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The making of Congo Funk!, our long-awaited journey to the musical heart of the African continent, took the Analog Africa Team on two journeys to Kinshasa and one to Brazzaville. Selected meticulously from around 2000 songs and boiled down to 14, this compilation aims to showcase the many facets of the funky, hypnotic and schizophrenic tunes emanating from the two Congolese capitals nestled on the banks of the Congo River.

On its south shore, the city of Kinshasa – capital of Democratic Republic of the Congo, the country formerly known as Zaïre – is often seen as Africa’s musical Mecca, the city that spawned such immortal bands as African Jazz, O.K. Jazz and African Fiesta, and the place to which aspiring musicians from throughout the continent would go to make a name for themselves.

But the city of Brazzaville on the north shore of the river – capital of the Congo Republic – played an equally important role in spreading Congolese sounds continentally. In addition to producing legendary bands such as Les Bantous de la Capital, it was the powerful transmitters of Radio Brazzaville that allowed the unmistakable groove of Congolese Rumba to be heard as far away as Nairobi, Yaoundé, Luanda and Lusaka thus turning the electric guitar into the continent’s most important instrument!

Although the musical landscape of these cities had been defined by a core group of bands in the late 1950s, the modernisation of Congolese music has been steadily evolving until the events surrounding the Muhammad Ali vs George Foreman boxing match marked a turning point. The promoter of that event known as “Rumble In The Jungle” was none other than the notorious Don King who needed 10 millions dollars to get Ali and Foreman into a boxing ring. The only candidate willing to put this kind of cash on the table was Mobutu Sese Seko, President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Mobutu - the megalomaniac dictator who got to power with the support of the United States and Belgium in exchange for unlimited and affordable access to the riches of the country - had a soft spot for music and it doesn’t come as a surprise that he agreed to a three-day live music festival being organised prior to the “Rumble”. Zaïre 74 - as the festival was dubbed - was meant to hype the boxing match and many stars were invited.

Although a myriads of artists flocked in for the occasion, it was the performance of James Brown on Zairian soil that caused havoc among the younger generation, inspiring hundreds of would-be musicians to take up their electric guitars and reverbs cranked to the max in search of a new sound in which hyperactive Rumba was blended with elements of psych and funk. While the results were very different from the popular music of the three Musketeers - as Tabu Ley, Franco and Verckys were known - they weren’t a complete break with tradition.

These new sounds emerged at a time when the Congolese record industry – previously dominated by European major labels – was experiencing a period of decline due to rising production costs and needed a radical change. The void was filled by dozens of entrepreneurs willing to take chances on smaller scale releases. It was the beginning of a golden age for Congolese independent record labels, and the best of them – Cover N°1, Mondenge, Editions Moninga, Super Contact – preserved the work of some of the region’s finest artists, while launching a generation of younger musicians into the spotlight.

The movement was greatly helped by legendary radio shows but it was the dynamic productions of Télé-Zaïre that set the dynamite on fire. Legend has it that TV shows were so huge that president Mobutu himself ordered RTV du Zaïre to put on daily concerts since it halted criminal activities for the duration of the evening.

Congo Funk! is the story of these sounds and labels, but most of all it is the story of two cities, separated by water but united by an indestructible groove. The fourteen songs on this double LP showcase the many facets of the Congolese capitals, and highlight the bands and artists, famous and obscure, who pushed Rumba to new heights and ultimately influenced the musical landscape of the entire continent and beyond.

DJ Support: Louie Vega, Kenny Dope, David Morales, Dimitri From Paris, Dave Lee, Simon Dunmore, Michael Gray, Brian Tappert, Melvo Baptist, Seamus Haji, Terry Hunter, DJ Spen, Hector Romero, Dr. Packer, Kenny Carpenter; Jellybean Benitez, Husky, Birdee, Derrick McKenzie.

