lim. Colored Vinyl Edition (Oxblood)

Part 2 of our series of official reworks of The Warmer Music catalogue
For this new 12 Inch we are still in the warm Michael Franks land. A full MF compilation will be coming later.
After our first 12 Inch with DoctorSoul Reworks, we now return with more smooth, high class Edits/Reworks by 3 outstanding modern producers of soulful/jazzy dance vibes.
Michale Franks is one of the most prolific musicians of the Californian Westcoast/Jazz/AOR/Yacht scene, the one and only Michael Franks, who approved personally the new version. Over the languorous course of 33 years and 16 albums, Michael Franks has mesmerized an international legion of fans with his one-of-a-kind artistry. Seamlessly weaving lyrics of stunning sensuality, wit, reflection and literary eloquence over music that tastefully utilizes top shelf shadings of jazz, soul, pop, chamber and music from around the globe. His music was covered by countless international stars, like The Carpenters, Shirley Bassey, Ringo Star, Natalie Cole, a.m.m. . His music lives on and is loved by so many modern Balearic/Soft Disco musicians/producers from today.


A1 All Dressed up with Nowhere to Go (Flying Mojito Bros Refrito)
B1 Monkey See, Monkey Do (Jack Tennis Rework)
B2 Ladies Night (Monsieur Van Pratt Re Dub)



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CD with Sleeve Design and Booklet

We are back with another chapter in our ongoing series of unearthing smooth vibes from all over the world, this time we go back to the FUTURE for you with:
THE SUNSET MANIFESTO Volume 2.
After a five year break mainly concentrating on the late 70s/early 80s Westcoast Soul/Yacht/AOR sound, we finally dive deep into the modern world of our beloved sister-label Too Slow To Disco NEO (for the third time after 2018s TSTD NEO - En France and 2020s The Sunset Manifesto excursions).
But of course it wasn't a real 5 year break since the first Sunset Manifesto compilation, as in the meantime we also released a few digital TSTD Neo singles, and - more importantly - our "Too Slow To Disco NEO - FM" playlist on spotify (handcurated by Dj Supermarkt every week and now hosting more than 1500 tracks of mellow, modern sunshine vibes) was growing steadily and becoming a new, important fixpoint in the TSTD musical universe.
TSTD NEO is the outlet Dj Supermarkt is using to unearth modern laidback, smooth, sunny slow disco vibes with a soulful Westcoast/Balearic touch. For him TSTD always has been about a laidback vibe/feeling, not a certain time period in musical history.
And that sunny Westcoast vibe we dug out on those traditional TSTD compilations has become a huge influence to so many modern artists.
So it makes sense that we present the cream of new slo/mo Nu-Disco/Sunset Disco/Daytime Disco acts in the TSTD format, a luxurious compilation, with artists from all across the globe: Not only from the two homelands of that modern slow disco sound, Los Angeles/California and France, but also from Beijing, Montreal, Mexico, London, New York, Stockholm, Rotterdam… the moon, you name it! This music is more a state of mind, a feeling, then a geographical thing.
We are happy and really excited to annouce the following passengers are on board with exclusive tracks: Poolside, Woolfy, Prep & Eddie Chacon, Turbotito, Young Gun Silver Fox, Lovetempo, Kimchii, Goodvibes Sound a.m.m.


Tracklist:

1 Lovetempo - Same Ole Love (365 Days A Year) (Extended Summer Breeze Mix)
2 Nicholas Cangiano - Falling Behind
3 Poolside - Ventura Highway Blues (Monsieur van Pratt Dub)
4 Prep & Eddie Chacon - Call It (Turbotito Remix)
5 Moi Je - Découvre
6 Turbotito - Time Starts Moving Slow
7 Young Gun Silver Fox - Curious
8 B.U.M.P. - Give A Little Love A Lot
9 Woolfy vs Projections - Seeds
10 1-900 - Breakin' 84
11 Goodvibes Sound - Stay For One More Night (Matt Hughes Remix)
12 Moods & Nic Hanson - Music Never Looked So Good Good
13 BowAsWell - Over When The Night Is Gone
14 Joel Sarakula - Hands Of Love (Phil Martin Remix)
15 Kimchii - Do You Ever


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lim. two color Vinyl. Gatefold Cover with sticker and download code on postcard.

