We Out Here is the highly anticipated debut EP from Dublin’s Plus One on First Second Label. The prolific musical polymath lays down 4 sub-wrenching club tracks indebted to hardcore futurism with a canny pop sensibility.
Plus One is an alias of cultishly adored producer Matt Finnegan, a veteran beatsmith behind multiple productions for Irish rapper Kojaque, amongst other impressive credits on an expansive CV. He concurrently eyed up the dancefloor, stocking an impressive hard drive of unreleased club tracks that were subsequently rinsed heavily by the likes of Ben UFO, re:ni and EMA to name but a few.
This is his solo debut proper, and comes impressively fully formed from the off. We Out Here starts the engines with a deliciously sub-y stepper of epic big room potential, with a fittingly large bassline to boot. Hood Up Head Down is suspended in an aqueous ambient-drowned RnB bath before unfurling into lush 2-step in romantic fashion. Kiki bobs assuredly along a breaks-y techno pulse amongst a twinkling twilight melody and an emotive reese-bass stunner of a line. Me concludes the EP on a necessary 160 tip, flexing a modern jungle rinse out with sharp amens and soaring melodic subs to round off this statement of intent. - Nevan Jio
quête:matt k
Wah Wah 45s are proud to present a new set of remixes, as well as originals released on vinyl for the very first time, from Afrobeat supergroupEparapo. Having come togetherduring the unprecedented events of the pandemic and the Black Lives Matter movement, and despite being a project born from the privations of lockdown, their music is ultimately an expression of hope, resilience & resurgence.
The word "eparapo" means "join forces" in Yoruba, the language of Afrobeat. It's also the title of a track by the late, greatTony Allen- drummer for Afrobeat legendFela Kutiand lifelong friend and mentor of our very own "Afrobeat Ambassador",Dele Sosimi. Not only did Tony help to invent Afrobeat, he always looked for ways to push the boundaries, never content with recreating what had gone before but constantly expanding and developing the genre. This project hopes to pay homage to his legacy, and that of Fela Kuti himself. Its aim is to innovate, fuse and diversify while still retaining the essence of the music.
The force behind Eparapo is bassist, composer & producerSuman Joshi.He has been a member of Dele Sosimi's Afrobeat Orchestra for nearly a decade and has performed on stage with the likes of Tony Allen, Seun Kuti, Ginger Baker & Laura Mvula. He is also bassist with UK jazz ensemble Collocutor and fusion project Cubafrobeat.
Featured vocalist on both original tracks, and remixes, is the aforementioned Dele Sosimi - keyboard player and musical director for Fela's Egypt 80 as well as Wah Wah 45s recording artist on both his solo material and the recent collaboration with house music producer, Medlar.
The rest of the group comprises of bandleader ofAfrik Bawantuand percussionist for Ibibio Sound Machine and Keleketla,Afla Sackey; highly rated UK jazz vocalistSahra Gure; saxophonist, composer, producer and bandleader of the renowned forward thinking jazz outfit Collocutor,Tamar Obsorn; keyboard player, producer and front man for Lokkhi Terra and Cubafrobeat,Kishon Khan; one of the UK's finest and most in demand trumpeters,Graeme Flowers, who has played with Quincy Jones, Gregory Porter and many more; trombonist for Bellowhead and mainstay of Dele's Afrobeat Orchestra,Justin Thurgur; and finally drummer for Steamdown and Sons of Kemet, as well as the man behind the Nache project,Eddie Wakili Hick.
From London To Lagoswas inspired by a talk given by writerRoberto Savianoat the Hay Book Festival in 2016, just before the Brexit referendum. In it he described the UK as the "most corrupt country in the world". This was a reminder of how the leaders of so-called developed countries, conveniently suffering from colonial amnesia, still point disparagingly at the rest of the world and talk of "endemic corruption" and "Banana Republics". All the while the ill-gotten gains of organised crime syndicates, corrupt multinationals and military juntas across the globe are funnelled through financial centres such as London. Same trouble, different methods, greater scale. Of course the best way to divert the population from all this is to find distractions such as populist leaders who declare their countries "world beating" and scapegoats such as refugees, immigrants and other members of the underclasses. It has always been thus but it doesn't always have to be so.
