Top drawer cosmic-tinged, timeless jazz funk from Elixia, "Soho Phaze-/Soho Nights",
gets the remastered reissue treatment on "Record Shack".
"Soho Phaze" wasn’t going to be light on the effects was it? "Going heavy on the phaser" would have been an understatement, but what could have sounded like an endlessly swirling soup of effects turned into a breathtaking, intergalactic, early ‘80s jazz funk dream.
On the flip ‘Soho Nights’ keeps the effects subdued letting the squelching synth lines, feverish stabs and pure funk bass do the strutting. Both Sides still do the damage to this day, with DJs such as Nick The Record, Joey Negro, Mark Grusane, Medlar & Faze Action all regularly drawing for the mystique and mastery of this 12" big tip!
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Back again with a pair of edits in the lower BPM spectrum, Jim Sharp takes us on a regional tour of the South. Side A, breaks down then reassembles an early West Coast gangsta hit, Dopeman. Us-ing the OG drums and extending the breaks, this will rock dance floors and bass bins alike. The B side, takes us to the Dirty South with 808 kicks, sprinkler Hi-Hats and sweet Soul music. I Chose You Could be dropped at a bounce party or a wedding. Willie Hutch sounds like an International Player with the revamped construction and drums.
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Trackmaker Marcus D, who has worked with many artists.
Over his beats, a microphone relay of three MCs, Funky DL, Substantial, and Cise Star, will take place.
They had been part of Nujabes' previous work.
It also features a melancholy remix of "No one like you" by nitsua, who provided the song "No one like you" for the Nujabes tribute album "model soul classics II dedicated to nujabes".
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NNT’s Hakuna Kulala drop dancehall fire voiced by Kampala’s Swordman Kitala and Sekelembele on a pair of bouncing bombs produced by Scotch Rolex and DJ Die Soon.
Ruinous rave tackle on both sides of this plate, dialling up the energy of ‘90s Kingston and Brixton to equatorial boiling point with rowdy and industrial scale riddims supplied by two Japanese producers.
DJ Scotch Egg renames himself after Uganda’s favourite street food with a hardcore mix of dancehall and frenchtek strapped to rasping, barked vox by Swordman Kitala, while DJ Die Soon follows a turn for Rabih Beaini’s Morphine with a jabbing steppers beat for producer/MC Sekelembele, debuting on record like a turnt Elephant Man with ‘Moto Nyama’.
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Beautiful contemporary African music. Deep percussion with great guitar playing and vocal chants on top. Driving basslines all over the album. Spiritual feel! Tip
.
Son of the legendary Dr Philip Nchipi Tabane and heir to the malombo sound that he originated and pioneered in the early 1960s, Thabang Tabane has been touring the world playing with his father's band and other South African luminaries (such as Thandiswa Mazwai, Madala Kunene and Mabi Thobejane) since he was 8 years old.
Emerging into his own with his debut solo album, Matjale, this energetic percussionist carves a driving, joyous and worldly version of the malombo genre that takes in his continental travels. The album brims with ambition and an appetite for life. Employing brisk tempos, nimble basslines and intersecting polyrhythms, Thabang crafts songs cognisant of the hardships of life, but chooses to deliver them with an irrepressible optimism.
Expanding parameters of what is essentially an artform patented by his father, Thabang and his cohorts seem unburdened by pedigree, infusing the sound with a modern sensibility. His reverence for the vibrational resonance and drive of the bass guitar, not to mention his explosive bursts of hand drumming, gives the album an undeniable, cathartic exuberance.
Record Kicks presents a limited edition 45 with two deep soul winners from the enfant prodige Alexis Evans. On the A side the northern soul cut "She Took Me Back". On the flipside the rnb/soul floorshaker "It's All Over Now".
