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Japan
The first Be With foray into the archives of revered German library institution Selected Sound is one of our favourites on the label - the super in-demand Japan from Victor Cavini, originally released in 1983. Rare and sought-after for many years now, this is one of those cult library LPs that never turn up. With Daibutsu the giant Buddha of Kamakura’s presence gracing the hefty front cover, this is a record bursting with dope samples for adventurous producers: it’s koto-funk madness!
Breath of Danger
"Breath of Danger" was originally released by Themes in 1974, and rounded up a killer ensemble cast of library legends including Alan Hawkshaw, Brian Bennett, Alan Parker, David Lindup, Kenny Salmon, Barry Morgan and Ray Cooper. There’s a widescreen vitality in all these tracks thanks to the driving rhythms, vibrant horn sections and blazing guitar work. It renders "Breath of Danger" - 45 years old - truly ageless.
The All American Powerhouse
Originally released in 1976, "The All American Powerhouse" is one of the very best of the Themes library releases. It’s killer. A feast of dramatic jazz, horizontal, melodic funk and bouncing sunshine-y West-Coast feels throughout, there also lurks an intense injection of the Blaxploitation sound. Understandable, given the subject matter and year it was released.
The Hunter (Drama Suite) / Adventure Story
"The Hunter (Drama Suite) / Adventure Story" is a real library-head’s library album. Both sides are dripping with insidious grooves and dramatic spy-score themes, bursting with heavy guitars, swirling flutes, creeping piano-funk and drum breaks galore. Originally released by KPM in 1975, it’s clear that these library heroes were heavily influenced by the tough funk and street soul sonics emerging from the cutting edge Blaxploitation soundtracks.
Visual Impact
Arguably the single greatest album in KPM history. An ensemble piece of staggeringly heavy works from none other than Brian Bennett, John Scott, Steve Gray, Jim Lawless and Johnny Pearson. Originally released in 1976 but wonderfully timeless, Visual Impact is a rare example of a library record that’s genuinely great listen from start to finish.
Un Muneco De Madera
Be With Records present a reissue of Sola's Un Muñeco De Madera, originally released in 1971. Originally released on RCA in Mexico, it's kaleidoscopic Acapulcan-funk. The album's endless grooves are propelled by softly rocking, quasi-library funk breaks. Vocally, Sola is in step with the '60s French pop-chanteuse style, but of course her lyrics are delivered in sensuous Spanish. Her voice is beautiful. Pillowy soft and tender, it can suddenly explode in mystical anger. These are ten tracks of mo…
Afro Rock
Be With Records have raided the KPM archives to reissue another favorite from the KPM 1000 series, Alan Parker and John Cameron's Afro Rock, originally released in 1973. Hard Afro pop featuring large percussive rhythm section and front line. One of the best-loved of all the KPM LPs. Afro Rock was recorded at Morgan Studios by John Cameron and Alan Parker in London in 1973 as a collection of stripped-down African rhythms, virtuoso jazz instrumentation, fuzzed-up wah wah guitars, and spaced-out li…
The Road Forward
Be With Records have raided the KPM archives to reissue another favorite from the KPM 1000 series, Alan Hawkshaw's The Road Forward,
originally released in 1977. A comprehensive collection of descriptive
contemporary scores, the track titles swoon just by their names:
"Strangelands", "A Man Alone", "Sheer Elegance", "Mystique Voyage",
"Cruising". Don't you just want to hear those? The maestro Alan Hawkshaw
really spoils his listeners on this, one of the most sought after KPM
greensleeves. …
Full Circle
Alan Hawkshaw (piano/Hammond) and Shadow’s drummer Brian Bennett are responsible for some of the slickest, funkiest and most sought-after library records ever made in the UK, particularly ones recorded on the legendary KPM label. Their work has now become the go-to place for sampling in music today. Artists such as Dilla, Nas, and the xx, right through to the billion selling Kanye & Drake have taken Hawkshaw’s and Bennett’s immaculate beat-driven soundscapes for their own usage.Their new album, …
Ichiban
Limited to 100 copies on coloured marbled vinyl in gatefold cover. The very first recordings by the Bleu Forest happened after they played a show at the "Hey You Coffeehouse" in Ventura, CA. Jimmie Haskell decided to have them come to Hollywood and record on the spot at his place. His intention was to capture how the band sounded live, and this is what you get in Ichiban: Two mics, the band, a recording machine, no retakes, spontaneity and raw energy, a time-capsule direct From Jimmie's place i…
Synthesizer & Percussion
