Suche:royal two

In 1990 Ronald Lee Trent Jr. was the teenage creator of Altered States – a raw, futuristic techno-not-techno anthem, which in retrospect was something of a stylistic anomaly for the young artist. Across subsequent years, with time spent in Chicago, New York and Detroit, came the development of his signature sound, and renown as a world class purveyor of deep, soul infused house/garage. This story has already been told, and on casual inspection, the well-worn platitude ‘house music legend’ is an old shoe that still fits. However, in fact, he’s actually so much more, and has been for quite a while. A genuine musician, songwriter, and ‘producer’ in the proper, old-school sense, the artist today has more in common with Quincy Jones than he does your average journeyman DJ track-hack.

To those in the know, these broader skills haven’t gone unnoticed, which is why on the highly collaborative, career-topping new LP ‘What Do The Stars Say To You’, it took little persuasion to recruit serious star power. Brazilian royalty Ivan Conti and Alex Malheriros from Azymuth, violin maestro Jean Luc Ponty, ambient hero Gigi Masin, hype band Khruangbin and more performed, whilst NY cornerstone François K provided mastering duties. At various points Ron himself played drums, percussion, keys, synths, piano, guitar and electronics.

Harking back to the 70s and 80s boom in adventurous, luxurious albums, WDTSSTY is a love letter to the longplayer, where rich musicality and a liquid smooth, silky flow make seemingly odd genre bedfellows acquiesce harmoniously. Each song its own high-fidelity odyssey, Trent incorporated a broad range of live instruments and electronics into a sophisticated, euphonic whole. Described by him as being “designed for harmonising with spirit, urban life and nature”, this is aural soul food, gently easing you into balmy nights, where everything is alright.

Originally wanting to be an architect, Trent’s views his approach to collaboration and music in general as having the same principles. A firm believer in the nourishing qualities of sound, he sees direct parallels between the two disciplines, being as the purpose of good architecture is to improve quality of life. “With WARM, through sound design, I built frameworks for the musicians, who furnished and occupied these structures beautifully, which was a big compliment for me”, he comments.

The conditions required for a good collab are more than simply structural though, as Trent expounds, “I’m a huge fan of everyone on the record, especially Jean Luc and Azymuth, who’re part of my DNA. Each track was made with that guest in mind – for example, when I started writing ‘Sphere’, I immediately thought ‘this IS Ponty’. I played the keys in his style, and did a guide violin solo using a synth, which he then re-did, amazingly. ‘Cool Water’ is based around Azymuth themes, so when I sent it to Ivan, he could immediately see himself in the piece; He got what I was going for straight away. For ‘Melt Into You’ I hit up Alex on Instagram, sent him the track, he liked it, and within 24 hours he’d sent back six different bass passes!”
“Conversely, Admira began with a sketch sent by Gigi and became something combining Jon Hassell-esque chords and the feel of ‘Aquamarine’ by Carlos Santana, which links back to Masin’s recurrent nautical theme”, he adds.

With community, history and the need for racial equality never far from Ron’s mind, ‘Flos Potentia’ translates from Spanish as flower power, but rather than promoting some hippy idyll, instead it refers to plants which drove the slave trade: tobacco, sugar and cotton. Joined by Khruangbin, together they propel Dinosaur L, Hi-Tension and afrobeat into an ethereal, clear-skyed stratosphere.
Aside from these esteemed guests, other key influences cited by Trent include ‘Gigolos Get Lonely Too’ by Prince, ‘Beyond’ by Herb Alpert, David Mancuso, Jan Hammer, Tangerine Dream, The Cars, Trevor Horn, Alan Parsons Project and pre-Kraftwerk incarnation Organization. A multitude of others are audible too, including George Bension, Vangelis, Loose Ends, Maze, Flora Purim, Weather Report, Atmosphere, Grace Jones, James Mason and Brass Construction.

On the subject of influences, although opposed to the fences erected by genre tags, to understand where Ron is coming from, and where he’s at, it’s important to acknowledge just how big the palette is from which he paints. Traversing jazz funk, quiet storm, sophisti-pop, new age, new wave, kosmische, Balearic, samba, afrobeat, Latin rock, soft rock and yacht rock, his deeply entrenched digger’s knowledge pays off in dividends.

In 1990 Ronald Lee Trent Jr. was the teenage creator of Altered States – a raw, futuristic techno-not-techno anthem, which in retrospect was something of a stylistic anomaly for the young artist. Across subsequent years, with time spent in Chicago, New York and Detroit, came the development of his signature sound, and renown as a world class purveyor of deep, soul infused house/garage. This story has already been told, and on casual inspection, the well-worn platitude ‘house music legend’ is an old shoe that still fits. However, in fact, he’s actually so much more, and has been for quite a while. A genuine musician, songwriter, and ‘producer’ in the proper, old-school sense, the artist today has more in common with Quincy Jones than he does your average journeyman DJ track-hack.

