1
The RAH Band - Messages From The Stars (Long Wave Mix)
2
The RAH Band - Messages From The Stars (Astro Mix)
3
The RAH Band - Messages From The Stars (Short Wave Mix)
Reissue of the 1983's classic Messages From The Stars by British Electronic Funk outfit, The Rah Band.
Released in 1983, "Messages From The Stars" by The RAH Band—AKA multi-instrumentalist and producer Richard Anthony Hewson—emerged as a modest club hit, peaking at number 42 on the UK charts. Four decades later, the song has been rediscovered and revered as a cult classic, transcending time and generations. This reissue celebrates The RAH Band’s pioneering sound and the track’s unexpected rise from obscurity to international acclaim, largely thanks to devoted selectors and fans who never let it fade away.
Created on a Roland SH5 synthesizer in Hewson’s home studio, the track’s iconic vocals, spontaneously delivered with playful innocence by Hewson’s then-wife Liz, proved to be a masterstroke, with her warm, conversational tone giving the track an authentic charm. The interstellar lyrics, cosmic synth-line and funky bassline combined are addictively catchy, undoubtedly contributing to the track's success as a crossover boogie-funk classic.
The RAH Band’s resurgence owes much to DJs like DaM-FunK and Martin Iveson (Atjazz), who introduced "Messages" to new audiences in the ‘90s and ‘00s. DaM-FunK recalls discovering the track in the late '90s and making it the centrepiece of his sets, with crowds demanding repeat plays during his iconic Funkmosphere nights in Los Angeles. Fast-forward to 2019, “Messages” was selected as the opening track on pop superstar Frank Ocean’s ‘Blonded’ radio show and playlist, fuelling the track's viral explosion on TikTok in 2020 and sparking a relentless, enduring internet popularity that continues to this day.
Hewson, now in his eighties and residing quietly near the Sussex coast, continues to create music every day in his garage-turned-studio, using the original vintage gear that once brought "Messages From The Stars" to life. Enjoy this slice of space-disco history, where messages from the past have made their way to the present.
Hello, Do you read me?
I have a message
A message from the stars
Sicherheits- und Herstellerinformationen / safety and manufacturer info (GPSR)
WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
Contact: [email protected]More
Released in 1983, "Messages From The Stars" by The RAH Band—AKA multi-instrumentalist and producer Richard Anthony Hewson—emerged as a modest club hit, peaking at number 42 on the UK charts. Four decades later, the song has been rediscovered and revered as a cult classic, transcending time and generations. This reissue celebrates The RAH Band’s pioneering sound and the track’s unexpected rise from obscurity to international acclaim, largely thanks to devoted selectors and fans who never let it fade away.
Created on a Roland SH5 synthesizer in Hewson’s home studio, the track’s iconic vocals, spontaneously delivered with playful innocence by Hewson’s then-wife Liz, proved to be a masterstroke, with her warm, conversational tone giving the track an authentic charm. The interstellar lyrics, cosmic synth-line and funky bassline combined are addictively catchy, undoubtedly contributing to the track's success as a crossover boogie-funk classic.
The RAH Band’s resurgence owes much to DJs like DaM-FunK and Martin Iveson (Atjazz), who introduced "Messages" to new audiences in the ‘90s and ‘00s. DaM-FunK recalls discovering the track in the late '90s and making it the centrepiece of his sets, with crowds demanding repeat plays during his iconic Funkmosphere nights in Los Angeles. Fast-forward to 2019, “Messages” was selected as the opening track on pop superstar Frank Ocean’s ‘Blonded’ radio show and playlist, fuelling the track's viral explosion on TikTok in 2020 and sparking a relentless, enduring internet popularity that continues to this day.
Hewson, now in his eighties and residing quietly near the Sussex coast, continues to create music every day in his garage-turned-studio, using the original vintage gear that once brought "Messages From The Stars" to life. Enjoy this slice of space-disco history, where messages from the past have made their way to the present.
Hello, Do you read me?
I have a message
A message from the stars
Sicherheits- und Herstellerinformationen / safety and manufacturer info (GPSR)
WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
Contact: [email protected]More
More records from The RAH Band
1
The RAH Band - Messages From The Stars (Album Mix)
2
The RAH Band - Roll Me Down To Rio
3
The RAH Band - Perfumed Garden (With Scented Strings)
4
The RAH Band - Hunger For YOur Jungle Love '83
5
The RAH Band - Sam The Samba Man
6
The RAH Band - Winter Love
7
The RAH Band - Tears And Rain
8
The RAH Band - Two Bodies
9
The RAH Band - Party Games
10
The RAH Band - Riding On A Fantasy
Going Up, originally released in 1983, is one of the most curious and enduring records from British studio mavericks The RAH Band. Long out of print, it now sees its first ever vinyl reissue courtesy of Shocking Music and Rush Hour.
Led by super-producer, arranger, and multi-instrumentalist Richard Anthony Hewson, The RAH Band has always existed just outside the mainstream. Blending jazz-funk, sci-fi synth pop, and cosmic lounge, their sound never quite fit the mould. That might explain the cult status they’ve held ever since. Beloved by Balearic heads, rare groove collectors, and adventurous synth diggers, Going Up is perhaps their most influential record.
At the centre of it all is the intro track “Messages From The Stars”, the band’s runaway cosmic hit. A spacey, retro-futurist groove that has become a viral favourite in recent years, it now boasts hundreds of millions of streams, with a new generation discovering it through TikTok and YouTube. But it was originally just one track on this understated 1983 album.
The rest of Going Up is just as compelling, filled with dusty drum machines, off-kilter instrumentals, woozy vocals, and that unmistakable early '80s charm. It is a snapshot of a band in transition, blurring the lines between leftfield pop, sci-fi funk, and home-brewed synth experiments.
Out of print for over 40 years, Going Up finally gets the reissue treatment it deserves. Restored and remastered, and still sounding like nothing else.
Sicherheits- und Herstellerinformationen / safety and manufacturer info (GPSR)
WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
Contact: [email protected]More
Led by super-producer, arranger, and multi-instrumentalist Richard Anthony Hewson, The RAH Band has always existed just outside the mainstream. Blending jazz-funk, sci-fi synth pop, and cosmic lounge, their sound never quite fit the mould. That might explain the cult status they’ve held ever since. Beloved by Balearic heads, rare groove collectors, and adventurous synth diggers, Going Up is perhaps their most influential record.
At the centre of it all is the intro track “Messages From The Stars”, the band’s runaway cosmic hit. A spacey, retro-futurist groove that has become a viral favourite in recent years, it now boasts hundreds of millions of streams, with a new generation discovering it through TikTok and YouTube. But it was originally just one track on this understated 1983 album.
The rest of Going Up is just as compelling, filled with dusty drum machines, off-kilter instrumentals, woozy vocals, and that unmistakable early '80s charm. It is a snapshot of a band in transition, blurring the lines between leftfield pop, sci-fi funk, and home-brewed synth experiments.
Out of print for over 40 years, Going Up finally gets the reissue treatment it deserves. Restored and remastered, and still sounding like nothing else.
Sicherheits- und Herstellerinformationen / safety and manufacturer info (GPSR)
WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
Contact: [email protected]More
1
The RAH Band - Clouds Across The Moon
2
The RAH Band - Night Wind
3
The RAH Band - Sorry Doesn't Make It Anymore
4
The RAH Band - Float
5
The RAH Band - Mystery Boy
6
The RAH Band - Are You Satisfied (Funka Nova)
7
The RAH Band - Shadow Of Your Love
8
The RAH Band - Out On The Edge
A classic returns. Mystery, one of The RAH Band’s most beloved albums, celebrates its 40th anniversary with this long-awaited reissue - the album's first time on vinyl since its original 1985 release.
The RAH Band, the brainchild of producer and arranger Richard Anthony Hewson, has been synthesizing jazz, funk, and electronic pop into out-of-this-world tracks since the late 1970s. Mystery marked an important moment in Richard's career, following on from The Crunch & Beyond (1978), RAH (1980), and Going Up (1983). With this album, Hewson took his pop songwriting and commercial success to new heights while never compromising his unique and unbound production style.
At the heart of the album are eight perfectly crafted pop songs, each standing strong on its own, with no filler in sight. The lead single, Are You Satisfied?, set the tone for the album’s jazz-funk evolution, but it was Clouds Across The Moon, with its futuristic narrative of love and longing across the cosmos, that became a chart-topping phenomenon, reaching #6 in the UK. The track’s space-age storytelling cemented its place in pop history, with many still recalling that 1985 Top of the Pops performance as the moment they fell in love with The RAH Band - if you know, you know.
From the dreamy synth-jazz of Float, a club and radio favourite to this day, to the smooth saxophone solo on Out On The Edge, recently featured on Steven Julien (aka Funkineven)'s DJ Kicks mix, Mystery remains an essential album four decades later - a testament to the genius of one of the most quietly influential songwriter-producer-arrangers of our time.
Sicherheits- und Herstellerinformationen / safety and manufacturer info (GPSR)
WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
Contact: [email protected]More
The RAH Band, the brainchild of producer and arranger Richard Anthony Hewson, has been synthesizing jazz, funk, and electronic pop into out-of-this-world tracks since the late 1970s. Mystery marked an important moment in Richard's career, following on from The Crunch & Beyond (1978), RAH (1980), and Going Up (1983). With this album, Hewson took his pop songwriting and commercial success to new heights while never compromising his unique and unbound production style.
