After a tumultuous year for the music industry worldwide, supporting artists, independent record labels and retailers is crucial now more than ever. Record Store Day remains an exciting time to celebrate our love for music and share extra special vinyl releases with the world. With this in mind, it is our absolute pleasure to announce our two releases for RSD UK 2021, both dropping 12th June... 

Brazil 45 Boxset, Curated by DJ Marky - 5 x Vinyl 7" 

This project has been a long time in the planning, but good things come to those who wait. We are delighted to present the second volume in our "Brazil 45 Boxset Curated by" series. For this one we have gone straight to the source, Brazil’s DJ Marky (Marco Antônio Silva) selects inspirations and favourites from the golden era of Brazilian music.  

Reminiscing to the early 2000s, we can remember the freshness that DJ Marky and other Brazilian producers bought to drum’n’bass by taking two different forms of music from two different cultures and interweaving them effortlessly with a beautiful synchronicity and unity. This merging of the genres even produced one of the biggest commercial tracks of 2002, firstly on an underground level and then as a crossover chart hit, with DJ Marky & XRS's 'LK 'Carolina Carol Bela' which samples Jorge Ben and Toquinho. The importance and legacy of DJ Marky and his Brazilian contemporaries from this era are far greater than their productions and records alone, for many, they were also the gateway into the deep and rich world of Brazilian music.   

For his boxset, DJ Marky has gone back to his roots and selected tracks by Brazilian music royalty from the 60s, 70s, and 80s. Artists such as Marcos Valle, Elis Regina, Jorge Ben, and Joyce all feature. It is Joyce's anthemic 'Aldeia De Ogum’ that has proven to be responsible for many record collectors and DJs outside of Brazil starting a lifelong obsession with Brazilian music exploration. We also find another anthem in the form of Jorge Ben's 'Take It Easy My Brother Charles’, which was sampled by Drumagick for their 2002 track 'Easy Boom'. His selection from Marcos Valle is the tripped-out, rarer 1970 version of 'Os Grilos’ which, with its irresistible quirky swagger, is impossible to keep your feet from moving. The accordion-led 'Baião Violado' by Dominguinhos, with its soaring strings and funked-out drum beat, is a real star of the show in the collection.  

This boxset feels like your long-lost favourite mixtape, packed with evocative memories and skilfully gelled together with inspirational tracks that will appeal to those with a knowledge of Brazilian music and to the first-time buyer just wanting to discover something new. Exactly what we hoped for from such a respected DJ, producer, and bonafide musical pioneer.

A: Marcos Valle – Os Grilos / B: Robson Jorge & Lincoln Olivetti – Eva

C: Orlandivo – Tamanco No Samba / D: Elis Regina – Noves Fora

E: Bebeto – Água Marinha / F: Joyce–Aldeia De Ogum

G: Som Três – Emília / H: Trio Mocotó – Nao Adianta

I: Dominguinhos –Baião Violado / J: Jorge Ben – Take It Easy My Brother Charles

Incredible Bongo Band - Bongo Rock (RSD Silver Vinyl Edition) - Vinyl LP

Incredible Bongo Band was formed by MGM A&R Michael Viner in 1972 to record the soundtrack to a now virtually anonymous B-Movie entitled 'The Thing With Two Heads'. "The IBB" transformed from a loose studio collective to an instrumental pop covers consortium, interpreting classics of the day in their inimitable percussive fashion. Viner recorded them at MGM studios during downtime, assembling line-ups from whichever musicians were available at the time, leading to a unique blend of multi-talented musicians that included Jim Gordon, King Errisson, Jerry Scheff, and Perry Botkin Jr. The full bands' line-up is shrouded in mystery, but their legacy is undeniable. They spawned cult-classic records that would become a goldmine for hip hop breaks and attain sampling immortality. 

 'Apache', which was written and made famous by the British band The Shadows, is legendary in the worlds of dance music and hip hop. It was a staple for DJs such as Kool Herc and Grandmaster Flash as they invented their world-shaking take on the art of DJing at the Bronx block parties of the ‘70s. Over the years it has become a hip hop and breakers anthem and is revered as 'the break' of all time (at least in the top three) with the rhythms of this LP even helping to coin the term 'breakbeat'.

 “Bongo Rock” is significant, for being one of the musical cornerstones of rap ... it is certainly one of the most sampled LP’s in history, if not the most sampled. Almost every history-minded hip-hop DJ has a copy, and the first few bars of “Apache,” can send crowds into overdrive.” According to Kool Herc, the stylistic pioneer many people consider to be the father of hip-hop music, the Bongo’s “Apache” is “the national anthem of hip-hop.” NY Times.

Sampled over 600 times, including... Nas, Beastie Boys, Moby, Mick Jagger, Kanye West, Sugarhill Gang, Jay-Z, Aphex Twin, DJ Shadow, Massive Attack, Ultramagnetic MC’s, Unkle, LL Cool J, 2 Live Crew, 4 Hero, Fatboy Slim, to name a few…

The real story of “The IBB” is far greater than the recordings themselves and ultimately shows how a distinctly powerful musical performance can get the recognition it deserves, no matter how anonymous its origins.

A1. Let There Be Drums / A2. Apache / A3. Bongolia / A4. Last Bongo In Belgium / B1. Dueling Bongos  / B2. In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida B3. Raunchy '73 / B4. Bongo Rock '73