Folk 233 Items

This American cult legend has turned his laidback style into a trademark. J.J. Cale has forged an inspiring career that spans four decades. Collected is an essential J.J. Cale compilation on three 180 gram LPs chock full of rootsy Americana songs that will stay in the back of your head long after you turned off the record player.

180g vinyl.

Suffolk-based singer songwriter James Varda’s fourth and final album before his death from a long battle with cancer in 2015, Chance And Time, set for a vinyl only reissue on Unspun Heroes is an astonishing aural document of a creative, forward -thinking musician coming to terms with a life slowly evaporating away. There is hubris, melancholy and an undeniable weight of sadness in these ten songs but, miraculously, there is also a stoic realisation and acceptance from Varda that is both heart-wrenching and deeply affecting. On Chance And Time Varda reconnects the human spirit to the land, a heavy, fearful heart to an optimistic soul, and in a beautiful poetic flourish gives a real tangible sense of loving and hope to his family and friends offering genuine reassurance and even, at times, a green light for celebration.

Carrying a certain air of mystique, that same sense of a ‘other worldliness’ if you will of say a Karen Dalton or a Jeff Buckley, Varda’s delivery and tone carries huge emotional weight here and an unique ability to add an honest perspective and warmth to the starkest of realities. The hard hitting impact of the opening tracks is blunt and sharply defined. There is pain, hardship, and fear wrapped in these tales - ‘The Doctor Spoke, Two Hearts Broke” - made all the more hitting as this is a real life journey in the here and now being catalogued. As we move towards the second half of the record there is something even deeper and truly incredible at play. Varda’s whole demeanor is one of understanding and acceptance - hear the celebratory shamanic vibe of the extraordinary ‘Pass It On’ and the poignantly reflective, chokingly sad finale ‘We Won’t Dream’ - bringing to an end a record that will leave a mark on everyone who hears it. Real art is both timeless and omnipresent, these songs from James Varda will hang in

the air forever and be there for those who look to find understanding, joy and a sense of hope. Chance And Time is both an extraordinary record and poignant study of life and living, of death and what comes after.

James Varda released four albums between 1988 and his death in 2015. A fledgling career beginning on the singer-songwriting folk scene where his arrival was met with both curiosity and critical acclaim as was his debut, the John Leckie produced Hunger. Any momentum was lost however as it would be ten years before the next, In The Valley was met with a ruffle of applause. Cancer took hold of the troubadour and for a number of years Varda lived life and wrote songs until The River And The Stars appeared like a phoenix from the flames as he began to wrestle with the realities of his situation. It’s a record that beautifully lays the ground for this his masterpiece that was to follow.

Unspun Heroes, a new label set up by Simon White, has the sole purpose of finding and reissuing albums that he considers both undervalued and seemingly ignored. All releases will be on vinyl only complete with Obi strip and extensive liner notes. Each will be individually numbered and limited.

In August of 2012, Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit assembled in their home state of Alabama in front of a couple of sold-out concert halls to record their first live album, Live From Alabama. After years of hard touring, the critically-lauded band has gelled into a versatile rock and roll squad that is equally at ease performing Muscle Shoals soul to hardcore country to balls-out rock. Live From Alabama’s tracklist mines some of Isbell’s most popular songs and includes a pair of inspired covers in Neil Young’s “Like a Hurricane” and Candi Staton’s “Heart on a String.”

Mastered from the original analog tapes
All tracks previously unreleased
Booklet with liner notes and rare archive photos
Deluxe die cut Stoughton “tip-on” jacket with embossed lettering
Vinyl pressed at RTI

On March 4, 1975, Jim Sullivan mysteriously disappeared outside Santa Rosa, New Mexico. His VW bug was found abandoned, his motel room untouched. Some think he got lost. Some think the mafia bumped him. Some even think he was abducted by aliens.