Welcome Back, friends, to the Yacht Soul cruise that never ends!
This theme, explored at length in the previous installment of this series, is a fertile one that just keeps on giving, and give it certainly does on the tracks we have dug up for your perusal, enlightenment, edification and enjoyment on Yacht Soul 2.
For those just joining us, the concept here concerns R&B and soul artists mining the songbooks of their white contemporaries for cover versions that serve the dual purposes of potentially garnering some crossover radio airplay as well as introducing great songs to segments of the listening public who might otherwise miss them. Some of these versions might have come about because they were personal favorites of the artist in question, others might have been strongly suggested by their labels or by the publishing company, but all of them provide an entirely new perspective on what were already fantastic songs to begin with.
So there you have it--a further dig into this nebulous concept that reveals more unexpected connections and crossed paths. Understanding the hows and whys of the way these particular covers and collaborations came to be is as fascinating as just enjoying the music itself, and there really is a lot of great music to dig into this time around! We hope you enjoy listening to it as much as we did putting it together.

VITAL SALES POINTS:

- Second volume from the YACHT SOUL series. First volume is the second best selling "Too Slow To Disco" compilation so far.…
- Extensive Global Promo by Tobias Kirsch/Germany and Special Requests UK
- Record Relase Parties planned.

Tracklist:

1 MEL & TIM - Keep The Faith
2 IMPACT - Sara Smile
3 BILLY PAUL - It's Too Late
4 ESTHER PHILLIPS - I Hope You'll Be Very Unhappy Without Me
5 JOHN EDWARDS - Tin Man
6 ROY AYERS - What You Won't Do For Love
7 ARNOLD MCCULLER - Gringo
8 RICHIE HAVENS - Dreams
9 BRENDA RUSSELL - I Want Love To Find Me
10 PATTI LABELLE - Monkey See - Monkey Do
11 THE MAIN INGREDIENT - Euphrates
12 THE ISLEY BROTHERS - Listen To The Music
13 DIONNE WARWICK - Dedicate This Heart
14 CHAKA KHAN - Fate
15 KENI BURKE - Love Is The Answer


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Welcome Back, friends, to the Yacht Soul cruise that never ends!
This theme, explored at length in the previous installment of this series, is a fertile one that just keeps on giving, and give it certainly does on the tracks we have dug up for your perusal, enlightenment, edification and enjoyment on Yacht Soul 2.
For those just joining us, the concept here concerns R&B and soul artists mining the songbooks of their white contemporaries for cover versions that serve the dual purposes of potentially garnering some crossover radio airplay as well as introducing great songs to segments of the listening public who might otherwise miss them. Some of these versions might have come about because they were personal favorites of the artist in question, others might have been strongly suggested by their labels or by the publishing company, but all of them provide an entirely new perspective on what were already fantastic songs to begin with.
So there you have it--a further dig into this nebulous concept that reveals more unexpected connections and crossed paths. Understanding the hows and whys of the way these particular covers and collaborations came to be is as fascinating as just enjoying the music itself, and there really is a lot of great music to dig into this time around! We hope you enjoy listening to it as much as we did putting it together.

VITAL SALES POINTS:

- Second volume from the YACHT SOUL series. First volume is the second best selling "Too Slow To Disco" compilation so far.…
- Extensive Global Promo by Tobias Kirsch/Germany and Special Requests UK
- Record Relase Parties planned.

Tracklist:

1 MEL & TIM - Keep The Faith
2 IMPACT - Sara Smile
3 BILLY PAUL - It's Too Late
4 ESTHER PHILLIPS - I Hope You'll Be Very Unhappy Without Me
5 JOHN EDWARDS - Tin Man
6 ROY AYERS - What You Won't Do For Love
7 ARNOLD MCCULLER - Gringo
8 RICHIE HAVENS - Dreams
9 BRENDA RUSSELL - I Want Love To Find Me
10 PATTI LABELLE - Monkey See - Monkey Do
11 THE MAIN INGREDIENT - Euphrates
12 THE ISLEY BROTHERS - Listen To The Music
13 DIONNE WARWICK - Dedicate This Heart
14 CHAKA KHAN - Fate
15 KENI BURKE - Love Is The Answer


