Friday, July 3, 2026 • Vinyl Finds from Around the World
Resonance of Time
Ethiopian composer Wesenyeleh Mebreku reimagines old Ethiopian folk melodies through the humble circuitry of an early Casiotone CT-201 keyboard. Compiled from cassette recordings that circulated only in the 1980s, now remastered and reissued by Incidental Music, its lo-fi synth tones carry a resonance that crosses time.
Deeper In Black
A 1980 album by legendary pianist Lionel Pillay, who emerged during the golden age of South African jazz, recorded for the As-Shams label and backed by core members of Spirits Rejoice. Beneath its stark all-black sleeve lies a work that cemented his place in South African jazz.
Mondays at the Enfield Tennis Academy
Recorded live during the ETA IVtet's long-running Monday-night residency at the Los Angeles bar ETA, with Jeff Parker (Tortoise) joined by Josh Johnson, Anna Butterss and Jay Bellerose. Its long-form, hypnotic improvisation is one of contemporary jazz's standout works of recent years.
Trabant
The first compiled collection from Hungarian underground legends Trabant, gathering recordings made in Budapest between 1983 and 1984, newly transferred and restored from the original tapes. A rare surviving sonic document of the Eastern European underground.
Miao Mouthorgans & Other Rare Instruments in Guizhou, Sichuan, China
Field recordings by Laurent Jeanneau (Kink Gong) documenting Miao mouthorgans and other rare instruments across Guizhou and Sichuan, China, released by the Sub Rosa label. A raw, rich ethnographic sound archive.
Music With Changing Parts
An early cornerstone of minimalist master Philip Glass, in which the Philip Glass Ensemble builds a vast, hypnotic texture from cyclical figures and gradually accumulating sustained tones. Essential to understanding the evolution of minimal music.
Concert A Prades Le Lez Vol 1 & 2
A live 1974 recording from the ensemble led by French free-jazz pioneer François Tusques at Prades-le-Lez. Collectively improvised and politically charged, it is a key document of the French free-jazz scene, recently reissued by Souffle Continu.
Chốn Ta Về
A new album from Saigon-based band Saigon Soul Revival, its title meaning 'the place we will return to.' Continuing their East-meets-West path, it adds traditional instruments like the t'rung, Vietnamese bamboo flute, 16-string zither and monochord, letting dub, soul, jazz and Vietnamese melody meet naturally. Following a KEXP session last year, they've become one of Vietnam's most notable bands.
初恋
Utada Hikaru's 2018 album 'Hatsukoi' reissued on vinyl for the first time. It gathers signature tracks including 'Good Night' (theme for the anime film Penguin Highway) and 'Anata' (theme for DESTINY: Kamakura Monogatari). This pressing holds just three songs per side, mastered by Bob Ludwig and cut by Chris Bellman on 180g heavyweight vinyl for a rich sound image.
First Love / 初恋
Utada Hikaru's two era-spanning classics 'Hatsukoi' and 'First Love' reissued as a pair of 7-inch records, with the same care for sound quality, a set no collector should miss.
Akoma
Pulitzer finalist Jlin pushes footwork's fractured rhythms to the height of modern classical, straddling electronic and contemporary music. 'Akoma' boasts a stunning guest list, Björk, Philip Glass and the Kronos Quartet all take part, and it was a fixture on year-end lists. This is a limited gold-vinyl double LP.
Music For Films
Ryuichi Sakamoto's 'Music For Films' compilation returns in a new color, limited to one thousand copies worldwide. Gathering his scores for various films, it's a window into Sakamoto's world of music for the screen.
Zelda Suites (The Live Album)
Modern jazz reinterprets the music of The Legend of Zelda. WRWTFWW again teams with Brussels' Casimir Liberski ReTRio, whose live jazz trio performs Zelda classics from 'Title Theme' to 'Fairy Fountain,' turning game melodies into freely improvised jazz suites.
Piss In The Wind
Joji's 2026 release 'Piss In The Wind,' in stock while it lasts. It continues his languid, understated, melancholy-tinged alternative pop.
Greatest Hits
Queen's classic compilations 'Greatest Hits' and 'Greatest Hits II' reissued this year after a long absence. 'Greatest Hits' is one of the best-selling albums in UK history, gathering Queen's most beloved songs, timeless and unbeatable.
Piano Portrait of Takashi Minamoto
A solo piano album from Japanese composer and multi-instrumentalist Umitaro Abe, blending classical, chamber music and field recording into a poetic sense of touch and space. It gathers piano pieces from his recent scores for the TV dramas of screenwriter-director Takashi Minamoto, the solo piano heightening his fine depictions of scene, like a calming breath that joins sound and image.
All Right!
Part of Three Blind Mice's premium reissue series, Isao Suzuki's third album on TBM. Beyond his main bass, he handles electric piano, organ, cello and even vocals, a rare all-round performance among jazz musicians. The title track blends spiritual jazz and blues into something lingering, one of Suzuki's career highlights. Out of print for years, reissued for the first time.
Unearthed and released by Middle Eastern label Habibi Funk, hard to believe it comes from late-1980s Jordan. Nechazz was formed by Palestinian-Jordanian musicians Basim Said and Khaldoon Nasser with Iraqi vocalist Kassim Sabounchi, once active at Amman's legendary club Rumours but never officially released. These recordings from around 1988 blend R&B, jazz and delicate pop arrangements into romantic modern soul and night-tinged city pop.