Review: A new take on a Jonathan Richman classic from 1977 which has lit up clubs for 45-odd years, especially during the punk era. The track's infectious rhythm has inspired various reggae remixes but now it's getting a fresh cumbia twist. Cumbia and reggae share a common groove, making them a perfect match for DJs to mix and this one was recorded in Lima by Pancho Acosta, founder and guitarist of Company Quinto, who transforms the track into an upbeat cumbia gem. The flip side features Acosta's 'Carnaval de Jujuy' blended with Money Chicha's modern take on Peru's fuzzed-out chicha sound.
Review: Jonathan Richman's 'Egyptian Reggae' has been setting discerning dancefloors alight since its release in 1977, during the golden era of punk. Known for its infectious rhythm, the track has seen a few reggae remixes over the years. However, it was time for something freshia playful yet respectful cumbia twist. Both genres share a certain groove, making them a perfect match, and it's easy to imagine DJs weaving these sounds together in their sets. This new take on 'Egyptian Reggae' has been recorded in Lima by Pancho Acosta, the founder and guitarist of Company Quinto, and one of Peru's finest cumbia guitarists. Acosta brings his expert touch to the track, transforming it into an upbeat cumbia gem. On the flip side, we're treated to one of Acosta's own originals, 'Carnaval de Jujuy', recorded by Austin-based future cumbia outfit Money Chicha. The song blends Peru's fuzzed-out early chicha sound with Money Chicha's unique, modern interpretation of the genre, delivering a fresh, captivating cumbia vibe.
M Hawk - "Beat Me Till I'm Blue" (No Horns version) (2:41)
The Mohawks - "Beat Me Till I'm Blue" (Horns version) (2:42)
Review: 'Beat Me Till I'm Blue' is a wonderfully funky classic by The Mohawks presented under the M Hawk alias, the Hawk in question being none other than KPM Music Library overlord Alan Hawkshaw, who wrote the themes from everything from Grange Hill to Countdown. It was a real cornerstone of the late-1960s library and soul-infused grooves of the sort that diggers still fawn over today, and sample fiends still search out. The track delivers Hawkshaw's distinctively driving Hammond organ riffs, tight drum breaks and irresistible rhythms, all of which have made it a favourite among DJs for decades. Two versions are served up here, one with the iconic horns and one with them stripped away, and both offer plenty of energy. .
Review: The Mocambo label introduces Turkish artist Peki Momes who began recording music by chance in 2023. Despite no formal music training, she brings a fresh, authentic approach to groove music based largely on intuition. Her first two tracks reflect her versatility and feature here - 'Goc Mevisimi' combines Japanese City Pop with tropical boogie to create a global underground vibe with dirty disco grooves, jazzy flute and Turkish lyrics. 'Ruya' then delivers a gritty psychedelic Anatolian sound with fuzzy guitars and hypnotic energy. Momes is working on a debut album, we hear, and we can't wait.
Review: This is a very special gold vinyl version of the soundtrack for the tokusatsu science fiction superhero television series Spectreman. It ran in the early 70s and had three seasons in all with a cult following who will go nuts to finally have these sounds on wax all these many decades later. It has one Japanese side and one American side and is the work of Ricardo Cruz and Kunio Miyauchi. Instrumentals and the theme song all feature to make this a real retro classic.
Review: Dr. Robert of British 80s pop hitmakers The Blow Monkeys and British folk icon Matt Deighton (Mother Earth, Bill Fay, Paul Weller) have formed a new duo and release their album on the not-for-profit Last Night From Glasgow label. Their respective histories - writing really accomplished pop songs and performing in bands with some of the best artists in the history of rock n' roll - raise expectations, but they absolutely smash them. The title-track is a beautiful marriage of pastoral psych folk and glam rock, where there's melodies to spare and affecting, deeply soulful timbres at every turn.
Review: If you're unfamiliar with Dr Robert, we recommend checking out The Blow Monkeys. Robert Howard, as he's credited, formed the iconic new wave and 'sophisti-pop' group in 1981 and his piano keys, bass notes, guitar melodies, vocals and words define the band's sizeable back catalogue. Matt Deighton, meanwhile, might mean Mother Earth, Bill Fay, or Paul Weller to some listeners. He's been involved with them all. Here, the esteemed UK musicians run into one another on Last Night From Glasgow, a treasure of a patron-funded, not-for-profit label out of Scotland's biggest city. It couldn't be a more credible and thoughtful combination. Musically, the result packs crazy levels of musicality, taking a lead from pop, soft, folk and psyche rock to produce a sound which moves between soaring to understated grandeur to deceptively complex and overtly intimate.
Review: British outfit Little Barrie - guitarist Barrie Cadogan and bassist Lewis Wharton - team up with Malcolm Catto, known for his experimental edge as producer and drummer with Heliocentrics, on this raw-edged collaboration. Cadogan and Wharton, whose distinctive sound helped define the opening notes of Vince Gilligan's own-right spinoff Better Call Saul, bring their tightly wound energy into Catto's sonically unpredictable world. What emerges is a tense, scorched blend of overdriven guitar stabs, thicketed percussion, and eerie atmospheres that play like a weather report from a collapsing city. Catto's rhythmic instincts create a fractured foundation where Little Barrie's gritty melodies can unravel or coil without warning. Far from polished or predictable, the record thrives on friction and volatility, capturing three musicians testing the limits of structure and sound.