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Germany
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2LP Gatefold black vinyl, mp3 Download PostCard

GENRE/S: Soul, Funk, Pop, AOR, Yacht

TRACKLIST:

LP:
SideA:
THE DUKES – Mystery Girl
PRIME TIME BAND - Fall In Love In Outer Space
KENNY NOLAN – You’re So Beautiful Tonight
PETER SKELLERN – Now That I Need You

Side B:
MARC JORDAN – Generalities
SEVERIN BROWNE – Stay
THE FARAGHER BROTHERS – Stay The Night
ALAN PRICE – Groovy Times

Side C:
JAMES FELIX – Open Up
HIRTH MARTINEZ – Altogether Alone
MAX LEAKE – Tell Me The Reasons Why
STPEHEN ENCINAS – Music In Me

Side D:
ERIC ANDERSEN - Can't Get You Out Of My Life
JIMMIE SPHEERIS – Beautiful News
JEANNINE OTIS & HEIKKI SARMANTO – Magic Song
PLEASURE – Nothin’ To It

SHORT INFO:

After smooth detours into Soul covers, French Neo-Disco, modern Sunset Disco and Brazilian AOR, in 2022 DJ Supermarkt's Too Slow to Disco series makes a joyous return to its original Westcoast AOR/Yacht roots. Celebrating the 10th TSTD compilation. Who would have thought….
The Berlin curator releases a killer 4th edition of the original compilation art form, "Too Slow to Disco", featuring forgotten and overseen gems from the mid 70s to the early 80s from a global world of smooth, brilliant lost and overproduced tracks from Finland via London and L.A. to Trinidad and beyond.
The great 'un-vanisher' of lost lazy classics, DJ Supermarkt once again unearthed some incredible music that labels, publishers (in many cases also those, who actually own the rights to those tracks…) and streaming services have often long overlooked. You're welcome, world!

These sixteen tracks of newly ‘un-vanished’ hit-making genius find us once more in that delightfully Westcoast state of mind, the musical breeze in our hair as we corner on the headland, the top most definitely down. Too Slow to Disco 4 is also a love letter to the genre-smashing bravery of that era, Yacht Pop rubbing shoulders with Christian Gospel, groovy Folk, Country-Soul and Blue-Eyed Soul. As ever, DJ Supermarkts genius is to uncover the musical through line that joins these missing-in-action names and the tunes that could have been their big moment. The result is a kind of joyous alternative history of the era, where a very different pantheon of pop gods became the names we love.

As usual these tunes feature ludicrous levels of musical competence, boasting tight grooves in tighter polyester, and yet there’s (almost) not a single household name in sight. DJ Supermarkt is once again looking for the special “geniuses” in the background and behind the sound, musicians and a-list composers, whose names are not well known, but who wrote million selling tracks for other acts in the spotlight: Like Kenny Nolan, who a.o. wrote “Lady Marmalade”, The Dukes, who penned Sheena Easton’s “Modern Girl”, Air Supply’s “Every Woman In The World” and Chaka Khan’s “Fate”, famously sampled by Stardust for their French House Club-Hit “Music Sounds Better With You”.

Four of these 16 tracks are taken from super rare private press vinyls, unearthed by Dj Supermarkt over several years by chasing down the original composers, musicians or producers, and now officially rereleased for the very first 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

2-LP ltd colored vinyl, 140 gram, gatefold, mp3 Download PostCard

Genres: Soul, Funk, Pop, AOR, Yacht

After smooth detours into Soul covers, French Neo-Disco, modern Sunset Disco and Brazilian AOR, in 2022 DJ Supermarkt's Too Slow to Disco series makes a joyous return to its original Westcoast AOR/Yacht roots. Celebrating the 10th TSTD compilation. Who would have thought….
The Berlin curator releases a killer 4th edition of the original compilation art form, "Too Slow to Disco", featuring forgotten and overseen gems from the mid 70s to the early 80s from a global world of smooth, brilliant lost and overproduced tracks from Finland via London and L.A. to Trinidad and beyond.
The great 'un-vanisher' of lost lazy classics, DJ Supermarkt once again unearthed some incredible music that labels, publishers (in many cases also those, who actually own the rights to those tracks…) and streaming services have often long overlooked. You're welcome, world!

