Buscar:back east

Grammy-nominated Ostinato Records presents "Abu Obaida Hassan & His Tambour: The Shaigiya Sound of Sudan" in a gatefold LP packaging with vintage photos and authentic Sudanese designs.
A complex blend of Arab melodies, Nubian rhythms, and signature Sudanese call and response by a legend of Shaigiya music from nothern Sudan.

Abu Obaida Hassan and the wonders of his five-string tambour remained largely a mystery. In the early 2000's, a prominent Sudanese newspaper declared him dead. Internet forums confirmed his passing. Many in Khartoum, Sudan's capital, said he had indeed died.
But rumors that he was still alive persisted.

What was always certain is Abu Obaida Hassan's mercurial talent.
His command of a modified tambour, backed by a chorus and two drummers, unleashed swirling melodies alongside complex Nubian rhythms and hypnotic Sudanese call and response. His bands roster constantly changed, but he remained at the helm, playing for sold out shows in cities across the country and capturing the dancefloors and youth of 1970's and 80's Sudan. This is a rich, raw example of the human experience with sound from northern Sudan, an ancient part of the world, and the birthplace of civilization. Music like this isn't mastered overnight.

The Ostinato team first came across Abu Obaida's recordings in 2011, finding scratchy bits and pieces along the years. We traveled to Sudan in 2016 to find the clues to piece together the Abu Obaida Hassan puzzle. Through some extensive detective work with our man in Khartoum, Ahmed Asysouti, and a generous dose of good fortune, we tracked Abu Obaida to the rural outskirts of Omdurman, the old capital just across the White Nile from Khartoum. Age has taken its toll, but he remains full of life and music, ready to jointly curate a selection of his eight best cuts. He has written over 100 songs, only 30 were recorded.

Abu Obaida comes from the Shaigiya people, whose culture is spread around the ancient city of Merowe, home of traditional Nubian culture, where pyramids older than those in Egypt still stand. They trace their entire lineage to one man, Shaig, who migrated from the Arabian peninsula in the 15th century. An endlessly rhythmic syncretism between Arab and Nubian styles, Abu Obaida's Shaigiya music was an in demand party affair in an era when a vibrant nightlife and roving sound systems were a staple of life in Sudan.

It was music for a modern era, and Abu Obaida, at just 19, rebelliously abandoned traditional Shaigiya music traditions, pioneering a new sound by adding an extra string to his tambour and electrifying an instrument adored across East Africa. The result was complexity in simplicity and a hyper-talented artist who mirrors the story of Sudan's highs and lows, from the leading tambour maestro of the hour to such obscurity on the fringes that he was believed dead. "They killed me!", he likes to joke.

Abu Obaida Hassan, his music and the musical traditions of the Shaigiya remain alive and kicking. A culmination of a 7-year journey — from first hearing Abu Obaida's distinct sound, found only in Sudan, to finding the man — has produced the first global release of Shaigiya music and is just the beginning of Ostinato's immersion into Sudan, with a full compilation of the lavish musical history of one the most diverse countries in Africa due later this year. All brought to you by the Grammy-nominated team behind last year's "Sweet As Broken Dates."

* Pioneers of the electronic music scene, Music Producer and Finiflex Studio Owner, John Vick and DJ, Davie Miller are working together on a new project . . . . FINIFLEX

* TA TA OO HA was the first single to be released from the much anticipated forthcoming album SUILVEN, slated for release in May 2018.

* FINIFLEX have been playing the new material live since the end of 2016 with gigs in Edinburgh (Neu Reekie), Glasgow (Let's Go Way Back) Skye (Non Stop Easter Weekender) Barcelona (Kosmopolis), Dundee (Carnival 56) and the TA TA OO HA Single Launch Party (TRANSMISSION) in Glasgow.
The show itself is an immersive experience featuring lights, live projections and video graphics, basically a super slick production rammed with back to back bangers.

* These new releases may by the first in 20 years but in reality it's not been such a long period of silence. The almost a secret FINIFLEX Studio Complex (FINIFLEX HQ) based in Leith, Edinburgh has continued to work away with some of the best in the genre including the likes of Justin Robertson, Lord Of The Isles, DJ Rolando, Andrew Weatherall, Sparks, Billy McKenzie, Jon Pleased Wimmin, Paul Oakenfold, Dave Ball (Soft Cell) to name a few.
It's a given that their past assures their pedigree within the electronic music arena but with the release of TA TA TA OO HA . . . . . FINIFLEX brought it all rushing into the future. . . . . .

Berlin based Jens Dohle is a man of many talents. An accomplished composer and arranger for theatre productions across Europe, classically trained multi instrumentalist, explosive live drummer for YE:SOLAR, Munk, Hot Coins, Sado Opera. Longtime collaborator with Danilo Plessow aka MCDE and Noema from African Shakedown fame. Remixer for Jazzanova and 4 Hero. There's not enough room here to list his amazing work.

2018 ushers forth a new identity to his already enviable C.V with his first EP as James Dole (a jokingly anglicised version of his birth name). The 3 tracks here all showcase his ability to create a strong mood and use great splashes of melody and rhythm but without ever losing the groove. Written during a period of 'introspection' in deepest, darkest Berlin, each one tells a different story.

Ex is a moody monster of a track. It builds and builds into a pounding nightime symphony with a kind of epic-ness which hints at many years spent mining the highs and lows of music, love and life. Big room yet with a gut wrenching soul beneath the slightly flamboyant majesty. Made in East Berlin and well road tested in the cities debauched nightclubs.

Fantasia shows off Mr Doles jazz and broken beat background with rolling, funky drums sashaying with hip hoppy live jazz keys. Then those signature euphoric yet melancholic synths appear halfway through the track to create an emotionally halcyon mood. WIBES.

The EP closes with Grande. Super melodic yet cinematic with amazing synth work and a sophisticated arrangement showcasing James's well trained musicianship and artistry. An opus of melody and longing built for Italian arthouse films about unrequited love.


DJ Support from - Midland, Honey Soundsystem, Sandrino, Jimpster, Ame, DVS1, Shadow Child, Joe Goddard, Red Rack'em, Futureboogie, Soft Rocks, Domenic Cappello, Downtown Party Network, Danny Russell

Known for his pioneering and multi-instrumental blend of jazz and Afro-Eastern musical traditions, Yusef Lateef has never been content to use his music to merely entertain, but has long strived to his encourage his audiences to engage their minds as well as their ears. This approach was evident even on his groundbreaking debut album as leader, the aptly titled, Jazz For The Thinker, released in 1957. Unlike most debut efforts in jazz at the time, this album is made up entirely of Lateef's own original compositions, further proving that this was a man with a vision right from the start! Here Lateef, on tenor sax, is backed by Curtis Fuller on trombone, Hugh Lawson on piano, Ernie Farrow on bass, and Louis Hayes on drums.

- Black and Purple vinyl versions.-LP includes download.
-Son of Blue Note legend Bruce Lundvall.
-12 years since his last record to feature vocals.
Dais Records is proud to unveil the new dark pop masterpiece from artist and composer Tor Lundvall. His first vocal album since 2009's Sleeping and Hiding, and following the release of two instrumental albums and three CD box sets since that time, Tor returns with an album of beautifully intricate sadness and reflection: A Dark Place.Born in 1968 in Wyckoff, NJ, Tor Lundvall is a painter and ambient composer.
The son of Blue Note Records legend Bruce Lundvall, Tor was exposed to artwork, music, and creativity from a young age, and began his professional painting and music output in the late 80s. Widely known for his dark imagery and thoughtful, provocative soundscapes, Tor Lundvall's artwork is all-encompassing. His music, when paired with his paintings, creates a world within which one could easily disappear. An intensely private individual, Tor Lundvall eschews the gallery circuit and live performances for his private studio in Eastern Long Island, NY, preferring to show his artwork privately and focus on studio production and writing without the pressures of the audience and all it encompasses.
Dais Records is honored to provide another glimpse into his world through his recordings. We hope you find it as special and as unforgettable as we do. Artist Statement:It's been twelve years since I recorded my last vocal album, "Sleeping and Hiding" (released in 2009, but recorded in 2005). After completing those sessions, I felt that I had said just about everything I wanted to say lyrically. I wasn't sure if another vocal album would ever materialize, but slowly and surely, new lyrics came with new songs to accompany them. Finding the words to describe this album is almost as difficult as the past couple of years. There is a lot of pain, fear and sadness wrapped into these eight songs. More so than usual, I think. The loss of my father in 2015 and coping with his absence certainly hangs heavily here. I recorded this album at night while I stared out from my bedroom window into the shadows of the garden and the neighbor's house next door. The reflections of the flower lights encircling my bedroom window looked like distant, golden constellations through the glass while I worked. A nice memory. A few of the melodies were inspired by, or constructed around some of my earliest riffs and abandoned sketches, one dating all the way back to 1985. The lyrics to the final track, "The Next World", came to me while swimming alone in the bay one clear October afternoon about five years ago. I originally envisioned a lighter, more optimistic song to accompany my first draft of lyrics, but the piece evolved into a song about final reflections, lost dreams and the terrible sadness of the passing of time.

