MUSIC

I met the Chinese-Jamaican record producer Philip Stanford ‘Justin’ Yap in August 1991 in Queens, New York, where he was working, driving a taxi. In person Justin was a warm, friendly man who loved music and good Chinese food, and we spent a few days together talking about his music and his life in Kingston and the USA.

In the early 1960s Justin and his brother Ivan [aka ‘Jahu’] ran the Top Deck sound system from their family’s ice cream parlour and restaurant in Barbican, Kingston. The local success of the sound system encouraged them to venture into the recording business, and by 1962 Justin had recorded singers Larry Marshall, Ephraim ‘Joe’ Henry and Ferdie Nelson. The fledgling label recorded a couple of tunes with Larry Marshall and trumpeter Baba Brooks. “Distant Drums” by Brooks and the Trenton Spence Orchestra was a version of the old Cuban composition by Ernesto Lecuona, called “Jungle Drums” [originally “Canto Karabali”, recorded in 1928]. The label enjoyed a modest local Jamaican hit in 1963, when issued on Top Deck Records as the b-side to Larry Marshall’s hit “Too Young To Love”. As a fan of easy listening musician Martin Denny, Justin had heard “Jungle Drums” on Denny’s 1959 LP “Afro-Desia”. His liking for Martin Denny would prove fruitful later, when Justin recorded the Skatalites in a mammoth all-night session in 1964 at Clement Dodd’s Studio One on Brentford Road. The site had formerly been the location of a jazz club called ‘The End’.

By 1963-1964, hundreds of ska tracks were being recorded by Clement Dodd, Arthur ‘Duke’ Reid, Vincent Edwards, Vincent Chin, Leslie Kong and Prince Buster and others. Justin had linked up with Allen ‘Bim Bim’ Scott, a friend of Clement ‘Coxson’ Dodd, owner of the Studio One label who had already recorded the musicians who became the Skatalites. Through Scott, Justin met the Skatalites: “[Scott] started to say, well, you could get the Skatalites band, which was on fire at the time. Then he got me introduced to Roland, [Alphonso] Johnny Moore, the basic band at the time, Knibb and everybody. And then we hook up with Don Drummond too. I call him maestro. He takes over. He’s in charge. He knows what he’s doin’ – he’s very professional. And when you hear my recordings with Drummond, you know he’s in charge. I remember when I drove Bim downtown, we drove to his house. First of all, I didn’t go in – Bim went in and talked to him first. I remember he took off! Just went down the road and come back with his answer – it’s OK.”

Justin and brother Ivan organised the session in November 1964 at Studio One; it lasted 18 hours. Justin and Ivan had laid on food, drink and ganja: as Justin told me “This was a monster session and it turned out the greatest recording for me. One night session, one long jam session; it was like a party!” Justin was not only scrupulous about prompt payment for the musicians and singer Jackie Opel – he actually paid double the going rate.

The length of the session also allowed for alternate takes to be recorded, but the highlights of the sessions were the five original compositions by Don Drummond – “Marcus Junior”, “The Reburial”, “Confucious”, “Chinatown” and “Smiling”. The first two are in tribute to the Pan-Africanist Marcus Garvey; “The Reburial” refers to the occasion of his interment in Jamaica in 1964, his remains having been brought from the cemetery in Kensal Green London, where he was originally buried in 1940, and reburied in King George VI Memorial Park Kingston [later renamed National Heroes Park].

Along with these originals were some well-chosen cover versions. Two came from the Duke Ellington book: “Ska-Ra-Van” is of course Duke Ellington and his trombonist Juan Tizol’s classic composition “Caravan”, while “Surftide Seven” is Ellington’s “In A Mellotone”. The LP title track “Ska-Boo-Da-Ba” is a version of Bill Doggett’s 1958 “King” US 45 “Boo-Da-Ba”. “Ringo” had also appeared on Arthur Lyman’s “Taboo” LP [1958] where it’s titled “Ringo Oiwake”. Originally it was sung by Hibari Misora – a very famous vocal song in Japan, recorded in 1952, the melody composed by Masao Yoneyama. Yet another tune copped from Lyman’s “Taboo” LP is “China Clipper”, composed by the pianist / arranger / orchestrator Paul Conrad, best known for his arrangements for 1950s English ballad singer David Whitfield. Incidentally, Conrad also recorded a classic easy listening set called “Exotic Paradise” in 1960, which fetches big money from collectors of that much-maligned ‘exotic’ genre.

The last track on this fine LP is “Lawless Street”, a feature for Roland Alphonso. Unlike the other Skatalites, Roland wasn’t a graduate of the celebrated Alpha School, like many of Jamaica’s top musicians from Bertie King to Yellowman. Alphonso was a graduate of Boys Town School in Denham Town. “Lawless Street” was another tune that was recorded twice at the session – the second version features vocal ‘peps’ and exhortations by DJ King Sporty.