These sixteen tracks of newly ‘un-vanished’ hit-making genius find us once more in that delightfully Westcoast state of mind, the musical breeze in our hair as we corner on the headland, the top most definitely down. Too Slow to Disco 4 is also a love letter to the genre-smashing bravery of that era, Yacht Pop rubbing shoulders with Christian Gospel, groovy Folk, Country-Soul and Blue-Eyed Soul. As ever, DJ Supermarkts genius is to uncover the musical through line that joins these missing-in-action names and the tunes that could have been their big moment. The result is a kind of joyous alternative history of the era, where a very different pantheon of pop gods became the names we love.

As usual these tunes feature ludicrous levels of musical competence, boasting tight grooves in tighter polyester, and yet there’s (almost) not a single household name in sight. DJ Supermarkt is once again looking for the special “geniuses” in the background and behind the sound, musicians and a-list composers, whose names are not well known, but who wrote million selling tracks for other acts in the spotlight: Like Kenny Nolan, who a.o. wrote “Lady Marmalade”, The Dukes, who penned Sheena Easton’s “Modern Girl”, Air Supply’s “Every Woman In The World” and Chaka Khan’s “Fate”, famously sampled by Stardust for their French House Club-Hit “Music Sounds Better With You”.

Four of these 16 tracks are taken from super rare private press vinyls, unearthed by Dj Supermarkt over several years by chasing down the original composers, musicians or producers, and now officially rereleased for the very first time.



2-LP:

SideA:
THE DUKES - Mystery Girl
PRIME TIME BAND - Fall In Love In Outer Space
KENNY NOLAN - You're So Beautiful Tonight
PETER SKELLERN - Now That I Need You

Side B:
MARC JORDAN - Generalities
SEVERIN BROWNE - Stay
THE FARAGHER BROTHERS - Stay The Night
ALAN PRICE - Groovy Times

Side C:
JAMES FELIX - Open Up
HIRTH MARTINEZ - Altogether Alone
MAX LEAKE - Tell Me The Reasons Why
STPEHEN ENCINAS - Music In Me

Side D:
ERIC ANDERSEN - Can't Get You Out Of My Life
JIMMIE SPHEERIS - Beautiful News
JEANNINE OTIS & HEIKKI SARMANTO - Magic Song
PLEASURE - Nothin' To It


Sicherheits- und Herstellerinformationen / safety and manufacturer info (GPSR)
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DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
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CD in a Deluxe cardboard slipcase with 16 page Booklet and extended Liner Notes!

Genres: Soul, Funk, Pop, AOR, Yacht

After smooth detours into Soul covers, French Neo-Disco, modern Sunset Disco and Brazilian AOR, in 2022 DJ Supermarkt's Too Slow to Disco series makes a joyous return to its original Westcoast AOR/Yacht roots. Celebrating the 10th TSTD compilation. Who would have thought….
The Berlin curator releases a killer 4th edition of the original compilation art form, "Too Slow to Disco", featuring forgotten and overseen gems from the mid 70s to the early 80s from a global world of smooth, brilliant lost and overproduced tracks from Finland via London and L.A. to Trinidad and beyond.
The great 'un-vanisher' of lost lazy classics, DJ Supermarkt once again unearthed some incredible music that labels, publishers (in many cases also those, who actually own the rights to those tracks…) and streaming services have often long overlooked. You're welcome, world!

These sixteen tracks of newly ‘un-vanished’ hit-making genius find us once more in that delightfully Westcoast state of mind, the musical breeze in our hair as we corner on the headland, the top most definitely down. Too Slow to Disco 4 is also a love letter to the genre-smashing bravery of that era, Yacht Pop rubbing shoulders with Christian Gospel, groovy Folk, Country-Soul and Blue-Eyed Soul. As ever, DJ Supermarkts genius is to uncover the musical through line that joins these missing-in-action names and the tunes that could have been their big moment. The result is a kind of joyous alternative history of the era, where a very different pantheon of pop gods became the names we love.