At the heart of the album are eight perfectly crafted pop songs, each standing strong on its own, with no filler in sight. The lead single, Are You Satisfied?, set the tone for the album’s jazz-funk evolution, but it was Clouds Across The Moon, with its futuristic narrative of love and longing across the cosmos, that became a chart-topping phenomenon, reaching #6 in the UK. The track’s space-age storytelling cemented its place in pop history, with many still recalling that 1985 Top of the Pops performance as the moment they fell in love with The RAH Band - if you know, you know.
From the dreamy synth-jazz of Float, a club and radio favourite to this day, to the smooth saxophone solo on Out On The Edge, recently featured on Steven Julien (aka Funkineven)'s DJ Kicks mix, Mystery remains an essential album four decades later - a testament to the genius of one of the most quietly influential songwriter-producer-arrangers of our time.
Sicherheits- und Herstellerinformationen / safety and manufacturer info (GPSR)
WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
Contact: [email protected]More
More records from Rush Hour RSS
1
soichi terada pres. - 1. Soichi Terada - Saturday Love Sunday
2
soichi terada pres. - 2. Shinichiro Yokota - Do it Again
3
soichi terada pres. - 3. Soichi Terada - Sun Showered
4
soichi terada pres. - 4. Soichi Terada & Manabu Nagayama - Low Tension (Alternative Version)
5
soichi terada pres. - 5. Soichi Terada - Hohai Beats
6
soichi terada pres. - 6. Soichi Terada - Good Morning
7
soichi terada pres. - 7. Soichi Terada - CPM
8
soichi terada pres. - 8. Soichi Terada - Rising Sun Up
9
soichi terada pres. - 9. Shinichiro Yokota - Shake Yours
10
soichi terada pres. - 10. Soichi Terada - Voices From Beyond
11
soichi terada pres. - 11. Soichi Terada - Purple Haze (Edit)
12
soichi terada pres. - 12. Soichi Terada - Binary Rondo
*2025 Edition, - packaged in a revised cover with OBI and printed innersleeves*
Originally released in 2015, Sounds from the Far East' features highly sought after material by legendary Japanese house producer Soichi Terada and fellow producers Shinichiro Yokota, Manabu Nagayama. The two LP set, compiled by Hunee, took Soichi's music deep into the records bags, and more importantly the hearts of DJs and music lovers the world over
Soichi Terada is an adventurous multi-talent and all round beautiful human being. He was born in the 1960s, and as a child he loved to play on his fathers' electric organ. Terada majored in Computer Science and Electric Organ - after he graduated, he founded Far East Recording in1989, because he couldn't find a label for his compositions at that time.
The sound of Far East Recording was very much inspired by early nineties US deep house. Soichi Terada went out to parties in the late eighties, where he was equally influenced by other forms of house music house and hip-hop. A few years later, Terada took on producing music by using digital sampling. In the early nineties he occasionally DJ-ed with a DAT player and some reel to reel tapes, rather than the conventional setup of of turntables. This way he could mix up his own cuts .
"Sounds From The Far East" shines a focussed light on Soichi Terada's label output released in the early nineties. Next to Terada's music, Hunee also selected a few tracks by fellow artist Shinichiro Yokota for this compilation, as well as 'Sun Showered', a track based on the classic Paradise Garage gem 'Sunshower' produced by Terada and Nami Shimada in 1991.
Here's the man himself with his reflection on the compilation, 10 years after it's initial release:
This is a dream I never even dreamed of.
Since releasing my new album Asakusa Light towards the end of the global coronavirus pandemic, I’ve been fortunate enough to keep performing live. When I think about those performances, which blend tracks from the ‘90s and more recent years, they sound like one continuous piece.
When I was first making and performing house music, I never thought I’d still be doing this decades later. That’s thanks in part to the great advice I received from Rush Hour during production, but most of all, to everyone who picked up the record and came out to the shows. I’m eternally grateful. 10 years have now passed since the release of Sounds From The Far East in 2015, and I’m truly happy to release a new edition with updated packaging, while still having the chance to share this music on stage.
Soichi Terada
Sicherheits- und Herstellerinformationen / safety and manufacturer info (GPSR)
WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
Contact: [email protected]More
Originally released in 2015, Sounds from the Far East' features highly sought after material by legendary Japanese house producer Soichi Terada and fellow producers Shinichiro Yokota, Manabu Nagayama. The two LP set, compiled by Hunee, took Soichi's music deep into the records bags, and more importantly the hearts of DJs and music lovers the world over
Soichi Terada is an adventurous multi-talent and all round beautiful human being. He was born in the 1960s, and as a child he loved to play on his fathers' electric organ. Terada majored in Computer Science and Electric Organ - after he graduated, he founded Far East Recording in1989, because he couldn't find a label for his compositions at that time.
The sound of Far East Recording was very much inspired by early nineties US deep house. Soichi Terada went out to parties in the late eighties, where he was equally influenced by other forms of house music house and hip-hop. A few years later, Terada took on producing music by using digital sampling. In the early nineties he occasionally DJ-ed with a DAT player and some reel to reel tapes, rather than the conventional setup of of turntables. This way he could mix up his own cuts .
"Sounds From The Far East" shines a focussed light on Soichi Terada's label output released in the early nineties. Next to Terada's music, Hunee also selected a few tracks by fellow artist Shinichiro Yokota for this compilation, as well as 'Sun Showered', a track based on the classic Paradise Garage gem 'Sunshower' produced by Terada and Nami Shimada in 1991.
Here's the man himself with his reflection on the compilation, 10 years after it's initial release:
This is a dream I never even dreamed of.
Since releasing my new album Asakusa Light towards the end of the global coronavirus pandemic, I’ve been fortunate enough to keep performing live. When I think about those performances, which blend tracks from the ‘90s and more recent years, they sound like one continuous piece.
When I was first making and performing house music, I never thought I’d still be doing this decades later. That’s thanks in part to the great advice I received from Rush Hour during production, but most of all, to everyone who picked up the record and came out to the shows. I’m eternally grateful. 10 years have now passed since the release of Sounds From The Far East in 2015, and I’m truly happy to release a new edition with updated packaging, while still having the chance to share this music on stage.
Soichi Terada
Sicherheits- und Herstellerinformationen / safety and manufacturer info (GPSR)
WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
Contact: [email protected]More
1
Zenana - Witches (Original)
2
Zenana - Witches '85 (Bedmo Disco's Spell Of Love)
Superb wavy mid 80s Wavy UK Disco gem ! TIP!
Rush Hour’s RSS series excels in unearthing buried treasure, offering a second chance for artists and releases that have long been overlooked. That’s certainly the case with ‘Witches’, the superb sole single by British 1980s wave trio Zenana.
Originally released on seven-inch by the tiny PRM label in 1986, ‘Witches’ was the product of a sister-brother song writing team whose music was mostly recorded in the front room of a terraced house in Nanpean, a small industrial village in Cornwall, England’s most south-westerly county. While the single was infectious and dancefloor-ready, it sold in limited quantities at the time.
Zenana’s story can be traced back to the early 1980s, when singer-songwriter Anita Tedder founded the all-female trio as a vehicle for her socially conscious and politically charged songs, with a burning desire to put strong depictions of women front and centre. To bring Zenana to life, she joined forces with her brother Mike, an early adopter of electronic music who had built a small studio in his Cornish home, and recruited two fellow bandmembers, Penny Griffiths and Ruth Elder.
Zenana’s first demo cassette and distinctive presentation – their unique clothes and look were created by bandmember Penny – secured them a management contract, a slew of live bookings, a video shoot and even a television appearance. Buoyed by this underground success, they headed to the remote Sawmills Studio in Cornwall – famously only accessible by boat – to re-record their most popular number, ‘Witches’, a song about female agency inspired by Shakespeare’s Macbeth.
While this version of ‘Witches’ failed to make an impact at the time, it has become something of a cult classic following its rediscovery by crate digger Kiernan Abbott – and subsequent championing by DJs including Antal, Skyrager, Trevor Jackson and Luke Una – in early 2023. The buzz inspired Anita, Penny and Ruth to perform live again for the first time in decades, with the story of their surprise comeback being covered by British media outlets including the BBC, ITV, The Times and (more surprisingly) the Daily Mail.
Now presented in re-mastered form, ‘Witches’ is a genuinely slept-on gem. Propelled forwards by punchy drum machine beats, a killer synth bassline and fizzing keyboard sounds, the song benefits greatly from strong vocals and an extra-percussive middle eight layered with vocalisations, cosmic spoken word sections and swirling noises.
It comes backed by a brand-new extended ‘spell of love’ remix courtesy of Bristol duo Bedmo Disco, AKA music journalist Matt Anniss (author of Join The Future: Bleep Techno and the Birth of British Bass Music) and DJ/production partner Gareth Morgan. Anniss, a long-time friend of Mike and Anita Tedder, has fond memories of visiting Mike’s home studio with his family around the time that ‘Witches’ was originally recorded.
Working from Zenana’s original MFR eight-track recording (tapes of the single version were lost years ago), Anniss and Morgan have turned in the extended ‘dance mix’ the track never had first time around. More atmospheric, moody and dancefloor-focused, it offers authentic nods to New York proto-house, mid-80s Shep Pettibone dubs, and the pioneering synth-pop productions and dub mixes of Factory Records regular Martin Rushent.
