Curtis Clark Sonship Theus Roberto Miranda
Phantasmagoria

For many aficionados, this is the best Selected Sound release. Loaded with fuzzy wah-wah guitar, deep flute-lines atop soulful psych-rock breakbeats and huge organ action, its uncompromising funk will blow you away. Sampled for many hip hop beats and dropped by well known rare groove DJs around the world, one jewel in particular from this glorious German vault needs little introduction. The intro to Orchestra Gary Pacific's mesmeric "Soft Wind" rides the illest, crispest drum break you've perhaps never heard - like, the drum break to end them all - alongside a smooth, deep bass line from the heavens. It featured notoriously on the beloved Dusty Fingers comps of the 90s and was brilliantly sampled by Pacewon for his eternal "Sunroof Top". Just listen and be dazzled.

Fågelbörs - Marjassa by Ultraääni RecordsIn February 2020, just in time before the outbreak of the ongoing pandemic, four avant-garde jazz/free improvisation enthusiasts got together to play and hang out. The place for their meeting, a cosy studio (Odd Funk Records) in a small town in Southern Finland, has during the past ten years received a certain reputation - that of analogically recorded and mixed raw funk, afrobeat and a bit more twisted jazz.These four pals, now known as Fågelbörs - drummer Jaakko Tolvi, the bassist Tero Kemppainen, saxophonist Matti Luokkanen and trumpeter Tuure Tammi – represent what could be called third wave of improvisatory music in Finland, Tolvi and Kemppainen being among the starting members of this wave in early 2000s.Part 1 of the Marjassa LP is reminiscent to 60s avant-garde movements both soundwise and musically. It builds on the bubbling of the drums and bass and the solo exchanges between sax and trumpet, reminding of some of Ornette Coleman/Don Cherry stuff (or perhaps Noah Howard/Ric Colbeck). On the flip side we find a slowly moving atmosphere that builds towards a surprise in the end, a combination that might have structural reminiscence with Art Ensemble of Chicago live concerts. May the cheerful whistle stay with you dear friend...

For the past 20 years Nostalgia 77 has become a catch all for the musical life of Benedic Lamdin. His schizophrenic offerings range from songwriting sessions, soundtracks, excursions into Soul and in this case Jazz. The Loneliest Flower in the Village is an album that sees Lamdin reunited with longtime collaborator and arranger Riaan Vosloo and experienced veterans from a host of Nostalgia 77 projects.'It had been a long time since we'd gigged or recorded so the idea was as much a little reunion in the studio as any grand plan to record an album' says Lamdin. 'The idea wasn't to do anything new (the material is both a few originals and a few covers), more just hear these players and their easy familiarity with each other after the disruption of Covid'.Playing a clutch of originals by Riaan Vosloo and James Allsopp and covers by long term influences from South Africa such as Chris MacGregor and Abdullah Ibrahim, the emphasis is on strong melodies and open reaches for the soloists. The title track draws upon the song written by South African bassist Johnny Dyani and the result is spectacular; British jazz at heart but awash with references to South Africa and its strong jazz heritage.

After almost two years from the LP "Morphé", Pellegrino returns with a single of his Zodyaco ensemble project and its distinctive musical identity between Mediterranean mysticism and Latin splendour. Quimere, title of the single, are a metaphor for an inexpressible desire, an impossible dream, two interpretations of a song in the shadow of the sun that warms up Naples at the sunset of its summer, that invisible wall that divides souls, or perhaps an impossible love suspended between the stars and their reflections on the sea.