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2022 Repress

Calibre has gone through his hard drives, DAT tapes and even mini discs to find more gems for 'Shelflife 3'. Thirteen of his most
requested unreleased productions from 1997 to 2013 are now released on Vinyl, CD and Digital formats. Please note the vinyl format is pressed on 3X12' vinyl with the 13 track CD shrink wrapped. Mistajam 'Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant!' Doc Scott '10/10 Doesn't get better than this' TC '10/10 Need a moment to take this in! So Good!'Noisia 'Smooth as ever. Love it!'
Recent Calibre live mix for Mixmag:

Belgian artist Melawati steps up to Ellum Audio with an arresting debut album, Artimia. Produced with an array of modified machines and modular synths, it is a testament to finding beauty in chaos.

Martijn Ravesloot aka Melawati makes music out of mistakes. He comes from an indie background but has always admired Aphex Twin while playing in bands such as The Subs and working in theatre. He has a love of experimenting with soundwaves that gives rise to his complex, experimental and improvised sounds. He first met Maceo Plex while jamming and that session turned into the track 'Daliah' which dropped on Ellum Audio and was remixed by Tale of Us.

After that, Melawati wrote this most absorbing and beautiful album during the pandemic in a dark studio attic in the heart of Brussels. He set about recording live experiments on analog synths and then deconstructed and reconstructed them into the tracks presented here. The angelic tones of guest vocalist Lisa Jane feature on two tracks though the pair have never met, and Melawati is now set to take his impressive live show to Tomorrowland. His life has changed since writing the album, he now has two children and lives on a farm, but the power of this music where organic and alien worlds intersect remains utterly compelling.

Opener 'I Just Want To Go Walking' pairs a heavenly vocal with celestial chords and a bustling broken beat that strikes a powerful emotional note right from the off. The excellent 'Riddles' showcases more majestic synth work and molten melodies that suspend you in mid-air while 'Slow Pulse' is an intense layering of drones and heavy drum tumbles that again offsets light and dark, tension and release. 'Red Herring' rests with beautifully pensive synth patterns that twinkle, warp and melt before your very ears and 'You And I' takes off on a rubbery groove overlaid with heart-aching keys and shimmering, wordless vocals. 'Somebody' is brain-soothing synth bliss with lush patterns and icy drums that gently unfold to get you in a trance and the gorgeous 'Radiate' then offers a widescreen and cosmic ambient interlude. The heartbroken synths of 'Let Your Love Wash Over Me' speak of the end of a cosmic love affair and 'Violent Thoughts' rebuilds on smooth arps and smeared pads over downtempo drums. The final trio of tracks offers rousing breakbeats on 'New White Noise', uplifting synth catharsis on 'Pain And Pressure' and a melancholic lullaby on 'Stellar'.

Artimia is a beautiful mix of harmony and dissonance, of real emotional power and improvised musical elegance.

From an aspiring b-boy to working with luminaries Billy Porter, Joss Stone, Kimberly Davis and Teni Tinks, The Shapeshifters, Simon Marlin announces the release of his brand-new studio album “Let Loose”.

Wrapped in a defining optimistic mood and colourful palette, “Let Loose” plays with the friction between musical persona and influence, delivering a masterclass in Simon’s flourishing depth of integrity as a producer and admiration to those that exert their enduring influence upon him.

“I'm a facilitator of talent. I'm blessed that over the years I've managed to put a team of people together - as a producer, that's what I do, very much in the old school sense like a Quincy Jones or Gamble & Huff, they’re the guys I try to emulate - and make something magic out of nothing, but do it in a contemporary way. That’s what really floats my boat, and that's what this whole project is about.” Simon Marlin – The Shapeshifters

Across the latest and long-awaited studio album “Let Loose” The Shapeshifters pledge rhythmic allegiance to the golden era disco records and their spellbinding qualities; embracing the tension often found between tradition and future to craft a euphoric, certifiable body of work presented to the devoted audience he deserves. The Shapeshifters exemplify a scene in rude health one that is now switching on an ever-younger fan base, and with Marlin being the beating heart of it it’s easy to see why The Shapeshifters are more in demand in the clubs than ever.

The twelve-track album is illuminated with vocal collaborations including the recently released and debut collaboration with the Grammy, Tony and Emmy Award-winning Billy Porter.

Layers of rushing strings, flares of brass and hedonistic grooves provide refreshing dancefloor power dynamics and deliver a liberating, triumphant and inherently uplifting record.

Taking an impeccably smooth course through disco-infused house, The Shapeshifters continue the rich relationship with Glitterbox and its record label; one that has yielded instant classics that epitomise the label’s ethos for preserving disco’s mission to uplift and empower.

Yellow Vinyl

In autumn 2019 the label Beat Art Department released Soia's third album "Where Magnolia Grows" with great success. With "Where Magnolia Grows Remixes" the album gets a new coat of paint. A handful of greats from the European hip-hop scene were won over for the remixes. L One (ATP Crew, Beat Art Department) and C.O.W.? (Compost Records) from Munich, Moo Latte (U Know Me), Copenhagener by choice, from Warsaw, Franchise and MEZ, both from Vienna and FVLCRVM from Bratislava.

