★Polydor
Ubiquity
*2024 stock* "Vibraphonist, singer and producer Roy Ayers is a master of many musical styles and genres, from acid-jazz, jazz-funk to romantic ballads and dance tracks. While many of his contemporaries seemed to fail when they tried different sounds, Ayers always made sure a certain of musicality and identity was apparent in all of his work.
In 1970 Ayers signed Polydor Records and released Ubiquity which had Ayers in a looser and a less formal atmosphere. Even at its loosest, Atlantic still had…
Fairport Convention
By far the most rock-oriented of Fairport Convention's early albums, this debut was recorded before Sandy Denny joined the band (Judy Dyble handles the female vocals). Unjustly overlooked by listeners who consider the band's pre-Denny output insignificant, this is a fine folk-rock effort that takes far more inspiration from West Coast '60s sounds than traditional British folk. Fairport's chief strengths at this early juncture were the group's interpretations, particularly in the harmony vocals, …
Finest Finger
Limited Time Offer 180g Green LP. “Finest Finger” is Sensations’ Fix’s fourth album, originally released in 1976 and never officially reissued on vinyl until today. The making of this record coincided with the line-up addition of a second keyboard player and, even if Franco Falsini remains the only author of all its songs, the album sounds much more homogeneous, fluent, inspired, better produced than the band’s previous ones and is clearly the result of a proper teamwork. For the first time, Fal…
Fairport Convention
By far the most rock-oriented of Fairport Convention's early albums, this debut was recorded before Sandy Denny joined the band (Judy Dyble handles the female vocals). Unjustly overlooked by listeners who consider the band's pre-Denny output insignificant, this is a fine folk-rock effort that takes far more inspiration from West Coast '60s sounds than traditional British folk. Fairport's chief strengths at this early juncture were the group's interpretations, particularly in the harmony vocals, …
Never Never Land (50th Anniversary Edition)
The Pink Fairies were an English Rock band in the London Underground and psychedelic scene of the early 70s. Their first album Neverneverland, from 1971, is a mix of psychedelic, proto-punk (“Do It”), rock (“Teenage Rebel” & “Say You Love Me”) and even American R&B (on “War Girl”) sounds which shows their wide style. Also included is the b-side of their debut single “Do It” which was later covered by The Henry Rollins Band on their 1988 Do It album. The 50th Anniversary edition includes an inser…
One For The Soul
By the time poet, singer-songwriter, and artist Lizzy Mercier Descloux recorded 1984’s Zulu Rock, she’d marked herself out as both a globe trotter with more passport stamps than Tintin and a musical innovator whose loose, arty spirit could be applied to styles as varied as no wave, Bavarian oompa and Soweto jive. She’d also established a tight-knit threesome with muse/former lover Michel Esteban and producer/on-off lover Adam Kidron, who all reunited to follow Zulu Rock – a surprise hit in her n…
Alla Periferia Dell'Impero (LP)
500 numbered copies Remastered from the original tapes. Like many of his peers, Mino Di Martino first emerged within the context of popular music, working in numerous Italian beat bands, before finding enormous success as a pop star as a member of I Giganti, whose 1971 LP, Terra in Bocca, is often cited as a spark for the sea change in Italian music that would emerge over the coming years.
After his experience with Albergo Intergalattico Spaziale (together with the actress and singer Edda 'Terra…
Ys
"Ys" was nothing less than a unique masterpiece of the golden age of Italian progressive rock. Coming from the town of Naples, Balletto di Bronzo had already published in 1970 their debut "Sirio 2222", an ideal bridge among beat, prog and hard rock, when in '71 they were joined by keyboardist Gianni Leone, who completely revolutionized the sound of the band.The following year "YS" fell like a bolt from the blue on the Italian music scene. The songwriting is always unsettling, extremely intricate…
Forse Le Lucciole Non Si Amano Più
* Comes with a four-page foldout insert* Originally released in 1977, Locanda Delle Fate's "Forse le lucciole non si amano più" is an LP for which the term 'masterpiece' is never wasted. Perhaps the last true album of Italian Progressive Rock, before the genre was completely overshadowed by waves of 'new' music, and then come back strongly in vogue in the new millennium.Reviewed hundreds of times and as many incensed, it is a record that has stood the inexorable passage of time, due to its perfe…
Bleak House
** Deluxe (and pricey) edition, remastered from the original tapes ** Recorded over three sessions in 1968, Bleak House marks Terje Rypdal departure from psychedelic group The Dream and off to explore further territories. He would later become one of the most recognisable instrumentalist in european jazz, with releases on the Ecm label filled to the brim with his searingly exciting future-tundra guitar sounds.
Remastered reissue, digipack edition. By this time in 1968, he was already in an almos…
Mark Hollis
**180 gram vinyl** Following the sad passing of Mark Hollis earlier this year we all collectively turned back towards the impressive career arc of his band Talk Talk. Lesser referenced was his self-titled solo album released in 1998, which is now available again on vinyl.Despite being released as a solo album by Hollis, it was originally intended to be credited to Talk Talk, under the name Mountains of the Moon. A beautiful and haunting work, this album picks up where he left off with Talk Talk'…
Rules Of Freedom
Exact LP repro edition A grey-area edition of the legendary 1967 modal masterwork by one of the greatest unsung jazz pioneers of the 20th century. A ture lost underground jazz classic from the late '60, filled with long, flowing tunes that have tremendous modal energy and a very cohesive feel. Backtracking a little, Nathan Davis was born in 1937 in Kansas City, Kansas and attended the University of Kansas in Lawrence before shipping off to military service in Germany in 1960. After being dischar…
Springboard
The quartet of Ian Carr, Jeff Clyne, John Stevens and Trevor Watts - encounter here in their only recorded document, is among the most important gestures in the history of British free jazz. Issued in 1969, but recorded three years earlier, Springboard offers a window into the origins of an entire movement - the flowering of change within a music in geographies not its own. Free jazz always had a more receptive audience in Europe than in America. It’s not surprising that indigenous realisations…
So Far
Exact replica, officially reissued by Polydor in 180 gram audiophile pressing, digitally remastered from original tapes. Originally released in 1972, this is the second album by producer Uwe Nettelbeck's legendary krautrock band Faust. More song oriented than the first record, it still remains experimental. So Far is an absolute classic of outsider (pop) music, reissued now in its original packaging. In terms of scope and the wealth of ideas, this is probably the most balanced of their fir…