This track was once more recorded remotely during lockdown and features an all star lineup of world class musicians from the UK Afrobeat and jazz scenes. Members of the Dele Sosimi Afrobeat Orchestra, Keleketla, Sons of Kemet and beyond have come together to create this powerhouse of a band. They encapsulate the meaning of "eparapo" and "join forces'' to fight a common enemy in the shape of corrupt and divisive ideologies.
Its remix comes fromWheelUP- the moniker of West London broken beat revivalist Danny Wheeler, who here delivers something of a smoother straight up Afro flavoured house workout that's sure to be heard across dance floors and festivals this summer. The Tru Thoughts signed artist adds gliding synths and tight drums that ride the original's hypnotic melody perfectly and make for a future club classic.
Black Lives Matterwas obviously inspired by the movement of the same name and was the first track to be released by Eparapo in late 2020. Dele's voice tell the story slave ships leaving West Africa in the fifteenth century, the brutal conditions that were experienced on board, and the continued suffering of the African diaspora today. As always, half of the artist's income for this song will be donated to the NAACP - a civil rights organisation in the United States, created for the advancement of black people by means of following judicial policies.
The remix here comes from Birmingham based producer signed to Jalapeno Records,Sam Redmore. Sam's love for breaks and beats comes into play well here, subtly chopping up the original to create a bass worrying version that still sends that very important message of justice and equality - Black Lives Matter!
a 01: From London to Lagos (WheelUP Remix) feat. Dele Sosimi
[c] 03: Black Lives Matter (Sam Redmore Remix) [feat. Dele Sosimi]
Egg Meat is a new project from London based artists Tooth Rust aka Laurel Uziell and Georgie McVicar, their self-titled EP features poems spoken by Danny Hayward.
The EP features speech-jammed text skittering across insistent rhythms, clipped signals and buzzing, saturated grains. You hear the racket of gunshots, mechanical clutter and punctuating tones that ring out impatiently like an unanswered phone call. Hayward's words at times surfacing as meaningful utterances, at others buried under this dense sonic matter.
The manipulations of voice are also at times so extreme as to render them indistinguishable from the clattering electronics that engulf them. The speech shapeshifts, shudders, and shatters in the way a violin glides and trills above an orchestra. The EP ends with an ambiguous promise: "Don't worry", Hayward assures us, "we'll be back."
MATTERS UNKNOWN is the new project led by multi-instrumentalist and
composer Jonny Enser.We Aren't Just is the debut album from MATTERS
UNKNOWN – Jonny Enser from Nubiyan Twist's solo project
Over 14 tracks, it travels through Afro- jazz, celestial blues, soulful funk,
electronica, hip hop referencing influences such as Mulatu Astatke, Pat Thomas
and Tony Allen all of whom he has worked with via Nubiyan Twist.This album
features some of the UK's finest young players including members of Nerija, Noya
Rao, Golden Mean and COLECTIVA. For fans ofJazz is Dead and Emma- Jean
Thackray. Every track on the album is inspired by a facet of Jonny's personal
development; drawing from his relationship to the city, whether in the delta
regions of the Mississippi river or along London's arterial Thames. The album is a
material testament to the flexibility inherent to MATTERS UNKNOWN; it can be
orchestrated to accommodate a 15-strong orchestra, replete with a string section
to move you to the dancefloor as Jazz originally intended, or stripped down to the
bare bones of a trumpet and tuba- led quartet whose intentions remain all the
same; to pierce into the audience's soul.
Jonny is honest, often laying bare his personal plights with his physical disability
and mental health, and the steep – yet rewarding – uphill climb as a musician and
Jazz instrumentalist. We Aren't Just is a multi- faceted study of the self, one's
relationship with the external world; the material, and the living within the inert.