Heading from Bordeaux, the Anglo-French Alexis Evans is not a newcomer in the music scene. He discovered Afro-American music as a child and learnt to play guitar thanks to his father, an English musician. At the age of 17 he debuted with his first project "Jumping to the Westside", with which he was awarded the "Cognac Blues Passion" prize and flew to the "International Blues Challenge" in Memphis, Tennessee. Soon after in 2016 he exploded onto the French scene with "Girl Bait", his astonishing debut album that hit the airwaves of FIP, France Bleu, and Jazz Radio amongst the others. Despite his young age Alexis Evans has already built a household name, touring extensively his country with explosive live sets at RDV Erdre Nantes, Rhino Jazz St-Etienne, Lyon Ninkasi, Club Nubia Paris, Festivals Relâche Bordeaux, Jazz à Vienne as well as Festivals in England, Estonia, Switzerland and Wales.
A must have 45 for every soul djs and lovers. Watch out the 45 is limited to 500 copies worldwide.
More golden era heat from the nervous vaults! It keeps coming!
Another stripped back, rough & raw banger from the vintage mid-90's output of Brooklyn's Black Moon crew, a legendary group.
'Powaful Impak' . still sounds super heavy today, a swirling mixture of dancehall vox, Busta samples and ultra raw and banging SP1200 loops courtesy of the mighty Evil Dee & Mr. Walt aka Da Beatminerz. Nobody comes close to the ferocity of this, super hard, street level hip-hop that encapsulates NYC beautifully, ultra gritty! Throw on your timbs, Carhartt jeans and jump the turnstyle to this right here. Essential vintage rap, instrumental included. Cop that.
Fully legit, licensed and reissued by Above Board distribution in conjunction with Nervous Records, NYC. 2019.
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Boora & Mr. Robberhood (the latter is one of 3 members of KOVSH), out of Soviet Russia, release their first joint project, Soviet Aesthetics Vol.1. The title derived from the idea of conveying the Soviet art form on vinyl, using only soviet samples and synthesizers to present the new Russian-style, Golden Era 90's-influenced, instru-mental hip hop.
The initial cover concept was slightly different to how it materialised, quite plain and simple; with the traditional Soviet white and black colour scheme and a cover photo taken by Volodya Kurashev, a Soviet sculptor at the exhibition for Eugene Vucetic. The back cover is a picture of the duo 'cooking up heat' in the kitchen.
The duo are set to release volumes 2, 3 and maybe 4 in the future.
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CRUCIAL! *also highly limited with floppy disk artwork and spinning fantascope magic by Ellen G – C:\>ECHO not to be missed!
Two heavily dub-encrypted data packages by disrupt, retrieved from Jahtari deep storage and transferred to 7″ floppy disk for the very first time.
On side A 'Chip on Fire', a 2005 favourite, mutates through it’s dramtic arc with hypnotic bass pressure, exploding psycho-synths and CPU-straining mind bender moments until reaching an intense conclusion. 'Jojo’s Skank', the desperate battle against a merciless metronome on side B, gives a nod to the immortal ‘Monkey Island’ adventure game soundtracks by Michael Z. Land (1990 / 91). For those who know…
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We're delighted to kick off our 10th anniversary celebrations with a release from an artist we've long admired, Dusseldorf's Harmonious Thelonious. His explorations into minimalism and polyrhythms have been staples in our sets since we were first connected via the Salon des Amateurs, and we couldn't be happier to welcome him into the Highlife fold with one of his brightest sounding records yet - documenting his musical adventures in Uganda.
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Nkumba System, new project led by guitarist Guillo Cros (Romperayo) provides a vibrant fusion of catchy percussions, Afro-Colombian songs and Cameroonian guitar picking style linking Central Africa to the Caribbean! Nkumba System is about to fill the dancefloors with debut album ¡Bailalo Duro!, recorded between Bogotá and Paris.
On the imaginary highway of Guillo Cros, makossa crosses paths with cumbia, Zairean rumba combines with that of Cuba and last but not least, currulao melts into Malian desert blues. Cros' journeys led him to meet the Cameroonian singer Mama Ohandja, alongside whom he trained for several years. Thereafter, he resided in Bogotá from 2014 to 2019, collaborated with Pedro Ojeda in the band Romperayo and “Los Propios Bateros” (7” NYCT). His current project Nkumba System was born in 2018, inside Colombia's effervescent tropical music scene. The original line-up includes bassist Jhon Socha (Romperayo, la Makina del Karibe), singerpercussionist Leonel Merchan (La Phónoclórica) and Kike Narvaez on drums. Several singles were
released on local labels Tambora Records and Palenque Records, preceeding the arrival of Cameroonian guitarist Simba Daniel Evousa in the band. The drummer Pedro Ojeda, travelling companion in Romperayo, is invited on the track “Mujer hermana”, as well as the Malian singer Mamani Keita on “Paisano”. The album is mixed in
Amsterdam by sprawling musician Alex Figueira (Fumaça Preta, Conjunto Papa Upa, Music With Soul), in his studio Barracão Sound, and comes as a Limited Pressing.
