Kourosh Yaghmaei is a legendary Iranian guitarist, singer and composer. Hailed as the "Godfather of Iranian psych rock" for pioneering a fusion of western rock with traditional Persian music and poetry in the '70s. Despite facing significant censorship and bans after the 1979 revolution, he remained in Iran, furthering his musical legacy through his own studios. He went on to become a vital and enduring figure in Iranian rock history..
I am captivated by his eerie and soulful guitar licks and vocal melodies. This one is definitely worth a listen if you're in a contemplative mood. ~ pat
Kourosh Yaghmaei - Back From The Brink, 3×LP - $72 (Now-Again Records, NA 5066)
15/12/2025
Really interesting new arrival!! Francis Bebey was a pioneering Cameroonian musician, writer and composer known for blending traditional African sounds (makossa, sanza, pygmy flutes) with western instruments (classical guitar, synthesizers, drum machines) in some of the first recognized African electronic music. Bebey is celebrated as a visionary who refused to separate tradition from modernity, creating an intellectual, fun, soulful and above all truly unique sound that has been influential ever since.
Francis Bebey - Psychedelic Sanza 1982 - 1984
2×LP - $68 (Born Bad Records, BB064)
12/12/2025
Couple of soul/r&b classics back in stock. Two of the best from two of the best eras. Both highly influential and impactful in their own right.
Marvin Gaye - What's Going On, $60 (2016, Tamla, TS-310)
Erykah Badu - Baduizm, $78, 2 x LP (2016, Motown Records)
11/12/2025
Franco Battiato is often heralded as Italy’s answer to Brian Eno. A quizzical composer/lyricist, Battiato turned pop music upside down in the early ‘70s with three classic LPs that formed a confluence of avant-folk sensibilities and analog electronics. Originally released in 1971 on Bla Bla, Fetus predated the prodigious Cramps and Multhipla catalogs to become one of the first electronic records produced in Italy. With his trusted VCS3 synthesizer, Battiato created primordial soundscapes that shift between dreamy and delirious. His unsentimental, yet evocative voice-combined with a sublimely detached approach to lyrics-spawned a new breed of divergent songwriting. Fetus, a concept album exploring themes of genetic engineering, is enigmatically sub-titled “Ritorno al Mondo Nuovo” (Return to the New World) and dedicated to Aldous Huxley. While the sleeve design may have raised a few eyebrows upon it’s initial release, the backcover photograph of Battiato (standing defiant in dark glasses) makes the real iconoclastic statement. Battiato’s infectious melodies and innovative sound-collage techniques remain uniquely spry given that each track averages less than four minutes in length. Pink Floyd’s Meddle, Os Mutantes’ eponymous recordings and Jim O’Rourke’s experimental-pop idiosyncrasies all find parallels to the curious beauty of Fetus.
Franco Battiato - Fetus, $78 (2023, The Saifam Group COM 301)
11/12/2025
Black Messiah is the third and final studio album by the D’Angelo, credited to D’Angelo and the Vanguard. Released on December 15, 2014, through RCA Records, more than fourteen years after his previous solo release Voodoo, it is D’Angelo’s last album to be released during his lifetime. The album was produced and mostly written by D’Angelo, who collaborated with musicians including drummer Questlove, bassist Pino Palladino, guitarist Isaiah Sharkey, horn player Roy Hargrove, and singer and lyricist Kendra Foster. He pursued an entirely analog and murky funk sound for the record, lending comparisons to the 1971 Sly & the Family Stone album There’s a Riot Goin’ On. Black Messiah was among 2014’s most highly anticipated albums and was released to critical acclaim, later being ranked as one of the year’s best albums. The album debuted at number 5 on the US Billboard charts and number 1 on the US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, selling over 117,000 units in its first week. Black Messiah was promoted with the release of the single “Really Love” and a tour called The Second Coming.
D’Angelo & The Vanguard - Black Messiah, $75 (2025, RCA 88875056551)
09/12/2025
AIA: Dream Loss was the first of a two part album series released by Grouper (aka Liz Harris) in 2011. The album continues her journey into deep ambience and distorted slow moving dream pop and has been compared to the earlier similarly muffled and spacey sound of Flying Saucer Attack. Long out of print, these two albums have received an essential reissue.
It’s release day-after for Laura Altman, presenting her new album Holy Trinity.
“Rooted in Altman’s exploratory practice, she weaves clarinet alongside a sparse palette of preparations, objects, tapes, and feedback. She crafts a series of pieces that are at once delicate and textural yet bold and expressive that reflect both the unique acoustics of the space and her subtle, inquisitive approach to sound, offering a contemplative and tactile listening experience that blurs the line between instrument, environment, and intervention.” - Kevin Reilly, Relative Pitch Records.