As usual these tunes feature ludicrous levels of musical competence, boasting tight grooves in tighter polyester, and yet there’s (almost) not a single household name in sight. DJ Supermarkt is once again looking for the special “geniuses” in the background and behind the sound, musicians and a-list composers, whose names are not well known, but who wrote million selling tracks for other acts in the spotlight: Like Kenny Nolan, who a.o. wrote “Lady Marmalade”, The Dukes, who penned Sheena Easton’s “Modern Girl”, Air Supply’s “Every Woman In The World” and Chaka Khan’s “Fate”, famously sampled by Stardust for their French House Club-Hit “Music Sounds Better With You”.

Four of these 16 tracks are taken from super rare private press vinyls, unearthed by Dj Supermarkt over several years by chasing down the original composers, musicians or producers, and now officially rereleased for the very first time.

CD:

THE DUKES - Mystery Girl
PRIME TIME BAND - Fall In Love In Outer Space
KENNY NOLAN - You're So Beautiful Tonight
PETER SKELLERN - Now That I Need You
MARC JORDAN - Generalities
SEVERIN BROWNE - Stay
THE FARAGHER BROTHERS - Stay The Night
ALAN PRICE - Groovy Times
JAMES FELIX - Open Up
HIRTH MARTINEZ - Altogether Alone
MAX LEAKE - Tell Me The Reasons Why
STPEHEN ENCINAS - Music In Me
ERIC ANDERSEN - Can't Get You Out Of My Life
JIMMIE SPHEERIS - Beautiful News
JEANNINE OTIS & HEIKKI SARMANTO - Magic Song
PLEASURE - Nothin' To It

MiniMix by DJ Supermarkt:
https://soundcloud.com/djsupermarkt/too-slow-to-disco-4-minimix/s-SC4TSgbW17l?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

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

lim. Colored Vinyl Edition (Oxblood)

Part 2 of our series of official reworks of The Warmer Music catalogue
For this new 12 Inch we are still in the warm Michael Franks land. A full MF compilation will be coming later.
After our first 12 Inch with DoctorSoul Reworks, we now return with more smooth, high class Edits/Reworks by 3 outstanding modern producers of soulful/jazzy dance vibes.
Michale Franks is one of the most prolific musicians of the Californian Westcoast/Jazz/AOR/Yacht scene, the one and only Michael Franks, who approved personally the new version. Over the languorous course of 33 years and 16 albums, Michael Franks has mesmerized an international legion of fans with his one-of-a-kind artistry. Seamlessly weaving lyrics of stunning sensuality, wit, reflection and literary eloquence over music that tastefully utilizes top shelf shadings of jazz, soul, pop, chamber and music from around the globe. His music was covered by countless international stars, like The Carpenters, Shirley Bassey, Ringo Star, Natalie Cole, a.m.m. . His music lives on and is loved by so many modern Balearic/Soft Disco musicians/producers from today.


A1 All Dressed up with Nowhere to Go (Flying Mojito Bros Refrito)
B1 Monkey See, Monkey Do (Jack Tennis Rework)
B2 Ladies Night (Monsieur Van Pratt Re Dub)



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NO VINYLE OF ANY MANU CHAO ALBUM HAS BEEN AVAILABLE ON SALE FOR AGES. ALL STUDIO & LIVE ALBUMS ARE BACK ON DOUBLE VINYL GATEFOLD FEAT. THE CD
TRACKLIST
A1. INTRO - A2. BIENVENIDA A TIJUANA - A3. MACHINE GUN - A4. POR DONDE SALDRA EL SOL? - A5. PELIGRO - A6. WELCOME TO TIJUANA - A7. EL VIENTO - A8. CASA BABYLON - B1. POR EL SUELO - B2. BLOOD AND FIRE - B3. EZLN… PARA TOD@S TODO… - B4. MR BOBBY - B5. BONGO BONG - B6. RADIO BEMBA - B7. QUE PASO QUE PASO - B8. PINOCCHIO (VAGGIO IN GROPPA AL TONNO) - B9. CAHI EN LA TRAMPA - C1. CLANDESTINO - C2. RUMBA DE BARCELONA - C3. LA DESPEDIDA - C4. MALA VIDA - C5. RADIO BEMBA 2 - C6. QUE PASO QUE PASO 2 - C7. PINOCCHIO 2 (VAGGIO IN GROPPA AL TONNO) - D1. LA PRIMAVERA - D2. THE MONKEY - D3. KING KONG FIVE - D4. MINHA GALERA - D5. PROMISCUITY

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Territories: Worldwide no restrictions

Format Notes:
2024 repress, 140g vinyl, includes “Pure Thought” bonus track from the original CD version, original picture sleeve and printed inner sleeves based on the original one.

