✺ ltd to 500 copies.Just a single album and a bunch of singles, rising star Linda Di Franco debuted in 1985 and left the scene all of a sudden in 1986. Her first album was a combined effort produced by Don Was (Blue Note’s Renaissance Music Man and previously leader of post disco combo Was Not Was), a gentle selection of soul-pop ballads and lushy synth arrangements. With leading single ‘My Boss’ the album shows an ethereal continuum with an excellent rendition of Burt Bacharach ‘The Look Of Love’. Recorded in London, Detroit and New York the Rise Of The Heart is definitely a keystone in the rising club culture revolution verging on the more existentialist pop aesthetic. RIYL: Sade, Lizzy Mercier Descloux, Carmel, Antena.

Before he co-founded the legendary Sunday afternoon event Body & Soul with fellow New York DJs Danny Krivit and Francois Kevorkian in 1996, Joaquin "Joe" Claussell was the driving force behind Instant House, an eclectic production outift who released a series of uplifting deep house records, several of which were spun by David Mancuso at the 90s iteration of his influential Loft parties.In 1993, Instant House released their deepest single, Lost Horizons, through Jungle Sounds Recordings. The A-side, ‘Lost Horizons (The Mind Travel Saturday Night Sunday Morning Mix)’ is a seventeen-minute and twenty-second sojourn into the vibrant club sounds of early 90s NYC. Driven by a Latin-accented man-machine beat that marches into infinity, it comes backed by two shorter mixes, ‘Lost Horizons’ and ‘Lost Horizons (Percussion Bonus)’. Twenty-nine years later, Isle of Jura presents an official vinyl and digital reissue of this slow-burning deep cut.The Instant House story begins in the late 80s at Dance Tracks, an East Village record store established by the businessman, DJ, and graphic designer Stan Hatzakis. Patronised by New York trendsetters like Frankie Knuckles and Larry Levan, Dance Tracks was considered one of the world's best underground dance music retailers.During the winter of 1991, Stan got together with one of his best customers, Tony Confusione, to make music. A wall street guy by day and a keyboardist by night, Tony was also a serious DJ. Not long after their first recording sessions, they invited another Dance Tracks fixture, Joaquin "Joe" Claussell, to join them in Tony’s state-of-the-art home studio in Long Island. He brought a vibrant, percussive edge to the sample-based tracks Stan and Tony were cooking up. Emboldened, the three DJs began recording together as Instant House. That year, they released the Dance Trax EP.In 1992, after Instant House had dropped two certified classics, 'Over' and 'Awade', for Jungle Sounds Records, Stan exited the group and sold Dance Tracks to Joe and his business partner, Stefan Prescott. Following Stan's departure, Joe and Tony headed into the studio for a special recording session. “I just remember how powerful the connection was while we were making that record,” explains Joe, recalling the creation of ‘Lost Horizons (The Mind Travel Saturday Night Sunday Morning Mix)’. “It was a very spiritual encounter in the studio.”While laying out the drum patterns, sound effects, and arrangement, Joe explained the vibe to Tony, who played the lush cosmic chords and an effortless keyboard saxophone line over the top. “That was Tony completely feeling himself,” Joe reflects. “He performed majestically.”After the release of the Lost Horizons 12”, Joe received a phone call from Cisco International Corp. A plane flight later, he was sitting in their label offices in Tokyo, talking to a senior record executive who wanted to introduce Lost Horizons to Japan. “What they were primarily doing at the time was pressing classical records - we’re talking thousand dollar plus classical reissues - and they wanted to license and distribute Lost Horizons,” Joe remembers. Three years later, Joe and Tony released 'Asking Forgiveness', their final 12” as Instant House, before parting ways with full hearts.In the context of his career as a DJ, remixer, and producer, Joe is known for long songs and compositions. As Lost Horizons illustrates, he’s carried that impulse with him since his foundational days. “When I produce, I don’t believe in the beginning or endpoint of anything,” Joe explains. “I really despise the rules. To me, that’s not true to the art of creation. I just believe there is a flow in creation. When we were making music in the 90s, we were restricted by format, but that record could have gone on forever.”The 12” is housed in a full sleeve jacket by Bradley Pinkerton based on the original release design.