By coincidence–or perhaps not–Jim’s 1969 debut album was titled U.F.O.. Released in tiny numbers on a private label, it too was truly lost until Light In The Attic Records began a years-long quest to re-release it–and to solve the mystery of Sullivan’s disappearance. Only one of those things happened, and you can guess which…

Light In The Attic’s reissue of U.F.O. introduced the world to an overlooked masterwork and won Sullivan, posthumously (presumably), legions of new fans. Those new admirers are in for a real treat: a lavish, first-time release of a previously unheard 1969 studio session.

If The Evening Were Dawn contains 10 acoustic solo recordings that have never seen the light of day. Whereas U.F.O. was bolstered by legendary sessioneers The Wrecking Crew, this is Jim Sullivan on his own terms, stripped down and soulful as ever. Recorded at a Los Angeles studio circa 1969, the session contains acoustic versions of a handful of U.F.O. tracks alongside a half dozen previously unheard songs. This, then, is the closest thing to those fabled Malibu bar performances at which Sullivan was first noticed.

According to his widow, Barbara, this was the album Jim always hoped to record. It serves as an unprecedented glimpse into the mysterious, larger-than-life figure who’s become the stuff of legends.

While Sullivan’s disappearance remains unsolved, his music endures and is finally gaining him the recognition he deserves, albeit long overdue. This recording serves as an unexpected missing piece of the puzzle; this is Jim Sullivan’s true swan song.

On 10-inch vinyl, here's a reissue of a 2013 Record Store Day release.

Reissue of this classic produced by Rick Rubin!

Released in 1976 Hejira is the 8th studio album from legendary Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell. The title word hejira is a transliteration of the Arabic word ‘hijra’ meaning journey which was a big inspiration for the album, as Mitchell said “the whole 'Hejira' album was really inspired... I wrote the album while traveling cross-country by myself and there is this restless feeling throughout it... The sweet loneliness of solitary travel."
Although the album was not as commercially successful as its predecessors it has been widely critically acclaimed and recognized as one of the high water marks of Mitchell’s illustrious career, with special mention to the support of Jaco Pastorious’s distinctive fretless bass.

Melody As Truth founder Jonny Nash returns to action with his first solo album in four years.

Over the course of eleven mesmerising tracks, Nash points the compass gently inwards, casting aside any conceptual frameworks in favour of exploring an imaginative and idealised “personal folk music” that combines elements of traditional acoustic music with the producer’s richly immersive interpretation of ambient, a sound he has been developing for well over a decade.

From the smudged acid-folk bliss of ‘Theories’ and ‘Eternal Life’, to the layered acoustic guitars of ‘All I Ever Needed’ and the delay-soaked, Durutti Column-esque ‘Light From Three Sides’, a wide variety of musical textures weave their way throughout the album.

Point of Entry is much more than a mere ‘guitar album’ – it draws on a rich and diverse palette to achieve its purpose. The delicate saxophone work of ambient-jazz contemporary Joseph Shabason swells on ‘Ditto’ and ‘Light From Three Sides’. Cascading piano lines ripple through the crystal clear sonic waters of ‘Face of Another’, whilst echoes of Nash’s work with Gigi Masin and Young Marco as Gaussian Curve appear in the dancing synth sequences of ‘Ditto’ and ‘Golden Hour’. Nash’s reverb-laden voice also appears for the first time since 2016’s critically acclaimed Exit Strategies, used delicately throughout the album to conjure up a world of dusk and golden light.

Combining the delicate human touch and naivety of earlier Melody As Truth releases with widened scope and vision, Point Of Entry is arguably Nash’s most complete work to date – an album that’s as much a statement of his “personal folk” vision as a future ambient classic.

The second album Judee Sill made, proved to be her last. Instead of using an outside arranger for the strings for her album Heart Food (as she did on her previous album Judee Sill [MOVLP1800]), Sill did all of the work herself.

Judee Sill was an American singer and songwriter. She released two albums and partially completed a third album before her death in 1979. Sill encountered Graham Nash and David Crosby and toured with them for a time as their opening act, a year before the release of her eponymous debut album.