The following year, the Skatalites again recorded for Justin at Clement Dodd’s Studio One and at the studio of the Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation [JBC]; from these sessions came tunes like “Red For Danger” and “Yogi Man”. Justin’s last session produced further brilliant cuts with Roland Alphonso – a superb version of jazz pianist Ray Bryant’s “Shake A Lady” and a hypnotically relentless version of Henry Mancini’s theme for the Peter Sellers film “A Shot in The Dark”. He also issued a great LP by the soulful Bajan singer Jackie Opel.

By late 1966, Justin emigrated to the USA, settling permanently in New York. There he took up US citizenship and was called up to serve in the US Army in Vietnam, In the early 1970s he worked in computers and eventually drove a New York cab. In his all too brief involvement in the competitive Jamaican music business he certainly left his mark as a producer. He produced some of the best ska ever made, and the LP reissued here is perhaps the most coherent LP in that genre, deriving as it does from a single session.
The celebrated record producer at Randy’s Studio, Clive Chin, who actually introduced me to Justin in the summer of 1991, had this to say to writer Heather Augustyn:

“It wasn’t the fact that they [the musicians] really love Justin; it was the fact that Justin used to pay them the right money and make them comfortable. Make sure them have them smoke, them food, them drink, and after them finish they got paid.” Unlike many other producers, Justin actually attended the sessions.

On a personal note, I was working in Spain during 1966- 1969 when the LP was released in the UK on Doctor Bird Records. What actually got me listening to the record again – in particular the Drummond compositions – was a concert I attended in late 1969 at the Lyceum in central London, performed by the jazz-rock band ‘East Of Eden’. During that concert they played an extended version of “Marcus Junior”. At first the rock treatment – led by electric violin and soprano sax – confused me. Then when that group issued a single with “Marcus Junior” as the b-side of their UK hit “Jig-A-Jig” on UK Deram, I bought that record, and there was the correct composer credit of ‘Drummond’ on the label. It sent me straight back to the original Doctor Bird LP.

In the late 1990s Justin was diagnosed with liver cancer, and although he’d returned to Jamaica, he travelled often to the US for treatment. During the time I spent with Justin, we had many conversations about music and life – as I noted earlier he was a warm and friendly guide to New York. Through Justin I got to know a great Chinese restaurant on the Bowery, where I had the best Chinese style spare ribs and cabbage I’ve ever tasted. I was also happy to find in Kingston the original tape of “Distant Drums” which I was able to return to Justin in early 1993. In conclusion I’m still grateful for everything he showed me – his kind personality, fascinating conversation and most of all, for the great music he produced. It stands as his defining legacy in Jamaican music history.

Steve Barrow / October 2023 

This is a work synonymous with the Aphex Twin, featuring one of the most popular songs of their career, "Girl/Boy Song".

Minnie Riperton's first album was released in 1971 while she was still a member of Rotary Connection, and was produced by Charles Stepney, who later worked with EW&F and Terry Callier. The album was produced by Charles Stepney, who was also a member of Rotary Connection and later worked on the albums of EW&F and Terry Callier.

Limited reissue in heavy black vinyl of the second Happy End album released on November 20, 1971, which is highly acclaimed as a classic Japanese Rock album.

Refracted's "In Veil" materialises as the third emission in the Titrate series. A gradual unfolding across six passages, each step a study in the dissolution of boundaries. 

Here, time becomes elastic - synthetic textures breathe alongside captured moments of reality, neither demanding prominence nor seeking refuge in the background. Percussion appears as memory rather than rhythm, while drones hover like fog over unknown lands. 

Cut to 180g vinyl and embraced by 350gsm reverse board, "In Veil" doesn't announce its presence but rather seeps into awareness.

A year on since the collaborative Mystic AM project in 2022, Rod Modell returns solo to Astral Industries with AI-35. The album - entitled ‘Ghost Lights’ - comes as a gatefold 2x vinyl LP, showcasing the latest epoch of Modell’s signature soundscapes. Spread across four parts, ‘Ghost Lights’ draws out a wide, cinematic sound - with long arching contours, rippling textures and cavernous sound design. Woven with layer upon layer of hidden fragments and supernal transmissions, each chapter takes the listener successively deeper into the twilight zone. Harking to dramatic off-world topographies and interstellar spaces, the work glistens with opulent sound treatment and monumental grandeur. Dense pulsations move with oceanic force, marked by washes of celestial light and subterranean drones. Exercising another side to Rod Modell's typically atmospheric productions, this album comes with an ambitious framework and a more assertive sound. Featuring some of Modell’s most epic storytelling to date, ‘Ghost Lights’ delivers a powerful immersive experience.

