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White Shadows In The South Seas is the title of a book written in 1919 by Frederick O'Brien as part of a trilogy he wrote based on his experiences living in the Pacific islands in the early part of the 20th century. His book was taken as the starting point for a film to be directed, initially, by Robert Flaherty (famous at the time for his groundbreaking documentary / fiction film Nanook Of The North) with W.S.Van Dyke as his support. The film, ultimately, apart from the title, had little to do with O'Brien's book and Flaherty left the film after a few months leaving Van Dyke to finish it.

I purchased O'Brien's book, along with many others, from Basement Books, a secondhand bookstore in Melbourne/Australia. Part of my 'Islomania' and on going fascination with all things Pacific. When I discovered there was a 1929 silent film based on the book I sought it out and started to present it as part of my 'Live Music/Silent films' repertoire. Tabu by Frederick Murnau, which coincidently also had Flaherty as co-director originally, was the first film I ever wrote / improvised a score for and presented as a live film/music performance. My repertoire extends to over 23 films now.

My eclectic and diverse musical and artistic interests extend into 'Hawaiian', 'Exotica', 'Ambient' and 'Electronic' Music. I have produced several volumes of so called 'Electronic, Ambient, Exotica' on CD and Vinyl, including Kiribati, Globe Notes, Rayon Hula ( on Vinyl, CD and digital format ) and most recently, New Globe Note on Vinyl and White Shadows In The South Seas on CD.
White Shadows In The South Seas features some of the music presented in my live screenings of the 1929 silent film.

The film is the story of Dr. Matthew Lloyd, an alcoholic doctor who is disgusted by the exploitation by white people of the natives on a Polynesian island. The natives dive for pearls, however, numerous accidents occur and one diver dies. In anger, Dr. Lloyd punches Sebastian, the employer. As revenge and to prevent further interruption of his activities, he tricks Dr. Lloyd onto a ship with a diseased crew (thinking they are ill) and his men rough him up and send the ship off into a storm. Dr. Lloyd survives and is washed ashore on an island where none of the natives have ever seen a white man before. Lloyd is rescued and ultimately falls in love with the chief's daughter, who is Taboo, hence Lloyd is prevented from pursuing his love for her. An incident occurs and a young boy is thought to have drowned but Lloyd is able to revive him, earning him points and permission with the chief's daughter. Lloyd begins to realise that the local islanders have no sense of the value of the black pearls which grow in abundance around their island and he starts to dive for them and collect them. One morning the white man Sebastian unexpectedly turns up on a scooner and starts to offer the islanders trade for their pearls. Llloyd tries to interrupt the encounter and is shot and dies. His wife and the islanders morn for his dead body and, symbolically, the passing of a way of life.

Mike Cooper plays - Electric and acoustic lap steel guitars / electronics / Zoom Sampletrack / Kaos Pad / Casio SK1 / Korg Drum Machine / Self Made Instruments.

It also features field recordings made on Pulau Ubin by Mike Cooper during a month as Artist In Residence for The Artist Village / Singapore.

I would like to acknowledge and thank Lawrence English (Room40 Records) for his assistance and encouragement with the original recordings and the CD version of White Shadows In The South Seas.

All music written and played by Mike Cooper PRS/MCPS - except Po Mahina (trad. Arr. Cooper) and Hilo Hanakahi (trad. Arr. Cooper)

Recorded and Mixed at the Steelworks in Rome 2012/2013.

A White Shadow In The South Seas
In February 2014 'A White Shadow In The South Seas' was the title of an audio-visual installation I made at the Teatro In Scatola in Rome, Italy, presented as part of a series of sound installations titled 'Visitazioni' produced by Proposte Sonore.

The essay below, as well as our collection of Hawaiian shirts, Exotica and Hawaiian vinyl records, was an inspiration for this installation.

'..the transformation and reconstitution of the souvenir commodity as an indigenous ethnic art form and a scarce relic of Hawai'i's romanticized past...' from - Clothing and Textile Reasearch Journal - From Kitsch to Chic by Marcia A. Morgado.