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A little late for the summer season, no doubt, but trying to preserve that summer heat with two backyard BBQ classics. On one side, is a well edited and mixed version of the Isley’s Between The Sheets and Biggie’s Big Poppa. Flowing back and forth between the versions, this is dance floor gold. The flip is a original sample flip of Janet’s Funny How Time Flies and Camp Lo’s sampled LP title track Coolie High. A smoothed out gem.
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Rivertones - the recorded music of Caught by the River - have repressed their classic 2012 Dylan Thomas-in-dub 7" Under Dubwood by the Dubwood Allstars.
Although Under Dubwood might seem an incongruous mix - the words of Dylan Thomas, the voice of Richard Burton and the studio sounds of King Tubby - the resulting single actually makes perfect sense - a gloriously woozy psychedelic skank that places Llareggub somewhere just outside downtown Kingston, JA. Since its release five years ago, Under Dubwood has been a staple on BBC6 Music and was used as soundbed music for the BBC's coverage of Dylan Thomas' centenary in 2014. It remains hugely in demand from the Caught by the River shop and has been sold out for the last eighteen months. The identity of the Dubwood Allstars remains a mystery to all at Rivertones.
On the B-side of the Under Dubwood 7" is River Theme by the Time and Space Machine (aka acid house stalwart Richard Norris of the Grid and Beyond the Wizard's Sleeve). River Theme is a hypnotic, fuzzed-up garage groove that's equal parts Dirty Water Club and Trash.
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Aww yes, ain’t that fresh! Dusty Donuts coming correct with another batch of dope edits that will no doubt be rocking dance floors and accelerating the art of moving butts if you know what we mean. The A side, “Just A Touch Of Faith (Naughty NMX x Marc Hype) gives you the best of that Bob James/ De La/ Slave edits for your ear hole by revisiting Slave’s Just A Touch Of Love and applying the same breakbeat leverage that De La Soul gave to their Slave sample on Keepin’ The Faith. On the flip, NMX, this time in the company of Doc Flex, applies the same process to RAMPs’s Daylight, famously sampled by ATCQ on Bonita Applebum thus continuing their services to DJs everywhere with a perfect set opener or closer.
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Multidisciplinary artist, rapper, producer, and performer "Ojay Morgan" who performs as Zebra Katz is a first-generation Jamaican-American who burst onto the scene with the likes of Azealia Banks,
Angel Haze and The House of Ladosha, when his runaway hit single “Ima Read” paved the way for his distinctive genre-defiant sound.
'LESS IS MOOR', the debut album due out March 20, announces a deeper look into his sonic universe. Sexually charged and abrasive,
the collection is a bold, sonic experiment that meshes industrial hip-hop with drum ‘n’ bass and unidentifiable sonic territory.
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Music history is full of miracles and wonders. OFEGE is certainly one of them. It's quite easy to imagine this band's story turning into a movie. In 1973, a bunch of teenagers with an abundance of passion for music got their hands on the official school band's instruments and jammed away. Inspired by the psychedelic rock sounds and guitar wizardry of Carlos Santana, Jeff Beck or Led Zeppelin they wrote an album worth of songs and decided to have them recorded. The goal was to press them on vinyl - one copy for each band member - as a souvenir of the fun times they had together before their school careers would rip them apart. Shortly after, they found themselves with a major record label contract in their pockets, propelled to stardom in their hometown of Lagos/Nigeria and soon across the whole country. Three studio albums followed in the years to come. The unavoidable enviousness and bickering over "who's the true band leader, who's gets the most love letters" and such led to alterations of OFEGE's line-up and subsequently to its decay in 1978. With the turn of the century, OFEGE's coming-of-age drama has fortunately found a new generation of fans across the globe and will certainly continue to do so with this dearly needed reissue. OFEGE's debut album "Try And Love" will now be available digitally for the very first time since its inception 47 years ago.