Moo Latte provides the first remix of Soia’s “Where Magnolia Grows” album, and took “Fractal Spirits” for a new ride! The two Hip Hop/Neo Soul/Jazz artists first met on Soundcloud and have been sending vibes through the ether between Copenhagen and Vienna since then. The “Fractal Spirits” Remix is a first taste for their upcoming EP called “Spiritual Housekeeping".

The second “Where Magnolia Grows” Remix EP teaser re-work comes from C.O.W. ?.
Running with the cows. Soia’s sound is so exceptional that the German-Chinese producer collective didn't have to think twice when asked to remix her success single Running With Wolves. This chilled but pressing version is another highlight in the collective's career…

As the third remix comes the smooth, laid back “My Tiny” Remix by Bavarian beat smith L One.

For the new remix from Soia's "Where Magnolia Grows" album, Bratislava-based house producer FVLCRVM has taken on "Hoe For Love". FVLCRVM made a real floor filler out of the slow jam "Hoe For LOVE" with a mixture of house, glitch and broken beat.

Lim. Collector’s item. Comes in black vinyl with transparent PVC sleeve, limited edition/500 units world wide.

DJ Supermarkt came across this rare private press 7 Inch a long time ago, and since tried to locate the band to include the track on his Too Slow To Disco compilation series. After years he found bandleader Jeff Wollman, who gave TSTD permission to finally rerelease this funky space beauty for the first time on the new compilation TSTD 4.
The story could have ended here, but Jeff and DJ Supermarkt went one step further, and came up with the plan to give the track to a few selected producers for new versions/reworks. We contacted our favorite smooth space approved producers of today, and they all said “Yes” and we are super proud to now give you: The Reworks!

About PRIME TIME BAND:
Some bands excel at turning up, turning it on and getting the job done. Prime Time Band have spent an unlikely 38 years in the business as we write, throwing down a smooth, funky-yet-jazzy set for discerning listeners in the USA, Japan and beyond. “Fall in love in outer space”, their 1986 almost-hit, hits that sweet spot between 80s funk-pop and the disco era’s love of anything galaxy-tinged. Guy Maxwell (bass), Larry Vann (drums), Jeff Wollman (keys), Kenn Peterson (guitar) and Tom Marken (vocals) gifted us a rather delicious spacey groover that feels as ready for

Six Nine Records Ltd. UK proudly presents the fifth release for Howard Johnson on the label! “You’re My Star” is another winner from the man who, together with Kashif, brought boogie-funk to the forefront of popular soul music in the UK (and probably the rest of the world as well). The track is written by no one less than Leon Sylvers III and on the flip we find the laid back and smooth Yardley Mix. Definitely not to be missed as it is a limited UK press with full colour printed picture cover!

clear green vinyl

Germany based MC Fava releases his first solo EP on Beatalistics, the imprint he co-runs with Freiburgs soulful tag team partner Enea. This has been a long time coming and it couldn't be more emotional. The 5 track strong "Destiny EP" reveals more of the hopeless romantic songwriter's soul and once again showcases his immense versatility. Finish Drum 'n Bass legend Muffler adds his inimitable minimal melodic touches to the title track and underlines Fava's personal lyrics with his trancy trademark signature. Shooting Star Mountain from Japan shows his unique talent and musical approach on the 80s Synth-Pop influenced "Midnight", a rock-bass driven song characterized by its harmonised vocals arrangement. Teaming up with British vocalist Becca Jane Grey and Slovakian Smote, "Sarah" is a soul touching piano based liquid roller with a long acoustic drum intro which perfectly leads into the highest emotions. Enea himself takes you into deeper shades of colour with the moody "Green Velvet". Hypnotizing pads complete the warm bassline pattern which wraps the simple but distinctive drums perfectly around Fava's mesmerizing vocals. The Green Man from Cologne, Germany concludes the emotional rollercoaster ride with the Downtempo Chill-Hop "Alone in the Dark". Smooth horns and breathy pads create the perfect atmosphere for the German vocalist who playfully mixes melodic singing hooks with calm spoken words and repetitive chants. Outstanding on all levels!

SoiSong is the stunning but short-lived partnership of Coil co-founder Peter "Sleazy" Christopherson and veteran Russian electronic experimentalist Ivan Pavlov. Though friends since 1997, the project birthed roughly a decade later in Bangkok, where Christopherson relocated following the death of his Coil collaborator John Balance in 2004. Named after the Thai word for `two' along with a notorious red-light district street nearby, the duo dialed into a cryptic language of lurching synthetics, Eastern minimalism, and interdimensional glitch, oscillating between elegance and mayhem. qXn948s collects some of their earliest recordings, and remains as transgressive and transcendent a listen now as it was upon its release a decade and a half ago. Pavlov characterizes SoiSong as less a musical group than a "utopian, semi-alien platform for collaboration, devoid of pronounced personality or centralized authority_ more like a message from elsewhere that anyone is welcome to participate in and spread." Every facet of the project was disruptive and oblique: self-released CDs packaged in elaborate origami that had to be destroyed to be accessed; a website with password protected sections, where different passwords were provided for different events, objects or releases; performance merchandise of headphones and a Walkman melted shut so the music can only be heard as long as the set of batteries last. Theirs was a muse as unprecedented as it was uncompromising, equal parts pranks and profundity. qXn948s began with samples and software composed intuitively in tandem before a large monitor, then progressively processed and scrambled into bewildering arrangements of digital frequencies, alternately spartan and claustrophobic, uneasy and uncanny. Vignettes of small melody emerge and are obliterated; gamelan-esque tones spiral above cybernetic pulse programming and funereal didgeridoo; skeletal piano meanders in the distance while flickering circuitry pummels patterns of white noise. Pavlov describes his and Christopherson's chemistry as "unspoken and sincere, and very efficient." That music this aggressively disorienting and complex congealed in a smoothly organic fashion is testament to the rare vision of its creators.

