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With his new album, Gecko Turner confirms that he is a standout artist in the global groove scene, a must for the outernational sounds aficionados.

Somebody From Badajoz is the fifth studio album in his much lauded discography and his first in seven years, eagerly anticipated by both his fans and himself: "this business of dedicating yourself to music and making songs... it's a long game."

With the release of his first two, remarkable, albums, Guapapasea! (2003) and Chandalismo Ilustrado (2006), Gecko started cultivating what one astute journalist defined as Afro-maduran soul—the "maduran" bit referencing Extremadura, a region in central-western Spain.

Badajoz, Gecko's birthplace, is the biggest city in the area, on the border with Portugal, by the Guadiana River. It is a place that oozes history, where there is constant movement at the border, and people's character is friendly and open-minded with foreign habits.

Gecko's Afro-maduran soul isbuilt on Afro-American music and drenched in Brazilian, African, Latin American and Jamaican sounds. There are also echoes of a youth marked in equal parts by our man's admiration for the Beatles and the flamenco that could be heard everywhere in Badajoz in the seventies. It makes for a singular sound and a musical language of its own—spicy, succulent, full of nuances, but with a very personal flavour.

The album opens with the Nigerian talking drums of Twenty-twenty Vision, (neo) soul in a magical falsetto, carried by a sumptuous orchestral arrangement with a cinematic flavour: "I'd been thinking about doing something called 'Twenty-twenty Vision' for some time, making a play on words with the vision we have of the world after the year 2020 and the medical expression, which, in ophthalmological terms, means 'normal or complete vision.' Beyond that particular song, I think that's the mood of the album: a look at society in the twenties of the 21st century and the feelings and demons it produces."

It's followed by De Balde, a very special song born from a posthumously discovered lyric by the great writer Carlos Lencero, a regular collaborator of Camarón, Pata Negra, and Remedios Amaya, and also from Badajoz. While conceived as a fandango, Gecko has moulded it into his sound in such a seamless way it now seems as if the words could only have been written to be embraced by the percussion, brass, and backing vocals heard on the album. It's the only lyric on Somebody From Badajoz not written by Turner, still it sits rather comfortably with the rest, sharing the same emotivity and sensitivity, as well as the trademark humour and irony.

Other tracks see more protagonism for the rhythm.The beat-driven Ain't No Fun Preachin' to the Choir features Gecko's vocals walking the thin line between singing and talking over a phenomenal afro-disco-funk-infused trailblazer. In Am I Sad? it's impossible to not bob your head to the queen of Papatosina's mongrel rhythm, as close to the banks of the Guadiana river as it is to the shores of the Mississippi. Qué Siesta Tan Buena, He Babeao Y To! is an ode to the snooze in true Afro-Maduran fashion. And in Come And Try, the Caribbean influence is evident—lovers' rock that invites you to dance in good company.

In these songs, and throughout the album, for that matter, the musicians accompanying Gecko, who himself plays many of the instruments as well, shine brightly. All hailing from Extremadura, Javi Mojave (percussion), Álvaro Fdez 'Dr. Robelto' (bass), and Rafa Prieto (guitar) have been carrying him with delicate forcefulness since he started out as a solo artist. At the same time, the wonderful and essential voices of Deborah Ayo, Astrid Jones, Fani Ela Nsue, and Miriam Solís give the album a sunny variety of colours. And there are many more—a sensational group of musicians contributes dazzling harmonic bursts to many of the songs. The palette of sounds is very diverse and rich in textures and nuances, including, for example, the ngoni, bells, and various repurposed kitchen utensils.

The groove is always around, moving between the magical border sound of Everybody Knows Somebody From Badajoz and Little Dose, the silky soul of The Sibariteo Appreciation Society, and the exultant celebration of End Of The World (which surprisingly sees Gecko turning to the occasional use of autotune), a piece that could be used for the final credits of a Monty Python film and, in fact, closes the album.

Gecko Turner has done it again with Somebody From Badajoz, looking to the future without losing sight of the roots. In times of upheaval all over the globe, when people are looking for purity, he delivers a formidable piece of work: risky, optimistic in spite of everything, and with a decidedly bastard sound. Let's rejoice.

Tape

The next issue in the on-going Mastermix series features a centerpiece of Frankfurt’s club history: Wild Pitch Club.

A predecessor to the esteemed Robert Johnson and a stepping stone for Panorama Bar’s very own nd_baumecker.

Founded by Playhouse masterminds Ata and the late Heiko M/S/O it was a Thursday club night that heavily featured house music as a prescription to the ongoing techno fever. Enamored with the US-American roots of it and all things deep, it not only presented the right records, but also their creators and protagonists. With a string of guest DJs from Robert Hood and Claude Young to Kerri Chandler and Theo Parrish as well as talent from the UK and Europe, it was one of the culture’s hubs at the time.

Here you have its testimony. Selected and mixed by Ata and nd_baumecker, it’s an authentic snapshot of the club’s vibe and spirit, spread over a collectable tape (download included) and a pleasant streaming version, it’s the full dosage. Like Roach Motel confessed: Wild Pitch, I love you.

With his new album, Gecko Turner confirms that he is a standout artist in the global groove scene, a must for the outernational sounds aficionados.

Somebody From Badajoz is the fifth studio album in his much lauded discography and his first in seven years, eagerly anticipated by both his fans and himself: "this business of dedicating yourself to music and making songs... it's a long game."

With the release of his first two, remarkable, albums, Guapapasea! (2003) and Chandalismo Ilustrado (2006), Gecko started cultivating what one astute journalist defined as Afro-maduran soul—the "maduran" bit referencing Extremadura, a region in central-western Spain.