Sicherheits- und Herstellerinformationen / safety and manufacturer info (GPSR)
WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
Contact: [email protected]More
Rush Hour’s RSS series excels in unearthing buried treasure, offering a second chance for artists and releases that have long been overlooked. That’s certainly the case with ‘Witches’, the superb sole single by British 1980s wave trio Zenana.
Originally released on seven-inch by the tiny PRM label in 1986, ‘Witches’ was the product of a sister-brother song writing team whose music was mostly recorded in the front room of a terraced house in Nanpean, a small industrial village in Cornwall, England’s most south-westerly county. While the single was infectious and dancefloor-ready, it sold in limited quantities at the time.
Zenana’s story can be traced back to the early 1980s, when singer-songwriter Anita Tedder founded the all-female trio as a vehicle for her socially conscious and politically charged songs, with a burning desire to put strong depictions of women front and centre. To bring Zenana to life, she joined forces with her brother Mike, an early adopter of electronic music who had built a small studio in his Cornish home, and recruited two fellow bandmembers, Penny Griffiths and Ruth Elder.
Zenana’s first demo cassette and distinctive presentation – their unique clothes and look were created by bandmember Penny – secured them a management contract, a slew of live bookings, a video shoot and even a television appearance. Buoyed by this underground success, they headed to the remote Sawmills Studio in Cornwall – famously only accessible by boat – to re-record their most popular number, ‘Witches’, a song about female agency inspired by Shakespeare’s Macbeth.
While this version of ‘Witches’ failed to make an impact at the time, it has become something of a cult classic following its rediscovery by crate digger Kiernan Abbott – and subsequent championing by DJs including Antal, Skyrager, Trevor Jackson and Luke Una – in early 2023. The buzz inspired Anita, Penny and Ruth to perform live again for the first time in decades, with the story of their surprise comeback being covered by British media outlets including the BBC, ITV, The Times and (more surprisingly) the Daily Mail.
Now presented in re-mastered form, ‘Witches’ is a genuinely slept-on gem. Propelled forwards by punchy drum machine beats, a killer synth bassline and fizzing keyboard sounds, the song benefits greatly from strong vocals and an extra-percussive middle eight layered with vocalisations, cosmic spoken word sections and swirling noises.
It comes backed by a brand-new extended ‘spell of love’ remix courtesy of Bristol duo Bedmo Disco, AKA music journalist Matt Anniss (author of Join The Future: Bleep Techno and the Birth of British Bass Music) and DJ/production partner Gareth Morgan. Anniss, a long-time friend of Mike and Anita Tedder, has fond memories of visiting Mike’s home studio with his family around the time that ‘Witches’ was originally recorded.
Working from Zenana’s original MFR eight-track recording (tapes of the single version were lost years ago), Anniss and Morgan have turned in the extended ‘dance mix’ the track never had first time around. More atmospheric, moody and dancefloor-focused, it offers authentic nods to New York proto-house, mid-80s Shep Pettibone dubs, and the pioneering synth-pop productions and dub mixes of Factory Records regular Martin Rushent.
Sicherheits- und Herstellerinformationen / safety and manufacturer info (GPSR)
WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
Contact: [email protected]More
1
Bang The Party - I Feel Good All Over
2
Bang The Party - Jaques Theme
3
Bang The Party - Release Your Body
4
Bang The Party - Let It Rip
EP compilation of essential UK house cuts recorded between 1987 - 1990. TIP!
Before British house and techno found its’ distinctive groove at the turn of the 1990s, one act led the way: Bang The Party, a trio who emerged from London’s vibrant underground party scene in the mid 1980s and proved, beyond any doubt, that UK producers could make music every bit as magical as the pioneering productions put forward by their counterparts in Chicago, Detroit and New York.
By the time long-running DJs and party promoters Kid Batchelor and Leslie Lawrence joined forces with trained engineer Keith Franklin at legendary North-West London reggae studio Addis Ababa in 1987, they’d spent years as DIY dance music activists in Britain’s capital city. They channelled these experiences and their love of imported house and techno sounds into a new project, Bang The Party, in the process becoming the first British act to appear on Transmat, a reflection of the quality and authenticity of their music.
The latest Rush Hour Reissue Series release offers a snapshot of some of the numerous gems nestled in the Bang The Party catalogue, delivering a much-deserved celebration of one of Britain’s most significant early acid house collectives. It features four fully remastered cuts recorded and released between 1987 and 1990 – on-point and far-sighted club workouts that sound as fresh and timeless now as they did when Britain was sweltering under its infamous ‘second summer of love’.
Fittingly, the EP begins with ‘I Feel Good All Over’, the group’s ground-breaking debut single. Dedicated to their home city and one of the earliest UK interpretations of house music, the track exists in the grey area between Chicago house and New York ‘garage house’ – all jaunty organ stabs, jacking Windy City beats, restless bass and soulful vocalizations. ‘Jacques Theme’, which follows, originally nestled on the B-side of that single release. An early, acid-flecked expression of hip-house with a British twist, breakdance-friendly bongo patterns and a dose of Larry Heard-inspired deep house dreaminess, the track remains an under-appreciated classic whose rap verses reflect the popularity of hip-hop in London at the time.
1988’s ‘Release Your Body’, Bang The Party’s most celebrated early release, was reissued in the United States by Transmat, reflecting the strong working relationship between Derrick May and Kool Kat Records’ Neil Rushton. A hypnotising affair propelled forwards by sweat-soaked drum machine beats, jacking fills and an addictive bassline, the track offers another near perfect distillation of the band’s Black American musical influences while delivering something genuinely new and fresh.
Rounding off the EP is a choice cut from Bang The Party’s sought after 1990 album Back To Prison. Doused in the star-lit synth sounds of the Motor City with jaunty organ stabs inspired by the kind of New Jersey jams championed at East Orange institution Club Zanzibar, ‘Let It Rip’ is a superb slice of deep house soul featuring a lead vocal every bit as emotive as anything laid down by Robert Owens. Like the rest of Bang The Party’s output, it has stood the time better than anything laid down by their London contemporaries.
Matt Annis
Sicherheits- und Herstellerinformationen / safety and manufacturer info (GPSR)
WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
Contact: [email protected]More
Before British house and techno found its’ distinctive groove at the turn of the 1990s, one act led the way: Bang The Party, a trio who emerged from London’s vibrant underground party scene in the mid 1980s and proved, beyond any doubt, that UK producers could make music every bit as magical as the pioneering productions put forward by their counterparts in Chicago, Detroit and New York.
By the time long-running DJs and party promoters Kid Batchelor and Leslie Lawrence joined forces with trained engineer Keith Franklin at legendary North-West London reggae studio Addis Ababa in 1987, they’d spent years as DIY dance music activists in Britain’s capital city. They channelled these experiences and their love of imported house and techno sounds into a new project, Bang The Party, in the process becoming the first British act to appear on Transmat, a reflection of the quality and authenticity of their music.
The latest Rush Hour Reissue Series release offers a snapshot of some of the numerous gems nestled in the Bang The Party catalogue, delivering a much-deserved celebration of one of Britain’s most significant early acid house collectives. It features four fully remastered cuts recorded and released between 1987 and 1990 – on-point and far-sighted club workouts that sound as fresh and timeless now as they did when Britain was sweltering under its infamous ‘second summer of love’.
Fittingly, the EP begins with ‘I Feel Good All Over’, the group’s ground-breaking debut single. Dedicated to their home city and one of the earliest UK interpretations of house music, the track exists in the grey area between Chicago house and New York ‘garage house’ – all jaunty organ stabs, jacking Windy City beats, restless bass and soulful vocalizations. ‘Jacques Theme’, which follows, originally nestled on the B-side of that single release. An early, acid-flecked expression of hip-house with a British twist, breakdance-friendly bongo patterns and a dose of Larry Heard-inspired deep house dreaminess, the track remains an under-appreciated classic whose rap verses reflect the popularity of hip-hop in London at the time.
1988’s ‘Release Your Body’, Bang The Party’s most celebrated early release, was reissued in the United States by Transmat, reflecting the strong working relationship between Derrick May and Kool Kat Records’ Neil Rushton. A hypnotising affair propelled forwards by sweat-soaked drum machine beats, jacking fills and an addictive bassline, the track offers another near perfect distillation of the band’s Black American musical influences while delivering something genuinely new and fresh.
Rounding off the EP is a choice cut from Bang The Party’s sought after 1990 album Back To Prison. Doused in the star-lit synth sounds of the Motor City with jaunty organ stabs inspired by the kind of New Jersey jams championed at East Orange institution Club Zanzibar, ‘Let It Rip’ is a superb slice of deep house soul featuring a lead vocal every bit as emotive as anything laid down by Robert Owens. Like the rest of Bang The Party’s output, it has stood the time better than anything laid down by their London contemporaries.
Matt Annis
Sicherheits- und Herstellerinformationen / safety and manufacturer info (GPSR)
WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
Contact: [email protected]More
1
Push/Pull - Africa
2
Push/Pull - Tribal Rhythm
3
Push/Pull - Zanzibar
4
Push/Pull - Incident Al Natal
5
Push/Pull - Zulu (We're One Nation)
6
Push/Pull - Bang The Drums
7
Push/Pull - Secrets Of The Nile
Repress!