Clear Vinyl

SoiSong is the stunning but short-lived partnership of Coil co-founder Peter "Sleazy" Christopherson and veteran Russian electronic experimentalist Ivan Pavlov. Though friends since 1997, the project birthed roughly a decade later in Bangkok, where Christopherson relocated following the death of his Coil collaborator John Balance in 2004. Named after the Thai word for `two' along with a notorious red-light district street nearby, the duo dialed into a cryptic language of lurching synthetics, Eastern minimalism, and interdimensional glitch, oscillating between elegance and mayhem. qXn948s collects some of their earliest recordings, and remains as transgressive and transcendent a listen now as it was upon its release a decade and a half ago. Pavlov characterizes SoiSong as less a musical group than a "utopian, semi-alien platform for collaboration, devoid of pronounced personality or centralized authority_ more like a message from elsewhere that anyone is welcome to participate in and spread." Every facet of the project was disruptive and oblique: self-released CDs packaged in elaborate origami that had to be destroyed to be accessed; a website with password protected sections, where different passwords were provided for different events, objects or releases; performance merchandise of headphones and a Walkman melted shut so the music can only be heard as long as the set of batteries last. Theirs was a muse as unprecedented as it was uncompromising, equal parts pranks and profundity. qXn948s began with samples and software composed intuitively in tandem before a large monitor, then progressively processed and scrambled into bewildering arrangements of digital frequencies, alternately spartan and claustrophobic, uneasy and uncanny. Vignettes of small melody emerge and are obliterated; gamelan-esque tones spiral above cybernetic pulse programming and funereal didgeridoo; skeletal piano meanders in the distance while flickering circuitry pummels patterns of white noise. Pavlov describes his and Christopherson's chemistry as "unspoken and sincere, and very efficient." That music this aggressively disorienting and complex congealed in a smoothly organic fashion is testament to the rare vision of its creators.

Five years after "Mort d'un Pourri" (Death of a Corrupt Man) Philippe Sarde finds Alain Delon for this adaptation of a violent thriller by Jean-Patrick Manchette. If "Le Choc" (The Shock) offers a rather watered down vision of the original novel, the composer chooses to give a boost. Sarde explains : “My position was this : to inject singularity into this somewhat smooth story. I get some really good soloists together for an unconventional score balanced between rock, jazz fusion and romanticism. I wanted it to be energetic with a modern drive. To me, "Le Choc" is a direct extension of the great blends in "César et Rosalie" or "Coup de Torchon (Clean Slate)". A jazz-rock rhythm section, musicians from Weather Report with the London Symphony Orchestra, and the great Wayne Shorter. I

asked him if he could play his soprano with a timbre like a bombard, an unexpected transposing of a folk instrument onto a jazz horn..." To director Robin Davis, this magnificent score will be a real lifeline : "With his music, Philippe told a story alongside mine, he brought "Le Choc" back to what it might have and should have been. And I love the invisible link with Lautner. After Stan Getz and "Mort d'un Pourri", we’re still with Delon & Sarde but this time the saxophonist is a black American, Wayne Shorter."

Pressed for the first time from a high definition transfer of the recording tapes, this new album has been mastered without any compression, respecting all the dynamics of the recording produced at Abbey Road.

V.39 here you have, 40 special cuts and tracks of the most aclaimed deejay-producer of all the times, DJ PREMIER, helped for someones of the more importants stars of Hip Hop like NAS, SNOOP DOG, GANGSTARR,... This is a special and powerful weapon for all the Hip Hop creators and DJ's.

Freude am Tanzen is back for a very special occasion. In 2022, three Various Artists EPs will be released, celebrating the 24th anniversary of the label from Thuringia. Whilst occasions like this would
normally be celebrated on the quarter century, this release makes sense not only on the mathematical level. 3 compilations with 4 tracks provide the half of 24.
The release however also makes sense in terms of history. Freude am Tanzen is showcasing a broad range of electronic music, never neglecting their history but also looking into the future.
The second Edition of the Compilation features tracks from Caldera, Freund der Familie, Gathaspar and Front Left. The A-Side focusses on Dub-House. Calderas Track ‚30 Friends‘ gets a smooth yet groovy vibe across. Freund der Familie contributes a hypnotic production, which would suit well incorporated in a warm up or on the home speakers.
The flip side goes deeper into the minimalistic region of electronic music. Gathaspar has produced a trippy journey, featuring the vocals of Anna Partini. One for the morning hours on the dance floor.
Front Left praises the groove with his track ‚AM3N‘. Very playful and delicate and a lovely selection of percussion. Do not miss!5.