Badajoz, Gecko's birthplace, is the biggest city in the area, on the border with Portugal, by the Guadiana River. It is a place that oozes history, where there is constant movement at the border, and people's character is friendly and open-minded with foreign habits.

Gecko's Afro-maduran soul isbuilt on Afro-American music and drenched in Brazilian, African, Latin American and Jamaican sounds. There are also echoes of a youth marked in equal parts by our man's admiration for the Beatles and the flamenco that could be heard everywhere in Badajoz in the seventies. It makes for a singular sound and a musical language of its own—spicy, succulent, full of nuances, but with a very personal flavour.

The album opens with the Nigerian talking drums of Twenty-twenty Vision, (neo) soul in a magical falsetto, carried by a sumptuous orchestral arrangement with a cinematic flavour: "I'd been thinking about doing something called 'Twenty-twenty Vision' for some time, making a play on words with the vision we have of the world after the year 2020 and the medical expression, which, in ophthalmological terms, means 'normal or complete vision.' Beyond that particular song, I think that's the mood of the album: a look at society in the twenties of the 21st century and the feelings and demons it produces."

It's followed by De Balde, a very special song born from a posthumously discovered lyric by the great writer Carlos Lencero, a regular collaborator of Camarón, Pata Negra, and Remedios Amaya, and also from Badajoz. While conceived as a fandango, Gecko has moulded it into his sound in such a seamless way it now seems as if the words could only have been written to be embraced by the percussion, brass, and backing vocals heard on the album. It's the only lyric on Somebody From Badajoz not written by Turner, still it sits rather comfortably with the rest, sharing the same emotivity and sensitivity, as well as the trademark humour and irony.

Other tracks see more protagonism for the rhythm.The beat-driven Ain't No Fun Preachin' to the Choir features Gecko's vocals walking the thin line between singing and talking over a phenomenal afro-disco-funk-infused trailblazer. In Am I Sad? it's impossible to not bob your head to the queen of Papatosina's mongrel rhythm, as close to the banks of the Guadiana river as it is to the shores of the Mississippi. Qué Siesta Tan Buena, He Babeao Y To! is an ode to the snooze in true Afro-Maduran fashion. And in Come And Try, the Caribbean influence is evident—lovers' rock that invites you to dance in good company.

In these songs, and throughout the album, for that matter, the musicians accompanying Gecko, who himself plays many of the instruments as well, shine brightly. All hailing from Extremadura, Javi Mojave (percussion), Álvaro Fdez 'Dr. Robelto' (bass), and Rafa Prieto (guitar) have been carrying him with delicate forcefulness since he started out as a solo artist. At the same time, the wonderful and essential voices of Deborah Ayo, Astrid Jones, Fani Ela Nsue, and Miriam Solís give the album a sunny variety of colours. And there are many more—a sensational group of musicians contributes dazzling harmonic bursts to many of the songs. The palette of sounds is very diverse and rich in textures and nuances, including, for example, the ngoni, bells, and various repurposed kitchen utensils.

The groove is always around, moving between the magical border sound of Everybody Knows Somebody From Badajoz and Little Dose, the silky soul of The Sibariteo Appreciation Society, and the exultant celebration of End Of The World (which surprisingly sees Gecko turning to the occasional use of autotune), a piece that could be used for the final credits of a Monty Python film and, in fact, closes the album.

Gecko Turner has done it again with Somebody From Badajoz, looking to the future without losing sight of the roots. In times of upheaval all over the globe, when people are looking for purity, he delivers a formidable piece of work: risky, optimistic in spite of everything, and with a decidedly bastard sound. Let's rejoice.

Summertime sounds abound on the sixth Drum Chums disc, which comes lovingly dubbed and diced by our friendly Fruit Merchant Hidden Spheres.

Known globally for his free-flowing DJ sets, halcyon house hits and mastery of melody, Tom's been at the top of his game for time now - just check those releases on Rhythm Section and Scissor & Thread - and it's a pleasure to carry his drum sticks for this one. Cracking open his vault of top secret DJ tweaks, Spheres explores sweltering proto-house, tropical disco lilt and deepest waters across three floor-ready cuts.

The Fruit Merchant plucks something ripe from the Kalimba Tree on the A side, starting the party properly with joyous Afro-house jam 'Stolen'. Carnival-friendly drums and a Boyd Jarvis bassline wind up your waist while the call-and-response vocals and exuberant brass send hands and heads skywards before the track transitions into an utterly ecstatic sax-led breakdown. This is magic.

For the B-side, Hidden Spheres treats us to a couple of deep digs from his time in Australia, both originating in the Aboriginal community.
Emerging from the astral vibrations of a didgeri-drone, 'You Better Dance' casually locks into an irresistible 105bpm groove, strolling through the echo-laced dub space as its poetic vocal speaks to your soul.
Balearic-paced and cosmic-minded, this one plays perfectly next to those I-Level 12's.

For finale 'Together', Spheres shifts back into proto-house mode, locking a hypnotic piano riff into some militant snare rolls to lay the foundation for the impassioned vocal. Delivering the occasional diversion into more mournful territories, Spheres reminds us why deep house deity DJ Sprinkles always takes his calls.

100% Drum Fun Guaranteed.

The mighty International Chrome returns in 2023 with a stacked 12" that sets a blueprint for what to expect from the label over the coming months as it continues to discover the possibilities of where Electro and other club styles can go.

German producer/rapper/DJ, Sombi, steps up with her first vinyl release backed with remixes by legendary producers from three generations of club music: Yazzus, Jensen Interceptor, and dBridge, all of which view the original through different lenses.

In a rap with lyrics in her native tongue, the original mix sees Sombi extolling the virtues of discovering and accepting yourself, and the inner peace that comes from it.

