Swapping oscillators for guitar strings and synth filters for dusty amps this side project continues exploration of blues music through electronics. Originally started as an experiment in programming styles with a release on Bluecid a few years back, these songs continue the droning tones and a variety of tempos that fill the six tracks. All songs were played live on machines while being captured at the crossroads of crossed wires.
No guitars were harmed, held or harnessed in the creation of this electronic project following up the Bluecid 001 release a few years back.
Together Old-Skool Acid House Alert! These tracks were recorded by Jordan Fields in Chicago during the late 80's. Just recently re-discovered on reel to reel tapes and as soon as we heard these beauties, we knew the world needs to have these on vinyl! Starting off with 'Among The Kloudz' which is a very raw & mental analog groovin' acid-house track. On the flipside you'll find 'Keepin' It Together", a warm soulful but yet club friendly Mr Fingers, Virgo Four alike track. This EP is for all the true Chicago heads, enjoy!
Continuing further into the music of 1970s East Africa, Soundway present a limited edition 10" of raw, bluesy garage-funk-rock from Jimmy Mawi.
Jimmy Mawi was a Madagascan guitarist based in Nairobi in the mid 1970s. He cut only three 45s for EMI East Africa on their Pathe imprint that have virtually disappeared from sight in the nearly 40 years since they were recorded. Soundway reproduce four of the best tracks here on a super limited edition 10". Fuzz guitars, raspy vocals and metronomic drumming combine for an exhaustive afro-rock workout.
Earlier this year Soundway released their compilation Kenya Special: Selected East African Recordings from the 1970s & '80s. Accompanied by a limited re-mix 12' these releases represent Soundway's first releases from the East African country and follows from their much acclaimed African 'Special' series that to date has focused on the highlife and afrobeat output from 1970s Nigeria and Ghana.
*A pure slab of noise... a ruckus on vinyl! A limited edition piece of wax featuring remixes by the Circus Records superstars Funtcase & Genetix.
*Funtcase has been producing since being inspired by d&b as a kid growing up in Bournemouth. In 2009 he created his dubstep alias Funtcase and released his first single on 4:20 Records. The following year he signed with Circus Records and released the killa 'So Vexxed/Matress Punch'. He is also known for his standout remixes, including mixes for Plan B, Camo & Krooked, The Wideboys & Skizm.
*For this remix Passenger organised Spyda (Pendulum 'Black Tarantula'/Knife Party 'Fire Hive') back into the vocal booth to lay down some fresh vocals for the remix. A former Passenger vinyl buyer, Funtcase is no stranger to the sounds of the label and adds his own nod to its history by flipping some breakbeat twists and turns to proceedings to create what many are saying is his best remix to date!
*The flipside remix is from fellow Circus Records crew members and Bournemouth badmen Genetix. Following a similar path to Funtcase, Matt & Rich started off making d&b before switching the tempo and laying down some filth at 140. With regular appearances on the MistaJam's radio show, guest mixes on KissFm for Hatcha and Crazy D and remixes for the likes of Bassline Smith & Drumsound and Kelly Clarkson, to name a few, these guys are continuing a south coast tradition of bass noise and terror.
*With the label instructions to 'make it as heavy as you can, Genetix took the vocal of Sporty-O, recorded at DJ Lethal's (House Of Pain/Limp Biskit/La Coka Nostra) studio in LA back in 2007, and brought it up to speed with a track that flips from militant dubstep into some proper 808 trap biz.
Kartel is delighted to announce the 18th March release on Soundway Records of Magical Thinking by Antibalas multi-instrumentalist, Chico Mann. Tipping a genre-bending wink at 80's funk, boogie and electro stylings, with just a hint of Afrobeat spicing the mix, Chico effortlessly merges a downtempo groove with timeless pop sensibility to create a contemporary dancefloor classic. UK/European dates for March/April will be announced shortly.