Open The Morning Window, The Sunshine Comes In, The Hope Of Today Is Small Bird Singing (Dog Side) (3:04)
Ruding Piano (4:01)
Shukuyakushi Nenbutsu Kanehari (5:33)
American Village (5:32)
Look Up The Sky (6:15)
Review: Makoto Kurita aka. Magical Power Mako was a veteran underground avant-garde rock musician from Japan. His self-titled record, now reissued here - it saliently forewent any unique album cover save for the stock Polydor sleeve - raised all kinds of arcane hell, and went on to furtively pave the way for a yet more exploratory avant-garde renaissance in Japan thereon. Beginning with a faux-newscast about the collapse of the social contract amid gridlocked international politics (Kurita waxes British-accented with his introduction, "throughout the city today, there is chaos... hospitals have no ambulances, fire brigades have no fire engines... the country is paralysed"), as China, Russia and America escalate mutually assured tensions to a bitter triangular chess game. A deeply puzzling concept record ensues, fusing songwriterly charm, balladry and psychic rock, of purposeful provocation, and with no obvious resolution in earshot.
Review: The Magick Brother & Mystic Sister are in fact not a brother-sister duo, but rather a quartet made up of musicians Eva Muntada, Marc Tena, Maya Fernandez and Xavi Sandoval. Active since 2020 and their debut self-titled EP, this light occultic outfit have since built a rep for weaving flying-carpeted tapestries of narration, sonic reverie, and mysticism in album form; their latest record Tarot II is no exception this rule, coming as the second to name itself after the card-reading divination practice common to the Western esoteric world and beyond. Out from an opening, what sounds to be hammered dulcimered prog progression ('Strength') and moving through to a further ten tracks each named after tarot cards (save for the 'Unnamed Arcane', an apocryphal confabulation of the band - have they drawn a hand we haven't?), this is a record of supreme mystique, and one for the witches and warlocks in our ranks.
Review: If you were indeed wondering why, well, Gary Marks doesn't claim to have the answers. Amid an honorary reissue campaign of this under-storied musician's early LPs by P-Vine (after he moved on to become a published fiction and non-fiction writer), Marks' third record from 1978 stands out among this folky jazz singer's best. After his debut record Gathering and then the sophomore Upon Aonda's Wing, this ponderous yet sprightly record follows Marks' relocation to the West Coast of the USA in 1976, after which he began working with Art Rande and Oregon member Paul McCandles. Considered his masterpiece by many, this hidden avant-garde folk jazz diamond contains stirring narratives, cathartic piano ballads, and hum-along heart-pinchers, weaving twin threads of personal disclosure and mystery Americana.
Review: The exquisite 1974 debut album by American pianist, guitarist, producer and songwriter Gary Marks hears a deserving reissue through Lantern Heights. Now a published fiction and non-fiction author, Marks' early musical career ended all to shortly, and was Marked sonically by sweetened contemporary jazz and folk arrangements, heard best on this homeward but still subtly cosmic opening statement of an LP. The open-ended, pathetic-fallacious 'Sherry's Song' is our twinging piece de resistance, with Marks serenading a young flame as the object of his gushing folksy affections, while the immediate follower 'Gathering' indulges a completely "other" set of progged-out emotions. 'We Free' unites the two through a bossa nova downturn, and 'A Gina Theme' isolates the vibraphone in a kind of giant sonic glasshouse, serving as one of several interludes that steadfastly beautify the record.
Review: Known as much for their outlandish costumes as their constant musical evolution, Martin Circus were one of France's most intriguing bands of the 1970s and 80s. Originally formed in 1969 as a psychedelics-inspired progressive rock combo, they later successfully turned their hand to wonderfully camp, over-the-top disco and synth-sporting new wave. Evolution Francaise 1969-1985 does a brilliant job of charting that remarkable musical evolution, dashing between tail end of the 60s prog sounds ('Tout Tremblant De Fievre', 'Facon de Parler'), early Black Sabbath-esque heavy rock ('Annie, Christine ou Partricia'), gritty, Rolling Stones style rhythm and blues ('A Bas Tous Le Privileges'), psychedelic disco-rock ('Les Indiens Du Demier Matin'), Cerrone-ish throb-jobs ('Mon Premier Hold Up', Francois K re-editing 'Disco Circus') and synth-pop ('J'tai Vu Dans Le Canoe?').
Review: Has any band undergone such a radical musical evolution as Martin Circus? The French band, formed in 1969, initially explored psychedelia, heavy rhythm and blues and formative progressive rock, before pivoting to Cerrone style disco, new wave and eventually, synth-pop. Evolution Francaise 1969-85 does a great job in charting this sonic journey on one action-packed compilation, chronologically serving up such heady musical highs as 'Annie, Christine ou Partricia' (a heavy rock-meets-The Rolling Stones workout), 'Les Indiens De Demier Matin' (psychedelic disco-rock), 'Mon Premier Hold Up' (their most Cerrone-esque number), 'Disco Circus' (their most famous cut, here re-edited by Francous Kevorkian) and 'J'Tai Vu Dans Le Canoe?' (quirky synth-pop).
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