Truly nuts and really kind of essential... the Starship Commander had his whole approach to the Synthesiser Voice technique. B-Boys/Girls delight. Check the instrumental cut, Mastership - a head nod synth voyage of the highest order. Limited copies. TIP!
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'How are you doing, Earthling' That's how Omer Coleman, Jr. addressed his public in the 80s, driving around Kansas City, Missouri in the electric space-car built especially for his alter ego Starship Commander Wooooo Wooooo.
Left Ear Records went back to Coleman's original master tapes for their vinyl reissue of the Commander's 1981 private press album Mastership, a lost electronic funk classic. Coleman performs in an alien voice that comes not from electronic filtering but from his own natural vocal distortions. This visitor from Mars wants people to be happy and, like his song goes, 'Laugh and Dance.' It's an endearing and very personal space-age funk that blends George Clinton and Kraftwerk in a vision of a better and happier world.
Born and raised in Kansas City, Coleman was musically inclined from an early age. His parents couldn't afford to buy him a real drum for orchestra, so he took up electrical wiring and wood shop instead, which fed his muse in a different direction. Omer built enormous speaker cabinets. In the late '70s he was a DJ, and ran a Mobile Disco business that took him across the country, hosting parties. After a trip to California, he came back to Kansas City inspired to dress up as Commander Wooooo Wooooo.
The future commander began working at the Armco Steel Mill in Kansas City when he was 18. He was inspired by older machinists who demanded perfection in their work and in their character. It was while he was working at the steel mill that Coleman came up with Starship Commander Wooooo Wooooo. One day coworker John Manley came up to Coleman with a vision of an electric car, and built it. His coworkers built all of his equipment, from lighting and fog machines to big steel eyeglasses. Coleman's sister, a seamstress, created his outfits.
Coleman started his own label in 1985 but took some time off from music to raise his children, and when they came of age his son recorded with Coleman as a gospel vocalist. When his son was killed in an auto accident in 2004, it took something out of him, and he stopped making music. But he's starting to get the feeling again.
Now 62, he's currently enjoying his retirement from a long stint with the IRS. The former Commander is in the middle of a house project where he's using metal ceiling tiles to line his walls. It's starting to look like a spaceship. Coleman promises, 'There is a real good possibility that we have not seen the last of Starship Commander Wooooo Wooooo!
Pat Padua'
DJ, producer and Rex Club resident Molly presents the third EP for her RDV Music imprint, drawing on talent from across her native France, featuring fellow Parisian Aleqs Notal (Clek Clek Boom, Sistrum) and 1977, as featured on Syncrophone's For Those Who Know imprint. While each side and artist offer their own distinctive flavour, percussive, classy late-night house music is the main course; ideal for late nights under dim red lights.Aleqs Notal pays tribute to the timeless appeal of spinning analogue wax throughout opening track, 'Sweet Rotation'; a simple hymn to the essence of house music, bubbling gently on bright keys and woozy basslines. 'Hands On' follows, offering a more nocturnal angle on this enduring aesthetic, reducing the energy but enhancing the atmosphere even further, both on-record and across any packed dancefloor.The more Southern sensibility of 1977 brings drumwork to the fore, weaving an exotic, patient tapestry of bubbling, alluring synths and analogue feedback across two confident, percussive jams. While 'Vodoom' indulges in tension and intrigue, EP closer 'Jdlf' is pure, unwinding pleasure, across which each of 1977's influences and instruments are offered freedom to breathe and evolve.With this installment of emminently classy and supremely confident house, RDV Music continues to prove itself as one of the most worthy musical institutions on the contemporary Parisian scene.
Great return of the classic and pioneer band of the French Funk scene! After a long absence, Malka Family reformed, burned some scenes and composed a new album without changing anything to its magic formula. Recomposed with almost all original
musicians, they come back today with a new album, Le Retour du Kif. At the heart of a still popular and multicultural Marais area in Paris, young musicians gather to jam. This is where Malka Family is formed. Their first self-produced album, Malka On
The Beach, was released in 1991, and gigs were immediately chaining up all over France and Europe, famous for their eccentric costumed performance and after-parties. In 1992,
Warner France signs them for a second album Tous des Oufs, a real P-Funk space opera with guests such as Sidney, Dee Nasty, Marco Prince (FFF), or Juan Rozoff... They will then traveled France, Switzerland, Italy, Holland, Denmark, Namibia, Japan ...
And in 1994, the band becomes independent again and records an EP for Big Cheese Records, titled Fricassee de Funk. After a final tour for the third album, Fotoukonkass (BMG) recorded with Renaud Létang , the band finally broke up. At a time when Daft Punk is using funk artists to support their performance, when Bruno Mars & Mark Ronson's "Uptown Funk" continues to make the crowds dance, it's time for the original funkateers families to come back and teach a lesson to new generations. After the
band reformed and started touring again since 2015, they quickly decided to record a new album and to leave on the roads again...
Stix Records is a sub-division of Favorite Recordings specialized in the exercise of producing covers with a Reggae twist. Acclaimed in 2013 with a first official single by Taggy Matcher Birdy & Nixon (STIX033), quickly followed by the first volume of Disco Reggae (STIX035) compilation, Stix is back in 2014 with a scorching Disco Reggae Vol.2.
Following the success of its first volume, the Disco Reggae series also expands with this 9 tracks compilation, composed with 8 new and exclusive versions by artists such as Taggy Matcher, 7 Samuraï, Mato, or John Milk, and the classic cover of Tainted Love' by Grandmagneto. But this time, if they still explore famous hits like Watermelon Man' by Herbie Hancock or Happy' by Pharrell Williams, they also dug within the home labels' catalog,
taking over some of the finest titles by Mr Day, Lee McDonald, Lucas Arruda or The Joubert Singers.
Again this time, their swaying renditions seem straight out of the smoky studios from Kingston or Montego Bay, while also remembering the 80s Pop-Reggae sound of artists like Grace Jones or the less famous Earons.
Everything is mastered and cut at Carvery Records (UK), known for their expertise in Caribbean and Disco music. The vinyl LP comes in a deluxe version, housed in an old-school tip-on jacket.