- A1: Matti And Fulli-The Ravers
- A2: Throw Mw Com-Winston Shand
- A3: Some A Holla Some A Bawl-Max Romeo
- A4: Miss Laba Laba-Twinkle Brothers
- A5: This Is My Story-The Claridonians
- A6: South Of The Border-Doreen Shaffer
- A7: Give Me A Love-Slim Smith
- B1: This Old Heart Of Mine-Delroy Wilson
- B2: Lonely Lover-The Sensations
- B3: Two Faced People-Max Romeo
- B4: I’m Leaving-Derrick Morgan&Hortense Ellis
- B5: The Winner(Taking Over)-Roy Shirley
- B6: Sad Mood-Ken Parker
- B7: Girl Of My Dreams-Dave Barker
Orange Street, Kingston, Jamaica the epicentre of the Reggae world.
Where all the record shops, studios, pressing plants were based.
The new cut 45’s would be taken to the shops after a testing on various Sound Systems around the people and passed to the record shop proprietors to sell.
Bunny Lee as a former record plugger and now a leading producer knew what the people wanted and a great ear for a hit tune.
This collection carries some of the stand out tracks from this period, when music was finding a new beat as Rocksteady rolled into the late 60’s early 70’s Reggae Sound.
The Ravers ‘Mati and Fulli’ telling the story that the ‘Rent too High’ to The Twinkle Brothers ‘Miss Laba Laba’ …you see and blind you must hear and deaf…clean up your own backyard before talking about others.
All stories of daily life and love songs told over a cracking rhythm played by finest musicians on the island.
So yes ‘Some A Holla Some A Bawl’ as Max Romeo would say but it can’t be denied that all the tunes on this selection are of a fine pedigree….
So sit back and Enjoy the Ride…………..
Erstmals auf Vinyl: Das selbstbetitelte Debütalbum (2002) des britischen Singer/Songwriters Matt Hales aka Aqualung von 2002 mit der Hitsingle 'Strange & Beautiful (I'll Put A Spell On You)', die ihn über Nacht berühmt machte und dem Album zu Goldstatus im UK verhalf. Mit der zusätzlichen Bonus-LP 'Live At The Playhouse Theatre'. Dunkelgrünes Doppelvinyl.
- 'Uniting Radiohead-ish British rock and symphonic pop in the masterly mould of Burt Bacharach, the Beatles and the Beach Boys, tenor Hales delivers keenly focused keyboard-based drama that lows away all pretenders trailing in Coldplay’s wake.' - Rolling Stone
- 'What might result if Joe Jackson ever enlisted Radiohead as a backing group.' - Guardian Guide
- 'Slow, intricate songs of longing and love.' - The Independent
- 'A guiltless pleasure.' - Hot Press
- A1: Kush Clouds 03 03
- A2: Görlitzer Park 02 56
- A3: Palmistry 02 49
- A4: Fra – Chi 02 22
- A5: 44.20 Fm 03 19
- A6: Sekundenschlaf 02 51
- B1: Gästeliste (Skit) 00 25
- B2: A Dream In A Dream In A Dream 02 11
- B3: Room #421 01 55
- B4: Long Havel Beach 02 44
- B5: Good Bye 02 08
- B6: K-Hole (Skit) 00 21
- B7: You Got Me 02 28
- B8: Rip Txl 03 30
“A Dream In A Dream” is the debut LP by DJ Piper, also known as Felix Wagner of techno superstar duo FJAAK.
One might be surprised about this all hip-hop instrumental album looking at Felix’ all dance music focussed musical resumé. Nevertheless, he has been crafting rap beats ever since he started producing as a teen, but had his childhood friends freestyle over the tracks solely. It took until 2020 when he teamed up with Lukas and
Jonathan Nixdorff of Kommerz Records to release his first solo track “Iluminay”, which was part of “Kommerz Season 1: Anti-Virus” compilation and shared by B-Real of Cypress Hill right away.