On November 18th, Rural Tapes is back with a follow-up to the highly acclaimed debut album "Rural Tapes" from 2021. A year and a half ago, Arne Kjelsrud Mathisen was declared a genius by Mojo, who described his music as a hybrid between Kraftwerk, Air, Tortoise and Serge Gainsbourg. While the debut album was created over a period of almost 10 years, the music on "Inner space music" has been composed and recorded during one intense month in January 2022 in Mathisens own studio in the countryside of Grimstad, Norway. Again, a number of high-profile musicians have left their mark on Rural Tapes' music, including The Dream Syndicate frontman Steve Wynn, PJ Harvey saxophonist Terry Edwards and REM guitarist Peter Buck and Scott McCaughey, both of whom are Mathisen's bandmates in the psychedelic jangle pop group The No Ones. ACCLAIM FOR RURAL TAPES: “A level of its very own” MOJO "Rural Tapes delights in the unexpected. At every turn, you encounter something new, something to be marvelled over. Kjelsrud Mathisen has said he wants this music to stand the test of time. It will." The Independent “A dreamy self-titled debut full of broad soundscapes... Melding smooth jazz with floaty puffs of synth, the album is both meditative and uplifting, the sort of soundtrack you might expect from a dream sequence in a 1970s film." GQ Magazine “From the first notes of this debut album from respected Norwegian producer Arne Kjelsrud Mathisen, you know you’re in for a treat. As Rural Tapes he makes rich, warm technicolour soundtracks… it really is delightful stuff.” Electronic Sound "This is an excellent debut album." Prog Magazine "Mathisen’s musical pedigree makes Rural Tapes an intriguing musical journey of an album that takes in pulsating Krautrock, neo-classical moods and dreamy, proggy pop, all formed through an intuitive composition process." Shindig Magazine

Loleatta Holloway’s sojourn at Aware records in Atlanta in the mid-70s was just about as good as soul music can get. We have taken the wonderful two-stepper ‘I Can’t Help Myself’ (NOT the 4 Tops song) from her “Cry To Me” LP for DJs and collectors and added the originally unreleased – until it’s Kent CD appearance in 1996 – ‘Mrs So And So's Daughter’. That track is a more raunchy, sister-funk number compared to the smooth top side; each side oozes class.

Wah Wah 45s are proud to present a new set of remixes, as well as originals released on vinyl for the very first time, from Afrobeat supergroupEparapo. Having come togetherduring the unprecedented events of the pandemic and the Black Lives Matter movement, and despite being a project born from the privations of lockdown, their music is ultimately an expression of hope, resilience & resurgence.

The word "eparapo" means "join forces" in Yoruba, the language of Afrobeat. It's also the title of a track by the late, greatTony Allen- drummer for Afrobeat legendFela Kutiand lifelong friend and mentor of our very own "Afrobeat Ambassador",Dele Sosimi. Not only did Tony help to invent Afrobeat, he always looked for ways to push the boundaries, never content with recreating what had gone before but constantly expanding and developing the genre. This project hopes to pay homage to his legacy, and that of Fela Kuti himself. Its aim is to innovate, fuse and diversify while still retaining the essence of the music.

The force behind Eparapo is bassist, composer & producerSuman Joshi.He has been a member of Dele Sosimi's Afrobeat Orchestra for nearly a decade and has performed on stage with the likes of Tony Allen, Seun Kuti, Ginger Baker & Laura Mvula. He is also bassist with UK jazz ensemble Collocutor and fusion project Cubafrobeat.

Featured vocalist on both original tracks, and remixes, is the aforementioned Dele Sosimi - keyboard player and musical director for Fela's Egypt 80 as well as Wah Wah 45s recording artist on both his solo material and the recent collaboration with house music producer, Medlar.

The rest of the group comprises of bandleader ofAfrik Bawantuand percussionist for Ibibio Sound Machine and Keleketla,Afla Sackey; highly rated UK jazz vocalistSahra Gure; saxophonist, composer, producer and bandleader of the renowned forward thinking jazz outfit Collocutor,Tamar Obsorn; keyboard player, producer and front man for Lokkhi Terra and Cubafrobeat,Kishon Khan; one of the UK's finest and most in demand trumpeters,Graeme Flowers, who has played with Quincy Jones, Gregory Porter and many more; trombonist for Bellowhead and mainstay of Dele's Afrobeat Orchestra,Justin Thurgur; and finally drummer for Steamdown and Sons of Kemet, as well as the man behind the Nache project,Eddie Wakili Hick.

