Cerca:chic affair

Psychedelic-Country-Garage-Soul oddities from the Sixties and Seventees. The tunes on this album are as good as those by famous artists like Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, Tom Jones, or Jack Hammer.

Norwegian instrumental art/prog/post-rock quintet The Samuel Jackson Five return with their first full length album in nearly a decade, "A Passage to Elsewhere", it's their most expansive and exploratory work to date, and the first release in collaboration with Norwegian label Karisma Records. Drawing from Kosmische Musik, '70's progressive rock, vintage library music, the jazz-inflected post-rock of Chicago and Toronto, imaginary folk, and experimental electronica, the result is a rich sonic tapestry. Rather than building towards predictable crescendos, "A Passage to Elsewhere" unfolds as an adventurous evershifting melodic journey, inviting the listener deeper in with each turn.

The return of Batty Bass is well and truly underway with a brand-new four-track EP from Hannah Holland. Bringing together Holland with long-time collaborators Kurtis Lincoln and Joy Joseph, the EP delivers four killer dancefloor workouts.

'Action Satisfaction' comes in heavy, driven by a seriously mean, ceaseless bassline and Kurtis Lincoln’s unmistakable vocal, with Joy Joseph’s percussion adding another layer of physicality to the track. Lincoln is an artist, writer and performer whose work moves between fine art, rave culture and performance, bringing a distinctive theatrical edge to his vocal work.

Joy Joseph is a drummer, DJ and live percussionist with a long history spanning East London’s New Wave scene through to collaborations with artists including Mr Hudson, Amy Winehouse and Jessie Ware.

'Mitzubishi' takes things somewhere darker. A sinister, heads-down number built for late-night pressure and packed dancefloors.

The remixes bring two fresh perspectives to the EP’s originals. DJ Spilt, known for his raw take on classic Chicago house, brings down the tempo with a sleazy, low-slung groove that swaps peak-time pressure for after-hours swagger. Meanwhile, Wigs turns Mitzubishi into an even more techno-tinged, heads-down affair designed to lock the crowd in and keep them there.

Over 10 years ago, Leon Michels released his first full length record, Sounding Out The City. It was Michels' first full length record under the moniker El Michels Affair. At the time, the budding retro soul scene consisted of mostly organ quartets a la The Meters and of course, Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings were in the early days of their ascent to world domination. Leon Michels, who was 18 when recording Sounding Out The City began, had just released Thunder Chicken, the first record by his high school band The Mighty Imperials. At the time of SOTC, Michels was just discovering early rocksteady, afrobeat, and 60's garage rock, which inevitably crept its way into the songwriting. He purchased a Tascam 388, an 80's 1/4" reel to reel 8 track intended for home recordings, and began recording music in a 10x10 box with no windows that also doubled as his childhood bedroom. Along with fellow Mighty Imperials Nick Movshon, Homer Steinweiss, and Sean Solomon, and Michael Leonhart, Thomas Brenneck, and some of the musicians from The Dap Kings, Michels recorded the LP over a two year period. Upon it's release, it received some rave reviews and the small deep funk community ate it up, but due to the lack luster promotion and distribution the rest of the world was slow to catch on to the instrumental gems featured on SOTC, which Michels appropriately labelled as "cinematic soul". However, in 2005 it found it's way into the hands of the people who were organizing a series of concerts for Scion that paired bands with MC's. El Michels Affair was contacted about playing one show with Raekwon The Chef of Wu Tang Clan fame. The show was such a success it led to a tour, and then to another set of concerts that featured multiple members of the Wu-Tang Clan. This eventually led to the release of El Michels Affair's second record, "Enter the 37th Chamber" which introduced them to a much larger audience and has been their most successful release to date. Michels has since gone on to produce and co-produce numerous records for powerhouse soul artists like Lee Fields. He shares songwriting credits with Adele, Jay-Z, Ghostface Killah, Aloe Blacc, and has played on records by Ray LaMontagne, Lana Del Rey, The Black Keys and Dr. John.

Bogdan Ra kicked off his new label Love Affair with some banging house cuts that threw it back to early Chicago styles. This third outing flips the script and shows his range with four disco sounds that take their cues from the late 70s and 80s: all the hallmarks are there, from the classic synths and vocoders to dusty drum machines. 'Complimento' is a smooth title track, while 'Shout' is a French-tinged funk workout., 'Paramour' glides through cosmic disco textures, while 'Fire in Cairo' brings an unexpected vocal twist and acrobatic bassline full of movement. Charming stuff.

After a brief hiatus, Cosmocities returns in 2026 with Tech Rico EP, the final release from longtime collaborator, visionary artist, and producer Erik Rico. Completed shortly before his passing last year, the EP stands as both a creative evolution and a tribute to an artist whose influence crossed genres and generations.

Erik Rico first connected with Cosmocities founder Matt Soulie through Inkswel during the release of Cosmic Love Affair EP in 2022, leading to further collaborations including The Rare Groove Project. Following that release, Soulie encouraged Rico to explore a more techno driven sound, which became the foundation for Tech Rico EP.

The EP sees Rico stepping into new sonic territory while maintaining the rich musicality that defined his career. “Tokyo By Train” marks his first full dive into techno with driving rhythms and atmospheric textures, while “Afro Beatdown (Let’s Go)” blends Afro rhythms and broken beats inspired by the spirit of Fela Kuti. “Summer In Chi Town” pays tribute to Chicago house with warm synths and skippy drums, later reworked by Inkswel with additional vocals from Erin Buku and Marley Love into a soulful bruk infused remix. Closing track “Madrid or Manhattan” delivers a hypnotic house groove layered with trippy vocoder vocals.

A singer, songwriter, multi instrumentalist, producer, and DJ, Erik Rico spent more than two decades shaping a sound that bridged soul, house, hip hop, and Afrobeats. His career included collaborations with Tupac Shakur, Q Tip, Ladybug Mecca, and Jurassic 5, as well as scoring work for HBO, MTV, and PBS.

More than just a release, Tech Rico EP celebrates Erik Rico’s artistic spirit, fearless evolution, and the deep musical connections he built throughout his life. Cosmocities is honoured to share this final chapter with the world.

Frequencies Rhythm Life proudly presents the new release from Berlin-based DJ Merci. The Orbit EP is a powerful journey through deep grooves and Brazilianinspired rhythms, featuring three original tracks crafted for the dancefloor.
Completing the release is an outstanding remix by Chicago house legend Glenn Underground, who injects his unmistakable acid-driven touch into ‘Test’, pushing the track into a bold new dimension.

Some big names feature on the second volume of ENSOULED's 'Freedom, Innovation, Resonance' series, and they serve up suitably profound sounds. Dutch mainstay Orlando Voorn gets the hairs standing on end with his 'Deeper', a sumptuous blend of soft synths, undulating rhythms and spiritual keys. The Cee ElAssaad remix has still soft edges but a little more upright groove, and then Chicago legend Boo Williams cranks it up further with his loopy, melodically intense 'Loose Cannon'. Lastly, Nawfel's 'Fight Or Flight' is a textural deep house affair with mechanical, rigid rhythms softened by the lush pads. It echoes greats like Omar S and Theo Parrish and closes in style.

Warehouse Find

Massiande has become one of the most captivating talents South America has produced for authentic House music.
An artist of multicultural roots, he was born in 1988 in Santiago, Chile, has lived most of his life to the side of US American people, has Dutch family heritage and his name derives from a Sierra Leone dialect. All of these global influences have had a great effect in the way he perceives and lives music.
Growing up as a profound and dedicated fan of Soul, Jazz and Disco; discovering House, a genre that connected these genres' roots with electronic experimentation, was a life turning point.
DJing since 2007, he is known for performing emotive and dynamic sets, with a moving soulful drive that resembles much of the spirit of New York, Chicago and Detroit pioneers.
After starting to focus on music production, 2013 brought his debut record "Heart Rushed Love" through German label Housewax, a record of classic vibes that received praise for its charm and character on underground scenes worldwide and, most notably, from House music artists in Chicago, including his personal hero, House maestro Larry Heard. Such a start would be a sign of great things to come.
Inspired by the same Chicago spirit, in 2015 the release of "Stand", through the prestigious MOS Recordings, represented a step further in his career as a producer, finding its place on the crates of DJs as diverse as Patrice Scott, Voiski, Apparat or Honey Soundsystem.
These days, Massiande brings a deeper and mature House sound which is reaching a wider audience, with his conceptual "Freedom" EP through UK's Phonica Records and the landmark "Yesterday, Today, Forever" EP on Jimpster's Freerange, while also revealing a consistent variety of skills on a fully dancefloor-oriented EP for Hercules & Love Affair's Mr. Intl imprint.
With a growing discography whose flair endures the test of time, Massiande's path thrives with a true passion for House that's appealing to both casual listeners and the most loyal purists of the genre around the world.

