We love to just try things at Athens of the North and when Clara and Theo (one of our PR friends) were chilling with us at pikes one evening it came up in conversation that Theo has a lovely singing voice and fancied having a spin in the studio. Roll on a month later, and they were home in Edinburgh, and we threw ourselves into a couple of days of experimenting, this little electro floater we were all super pleased with came out of the session. Tonight is a super late night CR78 drum machine mashed work out with a Theo's floaty falsetto smashing out the park, we flipped the OG with a brilliant dubbed out mix that's not to be slept on either. More

2023 Starts with a doubler sided disco action from East Coast Love Affair - Taking the vocal from obscure Minneapolis lo-fi band 'Quiet Storm' master tape (Big up Numero Group) and building a whole new deep disco 45. 'Get Down' is deep dance floor chugger using the O.G studio gear that would have been used at the time, strictly analog business. On the flip, 'Can You Deal' is a more uptempo boogie joint. Both killers as always. Lots more from ECLA this year!! More

Derwin Daniels, Soprano Sax player and composer, made this little R&B 45 in 1989. Recorded with vocals by the unfortunately passed away La Donna Wells who brings a Mary J Level performance 3 years before "What's The 411" hit the streets. Slick, deep R&B that's soulful enough for modern soul and disco sets, what's not to love. Flipped with some Jazz Bizznes from Derwin, utter gold! More

Killer wonky modern soul / disco out NYC written by Producer Alan Jones. Rathen than put the instrumental on the flip same as the og, we opted to put a mix with a lower vocal on the B-side, mostly because we wanted a mix to play out ourselves, killer modern 45, do it! More

Insanely good almost completely unreleased Jazz funk LP from Roland Haynes Jr. (They released just a single 45 included here from the tapes). Think undiscovered James Mason, and you'll be half way there, even by our high standards, this LP is HUGE. Until now, that 1983 single has been the sole material trace of both band and artist. But like many dedicated musicians who follow their own path outside of the music industry, Haynes understood his musical worth, and the quality of his band. He had documented his work at key moments, laying down carefully worked out studio sessions and recording packed-out live gigs. The recordings that we present here are drawn from Haynes' personal archive of studio recordings that were for the most part unreleased. More

Roland Haynes Jr and his group Phenix released just a single 45 on their eponymous label:the sophisticated modern soul cut 'Mind Games', with a dapper jazz ballad,'The Essence of Jai' as the flipside (coming soon on the studio LP). Until now, that 1983 single has been the sole material trace of both band and artist. But like many dedicated musicians who follow their own path outside of the music industry, Haynes understood his musical worth, and the quality of his band. He had documented his work at key moments, laying down carefully worked out studio sessions and recording packed-out live gigs. The recordings that we present here are drawn from Haynes' personal archive.

This first collection presents a selection of the many live recordings made by Phenix at Quarter Moon club in Orangeburg, South Carolina. This allows us to listen in as Haynes'abundantly talented band stretches out on a tight selection of originals and covers. Together, these sets allow Roland HaynesJrtofinallystakehisclaim to a place alongside the most forward-thinking jazz and soul artists of his era.

Covers of Marvin Gaye, Santana, Hubert Laws & The Jeff Lorber Fusion as well as originals.

500 Copies Only Double Vinyl. More

On this new ATON 12" we have two very different beast, basement or bigroom, both sampling a rare disco 45 by Sass Band called 'Where Is the Love'. Side A is another East Coast Love Affair outing, a super deep druggy disco burner for the heads, we need to make more of these. To counteract the A side on the flip we have a full on late 90s style party banger that will deffo get some asses moving (and some beard strokers crying). Kevin McCullagh (BDK) sent me this last year (or possibly the year before) and gave me the idea for this 12, it took some time to track down the licence but with some help Julien (Waxist DJ) andPascal. at Pusher distrubtion we were a le to clear the sample which was super appreciated. Get it, pick your side, rock the party. More

