Bookending today’s essential not-new music with trips to South Africa, Mali and Benin.
This new week of not-new sounds starts in South Africa and the superb Chakalaka Jazz compilation. Compiled by Fred Spider (Cape Town crate digger, DJ and “Voom Voom records & vintage” main man), these are rare grooving jazz soothers all held together by that magical South African favour. It is always such a joy to stick on a record and just adore each cut, and these really all do have the lightest touch. The week’s most played already.
Following their glorious first trip to Mali a couple of years back, Mr Bongo present the second volume of The Original Sound of Mali this week and it is a Drift certified scorcher. Compiled by French writer, journalist and Grammy-nominated compiler Florent Mazzoleni alongside the label’s own David Buttle, this excellent set dives ever further into the richness of post-independence music emanating out of Mali.
Traditional tones and blazing new influences, honed to perfection in the hotel ballroom scene. A proper ticket.
A real bombshell to clock that Vashti Bunyan’s gorgeous Lookaftering is twenty years old this year. After the obligatory shock and disbelief, we have progressed to more thankful waters with this lovely expanded edition that Fat Cat have really done nicely. The new package includes sleeve notes from Vashti, producer Max Richter, Devendra Banhart and a 16-page lyric booklet featuring a collection of paintings by Vashti's daughter Whyn Lewis – paintings that closely, and coincidentally, reflected the lyrics of the album. Beautiful whispers.
Numero have reissued a real nice 25th anniversary pressing of Her Space Holiday’s Home Is Where You Hang Yourself. It’s been a right treat to go back to this one, dense and fugged out sounds with lots of prettyness, too. This expanded 25th anniversary edition of Home Is Where You Hang Yourself includes an extra LP of remixed songs from Duster, Bright Eyes, Micromars, and Mahogany, an elegant tip-on jacket, lyrics, and “20 milligrams of millennial malaise”. It’s gonna make you feel something.
+ Available on exclusive Frosted Silver Clear colour vinyl.
Blues In Trinity is a late fifties hard bopping beauty from Jamaican-born England-based jazz trumpeter Dizzy Reece. The session includes Donald Byrd, Tubby Hayes and Art Taylor too!
Released a couple years later, Up And Down is led by pianist Horace Parlan. Another great band, it features Booker Ervin on tenor saxophone and Grant Green really glides up and down the fretboards.
Both are released under the Blue Note Tone Poet series and were produced by Joe Harley. Mastered by Kevin Gray from the original analog master tapes, pressed on 180g vinyl at RTI, and packaged in a deluxe tip-on jackets.
Lastly for the heads, Sonny Rollins’ soundtrack to the landmark 1966 British film Alfie is reissued as an ‘Acoustic Sounds’ edition, with transfers from analog tapes and remastered 180-gram vinyl in deluxe gatefold packaging. It really swings.
Nonesuch have reissued a deluxe edition of Wilco’s 2004 Grammy Award–winning album A Ghost Is Born. More stock due, but don’t miss the double LP edition before they all fly out the door.
We have a couple of really lush EELS live releases this week too, with 2019’s Live at Largo (a fundraiser at the famed Coronet Theatre in LA) and also the Gentle Souls 2021 KCRW Session for the much-loved KCRW station.
We’ve been floating back to 2009 for some peak IDIB action this week and a fresh pressing of the always essential 2 from Desire. Such evocative music, a dreamlike score of synth wave lushness. Baby Pink vinyl pressing looks super nice too as it happens.
We end this dispatch with something to pump a bit of life into these (February, Monday, zero degrees) speakers. Pump we are. The esteemed Analog Africa shine a light on Benin’s Gnonnas Pedro and His Dadjes Band with Roi De L’Agbadja Moderne 1974-1983. "Agbadja" is an ancestral rhythm played during burial ceremonies. With looping hooks, call and response and winding grooves, Gnonnas adapted, modernised and coined the "Agbadja Modern" sound, becoming known as its king. Damn right. We really needed this today.
+ Limited pressing on double LP pressed on 140g virgin vinyl comes in gatefold sleeve with full colour 8-page booklet.