Pianeti Sintetici presents AI-37, entitled ‘Space Opera’. Conceived by Italian artist Davide Perrone, the Pianeti Sintetici (“Synthetic Planets”) project hypothesises the creation of future synthetic worlds as told through sound. Although split across two parts, the album is a singular organism that narrates a journey of boundless cosmic exploration. A sonic tapestry woven of intergalactic atmospheres, Space Opera’s imaginative sound design contributes to a richly spatial and haptic experience. Taking place in the dimly lit crevices of deepest space, a swirling pool of chemical abstractions and extraterrestrial transmissions spumes out from the darkness. Elements weave through broad washes of drones and scintillating textures, contrasting a sparse backdrop with dense and multilayered passages. Composed with the use of modular synthesisers and intense audio manipulations, ‘Space Opera’ comes to life as an entity that transports the listener on an immersive journey into the mysteries of alien worlds.

AI-32 signals the arrival of ‘The Fifth World Recordings’, by Son of Chi (Hanyo van Oosterom) and long-term collaborator Arthur Flink. A tribute to the late Jon Hassell, who passed away in 2021, the album connects a deep running thread that goes back to the source of Chi project. Carrying on from where Hassell left off, the album takes inspiration and references from his Fourth World music concept and the ancient Hopi tradition of Native America. Illuminating the subliminal space of the arising Fifth World, Son of Chi pays respects to an inimitable force in contemporary music. Hassell’s ‘Dream Theory in Malaya’ forms a touchstone to Hanyo van Oosterom’s musical journey, which soundtracked long, deep and reflective periods living in the cave of the Kallikatsou (Patmos, Greece) back in the early 80s. This period resulted in Hanyo’s track as Chi - ‘Hopi’ - in 1984. Hanyo met Hassell shortly after in 1987 at his “The Surgeon in the Nightsky” concert in Rotterdam - it wasn’t until twenty years later that Hanyo invited him for two magic nights of “Instant Composing Sessions” with the Numoonlab Orchestra (with a host of other artists) at the LantarenVenster, the very same stage where Hassell had performed in 1987 and also where Chi did their first live performance. Dreamful, mysterious, prophetic, the Fifth World Recordings features the quiet yet elaborate sound of Chi awash with rich instrumentation, field recordings, and old stories by the firelight. Sketches were created with drones, loops, and soundscapes, with which Arthur Flink (also a member of the Numoonlab Orchestra) jammed on trumpet. Channelling Hassell’s idiosyncratic style, floating melodies and lyrical improvisations are parsed into the mix, where Hanyo has processed and manipulated the recordings, also referencing Hassell’s exotic scales and unique harmonics. Additionally, the wah Bamboo flute at the closing piece is an homage to the works of Chi co-founder Jacobus Derwort (1952-2019). For this piece Hanyo used his first bamboo flute he made at the cave of the Kallikatsou in 1984. Arthur Flink answers in counterpoint with the wah trumpet, almost like the intuitive communication of the nightbirds...

AI-31 sees the debut release from a new collaboration between Samuel van Dijk (Netherlands) and Rasmus Hedlund (Finland). Both key proponents to the scene in Northern Europe, they come together with mutual understanding and a common vision to sound. Dialog acts as a conversational exchange that sees the interplay of dynamic frequencies, evocative imagery and contemporary sonic art. Spread across four sides, the album as a whole exists as a kind of metaphysical process, eternally growing and contracting — change is the only constant, marked by a continuous progression of sound and space.

Following the arrival of their debut album ‘Alterazione’, LF58 (F.Scorcucchi and G.Tillieci) are back on Astral Industries with a special trove of outer-space explorations. Recorded one evening back in April 2019 as a live performance at Rome’s Brancaleone, the eponymously titled album offers a sprawling journey across the pan-dimensional ether. Spread across six sides of vinyl, the performance includes fully improvised material as well as choice selections from Simone Giudice, Jonas Kopp, Nuel, Birds of Prey, Rapoon, Steve Roach and Adham Shaikh. There is no doubt that the unique energy and circumstances of the evening contribute to a certain atmosphere present in the music. With seemingly no beginning nor end, the session emerges in suspension; an electric ocean of infinite deepness. Gleaming across the patter of galaxies on a wide black backdrop, its myriad vistas are projected like transitioning scenes of an unending story. The gentle tide brings with it specks of cosmic debris and mysterious signals. Soon, quiet drones are overtaken by ripples of solar flare and percussive clamours. Forms melt like liquid, a ball of amorphous plasma pulsating with ecstatic radiance. Prying open universe within universe, ‘Live at Brancaleone’ has a vastness that cannot really be contained.

