MUSIC

'noisembryo' definitively presented here on cd with bonus disc noise matrix including unreleased material from the same sessions as noisembryo and counterpart 'hole' and selected recording from the time period.

absolutely can’t be missed for fans of this period of noise deity merzbow. the bonus disc alone makes this essential for any merzbow fanatic as well as new listeners. When people ask where to start with merzbow? this is the answer!

the holy grail, not only of merzbow’s obsessive discography, but of the entire 90’s noise movement. you’ve heard the stories surrounding the infamy of this release, but beyond that stands the depth and wild energy over two decades later that ‘noisembryo’ encapsulates. velocity loops, roving automotive bass and cacophonic drum machine gel together with the surprising inclusion of a sound rarely heard within merzbow’s many years...masami akita’s own voice. akita’s surrealism of the past stands prominently relevant to this day. art images from unseen classic paintings and collages of masami from the original ‘noisembryo’ session.

The original 'noisembryo' on disc one as well as the following tracks included on the 'noise matrix' bonus disc:

1. Noisembryo Extra 01
2. Noise Matrix Extra 01
3. Noise Matrix Extra 02
4. Noise Matrix Extra 03
5. Noise Matrix Extra 04
6. The Amazing Maya H
7. 94526

Track 1: taken from original DAT tape which including ‘noisembryo’ recording on 1994.
Track 2-5: taken from original DAT tape which including ‘noise matrix’ (in ‘hole’) on 1994.
Track 6: a track recorded on 1995 for releasing eskimo compilation.
Track 7: taken from original cassette tape which recorded on 1994 and remixed on 2019.

all music by masami akita
all remastered on 2020 at munemihouse, Tokyo

portion of proceeds go to animal rescue. 

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.

David Lewis was hardly eighteen years old when he and two friends, bassist Nigel Smith and drummer Gordon Barton uprooted themselves from Belfast and set their sites on the Big Smoke. With the move came a record deal with CBS and a rebrand from The Method to Andwella’s Dream. Now known as a cult psychedelic classic, their first and only LP under their full title Love & Poetry touched on just about every genre that was hip at the time, cross-pollinating folk, jazz, progressive rock, united by Lewis’s brilliant songwriting in the form of kaleidoscopic instrumentation and imagery.

In the mid-1970s, a force of nature swept across the continental United States, cutting across all strata of race and class, rooting in our minds, our homes, our culture. It wasn’t The Exorcist, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, or even bell-bottoms, but instead a book called The Secret Life of Plants. The work of occultist/former OSS agent Peter Tompkins and former CIA agent/dowsing enthusiast Christopher Bird, the books shot up the bestseller charts and spread like kudzu across the landscape, becoming a phenomenon. Seemingly overnight, the indoor plant business was in full bloom and photosynthetic eukaryotes of every genus were hanging off walls, lording over bookshelves, and basking on sunny window ledges. The science behind Secret Life was specious: plants can hear our prayers, they’re lie detectors, they’re telepathic, able to predict natural disasters and receive signals from distant galaxies. But that didn’t stop millions from buying and nurturing their new plants.

Perhaps the craziest claim of the book was that plants also dug music. And whether you purchased a snake plant, asparagus fern, peace lily, or what have you from Mother Earth on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles (or bought a Simmons mattress from Sears), you also took home Plantasia, an album recorded especially for them. Subtitled “warm earth music for plants…and the people that love them,” it was full of bucolic, charming, stoner-friendly, decidedly unscientific tunes enacted on the new-fangled device called the Moog. Plants date back from the dawn of time, but apparently they loved the Moog, never mind that the synthesizer had been on the market for just a few years. Most of all, the plants loved the ditties made by composer Mort Garson.

Few characters in early electronic music can be both fearless pioneers and cheesy trend-chasers, but Garson embraced both extremes, and has been unheralded as a result. When one writer rhetorically asked: “How was Garson’s music so ubiquitous while the man remained so under the radar?” the answer was simple. Well before Brian Eno did it, Garson was making discreet music, both the man and his music as inconspicuous as a Chlorophytum comosum. Julliard-educated and active as a session player in the post-war era, Garson wrote lounge hits, scored plush arrangements for Doris Day, and garlanded weeping countrypolitan strings around Glen Campbell’s “By the Time I Get to Phoenix.” He could render the Beatles and Simon & Garfunkel alike into easy listening and also dreamed up his own ditties. “An idear” as Garson himself would drawl it out. “I live with it, I walk it, I sing it.”