And....
Michael Thompson's Rubbish Theory (1979)
' ...a critical aspect of Western culture is the pre-disposition to see objects in terms of two overt categories: the transient and the durable. Objects identified as transient have finite life spans and lose value over time, whereas those identified as durable have infinite lives and over time increae in value....category assignments are arbitrary, but once assigned a category membership determines relative value. Fashion apparel-by defenition-is assigned to the transient category; paintings commonly are designated durables....how is it that transient objects.. ( e.g. Hawaiian shirts and vinyl records ) ..sometimes become durables.

Objects assigned to the rubbish category are largely invisible, have no value and, ideally, no life span. Fashion for example, no longer worn and relegated to the back of the wardrobe has fallen into the covert rubbish category. But rubbish can be rescued and transformed. Thompson says ' What I believe happens is a transient object gradually declining in value and in expected life span may slide across into rubbish. Here it exists in a timeless and valueless limbo where it has a chance to be re-discovered and be successfully transformed to a durable. Such transferes are radical: objects gradually slide from transcience to rubbish, but the transformation from rubbish to durable involves an all-or-nothing leap across two boundaries, that separating the worthless from the valuable and that between the covert and the overt. Things drift into obscurity but they leap into prominence.

The delightful consequence of this hypothesis is that in order to study the social control of value we must study rubbish.

The rubbish-to-durable transformation is accompanied by the development of highly specialized knowledge derived from the discovery of subtle variations and complex details that went unnoticed in the objects transient stage. The discoveries initiate renewed interest in the object and its market value begins to climb. As prices soar beyond the reach of ordinary people, the object becomes available only in high priced collectors' markets. Furthermore, as market values rise, the aesthetic value of the object undergoes a reassessment as well, and it becomes increasingly apparent that the objects intrinsic beauty has been overlooked. Ultimately the object is re -assigned as a durable and becomes recognized as a timeless classic.

Exotica, Ambience and Pacificism - A dialogue with Mike Cooper & Professor Philip Hayward Deputy Pro Vice Chancellor of Research Southern Cross University, Lismore, Australia.

'Sometimes it's hard to say how you feel,' says songwriter-vocalist
Jade Vincent. 'These songs are vulnerable stories for me to tell -
they're things I couldn't say out loud. But I found that I could sing
them. And then I closed my eyes when they would listen.'
Listening to Vincent's songs were her partner - producer/composer
Keefus Ciancia - and DJ and producer/composer David Holmes.
Together, Vincent, Ciancia and Holmes make up Unloved, the musical
project that evolved out of a late-night Hollywood bar in 2015,
releasing a stunning debut album the following spring and this year
crafting the soundtrack to Phoebe Waller-Bridge's acclaimed new
series 'Killing Eve'.
Introduced to Ciancia through soundtrack work, Holmes found
himself invited to DJ one night and to curate other nights at the
Rotary Room. To invite Holmes to DJ is to unleash a kind of whirling
dervish of musical enthusiasm but through those nights the trio
discovered a shared love for 60s girl groups and French pop and film
noir soundtracks, Brigitte Fontaine, Shuggie Otis, George 'Shadow'
Morton, Bruno Nicolai, Lee Hazlewood and Jack Nitzsche, along with
a tremendous desire to work together.
Their debut EP - 'Guilty Of Love' - and the full-length, self-titled
album that followed in the spring of 2016, offered a quite remarkable
thing: a sound at once hauled out of the silty depths of the past and
simultaneously wholly modern. There was the soft hiss of a lo-fidelity
recording - the murky crackle of sample, beats and half-remembered,
long-lost favourite tunes. However, much of the songs' success
belonged to Vincent's sublime voice and lyrics, both possessed of an
aching, rich-smoked tone of loss and love.
Unloved's second album, 'Heartbreak', is about love. The album plays
out each song like a vignette of nothing but love. The songs that rose
up were in some ways surprising, but also felt insistent. 'They're real
feelings and real experiences that I had the guts to finally say, but
always ambiguous, this is very important to me,' she explains, 'and
always about love, one way or another.'
LP pressed on red coloured vinyl with digital download code.