A vibrant kaleidoscope of sound, colour and emotion, British multi-hyphenate James Alexander Bright's new album 'Cool Cool' is set for release on 26th July via Athens Of The North. A dynamic set of urgent funkers, gentle soul ballads, head-nodders, fuzzy folkers and straight-up disco bangers span 10 songs that soundtrack fertile daydreams, esoteric dancefloors, languorous reflection, and wild excursions in nature and beyond. James' voice, pitched somewhere between Eddie Chacon, Beck and Michael McDonald, takes a confident lead on this new record. Whether tenderly caressing on the title track's beautiful soul minimalism or deployed passionately on boogie machine 'Straight Line'; it's an immediately recognisable signature. Impressive multi-instrumentalism sees him perform on guitar, bass, keys, programming, percussion, production and myriad quirky effects; across song subjects that cover searching for truth, imagining the distant future, teen nostalgia, relaxation exploration, aspirations of freedom, and classic tales of love and romance. More

Electro-boogie-machine 'Straight Line' is taken from 'Cool Cool', the upcoming third album by British multi-hyphenate James Alexander Bright. "'Straight Line' started out as a wonky homage to 80s & 90s radio", says James. "It's based on the memory of meeting someone you want to stay up all night listening to music with". James' passionate voice, pitched somewhere between Eddie Chacon, Beck and Michael McDonald, takes a confident lead over a melange of body-popping LinnDrum beats, a host of swooping, fuzzy synths, and backseat-rocking bass. Initially written and recorded at his home studio in the rolling hills of the Hampshire countryside, 'Straight Line' was completed with regular collaborator Peter Lyons in East London. It's backed on 7" vinyl with the wonky dancefloor wobbler 'Oh My', sounding something like Theo Parrish producing Arthur Russell after a sleepless night.
More

This month we have three beautifully pressed mostly unreleased Ike Noble 45s with o.g style silver Ink overprinted labels, they look just

Side A on this 45 is a killer previously unreleased cover of James Brown's classic "Money Wont Change You" stepping up the pressure with The Uptight's on backing smashing it out the part, it probably outdoes the JB version.

On the flip, it's Big Boy/Girl ballad time. Stunning unreleased deep soul. Sweet Deep soul heads will hoover this up so be quick. More

This month we have three beautifully pressed mostly unreleased Ike Noble 45s with o.g style silver Ink overprinted labels, they look just

On side A we have the only previously released (but very rare) track on these three 45s. A brilliant, mid-tempo soul chugger that falls between Syl Johnson and James Brown, undeniable, how this did not blow up at the time is beyond comprehension.

On the flip, it is Deep Soul time again with a version of 'Best of Luck to You', also recorded by Sam baker and Earl Gaines, but easily toping both. More

This month we have three beautifully pressed mostly unreleased Ike Noble 45s with o.g style silver Ink overprinted labels, they look just

On side-A we have the only previously released (but very rare) track on these three 45s. A brilliant, mid-tempo soul chugger that falls between Syl Johnson and James Brown, undeniable, how this did not blow up at the time is beyond comprehension.

On the flip, HUGE deepsoul anthem 'Look a Little Higher' was release at the time but is mad rare, again a hit that never made it. Solid Gold! More

A rare but unknown modern soul dancer from band Premonition or Premonitions depending on what release they put out. The A side is well written proto disco dancer, it's no wonder collectors have been calling begging for the TPs on this , as nobody can find an original (my copy is beat to death).

I actually really dig the sweet soul flip, its almost to cheesy but walks the edge well, and has some great rising moments if that's your bag (which is should be).

500 Only More

Modern soul / disco royalty, written by the talented Mark Beiner and co-writer Ben Iverson about Marks x girlfriend. It is up there with the best modern floaters in the game. I still remember the first time I Heard this on the dancefloor at Prestatyn soul weekender (I cannot remember who played it), I set out on a mission to get myself a copy which failed miserably at every turn. Many years later I finnaly met Mark, he had done a great job looking after the tapes and all the epherma surrounding the band after Ben has passed away.

