Due to overwhelming demand for our 5LP boxset which sold out on the day of release, here are the first ever official individual re-issues of all five of the iconic Lansdowne recording sessions by the legendary UK jazz combo, the Don Rendell/Ian Carr Quintet.
The five albums; Shades Of Blues (1965), Dusk Fire (1966), Phase III (1968), Change Is (1969) and Live (1969), have reached almost mythical status in the collector's world. Regarded as holy grail artefacts for even the seasoned aficionado, the collective second hand market value comes to an astonishing £6000.
The complete Don Rendell & Ian Carr Lansdowne recording sessions are now available as individual LPs. We located and acquired the original analogue master tapes from the Universal vaults and created masters at Abbey Road Studios to produce audiophile quality 180g pressings replete with replica artwork - shape, design, and even paper stock. No stone has been left unturned to deliver this absolute labour of love to the highest possible standard! Inside is a link to a printable online pdf which contains never before seen photographs, interviews with the remaining living band members and liner notes from BBC Radio 3 presenter and award-winning jazz writer Alyn Shipton.
The band played together for seven years and during this fruitful time they made a plethora of deeply melodic, post-bop British jazz compositions that later on took influences from Indo and more spiritually guided jazz. Produced by the influential Denis Preston and recorded at his Lansdowne Studios in London, the band was primarily made up of saxophonist Don Rendell, trumpeter/composer Ian Carr, and pianist/composer Michael Garrick. This is UK jazz at its absolute finest and is a treasure not to be missed.
Due to overwhelming demand for our 5LP boxset which sold out on the day of release, here are the first ever official individual re-issues of all five of the iconic Lansdowne recording sessions by the legendary UK jazz combo, the Don Rendell/Ian Carr Quintet.
The five albums; Shades Of Blues (1965), Dusk Fire (1966), Phase III (1968), Change Is (1969) and Live (1969), have reached almost mythical status in the collector's world. Regarded as holy grail artefacts for even the seasoned aficionado, the collective second hand market value comes to an astonishing £6000.
The complete Don Rendell & Ian Carr Lansdowne recording sessions are now available as individual LPs. We located and acquired the original analogue master tapes from the Universal vaults and created masters at Abbey Road Studios to produce audiophile quality 180g pressings replete with replica artwork - shape, design, and even paper stock. No stone has been left unturned to deliver this absolute labour of love to the highest possible standard! Inside is a link to a printable online pdf which contains never before seen photographs, interviews with the remaining living band members and liner notes from BBC Radio 3 presenter and award-winning jazz writer Alyn Shipton.
The band played together for seven years and during this fruitful time they made a plethora of deeply melodic, post-bop British jazz compositions that later on took influences from Indo and more spiritually guided jazz. Produced by the influential Denis Preston and recorded at his Lansdowne Studios in London, the band was primarily made up of saxophonist Don Rendell, trumpeter/composer Ian Carr, and pianist/composer Michael Garrick. This is UK jazz at its absolute finest and is a treasure not to be missed.
When the strange and different has become the new normal, a certain normality, well... becomes our first straight techno 12'.
Danny Passarella needs no introduction, his death squad of shoegaze warehouse ghost being of non-fading memory. D'Marc Cantu (following Perc and Oliver Ho in a serie of collabs) does not either, hero of Nation and fine purveyor of American acid.
This is pure machine music straying from the eternal revival of everything vintage. It looks forward not...
As they say it themselves:
'The Future has A Silver Lining' title comes from the advertising for a high-end utopia promised in RoboCop's 'Delta City'. The track titles inspired by ASCII codes, represent the key elements that lay ahead in the film, or in today's society.
080 = P = Privatization
067 = C = Corruption
065 = A = Authoritarianism
068 = D = Dystopia
It is time for the fifth release of Discos Nutabe, the creator of the three tracks that make up "Niebla" is Lunate, a Bogota born and raised, who in this decade has been the emerging producers that the city has given moving in artistic circles where it reigns self-management.
Discos Nutabe returns to the House with Lunate, this is how he feels Bogotá, where he dedicates this complete EP to his city.
"A La Sombra de los Cerros" is the first track, composed with a jam of synthesizers and rhythm machines where Lunate evokes certain nuances of the past, as a tribute to his life as an artist in the great city of Colombia.
"Bogotá Adentro" is based on the narrative of the book "Toño Ciruelo" by Evelio Rosero, who describes the diverse reality of a city like Bogotá, city of brutal contrasts. Lunate describes this track as an ocean of sensations, a markedly atmospheric and serene track, a mental interlude for the dance floor.
"Luz de Domingo" marks acid and atmospheric textures where Lunate wants to reflect the calm of Sunday in the big city. A breath, a recharge, a change of reality, a truce agreed by the city and the calendar before the incessant evolution of the frantic days that follow.
Following 1 or 2 small run / mailorder lathe cuts, Polytechnic Youth follow it's hugely successful 'Popcorn Lung' label compilation LP, with it's first full length of the new year, and man... this one is just wonderful! A mighty record to kick off what promises to be another hugely productive, constantly busy year for the Crouch End based synth label.
PY often likes to quote the artist directly in it's press releases, and this one is no exception. Gabe's own words, more than adequately explaining the path leading to this killer set for 2019; 'It feels a little ridiculous to pretend that the person introducing you to Gabe Knox is some kind of bigwig press agent and not just Gabe Knox himself, so let me, Gabe Knox, tell you a little about myself in that hopes that you'll give my music a listen.
In 2014, after years of moderate success as a local musician and club DJ in Toronto, Canada, I looked at my collection of barely functioning analogue synths and drum machines and said to myself 'Instead of trying to unsuccessfully make music you think other people will like, why don't you make something that you'd actually want to listen to for once' I wanted to make music that had the drive shaft of Neu!, the punishing low end of King Tubby, the interleaved melodic lines of Vince Clarke, the melancholic, otherworldly whimsy of Raymond Scott and Delia Derbyshire, the hypnotic drone of Spacemen 3, and the analogue intimacy of Le Car. I wanted to bring the euphoria and hypnosis of dance music to the rock kids, and the energy and excitement of rock music to the dance kids.
This was going to be a tough sell in the clique-y Toronto music scene, so I figured the best way to get the music out there would be by recording when I can and self-releasing a steady stream of EPs online. They would all be a series, a snapshot of the evolution of that initial idea. ABC represents a compilation of the best songs of the first three EPs, subtly remixed and remastered to best suit vinyl. I hope you love listening to it as much as I loved making it.'