Born Marian Himburg, Causa has been on the rise for several years now, with a tight and impressive discography on labels including Crucial Recordings, Infernal Sounds, and J:Kenzo's Artikal Music UK. Known for carefully focused cuts that marry dub sensibilities with dubstep weight, his debut for ZamZam is exactly what you'd hope: heavy 140 wares for deep dances.

'Space Dub' is an orbiting station of decaying delays and insistent bleeps that resolve into an absolutely massive riddim that causes pure murderation on the floor. Machine sounds and lasers spar over dread, lurching bass, while thick snares cut through the reverb haze to reveal the cold, starry cosmos beyond.
'Concrete Dub' works with a similarly industrial sound palette in the service of a minimalist, skanking steppers that drives hard into the heart of sound system. Disembodied voices, growling-deep horn stabs, a single piercing flute note, and a myriad of other sonic signifiers emerge and retreat, as if being pulled under by the unrelenting force of the primordial sub & kick attack. You've been warned!

Originally out in 1983, Love Power is co-produced by Fabian Cooke (from Itopia) and Lloyd Bullwackie Barnes, with assistance from Prince Douglas. Cooke plays most of the instruments himself, with his drumming centre-stage, though Ras Menelik puts in a brilliant shift on congas, and backing vocals are by Sugar Minott and the Love Joys. Cooke's own well-crafted compositions are joined by covers of Irene Cara and the Four Tops, infectiously bridging roots, lovers and synthy, soulful eighties boogie.
Betrayed is solid-gold, signature Wackies. He's My God is a tasty sip of low-slung, grooving gospel-reggae. Evoking Michael Jackson, the jamming album-closer Drums is top-notch disco-reggae, opportunely poised for revival.
Terrific stuff, full of personality, charm and in-ting hybridity.

Masterworks Music Rolls Into Town Once Again, This Time With France's Very Own Chevals Firmly In The Saddle. Four Peak Time Disco Edits Of Tried And Tested Dancefloor Anthems, Ready And Raring To Be Unleashed.

First Out Of The Blocks, 'my Feet Keep Changin', Drenched In Uplifting, Gospel Leaning Vocals That Will Have Hands Reaching For The Heavens. Couple That With Dazzling Piano Melodies, A Pulsating Bass And Staccato Strings, Alongside A Spiritual Breakdown That Will Bring About Full-on, Holy Disco Enlightenment. Next Up, A Filtered Disco House Gem In The Form Of 'this Time Is Dedicated To Love'. Shimmering Vocals, Synth Trills And Guitars That Radiate Warmth Combine With Fresh Percussive Samples And Lush Female Harmonies.

Take To The B Side And You're Hit With 'never Will I Leave You Baby'. Sun-kissed, Beachside, Wind In The Hair Vibes - Bringing Back Memories Of Those Warmer Months, Where Everything Just Seemed That Little Bit More Blissful. '80s Synths, Fuzzy Hats, Filtered Phrases And Sweet Chord Progressions In Abundance. Closing Out The Ep Chevals Goes Heavy On The Modulated, Wobbly Synthwork And Rich Bass Tones On 'love Somebody' Before Those Deep, Soulful Keys Take Centre Stage.

Disco Edits Done Properly!

Official, remastered reissue of this disco tinged, afro funk treasure and the first time the 'Karam Bani' single has been cut to 12' - maximising every ounce of highlife soul from Sidiku Buari's productions.

That undeniable US funk flavour coupled with Buari's Ghanaian rhythms bring a zest to these grooves even the tangiest of forbidden fruits couldn't draw out. Those fuzzed keys and dusty highlife guitar licks sprinkle the West African flavour, whilst drumming demi-god Bernard Purdie provides the wizardry behind the infectious, yet precision like beats that make the track so unique. Purdie's killer breaks combined with Buari's jubilant vocals give a spirituality to this cut that'll liven up any dancefloor - alongside being a gold mine for samples.