This NYC house master piece was originally released in 1990. Ben Cenac aka Dream 2 Science released this African influenced house LP under his Push/Pull moniker. It sounds somewhere in between the NYC band No Smoke (Koro Koro) and the Dream 2 Science's signature sound. Original copies are rare!
Sicherheits- und Herstellerinformationen / safety and manufacturer info (GPSR)
WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
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This NYC house master piece was originally released in 1990. Ben Cenac aka Dream 2 Science released this African influenced house LP under his Push/Pull moniker. It sounds somewhere in between the NYC band No Smoke (Koro Koro) and the Dream 2 Science's signature sound. Original copies are rare!
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1
Mother Tongue - Message Is Love
2
Mother Tongue - Message Is Love (Edit)
Repress!
Tracklist:
A:Message Is Love
B:Message Is Love (Edit)
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. "
(Notes by Bill Brewster)
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Tracklist:
A:Message Is Love
B:Message Is Love (Edit)
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. "
(Notes by Bill Brewster)
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1
Claude Rodap - Hiwa
2
Claude Rodap - Paco
3
Claude Rodap - Zouklove
Repress!
Otherworldly Caribbean electronic dance floor cuts! Arousing prog-zouk and abstract futurism from the French West Indies by synthesist Claude Rodap, released on vinyl for the first time. HUGE TIP!In the early eighties, a time where French Caribbean musicians were searching for their own sound, Claude Rodap mixed traditional Gwo-Ka, Bel Air, Biguine with synthetic sounds, resulting in magical, adventurous outcome. Recorded in the nineties and in 2000, the dreamy, sensuous three tracks on Beletronic are the deliberate result of more than a decade of his experimentation.
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Otherworldly Caribbean electronic dance floor cuts! Arousing prog-zouk and abstract futurism from the French West Indies by synthesist Claude Rodap, released on vinyl for the first time. HUGE TIP!In the early eighties, a time where French Caribbean musicians were searching for their own sound, Claude Rodap mixed traditional Gwo-Ka, Bel Air, Biguine with synthetic sounds, resulting in magical, adventurous outcome. Recorded in the nineties and in 2000, the dreamy, sensuous three tracks on Beletronic are the deliberate result of more than a decade of his experimentation.
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1
Needs - We Are What We Are
2
Needs - Dreams (Variation 1)
3
Needs - Brother (Original Vibe)
4
Boobjazz - Midnight Ceremony
5
Needs - Walkin Thru Circles (Thump Mix)
6
Needs - Piano Groove
7
Passion Dance Orchestra - Worlds (Theme)
Part 1 of the Needs (not wants) retrospective, comes with an insert with a collage of archival photos and liner notes by Gerd Janson. Re-mastered by François Kevorkian.
Sometimes, three words are enough to tell it all. Accordingly, the core story of Needs – the musical adventure of brothers Lars and Marek Bartkuhn and their partner Jan “Yannick” Elverfeld – can be understood from the inspiration behind this compilation’s title. Paying homage to the title of a lesser-known Marshall Jefferson and Ce Ce Rogers production for Strictly Rhythm, Needs (Not Wants) typifies their aesthetic, ethos, innovations and modus operandi.
Materializing in this collection are some of the outfits’ best takes (from 1999 to 2006), moments of glory and predictive flashes of genius paint a beautiful picture of what can happen if devotion and imagination are paired with moxie and skill.
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Sometimes, three words are enough to tell it all. Accordingly, the core story of Needs – the musical adventure of brothers Lars and Marek Bartkuhn and their partner Jan “Yannick” Elverfeld – can be understood from the inspiration behind this compilation’s title. Paying homage to the title of a lesser-known Marshall Jefferson and Ce Ce Rogers production for Strictly Rhythm, Needs (Not Wants) typifies their aesthetic, ethos, innovations and modus operandi.
Materializing in this collection are some of the outfits’ best takes (from 1999 to 2006), moments of glory and predictive flashes of genius paint a beautiful picture of what can happen if devotion and imagination are paired with moxie and skill.
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1
Needs - Morning Breeze
2
Boobjazz - Free Your Soul
3
Needs - Inner Glow
4
Laurentius - Karate Samba (Science Fiction Mix)
5
Doctor M - Park Jam
6
Passion Dance Orchestra - Discover The World
7
Needs - Brother (Red Mountain Alchemy)
Part 1 of the Needs (not wants) retrospective, comes with an insert with a collage of archival photos and liner notes by Gerd Janson. Re-mastered by François Kevorkian.
Sometimes, three words are enough to tell it all. Accordingly, the core story of Needs – the musical adventure of brothers Lars and Marek Bartkuhn and their partner Jan “Yannick” Elverfeld – can be understood from the inspiration behind this compilation’s title. Paying homage to the title of a lesser-known Marshall Jefferson and Ce Ce Rogers production for Strictly Rhythm, Needs (Not Wants) typifies their aesthetic, ethos, innovations and modus operandi.
Materializing in this collection are some of the outfits’ best takes (from 1999 to 2006), moments of glory and predictive flashes of genius paint a beautiful picture of what can happen if devotion and imagination are paired with moxie and skill.
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WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
Contact: [email protected]More
Sometimes, three words are enough to tell it all. Accordingly, the core story of Needs – the musical adventure of brothers Lars and Marek Bartkuhn and their partner Jan “Yannick” Elverfeld – can be understood from the inspiration behind this compilation’s title. Paying homage to the title of a lesser-known Marshall Jefferson and Ce Ce Rogers production for Strictly Rhythm, Needs (Not Wants) typifies their aesthetic, ethos, innovations and modus operandi.
Materializing in this collection are some of the outfits’ best takes (from 1999 to 2006), moments of glory and predictive flashes of genius paint a beautiful picture of what can happen if devotion and imagination are paired with moxie and skill.
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Germany
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1
sha-lor - I'm In Love (Caught Up Version)
2
sha-lor - I'm In Love (Unreleased Instrumental Version)
REPRESS!
Following the Dream 2 Science release on the Rush Hour Reissue series earlier this year, another NYC garage classic by Ben Cenac, also known for his Newcleus outfit, gets a much deserved reissue. Tip! Unlike Dream 2 Science, which remained an obscure record at the time, Sha-Lor became an international club hit and a Summer Of Love staple song. The timeless feel of this innocent, heartfelt vocal song sounds as fresh as it did back then and is sure to fill people's hearts with joy again. This reissue features the Caught Up Version, which was the most popular mix from the origin
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Following the Dream 2 Science release on the Rush Hour Reissue series earlier this year, another NYC garage classic by Ben Cenac, also known for his Newcleus outfit, gets a much deserved reissue. Tip! Unlike Dream 2 Science, which remained an obscure record at the time, Sha-Lor became an international club hit and a Summer Of Love staple song. The timeless feel of this innocent, heartfelt vocal song sounds as fresh as it did back then and is sure to fill people's hearts with joy again. This reissue features the Caught Up Version, which was the most popular mix from the origin
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1
Dance 2 Science - My Love Turns To Liquid
2
Dance 2 Science - Breathe Deep
3
Dance 2 Science - Mystery Of Love
4
Dance 2 Science - How Do I Love Thee
5
Dance 2 Science - Liquid
6
Dance 2 Science - Dream 2 Science
2021 Repress!
Official re-release of this 'lost' 6-track mini album by New Yorker Ben Cenac (of Newcleus fame). Recorded and released in 1990 and is an absolute gem of a record - very much in the vein of Larry Heard's best recordings. MASSIVE TIP!
Electronic soul classic! Now available again for the first time in 22 years, remastered + full artwork.
'A truly, dreamy, beautiful classic deep-house mini-album from the golden-post-Larry Heard era. New-yorker Ben Cenac, who was also member of electro pioneers Newcleus (and part of Sha-lor, who had a cool jazzy garage-house hit in the late 80's), shows a great sensibility and delicacy here in following mr Heard's path.
His approach is perhaps slightly more sci-fi in the synths and pad sounds, and perhaps a tad less crafted and mercurial in production than the master (i.e. less timeless), but this adds in realness and charm.
So, past the classic deep-garage dream "My Love Turns To Liquid" (in the vein of these sultry garage productions from Peter and Vanessa Daou), the rest of the record shows constant quality, with song titles that could have been (or actually have been) used by Mr. Heard himself, and a content oscillating between warming deep-house, sweet acid, lush garage and relaxed spacejazz piano parts, the whole thing also evoking the Beloved's better 'rave' moments ("The Sun Rising" etc).
This record could be studied in university as the synthesis of the deep-house scene of the early 1990s. Classic.' (Review by Restless, taken from Discogs).
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Official re-release of this 'lost' 6-track mini album by New Yorker Ben Cenac (of Newcleus fame). Recorded and released in 1990 and is an absolute gem of a record - very much in the vein of Larry Heard's best recordings. MASSIVE TIP!
Electronic soul classic! Now available again for the first time in 22 years, remastered + full artwork.
'A truly, dreamy, beautiful classic deep-house mini-album from the golden-post-Larry Heard era. New-yorker Ben Cenac, who was also member of electro pioneers Newcleus (and part of Sha-lor, who had a cool jazzy garage-house hit in the late 80's), shows a great sensibility and delicacy here in following mr Heard's path.
His approach is perhaps slightly more sci-fi in the synths and pad sounds, and perhaps a tad less crafted and mercurial in production than the master (i.e. less timeless), but this adds in realness and charm.
