Some proper essentials in different musical directions. Really good stuff.
Guys, the main event today is very much a crucial introduction to the ‘King of Kikuyu Benga’!
Released on the esteemed Disciples label, Heavy Combination is a glorious introduction to Kenyan musician Joseph Kamaru, with seventeen tracks that run the gamut from vibrant dancefloor chants with highlife-esque guitars, to Afro-funk, drum machine and keyboard driven disco grooves, and folk style laments. There is just so much life to it, with raw energy and soothing sways, with lyrics ranging from protest songs to relationship advice!
In both modes it’s just such immediate music, full of razzed-out guitar hooks and dancefloor starters. We absolutely love this… More!
Following the full physical pressings for the low-key seminal (it really is) triple Diamond Jubilee album back late last year and earlier this spring, Patrick Flegel’s Cindy Lee project gets a full (ish) catalogue revisit by Superior Viaduct’s W.25TH sub print, with 2025 physical editions of Cat O' Nine Tails, Model Express, Act of Tenderness and Malenkost, all of which had only previously been available in limited numbers on limited formats. Melancholic, melodic and affecting, with so many ghostly and alluring nuances in between. These really are all such characterful albums, a proper trove of experimental sounds. The real deal.
Although he has had some reappraisals over the last decade or so, especially when he sadly died earlier this year - but it remains one of those mysteries that Bill Fay isn’t more widely revered. His voice is heartbreaking in its honesty and directness, and he sure could write a heartbreaker too! Originally issued on Decca's Deram imprint in 1970, Bill Fay's eponymous debut album is a soulful and introspective folk-rock masterpiece - With its warm, lush arrangements and heartfelt lyrics. The following Time of the Last Persecution LP (again on Deram) is more haunting and contemplative, but there are still some gorgeously languid moments in the progressive production and his voice is beautifully sad.
Tbh, these are both straight-up essential purchases. 
A more contemporary set of double essentials with Four Tet represses on Text to include 2010’s There Is Love In You and 2015’s New Energy. Both have an amazing balance of propulsion but also ambient space; this period of his production progression was just absolutely next level looking back. Utter bangers and two records that add that extra percentage to any good record collection.
Looking a little further back, we have a 25th anniversary edition of Outkast’s iconic Stankonia album, expanded across a 3LP set pressed on eye-catching purple marble vinyl. This collector’s edition includes exclusive bonus tracks, unreleased photos, and cover art by André 3000, as well as a glow-in-the-dark flag insert.
Beggars Banquet release an expanded edition of Buffalo Tom’s fifth album Sleepy Eyed to celebrate its 30th anniversary. The album has been expanded to include six demos that the band unearthed specifically for this release. All home recordings, “Hold Me Up” and “Don’t Blow Your Wind” are gorgeous completely unheard songs that somehow didn’t make it any further than a demo. “Tangerine”, “Summer”, “Kitchen Door” and “Clobbered” are a window into how these Buffalo Tom classics got their start.
We did admittedly already mention Charlie Brown a few times, but Sufjan Stevens has well and truly fired the Christmas starter pistol this year with a lavish pressing of his perennial Songs For Christmas box set, back on wax for the first time in quite a few years. Recorded between 2001 and 2006 it is a gorgeous collection of traditionals and seasonal specials. Lovely stuff.
Blondie release an Expanded & Remastered edition of their 1999 LP, No Exit, the album that ended a 17 year hiatus. This edition features extra mixes and remixes and is pressed on very limited double Transparent Crystal Clear vinyl.
Following its debut as a Dinked exclusive back in March, we have a repress of Blood Ties, the long-sold-out, critically acclaimed debut album from London duo lilo.
Tyler, The Creator’s CHROMAKOPIA album finally gets a physical pressing after debuting about a year back online. Limited double White colour vinyl and we do not have many.
Lastly today, a really special one for the fellow Dylanites with Through the Open Window: The Bootleg Series Vol. 18. This new volume in the award-winning Bootleg Series tells the story of Bob Dylan’s emergence and maturation as a songwriter and performer, from Minnesota to the Greenwich Village bohemia in the early 1960s. It includes rare Columbia Records outtakes, recordings made at club dates, in tiny informal gatherings, in friends’ apartments, and at jam sessions in long-gone musicians’ hangouts. The candid nature of hearing his voice over the chatter is just electric.