Paper Beat Scissors - Parallel Line - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Charles Stepney gained worldwide success as the producer for Earth Wind & Fire and Deniece Williams but the producer and arranger's earlier work at Chess is now regarded as some of the most original ever laid to tape, and in the past 20 years has become a primary influence on scores of producers and arrangers, with his records being sought after by DJs and collectors. Despite a couple of attempts, his most important work has never been compiled on one volume until now. This compilation gathers up his most famous productions for the likes of Rotary Connection - and their singer Minnie Riperton, Ramsey Lewis, Terry Callier, Marlena Shaw and the Dells. An influence on everyone from Masters At Work to Radiohead, Charles Stepney's production for the Chess labels captured the spirit of the era by mixing soul, jazz, electronics, composed music and a touch of psychedelia, all arranged brilliantly and produced to an incredibly high standard. Shockingly there has never been a compilation dedicated to this area of his work, something that we are rectifying with InchEternal JourneyInch. Stepney was a jobbing arranger when Marshall Chess recruited him to co-produce his new project Rotary Connection, which allowed him to realise his symphonic productions. With the success of their debut album, Stepney was recruited to work on many of the labels most important artists including Ramsey Lewis, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf and The Dells. He also took on his own projects working with Phil Upchurch, Terry Callier and others. Beautifully remastered and housed in a sleeve based on a 1960s Rotary Connection Billboard Magazine advert, this is 16 tracks of Chicago brilliance. Compilation producer Dean Rudland has told the story of Stepney's emergence through his most dazzling work and also their building blocks in the day to day arrangements from R&B and soul stars such as Little Milton and Bud

All Seeing Dolls - Parallel [COMPACT DISCS] date 02/28/2025

First in a decade, and the dawn of the new Hepburns era. The philosophy of The Hepburns is intact and shining character sketches inimitably drawn (presumably from the pages of InchClinker,Inch Matt's novel in progress), and a knack for precisely arranged guitars and backing vocal flourishes which speak pure caprice. The cinematic sensibility which was lost on the UK press ten years earlier is still there, and quite possibly stronger than ever. A soundtrack for a film set in a village of dilapidated buildings, obsolete soda pop machines, and gardens, haunted with the ghosts of boxers, Disney's pirates, Nick Drake, and Jackie Onassis.