conceived in johannesburg in february during the bandÕs sell-out debut south africa tour, the tourmates recorded these songs over two all-day-and-all-night sessions, with production handled by mumford & sons and the very bests johan hugo.

reggae

hits & classic from anti nowhere league on transparent red double vinyl.

live at the schauburg theatre, bremen, 1983.

blue vinyl reissue of rival consoles’ beloved 2016 mini-album “night melody”. limited pressing on blue coloured vinyl, download code included.

recorded live at schauburg, bremen on april 18th, 1981. limited edition green double vinyl.

gatefold 2lp, incl dl code

south african jazz out of johannesburg

reissue of the 1961 max roach album.

excerpts from the summer 86 tour by gil scott-heron & his amnesia express. limited record store day release.

recorded live in one take at the spaza art gallery, troyeville, johannesburg on 17 may 2015.

ep + download code including bonus tracks

the brand new studio album from africa express on double vinyl.

johannesburg musicians translate the city’s dreamscape into sound.

topia records uncovers the work of alex kassian the kyoto born berlin based producer and dj whose work as opal sunn and al kassian has been turning heads and shifting feet in recent times. over the last decade kassian hosted word of mouth dances in london and berlin where he gained a reputation as one of europe s most promising artists. kassian s recent output has been primarily composing scores for contemporary dance and theatre in berlin, an approach he brings here to this 6 track ep hidden tropics . kassian inspired by other utopia records artists such as lars bartkuhn and vangelis katsoulis delves deeper into his compositional scope for a sound that joins the dots between ambient, world music to spiritual house in parts inspired by his homeland of japan as heard on bells of ukyo and the 80 s sakamoto-esque olson waters . the title track is a breakthrough in contemporary house music, sure to be picked up on by the tastemakers from new york to johannesburg to berlin to amsterdam to tokyo and beyond. cover image of tsuwaono sagimai by makoto furukawa, shimane, japan.

hello to johannesburg. thor rixon is a versatile musician from south africa who seamlessly blends different styles, genres, collaborations and tempos to a unique fingerprint of his work. always driving and uplifitng with bold atmospheres and little details, each track a story stuck in your head. either eerie or euphoric, always like the shadow of a memory, indistinguishable from the rest. baie dankie, thor

300 hand numbered copies with added insert. on the 17th of june 1976, a large crowd of young south africans marched through the streets of downtown johannesburg. the protest was an outpouring of public disgust at the recent actions of the apartheid government and its racist police force who, just the day before, had violently quashed an uprising of black school children in soweto who were protesting the humiliating enforcement of afrikaans in their schools. in the process, they shot dead a boy called hector pieterson. he was 12 years old. the harrowing photo of umbiswa makhubo carrying hector s body through the dusty streets of soweto, taken by a local journalist that day, spelt the beginning of the end of apartheid. the world now had a view into what was really happening under the racist national party.

london-based electronic songwriter ryan lee west’s most personal work to date comes in the form of a mini-album titled night melody.

the chisa years: 1965–1975 (rare and unreleased) is a compilation album by south african jazz trumpeter hugh masekela. the album consists of 14 rare or forgotten tracks recorded by stewart levine and hugh masekela from 1965 to 1975 when they ran their own chisa records label. thom jurek of allmusic wrote “in sum, there isn’t a weak moment on this entire collection. it’s appeal is wide and deep and one can only hope this is the first of many volumes of this material to appear. bbe records has done a stellar job in making this slab available.” dan nishimoto of the prefix magazine stated “the compilation focuses on masekela’s original idea of “african american music.” from the early experiments of the zulus (a group featuring m’bulu) in mixing doo-wop, rhythm & blues and south african gospel and the mbaqanga/”grazing in the grass”-style work of the generically named johannesburg street band to the clearly fela-influenced ojah (masekela’s band in the mid-’70s, consisting of players from ghana and nigeria) and the readyfor-primetime belting of m’bulu, each track reveals a multi-pronged effort to find and challenge the notion(s) of how african and american cultural forms could interact.”

kwaito 12 inch featuring two forgotten bass-heavy cuts from south africa in the early 90s. vanonyana lava by volcano is a sought after tune right now (so difficult to get an original copy!) while the beat gangsters are a new introduction (to us) from okapis vaults. tip! hot on the heels the labels debut release burnin beat, johannesburg-based afrosynth records second release is a 12inch of two bass-heavy cuts of obscure 90s kwaito from south africa.