The new Alec Empire Album, now out on vinyl with Cargo ! An excellent product (sound is wide open large and strong) the new aspect of Alec Empire is his Lou reed/Iggy Popy & New Order way of singing. The result is a perfect fusion... Welcome to the Breakcore Croonerz !
After a period of hibernation, aperture records awakens with a bang and a compelling program in the pipeline.
Following their first album released on aperture at the tail end of 2015 'no.3.obliate', the Italian duo T.e.s.o. bring us their second full-length album 'costruzione 04'.
As the title suggests, the album centres around an underlying theme of construction, inspired by radical architecture, brutalism and collages from Superstudio. The concept and title evolved from the nature of the album and the process of building up tracks from a number of separate samples, much like the singular elemental materials used to assemble a structure.
Alongside their music production, the duo have previously created a multimedia installation that investigated the geometric studies of Le Corbusier in parallel to the musical production of Erik Saite and Matteo Castiglioni continues to create impressive audiovisual installations such as the recent 'Freddo Flusso' and 'neon(i)', as well as a collaboration with Danilo Randazzo. T.e.s.o also continue to perform absorbing live sets of their own inimitable range of musical perspective and vision.
Intense, visual and structured, 'costruzione 04' again showcases T.e.s.o.'s complex, obscure and dominant beats and their oblique and sometimes challenging style.
Fresh on Francis Harris' Kingdoms imprint comes Adamo Golán's seven track LP, 'Exile And The New'. Golán is the alter ego of British-German artist Laurens A. Schmidt, who has been pursuing a more club-focused techno project, while developing an ever deeper fascination with experimental music, ambient and film scores. Drawing influence from his adopted homes Berlin and currently London, the 26-year-old has been uncompromisingly trying to develop his own musical voice.
'Exile And The New' expresses this ongoing pursuit and, being the first full-length and first ever release by Adamo Golán, marks the start of his most personal project to-date. Stretching over seven tracks, it touches upon a diverse set of sceneries, moods, and emotions whilst a distinctive sound design gives the work a subtle framework and guiding thread.
'Fis' starts the proceedings, introducing drones and field recordings and enveloping the listener in Golán's distinct sound world. 'Just Friends' merges distant snapshots of disembodied vocals with granular sound design and a sense of both space and creeping claustrophobia simultaneously. It's an approach the young producer has mastered - 'Replica' maintains an ambience of the deeply personal and a wider, hazy focus, realised via exquisite melodic fragments against a backdrop of pads and chiming electronics. Title track 'Exile And The New' unfolds around another cinematic world scored via a single stringed instrument, static interference and oceans of space. 'Lie to Me' brings a piano refrain to the fore, wrapped in luscious ambience and more fragments of a conversation heard through the rain. 'Then Rely On Me' slowly develops out of a haunting atmosphere and finds an uneasy but strangely beautiful flow, before 'The Hungry Years' closes out the album as it started - floating in space.
The 26-year-old artist sees the album as a journey that should captivate but never impose itself on the listener. It´s a gracious and neighborly invitation to dive in, get lost and explore its facets and peculiarities
Kingswood Drive and Accidental Return were an early teaser of this new set, due in April. Displaying their signature analogue sounds and arpeggios, alongside broken beats and soul, you wouldn't be alone in hearing the influences of Dam Funk, Herbie Hancock or Bugz In The Attic coming through on these two.
Elsewhere more jittery, playful rhythms underpin Croydon Rooftop Café Culture. As well as in the calming and ethereal Prints On The Heath, a subtle tribute to mutual hero Prince, who passed away on the unusually prolific day this and two other, currently unreleased, tracks were written and recorded.Throughout the EP the duo nod at their London home from the "Heath" to Kingswood Drive and more obviously Croydon itself. The sound of South London is threaded throughout this record with pride.
Even down to the mechanical sunset sound of EP finale Thorns, capturing some of the essence of the studio view over London from their high point on the hill in Thornton Heath.
The first EP from Albert's Favourites co-founders and synth-production duo Modified Man focused on throwing out heavy editing, recording music with as few processes as possible and grabbing performances as single takes. Blending warped cassette recordings that touched upon early jazz-funk/brit-funk influences with the energy of broken beat and experimental electronica, won them support from Patrick Forge, Osunlade, Thris Tian, Yam Who and Titeknots to name a few.
Since that release they premiered new track Thorns live on Boiler Room, going on to deliver a full, three-hour live performance and DJ set for the infamous global community.They also provided remixes for Dele Sosimi, Amp Fiddler, Makadem & Behr and Hector Plimmer, meanwhile, busily preparing a series of four, six-track vinyl EPs which will be released over the next 18 months.
Repress with new cover art & self adhesive vinyl sticker
Fredfades: SP-1200 / Eikrem: Trumpet
Remastered 300 copies
Ft. Ivan Ave, Azon Blaze, Skyblew, Lindsey Whittington
Cover by Even Suseg
For fans of J Dilla, Madlib, Mndgsn, Ivan Ave
Fredfades on the SP:1200 & Eikrem on the trumpet = "Jazz Cats". New cover art and remastered.
Fredfades is making his name in hip-hop circles worldwide as one of the most jazzy producers around. He's joined up with the gifted jazz trumpeter Kristoffer Eikrem for a full "Jazz Cats" LP. Needless to say, the project lives up to its title. The two enlist several other jazz musicians on this innovative LP, as well as rappers like Ivan Ave.
The Palm Tree needs no introduction to anyone who has visited this part of town. Diamond boozer and Blitz survivor, it stands solitary on the Regent's Canal between Mile End and the Roman Road, quietly resisting the urge to move with the times. On weekend evenings you can enjoy the jazz standards of the Great American Songbook played by the musicians who feature on the album, no ticket required.
Tom Oldham (@tommyophoto) is a London-based portrait photographer, shooting portraits of musicians, sports stars and talented folk all round the world. His work has been widely recognised by the Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize, the Open Series in the AoP Awards and most recently the Sony World Photography Awards 2018.
Andy Gangadeen is a drummer of international renown, playing with bands as prominent and diverse as Duran Duran, Massive Attack, Spice Girls and Chase & Status. He a true pioneer of live dance music drumming and has been known to pick up the sticks at The Palm Tree from time to time.
