Dave Valentin
Land Of The Third Eye

Created around a conversation with his brothers, Alfa blends melancholy Jazz harmony with alternative hip-hop and soul.

From their place at the bottom of the world, outside of the traditional jazz and soul centres, Australia’s groove-led musicians have struggled for recognition on the world stage. But all of that is changing as increasingly the country’s vital community of close-knit, broadly adventurous players command the attention of international audiences.Bouncing off the selections of independent radio DJs and esoteric record store collections, these musicians jump across African diaspora music traditions – from funk to house music, hip-hop to Ethio-jazz – before pollinating those rhythms with a uniquely Australian flavour.This magpie-like curiosity forges new sounds and forms – all of which can be found on Seven Wonders, a new compilation by Plug Seven Records and Wondercore Island.Seven Wonders is testament to Wondercore’s relentless support of Australia’s forward-thinking beat makers and neo-soul bands; and to Plug Seven’s commitment to the magic of analogue music, as seen at its Melbourne record store and nearby studio.

Indie Exclusive yellow vinyl pressing - Limited to 1000First released in 1964, One is the second solo album by jazz keyboardist Bob James. Bob enlisted a string of experienced Jazz players including Steve Gadd and Idris Muhammad on drums, Grover Washington on Sax and Gary King on bass. Led by the maestro himself on keyboards, One is a lush, experimental Jazz Funk record, excitingly hovering at the forefront of where music can take your soul.Produced by Creed Taylor and recorded at the famous Van Gelder Studios, the record is a monument of progressive musical greatness. It was an important album in the early smooth jazz genre and is famous for its end track, ‘Nautilus’ which became important to hip-hop as one of the most sampled tracks in American music (click link below for more info). In the 46 years since the release of One, producers have interpolated or sampled ‘Nautilus’ over 350 times. This is a brilliantly written and performed genre-defying set of superb tracks. ‘In The Garden’ and ‘Night on Bald Mountain’ are wonderful adaptations of two very different pieces of classical music - totally engaging for anyone who appreciates complex arrangements made funky and jazzy and played with consummate musicianship. ‘Soulero’ is a wonderful bolero- style piece, building layers of beautiful tones and rhythms.