Flip it over and you're hit with the joy filled jam, 'Ye Koaba'. Tribal drums lead the way for a chorus of jubilant chants supplemented by glistening synth sounds and funk fuelled guitar riffs. It's a feel-good slice of Ghanaian sunshine, capturing that community spirit and good-hearted nature Ghana's famous for.

Two afro funk sensations sure to put a smile on your face, even when the skies are grey and you're 5000 miles away from the glorious West African coastline.

Born the 26th of October 1956 in Aïn Azel near the Algerian city of Sétif, Nordine Staïfi, real name Larbi Smati, was very young when he emigrated to the French Chambéry region.
After having recorded 'Sraoui' style songs, his real devotion as a singer took place in 1978 when publishing the song 'El Ghorba S'hiba', a disco version of a traditional East-Algerian piece. This song would revolutionize the modern Algerian music, and made Nordine one of its most important protagonists of the 1980s.
For nearly ten years he dedicated himself to the modernization of his music, traversed by the themes of exile, love and the nostalgia of his country.
Nordine Staïfi died prematurely on December 17th 1989 in France, at the age of 33.

It's been 6 years since ALTZ.P released their debut single 'Dodop' in 2012 from a label 'Crue-l', which Kenji Takimi presides over. They've produced the black fat tight band sound, which is exotic and toxic but sharmanic and heavenly. Pulseman, the singular genius, has a perfect command of vibration frequency originating the groove. His minimalism and the Middle East disco beats by the drummer, Mau (ex-NEWEST MODEL), and the bass player, Shake Yoshimura, are intersecting organically. The one and only sound view of ALTZ, the star that shines on the scene, is spiritually colored by the shrine maiden chorus girls, Maririns, whose names are all Mari. Their psychedelic power of language in the soulful chorus is interesting. Also, 21CH (ex-DAMAGE) is performing the synthesizer as a guest player.

The Chakachas are best remembered for their hit disco single 'Jungle Fever'. The album by the same name is a revelation of Latin funk, with horns playing against groovy rhythms and some fine vocal work. Exiting in every aspect it's a real tasty and nasty combination of sounds. The album is characterized by its versatile percussion, consisting of maracas, congas and drums, and funky guitar riffs and horns. There's a beautiful version of Earle Hagen's classic standard 'Harlem Nocturne', known for its groovy bassline and guitar breaks. Jungle Fever is a classic which should be included in every collection of funk and Latin music.

The Belgian based group of The Chakachas were a Latin soul studio musicians. They're also known as Les Chakachas or Los Chakachas. They started in the late 1950s, recording a playful mixture of Latin music, jazz, and European-style exotica.

A 7 inch with two monster jams featuring Format-440 and Puppy Smooth. A classic disco rap track on side A, with the production of Format-440 and the vocals of the New York MC Puppy Smooth. And a soft instrumental boogie jam on side B signed by Format-440.

New vinyl single release including 2 rare Disco gems edited
by Austrian DJ/Producer, The Schwinn.

Panoptique is probably one the most prolific guy from the electronic punk scene in France, member of the collective Simple Music Experience, member of the formations Violent Quand On Aime, Les Simplists, Succhiamo or United Assholes with his old roomates Maxime and Yasade... Just to say he is a guy to follow, understand ! So we are very proud to present on the Seven Series two super tracks from him and United Assholes, two super cool songs in the Minimal-Wave/Synth-Pop punkish style which were originally released on cassette on Lost Dogs Entertainement in 2017. « Objectif Jeune » is a little ballade with dirty bassline, tiny riff, and melancolic voice. « Là, Les Chachats, Là, Les Chienchiens » is a sleezy hypnotic rhyme with dirty voice on repeat and crazy synth lines jam. For the artwork we digged into the arcade of the web to discover this special painting of the
netherland realistic artist Jeanne Illenye who is specialised into painting animals and still lifes. Limited to 300 copies, don't sleep !