To those in the know, these broader skills haven’t gone unnoticed, which is why on the highly collaborative, career-topping new LP ‘What Do The Stars Say To You’, it took little persuasion to recruit serious star power. Brazilian royalty Ivan Conti and Alex Malheriros from Azymuth, violin maestro Jean Luc Ponty, ambient hero Gigi Masin, hype band Khruangbin and more performed, whilst NY cornerstone François K provided mastering duties. At various points Ron himself played drums, percussion, keys, synths, piano, guitar and electronics.

Harking back to the 70s and 80s boom in adventurous, luxurious albums, WDTSSTY is a love letter to the longplayer, where rich musicality and a liquid smooth, silky flow make seemingly odd genre bedfellows acquiesce harmoniously. Each song its own high-fidelity odyssey, Trent incorporated a broad range of live instruments and electronics into a sophisticated, euphonic whole. Described by him as being “designed for harmonising with spirit, urban life and nature”, this is aural soul food, gently easing you into balmy nights, where everything is alright.

Originally wanting to be an architect, Trent’s views his approach to collaboration and music in general as having the same principles. A firm believer in the nourishing qualities of sound, he sees direct parallels between the two disciplines, being as the purpose of good architecture is to improve quality of life. “With WARM, through sound design, I built frameworks for the musicians, who furnished and occupied these structures beautifully, which was a big compliment for me”, he comments.

The conditions required for a good collab are more than simply structural though, as Trent expounds, “I’m a huge fan of everyone on the record, especially Jean Luc and Azymuth, who’re part of my DNA. Each track was made with that guest in mind – for example, when I started writing ‘Sphere’, I immediately thought ‘this IS Ponty’. I played the keys in his style, and did a guide violin solo using a synth, which he then re-did, amazingly. ‘Cool Water’ is based around Azymuth themes, so when I sent it to Ivan, he could immediately see himself in the piece; He got what I was going for straight away. For ‘Melt Into You’ I hit up Alex on Instagram, sent him the track, he liked it, and within 24 hours he’d sent back six different bass passes!”
“Conversely, Admira began with a sketch sent by Gigi and became something combining Jon Hassell-esque chords and the feel of ‘Aquamarine’ by Carlos Santana, which links back to Masin’s recurrent nautical theme”, he adds.

With community, history and the need for racial equality never far from Ron’s mind, ‘Flos Potentia’ translates from Spanish as flower power, but rather than promoting some hippy idyll, instead it refers to plants which drove the slave trade: tobacco, sugar and cotton. Joined by Khruangbin, together they propel Dinosaur L, Hi-Tension and afrobeat into an ethereal, clear-skyed stratosphere.
Aside from these esteemed guests, other key influences cited by Trent include ‘Gigolos Get Lonely Too’ by Prince, ‘Beyond’ by Herb Alpert, David Mancuso, Jan Hammer, Tangerine Dream, The Cars, Trevor Horn, Alan Parsons Project and pre-Kraftwerk incarnation Organization. A multitude of others are audible too, including George Bension, Vangelis, Loose Ends, Maze, Flora Purim, Weather Report, Atmosphere, Grace Jones, James Mason and Brass Construction.

On the subject of influences, although opposed to the fences erected by genre tags, to understand where Ron is coming from, and where he’s at, it’s important to acknowledge just how big the palette is from which he paints. Traversing jazz funk, quiet storm, sophisti-pop, new age, new wave, kosmische, Balearic, samba, afrobeat, Latin rock, soft rock and yacht rock, his deeply entrenched digger’s knowledge pays off in dividends.

Tidal Waves Music now proudly presents: the official reissue of this fantastic album, back available on vinyl for the first time since 1987. Available as a deluxe 180g 2XLP set, with TWO bonus tracks from the same session that were not featured on the original vinyl release. Pharoah `Farrell' Sanders (born 1940) is a leading figure in the world of jazz and one of the last living legends with connections to players like Sun Ra and John Coltrane. His tenor saxophone playing has earned him royal status amongst free jazz players, critics and collectors. On "Africa" from 1987 Sanders plays with an all-star line-up consisting of Idris Muhammad, John Hicks and Curtis Lundy. Muhammad brings his trademark tight sense of timekeeping, but with a looseness that we love - and Lundy's warm soulful bass does more than enough to give the set a sound bottom- all this while Hick's free lyrical piano works nicely with Sander's spiritual horn. The brilliant `Africa sessions' features the quartet at their best...soulful but also searching for a strong groove at the same time. The music here is less ornamented than on most of Sanders' studio recordings, where sextets, septets or larger lineups have been the norm, but this brilliant effort here remains every bit as compelling. Pharoah and his crew play with the utmost sensitivity and give a demonstration that shows us the full extent of their skills.

repressed !

The two Dons that dominated many club nights in the early 90's with their club orientated techno tracks that were loaded with funk, raw energy, and fresh sounds never heard before!! Blake Baxter and Orlando Voorn also known as the Ghetto Brothers

Liam Gallagher is not the kind of artist who was going to be stopped by the sizeable problem of not being able to play to an audience during lockdown. So when the idea of playing a playing and filming a live stream show came up, he looked at the precedent set by the Sex Pistols and The Clash and decided to hit the River Thames, armed with a boatload of attitude, a phenomenal live band (including Bonehead) and an arsenal of classic songs.



