Some 3 years ago, Abyss was responsible for one of Myor Massiv's most popular releases. Now he finally makes his long awaited return to the label for a split 12” with Tommy The Cat.
Both tracks are heavy Amen rollers. On the a-side Abyss goes in for some serious hardcore business with “Journey Of A Crackhead” whereas Cat In The Bag head honcho Tommy The Cat opts for a dirty dubwise approach on the flip.
Malik Hendricks is a rhythmically inclined aesthetic enthusiast born in the 80's, and raised in the 90's. A DJ for over a decade, he has always approached music with a rigorous curiosity and views the dancefloor as the ideal arena for collective cultural appreciation, a place where the quest for knowledge meets the quest for experience. Dance is the true language of the body, and a gateway to the recognition of our shared humanity.
Money Cat Records - Round black records bringing good luck. Linking motion with emotion, dance unites the body and soul of all who participate. Music from Brooklyn to the world. Established in 2018.
A cat may have nine lives, but Peter Cat Recording Co. has a multitude of dimensions. Formed in New Delhi around 2010 by the crooner Suryakant Sawhney, it's a group that's mutated over time, shedding members and accruing more, always evolving musically with each album: from gypsy jazz to psychedelic cabaret; ballroom waltzes to epic space disco; bossa supernova to uneasy listening. What's more they play jajj, which you've almost certainly never heard of.
'Gypsy jazz is the description we used around the time of our first album Cinema that we sound nothing like now,' says Sawhney, before adding: 'At the time I was really into Strauss.'
Portrait of a Time 2010 - 2016 is the first taste many Europeans will have of this highly original, musically capricious and deeply inscrutable New Delhi four-piece. The compilation helps you get to know a band who are essentially unknowable, not that that will stop you from trying. Furthermore, in a capital city known for its mystery, madness and mayhem, Peter Cat Recording Co. is something of ananomaly there too.
While Suryakant's crooning is spookily reminiscent of a hipster 50's Sinatra, it was more his intention to ape legendary Bollywood playback singers like Kishore Kumar, Mohammed Rafi and especially Hemant Kumar. There are diverse American influences in the mix too, including Sam Cooke, Etta James and even Tom Waits, and time spent in San Francisco studying film may have contributed to the cinematic melange. Thrown together it becomes something unique that equates less to a listening experience and more to an out-of-body experience.
They were signed to new French record company Panache after label boss Alexandre Rabia was trawling through YouTube one day and happened upon their remarkable promo for 'Love Demons'. It's a mind-blowing eight minute epic featuring the desert, one camel, a movie theatre, swirly organs over coruscating beats, dancing girls, more police and a cavernous pit that then-bassist Rohan Kulshreshtha falls into.
You can try to compartmentalize them all you want, but just when you think you've got them pegged, they will evolve and transmogrify and the description you have in your hand will slip through your fingers like sand. Who knows if Peter Cat Recording Co. has nine lives, but you can listen to a past life on Portrait of a Time, and a future incarnation - much of it recorded in Paris - will be available in the autumn. Just remember, unlike a cat, you'll never put them in a box.
Nirosta Steel is a sometime alias of Steven Hall. Musician and survivor of the `80s NYC`s art melting pot. Everybody Sing dances like Steven`s long-term collaborator and lost-way-too-early friend, Arthur Russell. As he forced irresistible, idiosyncratic, Disco-Not-Disco, out of the Ingram Brothers. Riding low rumbling bass. Phased guitar, country picking, flickering in and out of the mix. Strings, choir boy falsetto, and blue yodel, cutting through its delay-drenched, dance floor delirium.
L.A.`s Cole Medina delivers two reworks. His Heavy Disco take is intro`d by cowbell and synth swirls. Cymbals crashing like sampled surf. With Stratocaster microtones, and echoes of the original, washing over an electronically, re-imagined B-line and trip-py sequences.
Cole`s Knuckles Tribute sets poignant piano and gated orchestral euphoria against a classic Def Mix groove. Revealing the song in epiphany. Clarifying the lyric`s call for unity. Where singing your troubles away is a analogy for strength in adversity. Everybody hurts sometimes. In that, we are united. Eventually heading towards its own disorientating climax. Comin` at ya from all sides.
Mind Fair`s version goes in for some tribal thumping. Stripping the track down, before building it back up. Its big kick blowing bins like a hyped heart pumping within a giant's chest. Chicken scratches dropping in between its colossal 'lub dub', and Coati Mundi-meets-Jah Wobble-like Punk Funk..
Following the 'Screaming Ghosts' collection highlighting the music of C Cat Trance, Emotional Rescue and Malka Tuti return with the first of two EPs where the band's music is given over to a selection of artists, friends and collaborators for reinterpretation, re-editing, replaying and remixing to provide a modern outlook on the bands mixture of East meets West musicology.
Very much the vision of Malka Tuti and close to their ground-breaking releases of the last two years, the genius is out of the bottle with a who's who representing both labels. First, Autarkic go supergroup in enlisting Tel Aviv's White Screen for a cover of Screaming (To Be With You). Totally replayed, this is the perfect opening, with wide-screen production, updated arrangement and decimal delivering vocals setting the standard.