A stylish selection of city pop, funk and modern soul from Japanese label Nippon Columbia, selected by DJ Notoya and featuring cult classics and rarities by Hiroshi Sato, Hatsumi Shibata, Hitomi 'Penny' Tohyama & many more.Annotated by Notoya with journalist Nick Luscombe and artwork by Optigram.Newly remastered audio.The selection on ‘Tokyo Glow’ starts with 'Kimugare' a relaxed mid-tempo track by Kumi Nakamura, actually a famous actress who only recorded one album in 1980 for Columbia.The set continues and flows effortlessly with the sunshine grooves of Miyuki Maki, Hatsumi Shibata and cult keyboard player Hiroshi Sato before the pace starts going faster and funkier with New Generation Company, Kengo Kurozumi - with his superb boogie, 'Juggler'- and one of the queens of the genre, Hitomi 'Penny' Tohyama with 'Tuxedo Connection'.Another fine example on the set is the mid-tempo groove of "I Wander All Alone Part III" by New Generation Company, an aggregate group of some of the best Japanese session musicians led by arranger Katz Hoshi and including Hiroyuki Namba (key), Kazuo Shiina (gtr) and Yutaka Uehara (ds) who all played with Tatsuro Yamashita among many others.There are many other excellent examples in 'Tokyo Glow', showcasing the diversity and specificity of Japanese City Pop during the late 70s and 80s.Nippon Columbia opened their much-guarded vaults to curator DJ Natoya. Tracks were remastered in Tokyo and the result, ‘Tokyo Glow’, is a unique insight into a most creative period in Japanese music.

Here at Cultures of Soul, we haven’t let the doldrums of 2020 slow down our global exploration across space and time to discover the funkiest pockets of music culture the world has to offer! This time we make a pitstop in Jakarta, in the years between 1979 and 1991—the peak of the New Order.No, not the British electronic post-punk band that enjoyed great success during this same period (although synthpop is quite popular here) but the revolutionary government of President Suharto, which could be characterized as a “dictatorship”… along with all the political repressiveness that entails. However, at the same time, Suharto’s full-throated advocacy of foreign trade resulted in a new economic buoyancy, an expansion of tourism and culture industries, and a flourishing of the entertainment sector. Suharto aggressively courted western corporations to do business in Indonesia, which led to the need for more and more entertainment to distract the expatriates after hours. Jakarta became a wonderland of colorful discotheques, nightclubs and restaurants that merged traditional Indonesian ambience with the sexy ultramodern pulse of the disco beat.While imported disco records dominate playlists, a local music scene has developed in parallel, with indigenous artists like Chaseiro, Rafika Duri, The Rollies and Lydia Kandou embracing the use of synthesizers and drum machines, modern studio production and influences from western pop, rock, funk, boogie, disco, jazz, yacht rock as well as Japanese “City Pop.” And from all this they are forging a distinctive Indonesian dance-pop sound that will largely remain hidden from the rest of the world… until now.Compiled by Munir Septiandry of the influential Indonesian DJ collective Midnight Runners, Tanamur City collects some of the high points of the latter part of this era, conjuring up a world of humid nights in packed discos, no-holds-barred genre blending, fun, fashion and funkiness of a kind never before seen in Southeast Asia… and seen rarely since.

*GATEFOLD 2LP**The first compilation of works by British electronic pioneers MLO aka Peter Smith and Jon Tye. Titled ‘Oumuamua’ and second up in the Virtual Dreams series, the compilation is an in-depth artist focused release containing twelve thoughtfully selected tracks that touch on highlights from the duo’s discography as well as newly (re)discovered music drawn from a vast archive of unreleased pieces, sketches and extended jams recorded between 1993-1995.MLO’s ambient explorations began when Pete and Jon, having first met in rival punk bands during the late ‘70s, found themselves with unlimited access to an incredibly well-equipped studio, having been hired to produce an Icelandic pop star’s record in the early ‘90s. Particularly charmed by the Korg PS 3300 and an Emulator 2, Smith and Tye were also deeply fascinated by outer space and set about developing a musical landscape informed by both this new state of the art musical equipment and what lay beyond the Earth’s limits. Painting with a palette informed by classical minimalism, new age and the works of Cluster & Eno; the duos primary colours were drones, sustained tones, washes, calming tides, gentle temple bells and soft angelic voices with flickering glimpses of percussion and drums that hinted at the possibilities of a dance floor.‘Oumuamua’ is a collection of music to get lost-in, a wander down the mazed, mirrored corridors of the subconscious. Peaceful, flowing, fresh-water patterns, drawing the listener toward a mediative, inner space. Not strictly ambient, rather the music rests temporarily within the boundaries between drum ‘n’ bass, library music, soundtracks and Techno. Or how Jon Tye himself puts it: “It really feels like music from a different place, a different time, made by different people.”Artwork by Vica Pacheco, design by Steele Bonus, liner notes by Dr. Rob

