music

The Mancunian trumpeter, composer, DJ and label owner Matthew Halsall has long resided at the vanguard of the thriving UK modern jazz scene, issuing a slew of critically acclaimed releases as well as igniting the careers of numerous luminaries; Chip Wickham, Nat Birchall, Go Go Penguin and Mammal Hands to name just four.  Salute To The Sun is his latest offering and his first new missive since 2015. Recorded in his home studio over a sequence of weekly sessions with a hand-picked supporting cast comprising harpist Maddie Herbert, drummer Alan Taylor, percussionist Jack McCarthy, pianist Liviu Gheorghe, flautist and saxophonist Matt Cliffe and bassist and long-time collaborator Gavin Barras, the seven tracks assembled here echo the bandleader’s enduring fascination with the iconic spiritual jazz typified by Alice Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders and Yusef Lateef and the modal, rain-washed British style essayed on Gilles Peterson’s impeccable Impressed series of compilations (Michael Garrick, Stan Tracey et al), this time filtered through the prism of ecological matters. 

Fully produced at famous roman Emmequattro Studios (home of many fascinating recordings by piano player Enrico Pieranunzi) the album is deeply rooted in the coolness of italian libraries, showing up such an incredible music craftsmanship. Fully adorned by a vibrant rhythm section, an acoustic piano, a clavinet, a Fender Rhodes and a proper ‘acid jazz’ guitar-playing, this album will lift your mind and soul for good.

- Photographs of the actual used record in the store -

Do You Like My Tight Sweater? is the first album by the electronic/dance duo Moloko, released in October 1995 in the UK and Australia, while being released in March 1997 in the US. The title of the album is derived from the singer Róisín Murphy's chat-up line to Mark Brydon at a party in 1994: "Do you like my tight sweater? See how it fits my body!" A romantic and professional relationship between the two continued for several years after.  Do You Like My Tight Sweater? combined three tracks ("Where Is the What If the What Is in Why?", "Party Weirdo", and "Ho Humm") from a 1995 independently released EP Where Is the What If the What Is in Why? (also known as Moloko EP) with fourteen new recordings. It was reported by Billboard in 1996 that total sales had reached 100,000 copies. As of 2003 it has sold over 250,000 copies worldwide. The album's first single, "Fun for Me", was used on the soundtrack of the 1997 film Batman and Robin, and was used as the theme for a Lucky Strike advertisement in Spain. The video, "Fun for Me" was inspired by Batman & Robin and directed by Bill Fishman.

First released in 1992, PJ Harvey’s reissue of her debut album, Dry – Demos, sees her music stripped back to demos in its most raw and unfiltered version yet.