★P-Vine Records
The Sojourner
Japanese label P-Vine sure know how to pick out the essential spiritual jazz reissues. This is another gold standard that came originally on Strata East in 1974. Vocals feature throughout and often soar to the highest of heights and make it a charismatic album. Sample hounds and hip hop lovers might well recognise the track 'Optimystical' which has been pillaged by Detroit great Andres before now. Elsewhere there is real freeform magic on 'Music Is Nothing But A Prayer', cosmic exploration on 'T…
Soul Impressions
*2022 stock* Recorded in 1975 and released on the legendary library music label Montparnasse 2000, Soul Impressions condenses the entire mastery and inspiration of the brilliant Franco-Yugoslav composer Janko Nilovic into 12 generous tracks. A total adept when it comes to bubbling studio sessions and gleaming arrangements, our man incessantly works furiously and devotedly on his music, throwing himself body and soul into the creation of one of the 70s most individual and coherent musical works. …
Chorus
*2022 stock* Following the recent reissues of Pop Impressions, Super America and Soul Impressions, P-Vine Records label follows-up to the series with another brilliant album, Chorus, by French underrated composer and producer, Janko Nilovic. Janko Nilovic certainly was one of the greatest studio talents of Europe in the '70s. He is a musician who devotes himself to music, which resulted in a great number of published works, but most of them made for library music labels and also not available fo…
Becs
*2022 stock* CD edition: the last time Fennesz released an album on Austrian label Mego it was 2001 and the name of that release was 'Endless summer'. Now, in 2014 P-Vine Records is extremely proud to release the conceptual follow up that landmark of abstract pop. Becs (pronounced 'baeetch') is Hungarian for Vienna and is the first full length Fennesz solo release since 2008's 'Black Sea'. Eschewing the more drone orientated works of 'Black Sea', 'Becs' returns to the more florid pop mechanisms …
Hotel paral.lel
*2022 stock* "Re-mastered at Piethopraxis in Köln, July 2007. "Hotel Paral.lel", originally released in September 1997 by Mego, was Christian Fennesz's debut solo album. Following up from the EP "Instrument", it was an investigation into the sonic possibilties residing in guitar based digital music, recorded just before mobile computing devices became the norm. A far more darker and experimental work than what was to follow. Freeform noise, sliced techno beats and subtle ambient textures create …
Slap Happy Humphrey
*2022 stock* The world of Doji appears and disappears through the stormy noise like sunlight through a tree... Slap Happy Humphrey is the world's only cover band of noise-tinged Doji Morita, and the world's only cover band of Doji Morita. Folk and noise - at first glance, these two seemingly contradictory elements create a miraculous space. Itakura Mineko's voice is also good. Morita Doji is definitely present, albeit vaguely, behind the noise... Mineko Itakura of Angelin Heavy Syrup, Hiroshi Fu…
Noise, Violence And Destroy
Sabotage Organized Barbarian, best known by their acronym S.O.B were part of a hardcore punk movement in the 80s that envigorated Japanese youth along with other acts like GISM and Gauze. The ravaging tempos and punishing aural densities grappled with the ears, and their sphere of influence quickly broke the banks of their native Osaka, with acts like Napalm Death acknowledging the bands importance for their own sound and grindcore to come. In 1988, S.O.B teamed up with Alchemy Records founder …
Reed Whistle And Sticks
LP version. This highly experimental work represents some early sound collages from this quirky British composer. Affiliated with the avant rock group Henry Cow, Anthony Moore's works are highly regarded in the experimental music scene thanks to his Flying Doesn't Help album from 1978, a cult masterpiece of avant rock which enjoyed a much higher profile in the underground than his debut. This could be attested to the abstract nature of this recording, which explored tape-loop repetitions that bu…
Ethnic Expressions
Tip! Groovy, spiritual, and oh so, rare, this live album by drummer Roy Brooks is one of the best to ever come out of the spiritual jazz scene. With a career spanning over 50 years and collaborations with artists like Horace Silver, Stanley Turrentine, Yusef Lateef, and Charles Mingus, Roy Brooks was a foundation and leading force of the jazz scene throughout his entire storied life. As one of the most talented drummers of any generation, Brooks would lead his own group, the Artistic Truth, and …
Phew
This is a really cool post-punk record that manages to be somber at times yet weird and funky too. Very creative! As After Dinner approaches Rock in Opposition through more of a Japanese pop lens, this record does much the same with Krautrock. Of course it doesn't hurt that the musicians Phew is playing with are huge figures from that scene: Holger Czukay, Jaki Liebezeit, and Conny Plank namely. Lots of great drumming, interesting synths, and really whacky bass sounds!
