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See Through is a new collaboration between Aidan Baker (Nadja), Faith Coloccia (Mamiffer, Mara, Sige Records) and renowned percussionist Jon Mueller.

The project was brought to life through Baker exploring textural rhythms created by sampling small, sharp and abrupt sounds on the electric guitar and then sequencing them in a drum machine to form the bedrock of the tracks. Mueller then added his particular, signature brand of intricate, hypnotic percussion to the mix and the compositions began to grow and take shape. The pair agreed that the pieces needed a more human touch and Coloccia was invited onboard, contributing processed vocals via looping, tape manipulation and microphone feedback.

The result is an other-worldly record that seamlessly flows from beginning to end, immersing the listener in waves of ambient movements and soporific beats. There is a trance-inducing aspect to this work, deserving to be consumed in one sitting and allowed to manifest itself for the duration. The trio have crafted a piece of work that stands up to the quality and integrity of their combined back catalogues and indeed adds something completely new for fans to discover and devour.

Radha-Krsna Nama Sankirtana was the first of two albums Alice Coltrane released in 1977 (the other being Transcendence). Coltrane's music during this period grew out of an epiphany in which she would renounce secular life and don the orange robes of a swamini (spiritual teacher in the Hindu tradition). Musically, this meant leaving jazz behind (at least partially) and embracing the chants and rhythms of devotional music.

The first half of Radha-Krsna is mostly filled with simple arrangements of bhajans (Hindu devotional songs) and features the singing of students from the Vedantic Center, the Ashram that Coltrane founded in 1975. The group bounces with the joy of a gospel choir (not coincidentally, some had backgrounds in Southern Baptist churches).

A rapturous aura permeates opener "Govinda Jai Jai" with Alice leading on Fender Rhodes. On "Prema Muditha," she returns to acoustic piano (her main instrument in the early part of her career) to deliver a powerful and poignant theme.

Sidelong "Om Namah Sivaya" beams with probing organ improvisations accompanied by the drumming of her 13-year-old son Aruna John Coltrane, Jr. This closing track offers a strong indication that even if Alice Coltrane was turning toward new traditions for inspiration, her music was still something that only she could make.

Following their hotly tipped 2018 debut album 'On' - Altin Gün returns with an exhilarating second album. 'Gece' firmly establishes the band as essential interpreters of the Anatolian rock and folk legacy and as a leading voice in the emergent global psych-rock scene. Explosive, funky and transcendent.

Some words from the label:

The world is rarely what it seems. A quick glance doesn't always reveal the full truth. To find that, you need to burrow deeper. Listen to Altin Gün, for example: they sound utterly Turkish, but only one of the Netherlands based band's six members was actually born there. And while their new album, Gece, is absolutely electric, filled with funk-like grooves and explosive psychedelic textures, what they play - by their own estimation - is folk music.

'It really is,' insists band founder and bass player Jasper Verhulst. 'The songs come out of a long tradition. This is music that tries to be a voice for a lot of other people.'

While most of the material here has been a familiar part of Turkish life for many years - some of it associated with the late national icon Neset Ertas - it's definitely never been heard like this before. This music is electric Turkish history, shot through with a heady buzz of 21st century intensity.
Pumping, flowing, a new and leading voice in the emergent global psych scene.

'We do have a weak spot for the music of the late '60s and '70s,' Verhulst admits. 'With all the instruments and effects that arrived then, it was an exciting time. Everything was new, and it still feels fresh. We're not trying to copy it, but these are the sounds we like and we're trying to make them our own.'

And what they create really is theirs. Altin Gün radically reimagine an entire tradition. The electric saz (a three-string Turkish lute) and voice of Erdinç Ecevit (who has Turkish roots) is urgent and immediately distinctive, while keyboards, guitar, bass, drums, and percussion power the surging rhythms and Merve Dasdemir (born and raised in Istanbul) sings with the mesmerizing power of a young Grace Slick. This isn't music that seduces the listener: it demands attention.

Altin Gün - the name translates as 'golden day' - are focused, relentless and absolutely assured in what they do. What is remarkable is the band has only existed for two years and didn't play in public until November 2017; now they have almost 200 shows under their belt. It all grew from Verhulst's obsession with Turkish music. He'd been aware of it for some time but a trip to Istanbul while playing in another band gave him the chance to discover so much more. But Verhulst wasn't content to just listen, he had a vision for what the music could be. And Altin Gün was born.

'For me, finding out about this music is crate digging,' he admits. 'None of it is widely available in the Netherlands. Of course, since our singers are Turkish, they know many of these pieces. All this is part of the country's musical past, their heritage, like 'House of The Rising Sun' is in America.'
As Verhulst delves deeper and deeper into old Turkish music, he's constantly seeking out things that grab his ear.

'I'm listening for something we can change and make into our own. You have to understand that most of these songs have had hundreds of different interpretations over the years. We need something that will make people stop and listen, as if it's the first time they've heard it.'

It's a testament to Altin Gün's work and vision that everything on Gece sounds so cohesive. They bring together music from many different Anatolian sources (the only original is the improvised piece 'Soför Bey') so that it bristles with the power and tightness of a rock band; echoing new textures and radiating a spectrum of vibrant color (ironic, as gece means 'night' in Turkish). It's the sound of a band both committed to its sources and excitedly transforming them. It's the sound of Altin Gün. Incandescent and sweltering.

Creating the band's sound is very much a collaborative process, Verhulst explains.
'Sometimes me or the singer will come in with a demo of our ideas. Sometimes an idea will just come up and we'll work on it together at rehearsals. However we start, it's always finished by the whole band. We can feel very quickly if it's going to work, if this is really our song.'

Just how Altin Gün can collectively spark and burn is evident in the YouTube concert video they made for the legendary Seattle radio station KEXP. In just under 20 minutes they set out their irresistible manifesto for an electrified, contemporary Turkish folk rock. It's utterly compelling. And with around 800,000 views, it has helped make them known around the world.

'It certainly got us a lot of attention,' Verhulst agrees. 'I think a lot of that interest originally came from Turkey, plenty of people there shared it.'

That might be how it began, but it's not the whole tale. The waves have spread far beyond the Bosphorus. What started out as a deep passion for Turkish folk and psychedelia has taken on a resonance that now travels widely. The band has played all over Europe, has ventured to Turkey and Australia and will soon bring their music to North America for the first time.

'Not a lot of other bands are doing what we do,' he says, 'playing songs in that style and seeing folk music in the same way.'

In 2015, Freestyle Records re-issued the groundbreaking 'African Party' album by the somewhat mysterious figure of Ginger (George Folunsho) Johnson. Recorded in 1967, nearly 20 years after he first arrived in post war London and immediately began performing and recording with London jazz stalwarts Ronnie Scott and Pete King.

Credited by those in the know (including Giles Peterson, Louie Vega, Fela Kuti's drummer Tony Allen & writer David Toop) as the godfather of afrobeat, Ginger and his group, The African Messengers enjoyed a varied career as the go to afro-cuban percussion group for recording sessions in the UK, working with Georgie Fame, Osibisa, Madeleine Bell and Quincy Jones - as well as acting us mentor to a young Fela Kuti and members of Cymande who cut their teeth as members of his ensemble. They also performed at The Royal Variety Performance, Ginger's music featured in the James Bond film 'Live & Let Die' and Ginger himself appears on screen drumming in the Hammer Films cult classic 'She', and famously performed with The Rolling Stones in Hyde Park in 1969.