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

Pioneers of the electronic music scene, Music Producer and Finiflex Studio Owner, John Vick and DJ, Davie Miller are working together on a new project . . . . FINIFLEX

Bonus Freaks is the second single to be released from the much anticipated forthcoming album SUILVEN, slated for release in May 2018.

FINIFLEX have been playing the new material live since the end of 2016 with gigs in Edinburgh (Neu Reekie), Glasgow (Let's Go Way Back) Skye (Non Stop Easter Weekender) Barcelona (Kosmopolis), Dundee (Carnival 56) and the TA TA OO HA Single Launch Party (TRANSMISSION) in Glasgow.
The show itself is an immersive experience featuring lights, live projections and video graphics, basically a super slick production rammed with back to back bangers.

These new releases may by the first in 20 years but in reality it's not been such a long period of silence. The almost a secret FINIFLEX Studio Complex (FINIFLEX HQ) based in Leith, Edinburgh has continued to work away with some of the best in the genre including the likes of Justin Robertson, Lord Of The Isles, DJ Rolando, Andrew Weatherall, Sparks, Billy McKenzie, John Pleased Wimmin, Paul Oakenfold, Dave Ball (Soft Cell) to name a few.
It's a given that their past assures their pedigree within the electronic music arena but with this NEW release 'Bonus Freaks'. . . . . FINIFLEX brings it all rushing into the future. . . . . .

The early 2000s were a time of upheaval for hip-hop. The underground and mainstream divide that had dened so much of the previous decade was showing the rst signs of irrelevance. Timbaland and The Neptunes made radio rappers sound futuristic while independent artists struggled in a quagmire of backpacks and misguided claims to keep it real. Away from this, in a misunderstood middle ground between hip-hop and electronic music, a new generation of artists were busy imagining a new sound for hip-hop.

One such artist was Scott Prefuse 73' Herren, whose perpendicular MPC chops on his 2001 debut for Warp Records set curious minds racing with possibilities. That same year Tadd Mullinix released his debut as Dabrye on Ghostly International, a sonic wildstyle that appealed to both hip-hop heads and IDM nerds. Sometime that same year Herren and Mullinix met after sharing a bill in Detroit. CD-Rs were exchanged and a year later Eastern Development, Herren's newly launched label, released Dabrye's Instrmntl, a short album with a big impact. On its fteenth anniversary Ghostly International is reissuing Instrmtl on vinyl and making it available digitally for the rst time.

Instrmntl is a continuation of the beat experiments Dabrye began with One/Three and a bridge to the diverse textures that would dene Two/Three four years later. About half of its nine tracks (ten if you lived in Japan) were created at the same time as One/Three while the rest were newer or made specically for the album. Once again Mullinix looked outside of hip-hop to techno, house, and drum & bass for stylistic and technical ideas while embracing the blissful minimalism of a good hip-hop instrumental and the rhythmic nuance of Detroit.

Despite the similarities between Dabrye's debut and this follow up, Mullinix didn't simply replicate what had made One/Three so arresting. He pushed and pulled further between the two cornerstones of his approach to reveal more potentials. Instrmntl takes you deeper into electronic depths — the rugged synth stutter of 'Won', the tumbling, wobbling bass in 'No Child Of God', the electro get down of 'Prospects (Marshall Law)' — while also treading more organic grounds by letting samples breathe and moods unfurl at a gentler pace ('Take Me Home', 'Evelyn', and 'You Know The Formula Right'). And then there are the moments where this push and pull nds balance and the result becomes more, as it does on the mournful march of 'D-Town Tabernacle Choir' and the twinkling daydream of 'This Is Where I Came In'.

At just over 30 minutes, Instrmntl offers a snapshot of a time when potentials seemed innite, when lines could be drawn between jazz, ragga jungle, techno, and hip-hop and the resulting shape divined an exciting future.

- Reissue of the out of print 2002 album, available for the rst time on Ghostly.
- Includes previously Japanese-only bonus track, Gimme Lowlands'
- Standard weight blue vinyl is housed in a matte jacket.
- Dabrye's beats are like Jay Dee getting crunked up with Autechre.' — Prefuse 73

It was chance that brought about the release of One/Three, Dabrye's debut album. Early demos were tucked on the B side of a cassette Tadd Mullinix passed to Sam Valenti in 2000 while working at the Dubplate Pressure record shop in Ann Arbor. Mullinix had spent the late '90s producing jungle, techno, house, hip-hop and more using the All Sound Tracker software as a primary instrument. Each style pulled from a similar sound palette as Mullinix used limitations to define the contours of di-erent musical personalities. Dabrye was his hip-hop wildstyle, a captivating collage of sparse instrumentals inspired by the laid back vibes of midwestern hip-hop and east coast boom bap, the futuristic funk of Umma-era Jay Dee, and the calculated subtlety of Detroit dance music. Released in 2001 as the first in an intended trilogy, One/Three announced Dabrye's arrival with an unavoidable contribution to Detroit hip-hop. Ghostly International is reissuing the album in 2017 for the first time, including a long overdue vinyl edition.

On its release One/Three was the rare album that appealed to both fans of Slum Village's smooth yet rugged hip-hop and enthusiasts of the distinct American IDM released by labels like Schematic. Over the following decade, the inadvertent demo submission turned into a body of work that placed Dabrye alongside innovators such as Prefuse 73 amid the cannon of a new generation of producers. Today, One/Three remains a concise and intriguing study in instrumental hip-hop that helps join the dots between J Dilla and Flying Lotus.

One/Three is a record that says much with little. There are no obvious hip-hop tropes. Instead Mullinix captures the ingenious minimalism of '90s hip-hop instrumentals to build tracks both supple and hard, joyous and melancholy, full of sharply angled rhythms and warm rubbery basslines: 'The Lish' throws a sickly sweet saxophone against digitally fragmented melodies, 'How Many Times (with this)' draws you in with an irresistible, clipped guitar groove, the rhythmic stutter of 'Smoking The Edge' makes your head spin with pleasure. Playing with his inspirations, Mullinix injects omitted downbeats for imagined rhymes and repurposes the intricacy of ragga jungle for breakdowns.

But what really defines One/Three is the rhythmic sensibility and metric modulation of Detroit's school of hip-hop production, which Mullinix was a fervent student of. The beats feel like they're constantly escaping a rigid tempo grid even though they are, in fact, pretty tight. A lot of it is nuance,' Mullinix explains. I've been known to say that I'm not impressed by spectacle. I think that nuance is what really captivates people.'