This really is a remarkable record. Displaying all the PY traits of icy cool blasts of minimal synth, motorik grooves, melodic pop via passing nods to early mute and sky records. Never before did label head Dom think he'd get the chance to namecheck 2 musical heroes from wildly differing poles -Vince Clarke and Spacemen 3- into one LP PR sheet, so he's understandably excited for this one's release!
250 copies on yellow wax in hand numbered, reverse board sleeves. Sure to go real quick....
April 2017, Osaka, Sakura, the beautiful time of the cherry blossom. We quickly get a warm coffee from the drinks vendor down the street, then off to Kabamix' LMD studio downtown. Time is short, the off-days are counted on tour. As the year before at the SVS label camp in Budapest, we stick to the plan: one track a day. This time we have guests! Marimari, Arihirua and Ryoko epitomize the perfect antipodes to the lonesome samurai on his white horse (Shiroi Uma) we had in mind on our first EP (SVS010). Everything flows, everything is improvised, the music itself is the place where we meet, no much talking about what´s happening, we just carry on doing the thing. The studio of Kabamix, longtime soundengineer of Haruomi Hosono, has built up over many years, it´s a hoard of like-minded people. Gekko No Odoriko translates to 'Moonshine Dancer'. The rhythm, as usual a driving force in our music, is converting every listener unwillingly into a squirrelly moving dancer. Heavy, yes, bassy, yes, yet never isolated drums build the foundation of the beatgrid as well as the arrangement. With an ascending condensation of musical events, the track enfolds it´s physical energy vertically and horizontally. And just as the spacey synth enters the track, Mari Mari has entered the studio, a Korg Prophecy under her arm, straight into the recording cabin, recording 'it'. Vocals by Ryoko aka Mt.Chills and us happy bunch. Holy Water: Visiting the holy mountain near Nara national park, the impossible seemed so simple: capturing water. An old man mumbling on the floor next to the entrance, little volvic bottles making their rounds to this special zone, bamboo growing high all over the place, deers walking close by as if there was no distinction between us living beings.
WRWTFWW Records is immensely happy to announce the reissue of impossible-to-find cult album Lady Maid by Japanese outfit Normal Brain, available on vinyl, digipack CD (for the first time ever), cassette, and digital, with liner notes by acclaimed sound artist and mastermind behind the project, Yukio Fujimoto.
Originally released in 1981 as a limited vinyl pressing of 300 copies on Agi Yuzurus fabled experimental label Vanity Records (R.N.A. Organism, Dada, Sympathy Nervous, Tolerance), Lady Maid is a testament to the creativity of the early 80s Japanese electronic and experimental scene, encapsulating a prolific era when audio gear became affordable for musicians to explore sounds in the comfort of their home, free from studio time pressure and major label rules.
Entirely imagined and brought to life by an inspired Yukio Fujimoto, the 6-track opus was conceived with a Korg MS-20, a Korg SQ-10, a Boss Dr. Rhythm DR-55, anda Texas Instruments Speak & Spell! Its elegantly minimalist, honest and witty, very playful, cleverly pop, and downright fascinating. The a-side captures the fun side of avant-garde electronica, lo-fi wave, proto-glitch, and IDM, a joyful ride beautifully interrupted by the cinematic mood switch of the b-side - a 20 minute ambient piece flirting with sci-fi, melancholy, and hints of metallic darkness. Unclassifiable and marvelous!
After a 17-month break from releasing music, La Fleur's Power Plant imprint returns with the stunning 'Aphelion EP' from the label-boss herself. 'Hunting Grounds' was birthed first, a brilliant masterclass of groove-drenched dynamics brimming with personality and spirit that already highlighted her sets for Cercle and last year's acclaimed BBC Radio 1 Essential Mix. Perfectly complemented by 'Aphelion' whose foundations are built on deftly crafted drums before the Swede's distinct flair for melody sees sublime chords fill the space.
Planet E present the Michele Chiavarini and DJ Steve Crawford remixes of 'Just Like Muzik' and 'The Sabath' taken from Terrence Parker's 2017 album 'GOD Loves Detroit'. The three-track remix EP is due for release March 8th. Handpicked by Terrence Parker himself, both remixers offer fresh takes on two of the standout tracks of the original LP. For the first and last track of the EP Michele Chiavarini reworks 'Just Like Muzik', with a bass lick which dances in and out of shuffling hats, channelling the high energy of the original house patterns and stabs into something different. Soulful pad progressions merge with Merachka's original vocal, before energetic strings and vibraphone solo take over, carrying the listener along. DJ Steve Crawford's remix of 'The Sabath' sees him transpose the arpeggiated synth rhythm and pads of the original into a fresh grooving 4/4 affair. Congas and punching kicks meet with harmonious string melody and slapped bass, creating a head-nodding reimagining of the master.
There are some elements in electronic music that make them timeless, elements that if melted together they can give an impressive result, to the mind and to the body. Sawlin - Ursprung is the first album of the career of Sawlin, after his debut in 2010 he evolved like a wonderful orchid, an orchid that never followed the flow of the other flowers around him, but found his own way to the music. Ursprung is the result of an interminable evolution in the mind of the artist, 8 elements that complete a circle built on a very mysterious atmosphere, like a film that you never saw, but you always had in your head, something more bigger then a memory, and something more deep then a picture. This 8 elements are the blueprint of the work that comes from the background of the artist, Deep raw imaginary pictures, mixed with oldschool wallpapers of a new wall based on an old concrete. Sawlin Mix the new to the old in a way that no-one can do, and probably no-one risked to do. This is the power of an artist that needs more attention and more time, you can feel at the first listening that there is something really big going on, but you need time to understand what he wanted to create, meticulous details that he wanted to paint, in a way that we cannot see them at first, but we find them quite impressive after. Sawlin present himself in the most modern way he can, no compromises, he don't want to please you, he want to paint the future. in the most Artistic way possible.
Here you go. We started a compilation series combining the different powers of our fam members. A-Team Series 1 is presenting the opening team. Our first ATeam curates this power as their little (un)tropical journey. It comes with a booming cover art by our talented Johan Kleinjan inspired by the opening episode of the A-Team TV series.
Genre: Global Bass, Tropical, Electronic Cumbia, Electronics, Juke, Bounce
out of Stock
Last delivered 3 years ago available to reorder, subject to availability
Line Explorations present its first release - a compilation consisting of six tracks by six national artists, producing under the names of T'iwu, HTL, PX, emme, AMSH and Mensaje Sanador, serving as a sampler for what's to come in the future on the label and the sounds the label will evoke such as techno, IDM, ambient, noise, drone and experimental vibrations from the further avant-garde,
The first track focuses on growing an organic and everyday sonic scape with the use of chords and melodies filled with light touch - reminiscent of clear skies and sunshine - which creates an ambient feel similar to that of daily vibrations of life as presented and explored by T'iwu.