Punching in with his debut vinyl EP for Fluid Funk, Chilean house producer Massiande follows up to a string of head-turning releases on an array of labels, including Jimpster’s Freerange Records. His much anticipated new offering, “Essential”, packs all the attributes of his vivid, floor-focussed vision, taking us on a bouncy ride across densely forested coastal house scapes and heavy-lidded electronics. Draped in washed-out pads and cottony textures, Massiande’s tracks have us floating in a chromatic daze of sorts, light-hearted and somewhat nostalgic, but above all hopeful and resilient.

A textbook slab of Massiande’s ever-expanding palette of woozy house tropes and silken disco touch, A1 “Tears” (also presented in bare instrumental form on the flip side B2) has it all, from the euphonic synths arrangements to the no-nonsense, club-igniting jack and irresistible footwork, via the infectious bass and Chicago-style soulfulness of its vocals. Proper fiery number and absolute weapon for any DJ seeking either impactful elegance in a peak-time context or to rekindle the flame when the after gets a bit too prosaic and requires that extra funky boost to get back on tracks. Grooviness exemplified.

More of a straightforward affair, A2 “Essential” unflappably beckons us on the path of utter vaporous escapology with its pulsating tableau of FX-soaked machine talk, semi-acidic bass and zero-G synthwork painting the sky all shades of pastel. The result is a rather captivating piece of weightlessly intuitive though carefully engineered sonic daydream. Injecting further oomph to the groove, B1 “Come On” pulls out a symbiotic collage of Sino-flavoured melody, Stax-ian vox sampling and straight out Detroit house-indebted propulsion, neatly showcasing both Massiande’s broad spectrum of influences and that idiosyncratic take of his on the said genres’ tried-and-tested leitmotivs.

RNT brings the heat for their 2nd outing in their Family Affair compilation series, representing both their ever-expanding RNT ménage, as well as their tight knit musical nuclear fam.

Side A welcomes two seasoned producers to the catalog for the first time: Red Axes with their flip of fellow Israeli Nenor’s banger 'Do You Remember', and Chicago legend Boo Williams comes correct with 'Besty Smith', characteristically bumping and soulful.

OG RNT artist Frank Booker delivers his classic sampley deep sound with 'Time Won’t Tell', and Underground System’s Peter Matson takes JKriv’s 'Something Else' in a synthy and modern electro disco direction to round out the B side. Aural hugs all around in this fam jam!

Mint Condition - A record label focused on excavating the outer fringes of classic House and Techno. Unreleased mixes, classics, overlooked gems and never heard before material, mined from the last 30+ years of contemporary dance music are the order of the day. From Chicago, Detroit and New York to London and beyond. Mint Condition have got their digging hats on to bring you exclusive heat and those rarer than rare jams that have been in your wants list for years.

Dig in...

East Midlands house legend, Charles Webster, relocated to San Francisco in 1992, setting up Spirit Studios in the heart of the city and a highly productive period ensued. The 'White Powder' EP released in 1995, under Charles' Presence moniker is widely regarded as a classic of its genre, up there with any of its contemporaries on Prescription or Murk. All 4 tracks are flawless and groundbreaking in their ability to to draw together elements of soulful deep house, tribal percussion and the deep melodic tech-house sounds emerging from Europe and America's midwest into a unique whole.

EP opener 'Heart' features the haunting vocals of Sarah Jay, the track builds delicately, adding dark bass, before soaring strings lead into a melodic breakdown. $10's deftly programmed drums really deliver the funk, the deep melodic synth and pad progressions are mesmerising, whilst an unforgettable bass-line underpins the journey. Over on the flip 'Giving Love' intro's with gorgeous pad before shuffling percussion and an uplifting piano turn this track into a joyous ride. Lastly 'Powder Chords' sets the controls for heart of the dance floor, heavy kicks launch a much more techno influenced affair, it's dark and brooding but no less effective in its atmosphere and execution.

'White Powder' is all killer, no filler, a highly sought after slab of wax that has achieved cult status amongst the most discerning DJs, record collectors and music heads alike. Legitimately re-released with the full involvement of Charles Webster, lovingly remastered by London's Curve Pusher from the original sources especially for Mint Condition. 100% legit, licensed and released. Dug, remastered, repackaged and brought to you by the caring folks at your favourite reissue label - Mint Condition!

From one of the most colourful and vibrant eras of music, comes “DISCO FLOORFILLERS”, a 28 Track DoubleLP set featuring some of the biggest hits of from the era.
Amongst the 24 top 10 hits, Artists/Bands include Chic, McFadden & Whitehead, Earth, Wind & Fire with The
Emotions, Shalamar, The Whispers, Sister Sledge, Edwin Starr, The Real Thing and Gladys Knight & The Pips.
The set also includes the #1 singles by Anita Ward, The Village People, Carl Douglas and George McCrae!

The Liverpool-based DJ and producer ASOK returns to DVS1's Mistress Recordings with his most diversified EP yet: "Mistress 14" unfolds ASOK's raw, analog-heavy sound aesthetic full of broken kick drum patterns, stepping basslines, and lush synths.



With 25 years of record collecting, DJing, and promoting parties around the UK, there is little of the dance music spectrum that Stu Robinson has not been involved with. The Liverpool-based artist has amassed a fine understanding of a wide array of scenes, styles and sounds from drum & bass to electro-funk, disco to house and techno – underpinned by a love of breakbeat. The music under his alias ASOK is an amalgamation of this diversity that has found favor with labels like M>O>S, Lobster Theremin, Crème Organization, and Mistress Recordings.



"Mistress 14" opens with "Space Rockets" which is a nod to his breakier love affairs without using actual breakbeats. While second track "Is Anyone" displays his take on classic Chicago House with a little Roland JD-800 euphoria thrown in. On the flip, "Last Refuge" explores driving, rhythmical techno with ASOK's typical ravey pad-like break in the middle until "The Alchemist" closes the 12-inch by laying more focus on melody and texture with a growing, always changing bassline and an ethereal synth that carries the track's energy. The digital bonus track "Apano Sin" concludes the package with a scruffy somewhere in between everything vibe.



ASOK about Mistress 14:



"Mistress 14 is probably the most important EP I have ever made in terms of showing all the different things I am into. I’m difficult to pin down because I’m not really a techno DJ, or a house DJ, or anything like that. I like all forms of electronic dance music. As a DJ, I mix up old and new, familiar with unfamiliar, playing everything from Italo disco to really dark high-bpm breakbeat. As a producer, it’s not easy to put an EP together that covers a little of everything, yet still sounds cohesive. Especially considering that all my tracks were recorded in long live takes, then edited down with no ability to change parts. Sometimes that requires some pretty heavy editing, but that’s one of the good things you get when making music this way. I’m in control of the creative process, rather than feeling like some kind of colored block administrator drawing blocks out on arrangement view of my computer."

Ever since the late 1950s bossa-nova revolution, Brazil’s influence on French music has been undeniable. Pierre Barouh, Georges Moustaki and a vast array of lesser known artists, all made the Musica Popular Brasileira (MPB) an axis of promotion at the service of a cool and metaphysical, modern and mixed Brazilian lifestyle. Some were seduced by the poetic languors of the bossa, some were looking for fun, and others just loved the American hybridization of jazz-bossa, jazz-samba.



What is bossa nova? One of its creators, Joao Gilberto said: "Its style, cadence, everything is samba. At the very start, we didn't call it bossa nova, we sang a little samba made up of a single note - Samba de uma nota so .... The discussion around the origins of bossa nova is therefore useless”. It is nevertheless useful to remember that these magnificent Brazilian songs, which the guitarist describes as samba, were shifted and balanced around improbable chords. "I like things that lean, the in-betweens that limp with grace," said Pierre Barrouh, quoting Jean Cocteau.