The show has been captured in full on the new live album ‘Down By The River Thames’, which will be released on May 27th via Warner Records.



Originally streamed on December 5th 2020, the show became one of the most memorable performances of the lockdown era. From iconic Oasis favourites (‘Supersonic’, ‘Cigarettes & Alcohol’) to big hitters from his two all-conquering #1 solo albums (‘Wall of Glass’, ‘Once’), Liam’s inimitable snarl boomed across the Thames and dominated London’s gloomy winter skyline. There were plenty of welcome surprises too: debut solo performances of the Oasis songs ‘Hello’, ‘Fade Away’ and ‘Headshrinker’, and the first live version of ‘All You’re Dreaming Of’. Liam’s voice is absolutely on point throughout, with a full-throttle snarl of anger and attitude that doesn’t compromise any of the finesse of the studio recordings.



Liam commented, “So here it is, the gig they said we could never pull off! As we were in lockdown, bored and depressed, rock ‘n’ roll came to save the day once again. It was a top night and a top gig and it’s captured here on record for you to all enjoy.”



‘Down By The River Thames’ is now available to pre-order now. It will be released on orange double-vinyl, CD and digital formats. The CD and download formats will be available at a special price of £5.



‘Down By The River Thomas’ provides a timely reminder of Liam’s live experience, which returns this month when he headlines a Royal Albert Hall show for the Teenage Cancer Trust. It will be followed by his summer UK headline tour, which includes two nights at Knebworth Park – all 160,000 tickets sold-out in a matter of moments – as well as other mammoth outdoor shows in Manchester, Belfast, Glasgow and Dublin. Please see his website for a full list of his international tour dates.



Liam will also release his eagerly anticipated third studio album ‘C’MON YOU KNOW’ on May 27th. Previewed by ‘Everything’s Electric’, the biggest solo hit of his career so far after hitting the Top 20, the album is available to pre-order now.

It's been a while since Local Talk presented a 12" with two artists doing one side each but it's time again.

Italian powerhouse Nico Lahs glides smoothly between labels like Delusions Of Grandeur, Adeen and Rawax, working with house royalty Chez Damier and keeps delivering top quality music.
His contribution to this split 12" is the track 'Everything Is Good', one of those moments when everything (!) works just perfectly.
A straight forward track that embraces loops and repetition with hints of HNNY's golden days.

On the flip Local Talk's very own Tooli moves through a series of moods and grooves with the 'That Cowbell Track', a cut which eases you deeper and deeper into the dance, with clever rhythmic programming.
A dub that focuses on the cowbell is also added for your pleasure, because you can't have enough cowbell, can you ?

An explosive collision of garage punk and weirdo art rock from Sacramento's most exciting export since Mayyors. Clean Living Under Difficult Circumstances is a strange, haunting thrill ride driven by angular guitars, an unhinged drum attack and the dynamic, sometimes violent vocal delivery of Whittney K. Featuring long time members of the Sacramento punk scene, Drug Apts have released two E.P.s on Tyler Pope's (LCD Soundsystem, !!!) Berlin based label, Interference Pattern Records, the first produced by Death Grips' Zach Hill and Andy Morin, the second by Dub Genius and Slits producer Denis Bovell. "The band name is a reference to drug apartments, those Mid-Century Modern complexes scattered throughout Sacramento, with rows of palm trees out front and mock English names like Dorchester Court or the Royal Arms. Common features include: concrete stairs, prison-style walkways with dudes looking in your window every five minutes, moms beating their kids next door and cop car lights reflecting off the pool. An ex used to say, “I hate living in these fucking drug apartments,” and friends would say, “It’s three blocks that way, past the drug apartments.” We all spent time staying up and crashing in them, or we tried to sleep through the noise emanating from their windows. I hear they’re better these days, but who knows? So the name is rooted in places and times."

Many will know Bernie Marsden for being a founder member of Whitesnake, one of the biggest rock bands of all time, and writing the iconic global smash, “Here I Go Again”.Since leaving Whitesnake almost 40 years ago, Bernie has forged an impressive solo career. He is acclaimed as one of the premier British blues guitarists. He has written and recorded with some of the biggest names in the industry, composed music for film & TV, forged a successful career as an author, and amassed a priceless collection of guitars. Most recently, Bernie partnered with Joe Bonamassa to write half of his hit album, Royal Tea. Rewind to Summer 2018… Bernie was invited to join Billy Gibbons on stage, when he said “Bernie, wouldn’t it be great if we could all record the songs we grew up with as we learned to play the guitar?” Rather than suffer the usual fate of great ideas that are left to litter the dressing room floor, Bernie immediately set about making a list, and the “Inspirations” Series was born. KINGS” is the first album of Bernie Marsden’s “Inspirations”. Featuring 10 songs that were originally recorded by Albert, B.B. & Freddie King, and recorded in a studio in Oxfordshire with a band that just locked into a groove, “KINGS” is chock full of blues and soul. Two Bernie Marsden penned instrumentals inspired by The Kings appear as the final two tracks on the album. Features appeared / appearing in Blues Matters, Classic Rock, Fireworks, Rock Hard (Germany), Sweden Rock, Rock N Reel magazines, with great reviews given by most of the premier UK Rock, Blues and Guitar publications around the release of “KINGS”. Radio support at Planet Rock, The Max, Radio Caroline and was IBBA’s #4 most played album in 2021.

