Reissues
Momentum
Agitation Free was one of the leading representatives of German experimental rock music in the early 1970s. From the end of 1967, the Berlin band developed long instrumental improvisations that were unusually free for the time. They achieved cult status as early as 1972 with an independent mixture of improvised rock paired with electro, ethno, jazz and trance elements. Extensive live activities made the band increasingly well-known throughout Europe. In the summer of 1972, the group appeared in …
Metal Machine Music
*2023 stock* Lou Reed's Metal Machine Trio/Re-Mastered to the specifications of the original master, playable on home theatre systems. Lou Reed has gone back to the original multi-tracks and has digitally re-mastered his 1975 classic album "Metal Machine Music." This is the one and only official re-mastered edition of "Metal Machine Music", re-issued, supervised and approved by Lou Reed himself. The re-mastered edition is released on Reed's very own Sister Ray label in three formats - double gat…
Il Nido Del Ragno
A selection of six tracks from “Spider Labyrinth” appeared for the first time, on CD “Porte aperte”, from the homonymous movie of director Gianni Amelio. Compared to the original stereo masters, there are nine more unpublished tracks. The author composed and directed a symphonic score which alternates dissonant and calm, suspended musics. This LP, of a total running time of 34:42 minutes, intends to be a sincere homage to Franco Piersanti’s Art.
Il Bisbetico Domato
The dear departed Detto Mariano wrote a very enjoyable comment, based on a love theme, that he retakes with pleasant instrumental variations alternated to funny tracks. The opening credits are introduced by the dance song “Step on dynamite” by “Clown”, which we will find later in two alternatives instrumental takes, and “La pigiatura”, performed by the choir with Patrizia Tapparelli, Mariano Perrella and Simona Aloisi. This latter track is the theme of the main movie scene, in which Elia dances …
We And The Sea
Rich blend of Brazilian samba and Afro percussion, more like the jazz of Getz/Gilberto than the bossa nova of, say, Sergio Mendes and Brasil '66. An exquisite album, that stretches the boundaries of Bossa Nova.
Love Nature
*Limited Edition* Japanese trumpeter Terumasa Hino delivers an exceptional moment in this early '70s session recorded in America, featuring the brilliant contributions of Gary Bartz on alto saxophone and Reggie Workman on bass. Unlike Hino's later fusion-based American dates, this album embodies a sublimely spiritual style with extended tracks that echo the energy of Bartz's early works. The music, much like Bartz's, stretches out without veering too far into avant-garde territory, maintaining a…
Jodo
*2023 stock* Takehiro Honda joins forces with Reggie Workman on bass and Motohiko Hino on drums in this outstanding trio session. The album showcases a freer side of Honda, exploring open and lyrical modes that were gaining prominence in Japan during that period. Despite the freedom, a strong rhythmic sense prevails. While one track features Honda on electric piano, the acoustic numbers stand out with a proud and righteous energy.
Legend Of The Sea-Myself
*Limited Edition* Pianist Takashi Kako brings a uniquely subtle and poetic approach to his instrument in this improvised music setting. Supported by a talented quartet featuring Keiki Midorikawa, Masahiko Togashi, and Masami Nakagawa, Kako paints in space and color with a wonderfully abstract style.