The music for this album was recorded on a warm, hazy afternoon at the Holy Trinity Church in York, WA on Ballardong Noongar Country during a solo residency period in November 2023. These improvisations have been carefully crafted into a collection of six pieces that comprise this debut CD release. Holy Trinity is a rich, personal offering: an expression of communing, listening, allowing and receiving.
Laura Altman - Holy Trinity, $25 (2025, Relative Pitch Records RPRSS047)
05/12/2025
Lots of fresh 2nd hand titles going out for the weekend!
04/12/2025
New arrivals :-)
04/12/2025
Kali Malone and Drew McDowall present Magnetism, their first collaborative album, born from a decade-long friendship and sparked by a single day of inspired recording. When Malone entered McDowall’s Brooklyn studio, their shared vision quickly took shape, resulting in a work that feels both urgent and timeless.
McDowall, a storied member of Coil and Psychic TV, brings his distinctive approach to timbral synthesis, while Malone’s expressive melodic sense provides an emotional anchor. Together they create a unified voice that resonates with intensity and warmth, expanding on their individual practices in striking harmony.
Built on Karplus-Strong synthesis, distortion and just intonation, Magnetism is guided by repetition, resonance and saturation. The result is a living, breathing organism of sound—an album that captivates the senses and lingers long after the final notes fade.
Kali Malone & Drew McDowall - Magnetism, $65 (2025, Ideologic Organ SOMA064)
03/12/2025
Many excellent artists intersecting on this one 🫶
Yo La Tengo + Smokey Hormel scoring a Kelly Reichardt film w/ Will Oldham in an acting role.
“For the first time on vinyl, Yo La Tengo’s understated, lonesome score to Kelly Reichardt’s classic “Old Joy.”
Recorded in a single afternoon at YLT’s studio in Hoboken, Old Joy is a drifting, improvisatory journey, born out of years-long friendship between the band and the film’s director.
The six instrumental tracks, created in collaboration with legendary guitarist Smokey Hormel, carry that unmistakable YLT sound, but delivered in service of another great work of art. The music, like so much of Reichardt’s film work, is low-key yet arresting, stripped down to the essentials, warm and unpretentious. The record includes two variations on the beloved “Leaving Home” theme, released for the first time on vinyl after years traveling in YLT fan circles.
This music is a balm, remarkably full of emotion despite (or maybe because of) its restraint and minimalism.”
Yo La Tengo - Old Joy, $60 (2025, Mississippi Records MRI-213)
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Hat Hill Gallery is a destination record store. We specialise in new and collectable vinyl from the 1950s onwards, covering all genres.
Located in an original 1920’s printing factory in Blackheath within the World Heritage-listed Blue Mountains National Park, we are an easy two-hours' drive from Sydney's CBD.
We offer an old-school, physical retail experience where you can actually touch and hear our products, appreciate the album's artwork, discuss your interests with our staff and other customers, see what others are buying and "try before you buy" on used LPs. All used collectable records over $20 are cleaned ultrasonically and re-sleeved in new MoFi anti-static inner sleeves before going on the floor or listing on our website.
We buy vinyl collections and are happy to do trades on vinyl, CDs, books and posters. Our website is regularly updated with our latest acquisitions and we ship world-wide.
Don't have a turntable or know where to start? We've put together a unit of the English-made Rega Planar 1 turntable, Cambridge Audio amplifier and Sonus Faber book-shelf speakers with stands (optional) to get you going beautifully for just under $2,200. We're happy to deliver and install for locals. There's a Rega 2 and Rega 3 turntable available here if you're looking for extra aural finesse.
In our print room within the gallery you'll find:
original Sydney pub band posters from the 1970s and 80s
Japanese wood-cuts and etchings reproduced in-house on Japanese washi paper
Popular vintage/pulp fiction/cult/art images reproduced in-house on poster paper or archival cotton paper
Prints of artwork by local artists
While you're in town, visit our record store annex upstairs at The Victory Theatre Antique Centre. It's located in Blackheath's main street, 15-17 Govett’s Leap Road, and it's open 7 days a week, 10am to 5pm. As well as our bargain records, CDs and DVDs, it's worth a look around for vintage furniture, jewellery, retro textiles and fashion, kitchenware, books and memorabilia.
Gallery Hours: Mon, Thurs, Fri and Sat: 10am to 5pm Sun: 9.30am to 3pm
Closed: Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
Phone: +61(02) 4787 7033 Mobile: 0430 858 238
3 Hat Hill Road, Blackheath, NSW, 2785, Australia.
All enquiries can be made via email or phone and we ship anywhere.