But as his daughter Day Darmet recalls: “When my dad found the synthesizer, he realized he didn’t want to do pop music anymore.” Garson encountered Robert Moog and his new device at the Audio Engineering Society’s West Coast convention in 1967 and immediately began tinkering with the device. With the Moog, those idears could be transformed. “He constantly had a song he was humming,” Darmet says. “At the table he was constantly tapping.” Which is to say that Mort pulled his melodies out of thin air, just like any household plant would.
The Plantae kingdom grew to its height by 1976, from DC Comics’ mossy superhero Swamp Thing to Stevie Wonder’s own herbal meditation, Journey Through the Secret Life of Plants. Nefarious manifestations of human-plant interaction also abounded, be it the grotesque pods in Invasion of the Body Snatchers or the pothead paranoia of the US Government spraying Mexican marijuana fields with the herbicide paraquat (which led to the rise in homegrown pot by the 1980s). And then there’s the warm, leafy embrace of Plantasia itself.

“My mom had a lot of plants,” Darmet says. “She didn’t believe in organized religion, she believed the earth was the best thing in the whole world. Whatever created us was incredible.” And she also knew when her husband had a good song, shouting from another room when she heard him humming a good idear. Novel as it might seem, Plantasia is simply full of good tunes.

Garson may have given the album away to new plant and bed owners, but a decade later a new generation could hear his music in another surreptitious way. Millions of kids bought The Legend of Zelda for their Nintendo Entertainment System back in 1986 and one distinct 8-bit tune bears more than a passing resemblance to album highlight “Concerto for Philodendron and Pothos.” Garson was never properly credited for it, but he nevertheless subliminally slipped into a new generations’ head, helping kids and plants alike grow.

Hearing Plantasia in the 21st century, it seems less an ode to our photosynthesizing friends by Garson and more an homage to his wife, the one with the green thumb that made everything flower around him. “My dad would be totally pleased to know that people are really interested in this music that had no popularity at the time,” Darmet says of Plantasia’s new renaissance. “He would be fascinated by the fact that people are finally understanding and appreciating this part of his musical career that he got no admiration for back then.” Garson seems to be everywhere again, even if he’s not really noticed, just like a houseplant.

-Andy Beta 

Alan Vega’s self-titled debut solo album, originally released in 1980, marked a bold new chapter for one of New York’s most influential and uncompromising voices.

On his solo debut, Vega dove headfirst into the roots of his personal sound, fueled by blues, rockabilly, and his enduring love for Elvis Presley. Stripped of Suicide’s confrontational electronics but retaining Vega’s outsider energy and voice, the album translates early rock 'n roll through an art-punk filter and stands as a cult masterpiece in its own right. Minimalist, haunting, and deeply personal, it carved out a unique place in the underground canon.

Now available as a limited deluxe double LP edition, this definitive reissue pairs the newly remastered original album with a second disc of previously unheard early demos, offering a rare glimpse into the raw creative process behind this cult classic, and alternate artwork exclusive to this pressing. Alan Vega Deluxe Edition is a companion piece that sheds new light on Vega’s process and vision during this pivotal era, making it a must-have for collectors and longtime fans.

A silken, minimalistic stream of electrified soul, Magnetic Eyes is Jeff Phelps’ peerless contribution to the tapestry of analog drum machine music that graffiti’d the mid-‘80s. Tracked in his Missouri City, Texas, bedroom studio in 1985, Phelps effortlessly steeps together the electro stylings of Afrika Bambaataa with the matured caress of Anita Baker’s soulful R&B. This 2021 edition presents fresh remasters of the album’s second mix, completed after discovering flaws in the initial 1985 pressing, all housed in replica tip-on jacket with artwork that remains just as evocative as the music it represents. Enjoy this technically perfect, artist-approved version of a visionary techno-adjacent masterwork.