If you like your beats with a dash of class, do not miss this. An essential purchase of the highest order.' -BBC

- First time all tracks from the original 2001 release appear on vinyl.
- Remastered by Daddy Kev
- Standard weight black vinyl is inserted in to 3.5mm matte finish vinyl jacket.
- Download card includes free download of the Payback EP

With his new album 'Trail Of Intuition' Danish singer and songwriter Jacob Bellens once again is shimmering somewhere in-between electronically influenced songwriting and synthpop music, using his characteristic voice to reflect on his life's journey. Since the age of five, making music means creating a parallel universe to Jacob Bellens. It's his very own space, where he can be himself and always retreat to, no matter what happens. Out of this universe the Copenhagen based musician has released numerous songs and albums with his previous bands I Got You On Tape and Murder, with side projects and features as well as a solo artist. 'Trail Of Intuition' is his fourth solo album and the second one that's internationally signed with hfn music. Unlike the songs for his previous release 'Polyester Skin", which he wrote mostly on piano and guitar before sending them to producer Kasper Bjørke for final production, Bellens wrote all the songs for 'Trail Of Intuition' on his computer. You could see him sitting in front of his laptop in coffee shops across Copenhagen, with his headphones on, letting the basic programming and pre-production of the songs become an essential part of the writing process. The final production was made mostly by Rune Borup, who he knows back from the I Got You On Tape days and his friend Lars Iversen (The Asteroids Galaxy Tour), with whom Bellens also had the band project Goblins. The new album is a collection of snapshots of the whole range of feelings for which Bellens digs into the pool of his own experiences.

It was May 2017 when Earthboogie's debut release dropped on Leng. The soundsystem-loving East London duo rightly won praise for a fne EP that brilliantly joined the dots between all things intergalactic, terrestrial and tribal.
Having spent the last ten months recording their adventures, Izaak Gray and Nicola Robinson return with Silken Moon', the frst single from their forthcoming debut album, Human Call.
In typical fashion, Silken Moon' cannily combines musical elements from a myriad of styles - most notably Afro-disco, samba and mid-tempo Chicago house - to create a humid hybrid that defes easy categorization. There are bouncy organ riffs, undulating acid lines, clipped Afro-funk guitars, tons of tropical percussion and the chanted, carnival-friendly vocalizations of guest singer Nina Miranda.
The release comes backed with remixes from two members of the extended
Leng family: long-serving producer Felix Dickinson and Turkish rising star Ali Kuru. Dickinson sticks close to the original of Silken Moon' with a mix built around gently jacking machine drums and Earthboogie's sweaty guitar licks while Kuru takes Human Call' in an altogether more cosmic direction. Pushing the track's psychedelic TB-303 lines and tropical textures to the fore whilst
adding his own mind-altering electronics - most notably a fat new synth bassline - Kuru cleverly re-casts the track as a pulsating, late night throb-job.

Capra Black remains one of the seminal recordings of jazz's black consciousness movement. A profoundly spiritual effort that channels both the intellectual complexity of the avant-garde as well as the emotional potency of gospel, its focus and assurance belie Billy Harper's inexperience as a leader. Backed by an all-star supporting unit including trombonist Julian Priester and drummer Billy Cobham, Harper's tenor summons the brute force and mystical resolve of John Coltrane but transcends its influences to communicate thoughts and feelings both idiosyncratic and universal. This is music of remarkable corporeal substance that somehow expresses the pure language of the soul.

For the second release on their Black Series, Ravage invited electronic music veterans Al Matthews and Patrick Walker to team up under their Forward Strategy Group moniker. The last release of these legends was quite a few years ago, but the wait was worth it. Their East Port Rangers EP kicks-off with Nine and One, a hypnotic, heavy-loaded stomper containing some uplifting, loopy vocals. Following is the most minimalistic track of the EP, Lisp Your Way, yet it still has a lot of substantial punch and lash to it.

The B-side starts off with heavy broken beats, combined with a classic rave sound, taking the listener back to the blistering sound of the nineties. Finally, the EP oozes down with the track In Abeyance; a haunting, down-tempo track with a melody to send shivers down your spine, which could be deemed a real creeper.

For a label that wasn't around long, Strata East achieved the same sort of label recognition that Impulse! or Blue Note managed to build. In other words, you knew what you were getting when you bought a record on the label, even if you didn't know the names on the outside of the cover. This is no exception. Who is Shamek Farrah Who knows Who cares It's the music that's important. This is the standard spiritually intense new jazz one learns to expect from the label, soaked in some Eastern influences but always with its ear to the street. Musicians took their roles as leaders and spokesmen very seriously back then. This very adult statement from a group of very serious men is no exception. However, what might be an average, forgettable session is rescued by the propulsive engine of Milton Suggs' bass. He adds the fire and the drive that keeps things interesting and prevents the music from wandering into a circular spiritual morass. For fans of the sound or the label, this can be heartily recommended.

After the success of his 'I Speak Synth' EP which gained massive support globally from the likes of Barac, Cap & East End dubs, Lorenzo Chiabotti is back on Fake, this time with Vatos Locos's David Gtronic, 3 deep hypnotic grooving house tracks that have been getting support from the Fuse London crew amongst others.

The current resurgence of jazz in all its' forms has certainly been impossible to ignore in recent times - from the chart-bound, mainstream crooning of Gregory Porter, to the left field 'jazz not jazz' soundscapes of Kamasi Washington, Moses Boyd, Nubya Garcia and Snarky Puppy proves this is a worldwide phenomenon. One artist who has been been ploughing this furrow in the southern hemisphere for longer than most is Lance Ferguson. As the driving force behind The Bamboos, Cookin' On 3 Burners, Lanu, and the Black Feeling series, these are the varied and versatile projects on which he has built an enviable reputation.

Menagerie 'They Shall Inherit' saw the light of day in 2012 (Tru Thoughts Records) and established the fact that jazz of the contemporary type could reach back to it's essential roots and present itself, refreshed and vital for a contemporary audience.

Lance himself explains: "The Arrow Of Time' draws its inspiration conceptually from the themes of space exploration, human evolution and the future of humankind. It's pretty big stuff to be underpinning an album of modal Jazz tunes - but the main message is one of hope, and I hope that comes across in the music"

Late 2017 saw the 2 track album sampler 'Evolution/Arrow Of Time' create a genuine buzz of anticipation, being playlisted on Jazz FM, and also supported by Jamie Cullum (BBC Radio 2) and both Don Letts & Gilles Peterson on their BBC 6 Music shows - having as it does the spirit of deep jazz, but combining an accessible sound that reached way beyond the usual jazz hungry audience - due in one part to Evolution's immensely catchy hooks, with the voice of Fallon Williams focusing the listeners attention on the philosophical themes Lance highlighted above. Now the album, laid out in its' entirety can be experienced, attempting to encapsulate the music with the written word feels like a somewhat futile exercise, so it is best to consider Lance Fergusons' final thoughts about its inspiration, influences and ongoing appeal.

"The sound of record labels like Strata East, Tribe and Black Jazz has been a massive influence on Menagerie. To me that sound is timeless, exciting and just as vibrant as a musical format in 2018 - and the proof is that we're hearing more and more young musicians embracing it"

TERRANOVA kicks off 2018 with a bang with 'Cosmo EP' (KOM378). 4 top-notch tracks showcasing the strongest outings yet in his impressive back catalogue.
Following an excellent entry in our SPEICHER series with 'Speicher 94' (KOMPAKT EXTRA 94 - co-helmed by Reinhard Voigt), the much- acclaimed full length 'Restless' (KOMPAKT 327 CD 123) hit turntables two years ago, TERRANOVA aka Fetisch, the creative mind & producer behind the project he likes to describe as 'the deep space electric ark' has been in orbit since the release of 'Terranova DJ Kicks' (!K7) in 1997.
TERRANOVA* now returns to the spotlight with COSMO EP, a jacking four-tracker inspired by raw Chicago House, early NYC Electro , old school computers /A.I. and some very special analog &digital machines featuring 2 excellent collaborations with Milan based artists.

