2021

Byron the Aquarius returns for a gorgeous double LP. Expect the smoothness of deep house, melodic instrumental hip hop production of the J Dilla creed along with tight jazz pieces.The New Beginning LP showcases range and expertise from the off, exploding with pulsing discordant jazz in "Amaya's Voyage". Psychedelic g-funk is the MO of "Smoke One For Huckaby", before a B-side milieu of jazz and hip hop reminiscent of Guru's Jazzmatazz. The album settles into a deep groove across its C-side, the highlight of which is the percussive workout of "Underground Was Black", complemented delicately with dazed pads and buoyant but smokey lounge jazz sounds in "Cosmic Jazz". Off kilter hip hop shines through in "Last Time We Gonna Do This" and its eclectic sound palette, then we are blindsided by the heavy electro distortion of "The End Of The World". The record closes with a collaboration of the genres explored throughout, pieced together into the pumping "Lost People of Tron".

Back in 2019, Safe Trip delivered a much-needed reissue of Trans-4m’s previously overlooked 1992 debut album, Sublunar Oracles, an ambient house and ambient techno masterpiece from Belgian brothers Stefan and Dimitri Van Elsen. Now the label has dived into their archives again to present an expanded edition of their sought-after 12” single Dencity, complete with a previously unheard cut.While the original album version of ‘Dencity’ was a meandering journey through spacey ambient house full of ultra-dreamy ambient textures twinkling melodies and languid deep house grooves, the alternative takes originally featured on the 1992 12” were far more club-focused and dancefloor-ready.This new edition boasts both of those gloriously kaleidoscopic and tactile revisions in freshly remastered form. There’s the EP opening ‘Urban Tribe Mix’, a bolder and heavier take featuring crunchier, weightier drums, gently psychedelic electronics and New Jersey garage style organ stabs, and the ‘Club Mix’, where saucer-eyed chords, echoing bleeps and energetic piano riffs help drive the track forwards.Over on side B there’s a chance to check an alternative version of the Sublunar Oracles album version, as well as previously unreleased track ‘Butterflies’. Recorded during the same period as the album at the Van Elsen brothers’ home studio in Antwerp, it’s a starry, slowly unfurling ambient delight in which waves of attractive, undulating synthesizer sounds, yearning chords and deep space electronics dance away atop a shuffling, soft-touch drum machine beat. While it may have been shelved way back in 1992, it’s every bit as immersive and tactile as anything on Sublunar Oracles.

Highly anticipated sophomore release from saxophonist and composer Sisonke Xonti, winner of South Africa's 2020 Standard Bank Young Artist Award for Jazz. At the centre of the album, Xonti's four-part "Migration Suite" is his boldest work to date, exploring rural and urban identity and the perilous spiritual journey from homeland to the global village. Produced by Xonti and pianist Yonela Mnana and featuring photography by Mandisa Buthelezi, the album appears on As-Shams/The Sun as part of a roster of new artist releases on the cusp of the iconic South African jazz label's 50th anniversary.

Limited Edition - 500 Units