Review:
Time for a Chinese hug by way of Marseilles as Chinese Man unleashes his 2017 album to a whole troupe of French talent (and beyond) for an almighty 17 track remix opus spanning every style from wave to D&B. Highlights ping across the spectrum; Chapelier Fou brings a dreamy IDM subtlety to "Wolf", Matteo lays down a Bonobo style cinematic stampede on "Modern Slave", Sly adds a little cosmic ballad touch to "Stone Cold", Poirer whips up a mystic storm on "Malad"... And that's just the start of the hug. Dig deep.
Review:
Auntie Flo really pushed the boat out during the making of this album, which brilliantly fuses studio-created sounds with field recordings of vocalists and musicians made during almost seven years of journeys to the four corners of the globe. The results are uniformly excellent, with the Glasgow-born musician distilling a myriad of global rhythms and musical styles - Afro-Cuban jazz, souk, highlife, juju, ambient, synth-wave, South African house, soul, electrofunk, jazz and much, much more - into a breathtaking collection of breezy, life-affirming tracks. Highlights come thick and fast throughout, from the luscious Cuban soul of the Andrew Ashong-voiced "Havana Rhythm Dance" and the percussion-and-synths bliss of "Lights In The Northern Sky", to the joyous release that is "Cape Town Jam". In a word: brilliant.
Review:
According to Timewarp, Sorraia hail from another planet. Perhaps they do? Their stunning instrumental sounds are beguiling. At once sounding warm and familiar and from a far away planet; shades of dub, Cuban, Latin and Arabic all fused with Balearic charm and precision studio polish. The eerie melodica echoes of "Adenai", the Saharan bumps and blasts of "Cadiz", the serious eastern mysticism but raw funk "Oulata" and the sliding jazz tinged blues of "Blues Rose" are just some of the highlights. Essential for fans of the Israeli funk movement such as Markey Funk.
Review:
Brighton vibe conjurer Footshooter returns to our collections with this exceptional Yam debut. More mini album than EP, "Technicolour Nights" is an exceptional piece of work that fuses a whole gamut of styles that work just as well at home as they do in the dance. Running like a hazy trip from start to finish, highlights include the subtle rolling breaks fluttering beneath the provocative spoken word of And Is Phi on "Mars", the rippled wah wahs and stately momentum of "Juan's Stairwell" and the slo-n-low shuffles and dreamy strums of the finale "Our Love". Sublime... Sleep on this and you'll be shooting yourself in the foot.
Review:
Melbourne's funk synthesist Harvey Sutherland returns with his first full release since last year's album; two stone cold slabs of jazz spanning his full majestic range. "Amethyst" makes up for lost time with its firing freeform horns cascading in layers over the relentless energy. "I Can See" is a much dreamier affair with brushed drums and hurricane atmospheres... Elements that are perfectly amplified in Rings Around Saturn's deep soulful D&B mix. The perfect package.
Review:
DJ/producer duo Troo Luv and Charlie Loud aka Heartbreak Sound have a great knack of re energising hip-hop acapellas and dropping some of the finest mash-up material out there at the moment. This latest release on GAMM is an essential purchase which comes in four pieces - with D'Angelo's "Brown Sugar" given a slow, nu-Philly groove, Jeru Tha Damaja's late-period hit "El Presidente" treated to a thematically-correct Cuban remake, Mos Def's "Ms Fat Booty" redone with a new, DJ Spinna-esque set of beats, and Common's classic "The Light" given a gritty make-over.
Review:
With this fine EP, Neue Grafik becomes the latest 21st century broken beat starlet to be championed by West London's legendary CoOp crew, whose noughties parties at the Velvet Rooms and Plastic People effectively defined the style. Fittingly, Grafik's take on the jazz-fired style owes much to his predecessors. Opener "I Miss Something" is the kind of jazz-funk tinged shuffler that Dego and Kaidi Tatham do so well, while warm, wozzy and bass-heavy cut "Bed Stuy's Mood" inhibits the same sonic space as the drowsy 4/4 fare that used to slip out on labels like Laws of Motion and Sirkus. Both are accompanied by more club-centric revisions, with Danvers' loose-limbed take on "Bed Stuy's Mood" and the rolling, bleeping NameBrandSound remix of "I Miss Something" standing out.
Review:
The sound of Afro-funk is alive and well, as this four-track EP from DJ Moy ably and amply demonstrates! 'L'Afrikano' opens proceedings, a heady cocktail of Afro, funk, Balearic and house influences. 'Superfunk' is more in classic 70s funk mode and could have been lifted straight from a blaxploitation soundtrack with its fat, squelchy bass, vocal shouts and twittering flutes, 'Afrojazz' does such a good job of describing itself in a single word that's there's probably no need to say much more except "listen to it, cos it's great!" and finally there's 'The Dance Floor', a deep percussion and woodwind groove for the dancers.