Paris Days
*Limited Edition* In the early 1970s, while studying contemporary music composition in Paris, Takashi Kako discovered and fell in love with free jazz, and soon became active as a pianist there. He performed with Bob Reed, Noah Howard, Motoki Takagi, and Yoshisaburo Toyozumi, and his name quickly spread around the world. This work was recorded in Paris together with his allies. The unparalleled sound of reason and passion depicts his days in Paris. Originally released in 1977. Supervision and com…
Straight Ahead
*Limited Edition* Immerse yourself in a delightful offering of Japanese jazz from the 70s, featuring a straight-ahead approach complemented by captivating fusion elements, courtesy of keyboardist Mikio Masuda, whose electrifying presence enhances most tracks. Tenor saxophonist Takao Uematsu leads the ensemble, with the added brilliance of trumpeter Hitoshi Okano, whose bold lines infuse the record with a touch reminiscent of Freddie Hubbard's CTI-era sensibility. While certain tracks exude a fun…
Shudan Seikatsu
*Limited Edition* Shoyuki Akedagawa is not only a pianist, but also an ocarina player, guitarist, and eventually a vocalist. Comical yet emotional. Melancholy in his humor. This is a masterpiece that explodes with Akutagawa's talent. Nakamura Masco gradually reveals his true nature, Umezu Kazutoki bursts out with his unique phrases without pause, and Miyasaka Takashi and Saito Makoto create dynamism like a big wave. All blend together to form a vortex that opens the door to the incomparable worl…
Aketa's Erotical Piano Solo & Grotesque Piano Trio
*Limited Edition* Pianist Shoji Aketagawa, the creative force behind the consistently unconventional Aketa's Disc label, presents an album with an unusual title that aligns with the label's distinctiveness. The material, while not explicitly erotic or grotesque, showcases Shoji's beautiful and robust notes on several solo tracks. The album takes a unique turn as Shoji collaborates with the trio on the final tune, offering a quality unlike any other artist we can think of. The piano, possessing t…
Japanese Cassette
** Much-Needed Repress, Red Vinyl ** Tom Recchion is a legendary character. He is a world-famous art director, a founding member of the L.A.F.M.S., and was even the drummer for Sonic Youth for a brief period. Since the '70s, Tom has been creating screwed-up music in a dizzying array of formats, from large fully-clothed ensembles to buck naked solo explorations. The Japanese Cassette album falls into the latter category, and it is a head spinning doozy. The music here was originally created in 19…
Drama Suite Part II
Alan Tew's Drama Suite Part II. What can we really say? Honestly? We guess the first thing that strikes you is how clean the drums are. Almost impossibly slick but dripping so, so heavy with the neck-snapping funk you'd expect from perhaps the most sought-after library funk set of them all! The cheapest on Discogs is, currently, £1300+. Now's your chance to remedy that. If you know, you know. And we think you know...
"The Rub" is a cool, low-slung heavy-funk roller with relaxed brass and alto fl…
Drama Suite Part I
Alan Tew's driving jazz-rock, sleuth-funk masterpiece, Drama Suite Part I is finally reissued to sate your appetites for arguably the very best library two-parter in existence. If you don’t know, get to know. Originally released in 1976 but wonderfully timeless, Drama Suite Part I is at the top of every library funk collectors' list. It's easy to see why...
Racing out the gate, the gritty crime funk of "The Detectives" makes for a thrilling, wild ride. A dramatic action theme, it's packed with s…
Afro-Rock
Vecchio's Afro-Rock is one big horn-heavy, bass-blasting, Latin groove funk-rock party. Only now, you're all invited because this, ladies and gentleman, is officially...a grail no more. With copies currently starting at 400 Euros for an original, this beautifully presented reissue, part of Be With's fresh campaign with Music De Wolfe, is well overdue. A magnificent and somewhat obscure library set that's just a total, cohesive joy from start to finish, this here is the soundtrack to all your smo…
Matrix
Esteemed pianist Masabumi Kikuchi enjoyed a long and illustrious career in jazz that encompassed many forms. After playing in Lionel Hampton’s Japanese touring band, he played on five Sadao Watanabe albums in mid-1960s and backed Sonny Rollins before studying at the Berklee College of Music. Matrix was the first of five albums recorded with his Sextet and is rightly rated one of the greatest of his entire career, the album mixing well-executed covers of songs by Chick Corea, Miles Davis, Watanab…
Spare Ass Annie and Other Tales
Tip! "Originally released in 1993, on CD only except very few promo vinyls, Spare Ass Annie and Other Tales is a collaboration between famous -- and infamous! -- beat writer William S. Burroughs and politico-rappers Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy, whose Television, Drug of the Nation picked up the baton from the Last Poets and Gil Scot Heron. With Hal Willner in the producer's chair, the album sits at the unusual intersection of literature, spoken word and music, as Burroughs is reading excerpt…
Thelonious Monk With John Coltrane 1957 (Revisited)
Temporary Super Offer! “Working with Monk brought me close to a musical architect of the highest order. I felt I learned from him in every way – through the senses, theoretically, technically. I would talk to Monk about musical problems and he would sit at the piano and show me the answers just by playing them.“ – John Coltrane
Eric Dolphy At The Five Spot To Iron Man (Revisited)
Temporary Super Offer! "Eric Dolphy’s legacy is well represented by these performances from The Five Spot and the sessions supervised by Alan Douglas. They confirm him to be an artist who straddled the divide then so deep in jazz, drawing sustenance from the music’s past as he cleared a path to its future. Dolphy’s was a sensibility that could celebrate Fats Waller and honor Jomo Kenyatta, its inclusiveness rare in the polarized early 1960s. Fortunately, his example has not simply endured, bu…