Reissues
Ngoma Tanzania
Joyful rug-cutters and sweet soul-uplifters from the town of Morogoro, in early-1960s Tanzania: muziki wa dansi, inspired by Cuban 78s, and dance crazes like the twist and cha cha cha, but making them its own. Here is the cream of over a hundred recordings by Salum, mostly for Mzuri Records of Kenya; pretty much lost till now. In an old-school tip-on cover, with lyrics in Swahili and English on the inner sleeve. Lovely stuff.
Eritrea's Guitar Pioneer
Drawn from his six monumental singles for the Philips, Amha and Yared labels between 1970-73, revolutionising traditional Eritrean music via the innovations of amplified kirar, electric guitar and horns. Thick, deep declarations and considerations of love over a mixture of sombre and joyous tunes (with the hand-clapped beat often shifting into double-time near the end). Co-released with Mitmitta Musika in Addis Ababa; handsomely presented in a tip-on sleeve, with extensive liner notes, translati…
Young Blood
Mysterious, primitive lo-fi ‘pop’ from Swedish enigma Mind Control Hands - was anyone ever meant to hear this?
Something of a needle in a haystack. The depths of the internet are flooded with snippets of information about enigmatic CDrs, often no more than a crusty JPG and a bit of text, if you’re really lucky a single track to listen to. The vast majority are of no interest, but perseverance pays off. Mind Control Hands, originally birthed in the endless sprawl of CD-baby era early 00s micro…
Smog
On Smog, Piero Umiliani weaves Italian cinematic cool, West Coast jazz and vocal chiaroscuro into a quietly devastating portrait of early‑60s Los Angeles, with Chet Baker and Helen Merrill tracing the city’s alienated glamour in smoke.
Motherland
On Motherland, The Visitors - brothers Earl and Carl Grubbs on alto and tenor saxophone - channel late Coltrane’s searching fire into a spiritual soul‑jazz ritual, all tenderness and incantation wrapped in a warm, analogue glow.
Tetragon
On Tetragon, Joe Henderson sharpens his post‑bop language to a diamond point, driving a powerhouse band through knotty tunes and reworked standards that already hint at the spiritual depths he’d soon explore more fully.
The Valley Of The Forgotten Secrets
LP. Limited edition. Black vinyl. RPG module booklet with map. The first HDK cassette sold two copies. Possibly three. Then, in the summer of 2017, something called Kobold knocked on the door of this Milanese DIY collective with The Cave of the Lost Talisman, and the whole thing changed. The tape had a concept: every track corresponded to a location on an actual dungeon map, the music scored a playable D&D adventure module, and the listener could follow plot and music simultaneously through the …
Big Beat From Badsville
Dangerous, bizarre, but most of all cool, The Cramps one again prove themselves as leaders in skull-fracturing rock ʼnʼ roll, delving even deeper into a wicked netherworld where few have dared to tread. They are the architects of a sound that has spawned an entire subversive subculture. Originally released in 1997, Big Beat From Badsville is a haul-ass, careening monster of a record featuring more songs of mutilation, shape-shifting, psycho frenzies and she-devil-worship. The four rare bonus tra…
In Transit
Dave Huismans (ex_libris, A Made Up Sound) presents In Transit, a self-titled LP of arresting downtempo vignettes, with origins dating back to over a decade ago. Renowned for some of this century’s most notorious rhythmic advances, the work of Dave Huismans (fka A Made Up Sound and 2562) continues to provide a blueprint for new generations of innovation-obsessives. After a long hiatus from releasing original material, he returned in 2025 with two beloved EP’s as ex_libris. Now he returns to Felt…
Stay Sick!
Sex-classic Stay Sick! was originally released in 1990 and features more of the dark side of rockabilly in a jugular vein. The opener, a hopped-up cover of obscure Sun Records tune “Bop Pills,” proves that rumors of amphetamine usage by the original Memphis rockabilly cats was not exaggerated, and sets the pace for the rest of the album.