On the flip, an early new york rap 45 by the band, previously unreleased on vinyl (we did do it digitally with the LP). More

The rarest and best genuinely outsider soul 45 to come out of America (I know that's a controversial shout), Lee Tracy's super rare single outing from the outskirts of Nashville is a dream of something bigger that never came in time for him. A beautiful, haunting song cut to cassette with help from his friend Isaac Manning (on the Casio). Flipped with an almost unrecognizable version of Whitney Houston's hit "Saving All My Love For You" which stands all tall as what was the original B-Side. Beyond essential cut of outside soul. More

Multi-hyphenate artist James Alexander Bright releases soulfully tender paean to romance 'Fall For You', backed with urgent funker 'Viper Flames'. This new music heralds James' third solo album, currently being recorded and mixed, which is planned for release via Athens of the North mid 2024.On 'Fall For You' James says "You know when you've loved, to love is a magical thing. Whether it's an experience, an object, or a person; we've all loved and lost. The senses, vibration and elements have a wondrous strength and power. Love is the most powerful of all." Following the release of !K7 debut album 'Headroom' ("Blissful choruses, sweetly nagging refrains and a lo-fi sensibility. Hard not to love" Mojo), James featured on Groove Armada's album 'Edge Of The Horizon', contributed 'Under The Sun' to the Too Slow To Disco: The Sunset Manifesto compilation and released single 'It's Alright' with Feiertag. His second album, the joyous 'Float' ("Vivid intermingling of buoyant breakbeat drum loops, sunkissed psychedelic folk song, retrofuturist synthesisers and hot buttered British soul" Test Pressing), was released in July 2022 with singles 'Drink This Water', 'Wheels Keep Turning' and 'Sundown' feat Fink paving the way. This was followed in early 2023 by 'Mirage In The Mojave' ("One hundred percent proof dancefloor ready" Louder Than War), an album of collaborations and reworks with cosmic Americana-disco DJ/producer duo Flying Mojito Bros. On radio his tracks have been played across BBC 6 Music (where he's recorded guest mixes for Tom Ravenscroft and Huey Morgan), Amazing Radio, Bandcamp Weekly, Worldwide FM, Soho Radio, KCRW, Triple J and BBC Solent (who chose his track 'Tigers Roar' to soundtrack Portsmouth FC's 2019 journey to Wembley – awkwardly James is a Saints fan). A new project with Groove Armada's Tom Findlay as Bright & Findlay - married around their shared love of machine-led funk, outsider soul, 70s-80s nautica and 21st century basement disco - was released via Athens of the North in summer 2023. Solid tastemaker support included BBC 6 Music's Gilles Peterson, who included 'Slow Dance' amongst his tracks of the year, and Huey Morgan, for whom the duo recorded a Block Party mix. More