HTL enhances the depth of the reflections of today's emotions one can feel by delving deeper into everyday surroundings and exploring the noise/drone side of the ambient musical styles by mixing melodic elements with the out of the ordinary effects which shock and ululate while shaping the musical texture into a darker and deeper atmosphere.
The following track, by PX, elevates the atmosphere into a more jovial soundscape full of '80's inspired electronica and sci-fi soundtracks. The beat rolls off and twists in a funky groove helping develop a danceable pace for the release.
On top of that, emme presents the fourth track - in the shape of techno meets breaks - where more classical elements of industrially influenced electronic music can be traced from yesteryears. The sounds engulf in warmly distorted melodic strings while flowing over and under the rhythmic structure.
In contrast, AMSH's ''Subway'' presents a downpour of heavy sounds, such as noise influenced synths and delayed infected percussion, along with field recording of trains help envision the movement of a manmade machine and its flow through the undergrounds of today's world.
The final piece, of the label's initial release, comes in the shape of a Mensaje Sanador or healing message. The track takes on the elements of the three titles that have preceded it and explores further the dynamics between current and classical sounds of the electronic dance music genres by delving deeper into sound synthesis, melodies and rhythm as to help one submerge further into exploring such sounds, their history and the future to come.
Emotional Rescue is delighted to present the first of two EPs from British '80s band Furniture, starting with their much sought-after, six-song "mini-album" - as they were known then - which has recently been rediscovered by a new generation of DJs and collectors. "Transatlantic Cable" compares the cliches of a certain type of American romance - Bogart, Sinatra, Dean - to the reality of life in West London. "They're On Me" is probably one of very few pop songs to feature double bass and the word "newsagent", while "Robert Nightman's Story" is powered by a riff on marimba and abrasive rhythm guitar.
"I Miss You", a torch song so good you'd think Julie London might have cut it. A highlight for many is "Why Are We In Love". This track is a key reason for the revival of interest in the band, with pattering rhythm part and the sweet clarinet melody, creating an atmosphere that has attracted a following among discerning DJs. "A Letter To Myself" introduced the band's new, expanded line-up adding Sally Still (bass, vocals) and Maya Gilder (keyboards), which would endure until the band stopped in 1990.
New installment in the Slow Life catalog by Primary Perception, two blood brothers born and raised in the Canary Island, but living in Berlin for the last years. It's in the German capital where they got to meet and support the Slow Life crew since their beginnings, and where they developed their fresh but
matured sound shown on this their first album. "Evidence of a Primary Perception" clearly has the trademark Slow Life character, combining broken beats, pads, acid bass lines, ambient passages, and overall, groovy deepness. They have more music coming soon in 2017, so as the label suggest: "They
are here to stay!".
Virtuoso compositions, subtle synthetic atmospheres, voices oscillating between pure intentions and dreamlike fantasy, a confusion of feelings and desires, time and space...Garden of Love, the 3rd album by electro duo Scratch Massive makes an impression from the first moments that you hear its enigmatic beauty. Like a ghost train moving along a tightrope - between shadow and light, failure and redemption, violence and melancholy - this fourth studio album reaffirms the Parisian DJ/Producer duo style/vibe with their hybrid sounds and sensory experiences. For 15 years, Maud Geffray and Sebastien Chenut have maintained artistic and aesthetic control as they participated in the 'revolution of the dancefloors'. In the early 2000s, 'Made in France' electro became known for its hedonism and as the savior of an entire techno generation ready to fight (or at least on the dancefloor!) for a future that was increasingly frustrating and hypothetical.
On first glance, Garden of Love, appears to be an invitation to love and peace, however, nothing is ever that simple, as the album cover evokes a multitude of interpretations. The lyrics speak to the depths of the soul, covering a range of emotion from love, emotions, and fears ... Garden of Love is for our hearts and bodies to become receptive again: the disenchanted poetry of the Last Dance, the sumptuous opening track set against a backdrop of electro-pop murmured in the light and shadows as painful caress; the psychedelic scent of Sunken (a duet recorded with the complicit and poisonous voice of Léonie Pernet); and the dark-tech shores of "Fantome X" with the evanescent and hypnotic pop clarity of Feel The Void (both magnified by the vocals of Romain Thominot of the Reims pop band Grindi Manberg). Scratch Massive draws the outline of an electronic music in search of redemption - reinventing their icy grooves and confronting it with a naive elegance and a disillusioned romanticism that embodies our time.
Introducing a new label, Koko Music, founded in West London by a long time friend of ours. Their first release:
'Allegedly Coltrane's favourite singer, Andy Bey recorded as vocalist for Max Roach ('Members, Don't Git Weary'), Horace Silver ('Won't You Open Up Your Senses'), Gary Bartz ('Celestial Blues') and Stanley Clarke in the late sixties / early seventies. He released one solo album and then disappeared from view for 20 years, resurfacing in the nineties.
This 1998 album showcases his four-octave range, the intimacy of love songs and raw power of the blues on a mixture of standards ('Pretty Girl', 'Some Other Time'), Latin ('O Cantador', 'Drume Negrita'), modern (Nick Drake's 'River Man'), and a couple of original tunes. Available for the first time on vinyl, cut at 45rpm, it features Andy on vocals and on piano, with appearances from Gary Bartz and Geri Allen.'
Alt. folker Will Oldham - better known as Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - is set to drop a joint record with gently psychedelic crew Trembling Bells
Just four years after their debut album Carbeth, Trembling Bells are amassing a formidable body of work at a startling velocity. Just twelve months after the release of their critically acclaimed third album The Constant Pageant, the Glasgow quartet return to share the billing with a similarly restless creative spirit. A few thousand miles separate Will Oldham and Trembling Bells' drummer and principal songwriter Alex Neilson, but their stories intersect as far back as 2005, when the young Leeds-raised Neilson found himself playing drums on Alasdair Roberts' No Earthly Man, with Oldham producing. In time, a friendship between mentor and student became one between two kindred musicians. Neilson augmented his work with free-psych-drone practitioners Directing Hand by playing with the Bonnie 'Prince' Billy band. The drummer's eagerness to experience new epiphanies yielded unforgettable memories. In Big Sur, he recalls, 'we took mushrooms at midnight, then visited a natural hot spring built into the dramatic cliffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The stars were as vivid as frozen fireworks.' All of which is worth dwelling on, because without that background of mutual openness and empathy, it's hard to imagine The Marble Downs existing.
