Roland Young Hearsay I-Land

You may be familiar with the terrific spiritual jazz of this Alice Coltrane protege, as revived by EM in Osaka — classics like Isophonic Boogie Woogie — and maybe even his stints with avant-garde jazzbos Infinite Sound and NYC no-wavers The Offs (whose first record sported a Basquiat cover).
Quite different, utterly compelling chapters in the same story, Hearsay I-Land presents RY's forays into mid-eighties, outsider synth-boogie: the 1984 four-track twelve I-Land, besides most of his 1987 LP Hearsay Evidence.

Ballo-Balla is an insouciant dance-floor stealth-attack suited to The Paradise Garage, with Risa Young intoning like a fitness instructor — come Madam — over a spacey 808, criss eighties cowbell, bass sequencer, and weird effects; and Don't Ever Take Your Love Away is a kind of melancholic synth-wave Lovers Rock; whilst Roland himself sings in a high-pitched, soulful voice over ruff analogue programming, mesmerically entangling Jeff Phelps, Arthur Russell and Dam Funk.

Another brand new label to watch out for in 2014: Palto Flats.