Aside from 'African Party', and several Hi Life singles released on the Melodisc label in the 50's, it was thought that there were no further recordings by this hugely influential musician . Eventually, prompted by the attention afforded the Freestyle re-issues - Ginger's son Dennis Dee Mac Johnson was contacted by Uchenna Ikonne, a renowned African music collector, who told him he had discovered one rather battered original copy of a 45 single, released in the mid 70's on the short lived 'Afrodesia' label,

For Record Store Day 2019, Freestyle are proud to release the 2 tracks on a fresh vinyl 45. 'Witchdoctor' is not the track of the same name on African Party, but it and 'Nawa' (written by Dizzy Gillespie cohort Chano Pozo) demonstrate a musical progression as funk had stamped it's indelible footprint on Ginger's music along with afro-cuban rhythms and jazz.

Thanks to Claudio Passavanti at Doctor Mix Studios in London, who has done quite an amazing restoration and re-mastering job on this long lost music.

Big Colors will be released on April 19 via a partnership between Adams' PAX-AM label and Blue Note Records. Ryan Adams, who has been hailed as "one of the most elegant singer-songwriters of his generation' by The New York Times, co-produced the album with Beatriz Artola. John Mayer, Bob Mould, Benmont Tench, Don Was and The Section Quartet are featured on Big Colors, which was recorded at Electric Lady, Capitol Studios and Adams' own PAX-AM.



Big Colors follows Adams' 2017 album, Prisoner, which debuted at No. 3 on in the UK album chart, his highest ever charting position in the UK. Professing his love for Manchester online around the album announce, Adams pays homage to the city that he claims shaped his life by naming a song after it. 'It is at the heart of all the things I love about music, from The Smiths, Joy Division, Oasis, New Order and The Stone Roses.'


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Big Colors follows Adams' 2017 album, Prisoner, which debuted at No. 3 on in the UK album chart, his highest ever charting position in the UK.

Professing his love for Manchester online around the album announce, Adams pays homage to the city that he claims shaped his life by naming a song after it.

'It is at the heart of all the things I love about music, from The Smiths, Joy Division, Oasis, New Order and The Stone Roses.'

After expanding its roster and musical scope into jazzier terrains with Jukka Eskola Soul Trio, Timmion now introduces Sami Linna Quartet. Led by guitarist Linna, this international group of elite players paves way for their full length album with the single release "Mode For Tomorrow" b/w "Umoya".

The single hints to what's to come with a deep modal tune referencing 1970's spiritual jazz on the A-side, and groovy soul jazz on the flip. You can immediately hear that these compositions have been crafted with thorough understanding of the tradition, but with passion and capability to breath them to life in this modern age.

The lineup is truly something to write home to. Linna himself has over 20 years of experience working in the Finnish jazz scene, same as saxophonist Jussi Kannaste. Organist Mikko Helevä plays in Jukka Eskola Soul Trio as well as a host of other top jazz groups. But it is drummer Dana Hall who's is the most seasoned member of this experienced troupe. Namedropping might seen lame, but in this case we'll take it there as Hall has worked side to side with Joe Henderson, Kenny Barron, Bobby Hutcherson, Ray Charles, Horace Silver, and Benny Golson to name a few.

Both tracks get a single edit treatment here and the full length versions will be available on the coming album. This is not jazz for the faint hearted, but the real deal meant for real people.

Propriété Privée is the pinnacle of Congolese musician Sammy Massamba’s style: a successful fusion of African and American music heritage, halfway between Franco and Otis Redding, Fela and Wilson Picket, King Sunny Ade and Aretha Franklin.

Home made in Paris, self-released in 1987, with only 1000 copies hand
distributed, the 4 tracks EP features the nastiest funk, boogie, soukous, rumba and electro pop soundclash the Eighties could offer.
Carefully restored, remastered and repackaged in total respect with its original release. The vinyl lacquer reissue was even made by its original author, the legendary André ‘Dédé’ Perriat. Sammy Massamba’s life story is printed together with photos and liner notes on the inner sleeve of the 12". He still
lives in France and is available for interviews, showcases, live shows and any
sign of the gratitude he deserves

Global pop star and 3-time Grammy winner Angélique Kidjo has partnered with 2015 Grammy producer of the year Jeff Bhasker (Kanye West, The Rolling Stones, Beyonce) for a full circle re-imagining of Talking Heads' 1980 landmark album Remain in Light. The album features appearances by Alicia Keys, Questlove of The Roots, Ezra Koenig of Vampire Weekend, Blood Orange, Tony Allen, Angelique's longtime guitarist Dominic James, and Magatte Sow (percussionist for the 'Black Panther' film score). Visual artist Kerry James Marshall collaborated on the album artwork.

An exploration of traditional Chadian music with an electronic twist...

Chad is in many ways a blind spot on the map of today's global musical conversation. Overlooked, misunderstood and misrepresented, outside observers rarely concede the country an autonomous voice over its past, present and future. N'Djamena, the dusty capital of Chad with its well-kept stories of boundary-breaking musical collaborations and thirst for experimentation is a city that reflects the country's diversity: the arid North, bordering the Sahara, where nomadic tribes revere the endless desert with their handcrafted instruments. The lush tropical South, where the frenetic drumming of local initiation ceremonies blends with sounds of neighboring Congo and Cameroon. Right in the middle: N'Djamena, a forgotten melting pot of cultures and peoples bursting with unrecorded stories of life at the margins of the world's attention.

Tackling this view is precisely one of the aims of Pulo NDJ. In May 2018, Nickodemus accepted an invitation from Hape Collective to travel to N'Djamena to teach a group of young adults DJ'ing and electronic music production, which resulted in the encounter between and a group of talented artists from Cameroon, Chad, Congo and Togo. After a weeklong series of listening to original songs & demos, the recordings continued in a pop-up studio created by DJ Buosis & Nickodemus which culimated in Desert To Douala, an album featuring 11 songs, all originally written and recorded in N'Djamena.

The project found its inspiration in the city's un-narrated diversity and seeks to explore the possibilities offered by technology to demonstrate how the country's rich heritage connects with existing musical conversations. It strives to create bridges in a world of walls. It has been a yearlong creative process that built friendships and fostered understanding among people united by a passion for music and creation.

Unshrouded in mystery: what once started as an anonymous underground project with stamped white labels and a clever take on sampling, has since then unfolded to be one of the longest-running and most successful teams in current dance music. Nurtured by the sounds of the past and blessed with the techniques of today, the music of Tiger & Woods always kept evolving in and around the tropes of disco, house and boogie. Classic dance music, if you will.

Celebrating the 10th anniversary this year, Marco Passarani and Valerio Delphi managed to arrive at album number three. A.O.D. is a pun on A.O.R. (adult oriented rock) and a play on their own sound. Defying the restricting rules electronic music record shop crates, it's a departure and an arrival at the same time. Inspired by the faded buildings and images of discotheques on the Italian countryside, the romantic start and bittersweet endings of summer, beach life and the excitement of travelling through the landscape to get to aforementioned temples of dance and subsequently the morning after.