Neilson recalls a conversation about a 'collaboration' in the summer of 2010, though stresses that it 'was nothing too formal at first'. By the end of that year, a limited-edition seven-inch New Year's Eve Is The Loneliest Night of the Year showed what an inspired match the vocals of Trembling Bells singer Lavinia Blackwall and Will Oldham made. The cut-glass precision of the classically-trained student of medieval music and the worldly, careworn tones of Oldham created an unlikely chemistry. It must have seemed that way to Neilson too. He set about assembling a cache of songs with the purpose of further harnessing that chemistry. The result is an album that has, once again, redrafted the boundaries of what Trembling Bells can achieve together. Indeed, genre-lines aren't terribly helpful this time around. Yes, Trembling Bells' love affair with traditional music remains a constant — most emphatically so on the unaccompanied Blackwall/Oldham two-hander, My Husband's Got No Courage In Him. Then there is Blackwall's musical setting of Dorothy Parker's poem Excursion Into Assonance — and the thorough-going new-found classicism of Neilson's increasingly assured songwriting. Albeit delivered with Trembling Bells' rain-lashed sense of abandon, Love Is A Velvet Noose sounds like a standard of sorts — a warped consequence of Neilson's increasing fascination with the songbooks of Cole Porter and Hoagy Carmichael. 'I'm not saying I stand any chance of emulating them,' he adds, 'but the appreciation is definitely there.'
The knowledge that Oldham and Blackwall would be sharing centre-stage on The Marble Downs gave Neilson extra impetus to flex his songwriting muscles. I Can Tell You're Leaving finds both vocalists on irresistible form, dissecting their dying relationship with no heed to the other's feelings. 'You treat me like a child,' sings Oldham. 'I need a man,' she responds, barely catching breath. 'Now like Merle Haggard, you'll see the fighting side of me,' he later promises. 'I guess that's one of the lighter moments on the album,' ponders Neilson, 'I was trying to get a Planet Waves-era Bob Dylan feel there, with the piano and walking bassline.'
Here and elsewhere, the band — Blackwall, Neilson, bassist Simon Shaw and guitarist Mike Hastings — has never sounded more psychically attuned to one-other. On the slow-reveal sonic establishing shot of I Made A Date (With An Open Vein), two minutes of manic modal chaos elapses before Oldham takes the narrative reins of a majestic call-and-response folk-rock epic. The electrifying free-folk portent of Riding — a revival of the Palace Brothers classic — is no less compelling, calling to mind the words of broadcaster Stuart Maconie when he praised Trembling Bells for their ability to invoke simultaneously 'the charm of folk music and the power of rock.' Ditto Ain't Nothing Wrong With A Little Longing, in which Neilson slams down a four-to-the-floor beat over a synergy of demonic krautrock keys and a dialogue between Oldham and Blackwall that scales Nancy & Lee levels of romantic intrigue.
With nine songs gone and one remaining, the album's sonic undulations find an arresting denouement in the form of an inspired cover. Adapted from Robin Gibb's 1970 solo masterpiece Robin's Reign, Lord Bless All sees Trembling Bells tease out the hymnal qualities of Gibb's original with a slow volcanic upswell which — on four minutes — explodes into heavy psychedelic technicolour. What pleases Alex Neilson when he listens back is 'a sense of a common vocabulary and identity being forged.' If, by that, he means that there isn't another band on the planet that quite sounds like Trembling Bells, it would be hard to disagree. The evidence is right here.
'I didn't know anything about Trembling Bells. I just heard them and was knocked out. I instantly became a fan.' Paul Weller
'Trembling Bells are my kind of band.' Joe Boyd
"Jesus fucking shit! These jamz claw so hard at the tatties below methinks the Lord misnamed them, having intended to say Trembling BALLS." Will Oldham
'A poetic incantation of British identity far brighter than Michael Gove's GCSE syllabus.' Stewart Lee
'This time, I'm attempting to reclaim the art of songwriting from the charity shop bargain bin.' Alex Neilson
Third LP of Cabaret Contemporain, French band (featuring Fabrizio Rat on keys) who use acoustic instruments (piano, guitar, bass, drums, contrabass) to produce a « hand-crafted » club music infused with techno. Inspired by Jeff Mills, Robert Hood or Drexciya, the five members already had a career on classical scene; their idea is not to replay classical techno tunes but to create a new path for the electronic music. 2 tracks featuring with the label boss, Arnaud Rebotini.
« Ballaro », which opens Cabaret Contemporain's third album, begins with light percussions, which seem to turn on themselves, while being conveyed by reverberations close to dub. After a few minutes of convolutions, the piece gets out of hand, transporting the listener into a rich form of pulsating trance, irrigated by a soaring melody and punctuated by persistent piano tones. « La selva »; more subdued, has the same energy, the track ending in an even more powerful way, a kind of paroxysm.
Finally, the strangest and most minimal « Cactus », features a singular groove, which evokes the most brutal house from Chicago, or the sometimes obsessive techno from Detroit. Just like other tracks such as « Transistor » or « TGV », fuelled by sweat and trance, Séquence Collective bears all the intensity of a techno cut for clubs' dancefloors. The only difference being that their music is not played with synths, drum machines or software, but with acoustic instruments. Dual curriculum The band is composed of five musicians and a sound engineer: Fabrizio Rat on piano, Giani Caserotto on guitar, Julien Loutelier on drums, Ronan Courty and Simon Drappier on double bass and of course Pierre Favrez on console. They are all in their thirties and met at the prestigious Paris Conservatoire in the late 2000s. However, all the musicians in the band have a double curriculum and navigate freely between the institutional realm and the underground or pop music scenes. Through classical or contemporary music, jazz and improvisation, rock and experimentation, they share a common passion for the original and futuristic techno of the 1990s, that of Jeff Mills, Robert Hood or Drexciya, which they have decided to reinvent and further in their own way. Not as a simple stylistic exercise practiced by virtuoso musicians, but rather as a new path for modern music, and for their generation. « The original idea » they say, « was to make club music by hand, like craftsmen. Like in the early days of jazz, our band managed to transform itself into a kind of dancing machine. Our music is therefore functional because it is danceable, but also mental and abstract, while offering several layers of listening. You can dance and play, have a purely physical and sensory connection to the music. But you can also immerse yourself in its listening, perceive refined harmonies or more complex rhythmic superpositions »
If the tones of Cabaret Contemporain are truly unique it is because each member of the band has developed a very personal approach through the use ''prepared'' instruments. The strings of their piano, guitar or double bass may recall strange machines with literally incredible sounds, obtained using objects such as chopsticks, clothes pegs, foil, hangers, a tiny pie mould or many other utensils from a DIY store. A collective energy
Cabaret Contemporain is first and foremost a live band that has been performing in venues and festivals since its inception in 2012 (Nuits Sonores, Siestes Electroniques, L'Aéronef, Le Trabendo, Philharmonie de Paris, Gaîté Lyrique, Rewire, Dancity, Barcelona Accio Musical...), both at traditional jazz and contemporary music venues, and more often at electro music hubs. When facing the audience, the band, which plays each of its sets in one go, without a break, shows an intense physical presence, which competes with the musical power of DJs who share the stage with them. Their performance, full of tension and repetition, which requires maximum concentration and a state close to trance from the musicians, is sometimes, according to them, « a mental journey and a mystic experience ». A dimension that brings to mind the historical techno culture and its dancers who, communicating on the dancefloor, were carried until the early hours of the morning by the power of the beat. An album inspired by the stage Since their beginnings, their compositions on record have drawn their energy directly from the practice of their concerts, whether referring to Terry Riley (2014) or Moondog (2015), an EP and an album dedicated to the repertoire of the two American artists, the original compositions of Cabaret Contemporain (2016) and Satellite EP (2017), as well as this new album. Séquence collective can be listened to as a condensed transcription of their inventions and their live experiments. The tracks, more than half of which were improvised during sessions held in the former Vogue studios near Paris, were recorded in live conditions, « like an old school rock band » they say. As usual, they invited a new musician to join them in the studio. After collaborating with Étienne Jaumet or Château-Flight, Arnaud Rebotini, César winner for best film music, added a welcome synth touch on two tracks (Pro- One, Prophet 600), which boosted the group's formidable collective energy. The album ends with « October Glide », again performed with Rebotini, a lyrical and lively track, built on a powerful and slow progression of timbres and percussions, which would ideally find its place at the core of a techno party « peak time »
First Word Records are thrilled to announce a brand new addition to the label - LA beatmaker and producer 14KT.
