— Issue 68 —

Mike here & it’s record box time! At the moment, every time I sit down to write you all a letter, the sun comes out and shines beautifully through my window. I’m going to take that as a good sign, and hope that these words and the music that they accompany cheers you up too. For November, we weren’t actually planning on getting you another bonus package with two albums, but one of them just forced its way into our consciousness and we couldn’t say no. So, you get more music than you bargained for two months in a row.

The album in question is “Nowhere Land” by Karkara. Released this month, it is a wonderful, mystical journey into Middle Eastern influenced psychedelic fuzz rock. It was a tough one to get our hands on, as it pretty much sold out everywhere online in a couple of weeks, but as soon as we heard it, we had to try to secure you some copies. Unusually, the album was recorded on analogue tapes, which gives a lovely sound, but doesn’t really allow for editing, so you get an old school live recorded experience on every play.

Album 2 is another unvault, and semi-accidentally complements the first one. “Producing” by Gypsy Hill is a compilation of Israeli duo DJ Kobayashi and Herbert Newbert’s collaborations with various diverse artists. The album takes us through influences from Morocco, Italy, the Balkans and Cyprus (with the wonderfully named Hallouminati).

We definitely have a bit of a Middle Eastern & Mediterranean flavour permeating this month’s picks, which got us thinking about maybe having a month here and there themed around a specific part of the world. Let us know if you like the idea.

As always, until next month.