What We Need / The Wok
*In process of stocking* Tribe Records' activities over the past five years, from its sophisticated jazz-based funkiness to its self-produced magazine, have remained influential and unfading even today. Through their various activities including sound, words, and visuals, they have been sending out their message locally, hoping for "a society where Black Americans are respected," while maintaining their seriousness and conviction. What We Need" is a soulful jazz-funk song with cool electric pian…
A Message From The Tribe
'Genius work from the Detroit underground of the 70s - one of the greatest records ever on the now-famous Tribe Records label, and a masterpiece of soul, jazz, and righteous spirit! The session's headed by tenor player Wendell Harrison - and it's got an all-star Motor City lineup that includes Marcus Belgrave on trumpet, Phil Ranelin on trombone, Jeamel Lee on vocals, Charles Eubanks on electric piano, and Charles Moore on flugel horn. The tracks have a spacious spiritual approach that recalls s…
Voices And Rhythms Of The Creative Profile
Harold McKinney was one of Detroit's jazz legends as both an artist and as a cultural figure. His Voices and Rhythms of the Creative Profile was issued on the city's cooperative independent Tribe label -- which also boasted outings from Marcus Belgrave, Doug Hammond, Mixed Bag, Wendell Harrison, and Phil Ranelin -- in 1974. McKinney's approach to jazz in the 1970s may have been funky and electric, but it was also idiosyncratic and vocal. Harold and Gwen McKinney handle the lead vocals, while a b…
Disco 3000 -Complete Milan Concert 1978-
Disco 3000 is yet another release by the Sun Ra Quartet, recorded during an incredibly prolific period in Italy in January of 1978. The players are Ra (keys), John Gilmore (tenor sax), Michael Ray (trumpet), and Luqman Ali (drums), with assistance from the Crumar Mainman synthesizer/rhythm box. The title cut is pretty free, with Ra's carnival organ starting the proceedings along with some programmed rhythms. Everyone takes turns soloing, with Michael Ray doing his trademark trumpet-with-delay im…
Media Dreams
CD edition, comes in mini LP replica with obi & Japanese insert. Media Dream is a live recording of the Sun Ra Quartet, from January of 1978 in Italy (all the quartet recordings were done that month). It's a mostly free date, with "Constellation" and "Media Dreams" being the only tunes that seem to have been pre-composed (they are also the longest tracks on the album). The album starts with a keyboard showcase, with Ra supplying some super low tones along with some very queasy sounding organ. Th…
Ecstatic Computation
'The 2017 album Patterns Of Consciousness introduced many people to the modular synth-based music of Caterina Barbieri. Although she uses a mathematical approach, Barbieri's work is brought to life by generative music techniques, which allow for an ever-changing sound within a set of strict parameters. Slight variations on a theme turn a single sequence into colourful blooms of sound. In this way, rigid guidelines become organic melodies. Like Steve Reich and the drone-centric Hindustani classic…
Endless summer
*In process of stocking* Endless Summer, originally released in 2001 by Mego, was a breakthrough album for Christian Fennesz. The album which brought his name and music towards the first steps of mainstream recognition. Following on from the more experimental Hotel Paral.lell and the Beach Boys homaged Plays single Endless Summer brought the guitars more to the front, the electronics shimmered more, and the melodies shined more brightly. It went on to be a classic of its time, topping many end o…
Out
*In process of stocking* Despite its eventual obscurity, Out was clearly intended to be a big, mainstream album. Moore recorded it with a large ensemble of seasoned session musicians, including Andy Summers, later of the Police and Kevin Ayers from the Soft Machine. It was produced by Peter Jenner, a legendary impresario who managed and produced artists including Pink Floyd, Roy Harper and Tyrannosaurus Rex. The songs are not especially difficult, but they are beautifully, elaborately arranged. …
The Complete Works Of Yoshiko Sai (Box)
* Limited to 445 sets. Comes with obi. 7inch and booklet are in white paper sleeve that written Yoshiko Sai's signature and numbering. P-Vine official online store & Disk Union exclusive * 5 reissue LPs (Mangekyo, Mikkou, Taiji no Yume, Chou no Sumu Heya, Takla Makan) Limited 7" ep including new recording (no sale separately, just for this set) A-side is her new song "Nihonichi Chiisana Mura" which is collaboration with Seiichi Yamamoto (recorded just 5 days ago!), Sai-san played this song somet…
Mikko
*2021 reissue with obi and insert* Truly a Japanese psychedelic female acid-folk masterpiece. Released on July 25th, 1976, Mikkô was Sai Yoshiko's second album, a wonderful acid-folk album on which she gets assisted by a string of big name musicians such as Kuni Kawauchi (of the Happenings Four, amongst others) to arrange the songs. Mikkô features Sai's original songs, making it her first real complete album. At times the disc draws in Middle Eastern influences (sitar and tabla), but once she ge…