Review:
Bring out the remixes! The Herbaliser returned this year with their eighth studio album. Another powerful funk slap, written and played fully live by the band, it's one of the rawest and infectious LPs in their 22 years career. It landed after a six year wait but mercifully we've only had to wait six months for these exceptional remixes; Mr Bird provides two versions as he gives "Breach" a full break facelift and a powerful metallic sheen before and subtly drives the soul of "Over & Over" with some warm rolling percussion without taking the attention or allure away from Stac's faultless dulcets. Finally we have a Salt Popcorn fix up of "Takedown" which adds a little drama to those big splashy drums and lively horn lines. Nothing to be salty about here; bring out the vibes!
Review:
Just a year shy of 20 years old, "Asiko (In A Silent Mix)" from Tony Allen's perennial Black Voices album enjoys a timely revision as part of Dekmantel's 10 year anniversary celebrations. This one comes from Motor City Drum Ensemble who maintains the dubby washes and pure spaciousness of Allen's original while refocussing the drums for more of a deeper dancefloor drive. Not quite as extensive as Villalobos's half hour remix but sometimes is a sweet seven minutes is the perfect punch. Jump on this.
Review:
What can we say, it's the second volume of BBE's exclusive From The Archives series. Enough said, really. But, to be honest, a release like this deserves attention and respect from us all given that this label has created whole generations of music lovers and makers, both in and out of the UK. Much like first instalment, there is so much great material on here that many of us haven't had access too previously, and this goes for tunes like Ron Trent's endless voyage that is "Ori Space", or The Rebirth's "Caterpillar" - a giant of a downtempo anthem - and even the Brazil-infused drums and vibes of the carnivally-minded "Finding The Peace" by Skymark. This has quality stamped all over it and you'll be stuck to find any better broken beat out there on the endless planes that are our charts. Recommended, of course.
Review:
Beatnik City is one of the chief exponents of the Northern Soul sound and its crate digging culture. Here they present what they dub "BarBeat", which is a good way to describe the non-purist approach of the edits featured - perfect fodder for bars rather than big room clubs. Perfect examples of this approach include "Finti Cents" where In Da Club gets taken back into time to a shimmying Motown backing groove or the 90s-hip-hop-goes-retro-big-beat vibes of "Jurassic Jive".
Review:
We are very excited to be bringing this one to you as Skygaze unleashes his brand new album 'Freedom', a cohesive body of work, perfectly defining his futuristic broken jazz fusions, packed with melodic energy and scattered rhythm. The overpowering grooves and glitchy leads of the title track summarize this extremely well, with tracks such as 'Uncle's House' and 'Swing' supplying similar drum driven energies. Other highlights of this project for us have to include the futuristic hip hop dips and stunning percussive movements of 'All those dead tunes', along with the experimental 4x4 stylings of 'House Sweet House' and the stunning harmonies of 'Kaleidoscopes'.
Review:
We were thrilled to see Quart's latest project pop up in the release listings and couldn't wait to get into this brand new extended LP project entitled 'Life Is Beautiful'. This project sees Quart really express his Nu Jazz compositional flavour as he unloads colourful instrumentation from start to finish, with a particular highlight being the smooth layerings of the title track 'Life Is Beautiful'. The album also takes in a range of electronically inspired BPMs, with 'Right Time, Right Place' taking a junglist style drum rhythm and 'Just A Lazy Day' swinging 140 themes left right and centre. Other noteworthy recordings include the beautiful piano riffs of 'Thinking Of You' and the uplifting harmonics of 'Orcha'.
Review:
Pop soul hero Mike City first rose to prominence back in 2000 by being the man responsible for penning and producing Carl Thomas' #1 hit I Wish. From there he's gone on to create hits for Brandy, Rihanna, Angie Stone and Jamie Foxx and Sunshine Anderson. Here though he steps out into the limelight himself with a solo album, The Feel Good Agenda Vol 1, on Barely Breaking Even. As expected quality is the unifying theme here over the course of 12 star-studded tracks, with highlights including the choppy, cut-up future boogie of "Rock Wit U" (feat Dwele), the warm and soothing "When I Luv" (feat Faith Evans) and the deep electro-boogie of "Been Too Afraid" (feat Teedra Moses).
