Not much more than a year has passed since the Zenker Brothers presented their debut EP – ‘Lion in Mars’ – on Tresor Records. The follow-up record segues perfectly between a triumphant year in the studio and in performance, and a 2014 which promises to take their growing reputation for blazing techno to new heights. ‘Stratus Phunk’ is an incendiary record, developing the ideas seeded in their first release to their fullest extent. The title track runs along the entire A-side. Building the raw acoustic sounds of wind. instruments into a rolling jam which soon becomes an unstoppable locomotive, shape -shifting in and out of smoky synth lines, tracky hi-hats and acetic basslines, « Stratus Phunk » is a vintage tune forged in the Tresor basement furnace. On the flip, « Thirty-Two » and « Vamp Like » explore the more splintered dimensions of the Münich based brothers’ work, familiar to whoever follows the releases on their own Ilian Tape label.

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Techno was inevitable for the Zenker Brothers. Eldest brother Dario cottoned on first, using his family ties to Munich's infamous Ultraschall club to edge into the DJ booth as an enthusiastic teen. Following its demise he migrated to Harry Klein with the rest of the Ultraschall crew, picking up a residency in 2006 that has only just been brought to a close. It was at this stage Marco received his own electronic awakening. Inspired by a set of his brother's at the very same institution, he joined Dario there a year later. Production-wise, however, the brothers continued to pursue separate paths: Dario sewing an assortment of seeds and racking up a wayfaring collec- tion of records for labels like Frozen Border, Vakant, Time To Express and Traut Muzik. Meanwhile Marco was cultivating deep and dreamy techno on the Zenkers' own Ilian Tape stable. After years of playing and working together side by side, in 2011 they emerged in official collaboration as Zenker Brothers with 'Berg 10 EP'. Now, the Zenker Brothers are back with their first release for Tresor, brandishing a matured sound and level of sensitivity yet displayed by either before. 'Lion In Mars' is like a fresh breeze billowing through the Tresor vaults. Honing in on signa- tures from the archive and repackaging them in modern sentiment, here Zenker Brothers deliver a record that gleans through the generations to deliver a cunning symbiosis of techno future, past
and present. On the A-side "Knighthof" and "The Future Is You" offer driving vintage basement techno with a Zenker twist, whilst B-side tracks "Davin" and "Cosmilian", the EP's clattering dystopic closer, blend Detroit tones together with their respective Ilian-proven pallets.
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-NO SALES TO JAPAN-
LP: 180g vinyl, half speed mastered, heavy sleeve, obi

Tracklisting LP
A1. Sonora
A2. Stella by Starlight
A3. Speak Low
A4. Nobody Knows The Trouble I’ve Seen
B1. Old Country
B2. Soultrane
B3. Chasin’ The Bird
B4. Be My Love

Info:

We Release Jazz is delighted to announce the official reissue of Ryo Fukui’s final album, the very personal contemporary jazz offering, A Letter from Slowboat, sourced from the original masters and available on limited edition 180 gram vinyl mastered at half speed for full audiophile sound, as well as on digipack CD.
Known for his miraculous albums Scenery (1976) and Mellow Dream (1977), legendary Hokkaido pianist Ryo Fukui, with the help of his wife Yasuko, opened his very own jazz club in Sapporo in 1995, Slowboat. This is where Ryo Fukui spent the latter half of his career, playing again and again, welcoming peers for unforgettable sessions, and perfecting the craft he lived for: jazz.

A Letter from Slowboat is a poetic, soulful, and honest love letter to Hokkaido, to Fukui’s jazz club, and to endless hours of practicing artistry in a place called home. Backed by longtime collaborators Takumi Awaya on bass, and Ittetsu Takemura on drums, Ryo Fukui flows through classics and originals with natural class, fluidity and absolute precision, expressing a smooth balance between skills and heart. Slowboat, full of breathtaking solos and exquisite moments of clarity, is another crucial piece in the career of one of the most fascinating jazzmen to ever grace the piano. It was released in 2016, sadly the year Ryo Fukui passed away, leaving behind a legacy of works that is sure to captivate jazz lovers for generations to come, and Slowboat, where the magic still happens to this day.

This is reissued in conjunction with Ryo Fukui’s Ryo Fukui in New York (1999), also available via We Release Jazz.


Points of interests

- For fans of jazz, soul jazz, modal, hard bop, piano, Japanese jazz, boats, Sapporo, Scenery, jazz clubs and very personal letters.

- Official reissue of the final album by legendary Hokkaido pianist Ryo Fukui.