The first remix comes from International Chrome's own Jensen Interceptor who hits us with an aquatic electro funk rewind echoing the Detroit bass pioneers whilst still sounding from a future oasis

UK legend, dBridge, follows this up with his "Surging Mix", discovering the hidden link between Drum & Bass and Detroit Electro and showing that even after 30 years he is still determined to take music to uncharted territory, never resting on his laurels.

Closing off the EP, the hottest young producer in dance music, Yazzus, ramps up the energy across the course of five minutes that return techno to its roots in afrofuturism.

In the unobservable reaches of the universe sits the Cosmologist, surrounded by 12-inch vinyl artifacts found on a tiny planet in another galaxy. Earth, they called it. Sci-fi sonic scalpel in hand, he gets to work on two gems from a bygone era. The A side, a rare 1980’s UK new wave whirlwind, given a drum-focused reconstruction aimed directly at the dancefloor, and the B an afrobeat masterpiece gets an expert interplanetary rework.

Dusting off the original promo sheet, it states that the A side entered Balearic folklore as a much-loved Rampling secret weapon at Shoom. Unlike any other record of that era, it features LSD-soaked drums, a barnstorming bassline and a piano riff that wouldn’t be out of place on a Severed Heads cut, finetuned and re-crafted with that space age touch.

On the B, a magical afrobeat rhythm steeped in history whose spirit and style has traversed decades, dancefloors and galaxies. An exploration of a great, reworked and recalibrated with extra-terrestrial resonations.

2023 REPRESS in Ltd Transparent Vinyl

Strut are proud to announce the first ever internationally released new studio album by one of the all-time legends of Nigerian music, Orlando Julius, in a mouth-watering new collaboration with London super-group The Heliocentrics. At his club residency in Ibadan, Orlando Julius was one of the very first to begin fusing US R&B with traditional highlife during the mid-'60s with his Modern Aces band. His 'Super Afro Soul' album from '66 set the blueprint for a whole generation of Afrobeat and Afro funk stars and, in an illustrious career, Julius met and played with Louis Armstrong, The Crusaders, Hugh Masekela and Lamont Dozier among others, famously co-composing the classic 'Going Back To My Roots' in 1979 whilst based in the USA.
or 'Jaiyede Afro', Julius takes us back to his own roots, revisiting several compositions from h s early years whi ch have never previ ousl y been recorded. The title track recal l s his experiences as a boy: 'my mother would go to group meetings with other women. They would sing together and play drums, I would play along with them and we would sing this song together.' Infectious chant 'Omo Oba Blues' is a traditional song sung at Julius' school which he re-arranged in 1965 for his Modern Aces band. The epic Afrobeat jam 'Be Counted' stems from his years in the USA: 'this was written around 1976 while I was living on the West coast. I did start recording it for the 'Sisi Sade' album around 1985 but it was never finished.'
Other tracks include 'Buje Buje' and 'Aseni', both re-worked arrangements from his rare 'Orlando Julius and The Afro Sounders' album from 1973.
Recorded at the Heliocentrics' fully analogue HQ in North London, the band follow their memorable collaborations with Mulatu Astatke and Lloyd Miller by taking Orlando's sound into new, progressive directions, retaining the raw grit of his early work and adding psychedelic touches and adventurous new arrangements. They also contribute live favourite, the James Brown cover 'In The Middle' and a series of memorable shorter interludes.

Now coming out on vinyl BBE is pleased to announce the 12” release of The Lyman Woodard Organisation - 'Creative Musicians', featuring remixes by Waajeed and Henrik Schwarz. Originally released as a digital EP from the album 'Strata Records – The Sound of Detroit – Reimagined by Jazzanova', 'Creative Musicians' and its remixes now come to you on deep grooved vinyl. The vocalist for these sessions is Sean Haefeli, who originally hails from Indianapolis, and brings a relaxed urgency to his contributions, sounding like a young Gil Scott-Heron. Leveraging his 20 plus year friendship with legendary Detroit DJ/Producer extraordinaire, Waajeed, Amir enlists him for a special four-to-the-floor mix that not only keeps that organic vibe but also adds a unique contemporary Detroit flavour! Henrik Schwarz needs little introduction to fans of eclectic electronic sounds. For over thirty years, his amazing body of work has packed dancefloors worldwide. Henrik takes ‘Creative Musicians’ in a slightly different direction, retaining many of Jazzanova’s original elements while adding his signature sound to the mix, providing another dance floor scorcher! And just to give you proper context, we have included the cult-classic, much-loved original version of ‘Creative Musicians’ by the Lyman Woodard Organization. ‘Strata Records - The Sound of Detroit - Reimagined by Jazzanova’ is no ‘covers’ album, rather a brand-new celebration of the iconic imprint, as Jazzanova’s take on Lyman Woodard Organization’s musical manifesto ‘Creative Musicians’ makes clear from its Afrobeat-inspired horn arrangements, drum track, and syncopated tempo.

Originally released in 2012, the second album by the São Paulo-born composer Rodrigo Campos marks a turning point in both lyrical and aesthetic inspiration. “Bahia Fantástica” is the result of the absorption of a then recent influence of soul music (especially Curtis Mayfield) and is in the middle of this path marked by an unlikely geography in the lyrical part (São Mateus, Bahia, Japan) and by an expansion of sound ( from samba to the indefinable, with a passage through black American music).

