Skatebård (aka Bård Aasen Lødemel) is warmly welcomed back to the Bordello. Following 2013´s Love in the Night comes a 12” of quite a different hue. Colour Negatives collects three brand new tracks from the Digitalo founder. The late night rave funk session of “Fujicolor Pro 400H” spikes and spins on beams of concentrated energy. Those same infectious hooks dawn into the flip. “Agfachrome RSX II” is bright, clean and joy filled; Skatebård delivering pure goodness to nurture any bodies beginning to flag. Paranoia and the break of day enters with “Kodak Portra 800”, a minimal two stepping demon that cuts like vinegar. Shape shifting synthesizer sounds from an artist who simply ignores genres.
Matasuna Records presents another treat with its latest release: an official reissue with two songs of the US funk band "Calender". Both tracks are available on a 12" Maxi-Single for the first time. In addition to the mastered original versions, this EP features great reworks by two of our favorite producers: Mexican disco edit king "Hotmood" and the highly acclaimed Matasuna artist "Voodoocuts".
The opener "Hypertension" is a disco banger par excellence. Kyser's sophisticated arrangements merge thrilling grooves, elegant strings, varied funk elements and soulful vocals to a great and unique joint for every dancefloor. It's very pleasing that the song doesn't get overloaded or cheesy, as it's often the case in disco music. Hotmood transfers the track, which was created more than 3 decades ago, into the present time. His great disco edit focuses on the instrumental parts of the original. Thanks to his clever arrangement, a tension curve is constantly built up without seeming repetitive.
On the flipside, "Ritmo Latino" takes a different musical direction. As the name suggests, there are all kinds of Latin American influences to be heard: the brass section, rhythm parts, piano sounds and the grooving bass line, which goes straight into the veins. Nevertheless, the song is also strongly rooted in funk & jazz and inspires its listeners with its unique character. Voodoocuts rework comes up with a monster broken beat and gives the song a dancefloor friendly structure with its new arrangement. Especially the killer break part in the middle of the song will not only make B-Boy hearts beat faster! Additional instruments, samples and effects give the rework an individual and autark touch and prove once again impressively that Voodoocuts is setting the bar higher and higher with his productions.
The man, the myth, the legend that is Aldo Vanucci is back with a small black disc of wax for the ages. Yes, it's the very same individual who supplies samples to Fatboy Slim, who was voted Plymouths 14th best DJ and who has undertaken marathon 36 hour DJ sets for charity. Exactly. Yes it's that Aldo Vanucci…
With a vast back catalogue of releases already to his name on respected indie labels including Tru Thoughts, Catskills, Good Groove and his own Good Living Records he has established himself as one of the producers you can trust when it comes to quality.
And this release ahead of his forthcoming album on Jalapeno Records is no exception. The soulful strutter – 'Ponderosa' could have been extracted from a Tarantino movie taking a Morricone-esque score sample and flipping it into a modern slice of driving pop. The powerful top line from Dena Deadly adds some colourful imagery to enhancing the already cinematic sounds.
Flipside 'Knew You Were Coming' fuses an 80's disco boogie groove with a memorable top line that really shows off Mr. Vanucci's DJ credentials. It's a club bomb with enough power to detonate any dancefloor.
Rescued from a haze of drugs, alcohol and questionable women comes a potent blend of heavy Chicago Funk, Modern Soul & Psychedelia. Influential recordings from the group's sought-after Funk classics have been sampled by Beck, The Chemical Brothers, Jim Jones, Raekwon & Leaders of The New School.
Previously unreleased Rasputin's Stash from the forthcoming Stash album due out in April. 'Make Up Your Mind' is a contagious rhythm with Jimi Hendrix-style fuzzed out guitar riffs echoing sweet soul vocals and a brass section tight enough to please any Tower of Power fan. On the b-side is a slow-jam Soul-Steppers classic 'You Are My Everything'
Cut directly to vinyl from the recently found master tapes, this music presents material from the band at their artistic peak and the last recordings before Rasputin's Stash members went on to record Crystal Winds First Flight and Attitude, Belief & Determination
Wahever Records in association with Alex Dayo Drumming School proudly presents Gùndo Fara, the debut EP by Zantogola. Inspired by the West African heritage of popular rhythms and songs, Zantogola are at the same time masters and explorers of the plenguedey music: a fusion between elements of mandingue, highlife and afrobeat with hip hop, reggae and jazz. The band mixes traditional African-percussions rhythms with brass, voices, guitars, balafons and ngonis to create contemporary, reflective, joyous and highly danceable songs. The Zantogola project was born in 2016 with the meeting of Alex Dayo and Matteo Boyero, and has grown up into a full scale band and human adventure. Among the members of the band there are musicians like Alai Sanfo, Hien Narcisse Moustique Piqué, Robert Goldsmith, David Kemp, Nick Onley, James MacPhail, Owain Arthur, Moussa Dembele and Shreya Rai. Alex Dayo is a drummer/percussionist from Burkina Faso, former musician of the Kouledafourou National Ballet and leader of Wountey, the band who initiated Plenguedey music. Alex moved to London in 2008 where he set up a drumming school. Shreya Rai is a 25 year old singer from Nepal. She is the main female singer for Zantogola, and also performs with other bands such as Namlo and Makindu (WAHEVER 004). She is a highly creative and dedicated artist, and a composer in her own right: look up her name for future releases. This EP also features some special guests: violinist John Garner, Rafael Anker on EVI (electro valve instrument), Togo Clément Palé on bass, Sophia Mogapi on snare/cymbals, Marta Badia Marin on background doundoun and Dabaiyah Fidel on backing vocal. Zantogola means “the greatest in everyone” and it’s the name of a character in Burkina Faso’s folklore. There are many tales of his extraordinary powers. He plays his percussion louder than anybody in the country, so loud that you could hear him from all the other villages. He can devour a whole village’s food supply for a year in a single day, but his appetite is matched by his generosity: he will farm all the fields for the whole village single-handed. He also sleeps for a whole season unless the village needs him. Zantogola also inspires a message of humbleness. In these dark times, Zantogola stands against growing nationalism and the tightening of borders to create a spirit of common purpose and brotherhood. Gùndo Fara means “secret revealed” in Bambara, one of the most widely spoken languages in French speaking West Africa. This 45 rpm loud cut 12’’ EP is an introduction to an eleven track album to be released in spring 2019, it is limited to 300 copies and comes with B side drum mixes that will not be included on the spring album release.