Known for his deft, soulful hip hop production, KT has broadened his palate for his FW debut to create 'For My Sanity', the first offering from his jazz-influenced project IAMABEENIE.
The album will be released in early 2019, but we couldn't wait that long to share this taster of what 14KT created as a form of escaping from his "normal" ways of making music. Case in point: the first single taken from the project - 'The Power of Same' feat. Muhsinah.
Strongly rooted in KT's spiritual practice, 'The Power of Same' is a bass and synth-heavy ode to consistency and unconditional love, laced nicely together by his signature drum lines, harmonious guitar riffs (played on the track by Stro Elliot) and the unmistakable sound of James Poyser (The Roots). Vocal powerhouse Muhsinah adds layers of emotion via her endearing delivery of the core message, and, deep in the background you can hear KT sharing a very personal routine with us all - giving thanks to God.
How much of a personal project this is, in 14KT's words "This was inspired by a bible study plan I was reading called The Power of Same. It spoke about the power of being consistent in our lives. I thought about how consistently God's love and my family's love have gotten me through my journey of life. Once I made a "skeleton" of the song, I reached out to the brother James Poyser who I was extremely blessed to work with. My brother Stro Elliot was living right down the street from me at the time. One night he walked over to my house, I played the record for him, he picked up my electric guitar and played the first thing that came to mind - which was perfect. I played the record for my brother Tall Black Guy, who suggested I reach out to Muhsinah to add vocals. I sent the record to her and two days later she sent me exactly what you hear. Amazing. That was definitely the spirit of God working. Huge shout out to my Playlist family. Love y'all."
To date, 14KT has released seven solo albums, as well as his collaborative hip hop album, 'Takin' Ls' with emcee Ozay Moore, R&B/soul album, 'Saturn Return' with singer/songwriter AB, and 'The Big Knock', together with Mayer Hawthorne as Jaded Incorporated.
Last year saw another duo collaboration album with Michigan rapper Ro Spit, entitled 'RSXGLD', a project held in high regard by the global hip hop community.14KT is also part of Jazzy Jeff's Playlist Retreat, alongside our very own Eric Lau, Tall Black Guy and Kaidi Tatham, who also turns out an unmistakably dope remix on this 7" single.
A very warm welcome to the family, KT!
'The Power Of Same' is available on 7" and all digital platforms on March 1st 2019.
Johnny Clarke & King Tubby & Dillinger & Prince Jazzbo feat. Tommy McCook & The legendary Aggrovators & The Mighty Diamonds - Soul Jazz Records presents Bunny Lee: Dreads Enter the Gates with Praise - The Mighty Striker Shoots the Hits!
Soul Jazz Records presents this new collection featuring the heavy 70s roots reggae of Bunny
Lee - a living legend, one of the last of the great Jamaican record producers who helped shape
and define reggae music in the 1970s from a small island sound into an internationally
successful musical genre.
From teenage fan to young record plugger for Duke Reid, Sir Coxsone and other early
pioneering Jamaican musical entrepreneurs, Lee has spent his whole professional life inside the
Kingston music industry. In the 1970s he rose up to become one of the major record producers
in Jamaica alongside Lee 'Scratch' Perry and the other 'small axe' producers who broke the
dominance of the 'big tree' producers that had ruled Jamaican music in the 1960s.
Featuring some of the heaviest Jamaican artists, including Johnny Clarke, King Tubby, Dillinger,
Prince Jazzbo, Tommy McCook, The legendary Aggrovators (featuring Sly and Robbie), The
Mighty Diamonds and more, the album is a rollercoaster ride of rare, deep and classic 1970s
roots, dub and DJ sounds.
During this era, 'flying cymbals', crashing reverbs, dark echoing thunderclap gunshots and
other 'implements of sound' filled his record productions as Bunny Lee explored the outer limits
of dub with his friend King Tubby in the mix on wild versions that accompanied any 45. A
Bunny Lee record provides a creative and mysterious hidden guide to reggae music itself, a
double-sided three-minute intangible history lesson etched in wax.
Bunny Lee was one of the first Jamaican producers to travel to England in the late 1960s, at
the beginning of the nascent British reggae music industry as record companies such as
Trojan, Pama and others began licensing Jamaican music in the UK to supply the expanding
West Indian communities living up and down England. Lee encouraged other Jamaican
producers to do the same, including Lee Perry, Harry J and Niney The Observer and also
became a conduit between the British music industry and numerous younger Island-based
producers - a frequent flyer reggae ambassador, a musical courier exchanging tapes for
royalties.
Bunny Lee's first recordings in the late 1960s were mainly rock steady but as the 70s
approached the music soon began to mutate and slow down into 'reggae' as the sound became
heavier, more rootsy and the sound itself began to change with the explosion of dub.
