Review: Tel Aviv's Hoodna Orchestra, who blend African and Middle Eastern influences with those from jazz, rock and funk, serve up two tracks from their second album 'OFEL' - soon to be released worldwide - and to say the EP's "eclectic" would be like saying Ronaldo's "pretty good" at football! 'Ofel I' starts out as a sleazy blaxploitation taxi ride, before taking a left turn through a nearby souk while Nik Turner-esque sax blares away on top. 'Breathe', meanwhile, marries similar sounds to a simple, plangent guitar riff reminiscent of Echo & The Bunnymen or The Cure. It's a ker-razy trip, daddio, but one you'll be very glad you took...
Review: Sola Rosa originally began as New Zealander Andrew Spraggon's one-man self-released act. Six albums and loads of awards later, the name now covers a large multi-talented live collective of international standing. "Promise" is a slice of true, pure and authentic soul: all loose and live playing with warm electronics, multi-layered vocal harmonies and with some considered lyrics to boot! Tall Black Guy steps in as remixer and generally keeps the song structure but applies super smooth RnB production.
Review: German bandleader Lutz Krajenski has enjoyed a long and successful working relationship with Agogo. The Austrian label has previously released countless singles and albums from his Hidden Jazz Quartett [sic] combo and here allows him a chance to go solo on a fine EP single. Taken from an album of Agogo catalogue covers due to see the light of day in early 2018, "I Got Hope" (originally recorded by the Hi-Fly Orchestra) is a sumptuous, slow-burning jazz ballad featuring superb vocals from Alana Alexander. She reprises her role then, where Krajenski and his collected musicians lay down a killer, Clavinet-heavy version of Timmy Thomas classic "Cold, Cold People".
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