Now, 2022, marks the right moment to share his debut album, a waltzing ode to hip-hop’s golden era. The Berlin- Spandau original merges the legacies of both Pete Rock and Dr. Dre, while funky breakbeats meet laid back SoCal “Chronic” vibes. 12 instrumental tracks and 2 skits strong, his album tells the story of a young man, who lives up to his wildest teenage dreams. Most of the track ideas came up while being on tour with FJAAK. Between international transit areas, making inspirational new friends and bizarre encounters all over the world, beat making became DJ Piper’s safe space to process all the positive madness around him. As a result, “A Dream In A Dream” breathes that raw, untamable creative energy around Felix’ extraordinary day-to-day life, while being heavily influenced by the sound of his childhood, 90s and 2000s rap.
To visualize “A Dream In A Dream” DJ Piper and Kommerz Records joined forces with Raman Djafari, a childhood friend of the artist, who illustrated music videos for Dua Lipa and Elton John (no joke!) and worked for New Release Information Adult Swim. Raman’s supernaturalistic aesthetics bring life to DJ Piper’s somewhat psychedelic, somewhat nostalgic fantasy, locating the album in an otherworldly version of Spandau, hometown to both of the artists.
As one half of FJAAK Felix became an icon of Berlin techno conquering major festival stages and mainstream audiences while heavily representing underground D.I.Y. mentality up to this very day. As an initiator of Spandau20 label and collective, Felix pushes his creative family and day 1’s regardless of commercial potentials.
The same ethos and love for culture fuels the DJ Piper project. No matter if it’s FJAAK or DJ Piper, techno or hiphop… Integrity is key!
Peter Shaw - ein Mörder? Ganz bestimmt nicht! Da sind sich Justus und Bob sicher. Können die beiden die Unschuld des Zweiten Detektivs beweisen?Peter sieht ihn fallen, doch die Teufelsklippe gibt ihn nicht wieder her. Verschluckt von den tosenden Wellen bleibt der Mann verschwunden ... Was ist passiert? Ausgerechnet der Zweite Detektiv wird beschuldigt, Paul Forsters ins Meer gestoßen zu haben. Im Verhör wird Peter bis ins kleinste Detail befragt. Justus und Bob versuchen derweil mehr über den seltsamen Fall herauszufinden. Können die beiden ihrem Freund helfen?Sprecher:innen Erzähler Axel MilbergJustus Jonas, Erster Detektiv Oliver RohrbeckPeter Shaw, Zweiter Detektiv Jens WawrczeckBob Andrews, Recherchen und Archiv Andreas FröhlichDetective Ella Neda Rahmanian Officer James Sascha GutzeitMr. Shaw Michael Grimm Paul Forsters Achim Buch Esprit Matthias KellerAnthony Spring Douglas WelbatButch Tom PiddeInspektor Cotta Holger MahlichBlacky Heikedine KörtingGodween André MinningerPolizist Frank Meyer-BrockmannProduktionshinweise:Buch und Effekte: André MinningerRegie und Produktion: Heikedine KörtingRedaktion: Maike MüllerTitelmusik: Simon Bertling & Christian Hagitte (STIL)Musik: Constantin Stahlberg, Jens-Peter Morgenstern, Jan-Friedrich Conrad, Betty GeorgeCover-Illustration: Silvia ChristophDesign: Atelier SchoedsackBasierend auf dem gleichnamigen Buch von Ben Nevis, erschienen im Kosmos Verlag, Stuttgart. Mit freundlicher Genehmigung der Universität Michigan. Based on characters created by Robert Arthur.Die drei ??? © 2022 Franckh-Kosmos Verlags-GmbH & Co. KG.(P) & © 2022 EUROPA a division of Sony Music Entertainment GmbHAuch erhältlich als MC 19439931694 und LP 19439931691.