With emotion, arrangements for violin and supple guitar licks, bossa nova rapidly changed. A transformation that can be heard in the Tchic, tchic, French Bossa Nova 1963-1974 compilation, the result of a cultural reappropriation, which traveled through the United States and supplemented itself in France.

A musical revolution that has remained significant, bossa nova was born in Rio. From 1956 to 1961, Brazil lived through its golden years. In five years, the country had invented its modernist style. Elected president in 1956, Juscelino Kubitschek de Oliveira, an elegant man with a broad forehead, brandished a promising slogan: "Fifty years of progress in five years". He quickly got to work. Not worried about increasing debt, he launched the project for a new federal capital, Brasilia, designed by the communist architect Oscar Niemeyer. Volkswagen opened state-of-the-art factories and created the “fusquinha”, the Beetle. In Rio, the Vespa made its first appearance. The Arpoador Surf Club crew run into the “girl” from Ipanema, Helô Pinheiro - the tanned garota ("chick"), between a flower and mermaid, who at 17 walked by the Veloso bar, where the fiery author and composer, Tom Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes, were getting drunk on whiskey. From then on, bossa symbolized cool.

In 1958, Joao Gilberto recorded Chega de Saudade, which the directors of Philips denied, calling it "music for fagots". The marketing director, who believed in it, secretly pressed 3000 78-inch vinyls and distributed them at schools around Rio, creating a tidal wave.

American jazzmen then took over. In particular, trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie and guitarist Charlie Byrd. In November 1962, the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs funded a "Bossa-Nova" concert at Carnegie Hall in New York, inviting the genre’s pioneers. Unprepared, the show soon turned to disaster. But the troupe was invited to the White House by Jackie Kennedy. The first lady loved "the new beat" and in particular Maria Ninguem, a song by Carlos Lyra, later covered by Brigitte Bardot.

In Brazil, the 1964 military coup quickly ended this euphoria. The destructive atmosphere that ensued pushed many Brazilian musicians to leave, if not to exile. Thus, Tom Jobim, Sergio Mendes and Joao Gilberto arrived to the United States. In New York, Joao Gilberto met saxophonist Stan Getz. At the time, he was married to the Bahianese Astrud Weinert Gilberto, who had a German father. She had never sung before, but she knew how to speak English. Getz therefore asked her to replace her husband on The Girl From Ipanema. The Getz/Gilberto record with Tom Jobim on piano, was released in March 1964. Phil Ramone, the "pope of pop" was in charge of sound.

Bossa nova arrived in Paris through the classic “guitar-voice” channel (Pierre Barouh, Baden Powell, Moustaki…) But France loved jazz and Paris had already welcomed its American contributors. All these good people were to pass through Saint-Germain-des-Prés. The cabaret l'Escale became the Mecca of Latin American sound where one could find Pierre Barrouh and his friends, such as the Camara Trio, samba-jazz aces, whose only record was published by the Saravah label. With a band strangely called Les Masques (a band that included Nicole Croisille and Pierre Vassiliu, among others), the Camara Trio recorded an interesting Brazilian Sound, including the track Il faut tenir which is present on this tasty compilation of rarities.

Other enlightened musicians can also be found on the compilation, such as Jean-Pierre Sabar (songwriter for Hardy, Auffray, Leforestier ...) and the French pop rock organist Balthazar. In 1975, Sabar recorded Aurinkoinen Musiikkimatka on a Finnish label, which featured the crazy Vai, Vai, included on this record. We are now following the footsteps of Brazilian electronic musicians such as Sergio Mendes, Eumir Deodato or Marcos Valle who created funk and disco sounds on their keyboards and synthesizers. A style that influenced Véronique Sanson when she wrote Jusqu’à la Tombée de la nuit in 1969 for Isabelle de Funès, the niece of Louis and a great friend of Michel Berger - Sanson did end up singing this track on her 1992 Sans Regret record.


The pinnacle of exoticism and travel, Sylvia Fels’ Corto Maltese includes bongos, sea mist and ocean sounds. The title was taken from Jacky Chalard’s concept album written in 1974, Je suis vivant, mais j’ai peur (I am alive, but I am scared), based on Gilbert Deflez’s science fiction novel.


However, bossa nova extended the scope of popularity. "In the 1970s, I was a fan of Sergio Mendes, Getz / Gilberto. I fell in love with this music that I knew because I had been an orchestral singer, " explained Isabelle Aubret, who in 1971 delivered a composite record of covers by the very funky Jorge Ben, Orfeu Negro, Tom Jobim, Vinicius de Morais and Jean Ferrat. "I recorded this album for Meys Records in Paris, far from Brazil, with wonderful musicians, François Raubert, Roland Vincent, Alain Goraguer...". The latter wrote the arrangements for Casa Forte, a very percussive title borrowed from Edu Lobo, one of the initiators of the bossa who spent time in California. "Jazz and bossa came together and produced very rhythmic music. I love singing, it allows me to dream, to have fun, to feel a high on stage, and these songs brought me joy, made me swing, my singing felt like a dance.”


The world tours of French singers and their desire for the tropics, often brought them to Rio with its hills, forests, caipirinhas and tanned bodies. There are surprises though, like this Iemenja (Iemenja is the goddess of the sea in the Afro-Brazilian candomblé religion). Not unlike the composer and musician Jean-Pierre Lang, based in Sao Paulo, Claire Chevalier taught Brazil to Brazil. In 1970, the singer and painter published a 45-inch vinyl, Mon mari et mes amants (My husband and my lovers), under the improbable pseudonym of Clarinha (little Claire). She was then living in Rio, with her husband, Joël Leibovitz, who founded a band called Azimuth, and who owned a record label specialized in "sambas enredos" songs for samba school parades.


For its B side, she asked Pierre Perret to come up with lyrics for a song composed by Carlos Imperial: "Oh goddess of the sea, o goddess Iemenja, I bring a white rose to adorn your long hair ..." . "Perret came to see us, and we had fun, remembers Joël Leibovitz. We wrote Lemenja for fun, we recorded it at the Havaí studio, behind the Central do Brasil the central station. Erlon Chaves, the arranger who worked with Elis Regina, joined us" adding his share of Afro-Brazilian percussions and funky brass to the mix.

There is a common misunderstanding in Franco-Brazilian history: that bossa, admittedly hedonistic, is perceived as funny, even though the poets who wrote the texts are often philosophizing on the human condition. Its French interpreters pull it towards a carnival inspired universe, far removed from its fundamental essence. Thus, Jean Constantin covered the famous Samba da minha terra, an ode to the art of samba written by the classic Bahian composer Dorival Caymmi, renaming it with the enticing title of Pas tant de tchi tchi pompon: "On your pier there is no tchi tchi / when you arch your back, you know everything is alright ”(lyrics by Gérard Calvi). This expedited bossa aims for the absurd, but retains a certain elegance.

Indeed, Jean Constantin was not an idiot, the rather large man had a huge mustache and liked fantasy, (Les pantoufles à papa, Le pacha, inspired by cha-cha-cha-cha, salsa and jazz) but he was also the lyricist of Mon manège à moi interpreted by Edith Piaf, the composer of Mon Truc en plume by Zizi Jeanmaire and the soundtrack of François Truffaut’s 400 Blows. Le Poulpe, published in 1970, from which this bossa is extract, was arranged by Jean-Claude Vannier, an accomplice of Serge Gainsbourg’s Melody Nelson. In short: "There is enough of samba / By looking at the parasol / Because my poor cabeza / Is going to die in the sun".

Even the American actress Marpessa Down, who was at the heart of the bossa nova revolution with her role as Euridyce in Marcel Camus’ film Orfeu Negro, winner of the 1959 Cannes Palme d'or, fed the clichée with Je voudrais parler au petit cuica - "Tell me how you manage to always make people want to dance / It's true, I must admit that I cannot resist your magic" - in consequence, once can hear the cuica, a little drum inherited from the Bantu.