First vinyl reissues of this Indian classical masterpiece recorded by Shrimati Kalyani Roy in the late 1960's. Undoubtedly one of the most talented sitar players in the history of the instrument. She is considered as one the [sic] finest female players in a field that was dominated by her male counterparts. On these recordings, she is accompanied by Manick Das (Tabla) and Namita Chatterjee (Tambura). Volume 1.

Kënnlisch, one of the rarest haunting psychedelic acid folk LPs from France, was the work of brothers Philippe and Jean-François Macherey.

Originally released in 1976 on the mega collectable label Le Kiosque d'Orphée, it contains some of the most beautiful sounds to come out of the 1970s alternative music scene.

An instrumental album, it opens with a burst of sunshine vibes and takes them into the experimental scene of French alternative folk avantgarde with a strong Cosmische influence. Beauty is the word, grown over acoustic guitar parts harmonised with the most elegant Moog Satellite lines you'll ever hear to create atmospheres of sound that make this is the perfect record for your mind to float away on a peaceful Sunday morning under a clear blue sky - it does have that therapeutic quality that we miss so much in modern music.

Wah Wah presents the very first official reissue of this mega rare LP, housed in it's original minimalist hand made artwork with the little upgrade twist of silk-screen printing and including a 4-page colour booklet with photos and text provided by the Macherey brothers themselves.

500 copies only!

(Psychagogia): 1. the recall of souls (from Hades) by magical means 2. the attraction of souls, the fun, the indulgence.

After 3 english-speaking albums, “Psychagogia (Entertainment)” is Kristof’s first album in his native language.

Associative writing, verses full of images from mythology, movements and sounds direct the listener to relaxation and emotional outburst. The ten pieces transport us to other worlds, interrupting contact with everyday and petty reality.

In combination with eerie vocals and prose, teased pianos and synthesizers, a pure fantasy of the dream is built, creating the impression that within us there is another part of existence, different from the body.

Most of the songs were written during the first quarantine period of 2020 and were completed at the end of it. The album was recorded in 2021 at Lotus studio with producer Vassilis Dokakis. The album’s artwork was art directed by Petros Aronis.

An album whose depth and beauty is, nearly five decades on, still utterly staggering."- Mojo Released by the Kapp label in 1970 and produced by the Oscar-winning Leonard Rosenman, Parallelograms was the first and only album by American psychedelic folk singer Linda Perhacs until the release of The Soul of All Natural Things in 2014. Discouraged by the lack of commercial attention and the label's reluctance to promote the album, Perhacs returned to her career as a dental hygienist. In the 30 or so years that followed, this record gradually developed a cult following. Combining fragile and ethereal melodic acid folk with perfectly rendered electronic effects, Parallelograms consists of what Perhacs herself described as "visual music." The spotlight is placed clearly on Linda's guitar and voice, where echoes of Joni Mitchell, Joan Baez and even Grace Slick (lead singer of Jefferson Airplane) can be traced. As was common in his work, Rosenman's production ends up shaping a soundscape located somewhere between jazz, classical music and the avant-garde. All Music reviewer Richie Unterberger gave it 4 ½ out of 5 stars, stating that "Perhacs' cult favorite Parallelograms instantly evokes the spare and isolated feel of the songs and the production on Joni Mitchell's first albums. Perhacs is adept at dropping unusual effects and arrangements into the mix, that on occasion have a mildly disquieting and psychedelic vibe. Not all of the record is unusual, though; much of it's just attractively wistful, moody singer/songwriter folk, sometimes with an engaging folk-jazz backup, sometimes just with a guitar, sometimes enlivened by creative smudges of organ and electric guitar.

