LP

The Time For Peace Is Now compiles fourteen songs that, while recorded over four decades ago, speak now more than ever. The tracks are a subset of 1970s-era gospel, not directly talking about Jesus or God, but instead tackling how we live with ourselves and each other. These are undeniably soulful, passionate, and urgent songs from obscure 45s, dug up from a long dormancy in attics, sheds and rated across the American south. Compiled by Gospel guru Greg Belson. “The Gospel bands heard on The Time For Peace Is Now were comprised of musicians who played both church and secular music. The church borrowed—or rather commandeered—the guitar, bass, drums, and other instruments used to backup Motown, Stax, and other popular labels—to give power to the songs they supported. Musicians who sang at ‘the club’ on Saturday night were often leading solos or singing in the choir on Sunday mornings. Saturday night and Sunday morning music began to interweave, which was especially felt when the church choirs sang Gospel. It was Gospel’s influence that made Aretha Franklin, Sam Cooke, and many others the voice of the 1960s and 1970s. Gospel was the soul of America. This album is reflective of the dichotomy of the sacred and the secular. The music here is in some sense the same as the music of the club. “Keep Your Faith To The Sky” could have you singing “Keep Your Head To The Sky” by Earth, Wind and Fire. Listening to “It’s Hard To Live In This Old World” and “That’s A Sign Of The Times” imbues the pessimistic/realistic sense of what was happening. Like many Blues songs, the problem must first be named before it can be solved. At the end of The Time For Peace Is Now, hope is still present. The problem is named in the beginning and a possible solution is presented. -Pastor Keith L. Whitney-Featuring a 36-page booklet in the CD with extensive notes by Jonathan Lethem (“Fortress of Solitude) and Robert Darden. The LP has a church pamphlet by Pastor Keith L. Whitney. Both physical releases come with an exclusive track that won’t be available digitally.-The release will be complemented by a 15 minute documentary that highlights three of the artists, as well as an album trailer and animated music videos.

The Souljazz Orchestra return with a brand new studio album for our troubled times, ‘Chaos Theories’, released on Strut on 13th September.Always known for their uncompromising social and political messages, the Canadian collective hit harder than ever on 9 new tracks, outing the hypocrisy of modern day politics, police brutality and the everyday struggle of the working man. Led by chief songwriter and arranger Pierre Chrètien, the band continue to evolve their sound, drawing on a broad palette from their trademark Latin, Afro and Caribbean styles to some of the UK’s political sounds of the early ‘80s, the era of The Clash, The Police, 2-Tone and frontline reggae. “We were basically messing around with the idea of creating our own brand of ‘Afro-punk’”, remembers Chrétien, “something with the aggressive, in-your-face energy of punk rock or free jazz, but still backed by the hypnotic, pulsating grooves of tropical music.”The album takes the listener from carefully targeted sonic missiles to more reflective thought-provoking moments. ‘Police The Police’ starts the offensive: “I wrote this after my neighbour was beaten to death by Ottawa police during an arrest,” explains Chrétien. “The authorities downplayed the incident and the officers were working the next day like nothing had happened.” ‘House Of Cards’ takes a thinly veiled swipe at the current US administration on an infectious disco groove: “lies within lies within lies… like so many Russian dolls”; ‘Boat Rockers’ challenges us all to look beyond accepted norms and ‘General Strike’ documents the frustrations of the working class as the pay gap gets increasingly wider; ‘Slumlord’ shines the spotlight on dodgy landlords while the brilliant closer ‘Well Runs Dry’ laments modern day living, with its confused pace and mundane obsessions, remembering simpler days gone by.Leading their field for 17 years, The Souljazz Orchestra have constantly moved forward and remain an in-demand live band worldwide. ‘Chaos Theories’ is their 9th album, is released on LP, CD, cassette and digital / streaming and is mastered by The Carvery. LP format comes as a special dark blue vinyl edition. The band tour Europe and Canada during September, October and November 2019.-Heavyweight music with a message from Canada’s leading soul / jazz / tropical collective-Includes the singles ‘House Of Cards’ and ‘Well Runs Dry’-Mastered and cut by The Carvery-Full European tour supporting album September – November 2019-1LP IN SINGLE SLEEVE, BLUE VINYL

In the vast world of Library Music, Philopsis with its enigmatic cover artwork stands as an exception.Philopsis was released in 1978 on Freesound – a sub-division label dedicated to French composers of the UK based publisher Ambient Music.At the source of the project - which has gained cult status in recent years - there is Jacky Giordano, a mysterious musician whose name rhymes with excitement to any of those who have heard his productions on mythical labels such as Montparnasse 2000, l’Illustration Musicale, Musax, Sonimage, Timing.Very little is known about this French musician and producer, who remained mostly in the shadow: once an accountant and later a label boss, Jacky Giordano produced and co-signed many titles under many pseudonyms. For a period of time he was the conductor for the Crazy Horse revue. He also composed for maverick film director Jean-Pierre Mocky. He is even co-credited on Bernard Fèvre’s masterpiece: Black Devil Disco Club.Later on, his setbacks with the justice in the late 2000s revealed a darker side of the persona, yet Jacky Giordano remains one of the most fascinating creators of the golden age of Library music. Among all of his confidential discography, Philopsis is undoubtedly his masterpiece.Library Music has its detractors: some will say it is uninspired music for documentaries, radio jingles or erotic productions but it is unlikely that Giordano had in mind to illustrate this kind of productions while recording Philopsis, an album of an astonishing coherence.Accompanied by Yan dY's - probably Yan Tregger (an alias for Edouard Scotto Di Suoccio, another forgotten hero of Library Music) and by Francis Personne - an obscure musician who later worked as a sound engineer on many zouk productions of the 80s - Jacky Giordano experimented a lot: the result is an airy and rough jazz-funk with clear inspirations from the musics by Lalo Schiffrin, Herbie Hancock's Headhunters, Ennio Morricone, Jean-Jacques Perrey, Nino-Nardini and even Brian Eno.Confidentially distributed at the time of its release, original copies are now almost invisible, and market price have reached crazy amounts in recent years. Making Philopsis available again sounded like an evidence.Digger's Digest and Listen! Record Store team up to offer you a strictly limited reissue of one of the cornerstone of Library Music, rehabilitating at the same time the work of one of the most intriguing desperados of the French music industry.Liner Notes from Digger's Digest / Listen! Websites.Limited to 500 copies / High Quality Tip-On Sleeve / Remastered.Reissue supervised by Frédéric Ménétrier at Audio Gecko, France.Original record digitized by Karen Beun and restored by Emiliano Flores.

