Traversing post-punk, jazz, techno, weirdohouse and beyond with a psychedelic spin, across twelve tracks Earth Scum promises insight into themultiverse of FYI Chris. The duo pay homage to their strong sense of community and life as they know it in South London and the North of England, nodding to friends and family along the way. Sonically, the pai rshowcase their varied palettes and musicality with a darker and more rugged multi-instrumental approach,while shining a light on their gallows sense of humour. Hailing from the North, FYI Chris (Chris Watson and Chris Coupe) met in South London, fast becoming key players in that tight-knit local community as well as the global dance music scene. Regulars at Peckham’s Rye Wax and often at the helm of the Rye Wax radio show; pre-pandemic, the duo could also be found playing gigs in esteemed underground venues across the globe. With their breakthrough release No Hurry / Juliette on esteemed local label Church in 2015, FYI Chris have since released on revered platforms including Rhythm Section, Toy Tonics, Banoffee Pies, remix work for Ninja Tune. The pair also co-run ‘West Friends’, a platform showcasing their own groove-centred repertoire and genre-defying creations by pals. With a friends-and-family ethos and self-effacing humour combined with their raw talent and incredible musicality, FYI Chris are a force to be reckoned with.
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A1. Pizza Dust A2. Secret Soup A3. On Tik (feat Pinty & Simeon Jones) B1. The Vault B2. Tempora B3. Morley's Preference (feat Simeon Jones) B4. Outie (feat DJ Morris) C1. Black Dragon Loop C2. Green Paraquet C3. Four Teslas D1. No Sun D2. Scum of the Earth (feat Thick Richard)
Clap! Clap!’s music is a unique blend of global dance and timeless sounds drawing from nature, traditional music, field recordings, and the electronic savvy of modern centres like Chicago and London. At its core are the inspiration of everyday life, what Crisci calls “the search for new flavours,” and a unifying narrative approach. The results are albums that play out like sonic movies. 2014's Tayi Bebba was a soundtrack tour of an imaginary island, and 2016's A Thousand Skies told the story of a young girl's journey through the stars.
Following these albums, Crisci took a break from focusing on samples and composition to study sound dynamics and the science of mixing and engineering. He changed his studio and tools, putting more emphasis on the correct melding of analog and digital technology. His third album, Liquid Portraits, is a result of this process with a new compositional approach that puts a stronger focus on field recording and sound design to achieve clarity without diminishing the energy and enthusiasm of the music. As the name hints at, the album is a collection of sonic paintings, an attempt at capturing furtive, subconscious memories through sound. The tracks reference trips Crisci took and people he met – from southern Italy to Hokkaido via the Kif Mountains of Morocco – as well as more abstract ideas of loss, calmness, and childhood. Helped by a small cast of close collaborators – harpist Kety Fusco, singer Martha Da'ro, percussionist Domenico Candellori, and bassist Piero Spitilli – Liquid Portraits is a major new step in Crisci's evolution as an artist.
Commodo is back with ‘Stakeout’ — a standout three-track follow-up to recent EP, ‘Loan Shark’.
‘Stakeout’ picks up where ‘Loan Shark’ left off, tapping back into the conceptual, crime-ridden Wild West first imagined across tracks like ‘Contraband’ and ‘Hot Pursuit’; “If anyone is working on a 22nd century film noir at the moment, this would make the perfect soundtrack” wrote Bandcamp back in June.
This sentiment echoes across the ‘Stakeout’ tracklist, which again details tracks that marry precision bass-weight and deft, nimble sampling techniques with nuanced flashes of genius; Commodo is no ordinary producer. From the swirling unease and sharp crackle of the title-track to the oddball, industrial swing of ‘Transit’ and menacing, Batman-style lurch of EP closer ‘Crooked’ Law’, ‘Stakeout’ forms the fascinating concluding chapter of Commodo’s latest Black Acre odyssey.
One of Italy’s brightest new talents, Clap! Clap! (aka Cristiano Crisci) returns with his second album for Black Acre, following on from his colorful breakthrough debut LP ‘Tayi Bebba’. Bringing together disparate inspirations and styles onto the dance-floor of his mind, ‘A Thousand Skies’ sees Clap! Clap! create a high energy and inventive kaleidoscopic fusion of sound – drawing on the traditional global rhythms of the old world, Hip Hop, Footwork, UK Bass and House. The new album follows Clap! Clap!’s debut album, 2014’s 'Tayi Bebba', which sound-tracked the tour of an imaginary island. ‘A Thousand Skies’ is a mix of Crisci’s career to date combining samples and live instrumentation from Clap! Clap! and collaborators such as South African folk singer Bongeziwe Mabandla, John Wizards, and OY. As with his debut, the album is anchored by a story — this time of a young girl’s journey through the stars — which completes the work. Clap! Clap!’s unique blend of global dance and timeless sounds draws from nature, traditional music, field recordings and the electronic savvy of modern centres like Chicago and London. At its core is the inspiration of everyday life, what Crisci calls “the search for new flavours.” The now internationally acclaimed producer and performer started his career age 13 in the mid–1990s as a rapper, before picking up the saxophone and performing both jazz standards and jazz/punk fusion with his band Trio Cane. Now, as Clap! Clap!, he’s taking his energetic live shows across Europe and Japan. Following the release of his debut album in 2013, has found a fan in Paul Simon who told Rolling Stone the LP is “a masterpiece. He makes music sound new and old at the same time”. This led to Crisci to collaborate on the production for this years Number 1 Paul Simon album ‘Stranger to Stranger’. With a passion for history and the sounds that surround us, Clap! Clap! is a unique electronic artist capable of both channeling the energy of the moment and the intricacies of where we come from to create music that can soundtrack where we’re going.
