Repress!
Proto-house classic 'Nightgruv' gets a re-release and includes a longer unreleased edit!
James Mason is mostly known for his late 70's album 'Rhythm Of Life', which is a soul-jazz classic. Soon after music trends shifted to (electronic) disco and James' music became out of fashion, leaving 'Rhythm Of Life' to be the only album he released to date. The early early 80s saw him have a few studio sessions from which more electronic output like Wuf Ticket's 'The Key (Prelude Records) resulted. James also produced various disco acts like Disco 3, Earl Flint and Brenda Bayton.
The album appeared suddenly - Within about a week, A Family Light was
pretty much fully written - "Despite the old cliche, the inspiration for this
album stemmed from heartbreak," describes band member Sergio
Trevino
"Fresh out of a failed relationship, I took to writing, resisting the temptation to
create bitter or angsty love songs. I tried to channel my emotions into something
larger. Looking back, with the benefit of time and distance from the album, I
realize that it kinda became a response to my observations of the family
dynamics, and how strange and complicated those predetermined roles are.
Toy Tonics going New Wave Disco with Baby’s Berserk’s self-titled debut album (to be released on 29 September).
There are many shades of funk in dance music. Berlin’s Toy Tonics label brings up artists that reflect many of these different aspects in dance music. Now the label comes up with a band! A band that is inspired by 1980ies New Wave as well as the Y2K Indie dance scene. Two guys and 2 girls from Amsterdam and Montreal called Baby’s Berserk.
Baby’s Berserk is about taking the freedom to be who you want to be, about being comfortable. Having played in all-girl punk bands since the age of 14, the bands singer Lieselot is an expert on female empowerment. “Dress like a girl and act like a boy,” is a catchphrase she lives up to every day and it clearly is a message that resonates with the band’s wild fans.
In the great tradition of Roxy Music, Throbbing Gristle and Malcolm McLaren, Baby’s Berserk is not just about the edgy music, but also about a very strong own visual style. They readily blend their sounds with underground fashion. What you see is what you get and seeing Baby’s Berserk is feeling right at home. Lieselot is a visionary when it comes to stage presence. Have you always wanted to see an electronic band with a punk attitude perform wearing a mix of haute couture and Flintstone-style rags? Look no further, it’s Baby’s Berserk.
Following on the critically acclaimed singles ‘What I Mean’ (2020) and ‘Toxic Kisses’ (2022), Baby Berserk’s highly anticipated self-titled full-length is now finally about to see the light on Berlin’s Toy Tonics records. Sonically designed for gritty rock venues as well as up-to-date edgy dance clubs, Mano’s lush compositions smoothly intertwine with the highly associative lyrics written by Puggy and Lieselot. Poets and literary addicts may think they’ve just discovered the rock & roll equivalents of Sylvia Plath, Kurt Vonnegut and Allen Ginsberg. To tell you the truth: their wild guess is pretty accurate as the works by these greats lie scattered around the Baby’s Berserk studio for inspiration.
The band was born in a laboratory back in 2019. Tired of being in bands with unruly and unpredictable humans, Mano Hollestelle set out to create a group of high precision robots to create the post-punk sound he had in mind. His outdated technology of floppy disks and cassette tapes worked well to program the androids, until one day a 90s rave mixtape was mistakenly entered into his computer. House music is a feeling and the punk bots instantly got hooked on it upon hearing it for the first time. They could never be reset to factory settings again. Mano worked tirelessly with his androids, currently known by their humanoid names of Lieselot Elzinga, Puggy Beales and Eva Wijnbergen, to fulfil his evil plan to make the rockers dance and the dancers rock. Baby’s Berserk is the fiendish extension of this plot. Beware, the band’s bass driven grooves and computerized beats have been known to cast a spell upon all within earshot.
So what do the songs on ‘Baby’s Berserk’ tell you? That it’s totally fine to have lots of fun in life! To have a boyfriend as an accessory (‘Accessories’), to get inspired by Sponge Bob (‘Dancing with the Fish’) and to blend your spirits with mixers whenever the hell you feel like it (‘Rum ‘n’ Kola’).
