label, Sonny Lovall adds another voice. Hot Chocolateers past and Seven Miles Highers present Tony Roberson, Herbert Pruitt, R. C. Johnson, Tom Tichar, James Johnson III, Joe Jenkins, and Pam Hamilton are all accounted for. Understand Each Other opens with the socially conscious title track, gutting out a second place finish to Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On?" in both its mission and its mix. Like Gaye's own conceptual title track, there is not a dull moment in Ragland’s, as strings, horns, percussion, and vocal motifs rise and fall organically through the monumental piece. Lou testifies throughout, matching the complicated terrain of the dynamic opener. Two songs later, “Since You Said You’d Be Mine” gets its 30-second intro back and looks all the stronger for it. On Side B, Ragland revisits Love For Dollars And Cents’ “Into The Next World”—issued on Co-Co in 1972—stretching the song out toward the five-minute mark but truncating its title. The album closes with an instrumental “Understand Each Other,” reminding the listener to flip the record over and begin again. The album’s jacket must be the most curious element of the package. The cover drawing, from the pen of Remus Peterson, depicts Lou Ragland as peacemaker, standing between a sabre-toothed tiger and a dove, asking them literally to “Understand Each Other.” On the reverse, that message is taken to the spiritual extreme. Sometime in 1977, Lou had taken on Lateef Mahmud as his spiritual guru in a brief flirtation with Islam (the Arabic on the sleeve translates to “God Is The Greatest”). Mahmud somehow snagged a producer credit, but he was also called on to pen an album preface. His notes conceive of music as a cosmic language, with this very LP itself compiled as a tribute to the “ghetto masters—those who master the ghetto and have become among those who help shape the destiny of this land.” Lou Ragland is deemed The Conveyor: “…the conveyor of harmony thru the ethers manifested in words, songs, and deeds to bring into focus the universal, educational, and inspirational plane of consciousness.” So Mahmud wasn’t all that far off, it turns out.

弊店でも毎度瞬殺完売必至の大人気レーベル、濃密な音楽体験をお約束する”Cairo Records”の最新タイトルとなる第８弾コンピレーション！Mississippi recordsがディストリビューションする、このコアな黒人音楽遺産レーベルの最新作は著名アーティストから発見することすら困難なオブスキュアな無名アーティストまで超絶ディープなバラッドを収録した、Harry SmithのAnthology Of American Folk Musicのソウル版とも言うべき、鋭い審美眼による選び抜かれた豪華ソウル・ミュージックを25曲収録。場末の酒場は今日も歌へと酔いしれ、哀歌へと沈み、黄昏の夕日へと焦がれる毎日。遥か遠い日を夢に見る男と女の心打つバラッドの数々に乾杯です！金箔プリント・カバー&ブラック・インナー・スリーヴ仕様。28ページにも渡るフルカラー・ライナーノーツが付属。完全限定盤。同レーベルからのコンピは再プレスもなく、瞬時レア化しているため今回も争奪戦が予測されます。この機会を絶対にお見逃しなく！全音楽好きに大・大・大・大・大推薦です！

弊店でも毎度瞬殺完売必至の大人気レーベル、濃密な音楽体験をお約束する”Cairo Records”の最新タイトルとなる第七弾コンピレーション！Mississippi recordsがディストリビューションする、このコアな黒人音楽遺産レーベルの最新作は今日までヴァイナルでのリリースも為されてこなかったデモ曲含め、著名アーティストから発見することすら困難なオブスキュアな無名アーティストまで超絶ディープなバラッドを収録した、Harry SmithのAnthology Of American Folk Musicのソウル版とも言うべき、鋭い審美眼による選び抜かれた豪華ソウル・ミュージックを36曲収録。場末の酒場は今日も歌へと酔いしれ、哀歌へと沈み、黄昏の夕日へと焦がれる毎日。遥か遠い日を夢に見る男と女の心打つバラッドの数々に乾杯です！金箔プリント・カバー&ブラック・インナー・スリーヴ仕様。28ページにも渡るフルカラー・ライナーノーツが付属。完全限定盤。同レーベルからのコンピは再プレスもなく、瞬時レア化しているため今回も争奪戦が予測されます。この機会を絶対にお見逃しなく！全音楽好きに大・大・大・大・大推薦です！

Already sold out. No general distribution, Joyful White & Gold Vinyl. 5 LP box of rare and representative albums of Pastor Barrett and his choir, including "Like A Ship", "Do Not Pass Me By The box contains 49 tracks on 5 LPs, including rare albums such as Like A Ship, Do Not Pass Me By, Volume 1 & 2, and I Found The Answer, as well as a bonus album with additional rare singles and sermons. With gorgeous notes and illustrations, this is the definitive book on Barrett's 20 years of work!