Lee was at the forefront to this dramatic musical shift into roots reggae and by this time had
become a major producer, capable of working with whoever he chose as world-famous singers,
DJs and musicians lined up to work with the charismatic man. Lee also employed a fluid but
stable set of crack session musicians who he named The Aggrovators.
Most of the recordings featured here come from the mid 70s, a time when Bunny Lee was
definitely in the zone, releasing heavyweight singles at an almost unstoppable rate. Bunny
Lee's career stretches over five decades and he has upwards of 2,000 production credits on
vinyl.
This album comes with extensive sleevenotes, an interview with Bunny Lee and exclusive
photography. The album is available as a CD pack with 24-page booklet, massive triple LP vinyl
with digital download code, house inner and full notes, as well as digital album.
Keysound Recordings are excited to present three very unique cuts from Scratcha DVA x Gage: 'FLYTNURSE,' 'PIFFD' and 'FLYTNURSE (DARQMIX)'. Dark, euphoric, weighty, and somewhat restless, they defy obvious categorisation. Gage has made himself a formidable reputation by releasing some of the most forward-thinking darker dance music in the last three years, predominantly on the ever-quality Crazy Legs imprint. 'Telo' was a standout dancefloor moment, equal parts impactful and experimental, quickly followed up by the "Mercury EP," "2017 STAY PARO" and his banger-collab with Kevin Jz Prodigy, "Bad Bitch." Scratcha DVA first appeared on Keysound 66 releases ago with the explosive dread grime anthem 'Bullet A'Go Fly' featuring Badness, Riko, Flowdan and Killa P. But in truth he has a lengthy production back catalogue both before and after that 12', with albums on Hyperdub, his new 'Interludes' project and a track on the recent landmark Kode9 & Burial Fabriclive 100 CD.
Rescued from a haze of drugs, alcohol and questionable women comes a potent blend of heavy Chicago Funk, Modern Soul & Psychedelia. Influential recordings from the group's sought-after Funk classics have been sampled by Beck, The Chemical Brothers, Jim Jones, Raekwon & Leaders of The New School.
Previously unreleased Rasputin's Stash from the forthcoming Stash album due out in April. 'Make Up Your Mind' is a contagious rhythm with Jimi Hendrix-style fuzzed out guitar riffs echoing sweet soul vocals and a brass section tight enough to please any Tower of Power fan. On the b-side is a slow-jam Soul-Steppers classic 'You Are My Everything'
Cut directly to vinyl from the recently found master tapes, this music presents material from the band at their artistic peak and the last recordings before Rasputin's Stash members went on to record Crystal Winds First Flight and Attitude, Belief & Determination
Prolific soul man Carlton Jumel Smith made a fresh opening into deep vintage soul sounds with his Timmion single debut. Now he's back for more with the dancefloor track "This Is What Love Looks Like", paving the road towards his album, which is dropping on Timmion at the beginning of 2019.
Think of classic funky soul with a little bit of Chicago, some Tighten Up guitar and blaring horn melodies, and you get an idea, where this energizing groove is headed. Carlton gets going with his soulful testimony, while the A-list of Finnish soul and jazz players from Tuomo Prättälä and Jimi Tenor to Jukka Eskola strengthen the Cold Diamond & Mink band to new heights.
If the first single dripped with heartaches and bitterness, this one is a monumental sonic heart emoji instead, seasoned with sweet sunshine. Even though Carlton can play any part the lyric casts him in, the conveyor of positivity suits him well. In real life it's not rare to see the man smiling, and when performing he oozes with peace, love and soul, turning the audience inside out. Here he's laid down one for the dancers!
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Of course the 1982 original is a modern soul anthem. Since 2016, when we released it on a 7'' single for the first time, Gregg and I dreamt of One For The Road's next blessing. Our mutual love of Philly Soul meant there was only one man on the planet who could fulfil this dream; Nigel Lowis!
Imagine the elation when Nigel conjured up not one, but two distinct and incredible versions. Ladies and gentlemen, we are proud to present The Nigel Lowis Uptown & Downton mixes of One For The Road!
Gregg's wife, Amina sadly passed away last year and we dedicate this record to her loving memory.
Tachyon Audio 003 is the first release by label boss, Nick Payne. Spurn (A1) leads off the E.P. with hypnotic minimalist drums playfully twitching with a roaming bass-line in a sci-fi electro sound soup. Definitely a 3:00 a.m. melter.
The second track, xYyX (A2), offers classic drum kit sounds pounding down through ethereal fading pads. This muscular groove is sure to warm up any room.
Side B starts with a remix of xYyX (B1) by profound artist, Doubt, who brings his own distinct nature to the E.P. This mutation takes the original elements and brings them into a similar but all new realm, taking the listener down a driven, but esoteric path towards feet moving.
The second remix of XyyX (B2), by well-known Denver, CO, USA sound engineer and musician, Soundguy Josh, is a short broken- beat experimentation with strong drums leading the way to a dramatic climactic crescendo.
The last two audio offerings are open-source locked-groove National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) samples. The first, Kepler Star KIC7671081B (B3), is described by NASA as 'light curve waves to sound.' The second locked groove, Stardust Passing Comet Tempel 1 (B4), is an audio recording of a satellite passing through the tail of comet Tempel 1.
Todd Osborn Returns To Spectral Sound In His Osborne Guise With His First Release On On The Label Since 2013's Hold Up (feat. Joe Goddard). Fools Finds Osborn In His Best Self, As A Shapeshifter Bringing Together Strands Of Various Genres. The Title Track Is A Lesson In House Reduction, While "different" Is A Chunk Of Bassline-led Techno. On The B-side, "back Whenever" Kicks Off In Proto-idm Electro Form, All Melody And Light, And "integrate" Slows It Down To A Walking Pace For A Dash Of Synth Funk.
Matt Edwards' R-Time Records welcomes back Sir Lord Commix with five silky cuts for the fourth 'Retroactive' release.
Amoon Andrews' outfit Sir Lord Commix returns with the fourth instalment of re-released gems that have been in high demand on the vinyl market. Born out of Rekids, R-Time Records has previously released twelve of Commix's cuts, yet his treasure trove discography keeps on giving, spanning two decades.
Released on Ugly Music in '96, 'World Of Groove' is a smooth house cuts with an abundance of soulful stabs and driving percussion whilst hypnotic melodies and sweeping cosmic strings envelope 'Life Cycle', which first appeared on Cynic in '05. 'Cosmic Jive' - from the highly sought after 'Evidence' vinyl of '97 - pumps a reverberated kick amongst shimming chords and rising bleeps.