Bill Nace"s Through a Room represents a seismic progression from Both, his startling 2020 debut solo LP for Drag City. Nace"s career has been defined by a relentless probing of ways to frame the complex menu of human emotions, and that the guitar has been his primary tool for exploring this terrain is of little consequence. On this new release, he also employs tapes, hurdy gurdy, doughnut pipe, quelle est belle, as well as his latest instrument of choice, taishogoto. This is also, ultimately, insignificant. What matters is the discerning spirit which animates his work. The tracks are carefully built from loops and phrases that talk to each other, subsume one another, overlapping and crashing and diving and expanding and emerging into unimagined vistas. On the whole, the record offers a fascinating and engrossing chronicle - a sequence of interrelated stories told by a temporally dislodged narrator. You think you"re here, then you"re there, and then you go through trapdoors and along tunnels, into cellars and secret rooms, and you find that actually you"re back where you started. But it"s not hard to follow. Trust me. Nothing this enticing can be hard to follow. The record was recorded and edited in Philadelphia during the uncertain summer of 2021 with engineer and co-producer Cooper Crain. Where Both was a chiseling down of spontaneous live performance, Through a Room, while obviously the work of the same artist, treats its sounds as building blocks, combining them to mesmerizing effect. What"s striking is the poise, the degree of authorial intensity. The false dichotomy of composition and improvisation is thoroughly and rightfully abolished. Bill"s interests range from post-punk to post-industrial to hip-hop to free jazz to avant-garde composition, and every area between such unhelpful labels. From the inscrutable, evocative track titles to the enticingly baffling cover art by his longtime compatriot Daniel Higgs, Nace is guided by an ineffable, internal muse, a persistently personal stormcloud of ideas that, ultimately, comprise that thing we call art. Here"s the real deal. - Matt Krefting, Holyoke, 2022
After the magnum opus that was ‘Hello Pig’, the Levellers’ first album of the 21st Century was…a little more familiar sounding.
Green Blade Rising was produced by Al Scott (Levelling The Land, Zeitgeist) and includes the Top 40 singles Come On and Wild As Angels.
Previously unavailable on vinyl, this limited edition, numbered, green vinyl 2LP set contains the original album, remastered by Jon Sevink and a bonus LP of B sides and single mixes - Hearts of Art.
Jeremy: ‘Green Blade Rising’ is a title we’d been throwing around since the very start of the band. In fact it was the name of a Levellers-style pamphlet during the anarchy of the English civil war.
The most important thing about Green Blade Rising for me, is it marked Matt’s entry into the band.
Which thankfully wasn’t as painful as it sounds!
Jude Woodhead AKA Saint Jude is a born and bred South London based producer who first approached songwriting after being diagnosed with Tinnitus which prevented him from pursuing his DJ career. While his previous works found space between genres, with elements of indie, ambient pop, hip-hop, Uk garage and noise, his debut self-produced album 'Signal' - out in November 2022 - rejects the limitations of genres altogether while anchoring his music firmly in the sounds of his native South London.
Conceptualized during the lockdown in 2020, ‘Signal’ is a self-portrait about coming of age during a time of political crisis and social change. Enlisting the help of past collaborators and friends (Aga Ujma, Low Loudly - Sarah from Drug Store Romeos - Louis Culture, Trim, HALINA and Zeke Ultra), Jude uses a wide range of voices to communicate different perspectives on his subject matter.