Limited to 1000 copies 180 Gram Vinyl with Obi. Comes in Japanese Paste On Sleeve

Mais Alors !!?... c’est à l’envers is the first release of new French Label ICI BIENTÔT (Here Soon ...), launched by Paris Fleamarket’s Record Shop, Geminicricket. On the Menu... Suspended Time, Unsung Heroes, Hidden Records and Next Door Marvels.In 1983, NEF released their first and only album, Mais Alors !!?... c’est à l’envers. At that point, the band already had a long history, interwoven with that of various musical trends and alternative movements from the late sixties to the early eighties. That’s certainly what makes this record so special and able to conciliate such different worlds as Electronic Prog, Film Score, New Wave … while also being able to talk to DJ’s (Daniele Baldelli often quoted it as one of his favorite record).The band’s destiny was most certainly tied to their native region, the South of France, an idyllic environment that attracted a number of musicians during the 1970s, allowing the group to attend many concerts or share the bill with several groups that have gone on to become well known: Can, Ash Ra Tempel, Magma, Catherine Ribeiro, Zao, Chêne Noir, Art Zoyd …Founded in 1975 by Richard Lorenzi, NEF started as a kind of Free Rock band with multiple influences, going from Prog to Musique Concrete, in which any method of making sound, any way of bringing out sounds was good … 2 musicians and a photographer, full member of the band who was projecting slides over the music and influenced their dreamlike universe. In 1978, Vincent Tronc came on board with his keyboards and synths. While the group had been influenced by electroacoustic techniques until then, Vincent broadened NEF’s horizons, bringing in a host of new influences: Ash Ra Tempel, Kraftwerk, Klaus Schulze … the beginnings of electronic music.When the album is recorded in 1983, new directions were taken and changed NEF’s usual sound. First, the idea of playing the accordion, clearly not a common thing and a new Drum Machine, the Roland CJ-5000. Pressed the day a figure of French Chanson died, NEF’s pressing is botched up, a good part of the records were unusable since the records came out totally warped. Then, at the end of the eighties the small stock of remaining records is lost in the sadly famous flood of Nîmes. 2000 records had been pressed, but very few survived!All the more reason to reissue Mais Alors !!?... c’est à l’envers, an unsung record, free and multifaceted, a quirky and daring musical ovni, transcending eras and genres, between synthetic Krautrock and Film Score, reminiscent of NEU! (with a red nose), François de Roubaix and Pascal Comelade.

1977, Paris France. Two brothers freshly arrived from Casamance, the Senegalese ‘Florida’, are living the tough immigrant experience.Their plan: becoming pop stars. A challenge so ambitious it sounds like science fiction at the time: Bob Marley, Fela Kuti and a handful of others artists have started making waves in the Western World , but the rise of the Pan-African sound is still at an early stage. The Touré brothers have formed a band, written some songs, and start frequently playing their music live, to great effect, at an underground theatre called the Dunois in the 13th Parisian district. The hype starts spreading.Overcoming the odds, their parents' ban on playing music ("a satanic activity"), the death of their brother and mentor Amadou and a stint in a Mauritanian prison, they will ultimately reach stardom a few years later under the name Touré Kunda (The Elephant Family). A legendary 40-year career will follow: 16 albums released, millions of records sold, numerous world tours, awards and collabs with the likes of Manu Dibango, Talking Heads, Carlos Santana, Bill Laswell, Alpha Blondy, Bernie Worrel …Released in 1979, self-financed by loans from friends and allies, Mandinka Dong is the genesis of Touré Kunda, the cornerstone of the band’s unique sound, at the crossroads of Disco, Funk, Pop, Reggae, Portuguese, Guinean, Cuban, Zairean, Mandinke and Soninke music. Limited to 700 copies and very difficult to find in decent condition, the original pressing faded into oblivion for decades. A low-resolution digital version of the album started circulating in recent years, not doing justice to the rich analog sound of the recording.It is an honour for Secousse and Hot Mule Records to present a complete reissue of Mandinka Dong. Faithfully restored and remastered, it will be available in both digital and physical formats (in gatefold vinyl illustrated with photos from the artists’ archives and liner notes by Frank Tenaille, the band’s official biographer).

For its 3rd releases, Nubiphone is proud to present you a compilation of the best early 7inch releases of the mythical Cameroonian band Los Camaroes.10 raw tracks taken from various singles from 1968 to 1975, that present the musical diversity played by those seven young people: Bikutsi, Afro-Funk, Jerk, , Soukous, Rumba & Blues music. The band led by the charismatic lead vocal Messi Martin that managed to modernized Cameroonian music.Deluxe edition that includes an 8-pages booklet, with exclusive pictures, biography in both English and French languages, and a HQ digital download card.