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Tracklist:
1.Weejuns (intro) ft. Will Stowe
2.Beautiful BLACK
3.One Hand Washes The Other feat. lojii
4.Crossroad(s)
5.Negroni (Skit)
6.FireFly feat. Fatima
7.Nothin’ to Say
8.UPtown Mami (Skit)
9.Manuva(s) feat. Joe Armon-Jones
10.Driftin’ Interlude feat. Pearl De Luna
11.Chase The Sunrise feat. Yaya Bey, lojii, Fatima 05:01
12.First Dates
13.Quiz Interlude feat. Salimata
14.Lizards / Dancin' With The Devil feat. Jaydonclover & The Hotel
15.Mind, Body, Spirit feat. Seafood Sam
16.FOREVER POOH


Preview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rESM76i97BM

Goya Gumbani loves getting dressed, guided not by stylists or trends but by his own research and self-expression, an excitement for fabrics, fits, and fundamentals. The Brooklyn-born, South East London-based artist approaches Warlord of the Weejuns, his first LP on Ghostly International, after years of acclaimed self-releases with the same mentality. Rather than simply recruit beats to rap over, he's now embodied both the narrator and the conductor, developing a shared musicality with various changes in scenery, players, producers, and guests — including Fatima, lojii, Seafood Sam, Yaya Bey, and many others — outfitting his flow between London's new jazz generation and New York City's hip-hop storytelling legacy. Goya borrows the album title from a magazine headline once placed upon Mile Davis (given how well he wore the iconic Weejun loafers). Here, he channels not just that storied style from the king of cool but an artistic ingenuity and timeless sensibility, redefining his recording project with rich, full-band arrangements. Marked by unguarded ambition and introspection, Warlord of the Weejuns is a triumph of taste, heritage, and pride from one of rap music's most dexterous talents.

Before and during sessions spread across London, Philadelphia, New York, and Los Angeles, Goya leaned into his jazz collection with a heightened sense of awareness, reflecting on Davis' legacy in the context of intention and growth. "His appreciation and love for music but also clothes, taking pride in your image. Not feeling restricted in your music or your fashion. He kept redefining himself, moving the goalposts. It just opened my eyes to the ideology that there are no bounds; you can't get boxed in, there's no wrong turns. Every turn just leads you somewhere else."

Taking cues from the intuitive and often wordless expressions of jazz as well as the rhythmic meditations of reggae, Goya let the music lead. "I didn't want to fit 100 words in 16 bars; it was more about making the voice part of the instrumentation, to sit at ease in the mix, like laying in the water, letting the current wash over." Even when more reclined at the mic, he remains an evocative and boldly vulnerable lyricist, allowing the material to form around life's impressions — "slight changes to the input," he says. "The things that I would pour into myself, my views, my mornings waking up, breaking up with girls, meeting new people, it's all these things. When I listen back to it, I can hear where I was, and I can hear where I'm going."

Threads of affirmation and self-worth — unlearning past constructs, manifesting knowledge and power from within — run throughout Warlord of the Weejuns. After the swaggering, a capella intro ("All I do is write, rap, scribble, scat, wear long coats with pressed slacks…."), the horn-backed "Beautiful BLK" sets the celebratory tone. Produced by Franky Bones, the track radiates pride with lush keys, bass, and brass as Goya declares, "It's time to redefine" above emboldened excerpts from a speech by Yosef Ben-Jochannan. He wrote the song after visiting his mom's birthplace far outside of London, and his uncle's recording studio in Nottingham and hearing him talk about Bob Marley's influence, realizing the lineage of it all. "I was just looking at him and looking at myself, and I thought, this is generational." He further unpacks the track: "I wanted to make something that could speak to Black kids from anywhere in the world, just love yourself, know your worth. Like, you got it. What I would have told myself: you are beautiful."

Goya welcomes a wide range of artistry across the spacious collection, replete with vibe-shaping skits and interludes. "I feel honored to have everyone on this album and understand how all these elements, these ingredients, come together to make the greatest gumbo. These collaborations made me remember the importance music has not only to me but to all of us."

London-based Swedish soul singer Fatima appears in two singles: first, there's "Firefly," a cosmic R&B groove that captures the rawness of a recent breakup. "Fatima came and just laid the hook, and I was like, damn, you're embodying how I'm feeling," says Goya, who built it out with contributions from Swarvy, Omari Jazz, Les Lockheart, and his Ghostly labelmate quickly, quickly. Fatima returns for the crew jam, "Chase Tha Sunrise," joined by Yaya Bey and lojii (also in his second appearance). Hovering above guitar lines and beats, they take turns in a weave of gratitude. Goya explains, "Yaya recently lost her father, a hip-hop legend ??[Grand Daddy I.U.]. He influenced one of my favorite rappers, Roc Marciano, who made me really get into lyricism and rapping and speaking. Then to get lojii on there, and Roc also influenced him, so it felt like the fullest circle moment just to give that kind of ode to the parents, to our ancestors."