Except for the 100% sample-free 1:00 am, everything on A.O.D. is based on a quiver of cleared samples from the Roman institution that is Claudio Donato and his Full Time and Goodymusic emporium. In Tiger & Woods hometown Rome, the often very electronic and futuristic sound of Italo Disco had a different twist. Much more boogie-based and influenced by the song-writing styles of New York City's dance scene, it played in a league of its own. Tiger & Woods use these materials to take them apart, out of context and into contrasting areas. Molding something completely new, one gets fooled to recognize Sade songs that aren't, pop music instrumentals and a reprise of memories that never existed. A ride through ones brain in a convertible with an Italian FM radio station playing in the background. Or to use less stiff poetry: a chill out album you can dance to or a dance album you can chill out to. Adult Oriented Dance.

Ronnie McNeir has been associated with Expansion for over 30 years through his own Setting Sun label. Now on 7' for the first time in the UK Expansion bring something special for Record Store Day, 500 hand numbered copies of the 1981 Detroit soul single 'My Baby'. An original copy will set you back £100 and these limited edition RSD pressings will become sought after too. 'Hold On' comes from the 1989 Expansion album 'Life & Love', and is released for the first time here on 7' single. Ronnie currently tours as a member of The Four Tops and is back to perform a rare solo concert in June 2019 as part of this year's Blackpool International Soul Festival.

- Utopia Music are extremely proud to present UM022, Hydro's debut album 'Lateral Thinking'. - Spread over 3 plates (4 including the sampler), Hydro manages to really showcase the variety and musicality that he's known for. With over 20 years of experience, he manages to comfortably wear his many influences whilst offering something both fresh and new at the same time. The palette covers light and dark, warm & cold, ambience, jungle, funk, soulful, techy, rolling, half time, 130 & 140 bpm, hip hop, jazz, tribal, and even meditative vibes. Inspired by a lifetime of music, travel and memories the aim was to deliver an eclectic album that could satisfy both the DJs and the headz whilst also being able to transport the listener elsewhere on an emotional and cerebral level. Dance music that can work beyond the dance floor.

- Hydro has been releasing incredible music since 2003 on almost all of the big labels. Since his production beginnings collaborating with Break, he has continued to work on many different styles and with many other different producers. He's become known for his musical diversity and his name is synonymous with quality & finesse. It's an absolute honour to be able to introduce his debut album to you. This project also features War, who again establishes himself as one of the best engineers in the game. Since first collaborating in 2011, Hydro & War have proven to be a formidable team, known for consistently delivering essential releases, including for Utopia. The only other artist featured on the album is Mateba, who joins in for two of the more uplifting tracks. A talented French producer and a long time collaborator of both Hydro & War.

Jason Letkiewicz has always swum against the musical tides, flitting between different solo pseudonyms (including Steve Summers, Death Commando and Alan Hurst) and collaborative projects (most notably Mutant Beat Dance) in order to explore different aspects of his leftfield inspirations. With his latest release, a first full-length outing for Artificial Dance entitled Mirage Information, the Chicago-based artist is operating under an alias that celebrates this approach: Opposing Currents.

It's an alias he's used once before - for a track featured on Chronditic Sound's 2015 cassette compilation Non-Christian Referent - but Mirage Information sounds like an artistic rebirth. Densely layered, mind-altering and often intense, the album's seven tracks update the Cold War paranoia and pulsating electronics of EBM and industrial music for today's complex and chaotic political climate.

Throughout, Letkiewicz smothers off-kilter drum machine rhythms and throbbing, body-jacking synthesizer basslines in untold layers of hazy audio detail, creating a dystopian sound soup out of which alien electronic melodies, psychedelic acid lines and barely audible vocals emerge. At times, such as on angry opener 'Lying Awake', the extra-terrestrial 'Dissolve' and foreboding 'Shallow Grave', we're invited to dance in the darkness in celebration of impending doom. On other occasions, such as the poignant and melancholic closing cut 'It Awaits', Letkiewicz simply seems exasperated at the chaos that is life in the 21st century. It makes for a genuinely arresting and thought-provoking listen.

Compilation of work from the group, spanning 1986 to 1991.. Dub infused experimental tunes here!

Politico dub-collage practitioners Guerilla Welfare came from Edmonton, Alberta, coincidentally the birthplace of prophetic media sage Marshall McLuhan. Armed with vanguard ideas taken from Steve Reich, Fela Kuti, Robert Fripp and Material, the duo of Curtis Ruptash and Brian Schultze adopted the 'studio as instrument' mindset of Eno and King Tubby creating complex textural and polyrhythmic sonic insurgencies. They overdubbed drum computers, guitar, bass, noise-makers, mallet percussion, sitars, often accompanied by sampled vocals and found sound taken from TV. Their pan-global, multi-media palette supported zeitgeist commentary — often, with a healthy dose of gallows humour — on gender, power structures, and sexual and geopolitical tensions in the late 80s. Their DIY bunker studio experimentations align them with genre defying dub-infused outfits like African Head Charge, Dome, Lifetones, Naffi, Woo, Negativland and The Residents. The Nature of Human Nature captures Guerilla Welfare's most formidable output, compiling tracks selected from their entire discography (two LPs and a cassette collaboration with poet Mary Howes), all originally self-released from 1986 to 1991. Remastered from the original tapes.

A cat may have nine lives, but Peter Cat Recording Co. has a multitude of dimensions. Formed in New Delhi around 2010 by the crooner Suryakant Sawhney, it's a group that's mutated over time, shedding members and accruing more, always evolving musically with each album: from gypsy jazz to psychedelic cabaret; ballroom waltzes to epic space disco; bossa supernova to uneasy listening. What's more they play jajj, which you've almost certainly never heard of. 
'Gypsy jazz is the description we used around the time of our first album Cinema that we sound nothing like now,' says Sawhney, before adding: 'At the time I was really into Strauss.' 

Portrait of a Time 2010 - 2016 is the first taste many Europeans will have of this highly original, musically capricious and deeply inscrutable New Delhi four-piece. The compilation helps you get to know a band who are essentially unknowable, not that that will stop you from trying. Furthermore, in a capital city known for its mystery, madness and mayhem, Peter Cat Recording Co. is something of ananomaly there too. 

While Suryakant's crooning is spookily reminiscent of a hipster 50's Sinatra, it was more his intention to ape legendary Bollywood playback singers like Kishore Kumar, Mohammed Rafi and especially Hemant Kumar. There are diverse American influences in the mix too, including Sam Cooke, Etta James and even Tom Waits, and time spent in San Francisco studying film may have contributed to the cinematic melange. Thrown together it becomes something unique that equates less to a listening experience and more to an out-of-body experience. 

They were signed to new French record company Panache after label boss Alexandre Rabia was trawling through YouTube one day and happened upon their remarkable promo for 'Love Demons'. It's a mind-blowing eight minute epic featuring the desert, one camel, a movie theatre, swirly organs over coruscating beats, dancing girls, more police and a cavernous pit that then-bassist Rohan Kulshreshtha falls into. 