* Sixteen carefully selected tracks including their most renowned work
* Covering Funkadelic at the height of their career (1970-1976)
* Double LP set that comes with OBI-strip, Limited to 1000 copies
Tidal Waves Music proudly presents: FUNKADELIC Finest
Compilations are tricky and hard to get right ... Finest is that rare one that knocks it out of the park. This release focuses on George Clinton and crew at the height of their career & on their most renowned work.
Comprised out of sixteen carefully selected tracks and covering a six-year period (1970-1976) Finest may be the best-assembled Funkadelic collection from this period yet, as both renowned band standards share space with several oft-overlooked tracks.
The early tracks "I Got a Thing" and "I Wanna Know if It's Good to You" show the band-members still honing their rich 'n' funky sound, before they hit their stride with selections from the classic 'Maggot Brain' album. As a result, you get a healthy sampling of some of the best funk the '70s had to offer, including "Hit It and Quit It," "You and Your Folks, Me and My Folks," "Loose Booty," "Cosmic Slop," "Red Hot Mama," and "Get Off Your Ass and Jam."
Finest is an exceptional sampler for those discovering the wild and wacky universe of Funkadelic. Out of print since 1997 and transferred from the original analogue master tapes, now finally back available as a deluxe Double-LP set with some of the craziest psychedelic crumb-style artwork you'll ever see.
Gritty electro and techno cuts from NYC's Heidi Sabertooth on her vinyl debut for Lost Soul Enterprises, with a slamming rework by Young Male. Limited to 300 copies in full color printed jacket.
King Tubby's Hometown Hi-Fi was one of the great Sound System in Jamaica.
It also proved a fantastic outlet for the Dub Plate Specials cut at Tubby's studio, providing exclusive cuts to be played out and to entice the dance's audience.
The tracks at the time were mainly cut over producer Bunny'Striker'Lee rhythms, that Bunny stored at Tubby's studio, 18 Drumilly Avenue, Kingston, Jamaica.
The versions were given eclusive plays at Tubby's sound before some finding their way on to vinyl, ass the b-side version cut to it's a-side vocal.
It proved so popular that the records were often brought fir its version side over its vocal counterpart.
We have compiled a selection of cuts that were all tried and tested on Tubby's Home Town Hi-Fi Sounf System and that worked a great set of Bunny Lee's rhythms in fine style.
Some of these cuts found a release as version b-sides but many on this set were exclusive Dub Plates unreleased until now.
As Cornell Campbell says on track one of the set 'King Tubby and Bunny Lee will never go away'
Hope you enjoy the set......
Munich based producer Cap Kendricks joins the MPM fam with his new album "Keepsakes". It is his third instrumental project and will be released on April 20th. Cap Kendricks is a well-known producer who has worked with some of Germanys finest MCs. His instrumental works are a rich mix of analouge sounds mixed with synths. Cap knows how to create deep atmopsheres , sometimes melancholic, sometimes bouncy, with great care to detail. His sound is influenced by Dilla, Easy Mo Bee, Flylo, Madlib, James Blake and Betty Ford Boys. But he also digs Curtis Mayfield and Fela Kuti. Cap Kendricks has recently remixed upcoming UK rap group Summers Sons and has released beats via KO-OP and Chillhop in March 2018.
Having grown up with and on the internet, Martin Steer (1986) has transformed its pull into a concept album that is just as immediate and intangible as the digital world. Bad Stream is guitars and machines vanishing in the spaces between Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails only to reemerge amidst Ambient, Noise, and Drone. Bad Stream, then, is his modus operandi - a hybrid soundtrack to the feelings of resignation, isolation, and cynicism within neoliberal cyberspace and to that strangely numbing comfort of bodies transmuting into zeros and ones in real time.
'I look at my phone even when I play guitar,' says Martin Steer, 'and that isn't even entirely voluntary. The 2010s really changed my perception of how digital technologies and social media affect me as a musician. Through Bad Stream I want to make sense of this particular kind of anxiety, and to use sensory overstimulation as a way to develop an independent and progressive musical language.'
The past seven years took Martin and his laptop and guitar from Berlin to Mexico and Nepal and, as a founding member of Frittenbude, into the German charts and to various festival stages. And yet, Bad Stream is a true 'Berlin album,' out of Friedrichshain, Neukölln, and Kreuzberg and will be released on Martin Steers own label ANTIME. It was recorded with real drums and programmed beats, with shoegaze guitars, acid baselines, piano, smartphone synths, violins, field recordings from the darknet and his voice, whose hopeless timbre conveys reflections on systems, the future, drugs, people, and his own place. In his ever expanding A/V live shows and in the music videos, this is supplemented by complex visuals.
The Telescopes were founded in England in 1987 by chief member Stephen Lawrie and released several recordings in the late 1980s but it is in 1990, when the band signed to legendary label Creation, that they hit their stride and helped to define a decade of UK rock music. Fusing elements of psychedelia with noise-rock, and dreamy pop, The Telescopes were near the forefront of the early shoegaze scene and hugely influential on the next wave of early 1990s Brit-pop. This crucial collection complies all 4 of their 12" singles on Creation as well as a 1991 John Peel session and other bonus tracks. Issued on 180 gram 2LP with a deluxe double sided poster insert.
The now legendary ' Abbey Road' version of 'the Isness' was the originally conceived version before last minute wholesale changes resulted in new tracks , different mixes and/or edits appearing in a wholly different order for the commercial release of 'the Isness ' in 2002 . The 'Abbey Rd 'version had been initially promo'd to ecstatic reviews, receiving an unprecedented 6/5 stars from Mixmag 'it's like a beam of white light from heaven'.
This is the first time the Abbey Road version has been officially and commercially available .The band themselves ' the Amorphous Androgynous ' ( a psychedelic supergroup conceptualized and produced by the Future Sound Of London ) are said to have always regretted the last minute changes to the album ,the creation of which took five years from 1996-2001 post production of the FSOL album ' DEAD CITIES' and marks an important chapter in the production duos history and 5 year disappearance where rumours of madness and disbandment were rife among fans of the band only for them to finally appear with this radical new vision and what is now considered something of a psychedelic masterpiece which along with subsequent albums ' Alice In Ultraland ' ( on Harvest Records ) and their 'A Monstrous Psychedelic Bubble ( Exploding In Your Mind )' Dj series ( which chronicle and redefine the history of psychedelia from the 60s to the present ) did much to activate a third wave of global psychedelic sonic revolution .
