MINT

Nigeria’s Kingsley Bucknor’s ‘Just U and Me’ LP gets the long-awaited reissue treatment from Melbourne’s Left Ear Records. After cutting his teeth playing with Fela in the 70’s and releasing two afrobeat LP’s Kingsley travelled the globe before finding himself in London, it’s here that he laid down 6 distinctive electro-funk tunes inspired by African rhythms and music he’d heard through his travels in the States and in Europe. Originally issued on Kinglsley’s own KAB records in ’85 and according to Kingsley the release was well received at the time, but due to constraints of international marketing the record remained mostly unknown outside of his homeland. Fast-forward to 2017 and the stage is set for a new global audience to appreciate the distinct sound of KB.

Music From Memory’s final 12" for 2017 is a reissue of Dub Oven's self released, and sadly one-off, 1983 EP 'Skin N Bones’.Pioneers in the Post Punk Industrial and New Wave scene in 1980’s San Francisco, Gary Miles (Voice Farm) and Blaise Smith (Minimal Man), met at San Francisco’s notorious 181 Club in December of 1982. This straight/same sex/swing-both-ways late night dive bar was tucked away in one of the city's most risky, drug riddled neighbourhoods. Stationed near the SF Museum of modern Art it attracted a wild audience of local patrons, aspiring young artists and music heads. In the thick of all this the duo felt impartial to a lot what was going on musically and set out to produce electronic music that could break through the "somewhat exhausted post disco sound that was then competing in the local San Francisco clubs". Enlisting soul vocalist Celeste Miller, the duo were also inspired by Lee 'Scratch' Perry / Upsetters dub tracks being produced in Jamaica and created a unique breed of avant guard hybrid New Wave/Electronic Funk.With it's influences seemingly as much rooted in the past and the present as it was focused on the future; Dub Oven formed a distinct, mystical approach to music intended for the dance floor. All three tracks on this 12" embody a signature groove and an inventive synthesized abstraction to express a languishing urban unsettledness and spiritual awareness. Recorded at L7 Studios in San Francisco with the assistance of the the studio’s in house producer Marco Perry (who currently now works with Bjork) the record was unfortunately overlooked by A&R at several major and even local labels and was finally self-released in very limited quantities. Utilising analog electronics and instrumentation, the record draws on elements of dub, new wave, soul and funk to create a sound that is uncategorizable and one that was perhaps simply too forward thinking for it’s time.

Long overdue reissue (500 copies initial press) with rock city pioneer Billy Jones.. here's what he had to say about his crew.In the early 80's Billy Jones was the lead guitarist for an outstanding group of touring musicians who called themselves 'The Incredible Rock City Band'. They performed on military installations all over the United States for the U.S. Dept. of MWR for more than ten years during the 80's and 90's. ...I'm sure that there are many veterans out there who remember seeing this band at NCO and Officer's clubs back in the day.

Remastered 2017 version of the 2002 Thump mix with a new version on the flip, played with band and the addition of live instruments.The legendary German House label NEEDS (not wants) returns after a long hiatus with a new release on the exclusive Gold Edition that is set up for revisiting their own classics to upgrade them with brand new versions and re-interpretations. Walkin Thru Circles - originally produced by Lars & Marek Bartkuhn - has always been a favourite for many of their fans. The original Thump Mix is a constantly building mover that is based on a massive beat, hypnotic soundscapes and highly energetic chord hooks, ready for taking off to outer space.For the Full Expansion Lars has gone back to the studio to recompose and re-record the whole thing over again, combining the skills of some excellent session musicians with lots of live instruments, drum & percussion and vocals all played and sung by the producer himself. The result is a complex, epic and fearless Jazzfunk odyssey, both musically expansive and heavily grooving at the same time.