Legendary Italian producer Gianni Bini Debuts on Groove Culture with 'The House Of Glass' LP. With an inimitable CV and discography that includes over a thousand production credits to his name, hundreds of singles under renowned pseudonyms including Bini & Martini, Fathers Of Sound, The Goodfellas, Subsystem and two Worldwide hits as Eclipse and House Of Glass, Gianni is one of the most revered producers of disco-house, defining each genre with a signature sound. Always looking to push the boundaries of what it means to make music, his latest project sees Gianni return to deliver an epic disco record that takes the sound back to its roots in every way possible. Backing up live drums, live bass, live guitars, live strings with catchy vocals and enough groove to level a discotheque, it’s this Disco-Pop energy that Gianni has captured and expertly delivered with 'The House Of Glass'LP.

Tel Aviv's Elado has put out a fine run of eight releases in just two years on the likes of GAMM, Barefoot Beats and Bonfido Disques, but for his next move, he branches out with his own reissue label. its aim is to "focus on uncovering lost gems" with the original paired with his own remixes. The first one is a 1983 private press from the Canadian pair OUI. 'Circle Of Love' is a big disco banger with flashy synth work and rugged arps, with a pair of Elado's mixes making it even more dancefloor ready. 'You Make Me High' is a more sentimental 80s pop sound. A fine start to life for this new label.

Repress!

When Network Records originally issued “Innovator” in 1991 we knew that the music contained within was timeless. At that time, of course, we had no grasp of how well Derrick’s epic soundscapes would time travel. We christened the collection - “Soundtrack For The Tenth Planet” - because it seemed like the music (and Derrick) had indeed arrived from another world.

The release has been acclaimed as iconic because Derrick, the madcap and maverick philosopher of Detroit Techno, introduced the concept of dance music with a musical and emotional agenda way beyond anything that had come before. Beats with beauty. Literally the strings of life. Where fellow musical geniuses Chic had previously urged everybody to simply "Dance, Dance, Dance" mood alchemist Mayday merged simple yet cerebral dreamscapes with strange and urgent complex dance rhythms and invited us all to Dance And Dream. And in a strange juxtaposed way helped birth the hedonistic Acid House scene with classics “Nude Photo” and “Strings Of Life”

The energy is frenetic, but merged with a new age ambience. The gems collected on this offering were iconic in 1991, now they cause mass hysteria when Derrick turns his one time musical experiments, created in a tiny room in Detroit, and turns them into epic concerts with orchestras and musicians across the globe. “Hand In Hand” existed in 1991 and we wanted to release it then, but it’s taken until now for the complete 13 minute recording to finally meet the world.
It will be revered, because like all of Derrick May’s music it is life affirming. Emotions Electric indeed.

The original “Innovator” release was housed on one single slab of wax. This time around we have expanded it to two discs to make space for “Hand Over Hand” and also so everything elsewhere - masterpieces remastered - can be presented in a complete and superior fashion. Whatever the tweaks, changes and updates etc all these years on, this music still sounds gloriously alien and groundbreaking. But there’s still no Tenth Planet.

"Innovator" remastered by Curvepusher, London 2019. Re-presented by Network Records in conjunction with Derrick May.

Opening a new chapter for DNO Records, PLLFRY debuts on the label with five raucous halftime tracks that also feature collaborations with two vocalists – NST & Genoveva. The ‘Overexciting’ EP is built around iron-clad percussion and a healthy dose of mangled sonic futurism, but the dominating flavour throughout is big, bold, unadulterated bass.

As might be expected of tracks called ‘Demolition’ and ‘Collapse Of The System’, there’s plenty of damage being dealt; the former’s wrecking ball bassline spins violently as its supporting beats splinter and fall, while the latter’s destructive low-end hacks chunks from its itchy sci-fi soundscape like some psychotic sentient buzzsaw.

There’s room for nuance too, however. The title track is all about contrast, its rumbling bassline winding along like a colossal serpent, while hi-hats chitter, and Macedonian vocalist and producer Genoveva delivers a haunting, silvery vocal that’s cold and alluring in equal measure. And as if the undulating low-end and metallic melody of ‘Water Fire’ weren’t enough to make heads spin, the track features a vocal from South Russian up-and-comer NST that seems to slip and slide at will, pulling the track forward and always remaining just out of reach.

Bonus track ‘Old School’ nods to the golden age of hip-hop, taking a tough boom bap-style beat and scratch samples, but flipping it script with machine glitches and pellets of acid.