Opening track COSMOCHORD features the Italian DJ legend Flashmob. The result is a peak time monochord banger that takes both producers' extensive expertise in propelling dance floor cuts to new heights.
COSMOCODE feat VOLTAGUE intense psychedelic Techno again with peak time quality. LANGSAM is an elegant, driving example of classic dance floor electronica. A skilled combination of an 808 with an obscure vintage beatbox of eastern origin, an Oberheim OB8 and a 1970 Kunstkopf Mic Instructions mixed on the original Deutsche Grammophon 1950 Valve mixer. PERFECT HAPPINESS wraps up this action-packed release with some a twisted afro stomper lead by a drunk sounding computer bouncing on the mic.
*Ad eundum quo nemo ante iit

'Afro Rock Vol. 1' is one of the most important compilations of heavy original '70s Afro funk and soul to be released in recent years. Originally surfacing on Duncan Brooker's indie Kona label in early 2001, the album single-handedly kick-started the thirst among jazz, funk and soul fans and 'diggers' to rediscover lost music from Africa made during the '60s and '70s from a time when many countries were gaining independence and celebrating a Pan-African identity within their music. The album was one of the first to reach a far different audience to the traditional 'world music' market and spawned many further projects and labels in its wake. A year later, the 'Nigeria 70' compilation surfaced on Strut and labels like Soundway and Analog Africa would continue to unearth amazing lost gems from the Motherland.The album is testament to the determined work of Brooker following several research trips, especially to East Africa - Kenya and Zaire. It brought to light East Africa's finest funk band, Air Fiesta Matata, led by the recently deceased Steele Beautttah, 'The Nigerian James Brown' Geraldo Pino from Port Harcourt in Nigeria, and the storming Afro jam 'Yuda' by Dackin Dackino, a previously unreleased gem from Zaire discovered on a discarded reel. The album has remained influential since its release with tracks appearing on other Afro compilations and on TV and the big screen - Jingo's 'Fever' featured in Kevin McDonald's 2006 hit film, 'Last King Of Scotland'.Out of print since 2015, the album is being reissued on Strut in its original form with the extra dynamite unreleased psychedelic cut by Kenya's Ishmael Jingo, 'Keep On Holding On' taken from the original master tape. The package features the original sleeve notes by Duncan Brooker along with new additional notes providing further background to the album and tracks.

'Y.O.U' is an emotive album of tripped out ambient hip hop instrumentals by FROM, written and recorded in the mid 90s under Trevor Jackson's infamous production persona The Underdog. Originally planned as a vocally-led, song-based project that should've surfaced between his production for The Brotherhood's legendary British hip hop album 'Elementalz' in 1996 and his acclaimed debut PLAYGROUP release in 2001, for multiple reasons it hasn't seen the light of day, until now.
Only Available as a ultra limited edition Vinyl and CD release, the LP consists of 11 tracks. Dream-like synth lines, ambient melodies, blissful guitars, raw beats and soft, fractured vocals draw you into a hallucinatory 12bit world. Drawing on Jackson's progressive and jazz rock influences as well as psychedelia and early electronics, the album closes with 'Belladonna'- a piano-sampled homage to the east coast golden age hip hop pioneers. NB: The CD features a longer version of 'Veratrum' not available on the vinyl version. All created on an Akai S950 mono sampler (limited to only 20 seconds sampling time), an Akai MG1212 12 channel mixer (which recorded on Betamax style tapes) and primitive outboard gear, Jackson honed his skills from his bedroom, where he produced the majority of his output at the time. With a huge collection of obscure vinyl, he dug deep into uncharted territories for samples and sound clips
- using material no one knew about (or would think about touching) in the mid 90s. The Underdog's initial releases were on Jackson's own Bite It! recordings label, which was started in 1991. A unique platform for UK hip hop with a visual aesthetic and ethos more akin to ECM and Factory
than other rap labels, its mission was to push artists beyond musical and cultural limitations prevalent at the time.
Home to artists like The Brotherhood, Scientists of Sound, Little Pauly Ryan and Lewis Parker (who later signed to Massive Attack's Melancholic label), Bite It! became a great success;
finally British rap had artists and releases that looked and sounded as good as their revered American counterparts. In 1993 Richard Russell (who had just started running XL recordings) asked Trevor to remix House of Pain, resulting in a top ten record, which helped launch Jackson's musical career via further remixes Massive Attack, Run DMC, U2, The Cure and countless others. Off the back of his remix success, The Brotherhood signed a deal in 1994 with Virgin Records. Their 'ELEMENTALZ' album was produced by Jackson and is still lauded by many as one of the finest British hip hop albums of all time.
Jackson continued to remix and produce as The Underdog until managerial issues forced him out of the project he'd been instrumental in instigating.
Soon after his close friend and manager tragically passed away - which when combined with the UK hip hop scene becoming increasingly volatile and the moral demise of rap culture in general - convinced Trevor to hang up his hip hop hat for good.
After leaving The Brotherhood he started Output Recordings. Internationally and sonically diverse, it gave Jackson a free reign to do as he pleased, with genre twisting releases from the likes of Fridge, Four Tet, Sonovac, Colder, his own PLAYGROUP project, The Rapture and LCD Soundsystem. With a non-compromising attitude, strong DIY aesthetic and consistently groundbreaking releases across its ten year life between 1996 and 2006, it became one of the most important and respected independent labels in the world.

Superstar & Star are back on Porridge bullet with there first vinyl E.P Proper!: Mastermind E.P!
.
A collection of seven classic songs from Superstar's vaults available for the first time on an Estonian Vinyl Record!

Neville Lawrence Immigrated from his home country of Trinidad to New York in the mid 80's where, a few years later, following his fleeting east coast success, he re-settled with Wife Anne (Star) in Omaha, Nebraska where they continued to perform, produce and record music until the present day.

After releasing a cassette, 7' and 12' single with us in the last year we are happy to present yet another wonderful release from superstar and star! Big Big Hugs!

Most of the musicians who gathered to record this fantastic spiritual jazz record for the Strata-East label on May 24th, 1974 had crossed each other's paths in various musical pairings over the preceding few years. Husband and wife team Dee Dee Bridgewater (vocals) and Cecil Bridgewater (trumpet) had been working together on albums like Frank Foster's "Loud Minority", and Roy Ayers' "Coffy" and "Virgo Red". Ten weeks before the "Freedom Of Speech" session, the couple had been joined in Tokyo by Cecil's brother Ronald Bridgewater (tenor saxaphone) to record Dee Dee's debut album, the beautiful "Afro Blue". Also in the studio on May 24th, 1974 was Donald Smith, (piano, vocals), fresh from recording on his older brother Lonnie Liston Smith's "Cosmic Funk" - on which Ronald Bridgewater had also played percussion. Cecil McBee (bass) was also there - just two weeks before, he'd completed his own Strata East date "Mutima", and in February he'd played on Mtume's "Rebirth Cycle" - with both albums also featuring Dee Dee Bridgewater on vocals. He'd also played on Lonnie Liston Smith's "Astral Travelling".

So 1974 was a huge year for all five of these people. Donald Smith and Cecil McBee were six months away from recording on Lonnie Liston Smith's massive "Expansions", with McBee fitting in a few Pharoah Sanders albums in between.

AND THEN, THE MYSTERY ... So with all this fervent activity, the question has to be asked ...Who was Billy Earl Parker Jr (drums), the leader of this session

Billy Parker remains unlisted as a musician on all major jazz sites. His only other recording appears to be as a percussionist on Charles Tolliver's "Impact" in 1975. Then there's nothing.

Finally, by backtracking one of those Zoom info pages, I found a summary of a "SUNY Rockland Community College" 2002 press release that no longer exists :

"Billy Parker's Fourth World Legacy Concert ...The concert, Billy Parker's Fourth World Legacy, is the eighth annual tribute honouring the late percussionist and RCC educator, Billy Parker. A long-time Rockland County resident, Parker began his affiliation with RCC in 1987, building its jazz program and maintaining his life-long tradition of teaching and inspiring others. A lifelong student himself, Parker was near completion of his doctorate in music education at New York University when he died in 1996.