It's true what they say: Life's writing the best stories.
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‘Is Love Enough?’ is the band’s sixth studio album and was recorded at Paul Weller’s Black Barn Studios in Surrey and produced by Stone Foundation’s founding members Neil Jones and Neil Sheasby. It continues their fruitful collaboration with Paul Weller who produced 2017’s Street Rituals and played on 2018’s ‘Everybody Anyone’ both of which have streaming figures in the millions. Paul contributes lead vocals to ‘Deeper Love’ and also prominent backing vocals on ‘Picture A Life’. He also joins the band and plays guitar on three other tracks (‘Af-Ri-Ka’, ‘Help Me’, ‘Love’s Interlude (II)’).
Stone Foundation are renowned for their collaborative approach and this time is no exception. Legendary actor Peter Capaldi provides a spoken word coda to the album, reading words by Vincent Van Gogh written about love. Additionally, two rising stars of the soul scene feature on the record. Durand Jones joins for a lead vocal on ‘Hold On To Love’ and Laville sings lead on ‘The Light In Us’.
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"All I Want Is Your Love" is an up-tempo R&B ballad with a strong hook-line and catchy chorus, an unreleased track from the recording sessions of Alex Puddu's album "Discotheque" featuring Rodney Stith on vocals, a talented American soul vocalist whose style reminds of Bobby Womack and The Temptations' David Ruffin. The flip side contains the full version of "Don't Hold Back", a record launch single that's become a hit especially among UK radio stations.
After being out of print for several years, Duval Timothy’s phenomenal ‘Brown Loop’ has finally been reissued. Recorded in New York in the winter months of 2016, this brand new edition features a slightly adjusted track listing. The release date is 2nd of October 2020, which happens to be the multidisciplinary artist’s birthday. Duval has asked me to write a few words about his record.
I often find myself listening to Duval’s music when traveling. On an airplane for example, where the comforting piano pieces are set starkly against the sound of the world passing by, the constant engine humming, air conditioning running. Or when I’m walking through a city I’ve not been to before, the music blending into the continuous noise of cars and motorbikes, anchoring me when I find myself in unknown surroundings. Grounding me, one note at a time, in contrast to a city that does the exact opposite. Duval’s compositions bring a sense of comfort where there is detachment. It’s the soundtrack for an immigrant (such as myself), alienated from wherever he came, but someone who also doesn’t fully belong to the place he set off to.
I heard Duval describe the music of Brown Loop as ascending a mountain, and after you reached the top you come down to the other end. Through rhythmic repetitive patterns, the music builds. Within the pieces, melodies stray away from the theme, into unknown territories, but always find their way back to a comfortable home. Most elaborately this happens on my favourite piece, Hairs. The patterns and melodies on pieces such as Through The Night and (recently added to the vinyl version) G are stripped down to their very essence.
It is not just jazz, it’s pure hip hop, as the hooks are reminiscent of the shards of melancholy legends like Dilla, Pete Rock and Havoc used in their best work. In terms of repetition, the music is also very techno. And like in all good techno, the patterns (perhaps contrary to popular belief) ooze humanity and emotion. But most of all Duval’s Brown Loop is a very personal record. it takes courage to expose your inner self like that in the most minimal of compositions. But once you find the right notes, the right pattern, music is the most beautiful thing in the world.