Composed and arranged by Alexandre Yemaoua Dayo Produced by Matteo Boyero and Alexandre Yemaoua Dayo Recorded by Matteo Boyero at Wahever Records, except drums on “Tare” recorded at the Alex Dayo Drumming School, and bass and electro valve instrument on “Taré”, recorded at Dondoli Studio by Joseph Sangare Mixed by Peter Soldan at Dada Studios Mastered by Simon Davey at the Exchange Artwork by Sandra von Hazelberg
Musicians Seli: Alexandre Yemaoua Dayo: lead and backing vocal, drum set (congas, djembe, cymbals, high hat and calebasse), bass bara, doundoun, kenkeni & top bell, sabar, tama, maracas Shreya Rai: lead and backing vocal Dabaiyah Fidel: backing vocal Abdoulaye Sanfo: djembe solo Moussa Dembele: balafon (xylophone) Hien Narcisse Likite Moustique Piqué: medium bara James MacPhail: bass Owen Arthur: electric rhythm and lead guitar Robert Goldsmith: baritone sax David Kemp: alto sax Nick Onley: tenor sax Matteo Boyero: drum machine kick programming
Taré: Alexandre Yemaoua Dayo: lead and backing vocal, balafon, rhythm djembe 1, drum set (congas & djembe 2), bara, sabar, cowbell, shekere Abdoulaye Sanfo : djembe solo, rhythm djembe 3 Hien Narcisse Likite Moustique Piqué: kenkeni and top bell Marta Badia Marin: background doundoun Shreya Rai: lead and backing vocal Pale Togo Clément: bass Raphael Anker: EVI (electro valve instrument) John Garner: violins Robert Goldsmith: baritone sax David Kemp: alto sax Nick Onley: tenor sax Matteo Boyero: drum machine kick programming
Sya drums (musicians present in the full version of the track not included): Alexandre Yemaoua Dayo: rhythm djembe 1 & 2, djembe solo, drum set (congas & djembe 3), maracas, woodblock, doundoun, kenkeni & top bell, criquet Sophia Mogapi: drum kit (snare and cymbals) Abdoulaye Sanfo: djembe snare Matteo Boyero: drum machine kick programming
Special thanks to Peter Soldan at Dada Studios, Joseph Sangare at Dondoli Studio, Sandra Von Hazelberg for the artwork, Finsbury Park Art Club and all the students at the Alex Dayo Drumming School.
Notes by Alex Dayo: Seli” means “pray”: whatever our beliefs as human beings, let’s pray to know ourselves so that we can gain a better awareness of humanity’s needs. “Taré” means “majesty”. How great is your mother’s love. How great is a lover’s love. It’s your choice to find the balance: as we cross many rivers, we encounter many mothers and loved ones. The greatest, they are in my heart majestically, I shall never forgot them. Not all women give birth to a majesty. I’m talking too and dedicating Tare to her Majesty, my mother Sita Sessouma, my mother by the river Kalpana from Nepal, and to all you great women from all over the planet. I specially dedicate this EP to all my students.
Despite being a part of the music industry for decades, releases that bear Akira’s name have been few and far between, with most of them coming from his post-punk heydays in São Paulo in the mid 80’s.
40% Foda / Maneirissimo’s very first vinyl release is a showcase of tracks from that era, unearthed cassette tapes that have been mastered and pressed to vinyl and are being brought to the public. All of the material is old but unheard and until now unreleased.
‘Fires of Quidel’ is the culmination of Son Swaggas first year as a band, a year spent refining their music, building connections as bandmembers and friends, and finally recording at Greenfield studios with analog gear to bring their sound to life. With this album Son Swagga present themselves to the world and showcase the passion they bring to music as well as the individual talents of the bandmembers.