From London To Lagoswas inspired by a talk given by writerRoberto Savianoat the Hay Book Festival in 2016, just before the Brexit referendum. In it he described the UK as the "most corrupt country in the world". This was a reminder of how the leaders of so-called developed countries, conveniently suffering from colonial amnesia, still point disparagingly at the rest of the world and talk of "endemic corruption" and "Banana Republics". All the while the ill-gotten gains of organised crime syndicates, corrupt multinationals and military juntas across the globe are funnelled through financial centres such as London. Same trouble, different methods, greater scale. Of course the best way to divert the population from all this is to find distractions such as populist leaders who declare their countries "world beating" and scapegoats such as refugees, immigrants and other members of the underclasses. It has always been thus but it doesn't always have to be so.

This track was once more recorded remotely during lockdown and features an all star lineup of world class musicians from the UK Afrobeat and jazz scenes. Members of the Dele Sosimi Afrobeat Orchestra, Keleketla, Sons of Kemet and beyond have come together to create this powerhouse of a band. They encapsulate the meaning of "eparapo" and "join forces'' to fight a common enemy in the shape of corrupt and divisive ideologies.

Its remix comes fromWheelUP- the moniker of West London broken beat revivalist Danny Wheeler, who here delivers something of a smoother straight up Afro flavoured house workout that's sure to be heard across dance floors and festivals this summer. The Tru Thoughts signed artist adds gliding synths and tight drums that ride the original's hypnotic melody perfectly and make for a future club classic.

Black Lives Matterwas obviously inspired by the movement of the same name and was the first track to be released by Eparapo in late 2020. Dele's voice tell the story slave ships leaving West Africa in the fifteenth century, the brutal conditions that were experienced on board, and the continued suffering of the African diaspora today. As always, half of the artist's income for this song will be donated to the NAACP - a civil rights organisation in the United States, created for the advancement of black people by means of following judicial policies.


The remix here comes from Birmingham based producer signed to Jalapeno Records,Sam Redmore. Sam's love for breaks and beats comes into play well here, subtly chopping up the original to create a bass worrying version that still sends that very important message of justice and equality - Black Lives Matter!

a 01: From London to Lagos (WheelUP Remix) feat. Dele Sosimi

[c] 03: Black Lives Matter (Sam Redmore Remix) [feat. Dele Sosimi]

Bad Colours is back with his sophomore album, "Always With U," out on Bastard Jazz Recordings in November, 2022. The London-born, Maryland-raised, Brooklyn-based DJ, songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist - aka Ibe Soliman - continues to build on the well-deserved acclaim from his 2021 debut LP, "PINK," as well as a slew of standalone singles and collaborations with the likes of Shabazz Palaces, Jarv Dee, and Stas THEE Boss.

"Always With U" sees Ibe further develop his talents as a songwriter and producer, while maintaining the signature balance of banging dance music and dense bars that he's quickly becoming known for. The album expands Ibe's role to a collaborator, band leader, and all-around star-of-the-show; it's certainly still a dance record, but there's also so much more. Live instrumentation accompanies every track, with the notable contributions of Nigerian bassist Akin-Alade Ogo heard across the album, as well as the NY-based saxophonist Carras Paton on the jazzy, upbeat house number, "Heartache + U."

The lead single, "Maybe I Should Move to LA," sees the proudly Brooklyn-based Bad Colours contemplate a move out West – an idea that came about following a trip to LA for the 20 Years of Bastard Jazz anniversary party (which he DJed) in November last year. Bright pads, a thumping four-on-the-floor beat, and a catchy vocal line make it the perfect accompaniment to a top-down joy-ride up PCH. The album's second single, "You Don't Know," features frequent collaborator and PNW darling Jarv Dee, as well as KAS and JVDE who have both been making waves in the Brooklyn scene (KAS for his work with Grammy- nominated producer Harmony Samuels featured on BET, and JVDE as the lead-singer of alternative band Blind Benny). "You Don't Know" turns up the heat with Jarv and KAS trading dense, rapid-fire verses over a high-tempo beat and detuned vocal; the kick cuts out for the bridge, replaced by syncopated keyboard stabs and JVDE's stacked vocals. "You Don't Know" is high-energy hip house at its finest: Super catchy and irresistibly dancey.

The two singles are emblematic of the rest of the album, which largely alternates between vocal and hip house, sometimes jazzy, other times touching on R&B or dancefloor influenced pop. Dave Giles II and Cor.Ece (who recently both contributed to Beyoncé's chart-topping "Renaissance" LP and Honey Dijon's "Work" single) feature on "Flow," while Toribio (of the acclaimed Brooklyn band Conclaves) provides vocals for "Do Better;" both tracks are on the mellower side, reminiscent of late-90s New York mid-tempo garage. Rising artist N.O.V. features on the second track, "Ready," rapping over a bass-heavy beat; MarcusHarmon makes a return after appearing on "PINK," with smooth vocals on the romantic "Come Closer." Aforementioned JVDE can be heard throughout the album, contributing to "You Don't Know," "Flirtation Avenue," and "Easy Come, Easy Go."