Lolek’s fourth album, entitled “Agria (Wild)”, was written in Athens at intervals from 2019 to 2021. Lolek has written the music in nine tracks and has covered the track “Aftos O Anthropos (This Man)” by songwriters Likourgos Markeas and Maro Bizani. He has done all the recordings and mixing, except for the cello and percussion recordings made by Nikos Veliotis, who is co-producer and co-arranger of the album. The mastering was done by Giannis Christodoulatos (Sweetspot Productions).

“Agria” is the sound of turmoil that gives birth to the truth. 10 tracks where lyricism coexists with noise and romance with violent honesty. A confession about the daily life of disappointment, the despair of love, the prison of the family, the game of social acceptance, the self-destructive human nature.

Completely unknown album by Salah Ragab's Cairo Jazz Band vocalist Maha, recorded in Cairo in 1979. Features productions by Hany Shenoda of Al Massrieen. Maha’s “Orkos,” originally released on cassette, is one of these standout musical diamonds that combines Jazz and Egyptian vocal traditions with Funk, Latin and Soul.

Maha’s “Orkos” immediately catches your ear as a unique album. A strong and energetic voice, equally grounded in jazz as well as Egyptian vocal traditions, Maha sings over instrumentals that offer a wide palette of influences, sonically emblematic of the cultural changes that were occurring in the country. The album features rich compositions and productions by renown Egyptian musician Hany Shenoda, who’s group, Al Massrieen, Habibi Funk worked with in 2017 (the release led to sync placements in Hulu’s “Ramy” TV Series).

At the time of its release, however, the “Orkos” cassette quickly faded away among the growing number of releases populating the Egyptian musical soundscape. For more than 40 years, it sat in near obscurity before being given new life in the form of a properly licensed vinyl release. Habibi Funk and Disco Arabesquo are honored to play a part in sharing Maha’s story. Below is a bit more context around the release as well as the campaign schedule.

The arrival of the cassette brought a seismic shift in how music was produced and consumed around the world. Smaller bands and labels were able to release music without the logistical and financial barrier present in vinyl manufacturing. At the same time, in Egypt, a new crop of musicians and composers made their way into the scene, seeking to bring something fresh to what was perceived as the widely monophonic musical traditions of Egypt. Hany Shenoda, Mohamed Mounir, Magdy El Hossainy, Omar Korshid, Salah Ragab and Hamid El Shaeri are some names that come to mind. Many built their sounds combining their own musical upbringing with influences coming from the outside. The success of these projects varied widely, but for each there were numerous lesser-known bands and singers. Many of these often-short-lived projects would release their music on cassettes on tiny labels only to fade into the musical ether.

Maha’s “Orkos” album fits this category. Put out in a small run of cassettes, it’s fair to say that the singer’s sole recording outing was not a financial success when it was originally released by Egyptian label Sout El Hob in 1979. While it may not have found an engaged and open-eared audience upon its release, the first few bars of the album indicate this is a special, timeless album that transcends the musical boundaries that many artists were seeking to break through at the time.

From the funk sounds of “Law Laffeina El Ard” (Single 1, out September 1 with Pre-Order announcement); the moody, mellow sounds of “Kabl Ma Nessallem We Nemshy” (Single 2, out September 23) or “We Mesheet;” to excursions into Latin sounds in the title track “Orkos,” and disco with “Ana Gaya” (Album Focus Track, out October 10) the album is an amalgamation of genres that stands out from the immense creativity present in Egypt at the time.

We connected Maha in late 2021 and she was clearly surprised to have someone call about music she recorded more than 40 years ago. She also seemed interested in the idea in bringing her music back to people’s attention. A few weeks later we were speaking with our friend Moataz, who runs the Disco Arabesquo project and showed him this great new album we found and to our surprise he knew the album, having found a copy of it a year or two before, in Cairo. It was then obvious to team up for a collaboration for this project. You can find Moataz’s story about Maha and her music, as well as extensive interviews with Maha herself, in the booklet accompanying the release.

They’re back! This time the Finnish seers Mahti venture even deeper into the unknown on their third release Musiikki 3, assisted by the creativity of English musicians Richard Dawson and Sally Pilkington.