1971 REVOLUTIONARY SPIRITUAL AFRO JAZZ FROM EXILE Matsuli Music presents soul, spirituality and avant-garde jazz from South African political exile Ndikho Xaba. Its rarity has until now served to obscure both its beauty and its historical significance. Making profound links between the struggle against apartheid and the Black Power movement in the USA Ndikho Xaba and the Natives is arguably the most complete and complex South African jazz LP recorded in the USA. It stands out as a critical document in the history of transatlantic black solidarity and in the jazz culture of South African exiles. This reissue from Matsuli Music brings this collectors’ treasure back into print for the first time since 1971. Ndikho Xaba and the Natives opens a fluid channel of sonic energy that courses between two liberation struggles and two jazz traditions, making them one. It is a critical statement in the history of transatlantic black solidarity, unifying voices stretching from San Francisco to Johannesburg. There is no other recording or group in which the new jazz spirituality of the late 1960s is so fully blent with an African jazz tradition. The limited edition vinyl edition is presented with re-mastered sound in a gatefold sleeve containing unseen photographs and concert bills from Ndikho Xaba’s personal archive together with a personal recollection from Plunky Branch and extensive sleeve-notes written by Francis Gooding. The CD version reproduces this new content in a 24 page booklet as well including two additional tracks taken from a hard to find single released by Ndikho Xaba’s band African Echoes.

Musically, first of all, 1991's second album, "loveless," was more advanced and unexpected than anything else released at the time. Kevin Shields and band thoroughly pursued a sound based on pure sensuality, resulting in a work that overwhelmed the listener's senses. 1990's representative work was hailed as a perfect masterpiece that pushed the possibilities of studio recording to the limit, and has been featured on The Beach Boys' "Pet Sounds" and It has been hailed as a milestone on par with The Beach Boys' "Pet Sounds," Miles Davis' "In A Silent Way," and Stevie Wonder's "Innervisions.

Japanese obi included.
Mastered from 1/2" analog tape using Studer A80 VU-PRE and Neumann VMS 80
180g vinyl weight
Standard gatefold outer sleeve
Six 300 x 300 mm art prints enclosed
Includes DL code (24-bit | 16-bit | mp3)

 

The culmination of Glenn Gould's interpretation of Bach.
Limited Edition] Analog / 90th anniversary of Glenn Gould's birth and 40th anniversary of his death Special Edition / Japan Original Edition
The debut album "Goldberg Variations" was released in January 1956 and made the young Glenn Gould's name famous all over the world. The last album released before his death, "Goldberg Variations," was released in September 1982, about a month before Gould's death. This work frames Gould's life like a closing circle, and is indispensable in considering his unique music. When we think of Gould, we think of Goldberg, and vice versa.
The fourth in a special series of six analog reissues of four different performances of that important work is a re-recording that was recorded over a period of ten days in April and May of 1981. The performance time is over 51 minutes, 13 minutes longer than the 1955 version, and the tempo continuity of each variation has been redefined, making this the ultimate performance in which every note has been thoroughly examined. 2000 DSD remastering is scheduled for cutting at Sony Music Nogizaka Studio in Japan. The gatefold jacket of the first U.S. release, IM 37779, is reproduced.

Welcome to 'Instrumental Dubs #3', the ongoing series that delves into the world of the Dub Version and beyond. Side one explores the axis of UK Street Soul and Reggae with the opening two tracks produced by Howard Hill and originally released on his Passion Enterprises label in the late eighties. Both 'Versions' have a machine lead rhythm section paired with a reggae skank and snippets of soulful vox. The Proto House of Protek's 'I Love to Dance With You' featured on a Jura Soundsystem DJ Mix for Planet Trip, a one off single from the now sadly deceased Errol Parkes that's been re-edited with love by The Nightlark from Edinburgh. The B side features The Cool Notes 'Natural Energy', which isn't strictly speaking a Dub Version, but it has that vibe with a primarily instrumental backing track featuring sparse vocals and spacey FX. The album closes with a secret weapon of Ilija Rudman 'Dub 4 Love' that pays homage to a famous track from Acid House's heyday. Pressed on 180g Heavyweight Vinyl with full sleeve jacket design by Bradley Pinkerton.