Track List:

A* : Blood (1:08)
A1 : Bullies Of The Block (4:55)
A2 : Everything’s Everything (3:47)
A3 : Shammy’s (4:16)
A** : Heat Mizer (1:08)

B1 : Six Tray (4:39)
B2 : Danger (3:58)
B3 : Inner City Boundaries (4:39)
B* : Bomb Zombies (1:06)

C1 : Cornbread (4:21)
C2 : Way Cool (4:22)
C3 : Hot Potato (4:30)
C4 : Mary (3:45)
C5 : Park Bench People (4:59)

D1 : Heavyweights (6:11)
D* : Tolerate (1:01)
D2 : Respect Due (3:53)
D3 : Pure Thought (3:14)

Release Notes (Short Version):

Innercity Griots, the second album from Freestyle Fellowship, is perhaps *the* essential West Coast left-field rap album of the early ’90s. Released in 1993 on 4th & Broadway, it’s a towering, progressive hip-hop masterpiece that expanded rap’s boundaries through lyrical elevation and production innovation. Their talent was ahead of everybody else by light years. This is pure b-boy jazz.

The original single vinyl LP is now hideously scarce, and of course the sound suffers from not being officially released as a double. This Be With re-issue fixes both problems, and for completeness also includes “Pure Thought” from the CD version of the album. This incredible display of imaginative hip-hop sounds better than ever.

Freestyle Fellowship were some of the earliest technically dazzling rappers to come out of California. Mikah 9, P.E.A.C.E., Aceyalone and Self Jupiter - along with DJ Kiilu - forged their famed lyrical dexterity in the ultra-competitive crucible of the Good Life Cafe. Founded in Leimert Park, South Central LA in December 1989, this earthy health-food store and cafe was where the city’s finest microphone fiends would gather to showcase their freestyle skills at the Thursday night open-mic.

Innercity Griots has been described as the Rosetta Stone for rap styles. The group’s dense, vibrant wordplay and enviable interplay quickly earned the attention and respect of the city’s hip-hop underground. Frenetically trading acrobatic rhymes with agility and grace, the Fellowship used their voices as instruments like true virtuosos, spraying improvised raps like a Coltrane sax solo.

With the bulk of the album’s production handled by The Earthquake Brothers, and Bambawar, Daddy-O, and Edman taking over for some of the tracks, Innercity Griots dances between organic and programmed music, largely forgoing sampling and instead built around live jazz jams. The likes of Freddie Hubbard’s “Red Clay” and Miles Davis’s “Black Comedy” were used more as templates for house band The Underground Railroad Band to spiral out from. As Pitchfork noted in their recent 9.0 review of this classic album, “Freestyle Fellowship embodied the style and spirit of jazz on a molecular level. They shared the effortless cool and tough countenance of the great bebop players from the ’50s without verging into jazz-rap parody. Their innate jazziness felt tangible and hard-earned”.

The unusual approach to the music was matched by the Fellowship’s lyrics. Eschewing the tired rap tropes of the time, this multifaceted album instead explores their ruminations on greed and homelessness, weed, sex, survival, insecurity and tribalism.

Remastered by Simon Francis for double vinyl and cut by Pete Norman, we hope this long-overdue re-issue of Innercity Griots satisfies the legions of fans that have since been bewitched by the majesty of this record. It should also introduce some new listeners to yet another overlooked classic.