Limited Mirage Blue/green Marble Colored Vinyl LP With Download Code. Non-returnable.

The music reaches for space and roots at the same time bringing forth Mr. Dawson's earthy guitars and angelic voice while Ms. Pilkington weaves ethereal layerings with her synths and joins occasionally the choir.

Hannu Saha conjures ancient Karelian spirits with his kantele while Muumu, Lehtibabba and Mätky mesmerize the listener with their unique mix of electro, rock and noise.

The end result is an album full of Musiikki unlike you've never heard before!

“These ancient musicians played their ‘mahti’… and the sound they produced was called ‘musiikki’”

Hannu Saha - string kanteles ,Tomi Leppänen - sequencer/drum brain/synthesizers , Jussi Lehtisalo - noise/vocals, Teemu Elo - guitar/synthesizers, Richard Dawson - guitar/vocals , Sally Pilkington - keyboards/vocals

LA-based musician Marina Allen's spectacular debut proper, and follow up to last years acclaimed 18 minute mini-opus, 'Candlepower'. 'Centrifics' is a joyful collection of observations and questions about the self, the world, and how they interact. Awe-inspiring reflections accompany mesmerizing melodies while Allen's extraordinary range and depth of singing showcases a wide array of influences from Karen Carpenter to Karen Dalton, from Joanna Newsom to Fiona Apple, from Cate Le Bon to Waxahatchee, via Meredith Monk and the New York avant-garde. While the more DIY Candlepower, pieced together over a couple of years was subversive, and obscure, Centrifics is more joyful, funny and direct. Lilting melodies deliver serious messages: "For me a lot of the magic rises in the studio as my arrangements emerge and shift. I had wonderful collaborators on Centrifics who were willing to go along with the cinematic flow I tend to envision. Chris Cohen and later, Ben Varian and I, worked off barebones tracks, adding only those thoughts and lines and instruments that we were certain could amplify the meaning. Other beautiful contributions came from Emily Elhaj, Logan Hone, Jasper McMahon and Joachim Polack." Produced, engineered, and mixed by Chris Cohen, o-engineered by Jonny Kosmo. Classic Black Vinyl, postcard. DL Card. "A songwriter of rare skill and intensity" Clash "Exquisite melodies and cool, pure, dreamy delivery" Mojo "Intensely personal and widely universal" Paste

Massimo Silverio is a songwriter and musician born in 1992 in Cercivento (Udine) in the heart of the historical-geographical region of Carnia. He writes and sings in his native language, a minority language called “carnic” spoken in the Carnic Alps of Friuli Venezia Giulia. <> (Massimo Silverio) Between the charm of the borderland and the tradition of an ancient language, Silverio has created his very personal aesthetic made of poetry and sounds, mixing classic and contemporary, folk and experimental, acoustic, electroacoustic and electronic. A research began at a very young age which led him to the creation of an imaginary made of places, mountains and rivers, faces and ancient rites translated into music through the use of classical instruments such as the cello, double bass, prepared percussion, piano or folk ones such as the guzla - instrument of the Dinaric Alps - but also synthesizers, guitars, organs and above all the voice which becomes the guide with its light and intimate timbre, mixing Carnic and English to tell a minority yet universal story. After 2 self-produced EP and a collaboration with the welsh band Adwaith, he arrives in 2023 at the release of his first album entitled "hrudja" as the result of the meeting with the eclectic producer Manuel Volpe (Rhabdomantic Orchestra) and the decisive contribution of the italian musician and performer Nicholas Remondino (Lamie, Stefano Battaglia, Vieri Cervelli Montel ). Together they created a work of contrasts, of silences full of sound that go beyond the boundaries of a musical genre. “Hrudja” is the Langobard ancestor of the word “Grusa” which in Friulian indicates the crust of a wound, a metaphor of rebirth and healing but also of a coat of arms, a memory of something that is disappearing.