Honest Jon's Vinyl & CDs

Review: "It's like painting with button and sliders... Melting and dripping, seeping yourself liquid into the machinery." So said Darren Cunningham when discussing the creation of R.I.P, his long awaited follow up to Splazsh. It's a compelling image that works in practice too. R.I.P creates microcosmic sound worlds within each track: "Holy Water" for instance tumbles in on itself in a melange of shimmering sine wave droplets, while the pitch shifted waves of "Tree Of Knowledge" seem to inhale and exhale like a living being, crumpling inwards on itself to repeat the same motion ad infinitum. And although it uses much the same, occasionally abrasive sonic building blocks as Cunningham's been developing for many years, the pastoral tones of "Uriel's Black Harp" and the Alva Noto styles of "Jardin" make R.I.P a surprisingly graceful album. It may not be techno as many will know it, but Cunningham has never made techno in the traditional sense anyway - and it's clear on listening to R.I.P that he's only just beginning to realise the musical forms that have been swarming inside his brain for years.

Review: Honest Jon's is back with another of those super stand compilations whose title alone is enough to prick the ears of any hardcore record collector. It delves deep into the world of Brazilian Dilson de Souza. He was a tropical jazz man who played leaves from the ficus tree - something people in China have been doing for 10000 years, apparently. With plenty of Afro influences, this is an album full of sunshine and chirpy electric organs and classical guitar. A single leaf is good for ten hours and Dilson used to play each end to get around eight tunes from each before he had to swap it. Amazing.

Review: London Is The Place For Me 8 invites jazz fans on a vibrant journey through the sounds of 1950s London, where calypso rhythms meet the bustling streets of the city. Released as part of the ongoing compilation series, the album showcases the rich cultural tapestry of post-war Britain through the music of Lord Kitchener, a Trinidadian calypso legend famed for the song that gives the compilation its title. His infectious melodies and witty lyrics paint vivid pictures of immigrant life, celebrating resilience and the pursuit of joy amid adversity. With its irresistible grooves and historical significance, this new double gatefold record via Honest Jons is a testament to the enduring legacy of Caribbean music in the UK.

Review: Shack is back! The master of intricately layered drumming, who has long been twisting our melons with his dark and intriguing experimental sounds, returns to Honest Jons here for some more mind-melting workouts. These feature drums the man himself played in Dakar in February 2020 across three layered and enchanting excursions. The first is a real awakening, the second is more twisted and tight, with toms and echo and bass and hand drums all jumbled up while the third is full of intrigue and mystery, ancient drums run through with modern synth sounds to make for something scrambled yet transcendental.

Review: Originally released by the Chess label subsidiary Checker, this fresh new gospel-soul compilation record is both a congregation of great musicians and a guiding moral star, coming replete with redemptive and tutelary messages. Compiled by Honest Jon's and laid to heavyweight gatefold 2xLP, the defining trait of this firecracker LP is its rough-hewn live feel, which in turn cements each artist's to-the-ground concern with the then developing political tone of the era. From Martha Bass to the appropriately baptised Soul Stirrers, the record also serves as an induction into the brilliant productive stylings of one Monk Higgins, whose motto was "spontaneity" and whose touch is heard on all of the sheet songs you hear here. Get on up!

Review: Juyungo is a wonderful documentation of the unique Afro-Ecuadorian culture from the province of Esmeraldas which blends Afro-Indigenous traditions with rich musical heritage. Centred around the marimba, the music incorporates call-and-response chants, Andean guitar finger styles and the haunting sounds of panpipes to make for a deeply immersive experience. Tracks like 'Agua Largo' and 'Kasilla Shungulla' embody the spirit of cultural resistance, identity and healing and make for a brilliantly escapist listen. Released by Honest Jons, this exotic album offers vivid sound quality with a stunning gatefold sleeve and a 16-page bilingual booklet filled with insightful notes and beautiful photography.