The Isness is a vast samplerdelic sonic galaxy where a huge range of instruments ( from sitars and numerous eastern instruments to flutes, banjos and conventional rock n roll instrumentation) and countless musicians are employed ,collaged and twisted using the studio as instrument ( much in the tradition and lineage of the Beatles and other 60s exponents) to form a startling new vision of cosmic space music and to redefine the possibilities of what ' the song ' could be in the new millennia with its by turn : cosmic , wildly surreal , absurdist lyrics on epic songs such as ' the Galaxial Pharmaceutical ' ' the Mello Hippo Disco Show ' ' Divinity ' and many others !
A high-speed car chase between a Dodge Charger and a Ford Mustang, with super-cop Bullitt at the wheel, who forces the hitman off the road and into a petrol station, which explodes and incinerates him. Prior to that, harsh clashes of metal, hubcaps flying all over the place, and the chief character Steve McQueen, who grimly changes gears and hurtles through the streets of San Francisco, wheels screaming and rubber burning. That was how Hollywood staged one of the longest and most dramatic car chases, long before the days of the Anti-Blocking-System and Anti-Slide-Control.
Very up-to-date and just as exciting as the screenplay is the music Lalo Schifrin wrote for the film, which embeds the characters, places and events in a musical context. For example, "Bullitt": the metrically angular main theme portrays a mysterious, cool character who sums up a situation with keen alertness and then makes his attack with the speed of lightning.
Initially the music travels through easy-going Latin terrain. But gradually the rhythmic texture changes and takes a rougher path, with clicks, knocks and hammering. Legendary flute lines create a compensatory placidness with airy clouds floating above the sharp mix. A really special track is "Shifting Gears": here you can listen to Schifrin tuning the car, how he manipulates a jammed springy bossa to take on the sound of clean, smooth-running rock.
This Speakers Corner LP was remastered using pure analogue components only, from the master tapes through to the cutting head. All royalties and mechanical rights have been paid.
out of Stock
Last delivered 5 years ago available to reorder, subject to availability
After kicking off the year with releases by Wheelman and General Ludd, we're very pleased to announce that Naum Gabo completes our recent trilogy of releases from Glasgow based artists. Alongside Ivan Smagghe, it's no secret that Optimo have been a huge influence around these parts and having released Ivan's Smagghe & Cross project on Belters last year, it's a huge honour to work with Naum Gabo - the production partnership of Jonnie Wilkes (JG Wikes of Optimo) and James Savage (Mastering Engineer for Optimo Music).Fittingly enough, Naum Gabo played live at the first ever Optimo related parties we attended at the Sub Club back in 2005 and Jonnie's influential and supportive presence has been felt over the years as we started to become more involved in the Glasgow scene and as the label developed.
So it didn't require much thought to do this release before we had even heard these new Naum Gabo tracks...they are absolute slammers of the highest order! Really big release, bringing to our minds the likes of Errorsmith.Belters is a new club-focussed label brought to you by Huntleys + Palmers.
Ltd. edition of 500 numbered copies on clear vinyl New Zealand-born sound artist and composer Annea Lockwood received formal training at various institutions before exploring the sonorous potential of glass in a series of performances in the late 1960s. With plates of wired glass, glass discs, chunks of green cullet glass, glass tubing, sheets of micro-glass, glass jars and other incarnations of the material, Lockwood elicited a staggering array of sounds, some subtly uncanny and others as outlandish and alien as anything emitted from the era's early synthesizers. Lockwood's glass concerts yielded a text-score published in Northern California new-music journal Source: Music of the Avant-Garde and attracted the attention of South African producer Michael Steyn, who encouraged her to record the glass pieces for his label Tangent. They worked for two years in a small, resonant church in London to document a veritable catalogue of the materials' tone and timbre; Lockwood wished to present each sound as if it were a piece of music in and of itself. Glass World originally appeared on Tangent in 1970.
"I wanted to entice people into really listening intensively," Lockwood once reflected. "Into really listening. I wanted a deep immersion in the sounds of themselves, for the audience."
First-time vinyl reissue. Limited edition of 500 numbered copies on clear vinyl.
A Collection with An Exceptional Sound and Visual Aesthetic, In Collaboration With The British Photographer Chris Steel-Perkins, The Counter-Cultures Photograph.
* This EP contains four stunning tracks, covering various styles of hardcore, and its the absolute bomb. For a start, Sanxion brings the piano flavor with a track that lives and breathes the traditional Kniteforce sound, bought to a fine shine the way a truly skilled artist can. Meanwhile, Nicky Allen destroys the dance floor with his hyper hardcore track, one that I have been playing at everyone in the vicinity for the last few months or so. Flip the vinyl over and we move into darker territory. TNO is a more recent signing to the Kniteforce label and his first offering is all dark and atmosphetic, but with a relentless pace and undeniable energy. And to round the EP off, Mannik mentasms the hell out, and gives you a small taste of what his forthcoming EP will be like - crazy, dark, authentic old skool that breaks all the rules and shows true skill and panache.
Club / DJ Support
Billy Bunter, the Fat Controller, Glowkid, Slipmatt, Dj Jedi, Dj Luna-C, Dj Brisk, Clayfighter, Jimni Cricket, Bustin, Sc@r, Doughboy, Saiyan, Dave Skywalker, Ponder and many others
* Idealz has been involved with Kniteforce since the early Influential days, all the way through KFA and into this new relaunch of Kniteforce Records. This EP is a long time coming - Idealz should always have had a Kniteforce release under his belt, as he has always been, and remains, a distinct sound within the label. This EP brings his unique sound to its perfect place - proper Jungle / D'n'B, but in the old style, and on vinyl where it deserves to be. Run The Tune is one of the best examples of this style released this year, and would fit in perfectly in any 1994-96 jungle set. It is a classic slice of precision jungle, one that moves the dance floor and the mind equally.
On the flip side, Ice Breaker and War On Jungle take the same themes but twist those vibes into other directions. This release, and Mannik's (KF73) really put the flag in the sand for Kniteforce. We do old skool the way it should be done, and embrace all the styles. This is a proper EP for the real underground!