On August 5th 1962, after 300 years of British rule, which had soaked the earth of the island in blood, Jamaica was finally independent. The country that the British left behind was certainly a place of widespread poverty and deep inequality, but there seems to have been a real burst of confidence that came with independence.
Newsreels of the day show well-dressed crowds reacting with enthusiasm and excitement, and the era found its perfect soundtrack in the boldness and exuberance of ska music, which was erupting all over the island.
This optimistic mood found probably its greatest artistic expression in the music of the Skatalites, who formed in June 1964 as a kind of Jamaican supergroup. Philip “Justin” Yap was a young, upcoming producer who had used members of the Skatalites for his first tunes, recorded either at RJR (Radio Jamaica and Redifussion) or at Federal studios. As Steve Barrow documented in the sleevenotes for Pressure Sounds’ reissue of the classic “Ska-Boo-Da-Ba” album, Justin had also befriended Clement “Coxsone” Dodd, and when Coxsone opened his own Studio One facility in December 1963, Justin immediately switched most of his production work to this new recording room. Studio One opened just in time to catch the formation of the Skatalites, and is where Justin recorded most of his classic Skatalites sides.
He also recorded lots of excellent instrumentals with a smaller brass section, still mainly using members of the Skatalites, but crediting instead the composer or arranger of the tune. Combined with Coxsone’s own recordings, these productions for Justin’s Top Deck and Tuneico labels really captured the members of the Skatalites at their magnificent best, in the unique atmosphere of Studio One.
From 2006, I had the huge pleasure of getting to know the great Jamaican
innovator Hedley Jones, who told me how he had designed and installed the original Studio One recording studio, responsible for most of the recordings on
this disc: ‘In 1963 (Coxsone) Dodd contacted me. I was doing a lot of recording work with him as a guitarist in 1961, ‘62 and ‘63, and in 1963 Dodd contacted me with the idea of building a studio of his own. The only equipment he could find himself was a record cutting head that he got from a pawn shop in Miami, but it was a 60 cycle machine. He brought that to Jamaica, and an Ampex reel to reel one track recorder – they was the only things he could find. The rest of the stuff is history because I had to design all the amplifiers, design the studio layout and everything, with the help of two of my sons, who did quite a bit of the laying of
the conduits, while I designed the amplifiers.’ Hedley Jones was an amazing polymath, and one of Jamaica’s greatest inventors.
He designed and built one of the world’s first solid body electric guitars, one of the world’s first double necked guitars, and a new traffic light system for the city of Kingston, all based on the knowledge he gained during World War 2, as a radar operator with the RAF. He called himself “an experimenter”: ‘So I built that studio for him between August and December of 1963. I built the mixing board myself – well I had to – everything in Coxsone’s studio was custom built by me, anything that had to do with amplification. As a matter of fact, I had to design circuits that would quiet his cooling equipment, his air conditioning, it was too noisy. I had a board in there that automatically switched off the air conditioning as soon as the recording started. As soon as you turn on the warning
light, saying that you’re starting recording, the cooling equipment switch off automatically. And all that was my design.
‘It was open in December, I think the week before Christmas. And after having a successful opening – I put together a band to test it – and after the first successful test, then of course the rest is history. I think the board I built for Coxsone had 4 or 5 inputs for microphones, but it was still only a single channel (tape) recorder.
One input (on the board) was for the band, one for the singer, and there was a central microphone hanging from the ceiling… so at least four or five input channels that were available on the console. Anything that you can think of in a modern studio was there. We had reverb – I built that and I used a circuit and I used a mechanical unit, a spring reverb, and then we amplify that and fed it into the circuits. Tape echo came later. That spring reverb for Coxsone was the only one I (ever) built.
‘The last thing I had to do with launching that studio was helping in the recording of Bob Marley’s recording “It Hurts To Be Alone”, that was done on a Sunday morning in April of 64, and Ernie Ranglin was the guitarist, and he used my double-necked guitar, which was also a first in the world.’
Other than building the first incarnation of Studio One, probably Hedley’s greatest historical impact came from the design and build of the Jones Sound 100 Watt tube amplifier of 1947, which powered the first recognisable Jamaican sound system for Tommy Wong, aka Tom the Great Sebastian, with the same amplifier driving the first systems for Duke Reid the Trojan, Clement “Coxsone” Dodd and Roy Johnston’s “House of Joy”.
‘I build the first sound, but I didn’t call it ‘sound system’… it’s Tommy Wong who call it sound system, he gave it the name. It was 100 watts amplifier, and I build one for Duke Reid and one for Coxsone, and it was a basic design but with those tubes you couldn’t exceed 100 watts or you’d be running into trouble. ‘I wasn’t interested in copyright or money at the time. All I was interested in was the technology. I had these ideas in my head and on paper that I wanted put out as a practical design. So that’s where I started the ball rolling, it was in design.
Anyway, I left Kingston in 1965 because I found that I was working for nothing. I was doing all this and getting no rewards. And everybody was like “oh Mr Jones, could you just do this” or “just do that”, so I left Kingston in January 65 feeling quite dejected, I picked up all my things and came to Montego Bay.’
So Hedley Jones had an epiphany, and left the competitive bustle of Kingston for the relative peace of Montego Bay. Of course, he carried on experimenting, building great telescopes whilst working as a journalist, schoolteacher and guitarist, and as president of the Jamaica Federation of Musicians. When I got to know him, he was turning 90 and finally getting some recognition from the Jamaican establishment, receiving the Order of Distinction from the government, and some favourable profiles in the newspapers.
Through Hedley, I also got to talk to Keith ‘Sticky’ Parke, who engineered many classic recordings, first at RJR, and later at Coxsone’s new Studio One facility. With Justin Yapp supplying food, drink and ganja, and also paying everyone double, a convivial and exuberant atmosphere certainly comes through in the recordings, many of which were captured by Sticky Parke: ‘I worked for RJR from 1958 to 1966. At RJR we had a big concert studio, and people would hire the hall, like producers like Chin Randy’s, and I did a nice job for Chin Randy’s with “Rico’s Special”, I recorded that at RJR. I’d say I got involved with Dodd in 1959 or 1960. I think I might have been the first engineer to do any recordings there. Hedley Jones, he built the studio. I worked at Studio One from when it was built, and I recorded the Skatalites and Bob Marley, all the great names I recorded there. I was still at RJR but I used to go down there after work
or when I have spare time to fit in Coxsone’s studio. I worked there until ‘66.’ Sticky remembered the technical side of recording the Skatalites at Studio One: ‘We had, let me see, we had piano, drums, bass, one for the horns and two tenors (saxes), we had about five or six mics. For the drums we used a big RCA44 BX (microphone) or something like that, and we used Neumann mics also. We’re going back 50 odd years and you’re picking my brain! When we started at Coxsone, he only had an Ampex 350 and another Ampex, but they were all single (mono) track. Coxsone started with the one track machine, so if somebody in the band made an error we had to record it all over again, it was not like today where
you could dub that back in. What we used to do was Coxsone also had a sound system, about 3 sound system in Jamaica at the time, so what we’d do is we’d record and we’d have several reels of many, many records, and on Saturday afternoon we’d transfer the tapes onto acetate disc, what we called soft wax (or dubplate), and then he would send them out to different sound systems, and sell some of them.’
Sticky remembered supplying the Skatalites with American jazz albums for
inspiration: ‘Most of the tunes the Skatalites played, it’s not their original. Most of it came from (for instance) Herbie Hancock music which, working at the radio station, I would borrow the record, tape it and take the tape down there (to Studio One). There’s a chap, but now he’s dead, God bless him, but one of the finest musicians we ever produced named Jackie Mittoo, and I would marvel, cos while I would play the tape from the control room down to him, he would be writing out the music and playing along. And then when the Skatalites get together they would make their
own arrangement of it. Jackie Mittoo was a dear friend of mine, but then all of those musicians was my friends, you know.’ Sticky described the relaxed arrangements for payment: ‘Well I never charged Coxsone a dime, but I was well taken care of. Like we had no set fee, like 5 pound a session or something, but he was quite generous to me.
And I never charge him but he was quite generous to me, he provided all the alcohol for my wedding and also the champagne, and I never had to ask him, like I liked to play the horses and he’d always stand me a couple of pounds so I never could complain.’

