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OOH-YES, |FNAME|, FINALLY IT'S HERE!

We're so very delighted to present our strictly limited Stefanie & ORF Big Band DELUXE 2x7" set...

AND BOOM!, what a high-quality 'BELTER' it is, sourced from original master tapes, pressed on top-notch quality vinyl, served in a stunning, stylish gatefold sleeve with extensive, bi-langual liner notes.

There's two smashin' 'Austro Soul' marvels unearthed from the vaults of the Austrian Public Broadcasting Institution ORF available for the first time on an official 7“ release.

Only ever noticed by a few deeper diggin' deejays & collectors in Europe & Japan who kept it 'secret' within their circles to have an 'exclusive' which stayed unknown to public 'Ordinary Joe'.

Our limited 500 copies affair makes it possible for Rare Soul and Funk 45 deejays to own it on their preferred format, a legal, 'OVO' (Original Vinyl Only) 7"single, in this case a proper Austrian made first press. So no danger of being 'punished' for playing reissues or bootlegs with this one.

On top of that there's never before heard or even released alternative takes of both tracks sourced directly from the ORF archive masters, would anyone have expected an Austrian recording to be so very 'funky' as the 'Compared To What' alternative take here?

Why are these recordings so 'tight' and of such high quality? The answer is that the ORF Big Band was out on a mission to put Austrian 'popular' music on the international map supported by the government.

That’s why they got to use the best studio technique and the cream of local musicians. Furthermore some of the international 'big players', top American Jazz musicians like Art Farmer got signed in, which added some proper 'grooviness' to the project. Apart from being highly collectable and internationally sought after, ORF Big Band Library LPs were mostly instrumental.

However the tracks here were recorded in the early 1970s featuring the obscure Austrian songstress Stefanie. It’s obvious that she 'felt the Soul'. In the 1960s she went to the US, returned to Austria right on time to be noticed by Erich Kleinschuster (the band leader & conductor) to lay down these tracks at the ORF studio.

Our 'Compared To What' version actually has 'harder' lyrics than the Les McCann/Eddie Harris/Roberta Flack previous ones, which got partly censored (beeped for radio play) due to being critical of the US government.

Another level is reached through the ORF Big Band's hard hitting, tight funky rhythm section, those razor sharp horns plus a certain dash of Latin Jazz topped by that convincing, strong vocal delivery, all in four-beats-to-the-bar driving Motown arrangement, take this version to another level.

The tune oozes pure dancefloor bliss, which makes it perfect for Northern Soul floors and beyond. ‘Feelin' It’ is more of a laid back Jazz-funky groover, reminiscent of the top library tunes through it's full, well dosed instrumentation, a bit more like veteran ORF Big Band collectors would expect.

This is a piece of pure Austrian Underground Soul history on 7" vinyl, to call it 'Austro-Pop' would be a real 'offense', in order to avoid that we decided to create a new 'genre' which is 'AUSTRO SOUL'!

The single is already causing big waves internationally, especially in UK, getting BIG PLAYS on the upfront Northern Soul, Rare Funk and 60s Mod scenes. It even got featured as the #1 TRACK on BBC6's countdown of the TOP 2024 RELEASES.

So is there any way around this MONSTER of a record? We are deeply conviced that the answer is a clear 'NO!', just secure yours and BUY NOW!

Meet 'ya on the floor dancin' to 'Compared To What'