The album turns ten years old in 2022 and exudes vitality. The soul reference takes on a different aroma when it passes through the filter of the composer and his band – formed by Kiko Dinucci on guitar, Marcelo Cabral on bass, Maurício Fleury on keyboards, Maurício Takara on drums and Thiago França on sax: it has Brazilian sauce, hints of afrobeat and a very particular seasoning. The lyrics bear the artist's mark: they project scenes in the listener's imagination and design the characters and environments with their own style of subjective chronicle. Bahia is both imaginary and intimate in Rodrigo Campos’s music.

Anticipated by the "Soul Drum" 12" EP (SCEP507, 2022), Gerardo Frisina's new double record "Joyful Sound" represents as usual another step forward inside his indefinite travel towards new musical paths. A journey made of wisely distilled notes, bright and sometimes mysterious atmospheres, harmonies that wander through shadows, silences, lights. A chameleonic Gerardo enchants with every release, mixing jazz, Latin, Afro-Cuban sounds, oriental fragrances, electronic beats, tribal percussions, funky variations and, dulcis in fundo, elegant symphonic arrangements with refined mastery.

For this uniquely personal retrospective spread over twelve vinyl discs, Sven Väth takes us back to the early days of his DJ career. On What I Used To Play we meet great pioneers of electronic music, gifted percussionists, obscure wave bands, and innovative producers of a bygone 'new electronic' era. Rough beats and irresistible grooves from the identification stage of house, techno, and acid remind us not just how far electronic music has evolved over the past four decades, but how great it was to dance to EBM, techno, and house for the very first time.

If there is one protagonist of the electronic music scene who has remained curious, innovative and at the very cutting edge of music for over four decades, it's Sven Väth. His multi-layered artist albums and Sound of the Season mix compilations have been defining the genre for over two decades, and even today, he is constantly on the lookout for the next top tune to add to the highlights of his next set. At least, that's the case when he's not producing them himself as an artist or remixer. "Actually, it's always been part of my DNA to think ahead," and nothing had been further from his mind than looking back at his past, but when in spring of 2020 the international DJ circuit had to be scaled down to virtually zero, the 'restless traveler' suddenly had time. Time to stop and reflect on "how it actually was back then, at the very beginning of my career..."

"It was a great trip and with every track, beautiful memories came flooding back".
In the London apartment, he had just moved into, Sven has set up a "little music room", where he cocooned himself for several days, "to look way back for the first time and review my musical journey through the eighties, so to speak."

The interim result was six thematically oriented playlists with a grand total of 120 tracks from 'early 80s' to 'Balearic late 80s', together with excursions into afrobeat, European new wave, and EBM sounds and a few epochal techno/house tracks from the USA in between. From these 'Best of Sven Väth's favorites', the project What I Used To Play crystallized. Sven remembers how the Cocoon team reacted to his proposal: "They found the idea of making a compilation out of it MEGA from the beginning and everyone said 'Sven, go for it', but then, of course, the work really started, namely, to clear the rights and to get clean sounding masters of the up to 40-year-old tracks. There was also disappointment, of course. We couldn't clear certain titles because the rights holders in the USA had fallen out with each other or simply disappeared from the scene. In short, it wasn't easy, but now I can safely say we got the most important tracks."

Finally, after two years of research, curation, design, and administrative fine-tuning, the "little retrospective" from 1981 to 1990 is available. The exquisitely packaged, and three-kilo heavy box set is not only physically impressive, WIUTP is also the definitive record of Sven Väth's musical development. On each of the twenty-four sides of vinyl, you can trace track by track, what influenced him during which phase, and how he took off as a DJ from his parents' Queen's Pub straight into the spotlight at Dorian Gray. There and at Vogue (later OMEN), Sven became the style-defining player in the DJ booth that he still is today.




1981 - 1990: Future Sounds of Now

In the early eighties, the crowd in clubs like Vogue and Dorian Gray danced to what nowadays we call 'dance classics' - mainly disco, funk, soul, and chart pop. It was up to a new generation of DJs, including Sven Väth, the youngest protagonist in the Rhine-Main area at the time, to create their own club-ready music mix. Good new tracks and potential floor-fillers were rarities that had to be sought out and found, in order to prove oneself worthy.
Without MP3s, internet streaming, or other digital download possibilities, music didn't just gravitate to the DJ, instead, it had to be tracked down. In well-stocked record stores in Frankfurt and Wiesbaden or even in Amsterdam, London, or New York, Sven and friends sourced the material for countless magical nights. On WIUTP we can follow Sven's very personal journey through this wild, innovative era in which synth-pop, funk, hip-hop, and disco were successively replaced as 'club music' by house, techno, acid, and breakbeat. By the end of the decade, it was clear to see that these once exotic 'fringe' phenomena would soon become 'mass' phenomena.



Early 80s

Dirty Talk by the Italian-American duo Klein & M.B.O. represents the most innovative phase of the Italo-disco genre in the early eighties like no other track. Mario Boncaldo (I) and Tony Carrasco relied entirely on the original synthetic drum and percussion sounds of the Roland TR-808, coupled with the raunchy vocals of Rossana Casale and guitar accents of Davide Piatto. Of course, other tracks from this period were also influential in style, most notably Unit by Logic System, which worked as the perfect soundtrack to the laser lighting system at the legendary Dorian Gray club. With stomping beats and robotic rap interludes, Bostich by Yello also belongs on Sven's eternal playlist - after all, it caught the attention of Afrikaa Bambaataa, who invited the Swiss duo to perform at the Roxy in New York in 1983.



EBM Wave - Mid 80s

From today's point of view, the almost ten-minute-long, downtempo track Giant by Matt Johnson's band project The The, would probably not be considered an obvious club classic. However, a closer (re)listen reveals the rhythmic intricacies of the percussion overdubs by JG Thirlwell (aka Foetus) on Johnson's composition, and it becomes clear why this exceptional piece of music is one of Sven's absolute favorites. Other classics from this phase include Kaw-Liga by the mysterious The Residents, the hypnotic-synthetic Our Darkness by Anne Clark (and David Harrow), and last but not least, the somber, monotonous anthem Where Are You? by 16Bit, one of Sven Väth's projects together with Michael Münzing, Luca Anzilotti from 1986.



