US

NEVER BEFORE RELEASED ON VINYL OUTSIDE OF JAPAN PACKAGED WITH A FULL-COLOR OBI-STRIPDedication by Herbie Hancock is an anomalous entry in the discography of the revered jazz-fusion keyboardist. The album was recorded over the course of a single day, in the middle of a tour of Japan at Koseinekin Hall in Tokyo, and for years would be available exclusively in Japan. Produced a month ahead of his 1974 studio album Thrust, the follow-up to his career-defining album Head Hunters, Dedication's tracks were noteworthy for how drastically different they were from the material that followed. Gone was the dangerously funked-out rhythm section goodness of the Headhunters; instead Hancock is alone, performing four solo pieces on grand piano, electric keys, and synthesizer.Side one features Hancock at his most introspective, featuring romantic, ballad-like takes on two of his 60s pieces: "Maiden Voyage", and "Dolphin Dance." Side two, on the other hand, is almost a polar opposite, utilizing early techno rhythms through Fender Rhodes electric keyboards, and the sample-and-hold features of the ARP 2600 synthesizer, rendering spacey, exploratory jams such as the original track "Nobu", and an electro-funky take on "Cantaloupe Island". (Two tracks which predicted Hancock's eventual electro-funk dominance in the 1980s.)A unique and momentous obscurity of Herbie Hancock's catalog, Dedication has never seen a vinyl release outside of Japan prior to now. Nearly 30 years later, Get On Down has sought to allay that, with a premium-grade Record Store Day reissue worthy of any jazz collector's archives, or any crate digger's armament.

By popular demand, Damu the Fudgemunk's latest effort is the instrumental component to Dreams and Vibrations. Entitled, Victorious Visions, the producer specially repackaged 7 tracks in their instrumental glory to the requests of his fans (Program Length: 37 Minutes). Known for his extensive career as a beatsmith, the use of his trademark MPC2000 and the iconic SP1200 in this collection is a standout in his catalog. Expect nothing but the best from the Fudgemunk.

After 2017’s 10 year anniversary tour of Below The Heavens and a b-sides/rarities release in In The Beginning many wondered whether or not Blu & Exile would ever reunite for a proper new release or if that year was as much a curtain call as it was a celebration. Putting those questions to rest, Dirty Science Records is proud to announce the True & Livin EP – as Blu & Exile’s undeniable chemistry is yet again put on display. “True and Livin feels like a spiritual call to all that have honor and truth in their being. It sees how present day and beyond is always trying to calculate or monetize what comes from God or what comes from an artist’s spirit, but it also recognizes the truth that is inside of Blu and Exile's music and brags about it, even in a humble way somehow. This might be the first hip hop braggadocio song that invites us all to feel the same about themselves as long as they connect to the spirit and truth that is inside this song and inside us all.” Exile says about the EP’s title track. Positivity and strength remain a theme on this EP, in Spread Sunshine and the stand out posse cut featuring most of the Dirty Science crew in Choosey, Johaz, Cashus King, Aloe Blacc, Fashawn & Blame One on Power To The People. Blu adds, ““Power To The People” is a call to the people, a call for the people to unite. Unification is power, power in numbers.

Previously Unreleased Boogie Funk from Dayton, Ohio. Webster Station was a demo session recorded for Warner Bros. in 1979. The demo was rejected for not being 'mainstream' enough for their label and the tape remained in an A&R office for over 3 decades. Family Groove has faithfully restored the original 1/4" demo reel.Limited repress 500 copies

The second in a two part project, Heritage finds Mark de Clive-Lowe digging deep into his Japanese roots in both composition and style. Heritage is an opus - the signature MdCL grooves are there but take a back seat to the elaborate compositions and deep feeling of the record.

The first edition of a two part series, Heritage finds Mark de Clive-Lowe in the process of grand introspection about his Japanese heritage, with specific tracks as memories from the past illustrating the right history of Japan. The albums have a sweeping, almost majestic feel with signature electronic soundscapes throughout.

Kraut-jazz-rock produced by JJ Whitefield (Poets of Rhythm/Whitefield Brothers). The long-standing band’s third album. Featuring Marja Burchard (Embryo). It’s been over ten years since Karl Hector and the Malcouns’ Sahara Swing saw release on Now-Again in 2008. The album swung with influences from across the African diaspora and set the stage for a cult, but influential following. Hermes designer Christophe Lemaire picked tracks from Karl Hector and The Malcouns as amongst his favorites in the Now-Again catalog, and included them on his Where Are You From anthology. Festival promoters intrigued by the possibility of resurrecting the careers of once forgotten African mavericks – from Ghana’s Ebo Taylor to the progenitors of Zambia’s Zamrock scene – brought Hector and crew across Europe playing festivals for ecstatic fans. Producer JJ Whitefield even founded an Afro-Rock band, Johnny!, with Taylor’s son Henry. Unstraight Ahead, their sophomore release from 2014, found the band exploring territories even outside of the expansive scope of Sahara Swing: West African sounds of Ghana and Mali met the East African sounds of Mulatu Astatke’s Ethiopian jazz, tied together with the groove heavy experimentalism of The Malcouns’ 70s Krautrock godfathers: Can, of course, but also more obscure and equally adventurous groups like Agitation Free, Ibliss and Tomorrow’s Gift. “We look to Middle Eastern funk and psychedelic fusions, and to various ethnic records for sound and phrasing,” Whitefield stated at the time of Unstraight Ahead’s release. “We’re trying to combine the global experimentalism of Krautrock with the backbeat of funk.” Non Ex Orbis, the band’s third studio album, digs deeper into the Krautrock history embedded deep in the soil of their native Munch - three of the most influential bands of the 1970s experimental German rock scene spurng from there: Amon Düül, Popol Vuh and Embryo. Influenced by these musical heroes, Whitefield shapes a sound that takes the experimental approach of the classic Krautrock era and slides between beat-heavy drone and spacey, prog-rock suites. Marja Burchard, daughter of Embryo mastermind Christian Burchard, fronts the group on keyboard, vibraphone and other-worldly vocals. Al Markovic joins longstanding Malcoun Zdenko Curilija to round out the ensemble. Non Ex Orbis, read by Whitefield and the band as Out Of This World, symbolizes an innocent way of composing and improvising music, free from the influences of our contemporary environment, preserving a childlike way of hearing sounds in their unfiltered purity. “Some will classify this as a retro, but for the band it simply is a form of creating, Whitefield states. “We’re drawing from an established musical vocabulary which was popular at a time in Germany, when underground musical culture had its creative peak.“