Appearing on an extremely rare release on Hard Up, 'Under Seige' has an off-kilter rhythm and erratic yet funky slapping bass melody. Finally, the release concludes with an ethereal cut titled 'Beyond Reach' complete with liquid breaks, floating arps and shining melody (originally from a Talahachi VA in 2014).
Both Stephen Vitiello and Taylor Deupree are seasoned collaborators. Each new collaboration is a new context, a new conversation and a unique opportunity to learn. Vitiello has worked with musicians such as Scanner, Steve Roden, Ryuichi Sakamoto and Machinefabriek. As an artist often
represented in galleries and large scale sound installations he has also had the frequent opportunity to work with visual artists from the likes of Tony Oursler to Julie Mehretu and Joan Jonas. Deupree has a long history of collaboration including early works with Christopher Willits and Richard Chartier as well as Marcus Fischer, Ryuichi Sakamoto, and Bon Iver's S. Carey. Fridman Variations is Vitiello and Deupree's third release
together and continues their tradition of exploring their unique form of experimental improvisation.
Stemming from a live performance at NYC's Fridman Gallery, Fridman Variations was co-produced by the gallery and will remain as part of the gallery's publications. Fridman Gallery is a visual exhibition space that also boasts a unique dedication to experimental music through their annual New Ear Festival, at which Vitiello and Deupree performed and recorded the main piece for this album.
Side A of Fridman Variations is the live recording, edited for vinyl while side B contains two pieces made with some of the same source material as the live performance and intended to be related, but entirely new, works. Guitar, modular synthesizer and a small tape synthesizer are at the heart of these songs. The improved layers draw on buried melodies and hint of feld recordings and found textures. Not overly melodic, not
overly noisy, Vitiello and Deupree like to fnd the edge between the pretty and the obscure, often suggesting more than laying their intentions bare. This type of sound is one that the duo often explores as an opportunity for Deupree to adventure beyond his melodic comfort zone and for Vitiello to work and experiment with new instruments and how they interact with his signature guitar.
One of the biggest inspirations to the artists for this work was the hushed and dreamy state of the audience during the performance. The late-night ambience added to the immersive quality of the surround speakers and helped to channel creativity and a sense of sharing
Both artists feel that recording live performances is an opportunity to capture a unique moment that simply won't happen again. Despite a performance's faws or imperfections the energy and interaction is a special moment in time for the performers and audience. The opportunity to not only document it for the listeners who were present but also to be able to share the moment with those who weren't there is a positive one.
To further be able to expand on the ideas in the controlled studio environment serves to enrich the experience and further the communication.
One year on from the passing of label co-founder and artist Alex Smith, Flash as a Rat returns with its 6th instalment.
Digby, co-founder and brother to Alex, continues the siblings' form for emotionally intelligent and sound focussed minimal.
'Briefmacken' bumps through waves of kicks and glitches to arrive at moments of peaceful clarity, whilst 'Constantly' swings with off kilter hisses and pops around a metallic organ sequence, making it's claustrophobic way towards a beautifully layered string section at the crescendo.
The typically pared back artwork this time inverts the colour scheme from the brothers' first ever release on their own label, marking the record simultaneously the ending of one chapter and the beginning of the next.
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- Daniel O'Donnell's recording career has now spanned almost 35 years and he continues to delight fans around the world by his
recording and touring activities.
- Daniel is the UK chart's most prolific and one of the most successful recording Artists. In 2018, he broke his own world record, by
becoming the first recording artist to chart at least one new album every year in the Artist Albums Chart for 31 consecutive years.
- During his career, in the United Kingdom Daniel has amassed thirty-seven Top 40 albums, including sixteen Top 10 albums, with
fourteen of them this Century, a feat not achieved by any other recording Artist.
- 'The Gold Collection' is a heavyweight 180g Gold-colour vinyl LP, featuring duets with his long-term singing partner Mary Duff his best
known hits, including twelve Top 40 hits, in this 16-track set.
It's quite an excitement to attend a triple birth: a newborn production team (Mochi Men), a brand new label (Mochi Records) and a first official remix on wax! Far from being newcomers, Mochi Men is a fresh and french duo from Paris, formed by renowned disco & house dj-producer Young Pulse (unavoidable reworker on G.A.M.M. Records) and respected DJ selector ATN (resident at famous New Morning jazz club). Both connoisseurs of disco, boogie, jazz, aor, japanese funk and house music, they're taking their complicity to another level with this remix of "Taking Off" originally performed by UK jazz funk act, Resolution 88. Previously remixed by heavy weights like Kaidi Tatham and Simon Grey, the prodigy band and Incognito Bluey's protégé gave complete trust to the Mochi Men on this. The result is an epic deep house - jazz funk extended cut, melt into a haunting broken disco vibe with a heavy analog flavor!
In September 2016 Chouk Bwa met the Brussels-based duo The Ångstromers. A traditional Haitian Mizik Rasin — roots music — band, Chouk Bwa, formerly Chouk Bwa Libète, realizes the source of a drum and dance style using percussion and call-and-response vocals that are infused with Haitian Vodou.
'Chouk Bwa' means 'Root' in Haitian Creole. Three percussionists and two dancers are led by composer Jean Claude 'Sambaton' Dorvil on vocals and the fer, an iron bar/bell that announces different rhythms employed to call up the spirits, assisted by Gomez 'Djopipi' Henris.
Chouk Bwa display the deep African heritage of Haiti, torn from Africa and secretly re-planted in a new land. The band members speak for Haiti, a nation that has seen the hardest of times and maintains a relentless spirit and strength through its culture.
The two tracks were selected from the first meeting with the Ångstromers at Café Central, Brussels, recorded live in September 2016. Modular synths and other vintage electronic instruments bring another dimension to Chouk Bwa's music.
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Jason Leder, otherwise known as Method One has been a mainstay of the American Drum & Bass scene for a very long time. Originally hailing from the east coast his earliest claim to fame was remixing DEEE-LITE - "Call Me" in 1994 for Elektra records after Lady Miss Kier heard his cassette demo. Eventually he headed out west to San Francisco where he has remained for over 20 years.
The Stomping Grounds EP is Jason's tribute to the music that originally inspired him. Two harder tracks that echo Tango & Ratty era Formation Records and two deep & melodic atmospheric tracks that nod towards golden era Good Looking. A Method One release is a rare treat and is his first solo release since 2015's "Blackwood" EP on Auxiliary Transmissions.
Check other releases from Method One on - Doc Scott's 31 Records, Seba's Secret Operations, Samurai, Auxiliary and Commercial Suicide amongst others.
This is the first release of Original tracks from 12tree's new label, Hot Piroski. Produced and recorded by 12Tree at his studio in Barcelona.
The label is a boisterous mix of Space Disco, Deep Funk edits and Balearic Beats.