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Format: 2LP (LP1+LP2)

Tracklist:
A1 / Franz Scala - New Look (feat. Furotica)
A2 / Franz Scala - Echoes Of Love
B1 / Franz Scala - Telephone Boy
B2 / Franz Scala - Light Year Run
C1 / Franz Scala - Saxon Rebel (feat. Local Suicide)
C2 / Franz Scala - Crush Test (feat. Charlie)
D1 / Franz Scala - BIT99
D2 / Franz Scala - Fantasy Bazar
D3 / Franz Scala - Fase Lunare (feat. Acid Gymnastics)


Key Selling Points
Slow Motion Records founder Franz Scala announces the infectious, ground-moving LP 'Cafe Futuro', a follow-up to his highly acclaimed debut ‘Mondo Della Notte’. Homage to the influential Neukolln bar and meeting point for Italo and Cosmic disco heads, 'Cafe Futuro' builds upon a bold and innovative sound, showcasing fellow creators and genre-defining artists, solidifying the Italo Aficionados sound, synonymous with the pioneering greats.


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Format Notes:

2025 first time vinyl release, 140g vinyl


Track List:


A1 It Couldn't Be You
A2 You Can't Hide Always
A3 We'll Make It Again

B1 Walk Straight Ahead
B2 Painting My Life Blue
B3 Just Two Lovers

Release Notes:


Wally Badarou is a synth pioneer and musical polymath. But rarely does he sing over his sumptuous tracks. The 6 songs that comprise new record Simple Things finally realise Wally's vision for select backing tracks from his beloved Colors Of Silence.

The tracks were originally developed back in 2001 for the release of the original CD; here, Wally has “simply" added overdubs and vocals to their mastered mixes with some discerning edits. Simply put, Simple Things is another slice of simply stunning Wally Badarou genius.

Simple Things has been decades in the making. Indeed, Wally struggled not only with the idea of singing these wonderful songs himself but singing them in English and writing his own lyrics, while wrestling with the sensational backing tracks, which themselves seemed to have taken on a life of their own.

As Wally explained to us: "In addition to the instrumental artist I have been known as, so far, there has always been a singer who simply was not sure he was, up until now. Even though “Back To Scales Tonight”, my very first album, was, indeed, a song album."

Opener "It Couldn't Be You" embellishes the uptempo groove of soca-funk gem "The Lights Of Kinshasa". As Wally explained to us, it's about “a simple love story somewhere, one rainy night, under the lights of Kinshasa. A woman, a man, online dating, quite usual in our times. Then they meet, almost missing each other." The guide vocal Wally had laid for Colors Of Silence - with an organ sound - seemed striving for words in Linguala, a Congolese language he could not speak. Therefore the decision to do it himself was not an easy one, for it had to be in English to fit his singing. We think it turned out pretty good!

"You Can't Hide Always" vocalises Wally's deep concerns set to the propulsive "Smiles By The Millions": "Populism, ostracism, radicalism, ethics and values all turned upside down worldwide, are they all inevitably exacerbated by our social networks? It could all melt down one day, like a house of cards in the ocean of fake news and false prophecies”. Wally wanted to keep the track as bare as possible but, inevitably, the backing vocals and the synth-brass arrive ultimately to present a welcome 70s flavour, with no snare-drum added.

The bright and breezy "We'll Make It Again" adds vocals to "Where Were We", a tropical, reggae-tinged bounce through the islands. Here's Waly: "Where were we when we last said: "I love you"? Simple words to express something quite common, but never quite simple to deal with. A simple song about the resilience of the broken hearts.” The reggae came from it being conceived when Wally was scoring for “Third World Cop”, a 1999 Jamaican action movie.

"Walk Straight Ahead" provides Wally's gorgeous, contemplative and idiosyncratic vocals to the deep serenity of Colors Of Silence highlight, "Amber Whispers". It's a gliding, divine, mini melodic masterpiece. It'll make you swoon in its extreme beauty. As Wally describes, "it started as just whispers, sweet amber whispers. Then the colour turned darker, as darker skies seemed to fall upon us while the whole world keeps on walking ahead, straight ahead, regardless of the blatant warnings, feeling much too comfortable in conformity. Initially, the verses were to be spoken only. I realised they could be sung all the while, without overshadowing the ethereal atmosphere." Amen.

The serene, celestial "Painting My Life Blue" presents the vocal version of "Days To Wonder". Says Wally, "how does it feel when your second half is gone after decades of riding life together? Past the temporary loss of your bearings, you come to realise you've been blind to the essential, and suddenly you can see...For this most intimate song of mine, I had tried to come up with a melody on top of the existing backing track, long before realising the melody was in the keyboard part already. It just needed to be properly mixed with it."

