The re-issue of a real Electro gem by the genious Thomas P. Heckmann. It’s the ”Electro Nation – Shipwrecked” originally released 1998 on Electrocute.
re-release
The Bees – She’s A Witch [AAFS042]
Little-known trio The Bees put out only one full album, 1988’s She’s A Witch (Tikoloshi). Its six tracks all offer dancefloor-ready, distinctively South African grooves that show how bubblegum in the late 80s embraced house music. Produced by Steve Cooks, who would go on to work with heavyweights Senyaka, Spokes H and Umoja in the years that followed. Searing vocals and percussive synth basslines are best on ‘Hlabalaza’ (already a DJ favourite) and the title track, it lyrics telling the spooky tale of an evil woman who rules the night – ‘Tikoloshi’ being the mischievous creature of Zulu folklore (usually a man) who is still widely blamed for all manner of mysterious happenings in the middle of the night.
Coldreams – Eyes / Morning Rain [CAM014]
This long time sought after french post-punk/coldwave/melancholic pop 7″ finally gets an official reissue, by Camisole Records. Coldreams was a french female fronted post-punk band hailing from Clermont-Ferrand.
Sound Waves – I Wanna Feel The Music [SR1243]
Seminal NYC deep house sounds from the legendary Strictly Rhythm catalogue, this is some straight 1991 heat. ‘I Wanna Feel The Music’ / ‘Gotta Have You’ are 2 stone cold jams. Sound Waves is a crew made up of Andrew Richardson and Gijo Rosario, who crafted 2 slamming 12”s for Strictly in the very early 90’s. Both cuts ooze so much soul, and those unmistakable deep synth pads that wash over those tuff NYC drums with uplifting emotion. A true underground record that sounds like it could have easily dropped last week.
Mappa Mundi – Mosaics [DRIVE006]
Mappa Mundi’s sole release ‘Musaics’ was released in 1990, riding on the wave of early trance and ambient house sounds and exploring the same sonic terrain and worlds as The Orb, The KLF, Sun Electric and other like minded outfits. A wonderful swirling collage or mosaic of breakbeats, samples and new-age synth stylings, ‘Musaics’ is indeed a real trip. A spontaneous late night studio concoction borne of endless takes and experimentation between Pieter Kuyl and Jan Van Den Bergh who both display a deep knowledge and a shared love of different sounds from around the world. The end result is a meditative, sprawling journey that touches on many different styles from languid widescreen techno to frantic drum machine driven machine-funk, all while retaining a feeling of post-rave atmospherics and psychedelia. This is a very special record indeed, and is somewhat of a lost gem from a very fertile and interesting period in sample based music. Undoubtedly the perfect soundtrack to numerous late nights and early mornings to come
John Cameron – Jazzrock [BEWITH059LP]
‘Jazzrock’ is an aggressive, percussion-heavy album with an energy that leaves jaws on the floor, killer funk breaks from 1972 by the mighty John Cameron. Breaks and beats for days with electric piano, bass loops, and pounding percussion. Funky jazz with a deep, tough, soundtrack feel.
Alan Parker / John Cameron – Afro Rock [BEWITH058LP]
‘Afro Rock’ was recorded at Morgan Studios by John Cameron and Alan Parker in London in 1973 as a collection of stripped-down African rhythms, virtuoso jazz instrumentation, fuzzed up wah wah guitars and spaced out library breaks. The percussion is effortlessly funky, and those flutes so melodic, it’s as if the LP was crafted with the beat lovers of the future firmly in mind. As Cameron himself described it in Unusual Sounds, this is “heavy duty drum-and-bass salsa music”.
Gruppo D’Improvvisazione Nuova Consonanza – Niente [ROMA111LP]
Founded in Rome in 1964, ‘Il Gruppo D’Improvvisazione Nuova Consonanza’ was a collective of noted and noteworthy composers who challenged the very structure and performance of music itself. Today the most celebrated of its members is the renowned film composer Ennio Morricone but each contributor has an intriguing history in Italian music. Drawing on Jazz, Serialism, Musique Concrete and other extended techniques, the group performed on many of Morricone’s experimental soundtracks of the 1970s including, A Quiet Place In The Country and Gli Occhi Freddi Della Paura). The collective improvised live (according to strict exercises) and in the studio (recording for RCA, Deutsche Grammaphon, General Music and others). In 1970 ‘Il Gruppo’ (as ‘The Group’) recorded The Feed-back (for RCA Italy), an insane amalgam of avant-improvisation and motorik Krautrock-influenced beats that understandably has become one of the most collectable ‘Library Music’ related LPs ever issued. In 1971 ‘Il Gruppo’ returned to the studio to record a sequel. This is that record. For reasons unknown Niente was never originally issued but one listen will convince that not only is it the sequel to one of the most sought after LPs of all time, but it is also by far its superior. Brain melting jams collide with unhinged intensity in a hothouse of Italian avant-improv. You have been warned.
Zed – Plastic Love [ERZ-004]
The Italian Fuzz Dance! Just said almost everything about the global dance music scene. One of the most prominent labels to connect the old Continent to the new Continent. For many top players it is considered the blueprint of Italo-disco, for many others the beginning of the House sound. Some of the records on its catalogue are merely timeless and in the history forever. And ”Plastic Love” is definitely one of those.
Beta Evers – Transient [SGX004]
Beta Evers returns to Sonic Groove Experiments with another re-issue of one of her classics from the late aught decade. Three cuts of seductive vocal-charged post-punk, wave / body music.