While Ibe's career has spanned nearly two decades - as both a DJ (alongside the likes of James Murphy, Mark Ronson, and Q-Tip) and producer (for Kendrick Lamar, Faith Evans, Keyshia Cole, and Rick Ross, among others) - the Bad Colours name only came into being in early 2020, with the debut LP, "PINK," being released in February, 2021 on the Brooklyn tastemaker label Bastard Jazz. By tapping into his deep network of artist friends, Ibe compiled a treasure-trove of vocal samples, snippets, sketches, and fresh instrumental loops into a beautiful debut record that touches on hip-hop, house, and left-field electronic, while remaining danceable.

A slew of singles throughout 2020 and 2021 included "Feelin' Like," featuring the Seattle rapper Jarv Dee, has become an underground hit, popping up everywhere from Best Buy ads, Hulu's "Woke," celebrity Peloton instructor Emma Lovewell's playlist, and even as a soundtrack to the Mayor of Madrid's TikTok video. Most recently, "Feelin' Like" had a prominent placement in the #1 Netflix film "Spiderhead," directed by Joseph Kosinski ("Tron: Legacy;" "Top Gun: Maverick") and starring Chris Hemsworth, Miles Teller, and Jurnee Smollett. The breakout success of "Feelin' Like" further led to a collaborative EP with Jarv Dee, titled "BLAKHOUSE," which saw additional features from fellow PNW natives Shabazz Palaces ("Clouds," featured in Hulu's "Shoresy") and Stas THEE Boss ("Black Skin"). This year, Bad Colours dropped the early Summer banger "Hit The Breaks," and served as the musical director for the influential MADE New York festival, a two-day fashion, music, and arts event presented by Public School NYC and Paypal, that saw performances by Nas, Heron Preston, and Bearcat among others.

"Always With U" is a testament to Bad Colours' versatility as a producer and artist, which has allowed him to bring together such a diverse group of friends and collaborators. Yes, the house and hip-hop roots remain, but "Always With U" shows an evolution of the Bad Colours sound into masterfully crafted dancefloor sounds. It's a truly stunning follow-up from an artist undoubtedly on the rise. The album is out on all platforms, via Bastard Jazz Recordings, November 11th, 2022.

TONICO 70'S SOULFUL SIDE SHINES THROUGH IN NEW ALBUM CO-PRODUCED WITH PEPPE MAIELLANO (BANDA MAJE)

The cover of the new album by musician, rapper, DJ/producer and Banda Maje's co-founder Tonico 70 features an honest, unfiltered photo his mother took of him with a disposable camera – a photo that is as blunt and sassy as hip hop, but at the same time filled with the sweetness of soul music. The style of Antonico is all there, in that shot of a nine-year-old kid that was just beginning to discover and love music – a passion that, as he says now, "has been driving me for over thirty years."

Coming after many years of songwriting, beatmaking, MCing, live performances and collaborations, this new album, his first released on Four Flies Records, connects the dots between past, present and future, presenting Tonico 70 as a fully-rounded artist rather than just a rapper, and one aware of his own many facets.

Co-produced with Peppe Maiellano, Banda Maje's other founder, Antonico offers an intimate portrait of Tonico 70, who has put his 'tough-music-smuggler' persona aside to let his soulful side shine through, giving us a warm, funk-inspired and very original take on the so-called 'Napoli power' sound.


Lyrically too, the album takes us deeper into his world. Here, Tonico 70 evaluates his personal history, speaking about his joys and disappointments, his highs and lows, and the friends and lovers who are or were in his life.

Sometimes his flow is confidential and nocturnal – in "Vic'l", for instance, where the sound is smooth and sweet, rife with contrapuntal notes and harmonies that are clearly reminiscent of 70s soul, but also in the bluesy rap of "Doppia Chance" and the prayer-like song "For For". Other times he gets bolder and brasher, like in the reggae-inspired in "Quaqquara Qua", or in "The Revolution Will Not Be Telefonin", which is obviously a (cheeky) tribute to Gil Scott Heron.

A number of tracks feature long-time friends and collaborators: rapper Morfuco in "Italia 90" (a funky uptempo song with powerful gospel vocals in the chorus), the Funky Pushertz crew in "Sai Com'è" and, perhaps most importantly, the Salifornian soul-funk collective Banda Maje, who give new life to three songs from the artist's previous discography: "Vir Buon", "Gente Antica" and "Fantasie".

This album shows that Tonico 70 has reached a stage of maturity in his career, one where his music extends beyond rap and hip-hop to incorporate rich instrumentals and multiple genres that carry the echoes of his experiences and encounters in the lively alleys of Salerno's historic district, and of the people whose lives unfold there, in the heart of the Mediterranean.

Felix Laband’s The Soft White Hand is the masterwork of an artist who expresses himself through musical and artistic collage acting together to reinterpret his sources and to express significant elements of his own personal story.

Released by Munich-based Compost Records, the 14-track album is Laband’s first full-length offering since the critically acclaimed Deaf Safari in 2015. It is heralded by the single “Derek and Me”, and is being pressed on vinyl for distribution globally.

In The Soft White Hand Laband works with source materials that will be familiar to those who know his previous four records – Thin Shoes in June (2001), 4/4 Down the Stairs (2002), Dark Days Exit (2005) and especially Deaf Safari which reached deep into the South Africa scene and its political culture to inspire its vocal and music sampling. However, the disengagement he felt from his homeland during his latest album’s creation – an abiding sense of untethered-ness to place and space, exquisitely rendered in tracks like “Death of a Migrant” – is perceptible in Laband’s desire to illuminate instead aspects of his own life.