US House - Late 80s

You certainly can't talk about Chicago house without mentioning Frankie Knuckles. The resident DJ at the Warehouse not only gave the name to an entire genre, but also produced epochal floor fillers on the Trax label like the timeless Your Love, sung (and moaned) by Jamie Principle. Acid house protagonists Phuture also hail from Chicago, and on We Are Phuture (also released on Trax) we hear the chirping acid sounds of the legendary Roland TB-303 in full effect. Another featured classic is No UFO's by Detroit's Model 500 aka Juan Atkins, who is rightly considered the 'Godfather of Techno' even if the genre-defining track from 1985 still breathes with the spirit of hip-hop and electro from the first breakdance era.





Afrobeat

Le Serpent, by Algerian-born Abdelmadjid Guemguem, is a track that sounds completely different from everything else on WIUTP. Made in 1978, it's a monumental, rousing groove created without bass or synths, just with five congas! Even though Guem sadly passed away in 2021, his immortal, acoustic beats are understood all over the world and will continue to enrich many thousands of DJ sets for years to come. Another classic that not only Sven appreciates beyond measure is Hugh Masekela's Don't Go Lose it, Baby. In addition to being one of the most important jazz pioneers, the trumpeter and freedom fighter from Johannesburg was very experimental, integrating electronic sounds into his music in later years, in a similar vein to Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock. Dutch jazz pianist Jasper van't Hof's afrobeat project Pili Pili has also aged well. The trance-like, almost sixteen-minute-long track of the same name, manages to fill a whole side on the seventh of twelve vinyl discs in the WIUTP box.



UK-US-Euro - Late 80s

Time for a change of scene, in the truest sense of the word, and from a musical perspective, this section is like landing on another planet. First up is Andrew Weatherall's classic remix of Primal Scream's Loaded, featuring the iconic Peter Fonda sample (lifted from the 1966 biker film Wild Angels) that came to personify the mood triggered by the British Second Summer of Love in the late eighties: "We wanna be free to do what we wanna do, and we wanna get loaded...". This period also saw the emergence of M/A/R/R/S whose only single, 1987's Pump Up The Volume, became a club classic with support from DJ legend CJ Mackintosh. In this most eclectic of sections, we also encounter New York house and reggae producer Bobby Konders and his seminal Nervous Acid.



Balearic - Late 80s

Those who know him, know that Sven had already lost his heart to the 'magic island' of Ibiza as a teenager, so with that in mind, the WIUTP project couldn't end without a Balearic chapter. Inspired by Manuel Göttsching's E2-E4, the immortal, eponymously titled Sueño Latino belongs in there without question. Equally popular on the island was, and still is Break 4 Love by Raze, which thinking about it, would also fit perfectly into the house chapter. Last, but not least, there's an overdue reunion with Sven Väth himself, in his role as frontman of the successful Frankfurt trio OFF. Together with Michael Münzing and Luca Anzilotti (later of Snap!) this 'Organization For Fun' created the off-the-wall club hit Electric Salsa in 1986 which incidentally turned into an international chart smash, putting Sven in the enviable position of having to decide between pop stardom and a DJ career. Well, we all know how that decision turned out and the rest, as they say, is history. A not insignificant part of his story is What I Used To Play. Enjoy!

Soul Jazz Records are releasing Count Ossie and The Mystic Revelation’s seminal 1975 album Tales of Mozambique in an expanded double album/single CD/digital format, fully remastered and with the inclusion of two bonus rare single-only tracks, full sleevenotes, exclusive photographs and interview.

Count Ossie is the central character in the development of Rastafarian roots music, nowadays an almost mythical and iconic figure. His importance in bringing Rastafarian music to a populist audience is matched only by Bob Marley’s promotion of the faith internationally in the 1970s.

Count Ossie’s drummers performed on the first commercially released single to integrate Rastafarian traditional music with popular music: the vocal group The Folkes Brothers’ groundbreaking song ‘Oh Carolina’, recorded for producer Prince Buster in 1959. In 1966 his drummers greeted the momentous arrival of Haile Selassie at Kingston airport.

His legendary jam sessions up in his Rastafarian compound in the hills of Wareika, Kingston, are famous for the many Jamaican musicians who attended including The Skatalites players – Roland Alphonso, Don Drummond, Johnny Moore, Lloyd Knibbs – and many others.

The Mystic Revelation of Rastafari formed in Kingston, Jamaica, in 1970, a union of Count Ossie’s Rastafarian drummers – variously known as his African Drums, Wareikas or his Afro-Combo – and the saxophonist Cedric Im Brooks’ horns group, The Mystics.

The Mystic Revelation of Rastafari are the defining group in bringing authentic Rastafarian rhythms into the collective consciousness of popular music, their unique music is at once rooted in the deep traditions and rituals of traditional drumming and chanting alongside a forward-thinking, even avant-garde, artistry influenced by the likes of John Coltrane, Sun Ra, Pharoah Sanders and other pioneering African-American jazz artists radicalised and charged by the civil rights movement of the 1960s.

Tales of Mozambique is a truly unique and fascinating ground-breaking album.

Count Ossie and The Mystic Revelation of Rastafari are the central group featured on Soul Jazz Records recent "Rastafari - The Dreads Enter Babylon” a collection showing the influence of Rastafari in Reggae and Jamaican popular culture.