This earliest incarnation of the Studio One setup would have been used on mostof the tracks on this ‘Ska Shots’ compilation, but it was significantly rebuilt in 1965, probably just after the Skatalites split up. Hedley’s mixing board was replaced, along with the one track Ampex recorders, swapped for two track machines which allowed the overdubbing of extra tracks, so a vocal could be recorded after the backing track. Unlike Sticky, Hedley Jones was not entirely happy with his payments from Coxsone:
‘I don’t know what happened to that console, because he changed it for a
commercial console about two years after, when he had made enough money that he could buy commercial stuff – he didn’t even finish paying me for the original console. He still owes me some money and so I hope that when we meet in hell, he’ll pay me then!’

I lost contact with Keith “Sticky” Parke, who was living in New York in the early 2000s, but Hedley Jones stayed in touch. He died aged 99, but, until he was overtaken with blindness, he would still email me regularly with questions about the latest recording software, and advice for what he called “good daddying”, on how I should bring up my children as a new father. Reading the words of both of them today brings back a key moment in Jamaican cultural history, when the birth of the Studio One recording studio coincided with the formation of the mighty Skatalites.
Diggory Kenrick 

The only studio album by Madvillain (MF DOOM & Madlib) – widely regarded as one of the best hip-hop albums of all time.
“Inexhaustibly brilliant, with layer-upon-layer of carefully considered yet immediate hip- hop, forward-thinking but always close to its roots.” - Pitchfork
This new version includes upgraded packaging combined with audiophile sound quality for the ultimate listening experience.