Every now and again, a record carves itself an indelible place in the history of a place, a scene or a genre, all under its own steam – without a big budget, without a press campaign, without mainstream radio, just by hitting all the right notes at the right moment. Maybe you had to have been there to really feel it – locked into the pirate stations, a regular at the right clubs, or leaning on the counter in the right records shops on a Saturday afternoon – but if you were, there are some tunes that will always vibrate with the underground cultural energy of their time. Bô'vel's 1996 Manchester streetsoul anthem 'Check 4 U' is one of those tunes. The kind of song that makes the over-used phrase 'underground classic' mean something again, it effortlessly distills the sounds of its era into one of the most undeniable, genre-spanning cuts of the mid-1990s. The song resonates with the regional flavours of UK sound-system culture: the sweet club sound of Manchester's vibrant streetsoul scene, the dubwise hip-hop throb of the Bristol movement, and the bass-lore of the reggae sound systems whose wisdom stretched from Leeds to South London and beyond. Built around a humid kick drum and a bin-busting bass pulse arranged in head-nodding syncopation, the song is blessed with an instantly memorable harmonised hook, and perfectly set off by Bô'vel's crystalline vocals. Upful, stepping and tinged with melancholy, it remains one of the most well-loved and highly sought-after UK streetsoul sides. The three mixes of 'Check 4 U' appeared as the a-side of a blank-label five-track 12". It was Bô'vel's second release, after a soulful five-track EP issued in 1995 on her own Bô'vel Records had been a surprise success. Produced by Kev Waddington, that initial record had come about almost by accident after a chance encounter in Manchester's HQ Studios, as Bô'vel recalls today: 'We were making these five tracks because we were having bit of an argument with radio not being able to play what they wanted, really, only what the record labels wanted… they never had anybody coming through properly, because everything was pretty much underground. We were making records, like really pop stuff, to take the piss… So in the studio one day, this guy came in – all I know is that his was name was Nigel. And he came in and said, I want to put that five-track EP out with you. We just don't know who the hell he was to this day, really. And he said, you've got to do it 50/50, it's going to be £1000. So I said okay – I just trusted him. I gave him 500 quid. He gave me 1000 records. He just dropped them at the studio. I picked them up and then I went into Manchester city centre and gave it to a couple of DJs on underground radio.' Pirate radio loved it. With play on stalwart Manchester pirates like Buzz FM and Soul Nation, the EP immediately blew up. Bô'vel took the record into Fat City Records, Manchester's premier outlet and distributor for soul, hip-hop and dance, who took a batch, quickly sold out and took several hundred more copies; it eventually transpired that a large quantity were selling to Japan, where the combination of soul smarts and classy production had been caught by discerning ears. Elsewhere, friends distributed the record by hand in London and Birmingham, working them through UK's then burgeoning network of independent dance music shops. The warm reception the record received encouraged Bo'vel to return to the studio for sessions that would become 'Check 4 U'. The EP had been issued under a Bô'vel Records imprint, but she had sold it to Fat City without disclosing that she was the artist – 'I said, "There's this singer, she's great, she's done this cheesy stuff, try it, it's a bit Kylie Minogue". He said "oh, give us 300", and then he had some more.' For the next release, she decided to keep things completely minimal. 'The next one, I said, right, let's just put it out as a white label, and if people like it they like it, they don't have to see who we are or anything.' Though punitive legislation and overexposure had tamed rave culture, and the inflated status of superstar DJs had pushed once underground scenes fully into the mainstream, dance music culture in mid-1990s Britain still retained a certain feral energy. There was still a groundswell of vital local scenes and rapidly changing musical styles, and – combined with local record shops – clubs and pirate radio were still the chief arbiters of influence. 'In the 90s, pirate radio just played the best music. I mean, you couldn't really get music like that anywhere. The same as you couldn't get music like that [being played] in the Reno, which was very different,' remembers Bô'vel, referring to the legendary Moss Side soul club, an underground institution from 1962 until its closure in 1986. 'That's where music really started for me, going to clubs like the Reno at the age 15, 16, 17, and going to places like the Nile [upstairs from the Reno], which was all reggae, you know – that's really where the beats came for me.' The production on the new record would reflect these influences more than the EP had been able too. 'I liked a big bassline,' the singer reflects. 'There's a big bassline there on the five-track EP, 'I Can't Get By', which is a really, really good song, but they just could not get the bass – I was so gutted when that came back…if they'd have shown us the master we'd have said no.' These problems were to be avoided on 'Check 4 U' by the involvement of producer Uriah Gale. 'We already had the tune, and Uriah came on board, and I said, it's just not soulful enough. I was working with Kev Waddington, and he said "I just can't do it." So when Uriah came along, the bass was there, but he tidied it all up and made it really cool, and he was tremendous on the harmony,' she recalls. 'Out of all the mixes, his was the best. He was incredible to work with, and also incredibly talented. With alternate mixes of 'Life Changes You' from the 1995 EP as the b-side, 'Check 4 U' was issued with blank blue labels and sent out with a DJ one-sheet describing Bô'vel as 'Manchester's favourite soul Diva'. 2000 copies were pressed, and the record was distributed by Jetstar. It quickly became another pirate radio hit. 'Soul Nation and Buzz FM did support me from the very start [along with] every single DJ on Manchester radio,' she recalls, 'They're my biggest fans, the DJs here, I've got to big them up!' Manchester's support was mirrored by pirates around the UK. 'We had the support of radios across the country – I just could not believe it. So we went on a tour… We would go to the pirate stations, do an interview, then do a gig – that's how the gigging came about… gigging in Birmingham, Huddersfield, Liverpool, London – I've got so much respect for the pirate radios down there. They were brilliant… We used to take all my stuff straight to London,' she remembers. 'Each radio was doing pretty much the same thing, in their own style, with their own beats. Like, when I went down to Bristol, I showed them the EP and 'I Check 4 U' and they said, hey girl, you've got the Bristol beat!' But her core audience was at home in Manchester. 'London did support me a lot, but not like my home town – they loved me as I love them… Manchester supported me through and through, to this very day,' she remembers. Performing in mid-1990s Manchester was not always straightforward, though: 'In Manchester, it was kind of hard to do gigs, because there was a bit of gang warfare. So, you know, that was a problem. You'd be doing a gig and they'd all be there in their [bulletproof] vests, you know, Cheetham Hill and Moss Side, and it was a bit of a nightmare. And because I was more Manchester side, even though I went to school in Cheetham Hill, I was with a guy from Moss Side. So it was pretty hard gigging in Manchester, I had a bit of a hard time.' Nevertheless, 'my gigs were packed to the rafters…I wasn't scared because I knew I had protection. The gigs were fantastic, here in Manchester and everywhere, and I'm glad and very grateful to be able to say that.' A further single followed – the garage-flavoured 'Earthling', made with producer Ben Stansfield – but this would be her final release. 'My life changed,' she remembers. 'I had a split… I was just bringing my daughter up. I used to live in the countryside, and I was having a bit of a different life… I just spent a lot of time writing when I split up – I couldn't sing, it was like my voice wouldn't work. I was just thinking all the time, and not speaking. So I was just speaking through my music… I just became a writer, and I was more looking for other people to sing the [songs], you know? Because there's a lot of talent here in Manchester.' However, she retained access to a studio, and over time she began to record again, working with various producers and amassing a large amount of material. It is this unreleased material that we collect on Life Changes – nine unheard Bô'vel songs from the period 1997-2008(dates?), selected from her own archive. Until now, none of this unreleased work has been heard. Not an artist to be constrained by genre, the music showcases Bô'vel's exploration of a wide range of styles, from the dubbed-out downtempo of 'My Man' or 'I Wanna Be Free' to the updated streetsoul of 'Let Down And Liar', via the breakbeat hype of 'Do It Your Way' and the straight-ahead reggae vibe of 'Daydreamer'. This unreleased music is presented alongside the unfadeable 'I Check 4 U' and two classic streetsoul cuts from her 1995 EP, 'Life Changes You' and 'Coming Back'. The common denominator across the album is of course Bô'vel herself: a singer of rare timbral clarity whose musical vision has determined the sound of every record she has made, a prolific and personal song-writer in the UK soul tradition, and the artist behind one of the most celebrated underground soul tunes of the pirate radio era. Still most definitely someone to check for. More

