Review: Based in Hanover, Germany, Mo' Horizons started out as the DJ duo of Ralf Droesemeyer and Mark Wetzler in the late 90s, but have expanded over the years into a loose musical collective blending a variety of jazz, funk and world music flavas. Quite a bewildering variety, in fact: with cuts ranging from the self-explanatory 'Anotha Bossa' to the Afrobeat of 'Mango Woman', the scorching Latin funk of 'Havana Boys', the Balearicisms of 'Sunset In Palmar', the straight-up reggae of 'Good', the equally self-explanatory (and entirely unexpected) 'Balkan-Maasai Party' and the subdued big beat shuffle of 'Sudoeste', 'Mango' is an album that keeps you on your musical toes but, crucially, is coherent enough for none of it to jar.
Review: There's a time for accessible podium belters, and there's a time for deeper jams that aren't afraid to take a left turn now and again. This five-tracker is one to reach for when you're firmly into the latter zone, as Multi Culti serve up a collection of eyes-down, late-night cuts that mine various global musics for inspiration: Sheila Chandra has been a stalwart of the British Asian music scene for 40 years, Sababa 5's 'Nasnusa' is a take on a classic Mizrahi song, while the title of 'Amakondera' references a style of Rwandan music that uses horn- and gourd-based wind instruments. An EP that will delight those whose tastes lean towards the exotic and the less familiar.
Review: Pedro Guinu's first album for Razor N Tape, 'Palago', was a wholehearted tribute to Brazilian music of the 1970s and '80s that we'd argue is one of the slept-on sets of 2021. This follow-up EP brings the Brazilian's trademark sound bang up to date via a wealth of quietly impressive remixes. Jose Marquez kicks things off with a fine revision of the title track that sits somewhere between classic Azymuth, nu-disco and samba, before Faze Action deliver a groove-driven, Clav-happy Balearic disco rework of 'Haje Fe'. Elsewhere, Diogo Strausz steals the show with a percussion and synth-laden revision of 'Electromandinga' hat straddles jazz-funk and synth-boogie, Carrot Green dances his way through a squelchy house-not-house revision of 'Portao De Ferro', and SekoBass opts for a hot-stepping, sun-soaked sound on a fine re-wire of 'Palago'.
Review: 2020 marks the 25th year of !K7's acclaimed DJ-Kicks series with Mr Scruff following contributions of late from Leon Vynehall, Laurel Halo, Peggy Gou and Kamaal Williams! Mr Scruff's adventures in sound brings to DJ-Kicks more than 30 tracks of wildly varying styles featuring highlighted music from Equiknoxx, Tiger, Errorsmith, Max Graef and Zongamin. Scruff brings to his edition an exclusive collaboration with CyberPunkJazz ("3001: A Space Disco Remix") and an unreleased track from Andy Ash to boot. Alexander Robotnik makes in there with the wild New York post-funk of "Love Supreme" alongside a heavy Tony Allen percussion session in "Gbedu B". DJ Nervoso for the win too!
Review: For this, their inaugural release, Beatnik City round up a pan-international squad (including British, Italians and Brazilians) in what proves to be a great homage to 'the world's sexiest city'. There's seven tracks here - all of which look back to the hazy golden 1960s and conjures up vintage Copacabana vibes through a combination of salsa and Latin loungey sounds and melodies all welded to tougher modern breaks for a contemporary slant.
Review: Music From Memory has a reputation for doing the unexpected. It would be fair to say that few would have predicted the Dutch label's decision to release a collection "electronic and contemporary music from Brazil". As usual, the Red Light Records affiliated crate-digging crew has done a superb job with Outro Tempo, which was compiled by label affiliate John Gomez. Musically, it's predictably varied but always beautiful. It mostly focuses on tracks that fuse traditional Brazilian instrumentation, percussion and musical ideas, with elements of electronica, ambient, jazz-fusion and Reich style minimalism. The accompanying liner notes do a great job in putting the collection in context, explaining how the music was often inspired by political changes within Brazil during the 1980s.
Review: Crate-digging reissue specialists Africa Seven has decided to flip the script on this fantastic album, asking a range of contemporary producers to "re-imagine" a string of rare soul, funk, Afrobeat and disco jams. Thrillingly for those who remember the original West London broken beat scene, the comp contains some killer "bruk" revisions - not least Silkie's brilliantly fluid and groovy take on Ekambi Brillant's "Soul Castle" and EVM's rolling, Bugz in the Attic style revision of M'Bamina's "Mosi Zole". Elsewhere, Appleblim delivers a typically fuzzy and bass heavy rework of Sorry Bamba, Dj Food chops up Sookie's organ-laden funk slammer "Rhythm on Rhythm" an IDM heroes Plaid join the dots between vintage African jazz and woozy electronica. In a word: superb.
Review: One of the soul scene's most influential DJs, it's little surprise that Colin Curtis' Jazz Dance Fusion compilations on Z Records have been so impressive. He's dived even deeper into his vast record collection on this third volume, serving up a fine array of both classic cuts and sought-after obscurities. There's naturally plenty of Latin jazz on show - the backbone of the jazz-dance scene since the 1970s - but also forays into spiritual jazz, Hammond-heavy dancefloor workouts (see the sweaty 'Yatra Ta' by Martin Johnson), soul-jazz (JuJu), energy-packed percussion jams (GeeW) and Afro-Latin fusion (The Drive).
Review: Chalk up two 'Katakaka Edits' outings on the bounce for El Paso, as hot on the heels of the soul-flavoured '115', released just a fortnight ago, he brings us four re-edits that look to vintage Latin music, and particularly 60s boogaloo, for inspiration. Leading the charge for this reviewer is 'Spanish Butterfly', which pairs the lead male vocal with melodic female BVs to die for. Elsewhere, pianos and trumpets take centre stage on 'Nuevo Boogaloo' and sparkling vibes/marimba (?) augment the sunny 'Brother & Sisters', before 'Supimos Callarnos' plays us out in far more laidback, lounge-y, almost melancholic style.
Review: This latest installment in the 'Katakana Edits' series draws pretty much entirely from global music, which makes trying to identify the source material nigh-on impossible! Still, there's a kind of 60s/70s lounge-y vibe to opener 'Besoka', augmented by wave sounds, while 'Hong Kong' is a more Mexican/Latin-sounding affair that'd be best served in the summer sunshine. The fluttering 'Kikiribu' again has a Latin feel, with a chanted vocal this time, while 'Tropical Sant' maintains a similar MO but has more of a hazy, psychedelic vibe about it. One for the more eclectic DJs that like to mix up different world rhythms.
Review: The latest volume in Running Back's "Super Sound Singles" series of reissues is something of an eccentric treat. It comes from mystery Euro-disco eccentric Udytu Utzelturk (and "his male harem"), who released one two-track 12" way back in 1984. Both of those sought-after cuts are included on this EP. There's the exotic, tongue-in-cheek chunk of Italo-disco/synth-pop fusion that is "Kairo" - all jaunty synthesizer melodies, digital telephone dial noises, sleazy arpeggio style bass and impassioned Egyptian vocals - and the more laidback but no less zany synth-funk insanity that is "Kozak2000". There's also a neat dancefloor bonus in the shape of Boris Dlugosch's fresh edit of "Kairo", which concentrates on the sleazier, more club-ready elements and dispels with some of the more bonkers bits of the mystery man's '84 original version.
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