Second release from the label offers up broken rhythms, jacking grooves and deep spirituals. Hold Me explores lyricism within tight repetitious rhythm, on which saxophonist Tyrone Isaac-Stuart explores hook lines and story telling whilst bassist Jordan Christo maintains control over the low-end spectrum.
That He Man Of Hers melds jacking, upbeat tempo with romanticism and melancholy on top, with Louis Ktisti providing guitar accompaniment. One's Own Permanent Faith, on the other hand, provides for a moodier and more subdued spiritual dance rhythm, which warms one up before the spiritual explorations in Would You Tell Me About You. In this final track, the guitar rhythms provided by Jabriel AlSuhaimi and spiritual exorcism of the saxophone by Tyrone Isaac-Stuart present a different angle in the approach towards discovering the endless groove.
Credits:
Written Simas Savickas Produced by Arnheim Alto Saxophone by Tyrone Isaac-Stuart (A1, B2) Guitar by Jabriel AlSuhaimi (B2) Electric Guitar by Louis Ktisti (A2) Electric Bass by Jordan Chriso (A1) Recording Sessions Engineered by Ato Ayerra Published by Barbara’s Soul Body Music Manufactured by Well Tempered Distributed by Unearthed Sounds
Bristol based 'Arkist' has always been a versatile producer and as a result has an impressive rage of releases under his belt, with revered imprints such as Hotflush and Hypercolour. Recently he has been experimenting further in the studio and is ready to present his first 12inch in few years, under a brand new alias - Astrocat.
In this debut, self-titled EP it is instantly apparent that vocoder-infused funk and disco of the highest order can be expected from this new Astrocat guise. The EP is full of vintage talk box vocals, warm spacey chords and infectious basslines that bring classic records from the likes of Zapp and The Rah Band into mind.
With 5 tracks this EP has a lot to offer. Wether it be the raw, funked up james of the opener 'Small Talk' and title track 'Astrocat' or the more chilled, woozy grooves of 'Nightflare'. With features from Mr Woodnote and a dub remix from Appleblim this EP's roots sit firmly in the South West. Local legend DJ Die even lent his vocoder to the studio for some of the recordings.
Catch Recordings is one of the UK's most interesting underground labels and to mark its 10th release it is back with another essential EP featuring four fresh tracks from Swedish artist, Random Island Records owner, Inter Gritty, who has previously released on labels like RISE and Deep Moves. Not to mention his own Random Islands works. Since the birth of Random Island in 2012 he has carved out a singular sonic niche for himself with various solo EP's and albums and also his partnership with Nihad Tule as NTTA11.
Lead track, 'Urge' is a deep and pulsing techno roller, with far off pulses and wonky synths working you into a hypnosis. Car Park Ranger is a more direct techno track that takes plenty of cues form the mind melting style of Detroit hero Jeff Mills. It is sci-fi and supple, has tightly interwoven drums and synths that travel far into the galaxy.
Viscosity is more spooky and eerie. It feels unresolved with a magical melody gently unfolding and leaving a sense of intrigue in its wake above deeply rooted, rubbery drums. Last of all, DT1 is an absorbing bit of ambient that suspends you amongst watery sounds, warm solar winds and brain soothing synths.
This is a cinematic EP that takes the listener on a journey with its emotive and vivid techno sounds.
Billy Woods goosebump enducing "Let Me Make You Happy" is not just one of the most incredible 45's ever played on the Northern Soul scene, it comes with a typical weird world of Northern Soul fable with it too.
An original (beware recent bootlegs) 45 on the USA Sussex label will set you back £5,000 if you can find anyone willing to part with a copy, but let's talk about the music first, not the rarity.. Produced, arranged and co-written by the late great Van McCoy, "Let Me Make You Happy" showcases perfectly his genius at fusing magical melodies,angst driven lyrics,wondrous lead vocals supplemented by in-the-pocket backing singers,and pull you like a magnet to the dancefloor groove. Sufffice to say it manages to overshadow his other great Rare Soul gems from the likes of The Vonettes, Sandi Sheldon,The Ad Libs and Chris Bartley.
It's rarity is based on Sussex losing its distribution deal with A&M the week it was due for release in the mid 1970's.. A handful of copies were found at the time by record dealer extraordinaire John Anderson, who duly sold them to key Rare Soul DJ's and a legend was born.
This is the first time it has had a UK release courtesy of Sussex, and the flip is another gem from the label. The Decisions "I Can't Forget About You", produced by Detroit studio kings Dennis Coffey and Mike Theodore epitomises hardcore male group harmony uptempo Soul beloved by the Northern scene. It was actually released on a UK A&M 45, and is subsequently not a big dollar rarity, but sounds like it should be £5,000 worth
Andrzej Nowak is a polish early computer music composer who never found proper place in official contemporary music world. Tracks produced between 1987 and 1994 as a score for never screened animation movies (the producer didn’t like them). Lines of simple sounds, interrupted by primitive electronic trumpet and other fake instruments. Are you sure it’s a film score? What was the thing that producer didn’t like? Weird harmonies or too much rhythm?
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