Club / DJ Support
Billy Bunter, the Fat Controller, Glowkid, Slipmatt, Dj Jedi, Dj Luna-C, Dj Brisk, Clayfighter, Jimni Cricket, Bustin, Sc@r, Doughboy, Saiyan, Dave Skywalker, Ponder and many others
Includes 12' Vinyl and Deluxe CD album, 30 page hard back book
Now that I've been to Nashville,' Kylie Minogue says with audible affection, I understand. It's like some sort of musical ley-line...'
Golden, Kylie's fourteenth studio album, is the result of an intensive working trip to the home of Country music, a city whose influence lingered on long after the pop legend and her team returned to London to finish the record: We definitely brought a bit of Nashville back with us,' she states. The album is a vibrant hybrid, blending Kylie's familiar pop-dance sound with an unmistakeable Tennessee twang. It was Jamie Nelson, Kylie's long-serving A&R man, who first came up with the concept of incorporating a Country element' into Kylie's tried-and-trusted style. That idea sat there for a little while, with Minogue and her team initially unsure about how to bring it to life. Then, when Grammy-winning songwriter Amy Wadge's publisher suggested Kylie should come over to collaborate in Nashville, a city Kylie had previously never visited, something clicked. You know when you're so excited about something,' she recalls, that you repeat it an octave higher and double the decibels I was like that. 'Nashville! Yes! Of course I would!'. I hoped it would help the album to reveal itself. I thought 'If I don't get it in Nashville, I'm not going to get it anywhere.''
Kylie's Nashville trip involved working alongside two key writers, both with homes in the city. One was British-born songwriter Steve McEwan (whose credits include huge Country hits for Keith Urban, Kenny Chesney and Carrie Underwood), and the other was the aforementioned Amy Wadge, another Brit (best known for her mega-selling work with Ed Sheeran). It was then a truly international project: Golden was mainly created with African-German producer Sky Adams and a list of contributors including Jesse Frasure, Eg White, Jon Green, Biff Stannard, Samuel Dixon, Danny Shah and Lindsay Rimes, and there's a duet with English singer Jack Savoretti.
However, the album's agenda-setting lead single Dancing was, significantly, first demoed with Nathan Chapman, the man who guided Taylor Swift's transition from Country starlet to Pop megastar. If anyone knows how to mix those two genres, Chapman does. Nathan was the only actual Nashvillean I worked with. He's got a huge studio in his house, which is probably due to his success with Taylor... there's plenty of platinum discs of her, and others on his walls.' There's something of the spirit of Peggy Lee's Is That All There Is, of Dylan Thomas' Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night, even of Liza Minnelli's Cabaret about Dancing, a song which not only opens the album but sets out its stall, providing a microcosm of what is to come. You've got the lyrical edge, that Country feel, mixed with some sampling of the voice and electronic elements, so it does what it says on the label. And I love that it's called 'Dancing', it's immediately accessible and seemingly so obvious, but there's depth within the song.'
The experience of simply being in Nashville was an overwhelming one, before Kylie had even arrived. Once I knew I was going to Nashville, people talked about the place with such enthusiasm. They said without doubt I would love it and, I would come back with songs. They were sending lists of restaurants, coffee shops and bars. It really was a beautiful and genuine response and it felt like I was about to have a life changing experience and in a way, I did.' The reality came as something of a surprise, when she found a far more modern metropolis than the vintage one she'd envisaged. I thought it would be like New Orleans: little houses and bars, with music spilling out onto the street. It reminded me more of Melbourne: apartment blocks going up everywhere! The main strip, Broadway, where the honky tonk bars are, that's where the street was filled with music and it was just amazing.' Mainly, Minogue remembers the heat and humidity. It was 100 degrees. It was like it was raining with no rain.' She also relished the chance to wander around unrecognised, visit a few venerable music bars and soak in the atmosphere. I didn't get to the Grand Ole Opry or the music museums but I managed to go to a couple of the institutions there like The Bluebird Cafe and The Listening Room, and just by being there, through some kind of osmosis, you get this rejuvenated respect for The Song, and the writing of The Song. There's no hoo-hah around it. There's a singer-songwriter there, talking about the song and singing the song, to an audience who are there to listen. Although, I have to confess I was guilty of starting to clap too soon during a long pause at the end of one of the songs. The guy made a bit of a joke out of it and got a laugh from it, but I thought 'Of all people in the audience, no...''
It's probably no coincidence, therefore, that every track on Golden is a Kylie co-write, making it arguably her most personal album to date. The end of 2016 was not a good time for me,' she says, referring to well-documented personal upheavals, so when I started working on the album in 2017, it was, in many ways, a great escape. Making this album was a kind of saviour. I'd been through some turmoil and was quite fragile when I started work on it, but being able to express myself in the studio made quick work of regaining my sense of self. Writing about various aspects of my life, the highs and lows, with a real sense of knowing and of truth. And irony. And joy!'
The songwriting process allowed Kylie to get a few things out of her system. Initially, she admits, it was cathartic, but it also wasn't very good. I think I was writing too literally. But I reached a point where I was writing about the bigger-picture, and that was a breakthrough. It made way for songs like Stop Me From Falling and One Last Kiss. It also meant I had enough distance to write an autobiographical song, like A Lifetime To Repair, with a certain amount of humour. The countdown in that song: 'Six-five-four-three, too many times...'. I don't know if that will be a single, but I can just imagine a girl with framed pictures of past boyfriends, and kind of going 'Oh god, when am I going to get this right'' When she listens back to Golden, Kylie can vividly hear the Nashville in it. It is, she'll agree, probably the first time that a Kylie album has sounded like the place it was made. You wouldn't normally relate my songs to the cities. Can't Get You Out Of My Head sounds more like Outer Space than London. But Shelby '68, for example, was written in London but it was done with Nashville in mind. It's about my Dad's car, and my brother recorded Dad driving it! I don't think I'd have written a number of the songs, including Shelby '68 and Radio On without having had that Nashville experience.'