"The box set contains all eleven studio albums, researched extensively from all the very best available master tapes. I worked with renowned mastering engineer Miles Showell at Abbey Road studios to have the albums remastered at half speed which achieves the best quality possible" Alan Parsons Originally released in 2014 on CD, The Alan Parsons Project – The Complete Albums Collection is now being made available in a beautifully packaged deluxe vinyl 11LP box set and is limited to 1,500 copies worldwide. It includes the 11 original studio albums including The Sicilian Defence album that they originally recorded in 1979 and was previously unreleased until 2014 when it was included within The Complete Album Collection 11CD box set. - All albums half speed remastered at Abbey Road and cut from hi-res files transferred from the best available master tapes where analogue was originally used and from the original digital master tapes for all albums from 1983 onwards with everything approved by Alan Parsons. - Pressed on heavyweight 180gm vinyl, and beautifully replicated sleeves including original text and imagery. - Beautifully packaged in a ‘cigarette type’ hardback outer box with the outer design containing the words that Eric Woolfson felt best described The Alan Parsons Project. - Includes 60 page 12” x 12” hardback book containing full lyrics, brand new sleeve notes and essay from Miles Showell, Abbey Road Studios on the half speed remastering process. - Also includes giant A1 size poster The Alan Parsons Project was a progressive rock music entity comprised of engineer/ producer Alan Parsons and songwriter, musician and manager Eric Woolfson. They released 10 concept albums which focused on subject matter such as science fiction, supernatural, literary and sociological themes between 1976 – 1987 and have sold in excess of 55 million albums world-wide. Their focus was on very high-quality studio sound production and they recorded most of their work at Abbey Road Studios in London. They used a variety of different lead vocalists and musicians on every album but did employ some relatively consistent session players such as guitarist Ian Bairnson, arranger Andrew Powell, bassist and vocalist David Paton, drummer Stuart Elliott, and vocalists Lenny Zakatek and Chris Rainbow – choosing who they felt was the best for each song rather than being constrained to moulding the material for one specific artist.
- 1: Same Truck
- 2: You Time
- 3: It Matters To Her
- 4: Damn Strait
- 5: It'll Grow On Ya
- 6: The Waiter
- 7: Why You Gotta Be Like That
- 8: Home
- 9: Carolina To Me
- 10: Small Town Girl
- 11: That Kind Of Fire
- 12: How Ya Doin' Up There
- 13: Falling For A Stranger
- 14: Here And Ready
- 15: Nothin' Right
- 16: On It
- 17: Live A Little
- 18: Small Town Story
Born and raised in the piney woods outside of Haynesville, Louisiana, Chris Canterbury comes from the grimy remnants of a small oil patch town, a way of life that is slowly fading but still lingers in the songs he sings. Born to a working-class blue-collar family, Chris struggled to find the middle ground between his grandfather’s Southern Baptist sermons and the honky-tonk mystics that he discovered on old vinyl records in high school. Armed with an old thrift-shop guitar, Chris began playing and writing stories about life from a unique but oddly familiar point-of-view. Songs about liquor stores, truck stops, low-rent motels, and the grifters and transients that frequent them. It doesn’t matter if it’s a pool hall or a theater, a festival or a front porch, Chris’s live sound is the whiskey-laden prospectus that anyone with a struggle can relate to.