First album by this duo, known separately for their work in Mouse on Mars
and Gastr del Sol.
 Two long-form pieces, utterly different from one another: one hyper-detailed
electronic music and sound poetry, and the other live-in-the-studio electric
guitar and laptop paint-peeling.
 The exciting first chapter in a long-anticipated collaboration
 David Grubbs and Jan St. Werner met in the mid-1990s when Grubbs was
playing with Gastr del Sol and The Red Krayola and St. Werner in Mouse on
Mars and Microstoria. After years of exchanging ideas, ‘Translation from
Unspecified’ marks their first time locking horns as a duo, and it’s clear this
deck-clearing collaboration was long overdue.
 In January 2020 Grubbs arrived at Mouse on Mars’ Berlin studio Paraverse
with a guitar and ‘Translation from Unspecified’, an open-ended, seemingly
self-generating poem suggesting AI, one of the themes in St. Werner’s recent
work. This became the side-length title track, a winding corridor of electronic
fanfares and spontaneous musical miniatures urging Grubbs’s slow and
steady recitation to grow wings and graduate into song.
 Who knows where this idiosyncratic mise-en-scène - day-glo, extrovert
electronics and task-oriented human - came from? Reference points - distant
ones - might include Robert Ashley and Paul De Marinis’s ‘In Sara, Mencken,
Christ and Beethoven...’ and the sound poetry of Anton Bruhin.
 Flip the record and you have ‘Soixante Ooze’, a live-in-the-studio duo for
guitar and computer more recognizably St. Wernerian and Grubbs-like that
reconfigures elements of the title track before finally morphing into needlepinning monoliths of sound.
 David Grubbs has released fourteen solo albums and appeared on more
than 200 releases. He was a member of the groups Gastr del Sol, Bastro,
and Squirrel Bait and has performed with Tony Conrad, Pauline Oliveros,
Luc Ferrari, Will Oldham, Loren Connors, the Red Krayola, Royal Trux, and
many others. His newest book is ‘Good night the pleasure was ours’ (Duke
University Press, 2022).
 Jan St. Werner is an artist and electronic music composer best known as
one half of the group Mouse on Mars. He has collaborated with Oval’s
Markus Popp as Microstoria and written music for installations and films by
visual artist Rosa Barba. In 2013, St. Werner released ‘Blaze Colour Burn’,
the first of a series of experimental recordings called ‘the Fiepblatter
Catalogue’. Recently his work has prioritized installation and interventions
with spatialized sound, including a number of collaborations under the name
Dynamische Akustische Forschung (DAF).

The British composer, musician and audio engineer Daphne Oram was a pioneering figure in the use of electronic music. Coming to prominence through her work with the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, which she co-founded, Oram was one of the first British composers to feature electronic instruments in her work and has been rightly hailed as helping musique concrete to become accepted in Britain. Born in 1925 and raised in rural Wiltshire, close to Stonehenge and the ancient stone circle at Avebury, Oram eschewed a place at the prestigious Royal College of Music to take a junior engineering role at the BBC in 1942, she was often tasked with creating sound effects, leading to cut-up experiments with tape recorders and the development of synthetic sound; her composition Still Point, involving two orchestras, two turntables and five microphones, was deemed too radical by the BBC, though she was promoted to studio manager in 1950, leading to the gradual introduction of electronic music and musique concrete techniques on BBC soundtracks. In 1957, she composed the music for the play Amphitryon 38, using a sine wave oscillator and homemade filters, and this and other subsequent works led to the establishment of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop the following year, but Oram soon tired of the conservative constraints of the BBC, leading to her resignation in 1959 to pursue her own vision at the Oramics Studios for Electronic Composition, located in Tower Folly, a former hop kiln located at Fairseat, near the village of Wrotham in rural Kent. Oramics was a radical sound composition technique that sought to transform images to music, enacted by drawing onto 35mm film, which would then be read by photo-electric cells; in addition to its use in Radiophonic Workshop material, Oramics was also employed for sound installations, theatre productions and feature films, such as The Innocents, though financial pressures forced Oram to seek a range of commercial engagements in addition to creating her own artistic works. The Listen Move And Dance series of BBC programmes were devised as a radical new technique to help British schoolchildren learn how to dance; on the LP releases, Vera Gray arranged short adaptations of classical pieces by Bartok, Stravinsky, Shostakovich and others, designed for “stamping, punching, kicking and jumping” movements, as well as “running lightly, dancing on toes” and “shaking all about,” which contrasted sharply with Oram’s electronic abstractions, which seemed to have been beamed in from outer space.

