Cruisic
Jazz Carnival/Pacific 707

Released under the moniker of The 4th Cycle (not his backing band, but a reference to the improv techniques of the cycle of fourths used on the album) jazz keyboardist Walter Bishop Jr. released ‘Keeper Of My Soul’ on the Black Jazz imprint in 1973. Free-form, improvised passages rub up against Latin and funk rhythms on this critically undervalued work, available once again via Real Gone Music.

ZamalFunk and La Freak records are proud to present their first common reissue !First of our series is Matadi's album " Dance My Love" released in 1978 on now reissued for the first time with a full remastering of the original tracks and including an exclusive interview of Sammy Massamba on a printed insert.Matadi was a band created by legendary producer Sammy Massamba in late 70s, here's their first and only album "Dance My Love" , including cosmic afro-disco and heavy funk and soul tracks with crazy synths and groove on all tracks !The whole album was fully licensed in close collaboration with Sammy Massamba.

Reconnected is compiled from Harold Lucious’ addictive 1990 release Connections, a visionary mix of soulful house, New Jack Swing and RnB, an American predecessor of street soul. Deeply connected to music from an early age, Harold started his music career in the early 70s at the age of 16. He sang in his first group, The Final Seconds, who pressed a 7” single in New York City in 1973. The group would go on to record a full album called Neo Cosmic Blues, but never had the chance to press it. They would continue to perform and write together throughout the 70’s and searched in vain for a label to work with. During that time, Harold landed a guest spot on the legendary Brother Ahh record Move Ever Onward, set up by his manager who was Brother Ahh’s sibling. Harold is listed as having played koto, but really he provided background vocals. Throughout the 80’s, Harold worked at WBI radio programming talk shows. On air, he would act out modified scripts to Richard Wright novels like “The Outsider”.Connections was his effort to finally release a record after years of recording and playing music. Experimenting with dance music he came up with an album that was inspired by his love of house music and RnB. He sold the record out of his backpack, ending up with boxes of copies that were eventually destroyed when he had to move from his long-time apartment in Brooklyn. Few of the original LP remain, and it has become almost impossible to find.Reconnected is a remastered redux with four songs taken from the original LP, and pressed onto a loud 45rpm 12” for maximum dance-floor potential. Mixed Signals is honoured to introduce Harold’s music to a contemporary audience around the world.

Planetário da Gávea by Hermeto PascoalOn a balmy Brazilian night in February, 1981, a crowd gathered in Rio de Janeiro's Gávea neighbourhood under the iconic dome of the city's Planetário (Planetarium). Alongside musicians like Helio Delmiro and Milton Nascimento (who were in the audience that night), they were there to see the great "Bruxo" (sorcerer) Hermeto Pascoal live in concert, with his new band formation which would become known simply as "O Grupo" (The Group).Growing up on a farm in Brazil's northeastern state of Alagoas, Hermeto has always been deeply in tune with, and inspired by nature. In his youth he would make his own flutes to play call and response with the birds and frogs. He would build scrap-metal instruments in his blacksmith grandfather's forge, and sit for hours by the lake listening to the sounds of nature. On the Planetário Da Gávea recordings though, Hermeto is cast as the "sorcerer" or the "cosmic emissary" (as the great Brazilian guitarist Guinga once called him), exhibiting an intuitive sense of harmony and melody beyond that of our own world."Tudo e Som" (All is Sound). It's a phrase Hermeto regularly returns to, and it points to the fact that not only can music be made from anything, but also alludes to something much more profound. It's an understanding of the universe as being in a state of constant movement, forever vibrating at the quantum level, like the string of a guitar, or a saxophone's reed. "Tudo e Som" is a declaration of the mystical and spiritual power of sound, as a fundamentally vibrational force.The series of concerts at the Planetário marked the birth of "O Grupo" which would last with the same line-up (apart from Zé Eduardo Nazário) for the next eleven years. Every member of O Grupo was a phenomenal musician in their own right. It was one of saxophonist/flautist Carlos Malta's first gigs with the group, and the concert unusually featured two drummers, Zé Eduardo Nazário and Marcio Bahia. Nazário, from São Paulo, had played with Hermeto during the mid-70s (as well as with Milton Nascimento, Egberto Gismonti and Toninho Horta, to name a few). Bahia though had just joined the group. Acclaimed keyboard player Jovino Santos Neto was on keyboards, piano and organ, and the great Itiberê Zwarg (who remains in Hermeto's band to this day), played bass. Rounding the group off was the percussionist Pernambuco. During this period (up until the early 90s) the group would rehearse for hours on end, virtually seven days a week, with a total dedication to music and Hermeto's musical vision.

After United Identities' successful first vinyl release "Modern Intimacy Volume 1" in 2020, founder, DJ, producer and music curator Carista decided it was time for round two. Named after her debut mixtape, we are proud to present "Modern Intimacy Volume 2". This album is a blend between contemporary and futuristic sounds by 10 rising Dutch artists curated by the label head herself. The intention of the compilation is to nurture and showcase contemporary Dutch homegrown artists and the range of their craft; Breaking the boundaries of sound and genre as we know it, with a refusal to be categorized or caged in. The album starts with the hopeful and soothing track "Whistle, accompanied by a saxophone and flute that gently guides you through the story of Brintex Collective. Then we are moving onwards to genre defying artist Phantom Wizard, who takes you from experimental synth jazz to an electronic dance riddim named "Awa". These two tracks serve as the perfect introduction and sets the tone of the label's versatile compilation. Followed by Thrills in +41 eerie, steady soundscaping drum patterns in "Strangelove64'', groovy bass heavy breaks that invite you to move your whole body to EYCEE's "Crunk", or to be enticed to a dark forest full of raving dancers with the dark but dreamy techno banger "Body On The Floor" by DutchAfro featuring vocals by Luka Eyrie. On the second half of the LP we are transported to an utopian dream reality in "On" by Sansouni with ethereal voices and sounds; Percussion and sample heavy "38A" by Conrad Soundsystem; The glitchy and dark "Personal Reality" by Mayo and shortly after we are taken on a journey through time and space by futuristic artist audt98 in "6 IDENTICAL ATOMS". The compilation concludes with Acidic Male's "Zero Authority", shifting between cutting snares, alluring synths and poetic vocals.