You can try to compartmentalize them all you want, but just when you think you've got them pegged, they will evolve and transmogrify and the description you have in your hand will slip through your fingers like sand. Who knows if Peter Cat Recording Co. has nine lives, but you can listen to a past life on Portrait of a Time, and a future incarnation - much of it recorded in Paris - will be available in the autumn. Just remember, unlike a cat, you'll never put them in a box. 

Gregorio Gomez aka Gladkazuka is a mythical figure from Medelli´n's underground nightlife, contributing since pre - smartphone ages with energetic live sets to the celebration of life in the convulsive surrounding of the Colombian city. After playing and touring alongside Matias Aguayo with 'The Desdemonas' and contributing with the club smash hits 'Ihr Euer' and 'Futuro Chaos' to the 'Solidarity Forever' series on Co´meme - Gladkazuka is back with a full EP in which highly emotive and sensual electro dance fantasies culminate to 'The Drop'. Gomez' creations are nocturnal and lush, utopian and melancholic - underground dance pop that would be mainstream in a better world.

However these songs were created in a place where an unseen destruction of nature is taking place, and - in mids of times of supposed peace agreements - social leaders are being assassinated under the eyes of a new right wing government. Meanwhile the societies are fragmented towards a growing individualism and competition, exchanging dignity for an ideal of consumerism.
In this chaos, music becomes the celebration of life.

'Naturalia', the first track of the EP reflects this with its lushness and its jungle - like humid warmth, 'Flancing' with its happy flying fishes and 'El Coral' with its jittering electric eels.

'The Drop' is decontextualized Electro and New Wave - echoes of The Cure and The Other People Place dissolving into utopian dreaming, longing for better times, like vampire bats, hanging in their caves, waiting for the night to come.

Born from Music of Life archive tapes (previously believed lost) which were uncovered by Robin Allinson in a Publishers warehouse in 2012.

The source material for this special record is" 1989 Hustlers Convention Live" (SPOCK1) ".

A Live Hip Hop Album, famously sampled by The Prodigy for the 'Everybody In The Place' vocal. The tapes of the night were multi tracks with 6 channels of audio recorded, Decks (Mono), 2 Mics (Mono) and the Room (Stereo). Being so old the tapes were first 'baked' and then transferred from a Studer machine in to Pro Tools via Prism Sound A/D converters at FX Rentals / FX Copyroom, Acton, London.

Notable performances by Artists on the Night came from MC Duke & Merlin; Mark The 45 King; Demon Boyz; Daddy Freddy. DJ's on the night were Westwood and Cut master Swift. Sections of their sets between Artists was captured. What did not make the Album was the Battle instigated by Overlord X coming on stage and stopping proceedings to battle MC Duke. As Duke once told me "X stuttered on the Mic".

Listening back, it's gold and puts Queen Latifa popping up in context. While restoring the Album as a multi track mixdown Robin started a series of new music projects plundering the MOL tapes and formed Stay On Target records to release them. Recordings were sent to: Sonars Ghost (SOT000), Stormski, 6Blocc, Bay B Kane and the last instalment was by Robbee Darkhalf.

"Incarcerated deejay touts Sikka Rymes as next big thing in dancehall" say the Jamaica Star headlines; referencing Vybz Kartel and Sikka's cousin Shawn Storm, all of Portmore's Gaza Nation dancehall royalty...........

So then we have Love Di People EP: Sikka's first solid gold release after strings of strictly Vevo hits ('Life of the Party', 'Nuh Change') lie between his previous hook up with producer Genesis Hull (on Duppy's 2016 Fresh Clipp'd). Genesis' prods are pure widescreeen sub-tension and speed - now of Mexico City, he carries Sikka's flow into gleaming new future chrome jobs of the dancehall chassie, the madness of 00s dancehall returns for global review. In This Time Of Many Dancehall Think-pieces: Live Long And Grow Strong.

The weight of two year's of Drive demos caused Miro Tape to spontaneously burst into the world on Bokeh last year, we told you it was just a mixtape - Love Di People is the first wax seal on the Bokeh x Duppy Gun relationship, and not the last one of 2019. Founded by Sun Araw and M. Geddes Gengras, Duppy Gun pairs under-cover West Coast producers with Jamaican vocalists like G Sudden, Early One & others from their island HQs in Portmore & Spanish Town.

Christy Essien was one of the leading female recording artists of her time in Nigeria. She was born in Akwa Ibom State in 1960 and enjoyed an accomplished career as a musician and an actress. Having conquered the music and TV worlds Christy moved on to feature in some of the early Hollywood films such as "Flesh and Blood" and "Scars of Womanhood", both of which addressed issues of child abuse and female circumcision. With a desire to make life better for Nigerian artists. She is also credited as having initiated the first meeting that brought about the formation of the Performing Musicians Association of Nigeria in 1981.

Dubbed Nigeria's "First Lady Of Song", Christy produced a respectable 9 studio albums across a number of labels. Her fifth album "Give Me A Chance" was released in 1980 by Afrodisia, and is being officially reissued again by the prolific Nigerian label.

"Give Me A Chance" showcases an impressive move on from her last album with a nice amount of variety. Her classic funky disco sound is most evident in what is her most notable song on the album "Rumours". This much sought after disco number is joined by a couple more disco grooves such as "Nobody Can Stop You" and "Onwu". "Ife" meaning love inflicts a little bit of reggae into the mix while the remaining tracks ("Saboteurs", "Don't Let Me Down", "Ikan Idomo" and title track "Give Me A Chance") take more of a traditional afrobeat - meets ballad approach.

Christy died after a brief illness in 2011. Close to the time of her death, she was involved in numerous successful businesses, organization and running the non-governmental organisation Essential Child Care Foundation involved in child welfare. Christy's achievements and awards are numerous. Too numerous to mention. Perhaps her greatest achievement however is her contribution to building a peaceful and tolerant Nigeria - which, alongside moral uprightness, remain constant themes of her songs.

Connaisseur posthumously releases Daso's self-titled long player to create a final memento for his musical legacy.

We first came in touch with Daso when we saw him performing live at the
Dachkantine in Zurich around 2006. He really had this stage talent which
fascinated us straight from the beginning. At this party we agreed on the first release on Connaisseur, the "Adventure EP" including the strong "Sam n Max", which was a great presentiment of the many releases to come.
Daso was a unique character with a lovely sense of humour, and surprising quirks which could be like marvels to us. One moment, we would be worried just seeing him crossing a busy street and in the next, he would be rocking the stage with major self-confdence and the attitude of a real rock star.
In our history of Connaisseur, he defnitely was one of our most important
artists, and some of his best music was released with us. He played many label nights, and together we enjoyed uncountable laughs, discovered cities and countries while touring and collected invaluable memories.
It is the way of the world that we as a label eventually focussed on new artists, and Daso, too, embarked in new directions. We still stayed in touch, even though the gaps between our contacts became bigger with time. The frst time we realized that Daso was ill was in the frst quarter of 2016. We had invited him to our 10th anniversary party in Berlin, but he didn't feel well enough to be able to come. Shortly after this, he went to the doctor and was diagnosed with cancer. We were shocked. Daso was always such a positive person, it simply didn't add up for us that someone like him could get sick.
Obviously an irrational and unjust thought, but it just felt so unfair.
When he started chemo therapy I spoke to him on the phone, and my label partner Martin, who lives in Berlin, gave him a frst hospital visit early in summer of that year. A bit later we visited him together, and yes, he was optimistic, still full of humour and also motivated to pick up his career again as soon as possible. This impression was of course only from a distance, but I was delighted to see how confdently he presented himself on socials after all his treatments, and how after recovery he started playing gigs again.
At some point I realized Daso hadn't been active on his socials for a while, which concerned me. This was in the frst quarter of 2018. His last post on Facebook had been made on November 30th and I knew this couldn't bode well. After contacting some common friends I was told his prospects were not good. I was about to go on an Easter holiday but planned to visit him on my next monthly trip to Berlin. I didn't have the chance. On Easter Monday, April the 2nd, 2018 Daso passed away.
At Daso's funeral, which was on a wonderfully sunny day in late spring, his father came up to me and asked if I might be interested in releasing this album, which Daso had been able to fnalise in the last months and weeks of his life. We didn't decide on doing so lightly, knowing that the release of a post-mortem album can bring up certain issues. However, in the end, we agreed to do it, as we sincerely strive to create a fnal memento for Daso's musical legacy.