But then people began to read this blog post, and in the comments, Aaron Fuller said :

"Billy Parker was my uncle. He was an incredibly talented, smart, and kind man. I'm very happy to see that folks are still enjoying his masterpiece. Just to give you a bit more information about him... He was born and raised in Buffalo, NY and then attended college at Michigan State University. He met my aunt in Lansing. They lived in NY and toured in Europe for quite a while. Sometime later they relocated to Nyack, NY and he ended up on the faculty of the community college while he pursued advanced degrees from NYU. He was an Ellington scholar. Although his name isn't well-known even among the most avid jazz fans, I think that if you were to talk to some of the great NY musicians that were around in the late 60s and 70s you would find that most knew him. He also had a huge impact as a music educator and I have no doubt that his former students are all over the place, continuing to put his love of the art into practice."

On the Corner's DJ tool and eclectic favourite, Versus is back for a second instalment. There are some familiar faces occupying this tasty wax and some new comers pushing the needle further-out On the Corner.
As 2015's Versus sold-out we'd already acquired some fresh production talents and sent stems over to new and old friends alike.
Get your atlases out as we criss-cross the globe introducing you to artists from afar-afield as Nairobi, Manchester, Pune, Iringa, Detroit, and South London.
We kick off with Jinku, self-proclaimed space monkey hitting OtC wax for the first time. The producer is one-fifth of the East African Wave, a collective of young DJ Producers who are revolutionising the East African arts scene. As a 'sponge' of different influences, Jinku lays down a balearic reworking of fellow Nairobian, Makadem's 'Nyako'.
Of the returning artists none is quite as mysterious as the elusive and incomparable Black Classical - discordant-Ra-like organ meets Brazilian poly-rhythmic percussions bludgeoned with a heady slab of rave breaks make for 'Jeje': already a firm fave of Gilles Peterson.
Boundary pushing Contours brings a new swing to the 'Agama' groove, following the underground smash from Al Dobson Jr back where it all started with the release of Tamar Collocutor's first album in 2014.
Wonky psychedelic perambulations through the Traab al-Beidaan (Sahara) from Sam Jones who adds another construct to his mantle. Group as Salaam have a cassette release forthcoming and this construct comes from field recording sessions conducted during a feast out in the shadow of Africa's largest Windfarm by label head Pete OntheCorner. Vibes!
On the B-side, sprightly producer Daisho from the Indian hotbed of Pune brings a layered percussive heater hanging in the atmosphere with ominous synth b-lines and rightly tipped to be in the realms of and early Four Tet mover.
The release enters into a deeper shamanic dance territory in the final third: the beathead's elixir, M.I.X.G. and their massive xylophone (Embaire) are back and gets a heavy acid rerub as South London's FYI Chris appear OntheCorner wax again with
'Drop the beat'.
Peter Croce, head of Detroit's Rocksteady Disco brings it deep into the early hours for this euphoric 4am fix of OntheCorner's
afro-latin-electronic party experimentalists, Penya.

Mnestic Pressure' is Lee Gamble's first album since 2014 and his first with Hyperdub, a reset that sees a noticeable change in his sound and the concepts that feed into his music. Lee says 'From Diversions 1994-1996' (2012) through to Koch' (2014) - my music felt like I was dealing with signals from elsewhere - signals from the unconscious, sub-aqua, hallucinated, dreamt. Mnestic Pressure' feels like their decoded offspring, a terra interpretation.' The title Mnestic Pressure' comes from Lee's thinking about how our contemporary memory is pressured, individually, but also collectively. 'We live in these strobing, visual times, like a constant subliminal advertisement but, also over the last few years the world seems to have become more and more dreamlike, alien, and parodic itself and there was this part of me that wanted to drag my music back from this Shangri-La, but fully drenched and infected by its ghosts.' Mnestic Pressure' as a whole is a simulation of this experience, a flow of targeted information, through contrasting and quickly changing terrain, from one track to another you're dragged into a new space. The pressure to move is intrinsic to the flow of the album, one thing morphologically transforms into another, zooming in and out from wide angle to detail, reshaping into new forms at a speed Lee's music hasn't before. The music on Mnestic Pressure' has a hardness, with a structure and melody that was sublimated in Lee's previous LPs. It builds on his more recent experiments with more functional dancefloor forms. Here his hypermodern production and crunchy, dissembled beats feel like they could be malfunctioning holograms projected onto the hallucinated memories of his early work.

Formed in Washington, D.C. in January of 2014, the EFFECTS are Devin Ocampo, Matthew Dowling, and David Rich.

A multi-instrumentalist, Ocampo is a former member of the bands Faraquet, Medications, Smart Went Crazy, and Deathfix, all of whom released music on Dischord. He has also toured and recorded with Mary Timony, Beauty Pill, and J. Robbins.

Dowling was the bassist and co-leader of Deleted Scenes, while Rich was the drummer in the instrumental group, Buildings. Both released music on the experimental-minded (and now defunct) local record label, Sock- ets. Devin met both Matt and David years before and while there had been talk of a possible collaboration everyone had their own projects at the time. However, by 2014 all were between bands and it finally made sense to get together and start something new.

For the trio, playing together was a nice change in routine. It was a new configuration of musicians, rather than a recombination of old friends and former bandmates, which happens regularly in the close-knit music scene of Washington D.C. Matt and David offered a fresh perspective and (possibly) gave the Devin a nudge out of his comfort zone.

Since then, the EFFECTS have performed sporadically throughout the East Coast and digitally released four two-song singles. Their full-length debut, Eyes to the Light, will be out this fall on Dischord.

Fourth studio album by East Coast hip hop collective. Originally released in 2001 & now reissued on double black 140gm vinyl with download code insert.

'Afro Rock Vol. 1' is one of the most important compilations of heavy original '70s Afro funk and soul to be released in recent years. Originally surfacing on Duncan Brooker's indie Kona label in early 2001, the album single-handedly kick-started the thirst among jazz, funk and soul fans and 'diggers' to rediscover lost music from Africa made during the '60s and '70s from a time when many countries were gaining independence and celebrating a Pan-African identity within their music. The album was one of the frst to reach a far different audience to the traditional 'world music' market and spawned many further projects and labels in its wake. A year later, the 'Nigeria 70' compilation surfaced on Strut and labels like Soundway and Analog Africa would continue to unearth amazing lost gems from the Motherland. The album is testament to the determined work of Brooker following several research trips, especially to East Africa - Kenya and Zaire. It brought to light East Africa's fnest funk band, Air Fiesta Matata, led by the recently deceased Steele Beautttah, 'The Nigerian James Brown' Geraldo Pino from Port Harcourt in Nigeria, and the storming Afro jam 'Yuda' by Dackin Dackino, a previously unreleased gem from Zaire discovered on a discarded reel. The album has remained infuential since its release with tracks appearing on other Afro compilations and on TV and the big screen - Jingo's 'Fever' featured in Kevin McDonald's 2006 hit flm, 'Last King Of Scotland'.Out of print since 2015, the album is being reissued on Strut in its original form with the extra dynamite unreleased psychedelic cut by Kenya's Ishmael Jingo, 'Keep On Holding On' taken from the original master tape. The package features the original sleeve notes by Duncan Brooker along with new additional notes providing further background to the album and tracks.