Baby’s Berserk member Puggy Beales on ‘Limousine’: “Decant the wine from my tip jar to yours. Soon we'll be on easy street, chauffeured home from the rat race each evening. Is it everything you'd hoped it would be?”
Check not only the debut album but also the forthcoming Remix EP with remixes by Each Other, Niklas Wandt, Sam Ruffillo, Kris Baha and Nicolini.
Flint, Michigan-based rapped MC Breed and his crew DFC (Da Funk Clan aka Dope Flint Connection) put the Midwest on the map in 1991 with the release of their self-titled debut album, an underrated gem of the early 90s. The lead single, "Ain't No Future in Yo' Frontin'" with a boomin’ west coast sound would get radio play across the country and video rotation on YO! MTV Raps, BET’s Rap City, and Ralph McDaniels' Video Music Box. The album’s second single “Just Kickin’ It” with MC Breed’s laid-back vocal style over a funky groove landed in the top 10 on the Hot Rap Singles Chart. Tracks like “Underground Slang” have an 80s electro vibe and “Better Terms” has Breed rapping a little faster over a Bomb Squad influenced beat with his DJ on the cut. MC Breed would go on to release another 11 albums and collaborated with artists such as 2Pac on "Gotta Get Mine" and Too $hortís "Gettin It” as well as features with Slum Village, Pimp C, Kurupt, Erick Sermon, and The D.O.C. among others. Breed passed away in 2008 from kidney failure, but his legacy lives on having influenced other Midwest artists including Eminem, Proof, D12, Common, and Slum Village. Out of print on vinyl since 2018, Get On Down is bringing back this Midwest 90s classic on limited edition colored vinyl.
Electronic Music from 1972-2022 seeks to frame ¬fty years of Carl Stone's compositional activity, starting with Stone's earliest professionally presented compositions from 1972 ("Three Confusongs" and "Ryound Thygizunz", featuring the voice and poetry of Stefan Weiser – later known as Z'EV) up to the present. This collection is not meant as a de¬nitive history but rather as a supplement to be used alongside the previous two archival releases. It is simultaneously an archival release marking Carl Stone’s
evergreen 70th birthday and a document of archival art. In the spirit of disorienting repetition and layering, call it an archive of archiving.
Greet Death is a three piece post-rock band from Flint, Michigan. They initially made waves with their infectious debut album "Dixieland" (Flesh and Bone, 2017). The album was well received, with Pitchfork giving it a "7.7" rating and stating "...This is a remarkably tuneful, forthright pop-rock band that just so happens to play six-minute songs at bradycardic tempos". "New Hell" is the latest album from Greet Death. It was recorded by Nick Diener (The Swellers) at Oneder Studios. Additional recording was done by Jake Morse. It was all mastered by Jay Maas at Getaway Recording, and artwork for the release was created by illustrator Liam Rush. The album as a whole is a creative intermingling of lush melodic atmosphere with melancholic lyrical content. Within that haze their personal subject matter is cleverly cloaked amid beautiful vocal deliveries and dreamy guitar work. This is the case in songs "Circles of Hell", "Do You Feel Nothing", "Let It Die", and "You're Gonna Hate What You've Done". This not-so-subtle vitriol continues to spread through self reflection in unforgettable songs like "Entertainment", "Strange Days", as well as the tone-soaked "Strain". While "Crush" plays as a complex outpouring disguised as a hook-laden pop number. All of this leads to "New Hell", a nearly ten minute epic of towering proportions. Lovingly constructed before ominously swaying in the wind and collapsing under its own emotional weight.
On June 16th, 2023, Steven Julien and Kyle Hall return with their first EP together in ten years, CROWN. The record follows earlier EPs the duo created under their former alias Funkinevil, 2013's Ignorant and 2012's Night/Dusk. The record once again brings together two artists from opposite sides of the pond—Julien hailing from London and Hall representing Detroit—with a shared love for soul in its purest essence.
Opening "Page 1", a pitched-down vocal by James Massiah pronounces, "My plan—won't let you take it from hand." That alone could be considered the nut graph of a record about taking ownership, created by two vanguards in the electronic music scene that, a decade ago, insisted on infusing their music with soul in a commercial club circuit lacking in it.