The self-titled album Daso will be released on April 5th, three days after the first anniversary of Daso's obit.

In 1978, Seattle funk group Epicentre recorded the infectious boogie wonder: 'Get Off The Phone', written by the group's keyboardist, Stacy Christenson, with Bernadette on lead vocals. The song was featured on a compilation at the time, KYYX:FM Seattle Grown, but never got released on a 45.
Fast forward three years, there was another call to make! Bernadette met Stevie Wonder and formed a lifelong friendship, prospective recordings were made, including a re-recording of 'Get Off The Phone'. Until now it has been locked away, therefore we are thrilled to bring the two versions together on a 7'' single, authentically packaged in a picture sleeve.

We Are Mattimatti. Two Mattis Living In Different Countries - Sweden (malmö) And Germany (berlin). We Travel Around The World Playing Music While Asking Ourselves, 'who Are We'. The Answer Seems To Change Just As Our Surroundings Do. But The Music Stays With Us And So Does The Friendship. It Is Cliché That It's Hard To Put A Label On Music. And To Say It Has Almost Become A Cliche Itself. But Whole Meaning Of Music Is To Listen To It And Create Your Own World By It. To Create One's Own World One Needs Space. Space That Is Not Interrupted By Either Style Or Defining Categories. Mattimatti Is An Attempt To Step Into That Space Creating Music That Is Solely Built On Improvisation. Our Music Is An Invitation To Places Not Yet Known, Where Rhythmic, Suggestive And Meditative Soundscapes Meet The Present Moment. Music Represents Many Things For Us. First Of All, It Is In-sync With Our Friendship, When The Relationship Is Stuck So Is Our Music. Our Music Is Therapy. We Need To Be Authentic With The Music In Order To Have A Real Friendship And The Other Way Around. As Friends And Musicians We Welcome The Unexpected. This Has Lead Us To Places Where We Never Would Have Ended Up In If It Weren't For The Music. In That Way, Music And Life Walk Hand In Hand. If We Dare To Be Real About It. We Are Living In A World Full Of Confusion When It Comes To Identity. It's Easy To Loose Yourself. All Of A Sudden You Are Standing There Playing Music But Missing The Music At The Same Time, Or Hanging Out With Your Best Friend While Missing The Friendship. We Are Trying To Stay Connected. It Is A Constant Task. We Lose It But Then We Find It Again, Just Like Everybody Else. Sometimes It Ends Up In Music For The Moment. Sometimes It Ends Up In The Shape Of A Record. We Met On The Streets Of Berlin In Spring 2013 While One Of Us Was Playing On The Streets. After We Played The First Time Together, There Was No Question That We Would Travel A Musical Journey Together From That Day. Mattimatti Was Initiated. On Our Quest We Began Playing Improvised Tunes On Sitar And Hang On The Street While Travelling Through Sweden And Germany. This Lead Us To Be Invited To Numerous Festivals All Over Europe While Constantly Developing Our Music And Sound. Since Then Our Set Has Added New Instruments Such As A Drum Kit With Hang, African Harps, Sitar, Guitar, Harmonica, Clarinet, Hank Drum And Vocals On Top Of It Extending The Sound With A Space Echo. The Long, Intimate Tunes That We Are Creating Have An Original Structure And Sound. There Is A Certain Present Resting In The Music Which Is Hard To Describe But Easy To Experience If You Listen To It. Our Live Concerts Have Been Dubbed Mythical, Hypnotic, Magic And Epic. Traveling Is Our Biggest Influence On Music. Mattimatti Are Now Both Based In Berlin & Malmoe And Work Together With The Contemporary Circus, Dance And Music Group - kollektiv Knaster .

Transversales Disques presents KSHATRYA, (The Eye Of The Bird), never released before
recording by french avant-garde electronic composer Igor Wakhevitch, who composed a bunch of
major experimental albums in the 70's such as Logos, Docteur Faust, Hathor, Les Fous d'Or,
Nagual and Let's Start.
During this 10 years period, Wakhevitch was close to Jean-Michel Jarre, the Pink Floyd, the Soft
Machine, and legendary choreographer Maurice Bejart having with him many conversations around
dance and music, human body and soul, spiritual path, collective life, new society, human evolution.
As a composer Igor Wakhevitch collaborated with Salvador Dali, Carolyn Carlson, and Terry Riley to
name a few. He's considered as one of the first French composer using synthesizers like Synthi
AKS, ARP2600 or Moog modular systems.
After spending almost 30 years in India, Igor Wakhevitch dug in his archives this unreleased work
recorded in 1999 on his 'Mysterious Island 88' system. Esotheric, sacred and cosmic, KSHATRYA,
(The Eye Of The Bird) is the logical follow up of Igor's early works and a monumental piece of
electronic music. A must!

Lavascar is a sound and music project by creative instigator and provocateur Michèle Lamy, multi-disciplinary artist Nico Vascellari and Lamy's daughter, the artist Scarlett Rouge.

Following the release of their debut album A Dream Deferred in 2017 - which was inspired by Langston Hughes' poem Montage Of A Dream Deferred, the trio will release new album Garden Of Memory through The Vinyl Factory label.

Drawing on the work of Lebanese-American poet, journalist and artist Etel Adnan, Garden Of Memory explores the tension between the organic and industrial, layering both Rouge and Lamy's idiosyncratic delivery over Vascellari's ambient and EBM-influenced electronics. After Vascellari described the debut LP as 'an evocation of Michèle Lamy sitting in a cave, surrounded by wild beasts ready to devour her', Lamy says the new record has loftier concerns: 'So far it seems like we are more in the cosmos... We are coming out of the hole!' Lamy continues: 'I like poetry, I don't like when there is sentence that tells you everything, I like suggestion.' It was for this reason that Lamy was drawn to the 93-year-old Adnan - 'a woman explaining what's going on in life. We can say everything is political, this is especially important.' It's a sentiment that Scarlett Rouge echoes: 'She wrote political poetry, and she is a journalist, so that's why I think when Michèle discovered her there was an immediate sense that this is now what needs to be felt and said.'