He recorded the hypnotic "Crossroads" with Maxwell Owin in his South London studio at 4am; "It was winter time, and a window was broke, and it was f*cking cold, but something in my head was like like these are the hard times in the dirt that you're gonna look back on and be like, bro, you made a diamond."

Goya wraps Weejuns on the gospel-tinged outro, "FOREVER POOH," produced with Omari Lyseight. Surrounded only by soulful hums and strums, his closing remarks cross the looseness of a freestyle with the poignance of something greater, a 21st-century artist deeply in the pocket of his pleated craft.

Sicherheits- und Herstellerinformationen / safety and manufacturer info (GPSR)
WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
Contact: gpsr@wordandsound.netMore

Record Store Day Exclusive "Frozen Lake Michigan" Color 140g 2xLP, in a heavyweight UV-Gloss jacket, with 12"x12" insert booklet, with IA OBI Strip & printed inner sleeves.
Gilles Peterson presents International Anthem is a Deluxe Double LP compilation chronicling the infamous London-based radio host, DJ, label head, curator and cultural impresario's long-standing affinity for and interaction with artists and music from the Chicago-born record label International Anthem.

tracklist:

Side A
1) Chicago, January 13th, 2020
2) Makaya McCraven - The Jaunt
3) Junius Paul - Asé
4) Dezron Douglas & Brandee Younger - The Creator Has a Master Plan
5) Resavoir - Taking Flight
6) Irreversible Entanglements - Open The Gates
7) Angel Bat Dawid - We Are Starzz
8) Rob Mazurek - Exploding Star Orchestra - Abstract Dark Energy (Parable 9)

Side B
9) The Most Amazing Time
10) Damon Locks - Black Monument Ensemble - Rebuild a Nation
11) Dos Santos - A Shot in the Dark
12) Daniel Villarreal - In/On
13) Anna Butterss - Pokemans
14) SML - Industry
15) Jeremiah Chiu & Marta Sofia Honer - Snåcko

Side C
16) Jeff Parker - Cliche
17) Jamire Williams - And Then the Anointing Fell
18) Carlos Niño & Friends - Please, wake up.
19) Thandi Ntuli with Carlos Niño - Voice and Tongo Experiment
20) Tom Skinner - Quiet as it’s Kept
21) Ruth Goller - Next time I keep my hands down
22) Alabaster DePlume - A Gente Acaba (Vento Em Rosa)

Side D
23) Old Fashioned Chicago Music
24) jaimie branch - theme 001 (live)
25) Tomin - Angela’s Angel
26) Asher Gamedze - Melancholia
27) Ibelisse Guardia Ferragutti & Frank Rosaly - MESTIZX (Brownswood Basement Live)
28) Ben LaMar Gay - Oh Great Be The Lake
29) Charles Stepney - Step on Step

Sicherheits- und Herstellerinformationen / safety and manufacturer info (GPSR)
WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
Contact: gpsr@wordandsound.netMore

Sicherheits- und Herstellerinformationen / safety and manufacturer info (GPSR)
WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
Contact: gpsr@wordandsound.netMore

Translucent Tangerine Vinyl!

Australia’s world-renowned cinematic soul outfit Surprise Chef return with new album Superb. A record that represents a change in their creative approach and turns up the heat in their music. Trading in their meticulous writing and recording techniques for a looser and less planned approach with the intentions of bringing more levity to the process, and it comes through in spades. The high caliber musicianship is still front and center, but they push their sound into a more energetic and fun place on this album.

Album opener “Sleep Dreams” is the closest thing to a Surprise Chef tune one would come to expect, but then lead single “Bully Ball” comes on and you get the picture that they came to kick in the door on this one. The song’s gritty drums thunder through the speakers and get covered with percussion, keys, bass, and guitar chanks that stay in the pocket and bring the funk with them. The band pushes the boundaries of arrangement with tunes like “Body Slam” that starts off like a sweet soul track then pulls a 180, turning dark and haunting, centering on a sound they created by tucking a timpani into a bathroom two doors down from the mixing board. That same sense of experimentation comes up again on “Fare Evader” where they pepper another neck breaking rhythm track with synth notes that sound like robot sound effects from a 70s sci-fi film. The fellas turn up the tempo for the dance with tunes like “Consulate Case” and “Tag Dag”; the former pulling influence from afro-funk and the latter from jazz-funk. They take us deep into the beautiful world of Surprise Chef ballads on “Websites” and double down on their abilities to make beautiful and ethereal tracks with “Dreamer’s Disease”.

With their new album Superb, their new approach, and plans to tour the world, we are about to see Surprise Chef take the step from the underground’s most beloved to a household name and we are definitely here for it.

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WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
Contact: gpsr@wordandsound.netMore

In honour of fifty years in the performing arts—dating back to the founding of the legendary band The Pyramids in 1972—Idris Ackamoor proudly presents “Artistic Being” for Record Store Day 2025. This special recording features celebrated San Francisco actor, activist, and author Danny Glover, alongside renowned stage actress Rhodessa Jones.