Eight releases in, Leonidas & Hobbes have honed a mutual love of soundtracks, disco, jazz, house, techno, acid, psychedelic, African and dub sounds.
Web Of Intrigue is one part tribute to lost 70s soundtracks, when music was created on the finest analogue hardware, featuring full bands, session players and lush orchestrations, one part tribute to 70s disco gods Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards (Chic) and one part mid-tempo but nonetheless cosmic house. The three parts fuse to form an instrumental track sounding as fresh as a whole meadow of daisies in 2017 and one that's been going down extremely well with international DJs who have road-tested the material.
Heavy Weather flips the script for a deeper workout in a 3/4 time signature - more of a cosmic waltz. Taking its main cue from 70s jazz fusion heroes Weather Report and The Doors' Ray Manzarek, it incorporates rich African percussion, spaced-out flourishes exhibiting the duo's love for the dubs of Lee Perry, King Tubby et al, and a good old fashioned arpeggio of an acid line - definitely a more esoteric number, all told.
The 'Dawn' and 'Acid Rain' mixes push different buttons for the heads, as suits the mood. It all adds up to a very Balearic confection, fitting snugly in with the burgeoning revival for this somewhat ineffable sound - a trend that seems to be getting stronger/bigger every year, popping up every time the sun gets his hat on and we all remember how to party like the lucky residents of that infamous White Isle....
MORE INFO
London/Edinburgh analogue electronic duo Leonidas & Hobbes released debut EP "Machines, Tapes & Electronic Setups" via the Hobbes Music label back in May 2013, picking up plaudits and support from the likes of Resident Advisor, Mixmag, Erol Alkan, Ashley Beedle, Alan Braxe, Shadow Child, Jimpster, Nick Warren, M.A.N.D.Y., Leftside Wobble, Mr G, Auntie Flo, Sasha, John Digweed and many more... The duo were consequently commissioned to remix the Pet Shop Boys.
Second EP "Mo' Machines" came out on the label in April 2014 and received equally high praise, with i-D Magazine inviting the duo to record a DJ mix which has to date chalked up a whole lot of love on Soundcloud.
Leonidas has released two other collaborative EPs with London-based Japanese DJ/producer Kay Suzuki via his Round In Motion imprint, equally winning fans worldwide, with a track now forthcoming on new label YAM Records' You And Music Volume 1 EP plus much more in the pipeline for 2017. Leonidas also has his own lovetoparty label, releasing edits of much-loved disco tunes on limited edition 12" vinyl format and free download. Previously, Leonidas made a name for throwing word-of-mouth parties around east London on his audiophile 'lovetoparty' sound system (providing some of the inspiration for much-admired late-night watering hole Brilliant Corners).
Equally, Hobbes ran the widely acclaimed Trouble nights for ten years in Edinburgh/Scotland, working with the great and the good from across the soul/jazz/dance spectrum since '02, and championed up-and-coming live talent via his Limbo 'gig-in-a-club' nights at The Voodoo Rooms for nine years since '07. Hobbes has toured his DJing style to the various corners of the dancing planet, including gigs in the Far East, much of Europe and across the UK. The Hobbes Music label has otherwise featured artists as diverse as Auntie Flo, JD Twitch (Optimo), Neil Landstrumm, Craig Smith (6th Borough Project), Ali Renault, iO Sounds, Joe Howe, Debukas, Fudge Fingas, Marco Bernardi, Dimitri Veimar, Mick Wills and Nightwave, with further support from Ben UFO, Justin Robertson, Motor City Drum Ensemble, KiNK, The Revenge, T.E.E.D, Kiki, Groove Armada, Maceo Plex, OOFT!, Domenic Capello (Sub Club), XDB, Ben Mono, Masa Sutela, Bawrut/Scuola Furano, Numbers, John Heckle and many more...

the label of the post-autonomous kindergarden from berlin's east cross awakes after a long beauty sleep. we're back behind the decks with a lineup that is carving out contemporary techno.
finnish producer samuli kemppi, from helsinki, has accompanied us since the beginning of our club. musically, he stands for a minimalist, crystal-cut sound hailing from galaxies far, far away.
fabrizio lapiana is a long-time friend of the house. his sounds are able to expand even the smallest dance floors—he sculpts spacious soundscapes and sends dancers on a deep dive into dark and melancholy travels. we are particularly excited about the presence of our resident akmê, who comes to us with energetic release after his first ep on connwax. he will be bringing his steadfast love of detail and sly playfulness—elements present in all his dj-sets. with these three numbers, the ://about blank 002 has compiled the best of the mdf soundtrack. next stop after powernap: lobby and garden. rave on!

New York's P. Leone is back with the second release on his newly launched E-MISSIONS imprint featuring Work Them Records founder Spencer Parker on remix duties.Born and raised in Brooklyn, where he discovered the legendary Storm Rave parties run by Frankie Bones and Adam X, P. Leone cut his teeth DJing in the Lower East side of Manhattan before making techno himself. Before long the producer dropped his first two releases on Work Them Records, joining a roster spanning Radio Slave, Spencer Parker, Young Male, Anetha and Physical Therapy. E-MISSIONS was then launched in early 2017, acting as a platform for co-founders P. Leone and CAIAZZO with more exciting artists soon to be announced.'Discipline Signals' is dark and robust from start to finish, with 'Functions of Discipline 1' inaugurating the package with resonating kicks, trippy elements and industrial synths. 'Functions of Discipline 2' follows a similar aesthetic but heads into a deeper direction with its cavernous atmospherics and glitch inspired effects, making way for 'Laced' with its sinister drones and tantalising melodies. Spencer Parker then remixes 'Laced', concluding matters with rugged drums, energetic hi-hats and a rumbling low-end.

Shoc Corridor was the London post-punk quartet of Paul O'Carroll (Voice, Synth), Andy Garnham (Synth, Drum), Chris Davis (Guitar, Bass, E-Bow) and Nogi Prass (Synth) named after the Sam Fuller film from 1963. Chris met Nogi shortly after moving to London in 1979 - they started playing music together, fell madly in love, and decided to form a band. They recruited Andy, who had previously played in a band with Stephen Luscombe of Blancmange, and lyricist and vocalist Paul. Their influences were wide reaching: Kraftwerk, Neu, Cabaret Voltaire, Brian Eno, PIL, and Joy Division.

The group recorded a 4-song demo during 1981 in a tiny flat Chris shared with Nogi in Notting Hill. As their collection of instruments grew they set up studio a few blocks away in Andy's flat at 20 All Saints Road. There they re-recorded Sargasso Sea' along with On Reflexion' on a TEAC reel-to-reel 4-track machine. In the summer of '82, the band was booked into Decibel Studios in Stoke Newington for two and a half days with Mark Easton of Shout Records, where they reworked the two songs. The group usually worked through studio experimentation rather than constructing their songs in a conventional way. Their equipment list included a Korg MS-20, Wasp, Pro-One, Roland TR-808, WEM Copicat, guitars, bass, e-bow and an assortment of effects pedals. On Reflexion' began as a Blancmange backing track, since Stephen Luscombe would sometimes use Andy's 4-track, Korg MS-20 and drum machine. Chris has memories of Paul disappearing from time to time to the neighboring graveyard for inspiration, where they had to procure him from to lay down vocals. Their debut 3-song 12' single, A Blind Sign', was released in October 1982 on Shout Records. For this re-issue we've included the original skeletal Sargasso Sea' 4-track demo from 1981. Evocative and dreamy, the music escorts you on a tour of icy landscapes, with Paul's rich vocals guiding the way.

All songs have been remastered for vinyl by George Horn at Fantasy Studios. Each EP comes in an exact replica of the original jacket, designed by Chris Davis with artwork by Paul and Jerry Neal. Each copy includes an 8x11' 2-sided insert with liner notes, lyrics and photos designed by Eloise Leigh.

Ltd. to 999 copies, initial copies on black inside milky clear vinyl,

Cititrax present a split EP by two massive talents, Borusiade and The Sixteen Steps. Borusiade, originally from Bucharest, Romania began as a DJ in the early 2000s and then started producing music in 2005. With a background in classical music, she combined her love of raw electronics, obscure themes and melodic lines to create her own signature sound. She has released on the Cómeme label as well as Corresepondent. Infatuation and Confutation are dark, moody and intense tracks that catch you upon first listen. The flip side of the Promises and Infatuation EP features The Sixteen Steps, the brainchild of George Lanham who cut his musical teeth DJing and running events in the south of England. We have been listening to many of his tracks endlessly for a while now. They've also been a highlight of Veronica Vasicka's DJ sets as of late. Signals From The South and Promises On The Run are both immaculately produced, hypnotic, dance floor killers. They are sparse ebm meets smoky warehouse techno, and offer a wonderful contrast to Borusiade's layered emotive tracks that reminisce of an East Village club in the 1980s. Themes of infatuation, appearances, and anonymity appear throughout this EP from the music itself right through to the cover art.

Limited edition vinyl pressing of 999 copies, first 500 copies are pressed on black inside milky clear vinyl (each record is one of a kind), housed in a matte printed sleeve.

