Precious, timely, moody reflections on migrating from Côte d’Ivoire to Moss, in Norway, over ruff breakbeat funk supplied by the nimble bass-playing of Maimouna’s old man (from Kambo Super Sound), and the expert conga and kit-drumming of Stliletti-Ana (from Jesse, in Helsinki). Even in their delirium, b-boys and girls will savour traces of the Incredible Bongo Band, in the chorus. Over the eight minutes, and going deeper on the flip, the mix lifts off into a cosmic steppers dub, featuring Gilb-r alongside Sotofett on keyboards, with no let up for the dancefloor in energy and vibes.

“It was in 2001 / I got the letter / A letter that said / I would travel to a cold world / Not knowing what would happen / I was full of loneliness / No country / Everyone was different / Not only skin colour / The way people spoke / The way people behaved / That’s the adventure / Obey / This is the story we’re told / The key to success / So we can do everything for our parents / Who need us / Desperate for a better life / That’s the adventure.”

Three knockout EPs, in hand-stamped, poly-lined sleeves.

Two jazz burners.
A shuffling, r&b version of a Lerner & Loewe tune from Brigadoon, by way of Nat King Cole.
Plus an instrumental one-away featuring Baba Brooks, Roland Alphonso and Lester Sterling. One of the reed players puts his foot in it, with a squawk, but who cares. Guess that’s why it’s previously unreleased and such a precious release now.

45s of It’s Just Love by John Andrews and Look Away by The Shirelles are both gold-plated dancefloor classics; so it’s thrilling to present these interpretations by their co-composer — the great Valerie Simpson, of Ashford & Simpson —  out here for the first time.

Characteristically brilliant ebullience from the Art Ensemble trumpeter in 1974, with John Hicks (doing Hello Dolly as a duet), John Stubblefield, bro Joseph Bowie from Defunkt, Julius Hemphill (on Ornette’s Lonely Woman), Bob Stewart, Cecil McBee, Jerome Cooper, Charles Shaw and Phillip Wilson.

The multi-faceted genius of Eugene ‘Yonachak’ Cline, producer, multi-instrumentalist and singer from St Lucia, beautifully presented by Hornin’, with top-notch, live-and-kicking sound, in a gorgeous sleeve.
It’s a gripping, crazy mix. Deep, mid-seventies roots, Half Moon style, extended, with an instrumental, and ace dubs; nuts but banging late-eighties digi; off-the-wall rasta-soca fire.
Great stuff.

Truly pioneering electro-funk — treated, lo-fi, minimal, fundamentally desolate — this long overdue compilation of Sly’s own Stone Flower label runs the five 45s alongside ten previously unissued cuts, all newly remastered from the original tapes. The missing link between the rocky, soulful Stand! and the dark, ticking, overdubbed sound of There’s A Riot Going On, his masterpiece. The notes include an exclusive new interview with the great man himself.