Assembled from a few years-worth of studio jams in Julien's studio, Crown dials up the staticky warmth present on earlier Funkinevil tracks like "Dusk" and "In The Grid." Across seven songs, Funkinevil shaves off some of their tougher elements, instead shooting for pastoral melodies and funky basslines, like on "Page 2", where Vicky Flint's flute flutters sleepily over breaks and a groovy Korg synthesizer. But the atmosphere on the EP is also grander than ever—on "Page 5," Cloud's wistful melisma soars over Flint's bleating saxophone and wandering sci-fi synths.
With all this attention to funky musicality, it's only fitting that two legends specializing in the craft would land on the B-side—Däm Funk revs up "Page 3" with a slamming kick and his unmistakable coolness, and Reggie B turns "Page 5" into a sludgy, jazzy dance party.
In the words of Julien, "I think a lot of people have forgotten about what this whole thing is about. Musically, artistry and everything. So I'm happy this is what we represent on this project."
Souk is delighted to present the sophomore album from a true fixture in Cairo seething electronic scene who should, by now at least, remain anonymously famous behind the 3Phaz moniker. Both as a way to make focus on the music itself regardless of identity and to sever ties with past projects, 3Phaz acts like an entity in itself, a most suitable conjuration of sounds past and future gravitating on their own dimension. Though connections are inevitable and welcoming with home turf artists such as ZULI or Rozzma, the Souk catalogue or percussion obsessed travelers like DJ Plead or errorsmith, 3Phaz's dalliance with the traditional sounds of Shaabi and Mahraganat and possible intersections with Grime, Techno and Bass-heavy subcultures feel very much their own.
Stripping away some of the dankest & darkest layers that made his debut album - Three Phase - such a dystopic proposition, Ends Meet envisions a different kind of future, that while not necessarily utopian, feels less tense and more celebratory in the capture and release mastery of its syncopations. Through seven percussion workouts summoned from hard hitting kicks, flinty hand drums, darting rhythmic excursions and traditional flute-like synth melodies, 3Phaz creates a set of raw and ever-intriguing dj tools for adventurous dancefloors that escape the mere functionality associated with the term to bristle with a life of their own.
Kelman Duran introduces LA’s Holodec to his Scorpio Red label with a debut album of flickering R&B torchsongs and ambient trap-soul that aches in a very special way. RIYL Dawuna, Burial, Junior Boys, MssingNo, claire rousay, Joy O, Triad God, Sampha…
The smouldering ’All Dogs Come From Wolves’ is a definitive statement by a quietly gifted artist who operates inside the long shadow of late ‘90s US R&B and the space where it intersects ambient, neo-classical, and the weightless bass interzones of contemporary UK club music. Bare boned and bathed in a dusky Californian half-light, the album’s 11 songs feel unnervingly stark yet full of tongue-tip sensuality, making a virtue of negative space and atmosphere with a lo-fi soundtrack-like quality that evokes the idea of nostalgic reflection as the route to the future; “a reminder to look to the past to remember where you’re from, to see where you’re going.”
Holodec's been assembling rugged dancefloor constructions for years now, teetering between 2-step, jungle, nu-rnb, and vaporous ambient forms, but rarely has he been as pointed or full-bodied as he is on ‘All Dogs Come From Wolves’. It's an album that can't possibly be cleaved from the place where it comes from, documenting LA's immigrant experience (Holodec is Asian-American), and finding thematic common ground with Space Afrika's "Honest Labour", absorbing prismatic reflections of footwork, rnb and hip-hop instead of trip-hop and dub techno.
Holodec croons soulfully over muted piano motifs on 'Tiles', evoking the spirit of Sampha or Dawuna, but with a gaseous glamor that's unmistakably Californian. The mood carries into 'The Wild', utilising wistful pads and saturated noise but refusing to let his music sink into the background. If you feel yourself drifting, there's inevitably a voice, a womp, or a stifled drum sound to drag you back into its presence. 'Bounce' is rhythmically heavy, but still somehow smudged around the edges; beats don't so much pump as fray, the closer you listen the more you hear it falling out of time and just out of space. It's more like a memory of neon-hued dance forms than a replication of the thing itself.
