SEALED

Vive La Musique brings us yet another magical release, compiling four stunning tracks from South African bass player - Sipho Gumede. Taken from two rare albums originally released in the 80s, the music blends South African roots with Boogie influences and is the follow-up to the hugely successful "Jika Jika" reissue.The release was born through label founder Aroop Roy's relentless search for a copy of the 1983 Peace album, which led to him tracking down the original producer - Greg Cutler - a key figure in South African music from that period and regular collaborator with Sipho. Aroop was blown away by "Uthinina" and "Bayabizana" - two unique tracks, featuring haunting Zulu vocals, African jazz flavours, and epic changes over hypnotic grooves."Something to Say" and "City of Gold" were recorded a few years later in the world-renowned Battery Mobile Studio. Sipho had been working there with Caiphus Semenya and Letta Mbulu and their influences can be heard, with drum machines and American Boogie instrumentation laying the foundation for powerful vocal lines sung in English, with soul and gospel sensibility. The 12" comes with extensive liner notes from Greg Cutler, talking about his time in South Africa. He recalls his experience as a White producer, working with Black musicians under the challenges of apartheid and describes his musical journey with Sipho Gumede, with intriguing details on how the music and production evolved.

Yellow vinyl 12"

Alleviated Records presents the first-time vinyl reissue of Larry Heard's mid-90's gem "Sceneries Not Songs, Volume 1". The album stems from a time when the tempo slowed down and Heard reached a perfect synthesis of jazz influences, deep electronic ambiance and the house sound he was known for. The result is a brilliant album that should cater to both house and R&B heads alike. Now for the first time released as a 2x12'' with an extra track previously only available on cd.

Safe Trip is taking one final deep dive into the warm waters of Italian dream house with Welcome To Paradise Volume 3, the concluding chapter in the label’s journey through the previously overlooked world of one of dance music’s most vibrant and influential underground movements.While the influence of dream house continues to echo through the ages, the style was at its peak between 1989 and ’94, when producers across Italy delivered a high volume of loved-up, wavy and occasionally blissful productions that fused contemporary deep house tropes – most notably from Chicago, New York and New Jersey – with elements borrowed from ambient, jazz and Balearica.It’s this six-year period that provides the focus for Welcome To Paradise Volume 3, which draws together a spine-tingling mixture of sought-after classics, unheralded gems and little-known delights from the original Italian dream house movement.Thrillingly, Welcome to Paradise Volume 3 co-curator Young Marco has managed to source two previously unreleased tracks during the dream house period: the gently unfurling, sunrise-friendly bliss of Jacy’s “Resounding Seashell” and a special “Longer Edit” of Neurostate’s brilliant “Dance To The House”, a track that – somewhat surprisingly – has never previously been issued on vinyl before.Elsewhere, there are plenty of treats to set the pulse racing, from the must-have deep house brilliance of Leo Anibaldi’s “Universe” – a rare foray into dream house territory from the Italian techno pioneer – and the Afro-bleep-goes-dream-house trip of Golem’s “Sun City”, to the cowbell-driven, New Jersey garage-influenced warmth of Deep Choice’s “Children Trip” and Cosmic Galaxy’s “Walkin’ On The Moon”, a Detroit techno-influenced outing with a deliciously saucer-eyed, extended ambient intro. You’ll also struggle to find a more inspired house record than Green Baize’s “Tramp Heart”, which mixes familiar dream house elements with spacey electronics and tribal chants that recall Italy’s early ‘80s Afro-cosmic scene.It all adds up to another essential selection of rich, glassy-eyed dream house treats tailor-made for sound-tracking drawn-out Adriatic sunsets, Mediterranean sunrises and loved-up parties the world over.