So, past the classic deep-garage dream "My Love Turns To Liquid" (in the vein of these sultry garage productions from Peter and Vanessa Daou), the rest of the record shows constant quality, with song titles that could have been (or actually have been) used by Mr. Heard himself, and a content oscillating between warming deep-house, sweet acid, lush garage and relaxed spacejazz piano parts, the whole thing also evoking the Beloved's better 'rave' moments ("The Sun Rising" etc).
This record could be studied in university as the synthesis of the deep-house scene of the early 1990s. Classic.' (Review by Restless, taken from Discogs).
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1
One On One Crew - Give It Up (Piano Mix)
2
One On One Crew - Bassin'
Repress!
One On One Crew are Leslie Lawrence & Danny Arno. They experimented with various styles and directions with the aim of creating different music; a deep house sound. There are strong influences from Detroit and Chicago, but still with an unmistakable London style and identity. Both tracks were produced in 1989, and this is the first time either are released on a full length 12".
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One On One Crew are Leslie Lawrence & Danny Arno. They experimented with various styles and directions with the aim of creating different music; a deep house sound. There are strong influences from Detroit and Chicago, but still with an unmistakable London style and identity. Both tracks were produced in 1989, and this is the first time either are released on a full length 12".
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1
Vincent Floyd - Cruising (Long Ride)
2
Vincent Floyd - Isolation
3
Vincent Floyd - Silent Noise
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1
klein & mbo - Klein & Mbo - The MBO Theme
2
klein & mbo - Warrior - The MBO Theme
Repress!
The 80s Italo disco /proto-house classic ‘MBO Theme’ by the mighty Klein & MBO, repressed! Comes with a heavy 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!”
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The 80s Italo disco /proto-house classic ‘MBO Theme’ by the mighty Klein & MBO, repressed! Comes with a heavy 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!”
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DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
Contact: [email protected]More
1
James Mason - Nightgruv (Original Mix)
2
James Mason - Nightgruv (Unreleased Longer Edit)
3
James Mason - I Want Your Love
Repress!
Proto-house classic 'Nightgruv' gets a re-release and includes a longer unreleased edit!
James Mason is mostly known for his late 70's album 'Rhythm Of Life', which is a soul-jazz classic. Soon after music trends shifted to (electronic) disco and James' music became out of fashion, leaving 'Rhythm Of Life' to be the only album he released to date.
The early early 80's saw him have a few studio sessions from which more electronic output like Wuf Ticket / The Key (Prelude Records) resulted. James also produced various disco acts like Disco 3, Earl Flint and Brenda Bayton.
However, most of his early 80s studio sessions have remained unreleased until today. 'Nightgruv', which was recorded in 1984, did eventually get a release when it was picked up 12 years later (!) by a small UK indie label and was again reissued in 2000 by Soul Brother. Both pressings are still highly sought after and go for a lot of money on Discogs, mostly to do with the timeless nature of this prototype house wonder, which sounds like a recording Larry Heard never made. A magically seductive groove, recorded at a time when house was still in its infant years.
Not only is this release offering a remastered version of the original, it also includes an unreleased edit which stretches the original to a cool 6 minutes. The B-side features the epic 11 minute original version of 'I Want Your Love', a soul classic. Comes with original artwork!
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WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
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Germany
Contact: [email protected]More
Proto-house classic 'Nightgruv' gets a re-release and includes a longer unreleased edit!
James Mason is mostly known for his late 70's album 'Rhythm Of Life', which is a soul-jazz classic. Soon after music trends shifted to (electronic) disco and James' music became out of fashion, leaving 'Rhythm Of Life' to be the only album he released to date.
The early early 80's saw him have a few studio sessions from which more electronic output like Wuf Ticket / The Key (Prelude Records) resulted. James also produced various disco acts like Disco 3, Earl Flint and Brenda Bayton.
However, most of his early 80s studio sessions have remained unreleased until today. 'Nightgruv', which was recorded in 1984, did eventually get a release when it was picked up 12 years later (!) by a small UK indie label and was again reissued in 2000 by Soul Brother. Both pressings are still highly sought after and go for a lot of money on Discogs, mostly to do with the timeless nature of this prototype house wonder, which sounds like a recording Larry Heard never made. A magically seductive groove, recorded at a time when house was still in its infant years.
Not only is this release offering a remastered version of the original, it also includes an unreleased edit which stretches the original to a cool 6 minutes. The B-side features the epic 11 minute original version of 'I Want Your Love', a soul classic. Comes with original artwork!
Sicherheits- und Herstellerinformationen / safety and manufacturer info (GPSR)
WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
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Customers who bought this also bought this
1
Rita Lee & Tutti Frutti - Agora É Moda
2
Pete Dunaway - Supermarket
Repress!
Brazil 45, number 22 - remastered with refreshed artwork
A: Rita Lee & Tutti Frutti - Agora É Moda / AA: Pete Dunaway - Supermarket
Mr Bongo’s Brazil 45’s series serves up another pair of Brazilian classics in the form of Rita Lee & Tutti Frutti ‘Agora É Moda’ and Pete Dunaway ‘Supermarket’.
'Agora É Moda' is a psychedelic, disco-boogie-groove monster brought to our attention by Greg Caz and Sean Marquand aka Brazilian Beats Brooklyn. Originally released on Rita Lee’s 1978 album Babilônia LP on Som Livre, this sublime track is drenched in squelching guitar licks, funk drums and sensuous cosmic vocal flavours.
Lee was the lead singer of Brazilian psychedelic rock band Os Mutantes and a hugely important figure in the Tropicalia movement. She sadly passed away in 2023 but her legacy well and truly lives on, loved both in and out of the music world.
On the flip side, Pete Dunaway’s ‘Supermarket’ is a rare groove/AOR masterpiece with a killer bassline, swaggering guitar and luscious string section layered with a perfectly delivered English vocal.
Pete Dunaway, real name Otavio Cardosa was a singer, composer, arranger and multi-instrumentalist from Sao Paulo, who spent the majority of his time composing for TV themes and library instrumentals.
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Germany
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Brazil 45, number 22 - remastered with refreshed artwork
A: Rita Lee & Tutti Frutti - Agora É Moda / AA: Pete Dunaway - Supermarket
Mr Bongo’s Brazil 45’s series serves up another pair of Brazilian classics in the form of Rita Lee & Tutti Frutti ‘Agora É Moda’ and Pete Dunaway ‘Supermarket’.
'Agora É Moda' is a psychedelic, disco-boogie-groove monster brought to our attention by Greg Caz and Sean Marquand aka Brazilian Beats Brooklyn. Originally released on Rita Lee’s 1978 album Babilônia LP on Som Livre, this sublime track is drenched in squelching guitar licks, funk drums and sensuous cosmic vocal flavours.
Lee was the lead singer of Brazilian psychedelic rock band Os Mutantes and a hugely important figure in the Tropicalia movement. She sadly passed away in 2023 but her legacy well and truly lives on, loved both in and out of the music world.
On the flip side, Pete Dunaway’s ‘Supermarket’ is a rare groove/AOR masterpiece with a killer bassline, swaggering guitar and luscious string section layered with a perfectly delivered English vocal.
Pete Dunaway, real name Otavio Cardosa was a singer, composer, arranger and multi-instrumentalist from Sao Paulo, who spent the majority of his time composing for TV themes and library instrumentals.
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WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
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Contact: [email protected]More
1
Chip Wickham - Cloud 10
2
Chip Wickham - Stratospheric
3
Chip Wickham - Lower East Side
4
Chip Wickham - Winter
5
Chip Wickham - Tubby Chaser
6
Chip Wickham - Dark Eyes
7
Chip Wickham - The Hit
8
Chip Wickham - Before I Go
Saxophonist, flautist Chip Wickham takes us to Cloud 10 with his most soulful and lyrical album to date Chip Wickham is a jazz musician and producer who divides his time between Spain, UK and the Middle-East and who has made a name for himself with a series of beautifully crafted solo albums that draw equally on the hard swinging spiritual jazz of Roland Kirk, Yusef Lateef and Sahih Shihab, alongside the music of British jazz legends such as Tubby Hayes and Harold McNair and the more contemporary sounds of Jazzanova, Kyoto Jazz Massive and Robert Glasper. Originally from Brighton, Chip studied in Manchester and became involved in the 00's UK jazz, soul. trip-hop and funk scenes, working with the likes of The Pharcyde, The New Mastersounds and Nightmares On Wax as well as playing with Matthew Halsall's Gondwana Orchestra. And his relationship with Gondwana Records goes right back to the very beginning as he played on Halsall's 2008 debut Sending My Love. Cloud 10 is his debut album for Gondwana Records (following a 12" of Lonnie Liston Smith covers in May) and it is a wonderful, timeless, lyrical, slice of hard-hitting, soulful, spiritual jazz and modal hard-bop with a distinctly UK flavour - driven by Chip's deftly funky flute work and hard-hitting tenor. Underpinned by Chip's restless energy and driven by his desire to connect with the listener on a deeper level.Cloud 10 features pianist Phil Wilkinson, vibes player Ton Risco, bassist Sneaky and drummer Jon Scott (all veterans of previous albums) together with harpist Amanda Whiting and percussionist Jack McCarthy whom Chip met touring in the Gondwana Orchestra, and rising star Irish trumpeter Eoin Grace who also doubles on flugel horn. The album was recorded at the legendary all analogue Estudios Brazil in Madrid, with the band spending a week at Chip's house in the mountains just outside the city, eating and drinking together, listening to music till the small hours and recording all day. It was a magical time and the positivity seeped into the recording.
