Palto Flats Vinyl & CDs

Review: Palto Flats and Putojefe Records present the first ever reissue of a truly mysterious record from the experimental extreme of folk, drone and experimental dulcimer. Dorothy Carter only released a small handful of records, but Waillee Waillee has since attained a mythical status amongst those in the know. It's not hard to understand why from just one listen, as the lilting bed of zither and dulcimer forms a dense blanket of harmonious drone upon which Carter's voice soars with a choral serenity. It's stirring and spiritual, calling to mind the powerful effect of Laraaji's music but tipping more towards a folk tonality which makes the music entirely unique.

Review: Kakashi is the latest in a long line of largely forgotten Yasuaki Shimizu albums and side projects to be given the reissue treatment. The album was originally released in Japan by Better Days back in 1981, and saw the jazz man-turned-ambient explorer join the dots between melodious, post-punk era jazz-fusion, new age influenced downtempo grooves, dub, ambient and eccentric, hard-to-pigeonhole experimentation. While musically diverse, the album hangs together beautifully. This is primarily down to two key factors: the ubiquity of Shimizu's evocative saxophone, flute and clarinet playing, and the richness of the multi-instrumentalist's superb production.