Following comes an effusive, simple and on-point remix of Dalbouka by the inspiring ledge that is JD Twitch. Platitudes aside - enough has been said by others - but the fact Twitch is as enthusiastic and driven as ever is testament enough. The simplicity and genius of his rework, where 909 is added alongside fx to speaker shaking effect, shows that less can be much more.
In Sneaker (DJ) we have a name moving steadily from the (cult) periphery to become one to consistently check and respect. Following EPs for Rat Life and Bahnsteig 23, the singularity of his reversion is audacious and entrancing. Brevity, purity and ultimately intensity of percussion, horns, bell and guitar. Enter.
To end volume 1 comes Die Orangen. Kris Baha and Dreems' bromance of Aussie label (red) heads, united in post-industrial explorations. With a deep, expansive album incoming on Malka Tuti, their brooding, rattling, ghostly mix is one for late night thinkers, that steps up to encapsulate an EP that successfully marries old and new, bringing C Cat Trance's music present.
7"
Melbourne/Geelong quartet School Damage began as a bedroom recording project for Carolyn Hawkins (Chook Race, Parsnip) and Jake Robertson (Ausmuteants, Frowning Clouds etc). They released a cassette for Moontown Records in 2013, then were joined by Jeff Raty on drums and Dani 'Damage' Hakim on bass.
Taking cues from pop outfits such as The Vaselines, The Particles and Young Marble Giants, School Damage's sound is defined by wobbly keyboards, weaving bass lines, and lyrical content focused on the vagaries of modern life.
Following on from last year's excellent debut album through Chapter, School Damage return with a new EP for Upset The Rhythm titled 'Sings... Four Songs About One Cat'. As titles go this one hits it on the head, School Damage tell the tale of a very independently-minded feline that they share their life with called Lumpy (also known as Scump). As Jake from the band explains, 'Lumpy is incredibly naughty, she's not very cuddly and she definitely plays by her own rules. The songs here are a mix about us having anxiety as pet owners - whether she'll run away, or if we're suffocating her by our constant need of attention... and also about how much she enriches our lives.'
For a cat who spends much of her time scratching up record spines, it seems fitting that Lumpy will now grace the cover and sentiment of her very own 7'. Maybe she's just been making room all this time for as many copies as possible of her hit record.
For this release Metrist delves into a set of carefully constructed and deeply rhythmic but ear-grabbingly idiosyncratic, mixed fidelity dancefloor-geared oddities.
The first three tracks are united, in a fashion, by the artist's skill at programming a series of drum tracks that set a definite tone for the productions. Within a quite partisan field of often microscopic generic variety, largely pinned down to the tempo and timbre of electronic drums, here Metrist has pursued a tricky-to-define path. The bounce of new jack swing is twisted amongst stripped back polyrhythms, equal parts groove and glitch seasoned by some futuristic acid filters that create a constantly shifting aura of space and textural nuance around the individual drum hits. Quite often arrhythmic interjections punctuate these 'grooves', be it the sawing bursts of noise and snarled, incoherent vocals on 'An Soaep', the non-language and playful, bubbling bass surrounding the half time feel of 'On Golden Seize' that builds to something approximating an industrial take on UK Funky or the brash sub-wobbles that intrude 'Pantomimer Tongue's juddering knife-scraping-on-a-balloon stutters.
'Caaacel the Horze' closes the record in a less weighty style, with crunchy arpeggios running on a synth that sounds like it's picking up interference from a radio channel, as snatches of moaned vocals allude to a deeply ambiguous yet chilling narrative behind the music. Thudding kicks intrude on the skittish melody but in a non-rhythmic way reminiscent of someone trying desperately to snatch your attention by banging on the adjacent wall. Gauzy melodic textures in the background provide a calming counterpoint to the uneasy qualities of the composition.
In recent years the clamour for the funkier side of AOR, Blue eyed soul, funky rock or any other description you'd care to imagine has reached heightened places. The hardest diggers have been endlessly searching for breezy, soulful and rock-infused R&B gems hidden away in the recesses of the major and independent label archives. Miami's CAT Records - one such independent, and an off-shoot of the hugely successful TK Disco empire had made it's mark since the early 70's with stellar sides from Little Beaver, George & Gwen McCrae, Raw Soul Express and many more. It was later, 1977 to be precise, in the height of the Disco era when Chocolateclay appeared. Their self-titled and sole LP has long been a thing of sought after beauty, a real Miami rarity that showcases a classy blend of funk, soul and AOR stylings delivered by the solid pairing of George 'Chocolate' Perry and Clay Cropper. Perry's name is well known among rare soul aficionados due to his involvement in some classic underground records from that scene (Wizzdom 'I'm So In Love With you' etc) and his part in writing, producing and arranging for artists like Blowfly, Milton Wright, King Sport, Bobby Caldwell, Latimore, Joe Walsh and many more. Cropper was also well known as a solid Miami session man who played keys, wrote and produced for a plethora artists from that part of the world throughout the 70's and 80's including Betty Wright, George McCrae, Frederick Knight and more. To say these 2 guys were seasoned pro's would be an understatement. No surprise then that their contribution to the CAT catalogue is a finely tuned, funky, sunkissed LP of jams that will bring unlimited joy and warmth to you via your turntable. Languid, melodic, grown-up soul music here folks, drenched in that sunshine state goodness. Oozing positivity and class - Chocolateclay is as deep as it gets. Often selling on-line for tidy sums (£60 +) this LP is a true gem, now is your chance to own a %100 legit, TK Disco sanctioned, vinyl copy of this killer Soul LP. Re-issued just the way it originally came out in 1977, no tricks. Essential!