Brilliant rough and funky two sider from Charles Barnwell's band The Funnybone express. A very obscure deepfunk spin with that splash of modern sound that was so appreciated at the time (I can't actually remember whether it was Ian or Keb that first played this). It has remained an extremely rare and sought after slab of wax and this limited run of 500 will serve to sort out the heads that know the score. Big up DJ Mr Big Happy (check out his NTS show) and Daniel Mathis (Check his show Reachin' Out on WYXR) for helping unearth this rare banger. More

When Ben White was 25 years old Eddy Bongo Brown of the Funk Brothers brought him to Motown to play with Marvin Gay, 5 years later he recorded this single 'I would have to be a fool' and released it himself. Ben comes from a long line of musicians in his family, his cousins are Cab Calloway and Otis Redding. Over the years he sessioned for Marvin Gay, Bloodstone, Carl Carlton, High Energy, Harold Johnson, J.W. Alexander, Richard T & The Salsoul Orchestra Unfortunately, as is often the case, children came along and Ben moved away from music, this and forthcoming AOTN single 'Give Me Love' were his only solo recordings unless we can find the tapes of his lost LP further down the line. More

Active as a professional DJ in Japan since the late eighties, DJ Yoshizawa Dynamite is also a renowned remixer, compiler and producer. An avid record collector and an expert of the Wamono style, Yoshizawa published the Wamono A to Z records guide book in 2015 which instantly sold-out. The book unveiled a myriad of beautiful and rare records from a highly prolific, but still then unknown, Japanese groove scene. After many years working as a record buyer for several stores, DJ Chintam opened his own Blow Up shop in 2018 in Tokyo's Shibuya district. A member of the Dayjam Crew and a specialist of soul, funk, rare groove and disco music, Chintam is also an expert of the home-brewed Wamono grooves. He supervised and wrote the Wamono A to Z records guide book together with Yoshizawa. For this third chapter of the acclaimed Wamono series, Yoshizawa and Chintam unheart some of the best and rarest light mellow funk tunes and disco boogie bangers produced in Japan between 1978 and 1988. Put the needle on the record, turn up the volume and dig right now into the Wamono sound - the cream of the Japanese jazz, funk, soul, rare groove and disco music developed throughout the years since the end of the sixties in Japan! More

Repress soon!