Soul Jazz Records will also be releasing Count Ossie and The Rasta Family 'Man From Higher Heights’ in the near future.

* Bonus tracks

REVIEWS

" All roads in Rastafarian roots music lead to Count Ossie.He’s the lead character in this compelling subplot, the musician who was one of the first to put Rasta tenets into the heart of popular music.

He did so from his camp in the hills above Kingston, Count Ossie and his drummers casting a spell on the musicians who gathered to check him out and then went on to spread the word about the powerful nyabinghi rhythms and mesmerising percussion.

This is a reissue of the 1975 album Count Ossie made with his Rastafarian drummers and saxaphonist Cedric ‘Im’ Brooks’s group The Mystics.

It’s a groundbreaking, majestic work, by turns righteous in tone and joyous in execution. It’s the sound of Ossie and his ensemble narrating a history lesson and you’d be daft not to want to find out more." IRISH TIMES

2023 re-issue, 140g vinyl, reproduction of the classic Tele Music sleeve, full colour insert with liner notes and archive photographs

Wow! Tonio Rubio's Rhythms is a stone-cold killer, a heavyweight library breaks LP and the inaugural release in Be With's new partnership with legendary French library label Tele Music. Yes, you lucky people, there's lots to come. For this extremely special 50 year anniversary re-issue, we've reproduced the classic Tele Music sleeve with a full colour insert featuring rare photographs, fresh liner notes and personal memories of Tonio from the likes of Jean-Claude Vannier, Jean-Claude Petit and Janko Nilovic.

Sumptuous opener “Latin Leitmotiv” is all funky phasing effects and a killer montuno, with what sounds like piano and bass in tandem, stoking straight up Latin fire. The gritty hard funk of blaxploitation groove "Red Medium" is dripping in wah-wah attitude and head-nod oddness. The atmospheric, exotica-tinged "Dead Slow" emulates the languid, sensual afro groove of Quincy Jones’ wild masterpiece “Gula Matari” whilst the proggy, electric jazz fusion epic "Rock 73" is 9+ minutes of moody, rolling menace.

But the *real* highlight of this cult classic - and why it has long been *so* desirable - is the devastating, deep, hypnotic minimalist groove of "Bass In Action N°1". Very much in conversation with Quincy's rendition of "Hummin'", the loping, rumbling bassline and sweet electric piano over clean, crisp drums making it one of those tracks that sounds like a hip-hop beat 20 years ahead of time. Sensational. “Bass In Action N°2“ features Tonio's own vocal scat performance. Remarkable.

Antonio "Tonio" Rubio Garcia got his start playing the double bass in jazz clubs. In 1962, Tonio joined the Golden Stars, the first backing band of France’s teenage idol Johnny Hallyday. A genius musician with a unique guitar sound, he played on standards of French chanson including Serge Gainsbourg and Brigitte Bardot’s "Bonnie and Clyde", Françoise Hardy’s "Tous les Garçons et les Filles", Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin’s "Je T’aime, Moi Non Plus" and Serge and Charlotte Gainsbourg’s infamous "Lemon Incest". Tonio also lent his brilliance to such legendary figures as Janko Nilovic, Jean-Claude Petit, Hervé Roy, and Jean-Claude Vannier. The latter remembers Tonio as “a secretive, mysterious man, with an endearing personality, albeit difficult to reach out to. His virtuosity as a bass player allowed me to write very innovative basslines, because he was able to play any of my eccentricities!”

The audio for Rhythms has been remastered by Be With regular Simon Francis whilst Christopher Stevenson has brought the original and iconic Tele Music sleeve back to life in all its striking glory as the finishing touch to this long overdue re-issue.

“On Des Demonas’ new seven-track EP Cure For Love
there’s a whalloping drum beat driving everything. But
the throbbing, pumping bass, clanging, slashing guitar and
whirling, swirling Farfisa are no mere passengers in this
vehicle! I’m told by the other band members Paul Vivari,
Joe [Halladay], Mark [Cisneros] and Ryan [Hicks] that
vocalist Jacky Cougar Abok is the loudest drummer
they’ve ever heard.
“But here he sings! In motifs. He sings out a beat, he
sings minimalist melodic hooks. He half speaks/half shouts
his lyrical content in rapid fire that is closer to beat poetry
than rap. His voice is insistent and demanding to be heard!
And it is! By having it slightly submerged, the listener is
forced to strain to hear the words because they won’t wanna
miss something important!
“The sonic fuel of the band is a blend of post-punk,
punk, funk, blues, psych-rock, Afrobeat, even bubblegum—
but the noise you hear is pure Des Demonas!
“Titles like the ‘Ballad Of Ike & Tina’ and ‘Black Orpheus
Blues’ add to the intrigue rather than explain the content.
The listener is both confronted and lured by something
bigger than themselves! Desire, intrigue, fear and exuberance
are the rewards to those unable to resist! But will yout
love be cured?
“You could look to Shakespeare, or simpler, you could
buy this record and find out!” —Kim Salmon

Rui Fradinho has been DJing and record collecting since the age of 15, having played drums and keyboards on several different projects and starting his electronic music production journey in 2001, when he made his first ever original track – A Bright Future (release number 1 on the label).

Lover of music of all sorts, Rui’s musical base stems across different genres, including House, Drum N Bass, Hip Hop, Footwork, Bass Music, having more recently nurtured a deeper devoted passion for all things Jazz, Fusion and Broken Beat / Nu Jazz.
There are undeniable major influences from Jazz, Soul, Funk, Latin, African, Brazilian and Global music on his productions and Rui has released remixes for several artists on several labels such as Str4ta for Colin Curtis Presents, Nimbus Sextet for Acid Jazz, Luiz Gabriel Lopes for Da Lata Music, Momenta for Lazy Robot Records, Various artists for MJDC – Modern Jazz Dance Classics, David Borsu for Broadcite, Makala for Orrua Diskak and Ray Lugo for Ammonite Records.