Announcing the first release by Shift Imprint, "Hynek's Scale"!
What magic results if we merge the spirits of Detroit, Chicago, Amsterdam and Lisbon, all in the same record
Hynek's Scale is a smoking' Audiopath collaboration with ex Parliament/Funkadelic member Jerrald James AKA Jerry The Cat, who, besides being an amazing percussionist and great vocalist, is also a serious old school DJ and producer with collabs with names like Derrick May, Theo Parrish and Moodymann.
Together they carefully crafted the main theme "Hynek's Scale" with raging synths, thunderous kick drums, heavy baselines and last but not least, Jerry's sweet voice. This one is a house track you will remember for quite a while! Besides the original mix, there are two remixes, one from a guy that needs no introduction, Mr. K-Alexi Shelby from Chicago (Transmat/Trax/Djax-Up-Beats). K turned the whole main idea upside down and produced a real funky big beat slammer! We love it and we know that you will love it too, trust us! The second is a remix coming from Mechanique (Kaos Records/Affin), a talented Portuguese producer based in Amsterdam. He takes his mix to a very far, deep and beautiful place, a totally different atmosphere from the title track. Finishing the record, Audiopath delivers a banger that he's been anxious to release, "Good Foot", a heavy, heavy, heavy electrofunk track; watch out for this one, it can bite! In short, we sincerely advise you to immerse yourself in the beats and atmospheres explored by these guys, we're sure that theres a track here for each and everyone of you. The record is an immediate encounter with nothing but exquisite music!
Big support by Laurent Garnier!
Serious heat alert! Ridiculously rare sun drenched funky Soul from the mythical Raw Soul Express....
"The Way We Live" is as flawless as it gets, a superior piece of sweet Soul music from all the way down there in Miami, ultra sought after in it's original 45 issue & featuring some absolutely stellar production from the underrated George "Chocolate" Perry this record is an instant party starter! Featured on the mix-tapes & in the play-lists of some of the most discerning crate digging DJ's out there & an OG 45 will literally cost you an arm & a leg ($600 plus) this total gem of a record gets an overdue repress in it's original form. Essential!
Backed here with it's original b-side slow jam "This Thing Called Music" this ultra-rare 45 has been re-mastered, re-pressed & brought back for 2015's dance-floors in conjunction & with the permission of T.K. Disco / Henry Stone Music, Miami USA.
Chug: The dancefloor smasher, battered by N-Type on every set. The new metal build up drops into an aggy stepper, building
aggression as it develops. Cheshire Cat: Wonka donna beats, this cheeky little track has all the swagger and prowess of the Cheshire
Cat himself. Bouncy and bubbling, this track showcases the lighter side of Crushington's personality.
Welcome to the SKA BEAT!.
The sound that came from Jamaica between 1961-67.
Based on the American RnB and Doo-Wop records that Sound Systems in Kingston Town used to play.
The American records style started to mellow out while the Jamaican preferred a more upbeat sound..
So to meet this demand the Sound System bosses became record producers to cater for this demand.
Sir Coxonne and Duke Reid lead the way by putting the top musicians on the Island in the studio to make this Ska Sound!!
Here for your enjoyment is a selection of the some of the top tunes that made Ska so great...
We hope you enjoy the best....
'Ska never stopped you know! From its Jamaican music if the piano's not playing ska or the guitar....any music you have...Reggae...even the computer music..the piano's playing Ska Ska Ska...it leads the music so Ska is still the backbone of Jamaica music, Right'..Bunny Lee
The music of Jamaica has had a profound and lasting influence all around the world and Reggae is the name by which it has become universally known.
Although the term Ska is often used to describe all Jamaican music before Dub,Dee Jays and Dread in the mid 70's the real Jamaican Ska was made in Kingston between 1961/62 to 1966.
Repress!
Already familiar to fans of Freestyle Records acts Frootful and Lack
Of Afro after supplying her memorable voice to tracks by both, as well as working with masters of the mellow; The Ambassadors Of Sorrow, Angeline Morrison's ability to craft subtle, yet very catchy melodies infused with folk, bossa nova, R&B and jazz rhythms and textures ensures her music sounds fresh, engaging and highly original.