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Germany
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1
sha-lor - I'm In Love (Caught Up Version)
2
sha-lor - I'm In Love (Unreleased Instrumental Version)
REPRESS!
Following the Dream 2 Science release on the Rush Hour Reissue series earlier this year, another NYC garage classic by Ben Cenac, also known for his Newcleus outfit, gets a much deserved reissue. Tip! Unlike Dream 2 Science, which remained an obscure record at the time, Sha-Lor became an international club hit and a Summer Of Love staple song. The timeless feel of this innocent, heartfelt vocal song sounds as fresh as it did back then and is sure to fill people's hearts with joy again. This reissue features the Caught Up Version, which was the most popular mix from the origin
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Following the Dream 2 Science release on the Rush Hour Reissue series earlier this year, another NYC garage classic by Ben Cenac, also known for his Newcleus outfit, gets a much deserved reissue. Tip! Unlike Dream 2 Science, which remained an obscure record at the time, Sha-Lor became an international club hit and a Summer Of Love staple song. The timeless feel of this innocent, heartfelt vocal song sounds as fresh as it did back then and is sure to fill people's hearts with joy again. This reissue features the Caught Up Version, which was the most popular mix from the origin
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Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
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Double Black BioVinyl LP, in Pantone printed sleeve, with printed insert and packed in resealable protective sleeve.
For his third long-player under the Phi-Psonics banner, Ford-Young marshalled a series of live recordings at the Healing Force Of The Universe record store in Pasadena, sculpting fourteen tracks, largely composed in the moment with a fluctuating cast of players, which wonderfully transmit his ideals of community and inner peace. Called "Expanding To One", it features exquisitely calming yet searching pieces like "There"s Still Hope", where Seth"s softly undulating bassline underpins beatific explorations from core Phi-Psonics members, Sylvain Carton and Randal Fisher (both on saxophone), and Josh Collazo (drums), alongside guests Zach Tenorio (Wurlitzer piano) and Mathias Künzli (percussion). Equally sublime, "Healing Time" ripples like a mountain stream, with Ford-Young, Carton, Fisher and Tenorio joined by Minta Spencer (harp), Dylan Day (guitar) and, on drums/percussion, Jay Bellerose, a revered LA stickman most recently under the spotlight in Jeff Parker ETA IVtet.
Tracklist
1.1Prelude: Expansion
1.2There's Still Hope
1.3Healing Time
1.4Many Paths
1.5Sunrise
1.6Love Theme From Your Life
1.7We're All One
1.8Nature Signs
2.1Discovery
2.2It Finds A Way
2.3Sounds Of The Universe
2.4Before The Pyramids
2.5New Pyramid
2.6Mysteries Of The Dark
Listen: listen.k7.com/944cef9e-baf9-4e42-80f4-82434e3df7d1
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WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
Contact: [email protected]More
For his third long-player under the Phi-Psonics banner, Ford-Young marshalled a series of live recordings at the Healing Force Of The Universe record store in Pasadena, sculpting fourteen tracks, largely composed in the moment with a fluctuating cast of players, which wonderfully transmit his ideals of community and inner peace. Called "Expanding To One", it features exquisitely calming yet searching pieces like "There"s Still Hope", where Seth"s softly undulating bassline underpins beatific explorations from core Phi-Psonics members, Sylvain Carton and Randal Fisher (both on saxophone), and Josh Collazo (drums), alongside guests Zach Tenorio (Wurlitzer piano) and Mathias Künzli (percussion). Equally sublime, "Healing Time" ripples like a mountain stream, with Ford-Young, Carton, Fisher and Tenorio joined by Minta Spencer (harp), Dylan Day (guitar) and, on drums/percussion, Jay Bellerose, a revered LA stickman most recently under the spotlight in Jeff Parker ETA IVtet.
Tracklist
1.1Prelude: Expansion
1.2There's Still Hope
1.3Healing Time
1.4Many Paths
1.5Sunrise
1.6Love Theme From Your Life
1.7We're All One
1.8Nature Signs
2.1Discovery
2.2It Finds A Way
2.3Sounds Of The Universe
2.4Before The Pyramids
2.5New Pyramid
2.6Mysteries Of The Dark
Listen: listen.k7.com/944cef9e-baf9-4e42-80f4-82434e3df7d1
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DE - 22113 Hamburg
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Strut presents Mulatu Plays Mulatu, the first major studio album in over 10 years from the father of Ethio-jazz, Mulatu Astatke.
Tracklist
Vinyl:
A1. Zelesenga Dewel
A2. Kulun
A3. Netsanet
B1. Yekermo Sew
B2. Chik Chikka
B3. Motherland
B4. Yekatit
Listen: listen.k7.com/ae404432-cbfc-45cf-8ee4-958f2945bef9
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WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
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Tracklist
Vinyl:
A1. Zelesenga Dewel
A2. Kulun
A3. Netsanet
B1. Yekermo Sew
B2. Chik Chikka
B3. Motherland
B4. Yekatit
Listen: listen.k7.com/ae404432-cbfc-45cf-8ee4-958f2945bef9
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Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
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1
Hassan Abou Alam - Tarnished
2
Hassan Abou Alam - Tool #22
3
Hassan Abou Alam - Handookh
4
Hassan Abou Alam - Handookh (OCB Remix)
Casa Voyager welcomes back one of Cairo's most innovative musicians Hassan Abou Alam for his debut EP on the label: Tarnished. A raw, percussive and bass-heavy body of work that pushes electro and breaks into dystopian terrain while keeping feet firmly on the dancefloor.
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Liebigstrasse 2-20
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Germany
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WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
Contact: [email protected]More
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Germany
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1
fleet.dreams - Masked In Porcelain
2
fleet.dreams - Secret Of The Golden Flower
3
fleet.dreams - iLL Enargeia
4
fleet.dreams - Limbs Of A Lion
“Limbs of a Lion” arrives in a dazzling array of shimmering psychedelia, the newest offering on fleet.dreams’ own Vinezza records. Following “Echoes of Ego” his acclaimed inaugural 12”, “Limbs of a Lion” sees fleet.dreams’ artistry and form blossoming into realms of kaleidoscopic cadence & textural buoyancy. The production flows through a classically dubwise live analog mixing setup, new spheres of delays & echoes evolving fleet.dreams’ process to embody a unique & fully realized intersection of live instrumentation & dynamic synthesis.
Each track takes on its own entrancing sway, opening the listener towards beguiling spaciousness, experiences in rhythm, and a healthy dose of surrealist dreaming. “Masked in Porcelain” gleams with mystique, tinged with flanger in a firmly driving dancefloor mode, guiding us deeper into mysteries held by skylines and moonlight. “Secret of the Golden Flower” brings forth photosynthetic gated vocals built for eyes closed body movement, evolving from a cosmic conga groove confidently manifesting in ensnaring kinetic activation.
“iLL Enargeia” brings a touch of depth, stepping into tomorrow with a confident saunter, perfect for the blissful delirium of new beginnings or a space of breadth and reflection in the midst of astral metronomes. The closing title track “Limbs of a Lion” sees us out on a hopeful note, awash in bold luminescence & inviting us to go deeper and deeper within ourselves amidst the grounding embrace of bassline pressure.
Embodying a dance of intangibility towards new unknowns, “Limbs of a Lion” aspires to manifest the grace of movement through our beings - magnetizing and enhancing our danceable forms, frolicking beyond words together. Each track boldly stands on it’s own while orbiting a cohesive whole, perfect for all set and settings, a staple for the DJ crates, and a sign of a musicmaker with even more exciting creations on the horizon.
*words by Kiernan Laveaux
Early support from: Kiernan Laveaux, Daniel Rincón (NAP), 2Lanes & Amelia Holt
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DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
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Each track takes on its own entrancing sway, opening the listener towards beguiling spaciousness, experiences in rhythm, and a healthy dose of surrealist dreaming. “Masked in Porcelain” gleams with mystique, tinged with flanger in a firmly driving dancefloor mode, guiding us deeper into mysteries held by skylines and moonlight. “Secret of the Golden Flower” brings forth photosynthetic gated vocals built for eyes closed body movement, evolving from a cosmic conga groove confidently manifesting in ensnaring kinetic activation.
“iLL Enargeia” brings a touch of depth, stepping into tomorrow with a confident saunter, perfect for the blissful delirium of new beginnings or a space of breadth and reflection in the midst of astral metronomes. The closing title track “Limbs of a Lion” sees us out on a hopeful note, awash in bold luminescence & inviting us to go deeper and deeper within ourselves amidst the grounding embrace of bassline pressure.
Embodying a dance of intangibility towards new unknowns, “Limbs of a Lion” aspires to manifest the grace of movement through our beings - magnetizing and enhancing our danceable forms, frolicking beyond words together. Each track boldly stands on it’s own while orbiting a cohesive whole, perfect for all set and settings, a staple for the DJ crates, and a sign of a musicmaker with even more exciting creations on the horizon.