But bossa nova had many angles. Societal, of course, pushing actresses who were symbols of women's liberation like Brigitte Bardot, Jeanne Moreau, or Sophia Loren to engage in the exercise of accelerated bossa. In February of 1963, Sophia Loren made a record in French in Rome, Je ne t'aime plus, featuring the song De jour en jour, a bossa written by two Italians, Armando Trovajoli and Tino Fornai, which was released a little later by Barclay. Bossa accompanied the 1960s, a decade of moral liberation. Ann Sorel, who interpreted La Poupée des favellas, caused a sensation with L’amour à plusieurs, a provocative song written by Frédéric Bottom and Jean-Claude Vannier. As for the actress Andrea Parisy, she displayed her bourgeois cheekiness in Marcel Carné's Les Tricheurs before interpreting Les mains qui font du bien. And Magalie Noël, the friend of Boris Vian, who sung Johnny fais-moi mal, was hired to sing Une énorme Samba, composed by Alain Goraguer (arranger to Gainsbourg, Bobby Lapointe and Jean Ferrat) with lyrics by Frédéric Botton.

But in the end, of what wood is bossa nova made of? The answer is given by Christianne Legrand, daughter of Raymond the conductor, and sister to Michel the composer: "With me, with jà" - jà means "immediately" in Portuguese. In 1972, the singer, an expert in vocal jazz and a member of the Double Six, published Le Brésil de Christianne Legrand. Two songs included on the Tchic Tchic compilation that demonstrate how bossa, jazz, funk, rock, etc. work like a swiss army knife: the music is used to denounce broken systems, or miracles, HLM et ciné roman, Cent mille poissons dans ton filet, two songs from the O Cafona soundtrack, a successful telenovela broadcast, at the time in black and white, on TV Globo. The first was adapted in French by the fighter and friend of the Legrand tribe, Agnès Varda. The second is content with a play on words, jostling them into a summer fun.



Véronique Mortaigne

Represss!

Z Records continues its commitment to unearthing the obscure and
long forgotten tracks from the last 40 years through the ever-popular
Under The Influence series. Following on from Red Greg, Nick The
Record, Sean P, Faze Action, and last years Alena Arpels. It’s now the
turn of one of the scene’s most impressive collectors & DJs; Rahaan

Hailing from Chicago his love affair with muzik started in the late 70’s early 80’s, listening to muzik on the radio combined with his mom and dad playing their records every weekend. In the early 80’s on the South side of Chicago, he started hearing something a bit different, what they called ‘house muzik’. A combination of Disco, Jazz, Soul Funk, New Wave and Italo Disco. Here Rahaan digs deep into his impressive record collection that he has collected, built up and crafted over his many years of travelling, networking and DJin to showcase 22 of his finest and rarest cuts. Many of the tracks on the album would cost hundreds and that’s if you were even able to find the originals! As always with ZR compilations a lot of time and effort has been spent on creating these masters from the original vinyl, cleaning them up, removing all the clicks and pops resulting in the cleanest sounding copy possible.

"Rough and ready blues played with unmitigated intensity…scorching and soulful, joyous and stomping.
—Living Blues

Electrifying and raucous…one of the few authentic links to pure Chicago blues.
—Chicago Tribune

Lil’ Ed & The Blues Imperials are the reigning champions of raucous, slide-stoked Chicago blues. They’ve achieved legendary status with over 40 years of critically acclaimed recordings and raucous foot-stomping gigs on club, theatre and festival stages all over the world. Slideways is a tour-de-force of old-school Chicago blues played with contemporary urgency.

Shows in support begin on street date in Chicago, followed by Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Columbus, Cleveland, Dayton, New York and Syracuse amongst others. Touring will continue throughout Spring and Summer.

Press, radio and social media focus on album and tour dates, pitching stories and reviews to over 1000 print and internet media contacts around the world. Over 1400 radio programmers worldwide will be serviced and solicited for blues specialty show and selected Triple A and Americana rotation airplay. The album is certain to be welcomed with open arms by the blues media.

Slideways is bursting with Lil’ Ed’s rollicking slide-work and rough-hewn vocals on a joyous blend of smoking slide guitar boogies, raw-boned shuffles, and heart-stopping slow blues. As always, The Blues Imperials supply rock-solid, road-tested and gloriously riotous backing."

Aziza Lisa aka 'Z of Chicago, IL. She is saucy and smooth, bold, sensual and empowering. Her musical style embodies r&b and soul. This time she connects with producers- Arnell Newman, Dave Maze, Ainsley Strong, and Spike Rebel on a soulful project to roll into Spring 2025!

Donny Hathaway's first studio album Everything is Everything is a significant work in the realm of soul and R&B music, released in 1970. It marked an important point in Hathaway's career and showcased his exceptional talent as a singer, songwriter, and pianist.

The album was Hathaway's first release after being signed to Atlantic in 1969. Hathaway had already built a reputation early in his life, first as a gospel singer as a child under the name Donny Pitts. Raised in St. Louis, with religious influences, his grandmother Martha Crumwell was herself an accomplished gospel singer and guitarist. After dropping out of Howard University in 1967, Hathaway moved to Chicago, his birthplace, and started working on music for Curtis Mayfield's Curtom Records label where he was a songwriter, producer, arranger, composer, conductor and session player.

Everything Is Everything was produced by Hathaway and Ric Powell, who plays drums and percussion on the album; Hathaway wrote or co-wrote five of the album's nine songs. Hathaway had met Powell while at Howard University, as well as the future Impressions lead singer, Leroy Hutson, who jointly wrote the hit song that would eventually make it on the album, "The Ghetto."

The track was mostly an instrumental, except for Hathaway's vocal ad-libs and his singing of the chorus. Hathaway and Hutson composed another socially conscious song for the album, titled "Tryin' Times." Other songs were split between covers (Ray Charles's "I Believe to My Soul" and Nina Simone's "To Be Young, Gifted and Black"), spiritual affairs ("Thank You Master for My Soul") and love songs ("Je Vous Aime (I Love You)").

Released in July 1970, the album peaked at No. 73 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart and No. 33 on the Billboard R&B Albums chart.

This timeless classic is now reissued in the definitive deluxe 180-gram 45 RPM 2LP Analogue Productions (Atlantic 75 Series) format.

Meet Leng’s latest signings, Liminal – a Danish duo comprised of guitarist, multi-instrumentalist and producer David Rosenkilde, and DJ, producer and sound engineer Morten Troest.

The pair first met when Rosenkilde was booked to perform as a session musician at Troest studio. They clicked immediately so with Troest’s studio skills and inherent knowledge of what works on dancefloors paired with Rosenkilde’s abilities as a musician they decided to produce their own music together working to one simple rule: try out every idea, however outlandish!

Since then Rosenkilde and Troest have been recording their debut album that’s set for release on Leng later in 2025. First, though, we get a taste of their talents via ‘Keep Coming Back To Me’, an impressive debut single that blends electric and electronic instrumentation while keeping its focus fixed on the dancefloor.

Ushered in by shakers, rubbery bass and flanged guitar licks, ‘Keep Coming Back To Me’ giddily blurs the boundaries between colourful nu-disco, low-slung dub disco and the sun-splashed beauty of the more club-friendly end of the Balaeric spectrum. It boasts a hazy, multi-tracked and lightly glassy-eyed lead vocal, as well as a nagging TB-303 acid line that works its way to the fore as the track progresses, adding extra layers of excitement and energy as it unfolds.

Remixer Ray Mang (AKA long-time friend of the label Raj Gupta) takes the latter element as his inspiration on a stunning, nine-minute plus remix that brilliantly re-frames the track as a blend of tactile 21st century nu-disco colour, hypnotic proto-house and analogue-rich, acid-fired Chicago jack. Re-playing the bassline in an early Chicago house style and reaching for lo-fi and spacey synth sounds, the veteran British producer frequently strips the track back to the groove before re-introducing the vocal and the dreamiest of chords.

Liminal also display their sonic diversity on bonus cut ‘The Moon Is Changing’, a wonderfully atmospheric and star-lit affair in which spacey ambient chords, twinkling electric piano keys and intergalactic electronics slowly usher in a mid-tempo Norse nu-disco groove. The pair build slowly, adding vocals and layered guitar licks. The results are hard to pigeonhole but thoroughly impressive, offering a tantalising glimpse of what’s to come on their must-check debut album.

Chicago deejay/producer VICK LAVENDER drops a double album of 14 house tracks. Disc one is a mix of influences and sounds with cuts featuring AMMAWHAT, ANGEL-A and SPIKE REBEL. Disc two focuses on the deep Chicago house sound VICK is best known for with extended mixes. Sure to please.