Hog-wild covers of “Shortninʼ Bread” and “Muleskinner Blues” probably have the original writers dancing on their graves, and The Cramps’ version of the perverse…
Into The Groove / Into The Grind
Recuperation and reinventing from Elements 2021/22 took quite a long time. Sustainability in writing long pieces became fully questionable. In the meantime, finding joy in creating small forms; powerful and groovy pieces became an obsession which created two fundamentally different cycle of pieces -"Into The Groove" and "Into The Grind".
This release represents dualistic concept: could be seen as double EP over two side of vinyl and it also has double cover as well as two editions: normal black…
Laputa
Laputa, a title taken from the fantastical floating island of Gulliver's Travels is aptly named as 'The album that never landed' for, apart from a limited touchdown in Japan, Laputa was never released. This mystical world is a summation of Yokota's journey so far, a complex and at times challenging work but immeasurably rewarding. Beguiling and bewitching in equal measure.
Over fifteen undulating sonic fugue states, he guides listeners round a liminal world, made up of familiar materials but for…
To Dream Is To Destroy
*110 copies limited edition* This is the fourth studio album of Kryptogen Rundfunk and the first one since the project moved from Russia to the Netherlands. Six tracks full of weird trademark radio noises and interceptions, heavy bass drones and piercing high frequencies, abstract electronic signals and quirky samples. These layered compositions are slowly building up, creating thick mesmerizing walls of sound, yet at the same time leaving room for a bit of flippancy. An uneasy ride for a restle…
A Different Definition Of Love
*100 copies limited edition* Brock Van Wey's bvdub project reaches its landmark 30th full-length album with a special tale of unexpected love and loyalty found, innocence lost, and the silent spaces that remain.
Black sky hides your stars,Fall from the heavens with might,Silent you arrive.Giants in your path,Perish those who stand opposed,Felled by love they know.Empty spaces yearn,To know once again,A lost yesterday.Through sun and sands dry,Oceans drown hearts of steel stars,This place remembe…
Right Into The Sun
Stern Records is proud to announce the first-time reissue of tself perpetuating plunderphonic classic, Right Into The Sun by Pol Maló.
Non C'è Due Senza Quattro
Composed by Maestro Franco Micalizzi for the cult 1984 film Non C’è Due Senza Quattro, starring the iconic duo Bud Spencer & Terence Hill in a rare fourfold role, this soundtrack captures the playful spirit and global flair of the film. Micalizzi delivers a vibrant and rhythm-driven score, infused with warm Latin influences, breezy melodies, and an unmistakable sense of lightness. The result is a richly entertaining listening experience that perfectly mirrors the film’s humor, energy, and escapi…
Drammi E Speranze
Originally released in 1976 on Piero Umiliani’s own Sound Work Shop imprint, Drammi e Speranze -issued under the pseudonym Rovi - stands as a refined example of his late-period library work. Performed by a compact string ensemble and subtly augmented by piano, Hammond organ, Eminent organ, and Rhodes, the album unfolds through a series of classically-informed compositions where melody takes center stage. Each piece is concise, evocative, and purpose-built - reflecting the functional yet highly e…
The Warm Garden
Tip! A pivotal force in the foundations of Noise music in Japan, Fumio Kosakai is half of The Incapacitants, and has recorded with other acts such as Hijokaidan, CCCC, and Club Skull. Originally released on cassette in an edition of fifty copies in 1993, "The Warm Garden" is a pinacle for collectors of 90s noise and the outer realms of Japanese psychadelia. The work steps away from the denshi zatsuon (electronic noise) of his other groups and instead comprises two pieces of minimal electronics, …
Experimente
Dive back into the primal heart of Krautrock with Amon Düül's "Experimente", a stunning collection of rare and obscure live material excavated from the same incendiary late '60s sessions that birthed their legendary debut Psychedelic Underground. This previously unreleased treasure captures the band's unbridled spontaneity, delivering a sonic assault that's as hypnotic as it is feral.
Amon Düül's jam sessions on Experimente are pure, unfiltered ritual – predominantly instrumental eruptions domin…
Aftermath and Transitions (Traces Of The Ukrainian Underground in Cologne (1994-1996))
All profits of this album will be given to Svitlana Nianio!