As mood changers go, this track is up there with the best. Last year whilst DJing with miche at Shapes festival in the snow-capped mountains of Switzerland, a breathtaking yet ominous Alpine sky suddenly became a picture postcard moment. The clouds parted and a double rainbow formed, as miche dropped Studio Rio's bossa nova remake of Bill Withers’ all-time classic 'Lovely Day'. From there, the dancefloor shifted gears and morphed into full-swing feel-good vibes, in a beautiful, spontaneous moment nobody could have planned for.

Mr Bongo now proudly presents a reissue of this brilliant, bossa-channelling Bill Withers reinterpretation from Studio Rio’s 2014 release ‘The Brazil Connection’. Masterminded by the German, Grammy award-winning Berman Brothers, the project was born out of their deep love of Brazilian music. “Our goal was to bring the Brazilian joie de vivre to iconic performances by well-known artists. What would these classic songs sound like had they been recorded in the studios of Rio de Janeiro in the first place, with the best Brazilian musicians and arrangers?” the brothers reflect.

Capturing the life force of Brazil, the beating heart that is its music, they set out to find the musicians who would fit best with their concept. Landing in Rio in 2013 a series of coincidences led to them being introduced to their idols Marcos Valle and Roberto Menescal, who both agreed to come on board. The Berman Brothers also wanted to find some of the musicians who recorded with one of Brazil’s most influential composers Tom Jobim. “Fifty years after Jobim made the music that really defines bossa nova, we found that many of his sidemen were still active, including Paulo Braga of Jobim’s famed rhythm section. It was magic; everything just fell into place.”

There's no question that the original of ‘Lovely Day’ is up there as one of the most feel-good, spirit-lifting anthems of all time. Here the brothers, with the help of a whole host of Brazil’s finest musicians, rework Bill’s soul-fuelled groove into a bossa nova slice of sunshine. With the blessing of Bill and Sony, they were given access to the original multitracks so they could incorporate Bill’s vocals perfectly into the new arrangement.

Joy-injected horns and bouncing double bass blend with the smile-inducing samba flavour of Pretinho da Serrinha’s cavaquinho playing. Tying it all together Torcuato Marinao who worked with the likes of Gal Costa, Gilberto Gil and Caetano Veloso, completes the line-up as arranger of the songs.

The perfect end-of-the-night track, mood lifter or soul warmer, remakes don’t get much better than this. More

Repress!

Written and recorded at UKU's home studio in Los Angeles and Stockholm between 1982 & 1989, including tracks co-written with Maryn E. Coote, notorious 60s soviet jazz sensation. "That's my MOM" recalls UKU, "I remember when I was little, sitting under the mixing board at her sessions". Growing up in studios, UKU's love of music production began early, and over the years he has amassed a vast collection of domestic and soviet electronic gear.. VISON OF ESTONIA The Demos, The home recordings.. RAR AIFF WAV bits, from our friend UKU.. a few songs compiled from his L.A. narrative SANTA MONICA, including soft fashion..

Uku Kuut 08.07.1966 - 22.09.2017 More

Repress!

Apart from the obvious love for his musical talents, both as a producer and as a DJ, one of the reasons why we love Theo Parrish so damn much is his repressing policy. Unlike some of his peers, the man has no problem in repressing in-demand Sound Signatures from the past, and this time it's number 32 that receives a much-welcomed resurrection. The EP features singer Dummine Depores, first on the utterly hummable and soulful "Chemistry" track, and then on "Untitled One", a classically off-kilter Parrish number filled to the brim with sampling goodness and even a distant set of guitar riffs! Killers. More

** RARE GERMAN SOUL / AOR -- FIRST TIME ON 7INCH **
"STEPS ON A CLOUD" was featured on the fourth volume in the "CAN YOU FEEL IT" compilation series. "WHISPERING"has not been re-issued so far and is exclusively available on this sweet 45 RPM single. More