Highlights of his DJ career include a 6 year residency at Sociedade Anonima club in Portugal, then Bicaense Café and Lux Club in Lisboa. Earlier in 2017, he did a stint on London’s Back2BackFM, playing at Dalston’s Club Makossa, the BBE Store in East London, closing the Chill Out Gardens stage in Portugal’s Boom Festival 2018, DJ’ed at Gilles Paterson’s first edition of We Out Here festival, currently guests at Birmingham’s Bruk Up Broken Beat night and opened the Portuguese festival LisbOn - Jardim Sonoro in 2022.

Dopeness Galore / Records We Release
"A newfound father's attempt to pass wisdom on to his children."

- Spring 2019 -

"As my girlfriend’s pregnancy was steadily treading along, I settled into my home studio in the attic of our new house. In our previous apartment I had a tiny room which could hardly fit my recording gear, let alone my drums which were still sitting at my parents’ house eating dust. Now that we’d moved into a bigger place, I had confiscated a part of the top floor to build my studio. This time I had just enough space to fit my drum set together with other percussion instruments, Fender Rhodes and synths. This sparked a whole new world of creative opportunities.

At the same time I also started to think about what kind of wisdom I would want to pass on to my children. I started writing down my thoughts. Little anecdotes, ponderings and things to think about as a human being.

These two events took place in parallel and once I actually started jotting down my first compositional ideas I saw the concept right there in front of me bright as day.

This LP has been written and recorded as inspiration to think about things and to keep re-thinking again and again to strengthen the knowledge of self.

Fruit Distro Collective is heavily inspired by Jazz composition, Hiphop drum sounds and the percussive elements of Afrobeat and Afro latin styles. "

Japanese street music icon, Yasushi Ide released new album featuring Don Letts, Josh Milan, Jeff Mills, DJ Krush and more.


"This is a sound track for rude, underground adults! Amazing mixture of reggae, dub, funk, jazz, rock, afro, house. Masterpiece that goes beyond genres of music created by great producer, Yasushi Ide who has relentless motivation and global network of talents." - Shuya Okino (Kyoto Jazz Massive / Kyoto Jazz Sextet)

"Great album! It is amazing to finish such a big project involved many collaborators at this high quality only in a year and 4 months. The magic of Cosmic Suite is there are variety of styles, and it makes you feel deep and spiritual at one point, but at the same time you can feel relaxed. Also, I have to say that the sound quality is great. It sounds very clear and it can only be done with top level recording and mixing professionals." - Ken Ishii

Yasushi Ide is the Japanese street icon. In the 90's he was called "the Guru of Shibuya-kei" which was the movement of Shibuya style of eclectic pop by the artists such as Cornelius, Pizzcato Five, or Original Love who is once again recognized in City Pop revival of recent years. (Yasushi Ide was a manager of Original Love, and also Kenji Ozawa)

Through his works, he has been creating the global network of musicians such as Josh Milan of the Blaze, house music icon, Don Letts, the pioneer of connecting punk rock with reggae, and Jeff Mills, Detroit techno legend, and released a great amount of hi-quality music on his label, Grand Gallery.

The Cosmic Suite project started in 2020, during the pandemic. It started as a project to reconstruct the parts of music Jeff Mills created for Chieko Kinbara, a violinist which Mills produced. However, it turned out to be 36min of spaced themed original track = Cosmic Suite.
(There are few phrases of Jeff Mills music left in the final version) This masterpiece created a buzz in the music scene in Japan and overseas, and became Yasushi Ide's new beginning.

In June, 2022, Ide released "Cosmic Suite 2". Originally, Cosmic Suite was an instrumental. "Cosmic Suite" is the reconstruction of "Cosmic Suite 2" with the element of vocals. In this project, Don Letts, Josh Milan, DJ Krush are featured as guest musicians. Moreover, drums of Tony Allen, the legendary Afrobeat drummer, and Style Scott, a drummer known for his works in early days of ON-U label, and Gota Yashiki, a Japanese drummer known for his works with Soul II Soul are featured in this album. Also, Japanese brightest talents such as Kan Takagi of Major Force, Kaoru Inoue aka Chari Chari, Tomoyuki Tanaka aka Fantastic Plastic Machine and Calm are featured as artists and engineers. This is the true dream team of the Japanese underground music scene.

The artwork is done by Josue Thomas, the founder of popular fashion brand, Gallery Dept. He is also featured as poetry reading artist in track 1 of "Cosmic Suite 2." Ide and him collaborates in various projects under the concept of "Universal Music Connection."

Yasushi Ide's also well received as a dub artist. (beside his wide range of musical styles)
His dub cover of Bill Withers' "Ain't No Sunshine (Space Dub Mix)" is selected for "Late Night Tales mixed by Don Letts" in 2021.

Highlight of "Cosmic 2" is the unique dub sound in tracks such as "Lava" feat. UA, the Japanese singer often described as "Japanese Bjork", and "Sumimasen Suite" feat. Rebel Dread (= Don Letts).

Tokyo is the melting pot of street music from all around the World such as Dub, Jazz, House, Hip Hop, Afrobeat, Punk rock, Techno,,, You can see the influence of all spectrums of rebel music in this album. This unique avant-garde music can only be created by Yasushi Ide, who has been heavily involved in this truly unique music scene for a long time.

