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RECORD LABEL • Southern African Vintage Sounds & Modern Classics • As-Shams/The Sun Archive as-shams.bandcamp.com • Zambia Music Parlour Legacy zambiamusicparlour.bandcamp.com

“I’ve been through a lot of musical stages but I’ve mellowed in my old age. No longer do I believe that volume is the ke...
17/07/2026

“I’ve been through a lot of musical stages but I’ve mellowed in my old age. No longer do I believe that volume is the key to success.” - Kenny Henson

Our 2026 reissue of Henson’s rare, sonically nuanced and mind-blowing 1977 soundtrack album is now available in South Africa at Permanent Record 🔥

International distro via Light in the Attic ✨

📷: Kenny Henson photographed with 3rd Ear Music label director David Marks in Johannesburg in February 1974.

“I firmly believe that this is the finest record ever to emerge from a South African studio,” wrote journalist Duncan Gi...
26/06/2026

“I firmly believe that this is the finest record ever to emerge from a South African studio,” wrote journalist Duncan Gibbon in 1977. It’s a subjective claim but the statement’s honest enthusiasm accurately frames Kenny Henson’s Let Us Become Man as a studio creation. Insiders reflect that the album, which was started in 1975, was the product of months of work done in the studio and distilled over the course of years. Countless hours were spent with an auspicious cast of musical contributors that included Ramsay Mackay (formerly of Freedom’s Children) and Andrew Tracey (who would go on to direct the International Library of African Music).

Henson’s most noteworthy collaborator was co-producer and engineer Nino Rivera, who shares the spotlight (on the right) in a black and white photo from the LP’s insert. Doubling the point, the photo shows them seated at a giant console in the studio. If you’re familiar with John Oakley-Smith’s Matinees of Saturday, you’ll recognise how crucial Rivera’s engineering is to the sound of that album. We paid a visit to Nino Rivera at his home in Cape Town 2021 to reflect these rare nuggets of South African folk and rock history from the 1970s.

Breezin’ with DJ Okapi this Sunday at The Commons 🌊✨🏄‍♂️
26/06/2026

Breezin’ with DJ Okapi this Sunday at The Commons 🌊✨🏄‍♂️

ANNOUNCING SF18 // KENNY HENSON - Let Us Become Man (1977) •Rare, cosmic soundtrack album at the intersection of psych a...
19/06/2026

ANNOUNCING SF18 // KENNY HENSON - Let Us Become Man (1977) •

Rare, cosmic soundtrack album at the intersection of psych and prog that blends acoustic guitars and synths and is loaded with library atmosphere and sample potential. Think Obscured by Clouds meets Tubular Bells in South Africa in 1977.

In the aftermath of South Africa’s explosive heavy psych scene of the late-1960s, independent rock takes a variety of interesting turns. As the 1970s unfold, we observe the progressive influences of new technology, retreats into singer-songwriter introspection and forays into New Age spirituality. One album from former Abstract Truth and Freedoms Children guitarist Kenny Henson performs the astonishing task of integrating all of these new musical directions into a single mystical package.

A soundtrack project commissioned by the South African Council of Churches, produced by the indie 3rd Ear Music label and issued locally by Warner Bros. Records, Let Us Become Man emerges from an extraordinary intersection of stakeholders. Meticulously crafted in the studio by Henson alongside engineer Nino Rivera and a host of collaborators, the album stands as a project driven by deep artistic ambition rather than commercial success and it emerges in the 21st century as a cult classic.

In the wake of Freedom’s Children with Malombo Jazz Makers and John Oakley-Smith’s Matinees on Saturdays, Kenny Henson’s Let Us Become Man completes a trilogy of Sharp-Flat releases from the 3rd Ear Music archive.

Currently streaming with digital download at sharp-flat.bandcamp.com. Vinyl reissue (with original inner reproduced as an insert) on preorder in the USA via Light in the Attic ✨

Putting together the Songs of Gentleness box set, which presents the collected works of John Phillips of Rhodesia, was a...
12/06/2026

Putting together the Songs of Gentleness box set, which presents the collected works of John Phillips of Rhodesia, was a global affair with contributions from Zimbabwe, England, New Zealand, South Africa and Canada. At the heart of these efforts were John’s brothers Gordon and Brian Phillips, who provided full access to their family archive with unwavering generosity, trust and support.

Gordon’s essay in the set’s booklet provides a candid picture of the Phillips family in the 1960s with insights into John’s cryptic and occasionally turbulent personality. These pictures were taken at his apartment in Colchester, England in 2019. Gordon brought out his guitar that afternoon to demonstrate the chord sequence for“Scaramouche”, his favourite song from the John album of 1969.

John Phillips - Songs of Gentleness 1969-1976 4LP vinyl is currently in stock in the US at Light in the Attic Records. Owing to the bespoke nature of the set, please expect staggered batches of copies via boutique distro partners. A sampler of John’s previously unreleased works is available on digital platforms.

Introducing the John Phillips - Songs of Gentleness 1969-1976 4LP set. What’s in the box?JOHN (1969)A heavyweight psych-...
01/06/2026

Introducing the John Phillips - Songs of Gentleness 1969-1976 4LP set. What’s in the box?

JOHN (1969)
A heavyweight psych-folk obscurity from South Africa reissued for the very first time. Part-Donovan, part-Nick Drake and with a tale as tall as Sixto Rodriguez.

JOHN 1972
British folk with traces of blues and Americana. Previously unreleased session with ten new original compositions and a madcap version of Donovan’s “Season of the Witch”. Features John Oakley-Smith (Matinees on Saturdays) on additional guitar.

JOHN 1976 and DEMOS (1976)
23 previously unreleased demos recorded in an explosion of creativity in February 1976. New takes of four songs from 1972 and one from 1969. Vulnerable and melancholic with undiminished guitar mastery and some autoharp experimentation.

• Stoughton Tip-On Jackets
• 16-Page Large Format Booklet
• Deluxe Slipcase Enclosure

Owing to the bespoke nature of this set, copies will be coming out in limited, small batch releases from Light in the Attic Records and boutique distro partners ✨

If you’re into obscure vintage vinyl, every psych-folk album cover is a joy to behold. Many of these albums are inexplic...
22/05/2026

If you’re into obscure vintage vinyl, every psych-folk album cover is a joy to behold. Many of these albums are inexplicably unheard of and originals are extremely hard to find. Some are hauntingly beautiful to listen to and a select few are exceptionally good. Issued in South Africa in 1969, the album John by John Phillips of Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) possesses all of these rare characteristics. Reissued in 2026 for the very first time (currently in a 4LP box set entitled Songs of Gentleness 1969-1976 with previously unreleased recordings), please welcome John to the inner circle of outsider masterpieces from the late-60s and early-70s by the likes of Nick Drake, Linda Perhacs, Mark Fry, Vashti Bunyan, F.J. McMahon and Sibylle Baier.

Songs of Gentleness 1969-1976 is available from Light in the Attic here: https://lightintheattic.net/products/songs-of-gentleness-1969-1976

Introduction text from the box set can be found at Galactic Waves Substack here: https://galacticwaves.substack.com/p/searching-for-john

SF18 Coming Soon ✨ Think Obscured by Clouds meets Tubular Bells in South Africa in 1977…
09/05/2026

SF18 Coming Soon ✨ Think Obscured by Clouds meets Tubular Bells in South Africa in 1977…

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