Hometown to Come, the second full-length album by Minhwi Lee, is set to be released in November 2023. The eight tracks were written over a period of seven years after Lee's first album and loosely form a single story, contemplating how people who have lost their hometown can return. “What I had imagined from the title, Hometown to Come, was something forever delayed yet constantly approaching; however, upon repeated listens, it takes on a different meaning—a promise of hospitality being realized every day. Even if our places to meet disappear, ‘the song we sing today’ will remain. We will continue to grow, cross paths again, venture far away, and encounter more faces. And when time has passed and you, having forgotten me, ask about my smile or sadness, I will hum ‘the same song,’ cherishing it as a keepsake.” (morceau j. woo, sound designer)

WRWTFWW Records is overjoyed to present the first ever vinyl release for the outstanding soundtrack of 1999 Japanese action-political-thriller anime Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade by Hajime Mizoguchi. The epic full-lenght album is available as a limited-edition LP cut at Emil Berliner Studios and housed in a heavyweight 350gsm sleeve.

Legendary animation film Jin-Roh was penned by Palme d’Or and Leone d’Oro award winning filmmaker, television director and writer Mamoru Oshii whose filmography includes Ghost in the Shell, Patlabor 2: The Movie, and Angel’s Egg – critically acclaimed works praised worldwide, notably by luminaries such as James Cameron, Steven Spielberg and The Wachowskis. The film was directed by leading studio Production I.G. affiliate Hiroyuki Okiura (Record of the Lodoss War, A Letter to Momo…)

The film’s score, courtesy of famed anime and tv score composer, cellist and arranger Hajime Mizoguchi, evokes the dystopian world in which Jin-Roh takes place and captures the Little Red Riding Hood theme that carries the story – a dark, atmospheric, and immensely emotional soundscape that takes you on a grand and immersive journey and stays with you forever. It blends classical, orchestrated ambient, and poignant melodies carried by ominous strings.

This new project by WRWTFWW Records follows previous Japanese soundtracks from the catalogue: Ghost in the Shell, Patlabor 2, Evil Dead Trap, Violent Cop and precedes the upcoming release of Takeshi Kitano’s Sonatine soundtrack by Joe Hisaishi.
 

Sakamoto on Guitar LP by Jonathan Bockelmann In Wishlist view x Share Tweet Share on Tumblr Embed this albumsmall medium large Email supported by Greg thumbnail dbp thumbnail alojlo thumbnail Raznat thumbnail Alexander Hine thumbnail Michael Gallagher thumbnail Kevin Burns thumbnail mattbenard thumbnail Cybershaman thumbnail Etienne B thumbnail Roygbiv thumbnail musicistheanswer thumbnail Bruce Levenstein thumbnail raffaele melina thumbnail Tseld thumbnail dasd thumbnail Bethlem thumbnail fulemin thumbnail wilb thumbnail Ian Reagan thumbnail Arthur LORENTE thumbnail alifetimeaway thumbnail ryryryryryryryryry thumbnail NAOKI WATANABE thumbnail Aoneko No Torso 00:00 / 02:13 Streaming + Download Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more. Download available in 24-bit/96kHz. €9 EUR or more Record/Vinyl + Digital Album package image package image package image package image package image 180g vinyl, first pressing comes with an embossed art print Includes unlimited streaming of Sakamoto on Guitar LP via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more. Download available in 24-bit/96kHz. ships out within 10 days €27 EUR or more 1. Aoneko No Torso 02:13 2. Dream 01:15 3. Bibo No Aozora 03:20 4. Blu 02:58 5. A Flower Is Not A Flower 03:12 6. 20220302 02:41 7. Opus 05:21 8. Dancing In The Sky 01:03 9. Suite for Krug in 2008: I. Movement 06:31 10. Suite for Krug in 2008: II. Movement 07:10 11. Suite for Krug in 2008: III. Movement 05:13 about Jonathan Bockelmann is a classical guitarist and composer based in Munich who first made waves in 2023 with his debut album ‘Childish Mind’. His entry into composing were arrangements he had made of pieces by Japanese composer Ryuichi Sakamoto. Some of these have been released digitally in three editions and are now available on vinyl for the first time. The record comes in high quality packaging with an embossed art print and features both some of Sakamoto’s lesser-known works like the ‘Suite for Krug’ as well as iconic pieces like ‘Bibo No Aozora’. "I have always been fascinated with the music of Sakamoto. He manages to communicate his musical ideas with only a few notes - something that merely a handful of composers are capable of doing. And no matter what instruments he writes for, you can always hear an underlying constant, a signature in his sound. It was a revelation to me when I finished my first transcriptions of his music and realized how incredibly well they actually work on the guitar. Somehow this instrument is suitable for capturing the spirit of his compositions and I think it's because of the unique and colorful tone of the instrument. It even f e e l s great to play those pieces. Sometimes I spend so much time studying them that they start to sound to me as if they were originally written for guitar. During the transcription process I had to take on different challenges. When the original score was available it was much easier to transcribe a composition because I had different instrument sections separately - like the string section of ‚Blu’, for example. This way I could figure out how and where to play it on the guitar. For some pieces though, like 'Dream', there was no score available and I had to figure out the notes by ear. In the end the whole process gave me so much joy and inspiration, not least because I felt that I have created a whole new repertoire for the classical guitar, one that is wonderful to listen to and a joy to play." - Jonathan Bockelmann