The latest from prolific producer and trumpeter Michael Leonhart (Steely Dan, Mark Ronson, El Michels Affair, Elvis Costello). The Leonhart Brass Band features members of Antibalas, the Dap-Kings & Red Baraat. The Leonhart Brass Band was conceived during the 2020 COVID-19 quarantine when trumpeter/composer/producer Michael Leonhart was unable to perform with his 18-piece orchestra at NYC's famous Jazz Standard. Leonhart began composing music for a small brass band that would be capable of playing outdoors without amplification. Building on the foundation of the classic brass bands (Dirty Dozen Brass and Rebirth Brass Band), Leonhart has infused elements of hip-hop and funk to create his own sound. The Leonhart Brass Band features members of Antibalas, the Dap-Kings & Red Baraat. "Jabbar" – Dedicated to and inspired by hooping legend Kareem Abdul Jabbar (aka Lew Alcindor), whose father was a transit police officer/jazz musician and whose mother worked as a department store price checker. In addition to Jabbar's storied career on the hardcourt, Jabbar grew up surrounded by jazz and has been a die-hard music fan his entire life, tragically losing his vast record collection in a 1983 fire that destroyed his LA home. Leonhart's tribute centers around an infectious bass riff in C minor, punctuated by brass stabs and solos by Leonhart on trumpet and Jason Marshall on the seldom-heard bass saxophone. "The Iceman" – The title is taken from basketball great George Gervin's famous nickname given to him during his years playing in both the ABA (American Basketball Association) and the NBA (National Basketball Association) for teams such as the Virginia Squires, San Antonio Spurs and Chicago Bulls. Legend has it the name came from Gervin's cool temperament on the court and his rare ability to play incredibly hard without breaking a sweat. "The Iceman" sees the Leonhart Brass Band horn section dividing into two groups as they play counterpoint melodies against one another. The tape echo effected bari sax solo is performed by Stuart Bogie

Maria Callas was born to a Greek family in New York in 1923. Her vocal training took place in Athens, where her teacher was the coloratura soprano Elvira de Hidalgo, who had sung with Enrico Caruso and Feodor Chaliapin. After early performances in Greece, Callas’s international career was launched in 1947 when she performed the title role in Ponchielli’s La Gioconda at the Arena di Verona in Italy.

Her voice defied simple classification and her artistic range was extraordinary. In her early twenties she sang such heavy dramatic roles as Gioconda, Turandot, Brünnhilde and Isolde, but over the course of her career her most famous roles came to be: Bellini’s Norma and Amina (La sonnambula); Verdi’s Violetta (La traviata); Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor and Anna Bolena, Cherubini’s Medea and Puccini’s Tosca. Though her timbre was not always conventionally beautiful, Callas’s musicianship and phrasing were in a class of their own. She brought characters to vivid life with her skill in colouring her tone and making insightful use of the text.

She is credited with changing the history of opera: by placing a perhaps unprecedented emphasis on musical integrity and dramatic truth, and by transforming perceptions – and reviving the fortunes – of the bel canto repertoire, particularly Bellini and Donizetti.

The 1950s marked the height of Callas’s career. Its base lay in the opera houses of Italy, and she became the prima donna assoluta of Milan’s legendary La Scala – notably in the productions
of Luchino Visconti – but her operatic appearances also encompassed London’s Royal Opera House, the New York Metropolitan Opera, Paris Opéra, the Vienna State Opera, and the opera houses of Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Lisbon, and, in the early 1950s, Mexico City, São Paolo and Rio de Janeiro.

From 1959, when she started a life-changing love affair with the Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis, her performing career slowed down and her voice became more fragile. Her final stage performances came in 1965, when she was only 42.

There were many plans for a return to the stage – and for further complete recordings – but they never reached fruition, though in 1974 she gave a series of concerts in Europe, North America and Japan with the tenor Giuseppe di Stefano; he had partnered her frequently in the opera house and in the studio, not least in the 1953 La Scala Tosca under Victor de Sabata, considered a landmark in recording history. Callas died alone in her Paris apartment in September 1977.

Kiss Each Other Clean, Iron and Wine’s fourth full-length record, was originally released in 2011 and came three years after his biggest selling record up to that point, The Shepherd’s Dog. The bands two earlier albums had been sparse, intimate solo affairs that offered no hint of the direction he would take with records three and four. Like The Shepherd’s Dog, Kiss Each Other Clean is layered with textures, poly-rhythmic sounds and a more is more approach.

The album's 10 tracks were recorded in Chicago and Beam's hometown of Austin and produced by Brian Deck and sounds like the music people heard in their parent's car growing up. clarinet and saxophone on the album comes courtesy of Dave Sitek collaborator Stuart Bogie. Beam has also experimented with other genres on the record as well as classic AOR. There are straight-up jazz, blues, and african elements.

Limited Edition of 1000 Opaque Pink 180 Gram Vinyl LP. Kiss Each Other Clean, Iron & Wine's fourth full length record was originally released in 2011 and came three years after his biggest selling record up to that point, The Shepherd's Dog. The bands two earlier albums had been sparse, intimate solo affairs that offered no hint of the direction he would take with records three and four. Like The Shepherd's Dog, Kiss Each Other Clean is layered with textures, poly-rhythmic sounds and a more is more approach. His lyrics sprung to life in ways initially unimaginable to early fans and critics helping each song tell its story and build to climaxes thru various sounds and editing techniques. However what remained at the core of KEOC, and what fans of the band had come to love, was the song writing and singing of principle songwriter Sam Beam. Beam's ability to invite you in with his hushed singing tone and knack for a melody remained front and center even in his drive to replicate something in the vein of Waits' Swordfishtormbones Principle recording for KEOC was at home in Dripping Springs, Texas where Beam resided at the time. After laying down the bulk of the record Beam moved recording to Chicago to work with Brian Deck. A cast of musicians helped Beam find his sound and see his vision for KEOC including Joe Adamik (Califone), Jim Becker (Califone), Thomas Bartlett (Doveman), Stuart Bogie (Antibalas), Rob Burger (Tin Hat Trio), Benny Massarella (Red Red Meat/Califone), Chad Taylor (Chicago Underground Duo) and Matt Lux (Isotope 217). With KEOC Beam and company brought in soft rock smoothness, dub reggae textures, and instruments that hadn't been featured on previous records. The vintage synths on 'Monkeys Uptown', the Stevie Wonder funk on 'Big Burned Hand,', the strum and drang of 'Walking Far From Home' all give the otherwise very organic-sounding arrangements a welcome cheesy kick. The record also produced the biggest radio single of the bands career with the vintage AM friendly vibes of 'Tree by the River.' It was an adventurous period in the career in Iron & Wine and one in which Beam was defying categorization.

Over 10 years ago, Leon Michels released his first full length record, Sounding Out The City. It was Michels' first full length record under the moniker El Michels Affair. At the time, the budding retro soul scene consisted of mostly organ quartets a la The Meters and of course, Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings were in the early days of their ascent to world domination. Leon Michels, who was 18 when recording Sounding Out The City began, had just released Thunder Chicken, the first record by his high school band The Mighty Imperials. At the time of SOTC, Michels was just discovering early rocksteady, afrobeat, and 60's garage rock, which inevitably crept its way into the songwriting. He purchased a Tascam 388, an 80's 1/4" reel to reel 8 track intended for home recordings, and began recording music in a 10x10 box with no windows that also doubled as his childhood bedroom. Along with fellow Mighty Imperials Nick Movshon, Homer Steinweiss, and Sean Solomon, and Michael Leonhart, Thomas Brenneck, and some of the musicians from The Dap Kings, Michels recorded the LP over a two year period. Upon it's release, it received some rave reviews and the small deep funk community ate it up, but due to the lack luster promotion and distribution the rest of the world was slow to catch on to the instrumental gems featured on SOTC, which Michels appropriately labelled as "cinematic soul". However, in 2005 it found it's way into the hands of the people who were organizing a series of concerts for Scion that paired bands with MC's. El Michels Affair was contacted about playing one show with Raekwon The Chef of Wu Tang Clan fame. The show was such a success it led to a tour, and then to another set of concerts that featured multiple members of the Wu-Tang Clan. This eventually led to the release of El Michels Affair's second record, "Enter the 37th Chamber" which introduced them to a much larger audience and has been their most successful release to date. Michels has since gone on to produce and co-produce numerous records for powerhouse soul artists like Lee Fields. He shares songwriting credits with Adele, Jay-Z, Ghostface Killah, Aloe Blacc, and has played on records by Ray LaMontagne, Lana Del Rey, The Black Keys and Dr. John.