Mesh-Key reissue of a true desert island disc, criminally out of print for nearly 40 years. They've spared no expense bringing this classic back to life in a format befitting its brilliance, carefully orchestrating transfers of the original analog reel-to-reel tapes for remastering, and packaging each record in a heavy tip-on jacket with film lamination, and a double-sided, printed inner sleeve.This seminal, eponymous post-punk album by Japanese group Aunt Sally, fronted by experimental singer Phew, was first released by the iconic Vanity Records label in 1979. Over the past forty-plus years, Phew has forged a singular path through a wide range of styles - from free improvisation to pop - and has collaborated with the likes of Ryuichi Sakamoto, members of Can, DAF, Einstürzende Neubauten, The Raincoats and more. But Aunt Sally is where she got her start and, despite the members’ young ages (still in college at the time), Phew and the band delivered a mature, timeless take on minimalistic punk. Remastered from the original analog tapes, this fully authorized reissue is packaged in a heavy, tip-on jacket from Stoughton, and is housed in a double-sided, printed inner sleeve.

First time (commercially available) 12" pressing of this seminal U.K. House production. Originally released in 1989. For fans of Dream 2 Science / Sha-Lor ao. TIP!"The United Kingdom has long been an ardent supporter and consumer of African-American music. Dating back to the electrifying earliest performances of blues artists like Big Bill Broonzy during the early 1950s – an influence on Eric Clapton and John Lennon – right through to the dawn of Chicago house and onwards. In fan clubs, like the Tamla Motown Appreciation Society, started by soul writer Dave Godin, to the numerous fan magazines that have documented dance music culture from Blues & Soul to Mixmag, there has been an extended obsession with black music culture.This lineage continued into the house era, our generation’s defining dance genre, and one with which British producers were swift to adopt. This record is a prime example of this. Although Mother Tongue was a one-off project, its history is rooted in this long-standing culture stretching back decades. The main man behind Mother Tongue was a drummer and record producer named Richie Stevens. Stevens was steeped in music and the industry, thanks to his father, John Stevens, also a professional drummer. Stevens senior played in numerous jazz ensembles during the 1960s and onwards, including performing with Tubby Hayes, Ronnie Scott, Evan Parker, Derek Bailey and was a session player with John Martyn (among numerous others) during Martyn’s finest period (it’s John’s drumming you can hear on ‘Big Muff’).His son, Richie, was playing professionally while still a teenager for the Dennis Bovell Dub Band and has subsequently backed everyone from Tina Turner and Simply Red to Hugh Masekela and George Clinton. He is also a long-term collaborator with Boy George. But the story of Mother Tongue begins with a band called Well Red. This group, effectively a studio creation by Richie and his then manager Martin Poole, recruited vocalist Lorenzo Hall, a fixture on the London reggae scene and sold the concept to Virgin Records. Well Red yielded two albums – Motion and Respect Due – but never really got the crossover success their songs perhaps deserved. “Virgin were very supportive of us,” recalls Poole, today. “They gave us a lot of money. They pumped money into it, and it never quite paid off, but we did okay. We recouped and got to make a second album with George Clinton. It was a good move, recording with him. It did us a lot of good here and in America. We did pretty well in the US. We were very well-supported over there.”This same team, working in a tiny studio near Richie’s house in Wood Green, north London, called The Watershed, produced ‘Message Is Love’. It features the vocals of Syn-Dee (Sindy Finn) and Lovebase (Louise Porter), who co-wrote the track with Richie and Alan Lane, another Stevens collaborator, and Ian ‘Spy’ Austin, who’d previously played in the same reggae band, The Instigators, as Lorenzo Hall from Well Red. “Remember it well,” says Martin Poole. “We were just writing it there and then in the studio. It was me, Richie, Spy, and I think Syn-Dee was there as well. When I got home later, Richie played it to me over the phone and I said, ‘That just sounds brilliant,’ from how we'd started it off, you know?” Thanks to their experience in the studio with Well Red, they managed to produce a song that has the timeless feel of all good music.Mother Tongue was the opening track on a compilation called On The Loose Volume 1 on their own Furious Fish Records. Every track on the album, despite having different artist credits, was done by Stevens and Poole, often using a rotating cast of characters that had also appeared on ‘Message Of Love’. Although it did not sell especially well at the time, it’s become a collector’s item over the years. This is the first time Mother Tongue has appeared as a 12-inch single, a long overdue (but very welcome) happening. "

Happy to see the 'Doing It In Lagos' compilation from 2016 on Soundway being repressed. It's one of the few comps out there that put together so many amazing boogie tracks hailing from Nigeria. Nowadays it's really tough to find good condition copies of the original records, and if you do it will cost you a lot of cash too. This 3 LP with 7 inch bonus takes ((arguably) the standout tracks from the LP's and to create this 20 track opus. It's safe to say that it has a great bang for buck ratio if you like that infectious boogie sound infused with catchy synths, bumpin' basslines and often killer drumcomputer programming.If you are new to these sounds it's a perfect intro into the works by these very talented musicians that had a high output during the end of 70's and 80's, we encourage you to dive deeper into material from the hands of for example Jake Sollo, Dizzy K. Falola, Tony Okoroji, Odion Iruoje, Nkono Teles. You will find many more names along the way..Compliments for Uchenna Ikonne who co-compiled this and accompanied the release with liner notes.