Zeitreise: go Back', Way Back. Die Musik Erinnert An Arthur Russell, Es Hat Aber Nicht Nur Abstrakte Reminszenzen An Arthur Russell's Garage Sound: Steven Hall Aka Nirosta Steel, Der Hier Singt Und Gitarre Spielt, War Der Gitarrist Und Sänger Von Arthur Russell's Hits Wie is It All Over My Face', in The Light Of A Miracle' Oder tell You Today'.

Der Niemals Oxidierende Nirosta Steel Trifft Hier Dj, Produzent Und Chinesischen Record Shop Betreibenden Tomasz Guiddo, Der Bereits Eine Maxi Auf Compost Disco Veröffentlicht Hatte. Als Kalabrese Das Original Hörte, Sagte Er Spontan: Klingt Für Ihn Wie Ein Versteckter Talking Heads Track. Auf Jeden Fall Hat Kalabrese Seinen Typischen Hand-gespielten Coolen Disco-ritt Draus Gemacht, Während Shahrokh Dini go Back' In Die Oberste House-hemisphäre Puscht. Es Gibt Auch Noch Einen Michael Reinboth Remix, Exklusiv Auf Vinyl Und Digital In Dem Fetten 25 Years Compost Records 10x12' Box-set (2019).

Domestic Exile are proud to present the devastatingly deplorable and malevolent recordings (that are sure to corrode yet electrify your ears) by Glasgow's very own KLEFT.

KLEFT aka Vickie McDonald is rooted in and has actively propagated the underground DIY radical queer punk and feminist movement here in Glasgow. Their projects have included the skull crushing sludge doom of Cartilage, the unflinching and infamous multi- membered hard core stars that were DIVORCE and the sacrificial, druid drone glitch of MOURN. Alongside these projects they have uncompromisingly disrupted, motivated and facilitated collective endeavors to take down the capital power structure of the dominant system of patriarchal club venues and abhorrent fuckers in this town.

For this record 'H+ Sexualis', KLEFT explores the neo-modern space where flesh is left behind. Negotiating, analyzing and tearing to shreds the relationship and balance between flesh and technology. KLEFT's expansive and palpable sonic offerings delve into themes of transhumanism and body hacking and seep into our collective skin begging the question; can flesh ever be created digitally. Does a lack of physicality alienate human experience in a post transhumanism society Are we all destined to be skinless yet digitally connected Will the body become superfluous Toward "the utopian dream of the hope for a monstrous world without gender," as stated on Donna Haraway's essay ''A Cyborg Manifesto.'

From the opening track 'Ossein' the listener grasps a foreboding lethargic build up, lurking out of the spatial ritualistic shadows into a sea of suffocating nothingness. A void where there is no gravity. Skeletal and brittle shattering rhythms which echo DMZ / Skull Disco dubstep alongside the more frozen, glacial ominous explorations of grime are often felt proving KLEFT is an artist whose inspirations run deep and wide and generally exist in the darkest recesses of our subconscious. These fearful, disjointed rhythms are set against weightless atmospheric oscillated synths, as if roaming through bleakly opaque, claustrophobic narrow corridors on a first person survival horror video game such as Resident Evil.

Moving through to 'CMBR', KLEFT's dissonant, degrading soundscape ferociously ascends. The resilient kick drum is propulsive and pulverizing akin to 'ardcore tekno - or intense gabba if you have the guts to adjust the tempo up to +8 - aesthetics that overwhelm and agitate finally revealing it's grotesque biological / amorphous bio structure. Elevating the repetitive 4/4 kick to a destructive, distorted banger of a track as layers of converging atonal noise and sound design simultaneously further enhances the sense of imminent radioactive contamination.

Next is 'Writhe, Squirm, Broken' continuing the convulsive, nauseating permutations of the prior track but reconfigured like a mangled, gruesome Cronenberg-esque parasite that has infiltrated an open wound, excruciatingly feeding off of the inner anatomy of it's hosts body from within. Repulsively reformulating the shape and dimension. The intro is akin to a panic stricken bouncy ball contracting and expanding, the spring reverb building momentum and traveling further away in distance and speed.