Was unsure if to do this Modern rarity on 45 due to there being no master tapes and the original pressing is really rough with loads of sibilance, but having had so many requests to put this out I thought fuck it, the end result came out better than the OG but nonetheless ill get crucified by the discogs police but ill take it :) and the rest of us can have this Modern banger in our box without having to sell your car.

What it lacks in audio quality, it makes up for in musicality ten times over, a genuine two-sided 7" of modern soul royalty, rare and good.

Kapingbdi came together in Liberia, West Africa, during the late 1970’s and had their own unique style. This six to seven-piece band played original compositions in a vibrant mix of African Rhythms, Soul, Spiritual Jazz, Funk and Rock. Led by Kojo Samuels on sax, flute and vocals “Born in The Night” presents the essential tracks from their rare studio LPs produced between 1978-1981. The work has been carefully edited and remastered in 2019 for vinyl LP and a 6-Page Digipack CD, which includes two additional recordings. Kapingbdi toured through Europe and the U.S. and were the only Afro funk band to ever come out of Liberia.

Kapingbdi hail from Liberia, West Africa and have their own imitable style. They effortlessly combine traditional African music in a modern mix of Jazz, Funk, Soul and Rock. The band is a fusion of the old and the new.

The word "Kapingbdi" is taken from the Sierra Leone language Mende and means "born in the night". Kojo Samuels was given the name by his Latin teacher whilst attending high school in Freetown, They often meet and debate at night in the city and soon after Kojo is called Kapingbdi. The name serves as a description of his origin. Born In Lagos, Nigeria in 1943. The son of slave children. His mother from Nigeria and father from Sierra Leone who moved the family to Liberia, during the 1950’s.

Kojo has played music for as long as he can remember. He starts with the harmonica and later becomes a drummer and percussionist in his first band at school. During his art studies 1965-1972, he tours Germany and works as an art teacher in the USA. His band Kapingbdi is reorganized five times and consists of up to seven musicians. In a VW-Bulli he drives the group from concert to concert and if the drummer fails, he jumps in himself. Between 1978 and 1981 three Kapingbdi LPs are produced for the independent label Trikont, recorded in Hamburg and Munich. During this creative period, the band plays at festivals in Africa and Europe. In 1984, the band tours the United States and shortly after, they came to an end.

At their best, Kapingbdi would rouse the audience with original compositions like "Human Rights", justice for all, especially for South Africans, and "You Go Go You Go Come". The officials and employees in the government departments have no time for the common man, for any questions such as job search, scholarship or similar, he receives the answer "go, come back tomorrow" and the same thing the following day. Or "Now Is The Time For Cry For Love." Now it is time to scream for love and finally, time for humanity and justice. Despite immense difficulties, the musicians consciously live and work in Africa and are at home in Liberia.

On April 12, 1980, ordinary soldiers and non-commissioned officers organize a coup against the government. This is an attempt to put an end to a policy of exploitation of the Liberian people. Whilst efforts to eradicate poverty, lawlessness and illiteracy are obvious throughout the country, Liberia is still Americanized to a high degree. This is evident, as the radio programs of that time almost exclusively played American disco music. Under these conditions, the people seek a reconnection to their folk music, and Kapingbdi were aware of this. Kojo tried many times to come together with traditional Liberian musicians. This passion takes him north of the country. Meeting and playing with the old hornblowers and playing music on traditional instruments, such as the elephant tusk.

Kapingbdi make high quality tape copies of their own vinyl LPs and patiently try to displace all unauthorized tapes from the domestic "market". Nevertheless, it is hard to make a living through music in Liberia. Kapingbdi, is now celebrated. The radio plays are in abundance, but royalties are not forthcoming. Their musical link is the feeling of Afrobeat and Highlife, which is found in each of the many Kapingbdi pieces. They embody Jazz, which is understood to be the most refined example of black music outside of Africa. In Liberia, Jazz is virtually impossible to hear. Bright shining names such as John Coltrane, Charlie Parker or Miles Davis were widely unknown. Thus, the Black Jazz, including its Back-To-Africa movement of the 60’s and 70‘s, passes by without leaving a trace in Africa itself.

Kojo's claim at the time, was to make African music with the depth, sensitivity and the freedom of the technical level of Jazz. This makes Kapingbdi the torchbeares. The underpaid prophets in small Liberia. It is the passion with which the founder of the band continues to work on their music for years. Tirelessly, stimulating and encouraging his fellow musicians. This is ultimately responsible for the success of Kapingbdi in Liberia itself. The local audience seems to listen to the band in fascinated astonishment. One wonders about the ability to develop as demonstrated by Kapingbdi on the basis of their music. It is African and unusually jazzy, danceable and better than the American disco music heard on the radio.

Rather than chase the money and the job opportunities in Europe, Kapingbdi are firmly rooted in Africa. The musicians live in Monrovia, the capital of Liberia, at the Kabingbdi workshop, located in the Congotown area on the eastern edge of the sprawling city. Kojo works here as a sculptor, painter, batik artist and musician. The sales revenue that his activities generate, gives him the opportunity to support the development of African Jazz music. The highest percentage of funds are from Germany and Kojo’s work ethic is “to work on your own thing“. The stance taken aims to support the welfare of Liberians and Africans. The other musicians of the group live in a second house that is nearby.