In celebration of the album’s 20th anniversary, MM..FOOD has been repackaged with all new artwork by Sam Rodriguez! Originally released in 2004, MF DOOM's MM..FOOD is hailed as a classic hip-hop album full of inventive production, remarkable wordplay, and unique themes. Celebrated for its seamless blend of humor, wit, and social commentary, the album ushers listeners into a bizarre world of food-related metaphors, painting a bitterly comedic portrait of a life tainted by vice, violence, and jealousy. It was a brilliant and novel concept that gave DOOM plenty of room to explore the album’s subjects. Throughout MM..FOOD, DOOM embeds complex ideas within seemingly simple narratives. Album opener “Beef Rapp” is a multi-pronged metaphor reminding listeners of the dangers involved in the glorification of conflict, especially within the rap game. “Hoe Cakes” borrows its name from the sweet, hot water cornmeal patties, which he uses as a symbol to rhyme about indulgence and excess. Continuing the motif, DOOM uses the Madlib-produced “One Beer” to fold layers of depth about escapism and ego, while the popular “Rapp Snitch Knishes” critiques the self-incrimination and contradictory behaviors of some rappers. Overall, MM..FOOD is both a social commentary and a piece of social satire, showcasing MF DOOM’s ability to blend serious themes with his unique, playful lyrical style.

Compilation of our favorite Arvo Part pieces. All sparse and beautiful arrangements. Some solo piano pieces, some duets with piano, violin cello and viola and one string quartet. The pieces on this record are all unique to the style of Arvo Part – deceptively simple compositions that force you to live in the moment you are listening to them. A Part quote from the back of the record – “You can kill people with sound. And if you can kill, then maybe there is also the sound that is opposite of killing. And the distance between these two points is very big. And you are free—you can choose. In art everything is possible, but everything is not necessary.”

The Heptones are without doubt one of Jamaica’s finest vocal groups. Emerging in the 60s at Studio One, they became a landmark for reggae harmonies. This 1978 album, produced by Winston ‘Niney the Observer’ Holness, features top musicians including George Fullwood, Sly Dunbar, Ansel Collins, Tony Chin, and Eric ‘Bingy Bunny’ Lamont. Recorded at Channel One and mixed at Harry J Studios by Sylvan Morris, it remains a stone-cold classic, true to its roots.

Insignificance consists of rock plus multiple musical allusions, layers of discreet noises, great playing from all the players and, to top it off, funny pop tunes laced with lyrical arsenic. As the moving finger of O'Rourke points (and clicks...just kidding! Insignificance is an all-analog affair), moments will come and go -- to remind you of other moments. Moments will arrive that have no precedent. And different, conflicting emotions will flash within you. He'll have total control of you, the helpless listener.

LP version, originally released 1997, the first O'Rourke album for Drag City. "Make no mistake, Bad Timing is not a pop album by any standards. But it is a musing on popular standards and uses much of the same instrumentation that many of our country's most popular records have. Yes, Bad Timing is a theme record, Jim O'Rourke's pop opera, just waiting for someone to come along and play with it. Based on Fahey-esque 6-string acoustic guitar foundations, each of the three pieces expand to include other musical elements. Piano, organ, electric guitar, brass, strings -- everything, it seems except vocals! Think of the impressionist Americana of Van Dyke Parks and the soundtracks of Jack Nitzsche."

In 1978 Having Been Built on Sand was conceived as a vinyl edition and released by the Rüdiger Schöttle gallery in Munich with sleeve design by Weiner. The piece consists of eight untitled tracks. Lawrence Weiner, Tina Girouard, and Britta Le Va recite text with Dickie Landry’s woodwinds, all recorded in the natural reverb of Robert Rauschenberg’s studio, a former mission and chapel in Lower Manhattan. Layering Girouard in English, Le Va in German, and Weiner in English and German blocks of related or physically proximal texts repeat, invert, and intersect with Landry’s music as a constant. The layers of text and sound have meanings that fluctuate in complexity and scope, and like much of Weiner’s work, beyond mere facts. The first piece is a trio for Landry’s keening tenor, repeating winnowed but breathy lines that contrast with and buoy Le Va’s clear, husky phrases, building in intensity as Weiner, in English, offers statements that are caught just off mic. The third cut adds Girouard, and one can hear woven parallels in the two women’s voices, cadences, and pitches, with Weiner’s cutting inflection dancing amid them. Landry’s bass clarinet is rich in its warble, full and gentle with woody footfalls that demarcate shapes through the chorus. Vocal rhythmic cycles, wordless in nature, are the energy that courses through the fourth song, urgent and sweaty as Weiner recites statements of political position in the Middle Ages, Le Va declaiming alongside in German. On soprano saxophone for the fifth tune, Landry pierces and darts in a bright manner in a private dialogue with himself, echoing Steve Lacy as female voices nearly bury one another in closely valued hues. Weiner, meanwhile, volleys between the LP’s title phrase and cornerstone proclamations such as “the artist may construct the piece. The piece may be fabricated. The piece need not be built.” The closing cut makes curious use of delay and alto flute, Landry’s breath and the inherent percussiveness of the instrument’s keys creating a slick rhythmic support that courses through overlapping vocal phrases, advancing and receding declarations of presence and intent.