Whisper it quietly, but Andrew Meecham’s ninth album as The Emperor Machine, Island Boogie, may well be the long-serving producer’s strongest set to date. Of course, all his albums ripple with vintage synth sounds, colourful lead lines, dub-flecked electronic disco grooves and lashings of cosmic intent, but this one just feels a little more special. Island Boogie is certainly special. Meecham’s “most personal” full-length to date, it was inspired by his experiences at the Rotation Garden Party – a beloved micro-festival promoted by a group of friends (including sometime Bizarre Inc and Chicken Lips partner Dean Meredith), renowned for the quality of its custom-built Klipschorn soundsystem. “The album’s title sums up the vibe that you get from Rotation,” he explains. “It may be held in a landlocked venue but it gives a wonderful sense of isolation – it is an audiophile paradise.”

Meecham road-tested rough versions of the album’s eight tracks at Rotation 2023, with the feedback and dancefloor reaction guiding the sound and arrangement of the final mixes. Fittingly, Meecham will return to the event to showcase the album at Rotation 2024 this July. Given the inspiration he’s drawn from previous editions of the festival, that will be a very special occasion. Musically, Island Boogie offers the most fully functioning and expertly constructed expression of The Emperor Machine sound yet, a style Meecham describes as “electronic cosmic disco-boogie”. It’s a sound that takes cues from early ‘80s NYC punk-funk and dub disco, vintage electro, proto-house and left-of-centre synth-boogie, but one that’s instantly recognisable to those who have followed Meecham’s career over the last three decades.

Island Boogie also sees Meecham continue his blossoming working relationship with Severine Mouletin, whose stylish and distinctive vocals previously graced his popular ‘Dance Por Amor’ and ‘Your Own Style’ singles. Here Mouletin features on four tracks: the acid-flecked retro-futurist wave-boogie of ‘La Cassette’ (featuring additional percussion by Rupert Brown); the infectious, bleep-sporting headiness of recent single ‘Devoilez-Vous’; and the squelchy analogue synth-funk of ‘Wanna Pop With You’ and ‘Vas-y-Le Chat’. Meecham also finds space for a cover of Fox’s 1976 pop-rock classic ‘S-s-s-single Bed’, one of the Stafford-based artist’s all-time favourites. His version, featuring headline-grabbing lead vocals by Michelle Bee and guitar from Dave Atherton, re-imagines the track as a subtly Chic-influenced slab of infectious electro-pop rich in kaleidoscopic synth sounds, sing-along choruses and shuffling drums.

The instrumental foundations of the classic Emperor Machine sound come to the fore on the album’s three other cuts. There’s the jazz-funk-flecked warmth of the LP-opening title track; the sparse squelches, bleeps, TB-303 style bass and brightly coloured electronics of ‘Walk The Dog’; and the exotic, slow-motion cosmic electronica of ‘Cha Murrah Etem’, a warm but poignant affair dedicated to his late father. Heady and intoxicating, with hints of Balearica and digital reggae, it offers a fittingly beautiful and tactile conclusion to Meecham’s most expressive and accessible album yet.

After an early start in doo-wop fronting the Parliaments, George Clinton helmed Funkadelic and Parliament, related hard funk projects at the border of the form’s acceptability, employing crazed concepts, outrageous costumes, and drug-addled references to outer space. During the 80s and 90s, Clinton kept the fires burning with his P-Funk Allstars, a cosmic sloppy affair whose live shows continued to push the boundaries, as heard on this riotous live set delivered in Chicago, with extended jams on favourites such as ‘Mothership Connection (Star Child),’ ‘Give Up The Funk (Tear The Roof Off The Sucker)’ and ‘Make My Funk The P-Funk,’ as well as the bluesy lament of ‘Pepe The Pill Popper.’ Dynamite!

The latest EP for Tee Mango’s SUPERUNKNOWN imprint shines a light on up and coming Mancunian DJ & producer Joey T.

With the SUPERUNKNOWN label continuing to shine a light on artists Tee has met via his ‘FINISH YOUR F***ING EP’ coaching and mentoring program.

This aptly titled STRONG TEAM EP combines original tracks from Permanent Vacation favourite Tee Mango & Joey T. It feels very much like a family affair, and comes fresh off the back of Joey’s sold out shows with Luke Una’s excellent E Soul Cultura.

The lead track is by Joey T titled "When You Are Not On My Mind" (WYNOMM) comes in original (Maurice Fulton inspired) loose house flavour, courtesy of Joey himself.

We are also treated to a Tee Mango remix, which channels Joe Claussell’s seminal Instant House via warehouse era Chicken Lips.

The remaining x2 Tee Mango's trax are a left leaning electronica made in his inimitable style. Plenty of feel and colouring outside of the lines.

This is house music for cultured dancefloors, sparse, minimally melodic and just the right amount of weird.

Support from: Mixmag, Tim Sweeney, Crazy P, PBR Streetgang, Hot Toddy, Bill Brewster, Will Saul & Mano Le Tough with others sure to follow.

Repress!

StarWax magazine celebrates its fifteenth year, it is in the extension of the anniversary event that the vinyl Wild Star Wax 15 Years Edition in Partnership with Overdrive is born!

Curated and Seòected by Dj Coshmar for the most famous STARWAX magazine a powerful dancefloor combo for djs, diggers and clubbing addicted.

Available in stores from September 2022, the tracklist contains six tracks of cumbia, disco, creole funk, bass music and hip-hop that are available exclusively in this vinyl format, at exception of "An Tèt Aw" the last title of side A already available on the Lp of DjeuhDjoah &
Lieutenant

The female-led discodelic soul band Say She She, named as a silent nod to NileRodgers (C'est chi-chi!: It's Chic!"), release their sophomore album `Silver' on theheels of an epic break-out year that grows brighter by the day. The three strong voices of Piya Malik (El Michels Affair staple feature, and formerbacking singer for Chicano Batman), Sabrina Mileo Cunningham and Nya GazelleBrown front the band. This harmonizing trio was formed in a classic New York taleof friends that met by following the music: the downtown dancefloors, through theLower East Side floorboards and up to the rooftops of Harlem. `Silver' was entirely written and recorded live to tape at Killion Sound studio inNorth Hollywood earlier this year and produced by Sergio Rios (of Orgone). Whilethese analog recording techniques help root Say She She's sound in a bedrock oftonal warmth that only tape can achieve, it is also their process of cutting the trackin the moment and capturing the magic of communal creativity that has seen theirsound described as "a glorious overload of joyful elation and spiritualelevation" (MOJO) and "infused with the wonky post-disco spirit of early'80s NYC" (The Guardian). Silver, the element, is known as the metal of self-confidence and the mirror of thesoul. With that, the 16-song double-LP projects not only their growth in writingwith confidence, but also reflects a deeper exploration into their punk-chic, femme-forward sensibility. Ultimately, `Silver' oozes with quirk and adventure and embraces themultifaceted nature of what it means to be a modern femme. The She She'sfully embrace their role as beauticians, actively reminding people of the inherentbeauty in the world. They skillfully employ double entendres and humor toencourage open dialogue and fearlessly address important matters that demandattention.

2025 Repress

Chicago legend, Green Velvet, returns to Toolroom as he locks horns with label founder Mark Knight and studio partner, James Hurr, for 'The Greatest Thing Alive'. A low slung, chunky affair that screams Miami Space terrace at 8am! Quirky, full of character and Green Velvets unmistakable vocal re-work of the classic 'Mannish Boy' from Muddy Waters pushes this record into a really special place. Green Velvet debuted on the label back in 2015 alongside Technasia with 'Suga', a record that went onto to be an overall Beatport #1 and remained as their highest selling track for many years that followed, the track also sits on an impressive 9m streams. On the flipside, head honcho Mark Knight, returns with studio cohort and DJs favourite James Hurr, as they take on one of House music's all-time classic records; 'Lady (Hear Me Tonight)'. No messing around, Mark and James offer up an alternative take to this stone cold classic, bringing the infectious vocal and iconic guitar riff to the forefront, mixing into a signature Mark Knight club heavy beat. Having previously collaborated on 'Make You Happy' with Todd Terry and last year's 'You Are A God' with vocalist Cari Golden, Mark Knight and James Hurr are fast becoming a killer duo in the studio, and throughout the scene. Offering up a killer reinterpretation of legendary House classic 'Lady (Hear Me Tonight)' by French House duo Modjo, a record which transcended the boundaries of dance music back in the early 2000's and has since become a record synonymous with the era. True to form, Mark Knight and James Hurr mix their musical prowess together and deliver yet another stomping hit for the clubs!