* 2022 Repress ** The reeepress of the RE-ISSSUE of Durban’s O.G. Kwaito giant, Sandy B., originally self-released on cassette and a white label 12” in 1994.In its original post-apartheid context, Amajovi Jovi was a sign of youthful subversiveness, rebellious creativity and a neck snapping rejection to the fascist groove of a silenced nation. While the Pantsulla hustler nods to house legends like Jamie Principle and Pal Joey, its hip hop breaks and interludes show a clear affection for Snoop Dogg’s Doggystyle. At its slowed down tempo however, this low-fi kwaito masterpiece turns away from its American influence and looks towards Baldelli and his cosmos. Best of all are Sandy’s vocals— deep, melodic Zulu rap, sung flippantly—the way that only a true gangster could. It now stands as one of the finest glimpses of 90s party music to ever be blasted at the underground parties of the South African townships.Remastered and restored from the original cassette tape. Designed by Zeitype.

Light Your Own Nightmares Vol.1 showcases fresh techno gems from Lyon, France. On this compilation, available digitally and on vinyl, the six artists express love for the underground scene of their city.Unfair Records · Light Your Own Nightmares Vol.1 [UFR001]

A tasty South African double-header from Linda "Babe" Majika & Thoughts Visions And Dreams featuring Ray Phiri, re-issued by Rush Hour.

✺ 2 x 12” 140g Opaque Gold vinyl housed in 12” phosphorescent varnish sleeves. Includes 60x30cm poster.Amon Tobin continued his adventures with the breakbeat on Out From Out Where, his fourth album. Darker, more complex, even more rhythmically driving and intense than ever before, this huge record cemented Tobin’s reputation as one of the most innovative and important names in dance music today.Out From Out Where differed from its predecessor in that Supermodified was made using only found sound (most of them generated by Amon himself) while here he stepped back to utilise some slightly more traditional sources (displaying in particular, a love of guitar licks). But when Tobin takes a sample source he is never happy until he has warped, filtered and fucked with it until it sounds like something straight from his head. And not just anywhere in his head, but that dingy, cobwebbed corner where no one should go…"Chronic Tronic" sounds like martial music for giants, listening to "Searchers" you’re gripped by a terrible sense of foreboding. "Back From Space" and the intro to "Hey Blondie" have a genuine alien sense of wonder about them. Meanwhile, the beats, as exemplified on "Triple Science", sound like an entire bloco band having a bad trip in the dirt under your fingernail. And as for "El Wraith"...well, let’s not even go there…In fact, this remains the most straight-up nasty album that Tobin has made – music with the power to genuinely disturb. Shut the door, close the windows. Be afraid…

Ezra Collective’s new era, a venture in discovered maturity and raised stakes, will be defined by the anticipated second album.'Where I’m Meant To Be' is a thumping celebration of life, an affirming elevation in the Ezra Collective’s winding hybrid sound and refined collective character. The songs marry cool confidence with bright energy. Full of call-and-response conversations between their ensemble parts, a natural product of years improvising together on-stage, the album - which also features Sampa The Great, Kojey Radical, Emile Sandé, Steve McQueen, and Nao - will light up sweaty dance floors and soundtrack dinner parties in equal measure.

Réédition de "l’album vinyle du Rire Aux Larmes", premier album du groupe de rap français Sniper, sorti le 30 janvier 2001 sous le label Desh Musique.

Le DJ et producteur J Rocc revisite ses racines hip-hop underground de LA sur A Wonderful Letter. L'album est une lettre d'amour à la ville qui l'inspire constamment. J Rocc est un centre de gravité de la scène hip-hop de Los Angeles depuis plus de 20 ans, et un élément essentiel de la liste de Stones Throw depuis près de deux décennies.

