Record Shopping Etiquette
The do’s, the don’ts, and best practices when it comes to shopping for vinyl.
Japanese jazz-funk trio Nautilus release live recording
As a follow-up to their first European tour in May of 2023, the highly active and talented Tokyo-based trio Nautilus has recently released a live recording, taken from their last date of the trip at the legendary King Georg in Cologne, Germany.
Mukatsuku releases limited 12″ of Echoes Of A New Dawn Orchestra covering Kyoto Jazz Massive
Nik Weston’s superb Mukatsuku label kicks off the new year with a highly-anticipated limited-edition new twelve-inch single of Echoes Of A New Dawn Orchestra covering Kyoto Jazz Massive’s 2001 classic “Substream”.
Eating Standing label reissues rare jazz fusion gem from Italian vibraphonist Enzo Randisi
Before we look ahead to this year’s forthcoming releases, let’s take a look back at another superb reissue from this past Fall from the Italian-based label Eating Standing in vibraphonist Enzo Randisi’s 1979 highly obscured self-titled album.
BeatCaffeine’s Favorite Tracks of 2023
With the final “best of” list for 2023, I dive into some of our favorite tracks of the year. Out of all of the year-end lists, this is easily the most difficult to pull together given how many great tracks are worthy to be included in such a list. This year, I went about this differently. Instead of just listing the tracks, I also included the album, 12″ or 7″ that the track was associated with in hopes to encourage everyone to be purchasing the vinyl or digital releases (which is important for these artists and labels!). No commentary included with these, we’ll just let the music do all the talking.
BeatCaffeine’s Favorite Compilations of 2023
Now in the final days of 2023, we take a look back at some of the essential compilation releases over the past 12 months. From tropical grooves to jazz dance, spiritual, soulful house and obscure selections from around the globe, there were many incredible must-own compilations to dive into.
BeatCaffeine’s Favorite EP Releases of 2023
We continue our deep dive into our favorite releases of 2023 with a look at some of the standout EPs. As usual, there were a number of quality releases, including four from legendary UK DJ Colin Curtis on his vinyl-only imprint label. Plenty of jazz dance, cosmic grooves, and all around good vibes to absorb with these selections.
BeatCaffeine’s Favorite Reissues, Lost Recordings & Retrospectives of 2023
As with new music releases, 2023 was an outstanding year for reissues and previously unreleased recordings. It feels like with every great new release or artists that breaks through on the scene, there are still so many records from the past to still discover and dive into as a listener. The quality of the actual reissue releases themselves also seems to improve in time. The care and work that goes into many of these releases is astonishing and handled like the artifacts that they truly are.
BeatCaffeine’s Favorite Albums of 2023
Almost another year around the sun, and that means it’s that time again (hard to believe), where we revisit some of the best releases of the year. In regards of new music, 2023 was another incredible year. As always, it was admittedly extremely challenging pulling together a “best of” list, however I’m excited to have been able to expand to 40 releases, which still didn’t feel like enough. As always, I’m sure I missed a few worthy selections.
Favorite Recordings continues it’s dive into rare jazz-funk on ‘Fusion Global Sounds Vol 2’
Building off the foundation of last year’s superb Fusion Global Sounds compilation release (included on BeatCaffeine’s Favorite Compilations of 2022), Favorite Recordings comes back with the second edition of the series, featuring eight obscure jazz-funk and fusion tracks produced between 1976 and 1984 in various parts of the world.
Chicago drummer Daniel Villarreal teams up with Jeff Parker and Anna Butterss on rhythmic ‘Lados B’
Chicago-based drummer Daniel Villarreal follows up last year’s breakthrough solo debut Panamá 77 with a superb new album on International Anthem, featuring guitarist Jeff Parker and bassist Anna Butterss, titled Lados B.