a timeless compilation for the lovers of deep underground house music. all of the productions are kind of magic and have been supplied world-wide by fine artists from: estonia, south-africa, germany and iceland. deep inspiration show records proudly presents its 1st vinyl release: the various inspirations wax sampler a compilation that comes up with 5 master pieces from 4 different countries. a1 is by neuronphase from estonia. hes smashing here a deep detroit inspired house track right at ya and has already released two great records on serie limitee. a2 is a slow atmospheric bomb by ìdeep sentimentsî from johannesburg/ south-africa. he s definitely someone who has a name in his country when it comes to deep underground music. it was definitely about time for his first release on wax! b1 comes up by marco nega from germany who isn’t new into game too. he already released on labels like bu-mako, batti batti, altered moods recordings, underground quality and many more. be prepared for a raw but lush sounding romantic profound track. just the way we love it! b2 is by viktor birgiss from iceland. the main guy behind ìlagaffe talesî delivers a timeless piece of house music with jazzy influences. this one definitely deserves a place on wax! b3 and the last track on this special compilation is by roberto bronco from germany. a short but dope sounding infinite track that could last forever! he released his 2nd album some time ago on lemon grass music. this is a limited compilation. only 300 copies world-wide!

hyenah, has, over the last few years helped forge strong ties between the deep house mecca of johannesburg and the cutting edge electronic scene in europe. with a handful of influential and pivotal releases and remixes on a few key labels (objektivity, drumpoet, poker flat, toytonics) hyenah has established himself as a major talent to follow. with his residency and label night rise at berlin institution watergate going from strength to strength, a busy touring schedule taking in ibiza, angola, asia and the u.s, we’re very pleased hyenah still found time to get into the studio so we can present you with the next instalment, the usuthu ep. lead track usuthu featuring the vocals of b’utiza opens the release in fine style with crisp, percussive beats laying the foundation for the precision synths and trademark hyenah afro vibes. those who loved the wish, tale of the dirt and the idea will love this worthy follow up! next up is a second original entitled phases featuring the hypnotic tones of nonku, a much deeper affair but with no less energy and atmosphere. just a more heads down groove for the warm ups and wind downs, nonku’s wonderful vocal elements adding the perfect soulful touch. flipping over we have a wonderful remix from the inimitable mr raoul k. the ivory coast native now residing in berlin has continually wowed us here at freerange with his boabab and mule musiq releases. with his collaborative release alongside manoo just about to drop on innervisions (including a killer dixon edit!), we’re excited to bring you an epic mr raoul k remix of title track usuthu. setting the mood with lush strings and a beautifully paced, beatless intro, raoul k slowly introduces the beats and keyboard parts, layering up the elements and building the energy in the process, resulting in a very special, dynamic version that will connect on a deep level with all who experience it on the dance floor.

south african house and synth-funk from the kwaito era by the legendary senyaka kekana. the unexpected deep house jam bayanyonyoba (1993) and the illustrious soul song dont judge me bad (1987) are big rh favorites. original copies are absolutely impossible to find, now released on 12inch for the first time. beautiful sleeve by stenze quo! esa williams i had the pleasure of performing alongside senyaka at the alexander theatre, johannesburg back in 2012 which would have probably been his last most iconic gig before his passing in 2015. these two tracks really showcase the sounds of south africa around the early to late 80’s, the influences from american synth pop and house that would then lead later into many of these records being played at the wrong speed which ultimately became the original kwaito sound from south africa

shamrock grew up in the township called ‘kwathema’, in the east of johannesburg. he has being crazy for music since he was a young child, and at primary school he sang as the soloist in the choir. everyone now knows that south africa is the house music capitol of the world! most young upcoming producers look up the american and european producers, but shamrock’s sound is standing out from the rest, as he’s been digging into his african roots to come up with his own style of music, working with mainly south african musicians, only using the computer to record the audio. on this album he’s also featured international musicians han litz,flutist from the netherlands, asali, vocalist from kenya, andy compton, from the uk, and jimmy gabriel on sax from nigeria.