Like a collection of missives sent back from a hi-tek future, the ‘Overexciting’ EP serves as a reminder that DNO can’t be pigeonholed, and always stays one step ahead.

Rhythms of postmodern realism at the very bottom of the DNO.

After 10 years of Freakadelle Recordings and an even longer existence of the eponymous association, the time has come for the Salzburg collective to make a change and release its first record under their new imprint vierundvierzig.

It also marks the first solo release by Mad Rider named "fmrann8", which contains 7 tracks that originated during the pandemic and were finalized after the opening of the clubs. These two different states - undecided whether we want to dance or go into hiding – are not only reflected in the music, they are also made visible in the cover design, which can appear colourful and monotonous at the same time.

On the one hand, you can hear the longing for long club nights from a time when going to the club was not possible. On the other hand, the deceleration holds us as if we were sitting on fluffy clouds, not knowing what Mad Rider's modular synthesizer, fed with unconventional drums and field recordings, or the future will bring next.

There are two versions of the vinyl - classic black and triple-color limited Indie Shop edition.

Both have special insert inside with the bands bio and photos.

Generacja JAZZ is a project showing a fragment of the new wave of Polish jazz, treading its own path, creating, touring and jamming across Europe. Borders don't exist - especially musical - the new generation is engaging with nightclubs, festivals and playlists. The time has now come to show its broader perspective. We created a project which involves a handful of groups that have already racked up debut albums and festival wins, as they set out on their musical odyssey. The groups also have other things in common, like their passion, originality and, for the needs of the project, age - all the artists during the recording of this album were under 30 years old. This is the new generation - the Jazz Generation.

For the Jazz Generation record we invited five bands who had already released debut albums: Immortal Onion, Klawo, Rejoin, Twoosty Mayonez and USO 9001. We also reserved two spots on the compilation for the winners of our open call competition, whereby on the basis of the jury's choice (jury: Monika Borzym, Paulina Przybysz, Envee, Wojtek Mazolewski i Marcin Groh Grośkiewicz) we met the winning bands: Kosmos and quietet.

The sleeve artist is Kornelia Nowak, who won our open call for young designers and graphic artists. Here once again we could rely on the opinion of a prestigious jury comprised of: Beata Śliwińska Barrakuz, Bovska, Maciej Animisiewasz Grochot, Grzegorz Forin Piwnicki i Marcin Groh Grośkiewicz.

Generacja JAZZ LP is also a start of the new imprint - U JAZZ ME, which will be focused on jazz from Poland.

And here are the bands from the album:

1. Immortal Onion - A band from the Tri-City playing a broad spectrum of instrumental music.

Band members: Wojtek Warmijak (percussion), Tomir Śpiołek (piano, synths), Ziemowit Klimek (Upright Bass, synths).

The band Immortal Onion has already established itself as one of the most interesting projects of the new wave of Polish jazz, and is consistently being labelled as such abroad. After two well received albums ("Ocelot of Salvation" (2017) and"XD Experience Design" (2020) U Know Me Records) they released their third album "Screens" in 2022, which was recorded with the well known Tri-City composer and saxophonist - Michał Jan Ciesielski.

The inspiration behind the band's formation were such artists as: Esbjörn Svensson, Hiromi Uehara, Tigran Hamasyan and Tosin Abasi.

The group's guiding principle from the very beginning was the fusion of often disparate musical styles, which bore "post instrumental aggressive gay pop". Despite the stylistic discrepancies, between which they swim, the group has forged its own identifiable language, characterised by complicated rhythmical structures, energetic riffs and trance beats with lyrical melodies.

The trio has performed its original material at many venues and festivals around Europe and Asia.

2. Klawo - seven adventurous adventurers from Gdańsk, who were brought together by their love for music, halvah and throwing Frisbee. Their self-named début album, released in 2022 on the local label Coastline Northern Cuts, is an amalgam of the inspirations of each of the team members and played backwards contains tips on how to reach the Kashubian pyramids. After a win at the international competition Jazz in the Park, held in Cluj-Napoca in Romania, the band began work on their second album. Meanwhile, they were also travelling the length and breadth of Poland on a mission to infect people with the idea of Baltic Funk.