Peter Richard – Walking In The Neon / Strange Desires [FTM201905]
Jeff Mills – The Director’s Cut Chapter 2 [AX079DC]
The second chapter from Axis Records’ The Director’s Cut re-issue project. Jeff Mills goes back into the Axis archive to release special unreleased versions as well as iconic tracks that made the label what it is today.
Lloyd Miller – A Lifetime in Oriental Jazz [JMANLP028]
Jazzman presents the definitive anthology of pioneering ethno-musicologist, mystical adventurer and real life jazz guru Dr Lloyd Miller. This album tells the fascinating life story of one man and his journey through Europe and the Middle East, living off nothing but his wits, talent and an open-minded attitude towards music and jazz. Master of dozens of languages and hundreds of instruments, Miller has spent fifty years immersed in the music of Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Featuring recordings taken from incredibly rare privately pressed albums, live sessions in Europe, and previously unreleased material, A Lifetime in Oriental Jazz tells the story of his extraordinary personal journey from the West Coast to the Far East. Played on a plethora of exotic instruments from around the world, Miller’s music is a unique blend of jazz with the modal and spiritual sounds of traditional Asian and Middle Eastern music. Spiritual jazz, Eastern jazz – direct from the source! Available on deluxe heavyweight vinyl and compact disc with digitally remastered sound, previously unreleased material, exhaustive historical liner notes and unseen archive photos.
Steel Mind – Boss Man [TD001]
Tempo Dischi is an italian label created on a mission to discover and repress classics and rare gems of the italo disco, afro and cosmic scene. With the support from all the main players who has made that era magic, we work to put back on records stores shelves a piece of art that may have been lost but it’s still timeless. The first release is one of the key projects of the underground Italo Disco scene, probably not the most famous one, but surely it is among the most loved one by DJs and connoisseurs: Steel Mind. ‘It was the end of the ’70s and at that time Disco Music was very popular. I was in a band called Caelestium, and we were playing in the most important clubs in Italy…Around the beginning of the 80s, I started to feel the desire to make a different kind of sound and I decided to start my solo project creating songs like ‘Boss Man’ and ‘Lionel’ that were closer to the Krautrock style’ recalls Piero Torsani, the producer behind this project. These songs have become a cult for many djs, including Daniele Baldelli, Beppe Loda and Alexander Robotnick and they still sound contemporary. The Tempo Dischi collective is responsible of a club friendly edit of ‘Boss Man’. And after a deeper search into Pietro Torsani’s original music archive, an unreleased track has surfaced we could not resist to give to the world: ‘Summer in The City’ featuring the voice of Marisa Lucà , at that time singer of Caelestium.
Robert Hood – Master Builder [TRESOR32]
Twenty five years after its initial release, and accompanying the re-release of ‘Internal Empire’ Tresor Records is proud to present a new cut and pressing (180gm) of Robert Hood’s essential ‘Master Builder’. This work elevates its maker as master, and remain a cherished moment in the Tresor story, sharing an irrefutable singular magic, sounding as present and indispensable as when first created. To understand this work fully is to stand back and celebrate its impact.
Lhasa – Acetabularia [DE247]
Lhasa is the brainchild of Alain Raes from Siegen, Germany. As a teenager he was inspired by Tubeway Army’s ‘Are Friends Electric’ and Art Of Noise’s ‘Beatbox’. In 1985 he began collecting analog equipment (Prophet-5; Oberheim OB-X; Linn LM-1) as digital synthesizers had started to become more popular. In 1986, New Beat was born in Belgium. Dancers tapped into the darker side of synth pop, and DJs would play 45 rpm records at 33 with the pitch control set to +8. Alain was playing in New Wave bands and had started production work and synth programming for other acts. In 1988 he self-released the debut Lhasa single ‘Acetabularia’ / ‘Acetatechno’, with help from Kris Tremmery on vocals and concept. The record combined the icy melodies of Gary Numan and John Foxx with with the mechanical rhythms of Detroit techno and EBM. Thematically, both tracks revolve around the end of life on Earth, and include samples from ‘Dr. Strangelove’. For this first time reissue, we’ve added 4 bonus tracks rescued from a 1990 recording session DAT tape. These demos show further development of the Lhasa sound with updated instruments (Roland D-20, Yamaha TX16W, Korg 707), faster tempos, and menacing proto-rave energy.
International Music System – International Music System Volume 3 [MD31808]
Mr. Disc Organization presents another classic Italo, repressed and remastered in limited 500 copies hand-numbered.
Alessandro Adriani – Montagne Trasparenti [MNQ123]
Alessandro Adriani has become a trusted source for all kinds of beyond-the-grave minimal synth, industrial and coldwave delights. Aside from his work in releasing forgotten gems and up to the minute synth incantations, Adriani has also been quietly issuing out his own music as well. Originally released in 2016, ‘Montagne Trasparenti’ is now repressed on Mannequin Records with a full new graphic design.
TOPO – Ba Ba Go Go [BST-X054]
The official remastered reissue of one of the rarest and sought after italo-disco record from early 80’s. This is an epic out there electronic production that’s one of a kind. In the same period of other italo-disco classics like REM, STOPP, Klein & MBO, GANG previously reissued by Best Italy, they representing the roots of chicago sound played by the pioneers like Ron Hardy.
Julian Jonah – Jealousy And Lies [GR1247]
‘Jealousy And Lies’ is one of the finest example of the late 80’s deep-house scene. It reminds to the classic US house style of that period, to Larry Heard and the ‘Def Mix’ productions, and even if it sounds similar to the famous ‘Talking With Myself’ by Electribe 101, this one came first. And it still sounds so good after 30 years.
The Hipodrome Of Music 