zulu brings the slow burning dancefloor energy of 1980s south africa into sharp focus. comprised of sello mmutung and keith hutchinson, the original six track album zulu disco was laid down in johannesburg circa 1983. big tip

on the follow up to their 2015 ep ‘dumela 113’, we reintroduce hyperdub producer okzharp and manthe ribane, an artist, dancer and model from johannesburg who has worked and toured with die antwood amongst other creative work.
written and recorded in london, over two weeks this january, ‘tell your vision’ is a call and response between manthe’s vocals and okzharp’s production. both bring their unique energies to the mix, manifesting in a raw confidence of new moods and temperatures that were brought out from their first taste of touring and living on autopilot.

streng limitierte 7 inch aus der soul brother reissue-serie!

the second release from the hlanganani label lives up to its mo to provide a platform for talented producers from south africa to shine, focusing here on deep sixty, aka young and fast-rising producer johannesburg producer thabiso mamogwa. back in 2010, the producer made it to london to take part in the red bull music academy, which is when the hlang team first heard the tracks that make up the mme hayo ep whilst some studio time on the same trip with todd soundmurderer osborn resulted in the thursday nights track which mamogwa previously self-released. in addition to deep sixty s own deep terror mix of mme hayo, the label have coaxed some fine remixes out of esa and william kouam djoko.

from the tropics comes whiskey disco, a sneaky re-edit label bent on dredging the decanter for diffident dancefloor genius from latent disco perpetrators. it is loosely connected to sleazy mcqueen and his assorted cohorts.
kloof street diggin sees wd label honcho sleazy mcqueen team up with longtime dj cohort, romano arcaini for three super-sized re- edits of the highest order. each of these three songs are based around samples sourced during smq s recent tour stops in south africa. peace, love + harmony, the perfect track to segue between house and disco! flute and synthesizer call and response building to an unexpected vocal explosion.
on the flip, disco de moda, named after the johannesburg party with a decidedly digital disco bent, arps and chugs to robotic climax. finally, tidings are closed with the organic and synthetic, tied together in private life, a blend of flute and synth undulating to a psychedelic crescendo.

from valencia to detroit, from detroit to new york via bristol and from there to johannesburg – daniel kyo connects the dots on this gorgeous slice of disco-house meets urban beats. all that, on a very limited 12 inch with screen-printed artwork. young valencia based producer daniel kyo delivers his first single on lovemonk.
code for free mp3-download of this ep included.

nachgepresst auf schwarzem vinyl / black vinyl: die exzellente werkschau des gil scott-heron auf vinyl! mit 15 seiner besten produktionen zwischen 1973-1980, darunter >the bottle<, >johannesburg< und >its your world<.

exactly one year ago, stimming bought us the exquisite >funk with me<. a production, created together with south african talent lazarus mathebula. having become firm friends, an invite was extended to lazarus to come to hamburg and spend time in the studio. once again, the result of those sessions is outstanding. with >change<, and through the vocals of lazarus, both artists have built a musical bridge linking hamburg and johannesburg. a beautifully exotic production, as we have come to expect from stimming, with an added african touch. completing the ep are three brand new stimming productions for you delectation. musically outstanding, with his trademark-out-there-touch. this is yet another stimming release, not to be missed. enjoy!

a fantastic 6 trackser from crockett & tubbs for the world cup 2010 !

top notched production again coming from franck roger featuring top musicians currently playing for maw & the likes, fantastic vocals by female singer zonkes.produced, edited and mixed by franck roger.lead and background vocal by zonkes.recorded by franck roger & bruce at oskido s studio, johannesburg south africa.drum programming by franck roger.rhodes & synth lead by olivier m sellem.bass by gene perez.guitar by mike ciro. additional production by mike ciro.

its all too easy for nostalgia to tip into something negative. at its best its a celebration of the best the past has to offer while putting it into a contemporary context, at its worst its moaning that things arent as good as they used to be. hercules & love affair have always been firmly in the first category. main man andy butler takes classic house and disco sounds and uses them to craft dance music that has one foot in the past, the other cutting a rug on dancefloors right now. its a well-judged and expertly executed balance.

digitally remastered edition of this 1975 album from gil scott-heron and his musical partner in crime, brian jackson. from south africa to south carolina includes the single -johannesburg- which brought to our attention the resistance to the apartheid regime in south africa. this album consolidated gil scott-heron and bran jackson as major label artists and gave them an r&b chart single and a wider audience.