3. Kosmos is a Łódż based jazz quintet. It was formed in 2020 by Pianist Stanisław Szmigero, Saxophonist Iwo Tylman and Trumpeter Jan Ostalski. However, it wasn't until 2022 that Kosmos found its true form when Kamil Gużniczak (Upright bass) and Kacper Kuta (Percussion) joined the line-up.

Their compositions are influenced by Polish yass bands, electronic music and hip-hop. Kosmos music is a mix of lyricism, space, intensity and elements of experiment.

The band members are all eccentric characters possessing different means of musical expression - looking at them, one could even argue they are a group of oddballs. Despite this, for reasons unbeknownst to themselves, the members of Kosmos complement each other on stage and form a unified artistic vision of the world around them.

Kosmos officially released their début single "Ja" in June 2023. They regularly play concerts across Poland and recently were selected as distinguished artists at JAZZiNSPIRACJE (JAZZiNSPIRATION) - a competition held during the 13th Lublin Jazz Festival.

4. Quietet (formed at the beginning of 2023) is the result of meetings between five talented musicians with a deep passion for musical creation. Its sound is a unique blend of Jazz and classical music with a hint of hard rock. The band is inspired by the Scandinavian approach to making music, which brings a characteristic atmosphere and melodies to their work. Their music captivates listeners with its originality, refined improvisations and flawless technique. Both classical and modern musical trends feed their inspiration when creating passionate and emotional compositions.

Their works are full of sound experimentation, which equally surprise and expose new musical horizons. Through their compositions, "Quietet" aims to share their emotions evoked during performances, creating a musical journey that affects and inspires.

5. Connecting jazz with electronic music in fresh interpretations, six young musicians make up the group Rejoin. The group re-formed in 2020 after a four-year break, playing their debut concert at Lotos Jazz Festival Bielska Zadymka Jazzowa. The musicians in Rejoin have performed alongside such artists as: Urszula Dudziak, Krystyna Prońko, Marcin Masecki, Szczyl, Kuba Więcek and Paulina Przybysz.

Most of the members of Rejoin are students from the Katowice Music Academy, where they also develop their own projects. Rejoin was a recipient of the Fabryki Norblin Music Masterclass Foundation scholarship.

6. Twoosty Mayonez is something your grandad would listen to with his younger sister. The non-standard approach to jazz alongside a pursuit of strange sounds, culminated in the conceptual album entitled "Carmin". The material was created by Bartosz Wolerta (percussion) and Dominik Kaniewski (bass guitar/synths). "Triceradiplodocus" tells the story of a mechanical dinosaur that lives on the yet undiscovered planet Carmin.

Fate is a funny old thing. One day in 2011, DJ/producer Tom Trago found himself sharing a train journey with Steven Van Lummel, a DIY musician, artist and co-founder of PIP, an underground nightclub and cultural hub in The Hague. Over the course of a rambling, open-ended conversation, the idea of making music together came up; a few weeks later, Trago travelled to van Lummel’s place – a former industrial unit that was now home to a rotating cast of artists and musicians – and didn’t leave for a month.

Cossetted away from the outside world in van Lummel’s loft, with multi-instrumentalists Janneke Nijhuijs and Wieger Hoogendorp joining them to create a musical four-piece, MEGA WEGA was born. Over the course of four weeks, the quartet embarked on an almost continuous creative session punctuated only by impromptu parties and mixing sessions. Life-long bonds were made and over 70 tracks recorded before the mundanity of day-to-day life came calling.

For one reason or another, the project never saw the light of day, with tracks sat gathering dust on hard drives for the best part of a decade. During the madness and loneliness of the COVID-19 pandemic, Trago rediscovered the tracks. Delighted by what he heard, a collective decision was made to add finishing touches and release the resultant album on van Lummel’s PIP Records imprint. Further instruments and vocals were added over two days at Hoogendorp’s studio, before mutual friend Tom Ruig got on board to mix the album.

So, what can you expect from Haunted, Mega Wega’s debut album? First and foremost, it’s the sound of pure creative expression – the distillation of a freewheeling, no-holds-barred, spontaneous musical journey variously inspired by the do-it-yourself ethos of musical counterculture, shared inspirations and influences, epic jam sessions, distant stars (Wega, sometimes known as Fidis or ‘the harp star’, is one of the brightest in the night sky), imaginary journeys across dusty deserts, and the comradeship of four new friends.

