indie / blues. transparent red lp+download code

the 20th volume of our flagship eccentric soul series has all the boxes checked: guntoting, skip-tracing record producers, child stars, rip-offs, the worlds greatest bail bondsman, swindles, soaring falsettos, and a dwindling rust-belt cityscape offering mere glimpses of hope before the record industry escaped for the coasts. helmed by the ojays bobby massey, saru was a creative vortex that pulled cuyahoga countys greatest talent in, making a strong case for cleveland to contend with detroit, philly, and memphis as americas soul music’s capital. includes obscure and unknown sides from the out of sights, the elements, pandella kelly, david peoples, sir stanley, the ponderosa twins + 1, ba-roz, bobby dukes, and of course, the o’jays.

abstraxion returns to his own biologic records to release this impressive revisited album - giving tuff city kids, kasper bjørke, vessels, clarian, conforce, mattheis, ripperton, init, eduardo de la calle, cleveland the freedom to have their own take on tracks from abstraxion’s ‘she thought she would last forever’ lp released in october 2016. ripperton’s first mark on spazieren is one of meticulous sound design and textures complemented by a poignant vocal that provides a wicked ambience. his second offering is rapt around a warm bassline with orderly percussive stabs. init’s remix has been crafted with precision - an unhurried and mysterious track that builds and anticipates smoothly due to the precise instrumentation and adept reverb that’s been applied on the vocal. conforce closes out the ep with intent by delivering a dark, forceful and abstract take on spazieren. pr report : dj feedbacks : supported by : barnt, mano le tough, jennifer cardini, joris voorn…

prostitutes – aka cleveland, ohio marauder james donadio - flexes a whole new set of muscles on nouveauree, his first work for night school. sticking to an all-analogue machinebased strategy, donadio has warped and stripped his palette to create a juddering force majeure across 5 tracks and 28 minutes of power play.

incl 2 bit crew, lgg, volta cab and rosenhaft. 2 bit crews just cant seem. taking a sound heavily influenced by the underground house music / garage sound of the 90s, this is a bumping groove with a driving bassline and hatswith a simple female vocal sample that will stick in your brain. the second track takes things deeper with bastien carrara aka lgg with let me, smooth rhodes chords with a love sensation sample underpinned by raw beats and sub-bass. on the second side things get a little tougher. the third track is from a producer who has had many releases already on labels such as balance alliance, seven music and undertones, konstantyn isaev, better known as volta cab. his track what is underground focuses primarily on a killer bassline, retro synth stabs and a cheeky hip-hop sample used to great effect. finally is haim rosenhaft, a young producer from israel with 1992, his homage consists of an old school organ sound with heavy kicks and snares influenced by the sound of labels like umm and cleveland city in the 90s. again this will be a vinyl only release

thieveland jams … thug records next 12 inch presents a new 4 track e.p from one of the undergrounds commanding lieutenants, jeff samuel. named after his hometown of cleveland ohio, the thieveland jams e.p hits hard with 4 hammer minimal house jackers. punchy bass, looped up percussion and jazzy chords sit tightly against the back drop of jeffs signature soundscapes. a seminal house & techno artist, jeff samuel has a back catalog of street ready bombs on some of the most respected labels worldwide including spectral sound, logistics, trapez, poker flat and dan bells legendary 7th city. not much else needs to be said really … hope you dig the tunes as much as we do!

o jays road manager, don king prison chauffeur, window washer, house painter, ink spot, domino, producer, engineer, label owner, guitorgan technician, and one-time steward of a coveted jet magazine delivery route, lou ragland is cleveland s eastside success story. though suffocated by lake eries nitrate rich waters and the burning oil from a cuyahoga river fire, between 1967-1977 lou ragland produced the most thoughtful, hopeful, and downright soulful work to come out of the forest city. bookended by his dynamic albums hot chocolate and understand each other, i travel alone gathers period singles, collaborations, and an unreleased live album cut in 1973, revealing a cleveland genius in a musical microcosm of fearless and confident creation.