'Hackfleisch Deluxe' is a muuurrderous stomper and is one of the more grime / bass orientated tracks that deconstructs and disrupts the tempo familiar to sub-low producers on Black Ops / Jon E Cash / DJ Dread D. The crawling, plummeting frequency of the synth is a nauseating rush of coagulating blood to the heed; a deep throbbing sensory depravation in sharp, paradoxical contrast with the driving harmony layered on top which proves to be infectiously addictive. Furthermore are splintering programmed vocal samples that gives a sense of artificial disorientation, mind over matter, a possible hint at our evolving sentient cognition within a nightmarish simulated, augmented reality

Second to last we have 'Keratin' which is filled with the near fatal dissolving thud of Djax-Up acid that gives the impression that you're a biologist peering through a microscope into a petrie dish and witnessing the rapid and furious genetic cellular replication of bacterial and viral organisms.

Culminating in 'Bruised and Bleeding Hands' where the squashed density of a deflated and depressurized helium filled balloon and elastic umbilical cords, barbed wire and copper wires grind n' coil around the lens of a zooming camera. Taking no prisoners, this is a punishing grime weapon. A phat, surgical kick drum bulldozes its way thru causing carnage, syncopated punching snares after every rave stab and dizzying third beat. It won't be long until ye hear this on Silver Drizzle's youtube channel in the near future.

This record transports us to the hyperkinetic mutation scene on the cult cyberpunk film Tetsuo The Iron Man where the organic flesh / mechanical rust of the Iron Man metamorphoses with the Metal Fetishist during the rebirth sequence and we say 'LONG LIVE THE NEW FLESH!''.

While their trademark sound has always been flourished with plenty of nods to the past - think jazz-funk, disco, acid jazz and boogie - Reel People's career has been forged on crafting new songs and instrumentals. For their latest album, "Retroflection", they've decided to flip the script, serving up a set of covers of classic cuts with the assistance of some notable vocalists. It's a neat twist and one that results in a string of superb revisions. Check, for example, the Mica Paris-fronted take on Alicia Meyers' "I Want To Thank You", their starry version of electrofunk staple "Don't Stop The Music" (complete with sublime Angie Stone vocal), an Incognito style take on Willie Bobo's "Always There" and a riotous, scene-stealing romp through Pleasure favourite "Joyous".

Sticks & Stonez make their debut release on Glitterbox Recordings with the stunning 'You're My', featuring rising star Liv East on vocals. This special 7' vinyl release illustrates the East London duo's capability as producers, taking influence from modern house and disco, the combination of the instrumental horns, slick production and East's smooth vocal makes for a blissed-out record that transports you to hazy summer days. The stripped-back instrumental version also features on the release, offering an insight into how the carefully curated track balances its musical elements.

It's easy to eye collaborative records between two established artists with either a weary sigh or a degree of cynicism. In an age where a track or record seems to perform better directly in relation to how many artist names are on the digital byline, it can often feel like engineered circumstance or a desire to exponentially boost appeal comes before any natural create endeavour. In the case of 'On Reflection' however - the new record by Derwin Dicker AKA Gold Panda and Jas Shaw, one half of Simian Mobile Disco, the venture, under the moniker Selling is rooted in a long-standing friendship and prior creative history.