Minimalist avant-rock from experimentalist Dreyblatt: ultra-rhythmic overtones created from striking piano strings strung to a bass.

LP originally released in 1982 by India Navigation Records

With their incredible fifth album, OM wisely expand on the dilated visions of their mighty 2009 LP 'God Is Good'. Assisted by long-time engineering collaborator Steve Albini, among others, on 'Advaitic Songs' they incorporate richer, ornate strains of string drone and vocals into their sharply defined aesthetic while remaining devoted to the stripped down, ritualist practice and near-religious philosophy which has taken them thus far. It's a stunning achievement, using doom-drone as a bedrock on which to erect totems of timelessly spiritual affect and purpose. From the vaulted reverb space of opener 'Addis' to the closing funeral march of 'Haqq al-Yaqin' the clarity of their intent and execution is just astonishing, creating the sort of rarified sonic space in which it almost only feels right to cleanse oneself before entering. 'Advaitic Songs' is the exceptional document of a duo dawning on the peak of their imaginative powers and at once progressing themselves, and their related scene with genuinely progressive, yet elemental majesty. Strongly recommended.

This austere song-cycle is a collection of tunes addressing youth, sexuality and human morays in an utterly unique fashion. Barely released in its day (1970), Corky's remains one of the pinnacles of excellence in the career of Mayo and his Red Krayola. ==== "I first heard the sudden unbelievable wave-rolling sound of this strange, acoustic, old time cartoon band singin 'I'm a student of human nature' in '94 in good ol' Memphis, TN. Played to me by a giant man with an exploding pillow of blond curls wearing overalls. Wot the fuck was this? I was 22 and getting a fast-paced indie rock education after dropping out of college mid-semester a few months earlier. Was I wasting my parents money when I called from the Blues City Cafe and told them I had moved across the country? Ah, yes it's true, I surely was. But here on the turntable was a suitable replacement for the out-of-state tuition throw to the breeze - a corduroy-professorial-erotic-swinger vibe pouring off a re-issued LP!? Who is this massively turned on man singing about Shakespeare? The picture of the man on the back said it all. I could not have imagined this existed at all. But wot does it sound like? To me, his record has sonic values of the 60's but sounds distinctively weirder than anything I've heard from that decade. And wot an incredible bit of luck there, on the decade's cusp." - Mike Donovan

Originally released on CD in 2002, this LP features archival recordings dating back to 1959 alongside recordings made by Hal Willner in January 2001 (Jan 7th - 10th).

For the first time ever on vinyl, ‘DIE ON ME’ has been re-mastered & newly edited by Kramer. Within this historic collection are the last voice recordings of the legendary Beat poet Gregory Corso.

Intimate and raw, he muses on his life in conversation with friends Allen Ginsberg, Marianne Faithfull, and the legendary Chicago writer Studs Terkel, discussing and reciting some of his most beloved poems. The recording process illuminates Corso’s thoughts on his own work in deeply revealing detail.

No other spoken-word LP shines a brighter light on its subject.

Marianne Faithfull playfully incites him to tell stories, and upon his request, graces him with her own recitations of his poems.

This LP is a unique compendium collecting the works of the single most underappreciated master of American poetry, produced by the late great Hal Willner.

Corso's closest friend Allen Ginsberg told Kramer, “People say that I’m the greatest American poet of the 20th Century. I tell them they’re wrong. GREGORY CORSO is a far greater poet.”

Gregory Corso died on January 17th, 2001 at the age of 70, just a few days after many of these historic recordings were completed.

Corso’s ashes were laid to rest in Rome on May 5th, 2001 at the foot of Percy Bysshe Shelley’s grave in the Cimitero Acattolico. John Keats lay nearby.

Gregory Corso was both the youngest and one of the most prominent members of the Beat generation, alongside notable figures like Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg. Born in 1930 in Greenwich VIllage, Corso survived a traumatic childhood which included orphanages, foster homes, reform school, prison and mental hospital experiences. It was during his prison term he was able to self-educate and develop a unique poetic style that combined classical language alongside the newer lexicons of modern verse.