*words by Kiernan Laveaux
Early support from: Kiernan Laveaux, Daniel Rincón (NAP), 2Lanes & Amelia Holt
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Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
Contact: [email protected]More
1
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LP - territory: WW- UK/USA/CA/ Benelux
2LP Black Vinyl w/8pg 12” booklet
TRACKLIST:
1. Design - Premonition
2. Vision - Lucifer’s Friend
3. Richard Bone - Alien Girl
4. John Howard - I Tune Into You
5. Ian North - We’re Not Lonely
6. Selwin Image - The Unknown
7. Harry Kakoulli - I’m On A Rocket
8. Rich Wilde - The Lady Wants To Be Alone
9. Billy London - Woman
10. Alan Burnham - Science Fiction
11. The Microbes - Computer
12. The Goo-Q - I’m A Computer
13. Gerry & The Holograms - Gerry & The Holograms
14. The Warlord - The Ultimate Warlord
15. Die Marinas - Fred From Jupiter
16. Dee Jay Bert & Eagle - I Am Your Master
17. Peta Lily & Michael Process - I Am A Time Bomb
18. Sole Sister - It’s Not What You Are But How
19. Alasdair Riddell - Do You Read Me?
20. Karel Fialka - Armband (The Mystery Song)
21. John Springate - My Life
22. Incandescent Luminaire - Famous Names
23. Disco Volante - No Motion
24. Dream Unit - A Drop In The Ocean
Compiled by Philip King
“And then came the rise of synth pop : blokes with dodgy haircuts hunched over keyboard-operated
machines stuffed with wires and do-it-yourself tone oscillators making sounds like a brood of geese
passing gas in a wind tunnel. Whoopee! This is the way the ‘70s ended : not with a blood-curdling bang
bang but with a cheap, synthesized, emasculating whimper.”
NICK KENT, NME.
All The Young Droids: Junkshop Synth Pop 1978-1985 is a new compilation that charts the
underbelly of the epoch-defining sound of the synthesiser in 80s popular music. Compiled by Philip
King (previously seen compiling All The Young Droogs, Glitterbest and Boobs - The Junkshop
Glam Discotheque), the music here connects the dots between DIY synth enthusiasts grappling with
new, cheap synthesisers at the tail-end of punk and wannabe, jobbing songwriters enthral to the new
music pioneered by Gary Numan, Depeche Mode and Daniel Miller’s Mute Records. Featuring rare
tracks of auto-didactic progressive pop music, proto-techno punk, shoot-for-the-stars-land-in-the-gutter
chart flops and heralded, underground synth classics, School Daze paints a picture of beautiful failure.
Complete with extensive sleeve notes written by King and never before seen imagery, all 24 tracks
were remastered by RPM in-house engineer Simon Murphy, many from vinyl copies due to lost master
tapes. The story told on All The Young Droids is one of the dawning opportunity presented by both the
emergence to the market of cheaper analog synthesisers and the distribution networks plus indie labels
that exploded with the advent of punk music in 1976. While the music that sprouted out all over the
globe in the wake of these factors was decried as fake, plastic, a refutation of punk’s guitar-led
revolution, it’s telling that much of the music on All The Young Droids.. was created in bedrooms,
ramshackle studios and home-made set ups with often borrowed equipment. In the era of record labels
jumping to capitalise on the success of The Sex Pistols, The Clash (both on major labels, of course)
these artists struggled to stand out from a new gold-rush with next to no budget or PR team. With radio
and labels desperate for the new Yazoo, what resulted was a testament to necessity being the mother
of invention.
At the time, the synthesiser was the music of the future, a shiny new machine that could paint like an
orchestra with a single finger and a 4-track. In the hands of Manchester avant-pranksters Gerry & The
Holograms it’s a pulsing, sardonic weapon.. the only instrument on the Messthetics classic lampooning
of New Wave fashion. In Hamburg, a 16 year old Andreas Dorau used it to write and record (with his
female classmates on vocals) a global smash in Fred Vom Jupiter (later licensed to Mute Records).
The hard-to-find English version (Fred From Jupiter, natch) is included here. Many artists with alreadystoried careers caught the bug and recorded synthesiser-fuelled peons to space, computers, the future
and, of course, love-interests. Harry Kakoulli, late of Squeeze, recorded a solo album in 1979 that
included the incredible power-synth-pop smash-that-never-smashed I’m On A Rocket. Similarly, Ian
North of Neo and American Power Pop stalwarts Milk ’n’ Cookies bought a Korg MS20 and used a
tape machine to record We’re Not Lonely, an absolute lost-classic of minimal synth pop. We’re Not
Lonely also features on the Junkshop Synth Pop sampler 7” twinned with John Howard unreleased
track You Will See, released April 12th 2025.
There are plenty of compilation debuts in evidence. Sole Sister were a mysterious trio who were
featured on the Scaling Triangles compilation of female-fronted, queer-adjacent post-punk /
underground music that also featured The Petticoats. Selwin Image were from San Francisco and
featured members of the recently defunct power pop/punk group The Pushups. Their stupidly catchy
The Unknown fizzes with New Wave energy - think XTC to Sparks but remains unreleased until now.
Dream Unit’s A Drop In The Ocean is an early synth wave cut, positively teaming with Joy Division
instrumentation, previously only released on a long-forgotten and super rare, self-released EP.
Incandescent Luminaire’s Famous Names belies an archetypal struggle of a small-town trying to
make it in a cruel industry but is a thrilling New Romantic-Synth Wave cross over with a OMD
gloominess that’s a joy to hear. Feminist Minimal Wave track I Am A Time Bomb by performance artist
Peta Lilly and Michael Chance is a revelation destined for new found cult status. It was released on 7”
and lost until now.
The flipside to the subterranean, never-made-it synth pop mentioned above are the ambitious, even
fruity attempts at success that have a perennial elegance to their confidence. New Jersey-ite Billy
London (real name Ed Barth) tried to cash in on the synth boom with Woman, released by a major
label, a lurching new wave track built on the Louie Louie rhythm and a wonderfully camp Lou Reedstyle sleazy vocal before exploding in the synthesised chorus. The song bombed but with a chorus like
this, you have to wonder why? Ex-Glitter Band member John Springate’s My Life is truly epic, with
doomed chord progressions and massive sounding drums turning into at least 3 different songs in the
course of the track. Before you wonder what’s going on the song resolves with a glorious return to the
main refrain.
The dry-ice-dressed dance floor is well catered for too. Design’s Premonition and Vision’s Lucifer’s
Friend are stone-cold minimal synth bangers, well loved but given a new lease of life here. The
Warlord’s The Ultimate Warlord was released in 1978, a homespun proto Hi NRG banger that was
later re-recorded by The Immortals in Canada who had a club hit with it. One-man- band Disco
Volante’s No Motion was re-issued by Synth wave label Medical in 2012 but makes its first vinyl
compilation appearance here. Close your eyes and you can imagine what Lawrence of Felt would have
sounded like with some cheap Korgs a little earlier in his career. Gibraltar-based trio The Microbes
imagined a computer programming people to dance - how prescient - and ended up with a propulsive,
robo-funk track with splendid rubbery bass playing over a tectonic drum machine. Previously picked up
by Belgian label Stroom TV, Dee Jay Bert & Eagle’s heavily Euro-accented I Am Your Master
demands the listener to “come to paradise!” In a frankly terrifying manner.
All The Young Droids is the first compilation to peel away from the narrative that dour, Minimal Synth
and Cold Wave were the only musical children of the first rush of synth pop. Philip King and School
Daze Records describe a much more complicated world: along with the austere, Brutalist children of
Daniel Miller (who produced Alan Burnham’s Bowie-Low-influenced Science Fiction here) was a
plethora of desperate cash-ins, accidental mainstream hits, ambitious pop dramas and major label
punts that went nowhere. Crucially, the compilation blurs the line between junk and treasure. What if the
two things are interchangeable. What if it’s all science fiction?
Sicherheits- und Herstellerinformationen / safety and manufacturer info (GPSR)
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2LP Black Vinyl w/8pg 12” booklet
TRACKLIST:
1. Design - Premonition
2. Vision - Lucifer’s Friend
3. Richard Bone - Alien Girl
4. John Howard - I Tune Into You
5. Ian North - We’re Not Lonely
6. Selwin Image - The Unknown
7. Harry Kakoulli - I’m On A Rocket
8. Rich Wilde - The Lady Wants To Be Alone
9. Billy London - Woman
10. Alan Burnham - Science Fiction
11. The Microbes - Computer
12. The Goo-Q - I’m A Computer
13. Gerry & The Holograms - Gerry & The Holograms
14. The Warlord - The Ultimate Warlord
15. Die Marinas - Fred From Jupiter
16. Dee Jay Bert & Eagle - I Am Your Master
17. Peta Lily & Michael Process - I Am A Time Bomb
18. Sole Sister - It’s Not What You Are But How
19. Alasdair Riddell - Do You Read Me?
20. Karel Fialka - Armband (The Mystery Song)
21. John Springate - My Life
22. Incandescent Luminaire - Famous Names
23. Disco Volante - No Motion
24. Dream Unit - A Drop In The Ocean
Compiled by Philip King
“And then came the rise of synth pop : blokes with dodgy haircuts hunched over keyboard-operated
machines stuffed with wires and do-it-yourself tone oscillators making sounds like a brood of geese
passing gas in a wind tunnel. Whoopee! This is the way the ‘70s ended : not with a blood-curdling bang
bang but with a cheap, synthesized, emasculating whimper.”
NICK KENT, NME.
