Attempting to recreate the golden yesterdays of Jose Padilla’s White Isle sunsets with the tunes of today…

Infradisco / Aqua Cheta: Beyond The Remixes / Archeo Recordings 

Archeo Recordings continue to tinker with tracks from Infradisco’s album Aqua Cheta. This time they’ve put together a couple of chilled epics. Perugian producers Hear & Now previously “housed up” Caduca, but their “Beyond” version is a beatless take. A soft, atmospheric swell of ethereal harmonies, dramatic orchestration, and tasteful twists of acid, where “noir” tremolo guitar twanging suggests nocturnal stirrings. The rhythm reduced to sparse drums and percussion, and the piece instead powered by a bionic bass pulse. 

Dulcis started life as novo bossa nova, and, before, label founder, Manu, again pushed the BPMs more toward the dance floor. However, here he sits back and stretches out over a very laidback 13+ minutes. Generating a gentle journey that opens with trickling water and serene strings. As it travels, the trip takes in a howling, lonely harmonica, Hawaiian pedal steel and a muted blue horn. Throughout we’re sprinkled with psychoactive sound effects. A slice of cinematic, spaced-out exotica, along the lines of Skylab and Japan’s Water Melon, snippets of wisdom from counterculture guru Timothy Leary underline its mind-expanding intent.

The Lost Generation / This Is The Lost Generation / Dynamite Cuts

A shot of sublime socially conscious soul from a 4-piece formed in Chicago, Illinois. Originally released in 1972, this story of struggle passed from grandmother to father to son comes accompanied by a funky break, brass, flute, and a big orchestral production. Cool, clipped jazz picking countering the soaring strings and group harmonies. 

Julia Mestre / Vampira / Mr Bongo

Vampira is the second single lifted from Julia Mestre’s forthcoming Mr Bongo long-player, Maravilhosamente Bem. A tribute to the 1950s TV horror film host – a “glamour ghoul” played by actress Maila Nurmi, famous for her 38-17-36 figure – it’s a sexy, seductive slice of breathless, whispered downtempo Brazilian boogie. Beatnik bongos, congas and a very cool bass-line carrying the swooning string-laden authentic `70s production. 

G.T. Moore / Thanksgiving / Entire Records

Guitarist G.T. Moore is a veteran of the UK reggae scene, having recorded with his band, The Reggae Guitars, as far back as 1972. Throughout the `70s, Moore worked across Europe as a session musician, ending up in Jamaica where he worked with Lee Perry and Sly & Robbie. Putting in time at the Kingston studios Harry J’s and Channel One. 

Partial Records, a label that’s been reissuing crucial UK reggae and dub for well over a decade, have unearthed an obscurity from Moore’s back catalogue, something that’s a little off their usual musical path, and used it to launch a new enterprise, Entire Records. The album, People Of The Wind, is the soundtrack to the documentary of the same name. Released in 1976, and directed by Iranian writer / singer / actress, Shusha Guppy, the Oscar-nominated film follows the annual migration of the nomadic Bakhtiari tribe. Observing as they herd their livestock between the mountains, in the spiring, and the valleys and plains, during autumn, in south west Iran. The reissue has been teased with the track, Thanksgiving, where Moore’s sensitive, acoustic playing shifts between African blues and Spanish leaning.  

Shin Sasakubo & Matchume Zango / Kalamuka / Chichibu

The sleeve of this album thanks about 50 contributors, however, it is, at its heart, a collaboration between Japanese guitarist Shin Sasakubo and Mozambican percussionist Matchume Zango. Recorded in Sasakubo’s hometown Chichibu, in the Saitama prefecture, the music’s totally organic drum circle dynamics conjure the area’s peaceful rural scenery. A landscape not dominated by man, but by nature. Bordered by mountains, rivers and the ChichibuTama Kai National Park. The latter, packed with ancient shrines, is a popular place of pilgrimage. A plethora of gently plucked strings temper the record’s ritual rumblings, and tough tribal rhythms. The clustered chimes of guitar and mbira caught in a delicate dance. Their counterpoint, moving like the tops of rolling waves reflecting sunlight, could just as easily soundtrack the ripples of a calm, midday Mediterranean tide. The sweetly sung and chanted vocals recall those of magical Kenyan musician Ayub Ogada. 

Tortoise / Oganesson / International Anthem

Pioneering US post-rock collective, Tortoise return with their first new music since 2016. Having switched from Thrill Jockey, now working with contemporary / modern / future jazz institution, International Anthem, an album is apparently on the way. Upfront, the single, Oganesson, features a frantic, sort of fractured drum & bass rhythm, where the assembled quintet all hammer at their chosen instrument as if it were a piece of percussion. Creating cascades of Steve Reich-ian counterpoint and some how still managing to sound chilled.