For the sake of consistency, Kapingbdi is a full-time band. However, the revenue, from all of the sources, could not keep them afloat. Equally, as important to the group are Kojos's knowledge of traditional African music and his sculpting skills. His knowledge is shared with others at the afternoon workshops. It is here that they discuss new lyrics, engage in political debate and the self-imposed task of improving conditions in Africa. At times the debate became heated, especially during rehearsals. This was regarded as good and integrative, sowing the seeds of innitiative to keep the band together.

From 1980 to 1985 Kojo also opened and ran the club "Panjebota", located on the grounds of the U.S. Consulate in Monrovia. Almost every evening Kapingbdi perform the song "Wrong Curfew Walk", whose lyrics lament the killing of citizens during the curfew imposed by the Liberian government. When the head of state Samuel Doe hears the song, he behaves agressively and forces Kojo to close the "Panjebota". Kojo had already moved on. Soonafter he meets Fela Kuti at the Africa-Festival and plays concerts in Germany with Cecil Taylor's workshop band.

Kapingbdi is for thinking, dreaming, dancing. What they sing about is what they have experienced. Kojo Samuels is 76 years old today and still follows his vocation as a critical musician, artist and activist.

Ekkehart Fleischhammer / Sonorama 2019 (with the help of original press sheets and the memories of Kojo Samuels)

A rarities album of the first incarnation of Marc Bolan’s Tyrannosaurus Rex featuring Steve Peregrine Took. • The First LP collects all the tracks from the early first two sessions from the summer of ’67 • The second LP collects rare and unused alternate versions recorded over the following two years until the departure of Steve Took.• Presented in a deluxe gatefold sleeve with unpublished photos licenced from photographer Pete sanders ( who was responsible for 3 of the 4 Tyrannosaurus Rex LP covers + the first T. Rex LP cover ) • In depth Liner notes by Andrew J Gardner and all royalties go to The Light of Love Foundation for the Marc Bolan School of Music & Film

"A split-screen maelstrom of Fela Kuti, Led Zep, Morricone, psych and dub" The Budos Band - MOJO - Rising - August 2019

Celebrating 15 years from the release of their debut album, Daptone's Royal Court from Staten Island delivers a truly epic collection of new material that finds the group further bridging the gap between the farfisa-fueled Ethio-Funk stylings of their early recordings, with the psychedelic, Sabbath-inspired hellfire of late.

“In some ways, itʼs reminiscent of our first two albums The Budos Band and Budos II,” says Tom Brenneck. “We branched off on Burnt Offering and Budos V. Now, weʼre still moving forward. You can play these songs on the dance-floor. We knew the horns had to stand out too. Thinking about hip-hop allowed us to put the bounce back into The Budos.”

This is evident from needle drop to final rotation. Heavy drum breaks, reminiscent of the B-Boy approved grooves of their early output reign supreme, setting the stage for the pulsating, hallucinatory wall of organ, menacing horns, and rugged guitar riffs to permeate your soul - leaving the listener in a rhythmic wash of Budonian rapture.

Long in the Tooth represents the culmination of a 15-year journey by a band that has consistently carved its own distinct path through the grooves of history.