Folk Implosion's fan favorite album is available on cassette for the first time! They say there's always something special about the first time and this record is that first time for the Folk Implosion. The band left the acoustic guitars and fragmentary sketch modus operandi of their earlier cassette behind to focus on an eccentric version of home studio craft, held together by a few cheap microphones (including a Radio Shack PZM) and a Tascam cassette 4-track recorder sequestered under the eaves of a 3rd floor, Cambridge Massachusetts double-decker house apartment. Wood floors and Christmas lights were as much a part of the vibe as an Ampeg VT 40 guitar amp and a small chord organ. The duo would wait until the downstairs neighbor went to work in the morning and then would play until the tunes snapped like a high-pitched snare drum. The setup would close down just before the neighbor came home from work, keeping the peace long enough to see the project through to completion. Once tracked, the band snuck into Fort Apache studios with Tim O'Heir (producer of Sebadoh's 'Bakesale' LP) early one morning, freeloading off the Sebadoh sessions that were set to get going that afternoon. Tim mixed the songs through a very hi-fi Neve board in a matter of hours with the Tascam sitting right on the giant board like a tugboat keeping time with an oil tanker. The duo hoped that the spirits of ancestors like The Troggs, Devo, Al Green, and The Bee Gees would be pleased with the scent of tribute that arose from the ashes of the pyre. Today, they are pleased to see the Slaps and the Sputniks on view again nearly 30 years later. Tracklisting: 1. Blossom 2. Sputnik's Down 3. Slap Me 4. Chicken Squawk 5. Spiderweb-Butterfly 6. Had To Find Out 7. Better Than Allrite 8. Why Do They Hide 9. Winter's Day 10. Boyfriend, Girlfriend 11. Shake A Little Heaven 12. Waltzin' With Your Ego 13. Take A Look Inside 14. Start Again
Vinyl LP[39,45 €]
A "cheval de frise" is a military defensive structure and the name Thomas
Bonvalet and Vincent Beysselance chose for their post rock duo, creating
anxious, agitated music with perpetually changing, almost baroque,
patterns
Urgent, emotional and paradoxically structured and thought out in the finest
detail, it drew much of its influences from the many forms of 90s American posthardcore, while being undeniably singular. The formation was instrumental and
the bass was abandoned for an amplified classical guitar. The band released their
first eponymous album in 2000 on Sonore, a label based in Bordeaux. It was well
received, allowing Cheval de Frise to tour all over Europe. Their second album,
'Fresques sur les parois secrètes du crâne', was recorded in 2002. The band split
in 2004 leaving their mini album 'La Lame du Mat' to be released posthumously.
Remastered by Carl Saff, 'Cheval de Frise' is reissued on New York label
Computer Students and is available for the first time ever in cassette and double
LP. The vinyl version is presented in a beautiful gatefold sleeve with an impressive
poster. The whole thing is packaged in a sealed foil pouch, a trademark of the
label.
"Intense, energetic, and audacious, this music is thrilling, unforgettable." - Pop
Matters
"An impressive debut that lingers in between pleasantry and pandemonium, o?
ering forty minutes of odd, deserving attraction." - Tiny Mix Tapes
"Highly in?uenced by many early jazz artists, this is an album that - in many ways -
de?es description." - Babysue
"This band is incredibly unique, and their music knows very few boundaries. What
these two people do with their instruments is rather amazing." - Ink 19
Actress Stephanie Hunt (Friday Night Lights, Californication) presents her
debut collection of sublime indie pop
Produced and engineered by Matt Pence at Echo Lab (Jason Isbell, Midlake, Sara
Jaffe), with contributions from Kelsey Wilson (Wild Child, Sir Woman), Dancy
Jenkins (Texas Gentlemen), and Shakey Graves, Ambitions of Ambiguity features
the single Life not On My Terms, and a faithful duet of Redd Stewart's Country
chestnut Which One Of Us Is To Blame? sung with Shakey Graves.
1988 debut from these US ska legends, finally reissued.
Means&3rd returns to Unveiled Nuance with 002 following the label's debut 'Thought Contortion'. This time coming armed with 4 tracks providing a more direct club sound and falling in line with NUANCE001's affinity for low-end, tight percussion and underlying tribalism.
‘Aberrance’ opens Side A with a broken rolling kick drum and FM-type polyrhythmic stabs which reach a
kinetic climax with further patterns of distorted FM crunch and propulsive percussion that sit next to alien
sound FX. ‘Life’s Glorious Mosaic’ gives way to a much more mesmerising mood, utilising classic CR-78
percussive shots to provide energy amongst a sea of delicately delayed glassy synth chirps, spacious and
mystic, the perfect hypnotic spell.
‘Kairos’ is the first cut on side B, picking up the pace with deep and dense shamanic formant drones
juxtaposed against ethereal stabs which provide rest bite from the heavy groove, a chance for the ear to get lost in a moment of psychedelia before seeing us out with the return to the solid rhythm. ‘Discordianism’ closes out the EP, anchoring around the repetitive grit of the lead synth, textured stabs unfold next to squeezed shots of phased synth work that subtly lay underneath it, the whole track, reduced in nature,perfect as a layered tool.