The latter, she says, is about music being the one to save you.' Throwing herself into the making of the record, she says, crystallised that idea. If there's one love that will always be there for you, it's music. Well, it is for me, anyway.' That song, in particular, carries nostalgic echoes of the golden age of Country, as heard through Medium Wave transistors and tinny home stereos in the distant past. Like any child of the Seventies, Kylie had a basic grounding in Country music, mainly absorbed from older family members. My Step-Grandfather was born in Kentucky and though he lived most of his adult life in Australia, he never stopped listening to his beloved Country artists.' If there's any classic Country singer whose imprint can be heard on Golden, it's Dolly Parton.
Kylie saw Dolly live for the first time at the end of 2016, at the Hollywood Bowl. It was like seeing the light,' she beams. It was incredible. Everyone, whether they know it or not, is a Dolly Parton fan. When I was in Nashville, I did pick up a T-shirt that said 'What Would Dolly Do' Maybe that should be my mantra.' And, whether consciously or otherwise, there's a timbre and trill to Kylie's vocals on Radio On that is distinctly Parton-esque. My delivery is quite different on this album,' she says. A lot of things are 'sung' less. The first time I did that was with Where The Wild Roses Grow. On the day I met Nick Cave, when I recorded my vocals, he said 'Just sing it less. Talk it through, tell the story.' This album wasn't quite to that extreme, but a lot of the songs were done in fewer takes, to just capture the moment and keep imperfections that add to the song. I remember on my last album, a lot of producers were trying to take out literally every vibrato they heard. And that's not natural to my voice. I mean, I can make myself sound like a robot, but it's nice to sound like a human!' Working within the Country genre also gave Kylie permission to write in the Nashville vernacular. Because we were going there, I wasn't afraid to have lines like 'When he's fallen off the wagon we'd still dance to our favourite slow song', 'Ten sheets to the wind, I was all confused', 'I'll take the ride if it's your rodeo'. The challenge of bringing a Country element to the album made the process feel very fresh to me, kind of like starting over. I started to look at writing a different way, singing a different way.'
If ever Kylie lost confidence in the Country-Pop concept, and found herself pondering This is great, but back in the real world - my real world - how will this work', Jamie Nelson was there to badger her into sticking to the path. We found a way to make it a hybrid with what we'll call my 'usual' sound. It had to stay 'pop' enough to stay authentic to me, but country enough to be a new sound for this album. The closer we zoomed in, and the more we honed it, I knew Jamie was right. We sacrificed good songs that weren't right for this album, because we wanted it to be as cohesive as possible. The songs that were hitting the mark were these ones, so we decided to be strong, and that's how we wrapped up the album. What he said, that stuck with me, was that 'I'd hate to get to the end of this and really wish we'd gone for it.'' Having worked with Kylie for so long, Nelson was able to put this latest shift of direction into perspective. He said 'You've traditionally done it throughout your career. You had your PWL time, then you did a complete turn when you went to deConstruction, then another complete turn with Spinning Around, and R&B dance-pop, and then another turn with Can't Get You Out Of My Head, icy synth-pop, and this is another one.' He was right. It felt like the right time to have a change sonically. New label, new stories to tell, and a new decade almost upon me.'
Kylie Minogue will, it's scarcely believable, turn 50 this year. This looming milestone is partly behind the album's title, and title track. I had this line that I wanted to use: 'We're not young, we're not old, we're golden' because I'm asked so often about being my age in this industry. This year, I'll be 50. And I get it, I get the interest, but I don't know how to answer it. And that line, for my personal satisfaction, says it as succinctly as possible. We can't be anyone else, we can't be younger or older than we are, we can only be ourselves. We're golden. And the album title, Golden, reflects all of this. I liked the idea of everyone being golden, shining in their own way. The sun shines in daylight, the moon shines in darkness. Wherever we are in life, we are still golden.' One of the album's shiniest moments is Raining Glitter, an exuberant banger which ventures closest to Kylie's traditional dance-pop comfort zone. Eg White, who is one of the producers and writers and a great character, was talking about disco one day. I said 'I love disco, but you know the brief.' We needed to be going down the Country lane, so to speak. But we managed to bring them both together. When I wrote it, I was thinking about the Jacksons video for Can You Feel It where they're sprinkling glitter over everyone. And I think there's a Donna Summer record that's got that feel to it. I think that's my job: I basically leave a trail of glitter after every show I do anyway.'
Kylie is looking forward to the challenge of incorporating the Golden material into her live shows. Mixing these songs in with my existing catalogue is going to be fun. And it could be fun to do some of those songs with just a guitar. It'll make my acoustic set interesting...'Her incredibly loyal fans - to whom one Golden song, Sincerely Yours, is intended as a love letter' - will, she believes, have no problem with her latest stylistic shift. My audience have been with me on the journey, so I shouldn't be afraid that they won't come with me on this part. I've had fun with it, and I'm sure they will too.'
The time spent making Golden has, Kylie says, been a time of creative and personal renewal. I've met some amazing people, truly inspiring writers and musicians. My passion for music has never gone away, but it's got bigger and stronger.' And if there's an overriding theme to the record, it is one of acceptance. We're all human and it's OK to make mistakes, get it wrong, to want to run, to want to belong, to love, to dream. To be ourselves.'
I was able to both lose and find myself whilst making this album.'
On 30thMarch, Wah Wah 45s will release ORANGE WHIP, the new album by their latest signing, Honeyfeet. The outfit, who have received praise from the likes of The Guardian, have also set festivals alight up and down the country with their unique melange of sounds.
For the last couple of years the Honeyfeet (who name from a line in the Blues Brothers film) have been a conduit for the ideas and expressions of an exotic mixture of Manchester based musicians. This genre-defying band incorporate styles including jazz, folk and hip hop into their music. Someone once called it Folk-Hop and Barrelhouse-pop, and that's just vague enough to make sense.
The band are fronted by Ríoghnach Connolly - also known for her work with Real World artists Afro Celt Sound System and The Breath - "a remarkable singer and flautist who...can ease from Irish traditional influences to soul" (The Guardian). The line up is completed by Rik Warren (vocals/harmonica), Gus Fairbairn (tenor sax), Biff Roxby (trombone/vocals), Ellis Davies (guitar), Lorien Edwards (bass guitar), John Ellis (keyboards) and David Schlechtriemen (drums).