He became involved with the Beat literary scene, meeting influential writers and traveling with them extensively. His first book of poetry, ‘The Vestal Lady on Brattle’ was published in 1955. His subsequent published output was sparse, as he would labour for years over a handful of poems.

His closest friend Allen Ginsberg told Kramer, “People say that I’m the greatest American poet of the 20th Century. I tell them they’re wrong. GREGORY CORSO is a far greater poet.”

In the words of Hal Willner Excerpted from the original liner notes* (2002):

“Michael Minzer and I had been trying to produce a Gregory Corso album for years. For our series that featured Allen Ginsberg and William Burroughs, as well as Kathy Acker and Terry Southern, Gregory was someone we needed to include - besides, he was always my favorite poet to listen to. He had a wonderful, romantic, and beautiful voice; his readings never lost the sense of the unexpected and dangerous.” …

“Somehow the record that emerged is (in my opinion) incredibly beautiful, moving, sad—but not depressing, and often funny. Not to sound silly, but I felt that we had help with this record from some unknown source that guided and directed it. Just writing about how the record was made makes it even more amazing to me that it got done at all- and I’m very proud that it came together in this way. …”

While Duster went into hibernation in the year 2000, Clay Parton’s four-track never stopped rolling. Recorded alone at home over several years, Birds To The Ground is an album of 30-something, post-9/11 malaise. Under his Eiafuawn (Everything Is All Fucked Up And What Not) acronym Parton hides beneath layers of fuzzy and clean guitars, his hesitant, cottony vocal disappear into noise. “I’ll be a ghost, you’ll go out dancing,” he confirms.

Released on Parton’s long-running The Static Cult Label in 2006, the album was ignored upon release, though managed to get a one-time pressing on the Swedish Pillowscars imprint a couple years later. An album’s worth of songs were dribbled out on a few Internet forums but a follow up never materialized. “That sweet studio deal never worked out, and the tape machines are just collecting dust in the garage,” Parton last wrote of the project.

For our 100th Eccentric Soul 45, Numero returns to our Ohio roots with three replica 45s from the Capsoul universe. Marion Black's timeless two-sider "Who Knows" b/w "Go On Fool" made a few blips upon its 1970 release, but has taken on a life of its own soundtracking prestige TV and car commercials around the globe and finally going gold after 65 years. We discovered Ron Harrington's "Because You're Mine" demo amongst the Capsoul tapes, a demo cut for founder Bill Moss that never escaped greater Columbus. The mid-tempo harmony joint "It Happened To Me Again" adorns the flip, with a lo-fi funk backbeat tossed in for good measure. Capsoul's crown jewel group harmony quartet Johnson, Hawkins, Tatum & Durr cut just two records in their short time together, but the quartet's "You Can't Blame Me" has endured as a classic example of the raw and unhinged soul sound that Numero is known for. Eccentric Soul from the heart of it all.

During the transitional period in which Coil’s primary leadership (Peter “Sleazy” Christopherson and John Balance) reorganized their creative direction by taking on new membership in the group through their inclusion of Drew McDowall, Coil took a drastic turn towards the metaphysical unknown. Employing the subtle handiwork of Coil’s “real life” members, as well as cleverly guised aliases and spiritual collaborators, the band chose to filter their identity through a the nome de guerre, 'Black Light District', setting the precedent of Coil’s future exploration of otherworldly influence. Recorded during the Winter of 1995/96, 'Black Light District' leans more on their formal avant-garde pursuits and academic interests rather than their industrial pedigree resume. Starting off with an obvious nod to John Cage with their introductory “Unprepared Piano”, the tone is prepared in exactly the same way… unpredictable. Conceptually abstract, Black Light District shows Coil’s old guard disregarding the pop rhythms found on previous albums, such as Love's Secret Domain, and fully embracing their experimental electronic trajectory. Subtle patterns of looping melancholy and malaise are placed delicately underneath ghostly electronic timbre. Approaching their creative method as something from the beyond, another realm in which sounds blur and performers seemingly appear from the ether.

Ata Kak's cassette Obaa Sima fell on deaf ears when it was self-released in Ghana and Canada in 1994. The music on the recording - an amalgam of highlife, Twi-language rap, funk and disco - is presented with the passion of a Prince record and the DIY-bedroom-recording lo-fi charm of early Chicago house music. The astute self-taught song craft and visionary blend of sounds and rhythms has made the album a left-field cult favorite among adventurous listeners worldwide. Awesome Tapes From Africa founder Brian Shimkovitz found the tape in 2002 in Cape Coast, Ghana - one of only a few ever pressed - and later made it the inaugural post on the Awesome Tapes From Africa blog. Hundreds of thousands of downloads, YouTube views, music video tributes and remixes, as well as years of mystery regarding Ata Kak's whereabouts, culminate in this remastered release featuring rare photos and the full back story of one of the internet age's most enigmatic musicians.