Last year saw The Last Poets celebrate their 50-year anniversary with the righteous, politically-charged poetic record, "Understand What Black Is". Now to continue the party, Brighton production-maestro Prince Fatty has reworked the album with a fresh twist and blend of smooth, dub-delights. Set to land on the 29th March, the revolution marches on - this is "Understand What Dub Is".

After Prince Fatty's involvement in the production of the original project, he was the perfect person to help update the record with five decades of experience for a new audience to enjoy. The ten tracks of "Understand What Black Is" depict a relevant, historical philosophy of identity and race that has followed The Poets over the last 50 years. Since the origins of the civil rights movements back in the late 60's, Abiodun Oyewole and Umar Bin Hassan (two of the longest-standing group members) have provided social commentaries and a voice to African-American consciousness that has now been heard on a global scale.

Their raps, exploitations and insights quickly evolved into the origins of hip-hop in Harlem, New York back in 1968, and now in 2019 they continue to voice their dedication to the cause with the backing of slick rock-steady infused beats to keep things moving. Having had their work sampled by the likes of NWA, Dr Dre, Kanye West, Snoop Dogg and countless others is just a testament to the timeless sounds and prophecy they have created, and now Prince Fatty has stepped up to put his stamp on it.

Prince Fatty's ever-reliable work gives "Understand What Black Is" another lease of life as he maintains an undeniably slick groove throughout. Both therapeutic and warm, the soulful rhythms of "Understand What Dub Is" provide the perfect platform for The Last Poets to delve into everything from Trump's inauguration, nods to Biggie Smalls and respect to Prince. The calm, collective and downright thought-provoking words go hand-in-hand with the roots-driven reggae medleys with ease - this is dub in its rawest form.

Not only do these songs explore personal struggles and individual endeavours, they also represent a collective of deprived aspects of humanity and socialism, that perhaps now need to be pointed out more than ever. Although there is a variation of sound, the overlying topics remain a constant - it is time to "Understand What Black Is" once more.

Life is all about rhythms. We don't know what we're dancing to until we're in so deep we can no longer control ourselves. The rhythm controls us.

Right now both Guti and the Martinez Brothers are dancing to the conga rhythm. Guti's third album, they've been dancing to it since the summer, teasing us with a whole slew of percussive new... And they'll continue throughout 2019. Chance are you will, too. Eventually the rhythm will control all of us. It's too infectious not to.

Here's the 411: 'The Year Of The Conga' is Guti's third and most rooted album to date. It came about through a personal request from brothers Chris & Steve Martinez. Both unapologetic Guti fans they wanted the very first album on their Cuttin' Headz label to be his. The result is a total reconnection back to his Argentinian foundations, his club roots and everything that first lured him to the dancefloor...

'I'm back to my roots and found my Latino groove again,' says Guti who wrote the album throughout 2018, starting it whilst bulleting through Japan by train, the majority crafted in the jungle of Dominican Republic, having collected and sampled native percussion instruments, and then finally mixing down on his return to Europe. 'Every song is full of rhythm and created to make you dance...'

He's not messing around; from the writhing snakelike percussion and rousing calls and cries of opener 'Aee' right through to the final mesmerising waves and farewell struts of finale 'Voladora' this an album is born both for and from the dancefloor. No overthinking, no purism, no exclusion; just unabashed physical hypnosis, fuelled for the floor, guided with gut instinct and years of groovecraft. It's the sound of an artist who's disconnected, explored and reconnected. He's older, he's wider and more in tune with his own pace and palette. One of the most diverse and explorative artists to come from Loco Dice's Desolat stable, this is Guti simplifying his passions down to an essence of everything that's magic about his roots and our shared dancefloor culture.

The highlights are in abundance; those hazy-but-persistent New Jersey organs on 'Telling The Truth', that wobbly sub on 'Red Eye', that shimmering sinewy acid line on 'Se Baila', the spicy pianos and wet horns of 'La Orchestra Fantasma', the list goes on. Each cut designed for deep mix pleasure, each cut rolling with a strong organic flavour and alluring percussive dynamics, each cut showing Guti at his most inspired, warmest, playful and ready to wrap you up so deep in a conga you'll soon lose yourself.

Cuttin Headz, cuttin straight to the chase but never cutting it fine... Let us be the first to wish you happy new year with the first ever album on the currently unstoppable label. We'll wish you a happy new conga, too. 2019's going to be a vintage and Guti and the Martinez Brothers are leading the charge.

In 1959 Michel Giacometti moved to Portugal and dedicated the following thirty years of his life recording traditional music all over the country. In the present decade Portuguese music has been thriving and finally travelling abroad, long gone are the days those hidden gems were kept in secret in this distant corner of Europe. The discovery of current Portuguese music sparked an interest to Portuguese music, past and present.
With both of those ideas in mind, Giacometti and the interest in Portuguese music, 'Antologia de Música Atípica Portuguesa' creates an anthology of current sounds to the future. You can see it as history being made or a broad catalog of sounds that live and breathe the experimental and electronic that is happening in Portugal. The first step happened two years ago with the releasing of the first volume on this anthology, 'O Trabalho' ('The Labour') and we now move onto Vol. 2, 'Regiões' ('Regions'), with each track connecting with a different province from Portugal.
Some names return to this volume, like Live Low with the beautifully haunting 'Montemor' or Gonzo (our own Gonçalo F. Cardoso), affirming his path in building detailed and processed field recordings music. More than a list of names, or songs, this second volume of 'Antologia de Música Atípica Portuguesa' recreates a passage throughout different landscapes of Portugal, constantly leaving a trail of past, present and future. The trail doesn't limit itself to the music, but to the traditions contained in the sounds and the stories spelled by the words.
The beautifully slowed haunting-waltz 'Por Riba', by Síria (Diana Combo), sets everything in motion and builds the way to Random Gods' upbeat march 'Gazulo à Estronca da Santosa'. 'Malta Inquieta' (Ondness) embraces the most modern/contemporary side of this volume, proving that 'Regiões' goes beyond the idea of catalog or even its own concept of 'anthology' and provides music that's hard to categorize or even judge by modern standards. We are not afraid to say it: 'Malta Inquieta' is an experimental jazz-electronic modern gem.
It's followed by the guitar of Rui Carvalho, aka Filho da Mãe, with 'Manta', closing the A side with one of his enchantments. B side strikes with the aforementioned 'Montemor', setting the tone for a different trip, building up on more abstract and freeform music by Banha da Cobra ('Asylo'), Fantama ('Lamento das Beiras') and the track by Gonzo. 'Regiões' finishes with the right tone, fields recordings worked by Luís Antero, that tie the connection between Giacometti and the now - with the now still happening and building up on the story of the future 'Antologia de Música Atípica Portuguesa'.

