Friday, September 11, 2026 • Vinyl Finds from Around the World
Chinese Folk Songs
Taiwanese chanteuse Lily Chao's astonishing 1968 masterpiece — the record French label Akuphone chose as its very first release. Taiwanese players reworked traditional folk songs with wild surf guitar, garage rock and organ, wrapped around Chao's languid, seductive voice into supremely hip retro Taiwanese rock. This 2026 repress adds four previously unreleased tracks and detailed liner notes.
Sevilla Breeze
Japanese keyboard virtuoso Himiko Kikuchi's 1988 Latin-fusion jazz gem for CBS/Sony, on vinyl for the first time. Inspired by Bizet's Carmen and Spanish music, with top players like Naoki Watanabe and Kakuo Okamoto, its punchy heavyweight grooves and sharp brass frame Kikuchi's fluid, explosive keys in a dazzling Latin-jazz conversation.
Phantom of Love
Osaka duo EGO-WRAPPIN's 10th original album, marking their 30th anniversary. From the Afrobeat-flavored 'Treasures High' and dub-shadowed 'phosphorus' to the spring-melancholy 'Right on Shower,' its 11 songs span genres freely under Masaki Mori's production, with Yoshie Nakano's voice sharper than ever. Also issued as an eye-catching picture disc drawn by illustrator Chunky Matsumoto.
here i am no i
Saxophonist Patrick Shiroishi and drummer Jason Nazary's first duo record — sax and drums at its core, expanded with electronics and voice into a space between free jazz, electro-acoustic and ambient. Dedicated to the late trumpeter jaimie branch, the recordings keep an intense improvisational and emotional charge. Released on Finland's We Jazz in blue marble vinyl.
My Neighbors the Yamadas Original Soundtrack (ホーホケキョ となりの山田くん)
The soundtrack to Studio Ghibli's My Neighbors the Yamadas, directed by Isao Takahata, on vinyl for the first time. Akiko Yano's first full animated-film score blends jazz piano, chamber music, pop and classical into the humble sound of an ordinary family. This deluxe 2LP comes with new cover art (still to be finalized) and liner notes.
Chopping Mountain
London's Ibibio Sound Machine keep channeling love, solidarity and defiance without ever losing their African pulse. This one is rawer and more direct yet more high-tech, with highlife, disco, afrobeat, funk, post-punk and electropop coursing through — 'Give Me Peace' even features Dele Sosimi of Fela Kuti's Egypt 80. A mature, deeply affecting record.
Main Title Theme / The Monorail Song
A limited donut-shaped 10-inch picture disc from The Simpsons, collecting Danny Elfman's Simpsons main title theme and the classic 'Monorail Song.' A novelty shape with real collector appeal.
Habibi Funk 035: Beirut City Pop
German label Habibi Funk digs up Beirut City Pop, a compilation born during Lebanon's civil war. Its ten tracks gather rare late-1970s–80s privately-issued cassette recordings drifting between disco, soul, jazz, bossa nova, rock and AOR — with an airiness that unexpectedly recalls Japanese city pop. Many survived only as home-dubbed tapes passed between friends, making them extraordinarily scarce.
Might As Well Be Here
Texas quartet Mineral — the ultimate emo blueprint — get their golden early Crank! catalog collected and reissued by archival label Numero Group. This 3LP boxset gathers debut The Power of Failing (1996), EndSerenading (1998) and a set of rare singles and demos, showcasing Chris Simpson's confessional sincerity and that signature quiet-to-eruption-and-back tension.
A Body Of Voices
The Album Leaf's ninth studio album, built around a roster of guest vocalists. Within its deep electronic and synth textures, the songs take on clearer structure, bringing fresh voices and perspective to the arrangements. Issued as a 2LP on violet vinyl.
Antiphon
A restock of Antiphon, the signature album from British keyboardist/producer Alfa Mist blending jazz, hip-hop and neo-soul. Known for its autobiographical, introspective mood, it weaves piano, brass and drums into a warm, melancholy urban-jazz texture. Limited 2LP.
A late-career landmark from ambient pioneer Hiroshi Yoshimura, on vinyl for the first time. Originally issued on CD in 1996, it was his last complete album before his 2003 death, inspired by the otherworldly stillness he felt walking the Pacific Northwest forests (notably Olympic National Park's Hoh Rain Forest) — a spiritual successor to his masterpiece GREEN. Reissued by LA's Temporal Drift with the estate, remastered by John Baldwin.