Cadenza Records kick starts it's 10th year in the game with 'Hunter', a release that balances the warm and cinematic productions of Martin Patino's original mixes, with the dark and powerful remix by young upstart, Julien Bracht. With previous releases and remixes on labels such as Freerange, Suara, Trapez and Rotary Cocktail, Patino is carving out an expansive and eclectic deep house sound, and his talents are perfectly captured on this release. 'Your Lips, Underwater' is a track that's been bubbling under for many months, a percussive and melodic groove wrapped together with heavy analogue bass and teasing jazzy keys. Title track 'Hunter', featuring the vocals of Astrid Hald, is a powerful, brooding production. The house groove develops perfectly, with the melancholic vocal back dropped by the dramatic and haunting pianos and strings, evoking shades of Massive Attack production values. 'Hunter' is a stunning and very original piece. Cadenza's newest signing, Julien Bracht, supplies a remix of 'Hunter', offering up an all-together different shade to the original. Aptly titled the 'Darkmix', Bracht gets busy deconstructing and reconstructing, taking just mangled snippets of the vocal with swathes of rumbling, aquatic bass washing over the reverb soaked, drum heavy routine. Deadly!
Alex Niggemann's 2012-defining long player 'Paranoid Funk' dropped in June to a rapturous response from DJs, dancers and home listeners alike. Here, Poker Flat Recordings revisits some of the exceptional highlights of that record, and deliver a remix package sure to be as equally sought-after by those in the know. 'Paranoid Funk' saw the Berlin resident explore a variety of grooves and textures, an experiment that won him many new admirers and a great deal of critical acclaim. Here, some of the hottest remix talent in the scene get their hands on the originals and twist them into new shapes. Following on from releases on Cocoon, Kling Klong, Circle and two strong EPs on Poker Flat ("Dinosaurs' and 'This") renowned producers Alex Flatner and LOPAZZ take on 'Don't Wait' and drop a growling, main room monster that will standout in any set. Francys, the young Italian making quiet a name for himself on the underground house and techno circuit, lends his skills to 'Back 2 Basics feat. Benji' - channeling the spirit of the early 90s into seven ecstatic minutes. Next up is Salvatore Freda - the highly respected Swiss DJ and producer who injects Niggemann's 'I Don't Care' with a narcotic groove that sits somewhere between Detroit and Berlin - the dubbed out vocals adding an element of otherworldliness that work in perfect compliment to the track's twisted (paranoid) funk. Berlin's own Andre Lodemann picks out 'Lovers' for his excursion, a deep bomb that grows and grows around an exceptional vocal from John Rydell - this is one for the very late nights or early mornings. What is clear from this release is that Alex Niggemann's star continues to rise - the classical pianist turned producer and DJ extraordinaire is moving on to the next phase of his career - and with the slew of outstanding releases to his name already, who is to say where that could lead. Tracklist:
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The View EP is a collaboration project between Berlin dj / producers Sebastian Krenzlin and Sebastian Stöhr / 88UW.
Sebastian Krenzlin is one of the new talents playing at Tresor Club, Berlin. Krenzlin is proofed by Tresor and a talent behind the desks - strobe and fog will do the rest. Sebastian Krenzlin and he is simply one of techno music's most staunch supporters and preservers of the genre. 88uw was born in 1978 in Hamburg, Germany and by the 80s he was already fascinated by electronic music. In 1991 he visited a record store specializing in Techno for the first time and bought his own records. Three years later at the age of 16 he starting to DJ in clubs and hasn't stopped to this day.
Studio work came later for 88uw and it was not until 2005 that he started teaching himself music production. His first release was in 2010 on Parallel 125 and in a very short space of time he has made a significant impact on the techno scene in Germany and abroad. He releases regularly on renowned
labels including the legendary Synewave, Gynoid Audio, Slap Jaxx and IF Records.
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Our next Stil vor Talent 12 sounds like a mysterious, alien soundscape transmitted straight from outer space to the peak-time dance-floors of planet Earth. Edu Imbernon has already demonstrated a brilliant ear for pulsating house music on his remix for Niconé & Sascha Braemer's 'Dreamer'. Here, he once again teams up with fellow Spaniard Triumph, while SVT favourites Kellerkind and Niko Schwind are on remix duty. The title 'Mystery Inside' couldn't be more fitting to the meteorite shower the duo conjure up with the aid of vocalist Sutja Gutierrez on the A-side: sharp hi-hats lead straight into a moody bass-line that meets a beautifully rounded kick and percussion-workout. Things get otherworldly as synths start flying through the speakers, finally beaming you to another galaxy once Gutierrez' heavily spaced out vocals set in. On the flip, Kellerkind slows things down considerably and builds on the original's UFO-synths, while Niko Schwind cherry picks his favourite parts of 'Mystery Inside' and contextualises them within his own 80s synth motif and fat breakdown. Extraterrestrial warning: the Spaniards have landed!