- 8th release from We Release Jazz, following Ryo Fukui’s Scenery and Mellow Dream, the soundtrack of Le Cercle Rouge by Eric Demarsan, Stuff Combe 5 + Percussion, Marc Moulin’s Pla-cebo Live 1971 and Boillat Thérace Quintet albums. We Release Jazz is the sister-label of Geneva-based WRWTFWW Records (Midori Takada’s Through The Looking Glass and Lunar Cruise with Masahiko Sato, MKWAJU ensemble’s KI-Motion, Jun Fukamachi’s Nicole, Bruno Spoerri’s Voice of Taurus and The Sound of the UFOs, Piero Umiliani’s Tra Scienza e Fantascienza and Il Mondo Dei Romani…)


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The Standard Edition - Territory - NO Sales to Japan
Ryo Fukui's 1976 highly sought-after jazz masterpiece SCENERY-
LP Edition: Mastered at half speed, 140g vinyl, Sticker

We Release Jazz (WRWTFWW Records' new sister-label) is proud to present its first release, the official reissue of Ryo Fukui's highly sought-after masterpiece Scenery (1976), sourced from the original masters and available on limited edition 180g vinyl mastered at half speed for audiophile sound and on digipack CD.

Unquestionably one of the most important Japanese jazz albums ever recorded, Scenery reveals Ryo Fukui as a miraculously brilliant self-taught pianist fusing modal, bop, and cool jazz influences for a very personal, dexterous and game-changing take on classic standards made famous by Bing Crosby and John Coltrane among others. From "It Could Happen To You" and its serene and calm intro which magically flows into a jubilant and upbeat piece, to the out-of-this-world piano solo of "Early Summer", or the incredible teamwork of "Autumn Leaves" where Fukui leads Satoshi Denpo (bass) and Yoshinori Fukui (drums) into groove heaven, every single note on the album oozes precision, confidence and flair and every single section slides seamlessly into one another, creating a supreme and elegant blend of jazz. Often compared to McCoy Tyner or Bill Evans, Ryo Fukui was a genius in his own right, a true master of his craft whose perfectionism gave birth to some of the greatest music ever recorded. Scenery is his magnum opus and an absolute must-have.

The Hokkaido wizard-pianist followed Scenery with the soulful gem Mellow Dream (also available on We Release Jazz) in 1977. He then focused on improving his live skills, often performing at Sapporo's Slowboat Jazz Club (which he co-founded with his wife Yasuko Fukui) and releasing 2 live albums. Ryo Fukui sadly passed away in March 2016, leaving behind a legacy of works that is sure to captivate jazz lovers for generations to come.


Tracklisting Vinyl LP
A1 It Could Happen To You
A2 I Want To Talk About You
A3 Early Summer
B1 Willow Weep For Me
B2 Autumn Leaves
B3 Scenery
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2LP
Belgian producer and curator soFa launches from Strangelove once again, this time with his celebrated compilation series. A second trip round the stars "elsewhere junior Vol 2" features a bunch of unknown and familiar offworld entertainers. Kosmische music lands amongst leftfield club krypton as our crew collaborate with young space cadets.

Tracklist:
Side A
A1 Alice George Perez & sofa- Little Dogs 2:47
A2 Jumbrel- Sintidesbald 4:38
A3 t-woc & Empress of Nature- Rapper's Delight 3:54
A4 Aroma von Troisdorf (feat. Marla Bereska)- Das Ozeall 3:44



Side B
B1 Puma & The Dolphin- How To Send Email 3:40
B2 Mytron - Fajny Dzie? 4:19
B3 Naomie Klaus- How Do We Make The Babies 4:20
B4 Androo- Police Justice 1:03

Side C
C1 A, C, and The Omni Ox3- Cyril's Stories 2:42
C2 Felix Kubin feat. Bela Elektra- On y va 2:51
C3 Sexo Y Fantasia- Gioca All'Amore 5:33
C4 Conny Frischauf - Ton Tour 5:11

Side D
D1 Das Unkenduo- Fortifrogs 5:14
D2 Oslo Karamell- t3 4:43
D3 Little Boy & The Mindful Potheads- Krautkid 5:54


Short info:

Belgian producer and curator soFa launches from Strangelove once again, this time with his celebrated compilation series. A second trip round the stars "elsewhere junior Vol 2" features a bunch of unknown and familiar offworld entertainers. Kosmische music lands amongst leftfield club krypton as our crew collaborate with young space cadets.

The Empress of Nature & t-woc cover the interplanetary boogie hit 'Rappers Delight' , while Felix Kubin & daughter Bela waltz through the stratus. Conny Frischauf and The Mindful Potheads take us to lynchian journeys of kindergarten Kraut. Mytron's motorik moon dance spins past Naomi Klaus' martian punk shuffle, all amongst a stellar double pack of electronics orbiting Uranus.