The profoundly emotional "Just Two Lovers" works up the formerly-too-brief and glorious "Crystal Falls" into a much fuller masterpiece and features acoustic guitar sparkle before fully glistening with some gentle head-nod percussion. Waly explains further: "Dear little green men, please tell me, what is it about us that makes you want to come and visit us so often (contrary to Fermi's assertion)? And here is the reply I believe I heard them sing: "You've got the key you've been searching for: Love”. I reverted to the initial backing track I had made around 1985, which already bore the melody, and which I added acoustic guitars to, before singing it." An astounding closer.

A synth specialist, there can be few artists more under-appreciated given their vast influence than Wally Badarou. His solo work practically defined the sound of the Balearic DJs of the 1980s, and thus the more sophisticated sound of dance culture thereafter. He was one of the Compass Point All Stars (with Sly and Robbie, Barry Reynolds, Mikey Chung and Uziah "Sticky" Thompson), the in-house recording team of Compass Point Studios responsible for a series of albums in the 1980s recorded by Grace Jones, Tom Tom Club, Mick Jagger, Black Uhuru, Gwen Guthrie, Jimmy Cliff and Gregory Isaacs. Badarou's keyboard playing could also be heard on albums by Robert Palmer, Marianne Faithfull, Herbie Hancock, M (Pop Muzik), Talking Heads, Manu Dibango and Miriam Makeba. He also produced Fela Kuti. Phew!

When we asked Wally about the significance of this collection's title, he explained: "These are "Simple things” that everyday’s life seems to build upon. The simplest are the harder to describe, but when satisfactorily described i.e. with simple words, they are the more genuine and authentic to express and share. I’ve immersed myself in other classic song lyrics, something I hardly did before, just to appreciate the genius behind the simple words they were made of, and had a great time studying how powerful they were in expressing complex ideas such as love."

Recording was twofold: first, most of the backing tracks were recorded in 2001, in Wally's studio in Normandy, mostly using hardware synths and Yamaha digital consoles. Then, he fine-tuned the melodies and wrote the lyrics in late 2023, then added some overdubs and sang them all during summer 2024. States Wally, "Digital Performer was and remains the DAW I’ve been using throughout, ever since the 80s."

Wally's sophisticated synth textures and expressive keyboard runs are so full of character, so full of life, that this work of art transcends any easy genre categorisation. Meticulously remastered and cut by both Simon Francis and Cicely Balston respectively, it has been pressed to the highest possibly quality at Record Industry in Holland. Sometimes, the simple things are the most extraordinary.

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WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
Contact: [email protected]More

A collection of transfixing, storm-like compositions, "Drifts" draws you into its heightened sense of quiet, reveling in iridescent, tranquilized vapors - one part ambient Classical, one part Club-adjacent ambience.

Pitched, reduced, sampled and re-sampled, the album's glowing, elliptical abstractions - using piano, harp, strings & modular synthesizer - explore the emotional terrain between aftermath and renewal, blending the unstructured immediacy of improvisation with the elegant sculpture of composition.

"Drifts" represents for its maker a newfound interest in shadow and mystery, each track a shifting terrain, a collection of clues, a scene set in a larger story, the effect cumulative.

Featuring collaborations with Patrick Belaga, Marilu Donovan (LEYA), and Takuma Watanabe, the album's cinematic suite of impressionistic, ambient works invites the listener into a vast, mapless space of dreamlike non-linearity where interior and exterior landscapes bristle with intimacy and electricity.

Abba Funn by John Chamberlain, 1979. Permanent collection, the Chinati Foundation, Marfa, Texas.
© 2025 Fairweather & Fairweather LTD / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Image Consultant: Claudia Poulter. Design by Graphic Services.


1. Touch 02:20
2. Echo's refrain w/Takuma Watanabe 04:21
3. Dissolve 05:59
4. Future Nature 05:58
5. Orpheus & E w/Patrick Belaga 03:56
6. Haze of 02:45
7. Shifted 03:42
8. Thread 01:53
9. After The Storm 03:17
10. Seaweed 04:55
11. Eye of Eurycide 01:50
12. Sketch For Zoe 03:04



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