2019

The official re-release of this mystic slow motion synth pop tune by Ghia – a little known small home recording/studio project from Bielefeld, Germany. Limited to only 300 copies.Ghia only released two singles while they existed and was originally founded in 1983 by old friends Lutz Boberg and Frank Simon. Around 1985 they started to work with singer Lisa Ohm, who they met through a former teacher that was working as an engineer at the local Cottage studio. Boberg and Simon were composing the songs together and also wrote the lyrics. Lutz Boberg, who was trained on classical piano, played the keyboards, including bass. Frank Simon was more about the technical aspects as well as being a proficient guitarist. Their home studio consisted of a Yamaha DX7, a Roland synthesizer, a sampler and a drum machine. Simon was also trying to create a new sound by building his own effect processors. “The analogue effects already had turned mainstream and sounded boring while the newer digital effects sounded aweful to me.”, he recalls. Hence, Simon invested about half a year to develop his own signal processing system to create the FX sounds he had in mind.The keyboards and guitars on “What’s Your Voodoo?” were passed through that unique processor of course. Combined with a deep synth bassline and the exceptional haunting vocals by Lisa Ohm it gives the track all the magic the title implies. The exclusive B-side track of the single is “Keep Your House In Disorder” which previously could only be found on a few handmade demo cassettes as as well as a scarce CD compilation. It effortlessly brings together pop and modern soul vibes.Almost completely overlooked at the time when it was released, we are happy to shed new light on the long forgotten Ghia project. Both tracks should appeal to cosmic and synth pop lovers as well as late soul collectors

MFM044 sees the reissue of the cult Spanish studio project Música Esporádica with their incredible one off, self-titled album.Another Suso Saiz side project, this one grew out of his work with his band Orquesta De Las Nubes, who were themselves the subject of a Music From Memory compilation last year.The idea of getting Orquesta De Las Nubes to collaborate with Glen Velez and Layne Redmond arose after the two American musicians visited Spain during a series of seminars on frame drum techniques in 1985. Having met Glen Velez some years before in Madrid whilst Glen was performing with the Steve Reich Ensemble, Suso Saiz and Glen Velez quickly formed a strong friendship over their mutual love of non-Western music and the potentials of repetition within music. The two would play, talk and drinks for many hours in Suso’s studio space whenever Glen was in Madrid.During one such session in 1985, Glen and Suso would be joined by Orquesta De Las Nubes and Spanish friend and musician Miguel Herrero. With exciting new ideas flowing quickly and easily, Suso decided to immediately call Track Studios in Madrid to see if they might have a space to record some of the material. With just a few days available the group would record for about 12, with what Suso would describe as ‘incredible fluency’, by which time they would have recorded the album they would later title Música Esporádica.After its release 34 years ago Música Esporádica sounds as stunning as ever and Music From Memory are delighted to be able to share the fluency, spontaneity and close friendship which fuelled the recording of this amazing album.

Erezioni present another Italodisco treasure called "Dancing" by La Troupe, originally released in 1984 via Drums Edizioni. Fully remastered from the original master tape, courtesy of Gero Merella.

Skyf Connection (pronounced skAyf) was a short lived project by long time friends Anthony Mthembu and Enoch Nondala. At the time they were working for Annic Music, an independent label run by married couple Anne and Nic Blignaut. Although the label was known mostly for Zulu, Sotho, Tsonga and other traditional styles, they had a few Disco releases on the label including groups like Keith Hutchinson’s Focus and Enoch’s discovery Lena, who went on to have huge success under the name Ebony a few years later.In 1984, when an artist didn’t show up for a booked session they decided to make use of the studio time and began working on a demo. At the time Anthony and Enoch had been playing for a year at a new club called Gamsho, located on a farm on the outskirts of Kliptown Soweto. Along with Blackie Sibisi, Sepate Mokoena and Elijah “chippa” Khumalo they made up the resident house band. Due to cultural boycotts and American artists refusing to perform in the country, locals took it upon themselves to fill the market with the American sound the crowds demanded. The demo they recorded at Blue Tree Studios was going to be their product they could use to promote their brand of the American sound. They then took the demo to Universal Studios where their friend and trusted engineer Jan “fast fingers” Smit was working. It would be here that they would polish their demo into something they could take to their bosses and have pressed. Equipped with a DX 7, Linn Drum and some Juno synthesizers they were on their way. Jan lived up to his name and programmed the drums, it is rumoured he could program in almost real time, a skill that translated to the local arcade where he held high scores on many machines. Enoch would be singing and playing guitar while Anthony would do all the Bass and Keyboards. The result was 4 funky party anthems with synth work like no other recording at the time. Their take on what they believed the crowd would want to hear at the beloved club they called home.From start to finish the 4 tracks portray what would have been a standard night at the Gamshu. Although the club would open earlier and the standard hours of most clubs was 6 to 6 , the band would start playing at 10pm. With their standard set time and Anthony and Enoch unique view on what a Disco should be, they chose the motto Ten to Ten as the album title because those were the hours when they were the stars and Disco ruled the dance floor. To get to the club was a bit difficult, you needed to drive along an empty road where thieves waited for any patrons trying their luck walking after dark. Since there was no transport during the night, the safest way to get home was to wait till the next morning to walk home. Even though in the summer months of Johannesburg light begins to peek in just after 4am, crowds refused to leave and stayed enjoying good music and company until 10am. The lead off track “Let’s Freak Together” has powerful lyrics encouraging people to let go of their worries, put aside any differences and let the music bring everyone to freak and dance together. The whole album is about the joy we can all feel when we share the same moments and how music can bring people together in a unique way, a philosophy shared with the original nightclubs of 70s New York. This approach to music is where the name Skyf Connection comes from, translating from slang to mean the connection we create through sharing, in this case Music and good times.Skyf Connection would go on to play at Gamsho till the club’s closure in 1986. In those years their popularity lead to being booked for private events like weddings and birthday parties, as well as gigs in some other venues like Mofolo Hall. They would share the stage with many artists through the years learning artist’s songs and providing support as a backing band. After the club closed Anthony would go on to join the house band at The Pelican, another famous club located in Orlando East, as well as dabbling with songwriting for artists like Phumi Maduna and helping Enoch on many projects through the years. Enoch would ditch live music altogether and immerse himself in studio work, starting full time as a house producer and A&R for the recently formed Ream Music. He would go on to produce hit albums for pop artists like Percy Kay and Makwerhu but made his mark discovering countless artists that would become stars in the traditional market. They would remain friends until Anthony’s passing in 2016 and although Anthony is no longer with us his spirit lives in the grooves he left on this one of a kind record. His wife Vinolia will be accepting his portion of the profits on his behalf. MORE LIKE THIS

"Much like their contemporaries and collaborators NSRD, the music of 19 gadi pirms sākuma captures frustration with their own reality, and a playful drive to make up a new one." Latvia, late 80's

Private Press Spiritual Jazz from D.C's Jeff Majors. Featuring harp, drum machines and synths. Jeff was one of Alice Coltrane's students at the ashram. He also played in Brother Ah's band. Each song on this album is an inspired vision of the personal and the devotional via the harps universal gilstening range and Linn drums. Comes with info booklet.