Enchanting and alluring, it’s an album that gleefully denies lazy categorization and ploughs its own eclectic, atmospheric musical furrow in vivid sonic detail. It’s a collective exploration of heady musical eclecticism unified by saucer-eyed vocals, low-slung bass, loose-limbed beats, sweaty percussion workouts and hazy electric piano motifs.

Haunted begins with the woozy and hallucinatory slow-burn soundscape of ‘Get Things Done’ – an effects laden shuffle akin to lying flat on your back tripping under an intense desert sun – and ends with the creepy, mind-mangling post-punk funk of ‘Brain Carpaccio’; in between, you’ll find spaced-out, low-tempo lo-fi soul (‘Move Around’, ‘Haunted’), tactile synth-powered boogie revivalism (‘Make Me Work’), deep and off-kilter opioid jazz (‘Copenhagen’), intoxicating psychedelia (‘Last Night on Earth’), piano-laden dream-pop epics (‘Shake Or Fall’), and Latin-infused, percussion-powered hedonism (‘Chopping Heads’).

Born out of spontaneous collaboration and immersive, almost endless recording sessions, Haunted is an album shot through with imagination and boundless energy, captured for posterity by four friends and collaborators at the top of their game.

Dee Ervin suffered collateral damage from GRC/Aware’s bankruptcy. He only got to release two mediocre sides on Hotlanta but these recordings match anything he created in a successful career throughout the 60s & 70s.

By 1974 he was as much a composer as artist, but he excels at both on these two numbers that were fully produced and ready for release. ‘You Make Me Happy’ is a terrific uptempo dance track that recently featured on CDKEND 512 “Masterpieces Of Modern Soul; Vol 6”.

‘Give Me One More Day’ was issued erroneously in 1975 as a Tribe LP track on ABC, but the session details clearly have it as a Dee Ervin recorded number.

Debut album of heavy Colombian salsa by the obscure and short-lived El Clan Antillano. Founded in 1975 by singer Jacky Carazo and radio personality / composer Mike Char and backed by a studio orchestra comprised mostly of Fruko Y Sus Tesos band members. The record has been remastered from the original tapes, with an additional three bonus cuts taken from two rare 45 singles, including the sought after track ‘Alma’. First time reissue. 180g Vinyl.

El Clan Antillano was an obscure, short-lived salsa group started in 1975 by singer Jacky “El Caballo” Carazo, originally from Cartagena, and radio host / song composer Mike Char, from Barranquilla. The band was active only until 1977, with a mere two albums to its name. Carazo and Char, “los amigos costeños” (friends from the Caribbean coastal area) created El Clan Antillano as a fresh start after the previous group Carazo had been the lead singer for, El
Afrocombo, had become inactive.

Char primary passion was music, especially songwriting. One of his skills in this area was adapting foreign songs, often in a different language, rhythm, arrangement or genre, and refashioning the tune in an uptempo Caribbean dance mode as a salsa or cumbia. This formula, as well as his own original compositions, soon brought him success not only with costeño friends like Carazo and Vicentini, but also with Medellín’s Fruko, allowing him to make a name for himself with record labels in that city. It was at this juncture, in 1975, that El Clan Antillano was born. This is their first album and was recorded with local studio musicians. It’s been said that most on the first album were from Fruko Y Sus Tesos (the voice of Joe Arroyo can be heard on coro) as well as others involved with various groups like La Protesta (de Colombia) and Juan Piña’s La Revelación.

The album kicks off with ‘Donde ‘sta? Donde ‘sta?’, a medley of costeño lyrical phrases quoting various popular porros. Gradually changing the vibe, this is followed by Enrique Aguilar’s ‘El baile del
ratón’, a humorous cumbia that changes into a salsa halfway through. As if El Clan Antillano were not entirely confident about featuring purely salsa from the start, the same cumbia/salsa hybrid formula is used in the third piece, a faithfully rendered version of Eddie Palmieri’s ‘Mi cumbia’.