Even at the album’s rudest, the flinty jungle drums of ‘Black Market’ still remain desiccated, just out-of-reach, suggesting not telling, in a way that makes the album’s other highlights such as the vaporous R&B voice note of ‘And My Angel Dies Too’ or the shivering baroque figures of ‘Spirit’ so unusually seductive with their nuanced grasp of inference and a reserve of humility.
Arkada records is excited to announce our 4th release - forthcoming split vinyl EP featuring the sounds of ADJ & Adrien d’Elzius.
We are very happy to present the first part of the EP with the unique sounds of one of the pioneering artists in the UK underground Electro scene, the label owner of Pyramid Transmissions - ADJ
ADJ originates from and is based in London. He has been playing Underground Electronic Music for over 35 years as a DJ, starting in the days of Early Electro and Hip Hop. He has also been producing and releasing music for 25 years, releasing over 200 tracks in this time on a plethora of labels including Touchin Bass,For Those That Knoe, Another Perspective, Ai, Outside, Cultivated Electronics,Yellow Machines, Crobot Muzik, Diffuse Reality, Netlabel ,Digital Distortions and more...has done remixes for Flint Kids, Scanone, LASynthesis, Carl Finlow, Fleck Esc, Arsonist Recorder , Paul Hierophant to name a few.
He has run the Pyramid Transmissions Record label with label partner Pathic for 20 years and also ran the Analogique record label for 5 years from 1995-2000 releasing Techno, Electro and Electronica as 3 Elements.
ADJ also performed his first LIVE set in a few years in March 2020 MUTABOR in Moscow.
As a DJ, he has played at many festivals including a BLOC residency, Glastonbury For BLOC, Bestival, Shambala, Infiltrate at WMC Miami. 2019 saw another tour of the US with Silicon Scally,Ben Milstein, EVAC, Ion Driver and 214. He also runs the Dodo Club and Frequency Resonate(with Errorbeauty) nights in London and Berlin aswell as playing in Lille, Kiev, Moscow, St Petersburg Berlin,Zagreb,Athens, Napoli, Brussels, Budapest, Vienna, Valencia, Sofia, Paris and many more..
Second part of our EP presents the futuristic glitched-out sounds of the one of a kind Belgium producer Adrien d’Elzius also known under his allies HosmOz.
Adrien d’Elzius was born in the gloomy south of Belgium spending his youth hanging around in a camping and listening to Hip Hop, he started his life in a mess of paradox. At 10, he learned to play drums under his punk’s brother regard, and experimented different kind of rock until 18. That’s where someone showed him a track of Aphex Twin, who blew his mind and made him believe he had finally found the music that suited him. From there, he compulsively spend hours playing around with his computer and slowly made himself a place in the very small community of underground music lover of Brussels under the nickname hosmOz after winning a contest. From his melodic and acidic drill’n’bass beginning, his sound slowed down and got darker, challenging himself to try to create something he couldn’t before. He recently re-released his Lp on Diffuse Reality that make it available on physical form and also his debut album on Burial Soil with remixes by Umwelt and Lloyd Stellar.
The masters of the release are kindly made by Thomas Dunstan. Artwork made by our amazing designer Lawrence Cli
Art Of Primitive Sound is a sensational journey to the origin of Music. In his crucial research chapter on the Paleolithic, Walter Maioli between 1986 and 1991 investigates the soundscape of different geographical, climatic and botanical environments, in which the mystery of the ancient human-nature relationship resides. What emerges is an expanded and unprecedented Paleorganology, with a range of acoustic and natural instruments from all over the World. Rubbing of fossils, animal artefacts, plant elements of all sorts, everything becomes sound and each object opens up forms of imaginary communication, psychic effect and unexplored languages. Whistles, flutes, leaf and shell rattles, rhombuses, horns, bone pipes, slate slabs, bamboo arches, stones, vertebrae, seeds, stalagtites etc...how great can be the Natural Orchestra inherent in the spirit of forests, rivers, caves, seas, swamps or Amazon jungles? Thanks to an interdisciplinary partnership (Anthropology, Archaeology, Botany, Ethnomusicology) of collaborating friends, Maioli directs an Opera of universal character inspired by the archaic essence of sound and infrasonic dimension.