Limited Orange & Blue vinyl version of the album. No repress. The album comes with full island map and in depth story behind each track. Ltd repress ahead of the forthcoming second album.
9/10 album of the month in future music - 9/10 album of the month in Mixmag - 3rd Best album of 2014 on Bleep.com - Included in the albums of 2014 from Okayafrica & DJ Broadcast
After storming the gates with his warmly received 'Tambacounda EP', Clap! Clap! returns to Black Acre to deliver his debut longplayer. 'Tayi Bebba' is a conceptual work that manages to balance a highly cerebral concept with making some good old-fashioned bangers. 'Tayi Bebba' is an album tour of an imagined island; each song representing a location, event or ritual. Sonically, it’s a fast moving charge across the soundscape, fusing field recordings and found sound with incredibly surgical drum programming. Flavours of House, Footwork and Hip Hop punctuate your migration with a very specific sound palate, giving this amazing work a cohesive feel.
Side A 01) THE HOLY CAVE 2.53 02) ASHIKO 3.24 03) THE RAINSTICK FABLE 3.50 04) KWASI THE SORCERER 2.52 Side B 05) BLACK SMOKES, BAD SIGNS 3.27 06) CONQUEROR ( action / assault / conquest ) 3.44 07) CONQUEROR ( consequences / memories ) 3.34 08) CONQUEROR ( remorse / withdrawn ) 3.20 Side C 09) BURBUKA 2.33 10) SAHKII (Xirhuu) 4.21 11) SAHKII'S ELEVATION feat. DJ KHALAB 3.18 12) KWASI'S STORM (kyanumj) (tape dub) 2.21 Side D 13) UNIVERSAL MODULATOR (kujhmak) 2.07 14) SAHKII'S KNOWLEDGE 2.17 15) UNIVERSAL MODULATOR (ujmubuam) 3.27 16) SAILING IN THE SEAS OF WOOD 2.20 17) KUJ YATO 3.32
The Maghreban returns with essential new house odyssey 'Brooklyn', named after his dead cat. His second outing on Black Acre, 'Brooklyn' is a breathtaking night flight, viewed through a prism both phantasmagorical and seedily terrestrial. Trance inducing Caribbean percussion, possessed chants, Motown bass, sci-fi synths, wayward filter sweeps, analogue free jazz - all get their moment to shine in the weird and wonderful 8-minute microcosm that is 'Brooklyn'. Flip-side 'The Carpenters' strikes a more domesticated tone, with motorik industrial dub eventually giving way to haunted sci-fi bachelor pad lounge.
Following the release of Commodo’s acclaimed debut LP, “How What Time”, and Memotone’s “Chime Hours” album earlier this year, Bristol label hub Black Acre have enlisted new recruits in Wallwork — co- head of burgeoning club collective, Nervous Horizon — and London grime emcee, Nico Lindsay, to deliver their latest record. Two-track single, “Facts” / “Fyah”, taps into the experimental zones that both Nervous Horizon and Lindsay operate. Wallwork and Tsvi’s hard, steadfast drum workouts have been a feature of their work with the label and on “Facts”, the pair turn a stripped-back, minimalist hand to a beat that Lindsay takes on with a relaxed, near-horizontal flow. With neither afraid to deviate from grime’s more familiar 140bpm template, their collision of styles is not only refreshing — it’s fully vindicated. On B-side “Fyah”, Wallwork — assisted by Nan Kolè — leans more toward UK funky, with the beat patterns softer and the percussion less harsh, instead driven by a fierce, chugging groove and twisted, wonky bass notes that Lindsay again navigates. Only featuring across certain sections of the track, his vocals phase in and out almost at will, as the beat’s unrelenting sense of rhythm carries “Fyah” firmly into club banger territory.
a1. Wallwork & Tsvi - Facts (feat. Nico Lindsay)
b1. Wallwork & Nan Kolè - Fyah (feat. Nico Lindsay)