“For this album, my source material became almost autobiographical as opposed to African statements I’ve worked with previously,” says the artist. “I have sampled a lot from documentaries from the 80s crack epidemic in impoverished African American communities and believe my work speaks unapologetically for the lost and marginalised, for those who are the forgotten casualties of the war on drugs. In the past, I have had my issues with substance abuse, and I know first-hand about the nightmares and fears, what it feels like to be isolated and abandoned.”

Few artists have managed to air these intimate aspects of their life so luminously as Laband does in tracks like “5 Seconds Ago”, “They Call Me Shorty” and in the strange and meditative “Dreams of Loneliness”. “I’ve been building this weird, autobiographical story using other people talking. It’s kind of humorous but it is also sad and beautiful,” says Laband.

Yet, as in all of Laband’s recorded output, the delineations between emotions are never starkly drawn and The Soft White Hand is also shot through with beauty. Nature appears in recordings made in his garden in the intimate early morning hours, whether as in the calls of the Hadada Ibis and other birdsong in “Prelude” or of the vertical-tail-cocking bird in “Derek and Me”. The last is a wonderful track with Derek Gripper, the South African experimental classical guitarist of international renown, whose 2020 song “Fanta and Felix” imagines a meeting between Fanta Sacko and Laband.

Laband’s eloquence in reinterpreting classical composers such as Beethoven in “We Know Major Tom’s a Junkie” is another thrilling aspect of the new record. “I’ve been properly exploring classical music on this album,” explains Laband, “taking melodies from classical compositions and reinterpreting them”. A fresh quality comes to his work through this sonic adventuring: the tender manipulation of the mundaneness of the computer’s AI voice to reimagine and reinvent iconic lyrics and melodies in strange and unexpected configurations.

The Soft White Hand is Laband’s most cohesive body of work to date. Yet it remains, in its sheer artistic scope, impossible to describe fully. Darkness abuts the gossamer light. A song that summons the sunrise and all the hope of a new day could also be about the final dipping down of the sun that portends a troubled night ahead. Interludes are invitations to expand outwards or shift inwards. Mistakes and “weird fuckups” in the sound are cherished as convincing statements against what Laband calls the “grossness” of perfect sound in modern music.

For this world-leading electronic artist, the boundaries are unfixed. He is inspired by the German Dada artist, Hannah Höch, who memorably declared: “I wish to blur the firm boundaries which we self-certain people tend to delineate around all we can achieve.” His music consequently reflects a primal artistic impulse that is also visible in Laband’s considerable visual art output as seen recently in several solo exhibitions such as that held in the No End Gallery in Johannesburg in 2019 and in the works he produced during his 2018 Nirox Foundation Artists Residency. “My music is always about collage, as is my art,’’ he affirms. “Everything I do is collage. It is a medium I find very interesting because you are taking history and distorting it and changing its meaning and turning it upside down and back to front.” In her book Recollections of My Non-Existence, Rebecca Solnit calls collage “literally a border art”; it is “an art of what happens when two things confront each other or spill onto each other”.

With The Soft White Hand, Laband is confirming his singular ability to achieve this in both art and music, melting the divisions between the two creative disciplines until they become one. He is also affirming his belief that an album of music should be more than a collection of unrelated tracks, but should unfold a fully integrated, cohesive story as in the song cycles of the great classical composers. In doing so, he claims his position as one of the most significant artists working today.

Artist Statement – Felix Laband – August 2022

When the Khmer Rouge took their captives for processing, they identified their class enemies by looking at their hands. If they were sunburned, rough and calloused, they were those of a peasant, a proletarian to be spared. But if they were soft and white, then they were those of a city-dweller, an intellectual or bourgeois, an adversary to be liquidated.

In calling this album The Soft White Hand, I was reflecting on the Cambodian genocide and how it resonates in contemporary South Africa. The apartheid era is over, and gone with it is white political domination. Yet economic and social privilege is still held in soft white hands. But those who grasp it know just how tenuous is their hold, how it singles them out, and my music reflects their subconscious fears, the stress and guilt of clinging on to what others envy and desire.

The soft white hand of the title suggests to me a further image, one that relates to all of postcolonial Africa. In my mind’s eye, I see the soft, duplicitous handshake of the smooth representatives of the superpowers making deals and promising gifts that benefit only them, and not their African dupes.
Yet, soaring above the wailing of sirens sampled from the first day of the invasion of Ukraine, my music is also about love gained and passion lost. It is about the tender caress of a soft white hand that conducts you into a place of dreams to be enfolded by nocturnal melodies.

Dressed in a powder blue suit with the frilly shirt to match, DJ Yoda invites you to be his +1 for ‘Prom Nite’, his new album promising retro Americana full of daydreaming reverie, international megastar guests, trip hop acknowledging the likes of Morcheeba and Nightmares on Wax, and the turntable extraordinaire’s bread and butter of cuts, beats and rhymes.