Hot Piroski Hp001features :
'Lazers' - A warm melodic electronic opening layered with with analogue Delay morphs into a deep house bassline driven groover.
'Gamma Ray' - A Deep dark Disco workout for fans of Todd Terje and Disco Bloodbath..
'Swamp Love' - Cajun Voodoo vibes on a Ninja Tune tip
With support from
* Pete herbert,
* Chris Todd/Crazy P
* Ursula 1000
* Agoria
After mixing and releasing tracks with disco dons Pete Herbert, Payfone, Tim 'Love' Lee, Phil Mison, Richard Fearless, and Balearic legends Jose Padilla and Bubble Club, this is the first Original release on 12Tree's own imprint. Enjoy!
Ras G's Dance Of The Cosmos Is The Heralded Beatsmith's First Foray Dedicated To The 4 On The Floor' Tabernacle Of Chicago House . Deeply Ingrained In The Music Is The Message Of Black Diaspora. As We Sonically Time Travel In Typical Ras G And The Afrikan Space Program Fashion Dance Of The Cosmos Takes Us On A 30 Minute Journey Way Beyond The Ionosphere.
David Marston is a producer, DJ, musician, and guitarist hailing from the vibrant Caribbean island of Jamaica. He takes a multifaceted approach to his music, and has worked to achieve a sound that is a fusion of multiple genres, including, but not limited to, house, hip-hop, disco, jazz, as well as reggae. During a six-month stint in Jamaica in 2016, Marston reconnected with a close friend and fellow musician, Craig Williamson, and the pair began writing music that would become the basis of Marston's first full length album. With the album set to be released in early 2019, Marston has endeavored to put together a special 12" to showcase the club-friendly side of his music with a selection of the album's dance cuts.
The A-side of the vinyl kicks off with the title track, "Feeling You", which features Williamson's crooning voice over a hypnotic instrumental characterized by a swirling arpeggiated synth, punchy bass hits, and stomping drums. To round off the A-side, Italian DJ and production duo, Lowheads, give the aforementioned track a fresh makeover with their lively classic house remix and dub version. The flip side of the record consists of two instrumental tracks. The first, "Ragamuffin", is a mesmerizing four to the floor tune constructed around an Indian raga sample. The final number, "On My Mind" is an off-kilter house groove with rolling keys, garage style drums, and a soaring lead. Taken together, the 12" album 'sampler' is a robust yet tantalising collection of club-ready tunes.
The first edition of a two part series, Heritage finds Mark de Clive-Lowe in the process of grand introspection about his Japanese heritage, with specific tracks as memories from the past illustrating the right history of Japan. The albums have a sweeping, almost majestic feel with signature electronic soundscapes throughout.
- 180 GRAM AUDIOPHILE VINYL
- FIRST PRESSING OF 750 NUMBERED
COPIES ON ORANGE VINYL
Primarily released to showcase the sublime talents of one of Jamaica's most celebrated vocal trios, The Heptones, the aptly titled Heptones & Their Friends album features a selection of superior reggae sides by the group alongside hugely popular works from the three of reggae's biggest stars of the period: Judy Mowatt, Nicky Thomas and Peter Tosh of The Wailers.
Backed by top session crew, the Now Generation, the Joe Gibbsproduced selection is of a predictably high standard throughout, with highlights including Be The One', a pitch-perfect slice of classic roots, a gloriously cheesy pop cover of the Drfters' Save The Last Dance', the strident Freedom To The People' and one of the biggest Jamaican hits of the early 1970s, Hypocrite'.
There are some elements in electronic music that make them timeless, elements that if melted together they can give an impressive result, to the mind and to the body. Sawlin - Ursprung is the first album of the career of Sawlin, after his debut in 2010 he evolved like a wonderful orchid, an orchid that never followed the flow of the other flowers around him, but found his own way to the music. Ursprung is the result of an interminable evolution in the mind of the artist, 8 elements that complete a circle built on a very mysterious atmosphere, like a film that you never saw, but you always had in your head, something more bigger then a memory, and something more deep then a picture. This 8 elements are the blueprint of the work that comes from the background of the artist, Deep raw imaginary pictures, mixed with oldschool wallpapers of a new wall based on an old concrete. Sawlin Mix the new to the old in a way that no-one can do, and probably no-one risked to do. This is the power of an artist that needs more attention and more time, you can feel at the first listening that there is something really big going on, but you need time to understand what he wanted to create, meticulous details that he wanted to paint, in a way that we cannot see them at first, but we find them quite impressive after. Sawlin present himself in the most modern way he can, no compromises, he don't want to please you, he want to paint the future. in the most Artistic way possible.
Guadeloupe 1986. The football World Cup has all the Islanders' eyes riveted to their TV sets. At every half time breaks, local TV channel RFO broadcasts a music video on repeat: ''Tou't Jou Pa Min'm". Max Rambhojan, the local singer responsible for this monster tune, has arrived.
In the video, he effortlessly sings and kickstarts a joyous street party with his band, Show Man, his dancers, kids, friends, family and what seems like the whole neighbourhood. The song will gain cult status from then on, cementing the power of the 'Zouk Chiré' sound, a high tempo version of Zouk, highly influenced by Guadeloupe's Carnival mass drum bands. Max self-releases his first solo album on vinyl in 1985, enrolling some of the best musicians the scene has to offer: his band leader King Klero, Guy Jacquet of les Vikings de la Guadeloupe fame on production duties, Ramon Pyrmée on synths, Claude Vamur, Meliza... In 1992 a new solo album follows. By then the artists have familiarized themselves with computers and the sound has gone full-on digital. In that album Max records an updated version of his 'Tou't Jou Pa Min'm' anthem to great effect.
Reducing Max Rambhojan to a zouk artist would be a mistake. He's first and foremost a master of Gwo-Ka, a musical practice born during the transatlantic slave trade and performed by all ethnic and religious groups of Guadeloupe. It has never ceased to exist and has become a major part of the Island folk music culture. Max Rambhojan was schooled as a kid by Gwo-Ka pioneer Guy Conquette, and quickly joined the backing band of another legend, Ti-Sélès. That sound is the root of his particular style, especially vibrant on two tracks in his repertoire: 'Cecilia' and 'On Jou Matin', both featured on this release's b-side. A touch of Spiritual Jazz is also palpable, allowing a magical vibe to spread, giving birth to some of the deepest music from this era.
In 2019, Max still performs Gwo-Ka every week-end in Guadeloupe and also hosts a show on local radio Media Tropical, 88.1FM. Secousse and Hot Mule are proud to present those 4 lost gems on wax and digital, carefully restored and remastered.