TRACKLIST
A1. AFRO FUTURISTIC DREAMS 13.10
A2. IN GOD’S COUNTRY 4:42
B1. CHINA LANE SUITE 17:36
C1. TEMBEKA 7:50
C2. GRANDMA COLE STORY 10:44
D1. NOW! 8:49
D2. MOONLIGHT AND SUNSHINE 9:41


Listen: https://listen.k7.com/47891699-1332-4a17-bc6b-cdfe1c0ad93d

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WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
Contact: gpsr@wordandsound.netMore

Across a remarkable run of releases in barely half a decade, London’s Loraine James has established her identity through a blend of refined composition, gritty experimentation, and unpredictable, intricate electronic programming. While titles released under her given name on the esteemed label Hyperdub tend toward IDM-influenced, vocal-heavy collaborations, James reserves her alias, Whatever The Weather, for a more impressionistic, inward gaze. On Whatever The Weather II, rich worlds of layered textures flow seamlessly from hypnotic ambience, to mottled rhythms, to cut-up collages of diaristic field recordings. The result is a uniquely fractured beauty, born from a compelling union of organic and human elements, processed through a variety of digital and analogue methods.

James titled Whatever The Weather pieces based on an innate sense of their “emotional temperature” at the time of recording, but she notes that often, upon revisiting them, they will feel somewhere else entirely on the thermometer; such are the whims of the environment. Compared to the album’s predecessor and its Antarctic imagery, though, Whatever The Weather II is a warmer outing, as signaled by the desert clime of its cover photo which is once again shot by Collin Hughes, and the package designed by Justin Hunt Sloane. Also common to both albums is the mastering work of friend and collaborator Josh Eustis (aka Telefon Tel Aviv), who lends his keen ear to James’ complexities, to craft a strikingly three-dimensional sonic experience.

“1°C” opens the album with James speaking through thick static, idly pining, “Bit chilly, innit… Can’t wait for it to be summer,” as a bed of granular tones and scattered vocal samples emerges. This ineffable mood carries through “3°C”, where high-frequency oscillations flutter across the stereo field, a vigorous, minimal kick rattles through a broken speaker cone, and spacious synth harmonies burst and fade into mist. “20°C”, the longest entry in the collection, daydreams through a din of conversation and minor-key chords, before blossoming into a series of glitchy, staccato percussion patterns. “8°C” rides a sole, wandering keyboard line adorned with minimal counterpoint. In these moments, James effortlessly draws order from a diffusion of ideas, and an air of playful spontaneity creates the common thread.

In discussing this project, James notes that the first Whatever The Weather LP (Ghostly, 2022) was created concurrently with Reflection (Hyperdub, 2021), and that there was some degree of stylistic cross-pollination between her two musical frames of mind. At the time, she shared her feelings on genre with Pitchfork’s Philip Sherburne, noting, “Yeah, I might look different from most people who make IDM, and I’m from a different time period, but I don’t really care about the term being negative or positive. I feel my music is IDM and I do my own spin on it, being inspired by other stuff and fusing it all together.” This go around, she dedicated several months of focused energy to the alias, and to the development of its distinctions: no collaborators, fewer beats, and a process based primarily on instinct and improvisation.

The album’s singular sound arises from James’ favoring of hardware over software, as her battery of synths is modulated, transformed, and reassembled through an array of pedals with few or no overdubs, effectively anchoring each arrangement to its precise moment of creation. The greatest effort in post-production was given to sequencing, on which the artist places the utmost importance; taken as a whole, the suite ebbs and flows with a fitting sense of seasonal flux and naturalistic grace.

The final act of Whatever The Weather II offers some of its most affecting moments, beginning with “9°C”, where the haunting echoes of children on a Tokyo playground break through intermittent bursts of static, steeped in a bath of off-kilter, bubbling tones. Here, James displays one of her many strengths: a fearless approach to sonic collage, elevated by ambitious experimentation and pacing that manages plenty of surprises. Never content to remain in the same sonic space for too long, “15°C” follows with soft pads and glistening countermelodies, abruptly joined by a jarring, cyclical rhythm that mimics a loose part inside a whirring machine. Like much of James’ work, it bears an internal logic that only makes sense in her hands.

Closing track, “12°C”, drifts from bustling human spaces into a concrete groove, weaving melody and texture into a truly unusual, soul-stirring fullness. In its final moments we hear, for the first time, a languid acoustic guitar and gentle, finger-tapped beat over her pitch-shifted voice, a callback that ends the album with wry ambiguity, and a hint of more to be found beyond the horizon. Whatever The Weather II is full of such passages, where formal composition appears like a film in negative, and conventions are upturned with wit, intelligence, and skill.

Sicherheits- und Herstellerinformationen / safety and manufacturer info (GPSR)
WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
Contact: gpsr@wordandsound.netMore