In the vibrant streets of Tembisa, South Africa, amidst the sprawling urbanity connecting Johannesburg and Pretoria, the story of Moskito began. Formed in 2001 by Mahlubi “Shadow” Radebe and the late Zwelakhe “Malemon” Mtshali, the group first emerged as a powerhouse of pantsula dancers. However, their undeniable passion for music soon led them down a new path—one that would cement their place in kwaito history. Spending countless hours on the street corners of their township, where they were born and raised, Shadow and Malemon danced and sang with an infectious energy that attracted crowds. It wasn’t long before the duo decided to channel their talents into a kwaito group, and after adding friends Patrick Lwane and Menzi Dlodlo, Moskito was born.

(Pantsula dancing emerged in the 1950s among Black South Africans in townships and continually evolved until it became intertwined with kwaito music culture. The stylized, rapid foot movements and characteristic low-dancing became associated with kwaito as it took over South African urban culture into the early 2000s.)

With limited resources, the group displayed immense creativity, recording demos using two cassette decks and instrumental tracks from other artists. They would rap and sing over an instrumental playing on one deck while the second deck records their performance. Their determination paid off when they submitted their demo to Tammy Music Publishers, who were captivated by Moskito’s style.

“Kwaito was the thing ‘in’ at the time. If you did music you did kwaito. We wanted to fit in and actually it was easy,” says Radebe. “We didn’t have engineers in the group, so the first time in a real studio was with Percy and Thami to record Idolar.”

That same year, the group released their debut album, Idolar, under Tammy Music. The album was an undeniable success reaching gold status selling over 25,000 units and earning them a devoted fan base across South Africa and neighboring countries like Botswana, Swaziland, Namibia and Zimbabwe. Moskito collaborated with industry legends such as Chilly Mthiya Tshabalala, who was known for his work with Thiza and Spoke ”H.” They drew inspiration from Thami Mdluli a.k.a Professor Rhythm, who had dominated the disco scene back in the 80s and 90s. Mdluli helped with musical arrangements and executive produced the album and signed on producer-engineer Percy Mudau, while Shadow and Malemon took pride in composing most of their songs. Like many of the rising kwaito artists of the time, they didn’t have music production or engineering backgrounds so they required support from engineers together their ideas down on tape.

They were inspired by South African kwaito icons like Trompies, Mdu, Mandoza, and Arthur Mafokate, alongside international heavyweights like Snoop Doggy Dogg, Dr. Dre, 2Pac, and R. Kelly, Moskito created a sound that was uniquely theirs—a perfect blend of local flavor and global influence.

First released on Prestige in 1957 "New Trombone" is Curtis Fuller's debut album. Back in the day, Fuller was a 23 years old Detroiter whose fluent style represented a new step in the trombone's evolution. Backed by a solid quintet featuring Sonny Red – alto sax, Hank Jones – piano, Doug Watkins – bass, Louis Hayes – drums, Fuller opens up with a strong Hard-Bop album including three originals and a couple of standards. This is highly swinging Jazz based on group interlay and with deep roots in Blues.

Fully licensed, all tracks remastered ! Earth Running, originally released in 1979 on the Tappa's Stars label, can be considered the Jamaican's toaster's maturity album. Lyrics here are rooted in the "ghetto life" as always. A work with an international flavour: On Side B, two convincing dance tracks, the anthemic funkfest "Freak" and "One More Chance", often championed by DJs in the following years. A work that explored new territories, a mandatory re-issue for all authentic reggae lovers.

Reissue of the third album from Brazilian combo. Creatively visionary and groundbreaking on numerous terms, 1975 'O Africanto dos Tincoãs' (as the previous Os Tincoas album) revolutionized Brazilian music by harmonizing Afro-religious singing, heavenly vocal harmonies, and Percussive rhythms derived from Candomblé traditions.

Even though it was recorded during a time of political repression, the album remains gentle, rhythmic, and eflecting Afro-Brazilian syncretism and resonating with themes of suffering, exile, and hope.