The 1973 soundtrack for René Laloux’s philosophical tale of anticipation, where men are used as domestic toys by blue giants, the Draags.
The orchestral expansiveness recalls Goraguer’s sixties projects with Serge Gainsbourg, but teleported to a psychedelic spaceway of its own, mapped out in a series of vignettes — moody, baroque, wasted, hypnotic, out-there — with funky wah-wah guitars, flutes, Fender Rhodes, breaks-n-beats drumming, and haunting effects.
Demonstrably beloved by Dilla, Madlib, Air, and co.

A new deluxe edition, mixed from the recently discovered multi-track tapes, including seven previously unreleased tracks and three alternate mixes.

Ravishing, chilled interplay between oud, piano and accordion.

‘Operating in the farthest margins of L.A.’s cutthroat music business from 1961-1991, Mel Alexander’s Consolidated Productions was among the longest running Black-owned independent record conglomerates of the 20th century. Disentangling a web of imprints — including Ajax, Angel Town, Car-A-Mel, Emanuel, and Kris — this first volume gathers 28 smouldering R&B cuts by the likes of Lee Harvey, B .B. Carter, Marilyn Calloway, the Del Reys, the Deb Tones, the De Velles, Gene Russell ’s Trio, Jimmy ‘Preacher’ Ellis, and Ty Karim.’
Presented with customary class and attentiveness by Numero.

Astounding, deeply exploratory, previously unreleased work by the legendary Brazilian percussionist and composer.
A wild and unsettling collage, implacably original and startlingly intense — from the electroacoustic opener, which channels ancestral African inspirations into cosmogony, through the proto-mixtape Exemplo de Sintetizadores, which transitions from transcendental drones to astral cha-cha-chas, to a musical consideration of dripping water, in Suite Contagotas.
Djalma is best known for his studio work on benchmark albums, including numerous classics by Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, and Jorge Ben, and for his own polyrhythmic opus Baiafro; and the finale here was first performed at the 1964 Nós, Por Exemplo concert, an event often cited as the inauguration of the Tropicalia movement. Djalma brings the electronics — medical oscillators, for example — to beef up his percussion. It’s eye-opening.
Corrêa called it ‘spontaneous music’; sonic adventures ranging audaciously across an array of genres, from jazz to deep funk to complete abstraction, all imbued with his signature DIY ethic.
Drawn from the original master-tapes, guided by Corrêa himself, just prior to his death.
Intriguing, immersive music. Dazzling, engrossing artwork, too.

Twenty-six shots of late-night R&B out of Jim Kirchstein’s Cuca studio, in the late sixties.
Originally released via minuscule pressings into the Wisconsin wilderness, tracing the paths across the hinterlands of Highway 12 between the Chicago, Milwaukee and Rockford soul scenes.
The likes of Harvey Scales, Betty Moorer, The Twiliters, Birdlegs & Pauline, The Esquires, Artie & The Pharaohs… in another gem-studded chapter of the alternate history of soul music.

‘Ndegeocello’s second Blue Note pays homage to the great writer and activist James Baldwin. Her transformative music and collaborative spirit ignites this genre-bending work that is at once a musical experience, a church service, a celebration, a testimonial, and a call to action. Features frequent collaborators Justin Hicks, Kenita Miller, Abe Rounds, Jake Sherman, Jebin Bruni, and Julius Rodriguez, as well as powerful spoken word performances by Jamaican poet and activist Staceyann Chin.’