‘Estás equivocada’ rocks hard like the best Venezuelan salsa of the time. ‘Esta mañana’ is a cover version of an obscure bolero from Curaçao’s Erwin Castaneer with Super Combo Castaneer. ‘En la oscuridad’ is an interesting mashup of Puerto Rican bomba and New York style pachanga. ‘El despertar’ is a sunny sounding pop song reinvented as a Nelson y sus Estrellas style salsa/cumbia hybrid with a fantastic ‘montuno’ section.

Up next is a hard salsa jam in the ‘pregón’ (street vendor’s cry) genre, written by Fruko Y Sus Tesos percussionist Álvaro Velásquez (composer of ‘El preso’). The original album track list closes out with a fantastic rendition of Puerto Rican singer/composer Bobby Capó’s classic ‘El negro bembón’ that the world first leaned to love through Cortijo y Su Combo. Three bonus tracks have been added to the album as it was originally very short. Interestingly, there were four songs from two 45 singles cut by the band that were never included on either long play. While the ephemeral El Clan Antillano may not be as well known as the groups it’s related to, namely El Afrocombo and Fruko Y Sus Tesos, it certainly deserves credit as a worthy participant in the historical evolution of salsa colombiana.

Celebrating twenty-five years of Aficionado as a place to play away from suffocating mainstream club culture, DJs Jason Boardman and Moonboots have compiled a contemplative set of 16 tracks that holds a deep meaning to both themselves and attendees of their now legendary parties. The compilation includes two new tracks exclusive to the release: J Walk’s ‘Cool Bright Northern Morning’ and Begin’s remix of Canyons ‘Akasha’.
Reflecting on how it all started 25 years ago, Moon considers their no-plan-plan to be a makeshift plateau which evolved organically: “All we did was try to play good records one after the other without any consideration for fashion. And people wanted that”. Alternative approaches were not unknown at the time, but Aficionado, as Jason and Moon’s Sunday sessions became known, pressed the reset button with unique resolve.
Jason elaborates: “It was 1998 when we started. It was our own 'fuck you’ to the Super Club regime - almost everywhere then. The ‘anything goes’ Balearic ethos was in abeyance. It wasn’t cool at the time, but we both just wanted to keep that original spirit alive. ‘Keep it open’ had always been my approach to DJing - even from playing at Youth Clubs as a teenager. No rules or generic constrictions. Play anything that you like from any era, any style from any time. We always encouraged our guests to dig deep and play outside of their comfort zones, their usual styles”.
The lovingly crafted musical mystery tour of this compilation, considering its pleasantly hypnagogic intent, may not reflect the madness of these now distant memories. This is an older and considerably more responsible collection and this is what we need right now - a temporary respite from a world almost capsized. A mood, a meditation created by masters of their craft. Odd socks from disparate global locations making new sense side by side. An assemblage, if you like. A thread through many different kinds of thinking. A new picture pieced together from the lost pieces of many jigsaws.

Gingerblack is a dynamic House Music DJ duo better known as Lilly & Kazan. With classic Chicago House beats Gingerblack are bringing sexy grooves back to the dancefloor while their original Lilly & Kazan moniker stands for trippy dj-sets & productions pushing Cosmic Disco and Indie Techno.

The duo has been enchanting dancefloors at renowned clubs and festivals across Europe while co-founding clubs like “Kasette” in Istanbul, “Christa Kupfer” in Berlin and the beach festival “Bloom” on the Mediterranean Sea.

Lilly's promoter expertise and Kazan's two decades of experience in the electronic music scene as a DJ, producer, and promoter make them a multi-discipline force to be reckoned with. The duo is known for spreading unique joy and passion on stage.

Through one of their club nights Lilly & Kazan made friends with „All That Jelly“ label boss Mr. Fonk who became a resident at their club. In „Christa Kupfer“ they also hosted House music legend Robert Owens, playing unforgettable nights with them. It was a match made in heaven!

Now all four of them have collaborated for this 12“ of the purest oldschool House Music, brought to perfection by the flamboyant prince of Vocal House and remixed by Wareika member Jakob Seidensticker and his producing partner MELINA.