In these gloomy times some whimsical fun and a little lightness is just what we need right? Put on your space helmets, fly high and enjoy these trippy sonic explorations..

Vital Sales Points:
Follow up soFa's previous Strangelove releases CCCVVV (SL111) and Psychedelic Digestion Therapy (SL109)
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2024 repress

Tracklist:

A1. Beautiful Strangers
A2. Can’t Fix A Broken Heart
B1. When I’m With You ft. Jasper Tygner
B2. False Attraction
B3. Memories Fade

Release Info:
Ever since the release of his masterpiece Winona it’s hard to imagine modern electronic dance music without DJ BORING. A progressive traditionalist DJ BORING finds new ways in old maps. Just like Beautiful Strangers. The lead single to his correspondent debut EP for Running Back illustrates his kaleidoscopic sound aesthetic and refreshing style. Harking back to the aural palette of BORING’s formative years in the early 2000s it manages to bridge infatuation and lovesickness wistfulness and bliss as well sundowns and sunrises dance floors and living rooms – and that is no mean feat.













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RE-RELEASE! No one can say they didn’t see these two brats coming! Justice, who’s name the world (well at least that part of the world that loves to dance) chants with emotion and whose first album is awaited with bated breath ever since the French duo revolutionised dancefloors with two radically different hits. It comes as no surprise that «†», the first album by Justice, is a fantastic treat for the ears and for the feet. A kind of musical opera marked with religious and baroque symbols, where the melodies are ripped to shreds by the beats, where electro teaches rock a lesson and where pop gets a botox injection. More

2023 repress

2LP with printed inner sleeves

Tracklist

1. The Mod 4 - A Puppet
2. The Yardleys - Just Remember
3. Decompressed Impossibility - You Can't Ride Away
4. The Living End - Brigitta
5. The Newports - Feelin' Low
6. The Landlords - I'm Through With You
7. The Prisners Dream - Autumn Days
8. The Fortels - She
9. The Bohemians - Say It
10. Tresa Leigh - Until Then
11. WM. Penn & The Quakers - Ghost Of The Monks
12. The Tempters - I Will Go
13. Jerry McGee - Twilight Zone
14. Carroll - The Boy Called Billy Joe
15. The Common People - Here, There & Everywhere
16. Dennis Harte - Summer's Over
17. Toe Head - Goodnight Jackie


Short info:

A North American road trip of coming of age garage soul mapped by Ivan Liechti, Ghost Riders is Efficient Space’s latest narrative compilation, hovering in a liminal emotional ravine between moonlight melancholy, teenage heartache and unchecked, unrealised ambition. Across 17 open hearted ballads recorded 1965-1974, the 2LP collects and connects dots between British Invasion fanatics, child prodigies, the loners and the luckless, in a kind of trans-continental survey of those swept up in rock’n’roll mania and buoyed by local newspaper ads promising fame and gold records.

From the tangerine dreams of 8th grade all-girl combo The Mod 4 to the tri-state jukebox aspiring echoes of The Tempters, The Yardleys' poetic Farfisa vamp and lilting folk pop, and The Landlords’ weepy break up b-side blues, these are mostly one shots by dreamers whose experience was brief before being checked back to the reality of suburban normality and realistic career options. Hailing from the regional backwaters of Illinois, Arkansas, Nevada, Massachusetts, Ohio, Idaho, Texas and beyond, the licensed artists were scouted by way of local fire departments, spiritualist fellowships and animal welfare centres, often barely a stones throw from where their contributions were originally laid.

A barely teenage Dennis Harte's ‘Summer’s Over’ perhaps best taps the collection’s essence. A gut-wrenching lament of the passing of the season as if it was the last on earth. Flanked by players from The Left Banke, Harte, a now-piano tuner to the stars, is from the minor segment that found longevity in showbiz. Likewise with Michigan icon Lyn Nowicki who cast her ghostly voice over Beatles cover song chameleons The Common People and Jerry McGee, The Ventures member and conduit of Dr. John’s ‘Twilight Zone’.

Ghost Riders simmers with the scent of youthful summers, the pang of schoolyard romance, and the excitement (and disenchantment) of teenage naïveté, delivered via a deceptively simple and frequently wonky garage band set up. The vision of record collector and graphic designer Ivan Liechti, these eternal psych-folk howlers are further crystallised by Colin Young’s fastidious audio restoration, the original artwork of Elise Gagnebin-de Bons and an aptly penned forward from Sonic Boom.






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