ORANGE WHIP finds the band at their most incredibly diverse. Opening with recent single Sinner (received radio play from the likes of 6 Music and BBC Manchester), which showcases Ríoghnach's extraordinary agile and emotive voice, the album moves with dizzying swagger on songs covering a wide range of subjects. Quickball tells the story of being so infatuated with someone you want to eat them, while Whatever You Do addresses the fear-mongering of the press over folk-hop and oom-pah, and Demons deals with love and redemption on a blast of harmonica-driven country, sung by Rik Warren.
Rik also takes lead vocal on a re-working of Robert Johnson's Love in Vain, a song showing Honeyfeet's more reflective side, his Skip James-esque drawl bringing an eerie quality to the lyrics about a doomed relationship. The band reshape the progression too, swinging the tune slowly and creating a little underground blues club in the midst of the recording.
Elsewhere the band go all New Orleanian on Colonel Hathi's Trunk Juice, a sinister tale inspired by trombonist Biff Roxby's horn riff recalling one of the elephants of The Jungle Book. Further showcasing their virtuosity, on one of the album's best moments - especially the nuanced vocal performance by Ríoghnach, who was raised on Irish folk - on Hunt and Gather the band do their own take on prog-folk, with a flute and cello melody running alongside a brass counterpoint.
Ríoghnach turns in another incredible vocal on the album's final track - future single Meet Me On The Corner. With a pounding beat, it is one of the album's main highlights. Guitar and brass propels Ríoghnach to sing lyrics that could be straight out of the playground, but suggest something deeper, possibly mystical even, in it's demands for a dalliance on the street. It closes the album on a high note, for a band who have that rare ability to distil all their disparate influences, while always sounding like their unique selves.
ORANGE WHIP heralds the sound of a remarkable band going overground.
Originally from the United Kingdom, funky soul-jazz veterans The New Mastersounds have been touring USA, Europe and Japan for over a decade and return here with their twelfth studio album, recorded in New Orleans and Denver and featuring a slew of musical guests.
"Renewable Energy" expands on the NMS template while still providing plenty of the band's trademark sounds. Guitarist Eddie Roberts, drummer Simon Allen, bassist Pete Shand and keyboardist Joe Tatton are joined on this 11-track effort by a number of guests: Sam Bell, one of the founding members of NMS precursor The Mastersounds who also guested on two previous NMS albums, plays percussion on most of the tracks. Mike Olmos and Joe Cohen of the West Coast Horns once again provide added horn action as they did on "Made For Pleasure" from 2015, while Adryon de León from LA band Orgone contributes vocals on "Gonna Be Just Me". Uptempo numbers "Tantalus" and "Yokacoka" see the band flexing their playing chops over a tightly-wound rhythm, while "Green Was Beautiful" and "Groovin On The Groomers" are toe-tapping slabs of soul jazz. The band's cover of James Gang's "Funk 49" takes the album in a fuzzed-out psych-rock direction with Eddie singing the lead, while the moody Hancock-esque inflections of "Stash" and the sweet mellow vibes of "Swimming With My Fishies" add the final brushstrokes of colour to the canvas.
Running Back welcomes Andreas Grosser for the start of it's non-dancefloor series 'Running Back Incantations'. Think Tornado Wallace's 'Lonely Planet' or Suzanne Kraft's 'Missum' who both would have been good and early contenders for a series like that, and you are half way there. Andres Grosser though, was 'there' and that way before. Probably best-known for his 1987 collaboration 'Babel' with Klaus Schulze, Grosser is a bit of a dark horse in the universe whose big bang was krautrock and that went on to be called cosmic, space music or simply new age.
A native East-Berliner, Grosser crossed the Wall in 1981 and next to studying piano, his day job was to advise, sell, maintain and invent electronic music instruments. Naturally, Grosser had a good connection to and support from local Berlin musicians and groups, while working at night in his own studio and in those of others. Fast forward 37 years and Andreas is now one the worlds leading microphone technicians specialising in German and Austrian vintage types.
'Venite Visum' is an anthology of recordings made between 1976 and1980. Released in 1981 on UK's York House Recordings as a cassette tape only, it features some of the most out there, hypnotic and still state-of-the art space music ever to be known to man. For the first time transferred onto vinyl, compact disc and available as a digital download, it was perhaps best described by one reviewer at the time as; "powerfully relentless, repetitive themes which are constantly embellished and subjected to variations in tone colour and instrumentations. The music surges, coming in waves that approach and recede, but with each surge the waves seem to be higher up the shore.'
Now carefully transferred from an archived tape, remastered and compiled on a double album for the first time, it features the previously unreleased and not less mesmerizing 'The Quantum Leap'. Come and visit the hidden and almost forgotten
* Brazilian producer L-Side releases his highly anticipated new album 'Carnal Mind' on the 6th April.
* Featuring American rapper Jeru The Damaja, British rapper DRS, dancehall/grime artist Lady Chann, and drum and bass vocalists MC Fats, MC Darrison and MC Conrad, the release is via the legendary drum and bass record label, V Recordings.
* Taking his influence from Hip Hop artists such as Jazz Liberatorz, The Pharcyde and Tribe Called Quest, L-Side is making his mark in the world of raw dancefloor focused drum and bass. Originally producing hip-hop beats before branching into Drum and Bass, he is known for his meticulous mix of upfront and aggressive sounds merged with funk and soul styles, forging a flawlessly fresh take on drum and bass.
* Leonardo de Jesus Silva, aka L-Side, began his career as a DJ and Producer in 2008 and the Sao Paulo born producer has gone on to cement himself as one of the most formidable producers to hail from the flourishing and highly respected Brazilian drum and bass scene, which is home to some of the most inventive and funkiest contributors to drum & bass this century.
* As a nation bursting at the seams with prolific and highly talented producers, L-Side has managed to emerge as one of the most exceptional and 'Carnal Mind' proves the point.
* 'Holding On' ft. Lady Chann, is a dark, brooding, half time number, full of menacing atmosphere - infusing elements of dancehall and grime, complemented perfectly by Lady Chann's ferocious, trademark vocal delivery while tracks like 'High Times' unleash unrelenting breakbeat right from the gate. Pulsating synths add momentum, channelling subterranean depths as MC Fats patois-tinged vocals ride overhead. The dark storm clouds clear briefly, allowing celestial pads to momentarily reset the atmosphere before hurling the listener straight back into the thick of it.
