from the darkest corners of the rca vaults we bring you this super rare and wonderful, tripped out cosmic-psych rarity on 45! from 1977 this double-header is an eastern themed, moog driven oddity from the mysteriously monikered kamel oil company. written by the legendary bob azzam, eddie barclay (founder of barclay records) & greek record company owner antoine flamaritis, mustapha is an exotica soaked orchestral monster with choir vocals and string arrangements that only the big boys could call in. this is a serious left-field nugget from the vaults of one of the biggest majors, one ends up thinking - how did this come about?! . on the flip-side we have petrolo en bruto , which is the real gem here, undoubtedly this one will appeal to fans of the far flung reaches of world music and psych, even those of you who dig the various flavours of funk from around the globe. a truly special and unique record here, often sought after by the deepest of the crate diggers and obscure sound searchers on a promo 45, this rare ep now sees a fully legit reissue. made in conjunction with above board distribution and rca this reissue is sourced from their vaults using original materials and remastered and repressed to the highest standard for 2018 and featuring all original 1977 rca label artwork.

where greasy mike takes a trip to the orient - and returns with 16 slices of sizzling spices in a sleazy szechuan sauce! expect all manner of tasty treats to liven up the party, but dont forget to bring the baijiu!

during the eighties it was possible to observe an italian fascination with the mysterious far east. this can be found across art, design and music in italy during this time, in subtle or obvious ways. specifically there are italo-disco records that proudly show this influence, some of the best known being: fun fun – -living in japan-, koto – -chinese revenge- and city-o – -rose of tokyo-.

following in this theme is fancy – -null null-. not to be confused with the famous euro-disco artist behind -slice me nice-, this fancy is a one-off project from italo-disco icon raffaele fiume, the artist and voice behind many great italo-disco hits, such as: helicon – -you ... see-, malcom & the bad girls – -shoot me- and ralph river band – -strange vibration-.

adding to the original tracks of the 1982 release is a totally ecstatic and powerful remix from betonkust: one of the most talented and exciting dutch producers of recent years. also included is an instrumental edit from hysteric, for those who find the unique vocals challenging.

despite the renewed interest in music from kenyas past, finding these tracks and their rights holders hasnt become any easier. only a handful of music archives around the world harbour collections of kenyan music, and just a few private collectors in kenya and abroad have been sharing catalogue info online or privately. one of the problems with east african music of this era is that much of it was originally released only on 45 rpm, seven-inch vinyl singles, many of which were only ever produced in tiny runs of a few hundred. 45s with their thin, paper sleeves do not age as well as lps and are often far more susceptible to the elements

over the course of four albums, manchester based trumpeter, composer, arranger and band-leader matthew halsall has carved out a niche for himself on the uk music scene as one of it s brightest talents. his languid, soulful music has won friends from jamie cullum and gilles peterson to jazz fm and mojo as well as an ever-growing international following. his label gondwana records is home to gogo penguin and his own albums have found halsall exploring the modal jazz of john and alice coltrane, paying tribute to the hard bop of the late ’50s and early ’60s or most recently on fletcher moss park drawing on eastern influences in his most personal statement yet. his latest album when the world was one is something of a companion piece to fletcher moss park (much of the music was written at the same time) but draws more explicitly on halsall’s love of spiritual jazz and eastern music as well as his own studies in meditation and travels in japan. beautifully recorded at hasall’s favourite studio, 80 hertz in manchester, and engineered by brendan williams and george atkins it features the recording debut of halsall’s large ensemble, the gondwana orchestra, which utilises the exotic flavours of harp, koto and bansuri flute and eastern scales to create a global palate for halsall’s life-affirming sounds.

this isnt just another disco record, this isnt just another bunch of tired re edits. what you have in your possession is the collaboration of a worldwide band of dedicated music lovers. the product of many early mornings and late nights, emails, files and myspace communications floating around the world wide web from chin stroking scientists in the us, uk across the european continent and as far east as japan and australia. possibly the first ever co operative dance music project to come from this fast paced future we find ourselves in. a joint venture that makes the world feel a whole lot smaller – history in the making. to be played very loud in discos!!!

the album was one of the first to reach a far different audience to the traditional >world music< market and spawned many further projects and labels in its wake. a year later, the >nigeria 70< compilation surfaced on strut and labels like soundway and analog africa would continue to unearth amazing lost gems from the motherland. the album is testament to the determined work of brooker following several research trips, especially to east africa - kenya and zaire!

after a four-year break from the studio, laÕs finest practioners with their producer miles tackett return back with their actual album >dusk till dawn<. breakestra was formed by tackett in the late 80s and became one of the great live funk bands of their era. with their sound of gritty soul/jazz, party funk & breaks breakestra takes us to a journey into psychedelic soul, and west african farfisa stylings and instrumental cuts!