The Stallions compilations have become a benchmark of Bosconi's position as one of the leading house and techno labels operating out of Italy. This third instalment marks a shift in sound which also comes full circle to the music that first inspired founder Fabio Della Torre as a DJ and producer around the turn of the millennium, when punchy electro production was driving European house and techno into new zones.

All the artists featured on Vol. III are Italian, holding true to Bosconi's commitment to supporting local talent from Florence and across the country. Amongst the familiar faces is Della Torre's own Minimono collaboration with Ennio Colaci, which indulges a proudly manic palette of tweaked bleeps and dirty low-end. Elsewhere, recent additions to the Bosconi fold include veritable legends Alexander Robotnick and Marco Passarani, who infuse their unpredictable approaches to electro-techno and italo disco with ear-snagging synth-pop and driving analogue box jams respectively to create vibrant, impassioned dancefloor monsters.

The Mechanical Man is an alias from Nicola Altieri, who leans in on a classic Italo arpeggio to create a seductive club sound which builds on his recent Bosconi EXV EP, while Cixxx J switches from the mood of his own Bosconi appearance for a new alias Queen Of Coins and a pivot towards heads-down electro-techno-trance with a whiff of International Deejay Gigolos. Lapucci builds on the promise of his 2021 Bosconi 12" with a sentimental fusion track which lands somewhere between old school Italo house, the snappy pulse of EBM and crisp 00s-era electro house. Meanwhile modern day Italian techno legend Lucretio of The Analogue Cops makes his first appearance on Bosconi with the playful video game stylings of 'Gradius'.
A great deal of space on Vol. III is given over to emergent talent, ranging from Miguel Herr's twitchy detroitian synth-pop braindance and Twovi's vocoder-charged electro funk to DJ Rou's jacking ghetto house flavour. Giammarco Orsini and Jacopo Latini appear as Data Memory Access and deliver an emotive, punchy strain of machine soul. Feel Fly rounds the compilation off in bombastic style with an epic, cinematic workout which draws on Moroder-inspired drama without losing the forthright peak-time focus which binds the whole collection together.

Even the artwork on Vol. III serves as an opportunity to celebrate Italian creativity, as pioneering crypto artist Niro Perrone builds on his accomplished work in the field of NFTs and a background in music production to respond intuitively to the vibrant, synthetic sound of the compilation. For all the futurism in the music though, there remains a strong sense of human feeling which has marked Bosconi out since the beginning. The label remains as inspired and inspiring as ever, celebrating the fertile crossover when people manipulate technology to express themselves in an honest, playful way. Independent of wider trends or fashions, Bosconi remains true to its own idiosyncratic passions, and so Bosconi Stallions Vol. III stands proud as a compilation like no other.

The 1973 album “El Violento” was the fifth full-length salsa LP led by Julio Ernesto Estrada Rincón, aka Fruko, and the second credited to Fruko Y Sus Tesos. Though it did not contain hits like ‘A la memoria del muerto’ or ‘El Preso’, it’s a collector’s item today in places like the US, Europe and Japan, perhaps precisely because it is obscure yet full to the brim with unrelentingly hard and heavy salsa bangers that never let up from start to finish (hence the title, which translates as “The Violent One”). A mix of originals and interesting covers, the LP is “all killer and no filler”, purposely designed to set the dance floor ablaze. It features Fruko’s two main vocalists that took over from the first pair of Humberto “Huango” Muriel and “Píper Pimienta” Díaz, namely the beloved duo of Álvaro “Joe” Arroyo and Wilson “Saoko” Manyoma. Los Tesos were a talented “wild bunch” who listened to their fearless leader, with Fruko holding down the bottom end on electric bass, Hernán Gutiérrez in the piano chair, the Villegas brothers on hand percussion (Jesús tickling the bongos and Fernando slapping the congas), augmented by Rafael Benítez on timbales and an ace horn section of Freddy Ferrer and Gonzálo Gómez (trombones) and Jorge Gaviria and Salvador Pasos (trumpets). The super aggressive sound comes directly from the South Bronx playbook of Willie Colón. The snarling trombones and soaring trumpet are somewhat sweetened by a nice little Puerto Rican cuatro guitar solo. Sonically lightening the mood somewhat, ‘Nadando’ (‘Swimming’) is a bouncy tune in the ‘Mercy’ genre (basically a hybrid of pop, funky soul, cumbia and salsa, in the style of Nelson y Sus Estrellas), gleefully sung by Joe Arroyo. The beats are complex and ever changing, with a little bit of mozambique, conga, bomba, jala jala and of course salsa thrown in for good measure. The side closes out with a brilliant, uptempo salsa reworking of the venerable ranchera chestnut, ‘Tú, sólo tú’. Side two explodes with the frenetic descarga jam session ‘Salsa na’ ma’—which is exactly that: nothing more than the hottest “sauce” to make the dancers go crazy. Fruko’s tune is dedicated to the Latin community in New York that listens to salsa from everywhere and dances to it so fervently on the weekend. The relentless percussion propels the listener along at breakneck speed as if hurtling down the Bronx Expressway, demonstrating that Fruko y Sus Tesos have mastered the ‘violent’ form of urban salsa that was having its transnational moment in the early 1970s. While “El Violento” may not be as well known as some Fruko records, it certainly deserves a new look and should be assessed on its own merits as a very powerful, confident entry in the historical evolution of Colombian salsa dura.Sleeve