Outernational Sounds very proudly Presents The Mallory-Hall Band "Song of Soweto" & "The Last Special".
Limited, fully licensed digital and vinyl reissues of two crucial South African sessions led by Charles Mallory and Al Hall, Jnr., featuring Kirk Lightsey, Marshall Royal, Rudolph Johnson, Billy Brooks and more! Essential companion pieces to Kirk Lightsey’s legendary ‘Habiba’.
Featuring tracks:
Song Of Soweto: Side A – ‘Song of Soweto’, ‘Hamba Samba’; Side B – ‘Cape Town Blues’, ‘Moroka Rock’, ‘The African Night’
The Last Special: Side A - ‘The Last Special’, ‘Princess of Joh’Burg’; Side B - ‘Amafu (Clouds)’, ‘Blue Mabone’
Never released outside South Africa, and out of print since 1974, Outernational Sounds presents two long-lost Johannesburg sessions from the Mallory-Hall Band – an all-star review of West Coast jazz stars who toured apartheid South Africa in the mid-1970s.
Sanifu Al Hall, Jnr. is a musician’s musician. During a storied career stretching across six decades, Hall has recorded with the greats of the music including Freddie Hubbard, Doug Carn, and Johnny Hammond, and leads his own Cosmos Dwellerz Arkestra. But until recent years, the only records on which he had appeared as leader were a brace of rich, funky LPs, Song Of Soweto and The Last Special, issued only in South Africa under the moniker of The Mallory-Hall Band (named for Hall and his co-leader, guitarist Charles Mallory – musical director for Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, Mallory was conductor for Dusty Springfield touring bands, and had worked with John Lee Hooker, Stevie Wonder, and many others). Neither LP had any wider release, and both have remained out of print since 1974. How did a young stalwart of the Los Angeles jazz scene end up in a recording studio in apartheid South Africa?
Al Hall, Jnr. and Charles Mallory had arrived in South Africa as part of the touring band for the singer Lovelace Watkins. Sometimes billed as ‘the Black Sinatra’, the Detroit-born Watkins sang standards and ballroom classics on the Las Vegas circuit. He never made it big in the US, but in his 1970s heyday he was a huge star in southern Africa, and 1974 he hired a jazz big band to accompany him on a tour of South Africa – Hall and Mallory were part of the line-up, alongside Mastersounds bassist Monk Montgomery, pianist Kirk Lightsey, tenorist Rudolph Johnson, drummer Billy Brooks, and Marshall Royal, musical director of the Count Basie band. The tour was a huge success, and during downtime from performing, members of the group managed to independently record no fewer than three albums. Lightsey and Johnson’s stunning Habiba was the first (reissued as Outernational Sounds OTR.013), and it was followed by two crucial sessions led by Hall and Mallory – Song of Soweto and The Last Special, issued on the local IRC imprint.
Visiting apartheid South Africa in 1974 was a controversial choice for any artist. Numerous artistic and cultural bodies around the world had already announced that their members would boycott the country in solidarity with the struggle against apartheid, and working in South Africa was severely frowned on by anti-apartheid activists everywhere. For a Black band, touring the country to play to mostly white audiences could have been seen by many both inside and outside South Africa as a questionable decision. ‘It was a batch of mixed reactions when I choose to visit South Africa whilst apartheid policies were in place,’ Hall recalls. ‘To me the choice was a simple one – “I wanna see for myself!” I also wanted to be a part of breaking down racial barriers, having been down some of the same roads in my own country.’
The albums were recorded by a twelve-piece band at Johannesburg’s Video Sounds Studios in December 1974, and feature the legendary pianist Kirk Lightsey, Black Jazz recording artist Rudolph Johnson, and the rest of the touring band. Both records are superbly arranged slabs of peak 1970s funky big band soul jazz, with tasteful Latin inflections and more than a nod to South Africa’s upful township jazz sound. They are the sonic traces left by a seasoned African American band who were touring South Africa in the depths of the apartheid era, and who immediately moved beyond the segregated hotels and ballrooms to build links with local South African players and audiences.
Never previously available outside South Africa, Outernational Sounds’ new editions of Song of Soweto and The Last Special (alongside our edition of Kirk Lightsey’s Habiba) represents the first time these albums have been in print for nearly fifty years. Fully licensed from Gallo Records and pressed at Pallas in Germany from Gallo’s original masters, they feature new sleeve notes from Francis Gooding (The Wire) based on interviews with Al Hall, Jnr., and a reminiscence from pianist Kirk Lightsey.

Parcels have always been a band of extreme light and shade: they’re from surf hotspot Byron Bay in Australia but they’ve been holed up in grimy nightlife utopia Berlin for years; their sweet-as-honey vocal harmonies rival the Beach Boys but they can also turn their live shows into slamming techno rave-ups. The twentysomethings stand out amid the current musical landscape: a soulful rock band that looks like it’s stepped out of a postcard from 1970s California, all flares, moustaches and shaggy hair. They’re a classic band for atypical times.

Since Crommelin, keyboardist Louie Swain, keyboardist/guitarist Patrick Hetherington, bassist Noah Hill and drummer Anatole ‘Toto’ Serret formed in 2014, fresh out of school, they’ve struck upon a singular sound, weaving together gossamer disco and exotica, soft rock and Sixties pop with a focus on uplifting grooves. Their seductive style has translated into 100,000 album sales worldwide, over 200 million streams, cross-continental tours, shows with French royalty Phoenix and Air, a US TV debut on Conan O’Brien, a Coachella slot and a debut single that was produced by none other than Daft Punk, who saw them live in Paris and ushered them into their studio.

After two EPs, 2015’s Clockscared and 2017’s Hideout (the band’s penchant for smooshing words together is a result of a broken keyboard when they submitted their first demo), Parcels’ acclaimed self-titled debut album came in 2018 and was called “timeless and devilishly fun'' in a five-star NME review. They followed it in 2020 with an impressive live album, Live Vol.1, recorded at Hansa Studios, the legendary studio where Iggy Pop and David Berlin hung out during their Berlin years.

The band returns for summer 2021 with an ambitious third studio album,
Day/Night, a double record that spans impossibly catchy disco-soul, prog, pastoral folk, Laurel Canyon-era classic songwriting and cinematic strings. Made over the course of 2020, when the world was at a standstill, it’s the sound of a band growing up; five guys who’ve known each other since childhood and are finding their way together, in spite of all the major obstacles the last 18 months have thrown at them, when they were unable to return home to Australia and see their loved ones. Day/Night is huge in scope and sound, and its hopeful messages of perseverance through difficult times are a balm for these uncertain times.