Certainly no stranger to retro sounds having famously peppered his DJ and AV sets with the unexpected the world over, and his ‘How to Cut n Paste’ mix series going all the way back to the 30s, Yoda’s harp-laden puppy love vibe spreads from the sweet and mellow sound of 2019’s ‘Home Cooking’, an album described as ‘boundary-breaking’ by Mojo upon slotting nicely into the UK’s blooming jazz canon. Think deliciously harmonised doo-wop murmuring ‘Goodnight Sweetheart’ with an eye for dreamboats en route to Makeout Point – on ‘My Energy’, Eva Lazarus takes the form of an earth angel, with Yoda on jukebox cut-ups, taking it back to starry-eyed, clean cut days of wonder (or more recently, Little Mix’s ‘Love Me Like You’).

Beginning enigmatically with the assistance of Hollywood A-lister (and former next-door neighbour) Lily James, ‘Breathe’ demonstrate Yoda’s continued evolution as a musician (not to mention shrewd decision maker), with James’ vocal confidence - a little Lana del Rey to her breathiness - returning on the velvet-smooth ‘Airplane Mode’. It’s a smartly executed soundclash accentuated by LA rapper Choosey, the star of the album’s straightest hip-hop shooter ‘Harder I Rock’. Homeboy Sandman adds some kick to the prom punch with typical wordplay sent down ‘Coconut Grove’, and Liam Bailey is perfectly cast for the darkly cinematic sway of ‘Don’t Even Try It’.

On an album of many talking points, the LP’s crowning glory is opening single ‘Feel Like Home’: featuring the vocal comforts of the House Gospel Choir, it’s your go–to pick-me-up when the chips are down, targeting the hairs on the backs of necks like a softer focus version of Jamie xx’s ‘Loud Places’. Extended into an alternative, equally uplifting form by Beardyman’s ‘Don’t Mean Thing’, summer festival season already has its homecoming anthem.

With tongues wagging, the twists and turns step away from Heartbreak Ridge when O Love tucks into the mouthwatering shopping list funk of ‘Way Home’; and ‘Lesson 1956’, featuring Jamie Cullum and DJ Woody, jauntily pays homage to classic Cut Chemist alchemy, Yoda’s celebrated turntable tomfoolery back in full effect and extending the flavours found in ‘Home Cooking’.

Again maximising the experience and enjoyment gained from recording live instruments and prioritising songs over beats, Yoda continues to progress with a mixture of risk-taking, elite musicianship, nostalgia brought bang up to date, and ultimately, good clean fun capable of stirring your soul, making ‘Prom Nite’ a date to remember.

Magpie artwork supplied by London’s ENDLESS, whose signature style has tagged Liberty and Lagerfeld as but two high profile clients, Yoda again maximises the experience and enjoyment gained from recording live instruments and prioritising songs over beats. His continued progress mixes risk-taking, elite musicianship, nostalgia brought bang up to date, and ultimately, good clean fun capable of stirring your soul, making ‘Prom Nite’ a date to remember.

Featured 7” Vinyl singles:
Feel Like Home (feat. The House Gospel Choir)/ Don’t Mean A Thing (feat. Beardyman)
My Energy (feat. Eva Lazarus)/Lesson 1956 (feat. Jamie Cullum & DJ Woody)

This 2LP edition of 'Polaris' is presented in a wide spine sleeve. TesseracT are currently on a headline world tour in support of Sonder, which began in North America, through Australia and on to Europe and the UK with

Between the Buried and Me including London's O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire. The band have also announced a second extensive tour of North America in Feb/Mar as guest support for BTAM.

'Polaris is, at last, the platonic ideal of a TesseracT album, the one where they get everything just right. It's drama bringing, supremely melodic and riffheavy.' - Revolver Magazine

The pioneers of an ever-evolving metal scene, TesseracT, released their fourth studio album entitled 'Sonder' in April 2018, following 2015's worldwide acclaimed 'Polaris'. Originally formed as a studio project by guitarist Acle

Kahney, TesseracT are a band full of melody, dynamics and groove, they sit outside the bounds of any genre specificity to truly create a sound that has always been pioneering and creative; an unstoppable force of off-kilter riffs,

soaring melodies and disorientating atmospherics. Prior to 'Sonder', the band's vision quickly translated to success, with a collective 100,000 sales in North America alone. 'Polaris' reached Billboard's #10 (Hard

Rock) & #57 (Current Albums) charts and #9 in the UK (Indie Albums) and #7 (Rock and Metal) and have seen continued support from worldwide press. Having found a new creative energy after reuniting with original singer Dan

Tompkins, the band's output changed in 2015 with the opus 'Polaris'; an undoubted evolution from 'Altered State' and features skilful experimentation with sounds and tones, plus a deeper exploration of the core attributes that

define TesseracT's trademark sound. 'keeps impressing with every release, going with different ideas and compositions while still keeping their identity' - Outburn Magazine

'is best defined as a sum of the group's polished production smoothly colliding with an offensive onslaught of vocal and instrumentation virtuosity.' - Metal Injection