Countless radio plays on Radio 1 from Danny Howard, Sarah Story, Pete Tong Other notable radio plays – Kiss FM, Toolroom Radio, Sirius XM, Data Transmission Radio, Radio 1 Dance Anthems, Radio 1 Party Anthems, Rinse FM, Select Radio, Tomorrowland Radio

DJ Support from Danny Howard, Annie Mac, Mistajam, Pete Tong, Charlie Hedges, Kraak & Smaak, Maxinne, Todd Terry, Alex Preston, Full Intention, GW Harrison, DJ Rae, Rudimental, Alaia & Gallo, Illyus & Barrientos, Johan S, David Penn, Sam Divine, Riva Starr, Claptone, Nice7, Dario D’Attis, Mousse T, S-Man, Huxley, KC Lights, Friend Within, Dombresky, Gorgon City, Chris Lake, Format:B, Pirupa, TCTS, Alan Fitzpatrick, Low Steppa, Mat.Joe, Raumakustik, Eskuche

Heute kündigt die mitreißende Pfeiferin Molly Lewis ihr Debütalbum „On The Lips“ an, das am 16. Februar über Jagjaguwar erscheint. Im vergangenen Jahr hat Molly an der Seite von Mark Ronson und Andrew Wyatt eine der emotionalsten Szenen des Hollywood-Hits „Barbie“ vertont, Modehäusern wie Chanel, Gucci und Hermes ihr einzigartiges Talent geliehen und Weyes Blood auf Tour unterstützt. Auf ihrem kommenden Debütalbum lädt sie ein ins Café Molly, eine Lounge-Bar, wie es sie nicht mehr gibt. Das Licht ist gedämpft, die Martinis sind eiskalt, die Bänke sind aus Samt, und die Bühne ist bereit für das elektrisierende Talent der Pfeiferin Molly Lewis. Nach dem exotischen Stil der „The Forgotten Edge“ EP und der an Tropicalia angelehnten „Mirage“ EP wollte sie den Sound des Café Molly für ihr Debütalbum „On The Lips“ einfangen, eine verträumte Hommage an klassische Stimmungsmusik, die neblige Visionen von Hollywood-Jazzclubs, italienischen Kinosoundtracks und anhaltenden Umarmungen zwischen Liebenden heraufbeschwört. Ziehen Sie sich also einen Stuhl heran, bestellen Sie Ihren Lieblingsdrink und machen Sie sich bereit, sich zu verlieben. „On The Lips“ wurde mit dem Produzenten Thomas Brenneck (Menahan Street Band, Charles Bradley, Amy Winehouse) in den Diamond West Studios in Pasadena aufgenommen. Während der Sessions wurde Molly auf den 10 Tracks des Albums von einer Reihe gefeierter Musiker unterstützt, darunter Nick Hakim, der für den Latin Grammy nominierte brasilianische Gitarrist Rogê, Leland Whitty und Chester Hansen von Badbadnotgood, die Chicano-Soul-Gruppe Thee Sacred Souls auf dem melancholischen "Crushed Velvet", der experimentelle Jazz-Pianist Marco Benevento und Leon Michels von El Michels Affair. Das Album enthält zwei Coverversionen: Dave Berrys Pop-Standard "The Crying Game" aus den 1960er Jahren und Jeanettes "Porque Te Vas" von 1974. Gleichzeitig mit der heutigen Ankündigung wird die Single "Lounge Lizard" mit Musikvideo veröffentlicht, inspiriert von Julie Londons Erscheinung im Film The Girl Can't Help It von 1956.

Heute kündigt die mitreißende Pfeiferin Molly Lewis ihr Debütalbum „On The Lips“ an, das am 16. Februar über Jagjaguwar erscheint. Im vergangenen Jahr hat Molly an der Seite von Mark Ronson und Andrew Wyatt eine der emotionalsten Szenen des Hollywood-Hits „Barbie“ vertont, Modehäusern wie Chanel, Gucci und Hermes ihr einzigartiges Talent geliehen und Weyes Blood auf Tour unterstützt. Auf ihrem kommenden Debütalbum lädt sie ein ins Café Molly, eine Lounge-Bar, wie es sie nicht mehr gibt. Das Licht ist gedämpft, die Martinis sind eiskalt, die Bänke sind aus Samt, und die Bühne ist bereit für das elektrisierende Talent der Pfeiferin Molly Lewis. Nach dem exotischen Stil der „The Forgotten Edge“ EP und der an Tropicalia angelehnten „Mirage“ EP wollte sie den Sound des Café Molly für ihr Debütalbum „On The Lips“ einfangen, eine verträumte Hommage an klassische Stimmungsmusik, die neblige Visionen von Hollywood-Jazzclubs, italienischen Kinosoundtracks und anhaltenden Umarmungen zwischen Liebenden heraufbeschwört. Ziehen Sie sich also einen Stuhl heran, bestellen Sie Ihren Lieblingsdrink und machen Sie sich bereit, sich zu verlieben. „On The Lips“ wurde mit dem Produzenten Thomas Brenneck (Menahan Street Band, Charles Bradley, Amy Winehouse) in den Diamond West Studios in Pasadena aufgenommen. Während der Sessions wurde Molly auf den 10 Tracks des Albums von einer Reihe gefeierter Musiker unterstützt, darunter Nick Hakim, der für den Latin Grammy nominierte brasilianische Gitarrist Rogê, Leland Whitty und Chester Hansen von Badbadnotgood, die Chicano-Soul-Gruppe Thee Sacred Souls auf dem melancholischen "Crushed Velvet", der experimentelle Jazz-Pianist Marco Benevento und Leon Michels von El Michels Affair. Das Album enthält zwei Coverversionen: Dave Berrys Pop-Standard "The Crying Game" aus den 1960er Jahren und Jeanettes "Porque Te Vas" von 1974. Gleichzeitig mit der heutigen Ankündigung wird die Single "Lounge Lizard" mit Musikvideo veröffentlicht, inspiriert von Julie Londons Erscheinung im Film The Girl Can't Help It von 1956.

From the Dolls-meets-the-devil opening title track to the desperate Sister Lovers-adjacent finale "The Findings," The Interrogator is thirteen vibrant, crackling, scary and hilarious songs which taken together represent nothing less than a thorough and thrilling moral inventory of our decadent and depraved times. Following up and doubling down on the themes of last year's lionized cult favorite For Executive Meeting, Elizabeth Nelson has authored an album as politically potent and pointedly hilarious as antecedents like The Mekons' Rock `n' Roll and Neil Young's On the Beach and wed it to the sound of ZZ Top's Eliminator. As writers like Rob Sheffield and Robert Christgau have known for years, Elizabeth Nelson has been one of our very best songwriters for going on a decade. On the charged anthem "Bad Day for the Group Chat" she reassesses the current state of affairs: "I have bested all my peers.

EP compilation of essential UK house cuts recorded between 1987 - 1990. TIP!


Before British house and techno found its’ distinctive groove at the turn of the 1990s, one act led the way: Bang The Party, a trio who emerged from London’s vibrant underground party scene in the mid 1980s and proved, beyond any doubt, that UK producers could make music every bit as magical as the pioneering productions put forward by their counterparts in Chicago, Detroit and New York.

By the time long-running DJs and party promoters Kid Batchelor and Leslie Lawrence joined forces with trained engineer Keith Franklin at legendary North-West London reggae studio Addis Ababa in 1987, they’d spent years as DIY dance music activists in Britain’s capital city. They channelled these experiences and their love of imported house and techno sounds into a new project, Bang The Party, in the process becoming the first British act to appear on Transmat, a reflection of the quality and authenticity of their music.