Pressed on 140g black Vinyl, reverse board full colour print sleeve with poly-lined inner sleeve.
Produced, Programmed and Mixed by Means&3rd
Mastered by Neel @ Enisslab, Rome
Cut @ Schnittstelle Berlin
Design by Means&3rd
Pressed By Matter Of Fact, Güstrow, Germany
Distributed by Rubadub, Glasgow
In 2003, Pisco Crane assembled a six-piece band from motivated and talented like minds in the Kinshasa slums where he grew up. Pisco had been involved with a handful of local rap acts when he was younger, but after meeting legendary instrument builder Bebson De La Rue, he was inspired to follow a new path. He set about building instruments from the discarded trash that surrounded his city: bits of old computers or oil cans were fashioned into bass guitars and drums, and keyboards were bashed together using springs, metal pipes, and offcuts of tubing. If there was a core philosophy that guided Pisco at this stage in his journey, it was that everyone should have access to instruments, no matter where they come from or what their budget might be. And following in the footsteps of Bebson, Pisco locked into a Congolese tradition that touches on the eccentric genius of globally lauded artists like Konono Nº1 and Staff Benda Bilili. Over the years, Fulu Miziki's notoriety grew in the Kinshasa underground - their utopian vision of the future was infectious. Eventually, they were joined by performance artist, sculptor and fashion designer Lady Aisha, who offered the band unique colour and a soulful central focus. Influenced by Kinshasa's street performance scene, Aisha helped the band devise vivid masks and costumes that were as electric and singular as the instruments they played, and the scene was set. In 2020, as the world was plunged into lockdown, footage of Fulu Miziki went viral and their star began to grow exponentially, with a video of the band preforming the track 'Tikanga' racking up millions of views on Facebook. The band used this opportunity to work on documenting their sound, and shored up at the Nyege Nyege studios in Kampala for a year to assemble a definitive album. Recorded by HHY & The Macumbas' Jonathan Saldanha, this record captures the band's furiously innovative mixture of industrial sonics, spiritual jazz, punk, and Congolese soukous pressure. At their best, Fulu Miziki sound almost completely out of time, curving pounding rhythms around microtonal clanks, rousing chants and spiky sonics. On 'Mutangila', there's a hint of disco in the 4/4 stomp, but it's been shifted into a post-punk ritual, adorned with complex bell percussion and overlapping vocals. 'Congo' is even harder to define; electrified buzzes form a bassline, but it's the mindboggling rhythms that shuttle the track into psychedelic realms, led confidently by Lady Aisha's limber rhymes. Fulu positively slither on the sultry, industrial-influenced 'Sebe', while 'Tikanga' reminds of Congo's rumba-derived soukous traditions, materializing the sounds into the future with tight, pounding percussion and head-melting fx. The story of Fulu Miziki is sprawling and complex and constantly evolving, with various offshoots and band iterations. Two members left the band in 2016 to form KOKOKO! with French producer Débruit. Not long after they recorded this magnum opus album, several other original members left to form a similarly named outfit currently based in Europe. This other incarnation recently released an EP of electronic productions without the band founder Pisko Crane and lead vocalist Lady Aicha, on the UK based Moshi Moshi records. Pisco and Lady Aicha currently lead a different outfit in Kinshasa made up of completely new musicians. This full-length is the remaining proof of Fulu Mziki at their most vital and most complete - it won't be repeated - and can never be recreated. It's an essential portrait of one of the Democratic Republic of Congo's most innovative contemporary outfits, and some of the most surprising hybrid music you're likely to hear.

![Eparapo - From London To Lagos (Remixes) [feat. Dele Sosimi]](https://www.deejay.de/images/l/1/5/1008215.jpg)


