All The Young Droids: Junkshop Synth Pop 1978-1985 is a new compilation that charts the
underbelly of the epoch-defining sound of the synthesiser in 80s popular music. Compiled by Philip
King (previously seen compiling All The Young Droogs, Glitterbest and Boobs - The Junkshop
Glam Discotheque), the music here connects the dots between DIY synth enthusiasts grappling with
new, cheap synthesisers at the tail-end of punk and wannabe, jobbing songwriters enthral to the new
music pioneered by Gary Numan, Depeche Mode and Daniel Miller’s Mute Records. Featuring rare
tracks of auto-didactic progressive pop music, proto-techno punk, shoot-for-the-stars-land-in-the-gutter
chart flops and heralded, underground synth classics, School Daze paints a picture of beautiful failure.
Complete with extensive sleeve notes written by King and never before seen imagery, all 24 tracks
were remastered by RPM in-house engineer Simon Murphy, many from vinyl copies due to lost master
tapes. The story told on All The Young Droids is one of the dawning opportunity presented by both the
emergence to the market of cheaper analog synthesisers and the distribution networks plus indie labels
that exploded with the advent of punk music in 1976. While the music that sprouted out all over the
globe in the wake of these factors was decried as fake, plastic, a refutation of punk’s guitar-led
revolution, it’s telling that much of the music on All The Young Droids.. was created in bedrooms,
ramshackle studios and home-made set ups with often borrowed equipment. In the era of record labels
jumping to capitalise on the success of The Sex Pistols, The Clash (both on major labels, of course)
these artists struggled to stand out from a new gold-rush with next to no budget or PR team. With radio
and labels desperate for the new Yazoo, what resulted was a testament to necessity being the mother
of invention.
At the time, the synthesiser was the music of the future, a shiny new machine that could paint like an
orchestra with a single finger and a 4-track. In the hands of Manchester avant-pranksters Gerry & The
Holograms it’s a pulsing, sardonic weapon.. the only instrument on the Messthetics classic lampooning
of New Wave fashion. In Hamburg, a 16 year old Andreas Dorau used it to write and record (with his
female classmates on vocals) a global smash in Fred Vom Jupiter (later licensed to Mute Records).
The hard-to-find English version (Fred From Jupiter, natch) is included here. Many artists with alreadystoried careers caught the bug and recorded synthesiser-fuelled peons to space, computers, the future
and, of course, love-interests. Harry Kakoulli, late of Squeeze, recorded a solo album in 1979 that
included the incredible power-synth-pop smash-that-never-smashed I’m On A Rocket. Similarly, Ian
North of Neo and American Power Pop stalwarts Milk ’n’ Cookies bought a Korg MS20 and used a
tape machine to record We’re Not Lonely, an absolute lost-classic of minimal synth pop. We’re Not
Lonely also features on the Junkshop Synth Pop sampler 7” twinned with John Howard unreleased
track You Will See, released April 12th 2025.
There are plenty of compilation debuts in evidence. Sole Sister were a mysterious trio who were
featured on the Scaling Triangles compilation of female-fronted, queer-adjacent post-punk /
underground music that also featured The Petticoats. Selwin Image were from San Francisco and
featured members of the recently defunct power pop/punk group The Pushups. Their stupidly catchy
The Unknown fizzes with New Wave energy - think XTC to Sparks but remains unreleased until now.
Dream Unit’s A Drop In The Ocean is an early synth wave cut, positively teaming with Joy Division
instrumentation, previously only released on a long-forgotten and super rare, self-released EP.
Incandescent Luminaire’s Famous Names belies an archetypal struggle of a small-town trying to
make it in a cruel industry but is a thrilling New Romantic-Synth Wave cross over with a OMD
gloominess that’s a joy to hear. Feminist Minimal Wave track I Am A Time Bomb by performance artist
Peta Lilly and Michael Chance is a revelation destined for new found cult status. It was released on 7”
and lost until now.
The flipside to the subterranean, never-made-it synth pop mentioned above are the ambitious, even
fruity attempts at success that have a perennial elegance to their confidence. New Jersey-ite Billy
London (real name Ed Barth) tried to cash in on the synth boom with Woman, released by a major
label, a lurching new wave track built on the Louie Louie rhythm and a wonderfully camp Lou Reedstyle sleazy vocal before exploding in the synthesised chorus. The song bombed but with a chorus like
this, you have to wonder why? Ex-Glitter Band member John Springate’s My Life is truly epic, with
doomed chord progressions and massive sounding drums turning into at least 3 different songs in the
course of the track. Before you wonder what’s going on the song resolves with a glorious return to the
main refrain.
The dry-ice-dressed dance floor is well catered for too. Design’s Premonition and Vision’s Lucifer’s
Friend are stone-cold minimal synth bangers, well loved but given a new lease of life here. The
Warlord’s The Ultimate Warlord was released in 1978, a homespun proto Hi NRG banger that was
later re-recorded by The Immortals in Canada who had a club hit with it. One-man- band Disco
Volante’s No Motion was re-issued by Synth wave label Medical in 2012 but makes its first vinyl
compilation appearance here. Close your eyes and you can imagine what Lawrence of Felt would have
sounded like with some cheap Korgs a little earlier in his career. Gibraltar-based trio The Microbes
imagined a computer programming people to dance - how prescient - and ended up with a propulsive,
robo-funk track with splendid rubbery bass playing over a tectonic drum machine. Previously picked up
by Belgian label Stroom TV, Dee Jay Bert & Eagle’s heavily Euro-accented I Am Your Master
demands the listener to “come to paradise!” In a frankly terrifying manner.
All The Young Droids is the first compilation to peel away from the narrative that dour, Minimal Synth
and Cold Wave were the only musical children of the first rush of synth pop. Philip King and School
Daze Records describe a much more complicated world: along with the austere, Brutalist children of
Daniel Miller (who produced Alan Burnham’s Bowie-Low-influenced Science Fiction here) was a
plethora of desperate cash-ins, accidental mainstream hits, ambitious pop dramas and major label
punts that went nowhere. Crucially, the compilation blurs the line between junk and treasure. What if the
two things are interchangeable. What if it’s all science fiction?
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Strut presents the official reissue of a landmark album in the field of African music, Mulatu Astatke’s ‘Mulatu Of Ethiopia’ from 1972.
A1 MULATU 5:00
A2 MASCARAM SETABA 2:40
A3 DEWEL 4:00
B1 KULUNMANQUELESHI 2:05
B2 KASALEFKUT-HULU 2:25
B3 MUNAYE 3:15
B4 CHIFARA
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WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
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A1 MULATU 5:00
A2 MASCARAM SETABA 2:40
A3 DEWEL 4:00
B1 KULUNMANQUELESHI 2:05
B2 KASALEFKUT-HULU 2:25
B3 MUNAYE 3:15
B4 CHIFARA
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WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
Contact: [email protected]More
1
Voices From The Lake - Eos
2
Voices From The Lake - Lotus Mist
3
Voices From The Lake - Bespin
4
Voices From The Lake - Aquateo
5
Voices From The Lake - Montenero
6
Voices From The Lake - Manuark
7
Voices From The Lake - Mono No Koto
8
Voices From The Lake - Asterios
9
Voices From The Lake - Blue Noa
10
Voices From The Lake - Ian
Thirteen years after their landmark debut, Italian duo Voices From The Lake (Donato Dozzy & Neel) return with their much-anticipated second album, 'II' (two) on their own Spazio Disponibile.The record marks a new chapter in one of electronic music's most revered projects. Born from a friendship and a singular musical vision, Voices From The Lake first emerged as a one-off live performance in the Japanese Alps, later distilled into their self-titled 2012 album. That record has since become a touchstone in ambient techno, reshaping the global landscape of hypnotic and atmospheric electronic music. In the years since, the duo have performed worldwide, released a handful of EPs, worked on installations, and founded record labels, all while continuing to refine the project's unique identity. Yet the core of Voices From The Lake has always been its deep, aqueous approach to sound, a sensibility that returns in full force on II. "The project was never meant to become what it did," the duo reflect. "At one point, we even paused it. Only to later embrace it in all its forms. II is both a continuation and a reinvention." True to that spirit, Voices From The Lake have explored extremes in recent years, from high-tempo live sets to seated listening concerts, while remaining anchored in the meditative pulse of ambient techno. II extends this lineage, carrying forward the immersive sound design and boundary-pushing vision that has defined their work from the beginning.
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Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
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Sicherheits- und Herstellerinformationen / safety and manufacturer info (GPSR)
WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
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1
Subb-An & Luther Vine - The Zone
2
Subb-An & Luther Vine - All Night (Tribal Mix)
3
Subb-An & Luther Vine - Opti-Mystic
4
Subb-An & Luther Vine - NYC Moog
RAWAX welcomes Subb An & Luther Vine to the artist Family!
We are very happy with their fantastic debut ep for us, which reminds us
the great 90's vibe from an golden era of electronic music.
The record is expected to be out right on time for sunny rave season!
Sicherheits- und Herstellerinformationen / safety and manufacturer info (GPSR)
WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
Contact: [email protected]More
We are very happy with their fantastic debut ep for us, which reminds us
the great 90's vibe from an golden era of electronic music.
The record is expected to be out right on time for sunny rave season!
Sicherheits- und Herstellerinformationen / safety and manufacturer info (GPSR)
WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
Contact: [email protected]More