Powerfull Melly is back with a full EP.
A side, a 45 Killer of a kind leads to a mental hardfloor twirling tune... That can be cool at 33 RPM too :)
The flip start with a tooth brushing 175 BPM cruiser.
Second tune is a trap door, with a loud heavy kick, 178 BPM heavy ambiance, really Hardtek in the shape, sound and ambiance.
BIG !
Illustration by Kristof Albert
Greet Death is a four piece shoegaze band from Flint, Michigan. "New Low" is a new 5 song 12"EP from Greet Death. The first four singles from this session were released digitally over a span of months in 2021 into 2022, leaving the title track exclusive to this final collection. With "New Low" Greet Death continue to explore the layered melancholic atmosphere they are known for while expanding into unconventional melodic territory. Produced by Greet Death Engineered and mixed by J. Kalmink at The Stooge in Zeeland, MI Mastered by Will Yip Music and Lyrics by Logan Gaval and Sam Boyhtari Vocals by Gaval and Boyhtari Drums and Percussion by Jim Versluis Guitars and Bass by Gaval and Boyhtari Piano by Boyhtari Photos by David Beuthin Scythe Logo by Liam Rush Original Band Logo by Brendan Coughlin Design by Jacob Bannon
Carter Family meets Addams Family in Easy Listening for Jerks, two new covers EPs by gold-certified prairie pickers The Dead South. Rich with quality finger picking and replete with harmonies, Easy Listening for Jerks offers many new moods of songs we think we know so well. Under a title that recalls the songwriting humour of Roger Miller and Steve Martin’s comedy stylings alike, the EPs offer a surprising and compelling mix of gravity and levity. Foggy Mountain Boys, but make it Beetlejuice. Easy Listening for Jerks Parts 1 & 2 are pressed separately on 10" black vinyl.
Joona Toivanen Trio makes their We Jazz Records debut with their new album "Both Only", out 25 Feb 2022. A landmark work for the long standing group, the album showcases a new sound for the band, trekking deep into new ideas for an acoustic jazz piano trio. Since their formation as teenagers in mid-1990's, the trio of pianist Joona Toivanen, bassist Tapani Toivanen and drummer Olavi Louhivuori (of Superposition, Ilmiliekki Quartet and Linda Fredriksson "Juniper") has developed their remarkably coherent band sound step by step, touring the world over. Nowadays, the trio is geographically split between Gothenburg, Sweden (Joona), Copenhagen, Denmark (Tapani), and Helsinki, Finland (Olavi), but the unit has never sounded so together as one, and as adventurous as on "Both Only".
"Both Only" by Joona Toivanen Trio is a cocoon, a welcoming shelter of sound that opens up naturally for the listener to inhabit. The album is moody and introspective, even dark at times, but by the time you get to the closing track, "This and This", you'll likely notice something hopeful brewing up. This is not music dealing with nostalgia or a world lost. Instead, it's a body of work with delicate dynamics, taking a minute just to listen and to look inwards to learn something, to move forward.
The first single "Enlightened" is perhaps the most traditional piece on the album, yet it flows like a vessel beyond genre, conveying a mood, a feeling and an idea. Listen to how the piano, bass and drums discuss, how the groove moves with the instruments having their clear roles but also supporting each other and documenting a musical aging process exactly as that of a quality bottle of red wine. As a song like "Direction" proves, the melody is there all the way, yet there is nothing obvious about how it's carried by the trio. Things remain surprising, fresh and moving at all times. "Except For" keeps its intensity, while nearly erupting into a full on 4-to-the-floor banger. Nearly! The key here is how the energy sustains itself, building the intensity within the music.
"Both Only" is a powerful statement from a band ready to renew itself time and again, and one willing to do it slowly, outside of the hype. This process makes the impact enduring, nuanced and lovely.