Released in the same year as Synthesis over on KPM, 1974’s Synthesizer and Percussion is its essential companion piece. “This record features the many distinctive sounds of the ARP Synthesizer plus percussion in various moods and tempos” is the even more underwhelming than usual library record sales pitch for Alan Hawkshaw and Brian Bennett’s second collection of what is basically minimal G-funk, with overtones of primitive acid house. This is ridiculously good. This is one of Hawkshaw and Benne…
Synthesis
The “vivid contemporary sounds for a fresh visual image” make up the now canonised Synthesis from Alan Hawkshaw and Brian Bennett. These two greats go deeper than usual on this collection, and the end result is a synth concept record of sorts. Released in 1974, it’s an essential companion piece to their Synthesizer and Percussion LP, released on Themes International Music in the same year.Like most of our favourite library records, Synthesis has that gloriously funky, “weird electronic music” vi…
Piano Viberations
Piano Viberations’ “small group jazz featuring piano and vibes with rhythm” makes for a gorgeous Francis Coppieters showcase, surely one of Belgium’s best-kept musical secrets. Released in 1975, and arguably the most low-key of the KPM and Themes records we’re re-issuing, this is easily our current favourite. The Open Highway is the appropriately-named opener, and immediately demonstrates Coppieters’ dexterous interplay between piano and vibes in assured, joyous fashion. The shuffling bossa of S…
Big Business / Wind of Chang
The two sides of 1973’s Big Business / Wind of Change are mainly the work of the great Keith Mansfield but there’s a killer cameo each from Alan Hawkshaw and David Snell to help deliver “a thematic suite, diverse in mood, applicable to dramatic and environmental situations”. A Be With favourite and truly one for the heads. The Big Business of side A is all the work of Keith Mansfield. It’s heavy on the suspense and features the vital Hot Property, an insistent groove so good that Madlib sampled …
Distinctive Themes / Race To Achievement
Released in 1976, Distinctive Themes / Race To Achievement is legendary arranger Nick Ingman exploring the two distinct ideas of “impressive themes varying in style from Basie to Elgar” and “a study in the pressure and rewards of achievement”.Distinctive Themes is a veritable indulgence of variously-tempoed, full orchestra, big band workouts, from relaxed swing to more propulsive themes. The progressively building Expanding Markets is a true highlight, with its rolling pianos, contemplative elec…
Voices In Harmony
Voices In Harmony was released in 1973 as “a selection of contemporary pop titles featuring voices, brass and rhythm”. We choose to describe this collection of works by Keith Mansfield and John Cameron as “a string-laced, harmony-drenched KPM classic”.From the bright, lilting harmonies of Liquid Sunshine to the melting flutes of Loving Touch and Gentle Persuasion, this is warm, effervescent soul music for dreamy, idyllic moods. The supreme Husky Birdsong is so, so smooth, with its unrelenting bo…
Sećanja
Tip! Misa Blam’s - Secanja (Memories) One of the most sought of, rarest and cult ex-Yugoslavian jazz LP’s – is finally reissued, sourced and fully licensed straight from vaults of Jugodisk (Belgrade, Serbia). And where better than on the Everland’s Everland-Yu imprint dedicated to the unheard sound of Yugoslavia! This LP, kept tight in private ex-Yu collectors cabinets and championed by jazz dance DJ’s across the planet, was recorded in 1979 and released in only 1000 copies in 1980 by the Beogra…
Blakey In Paris
*300 copies limited edition* This is Art Blakey and his Jazz Messengers, with guests Bud Powell - piano and Barney Wilen - alto sax, caught live at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris in1959. At that time Blakey's Messengers were no less than Lee Morgan – trumpet, Wayne Shorter – tenor sax, Walter Davis Jr. – piano and Jymmy Meritt – bass. In other words one of the greatest Hard Bop combos ever, a pool of great young individuals under the direction of one of the most influential drummers and…
Thaumaturgy
*Last copies. Reduced price* The intimacy of Tetuzi Akiyama’s Thaumaturgy is immense. In nine short through-composed pieces written over a ten-year period, Akiyama captures something melodic, simple, and utterly transfixing. In his first instrumental solo acoustic guitar record in more than a decade, Akiyama, widely known for his improvisatory collaborations as well as his hypnotizing boogie-drone guitar pieces, here works without effects and maintains a strict harmonic palette throughout. Every…
The Man Who Grew Common In Wisdom
*Last copies. Reduced price* Besom presse announces the release of Ellen Fullman’s Music for the Man Who Grew Common in Wisdom. Known prominently for her sculptural Long String Instrument (LSI), these musique concrete pieces showcase an underrecognized side of Fullman’s sound investigations. In two expansive works, Fullman voyages through the comic, the menacing and the blissful all while evoking the unique kinetic and timbral aesthetic for which she is widely praised. Composed between 1987-1989…