Memphis-raised V.C.R, born Veronica Camille Ratliff, is the LA-based violinist, gospel singer, and multidisciplinary Cinematic Soul artist using music and literature as her primary tools of uplift. The debut album "The Chronicles of a Caterpillar: The Egg" follows V through fantasy storybook-style song narratives that equally touch upon Lord Of The Rings as it does Minnie Ripperton and Tchaikovsky. Veronica's book “The Creative Black Woman’s Playbook” was written and published in 2019 as a primer to her album, with the purpose of celebrating black femininity, honoring black heritage and history, and empowering creative black women internationally. www.creativeblackwomansplaybook.com The album releases April 29th 2022 via Leaving Records All Genre, and features vocal contributions from Pink Siifu plus production from Sudan Archives and Lastnamedavid.

Beyond The Willow Tree is a hauntingly beautiful anthology of folk songs chronicling the experience of a young black man growing up in the segregated south. A balanced mix of covers and originals, Cleveland Francis’ body of work seamlessly blends deep, soulful vocals with the stripped down acoustic instrumentation of folk. In the late 60’s Francis coined the term “soulfolk”, playing his genre bending music across college campuses and coffee shops while earning a medical degree at William & Mary. These songs serve as a missing link between soul and folk music, suppressed by the harsh political landscape of a music industry heavily influenced by racial stereotypes. “If you were black, you played blues or soul music … I wanted to play folk music,” Cleveland professed. Included in this double LP set is Cleveland Francis’ entire 1970 self released album Follow Me, featuring the original artwork and liner notes printed inside the gatefold. The second LP takes you Beyond The Willow Tree with unreleased demos recorded in 1968 along with one 45 only single recorded in 1970. “These recordings are a look into my soul through a long and lonely journey to understand feelings of my childhood, poverty, racial segregation, bigotry, war, love and hope. It represents my attempt to express and come to terms with all that I have seen and felt as a Black man growing up in America.” – Cleveland Francis

Benny says, “First and foremost, I’m a beat-maker. I started making music in the mid-90s while listening to De La Soul. When I write songs, I always start with the beat. Like a songwriter strumming their guitar, I drag kicks and snares.” After releasing his album Music in April 2021, Benny had several beats he hadn’t used, and decided to follow up his original self-released Beat Tape (2018) with a new collection. “The idea came to me to ask some rappers to join on the beats, to pay homage to where it all started: hip-hop. It was all very effortless, because there wasn’t a higher goal of wanting to write the perfect song. I was just having fun doing what comes naturally.” The many guests on Beat Tape II include British R&B singer JONES on “Look What We Do”, Stones Throw MC The Koreatown Oddity on “Song 13”, and Mocky, Cola Boyy, and Marc Rebillet on “Beat 100”. Kenny Beats produced “Don’t Look” with Cory Henry, while Canadian rapper and singer Rae Khalil appears on “Beat 5” and “CGEOOL”. PawPaw Rod, MadeInTYO, St. Panther, Oddisee and Faberyayo also feature. Benny says: “I feel so grateful to have all these new and established talents on here that make Beat Tape II what it is. I got people who are not very well known for rapping to rap. Mocky’s first albums, which I played a lot when I was younger, were rap albums, so it was great to ask if he would do that again, go back in time. Cola Boyy is a great singer, but his voice is perfect for rapping, so I was really excited to hear him do that. I’m also excited for my first collab with Kenny Beats. Hope this can be a start of some new stuff, who knows :)”

As a grade-schooler listening to the radio in his dad’s car, Stimulator Jones thought Prince was singing “round spiritual ring” on the hook of “Raspberry Beret.” The adult Stimulator Jones, aka Sam Lunsford, now knows all the lyrics to “Raspberry Beret” – and can play the song on virtually any instrument, from bass to sitar – but when the time came to title his new album, he decided to name it after that misheard lyric. Round Spiritual Ring shows a more personal and vulnerable side than Stimulator’s debut Exotic Worlds and Masterful Treasures, with lyrics that touch on his struggles with depression and chronic pain. But Sam is an optimist at heart, and his album’s overarching message is that love and connection are the forces that will ultimately save us. Round Spiritual Ring also symbolizes the connectedness of everything, what Sam calls “repetitive forces in the world” – think DNA, the planets, or vinyl records.

〈Record Store Day〉限定商品！オリジナルは五万円越えの高値もつける鬼レア盤につき絶対にお見逃しなく。1970年にイギリスのアーティスト、Christine Harwoodによって、同国のスモール・レーベル〈Birth〉からリリースされた唯一のアルバム『Nice To Meet Miss Christine』がアナログ・リイシュー。King Crimson OBのIan McDonald（サックスとフルート）に、天才ドラマーPete York、Roger Suttonを始めとした英国のプログレとサイケ・フォーク・シーンの銘酒をフィーチャーした傑作であり、ブルーアイド・ソウルからアシッド・フォーク、ヨット・ロック・マニアまでも必見の一枚！

Los Retros - Looking Back is 7 tracks recorded 2017-2018, written and produced by Mauri Tapia, aka Los Retros. “Likewise” and “Moon Ride” written by Chaisson Nuusolia & Los Retros. Mastered by Jake Viator. Cover art by Gabriel Alcala.