* Includes a DIN A2long poster inside the 12" sleeve with edition number and music download code

* Rogue Style 1 EP is an international homage to b-boy culture, where the worlds of breakbeat music and breakdance collide. Sinistarr (USA), Kiat (Singapore), Kabuki (Germany) and HomeSick (Canada) are connected in many ways, now they lay bare their hip-hop roots and give something back with a fresh take through the eyes of drum & bass and juke/footwork. Here is what they have to say:

Sinistarr: "As a teenager I grew up as a b-boy, dancing anywhere I could: schools, parks, festivals, you name it, my crew was there with cardboard and a speaker. I eventually got deeper into DJing and making music and learned to bring a sound that's not just for the crowds and the purists, but also for all the dancers!"

Kiat: "Hip Hop has taught me to keep evolving, to explore new forms in all my art. Progression is the key to evolution. -- I met Sinistarr online thru myspace and we had a musical connection which led to our first collaboration 'Black Diamonds' which is still one of my personal favourite tunes I've been fortunate to be part of it's creation. With Kabuki, i've always been a fan of his work since his 'Makai' alias on No U-Turn, despite meeting him only recently thru the label.I've always known him to be constantly progressing his ideas in his music which I respect alot."

Kabuki: "B-boy culture has always been a strong influence on how I pursued my art, mainly because of its DIY ethos and attitude of perfecting your craft. Incidentally these were also the aspects that drew me to Jungle when I first discovered it in the nineties. -- I'm happy to rub shoulders with Kiat, Sinistarr and HomeSick on this release, as I'm a fan of their music foremost, but also because we became friends through the music."

HomeSick: "I was only a child in the 90s and as a result I feel like my understanding of b-boy culture was experienced second hand thanks to 90s/early 2000s hip hop music. I appreciate the parallels I can see with footwork culture, particularly the similarities to the community mentality of break dancing. -- I know Sinistarr through booking him for our local party night in Alberta, Canada called Percolate. Our city must have left an impression on him because a year later he made the move here from Detroit. Had the pleasure of hosting him as a room mate for a little over half a year, the home was a very potent creative space during this time. Kabuki hit me up a few years ago and we very quickly got to sharing tracks and collaborating together. Mans a master of production and a super important part of the global scene."

The idea for a reminiscence of b-boy culture stem from label owner Booga:

"Why am I interested in this so much I grew up in East Germany and as the movie "Beat Street" premiered in 1985 over here I was age 13 and blown away by the energy, the music, the wit, the style - everything in this movie was better than everyday life in Leipzig. So I started saving for a cassette recorder and taped music shows from West German radio and prepared tapes for school disco gigs to the hope somebody would do the "robot" to Arthur Baker "Breaker's Revenge". Unfortunately that never worked out hahaha. But I was hooked since then and as the wall came down in 1989 I travelled to West Berlin just to buy the Beats, Breaks and Scratches 1-4 vinyl box by Simon Harris. The fascination for breakbeats never stopped and before I discovered Jungle around '94 I was down with the British cut up house thing from the likes of Marrs, Krush and Coldcut as another form of breakbeat music. The "do it yourself" spirit from hip hop culture inspired me to start a local website called breaks.org in 2000 to locally promote the drum and bass scene with emerging producers, djs and mcs for a wider audience and I threw in some interviews with Storm, Kabuki, Rob Playford, Klute and John B. That turnt into a multi author blog called itsyours.info in 2004 which still exists - that is where I had the pleasure to introduce Kiat and Ash in 2007. All these years I was listening and playing drum and bass tunes when the occasional "bboy tune" came up, some were obvious like Alex Reece "B-Boy Flavour", Lemon D "B Boyz", Commix "Change" and some were not so much self-explanatory like Digital & Spirits "Phantom Force" and the remixes by T-Power & Codeine or Fracture's Astrophonica Edit - but I felt the hidden force of breakdancing nevertheless. With the Rogue Style series I have the first class opportunity to ask established and new Defrostatica artists to present a current interpretation of b-boy culture. This is a dream coming true."

Schmer-007 "Smoking is Still Bad for You - Volume 1" is here and contains old school and new cool tracks from all the original Schmer culprits plus some loops from our new friends. Dietrich Schoenemann and Prototype 909 dug their tracks out of their vast archives of unreleased originals. DJ RX-5 and BPMF delivered some hot new Schmers to get us moving again.

For the last 20 years we've all been tormented by the great issues facing mankind and most vexing among them of course was "When will the next Schmer record finally come out" I am happy to say that the answer, my record distributing friend, is NOW!

Prototype 909 demands that you ( redacted ) ... "The Volume"! A track recorded in 1997 and finally getting released for the first time here. Prototype 909 was a "group" from "New York" that made "techno" in the "90s". Since then, the three members of this group all went on to do things. #TrueFacts

Dietrich Schoenemann has been so busy being one of the last men cutting all the records in the world that he hasn't had time to organize his catalog of unreleased gems. I distracted him with the old "look over there" trick and stole "8 Feet" from him while he wasn't looking. ( Hopefully he didn't recognize it while he was mastering it )

The last Schmer vinyl was DJ RX-5 "A Taste for Crap EP" from the then Moscow based very underground DJ Compass Vrubell. Nina Kraviz thought it was so crappy she put a track from it on fabric 91: Nina Kraviz; so I asked Alexey to make some more crap. He did it His Shway and this is the result. ( PS He still has all the patterns for the RX-5 from the original release so remaster, remixes and rereleases are in Schmer's future, HUZZAH!)

BPMF - The original Schmer artist had nothing better to do so he kommt back and gave us this track.

We love to torture the engineer so we just had to include some loops:
Rhizome is the alter-ego of Moscow wunderkind Nikita Zabelin.
Philly based Hero/Victim has been victimizing soundsystems up and down the East Coast with his mad live performances.
The Wise Caucasian is a pseudonym for some super famous London based producer and label owner, or at least that's what he claimed when I picked up his bar tab.

The reveries begin with a simple electrical hum - a starting signal for the appearance of a vibrant array of sound, shifting before us in seemingly random motion. Before we know it, all those pulsating melodies, razor-cut hifi-house beats and drunken robot jazz ensembles start forming into patterns, secretly & perfectly designed by one Art Alfie. A long time operator in Stockholm's small but insistent underground music scene, Oscar Wedrén broke through internationally in 2012 with the Karlovak project, founded with on-off studio and dj partner Rudolf Nordström, a.k.a. Mr. Tophat. The duo's inexplicably fresh takes on classic dance music tropes is as much a result of a brilliantly odd pairing of personalities as of a defined concept and a precise method in searching for the perfect house groove. While writing Reveries Of, released early spring 2017 through Studio Barnhus, Art Alfie freed himself of all conceptual footholds, delving instead deep into his archives of old and new memories and feels, working with improptu field recordings and emotionally-guided sampling processes. He came back with an intricate and personal debut album and he didn't lose his groove on the way.

Stirred up from deep within, from an abstract spiral of sound and movement, from a sensation of time and space absolving and converging at once, the Black Flower musicians have molded a tangible matter: the album Artifacts. Their second full album sounds international and ageless. Eastern influences, Ethiodub and jazz effortlessly merge. Fantasy and reality seem to fuse. In a word: nourishment for body and soul.

"Psyche-delicious and accessible 20th century Ethiodubjazz. As if John Zorn put on Fela Kuti's shoes and imbibed Mulatu Astatke's whirls."

Piloted by saxophonist /flutist /composer Nathan Daems (Ragini Trio, Dijf Sanders, Antwerp Gipsy-Ska Orkestra), this instrumental band aims for originality. Fellow musicians and 'brothers down the road' are Jon Birdsong (dEUS, Beck, Calexico) on cornet, Simon Segers (Absynthe Minded, De Beren Gieren, Stadt) at the drums, Filip Vandebril (Lady Linn, The Valerie Solanas, Antwerp Gipsy-Ska Orkestra) at the bass and Wouter Haest (Los Callejeros, Voodoo Boogie) playing keys.