2 LP Boxset. 2 vinyls packaged together in a clear PVC wallet (in order to display each vinyl cover). 2 x : 140 G black vinyl ( 33 rpm)+ 3mm spine printed sleeve + printed inner sleeve + cmyk vinyl label.
Cello. Marketing Front sticker 5 cm x 7 cm , back cover sticker (upc + tracklisting) 5 cm x 7 cm

Composer duo Kaae & Batz release hazy electronica single and announces new album L.U.S.H on vinyl. Kaae & Batz, the duo behind the Netflix series Bordertown’s score, is ready with a new album. The first single “Into the Void” is released 15th September, while the album L.U.S.H lands 29th October both digitally and on vinyl on Copenhagen- based record label StereoRoyal.

The album is a collection of reflective and melancholic cinematic tracks with clear references to jazz and neo-classicism where organic elements merge with electronic textures and emotional vocal samples. The album is teased with the first single “Into the Void (Part 1)” – a dark and hazy dystopia accompanied by beautiful piano chords. The album came to life on a 14-day trip to Istanbul and the majority of the tracks, including the first single “Into the Void”, are created entirely from samples and programming.

Kaae & Batz has previously released two albums, Basement Tales (2015) and Mosaic (2019), as well as composed scores for several international film productions which have garnered attention and critical acclaim in the industry. The story about childhood friends Kaspar Kaae (CODY) and Brian Batz (Sleep Party People) dates back to their teenage years in Bornholm where they were both born and raised. They went to high school together, cultivated their shared interest in music, and played together in bands. These years became the cornerstone of their friendship and musical collaboration.

With L.U.S.H, Kaae & Batz shines a light on Danish electronica. The album is released 29th October on a limited-edition LP (180g) and on all streaming platforms.

‘The Centre is Everywhere’ is our first album. We created it in rather extraordinary circumstances, at a time when we were all slowly sinking into the banal dystopia of a pandemic-stricken world. Our lives, it felt, had slowed to a crawl. Normally we’re fuelled by our audiences, but touring was off the menu. So, we made this record. For us, it was personal.

In such an uncertain time, we wanted to play music that we loved. We ended up with a set of work written over a 120-year period – weightless and transcendent new music alongside Schoenberg’s anguished fin de siècle storytelling.

Edmund Finnis’ work in particular (the titular ‘The Centre is Everywhere’) is important to us. He’s a friend and a colleague, and it’s been a profound experience for us to live with this piece, to tour it, and to make the first ever recording. Somehow in the writing of it, Edmund seems to have prefigured the lack of certainty that has been one of the defining characteristics of this period. His music spins freely through time and space, wraithlike and beautiful.

Whilst recording both ‘Company’ by Philip Glass and ‘Transfigured Night’ by Arnold Schoenberg, we found ourselves drawn to a pervading sense of wildness and nature. The hypnotic rise and fall of the rhythms and textures in Glass’ quartet (presented here in an arrangement for string orchestra) feel quite separate to industrial, man-made structures and forms. Like Edmund’s work, these short movements feel out of time and cyclical, like eternally repeating tides or moon-phases.

Schoenberg’s masterpiece for string sextet opens on a moonlit forest scene, two lovers venturing through a bare, cold grove. We’ve tried to create a recording that paints the violent contrasts of this piece as vividly as possible, from the claustrophobic confessions that open the work through to the gleaming sound world of the second half. As the piece closes, our wooden, earthbound instruments seem to have been transmuted by the glamour and glow of Schoenberg’s music. We finish amongst the stars.

Headline performance at this summer's BBC Proms at the royal Albert Hall

Infamous Southern wrecking crew return with an all country & western album, marking their 25th anniversary. Features numerous guest legends from the Grand Ole Opry along with Jello Biafra. Join those Legendary Shack Shakers as they mark their 25th anniversary as a band on Planet Earth to celebrate the occasion, they’ve invited former members to help them record an all country & western album! From spaghetti western to bluegrass, western swing to rockabilly, Tex-Mex to country folk, the variety of the genre is on full display. Always ones to respect their history, the Shack Shakers have also included some Kentucky local legends to “pick and grin”. Hotshots such as Stanley Walker (Grand Ole Opry band leader for Jean Shepard and guitarist for Sun Studio’s “Rockin’ ” Ray Smith) and Jack Martin (dobro-player for Lester Flatt) really give those “young ‘uns” a run for their money. And the always-ornery “Hillbilly” Bob Prather (Louisiana Hayride fiddler and running buddy of Opry star Onie Wheeler) pitches in too. Just add The Dead Kennedys’ Jello Biafra, hillbilly royalty Chris Scruggs and an Old Crow Medicine Showman and you’ve got a recipe for what could only be a Legendary Shack Shakers masterpiece. Titling it Cockadoodledeux was done, admittedly, to bookend 2002’s Cockadoodle-Don’t, an album by which many fans were first made aware of the group. However, it also serves to signal the start of another twenty-five years! Just as the plucky, two-headed chick emerges from the egg on the cover, so too begins a fresh start for the band’s creative energies. Once again, generations of fans both young and old get to lean in, listen and expect the un-expected.