★Be With Records
Contempo
They say: "New directions in contemporary scoring." Be With Records say: "Contempo is one of the best full album listens in the KPM 1000 library." Succinct smoking soul, super tight breaks and string-drenched sleaze composed by the library master, Keith Mansfield. Many library records are a game of two halves and Contempo is certainly one of those. The first side cooks on a high funk breaks flame whilst the flip is something altogether more tranquil, yet no less groovy. It lays back with dreamie…
Feelings
Be With Records present a reissue of Jay Richford and Gary Stevan's Feelings, originally released in 1974. Since its original release on Italian label Carosello in 1974, Richford and Stevan's Feelings has been described as the greatest library record ever released more than once. It's a tough funk, street jazz masterpiece coveted for many years by collectors of all musical genres. As the story goes, these were the pseudonyms adopted by Stefano Torossi and Giancarlo Gazzani who wrote the album bu…
Roots
** To be released in October. 2021 re-issue, 140g vinyl, remastered from the original analogue tapes ** What an unbelievable record. From the wild cover to the iconic breakbeats, Roots from Ian Carr’s Nucleus is one of the dopest albums we know. This is seriously thick, funky-prog jazz-rock heaven. Originally released on Vertigo in 1973, other than a couple of versions at the time for other territories, Roots was never re-pressed since so it’s gone on to become another one of those impossible to…
Another Thought
Another Thought was the first collection of Arthur Russell’s music to be released after his death in 1992. Released on CD by Point Music in 1993 it marked the beginning of nearly 30 years of work to let the world hear the enormous archive of unreleased recordings Arthur left behind. Be With revisits this first compilation for a new gatefold double vinyl version and a triple-fold digipak CD re-issue.
This is the only place where you can hear some of Arthur’s most recognisable music, like the titl…
Suzie Super Groupie
Walter “Junie” Morrison released his third solo LP, Suzie Super Groupie, in 1976. A slick, smooth and soulful record, it’s a genre-melting tour de force with rich elements of proto-boogie, funk and jazz. In short, this is yet another essential album reissue from Be With.
Crystal Harmonics
Ocean Moon is a solo project from Jon Tye of Seahawks. A long time explorer of the sounds of spaciousness, Crystal Harmonics is a document of Jon’s latest discoveries. An ambient/new age/modern classical library suite for KPM, this is inter-dimensional music for mind, body and spirit.
Percussion Spectrum
They Say: “Exploring the wide range of moods and sounds produced by percussion”. We say: MPCs at the ready because this does exactly what it says on the tin, to devastating effect. Oh, and the sleeve is stunning. Originally released in 1979, Percussion Spectrum was produced by the legendary percussionists Barry Morgan and Ray Cooper. With dope beats taking in diverse styles, from funk and soul and jazz through to Latin, Brazilian, samba and Afro-Cuban, this is an amazing sample source filled wit…
Tulips
Frank Maston’s Tulips is a sample-ready film score to the best 70s movie never made. Originally a super-limited self-release on his Phonoscope label in late 2017, Tulips has already become incredibly sought-after. Be With were introduced to Maston by mutual friends Aquarium Drunkard and it didn’t take long before we decided this modern classic deserved a reissue. Inspired by the deep-grooving soundtracks of Italian cinema - think Morricone, Umiliani and Alessandroni - Maston conceived the entire…
Analog Sensitivity
When a synth master like Steve Moore joins forces with KPM, magic must materialise. And so it does with Analog Sensitivity: cinematic, enigmatic synthscapes to both haunt and heal. With the clue right there in the title, Analog Sensitivity is built up from the quieter aspects of the sound Steve has been exploring and evolving for over 20 years. It’s a layering of ambivalently dense and airy, muffled and echoing sounds created on his collection of synthesizers and other electronic music hardware.…
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.
Down On the Road By the Beach
For the first time since its inception 36 years ago, Steve Hiett’s elusive "Down On the Road By the Beach" is finally made available outside of Japan. Now widely celebrated as a desert island disc, this definitive reissue is restored from original masters with vivid reproductions of the "Down On the Road By the Beach" exhibition catalogue, intended to accompany its original release, and extensive liner notes penned by fellow Steve Hiett obsessive Mikey IQ Jones.
Island Visions
2020 marks 10 years since "Ocean Trippin’", the first Seahawks release, and "Island Visions" is the perfect distillation of the sounds, sights, textures and moods that Jon Tye and Pete Fowler have been exploring over the last decade. Sunrise to sunset condensed to two sides of an LP. The normal rules of space and time don’t apply here. From the grooves of Brian Bennett to the moog vibrations of Mike Vickers, the lush textures of Les Baxter to the experimental sounds of Delia Derbyshire and David…
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 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.
Tea With Holger
Smith & Mudd were invited to contribute to KPM’s “Album Shorts” project. The results are predictably wonderful. In classic library record sleeve style, these tracks are collectively described as “Balearic themes including breezy soul, sun-dappled melodies, warm pianos and sweeping strings”. You want to hear this, right?
The Now Generation - Percussive Underscores
Full of synth funk, afro beats, exotica, leftfield madness, dance floor dynamite and all-around greatness, "The Now Generation - Percussive Underscores" is comfortably one of the very best library records, full stop.
75
Funky soul-jazz organist Caesar Frazier crafted superior Hammond funk. "75", his second LP, is a rare gem. It’s comfortably his greatest artistic statement. A taut, grooving set of expressive jazz-funk, it's a mixture of hard-driving originals, deeply beautiful slower numbers to vary the tempo and a couple of classy covers.
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!
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. …