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Big Crown is proud to present this must have two-sider from El Michels Affair. The A side "Reasons" is a collaboration that is sure to get all the Soul collectors very, very excited. Last time Bobby Oroza was in New York El Michels invited him to the studio to cut a tune together. Bobby took this opportunity to take us all on a journey to the existential side of his mind on this gorgeous and ethereal ballad covered in lush guitar notes. Oroza's voice finds it's place perfectly over the track, talking us through the human struggle and still creating that energy that is uniquely his and has become his signa- ture sound. The B side "Hipps" is pulled from El Michels Affair's recently released modern masterpiece Adult Themes. In a day and age when the album format is being taken over by singles and playlists Adult Themes is a record that truly has to be listened to in the context of the whole album to be understood. This made it hard for us to pick a tune from it for this 7". "Hipps" cuts in with a crushing drum beat and is quickly joined by the unmistakable horn arrange- ments that Leon has become famous for. In true EMA fashion the arrangement on this piece can't be touched, closing one's eyes and listening will induce anyone to a vivid visual fantasy. It turns out to be something of a chapter from a book, and we recommend you treat yourself to the front to back experience of Adult Themes
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The new 7'' on Delights is a vinyl debut for two groove-heavy, retro-futuristic remixes from Markey Funk's vaults: "Magic" by Men of North Country - on the A-side, and "Sparks" by 3421 - on the flip. Both cuts, previously available only on streaming platforms, are a kaleidoscopic homage to the 1960's space age romance, sci-fi psychedelia and cinematic funk.
Limited to 300 copies worldwide.
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Limited one of pressing. 250 circulating.. we only have a small amount of that.
To mark their 25th release, Left Ear revisits the work of singular Japanese musician Minoru ‘Hoodoo’ Fushimi. In 1983, a young Minoru was working from his home studio in Japan’s Kanagawa prefecture and determined his first release would be an ode to Japan’s musical heritage. Minoru had noticed the younger generation become increasingly disillusioned with traditional Enka songs and decided to breathe new life into the sentimental ballads of old. The multi-talented artist laid down the beat using a TR-606 and played all the additional instruments himself.
The resulting tracks are two mutations from the energetic style of the originals into much darker and abstract versions, albeit managing to maintain the passion and spirit of the Enka genre. Minoru utilised a number of vocal distortions to honour the original vibrato singing style, executing the tracks in a way that was more of a mesh between early punk squelching of the late 70’s and Troutman’s funk-fuelled voice-box of the early 80’s. In true Minoru style, his vision overshadowed the accessibility and ironically the tracks fell short of their appeal to the younger generation he was aiming to inspire, yet resulted in two timeless renditions.
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CARIBBEAN DISCO-FUNK DANCEFLOOR BOMB by the great RICHARD 'NAPPY' MAYERS, the man behind some of the best Soca, Disco and Funk sounds ever produced in Trinidad.
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Control is the incredible debut album from Sydney based vocalist Natalie Slade, produced by Hiatus Kaiyote's Simon Mavin and featuring contributions from other members of the Grammy Nominated group.
Combining Soul, Jazz, Folk and RnB, Natalie's timeless vocals dazzle across 10 stunning tracks, perfectly complimented by rich, live instrumentation and Mavin's vibrant production. The album is classic to its core, whilst taking a fresh and energetic approach to a long tradition of Soul/RnB long players. Familiar broken rhythms and jazz heavy motifs, notorious with Hiatus Kaiyote's writing and arrangement style are present, reminding us throughout that we are in the hands of true masters. The result is a kaleidoscopic reimagining of sounds and styles from an exciting new vocal talent.
Recording began after a chance encounter between Natalie and the Hiatus keys player Simon Mavin, resulting in a writing session that quickly escalated into a full blown album project. The chemistry was clear and the creativity flowed. Spontaneous recording sessions ensued, with visitors to the studio jumping in to play on tracks, the levels of musicianship on the album never fall short of stunning and Natalie's poetic and enchanting song writing shines throughout.
The album kicks off with an energetic flash on 'Cloud Cover', an arpeggiating bass line bubbles over skipping drums and aquatic synths. The title track 'Control' puts it's foot on the gas with a driving synth bass, broken beats and soaring vocals. 'Colour' see's Natalie pouring out her heart to the universe over a fluttering mellotron whilst the beautiful 'There Is Light In Everything' gives her a chance to show off her vocal prowess. Control is a truly unique and dynamic debut album from two masters of their craft, we hope you enjoy it just as much as we do
Recommend for fans of Hiatus Kaiyote, Rosin Murphy, Fatima, Yasmin Lacey, Khadja Bonet.
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