For many of us, the Ethiopian aspect once made known to the world by Mulatu Astatke will stand out. Still, Black Flower further adds oriental scales, Afrobeat à la Fela Kuti, jazz in a John Zorn way and varied western music traditions such as rock and dub. The resulting melting pot is undoubtedly inspired by Nathan's distant travels and the multifariously colorful city of Brussels.

...Pretty legit if you ask me - LeFto, Studio Brussel

After their well-received debut album Abyssinia Afterlife (2014, W.E.R.F. / Zephyrus Records) that created an atmosphere of mythical figures and psychedelia, Black Flower now reflects on ancient and modern cultures. The album title Artifacts refers to centuries-old fragile objects or tools that empowered the development of human culture. The world today would look entirely different without those artifacts. The seemingly brittle suddenly becomes a powerful welding cornerstone. Add the musicians' personal musical backgrounds and the result is an album with an ageless mystique. Artifacts is the synthesis of different cultures, of the past and present, and personal and collective memories. It is the soundtrack to modern reality, based on the elements that connect us.

Brilliant - Gilles Peterson, BBC Radio 6

One of Belgium's Best Bands of these past years (...) Black Flower does not simply play a tune, they always groove! - Kurt Overbergh, Ancienne Belgique

Uncomplicated originality, plenty of space for fantasy and an organic tone: those are the ingredients for Black Flower to lay claim to an age-old human ritual: dancing! Still, Black Flower also stands out in various other settings. Their audience at a jazz club will have felt exalted, their audience at a late-night show will not have resisted dancing. The band wields influence over their surroundings in a way only heart-and-soul musicians can. This mastery has repeatedly taken them to United Kingdom, France, the Netherlands and Germany.

Despite a discography that stretches right back to the late noughties, little is known about Turkish producer Ali Kuru. Perhaps he's publicity shy, or simply wants to let his music do the talking; either way, the music he makes is magical, and undoubtedly worthy of wider acclaim. Kuru came to the attention of Leng late last year, releasing the Luna 12' his frst vinyl release for six years - in January 2016. That EP boasted two typically exotic and fragrant tracks, both of which effortlessly joined the dots between dub disco, hazy house, gentle downtempo movements and snaking, Middle Eastern instrumentation.
Here, the Istanbul native further explores his unique musical perspective, serving up a quartet of tracks that eschew easy categorization. Twittering birds, throbbing dub basslines, crisp hip-hop beats, trippy vocal samples, and distant chimes combine on the moody 'Mandari', while 'Causa' peppers a jangling, acoustic guitar-laden loop-groove with futtering futes, deep space electronics and rolling hand percussion.On the fip, his more exotic musical inspirations return to the fore. There's 'Zurna' - the musical equivalent of a panicked dash through a bustling late
night market full of drunken jazz drummers, metronomic groove merchants and snake-charming pungi players - and the low-slung stomp of 'Avaz'. Here, sampled vocal chants and Bollywood-inspired instrumentation wind their way around a rubbery bassline and handclap-heavy rhythm track. If
there was such a thing as Turkish-Hindi jazzdance - and maybe there should be - then this would be a guaranteed foorfller.
All four tracks offer further glimpses into Ali Kuru's fertile imagination. It's the perfect teaser for the Turkish producer's debut album, which will be released by Leng in early 2017.

Remember how badly we wanted to join them and be part of those sea-faring adventures: Jack London’s The Sea-Wolf, classic TV shows based on his novel The Road, on Radu Toduran’s novels... back then, a couple decades ago, the titles of these shows alone were enough to trigger some strong gusts in our hearts, salty squalls perfect for imaginary downwind journeys we dreamed of with billowing sails. We wanted to cruise alongside albatrosses, seagulls, and fellow sailors. Floating high above a three-masted vessel, we watched our own adventures unfold far below, an imagined movie scene complete with a whole crew that worked the rigging, and all the rest. Cutting waves. Amidst the storm and stress of sounds hitting our eardrums far out in the ocean. Combined with the sounds of rotors, of tropics crossed, of marimbas and cabin wood pounded, of strange music spotted in the distance. And even though it was merely for an hour or two that we were rescued by that seal-hunting ship “Ghost,” as Jack London had it, plus, even worse, often found ourselves surrounded by villains: it was a great escape, for we’d successfully set sails – to new and exciting places.

Both around their own Weilheim shores and elsewhere, brothers Markus and Micha Acher have launched various musical vessels, bands and free-floating constellations over the past three decades – and yet: amid all these other speedboats and unlikely sonic barges, The Notwist has always remained the mother ship. This new album documents the latest live incarnation of this very band, which also features Andi Haberl, Max Punktezahl, Karl Ivar Refseth, and Cico Beck. Recorded on December 16, 2015 on the second of three consecutive, sold-out nights at UT Connewitz in Leipzig, Germany, "Superheroes, Ghost-Villains & Stuff" indeed feels like a first-hand live experience caught on triple vinyl. That’s why it’s the definitive album of The Notwist’s career.

Although there is one song that points to the early, “louder years” of The Notwist – “One Dark Love Poem” off the album Nook –, the rest of the night’s set sees the band perform all the major hits off Neon Golden, The Devil, You + Me, and Close To The Glass. However, these are different, organically enhanced versions, new interpretations and combinations that feel much more alive; thanks to Olaf Opal’s incredible mix, they sometimes even outshine the original studio recordings. Listening to "Superheroes, Ghost-Villains & Stuff" feels like watching these songs evolve and change, moving from one frame to the next, much like a baroque triptych.

What starts out like ‘wimmelbook’ imagery, the music soon folds and unfolds like a Moebius strip: Sans bottom or top, sans inside or outside, the inside becomes the outside and vice versa. It’s all about sonic interconnection, about music as entanglement, music as reconciliation. The rather majestic, cinematic (indie) pop and experimental, kraut- infused jazz, the spirit of the enlightenment and baroque playfulness, the traces of modernism and minimal music, dub leanings, hip-hop lessons, and even hints of house music: here is where they all come together, reconciled in a sound that’s both melancholy and romantic. And ultimately, the spirit of these songs is set free – and the band has released itself, is free at last.

As for the album title, it’s lifted from the song “Kong,” and encapsulates Markus Acher’s motto. Throughout the track, the water theme first appears as a dangerous threat: a force that’s strong enough to wash away an entire house; and yet the fluid state keeps transforming and eventually releases that sense of threat into something rather hopeful, a new musical beginning, a melodic departure that ultimately leads to euphoria and a renewed spirit of adventure. These are the strong gusts mentioned above, it’s the spirit of discovery, the urge to set sail together. The crew’s back at it, working the instruments, the rigging, with sails a- billow, launching the next voyage of discovery, assuming the East in the West and vice versa. And thus the adventure saga continues.

Pico Be (Das Weiße Pferd)

Brotherhood Sound System Records is back with its third 12" offering and the first in a series of compilations entitled 'Percussive Parameters', delivering percussion heavy sonics focused directly at the dance floor.The lead track of the EP, Callahan's 'Kudzu', opens with a chopped, atmospheric vocal layered intelligently over rolling percussion and a hypnotic flute. A pounding 808 kick drum is teased underneath until the track switches into a relentless, chugging club tool.
This one's destined to tear up dance floors for a long time...
Next up are label bosses Silas & Snare with 'Eastern Shores'. An unassuming and innocuous introduction with lush pads and clean percussion that ricochets neatly off vocal cuts dramatically shifts pace and turns into a weighted, rolling cut of UK Techno. On the flip, A:Tonal leads the charge through an acid tinged stomper entitled 'Perfect Imbalance'.With driven percussion and firing synths in equal measure, this is unquestionably a peak time weapon in any DJs arsenal. Finally, Bristol locals SYZ & LKY deliver 'Turbulence', a groove and sub laden roller that's meditative and hypnotic whilst maintaining an assertively club ready focus.We're very excited about the start of this new project and chapter for the label, and would like to thank you for all your on-going support. Enjoy the music!