* Having released music on such labels as Philly Blunt, Chronic, Celsius and Soul Deep, his music has been supported by DJs from around the world, including DJ Marky, Bryan Gee, LTJ Bukem, Bailey and Doc Scott, while new single 'Holding On' received it's first official play from Mista Jam on BBC Radio 1Xtra.
* In addition to his solo recordings, L-Side has collaborated with fellow V producers, Subsid, Andrezz and Critycal Dub among others.
* The legendary drum and bass record label, V Recordings, was set up in 1993 by Jumpin' Jack Frost and Bryan Gee. Few record labels can claim to have changed the face of their respective scene. Celebrating their 25th anniversary in 2018, since its birth, the label has released over 100 cuts from the likes of Marky & XRS, Krust and Die, Adam F, Lemon D, Scorpio, Dillinja and Roni Size
If you are looking for raw, psychedelic hard-rock, look no further! We present the complete recordings (1968-1972) from Wicked Lady, the legendary UK underground power trio leaded by ace guitarist Martin Weaver, later a member of Dark on their "Round the edges" album.
Here's the first volume of our Wicked Lady collection, both a CD version and a lavish double vinyl of "The Axeman Cometh". Our edition features new artwork and liner notes by doomy psychedelic guitar God in person, Martin Weaver, who tells the real (and bizarre!) story behind Wicked Lady for the first time. The stuff of a legend, this is a real fest of fuzz, wah-wah and heavy riffs that will blow the mind of any hard-psych collector.
A double album of dirty, raw, bone-grinding Techno from post apocalyptic survival times by Franziska Lantz released on Global Warming Records, London 2017 Loaded with heavy distortion, fat textures, harsh beats, relentless rhythms, moody synths and erratic melodies, this sound is bursting with rawness and urgency. Harness your speakers and dance!
New York City has had a long history of dance music fused with confrontational performance. Whether it came from within the late 70's No Wave canon projected through venues like the Mudd Club or the downtown avant-garde galleries such as The Kitchen, the feeling that influences and infects Brooklyn-based duo Wetware's overall being as a cohesive and confrontational unit is as much enigmatic as it is familiar. Formed in 2015, Wetware eased into its performative role with their live shows around their home base of Brooklyn, NY.
Vocalist Roxy Farman, who's familiar voice was last seen on Drew McDowall's 'Unnatural Channel' album, stole audience's attention from the moment they started, using her body in tandem with her voice as a weaponised vehicle for the band's anxiety filled performance. Matthew Morandi cut his teeth in the electronic music world through his solo tech-industrial project Jahiliyya Fields and partner to Inhalants, the techno collaboration of Morandi and Max Ravitz (Patricia). The synergy that developed between Farman and Morandi has been explosive. Wetware's live antics and behaviour has caused alarm and envy amongst their local audiences, causing Wetware the group to 'not be missed' on any particular bill that they are allowed to take part in.
Wetware stepped out from their live persona and self-recorded a selection of songs that viewers had grown accustomed to and were debuted on the flawlessly curated Primitive Languages imprint. Shortly following their recorded premier was an EP collection of demo recordings on the much praised Bank NYC label. Once the band reconciled with documenting their work, they set out, with the help of engineer Kris Lapke (Alberich / Hospital Productions) to formalise their most recent output in the context of their first full length album entitled 'Automatic Drawing'.
Given Wetware's penchant for endurance, as displayed by their 3 hour long production at Koenig & Clinton Gallery in the Summer of 2017, one would expect the usual restlessness on Wetware's debut full length. All of the apprehension and unease in Wetware seems to have been channeled into a string of cohesive electronic statements found on songs 'Frequent Dreamlands' and 'Ode to Joe'. Industrial dance rhythms bounce around Farman's poetic stance on 'Where Ever You Were', causing flashbacks of an early 80's dystopia that jumps around a confusing, uncomfortable backdrop. Inter-spliced with modular electronic instrumentals like the album's opener 'Pantomime', Wetware's devastating portrait is that of a society in peril.
Pillow Person is the new solo adventure from Sarah Jones who has previously made her name in showbiz from playing traps with the likes of Hot Chip et al. For her debut solo slab on Acid Waxa however, Pillow Person's catchy-as-owt digi-singles are given the remix treatment by 4 giants of modern darnce! Those being: Bogdan Raczynski (10 releases on Rephlex, 7 bad jokes, 4 mixes, 2 game soundtracks, 1 production with Bjork & 0 bad haircuts) Lechuga Zafiro (Co founder of Uruguyan, Afro-Latin label Salviatek) IYDES (aka London based badman Joe Brooks) and cellist/composer/producer Oliver Coates, who has collaborated with everyone from Leo Abrahams to Radiohead. 2 be filed (if you must) under: haus, Latin, klasical, phuture grime, jungle, electronic pop musique and so on!
Mit "NOMC15" erscheint nun eine Art Deluxe Album des letzten Studioalbums "Music Complete" von New Order als Live-Version. Zum VÖ des Albums spielte die Band aus Manchester zwei Shows in der Brixton Academy London. Eine wahrlich großartige Live-Aufnahme eines der beiden ausverkauften Konzerte erscheint nun als Doppel-CD und 3-fach LP auf MUTE!
Nektar Agu is next up on Fake Records with his 1111 EP. Two originals: '1111'and 'Vaeeke' that have been supported by S.A.M and Arapu and it comes with two Remixes by Cocoon Heavyweight and Raum Musik boss Markus Fix & Dorian Paic under their MFDP moniker, and also one from the man of the moment Jorge Savoretti who has recently released on Dorian's Raum musik and Priku's Atipic.
12" Vinyl. LTD press
Simply the West vol. 1
Well here we are again, friends. Back with more music we've found kicking around Rye Lane. There's the Full Take posse, a tight knit cadre hidden beneath the WF trenchcoat.
Steve Flîurs comes with his mystical sludge stomper PÜtron which some say, if played at a specific time, summons a Woolworths employee from the 90s...
Harsh Mellow gets the juices flowing on the B1 with heavy eyes down groover. Solid sequences of salaciousness
Lastly The Pump Boys were getting on it with The Pump Girls so we shoved a field recorder in the room before the gyration came to a close. See you soon with more party favours x