Afro-Finnish band Maajo return with their third album, "Water of Life," a fluid celebration of various influences. Supported by two preceding singles, "Better Days" and "Unelmissani," the album is the group's first release with the Brooklyn, NY-based tastemaker label Wonderwheel Recordings. Maajo's signature Afro-Balearic sound meets late eighties new age and fusion, with touches of modern soul. The addition of two band members, Waina and Gilbert K, as well as featuring artists Issiaka Dembele and Ismaila Sané, has rooted the album's stories in a diverse range of backgrounds, featuring vocals in no less than six different languages.

Gilbert K's drum grooves pay tribute to the late Tony Allen's legendary heritage and the percussion experiments on a more melodic and atmospheric tip. Cold synth pads and 303 squeaks blend with warm guitars, fretless bass, and Issiaka Dembele's sublime kora harps and balafon mallets. "Water of Life" shows a band at its maturation point, reaching the cross-cultural coalescence of Finnish-African sound that's ready for the dancefloor or home-listening.

The three vocalists take centre-stage on the album: Waina hails from Zambia and sings in Nyanja, English and Finnish; a renowned musician in Zambia for over two decades who now calls Finland home, Waina wrote a song that reached the finals of the 2020 Afrimusic contest. Gilbert K primarily sings in his native Mauritian Creole while comprising part of the percussion line. He made his way to Finland by way of South Africa and China, eventually winning the Voice of Finland show. Gilbert K has played with such legends as Tony Allen, Andy Summers, Diana King, and Suzanne Vega. Ismaila Sané is from the Casamance region of Southern Senegal and sings in Wolof (a widely-spoken language in West Africa) on "Ndekete," and in Jola (a smaller language in Casamance) on "Èwàn".

Maajo is a sonic, linguistic, and cultural melting pot that has come together in Tampere, Finland, like a tropical breeze from the cold north. Their musical explorations lead from equatorial soundscapes to the woods and moods of their native Scandinavia. African influences, electronic beats and organic rhythms, ethereality and the sounds of nature all make up the patchwork sound of Maajo.

Not only is Maajo's music a way of travelling to faraway places, the songs themselves have travelled all over the globe. Maajo has evolved from a sample-based electronic music project to a full-sized band, including African vocalists and musicians. The group has put out two full-length albums and three EP's on Queen Nanny records, in addition to a release on German label Permanent Vacation. Maajo has received the remix treatment from artists such as Luke Vibert and Call Super, and has toured festivals and clubs internationally. The band has built a dedicated international following having been championed by the likes of Gilles Peterson (Worldwide FM), Tom Ravenscroft (BBC Radio 6), and Tim Sweeney (Beats In Space), while they've been featured by KEXP (Song of the Day), Resident Advisor, Ransom Note, and Pan-African Music.

"Water of Life" is out on Wonderwheel Recordings October 14th, 2022, both digitally and as an exclusive, limited-run 2xLP.




d 04: Better Days (Kumba) feat. Waina & Gilbert K

For Dizzy everything starts and ends with laughter. In the meantime, all paths are possible. That of melancholy, of dance or of political commitment... Dizzy is everywhere at once, always elusive, he is this explorer who, after having been one of the founders of Bebop in the 40's, will never stop experimenting, surprising and pushing back the borders. Proud of his Afro-American heritage, he knew like no other how to confront it with other cultural horizons such as Latin America or Cuba. On 25 August 1973 Dizzy Gillespie came to the Dutch public in Laren. True to form, he introduced his musicians in a mischievous and generous mood and then launched thunderously into a Caribbean tempo that lasted 19 minutes! Then, in a deep voice, Dizzy evokes his friend Martin Luther King. He dedicates "Brother K" to him, a tender ballad punctuated by flashes of storm and anger. As a conclusion Dizzy invokes his roots: "The Blues", where he abandons his trumpet to unleash the full force and warmth of his voice. The musicians withdraw to a surprisingly light theme. We leave as we arrive, on tiptoe. However, we leave with a certainty: "Yes Dizzy, you made it".

Dizzie Gillespie, Trumpet and Vocals
Mike Longo, Piano
Alexander Gafa, Guitar
Earl May, Bass
Mickey Roker, Drums
Guest Artist : Jon Faddis, Trumpet on tracks 9 and 10

Recorded at the Singer Concert Hall

Laren Jazz Festival, 25.VIII.1973

STEREO ℗ 1973 VARA

Remastered by ℗ & © 2017 FONDAMENTA

Made and printed in Germany

Running Back regular Feater aka Daniel Meuzard puts his newly-transplanted studio through its paces for the first time since relocating from Vienna, swapping out the bustle of the city for the fresh mountain breeze of the West Alps. The Positive People EP proves that a change is as good as a rest, as the wide open nature not only had some rejuvenating effects on the creative process - it also gave Feater some room in his head to ponder questions about nature, nurture, and whether our inner morality is externally programmed.

The taut jazz funk of opening track Coding springs into action like the montage music of a lost ‘70s TV show, while the title track Positive People plays on the ambiguity of its title, with cascading synth notes, tastefully dubby 303 stabs, and an afro-cuban drum figure that forms the foundation for a spaced-out dancefloor workout. It's a combo of tracks that should appeal to chat room moderators and serotonin programmers alike.

Expensive Zeit kicks off sounding like grime maverick XTC had been brought up on Murder Capital electro rather than East London garage - before it morphs into a bumpin electrofunk and percussion session, with its sights set firmly on an aquatic worm hole. The EP rounds out with Decline All Cookies, which breaks out of a flanged-out half-time drum 'n' effects intro to reveal a lush chord progression, flipping a soul jazz piano mood into a trippy slice of modern instrumental funk.


Can man be the master of his own destiny? It seems with this change of location and musical direction, Feater might just have figured out the answer.