WJLP37 Joona Toivanen Trio "Both Only" is available on vinyl as a black vinyl edition and as a LP+7" bundle also including WJ0716 "Except For (7" Edit)" / "Keyboard Study No. 2".
“More excellent poetic soundscapes from We Jazz! Love the flow through the tracks here – textural pieces moving into more rhythmic jazz abstractions. Beautifully recorded too.”
Quinton Scott — Worldwide FM
“Following on from the excellent Linda Fredriksson album We Jazz extend the journey with this innovative Joona Toivanen Trio set.”
Paul Bradshaw — Straight No Chaser
“You’ll look in vain here for extravagant splashes of color or bright swathes of sound, but what you will discover are a finely-chiselled set of compositions that make the most of the trio’s limited palette: flint-sharp melodies hewn from the ice, crisp and crackling rhythms.”
Cal Gibson — Ban Ban Ton Ton
“Incredible album from Joona Toivanen Trio and a strong start to the new year from We Jazz.”
Kerem Gokmen — Dubmission
“Encapsulating a new movement in jazz.”
Jay Scarlett — Sounds Supreme
“Interesting listen on the shortest day of the year. They have a very definite and saturated style.”
John Chacona — All About Jazz
“Airplayed the track”
Tom Ravenscroft — BBC6 Music
“Jazz album of the year released already in February?”
Ralf Sandell — Hufvudstadsbladet
“★★★★★”
Iida Simes — Voima Magazine
Joona Toivanen Trio makes their We Jazz Records debut with their new album "Both Only", out 25 Feb 2022. A landmark work for the long standing group, the album showcases a new sound for the band, trekking deep into new ideas for an acoustic jazz piano trio. Since their formation as teenagers in mid-1990's, the trio of pianist Joona Toivanen, bassist Tapani Toivanen and drummer Olavi Louhivuori (of Superposition, Ilmiliekki Quartet and Linda Fredriksson "Juniper") has developed their remarkably coherent band sound step by step, touring the world over. Nowadays, the trio is geographically split between Gothenburg, Sweden (Joona), Copenhagen, Denmark (Tapani), and Helsinki, Finland (Olavi), but the unit has never sounded so together as one, and as adventurous as on "Both Only".
"Both Only" by Joona Toivanen Trio is a cocoon, a welcoming shelter of sound that opens up naturally for the listener to inhabit. The album is moody and introspective, even dark at times, but by the time you get to the closing track, "This and This", you'll likely notice something hopeful brewing up. This is not music dealing with nostalgia or a world lost. Instead, it's a body of work with delicate dynamics, taking a minute just to listen and to look inwards to learn something, to move forward.
The first single "Enlightened" is perhaps the most traditional piece on the album, yet it flows like a vessel beyond genre, conveying a mood, a feeling and an idea. Listen to how the piano, bass and drums discuss, how the groove moves with the instruments having their clear roles but also supporting each other and documenting a musical aging process exactly as that of a quality bottle of red wine. As a song like "Direction" proves, the melody is there all the way, yet there is nothing obvious about how it's carried by the trio. Things remain surprising, fresh and moving at all times. "Except For" keeps its intensity, while nearly erupting into a full on 4-to-the-floor banger. Nearly! The key here is how the energy sustains itself, building the intensity within the music.
"Both Only" is a powerful statement from a band ready to renew itself time and again, and one willing to do it slowly, outside of the hype. This process makes the impact enduring, nuanced and lovely.
WJLP37 Joona Toivanen Trio "Both Only" is available on vinyl as a black vinyl edition and as a LP+7" bundle also including WJ0716 "Except For (7" Edit)" / "Keyboard Study No. 2".
“More excellent poetic soundscapes from We Jazz! Love the flow through the tracks here – textural pieces moving into more rhythmic jazz abstractions. Beautifully recorded too.”
Quinton Scott — Worldwide FM
“Following on from the excellent Linda Fredriksson album We Jazz extend the journey with this innovative Joona Toivanen Trio set.”
Paul Bradshaw — Straight No Chaser
“You’ll look in vain here for extravagant splashes of color or bright swathes of sound, but what you will discover are a finely-chiselled set of compositions that make the most of the trio’s limited palette: flint-sharp melodies hewn from the ice, crisp and crackling rhythms.”