180-gram LP version. Originally released in 1975. Remastered by Manuel Göttsching. Recorded July-August 1974, Inventions for Electric Guitar is Manuel Göttsching's first solo album. Written and performed entirely by Göttsching on electric guitar, with a four-track TEAC A3340, Revox A77 for echoes, wah-wah pedal, volume pedal, Schaller Rotosound, and Hawaiian steel bar.

Join the Kyle Shepherd Trio on “A Dance More Sweetly Played” as they explore, collaborate and improvise on the ‘songs we like to play’. The album’s title is a dedication to the celebrated South African artist William Kentridge, with whom Shepherd collaborated on a joint-work “Waiting for Sybil” that has toured world-wide. In addition to ten Shepherd originals, perhaps most unexpected is the inclusion of an exquisite reading of Massive Attack’s ‘Teardrop’ and a deconstructed take of Journey’s ‘Don’t Stop Believing’, a favourite rock anthem that Shepherd describes as a ‘guilty pleasure’. ‘The inclusion of the Massive Attack and Journey tunes – that’s something out of character to me,’ observes Shepherd. The selection rests well within the grand jazz tradition of repurposing popular songs as vehicles for improvisation, thought, and pleasure. ‘It just came down to playing some tunes that we like and we can flow with, so that we can be inspired and express ourselves in a very natural organic way,’ he says. ‘We walked away from the from the studio feeling like – you know, we actually really enjoyed playing this record!’ ‘With this record, I felt less attached to any sort of predetermined concepts except that we would play some music that I wrote that we like – a selection of things that we like to play. It felt like a bit of a tonic – every musician gets a chance to breathe through the music, and the music just flows and moves as organically as we could make it.’ To hear one of South Africa’s foremost pianists play with intention, freedom and enjoyment, in the tradition and beyond it, is above all a gift to the listener, and Matsuli Music is proud to be able to share the Trio’s first album in a decade, A Dance More Sweetly Played. "… it’s in his linking of international influences with his own local traditions that his strength lies." Peter Bacon, The Jazz Breakfast

Glenn Gould's great starting point is now available in Japan in analog form from monaural masters for the first time in 57 years.
Limited Edition] Analog / 180 gram weight vinyl version.
The debut album "Goldberg Variations" was released in January 1956 and made the young Glenn Gould's name known worldwide. The last album released before his death, "Goldberg Variations," was released in September 1982, about a month before Gould's death. This work frames Gould's life like a closing circle, and is indispensable in considering his unique music. When we think of Gould, we think of Goldberg, and vice versa.
The first of a special series of six analog reissues of four different performances of this important work is the debut recording, made over four days in June 1955. It is the most successful classical music album of all time and an icon in recording history. It was cut at Sony Music Nogizaka Studio in Japan, based on high-resolution recordings carefully transferred from the original monaural masters, which were never released out of the gate.

"The origin of techno. The original crystallization of the artists who created the era as big names, immortal monuments beyond the masterpieces." Limited vinyl version reissued in heavy vinyl. The heavy-duty vinyl version in the original jacket supervised by Ryuichi Sakamoto is available in a completely limited edition.

Reissue, originally released in 1979. "This is an album that takes you on a supernatural journey to the discovery of ancient sounds that move our souls in the deepest of manners." Veronique Chalot was born in Normandy in the north of France, but it was in Paris that she first became interested in traditional French folk music. In 1974 she landed in Rome where she soon earned a small, but dedicated following. In 1979 she recorded her first studio effort, J'ai Vu Le Loup, for the Italian Materiali Sonori label. Over the past 30+ years she has given hundreds of concerts, presenting her repertoire of traditional French/Italian folk songs and building awareness of that fascinating patrimony of antique melodies and dance rhythms. She passed away unfortunately on the 3rd of July 2021. Fully licensed. LP includes inlay card featuring an exclusive essay by Emma Tricca; 180 gram vinyl; edition of 500.