4 unreleased new tracks by the UK legend Sky Joose. He makes everything from Jungle to Garage to House and with all different feelings. On this UK Garage release he comes straight club orientated with that special SHADOW touch on it.

Compiling the follow-up to a very successful first album is always a tricky task, but just 12 months since the release of volume one in the 'With Love' series, miche has excelled himself once again with another glorious, deep dive into the world of rare soul. 15 tracks of independently released music, created by magnificent artists with stories to tell and primed for rediscovery.

The ambition to celebrate under-the-radar artists has remained, but instead of a facsimile of volume one, what we have here is a selection shaped by life changes. Volume two is for the dancers; still soulful, still ultra-rare and slept-on records from the USA, Chile, Brazil and beyond, but the dynamics of the collection have shifted slightly. It represents a move from being immersed in a week in week out environment of beautiful, soulful music in a cosy, dimly lit hi-fi bar to playing livelier, more energetic, dancefloor-focused music in nightclubs. This volume will get you on your feet, make you move and unleash whatever it is that makes you get down.

One of the jewels in the crown of this compilation is a joyous, anthemic gospel version of Stevie Wonder's 'As' by The Family Tree (a project produced by the fantastic Julius Brockington). We are also treated to a rare and sought-after Pennsylvanian funk / AOR bomb by Maxwell, a stunning modern soul tune 'High On You' by Freedom, and self-released Brazilian 45s by Banda 22 and Zé Da Lata. P.J. City's 'Straight Forward (Non-Stop)' is gospel-disco perfection, and we also have 'Dame Solamente Amor’, a sublime, soul beauty from Chile by Rogers Mitchell. Many of these artists featured in this compilation aren't household names, but they deserve their moment to shine, to be heard, loved and appreciated for their artistry.

As Miche says it, “I hope this compilation helps in some way to keep this glorious music alive and play a part in connecting generations of music lovers from the worldwide soul family. As always, it has been made ‘With Love’.”

Bar Musica kicks off 2016 in style with a new EP from Bartomoleo that features one hot original as well as remix from Einzelnkind.

Unlike many in the dance world, Bartomoleo has formal training in classical music behind him. He is influenced by everything from jazz to blues to new wave and exploring electronic music comes naturally to him. His beats are richly detailed and expertly produced and his DJ sets are equally considered. Essentially, he has a delicate and emotive touch and that shows in this new EP.

The excellent L'Azdora is a deep and bubbly home cut with loose percussive patterns and rubbery drums full of warm human feelings. Trippy synths add a curious vibe and colourful pads help flesh out the groove. It is a turning track full of feeling and musical invention and is sure to get into the soul of all who hear it.

German Cocoon star Einzelnkind remixes and does so with a more uptempo slant. His version is slick and tech house feeling, with watery droplets, energetic drums that have real force in them and lots of fluid percussive lines that make you want to move.

This is a tidy two track package that confirms both label and artists to be right on form.