Cal Gibson — Ban Ban Ton Ton
“Incredible album from Joona Toivanen Trio and a strong start to the new year from We Jazz.”
Kerem Gokmen — Dubmission
“Encapsulating a new movement in jazz.”
Jay Scarlett — Sounds Supreme
“Interesting listen on the shortest day of the year. They have a very definite and saturated style.”
John Chacona — All About Jazz
“Airplayed the track”
Tom Ravenscroft — BBC6 Music
“Jazz album of the year released already in February?”
Ralf Sandell — Hufvudstadsbladet
“★★★★★”
Iida Simes — Voima Magazine
Limited edition of 300 copies. Packaged in a picture sleeve
J.D’s TIME MACHINE presents SPEAK LOVE b/w YOUNG HEARTS.
Songwriter supremo James Day has consistently delivered top notch material throughout his career, amassing an amazing set of collaborations.
The All Star Mix of SPEAK LOVE from five years ago features the mouthwatering cast of Glenn Jones, Tony Terry, Tim Owens, U-Nam, Ian Martin, Lin Rountree & Kevin Flint Jackson. This is one of James Day’s most respected compositions and we are thrilled to give this a vinyl release! YOUNG HEARTS originally from 2013 features the majestic vocals of both Kevin Flint Jackson and Tim ‘Tio’ Owens. Presented here as a '2022 Vinyl Exclusive Mix' with changes in the arrangement, Tim Owen’s EW&F sensibilities really shape this track and the note he hits in the meat of the song is worth the price of the admission fee alone!
Soul Jazz Records new ‘Life Between Islands’ collection coincides with the launch of Tate Britain’s exhibition of the same name. This landmark exhibition explores the links between Caribbean and British art and culture from the 1950s to now.
Soul Jazz Records album, sub-titled “Soundsystem Culture – Black Musical Expression 1973-2006,” focuses on the most important Black British musical styles to emerge out of the distinctly Caribbean world of sound systems. The album features an all-star line-up including Dennis Bovell, Shut Up and Dance, Cymande, Digital Mystikz, Brown Sugar, Funk Masters, Janet Kay, Ragga Twins and more.
The album is a lightning-rod journey across Roots Reggae, Jungle/Drum & Bass, Jazz-Funk, Lovers Rock, Jazz, Dubstep and more. Much of Soul Jazz Records’ catalogue comes out of these genres and this album is partly an overview of some of Soul Jazz’s earlier releases (including Digital Mystikz’ long-deleted groundbreaking and now highly-collectible single, ‘Misty Winter’) alongside some choice rare and classic tunes that span over 30 years of sound system culture.
Many of the tracks represent how Black British artists defined their own identity with songs such as Brown Sugar’s righteous ‘Black Pride’, ‘I’m In Love with A Dreadlocks’ and Tabby Cat Kelly’s powerful ‘Don’t Call Us Immigrants’. Aside from being musically rooted in the distinctly Jamaican-born phenomenon of the sound system, much of this identity is also shaped by the triangular relationship of being British-born, of Caribbean heritage, and with an equal love of African-American Jazz, Funk and Soul, as evidenced with many Lovers Rock tunes reggae covers of American soul tunes (such as those of Jean Carn, William de Vaughan and Rose Royce featured here). This stateside influence can also be heard in groups such as the Funk Masters, a group formed by reggae radio DJ Tony Williams, whose jazz-funk music successfully crossed over into New York’s clubland, as well as the great Cymande, whose unique street-funk became staple material for numerous US hip-hop artists in the years that followed.
In the early 1990s, jungle and drum and bass artists took the essence of reggae’s soundsystem culture – MCs, dubplates, crews – and applied them to their own music, applying heavy reggae bass lines to intense double-speed drum breakbeats. At the forefront of this new movement were the duo Shut Up and Dance, working closely with The Ragga Twins, aka Deman Rocker and Flinty Badman, both MCs for North London’s infamous Unity reggae soundsytem. In the early 2000s, dubstep, spearheaded by Digital Mystikz, became the latest instalment in this ever-evolving soundsystem culture.
