— Issue 89 —

First of all, apologies! Looks like we got the date and issue number wrong on the last letter. If you got last month’s box, that would have been issue 88. Oops!! We must have been distracted thinking about getting ourselves down to the One Love Festival which we visited last weekend. What a scorcher it was! Two days of reggae in 30+ degree heat was absolutely lovely.

Now, onto the vinyl. Great news: this is a BONUS MONTH! We have two albums instead of the usual one album plus a 12”.

The first album is a weird, lovely, psychedelic and strange breaks and beats journey from Cardiff-based producer Don Leisure. “Shaboo strikes back” is the follow up to the 'Shaboo' album, which was released in 2017. A collection of beats and pieces that documented the road trip of Don's youth - hip hop music interspersed with Asian radio station jingles of old, dedicated to Bollywood actor, Nasser 'Shaboo' Bharwani - Don Leisure's late uncle. This LP takes the trip further with 25 more tracks across a tapestry of diverse soundscapes. We’re loving this one! If you like it, go dig into Don Leisure’s back catalogue, he has released a lot under different monikers in diverse genres.

Our second album is a delight from one of our favourite singers, Gizelle Smith. Originally known from her work with the Mighty Mocambos, this is Gizelle’s first solo album and is an unvault from back in 2018. While the album takes a great deal from classic r’n’b and modern funk, there’s a lovely soundscape to the record that evolves it from being a simple funkification of vintage soul, and makes it much more. The whole piece serves to showcase Gizelle’s awesome vocal talents. A lovely one to play while the sun’s out. Enjoy!