2024 Repress

midnight in tokyo is a compilation series that aims to be the perfect companion to nights in tokyo, collecting tracks by japanese artists that sound best at night. while vol.2 focused more on '80s jazz fusion, the latest installment, vol.3, picks up where vol.1 left off, bringing together forgotten soul, disco, and new wave gems. the compilation opens with japanese rare groove classic 'more sexy,' a provocative song by 'the queen of sexy songs,' yoko hatanaka. 'kimi no yume,' from the album yume no yonbai by the wandering poet masumi hara, is one of the best balearic acid folk song to come out of japan. 'silhouette call' is an electric bossa nova track—in the vein of antena—taken from a rare album called octopussy by yuki nakayamate, a singer songwriter who also worked as a backing vocalist for motoharu sano. 'theme of high school student' is a dubby cut featured on the soundtrack to the japanese '80s film kougen ni ressha ga hashitta, written by atsuo fujimoto of colored music—one of the key artists in the recent wave of global interest in japanese music. 'get to paradise' is a stone cold funk jam by mari kaneko, who was known as the janis joplin of shimokitazawa in her heyday, and is now known as the mother of the drummer and the bassist of popular rock band rize. following that is one of japan's greatest new wave disco track, 'hannya,' taken from tomoko aran's popular third album fuyu-kukan—produced by masatoshi nishimura who was part of the friends of earth project with haruomi hosono. masako miyazaki—whose rendition of seawind's 'he loves you' is a fan favorite—puts her own spin on the earth, wind & fire classic, 'fantasy,' singing in her accent-heavy english which gives the song an undeniable character. 'watashi no koukoku' is a certified disco boogie classic by popular singer junko sakurada. the brazilian-esque jazz fusion, 'sunshine bright on me' is by a fusion group called kangaroo, who were often billed as 'the japanese shakatak.' 'stranger's night' is a synth-pop number by pop idol maiko okamoto, which bears a suspicious resemblance to rah band's 'the shadow of your love.' electro-pop disco 'singing lady'—off the sole album released by the one-off project the fad—sounds like something giorgio moroder could've cooked up. 'magic eyes' is a disco anthem recorded by songwriter tetsuji hayashi's disco project, the eastern gang. following that is japanese soul gem 'crazy baby,' found on a rare 7 inch entitled minato no soul by rinda yamamoto—also composed and arranged by tetsuji hayashi. and last but not least, closing out this collection of 14 japanese rare groove goodies is 'i'm in love', a bittersweet mellow dance number by tomoko aran.

First opus of the new series is La Batterie, by the UK's Richard Podolor and Sandy Nelson in 1983 in the hypnotic shimmering disco of 'Let There Be Drums.' The music of Polodor and Nelson is being given new life by Kalahari Oyster Cult. Alongside the entrancing original are two remixes. First up is Australia via Amsterdam's very own Max Abysmal with his 'Spooky Remix.' Adopting and adapting the raw energy of the '83 version, Abysmal layers ghostly notes and spectral snares into his mechanical remake. The flip takes on a different slant with 'Shotgun' taken from the EP of twenty fives years ago. A super slick work of understated funk shot through with bold keys and powerful chants to show another side of the UK pair. The fiercely talented Benedikt Frey closes, turning his daringly able hand to 'Let There Be Drums.' He keeps the vocal line, the rest of his rework is dipped in a thick heart of darkness threat. Pulsing thumps, menacing notes and danger lurk in this jungle of Frey's own making.

Colombian musician, Mario Galeano, the force behind the band Frente Cumbiero, and English producer Will Holland a.k.a. Quantic, joined forces in 2012 to create the celebrated Ondatropica project.

Recorded at Discos Fuentes in Medellin, Ondatropica exists to explore and expand the tropical sound of Colombia in its rawest form and to marry it with contemporary influences from around the world. The concept brings together an iconic group of top Colombian musicians representing both the classic and more modern styles of la musica Colombiana. Artists such as Fruko, Anibal Velasquez, Michi Sarmiento, Alfredito Linares, Pedro Ramaya Beltran, Markitos Mikolta and Wilson Viveros joined a group of younger Colombian musicians, members of both Mario's band Frente Cumbeiro and Quantic's Combo Barbaro, to (re)generate the excitement that positioned Colombian music as one of the most influential in South America.

Ondatropica's eponymously titled double album fuses traditional Colombian styles such as cumbia, gaita, champeta with boogaloo, ska, beat-box, MCs, ska, dub, funk and creates a progressive collection of 26 tracks that re-interpret the tropical musical heritage of Colombia with new approaches in composition, arrangement and production.