Following "Night Moves" and "Kids We Own The Summer" and its harmonious keyboards, H-Burns goes back to the quintessence of his music style: an impeccable songwriting praised internationally and an interpretation undeniably precise. To narrate in one album the only two stories worth being narrated " the one about a man living his home, and the one about a man coming back to his home " H-Burns (aka Renaud Brustlein) first matured his project isolated in a home-studio owned by French underground collective La Souterraine before bringing it to the studio with a team of musicians and engineers that he meticulously picked as usual : Earl Harvin from Thidersticks on the drums, Kate Stables from This Is The Kit as a vocal guest, Noah Georgeson (The Strokes, Andy Shauf, etc.) for the mixing, etc.
Understandably title "Midlife" this new album recorded on analog tapes tells the story of a man who looks back over the journey of his life, remembering his dreams of glory, the lost love stories, what he left behind from the others and from himself.

Any self-respecting scene can not do without a muse. Albeit a fragile one. Xen is a central figure in the (now not so) new Tel Aviv scene, having fluttered from projects to projects (with Red Axes, with Yovav Arzi or the soon to come Levantines), being herself kind of everywhere she goes, fragile yet strong, as if she was gaining gravity from both the little black hole inside of her and from the Garzen galaxy. These four tracks written and produced with Dori Sadovnik from Red Axes may be the epitaph to Xen are romantic underachiever, her chrysalis. Pere Adam has been a hit (whatever that means these days) with many luminaries such as Vladimir Ivkovic or Ivan Smagghe, pure angst in psychedelic dub. On Zel Meshugah, Xen & Dori amp the gothic, though more moon than beach, proving once more that all good songs are about heartbreaks. There is a certain sixties folk air to Ir Beton, some lofi sun shining through Xen's adolescent clouds. This new found positivity finds its expression in the flea market funk of Sugar & Wine, Xen shouting to the stars that life, even if bumpy, is now really worth living. -Words By Ivan Smagghe

Recorded in Stockholm and produced by FAMILY_TIME and Maths Time Joy, who produced 'Best Friend', the mixtape follows the release of Ady's critically acclaimed debut album, 'Memories' in March 2018. Having worked on his debut album for some time, Ady wanted to release a collection of songs, ahead of writing and recording his second album.

A deft songwriter and a singer with soulful brilliance, Ady Suleiman has a rich era-spanning appreciation of music, and an innate need to turn life experiences into narrative. His timelessly classic yet fresh sound and lyrical distinctiveness has garnered him a broad range of influential fans from both sides of the Atlantic - from Chance the Rapper, Leon Bridges and Joey Bada$$ through to Labrinth, Michael Kiwanuka, Laura Mvula and Lianne Le Havas. Awarded 'Breakthrough Act of the Year' at Gilles Peterson's Worldwide Awards, Ady has been supported by the likes of The Fader, NME, Complex, The Line of Best Fit and Mahogany to The Independent and GQ (to name but a few).  

A collection of songs which originated as voice memos on his phone, Ady comments, 'I wanted to make a project that is a bit more free, I originally wanted to do an interludes or outtakes project, but over time it changed form. 'Thoughts & Moments Vol 1' is the result."

Movente Is A Debut Lp From A Vital And Long Standing Figure Of Italy's Clubbing Scene Under A Brand New Alias. That Alias Is Cleptophonic, And The Album, Due In 2019, Is An Autobiographical Collage Of Experimental Trip Hop Sounds That Is Truly Immersive.

Under A Former Alias, Cleptophonic Has Spent Years Djing And Experimenting In The Studio And Has Made A Real Impact On His Native Scene As A Result. He Is A Very Delicate Person With Serious Attention To Detail That He Puts To Best Use By Delving Deep Into What He Loves: Playing On Turntables And Immersing Himself In A Sonic Realm Cuts Him Off From The Real World And Acts As Therapy For This Meticulous And Selective Person And Artist.

He Is A Master Of A Stylish Musical Collage Technique - Both In Sound And Images. As Such Movente Is A Collage Of Different Sounds, Sampled With The Turntables And Put Together With Logic, While His Passion For Collage Also Spills Over Onto The Album Cover, Which Is Made By Pieces Of Paper From Magazines, Newspapers And Comic Strips. The Result Is An Experimental Trip-hop Album With A Singular Sound That Puts Together Pieces Of Life, Sounds And Images That Are Meaningful For Him, Especially The Last Song, Which Is Dedicated To His Mother Who Sadly Committed Suicide A Few Years Ago.

There Is A Beauty And Delicacy To The Music Throughout This Most Excellently Escapist Album That Is Utterly Absorbing. Pads Swirl Round Louche Beats, Crisp Hits Ring Out Into The Night And You're Left In A Deep State Of Contemplation Throughout. There Are Warped And Shimmering Cuts, Dub Tracks Drenched In Reverb And Melodically Rich Broken Beats. The Whole Thing Is So Spacious You Get Sucked Right Into The Centre Of It All And The Thoughtful Moods And Deft Sonic Details All Making A Truly Lasting Impact. This Is An Exquisite Album That Encourages You To Really Get Lost In A Unique Musical World.

Sink into ESO002, the debut EP from Canadian life collaborators Mutually Feeling (Ariana Molly and Pulsum). Produced across multiple continents, ESO002 is a truly international affair. Mutually Feeling have provided us with 5 tracks of gorgeous, sensual electro and ambient music. If you're longing for someone or something, this is the record to yearn to.

Warehouse Find!

Time flies when you're having fun and we can't fathom how this can be Ben Sun's 5th EP for Delusions Of Grandeur but it's true enough and once again he comes up trumps in the form of the Place Of Worship EP. Having previously graced such esteemed imprints as Royal Oak, Tru Thoughts, Razor n Tape as well as his own vinyl-only label Voyeurhythm the London based Australian producer continues to be both highly regarded, yet somewhat under the radar but we're sure that's about to change with this incredible new three tracker.

Opening up we have See It Come Shining, just the kind of life-affirming club track which seem to be in such short supply these days, but that we need now more than ever. Gospel flavoured piano chords tug on the heart strings whilst a simple, raw disco groove with added 909 punch creates a warmth and energy that transcends the dance floors that it's destined to liberate.

Flipping over we have Oceanways T150, a deep, analogue jam that harks back to simpler times when breakbeats collided with a house thump, uplifting pianos meld into punching basslines and discovering music through muffled old cassette mixtapes or patchy pirate radio reception was all we knew.

Rounding off the EP we have the perfect closer Atlantis Transfer. Here Ben puts more early influences into the mixing pot with ambient washes cascading down over a sublime 90's deep house bassline. Analogue hats and tripped-out sound FX skirt around a naive synth melody making for a heady late night treat to get lost in.

After the Swedish grammy-award winning "Sunday" and the 2017 EP 'Ta Paus', here is the third and last part of the 'Hemma'-trilogy.
The end of an exploration of HNNY's home ('hemma' in Swedish) where he both lives and makes all of his music.

Named after a turning point in the life of the artist, the EP is a deeply personal record about being at and away from your home. D
estinations and places fly by in and between tracks, with the track titles giving more hints about the journey.