Groove Armada’s iconic Back To Mine compilation from the Millennium gets a long-awaited re-issue 22 years after its original release. As Groove Armada celebrate 25 years of touring with their final ever world live tour, which includes nine huge dates across the UK, it’s a chance to relive Groove Armada’s eclectic and expert curation.The album, which was one of the biggest ever selling editions of the Back To Mine Series, will be available on double heavyweight vinyl for the first timers well as a limited collectors edition in Pumpkin orange. This release marks the first of many reissues of iconic Back To Mine titles.The Groove Armada special edition package features 12 tracks featured on the seminal album in one of the best loved compilation series’. Despite the length in time since its original release, the album remains timeless with an inspired selection ranging from A Tribe Called Quest, Barry White, Tears For Fears to the compilers themselves.For nearly two decades, Groove Armada have been established as one of the planet's best loved and biggest selling dance acts. As comfortable on the big stages as they are in sweat soaked basements, the boys cross genres and styles with ease. This translates perfectly into their addition of Back To Mine which boldly, yet effortlessly traverses a multitude of sounds that you wouldn’t imagine could be the perfect match.

Après la sortie de 4 EP très remarqués depuis 2013, plus de 100 concerts en France, 14 millions de vues sur sa chaîne YouTube et un titre dans le film « Deephan » de Jacques Audiard, voilà enfin le premier album de LOMEPAL : "FLIP".

The 80s Italo disco /proto-house classic 'MBO Theme' by the mighty Klein & MBO, repressed! Comes with an heavy (and unheard) South African version on the flip. Huge Tip!The MBO Theme' (1983) has been a dance floor favorite since decades, created by Mario Boncaldo and Tony Carrasco - the legendary Italian/US duo Klein & MBO. The track got support in NYC and Chicago by greats as Larry Levan, Frankie Knuckles and Ron Hardy.The rare version on the flip is created by a South-African band called Warrior. Rush Hour explain how they came across the track: We bumped into this version on a South African record digging trip. It took us a few months to realize the scarcity of this version. Ian Osrin, a well respected engineer in South-Africa who was involved in many 80ties and 90ties Bubblegum, Kwaito and South African disco records, explained us about music distribution in South Africa during apartheid. Because the country was culturally banned at the time, a lot of releases weren't imported or exported. Even when a track was huge, like The Klein & MBO Theme'. So South African musicians would create their own versions which were sold locally.We got in contact with Tony Carrasco from Klein & MBO. He also hadn't heard Warrior's version before, but he liked it as much as we do!'

This release gathers for the first time on vinyl the most famous musical themes from Tim Burton’s movies. Most of them are composed by Tim Burton’s favourite composer (Danny Elfman), and some by Howard Shore and Stephen Sondheim.The songs are drawn from the cult film that launched Johnny Depp’s career: “Edward Scissorhands”, to his latest masterpiece: “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”.The collaboration between Tim Burton and Danny Elfman is one of the most successful of Hollywood. This duo has allowed to convey this distinctive imagery created by the former Walt Disney cartoonist, who has become, today, the undisputed master of fantasy and strangeness.Danny Elfman (also known for the famous Simpsons’ generic/film credits) remains thecomposer who, better than anyone, has been able to transcribe the universe both dark andfairy of his favourite director. His music draws its inspiration from Edgar Allan Poe’s novel, German expressionism and from the Hammer’s cult movies.This vinyl offers an hour of music to immerse yourself into Tim Burton’s phantasmagoric universe:from the hypnotic and quirky theme of Willy Wonka (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) to the disturbing atmosphere of Gotham City (Batman). This album pays tribute to both Tim Burton’s cinematographic work and Danny Elfman’s musical genius.

Welcome return for this very sought-after rare electro 12' from tiny Harlem label Express Records. Big with the Cosmic crowd as well as on the early hiphop scene, this is an extremely cool low-slung synth-heavy electro groover with a hypnotically smooth lead vocal, given a sharp percussive edge by the rattling congas and ticky-time chorus. Written at a time in rap music history when the introduction of synthesizer technology created a wild flurry of creativity, this futuristic track by Barry Michael Cooper (who went on to write the screenplays for movies New Jack City and Above The Rim) was Teletron's only ever release. Film's gain was sadly music's loss as this was, and still is, a boundary-pushing, floor-filling monster. Don't sleep!

Aux armes et cætera, figurant sur l’album du même nom enregistré à Kingston en 1979, a rendu fous de colère de nombreux militaires français et des anciens combattants. En effet, Gainsbourg n’a pas hésité à reprendre le texte de La Marseillaise sur une rythmique reggae. Sur le disque, on retrouve des musiciens jamaïcains de renom (Sly & Robbie) et certaines choristes de Bob Marley. Avec cet album, Gainsbourg impose le reggae sur le marché français tout en se propulsant au firmament des maîtres absolus de la chanson française.