One can hardly imagine the genre-busting, culture-crossing musical magic of Outkast, Prince, Erykah Badu, Rick James, The Roots, or even the early Red Hot Chili Peppers without the influence of R&B pioneer Betty Davis. Her style of raw and revelatory punk-funk defies any notions that women can’t be visionaries in the worlds of rock and pop. In recent years, rappers from Ice Cube to Talib Kweli to Ludacris have rhymed over her intensely strong but sensual music.
There is one testimonial about Betty Davis that is universal: she was a woman ahead of her time. In our contemporary moment, this may not be as self-evident as it was thirty years ago – we live in an age that’s been profoundly changed by flamboyant flaunting of female sexuality: from Parlet to Madonna, Lil Kim to Kelis. Yet, back in 1973 when Betty Davis first showed up in her silver go-go boots, dazzling smile and towering Afro, who could you possibly have compared her to? Marva Whitney had the voice but not the independence. Labelle wouldn’t get sexy with their “Lady Marmalade” for another year while Millie Jackson wasn’t Feelin’ Bitchy until 1977. Even Tina Turner, the most obvious predecessor to Betty’s fierce style wasn’t completely out of Ike’s shadow until later in the decade.
Ms. Davis’s unique story, still sadly mostly unknown, is unlike any other in popular music. Betty wrote the song “Uptown” for the Chambers Brothers before marrying Miles Davis in the late ’60s, influencing him with psychedelic rock, and introducing him to Jimi Hendrix — personally inspiring the classic album Bitches Brew.
But her songwriting ability was way ahead of its time as well. Betty not only wrote every song she ever recorded and produced every album after her first, but the young woman penned the tunes that got The Commodores signed to Motown. The Detroit label soon came calling, pitching a Motown songwriting deal, which Betty turned down. Motown wanted to own everything. Heading to the UK, Marc Bolan of T. Rex urged the creative dynamo to start writing for herself. A common thread throughout Betty’s career would be her unbending Do-It-Yourself ethic, which made her quickly turn down anyone who didn’t fit with the vision. She would eventually say no to Eric Clapton as her album producer, seeing him as too banal.
Her 1974 sophomore album They Say I’m Different features a worthy-of-framing futuristic cover challenging David Bowie’s science fiction funk with real rocking soul-fire, kicked off with the savagely sexual “Shoo-B-Doop and Cop Him” (later sampled by Ice Cube). Her follow up is full of classic cuts like “Don’t Call Her No Tramp” and the hilarious, hard, deep funk of “He Was A Big Freak.”
Kenny Gino and Big Mike a.k.a. the Solid Gold Playaz both started playing records in the late 70's/early 80's. Having family from Chicago, who were DJ's and down with some of the big guys at the time, "heavily influenced our music and production styles" both say. "Living so close to the city, we could go down to all the legendary night spots. The Rainbow and the Warehouse, the Box, the Shelter... places where you could just feel the vibe. And you could hear guys like Farley Funkin' Keith, Ron Hardy, and Jammin' Gerald (the Chicago DJ/producer who is Kenny's cousin) play these incredible records". They both were hooked on the house sound, and would bring it back to their home, a small city named Racine, Wisconsin, located about an hour and half north of Chicago. They continued to develop their DJ and production skills into the 90's, but musically, weren't taking things very seriously until they met Chicago producer Louis Bell. He introduced them to many of the people who were building the mid-90's Chicago sound. "Louis gave us access... access to places we hadn't been before. He took us into the offices of Cajual/Relief Records and Underground Construction, and suddenly we were face to face with guys who were doing what we wanted to do... Cajmere, Paul Johnson, Glenn Underground... showing us that we could do this too. We did a few releases just to get our name out, and soon we had some pretty big named DJ's playing our music. We had DJ's actually looking for our records, and telling us how much they liked our sounds... that just blew us away, especially with very little promotion and in the limited numbers we were pressing... our music just started to build a name for itself."
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