The Palm Trees Whistle In The Pink Meteor Shower. An Entanglement Of Nature's Mystical Tones Settle. Sonics Trigger Movement In The Oceans Crust While Giants
Filter The Earth's Waters, Thrusting The Waters With Their Gnarly Space Knobs. The Damsel In Distress Is A Hadronic Mechanical Design Like No Other, Moulded, Tested And Shaped By The Entheogen Melanges Of The Omegian Race. Many A
Cosmic Knight Whipped There Sword Out To Retrieve , But In Rightful And Aware Conquest The Dilation And Deja Vu Of Multidimensional Experiences Returned The Opal Tone To The Omega Men. The Midi Rain Will Dance , And The Grooving Aqua Orbs Of Life Will Continue On. - Eddie

Black Friday LP now made a regular catalogue item. When it comes to authentic, ride-or-die hip-hop, few crews have as much resonance as Mobb Deep. Featuring two double-threat MCs who also produced - Havoc and the sadly-departed Prodigy - the crew changed the hardcore rap game in 1995 with their sophomore classic The Infamous, and went on to rule the dark corners of hip-hop for the second half of the 90s and well into the 2000s. After multiple Mobb Deep platters in the '90s, Prodigy entered the 2000s as a solo artist with force, rolling over a stomping, piano-freaked backdrop laced by producer The Alchemist, with Keep It Thoro.' It has held up over time, proving itself as an anthemic classic that the streets and clubs still respect. Flaunting a smooth-but-menacing flow, Prodigy's no-nonsense lyricism on Keep It Thoro' is prototypical modern age brag rap. Countless MCs have followed his flow, from Fabolous to Joey Bada$$. The song is short and sweet, clocking in at just over 3 minutes. There are no wasted verses, just hardcore rhymes that stay with you. But Thoro' was the tip of the iceberg on what proved to be one of the more coveted rap full-lengths of the era. The album boasted other charting singles, including Rock Dat Shit' and Y.B.E.' (featuring B.G.), but it can be argued that the album's real gems are buried deeper. Genesis,' What U Rep' (featuring Noreaga) and Three' are all sinister yet pensive. Wanna Be Thugs' and Delt With The Bullshit' are strong and evocative Mobb Deep cuts, featuring production and vocals by Havoc. And alongside other standouts, perhaps the deepest cut of all - especially in light of Prodigy's way-too-soon passing due to complications from Sickle Cell Anemia - is You Can Never Feel My Pain,' which details the health issues and challenges this talented MC and producer had been facing his whole life. H.N.I.C. was Prodigy's first solo album, but it is perhaps his best. Among fans he will never be forgotten, for his skills, his storytelling and his no-B.S. approach to the art of MCing.

Rian Treanor will release his anticipated debut album 'ATAXIA' on Planet Mu this March. The striking full-length follows singles for The Death Of Rave and Warp's Arcola imprint as well as live sets at Boilerroom x Genelec, Nyege Nyege festival, tours in India and various high profile EU shows.

The title 'ATAXIA' means 'the loss of full control of bodily movements' and relates to Rian's music which is 'intended to make people's bodies move in unpredictable ways.' He adds 'the angles in the letters, the phonetics seem to mirror the geometry and idiosyncratic patterns in the music.' Rian explains that components of the tracks were made by generating a series of irregular events and re-structuring them, or by destabilising a pattern that is constant.

When asked how the album compares with his previous releases, he says 'My earlier EPs share a similar interest in angular and asymmetrical rhythms that are designed for club sound systems,' adding 'they were more improvised, focusing on sequencing and pattern modulation, using standard drum sounds and synthesiser patches. ATAXIA is more focused and stricter, it's more co-ordinated in terms of the track selection and the rhythmic structures. I spent more time refining the synthesis and sound design, pushing it further than the previous releases.' He expresses an interest in exploring opposites in his music: 'fluidity and syncopation,' 'systematic and unpredictability,' 'reduction and extremity,' 'irregular symmetry,' 'easy listening and brutal'.
There's clear a conceptual backdrop, but the music itself is not overthought. There's an immediate joy to much of the album - check out ATAXIA_D3 with its wonderful cut-ups and modulations of the phrase 'people don't understand people.'

The roots of Rian's playful sound are directly linked to his love of the music he grew up with. Coming from Sheffield, you can hear elements of industrial, synth-pop, bleep, extreme computer music and speed garage at play. From Cabaret Voltaire to Warp and beyond; the sound of his city has been, and is, an integral part of his musical development and is still a direct influence.

Last year, he noted in an interview that "I'm not a computer programmer, I'm not an articulate person in that kind of way. I'm a visual artist." Now he elaborates 'I meant more that I'm a visual thinker.' Drawing and visual art have been a fundamental part of his life 'since I was a child. I got really into graffiti as a teenager and around the same time I got into mixing and these both developed together.' You can sense the mind of a visual artist at work in his music which is also reflected in the artwork he created for this project.

As well as his visual art, installations and multichannel sound works he is involved in numerous collaborations such as with composer Nakul Krishnamurthy exploring the common ground between Indian classical music and electronic music and his work with improv saxophonist Karl D'Silva, plus his time studying with Lupo at Dubplates and Mastering in Berlin (who taught him the 'importance of reduction') have all helped shape and push his sound into other unique and adventurous zones. Treanor is developing on different levels and in different forms all at the same time, re-imagining the intersection of club culture, experimental art and computer music, presenting an insightful and compelling musical world of fractured and interlocking components.

Fifth part of the Strata-East Dolphy Series, Glass Bead Games is arguably the crown jewel of the Strata East movement, an amorphous genre that treads an unusual path between post-bop, 70's avant-garde and spiritual jazz, with a groove.

Glass Bead Games is full of revelations at many levels. First, the decade of the 1970s did produce genuinely creative, "human" new music flowing from the jazz mainstream; second, Bill Lee was more than Spike's dad: he was a superlative bassist, a team player of the first order, a powerful catalyst who, if anything, deserves to be better known than his son; third, Billy Higgins was, as so many musicians insist, a once-in-a-lifetime drummer—the bellows inspiriting the collective flame.

Most importantly, Clifford Jordan was an artist of the first order, his playing so effortless and unforced, unselfconscious and focused, mature and wise that, at a time when altissimo fury was all the rage, it's small wonder his authentic voice frequently went unheard. His musical rhetoric is so personally expressive, its substance so compelling, the listener couldn't care less about the extraordinary technique required to convey its captivating message. Compared to some of his more acclaimed peers he's a less aggressive yet paradoxically more directive and shaping influence. The climaxes, rather than spelled out, are merely suggested, registering with deep and lasting impact on the listener. It all comes down to learning the language, those precious little beads. Not every player, including Jordan or the listener, can use it like Shakespeare, but all can learn to read Shakespeare and understand its principles of arbitrariness and serendipity, of invariance and transformation.

Jordan, no less than Shakespeare, requires a like-minded cast of players—in this case four musicians of such redoubtable proficiency that each remains committed to keeping the beads in play. He's not a man content with a mere musical "dialogue" with his fellow musicians nor is he about to take the initiative in pulling his troops up to his level. Instead he begins to tell a musical story that's so compelling his three comrades are inspired equally to contribute to a collaborative narrative. This is brilliant music-making by a Coltrane- influenced successor who feels no obligation to mime the predecessor. It may be the most significant saxophone performance on record since Coltrane and, providing the listener stays with it for any length of time, the most deeply satisfying. Jordan's game—so effortless, unforced, and "level"—erases distinctions between composed and improvised, soloist and ensemble, narrator and narrative, the dancer and the dance. It seems incapable of wearing out its welcome.

By Samuel Chell/All About Jazz