Review:
Meistro, Deep Sang and DJ Stylus make up the Sol Power All-Stars, a DJ/production collective from Washington DC dedicated to the many styles of African dance music. Here, they make their debut on GAMM with an excellent collection of sneaky afro-centric re-rubs. "Catch Monkey", the lead cut, offers a punchy, floor-friendly take on an Afrobeat classic. There's also a thrillingly dubbed-out, dancefloor friendly take (The "2AM Dub") that's almost an improvement on the excellent vocal original. "Let Yourself Go", meanwhile, expertly teases out a formidably percussive groove from a 1980s Afro-funk jam - all rousing horns and fluid synths. Closer "Taxi Driver", meanwhile, is a joyously celebratory juju jam. Quality stuff.
Review:
Leeds legend Nightmares On Wax has long been affiliated with UK electronica giants Warp since the very beginning. 'Shape The Future' will mark his eighth LP for the label and that's not forgetting a couple of dozen EPs he's done for them over the years too. Put simply, George Evelyn is one of the most respected producers in UK electronica and we're sure excited whenever he puts out new music. Mixing hip-hop, dub, soul and gospel sounds, the album features guest artists such as Kuahitl Vasquez, Jordan Rakei and Sadie Walker. Evelyn has explained that the album was a journey 'both inwardly and outwardly all over the world, and both physically and emotionally'. Highlights include the dope yet soulful beats of "Tell My Vision" featuring the fine vocal talents of the aforementioned Ashong, the wicked dub / Afrobeat crossover of "Tomorrow" featuring LSK and of course the super soulful lead single "Citizen Kane" featuring Mozez.
Review:
Katakana Edits comes rolling through with its 57th edition, and they've scoped out a new artist by the name of Vagz. Yes, you're in for some supremely heartfelt funk. "No More" kicks off with nothing but love and tears, ?Brother Man? travels at a much "cooler" tempo, "Umba" is an ode to Brazilian carnival funk, "Something That Can Make You Do Wrong" offers a bit of electronic meandering - a blend of deep house and boogie - and "The Only Way" is an out and out soul monster, literally dripping with delightful sensation. Strong.
Review:
Bristolian duo The Allergies have long made a speciality of taking hip hop back to its funk roots, and 'When The Heat Comes Down' is no exception, with the pair's fast-flowing rap vocal underpinned by a full-phat bassline, soaring brass and some fine wukka-wukking guitar. 'Big Bad Woman' is a different kettle of fish, having something of a mod jazz vibe to its shuffling drums, boogie-woogie piano and wigged-out 60s organ flurries, all of which are topped by a full-lunged but uncredited female vocal announcing "I'm a big bad woman and I'll eat you alive". Crazy, daddio!
Review:
The Cold Busted imprint's got mad skillz at scouting out the best new talent for their catalogue, always feverishly sticking to their nu-school wave of all things jazz-related. In a sense, this is the perfect outlet for all those'jazz-dance' heads who spend the majority of their time digging up curious B-sides in the hope of finding some groove in their lives! Andyfellaz is a new name on the block but it feels like the artist has been making music for some time, as his style of sampling and looping feels both fresh and a little bit over on the left of field. Tunes like "Just One More Time" showcase the man's clear passion for raw, hazy jazz basements, while others like "Luna Roja" play a delightfully lounge mood that will fit here, there and everywhere. Perfect for your mid-morning Balearic deviations, too!
Review:
The first in a series of compilations by Jura Soundsystem which blends dub, ambient, downtempo, boogie and proto house with a focus on previously unreleased music, out of print titles and some special versions edited specifically for the album. According to label boss Kevin Griffiths, the intention of this project was to delve deeper into the reissue pond and unearth some lesser known tracks and artists. Light one up and swagger to the sunkissed groove of Astral Engineering's "Seashore Dub", submit to the sweet steel drums and cosmo-dub vibes of Ken Dang's "Born In Borneo" (Jura Soundsystem Edit) or get down to the boogie-down vibe of Tabou Combo Superstars' "Ooh La La" (Jura Soundsystem Edit). The end of the album includes some soothing ambient tools.
Review:
French electro-swing act act Houpert aka Minimatic is back on Tour Effifel - home to his bootlegs and remixes of psychedelic, healing, funk and and easy listening. We have a good felling that you will really dig his new Fin De Siecle EP . From the low slung groove of "Skankin' Jive", "Joe's Break" with its nu-swing breaks and the chilled-out and dreamy beats of "Trapeze" - electro really is the new swing!
Review:
Time for a slice... Pizza Tunait present a brand new series where the laidback feels come first and foremost. Think Balearic, think deep house, think downtempo; whether it's the the sandy toed ripples, glistening guitar strings and warm organ blasts of "Every Moment", the summer's day splashes and swaggered breaks of "Mais" or the cosmic reverse tones and echoing nylon strings of "I Want" that grabs you and pins you down in the lounger with a beer first, we guarantee the whole EP will before long. Chill bro.