The latest Rush Hour Reissue Series release offers a snapshot of some of the numerous gems nestled in the Bang The Party catalogue, delivering a much-deserved celebration of one of Britain’s most significant early acid house collectives. It features four fully remastered cuts recorded and released between 1987 and 1990 – on-point and far-sighted club workouts that sound as fresh and timeless now as they did when Britain was sweltering under its infamous ‘second summer of love’.

Fittingly, the EP begins with ‘I Feel Good All Over’, the group’s ground-breaking debut single. Dedicated to their home city and one of the earliest UK interpretations of house music, the track exists in the grey area between Chicago house and New York ‘garage house’ – all jaunty organ stabs, jacking Windy City beats, restless bass and soulful vocalizations. ‘Jacques Theme’, which follows, originally nestled on the B-side of that single release. An early, acid-flecked expression of hip-house with a British twist, breakdance-friendly bongo patterns and a dose of Larry Heard-inspired deep house dreaminess, the track remains an under-appreciated classic whose rap verses reflect the popularity of hip-hop in London at the time.

1988’s ‘Release Your Body’, Bang The Party’s most celebrated early release, was reissued in the United States by Transmat, reflecting the strong working relationship between Derrick May and Kool Kat Records’ Neil Rushton. A hypnotising affair propelled forwards by sweat-soaked drum machine beats, jacking fills and an addictive bassline, the track offers another near perfect distillation of the band’s Black American musical influences while delivering something genuinely new and fresh.

Rounding off the EP is a choice cut from Bang The Party’s sought after 1990 album Back To Prison. Doused in the star-lit synth sounds of the Motor City with jaunty organ stabs inspired by the kind of New Jersey jams championed at East Orange institution Club Zanzibar, ‘Let It Rip’ is a superb slice of deep house soul featuring a lead vocal every bit as emotive as anything laid down by Robert Owens. Like the rest of Bang The Party’s output, it has stood the time better than anything laid down by their London contemporaries.

180g audiophile vinyl reissue of American blues guitarist Melvin Taylor's 1995 album 'Melvin Taylor & The Slack Band', which is appearing on vinyl for the first time with remastering by Cicely Baston at Alchemy/Air Mastering, London "The U.S. release of Melvin Taylor's two early-'80s LPs by Evidence a decade later was a shock introduction to a blues guitarist who seemingly blazed out of nowhere - outside of Rosa's Lounge in Chicago, that is. "Blazed" is the right word, too, because Taylor is a total maximalist who unleashes torrents of notes to fill up every space. But he's so convincing a player that the concept of "blues guitar hero" might get a good name again, even with fans dead- tired of excess who never thought they'd think things like, "Man, can Melvin Taylor play the ever-loving (add the expletive superlative of your choice) out of the guitar" again. Taylor's first real-time release, Melvin Taylor & the Slack Band, is a pretty straightforward affair - basic trio with minimal overdubs, serviceable vocals in an Albert King mode, and a mix of originals and very classic covers. The opening "Texas Flood" lets him rip on a slow blues, constantly changing up his playing with wah-wah blitzes as the real ace in his sonic hole. The originals "Depression Blues" and "Groovin' in New Orleans" add some funk flair, while "Talking to Anna Mae" is a straight- up Chicago boogie instrumental that Taylor shines on. But he's even more in his element on the unadorned slow blues "Tin Pan Alley" and King's "Don't Throw Your Love on Me So Strong." It's partly the speed but even more the phrasing - the unexpected stops and starts, the spiky and blazing runs and flurries, the unusual note selections he tosses in - that sets his playing apart. The other covers have their sporadic moments - "TBone Shuffle" is inconsequential, but Otis Rush's "All Your Love" and "Voodoo Chile" are worth listening to, even if the latter doesn't add anything to the famous Hendrix wah-wah workout. Taylor actually doesn't sound that radical here, like he was playing to establish blues circuit credentials by putting his stamp on familiar songs more than indulging offbeat personal touches like the mellow lounge jazz take on the Champs' "Tequila." But his playing can be truly electrifying and Melvin Taylor & the Slack Band is recommended for anyone, especially Stevie Ray Vaughan fans, looking for a distinctive new blues guitar voice." - Don Snowden, AllMusic Personnel: Melvin Taylor, guitar, vocals / Willie Smith, bass guitar / Steve Potts, drums Recorded and mixed on March 27-30, 1995 at Dockside Studios, Maurice, LA

Die Musikerinnen der Discodelic-Soul-Band Say She She, die ihren Namen als stille Anspielung auf Nile Rodgers ("C'est chi-chi!: It's Chic!") gewählt hat, veröffentlicht ihr zweites Album "Silver" auf den Spuren eines epischen Durchbruchsjahres, das von Tag zu Tag heller wird. Die drei starken Stimmen von Piya Malik (Stammgast bei El Michels Affair und ehemalige Backgroundsängerin von Chicano Batman), Sabrina Mileo Cunningham und Nya GazelleBrown sind die Frontfrauen der Band. Das harmonierende Trio entstand in einer klassischen New Yorker Geschichte von Freunden, die sich auf dem Weg zur Musik kennenlernten: auf den Tanzflächen der Innenstadt, auf den Dielen der Lower East Side und auf den Dächern von Harlem. "Silver" wurde Anfang des Jahres im Killion Sound Studio in North Hollywood geschrieben und live auf Band aufgenommen und von Sergio Rios (von Orgone) produziert. Während diese analogen Aufnahmetechniken dazu beitragen, Say She She's Sound in einem Fundament aus klanglicher Wärme zu verankern, das nur mit Tonband erreicht werden kann, ist es auch ihr Prozess, den Track im Moment zu produzieren und die Magie der gemeinschaftlichen Kreativität einzufangen, die dazu geführt hat, dass ihr Sound als "eine glorreiche Überladung aus freudigem Enthusiasmus und spiritueller Erhebung" (MOJO) und "durchdrungen vom schrägen Post-Disco-Geist der frühen 80er Jahre in NYC" (The Guardian) beschrieben wurde. Silver, das Element, ist bekannt als das Metall des Selbstbewusstseins und der Spiegel der Seele. Die 16-Song-Doppel-LP zeigt nicht nur, dass die Band an Selbstvertrauen gewonnen hat, sondern spiegelt auch eine tiefere Erkundung ihrer punkig-schicken, weiblich-vorwärts gerichteten Sensibilität wider.

Die Musikerinnen der Discodelic-Soul-Band Say She She, die ihren Namen als stille Anspielung auf Nile Rodgers ("C'est chi-chi!: It's Chic!") gewählt hat, veröffentlicht ihr zweites Album "Silver" auf den Spuren eines epischen Durchbruchsjahres, das von Tag zu Tag heller wird. Die drei starken Stimmen von Piya Malik (Stammgast bei El Michels Affair und ehemalige Backgroundsängerin von Chicano Batman), Sabrina Mileo Cunningham und Nya GazelleBrown sind die Frontfrauen der Band. Das harmonierende Trio entstand in einer klassischen New Yorker Geschichte von Freunden, die sich auf dem Weg zur Musik kennenlernten: auf den Tanzflächen der Innenstadt, auf den Dielen der Lower East Side und auf den Dächern von Harlem. "Silver" wurde Anfang des Jahres im Killion Sound Studio in North Hollywood geschrieben und live auf Band aufgenommen und von Sergio Rios (von Orgone) produziert. Während diese analogen Aufnahmetechniken dazu beitragen, Say She She's Sound in einem Fundament aus klanglicher Wärme zu verankern, das nur mit Tonband erreicht werden kann, ist es auch ihr Prozess, den Track im Moment zu produzieren und die Magie der gemeinschaftlichen Kreativität einzufangen, die dazu geführt hat, dass ihr Sound als "eine glorreiche Überladung aus freudigem Enthusiasmus und spiritueller Erhebung" (MOJO) und "durchdrungen vom schrägen Post-Disco-Geist der frühen 80er Jahre in NYC" (The Guardian) beschrieben wurde. Silver, das Element, ist bekannt als das Metall des Selbstbewusstseins und der Spiegel der Seele. Die 16-Song-Doppel-LP zeigt nicht nur, dass die Band an Selbstvertrauen gewonnen hat, sondern spiegelt auch eine tiefere Erkundung ihrer punkig-schicken, weiblich-vorwärts gerichteten Sensibilität wider.